CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN:

FIGHT FIRE WITH FIRE

(FINAL BATTLE, PT. 3)

Like curtains of godly light, the flames shot out of the crevices in the ground.

What is it with Volpina and fire? Alya thought with irritation.

Her tension faltered as soon as the ground started coming apart. All around her, pieces of grass, dirt, and rock sank out of sight. The more they fell, the more Alya could see a faint, reddish glow from below – like steady embers from a fire pit. It wasn't long before she saw the smoke too.

The large piece of earth Alya, Nino, and King Gabriel were upon trembled.

Panicking, Alya glanced between her fallen boyfriend – who was slowly coming back to reality – and the two kwamis who both remained unconscious in her conjoined hands.

"Tikki, Plagg – wake up!" Alya pleaded, patting the little critters on their bulbous heads.

Nino, in his wooziness, thought she was talking to him. "I'm awake. I'm all right. Just a little – AH!" The boy sat up hastily as soon as he realized what was happening.

The ground now broke away in larger chunks, taking trees and bushes with them. Alya heard a sizzling, slopping sound, and her body froze despite the sudden wave of heat.

Lava.

Alya had never seen lava before. Agreste was nothing but desert, with the occasional group of mountains here and there. But Alya had heard some old tales as a child; stories about mountains that had liquid fire in their bellies. When disturbed, their tops would burst open, and rivers of burning red would pour down and incinerate any living thing in their path.

But this wasn't a river. It was an entire lake of lava – bright as melted gold, with tendrils of it swirling among the red and orange. The whole thing bubbled and churned like thick soup in a stewing pot, and the smoke made Alya gag. Every rock that fell into the lake plopped onto the surface, floated for just a moment, and then sank slowly into the fiery depths.

Alya shivered. This place, this pool of death, reminded her of the shimmering lake from the Miraculous Temple. The enchanted waters had also been dangerous, rendering everything it touched into diamond-like dust. Looking back on it, Alya would have preferred that kind of fate. It seemed more merciful compared to the slow, agonizing demise that now awaited her and her friends.

Mari! Adrien!

Alya's eyes shot up to the walls of the chasm.

There – both of them, barely hanging on to the tall, rocky pillar that now sat precariously on the edge of the cliff. Adrien had already leapt onto it when the ground beneath him had caved in, and now he was struggling to climb up towards Marinette. She herself was having trouble, her sweaty hands sliding around the rock everywhere she grabbed.

All the while, Volpina watched them from above with an ominous grin, like an executioner itching to pull the lever and watch the platform drop.

She didn't have to lift a paw.

Alya gasped as the base of the pillar finally gave away with a thundering crack... and started to slide down.

"Mari!" she cried.

"Adrien!" Nino and King Gabriel shouted in unison.

The pillar fell like a knife. Marinette and Adrien screamed as they held on tight.

The bottom of the pillar plunged into the lava, sending globs of the burning stuff flying everywhere. Waves sloshed up against the rock, and it bobbed steadily along the lake.

Breathing frantically, Marinette glanced down at Adrien. Keeping one hand secured at the top, the blunette reached down as far as she could. The glowing lava illuminated the glistening sweat and resolve on her pale face.

"Adrien, grab my hand!"

The prince wasted no time in doing so, considering how death was literally nipping at his heels.

Alya let out a shaky breath as their hands joined, and her best friend hauled Adrien up beside her.

But the pillar was still sinking. With each second, the lava rose higher like sand in an hourglass. Time was running out.

And what's worse - there was nothing for Marinette and Adrien to grab onto, at least none they could reach from the middle of the lake. The island their friends stood on was too far, as was the tiny little rock where Volpina's Miraculous lay undisturbed by the liquid fire.

Alya clenched her teeth. She would not let this happen. She would not sit idly by and watch her friends die!

But... what other choice did she have? She had no more magic in her pendant, and if she asked Nino to throw her over to Mari and Adrien, she'd have no chance of getting either of them off the pillar.

Alya felt Nino's shaky grip on her shoulder, and she could feel the dread and guilt coercing from him too. He could jump pretty far, but he couldn't leave Adrien's father or his girlfriend unprotected. Whatever Nino chose, he would lose someone important to him.

No... Alya thought as she watched Mari and Adrien on the sinking pillar. It can't end like this...

A cold laugh from the sky made the redhead's anger flare up inside her, and she snapped a look of amber-eyed rage at Volpina.

