The entire morning before arriving at school, Alix had been tense.
I mean, who wouldn't be if a familiar time burrow suddenly opened up in your room in the middle of the night and deposited a paper airplane that hit you square in the face?
The surprise she felt over the fact that her future self had contacted her in a less than traditional way, was nothing compared to the message actually written on the note.
'Times are changing, mini-me, and changing fast. Once the fox sees the red and black petals, follow Alice and Mini-Hatter down the rabbit hole.'
At the time of initially receiving it, Alix had absolutely no clue to what her future self was talking about. 'Red and black petals'? 'Alice' and 'mini-hatter'?
'Guess I got to start thinking of things in riddles too,' Alix mentally made a note to herself before heading back to sleep.
She got all of her answers the second she walked through the school doors.
There were cards, calling cards to be specific, from the freaking PHANTOM THIEVES all over the school! She spotted the teachers and Principal Damocles trying to gather as many cards as possible and throw them out, but there were simply too many of them and not enough time to clear them all. Students were picking them up off the ground and reading them from where they were posted on the walls.
The next thing Alix registered was about the cards themselves. Red and black were the main colors used on them. Was this what Bunnix was talking about?
And the answer of who the 'fox' was was answered as she read the calling card itself. It was addressed to Lila. That… sort of made sense.
When Lila herself came into the school, Alya was one of the first to rush up to her and show her the card, and Lila looked genuinely confused, and scared. Through her trembling voice she said she had no idea what these cards were talking about.
'Yeah, right, like you don't,' Alix had spat in her head. Ever since the trip to Hawaii and those Japanese students practically lynching Lila in front of the rest of the class, the strange feeling that Alix had had around the Italian for a while had skyrocketed in intensity. Because everything they said made sense! She felt like an absolute buffoon for not thinking of those legal issues sooner!
Then Marinette and Nino walked into school; if the pink-head was being honest, Marinette was her first suspect other than the actual Phantom Thieves. After all, Marinette had done some crazy things in the past, even if this one seemed to take the cake. She and Lila were like water and oil. They didn't get along at all, especially regarding Adrien. Marinette seemed to back off after the model started going out with Kagami, so Alix would admit she was confused as to why Marinette would be the one to do something this nuts and over the top. But it was obvious that she and Luka had fallen in love deeply. She had no idea when exactly it happened, but the two of them always had the other's back, no matter what. Luka was definitely Marinette's rock - although since he lived on a boat and all, buoy might be more fitting. Or maybe anchor? Or-
'Oh great!' Alix inwardly groaned, 'Thinking in metaphors already!'
This time though, Nino was the one to rush to Marinette's defense, pointing out that the two of them had an alibi through none other than Marc Anciel, the shy boy always hanging out with Nath in the art room.
After Marc confirmed that what Nino said was true, there wasn't time to throw more accusations around as Kim spotted an akuma heading straight for the school! After that, Ladybug showed up (boy, was that a shock) and Rose, in tears, showed her the calling card. After reading it aloud, she dismissed it as fake, and Alix was about to take it that way when a thought occurred to her:
Had Bunnix spoken to Ladybug as well?
The thought almost prevented her from noticing a flash of orange disappearing from the top of the roof. She had to blink several times to make sure she wasn't mistaken, because she could have sworn that that was a fox tail or something! But… Lila wasn't akumatized, and due to the identities being realized (*cough*cough* thanks Chloe *cough*), Alya wasn't in her Rena Rouge persona either.
Then, moments after Ladybug had left, as everyone else moved to help the teachers clean the mess up, she spotted Marinette and Nino retreat right back out of the school again.
Follow Alice and Mini-Hat-Oh! Alix nearly exclaimed it aloud when it finally hit her. Making sure that no one noticed, the skater zipped off after the pair. She'd been wondering what to say to them when the world started morphing around her.
o~o
"...I have so many questions," Panther was first to speak once Alix had finished.
