lucky charms
❛ vi. animan ❜
━━━━ NINO SLINKED BESIDE charlotte silently, chewing on his bottom lip. "char — you're friends with marinette, right?"
she glanced at the boy casually, keeping most of her attention on the laptop in front of her. "sort of. why ask?"
"um ..." he rubbed the back of his neck. "no reason. just curious."
suddenly, adrien appeared next to his friend. "he's asking because he likes —"
"not so loud, dude!" nino clamped both hands over adrien's mouth. "there are ears everywhere."
charlotte's cheek twitched at nino's flare for the dramatics. "you like her? why act so embarrassed?" she ignored the way tikki gave a dramatic cough from her hiding spot; the kwami was certain that charlotte liked val baudelaire (even though tikki was wrong ... kind of).
"it's not that easy, charlotte!" insisted nino. "i'm no good with the ladies!"
the part-time hero's face dropped. "i'm ... ladies, nino. you talk to me just fine."
"that is different!" nino shook his head, wringing the red cap he always wore nervously in his hands. "i've never been good around the ladies — especially her, all of a sudden!"
silently, charlotte frowned back down at her laptop screen. nino wasn't choosing his words any better. he was talking to her as if she wasn't a girl — not that it was insulting, it was almost ... comical. adrien caught charlotte's eyes and rolled his own silently.
"i mean, you guys —" nino turned around, hands on his hips as he looked at marinette sadly. "do i go up to her and crack a joke? compliment her? invite her to the zoo? play it serious?"
"nino —" adrien waved his hands, "you're way overthinking this, okay? invite her to the zoo? are you serious?"
nino groaned, placing his hands on top of his head. "i'm telling you — hopeless!"
charlotte's cheek twitched. "no, adrien — nino might be on to something. marinette was telling me and alya about this new exhibit. alya's dad works at the zoo, she was telling marinette she could get her some tickets for cheap."
"yeah, but the zoo?" adrien slung an arm over nino's shoulder. "listen, nino, just be yourself!"
nino frowned and shrugged off adrien's arm. "that's easy for you to say, mr. front-of-the-cover-teen-model. i'm not that cool!"
"you're cool!" insisted adrien, nodding. "trust me — or you wouldn't be my best friend. invite marinette to the zoo. she'll say yes, i know it."
nino's face was dubious, but he steeled his shoulders and walked over to marinette. the girl was sitting on the stairs to the second level with juleka and rose, flipping through a magazine — this week's edition of teen model, oddly enough. for inspiration, charlotte figured, since marinette made her clothes and aspired to be a fashion designer in the future. nino made it halfway across the courtyard, before he chickened out and ran back to charlotte and adrien.
he slunk next to charlotte, holding his head in his hands. "what if i act like a dumbass?! or if she disses me, or thinks i'm lame, or —"
"nino, honestly ..." charlotte reached for her bag to move it over so he could have more room to sulk. "marinette's not like that!"
"but what if she is?"
"nino." adrien placed a hand on the boy's shoulder, smiling at him. "we'll help you! don't worry!"
charlotte blinked. adrien said, "we'll help," as in her and adrien? she looked between the friends, a dumbfounded look on her face. she wanted to protest, saying she had too much going on. in reality ... she did (?). besides chores — which she barely counted as everyone had some sort of chore — she had volleyball practice, along with learning how to drive, and stupidly, she had to work out because of volleyball (part of her wanted to ditch the gym as coccinella was a whole work out, but she knew her father would have her if she tried), and she had school — the hours spent at school, and then the time she gave studying and pouring over homework. however, one look at nino's desperate face, and she knew she'd be horrible for leaving him hanging.
"hey," she spoke up. "how about i get alya involved too? she's a lot better at feelings than i am." she tried to make it a joke, smiling at nino, but his eyes widened.
"i don't know about that ..." he murmured, popping his knuckles.
"i think it's not a bad idea." adrien slung an arm over nino's shoulder. "charlotte — where is alya?"
the black-haired girl shrugged. "no idea," she admitted. "probably working on the ladyblog."
adrien's eyes widened slightly as if he was excited at the chance to discuss the blog. "yeah, um, how's that going? i know alya's super invested in finding out coccinella's identity."
"too invested ..." charlotte murmured, drawing her eyes back down to the darkened laptop screen. she turned it back on, typing a few incoherent sentences for miss bustier's upcoming essay; she'll have to go back over everything she's written. "if school wasn't a legal obligation, i think she'd drop out and work on the ladyblog full time."
adrien raised his eyebrows, but he didn't look all that surprised. "i guess i can't blame her," he mused with a small smile. "i mean ... i think it would be cool to know who's under the coccinella mask."
"cool?" nino looked at adrien through his top lashes, a ridiculous expression of shock written across his face. "charlotte, adrien's in love with coccinella, i swear!"
for a moment, adrien sputtered, but he finally managed to choke out, "am not!" but charlotte's awkward smile grew into a genuine, amused one. a small spark of pride ignited in her chest; it was one thing to see on the news that people loved coccinella, but it was another thing to see a classmate of her she liked (as a person! not as a romantic partner, no matter what tikki and alya said!) also look up to her alter-ego. it was ... confirming in a way. adrien, despite being a famous model and the son of the gabriel agreste, was more tangible than the millions in paris who were faceless to charlotte.
"you like coccinella?" she asked, raising her eyebrows at adrien.
for a moment, he debated, as if wondering whether to be honest with charlotte, but he admitted, "yeah — but not, like, as a crush. i think she's just cool and all. she's paris's hero."
charlotte's eyebrows drew together. "one of them. don't forget cat noir. he's cool too."
before adrien said anything, the bell warning the students for the last class of the day rang loudly above the head. charlotte stuffed her laptop into her bag and slung it over her shoulder. she knocked her free one against nino's.
"don't worry so much, nino," she chided gently. "i'll tell alya. we'll all help you!"
🐞
alya liked to take half of what charlotte said and assume the rest.
"adrien?" she hissed, her eyes narrowing on the blond's head in art class.
charlotte ground her teeth together. "will you shut up and let me finish?"
alya threw adrien, and then charlotte, a nasty look. she waved her hand, a motion for charlotte to continue. "you said a date and marinette. you better not be saying that adrien wants to ask marinette —"
"shut up!" charlotte snapped under her breath as mr. monlataing shuffled by. the art teacher was talking adamantly with nathaniel kurtzberg, a classmate of charlotte's who loved to draw and was amazing at it. he and charlotte were friends, but in a talk about art and likes listening to the creation of art dynamics. charlotte admired people who created art — any kind! she wished she was more creative. you could consider architecture as creativity —creating the designs for buildings, and such — but she wished she was a better painter, could play instruments, could write poetry type of art, not ... "creating buildings" art.
"look, alya, i was trying to say that adrien and nino came up to me and admitted that ..." the part-time hero took a look around, looking for the girl who tied her hair into pigtails. luckily, marinette was across the room, giggling with rose about the teen model magazine still. "nino likes marinette and wants to ask her out — but he's hopeless. well, maybe not hopeless, but ... there's not a lot of hope on his side."
alya narrowed her eyes on charlotte as if trying to see into the girl's head and look for the truth. "so adrien doesn't want to ask marinette out?"
"if you had let me finish in the first place, you would already know this." charlotte rolled her eyes.
"well, i had to make sure!" alya bristled, angrily painting on the messy canvas. "if adrien wanted to ask marinette out, i was going to have to knock some sense into him. he should be asking you —"
she yelped and charlotte quickly busied herself with dipping her paintbrushes into the dirty water, acting as if she hadn't stomped on alya's foot. silently, adrien and nino glanced over, and charlotte shrugged innocently to them.
alya threw charlotte a dirty look. "you like him, admit it."
