Hello there,
Welcome my friends to the next chapter of Miraculous: My Iron Skin.
Hope your going to enjoy it as much as I had writing it and now on to the review.
Speckleflower: Happy you liked it.
And now on to the story.
In the courtyard of College Françoise Dupont, Travis, Adrien, Nino and Nathaniel were hanging out near the staircase. Travis had just handed a envelope to a surprised Adrien as Nino was listening to music on his headphone while Nathaniel was drawing in his sketchbook, occasionally looking up.
"What is this for?" Adrien said surprised.
"Birthday present." Travis explained, "I'm horrible with presents, so it's just cash."
Adrien looked into the envelope, his eyes widening when he saw the content, "Travis!" Adrien exclaimed quietly, "This is like five hundred euro's."
"It is actually five hundred euro." Travis corrected him, before looking surprised at the looks of his friends, "Is that not enough?"
"Travis dude... I hate to burst your bubble." Nino began to explain as gently as possible, "That large amount of money for a birthday is not normal."
"Still, thank you Travis." Adrien said giving him a smile.
"Your welcome." he nodded to him, "So what are the boys, boys, boys doing this weekend?"
"The what?" Nathaniel said confused, looking up from his sketchpad.
"I don't know." Travis said with a shrug, "Though that would be a good name if we ever start a boy band. Adrien is the pretty one, Nath the shy adorable one and Nino makes us multi-cultural."
"What would you do?" Adrien said amused.
"I can sing!" Travis sang, reaching a impressive high note.
Across the courtyard, Marinette and Alya giggle while reading some sort of magazine. Nathaniel, who had been pretty absent from the conversation, was looking in the direction of the two girls.
"Anyway, I have somewhere to be." Travis said, looking a the time on his phone, "See you guys tomorrow."
"I need to go as well." Adrien said, noticing the car his father would send to pick him up pull up.
In the Place des Vosges, a crowd is gathered for the Ladybug, Iron Spider and Cat Noir's sculpture reveal.
The mayor, André Bourgeois, and the sculptor, a man named Theo, are facing the crowd, with the giant statue covered with a sheet behind them.
"I'm sure you've outdone yourself, Theo." Mayor Bourgeois said.
"It was my honor. And I can't wait to meet Ladybug." Theo said with a lollipop stick in his mouth, looking at a photo in his hand, "I hope she'll autograph the photo I used as the inspiration for the statue."
"Oh, it's nearly time." Mayor Bourgeois said, looking on his watch, "Ladybug, Iron Spider and Cat Noir should already be here by now."
The loud thud of armor landing on the stage was drowned out by the cheers and applause from the gathered crowd as Iron Spider had just landed, raising his arms as he took in the appreciation.
"Nice entrance, I give it a seven out of ten." Cat Noir said when he landed next to Iron Spider leaning an arm on his shoulder, "I had to deduce a point for not having a superhero landing."
"A superhero landing?" Iron Spider said, "That is so last year."
"It's a classic!" Cat Noir protested, "Though, I admit, it's horrible on your knees."
"Excuse me." Theo said, getting the attention of the two male heroes, "The ceremony is about to begin but Ladybug's not here."
"Don't worry about Ladybug." Iron Spider assured him, "She'll be here any minute."
"I can handle this situation alone for now." Cat Noir said, waving at the photographers, "I'm the one in charge anyway, you know."
"If that helps you sleep at night." Iron Spider said, waving at the crowd.
"It's just that, I wanted to ask her to autograph this photo." Theo said, showing the photo, something Cat Noir glares at but he didn't seem to notice, "She's amazing. She's so brave and smart, the way she always saves everyone..."
"This guy is giving me creepy vibes..." Iron Spider thought as the ceremony commenced.
Mayor Bourgeois gave a small speech how it is proper for Paris to pay homage to those protecting the city from evil. The statue was revealed depicting Ladybug in the pose of swinging her yo-yo, Iron Spider with a raised gauntlet and Cat Noir posed with his staff.
"Now that is a nice statue." Iron Spider said, taking a selfie with the statue using his red phone for his Bleeter social media feed as Theo looks at Ladybug's statue and sighs sadly.