"Yeah, like… what's a 'burrow,' because I have a feeling it's completely different from the definition we're thinking of," Fox said.
Before they could say anything else though, Chance gasped, pounding her fist into her open palm.
"The Rabbit Miraculous! Of course!"
"Rabbit Miraculous?" Queen asked, glancing at the young Guardian, to which Chance responded, "Yes! That Miraculous gives the bearer the ability to travel through time!"
"Wait, what?!" Skull exclaimed, "But I thought that was the Snake Miraculous's thing!"
"The powers are definitely similar," Viper answered, "but mine acts more like a reset button. The Rabbit Miraculous will literally open a portal through time. The bearer can travel all the way back to prehistoric times if they wanted, or even the Big Bang! It's a lot more dangerous."
"Okay, but why would the Rabbit holder- er, future Rabbit holder- ugh, you know what, I don't care! Why would that hero tell skater-girl here to follow us?" Oracle cried out in frustration.
Chance said, "I don't know! But if Bunnix sent a message, we must need Alix for something."
"Which is?" Mona said, pointedly ignoring Alix's eyes bugging out at the not-cat.
"Like I said, I don't know. " Chance responded, "We're just going to have to trust her. I gave her that Miraculous for a reason, after all!"
"Ah! Dudette!" Beat cried, catching Chance's mistake too late.
"Wait… Ladybug?!" Alix's eyes looked like they were going to pop out of their sockets. Groaning loudly, she buried her face in her hands, "Will someone please explain what the fresh fuck is going on?"
"Well… since you explained everything to us, we owe you an explanation, don't we?" Queen said uncomfortably.
"Welcome to Lila's shithole heart!" Skull said with a mock-cheer, raising his hands outwards.
"...Huh?" was all that came out of the pink-haired kid's mouth.
"Okay, we're in another reality based off of Lila's distorted beliefs & desires. We're taking something from a lookalike of her that will make her a better person. We don't exactly know what it looks like yet, but we know where to find it," Joker said quickly, "I'd love to give you a more detailed explanation, but we really don't have time."
"Stay with one of us at all times, and shout if the bad guys get too close, okay?" Beat added on.
"I...I can do that," Alix finally nodded, deciding to simply go along with it.
"Wait, we're not seriously taking her with us, are we?" Fox gasped.
"We have to," Chance insisted, "we don't have time to send her back, and like I said earlier, if Bunnix sent her a message, we will need her for something."
"Yeah, if the older me wants me here, then I'm staying!" Alix argued stubbornly.
"...Fine. But do as Beat said, and don't wander off! Got it?!" Mona ordered.
"Okay, okay, got it! Sheesh!" Alix raised her hands up.
"Let's go. We've wasted enough time already!" Joker proclaimed before running off. The rest of the group followed suit.
o~o
To the surprise of the Parisians, there weren't a ton of enemies as they made their way through the infiltration route. The Tokies assured them that this was pretty normal, though. Practically a stroke of luck even, since they now had to - as Skull put it - babysit on the job at the moment.
"So… all the things that Lila's said she's done are lies?" the skater asked as they rounded a corner out of the Trophy Garden (Alix had looked like a mix of freaked out and pissed off when she saw the statues).
"Yep! Sure are!" Viper confirmed.
"I knew it!" the skater shouted with glee.
She was then immediately swung behind a wall corner by Panther, her mouth getting covered as well. Everyone waited with baited breath as a large Shadow stomped by without noticing them.
"What do you mean you 'knew' it?" Chance asked, shooting her a suspicious look.
After Panther released her grip on Alix's jaw, the skater smacking her lips a little from how tight it had been, she explained, "Okay, so I never really suspected she was 'lying,' per se - well, at least not until Hawaii - but… I did notice something else."
"And what was that?" Viper asked.
"No offense meant to her-"
"Oh, take as much offense as you'd like," Chance grumbled. Skull snickered in the background.
