Miraculous Spider-Man: Secret Files

by THEEVILDOER

A series of oneshots, drabbles and more, completely linked to "Miraculous Spider-Man." Enter at your own risk.

27. File No 27

THE BATTLE OF THE QUEENS - PART 3: STYLE QUEEN.

---

It was a very busy day in the city of Paris, since a great event was taking place that day, nothing more and nothing less than the Fashion Show of the new collection created by the illustrious Gabriel Agreste.

And as such, a huge crowd gathered in front of the Grand Palais, from fans to members of the press, among which three people stood out, the Parisian reporter, Nadja Chamack, the founder and CEO of J3 Communications, J. Jonah Jameson, and the latter's company's freelance photographer, Peter Parker, who were reporting the event.

"Tonight, the Grand Palais hosts the most eagerly awaited event of the year! The sensational fashion show of the famous designer Gabriel Agreste! And a major event always brings prestigious guests, ranging from singers like Jagged Stone, Countess Coloratura, Mick Swagger, the band Love Sentence, and even heroes like our beloved Spider-Man, Ladybug and Chat Noir, and the Earth's Mightiest Heroes, the Avengers, as our sources report that an invitation was extended to the Armored Avenger, Tony Stark, better known as Iron Man..."

"I can confirm that, what I can't confirm is that they'll attend." Peter muttered to himself as he checked the status of his camera. "Maybe Tony will, but it's because he likes attention, I don't see Panther, Hulk or Cap coming to such a frivolous event..."

"Parker!" A shout was heard among the members of the press. "Parker, wake up, get the shoot!"

"I'm on it, Mr. Jameson..."

As Peter rolled his eyes, he couldn't help cursing whoever had given J. Jonah Jameson the brilliant idea to personally go to Paris to cover the Gabriel Agreste Fashion Gala without bringing a photographer, because someone else also reminded him that he was currently in Paris. The young photographer only managed to sigh in exasperation at the fact that Robbie Robertson and Betty Brant had undoubtedly been the culprits because they found it amusing to see him deal with Jameson. As he raised his camera and began taking pictures of the arriving attendees, Peter grunted and cursed under his breath. Peter liked Robbie and Betty very much, but they could be very cruel with him at times.

However, all his frustration of the day vanished from one moment to the next and he had to make a superhuman effort not to freak out when he saw his favorite singer, Dazzler, arrive at that moment, arriving in a light show that she created with her own hands and powers.

As more celebrities arrived, including Mireille Caquet, Aurore Beaureál, Clara Nightingale and Alec Cataldi, Peter continued to snap pictures as guests were interviewed.

After a few minutes, and after Peter had to replace his camera battery with the spare one in his pocket, there was a bit of a commotion as a gray car arrived on the red carpet of the event.

"This is it! Here she comes! The international queen of fashion, director of 'Style Queen' magazine, Audrey Bourgeois!" Nadja Chamack said as Chloé's mother got out of the car that belonged to Gabriel Agreste.

Audrey stood up and made a momentary pose, which was imitated by her daughter, while the hundreds of cameras began to take photos and videos of her, except for the humble camera of the "official" photographer for the Daily Bugle, Peter Parker, and all because he couldn't help but roll his eyes when he heard a derogatory comment from Audrey towards Agreste's driver.

However, someone quickly grabbed his shoulder and roughly shook him, snapping him out of his stupor.

"Parker, wake up, get a shoot of her!" Shouted J. Jonah Jameson. "I don't pay you nor did I bring you to Paris or this parade for you to waste your time!"

"Ok, first of all: I came to Paris for the scholarship I won at Stark Industries. And secondly: It was Marinette who invited me, I came here with my Aunt May and friends, you just kept me away from them because you didn't bring a photographer, Mr. Jameson..." Peter muttered as he began to take pictures of the queen of the fashion.

"Well, at least I'll pay you to take pictures!"

"What is this carpet? Is it fabric?" Audrey asked with disdain. "Why isn't the carpet made out of marble like I said?!"

Audrey looked at Commander Raincomprix with disdain as he held the crowd back.

"You're fired." Audrey said, confusing the officer. "Ridiculous, utterly ridiculous..."

Peter rolled his eyes and sighed, then picked up his camera and took some more photos, hoping that would prevent him from hearing any more yelling from his boss.

When the Fashion Queen arrived at the interview area, he took several photos of the Bourgeois family, in which Chloé didn't hesitate to pose mockingly at the young photographer.

On the other hand, Nadja Chamack had approached Audrey Bourgeois to interview her about her thoughts on that day's fashion show.

"Audrey, like the slogan of your magazine says: 'If it's in good taste, it's in Style Queen.' So what's in good taste this year?" Nadja asked.

"Judging by the way you're dressed, you obviously don't know, dear." Audrey said contemptuously, making Chloé chuckle. "FYI, the trend this year is glitter."

While Audrey Bourgeois was being interviewed, Marinette, who had just arrived at the event and had managed to slip in without attracting attention thanks to everyone's focus on the Fashion Queen, was peeking behind a wall, feeling a prick of nerves upon hearing the editor's words.

"Glitter? There's no glitter on my hat! This is a fashion disaster!" Marinette said.

"As the editor of 'Style Queen,' you spend a lot of time in New York. It must be nice spending time with your family for a change here in Paris." Said Naja Chamack.

"She's very happy to see me!" Chloé interrupted before Audrey could say anything. "By the way, mom, I have a little something for you."

At that moment, Chloé produced a small present from her jacket, wrapped in a modest gold bow.

"Clara! Err, Chloé... what is this?" Audrey asked with a questioning look.

"Uhh, it's a gift..."

"Ugh, this wrapping paper is ridiculous, utterly ridiculous. You're fired!"

"Darling, please, you can't fire Chloé, she's your daughter!"

"It certainly doesn't seem like it, why aren't you more like your sister, Colette... I mean, Chloé?"

"Because she's a bloody idiot..." Chloé muttered. "And she's not my sister..."

"Audrey, how long do you plan to stay in Paris?" Nadja asked so she could end the family drama in front of her.

"As little time as possible." Audrey snapped as she walked away.

Peter couldn't help but roll his eyes again at how despicable the Fashion Queen sounded, as André and Chloé followed her.

Suddenly, there was a sonic boom that drew everyone's attention, moments later a black limousine appeared and a man wearing a red and gold armor landed right in front of the limo's door, causing astonishment. As he stood up, the armor's mask opened, revealing the grinning face of Tony Stark.

"Hi, everyone." Stark said.

The crowd erupted in cheers as the door to the limo opened, letting out Iron Man's assistant and CEO of Stark Industries, and Stark Industries Chief of Security Virginia "Pepper" Potts and Harold "Happy" Hogan, who stood next to the armor, as it began to open for its user to come out, and then it folded itself, turning into a briefcase that Happy picked up moments later.

-"Couldn't you just come in the limo with Happy and me?"- Pepper asked her flamboyant boss while pinching the bridge of her nose in exasperation.

-"Yes I could, but you know that I prefer to be ready for anything, remember that the Green Goblin and that Hawk Moth guy are still around."- Tony smiled as he, Pepper and Happy walked over the red carpet.

-"Yes, just like the kid and his friends, they can take care of it."- Happy murmured.

-"It's just insurance, Happy, besides this is a fashion show and it doesn't hurt to show my own design for this season with the Mark VIII."-

"Anthony!" Audrey said happily as she clung to Tony's arm.

-"Great... my tenth least favorite person in the world..."- Tony said as he sighed in defeat. "Hi, Audrey, could you give me back my arm?"

"Finally someone with good taste is here, I like your new armor, red and gold definitely suit you, dear."

"Thanks, I guess..."

"Greetings, Stark..." Mayor Bourgeois said with a fake smile.

"Mayor Bourgeois, it's nice to see you again." Pepper said as she offered a hand to the mayor.

"Likewise, Miss Potts..." The Mayor said as he shook Pepper's hand in a genuinely friendly way, before muttering. "Unfortunately I can't say the same about you, Stark..."

"Armand! Leave Anthony alone!" Audrey snapped.

"André, I already told you that I have no intentions with Audrey..." Tony clarified.

"You don't have to explain anything to him, Anthony."

"No, obviously the only one who has it's you." Pepper snapped.

Suddenly, Audrey glared at Pepper, who replied the gesture, while Mayor Bourgeois glared at Stark, and the latter couldn't help but feel strange due to being one of the corners of that square of hate.

"Parker, wake up, get a shoot of them!" Jameson roared from behind the fences that separated the people from the guests.

"Don't even think about it, Parker!" Chloé snapped as she covered Peter's camera.

"It's my job." Peter said as he pushed Chloé aside.

After hearing Peter's voice, Tony turned his eyes to him and smiled at the boy, seeing him as his ticket out of the awkward situation he was in.

"Excuse me for a moment, I have to talk to my young intern." Tony said as he managed to free himself from Audrey's grasp. "I'm sorry, Jameson, I need your photographer for a bit..."

"You can't just take my photographer, Stark!" Jameson snapped.

"I think I can, just look at me."

Peter didn't understand what was going on until Tony grabbed his arm and started pretending to ask him questions as he continued to smile at the cameras and walk down the red carpet, causing the teen to blush and pray the earth would swallow him up to get out of the awkward situation Tony had gotten him into.

"I owe you one, kid." Tony whispered.

"You owe me more than one for this, Mr. Stark..." Peter said numbly.

"Just smile and wave, it's no big deal."

"Jameson is gonna kill me for this... and I'm not used to being the center of attention, especially when..."

Peter tried to argue further but he suddenly bumped into someone, being his classmate and special guest of the fashion gala, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, who was monologuing absentmindedly about what her rival's mother had said and trying to think how quickly and cleanly modify the hat design that Adrien would model. With reflections that the boy got from who knows where, Peter managed to grab Marinette by the waist to prevent her from falling, however and to the embarrassment of both, that left them in a position that seemed as if the photographer was about to kiss the designer.

"I-I'm sorry..." Both teenagers stammered as a slight blush formed on their cheeks.

"Wow, I didn't think you were the spontaneous type of guy, Peter." Tony chuckled as he saw the boy in that situation.

