The Ladybug and the Raccoon (a Miraculous Ladybug fanfiction)

Chapter 10

They exit the subway station and walked up the steps. He put the strands of fur inside his bag so Nino wouldn't see. Adrien marveled over the idea of sitting next to Carmelita Fox without knowing that it was her. She was clearly a master of disguise, but with all of that fur, her clothes, the coat, and the scarf, she must've been hot under all of those layers. He thought of the place she was going to. It was the park right by the museum, could she be investigating the crime scene by day? Is she spying on Interpol to satisfy her own gain? It all went by in a flash. He also had to take in what she had said to him. Who exactly betrayed her? What's her side of the story? "Here it is Dude." said Nino. They stood outside the front door of Mojo Comics. You could tell by the looks of the facade that the store was retro themed. It had bright neon colors from the nineties, old turn tables with a fake maniqun DJ , it had two old movie posters displayed in the window with boom boxes next to them. "This place is amazing." said Adrien. "Just wait til you see the inside dude." said Nino. The inside of the store was just as retro themed as the outside. It had a lounge area on the right that resembled an old eighties bowling alley, with bean bag chairs and racks of music records. The left side of the store looked like a video rental store, the shelves were stocked with video cameras, tape recorders, cassette tapes and anything that had dial-up back in the day. There were arcade machines and gaming consoles as far as the eye can see. The front desk of the store was surrounded with racks upon racks of comic books. It all felt like he just went back in a time machine, which also happened to be on display as well. Behind the front desk there were replicas of old movie props and posters inside frames hung up on the wall. The music in the background speakers played retro music of all kinds. Adrien was in awe of everything around him, it felt like a paradise he never knew had existed. To him this place truly was a hidden jewel. "We're sure to find something on Sly Cooper here." said Nino. They approached the front desk. The vender was dressed in the fashion of the nineties he had a backwards hat, a navy blue Pac-Man hoodie, and a big gold chain around his neck. He looked to be a few years older than Nino. When Adrien looked over at Nino, he saw that he was having the time of his life. One minute Nino was looking at the records and the next he was over by the comic book racks. "What's up dude welcome to Mojo Comics. How may I help you?" asked the vender. " We're looking for comic books on Sly Cooper." answered Adrien. "Have you heard of him?". "Have I heard of him?" asked the Vender, he laughed a little. "Dude that's like asking me if I've heard of the Internet. Yeah I've heard of Sly Cooper. That's a very rare comic my friend.". " Do you have any in stock?" asked Nino "I wish I did dude. Sly wasn't that popular back in the day but he was still known." answered the vender. "The graphics on his game may not have been great at first but..". " Wait hold on." said Adrien. "Sly Cooper was a videogame?". " Yeah dude. He was a game on the PlayStation 2 and 3. Which the comics are based off of." said the vender. "The reason why people liked it so much was because of the storyline throughout the series."." Woah." said Adrien. "I would pay anything for those comics. Sadly I only have research." said the Vender. "Well thanks anyway." said Adrien. "Hold on man, I wasn't done yet. If you really want to find Sly Cooper comics I would look in antique stores. Or if it were me, the one across the street." said the vender. He pointed to an antique store across the street, unlike the comic book store it has seen better days. "That store belongs to my dad. He's a bigger Sly Cooper fan than I am. If anyone can help you out it's him." said the Vender. "Sweet thanks a lot dude." said Nino. "By the way I love the store, what's you're name?". "I'm Andrew." answered the vender. "Nice to meet you Andrew. " said Adrien. " Feel free to come back anytime. My doors are always open." said Andrew. "You've been a huge help. Thank you." said Adrien. "Thank me when you're reading Sly Cooper comics." said Andrew. They left Mojo Comics and entered the antique store. The bell rang as the door opened. "If you're looking for the Cyber Cafe it's five buildings down the road." said the owner behind the desk. "Actually we're here to look around." said Adrien. He looked up from his