"Hey, they have a new red-tailed hawk exhibit! Let's go take a look, Tikki!" Marinette suggested to her kwami.
They had just arrived at the zoo, and saw advertisements for the new exhibit. As they headed towards the site for the hawk, Marinette noticed Xavier Ramier, a man who loved feeding pigeons, sitting on a nearby bench, tossing out pieces of popcorn from a bag he had bought from a concession stand. Before the hungry pigeons could pick them up though, an older teenager sped through the flock on his bicycle, scattering them. Xavier yelled and shook his fist at the boy, before turning and throwing out some more popcorn for the frazzled birds.
"Poor pigeons," Tikki whispered from Marinette's bag, "They're just trying to eat, not get run over!"
"Yeah, it's a shame. People should have more respect," Marinette agreed, turning to resume her walk to the hawk exhibit.
Far away from the zoo, a picture window in a dark lair opened. The sudden stream of light that shined through caused hundreds of white butterflies to rise out of a deep slumber and begin fluttering around their small home.
"Ah, the frustration of a well-meaning man who's peaceful day has been interrupted by a reckless youth. Just the scenario to cause prey for my akumas," Hawk Moth narrated, clenching his fist. He held out his hands as a single white butterfly landed in his palm. Hawk Moth closed his hands around the butterfly, filling it with his dark energy.
The butterfly, now glowing dark blue, flew away, heading towards the hole in the center of the picture window as Hawk Moth's voice rang out behind it, saying, "Fly away my little akuma, and help him teach those youths a lesson!"
"Ah, yes, you have such a handsome plumage!" Xavier was saying, cooing over his pigeon friends. He was unaware of the akuma fluttering behind him. All he cared about now was his friends. He wasn't even angry about the teenage boy and his bicycle any more.
"Gah! His negative emotions are fading! Get closer, my little akuma!" Hawk Moth ordered. But it was no use. Xavier simply didn't have any more negative emotions to attract the akuma towards him.
"Well, fly around a bit," Hawk Moth grumbled in defeat, though he refused to give up, "Maybe you'll find someone to evilize, after all."
"Look at those handsome feathers!" Tikki gushed, peeking out of Marinette's bag to see the zoo's new hawk.
"He's gorgeous!" Marinette agreed, "And look, the zookeepers just put out some food for him. We'll get to watch him eat!"
The hawk spread his wings out, prepared to glide down to where his food was kept. But as he tried to angle himself, a loud bang caused him to lose focus, and he almost fell off his branch. He tried again, only for another bang to distract him again.
"Oh no!" Marinette whispered to Tikki, "Those small kids are banging on the walls of his exhibit. It's causing the hawk to lose focus! Hey, mister?" She turned to a zookeeper nearby, who wasn't paying much attention to the hawk.
"What is it, young lady? I'm kinda busy right now," the zookeeper grumbled irritably.
Marinette could tell he wasn't actually doing anything important, unless standing still, lost in thought was considered a zookeeper duty, but she wasn't discouraged.
"The hawk is trying to eat. But every time he tries, those kids bang on the exhibit walls and distract him. Look how upset he is!"
"Thank you, young lady, I'll take care of that right away," the zookeeper replied, already heading over to the kids.
"Nice job, Marinette!" Tikki praised.
Marinette smiled, then frowned as something caught her eye, "Is that a-"
"An akuma!" Tikki gasped, "We need to transform!"
The butterfly fluttered around in pointless loops, clearly not sure where it should go. After fluttering around aimlessly, it noticed a nearby flower, and headed towards it. Akuma or not, it was still a butterfly, and it wanted nectar.
The hawk relaxed on its perch, relieved one of it's caretakers had caused the banging to stop. Maybe now, he could finally eat something. A flutter caught his attention, and he fixed his sharp eyesight on a blue object that had just flown into his cage. Whatever it was, it seemed fixed on a tiny flower in the bottom of his exhibit... It was a butterfly.
The hawk was used to eating the prepared food the zookeepers brought him, but he still had hunting instincts- and those instincts told him that that butterfly was food. With one swift motion, he opened his wings, then dived off the branch, angling his body towards his prey. He was out of practice, considering he wasn't born in the wild, but in three seconds time, he had the butterfly in his beak, then down his throat.
He was about to swoop back up to his perch, when something felt off. His whole vision was clouded in blue, and a red hue flashed in front of his eyes. He saw visions of a man, but the man was wound in such tight, covering material, that the hawk couldn't make out any details, even with his sharp vision.
Hawk Moth was frozen in shock. Had that really just happened? Had his akuma just been eaten by a bird of prey? And yet the akumatizing still happened... What was he supposed to do now?
Quickly he composed himself, and began to speak in his usual threatening-yet-calming voice, "Uh... Hawk...Man... I am Hawk Moth. With the power I am giving you, you can... Eat all you desire... But in return, I need the Miraculouses of Ladybug and Cat Noir."
Hawk Moth sighed. He really hoped this wouldn't be another Gigantican incident.
Normally, the hawk wouldn't understand most human words. But he understood exactly what the man meant. No one would interrupt his meals, so long as he gave this new person what he wanted. With a screech, the hawk turned and dove at the bars of his cage. With one snap of his sharp beak, the bars shattered, and the bird of prey was now free of containment.
With several flaps of his wings, the newly-freed bird flew away from the zoo, and began to soar over Paris, ready to wreck havoc in his attempt to fill his stomach.