It was an overwhelmingly bright surge of something so near pain that kept him from waking up, just as it had pushed him down into unconsciousness. It was heavy, whatever it was, pulling and needling at him as he struggled against it. It didn't… hurt. It was uncomfortable, in a way that seemed impossible to describe as he struggled to breathe.

Nino felt like he was fumbling in the crisp darkness of a sleep with no dreams, discomfort settling in his bones as he attempted to cry out but found no voice to shout with. In a way he felt completely misplaced, torn from his body as something was being decided. And when he was put back… it wasn't right.

Of all the senses to return to him, first was his sense of smell. It was overpowering the stench that met him, some horrid cocktail of shit, meat, and blood. It was WAY too strong, so much so that it fought off the last dredges of the forced sleep for him as more awareness arrived. He was uncomfortable, like he had run a hundred miles and maybe thrown in a push up or two for the hell of it. His breathing was ragged and… weird, legs somehow light and… weird.

He felt weird.

Nino struggled to open his eyes, his brain working to make sense of the blurred shapes and colors as they came in to focus. All the colors that greeted him were dulled and misplaced, the shadows heavy and looming but not doing much to dampen the detail.

After a moment more of lying on the ground he was finally full awake, or at least somewhere close. He had determined that he was in fact on the ground but not much more than that, still no explanation for the horrible smell of cat crap and blood. Or for why he was I so much almost-pain. He struggled to remember what had happened right before he passed out, slowly dragging memories back to the surface in scattered and broken pieces.

He had been running… hard. He was afraid, he had seen something that scared the crap out of him. He hadn't been thinking when he saw Adrien, he just hit him and threw him. He… couldn't remember why. But he something bad had been happening, something he had… tried to stop? Or at least protect Adrien from. He hadn't done a good job of protecting himself… or Alya.

He remembered that, something bright and dangerous hitting them both. He had thought she'd be safe, that she was close enough to cover. Her and Max… Kim had run. Adrien and Marinette had made it out, made it away from…

The Akuma. Nino felt that same fear from before returning with the details of what had happened. There had been panthers, one of them some messed up super panther. So Hawkmoth was using animals now? Or maybe that wasn't the whole story. Hardly mattered just then, all that needed to happen was that he went down. And that the others were safe.

But what about the ones that weren't?

He had been hit, Alya and Max too and by this point who knew how many others. For the time being he felt like his mind was his own, different from his own fragments of memories from when he had been possessed himself. When that had happened he had been aware of Hawkmoth, just not his influence. Now though he didn't feel that, he just felt discomfort, and …. Weird.

It was when he tried to stand that he noticed something was off.

He shifted his arms to get them beneath him, to help him stand, but immediately even that simple motion had been off. His arms were crooked, not broken but… misshapen. He was still weak, incapable of taking his own weight but that was the farthest thing from his mind. He tried to move his legs, finding that they too obeyed but were misshapen, and with his heart hammering in his chest he attempted to look down.

He was aware immediately of something long and weighted where his nose should be, or his mouth or, something. His head didn't feel heavy but the weight was different, not that he had ever really noticed anything as small as that in his own body. Because this definitely wasn't his body.

He panicked standing in a flurry of limbs and a sound escaped him, something grating and high like the whine of a dog in distress. His breath came out in huffs as he stumbled and fell again, quickly standing up and moving backwards like he was trying to get away from himself but couldn't, hysteria threatening to set in as he became aware of everything that was wrong.

His shoulders, his arms his legs his mouth his back, everything. The colors were wrong, the scents too strong the world outside seemingly so close as their sounds reached him as if he was stood on the street he knew now was a hundred yards away.

He could feel his weight on the spread pad of his toes that should have been shoes, feel the length of long canine teeth when he opened his mouth in order to cry for help. But the only sound that came was…was a-

A bark.

"aaah," his scream started, almost entirely for himself since the sound was twisted and wrong. "AAh, AHHH." He hit bars with his back legs, something thick and furred pushing beneath him in fear.

"FUCK," he barked, literally, "Fuck FUCK."