"i don't like adrien." charlotte shook her head. she painted a line on her canvas and winced; that was the wrong move to make, and she quickly started to wipe it off. "i've told you this how many times?"
"and i'll keep asking until you admit it," said alya, shrugging. "you like someone, i know it. you get too flustered when talking about crushes to not have a crush."
charlotte bit her tongue for a moment, then she set her jaw. "alya, why do you care so much?"
"'cause you act as if it's embarrassing to like someone." alya frowned at her friend, putting her hands on her hips. slowly, a drop of watery paint dripped onto her jeans. "it's not. it's only embarrassing if you let it be embarrassing."
charlotte grimaced, realizing this was something similar she told nino not even two hours ago — "you like her? why act so embarrassed?" charlotte had asked nino, knowing good and well she dodged alya's questions about crushes better than she dodged attacks by hawk moth's victims.
her jaw ticked, but she sighed. "it's embarrassing 'cause i know he doesn't like me," she admitted. "that's why i don't like talking about it. i just feel ... stupid for pining after him."
the grin on alya's face melted away. she thought she was going to finally learn the name of charlotte's "mysterious" crush, but she only learned that charlotte felt hopeless. "oh." she licked up her lips. "i'm sure that's not it, char!"
charlotte gave her friend a dubious expression. "you're only saying that 'cause you're my friend."
"that's not true!"
"you're obligated as my best friend to tell me my crush on val isn't hopeless."
alya blinked at charlotte. "you like val?"
silently, charlotte winced, not having meant to say his name. "... yeah?"
alya and val had met many times since charlotte and alya had become friends. oftentimes, alya will hang out where charlotte and her teammates practice for volleyball, waiting for the practice to be over with so she and charlotte can hang out. val, not being a player but helping his mother (who worked with fiorenzo as an assistant coach), hung out as a sort of "assistant's assistant coach". besides, he and emmanuel, charlotte's older brother, were friends, which is how val's mother and fiorenzo knew each other and started working as leaders of the volleyball team.
alya frowned at charlotte. "that's not hopeless! val's cool, char."
"yeah, why do you think i have a crush on him?" charlotte nearly rolled her eyes but managed not to. "i mean ... it doesn't look hopeless to you, but this is how i've always been about anyone i've ever liked. i just don't want to ... mess up the relationship we have now if i tell him. if he rejects me — sure, i'll be crushed, but it'll be even worse if it ruins everything between us."
for a moment, alya said nothing. she sucked in her bottom lip and poked at her canvas with a paintbrush covered in a muted blue. "so ... you don't ever want to tell val?"
charlotte instantly shook her head. "no way. i just don't think i like him enough to be in a relationship with him, either. so ..." she shrugged. "i dunno — i like him, but not that much."
alya frowned, but then she snorted quietly. "you are very casual about this."
charlotte shrugged again. "i've had a couple of years sitting with this crush to think on it. besides, emmanuel would roll over and die before he'd let me date one of his friends."
🐞
charlotte tried to give nino the benefit of the doubt, but ... he was hopeless. he gave marinette a stupefied look as alya pushed him toward the girl. silently, the part-time hero watched in slight horror as he stared — all the while, marinette blinked back at nino.
adrien hurried up to his friend, slinging an arm across nino's shoulders. "sorry, marinette!" he shook nino with his arm. "right, nino?"
"right."
marinette sucked in her bottom lip, giving nino an odd look for the robotic tone he used. "uh ..."
alya grabbed charlotte by the arm and marched over. "hey, marinette! i remember you talked about that new exhibit at the zoo."
marinette's eyes lit up and she smiled. "yeah, the ménagerie du jardin des plantes! i've heard they've added a new panther exhibit. i heard kim and max talking about it."
"that'd be a nice place to hang out," adrien added on, nudging nino. "what'd you think, nino?" but nino's bottom lip quivered, like he was ready to burst into tears, forcing adrien to keep talking; "so ... how about we all check out the zoo today?"
marinette looked between adrien, alya, charlotte, and nino. "um ... okay. but we have to go see the panthers!"
"that sounds great," charlotte spoke up, pinching the fat on the back of nino's arm. "what about ... four o'clock? i should be out of volleyball practice by then." she glanced at nino. "that sounds good to you, nino?"
he nodded rapidly, and adrien looked like he was holding back a snicker. "that's good! four o'clock, then."
marinette waved goodbye to the four as charlotte grabbed nino by the back of his shirt collar to make him move.
"i sounded like a total dumbass!" he groaned, sitting on a wooden bench facing the river seine.
charlotte was going to lie to him when alya said, "yeah, you did." adrien held back a laugh as he took a sip out of a coke can; nino gave alya a betrayed look.
"you're supposed to be helping me!" nino snapped at her.
alya shrugged. "i am. by telling you the truth, you can work past staring at marinette like a total idiot and start talking to her — alone, by the way."
the betrayed look turned into one of horror as he realized what alya meant. "no way, dudette! i won't be talking to marinette alone, ever. i can't do it!"
"nino," adrien leaned forward, bracing his elbows on his knees, "just be yourself."
"right ..." scoffed nino, rolling his eyes. "sure. if i could be your-self, it'd go great. my-self just doesn't work that way."
"it'll have to, nino," said charlotte, giving him a hard look. "if you want this to be a date between you and marinette, we" — she pointed to herself, adrien, and alya — "can't be there."
nino winced as if the idea of being alone with his crush was painful. "i am not going to be there alone!"
charlotte blinked at him. "what do you want us to do then? hide out somewhere and tell you what to say?"
nino's face morphed, and she quickly added, "no way, nino. we're not doing that!"
adrien nudged charlotte in the ribs lightly. "we'll help, nino," he promised, and charlotte gave him a dirty look. he knocked his knee against hers, telling her to keep her mouth shut. "what are friends for?" he added.
charlotte grumbled under her breath and stood up. "someone better get earpieces, then. i can't. got volleyball practice in fifteen. dad will kill me if i'm late again."
🐞
today's volleyball practice was completely pointless. charlotte's dad was absent. val's mom, coralie baudelaire (who worked as an assistant coach with charlotte's father), said that fiorenzo had to stay back at his job because something "bad happened". coralie didn't offer up more information than that, but charlotte got the feeling that whatever fiorenzo told coralie wasn't exactly the truth. he had been bailing on stuff more and more, and it was starting to become obvious that something was wrong — something more than just "bad".
with fiorenzo not present, the team still met up — but everyone lazed around instead of working hard. some of the team cut off and started practicing on things with coralie that they struggled with — spiking, blocking, cut shots, and things like that. others worked on things that didn't involve volleyball — homework, essays, or even job applications (apparently, charlotte's parents weren't the only ones urging their daughters to get a part-time job).
charlotte worked on the essay miss bustier assigned, wincing at what she had written while nino and adrien discussed nino's "not-a-crush" crush on marinette. half the words were "dude", "totally not", or "no good with the ladies" — things she heard adrien and nino saying as she tried to write.
"why is the word dude in your essay?" val craned his neck over to look at her laptop screen. "that's not very academic, char."
she jumped, accidentally erasing part of the essay. charlotte cursed under her breath and reversed it — nearly two entire paragraphs returned to her laptop screen. "um ... my friends were talking around me while i tried to write."
"about ..." val squinted at the screen, "ladies? char, what are you writing about?"
"one of them has a crush." charlotte cheek twitched. "he asked me to help him with his crush — asking the girl on a date, you know?"
