0-0-0
Augusto Vega / Bengal Tiger
"Uh…" Augusto's jaw went slack, abruptly cutting off his ability to speak. Rybbo reacted very differently, though, surprising even his charge. He slammed into Thierre's head, nothing but an orange-and-black blur. Thierre, caught by surprise and unable to react, was hit right in between the eyes, falling backwards and onto the floor with a loud thump. Augusto regained his ability to speak, "What'd you do!?"
He stared at Thierre, limply on the ground, eyes wide with surprise. "I simply caused him to faint for a few moments; no damage done," Rybbo answered Augusto, trying to diminish any fear that his charge felt. "You're sure," Augusto quirked an eyebrow up, walking over to Thierre's form. "Yep," the small tiger nodded. The teen pulled his friend inside his room, setting him on one of the seats. "So, when he wakes up in about three minutes, tell him you were going to check on him, since he was taking so long, and saw him on the floor," Rybbo ordered.
Augusto, coming up with no better fib, nodded, glancing at the brunette (AN: Fun fact - brunette includes all the colors ranging from light brown to jet black.) as he muttered something about feeling dizzy. "You sure you knocked him out and not make him drunk?" he snorted to his kwami. Rybbo's eyes glistened with mischief, a small smirk forming on his muzzle. "Wouldn't you like to know?" with that, the small tiger zipped into Augusto's armband.
Having nothing to do until the boy's awakening, and being reassured that Thierre was fine, he turned on the TV, flipping to the news channel. His eyes widened at the headline, NEW POSSIBLE SUPERHERO?
On top of that, it showed footage of him in his outfit sprinting from the helicopter. His form was partially covered in shadows, and he was so fast that he was a bit blurry in the footage. Due to those differences, he could barely recognize himself on the camera. He looked more like some sort of rejected clown from the angle. Three things were visible in the video; his tail, ears, and his tomahawk.
The footage shrunk into a black-bordered square, with a reporter standing right next to it. "A new superhero may have been spotted on top of Onyx Tower. Could this be a stand-in for Cat Noir, as he has not been sighted since the last Akuma attack, or a completely different version of him?" the reporter speculated. He felt a twinge of annoyance, being called a stand-in to a completely different hero. It wasn't anything new, though, as he had been compared to multiple other people in the past.
They were right about something, though; Cat Noir hadn't been seen since Destructus Rex. Maybe he had been injured to the point where his civilian form had to recover? This train of thought was cut off was Thierre abruptly woke up, the reporter's voice being the most likely culprit. He sat quiet for a moment, looking around Augusto as if expecting to see something. Augusto knew exactly what he expected to see. "Hi?" he greeted awkwardly, acting as if confused by Thierre's intense stare.
"What was the orange thing next to you?" he asked, his voice slow and careful. "What orange thing?" Augusto asked, quirking an eyebrow as if confused. At times, he hated being so good at fibbing, but he couldn't be more endlessly thankful for it now, "I came to check on you since you were taking so long, and found you passed out on the floor. I made sure you were okay, and dragged you in here."
A long moment of silence passed between the boys, as if Thierre was judging if Augusto lying or not. Again, he was thankful that he was not one to crumple under intense stares. "Alright then; probably fainted. It's so hot in here," Thierre shrugged. Inwardly sighing from relief, Augusto chuckled. "It's 25 (78F) degrees in here!" he laughed, acting as if stunned. "Relax, I'm joking," Thierre snorted, his eyes traveling to the TV. "Oh yeah, the new superhero," he stated, leaning in as if he was intrigued.
"Whaddya think of him?" Augusto asked, wondering what his new friend thought of his brand-new alter ego. "Haven't seen him in action; though his outfit, from what I can see, is badass," grinned Thierre. "You wish you had powers too, right?" the brunette asked carefully, facing the black-haired boy. "Oh, yeah, definitely. I know that there's a lot of responsibility involved, but I have more free time than I know what to do with, and it'd be good to use it to help protect Paris," Thierre gained an excited and wishful gleam in his eye.
