Three weeks.
three weeks since the Eiffel tower fell.
three weeks since Enchantress had made herself known.
three weeks since they almost lost Alix and Max.
Three weeks, and Nathanael was getting antsy.
not only had there been no further attack from Enchantress, but there also hadn't been a single akuma attack, leaving all of Paris tense and anxious; waiting for the next blow.
but it never came, leaving the warriors life full of nothing but preparation, school, and visiting his injured classmates. Alix was under bed rest, her leg almost completely immobilized by the cast the doctors encased it in. he attempted to visit her every day alongside Juleka, the two bringing homework for her and Kim, who attempted to spend all of his time with both Alix and Max.
Max had been in a comatose state since the night the tower fell, his ribs, left arm, and both legs were covered in multiple fractures and breaks, along with a hairline fracture in his skull, many of the doctors were worried the small boy wouldn't make it. but small signs kept them from completely giving up hope.
"he's responding when his friends come by." the nurse said with a tired smile, "he's close to regaining consciousness; i can feel it."
"if i'm not here when he does, please contact me." Kim had pleaded, leaving his contact information before zooming off to go see Alix. anyone watching could see it was running him ragged, but Kim wasn't one to do anything by halves. so Nathanael, Juleka, and so many others attempted to do what they could to help the teen, but they could only do so much. Nathanael himself was doing all he could to keep his head on straight as he attempted to navigate his school work alongside his daily visits to Alix as well as work out. two people in his life kept him from giving into his frustrations and fatigue. the first was Juleka, who was beside him every step of his day, her mere presence a calming influence on the warrior. the other was Adrien Agreste…
…who was currently doing all he could to try and keep up with Nathanael's pace.
"Come on Agreste," Nathanael said with a smirk as he started on his fourth set of pull ups. "you're not even trying."
"trying…very…hard." Adrien panted, struggling to complete his second set as Nathanael let go of the bar. "how…how can….how can you do this….every day?"
"i got used to it." Nathanael said truthfully as Adrien crashed to the ground, "first week's killer."
Adrien let out a sigh as he sat up, picking at his sweat soaked shirt. "so make it past the first week and it gets better?" Adrien asked hopefully.
"oh no, it gets worse, so much worse." Nathanael said with a slight chuckle.
Adrien groaned and flopped back down. "why did i agree to this?" he moaned.
"because you want glorious guns like this." Nathanael said, flexing his arms.
"you mean those little twenty-two's?" Adrien asked in amusement.
"oh no, these are fifties." Nathanael gloated, "now what you have, those are twenty-two's."
"hey! i at least have forty-fives!" he objected.
"i'll go as high as nine millimeters." he said in amusement, "If you can match me set for set."
"you know, twenty-two's aren't that bad." Adrien said reasonably as Nathanael laughed. "so where's our local gods?"
"probably off talking." Nathanael muttered, "they seem to be doing that a lot lately."
"are you sure it's talking and not yelling?" Adrien asked, "because those two end up getting into a verbal fight every single time they get together."
Nathanael shrugged, "so does Kim and Alix, and they're still great friends."
"a little more now," Adrien commented, "i don't think Kim leaves her side at all."
"he does," Nathanael said, "to go see Max…Kim's had it rough…"
"you two still gonna do the fight?" Adrien asked.
Nathanael shook his head, "with how he's running himself ragged, i doubt we'll be sparring anytime soon." he walked over to the rack, picking up two fifty pound dumbells and curling them, "lets go, grab those thirties."
"come on man!" Adrien groaned, grabbing the dumbbells, "can't we relax a little while longer?"
"not a chance." Nathanael said with a grin.
"I bet ladybug doesn't have to deal with this." he grunted, picking up the thirties and curling them.
"probably not." he agreed, "but that just means we'll be more prepared."
"Do you think…no never mind."
"what?" Nathanael asked putting down his dumbbells, he walked a short ways to his bag and pulled out his water bottle and took a chug.
"do you think we should tell Ladybug who we are?" Adrien asked, 'i mean…we know who we are, wouldn't it be fair if we let her know?"
"would probably make things easier." Nathanael said, "at least it would if you didn't have a crush on her."
"i love her, what's wrong with that?" Chat asked.
"oh i don't know, maybe because you barely know her? you don't really know who she is-"
"I've been fighting alongside her for over two years now," Adrien argued, "and we might know each other from school."
Nathanael shook his head, "It's still too risky, you heard what Thor and Plagg said, the more people who know, the more danger we're in.'
Adrien sighed, "but it'd be a lot easier if we knew who we all were so we could coordinate better."
"coordinate what?"
"coordinate a more effective search." he said, "you know, to find hawkmoth."
"but it's risky,' Nathanael argued, "we don't know what Enchantress's powers are, if she's able to read minds-"
"-then we're already done for." Adrien interrupted, "if she can read minds then she's read ours and already knows who we are."
Nathanael hesitated, "you're right…" he conceded, "but still, if they're telling us not to tell, then we don't tell." he walked over to the dumbbells and picked them up again.
