He wanted to talk to her the moment he appeared before her in that dark corner.
His new servant didn't have to use a sleep spell.
Then again... They would have noticed her absence.
Hawk Moth gently laid Marinette down on a stone pedestal. He admires the serenity on her sleeping face as he gently stroke her cheek.
Oh how long has he waited for this...
Hawk Moth snapped out of it. He reminded himself that Marinette wasn't...her.
Before he gets any more ideas, and before the heroes get here, he needed to talk to her.
He bends down until his face was an inch away from hers. Then, he gently kisses her forehead.
He pulls away and waits patiently for her to awake.
The moment Marinette opened her eyes, she found herself lying down on a stone pedestal in a dark room. She doesn't know how she got here, but she does remember finding a secluded area to transform.
However, before she could even call her kwami's name, medieval Hawk Moth suddenly appeared in front of her.
Then something struck her from behind, knocking her unconscious. And that's how she got here. Where ever here is.
She got off the pedestal and looks around, only to stop and scream in surprise when she saw medieval Hawk Moth.
Marinette panicked. Many questions were scrambling in her head:
Why was she here? Do her teammates know she was captured? Why did Hawk Moth capture her? Is he still mad for what she did when they were fighting Hell Hound?
She decided to do the first advice her mind was telling her in order to calm down and handle the situation.
"Nice cloak." She smiled at the villain.
No, really. It's a nice cloak. It even has pretty little black butterflies on it.
Hawk Moth smiled in return and nodded his head, "Thank you. Thought I might join the trend."
Marinette tensed when Hawk Moth slowly approaches her. Part of her wanted to say those three little words, but that would lead to a lot of bad results.
All she could do was slowly back away from the villain until her back touched the cold, hard, stony wall. She braces herself for the enemy's next move...
"I was hoping you would join me for tea."
...?
Marinette stared at her enemy with confusion. Hawk Moth moved slightly to the left, revealing a table elaborately set-up for tea time. It even had a tier filled with macaroons, eclairs, madeleines... Hey waitaminute...
"Are those from my family's bakery?"
They don't know who was akumatized, but now they know that she's a vicious fighter.
One attack came after the other. They happened so fast that many times many of the heroes couldn't dodge them in time, and they'd collide with the ground, hard. Even their miraculous costumes couldn't protect them from the intense pain inflicted on them.
She sent boulders at Antelope. He manages to swiftly dodge all of them, except for the one that was ten times bigger than the others.
She zapped the ground. Giant green tendrils emerged at a rapid pace and were heading straight for Dragonfly. She tried to fly away from them, only to bump into a stone wall that appeared out of nowhere. Carapace managed to shield both of them with his force field. Unfortunately, they didn't expect to be tied up by snakes while they were still inside the force field.
"How could you have figure it out sooner?!" The akuma demanded, clearly not happy that she was found out, "I even smelled like her!"
"It's true!" Chat called out as he dodged several kitchen utensils aimed at him, "She had the delicious aroma of flour, pastries, and fire!"
Chat cursed himself for not noticing sooner that his lady wasn't his lady at all. Where ever she is, he hopes she was okay. He also hopes to get out of this fight to save her.
Rena smashed a rock that was aimed at her with her flute, "Sorry Not-Ladybug. I'm immune to spells of deception. Even with that lame illusion, I can still smell your stinky akuma smell."
Fang emphasized by covering Cookie's nose with his tail while the Pomeranian sticks his tongue out.
The akuma growled at Rena's insult and blasted her with a beam, but the heroine leaps out of the way.
The villain flips the pages of her book, trying to find a suitable spell to incinerate the team, unaware that behind her, Queen Bee leaps into the sky. The bee heroine knocks the villainess to the ground, knocking the akumatized object off her hands as well.
Queen Bee grabs the akumatized object. Just as she was about to tear it in half, she noticed the book was opened and on one page was a childish drawing of a prince defending a princess.
A very familiar childish drawing of a prince defending a princess.
"Lila Rossi?" Queen Bee looked up in surprise and realization. However, she didn't realize in time that the villainess was planning to blast her down and reclaim her akumatized item.
