Miraculous Ultra Adventures: Ladybug, Chat Noir, and Ultraman Tiga
Disclaimer: I do not own Ultraman Tiga or Miraculous. Ultraman Tiga belongs to Tsubaraya and Miraculous to Zagtoons.
Chapter 1: Arrival
Paris, France
Dupain-Cheng Bakery
Marinette Dupain-Cheng hummed to herself happily as she made her hair into her trademark twin pigtails. She was in a happy mood as she resolved to herself what she was going to do today.
Her cute little red kwami, Tikki landed on her shoulder. "You're very happy this morning, Marinette," she chirped.
Marinette smiled down at her little alien friend and source of her power as Paris' Ladybug. "Today's my date with Adrien, Tikki!" She twirled around in jubilee. "It's finally happening!"
Marinette's eyes sparkled as she went on. "We'll share a smoothie while cruising on the Seine, then we'll look out the Effiel Tower, fall deeper in love and get married and have three kids and a hamster! So romantic!"
Tikki sweat-dropped as she watched Marinette fantasize and dance around in glee. If only she knew about Adrien's other Miraculous personality... and as Ladybug, she only tolerated his alter ego's puns.
Agreste Mansion
Adrien Agreste was in high spirits. He had finally gotten his father's permission for a weekend date with his crush Marinette. It was rare for Adrien to have such freedom, yet Gabriel Agreste seemed to have taken a liking to the up and coming girl fashion designer.
His pet kwami, Plagg was feasting on a block of his favorite Camembert cheese as he watched Adrien change into his signature Agreste brand outfit. "I've never seen you this excited to get out of the house," Plagg remarked.
"Are you kidding, Plagg?" Adrien jumped around all dreamy-eyed, "I've been waiting to date the most beautiful and kindest girl in high school ever!" While their first meeting at College Francoise Dupont was a rocky start, the two had eventually grown infatuated with one another. Even Gabriel Agreste, Adrien's stern and strict father seemed to have taken a liking to Marinette after her success in the derby competition.
"Well you have Pigtails, while I enjoy my Camembert here," Plagg remarked as he took another large bite, "just keep me out of the mushy stuff."
"Well like it or not, you're coming with me," Adrien gestured towards his jacket pocket. Plagg rolled his eyes and flew into the pocket, as would be typical of hiding kwamis.
As Adrien was about to leave his room, he was greeted by his father, Gabriel Agreste. The man had a tall white hairdo with glasses framing his icy, stone face. Adrien's smile quickly vanished as he was faced with this stern presence of a father. "Father," Adrien said with a slight bow, "I'm heading off now."
Gabriel seemed to give a faint smile of approval, but quickly assumed his serious, commanding persona. "Very well, Adrien," he said with little hint of open affection, "after you have finished with your courtship with Ms. Dupain-Cheng, please return here on time. You still have your homework to do and photoshoots to schedule."
"Yes father," while Adrien was happy that his father approved his dating Marinette, he had to resist the urge to roll his eyes to be so business-like all the time even on weekends. "I promise I will be back." With that, Adrien walked down the stairs to the foyer leading out of the mansion. After the double-doors closed, Gabriel called his assistant, "Nathalie." The dark blue/red-headed woman with glasses came out of the shadows up to Gabriel.
"Yes sir?" Nathalie asked, obedient as usual.
"Keep an eye out for my son, and stay out of sight," Gabriel ordered.
"Understood." With that, Nathalie vanished through another door.
Elsewhere in Paris
It was a quiet day so far, as people went about their daily lives, confident that their heroes, Ladybug and Chat Noir were out there somewhere watching over them whenever Hawkmoth's evilizing akumas threatened harm.
However...
"Help, someone catch him!" A young man yelled as he and his female partner ran after a pram rolling downhill.
"Our baby! Save our baby!" The woman screamed as her two-year-plus-old son in the stroller was carried along helplessly by gravity. The stroller suddenly rolled into a busy street to the horror of the parents and bystanders, with cars narrowly missing it. Unfortunately, the stroller began to slow, with another car braking hard to stop, but not having the distance to avoid hitting the helpless child in it.
"NO!" The woman screamed as the car was about to crash into the stroller. suddenly, there was a streak of black as it rushed the stroller and snatched the clothed bundle within just as the stroller was struck and sent toppling over.
The young mother and father almost despaired, only to be shocked as the apparent speedy rescuer jumped and landed on the other side safely with the blanketed bundle in his arms. With the cars all stopped, they rushed to the opposite curb. The rescuer was a young man who looked to be in his twenties and of Asian descent. His smooth brown hair and dark aviator shades accented his youthful, strong face, and he was wearing a black leather jacket zipped up halfway with a white shirt underneath, grey khakis, and black aviator boots.
The mysterious man turned towards the couple with the bundle, and with a smooth gesture, pulled back part of the blanket to reveal their crying, but alive little boy underneath. The woman gasped and cried in relief as the man handed him back to her. "My boy... it's alright," she cooed as she cradled him.
The young father clasped his hands in gratitude. "Merci, kind stranger. Thank you for saving our son."
The young man just nodded a silent acknowledgement, and turned to walk away. The other people around him stared in astonishment at him, seeing the apparent superhuman burst of speed he used to avoid the traffic.
After walking some distance away from the scene, the young mystery man stopped in a nearby park. Seeing that no one else was paying attention to him, he tilted his aviators up, exposing his brown eyes.
"So... Daigo," he muttered to himself, "this is Paris... and yet no sign of that mechanical monster..."
Daigo then felt the warmth of his prized possession underneath his jacket near his heart. He opened it just slightly to see the Sparklence glow in its pocket holster. "There is... a strong aura to this place... both light and darkness..." Whatever it was, it was making the Sparklence sensitive.
Marinette froze up just as she felt her Miraculous Ladybug earrings tingle. She had just finished her breakfast when the tingle started.
"Marinette?" Her mother Sabine called behind her when she saw her daughter freeze at the bakery door, "Marinette?"
The teen girl suddenly snapped out of it. "Mom?"
"Are you okay?" Sabine asked.
"You just froze up, honey," Marinette's giant dad, Tom noticed.
"I-I'm okay!" Marinette quickly defended, "I just just struck by the sunshine!" She pretend laughed as she quickly stepped outside. She stood a few feet away from the bakery, then looked into her handbag. "Tikki?" The cute red alien being looked up at Marinette.
"You felt that too, Marinette?" Tikki asked.
"Yeah- wait, you felt it, Tikki?" Marinette questioned.
"Yeah... it's a powerful presence," Tikki answered.
