It was hard, it almost cost Spy a finger and all of the inventory inside his fake teeth and Scout had to slip through narrow, smelly holes, but RED managed to escape BLU's control. Now the mission got a little more complicated than before, because this time BLU had papers RED needed to get back, and BLU couldn't let them go away. So incursions from both teams became frequent and the boredom from the day before gave way to a constant alert.

"What is that?" Tikki asked Soldier in one moment they were both alone.

"What? This?" Soldier smirked. "Just watch."

Soldier put his weapon in position to fire and a missile startled the kwami. The projectile impacted where the BLU Engineer was working, almost making the facade of the building crumble over him and his contraptions.

"You kill people with that thing?" Tikki didn't seem much pleased.

"Yes!" Soldier nodded proudly.

"That is horrible!"

"War isn't pretty, Tikki, get over it."

"War is cruel and unnecessary..."

Soldier sighed like he was having an inhuman amount of patience with Tikki. "Listen, private: war is necessary, because it's what makes men and if we didn't fight those who want to invade us, we'd be slaves of the bears and the-"

Tikki suddenly gasped, when a blue grenade slipped through the window just a foot away from them. They had to run to cover.

"See? The world isn't a safe place and one must know how to defend themselves." Soldier said. "Keep your eyes open, Tikki."

"Sir, yes, sir!" She exclaimed, trembling.

Demoman came to the rescue, using his Eyelander to repel his BLU counterpart. He attempted to claim his head, though the BLU used his grenade launcher to block the blade and protect his neck.

"You ugly motherhumper." The BLU insulted Demo, and spat into his only eye.

And took advantage of his temporary blindness to push him to the ground and unleashed punch after punch. It was Scout who intervened in his favor, hitting the BLU's kidneys with the bat. Demoman didn't have the chance to get up and blow him up, for the enemy Medic suddenly appeared and, wasn't it for a fortunate move, he would have gotten a hole in his back.

"I was dying to get my hands on you, you son of a bitch." The BLU Medic grunted, and kept attacking.

"You take things too personally, mate, let it go." Demoman replied, smirking a bit.

"She was my WIFE!" The Medic got to cut the cord of the eye patch and make an ugly cut.

Demoman stumbled, covering his eye with a hand. When he moved it away, showing his empty socket, his enemy smiled.

"You're a mockery of a man. I don't know what she saw in you."

It hurt, but Demo forced himself to close his eyelid not to show that empty space again. And he also forced a bold response.

"Want me to show you?" He said, grabbing his own groin with his free hand.

That got the Medic angrier enough to attack mercilessly. He got to make him a few more ugly cuts in his skin. He was seriously determined to kill him with his own hands. Demoman saw he had no choice but to flee.

Soldier used his rockets to propell himself into the battlefield and used his shovel to hit the BLU Pyro unconscious. But being entertained with him, he didn't notice the invisible Spy who showed up from behind. He tried to stab him right between the shoulders but missed, hitting the shoulder blade.

"You sneaky little..." Soldier grunted and grabbed his wrists with the intention of breaking them, so he stabbed no more in his life.

The BLU Spy defended himself with his legs. With a fortunate kick in the gonads, he managed to make Soldier soften his grip enough to escape, making himself invisible again.

"Where do you think you're going, maggot?! Come here and fight like a man!" Soldier shouted.

There was a pool of rain water formed because of the ceiling having leaks. Soldier kicked the water and...bingo! There he was! Some drops were suspended in the air, floated and slipped! He grabbed the Spy and threw him off the platform, to the tracks.

"And that's how it's done, Tikki!" Soldier smiled, crossing his arms proudly. "...Tikki?"

But she still didn't reply and Soldier didn't find her inside his pocket. He looked at his cuff links and found that the Miraculous wasn't there.

Oh, crap.

"Here you are!" Scout ran up the platform to yell at him. "Retreat! We'll try tomorrow! Come on, let's go!"

Soldier reluctantly followed.

Both Soldier and Demoman were silent, but in Demo's case it wasn't unusual to see him drink in silence, ruminating some thought. But Soldier...That was a different thing.

"A penny for your thoughts." Engineer smiled, sitting by his side.

