"Hyah!" Lloyd grunted and connected his sword with Ray's. It was a sunny day in Everest, which was quite unusual. The mountain should be cold at all times. Something must be causing this change in climate.
"Don't forget to raise your sword. Your swings are good, but they lack strenght and agility." Ray advised.
Lloyd grunted and leapt away from her. With a determined face, he dashed toward her and attempted to deliver a swing at his master, but failed as Ray made leaned back and dodged the sword. Lloyd immediately held his sword at her throat from behind her.
"Got you!" He declared.
"And I got you." Ray stated. Looking down, Lloyd saw her sword close to his stomach. A tie.
Sighing, he put his sword on his back. "That's not fair..." he complained.
Ray put a hand on his shoulder. "A real fight is never fair, Lloyd. While us two fight with honor, some enemies will not see it that way. Especially if you fight a miraculous user." she said.
"I suppose... I just wish some things were easy. But I suppose nothing is easy."
"Hehe... Nothing worthwhile ever is." Ray giggled softly.
"Hey, what was your friendship with Reality like?" Lloyd asked out of the blue. Ray raised a brow at the sudden question, stabbing her sword into the ground and leaning on it.
"Why the sudden question?" she responded.
"I just want to know you a little better. When people share the same kind of pain, they can trulu have a bond."
Ray sighed with a smile. "Well, it was... Perfect. We connected on a deep level. Shad was bullied and was alienated as a child. That is why he was always an emotional wreck. He tried to make friends, but all he had ever known before meeting me was plain rejection. To be honest, I really don't know why he was bullied. When I met him, I had no desire to make his life a living hell. All I saw in his eyes was a young boy desperate to be free."
"Free? From what?" Lloyd tilted his head.
"Himself. He was destroying himself every day because he believed whatever anyone said about him to be true. But I was his first friend. If I could go back and find another way out and help him, I would." Ray explained.
"Did you get a chance to talk to him again? At all? After your fake death?"
Ray did not reply. Instead, she looked down at the ground. An image in the snow appeared for her. An image she knew rather well...
Flashback
"LOOK AT ME!" Shad yelled, shocking Ray. She did not expect him to lash out with such hatred and venom in his voice, "There is nothing in my heart! I don't even feel pain anymore. And you should not feel quilty, Ray. This hole was opened up by this world of hell. Even when with you, I only had pain inside here, but when you think about it, is there any meaning in that? So, I abandoned all of it. Meanwhile you? You've suffered all this time."
Ray shed a tear. The monster Shad had become was truly heartbreaking...
Present
"... Yeah..." Ray finally replied.
Lloyd turned his back on her and overlooked the mountain, taking in the story.
"Suppose there is no thinking about a past that can't be changed..." Lloyd began.
Ray, noticing how low his guard was, silently took her sword out of the ground and snuck her way toward him with an angry look in her eyes.
"But... Even if the past is painful, at least you have people who are here now. You have family and friends who adore you. And you have a good life. And who knows, maybe someday you two will be reunited." Lloyd smiled.
"Mmhm..." Ray mumbled and swung her sword at Lloyd. The boy reacted just in time to block the hit and looked at her with shock in his eyes.
"Never turn your back on an enemy!" she advised and took her sword away.
"Since when are you my enemy?" Lloyd narrowed his eyes, not entirely fond of her surprise attack.
Ray shook her head and put her sword away, the sound of sliding into the scabbard being close to a blade being sharpened.
"Come on, that's enough training, let's move out." she commanded.
Nodding, the young boy gathered his things and followed his teacher, continuing their search.
Paris (Marinette POV)
"The city is rather quiet today, huh?" I wondered, a communicator in my ear allowing me to speak with my boyfriend from afar. We were on patrol, just like every other day.
"Yeah, really quiet. I almost wish something were to happen to eleviate the boredom..." Cat Noir agreed.
"Don't jinx it, babe," I giggled in response.
"Wait, hold on! I do see something!" Cat Noir stated.
"What? What do you see?"
"I'm gonna investigate."
I tried to get him to talk to me again, but no reply again. Oh no... Uh oh... Oh lord oh no! Cat? Adrien? What happened to him!? Knowing my silly boyfriend would get into trouble easily, I began to jump my way toward his position.