"You... you don't think Hawkmoth is up to something!?" Marinette whispered back as she looked around carefully.
"No," Tikki seemed surprised, "it's a light... yet it feels familiar..."
Marinette had to wonder what it was.
Adrien's eyes widened as he stiffened up in his car's passenger seat. There was a strong tingle coming from his Miraculous Black Cat ring. One moment he was fantasizing about himself and Marinette in the park, now he felt something powerful.
Gorilla looked back at him, wondering what was up with Adrien. Adrien quickly answered, "I'm alright, it's nothing." Gorilla just nodded and refocused on the road.
"Psssst!" Adrien whispered to Plagg. "Plagg?"
"You felt that too, kitten?" Plagg asked.
"Yeah... what was that?" Adrien asked.
"Whatever it was it..." Plagg seemed to be uncharacteristically tongue-tied, "... it's strangely familiar?"
"Familiar? You do know what it is?" Adrien blinked.
Plagg groaned and just took a bite out of his Camembert bit. "All this is giving me a headache that makes me hunger more." That made Adrien facepalm. Gorilla thought Adrien was acting a bit nervous and weird, but kept driving.
Gabriel clutched his chest where his hidden butterfly brooch suddenly began to tingle. "What is this warm feeling?"
Using the miraculous' empath senses to make sure no one else was nearby, Gabriel decided to summon his kwami. "Nooroo."
The light purple kwami of empathy floated from his hiding place. "Master," Nooroo greeted, "you must have felt that too."
"Too?" Gabriel raised an eyebrow, "then surely you must know what is causing the miraculous to tingle."
Nooroo gave an apologetic headshake. "Sadly no," he answered, "but yet... this warmth feels familiar somehow."
"How so?" Gabriel probed, "what would be so familiar and powerful enough to do that? Another miraculous?"
"No... forgive me, Master," Nooroo bowed, "for whatever reason, it is difficult to remember."
Gabriel huffed. Whatever it was, this presence was an unknown, and this master planner hated unknowns and wildcards. He rose and went to the family portrait behind his desk. Pressing on a hidden button, Gabriel opened the elevator down to his secret lair. He and Nooroo descended into the dimly-lit lair of Gabriel's alterego, Hawkmoth.
Daigo sat under a park tree as he worked his GUTS PDI. He was scanning for any traces of Cyber Melba, but there were none.
However, Daigo was picking up strong traces of light and dark energies from powerful beings throughout different spots in Paris.
'Not Ultramen,' Daigo realized, 'but something similar nonetheless.' He then felt the pulse of his Sparklence again next to his chest. He lightly touched his jacket where it rested. 'And the Sparklence is reacting to it...'
Hawkmoth's Lair
Gabriel Agreste was surrounded by the magical butterflies that were the by-product of the Butterfly Miraculous. He found the butterflies glowing a bit brighter, and they were fluttering around more wildly than usual. This bothered Gabriel. Whatever this presence was, it was causing a disturbance. "Whatever this meddling interference is, I shall find it."
The fashion designer with a villainous alter-ego then called his kwami. "Nooroo, I ask again... are you sure that you do not know what this presence is?"
"I cannot lie to you, Master," Nooroo was submissive, "whatever this power is, I have no strong recollection. This made Gabriel huff.
"Very well then, I will have to do this my way..." Gabriel raised his hands.
"Master..." Nooroo tried to advise, but was cut off.
"Nooroo, dark wings unfold!" Nooroo was sucked into the butterfly brooch, which glowed with a sinister purple before flashing and engulfing Gabriel. When the dark light flash subsided, he was now in his cape and cowledpersona as Paris' archvillain, the notorious Hawkmoth.
With an evil confident smirk, Hawkmoth held out a hand. "Come forth butterfly!" One of the white butterflies fluttered into his gloved hands as he infused it with his dark energy. "Go forth," he commanded, "and find this bothersome light!" He opened the window of his observatory and the akuma flew out. It then homed in on the general location of the light aura Hawkmoth was feeling.
Marinette jumped up as Adrien's car pulled up to the curb. "It's Adrien!" Marinette scrambled her arms to her sides, trying to compose herself.
Tikki gave a smile up from Marinette's purse. "You can do it," she whispered encouragement, "just relax! Adrien will like you!"
Marinette flashed a quick smile before looking up to see Adrien's window lowering. "Hi there, Marinette," Adrien greeted with a beaming model smile.
"Well... hi," Marinette gave a shy smile and wave.
Adrien popped the door open and stepped out, he gave a gentlemanly bow and said, "after you, Madame."
Marinette blushed at Adrien's gesture, but she got into the car. She got a feel for the soft felt seat of the luxury car. "This is nice..."
Adrien chuckled as he got back into the car. "Glad you like it, princess." He closed the door behind him. "I'm happy that we get to be like this at last."
"Me too, Adrien..." Marinette expressed, "a beautiful day out together..."
"And who better to spend it with," Adrien beamed.
"Who?" Marinette asked.
Adrien chuckled again. "You of course!" That elicited another blush from the pigtailed girl.
As the car pulled away, little did the two friends know that a certain blonde diva was spying on them from another street corner. Seething with jealously, she huffed and stormed off back to her limo.
Daigo watched as couples and families picked their spots around the grassy park. He was in the Place des Voges, trying to get a sense of the place. While had been trying to track down Cyber Melba, he had no such luck. Sooner or later, he would have to fly out and resume an aerial search.
He glanced down at his arms and body. Daigo... it had been such a long time since he had gone by this human form and name. It would have been over two decades back in his home dimension since he was Daigo Madoka, now living a separate and married life on Mars. Since then, he had been travelling the cosmos and the multiverse. While his presence as Ultraman Tiga was no longer needed in his home dimension, the wandering giant of light nonetheless resolved to defend his home and other worlds by helping the Ultra Garrison of the Land of Light maintain order, freedom, and justice across the multiverse.
Tiga traced a powerful and familiar dark presence to this dimension. While it was fuzzy as to what occurred during his flight into this world, upon reawakening from his rest, he pursued Cyber Melba towards the coast of France and lost him in the storm. It was unknown who had created this cyborg version of one of the ancient beasts from his world, but the Ultra in human form could already guess that this enemy of his had some advanced technology at his disposal.
Daigo clenched his fists. Whoever this enemy was, he was smart to hide on this world. There was a saturation of numerous dark and light energy auras, and some traces of very powerful auras that made it difficult to narrow down his targets. As such, he was forced to limit his Ultra senses to his more immediate vicinities to focus and not suffer information overload. Perhaps in time, Daigo could tune his senses to better cope with the unique energies of this world, but now he was reduced to localized intelligence gathering.
