What if Hawk Moth was more clever in finding ways to control a giant baby?

Gigantitan Gulps

Hawk Moth sensed the frustration of Gustav, the bodyguard and chauffeur for Adrien. Gustav had tried to use his favorite parking spot, which up until now had been perfectly legal. He had been sent away from it once, and he nearly hit a rickshaw. Now he was getting ticketed. He ignored the police officer and set out on foot to find Adrien.

"A man who takes his work very seriously, whose blood is boiled by the slightest shortfall. That's what I call an easy target for my dear akuma. Fly away, my little akuma, and evilize him!"

Hawk Moth waited for a long time, while the butterfly flew the distance to the Trocadéro. It was about to land on the bodyguard when...

"What happened? His emotions just vanished!"

The akuma diverted to a source of more powerful emotions, a baby crying for a lollipop. It entered the ID tag on the baby's wrist, allowing Hawk Moth to establish a mental link.

"This wasn't what I had in mind. But why not? After all, what could be more emotionally powerful than a baby throwing a giant temper tantrum?! Gigantitan, I am Hawk Moth."

"Hawk Moo?" asked the baby, whose name he could now tell was August.

"No, not 'Hawk Moo'. Just Hawk Moth. Well... you're going to be... big and strong, and you'll get to do... whatever you want. But in return, you must bring me Ladybug and Cat Noir's Miraculous."

"Lollipop?" asked August.

Hawk Moth was extremely irritated. He was tempted to take back the power. But that would cost time, and there was a risk the returning akuma could be followed to his lair. He would have to make do with what he had. The infant was incapable of grasping abstract concepts. Hawk Moth would have to keep things very simple, and use the carrot and the stick to direct his victim.

"Yes, bring me Ladybug and Chat Noir, and I will give you a nice big lollipop," Hawk Moth falsely promised.

He sent the images of the two heroes to the baby, rather than the tiny objects he couldn't expect August to grab, or not to swallow if he did manage to get them.

August gave his consent, and Hawk Moth gave Gigantitan power.

Gigantitan nearly squashed his mother with his first giant step. Marinette pushed her out of the way.

"My little baby!" said the mother.

"Kids these days. They grow up so fast! Am I right?" said Marinette.

"Lollipop!" shouted Gigantitan. "Lollipop!"

Bystanders reacted by yelling and running. Gustav stood his ground to guard Adrien. The girls from school who had been helping Marinette with her "Operation: Secret Garden" to get a date with Adrien mostly scattered, except for Alya.

"Whoa, don't blink now!" said Alya as she tried to record the giant for her blog.

Mylène pulled Alya away. "Come on!"

Gigantitan grabbed the first thing he saw that looked like it might taste good, one of the gilded sculptures decorating the Palais de Chaillot.

"Lollipop!... Bleagh!" said Gigantitan. He threw the bad-tasting statue down, just missing Gustav and Adrien.

Gigantitan bawled "Lollipop!" and then noticed Gustav. "Ooh?"

The giant picked up Gustav and sucked on him. Deciding he didn't like that taste either, he threw the man away into a distant tree. Gustav hung head-down in the branches, stunned and dripping with saliva.

"August!" cried the mother.

"Stay out of danger, ma'am," said Marinette. "Ladybug and Cat Noir will be here any moment now and save your little August. "

Meanwhile, Adrien took advantage of his bodyguard being stuck in a tree. He hid and transformed.

Team "Operation Secret Garden" gathered at the corner of a building.

"Girls, where is Lotus?" asked Rose.

The others blinked in confusion, having forgotten the code name.

"Marinette, where is she?" asked Rose.

As they ran around looking for her, they ran into Gigantitan.

Mylène said, "Hey, look!"

"Lollipop!"

Gigantitan tried to grab them, and they ran screaming with him in pursuit.

Then Chat Noir arrived and took over, distracting the giant by jingling the bell on his collar.

"Well, you're the biggest rugrat I've ever seen," said Chat Noir.

"Kitty!" said Gigantitan, trying to grab the gracefully leaping hero.

Chat Noir jumped to the ground and tried to lure the giant to the Seine River. "Let's go splish-splash, Megababy. You can't catch me! Let's get our feet nice and wet. But we can't squish anyone, okay?"

Marinette hid behind a pillar and transformed to join the fight.

When Ladybug got to the scene, she saw Chat Noir had been grabbed and was about to be sucked on.

"Well, hey there, kitty cat. I see you're not much of a natural with kids, are you?"

"Are you kidding? We were just playing a fun game of tag!" said Chat Noir, using his expanding staff to escape the giant hand.

"The akuma's probably in his bracelet," said Ladybug.

She used her yo-yo to lasso Gigantitan's hands.

Hawk Moth sent telepathically, "Gigantitan, watch out for the very naughty Ladybug!"

Gigantitan gave a mighty pull and sent Ladybug flying into the air. She landed on top of a building and caught her balance.

Chat Noir vaulted up to her. "Whoa ho! How about that? You're not much of a natural with kids either. Nice flying."

"Ha-ha! For your information, I never babysat anything heavier than ten tons."

Gigantitan reached up to grab Ladybug, but Chat moved her out of the way. Ladybug made another attempt at grabbing the bracelet. Gigantitan threw her up into the air.

After landing back on the ground, Ladybug told Chat her plan to make a giant playpen out of the base of the Eiffel Tower, wound around with lots of yo-yo string. They would sing lullabies and tell stories until the baby got sleepy, and then Cataclysm the bracelet.

They began leaping toward the Tower, luring Gigantitan to follow them. It was working until the baby saw the lollipop vendor truck where Adrien's photographer had gotten a lollipop for the photo shoot.

