Isekai'd as the new French Miraculous Superhero Team.

Chapter 36: Animan Averted.

(Quantic Universe Earth 19274729568301958374, Paris, France, January 10th, 2016, third person POV...)

In the courtyard of Francoise Dupont, Marinette reads a magazine as she says, " '"Leo: Your heart's gonna roar."' "

Marinette turns the page and sees pictures of Adrien on both of the pages she and Alya are looking at.

Marinette remarks, "Wow, roar! Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!"

Alya laughs as she remarks, "Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! I've said this before, and I'll say it again: you're hilarious!"

Across the courtyard, Nino is spying on them.

Adrien says, "To be fair, Marinette's never gonna fall in love with a statue."

Nino pulls Adrien aside by an arm so they can hide.

Nino replies, "Keep it down! You know I'm no good with girls, including this one just now. I mean, seriously, dude, what should I do? Should I go up to her and crack a joke? Give her a compliment? Invite her to the zoo? Be serious and straightforward?"

Adrien answers to signify Marinette taught him to be tactful in such a situation involving multiple questions, "First of all, Marinette may be funny, but she hates crude and offensive jokes, which mostly includes pervasive choice words and the comedian in question using God's name in vain, as she has thoroughly taught me to find Jesus before it's too late. Secondly, Marinette likes compliments as long as they don't involve what she puts on herself, including nail polish on her toenails if she's wearing sandals. Thirdly, she doesn't like going to the zoo because she's scared of various wild animals that can eat and/or kill humans, including gorillas, bears, wolves, panthers, tigers, lions, eagles, hawks, owls, crocodiles, alligators, and so forth. And lastly, Nino, Marinette has told me time and time again that she values friendships that have both parties being serious with each other, especially when it comes to dealing with personal issues like arguing over preferences of different kinds."

Nino sighs as he replies, "I guess it's hopeless, then."

Adrien says in response, "Nino, you're over-thinking things. Now, I didn't say that I didn't want to date Marinette whatsoever; I said not right now, simply because, due to the fact that my father is still mourning my mother's death, there's a ninety-seven percent chance that he won't approve of me dating Marinette as it'll remind him of what he had lost and what he's been obsessed with getting back: my mother's life being returned to whatever may be potentially left of her body if it was completely intact and not rotted out."

Nino cringes as he replies, "Yeah, not arguing with that."

Adrien then says, "But look, Nino, just because Marinette and I love each other doesn't mean we're not open to dating anyone else, if God is willing."

Nino smiles slightly at that, having long since decided to follow up on Marinette's offer of helping him find Jesus and the All-Father.

Adrien then says, "But in all seriousness, man, if you really want to ask Marinette out, just be yourself."

Nino retorts, "That's easy for you to say, Mr. Front-of-the-cover-Teen-Model-weekly. I'm not that cool and I'm not as confident as you, Marinette, or Alya."

Adrien replies, "Oh, I beg to differ, dude. You're as cool as me in your own ways, otherwise we wouldn't've become friends uniquely different to each other. Nevertheless, invite her to the zoo, and if she says no, don't try pushing it. Okay?"

Nino begins to grow confident.

He starts walking over to Marinette and Alya, but then, he panics and runs back to Adrien.

Nino then asks in a rushed panic, "What if I act like a total moronosaurus, or if she disses me, or if she thinks I'm lame, or – ?"

Adrien sighs as he replies, "Okay, say no more, I got your back."

Adrien and Nino bump fists.

Outside Francoise Dupont, Alya and Marinette are walking out of the school, while Adrien and Nino are concealed behind a stairwell banister.

Adrien signals Nino and they come out of hiding.

Marinette hums to the tune of Katrina And The Waves' Walking On Sunshine, but then, she bumps into Nino.

Marinette states, "Nino, can you please be careful? You bump into someone like that on the streets, and that person is likely to punch you in the face or break your glasses, and that's just because of how horrible 96% of Earth's population of human beings happen to be."

Nino stands still in front of Marinette, with a wide, nervous smile.

Marinette waves her right hand in front of Nino's face as she asks concernedly and teasingly at the same time, "Uh, hello? Is anybody home, or do I need to knock down the door?"