"you?" val raised his eyebrows at the part-time hero. "he asked you? the last time you had a crush —"
"we don't talk about that!" charlotte insisted, her voice going hushed. "i couldn't find a way out of that date, val."
the brown-headed boy considered what she said, craning his head back. "well ..." he shrugged. "yeah, he was a creep. if you had told me about evan, i would've warned you about him."
"oh, i knew he was a creep," insisted charlotte. "emmanuel warned me about him — he and evan shared a class last year. i just couldn't find a way out of going on a date."
"how'd he even know you?" asked val curiously, leaning closer to charlotte.
the part-time hero shifted uncomfortably; she moved the laptop, acting as if it was cutting into her skin. "he came over to the house one day — a school project, i guess. emmanuel warned me that evan was ... weird."
"he's not wrong," agreed val. "evan gets heart eyes for every girl he comes across. every one of our girl classmates has a story 'bout him. but he's never done anything dangerous, so there's nothing they can do."
charlotte rolled her eyes. "that's how it always is," she grumbled. "i don't think evan's dangerous, anyway — he just can't pick up on context clues."
val cracked a smile. "so i won't be weird if i ask you to help me with chemistry?"
the hero gave him a look. "only because i'm great at chemistry."
"even if i'm a year above you?" asked val.
"even then," said charlotte, scotting closer to the boy.
🐞
nino really had them hiding out in bushes — earpieces and all. well, adrien had the earpiece, while charlotte and alya were left to talk to adrien so he could tell nino what they said.
"this is ridiculous ..." grumbled charlotte, shifting when her legs started aching. you would think jumping from rooftop to rooftop, she would be just fine crouching — but she had been sitting this way for nearly thirty minutes. charlotte's legs could only take so much.
adrien sighed. "we're just waiting on marinette. where is she?"
alya had given up, sitting down on the grass completely. she pulled out her phone, scrolling until the text she and marinette had shared was pulled up. charlotte watched her eyes scroll the screen, widening slightly.
"guys ..." alya got up, shuffling closer to charlotte and adrien. "marinette thinks we're going. she thinks it's a group outing. she's asking where we are!"
charlotte gritted her teeth, holding back a groan. "what did you tell her?"
"i didn't say anything!" insisted alya. "marinette just texted me — she's said that she's heading here and is going to wait by the entrance for us if we're not there yet."
adrien sighed, rubbing his across the back of his neck as he craned his head back. "one of us can meet up with marinette at the entrance and lead her back here."
"how will we get nino and marinette alone, then?" asked charlotte.
the model shrugged. "tell marinette a lie and come back here? i dunno, guys — that's the best idea i've got."
silently, charlotte looked at alya. it seemed that was the best idea any of them had. she sighed, starting to stand up; she winced, feeling her hips tighten as she started finally moving after half an hour. "i'll do it," she offered.
"i'll go with you," alya quickly offered. "tell marinette nino and adrien are arriving separately; that we arrived together."
adrien nodded to them, and alya and charlotte set off. they retraced their steps back to the entrance of the ménagerie du jardin des plantes. marinette was just making her past the ticket booth when she spotted alya and charlotte.
"hey!" marinette waved excitedly at the two, giving them a wide smile. "where's adrien and nino?"
"they haven't arrived yet," said charlotte, starting to lead marinette over to where she, alya, and adrien had been hiding out; nino was in the bathroom, probably hiding, hoping marinette bailed last minute (or that's what charlotte assumed when adrien told her nino was in the bathroom).
charlotte could see the place where they had all agreed to meet up — a section of the zoo where around ten picnic tables had been set up, so families could eat lunch together. but before they could make it, she also spotted lê chiến kim and max kanté up ahead. the two boys — charlotte had always wondered how they had stayed best friends for so long — apparently they decided the zoo was a good place to spend their afternoons outside of school.
"what are you doing here?" she asked curiously as kim and max walked up to them.
max, with his black-rimmed glasses, gave kim a look. he adjusted his glasses, raising his dark eyebrows at his friend. "kim thinks he can out-run a panther —"
"totally can!" insisted kim, staring to outrageously flex. he even pushed up the sleeves of his red hoodie to try and show off.
charlotte hummed, patting kim on the bicep. "i see ... um, are you sure you can? they're panthers, you know."
kim's flexing pose deflated and he gave the girl an offended look. "you doubt me, vittore?" he huffed, ruffling his hair which was styled with gel to point at the sky. "that hurts me."
"do you want to watch kim try and outrace the panthers?" max offered to charlotte, alya, and marinette.
the three girls exchanged glances. "um ... no thanks," said marinette, spreading her hands. "we told nino and adrien we'd meet up here. you guys go ahead." she waved to him, smiling.
kim and max shrugged at each other. "'kay," said kim. "see you at school tomorrow, you guys."
finding a way to leave marinette at one of the picnic tables was hard, especially because adrien started spamming charlotte's phone saying that nino was refusing to come out of the bathroom. alya told marinette that she and charlotte were going to "scope out" the gift shop as they waited for adrien and nino to arrive. marinette started to offer to go with them, but alya insisted that marinette stay where she was.
"smooth ..." charlotte whispered to her friend as they snuck back over to adrien.
"what else was i supposed to do?" alya hissed. "someone wasn't helping me!"
"what was i supposed to do?" countered charlotte. "you know i'm not a good liar!"
"yeah, i know." alya rolled her eyes, sitting down hard back on the grass.
adrien frowned at the two of them. "have you talked to nino?" he asked.
charlotte shook her head. "what is he saying?"
"that he can't do this," said adrien, pulling out his phone to show charlotte and alya the text he and nino have exchanged. charlotte's eyes flickered across the screen — nino was typing that he couldn't hang out with marinette alone, that he didn't feel prepared enough.
"i think i've managed to convince him to come out," said adrien, pulling the phone screen back. "but ..."
adrien had managed to convince nino to come out of his hiding spot (reminder: he was hiding in the public restrooms). from the text, charlotte saw that adrien had to coax nino out of the bathroom with the promises of buying him food from nino's favorite restaurant.
nino came down the walkway, adjusting his red cap — he shoved it further down on his head, the tips of his ears poking out; his ears were bright red compared to his tan skin. charlotte and alya exchanged looks as nino waved awkwardly to marinette, who sat at one of the picnic tables.
when nino reached marinette, he didn't give a greeting, leaving marinette to do the talking; "hey, nino! uh, where are the others? has adrien not arrived yet?"
nino shrugged, chuckling nervously. adrien gritted his teeth, sitting up to see over the bushes. he pressed the earpiece in his right ear. "tell marinette you'll be better off without me!" he whispered into the earpiece.
as adrien spoke, nino barely glanced their way. when the blonde was done, he rattled off; "we'll be better off without me!"
marinette blinked at him. "i'm ... sorry?"
"um — without him, i mean!" nino quickly (and poorly) recovered. "and alya and charlotte, too! we don't need them to hang out at the zoo."
"but i thought ..." marinette scratched her jaw, looking off. "i mean, weren't they supposed to come? i know charlotte and alya are here, i can just text them."
alya smacked adrien's shoulder lightly. "tell nino to say that he wants to be with marinette alone. that's romantic!"
charlotte made a dubious face. "is it ...?" but quickly looked off when alya glared at her.
"nino," said adrien, pressing the earpiece, "tell marinette you want to be alone with her!"
nino's face morphed — shock and then fear. "not yet!" he whispered into the earpiece.
marinette frowned at them. "what was that?"
nino panicked; "you're right!" he told the girl, nervously bouncing on the balls of his feet. "we'll wait for them!"
