"So… what did Jagged commission you for this time?" Luka asked as he and Marinette waited for Nino in a shaded area of the park.
"Oh my gosh, Luka, it's amazing! He wants me to design his outfit for the upcoming Parisian Music Awards!"
"What?!" Luka gasped excitedly, a huge smile on his face, "That's amazing, Marinette! That's huge!"
Marinette nodded giddily, the meeting with her honorary uncle still fresh in her memory. Jagged was technically supposed to dress nicer for the ceremony, but according to Penny, he refused to settle with a normal, mundane suit and bowtie. But because Marinette understood his 'rock and roll style' so well, she was first on his list to hire as a personal designer.
The suit that Marinette sketched up right in the hotel room was a tux that looked similar in basic shape but had spiky shoulder pads, the elbow sleeves intentionally ripped and cuffs undone, no button to keep them in place either. She planned to stud up a back with a picture of Fang, or more accurately two of him crisscrossing each other, their mouths wide open and tongues hanging out. If you looked at it from the right angle, it could resemble arms crisscrossed, making the rock and roll sign A slip-on tie and untucked dress shirt underneath. The pants were similar, but the rips were more asymmetrical, one ripping at the knee on the right and the other nearly tearing the hem off the bottom left.
It was a bit of a sloppy ensemble, but the design was clearly meant to show that. A rebellious statement for such a refined event.
Jagged had fallen in love with the outfit the second he had laid eyes on it. The PMAs were fortunately still about a couple months away, and it had been at Penny's suggestion that Jagged commission Marinette so soon so the designer could have plenty of time to work on it and stay on top of her classes as well. Jagged had joked with how professional-looking Marinette's designs were, he sometimes forgot that she was still in collége. Despite this though, Marinette promised to have it ready in two or three weeks at most.
"When this is over we need to celebrate this!" Luka insisted, "Maybe we can combine it with taking done Lila as well."
"Combine what with taking down Lila?" Nino asked as he finally jogged over, a large backpack over his shoulder.
"Jagged Stone asked me to design his outfit for the PMAs coming up!" Marinette informed him excitedly.
Nino's eyes lit up, "No way! That's awesome, dudette! Yeah, we totally need to celebrate that!... after the whole Lila situation is taken care of of course."
"Speaking of which, what's in the bag, Nino?" Luka asked, quirking an eyebrow.
Nino immediately blushed, scratching the back of his head sheepishly, "Er- well, I wasn't sure if they would help much," he swung his pack off his shoulder and started pulling out the contents, "But I brought these!"
The couple blinked as Nino laid down three Nerf guns on the grass. One looked a bit like a crossbow, another a flintlock, and the last one looked like a rifle with a large barrel drum attached to it.
"Nerf guns?" Marinette asked.
"I-I don't know! I noticed that we didn't have long-range weapons and I'm not going to risk carrying around a real gun so…" Nino tried to explain, "At the very least, it could keep the Shadows away from us, don't you think?"
"...Well, we won't know unless we try right?" Marinette asked, "We'll ask the others what they think."
Nino smiled again, looking a little less embarrassed this time.
"Looks like they're set on their end," Luka reported as their phones vibrated, "Ready?"
"Let's do this! The sooner we get this done, the better," Marinette nodded sharply.
"Totally! Let's go, dudes!" Nino cheered as Luka pressed down on the Navigation app.
Within seconds, the trio was greeted by the towering walls surrounding the inner Empirical Castle. At almost the exact same moment, the Tokies joined them, materializing next to them.
"All right, let's blow this popsicle… what do you have there?" Skull asked, noticing the Nerf guns they were carrying.
"They were my idea…" Beat said shyly, "thought they might work in some way…"
"Hmm," Mona hummed, eyeing the toys, before turning to Fox, "Fox, you got any paint on you?"
Fox jumped for a second before pulling out a paintbrush and a small tube of black paint. He then looked between the items and the Nerf guns.
