Author's Notes:

An idea I had at three in the morning that I just couldn't pass up on. Of course, this is a fairly tired plot trope by now, but I haven't seen anyone tackle it with Miraculous Ladybug yet, so...here we go!

Oh, and if you're one of my regular readers waiting for updates to my other Ladybug stories: I'm sorry it's been so long. Long story short, I got hit by Hurricane Harvey and my life kinda got turned upside down. I'm displaced from my home, staying with family until my apartment is refurbished, and just trying to get back into my normal routine.

Anyway, hope you enjoy this!

MIRACULOUS LADYBUG: "SCATTERBUG"

by Mythril Moth

PROLOGUE

Paris was in an uproar.

This was a more common occurrence recently, of course—ever since the arrival of the supervillain Hawk Moth and the two teen superheroes Ladybug and Chat Noir, there had been an incident at least once a week involving some random supervillain unleashed upon Paris by Hawk Moth.

The latest crazed villain soared through the air on a hoversled in the shape of a division symbol, cackling as she threw glowing projectiles shaped like division symbols at random bits of the city. Every time her projectiles hit something, a different but horrifying thing happened: Cars fell apart, buildings were split evenly along the walls between rooms and floors, trees were cut into neat, even pieces of lumber.

The villain herself wore a two-tone bodysuit that was sharply divided down the middle; the right half was electric blue while the left half was a bright yellow. She wore a blue-tinted white belt with a division symbol shaped buckle, a dark blue split skirt, dark blue mid-calf boots with spike heels, and dark blue elbow-length gloves. A dark blue division symbol crossed her chest; she wore a dark blue domino mask over her eyes. Her long hair streamed behind her in two ponytails: the right one was blond, while the left one was dyed electric blue.

"EVERYTHING MUST BE EVENLY DIVIDED!" she declared, her voice projecting over the streets.

"Okay, Division Girl," a bored-sounding voice called out from above. "It's time for you to split."

In a black blur, Chat Noir dropped down from a rooftop, spinning his silver-black baton. The villain threw a projectile at him, which he deflected into the sky, where it struck an unfortunate pigeon. Chat Noir didn't see what happened to the pigeon, nor did he care to; he was focused on unseating his quarry from her hoverboard.

"My NAME," she spat, "is DIVIDIA LONG! And it's time you were divided from your Miraculous!" She lashed out at Chat Noir with a kick, which he parried and countered. The board wobbled and weaved as they fought back and forth atop it.

A yo-yo launched out of nowhere, wrapping around Dividia Long's neck and dragging her from her board. "Find the Akuma!" Ladybug shouted as she landed in a crouch, blue eyes blazing with determination behind her spotted red mask.

"On it!" Chat Noir said, giving Dividia a once-over. He frowned. "I'm...not seeing anything that looks like the Akuma might be in it," he said.

"Well it's gotta be somewhere!" Ladybug cried. Dividia took a wild shot at her, forcing her to dive wildly to the side; cackling, she kicked Chat Noir in the face, climbed back onto her board, and flew up high, firing dozens of division projectiles at the two heroes. Ladybug was forced to recall her yo-yo to deflect them; she winced as buildings, trees, and cars suffered the fate of division.

"You fools are no match for me!" Dividia laughed. "But just to make sure...it's time you were DIVIDED!" She held out her hands, and a pair of glowing division brackets appeared in them. Letting out a battle cry, she swooped down at the two heroes, who had just regrouped in the center of the street.

"Chat Noir, look out!" Ladybug called. The heroes separated, diving out of her way; Dividia swung back around, briefly fencing with Chat Noir before kicking him in the gut and sending him sprawling into a stack of cut wood. With Chat Noir down, she turned her attention to Ladybug. Ladybug tried to keep her at a distance with her yo-yo, but Dividia was too agile on her board and Ladybug couldn't use her yo-yo to gain ground on her without dropping her guard. One misstep by Ladybug, one overextension with her yo-yo, and...

"AAAAAAAAH!"

