Hey there! So, yeah, here we are, ready to start the fifth fanfic of the Miraculous Team. But before we get to it, I want to clear a couple of things, regarding the story you are about to read. First, the Collector in this story isn't the same Collector that is Gabriel Agreste's akumatized form, from the series. This Collector is a completely different character and will play an important role not only in this story, but other future stories as well. Second, we will see the inclusion of both Juleka's brother Luka, and Alya's sister Nora into this alternate universe. And third, as always, you can expect more development when it comes to our favourite ships, mainly MarinettexAdrien, AlyaxNino, ChloexSabrina, KimxAlix, RosexJuleka and IvanxMylene. Needless to say, that after losing for the fourth time in a row, Hawk Moth is going to take a small leave of absence in this story… but don't worry, he and his cronies will be back. And now, on with the show!

Chapter 1: Freedom

"According to science, the Universe was created 13.8 billion years ago, which is to say it was a really long time ago. The Earth itself was created only 4.54 billion years ago, and while not as old as the Universe, it is still quite old. In historical terms, it is impossible for a human being to understand how long that was. In perspective, if one would place time in perspective, it would be amazed by how time works. For example, if the Earth formed at midnight and the present moment was the next midnight, 24 hours later, modern humans would have been around since 11:59:59 pm—1 second. And if human history itself span 24 hours from one midnight to the next, 14 minutes would represent the time since Christ."

Those were the words from Professor Liu Chien, who told them to his two graduate students, Zhen Yu and Dai Jian, as they arrived at their destination, the archaeological site of Xiadu; or better yet, an archaeological site near the Xiadu site, near the Taihang Mountains, in China. A few months before, workers for a drilling company, who were searching for natural gas pockets came across the ruins of an ancient building, buried just a couple of feet from the surface. It did not take long for the Chinese government to interdict the site to the public, as well as suspending any drilling in the area, for further study. It took a couple of months to arrange things, but in the end, the government selected Professor Liu to be the head of research of the project. His job was to oversee the works on the first phase, and guarantee that any archaeological findings would be properly handled, before being shipped to Beijing. Liu Chien was a man in his late sixties, though one would never give him his real age, for he looked like he was in his mid-fifties. The only thing that gave away his real age was his white goatee, which he made sure, did not have a single hair out of place. This was not his first archaeological expedition, and even though he believed that he had seen enough archaeological sites and findings to not be surprised by whatever awaited him. The same could not be said by his two graduate students, who were new to all of that. They had never left Beijing in their life, and this was the first time out of China's second largest city. To say they were ecstatic with what they were going to find, was putting it lightly. As the jeep they were on went up the barren road, the two of them kept asking questions to the old professor. Yu, being a girl, talked for both of her and her colleague, Jian, who was much quieter, and being a guy, preferred to hear, instead of talking.

"What can you tell us about what we're going to find, professor?" -Yu asked the old man. After a 2-hour train voyage, on which she spent most of her time sleeping due to the pills she had taken for air sickness, she was in the mood to talk and ask questions, a trait she had inherited from her grandmother, on her father's side of the family, and which she cultivated while in college.

"Well, I don't know it much myself, my dear." -Professor Liu answered her. –"I can only tell you what I was told, and what I was shown." -he said, as he opened a small briefcase and took out a couple of photos that been taken to the ruins. –"Still, I can say that whatever is in there, it must be quite large. As you can see through these pictures, whatever it is, it must have been important. Buildings this large were only built either for royalty, or, for military purposes."

"But what do you think? Is it a palace, a monastery, or maybe a military fortress?" -Yu asked him, already imagining how the ruins would look like from up-close.

"Honestly, I don't know, my dear. When I was shown these photos, I immediately began researching, trying to find a reason why such ruins would be this far north." -Professor Liu went on. –"And to my surprise, I could not find anything that would help us identify it."

"That is quite strange, professor." -Jian said, talking for the first time, since they entered the jeep. –"A ruin that size must have been important, so, there should've been records of it."

"Well, most of the times, there are records of such things, my boy. But, not always. If you remember my classes, I've stated more than once that it's not unusual for places that were once important landmarks for a particular generation, to be forgotten by later generations." -Professor Liu reminded him. –"And, of course, we must always remember that there are times when records were destroyed, or simply erased from existence, for a reason."

"Unless… nobody wanted it to be found!" -Yu exclaimed, her eyes sparkling, as she said it. She loved all kinds of conspiracies. UFO's, governmental cover-ups, supernatural curses… she would devour all the books regarding the subject she could find. But her favourite were theories regarding disappearing cities and civilizations. And the more she thought about it, the more it felt to her that everything regarding those unknown ruins, all pointed out to an untold story… one that no one wanted it to be known; one that had written "mystery" in it.