"-but… she's sort of a glory hog, isn't she?
"Sort of?" Beat asked with an amused grin.
"Okay, a big attention hog then! Anyway, whenever the girls would talk with her around, she always made it about her; that's why I got tired of her. I didn't think she was lying until Hawaii, though. Oh, you other guys may not - hold up again… you're those Japanese students, aren't you?"
"Just how many people are going to figure us out?" Joker grumbled to himself, going unnoticed by the rest.
"Well, how many other Japanese people do you know that don't like Lila either?" Queen grinned a little.
"Kagami. Adrien's girlfriend," Alix said automatically.
"...You know what, that's fair. But besides her…" Queen admitted.
"...Fair enough," Alix shrugged, "Never mind what I was going to say then, since you guys were there."
"...So, what exactly made you believe she was lying then?" Beat asked, "I'll be honest, I didn't figure it out until I got dragged in here on accident a few days ago."
"Well… because it made sense!' Alix said, not knowing a better way of putting it.
"What made sense?" Chance asked.
"Lots of us have done crazy things or have big names as parents. Adrien, Chloe while she was here, and I have rich parents. Marin-"
"Chance. It's Chance while we're here," Chance interrupted as she started pointing each Phantom Thief out, "the rest of us are Beat, Viper, Joker, Mona, Skull, Panther, Fox, Queen & Oracle."
"...Okay, Chance then. Chance, your parents are pretty big bakers, your uncle is a famous chef, and you yourself have done some pretty cool shit for people like Jagged Stone & Clara Nightingale. So to hear someone else show up spouting achievements seemed decently normal at first, you know?"
"Sure, at first… but really? A song from Jagged Stone? Prince Ali's secret lover? The inspiration for Austin Moon's new album?" Chance deadpanned.
Alix couldn't help but look away, "She fooled almost all of us, Chance. It doesn't excuse our behavior, but it does explain it. I'm… I'm sorry, Chance."
"I'm willing to forgive you, Alix, but it'll take a while," Chance said honestly.
Alix nodded, but then felt a hand covering her eyes this time. These ones must belong to Fox, considering all she saw was blue.
"Hey, what-"
"Shh! Just keep walking," he ordered quietly before speed walking with her, preventing her from seeing what was going on. She heard the sound of double doors opening and shutting. She could have sworn she heard one or two of the Thieves gagging as they walked.
After the sound of another set of double doors opening and closing, Fox removed his hand.
Alix was more concerned than confused when she spotted some of the teens looking sick. Whatever was in there, it wasn't something they wanted her to see.
Most of the rest of the time, they were quiet, hiding from Shadows every other hallway.
It wasn't until they made it to the familiar old, rusty doors that should have led to the throne room that things got interesting.
Doors that were swung wide open.
"...That wasn't there before!" Skull exclaimed as he and the others gaped at the new path laid before them.
"They must have moved the Treasure down this path," Queen deduced.
"Okay, but how do we-"
"Hold on!" Chance interrupted Panther, her eyes narrowed, "Mona, let me borrow a stone."
"Um… sure?" Mona said, tossing one over, confused.
Taking a breath, and tossing the pebble up and down a few times, Chance then tossed it forward… and it phased right through the floor. Upon contact, the rest of the room and path evaporated.
"Holy shit!" Skull shouted, jumping back.
In front of them wasn't the throne room or even an empty passageway, but a death trap. Had any of them stepped into the room, they would have fallen down a sloped ramp and slid right into a trap of spikes that shot up and down randomly. Beyond that, there were a ton of other things that would have spelled an unpleasant end for all of them.
"This is so insane!" Panther gasped, "How are we supposed to get past this?!"
"It looks like our calling card changed Lila's cognition in more ways than one. It's like with Kaneshiro," Mona observed.
"Everyone, over there!" Viper pointed. Squinting, the group finally saw what he was looking at. There was a lever in the middle of all the chaos.
