Nino decided that he was going to leave at 1:00 AM. No one was awake at that time, at least not a lot of people.
It was 12:55 as Nino paced in his room, heart thumping in his chest and his eyes screwed shut, knowing the length of his room by heart and always turning at exactly the right time.
"Nino?" Wayzz said quietly, floating in his bowl of water with a concerned frown. "You don't have to do this now, you're pushing yourself when you don't need to."
"I know," Nino answered quickly, stopping in his frantic walking to check the time again.
12:56.
"You have time," Wayzz reminded him gently, disliking how nervous Nino seemed to be. "We can do this later."
"The longer I wait the more unsure I'm going to get..." Nino said quietly, trying to take long even breaths. "I can do this I just... need to go for it."
Wayzz was quiet for a while more, another minute ticking by in silence as Nino tried to calm himself.
"I'm proud of you," Wayzz said earnestly, still looking concerned, "but are you really sure you don't want them there? They'd be there in a second if you called, they'll help you adjust."
Nino shook his head, taking off his hat and running his hand through his short hair. "If I fall off a building I'd rather not have an audience, even if they are my friends. If I get more adjusted I said I'd call them by 2:00."
There was a small space of silence before Wayzz flew from the bowl and hovered in front of Nino, water slowly dripping to the floor but no one commenting on it.
"Would you be more comfortable knowing what to expect?" Wayzz asked, tilting his head. "I've explained some basic things but I could go into more detail."
Nino turned and looked at the clock.
"Yeah... tell me on the way to the roof."
Wayzz was silent until Nino had successfully snuck past his father who had fallen asleep on guard duty and out the front door, only starting his explanation once they were well away from the apartment.
"You will have a shield, I'm sure you know," Wayzz began, "it's capable of many things. It can grow and shrink to your various needs but there is a limit to how large it will go, as well as how small. It will never shrink smaller than a dinner plate, and never grown larger than the face of a bus."
"Okay..." Nino said quietly to show he was listening, hating that he was deliberately taking the stairs a bit slower because he was afraid.
"Your communicator is not on the shield, but rather the miraculous itself. That will be easier to just mess with yourself."
"How does getting around work?"
Wayzz didn't reply, not completely sure how to explain. "We can practice on the rooftop before going anywhere else. I'll talk you through once we've transformed."
Nino felt a certain kind of electricity run over his skin at the word, the boy shutting his eyes again for a moment and reminding himself that he had been chosen. He could do it.
It didn't take them long to reach the roof, Wayzz whispering quiet words of encouragement the whole way up and only falling silent when Nino opened the door and stepped out onto the gravel.
This rooftop had held some surprisingly important moments in Nino's life...
He really never thought one of them would be something like this.
Nino took a deep breath, his hands shaking in tightly balled fists as he reminded himself of what he had spent the last five hours doing. You've got to step up man... you've got to step up. Stop being a coward and just... say it.
W-Wayzz..." Nino tried, swallowing heavily and looking down at the ground. He took a deep breath before he heard a small voice say, 'hey'.
Nino looked over as Wayzz floated out into the open, smiling at him gently with thousands years visible in his eyes.
"Inside you there is great power. Our miraculous will only help you see that for yourself, as your friends already have." Wayzz bowed his head, saying "So strive forward for yourself as well young master. In time you will see the greatness we do."
Nino was stunned, looking down at the small bowing turtle and felt something akin to a bright spark of affection in his chest.
This little guy had so much faith in a coward who couldn't even say three words.
Nino stopped, closing his eyes and focusing on that spark in his chest, feeling the warmth from it and forcing himself to breathe slowly, breathing life into the spark in hopes of making a fire.
His fists loosened slightly and Nino opened his eyes, waiting until his hands stopped shaking, Wayzz smiling all the while.
He wasn't a coward. Strive forward for yourself as well... Wayzz was right, something Nino was finding to be typically true. He was worrying about what his friends would think and what Paris would think and of everything else. The only thing he could think of right then however... was that he didn't want to think of himself as a coward.
"Okay..." Nino said eventually, Wayzz straightening himself in the air and preparing himself with a look of pride on his face.
Then Nino finally said, "Wayzz, Transform Me!"
