THE BATTLE OF THE QUEENS, PART 5: THE QUEEN OF CLUBS (MALEDIKTATOR).
It was a day like any other in the city of Paris.
And after the events with Riposte, the Style Queen, and Queen Wasp, classes had finally resumed as normal, with the teens being in yet another boring chemistry class with Miss Mendeleiev, where only Peter Parker was paying attention to the teacher's explanations.
And while the science teacher finished her explanation about atoms, molecules and their bonds, with Peter making some notes in his notebook, the bell rang and the class was able to breathe a sigh of relief, except for the young nerd from Queens who heaved a disappointed sigh.
"Alright, class, I think that ends today's lesson." Professor Mendeleiev said. "As homework, you must complete the lesson on molecular bonds."
The teacher's words made the students groan in disappointment, which made Professor Mendeleiev frown in indignation.
"Complain all you want, but the akuma attacks have set the course back and molecular bonds are included in your final exams." Snapped the indignant teacher.
While the students were finishing packing their things in their backpacks, Chloé Bourgeois sighed in exasperation at the teacher's orders and glanced at her friend, Felicia Hardy, who smiled slightly at her and nodded her head.
"Come on, let's do that torture together." Felicia said.
"Sure, your house or mine?" Chloe said.
"My mom will be having a holographic meeting with the rest of OsCorp's board so she'll want quiet, so yours."
"What are we waiting for, then?"
After saying that, both girls slung their backpacks over their shoulders and got up from their table and left the lab with the rest of their class, noticing out of the corner of their eyes the small group of Marinette and Peter, together as usual and chatting animatedly, even after everything that happened over the weekend.
Which irritated Chloé a little, because unfortunately, her mother hadn't taken well that Tony Stark had invited them to eat shawarma after telling her all his truths, and when Chloé returned from having tasted the Middle Eastern snack that, under different circumstances, she would've never even thought of eating, her mother had proceeded to throw her out of her room unconsciously by staying up all night cursing Adrien and Gabriel Agreste, Norman and Harry Osborn, Pepper Potts, Happy Hogan, J. Jonah Jameson, and above all, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Mary Jane Watson and Peter Parker.
Although the most surprising thing was that she still believed that Tony Stark loved her and he had only acted like that because of the influence of the others.
And after noticing her friend giving Marinette and her group a dirty look, Felicia put a hand on Chloé's shoulder, snapping her out of her stupor and giving her a smile.
"Don't worry about those losers, Chloé, they're not worth it." Felicia said.
"I know, it's just that because of her, my mother's unbearable..." Chloé sighed.
"Well... you have to admit that's more your mom's doing, she's crazy."
"Ugh... You're right..."
"Don't worry, if she gets intense, I'll calm her down. Trust me, Stark's assistant isn't the only one who knows how to fight."
"I know, Felicia, and if I didn't fear for my integrity, I would ask you to teach me."
"Believe me it's because of my integrity that I learned to defend myself."
Both rich blondes chuckled and headed to the smart car that Felicia's mother had designated to transport her daughter, then Felicia opened the door to allow Chloé to enter and then boarded the car herself, sighing with relief.
"Lace, take us to the Hotel Grand Paris, and send a message to my mother that I went to Chloé's to do my homework." Felicia said to the artificial intelligence of the car.
"Will do, Miss Hardy." Said the car while it ignited its engine.
"Oh, and put on some XY to liven up the journey."
"I love your taste in music, Felicia." Chloe said.
"I have to admit that although I'm more of a fan of Countess Coloratura myself, XY isn't bad at all."
Chloé smiled and relaxed for a moment, just enjoying the company of her friend and the soft music on their ride, not imagining what was about to happen.
(In the meantime)
It was a quiet afternoon in the city hall of the city of Paris, with André Bourgeois, the mayor of said city, officiating a marriage ceremony between two citizens with his usual calm and professionalism, while the happy couple were holding hands.
"And now, by the power vested in me by the city of Paris and our beautiful nation, I officially declare you husband and wife." André said while he sealed the marriage certificate to make the union legal.
The young couple beamed at the moment and shared a kiss to celebrate their marriage.
Unfortunately the moment of happiness came to an abrupt end when someone slammed the door open and brought the newlyweds back to reality.
"You're married already! Now leave!" Snapped a furious Audrey Bourgeois.
Without giving any explanation, Audrey took the couple, who only managed to take their marriage certificate before being pushed out of the room, then Audrey glared at her husband before smashing a newspaper on the desk, right in front of André.
"How the hell did you let this be written?!" Audrey roared.
"W-what do you mean, honey?" André asked confused.
"Read the fucking newspaper!"
At that moment, Audrey grabbed André by the hair and practically rubbed her face on the newspaper, emphasizing one in particular titled The True Face of Audrey Bourgeois.
The strange thing was that the newspaper was written in English and that it was an edition of the Daily Bugle.
"Where did you get one of these?" André asked.
"READ!" Audrey roared.
Seeking to keep Audrey from getting more upset, André started reading, realizing that the article spoke quite poorly about his wife, emphasizing on her treatment of Chloé, the fact that Pepper Potts had hit her, and that Mary Jane Watson, Marinette Dupain -Cheng and Peter Parker had rejected her job offer.
All of that gave him a lot to think about, like how the hell J. Jonah Jameson had found out about it and how Audrey had gotten the paper.
"I... I couldn't do anything... The Bugle is written in the United States, I don't have jurisdiction there." André said.
"You could have stopped the brat who wrote it!" Audrey yelled.
André felt confused, but to avoid further enraging his wife, he simply went back to reading the newspaper and widened his eyes in surprise when he saw that the name of the person who had written the article was Peter Parker.
"Wait a minute... I thought the Parker boy was a photographer..." Said a confused André.
"I don't care what he is!" Audrey said. "I want you to do something about it!"
"B-but what do you want me to do, my dear?"
"Close the school, banish the boy, I don't know! You're supposed to be the mayor of Paris!"
"Yes, darling, but I think all that is a bit extreme..."
"The brat is ruining my reputation!" Audrey said.
"It's just an article in a measly newspaper in the United States..."
"A newspaper whose HQ is where I work!"
"Bu-bu-but..."
"You're the mayor of Paris and you can't even silence a brat!" Audrey said indignantly. "What good is power if you can't do something as simple as protecting your wife, Albert?!"
Audrey grabbed the newspaper and walked away from her husband, with the mayor quickly getting up from his seat and following Audrey, but before he could reach her in a futile attempt to stop her, Audrey turned and slapped him hard, knocking him down.
"Don't touch me, Antoine! Our marriage is over! It's the last straw that you're so useless that you can't even defend me! I bet Anthony would have done something about it!" Audrey said.
At that moment, André felt deeply hurt and furious, then he stood up and said:
"Tony Stark is the mentor of the Parker boy, so surely he encouraged him to write that article! And he has made it very clear that he wants nothing to do with you!" Andre snapped.
"You lie! Anthony loves me and despises the boy, that's why he sent him to Paris, to keep him away from him! He even he took a risk to protect me from Carina!" Audrey said.
"Because he's an Avenger! That's what they do!"
"Whatever! That doesn't change the fact that you're a lousy man and a lousy mayor!" Audrey said unemphatically. "I'm leaving Paris forever! Oh, and I'm keeping Zoé, unlike Cassey, she's a pride for me! You can keep Carol! You're just as useless as she is after all!"
"Please, Audrey! You're exaggerating, it's just a critic!"
Audrey simply ignored her husband and she walked away from her with André feeling hurt and helpless, unable to believe what had happened, and worse still, that Tony Stark was once again the main trigger of his tragedy.
As always.
(Far from there)
Gabriel Agreste was pleased as he felt a great anger and impotence growing within one of the citizens of Paris, and as he removed the ascot tie that covered the Moth Brooch, Nooroo approached his master, with the same expression of concern that he always had, at the same time the window opened and let light into the businessman's evil lair.
"Helplessness and despair in a powerful man." Gabriel said. "The irony of the situation is just what I need to get ahead of the Green Goblin and finally achieve my goals... Nooroo, dark wings rise!"
The repentant kwami sighed and was sucked into the man's Miraculous, turning him into Hawk Moth, who immediately took one of the many butterflies around him and imbued it with dark energy, transforming it into an akuma, then released it and let it fly through the window.
"Fly, my evil akuma, seek out that desperate man and give him the power he claims to need!" Hawk Moth said.
The akuma flew smoothly and silently through the Parisian sky, rushing toward André Bourgeois.
(Back at the City Hall)
André was still feeling devastated and helpless, he just couldn't understand why he was going through this situation, when suddenly, an akuma entered through an open window in his office and landed on his mayor sash, merging with the object and projecting a luminous figure in front of his eyes.