Daigo pulled out his GUTS PDI again. He manipulated the new touchscreen on the device as he began to enquire about two superheroes that had graced this world's Paris with their presence. Ladybug and Chat Noir.
Daigo clicked on an article on a site called the 'Ladyblog' by one Alya Cesaire. He clicked on an article explaining who the two are. It appeared that they were magical superheroes who were either teenagers or young adults whose powers came from jewels they called the Miraculous. Ladybug was a female, and Chat Noir male, and true to their names their costumes and powers resembled that of their respective animal motifs. Ladybug brought good luck and healing to her allies and the city around her, while Chat Noir was agile and destructive like the black cat of bad luck for their enemies. Their enemy was a mysterious villain known only as Hawkmoth, who used butterflies of darkness called akuma to possess his victims into powerful unwilling agents of evil to terrorize the city and go after this superhero duo.
Daigo mused over this information... so this world had heroes whose characteristics resembled that of Ultramen in a way. Could this Hawkmoth character be the source of this darkness that he was pursuing? If so, then it was up to him to investigate, and if need be neutralize this Hawkmoth before he could become a threat to the universe and the multiverse. As Ultraman Tiga, it was his duty to oppose darkness in its various forms, kaiju, seijin, and even human.
Daigo got up from the bench he was sitting on and started to walk. As he did he felt a sudden spike in dark energy. The Ultra in human disguise went on the alert as he honed his senses for this spike. He went behind a tree and scanned the area.
It was then that Daigo saw it, and unusually dark purple butterfly. It flew above and in front of him before hovering in place. Daigo narrowed his eyes. It was small and deceptively enchanting as it glowed, and despite its size, Daigo felt a powerful dark energy from this being. This, he knew, must be the butterfly of darkness called the akuma that Hawkmoth used. Daigo and the akuma stared each other down.
Suddenly, there was the angry shout of a little boy. "I wanna have Monsieur Andre's ice cream!" Daigo's gaze snapped over to see the boy screaming at his parents.
"Now young man, that is no way to behave in a park!" The mom scolded.
"You are not getting ice cream because of that attitude," the dad followed up, "you keep running off when we tell you not to!"
"No!" The boy screamed as he tried to run away, only to be caught by his dad.
The dark butterfly then suddenly darted away from Daigo and towards the boy as a source of negative emotions. The dad fought to restrain his misbehaving son, not noticing the coming danger. However, the mother saw it darting for the boy, and she screamed. The father looked up, but he was too late to react as the akuma tried to go for the boy's toy in his little hands.
Suddenly Daigo rushed forward with an incredible burst of speed. Just as the akuma seemed about to land on the boy, Daigo swiped it with his bare hand. The akuma let out a burst of particles as Daigo crushed it. As he opened his hand, the black crushed remains of the dark butterfly fell from it in pieces.
The parents and the naughty boy were stunned into silence. The boy was rendered silent by what nearly happened to him, while the father held him close as he looked up at the good Samaritan who just saved his son from being Hawkmoth's next minion. "T-thank you, Monsieur..."
"You... you crushed that akuma?" The mother could not believe what had happened. She was both relieved and surprised that someone other than Ladybug had saved her son by actually destroying the akuma.
Daigo just gave a silent nod to the family, before turning away.
Hawkmoth's Lair
Hawkmoth's eyes snapped open in shock at what just happened. "He destroyed my akuma!?" He sensed this presence crushing his magical evilizing butterfly like it was nothing. Whatever, or whoever it was, exhibited extraordinary power and speed to have destroyed the akuma before it could possess a host. He clenched his teeth. This was an interloper he was dealing with, and he was not about to have an interloper in his war with Ladybug and Chat Noir.
Hawkmoth now decided that whoever it was, he was going to up the ante. "Two butterflies! Now!" He summoned two more butterflies down into his palm. "If one is not enough, I will double the pressure!" He infused the two butterflies with his dark energy. "Now go my evil little akumas, and evilize some broken hearts! Destroy the interloper!" He opened the window again to let his two new akumas fly out.
"And it will be a bonus to draw out Ladybug and Chat Noir on a Saturday..."
Place des Voges
"We're here, Marinette," Adrien cheered as he led his date into the square-shaped wooded park.
"It's so bright today..." Marinette murmured as she relaxed into Adrien's arm, "and so warm..." She breathed in Adrien's fresh scent.
"Warm, eh?" Adrien gave Marinette a cheeky grin as he felt her.
"Warm? Gah!" Marinette suddenly stiffened up as her shyness kicked in. She felt sheepish as a blush came on. "I mean, a warm park- warm sun- warm day! Warm day!"
Adrien had a slight tinge of pink to his cheeks. While Marinette thought it was embarassing, he thought that she looked a little cute being flustered.
The two walked together in silence as they took in the sights of the park. Marinette was still blushing as she walked close to Adrien. Her head swam with thoughts about him, and how they were out together.
"So..." Marinette began, "how are things at home?"
Adrien gave a smile that indicated some hopefulness. "It's quiet and subdued as usual, but at least Dad lets me go out more often whenever I don't have private lessons or photoshoots." He then tilted his head. "And how are you doing with your parents and bakery?"
Marinette beamed. "My parents are very happy for me at school," she expressed, "and their bakery has been having the best summer ever!" Marinette twirled around, "and you wouldn't believe how popular our strawberry macarons are!"
Adrien chuckled at his date's cheeriness. "Sounds like I should try one sometime, when my dietician gives me a break," he laughed.
"I'm sure he will," Marinette remarked, "they're sweet, but they don't really have that much sugar to them, just some natural strawberry jam."
Little did the both of them know that they were being stalked by the jealous blonde diva of Paris, Chloe Bourgeois. She heard from her friend Sabrina that Adrien was going out with Marinette, and that made her very mad. "Adrikins is mine..." she seethed. She continued to follow them from behind at a distance.
Daigo was now on high alert. He felt the burst of darkness from that butterfly was quite strong for something that small. No doubt that this Hawkmoth character would respond in some fashion, and he needed to be ready. First... he needed to get away from these civilians. He checked his jacket for his weapons... one GUTS Hyper Blaster, and more importantly, the Sparklence. He was prepared for whatever fight came his way.
However, Daigo's Ultra senses buzzed again. This time, it was a warm tingle versus the cold chill from the dark butterfly. He turned about to see what it was... then he saw the two sources... a certain blond boy and a dark blue-haired girl with pigtails. He saw bright auras that silhouetted their forms in his vision. He stared at the two teens. 'It is them,' his Ultra senses and Ultra Vision allowed him to see that they were the same Chat Noir and Ladybug that he saw in the articles on the Ladyblog. They were without their masks, but his clarity of sense and mind allowed him to see through.
