I'm sorry I neglected to mention what happened to their dad in the last chapter. Here's a new chapter with a fresh perspective.
My vision was dark when I woke up. I was unsure how long I was out for. It could have been minutes. Hours. I doubted it was hours, because I did not feel well rested at all. Aches covered my body, moving sent spikes of pain up my shins and my shoulder felt like it was on fire. I shifted to get weight off of it and winced.
Reaching up, I gently carded a hand through my hair, feeling crusty patches. My hair was clean this morning, so I was reluctant to explore that topic further. Especially since I fell into some sort of sinkhole. Then my fingers found a-
"Owch!" I withdrew them quickly as my head flared up in pain and spots danced across my eyes. Yep, that's a goose egg, alright.
Wonderful. Everything was just peachy.
Vision was slowly returning, though I couldn't find the exact source of light. Not from where I fell, because it had been blocked by rocks, but there seemed to be some sort of. . . Ambient glow in the sinkhole. I shifted again, much to the protest of my whole body, and a cloud of dust flew into the air. I coughed, my lungs and rib cage flaring in pain. It devolved into a hacking fit, and grew in a crescendo. I breathed in with a raspy wheeze, pain poking my lungs and tried to hack out said lung in a pitiful attempt to breathe.
That's- That can't be good.
It stopped after a few minutes, but not before making me feel like I just set my lungs on fire. I let out a final shaky breath, eyes glazed over and stared blankly at the ceiling of the strange cave. I probably should find a way out, or call for help before I run out of air. I made a mental note of that, but I don't think I my body would let me move, especially for something as unimportant as preventing asphyxiation.
My eyes trailed along the dimly highlighted edges of the rocks around me. They were surprisingly round, not chiseled or jagged like most natural stone was. My fingers felt along the grooves of the rock that I laid on and found it to be much the same. It also didn't really feel like rock-
My eyes widened and I froze. It was hard, but lacked the same gritty texture of granite or sandstone, or dirt, or concrete. Squinting, I traced the patterns in the rock(?), finding the near identicalness of each stone. Big ones had striped grooves while the small ones had deep indentations, like- like-
Like eyes.
My breath hitched, and I scrambled to get up, body protesting loudly. Did I fall into the fu-freaking catacombs?!
The skulls underneath my feet shifted. I blanched, scrambling away to find a flat bit of ground somewhere- anywhere. I didn't want to desecrate any graves!
Though it might be a bit late for that, considering the cave in I kinda caused. "You know what," I said aloud, "I didn't cause this. The rock golem did. Yeah, it was all them." Nodding to myself, I finally found a patch of dry, skulless ground.
Wasn't my fault there was a strange, non-reflective liquid (that I hoped was water and not oil or anything), that was everywhere. Hopefully the cave in didn't cause a pipe to burst or anything. I still didn't know how deep I was underground, so it was possible that there was some sort of hidden oil reservoir here.
I glared at a pile of the strangely shaped skulls. All the eyes were way too big to be human. Not to mention the shape isn't anything like I've seen. Far too oval. How did I miss the occasional skull that had strange horns sprouting from it.
In my defense (I thought to myself, with no one else around. Was I going insane?), it was incredibly dark. Still haven't figured out the whole 'ambient glow' thing. I blamed my thoughts being mostly clouded over with the likes of 'ow, my ankle hurts' and 'hope I don't have a concussion, cause that would suck.'
I ended up following the patches of dirt, not really noticing how said patches weren't random- rather, they formed some sort of crude path. I was on autopilot, focusing more on taking one step after the other, not on the strange peculiarities of the catacombs. As such, I failed to notice how the cave got darker and darker, yet simultaneously gaining clarity.
However, it became impossible to miss when I stumbled into a larger cavern, where a mist was illuminated by some strange lightsource I couldn't find. A shiver went down my spine as I caught sight of a thick black substance dangling from the ceiling and pooled on the ground. I took a step back, but then my eyes landed on the statue in the middle of the room.
