Ladybug landed on the ground. This was no sewer. Not a sewer she was familiar with anyway. It was more of an underground dubgeon. A bunker. Spider webs, cracked walls, dripping water, oil puddles on the ground. This made her feel really uneasy.
But she felt it again. The same presence she just escaped from was eminating somewhere from within the old bunker. Just where was she?
Not wanting to find out what was after her, she quickly hid inside an abandoned car, hoping it would be enough cover. She heard footsteps. She could feel the person looking at the car.
"Come out, come out, Marinette. Don't make me come and find you." the voice said. Ladybug recognized that voice...
"So, you want to play hide and seek? Really? This will be fun!" the being exclaimed and walked away. It was safe to come out.
"I need to get out of here... Fast!" Ladybug thought to herself. She got out of her hiding spot and ran as fast as she could, taking cover behind any pillar or pile of rubble she could find. The situation was too tense for her to notice the appearance of the villain. But she was certain it was Reality. His voice was exactly the same.
Why now? Why today? Where did he come from!? She hid inside another car and took out her yo-yo to check her messages. Indeed there was one. From Ray.
She began to read the message.
"Ladybug, we found Reality. He was hiding out in Everest. But he was gone before we got to him. Be careful. He may come after you. I will keep searching and if you need any assitance, call me."
"Crap." was all that Ladybug could think after reading the message.
Sitting in one spot would not end well for her, so she took a peek outside and saw Reality's back turned against her. He looked around for a brief second before teleporting away.
Sighing in relief, she ran out from her cover and found an elevator. Great, so this place had multiple floors? She figured she had to be at the very bottom of the bunker. It would have made sense. Quickly, she pressed the button to go up and to her luck, the elevator worked.
However...
The sound of gears and metal was too loud and all Ladybug could hear in the dark was a maniacal laugh. She knew she was in danger now.
When the elevator made it up, she ran as fast as her legs could go and found cover behind a pile of rocks. Reality flew past the rubble, knowing full well she was there, but decided to keep playing this silly game of hide and seek.
Ladybug waited. And waited more. She waited until she heard nothing. Then, she got out from behind the rubble and continued on, being as quiet as can be.
Before she could make it further, she saw Reality standing not too far from her with his back turned. Reacting fast, she found somewhere to hide, right as Reality looked over his shoulder. Not seeing anything, he walked away.
"You can't hide forever..." his voice echoed. That single sentence and the coldness of each letter was enough to send chills down her spine. Never in her life had she felt so cold.
There had to be a way out. There simply had to. A portal. A door. A window. Anything!
She snuck into the next room, being careful as to not make any noise.
But what she did not expect to see was Aatrox in his human form. How was that possible? Did he possess Reality again? Or was it an illusion?
Aatrox looked around the room, attempting to find the heroine, but she managed to hide in the shadows out of sight.
"Where are you, Marinette...?" his voice echoed and he transformed into Reality. Ah, so it was a possession!
She saw a red light emitting from the other room. She carefully snuck her way over there and saw a portal, with Reality looking at it. When looked away, it turned yellow. When he jumped in, it turned green.
Ladybug deduced that the different colors meant different locations. Green meant that she'd be transported to a safe location and out of harms way. Okay, great, so now she had to find a way to turn the portal green.
This felt... Wrong... Why was she so afraid? Just a year ago, she faced Reality and Aatrox with so much confidence, but now? Now she was running from the very thing she defeated not long ago! What was wrong with her?
But... Reality had a presence this time. A dark presence. One that spoke death and destruction. He was scaring her too much. She could never hope to defeat him alone.
If this was a dream, please wake her up. She was slowly feeling her sanity dropping. She wanted out. She wanted to be with her boyfriend. She wanted to hold him and feel his love and warmth.
Maybe she was only confident when she was with her team. It was the feeling of loneliness that made her act this way. She shook her head to clear her thoughts and knew exactly what she had to do. Lure Reality into the portal.