Augusto took mental note of this, seeing what Rybbo had seen in the teenager.
"Anyways, wanna play some AntiLife 3?" Augusto offered, grabbing a controller from underneath the table that held his TV. Thierre grinned confidently, "You bet I do!"
0-0-0
Marinette Dupain-Cheng / Ladybug
The night air was cool and humid, the lights and sounds of Paris making the views breathtaking. Ladybug was sitting on top of the Eiffel Tower, just admiring the view. It had been a busy day for her, as today the bakery had been extremely popular among the people during rush-hour. Even Alya had pitched in, finishing exhausted and covered in dough, even though she hadn't cooked.
Alya had said she would go home, take a shower, and meet her here. Marinette, having taken a shower herself, had apparently beaten her here. She took a moment to ponder on what she had discussed with her best friend beforehand.
Was she shallow for liking Augusto primarily for his looks while not even knowing him? She felt unfaithful to Adrien for liking the brunette, even though she wasn't in a relationship with him and he didn't like her as anything more than a friend. On the surface, both were very similar personality-wise; yet Augusto gave off a shrewder vibe.
Adrien was more innocent, with his big, green eyes and little smile that seemed to be with him everywhere he went. Augusto didn't smile in that way; it was more of a smirk at times, but he usually had a straight face. One thing she did notice about the two was that the latter acted in a bit more sardonic way, even if it was subtle. They way he had responded to Chloé's scathing comments with corrections, instead of just a simple retort.
She also remembered how he had quickly covered for her blushing, using the heat as an excuse even though he fully knew the reason… most likely, anyway.
Her mind wandered to Cat Noir, wondering why he had never contacted her since the Akuma attack. Even if he was injured, he could surely just transform in bed, send her a message, and revert, right? An icy chill crawled up her spine. What if he was unconscious or in a coma? She cared deeply about her partner, but as deeply as he did for her, apparently.
An audible whoosh from behind her alerted her to a presence. She turned her head, expecting to see the orange form of Rena Rouge. Well, what she saw was orange; just not the orange she was expecting. There stood Tiger, his eyebrows cocked. "Didn't expect to see you here," he stated, his voice monotone yet held a guarded tinge to it. "Well, Paris at night is beautiful, and this is one of the best places to view it from," she smiled, gesturing towards the massive metropolis of lights and motion below them.
He cocked his head, looking down at the city. Ladybug found this to be an extremely cute and cat-like gesture. She mentally berated herself for using the word 'cute', but blamed it on simply being cute in the terms that it reminded her of Cat Noir, not because it was the Bengal Tiger doing it.
Now that she got a good look at his features, she realized that, to an extent, he was handsome. Unlike the other heroes, he didn't have a domino (the thing that just covers your eyes) mask, but a face mask that obscured his lower facial feature; like his mouth and chin. Another difference between them was that Cat Noir and Ladybug were slim and skinny, while Bengal had more muscles showing underneath the skin-tight suit. In some ways, he was actually more appealing than Cat Noir, but no one would be able to replace her optimistic and goofy counterpart; not in a million years.
She did enjoy the quiet that came with Bengal Tiger's presence, though.
He straightened his head and walked over to the edge of the platform, sitting next to Ladybug with only a meter between them. He seemed a tiny bit on edge, being so close to the edge of the small platform they were standing on. "New to your powers, huh?" she asked, suddenly wanting to know more about him.
He simply stared at her for a second and nodded, looking back down at the city below. The face mask moved on its own in the wind, but seemed to only move a little bit; not enough to expose his identity. Ladybug chalked it up to the magic of the Miraculous. "How'd you get your Miraculous?" she asked, hoping that he'd respond. At this, his elongated pupils snapped up to her, a guarded emotion buried in them that Ladybug couldn't decipher.