"Parker!" Jameson yelled. "You not only abandon your job, now you make out with your girlfriend in public!"

"We're not a couple!" The two teenagers snapped as they separated and blushed.

While the seamstress and the photographer lived an embarrassing moment in front of the world press, nobody noticed that the hat had come out of its box and had rolled until it ended up bumping Audrey's foot, who was still in a duel of glares with Pepper. The aptly named Fashion Queen felt something touch her foot, then she turned away from Pepper and looked down, noticing and picking up the hat.

"What's this?" Audrey asked as she observed the hat in detail.

"It's a hat, a bowler to be precise." Pepper said. "Did you understand or do you need me to explain it to you more slowly?"

Audrey ignored Pepper's comment as Marinette hurried to retrieve her hat.

"It's the hat that pathetic girl, Marinette, made for the fashion show because she thinks she's a designer." Chloe said.

"Great, a little Audrey..." Pepper murmured.

"Hush, Potts, people with good taste are talking." Audrey said contemptuously.

"As I was saying, mom, Marinette even had the nerve to sign her horrible hat." Chloé said as she took the hat to turn it over. "Look."

Audrey picked up the hat again and examined it carefully, while Marinette figuratively bit her nails at the poor expectation she believed Audrey would give her creation.

"Enough, you two, give young Parker's girlfriend back her hat." Pepper snapped.

"She's not my girlfriend, Miss Potts..." Peter mumbled as he blushed.

"Parker! Stop complaining and get the shoots!" Jameson snapped.

"Who do you think you are to talk to me and to my mother like that, second-class assistant?" Chloé snorted clearly offended.

"Bourgeois, do me the favor of calming down the little monster you have for a daughter and give the girl back her hat before I get angry..."

"Ah, Miss Dupain-Cheng, here you are." Said the always stoic assistant of Gabriel Agreste as she walked towards the group. "You must hurry, the show will start soon."

Marinette swallowed hard and snatched her hat from Audrey's hands, then ran towards the dressing rooms, while Pepper and Tony couldn't help but chuckle.

"She's as clumsy and nervous as you, kid." Stark said.

"You definitely got yourself a girlfriend akin to you, Peter." Pepper smiled as she ruffled Peter's hair. "Just remember not to do anything that Tony would do and your relationship will be perfect."

"For the umpteenth time, she's not my girlfriend..." Peter snapped as he fixed his hair.

As Jameson moved closer to yell at his photographer for not taking enough photos, Audrey couldn't help but stare at the girl who had created the hat that was supposed to be the center of attention of the show, being led by Nathalie into the dressing rooms.

---

(In the dressing room)

---

Meanwhile, in the dressing room, Adrien looked at himself in the mirror with an expression of annoyance and discomfort as he adjusted his suit tie, while Mary Jane was finishing applying a little makeup on her face, since she had insisted on putting on makeup and fixing her hair herself, despite Gabriel Agreste's insistence that she let a professional team take care of it. But to MJ's joy, she had managed to convince him after telling him that during her first modeling session for Gabriel, she had felt that the makeup artists had gone a little too far and made her feel more like a clown than a teen model, which ended up being a rather surprising event for everyone, because she had managed to get the undaunted Gabriel Agreste to give in to her demands.

"Perfect." Mary Jane said after making sure her eyeliner was well defined but not overdone. "I'm ready, how about you, Goldilocks?"

"I feel strange." Adrien admitted.

"Come on, I don't think you look so bad. Now tell me, how do I look?"

After that, Mary Jane pushed aside the screen that separated her section from the dressing room and struck a pose with a wink included, which made Adrien blush quite a bit, since the outfit she was going to model, (a white blouse with long light-pink sleeves and details of silver sequins in the form of curved lines, a long white skirt with gold details, and a tweed jacket to match her blouse), made her look spectacular, added to her hair being loose, silky, shiny and perfectly brushed, which only served to further contrast the colors of her outfit and enhance her appearance.

At Adrien's astonished look and his clear inability to articulate words, as he had his mouth open and only emitted an Ahhh, MJ smiled and approached Adrien to help him close his mouth gently.

"I'll take that as 'You look absolutely spectacular, Red.'" MJ laughed.

"I-I'm sorry..." Said a blushing Adrien. "It's just... I usually do this kind of thing alone and the truth is that you look really spectacular, you definitely overshadow me, Red."

"Nah, don't underestimate yourself, Goldilocks, you look great too, that tux suits you perfectly, now all that's missing is the final touch with Marinette's hat."

"Right, where will she be?"

"Surely on a date with Peter and both will be late, you know that they're always late for everything..."

"Do you really believe that rumor? Peter and Marinette always deny it."

"That's what couples usually do, believe me, Peter did the same thing before." MJ said before looking at the ceiling. "I'm glad to see that he's recovered a lot since Gwen..."

At that moment, Mary Jane sighed heavily and looked down at the floor, denoting some sadness and longing, which made Adrien wince.

"I'm sorry if I reminded you of something sad..." Adrien said.

"Don't worry, it's not sad for me... Well, a bit, but I'm glad to know that I was able to meet her and be her friend, and that Peter has overcome her death. Though I suppose having Pigtails as his girlfriend has a lot to do with it." MJ smiled.

"I heard you, MJ..." Marinette snapped, flushed with fury, as she opened the dressing room door. "Peter is not my boyfriend..."

"Whatever you say, Pigtails." MJ chuckled before pointing to the hat. "Is that the hat?"

"Yes." The designer answered dryly.

"Wow, it looks almost as good as Goldilocks. I bet he'll look great with it."

"I agree with MJ." Adrien said as he took the hat. "Although I'm sorry you had to change the real feathers for synthetic ones."

"No, it's okay..." Marinette sighed.

"Is something wrong, Marinette?"

"It's just... I don't think you should model the hat..."

"But why?" Asked both models.

"Because... because Audrey Bourgeois just saw it and totally hated it..." Marinette said with a sigh.

"Audrey Bourgeois? The snobby woman who thinks she's the absolute truth when it comes to fashion?" Mary Jane said.

"She IS the Fashion Queen and she knows everything about fashion."

"I think your hat is perfect, Marinette." Adrien said. "Otherwise, my dad would not have chosen it for me to model it."

"Yes, also, I assure you that this little hat'll be the first stone of your career as a designer." MJ said as she grabbed the hat and twirled it in her hands.

As she spun, the hat's feather snapped out of place and fell to the ground, with MJ quickly feeling guilty for damaging the hat.

"Oh no!" MJ said as he hurried to leave the hat on a small table. "Sorry, sorry, sorry! It wasn't my intention!"

As MJ reached down to pick up the feather, Adrien did the same, and without realizing it, they both ended up accidentally headbutting each other.

"Oh God, how clumsy of me..." Said a blushing and embarrassed MJ.

"Don't worry everything is fine." Adrien said as he rubbed his head lightly and picked up the feather. "I'm sure it can be fixed."

Adrien grabbed the hat, examined it for a moment, and put the feather back in its place.

"There, see?" Adrien said before putting on his hat. "Nothing happened."

"It wouldn't have mattered anyway..." Marinette sighed. "It's the ugliest hat in the world and now you'll have to model it in front of everyone."

"Marinette, calm down." Adrien said as he put a hand on her shoulder. "My dad liked your hat and so did I, no matter what Chloé's mom says, you're a talented girl. Otherwise, my dad wouldn't have chosen you."

"And if I can add something..." MJ said unusually insecure. "I'm really sorry for damaging your hat, I didn't mean to. Don't underestimate yourself, Pigtails, you're very good at designing fashion, you'll see how even that snobby woman ends up liking your hat too."

Marinette made a weird face for a moment, then she sighed and gave MJ a friendly smile.

"Thanks for the support, both of you. I needed it." Marinette said. "And about the hat, don't worry, Adrien's right, nothing serious happened."

"That's what friends are for, Pigtails..." Adrien said before blushing when he realized what he had said. "Sorry! I meant Marinette..."

MJ and Marinette couldn't help but chuckle as Adrien scratched the back of his neck nervously, but the moment of youthful fun was cut short by Nathalie clearing her throat loudly, causing the models and the designer to turn the always stoic assistant.

"The event is about to start, Miss Dupain-Cheng." Nathalie said. "Follow me, I'll escort you to your seat."

"Good luck, guys." Marinette said as she followed Nathalie.

"With your hat being the center of attention, I doubt we'll need it, Pigtails." MJ assured with a confident smile.

'This is going to work out. Adrien and MJ are right... Wow, a while ago I wouldn't have even thought about admitting that Mary Jane was right about something.' Marinette said mentally.

Marinette and Nathalie walked calmly to the seats that had been placed on the left side of the catwalk, where her parents, Mary Jane's mother and aunt, Peter's aunt, Alya, Nino, Alix, Mylène, Rose and Harry were, managing to notice how to Peter's misfortune, he had been forced to stay on the right side, along with Mr. Jameson and the rest of the press. On the other side, André, Audrey and Chloé went down the stairs to the benches on the left side, heading towards the front row, as was Audrey's custom.

Meanwhile, Tom Dupain and Sabine Cheng were talking to May Parker and Madeline Watson about J. Jonah Jameson, emphasizing on how badly he treated Peter, when Tom spotted his daughter in the distance.

"Marinette, yoo-hoo!" Tom said, calling his daughter's attention.

"She looks nervous." Sabina said.

"No doubt. It's her first fashion show with her first professional piece, and not to mention: Adrien will be modeling it." Alya said.

"Too bad Peter isn't here, he could comfort her, after all, he's her boyfriend." Aunt May chuckled.

"I totally agree, May." Sabine said as she joined May's giggles.

"Everything will be fine." Madeline snapped while smiling. "I assure you..."

"How dilapidated is this place!" Audrey blurted out dismissively as she sat between Alya and Sabine. "And I have to share the front row with this group of low-lifes! Ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous."

"Hum, that place is reserved for Marinette." Alya blurted out.

"This Marinette girl, again."

"I'll take care of this, mother." Chloé said confidently. "Hey, losers! Do you know who my mother is? She's Miss Style Queen! The most powerful woman in the world of fashion! The parade is for her, okay? So get lost!"