She got out of her hiding spot and took a deep breath, being ready to run toward the portal as fast as possible. She used her strenght to bang her fist against the roof of a broken down car.
Immediately, she heard the laughter again and felt Reality flying toward her. Closer and closer.
When she was close to the portal, she stopped and turned around. Reality knew what she was up to.
He landed in front of her. He smirked in her direction.
"Hmph... Well, I applaude you, Marinette. You survived the game." he said.
"You're sick... You killed so many people! And for what!? Just to get to me!? What did you do to Cat Noir!?" she demanded.
"Did it ever occur to you that those were all illusions? Or did you simply forget it's what I do? Seriously, a year without Shadow Moth or me has made you soft." he mocked.
"Shut up... You have a perfect chance to kill me, so do it then!" she challenged.
"Like I said, you won. And I play fair. I'm not a monster to take away your chances of survival. So as a reward for winning this game of hide and seek, I shall let you go. But don't worry, even if you survived, the fun is not over. My clones are already dealing with your teammates as we speak."
Marinette rolled her eyes, not interested in what he had to say. But that did beg one question...
"What is your goal this time?"
"My goal? Hm... Killing you is a start. But still the same. Create a world without hatred or war. However, you only have two weeks to stop me." he explained.
Two weeks? What did that mean?
"Two weeks? That's oddly specific."
"Then allow me to elaborate you. What is a difference between an adult miraculous user and a child?" Reality asked, his smile never fading.
"You're speaking to a Guardian... You know I know the answer." she narrowed her eyes.
"Well then, there is your answer. I won't need to explain any further than that. Now then, you are free to go."
"Just like that? This is another one of your traps!" she accused.
"Before... I change... My mind..." he growled, showing how serious he was.
Ladybug shook her head and jumped through the green portal, not sure where it would take her.
(Your POV)
Reality smirked and looked at you with devilish intent. He knew you were there, reading this. He snapped his fingers and the world around him became black.
"Having fun? You think this story will end with everyone surviving on the first run? Don't worry, you will see many endings to this. Once I decide to show them all to you..."
With Adrien, 3rd person
Adrien looked at his baton. By now, he had listened to the voicemail Lady ug had left all of them at least ten times. He hoped his lady was alright. But he had to keep up faith. All he could really do was search the city for her.
So that is exactly what he did. He began to jump from building to building in hopes of finding Marinette. The problem? Paris was huge. Finding her alone was going to be hard.
He took out his baton once again. Maybe he could try contacting her again?
No signal. Great. Of all the times the services had to be down...
"Caaaaaaat..."
A whisper. A deadly, cold whisper. Like a spectrum creeping into his skin from behind. It felt cold. Freezing. Scary.
He stopped, not daring to look behind him. But he did. Nothing was there. Noone was there.
His baton beeped. Someone had sent him a message. It was Ladybug. How was she able to send a messagw to him if the services were down?
"Where are you?" she asked.
"Near the Louvre." he replied.
"I'll be right there."
Well that was... Odd. Ladybug made the messages seem plain and simple, something she never does. There would be name calling or at least a little teasing every now and then, or she would just call. Something was up.
And why would they meet at the Louvre? That place was only for discussing past events, not to report their findings on patrols.
"Adrien." Ladybug greeted from behind.
Cat Noir turned toward her, putting his baton away.
"M'lady! You're okay! You've been gone for hours." he smiled.
"Yeah, sorry. Anyway, what are you doing here?" she asked.
Cat Noir raised a brow. "This is my regular patrol route, babe. Why? Should we switch routes again?"
"No, no, just curious. Did you find anything?"
"The city is... Quiet. Deadly quiet. Kind of eerie."
"We have the place all to ourselves, huh?" Ladybug moaned seductively.
Red light... A definite red light! Since when was Marinette so flirty!? Maybe she was trying something new?