Adrien, Alya, and even Nino burst out laughing.

But for Nino, his laughter was a little hysterical and a little forced nervously.

Nino goes back to what he was doing before Marinette cracked her joke, and Marinette questions, "But in all seriousness, are you okay, Nino? You look like you... wait a minute. Are you actually trying to ask me out on a date?!"

Adrien, Alya, and Nino gasped as they gawked.

Alya remarks, "Nino has a crush on our shared bestie?!"

Nino stammers, "Uh, I, uh, um, huh, um..."

Marinette deadpans, "I may not have been in a romantic relationship with anyone before today, but unlike most girls and most boys, I'm smarter than I look."

Nino sighs as he replies before asking, "Okay, you caught me. Yes, I'm in love with you, Mari. There, you happy?"

Marinette makes Nino look her in the eye before saying, "While I may not currently be dating Adrien or any other boy or even any girl for that matter, and while I may currently be undecided as to who I want to date, I have to hold off on dating anyone until Hawk Moth is defeated."

Nino and Alya look at Marinette in shock.

Nino questions, "But why?"

Marinette answers, "Three reasons in particular and above all else: first, since Gabriel is likely to have Nathalie and Adrien's bodyguard monitor Adrien's social and love lives for him very closely, there's 50 to 97 percent chance that Gabriel, in the mindset he has right now as he still mourns his wife's death, won't approve of me dating Adrien, and will undoubtedly try to blackmail me into breaking up with Adrien unless he pulls Adrien out of school and keeps him under extremely monitored 24/7 surveillance for the rest of his time as a teenager."

Nino, Alya, and Adrien looked shocked, but for Adrien, he only faked it because, shortly after the 2 Stoneheart incidents, Marinette and Chloe educated him thoroughly about the Cat Blanc and Ephemeral timelines in terms of how they happened, how Bunnyx screwed things up when she took Ladybug's counterpart into the Rabbit Burrow to fix the time stream and avert the first ever recorded apocalyptic future with an Akumatized Cat Noir just to prevent her future as Bunnyx from ceasing to exist and to prevent Hawk Moth from being defeated before his ultimate simultaneous victory and defeat, and how the two timelines might happen in this timeline in particular, if and only if Gabriel, Nathalie, and Lila aren't arrested on the 2016 Heroes' Day for their crimes as Hawk Moth, The Collector, Scarlet Moth, Shadow Moth, Shadow Noir, Monarch, Monarchbug, Nightormentor, Catalyst, Mayura, Safari, Volpina, Chameleon, Hoaxer, and Hawk Moth II, whatever her Hawk Moth identity actually is.

Marinette then continues, "Secondly, I have to be very careful with who I'm dating, not just because of my religious upbringing, but also because, for all I know, my future boyfriend or girlfriend if I was gay might possibly be a bully to other people as long as I'm not around and as long as I believe anything that he or she says."

Alya looked like she could understand wanting to be cautious of who she's dating, even though Alya also hasn't previously been in a romantic relationship.

Marinette finishes while explaining a half-truth/half-lie based on her foreknowledge of Hawk Moth's tactics and the consequences of Miraculous users dating each other as superheroes or civilians while Hawk Moth is active, "And lastly, if I was a Miraculous user, if I was dating a fellow Miraculous user like Cat Noir or Black Tigra, for example, Hawk Moth might find out about it either through the French Miraculous Superhero Blog or through other news outlets or through amateur footage on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, or some other social media platform, hence why I'm a private girl. And if Hawk Moth ever Akumatized me as a Miraculous user dating another Miraculous user, he might force me to betray my lover or my teammates to help him accomplish his goal of using the original Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculouses to revive his wife from the dead, especially including if he ever threatened my lover's life or if he ever threatened the lives of my parents and my relatives in China."

Nino's eyes widened while looking watery as he realized why Marinette doesn't want to date anyone just yet.

Marinette then says, "But here's the thing: since Ladybug has revealed in her press conference that the multiverse is real, there might possibly be an alternate universe where you and I are dating each other perfectly, regardless of whether or not Adrien and Alya existed. But don't take my word for it."