'Chat Noir and Ladybug... this world's Paris' superheroes,' Daigo thought to himself. Perhaps he should approach them discreetly to enlist their aid against Hawkmoth. He was about to approach when he felt yet another spike of darkness. Daigo tensed up. 'So Hawkmoth is not finished yet...' He went behind a tree and did a check on his GUTS Hyper. If Hawkmoth was after him or these two, he needed to be ready to fight.
However, while Adrien and Marinette were enjoying their time, Chloe Bourgeois was making her own plans to ruin the date. Chloe continued to follow them until she saw that Andre's ice cream cart was nearby. Chloe saw that the ice cream maker had his back turned to his cart. Seeing an opportunity, she started to form a devious plan. She produced a vial of hot pepper flakes and snuck up to the ice cream cart. Ducking out of sight behind it, Chloe laughed evilly as she dumped the vial into the vanilla tub. "Sorry Adrikins... but I've got a date to bust with Mari-trash," she snickered. Having spiced up Adrien's favorite flavor of ice cream she pretended to walk by like nothing was happening.
After Chloe had gotten out of sight, Marinette then pointed to Andre's ice cream cart. "Hey, that's Andre with his ice cream!"
Adrien gave Marinette a smile. "How about we go cool off with some vanilla ice cream, with a mix of strawberry?"
"Oh Adrien... mixing both our favorite flavors," Marinette forgot her shyness with a sense of dreaminess. The two started over towards Andre's ice cream cart.
However, it was another couple that made it over first. Aurore Beaureal was out with her new boyfriend, Jean Duparc. Andre turned around and saw Jean and Aurore walking over. With a beaming smile, Andre asked, "why hello there, you lovely couple! How may I serve you both this fine Saturday?"
"I'd like to get a vanilla for my pretty whirlwind here," Jean ordered in a gentlemanly tone with a theatrical bow, drawing giggles from Aurore, "she could use some cooling off."
"Oh you silly magician," Aurore teased, "and please get Jean here a fresh mint, Monsieur Andre."
Andre thought that these two looked cute together, and it always brought a smile to his face to serve a couple in a budding romance. "Then let me help with that, Monsieur and Madame. One vanilla and one mint!" He scooped up and served the vanilla to Aurore, then the mint to Jean. "Enjoy!"
Aurore happily took a lick from the vanilla cone. However, she suddenly stiffened up as she tasted something wrong. Her face reddened and started to sweat.
"Aurore?" Jean noticed, "you okay?"
Aurore dropped the cone and screamed "HOOOOOTTTTT!" She jumped and screamed as her face and tongue burned.
Marinette and Adrien were walking towards Andre's cart when they saw Aurore screaming and running around. "That's Aurore," Marinette recognized, "the backup weather girl from TV."
"What's going on?" Adrien alson wondered aloud.
"Aurore!" Jean dropped his cone as he worriedly ran after and caught her. Her face was red, and she looked like she was having a serious headache.
"Ha... ha... that hurts..." the blonde pig-tailed beauty tried to fan herself with her tongue stuck out. Jean kindly helped her to a bench under a shade and rested her on it. Aurore did not look well at all as she suffered from the spiked vanilla.
Jean then spun around and stormed back up to Andre. "What did you put in that ice cream!"
Andre was also confused and distressed. He looked into the vanilla tub, and his confusion grew. "Hey! Who put hot pepper flakes into my vanilla ice cream!?"
Jean then pointed a finger straight in Andre's face. "I want my euros back. You hurt my new girlfriend!"
"It's not my fault, I promise!" Andre defended himself.
"That means little when my whirlwind is suffering right now!" Jean pointed down at the spiked vanilla. "You and your ice cream suck," Jean bit in his anger.
Unfortunately that had the effect of getting Andre upset. "Now young man, you take that back!"
Adrien and Marinette watched uncomfortably as Jean and Andre yelled at each other. Marinette then saw two dark purple little specks fly towards the two. Her eyes widened in horror. "Oh no..."
Daigo felt the two spikes of darkness and drew his blaster gun as he rushed out from behind a tree. A few bystanders gasped in shock at the sight of Daigo running with a gun. The superhuman host saw the two akuma butterflies fly towards Jean and Andre at high speeds. "Get down!" He pointed his GUTS Hyper and fired.
"Marinette!" Adrien yelled as he grabbed his date and hit the ground, putting himself over her to shield her at the sound of a laser gun firing. Marinette had some wind knocked from her in surprise at Adrien's sudden burst of strength. The both of them looked up to see a mysterious man in aviator shades and black leather jacket firing some sort of blaster gun at the two akuma. The two butterflies dodged the blaster shots and zipped towards their new victims. One akuma went into Andre's ice cream scoop, while the other went into Jean's playing cards hanging out of his vest.
Jean and Andre screamed as they clutched their heads and the infamous butterfly hologram mask appeared over their faces. It was then that Hawkmoth's evil voice came into their heads. "Jean Duparc and Ice Cream-Maker Andre... you two have mutual anger over being wronged over ice cream this Saturday... I hereby commission the both of you to find the latest interloper in my battle with the Ladybug and the Black Cat!"
Aurore was on the bench recovering from her spice attack when she saw her boyfriend and the ice cream maker get hit with akumas and engulfed in dark purple smoke. She forgot her heat and pain in the gut feeling of horror that welled up in her. "Oh no... please heaven no," Aurore screamed as her boyfriend came out as the Magician of Misfortune for the second time and Andre turned into Glaciator again. "Jean, no!" Aurore cried in despair.
"Magician of Misfortune ready for an encore!"
"Time to put the chill on this day for Hawkmoth!"
People screamed and ran away at the sight of Glaciator and Magician. The Magician shot out his magic flying cards that exploded into magic ice that froze things into place. Glaciator went about blasting the area and people with his ice cream balls. The Place des Voges became a scene of pandemonium.
The family that Daigo helped earlier came under attack from Magician's freezing cards as they ran for their lives. The wife then tripped and fell. "Mommy!" The son cried. The father spun around and tried to help his wife up, only to see an ice card fly towards them. A laser blast suddenly flashed and caused the card to shatter.
Daigo fired his GUTS Hyper rapidly with composed aim and control as he fired on the ice cream balls and magic cards to cover people running away. Normally impossible for most humans, his Ultra senses and reflexes allowed him to blast the magic projectiles with incredible precision.
"W-who is that!?" Marinette was perplexed at who this dark-colored stranger was. He ran and leapt about with inhuman speed and precision as he avoided the cards and balls, shooting back at Magician and Glaciator with unparalleled accuracy. Adrien saw Daigo and was amazed as well.