It's not bone, it's not bone. I chanted in my head. It couldn't have been bone; there's nothing that massive and shaped quite like that. There were four gaps, two large almond like ovals that were as big as my head and a smaller pair directly above them that I could probably fit my wrist in. It seemed to glow in the darkness, a sharp juxtaposition. It's main body was a dark gray that was hardly discernible from the background. The statue's limbs were spindly, like a bug, two sets sat limply at the behemoth's side while the other held a bowl out in front of it.
It seemed less like a bowl, and more like a fountain, though. It spilled out the black substance, but also had a small platform in the middle where-
I walked closer in a daze. The fountain was close enough to the ground that I could climb up without much of a struggle. My fingers curled around the rim of the bowl, dipping into the dark liquid and-
Pain itched it's way up my hand. It crawled up my arm and stabbed into my heart. I tried to flinch away, but I was frozen. Instead of leaping away, I kept climbing up into the fountain. My foot was in it, and the pain doubled. It was like I couldn't control-
My hand was reaching for the object in the fountain. It was black with those eyes that pulsed with a white light. The pain faded into the background as I stood transfixed at the sight. Hypnotized, my fingers closed around the object.
The pain didn't return as I stood in the fountain with the object in my palm. I shook my head in confusion. What was that? It was like I didn't have control over my body. I shuddered. This better be worth whatever that was.
I turned the thing over in my palm. It didn't seem to be anything more than a fancy rock with cool markings.
Of course that's when it decided to contradict me.
The markings flashed. Once, twice, three times. Then it dimmed completely, fading to black. I blinked, bewildered at both the strange occurrence and the anticlimactic letdown. It can't be just a rock. Regular rocks don't glow. Maybe there were LED lights hidden somewhere-?
Light exploded from it. It whirled around me, blocking my surroundings and enveloped me. The stone was gone from my hand, I belatedly realised- not that it mattered now. I was being lifted from the floor. I failed my arms, reaching for anything that I could stabilize myself on. My fingers could only grasp empty air. Dark streaks were being mixed in with the light. A distinct feeling grew in me that the light cocoon was shrinking.
It wasn't much of a light cocoon anymore- more of a small circle hoving on my sternum. The brightness was completely replaced by the black sludge that floated around me in globs. I was suspended in air for a few more seconds, until the blobs of obsidian slime rushed towards the white sphere, corrupting it. And me.
Then I fell and knew no more.
. . .
Chase could feel the adrenaline pump through his veins. It made his head pound and his breath short. It was a feeling he was familiar with. It followed him whenever he played, exercised, danced, or acted. Sometimes it was there even when he was just competing at a card game or video game. It was what made him such a competitive person.
Never before had the adrenaline been accompanied with an overwhelming feeling of dread and fear.
He crouched behind a wall, trembling slightly as earth shaking thuds slowly faded away. He peeked around the wall and crept closer to the large double doors. They were cracked ajar, just enough for someone slim to squeeze through them. Chase used the gap to spy out into the school's front steps.
It was empty, but that didn't soothe any of his worry. It looked like a warzone. Chunks of concrete and stone were ripped from the ground and there was rubble everywhere. Dust was lingering in the air.
The only thing Chase could take comfort in was the lack of bloodstains.
He opened the doors just enough for him to slip through. He made his way down the steps and-
The grating noise of rock scraping against rock froze him. A stone giant meandered its way past the school, walking with a lumbering purpose down the next street.
He only breathed once it was out of sight.
It took twice the amount of effort to move from where he hid, like actually seeing the rock golem enacted some sort of emotional inertia on him. It made his feet heavier than lead. His legs became like paper. As if every bone in his body was fighting to stay right where he was, where it was safe.
It wasn't safe. Every moment he stayed here, out in the open, was another moment when a stone giant could come around a corner and spot him.
Chase considered himself a jack-of-all-trades. He's done swim team, soccer(er, sorry, football), football, track, but the things he really settled on was the fine arts, like band, theatre, and choir.
He's not sure any of the skills he picked up from any of that would save him if one of those things decided to charge at him.
Indecision would not be the end of him.
He managed to take one step. One step was all he needed to start running.