"You think that's what will turn all of this off?" Joker asked.
"It has to," Viper insisted, "look. There's something blocking the Treasure's door too!"
"Okay, but… how do we get to it?" Beat asked, "Even if you two used your Miraculous…"
Unbeknownst to them, Alix narrowed her eyes, scanning the area. Why did this layout look so familiar? Then it hit her!
"It's a roller-rink!" Alix gasped. A crafty grin spread across her features, and she knelt down and tightened her laces.
"Whoa, hold it, what are you doing?!" Oracle exclaimed, "You're not going down there!"
"Hey, you said I needed to be here for a reason right? Well, this is it!" Alix argued, "It has to be!"
"Alix, no! It's too dangerous!" Chance exclaimed, "You'll get killed!"
Alix actually scoffed, before lowering into a set running position, "No I won't!"
Before anyone could stop her or protest further, Alix took off, skidding down the ramp in her roller-blades.
(www . youtube watch ?v = MyKHaYbNNAE Listen as you read the following scene.)
Using her momentum to her advantage, Alix tucked her legs underneath her and leaped over the spikes. She then leaned over backward, nearly backflipping, sliding underneath a swinging ax.
"What in the…" Queen gaped, her mouth hanging open like a hashbrown in its bag.
"OHHHHH! GO GO GO!" Skull cackled, laughing hard.
With a grunt, Alix swerved to the side, skating up the wall, and around a pool of what looked like acid, doing the same thing to the opposite wall.
At one point, she did stumble, slamming against one of the walls with her back, spikes shooting out by either side of her head.
The Phantom Thieves could only look on in horror when they saw that. Skull stopped laughing immediately.
However, the spikes soon retreated back into the wall, and taking a breath to calm her racing heart, Alix took off again, this time jumping a gap with a forward flip, cartwheeling upon landing on the other side.
From the entrance to the arena (what else could they possibly call it?), the Phantom Thieves' eyes tracked the skater through every turn, flip, and trick she did to maneuver around the obstacles, their heads turning this way and that.
Finally, from one final ramp, the lever was in sight, and using all the speed she could build up, Alix leaped, hands outstretched, and latched onto the lever. Fortunately, her weight was enough to pull the lever down with her, and the floor underneath snapped shut and all the hanging contraptions disappeared back into the ceiling.
But most importantly, the barrier blocking the Treasure room also slipped back into the floor.
"Open sesame!" Alix shouted from where she still hung from the lever, a huge grin on her face.
"...That was the most reckless, crazy, stupid… but also the most amazing thing I've ever seen," Chance exclaimed as she and other Thieves ran to the center of the room.
"Mental note: learn more about skating and shit. HOLY 'EFF, THAT WAS BADASS!" Skull cheered.
Alix grinned, proud as a peacock as she finally let go, landing safely in Viper's arms.
"I guess now we know why Bunnix wanted her younger self here," Mona said with a giant grin on his face, "I'll admit, that was pretty awesome to watch."
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get going!" Alix pumped her fist in the air.
"Right," Joker nodded before leading the way to the doors. Being wary of any additional traps, the group snuck down the hall. To their luck, no further traps were laid. But…
"...Are you kidding me?" Joker sighed when the door jiggled but didn't open.
"Move aside," Chance grinned, before glancing down at Tikki, sharing a similar grin. With a flourish, the Kwami vanished into the lock. After a small click was heard, the doors creaked open.
"...Ha, ah, ah! There it is!" Mona cried in excitement as a large, gold laurel wreath tiara greeted them, floating in the air.
"Holy cow, that's huge!" Beat muttered in shock.
"See? It's just like we told you," Panther grinned, "Now all we need to do is take it!"
"Are you sure these are Lila's desires?" Chance asked dubiously, "It seems way too pretty for that."
"That's usually been the case, unfortunately," Joker confessed, "but yes, this is it."
"Heh-heh, heh-heh!" Mona giggled hysterically, eyes shining.