"If I were you, I would stay quiet, girl." Pepper snapped from the second row. "Bourgeois, you should spend less time believing yourself superior to others, and more time educating your daughter."

"Pepper, please stop..." Tony asked.

"You see it? Even Anthony thinks you're a nuisance, Potts..." Audrey snapped.

"Mrs. Bourgeois, Mr. Agreste reserved a seat for you." Nathalie said as she and Marinette arrived at the scene.

"Ah, finally." Audrey snapped as she stood up.

"In the second row."

"WHAT?!" Audrey shouted totally indignant.

"My mother always sits in the front row!" Chloe yelled.

"Not today."

"Oh sweet, sweet karma. You took a long time, but it was about time you came." Pepper laughed. "I was wondering who these seats next to ours were for, but apparently I already know. I hate the idea of having to sit next to you, but as long as I see you humiliated in the second row, I am more than satisfied."

"You shut up, red-haired ape in rags!" Audrey said, without ruining Pepper's good mood for the situation. "You're fired!"

"Audrey, for the umpteenth time, you can't fire Pepper. She works for me, not for you." Tony sighed in exasperation.

"This is unacceptable!" Audrey yelled, completely ignoring Tony. "Gabriel cannot do this to me! I was the one who discovered him! I even ran that contest where he discovered his new model at his request! If it wasn't for me, Gabriel would still be drawing his unworthy in his dismal, grim studio!"

"I can offer your seat to someone else if you don't want it." Nathalie said.

"How dare you?! You're fired!"

"I don't work for you, I work for Mr. Agreste."

"We'll see about that!" Audrey said as she took out her phone to call Gabriel Agreste.

---

(Meanwhile, elsewhere)

---

Meanwhile in the Agreste mansion, deep in the basement. Gabriel looked at his phone, seeing Audrey's call, but he decided to ignore her on purpose to complete his brilliant plot for the day.

"I'm sorry, it took me some time, I know. But today I feel that my prey has more evil than any other person I have akumatized before." Gabriel said as he looked at his wife's stasis pod. "She will be my masterpiece."

With that said, Gabriel sighed and placed a bouquet of flowers on his wife's stasis pod, bowed to her and walked away from the spot.

---

(Back at the Grand Palais)

---

Audrey was still hell-bent on calling Gabriel Agreste about the outrage she was going through, but after her fifth attempt, she was still listening to Gabriel's voicemail on her phone, which made her furious.

"I assume from your expression that I wasn't fired." Nathalie said emotionlessly.

"This is unacceptable! I will not view a fashion show from the second row! Ever!" Audrey yelled furiously as she left.

Given the actions of the international publisher, her husband and daughter followed her with a gesture of discomfort at the situation they faced. On the other hand, Nathalie simply gestured at Marinette to her reserved seat and the girl sat in it, watching in the distance as Peter received more yelling from Mr. Jameson for not taking enough photos of the ruckus caused by Audrey Bourgeois.

---

(Back with Gabriel Agreste)

---

Far away, in Hawk Moth's lair, the already well-known circular window slowly opened, letting the sunrays flood the place and break up the shadows that enveloped the Parisian villain.

"Tell me, my little akumas, what will be the trend tonight?" Hawk Moth said while creating an akuma in his hands. "Fly my little akuma and evillize this wonderfully vile queen!"

---

(Again at the Grand Palais)

---

As the international editor continued her furious march towards the exit, Chloé and André followed her with an unreadable expression on their faces at the awkward situation they faced, not realizing that an akuma was approaching them. Said akuma landed on the decorative rose that Audrey was wearing in her hat and immediately the woman's eyes darkened, making her stop suddenly while a luminous figure appeared in front of her eyes.

"Mom?" Asked a worried Chloé.

"Audrey, dear!" André said in an equally concerned tone.

"Style Queen, I am Hawk Moth." Said the voice of Hawk Moth in Audrey's mind. "You've been refused the throne that is rightfully yours as queen of fashion. Now you can take revenge on those fashion disasters that have disrespected you!"

"They'll see who's queen, Hawk Moth!" Audrey said as she was enveloped by a dark aura.

After a few moments, the dark aura around Audrey dissipated, revealing how the woman now seemed to be completely made of gold dust, with her hat turned into some kind of crown with three prominent points and a staff whose tip shone for a moment, before the now called Style Queen turned into a torrent of dust to take revenge on the ungrateful Gabriel Agreste and all those who had dared to believe that the second row was worthy of her, while Chloé and André walked backwards, scared.

Meanwhile, on the Grand Palais catwalk, Adrien and Mary Jane were walking the runway and posing for the cameras, with Adrien trying to put as much emphasis on Marinette's hat as possible.

For his part, Jameson finally lowered the tone of his voice with which he spoke to Peter, mainly due to the intervention of the guards who threatened to kick him out if he didn't behave, and on the other hand, Marinette couldn't help but tremble with nervousness.

"All good, Marinette?" Harry asked as he touched Marinette's shoulder.

Suddenly, Style Queen materialized in the middle of the runway, scaring everyone except Mr. Jameson, Peter, Marinette, Harry, Mary Jane, Pepper, Tony, and Adrien.

"A fashion show without the Style Queen?" The Style Queen roared. "Glitterally unacceptable!"

"Is this supposed to happen?" Tom wondered out loud. "I've never attended a fashion show before."

"Where is that ungrateful Gabriel Agreste?! I demand that he kneels before me!"

"My father is not here!" Adrien snapped bravely.

"Well, if fashion-disaster daddy isn't here..." Style Queen said while smiling mischievously. "I'll have to settle for Agreste Jr! You're fired!"

The Style Queen raised her staff and fired a beam at Adrien, but luckily MJ pushed him aside, saving him but taking the shot squarely, turning her into a golden statue.

"MJ!" Harry, Madeline, Anna and Peter shouted.

"I won't fail a second time!" The Style Queen roared. "You're fired!"

Style Queen aimed her staff at Adrien again and shot him, turning the young man into a gold statue just like she had done with MJ, sending people running.

"Adrien!" Marinette yelled.

"Adrien!" Hawk Moth yelled from his lair. "We no longer have a choice. Style Queen, you must beat Spider-Man, Ladybug and Cat Noir as soon as possible!"

"Quick, get out of here!" Tony ordered as he took off the jacket and tie he was wearing.

"Where's Marinette?" Tom asked.

Meanwhile, the designer quickly slipped through the crowd and she quickly ducked into a door, closed it and let Tikki fly out of her purse.

"Style Queen just took a wrong step." Marinette said. "Tikki, spots on!"

Meanwhile, Style Queen began turning people into golden statues as they kept trying to escape from the akumatized woman.

And in the crowd, Harry Osborn was making sure that Peter and MJ's aunts, as well as MJ's mother and Marinette's parents could get out safely before he ran to put on his armor.

However, between the people fleeing and the seats that were in the way, Aunt May tripped and fell to the ground, being quickly helped by Anna Watson to her feet. Unfortunately, the Style Queen noticed the vulnerability of both old women and aimed her staff at them, causing Harry to get alarmed.

"You're fired!" Style Queen roared.

"No...!" Harry yelled, getting in the way of the attack.

Aunt May and Aunt Anna gasped at the sight of Harry being turned into a statue, with May Parker feeling particularly guilty, for if she hadn't tripped, Harry wouldn't have ended up like that.

On the other hand, Peter tried to avoid being noticed by Style Queen, moving slowly and carefully covered by the seats and other objects, but soon he felt a tingling in the back of his neck again, which prompted him to turn around, which he did instinctively, managing to see how Harry managed to save his Aunt May and Mary Jane's Aunt Anna from ending up as statues, receiving the beam for them.

"Harry!" Peter yelled.

Style Queen had already targeted Aunt May again, however, Peter's yell distracted her and, being Jameson's annoying photographer, she decided the boy would make a better target, so she aimed her staff at him, causing Peter to take a step back in fear.

"You're fired!" Style Queen shouted.

"Parker!" Jameson's voice shouted.

Peter barely had time to process what was happening before someone stepped in front of him with arms outstretched, taking the villain's shot squarely in the chest. The photographer blinked a few times and gasped as he realized that the one who had shielded him from Style Queen had been his neurotic boss, J. Jonah Jameson.

At this, Peter growled in anger and ran with all his might, managing to dodge another two shots, sneaking into Adrien and MJ's dressing room to transform, mentally promising that he would return the favor to Jameson for protecting him.

Meanwhile on the catwalk, Alya hadn't been so lucky when trying to sneak through the crowd, as one of Style Queen's beams had hit her along with Rose and Nadja Chamack.

For his part, Tony was taking cover behind a bulkhead when he noticed that the crowd had kicked his armor as they fled from the Style Queen's beams, and was now trying to find it, while Pepper and Happy led the crowd away, and for his part André Bourgeois was trying to find a way out when the Style Queen materialized in front of him

"Audrey, dear! Darling, please stop this madness!" Andre begged.

At her husband's plea, the Style Queen wrinkled her nose in disdain and shot a beam at him, turning him into a golden statue.

"Fired!" Said the Style Queen.

"Mom?" Asked a fearful Chloé.

"Claudette? I mean... Chloé?" Style Queen said before raising her staff against Chloé. "I'm not mom. I am the Style Queen! Do you want to be fired too?"

"No, no! I really don't, Style Queen!" Chloé said nervously as she threw her hands up defensively and got a quick idea. "Um, besides, don't you need an assistant?"

"Hmm... not a bad idea, I did fire my last one this morning."

"She sure was useless, utterly useless."

"Fine, I'll take you on trial."

Chloé breathed a sigh of relief at the fact that, at least for the moment, she wouldn't be turned into gold.

Meanwhile, Tony kept looking for his armor with his eyes desperately, and luckily for him, at that moment he managed to spot it not far from where Happy was hiding.

"Happy, the briefcase!" Tony snapped. "To your right, near the other bulkhead!"

At that moment, the Stark Industries Head of Security gasped a little, then he ran to the briefcase and picked it up to throw it at his boss. However, this was seen by the Style Queen, who smirked and aimed her staff at the unsuspecting Tony Stark.

"I'm sorry about this, but you mustn't get in my way..." The Style Queen said. "You're fired, Anthony!"