He lost something important. He was a bad soldier. They were all doomed.

Soldier struggled to put a filter to his mouth and not say what he was really thinking. It was a real effort for someone who always said what was on his mind.

"Nnnnothing!" He finally managed to say, and quickly got up and stayed away from Engineer with the first excuse he found. "Look! A butterfly! Butterflies've given us nothing but trouble!" A gunshot. "Oh. It wasn't a butterfly. It was Scout."

"Mates..." Demoman made Engineer turn his head. "...Are you really alright with me being here?"

"What do you mean?" The Texan asked.

"Aren't I to...different to join the team?"

"Nah, man."

"You're only saying so to make me feel better..." Demoman sighed pitifully.

"Stop drinking, Demo, it's making you say nonsense." Engineer subtly grabbed the bottle of scrumpy and put it away from his reach.

"I'm just saying the truth, what you don't dare to say. Out there, everybody hates me, and I don't see why you'd..."

"Come on, splash some water onto your face." Medic suggested, so tired of hearing him complain.

"I'll cover you." Sniper offered himself.

"Aye..." Demoman muttered and walked out.

He made sure he wasn't spotted by the enemy. Outside, he lit himself a cigarette, holding it in a way that the light couldn't be seen.

He had extra eye patches, because it was relatively easy to lose them in the battlefield. He put a new one on but found it so stupid he was thinking of just leaving the empty socket exposed so everyone saw...

He ruminated for a bit more.

No, the team was just being nice. But it was true: he was different from everyone else in that facility. He had always been different. Perhaps something they were accustomed to back in the Highlands but not in America. These folks were used to hearing stories and stereotypes about people like him. Treating them like they were less than the rest. He was a bloody monster in their eyes. BLU knew and that was why they said those remarks to get him off his nerves and get their moral revenge. RED knew too, and pretended not to see it—but they thought it, he was sure.

He would never fit in this place, or anywhere out of the place he was born in.

The story of his life...

Merasmus let out a sinister chuckle.

"A misfit, dying of solitude, never understood...Merasmus once took from him, now I'll be giving him! After all, all a person this lonely needs is a little push..."

Merasmoth contemplated the dark akuma on the palm of his hand and, raising it, made it fly.

"Go, akuma! Make that heart feral!"

Sniper checked the surrounded through his scope. He didn't see a thing, but that didn't mean there was nothing going on, so he stayed alert, watching Demo in case trouble pounced on him.

But even if he was attentive to the surroundings, the akuma found the way to reach Demoman's eye patch unnoticedly.

Demo dropped the cigarette when that voice echoed inside his head.

"Alpha, listen to Merasmoth. You have been ridiculed because you are different. I will give you the power of making those who insulted and looked down on you as monstrous as you are, and dominate them all! I only ask you for the miraculouses Soldier keeps in return."

"Good idea, voice inside me head!" Demoman grinned.

Who was Demo talking to?, Sniper asked himself for a second, until he remembered that he had been drinking a lot. He was probably drunk.

But then he saw darkness swallow him, and realized this was wrong.

"Aw, piss, no..." He muttered, and quickly ran to where his teammates here.

They all turned toward him when he showed up, panting.

"Mates! It's happened again! Demo!"

BLU's plan was simple: RED wouldn't be able to repel them if they all attacked at once at a particular point. So they marched together with their weapons ready. Sniper and Soldier cleared the way destroying the sentry at the gates from the distance.

But there was a figure lurking. The Scout prepared his scattergun to fire. The Spy stopped him.

"It's just a dog."

"We don't need a stupid stray mutt bothering us." The Scout replied, and planned to shoot it if it approached more.

"At my signal." The Soldier whispered, raising his hand.

The Scout turned around again and his eyebrows rose in confusion.

"...Spy..."

"What?"

"Are you sure that's a dog?"

"Yes. Shut up, will you?"

"I've never seen a dog stand up like that..."

Spy turned around as well and had to admit that was definitely strange. He had never seen a dog with such a human-like complexion ever in his life, either...

"What's wrong with you two?!" The Soldier approached to bark at them. "Do you want to spoil the-?!"

