#ultimutt

Now, time to talk about this surprise.

“I thought you'd come with Mylène for your dresses–”

“Nevermind that, look at this!” Alya interrupted, pulling her cellphone out of the pocket and starting a video.

It was the family they helped a couple of days before, after the mother ended up getting Akumatized because of problems with at work.

“Thank you, Marigold, Chat Noir,” she heard the mother say as her past self shook both her and her husband's hands.

“It's what we do!” she heard herself reply. Then the video switched to... Scarlet Lady.

“Scarlet Lady, a word, please!” one of the journalists asked, and she took note of Scarlet's face.

“Ew, you work for that cheap magazine, get away from me!” Scarlet replied. Par for the course.

But Alya was expecting an answer... and she didn't know what to say.

“O-oh, cool video, Alya,” she awkwardly replied, and Alya rolled her eyes.

“Ughhh, you don't get it!”

“No, I sure don't.” What was she missing here?

“Girl, this is important evidence for my Scarlet Lady exposé!” Alya proclaimed. “The real heroes helping civilians while Scarlet Lady barks at people?!”

Yeah, par for the course. But something was wrong.

“I thought you were exposing Hawkmoth,” she pointed out with a smirk.

“Hey, I can multitask!” Alya replied. “Don't forget, I run the Ladyblog, the school blog, your fashion blog, the blog about Markov–!”

She snapped her fingers, as if she had just remembered something.

“Wait right there, I gotta make a post real quick!”

Marinette wondered if they should have an intervention with Alya. Pollen came out from behind her.

“Well, I guess this video's important to her,” she said, as Pollen looked with curiosity.

“May I see, My Queen?”

“Sure–” she said as she moved to restart the video – but then the wind blew too hard, throwing her hair over her eyes and a few leaves as well.

“UGH!”

“PLEH!”

She had touched the phone with her eyes closed, but maybe –

“Video deleted.”

She looked down at the cellphone in horror. This couldn't get–

“Marinette! Your guests are here!”

Correction, this could get worse.

As she put the cellphone on the table, and looked into the horizon, she drew a conclusion.

“WELP, I'M DEAD.”

She... she had to go down. Face her doom.

…

Or maybe she could fix it...

----

She picked up the hat she had been working on, and turned to M. Haprèle, who had come with his daughter.

“What's the show called, M. Haprèle?” she asked, curious.

“It's–” the teacher started, but Mylène interrupted, eager to share.

“The Extraordinary Adventures of the Mime! Headlining the most talented actor and mime, my Dad!”

“Wow!” she replied. It really sounded impressive! She remembered the object in her hands and handed it over. “Here's your hat, M. Haprèle! I fixed the tear and added the pocket you asked for.”

“Merci, Marinette! I owe you one,” the man said, picking a photo of Mylène from his pocket and sliding it into the hat. “Thanks to you, I'll always have my lucky charm on me.”

“Aw, papa~” Mylène cooed, but the moment was interrupted by M. Haprèle's cellphone.

“Hello–?”

“WHERE ARE YOU?”

Wow, those were some lungs.

“Picking up my hat, I'm leaving right –”

“I NEED YOU HERE!”

“Y-Yes, Ma'am!”

----

Sarah hung up, huffing.

“So, what's the excuse this time?” she heard Chris ask from behind.

“Apparently, picking up his hat. Fred's an amazing actor, but he always has excuses for–”

“Being late? Sleeping in rehearsal? Missing parts of his costume?” Chris fired.

She sighed.

“Look, just be ready to take his place if he's a no-show, okay?” she said, and Chris nodded.

“Heheheh!”

She rolled her eyes in irritation.

“I can hear you, Chris,” she growled.

----

She was finally putting the last touches on Mylène's dress when Alya came up to them.

“Ah, I gotta go. I promised my mom I'd do some chores before the show,” she explained.

“Ah, wait!” Marinette said, rushing forward. “You, uh, didn't close your bag properly, silly!”

“Ah, whoops!” Alya replied, picking the other back she'd brought and zipping it up. “Thanks, M!”

“See ya tonight!” she sent back, and as soon as Alya was out, she pulled the phone from behind her back.

“Phew,” she whistled, happy that she'd have the chance to fix things.

Wait, wasn't she forgetting something?

“Marineeeeette.”

Oh, right.

Mylène.

Why couldn't things go right for once?

“You can't steal people's phones–” Mylène said, but she broke down.

“I know, I know that! But if I can't recover that video, Alya's gonna kill me!”

“She's not–” Mylène attempted to interrupt, but Marinette was on her catastrophe spiral and there was no way to stop her now.