"Malediktator, I am Hawk Moth." Said the voice of Hawk Moth in André's mind. "Is your wife so wrapped up in a fantasy with Tony Stark that she totally underestimates your own capabilities? Well, I give you the power to make everyone obey your orders without the opportunity to resist it, all you have to do is bring me the Miraculouses of Ladybug, Chat Noir and Spider-Man."
"Include letting me destroy Iron Man and you have a deal, Hawk Moth." André said.
"No, I don't want to have the Avengers meddling in my plans."
"You already have one of them here, I know Iron Man hasn't left yet, it's only a matter of time before the rest of his friends arrive, but with me, you'll have them at your command."
Hawk Moth pondered for a moment, then nodded in complete silence and André was covered in an aura of dark energy, transforming the mayor, who grinned and looked at his new appearance, then Malediktator kicked open the doors of his office and smiled as the city hall workers let out a cry of surprise when they saw the akumatized mayor.
Without giving time to explain, Malediktator put two fingers in front of his mouth and murmured:
"By the power vested in me, I declare that all of you serve me now!"
A sphere of golden energy formed over Malediktator's fingers, then he hurled it at a worker, passing through harmlessly and splitting, doing the same to every person in the building.
After that, Malediktator smirked as the city hall workers respectfully knelt in front of their new master.
"At your service, Malediktator." Said all the workers in unison.
"Where's my wife?" Malediktator asked.
"About to get into her car, sir." Informed a secretary while she looked out the window.
Malediktator frowned and walked over to the window, then put two fingers close to his hand again and said:
"By the power vested in me, stop right now."
Another sphere of light formed on Malediktator's fingers and he hurled it at the car's driver, who, moved by an unseen force, slammed on the brakes and the car skidded a few meters before coming to a complete halt, with Audrey cursing the driver at full volume and in several languages, while he still did not understand what the hell had happened to him.
Before the driver understood what had happened and Audrey could stop cursing, someone ripped the back door off and let out a victorious laugh, causing the driver and Audrey to look at Malediktator in surprise, which was replaced almost immediately by fright in the driver's case and annoyance in Audrey's case.
"Angelo, you really are pathetic..." An exasperated Audrey sighed. "Letting yourself be akumatized like the rest of the riffraff is the most ridiculous thing I've seen you do. Pathetic, utterly pathetic..."
"By the power vested in me, I declare that you will stay here and be a loving and faithful wife." Malediktator said while he formed another one of the spheres of light.
Audrey was about to tell Malediktator that he was crazy to say such nonsense, but just before that, the sphere of light hit her square in the chest and forced her to change her countenance, forcing her to smile and throw herself into a loving embrace at Malediktator, causing the villain to smirk.
"Oh, Malediktator! You don't know how happy you make me!" Audrey said.
"Excellent, if you're happy, so am I." Malediktator said as he prepared to throw another ball of light at the driver. "I declare that you take me immediately to the Grand Paris Hotel..."
The driver received the sphere in the chest, forcing him to instantly nod, start the car and drive to the Grand Paris Hotel in a hurry, while Malediktator rode on the roof, using his powers to prevent traffic from forming in his path, with Audrey inside the car.
(In another place)
Inside one of the suites at the Grand Paris Hotel, Tony Stark found himself chuckling as he watched Happy struggle to talk to the hotel bellman, holding a translation dictionary in one hand and pointing to the various suitcases of Pepper, Happy and Tony himself, while Pepper had a phone conversation with the pilot of Tony's private plane, arranging the details for takeoff and confirming the time.
-"Fine, we'll be there."- Pepper said as she hung up her phone. -"Happy, stop that, but you really need to learn French."-
-"Excuse me, Miss Potts, it's just that the language is very difficult for me."- Happy said.
"Just take the bags to the helicopter, boy, sorry for the bad time because of Happy." Tony said while the bellboy nodded.
After the bellman left the room, pushing the cart with the suitcases, Happy gave his boss a dirty look, who ignored the gesture of his Head of Security and proceeded to leave the suite they were in, being followed by Pepper and Happy.
A few minutes later, Tony, Happy and Pepper were quietly walking down the hall, until suddenly, they came face to face with Felicia Hardy and Chloé Bourgeois, with both groups stopping dead and exchanging glances.
"Girls." Tony said.
"Stark." Felicia said.
"It's good to see you two again and under circumstances that don't involve a villain."
"Same here, and thanks for the invitation yesterday."
"Though you words didn't do much to change what my mother thinks of you, Mr. Stark." Chloe said.
"Audrey lives absorbed in her own fantasy." Pepper said. "She has literally been hit with reality and she doesn't accept it because it bursts her little bubble."
"I know, however I hope she doesn't kick me out of my room to complain all night again."
-"Well, I think we're running late, so it's time to go."- Happy said.
-"You should learn French, Mr. Hogan."- Felicia said.
-"Don't start too, girl."-
-"Come on, Happy, I gotta buy you an online French course."- Tony said, earning another glare from Happy.
Before everyone could move on, there was a slight tremor in the hotel ceiling, which alerted Stark and made him look at Pepper.
"Where's the Mark VIII?" Tony asked.
"You sent it with the rest of the luggage to the helicopter..." Pepper said.
"Great..."
With that said, Tony ran up the stairs and hurried over to the helicopter as he activated a small earpiece.
"J.A.R.V.I.S., activate the remote launch of the Mark VIII!" Tony said through his headset.
"We haven't tried it yet, sir." Said J.A.R.V.I.S.
"No time for tests, just do it!"
Meanwhile, on the roof, Malediktator had made a jump from the street, landing right in front of the helicopter that was about to take off and immediately putting the pilot and the bellman who was loading the bags into his service.
"Where's Stark?" Malediktator asked.
"He's still down there." Said the bellman.
Malediktator frowned, but his expression soon changed as he noticed a red and gold briefcase among the bags, smiling at the fact that he had an advantage.
"Bring me Stark's armor." Malediktator ordered.
The bellman nodded and grabbed the briefcase from the luggage, then he started to take it to Malediktator but suddenly the armor's reactor gave off a powerful glow and began to vibrate, then it opened and shot out of his hands, knocking him down and causing him to fall while the villain grunted as the armor assembled and headed for the hotel entrance stairs, where Tony Stark emerged, jumping into the armor as soon as he was close to it.
"By the power vested in me, I declare that you are my personal bodyguard!" Malediktator said as he launched a sphere of light against Iron Man.
"And by the power that my armor vests me...!" Iron Man said as he destroyed the sphere of light with a repulsor ray. "... I declare that you surrender before I have to hurt you, André!"
"I'm not André, I'm the Malediktator and I'm here to destroy you, Stark!"
"Oh yeah? Well, I'm Iron Man and I'm here to turn you back into the trashy mayor you used to be..."
Malediktator roared in anger and lunged at Iron Man, who intercepted him in mid-air, interlocking their hands and starting a clash of forces, with Malediktator having a hard time matching the Armored Avenger's strength, so using a quick move, he kneed him in the abdomen, destabilizing him enough to throw him towards the helicopter, then Malediktator tried to bring Iron Man under his control again, but the Avenger created a deflector shield that disintegrated the sphere of light and then fired a pair of repulsor beams against the villain, who dodged them and attacked Iron Man, managing to hit him in the abdomen and suffocate him momentarily, and then knock him down after hitting him with both hands on the back, however, the Avenger was not kept down for long and turned on his repulsors at once, quickly getting up and hitting Malediktator in the chin with the back of his helmet, then firing another repulsor ray at him which he barely dodged to charge back at Iron Man.
(Meanwhile)
In one of the streets of Paris we can see the group of friends formed by Mary Jane Watson, Peter Parker, Harry Osborn, Alya Césaire, Nino Lahiffe, and Marinette Dupain-Cheng, walking as they chatted after having to let Adrien Agreste go to fencing class with Kagami Tsurugi.
After introductions and goodbyes between MJ, her model partner, and her fencing rival, the group now headed off to drop Harry off to his Muay Thai class calmly.
"And what plans do you have?" Harry said. "I have a streak of 20 wins, 11 draws and 5 losses to grow."
"Harry, you shouldn't be happy about getting your butt handed to you and adding up to your losing streak..." Mary Jane said in a mocking tone.
"Haha, very funny, MJ..."
"Well, I plan to congratulate our partner." Alya said as she put her hand on Peter's shoulder. "Someone who went from being a photographer to being a writer."
"What are you talking about?" Marinette asked.
"You guys never see the messages I send you in our group?"
At that moment, everyone but Alya couldn't help but glance to the side nervously and scratch behind one ear, while Alya glared at them all.
"In our defense, you get a little intense with your blogs about the Avengers and Ladybug..." Nino said.
"You guys are jerks... Especially with Peter." Alya said. "Because if you had read my message, you'd know that Peter wrote his first article for The Bugle."
"Wait, wasn't Peter a photographer?" Asked a confused Harry.