Tony turned to look at the akumatized Audrey Bourgeois, moments before he was turned into a gold statue, causing the briefcase to crash into his hand and fall to the ground.

"Tony!" Shouted an anguished Pepper Potts.

Pepper's shout caused Style Queen to immediately turn her attention to her archnemesis, aiming her staff at her.

"My little dear Pepper, at last you will be something more than an ape in rags, dear..." Style Queen said with an evil smirk. "You are fired!"

Pepper gasped as she saw the Style Queen's beam heading towards her, however, before she could be hit by it, someone pushed her out of the way and took the attack squarely instead of her. After falling to the ground, Pepper turned and saw Happy turned into another gold statue.

"No! Happy!" Pepper said with a pang of guilt.

"Hold still, Potts!" The Style Queen roared. "Didn't you claim that you could beat me whenever you wanted?!"

Making use of her martial arts training, Pepper dodged the beam Style Queen had fired at her, after which she ran towards a column to protect herself from the akumatized woman.

"You've always been pathetic, Potts!" Said Style Queen in a maniacal way. "Always hiding behind the supposedly Invincible Iron Man! Always living in the shadow of Anthony and everyone around him, knowing that any one of them is more than you will ever be, even as CEO of Stark Industries! Even Osborn is more than you will ever be!"

At that moment, Pepper felt a stab of rage, remembering all the times Audrey Bourgeois had belittled, insulted, or treated her like dirt, so Pepper looked both ways, trying to find something she could distract or maybe attack Style Queen with, letting out a little gasp as she realized the Mark VIII was only a few meters away from her.

Suddenly, the pillar she was hiding behind turned gold, causing Pepper to back away from the pillar and gasp as she watched it turn to gold dust, then the Style Queen floated up and smirked as she aimed her staff of her against Pepper.

"It's over, Potts..." Style Queen hissed. "You are fired!"

At that moment, Ladybug swung with the help of one of the support beams, deflecting the villain's staff with a kick, attracting her attention. Afterwards, the heroine looked defiantly at the Style Queen.

"Style Queen!" Ladybug snapped, drawing the akumatized woman's attention.

"What an atrocious suit! Spots are so last year." Said Style Queen, feeling disgusted by the heroine's outfit.

"But yo-yos and web-shooters are making a great comeback this year!" Spider-Man snapped as he landed next to Ladybug.

Ladybug threw her yo-yo and Spider-Man fired several web-balls at the Style Queen, which went through the villain, just like with the Sandman, while Pepper ran towards her boss's briefcase.

Tony Stark's red-haired assistant looked at the briefcase for a moment, then glanced over her shoulder at Spider-Man and Ladybug, who were fighting Style Queen, reaffirming her decision to wear the armor. After that, Pepper sighed heavily and kicked the briefcase with the toe of her shoe, causing it to open, revealing the armor's boots and gauntlets. Pepper then quickly kicked off her stilettos and placed her feet in her boots, crouched down to put her hands into the gauntlets and picked up the breastplate to place it across her chest, then spread her arms, causing the armor to begin to assemble over her body quickly, feeling a hint of fear due to not knowing how the hell to use a weapon as powerful as the Iron Man suit, but her fear was quickly overwhelmed by a rush of adrenaline and excitement at the chance of being able to use the armor, one that surprised her since she she had made it absolutely clear that she didn't want to wear any of Tony's armors or the like.

Meanwhile, Spider-Man and Ladybug ended up on their backs on the ground, having Style Queen's staff pointed at them.

"It's over, Ladybug and Spider-Man..." Style Queen laughed. "You are fired!"

Another beam was shot out from the tip of Style Queen's staff, however, it was intercepted in midair by a repulsor beam, which detonated the attack and covered the area in a cloud of golden dust. Once it cleared up, the Style Queen gasped when she saw Iron Man a few meters from her and with his arm outstretched, however, the strange thing was that Tony Stark was still a statue.

"Who are you?" Style Queen demanded.

The suit's mask opened, revealing its wearer, stunning the two young heroes on the catwalk floor and the villain in front of them, as it wasn't the genius, millionaire, playboy, philanthropist Tony Stark, but the Chief of Executive Operations of Stark Industries, Pepper Potts.

"I am Iron Man's girlfriend." Pepper snapped.

Pepper commanded the mask to close again, then watched as the helmet's HUD turned red and a small hologram image of J.A.R.V.I.S. appeared and quickly scanned her right eye.

"New user identified: Potts, Virginia 'Pepper.' Use of the Iron Man Armor for Multiple-Scenario Confrontation Mark VIII: Authorized. Good evening, Miss Potts." Said the AI kindly. "You already know me, so I'll go straight to the point. I'm here to suggest a battle strategy against the Style Queen based on Mr. Stark's previous encounter with the Sandman. Would you allow me to present you suggestions for maneuvers and weapons, as well as allow me to take control of the suit when and if required?"

"Of course!" Pepper said as she managed to create a deflector shield to protect herself from Style Queen.

"Initiating 'Running Before Walking' mode. Activating pre-programmed combat style. Codename: 'Sandstorm.'"

Pepper gasped and felt the suit's arms lower themselves and ignite the repulsors to take off, making her dodge a beam from the Style Queen, then Tony Stark's assistant fired several repulsor beams, only managing to hit two, which did no harm to Style Queen.

Style Queen turned into a torrent of glitter and hit Pepper, knocking her onto her back, then Pepper jumped up and fired repulsor rays left and right to try and attack Style Queen.

Style Queen just laughed and lashed out at Pepper again, but this time J.A.R.V.I.S. used the armor to create a deflector shield to block the attack of the akumatized woman, who continued to charge at her rival.

Having a quick idea, Pepper commanded the suit to change the direction of the shield to trap Style Queen, instead of protecting herself, encapsulating her rival in a spherical shield.

The akumatized villain roared and tried to escape the deflector shield, hitting it hard from all directions and causing an alert to go off in Pepper's helmet.

"Alert: Deflector shield integrity at 65% and dropping fast." Reported J.A.R.V.I.S..

"I know, J.A.R.V.I.S., I can see it! Tell me how I can stop her before she gets free!" Pepper snapped.

"According to the data collected by Mr. Stark, the akumatizations are reversed once the object where the akuma is housed is destroyed."

"And where the hell is that thing?!"

"Scans are inconclusive... Alert: Deflector shield integrity at 10%. Releasing the opponent and launching counterattack recommended."

Pepper lowered her hands and deactivated the thrusters on her boots, narrowly missing Style Queen, who headed to the ground and landed a few feet from Pepper, quickly taking her human form and aiming her staff at the armored woman trying to maintain balance after a bad landing.

"You're fired!" Style Queen shouted.

Pepper gasped and tried to turn around to fire a repulsor beam to block Style Queen's attack, but she only managed to get the villain's beam smack into her chest and knock her backwards.

Style Queen smirked, but she was soon stunned as she saw Pepper move and growl, which also left Tony Stark's assistant speechless.

"Report..." Pepper said.

"Everything indicates that Style Queen's attacks turn matter into gold; The Mark VIII's armor is made of the standard gold-titanium alloy of Mr. Stark's suits, and its deflector shields withstand most energy attacks, so it appears that the armor is impervious to the effects of Style Queen's beams." Reported J.A.R.V.I.S..

"Excellent..."

"Still, I recommend you be careful, Miss Potts. Her powder form could cause serious internal damage to the armor."

"I'll keep it in mind..." Pepper said as she stood up.

"How is it possible?! You should be a golden statue!" Cried the Style Queen.

"You can't turn into gold something that is already made out of gold, you idiot..." Pepper said as she aimed her repulsors at Style Queen. "Now I'm pissed, so I'm gonna destroy the akuma that possessed you to turn you back into the annoying bitch you were, even if I have to disintegrate you atom by atom..."

At that moment, Style Queen grunted and swung her staff around, as Pepper charged the suit's repulsors to full capacity, then both women roared and fired at each other, staying even for a moment.

However, Pepper smirked under her helmet and mentally commanded the suit to start charging the UniBeam.

"UniBeam blast ready." Said J.A.R.V.I.S. "But use is not recommended."

"Fire the UniBeam now!" Pepper ordered.

"The Uni-what?" Style Queen said confused.

The armor's chest reactor lit up brightly for a moment, then a powerful beam shot out at Style Queen, leaving only half of her torso and her legs, which fell to the ground. However, Style Queen promptly regenerated, panting slightly as she glared at Pepper, at the same time a luminous figure appeared in front of Style Queen's eyes, allowing her to hear Hawk Moth.

"Miss Potts is much more tenacious than I would have imagined, retreat to think of a new strategy, Style Queen." Hawk Moth said.

"No! I'm not going to let Potts beat me!" Said the Style Queen.

"She won't, just leave!" Hawk Moth ordered while Style Queen felt pressure on her chest. "Besides, you still want to take revenge on Gabriel Agreste, don't you?"

Style Queen grunted and nodded, then turned into a torrent of dust, went to the statues of Adrien and Tony, turned them to dust just like her, went to Chloé and left the place, but not before hitting Pepper and knocking her down again, while Chloé screamed in terror.

"Report, J.A.R.V.I.S..." Pepper gasped.

"After the fight with Style Queen, and the UniBeam blast that I didn't recommend, the armor is at 68% energy, the shields dropped to 47% but are recharging, and the armor is at 81% of integrity." Said J.A.R.V.I.S.

"Not bad for my first time..."

After this, Pepper looked up and noticed that Spider-Man had approached her and was offering her a hand.

"I have to admit, Miss Potts." Spider-Man said as he helped Pepper to get back on her feet. "I already knew you were amazing, but this is a whole another level."

"Thanks for the compliment, kid, but this isn't over yet." Pepper said. "We have to stop Audrey."

"You're not trained for this, Miss Potts, let us take care of this." Ladybug said.

"And miss the opportunity to beat up Audrey like I already did when she was that exchange semester at the Empire State University? Not a chance. Also, by turning Tony and Happy into statues, she made it personal."

"But no..." Spider-Man tried to say.

"No buts, every second we waste is one more second Audrey has to cause trouble."

"Fine, but we could use some backup." Ladybug sighed. "Where are Queen Bee, Rena Rouge, Chat Noir and American Son?