"Who are you? How dare you interrupt my magic show!" Magician took his top hat off and summoned a miniature snowstorm blast. Daigo quickly rolled to the side, dodging it. He then fired two blasts of the GUTS Hyper, hitting him in his suit.
"Have a treat to cool off, why don't you?" Glaciator mocked as he unleashed another volley. Daigo quickly ran for cover, and continued to shoot. The laser strikes exploded against Glaciator's ice cream body.
"I don't know, Marinette, but this is our chance to run!" Adrien lifted Marinette up and pushed her ahead. "Go," he urged her, "and don't look back!"
Marinette wanted to, but knew that she had to get out of sight to transform with Tikki. Little did she know that Adrien had the same thought with Plagg and split off behind her.
Daigo ducked behind one of the trees and ejected a spent cartridge and reloaded. He then glanced towards both Marinette and Adrien as they split up... to transform he guessed. If they were going in opposite directions, it meant that neither knew the other was also a hero. 'So neither of them actually know each other,' Daigo shook his head before leaning from behind the tree and taking more shots. Glaciator roared as he sustained more explosive shots.
Marinette ran behind one of the cars around the park and looked into her purse where Tikki was. "Tikki! There's some strange man shooting at those two Akumas!"
Tikki rose up and seemed to stare off where the fighting was still going on, with Glaciator roaring angrily with laser fire and explosions. "That man..." Tikki said, "there's something about him..."
Marinette also wondered what it was about that mystery man that would elicit such a reaction from Tikki. She shook her head though, as she refocused. "Nevermind, we have some Akumas to purify. Tikki, spots on!" The both of them flashed red, leaving Marinette in her mask and Miraculous skin suit as the famed Ladybug.
On the other side of the park, Adrien ducked behind a bench and let Plagg out of his jacket. "Hey kitten," Plagg sounded excited, "did you notice something about that man?"
"Yeah," Adrien was breathless as sounds of laser fire and explosions continued to ring out, "like how he's dodging and shooting at two Akumas without so much as a Miraculous on him?"
"That," Plagg said as he gazed off in that direction, "but there's something he reminds me of..."
"Well, we can think about it later," Adrien flashed his Miraculous ring, "Plagg, claws out!" With a flash of green, he became the nimble black-suited Chat Noir. He jumped into the trees and leapt back towards the fight.
Daigo fired off tri-bursts from his new cartridge at Magician and Glaciator, the shots impacting their bodies/suits, but recovering quickly nonetheless to retaliate. Seeing that he was at a disadvantage, Daigo pulled a canister from his jacket, ripped the safety pin off, and flung the grenade at the akuma duo. There was a bright flash with a deafening bang sounding, catching the villains off guard. When they got their senses back, Daigo had vanished from sight.
"Now where did he go!?" Magician asked as he looked around. The possessed boy Magician glared up at the akuma ice cream man. "Find him you oversized dairy snowman!"
"Don't be barking orders to me, boy!" Glaciator retorted.
"Jean!" Aurore got up from her hiding place and ran up to Magician. "Please stop this and come to your senses!"
Magician looked to Aurore with a wily smirk. "Oh my princess," he flew next to her, startling the poor blonde girl, "while I'm not quite the old Jean, I am deeply sorry about this morning's atrocity." Magician took Aurore by the hand. "Let me make it up to you with a magic trick that shall create a winter wonderland of your dreams!"
Aurore blushed slightly at the way the possessed Jean Duparc was behaving, but the spell dissipated with the gravity of her boyfriend's situation. "Please Jean, this is not really what you want. Hawkmoth is messing with you again!"
"Oh Aurore," Magician shook his head, "he's given me powers and clarity to help remake this park into a wonderful icy masterpiece on his hot Saturday! Just let me find out who the interloper is, get the Ladybug earrings and Black Cat ring to him, and you and I will have a magical show unlike any other!"
"Magician, I know that you are in love," Glaciator boomed, "but now is not the time."
"Shut up, let me have my moment!" Magician barked back. Suddenly, a familiar yoyo slammed into the side of his head.
"Well sorry to break it up for you!" Ladybug appeared as her yoyo returned to her.
"Ladybug!" Aurore was relieved to see the eponymous hero of Paris.
"And don't forget everyone's favorite feline!" Chat Noir jumped down from the trees, "things may not be so 'chill' right now, but Milady and I can turn up the 'heat'!"
Ladybug had to roll her eyes at her partner's proclivity for stupid puns. "Less punning and more de-evilizing, Chat." The two then got into a fighting stance.
"So you two finally decide to show your faces," Magician rubbed his head and readjusted his top hat, "my getting your Miraculous will be my finest act for dear Aurore and Hawkmoth!" He summoned some magic cards and flung them at the duo.
"I hate to do this to a couple," Glaciator shook his head, "but an Akuma's got to do what he's gotta do!" He raised his arms. "I promise I will not turn you into ice cream, just freeze you both long enough for us to relieve you of those jewels."
"Oh no you won't!" Ladybug retorted as she and Chat jumped back from the combined attacks.
Daigo observed the fight as he held his GUTS Hyper at ready. 'So they are Chat Noir and Ladybug...' he thought as he saw the duo dodge the icy attacks. He then looked to see Aurore on the ground, apparently stunned. 'Civilian in the way.'
Ladybug could not get close with the barrage that Magician and Glaciator were putting up. Chat Noir himself was jumping from tree to tree as the blasts coated them in ice or frozen dairy. "Sheesh," Chat Noir groaned, "you two should 'cool' it with the artillery!"
"Cool this, you mangy cat!" Magician spat as he summoned a giant ice cube in the air and nearly smashed Chat with it.
Ladybug then spotted that Aurore was on the ground near to Magician. "I've got to get her away from here!" She dove for Aurore to try and push her away from the fight.
"Gotcha!" Glaciator went for a grab at Ladybug, forcing her to jump sideways to avoid his grip.
"Milady, look out!" Chat jumped in front of Ladybug and spun his baton to deflect several ice cream balls. He and Ladybug were pinned down as he could not move without either of them getting hit.
"Got you both now!" Magician summoned his magician's stick and fired an ice blast, freezing the Miraculous duo from the waist down to the ground. Aurore gasped as she saw the two heroes immobilized.
"I can't move!" Chat Noir grunted, "and so c-cold!"
"Ugh!" Ladybug tried to raise her yoyo to smash the ice, but Glaciator shot the weapon out of her hand. "No getting out of this one, Ladybug," Glaciator told her. The dread of defeat suddenly dawned on Ladybug as she and Chat were stuck together by two Akumas outflanking the both of them.
