Between Generations

Chapter 5

Dull pain aroused Lise to consciousness. She opened her eyes a bit, but only saw pitch blackness. She tried to sit up, but pain shot through her left arm.

I must've landed on it!

She strained to get up again. Her hip throbbed. She allowed herself a few moments to flex her arm. Not broken. Whew. Darkness surrounded her. Her vision tried to adjust.

The room was dimly lit by a large circle window. The butterfly designs were smashed, so rays of moonlight beamed down onto the cracked cement floor. Lise pressed a palm against her temple, and felt something warm and thick there.

"Zoe?" she whispered. Her voice echoed.

Lise noticed something in the shadows of the room. There seemed to be a series of long boxes lining the wall. She stood up, swaying slightly, and walked over.

A clear lid was on each of the metal boxes. Lise leaned in to peer at its contents.

She stifled a scream. Her stomach lurched.

A dead person. A. Dead. Person.

Lise stumbled away, clasping a hand over her mouth.

"Lise?" A weak voice called out. A hunched figure walked over to her. Her long red hair was ruffled, and Lise noticed with horror something thick and shiny in it.

"Zoe. Are you all right?"

"Yeah. Where are we?"

Realization struck her. "Remy! The others!" She raced over to where they had fallen, and looked up. "I don't see any way to get out."

Something clattered. Lise gasped, and seized Zoe's hand and pulled her into the shadows, behind one of the boxes. She tried not to look at the person inside.

"Nooroo, everything is according to plan," a voice said, cracked with age. "I have just captured the Eagle Miraculous holder, and taken her Miraculous. She was hiding away from Paris. How pathetic. Didn't she know that I would capture her anyway? I know all of the Holders inside and out."

An old man in a dark suit and silver mask stepped into the moonlight. Gray wisps of hair gleamed in the light. "Nooroo, dark wings fall!" he called out. Lise and Zoe shielded their eyes when a purple flash erupted from the man. After the lights faded, the man wasn't wearing a dark suit and silver mask anymore. He faded to normal clothes, and harnessed a cane. His short hunched figure was accompanied by a small little purple creature, hovering beside his shoulder.

The Dark Collector!

"It's taken fifteen years to capture every single jewel. The first two were quite difficult." The figure stepped over to two boxes, and pressed a hand on the lids. On one hand, he held up a small circle tin. From her position, Lise could see several sparkling facets in the moonlight. "I have collected all of their Miraculouses. And now, I have the power to shape the past!"

"Master—"

"No objections, Nooroo. Need I remind you that I am your master?"

A small noise of reluctant disagreement came out of the small purple creature.

"What is going on?" Zoe whispered, a little too loudly.

The Dark Collector whirled around. "Who's there?" he shouted. He held up his cane as a weapon.

Lise clasped a hand over Zoe's mouth, and squeezed her own lips together.

The man frowned, and waited a little more, but he gave up. He turned back around and faced the shattered circle window. "Hawk Moth may have failed, but I have succeeded, since I know each and every Miraculous secret there is. Including this one." He held up the circle tin. "Now with the Eagle Miraculous, the collection is complete. I can finally accomplish what I've waited so long to do. This handcrafted tin is finished, and now contains the complete set of the Miraculouses. I can use this to harness all their powers! Now that Ladybug and Chat Noir defeated Hawk Moth, I can use his Miraculous as well!" He placed a small purple gem into the tin. Nooroo disappeared in a puff of lavender.

Lise watched with widened eyes. What was the man doing? Was he the one responsible for Ladybug and Chat Noir's disappearance? And whatever happened in the Agreste mansion and the bakery? The Miraculouses...he had them all!

She whipped her head around, desperately searching for a way out. There was no way she could get back the same way she came, but maybe she could escape through the broken window.

The Dark Collector started to chant a foreign language. As he spoke, his words got longer and echoed. His voice became more ethereal, and purple lightning circled around him from his feet. His gray wisps of hair floated in the wind that the lightning was creating.

Lise's breath caught. Zoe's shoulders trembled beside her.

What is happening?

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