"Family heirloom," he said simply, his voice flat and giving away nothing. "What will you do with your Miraculous?" she asked, hoping that he would be a hero. The last thing they needed was another Miraculous-powered supervillain when they had Hawk Moth to worry about. He looked up at her, his head cocked again. He then let out a chuckle. It wasn't a regular chuckle; it was a mix between a purr and a wheeze, seeming to come from deep inside his chest. "If you're worried that I'll use my powers for malicious intent, don't. I'm going to use it to help you and the others fight Hawk Moth," he assured her, his voice not the monotone and flat tone he had used before, but a more affable version.
Before, he had sounded like a robot, but now, he sounded more like a person. A friend.
Ladybug sighed in relief, not wanting to have to fight him again if her bruises were anything to go by. He leaned backwards, placing his head on his hands supported by the thin beam that acted as an antennae. "I've never experienced something like this before," he said, a small purr rising from his chest. "You've never been on top of the Eiffel Tower?" Ladybug's eyebrows quirked up, surprised, "But you live in Paris, right?"
He cocked his head again, a gesture that Ladybug noticed he did when he seemed to think, and that she deemed cute, and looked at her again. "Yes; I live in Paris. And yes, I've been on the Eiffel Tower before, but not at night and with such… appropriate company," he chose his words carefully, Ladybug could tell. "Appropriate in what sense?" she asked. He cocked his head again, internally causing the red-clad superheroine to melt. While it wasn't any sort of romantic attachment, it was simply the fact that the boy next to her just had such Cat-esque mannerisms but with his own spin on them that it reminded her of her partner.
Well, they were both feline-themed heroes, so what did she expect?
"Appropriate in the sense that you're my age," he said simply, his head turning to face her. "But I ne-" Ladybug started, a bit panicked that he knew her age; or at least her rough age, but was silenced when he put his finger where his lips would be without the mask. "I can tell by your scent and appearance; you're under twenty and older than 12, that's all I can distinguish," he said simply, closing his eyes as if resting. The wind picked up a bit, causing his hair to whip around, but seemed to never get in his eyes' field of view.
"Well…" Ladybug started, "That was unexpected."
Bengal Tiger opened one eye, and she could tell that he was smirking underneath the mask. "In what sense?" he asked, and she could tell that he was starting to enjoy himself. "Ha ha, very funny," she snorted, a bit surprised at the more sardonic humor that her new companion displayed. She noticed the very different methods of comedy that her partner and the Bengal Tiger displayed.
Cat Noir made jokes and usually teased the Akumas when a distraction was needed. Admittedly, he acted a bit immature, but he had told her that being Cat, to him, was his only freedom, so she let it slip by. Tiger, on the other hand, seemed to a more subtle and mature approach to comedy, judging by his previous joke.
"Did you see the news?" Ladybug asked. They had had a two-hour long segment where people called in and suggested who the new hero was, sometimes giving crazy and absurd suggestions. "On how they were all over the crappy-quality film of me running from the helicóptero? Yep," he replied, "Who knew I had that effect on the ladies?"
He did a 'mreow' noise, referencing on how one female commented on how fit he looked. Ladybug snorted at his remark, but her face became slightly red. She was thankful for the mask. Mentally, she commented that the caller wasn't exactly wrong.
In the amalgamation of lights coming from the city, he looked undeniably handsome, just laying there with his eyes closed and hands folded behind his back and lower legs dangling off the side of the platform. She shook her head, cursing herself and her hormone levels.
"So…" he opened his eyes, popping his lips after the word, "Got any word from Cat Noir since the Akuma? Or has he really gone AWOL as the news says?"
"It's true; he hasn't contacted me yet. He could maybe be unconscious or asleep," she tried to act like it as no big deal. The Bengal Tiger's rust-colored eyes looked her over, staring into her very soul. A small bit of humor shined in them, but so did a sort of intensity she wasn't used to seeing.
She felt like she could stay there forever, with the cool wind in her face, beautiful night-time Paris below her, and with a quiet companion. It felt so right; all it needed to be perfect was Cat Noir.