But he didn't get to finish the sentence, because the dog charged, roaring. It went straight for the Medic, sinking its fangs into his shoulder and making him lose balance, to seemingly devour him before he could stand up.

The BLU had to chance their palns and get rid of it, before it left them without a Medic. They couldn't shoot at the animal without compromising their partner's life, so some came closer to attack with their melee weapons. The Pyro removed a loose brick from the pavement and threw it at the beast's head, hitting it, making it grunt and run away.

"Motherfucker!" The Engineer exclaimed, his heart still racing, and helped his partner stand up. "Are you alright?"

"No. Urgh! I'm gonna need a rabies vaccine..." The Medic stumbled, closing his eyes in pain. The beast managed to take the white coat off and rip off his shirt—good thing it left before it could gut him.

"Alright, we need you and you can't get in combat like this. We're still on time to abort the incursion..." The Soldier said.

He helped the Medic walk. That dog really went for him! Good thing RED didn't seem to notice the fuss.

"I'm sure those people trained a dog to eat us..." The Sniper muttered.

They didn't get to walk much further, when Medic stopped, whining.

"Hey. Medic." The Soldier said.

He probably had a deeper wound than he saw at first glance, because he seemed to be in much pain, couldn't keep walking.

"Medic?" His teammates called him.

It was the Sniper who first noticed that his ears were growing pointy. Also, maybe it was an effect of the lack of light, but it seemed his chest...No, it was no light effect: his chest was indeed hairier. He was seeing it with his own eyes, he could see the white hair coming out and growing. The Medic opened his mouth in an attempt to say something, revealing teeth which were pointier and bigger than usual.

The Pyro was the second one to see the changes, and when he did, he took a couple of hesitating steps back. Medic's legs. They were cracking. No wonder he was in pain, because they rearranged and took a more animal form. His coccyx also lengthened a little bit, adding discomfort. Soon the changes spread to his face. With another concert of cracks, his face became a snout. That seemed the most uncomfortable part.

When it finished, Medic took a second to breath and then howled.

"Holy f-!" The Scout exclaimed.

The Soldier couldn't help screaming, when his partner attacked.

Those screams alerted RED, who walked out of the base. The BLU were running towards them. Scout shot, missing the Engineer's foot by a mere inch.

"Wait! Wait! Truce! Truce!" He shouted, forming a T with his hands.

"Don't shoot, please!" The Pyro shouted.

It wasn't a new tactic. RED knew. The BLU were too terrified to be putting on an act. And they knew something was up with Demoman and all of them were in danger. So they guessed they could concede this truce. They opened the gates and allowed the BLU in.

"What happened?" Heavy asked the panting enemies.

"Something...big...attacked us...A...dog, I think. But it wasn't a dog!" The Engineer explained.

Soldier rushed to the window and watched from there. He didn't see any dog, but soon a dreadful sight appeared.

His counterpart survived the attack of his teammate—but at what cost? He appeared stumbling, in a very pitiful state, all covered in blood and wounds. He panted loudly.

"Boss!" The BLU Demoman exclaimed. "Open the gates! Let him in!"

"Wait!" His partner the Spy rose a hand.

He did right not being so enthusiastic about his survival, because the Soldier suddenly flinched, holding his stomach like he had been hit by a cannonball.

"Boss!" The Demoman kept on calling him.

"Ah, crap, no!" The BLU Scout muttered, shaking his head in horror, understanding what was going on.

The man was contorting. Medic squinted, looking with much interest that his enemy's muscles were...popping and swelling! And fur was covering it! It seemed to make it so uncomfortable to wear that uniform that the Soldier ripped off his clothes, revealing a completely furry chest. His nails were growing and getting thicker, becoming proper claws. Then his skull cracked, prolonged, becoming a canine's face. The monster he became fell on fours, resting its weight on its knuckles.

"Boss..." The BLU Demoman muttered in dismay.

Demo did this? But where was he?

They saw that there was another beast lurking around, of white fur, which sniffed at the Soldier and licked its lips. But that was not Demoman. It had two eyes.

Another one appeared on top of a wagon. It had completely black fur, seemed bigger than the others, and had green flames escaping from under a patch covering its left eye.