He looked back at himself, almost passing out at the sight of a patterned brown canine body, strong and like so many dogs he had passed in his lifetime. Clawed toes, a thick bushy tail, the long shaped thing beneath his eyes he knew now was a… ah fuck.

Nino looked around, flinching when he felt two light weights press down on his head and tried to ignore that they were ears. He tried to ignore a lot of things, not the least of which was how he shook in panic. He wasn't making much of an effort to pull himself together, he didn't feel like he needed too. To be completely honest he felt absolutely justified.

He was a dog. An animal. A god damn German Shepard if he had to guess.

His high pitched whines continued without much consent from him, tortured yowls like a dying animal betraying his hysteria as he tried to get some perspective as he naturally told himself it couldn't be possible. Because of course it was possible, anything was freaking possible who was he kidding? Mummies, Robo-Cops, flying dragons and gigantic golems. Anything was possible in Paris! Paris was bullshit!

A dog, seriously? A dog!?

He was still yelling when he heard something besides his own desperation for the first time, not far from him in the cage he could only assume was responsible for all the awful smells he was accosted with. It was subtle and quiet and he was amazed he had even heard it, just the slightest brush of fur and the scrap of a claw as something stretched.

Nino looked over, zeroing in on the lifeless scrap of fur not far from him lying on the ground. If he had to guess he'd say the fur was deep red and rich in color, but it was more… dull and grayed out than that too him.

"That fuck made me color blind too?" he muttered, wondering if the sound even formed as he took a hesitant step forward. He stuck one paw out and extended it, placing it on the ground like he wasn't even sure it was there but it was. He tried to walk and scrambled quickly to steady himself, like a baby deer trying to figure out what the hell was going on with its legs.

He made it a few feet forward, enough to look down at the thing that was slowly waking up. It was so much smaller than him he probably didn't need to be afraid, but he wasn't in the mood for taking chances. He reached out with a paw like he was going to flip the furry thing over, but stopped short and found himself growling in irritation. A proper real growl as well, but a mild one. He looked around helplessly for a second before sighing heavily, craning his neck down to prod it with his nose, scooting it till it flopped onto its back with paws extended.

It was a cat, an extremely fluffy one. He didn't know a lot about cat breeds, and at the moment he didn't much care because it seemed to be waking up. He took a step back as best he could, watching as its brownish gold eyes blearily flickered open. It meowed faintly, like a groan as it wiggled, a look of confusion crossing its features. Though it was very clearly a cat there was something very human about the expression, its paws flexing in a grabby type motion. It didn't look away from its far off view of the cage's ceiling, rather flexing different limbs with growing contemplation.

After a long moment it opened its small mouth, tiny sharp teeth visible as it attempted to make a sound, managing at first another meow, than the indignant statement of "What the hell?"

Nino's ears perked up involuntarily as the cat struggled to stand, suddenly on high alert as it rapidly made sense to him, and in an over excited way that probably scared her he shouted, "Alya!"

The bark was loud and jarring and the cat jumped, fur standing up as it fell over itself in an attempt to get away. Her eyes were wide and with something almost like relief he saw the tell-tale dark spot of fur in place of her mole above one eye. She may have a tail but it was definitely her, and knowing he wasn't alone made a world of difference.

"Alya it's me!" he said again, noting with some embarrassment that his tail was wagging as he bowed his head. "It's Nino!"

"What?!" she said again, the cat backing up and tail held high in agitation. It seemed to notice that as well, looking back at itself before looking forward again, her eyes just this side of panic herself. She looked up at him, and his heart ached for how freaked out she looked. "Nino!?"

"It must have been the akuma," he said fast, nodding as he said it. "It's okay, we're both alright. We're just… uh…"

"ANIMALS!" she shouted, stretching her paws out and looking at them in a mixture of fear and interest. She looked at him, stating like he hadn't noticed, "You're a German Shepard! Are you serious!?"

"Heh," he muttered, finding that he was significantly calmer having someone else to comfort. "Sort of looks that way yeah."

She was still breathing fast, looking down at herself and fighting to get her act together as she shook her small furry head. "I'm a cat?" she whined. "Why a cat?"