"They must have been turned into gold, American Son was." Said Spider-Man.

"Never mind, I know Audrey and you guys have experience fighting sand guys." Pepper said. "We can deal with Style Queen by ourselves."

"And what about the Avengers?" Ladybug asked. "They could also help us."

"Hawkeye made it absolutely clear that if the world is not being destroyed, and I quote his words: 'Don't bother me'. Miss Van Dyne is busy with some business of her company. Thor and Black Panther are investigating something odd going on with magic. Miss Marvel is on a mission for S.W.O.R.D. in California. Doctor Banner is having his day off from the Hulk. Yellowjacket is in the middle of an investigation. And Captain America is with Nick Fury, meeting the director of a new agency attached to S.H.I.E.L.D. called W.A.N.D." Reported J.A.R.V.I.S.

"Great, I hope that Cap does better with Cinch's snobbery than Madame Web did..." Spider-Man blurted out.

"You forget the important thing, wall-crawler, we are alone against Style Queen." Ladybug said.

"I don't, it's just that I talked to Madame Web a couple of days ago and she told me about Cinch, and from what she said, it sounds like that Cinch woman is like Maria Hill, but more determined and more evil."

Pepper rolled her eyes and got into position to take off, shooting through the ceiling a few seconds later, letting out a startled yelp and punching a hole in the Grand Palais' glass dome, before hovering steady in the air with the repulsors in the boots and gauntlets.

"Whoa, Tony makes this look so much easier than it really is..." Pepper said.

"Welcome to the world of superheroes, Miss Potts." Spider-Man said as he climbed out of the hole Pepper had unintentionally made.

"J.A.R.V.I.S., track down Style Queen." Pepper said.

"According to Mr. Stark's akuma tracking satellite, the Style Queen is in Gabriel Agreste's mansion." Reported J.A.R.V.I.S.

"Wait a minute, akuma tracking satellite?" Ladybug asked.

"Mr. Stark thought it would be useful to pinpoint akumatized people." Explained J.A.R.V.I.S. "He put it into operation this week."

"And when was he planning to tell us?"

"Tonight, actually."

"Focus, Ladybug." Said Spider-Man. "Well, Style Queen is gonna look for Gabriel Agreste, but I doubt that she will find him, so we have to think of a way to stop her."

"I suggest the sonic disruptor built into the right forearm of the armor." Said J.A.R.V.I.S. "Its use will prevent cohesion between the particles that form Style Queen's body, at least for a few seconds."

"Thanks for the tip, J. Now, there's no time to lose." Pepper snapped. "Um, J.A.R.V.I.S? Could you teach me how to fly in the suit?"

"Sure, Miss Potts." Affirmed J.A.R.V.I.S. "Activating retropropellers. Just keep your arms and legs steady, use your torso and arms to guide the flight."

A pair of thrusters erupted from the suit's back, as J.A.R.V.I.S. used the armor to get Pepper into the correct position to fly, (which gave the redhead another adrenaline rush), and once she did, the armor began to fly away from the Grand Palais, with Spider-Man and Ladybug using web-line and her yo-yo respectively to swing after her.

---

(Far from there)

---

Meanwhile, at Gabriel Agreste's mansion, the Style Queen went all over the place, feeling annoyed that she couldn't find a trace of Gabriel Agreste.

"Where is he?!" Style Queen roared before pointing her staff at Chloé. "You lied to me!"

"No, no, no, no, no!" Chloé said nervously and defensively. "He never leaves his house! He has to be around here!"

"Style Queen, Ladybug and Spider-Man are hiding Agreste." Said the voice of Hawk Moth in Style Queen's mind. "You must defeat them to force them to tell you where he is."

"Don't worry, Hawk Moth, those commoners can't beat the Style Queen." The akumatized woman affirmed. "And especially that miserable Pepper Potts..."

With that said, the Style Queen turned into a torrent of dust again and she took Chloé with her, heading towards the Eiffel Tower.

---

(Meanwhile)

---

Across town, Pepper was in a heated argument with J.A.R.V.I.S., since the AI had taken her in the opposite direction to the Agreste Manor, and now the CEO of Stark Industries and the two heroes were on their way back, having wasted valuable time.

"I'm not in the mood, J.A.R.V.I.S! Stop making excuses!" Pepper snapped.

"The Running Before Walking Protocol requires a flight test of at least five minutes and a score of 80 in order to continue operating the suit in flight mode." Said J.A.R.V.I.S. calmly.

"You could've told me at least and not make a fool out of me!"

"Calm down, Miss Potts, everything..." Tried to say Ladybug.

"Stay out of this, girl!"

"Pepper, please calm down." Said Spider-Man. "You're making this personal and right now it's the last thing we need. We have to take this situation for what it is: a problem with a supervillain. If we take it personally, we could make a mistake and lose our only chance to stop Style Queen."

Pepper was going to respond rudely because of the fact that Spider-Man had talked to her on a first name basis, but after analyzing what the boy said, the redhead sighed deeply to calm down a bit, admitting to herself that the kid was right.

"You're right..." Pepper said. "Sorry. It's just... Audrey has always treated me like trash and now that I have a chance to put her in her place..."

"I know what it feels like to be treated like dirt and having an opportunity to get revenge on a silver platter better than anyone, but you can't let this get personal or you might make a mistake you'll regret, Miss Potts." Spider-Man sighed. "I speak from experience."

"Sometimes I forget how smart and mature you are, kid." Pepper said. "Seriously, Hawkeye and Hulk should learn a little from you."

"Maybe Clint does, but the Hulk could take a comment like that badly, Miss Potts, hehehe."

"Pepper."

"What?"

"Call me Pepper, I think you earned it."

Spider-Man smiled and Pepper nodded, then mentally commanded the armor to increase its flight speed, before J.A.R.V.I.S. displayed an alert on the HUD.

"Alert. The Style Queen has changed its course. New estimated destination: The Eiffel Tower." Reported J.A.R.V.I.S.

"Can you guide me there?" Pepper asked.

"Just follow the arrow, Miss Potts."

Pepper watched as a small arrow appeared at one end of the HUD, so using her very short flight training in the armor, Pepper raised her torso slightly to lower her legs and put her hands forward to brake rather clumsily, then she twisted her torso and retook the flying position, smiling to herself as she did so relatively easily, while Ladybug and Spider-Man followed close behind, swinging between the buildings.

"Score of 80 in flight test achieved." Said J.A.R.V.I.S. suddenly. "Use of..."

"Not now, J.A.R.V.I.S!" Pepper snapped.

---

(Meanwhile at the Eiffel Tower)

---

Style Queen landed in one of the observation areas, then raised her staff and hit the ground with the tip, causing two small torrents of golden dust to come out of the weapon and form some sort of bed where the statue of Adrien rested, and a pedestal with Tony's statue over it. She then took the akumatized rose off her hair to make the young model hold it in his hands.

"Keep this safe for me, sleeping beauty." Style Queen said as she created a force field around Adrien and smiled broadly at Tony's statue. "Look at it very well, my dear Anthony, from here you will witness how I will punish the ungrateful Gabriel Agreste and destroy that ape in rags who ruins this world with her mere presence in it."

With that said, the Style Queen turned into a torrent of glitter and headed for the top of the Eiffel Tower.

Meanwhile, the two heroes and the rookie reached the banks of the Seine, where Pepper ended up crashing face first, not knowing how to land properly.

"Are you all right, Miss Potts?" Ladybug asked as she helped Pepper up.

"My pride got hurt, but I'm fine." Said Pepper before seeing her rival on top of the Eiffel Tower. "Wait a minute, it seems that Audrey wants to give a message... J.A.R.V.I.S., amplify the volume of her voice with the loudspeakers of the suit."

The AI didn't respond and merely zoomed in on the Style Queen's image on the armor's HUD, activating the armor's speakers as well.

"Gabriel Agreste! You have dared to insult the Style Queen, so I demand that you stand before me to receive your just deserts!" The Style Queen shouted throughout Paris. "You have exactly 30 minutes to do it! Otherwise, your son will be nothing but dust in the wind!"

"It seems that the speakers were unnecessary." Pepper said.

-"We have to hurry!" Said a worried Ladybug. "Or Adrien will end up fading in the wind!"

"Relax, we need a plan." Said Spider-Man. "J.A.R.V.I.S., could you scan the Eiffel Tower and tell us what we're up against?"

"Scanning..." Said J.A.R.V.I.S. "Scan completed. Everything indicates that the Style Queen is in the recreational area of the Eiffel Tower. It seems that she has also left young Adrien Agreste lying on some sort of bed and he's protected by a barrier of gold dust. I'd estimate that barrier would withstand at least a standard UniBeam blast."

"Then we'll have to be overload it." Pepper said.

"The suit's energy has recharged to 75%, but I must reiterate my reluctance to use the UniBeam, especially if you will overload it."

"I"ll consider your opinion when the time comes, J.A.R.V.I.S., for now I need you to charge the UniBeam."

"You are definitely Mr. Stark's soul mate, Miss Potts."

"We have to take her by surprise if we want to defeat her." Said Spider-Man. "Miss Potts, do you think...?"

"You don't have to ask, I'm the only one of us three who can fight her face to face." Pepper said.

"Just try to prevent her from getting into the armor. Ladybug said. "Meanwhile, Spidey and I will have to find a way to break that shield."

With that said, Spider-Man and Ladybug ran towards the Eiffel Tower while Pepper took off again and headed towards where Style Queen was.

Meanwhile, Style Queen materialized in front of her distraught daughter, who only watched in shock as Adrien's statue slowly vanished in the wind.

"You're not going to hurt Adrikins, are you, mom... I mean, Style Queen?" Chloé asked with concern.

At Chloé's words, the Style Queen wrinkled her nose contemptuously, then pointed her staff threateningly at her blonde and said:

"Do you want to end up like Agreste Jr., Kylie... I mean, Chloé? Say it and I'll fire you!"

"No! Thanks! I'm fine! You are right! He doesn't matter!" Chloé said, afraid of the threats of her akumatized mother.

"Then be useful, assistant." Style Queen said as she lowered her staff. "Tell me if you see Ladybug, Spider-Man and Chat Noir."