"You're not going to start with your usual conspiracy theories, are you, Yu?" -Jian asked her. He liked his friend, but he never understood how the girl believed in things that seemed to have come out of a mystery novel, or an Indiana Jones movie. Unlike her, he had both his feet on the ground, and he only had a wish. To become one of the best archaeologists in the world and having his name on the mouth of everyone for his discoveries.

"Why can't you just pretend for once that I might be right about it?" -Yu shot at him. She did not like when people told her that those theories she liked so much were implausible or ridiculous.

"Because that's not the job of an archaeologist! An archaeologist is supposed to stick to the facts, not coming up with crazy stories, based on something imaginary!" -Jian told her. –"Besides, you've been watching too many Indiana Jones movies!"

"Maybe I have, maybe I haven't! But you can't tell me that science has all the answers!" -Yu shot at him. –"If so, then, how do you explain those heroes in Paris? Are they really magical? Or, maybe they are part of a secret black ops. laboratory experiment, and their enemy was also part of the team, but became evil, and now they have to fight him, so he doesn't take over the world!" -she said, throwing away all sorts of crazy ideas into the air, not really knowing that bits of some them were in a way true.

"What does that have to do with archaeology?!" -Jian asked her, trying to understand why she had used the Miraculous Team as an example to justify what they were talking about.

"Please, stop it, both of you!" -the professor told them, trying to calm them. He knew that if he did not stop them, they would start throwing insults to one another, and he was not in the mood to hear them bickering. –"Yu, I've been telling you this for years now. Not everything that disappears has to do with some half-baked conspiracy theory. Sometimes, it was merely forgotten, like the city of Pompeii, which remained forgotten until the end of the 16th century." -he exemplified.

"See? Even the professor agrees with me." -Jian said with a triumphant smug on his face.

"And you, Jian, you must be more open-minded to the possibility that there are things in this world that someone did not want to be known." -the professor also reprimanded him, making the smug he had on his face disappear as quickly as it appeared. –"It is true that an archaeologist's job is to interpret what he sees in the artefacts, while telling its story, not allowing his imagination to get the best of him. But, sometimes, a little imagination is needed to fill in the gaps of such story. In other words, there must be balance in what we do as archaeologists. And I hope you show that, once we arrive at the digging site. Remember, I don't want to spend my time reprimanding you, as if you were toddlers fighting for the right of playing with a toy first, understood?"

"Yes, professor." -they both answered in chorus.

And with those words, the argument ended. Professor Liu knew his assistants well enough to end their arguments with a right set of words. Not another word was exchanged for the rest of the trip, which lasted for about half an hour. Their driver, who spent the whole trip silent, could not help but to think that the two of them were acting like siblings, while the professor had to keep them in check, like a grandfather would do. It was only when they arrived at the digging site, that the silence was broken, as they saw what awaited them. Jian and Yu believed there would be just a couple of people at the camp, waiting for them to arrive, but to their surprise there were close to a hundred people there. Most of them were digging workers that had been hired to help with the excavation, while there were a handful of soldiers, who were there to keep the peace and to ensure that only authorized personnel entered the site. Last, but not least, was a small group of other archaeologists that had been invited by the Chinese government, each one of them an expert in its area, and with them, were also their respective assistants.

After being introduced to everyone, Yu and Jian took the time to familiarize a little with their surroundings, while Professor Lin looked over the newest photos of the ruins that had been taken the previous day, as well as a ground-penetrating radargram of the area, which revealed that the large ruin that had been found was only the tip of the iceberg.

While walking around the site, both Yu and Jian familiarized themselves with the site and the people in it. They took their time to also appreciate the beautiful landscape that was all around them. The beauty of the Taihang Mountains was breath-taking. Even they were dozens of kilometres away from them, their impressive size made whoever it looked at them feel insignificant. It was not until an hour later, when the Sun was high in the sky, signalling it was time for lunch that Yu and Jian joined Professor Lin, who by then had incredible news to share with them. As they ate, the old man told them what he had learned, regarding the digging site.

"According to the radargram, the ruins of the monastery are just the tip of the iceberg. This whole area is one giant ruin, waiting to be dug out." -the professor told them, his voice showing he was quite excited about it.

"A monastery? So, that's what the ruin shown in those photos is?" -Jian asked him.

"Indeed. We still don't know much about it, but at first glance, the team believes the monastery was built, maybe 40 centuries ago, and if so, it's old than the oldest sections of the Great Wall, and as old as the Great Pyramids in Egypt." -the old professor stated.

"40 centuries? Then, that means it's older than Buddhism itself." -Jian said.

"Yes. Some members of the team have managed to find a few Buddhist elements in the photos that were took, but the whole structure is far older than that. The monastery might have been built at first for some sort of cult, and later used by Buddhist monks." -Professor Liu said, hypothesizing the last part. Only when they were inside, would they know more about the monastery and its secrets.

