Imperfect Future [ON HOLD]

chapter one | into the future

Marinette laughed silently to herself, confused and amused at the same time. She was standing right in front of her own school: the machine had somehow teleported her right in front of the school she went. The way Tikki and the other kwamis spoke made it sound as if she was going to a super dangerous place, so she was quite amused when she found herself standing right in front of her school. Shaking her head, she turned around and started running back to where she remembered the garage being. A lot of things did confuse her though, like for example, before she had gotten on that machine, it had been nighttime, but as soon as she teleported, it was suddenly daytime.

Another thing that confused her was Tikki. The kwami wasn't with her, and Marinette wanted to make herself believe that Tikki was waiting for her back at the garage with the rest of the other kwamis, but the more she got closer to the garage, the more she felt as if something was wrong. Finally, she got to the garage, and she was glad to find the garage opened with no one around. Feeling strange all of a sudden, Marinette put on her hood, trying to cover her face, afraid someone might be watching her. She peeked inside the garage first, and her heart sank when she found a car inside there instead. Feeling unsure of what was going on, she stepped inside the garage, but before she could even walk in farther, she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"What do you think you're doing?!"

Marinette whirled around, embarrassed that she had gotten caught. "I'm so sorry." She gulped when she saw the man's face, a person she absolutely did not know. "I'm so sorry-"

"Are you one of those kids who always come here and steal my stuff!" The man shouted in her face, and Marinette backed and looked away, tightening her hood even more so the man wouldn't get a good look at her face. "I knew it!" He chuckled. "I left the garage door opened on purpose just to catch you little rats walking inside, and damn, my trick actually worked." He suddenly reached in to grab Marinette by the arm, but Marinette immediately ducked and ran past him, heart racing fast. "Hey, come back here, you little twat!" Having a bad feeling that the man was following her, Marinette ran faster, away from the garage. "I'LL CATCH YOU NEXT TIME, YOU'LL SEE! THIS IS THE LAST TIME YOU STEAL FROM ME AGAIN!" The man shouted in such a loud, angry voice, getting Marinette to shut her eyes tight as she ran even faster.

Finally seeing that she was far away from the garage, Marinette stopped running to take a break, even more confused that she had been before. Where was she? Yes, it was obvious she was in Paris, and she knew which area she was in, but. . . "Oh my goodness!" Marinette's eyes suddenly widened her eyes as a sudden realization hit her like a hammer. She rushed towards a random lady she saw walking. "Excuse me, Ma'am. What. . .What date is it today?"

The woman looked at her with a frown at first, before she answered the question while she took out her phone. "I believe it's. . . June 21st." She stared at her phone, reading from it. "Yup, it's June 21st, Tuesday, 2030. Is there a problem, young miss?"

Marinette didn't answer the question, and did not even bother to cover up her shocked face. 2030. Right, Tikki had mentioned something about the future. That's when it suddenly clicked in her mind. She was in the future; same location and everything, but different years and time. It was then that a large poster caught her eyes. A poster with a picture of Ladybug, Chat Noir, Rena Rouge, Queen Bee and Carapace on it, smiling so widely. They all looked so much. . .older. At the top on the poster were the large words bolded on it "THE MIRACULOUS SUPERHEROES!" Taking in a deep breath, Marinette turned around and started heading over to the first place that came to her head. Her bakery.

Reaching her bakery, Marinette slowed down. She saw the 'CLOSE' sign on the door of the bakery, and when she tried to open the door, it was locked. Feeling nervous, Marinette searched the pockets she had on her body, but every single one of them seemed to be empty. Right, when she had went to that garage the first time, she hadn't brought anything with her. She tried the door again, as if hoping that someone from the inside would open it up. but today didn't seem to be her lucky day. Sighing and out of ideas, Marinette turned around and started heading back to the place she had teleported to in the first place: the school. She kept her eyes peeled all around her, seeing that even though Paris looked the same, it wasn't the same at all. Her eyes widened when she caught a car opening its doors in midst of driving, and suddenly it was being lifted up in the air. Right, this was the future! Marinette slapped her face as she continued walking. Apparently, in the future, there were now flying cars.

