"why do I have to do this again?"

Thor sighed, "I told you," Thor said, glaring at Nathanael from where he was doing pull-ups, "while the lightning attack does deplete my strength, if you are able to strengthen yourself through training, then you'll be able to wield Mjolnir longer after you use it."

Nathanael dropped from the pull-up bar, looking around the old, ratty gym that he had found for himself, the equipment was dusty and the concrete floor was cracked in several places, but it had been the cheapest gym he could find, and had everything they needed…

…at least that's what Thor told him.

"What are you standing around for!?" Thor bellowed, making Nathanael jump slightly, "grab a set of weights and curl!" he watched with beady eyes as Nathanael quickly ran to the dumbbells, picking up a set of fifty and starting to curl them.

"you know," Nathanael said, grunting slightly, "when you said you were a God, I thought you'd just…zap me and make me strong...and I wouldn't have to…you know, do this?"

"where's the fun in that?" Thor asked with a small grin, "true I gave you a jump start, but my job isn't to make things easier for you, if you want strength you must build upon it yourself, no one in life will hand you anything, no prayer will give you what you want. You must work towards it for yourself." He stood and walked over to Nathanael, "keep your back rigid and strong, don't slouch while working out."

He rolled his eyes, "doing the best I can," he muttered, "these are heavy you know?"

"for now," Thor said, patting his shoulder, "for now." he walked back to his seat, looking at Nathanael as he sat down, "after your done with that set we'll go on a run."

"we?" Nathanael asked.

"by we I mean you," Thor said, "I'll be the goat on your shoulder."

Nathanael just rolled his eyes, putting the dumbbells down and stretching his arms, "well then, you better change." He said.

Thor yawned and changed into his goat form, flying into Nathanael's pockets, "Get to running kid."

"you know you could just stay here, relax while I run."

"Nope, because if shit goes down and you need to transform, then I'm right there, now get to running, and make it snappy, I wanna watch letterman when we get home."

Nathanael sighed and jogged out the front door, grabbing his bag as he went, the sun had already started to sink low in the Parisian sky, and a cold breeze blew lazily through the streets, Nathanael shivered slightly but took off at a steady pace.

'Pick up the pace," Thor said gruffly from his pocket, "what is this a leisurely stroll through the park?"

"I wish," he muttered, quickening the pace.

"don't forget to keep on alert, if an attack happens you must be ready."

"I know, you've told me forty different times since we started this a week ago!" he snapped, then stopped running when he saw several people look at him with troubled glances, "uh…Bluetooth." He said with a nervous chuckle, most just nodded in understanding and continued on their way, while everyone continued to stare at him weirdly, Nathanael slowly started running again, "I hate you so much right now."

"serves you right for raising your voice at me."

Nathanael groaned and stopped at an intersection, waiting for the light to turn green, "why can't my life just be normal?" he muttered, "I could paint and draw like I used to on my weekends instead of working out with a demented goat?"

"demented goat?" a familiar voice asked, making Nathanael jump, he quickly turned around, and found himself looking down at Alix, who was looking at him in confusion. "what demented goat?"

"uh…that…is the nickname…I gave to my grandfather." Nathanael said carefully, "he's slightly senile."

Thor head-butted Nathanael in the leg, making him wince slightly which, thankfully, Alix didn't notice.

"your granddad is making you work out? Why?"

"eh something about being 'physically fit in case something happens'." Nathanael said, starting to run again when the light turned green, Alix followed easily on her skates, "He's a veteran so…"

"got it," Alix said, skating backwards, looking Nathanael over, "well, I gotta say, his trainings really paying off string bean, you're looking ripped, how long has he been in town?"

"Uh…like a year…" Nathanael said, slightly panicking.

'huh…surprised I never saw you running before.' She said, turning back around, "so where is he? Following you in his car or something?"

or in my pocket… "he stayed at the gym, something about his joints hurting or something…"

Alix nodded, "well then I guess I'll leave you to your run, see you tomorrow at school nat." and with that she went down another sidewalk, waving good-bye to him.

Nathanael waved back, then let out a breath of relief, "Oh dear god that was nerve wracking," he said.

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Nathanael walked into his house, wiping his face with a towel, "Mom?" he called, "you home?"

"I'm in the kitchen." Came the reply. Nathanael slowly strolled into kitchen, where his mother was cooking, her name was Ava Kurtzburg, she was a petite woman, with long, flaming red hair, which she usually kept up in a messy bun, she turned around and looked at her son with warm, tired eyes, "evening," she said, giving him a peck on the cheek, "how was your…run…workout…thing?"

"it was good," Nathanael said, sitting down at the table, "how was your shift?"

"good," she said, putting a plate in front of him, "there you go, Vegetarian casserole."

"thanks." He said with a smile, eagerly digging into the food,

"well you're hungry." His mother said in amusement as she sat down with her own plate.