"no!" groaned adrien, throwing his head back. "nino, what are you talking about? don't wait for us; we're not coming!"
however, nino doesn't correct his mistake, standing very awkwardly — hands stuck at his side, grinning at marinette nervously. marinette smiled back, clearly bewildered about the situation; she thought she was meeting up with friends, and suddenly, three out of four friends had bailed. maybe even worse, now marinette was stuck with a guy who stared at her like he had magically been frozen in place.
even thirty feet away, hiding in the bushes, charlotte could feel the awkward tension wafting off marinette and nino in waves — literally. it was like the ocean slammed into her as she watched nino and marinette settle on opposite sides of a picnic bench. their backs faced each other, watching families stroll through the ménagerie du jardin des plantes. it was horrible, sitting and watching as nino picked a frayed piece of his jeans.
"this is going horribly ..." groaned charlotte, rubbing at her tense eyebrows.
adrien made a face, but it looked like an expression of agreement. "nino just needs to talk to marinette."
"well, that's going great, can't you see?" alya sneered, rolling her eyes in annoyance.
marinette cut off their conversation; "they sure are taking their time, huh?" she glanced back at nino, who still held his back to his crush. "... they're not coming, are they? charlotte and alya left the zoo, right?"
adrien suddenly sat up, craning his neck to see nino and marinette better. "repeat after me," he instructed nino. "yes, they are coming, but first, i wanted to tell you —"
nino gritted his teeth, and grimaced, as if he was about to do something he regretted. "yes, they are coming," he repeated, quickly turning to face marinette, "but first, i wanted to tell you —"
"that i love you, marinette," said adrien.
silently, charlotte gave the part-time model a look of shock. love? as far as she was aware, it was just a crush; you don't just love crushes like that. she didn't voice her shock, biting an inner part of her cheek to not say anything.
nino started to repeat what adrien had said, but started stuttering; "that i — tell you that i —" he groaned, making marinette look at him worriedly. "tell you that i — love a girl, but have no idea how to tell her!"
"huh?!" charlotte started to stand up, but adrien and alya grabbed her by the arms to pull her back onto the grass. she ripped the earpiece out of adrien's ear and whisper-shouted into it; "nino, what the hell are you doing?!"
"— charlotte, give me the earpiece back! —"
"— in a minute!"
but marinette's face lit up. "you do?" she asked nino, grinning happily. "i can help you with that!"
"you could?" asked nino, wincing at how this was going.
"so, who's the lucky girl?" she asked, leaning closer to nino.
but the black-haired boy leaned away. "oh — y-yeah ..." he rubbed the back of his neck, chewing on his bottom lip.
adrien ripped the earpiece back from charlotte. "tell marinette it's her!" he said into the earpiece.
nino's grin grew painfully wide. "it's you — ..." but he couldn't finish his sentence; he couldn't confess to marinette. "it's your friend, alya!"
as silent as mice, adrien and charlotte both slowly looked at alya, whose right eye twitched. charlotte licked her lips nervously when she noticed alya getting ready to explore with anger.
"alya?" marinette clapped her hands together. "awesome!"
"no, no!" hissed alya. "it's not awesome."
"i can totally talk to her," started marinette. "about setting up a date!"
"a date?!" alya shrieked, making charlotte and adrien wince. "i don't want to go on a date with nino!" she made a retching noise, almost comically sticking her finger down her throat. "this is not happening. end of discussion!"
luckily (but unluckily for alya), marinette hadn't heard alya. "it'll be so sad if you don't tell her, nino!"
alya shrieked again. "charlotte, this is your fault!"
"my fault?" charlotte's jaw dropped.
"yes, your fault." alya jabbed a finger at her best friend. "if you hadn't roped me into this —"
"don't blame me 'cause nino can't grow a pair and confess —"
"this whole date thing with nino is not happening!" insisted alya, waving off adrien, who tried to intervene. "i don't care he can't confess to marinette. i'm not keeping up with his lies because he can't just tell her!"
before alya could start yelling louder and louder (to the point marinette could hear her), a boy shrieked off to the right, "he's coming!"
suddenly, kim and max came sprinting past. max shrieked, "get out of here!" as he and kim ran past nino and marinette. and from the cobbled pathway off the zoo, a black panther came sprinting towards the collection of picnic tables. nino and marinette yelp, digging their backs into the edge of the wooden table. before charlotte knew it, she heard a stampede — giraffes, elephants, and gorillas were storming down the path, sounding plenty angry to charlotte.
nino stood up, spotting the angry horde of animals. he grabbed marinette by the arm, pulling her to her feet. "we've got to get out of here!" he shouted, his voice shaky with fear.
the animals stormed the courtyard, crushing picnic tables underfoot. as quietly as possible, alya, adrien, and charlotte backed away from the animals — they all hoped the animals wouldn't hear them over the sound of their massive feet and crunching wood.
"you guys," said charlotte, climbing to her feet, "we need to go!"
"but coccinella, charlotte!" countered alya, pulling out her phone. she clicked on her camera app, and her recording had already started.
"coccinella's not here yet, so let's go!" insisted charlotte, trying to grab her friend's arm. she ignored the way tikki jabbed her side from her hiding spot.
"no way!" alya shook her head. "not when coccinella is going to show up. you guys go ahead and go, but i'm staying for the action."
charlotte glanced at adrien, who was already backing away. she pursed her lips and ran in the opposite direction of the part-time model. she couldn't exactly "go" since she needed to be a part of the action now, since becoming coccinella.
she vaulted a part of the metal fence, landing behind a line of bushes. she checked to see if anyone was around, but the animals seemingly stormed through the area, clearing it out. she let tikki out of her hiding spot.
"save it," said the black-haired girl.
tikki frowned. "i wasn't going to say anything!"
"i could see it on your face, tikki," said charlotte.
the kwami debated. "okay, maybe i was — but it's rich of you to be fussing about nino not being able to confess to his crush when you can't either!"
charlotte wasn't going to entertain this conversation; "tikki, spots on!"
🐞
coccinella vaulted to the rooftops of one of the now-empty enclosures. she ran across the sloped rooftop, sliding down until she could jump to the next one. she could hear the commotion from thirty feet away — the thunderous sounds of animals' feet pounding concrete as they stormed through the zoo — but she was quickly closing the gap between her and the noises.
as she ran closer, she got a better look at a scene happening at the edge of the zoo — right outside an enclosure for what looked to be sloths. a sleek, black panther with glowing violet eyes and a bracelet with a shark tooth on its right, front paw skidded to a stop in front of kim, who was sweating and panting like he had run a marathon. coccinella had a sinking feeling in her chest, having a pretty good idea of what had happened.
"you lost, kiddo," said the panther, his voice deep and rumbling. he clawed closer to kim, his paws stepping slow and steady; it was like he had his prey backed into a corner. "what do you think of panthers now?"
kim's chest rose and fell rapidly. he backed away, nearly tripping over his own feet. "that — that panthers are the best?" his voice betrayed him by cracking; his fear was showing.
coccinella gritted her teeth and leaped off the last of the enclosures. she landed on the concrete, in between the panther and kim. "what about ladybugs, hm? what do you think about them?"
there was the sound of rapid footsteps and cat noir landed beside her. "and another black cat!" he added, nodding his chin towards the black panther.
the panther's lips curled, and coccinella saw a line of spit drip out of his mouth. "i think i'm higher on the food chain."
a purple butterfly appeared over the panther's face. if a talking animal wasn't enough evidence of hawk moth's meddling, this purple butterfly was enough. he was whispering in the panther's ears — lies, lies, and more lies about coccinella and cat noir's intentions.
coccinella exchanged a quick look with cat noir before turning to her classmate. "kim — run! get out of here, now!"
he darted to the left, and so did the panther — the animal chased after kim, but coccinella reeled back her arm like she was throwing a baseball. the red body of the yo-yo wrapped around the black panther and tightened — there was a sharp zip! and the panther's four legs were crushed to its underbelly. the panther fell to the concrete with a thud! giving kim just enough time to get out of reach and run through the now-empty zoo.