That. That one had to be him.

"They turned Demo into the Big Bad Wolf...Bastards!" Soldier wasn't sure of who was 'they', but he unleashed all of his anger cursing 'them'.

"You mean...the ni-?" The BLU Spy turned to ask.

"Careful what you say, pal." RED Engineer frowned, shaking a threatening finger.

"-mrod." The Spy finished his epithet. "Is he your teammate? So this was your idea?"

"We didn't do this on purpose." Heavy explained.

"Sure, like turning our Heavy into soup, right?" BLU Scout frowned, to which RED Pyro giggled like that was a little mischief.

"Believe us, it is the evil butterflies' fault; Demo doesn't know what he's doing right now and he's gonna kill us all!" RED's said.

"Why should we believe you?" BLU Sniper asked.

"Because we let you stay here with us so he and your teammates don't devour you and you help us find a solution." Medic said.

"Listen, I know this is hard to believe and, trust me, it ain't easy to explain either, but we're on the same boat right now. It's not some kind of weapon and our friend is driven by a killer instinct right now and won't listen to us. We can all become dog food, or cooperate and get out of this alive, so we can kill each other tomorrow morning. Are you going to help us or not?" RED Engineer declared.

The BLU team exchanged a glance.

"I'd help you hang a rock around your ankles and jump off a bridge, but I don't wanna get eaten, and less by that drunkard friend of yours...So I guess we've got no choice..." BLU Scout spoke in the name of all.

"Yeah..." His teammates agreed.

"Miss Pauling never mentioned this..." BLU Demoman whispered to his fellow Spy.

"Soldier, when is Mr. Bug going to show up to stop this?" RED Spy said to Soldier.

"Do I look like his secretary?" Soldier replied. "He...may be busy...fighting...the communists in Cuba...Injustice in the world..."

"We need him to use those special powers of his, so if you've got any idea of where he can be found...Please..."

Soldier frowned. "I'll see what I can do. But I need to get out."

"Why do you need to...?" BLU Engineer was beginning to ask, but RED Heavy interrupted him.

"Yes. We cover you."

The Ladybug Miraculous was somewhere in the bridge, perhaps the train rails. It wouldn't be easy to find it, and less with the pressure of three beasts lurking. But he had to try.

The three werewolves were lurking the entrance, looking for a way to get in.

"Hey! Hey!" RED Scout shouted at them from a window, and threw an empty can of Bonk! at them.

"Do you think that's going to distract them? My God, you really have just one brain cell." His BLU counterpart rolled his eyes and fired a few gunshots near them, making them uneasy, look up at them and roar.

"Wow, wasting ammo on this! You're a true genius!" RED Scout crossed his arms.

"Idiot."

"You're the biggest idiot."

Nevertheless, that served their purpose of making the monsters mad and focus on try to climb up the wall to reach them. With that, they didn't notice Soldier rocket-jumping over the wagons until he reached the main building.

There, he looked around frenetically, removing his helmet to see better. He didn't find the earrings. He even got on his knees to feel the ground. He looked everywhere, everywhere at all. But the miraculous wasn't there.

"Tikki, reveal yourself! Tikki, that is an order!" Soldier called the kwami.

Of course, she didn't answer.

Alpha received a message from his master: "Don't waste your time with them! Look for Soldier!"

Yes, Soldier was nowhere to be seen. Alpha grunted at the BLU Medic and Soldier, like giving them instructions, and they took different paths.

"They didn't buy it..." RED Spy frowned. He rose his eyes at the main building. "Why is taking him so long...?"

He had no choice but to go there and see if he could assist. He cloaked and left the building.

Soldier was so frustrated he screamed. The story repeated itself and the team needed Sargeant Bug to save the day once again, but he couldn't do it without the earrings! It was like looking for a needle in a haystack, and there was no time to waste.

Perhaps they could defeat them just with their weapons...Weren't they skilled killers?

"Psst!"

Spy made himself visible, startling Soldier. "What are you waiting for?"

"He cannot come." Soldier replied.

"Why not?! We need him!"

"I'm not the boss of him, and neither are you!"