He tried to make each step light. His lack of success made him abandon any hope for stealth. Chase threw caution to the wind in exchange for speed. He dodged around gouged out pits in the earth, making sure not to kick any shrapnel from the exploded chunks of stone.
There wasn't a sign that anything around him wanted to pursue him. No scraping rock. No thudding ground. No gravely, gutterly roars. Only the sound of his shoes pounding against the ground. The streets were unnaturally quiet.
Where did everyone go?
Chase didn't have the energy or the space in his mind to contemplate the question, so he chucked it into his 'think about it later' box.
He ducked behind a flipped over car when he heard a set of heavy foot-thuds (he decides footsteps would not be the proper thing to call them). The monster didn't pass into sight. It's only after they leave that he realized that the car in question was actually the family's car. Correction: the family's rented car. The teenager managed to clench his teeth so fiercely that his jaw hurts. There is no way for mom to pay for that, especially with dad... And no government official would be willing to fix everything that's been broken.
It's really just icing on the stupid cake problem. A five tiered wedding cake with a different flavor each layer with the base of it being the sour flavor of moving the Paris. Then the apocalypse starting, but just in Paris. And dad getting medusa-ed. And financial troubles. And- Chase hasn't quite figured out the fifth layer of problems in the stupid cake, but he's sure it will become apparent soon.
In fact, he nearly missed his new address because of the unfamiliar surroundings. Not because of the messy streets making it unrecognizable, which didn't help, but rather that he's literally only been there for a day.
He tried the door knob, unsurprised to find it locked. He fished through his pockets, trying to find the house key he was given. He couldn't find it. Chase must have left it in his backpack, which he didn't bother grabbing in his mad dash from the school.
He growled, knocking on the door frantically. There was movement on the other side, and a click as it unlocked. The door swung open, revealing his tired mom behind it. She ushered him in, closing it quickly and locking it.
Chase opened his mouth, but then he registered the presence of other people in the room, the strangers. He closed it.
There weren't many of them, only three individuals. One was a quiet woman who held a crying child in her arms. The little girl seemed to be around a year old and made quite the miserable sight with her tear streaked face and snotty nose. The toddler seemed to have gotten past the wailing part of crying and was now resigned to bury her face in her mother's collar bone.
The other person was an old man. He held a walking cane and had made himself home on the armchair. He looked withered enough that he might need a wheelchair instead of just a cane, but Chase knew exactly how stubborn older folk can get.
He glanced at his mom, who in turn beckoned him to the kitchen. He followed her across the cramped living room. She only paused briefly to turn the TV on with the remote. The news wasn't on yet, instead it was running some ad for french perfume.
They made it behind the kitchen counter and she pulled him into a sudden but not unexpected hug. She wasn't nearly tall enough to envelope him fully like she could when he was young. He was nearly six foot while she wasn't even five-two.
The hug didn't last long. There was too much to be said. Too much to worry about. Nothing that could be done.
"Where's Keana?" She inquired, voice low.
"She's not here?" As his mom's head shaked, he started to pace. "I thought she had already gotten home!"
"Did you check her classroom?"
Chase nodded. "It was empty, and I didn't know where anyone went. Maybe she's hiding with them?"
"She's not answering any of my messages."
"Her phone is always on silent," he tried to reason out something, anything, that meant she was safe in some way.
"She'd be checking on it in an emergency!"
Chase sighed. Discussing the 'what if's and 'could be's wasn't helping anyone. Not when Keana was out there somewhere, among stone giants or scared in some hiding place. He felt helpless, because he couldn't just go out and look-
The news was on, and the teen focused all of his attention on it, in hopes for some solution or answer- anything.
There wasn't any introduction to the footage, only a red circle in the corner showing live feed and the near shaky footage of the Eiffel tower surrounded by helicopters, riot barriers, and even what looks like army artillery.
Of course the main fixture of the live feed was obviously the stone monster climbing to the top King Kong style. There was even a damsel (Two damsels, he noticed once the camera focused again) in distress clutched in the giant rocky hands.
One of them was wailing and flailing her arms in the air. A perfectly reasonable response. The other girl looked rather dazed. Also a reasonable response.