The effect of the words was instant, Nino taking an automatic step back in shock as the kwami blurred and zoomed forward with blinding speed, phasing into the bracelet on his wrist and vanishing from sight, leaving a brightly glowing jade shell in its place.
Nino couldn't help how much he tensed, his heart racing as he watched in happen. So much of it went unseen, and it was so fast and... bright. The light was deep green, starting from the bracelet and shooting over his arms like a flame eating through tissue paper. Nino stumbled as his shoes changed, the padding of them different and the ends feeling strange, his peripheral vison getting cut out as a hood formed over his hair, his hat vanishing from existence along with everything else he had been wearing. Even his glasses vanished, instead replaced with something equally as clear but deeper, like goggles. Finally there was a weight that settled on his back and the light faded, Nino struggling to regain his balance and drag in ragged breaths though he hadn't moved more than a step.
"W-Wayzz?" Nino tried, looking down at his gloved hands and struggling to see the details clearly in the dark- oh. Oh not darkness what?
Nino blinked, shaking his head as the goggles flickered and changed, becoming something almost like night vision to adjust for the lack of light but also preserving some of the natural color instead of tinting everything green.
"Woah," Nino said aloud, looking around with his suddenly enhanced view. "That's pretty rad..."
'There is also a stat readout to keep track of your allies. It is fairly limited but has its uses.'
"Ah!" Nino shouted in shock, hands flashing to his head and pressing the hood against his hair. "Holy crap Wayzz you talked right into my brain that freaked me out."
He heard Wayzz chuckle, looking around and confirming that yeah, Wayzz was definitely talking into his head.
'Sorry friend,' Wayzz said without sounding terribly sorry, 'But this is how we can communicate. I should warn you, the miraculous enhances your body so while you are like this your vision is repaired and glasses are unnecessary, you might even find it improve outside of the transformation, however the mask beneath your goggles is not as magically protected as your goggles are, so I recommend not removing them.'
"Uh," Nino stammered, straightening up and inhaling through his nose, "Okay. Goggles on that's cool. Not really a mirror up here... Hope I don't look stupid."
Wayzz scoffed, 'My Jades are always the sharpest on the field in my opinion.'
"Hey don't take it personally," Nino actually laughed, the initial shock of transforming starting to fade a little. He walked around a bit, adjusting to the difference in his shoes and finding them sort of two toed like a ninja turtle. He was down with that. He was also sort of surprised to feel how strong his legs suddenly felt, like the difference was absolutely noticeable even just walking around. He wondered how far he could jump.
"Okay so, shield," Nino said, trying to run through a checklist of stuff to learn. "Explain the thing."
Nino reached back, finding the shield easier to grip and pull forward then he would have though, and also much lighter than he had expected.
'There is not too much to explain in execution' Wayzz said simply, 'the shield reacts to you. If you wish for it to grow it will do so, even when it is away from you. If you want it to shrink it will. Try.'
That sounded sort of vague and unhelpful but Nino just shook his head, reaching up to settle the hood around his shoulders before thinking.
Grow.
He jolted a little when it listened, the shield shifting on his arm and increasing in size.
"Woah," he said aloud, "okay that's pretty rad too."
He messed with it a bit, seeing how fast he could get it from one size to another and was pleased with the results. The longer he practiced the easier it got, but the going was still slow.
"OW," Nino barked out when he made it grow too fast, cracking himself in the nose as a result. "Crap, ugh."
'You'll get used to it,' Wayzz chuckled again. 'Ready to move on?'
"Yeah," Nino replied hesitantly, shaking his head to remind himself of his conviction. Not a coward.
'Throw the shield to the ground,' Wayzz commanded gently.
Nino looked at his turtle shell shield and sort of wondered how to do that considering he wasn't even totally positive it was attached to his arm, but he grabbed it with the intention of throwing it down and it obeyed. Magic, he supposed.
"Why did I throw my new shield?" Nino asked, hands on his hips as he looked down at its shallow curved shape rocking gently on its back.
'Step on it,' Wayzz instructed, 'One foot on the edge closest to you, then the next on the farthest end. It will lift slightly so keep your balance.'
"Lift?" Nino said aloud, putting down first his left foot and then striding forward to counter his weight with the right foot on the farthest edge. The shift of weight from one edge to the other made it rock with his, Nino yelping a bit as its rocking became suddenly less stable but more fluid like it wasn't on solid... ground.
