Nino ran, tracking the tangle of smells that his mind absently connected to faces. As he sniffed the air again the ghosts of three faces came up in his thoughts, his body somehow knowing who was who from long dormant and, until now, unused memories.

"Rose..." he said mostly to himself, pausing for a moment to let Max catch his breath. "And Juleka and... Alix I think. Not with them maybe but they went the same way. Thankfully it hasn't changed much from when they were people, unless they still are people. Not much farther, this is recent."

"How can you tell?" Max asked curiously between gasps, but Nino only shrugged, Alya batting the back of his head to get him to stop.

He continued, ears swiveling to catch any sound but he was mostly focused on the scents. So it was Alya who caught it first.

"Somethings moving up ahead, that must be them," she said quietly, pressing herself flat on his back and neck with her head on top of his.

"Hey!" Nino barked loudly, hoping their trend of luck would continue and he would be understood. "Rose? Juleka?" He stepped forward, following his nose in the direction of a seemingly empty howler monkey enclosure. It reeked so he didn't get much closer, but from what he could tell they were somewhere inside.

"It's Alya, Nino and Max!" Alya called, hopping down from Nino's back and walking a little forward. "We're trying to find everyone, you can come out!"

At first there was silence, but Nino caught the faint sound of movement and watched as the smallest scrap of dark gray fur appeared from within, tufted fur laying over one eye.

"Juleka?" Alya asked, waving a paw to show who was talking. "You got hit too huh? It's okay."

The weasel like head rose up, revealing a long body and small paws that gripped the lip of the cage door. If Nino had to guess he'd say she was a... stoat he think it was called, and he shook his head at how ridiculous it all was.

"Hey..." Juleka greeted them, looking behind her and watching something else approach from the cage.

Nino was aware of the disjointed flapping of wings before he ever saw Rose, an adorable small yellow song bird flopping out into the open as she huffed in agitation. With a chirp and a little help from Juleka she righted herself, looking just as sunshiny as always when she greeted Alya.

"Thank goodness you're okay!" Rose peeped, her wings tucking close to her. "This is so scary... Alix was with us too, but she ran away! I tried to get her to stay with us but she was so mad at Kim, she stormed off to find him."

"Kim?" Max spoke up, stepping forward with a clop. "Did you see him is he okay?"

Juleka huffed, crossing her arms and shaking her head to move her bangs a little. "Maybe but who cares, he's the one who got us hit."

"Juleka..." Rose chastised, looking over her tiny beak and she ruffled her feathers. "He was running away from some panthers when he passed us, the akuma was zapping anyone it ran passed. I'm sure Kim didn't mean it but I'm pretty sure him running away is what got everyone transformed..." She sighed, chirping a little without noticing. "Alix blames him completely, she stormed off to find him. I don't know what a little mouse is going to do to someone as big as Kim though."

"A mouse!?" Nino laughed, barking out a chuckle to himself as he imagined small spunky Alix as a field mouse. "Now that's hilarious."

"We've got to find her and everyone else from class, you guys should come with us." Alya said, in planning mode as she looked around and let her eyes settle on Nino's back before looking back at the girls. "You two can ride on Nino, we'll go faster that way."

"What am I a bus?" Nino grumbled, but laid down so Juleka could climb up anyways. With a little maneuvering Rose fluttered up to land on his head and he stood up before Alya could decide to join them.

"Okay tracker," Alya said, looking up at him. "Which way to Alix?"

"Why do I have to do everything?" he whined, Alya rolling her eyes as she used a paw to swat at his nose, which made him recoil.

"Because you have the super sniffer! And you're the biggest, now come on! Put that thing to use."

Nino huffed, shaking his head to get Rose to move back a little before setting to work again. He frowned, the howler monkey stink made it a bit harder but he picked a random direction and headed away from it until his nose could make sense of things again. He realized that Rose and Juleka were right, he could smell Kim from not that long ago heading passed where they had been. However if they panthers were with him maybe tracking him down wasn't a good idea. Max had tried to make it sound nicer than it probably was, but Nino got the feeling Kim had sort of made his own grave on this one.

"I'm not getting Alix's scent," he informed the group, his head casting about. "We should head this way, away from the panthers until I get someone else."

"Sounds good," Alya said with a nod, padding ahead to take the lead until Nino had something to follow. They headed deeper into the primate section, the five of them watching the empty cages uneasily. Alya kept a steady pace, no one talking too much as they followed the cat out into an area originally meant for water faring species.