"boy," Thor said, slowly fazing into the room from above, Plagg following him, both were in their kwami forms. "are you two almost done with your work out?"
"i'm finishing my last rep." Nathanael said, looking over at Adrien, "he hasn't gotten his last two yet."
"I really hate you." Adrien muttered, glaring at Nathanael as the redhead laughed.
"you said you wanted to get stronger." Thor growled.
"i didn't know that involved me almost dying every day." Adrien grumbled as he started curling once more.
Plagg laughed, "see? this is what you get for wanting to be more active!" he said as he fluttered around his chosen's head.
"i thought we both agreed he needed training?" Thor asked with a raised eyebrow.
"we did, but i still reserve all rights to rib the kid whenever i get the chance."
"I hate this…" Adrien groaned as he dropped the dumbbells and practically collapsed onto the bench.
"walk it off." Nathanael said, tossing him the water bottle, which he easily caught.
""either of you hear anything while we were gone?" Thor asked, settling into Nathanaels bag.
"other than Adriens complaining? no. still quiet out there."
"it's getting worrisome, no Akuma's, no further attacks from Enchantress…" Thor shook his head, "None of this is good."
"but there's nothing we can do about that." Plagg said, 'unless you want to just start canvassing all of Paris."
"me and Ladybug basically do that every night on patrol." Adrien said, "and we still haven't found anything."
Thor growled, "I hate this waiting," he muttered.
"same." Nathanael agreed, Adrien nodding his head along with them.
"but it's the only thing we can do." Plagg said, landing on Adrien's head.
before the conversation could go any further, Nathanael's phone went off, "and now we have thirty minutes to get to school."
"we running?" Adrien asked as the two stood and grabbed their bags.
"of course." Nathanael said with a grin, "last one there has to buy Dinner."
"you're on!"
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"why do you think Adrien's been hanging out with Nathanael so much?"
Marinette looked up from her sketching, her eyebrows furrowing slightly, the two had been enjoying a quiet morning on the front steps of the college, waiting for class to start, "what do you mean?"
"I mean what i mean!" Alya exclaimed, making Marinette roll her eyes.
"that clears things up nicely Alya, thanks."
Alya groaned, "come on! ever since the tower fell those two have been inseparable! always working out in the mornings, hanging out after school! challenging and quipping each other like they've been lifelong friends!"
"a near death experience will do that Alya." Marinette said solemnly, making Alya sober slightly, "I mean…they were both caught in the rubble, Adrien was the one who pulled Nathanael out of there, don't you think they'd…i don't know, bond over that?"
"maybe…but it's still weird and…Nino, what are you doing?" Alya asked, barely noticing her boyfriend standing on the sidewalk, staring intently down the street.
"Watching." he said, narrowing his eyes slightly.
"For…what?" Marinette asked slowly.
"you'll see." he said, slowly raising his phone, "3…2…1…"
Suddenly, around the corner, came two speeding streak, one red one yellow.
"Aaaaand it's sunshine child followed by tomato head!" Nino shouted, narrating the race like an announcer at the horse track, "they're neck and neck coming out of the bend and into the final stretch, sunshine child is trying to keep his lead, BUT IT LOOKS LIKE TOMATO HEAD HAS CAUGHT HIS SECOND WIND! HE'S ON SUNSHINE CHILD LIKE FLIES ON SHIT! THEY'RE NECK AND NECK! ARMS PUMPING LEGS BLAZING! A TRAIL OF SMOKE FOLLOWING THEIR VERY FOOTSTEPS!"
Alya laughed as she watched the two males run, "GO TOMATO HEAD!" Alya shouted as other students started to congregate on the stairs, cheering on the race.
"GO SUNSHINE CHILD!" Marinette cheered.
"AND HERE THEY COME APPROACHING THE FINISH LINE! IT'S GONNA BE CLOSE! WHO'S IT GONNA BE SUNSHINE CHILD OR TOMATO HEAD!" Nino snapped a picture as they past the nearest lamp post, slowing down as Nino checked the picture. both Nathanael and Adrien doubled over, gasping for breath.
"who won!?" Alya demanded, running over with Marinette and a slew of others following.
"It's Sunshine Child!" Nino exclaimed
everyone cheered as Adrien stood up straight, raising his arms in victory, "I won!" he gasped.
"damn it," Nathanael muttered, sitting on the steps, "oh man, I thought i had you until we rounded that corner."
"you haven't caught me in a week," Adrien huffed out as Nino ran over and raised his arm up in victory.
"bro, that was great." Nino chuckled, "better than yesterday's race."
"what do you mean yesterday's race?" Alya asked, walking up to them, "Great run by the way Adrien."
"Thanks." Adrien wheezed out, "and to answer your question," he cleared his throat, "me and Nathanael have a daily run every day before school, we've been doing it for the past two weeks, Nino usually tells us who wins."
Nathanael stood up, "i'm gonna get you next time." he huffed out.
"no you won't." Adrien said smugly, wiping sweat off his brow, "Speed is one of the greatest assets i have."
"still can't keep up with me on pull ups." Nathanael grumbled.