"cat," coccinella looked at the blond boy beside her, "the bracelet. that has to be where the akuma is."
he nodded to her. "you hold him, i'll grab the bracelet."
but before he could move, an elephant squealed, suddenly a lot closer than coccinella had previously thought. glancing to her left, she spotted a line of big animals watching her and cat noir angrily — gorillas, giraffes, and elephants. she let out a whimper of fear, and the panther roared; "attack!" the animals kneeled, getting ready to run, but cat noir grabbed coccinella by the arm and pulled her back — the two heroes ran back, down the concrete-lined paths of the zoo, with a horde of angry, large animals on their tails.
cat noir and coccinella ran through the zoo, the angry stomps of elephants not too far behind. "we need to put them back in their cages!" cat noir yelled to the ladybug-clad girl beside him.
"you think?" retorted coccinella, her voice pitching. "i can't imagine why you would think that, cat noir!"
"stop being sarcastic!" he yelled back. "i'm supposed to be the sarcastic one!"
"you're the one who makes puns!" corrected coccinella. "you don't have any puns for putting angry animals back in their cages, do you?"
"if you give me time, i will!" insisted cat noir.
however, time was not on their side. and neither were nino and alya — the two were running across coccinella and cat noir's path, at the worst time when the heroes had to vault over nino and alya, who were being chased by another gorilla. where marientte had gone to, coccinella had no idea; she could only hope marientte was alright.
"you deal with these animals and i'll save those two!" said coccinella, starting to drift away from cat noir. she didn't wait to hear his complaints when she chased after alya and nino.
coccinella veered to her right, running after the angry gorilla. she caught up with the animal — she vaulted over the gorilla's head, grabbed alya and nino by the back of the shirts, and pulled them to the right.
"what the —" nino yelped, blundering inside an empty gorilla habitat; alya stumbled inside, right behind him.
"stay here," said coccinella, one hand on the open door to the habitat. "you'll stay safe inside."
before alya could protest (because coccinella knew she would), the ladybug superhero slammed the metal door closed.
🐞
cat noir climbed into a tree, crouching in between two large branches. he leaned backward as a giraffe tried to bite him. coccinella landed on the sloped rooftop of a habitat nearby. "there's too many of them!" she yelled to the blond. "we can't capture them all."
"what are we gonna do then?" asked cat noir, dodging as an eagle swooped over his head, its feet ready to grab him.
"what we always do — get the akuma," said coccinella, backing away from the roof's edge as an elephant's trunk curled for her. "if we get the bracelet, i can get the akuma and purify it. everything will go back to normal that way!"
cat noir nodded to her, jumping away from the tree to land beside her. "sounds like a good idea."
the animals chased after the heroes as cat noir and coccinella ran off — but as the heroes ran along the domed habitats of the zoo, the animals lost interest, veering off to the right. to the entrance. they were truly escaping this time. as she watched, coccinella grimaced, knowing the trouble these animals would cause in paris, but they had to take care of this talking panther if they wanted to solve the issue at its core.
coccinella and cat noir jumped from the habitat where they had last seen the panther — only there was no panther with violet eyes and a shark-tooth bracelet. coccinella's brows furrowed as she walked closer, but her eyes widened when she spotted what had happened. her yo-yo was lying abandoned on the concrete, tangled among itself — the black, never-ending cord wrapped and knotted.
coccinella gasped. "but it's supposed to be unbreakable!"
cat noir knelt next to the abandoned yo-yo. he grabbed it, turning it over in his hand. "he didn't break it, coccinella. see?" he held the yo-yo to her, straightening to his full height.
the heroine grabbed the yo-yo from him, and immediately, the cord started untangling itself, zipping back into place around the yo-yo. "then ... how did he get out?"
cat noir shrugging cluelessly. "i dunno ..." he admitted, placing his hands on his hips. "but we better find him — i mean, that boy." he scratched the back of his head, chuckling nervously. "before that panther does."
coccinella paid cat noir no mind, extending her yo-yo and reeling it back in quickly. she nodded quietly to herself — it worked just fine — and pulled back her yo-yo like a baseball and threw it through the air. the yo-yo sailed over the fence to the ménagerie du jardin des plantes and wrapped around the chimney of a nearby home.
she tugged on the ring that she hooked on her middle finger, and the ladybug was pulled into the air. she swung into the air — cat noir leaped behind her, using his silver staff to vault himself into the air. they raced along paris, landing on a metal roof. coccinella shielded the beating sun with her hand. "where is kim ...?" she murmured to herself.
suddenly, cat noir gasped. "over there!"
to her left, spanning largely in the middle of paris was the pont alexandre iii, and on the bridge were only two figures — kim and the violet-eyed panther. kim backed away, whimpering nervously as the panther closed in.
"it's just the two of us, kiddo," sneered the panther, his violet eyes narrowed dangerously.
kim tripped over his feet, skidding across the cobblestone of the pont alexandre iii. the panther stalked closer. "and then there was one." the panther got ready to pounce — crouching closer to the floor of the bridge, his hind legs tensing —
zip! coccinella's yo-yo wrapped around the panther's right hind leg, and the panther smacked to the cobblestone. "you're not getting away this time!" sneered the heroine.
cat noir landed next to kim, grabbing the boy by his armpits and pulling kim to his feet. "quick! hide in the first building you get to!" cat noir ordered the boy. kim nodded and started running, nearly tripping over his feet again, but he rightened himself.
"you'll never get me!" growled the panther, his body becoming coated in a purple, slime-like consistency. when the substance fell to the floor, no panther was there — only an eagle. which gave a sharp shriek and flew into the sky.
coccinella watched in stunned shock as her yo-yo slipped off the eagle's foot and fell back towards earth. before it could crash on the ground, cat noir rushed forward and caught it. he shielded his eyes from the sun with the yo-yo, watching as the eagle flew away. "now we know how he got away earlier," he told coccinella.
the ladybug sighed and walked closer to cat noir, holding her hand out for her yo-yo. "where's kim? you told him to run — where to?"
the blond boy was quiet for a moment, then he grinned cheekily. "i'll tell you if you kiss me."
coccinella's top lip curled and her crossed arms dropped. "give me the yo-yo." she held out her hand again, but cat noir didn't hand it over. "cat noir —"
"— oh! not just cat this time?"
"— give me my yo-yo. now."
cat noir rolled his eyes. "fine." he tossed the yo-yo back to coccinella, who caught it and hooked it back around her waist. he grabbed his staff and extended one half of it — a map of paris, only colored entirely green. in the middle of the screen was a blinking symbol of a cat's paw.
"a tracker?" coccinella raised her eyebrows at the blond. "smart move, kitty."
"so, is that your way of saying you'll kiss me?"
"no," said coccinella, rolling her eyes. but she still smiled at him and nudged him lightly. "let's go find kim."