Nino nods before wiping his tears as they start to come out.

Marinette then says, "But in any case, no matter if it's against biblical law or not, I wouldn't be averse to a four-way polyamorous relationship between you, me, Adrien, and Alya."

Nino, Adrien, and Alya looked shocked to hear that.

And if that wasn't enough to make Marinette laugh good-naturedly, Nino, Adrien, and Alya blushing might've been the catalyst for Marinette laughing while lightly pounding her knees.

Marinette then goes to look at her magazine and she sees a deal on some Transformers action figures, some DC superhero and supervillain action figures, and some Marvel superhero and supervillain action figures.

Marinette's eyes widened at the sight.

Alya asks, "What are you looking at, girl?"

Marinette answers, "It... it's a toy store deal on some action figures from Transformers, Marvel, and DC."

Alya looks and says, "Wow. That's a pretty good deal."

Nino then says, "Anyway, Marinette, I'm sorry to hear that you don't want to date anyone right now, but I understand. I'll try not to let it get to me, but no guarantees."

Marinette nods before kissing Alya, Adrien, and Nino on their right cheeks and before saying, "See you guys tomorrow."

Marinette walks away to her parents' bakery.

Adrien says uneasily and unsure, "Um... so... that, just happened."

Alya replies, "Yeah. I never knew Marinette loved us that much."

Nino then says, "Well, we just gotta hope for the best and pray that the French Miraculous Superhero Team defeats Hawk Moth soon."

Suddenly, Adrien, Alya, and Nino get a notification from Ladybug, as she long-since advocated for some of her classmates, whether or not she knew who would fall for Lila Rossi's lies, to have an Akuma Forewarning Alert notification implemented into their phones on a discretionary basis.

Ladybug says, "Mr. Agreste, Ms. Cesaire, Mr. Lahiffe, the next Akumatized villain I predicted will come today is Otis Cesaire, aka Animan. He gets Akumatized because of Kim Chien Le betting he can run faster than a black panther, Mr. Cesaire getting mad and prideful about nothing being able to beat a panther in a race – like he doesn't even know Miraculous users can run almost as fast as the Incredible Hulk, Superman, and The Flash! – and Kim decided to tease Mr. Cesaire about him being a panther mother, making him mad enough to attract Hawk Moth's attention."

Alya growls, "Rrrr... when my dad is returned to normal, I'll be sure to give Kim a piece of my mind!"

Adrien then says before reading further, "Wait, there's more. '"Alya, I know how you might feel about Kim causing someone other than Ivan Bruel to get Akumatized, but you wanting to give Kim a piece of your mind if it involves violence only creates more problems that range from you getting detention to your parents grounding you or giving you a specific amount of time without using any electronics or updating any of your blogs."' "

Alya sighs as she replies, "And I'm pretty sure that if Chloe caught wind of it, she'd never help me out of trouble."

Nino adds, "Yeah, and the fact is that the remaining bullies of this school are known to be lying, no-good, remorseless, arrogant and complete hot shot blabbermouths who want to usurp power and control over the student body count from Chloe, Sabrina, and their forces in the Shadow Queens with lies and other underhanded tactics despite the fact that they're on strict surveillance and despite the punishments that could result in them potentially getting expelled or getting thrown in jail."

Adrien shivers at that.

Then, the trio reads further the way that Animan's powers work, and they also read how Ladybug references the Transformers Prime Predacon hybrid Decepticon Ser-Ket briefly trouncing the Fall of Cybertron Dinobot leader Grimlock in a fight between Tyrannosaurus Rex and dragon before Grimlock ultimately triumphed, in addition to Ladybug's advice to stay away from the Ménagerie du Jardin des Plantes if they want to avoid getting mauled, killed, or eaten by any of the animals at the zoo if Animan manages to free them or if he shapeshifts into any one of them, and Ladybug added a warning for Alya: "If you choose not to listen to my advice about staying away from the zoo until your father is returned to normal, I won't revive you. I may be a superhero, but I'm under no obligations to help those who cause trouble only to be targeted by Hawk Moth's empowered victims, or anyone who foolishly and idiotically chooses not to flee from the battle danger zones just to get videos of the battles for even an ounce of fame."