The evil fox kwami smiled at Marinette, fangs flashing. "It's over, Ladybug!" she gloated darkly. "You shall never have my amulet, and there is no one to save you this time!" Volpina glanced over with false pity at Alya. "Of course, you're more than welcome to try, Rena Rouge, but I doubt even your street rat senses will help you now."

Alya clenched her fists, her throat bobbing as she tried really hard not to cry.

"Hey, Volpina!"

Alya's heart surged at the sound - and unmistakably-peeved tone - of that all-too-familiar voice.

At the same time, Volpina's eyes bulged with confusion and disbelief.

Then, every eye in that lava pit looked up to see a tiny dot of orange and white zooming towards the evil sorceress like a meteor.

Trixx's ferocious gaze came into view and she yelled adamantly, "SHUT UUUUUP!"

Volpina had to duck to avoid the collision, and the little vixen shot over her head in a flurry of fur.

A broad smile appeared on Alya's face. "Trixx!" she called ecstatically.

Beside her, Nino let out a proud, "All right!"

Sadly, the only person who was definitely not happy to see her old friend was Volpina. "TRAITOR!" she shrieked, sending a lightning bolt at Trixx.

She dodged, of course, and stuck her tongue out at the sorceress with a sneer. "I may be a traitor," Trixx stated, "but I'm an honest one. And I honestly hate your guts!"

ZAP!

Another bolt, and Trixx swerved out of the way.

Alya knew it was now or never. She turned to Gabriel and held out Tikki and Plagg. "Try to wake them up," she said, ignoring the king's baffled expression, "we'll take care of this."

Nino blinked. But before he could ask how or why, Alya stepped to the edge of the island.

Trixx saw her, and those violet eyes of hers gleamed with understanding.

"Trixx..." Alya called as she dived right over the breach, "... let's pounce!"

"Alya!" she heard Nino cry.

"No!" Volpina shouted.

Trixx came in at top speed. There was a whirl, a flash from her pendant, and a familiar rush of adrenaline. Her mind sharpened, her body strengthened, and her power returned.

As soon as she felt her reed flute in her grasp, Alya waved her hands.

She halted just inches above the lava, and then shot back up into the air in a sparkling disc of orange light. Her new ears prickled, and her coattail flapped beneath her as she hovered in front of the appalled Volpina.

Rena Rouge had returned.

Below, she heard Marinette and Adrien cheering.

Offside, Nino's fallen jaw swooped up into a dreamy smile. "So awesome..." he murmured with giddiness.

Alya winked at him before turning a hard stare towards Volpina, who was now seething with gritted teeth.

"How?!" the sorceress hissed as she began to glow. "How have you mastered such skills in so little time?! You're just a street rat!"

Alya shrugged and twirled her flute. "True," she admitted with a smirk, "but I'm also a fast learner."

That, Trixx added in her mind, and the fact that you have a partner with a boat-load of knowledge and spells at your disposal.

Also true, Alya thought with a warm sense of gratitude. Thanks for coming back, partner.

Hey... Nobody threatens my best friend and lives to brag about it.

At that moment, Volpina growled, and threw her paws into the air.

Like a blob of stretchy slime, the evil kwami morphed back into her human form, but her yellow, red-rimmed eyes remained the same. Her own reed flute appeared in a column of flame in her hand.

"Let's see if you can die just as quickly," Volpina snarled.

Alya held her opponent's gaze, crouching in mid-air. "Nino!" she called. "I'll hold her off! You help the others!"

"Got it!" he replied staunchly.

Then, like a pair of foxes tearing after their prey, Alya and Volpina – the enchantress and the sorceress – struck at the same time.

The air prickled with magical heat, and sparks rained down into the lava.

Nino did his best to ignore the confusion as he ran and jumped towards one of the nearby chasm walls. He hit it hard with his stomach before sliding down. Thankfully, his hands managed to slow him and he grabbed onto a protruding crag with ease.

Hurry, Nino! Wayzz urged. Alya may have Trixx now, but Volpina's still more powerful than both of them. She can't distract her forever.

Nino shimmed carefully along the wall. "This isn't easy as it looks, you know," he grumbled.

A tremor in the wall made his heart stop, and Nino looked to his right just as another part of the earth broke off and tumbled into the lake.

The resulting splash sent a broad wave towards Adrien and Marinette, who ducked behind the pillar as best they could to avoid getting burnt alive. Unfortunately, their only life-preserver had lost a few pounds to the lava, and now it started to sink faster from the added weight at its top.

Adrien pulled Marinette closer, and Nino could see the terror in both their eyes.