🐞
cat noir's tracker said kim was hiding in tom & sabine boulangerie patisserie. despite the mood, coccinella's stomach grumbled for sweets. it was the business owned by marinette's parents — tom dupain and sabine cheng, and their home was right above the bakery.
the outside of tom & sabine boulangerie patisserie had white walls with angeled walls jetting out, and from these angeled walls were the words tom & sabine boulangerie patisserie. the windows are tinted darkly and decorated with gold; six of the windows (which are in pairs) are painted gold, each sporting a peel, grains of wheat, and a croissant as the logo.
in the center of two of these pairs is an arch window, outlined in white. above each arch is a small rectangular clear window. the door is styled similarly to the outside walls — the same black window, gold lettering, and white outline. above the windows and door is a white overlap with ridges, gold lettering, and a black background.
coccinella landed on the top of the building that housed the family and their business. she landed on a hexagonal-shaped terrace that was encompassed by a wrought iron railing — marinette's balcony, which led into her bedroom through a wooden trapdoor.
colorful ornament lights wrapped around a white triangular awning, and below them was a pink striped deck chair. a white box and a terracotta pot of blue flowers were situated in front of it. on the other side of the trapdoor are the wifi tower and an arrangement of plants; in the center of the terrace is a spool tea table. the smaller furniture that adorns the balcony was varying — additional flower pots or boxes or half-finished projects marinette was working on.
cat noir landed on the wrought iron railing. "he's safe inside this building. panthers can't open doors, so he won't get inside."
"but what if he turns into an animal who can?" countered coccinella. "gorillas have thumbs, and they can open doors. or if he morphs into a smaller animal and squeeze underneath the door —"
"okay, miss brainiac," said cat noir. "you have a point. but we do have an advantage over him — we know exactly where his prey is."
coccinella crossed her arms and looked out — marinette's balcony provided a perfect view of the notre dame cathedral and the place des vosges. "he will sniff kim out sooner or later. but it has bought us a bit of time to plan our next move. cat — follow me."
she wrapped her hands around the cool railing and jumped over it, landing on the concrete in front of tom & sabine boulangerie patisserie; cat noir landed beside her, quickly opening the door for coccinella. "after you, m'ladybug," he said as the bell attached jingled to announce their arrival.
"thanks, cat." coccinella smiled at the blond and walked inside.
marinette's parents were standing around kim, who was slunk over in a chair, holding a cup of water. as the bell jingled, tom and sabine quickly looked up to see who had entered — their eyes widened when they recognized the heroes of paris, coccinella and cat noir.
"hello, ma'am," said coccinella.
sabine gasped, putting her hand to her mouth. "you're — you're coccinella!"
"ah ..." coccinella looked to cat noir, who just chuckled lightly and shrugged. "um, yes, i suppose i am." she turned to her classmate. "kim, what has happened."
kim's eyes flickered across the room; he looked nervous, and coccinella figured her vague idea had been spot on. "i — i didn't know he was going to turn into a shape-shifting animal, coccinella. honest!"
"who is he, kim?"
"the man who worked at the zoo," said kim. "alya's dad — otis césaire. that is her dad, right?"
"yes —" coccinella stopped herself and sighed; she couldn't just rattle off the fact she knew alya's father's name. "is alya's last name césaire?"
"well ... yes."
"then i suppose that is her dad. what made him susceptible to hawk moth?"
"i ..." kim looked nervously around the room, "i pissed him off, alright? i didn't think anything of it. but then, he — animan — suddenly showed up and started chasing me and max."
"animan," noted cat noir, coming forward to stand next to coccinella. "is that what he called himself?"
"yeah," answered kim.
"and what happened to max?" asked coccinella. "is he alright?"
"yes, yes!" kim nodded rapidly. "he got separated from me in the crowds at the zoo — but animan hasn't gotten to him. i've already texted him while i've been here."
coccinella looked to tom and sabine. "has your daughter made it back? marinette, right?"
"yes," tom answered, nodding. "how did you know she was at the zoo?"
"oh —" coccinella's eyes widened. "um, i ... saw her! at the zoo, running from the animals. yeah, that's right." she gave marinette's parents a painfully wide smile, hoping they didn't question her further.
🐞
"we interrupt this broadcast with a special report," nadja chamack said, holding onto a white tablet. as she spoke, a map of paris appeared on screen — symbols of animals were shown to be spreading across the large city. "animals are invading paris. the police are hard at work trying to contain the situation. for your safety, stay in your homes and remain calm. mayor bourgeois will address the —"
before she could finish her sentence, and as a giraffe stormed down a street, eating a potted plant, sabine took the tv remote and shut the electronics off.
coccinella sighed and sat beside kim, placing a hand on his shoulder. "you'll be safe here, kim," she insisted. her eyes landed on a white wristband the boy wore. "can i, um, borrow this?"
kim didn't pay attention, ripping the fabric off. "here."
coccinella took the wristband, standing up. she looked around the room — eyes lingering on marinette and her parents, who had gathered together at a small, four-person table. "thank you for letting kim stay here," she told the family of three. "you're helping us greatly."
the family nodded to her and coccinella started to walk toward cat noir. the blond boy was looking at a bookshelf, reading the titles they had and a family photo they kept.
"cat noir," she said, jarring him. she looked back to sabine and tom; "make sure you lock all the doors and windows, okay?" she asked of them.
"we'll take care of the rest!" cat noir broke in, nodding confidently. "you won't be in danger."
"again, thank you, mr. dupain, mrs. cheng," said coccinella.
tom, a burly man who towered over both his daughter and wife, nodded to her determinedly. "you're welcome, coccinella."
🐞
coccinella placed kim's wristband on the railing of the tom & sabine boulangerie patisserie. hopefully, animan would smell kim on it and come closer. she rummaged through the cabinets out front of the bakery — her eyes landed upon a thin, blue bottle of air freshener and she quickly snatched it.
looking out the front windows, cat noir watched all the zoo animals animan had let free. coccinella came up behind him and sprayed the bottle of air freshener.
"whoa!" cat noir gasped, whirling around, waving his hand through the haze of mist. "what's that stuff?"
"air freshener," coccinella answered easily. "it'll cover up our scent so animan can't smell us as easily."
"oh, thanks, i guess. i've always wanted to smell like —" he quickly sniffed himself, "ocean summer breeze ...?"
"don't get smart with me, cat," chided coccinella, spraying herself with the air freshener.
"oh, i'm not!" insisted the blond. "you're the brains of this operation, don't you know, bugaboo?"
"and don't call me those ridiculous nicknames!"
cat noir paid her no mind and grabbed a small box, which had been discarded on the counter near the front door; he held it up to coccinella. "couldn't we capture him in something like this?"
"we could — until he transformed into something bigger," answered coccinella. she looked around, her eyes stopping on a city bus. she gasped and leaned closer to the front windows. "you don't think a city bus would make a big enough cage, cat?"
cat noir stopped beside her. "definitely. but how are we gonna get him inside?"
but before coccinella could try and come up with an answer, cat noir grabbed her by the arm and pulled her to the floor. "he's coming," he whispered to coccinella, rubbing the leather ears that are supposed to resemble cat ears.
coccinella blinked at him. "you can hear with those things? they're supposed to be leather!"
"bugaboo, you can summon any item you can think of by saying lucky charm — you want to get into semantics?"
she pursed her lips, but looked off. no, coccinella did not want to get into semantics.
outside the bakery, coccinella heard the sound of large wings. she looked up hopefully and spotted a large eagle soaring through the air right outside tom & sabine boulangerie patisserie. "it's working!" she gasped. "he's sniffing out kim!"
"don't sound so surprised, coccinella," said cat noir. "your plans always work."
"can't i be amazed by my own brain?" countered coccinella, rolling her eyes. outside the bakery, she spotted animan starting to fly towards the second, less-used entrance. she quickly got to her feet, saying; "cat, follow me!"
she ran through the entrance of the bakery, towards the staircase that led up to the dupain-cheng apartment. she took the box cat noir had pointed out, ripped off the lid, and captured a small ladybug that flew through the air. coccinella secured the lid to the box, grinning at cat noir.