“And then she won't be my friend anymore, and then the rest of you won't be my friend because no one was my friend before Alya came and drove Chloé away–”

Mylène felt shocked. In all her time as Marinette's classmate, she'd never realized how badly the girl had taken everything. Chloé had always been there as a looming presence, because for some reason she hated Marinette... and now she feared that she would lose them.

There was so much they had to do to make it up to her!

“And then I'll have to move to China to live with my great uncle to make friends who don't know what a loser I am–”

“Marinette!” She had to interrupt this nonsense! So she grabbed her hands off her face and smiled at her. “Let's ask Alix if Max taught her how to recover videos, before we start leaving the country.”

----

The Eiffel Tower was finally in sight (not that that meant much) when his phone rang again. Figuring it would be Sarah trying to make him come faster, he picked up.

“Hey, Sarah, I'm almost–”

“Actually it's Chris. The meeting spot changed to in front of the Louvre Pyramid.”

That was strange. Why such a sudden change?

“I mean, I'm almost at the Eiffel Tower, to be honest, I could just meet you–”

“Nope, no, gotta be the Louvre, see you soon!” Chris rushed, and hung up.

That was certainly strange. But, well, Chris was there, so it was probably right.

----

“Hey babes, did I leave my phone at your place?” Alya asked. “I can't find it anywhere.”

“O-Oh, yeah, it's right here on the kitchen counter, look at that!” Marinette answered.

She sighed, thankful.

“Cool, can you bring it to the show tonight?” she requested... and then she heard something weird. “Kinda sounds like you're on a bus.”

“Sure, no problem, see you later, byeeee!”

And Marinette hung up.

That was strange.

If she was in bus, why was she saying the phone was on the counter?

----

Sarah groaned as she watched the clock and no sign of her star actor.

“We can't wait anymore. Chris, you're up and Fred is out,” she told the understudy, who jumped off the bus where he had been relaxing.

“You can count on me!” Chris replied as he prepared. Sarah would have preferred Fred, because he was very good at what he did, but–

RING!

As she checked her cellphone, she realized she had spoken of the devil, for he was calling.

“Sarah? Where are you?”

“We left because you were late again!”

“Huh? But I'm at the new meeting spot!” Fred asked, confused. But Sarah wasn't going to cut him any slack.

“What new meeting spot?! I'm sick of your flakiness! Just–!” Sarah took a deep breath before she'd say something she'd regret. “Look, Chris is playing tonight, okay?! At least he's reliable!”

And she hung up before Fred could reply.

----

“Hmm, today's going to be a good day, I can tell,” Hawkmoth said as he released his Akuma.

This one seemed to be powerful.

----

As they reached the Louvre, Marinette was finally starting to calm down from her previous spiral, and Mylène was suggesting alternatives in case they couldn't find Alix or she just didn't have the skills they needed.

“We can also try a computer store–”

“Wait, what is that?!” Marinette suddenly said, pointing at a mime nearby – one that resembled M. Haprèle too much...

… and who was looking at the screens hanging from the outside of the Louvre, now showing the show that M. Haprèle should be in right now. And who made a motion as if cutting the air with a knife, and even though he carried nothing, Marinette actually heard the SHINK!

And then, all the screens shut off as multiple deep cuts crisscrossed it, and the pieces dropped to the ground, causing a great racket.

“AH!” a man shouted, shocked by the disaster.

Mylène was of another mind, though, for she had recognized the Akuma.

“PAPA?!”

It made her feel bad for having to ditch her friend but... if she wanted to stop this Akuma fast, it was the only option.

----

As the car made its way home, Adrien looked out of the window, completely disinterested in the stuff Nathalie was saying.

“Your father won't be joining you, Adrien,” she said, and he rolled his eyes.

“To the surprise of no one,” he added, sarcastically, before the Gorilla jumped and stepped on the brake with a screech.

“Hurry! Run to safety! I'll cover you!”

Marigold? He quickly rolled down the window on his side, and saw her there, windmilling her spinning top to act as a shield against what seemed to be the latest Akuma. He grinned: she was a great hero, indeed!

But then they crossed their gaze, and as he looked into her blue eyes, he remembered that thing.

That there was a high chance that this was Marinette.

----

They crossed their gaze, and as she looked into his green eyes, she remembered that thing.

That there was a high chance that this was Chat Noir.

----

So, as Marigold leaned down, so close that they could have kissed if they were just a bit closer, top rope still winding around, they shared an electrifying greeting.