"Hang on, guys!" the green-clad boy called as he eased himself onto a small, flat terrace along the wall, allowing him to stand.

"Obviously!" Adrien called back with a choked voice.

Nino glanced around, trying not to panic. There was no way he could jump over now. If only there were a bunch of boulders he could use to make a walkway, that way he could...

Nino paused as soon as he saw something sticking out of the cliffside: a large, long slab of stone that hadn't broken off completely when that part of the wall had collapsed.

The corner of Nino's mouth shot up. Wayzz, I've got an idea...

Alya howled with pain as Volpina's jolt of electricity blasted her away, causing her to flip over in the air.

But she stopped herself and shook the sting out of her arms. "Damn it..." she grumbled. "For every attack I hit her with, she comes at me with three more. I can't keep this up forever."

Alya shot higher into the air before Volpina could tackle her.

Then use your magic to hold her back, Trixx advised. Come on, kid, use your head. What would Rena Rouge do?

Alya panted as she dodged another attack, but her mind buzzed with Trixx's words.

What would Rena Rouge do?

The memory of her encounter with D'Argencourt in the city resurfaced: the illusions, the deceptions, the playful pranks...

Alya looked at Volpina. Then at the Miraculous on its lonely rock.

Alya knew what she had to do, but she wasn't scared. Come on, Trixx, she said. Time to have some fun.

A thread of anxiousness filled Alya's core, but then it faded.

You trust me? Trixx asked.

Alya nodded. Always.

"Hurry up, Nino!" Marinette bellowed as Adrien lifted her into his arms. "We're about to become cat-and-ladybug soup!"

"Workin' on it!" Nino grunted as he pushed harder with his feet against the middle of the giant slab, using the wall behind him for support.

The thing budged, but not far enough. Nino took a few hasty, deep breaths before going for another round. Sweat dripped from his hood and goggles. His leg muscles felt like they would fall off any second.

But Nino's best friend was down there, along with the girl he was going to marry. Nino wasn't going to give up his one and only chance to be the best man.

Just believe, Nino, Wayzz said gently. Remember what Master Fu said.

Nino stole a quick glance at his wrist. Master Fu's bracelet - Nino's bracelet - gleamed bright-green despite the flare of glowing red around him.

A shield can have as much power as any sword.

Nino's brow furrowed. He wasn't some common palace servant. He was Carapace... and he wasn't going to let some stupid rock get between him and saving his friends.

Repositioning his feet, Nino siphoned every bit of strength and willpower he had... and pushed.

He let out a defiant yell as the rock's base finally came loose.

And so did Nino. The green-clad boy slid back down onto the thin ledge where the lava did not reach him.

Like a tree coming down in a forest, the long slab tipped forward towards the lake... right next-door to Marinette and Adrien.

The couple watched it fall, even as Adrien only had very little foot room left on his rock.

Nino's makeshift bridge came down with a hard SPLOOSH!

As soon as the lava settled, Adrien secured Marinette in his arms... and jumped.

He landed in a low crouch on the bridge, and Nino let out a great sigh of relief.

But this wasn't over yet.

Nino waved at his friends. "Come on!"

Adrien sprinted with light feet along the bridge towards him. Once he had reached the end, Nino reached down and helped Marinette up. Adrien followed right behind her.

While Nino was saving Mari and Adrien, Alya was casting a new spell.

Bringing her flute to her lips, Alya played a soft, three-chord tune. The tip of her flute glowed. However, instead of firing it at Volpina – as she did a few times already – Alya turned the magic on herself.

A great rush of magic enveloped her.

Then... more Alyas appeared beside her.

She could feel the multiple illusions seeping from her suit like wisps of wind, one by one. Mirror images of the fox-like heroine formed a broad circle around Volpina. Five, six, seven, eight, nine...

Nine Rena Rouges, each one staring at Volpina with determination.

The evil sorceress glanced over the ring of replicas with a scathing look.

That was the opening Alya needed.

Volpina flinched when one of the nine Alyas shot a ball of magic at her, smiting her right in the back.

Two more did the same. Then the rest followed, splattering the sorceress one by one with bursts of energy.

It stung, to be sure, but Volpina knew such attacks would never truly harm her. The girl was obviously toying with her; distracting her so that her little friends could escape.

Volpina grinned at her multiple adversaries. "A clever trick," she commended dryly. "Now let me show you one of my own."

She thrust her hands to her sides – arms up, palms out.

Twin bursts of yellow light exploded from her hands like crashing waves on a shore.

