Hello there,
Welcome my friends to the next chapter of Miraculous: My Iron Skin.
I hope you will enjoy this chapter as much as I had writing it, and now on to the reviews.
James the Apple: Yeah, Batman is real but it's not Bruce Wayne (Spoiler: It's Travis's dad). I thought it would be a good twist at this point in the story. Of course King Tyranno does get an awesome team of Pokemon's.
green rose: Yeah, Travis really messed up that one. It's been a while since I watched any of the Pokemon anime, I'm more of a fan of the games myself. Though I get why you would pick the XYZ anime for it. Okay, good to know of your name change.
Boo the Ghost: Happy to hear it. Yeah, Kwehh is a bit from the others, in that he is more proactive. Dialga best legendary? That's a very weird way of spelling Lugia. I just realized that Milo has three starters from three different gens. I see your a fan of Gen four. I agree, a few of the lines from Bury The Light does fit Milo, though I think there is one other character it would fit more.
GreatAce50: I wanted to, but I'm not sure if I can fit it in the story at this point.
Now story time.
The moon was shinning onto the night sky above Paris as Cat Noir and Argent Hawk were sitting on the edge of a roof.
"How long have you been a Miraculous Holder?" Cat Noir said to his cousin.
"A few months now." Argent Hawk said as he overlooked the city, "It has been a great assistance in my work."
"I guess it would. Hiding your identity as you look for clues." Cat Noir said with a happy smile, "Can't believe it has almost been a year since I became Cat Noir."
"You seem to really like being him." the older cousin said, giving him a side glance.
"I love it! I got to save people, fight along side two of the greatest heroes and I can really be free." Cat Noir said sounding genuinely happy as he shared this, "But how did you get the Hawk Miraculous?"
"It was found in my father's belongings after his passing." Argent Hawk said, looking at the small ring around his finger, "That's the other way I have been using it. I have been tracking the criminal who killed him through North America. I thought I had him corned in Los Angeles, but he managed to escape before I could get to him. He fled the country... Right here to Paris."
"So that's why you came here, to bring your father's killer to justice." Cat Noir said as he suddenly jumping up, "Let's go find him!"
"I have been doing that, going trough leads but..." Argent Hawk said, "This is something I have to do on my own..."
Inside the Cesaire apartment, living room. Alya and Nino are dancing in front of the television. Travis and Marinette are watching from the couch.
"They're so in sync with each other." Marinette said.
"Please, Mari. They got nothing on us." Travis said with a smile, he was about to give her a teasing bump with his elbow but she quickly stood up to his surprise, "Something wrong?"
"I just... Need to use the toilet." Marinette said, turning around and went to the little girl's room.
"I wonder what's up with her?" Travis thought.
Inside the bathroom, Marinette locked the door before putting down the cover and sitting on the toilet. Placing her head in the palms of her hands, Tikki came out of her purse and floated up to her face.
"Is everything okay?" Tikki said concerned.
"I don't know what to do, Tikki." Marinette said, "Should I confront Travis with me knowing that he's Iron Spider?"
"But I thought we talked about this." Tikki said slightly worried, "Travis and Iron Spider can't be the same person. Iron Spider was there to help you and Cat Noir protect Travis from Volpina."
"The one incident where Spidy was unusually quiet." Marinette said, "You would need to be very smart, have a lot of money and resources to build a suit like that. All three things Travis has."
"I don't think his dad is that rich." Tikki tried to argue for her side.
"He's not part of the one percent. He's part of the zero point one percent." Marinette said, trying to argue her point, "He is rich enough that he has a team of accountants whose job it is to count the accountants who keep track of his accountants."
"But... would it be so bad if Travis is Iron Spider?"
"It's not that..." she said standing up from the toilet.
Back over in the living room, Travis was still sitting on the couch as the dance number was about to come to an end.
"Big finish, here we go!" Nino said, striking a pose on one leg, "Yeah!"
Travis and Alya began to laugh as Marinette returned from the bathroom and the front door just opened.
"Aw, shoot. Did I miss the ballet?"
The group turned around to see the tall, muscular, brown-skinned older sister of Alya, Nora.
"Nora, is your match over already?" Alya said.
