"I... I'm just not sure..." Nino's mother was saying quietly, her hands twisted together in front of her as she faced two of the superheroes who had saved her sons life. Ladybug and Cat Noir stood a respectful distance away, standing near Nino farther into the home and more towards the hallway where Nino's bedroom could be found.

Cat Noir spoke gently and sincerely, laying a hand on Nino's shoulder as he spoke. "We wouldn't put your son at risk, we are being honest with you."

"The circumstances have changed," Ladybug said vaguely, taking a step forward to hold the mother's hands in her own. "He's no longer in danger any more than any other citizen might be with that monster around. But Cat Noir and I will not stop until he is gone. And we have a new ally as well."

Nino looked up, eyes widened slightly in surprise as Cat Noir spoke up.

"You have nothing to worry about. There are now three heroes in Paris, and together we will keep everyone safe, including your son. But for now you can go about your lives like normal. It's about time Nino went back to school."

"Yes," Ladybug agreed, dropping the mother's hands to gesture towards Nino. "He'll fall behind if he's out much longer, and we express again that the threat has passed. He can go back to his normal life, seeing his friends and going out. We understand your apprehension but we'd never ask this of you if we weren't one hundred percent certain that things had changed."

Nino's mother was still, her brow furrowed as she thought, concern clear in her eyes when she looked at her son. But finally she sighed, closing her eyes and slowly nodding her head before saying, "Okay... I trust you. I just... wouldn't be able to bear it if something happened to him again... or anyone else's children." She looked up, golden eyes hard and charged with emotion. "Please don't let something like this happen to anyone else. I know you'll do your best."

Nino watched as his friends nodded, taking the sentiment seriously. Then Cat Noir looked down at him, winking before saying "You're in the clear buddy. You haven't been let out in what, six days? You should go get some sun."

Nino laughed, rolling his eyes a bit before saying, "Actually as it so happens I was going to go hang out with my friend Adrien for a while."

"Oh!" Cat Noir exclaimed dramatically, Ladybug sighing much to the mother's confusion. "Well isn't that perfect! Make sure to tell him hello for me when you see him, I hear he's a charming guy."

"Eh," Nino said with a shrug, smirking as he said, "He can kind of be a loser sometimes."

Ladybug snorted, her hand shooting up to cover her mouth as Cat Noir gasped dramatically, so she quickly stepped over to grab him by the shoulder to start dragging him towards the door.

"W-we have somewhere to go," Ladybug said between bouts of laughter as Cat Noir grumbled, glaring at Nino for a moment before dropping the act with a chuckle, winking at him as he opened the door.

"Thank you for your hospitality!" Ladybug said just before they left, both heroes waving before exiting through the front door, leaving Nino in the apartment alone with his mother.

"They are certainly characters aren't they?" she said with a laugh, the sound subdued slightly. Nino looked up at her to see her staring at the wall in distant thought, her eyes heavy.

"Mom?" Nino asked quietly, taking a step towards her and putting a hand on her shoulder. "They said I'm gonna be okay now. I'll be alright."

"I know honey..." she said slowly, eyes closing. "It was just so awful." Her hands rose to her face, covering her mouth for a moment before she lifted them to say, "You can never imagine what it's like until you have children of your own. To walk into your son's bedroom with glass all over... your child snatched from hi-" her voice faltered and Nino saw tears start to overflow, his chest aching in guilt and pain.

"Momma..." he said gently, hugging her tightly. He didn't call her that too much, but she had always liked it. He didn't know what to say, he couldn't change what had happened or how it had made his parents feel. He hated that.

She hugged him back, laying her head on top of his as best she could before a quiet laugh slipped out.

"You're so tall..." she muttered, chuckling to herself as she wiped away the tears. "Always have to make it hard for me huh? Can't even hug you right anymore."

Nino snorted, hugging her even tighter as he said, "Sorry, not sorry."

She laughed again, one hand resting on the back of his head and cradling him to her for a moment more before she sighed and pulled away.