“Hey~♥”

----

Mylène quickly approached the Akuma, worried, as he kept 'shooting rocks' with a 'slingshot' at cars passing by. She had to do something! Make him... stop being an Akuma.

“Papa, stop!” she cried out, catching the Akuma's attention. “Talk to me! What happened?!”

The Akuma turned to her... and smiled. He reached out with a hand and gently patted her in the head, but said nothing. Either he was committed to being a mime, or he just couldn't (the same way she had been unable to speak).

“Ah–!”

While it was nice to know that her father was still in there, it wasn't enough – she needed Chat Noir and Marigold!

----

“Starting the party without me, Honey Bee?”

Marigold turned and smiled at her partner. He must have been nearby, it hadn't taken him much longer than her to reach the place.

Then again, Adrien had been just there a minute ago or so...

“Hardly!” she replied.

“Let's see what he's got!” Chat Noir declared, and charged at the Akuma... only to be WHACK!ed in the face by something invisible as the Akuma waved a hand. “OW–!”

Marigold grimaced.

“Yeah, you won't be 'seeing' much of anything.”

----

Since the Akuma wasn't causing too much damage (and little to none to people), the two retreated to plan something out, since now they had to find a way to counter his ability to 'use' any tool or weapon out of thin air. However, with only the two of them, it would probably not be enough.

“Marigold, Chat Noir! Please, save my dad!”

“Mylène!” Chat Noir said as their classmate found them. Mylène quickly began to explain what she thought.

“When he left, his producer was upset, so something must've happened with his acting troupe, 'cuz he was otherwise happy.”

“Of course we'll save your dad, Mylène!” Marigold said, having had an idea of what to do.

“That's kind of our whole deal,” Chat Noir followed, knowing that his partner had come up with a plan.

“Now,” Marigold said, pointing with her right hand, “go hide in that alley and don't move for at least 10 minutes.”

Mylène blinked.

“O... kay?”

----

As soon as Mylène did as bid (even if she was quite confused as to why), Chat Noir pulled Marigold close to him, while she put an arm over his shoulders.

“Let's talk strategy, ma belle,” he said, putting his baton in vertical position.

Marigold let out a snort.

“Sure,” she replied, and Chat Noir extended his baton, going so far up that they were over the nearby buildings, with a good sighting of enough of the city, including the Champ de Mars and its iconic tower at one end of it.

“Our silent friend isn't very noticeable city wide,” Chat Noir began, as he held onto the baton with a hand and his feet, while Marigold hugged him to avoid falling, “so I don't bet on Scar showing up without a show.”

“Luckily, we can get all the help we need,” Marigold continued. “And it's clear Mylène adores her dad, so I'll get her some 'jewelry' while you protect the troupe bus... there!”

At the Eiffel Tower. Of course.

And Chat Noir grinned.

“Sounds like a plan!” he exclaimed, and began to lean with his baton in that direction – forgetting he was carrying a passenger.

“Wait, Chat, DON'T–!”

One that wasn't happy about him forgetting that.

----

Getting to Master Fu's parlor and back was easy, particularly with all the parkour she had learned to do in the course of the past months, and within ten minutes she was in the alley she had sent Mylène into.

“Oh good, you're still here,” she said as she used her top to descend from the roof.

“Marigold!” Mylène exclaimed, shocked at the unexpected appearance of the heroine.

“Mylène, do you want to help us save your dad?”

Mylène looked down for a moment.

“... Akumas have always scared me, ever since the beginning, but...” she looked up, and now Marigold saw that there was a fire in her eyes that hadn't been there before. “My Dad is more important than being scared!”

Marigold smiled.

“I knew you were brave, Mylène Haprèle,” she replied, pulling out the reason for her visit to Master Fu. “Which is why I'm giving you the Dog Miraculous of Adoration, which you will use for the greater good!”

Mylène's jaw dropped in shock, and as she shook her head she gingerly picked the jewelry box up and opened it.

“Woohoo, new holder!” the Dog Kwami cheered as she came out and looked upon Mylène. “Hi, I'm Barkk! This'll be so much fun!”

“Wah!” Mylène shouted, shocked once more.

“Whoa, hey, no 'fraidy cats here!” Barkk encouraged her, flying closer. “We're strong guard dogs that protect the pack!”

Mylène clenched her fists. The Kwami was right, this wasn't the time to be afraid!

“R–Right.”

“It'll be okay 'cuz I'll be with you the whole time!” Barkk continued, as she put on the collar that came in the box. “Now let's play ball!”

“Barkk, ON THE HUNT!”