"First round: total knockout. As usual." Nora said, dropping her bag and punches the air, "I told you a hundred times not to call me Nora in front of people, little sis. The name is Anansi, like a spider."
"Who's a Nazi?" Travis said confused.
"Anansi." Alya corrected him before turning to her sister, "I'll call you Anansi when you stop calling me 'little sis'."
"Anyway, what are you all still doing here this late?" Nora said taking a milk carton from the fridge, "Don't you have school tomorrow?" as she began to drink.
Marinette and Nino avert their eyes bashfully as Travis just looks confused.
"We're waiting for it to get dark." Alya said, "It's the World Cup fireworks show tonight, remember? We're gonna watch from the Place de la Concorde Ferris wheel."
At this Nora spits out her drink, "Oh no! Baguette, and Cappie can go with Pretty Boy if they want, but you're staying here." she said, crushing the milk carton under her hand, "It's way too dangerous."
"But Nora..." Marinette said before correcting herself, "I mean, Anansi, you can't do that!"
"Yeah, no way dude." Nino said, "We're not going without Alya!"
"Indeed." Travis said.
"Listen, I appreciate you worrying about me and all, but I'm not a little girl anymore." Alya said, "Besides, Mom and Dad are totally cool with it."
"There have been way too many akumatized peeps in Paris these last few weeks. Look how many times you've been in direct danger." Nora said to her little sister, "So you're staying home, safe and sound, period!"
"That's so ridiculous!" Alya shouted in frustration.
"Some would say, ridiculous utterly ridiculous." Travis said with a smirk.
"Not now Travis!" Alya said before turning back to her sister, "The twins were akumatized right here at home."
"Well, that would've never happened on my watch." Nora said, "I won't let anybody mess with my family."
"You mean like the other day at the square?" Alya said annoyed.
"Okay, I'll bite." Travis said turning to Alya, "What happened?" but it was his girlfriend who answered.
"Well... we came across a man handing out flyers." Marinette said, "Nora thought the man was akumatized and wanted to turn Alya into a banana-zombie."
"How was I supposed to know it was some stupid costume?" Nora said defensively, "And besides, what would happen if the Ferris wheel stopped working 'cause some akumatized dude refused to pay his fare? Once you fly-weights can actually defend yourselves like me we'll talk about it."
"Let me get my suit." Travis thought, "See how long you last."
"It doesn't matter." Marinette said, "Because Ladybug, Iron Spider and Cat Noir would save us if there were any problems."
"And what if Mister Whiskers is catching a mouse and that Beetle's been sprayed with bug spray and the Metal Menace is in his web eating flies? What do you do then?"
"I feel insulted." Travis thought both him and Marinette had angry look in their eyes.
"I can..." Nino said, "I can protect Alya if I have to."
"Don't laugh at him, Travis." Travis thought, doing his best to keep a smirk of his face, "That's mean."
"Oh yeah?" Nora said, turning to the much shorter boy, "And how exactly are you planning to defeat the villain? A dance-off?"
"I'd..." Nino said, turning to the ground, "Do anything to protect Alya."
At this statement, Alya looked quite touched but all her sister did was laughing.
"Okay, Alya can go out with you guys..." Nora said, placing her elbow on the table, "If you beat me at an arm wrestle."
"Well it's a shame." Travis said turning to the entrance, "We will see you tomorrow, Alya."
"Hey dude!" Nino said insulted by the lack of faith his friend had in him.
"I'm being realistic here. There is no way you can beat her." Travis said gesturing to the older girl, "Have you seen her arms? They are bigger than you are!"
"Okay, Nino will arm-wrestle you." Marinette said suddenly, for a second seeing Iron Spider in place of Travis, "Nino will prove his worth to us that he can defend Alya and every one of us, because... because love and, uh, friendship, make your muscles bulge."
"Marinette." Alya whispered to her friend, "What are you doing?"
"Don't worry." she whispered back to her, "I got this."
"Yeah, thanks Marinette." Nino said as he got into position.
"Well this is going to be a disaster." Travis muttered as he overlooked the arm-wrestling, "All right! In position. Ready. Set. Go!"
Nino struggles furiously in a vain attempt to overpower his opponent while Nora sits calmly.