"and you can't even get close to me on our races." Adrien said triumphantly as Marinette walked up to him, holding out a water bottle.
"g-g-g-good r-run a-adrien." she said shyly. making Adrien chuckle as he took the bottle.
'Thanks Marinette." he said with a smile, taking a drink and handing the bottle back.
""So, what do you guy's race for?" Alya asked,
Nathanael and Adrien looked at each other, then shrugged, "Bragging rights?" Nathanael said.
"good work out." Adrien reasoned.
"fun to watch." Nino added in, earning several nods of agreement from others.
"Oh! And loser has to buy winner Food, which you owe me a pizza, large, meat lovers."
"Up yours."
"No you."
Alya sighed and shook her head, "Men." she said in exasperation.
"Men." Marinette sighed dreamily, before blushing deeply and hiding behind Alya.
"wow," Nino said, then looked at the two runners, "alright, you guy's, there's about twenty minutes until class, and you two need to hit the showers."
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Lila had watched the race from the top of the steps, "i'm starting to wonder if Thor is one of those two." she muttered, watching as Nathanael and Adrien quickly ran inside, intent on getting a quick shower before class.
"they do seem to be the only ones training for something." Loki whispered into her ear, currently in the form of a small snake in her hair, "They were also one of the last ones to stumble out of the park after the tower fell."
"Kim also took his time coming out," Lila mused, "as well as Ivan."
"so that's four suspects for Thor." Loki muttered, "but there's several others we need to watch out for, Thrif also wants us to find out the identities of the cat and the bug."
"at least the suspects for Ladybug are fewer in number." Lila said, "as of right now it's either Alya or Marinette. they're the only two who turned up after our fight with thor, but the question remains, how are we going to find out for sure?"
"we could always start blowing things up again, that got a quick response."
"no, this needs to be much more precise then simply flushing them out." lila grumbled as she shouldered her bag and started walking into the school.
"you are smart," Loki chuckled, "My last chosen simply rushed into things half-cocked, but you, you give things some thought before rushing in half-cocked."
Lila smiled, "maybe we should contact hawkmoth," she said, "Have him akumatize someone and use that as a means to watch our suspects."
"good plan, however, i do believe Hawkmoths Akuma's alone aren't going to pose a big enough threat to get all three of them to attack, Thor himself usually defeats them all on his lonesome…perhaps it's time for the Jotuns to lend a hand…"
"Meanwhile, i'll give Hawkmoth some easy prey."
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Nathanael walked into class, roughly toweling his hair out as he went.
"Couldn't you do the dry cycle in the boys locker room?" Nino asked, walking in behind him with Adrien at his side.
"i did," Nathanael said, pulling his towel off his head, "my hairs too long to dry that quickly."
"maybe you should get a haircut."
"No," Nathanael said.
"dude, your hair is way too long." Nino said.
"I like it just the way it is, "Juleka said, walking up to the trio.
"Hey Jules." Nathanael greeted, putting an arm around her and kissing her forehead, making her blush slightly.
"Morning," she said with a small smile.
"Okay, break it up you two," nino said, patting Nathanael's shoulder as he squeezed by the couple to get to his desk.
"Sorry bro, but no can do." nathanael said, keeping his arms firmly around Juleka.
"Yeah, don't interrupt them." Adrien said, sitting down next to Nino, "i heard Dames weaken legs, so next time me and him spar i'll probably come out on top."
"In your dreams pretty boy." Nathanael said as he and Juleka walked up the steps to their desk.
"Seriously, what is up with you two?" Alya asked Adrien, "I thought your bromance with Nino was bad, but this?"
"Hey," Adrien started, "I only have one Bromance, and that's with Nino, Right bro?"
"Of course bro." Nino said, leaning back, "love ya bro, no homo."
"Nino, it's 2018, pro homo."
"You right bro, pro homo."
"You guys are homo's." Alya said with an eye roll and a laugh as Marinette sat down, "so we're all going over this afternoon to see Alix, you guys in?"
"Totally," Nino said, "we going with Kim?"
"No." Marinette piped up, "he said he was going on his own during his last period."
"He's skipping Boxing practice?" Adrien asked.
"Y-yeah." Marinette coughed, attempting to keep her composure, "he-he said Alix and Max are more important then boxing."
"Never thought i'd see the day." Nino said with a shake of his head, "Then again i never thought i'd see the Eiffel tower falling on me so…"
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'RE QUITTING!"
The outraged voice flowed in from just outside the room, making everyone inside jump, "what was that?" Marinette asked.
A loud crash made everyone jump up, Nathanael was the first to start moving, bursting out the door and looking about, what he found sent a jolt of anger through him.
Kim was being pushed up against the brick wall by a large upperclassmen who had the look of fury in his onyx eyes, his stubbly hair slightly slick with sweat, "you can't quit the team this close to competition Kim," he snapped, 'you're one of our heavyweights!"
"Then you're going to have to find someone else." Kim growled back, "Alix needs me and Max could wake up-" a hard hit to the chin sent Kim's head smashing into the wall, disorienting him.
