To Anon: I think this was about the best ending that Tyran-X's story could have gotten: he learned the truth and found some redemption in death.

To Rose Tiger: After everything she has been through over this, she definitely needed the opportunity to reconcile with him and receive his forgiveness. That he died seconds later…

To Lyger 0: Absolutely.

"Come on! Everyone needs to move through the portal in an organized fashion!" Pegasus cupped his hands around his mouth, shouting at the top of his lungs. Beside him, Impératrice Pourpre took an older woman by the arm and half-dragged, half-carried her through the portal, handing her off to the Guardian of the Angolan Miraculous Temple, Isaac. Carefully, Isaac escorted the woman away from the portal, which stretched close to a kilometer from end to end and extended beyond the borders of the Sorbonne–Curie campus. Isaac had been joined by a handful of Guardian Novices who had run down from the temple barely visible in the distance, set partway up the cliff near the ocean. Off in the distance, Pegasus could see Delwer standing by one of the bluffs on the opposite side of the large valley of the Miradouro da Lua, partly obscured by the tall rock formations dotting the landscape. As Pegasus watched, Delwer jabbed something into the rock, and almost instantly an enormous hole began to form in front of her, spewing out a massive pile of rock onto the ground at her feet. Steadily the hole expanded deeper into the bluff and lengthwise down the side of the valley. Additional entrances burst out of the rock wall in several places.

Civilians milled about close to the portal, looking nervously back and forth between the harsh and unwelcoming African landscape and the veritable battleground in Paris. Far in the distance, the Tarasque's roars continued to echo off the buildings; with a crash, a tower just north of the Seine toppled over as a metal-clad figure was launched through one of the upper stories and dropped almost to the ground before a jetpack ignited on its back. A couple men on the Angolan side of the portal looked at each other uneasily, shuffling away from the portal.

Pegasus groaned. "As soon as you are through the portal, get away to allow more people through!" he bellowed, glaring at the two men. Spotting one of the Novices just poking her head around a rock pillar, he pointed at her and then at the escaping refugees. "Make sure they do not crowd this area!" he ordered her. Seeing a pair of Dark Acolytes with the next group of escapees, one of whom was supporting the other, he grabbed the one by the back of the robe. "You two, help her."

The Dark Acolyte blinked, dumbfounded, and stared between Pegasus and the Novice. "Are–are you sure?" he demanded, raising an eyebrow dubiously. The Novice's eyebrows narrowed suspiciously as she moved away from them, leading several refugees.

Pegasus nodded firmly. "Yes. You are here now, and we need all the help possible."

Looking at his companion, the Dark Acolyte shrugged. "Do you have anywhere Phil can find medical attention?" he asked. "He got a face full of that poison, and he hasn't been doing too well since then."

Pegasus frowned. "We will have to check into that," he finally told him. "For now, find a place back away from the portal to use as a triage center."

"If you say so… All right," the Dark Acolyte called, waving his hand as he stepped through the portal to Angola. Several of the hesitant refugees looked up at him in surprise. He hefted his companion higher on his shoulder, grabbed a man by the arm, and started roughly steering those around him further into the Miradouro da Lua, until they were lost to sight behind a rock formation.

"This is already a logistical nightmare…" Pegasus grumbled to himself, turning back toward Paris only to find himself face to face with a wild-eyed Impératrice Pourpre. "What–?"

Impératrice Pourpre clutched Pegasus' arm, her breathing shallow. Seeing the strain in her face, he gave her a questioning look. "The emotions," she whispered into his ear, shuddering. "It's getting better – people are relieved to escape from Paris, but that's still not enough. People are sad and lost and confused and grieving and defeated and–"

He put a finger over her lips to cut her off and nodded seriously. "I understand. We cannot do anything about it right now," he replied, sighing heavily. "But we can at least keep them alive."

