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  "Hey, Tikki."

   Tikki paused in mid-lick and looked over at her older cousin with a vanilla ice cream beard. Doe-like, blue eyes blinked in curiosity as she asked, "What?"

   "Do you know why our moms are fighting so much?" Marinette asked, scooping some of her mint ice cream and placed it in her mouth. The young ginger had to take a moment to think over the question. She seemed to be in deep thought, face scrunched up in unsureness.

   Her features finally turned slack and head shook, saying, "No, not really. I'm usually out of the room before they start."

   "That's alright," Marinette assured before her phone buzzed a few times of incoming text messages. The bluenette grabbed her device and saw that the texts were from Alya. Marinette opened up the messages and began to read through them.

   From Alya:

   Girl!

   From Alya:

   You will not believe what I just found!

   Below the second message, there was a link for an article. Marinette read the headline before her eyes scrunched in disbelief and mild shock.

The Disturbing Discovery of Hawkmoth's Secret Lair

   Without thinking twice, the bluenette clicked the link and began to read the article. Marinette had been warned but was not prepared for what she was about to read in the article.

   Just yesterday, on Friday the 13th, a secret room was discovered in Gabriel Agreste's bedroom hidden under his retractable bed...

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   George opened the door, earning a loud groan that echoed off the walls. The bodyguard pointed his flashlight into the darkness of the seemingly narrow hallway before searching for a light switch.

   He was able to find a switch and flicked it on, brightening up the narrow path and revealing the walls were indented with shelves. The rows of shelves held jars, boxes and many other assorted objects coated in layers of dust. At the other end of the hallway, there was another iron door.

George carefully began to make his way through the hallway. With his broad body structure, he had to walk at an angle to be able to fit in the narrow path. Brown orbs scanned all the various items on the shelves he passed.

   Most of the items were tagged with dates wrapped up, stored in boxes or non-seeable jars. Then, there were some miscellaneous items such as bottles of various drinks and pills, a few tossed zip block baggies, bent needles.

   George felt slightly squeamish when seeing the needles, accidentally bumping his shoulder into a jar close to the edge. The glass containment fell onto the cement flooring and shattered into pieces.

A liquid splattered to everything that it was able to touch, creating a growing puddle on the floor. The burning smell of alcohol hit his nostrils. Yet, that wasn't the thing that phased the bodyguard.

   It was the venomous-looking snake sprawled out on the ground.

   George leaped back in fright, knocking more things off the shelves. He watched the reptile for a few seconds before realizing that it wasn't moving. Skeptical, the bodyguard grabbed a beer can and tossed it at the snake. The can hit but the snake did nothing.

   He let out a sigh of relief, realizing that the animal was dead. Still feeling his heart violently pound, the ape-like man quickly stepped over the reptile and finally arrived at the door.

George opened the door slowly, poking his head and a now turned on flashlight into the dark room.

   He cast the light around the medium-sized area, seeing a desk with piles of paper and various utensils. Beside the desk, was a safe the size of the door he stood behind. There were more labeled boxes and jars stacked, keeping to one side of the room. Papers, maps, documents, records, newspapers and much more decorated the walls like some sort of wallpaper.

The oddest thing though was the one wall on the far left. There was a large-sized picture of Emilie in a golden-trimmed frame. Identical candle holders with candles were hung on both sides of the portrait and words were (surprisingly) neatly carved into the bare wall underneath the picture.

Emilie Agreste
Beloved wife and mother
June 12, 1982-August 4, 2010

George found a light switch and flipped it up, brightening up the area. Even with a nicely lit room, there was still a darkness that loomed around him. He could feel the chill run up and down his spine. He noticed an object in the corner he hadn't caught when scanning the place.

A shovel.

He immediately left the room.

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Just when Adrien thought his crazy Friday had calmed down, he was met by something crazier.

After his run-in with an old acquaintance, Adrien and Nathalie departed from the bakery. The two returned home only to be met with some police cars, a truck and an ambulance parked outside the mansion. Nathalie parked the car in the roundabout driveway a little ways away, staring wide-eyed at the scene along with the teen.

"Stay in the car. I'll be right back," the woman ordered, leaving the vehicle and speed-walked over to an officer. The blonde watched from inside the car as his temporary guardian talked with the officer before following him somewhere else.

   Adrien frowned, watching as teams of people carry jars, boxes and other things out of the house before storing them into the back of the truck. He could see his bodyguard sitting on the stairs, wrapped in a blanket and held a cup. His face was completely stoic, mind seemingly adrift elsewhere.

   In this madness, the blonde felt alone sitting in the car all by himself. He growled, teeth clenched and hands formed into fists. He was just so mad. Why did his life have to be like this?

   Then, his gaze caught an odd sight. Out of the many things the law enforcement team transferred out, the two duffel bags and a shovel seemed to stand out the most.

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   Nathalie saw the ambulance leave before her attention returned to the detective, his assistant and the sheriff.