"Your little friend ain't gonna wake up." the upperclassman snarled, "get it through your thick skull!"
"Hey!" Nathanael shouted, striding towards them with his fists clenched, behind him most everyone from their class was poking their heads out, Nino, Adrien and Ivan stepping out to back him up, "who the fuck do you think you are?"
"I'm this idiots Boxing captain." he said, turning towards Nathanael with a ugly sneer, walking towards the artist, making Kim slide down the wall, "who do you think YOU are?"
"I'm the guy that's gonna knock all your teeth out if you don't let go of my friend." nathanael snarled, clenching his fists.
"Nathanael." Adrien started, stopping his advance with a single arm as Ivan and Nino slipped past the upperclassmen to pick kim up and drag/carry him to the infirmary, "he isn't worth it."
Nathanael glared at him for a bit longer, "you do shit like that again i'm fucking you up." he said with icy calmness, "you even think about doing shit like that again, and i'll rip your goddamn lungs out." and with that Nathanael turned around, intent to go down a different set of stairs to check on Kim.
"Do what i want you piece of shit, especially with that little goth whore of yours."
"Damn it." Adrien muttered as Nathanael stopped walking, his lip twitching as he turned around.
"What? Think you're gonna scare-" he started, only to stop when Nathanael slammed his fist dead middle in the face, sending him flying back; Nathanael did not stop, he continued to to beat the guy back, his fists slamming into his head, stomach, chest, anywhere they could land, "think you're tough shit huh?" Nathanael growled, grabbing the guy by the shirt and slamming him into the wall, "why don't we see how you do when someone fuckin' hits back!"
The upperclassman ducked under his wide swing and slammed his fist into his abs, twirling out of the way every time Nathanael tried to hit him again, "Come on mother fucker!" he shouted,landing several good hits on the side of Nathanael's head, with the last strike Nathanael caught his arm and locked it in place with his left and bent him over, slamming his knee into his chin before hitting him a couple of times with his right fist and kicking him back.
"Nathanael! Stop!" Adrien shouted, running forward and wrapping his arms around the berserking warrior and pulling him back.
"Get off me!" Nathanael snapped, trying to struggle out of Adrien's grip, but the boy was holding on for dear life, nothing he could say or do could get through to him, it wasn't until he felt a slender hand push him back and a clear, slightly scared voice said "nath, you need to stop." with those words the haze slowly disappeared until he was looking into the concerned eyes of Juleka.
"You need to calm down," she said softly, "please."
Nathanael took a deep breath and untensed, "I'm fine,' he mumbled, "let me go Adrien."
"Is it over?!" Adrien asked, he looked back and saw his eyes were screwed shut.
Nathanael rolled his eyes, "yeah, it's over." he muttered. Making Adrien open his eyes.
"Good." Adrien said, letting him go. "Thought you were about to drag me in."
Nathanael shook his head and looked over to the upperclassman, who was being restrained by several other students, his lip was busted, his nose was broken, he had three or four gashes from Nathanael's knuckles. He felt rage start to rise once more. He forced himself to look away from the boy and back to Juleka, who was still worriedly checking over him, making his rage slowly go away.
"What the hell happened here!?" Mme. Bustier shouted angrily, coming out of one of the hallways, Mylene right behind her, "Nathanael? What happened here?"
'Nothing." he said, "tripped down some stairs."
She stared at him for a bit, then turned her glare over to the other boy, "M. Buffet, what happened?"
"He fell down some stairs." he grumbled.
"And what about what happened to you?" she asked, crossing her arms.
"I fell too."
She shook her head, "get him to the nurses office." she said to his friends, who quickly started to drag him away.
"Juleka, can you help Nathanael clean up? I'll get the nurse to go by and help him as soon as she's done with M. Buffet."
"Yes ma'am." she said, taking Nathanaels hand, squeezing it tightly, 'Come on." she mumbled.
"The rest of you back to class!" she shouted to all the students that had gathered, "now."
Everyone slowly started filing away, not paying attention to the magic user watching everything unfold with a smile on her lips, and a wispy line of magic sprouting from the tip of her finger.
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Nathanael sat quietly on the bench beside the lockers as Juleka ran a wet rag over his mouth, "Jules i can get it-" he started.
"Shut up." she said sternly. Making him clamp his mouth shut, wincing when she pushed the rag against his nose, "Sorry…" She mumbled.
"It's alright," he said with a chuckle, "It's just sore."
"How is it that you got through a brutal fight with nothing but scraped knuckles and a broken nose?"
"I don't think it's broken."
She rolled her eyes, "you know what i mean." she muttered, turning away from him.
Nathanael looked down, then slowly stood and walked up behind her, "I'm sorry," he mumbled, putting his arms around her, "i didn't mean to lose it like that but...the way he was talking about Max...what he did to Kim...what he said about you…"
She sighed and leaned back against him,"I know," she said quietly, "that doesn't mean you get free reign to start fights."
"I know," he said, resting his chin in the crook of her neck, "i just...i lost control…It won't happen again."
"Are you sure?" she asked.