"Oh!" he gasped in realization, finding a flat rock squirting some paint onto the surface.
The Parisians were confused before Fox held out his hand as if waiting for something to be put into it. Chance cautiously handed the crossbow over.
They watched in mesmerized awe as Fox expertly painted over the brightly colored toy with the black paint.
"Wh-what's he doing?" Beat asked. Not that they minded that the toy was being painted over as the three guns belonged to Beat specifically but they were still just Nerf guns.
"We're in the cognitive world," Joker explained, "as long as the opponent sees and believes our weapons to be real, they will be. Fox is painting over them to make them look more realistic. The obvious bright colors would easily give it away that they're fakes otherwise."
"However, because they'll be recognized as guns or a firearm, they'll also know that we'll have a limited number of shots, so our ammo will be limited every time we come to the Metaverse," Queen explained.
"So these Nerf guns will be able to shoot real bullets?" Viper asked incredulously.
"That's correct!" Panther chirped.
It took another fifteen minutes for Fox to finish his paint job, "That should work for now. Maybe add some more military-like colors when we get back."
"Thanks a lot Fox!" Chance said as she picked the crossbow up. Viper pocketed the flintlock and Beat took the barrel-gun.
"Now that we're properly armed, let's get moving. The more ground we cover today the better," Joker said firmly, "You think we can make it to the Treasure today, Mona?"
"It's certainly a possibility," Mona said, "if we move quickly and carefully enough."
"Let's get going then!" Oracle proclaimed.
Having traversed the beginning of the Palace almost three times now, not much changed until the Phantom Thieves were swiftly weaving through the Garden.
"Huh!" Skull suddenly stopped with a gasp, stopping around the trophies of Bustier's class, "take a look at that!"
Everyone looked over where the blond was pointing and gasped.
In the place where Nino's trophy was a pile of shiny rubble now sat.
"What the heck happened here?" Chance exclaimed.
"...This likely happened the second that Lila realized that Nino wasn't one of her faithful minions anymore. No offense, Beat," Mona said, glancing at the DJ.
"None taken," he said, though he did look a bit pale behind the mask.
"So… this is what happens when her 'subjects' rebel huh?" Queen scowled.
"Wait, but what about older, more rusty statues near the entrance?" Panther asked, "they must have discovered the truth eventually."
"They likely only found out the truth after Lila left," Fox speculated, "So as far as she's concerned, they never abandoned her. She abandoned them ."
"But… then shouldn't Marinette's trophy be here too? And wouldn't it be all crumbled like mine?" Beat asked.
"I told you the other day, Beat," Chance reminded, "I was never with Lila to begin with, so Lila never had a trophy of me."
"And she likely doesn't keep contact with any of her old classmates as she likely already knows that they figured her out by now," Viper added, "which is why their trophies, while still intact, were rusted and falling apart on their own."
"It's completely disgusting!" Panther scowled, "Just when I thought she couldn't treat people like objects any further."
"Well, we won't stop her until we get to the Treasure," Queen said, "let's keep moving."
With a nod, the group quickly exited the Garden, gladly leaving the trophies behind.
After several minutes of traversing the Palace, the group arrived at the silver doors.
Skull gulped, "You absolutely sure that there's no way around?"
"Unfortunately, no," Oracle sighed, "and yes, I checked."
"Great…" Skull moaned though he wasn't the only one that looked unenthusiastic.
"Just-just keep your heads down and we'll get through quicker," Mona suggested.
The silver doors opened with a creak, but fortunately there weren't any Shadows around to hear it. A couple of the Phantom Thieves still gagged as they tried to maneuver around the decapitated victims.
Near the end of the room, there was an empty crucifix, but it was clear who it was intended for before they even looked at the nameplate.
Then something caught Fox's eye.
"Hey! What gives?!" Skull gasped bumping into the artist.
Fox didn't answer and walked closer to the cross.