"Um… what's up with Mona?" Viper asked, eying the cat with a quirked eyebrow.
"Uh… well," Queen started.
With a shrill caterwaul, Mona leaped on the tiara and started rubbing his face against the shining metal.
The Tokyo Phantom Thieves just looked annoyed, while the Parisian ones plus Alix could only stare, uneasy & confused. Even Sass and Tikki looked a little unnerved.
"...Are you dudes sure that he's not a cat?" Beat eventually asked.
"Oh, trust us, we've been asking ourselves that since Day 1," Skull groaned.
"Mona, I believe we still have a job to do!" Fox said loudly, which was enough to catch the cat's attention.
With a flush of embarrassment, Mona leaped off the tiara and dusted himself off.
"Er, right," he cleared his throat, "anyway, let's get this thing out of here!"
"No need to tell us twice," Beat said as he and the others gathered around the tiara, gently lowering it down.
"Once this is out of the Palace, Lila will change, right?" Chance asked.
"That should be what happens," Queen nodded.
"All right then, let's go," Viper said.
o~o
It took some maneuvering, but the group managed to slowly carry the tiara out of its vault and into the main room. Chance suddenly stopped dead in her tracks.
"Hey, what's the big idea?" Skull asked.
"Everyone… stay calm," Viper whispered urgently.
Following his line of sight, the PTs soon saw what had made Chance stop in the first place.
Where the ceiling used to look normal, it was now covered with hundreds of glistening indigo and black wings.
Each and every one of the group gulped simultaneously.
As if on signal, the moths, like a cloud of thick smoke, descended on the group.
"Agh! No!"
"Get back!"
"Fuck the hell off!"
"Go away!"
Fortunately, none of the moths merged with any of the team or Alix's clothes, but the attacking swarm forced them to drop the tiara with a clank. In another flash of light, it disappeared, and the moths backed off.
"Nu-uh-uh…" a citrus-sweet voice scolded from behind them, "Don't you know that it's not nice to take something that doesn't belong to you?"
The group didn't even need to turn around to know who it was, as the Imperatrix herself smiled coyly from the top of the stairs, her tiara twirling around her finger.
"I'll admit, I was impressed that you managed to see through my trap, even if you had to rely on a peasant outsider to get through the security."
"Say what now?" Alix roared.
"I suppose everyone needs to hold a couple of pawns in reserve to get what they want," the Shadow Self shrugged, barely regarding the skater.
"I ain't nobody's pawn!" Alix snarled, "I made some mistakes, that's true, but you're still making ones now! If you'd been honest with all of our class, you know we'd have been your genuine friends! Instead, you've got fake friends who're only interested in you for your stories. What the hell do you possibly plan to gain from all that?"
Shadow Lila was silent for a few moments, before chuckling, as if the answer was obvious, "What do I gain, you ask? Their focus. Their admiration. I'm the queen bee that Chloe Bourgeois could only dream of becoming! I'm the center of attention, the one they adore! Who cares if it's a foundation of lies, so long as they worship me? I'm a higher breed of human, you know!"
"'Higher breed'?" Chance asked incredulously, "Is that why you tried to expel me?"
"Please," Shadow Lila scoffed, "You defied the Imperatrix - the Empress of the school. What else was I supposed to do to get you out of my way?"
"Uh, you coulda ignored her, maybe?" Skull asked as if talking to a three-year-old.
"How does the old saying go?" Lila's suppressed self asked, "Uproot the weed now before it spreads?"
"...You were scared, weren't you?" Oracle accused, "Because Marinette knew, you knew there was a minuscule chance she could unravel everything. That's why you did all of what you did!"
"All because I wouldn't believe you?" Chance roared, "If you had just been honest from the start, I would have given you a chance! Heck, I still tried to give you a chance - multiple times !"