0-0-0
Augusto Vega / Bengal Tiger
Augusto was by no means a very forgiving person. If someone betrayed him, he would remember that. But he knew the difference between a person doing it, and an outside force influencing them. Ladybug was the latter, and he couldn't hold her accountable for actions that her kwami was directly responsible for, not to mention his own experiences with kwami impulse and instincts.
Something about her, though, was soothing. She was extremely affable and easy to talk to.
He was pulled out of his thoughts by a loud howl piercing the loud Paris bustle. Something about it had a unnatural quality, and then he realized, with a shiver, that it was an Akuma. Ladybug seemed to think the same, as she perked up. "Time to do our jobs," grunted Augusto, standing up. He heard Rybbo's voice in his head, use the bow; the arrows can trail with ropes behind them. He nodded, catching onto what Rybbo was saying.
He reached for his back where he knew his bow would be, and pulled it into his hands. He swiftly grabbed an arrow, aimed at a building, then fired. As Rybbo had said, a glowing orange rope trailed behind the arrow the second it bounced off the string. His sensitive ears picked up a scrape as he saw the arrow cleanly stick into the building wall. He quickly tied the string to the platform edge, dully noticing that his senses had been heightened beyond what he could imagine, he swiftly jumped off the platform and used his bow as a zipline.
He twisted back, seeing Ladybug stare with surprise and amusement. "C'mon; quickest way!" he shouted over the rushing wind. She merely shrugged and leapt, using her yoyo as her impromptu zipline device.
They both zoomed to the rooftops, wind whipping at their faces and causing whatever loose accessories to look like they were standing in the middle of a tornado, fluttering about as if having an epileptic stroke. Still, Augusto noticed that his mask never moved enough to reveal his lower face, and for that, he was grateful.
Noting that the roof was coming up quickly, he let go and attached the bow to his back, feeling like he hovered in midair for half a second before landing on the black roof, rolling to absorb the pressure and to not slow down. He loped off on all fours, looking behind him to see Ladybug land on all fours, pushing herself forward with both her hands and feet.
"Whaddya think it is this time?" asked Augusto, shouting over the sound of the wind going by them. "A dog or wolf-related one!" replied Ladybug, matching his pace. "Bad luck, then. I'm a cat," he remarked dryly, flicking his tail for emphasis. "Then chase it off," laughed Ladybug. The howling was getting louder as they leapt across buildings, seeing people running through the streets, desperate to get away. Finally, they landed on the edge of a roof, crouched down.
Augusto took notice of how bright Ladybug's costume was, and how much it stood out with its vibrant and saturated colors, while his more muted and toned-down orange and white were more suited towards the darkness. He then directed his attention to the beast down at the intersection they were overlooking. It looked a bit like a werewolf, covered in fur and was about a couple feet higher than most people. It had pulsating purple eyes, and a crocked snout that looked like it came straight out of a cartoon. It wore torn shorts and what looked like the remains of a sweater, with something dangling from the sleeve. It was in a hunched over position, seemingly sniffing the ground, and then the air.
It abruptly snapped its head directly towards them.
This sent a little shiver down Augusto's spine; why? He didn't know. Could be the Tiger Miraculous taking after its feline predecessor, or simply the fact that this Akuma had a primal look to it. "I didn't know that animals were so popular in Paris," Augusto remarked dryly, looking down at the Akuma. "Says the guy dressed as a tiger superhero to the girl dressed as a ladybug," replied Ladybug. Augusto mulled it over for a second. "Touché," he shrugged. "This should be easy; the Akuma is on their sleeve. Just toss it to me, and I'll do the rest," she explained to Augusto, neatly jumping off the building. The Tiger Miraculous wielder grunted in acknowledgement, roughly launching off the side of the building and into the Akuma with a humiliating yelp of surprise.