They slammed into all nine Alyas.

All nine disappeared in puffs of orange smoke.

Volpina stiffened, her smile dropping. The real Alya should have remained. Unless...

Dread and rage clutched the sorceress's gut, and she snapped around to the little rock island where her Miraculous was.

Lo and behold, Alya stood upon it, holding out the amulet by his chain with a teasing smirk.

"Thief!" Volpina shrieked, the air around her crackling with heat. "Trickster!"

Alya shrugged. "Takes a trickster to outwit a trickster," she commented.

Volpina hissed like an angry cat, and electrical magic zapped out of her body sporadically to match the wild ferocity inside her heart.

Alya spun around to find her friends.

Marinette, Adrien, and Nino were all safe and sound at the bottom ledge of the chasm.

"Mari, coming at ya!" the redhead called across the lake as she flew towards the blunette...

... and became a spinning beam of light and air.

In the slow back-pocket of space she flew in, Alya saw Marinette beaming and reaching out to her to receive the Miraculous.

But Alya also heard a crack of thunder, like heavy boulders slamming together.

She felt it before she saw it: the large bolt of yellow lightning – Volpina's lightning – shooting straight past Alya...

... towards Marinette!

Alya's mouth opened in a scream of denial, but nothing could be heard in this place where time, sound, and feeling had no effect.

There was no other way to stop the blast.

Calling the magic back to her, Alya emerged from the vacuum of light and threw herself in front of Marinette.

The bolt struck her right in the chest and travelled like fire down the rest of her body.

Surprisingly, Alya did not scream from the pain, even though it felt like a thousand burning swords stabbing her before leaving her to cool off in the swimming darkness of her mind.

She felt herself flying backwards.

She felt something slam into her from behind, and her vision danced with flashing lights.

She heard a voice calling out to her. It sounded like Trixx.

The last thing Alya felt was falling.

Marinette watched aghast as her best friend collapsed onto another small ledge at the far edge of the chasm.

Alya landed on her stomach, and the Miraculous slipped out of her grasp and landed just an arm's reach away from her.

"Alya!" Marinette, Adrien, and Nino cried together, the former's voice cracking. The dark skin on Nino's face turned as pale as straw.

Up above, King Gabriel looked away from the terrible sight with a pang of remorse. In his hands, however, Tikki and Plagg were starting to come to, as though the wave of emotions the incident had caused had jolted them awake.

Alya twitched, her face scrunched with pain. Her eyelids fluttered open, just barely, and she glanced up at the Miraculous. She reached out with a shaky hand...

Marinette's clasped her own hands over her chest, as though watching her friend struggle like that would shatter her heart to pieces. "Come on, Alya," she whispered pleadingly. "Come on..."

Alya let out something like a choking wheeze... and then her eyes closed, and her hand dropped to the ground just inches from the amulet.

"No..." Nino breathed, shaking his head in denial.

Marinette's insides turned as cold as the icy mountains at the ends of the earth. No. No, no, no, no, no... She can't be... Please, Alya, wake up!

Then, a flash of light swallowed her friend.

Marinette inhaled, and Rena Rouge's suit, hair, and mask vanished. All that remained was Alya in her former attire. Her pale, auburn hair fell lifelessly across her face.

Something streaked out of her pendant before landing in small bounces beside her.

Trixx grunted as she hit solid rock, and her fur stood on end from the sudden rush of heat that engulfed her.

But when she got up and finally realized who was lying on the ledge next to her, the kwami's breathing stopped.

"Al?" Trixx flew over to her human friend and shook her by her shoulder. "Al, can you hear me? Get up! This is no time for a nap!"

It didn't work of course, so Trixx tried another tactic: their mind link.

Alya, she called urgently into the darkness. Kid, snap out of it! Say something – anything! Don't leave me hanging! Come on! ALYA!

Her voice reverberated across the expanse of Alya's mind, but there was no response; no flicker of thought, no spark of consciousness.

Trixx's furry face fell, her violet eyes turning wide and glassy. No... Volpina couldn't have... She just... But then why...?

Then she remembered: the rock wall Alya had hit. Trixx had felt the pain herself, and it almost made her tiny little skull explode. But for a mere human...

Trixx stared down at Alya's face. There was no tension in her eyebrows, no hardness to her mouth. It was as if the girl had drifted into a wonderful dream; one she would never wake up from.

Before Trixx could stop herself, her eyes started to overflow with tears. "Al..." she whimpered. Then, she rested her bulbous head on the girl's cheek. It was still warm.