"Urgh..." Spy really wanted to kill him, but he guessed this was not the moment. "Very well, so what do you suggest we do now?"

"Try to beat them up without Sargent Bug's powers!"

"Don't we need to exorcise that butterfly?"

"We can figure out, when we've destroyed the object containing it. The only thing Demo's wearing right now is his eye patch, so that must be it."

Spy shook his head.

"Why, oh Lord, why..." He muttered, ready to leave.

"Oh, and Spy: if you find a pair of cuff links around here, give them to me, okay?" Soldier said before he did.

And now he was looking for earrings in a situation like this! Spy couldn't, he just couldn't...

There was no time to run away. When they turned around, they found that the werewolves were approaching, blocking the way towards the RED base.

"I don't know any superpowers to beat you hounds!" Soldier exclaimed. "That's...what Sargeant Bug would say in my place, but that's not me!" And he shot two warning shots, seeing they were approaching.

That didn't intimidate the wolves the least and kept approaching. Soldier was about to ask Spy if he had any experience with rabid dogs and found that he had disappeared. "The French and their cowardice!"

But Spy didn't leave: he was right there, quietly passing by Alpha and his goons, so he could attack from the back, his specialty...

However, he underestimated Alpha's highly developed senses of smell and hearing. He grunted. There was someone in there. He moved his head looking for the source of that scent. He made his partners hush in order to hear the quiet, quick steps...

"Hey, you, look at me while you defy me!" Soldier shouted.

There!

He leaped on Spy right when he was getting his revolver ready to shoot. Spy dropped the gun and grabbed his knife to stab Alpha. The werewolf bit him in the wrist. Spy tried to kick him away from him, and managed to make him draw back. Soldier wrapped his arms around Alpha's neck and kept him away from his teammate.

"Run to get Medic! I'm handling this!"

BLU Pyro and Demoman and RED Medic, Sniper and Heavy ran out of the building to assist them.

"You ruined my suit, you damned..." Spy grunted, grabbing his gun to kill the other two werewolves.

They didn't move, just watched him, but that wasn't going to stop him.

A sudden pain did. The revolver escaped from his hands when he gasped, feeling an intense pain in the chest. For some reason, his body didn't obey the orders from the brain. Then he saw it. Something was piercing his gloves. Claws. A horrified scream escaped from his lips.

And his $10,000 custom tailored Louis Crabbemaché suit was definitely ruined by his muscle and fur growth.

"Aw, crap..." Soldier protested.

Now it was four against one. It wasn't very fair. Alpha seemed to be aware that chances were in his favor, because he turned around and attacked. Soldier kicked his fangs away from his face with the help of his fantastic boots.

BLU Pyro used his flare gun on his boss, getting to burn his back a little bit. He didn't get to do much more, though, for the three other werewolves pounced on him. True that his suit protected him from harm, but the beasts grabbed him from one limb each with their teeth and pulled and bit until the fabric was broken, exposing his skin. Then, they went for the skin.

They were too strong and fast to reduce with conventional weapons. Soldier needed it clear: without the Miraculouses, there was no way these monsters could be defeated...

...But wait...Tikki wasn't around, but there was a whole box full of them!

"Move back!" He yelled at the others, right when the BLU Pyro was removing his mask to show a face covering in red fur.

"Do you know what you are doing?" Medic asked.

"I have an approximate idea!" Soldier replied.

He kept the box in the ressuply room. He had to reach it quickly. Since the werewolves were too close to him, he turned around and fired a rocket, sending some to the ground, giving him a few seconds.

"Wasn't he supposed to be wearing that ladybug's uniform by now?" Medic kept rumbling.

"So you don't got a plan and you're just improvising!" BLU Demoman said.

"We depend on Soldier. Which is much worse."

It seemed the Demoman managed to destroy his partner the Medic's paw with a bomb, but that wasn't enough. Spy pounced on his neck.

"HELP MEEE!" He shouted.

They were all in the same team now, Heavy thought, so he didn't hesitate to hit his partner with Sasha to get him off him.

"No! He's infected! Run!" Medic pulled his arm away from the Demoman.

"N-No! Please, I'm not-!" The rival said, but an expression of pain and growing fangs announced the transformation.