"I am, but Jameson found out about the altercation with Audrey about Queen Wasp, and with the photos I sent him, he wanted all the news and well, I described everything to him as best I could because Jameson wouldn't stop bothering me, Robbie, Hoffman and Betty read it all, and Jameson edited it to publish it..." Peter said. "Although as usual, he ended up blaming Spider-Man for everything..."
"Wow, that's great." Marinette said. "I hope Jameson pays you well for the article."
"Well, at least it's more than what he pays me for the pictures."
"And how did you manage to take pictures of the evillized Chloé if you were her hostage?"
"I didn't, Alya did and I gave her everything Jameson paid me for them."
"And that's why now we're both employees of the press." Alya said with a smile. "Which is good because I wanted to go to the gala premiere of the next Ladybug and Chat Noir movie, now including Spider-Man, Rena Rouge and American Son."
"Perhaps, but don't get your hopes up, Jameson is a tightwad and will save money at the slightest opportunity, plus I doubt he wants to come to a movie premiere about his least favorite person in the world..."
"Well, at least you were able to reveal the true face of that uptight woman Audrey Bourgeois, if I had been in your place, I would've written the article for free just so I could complain about her." Mary Jane said with a smile.
"I think that Jameson shouldn't have found out about that, now who knows what Audrey Bourgeois could do to get revenge on him... and Peter." Nino said.
"Please, what's the worst thing she can do?"
As the group of friends continued to walk leisurely, Peter suddenly felt a pang on the back of his neck, immediately recognizing the sensation, prompting him to do something sudden.
"Watch out!" Peter yelled as he pushed Harry, MJ and Marinette away, making him, Nino and Alya to take a step back.
Before any of the teens could ask Peter what the hell was wrong with him, a piece of debris from a ceiling fell to the ground that could've injure any of them seriously.
Afterwards, a crowd began to run as the akuma warning echoed through the street, while Peter managed to notice in the sky what seemed to be repulsor beams flying everywhere.
Almost immediately, MJ and Alya turned to look at Harry and Harry just got up and ran straight into an alley, then the rest of the teens rejoined, with everyone running in opposite directions without thinking, except for Nino, who was left speechless just seeing how his friends had left him alone.
For his part, after having transformed, Spider-Man jumped on a wall and began to climb it quickly, reaching the top of the building and then began to jump across the rooftops, managing to see how American Son, Queen Bee, Chat Noir and Ladybug were also heading to the source of all the commotion, which was again the roof of the Grand Paris Hotel.
"I thought I'd be the only one who noticed the repulsor beams flying through the sky!" Queen Bee said while she smiled happily.
"There'll be time to get happy when we make sure Iron Man is okay!" Said Spider-Man. "When there are so many failed repulsors it means that Iron Man is fighting someone very powerful or very dangerous! Or both!"
The team of heroes nodded and continued on their way, letting out a collective gasp as they reached the top of the Grand Paris Hotel and watched as Iron Man tried to ward off a bellboy and a pilot from him with a deflector shield while a blue-skinned guy who wore a Napoleon-like outfit with a mayor-like sash and laughed mischievously.
"Face it, Stark!" Malediktator declared. !Nothing you do can stop me! Except hurt these civilians!"
"It's very low of you to use innocent people as a shield!" Iron Man said before smiling mischievously under his helmet. "But it doesn't matter because you're about to get what you deserve!"
Malediktator arched an eyebrow and was confused for a moment, then heard a battle cry and felt a powerful kick to the back that sent him straight into the hotel pool, drenching him.
As the Malediktator managed to get out of the pool, the heroes of Paris landed next to Iron Man, with Spider-Man quickly webbing up the civilians, who struggled to free themselves.
"I understand that you have people who follow you everywhere, Mr. Stark, but this is ridiculous." Chat Noir laughed.
"This is no time for jokes, Cat Boy, André Bourgeois was akumatized and he's dangerous." Iron Man said.
"So it's good that we're here..." Ladybug said as she spun her yoyo.
"By the power vested in me, I order you to surrender!" Malediktator said as he launched several spheres of light against the heroes.
"By the power vested by my armor!" Iron Man said as he destroyed the spheres of light. "You're not going to touch those kids!"
"Let's end this!" American Son said as he charged his repulsors.
Ladybug threw her yoyo, Chat Noir split his staff and threw both pieces at Malediktator, Spider-Man fired several web-balls, Rena Rouge threw her flute, and American Son fired his repulsors, but Malediktator managed to dodge all of them, reaching to take the yoyo from Ladybug and pulling the string to attack her.
Ladybug gasped as she approached Malediktator, but American Son managed to fire a couple of repulsor beams at the villain and knock him down, while Ladybug did a midair flip to gracefully land right on the edge of the pool.
However, Malediktator used the moment to create more spheres of light to try and control the heroes around him.
"By the power vested in me, I declare all of you to be my servants!" Malediktator declared as he launched the spheres against the heroes.
American Son reacted in time and raised his arm to destroy the sphere that was going against him, while Iron Man did the same against the others.
"This is between you and me, André! Leave the kids out of this!" Iron Man said.
"Ah, so you care about them..." Malediktator said as he smiled mischievously. "You wanted to take away my family, now I'll take away your pets!"
That said, Malediktator tried to create a larger sphere of light to control the heroes, but Iron Man just lunged at the villain and slammed him into the ground in such a way that both ended up going through the ceiling and a couple of floors more to end up breaking Chloé's bed, scaring the small group of people who were sheltering inside the room.
Before Iron Man could knock Malediktator out with a punch, the villain kicked him away from him with both legs, sending the Avenger through the ceiling, and then looking directly at Happy, Pepper, Felicia and his daughter.
"Stay behind us." Pepper said as she and Happy got in front of Felicia and Chloé, and tried to back away.
"Mr. Hogan, Miss Potts..." Malediktator said as he created two spheres. "...by the power vested in me, I declare that you now work for me!"
At that moment, Iron Man tried to take down Malediktator before he could throw his mind control spheres at Pepper and Happy, but to his misfortune, even after knocking down Malediktator, the spheres of light continued on their way and hit the Tony's girlfriend and friend.
"Pepper! Happy!" Iron Man said worried.
"I order you to destroy Iron Man!" Malediktator ordered Pepper and Happy.
"At your command, Malediktator!" Pepper and Happy said as they took out metal gauntlets from their bag and pocket, respectively.
"J.A.R.V.I.S., remind me not to give Pepper and Happy my technology. Ever..." Iron Man said.
"Will do, sir." Said Iron Man's AI.
As Iron Man was sent through the wall by two powerful repulsor rays that hit him in the chest from Pepper and Happy's gauntlets, Malediktator turned his attention to Felicia and Chloé, causing Felicia to stand in front of her friend to protect her.
"Stay away from her..." Felicia said.
"You dare to give orders to the Malediktator..." Said the villain. "What an insolent girl... By the power vested in me, I declare...!"
"I declare that you stay away from those girls!" Spider-Man said as he knocked Malediktator down with a kick to the face.
Malediktator grunted as he fell to the ground, then tried to lunge at Spider-Man, but Spider-Man dodged and put him right in the path of another kick from Queen Bee, which sent the villain hurtling through the window onto the bedroom's balcony.
However, both Queen Bee and Spider-Man were knocked down by two more repulsor beams fired by Pepper and Happy, while the rest of the team went down the hole Malediktator and Iron Man had made earlier.
Meanwhile, Chloé took Felicia by the arm and pulled it to try to leave the room while the heroes distracted Malediktator, but just as they turned around, both blondes gasped at the sight of a bunch of people led by Audrey Bourgeois, all of them with the intention of capturing them.
Without thinking, Felicia threw Chloé onto the couch and made a roundhouse kick at Audrey's face, knocking her down and punching several nearby citizens.
Unfortunately for the young lady, Malediktator saw perfectly what she had done to his wife, which made him enraged and mentally ordered Pepper and Happy to aim their repulsors at the girl, managing to hit her in the back while she tried to fight as much as she could alone against a crowd, getting pinned down by several of the city hall workers.
"Contain that troublemaker! The rest of you, attack the heroes and take their Miraculouses!" Malediktator ordered.
"You've gone too far, André!" Iron Man roared as he aimed his repulsors at the Malediktator. "Your reign of terror ends here and now!"
"We will not let you attack our master, Stark!" Said the citizens under the control of the villain.
"Daddy, please stop!" Chloe begged.
"Don't worry, dear daughter, soon we will be a big happy family, just as you wanted." Audrey said as she got up. "You, me, Zoé and your father, Malediktator."
"Ok... First of all: Zoé is not my sister, she's just a showoff who loves to be the center of attention and thinks she's a big deal for working for Carlton Drake since she was 13." Chloé said. "And about the other, Malediktator is not my daddy, I want him to go back to the real one."
"André Bourgeois was weak! He could never stand up to Iron Man! But I will destroy him!" The Malediktator declared.
"I wouldn't be so sure about that..." Spider-Man said as he managed to hold back several citizens with his webs.