"a ladybug?" she teased. "smart choice!"
however, the box started shuddering, and coccinella's smile dropped — and so, did too the box. coccinella let go of the box, no longer caring if it fell to the floor. she grabbed cat noir by the arm, running the way she came. behind her, animan transformed from a ladybug back to a panther. in the process, completely breaking apart the box.
there was a roar, and animan — as a sleek, black panther — started chasing cat noir and coccinella through the front section of the dupain-cheng bakery. the two heroes screamed as coccinella swung the door wide open, nearly tearing it off its hinges, as animan chased after them. they ran out into the street, dodging between abandoned cars and the jaws of animan when he got too close.
"couldn't he have chosen a slower-moving animal?!" cat noir demanded, running behind coccinella.
the ladybug didn't answer, running for the abandoned bus. luckily, the bus driver — wherever he was — had done her a great service and left the doors wide open. she dove into the bus — cat noir and animan right on her tail. from the momentum, the doors closed with a snap!
coccinella and cat noir hid behind the very last seats, nodding to each other silently. animan snarled under his breath, stalking up the length of the bus. coccinella held up a three to cat noir; "three," she mouthed to him. "one ... two ... three ..."
the last number she mouthed to the blond, cat noir and coccinella vaulted over their seats — they bounced off the top of each row, all the way until they made it to the front of the bus. cat noir landed, taking out his silver staff, and extending it until it nearly jabbed animan in the face. it was obvious animan didn't like this — he roared and swiped at the staff.
coccinella darted for the driver's seat. "where's the button for the doors?!" she shrieked, slamming two of the green buttons; she flipped some switches, and when nothing happened, she slammed her hands on the console. "of course," she growled. "the driver took the fucking keys with him!"
cat noir looked back to see what could be done, but animan transformed into a bear. somehow, the bear's roar was even worse than the panther's. cat noir's face dropped and he whirled around to face the bear — bracing his staff above his head like he was getting ready to attempt chin-ups.
animan knocked the staff out of cat noir's hands, and sent the boy landing on his back. the staff rolled over to coccinella's feet, knocking against her wedged boots. a purple butterfly appeared over animan's face — hawk moth was probably telling the man to take cat noir's miraculous. coccinella gritted her teeth as the bear leaned over and growled in cat noir's face; she couldn't let animan hurt cat noir and take the ring.
cat noir heard the staff rolling across the floor and held out his hand. he wrapped his fingers around the staff and pulled it to his chest, where only one end extended — the staff knocked animan in the chin, and straightened him upright. coccinella reeled back her yo-yo, throwing it, and it wrapped around animan, pinning his arms to his side. cat noir quickly got to his feet, racing to be beside coccinella.
however, animan only transformed — into a ladybug again. coccinella's yo-yo dropped to the floor, and cat noir threw his staff like it was a spear. the ladybug only dodged the staff, flying over it, and the staff rebounded off the back glass of the bus, cracking the back window. cat noir gritted his teeth and caught the staff, backing up to coccinella again.
animan transformed once again — a panther. he landed on the bus floor, kicking coccinella's yo-yo out of his way. she made a small tug and the yo-yo zipped back to her. "all these transformations are making him tired," she noted to cat noir.
"then just let him wear himself out." cat noir shrugged. "it'll make it easier to capture his akuma."
he raced by coccinella, stopping at the bus driver's seat. "cataclysm!" he yelled, and his hand was surrounded by black particles. he slammed his palm against the control panel, and before coccinella knew it — all the buttons had started working, just not as they were supposed to. the system was short-circuiting — the bus's emergency lights were going off, the turn signals were losing their mind, the lights flickered overhead, and the bus's doors kept opening and shutting rapidly.
luckily, cat noir and coccinella managed to jump out right as the doors were opening. animan wasn't so lucky — he tried to jump after coccinella; however, the doors slammed in his face, but they didn't open again. a buzzing sound grew louder until there was a loud boom! and black smoke poured out from underneath the bus.
"so that's how we get animan inside," said coccinella, dusting her hands. "not who i thought we would, but ..." she shrugged.
from inside, animan transformed back into a bear. he slammed his large paws into the door, but they didn't budge.
"i don't think he can bear to listen to that noise," cat noir said, grinning widely.
coccinella rolled her eyes playfully. "you're too much to bear sometimes, cat noir."
"hey!"
"now," said coccinella, ignoring cat noir's shout of indignation, "we wait."
animan transformed — into a ladybug. he tried to slip in between the gaps of the doors, but the black rubber stopped him. then he transformed into a gorilla, and tried breaking the door down — but nothing happened.
"ready to free the akuma?" asked cat noir, but coccinella held up a hand. animan had stopped trying to break through the doors. he slinked back to the middle of the bus, where coccinella struggled to see him, and laid down.
"is he sleeping ...?" she asked quietly, leaning closer.
animan wasn't sleeping — he was morphing into an animal coccinella didn't think possible. an animal that shouldn't have been possible. from inside the bus, a colossal frame started to grow; green scales that glinted with its leathery skin, and a large head that swung as it tried to make room inside the now-cramped automotive.
the top of the bus was split open, and the giant head emerged — and so did a guttural roar that made coccinella's skin crawl. its teeth gleamed like swords as the monster crawled out of the hole it had made, crushing the vehicle under its weight. once again — it roared, shaking the dust off the nearby buildings.
"hey!" protested cat noir. "since when do extinct animals count?!"
"extinct animal or not, the t-rex is still considered an animal," said coccinella.
the dinosaur stepped off the bus, with step with the creaks and groans from the road which was not made to support such weight. coccinella and cat noir cowered, hunching back as the t-rex stomped closer.
"well, i know of some other animals that are about to be extinct," admitted cat noir, creeping away.
coccinella followed his lead. "and those are ...?"
"the ladybug and cat!" cat noir grasped coccinella by the arm and ran, pulling her along after him. the t-rex wasted no time in following; it shook what felt like the whole city of paris as it chased after the two heroes. they dodged in between abandoned cars; cat noir vaulted over an open car door; but the t-rex could only run through — with every step, it seemed the t-rex smashed more vehicles under its large talon-like feet.
coccinella led the way, running across the road and to a nearby shop. she pulled cat noir beside her, ignoring the way he screamed at her to move. she counted silently in her head, waiting for the right moment. it came right as the dinosaur was five feet away, its large jaws opening to take a bite — and coccinella jumped out of the way, pulling cat noir with her.
the t-rex slammed head first into the shop; the building fell apart from the impact, debris crumbling the ground — and all over the t-rex, trapping it for a moment. coccinella rolled back onto her feet, continuing to pull cat noir until they reached a barricade of cars. she vaulted over a sleek, black car, breathing heavily.
"i didn't know he could transform into a fucking t-rex," she said, putting her hand to her chest.
"you okay?" cat noir asked her.
"fine," she said, sitting up to look for the monster. the t-rex was starting to climb its way out of the debris; she had to finish this. "lucky charm!"
from the folds of coccinella's red yo-yo came a spotted car jack. she grunted as it landed in her arms. "a car jack ...?" she groaned, righting it in her arms.
"why do you sound confused?" asked cat noir, raising his eyebrows at her. "isn't it your mind that comes up with these things?"
"oh, hush already," grumbled coccinella, moving to crouch back down beside him.
but cat noir grinned cheekily. "just a shame animan doesn't have any flat tires to take care of."
coccinella sighed and squinted through the windows of the car she was hiding behind. through all the commotion, the t-rex seemingly lost track of her and cat noir. it roared angrily, stomping around in search of the two heroes. "he has small arms ..." she murmured under her breath.
cat noir waved his hand. "so he won't be any good at basketball. what are you getting at?"