   "I assume you know what's down in that stairwell. Can you tell me what you all found?" Nathalie asked, arms crossed in defiance. On her way over to these three men, Nathalie noticed George seemed a bit...shaken. Whatever was down those steps, it couldn't be anything.

The detective gestured Nathalie over to the hood of the sheriff's car and set down his clipboard. He began to sort through his notes and pictures, placing them around the hood of the car while explaining the situation.

"It seems you have stumbled upon Hawkmoth's secret lair," the detective began, "Everything down there was all pretty much drugs, alcohols, medicines—you name it."

"That was it? Just a storage room?" Nathalie questioned, scanning the photos and finding more than what the detective was letting on. Her nose scrunched when glancing at a picture of a dead snake.

"No, it was more than that as you can see with the bent needles and snake. Not only that, but there was also some preserved snake bodies, sulfites, hemp plants, otherwise known as-"

"-a marijuana plant," Nathalie cut him off. The detective nodded in confirmation, "Correct, and that's just the tip of the iceberg."

"I don't understand. What's any of that stuff have to do with anything?" Nathalie asked, confused by all the notes and photos.

"We theorized that Gabriel Agreste wasn't only selling drugs but also making them too," the detective explained, "We found two duffel bags buried underground filled with equipment used to make all that necessary stuff."

Nathalie shook her head, something that was still off about everything. It wouldn't have been remotely possible for Gabriel to have time to live a double life as a fashion designer and making illegal properties.

"It wouldn't be very possible for him to do so without being caught sooner," the woman mumbled.

"We also theorize that he had an accomplice helping him a long time ago," the assistant joined in the conversation, "An old partner of Hawkmoth that is being held in an Italy jail cell as we speak."

"Do you know why they were buried underground?" Nathalie asked, turning her attention to the assistant.

"Hawkmoth's partner, Akuma, was arrested seven years ago which means Mr. Agreste was unable to continue making drugs all by himself. So, we think he buried the equipment as a way to hide it," the assistant explained, "We don't exactly know why he buried it though."

   Nathalie hummed in acknowledgment. Before she was able to ask another question, the officer that guided her over to the men in charge ran over. She knew she might have to research a little on that "Akuma" character some other time.

   "Sir...we found something," the officer said.

   "Did you manage to get that safe open, finally!" The sheriff asked, his patience seeming to be wearing thin.

   "No, we may have to resort to explosives or a hacker for that," the officer answered, sheepishly, "We found something else behind a picture."

   "Show is the way then," the detective said. His assistant grabbed a camera before the two followed the officer into the mansion. Nathalie stayed outside with the Sheriff.

   "Is it alright if we go inside? I promise, we won't mess with your investigation," Nathalie questioned. The Sherriff raised an eyebrow, eyes glittering with curiosity, "Who's we?"

   "George, Adrien, and I," Nathalie listed everyone in the Agreste household. The Sheriff sighed, looking sorta unsure before shaking his head.

   "Sorry, mademoiselle. You might have to sleep somewhere else for the night. I'll allow you to get what you need inside for the night but you'll have to stay at a hotel," the Sheriff spoke apologetically, making Nathalie frown, "I recommend you stay at the Bourgeois Hotel tonight. It seems like you have enough money to afford a room."

   "Alright," Nathalie concluded, "Before I go, can I ask for a simple request?"

   "What may that be?" The head officer asked.

   "If you find a peacock feathers pin, could you possibly return it to us?" The woman begged. Nathalie didn't usually beg for things but this was on a special occasion for Adrien. It was his mother's pin, the one good thing that came from this place with some good memories it cherishes.

   "If it shows up, I'll obtain it for you unless it's evidence. Then, we may hold onto it for a bit longer," the Sheriff explained. Nathalie grimaced, knowing if what Adrien said was true about the pin being the key to finding the stairwell then it might be a while before they see it again.

   The ex-assistant bowed in respect, thanking the Sheriff before returning to the car.

   "Alright," Nathalie began, sliding into the driver's seat and shutting the car's door, "We are going to have to stay at a hotel tonight but we'll be able to get some things inside. Just don't disturb any of the-"

   She immediately stopped talking when looking into the rearview mirror and noticed that the back seat was empty. Nathalie shot her head around so fast that her glasses almost flew off. Yet, she was completely flabbergasted at the sight of no blonde teen.

   "Oh, cramity."

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   Adrien had grown tired of waiting in the car and decided to sneak inside through a different door. He had a feeling that Nathalie wasn't going to give him any answers. So, he decided to figure out for himself what was going on.

Before going to his father's room, Adrien stopped on his own to check on the two cats. The blonde quietly entered his room and searched the area until spotting the two snuggled up on the couch. Adrien softly smiled, reaching down and scratching the red cat's head.

   He heard a growl coming from Plagg, who was glaring up at Adrien in a warning. Adrien held up his hands in surrender.

   "Okay, I'll leave you guys alone," Adrien whispered, backing away from the sofa. Green orbs rolled a whole 360 before the teen left his bedroom. He swiftly advanced towards the hallway where his father's room was located.

It was time for him to get some answers.

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