"And around it, professor? What is around it? -Yu asked him, intrigued.

"A city."

"A city?! Then, it's not just a lost monastery or temple we're talking about. We're talking about a lost city!" -Yu exclaimed, excited.

"Yes, and from what the radargram has showed, this could be the greatest finding ever, in this part of the country." -Professor Lin stated, mildly excited. –"It's still too soon to make any assumptions, but, I do believe that it will take us years to uncover everything there is to uncover."

"So, when do we start exploring and digging?" -Jian asked him, as he took a bite out of his sandwich.

"Only in a couple of days. The tunnel that leads to the underground cave where the ruins of the monastery were found is quite damaged, and as such, it needs to be reinforced, before anyone stands foot again inside it." -Professor Liu said. –"But don't worry. We won't be standing here doing nothing in the meantime. We will be preparing ourselves for the task that is to come. Plus, there are already a few artefacts that have been recovered. We'll be busy examining and cataloguing them."

"But, professor. From what you told us, the monastery's ruins are just a couple of feet from the surface. Why can't we just dig a hole in the ground and use it as a new access to the ruins?" -Yu asked the old man.

"Our geologist colleagues have already hypothesized doing that, but they fear that by doing so, we might cause the cave's ceiling to collapse and damage the ruins." -Professor Liu explained. –"The soil is rather delicate, and the last thing we want is to have the ruins destroyed, because we were too eager to see them. We'll just have to be patient."

The rest of the day went by rather fast, and without a single hitch. The work on the tunnel was progressing at a steady pace, and a few of the artefacts that were found earlier had been processed. After dinner, everyone stood around talking for a couple of hours, before calling it a day. They would have to wake up a little bit before sunrise, and so, they needed a goodnight sleep. Yu and Jian were among the last to go to their tents. But even after she entered her tent to sleep, Yu could not sleep. The camp did not have many comforts, but it had an excellent wi-fi signal, and she was catching up on the news in the Miraculous Blog. Apart from being a fan of conspiracies, she was also a big fan of the Miraculous Team and their adventures. Many times, she wondered what it would be like living in Paris and seeing the heroes up close, whenever they went up against one of Hawk Moth's creations. And their latest adventure, whose summary had been written by Alya, with a little help from Nino and Mylee, made her feel like she had been on the spot, seeing all of it happening.

"Whoa… I can't believe it!" -Yu thought to herself. –"That must have been one colossal move by Antelope and Arachnid. What I wouldn't have given to see this happening." -she said. –"I wonder if there's a video of it around here?"

While she kept herself up to date with the heroic deeds of the Miraculous heroes, in his tent, Jian was trying to sleep, but saw this as a challenging task, because he found he had bought a sleeping bag, one size too little.

"I knew I should have bought a bigger sleeping bag…" -Jian sighed, as he tried not to move too much. He feared that if he did, he would tear the sleeping bag.

As for Professor Liu, just like every other major archaeologist in that camp, he had been given a trailer, which provided him with a little bit more of comfort and privacy, as well as a place to work in peace during the night, if he felt like doing it so. It was not a very spacious trailer, or very luxurious, but it was all he needed.

But, before he was to go to sleep, he had to do something he did every night, when in the field, and that was to record what had happened in a research journal. Over the years he had switched from writing in a book to a more digital version of the same. As he set his cell phone to begin recording, he mentally told himself what he was going to say. Sitting on a chair, he smiled to the camera, before beginning.

"Day 1. Project commences. As expected, the ruins that were initially found are just the tip of the iceberg. Beneath us, is an entire city. Most of it is buried underneath tons of soil, but, a few sections of it, like the monastery are in a system of caves, which will be the first to be explored, once the access tunnel has been reinforced." -Professor Liu declared. –"I must say that I expected to find something big, when they showed me the first photos of the ruins, but I never thought it would be something this big. A whole city, waiting to be uncovered. I would be lying if I said I wasn't excited about this crusade that we're about to undertake. In fact, I am just as excited as are my assistants. This is their first experience on the field, and I can consider myself lucky in having them here with me, to help me. They both have a tremendous potential to become splendid archaeologists, and I hope I can help them achieve that goal, by guiding them through the right path. On a personal note, I must point out that Yu displays an enthusiasm regarding what we might find here, like the one demonstrated by a 5-year-old, after gaining a new toy. I don't see that as a bad thing, but too much enthusiasm is never a good thing. I will have to talk to her and let her know that even if she's excited about this, she'll have to learn to control her excitement, while around others. We don't anyone to get upset with any commentary she might make, while excavating." -he said, as he ended the recording.