Her sharp ears picked up someone else sniffling and breathing in rapid gasps: Marinette.

Then, Volpina was laughing.

It was that triumphant cackle that sent an icy tremor down Trixx's spine, hardening the grief inside her into unfeeling anger.

The kwami finally looked up, wishing for the first time that her old friend would drop dead that very moment.

Volpina sighed with a smile and glanced with false kindness at the heartbroken blunette. "Good help is so hard to find these days, isn't it, Marinette?" she cooed, before another wave of laughter shook her entire body.

Marinette glared at the witch through her tears. "You monster!" she yelled with an alien tone Trixx had never heard before. "Why are you doing this?!"

Volpina raised an eyebrow as though it were obvious. "Because you forced my hand, Ladybug," she growled with sadistic pleasure, "the moment you locked me up in that wretched piece of jewelry." She pointed at the Miraculous without looking.

Trixx found herself staring right at the amulet. It was lying right by Alya's limp hand.

"Now you will know exactly how it feels," the kwami heard Volpina snarl, "to lose everything you ever loved. Little by little. And once you have nothing left, you will join your fiery little friend. Darkblade will set me free, and no one will dare challenge my power again!" She raised her head and her arms to the red sky above. "All the seven deserts will be MINE!"

Thunder sounded as Volpina let out another maniacal laugh.

That laugh did it, and Trixx's eyes turned feral as she glanced between the Miraculous and her old master.

She scooped up the amulet in one fell swoop, and held it by its chain over the lava.

Trixx heard an appalled gasp. Only then did she look up.

She had never seen Volpina so afraid before.

One second, the evil sorceress was basking in her apparent glory with that stupid smile of hers. The next, her flushed cheeks turned white, her yellow eyes dimmed so low Trixx could barely see them from this distance, and her mouth hung open in great shock.

It was so... unlike Volpina that it gave Trixx reason to pause.

She could feel the surprised looks of the others as well. Mari, Adrien, Nino, the king... even Tikki and Plagg. All of them were glancing between the kwami, the amulet dangling from her paws, and the startled sorceress.

"Trixx..."

Now that was definitely new. In all the years Trixx had known the brunette, Volpina had never begged.

"Trixx!" Volpina yelled, more desperate than she had ever been.

The kwami tried to feel something for her old friend. Sympathy. Regret. Joy. Sadness. Anger.

But Trixx felt nothing. Any trace of emotion had left her. All that remained now was a gaping hole as black and empty as Alya's mind.

Volpina didn't deserve any mercy, least of all from the kwami she pretended to call "friend".

Trixx opened her mouth to say something – a final remark to the woman she had once worshipped and admired and fought for. But she couldn't bring herself to say anything. Volpina didn't deserve that either.

All Trixx could do was give the sorceress a single, sullen look that said, Goodbye.

Squeezing her eyes shut, Trixx let the chain slip between her paws.

"NOOOO!" Volpina's scream of anguish was enough to make the kwami's ears bleed.

It sounded long after the Miraculous plopped onto the lava.

It sat there bobbing on the surface. Wisps of orange, black, and gold bubbled around it. The chain vanished instantly, but the citrine jewel remained.

Volpina's next scream was one of pure agony. She grasped her head, spun around in her spot in the air, and made several, high-pitched moaning noises.

Then... the chasm shook.

Marinette gasped and quickly steadied herself.

All around her, the wall began to shift inward, and more rocks rained down into the lava, splashing the liquid flames everywhere.

Adrien grasped Marinette's hand. "We've got to get out of here!" he shouted over the roar of the trembling earth.

"Marinette!" came a high-pitched squeak from afar.

The girl looked up to the collapsing island where King Gabriel stood. Beside Adrien's father, two tiny bulbs hovered – a red one and a black one.

"Tikki!" Marinette called back. "Get the king to safety!"

The ladybug kwami saluted and turned back to Gabriel. In a flash, the king was surrounded in a body cast of pink light. He stuttered as Tikki lifted him off the ground and carried him over the chasm just as the island came apart completely.

At the same time, Marinette heard a shrill whistle.

Three heads looked up to see a familiar, black cat coming down towards them.

"Need a lift?" Plagg asked with a grin.

Adrien returned the expression. "All right. Nino, get ready to –" The prince stopped and his face fell with concern. "Where's Nino?"

Marinette froze, and she spun around.

As expected, Nino was carefully making his way along the shaking wall... towards Alya.

"Nino!" Marinette called.