She let out a breath, forcing herself to breathe slowly and deeply, squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, and nodded. "I know, it's just–"

Gently he placed a hand on her shoulder and hugged her, holding her tightly. She sighed, sniffling into his shoulder, and let out a breath before straightening up and wiping the tears from her eyes with the back of her hand. "Thanks," she mumbled, looking away. "I–I don't know how I would get through some of these things without you…"

Pegasus nodded and squeezed her hand. "Of course."

Steeling herself, Impératrice Pourpre inhaled deeply. "I'm okay now."

Pegasus looked down the length of the portal, watching people rush through, most running through at a dead sprint before racing deeper into the Miradouro da Lua and toward the distant clusters of refugees scattered around the valley and closer to the ocean. Many of the refugees were in families, others seemed to be with groups of friends, still others were leaving by themselves, a look of shell-shocked horror on their faces. Heroes were starting to mingle in with the group leaving – he first saw Caridad, supporting an elderly couple. Ronin and Bu-Geisha followed, shepherding a group of children. Near the end of the portal, the Owl pulled Anansi's limp body through the portal and propped her up against a rock pillar before jumping back into Paris and running up the street to the north, his cape blowing behind him in the breeze.

Mão Curadora stopped on the edge of the portal by Pegasus and Impératrice Pourpre, looking around in concern. "O Brasileiro said he saw someone here who needed help," she explained when Impératrice Pourpre gave her a confused look.

"There's a triage center just down that way," called Sent-Bee, elbowing her way through the crowd of refugees opposite the flow of traffic and pointing to a spot a little closer to the ocean. "There are a couple of Dark Acolytes over that way – they're trying to collect all the injuries and illnesses together in one place." Mão Curadora nodded and jumped through the portal. Sent-Bee groaned, looking up and down the line of people trying to push through the portal. "This whole thing is a nightmare!" she grumbled. Her phone rang, and she glared down at it without answering. "Daddy," she explained without being prompted. "Wanting to know when I'm going to get him and Mother out of the city. Utterly ridiculous…"

Pegasus frowned. "It would be prudent to move city and national government officials as quickly as possible," he pointed out, raising an eyebrow.

"I can't exactly prioritize my own family, though," she argued, shaking her head. "I'm a hero – I represent Ladybug and Cat Noir in some ways. How would that look to other people if I ordered something like that? Sometimes I wish I could be anonymous…" she muttered under her breath.

Pegasus keyed his communicator. "Doorman, what is the status of Evacuation Center 2?"

Doorman stuck his head through the pink doorway on the side of the Sorbonne building, even as people continued to hurry past him and through the portal to Africa without slowing down. Doorman counted off people as they passed him, nodded to himself, stepped back through the doorway, and returned a moment later, shutting it behind him. "Everyone is out now!" he reported.

Impératrice Pourpre nodded. "City Hall needs to be next."

"Understood." Doorman promptly opened the door, and a pair of uniformed police officers burst through the door almost immediately, followed by Andre and Audrey Bourgeois, joined by dozens of others who poured through in a steady stream. Cradled in Butler Jean's arms, Bee-atrice yipped excitedly on seeing Sent-Bee, just before Jean carried her through the portal and they were in Angola.

Sent-Bee let out a breath and put her hand on Impératrice Pourpre's shoulder, squeezing. "Thank you."

Impératrice Pourpre chuckled quietly. "My mom is there, too," she pointed out, jerking her head toward the group of evacuees.

Sent-Bee snorted. "So it's okay for you to do it, but not me."

With a shrug, Impératrice Pourpre told her, "At least no one knows it was me!"

Sent-Bee arched an eyebrow and shook her head in amusement. "I'm going to make sure everything is happening right," she informed them. "Make sure the others retreat – and then get through the portal yourselves!" she added, giving Pegasus a meaningful look.