The alarm clock in Jian's tent had just stroke two in the morning, when a quick, yet violent tremor shook the earth, waking him up, along with the rest of the camp. Panicking, he tore his sleeping bag. Trying to overthink it, he exited the tent and saw everyone around him just as shook as he was, trying to understand what had happened. Yu, whose tent was just a few feet away from his, joined him, wondering what that tremor could have had been.

"Was that an earthquake?" -Yu asked him.

"I don't know, maybe." -Jian told her. –"Or maybe…"

"Or maybe what?" -Yu asked.

"Or maybe it was the tunnel that caved in, along with something else." -Jian hypothesized.

"I don't think so. That felt more like an earthquake than something caving in." -Yu said, as she looked around. The camp was a bit of a mess then, with people wondering what had happened. –"Look, there's the professor." -she pointed to the old man, who was closing on them.

Professor Liu had decided to read a little before going to bed and did not notice the time. When the earth shook, he quickly dropped the book and exited the trailer, to find out what had happened. It did not take him long to find his students, who just like him wondered what had happened. Seeing them alright, it made him feel calmer about what was going on.

"Are you alright?" -Professor Liu asked them, as he approached them.

"Yes, we are. And you, professor?" -Jian asked the old man.

"I'm fine, don't worry." -Professor Liu tranquilized him.

"That was an earthquake wasn't it, professor?"

"I'm not sure, Yu, but I would say yes." -Professor Liu answered her. –"I just hope that nobody has gotten hurt." -he said, as he looked around, checking to see if anyone he knew was missing. As far as his eyes could tell, everyone was accounted for.

"Do you think that the tunnel caved in?" -Jian asked the old man, worried not only about the workers that were inside, but also about how that would affect their work.

"I don't know… but, something tells me that we're about to know, Jian." -Professor Liu said, as he pointed to a group of people coming in their direction.

The group of people were some of the workers. They looked pretty unscathed, though one or two of them had a few bruises, but nothing serious. Professor Liu joined the rest of the chief archaeologists and wasted no time in questioning the workers, as soon as they arrived. They wanted to know if something bad had happened but were forced to wait a couple of minutes for the men to catch their breath.

"What happened? Are you alright?" -the professor asked them.

It was quickly established that all the workers had been able to exit the tunnel, and that this one had sustained a little damage, but nothing big. But what they were eager, for the lack of better word, to tell the chief archaeologists was something different. Something none was expecting to hear.

"What? Where did this happen? Show us!" -Professor Liu exclaimed.

It turned out that that small earthquake, which made everyone in the camp wake up, did something unexpected; it opened a sizable hole on the ground, about 100 meters from where the entrance tunnel was, thus, giving everyone an alternative route inside the ruins. Following the workers to the place where this had happened, when they arrived, they saw that someone had already placed some protective barriers around it. The hole had a semi-circular shape and was about five-meters. The workers were afraid that a possible aftershock would increase its size. Though they were told to keep away from the barriers, everyone wanted to see the hole with their own eyes. Worried about the safety of everyone in the camp, the chief of the team of workers felt it was his duty to warn the chief archaeologists that it was not prudent to continue working, at least until any replica took place. Taking their words into consideration, they agreed that they would wait 72 hours before restarting the work on the tunnel, while also monitoring any other structural fragilities that might have happened, other than the hole they were all staring at right then.

"We should also contact the CEA in Beijing and let them know about this, although I think they might know already." -one of the chief archaeologists said, refering to the China Earthquake Administration.

As they decided on what to do next, a few on the younger assistant archaeologists who were too stressed to go back to sleep, wondered if they could take advantage of what had happened to explore the ruins, with a little help from a drone. Quickly pitching the idea to the chief archaeologists, these were initially a little doubtful, given what had happened. But eventually they agreed to it, while also stating that if anything happened to the drone, it would come out of their pocket. After going back to their tents and changed back into their work clothes, they went to get the drone.

The drone they were going to use was equipped with a powerful flashlight, which allowed its user to see even in the darkest places. And in case this one failed, it was also equipped with night-vision. Once it was turned on, they quickly tested it to see if it was fully operational. The idea of using such an expensive drone was a little scary, and knowing that if anything happened to it, they would have to pay for it, it was better to be safe than sorry.

"Zoom in… zoom out… night vision… I think we're good to go."

"You sure about that?"

"Positive! Now let's take this baby for a spin and get us some cool images of what's down there!"

With the drone tested and calibrated, they felt they were ready to use it, to find out just what was beneath their feet. Breaking a few glow sticks, they threw them into the hole, before sending the drone down. As the drone was entered the hole, one could say there was excitement in the air. Though most people went back to bed, that young group, along with most of the chief archaeologists, were too excited with that opportunity to even thinking about sleeping. The first images they caught of the ruins made them realize that whatever they had imagined these would look like, they would not be as spectacular as they were. The buildings, the streets, everything in them, were perfectly preserved, much like it had happened in Pompeii, only differently. For some unknown reason, that part of the ruins had been perfectly preserved, unlike other parts which would have to be dug out. Just from looking at them, one could easily imagine how people lived there.