"Adrien...run. I don't sense Tikki..." Plagg's voice said from within. Their bond had developed so much, they were able to communicate while transformed.
Adrien did not reply. He gulped, his Adam's apple going up and down in a rythm. He blinked once, and Ladybug had gotten a few feet closer.
Confusion began to spread in his head.
"Are you feeling okay, LB?" he asked.
"What do you mean?" she replied.
"Remember the headache you had yesterday? You were out for hours."
"O-oh, yeah, yeah, I'm fine. It went away after a nap." she smiled.
Bingo. She fell for it. She never had a headache. She was fine. In fact they were out on a date just yesterday and she laughed the entire time.
He walked closer with a smile and held out his hand for her. She smiled and reached out to grab it.
"Sorry." he said, breaking the silence.
"Huh?"
"Sorry if it is you."
Without warning, Cat Noir delivered a strong punch into her stomach, knocking her into a wall. She held her stomach in pain and gasped for air.
Shit...what if it was really her? Did he overthink!?
"Really..." she mumbled.
"Ladybug! I'm sorry! I don't know what came over me!" he apologized.
"You...really..." she continued.
"... M-Marinette...?"
"You... Shouldn't... Have DONE that...! ADRIEN!!" she screamed and her eyes turned red with pure rage. The whole ground began to shake and her eyes continued to shine even brighter.
Not having any reason to stay, he ran. He did not dare to look back.
But Marinette did not give up that easily. No... It was not even Marinette anymore. It was a person. A person with red horns and an amethyst ruby on his head. Aatrox...
"RuN, RuN, RuN, kItTy..." his voice echoed with demonic energy, "LeT's SeE hOw StRoNg YoUr SaNiTy Is..."
Cat Noir continued to run away. All he could hear and see was messed up versions of his loved ones as he passed them. He did not like it. Who would have liked to see their girlfriend's face being vertically half and sewn together? Or their mother having knives all over her body?
This would take a toll on anyone.
"Come back, Adrien. I won't hurt you. In fact, your insanity is what keeps my sanity..." Aatrox taunted.
He had to escape... He had to escape. He. Had. To. Escape!
How could he escape this nightmare. The voices of the twisted versions of his loved ones was all he could hear. Not even his own footsteps were audible anymore.
He was stopped once Ladybug with razor sharp teeth and red nails appeared in front of him.
"Adrien... Why are you running...? Stay with me... I'll keep you safe..." she said in a deadly whisper as her head turned upside down.
"Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!!" he yelled and destroyed her with one swing and continued to run.
But he only found himself growing tired faster than usual. Ecentually, he lost his footing and fell face first onto the ground, allowing Aatrox to catch up and raise his claws at him from behind as he cried. Anyone would break down after witnessing such horrible visions. And he was about to die...
"Sanity in insanity, Adrien." he mocked and struck down.
But the blow never hit the blond. He was swooped away by a red blur. Aatrox powered down and smirked. Cat Noir survived. Oh well...
Your POV
Aatrox looked at you the same way Reality did earlier. Chilling and frightening...
"Hello [readers name]. Pft... You have a stupid name, you know that? Well, Here we are. The route to the best ending. Surprised? All it takes to get a happy ending to this story is if Ladybug and Cat Noir survive."
He smirked and flew closer to the fourth wall, knowing you were there.
"But where is the fun in the story ending so fast? I still have many... Many... MANY endings to show you. Who knows, maybe you'll learn something about me?"
"So perhaps you would like to see the worst ending first? Yes... I think it will be quite fun, don't you think? Hmhm... See you soon."
Your world turns black...
Note: There will be many endings to this story. Fair warning, the future chapters will contain a lot of death. But don't worry. I won't go into details or anything like that. But it won't be sunshine and rainbows either.
And also, sorry it took so long to get a short chapter out. Life can be hard sometimes and my schedule has been getting more busy by the day.
I will update this when I can. At least an update every two weeks or so.
Hope you like it so far though :)