"i'm getting a plan," said the girl. "cat, climb on top of animan — where he won't be able to swipe at you. and while you're distracting him, i'll get his feet and get him on the ground! and then we'll nab his bracelet — where the akuma is!"
"sounds like a plan, coccinella," said cat noir, nodding. but he suddenly leaned real close to coccinella, who froze and blinked stupidly. "i can be very distracting ..."
crunch!
coccinella scrambled away from cat noir and the large, scaly foot of the t-rex. cat noir gasped and rushed after the ladybug, hot on her heels. the t-rex roared and shook the ground coccinella ran on — only this time, he was a foot behind her, leaving no room for error.
"it's gonna be hard!" yelled cat noir, lagging behind just barely.
when the t-rex bent its head just barely — to roar at the heroes again — cat noir's legs tensed and he jumped into the air. the t-rex ran underneath him, and the cat dropped onto the dinosaur's head. with indignation, the t-rex straightened and shook its head from left to right — screaming, cat noir dug his fingers into the t-rex's scaly skin to not fall off.
coccinella backed away, hooking the car jack onto her hip. her yo-yo zipped into her hand and coccinella reeled her arm back. she launched her arm forward, the momentum making her bend forward. the yo-yo flew through the air, wrapping around the t-rex's legs. the thin cord tightened, digging into the leathery skin, and the dinosaur's legs closed together.
with a loud thud! the road shook as the t-rex fell to the ground. it roared angrily, thrashing violently. cat noir was thrown off, sliding away; coccinella leapt over the t-rex, landing beside cat noir, the spotted car jack in hand.
"it's weird," she admitted. "we always have to use the lucky charm — no matter what it is. that's, like, the rules."
"i think the lucky charm is saying we rock as a team," said cat noir, shrugging casually. he started for the t-rex, who stopped thrashing once it noticed the blond walking forward. coccinella pursed her lips, looking back down at the red, black-spotted car jack. then, her heart dropped.
"cat, no!" she screamed, rushing forward to grab the belt that hung from his hips. she pulled him back with all her might right as the t-rex struggled to lift its head, teeth on full display as it tried to bite down.
cat noir bounced back on his butt — once, twice, three times. he looked shocked, starting to glance up at coccinella to say something, but she gripped the car jack tighter and took a running start. "coccinella, stop!" the blond pleaded, stumbling to his feet. but she didn't, gritting her teeth as the t-rex roared and opened its mouth, a trail of drool dripping down.
the truth didn't hit her until the t-rex snapped its jaws closed, dousing her not only in darkness — but also in saliva. coccinella swallowed back her stomach, righting the car jack so the bottom rested on the t-rex's tongue. fighting back a gag, coccinella started to crank the lever — and from the back of the t-rex's throat came a grumble of disapproval. but slowly, the t-rex's jaws started to separate.
coccinella took in a deep breath of fresh air as she stepped off the t-rex's tongue. she glanced back at cat noir, who blinked at her in stunned silence. the t-rex grumbled angrily as she crouched by its front right arm; she took the bracelet off, crushing the purple shark tooth with both hands.
a black butterfly wriggled free from the crushed shark tooth. coccinella's grey eyes carefully followed the butterfly as she unhooked her yo-yo and slid her finger over the top. a faint pink line appeared after her finger, and the yo-yo's shell split apart like a ladybug's wings. before the akuma could get away, she threw the yo-yo out and it snapped around the butterfly, capturing it. coccinella brought the yo-yo back in, pressing the top, and it split apart — out came a white butterfly, which fluttered into the sky.
carefully and quickly, coccinella seized the car jack. she tossed it into the air and it burst into a swarm of ladybugs, which were surrounded by a pink light. the swarm spread throughout the area — the swarmed hummed with energy as they fixed everything animan harmed or changed during the fight.
coccinella smiled at cat noir as the t-rex transformed into alya's father, otis césaire. "pound it?" she offered, holding out her clenched fist to the blond.
but cat noir seized her by the shoulders and pulled her in for a hug. "that was stupid," he chided.
coccinella had started to smile, but sighed and rolled her eyes. "don't start chiding me about stupidity, mr. i-nearly-got-my-hand-chopped-off-last-week."
cat noir suddenly gagged, like he had a hairball he needed to retch up. "how was i supposed to know that girl had a knife on her?!"
"forget it," said coccinella, starting to hug him back but cat noir pulled away quickly. he held her by the shoulders, smiling painfully wide. she frowned at him, asking, "what?"
"nothing, nothing," the boy promised. his ring beeped and he looked down at it. "shit! i only have a minute — better take my whispers and run!" he took off in a sprint, vaulting up to the rooftop of lycée françoise dupont.
coccinella only shook her head, walking over to help alya's father. "what happened to me?" he asked the heroine as she crouched beside him.
"you were akumatized," she admitted. "but everything's okay now. mr. césaire, you need to get back to the zoo and check up on your animals. make sure they're all in their cages and such."
otis frowned at her. "akumatized?"
she gave him a tense smile. "yes, sir. i'll explain everything."
🐞
everyone had odd habits. one of charlotte's was leaving one of her bedroom windows cracked. it made it easier to slip inside — especially right as she was about to de-transform back from coccinella to charlotte.
she didn't have to say "spots off" for a pink light to engulf her room. her earrings beeped shrilly one last time and a red kwami came flying out of charlotte's earring. tikki yawned tiredly and rested on charlotte's shoulder.
"that was an akuma, huh?" she said, covering another yawn.
"you're telling me," said charlotte. "i mean, a t-rex? have you seen anything like that before?"
for a moment, tikki considered. then she shrugged. "i'm billions of years old, charlotte. i tend to lose track of all the people i've faced off with."
charlotte got tikki some chocolate chip cookies from the pantry. she broke one larger cookie in two pieces, handing it off to tikki and having the other half for herself. she found herself at her bedroom door when she heard a buzzing sound.
the wooden desk next to her bed muted some of the sounds, and so did charlotte's backpack. but she spotted her phone screen lighting up from the side pocket of her bag. from where she stood, she also saw the caller id.
"oh, shit ..." she cursed silently, rushing forward. "she's going to kill me, tikki. kill me."
"what?" asked the kwami.
"alya! i forgot all about her and nino," admitted charlotte, grabbing her bag and digging out her phone. "i left them in that cage — together, alone, after nino lied to marinette saying he liked alya. she's going to kill me!"
"imagine if she knew you were the coccinella who locked her up with nino," added tikki, flying around charlotte's head.
"that's right ..." meeped charlotte. "alya doesn't know that it was me that locked her up. all she knows is that it was coccinella, not charlotte."
🐞 DEC. 5TH, 2023 / this chapter was not supposed to be as long as it is ,, whoops lol
i'm gonna change things about the lore/show that seem pretty ,, important bc i find them incredibly weird/creepy, make me uncomfortable, or find them completely avoidable (maybe unneeded is the better way to put it). i may not come out and say exactly what's changed, and either skirt around avoiding the things i don't want to include or gently nudge the plot in the other direction (like adrien (and maybe even felix) being half-sentimonster bc wtf is that? why did we need that? we didn't, actually!)
i'm giving a warning because some people in this fandom are one; too young to be reading fanfics, and two; just immature. and this goes for all fandoms, but this one is significantly worse because it is technically a kid's show adopted by older fans (similar to steven universe, or my little ponies *shudder* i try not to mention mlp, but that is the perfect example of what i mean)
i grew up with miraculous ladybug, and maybe the show hasn't grown as much as i have, but it's still grown more than some of the people my age who also like miraculous lol
anyways, thoughts? opinions??