"You're a strong boy," she said as her hands fell to rest on his shoulders, "with a knack for finding trouble. So be careful please... I can't just lock you up in here anymore. As much as I wish it wasn't true I can't protect you from everything. So... go meet your friend. But please be careful..."

"I will Momma," he said earnestly, crushing her with another hug before pulling away to run towards his room.

When Nino shut his bedroom door he hesitated, taking a moment to breathe deeply and push down all those awful, sharp emotions and shaking his head to clear his thoughts.

"Are you alright?" Wayzz asked genuinely, appearing his temporary hiding place in Nino's blankets to float in front of his face.

"Fine," Nino said simply, taking another deep breath before smiling. "We're in the clear though. We can leave now."

"That's good," Wayzz said, his tone a little reserved as he scanned Nino's face. However after a moment he decided that sometimes Nino just needed to ignore some things and gave his charge a smile of his own. "Are we going out then?"

"Yup," Nino said, striding towards his desk to grab his headphones and wallet, checking that he had his cash stash in there. He had pretty much pulled everything he had saved for this, but he wasn't gonna tell Wayzz that. "We're meeting Adrien and heading to a store to get your tank."

"Oh!" Wayzz exclaimed in excitement, grabbing his feet and rocking in the air. "Hooray!"

Nino chuckled, stuffing his wallet in his pocket and resting his headphones on his shoulders but pausing for a moment. "Uh," he said, looking up at Wayzz, "alright you got to hide on me but, where would be easiest for you to do that?"

"Simple!" Wayzz said without hesitation, zipping forward right towards Nino's face and making him flinch before darting upward at the last second, squeezing under his cap and wiggling his way to the top of Nino's head. "This will do!" Wayzz called, his voice slightly muffled from being underneath the baseball cap.

Nino chuckled to himself, adjusting the brim again making sure Wayzz had room up there before heading towards his door. "Alright, off we go."

Adrien was waiting for him when he got out side, casually leaning against the side of his typically flashy high end car, complete with Gorilla.

"Hey!" Adrien said with a grin, reaching out for the fist-bump when Nino got closer. "Everything all cleared up?"

"Yup," Nino said with a relieved huff. "I can finally move around again. But gotta ask bro, the store isn't that far what's with the ride?"

Adrien stood up straight, opening the door for Nino as he said, "Well you kind of made it sound like we were getting a lot of stuff. I figured having a car and someone other than me to help lift things would save you the delivery costs."

Nino climbed in, sliding across the seat and waiting for Adrien to sit down next to him, taking the time to awkwardly wave at the gigantic man who acted as Adrien's body guard and car driver. He didn't get a wave back, but he did get a grunt of acknowledgment which felt pretty good. It was a lot more then he had ever gotten before.

"That's true," Nino eventually said, leaning back and about to put his feet up on the middle console before he got the death glare from the driver.

He grinned sheepishly and slowly lowered his foot as Adrien asked, "So you just said you needed stuff. What are we getting?"

Nino tried to think through how to explain it as the car started moving, already knowing the way. "Uuuh, well little dude likes swimming so I'm picking up a turtle tank and all the stuff that goes with it."

Adrien's face lit up before he started laughing, grinning as he said "Makes sense. Getting a big one?"

"Big as I can," Nino said simply, leaning with his hands behind his head.

It didn't take very long to get there with a car, the boys arriving at a locally popular pet store called 'Chacabo'. It was a simple black wood store front with large windows displaying cages filled with rats and birds and all sorts, the logo a colorful assortment of cat and dog silhouettes.

"We'll come get you if we get something too heavy," Adrien told his driver, quickly getting out of the car before the door could be opened for him and rushing towards the storefront, eager to look through it.

"Bro wait up!" Nino laughed, smiling at the driver and saying 'thanks dude' before running after him. He held the brim of his hat and was careful not to jostle Wayzz who grabbed tiny tufts of hair in his hands to keep from getting thrown around too much.