"Now... to relieve the both of you of your Miraculous jewels," Magician approached with a bow.
Daigo saw that the two superheroes of Paris were frozen together, and Magician was approaching the duo. With his enhanced hearing, he overheard Magician talking about taking their Miraculous jewels from them. No doubt for whatever reason, these Akuma were to take them to their master Hawkmoth.
'Not if I can stop them.' Daigo holstered his GUTS Hyper into his jacket. Snatching off his shades with his left hand, his right hand reached for his Sparklence. With the flex of his arms and a swing of his right hand, he pressed the device to his chest and opened the Sparklence. The wand shone with an Ultra brilliance.
"I'm sorry, Milady..." Chat Noir closed his eyes in regret. Ladybug shook her head, thinking of how she let Adrien and the rest of Paris down.
"Drah!" A purple-blue and red figure with silver highlights shot through the trees and delivered a punch to the Magician of Misfortune, sending him flying into a building. The figure then spun around and hit Glaciator with a blue energy blast from his hand. Glaciator stumbled with a groan from the attack.
Ladybug and Chat Noir opened their eyes to see their would-be savior. He was taller than them at a herculean adult height of over 170 centimeters. The apparent man had a red, purple-blue, and silver body with a sort of silver and gold mantle around his shoulders and back. When he turned around, they saw that his face was a silver mask or helmet with bright white eyes and a smooth top-crested head. The mantle reached toward the front, surrounding a blue light on his chest.
Aurore was surprised to see the new metal-bodied superhero out of nowhere who had just come to save Ladybug and Chat Noir from the two Akumas. "W-Who are you!?"
Natalie Sancoeur watched from a tree at a distance as this new hero stood next to the frozen Miraculous duo. She let her professional demeanor loosen as she too was shocked and perplexed at the appearance of this new figure.
Insert Song: Ultraman Tiga OST - Revived Giant Part 1
Ultraman Tiga regarded Ladybug and Chat Noir with no apparent expression on his metal-like face. Now he had shown himself to the heroes and people of this world. True enough, other bystanders who were hiding around the park saw Tiga and started taking photos and videos of him on their phones.
"Milady..." Chat was breathless and mystified by the new hero.
"I know, Chat... who is that?" Ladybug was befuddled. Nothing Master Fu said nor her previous experiences informed her of who or what this newcomer was.
The Magician of Misfortune emerged from the top of the building shaking the rubble off. He glared down at Tiga. "So that must be the interloper..." He jumped off the building and flexed his wand. "Let's see if you are ready for this trick!" He summoned ice spikes and launched them at the Ultraman.
Tiga saw the attacks and instead of evading... he swatted the spikes and broke several with rapid swipes and punches with just his right arm. He then charged up more energy and unleashed another Hand Slash pulse, hitting Magician square in the chest and sending him plummeting towards the ground.
Glaciator glared down at the new Ultraman Tiga. "I don't know who you are or where you came from interloper, but no one interferes with Hawkmoth and my ice cream mania!" He fired off more shots of ice cream. Tiga was faster as he jumped into the air and flew right up to Glaciator's height. "Y... you can fly!?" Tiga answered that with a swift Multi Kick right between the crimson eyes. "Argh!" Glaciator fell back with a splatter and thud, crushing some trees behind him.
Tiga then turned back to Chat and Ladybug, still frozen to the ground. He flexed his hands to his chest protector, which flashed before he thrust a Slicer Beam towards their feet. The beam sliced through and shattered Magician's magical ice, freeing the two Miraculous heroes.
"Whoa!" Chat was amazed at what Tiga just did. "We're free!" He stared up at the Ultra hero, who was now hovering. "He can fly!"
"Whoever he is... he's very powerful," Ladybug gasped. It had only been a little over a minute, and this newcomer was proving his power over the Akumas.
Hawkmoth was shocked and indignant as he saw the new silver-bodied hero attack his minions. Magician had come so close to snatching the Ladybug earrings and the Black Cat ring, only for this interloper to reveal himself and free his enemies.
"Who in blazes is this now!?" Hawkmoth demanded, "hurry up and destroy him you fools!" He emphasized his command with a holographic flash of his butterfly symbol.
"W-we will, Hawkmoth!" Magician groaned as he lifted himself off the ground.
"We will have him creamed for you," Glaciator bellowed as he regenerated and hardened his body. "I will crush you!" He charged the airborne Ultra. Tiga seemed to not worry as he hovered in place for the moment. As Glaciator threw a massive punch, Tiga just did a midair flip over the snowman arm, before punching down hard and breaking it. "Stop doing that!" Glaciator protested as he used his other arm to swat him. Tiga easily dodged the clumsy Akuma by flying down. He then charged his left hand with energy, and shot up, giving a Light-Knuckle sandwich to Glaciator's chin. The attack blew off a huge chunk of the Akuma's snowman face and shattered his snow cone nose as he recoiled.
"Why you!" Magician finally had it as he reached into his top hat and drew out several pointed roses. "Try this on for size!" He cast them up at Tiga. The Ultra dodged the projectiles, only for the rose missiles to comeback around. Tiga quickly sensed the threat and dodged. One rose got close to him, and he blocked with his arms crossed. "Drah!" The rose exploded, causing him to flinch. The other roses in the air homed in on him, but Tiga recovered fast and led them on an evasive chase.
"We got to help him Chat!" Ladybug reasserted herself. "Go for the Magician! The Akuma's in his playing cards!"
"Right on, Milady!" Chat jumped back into form and deployed his staff. He leapt towards the Magician. "Hey, silly Magician, tricks are for kids!" Magician glared at Chat as he blocked with his wand.
Tiga gracefully weaved and zipped around the rose projectiles, which began to lose their homing edge due to Magician being occupied. "Cha!" Tiga crossed his forearms and fired off Multi-Spacium Beams, shredding and exploding the roses.
"You up there!" Ladybug yelled up to Tiga. "If you understand me! Leave the Magician to me and Chat Noir! Don't hurt Mr. Andre though! He's inside that giant snowman!"
Tiga heard what the spotted heroine told him, and looked over at Glaciator as he started to regenerate his ice cream body. Adjusting his Ultra Vision, Tiga could see that clearly there was a human lifeform trapped inside the abomination's abdomen.
'Can he understand me?' Ladybug was almost afraid her words fell on deaf ears, until Tiga looked back at her with a firm nod. She was a bit surprised that this alien immediately understood her.
