The school was in a state of pure panic. As I sprinted through the halls, my Apex Instinct was bombarded with the sounds of slamming lockers and teenagers crying. But it wasn't just the noise—it was the smell. Fear has a scent. It's sharp, like vinegar, and right now, the school was soaked in it.
I found a deserted janitor's closet and slammed the door.
"Axel, I'm still seeing double," I whispered, clutching my head. My eyes were picking up the heat signatures of people through the walls while simultaneously trying to look at the mop in front of me. It was like my brain was a computer trying to run too many programs at once.
"That's because you're fighting it!" Axel hissed, floating out of my pocket. "Zero gave you the Apex Instinct, but you're treating it like a curse. Stop trying to look with your eyes. Look with your mind. The Wolf doesn't get overwhelmed by the forest; he owns the forest."
I took a shaky breath. I thought about my old life—sitting on my couch, watching this episode on a screen. In the show, Ivan gets akumatized again because of Kim's teasing. But here, the air felt heavier. The stakes were real.
"I'm ready," I said, my voice hardening. "Axel, Let's Hunt!"
The silver light washed over me, and the sensory pain vanished instantly. The suit acted like a filter, turning the chaotic noise into a tactical map. I wasn't just Finn anymore. I was a predator.
I leaped out the vent and scaled the roof of the school. Looking across Paris, my heart sank. There weren't just one Stoneheart—there were dozens. Hundreds. Everywhere people were standing still, turned into stone statues, waiting for the original Ivan to wake up.
"It's happening," I muttered. "Ladybug didn't purify the Akuma yesterday. She forgot."
I caught a flash of red on a nearby rooftop. Ladybug was there, looking down at the stone statues with a face full of guilt. Cat Noir landed beside her, trying to cheer her up. I could hear their conversation from blocks away as if I were standing right there.
"I'm not cut out for this," I heard Ladybug sob. "I made a mistake!"
"Then fix it," I said, landing silently behind them.
Both heroes jumped a foot in the air. Cat Noir nearly fell off the roof, his tail lashing in surprise.
"Wolf-guy! Don't do that!" Cat Noir panted, clutching his chest. "My heart can't take the jump-scares."
"White Fang," I corrected him. I looked at Ladybug. Her eyes were red. My Apex Instinct picked up her rapid pulse—she was spiraling. "You made a mistake. Everyone does. But look at those statues. They're waiting for a leader. If you quit, they stay like that forever."
"But I—" she started.
"No 'buts,'" I interrupted, my wolf-ears flickering as I heard a thundering roar from the Eiffel Tower. "The original Stoneheart is at the Tower. He's got Alya Césaire and Chloe Bourgeois. If we don't move now, Paris becomes a graveyard of rocks. Are you a hero, or just a girl in a costume?"
My words were harsh, but I knew she needed a push. Ladybug gripped her yo-yo, her expression shifting from fear to determination. "I'm a hero. Let's go."
We moved across the city like a pack. I was the fastest, my Immortal Pulse giving me a bottomless well of stamina. I took the lead, sniffing the air for the acrid scent of the dark butterflies.
When we reached the Eiffel Tower, it was a nightmare. A cloud of thousands of Akumas swirled in the sky, forming the face of Hawk Moth.
"People of Paris!" the voice boomed, shaking the very ground. "I am Hawk Moth! Bring me the Miraculouses of the Ladybug and the Cat!"
"And the Wolf?" Cat Noir joked, though his voice wavered. "Guess you're not on his Christmas list yet, Fang."
"I prefer it that way," I said, my Sixth Sense suddenly screaming. "Incoming!"
Stoneheart began throwing police cars at us. I didn't wait. I leaped into the air, my strength magnified by the suit. I caught a car mid-flight, the weight slamming into my shoulders. My bones groaned, but the Immortal Pulse instantly reinforced my muscles. I redirected the car, landing it safely away from the crowd.
"Cat, get to the top! Ladybug, get ready to capture that cloud!" I yelled.
I charged Stoneheart head-on. He swung a massive fist, but my Sixth Sense made him look like he was moving in slow motion. I slid between his legs, climbed up his back, and used my claws to grip his rocky hide.
"Hey, Pebble-head!" I roared. "Look at me!"
He roared back, trying to grab me, but I was too fast. I was the distraction, weaving in and out of his reach while Ladybug and Cat Noir got into position.
Then, the moment came. Stoneheart climbed to the very top, holding Chloe and Alya. He was about to fall.
"Now!" I screamed.
Ladybug dived, catching the girls. Cat Noir used his staff to extend our reach. But the cloud of Akumas was escaping.
"I can't catch them all!" Ladybug cried, swinging her yo-yo through the black swarm.
"I've got you!" I yelled. I tapped into the deeper power Axel had told me about. I didn't have a 'Lucky Charm,' but I had The Howl.
I took a deep breath, feeling the air fill my lungs, and let out a primal, ultrasonic roar. The sound waves rippled through the air, stunning the Akumas and knocking them toward Ladybug's spinning yo-yo.
"Gotcha!" she yelled, capturing the darkness.
As the "Miraculous Ladybug" fix-it light exploded across Paris, turning the stone statues back into people, I stood on the edge of the Eiffel Tower's girders. I felt a wave of exhaustion hit me. My healing factor was working overtime to fix the internal bruising from the car I caught.
"We did it," Ladybug said, landing next to me. She looked at me with a new level of respect. "You... you're really amazing, White Fang. Your roar... it saved us."
"We're a pack," I said, though my voice was tired. I looked down at the city. My family was still gone, and I was still a dead boy in a strange world, but for the first time, I felt like I belonged here.
"Pound it?" Cat Noir asked, holding out his fist.
I smiled under my mask and tapped my fist against theirs. "Pound it."
My ring beeped. "I have to go," I said. "See you at school... I mean, see you around."
I turned and leaped into the night, my senses already searching for the quietest path home. I still had a lot to learn about being a Wolf, but the hunt was just getting started.