The ceremony continued, Iron Spider and Cat Noir had gotten his pictures taken with some people in the crowd. But it was soon after, that the ceremony had ended and Ladybug still hadn't shown up.
"These statues are amazing." Cat Noir complimented Theo, who was standing next to him, "One thing's slightly off though, I'm actually taller than Ladybug."
"Ladybug didn't show up... I just wanted to express my adoration for her. Let her know that everything I had went into her statue." Theo said, sounding as if he hadn't heard what Cat Noir had said, "I'm sure if she took a little time to get to know me, she would see how much we have in common. Our devotion to the things we love."
"Hey, don't mean to burst your bubble, but you know..." Cat Noir said with a hint of aggression, "Ladybug and me, we're a thing, you know?"
"Really?" Theo said surprised.
"Yeah, we're like this..." Cat Noir said before letting out a painful yelp when an gauntlet pinched his ear,
"Apologies Theo." Iron Spider said, turning sternly to his fellow hero, "But me and Cat Noir need to talk."
Theo was left standing when Iron Spider dragged Cat Noir off. He looks at the two hero walk off, turning around as he walks away angrily, "What does Ladybug see in him?" he growls.
"What the hell was that?" Iron Spider said to Cat Noir as the two were now standing on the roof.
"I was telling Theo how Ladybug and I were a thing." Cat Noir said.
"But you two are not a thing." he pointed out.
"We will be!" Cat Noir said, "And who cares if I told a little white lie."
"I do. When it involves a friend of mine." Iron Spider told him, "What if she doesn't like you? What if she already is in a relationship in her civilian life."
"I... uhm... That doesn't matter. We are made for each other." Cat Noir said angrily, "W-Well why do you care so much? Are you jealous or something?"
"Jealous me? Don't make me laugh." Iron Spider said, preparing to take off, "Everybody knows I'm way out of your league." and with that he flew off leaving a annoyed Cat Noir behind.
Travis was standing in his hideout, working on a set of special glasses that would allow him control of the satellite in space which he could use to track energy signals of Akuma's. As well as quicker information gathering and notifying him if an Akuma was set lose.
The large screen displayed a new notification, this one from the Ladyblog. Giving the voice command to play it, it showed a close up of Alya.
"Don't blink now, 'cause we are live from Paris." Alya said on the video as helicopter noises were heard in the background, "Yo peeps, Alya here, bringing you the one and only Ladyblog."
Moments later, Ladybug flies by, hanging on to her yo-yo, tied to a helicopter as she drops something.
Alya runs over and picks up the object, which turns out to be a book. "Freak out! What you got here is no ordinary book, it's the same history book I got." Alya said to the viewers, "Could our very own Ladybug be a high school student in real life?"
"What are the odds that we have the same textbook. Maybe we even go to the same school... I might know her personally." Travis said to himself as he looked at the screen, bringing a photo of Ladybug up with a few keystrokes, "I can't place her face... Maybe her mask has some sort of magic that conceals her identity. But one thing is for sure, I need to get that book away from Alya to protect Ladybug's identity."
Another few keystrokes later, he had traced Alya's phone and had a good idea where she was going.
Alya and Marinette just entered the exhibit of the pharaoh Tutankhamun at the famous Louvre museum.
"Can you believe it?" Alya said, "All I gotta do is find out who this history book belongs to and BAM, I figure out Ladybug's true identity! I'm so on this one!"
"You really think you could figure out who Ladybug is from a textbook that every high school student owns?" Marinette pointed out.
"I know I can! Because I did some research and our school is the only school in Paris that uses that book!" Alya said proud of herself, "So, all I gotta do is find out which girl in our year lost her history book yesterday. There are forty-three girls, not counting myself..."
"Forty-two! Not count you..." Marinette said quickly, "Or me."
"I know someone who keeps forgetting her textbooks." Alya pointed out, elbowing Marinette playfully, "Coincidence? I think not."
"I always forget them at home." she said, "You know how I always forget my stuff."