Nino asks, "How could Ladybug be so cold-hearted in such a manner?"

Alya adds, "But I will admit, she's sort of in the wrong and in the right at the same time for not wanting to save anyone who caused someone to get Akumatized in the first place."

Adrien replies, "Yeah. Gonna have to find some way to talk to Ladybug about it if she has the time."

Adrien then makes his way home after rendezvousing with his bodyguard's car.

Nino then asks Alya, "Wanna check out the zoo, Alya? They got a new panther exhibit."

Alya replies, "And risk my life and ignore Ladybug's warnings? No thank you."

Nino winces as he replies before asking again, "Yeah, I forgot about that for a second. Some other day?"

Alya replies, "Sure."

Alya and Nino go their separate ways.

Meanwhile, at the Ménagerie du Jardin des Plantes, Marinette then says into her earpiece radio, "One, two, three, testing testing, testing testing, testing, testing. Can you hear me, Dayrunner?"

Marinette's subservient A.I. Dayrunner replies, "Affirmative, Marinette. You are coming in loud and crystal clear."

Marinette replies back before asking, "Good. But are you sure this is the logical choice?"

A camera view shows a humanoid robot looking like Hawk Moth, Jade Turtle, Scarlet Moth, Shadow Moth, Shadow Noir, Monarch 1, Monarch 2, Monarchbug, Nightormentor, a male Hesperia, a male Lady Noire, a male Bug Noire, Mister Bug, and all other Miraculous users from the original timeline but with an extremely armored design that mimics medieval knight armor in the same animal themes as the Miraculous users hiding behind two trees, camouflaged like an additional 3 bushes.

Dayrunner replies, "I am positive that this is the logical choice, Marinette. Be yourself, be sure to watch where you're going, and be sure to be on the lookout for anything suspicious."

Marinette replies back as well, "You got it, my dear robot friend."

Tikki then questions, "How's a robot going to help us further?"

Marinette answers, "With the programming and firewalls I installed with magical and anti-magic protections to be used separately or in unison as the situation calls for it, we can further increase security in our bases and our homes for our teammates and myself, along with providing Akuma detectors laced with Miraculous magic, providing us with eyes in the sky without actually going into space, and pretty much other advantages that superheroes and supervillains either have or don't have when it comes to monitoring people in Paris or all around the world, when it comes to monitoring people who could possibly be possessed, when it comes to monitoring progress on spreading the Word of God all around the world, and monitoring the world for any kind of magical threats on the horizon which could either replace Hawk Moth or take his place as the major magical terrorist of the 21st century."

Dayrunner then says, "Heads up: Kim Chien Le and Max Kante, three o'clock."

Marinette looks and sees Max and Kim walking into the zoo together.

Max looks at Marinette and waves at her while Kim raises his right arm in salutation as he says, "Hey, Marinette!"

Marinette replies before asking, "Hi, guys. What's going on?"

Kim answers, "We heard that the new panther's here. I wanna see who's got the bigger guns!"

Kim starts to do a series of poses, but Marinette points out, "Panthers have a different body structure compared to an athletic human being, Kim. And because of this, panthers have a much different muscle stature than humans if the panther in question was exercising itself by hunting for food."

Kim slumps.

Max then asks, "Anyway, do you want to come with us?"

Marinette replies, "Yes, as long as we're far away from the cage."

Kim questions, "Why?"

Marinette answers, "Because, if you make a panther mad or if you actually get too close, the panther will maul you to death and possibly eat you. And besides, I may have a love/hate relationship with domestic cats, but I'm scared of African big cats."

Kim replies, "Oh."

Marinette, Max, and Kim go on their way, and Dayrunner follows from the trees and bushes, moving along to one hiding spot at a time to camouflage himself as a tree or piece of shrubbery, and move on to another hiding spot to avoid being seen or raising suspicions.

Later, Otis Cesaire is seen feeding a panther.

Otis says as he puts a raw but blood-dried cut of meat into the panther's feeding bowl, "Look at what Daddy's brought for you. Only the finest for my baby."

The panther growls softly before going to eat the cut of meat.