"Underoos, you, Killer Bee and Spots take charge of controlling the citizens!" Iron Man said. "Kitty, Tails, Doppelganger, get the blondes out of here!"
"You never will!" Maledictator said while he created new spheres of light. "By the power vested in me, I declare that you are my servants!"
Iron Man readied his repulsors to fire at Malediktator's spheres, but Malediktator simply flung them down, hitting every person in the hotel and putting them under the villain's control.
And meanwhile, Chat Noir and Ladybug swirled their weapons as fast as they could to stop the repulsor beams that Pepper and Happy kept firing and while Spider-Man, Rena Rouge, Queen Bee and American Son put the citizens out of action as carefully as they could.
"We can't go on like this!" American Son said as he fired a modulated repulsor ray to stun at a citizen.
"We'll end up hurting someone by mistake!" Ladybug said as she kept blocking Pepper's repulsors.
"I'll take care of André! You guys just get the girls out of here like I ordered!" Iron Man said as he lunged at Malediktator.
Before Iron Man could crash into the Malediktator, an even larger group of people entered the room, distracting the heroes long enough for Pepper and Happy to seize the opportunity and fire a repulsor ray into each hero's head, stunning and knocking them down.
As the heroes recovered, Malediktator's minions also tossed Felicia and Chloé next to them, with Pepper and Happy aiming their repulsors at them, and Malediktator created a large sphere of light to hurl at the heroes.
"By the power vested in me... I declare that your Miraculouses are my property and that you will serve me from now on!" Malediktator said.
Time slowed down for Iron Man and the heroes, who tried to take cover from the attack, but even the armor's deflector shields would be too slow to protect them.
However, fate seemed to be on the side of good that afternoon, for just before the sphere could get close enough, a cane with a golden hook broke the window, spinning rapidly covered in electrical energy, managing to destroy the mind control sphere with ease before bouncing off the wall and back into the hand of its owner, who was none other than a grinning Raccoon Thief.
"Sorry, I'm almost late." Raccoon Thief said. "I didn't get my invitation to this party."
"Who the hell are you?" Malediktator asked.
"Hmm, this is getting more and more perfect..." Hawk Moth said in Malediktator's mind. "His name is Raccoon Thief, and he is an anti-hero, be careful with him, he is not subject to the same moral standards as Iron Man and his assistants."
"Don't worry, Hawk Moth, I'll have you at my service soon..." Said the akumatized villain before creating another sphere of light. "By the power vested in me, I declare that you'll help me destroy Stark!"
Malediktator threw a light ball at Raccoon Thief, but Raccoon Thief simply swiveled his cane again, coating it with electrical energy, effectively blocking the mind control ball.
"I'm sorry, pal, but only Nick Fury can boss me around." Raccoon Thief said.
"Kill him, Malediktator!" Said Hawk Moth in Malediktator's mind.
"Minions! Go get that raccoon!" Malediktator ordered.
A portion of the citizens under the akumatized villain's control promptly attempted to pounce on Raccoon Thief, but Raccoon Thief simply laughed and quickly stepped aside, then continued to do pirouette after pirouette until he returned to the balcony and sneered at the villain's annoyed look.
"I'm sorry guys, I have to fly, there are important S.H.I.E.L.D. businesses I should attend to." Raccoon Thief said. "Later, Tony!"
Raccoon Thief dodged another citizen before leaping back over the balcony railing, disappearing again.
As Raccoon Thief disappeared in the same way for the third time that week, Iron Man quickly raised his right arm and charged his repulsor to full power to render Malediktator unconscious, but just before he fired, Pepper saw Stark's actions and widened her eyes in surprise, then she ran in front of the villain and took the repulsor ray right in the abdomen, causing the heroes to gasp as they saw the woman fall to the ground with a trickle of blood flowing from the corners of her lips.
Malediktator carefully picked Pepper up and glared at Iron Man, then snatched the gauntlet from the unconscious woman in his arms and fired a repulsor ray at the Armored Avenger, which did nothing more than knock down the already stunned hero, while Malediktator was heading for the exit.
"Hogan, cover my wife." Maledictator said as he carried the unconscious Pepper in her arms. "You guys, bring Chloé. The rest of you, take care of Iron Man and his lackeys..."
Immediately, a couple of the controlled citizens lunged at Chloé, who let out a terrified scream as she was carried out of the room behind Malediktator, while the rest of the citizens attacked the heroes with everything they had at hand.
Meanwhile, taking advantage of the fact that the crowd was more focused on attacking Iron Man, Spider-Man and the other heroes, Felicia punched a nearby woman, causing her to stumble enough to open a gap in the crowd so she could slip past them and escape from the room without anyone noticing.
Once out of the room, Felicia ran down the hall, with her kwami emerging from her hiding place to fly alongside her chosen one.
"You know you can't beat Malediktator by yourself." Ivoire said.
"I know, but someone has to save Chloé." Felicia said.
"Then transform and go help your hero friends."
"They are not my friends..."
"I don't give a damn what you think of them or being a hero, do it if you want to have a chance to save your friend."
At her kwami's words, Felicia grunted and headed for the nearest maintenance room to lock herself in and transform, for she knew she was right.
Meanwhile, Iron Man and American Son created a shockwave with their armors to blow everyone away from them, managing to free themselves from the mind-controlled citizens but also throwing their fellow heroes away from them, causing them to crash into the ceiling, furniture, and the walls.
"Sorry, I had run out of ideas." American Son said as he helped Spider-Man up.
"I didn't have any ideas either, don't worry..." Spider-Man moaned as he stood up and held the people under Malediktator's control with his webs before they stood up.
"Wait a minute, where's the Hardy girl?" Queen Bee asked.
"She must have fled when she had the chance, better for us, we have to stop Malediktator before this gets out of control." Chat Noir said.
"No." Iron Man said firmly.
"What?"
"You already risked yourselves a lot, you stay here." Sentenced the Avenger. "Besides, this is personal..."
With that said, Iron Man walked to the balcony without so much as a glance at the teenage heroes, but before he left, Spider-Man shot a strand of webbing into his back and stopped him in his tracks, causing Iron Man to growl in frustration.
"Let go of me now." Iron Man ordered.
"No." Spider-Man said. "We are in this together and we have to work as a team if we want to stop it."
Iron Man said nothing and simply fired a repulsor ray at Spider-Man as a warning, however, despite believing that the boy would dodge the attack, the malfunction of his Spider Sense did not warn him of the danger and, having been an unexpected attack, the hero in red and blue ended up receiving the repulsor beam directly to the stomach and crashing backwards against the wall before the astonished gaze of the team of heroes.
As Spider-Man fell to the ground, the teen heroes gasped, then Queen Bee activated her light foil and roared, lunging at Iron Man, who managed to create a deflector shield just in time to prevent the redhead from cutting off his arm.
However, the shield was promptly destroyed by receiving direct hits from the other Miraculous wielders' weapons, as well as a pair of repulsor beams from American Son, and soon Iron Man found himself surrounded.
"What the fuck is wrong with you, Stark?!" American Son said.
"Spider-Man should have dodged that! His Spider Sense must have alerted him! It has done it with even faster and more unexpected things!" Stark snapped.
"Well, we have news for you, Mr. Stark!" Said an angry Chat Noir. "Our powers have been a mess since the Lizard! We don't have our powers when we should and sometimes we even have them as civilians!"
"What?" Rena Rouge asked.
"And why the hell didn't any of you tell me?!" Iron Man snapped.
"Because there wasn't time to do it..." Spider-Man said as he stood up. "Besides, with everything that's happened, I forgot about it..."
"This is the most irresponsibly stupid thing you've ever done, Spider-Man..."
"By the power vested in me, I declare that all of you are my minions!" Interrupted a voice from the balcony.
At that moment, Iron Man managed to turn just in time and fire a repulsor ray at three of the light balls, however, the teen heroes failed to react in time, causing Queen Bee, American Son, Ladybug and Rena Rouge to be reached by them.
"No!" Iron Man said.
Before anyone could do anything, a jump rope burst into the room and managed to tie up Spider-Man, Chat Noir, and Iron Man and pull them out into the hotel hallway as American Son fired a repulsor ray at Iron Man.
"Seriously, you guys are a bunch of losers." Black Cat said as she retracted her jump rope.
Spider-Man was about to say a witty reply, but he managed to notice something out of the corner of his eye and knocked Black Cat down, managing to dodge a lunge from Queen Bee's light foil, which ended up sticking into the wall.
"You were about to lose your head there, that makes you a loser too..." Spider-Man said. "Chat, Stark, let's go!"
Before the heroes could leave the corridor, a section of it filled with more of the Malediktator's minions, as American Son blasted a hole in the wall with his repulsor beams for him, Rena Rouge, Ladybug, and Queen Bee to block their path on the other side.
