Chapter Text
“Guess what I’ve brought yo-ou!” Carapace sing-songed as he climbed in through the window.
Sabrina looked around from her desk as he dropped his transformation, Wayzz reappearing beside him and waving to her. She waved back, getting to her feet and crossing the room, a smile creeping onto her face. “It’s not more flowers, is it? I haven’t got any more vases!”
“It’s so much better than flowers.” Nino took something out of his bag. “Tonight… you get to go on patrol with me.” He held out the object, which Sabrina could then see was a small hexagonal box, black with odd red carvings on its surface.
Nino had told her the story of Ladybug first presenting him with the Turtle Miraculous, so Sabrina knew what that box meant. And yet…
“No way.” Sabrina stepped back. “That’s not what I think it is, is it?”
Nino nodded excitedly. “Ladybug said you could, just for one night. She and the others all have to be at some event thing tonight as civilians, so there’s nobody to patrol with me.” He looked down at the box. “I picked out this one because it just seemed perfect for you, but I don’t really know what powers it has or anything. It’s the Dog Miraculous, the kwami of teamwork. That’s all I know.”
“Are you sure this is ok?” Sabrina fretted, still not taking the box. “What if someone sees me?”
“Oh, yeah, Ladybug said I wasn’t to let you talk to anyone and to try and keep you out of sight.” Nino scratched his head. “So I’ll be doing the busier parts of the patrol route. Also, I have to take the Miraculous back to her tomorrow morning before school, so… don’t get too attached. Her words, not mine.”
Sabrina eyed the box. She couldn’t say the idea of trying out superpowers wasn’t inviting. Nino extolled the virtues of Paris from the rooftops almost daily. To be able to leap around them on her own, go where she pleased and not have to be carried by Carapace… yes, the temptation was too much to pass up.
Sabrina tentatively reached for the box, running her thumbs over the carved surface as Nino let go. He was hopping from foot to foot, his eyes gleaming, and Wayzz, resting on his shoulder, was watching closely.
“So how does this work?” Sabrina asked, looking up from the box. “The kwami isn’t going to jump out at me, right?”
“No, it’s just like a little ball of light,” Nino said. “Nothing scary, I promise.”
The box opened easily, and Sabrina only had chance to recognise the item inside as circular before it was engulfed in a pale orange orb of light. A glowing orb shot out of the box and spiralled around her, before solidifying in front of her as a small brown and white kwami with huge floppy ears.
The kwami yawned and stretched, showing off tiny fangs, then opened its large grey eyes. They settled on Sabrina, and the kwami smiled widely.
“Hello!” the kwami chirped in a high-pitched, feminine tone, her little stubby tail wagging enthusiastically. “My name is Pannu, and I’m your new best friend!”
“I’m… Sabrina,” Sabrina said hesitantly.
Pannu beamed. “That’s a nice name!” She wagged her tiny tail again, then looked around hopefully. “Do you have any chocolate?”
“I got this,” Nino said, digging in his pocket. Pannu turned to face him, and spotted Wayzz. With a squeal, she tackled him off Nino’s shoulder, spinning in the air.
“It’s been a while!” she said excitedly, her tail now wagging a mile a minute. She looked up at Nino inquisitively. “Is this your new master?”
“Yes, this is Nino,” Wayzz said. “Or Carapace.”
Nino pulled half a chocolate bar out of his pocket, and Pannu flew down to inspect it, sniffing it, then giving it a nibble. “I like him,” she declared, pulling the chocolate out of his hand and dragging it back through the air to perch on Sabrina’s shoulder.
Sabrina shot Nino an amused look as the sounds of the kwami nibbling and chewing filtered into her ear. She lifted the box again, examining the large decorated band within and the little dog logo on the velvety base beneath it. She took the band out, gently rubbing it between her fingers as she inspected it.
The two ends of the large black band were tipped by little silver dog heads, and five orange beads were strung onto the widest part. Sabrina rubbed her fingers over it, assessing it carefully. It was clearly too big to be a bracelet or anklet. Was it a collar? That might make sense, it was the dog Miraculous after all.
Nino was watching her, and after a few moments he gave a huff of laughter. “You don’t know what it is, do you?”
“Of course I do!” Sabrina said indignantly. She kept turning it over in her hands, hoping inspiration might come.
Nino chortled. “Man, I thought you’d know as soon as you saw it. I told you, this is the one I thought would be perfect for you.”
Pannu’s chewing was still in her ear, and Sabrina fought the urge to shake her head in irritation. Wayzz was chuckling, and eventually he flew to her other ear to put her out of her misery. “It’s a hairband, Miss Sabrina,” he whispered, his yellow eyes sparkling with amusement.
Sabrina immediately began berating herself for not realising it. She reached up to her head and pulled off her white hairband; comparing the two she could see that the Dog Miraculous was indeed similar in shape and size. She slipped the Miraculous onto her head, and crossed the room to examine it in the mirror. To her surprise, the beads had turned black and the little silver dog heads had vanished.