A pair of brown eyes behind goggles locked on her firmly. "I'll be fine – just go!" he yelled before shimmying further along the rock.

Marinette took one step towards him, but an arm held her back.

She snapped towards Adrien almost furiously. "We have to help them!" she pleaded.

"I know, and we will... but not from down here." The prince indicated to the avalanche of rock around them, and the limited space at their feet.

Marinette realized with a pang that Adrien was right, but she still couldn't bring herself to leave Alya, or Nino... or Trixx.

Adrien hooked Marinette's arm across his shoulders and nodded to Plagg before his fiancée could argue any further.

The kwami enveloped the couple in a bubble of green light, and they shot towards the sky.

As they flew past her, Marinette cast Volpina's agonizing form one last, long look of pity.

Then, there was a guttural hiss from below.

The jewel of the Miraculous was now melted over, its glistening facets nothing but sloppy, diamond slime. It bobbed once more, twice more, before sinking into the lava's folds.

The last Marinette saw of the amulet was a blotch of dark green, like Volpina's human eyes. Lila's eyes.

Another scream filled the air, followed by the howling of the wind and the crumbling of the earth.

Trixx cried out as bits of lava flew above her head, and she rushed over to Alya's side.

Around the fallen girl, the rocky ledge started to break apart.

Panicking, Trixx grabbed Alya by the shoulder and tried to heave her up. But it was hopeless. She no longer had the magic or the strength to save her friend, even if there was nothing left to save.

But that didn't mean Alya had to go out alone.

With one last mournful gaze at the girl's peaceful face, Trixx buried her head in Alya's hair.

She felt the ground give away, and prayed it would be quick.

But instead of falling down, Trixx felt herself being lifted up.

Snapping her eyes open, Trixx looked to see a dark face in a green hood. "Nino?" the kwami rasped.

The boy smiled at her as he lifted Alya into his arms, allowing her head to rest against his shoulder.

With newfound hope, Trixx clung tighter onto Alya, refusing to let go.

Nino glanced back the way he came, only to realize that the wall was now nothing but sleek mud and stone. He looked up, and saw a clear path straight above him.

But an unearthly shriek made him stop and turn.

Volpina's body was lighting up like a fireworks show, electricity shooting down her entire body and flames bursting from her hands, feet, and mouth. Her skin was so bright; Nino could see the bones beneath. It made him swallow hard.

Then, Volpina curled into a tight ball... and in a whirl of smoke and flame, she was her tiny, jagged, kwami self again.

Volpina let out one last painful whimper, her voice shrinking so much, it sounded like a squeak. Then, her body became incorporeal, fading into nothing but a spinning whirl of orange light.

The whirl shrank into a minuscule ball, like a marble.

Then... it exploded.

Nino quickly looked away as a gust of wind tore at his suit, nearly knocking him over. When it faded, he eased his eyes open.

Sizzling sparkles rained down slowly into the lava, and the last of the thunder clouds faded into mere wisps in the red sky.

Then, there was nothing.

Nino watched a second. Two seconds. But no evil kwami appeared.

It's over, Nino, Wayzz murmured with a hint of sympathy mixed with relief. I felt it. She's gone.

One glance at Trixx's face told Nino it was true.

It was over. It was finally over.

But the chasm was still crumbling; only now the walls were squeezing together. The land was sewing itself back together.

Nino didn't come this far to become a human sandwich.

He heaved Alya over his shoulder, turned back to the wall, and began to climb.

The two halves of the crevice grew closer and closer together, like the mouth of a great beast.

As soon as Marinette, Adrien, and the king were safely up top, Tikki and Plagg shot back down into the shrinking chasm and out of sight.

Marinette tried to get a closer look, but the ground was shaking so badly she couldn't take one step without falling to her hands and knees. All she could do was cling to Adrien, and he in turn wrapped his arms protectively around her.

The line leading into the underground became thinner. Thinner. Thinner.

Then... a green figure and two bright orbs zoomed right through the opening just before it sealed shut with a final SLAM!

A wall of light erupted from the conjoined line. But instead of fire, it was more like sparkling water; a curtain of white that shot into the sky like starlight.

When it faded, there was no crack in the earth left to be seen on the dead, yellow grass.

And as Tikki and Plagg lowered Nino, Alya, and Trixx gently back onto the ground, the whole world burst with sudden light.

The blood-red sky above turned purple, then dark blue... and finally, clear, untarnished turquoise.

And high above, brighter and warmer and gentler than anything Marinette ever felt, was the sun.