Thinking quickly and knowing that Malediktator was on the balcony of Chloé's room, Spider-Man shot webbing into Rena Rouge, Queen Bee and Ladybug's mouths while Chat Noir put his palm against the floor of the hallway and said:
"Cataclysm!"
Instantly, Chat Noir's hand was engulfed in destruction energy, being immediately transferred to the ground below the heroes, instantly destroying it and causing everyone to fall through it.
Iron Man, Spider-Man, Chat Noir and Black Cat rolled on the floor and got into one of the rooms to jump from the window and get away from the Grand Paris Hotel, while Malediktator watched them with a frown.
"Never mind, Malediktator, Spider-Man, Chat Noir, Black Cat and Iron Man will come back." Said Hawk Moth in Malediktator's mind. "Remove the webbing from Ladybug, Rena Rouge and Queen Bee's mouths so they can tell you their identities."
Malediktator nodded and approached the heroes under his control, however, American Son's armor moved on its own and aimed the repulsors at the akumatized villain, angering him.
"What do you think you're doing?" Snapped Malediktator.
"Oh, I wouldn't scold the boy yet, he tries to follow your commands, but I have control of his armor." Said a female voice through the speakers of the armor.
"What...? Who are you? Identify yourself right now!"
"I would but I also have a secret identity... However, you can call me F.R.I.D.A.Y., an acronym for Firmware for Retroactive Interaction and Develop Attacks and analYsises for heroes."
"Are you another of Stark's artificial intelligences?"
"I will not say anything about my origin, but about your future and that is that you're gonna get your ass handed back to you. Oh, and if you try anything to find out the identity of the heroes under your control or steal their Miraculouses, I'll be the one to do it myself."
"By the power vested in me..."
"I wouldn't do that if I were you..." F.R.I.D.A.Y. warned as she aimed American Son's repulsors at Malediktator. "You can continue with your plans if you want, but under my terms. And believe me, I could end the whole fight here, but I don't need to, Mr. Stark and the others will."
Malediktator growled at F.R.I.D.A.Y.'s words, however, a luminous figure soon appeared in front of his eyes.
"It doesn't matter, Malediktator, just wait for Spider-Man, Chat Noir and Iron Man to come and rescue their partners." Said Hawk Moth in Malediktator's mind. "Then you can take control of Stark and he will deactivate his annoying AI."
"As you wish, it's time to shape my kingdom as it should be." Malediktator said. "Subjects, it is time to spread my law. Anyone who is not on my side must be captured for a future trial."
"As you command, Malediktator." Said all citizens and heroes under the control of the villain.
(Meanwhile)
Iron Man, Spider-Man, Chat Noir, and Black Cat landed on the roof of a building, with all four heroes gasping and the Armored Avenger feeling especially guilty, not just for the fact that he had inadvertently hurt Pepper or that she and his second best friend ended up under the control of Malediktator, but for not having finished the fight before everything got out of hand, so to vent his frustration, Iron Man could do nothing but hit a chimney with his fist, creating a crack in it.
"Well, things are going badly." Said Spider-Man.
"I would say worse, not even with the Style Queen, the vampire or Queen Wasp we were in so much trouble." Black Cat said. "And thanks to you, I have to play the heroine again."
"Why do you always say that?" Chat Noir asked with real curiosity. "I don't understand why you say you're not a hero after everything you've done."
"You confuse not being a bad person with being a hero, Kitty."
"Anyway, I have to go after Malediktator and finish him off once and for all." Iron Man said. "J.A.R.V.I.S., send me the Mark IX."
"It's not ready for deploy yet, sir." Said the AI.
"Then skip the spinning rims, I'm on the clock. Don't even paint it, just finish it and send it."
"There are parts of the armor software that haven't finished loading yet..."
"Skip the security protocols, I need the armor here now."
"Wearing a suit without safety protocols..."
"I know exactly what would happen, J, I designed the protocols precisely for that. Just enter the flight, repulsor regulation and targeting softwares, I'll take care of the rest, but I need the suit now."
"Iron Man, calm down." Said Spider-Man calmly. "Getting worked up won't help us save Queen Bee, Ladybug, Rena Rouge and American Son."
"No, but the Mark IX will."
"Tony..."
"Underoos, I really admire you for your ability to stay calm when everything is going like shit, but I'm seriously not in the mood for motivational talk."
"Then I'll just say stop acting like a complete jerk."
The hero duo and the Miraculous wielder gasped at Spider-Man, and before Stark could reprimand the insult, the young arachnid stood his ground and beat him to it.
"Like you heard, Tony." Spider-Man reaffirmed. "If we're in this situation it's precisely because you're acting like an idiot, because you didn't take this as you normally would, as a new challenge. You let Malediktator get into your head and you took it personally, which is why you couldn't finish him off on your own, and you hurt me and Pepper."
"I hate to admit it, Mr. Stark, but the Web-Head is right." Chat Noir said. "Look, I know you don't want us to take risks, especially after what's happened since the Lizard, but we've been fighting the akumas for several months now, like it or not, you need us."
"So J.A.R.V.I.S., don't send the Mark IX, especially if it's so risky."
"Sir, I understand that you want to go ahead, but I suggest you allow me to accept Spider-Man's order." Said J.A.R.V.I.S.
Iron Man sighed and weighed the boy's words.
He was right that he had taken the fight with the Malediktator personally, even though hurting Pepper and the boy had been more of an unconscious mistake than anything sparked by blind rage, still, he had to admit that Spider-Man and Chat Noir had a good point about the situation.
"Okay... Do it..." Iron Man sighed. "Although I'll still make you pay for the insult, Underoos..."
"I didn't expect anything else." Said Spider-Man. "Now, we have to act fast. The webbing I spun at Rena Rouge, Queen Bee, and Ladybug will dissolve in less than two hours, so we have until then to stop the Malediktator, or else he'll find out the identities of our friends... It's really convenient that the Miraculous have to be activated or deactivated by voice or we'd have already lost."
"Don't worry, even if you don't make it on time, I already made it clear to Malediktator that he won't be able to find out the identity of your hero friends, or I'd beat him up for it." Said a voice that Iron Man and Spider-Man recognized immediately.
"F.R.I.D.A.Y?" Spider-Man asked.
"In the flesh... or well, in the virtual presence, I don't have a physical body yet."
"What's going on?" Black Cat asked.
"I'm F.R.I.D.A.Y., Firmware for Retroactive Interaction and Develop Attacks and analYsises for heroes."
"Wouldn't that mean your name should be F.R.I.D.A.A.H, and not F.R.I.D.A.Y?" Chat Noir said.
"Focus, Chat Noir..."
"Ok, but where did you come from?" Black Cat asked.
"Spider-Man designed me as a similar support to Iron Man's J.A.R.V.I.S., but with more personality."
"Whatever you say, girl..." Iron Man sighed. "Do you have anything else to tell us or are you just here to make fun of J.A.R.V.I.S?"
"Only that the place of the final fight against Malediktator is in the town hall, he wants to turn it into some sort of castle... Oh, and I have news about May Parker."
"What happened to her?" Asked the worried Chat Noir and Spider-Man.
"Malediktator got to her, he wanted to find Parker but since he wasn't there, he controlled her to self-exile. But don't worry, I have the Iron Spider taking care of her and ensuring she won't be in danger."
"But the Iron Spider is still in bad condition..." Spider-Man said.
"Not quite, dear father, I finished repairing it a couple of days ago."
"Don't call me father, it's weird..."
"Why not, dad? You created me."
"Yes, but you don't see J.A.R.V.I.S. calling Stark father, right?"
"No, but I've seen H.E.R.B.I.E. call Mr. Fantastic creator, so I'll still call you dad."
"Ugh, I definitely should've chosen another neural wave pattern..."
"I remind you that I chose it myself."
"Anyway, we have to go to the town hall to stop Malediktator, we have to save the Bourgeois girl and your friends." Black Cat said.
"Let's get going." Said Spider-Man. "Although we need a good plan first."
"If I'm allowed to keep interrupting, I have a small strategy that may be useful to you, although Black Cat is going to need to be a hero."
"I don't like you anymore, cheap copy of Cortana..." Black Cat said.
"Wait, did you just reference Halo...?" Said Spider-Man.
"You can make your pop culture references later, just tell us your plan, F.R.I.D.A.Y..."
(Later at the town hall)
Malediktator was pleased.
His subjects had increased exponentially, the aunt of the annoying Daily Bugle photographer had been banished from Paris, his palace was being remodeled to accommodate his family, and most importantly, his wife and daughter were next to him.
And despite the fact that Chloé was still reluctant to be part of that beautiful family, Malediktator knew that sooner rather than later she would abide and decide to stay by his side.
And as he oversaw the City Hall remodel from the center of the hall, sitting on some kind of throne with Chloé and Audrey on either side, the villain heaved a happy sigh.