"...Raising voice, attempted leak of information, refusing submission… what is this?" he muttered.
The other Phantom Thieves approached behind him and read the same engraving.
"...Are these a list of 'crimes' that Marinette's committed against Lila?" Queen speculated.
Viper's eyes widened before growling viciously. His gloved hands clenched so tightly they turned white.
Chance gulped and her eyes wandered to the victims already dead. Now that she looked a little closer, similar lists were also among their names.
As her eyes wandered down the list, some of the 'crimes' could easily have been resolved with a small apology, such as 'sneezing in her direction' or 'making mistake in homework correction'. What the hell?
"...I never realized how petty she was," Beat muttered as he walked up next to her, "some of these are ridiculous to hold a grudge over."
"...As long as she 'wins,' she doesn't care what tools she uses," Chance muttered, her fists shaking too.
Beat hesitated for a moment, but he then reassuringly placed his hand on Chance's shoulder, "We'll stop her."
A small smile formed on Chance's lips, her hand resting on top of Beat's, "Yeah."
"Let's go then!" Panther called, "Making the Treasure ours is the first step!"
With a nod, the group confidently walked out.
The other side took the Phantom Thieves outside, along one of the roofs. A couple of Shadows wandered around a short distance away. Glancing up, Joker spotted the upper levels of the castle.
"Up there, right Mona?" he confirmed.
"Yeah, I'm sensing some very strong distortions coming from that direction," he nodded.
"Then let's kick their asses and get up there!" Skull grinned, gesturing to the Shadows.
"Sounds like a plan," Chance smirked, swinging her flail.
Like a cobra in the grass, Joker leaped at the guard, tearing the mask off in one move.
"Head in the game, Beat!" Oracle ordered as the Shadow dissolved into a Gegenees and a couple of One-Eyed Oafs, "The one in the middle is weak to curse attacks. Hit him hard!"
"Got it!" Beat shouted with the removal of his mask, "Persona!"
In a whoosh of blue flames, Shaka Zulu appeared loyally behind him, "Take them out! Maeiga!"
The dark spell was released upon the enemies, knocking the Gegenees down & hitting the One-Eyed Oafs for a bit under half their health.
"Not bad!" Skull cheered on.
"Out of our way!" Queen cried as she hopped atop Johanna and took down the One-Eyed Oafs with a Mafreila. As the Gegenees was still down, the team tore into it and ripped it asunder.
"...Wow," Beat breathed, feeling the adrenaline pulsing through him.
"Yeah, it takes some getting used to," Viper said, "Nice going there!"
"Thanks," Beat grinned.
"Okay, next question, how are we going to get up there?" Chance asked, gesturing to the upper level.
"You could transform and use your yo-yo to get up," Tikki suggested.
"No, that would take too long," Chance argued, "Plus, I can only transport one, maybe two people at a time. It's best not to get separated as much as possible."
Tikki frowned, and Chance swore for a moment that she was pouting, but nodded and shrugged it off.
"Come to think of it," Oracle suddenly said, "do we know if your powers are altered at all if you use them in the Metaverse?"
"Chance and I transformed the first time we stumbled into the Palace," Viper informed them, "it didn't seem to change very much ability-wise. I mean, there's also the fact we had no idea how to fight Shadows at that time either."
"Hmm," Mona hummed, "we may need to experiment with that on a later date when we aren't in as much of a time crunch."
"Like in Mementos?" Panther suggested.
"Me...mentos?" Beat asked, pronouncing the strange word.
"We'll explain later, it's not too important right now," Joker said dismissively, "But I do agree with Mona. If we can somehow integrate using the Miraculous with our Personas, I can see us pulling off some amazing tricks."
"Possibly. I can look through the Grimoire a little bit too and see if anything sticks out. Oh! Tikki, didn't you and Kaalki mention talking to Ziggy at some point too?" Chance asked her Kwami
"Ziggy?" Viper questioned, "Isn't she the Goat Kwami?"