It was hovering.
Only a little but he could tell, struggling to keep him balance like standing on a boogey board in a swimming pool.
"Eh, AH, ah, woah," Nino narrated aloud as he swayed a bit, crouching a bit to lower his center of gravity before slowly standing back up. "Ookay woah, hard to stand on."
'Balance out, and then once you're ready shift your weight in the direction you want to go. It will coast forward. You can cancel out the motion by balancing yourself in the middle again.'
Nino waited until he could stand without having to crouch at all before doing as he was told, leaning forward a little to- woAH woah. Nino pulled back, the shell darting forward way faster than he was comfortable with. It was totally bizarre it was like snowboarding if the snow shifted as fast as sand. Sand boarding, but on air and on a turtle shell.
"Eeeah okay," Nino said in a slight panic, struggling to turn the thing and doing a small donut. "Geeze this is sorta hard to get used to."
'Once you are used to it though it can be very fast,' Wayzz encouraged him. 'You have minor control over how it takes curves and such, you will grow accustomed to it. With practice it will be second nature.'
"Okay..." Nino said, unconvinced but trying to be cooperative. He leaned forward less this time, coasting forward at a gentle speed and leaning to the left but still slightly forward, curving slowly. Out of curiosity he lifted a majority of his weight away from his back foot and towards the front, turning as if on the ball of his heel and dragging the lighter of the two feet to the side.
Nino cheered in victory when the shield performed a drifting turn like he had been going for, building up a little more speed and trying it again. He turned a little too fast and nearly pitched over, but he managed to right himself before getting a face full of gravel.
"Okay, I think I get the basics of that," Nino announced relatively calmly. He was feeling a little better about this.
'Ready to move on?'
"Yeah let's do it."
'Alright then,' Wayzz said smoothly, 'jump off the building.'
...
...
"Wayzz," Nino said evenly, his face perfectly neutral, "gonna need more baby steps then that buddy."
'You have grasped the basics of moving, it is as simple as moving towards the edge and not stopping.'
"I get the concept," Nino explained tensely, "I know how jumping off buildings works. That is not the issue here."
'I understand your hesitance-'
"I don't think you do."
'But this is vital for navigating the city. The streets can get clogged with people and cars, it is safer to travel by rooftop. Traveling by rooftop typically entails jumping off buildings.'
"Weirdly enough that doesn't make me feel better."
Wayzz sighed but Nino was unmoved, continuing to putt around the rooftop happily ignoring the edges.
'Young master you have the miraculous, you have your shield and it is your greatest weapon. Have confidence. There is an alleyway directly next to this building, the next rooftop is no more than six feet away. We will start there, one roof to the next, then handle larger jumps and descending.'
Nino didn't speak at first, looking over at the building he was talking about. He centered himself and stopped moving, allowing himself a dramatic groan. "This is so stupid... this is so stupid."
'Build up speed, and then jump. The shield will go with you and your momentum will continue when you land so either prepare to stop or commit to the movement and jump to the next building.'
Nino just stood there for a second, closing his eyes right and whispering, "Stupid, stupid, this is so stupid."
He backed up though, pausing on one end of the building facing the other. Because he wasn't a coward... didn't stop his palms from sweating though.
He could do six feet.
Nino leaned forward, heavily now, balancing himself as it moved forward with greater speed. It took shutting down every instinct he had to keep going, moving faster until the edge was beneath him and he leapt.
He soared over the gap, six feet being absolutely nothing. He cleared half the building before he had even landed. He let out an exhilarated laugh at his victory before it occurred to him that he didn't have enough room to stop.
"Woah," Nino said aloud, "WOAH."
'Commit to the movement!' Wayzz said hastily, urging Nino forward, not that he had much choice. 'Jump again!'
There was nothing else he could do, he had to the edge of the next building appeared before he could even bail. So he jumped again, this time putting even more power into his legs.
There wasn't another building after the one he had landed on, there was a street that was a gorge in comparison to the crack he had skipped.
He couldn't help it, honest, the screaming. He was very high in the air on a turtle shell and under a lot of stress.