----

The Mime was quite the good fighter even though he didn't have a weapon – or, rather, maybe it was because he didn't have a weapon: since the Akuma didn't have to deal with the weight, he could move faster, which was always a factor in a fight.

“Hngh! HAH!” he growled as he deflected several attacks made with what appeared to be an invisible sword.

“Back up is here, Chat Noir!” he heard a voice, and as he risked a look behind, she saw a short, blond girl with two large ponytails, a mask and nose with a distinctive pattern, and colors that made him think of her like a cute pet.

“Ah~! And you are...?”

“Call me Ultimutt!” the girl declared, smiling.

“Where's Marigold?” he asked, as he deflected yet another attack.

“Trying to stop the bus.”

----

“Sooo, M. Haprèle is targeting you, but we got this,” the heroine explained, and Sarah looked shocked.

“THAT'S FRED?!”

Chris looked outside, feeling a spark of shame: he knew too well what had caused this – just as the Akuma attacking the bus got smacked precisely against the window he was looking out of, and he got to see the evidence first-hand.

“Fred...?”

----

Outside the bus, Ultimutt had grabbed her Akumatized father's hand to keep him from falling off the bus. But then, he tried to attack her with something that sounded pointy, given the sound it made when it hit the bus metallic structure.

“AH!”

And, in the shock, she let go of the Akuma's hand, and he slipped off, hitting the ground and rolling around like a ragdoll.

“Sorry Papa,” she whispered.

But the Akuma recovered quickly and used his 'slingshot' again, hitting the bus on the side and causing it to careen out of control.

“Ahh!” the people in the bus yelled. Fortunately, Detective Chat Noir was on the case, and he quickly solved it by jumping to the front of the bus and extending his baton until it was large enough to get caught between two lamp posts, helping the bus driver to stop the vehicle.

Ultimutt quickly joined Chat Noir, as the Akuma began to swing something that, going by the move he was making, was probably some kind of large hammer.

“Here he comes!” Chat Noir warned, hoping Marigold would get everyone out of the bus quickly.

“I have an idea!” Ultimutt supplied. “A pretty out there one.”

Even though he had still been Akumatized, this was still her Papa – he had petted her earlier, after all! – and she knew him very well. Enough, that she knew there was one thing he'd be unable to resist.

She stepped in front of him and mimed a whistle while stopping him with the other hand.

The Akuma was shocked.

“Mime Off!” she challenged. She stepped back, and acted as if she was leaning on a counter and yawning, waiting for the shopping assistant to ring her up.

The Akuma smiled and answered by dribbling with a 'basketball' as Ultimutt swung a 'bat'.

Then Ultimutt winded up a 'baseball' and 'tossed' it at the Akuma–

“Oops!” she 'apologized' – she had 'accidentally' picked her ball weapon and had hit the Akuma's hat in the process!

With the Akuma aware that he'd been tricked, he went back into fighting, and Marigold was now the one facing him, in order to get the time they needed to finish the job.

“That does it for the set dressing,” Chat Noir said, as Ultimutt held her ball.

“Now we just need our prima donna for the curtain call.”

Chat Noir gave a dark grin as he summoned energy into his hand.

“Oh, I know how to get her attention.”

----

Lying under the sun, with a nice cup of refreshing juice in hand, and not a care in the world, was one of the best things in the world, and of course, given the nice weather today, she was indulging into it.

She thought she heard that mangy cat yowl something stupid, but it was probably just her mind.

Then she heard metal shrieking, and she turned to see that the Eiffel Tower was starting to slide off and falling.

“Ugh, this again? TIKKIIIII!”

----

Just as Scar landed, he knew the pain in the ass was angry about something. Did they just interrupt her busy schedule of doing nothing at all?

“What are you losers doing?! You ruined my relaxation time!” she shrieked, confirming his suspicions.

“Nice to see you too Scar. That's your cue, Ultimutt!” he shouted, and the new partner extended her hand.

“Fetch!”

And the Akuma's hat appeared on her hand without a warning.

And just as the Akuma realized it, there was Marigold with her stinger ready to hit.

“Venom.”

----

Somehow, Alya had managed to reach the Tower by the time the fight ended, and as Fred Haprèle recovered from his foray into Akumatization, she already had her camera filming everything.

“W–Where am I?” M. Haprèle asked, confused, as the ladybugs restored the statu quo.

“WOW, a new hero!” Alya exclaimed as she filmed Ultimutt giving M. Haprèle his hat back.

“It's okay now,” she gently said, ignoring Alya... well... hounding her.

“Do you two mind being interviewed for the Ladyblog?” she asked.