I swear that cat is reckless. He could have just waited for me and we would have been able to investigate together but nooo...
(3rd person)
Ladybug made it to the east side of Paris, but found the streets to be rather empty. Strange. Where was everyone? It was broad daylight, people should have been frolicking.
"Hello?" she called, but no reply came. She slowly felt her nervousness grow more and more. She began to investigate the empty street, jogging through it, trying to find any trace of life. She found none.
A banging sound of metal was heard. She stopped in her tracks and looked behind her, but nothing was there. Raising a brow, she shrugged it off and turned her head forward and was shocked, terrified and horrified at the sight.
Blood... A lot of blood. Dead people in piles on the ground. From the looks of it, whatever killed them, they did it in ways that was completely insane.
"D-dead people!? What happened here!? Cat Noir!! Can you hear me!?" she called out, tears threatening to fall down her cheeks.
She took out her yo-yo and tried to call Alya. No reply. She tried to call Nino, no reply. She tried to call Zoe, no reply. She tried to call Gabriel. No. Reply.
Taking a stuttering breath, she ran through the field of dead bodies, hoping to find whoever was responsible for this.
But no matter how much she ran, she only saw more bodies and more blood splattered across the buildings.
"T-this is getting worse... What if I am next!? Snap out of it Ladybug. You have to be brave!" she scolded herself.
The mountain of bodies stopped appearing after she reached a certain point on the street. She felt a sigh of relief escaping her lips, happy to know there were no more bodies to be found. But what she saw next was something she did not expect.
Cat Noir, standing in the middle of the street with his back turned toward her. Did he even see the bodies? Shouldn't he be on his knees crying his eyes out from seeing so many dead people?
"Adrien! Thank god you are safe!" Ladybug beamed.
Cat Noir ignored her.
"Adrien?" she called again and moved closer to him.
This was suspicious. She remembered how she was tricked with a fake Adrien a year ago just like this one. This may not be the real deal. Narrowing her eyes, she slowly reached out her hand and tapped his shoulder. Cat Noir finally took notice of her and turned around with a smile.
"M'lady, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be patrolling somewhere else?" he asked.
"Sorry, Adrien, but when you didn't reply I got worried. What happened here? Why are there so many dead people?" Ladybug responded.
"There's a killer on the loose... I did not see them, but come on, let's find the one responsible." Cat Noir(?) said and gestured for her to follow.
This was suspicious. Very much so. How was Cat Noir so calm about this? Did he not SEE the bodies all around them!? Why did he ask about her patrol route at a time like this?... Why was there BLOOD on his gloves!?
"Adrien," Cat Noir stopped at her voice and turned to her, "What's with your gloves...?" she narrowed her eyes, putting a hand on her yo-yo in case she needed it.
"It's nothing, I was inspecting a body earlier. Come on, follow me." Cat Noir(?) excused.
Follow him or run away? Hell no, she was not falling for this trick again. This had to be the work of Reality. Well, Reality, sorry to say that Ladybug is a fast learner.
"All right, let's go." she nodded.
Cat Noir(?) leapt onto a building, hoping his lady would follow him.
"..." Ladybug took two slow steps backwards before making a run for it in the opposite direction. She quickly got out her yo-yo and left a voicemail for all and any heroes, "Calling all heroes! Stay together! Something is happening in Paris and I have a feeling Reality is back! Whatever you do, do NOT go anywhere alone! I repeat, stay together!" she warned.
As she was jumping and escaping, she failed to notice Cat Noir right behind her. When he touched her, they both were teleported away...
Mount Everest
"Hey, look, this cave seems to be blocked." Lloyd said and pointed at a huge pile of boulders.
"Yeah? That's what happens when an avalanche passes by." Ray shrugged, not understanding what her student meant.
Lloyd deadpanned. For real?
"... Avalanche is when snow and ice slide down a mountain. But these are boulders. And I doubt anyone would be strong enough to just lift these here."
Ray took a few seconds to follow him. Of course! "So you believe this is worth investigating?"
"Positive!"