"This is so cool…"

"Tell me you're recording this. It will take us at least a few more days before we can get down there."

"One question… do you think that a photo taken by a drone can be submitted to National Geographic? Because if so, then, every last one of the photos I'm taking, has the "cover of National Geographic magazine" written all over them!"

They all felt the same kind of excitement the men who opened Tutankhamun's tomb, and saw the marvels that were inside it. But their enthusiasm was cut short, when the drone began to act with a mind of its own and ended up shutting itself down. Wondering what had happened to the drone, they immediately thought of how they were going to retrieve it. Not seeing another way, one would have to go down and get it back. Initially, no one volunteered to do it. But after a few seconds, Jian volunteered to go down. With the help of some of the workers, who provided him with a harness, he was getting ready to go down the hole, when Professor Liu advised him.

"Remember, when you want to come back up pull the rope twice. If there's any kind of trouble or emergency, just pull the rope as many times as you can. And remember, always keep your walkie-talkie on."

"Don't worry, professor. I will." -Jian said, as he readied himself. –"Be back in a couple of minutes."

Going down the hole, Jian found himself in a large cave, this one illuminated only by the glow sticks they had dropped earlier. Turning on a flashlight he had with him, he tried to get a better look at his surroundings. The plan was for him to get the drone and come back up, but he had a different plan. He was going to try and snap a couple of photos of the ruins himself, and while down there, he was also going to look around a bit. He knew that was against protocol, but he kept telling himself that sometimes one must bend the rules a little bit to do something amazing.

"This is most interesting." -Jian thought to himself, as he looked around.

"What do you see?!" -a voice said, coming from the walkie-talkie. It was Yu talking.

"It's a large cave. I still can't believe that all of this is down here." -Jian answered her over the walkie-talkie.

"Do you see the drone?" -another voice was heard. This one belonged to one of the other assistants.

"Not yet… I guess I'll have to look around for it." -Jian said. –"I'm reaching the ground." -he declared, as his feet touched the dusty floor. Right then, he felt a little like how Neil Armstrong must have felt when he walked on the Moon for the first time.

Looking around, he quickly saw where the drone was. Knowing where it was, he went ahead and began exploring the ruins, taking the time to photograph everything he believed was worth photographing. As he took the photos, the camera's flash revealed new details on what was around him. The whole place looked incredibly well-preserved, just as he had noticed, while climbing down the rope. The only place where it looked damaged was where the debris from the ceiling had fallen on, and even that did not look very damaged. Still, he decided not to enter any of the buildings, keeping himself on the outside. He did not want to damage anything, or risk destroying any artefacts. For every photo he took, he let out an aw or an ah. He could hear people talking on the walkie-talkie, but his mind was somewhere else. He was immersed into what he was doing, losing track of time… and as far as one could say, he was doing History, by photographing the never before seen ruins of a lost city. In his mind, he was already picturing how his photos would be the first to be used to publicize that discovery. He would be famous, and best of all, his name would be recognized all over the world.

"This is so great… wait until the professor sees this. He won't even be mad at me for taking all this time." -he said, as he snapped a couple of more shots. –"Oh, this one's really good."

He had just turned a corner, when he heard something. He turned around to see what it was, but he did not see a thing. Walking a couple of more steps, he once again heard the same sound. Doing the exact same thing he did before, he began to think he was hearing things. It was then, that he felt something touching his left shoulder, scaring him. Turning around, he saw Yu looking at him, while holding a flashlight and the drone. Like him, she was wearing a harness, and she did not look happy at all.

"You scared me!" -Jian screamed, his voice echoing all over the place.

"Well, you shouldn't have been going around and taking photos, instead of looking for the drone and getting back up there." -Yu scolded at him. –"The professor and the others were worried something bad had happened to you!"

"I got a little side-tracked, okay? I was doing a little research." -Jian told her, his heart still racing like crazy from the scare she had given him. –"Besides, I was only gone for about five minutes."

"Five minutes? Make that twenty minutes! Why didn't you answer your walkie-talkie?! And a little research? Aren't you just trying to show off for everyone? The very least could've done was answer us, when we called you over." -Yu said, when her walkie-talkie beeped. –"Yes? Yes, professor, I found him. We're on our way back, right now." -she said, as the two of them began to walk back.

"Why didn't you tell him about what I was doing?" -Jian asked her. Something in him believed she was going to tell the professor, what he had been up to, while down there.

"That's for you to tell him, not me. Besides, we're not kids in the kindergarten…" -Yu told him.