Nino struggled to keep the shell centered on his feet as he cleared the street, crashing too hard down on the next building and throwing himself clear. He and the shell separated, one clattering down the roof and into the street while he tumbled and threatened to fall on the other side. He screamed in fright as he fought to grab a the roof tiles, only just grabbing the edge before he plummet off the two story fall, hanging by his fingertips.
He clawed his way up, gasping for breath and distancing himself from the edge, heart threatening to burst.
'You're alright!' Wayzz was telling him, 'It's okay Nino you aren't hurt at all. It might have been scary but a fall like that could never damage you. The miraculous protects you I'm protecting you.'
Nino focused on the words, his hands shaking as he stayed on the roof on all fours, not trusting his legs to support him just yet. He swallowed, zeroing in on Wayzz's calm voice and trying to breathe normally.
'I'm a superhero damn it' he thought to himself, 'I'm a superhero, a real one. I don't know what the hell I'm doing yet but you can't just freak out and cry like a kid who scraped his knee. Get up try again.'
Despite the strength of his words he didn't move right away, allowing himself another minute before he stood up again.
"Lost my shield," he said hoarsely, shaking his head and trying to focus. "Gotta get it."
'For short distances you can call it back to you, or at least influence it in your direction. Your main form of attacking is throwing the shield and shield bashing to disorient enemies. It fell down the side, I'm not sure if you can get it to you from a dead stop.'
"Alright... I'll just go get it then. I can just like... jump off right? I see Ladybug and Cat Noir jump from higher and land on their feet without breaking anything. Can I do that?"
'Yes, give it a try. More things are possible on instinct then you might imagine.'
Nino sighed, really hoping that was true as he walked towards the edge. When he looked down at the two story drop he honestly wasn't even phased, falling from an apartment complex had already been way worse so whatever.
He stepped off, feeling far less indifferent when he was actually falling but landing with a thud, no pain to be had and balance maintained.
"Alright, falling is covered," he said sarcastically, "get that squared away. Next we'll be working on dying and bodily harm."
'Oh don't be dramatic, you're doing fine,' Wayzz said with a chuckle.
Nino looked around a little, spotting his shield laying on the sidewalk a short distance away and strolling towards it, freezing when he caught movement to his right.
He turned quickly, ready to run or fight or whatever he need to do when he tensed up, totally stunned.
It was a man, tall and strong looking, he walked tall and straight with his head held high, his stride slowing down from its casual stroll to a calculating stillness. A dark green hood was loose around his shoulders, short brown hair tousled and wind blow and his entire body covered protectively in a green body suit, a majority a dark green accented with lighter greens and a few muddles browns.
What caught him most were the goggles, tinted a shining kind of green shielding confused golden eyes surrounded by a dark green mask.
It was him.
"Wow..."
It just slipped out, the word making even his reflection seem more boy like but he still had that image in his head. Someone strong and powerful and confident.
A superhero.
Nino stared at his reflection a little while longer, finally shaking his head and steadying himself. He wasn't going to be a hero for anybody if he didn't get things together. He had a lot of practice left to get in.
A few people blinked and gasped, staring out their windows at an unreasonable hour of night as they saw someone coasting through the streets or over the rooftops. A few would claim the next day they saw a man clad in green leap straight from the ground on some kind of board, landing effortlessly on top of a building. A few more would claim, no they swear that they saw someone with a mask wandering the city. He wasn't causing trouble or causing any harm, he was just wandering the city. Someone might even say they saw Cat Noir and Ladybug with them.
This was true but not until a decent way into the night, Nino breaking his promise both to himself and to them and waiting until it was almost 3:00 AM to call. The first he called was Cat Noir.
Nino was sat on a random balcony with a view of an unrented hotel room, sitting on the railing and adjusting to the height. He lifted his left wrist, touching his miraculous gently as he had practiced several minutes beforehand and blinking at the gently glowing holograph like interface projected above it. It was like a magic apple watch, but cooler and magic.
Their numbers were already in it, maybe a leftover from the previous wielder as well as a few grayed out untouchable contacts. Nino took a second to figure it out before he could hear it ring, waiting to see if it would even go through.
The answer was almost instant.
"Hellwooooooooooaaaaah," Cat's voice greeted him, the masked cat's jaw dropping and Nino assumed the video call went both ways, surprisingly in color and not tinted green like he expected. His eyes were shining and his entire face lit up as he said, "Woah dude you look awesome!"
