Scarabee was frozen, breath caught in a throat made tight by fear as he watched his boyfriend and two of his girlfriends leap into battle like they did it on a daily basis.

… Well, okay, they practically did, but that did nothing to help his nerves!

Chat gave a wild yowl as he leapt off the roof of a building, staff held over his head, and brought it down directly on the snout of the giant serpent looming over the tied-up civilians.

Okay, he knew it was petty, but he had been kinda hoping the snake would get to bite the assholes first. Even it if was irresponsible to sit back and let civilians get hurt.

Scarabee tensed up as the snake shook its head and hissed in pain, then turned and struck at Chat. The blonde was grinning, wide and toothy, and easily leapt out of the way, earning another pained hiss as the snake hurt its snout on the stone wall Chat had been standing in front of.

Satisfied that Chat had the serpent handled, he looked up in time to see Queen Bee flash by overhead, Valkyrie on her heels. He tensed as Queenie dodged a swipe of the spear, then paled as Valkyrie used the momentum of the swing to shoot a beam at something cowering in an alley.

"Fenrir, handle these pests for me!"

"Oh, crap baskets," Scarabee swore under his breath as Valkyrie shot off after Queen Bee again, a flash of orange rushing by as Vixen went to help her teammate, already lifting her flute to her lips.

"Try to distract the giant wolf, and don't get eaten!" She called over her shoulder.

Scarabee whimpered under his breath as whatever Valkyrie had hit continued to grow, stumbling out of the alley as it grew too large to fit, whines filling the air as a thick coat covered a surprisingly lanky frame.

Weird, Scarabee had always pictured wolves as being bulkier than that.

"Oh no…" He winced as the giant canine stopped growing, back level with the roof of the three-story building that Scarabee was currently perched on. A head lifted, yellow eyes opened and glowed in the night, and pale fangs gleamed as the wolf snarled.

And it was staring directly at where Chat was currently trying to get the serpent to tie itself into a knot from chasing him.

'Change of plans, Nino! You're going to have to help out after all!' Scarabee jumped as Tikki's voice suddenly sounded in his mind, swearing as he hit his head on the outcropping of stonework he had been hiding under.

"But-"

'Well, if you WANT Chat to have to deal with both at once…'

"Okay, okay, I get it. What do I…"

'Use your yo-yo. Don't overthink it, just run on instinct. I'll handle the rest.'

He took a deep breath, unhooking the yoyo and letting it swing down. It stopped automatically a few inches from the roof, and when he twitched his wrist, it began to spin in a circle and glow.

"… Okay, that's pretty awesome." Taking another deep breath, he focused on the wolf, which was beginning to growl, head low and teeth bared as it took one massive step forward.

Another flick of the wrist sent the yoyo sailing out, hooking around the wolf's muzzle and taking several turns around before the end wrapped around the rest of the string, effectively binding it shut. He took a deep breath, then ran forward and leapt onto the confused wolf's head, immediately starting to rub behind an ear bigger than he was. "It's okay, big guy. Come on, no need to get into any fights today. How about we just sit down and relax?"

Apparently the wolf wasn't in a listening mood, as it tossed its head, making Scarabee yelp and take handfuls of thick fur, then started to rub a paw over its face, trying to scrape the yoyo string off. Scarabee hissed as he held on tight, refusing to let it budge.

"Calm down! Easy! Easy! It's not hurting you!" A small note of panic had entered his tone, he knew it, but Scarabee kept rubbing behind one of the giant ears. Another toss of the head had his grip slipping, and he yelped as he sailed up into the air, only to be jerked back by the yoyo string and land sprawled across the giant wolf's muzzle.

Dazed on his side and confused on the wolf's, they eyed each other warily. Scarabee swallowed hard, but reached out and rubbed a gloved hand over the spot between the giant wolf's eyes, making it cross them to try and see. "Easy, big dude. Easy. See, no one's hurting you. That's a good boy."

Scarabee guessed that the wolf used to be a stray dog, as slowly, the giant tail began to wag.

Grinning widely, he carefully sat up, straddling the giant nose as he kept rubbing between Fenrir's eyes. "See, that's my good boy! Such a good boy! Yes you are! Yes you are!"

The giant wolf's tail was wagging so hard now that it was slamming into the buildings on either side of the street, and he was beginning to wiggle in glee, giant whines filling the air.

"Good boy! Can you sit, good boy? Siiiiiit." Another whine, and then the massive hindquarters slowly lowered to the ground. The wagging tail began sweeping cars out of the way, but at least the buildings weren't being damaged anymore. "Good booooy! Such a good boy!"

"Hey, so the snake is all tied up now and… Scarabee, what are you doing?"

Scarabee looked over at the nearby roof and couldn't help a wide, sheepish grin at how utterly poleaxed Chat looked. "Can I keep him?"

"… They do not make pooper scoopers big enough."