newspaper at Adrien and Nino. "Oh, well in that case. What can I help you boys with?" asked the owner. "We heard that you have old comic books." said Nino. "Do you know where they are?". " Comics are in the back, feel free to look around." said the Owner. "Just don't break anything.". Nino immediately went to the back, while Adrien glanced at the antiques and items around him. " Heh is this your first time in an antique store? " smirked the Owner. "Yes it is." answered Adrien. "You've got some cool stuff in here sir.". He laughed. " Well that's a first." He said. "You're the first person since my son, who's said that about my store. ". " Actually he was the one who sent us here." said Adrien. "Andrew sent you?" He asked. "Yeah." answered Adrien. "What would I do without that boy. Wait a second, you're that kid from the billboards, Adrien Agreste?" He asked. "You've heard of me?" asked Adrien. The owner smiled. "Not everyone in the antique business is that out of date, kid." He said. Adrien thought of what everyone else would think if they saw him in a antique store, in fact his father would be furious if he was not home in time or saw him in a place like this. The owner saw his look of concern. "Relax kid. I won't tell anyone, in fact feel free to hide from the paparazzi in here." He said. "I was never a fashion lover anyway.". " Thank you." said Adrien. "No problem." said the Owner. Adrien continued to look around. That man showed him a kindness he's never seen before. He was jealous of the bond he has with his son, Andrew. Not a single day went by where he wished he could have that same relationship with his father. But he knew that not all people are the same, and knowing if he came back with something from the store there was no way he could get it past his father. He entered a room in the back, it had a two windows that would slide up, and racks filled with more antiques. Then something caught his eye. It was a game controller, it had four symbols on it, a square, a circle, a triangle, and an X. He held the controller in his hands and saw something behind it. It was a sleek black box that was dusty on top. He grabbed the box and tried blowing it off. The dust clung to the top of it, not moving. Adrien looked around and found an old cleaning rag. He snatched the rag off the shelf and dusted off the top, revealing a blue futuristic lettering that said "PS2". " Woah." said Adrien in amazement. He suddenly remembered what Andrew said not that long ago. 'He was a game on the PlayStation 2 and 3' he thought. Along the shelf he saw old videogame consoles. He knew that what he held in his hands was definitely a PlayStation 2. Then he saw a stack of boxes by a window. He opened it and saw stacks of comic books and on the top, was none other than Sly Cooper. Adrien was shocked. This meant that Andrew was telling the truth. He searched the pile, it had the second comic, the third, and a fourth. The only one that was missing was the first one. "Nino, come check this out!" He called. Nino entered the room."I found him." said Adrien. "You found Sly? No way." said Nino. Adrien showed him the box and he was at a loss for words. "I can't believe it. Dude we found it!" exclaimed Nino. "I see you're looking at my old videogame collection." said the Owner. They both turned to see him standing in the doorway. "You know, of all the PlayStation games I had growing up, my favorite one was Sly Cooper." He said. "A misunderstood thief with a heart of gold.". " You played his game?" asked Nino. "All the time." answered the Owner. "He was often overlooked because of how popular the other games were. Among all of them he was a hidden gem.". " Dude." said Nino. "I've got a question to ask you boys. Can you keep a secret?" asked the Owner. "Yes" said Adrien. "Sure thing man. " added Nino. "You may think I'm crazy, but I saw him once." admitted the Owner. "Yeah we've heard, he's all over the news." said Nino. "I saw that too, but it's not the first time he's showed up." said the Owner. "This was years ago.". " No way." said Adrien astonished. "Yes way. It was back in 2010." started the Owner. "I was visiting the United States, attending an antique convention. I decided to explore the small town outside the main place, when I saw a crowd of people. I had no idea what was going on and that's when I saw something. It was on the rooftops, I couldn't believe what I was seeing so I took out my phone and took a picture, only to find out it was a video. I had no idea how to work my new phone at the time.". Adrien and