Otis looks to see Kim, Marinette, and Max standing far away from the exhibit.

Kim remarks while looking through some binoculars, "Whoa! Look at the size of that piece of meat it's eating!"

Max explains, "It's a typical diet for an African feline species requiring the strength and energy to run at speeds of up to sixty miles per hour."

Marinette points out, "(Imitating a soft buzzer) Illogical. Panthers like that one can only run at fifty miles per hour. The fastest feline species is an African cheetah, which can run from fifty miles per hour to eighty miles per hour."

Otis remarks, "How profound and well-educated, young lady."

Kim remarks, "Whoa, cheetahs can run eighty miles per hour? I bet that I can beat a cheetah in a race."

Marinette points out again, "Also illogical. An athletically built human being can only run eight miles per hour for men and six point five miles per hour for women. Basically, if you tried to beat a cheetah in a race, you'd already lost by the time the cheetah makes it to the finish line, and if you tried to run away from an angry, hungry cheetah, you'd be eaten alive. So, logically speaking, you'd have to be a super soldier like Captain America or Emil Blonsky from the 2008 Incredible Hulk film before he turns into the Abomination to be able to run faster than a human, panther, or cheetah."

Otis, Max, and Kim looked dumbfounded at Marinette's explanation.

Marinette then says, "Now, Mr. Cesaire, unless you missed the press conference that took place on September 3rd, 2015, the superhero known as Ladybug explicitly stated that the Miraculous jewels invented by a mage in Ancient China grants the users enhanced physical abilities, including making the Miraculous users able to run faster than panthers and cheetahs, but not necessarily classifying that kind of superpower as the super speed affiliated with Superman, The Flash, or The Hulk."

Otis replies somewhat aghast and somewhat pridefully, "You can't possibly compare a superhero like Ladybug to my panther, kiddo!"

Marinette replies coldly, "I'm not comparing anything to anyone; I'm merely stating the facts with actual data."

Kim then says, "I'm obviously the better-looking one."

The panther growls.

Marinette keeps her cool as she says, "Kim, don't make the panther mad; an angry African cat is most dangerous, especially to human beings."

Max adds, "Yes, and with a six feet-per-second win behind you and forty-five degrees to the northeast, you would definitely be dinner for that panther."

Otis states, "Your friends are right, kiddo. Now, please leave. She needs peace and quiet while she eats. You're stressing her out."

Kim remarks, "Awww, stressed out, are we, Miss Panthie? You're talking about a wild animal, dude."

The panther roars.

Otis shouts, "Leave now! Or else I'll have you kicked out of the zoo immediately!"

Marinette then adds, "And I'll be sure to notify your parents that you got someone Akumatized again!"

Kim slumps as he walks away.

Marinette salutes Otis, and he angrily salutes back before she leaves with Max.

Otis growls as he sees Kim leaving.

In Hawk Moth's lair, the window opens as Hawk Moth senses Otis' anger.

Hawk Moth remarks, "Unleashing the animals inside each and every one of us. I like that idea."

He makes an Akuma butterfly, and then sends it off while saying, "Go ahead, my evil little Akuma. Fly off and take control of that zookeeper!"

The Akuma flies to the Ménagerie du Jardin des Plantes.

Meanwhile, in her observatory, Purple Streak detects jubilant happiness coming from Aristide Fouché, an animal caretaker at the Paris Zoological Park.

Purple Streak then says, "Well, if push comes to shove just because of Kim, I'm afraid our Hunter will be left with no choice but to scare Kim until he pees himself."

Purple Streak makes a Tenshi and says, "Go, my heroic little Tenshi, and make our Hunter come to life."

The Tenshi flies off and finds Aristide.

The Tenshi merges with his I.D. card.

Purple Streak then says, "Hunter, I'm Purple Streak. I'm granting you the power to turn into the predator of virtually any animal, including a dragon being the predator of a dinosaur. All I want is for you to help my teammates defeat Hawk Moth's newest victim, Otis Cesaire, also known as Animan, who can shapeshift into any animal, including dinosaurs, but not dragons."

Aristide/Hunter replies, "Yes, Purple Streak."