Glaciator roared, his face now missing a nose. "Now you have me angry!" He rapid-fired his ice cream attack, which Tiga nimbly sidestepped. "Taste my frozen vengeance!"
Ladybug then saw Chat Noir and Magician duel it out, though Magician used some magic attacks to keep Chat at bay. Pursing her lips, Ladybug decided to end this. "Lucky Charm!" She summoned an object which fell into her hand. She saw that it was a box of matches. "Now what could this be used for?" She tried to brainstorm, when she looked up at Ultraman Tiga, and he showed up as a polka-dotted silhouette in her Lady Vision.
"Hey!" Ladybug waved her hands, "silver man in the air! We need your help!" Tiga evaded more ice cream projectiles as he glanced down at Ladybug as she held up the matches. "I know it's crazy, but we need your help using these to defeat Magician!" Ladybug threw the matches up to him. Tiga slashed several of the ice cream balls before catching the box. He gave Ladybug another nod.
Insert Song: Ultraman Tiga OST - Revived Giant Part 2 (Style Change)
Tiga reached into the box and drew out several matches. With his Ultra Heat Touch, he lit the matches on fire. Evading another volley of ice cream, Tiga drew the flaming matches back into a kunai-throw poise.
"Chat get down!" Ladybug yelled.
"Drah!" Tiga launched the flaming matches as projectiles. Chat saw what Tiga was doing and back-flipped away from Magician, who suddenly found himself being riddled with the matches like bullets. Some shot through his top hat, setting it on fire, with others singing his suit and hitting the playing cards in his front pocket. "Oh no!" Magician threw his hat aside and tried to pat out the flames on his cards.
"You just got flamed, Top Hat!" Chat swung his baton hard and knocked him down. With the Magician down he then lit his left hand with black-green energy. "Cataclysm!" He touched the flaming cards, causing them to disintegrate and release the akuma butterfly. "Ladybug!"
"No more evildoing for you little Akuma!" Ladybug split the yoyo open and tossed it at the corrupted butterfly. She caught it in the yoyo, which closed, and after retracting it, opened up to release the purified butterfly. "Bye-bye, little butterfly." She then wrapped her yoyo around the defeated Magician to restrain him. "That's one down."
"You may have defeated my partner, but I am still standing!" Glaciator roared as he continued to shoot.
Tiga flew around another barrage, though one ice cream ball did manage to hit his left arm. "Urgh!" Tiga grunted as he felt a sharp cold pain where the ice cream hit. However, the Ultra armor held, so he was able to fling it off. He then drew the last of the matches, lit them with his heat touch, and shot them at the giant snowman. Glaciator roared in pain as he was bombarded by Ultra-enhanced matches like bullets. He began to melt faster under the intense heat generated by the superheated matches.
Tiga then focused his aura until he shone with a blinding white light, causing everyone, even Ladybug and Chat Noir to shield their eyes. "Hah!" He shot forth at high speeds for his Flash Attack towards Glaciator's chest.
"Whoa!" Chat exclaimed as Ultraman Tiga shot into Glaciator and burst out the other side. The ice cream monster fell into a melted sludge. The light faded from Tiga as he came flying back, holding an unconscious Andre in his arms with the akumatized ice cream scoop.
"Incredible..." Ladybug couldn't help but be in awe as the Ultra hero landed softly on his feet and set Andre down. Ultraman Tiga saw from his Ultra Vision that the scoop was the source of the darkness, so he raised his hand and brought his fist down, smashing the scoop into scrap. The akuma butterfly was released, but before Ladybug could catch it, Tiga caught it in his hand, and easily crushed it. Chat and Ladybug watched Tiga just throw the remains aside.
"Well... that's new," Chat managed to say.
With a sigh, Ladybug held out a hand, "the match box please?" She hoped that he had not dropped the Lucky Charm in the fight with Glaciator.
Fortunately, Tiga did hold onto the matchbox somehow. It was then that the blue light on his chest started to flash red with an audible chime tone. This made the Miraculous heroes wonder, but they noticed Tiga glancing down at it. He then handed the matchbox back to Ladybug, who then tossed it into the air with a cry, "Miraculous Ladybug!" The Lucky Charm matchbox exploded into ladybugs of light, which undid the damage to the park and surrounding buildings. It was then that some of the ladybugs flew right towards Tiga's color timer and seeped into it. Tiga seemed to look down in wonder as his color timer stopped beeping as it shone blue again.
Andre then started to awake. "Ugh... what hit me?"
"An akuma, Monsieur," Chat Noir answered.
A restored Jean Duparc found himself wrapped in Ladybug's yoyo. "Um... Ladybug? You still have me wrapped up here," he chuckled nervously.
"Sorry," Ladybug unwrapped Jean. It was then that Aurore rushed up to him and hugged him in relief. Jean then realized what it was. "It happened again, didn't it?" He sounded dismayed.
"It's okay, Jean..." Aurore breathed, "I'm just happy you are safe."
It was then that the bystanders came out of hiding to see Ultraman Tiga standing in front of their two heroes. They all muttered in a mix of wonder, fear, and amazement that he helped Ladybug and Chat Noir defeat two Akumas handily.
"Who is he?"
"Is that an alien?"
"Why was he helping Ladybug?"
"Did you see what he just did?"
However, Tiga just seemed to look at Ladybug and Chat Noir. He gave a glance deep into Ladybug's eyes, then Chat Noir's, giving both a strange feeling. 'Wait... does he somehow know?' The both of them unknowingly thought at the same time. With a friendly nod, Tiga then crossed his arms to the side, looked up into the sky, then jumped up and raised his arms into flight. He left a gust of wind in his wake, causing the Miraculous duo and the crowd to stumble back. Everyone watched as Ultraman Tiga soared into the sunny skies, leaving sonic booms as he accelerated. As sudden as his take off happened, he vanished from view.
"Ladybug... whoever that was helped us a lot," Chat exhaled the breath that he held.
"No kidding. He just helped us to take down Magician and Glaciator like it was nothing," Ladybug remarked.
"Curses!" Hawkmoth screamed as he saw this new heroic interloper shoot off into the sky. He then undid his transformation.
Gabriel turned to Nooroo for answers. "Who in the blazes was that, and how could he defeat my Akumas so easily!?"
Nooroo then turned towards the window, as though staring up in the skies in wonder. "It can't be... but he was one of them..."
"One of...!?" Gabriel then grabbed Nooroo and held him close. "So you do know what that being is!"
"It was like a blur... but now it seems so much clearer..." Nooroo seemed to be in a trance, as though having a strong bout of nostalgia.
"What then!?" Gabriel demanded, "what is this interloper that denied me victory!?"
