Chapter Text
The group cautiously moved through the halls, eyes darting in every direction, while Chat’s ears swiveled constantly as if trying to catalog every noise. Ladybug, much to her confusion, was able to point out areas in the stone floor that didn’t look right. It had allowed Rena to come up and disarm the tigger to a trap from what Carapace said. After what seemed to be forever, the group found an open doorway. Chat motioned for everyone to stop, while pressing himself against the wall, blending into the shadows. Listening intently, he tried to figure out if the room was safe. When he didn’t hear any movement, he slowly peaked around the corner to find the room was indeed empty. Once everyone filed in, they shut the door and propped some furniture against it in order to help barricade it from outside attacks.
“Ok, what the Kwami is going on here?” Queen Bee demanded as she walked around the room, ignoring the fact she was also walking through furniture. “Why am I see through?”
“The easiest answer to that is- your dead,” Carapace answered with a shrug. “At least here.”
“Where is here?” Chat inquired as he sat on the floor, tail flicking behind him.
“A dungeon of the Akuma’s design would be my guess.”
“Alright, before we all start to bombard Carapace with questions, how about we let him explain and we can go from there,” Ladybug interrupted when Chat looked ready to ask something else. She waved at Carapace, who leaned against a wall and waited for everyone to get comfortable.
“As I said, the Akuma is probably a scorned Dungeon Master. They are the person who runs a campaign with their group, who make up the party. In this case, we are the party. Now, Dungeons and Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game typically set in a more Middle Ages setting.”
He watched the group nod their heads in understanding, and Queen Bee scoff lightly, before continuing.
“Every player creates a character for the game, which is normally kept on a sheet for reference. Each character has a race and a class, which will dictate the equipment and abilities of each. For us, the magic chose race/class combos that matched our miraculous and its abilities. I am a Tortle Totem Barbarian. I’m meant for defence and some offence.”
He pointed to Ladybug. She was not about 3 feet tall and stocky, with long black braided pigtails. “By your armor and the symbol on your chest, you are a Dwarven Cleric. You are the primary healer of the group, which makes sense considering your ‘Miraculous Ladybug’ power. That is not to say you can’t fight, though.”
“Chat is a Tabaxi, a race of humanoid cats for ease of description. From what I can see of your weapon and lack of armor, I would guess you are a monk.” The humanoid black cat looked up at him from his spot on the floor behind Ladybug, green eyes glimmering with curiosity as his tail lazily flicked behind him.
“And just what are we supposed to do with this information,” Queen Bee spat, interrupting Carapace. “You might as well be speaking English! Nothing you say is making any sense!”
“Queenie, I’m sure he will explain it better in time,” Ladybug chided. “He’s the only one with real knowledge of what’s going on, so calm down and let him finish.”
“Calm down!” Queen Bee shrieked. “I’m dead! What if this isn’t just ‘while we are here,’ huh? What if this is permanent?”
“Nothing an akuma has done before has been,” Rena answered. “I’m sure this will be the same. We just have to figure out what is going on and then LB can fix it. Even if she doesn’t, it really wouldn’t be that big of a loss.” She muttered the last part, though most of them heard her clearly.
“Anyway,” Carapace shouted, interrupting whatever Queen Bee was about to say. He lowered his voice after making sure everyone was listening again. “Rena looks to be a Kitsune, a humanoid fox race who can cast an illusion around itself. Since she was able to defeat the trap earlier, I would say she’s a rogue, but the clothes and lack of weapons doesn’t fit.” He slowly circled his girlfriend, inspecting her form. “I’d say Mage, more specifically an Illusionist, based on Rena’s normal powers and her race, with a criminal background to give her the lock picking skills.”
He looked over at Viperion. “You're a Yuan-Ti Pureblood, or a snake person. As for class, I’d bet Bard.”
“That would make sense, given his love of music and they do have access to time spells,” Ladybug piped up, causing everyone to look at her. “What?” She asked. “I said I’ve played a bit, just not as much as Carapace.”
“Alright, that gives us something to work with at least,” Viperion stated. “Now, how do we get out of here?”
“Simple, we defeat the dungeon,” Carapace responded with what looked like a shrug, though it didn’t translate well with his new look. “The akuma just wants to run a game.”
“How can we even be sure he’s telling the truth?!” Rena exclaimed, waving her arms around. Her illusion shattered revealing a humanoid fox standing about 3 feet tall and covered in reddish-orange fur. Her belly, ear tips, and paws were white, while the inside of the ears were black. “He’s an akuma!”
“We really don’t have any other choice,” Chat piped up from where his spot on the floor, swatting at Ladybug’s braids as they swayed. “We’re stuck here with anyone else he has drug into this until we complete it, so might as well play along for now.”
“I agree with Chat,” Ladybug stated, swatting his hand away and standing up. “We should get moving. Carapace, what do you think?”
“Well, I would like to have some time for everyone to figure out their abilities, but you’re right, we need to press on.” Carapace pushed off the wall he had been leaning on. “Alright, as for marching order: Ladybug and Chat up front,”
“Not going to happen,” Chat interjected, crossing his arms in front of him. “Ladybug is the last person who should be in the front. She and I can watch the back.”
“Chat, you and LB are the best scouts we have. It worked to get us here, we should keep playing to everyone’s strengths” Carapace argued back.
“And I already said I don’t need to be protected,” Ladybug chimed in, anger evident on her face.
Chat ignored her as he continued to scowl at Carapace. “Let Queenie lead. She can’t get hurt if something else goes off.”
“As if,” Queenie scoffed. “I’m not going to be fodder in this.”
“But she-” Carapace tried to argue but was cut off by Rena.
“He has a point,” Rena said, rubbing her chin. “Since I can disarm things and Carapace knows what to look for, we can go after her, then Viperion, Chat, and LB.”
“That’s not the best use of our resources,” Carapace tried to protest, but Rena was already heading out the door. Muttering to himself about headstrong foxes, he followed her out.