“FRED!”

M. Haprèle stood up as Chris arrived, clearly distressed and apologetic as he scratched the back of his head.

“This was all my fault,” he said. “I wanted to perform so badly that I lied about the meeting change. I'm so sorry.”

M. Haprèle didn't say anything – he just grasped Chris's hand, telling him it was all alright.

“Wow... what a forgiving guy!” Alya exclaimed, while Ultimutt smiled.

This was her Papa, alright!

----

As he took her hand for a dance turn, Chat Noir winked at her.

“You know, we could go to the show tonight, together.”

“O–ho? Are you saying you have tickets already, Chaton?” Marigold flirtatiously said, as his face turned into a shocked one. “If you're trying to figure out what I think you're trying to figure out... then I'm going to try to figure it out too. If you think you can.”

Chat Noir drew her closer, and gave her his best challenging smile.

“Then the race is on.”

----

Ultimutt came back to them so they could share their usual “Bien Joué!” fistbump, and as they did, Scarlet chose to ruin the mood.

“Where'd you get the poodle?”

“The same place I get every hero to pick up your slack,” she fired back. “From the distant land of None-Ya Business.”

----

Mylène ended her transformation, and Barkk popped out from the collar, just as she put it back into the box.

“Yay, that was fun!” the Kwami cheered up, while Mylène gave the box to Marigold. “Mylène is such a good dog!”

The girl picked up the Kwami and pulled her closer, so they could smoosh their faces against each other.

“Aw, you're a good dog!”

“No, you!”

“No, you!”

Marigold giggled at the sight.

“I don't know about being a good dog, but being a good actress certainly gave her a good sense of timing.”

Mylène looked at her in confusion.

“How'd you know I'm an actress?”

…

“WHOOP, THAT'S MY TIMER, TIME TO GO BARKK!” she quickly said, before she ended up messing up even more.

----

Mylène was all done telling them everything that happened with the heroes, when she was struck by an idea.

“Hey, we should go to the water park with the girls!” she suggested, and Marinette nodded.

“Sure!”

“Hey, Adrien!” Alya exclaimed, and Marinette turned to look at him. He was wearing a sleeveless green shirt that fit him quite nicely, along with jeans and a pendant that looked like a plane.

“Hey! I didn't know you were coming!” he greeted back, looking at them... and resting his eyes on her a bit more? “You all look great!”

“... you too,” she answered. However, while it was true he did look good, she had something else in mind.

Was this yet another clue that her friend was her Chat Noir?

Sadly, as she looked over at him, she didn't notice someone else was looking over at her – and with some very different ideas in mind...

----

The show was as good as expected, and they all had great fun with it, as they acknowledged as they left the scenario. As the group began to split to return to their homes, Alya remembered one thing.

“Oh, right, did you bring my phone–”

“I'm so sorry!” Marinette exclaimed, bowing. “I accidentally deleted your video and swiped your phone to save it but then the Akuma happened!”

Alya blinked a bit as she tried to decipher Marinette's motor-mouthed explanation, but then she realized what had happened.

“... girl, all my videos are automatically uploaded to my cloud, you didn't delete anything.”

“Huh?!” Marinette mumbled, shocked, and Alya shook her head at her friend once more doing her catastrophe spiraling. “Sooo, you're not mad?”

“I'm only upset you didn't tell me sooner and let yourself get sick with worry over nothing,” she replied, fondly exasperated with her best friend.

“Phew,” Marinette sighed. “Guess that means you don't need your surprise.”

“SURPRISE?!”

----

Marinette told her to wait for a while at the entrance hall of the theater while she made a call, and Alya was shaking as she pondered what her friend was planning. What kind of surprise had she intended to use to compensate her?

“Hello, Alya.”

She looked up, and saw a familiar figure walking down the large stairs in front of her.

“I believe I promised you an interview,” Marigold continued, smiling.

“No freaking way, for real?!” Alya exclaimed. If her bestie were here, she would have hugged the daylights out of her. “Marinette is the actual best! This is the best day ever!”

Jumping in excitement, she moved to the couches nearby and sat in one, and waited for Marigold to sit in the other one before she began her interview, cellphone in hand already filming everything.

“Okay, so, let's start with the new look! It came with a new power?”

“That's right,” Marigold answered. “I can't cleanse Akumas, but what it can do–”

----

Gorizilla

----

That's 209,906 words formed by 1132344 characters in 525 pages!

@zoe-oneesama Your story may be about to end, but this one's still got some time before it finishes as well! Hope you liked my writing as much as I liked your writing AND drawing AND designing!