"Ahh!" Sass gasped in realization, "I can ssssee why you would sssuggessst sssuch council."
"Um… mind sharing with the class, dudes?" Beat asked, his confusion shared with most of the other Phantom Thieves.
"Well, you see, Kwamis all represent different concepts throughout the universe," Tikki explained, "The very first ones were Creation and Destruction, which is what I, and Chat Noir's Kwami, Plagg, represent. All other Kwamis came afterward as new abstract ideas or emotions came into existence."
"Wait, so wouldn't that imply that there are Kwamis being created even now?" Fox asked, "After all, ideas can be endless."
"Theoretically, yessss," Sass nodded, "though it is unlikely that we'll sssee them in physical form like you sssee the two of usss now."
"Huh? Why not?" Skull asked.
"Well, you see, the forms that Sass and I are in aren't our original forms," Tikki said almost sheepishly, "we were originally in a spirit-like form, that couldn't be detected by regular, tangible lifeforms, like humans. It wasn't until a mage thousands of years ago created the Miraculous, the magical jewels connected to our own lifeforce. Even then, though, we can only interact the way we are now if we are in possession of an owner like Mar-" Tikki coughed and pink bubbles spewed from her mouth.
"Whoa! Are you okay?" Oracle gasped.
"The ssspell, Tikki," Sass reminded with a small grin.
"Oh right, forgot!" Tikki said, a little embarrassed.
"Spell?" Joker asked.
"One of the resssstrictionssss that Kwamisss have is that we can't reveal the namessss of our ownersss, not even to our fellow Kwamisss," Sass clarified.
"Oh, a safety measure?" Queen guessed.
"Precccisssely!" Sass nodded, "Of courssse, there are other waysss for Miraculous bearerssss to be dissscovered. Humansss don't possssessss the ssssame boundariesss as ussss, after all."
"How intriguing," Fox murmured.
"Anyway, what does this have to do with this Ziggy gal?" Skull asked.
"The concept that Ziggy represents is Imagination. Mine is, Creation, of course, and Sass is Intuition," Tikki answered.
"So even though it's not quite the same as Cognition," Mona deduced, "It's likely that with Ziggy's concept that she could still give a little insight, since both involve desires, dreams and all that, in a way."
"That's right," Tikki nodded, "So that's why we suggested that we talk with her."
"Sounds like a plan," Joker said, "let us know what you find out, will you Chance?"
"Yeah, sure thing!" she nodded in agreement, "Anyway, weren't we trying to figure out a way to get to the higher level?"
"In Kamoshida's Castle, I remember that we found a stairway on the other side of the building," Panther recalled, "We could start there."
"Wait, we have to go all the way around to the other side now? I thought there was no way to do that!" Beat exclaimed.
"Nope," Joker grinned, turning towards some thick stone railings with a grin, "We're taking the high route."
With a running leap, he jumped the gap and landed expertly on the stone outcropping.
"Come on!" he shouted, beckoning to the others.
"What?!" Beat cried, "We can't jump that far."
"Sure you can," Oracle grinned, "just watch us!"
One by one, each of the Tokies leaped after their leader with ease. Queen stopped a couple of outcroppings away, "Well…?"
Sucking in a quick breath, Viper went first, pushing as much into the jump as he could. With a grunt he landed firmly on solid stone.
With the reassurance that one of them could make it, Chance and Beat were quick to follow behind the older boy.
It took several minutes, and a couple of close calls, but they managed to scale to the other side. Panther's intuition paid off as they spotted a bolted door leading into one of the towers.
And of course, it was guarded by a large, strong-looking Shadow.
"...I don't see any way to sneak past that one," Oracle murmured, "We'll have to jump him."
"As much of a pain it is," Skull scowled, "I agree."
"Let's get this over with then," Viper said.
"Right," Joker nodded before leaping down, and practically landing right on the Shadow's shoulders, flipping backward with its mask in hand.