Nino were speechless. " You took a video? " asked Adrien. "Do you still have it?". " Sure do." said the Owner. Before Adrien could even ask, the owner was already scrolling through his old videos. "It might be a little shaky." warned the Owner. He showed them the video. The video showed him filming a resale store starting from the bottom then going to the top. When it reached the top, there was a hint of what looked like a head with a blue hat. It was too out of focus, he pulled the camera down then jerked it back up to the roof and there was a small film of a big grey and black tail then it disappeared behind the edge. "Woah!" said Adrien and Nino at the same time. "Dang dude." said Nino. "You were close to him.". He re-winded back the footage and paused. "Unbelievable. " said Adrien. "How is this even possible?". " There was a big conspiracy theory about a secret government accident at the time." said the Owner. "Of course I didn't believe it. This video has stumped me for so long, but after seeing the news, I knew that that was no conspiracy theory.". " What was the theory?" asked Adrien. "I don't remember, it's probably somewhere online." answered the Owner. Adrien glanced back at the comic books again. "You have all the other comics, but where's the first issue?" He asked. "A few guys were helping me organize a little in here, one of them didn't tape the box shut properly and the wind came in and blew the first issue out the window." explained the Owner. "But I wasn't worried, those guys were lucky that I had three copies of that first issue. I assume that it's either in the garbage or someone has it.". Both Adrien and Nino looked at each other with confidence. It all made sense to them now, Marinette's comic belonged here, the answers they were looking for was all here in this store. He was enlightened by everything, from the antiques to the comic book store. He was opened up to a whole new world that he never knew. He looked back at the PlayStation games and consoles. "Is this console for sale?" asked Adrien. "The console isn't for sale,it has sentimental value. But I have a website, it shows some of the items for sale, plus gameplay." said the Owner. "There's no comments in my gameplay, just good old fashioned storyline.". He showed them the link to his website and both of them took a picture on their phones. " How much would you take for issues two, three, and four?" asked Adrien. "Comics are three dollars each." said the Owner. "You can buy the others, I've got doubles. But the first isn't for sale.". " Thank you so much." said Adrien. "You've been a huge help.". " Don't mention it kid." said the Owner. "Little word of advice, when you're investigating, I recommend looking out your window at night at the rooftops, around 12:30 am.". " Why so late?" asked Nino. "You'll see." said the Owner. "Thanks again mister.." said Adrien. "Frasier, Joey Frasier." said the Owner, as he handed him his business card. "Thank you Mr. Frasier." said Adrien. "Take it easy kid." said Joey. They both left the antique store, blown away by everything. Adrien suddenly realized the time, "Oh no I'm going to be late." said Adrien. Nino handed him the comics. "Dude you deserve to read these more than me." said Nino. "Nino, I can't take these." said Adrien. "Dude I'm serious, you promise to share don't you?" He asked. "Of course." said Adrien. "Then I've got nothing to worry about." said Nino. "Thanks man." He thanked as he fist-bumped him. "See you tomorrow dude." said Nino.

He was back in the safety of his bedroom. He was lucky that he made it to the park in time before his bodyguard showed up with the limo. At that point he was lucky that there was water in the car just so he could rehydrate. He didn't want Natalie or his father to find out about where he was, so much so that his bedroom felt like a shelter more than the prison it's always been. He placed the comics on his desk and took out the strands of fur from his bag. He stared at them both, Plagg came out. "You really believe all of this Sly Cooper mumbo jumbo?" asked Plagg. "The evidence is there Plagg, if I dig deeper I'll find the truth. This will prove Marinette's innocence." said Adrien. "How do you know she didn't know about any of this before you did? I mean it's all one big coincidence." said Plagg. "The comic blows out the window and now all of a sudden these characters magically show up. Coincidence?". " Only one way to find out." said Adrien. He found the link to the website, just like that he took in a deep breath and started to dig.