I MADE IT! THERE'S STILL TIME!

I.O.N.

Enjoy!

The next month passed swiftly as each ship in the Miraculous Fleet somehow managed to gain an extra crew member or two.

Kim picked up a mother and son by the names, Margarette and Matthew Michelle, after unintentionally saving them from capsizing. And now, more often than not, everyone took dinner on Nooroo.

Nino practically adopted a boy by the name of Chris after getting thrown into a port side jail for public drunkenness and meeting the child.

Alya and Chloe met their crew members at the same time, Aurora and Mireille respectively when a sudden storm nearly sunk the two.

Marinette had been approached by a headstrong young woman by the name of Odine, who nearly begged to be taken on board.

During this time, Alix had been keeping an ear out for tales of Paon, Rena Rouge, Queen Bee, Nabi, or Jade Turtle. There was a disturbing amount of them. Alix kept trying to think of ways to bring up the copycats to the others, but the time never felt right. Until a month after she had taken August on board, the words sang to her. It was time to confront this monster.

The meeting was held in Alix's quarters because she had been the one to call it. It was a weird feeling for her to be in charge of a meeting, usually, she let the others start it off. But this was anything but usual.

"Alright Alix, what's the big problem?" Marinette asked concerned.

"I've been noticing it for a little while now, but I couldn't think of a way to bring it up without sounding paranoid."

Kim interrupted before she could get too far, "We're not going to think you're paranoid."

Chloe scoffed, "Some of us won't think you're paranoid. I make no promises."

"Shut up!"

"Can we focus, I think Alix is really trying to tell us something." Alix gave Adrien a grateful nod and smiled.

"Thanks newbie!" Alix's smile started tugging itself down as she remembered why she was there, "I think we've got copycats."

The reactions were instantaneous.

"WHAT?!"

"WHO WOULD DARE TRY AND COPY ME!"

"Are you sure?"

"Why haven't you brought this up sooner!?"

"HEY! DON'T BLAME ALIX FOR THIS! SHE BROUGHT IT UP AND THAT'S THAT!"

"What's the big deal about copycats?"

Adrien's question brought everyone up short and the other six captains stared at him for a good minute before Marinette explained, "Copycats can really damage a pirates reputation, make them seem weaker than they really are, and that can get a lot of people killed. Not to mention it's just downright insulting to have someone steal your title and act like they deserve the respect and fear that comes with it!" Marinette took a deep breath to calm herself down, before gesturing for Nino to take over.

"Dude, think of it like this: your old man is a great fashion designer, everyone loves his work and respects him for it. He decides to take it easy for a while, and when he comes back he hears that someone's been selling cheap garbage clothes as originals from him. What would happen?"

Adrien was silent for a moment as he thought it through, then his face lit up in righteous fury, "HOW DARE THEY!"

"Now he gets it!"

Everyone started laughing good-naturedly. Alix coughed to get everyone's attention again, "I should probably clarify. I think everyone except Ladybug and Chat Noir have copycats."

"Why?"

"Well, that's one of the reasons I didn't bring it up sooner. But I've got a couple theories. Chat Noir was a new guy when we vanished, and no one had really seen him work, so no reason to impersonate him. And Ladybug, well, would you want to come across one of Ladybug's many allies or even a former crew member, only for them to discover you've been impersonating them?"

"True."

"I wouldn't wanna be near that shipwreck!"

"Of course, it's going to be almost as bad when we get our hands on our own copycats!" Alya snarled. The others growled in agreement.

"Alix, you've obviously been keeping an ear out, any idea where they might be based?" Kim asked.

Adrien interrupted before she could answer, "Wait. I thought pirates didn't have stuff like that."

Alix nodded, "Regular pirates don't, but copycats tend to be more cowardly than normal pirates, so they tend to have a place to store their stolen goods." Then she answered Kim's question, "From what I could figure out, it sounds like they're mostly sticking to the outskirts of the Achu kingdom." Then she rolled her eyes, "A ridiculously stupid place since the Achu navy catches more pirates than almost anyone else."

Alya tapped her chin in thought, "Hey, isn't Mylene and Ivan's wedding going to be in Achu?"

Chloe nodded, "Yeah." then she smirked, "Do you think five copycats captured would be a good wedding gift?"

"Don't you mean five copycats catptured?" Adrien couldn't resist.

"I will dig out your internal organs with a rusty spoon and not feel an ounce of regret." Chloe deadpanned.

I promise stuff is going to happen! *mumbles* just not yet...

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Hope you enjoyed!

See ya next time!