Just like with the other Shadows, this one also morphed into a monster right in front of them. This time it was a pair of Hybrid Terrors and another Multi-Headed Lernean.
"One of these again?!" Viper growled, eyeing the Lernean with distaste.
"Hey, you guys have your guns right?" Mona asked, "use them to take it down!"
Trusting their comrades, and Chance and Viper remembering that this was the same way the first Lernean had been taken down, the three Parisians whipped out the repainted Nerf guns and fired. True to Joker's word, real bullets (and arrows for Chance) were shot from the gun barrels. Their combined volley was enough to weaken the Multi-Head Lernean significantly and completely destroy the two Hybrid Terrors.
"Holy...dude!" Beat exclaimed in awe.
With a smirk, the rest of the Phantom Thieves quickly surrounded the Lernean, weapons raised. With a nod of Joker's head, they tore into the remaining Shadow, ripping it into black tatters. With the Shadow dealt with, the entrance was now wide open, and the group spared little time heading in.
"Whoa! What's going on?!" Chance gasped as she noticed that several pillars and even parts of the staircase were moving or didn't even seem very solid.
"Calm down, this isn't anything necessarily bad," Queen said, "this area of the Palace is simply more distorted than the others. That means that the Treasure isn't too far away from now."
"Okay, if you say so," Chance said, still a little disturbed by the landscape. She could have sworn that some of the less solid ones looked like moths were flying off, or out, of it, which reminded her of akumas. Shrugging it off, she followed the group.
After scaling two staircases and discovering a not-so-secret elevator, golden doors soon came into view.
"So… the Treasure is behind here?" Beat asked, "I mean, we were hoping to find some gold doors right?"
"Hmm, I don't think so," Mona frowned, "Something doesn't feel right."
"Come to think of it, would Lila really make the location of the Treasure this obvious?" Fox asked with a frown, "Considering how devious she's acted both here and in the real world, this seems strangely out of character."
"Well, even if it's not the Treasure, it's got to be important even then, right?" Skull said.
"Sass and I can check for you, if you want," Tikki offered.
"...Maybe you should," Panther said with a nod.
With duo nods, the two Kwamis quickly phased through the door with barely a sound. After a couple of minutes, they returned and both flew right into their holders' chests.
If the two were humans, the Kwamis would likely be paler than ghosts.
"Whoa, what's wrong?" Viper gasped, shocked how much Sass was shivering.
"Y-You need to see what's in there!" Tikki gasped out.
Alarmed by how scared the Kwamis were, the Phantom Thieves didn't wait another second and pulled the doors open.
Once they registered what was inside, the terror the Kwamis were displaying was quickly explained.
"...What the shit?!" Skull shouted, practically voicing everyone's thoughts as their eyes fell on a large white statue of Hawkmoth himself situated in the middle of the room. From the ceiling, several banners fell, each displaying the symbol of the terrorist's akuma sign in purple. A couple were blue with Mayura's amok symbol as well. Looking around, they finally realized that they were standing in some sort of indoor cathedral. It looked similar to the one Joker, Panther, Skull, and Mona found in Kamoshida's castle, but it was all in shades of purple and indigo.
"Everyone…" Chance suddenly whispered, looking up "Stay calm."
Following her gaze, they gasped when they saw that flying in all directions in the high ceiling were thousands, and thousands of akumas. It reminded them of the scene in the first Harry Potter movie with all of the flying keys.
"Chance! Over there!" Viper gasped, pointing. At the foot of the Hawkmoth statue was an altar, and upon closer inspection, there were two indents inside the stone. One was in the shape of a ring, the other could easily fit two circular earrings inside. Underneath there were small carved out slots on the sides of the altar, each had a different animal carved around the frame of the slot.
"...This was where the guard was going to bring the Miraculous the first time we came here," Chance realized.
