Unfortunate Kitten 5
Things are getting heated
A little hurried, I know. But next chapter is gonna be action, hoooooo I promise Enjoy~
Ao3 / FF.net
Just as she had thought Nino’s eyes couldn’t get any wider he proved her wrong.
She gave him an apologetic smile and left it to Alya to explain and introduce him to Wayzz while she handed her the bag with the Miraculous. Marinette carefully set it down on the floor, getting out the box while Nino and Alya spoke in hushed voices to each other. The two remaining Kwamis settled down on her shoulder and watched her as she took the last one of the guardians, the Bee, out of its place. She sighed as she turned the hairclip in her hands, lightly shaking her head.
How was she supposed to be the leader here?
Of course, having worked with Chat Noir and being a role model for the whole of Paris had taught her a thing or two in keeping her head in the game but leading a team of unexperienced superheroes?
She couldn’t exactly be a leader to them. An example, sure, but a leader?
Behind her, Alya’s voice got muffled and as she turned, she saw Nino hugging his girlfriend tightly while Wayzz sat on his arm.
She nodded at him as she saw Alya’s shoulders shaking, then turned to her Kwami.
“What about the Zodiacs?”
“You wanna activate them as well?”
For a second, Marinette considered it. Having an army to help her. Or, well, not an army but at least a group so big that Hawkmoth could just give up like this. For a second, she was about to say yes, then she shook her head and gently pushed the box closed again.
“No. It’d be too many people in danger and it’d take too long. We don’t even know if the Bee has a chosen right now and searching for just one Zodiac chosen could take us the time we need to save Chat. We can’t even risk the Bee, really, but I have a feeling that we need the whole group together…”, she sighed, sitting back and slumping, “I mean… I dunno. It just seems like-…”
“That’s a good idea, Marinette. I’m sure, the Bee will be out there.”
The girl nuzzled her Kwami gratefully, then stood up with the box in her hands, facing Nino. He understood and gently parted from Alya, giving her another kiss on her forehead before focusing on Marinette.
She took the box with the Miraculous under one arm and shared a gaze with Wayzz, then she brushed the Turtle bracelet off her wrist. It glowed softly as it left her arm and got closer to its chosen.
“Nino, I’m entrusting you with this Miraculous. You’re the chosen wielder and with the Turtle comes a lot of responsibility. The Turtle is the guardian Miraculous because it represents steadiness. It is constantly activated and thus, you will watch over the Miraculous as well as probably live past us all to pass the Turtle as well as the other Miraculous on to another successor. Do you understand that?”
The boy slowly nodded as Alya pressed her hand to her lips, looking away.
Nino reached forward and touched the Turtle bracelet, the glow getting brighter. He slipped it on his wrist and breathed through as the weight of the responsibility rested on his shoulders.
As soon as he had fastened the bracelet to keep it tight on his arm, his chest began glowing.
Alya and Marinette both took a step back as he yelped, touching his shirt.
“Wh-Wha-”, he exclaimed, terrified at the light emitting from him that only became brighter.
“Your body is accepting the Miraculous.”, Wayzz calming explained, staying on Nino’s arm, “Your lifespan is extending. It’ll only take a second.”
Nino gulped and looked up to meet the gaze of the girls again, nodding as the light dimmed down again.
“Alright…?”, he replied, unsure of what to make of this. Finally, as the light was gone again he swayed but stayed standing.
“Nino?”, Marinette carefully asked, and he nodded, signaling he was fine. Only then she continued, holding the box of the Miraculous up, “Here are the Miraculous that are now under your protection. The two key Miraculous which are given to Chat Noir and me, the five guardian of which the Butterfly and the Peacock are lost to Hawkmoth and the Fox and the Turtle which are given to Alya and you.”
Nino slowly took the box, cradling it close to his chest.
“I took the Bee out since I can easily transform with a lower Miraculous than mine. I plan on getting the last wielder so we can have a chance. Is that okay with you?”
“Uhm… Sure?”
She nodded, placing the hairclip just above her pigtail. It glowed briefly and a tiny Kwami shot out, falling in her shoulder. She carefully took the groggy goddess and lightly brushed over her head, giving her time to wake up.