"Thanks," Nino said through a laugh. "Did I wake you up or were you waiting?"
"Waiting, if you didn't call in the next thirty minutes I was going to go hunt you down," Cat Noir answered, the background blurred as if he was running somewhere. "Where are you!? We're meeting up right? Wanna meet at the spot on the Eiffel Tower?"
Nino hesitated, saying, "Uuuuh no, no yeah heights are not a super achievable thing. Well I mean they are, and I could climb but I don't want to. I'm more of a landlocked guy but rooves are cool."
"Alright cool, cool that's fine. Meet me at the Trocodero then. You calling Lady?"
"Yeah, I'll have her meet us there or uh," Nino paused, "would that be weird for you guys?"
Cat Noir didn't answer right away, a little sobered up but not much. "No, or least I won't make it that way. This is for you, even if it's weird between us we will pull it together."
"I appreciate it," Nino said earnestly. "Meet you there."
The call ended and he took a second to think, lips pursed before he called the other half of the duo. This was... bad. Uncomfortable. This wasn't the way things were meant to be for them.
She answered.
"Hey you called!" she said first before reacting, her mouth forming a perfect 'o' before she squealed, "You look totally awesome!"
He snickered at that. "Thanks. Me and Cat are meeting up at the Trocodero, we want you to come too," he started, but being serious when he said, "But is that going to be weird for you? You've been avoiding him."
Ladybug blanched, taken by surprise and looking a little flustered. "I- I haven't been avoiding him we've been busy-"
"Keeping me safe," Nino finished for her, gesturing to himself as he said, "Taken care of. Situation locked down. Stop stalling."
"Where is this coming from?" she shot back, her embarrassment making her irritable. "This is about you and your thing this isn't about-"
"Do you care about him or not B?" Nino said ruthlessly, gritting his teeth at how caught out she looked. This felt like crap but... he kept hearing the slight drop in Adrien's voice, kept reliving every insecure message and glance to the side. He put himself out there and had gotten nothing back.
"I- this isn't what this is about!" she said tensely, her face red and she looked kind of angry at him, "Stop putting me on the spot, I'm thinking it through okay... I-"
"I am his best friend Marinette," Nino confronted her, ripping the mask away with her name, "he thinks you hate him now. He won't say it but he thinks him being Cat Noir is the thing that took this all away from him, how the hell do you think you guys can just go on being partners if he blames Cat Noir for losing his chance with someone he genuinely cares about, as a friend and as something more. How can you just cold shoulder him like that?"
He didn't realize he had been mad. He was frustrated yeah, exasperated but he could see it, the slight shift in Cat Noir's shoulders over the video call. And he hated the way she looked right now, so embarrassed and upset. He knew it was because of him... but he also knew it was because of this. The rift that had happened between two people who were meant to represent two halves of one thing.
"I- just shut up!" she snapped, looking like she was going to cry, "Stop it! Don't you think I've obsessed about this enough on my own? There is nothing you can say to me that's worse then what I've said to myself."
"Is he right?" Nino pushed, hating every second of it. He was hurting her, he was hurting his friend. He hated it.
But he was trying to help her.
"No!" she shouted back, her backdrop the sky, she was somewhere out in the city. "I don't hate him I could never hate him, he's done nothing wrong I'm the coward it's me-"
"What is stopping you Spots?" he said compassionately, genuine emotion in his words and it sounded almost like pleading.
"How can I tell him I'm just me!?" she screamed, and he saw it. Her tears caught the flash of moonlight and his heart felt hollow. "How can I go back there and play video games like nothing happened when I know he was my best friend and the person I love and know that for him all he gets is a mask and me."
When he spoke again it was calmly, and for a second his voice felt a little... fuller. Older.
"You are who he loves Marinette," he said with power, his voice saddened. "Adrien loves you. Let him know that you're the person he loves. Tell him it's you, meet him halfway. He's never loved a mask, never, and if you sat through that whole night with him and really thought the only reason he liked you was because you were Ladybug then you've learned nothing about him, and it's your feelings that are fake."
Silence.
And then she hung up.
Nino stood there for a moment more before he sighed deeply, turning off the screen and leaning his head down in his hands.