"Lollipop!" said Gigantitan, getting down on all fours to look at the candies. He tried to grab them, but ended up smashing the truck flat instead.

Gigantitan started to cry, until he heard the sound of a car horn beeping. Chat Noir had gotten into a abandoned car and was honking the horn.

Chat got out as Gigantitan toddled over and started to play with the car like a toy, "Vroom! Vroom!"

In his lair, Hawk Moth growled, "Gah!"

His villain was too easily distracted. It was time to take charge. He sent a burst of pain into the hand that gripped the car.

Gigantitan recoiled, then gingerly tried to touch the car again. Hawk Moth sent more pain.

"The bad Kitty tricked you with a car that hurt you!" sent Hawk Moth. "Grab him!"

After giving this command, Hawk Moth had another idea. He used his elevator to enter the atelier. Natalie was there at her desk.

"Get me the bowl of hard candy from the kitchen," Hawk Moth said.

Natalie gave him an expressionless nod and went to carry out his order.

Gigantitan came after Chat Noir with eyes full of rage. Chat fled, but the baby caught up with him and thew him across the bridge and under the Eiffel Tower. When Chat got up on his feet, Gigantitan charged after him again.

Ladybug lassoed one leg with her yo-yo to try to slow him down. It wasn't working. The baby dragged her along behind him. She held onto a light pole, but it bent.

Hawk Moth sent, "Turn around and look at Ladybug. She's a sweet lollipop. Grab her!"

"Lollipop!" said Gigantitan.

He turned and saw the bright red figure on a stick. He pulled up the light pole and was about to put both the pole and Ladybug into his mouth.

"Hey, silly baby! This isn't a delicious lollipop!" Ladybug screamed as she was about to be sucked.

"Woo hoo! Super-Size," yelled Alya. She was pedaling the abandoned rickshaw. Mylène, Juleka, and Rose were in the passenger seat, holding the fake no-parking sign as a fake lollipop to tempt the baby.

Hawk Moth was ready. He unwrapped a candy and put it under his nose. He transmitted the sweet scent through the telepathic link.

"Get that other lollipop later," sent Hawk Moth. "You have a good, sweet lollipop in your hand, ready to eat."

When Gigantitan put Ladybug and the light pole into his mouth, Hawk Moth put the candy in his own mouth and transmitted the sweetness to override the real flavor.

If Gigantitan ate Ladybug, it would be an unpleasant task to retrieve the indestructible earrings from the contents of a giant diaper, but it was worth it, Hawk Moth thought.

Gigantitan's licking tongue tore Ladybug loose from the light pole. His toothless gums mashed her and his drool coated her. She couldn't breathe. When she was about to be swallowed she kicked around so she wouldn't go down head first. She jammed her legs out against the sides of the throat to keep herself from going down. With a desperate toss of her yo-yo, Ladybug snagged the street light that was still being chewed on.

Chat Noir leaped back to help Ladybug. The akuma victim was gagging and not in good condition to fight. Chat knew he could Cataclysm the bracelet, but he didn't know what would happen to Ladybug if the baby shrank with her still inside. He leaped up to the end of the light pole that was dangling out of the giant mouth. He gave it a hard tug, and everything came out, including Ladybug tethered to the pole.

As soon as she landed on the ground, Ladybug took a deep gasp of air and said, "Lucky Charm!"

She got a giant polka-dotted pacifier, and held it for Gigantitan to see. As the baby bent down to get it (and maybe her), Chat Noir invoked "Cataclysm" and destroyed the bracelet.

"No more evil-doing for you, little akuma... Time to de-evilize!... Gotcha!... Bye-bye little butterfly... Miraculous Ladybug!"

August returned to normal high in the air, and Chat Noir caught him.

"Kitty!" said August.

"Okay, you are a natural with babies after all," said Ladybug.

The baby's mother came running up. "August!"

"Mama!" said August, happy to be back in her arms.

Ladybug notice their time was running short. "We gotta get going. Bye bye, little guy."

"Thank you, Cat Noir! Thank you, Ladybug!" said the mother.

"Thank you!" said August.

Marinette rejoined her friends. She told them she had been looking all over for them, and she was glad everything had turned out all right.

"All except for your date with Adrien," said Alya.

"Oh yeah. Where did he go?" asked Mylène.

"Oh! There he is!" said Rose, pointing.

"Maybe we can finish the job after all," said Alya.

Juleka said, "Awesome."

"No," said Marinette. "No more complicated plans. Sometimes it's best to just get straight to the point."

Marinette felt more determined after her near-death experience. She risked her life nearly every day, and she wasn't going to miss this precious opportunity for time with Adrien.

As Adrien walked to the car, Marinette called out and waved to him. "Adrien!"

"Marinette, what are you doing here?" asked Adrien.

"I came here to do some sketching! I can't believe we've run into each other here! Hey, would you like to..."

She was interrupted by the bodyguard honking the car horn impatiently.

"Hang pout? I mean, hang about? No, hag out? Oh, forget it. Better not keep your guard waiting."

"Uh, okay," said Adrien.

Marinette sighed, realizing she had blown it again.

"But we can take you home if you want it."

Marinette summoned her willpower. This was it.

"Thanks," said Marinette. "I'd love to give you a ride... I mean get ridden... I mean get a ride from you."

Her friends watched gleefully as Marinette joined Adrien in the car.

"You go, girl!" said Alya. "She managed to get a sentence out without losing her cool!"

"At the end she said one phrase out of three without an accidental innuendo," said Rose. "Not bad!"

The End