Nino reached out, swinging the door open and being immediately accosted with the tidal wave of smells associated with that many animals in one place. It wasn't bad by any means, they were obviously well cared for but you couldn't do much about the sawdust and aquarium smells.

The chime of a bell announced his entrance as he strolled in, looking around him in slight awe as he heard a female voice call out, "Hello! Welcome!"

Nino turned, looking around a pretty bulky rack of dog collars and leashes to see a young girl maybe a few years older than him running the front counter. She smiled happily, adjusting her glasses as she said with a chuckle, "I believe your friend came in ahead of you? He went towards the back where the larger cages are."

Nino laughed, smiling sheepishly as he headed the direction she pointed. "Yeah I don't think he's ever been in a pet shop before. I'll go find him."

"Let me know if you need anything!" she called as he ran off to find Adrien.

He looked around himself as he walked and muttered under his breath, "Geeze this place is huge! Got birds and rats and mice and hamsters, they even have dogs and cats here too and all the stuff they need. If we can't find what we need here then it straight up doesn't exist."

He heard Wayzz laugh to himself as he kept going, pausing every once in a while when his attention was caught by yet another intriguing animal or product. Eventually though he heard Adrien talking to someone up ahead, and as he got closer he recognized Plagg's voice responding.

"Got them all cooped up in here!" Plagg was complaining, Nino turning the corner to see Plagg rather recklessly flying out in the open to peer in at a cat cage. Inside was a whole litter of kittens, a few calico colored, two little white ones with black spots and one more ginger one all mewling and walking around. Plagg's tail twitched in irritation, his arms crossed as he looked around. "Where are their parents? Don't tell me they separate all the little ones from their mothers! They aren't even all the same litter!"

"They're playing Plagg!" Adrien tried to placate him, gesturing to the pouncing kittens. "They're healthy and have food and they will probably be adopted soon. They're okay."

Plagg looked at Adrien for a moment before flying right against the cage wall, pointing at each of the kittens in turn. "You stop chewing on him so hard! And you, don't be so trusting I see you running around in there without a care in the world! All of you listen up, you get yourself a nice family or else you claw their arms up and hit the road!"

Adrien put a hand over his mouth to keep from snickering too loud and making his kwami angry, standing up from his crouched position to turn towards Nino with a smile.

"He's very vocal about cat rights," Adrien explained with a shrug, Nino now forced to smother a laugh of his own.

Nino jolted when he felt his hat shift, Wayzz pushing the brim up so he could peer out into the store before he too flew out into the open.

"Bro be careful!" Nino warned, looking around himself nervously.

"There is only one employee," Wayzz explained, "and we are the only customers right now. As long as Plagg and I stay below the shelving we should be alright." Wayzz grinned, looking down towards Plagg before calling out, "and if worst comes to worst you can just climb in the cage right friend?"

"Ha ha," Plagg said mockingly, pushing away from the cage to fly level with Wayzz, hands on his hips. "Go take a dive in the turtle tank why don't you."

"I might!" Wayzz laughed, flying away with Plagg following after him.

"We should probably stay close to them," Adrien said with a nervous laugh, already having lost sight of them and unable to keep from nervously checking where the girl working was at himself.

"Hopefully they don't break anything," Nino huffed, walking in the general direction the kwamis had gone but still looking for what he needed. "See the aquatic section anywhere?"

"Over that way," Adrien informed him, gesturing to the far back corner where the walls were made up of massive fish tanks filled with creatures.

In the end they decided to separate, Nino doing his shopping and keeping the store front girl with him so they would know where she was, Adrien watching their kwamis as they explored.

"So how many gallons does it need to be?" Nino was asking the girl, the two of them standing by a wide variety of empty tanks.

"Well you said it was for a turtle right?" she asked, walking towards a few of the larger ones. "Most turtles need dry land to bask on as well as a lot of water, so something like a 30 gallon tank would probably be best, but you would be fine with a 20 gallon too."

