Sibling Duo

Chapter 18 - Back In The Game

The sun was setting over Paris. The sky had become a beautiful mix of red, orange, and purple. A quiet ride would have been nice, but after all the excitement there was no way the Agreste family would be heading home quietly.

"So, Cecily?" Adrien began getting his son's attention.

"No! Don't even start!" Hugo begged knowing where this was going. His family was going to tease him to no end about his crush. It was just something that they did. Mostly on the Dupen-Chang side of the family.

"Hey, why didn't you tell us she was Luka and Kagami's daughter?" Marinette asked curiously turning in her seat to look back at her two eldest. Emma sunk down in her chair, the seatbelt sliding up as she shrunk down. Louis was only confused, while Hugo smiled nervously. Marinette than gave them a stern parental expression. She wasn't mad, she just wanted to pry the truth out of them. Terrified, Hugo gazed over at his sister. They were busted.

"Okay, if we had told you, would you have still said yes?" Emma pointed out shooting back up in her seat.

"No!" Adrien yelped.

"Maybe." Marinette and Adrien answered in unison. All eyes turned to Adrien.

"Okay, maybe." He changed his mind knowing the glare everyone was giving him, without looking at them. He stopped the car at a red light, and held up his arms in surrender.

"Besides, she's just a......" Hugo started his eyes beginning to glitter as he turned to look out the window hoping to see even just a glimmer of the day's memory.

"Stop right there! You are not aloud to say that!" Marinette interrupted holding up her finger to scold him.

"Mari if he thinks she's just a....." Adrien interjected attempting to stand up for his son. Marinette turned harshly to her husband.

"We are not letting our son make the same mistake you did." She scolded him. At this point he knew that he would be better off backing out of the conversation. Except even if he tried, he knew he wouldn't.

"Hugo, I'm telling you now, that Cecily is not just a friend to you. I watched you with her today. I know how your eyes sparkle when you see her. Or how distracted you become when you think about her. So don't make the same mistake." She warned. Pointing toward Adrien on the last sentence. He knew very well she was calling him out. Embarrassed he dropped his head onto the steering wheel of the car causing the horn to blare. His reflexes immediately kicked in and he shot straight up in his seat. Now he was even more embarrassed. The joyful mood from earlier was slowly dissipating into an awkwardness. The light turned green overhead, and Adrien slowly let his foot off the brake and the car began to roll ahead. Once the car was moving the family started to relax again. At least so they thought. Hardly before getting through the intercection Adrien slammed down hard on the brakes. The whole family jolted forward and fell back hard.

"Dad seriously!?" Emma complained rubbing her forehead and clutching her waist.

"Would you rather I drive into that black hole!?" Adrien exclaimed sort of fearfully. The indigo in the sky vanished and the skies now resembled a flame. Hugo and Emma leaned forward to peer out the windshield. There was only one explanation for this. An akuma was out. Hugo and Emma burst from opposite sides of the car. Hugo exiting on the left and Emma on the right.

"Where are they going!?" Louis was visibly scared and confused. His parents at a loss for words as they gave him blank stares.

"Mwahahaha! I am Ancestra. As of today no one will ever not know their family history." The Agrestes wheeled around to see a slender young woman, clearly akumatized, hovering freely above them, a shoebox secured under her arm. She slowly reached into the box and pulled out a purple shaded photo.

"I hope you have something that you want to say to your ancestors." The woman smirked as she flicked the photo toward the silver Renault-Sedan.

"Move!" Adrien commanded as he pushed his wife toward the passenger door. Quickly Marinette and Louis got out of the car and ran across the deserted street to the sidewalk. Once they were out of the car, Adrien turned to his door and escaped the vehicle just as the photo hit the car and opened another black hole. Which they now realized were portals to the past. They were separated.

"Go! Get to safety!" Adrien called across the street to his family.

"Adrien!?" Marinette protested stretching her arm out in his direction. She didn't want to lose him.

"I'll be fine! Go!" He answered bravely. Though deep down, he was terrified. Reluctantly, Marinette and Louis turned around and ran back toward the park. After making sure that his loved ones were following orders he turned too and ran into an alleyway to duck for cover. Moments later, Little Bug and Lady Chat appeared on the ground before the super villain, battle ready.

"Whoah. Someone is angry that the gardener cut a couple branches off the vine." Lady Chat commented. The woman smirked as she pulled another photo from the cream colored shoebox.

"The cat doesn't fall far from the tree Lady Chat. Your puns are just as bad as your ancestor Chat Noir's were." The woman insulted as she flicked another photo toward the heros.

"Hey!" Chat pounced out of the way, tackling her brother. Just in time. The photo smacked into the ground and opened another portal. Chat moved away from her brother, but remained crouched. Her left hand on the ground supporting her weight, her left in a tight fist as she looked up at the akuma again. Little Bug laying on his side next to her.

"We need to find a way to stop her quickly." Lady Chat stated obviously with an unmistakable determination to win the battle.

"The akuma is inside that box. The problem is getting close enough for you to cataclysm it." Little Bug mentioned pointing up to the box.

"All the while avoiding the photographic portal prints." Chat added.

"Exactly. We so much as touch one and we are sent into family history." Bug pointed out.

"Our family has a lot of secrets. Most of which, neither one of us is ready to hear." Chat turned her head to look at her brother. This was going to be a difficult task. More than it already was.

"Some secrets are better off as secrets." Little Bug got to his feet, but remained low to the ground. The needed to be on their toes to defeat this akuma. Together they returned to the for-front of the battle. Little Bug spun his yoyo, while Lady Chat prepared to use her baron for any sudden movements.  Adrien pressed his back to a building and slinked to the corner. Barely peeking around the corner he saw his kids in their miraculous'.