She had not finished talking, when the earth shook once more, this time just for a second, and the floor beneath their feet caved in, dragging her and Jian down. Fear took their spirits, as they plunged into a dark abyss. They were both expecting to drop several dozen meters before hitting the ground, and then ending up dead from the fall. But to their surprise, the drop was just a couple of meters, ending up with them falling on their stomachs. It was a hard landing, but they were both alive, with a few bruises and cuts; nothing serious.

"Yu… a-are you okay?!" -Jian screamed.

"I-I am… and you?" -Yu declared, as she tried to get back on her feet. She had landed badly, and her ankle was hurting. She believed it was not sprained or broken, but even so, it hurt quite a bit.

"I'm okay, too…" -Jian said, as he slowly got back on his feet. –"I t-thought we were goners."

"S-So did I." -Yu said, as she tried to find her flashlight in the dark. The first thing her hands caught were something made of plastic. It did not take her long to figure out it was the drone, which she could feel with her hands, was broken. Finally, she found her flashlight and quickly turned it on. –"Where are we?" -she asked, as she flashed her flashlight around, trying to see where they had ended up in.

"I don't know… but it seems like another cave, or maybe a tunnel." -Jian said, as he flashed his flashlight around. –"Although, I'm more convinced it's a cave… can you see a way for us to get back up there? I don't want to stay here too long." -he stated.

"No… and I think we can't go back up. At least, not the way we came." -Yu said, as she pointed her flashlight up to the hole they had fallen from, before grabbing her walkie-talkie. -"Professor? Professor?! Can you hear me?" -she asked over the walkie-talkie, only picking up static. –"My walkie-talkie is broken. What about yours?"

"Mine's damaged as well." -Jian said, as he checked it, realizing this one had been crushed by the rubble, and tossing it to the side.

"The professor is going to kill us… I wouldn't be surprised if he sends us home, as soon as we get out of this hole… that is, if we get out here." -Yu declared, her voice showing just how nervous she was right then.

"Don't say that. Of course, we're going to get out of here." -Jian told her that, to calm her down, but also to convince himself that there had to be a way out of that jam. It was then, that his flashlight showed him something he was not expecting to see. –"Plus, he's not going to kill us or send us home. Not after we show him this."

About 10 meters of where Jian was, stood a massive stone door carved with numerous symbols and Han characters, which he did not recognize. Other than the size of the door, which was about 4 meters tall, it was the way it had been made. It looked almost as if had been carved from the stone around it, and then polished, until it was absolutely smooth to the eye and the touch. Speechless, he walked towards it, while trying to understand what it was written on it. But no matter how much he tried, he just could not figure what those characters meant.

"This is unbelievable." -Jian said, as he kept staring at the door, as Yu joined him, she too was surprised by what she was seeing. Staring at it, she felt like she knew the symbol that was in the middle, from somewhere else, but could not remember where. The symbol looked like the Yin/Yang symbol, but it had a much more complex design.

"There is no way this could have been done with rudimentary hand tools… It's too perfect to have been carved all those millenniums ago." -Yu said. –"This could have only been done by…"

"Don't say aliens…" -Jian warned her. He was not in the mood to hear one of his friend's preposterous tales.

"I wasn't going to say aliens!" -Yu protested. –"I was going to say by someone with magical abilities, like a wizard or a warlock." -she declared.

"That's even worst than aliens!" -Jian shot at her. –"Look, it doesn't matter. What matters is that this is huge! The professor believed having a lost city to uncover, when he came just to explore the ruins of an old monastery was awesome. But with this thing here, we just elevated things to a whole new level!" -he said, still trying to process what was in front of him.

To get a better look at the door, he asked Yu to hold his flashlight, while he looked for his camera, in one of his pockets. Finding it, he saw this one was miraculously intact, despite the earlier fall. Snapping photos of the door, he made sure to photograph every little detail. Touching it, he felt like jolt of energy going through his body, before the door began glowing, illuminating the cave they were in. None of them had ever seen anything like it before. It seemed unreal, as something taken from a person's wildest fantasies and dreams, and yet, it was real, and it was happening in front of them. But it did not last long, and soon the glow began to fade, and once it was gone, it revealed an open door and a tunnel, leading to another part of that cave.

"Magic…" -Yu sighed, baffled. –"… and this time, don't tell me it can't be it, because there's no other explanation for this." -she told Jian, who remained silent.

Not understanding what had happened, they both were a little afraid of what to expect, if they decided to enter. Deep inside of them, something was telling them to not go forward and to stay away from whatever it could possibly exist in that new-found part of the cave. Yet, inside of them, was also something else telling them to take a risk and go forward. In the end, curiosity got the best of them. Holding their breath, they both walked towards the darkness, with nothing but their flashlights to point the way, wondering what else they would find. In their minds, ideas began to run loose, as they imagined what awaited them at the end of that tunnel. Yu's ankle was getting worst, and seeing that she was beginning to limp, Jian helped her out.