"I…"
"You've been changing Nath," she said, "you've been different, you barely paint anymore, most of your time is spent in that gym. And…" she shook her head, and pulled away from him "something's going on that you're not telling me, and i don't like what it's doing to you, and if this is how you're going to be acting…' she trailed off.
Nathanael stepped forward and took her hand, making her turn back around, "I know...things have just been...stressful. What with mom not letting me help pay for rent and what happened to Alix and Max…" he shook his head, "Art doesn't help me relieve stress like it used to and today...it just...it finally got to me." he looked into her eyes, "I...i never meant to scare or worry you, i'm sorry."
She looked down, "don't do that again." she mumbled.
"I promise i won't." he said, wrapping his arms around her again and giving her a soft kiss on her forehead, Juleka looked up at him and hesitantly kissed him on the corner of his lips, making him smile.
"Three weeks and i finally get a kiss." he chuckled, making her blush.
"Things have been busy." she said quietly.
"Don't I know it." he said, swooping down to catch her lips in a soft, tender kiss; a kiss Juleka eagerly returned, and for a few precious moments the world was at peace.
Then the ground below shook violently as explosions filled the air, on instinct, Nathanael wrapped his arms around Juleka and tdove away from the windows as they exploded in a shower of glass shards and debris from outside.
"It's always something." Nathanael muttered as he got back up, Juleka still in his arms. He let go of her and looked towards the window, eyes widening as blue skinned giants started crawling through the windows, each one about seven feet tall, maybe taller, beady red eyes glaring every which way as they searched the room. One of them set their sights on the young couple and started to growl.
"Juleka move!" Nathanael shouted, hoisting her up and almost dragging her out of the way as the giant waved it's arm, conjuring icicles as the appendage moved through the air and sending them flying into the wall behind Nathanael.
"Holy-" Nathanael yelped as one nicked his arm, he grabbed one of the benches and threw it at the now advancing giants, halting their advance for a few seconds as he and Juleka ran out the locker room and into what could only be described as a battlefield.
More giants were in the main hub of the school, throwing spikes of ice indiscriminately around as students ran back and forth in terror, several were attempting to fight back, chief among them being Ivan and Kim, who was slightly unsteady on his feet, but was belting his fists out so fast they were almost a blur, but the two were slowly getting backed up into a corner.
"Juleka-" Nathanael started.
"Go help Ivan and Kim," Juleka said, cutting him off, "I'm going to go find Rose and the others, we'll meet up in front of the school, got it?"
Nathanael blinked, then smiled, giving her a quick kiss, "whatever you say." he said, turning back around to head towards Kim and Ivan, only to be stopped by Juleka's hand.
"Nathanael…" she started, looking at him with worry in her eyes, "be careful."
He gave her a small smile "always am." he said as he took off once more.
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Adrien couldn't believe what he was seeing, it was like someone had started a full scale war in and around the school, police and RAID units were fighting the weird giants, who were easily dodging bullets and stun rounds and keeping the police at bay while inside they were causing all out mayhem, destroying classrooms and walkways and slamming students out of their way as they continued on their rampage, many of whom were simply trying to run away…
...except for a certain blogger who was attempting to get the whole thing on film.
"Watch out!" adrien shouted, tackling her to the ground as an icicle slammed into the wall behind them, pinning her phone against the wall.
"I still have payments on that!" Alya said angrily.
"That's what you're worried about?" Adrien snapped, "that damn icicle almost took your head off!"
"No it wouldn't have," she said dismissively, "these guy's aren't trying to kill, only maim."
"How is that any better!?"
"You guys!" Nino shouted, running over, helping them both up, "we need to get out of here, these things are starting to get violent."
As if to accentuate his point Ivan flew past them and crashed into the wall, groaning in pain as a couple of bricks fell down and landed on his chest.
Both nino and Adrien helped the behemoth up as Kim limped over, his arm gushing blood from a gash on his shoulder.
"Okay, maybe we do need to get out of here." Alya said worriedly as she helped Kim towards the exit, "where's marinette?"
Nino stopped what he was doing and looked at her, 'I thought she was with you."
"No she wasn't with me!" Alya said in a panicky voice, "we have to go back-"
"I'll go! You guy's head out!" Adrien said quickly, taking off up the icicle covered stairs
"Adrien! ADRIEN! YOU GET BACK HERE YOU STUPID BLONDE BA-" Alya's screaming was cut off as Adrien darted into their classroom, looking around, Marinette was nowhere to be seen, and it seemed he was alone, "Plagg, lets-" he stopped as Plagg darted out.
"Change kid! Hurry up and do it! Change! Change! Change!" Plagg exclaimed fervently, shaking in fury and anxiousness.
"Whoa, wait a second, what's wrong? It's just another akuma."
"You stupid boy!" Plagg spat, "Those things are not akuma! They're Jotuns! ice-Giants! Bloodthirsty, war-mongering Ice-Giants! The longer they're out there, the more stirred up they get until they can't control themselves and shoot off to fight! So we need to transform, and give them something to fight before they start slaughtering civilians." Plagg took a deep breath and looked at Adrien, "this isn't the usual fight," he said, "there's a very likely chance you could die, and the miraculous cure doesn't bring the dead back."