The strangely assorted group followed the decorated pathways, Rose testing her wings now and again to get a look from above and looking to be enjoying herself somewhat. The thought made Nino smile, his tail wagging a bit to see someone making the best of things. Now that he was a little more used to it he found comfort in Alya's plan. It felt good to be doing something rather than sitting around and being afraid. Plus, though he'd hesitate to say it aloud, he actually felt more confident wandering around as a dog in an akuma attack then he would as a person. He had seen attack dogs before and knew a dog could do some damage, especially a German Shepard. For like the only time ever he felt like he might actually be able to protect his group if something crazy happened, at least better than normal.

Nino was contemplating what he would do if they were attacked when his nose twitched, and suddenly he was in overdrive again. His nose was to the ground, Alya turning around and running back towards him.

"Who is it?" she asked, having gained enough confidence in his ability by then to trust him as he abruptly took the lead.

"Mylene and Ivan I think," Nino called back to her, setting into a jog that forced Juleka to dig her small claws in a bit to hang on while Rose elected to fly. "They aren't far!"

There was a small collection of whoops for joy as they set off, Max struggling to keep up a bit but Rose and Alya managing fine as they followed the canine.

Nino followed his nose, turning the corner and stopping short when he saw a creature stood in the pathway, nervously sniffing the air.

A blonde colored bunny stood on its back legs, sniffing the air and freezing in fear when it spotted him. Nino took another long sniff and ran forward unthinking, calling out "Mylene!" just before the bunny screeched in fear and bolted.

He didn't think or call out to explain himself, suddenly his muscles tensed and he was flying, poor Juleka flying off with a squeak as he pursued. Nino bounded forward, scrambling to make the same turn she had and racing after her, and it was a little before he realized he was barking.

Nino liked to think he wouldn't have actually hurt her but- look it was hard to explain. His tail wagged without his say so, he whined when he was nervous. Also, apparently, if a rabbit bolted in front of him he chased it. He needed to catch her anyways so in his mind it was alright but as he tailed her he kind of understood he was freaking her out.

"Mylene!" he tried again, following her around a few tight turns and calling out "It's me it's oka- AHHH!"

Nino turned the last corner and recoiled so hard he fell flat on his back, screaming with his tail between his legs when all at once a massive, horrifying black bear planted two monstrous paws on either side of him and roared.

The roar shook through him like a jet engine and he screamed as he saw how close those huge razor sharp claws and teeth were to ripping him apart, before suddenly there was a spunky little cat standing on his chest, hissing defiantly.

"Ivan!" the cat called out, "relax it's us! It's Alya and Nino! He wasn't going to hurt her!"

"I wasn't going to eat her I swear!" Nino cried out shrilly, still shaking as the bear leaned back a little, eyeing them.

Nino looked down when he caught a flash of pale fur peeking out from behind the bears leg, Mylene's nose twitching as she looked at them.

"Nino?" she asked, gasping before looking up at the bear and saying, "Ivan it's okay!"

It was only when she gave the word that he relaxed, Alya jumping off his chest so that he could stand and scramble to stand a few feet away.

"Sorry," Ivan said simply, sitting down with a giant thud just as the others caught up.

Nino looked up at the towering figure that was Ivan, his macho ideas of protecting the group made completely obsolete. A bear and a bunny, he thought to himself. How oddly fitting.

Alya was talking to them but he was still a little too rattled to listen, his tail between his legs as he sat in silence.

"It was so scary!" Mylene was saying, preferring to stand behind one of Ivan's gigantic paws. "Kim was running passed and then all of a sudden I was falling asleep, then when I woke up I was like this!"

"The same thing happened to us!" Rose peeped, fluttering down to hop up to Mylene. "I'm so glad we found you though!"

"We're sticking together" Juleka added in a quiet voice, the others nodding in agreement.

"We need to go find the rest of the class, you guys should come with us. We're safer together. Ivan and Nino are the biggest, we can scare off those panthers if they show up."

Mostly Ivan, Nino thought to himself, shaking himself once as he stood. He was being dumb, but he was getting over it pretty quick. He was still the tracker.

Alya looked up at him with a smile, wordlessly gesturing to the way out of the corner they had found themselves in and he was embarrassed when his tail started wagging again. He liked being useful, and with his chest out he padded to the front, nose down as he sorted through the info he was getting.

It was a bit of a journey leading their rag tag team of animals on the hunt for the others. It took Mylene and Rose's gentle voices to coax a shaking red panda, who he had sniffed out as Nath, from a tree he was hiding in. He joined their little group reluctantly, preferring to hide on Ivan as Nino followed one last winding scent trail.