"Just messing with you, Marinette." she chuckled, "Of course I'll only drop you from my investigation when you bring your history book to class."
A young man runs between Marinette and Alya, nearly knocking them over if it wasn't for someone behind them. Carrying a folder full of papers. He pushes past them, nearly trips making papers flying everywhere.
"You two are alright?" Travis said, being the one the two girls were pushed into.
"Travis!" Alya said surprised.
He waved at her before turning to the other girl, "We really need to stop bumping into each other, Mari." he said with a smile.
"Y-Yeah, we should." Marinette said a bit embarrassed.
"I'm sorry." the young man who bumped into them, "Hey, you're in the same grade as Alix, right?"
"You know Alix?" Travis said surprised.
"I'm her older brother, Jalil Kubdel." Jalil introduced himself, "You must be... Travis right?"
"You know him?" Alya said surprised.
"Not personally, but I heard a lot about him. Alix talked about a tall transfer student from England, with a posh accent and pretty green eyes." Jalil said before spotting his father, "Oh dad!"
And without saying so much as a goodbye he left the three teens standing there.
"Well that was weird." Travis noted, "So what are you two girls doing here?"
"Oh, Marinette claimed that this exhibit got something to do with Ladybug." Alya explained.
"Really?" Travis said sas surprised turning to Marinette, "This exhibit's got something to do with Ladybug?"
"Well, uh..." Marinette said, looking down at her bag, "Yeah, it's over there." leading them over to an Egyptian papyrus.
"So why are you here?" Alya said as she and Travis followed Marinette.
"I was bored. Thought it would be interesting to visit the Louvre." Travis said, "It was either that or visiting Disney Land and I didn't want to go there alone."
They look at the Egyptian papyrus as Marinette trying to see the significance, while Alya looking bored.
"Come on." Alya implored her friend, "Tell me what it is already!"
"No, no, cause... it wouldn't be a surprise then..." Marinette said, adding under her breath, "For you or me."
"Okay, Travis." he thought, "Time to put your plan into action..."
But his attention was drawn away when he spotted the most surprising sight. Humming to himself was Cat Noir, a lollipop stick inside his mouth as he strolled down the museum hall as the civilians are surprised. Some hold up their phones to take pictures or videos.
"Don't mind me." Copycat said, stepping across the rope to steal the Mona Lisa, "Don't mind me. Just stealing this painting. Go about your business."
"Hey!" a civilian said, placing a hand on Cat Noir's shoulder, but with a swift shove to the chest, the civilian was thrown back. While Alya took out her phone to film the event as Marinette looked surprised.
"Out of my way." Cat Noir said, picking up the painting, "This painting is the cat's meow." the alarms alarm and with that he runs away with the painting.
"Cat Noir stealing the Mona Lisa in broad daylight." Alya said excited, "Ladybug and Iron Spider are gonna turn up for sure, and I do not wanna miss this."
"That was not the real Cat Noir." Travis thought, having used the confusion to slip the history book from Alya's backpack and into his own, "Cat Noir is a lot of things, but he's no thief."
On his way out, he spotted the lollipop stick Cat Noir had in his mouth when he had entered on the floor.
Sometime later Cat Noir was running from the police officer's, having attempted to go to the crime scene to investigate for hints to the impostor. He hid on one of the roofs, hiding behind a wall when a police helicopter flew past. Peaking around the corner, to see if the coast was clear, he heard a loud thud behind him.
Turning around, he saw that Iron Spider had landed.
"Spidy! I'm glad your here..." Cat Noir said relieved to see him, but he was shocked when Iron Spider held up his gauntlet, the palm of his hand glowing up, "Not you as well... Come on, Spidy. You know I would never steal."
"I know." Iron Spider said, lowering his arm, "I noticed it when he said 'Cat's meow'. I mean, your puns are terrible, but not that terrible!"
"Hey! My pun's are purfect." Cat Noir protested, but glad that his fellow hero believed him, even if they had been arguing a few hours ago.
"So what is your plan." Iron Spider said.
"I'm gonna find the real culprit and save my tail." Cat Noir said, "But where do I start?"
