DO NOT READ IF YOU'VE NOT WATCHED EPISODE 18 OF THE FRENCH DUB AND DON'T WANT SPOILERS.
This story will be cross-posted on AO3 under the name TropicalSnow.
This is just a little something I whipped up after seeing that last episode. To me, it signalled a new low for Papillion/Hawk Moth.
Akumatising a freaking child...
It did answer my question on if young children could fall victim to him, but still... yeesh.
Papillion stood in his lair as the giant circular window closed, contemplating the failure of his latest Akuma victim, La Marionnettiste.
The white butterflies fluttered around his feet and as the closing window cut off the last of the light from outside and the room was plunged into darkness, they became the only source of light.
He should have known that a child wouldn't be able to do the job.
A mere child, probably not older than five years old had been the latest... host for one of his Akumas, becoming La Marionnettiste, a villainess who could not only fly, but could control others through some dolls that her babysitter had apparently made.
Dolls of three of his former Akuma victims (Lady WiFi, Dessinateur and Rogercop), plus that accursed Ladybug and Chat Noir.
Blasts from the past, if you will...
He saw an opportunity in the anger of that little girl and he took it.
He had never Akumatised a child before today. It had been much easier than the teenagers and adults that had fallen under his spell.
Children's emotions are often so much simpler than older people's.
Less complicated.
Easier to manipulate.
They often became well and truly upset over things that most adults would not be bothered by.
Like not getting the toy they wanted.
All it took was the loss of an inane toy to trigger what he liked to call his 'Akuma Host Sense' and he was ready to go.
He saw the little girl, holding her precious little toy wand and sulking over the loss of a doll.
Sure, many children in Paris would have fallen victim to him if all it took was them sulking over something their parents did not allow them to have, but she... that little girl in particular... his senses had zoomed in on her...
He was sure that Ladybug, Chat Noir and eventually all of Paris would be appalled that he'd taken advantage of a child, but whatever opportunity comes your way, you have to be able to seize and take control of it.
Regardless of who or what is in your way at the time.
For a child, she had actually done better than some of his older victims, even if the young girl had to be coached along more than they had to be...
They would call it evil; he called it ambition, determination. Willing to do whatever it takes to get your goal. No limits in your sight, real or imagined.
So what if you had to do something other people would hate more than usual to get what you wanted?
He wanted the Miraculous. He wanted Ladybug's earrings and Chat Noir's ring to achieve his goals and if he had to make a mere child his puppet... his Marionnettiste to do it, he would.
He wasn't about to let a small thing like morals get in the way of his ambition; he wasn't going to let a little thing like morals limit his opportunities to achieve his ultimate goal.
He saw no limits to what he had to do.
Not age (whether young or old), not time of day, nothing would limit him or hold him back when he saw an opportunity to get whatever he wanted.