Ray shrugged. It was worth a shot. She went up to the boulders and tried to find a small gap. She was looking for any gust of wind that might flow out of the cave. It did not take long for her to find it. She reached inside her pocket and took out an explosive, surprising Lloyd.
"You carry bombs with you?" he asked.
"Lloyd, I have ventured all around the world in search of Reality. Experience taught me that you should take anything for any situation."
"Fair enough."
Ray managed to set up the timer. She set it on ten seconds. "Get to cover!" she ordered and ran away from the bomb and behind a boulder not too far from the entrance. Lloyd followed her and got as close to the ground as possible.
BANG! The bomb exploded and the entrance was no longer sealed up. Immediately, the snow around the entrance began to melt, as if the cave held a lot of heat inside. And it did. Ray and Lloyd both felt it. This was odd. This was Everest. Even with a sealed off entrance, the climate should keep it cold.
"Cool! Let's go!" Lloyd said and ran to the entrance. Ray followed him with careful steps, thinking about the situation. This was not a regular cave. And her kwami scanner suddenly received a signal. It began to beep and the scale on it showed red, telling her that a kwami was close by.
"Lloyd? Be careful... The scanner is detecting a kwami. Anything can happen in here..." she warned.
"Whoa! Check it out! It's like a house inside here!" Lloye called from the cave. Ray went deeper and saw what Lloyd was seeing. A couch, a TV, a kitchen, a table, everything. Someone must have been living here. But who?
"The scanner stopped. I'm guessing that they were here, but left. Keep looking, maybe they left behind a clue."
Lloyd nodded and began to insoect the room like Ray instructed. Ray herself took pictures of the cave and saved them to her camera roll to send to Ladybug later, seeing as they had no signal here.
"Hey, check this out. It looks like some sort of... Writing on the wall..." Lloyd called.
Ray walked up next to him and took a closer look. She touched the carvings and read through it. Fresh.
"This was... Written a few minutes ago. But it's in a foreign language. I believe this is spanish." she deduced.
"Can you read it?"
"My spanish is a little rusty, but I'll try to translate it..." she nodded and put a finger in the first word to keep better track of the reading process.
"six heroes, six miraculous. A world of love. A world of peace. A world of victors. One by one, they shall fall. Together, they are everything. Alone, they are nothing." she finished.
Lloyd raised a brow. "That... Does not make any sort of sense whatsoever!" he blurted and raised his hands in the air for good measure.
"... Reality was here. I think he already left before we got here."
"Where did he go?"
"... I... I don't know. But we have find any info we can and then report it back to Ladybug."
Lloyd agreed.
Paris
Ladybug opened her eyes and held her head, unsure of what just happened. But why did her eyes feel like they were cloe to the sun? Why was it so bright? Why was the air so thick?... Why... Why was everything on fire!?
"... Paris is on fire! What the hell happened!? N-no... This has to be an illusion. An illusion. Yeah, an illusion. Deep breaths... Keep moving, you got this..."
She ran and jumped through the firey debris, hoping her lungs would not be affected by the heat.
This reminded her of the second time they faced Stormy Weather. The akuma summoned a huge volcano and the whole city was a mess because of it. But this time, everything was on fire, which did not make any sense. Just a few minutes ago, everything was fine. The sun was shining, the people were going about their normal day. The sudden change meant two things. Either the one who did this was a God or this was all just an illusion. It was most likely the latter.
Jumping down from a building, she found herself on a straight road. The road seemed endless. Okay, now she was convinced it was an illusion of sorts. No road in Paris is THAT long. Still, sitting around doing nothing wouldn't solve anything, so the only thing she could do was just walk.
As her steps increased, so did her concern. She felt it. Someone was behind her. Far away, but still behind her. Not wanting to find out what it was, she hastened her steps.
And again.
And again.
Now she was running.
She ran and ran and felt whatever it was behind her get closer. She had to get away. Running along the road would not end well for her.
To her luck, she saw a sewer hatch. Perfect. What better place to hide than underground.
She quickly opened it and jumped in, seeing a black blur fly above her. Okay, good, she managed to avoid it. She climbed down the ladder, however, the ladder suddenly disappeared and she could only scream as she fell deeper and deeper.