“Good. The rest are twelve Zodiac Miraculous. They represent the twelve Zodiac animals of the Chinese mythology. You got that?”
He nodded again so she smiled at him, now focusing on the tiny Bee Kwami in her hand.
“Hey, hi. I’m Marinette, chosen of the Ladybug Miraculous.”
The Kwami blinked at her, then smiled and slowly began floating.
“Hi.”, she replied in a high-pitched voice, floating a little higher so that Marinette could talk to her on one level, “I’m Pollen. Nice to meet you!”
While Marinette briefly explained the situation to Pollen, Nino set the box of the Miraculous down on his bed and turned to Alya, breathing through.
“Hey, Alya?”
He caught her gaze by stepping to her and cupping her face, lightly brushing away the tears that were still spilling.
“I-I’m sorry I’m so-”, she began but he shook his head, softly pressing his lips to her forehead and closing his eyes. After a few moments he mumbled against her skin, feeling her arms hesitantly wrapping around his waist.
“Don’t worry about a thing… I know what I’m getting myself into, I kinda just-… Have it in me.”, he slowly wrapped his arms around her neck now, still talking against her forehead. Her breath brushed over his neck as she leant against him, “I’ll keep you safe, promise.”
“I’m not scared about myself.”, she tried retorting but he just chuckled humorlessly.
“You’re scared of losing me. As am I. But Alya, we’ll get through this. We need to save Chat. We’re heroes now.”
She snorted tearfully, tilting her head to the side and away from his lips to rets it in the crook of his neck to be closer. He held her gently, his hand brushing patterns over her back.
“It’s okay, Al. We’ll be okay.”
She still tried getting closer, her hands now meeting behind his back and brushing past the other to rest crossed around him, one of her hands holding onto her other wrist.
His response was to tighten his embrace, watching Marinette talking to Pollen while always sending side glances to the window.
“Ten bucks says Adrien’s gonna be the Bee?”, he asked, half joking. Alya began giggling in his arms before being interrupted by an involuntary sob.
“I dunno… Think it could be Adrien?”
Nino shrugged softly, not wanting to move too much for her.
“Well, blonde hair? Maybe, yeah. And the Squad would be complete then. But I really hope it isn’t him, that boy has a thing for Ladybug and his flirting will not be pretty if he knows Ladybug is Marinette.”
Alya sighed, shaking her head.
“And Marinette would be a mess if she knew Adrien was crushing on Ladybug…”, she added under her breath, causing Nino to tiredly smile.
“Yeah…”
The girl leant back, catching his gaze. He tried widening his smile for her to encourage her but he found himself unable to. The shadow of this night was too dark and heavy to try and lie.
She leant forward, once again pressing her lips against his in a slow, desperate way, trying to forget about everything around them as one of her hands slipped up into his hair, pulling him closer against her.
“… I love you…”, she whispered against his lips, again and again, as if her words could keep the night from happening, “I love you, I love you…”
He felt his fists once again clenching into her shirt, trying to keep them from shaking, trying to keep her from feeling his nervousness. He didn’t reply.
Only after a few moments Marinette broke them apart again. Her eyes were clouded and heavy as she shrugged humorlessly, burying her hands in her pockets as Trixx joined Wayzz on the desk to pull him up.
“Guys, we gotta find out if there’s a Bee… I’m sorry to interrupt you like that but, well, we got a friend to save.”
They both nodded, blushing at the embarrassment of having lost themselves again, then they both straightened up. Alya made the first move by transforming again, momentarily lighting up the room in an orange light, then she nodded at Nino. He spoke the words he got from Wayzz and followed her with a bright green flash, the suit and armor complete with shield appearing on him.
Marinette saw Alya biting her lip and turning away as she saw her boyfriend like this, suppressing a slight smile.
Finally, she sighed and nodded at Pollen, closing her eyes after the second transformation in this room.
“Pollen, stripes on!”, she whispered, feeling the unfamiliar yellow flash travelling up her body until the magic faded, only leaving her, Firena, her Kwami and the addition to their team in the room. She opened her eyes again, not even bothering to send more than a short gaze down her body.
She apparently wore the same suit that she had as Ladybug, skin tight and without alterations. It was yellow and had black boot and gloves as well as stripe patterns. To her hip she had strapped a spinning top, otherwise there was nothing else.