"If you want my opinion. I'd say the thief was akumatized." the red hero said, holding up the lollipop stick, "See this lollipop stick? I think it's a very big indicator who the akumatized victim could be."
"The sculptor." Cat Noir guessed, "How did I not see that jealousy coming a mile away?"
"Yours or his?" Iron Spider said as he began to fly.
"Very funny." Cat Noir said, running after his fellow hero while Iron Spider send a message to Ladybug.
"Iron Spider, where are you?" Ladybug's voice said.
"Me and Cat Noir are heading towards the den of Copycat." Iron Spider said, "Sending you the coordinates now."
Standing outside the balcony room of the studio belonging to Theo, Cat Noir attempted to open the door, but found it locked.
"Damn it." Cat Noir whispered, turning to Iron Spider, "Can't you do something?"
Without missing a beat, Iron Spider punch through the small glass panel on the door, reaching inside to unlock it and opening the door.
"Dude!" Cat Noir said shocked.
"What?" Iron Spider said, shrugging his shoulders, "You expected me to beam us in?"
"I... I have no words." he said shaking his head, "I'll go first, give me five minutes to see if he is here."
"Sure." Iron Spider said, "Ladybug should be here any minute."
Sneaking into the dark and silent, Cat Noir finds himself in the middle of the working room.
"Doesn't seem he is home..." Cat Noir thought, spotting a box on the nearby drawing table. Walking over to it, he found a note on it:
Cat's in the bag.
The box bursts, and Cat Noir finds himself in tied up in chains. "Cataclysm!" Cat Noir said, the power of destruction surging through his hand.
Suddenly, Copycat appears and places a square object in front of Cat Noir's hand, destroying it instead and making him waste the Cataclysm.
"I don't get what Ladybug sees in you." Copycat said, taking the staff from Cat Noir, "A fool who so easily falls into my trap."
"You won't get away." Cat Noir said, struggling against his bonds, "Ladybug and Iron Spider are on their way."
"Which is my plan all along." Copycat said, looking at the photo depicting Ladybug, "And when I squash that spider, I will be all she have. And she will love me, not you!"
"Love me?... You're right!" Cat Noir shouted with a sudden burst of inspiration, "She loves me! That's why she'll be able to reveal your true identity!"
In anger, Copycat knocks Cat Noir down. As he laid on the floor, he reached out to take his ring when just then Ladybug and Iron Spider enter the room.
"Cat Noir!" Ladybug said, looking from Copycat to the downed Cat Noir, "He really looks like you!"
"Where is his akuma?" Iron Spider said.
"Inside his ring, of course." Copycat implored them, "Grab it."
Iron Spider gave Copycat a pat on the bag, "Nice work taking the fake down." he said before turning to the bound Cat Noir, "Oh, do you know why this Theo guy became akumatized?"
"He is probably jealous of my relationship with Ladybug." Copycat said as the Iron Spider kneel down and reach for Cat Noir.
"That's funny." Ladybug said, "Because I'm not in a relationship."
The loud sound of metal falling wooden floor, Cat Noir sprang to his feet, having been freed by Iron Spider as the heroes stood ready to fight.
"I love you, Ladybug!" Copycat growled, "I'm way better than this mangy alley cat!"
"Cat Noir may annoy me to pieces." Ladybug said, readying her yo-yo, "But he's never lied to me."
"Thanks for the compliment." Cat Noir said, "I think."
If I can't have you, then nobody will! Cataclysm!" Copycat said, the power of destruction in his hand.
"I don't think so." Iron Spider said, as the small device he had planted on Copycat's back went off.
A short but powerful surge of electricity went through Copycat's body, knocking him out as he fell to the floor.
"Good job Spidy." Ladybug said, "Where's his akuma?"
"The photo in his pocket." Cat Noir pointed out.
Ladybug reaches down, finding the photo in Copycat's pocket. Taking it from him, she tears it to release the akuma.
"No more evildoing for you, little akuma. Time to de-evilize!" she said, using her yo-yo to capture the akuma and purifies it, "Bye bye, little butterfly." She follows it up by throwing her yo-yo into the air and the miraculous light fixes everything back to normal, and Copycat turns back into Theo.