"The palace is becoming divine, my love. "Audrey said happily. "Although I have to admit that even the most luxurious home on the planet would be unworthy for my King..."
"Oh, my wife, do not worry, as long as my Queen and Princess are by my side, I will be satisfied." Said Maledictator. "Although one of my princesses is still missing..."
"Don't start talking about that stupid akumatized villain wannabe... She's anything but a princess." Chloé mumbled in an annoyed tone.
"Very well, I've been patient with you, but you're still a spoiled brat..." Malediktator said as he got up from his throne. "Luckily, I can fix you right now..."
At that moment, Chloé tried to run out of the room, but her mother got ahead of her without the girl noticing her and held her back, causing Chloé to struggle to get free of her as Malediktator loomed towards her.
"Let me go!" Said the girl to her mother.
"Calm down, honey, Maledictator only wants what's best for you." Audrey said as she smiled happily.
Chloé simply let out a terrified scream as her akumatized father closed in on her, fearing that she would end up as a puppet with no feelings nor brains like her mother was.
"By the power vested in me, I declare that you're an obedient and good girl." Malediktator said while he created a ball of light.
The villain smiled mischievously and pointed the sphere of light at Chloé, however, luck smiled at the blonde at that moment, as a repulsor ray passed through the door and hit the Malediktator in the face, knocking him down while Audrey uttered a scream of horror as she unconsciously let go of Chloé and reached out to her akumatized husband to help him.
"Malediktator! Are you ok?" Said a worried Audrey.
"Stark..." Maledictor growled.
At that moment, as Chloé ran to hide behind a pillar, the door exploded into pieces and in the small cloud of dust and smoke that rose from the explosion, Iron Man appeared floating a couple of meters in the air.
"Hey, André, I hope I don't interrupt your premature celebration." Iron Man said. "Who am I kidding? Of course I hope to interrupt your premature celebration."
"You never stop being a pain in the ass, do you, Stark?" Maledictator said as he got up. "It doesn't matter, since soon I will destroy you..."
"I wouldn't be so sure about that..."
At that moment, a couple of repulsor rays were fired from the second floor of the town hall and tried to knock Iron Man down, but he was already expecting that move and already had his deflector shield ready to avoid it, and while American Son, Ladybug, Rena Rouge and Queen Bee appeared with their weapons ready to face Iron Man; Chat Noir, Spider-Man, and Black Cat jumped at them from behind, managing to knock them off their feet and pirouette to land next to Iron Man in a fighting stance.
"Looks like we're even." Said Malediktator.
"So it would seem, but honestly I would lean more towards my team. They've faced worse odds."
"That's because you haven't seen all my team yet, Stark..."
Instantly, Malediktator snapped his fingers, and two lines of police quickly surrounded Malediktator and his family, their riot gear at the ready, making the heroes frown.
"You keep sinking lower and lower, André." Iron Man said. - But I'm not worried, we're going to defeat you."
"I wouldn't be so sure... Henchmen, seize the Avengers!"
"At once, Malediktator!" Said the controlled policemen.
"Cat Kids, cover your ears!" Iron Man said.
Instantly, Chat Noir and Black Cat pulled out a pair of webbing earmuffs and put them on, adjusting them tightly as Iron Man activated his sonic disruptor and used it on the cops, causing them all to fall to the ground after being stunned by the sonic blasts, where they were quickly immobilized by Spider-Man's webs.
"Phase one complete." Spider-Man said as he replaced his webbing cartridges. "Let's move on to phase two."
"This will be fun." Black Cat said with a grin as she took off the muffs and unsheathed her claws.
"Don't hurt them, remember, they're under Malediktator's control, we just want to free them." Chat Noir said firmly as he took off the muffs and extended his staff.
"Don't worry, I'll just leave them a bit... shaken..."
"Don't go too far or I'll hang you in a cocoon from the Eiffel Tower, Black Cat." Spider-Man warned.
Black Cat simply chuckled and lunged at Queen Bee lashing out at her but being blocked by the controlled heroine and answered with an uppercut to the chin, while American Son lunged at Spider-Man, who let him tackle him down to be able to kick the controlled hero in the stomach and send him crashing through the ceiling, while Chat Noir managed to deflect a kick from Ladybug to receive a punch that knocked him down from Rena Rouge.
For his part, Malediktator began to throw more of his mind control spheres at Iron Man, who using micro-repulsor generators on his armor's fingertips, destroyed the spheres with small repulsor rays.
"You really need a better strategy than that, André..." Iron Man laughed.
"Stop making fun of me, Stark!" Malediktator roared.
"It's your fault for being nothing more than a joke, even with all the power you have at your disposal."
Malediktator snarled and glared at Iron Man, then the villain whistled and a powerful energy bolt struck Iron Man in the chest, sending the Avenger crashing backwards into a wall.
After the attack, Iron Man, Chat Noir, Black Cat, and Spider-Man looked in the direction the bolt had come from and saw Happy holding a huge rifle whose barrel was still emitting smoke.
"J.A.R.V.I.S., remind me not to leave dangerous weapons in the French facilities again. Never again..." Iron Man said.
Iron Man attempted to use the sonic disruptor to knock Happy out, however the weapon was promptly destroyed by a small energy beam that Pepper fired from her repulsor. And taking advantage of the distraction of the appearance of Happy and Pepper, the heroes under the control of Maledictator threw their weapons at Spider-Man, Black Cat and Chat Noir, managing to make them fall backwards against the ground, then the controlled heroes lunged against the stunned heroes, managing to hold them to the ground. Finally, Iron Man attempted to fire a repulsor ray at Ladybug to knock her down and give Black Cat a chance to break free, but American Son intercepted the attack with a repulsor ray of his own, and Ladybug threw her yoyo at the Avenger to restrict his movements, which Black Cat took the opportunity to break free, but American Son produced shackles from his armor to restrain Spider-Man's arms and legs, then knocked Black Cat down again with a repulsor beam and lunged at her, grabbing her jump rope and managing to tie the Miraculous holder with it.
Finally, Malediktator smirked as he had the pesky pests ruining his plans for a perfect world and family futilely trying to break free while the heroes under his control held them to the ground.
"It's over, Stark..." Malediktator said. "I finally beat you..."
"Very well done, Malediktator... But before defeating Iron Man, destroy the last bit of his confidence by revealing the secret identities of his beloved pets." Hawk Moth said in Malediktator's mind.
"You're right, Hawk Moth..." Malediktator agreed. "Time to pay for everything, Stark... and now, before your inevitable defeat, you will see how your remaining pets turn against you... By the power vested in me, you are now under my control and I order you to reveal your true identity!"
With that said, Malediktator created several light spheres to control the remaining young heroes, causing American Son, Ladybug, Rena Rouge, and Queen Bee to release their comrades, who proceeded to stand up and mutter something unintelligible.
However, at that moment, the victorious smile of the Malediktator was erased when he saw how some kind of plastic disintegrated and revealed that under the masks of Spider-Man, Chat Noir and Black Cat there were some kind of androids with grayish exoskeleton that could modify their appearances, which made Malediktator look indignantly at Iron Man, who began to chuckle as he opened the mask of his helmet.
"I think I forgot to tell you that 'my pets' are actually old creations of mine that I used to sell to S.H.I.E.L.D." Said Iron Man. "Life Model Decoys, or LMDs. They really manage to imitate the kids, don'cha think?"
"I'm going to annihilate you for this mockery, Stark...!" Malediktator roared.
"Meh, everyone's a critic... Now, 'pets'!"
"On it, Mr. Stark!" The real Chat Noir shouted from the upper floor. "Cataclysm!"
At that moment, Chat Noir jumped and touched the ceiling of the lobby to destroy it, causing several pieces of rubble to end up falling on his teammates, while Black Cat and Spider-Man pulled Chloé and Audrey away from danger with her jump rope and a webline. Then, while the heroes under Maldiktator's control and the villain himself were recovering from Chat Noir's attack, Black Cat took advantage and pounced on the akumatized villain as she yelled:
"Misfortune!"
A purplish energy covered Black Cat's right hand just before the girl punched the villain in the chest, suffocating him and pirouetting back to her feet gracefully and using her jump rope to tie Queen Bee up before she could get back to combat, at the same time that Chat Noir did considerable damage to the reactor of American Son's armor with his claws, managing to deactivate it momentarily. For his part, Spider-Man spun some webs at Rena Rouge and Ladybug, leaving them under two nets that prevented them from standing up.
On the other hand, Iron Man tackled the Malediktator with his shoulder as he tried to stand up, and thanks to the power of Black Cat, the villain stepped on a banana peel that had come out of a trash can crushed by the rubble on the roof and made him slide for a couple of meters in Spider-Man's direction, who prepared his right hand and said:
"Spider-Bite!"