"Run, run!" Medic insisted.

"Kill me! Don't let me become...!" Was the last thing the BLU Demoman was able to say, because soon he started to swell up.

So Heavy obeyed Medic and left it there. The Snipers shot from the windows, the Engineers built sentries in an attempt to help them make it safely to the base. The problem was that Heavy was slow and the monsters caught up quickly. He had to kick Alpha's face away from his leg. Good thing they could take refuge.

"Your idiotic team's gonna get us killed." The BLU Scout faced RED's.

"At least we don't have ass faces like you do." Was all he could reply.

Soldier reached the ressuply room and quickly opened his locker to find the Miraculous box hidden under his coat. Perhaps there were copies of the ladybug's in there? He opened it and didn't find such thing. He expected the items instead. A hair comb? He had a sensible haircut which made it impossible to wear it! An anklet? Did they think he was a teenage girl? He chose the most masculine accessory he found: a black ring.

He had barely slipped it on his finger when there was a flash of light and a creature appeared.

"Well, well, well, what do we got in here?"

It seemed like a tiny black cat with green eyes and funny whiskers. The kwami floated to look at him from close.

"You don't look very smart. Guess the guardians had no one else to do the job."

"Why you little..." Soldier was going to put up with no mockery from vermin like this, and tried to snap the cat's tiny neck, but it escaped from him and laughed.

"What I said: the brightest!"

"Alright, I'm pardoning your neck for now, because we're in big trouble and I'm enrolling you."

"Do you have cheese?" The kwami wanted to know, raising an eyebrow.

"Do I look like I do, maggot?"

"Then I'm not interested."

There was a bump. Outside, the werewolves were slamming the door with their bodies, roaring. The sentries were not a problem to them anymore: using their powerful jaws, they managed to dismember them. The group inside moved away from the door, weapons in hand.

"How much ammo do we got left?" BLU Engineer asked.

"Not enough. Spent it all today fighting." His partner the Sniper replied.

"I'd be very thankful if you didn't mow them down much: I'd like to keep one or two for studying." Medic said.

"It's okay, they're gonna eat us first..." RED Scout grunted.

"I ain't dying in this room with you." BLU's said, and hit the blinds with the butt of his gun.

"Wait!" BLU Spy shouted, watching from a window. "I'm counting five! Where's the Scot?"

Glass breaking unstairs. A trotting. RED Sniper cautiously approached the stairs, SMG in hand.

He almost immediately fell to the ground. Big jaws tried to bite his head and he got to hold them open with his hands. His partners would have helped him, but they realized the werewolves made a hole in the blind from which one bit the BLU Scout in an arm and tried to rip it off. RED Scout pushed his counterpart away from there and shot through the hole, hearing a whine afterwards. Someone stole his gun and he had enough time to jump backwards. The face of a werewolf appeared through the hole, pushing, making it bigger, until it slipped in. Scout tried to shoot at it but missed by a few inches and the monster bit his leg, making him fall to the floor and swept the floor with him. Heavy grabbed the dog and hit it with his fists. The beast stumbled away from him, half unconscious.

Sniper pushed Alpha away and stood up. Where was his kukri? There! He had to be quick.

But he stopped. Half of the group turned to watch him.

He had fallen on fours and was grunting. When he raised his head, Pyro noticed there was something funny about him. He looked weird.

Ah, sure! He had a doggy face! How cute!

The other half was watching the Scouts. The boys were both contorting in pain.

"Wha-? ARGH! What's happening to me?!" RED Scout exclaimed.

He looked at the palm of his hand and saw perfectly how hair started to sprout and his nails were sharpening.

"WHAT THE HELL?! WHAT IN THE FUCK?!" BLU's exclaimed, feeling that fangs were growing too big for his mouth to contain.