"Chloe," he muttered with his nose still to the ground. "And Sabrina. They're the last two right?"

"Yup, assuming Alix high tailed it out of the zoo looking for Kim" Alya answered him, walking silently beside him and keeping an eye out while he focused on the trail.

Nino nodded, his hackles raising a little as he sought out Chloe. He was entertaining himself with thoughts of what she might be, a piranha or an octopus with eye shadow making him giggle when he heard the first loud, indignant HONK.

He stopped, everyone listening carefully. There was silence, the distant sound of flapping then...

HONK.

"Oh tell me goose," Nino said aloud, jumping into a run with Alya right beside him. "Tell me she's a goose I'm gonna lose it."

Alya was chuckling at the thought too, the rest of the slightly slower classmates trailing along behind as they went to make first contact. The sight they were greeted with would stick with them forever.

"Chloe!!" a little squirrel was calling, desperately waving its little paws as it stood at the edge of a long, crystal blue fountain. "Please calm down! It's going to be o-"

"WAAAHAHA- HONK," came the sobbing reply, a huge white mass of feathers thrashing out in the water crying its eyes out. "ITS NOT OKAY, IT WILL NEVER BE OKAY- WAHAHAAAA DADDY!!"

"Chloe!" squirrel Sabrina cried again, fretting with worry as the large distressed swan cried and cried. "Oh no... oh no what do I-" Sabrina stopped, turning with a gasp when a German Shepard and a deep red, fluffy cat waltzed up beside her, staring out gleefully as Chloe lapsed into hysteria.

"Wow," Nino said through a chuckle, "she's having a hard time." When Chloe honked again he burst out laughing, drawing attention to himself.

"How dare you laugh at my pain!" Chloe wailed, sobbing and boo-hooing while Nino barked out his rolling laughter.

"The swan princess is in the house," Alya said to herself, turning to Sabrina who was staring wide eyed. "Sabrina right? It's Alya, and the canine gasping for air is Nino. We have pretty much everyone from class except for Adrien, Marinette, Kim and Alix with us-"

"KIM," Chloe suddenly cut in, the giant swan paddling forward in rapid unquenchable rage. "He did this, that bumbling buffoon! That idiotic, leech-brained, moron! It's him who did this! He pushed me, he nearly got me mauled to death, and now- and now.... THIS."

Her huge noodle neck flopped about dramatically as she wailed, the sound so loud and grating that Nino whined with it so up close and hurried to make some distance.

"CHLOE!" Alya hissed, her fur poofing up as she confronted the hysterical bird. "Will you chill out!? You think any of us want to be in this situation?! Get your act together! We're need to get everyone somewhere safe!"

"WAAAAH," was all she replied, flapping her huge wings so hard it knocked poor Sabrina from her perch and onto the ground with an 'oof!'

Sabrina shook her head in a daze, getting to her back two feet unsteadily and smoothing out her tail with her paws. "What am I going to do," Sabrina whined, looking to the cat for help. "She's been like this since we woke up! She's beside herself!"

"I noticed," Alya sighed, wishing she could get Nino for help but he was hiding beneath a bench with his paws on his ears. She grimaced, this was no party for her either but she was determined to get them in the group. However if Chloe kept wailing her determination was sure to wane.

The others had caught up, staying at a bit of a distance while Alya tried to talk some sense into Chloe and greeting Sabrina when she darted over. Nino was still under the bench, sullenly watching Alya work and mourning his aching ears when his nose twitched, Nino standing up so fast that he smashed his head into the underside of the bench.

"Agh, crap," he complained, stepping out and shaking himself before sniffing again. He tried to call out to Alya but Chloe was being too loud, so instead he shouted, "CHLOE SHUT UP," in a loud, jolting bark.

The swan reeled, staring at him like she couldn't believe she had just been shouted out as he waltzed over, still sniffing the air as he told Alya, "I smell Alix! And someone else too! Two someones, nearby. They kind of smell familiar but I can't place it, we should move! Help might be here."

"Right," Alya agreed, turning back to Chloe. "Can you get yourself together long enough to come with us?"

"I can't walk you moron," Chloe said scathingly. "My feet are horrible and webbed. I waddle!"

Alya reserved a comment she would have liked to use regarding weight in favor of getting her along, cooing out stupid compliments about how noble swans were until the frightful brat finally clambered out.