The villain points her staff at the bee heroine, "Once I take your Miraculouses, you will all bow down to me, Queen Mida Evil!"
...(insert cricket music here)...
The team stared at her blankly. Panda Rouge was the first to speak, "I'm guessing Hawk Moth wasn't the one who did the naming."
"Even without the 'Queen'... Eh." Louve Grise waved her hand in a uninterested manner.
Mida Evil angrily blasts the heroes, only to miss every time.
"You never answered our question." Chat leered at the villainess, "Where's the real Ladybug?"
"Don't you mean, Marinette?" Mida Evil spoke Ladybug's real name bitterly, "I could never forgive the Miraculous Team for what they did."
"You mean telling the truth?" Arachnid pointed out.
"Doing what's right?" Corbeau Noire added.
"Mending broken bonds caused by misunderstandings you created out of deceit and selfishness foryour meaningless desire to be popular?!" Flamingo snapped, earning surprised looks from the others.
Mida waves her hand dismissively, "You heroes have no sense of fun."
"'Fun'?' Carapace echoed in disbelief, "You almost got the whole school killed because you told Zinnia the principal expelled her for bringing that panther cub to school."
"When all he gave her was suspension and a request to return the lost cub she found to the zoo." Forest Doe added.
Enraged, Mida sends balls of fire at her, but the deer heroine shoots her arrows at them. The collision caused several small explosions in midair. The villainess stomps her foot in anger.
While this happened, Chat placed a hand on Carapace's shoulder. Without uttering a single word, he briefly moves his head to a certain direction. Carapace understood by nodding his head.
"How did you find out Marinette was Ladybug?" Rena asked, hoping no one heard their conversation.
Mida Evil began reminiscing her discovery.
A lunch picnic at the park huh...
She hated those former classmates of her. And since one of them was the mayor's daughter, she was forced to move to another class, where her new classmates scorned her for her lies.
So she spun her own tales and got a few people in trouble. Does that make her a villain?
She spotted Marinette in the locker room. Oh, just the sight of her smiling made her blood boil.
"Everyone loves Marinette." Yes. Love the girl who ruined her chances of ruling the school.
No matter how many times she tried to ruin her reputation, Little Miss Goody-Two-Shoes' friends would always stick by her side and ruin all her hard work.
This time, they went too far... Sending her spoiled, rich friend to humiliate her in front of Adrien.
She was about to give the bluenette a piece of her mind, when a small red creature covered in black spots flew out of Marinette's purse.
Lila gasped and hid behind the lockers. Surprisingly, she thought she just saw an alien or a small mythical creature from those fairy tales.
Which means... Marinette is also an alien or a witch!
That's how she got all her 'friends': By casting a spell on them, or brainwashing them!
"Okay now that's just being utterly ridiculous."
Queen Bee interrupts the flashback, "Even I know there's no such thing as magic or aliens."
"You have little pets that turn you into heroes." Mida points out.
"Pollen is my friend." Queen Bee corrected.
The villain glares at the bee heroine, "Anyway..."
She decided to exact her revenge at lunch time. She was ready to expose her secret to her friends. They'll shun her for being a freak and she'll be forever alone.
Then her plan shattered like glass.
As it turned out, her friends all have small, tiny flying creatures, in different colors. And if that wasn't bad enough...
They're... actually... of all people... in the whole world...
The Miraculous Team...
"You meddling brats always get in my way." Mida continues to glare at the heroes, "The moment the black butterfly came to me, I seized my chance, to finally claim the glory that was rightfully mine."
"By transforming the entire town into your own personal kingdom?" Rena asked in disbelief.
"And making my daddy king just so you can over-throw him?" Queen Bee added.
"Wow. That Miraculous actually made you smart." Mida Evil taunted, "And once I'm done with you heroes, I can finally live happily ever after with my prince...Where is he?"
Her eyes widened in surprise. Chat Noir was nowhere to be seen.
"Oh yeah. Sorry about that." Carapace "apologized", "He had an errand to do, something about taking the dog for a walk,"
Mida Evil blasted the turtle hero, "It doesn't matter. She's already at the mercy of Hawk Moth. Oh, the horrible things you could imagine..."