"30 will work," Nino said, looking towards a fairly long tank and working it out logistically in his head. "Could go on top of the... dresser. Yeah, my dresser is long and low so that will work, just got to clear it off."

"Alright so will this one be the one you want?"

"Yup," he said simply, gesturing to the one they had picked. "We've got a big guy with us so he can get that when we're leaving, I'll just pay for it now."

"Okay soooo," she said, pulling out a little notepad she kept in her apron pocket, the apron decorated with little paws and fish across it. "We've got a 30 gallon tank, a heat lamp, a stone landing for the turtle, the short dish food bowl, the filter, the pump, all the vegetation, aaand a small wood log to float on the surface." She clicked her pen, tapping the end of it against her lip methodically as she mentally calculated the prices before saying, "We're looking at about... 170 euros," she said with a smile.

"Agh," Nino couldn't help but say, shaking his head and checking his wallet. He had it but maaan... That was a pretty big chunk. Oh well.

Then suddenly he heard from a short distance away an urgent call of, "Master! Master!!"

Both Nino and the girl working turned towards the noise, the girl tilting her head curiously as Nino nervously laughed and walked backwards towards the next aisle.

"Haha, uh that's my friend. What a joker am I right? Hehe... uh if you could just get some of the small stuff up to the front counter I'll be there in a sec."

"Uh, well alright sir," she was saying as he disappeared, the girl left standing there with the notebook.

"What a funny guy."

Nino ducked down in the next aisle, looking around until he found Wayzz crouched behind some fish food.

"Bro!" Nino said in exasperation, Wayzz darting forward with his hands clasped.

"I know I'm sorry!" he quickly apologized, a huge excited grin splitting his face as he squealed, "But it's important! Please come, I'll show you!"

Wayzz was off like a bullet, zipping over the isle and out towards the far wall of tanks. Nino sighed heavily, jogging after him until he found Adrien leaning against a wall, Plagg leaning out of his pocket and tapping the glass of a fish tank.

"He's over there," Adrien laughed, shaking his head. "He fell in love I'm pretty sure, if you don't get it for him I think he'll cry."

"What?" Nino asked, looking over his shoulder to see Wayzz floating in front of a tank, his antenna pressed up against the glass as he peered inside.

"Master!" Wayzz said excitedly, looking up at him with pleading eyes. "You've already gotten me so much and I'm so grateful, and you are already far too kind but..." he looked back into the tank, laughing and pointing, "But look Nino! You said I could have a pet yes? Please? I'll be good to him!"

Nino walked over, kneeling down slightly to look inside the tank Wayzz was at, tilting back the brim of his hat to get closer to the glass.

"A frog?" Nino asked, looking around at the dozen or so small green frogs hopping and swimming around.

"Yes!" Wayzz confirmed, pointing at one sitting on a rock. "That one! With the black spot on his back. He can stay in my tank and I'll take care of him, please? I won't ask for anything more!"

Nino looked back at the small frog, comparing the size to Wayzz and deciding it was like a medium or largish dog on him. Wayzz's pleading was absolutely adorable, and even though the total was already so high there was just no way he could say no.

"Of course little dude," Nino agreed. "We'll get you your little frog, but stay out of sight now alright? I need to get the girl to fish out the frog."

"Make sure it's the right one!" Wayzz said, flying forward and hugging Nino's face before zipping up into the hat. "Thank you!"

Nino spent the next while explain to the girl working why he was suddenly buying a frog and stuff to feed it as well if he already had a turtle at home, but after a real long while they were finally done and Nino was paying up front as the Gorilla loaded up the car.

The girl was smiling at the small container of water the frog floated in, laughing to herself as Nino finished up.

"You be good little frog," she said mostly to herself, Nino smiling at the gesture before leaning over to pick it up.

"Thanks for the help, I know we were in here forever you were cool."

She laughed, waving him off. "Oh no don't worry about it, business has been nothing today honestly, I was really bored."

