Miraculous Team: Origins

Chapter 4: Shadow Recruitment

The whole city of Paris was in shock. All over the media, news about an apparent terrorist attack in the Louvre were spreading like wildfire. No one knew what exactly had happened, and furthermore, no one had claimed responsibility for the attack. It was a complete mystery.

But while the police and other law enforcement agencies tried to figure out what had happened, Hawk Moth roamed the darkest streets of Paris, looking for a place to establish his new base of operations, but more importantly, to seek out men and women for his new army. It had been two centuries since he had been turned into a statue, and he was eager to finish what he had started a long time ago. But, to do that, he would need an army, and to do so, he would recruit those who were willing to serve him, in exchange for the power to exact revenge on someone, or something.

Attracted by the darkest of human emotions, he sought those of darkest heart to be his emissaries. And in that neighbourhood, he would find them.

"Like I said, human emotions haven't changed. It will be easy to find what I'm looking for... and something tells me, I have just found it." -Hawk Moth mused to himself

Turning the corner, Hawk Moth saw his target. Crouched against a wall was a man with a shady look. His clothes were all worn out and you could see that he had been living in the streets for quite some time. Still, it was not his appearance that drew Hawk Moth to him. It was the turmoil of feelings in his soul... Rage, hate and greed, but above all, greed. Using his powers, the villain probed the man's mind and saw what he was thinking. He was a low-life thief; earlier that night he had robbed a young couple. But he did not just because of the money, he had done it because he was jealous of them. Jealous because they had a good life, while he had to live like a mongrel, scraping what little food he found in garbage cans, while sleeping under a bridge. All those feelings and emotions made him the kind of person Hawk Moth was looking for. Smiling cruelly, he approached the man and said:

"Tell me, was it worth it?"

The man looked him in the eyes and was shocked to see a man as well dressed as Hawk Moth in that neighbourhood.

"What was worth it?" -the man asked, wondering what someone dressed as fancy as Hawk Moth, was doing around that place.

"The robbery, of course. How much did they have in their wallets?" -Hawk Moth asked, with a wicked smile on his face. –"Whatever the amount was, it wasn't enough, now was it?"

"What are you talking about? How do you know about what I've done?" -the man asked him, wondering how he could know what he had done.

"Let's just say, it's my business to know about these things." -Hawk Moth smiled evilly.

"What are you? A cop?!" -the man said, as he got up and pulled out a knife out of his pocket. He pointed it at Hawk Moth with the intention of stabbing him. –"If you're a cop, then you picked the wrong part of town to take a walk, man!" -he threatened Hawk Moth.

Hearing this, Hawk Moth chuckled, before bursting into an almost uncontrolled maniacal laughter. He laughed like that for a few seconds, just before putting on a serious face.

"The wrong part of town, you say?" -Hawk Moth said. –"I do believe, that this is the right part of town for me. Especially since I'm attracted to the kind of emotions and feelings that bloom in this, let's call it, cesspool." -he said, as he looked around.

"What are you talking about?!" -the man asked him, wondering if he was either an eccentric fellow, or just someone with a few loose screws.

"I'm talking about what's inside of you." -Hawk Moth declared.

Moving his hand, he used the same trick he had with the security guard. But this time, he forced the man to drop his knife, and began to exert pressure on his body, slowly crushing him. As this happened, the man began to panic, his heart beating like a crazy ticker, as his mind filled with fear.