She shouldn't drink the tea... But she did. And it was sweet and delicious.
If the others saw her like this and took pictures, she'd never live it down. She actually found herself relaxing as she sipped tea and ate pastries with...Hawk Moth.
Oh god. Whoever was akumatized, better not make her waltz with him again.
Hawk Moth happily ate an éclair, "Your family are quite the excellent bakers."
"Oh... Thank you." Marinette finds it a little bit weird that a villain was complimenting her family's baking.
She sips her tea to calm her nerves. As Hawk Moth wonders which pastry to pick next, her hand finds its way to her skirt pocket, where Tikki stayed hidden. She lightly pats the area as a way to tell her kwami that everything was okay.
Hawk Moth finally chose a macaroon and offered it to Marinette, "And do tell Tikki to not be shy."
"Thank you. She...?!" Marinette froze as she took the macaroon. How did he... He couldn't have...
"Oh come on now, Tikki." Hawk Moth smiled, sending shivers down Marinette's spine, "We're all friends here. Aren't we?"
Marinette tensed. Hawk Moth couldn't have figured out her secret... Could he?
She wished Tikki wouldn't go out... but she did.
The little ladybug kwami looked sternly at the butterfly villain, "Hello Hawk Moth."
Hawk Moth nodded in response before he turned his gaze to a shock Marinette, "Hello, Ladybug."
If Chat had to guess Cookie's favourite game, it had to be Hide-N-Seek. He always managed to find him and his friends in less than 5 minutes as he can easily smell where they were hiding.
Hopefully, he can find his owner in less than a minute before Hawk Moth does horrible things to her.
Having tired of Lila, aka Mida Evil, ranting about how he and his friends "ruined her life" just by saving the day, and telling everyone the truth, he secretly snuck away with Cookie in his arms in order to rescue a damsel-in-distress.
And she got the guts to pretend to be the girl of his dreams and flirted with him. (Shiver in disgust.)
He hated to leave the others with Mida, but if she knew about their identities, both civilian and superhero, then she might have told Hawk Moth about them as well.
And Hawk Moth could use that against them... by going after their families. And friends.
He already lost his mother. No way is he losing his father too.
Cookie managed to snap him out of his thoughts by barking at the stone tower where the Eiffel Tower once stood.
Looks like a perfect tower to keep a princess locked in. A princess who's about to be saved by a knight in... shining leather.
Then he stops to think. Every time Marinette has an encounter with Hawk Moth, while she wasn't Ladybug, he would never hurt her. In fact, three times the villain had saved her life.
He never understood why, but he really hates it whenever his enemy touches his princess.
In fact... he could just right about now...!
Cookie yelped in surprise as Chat grabbed him and quickly dashed off in lightning speed, heading straight for the stone tower.
Tikki never forgot the first time she first met him as Hawk Moth.
She and her fellow kwamis were so shocked. They never thought there was another Miraculous that bears such a power. What was more shocking that he of all people would use such power to inflict harm to his friends.
They had to seal him. They knew he would reawaken one day.
When the day came, the day they would meet their new partners, Tikki was super worried for her holder, dreading the day Hawk Moth would discover the true identities of his enemies.
Now here they are again, and the day finally came.
After so many minutes of intense silence, Marinette finally spoke, "I guess, this the part where you take my Miraculous."
Hawk Moth raises his hand... which was holding his teacup, and drank from it.
When he finished, he examined the now empty cup, "That would be easy. Too, easy."
He snaps his fingers. A swarm of butterflies carrying a teapot flew to him and refilled his teacup. He takes another long sip.
Her foe doesn't seem to be in a hurry. Which, felt weird for her since he already knows she's Ladybug.
He could just easily grab her earring in one, swift swoop. Or he could command his butterflies to get the earrings.
He could even pin her down to the ground, rendering her helpless and... Okay. You know what? Scratch that.
Still... Why isn't he taking her Miraculous?
Even now, he's still going easy on her.
Why is it that every time they meet he doesn't act evil towards her? Or even threatens her? He even asked Hellhound to release the captured civilians on her behalf.