Pegasus nodded and turned back to monitor the evacuation. People were coming from all directions and jumping through the portal, without any rhyme or reason. Looking north, more and more people were fleeing across the bridge and racing in their direction. A couple of busses careened through the portal, loaded to the bursting point with people. One bus clipped a pillar, only barely avoiding a head-on collision in its flight. King Monkey half-carried a group of people through the portal before racing back in the other direction. With a tremendous crash, a building on the far side of the river fell over, and the Tarasque itself appeared over the partly-demolished cityscape, green smog emanating from its nostrils. A pair of metal figures darted around its head, sending beams of energy and sonic power at it. The Tarasque shot fire vision at them with a roar, and one – Iron Maiden – looped around to avoid it. The fire lanced across the river and struck one leg of the Eiffel Tower, melting straight through it. With a creak that could be heard across the city, the Tower sagged to one side, leaning off kilter, and began to fall ponderously to the ground.

The radio crackled. "Pegasus, what's–what's the situation?"

"We are evacuating, Prefect," Pegasus reported briskly. "We are trying to get as many people away as possible, but we need more time." Looking through the portal, he made a quick calculation. "The City Hall Evacuation Center has now been cleared out, as have three of the major centers. Based on inflow estimates, approximately 50% of the refugees from the evacuation centers have been evacuated, along with close to 5% of the remaining population. We can keep the portal open another… four minutes. But that is all."

Roger let out a heavy breath. "I don't know if we can give you four minutes," he warned. New resolve entered his voice. "But we will do our best." He paused. "Just remember what I told you."

"Of course, Roger," Pegasus promised, his mouth setting in a thin line.

Impératrice Pourpre stared at him in confusion. "What is he talking about?"

Pegasus squeezed her hand, a knot forming in his stomach. "I will tell you after the evacuation has been finished."

She furrowed her brows suspiciously and opened her mouth to argue, but almost immediately spun in surprise. Pegasus followed where she was looking and jumped in shock.

Anarka grabbed both of them by the shoulders. "Please… where are my kids?"

Pegasus put a hand on Anarka's shoulder to hold her at bay while she and Impératrice Pourpre whispered back and forth quietly. After a quick conversation with Markov, Pegasus explained, "Miss Pinky has a severe fracture; Bengalia is bringing her to the closest evacuation center and thence here. Ryoku and Hato Gozen are currently with Ladybug. Viperion is on his way here as we speak."

Anarka jerked away from them, but Pegasus' grip on her shoulder tightened reflexively. "I need to help them!" she insisted.

Pegasus shook his head adamantly. "No! You are here: you need to go through the portal!"

"They need help!"

Impératrice Pourpre let out a breath and put both hands on Anarka's shoulders, staring into her face. Firmly, she told her, "With all the confusion, if you go to search for them, you almost certainly won't find them. Then they'll need to go off and find you, and the portal can't stay open forever. Look, I know it's hard, but you really have to save yourself so they don't have to worry about you. But I promise you, they will be fine."

Anarka glared at her furiously but, with a reluctant glance back at the city, stepped through the portal. "They'd better be okay, or so help me I'll keel-haul the lot of them!" she muttered.

Pegasus raised an eyebrow to Impératrice Pourpre. "Perhaps it would be prudent for you to follow that same advice," he suggested, jerking his head after Anarka. "You may be able to do more to help her that way."

She narrowed her eyes at him, and he swallowed nervously. "I'm not leaving until everyone else is out," she retorted, her mouth set in a thin line. "I'm staying right here with you."

He nodded in resignation.

The Tarasque let out another screeching roar, as dozens of energy beams shot out from the line of police vehicles on the north side of the river. The Tarasque paid them no mind, callously brushing the energy bolts aside as it lumbered forward, bringing one of its massive paws down on the police line and catching a couple cars directly. Police vehicles flew in all directions as the Tarasque barreled through them, knocking a car flying across the river to crash into the opposite bank, tumble into the water, and sink. Without slowing down, the Tarasque bounded toward the river and leapt, soaring over it to land with a crash in the Champ des Mars.

Impératrice Pourpre gasped in shock staring at the mangled police cars barely visible in the distance behind the Tarasque. "My–my dad was there!"