"Hold up, I don't understand!" Skull exclaimed, "Why is all this here? I mean, Kamoshida had something similar, but that was because he saw our school gym as some sort of holy ground to him. Why is this here, and for that bastard?!"
"You mentioned before that Lila hates Ladybug right because you-she outed her in front of Adrien, right?" Queen asked.
"So… would she seriously prefer for Hawkmoth to win, then?!" Panther gasped.
"No, this is something more than that," Oracle frowned, "Someone who was simply against Ladybug wouldn't… worship Hawkmoth like this."
"...Wait, are you implying that Lila could be working with Hawkmoth?!" Chance gasped.
"Er… well, I mean, what else could this mean?" Oracle asked.
"I don't see another possibility…" Joker said, a scowl on his face.
"...Chance, I hate to be the one to bring this up but… thinking back on the day that you were expelled, don't you find it odd that Hawkmoth chose that day to try another mass akumatization?" Beat asked, "The fact that Lila did all of that to you that same day seems like too much of a coincidence now that I think about it differently."
"... Those motherfuckers planned it!" Chance snarled, her voice sharp enough to cut steel, "Let's go, everyone. We have other bugs to squish."
Skull and Beat shuddered the most as the group got up in preparation to exit.
The handle jiggled.
"Oh crap! We need to hide!" Skull whispered urgently.
"Wh-where can we hide?!" Queen asked.
"...The pews! Hide under them!" Oracle quickly ordered.
As quickly and quietly as possible, everyone dived under the pews and prayed that whoever was coming in wouldn't think to search for them.
Soon after, the sound of two pairs of feet clicking against the hard stone echoed throughout the chamber. Though they could only see the feet, the Phantom Thieves could tell that whoever came in here wasn't a run-of-the-mill Shadow, but at least it wasn't Shadow Lila either.
Last they checked, Shadow Lila's shoes were a near neon orange, not a dark indigo or azure blue.
There was a shift in the air as well, followed by the sound of thousands of wings suddenly descending from above.
Fox, who was the one closest to the altar and Hawkmoth statue, gulped as he saw the akuma moths that had previously been flying aimlessly around the ceiling, lighting down all over the very same statue, almost covering it in a dark, malignant cloak.
"The Imperatrix is growing impatient, and I'm afraid that I am as well."
The Parisians all froze as recognition hit them. They knew that goddamn voice.
"You've got to be kidding me," Viper barely whispered.
"Yet we continue to grow stronger each day," another voice, one recognized only by Chance, Viper & Beat followed up, "it's only a matter of time before the Miraculous fall into your hands, My Lord."
"If those insolent children believe that they are actually worthy of holding such power, they are more foolish than we thought. No, only the Imperatrix is worthy as of right now to use them properly."
It took every ounce of Chance's willpower to stay silent. Sure, this was Lila's cognition of Hawkmoth and Mayura, but the fact that she thought herself superior enough for the Miraculous sickened her. Who knows what sort of chaos she would create if she obtained even one of them?
"All that matters is who has the power. Those with the power make the rules in this world after all," Cognitive Hawkmoth proclaimed.
This comment sent anger coursing through every Phantom Thief in the room.
"Only those the Imperatrix finds worthy will hold a Miraculous, unlike simply using those already 'picked' like foolish Chloe did. Only the perfect akuma will guarantee our victory."
"I doubt another stroke of luck will befall us for a while," they could hear the frown in Mayura's tone, "the chaos Imperatrix caused for the Princess likely won't work a second time."
Chance's heart nearly stopped. So Lila had been trying to get her akumatized?! But, from the way that these cognitions sounded, it didn't seem like an arrangement anymore, and that the two villains were simply taking advantage of Lila's behavior against her.
"Gabriel Agreste has been serving his purpose well in trusting her," Cognitive Hawkmoth said, "I'm sure with his connections and influence that another opportunity will arise shortly."
"Wha-Agreste Senior?!" Beat hissed lowly.