Wait, in 2020, I was 17, which means right now. . .I should be 27. Then, I wouldn't be going to the same school this year, would I? With that new information in mind, Marinette switched directions and headed towards another random person. "Hey, hello? Do you have any idea where Marinette Dupain-Cheng lives?"

He looked confused for a second, before he shook his head. "Marinette still runs the bakery and sometimes comes there, but I heard that she lives in another house and only goes to the bakery temporary. The bakery should be closed today, but tomorrow morning, it opens up. You can get to her there."

"Alright, thank you so much." Marinette cleared her throat, seeing now that having to change her voice up a bit wasn't so easy. She started walking off, not knowing exactly where she was going, or what she was going to do now. Where was she going to sleep if night fell? That's when she remembered she had a mission. A brunette running around causing trouble? Even if she was going to know who the brunette was as soon as she saw her, it was still going to be hard to find her. Sighing, Marinette sat down, leaning her back against the wall of her school. She was just going to have to wait here.

^~^

Lila grinned as she stepped up the porch, preparing herself to ring the doorbell of the house she had come across. It had taken her a while of asking random people and ringing the wrong door bells, but finally, she found herself at the right house. Breathing in and out, hoping this was it, she reached forward and pressed a finger against the bell. Gabriel had told her about restting the future in order to reset the present, but now that she really thought about it, that made absolutely no sense. She'd heard about resetting the preset in order to change the future, but reverse now? How was resetting the future going to change what happened in the past. Shaking her head at the thought, Lila focused, seeing the doorknob was shaking. She pulled her mask up even more to hide her face, so only her eyes and nose would be seen. She had also tied her hair into a bun, something she hardly did. The door opened, and even though she expected it, Lila was still surprised to see the woman.

Marinette, all grown up. She looked back at Lila, confused as to who it was. "Hello? May I help you?"

"I. . ." What was she supposed to say now? Seeing Marinette like this made her shocked. Marinette looked. . .even prettier than she did back in high school. Clearing her throat, Lila forced herself to look up at Marinette's face. "Yeah, hi." She purposely made her voice even deeper so she wouldn't be recognized. If Marinette found her high school classmate still this young, she was going to freak out.

"Listen, is it okay if we do this chat later on?" Marinette looked to be in a hurry as she closed the door, making sure to lock it, and brushed past Lila. "Hey, have you. . ." She turned back to look at Lila. "Have you perhaps seen three small children, two boys and one girl, two of them blondes, and the other one just the same hair color as me? Two of them bluebell eyes and-"

Just telling from the description of the kids, Lila already had a feeling she knew who they were. "Your kids?" Marinette nodded at her question. Although she already knew the answer, Lila still felt disappointed. In the future, Marinette seemed to be so successful, with three healthy kids. Then, her eyes widened at the realization. "Wait, your kids are missing?" She smirked on the inside. Successful with three kids, yet a bad mother. "No, I haven't seen them. I'll keep a lookout though." Waving quickly, Lila jumped off the porch and started walking off, an idea forming in her head.

Three kids; two boys and one girl. Two of them are blonde and the other has the same hair color as Marinette. Wait- Lila stopped, heart beating faster. Two of them are blonde? Lila turned back and rushed back to Marinette before Marinette could enter her car, which Lila could tell was quite expensive just by the way it looked. "Hey, I said I was going to look for your kids. Two of them have bluebell eyes, like yours. What eye color does the third one have?"

"Emerald green."

"Alright, thanks." Lila stepped back and watched as Marinette drove off. Just watching the car made Lila angrier and angrier by the second. Emerald green eyes? Maybe it was just her over thinking, but the only boy she knew who had emerald green eyes was Adrien. Obviously Adrien wasn't the only with that eye color, but who other boy could be just as rich as him in Paris? I should have asked her who her husband was! Groaning loudly at her mistake, Lila started walking off. First day of being in the future, and her day was not going well. Scoffing, Lila went back to the location she had gotten in the first place. Maybe Marinette's kids were the first step to changing the future in order to change the present.