Nino shrugged, or tried too, a little miffed that she was adjusting so fast. He was still pretty terrified, but as time passed she looked almost… entertained.

"How can we talk?" she thought aloud, attempting to walk and managing too with some difficulty. "How were what animals we are determined? This is crazy! Can you see colors? I can't, not totally… god this is insane."

"I dunno," he said, a little irritated. "How are we going to reverse this!? I don't know about you but I don't want to get stuck with a tail and muzzle."

She looked up at him, the height difference significant and she didn't seem worried about that at all. "Ladybug and Cat Noir will fix it, obviously. Ladybug's cure fixes everything, as soon as they catch those panthers we'll be fine! Right now we need to find the others."

Nino tensed, sitting a little uncomfortably as he looked around the panther cage. "Do you think they got hit? They're probably freaked out too, but… Adrien and Marinette are tough."

"What about the rest of the class?" Alya asked, trotting a short distance away to get used to the motion. She looked over her shoulder, tail swishing in agitation. "Poor Mylene… she's probably scared half to death… what if they all got hit too? I don't feel like I'm being controlled or anything, maybe turning us into animals was his only play?"

"I dunno," Nino said again, his expression serious, or least he intended it to be. "But… we don't know for sure yet. We should probably stay away from people just in case, what if we went dark side or something?"

"Well we can't stay here," Alya huffed, "We have to see who's still human! We can't keep ourselves locked up in here what if Marinette is out there on her own? I'm not waiting around!"

"But we could be dangerous!" he said irritably, Alya ignoring him and padding her way over to the entrance. With a growl he followed, a little unstably but getting more used to it as he went.

Alya made it to the bars, snickering happily as she found she could squeeze through without much difficulty.

"Oh good for you," he grumbled, glaring at the cat. "Now what do I do?"

Alya hummed looking around with the cat equivalent of a frown on her face. She pawed lightly at the bars, hissing in frustration before finally she groaned. "I don't exactly have opposable thumbs! Or a key for that matter. Is it even locked? Ram the door!"

Nino's ears flattened on his head, glancing up at the heavy iron door. He pushed his shoulder against it, digging his claws into the ground and grunting in excretion.

"I saw it move!" she exclaimed, leaping down to ground level after a bit of shifting. "Keep going!"

"Why-" he huffed, "the hell- is this- so- heavy!" he groaned, planting his head against the bars as well and forcing the door open a little.

"Well it's made for panthers," Alya said smartly watching him from her seat on the pathway. "Just be glad it wasn't locked!"

He forced it open just enough for him to slip through, jumping down to stand beside the fluffy cat gracelessly and panting heavily.

"Great!" Alya complement him, puffing her tail up importantly as she sauntered ahead. "Good to know you're strong like this it'll come in handy."

"In handy for what?" he demanded, looking up to see her already a fair way down the path and loping off to follow her. "Alya I'm serious we should stay put!"

"And hide!?" she hissed over her shoulder at him. "No! We're finding the rest of the class, and then we're hunting down Adrien and Marinette. What can the akuma do to us now?"

His head lowered on its own, tail drooping and ears following suit. His body giving him away was really annoying, as was Alya at the minute. It was safer to lay low, he didn't want to end up as a guard dog for the enemy, he couldn't hurt anybody in a cage why couldn't Alya see that? Of course he wanted to find his friends but if they were smart they'd stay put too until the heroes sorted things out. That was the protocol, but Alya never followed protocol. She ran towards danger, just like all his friends.

Why was he alone in the 'safe' thing?

The more he walked the more he got used to it, finding that the more he moved the more the discomfort faded from his limbs. He assumed now that it came from the transformation, of course his body would be wiped out after something like that.

Nino swallowed nervously as they passed rows and rows of empty cages, their occupants let loose to run. With no small amount of nervousness he followed the busy tailed feline through the zoo, ears forward and on high alert. HE couldn't get over how aware he was, of the sounds and smells. He could smeel freaking everything, and it was actually the first thing that made him stop.

"Hey," he said suddenly, ridged and focused, Alya stopping to look back at him.

"What is it?" she asked, drawing back in surprise when he suddenly lifted his nose to the air, sniffing and intensely focused.