""starving," he said, cleaning his plate off, and standing up to get more.

"well don't demolish all of it, I promised Reese that I'd get her some food tonight."

Nathanael stopped serving himself, "you're…going back in?" he asked.

She nodded, "Elouise called in sick, so I'll be going in for a little bit.

Nathanael nodded and only took a smaller portion for herself, "you know," he started quietly, "you wouldn't have to work double shifts if you let me get a job."

"No," she said pointedly, "you need to focus on school, and your drawing, getting a job would just interfere with that."

Nathanaael looked down, "but…we're barely making rent-"

"-you let me worry about rent." She said, standing up and putting her plate into the kitchen sink. "I'll see you in the morning," she said, ruffling his long hair and walking towards the door.

"bye mom…be safe.' He said.

"you too sweetie, don't do anything I wouldn't." she called, walking out the front door.

Nathanael sighed as he looked down at his food, not feeling very hungry anymore.

"your mother is a hard working woman," Thor said, flying out of his pocket and changing into his human form, sitting in the chair across from him.

"I just wish she would let me help her." He muttered, "this apartment isn't cheap, and I know she's running herself ragged."

'it's pride boy," he said gruffly, "she doesn't want to admit she needs help, especially to her son." He leaned back in his seat. "best you can do is help her subtly."

"I try, every time I try and pay a bill, or put a payment for the rent, my money ends up back in my room."

Thor laughed loudly, "she's a clever one then!" he exclaimed, "oh a woman after me own heart."

"please don't hit on my mother." Nathanael muttered, grimacing.

"relax boy, I don't mess with humans anymore." He said, chuckling as Nathanael stood up, his food gone.

"I'm going up to my room," he muttered.

"good for you," Thor said, standing and walking into the living room, turning on the tv, "don't be too loud, Oprah's on tonight.'

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"i can't believe you stayed up all night watching Oprah."

"she was talking about a good book." Thor muttered while lying lazily in Nathanael's thick hair, "I couldn't just leave in the middle of the discussion!"

Nathanael rolled his eyes, looking ahead as he felt the small goat on top of his head move around, "I get that you were up all night, and I get that you want to go to sleep...but why are you using my hair as a bed?"

"because it's long enough to hide me and it's softer than your pocket, so leave me alone, if something happens, wake me up."

Nathanael rolled his eyes again and walked into the college, picking uncomfortably at his shirt, "why does this feel so tight." He muttered, looking around the courtyard, as early as he was, the courtyard was almost empty, only a few students walked about, talking quietly amongst themselves.

"hey Nath," Juleka called, making him turn around to look at the dark dressed girl, "did you do the-whoa…" she muttered, looking him up and down.

"what was that Juleka?" he asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"Um…do you…did you…how'd you get so ripped!?" she asked, poking his abs, making Nath flinch slightly.

"stop Julek-stop!" he said again with a slight chuckle as she poked his stomach again, "you know I'm ticklish.'

"Sorry it's just…you're ripped." She said, poking his chest, making him jump again. "your shirt barely even fits you.'

"that explains why it's so tight…" he muttered, then looked at juleka, who was still staring, "Juleka, can you please stop staring, it's making me uncomfortable."

's-sorry, it's just…how'd you get so buff!?" she asked, making Nathanael blush.

"uh…well…my…grandfather…is in town, and he's been having me work out ever since he got here.'

"well…he's done a good job," she said, blushing slightly, 'Um…how long has he been here?"

'a year." Nathanael said.

"Strange…never see him when I'm around." She said thoughtfully.

"he…doesn't really come out except for food and work out." Nathanael said with a nervous laugh.

"Hmm…Well, like I was saying, did you do Madam Mendeleev's homework?"

Nathanael let out a sigh of relief at not getting caught, "yeah, do you need to copy it?"he asked, smiling at Juleka as she started to explain why she needed to copy it and that she'd pay him back by lending him her history notes, his smile disappeared when he heard a small explosion.

"what was that?" Juleka asked, looking around in apprehension, "an akuma attack?

"I don't know…" Nathanael muttered, watching the sky above the courtyard, a prickling feeling nagging at the back of his mind, "Juleka, get to the classroom…" he said as something flew over the school.

"Nath-"

"NOW!" Nathanael shouted, pushing her towards the stairs as the thing let loose a torrent of flames into the courtyard, sending the few students scrambling for cover, Nathanael rolled away from the flames, watching in almost fascination as a large dragon landed in the courtyard, it's scales were like ruby's, ivory spikes ran along it's spine, and it's amber eyes glared around the school.

'I AM DRAKON!" it roared, "AND I WILL SHOW YOU ALL THAT WHAT IS MYTH CAN BE REAL!"

"boy," Thor growled, peaking his head slightly out of his hair, "transform."