Heavy was ready to shoot at them. He had a finger on the trigger. But Alpha was quicker and jumped upon him. After him, Sniper himself joined. All the other werewolves were going through the hole in the blind. Heavy tried to shoot around him, but he couldn't handle all those wolves. They were trying to tear him to pieces. He got to hit one in the snout and grab other's neck and throw him to the floor, but it was useless. They were everywhere, and they were stronger than he was. Pyro thought it was adorable to see Heavy play with so many puppies. The Russian tried to push one of them away from him, but now felt his strength was leaving him. He did all he could to keep fighting, not to become the dinner of those monsters, but he just couldn't move. All he could do was feel those wolves bite him. He kicked one, and that was the last thing he could do. He let out a moan. From the tears in his shirt one could see dark fur growing. His ears grew pointy and when he opened his mouth to call for help, his skull cracked and his fangs grew.

One more puppy! Pyro wanted to play and hug them all. The puppies went to her and her friends. She blew bubbled to entertain them—when in reality she was using her flamethrower to keep them at bay. For how long would they resist? They were cornered...

"MWAHAHAHAHA! YES! YES! INFECT THEM ALL! TURN THEM ALL INTO BEASTS! AND THE MIRACULOUSES WILL BE MINE!"

Soldier looked severily at the cat kwami.

"My platoon is being massacred by akumatized monsters, so you'd better cooperate if you don't want me to make cheese out of you!"

"Well, that's a different story." The kwami admitted, a hand on his chin. "In all honesty, cats hate dogs, so I'll gladly help you get rid of them. But I'm warning you that the akuma must be purified and that's what the Ladybug Miraculous is for."

"I lost it! You'll have to do!"

"You lost it? Oh! What I said: the brightest! Alright. I'll help you. Just this once. See, in order to activate my powers, you must say: 'Plagg, claws out'. And if there's something big you must destroy, invoke the Cataclysm—careful, thought! You can only use it once! Got it, big guy?"

"Fine! Plagg, claws out! Hooyah!" Soldier shouted.

The cat introduced itself inside the ring and the transformation took place. A new kind of transformation. His uniform was replaced by a skin-tight black jumpsuit which made him feel like he was naked (except for the honey) and covered everything, even his head, except the area around his mouth. He opened his hand and claws appeared. A belt wrapped around his waist, creating the illusion of a tail. On top of his head were two horns like the ears of a cat. When he opened his eyes, his sclearas were yellow and his pupils were vertical. He felt pointy canines when his tongue brushed his teeth.

He looked like something out of a comic book, but there was no time to think about this. His teammates were in trouble and he had to defend them.

They were in a desperate situation. BLU Spy had no more bullets to shoot. Medic had his weapons out of his reach. BLU Sniper could only use his rifle as a club now.

They were startled when a dark figure jumped from the upper floor and landed between them and the werewolves.

"Fear not, here I am!"

"...You're a cat now?" Medic asked, looking at him from head to toes.

"I'm no ordinary cat! I'm...Catman! And I'm gonna get rid of these beasts!"

"Whatever you say...But do it now!"

That was a reasonable request, because RED Engineer was grabbed by an arm by one of the monsters and, even thought Catman had the chance to punch him away from him, the damage was done: he had already been infected by their fangs. When the transformation started to kick in, Engineer got increasingly nervous and red. He tried to fight it.

"No, no, come on, no..." He grunted, clenching his fists, even hitting his own face.

But his legs took a digitigrade form, his hands trembled as the claws grew longer and thicker and his screams turned into a howl, after which he ripped his clothes, letting the werewolf free.

"There he is! And he's got the Cat Miraculous?! Quick, get him! That's your prey! Get him!"

Only six left...The situation seemed grim. But Catman was not discouraged.

All these monsters were a problem, but the sire, the one they had to focus was...

"YOU!" He shouted, and he pounced on Alpha.

The pack defended its leader attacking Catman with claws and jaws. But something strange happened: he was still standing. There was not a single wound. The fabric didn't succumb to their attacks.

"Sorry, doggies, this is a cat you can't touch!" And he got rid of them hitting them with every part of his body.

Alpha saw what he had to do. Bite off the finger around which was the ring, bring it to Merasmoth. He pounced on him, now that he was distracted.

"Watch out!" BLU Sniper shouted.

And Catman took a swipe at his face, ripping the eye patch.

It fell broken on the floor, and the akuma escaped from it. But it wouldn't go far.

"CATACLYSM!" Catman shouted then.

And his hand was infused with a destructive energy.