"And yet the second I open my mouth, your precious friends are more willing to believe me over you," Shadow Lila laughed, "Those idiots would believe anything. If I'm ever caught, I could just as easily tell them that my 'illness' was acting up. They would believe it. After all, they believed me about all my other injuries."
Viper pointed out, "Your lies only work with emotional appeal to make people feel sorry for you or obligated to help you. Eventually, people will get tired of it… and then what? You'll just move on to the next school?"
Shadow Lila shrugged. "The next school, the next community, the next city, the next country…doesn't matter. It's worked for me so far."
"And you've left a trail of bodies in your wake as well," Fox reminded her.
Alix snapped to attention at that, recalling the room Fox had refused to let her see. Her eyes zipped over from Fox to Shadow Lila to Fox again. Fox only nodded gravely at her. Alix nodded back, a grateful look on her face.
"You know you could have just left people that didn't believe you alone, right?" Joker inquired, "Why did you have to push them to kill themselves?!"
Laughing, Lila responded, "Oh my, do you have short term memory? I've already told you, I never laid a finger on them. All of their 'suffering' was caused by their own friends. Like that annoying wannabe-opera singer for example."
"Ivanka…?" Panther murmured.
"All I had to do was spin a little tale about Ivanka messing with the sound equipment at a play audition, which is why she got the part and not me. And I only wanted the part because it was a role my sweet, sweet grandma played in school too! Why she even threatened me not to audition at all, and said I would regret it if she saw me try to."
"...What did you do?" Queen asked angrily.
"How many times do I have to tell you? I didn't do anything. But my dear 'friends' decided to help me get back at her… who knew a couple of drops of hydrochloric acid was all it took to put her in her place? I'm honestly still wondering how they managed to get their hands on that. Friends in higher places, perhaps?"
"No… You went that far?!" Panther gasped.
"And then a month later, she finished herself off because she was too stubborn to bow down to me! It served her right! Oh, if only I had been there to see it happen myself… to see my enemy admit defeat in the most pitiful way possible? What glory that would have been! And I was so close to adding you to the list too, Mari. If only your annoying boyfriend didn't interfere!"
Chance's face pales and she feels bile rise up her throat. Viper glares defiantly at the Shadow.
"...Viper? What is that supposed to mean?" Beat spoke up first. Tears gathered in Chance's eyes.
"Marinette… did try to commit suicide, once," Viper admitted sorrowfully.
Despite the masks, looks of shocked horror spread across the room, with the exception of Tikki, Sass, Shadow Lila & the two Phantom Thieves in question.
"...When?" Beat asked. Alix looked at a loss for words.
"I was returning an assignment Juleka left at home when I heard crying in the boys' bathroom. Chance must have wandered in there by mistake. She'd ripped off her earrings and was about to… to slit her wrist."
Shadow Lila sneered as Viper continued, "I stopped her and helped slow the bleeding. That was the day I found her other identity out, just so we're clear. Luckily, you were in between periods at the time, so I brought her to the Liberty and bandaged her with my Mom's help. Chance didn't want to go to the hospital or tell her parents about this.
"Mom relented eventually, but made her promise to tell someone like her or me if it ever happened again. I suppose… I suppose it's why I'm so protective of her." Viper finished as Sass floated down to rest gently on his holder's head, "I mean… I always have been… but after that…"
"So that's why…" Mona said, his ears flattening. Beat & Alix looked horrified.
"So that's where the blood was from?" Beat asked, mostly to himself. A hand grasped his stomach as he struggled to keep his breakfast down.
"Hold on a tick," Alix piped up, "How do you know Mari tried to… you know…?"
"The idiots at school may have believed the whole 'home injury' excuse, but I didn't," Shadow Lila sneered, "I've seen it before. What else could it be when someone comes to school with their wrist wrapped up, with a long-sleeved shirt even?"
"...You know what? That's enough, Lila," Alix said, her head rising to stare the supposed Imperatrix in her golden eyes.