There appeared to be a stalemate of sorts as a hefty man lifts a megaphone to his mouth in order to negotiate his way out of the hostage crisis. Chase couldn't make out the french words being said through it- it's hard enough to understand english through one, how was he supposed to understand French?
The golem roared something in response.
The french occupants in the room gasped.
Its arm wound back and then the loud girl was hurtling through the air like a blonde missile.
Chase could almost see the blood on the pavement, the crunch of bones- he flinched.
He opened his eyes when there was a sigh of relief in the room, just in time for the camera to refocus on a red blob- Ladybug, setting down the girl safely.
Safely.
It didn't feel real. The monsters, the magic, the superhero saving. It was like people decided to film an action movie with live special effects, without telling the residents that the set was Paris. A misunderstanding like that would have been preferred to whatever was actually going on.
Chase remembered laughing with his sister, one of them anyways, about the ridiculous movie physics that occurs whenever Superman catches the damsel in distress, Lois Lane, as she plummets to her death from some skyscraper. Getting caught by the Man of Steel isn't any different than getting caught by the cement, she had said. The only thing that allowed for Lois Lane to survive was suspension of disbelief, where the audience willingly looks past the laws of physics and reality in order to enjoy a movie or preformance.
There wasn't a thing that would allow for that girl to survive that fall, the whiplash alone should have killed her. And yet she's safe, without a visible scratch or broken bone.
Of course, that's when the monster decided to spit up this purple-blackish... stuff. Butterflies? It formed into a big lump in front of the golem. It didn't seem to do anything, until the mass started to form into a shape. A giant floating head.
It then opened its mouth and did something heads do, even if they are made out of a mass of glowing, evil butterflies.
It spoke.
"Greetings, citizens of Paris. I am Hawkmoth."
None of this made sense.
"Ladybug and Chat Noir have stolen something from me. If they will only give me back what they have stolen, their miraculouses, I will call off this Akuma."
Chase's mind buzzed as he stood there numb, unable to fully comprehend the words of the... villain. It was just so cliche. Maybe someone could be persuaded in a few sentences from a purple, bug projection of a man's face that just spewed out of a rock monster's mouth- who was, by all intents and purposes, holding the city hostage (along with a few hundred possessed people).
But Chase was a logical person, and wasn't inclined to believe the words of a criminal-butterfly-man-head-terrorist thing.
Especially not since it just revealed to be the actual cause of his dad's induction into the stone monster army. And basically everything else that was terrible.
He wasn't surprised when the ladybug sniped back a heroic retort: something something, "You'll never win," something something, "your Miraculous?"
Which really confused him, because as far as he was aware, miraculous was an adjective, but they were treating it like an object. Was it a language barrier or some weird, mystical, magical bullshit?
He didn't care anymore. His dad was gone, little sister missing, and his mom his on the edge of sanity. He's not sure how far off he is, himself.
The butterfly face was gone in a few swipes of her combat yo-yo, and then released in a flurry of white wings.
Catboy and Girlbug led the monster up the tower for some convoluted plan to free the hostage who was still in the monster's stony grip. Even the other stone giants were following up the Eiffel Tower. Somehow. They managed to free her at the low low cost of letting her plummet to her death. With a parachute they got from Ladybug screaming the cereal brand 'Lucky Charms.'
Then the stone monster dissolved into the same kid from the earlier footage, and he too freefalls before Chat Noir manages to catch him.
A single dark butterfly flutters on the air where Ladybug manages to catch it with her yo-yo. She flings the parachute into the air after getting it back from the damsel with a shout of-
"Miraculous Ladybug!"
-and a swarm of red and pink rushed out. Ladybugs, Chase belatedly realized.
It only takes a second for a wave of energy to rush over him.
And it only took him a second longer to realize the stone minions have also turned back into people.
A knot of tension uncurled from his chest and he realized he could breathe again. Dad's not gone. And Keana is just lost and someone lost can be found.
For those who are still confused, their dad was a victim of one of the stoneheart copy akumas. The two avoided talking about it because they were grieving.
The first bit should also clear up some confusion over the nature of this crossover.