The Miraculous had protected him, though, instincts causing him to fold in on himself and tuck into a sort of ball. The second he slammed in the wolf-creature-thing, his body seemed to snap open like a spring, thrusting him away from the villain. Without thinking, he landed on all fours in a very feline position. Ladybug was looking at him with surprise etched onto her features, and Augusto was fairly certain that they mirrored his own shock.
Everything had happened in two seconds, but it felt longer than that. And then the fight continued.
The Akuma charged at Ladybug, Augusto not understanding why it was prioritizing her over him. After all, he had practically just catapulted off its stomach by kicking at it.
Ladybug spun her yoyo, forming a shield that seemed to reflect any sort of swipes or slashes that the wolf attempted. Augusto involuntarily froze, nothing moving but the faint rise of his chest and his eyes that tracked their every move. And then he looked around, not seeing the city he had seen before. What he saw were numerous ways to run on the walls and flank the wolf, while others included climbing on top of rooftops and jumping down. Some even involved using his weapons. It all felt… so new, so overwhelming that his mind had to stop everything else for a second, so it could process everything.
"Bengal! The Akuma!" as suddenly as it had started, it had stopped. Ladybug's yelling brought him back to reality. "Got it!" he replied, sprinting on all fours towards the dog-creature. Turns out that the akuma was a small locket in the shape of a paw. Specifically, a dog paw. His speed surprised the Akuma, which in this case meant it stunned the creature, not allowing to it to move for a second.
And that was all he needed.
He leapt forward, twisting his body into a thin form to fit into the wedge of space in between the creature and Ladybug, grabbing the locket and ripping it off the sleeve of the Akuma. The werewolf-thing, though, managed to recover half-way through the attack, and batted its frontal paws at Augusto, knocking him forward and throwing balance to the wind. He promptly fell on his front, wincing.
"Give me the locket!" ordered Ladybug. He glanced at the wolf, seeing that it was hunched over and on its knees, presumably from something that Ladybug had done. He nodded, tossing the locket towards the red-clad Heroine. She caught it and slammed it into the ground, releasing a little black butterfly.
"The Akuma, no?" Augusto asked, his rust-colored feline eyes inquisitive. "Yup," replied Ladybug, capturing the Akuma like he had seen her do so many times on TV.
"That was so cool!" a voice sounded behind him. He recognized that voice. He turned around, seeing none other than Alya; the owner of the LadyBlog. "Who are you?" she asked, holding her phone camera up to show off his outfit. "Er… Bengal Tiger," he replied after a second's worth of hesitation. He had never really been interviewed before, and he didn't really know how these things worked. "So, are you and Ladybug new partners? A couple, maybe?" she waggled her eyebrows suggestively.
"So apparently since I'm a boy, she's a girl, and I helped take down an Akuma, we're a couple," he snorted, "If we're a couple, then Chloé's a nice girl."
Alya snickered slightly at the remark, while Ladybug made a face that said she was holding back a chuckle. "And partners? I guess. Until Cat Noir comes back from whatever he's doing right now; then I'll be a bit more like Rena Rouge and more of a side hero, I believe," he shrugged, surprised at how externally calm he was being. A flicker of annoyance travelled through Alya's eyes, but was quickly covered up by curiosity.
Alya was about to ask another question when Augusto felt Ladybug's hand on his shoulder. "Hey, we've got to go," she gestured with her head towards the Eiffel Tower. He dully noted how that could be taken the wrong way, especially with the look that the journalist was giving them. "We were discussing possible Akumas," he said in a dry tone, noticing that Ladybug was already swinging away.
And with that, he followed.
AN: That chapter was megahuge! Jesus! Biggest chapter to date! Anyways, I'm going on vacation next week (still don't know exactly when, I'm getting dragged along by my parents) and where we're going won't have any internet, so sadly I won't be able to update.
I will, however, work on the next chapter during that time; maybe even finish it and move onto the next. That's really it… so… see you guys! Oh, and please, please, please review!