As she looked up, she caught the gaze of the new guardian.
“So, already got a name?”, she asked, smiling.
He didn’t give it much thought. Apparently, it was as easy as Chat had had it all those years ago to him.
“Carapace, I think. I like that name.”
Firena grinned and stood on her tiptoes to place a peck on his lips.
“I like it, too.”, she murmured, already tempted to lose herself in the kiss but Marinette cleared her throat.
“Well then, we gotta get going. Tikki, does this work the same as the Turtle?”
Her Kwami nodded but then shrugged, looking uncertain.
“Well, it should. But, you know, there’s the possibility that we won’t find a Bee wielder. After all they could either be five and thus too young or they could be over in Scandinavia or America orr… Well, there’s many possibilities. So, if you don’t feel anything we should move on without the Bee.”
Marinette nodded, already closing her eyes.
“Alright, let’s see…”, she let go of all thoughts, all concentration and just focused on the Bee Miraculous, on the magic surging through her and-… There!
She gasped as she felt a tug, pulling her to the window.
“I think I got a feeling that they’re here in Paris. It could be that we can build up the team on four! Let’s go!”
Carapace hurriedly hid the box beneath his bed, then he followed the two girls outside, Marinette with the Bee already on the next rooftop while Firena waited for him, crouching on the windowsill outside.
“You good?”, she asked, pulling up her eyebrows beneath her mask.
“Yeah.”, he replied, doing his best to let his voice sound firm and steady, “And I just, uh-… Jump?”
She nodded, taking his hand.
“We’ll do the first one together. Then it should be instinctual for you. Ready?”
He clumsily climbed up to her, closing his window behind them.
“Alright, I’ll try…”, he murmured, his grip on her hand tightening. She lightly yelped and he loosened his grip, not used to the new strength the suit provided for him, “Sorry, sorry…”
She waved it off, then concentrated on Marinette on the roof across from them.
“See Mari there? We’ll jump on the count of three.”
He gulped and straightened up with her, his fingers interlacing with hers.
“A-Alright, we can do that.”
“One… Three!”, she suddenly exclaimed, jumping and pulling him with her. Out of reflex he immediately jumped with her, startled by how high he suddenly was. The ground left his feet and he flew, the roof from across coming towards him.
Within a second, it was over and he securely landed on his feet, running a few steps to get the speed from the jump off.
“Wh-… What the hell, woman! Can you even count?!”, he stuttered, bewildered at her mischievous grin.
“I know you. You would’ve chickened out. And now you stand here.”
He grumbled as she crossed her arms, suddenly looking overly smug. But just as a smile snuck on his lips, Marinette once again interrupted them, this time sounding urgently.
“I just spotted Chat Noir heading this way, I don’t think he spotted us yet. Run!”
Immediately, all three of them dashed past windows and chimneys, over the roofs, until they could hide behind a wall to see where the black figure against the dark sky was heading.
The chesire hero landed on the same windowsill but since Nino’s room was dark he growled and jumped off, running back the same way he had come here. And for a split second, Marinette could see that his hand was clenched.
She gasped as he was out of sight, turning away from the edge of the wall to start pacing over the roof, squinting her eyes. Only after a few moments Carapace’s voice sounded through to her.
“… -t’s wrong?”, he asked.
Marinette breathed through, trying to control her panic.
“I think Hawkmoth sent Chat Noir to choose a Peacock. It’s just an assumption since the Peacock can also be lost somewhere but it could be that Hawkmoth has it.”
“Which means we’re not the only ones trying to build up a team.”
“But why did he come to my room?”, Nino interjected, “I mean, I’m not a Peacock chosen and Alya told me you found me through tracking.”
“Plagg is trapped inside the ring.”, Tikki explained, tightly holding onto Marinette’s shoulder, “So he can’t transform with the Peacock. I assume he’s just following it this way, meaning he can track magical hints but not use the much more effective track Marinette is using.”
They all remained silent for a moment before Marinette spoke up with a shaking voice.
“That means he can feel the magical hint to the chosen Bee, too, if he already searched for Nino.”
They all shared a gaze before breaking into a sprint after Marinette’s tugging feeling.
Wanna buy me a coffee?