"Really?" Nora said, "Is that all you got?"
"She's gonna rip his arm off." Alya said, shaking her head.
"Over there, an akuma!" Marinette suddenly shouted, pointing behind Nora, who turns her head to look where she was pointing.
With that distraction, Marinette grabs Nino's and Nora's hands and pulls them towards her, so Nora loses the wrestling.
"And the winner is... Nino!" Travis said.
"My bad. It was just a fly." Marinette said, "You rock, Nino. Come on, let's go. If we leave now we'll get there just in time."
"You're a bunch of cheaters." Nora said as she punches the table, "There's no way I could've been beaten by that fly-weight. If I hadn't been distracted, I..."
"That's it, Nora! You lost the challenge, so deal with it." Alya said sternly, "I've had it with your overprotective big-sis-smothering. I'm going out with my BFFs and I don't care what you think. Alya out." she began to leave, then motions for Marinette, Travis and Nino to follow.
"It was nice to meet you." Travis said as the four of them left.
Later at the Place de la Concorde, Ferris wheel. Travis and Marinette where pushed into their own car by Alya so she and Nino could have one of their own.
"Well, I guess this is rather romantic." Travis said as they were moving upward, he noticed that she was intensely avoiding his gaze, "Marinette? Is something the matter? Did I do something wrong?"
"Actually yes." Marinette said, looking him in the eye, "Travis, remember what you said when I was in doubt about me winning the Grand Fashion Rejouissance contest?"
He gave a nod, "I do." Travis said, wondering where this was going, "I have never lied to you and I never will and I still never have."
"The other day, when Sandboy made all those nightmares real..." Marinette said, "I was protected by Iron Spider from my nightmare. During the fighting, he said something among the lines of 'You will not touch a single hair on Mari's head'."
"I called her..." Travis thought, his expression remained neutral, "Oh shit..."
"There is only one person who call me Mari." she said, looking him right in the eyes, "I want to know the truth and I want to hear it from your own mouth. Please tell me, are you Iron Spider?"
A moment of silence followed as Travis fold his hands together and turned to look away from her as he weighted his options.
But Marinette took his silence as his answer, "You know... I thought we trusted each other..." she said turning around, "But I guessed wrong."
"Marinette." he said, softly taking a hold of her hand, "I am Iron Spider."
The eyes of Marinette widen in shock as she turned around to look at him, "You're... Iron Spider?..." she said surprised just as the sky was lit up with fireworks.
"Mari, like I said, I have never lied to you and I never will." Travis said, "I never told you because I didn't want you to worry."
Suddenly, the ground shakes as the Ferris wheel suddenly stopped. Travis caught Marinette as he spotted the reason.
A spider-like akumatized villain with dark skin and yellow hair braided into a spiky ponytail. She has six eyes and they are white and are outlined in black. Her costume is black with yellow stripes, a black and yellow spider design is on her chest. She also has six arms.
"Well... I feel insulted." Travis said, letting go of Marinette and taking the spider symbol from the inside of his pocket.
He placed it on his chest as he double tapped on the center. The nano machines contained in the head formed into his red and gold suit.
With a kick he opened the door, before turning to Marinette. "Let's go." Iron Spider said holding out a hand to her.
"Your... really him." Marinette said, taking his hand, picking her up bridal style, before dropping out of the cart
Using the jet boosters on his boots, he slowed their descend until they touched the ground as bystanders scream and flee.
Placing her back on her feet, Iron Spider turned to see that the akumatized victim was making a web in the center of the Ferris wheel.
"I need to get up there." Iron Spider said turning to Marinette, "Can we talk about later?"
Marinette nodded before he took to the sky to fight. He just flew up to the akumatized victim when she had climbed up to the window of Alya and Nino's cabin.
"Nora's not here to protect you anymore." the spider said, "I am Anansi, super-spider." but she was send flying to the ground by a flying kick from Iron Spider.
"Just so you know, the whole spider theme is my thing... and Metal Arachnid." Iron Spider said as he landed, "But mostly me."
"You're no match for me, little spider." Anansi said, attacking with a wide hook which Iron Spider nimbly evades.