And why rescue her?
It's time she gets some answers.
"Why would you save me?" She asked him, sounding serious, to let him know she was being serious, "First time we met, wasn't exactly at the Eiffel Tower."
Hawk Moth was about to take another sip when Marinette asked that question. He stood up, alerting the teen to brace herself to speak those three little magic words.
The next thing she knew, Hawk Moth was carrying her bridal style.
Then he jumped off the tower.
This was usually the time for Marinette to scream, but she didn't.
As she expected, Hawk Moth summoned his dark violet butterfly wings and flew them to the top of the tower. As Hawk Moth gently settles her down, Marinette was in awe at the view before her.
She never gets tired seeing the same breath-taking view from the top of the tower. It always gave her a feeling of ease and a source of help whenever she has troubles coming up with new ideas.
Even if the tower changed by magic, the serene aura it gave never changed.
"This will always be my favourite special place in the world." Hawk Moth mused, smiling at the same view before him.
Marinette had seen Hawk Moth smile before. Not an evil, wicked smile. More of... the kind of smile she gets from her father... warm... and, not creepy...even though it was creepy that her enemy wasn't smiling at her like a maniac...
Now here he is again. Smiling warmly.
Marinette turned to face the view again, "If you take over the world, you might never see this view again. Or, that feeling again."
Hawk Moth frowned. To his dismay, he had to agree. One of the many things he'll have to sacrifice once he has fulfilled his wish.
If only it wouldn't end like that.
"How did you get the Butterfly Miraculous in the first place?" Marinette asked, staring at the jewel Hawk Moth wore as a brooch.
To her surprise, Hawk Moth chuckled, "Unfortunately, my dear, you're getting the long version."
Marinette groaned internally. Great.
Hawk Moth gazed at the night sky, "I was in love once."
Okay... This, she needs to hear.
"I was a complete stranger to her world." Hawk Moth continued, "To their world. They were heroes. I was just, normal. Yet, they accepted me, a normal man, living a normal life."
Okay, why did that sound weirdly familiar?
"I did the best I could to help them." Hawk Moth went on, "I became their support whenever they were at their darkest. They even told me that I was the glue that held the team together. I was a part of their team. Of their, family. I have never been more happy. Except for the day, when she made me the happiest man alive."
Even when he wasn't smiling like a maniac, Marinette could always see the evil in his eyes.
Yet, right now, all she could see was a man, longing for the good old days, wishing to return to the people he loves.
She looked at her kwami who was also giving the butterfly villain a look of sympathy. Marinette wondered if she, the other kwamis and their previous holders ever felt guilty when they imprisoned Hawk Moth years ago.
The three didn't notice Chat Noir and Cookie had arrived on the top of the tower and were behind them. Chat was about to come up with a plan to save his teammate when he heard Hawk Moth narrating about his past life.
Truth be told, even he feels sympathy for the guy who tried to constantly destroy him and his friends.
Hawk Moth sighed, "The first time I met her, the moon illuminated the dark night, and a thousand ladybugs danced around us."
This surprises both Marinette and Chat, making them think about Miraculous Fate, Marinette's great-great grandfather's last painting before he disappeared. They find it weird to imagine Hawk Moth, their enemy, mask and all, meeting the love of his life under the light of the moon and being surrounded by ladybugs.
"I'd risk my entire life for her." They kept listening to Hawk Moth, "No matter how many times she would risk her life for others, I would do anything to bring her back to us, to prevent that beautiful ray of hope from fading."
Great. Now Chat can't beat him up.
He'd risk his own life for his princess too.
Hawk Moth sighed once again, "Everything was just, miraculous. Until the day I was sealed away...by the very heroes who I once called family..."
Marinette and Chat gaped in complete shock. Heroes...? Family...? Miraculous...? Sealed away...?
No... It couldn't be...
Marinette turned to Tikki, who dips her tiny head in guilt, confirming Marinette's shocking realization.
"Betrayed, by my dear friends..." Hawk Moth solemnly turned to Marinette, "And by the very Ladybug I love..."