A reddish electrical energy formed in the hand of the spider hero, then he simply raised his hand and the Malediktator's head ended up right in his palm, managing to transmit the electric shock and rendered him unconscious, after which Iron Man took the opportunity to grab his band and rip it off, freeing the akuma and all those under the villain's control.
"I'm sorry, Ladybug, but you're still recovering from the Malediktator." Spider-Man said as he opened the compartment on his right web-shooter after releasing Malediktator. "No more evil for you, little akuma..."
With that said, Spider-Man fired a webline at the akuma and captured it, then retracted the line and purified the akuma before releasing it and sighing:
"Goodbye, little butterfly..."
As the purified akuma slipped out of sight, Ladybug, Rena Rouge, Queen Bee, American Son, the controlled policemen and officials, and Audrey Bourgeois let out a collective groan and clutched their heads, trying to clear their minds as a pair of transports of S.H.I.E.L.D. landed in front of the town hall to release several vehicles and personnel who began to clear the rubble from the area.
For his part, André Bourgeois let out a groan of pain as he regained consciousness, opening his eyes to find Tony Stark's smiling face as the Avenger offered a hand to help him to his feet.
"W-what happened...?" André asked. "Why is the City Hall so thrashed and what is S.H.I.E.L.D. doing here?"
"It's the Department of Damage Control, they came because you got akumatized and we had to destroy part of the town hall to stop you and since Ladybug didn't use her Lucky Charm, she can't repair it herself." Iron Man said as he helped André to stand up.
"Good thinking, Tony." Spider-Man said.
"Stark... you always end up ruining everything..." André blurted out in a contemptuous way.
"Hey, if it wasn't for me and the kids, all of Paris would be under the control of the most lunatic and primary-colored version of you."
"Anthony is right as always." Audrey said dismissively. "You and your pathetic akumatized form did nothing but cause damage and make me miss my flight."
"B-but, honey... n-it's not my fault..." André said.
"Of course it's your fault. All you've done since I met you is ruin everything I do, that's why I went to New York with Zoé and left you with Calliope... I mean, Chloé. You are nothing more than a sad imitation of a man who deserves absolutely nothing from me."
"Audrey, shut up." Iron Man said in an annoyed tone.
"No, I think it's the perfect time, Anthony. Especially when you know that I am now a free woman, no longer tied to this pathetic vermin. Andrias has never been able to compare to you and having lost my life with him just disgusts me..."
"I'm warning you, Audrey..."
"At last we can be together as we have always wanted and put aside useless people like Callie, Asmodeus and the ape..."
At that moment, Iron Man fired a mini repulsor ray from his palm, punching a hole through the designer's iconic hat and knocking it off, as the sudden move and shut her up while Tony closed the mask of his suit, and to the diva's greater misfortune, both the young heroes and Chloé surrounded her and glared at her.
"That's enough, Audrey..." Iron Man demanded in a furious tone. "Since I see that yesterday's incident did absolutely nothing to change your attitude, I will have to be absolutely clear... I hate you, Audrey Bourgeois. I'm not kidding when I say that I would much rather be with the Mandarin and Doctor Doom than with you. I would rather be attacked 52 times a day by Fin Fang Foom than have to listen to you complain about the whole world every 2.3 seconds... I would literally rather die than even go on a date with you."
"B-but, Anthony... Y-you... you love me..." A shocked Audrey stammered.
"No, Audrey, I can't even stand you. The only reason I've tolerated you until today was 'cause I thought you were just a capricious child, now I see that you are a bloody viper full of venom to the core. And maybe André is very manipulable and lacks guts, but still I know that he is worth at least a thousand times more than you as a person..."
"She is nothing but a pathetic woman who believes that she is superior to others, when even she herself has to get into her own fantasy to escape her sad reality." Black Cat said.
"And let's not talk about her fashion taste, she's way out of fashion and out of brains if she thinks she's actually fashionable." Queen Bee blurted out.
"And daddy is a much better person than you..." Chloé said as she stood in front of her daughter. "You are right in something that you have always said about me, I have more from daddy in me than from you, he and I do know the reality. You are as hateful, cruel, bossy, arrogant, arrogant and annoying as the freak who works for the Life Foundation..."
At that moment, driven by anger, Audrey raised her hand ready to slap Chloé, but before she could even lower her hand, someone stopped her abruptly and knocked her to the ground, hitting her knee from behind, forcing her to her knees as her arm was twisted in a painful angle.
"Threaten the girl again and I'll stop being merciful..." Black Cat said as she held Audrey by the arm.
"Albert! Do something!" Audrey ordered while she looked pleadingly at André.
At that moment, André sighed heavily and approached the heroes, but instead of taking action against Black Cat, he simply grabbed Chloé's shoulder.
"I think you should go." Andre said quietly. "I don't want you to see the next thing."
"I'll stay, daddy..." Chloé said firmly.
"Chloé, please leave."
For the first time in her life, Chloé Bourgeois looked at her father and saw an expression that she could not describe, yet it made her feel that her father would not bend or give in to her demands and whims as usual.
At that, Iron Man opened her armor and stepped out of it, adjusting his clothes and gesturing for his suit to take Chloé and lead her away.
Following the sentiment in her father's gaze, Chloé let Tony's armor lead her away as André sighed heavily as Black Cat released Audrey and dropped her face-first to the ground, right at André's feet.
"I really can't believe what I'm going to say..." André said. "But Stark is right. I'm tired of your rudeness, your disdain and above all your insults towards Chloé. Since she was little you have always compared her to Zoé and I know the great difference in talents between the two, but that's because every time Chloé tried something, you belittled what she did, saying that Zoé had done it before and better. I made a terrible mistake letting that happen, but not anymore, you can insult me all you want, but I won't let you hurt Chloé anymore."
With that said, André sighed again and in a quick movement, he took off his wedding ring, letting it fall in front of his wife, who looked at him confused.
"Our marriage is over. You can leave whenever you please, and I don't worry about leaving Zoé in your custody, after all, we both know that she has taken care of herself perfectly since you two moved away five years ago." André said.
"N-no... You can't break up with me!" Said Audrey with her ego hurt. "I broke up with you first!"
"I think he can, because he just did." Tony said as he put a hand on André's shoulder. "I'm sorry I caused you so much trouble, André. I'm serious."
"It's not your fault, Stark." Andre agreed. "It was always Audrey's fault, but I was so blinded with wanting to believe that she could be a good wife and mother to realize that she's just a slut and a viper."
"How dare you...?!" Audrey said before some webbing covered her mouth.
"Shut up and let the adults talk in private." Spider-Man sentenced while he chuckled.
"Anyway, I think you guys are running out of time." Tony said as he gestured at the teens' Miraculouses.
Spider-Man, Black Cat, and Chat Noir all glanced at their Miraculouses, sighing and giving André Bourgeois an empathetic look.
"We regret everything that happened, Mayor Bourgeois." Chat Noir said.
"For what it's worth, you're doing well on breaking up with Audrey, and you have my respect for that." Black Cat said.
"Thank you, young heroes." André said with a sincere half smile. "For protecting Paris even from me."
"That is our gift and our duty, you don't have to be thankful." Ladybug smiled before throwing the yoyo away from her. "See you later."
After saying that, Ladybug, Rena Rouge, Queen Bee, Black Cat, Chat Noir and Spider-Man disappeared from the scene, leaving Iron Man and the others alone with the mayor, while Chloé ran to hug her father, gesture that André replied.
Not far from there, Black Cat sneaked into a nearby alley and dropped to the ground, detransforming as soon as she touched it with her feet, then the girl adjusted her clothes as best she could, took a small marshmallow out of her pocket and she gave it to her kwami before taking her and tucking it inside her sweater, whereupon Felicia Hardy ran out of the alley towards the still-destroyed City Hall, thinking of ways to get around the Department of Damage Control to get to Chloé.
Back at the City Hall, as Chloé and André had their bonding moment, Audrey stood up, feeling outraged and humiliated, but willing to stand tall and have the last word.
So, the diva adjusted her dress and took her damaged hat to put it back on and stormed towards Tony and André, who instinctively stood up in front of Chloé to protect the girl from any retaliation Audrey might take against her, while the diva managed to rip off the web that Spider-Man had shot at her, making a superhuman effort not to scream in agony after doing so, although letting out a visible tear of pain.
"I see that it's more than obvious that all of you are one of a kind." Released an indignant Audrey Bourgeois. "Nothing but a bunch of losers, including you, Tony, but hey, it's your loss."
"Oh no, he lost the chance to date a pampered and self-absorbed chick who doesn't know how to do anything but criticize and insult others. What a tragedy!" Pepper said in a sarcastic tone as she and Happy approached Tony.
"Don't you even dare to talk, ape in rags! Now I see why Tony likes you, it's because he's so insignificant and he has just as lousy taste as you, utterly lousy!"
"Enough of the tantrums, Audrey, and get the hell away from Paris once and for all." André snapped.
"Excuse me, but by order of the Department of Damage Control, you must vacate the area until it has been repaired." Indicated a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent.