Despite this setback, Anansi began to hammer Iron Spider with her six arms with wide-reaching blows. Iron Spider shifts backwards, evading an uppercut and giving himself breathing room to work with, swerving around Anansi's straight punches while his own are blocked.
The fighters stay on the offensive, seemingly brushing off every single jab and hook that comes their way. Soon, Iron Spider lays into Anansi with a strong left cross, giving him the opening he needs to unleash a series of punches to the midsection that swiftly disorients the akumatized victim.
Anansi regains her balance, but not for long once Iron Spider catches her with a blast from his gauntlets that knocks her clean into a nearby stand.
"And round one goes to the Spider of Iron!" Cat Noir said when he just arrived.
"Oh, Cat Noir. We have known each other for so long now and yet you still haven't you learned?" Iron Spider said cocky, "I always win."
A recovered Anansi jumps to the Alya and Nino, who have escaped out of their cabin in the interim, and grabs hold of Alya.
"Now that you can't cheat anymore, cappie, show us just how you plan to protect your friends." Anansi said, before jumping away while holding Alya over her shoulder, "Come and get her if you're not a fly-weight!"
"Alya!" Nino shouted as he began to run after Anansi when she leaps away with Alya.
"Let's go." Iron Spider said before he and Cat Noir joined in the chase.
"You do pretty well without me, I see." Ladybug said, as she used her yo-yo to swing along with them.
"But it's so much nicer when you're here, M'Lady." Cat Noir said.
"So we know where the akuma is?" Ladybug said as they followed after the akumatized victim.
"Scanner says it's in her headgear." Iron Spider said.
Nino is crawling on the street, trying to avoid cobwebs as he spotted Alya stuck to a spiderweb in the Arc de Triomphe.
"Well, well, well." Anansi said as the out of breath Nino arrived, "Look who it is."
"Anansi!" Nino panted, "You let Alya go right now!"
"Oh yeah?" Anansi said jumping down to stand in front of Nino, "And how exactly is a weak little fly-weight gonna force me to release my prisoner?"
Nino gulps, after which his expression turns angry. He runs towards Anansi but she stops him with one of her arms. She picks him up with one hand and throws him through the air; Ladybug sees him and grabs him out of the air with her yo-yo.
"Yo kid, leave this to the pro's." Iron Spider said as his female teammate lowers Nino to the ground before the trio of heroes stood in front of the spider themed villain.
"So it's three versus one now?" Anansi said, "Fine with me! Round two… fight!"
She hits Cat Noir and sends him flying across the square and into the web she spun, where he was sticks.
"Goddamm it, Cat Noir." Iron Spider said annoyed.
"Looks like I've already got a catch." Anansi said, "You're like a cat caught in a spider's web."
"Technically speaking, spiders don't actually eat cats." Cat Noir said.
"Say that to those artist who make not safe for work art of SpiderNoir." Iron Spider thought
"Spidy, can you take care of Anansi?" Ladybug said, "I got a plan."
"What? Going to pull another hero out of your behind?" Iron Spider said, "I know. You can't tell us." as he charged forward to take on the six armed victim.
"Yeah, your one to talk about keeping secrets." Ladybug mumbled, irritated at the hypocrisy Iron Spider was displaying as she was swinging away.
"Warning! Challenger Approaching!" Iron Spider said beckoning Anansi to challenge him.
Anansi growled as she charges forward, but Iron Spider counter the offensive, hoisting Anansi into the air and slamming her onto the ground, the force of which knocks Anansi skyward again.
With a high-reaching kick juggling her. Though he attempts to chain his movements, Anansi finds her offensive countered, shoulder tackles him.
Now it's Anansi's turn to strike, and strike she does, going all out with her six arms attack, knocking Iron Spider senseless with a series of alternating overhead hooks and uppercuts.
Anansi attempts to finish her combo, but the moment she shifts herself around for the finishing blow does Iron Spider recover and intercept the move with a strong left cross.
Iron Spider regains the lead in the bout, darting around Anansi's punches and rapidly pummeling her. Anansi tries to fight back, but her sweeping blows are too sluggish to connect with her more agile foe.