Nooroo then gave Gabriel an earnest look. "Not what... who," Nooroo admitted, "that being... he is part of a race that my kwamis and I thought died out long ago in this world."
"And what is that race, if I may ask?" Gabriel narrowed his eyes, liking this wild card less and less.
"His name..." Nooroo answered, "is Ultraman."
"I'm so sorry about what just happened, Monsieur," Andre apologized to both Jean and Aurore, "I absolutely had no idea that someone had spiked my tub of vanilla ice cream."
Jean sighed and looked to Aurore, who seemed to give an encouraging smile. He then looked kindly upon the ice cream maker. "For what it's worth, Andre... it's my fault for losing my temper and raging at you. If it wasn't for me, our akumatizations wouldn't have happened." He then looked back to his girlfriend. "I'm sorry, but I screwed up royally didn't I?"
Ladybug came between both parties. "No... it was whoever wanted to play a mean trick on Mr. Andre and his customers that's at fault here, but now it is all past as everyone is now safe. I'm just glad that the both of you chose to reconcile and forgive each other so that you both still have a chance at a good Saturday." She gave happy smiles for both Andre and Jean. "Andre, just keep watch on your ice cream, and continue your great business. Jean, you do what you have to do to make up to Aurore. You both make for a great couple.
Aurore touched her heart. "Thank you, Ladybug." She then looked to Jean. "I say we give Andre a second chance, Jean."
"I couldn't agree more, sweetheart," Jean beamed. He then looked to Andre. "We'd like to do a re-order."
"Oh, with one slight change," Aurore cutely suggested, "I want the same mint ice cream as my darling here."
"Very well then!" Andre laughed in joy, "anything for love!" Several of the bystanders clapped as both Ladybug and Chat Noir bugged out.
The two landed on a nearby roof. "Well, that was an interesting Saturday, Milady," Chat Noir said.
"Yeah, but I still have no idea who that silver stranger was or why he helped us," Ladybug said. It was then that she remembered, "you know Chat, my kwami said something strange..."
"What do you mean?" Chat Noir asked. However, he had a strange feeling that it was the same thing his kwami said. To his disappointment, the ring and earrings on both heroes started to beep.
"Never mind," Ladybug shook her head, "I should be getting back."
"I... me too," Chat Noir said as the both of them started in opposite directions. However, Chat Noir gave a slight glance to Ladybug as they parted.
As Marinette undid her transformation in an alley, Tikki seemed to buzz with excitement. "Oh my, of all the things in the cosmos! One of them comes back," the little red kwami squealed.
"One of them?" Marinette asked, "you know what that stranger was!?"
"Not what, who!" Tikki had hope and happiness that Marinette thought was unusual for her.
"Then... who is he?" Marinette asked again, now very intrigued that Tikki would know who their new savior was.
"He's Ultraman!" Tikki said, "an ancient warrior of the light!" She buzzed around in excitement. "Ultraman, he has returned!"
"Ultraman?" Marinette was confused. Tikki and Master Fu never once said anything about him, and now Tikki was behaving like a long-lost member of the family had resurfaced.
"That was Ultraman, kitten!" Plagg said in an excited tone that Adrien though he would never express for anything other than cheese. "Ultraman has come back!"
"Who is this Ultraman?" Adrien asked, "and how is he so powerful?"
"I don't know, but you know that this means for all of us?" Plagg beamed, "Hawkmoth does not stand a chance!"
"You mean?" Adrien wondered.
"Of course I mean it," Plagg smiled, "Ultraman's return means great things ahead for mankind and kwami-kind, kitten! Great things indeed!"
Adrien was blown away by Plagg's declarations. Then he remembered Marinette. "Shoot, Marinette! Come on, Plagg." He rushed out of his hiding place and looked around the park for Marinette. "Marinette, Marinette!"
"Adrien!?" The blond model spun around to see the dark-blue-haired beauty staring at him. "Adrien!" Marinette rushed up to him. "Are you okay?"
"Of course, Marinette," Adrien smiled widely, happy to see her, "it would take more than two Akumas to stop me!"
Marinette looked up into the sky. "Adrien... did you see that silver alien who helped Ladybug and Chat Noir?"
"Of course, who didn't?" Adrien breathed out, "whoever that was... he was really powerful. Demolished those Akumas like they were nothing!"
"Ultraman..." Marinette muttered.
"What was that?" Adrien thought he heard Marinette say the name of the stranger, how?
"Um... never mind," Marinette suddenly smiled like nothing happened. "Say, you still up for ice cream?"
"Of course," Adrien agreed, "but this time, I think I'll have all strawberry."
"Fine by me!" Marinette giggled as the two walked back towards Andre's ice cream cart, to the seething anger and distress of Chloe, who just stormed off back to her limo.
Hawkmoth's Hideout
Gabriel was going through his books in his Hawkmoth office, desperately trying to find any and all references to the being Nooroo called Ultraman. Frustratingly, there were none that he was finding. Gabriel wracked his grey hair before running his fingers down the side of his face. For the first time since his battle with Ladybug and Chat Noir began, he felt even less in control now that Ultraman, someone more powerful than two of his Akumas combined, had entered the scene. "How on Earth am I supposed to counter this Ultraman when I do not have enough information on him!?"
"Perhaps that's because the answers to your question are not on Earth," a new voice suddenly said.
"What the-" Gabriel was startled as he spun around to see a Japanese dark-haired man about his age with a smug smile. He wore all black attire, from his business suit, shirt, and even his tie.
"Your answers will not be of Earth," the Japanese intruder said, before casually glancing around, "at least, not this particular Earth."
"Who are you, and how did you get in here!?" Gabriel demanded.
"I have my ways, Agreste-san... or should I say, Hawkmoth-san?" The Japanese man raised his eyebrows in amusement.
Gabriel grit this teeth as he reached for his butterfly brooch. "Give me one reason why I should not disappear you now."
"Because I have a business proposition," the Japanese man said, "one that involves a mutual acquaintance and enemy of ours."
Gabriel was wary of the man, but it seemed that he did not intend any immediate harm. He mentally sighed to himself. The Agreste master would test the waters then. "And," he began, "what would this mutual acquaintance be that you would surprise me in my own lair?"
The Japanese man gave a cocky laugh. "Why... Ultraman of course... Ultraman Tiga."
As Adrien and Marinette sat down for ice cream, Daigo watched them from the concealment of his car. His shades helped him to be inconspicuous.
"Ladybug and Chat Noir..." Daigo muttered. He then rolled up his window and went into drive. He sped off in the black Sherlock Discreet, disappearing into Paris' auto traffic.
Chapter 1: Arrival