"Are we finally going?" Nath asked fearfully, looking up from his seat on Ivan where Juleka and Rose had joined him. "We should find help."

"Yes," Alya said with an exasperated sigh. "We're going. Lead the way Lassie, take us to help."

"I'll at least take us to Alix," he said with a nod, allowing Sabrina to clamber up on his shoulder before leading the troop. His nose twitched, analyzing the three scents he had caught in a draft of wind. It had hit him suddenly, Alix's scent so faint that he had barely caught it at all. He was sure it was because of how small she was but still, in order to smell a mouse at all she must have been close right? And the other two had been much stronger, but maybe they were just bigger. The two scents were weird... like something was nagging at him. They seemed really familiar, maddeningly so, but the part of his canine brain that usually made the connection wasn't getting it done.

He frowned, sniffing deeply as he headed around a thin divider to get to the source. One was sweet and soft smelling, if smells could be soft. He realized he didn't really have adjectives for the way the scents stood out to him. It was soft and warm smelling and pretty, but not floral per se. The other kind of smelt like Alya, but not like Alya Alya like Cat Alya, the part of Cat Alya that didn't smell like Alya, which he assumed was the cat part. And also sort of sporty, not sweaty just like, someone athletic? And clean. He pressed on, trying to figure out the connection as they drew nearer, but it was the voices that did it.

"Hear that?" he asked abruptly, Alya just as focused as he was.

She nodded, her head tilting before her face lit up, the cat jumping excitedly as she said "I know that voice! Come on!"

"Alya w- hey wait!" he called, taking off after her with Sabrina struggling to hold on and flying off with a yelp. The others continued at their set pace, sticking with the rather slow Chloe who waddled uncomfortably as the pet pair vanished up ahead, picking up Sabrina as they went.

Nino kept pace with the cat, turning the corner as the words of two voices became more distinct.

"-must be what it does," the female voice was saying, thoughtful and planning. "Turns people into animals... but why? Just to punish them?"

"Why turn people into statues or pictures or copies of yourself, or anything else for that matter," the male voice responded, more playful but with a hint of seriousness behind it. "Akumas are like that, but at least that explains the lack of people."

"All of the cages are emptied," the female voice spoke again, extremely close now as he ran. "Even the panther one..." she said this slowly, like she had expected that to be an exception of some kind, when suddenly Nino and Alya arrived on the scene and Alya gasped in relief.

"I knew it was you!" Alya cried, sprinting for Ladybug and surprising the hero by clawing up her suit and into her arms. "Ladybug!"

Nino ran forward, blissfully happy to see the two superheroes standing there in the flesh, Alix stood on a shaved ice stand at about chest height talking to them. Nino approached maybe a bit quickly for Cat Noir, who recoiled and hissed.

It didn't look like he had meant to, but Nino reacted immediately, his entire body tensing as he suddenly started barking, lunging forward as he bayed and howled at the superhero who shouted in fear and scrambling up out of reach into a planter.

"Hey!" Ladybug was shouting, and Nino felt a cord around his neck, pulling tight and forcing him to back away or be choked by her yo-yo string.

"Nino!!" Alya cried indignantly, squirming away from her hero and running forward to hiss in his face. "Don't be such a dog he's a superhero!"

Nino was panting heavily, his tail out straight behind him as he struggled to distract himself. "What?" he said, a bit dazed. "Oh, uh right yeah, sorry! Sorry h-he started it!"

"You started it!" Cat Noir shouted down indignantly, but Ladybug wasn't listening to that, instead focusing on the cat.

"Did you say Nino?" she asked, Cat Noir suddenly focusing as well when Alya nodded,

"Yes mam," Alya hurried to explain. "This is my friend Nino, I'm Alya! I run the Ladyblog remember? We were hit by the akuma and woke up like this, we've been gathering our classmates so we could stick together. We have everyone except for Alix, Kim, Adrien and Marinette. Nino tracked Alix here and we found you guys too!"

"Nino?" Cat Noir said, leaning over the edge of the planter to look at the dog who stared up at him, a bit embarrassed now by the scene he had helped cause.

"Uh..." he answered slowly, his tail wagging a bit as he tried to smile. "Yes sir. Sorry about that."

"Nino!" he cried, the hero jumping down and surprising him with a hug around his neck, pulling him close. "I'm so happy you're okay! Wow man four legs looks good on you!"

Nino squirmed, confused and sort of flattered as he watched Ladybug scoop up Alya again over Cat's shoulder.

"You two have been gathering everyone?" Ladybug was saying, seeming impressed.