Adrien held the door open for Nino as he walked out, the girl calling out goodbye as the door swung shut.

"Can I just say thanks for buying Wayzz a pet," Adrien said with a roll of the eyes before he opened the car door. "Now Plagg is asking but I know he won't take care of one. He's mad because I said no."

Nino sputtered and laughed, opening the door with one hand and climbing in.

"Hey if it makes you feel any better I didn't tell my mom about any of this, so that's going to be fun."

Adrien's mouth dropped open as they started on their way, laughing in disbelief as he said, "You just bought all this without asking her? Is she going to be cool with that?"

"Dunno," Nino said with a shrug. "Hopefully?"

"Nino," his father said in a heavy and exasperated voice, one hand pinching the bridge of his nose as he looked out over an absolute TIDAL WAVE of stuff. "You can't just get a pet without permission."

"I almost died," Nino said simply, a disassembled heating lamp in his lap. "I need some stability in my life. What's more stable than a turtle? Nothing."

"Nino," he said again, his hand gesturing out towards the massive tank now dominating his son's dresser. "This is gigantic, how much did all of this cost you!? Have you even bought the turtle yet? How are you going to afford its food? This is why you have to ask."

Nino hesitated, his eyes darting to the side towards the underneath of his bed before looking back at his father, who sighed heavily.

"You already bought the turtle didn't you?"

Nino hesitated again.

"Yes?" he said uncertainly.

His father groaned, both hands reaching up to rub at his face before saying, "Well let's see it then... better not be dirty."

"Turtles are not dirty," Nino said defensively, moving to set the lamp down but looking unsure and unable to maintain eye contact. "Uh..." he said, scooting towards the bed, "so. Well this isn't just- I have a reason," Nino said slowly. "This is a... very rare turtle. Yeah. It's endangered? And I just sort of felt like, it was my responsibility as a... youth, to help nurture this species you know? Like, we as people-"

"Nino," his father sighed again, nodding towards the bed. "Show it to me."

Nino waited a moment more before slowly reaching under the bed, pulling his hands back to show... just... the strangest looking turtle.

It was a turtle, the father was pretty sure. It had a shell that was mostly what it had going for it. It was tiny and looked kind of soft, even the shell looked softer than it should. It was waddling awkwardly across Nino's cupped hands on all fours, a very blank look about its face.

"Turtles don't usually have antenna do they?" he asked, watching the weird green protrusion bob as it walked around.

"No," Nino clarified, still looking uncertain. "Uh, it's called the Antenna turtle, because of the antenna. Very rare, very almost dead. I mean, honestly if you didn't let me keep it the species would basically be doomed."

The father sighed, face dropping into his hands. "And the frog?" he asked.

"For the turtle. So he wouldn't be lonely."

His father said nothing, taking a deep breath and straightening up, walking out of the room with nothing more to say and closing the door behind him as he went.

"I think we got away with it," Wayzz said quietly.

"I can't believe that is just gonna blow over, that is amazing," Nino said in disbelief, setting Wayzz down so he could finish assembling the lamp. "You know honestly we got pretty far before he even got home and Mom was whatever about it. The whole tank is full there isn't a lot he could have done anyways."

Outside in the living room Nino's mother was patting her husband's back comfortingly, pretty amused by the whole thing.

"As far as what his traumatic response could have been," the father said in a dull voice, "honestly a turtle is probably the best we could have hoped for."

"My thoughts exactly," his wife chuckled. "It's cute isn't it? A little weird but... it could have been much worse."

"Could have been drugs," the father said with a sigh, almost as if to make himself feel better, looking off towards his sons bedroom and shaking his head. "Almost dies at the hands of a supervillain and what does Nino do? He buys a turtle."

The father turned and looked up at his wife.

"Our son is weird honey."

"Oh he's not that bad," she disagreed, walking away with a laugh. "With all the magic and craziness in the world today just be glad it's only a turtle!"