Anansi interrupt him with a sweeping low punch and uppercut. As Iron Spider rolls out the way of an oncoming stomp as he drops back onto the ground, the fighters close the distance and wildly swing at one another, their punches connecting with such force that it cracks the ground around them.
The two fighters continue to trade blows, seemingly ignoring everything they take; fists collide, knuckle-to-knuckle, multiple times over before the impact sends them both back.
Ladybug landed on a nearby building overlooking the Arc de Triomphe with help next to her.
"Dude!" the turtle hero said impressed, "Iron Spider is fighting Anansi directly."
He was wearing a dark green bodysuit with a hoodie, the suit itself made with tiny hexagonal patterns resembling those on the Turtle Miraculous. The hoodie has a silver semicircle on the front. Over his eyes, Carapace wears black goggles with yellow-green lenses, and underneath the suit, he has a black collar. On his suit, he has six hexagon-shaped light green circles on his chest, and he has dark gray hexagon-shaped protective pads on his shoulders, elbows, hips, and knees. The Turtle Miraculous bracelet is on his right wrist.
"That's Iron Spider for you." Ladybug said as they swung into action, "That smug, arrogant yet kind and handsome spider..."
"Getting tired already?" Iron Spider said retaking his fighting stance, "Because I can do this all day."
What he didn't except was a green turtle like shield being thrown towards Anansi who dodges it by jumping backwards.
"New guy?" Iron Spider said as Ladybug and the new hero landed next to him.
"Yeah, I'm the new guy, Spider dude!" the turtle hero said, "I-I mean Carapace. Call me Carapace."
"Okay. You don't know how to come up with good names." Iron Spider said turning around, as he thought, "Yeah, Carapace is Nino. Need to update my Hero Files."
"Hey!" Carapace said insulted.
"Change of pet?" Anansi said, "You replaced the kitty with a turtle?" as Ladybug wraps her yo-yo cord around the pillars of the Arc de Triomphe, making a makeshift boxing ring in the interior.
"Anansi! I came to bargain!" Ladybug said getting her attention, "One final round. Iron Spider versus you. You win, you get the Miraculous. He wins, you release your prisoners."
"If she wins? Which she won't." Iron Spider said arrogantly, "Because I always win."
"Has anyone ever told you, your kind of a dick?" Carapace said.
"Come on Anansi! Are you chicken? What do you have to lose?" Ladybug continued, "Red and black. Fight Night. The greatest gladiator match in the history of the world: Spider versus Spider, Day versus Night, Spider of Iron versus Spider legend from African!"
"Nobody calls me chicken." Anansi said, stepping into the ring and so did Iron Spider.
"Spidy, try and make her knock the support beams over." Ladybug said through the communicator.
"Of course." Iron Spider said, "Could use some Survivor music though."
"Just do it." Ladybug said.
"It's too late to turn back now." Anansi said confidently, "Once I crush the spider, there will be no escape for any of you."
"I don't know the meaning of the word." Iron Spider said.
"Which one?" the akumatized spider victim said with a hint of confusion.
"Take your pick!" Iron Spider said back as Carapace strikes Cat Noir's staff on his own shield, making the sound of a boxing-round bell.
Anansi rushes forward with an arm cocked back; likewise, Iron Spider clasps his own fists together. An overhead punch swiftly dodged by Iron Spider making Anansi instead punches one of the pillars of the Arc de Triomphe, causing it to crack.
Swiftly, Iron Spider darts around an overhead hook and another missed punch cracked another pillar.
Before Anansi can unleash another punch, Iron Spider strikes her with a rapid-fire series of jabs to the chest, every attempt from Anansi to block is stopped by a frantic volley of blows.
Another strike is ducked under by Iron Spider, shattering the pillar behind him.
"Is strength all you got? You make it look like I have Ultra Instinct with how easy it is to evade your strikes." Iron Spider taunted, "Your not even that strong, but then again, I know people who can bench press a planet and his dad can pretty much one punch everything."
"One punch this!" Anansi said, kicking him back against the last pillar.
"Weird." Iron Spider said as he stood up, "I actually felt that."
Ladybug pulls the wires backward, causing the wires to cut into the pillars of the Arc, in turn causing the weakened Arc to collapse. As the rubble came down, Anansi's leg gets caught under a heavy block of stone.