"You did..." Cat Noir said to Ladybug.
"I know why Theo was akumatized." Ladybug said, "Spidy told me about how you lied about us being in a relationship."
"I only..." Cat Noir began.
"No. You have to listen to me." Ladybug cut him off, "I could never be with someone who would lie about something like this."
A silence followed until Theo finally came to, "W-what happened?" Theo said confused.
"Better help the fellow out. His crush just got crushed." Cat Noir said as his ring beeps. As he leaves, he muttered under his breath, "That makes two of us."
"I'll leave you to it." Iron Spider said to Ladybug as he too went on his way.
Later that evening, Marinette is sitting at the desk in her room. She was on the phone with Alya while Tikki, was munching on her cookie on the desk, recovering her energy. The news had spread that it was an akumatized victim who had stolen the Mona Lisa, and that the real Cat Noir was innocent.
"...It was so weird." Alya said through the phone, "One moment, I had Ladybug's textbook, and the next moment it is gone."
"Maybe you lost it some where when you ran after Copycat?" Marinette suggested with a nervous laugh.
"I actually have another theory on why it is gone." Alya said turning serious, "We bumped into Travis in the museum right?"
"Your saying Travis stole the history book?" Marinette said surprised at this theory, "Why would he do that?"
"Because... Travis is Ladybug!" Alya said.
"...What." Marinette said flatly.
"Think about it, Ladybug showed up for the first time on the same day when Travis transferred to our school. I find Ladybug's history book, I run into him and suddenly it is gone." Alya explained her theory, "And have you noticed he and Ladybug are never in the same place at the same time?"
"That's good and well, Alya." Marinette said, "But how do you explain that Travis is a boy and Ladybug is obviously a girl? And I would have felt it if he had breast when we were at his place."
"What if he uses some magic transformation to change his gender when he becomes Ladybug?" Alya theorized before she continued dramatically, "In the daytime he's Travis, just a normal guy with a normal life. But there's something about him that no one knows yet, because he has a secret... And that secret is that our Travis is Ladybug."
"Right..." Marinette said with a light laugh, shaking her head, "I have to go. I'll speak to you later."
"Later, Marinette." she said before the two girls hung up on each other.
Placing her phone down, she turned to Tikki, who had finished her food, she was sitting on the history book she had dropped earlier that day. She had found it waiting for her on the balcony at Theo's design study. Next to it laid the note she had found on it.
A bird told me you lost this. Don't worry, I didn't look into it for a name in it. Be more careful next time. -Iron Spider
"Iron Spider really is a good friend." Tikki said, floating off the book.
"I know. He's a jerk sometimes, but he's alright." Marinette said, looking at her laptop. The picture she had taken of the papyrus, which depicted a Pharaoh attempting to preform a ritual to bring back his wife, but he was stopped by a goddess in red and black spots.
"I don't get it. I know I'm not 5000 years old, so..." Marinette said, as Tikki floated next to her, "Who exactly was that Ladybug in the papyrus?"
"Kwami's like me and superheroes like you have always existed!" Tikki told her.
"So..." Marinette said slowly, looking from the kwami back to the picture, "That wasn't you in the papyrus either? You don't look 5000 years old."
"Well, I'm not! I'm older than that!" Tikki told her with a smile, "I'm the kwami who's watched over every single Ladybug since the very beginning!"
"You must have known much less klutzy Ladybugs than me, right?" Marinette said with a sad smile.
"Every Ladybug is different. Marinette, you are different." Tikki told her, "But different as in surprising, unpredictable and endearing. And very talented. You learn fast."
"Really?" she said, and the kwami nods. Marinette kisses Tikki on her forehead.
"You better get to sleep." Tikki said, "Remember, you have that history test tomorrow!"
And there ya go, the next chapter hope you enjoyed.
Many thanks to everyone who read, review, favorite or follows this story, you beauties.
If you enjoyed it, don't forget to leave a review and I hope to see you all next time.