"Come on, put your arm around me." -Jian told her.

And what awaited them was something none of them imagined. When they saw themselves out of the tunnel, Yu remembered she had packed a couple of glowsticks on her backpack. Taking them out, she broke them and threw them into the dark, to reveal they had ended up in a huge round room with a tall ceiling. But what amazed them was not the room itself, it was what was in it. Displayed in a full circle were twelve stone statues, each the size of a VW Beetle. And these were no ordinary statues. They were Foo dogs, also known as Chinese guard dogs, and they were all facing the interior of the circle.

"Okay… I'm starting to feel like when you open a matryoshka, you think there can't be any smaller ones, and you end up finding that there's one more." -Yu declared, baffled at what was in front of her and Jian.

"This doesn't make sense… these statues shouldn't be here." -Jian declared, as he approached one of the Foo dog statues, to get a better look at them. These were made of a white rock, most likely marble, and were decorated with gold.

"Why not?" -Yu asked him.

"Don't tell me you already forgot what we learned in the first year of college?" -Jian asked her, and before she could answer him back, he went on. –"The Chinese guard dogs were a symbol of power during the Han dynasty, and this whole place is a lot older than that."

"Maybe they were added later?" -she said.

"Or maybe… we just found the oldest Chinese guard dogs in the history of China!" -Jian exclaimed. The way he talked, he was starting to sound more and more like Yu. –"This is getting better and better! The professor is going to flip out when he sees all of this!" -he said, as he photographed the statues.

"Your sounding more and more like me." -Yu looked at him with a smug on her face.

"Okay, maybe I'm getting ahead of myself with these assumptions, and I really shouldn't, because that's not what an archaeologist does, but…"

"I get it, don't worry. Still, I don't know anything about that, but I'm more intrigued with what these statues are guarding." -Yu declared.

"What are you talking about?!" -Jian asked her, puzzled.

"I'm talking about that over there."

Jian had been so focused on the room and on the Foo dogs' statues, that he had completely missed an object that was at the centre of the circle formed by the statues. The object in question was a large urn. This one was made of alabaster, standing 5 feet tall, painted with gold paint, and beautifully decorated with animal motifs. Upon closer inspection, one would see that each of the animals represented were part of the Chinese zodiac. The way it had been crafted, made it one of a kind. Just like it had happened with the large stone statues of the Foo dogs, the detail and the finesse of the urn made it too recent to have been crafted more than 40 centuries ago.

"This is incredible." -Jian said, as he got closer to the urn and photographed it.

"I've never seen anything like it before." -Yu said, standing behind Jian.

"Neither have I. This piece is unlike anything we've ever studied." -Jian said, as he kept photographing the urn. –"But whoever's ashes are inside this thing, it must have been pretty important." -he said.

"How do you know it was someone important?" -Yu asked him. –"It could have been more thank just one person. Maybe inside it, are the ashes of not just one person, but a whole group." -she suggested.

"Well, I don't know about that. But History has told us that only people of incredible importance deserve such honours. I just wished there was a way for us to know who it was…." -Jian told her, snapping another photo. –"Plus, there's that strange symbol we found on the door before." -he pointed out to the symbol that resembled the Yin/Yang symbol, that had been carved on a wax seal, as he kneeled in front of the urn to take a couple close-up shots. –"I'm starting to get a patter here."

"Let me take a look…" -Yu said, when she tripped, landing on top of Jian, who in turn fell forward, making the urn fall.

He still tried to grab it, but he was too slow. Once it hit the ground, the urn broke into a hundred pieces. Jian cursed their luck. But before he could blame Yu for what happened, the contents of the urn began to glow magically, as a gust of wind elevated them in the air, making them dance. For the second time that night, Jian and Yu were witnessing something that could not be explained. The glowing ashes quickly arranged themselves into the form of a glowing man. When the glow faded, they were baffled by the figure that stood in front of them. Standing 7 feet tall, wearing a menacing silver and golden armour, complete with a twin bladed sword that the more you look at it, the deadlier it looked like. The armour had been crafted in a way that it resembled the armour used by the 2003 version of the Shredder, the Ninja Turtles mortal enemy. The armour mirrored the urn's decoration, with each single part of it having a different animal motif. Looking at the man, they did not know what was scarier; the armour or the guy's eyes red glowing eyes, which were the only thing in his face that could be seen.

"Uh, h-hello?" -Yu said. The shock had been so great, she could not find any other words to say.

The man in the armour pointed his weapon at the two of them and began spoking in a language they did not understand. To make matters worse, his voice sounded like a mix of guttural sounds, making it even harder to understand whatever he could be speaking. Raising his voice, Jian and Yu became even more frightened than before. The fear in them culminated, when the armoured man swung his weapon and tried to cut them into pieces. Screaming, Jian began running, with Yu following him, though slower than him, thanks to her ankle injury.

