Hawk Moth closed in on his quarry, one rooftop at a time. Behind him lay the mistakes he had made and the sorrow left in their wake, but what lay before him? He desperately clung to the hope of restoring his family, but where once he had done so with conviction, now doubt plagued his heart.
When he pursued the Ladybug and Cat Noir miraculous before, he was confident they would fix his problem. Now he was chasing them down again, but the confidence was gone. Could the wish be used again? Would it fix the problem, or only make it worse? At best, it kept the situation the same, with one member of his family stuck in a coma forever.
Something has to change, Hawk Moth told himself, otherwise I'll just find myself caught in a cycle. Something has to change.
Landing in the plaza across from the Eiffel Tower, Hawk Moth caught up with his prey at last. With a flair for the dramatic, Night Shade was standing on the iconic structure, attempting to activate the miraculous and make his wish. The kwamis were uncooperative, however.
"I said Spots On!" he was shouting at Tikki, hovering in the air before him, "Transform me!"
"You can say whatever you want," Tikki replied in a pathetic voice, "I'm too drained to grant you any power."
"Yeah, fulfilling a wish is hard work," Plagg piped in, lacking his normal spunk, "We need to eat before we can do it again."
"Night Shade!" Hawk Moth approached the tower, with news reporters staying just out of sight around the plaza, "It's time you returned those!"
"Look who's come to play the hero," Night Shade taunted, recalling the obstinate kwamis into their miraculous, "the master villain himself."
"I'm no hero," Hawk Moth said to himself more than Night Shade, "but I can't let you have those."
"Ooh, little hawky's afraid, eh?" the villain taunted him, "Afraid o' what I might do to your little city? Don't worry, I have bigger plans. Just run along and nothin' bad'll happen to you."
"No, I…" Hawk Moth started. Do I care what happens to this city? It was not a question that often bothered him. Usually he was the one doing the tormenting, not the other way around, but he never did intend to harm the city. His goals were personal, the fate of the city was not his concern. At the same time, he did live here, and seeing the beautiful city succumb to destruction or tyranny was not in his best interests. In a purely selfish way, yes, he did care.
Something has to change.
All around, news reporters were watching the confrontation, the whole city waiting with bated breath to see how this played out.
"Yes, that's right," he shouted back, "Ladybug has shown me the error of my ways, and now I fight to protect the city. I will stop you and save Paris!"