"Adrien's father?" Fox asked, "He has a factor in this?"
"We should take this outside so we don't have to whisper or risk being discovered while discussing this," Joker said, his quiet voice helping everyone calm down enough. Carefully, cautiously, the team snuck outside through a door to the side. To their luck, there was a safe room just down the hall that they all scrambled into.
"Okay...what's going on?" Mona inquired, sounding just confused and concerned as the others.
"Well, it's clear that Lila's working for Hawkmoth in some way," Queen said, "you guys realize what this means right? We're not dealing with simply a liar and indirect murderer, but also a terrorist!"
"And it would seem from what those Cognitions were discussing that the Agrestes are involved somehow too," Fox said with a frown.
"No way! Adrien wouldn't do that!" Beat protested, "His pop on the other hand…"
"Chance, you did mention that that Grimoire book belonged to Gabriel Agreste right?" Panther asked, "The one that nearly got Adrien pulled from school? Do you think… do you think Mr. Agreste could be Hawkmoth?"
"No! No he can't be!" Chance insisted, before groaning, "This doesn't make any sense!"
"What doesn't make sense?" Joker inquired.
"Well… Gabriel can't be Hawkmoth! The same day that Adrien was pulled from school, he was akumatized! So, that rules him out doesn't it?"
"Even so…" Viper said, "I think it would be a good idea to look again, Chance. It's clear that Lila believes the Agrestes are involved in some way. Just because Gabriel isn't Hawkmoth doesn't mean he isn't associated with him in some way."
"I agree," Queen said, "the fact that he had that book alone is suspicious enough… do you know if Gabriel has motivation to be Hawkmoth?"
"Well…" Chance hesitated.
"Adrien's mom did disappear just over a year ago," Beat provided, "no one knows what happened to her, nor has anyone heard from her. According to what little bro has told me, his father's behavior changed drastically. But… that's usually normal for someone that loses a loved one, isn't it?"
"Maybe… but that could also possibly be a motive to use the Wish too," Panther said with a frown.
"But even though she's working for him, Lila still doesn't know who Hawkmoth and Mayura actually are?" Skull asked.
"I don't think so," Oracle shook his head, "if that were the case, we wouldn't have been seeing the supervillains but the people behind the masks. Right Mona?"
"That should be the case," he nodded, "so the fact that the supervillains were there instead of their civilian forms proves that Lila's as ignorant as everyone else. Of course, that's not to say that she has suspicions of her own…"
"So… even if she did know, she wouldn't tell anyone, huh?" Beat asked.
"Considering how much she supports Hawkmoth and despises the Parisian heroes, I wouldn't be surprised," Viper frowned.
"Lila's becoming a bigger and bigger threat the deeper we get in this Palace," Joker said, "now it's more important than ever that we find and steal her Treasure."
"But, where's the Treasure?" Beat asked, "I mean, shouldn't it have been behind those gold doors, but instead it was that church place."
"We just need to keep going forward," Fox said, "it's likely that those doors were gold in order to throw us off the trail. Deception does appear to be a speciality of Miss Rossi's."
"I agree," Mona said, "and besides, we're at least close by, considering how distorted everything is becoming, we just gotta keep going. Like we said when we were outside, the Treasure's likely at the highest point of this place."
"Just gotta keep climbing stairs then huh?" Chance huffed out a laugh, "What I wouldn't give for a speed-powered Miraculous." This caused Sass and Tikki to snicker.
"Let's go then! This is the final stretch!" Panther cheered.
With nods, the group stood up and exited the safe room.
o~o
AN: Yeah, I headcanon that Yusuke carries pain with him everywhere, even in his Phantom Thief guise.
So... some interesting revelations here. Not only does Lila hate Ladybug, but she also could be in cahoots with Hawkmoth...? Maybe...
The Phantom Thieves are getting close to the Treasure, hopefully they find it soon!
R&R and see you all next chapter!