Style Queen nodded in satisfaction at her assistant's response, then turned around and gasped as Pepper headed towards her at full speed.

The armored woman let out a battle cry and tried to tackle Style Queen, only managing to run through her and crash into the ground in a bad way. However, Pepper used the momentum of her crash and jumped back to her feet, spinning quickly to fire a powerful laser from the armor's left forearm, making Style Queen laugh at the fact that the laser had barely touched her and had done nothing to her.

"You failed again." Said the Style Queen.

"You think?" Pepper asked ironically.

Style Queen arched an eyebrow as Pepper aimed one of the repulsors at the villain's feet. Then, Style Queen looked down and noticed that Pepper had cut a circle below her, and before she could move, Pepper fired a repulsor ray at the circle and made it fall, along with her archrival.

After that, Pepper took off and went through the hole in the floor, firing several repulsor rays at Style Queen, who blocked them with her staff before ending up crashing to the ground, ending up as a cloud of gold dust, while Pepper finally managed to land like Tony used to, but hurting her knees in the process.

"I don't know how Tony can stand doing this all the time..." A sore Pepper mumbled as she stood up.

For her part, the akumatized villain grunted and backed away from Pepper, reverting to her physical form to glare at the redhead, a gesture that Pepper obviously retorted. Both women were silent for a moment, charging their weapons in an attempt to intimidate the other.

"You spared me the time to go looking for you, Potts." Said Style Queen. "You have a taste as horrible as your way of making plans. You should know by now that I am invincible, even for my dear Anthony's armor."

"Tony has already defeated truly invincible guys with his armors, you're just a slut who became a villain's puppet." Pepper said.

"I'm not anyone's puppet!"

Saying that, Style Queen turned into a torrent of glitter and charged at Pepper, who created a deflector shield to cover herself from the attack so she could fight back.

Meanwhile, back at the Eiffel Tower, Chloé fell to her knees, feeling guilty and anguished for Adrien's safety, as she internally prayed that Tony Stark's assistant could beat her mother.

"Oh, what am I gonna do? What am I gonna do?!" Chloe said worried.

The blonde looked around her and she saw the force field that covered her friend, so she ran to hit it as hard as she could, but to her misfortune, she ended up hurting herself more.

"Oh, it doesn't break." Chloé said as she rubbed her hand. "Adrikins, wake up!"

"You"ll only hurt yourself that way, girl." Spider-Man said as he and Ladybug landed behind Chloé.

"Ladybug, Spider-Man! Hurry up! Adrien is fading!"

"Where did your mother's akuma land?" Ladybug asked.

"It's in the rose that she put on his hands. Where are Chat Noir and the other heroes?"

"I believe that they were turned into statues during Gabriel Agreste's gala." Spider-Man answered with a sigh of defeat.

"You have to think of something soon! My mom is gonna see you...!"

---

(Back at the base of the Eiffel Tower)

---

Pepper had taken off again and was dodging Style Queen's shots, who at the same time groaned in despair at seeing how her rival could use the armor better.

"Stay still!" Style Queen roared.

"Don't even think about it, Bourgeois!" Pepper replied. "Besides, even if you could shoot me, your beam is completely useless against my armor."

Style Queen roared again, which caused the objects she had inadvertently turned into gold to turn to dust and head towards her, making her gasp for an instant, until she realized that the dust was slowly making her bigger, tripling her size in a matter of moments, to Pepper's stunned gaze.

"Oh God..." Pepper said.

Style Queen smirked and slapped Pepper with one hand like the redhead was a bug, knocking her down and causing a couple of alarms to go off in the armor.

"Alert. Contusions detected on the user." Said J.A.R.V.I.S.

"Yes... I detect them too..." Pepper gasped as she tried to get up.

Before the redhead in the armor could get back to her feet, Style Queen grabbed her with both hands and began crushing her, setting off more alarms in the armor.

"Alert. Armor integrity at 75% and dropping fast." Said J.A.R.V.I.S.

"I can feel it, J.A.R.V.I.S! Fire the sonic disruptor before Bourgeois kills me!" Pepper gasped as she felt intense pressure in her abdomen.

Some kind of miniature cannon came out of the armor's right forearm, then Pepper aimed it weakly at Style Queen's face, making the villain laugh, however her amusement was short-lived as she was hit by a burst of sonic waves, which forced her to let go of Pepper, who gasped to recover the oxygen that her opponent had made her lose, at the same time that J.A.R.V.I.S. ignited the thrusters on her back to keep Pepper from crashing to the ground.

After recovering, Pepper grunted and fired the sonic disruptor at Style Queen again, causing her to cry out in pain, which made Pepper notice that Style Queen was slowly losing height and mass, returning to her normal height after a few moments.

However, the fight was still far from over, so Style Queen turned into a torrent of dust and quickly charged at Pepper, hitting her in the chest to distract her so she could resume her physical form to rip the sonic disruptor out of the forearm of the suit as the woman in armor fell backwards to the ground.

"That was unpleasant..." Said Style Queen.

"I'm not defeated yet, Bourgeois..." Pepper said. "J.A.R.V.I.S., modulate the repulsors to match the disruptor's frequency."

Style Queen groaned, then noticed Spider-Man and Ladybug jumping over the side of the Eiffel Tower out of the corner of her eye.

"Very ingenious, Potts, but useless..." Style Queen chuckled.

Before Pepper could understand what her opponent meant, she turned into a torrent of dust and hurried over to where her assistant and the statues of Tony and Adrien stood.

Upon arriving at her destination, Style Queen couldn't help but roll her eyes in annoyance as she saw her assistant talking to Ladybug and Spider-Man about saving Agreste Jr.

"You have to think of something soon! My mom is gonna see you...!"

"It really is impossible to find good help nowadays." Style Queen said as Chloé slowly turned around. "You're fired!"

"No!" Shouted a terrified Chloé before being turned into a statue.

"Ladybug, Spider-Man, give me those horrible earrings and that old-fashioned bracelet, and let's get this over with!"

Spider-Man fired several web-balls and Ladybug threw her yo-yo, but again they went right through Style Queen.

"You still don't get it, huh, fashion victims? You can't beat me!" Style Queen said as she fired several beams from her staff.

Spider-Man and Ladybug did several flips and jumps to dodge Style Queen's attacks, then managed to hide behind a couple of support beams and gritted their teeth as they felt cornered.

"My power is only matched by my fashion sense! I am invincible!" Style Queen laughed.

At that moment, a sonic boom was heard, followed by the AC-DC song Back in Black, which was gradually getting louder, which greatly confused the heroes and the villain, then a pair of repulsor beams hit Style Queen in the back, causing her to scream in pain and fall to her knees.

After this, Pepper landed in front of the Style Queen again, this time without hurting her knees and kept firing her repulsors at the villain while J.A.R.V.I.S. turned off the music.

"Good move, Miss Potts." Said J.A.R.V.I.S.

"I had to learn something from Tony!" Pepper said. "Underoos, Spots, find a way to destroy the force field! I'll distract the lunatic!"

"Wouldn't it be better the other way around?" Spider-Man asked. "You do have the UniBeam, after all, Miss Potts..."

"I've had enough of you, ape in rags!" Style Queen roared before creating a shield with gold dust, with which she covered herself from Pepper's repulsors.

"J.A.R.V.I.S., modulate the UniBeam to the same frequency as the repulsors!" Pepper said without stopping firing the repulsors.

"It will take some time, Miss Potts." Said the AI.

"Fine, just keep it charged!"

"Energy at 65%. UniBeam blast not recommended."

"Follow the plan, J!"

"Enough!" The Style Queen roared before turning to dust.

Pepper didn't cease her attack even though her opponent was just a cloud of dust, however even her modulated repulsors were unable to damage her dust form because of how fast she moved. Taking advantage of this, Style Queen lunged at Pepper and hit her in the arm, knocking her off balance, then lunged again, hitting Pepper in the back, knocking her down and regaining her physical form to hold her against the ground.

"Let her go!" Spider-Man yelled as he shot web-balls at Style Queen.

At Spider-Man's attack, Style Queen just laughed and fired a couple of beams at the spider hero and Ladybug, while the web-balls went through her without hurting her in the least.

Then, after the heroes dodged her attacks, she snapped her fingers and the objects hit by her beams turned into clouds of golden dust that flew at the heroes and hit them in the back of their heads, stunning them.

The dust clouds then joined the Style Queen and formed a mallet with which she hit Pepper on her head, leaving her extremely dazed and nearly unconscious.

Seeing that Pepper had stopped moving, Style Queen nodded in satisfaction and headed towards the heroes, grabbing both of them by the hair.

"Time to end this charade..." Said Style Queen.

Guided by their survival instincts, Ladybug and Spider-Man did a backflip, kicking the villain in her arms, turning them to dust for a moment so that they could escape her.

Style Queen growled and regenerated her limbs, then materialized her staff and blasted the heroes with several beams, which they narrowly dodged.

"Lucky Charm!" Ladybug yelled as she threw her yo-yo up.

Ladybug's yo-yo emitted a light for an instant, however it soon went out and the yo-yo fell unceremoniously to the ground, making Style Queen laugh.

"What were you supposed to achieve with that?" Style Queen laughed.

"Something like this!" Spider-Man growled. "Spider Bite!"

A spark formed on Spider-Man's right hand, but the usual red electric charge didn't appear, much to Spider-Man's alarm as he realized that both his and Ladybug's Miraculouses beeped.

At this, Style Queen laughed and pointed her staff at the heroes, firing more beams, making the teens jump away from her just as she wanted.

"It's over! I won! You two freaks in horrendous suits can't beat me now that you're running out of time!" Said the Style Queen. "And not even my dear Anthony's armor could keep up with me, much less because it's controlled by an ape in rags!"

Meanwhile, inside the armor, after several minutes trying to maintain consciousness and get rid of the numbness and ringing in her ears, Pepper was finally able to slowly open her eyes and hear Style Queen say something she couldn't understand, however, the CEO of Stark Industries gradually regained her sense of hearing, managing to hear the akumatized villain call her "ape in rags", just as she had always done to refer to her since they had met in the exchange semester the blonde spent at the Empire State University. At this, Pepper grunted and, still feeling dazed and sore, slowly rose and aimed her repulsors at Style Queen, then fired, creating two holes in the villain's torso and causing her to moan in pain as the modulated energy knocked her off balance again.

