Hero Academy: Ticking Time

Chapter 15: Hawk Moth's first prey

Adrien looked around his old classroom nervously. Everyone was frozen in place, doing some kind of activity. The world around him was in a grey hue while Adrien was the only one in color. Not even his teammates were in color.

Just what was going on?

"Plagg? Are you here?" He called for his kwami. But nothing. No request for camembert cheese. No sassy comment. No whining.

Just...nothing.

Adrien started to move toward the door. Maybe he could just leave. Nothing is stopping him. His hand hovered over the doorknob when he heard someone calling his name. He turned around to see who said his name but everyone was still in the same spot. This slightly freaked him so he grabbed the doorknob. He was about to twist it when his voice was called again.

"Adrien," A stern but worried voice called out. It sounded like his dad. But it couldn't be. His dad was nowhere in the room so it couldn't be him talking. So who was it? "Adrien! What are you doing here?"

Adrien rattled the doorknob but he couldn't open it. The voice kept calling him and it got closer. Its presence grew bigger and Adrien was kicking the door, hoping to break it open. The voice called out one more time, this time clearer and demanding. Adrien turned around and his heart drop, his eyes widen in fear.

Standing right behind him was the villain Hawk Moth. His silver mask and costume was the only thing to pop in the grey world. Adrien was terrified and started to bang on the door, screaming in fear.

"Someone help me! Help! Help me!" Hawk Moth noticed his distress and tried to calm down him down.

"Adrien! Calm down! Why are you freaking out?"

"Stay away from me!"

"Adrien! It's me!"

"Someone help me! Hawk Moth is here! Help!" Hawk Moth stopped calming Adrien and looked down on himself. He raised his gloved hands to his face and was...horrified. Like he wasn't expecting to look like this.

"No. Not now. Adrien please." Hawk Moth tried to reach Adrien's head. "Just listen to me."

"Someone! Please!" Adrien cowered in fear, afraid of what Hawk Moth would do to him. Just before Hawk Moth could do anything, the door swung open and Adrien fell into someone else. Hawk Moth's cries faded as Adrien was being hugged by the same person he fell into.

"Hey. Hey! It's okay! I got you!" The new voice said as it kept hugging him. Adrien looked at the new person and was surprised to see someone he never would have expected. The new person was a short black-haired kid. He must have not been any older than twelve years old and had the brightest red shirt Adrien had ever seen.

"Who are you?" Adrien asked when the kid looked up. His pitch-black eyes were filled with confusion. Didn't he understand him? "Do you understand me? At all?"

Before the kid can say anything, he started to fade away. Adrien tried to reach the kid but each time he tried, Adrien was pulled away by an invisible rope. He tried to fight back but the kid was already gone.

"Wait! Come back! Who are you?!"

Adrien jumped up, tangled with his bedsheets, and fell out of bed face first. This woke Plagg up and he hovered above the boy. Adrien untangled himself and calm the kwami down.

"Adrien, are you okay? Did you have a bad dream? Can camembert fix it?"

"Sorry about that Plagg. I think I had a bad dream but it felt so much like a vision. I saw Hawk Moth." Plagg's eyes widen and started to shake in fear.

"Are you sure it wasn't a vision? Because if it was, then that means Hawk Moth could have learned about, you know, your identity!"

"I'm sure. Besides, he acted as if he personally knew me." Plagg tilted his head. Adrien rubbed his hand anxiously. The scene replayed over and over in his head. The big bad villain he and Ladybug had been trying to stop for a year had tried to approach him like a friend. It felt...off. "He was calling me by my name. Not Chat's name. My name. And I think he was trying to calm me down to get close to me."