"You wanna fuckin' go?" she said to the shock of Chance & Beat (like Skull, Alix would use any curse word except for fuck, albeit with the exception of extreme emotion), "Let's fucking go!"
o~o
Wow, wasn't this overdue…
A gripping aching wracked Alix's head. She clutched her sides and fell to her knees.
" How many times are you fools going to suddenly gain superpowers? " Shadow Lila bellowed in agony & rage.
"Serves you right…" Skull mumbled to himself. Joker chuckled ominously, as usual.
You've waited for so long to dig deep enough… now you have the opportunity. Are you going to run and hide, or will you leap into action?
"Mmmrph…" Alix groaned. There was something on her face, she hazily noted, and it needed to go, immediately.
I am thou, thou art I… the time for waiting is over. Let's reach out and see what we can do!
"I'm ready…" Alix said as she shakily rose to her feet and ripped off her mask.
"...Atalanta!"
The Phantom Thieves, all smirking knowingly, shielded their eyes against the pillar of flame that erupted where Alix stood.
When the fire faded, with a mighty roar, a large shadowy mass in the form of a freaking bear stomped its front paws down on the tile, cracking it ever-so-slightly. On its back was a woman with deer antlers sprouting out of her strawberry-blonde hair. Her clothes looked somewhat like that of a Native American, covering her breasts and torso in some kind of thick animal hide. In the woman's hands was a humongous golden pugio, and interestingly enough, its pommel was shaped like a large golden apple.
Alix herself was clad in an outfit similar to that of when she was Timebreaker, but it was more like that of a biker outfit than it had been as the akuma. The helmet she wore partially obscured her eyes, serving as the mask.
"That's a freaking bear…" Skull muttered.
"I thought her thing was bunnies, though," Panther added, though a small smirk was on her face all the same.
"So, you wanna fuck with my friends, huh?" Alix snarled, "We'll see about that!"
"Ugh, fine! If you want to fight so bad, then let's get the crushing over with…" Shadow Lila grinned as she began to transform. Her face narrowed, forming a large canine snout, and her teeth grew much sharper, poking out between her jaws. Her dress ripped as her form grew larger and furrier, but she remained on two feet. A colossal and very intimidating longsword appeared in her hand.
Her most distinct feature, though, was the wave of long puffy tails that grew from behind her. They lashed madly, cracking like bullwhips.
LILA"LILITH" ROSSI
"All right, furry," Joker declared with a slight snicker at his quip, "It's time we took you down!"
Lila roared in challenge, loudly enough that the room shook, her clawed hands gripping her longsword.
"Careful, guys," Queen said, "Kitsune are known for being tricksters. Don't do anything reckless!"
"We're ready! Let's do this!" Chance shouted just as the first tail came swinging down.
o~o
AN: So, we're back at it! And we see that Alix didn't appear just to automatically join the team. I mean, come on, I'm not that boring. HA!
So, Atalanta. I'll admit, it took us a while to come up with a fitting Persona for Alix. It was originally going to be Filibus, an air pilot pirate that is constantly pulling off daring heists in her advanced airship, but something just didn't feel right in making that Alix's Persona. Then after some research, I found Atalanta. This girl is awesome! She was one of the fastest runners in all of Greece for her time. She only agreed to marry a man that could beat her in a foot-race. I don't know why, but her attitude reminds me of Alix when she and Kim are constantly racing and pulling off different dares against each other.
On a different note, we finally know what really kick-started Luka and Marinette's close relationship. I know it's a bit dark, but she's gone through a lot against Lila and that vixen knew that it would happen eventually. Thankfully, luck had her back and Luka managed to save her. We'll go a little more into the aftermath of that incident later.
Oh, and for those still waiting on PoV to update, I'm working on it. I think I'm about halfway done. I'm going to see if I can slip in some writing time for that fic in between this one as well (even though this is technically R.Y.V.A.L. week.)
Next up, the fight that this has all been leading up to! Dun, dun, dun!