Nathanael's eyes darted over to Juleka, who was still at the stairs, motioning for him to run. "Can't, not in front of her.' He said. Taking off towards the stairs, the dragon's eyes darted towards him and it's head swung, spewing fire as it did.

"Nath watch out!" Juleka shouted as Nathanael jumped back as flames sprouted between himself and Juleka.

"Get outta here Juleka!" he shouted, "find a safe place!"

"what about you!" she screamed back.

"I'll find another way out! Just go!" he quickly took off running as another burst of fire torched the ground he had been standing on.

"change damn it!" Thor snapped.

Nath looked back once more, making sure Juleka was out of sight before diving into a janitors closet, "MJOLNIR TO ME!"

A crash of thunder, and a bolt of lightning were the only warning Drakon had before a hammer slammed into it's jaw, sending it flying back into the sky, leaving an iron clad Viking standing in the middle of the burning courtyard, his hair waving lazily in the wind, "that was too close…" Nathanael muttered, looking up to the sky as the dragon roared in outrage, Nathanael started spinning Mjolnir, launching into the sky with a hearty yell.

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Marinette listened to Alya retell her Thor story.

"-and then he dropped down and-"

"-beat those bastards to a pulp." Marinette recited in sync with her friend, 'I know Alya, you've been talking about the same thing for a week."

'I'm sorry, it's just…it's amazing that there's a new hero, and he saved me first!" she gushed.

Marinette smiled, "glad you're excited," she said, "but please be careful, for all we know this guy is an akuma.'

"no way, he didn't even try to ask about Ladybug or Chat Noir, every akuma tries to go for them within the span of a day, they don't hang around this long without trying something.

"just-"

"-be careful, I know girl, sheesh, not my first rodeo." Alya chuckled, flicking her friends nose.

Marinette smiled and continued walking, stopping short when she heard a loud roar, "what was that?" she asked.

Alya already had her camera out, "probably another Akuma! It's been over three weeks since the last one."

Marinette carefully scanned the sky, her hand going to her purse where Tikki was waiting, "what could-" she stopped as a dragon crashed into the street, "Holy shit!" she shouted, jumping back, Alya doing the same. Her phone still up.

"Is this really all you got?" Thor asked, landing a couple of yards away from the dragon, lazily spinning his hammer, "at least give me a challenge!"

the dragon slowly got back to it's feet, snarling at Thor, "I'll show you!" it growled, jumping at him, only for Thor to completely drop his hammer and punching the dragon in it's chin, sending it flying into an apartment building.

"too easy." Thor said with a grin.

"THOR!" Alya shouted, making the hero jump and turn around, hammer at the ready.

"Oh…you…" Thor said, slowly putting the hammer down, "look, this place isn't safe, you two need to-" he was cut off as Drakon charged back out and tackled him into the storefront.

"holy mother-" Alya yelped, starting to run after the two supernatural beings, "Marinette come on!" she shouted over her shoulder, only to realize she wasn't there, "Marinette!"

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Thor held the jaws of Drakon open, fighting to keep them from closing around his head, his hammer lying a few yards away, "this is not what I imagined my morning going." He growled attempting to push the dragon back, his muscles straining.

"Need a hand?" Ladybug asked, darting into the building and wrapping her Yoyo around the dragons bottom jaw, pulling it to the side and allowing Thor to summon his hammer and send the dragon back out into the street, 'thanks," Thor said.

"who are you?" Ladybug asked, twirling her yoyo.

Thor froze, "I'm…Thor…" he said, holding his hammer up, "god of the sky and thunder? Defender of Midgard? You know…a hero."

"how do I know you're not some Akuma Hawkmoth sent to trick us?"

"because I don't care about your miraculous at all." he said, "a dragon was tearing up my neighborhood so I thought i'd try and stop it.'

"how do I know you're not lying?"

"Is my word not enough?"

she raised an eyebrow, "No."

"well then, how about the fact that i'm about to save your life?" he asked, lazily swinging his hammer.

"what are you even talking about?" she asked.

Suddenly Thor shot forward and pushed her out of the way, taking the full brunt of Drakon's tackle.

Ladybug watched with wide eyes before swinging her yoyo once more, 'Hang on, i got you!" she shouted, throwing her weapon and lassoing it around the dragons snout, pulling it away from Thor, who was simply laughing.

"Need a paw m'lady?" Chat asked as he jumped in, slamming his staff into drakon's side and sending him tumbling over back out into the street.

"on time as always Chaton." she said with a good natured eye roll.

Thor got up, scanning over the Akuma, 'i don't see the akumatized object," he said,

Ladybug jumped over Drakon's tail, "There! on it's left foreleg!" she shouted, pointing towards a gold bracelet.

"i got it," Thor growled, holding his hammer forward, a fork of lightning shot down, slamming into the head of the hammer, Thor snarled as he brought it down and shattered the bracelet, sending the red dragon back into the wall.