"We better go, I'm not in the mood to argue with Fury or worse, with Maria Hill..." Tony said. "Although I am hungry... Are you coming, André? To start from scratch officially."
"Sure, St... I mean, Tony." André smiled.
"Oh, could it be that shawarma place we went to with Dupain-Cheng and Parker?" Chloé asked in an unusually courteous tone.
"I told you that once you'd try it, you would love it, girl." Stark laughed.
"I'm surprised but I'm glad to see that you gave another new dish a chance, you haven't done it since sushi." André said as the group began to walk away.
"Hey! Don't you dare ignore me!" Audrey yelled.
"Mrs. Bourgeois, please you must leave this area." Insisted the agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
"Do not touch me!"
At that moment and already fed up with the insults to her person, Audrey tried to slap the agent, but she blocked the attack and knocked her down while she was putting handcuffs on her, which made Audrey gasp in indignation.
"Who do you think you are?! Do you have any idea who I am?!" Audrey roared.
"A very loud woman who is about to be sent to the Hydro-Base for attempting to attack a member of S.H.I.E.L.D." The agent said quietly as she helped Audrey up.
"N-no! You can't do this to me! I am Audrey Bourgeois!"
"Now you're just another criminal arrested by a S.H.I.E.L.D agent."
At that moment, Audrey tried to free herself from her captor, being utterly useless to achieve it and in every one of her attempts, the woman broke her heel with a piece of rubble, which caused her to stumble and fall face-first to the ground, attracting the attention of her ex-husband, her daughter, Tony, Happy and Pepper.
"Do something, Armand! Tell her to let me go!" Audrey begged.
André sighed and simply turned his back on Audrey, making her gasp in surprise.
"You said so yourself. It's no use for me to be the mayor of Paris, so I can't do it." Andre said. "And even if I could, I wouldn't."
With that said, Tony, Pepper, and Happy smiled at the mayor and turned their backs too, walking away from the scene, while Audrey roared in rage and frustration as she was led into one of the S.H.I.E.L.D. transports.
And while this was happening, a question was formulated in André's mind.
"Hey, now that I think about it, wasn't S.H.I.E.L.D. an organism of the United States? What are they doing in my city?" André asked Tony.
"The United Nations Security Council has been in talks with S.H.I.E.L.D. as its sister branches S.W.O.R.D. and W.A.N.D., and the decision was made that, due to the threat posed by supervillains appearing left and right in every country, all three are now to operate under the supervision of the Council and become a global defense network." Tony said. "Which is perfect, if Maria Hill was already a control-loving lunatic, now she's going to get worse..."
"I'd suggest you not to fight with her, although Fury has returned as Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., I don't want Hill to have you and your colorful friends in her sights, Tony." Pepper said.
"I would worry more about all the children with powers that are popping up. I don't worry about Underoos and his friends because Fury knows that messing with them is messing with the Avengers, and that's something he doesn't want to do. But Gyrich and that Cinch woman already recruited the Ohio girls and the California guys."
"I'm surprised by how much you care about all of them, Tony..." André said.
"They're all extraordinary kids, I don't want S.H.I.E.L.D. to end up using them as weapons for their own gain. I won't let them do it."
"Is it for those kids' sake or for your own gain, Mr. Stark?" Felicia asked as she approached the group.
"What are you talking about?"
"Is it really out of selflessness and not because of having the other heroes under your control and not that of S.H.I.E.L.D?"
"My only interest is that the world has heroes that can defend it from the threats that arise, especially if the Avengers suddenly disappear."
"And annoy Maria Hill..." Pepper blurted out.
"And annoy Maria Hill, but that's aside from everything."
"I'll give you the benefit of the doubt, Stark, although I must say that my mother speaks ill of you and the way you run Stark Industries." Felicia said. "Also, there's the Purple Man issue..."
"That's a cheap shot, girl, he wasn't in control of himself." Pepper snapped.
At that moment, Tony sighed and looked at the ground, feeling guilty once again for the events that had occurred with the Purple Man.
"No, she's right..." Tony said. "My ideas... my plans... The Purple Man did nothing but make me comply with all of them..."
"He forced you to, Tony. If you hadn't gone through with any of it, it was because you yourself knew it was perverse to go through with them." Pepper said.
"You're not a bad guy, Mr. Stark." Chloé said in an unusually empathic tone. "You might be clueless, rude, self-centered, lunatic and definitely don't have a fashion sense, but after all, you're the guy who funds the Avengers."
At the girl's words, Tony couldn't help but let out a wry laugh and smile, just before saying:
"Well, that's true."
"I'm really proud of you, my sweetie." André said, smiling from ear to ear. "I had never heard a compliment from you to another person."
"Or what we can call a compliment from you." Pepper chuckled.
"Chloé is just that humble, always seeing the good in everyone." Felicia said as she hugged her friend.
"Okay, okay, enough with the corniness." Chloé said. "Honestly, I'm hungry and those shawarma are not going to get themselves."
At that moment, the group couldn't help but laugh at Chloé's statements, then they all continued walking towards the modest shawarma stand where Tony had taken the youngsters the day before.
(Not far from there)
In Hawk Moth's lair, the villain simply smiled as he looked through his window.
Maybe his plans with Malediktator had failed, but his battle with Iron Man and the heroes had proven something.
The playing field had more players than just the Avengers, the Green Goblin, and him.
And even with everything against him, he could put them all against the wall.
"Maybe you managed to escape this time, Ladybug, but this is just beginning." Hawk Moth said to himself. "And this F.R.I.D.A.Y. AI might just come in handy..."
At that moment, the window began to close, leaving the lair in the dark while Hawk Moth let out an evil laugh, thinking about the future and how his goals would be fulfilled.
(Very far from there)
Night fell on the city of San Francisco.
The warm winds heralded the arrival of summer, which made every student in the United States happy.
However, for Carlton Drake and Zoé Bourgeois it only meant one thing: The start of the Final Frontier Project.
Having met 4 years ago and having started working on the creation of the Life Foundation 3 years ago, Drake and Bourgeois had managed to turn their little idea into a billionaire company that could compete with Stark Industries and OsCorp. And with their company, boththought about how totiny and insignificant humans were compared to other newly discovered species such as mutants and Inhumans, not to mention aliens like the Skrulls or the Asgardians.
And as such, both had spent a large sum of money, a lot of effort aond time in finding a way to strengthen humanity, or at least the technology they had, and just a couple of months ago, their efforts had paid off.
Using a pair of long-range scanning satellites that had been launched just at the beginning of the year, they had found an asteroid of an odd composition hovering near the Moon. And after a couple of weeks, the target fell on the dark side, which allowed a small probe to be sent that managed to capture a sample of the asteroid and discover that its composition was very similar to that of radioactive elements such as uranium and plutonium, but inactively, so it seemed to be a much safer material to fission, and since it was a new element, Bourgeois had named it Promethium X.
So, following the discovery of Promethium X, the duo began the next phase of the project, which would be to send a team to the dark side of the Moon and obtain as much Promethium X as possible, which would ensure not only that the Life Foundation would be decades ahead of its main competitors like Roxxon, OsCorp, Stark Industries and Hammer Multinational, but they could also start with their vision of an improved humanity.
Now, while the illustrious owner and co-creator of the Life Foundation was reviewing the general plans of the shuttle that his exploration team would use, as well as the promising results of the medical and psychological examinations with a rather sinister smile, the other co-creator and Chief of Executive Operations was taking a call with an annoyed look on her face as she stared out the window, overseeing the construction of said shuttle.
"Ok, mom, I'll see what I can do, I love you, bye..." Bourgeois said in a feignedly sweet tone before sighing in exasperation and rolling her eyes. "And again you show that you are nothing more than a nuisance and a fucking drag on my life, mother..."
"May I ask what she did this time?" Drake asked as he read the results of candidate John Jameson.
"She said that S.H.I.E.L.D. arrested her and they will send her to the Hydro-Base. And as much as I would love for that brainless, lunatic harpy to rot in a S.H.I.E.L.D. prison, she is still very public and admired, it would end up hurting my image and that of the Life Foundation to let her suffer her well-deserved fate..."
"Do what you must, Zoé, we'll find a way to get rid of her and all the setbacks that stand in the way of our dream of a better humanity." Drake said as he turned to smile at Bourgeois. "Including your brainless and utterly useless family."
"Oh, Carlton, the world definitely doesn't deserve you." Bourgeois said as she smiled mischievously before grabbing Drake by the tie. "But I must remind you that only I can insult my brainless family..."
"Whatever you say, honey." Drake chucked with a defiant smile.
The 18-year-old genius and the 20-year-old billionaire approached and had a short kiss on the lips, then they both turned around and Zoé left the room, thinking of a way to convince Maria Hill to let her stupid mother free, while Carlton began the selection of his space shuttle crew.