Adrien felt a cold chill go down his spine, but he gave a cocky grin and said, "come on, we're superheroes, we don't die," he then turned around quickly, "Plagg! Claws out!"
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Nathanael slid into a broom closet, breathing heavily as several spikes of ice hit the door, slamming it shut, "looks like we need to transform Thor." he said, slowly standing up.
"Be careful boy." Thor muttered, flying out of Nathanael's pocket, "these aren't akuma, they're warriors from Jotunheim."
"What?"
"They're Jotuns, and if they're here…" he trailed off, before shaking his head, "just transform, and don't hold back, they'll try and kill you should you try."
Nathanael felt a chill go down his spine, "are you saying...that i have to kill them?"
"If you want to see your girlfriend at the end of this, yes."
Nathanael looked down, then up, "Mjolnir, to me!"
Lightning struck and Nathanael smiled at the now familiar feeling of magic infusing into his body, with a roar he exploded out of the closet, lightning arcing from his body as he slammed Mjolnir into a charging Jotun and sending him flying.
"He's here!" one Jotun snarled, "engage him! Don't let him escape!"
"Come on!" Thor shouted back, spinning his hammer as the majority of the Jotuns charged.
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Lila smiled cruelly as she watched Thor fight, "so...little Nathanael is the great Thor." she mused, slowly changing into her Enchantress guise, she summoned a clear orb, "Gabriel." She whispered to it, making it shimmer and warp until she was looking at the scowling face of Gabriel Agreste, "one of our targets has revealed himself." Lila said, "we need an Akuma, and I have a victim lined up for you in the infirmary.'
"Is his anger his own?" Gabriel asked.
"What does it matter?" she snapped.
"My akuma only take possession of those whose anger is their own, if it is fabricated by magic then the akuma won't take hold."
Lila scowled, "Fine." she muttered, "i'll do this without your help." she ended the call and looked down to where Thor was fighting, now joined by Chat Noir. she started to gather magic in her hands, only to stop when she saw a familiar face darting into one of the now empty classrooms, "oh? And what are you doing Marinette?"
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"Tikki, slow down." Marinette urged as the small Kwami went on and on about "Jotuns" and "evil magic" "Tikki i can barely keep up with what your saying."
"Those things out there are Jotuns! Ice Giants!" Tikki said hurriedly, "blood thirsty, monstrous beings who have great power over Ice! We need to-" she stopped as the door burst open and enchantress strode in.
"Well, well, well, isn't this a treat." she said, looking at Marinette with a smile, "Marinette Dupain-Cheng, the class president, the bumbling, stumbling idiot of a girl who's head over heels for our resident model, is the great and powerful Ladybug."
"Tikki Spots-" she stopped as a knife was pressed to her neck, Tikki let a struggled cry out as a hand closed around her, trapping her.
"We're having a pleasant conversation," she said with a smile, "why ruin it with fighting?"
"Who are you?" Marinette demanded to know.
"Just because your secret is out doesn't mean mine will be so easily found out." she said haughtily, slowly walking around Marinette, her knife still pointed at her. "So how did you gain such a powerful little trinket?"
Marinette said nothing, just stared ahead as she tried to figure out a way to get away from Enchantress.
"Come now Marinette, It's not a fun conversation if you don't contribute." Enchantress asked, pressing the knife forward a bit, not enough to draw blood, but enough to get her attention.
"How does anyone come by a magical artifact?" Marinette muttered vaguely.
Enchantress laughed softly, "so a benefactor handed it over? And i'm guessing you know who this benefactor is?"
"You tell me yours and i'll tell you mine." she retorted.
"Hmmm...I don't think so." she sang, "but perhaps you'd like to meet him? I'm sure he'd be very interested to meet you."
Marinette felt a chill go down her spine at those words, "I'm afraid I'd have to decline, i don't like to associate myself with scum."
'Oh come now Marinette," she said, suddenly getting close to the other girl, "you don't have a choice."
"INCOMING!"
With an explosion, Thor tore through the wall, slamming his hammer into Enchantress and sending her flying out the window, "cowardly bitch." he growled, looking at Marinette, "you alright?" his eyes widened when he saw tikki flying around her head, "by the gods-ladybug…"
"She knows my identity." Marinette said quickly.
"Then transform and get ready for a fight," he said, walking towards the broken window, "she won't stay away long, and those Jotuns are still wreaking havoc out there."
Marinette nodded "Tikki! Spots on!"
She transformed just as Enchantress shot through the window, her sights set on Thor, at least until Ladybug kicked her in the side and sent her crashing into the wall.
"Go help Chat!" Ladybug told Thor, swinging her yoyo as she glared at Enchantress, "this bitch is mine."
Thor grinned, "give her hell." he said as he dove back out into the main courtyard, slamming his hammer into the ground and sending jotuns flying, arcs of electricity shooting off their bodies.
"Now where were we?" Ladybug asked as Enchantress summoned two knives.