“It’s just gone camo,” Nino explained. “Like my bracelet does. Stops people recognising it as the Miraculous.”
The remains of the chocolate bar dropped to the ground and both of them jumped. Pannu circled Sabrina’s head excitedly. “That was yummy!” she squeaked. Then she looked at Sabrina, examining the headband critically. “Hmm. It suits you.” She flew up to adjust it slightly. “I guess since you know Wayzz’s holder, you understand the basics about Miraculouses?” she asked.
Sabrina nodded, and Pannu rubbed her paws together. “Good good! Ok, don’t do it just yet, but to transform, you just have to say, ‘Pannu, let’s chase!’ And when you want to detransform, you have to say, ‘Pannu, let’s rest.’ Or your transformation will drop on its own 5 minutes after you use your power.”
“What’s the power?” Sabrina and Nino asked in unison, Nino sounding considerably more excited.
“I was just getting to that!” Pannu trilled. “Your power is Pawsitivity-”
She was interrupted as Nino snorted. “Oh, Chat is going to love you,” he sniggered.
Sabrina rolled her eyes, and turned her attention back to Pannu. “The Dog Miraculous is a support Miraculous,” Pannu explained. “My power works best in conjunction with other Miraculouses. When you use it on another Miraculous holder, it provides a buff or boost when they use their power! You can use it on yourself, but all it does then is boost your general Miraculous abilities. The Miraculous of teamwork, unsurprisingly, works best as part of a team.” She sniggered a little.
Wayzz flew over to Pannu. “For example, when Pawsitivity is used on the Turtle Miraculous holder, Guardian makes a larger shield, the shield lasts longer, or it has extra defenses, like spikes. The buff is decided and controlled by the Dog Miraculous holder, so they can decide what’s best in the present situation and disable it when it’s no longer needed.”
“That’s actually a super useful power!” Nino said, impressed. “We could use it so much in akuma battles!”
Wayzz cleared his throat. “Master, need I remind you that this is only a temporary arrangement?”
Pannu cocked her head. “What do you mean?”
“There are already five of us working against Hawk Moth and Mayura,” Wayzz reminded her. “The current guardian, Tikki’s holder, thinks that’s enough. After tonight, your Miraculous will be returned to the box.”
“Oh.” Pannu’s ears drooped. “Are you sure?”
“The box is the safest place,” Wayzz said. “It’s about balancing a fighting advantage with the risk of any more Miraculouses falling into Hawk Moth’s hands.”
“That does make sense,” Pannu agreed, but her ears stayed droopy.
“We should really get going on that patrol, anyway,” Nino prompted.
Pannu brightened. “Well, one transformation is better than nothing!” she chirped, pricking up her ears again. She circled Sabrina again. “Just say the words!”
Sabrina adjusted the headband, took a deep breath, and said, “Pannu, let’s chase!”
Pannu vanished in a blaze of light, and immediately Sabrina felt a surge of energy spread down her body from the hairband. Her vision stung at the brilliant orange glow. She felt a weight settle on her hip and something pulling lightly at her hair, before the sensation stopped as quickly as it had begun. As it faded, she suddenly felt that she could run for miles without tiring, adrenaline pulsing through her veins.
She opened her eyes, only just realising that she had closed them. “Did it work?” she asked cautiously, turning to face Nino.
“I wasn’t ready,” Nino said distantly. His eyes were wide, and Sabrina felt her face warm in embarassment at his intense gaze.
“What?” she asked. She looked down at herself, seeing a sea of pale brown and white. Something brown was visible in her peripheral vision on both sides, and twisting her head around, she saw a short white-tipped object sticking out from the back of her costume. She spun around a couple of times, twisting her neck in an attempt to identify the thing.
“I WASN’T READY!” Nino complained, covering his face with his hands, and Wayzz laughed. Sabrina looked curiously at her boyfriend as he peeked out at her between his fingers.
“Does it look bad?” she asked, nervously.
“Oh, no! No!” Nino laughed nervously. “It’s actually… really adorable.”
Finally remembering her mirror, Sabrina turned to face herself. She was startled by what she saw. Her fringe was neatly parted over her forehead, and the rest of her hair was swept back behind the hairband, the tips of the sleek red locks curling to just brush her shoulders. This made space for the two large, brown, silky ears which hung from her hair just behind her actual ears. The Miraculous itself was brightly coloured again, the orange beads crowning her head and the little silver dog faces peeking out from below her human ears.
A brown and white mask surrounded her eyes; there was no sign of her glasses, though she found she could still see perfectly. There was a large, gold, diamond-shaped pendant around her neck, where Chat Noir’s bell usually hung when she was wearing that costume; it provided a comforting, familiar weight. The rest of the costume was mostly pale brown, with a white streak running down her front and onto a thick belt around her waist, from which a short white-tipped tail emerged behind her. Her gloves were white, with little black pawprints decorating her palms and fingers. Knee-high darker brown boots covered her calves. The toes were white, patterned with paw-like lines again reminiscent of Chat Noir’s costume.
