I wonder what Master Fu's advice meant? Oh well. We'll have to wait and see- there's another akumatized villain on the loose!
Chapter 1: The False Fox Returns
Hawk Moth was in a particularly bad mood.
"I must have Ladybug and Cat Noir's Miraculous'!" he bellowed. "I need that power to obtain my greatest wish."
"But do you really think that world domination is going to take you there?" asked Nooroo. "You don't really want the world, what you want is…"
"I know what I want!" Hawk Moth roared. "And the absolute power will allow me to get it."
Nooroo trembled. He hated this part.
"Nooroo! Transform me!" Hawk Moth cried. As the power of the Moth Miraculous joined with its kwami, Hawk Moth felt a smirk grow on his face. Despite the setbacks, he knew that his goal would become a reality. He had known this since the day he had found the brooch.
Power flowed through Hawk Moth's body. He could feel negativity coming from all directions. If only he could akumatize everyone in Paris. Soon, Hawk Moth told himself. Soon he would have the power to akumatize not just Paris, but the whole world! In the meantime, Hawk Moth would have to settle for the Parisian who was feeling the most negative.
Hawk Moth closed his eyes and cleared his mind. In his mind's eye, he saw Lila Rossi, the girl he had akumatized just hours ago.
...
Lila sat on her bed, looking at pictures of Adrien that she had taped to her wall.
"Who does Ladybug think she is?" Lila snarled. She stood up and walked to a particularly large poster of Adrien's face. "And. Why. Does. She. Keep. Me. And. Adrien. APART!" Lila pounded her fist into the wall with each word, yelling at the top of her lungs when she reached the end of her sentence.
Collapsing onto the floor, Lila sobbed as she clutched in her hand the necklace she had made to impress Adrien.
...
The window into Hawk Moth's lair opened. "A girl who just wants everyone to like her. A noble thought indeed. But what would be better than everyone liking her? Why, everyone fearing her, of course."
Letting a butterfly rest on his hand, Hawk Moth covered it gently with his other hand and transferred power into it.
"Fly away, my little akuma," Hawk Moth let the butterfly loose. "And darken her heart."
The akuma flew out of the center of the window and into the streets of Paris.
...
Adrien had given up the search for his father's book, at least for now. He had homework to do, and Adrien wanted to do a stellar job.
Seeing as that this was his first year not being homeschooled, Adrien usually had trouble starting his homework. Not to mention that his afterschool activities, photo shoots, and fighting crime as Cat Noir took up a lot of time.
Adrien had just opened his history textbook when he saw movement from the corner of his eye. Turning his head toward the window, he spotted a butterfly flutter past his window- a black butterfly.
"I guess history will have to wait," Adrien announced. "After all, history has been around for centuries. What's a few more hours?"
"Oh, bad joke," moaned Plagg, who was sitting on Adrien's couch, surrounded by seven empty Camembert boxes. "Bad history joke."
Adrien ignored his kwami. "Plagg! Transform me!"
...
"I wonder what Master Fu's advice meant?" Marinette asked Tikki as they headed back to the bakery.
"I'm sure you'll figure it out soon enough," Tikki smiled up from her hiding spot in Marinette's purse.
Marinette held up the plastic bag she was given by the Great Guardian. "Maybe I should look inside, to give me a better idea as to what will happen…"
"No!" Tikki cried. "Trust me, Marinette. When the time comes to open the bag, you'll know what to do with what's inside."
Marinette was about to ask how she would know when to open the bag when she spotted Cat Noir. He was leaping from rooftop to rooftop, his gazed fixed on something small.
Marinette followed Cat Noir's gaze. He was following a little black butterfly. Normally she would laugh at the cat-themed superhero acting like the actual animal. But Marinette recognized the butterfly as one of Hawk Moth's akumas.
Darting into a nearby alley, Marinette looked at Tikki. "Cat Noir must be trying to stop the akuma before it reaches it's target."
"Or maybe he's following it so that he can assess the situation before contacting Ladybug," Tikki suggested. "After all, he knows that only Ladybug can capture the akuma."
"Cat Noir doesn't think like that," Marinette argued.
Tikki just looked at her.
"He doesn't," Marinette insisted. Or does he? she thought. I don't know anything about the man behind the mask…
Marinette shook her head. Why am I thinking about this? Of course Cat Noir doesn't think like that- he's the impulsive one, always ready to crack joke or pun. He needs me to keep him on track!
"Tikki! Transform me!"
...
Lila was still on the floor when the akuma flew into her necklace. She immediately sat up, her face contorted with anger.
"Volpina," said Hawk Moth. "I shall give you another chance to enact your revenge on Ladybug. But Ladybug and Cat Noir now know your power is illusions. So in return for this power, I will not ask you to bring me Ladybug and Cat Noir's Miraculous'.
"Instead, I need you to bring Ladybug and Cat Noir to me personally."