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Chat ducked under the blade of a very pissed off Jotun, deflecting it's attacks as he retreated.
"I will mount your head on a pike!" the giant rumbled.
"I don't think you will." chat said, getting into a defensive stance.
"And what makes you say that? Puny human?"
A hammer flew out from behind Chat and slammed into the Jotuns' face, making it crumple to the ground.
"Just a feeling." Chat said, standing up straight as Thor strode forward, summoning his hammer back, 'Nice fighting dude." chat said with a grin.
"It's not over yet." thor warned, "Ladybug has engaged Enchantress."
"What!? Where are they?"
As if on cue, one of the classrooms exploded and Ladybug and Enchantress flew out, wrestling in mid-air as they crashed into another room.
"There, roundabout." Thor said, gesturing to where the two had crashed.
"Oooh, Chat-fight." Chat said, "lets go watch."
The two jumped onto the second landing, running into the classroom in time to see Ladybug punch Enchantress in the chin and throwing her through a window and jumping after her, "Lucky Charm!" she shouted, a blanket appearing in her hand. "Uh…" she started, yelping as she dodged out of Enchantress's way as the witch attacked, swinging razor sharp blades at the spot where Ladybug had been.
"You expect to defeat me with a blanket!" Enchantress taunted, pressing her attack as Ladybug dodged and weaved around her, attempts at using her yoyo inefficient due to the close quarters, so she hooked her yoyo back on her belt and backflipped away from the witch. Grabbing the blanket with both hands, a smile ocming to her face as she twisted it and got a crude rope, Enchantress attacked once more and Ladybug stepped into it, barely avoiding the sharp blade as she wrapped the blanket around her arm, tightening it around her forearm. She quickly started manipulating the arm into a submissive hold behind the other girls back, grabbing her other arm and wrapping it too in the blanket.
"Let me go!" Enchantress shrieked, "let me go now!"
"In your dreams." Ladybug retorted forcing her to her knee's as thor and Chat ran up to her.
"Impressive M'lady." Chat said, throwing his arm over her shoulder as Ladybug stood up.
"Where's her amulet?" Thor questioned, glaring at Enchantress as he walked around her.
"Don't know," Ladybug muttered, lazily spinning her yoyo, "but i'm sure we can find out."
"You...you bitch…" Enchantress growled out, "you...you think you've won?"
"Seems like it." Ladybug retorted, "once we find your miraculous we can turn you over to the police and then-"
"Then what?" she spat looking up and glaring at her, "I know your secret," she looked at Thor, "both of your secrets, and I'll tell everyone, you'll never get a moment's rest!"
Ladybug paled as Chat looked at her, "what's she talking about."
"Aww, he doesn't know? So much for being a team"
Thor hefted his hammer, "another word from you witch and I'll cave your skull in." he growled.
"You don't have the guts Nathanael." she taunted, making thor freeze.
"How…"
"Got you," she muttered as magic suddenly sprouted out of her hands, making the blanket flutter away as a powerful blast of magic burst from Enchantress, sending the three heroes flying back, Chat pulled Ladybug into his chest as they both crashed into the street while Thor slammed into a police cruiser, crumpling it under his dead weight.
"Maybe next time you'll have better luck!" Enchantress sneered as she disappeared in a flash of green light.
"Fuckin' bitch…" Thor groaned as he pulled himself from the wreckage, rolling his shoulders as he looked to Ladybug and Chat, "you two alright?"
"Never better." Chat noir groaned, looking down at ladybug, who was out cold, "Ladybug's out."
"I see that," Thor said, hoisting the girl off Chat and gently laying her in the grass as she started to stir. looking to the spot where Enchantress had disappeared, "she knows who I am...and she knows who Ladybug is…"
"She could've been lying about Ladybug." Chat said uneasily.
"No, she saw her…" Thor muttered, "she now knows two of us...Chat, you'll have to be more careful when we next have to change, we don't need her finding out who you are."
"Ow...my head…" Ladybug mumbled, slowly sitting up, "what did she hit us with."
"Magic." Thor said, looking at her, "you alright?"
"Fine." she said, slowly getting up, stumbling a bit as Chat quickly supported her, "she knows who we are Thor…"
Thor nodded, "so what are we going to do about it?"
"We're going to have to try and find out who she is before she can do anything with the information...and keep chat's identity a secret while we do it."
"But wouldn't it be better if you know who I am?" Chat asked.
"No, it's too risky." she said, shaking her head, "she already knows who I am, and now she know's thor-"
"And she'll probably figure out Chat's Identity quickly." Thor cut in, making her look at him in surprise.
"How?"
"We've known each others identities since the Eiffel tower," Thor said, making Ladybug look at Chat Sharply. "It was me who suggested not to tell you." Thor quickly added before she could start yelling, "we knew each others identities, and there was no real reason to tell you...now there is…"
She sighed, "lets meet up tonight." she muttered, "we'll get all the secrets out in the open and go from there." she picked up the blanket and performed the Miraculous cure, soon the damage was fixed, leaving only the injured to be rounded up and taken to the hospital.