Sabrina spotted something fastened to her hip just below the belt of her suit, and pulled it off. It was a boomerang, smooth and brown with white tips and the same dog logo in the centre as she had seen on the base of the Miraculous box. As she touched her finger to it, the logo slid away to show a little circular screen with a few icons on it.
“This is amazing!” Sabrina breathed, looking up at Nino.
“You’re amazing,” he responded, only snapping back to attention when Sabrina giggled shyly. “Uh- right, patrol time! Wayzz, shell on!”
Rolling his eyes, Wayzz flew into the bracelet, and Sabrina shielded her eyes as bright green light cloaked Nino in his superhero guise.
“So,” Carapace asked, pausing to look at her admiringly again, “shall we go?”
“Definitely!” Sabrina hurried past him, pushing open the window. She looked out. The roof across the street seemed far away, but the idea that she might fall was laughable now with the energy coursing through her body.
She clambered out of the window and onto the roof, pulling herself up with strength she hadn’t had before, and almost before Carapace could join her she took a huge running leap across the street.
She had slightly misjudged the jump, and landed further up the roof than she thought she would, but a few practice jumps along the row of houses soon allowed her to gauge how far she could go. Carapace grabbed her hand before she could jump again. “Hold up!” he said, but his eyes were sparkling. “What does your weapon do?”
Sabrina unclipped her boomerang, and threw it experimentally, with about the same force as she might throw a frisbee. It went spinning away through the air, showing no sign of stopping or changing direction.
“Aren’t they supposed to come back?” Sabrina asked in confusion, at which point the boomerang curbed its flight and came hurtling back. She squeaked and ducked, and the boomerang circled back, orbiting around her form in a small circle until she snatched it out of the air.
“Cool,” Carapace said. “So if I take it over here…” He grabbed the boomerang, and hopped across some rooves, then put it down. Sabrina reached out a hand cautiously, thinking about the boomerang, and it came flying back to her. This time, she caught it and clipped it onto her belt again.
“It’s like Thor’s hammer!” Carapace’s eyes were shining with excitement when he got back to her. “Oh, man, I really want to see how your power works. But then you’d have to detransform. So… race you to the Eiffel Tower?”
“I thought I was supposed to stay out of sight,” Sabrina retorted.
Carapace waved his hand. “Hardly anyone is out now, it’s 11pm on a Wednesday.”
Sabrina glanced down as they walked along the edge of the rooves; the streets below did seem deserted. She looked up at the Tower, glowing almost half the city away. “OK, we can race,” she said. “But no shortcuts!”
“You got it.” Carapace’s eyes narrowed behind his mask. “Ready, set-”
“Go!” Sabrina shrilled, throwing herself forward into a fast a run as she could. Her feet felt impossibly light on the roof tiles as they pushed her forward, driving her into the air in a graceful leap. The air snatched away Carapace’s indignant shout and her breath at the same time as the ground fell away beneath her, her hair curling against her cheeks. There was a rush of air and her feet met the next roof with no more force than a moderate kick, then she was running again, the wind tugging at her long dog ears.
She could hear Carapace, just behind her on her right side. Her hearing was definitely sharper than normal, so that she heard it when he started to steadily gain on her. Her eyes still on the Tower, she made an even larger jump- and when she landed, her feet slipped on the edge of a wet metal roof, making her give a small yelp as she struggled to regain her balance. Carapace was there suddenly and grasped her wrist, pulling her up the roof.
“Be careful,” he said wryly. “I know you feel like you can cross anything, but there is a limit to your jumping distance. Please don’t try to jump the river or anything. Bee did, once, and Ladybug had to fish her out with her yoyo.”
Sabrina laughed, still a little shaken from the near-fall, but just adjusted invisible imperfections on her suit before springing up the roof. “We’re still racing, turtle-tail,” she taunted.
“Nice, we’re doing nicknames now?” Carapace huffed, keeping pace with her. “Which reminds me, are you going to pick a superhero name or shall I do it for you?”
Sabrina vaulted over a chimney. “Given your choice of superhero name, I think I’ll choose my own.”
“Wow, rude. What’s wrong with Carapace?”
“It’s just a fancy word for ‘shell’, Nino,” Sabrina reminded him.
“More inventive than Ladybug or Chat Noir. Or Rena Rouge, for that matter.”
“That’s a fair point,” Sabrina conceded.
“You should keep with mammal Miraculous tradition. Chien Marron.”
Sabrina wrinkled her nose. “Ew, no.”
“What kind of dog are you supposed to be anyway?”
Sabrina frowned. “I’m not sure. Maybe a spaniel? There aren’t a lot of brown and white dogs with huge floppy ears.”
“Go the Ladybug route then? Épagneul.”
“I’ll consider it,” Sabrina said, in a tone that said she definitely wouldn’t. “Why does it matter, anyway? I’m not keeping the Miraculous. Nobody’s even going to see me, hopefully.”
“LADYBUG AND CHAT NOIR!” a furious voice screeched.
“Uh,” Carapace said as they both skidded to a halt. “Hold that thought.”