Aristide turns into Hunter, and his first form is an African lion, one of three categories of the natural predators of a panther.

Meanwhile, the Akuma flies towards Otis and infects his bracelet.

Otis looks enraged as Hawk Moth says, "Animan, I am Hawk Moth. I'm offering you the power to seek revenge on the one who made fun of you and your panther, for a small price."

Otis/Animan replies darkly, "Yes, Hawk Moth."

Otis turns into Animan, whose first animal form is a black panther with purple eyes.

Meanwhile, Marinette has just finished giving Kim a beating that left him with a throbbing crotch and a bruised nose.

Marinette then notices Animan as he asks Kim, "Hey, kiddo, still up for a little race? Go ahead, I'll give you a head-start."

Animan roars.

Kim, Max, and Marinette run away in separate directions, with Marinette secretly teleporting away unseen.

Animan says to his fellow panther, "He's mine."

Animan runs after Kim and Max.

Meanwhile, Kim runs past Adrien and Alya as he shouts, "He's coming!"

Max shouts as he also runs past, "Get outta here!"

Adrien and Alya see Animan with the animals closing in.

Alya says fretfully, "We'd better ditch this place!"

Adrien and Alya discreetly run away.

Alya then says to Adrien, "Addy, please be careful; even with your Miraculous armor, those animals can eat you alive!"

Adrien nods before saying, "Plagg, Claws Out" and he transforms into Cat Noir.

Marinette also transforms into Ladybug, and her teammates converge on the zoo just as Hunter arrives.

Meanwhile, Kim runs away from Animan, but Animan beats him to the punch.

Animan remarks, "You lost, kiddo. What do you think of panthers now?"

Kim answers nervously as he backs away, "That... panthers are the best?"

Hunter asks rhetorically as he and the other heroes converge in their slightly larger animal/beast modes, courtesy of Ladybug, "And what do you think about the entire animal kingdom?"

To prove his point, Azure Dragon comes up in his dragon mode and he roars,

"RRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAWWWWRRRRRROOOOOLLLLLLLLLL!"

In Hawk Moth's lair, Hawk Moth gapes in shock and horror as he realizes that Animan is outnumbered a hundred to one. Especially since dragons are the ultimate apex predator.

Hawk Moth then says, "Animan, take their jewels, their Miraculouses! Bring them to me!"

Ladybug answers in her giant ladybug beast mode, "And how exactly is Animan supposed to take our Miraculouses in our human forms? First off, panthers don't have human hands. And second, gorillas might have human hands, but they're much larger than human hands, so realistically, Animan's gorilla form would crush our Miraculouses to pieces."

In his lair, Hawk Moth face palms as he groans, "Ough! I am such an idiot!"

Back at the battle, Ladybug then says, "If you don't want me to bite you to pieces, Kim, stop (bleep! bleep! bleep!) making our jobs harder by making fun of people and causing them to (bleep!) get Akumatized!"

Animan remarks, "You kiss your mother with that mouth?"

Ladybug chitters angrily, making Animan gulp nervously.

Animan then says pleadingly, "Don't eat me; I surrender!"

Hawk Moth's symbol flares as he shouts, "No! Don't surrender! Bring me their Miraculouses, or I'll remove your powers!"

Ladybug says, "Do it, Hawk Moth. I triple dragon dare you!"

Hawk Moth's Akuma leaves Animan's bracelet, purifies itself, and Animan is turned back into Otis.

The superhero army transforms back into their human forms, and Ladybug then says as Hunter is turned back into his human form, clad in a commando outfit to protect his identity, "Thank you for this victory, Hunter!"

Ladybug hugs Hunter, and he awkwardly hugs her in return.

Otis is hugged by Alya and the superhero team disperses.

Hawk Moth groans as he vows, "You ruined everything, Ladybug! This is not how things were supposed to go! But I guarantee you, one of these days, it will be me at the top of the food chain! And you'll be nothing!"

The window to Hawk Moth's lair closes.

In her bedroom, Marinette then crosses Animan off her list before saying, "Up next is Max as The Gamer. Ugh, so not looking forward to that one."

The End.

(Author's notes: See you all in chapter 37: The Player vs. The Gamer.)