Thor nodded, "both of you stay safe." he said before throwing his hammer and taking off into the air.
"M'lady," chat started as she started walking away.
"Not now Chat."
"But m'lady-"
"Not. now." she said sternly before swinging away. Leaving Chat alone, ears pinned to his head.
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After shrugging off the EMS and making Juleka was alright, Nathanael made his way to the hospital to visit his friends, school had been canceled for the rest of the day, seeing as how so many had been injured in the attack. So now Nathanael found himself sitting in the hospital with Juleka, both waiting to hear about the remainder of their friends. So far they learned that Ivan had a concussion, Mylene had two or three lacerations on her arms, and ALya had a sprained wrist and ankle, Rose and Nino had been able to get away relatively unhurt, only a couple of bruises each. Now they were waiting to hear about Kim, who not only suffered several stab wounds from the Jotuns attack, but also a concussion from his disagreement with Buffet. While they knew tihs, the doctors kept saying that there was possibly more to his injuries, but wouldn't tell them exactly what it was. So Nathanael and Juleka stayed, huddled together on the cushioned chairs of the hospital. Resting quietly against each other.
"Kurtzberg…"
The croaky voice made Nathanael look up, his arms tensing slightly as he saw the upperclassmen he fought now standing in front of him, injuries from the fight as well as the subsequent attack bandaged and cleaned.
"Here for another round?" nathanael asked coldly.
"Nath." Juleka chastised, making Nathanael relax a bit.
"No," he said, scratching his jaw, "I...came to apologize…"
"What?" Nathanael asked in surprise.
"I...I don't know what came over me during all that…" he said awkwardly, "one second me and Kim were having a calm conversation about him stepping back from boxing for a bit, and next thing I know i'm fighting you...i don't even remember it all that much...my buddy told me what happened and...well i feel like shit for having said what I did...so...yeah, sorry bro."
Nathanael narrowed his eyes, then let out a sigh, holding a hand out, "it's all good," he said simply, "but you may want to apologize to kim too, you really did a number on him."
"Yeah i know, soon as they let me back there I plan on telling him." he said, shaking Nathanaels hand. "So yeah...you two have a good afternoon." with that he walked away, hands in his pockets.
"That was weird.' Nathanael muttered.
"People apologize all the time Nath," Juleka said, "Not like it's hard to believe."
"No, i mean how can he barely remember any of that...it was a brutal fight…"
Juleka shrugged, "adrenaline?"
"Maybe…"
The door that lead deeper into the hospital opened, revealing most of their friends limping out, Nathanael's mother right behind them.
"Hey guys," Nathanael greeted as he stood up, wincing as the bruises he had collected for the day.
"Sup bro." Ivan slurred out, slightly unsteady on his feet. "You good?"
"I'm fine Ivan," Nathanael said, patting his friends shoulder, "any word on Kim?"
"He's sleeping now," Ava piped up, giving her son a tired smile, "he'll be right as rain by tomorrow," she then turned her attention to the others, "all of you be careful, i'd rather not see you back in here because you decided to do something to reopen or worsen your wounds." she seemed to glare at Alya particularly, making her tense.
"It was only one time." Alya reasoned, "it wasn't even that bad."
"Sixteen stitches that your tore back open because you wanted to run after an Akuma is the definition of bad." she deadpanned, "so no stupid stunts."
"Yes Ms. Kurtzberg." Alya droned out.
"We'll keep her in check," Nino said, throwing his arm around his girlfriend, who playfully shoved him off.
"That's all i ask." she said, turning to her son, "are you alright?"
"I'm fine mom," he said, giving her his best smile, "just sore and tired."
"You and me both."she muttered, going over to the nurses station to sit down, almost as soon as she did an alarm started going off, making all the teens tense up.
"Is it an akuma?" Rose asked anxiously, looking aorund.
"No," Ava said, checking her monitors, her eyes widening, "it's Max!"
Instantly she was running down the hall, Nino, Nathanael and Juleka right behind her, the others hobbling after them.
The first four burst into Max's room, finding the boy wide awake and flailing about in a panic.
"Restrain him, before he hurts himself!" Ava said quickly, soon Nathanael and Nino were wrestling the boy down to the bed.
"Who...where...what…" Max babbled, his eyes darting about as he tried to see. "No...tower...guys...no!"
"Max! Max, buddy you need to calm down." Nathanael said as soothingly as he could, "Juleka, can you find his glasses?"
"On it." she said, jogging out of the room as the others got there.
"Come on Maxy, calm down, you're safe, you're alright." Nino said calmly as the boy started to relax, Juleka came back in and put his glasses on for him, "there ya go, all better right bro?"
Max nodded, "what happened?" he mumbled.
"You were in an accident," Nathanael said, putting his hand on the smaller boys shoulder, "do you not remember anything?"
"I...the Eiffel tower...fell, and...i was running with Alix and…" he shook his head, wincing at the pain it caused, "that's all i remember.'
"Well, welcome back to the land of the living bro!" Nino said with wide grin.
"Yeah, welcome back." Nathanael said, making the boy smile.
"Thanks...hey...where's Kim?"