Style Queen growled in rage and mentally commanded the gold dust to come at her, increasing the size of her fist, after which she turned and hit Pepper with all her might, managing to destroy the armor's helmet and leave Pepper stunned again. Once her opponent was knocked down and vulnerable, Style Queen aimed her staff at Pepper and said:

"You are fired!"

Time slowed down for everyone at that moment, Ladybug threw her yo-yo at a support beam to swing-kick Style Queen in an attempt to prevent the beam from hitting Pepper, while the latter only managed to close her eyes and cover her face with her arms.

The beam finally struck something and created a cloud of gold dust, which made Style Queen smirk, however, as the area cleared and the dust dissipated, the villain, the heroine and the CEO gasped collectively as they saw that Spider-Man had reacted quicker than the three of them, leaping in front of Style Queen and taking the attack squarely, and had been turned into a golden statue.

"Kid!" Pepper yelled.

"You're utterly useless, Style Queen!" Hawk Moth roared in the villain's mind. "You destroyed Spider-Man's Miraculous!"

"How dare you...?! You wanted me to stop that bug in the first place! So stop nagging me!" Style Queen snapped.

"I gave you your power, and if I want I can take it from you!" Hawk Moth said while Style Queen felt a great pressure on her heart.

As Style Queen fell to the ground, Ladybug growled in anger at the sight of her teammate turned into a statue, then glared at Style Queen and tossed her yo-yo back up as the second speck on her earrings flickered and disappeared.

"Lucky Charm!" Ladybug yelled.

Ladybug's yo-yo shone again, but this time it managed to materialize an object, which was caught by the heroine, who was a little confused when she saw it carefully.

"A tube of glue?" Ladybug asked. "What am I supposed to do with it?"

"Give it to me!" Pepper said.

Ladybug looked at Pepper for a second, then she saw how the forearms of the Iron Man armor lit up a bit, which gave her an idea of how the CEO was planning to use the Lucky Charm on her.

At that moment, the heroine threw the tube of glue at Pepper, who caught it and squeezed it, making sure that all the contents fell into her fist and part of her forearm, and attacked Style Queen, who was being tortured by Hawk Moth.

The villain heard a war cry then watched as Pepper lunged at her and landed a blow to her face, destroying her head.

As Pepper jumped back, Style Queen grunted and tried to regenerate, but was unable to do so completely, as she was missing part of her left cheek, then heard Pepper chuckle and show her her fist, which was covered in her gold dust.

"I always knew you would crack easily in a real fight." Pepper said.

"I'M GONNA KILL YOU FOR THIS OUTRAGE, POTTS!" Style Queen roared as she aimed her staff at Pepper.

Style Queen fired her beam again, but Pepper again managed to intercept her attack with the suit's repulsors, replaying the scene of their confrontation in the Grand Palais.

"Energy at 50%." Reported J.A.R.V.I.S. "UniBeam modulated."

"Reroute all remaining energy to the UniBeam!"

"But, Miss Potts..."

"ALL OF IT, J.A.R.V.I.S!"

The reactor on the armor's chest glowed brightly for a second, then Pepper quickly lowered her arms and roared as a powerful UniBeam blast was fired from the reactor, easily overcoming Style Queen's beam, turning her into dust and hitting the shield that protected Adrien's statue, destroying it.

After a few seconds, the blast diminished until it disappeared and the armor's reactor stopped emitting light, then Pepper fell to her knees on the ground and could no longer move.

"Spots, finish this before Audrey recovers!" Pepper gasped.

Ladybug nodded, then ran to Adrien's statue and grabbed the rose from his hands to break it and release the akuma.

"No more evil-doing for you, little akuma..." Ladybug said as she opened her yo-yo. "Time to de-evillize!"

The heroine smiled and caught the akuma with ease, then retracted her yo-yo and released the little butterfly.

"Bye-bye, little butterfly." Ladybug said.

As Style Queen returned to being Audrey Bourgeois, Ladybug focused and the tube of glue appeared in her hand to throw it up.

"Miraculous Ladybug!" Ladybug yelled.

The tube of glue burst into the usual horde of ladybugs who started rebuilding everything in the city and returning the people turned into statues to normal, as well as repairing Iron Man's armor.

"Backup power online." Said the voice of J.A.R.V.I.S. while the suit regained mobility. "Starting main power recharge."

"You can rest, J.A.R.V.I.S., it's all over." Pepper sighed.

"As you wish, Miss Potts."

"What happened? What am I doing here?" Audrey asked. "All of you are fired!"

"What happened here and who are you?" Asked a confused Tony to the person inside the armor.

"Adrikins!" Chloé said as she hugged Adrien.

"Excellent, I knew I made the right choice." Spider-Man sighed as he looked at Pepper.

"Just don't do it again, Underoos." Pepper said as she opened the suit's mask. "You scared me to death."

"I'm sorry, but my powers aren't working right. And please don't call me Underoos, I have enough with Mr. Stark doing so."

"Pepper?" Tony asked.

"The one and only, Tony." Pepper smiled.

"Well, then there's only one thing left to do." Ladybug said as she approached Pepper and Spider-Man to extend her fist.

Spider-Man nodded and bumped his fist into Ladybug's, then both heroes looked at Pepper and nodded for her to join in their little victory celebration ritual.

Pepper smiled and walked over to the young heroes, then bumped her fist into Spider-Man and Ladybug's, as all three said:

"Pound it!"

Ladybug and Spider-Man heard a beep and looked at their Miraculouses, noting that they had little transformation time left.

"I think that marks my exit." Ladybug said.

"Thanks for saving us, Ladybug, and also to you, Spider-Man and Miss Potts." Adrien said with a smile.

"Always there to help, boy." Spider-Man nodded before jumping on a beam and starting to swing away.

"I'm sorry I can't help more, but I don't have much time left." Ladybug said before jumping to the same beam.

"Don't worry, I'll take them back to the fashion show." Pepper said.

Ladybug nodded and threw her yo-yo to swing away from the place.

As Ladybug swung away, Tony walked over to Pepper and put a hand on her shoulder.

"I must admit, out of all the things I could expect today, seeing you wearing one of my armors was the least expected." Tony said.

"Don't get too excited, Tony, I only did this because there was no other option, someone had to help the kid and Ladybug to stop Audrey." Pepper said as she closed the suit mask. "Hey, kid, time to go."

Pepper lowered one knee to the ground and motioned for Adrien to climb onto her back, which the young model did with a hint of embarrassment.

"J.A.R.V.I.S., electrify his arms so he doesn't let go by mistake." Pepper said. "I'm sorry, kid, you'll feel a slight shock and you won't be able to move your arms for a short while."

"I think it's better than falling to my death, Miss Potts, don't worry." Adrien said as he felt his arms go numb.

With that, Pepper nodded and stood up to pick Tony up bridal style.

"This is weird, but since you're the one doing it, I could get used to it." Tony chuckled.

"And how are you supposed to take me back to the show, Potts?" Audrey snapped indignantly.

"Take you back to the show? I'm sorry, with just your ego we would exceed the cargo limit of the suit." Pepper chuckled as she took off. "Besides, it'll be a good lesson for all the stupid things you did today. And the same for your brat of a daughter, so that she learns some respect."

"What?!"

"Bye!"

With that said, Pepper flew away from the Eiffel Tower, managing to hear Audrey curse her in English and French with all the expletives she knew.

---

(Somewhere else)

---

Meanwhile, in Hawk Moth's lair, the villain sighed in defeat.

"How is it possible that she failed? She was my masterpiece..." Hawk Moth said. "How is it possible that I failed...?"

Hawk Moth let a tear run down his cheek as he dropped his staff and fell to his knees.

"My master plan..." Hawk Moth sighed. "Now I have nothing left..."

The large window in Hawk Moth's lair began to close at that moment, leaving the villain in darkness.

Moments later, Gabriel Agreste emerged from his lair, his gaze fixed on the painting of his wife, while Nathalie approached him with a solemn gaze.

"You took a big risk with Adrien today, sir." Nathalie said.

"If I could tell him why I do this, I'm sure he would understand." Gabriel sighed.

---

(Meanwhile)

---

Spider-Man managed to get into an alley and land at the bottom of it just before his transformation time was up, however, after the usual flash of light in which he changed his outfit, half of his body remained sheathed in his Spider-Man suit and the other was already in his civilian clothes.

"This is new..." Peter said surprised. "Webs off."

Peter's clothes flashed again and he finally demorphed, with his Miraculous violently expelling the kwami from it, but the youngster managed to catch him before the magical little creature got hurt.

"You doing ok?" Peter said.

"Yes... Just... feed me..." Leopardon said as he panted.

"I'm not liking this at all, I have to talk to Mr. Stark and Doctor Strange about a remedy for this." Peter said as he gave his kwami a fun-sized chocolate.

"The best thing would be to talk to Curt Connors, he's the one to blame for all this." Leopardon said while he ate.

"I don't like the idea but you're right, although Nick Fury will probably be against it."

"Nick Fury is a jerk, not an idiot."

"And again you are right, but he's also stubborn, possibly he will find some reason to refuse."

"As if that would stop your friend Stark."

Peter sighed and stuffed Leopardon into the inside pocket of his hoodie, then started running back to the Grand Palais.

After a few minutes, Peter managed to reach the event venue, where he managed to see a crowd gathered outside the building, highlighting Marinette's parents and the designer herself, who were talking and hugging each other after the fiasco caused by Audrey Bourgeois, Harry and Janice talking quietly, Alya being inspected from head to toe by her mother and father, Aunt Anna complaining to Nathalie about the apparent lack of security at the event while Madeline Watson and Mary Jane covered their faces in embarrassment as Adrien tried to comfort the red-haired model, and his Aunt May, who was talking worriedly to Commander Raincomprix with J. Jonah Jameson.

"Please, you have to find my nephew." May said pleadingly.

"We'll do our best, Mrs. Parker, I promise." Commander Raincomprix said. "But don't worry, you nephew is surely fine, Ladybug, Chat Noir and Spider-Man have already solved everything."