"That's what dump trucks are for, bro. Or… wait, no, that kind of construction equipment with the big shovel on the front. Whatever it's called." Cautiously, Scarabee loosened his grip on the yoyo string, putting some slack into what was wrapped around the wolf's muzzle, then a reflexive flick had it unwinding and the yoyo itself snapping into his hand.

The only change was that the wolf's jaw dropped and he began to pant happily, eyes nearly shut in bliss as Scarabee kept petting him.

"Okay, you're officially magic. Between Chloe and a giant wolf, I think we can all just say that you're a beast master or something."

A distant "I heard that!" came, and Scarabee snickered as Chat paled and tucked his tail between his legs.

"Well, I'm screwed as soon as she gets ahold of me. And not in the good way."

"Take her shopping, dude. You know she forgives easy if you just know which buttons to push."

A moment later, Queen Bee arrived, Valkyrie conspicuously no longer chasing her. "Vixen's got her chasing illusions of me. We can't just keep reacting to her, we have to go on the offensive and get that spear away from her."

"Um, guys…" Vixen crept out of the shadows, wincing. "I don't think my illusions are going to keep her busy long."

"You'd be correct." Scarabee went cold as Valkyrie floated down, panting a little but expression unseen under the helm.

All four of them froze, eyeing the akumatized Marinette warily.

Suddenly the akuma's slight frown deepened, and she sounded confused when she spoke again. "… I know you. I know… I know…"

"… Mari?" Chat's voice was small, and tight, and scared. "Mari, are you in there? It's us. You know us."

"I… I…" Valkyrie's voice turned soft. "I know you."

"That's right, baby. It's us, Mari. We're here to help you." Vixen spoke next, creeping forward a little.

"Vixie…" Valkyrie whispered, then jerked back slightly as Hawkmoth's sign flashed purple before the glow of her eyes coming from the helm. Scarabee couldn't hear what Hawkmoth said, but Valkyrie frowned and shook her head. "No. I won't hurt them!"

A sudden crackle of what looked like purple electricity flashed across Valkyrie's body, and she screamed as she dropped out of the sky.

Queen Bee yelped, diving forward and catching Valkyrie, lowering her to the street carefully. The rest of them leaned in, Fenrir even lowering his head to sniff worriedly at the akuma.

Valkyrie jerked away from Queen Bee, but didn't attack, instead heaving and clawing at her own armor with a hiss. "No! I will not hurt them for you! Not them! Never them!"

"She's fighting him," Scarabee whispered, then flinched back as another crackle came, accompanied by another shriek of pain.

Valkyrie lay on the ground panting, Hawkmoth's sigil glowing and pulsing angrily in front of her helm. Slowly, Chat approached and knelt beside her, hesitantly resting a hand on her shoulder. "Mari. Mari, listen. I know you're in there. We want to help you. We need your spear."

The purple glowed brighter, and Valkyrie shook her head in confusion, gasping as another shock ran through her, making Chat yank his hand back with a curse and a wince.

"Mari. Mari, please. Please. Come back to us," Chat whispered, pleadingly. "Come back to us, princess."

Slowly, fighting another shock that tore another scream from her throat, Valkyrie loosened her grip on the spear and lifted it, placing it in Chat's hands.

"That's our girl." Chat gently squeezed Valkyrie's shoulder, then lifted the spear and tossed it to Scarabee. "Do your thing!"

Scarabee caught the spear and broke it over his knee, grabbing the yoyo as he had seen Ladybug do several times as a dark butterfly fluttered out of one of the spear halves, swinging it out and catching it.

A flash of energy went up his arm as he reeled the yoyo back in and caught it, settling into the weapon. Curiously, he tapped the top and it popped open, releasing a pure white butterfly that began to fly off.

'Now just throw the yoyo into the sky and call for Miraculous Ladybug. I'll do the rest.' Tikki told him.

Scarabee nodded and did so, smiling as several streams of ladybugs shot out and began racing to fix the damage.

He then yelped as the giant wolf he had been standing on disappeared, leaving him to drop to the ground next to a dirty, ragged stray dog, who panted up at him adoringly with a doggy grin.

The last thing to be fixed was Valkyrie herself, and his breath caught as the ladybugs swirled around her, leaving behind an exhausted Marinette.

With a groan, she pushed herself up enough to sit, then looked up as they gathered around and winced. "I'm sorry."

Chat was the first to move, kneeling beside Marinette and scooping her up. "Don't be. Come on, let's get you home. We'll talk there."

Scarabee took a step after, prepared to follow, when a whine brought his attention down to the stray dog. His heart twinged, and he sighed. "Sorry guys, I can't just leave him. He fought off the control too."

Scooping up the (admittedly big) dog like he weighed nothing and holding him up so that he was dangling from his arms, Nino leapt after the others as they all took to the rooftops. "My mom is going to kill me, but he deserves a home for being such a good boy."

"Well, I do know one thing." Vixen shot him an amused grin. "Your 'he' is a 'she'."