"Yeah! Nino's an amazing tracker, he's been able to hunt down everybody just by smell!"

Ladybug tensed a little, confusing the two animals (and Alix, who was staying quiet and seemed a bit bored) by her sudden wariness.

"Uh..." she said after a pause, looking nervous. "H-he can pick out his classmates just by smell? Even uh, when they don't look like themselves?"

Nino was aware of Cat tensing too, drawing back and standing with a slightly nervous look about him. Nino cocked his head in confusion.

"Yeah," Nino informed them, a bit suspicious now as Cat Noir fidgeted and looked away. "Why?"

"That's just uh, impressive is all," Ladybug said quickly, laughing a little though the sound was off. "Did you track us by smell too?"

"Not totally, well... yeah," Nino said, brow furrowing as he looked up at them. "I followed Alix and knew someone else was with her but couldn't pick it out. It was familiar but like, different. I didn't know it was you two till we got here."

Cat Noir sighed heavily in relief and Nino's eyes narrowed, his suspicion growing when they both looked happy.

"Nice, neat, well! Good job guys, I'm glad you're both okay," Cat Noir said conversationally, Ladybug holding Alya and about to speak when they suddenly heard a small sounding clearing of the throat.

"If you're done," a small voice announced, everyone looking at the tiny dull pink colored mouse stood on the counter with its arms crossed. "Can we get back to fixing whatever the hell that idiot Kim caused so I can go home?"

"Hey Alix," Nino said simply, the mouse nodding her head in his direction before glaring at Ladybug again.

"Well you all seem okay, just uh, animals," Ladybug said awkwardly, turning towards Cat Noir. "It stands to reason that if we track the akuma we can fix this, everyone should be fine."

"Yeah but good luck finding him," Alix huffed, waving her paws. "I told you two! He can shapeshift I saw it with my own eyes! It's the only reason I turned around and didn't kick Kim's face in. The panther turned into an eagle and took off, he's only transforming everyone so he can blend in and you won't find him. You'll never know what animal he is."

Nino frowned, looking over at Alya but realized she wasn't paying attention. She looked very content as she was pet by Ladybug, and he bit back a sigh.

"That is a problem..." Ladybug said with a sigh, suddenly frustrated. "I could try Lucky Charm but that would stick me with a time limit and we have no idea where he is now. He was after Kim but if he got what he wanted then he'd be going for what Hawkmoth wants now."

"And that means us," Cat finished for her, his own tail swishing as he thought.

Nino was going to speak up when his nose twitched, and he turned down the way they had come. With a wagging tail he said, "Here comes everyone, we kept the group together."

Cat Noir and Ladybug turned to see an extremely varied assortment of animals come into view, the largest of which was a bear and the smallest of which was a tiny yellow song bird who flew forward to chirp hello.

"Hi there, hello!" Rose peeped, teetering a little on her wings and landing on the finger Cat Noir extended.

"Haha, well hello!" Cat Noir said with a smile, brushing the feathers on top of the bird's head with a gentle hand. "Sorry I don't uh, recognize you."

"I'm Rose!" she informed him, pointing a wing at the group as they awkwardly filed into the area. "The sheep is Max, the stoat is Juleka, the little panda is Nathaneal, the bear is Ivan, the bunny is Mylene, the squirrel is Sabrina, and the goose is-"

"The swan!" Chloe corrected immediately, and Rose chittered cutely.

"And the swan, excuse me, is Chloe."

"Wow," Ladybug said in a whisper, looking out over everyone like she really couldn't believe what she was seeing. "This is nuts."

"Of course it is!" Max said irritably, clopping his way forward. "Please, my friend Kim was tailed by those monsters. The likelihood of him lasting on his own is next to none!"

"We'll keep an eye out for Kim," Cat Noir assured him, turning to address the whole class. "Everybody stay calm! Ladybug and I will take control of the situation. For now we need to get you guys somewhere out of the way."

"I don't think so," Nino said suddenly, everyone turning to look at him. His face was set, and when he looked up at Alya she seemed to be... proud of him. He puffed out his chest, sitting so he could look up at Cat Noir and Ladybug with as much determination a dog could muster. "Look I wanted to sit around and hide in the beginning too, but Alya was the one who convinced me to leave the cage we were stuck in. And now that I'm out here she's right. This is freaking crazy but my friend Adrien is out there and I aien't gonna sit around and wait for him to get got. I've gotta find him."

"Exactly," Alya agreed, wiggling to be put down and running over to Nino. "My friend Marinette is alone, I'm not hiding."