"Besides, it's Parker we're talking about, the boy is smart, Mrs. Parker." Jameson said in an unusually calm tone. "He may be a mediocre photographer, but he always knows how to get out of the trouble he gets into."

"Aww, I care about you too, Mr. Jameson." Peter said mockingly.

"Peter!" Aunt May said as she sighed in relief and hugged her nephew. "Thank God you are okay! Where have you been?"

"Spider-Man saved me, he found me after we both found out that good ol' Jameson has a heart." Peter said.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, don't get used to it, kid, I only did it because I didn't want the photos of the event to be ruined." Jameson said nonchalantly.

"Whatever you say, Mr. Jameson." Peter said as he rolled his eyes and smiled.

"Thank you very much for protecting my nephew, Mr. Jameson." May said. "I was wrong about you, although you have a tough exterior, you do care about others."

"Well... As I told Parker, it's not about that, I just wanted to protect the photos."

"Still, thank you very much, Mr. Jameson."

Aunt May offered a hand to Jameson, who hesitated a moment before shaking her hand and smiling slightly.

"It was nothing, Mrs. Parker." Jameson said before giving Peter a hard look. Parker! What are you still doing here? Go back inside and photograph the models!"

"And we're back to normal." Peter sighed with a smile.

Suddenly, there was a sonic boom that caught everyone's attention, and seconds later, the Iron Man armor appeared, hovering over the area for a few seconds before slowly landing, confusing everyone to see that Tony Stark was in the arms of the armor and not inside it.

As Adrien Agreste stepped off the armor's back, people turned their attention to it, then the armor began to open and refold like a briefcase, while Happy Hogan approached with Pepper's heels in hand, at the same time the crowd let out a gasp of surprise as they discovered that it was Pepper who had worn the armor.

Almost immediately, reporters began swarming Pepper, Tony, and Happy, spitting out questions they could barely make out amidst the various shouts from members of the press, so Tony called a halt to the sea of questions by whistling loudly.

"Everybody calm and stay quiet, ok?" Tony said. "We can only say that since I was indisposed, I was unable to wear my suit and my very talented assistant and Chief of Executive Operations, Miss Pepper Potts, had to wear it for me."

"The rest will be an exclusive interview for the Daily Bugle, specifically for Mr. Stark's intern." Pepper stated as she and Tony winked at Peter.

Many of the reporters heaved a defeated sigh as Peter blushed at the unwanted and unexpected attention that was brought to himself, while Jameson rubbed his hands together mischievously at Pepper's statement, however tempers rose again when Gabriel Agreste's car appeared in front of the Grand Palais.

Before everyone's astonished gaze, including Tony Stark's, Gabriel Agreste got out of the car and ignored the stupefied looks of everyone present, going directly to his son, who was still behind Pepper.

"Son." Gabriel said.

"Father..." Adrien said in shock.

Without saying anything else, Gabriel took his son by the arm and hugged him tightly, not caring that Marinette's hat fell to the ground.

After a few seconds and several photos from the press, Gabriel sighed and looked directly at Pepper.

"Thank you very much for helping to save my son, Miss Potts." Gabriel said.

"It was nothing, Mr. Agreste." Pepper nodded as she picked up Marinette's hat to hand it to Gabriel.

"I wouldn't say it was nothing, Miss Potts. In fact, I'd even say it was pretty impressive." Said a voice behind the crowd.

The crowd around them turned again and unwittingly made way for another millionaire, this time the ever-elusive CEO and founder of OsCorp, Norman Osborn.

"Dad." Harry gasped as he pushed his way through the crowd.

"I'm glad you're safe, Harry." Norman said with a sincere smile as he put a hand on his son's shoulder, before turning his attention back to Gabriel and Pepper. "As I said, Miss Potts, your feat was impressive to say the least, not many manage to do what you did on the first try."

"Thank you for the compliment, Mr. Osborn, but honestly it was nothing. I just wanted to stop Audrey Bourgeois from wreaking more havoc." Pepper said.

"Speaking of her, where will she be?" Tony wondered aloud. "Meh, I guess she'll be fine."

"Agreed." Norman and Gabriel agreed.

"And what brings you here, Norman?" Gabriel asked.

"Something told me that I should come here as soon as possible, and I see that it wasn't for less, old friend, in addition to Style Queen, it's the first time that I see you outside your mansion since... well, since that happened." Norman said.

"I had to be here, for Adrien."

Both businessmen took a couple of steps toward each other and Norman extended a hand to Gabriel, who smiled slightly and shook his hand.

"It's good to see you out of that mansion, Gabriel." Norman said sincerely. "And despite Audrey's rudeness, it seems to me that your fashion show was a success."

"Although I guess I'll have to redo everything, to finish the event as it should." Gabriel said. "Nathalie, start the preparations to repeat the event tomorrow."

"Of course, Mr. Agreste." Nathalie nodded stoically as she approached her boss.

"If there's anything I can do to help, just say so." Norman said.

"It will not be necessary, I would just like to have your presence in the replacement gala for tomorrow."

"I have a couple of board meetings scheduled, but I guess they can wait."

"It's super strange to see you so... well, to see you acting like normal people with blood instead of liquid nitrogen in their veins." Tony blurted out.

"As always, you have the wrong comment at the wrong time, Stark..." Norman sighed as he gave Tony a cold look.

"Let's be honest, Normie, Tony is very right, you and Gabe are so cold that Donald Gillan is jealous of you two." Let out a deep voice from behind the crowd.

"Oh God, why him? Wasn't Audrey punishment enough?" Tony said as he sighed in exasperation and facepalmed.

The crowd parted once more, making everyone gasp at the presence of another man in a suit with a red tie, goggles hanging around his neck, and bluish-black hair that looked oddly familiar to Harry, Adrien, Mary Jane, Alya and Peter.

"Mario?!" Said Tom Dupain, Norman and Gabriel.

"Uncle Mario?" Marinette said.

"Ah, so that's why the bluish-black hair was so familiar to me." Alya chuckled.

"Hey, Bedbug. Hey, Tom." The now called Mario said as he ruffled Marinette's hair.

"Stop calling me that..." Marinette snapped as she pouted.

"Anyway, Gabe, I felt very hurt when you didn't invite me to this gala, even though you even invited Tony."

"Maybe because you're incredibly irritating, even more so than Hammer." Norman growled.

"Or maybe because you blow up 75% of your inventions and you always have one of them on you before they detonate..." Tony added.

"Because I just don't want you near my designs." Gabriel said contemptuously.

"Oh, I missed you guys too." Mario said before hugging the other three men in suits.

"They're never gonna change, are they?" Pepper said as he sighed in exasperation.

"I would say not." Nathalie said.

"I'm actually surprised they haven't beaten each other to death yet." Janice muttered.

"All right, enough." Said Happy as he led the crowd and reporters away. "Move awya, there is nothing to see... Not you, kid, you are allowed to be here."

"At least your staff is of some use, Stark." Norman blurted out.

"I know how to choose my workers well, Osborn, unlike you with Smythe, Morbius and Connors." Tony replied.

"You're not going to make a scene in my presence, Stark." Gabriel snapped.

"He started it."

"And I'm here to put an end to it." Pepper said as he pulled Tony away from Norman. "Excuse the inconvenience, Mr. Agreste, we're leaving."

"I only hope that this incident does not prevent you from returning to the replacement gala tomorrow." Gabriel said. "That is, if Stark can behave."

"Listen here, Agreste..." Tony tried to threaten before being stopped and silenced by Pepper's hand.

"I'll take care of that personally. With your permission, we'll leave." Pepper declared. "Happy, call the limo. Peter, Mrs. Parker, Mr. Jameson, come with me, please."

Happy just nodded as Tony started to complain to Pepper about why she was treating him like a child, while Jameson, Peter and Aunt May followed suit.

As they walked away, Gabriel and Nathalie gave Mario a cold look before walking over to Mayor Bourgeois, seeking to speak with him about permission to repeat the gala the following day. For his part, Norman rolled his eyes and walked away from Mario, gesturing for his assistant and Harry to follow him, while Mario continued to smile strangely, until Tom tapped him on the shoulder, snapping him out of his stupor.

"What brings you to Paris, brother?" Tom asked. "Not that it bothers me, it's just that you never come without a mission from S.H.I.E.L.D."

"Oh, that's in the past, Tom, I just came to see our little Bedbug and to congratulate her on her first parade as professional designer." Mario said as he ruffled Marinette's hair again. "To spend time with the family."

"Don't call me Bedbug!" Marinette said.

"You're adorable puffing out your cheeks, Bedbug."

Marinette blushed and stomped away from her uncle in anger, making Mario laugh a little, while Sabine walked over to him.

"Well, since you're staying, you can use the guest room, after all, not every day we have Agent Mario Dupain with us." Sabine said with a smile.

"Ah, Sabine, you are so sweet, that sometimes I can't believe that my clumsy brother has managed to conquer your heart." Mario laughed.

"Hey, at least I don't scare women after showing my vocation." Tom said in a mocking tone.

"Whatever you say, Tom."

"Come on, I think there's nothing else to do here." Sabine said.

Tom and Sabine started walking as the crowd finally dispersed, leaving Mario alone, who finally stopped smiling, discreetly looked around and pulled a small communicator from his pocket, which he put on his ear and immediately turned on.

"This is Agent Dupain, reporting the start of my mission, Director Cinch." Mario said through the communicator.

"Excellent, I hope to receive daily reports. We'll finally find out the identities of Spider-Man, Ladybug and Chat Noir, and whatever Webb and Fu are hiding about the Miraculouses." Said a woman's voice through Mario's communicator.

'And here I thought I could get rid of evil harpies by leaving the agency and joining W.A.N.D.' Mario sighed mentally.

"Yes ma'am. Agent Dupain, over and out." Mario agreed.

The agent of W.A.N.D. took off his communicator and put his hands in his pockets, then began to walk after Tom and Sabine, not realizing that he had been watched and heard by a certain girl with whitish hair and cat powers, who was hiding on the roof of the Grand Palais.

"And here I thought that coming to this event was a waste of time." Black Cat said with a grin.