"i'll purify the….what?" she asked in confusion as she watched the butterfly fly out, pure white.

Thor watched it in surprise, "Did i just…"

Chat crept over to Drakon as the dragon flailed, "milady you need to do the cleanse so he can change back!"

"r-right!"

Thor watched as Ladybug did the cleanse, watching as Drakon changed from a eight ton monster into a petite teenage girl in a red and black gothic corset dress.

"Was…was anyone else picturing someone…different?" Chat asked.

"Chat not right now." Ladybug said, kneeling down in front of the young girl as she sat up, brushing her raven hair out of her eyes.

"I was picturing someone different." Thor whispered to Chat, "sounded very masculine."

"Right?"

'both of you stop." Ladybug chastised.

"what happened?" she asked quietly.

"you were akumatized." Ladybug said, looking over the girls bracelet, it was gold with ruby's set in it. the girl quickly snatched it out of Ladybug's hand, holding it close to her chest as she shook. "are you alright?"

the girl looked at ladybug and slowly shook her head.

"well what's wrong? maybe we can help."

"i…i got tired of people calling me a liar." she mumbled, looking at the bracelet once more, "no one in my class believed me when i told them i got this bracelet from a dragon."

"you mean Bruce Lee?" Chat asked, earning a slap to the back of the head from Thor, a slap that sent Chat face first into the ground, "okay, ow…"

"not Bruce Lee," she said, her voice rising slightly as she glared at Chat, "it was a real dragon, with red scales and ivory spikes…his name was Ignis…" she looked down, "but….no one…no one believed me…" she said, her voice quieting down to almost a whisper, "they kept saying that i was just trying to get attention…little Alice, wanting to be special…but…i really did get the bracelet from him…"

Thor walked forward and put a hand on her shoulder, "then that's what happened." he said, making her look up at him, "it doesn't matter what people say or believe, all that matters is what you believe."

she looked up at him in awe, "who…are you?"

"Thor." he said, giving her a smile,

"he's right," ladybug piped up, "if that's what you say happened, then who is anyone else to call you a liar?"

"yeah." Chat agreed, slowly standing up, "I mean, a real dragon doesn't sound so far fetched when you have heroes powered by magic."

Alice smiled, 'thank you…" she whispered to them, "all of you."

Thor just gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze before turning around and spinning the hammer, "well, i got places to be, things to do, you all have as normal a day as you can."

"Wait-" Ladybug started to say, only to let out a groan of frustration as Thor flew into the sky, she turned back to Chat. "we need to find him again, talk to him."

"how about we do that after we take care of Alice here?"

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Nathanael detransformed behind the school, leaning against the wall as he breathed heavily.

"good job today," Thor rumbled, the grumpy goat was sitting on his shoulder, "you actually had some time to spare."

"i can purify Akuma's?" he asked Thor.

"apparently." Thor said, "the lightning is pure light energy, it can drive away any darkness, which means any dark energy will be purged."

"well that's…helpful…why am i so tired?" he asked, slowly sinking to the ground.

"you've never actually fought something like that before, of course you're tired. I say go home and take a nap, you deserve it."

"i can't just leave school…besides, I left Juleka behind during that fight…i should go make sure she's alright."

"well fine, but as soon as we find out i say we head home," he said gruffly, settling into his hair as he slowly stood up, "doesn't do the body good to go through a fight like that, and then keep going, at least not the first fight."

"i got it Thor, just let me make sure Juleka's fine." he slowly entered the school where most of the students were walking out of the building.

"Nath!" Rose shouted, running over, "where have you been!? Juleka is worried sick!"

"i woke up in the back alley," he said, rubbing his head, "Guess i got knocked out during the akuma attack."

"well come on! Juleka's been looking all over for you!" she grabbed Nathanael by the hand and practically dragged him up the stairs and into the almost empty classroom, where Juleka was frantically pacing. "Juleka! i found him!" Rose exclaimed, letting go of Nathanael and pushing him towards her, Juleka looked at Nathanael with relief.

"Thank god you're alright!" she exclaimed, wrapping her slender arms around him, Nathanael blinked in surprise, but returned the hug.

"why are you so surprised i'm alright?" he asked, "it was just another akuma."

"this time was different." Rose piped up, "several students were sent to the hospital with third degree burns, a few others had passed out from smoke inhalation, and since you didn't reappear after the akuma had been dealt with…"

Nathanael closed his eyes and looked down at Juleka, who was crying just a little, "i'm alright Jules," he said softly, 'completely fine."

"i thought you…when we got separated…" she mumbled into his chest.

"i know…i'm sorry." he looked around, "Rose, where is everyone?"

"most everyone has gone home, school was canceled since the akuma took so long." Rose said softly.

he nodded, "come on Juleka, lets get you home."