"You two," Ladybug said, sounding exasperated and conflicted. "I'm sure they are absolutely fine it isn't safe-"

"We've already been hit! What more can happen?" Nino said impatiently. "I can track him down, I'll find his trail and see where it goes."

Cat Noir looked suddenly uncomfortable, laughing nervously as he stepped forward and said, "Well no, no you don't have to do that. Like Ladybug said he's probably hiding or-"

"I'm not budging on this," Nino said firmly. "He's my friend!"

"And I'm sure your friend would want you to be safe too!" Cat Noir replied harshly, looking far more frustrated then was fair. "Haven't you don't enough? His safety isn't more important than yours!"

"You're wrong," Nino said without hesitation, and Cat Noir looked, for a moment, to be completely without words.

"Boys," Ladybug cut in, her expression serious, "we can't stand here arguing. Nino's right, they've already been changed. We should send him to go track down Adrien."

"And Marinette, and Kim if we're able," Alya added, Ladybug tensing again.

"Well... maybe just..." Ladybug tried to say, suddenly just as hesitant as Cat seemed to be. "She's probably fine uh..."

"Nino's nose hasn't failed us yet," Alya said confidently. "If we go after them we'll find them."

That didn't seem to make them feel better.

"Uuh... uh, I-" Cat Noir tried to say, before he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose between two claws. "Don't, don't do that. W- ugh." Cat Noir seemed upset with himself about something, before finally he said. "We need you to track the akuma for us."

"What?" Nino sputtered, surprised when Ladybug seemed to consider it.

"Yeah..." she said slowly, nodding her head. "We could keep an eye on you, keep it safe but... Cat's right. If you could track your classmates even when they changed into animals, I bet you could pick the akuma out of a crowd too, no matter what animal it was. If you helped us track him down then everything would be alright, and your friends would be safe regardless. To be honest, it's the fastest way to make sure everyone stays as safe as possible."

Nino looked suddenly intimidated, his ears drooping as he looked between them both. By the look on Cat's face he didn't want him anywhere near the front lines, but had resigned himself to needing him. Or maybe it was just to keep him from finding Adrien, since he seemed so adamantly against it for some reason.

"I- I don't know. I mean I, I found everyone else but, I don't know if-"

"Of course you can do it Nino!" Alya said supportively, padding in front of him and reaching up with her paws to force him to look down at her. "Hey," she said softly, patting him once on the nose. "Whose a good boy?"

He frowned. He tried to look away.

"Whose a good boy?" Alya said again, patting him on the nose. His tail started to thump.

"Stop it," he mumbled but she just smiled, reaching up to bat at his ears.

"Whose a good boy?" she repeated, and his tail started to thump harder even when he grimaced. "You are, you're a good boy. You can track the bad guy, you can do it."

"Alya," he whined, the sound high and pitiful.

"Listen," she said with a sigh, a little more serious but still patting his head. "We're both worried about them, but Ladybug and Cat Noir need your help. Adrien needs you to catch this guy, Marinette needs you to catch this guy. Two superheroes are asking for your help."

Nino said nothing, looking down at her and watching her closely. He watched the strange yellowed hues of the world around him sort of... brighten. They seemed fuller, a little better. A little more human.

"I'm... freaked out," he admitted with a quiet sigh.

"I won't let anything happen to you," Cat Noir said in a serious voice, his tone so heavy and absolute Nino couldn't help but look up in something close to... awe. Not quite but...

Cat Noir stepped forward, kneeling down and looking Nino in the eye. "I swear I'll protect you," he said calmly, taking personal responsibility as Ladybug looked on. "We need your help, please."

Nino said nothing, looking up at Cat Noir and watching his eyes. He could feel his heart in his chest, his body foreign and misshapen, but presenting him for the first time with the opportunity to help. Alya watched him, all of his classmates watched him.

Nino was the sort of guy who hid when things got scary. Now he was supposed to lead the charge. Track the bad guy...

He thought of Adrien, he thought of how he had seen his friend about to get blasted with god knows what. He thought of Marinette, how she shouted for Alya and held her.

He didn't look away from Cat Noir, some weird dog like part of his head forming some sort of... contract. An accord. They both needed his help, but it was Cat who stepped forward and swore to protect him. It was Cat Noir who asked him to come, and Cat Noir who knelt before him now.

Slowly his tail started to wag, and for once it didn't make him want to cower.

"Yeah," he said slowly. "Yeah alright. I'll do what I can."