"It's all up to you, Captain Turtle." Ladybug said, "Use your power now!"
"At your service, dude! I mean Ladybug." Carapace said holding up his shield, "Shellter!"
A big glowing green ball appears around the five of them; the ball falls down as the Arc collapses completely.
Once it save, Carapace de-activates the Shellter Alya stares up at him with awe while Cat Noir picks up the boxing helmet from Anansi as he sees her and Carapace.
Cat Noir touches the boxing helmet with his Cataclysm, making it disintegrates and breaks to pieces as the akuma emerges.
"No more evil-doing for you, little akuma. Time to de-evilize!" Ladybug said, using her yo-yo to capture the akuma and releasing the purified butterfly. She throws the yo-yo into the air.
The Miraculous Cure spreads itself throughout the city, repairing the Ferris wheel and the Arc de Triomphe, and cleansing the streets of cobwebs as Anansi is detransformed into Nora.
"The Beetle, Metal Meneace and Mister Whiskers?" Nora said confused, "What's going on here?"
"I'm sorry guys, but I have to leave." Iron Spider said to his teammates, "I got in a bit of an argument with my girl and I really need to talk it out."
"Hey Spidy." Cat Noir said with a pout, "You aren't really thinking of replacing me, right?"
"Cat Noir, your one of a kind. Even if we found another Cat Noir, it wouldn't be you." Iron Spider said turning to the other two heroes, "Do me a favor and don't lose this Miraculous, would you LB? Also nice meeting you Michelangelo."
"Its Carapace." he tried to correct him but the hero of iron already flew away.
Later that day, Marinette was standing on the roof balcony, leaning against the railing as she watched the down below cars drive by.
"Marinette?"
She turned around to see Iron Spider touch down, she turned away from him. "Sorry didn't recognize you. You didn't say 'Hello there'... and my boyfriend has a British accent."
The masked pulled back to reveal Travis's face, "Sorry, it's a force of habit to speak without my accent while in my suit." he said, sounding vulnerable as the girl he loved didn't look at him, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you..."
"Travis, be honest with me." she said, still looking down, "Who is the real you?"
"What?" he said confused.
"I'm not scared because your a superhero... I heard Iron Spider can be a bit of a dick... But the Travis I know is nothing but kind if a bit sarcastic." she said still avoiding his gaze, "So is your Iron Spider persona the mask and Travis the real one? Is Travis just an act."
"I think their both a part of me. When I'm with Ladybug and Cat Noir, I can't help but act a bit like a dick." he admitted, "But I never pretended when I'm with you..."
But a silence followed between the two, as Travis realized what this would mean.
"I understand... I'm sorry." Travis mumbled sadly turning around as he prepared to leave.
But before he could, he felt a smaller hand gripping his armored gloved hand. He turned around only to find Marinette pressing her lips against his.
"I believe you." Marinette said, "Even if you act different wearing that suit... Your still the same Travis I fell for when he stood up for me against Chloe.`
At this Travis got a relieved but happy smile at this reaction as she wrapped her arms around his middle. "Y-Your not mad?" he said, a surprise but happy smile as he wrapped his own arms around her waist.
"No, just a little worried. Though I have one question." she said with a smile of her own, "Do you know who Cat Noir or Ladybug really are?"
"I have theories, but nothing concrete." Travis said, "Even if I knew, I wouldn't tell. Their secret identity is secret for a reason."
"You do care about them." Marinette said with a hint of surprise.
"Of course I do... In my own dickish way." Travis said with a sheepish grin, "Me, LB and Cat do argue a lot, but I still consider them my friends."
"Should I be worried?" she said, "Because I have seen a lot of people on the internet that thinks you and Ladybug should be together."
"Just as many people ship me and Cat Noir, but you have nothing to worry about." he said, "I already have the best girl right here."
And there you go, the next chapter hope you enjoyed.
I know, I know. Not a lot of Milo in this chapter, but believe me, the next chapter is going to make up for that.
Many thanks to everyone who read, review, favorite or follows this story, you beauties.
Anyways, if you enjoyed it, don't forget to leave a review and I hope to see you all next time. Bug out!