Chat Noir bolted out of his pile, eyes wide. "LADYBUG!" He watched in horror as Dividia's weapon struck Ladybug dead center in the chest, sending her flying through a plate glass window. "NO!" With an enraged snarl, Chat Noir launched himself at Dividia, claws bared. "You'll pay for that!"

Dividia laughed. "Poor kitty, divided from his Ladybug. What do you think you can do on your own, little kitten?"

"You're about to find out," Chat Noir snarled. "CATACLYSM!" His right fist glowed with motes of destructive black energy as he closed on his prey. Dividia's eyes widened; she frantically tried to fend him off, but he contemptuously swatted her attacks away with his baton, his claw outstretched for the kill.

When Dividia tried to fly out of the way, to twist her body to avoid the hit, Chat Noir ended up snagging her skirt. It shredded into a flurry of fibers; as it disintegrated, a purple-and-black Akuma flapped madly away into the bright summer sky.

Chat Noir watched it go, eyes wide, his confusion eroding his anger. "It was in her skirt?!"

Dividia's hoverboard disintegrated as a purple-black mist rolled over her. Chat Noir grimaced; his anger over what happened to Ladybug broken, he caught the girl Dividia transformed into and gently lowered her to the ground, laying her on the street. She was a plain, bespectacled girl wearing a sweater-vest, knee socks, and sensible shoes. The remains of a plaid skirt drifted to the street.

Chat Noir blinked, blushed, and looked away as the girl's hair restyled itself into a dark blond braid. "Ahem." He looked up into the sky, grimacing. "Ladybug..."

A red hand grabbed his throat with crushing force. A pair of furious blue eyes drilled into him.

"IDIOT!" Ladybug snarled. "You let the Akuma escape! You KNOW what'll happen now!"

"L-Ladybug..." Chat Noir gurgled. "Y-you're alright..."

"No, I'm not alright, I'm pissed!" Ladybug snapped. "Why do you have to go and be so stupid all the time, you...you...!"

"C-can't breathe..." Chat Noir rasped.

Ladybug dropped him unceremoniously. "Good grief," she said sourly. She glanced at the former Dividia Long; her eyes narrowed. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO THIS GIRL?!" she shrieked.

"I-I didn't do anything!" Chat Noir cried, panicked. He stood up, flailing his arms. "Th-the Akuma! It was in her skirt! It...it was an accident, I—"

Ladybug kicked him in the face. "Perverted tomcat!" she snapped. She stalked over to a random bystander and snapped her fingers. "You! Give me your jacket!"

The man paled. "Uhh...h-here!" he said, taking off his jacket. Ladybug walked over and covered Dividia's exposed panties with it, then squatted down. "Well, at least you didn't manage to kill her or anything," she said. She slapped Dividia across the cheeks. "Hey, wake up!"

"H-huh?" the girl mumbled drowsily, looking up. "Wha—?"

"Go home," Ladybug said. "You're not wearing a skirt, so be careful."

"EEP!" The girl jumped up, cheeks flaming as she scrambled to get out of the street, wrapping the borrowed jacket tightly around her loins.

Ladybug stood watching her go, grumbling and muttering to herself. Chat Noir walked up behind her, hesitantly reaching out a claw but afraid to touch her. "Umm, Ladybug? Are you...are you okay?"

"Blow off," Ladybug snarled, slinging her yo-yo at her side. "I think I recognized that girl, which probably means Chloé Bourgeois is behind all this. I think I'm gonna go give her a piece of my mind." With that, she swung off in the direction of Le Grand Paris.

Chat Noir sighed heavily, shoulders slumping. "Glad you're safe," he muttered. His Miraculous beeped; he glanced at the two glowing green pads on the ring, grimaced, and took off to find a safe place to change back.

High above, a slender girl in a purple bodysuit watched him leave the scene. After a moment's hesitation, she took off after him, purple yo-yo flying out and wrapping around a balustrade as she jumped from a roof...

À SUIVRE...

Miraculous Ladybug is the intellectual property of Zagtoon, Method Animation, Toei Animation, and Thomas ASTRUC. This intellectual property is used without permission with no intent to profit from said use. The unique content contained on this page is the property of Mythril Moth, and redistribution of this content without express permission is strongly discouraged.