"W-Wait for me, Jian! Don't leave me here!" -Yu screamed at him, begging for hi to come back and help her.

Tripping, she dropped on her knees. The only thing she could hear was the sound of the man in the armour getting closer and closer, as her heart raced out of control. Turning around, she could not see him because of the darkness in the tunnel, but she knew he was close. Breathing heavily, she froze and waited for the killing blow, when she felt something touching her shoulder. It was Jian, he had come back for her.

"Hang on, we're going to get out of here…"

But he had not finished talking, when the armoured man's blade hit the ground, spooking them. Using the flashlight, Jian saw that he was just a couple of feet away from them, brandishing the blade, looking at them with an even more menacing look than before.

"Get away from her!" -Jian screamed at him, while putting himself between the guy's blade and Yu.

He had screamed with all his strength, and used his scariest voice, hoping that would scare the guy. But it did not. Lifting the blade, the armoured man pointed at Jian, and he looked him in the eyes for what it looked like an eternity. The young man did not know what to do. He did not know if he should grab Yu and try to run, of he should stay still. And before he could make up his mind, the armoured man's right gauntlet began to glow orange, just before something absolutely insane happened. A tiger, or what could be perceived as half a tiger appeared, floating. But this tiger did not look like a tiger; it was transparent and had red eyes, just like the armoured man. Roaring, the creature attacked and cut off Lian's arm, slicing it like an Italian pepperoni. In the darkness, one could not see the blood gushing from where his arm had been just a few seconds prior. But there was no need, Jian's screams of pain were enough to know what happened. And then, after another roar and another couple of frightful screams from Jian, there was silence.

Covered in her friend's blood, Yu knew that Jian was dead, and she would be too, if she did not get out of there. She wanted to scream, but no matter how much she tried to do it, she could not. It was like her screams were stuck in her throat. In the dark, panicking, she tried to find her way out of there, only to go against the tunnel's walls. And then, she felt something biting her left arm. Then, she felt again, and again. There was something biting her. Touching the latest spot, she had been bitten, she felt two puncture marks. She hardly had the time for her brain to process she had been bitten by a snake, when out of nowhere a transparent snake, like the tiger that attacked Jian before, sprung in front of her and bit her on the neck.

"Get away from me!" -Yu screamed, as she tried to rip the snake from her neck, but her hands just went through the animal.

The snake's venom took just a few seconds to take effect. At first, Yu began to feel her hands and feet going numb. She knew the toxins in the snake's venom were starting to take their toll, and her racing heart was only contributing for them to spread over her system even faster. She tried to calm her heart, so the poison would not act so fast, but that proved to be impossible. The fear inside her just made her heart beat faster, combined with the certainty that she was going to die there, proved to be a deadly combination. Soon, her whole body became numb, and she struggled for air, as her lungs began to shut down. In a matter of seconds, her dead body lied next to that of Jian's.

If Yu had survived, she would have said that what happened that night and its eventual cover-up, would become one of the greatest mysteries surrounding an archaeological digging site, since the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb. A mystery, which only a handful of people would know the truth about. Plus, if they knew the ancient language that was carved on the stone door, they would have known that in it was written "Beware. Here lies the Collector, a plague on all Mankind.". The place they had discovered by accident was not a tomb, as they thought, but instead, a prison… a prison destined to one of the most dangerous creatures ever to walk the Earth.

So, it took me a lot longer to finish this first chapter than I wanted to. Between my job and what has been happening these last few days, I consider it a miracle, having been able to finish it. Now, like I said, this Collector is absolutely different from the one in the series, and doesn't have anything to do with Hawk Moth or with Gabriel Agreste... and, of course, you already saw him in action, and you can see that he's not the kind of person you want to meet in a dark alley. I know there was a little graphic violence in this chapter, but believe me that I don't plan on writing more chapters like it in this story. I just wanted to give the Collector an entrance worthy of its name. And to do that, I introduced a couple of characters that have nothing to do with Marinette or any other character in the series, so I would be able to kill them off. Still, it was pretty fun to come up with them, even if they were to be on just this first chapter, before we head back to Paris.

Plus, I've been thinking, and I decided that this story will be dedicated to a very special person... a person who isn't among us anymore. I'm talking about the great Stan "The Man" Lee, who passed away last week. I do believe that without him, and without the creation of Spider-Man, Ladybug wouldn't exist. So, Stan, this one's for you, as a very big thank you for all the memories and all the characters that you created and co-created, that helped shape the Marvel Universe, and in a way, for incentivating me, and so many others to write. Nuff Said.

As always, feel free to comment and throw out ideas you might think will help me make this story even better.