Call in the Tradesman

by

Agent X

The bombastic.

A/N: Every time I see that green telephone icon pop up on their miraculous weapons, I can't help but wonder how much of it is magic and how much is technology. My answer: magic in the guise of technology. May as well work with what they already know, right Tikki? Plagg? ... right?

I also like how it would be a reversal of the usual 'technology in the guise of magic' trope.

Her back hit the wall just a second before her head. Spots flashed before her eyes. All she was aware of was her hissed breath and stone scraping against her arms as she crumpled to the ground. She wasn't sure how long it took for her to blink the spots away, her vision warping, dancing like haze above the desert sand. Minutes, seconds; it was all too long.

He was out there. He was fighting alone. And she was too far. When the demon struck, she'd been hit with enough force to send her halfway across the city. Out here, the low brick huts provided too little purchase for her bandalore to cling to. She wouldn't be fast enough. She wouldn't be there.

As soon as she thought she could stand without vomiting, Ruby Scarab sprang up. Disoriented, desperate, she picked a direction without thinking, racing as fast as her aching legs would carry her. Down on the street, she danced around a slave hauling buckets; jumped over a crowd of children playing in the dirt. She ignored the stares and the whispers of the people. People who were seeing her - the Incarnation of Order, the Chosen of Atum-Ra - so close for the first time. With a hop onto a low well, it was just another jump upward and then she was above it all again, racing along the mud-brick rooftops. The Egyptian sun beat down; she felt its heat as the unforgiving gaze of the gods.

The bandalore, her only link to them, was gripped tightly in her palm. She brought it to her face. "Bastet, show me your servant!"

As always, the clouded mirror within her sacred instrument revealed itself to her. Scarab ran on, waiting impatiently for the image to clear. For the voice of the Black Cat to ring out: for his arrogance, his inappropriateness, his normally insufferable self -anything- to dispel her panic, but no answer came.

With a growl that was half fear, half frustration, she brought herself to a stop. She couldn't keep running aimlessly. Eyes narrowed, chest heaving, she moved the shining disc closer. "Mut, Eye of Ra." She intoned through her gasps. "Grant me your divine sight!"

This time the image in the mirror whirled dizzyingly, like a bird rising. Even after so long, Scarab still had to fight back the unfurling awe that came upon her as the magic rushed to obey. When the view in the mirror solidified, she looked down upon her city from the heavens. The whole of Iunu was focused within her hand. And there, towards the southwest edge, there shone the glyph. A cat's paw; it was the emerald signet of the Black Cat: her reckless guard, her devoted ally, and her contentious rival. She let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding, and glanced up from her palm in the direction it had manifested.

Just as she went to place the bandalore away, a deafening clap - like jaws snapping, like a whip striking - shook through the air. The whole city shuddered beneath her. Scarab steadied herself. A huge plume of dust and smoke erupted from the landscape ahead of her. And in it's wake a brittle silence fell.

The sun was still glaring, scorching against the sand but her hands and feet felt chill as she slowly, slowly brought the still active mirror up once more.

For just a second, she saw it. The cat's paw.

And then it was gone.

A/N: I will admit that this chapter is very minimally researched. In the episode, they refer to the Egyptian Ladybug as a 'Goddess', and while I'm certain that people saw her that way, she considers herself as more of an avatar of the gods. Same as Black Cat. He is Bastet's chosen (warrior, protector, terrible destructive power, cat form) and she serves Atum-Ra (creation, renewal, first of the gods, beetle form). I choose Mut for the Eye of Ra because she also governs the heavens.

Cat is one of the many sons of the current Pharaoh and thus is often arrogant, reckless, rude and oblivious to much of the reality of his city. This starts to change when he receives his ring and meets Ruby Scarab. Scarab is a quiet but serious girl and a scribe in service to Seshat. She was taken in by the temple at a young age and has lived and served there ever since. She and Black Cat often bicker due to their very different backgrounds and their attitudes to being chosen. He is frustrated because he feels this favour proves he is the one that should rightfully inherit the throne, but he can't tell anyone about it. She views their service as a condemnation of the current political and religious rulers and a sign of the gods' displeasure with spreading corruption, disease and maleficence.

Side-side note: I spent far too much time debating between 'Ruby Scarab' and 'Spotted Beetle'. I still might change it.