His clawed finger only had to graze the akuma for it to dissolve in dust.

What happened next was confusing. When they realized, the werewolves fell on the ground, like they lost all of their energy. Fur fell off, claws and fangs retracted. Aggressiveness was replaced by utter confusion.

Demoman sat on the floor feeling his head spin. "Urgh...Wha...Me head..."

"He did it...He actually did it..." BLU Engineer muttered.

"Of course I did! No demon is match for me, Catman! Well, off I go!"

Before anyone could stop him or even say a thing, he ran away.

"He also learned to control the Cat Miraculous! A man who doesn't even know how to count to ten! I must be quick...Take the Miraculouses quick...If he was to unleash their inifite power...I don't even want to think about it..."

"Is that a Tom Jones tat?" BLU Scout mocked RED's.

"Who's Rosie Daisy?" He replied, for his counterpart had a similar tatoo on his shoulder.

Spy couldn't find his watch anywhere and didn't want anyone to see him naked and with his mask too damaged to actually hide his features, so he took advantage of the confusion to flee, groaning internally about Soldier having his suit destroyed.

"Did...Did I do this?" RED Demoman muttered, looking around.

"Don't feel bad, Demo." His partner the Engineer stood up grunting a little, still feeling the beating. "It ain't your worst hangover."

"You're going to pay for this, RED! We're gonna kill you all for this!" BLU Soldier shouted, ready to use his fists against them.

The tip of Soldier's rocket launcher hit the back of his head gently.

"Dominated, pal." He smirked.

RED Pyro threated BLU's Spy, Engineer and Sniper with her flamethrower, in case they tried something. So BLU had no choice but to put their arms up.

Scout was so satisfied of winning his feud with his hated counterpart he grinned his widest.

There was nothing left to be done. RED took control of Well, got back their documents, Soldier got a few new heads for his collection.

But he couldn't leave yet. Along with Demoman, he combed the area one last time.

"Ladybug patterned, you said?" The Scottish asked.

"Yes."

Demoman descended to the rails, in case they fell there.

"I gave you a hard time, didn't I?"

"Let it go, Demo. We told you it's alright."

"It's not. It's my fault you became mutts. I'm always spoiling things..."

"Don't say that." Soldier severily looked at him. "We all screw up sometimes. I've got a lot to regret today, too."

"...Soldier, be honest. Are you really okay with me being in the team?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Because I know I'm not very well...seen here in your country. Or anywhere, for that matter."

"Why?"

"You know, because I'm..."

"You're what?"

"...One-eyed!"

Soldier smiled, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Demo, it's true you're sometimes disgusting and your mutilation is horrible, not to mention all the times it's tried to kill us in Halloween time. But you're our disgusting hero, and you should be proud of your scars, because they talk about your feats, your history. I wouldn't hope for a better Demoman."

Demoman smiled, he did it so genuinely it was contagious. He embraced Soldier. "Thanks, mate."

"Don't you ever forget. Grab those stupid insecurities and punch them silly next time."

"Oh, yes. I don't want to become a monster again..."

He suddenly stopped and bent down.

"Is this what you're looking for?"

The ladybug earrings!

"Yes. Thank you, man." Soldier said, taking them.

"I don't understand what the fuss is about."

"It's just that I bought them for Zhanna."

When Soldier locked himself in the toilet of the train, he placed the Miraculous on his hand and Tikki appeared.

"Sir!" She exclaimed.

"I thought you were missing in action, private." Soldier smiled.

"I thought I lost you too...Did something happen while I was away?"

"Demons attacked again. But we've got a new recruit who helped me a lot."

Tikki turned around to find Plagg lying inside the sink, munching a piece of cheese.

"Hello!" He greeted his fellow kwami. "Solly, this cheese is third class, don't you got anything better?"

"Be thankful I don't feed you the mess we are served! "

"Oh, dear! Another akuma! Are you alright?" Tikki asked Soldier.

There was real concern in her voice. Soldier couldn't help smiling at that.

"Sure I am! I am made of steel and got a platinum heart and diamond teeth!"

Because he had been very worried about her too and felt so relieved seeing her again...

He had to admit...He was growing fond of the little bug...