𝗰𝗵𝘂𝗰𝗸𝗮𝗯𝗼𝗼 ;; oneshots

REPLACED LADYBUG

Finally, letter R...

Adrien couldn't help smiling as he walked down the street next to his mother. After she had been missing for so many years, it was something that he never thought he'd be able to do again. She had been strangely evasive about why she had been missing and where she had been during that time ever since she had turned up out of the blue at the Agreste Mansion several days earlier, but what did it matter? She was back, and that was all Adrien cared about.

While she wasn't willing to talk about where she had been, Mrs. Agreste was all too eager to grill Adrien about what he had been up to during her absence as they wandered through the neighborhood together. It didn't take her long to find out that he was no longer homeschooled (school is so much fun!) and that there were akuma attacks several times a week (she frowned throughout his explanation of what was going on there). They were just starting to talk about the friends Adrien had made at school as they headed towards the park, where an ice sculpture competition was going on.

As they got closer to the park, the air seemed to get colder. Adrien shivered and wrapped his blue scarf tighter around his neck. As pretty as the snow was, he hated winter, especially when it got ridiculously cold and windy. He would much rather stay inside, where it was nice and warm.

"I can't wait to meet your friends," his mother was saying as Adrien finished fiddling with his scarf and they rounded a corner. "They all sound fantastic, but I can't believe that Chloe-" She stopped talking and froze in the middle of the sidewalk. Adrien stopped as well as he glanced up from the sidewalk to see what had startled his mother so much.

Ice statues. Everywhere.

"I- I thought that the statues were just supposed to be in the park," Adrien managed as he looked at all of the ice statues scattered along the sidewalks and in front of the businesses that surrounded the park. The scene was eerie, especially considering that there were no people to be seen besides them. "Or are they supposed to be over here as well?"

His mother frowned, adjusting her own scarf. "There aren't. I'd say maybe a street artist made them, but making ice sculptures takes a whole lot of time. I doubt the police would allow obstruction of the sidewalk for long, either."

As they drew closer, they could see the ice figures more clearly. The sculptures were shaped like people, but they weren't in normal, attractive poses. Instead, they looked terrified, like they were fleeing from someone... or something.

"Adrien," Mrs. Agreste said, suddenly serious as she scanned the area. "Would an akuma be able to cause something like this?"

"They- they could, yes." Adrien said. He patted his pocket to wake Plagg up. A small whine floated up as the kwami protested his nap being interrupted. "It really depends on the akuma but yes, they could."

His mother frowned. "These poor people! Are they still aware of what's going on around them? Do they know that they're frozen?"

Adrien winced. "I... don't think so? Whenever I've been affected I can never remember anything," he added before remembering that oh, yeah, probably shouldn't say that in front of my very protective mother. Oddly enough, she didn't comment. His mom's entire focus was on the ice sculptures. She was inspecting one closely, peering into the eyes of a mother holding a young child. She winced and moved forward, continuing down the block towards the next group of statues. With rising horror, Adrien realized that the area around the Dupain-Cheng bakery had been hit rather hard.

His heart dropped.

Ignoring the concerned noise his mother made, Adrien dashed down the street towards the bakery. He passed more ice statues, dodging around outstretched arms and legs as he drew closer, scanning almost translucent faces for anyone he might know. Twenty paces from the bakery, he spotted Alya, phone still outstretched (though also turned to ice). Behind her, Marinette stood in a protective stance, arms outstretched. She hadn't been terribly successful, if the small child turned to ice crouched behind Marinette was any indication.