"That was stupid," he muttered to himself. "What was I trying to accomplish? That was impulsive and... ugh."
'Anger often acts quicker then reason,' Wayzz's voice gently spoke to him, calm and unjudging. 'In your sense of injustice you lost your ability to be impartial. When you stand in such an important position between two people you cannot tip the scale, or one will fall before you can remember that you have two friends in need.'
Nino didn't reply right away, guilt seeping in. "I just wanted her to get it... she's really hurting him with this stupid game, I'm the one who put him into this-"
'You give yourself too much credit,' Wayzz contradicted him. 'This match is something that would have happened with or without your involvement, but this is a unique circumstance you have created. Their relationship is their own Nino, you can't involve yourself further.'
Nino didn't move or say anything at all.
He was so worried about screwing things up as Jade Turtle he never expected the big fumble to come from himself.
"Nice going Alfred..." Nino said to himself quietly, feeling heavy. "You chewed out on of your best friends and probably ruined any chance of them ever..."
His shoulders bowed. "Wayzz I made a big mistake, I got mad I just- I shouldn't have said anything it's not my business but I felt responsible for them working things out, I can't fix this one."
Wayzz was quiet for a moment, humming to himself. 'You should go meet your friends,' he said eventually. 'They'll be waiting for you now.'
"Friend..." Nino corrected him, standing on the outside edge of the railing and lifting his shield into his hand.
Wayzz hummed again, but this time the sound was... amused. 'You would be surprised Nino how often people see the anger of others as a personification of their anger at themselves. As you have been in several stages of this event, so are you now. You are a catalyst for what they've always needed to accomplish. You remind them of why they love each other, and their love will flourish.'
With that Wayzz fell silent, leaving Nino to drop from the balcony and coast into the city, zipping quickly through the near abandoned streets with a heavy mind. He didn't know what he could tell Adrien, how would he even explain it... he thought maybe just making her see it would fix it but...
He kept going.
It took Nino about an additional ten minutes past his three or four minute extended stay on the balcony to reach the Trocodero, admittedly stalling a little. He sighed heavily as he arrived, stepping off his shield and kicking it up into his hands to set on his back when Wayzz said, 'Wait.'
"What?" Nino asked, pausing as asked.
'Look ahead,' Wayzz said with what sounded like a smile in his voice, 'and see the future.'
Nino stopped, looking forward out towards the steps of the Trocodero where he and his friends had spent a lot of time for one reason or another. It always looked weird to see it so empty, but it wasn't really. Not completely.
In the open flat track under the looming visage of the Eiffel tower was Ladybug and Cat Noir.
Her face was bowed, pressed into his chest as he hugged her, and even from this distance Nino could tell he was crying. She had her arms wrapped around his chest, shoulders shaking as she tried to speak but he kept shushing her. One time he went so far as to place a hand over her mouth, shaking his head and taking a deep breath.
'Seems important,' Wayzz said, obviously hinting that they should move closer.
Nino got as close as he could, the words becoming clearer as he approached.
"-how I want this to happen, not like this. No, stop don't say it listen to me. Listen. This is important to you and you are important to me. I don't want you to tell me who you are because I told you and you feel like you have to. I want you to want me to know. And once you do then tell me, and I'll find your house and I'll take you to dinner but until then just... please." Cat's face bowed as she looked up, their foreheads touching. "I want to do this right... Please don't cry."
Nino didn't walk any closer, frozen to the spot and watching as his best friend held the girl he cared so much about.
He kneeled down, ducking behind a planter and sitting on the ground, confused and conflicted.
'Do you see Nino?' Wayzz said to him gently. 'Do not lose the lesson you learned, it is a good one. If you let anger override reason you will only hurt those you care about, regardless of your good intentions. You acted impulsively, and in many other circumstances the fallout would have been on your shoulders. But there is something uniquely true about pairs such as this.'
"What do you mean?" he said quietly.
'There is push and pull and change,' Wayzz said calmly, his voice methodical, 'but some things are fact. And very very rarely, there are born two people who are each other's fact. The fact of their existence and all that happens within it. Though factors may change facts do not. You made a mistake, yes. But the thing about pairs like that,' Wayzz said with a laugh. 'You couldn't keep them apart if you tried.'