"I uh-", he hesitated, still managing to be bashful even though he was thoroughly distracted. "I can uh… well. Smell something."

"Really?" she said, her tone sort of teasing but she stopped when he stared intently down a different path through the now deserted primate section. "It's probably the monkeys Nino, we need to-"

"No," he interrupted her, body tense as he sniffed the ground now, tail out straight as he padded around the intersection they stood in. "It's…" He raised his head, focusing again on something far away before suddenly he said, "Follow me. I think it's Max."

"Wh-" she tried to start, but he was already running, the small feline sprinting off after him and managing to keep up though she had a sneaking suspicion he could out pace her if he wanted to. "Nino!" she tried to recapture his attention, but it was like something had come over him, stopping now and again to investigate some bush or bench before he was off again. "How can you be sure?"

"I don't know!" he called out, stopping again and smelling the complicated web of scents in front of an exhibit. To be totally honest he wasn't sure how he knew at all. Even though as a person he had never really registered smells like he could now, those unused memories seemed enough for him to pick out. With so many people visiting the zoo the whole place was flooded with individual smells, but…

He trotted forward, nose to the ground as he decided to trust his instincts. He didn't know how he knew to do everything he was doing, he just did, pausing one last time before he barked once and took off. He found him.

"Nino!" Alya complained, darting after him and following the canine as he rounded a corner, a jumbled chorus of panicked bleats and self-satisfied barks meeting her ears as she caught up.

She skidded on the turn, almost stumbling but scrambling towards the jubilant dog that had cornered a very startled black sheep. Nino's tail was wagging, pleased with himself for having done so well in a way he sheepishly put down to his new nature. He'd never be this excited normally, but he felt like he had done a really good job. To be honest he was a little irritated with Alya for not rewarding him.

"Great job Nino, you scared a sheep," she said bitingly, sitting down grumpily. She wasn't thrilled with him for making her run. To her surprise though, the sheep perked up, staring at them in wonder.

"N-Nino!?" the sheep bleated, looking up at the canine as it reacted to its name. Then it looked over at the cat. "Alya is that you?"

Alya blinked once, staring at the shaking sheep before she leapt to her feet, suddenly elated. "Max!" she cried, running forward towards the boys. "It is you! Nice job Nino!"

Nino looked pleased, sitting down with his chest puffed out as Max struggled to walk with his hooves.

"Oh thank heavens. So this happened to you as well? Of course it did, it makes sense. We were all attacked by the same thing, but my hypothesis was wrong. We're all different… I suppose things could be worse. We could be dead, but even if our bodies are altered our minds appear to be our own."

"Don't worry Max, I bet Ladybug and Cat Noir are already on it," Alya comforted him. She reached up, gently putting on paw on the squishy wool of Max's shoulder. "We're trying to find the rest of the class, chances are this happened to them too. We should stick together, someone could freak and hurt themselves."

"I was attempting the same," he informed her, looking worried. "Kim was being pursued last I saw. I was attempting to find him but now I know I wouldn't even know him if I saw him. All the animals meant for the zoo have already left. It's reasonable to assume that any animals we do find could very well be humans. I say we start with that."

"Exactly," Alya agreed, looking up at Nino who was watching in silence. She grinned at him, striding forward before prodding him to stand. He did so with a confused expression, but it warped into an irritated grimace when she leapt agilely onto his back. After a moment of kneading at his fur and settling herself into the space between his shoulders she said happily, "Come on boy! You found one we can find the rest. Track 'em down!"

Nino grumbled, a low growl rolling in his chest before he huffed, dipping his head as Max watched and started to search for anything else familiar. He trotted forward, Alya shifted to keep her balance and Max following along unsteadily on his hooves.

For a short time Nino could only hear his own steps and the clicking pattern of the sheep behind him, but he focused on the smells and nothing else. Hopefully his instincts would kick in again and he'd track everyone down, but first he had to find a trail.

The first familiar smell that hit him, to his relief, came in a group, and with a happy bark he announced, "This way!" and charged into the zoo, a cat on his back and a sheep struggling to trot behind.