To Anon: This story has been a rollercoaster. And there's still another chapter left after this one…

To Lyger 0: There certainly could be something out there to stop it. But what? And there's no guarantee that miraculous users ever faced the Tarasque before (legends notwithstanding).

Ladybug stumbled and almost fell as the Tarasque leapt across the river and landed with a crash in front of them. More than half of the city had been abandoned – because of the Tarasque, because of the destruction, because of the poison, because of everything. Friends had been killed and hurt. Dozens had been left behind, choking on the poison gas being spewed from the Tarasque's mouth every time it exhaled. The military had been overwhelmed without ever firing a shot. The police had just been crushed in an instant – including those officers they had trusted, whom they had worked with and vetted personally to liaise with the Heroes of Paris. New Atlantis had come to her call… only to lose half the space-plane force in a single pass. The heroes were scattered from Saint-Denis to the Seine. Everything, from the most famous landmark to the simplest house, was in ruins. Everyone was looking to her to lead the fight against this Monster, but she didn't have any answers. Finally she could realize how few answers she'd had when all of this began; every idea she'd had then had proven a fleeting hope. How were they supposed to fight against such a Beast?

Was it all her fault?

Cat Noir caught her around the waist and set her back on her feet. "Come on, Milady," he urged, pressing a kiss to the back of her hand. "We can do this. Together."

"Cat…" she whispered. "You're always here for me. Even when I really don't deserve you."

"Of course I am," he murmured. "I'm with you. Forever and always. I love you."

Ladybug grabbed his bell and pulled him down into a quick kiss before releasing him. Slowly the Tarasque lurched forward, adjusting its stance on firmer ground in this park just south of the Seine. As it shook its mane, Ladybug let out a breath and looked around at those assembled for her last stand. Compared to the group they had begun the fight with what felt like days ago, it was a paltry group that had gathered around her now. Ryoku and Taureau Dechaine stood to either side of her and Cat Noir. Hato Gozen, Majestia, Valkyrie, and the Knight hovered a little behind them. A handful of other heroes had joined them – Joey, Kunoichi, Hoda, Sunnguvuk, Fin, Coquette, Coyotemaria, Knightowl, Kamikaze, Kamimizu… It was a strong group, but they were dwarfed by the raw power which the Tarasque brought to bear. They couldn't possibly beat it.

She swallowed. How many of those standing around her now would die in what had become a losing battle?

Still, they didn't need to defeat it; they only needed to slow it down while Pegasus evacuated the civilians. That was the job, and it was exactly what all of the heroes had volunteered to do. Ladybug drew in a steeling breath. This was why she had accepted the Ladybug Miraculous, why Master Fu had chosen her. She would give everything she had to make sure the people remained safe. And so would everyone standing around her.

The Tarasque threw its head back and roared, spewing green poison air from its mouth and nostrils. Around its legs, grass and trees withered and browned, leaving behind wide swaths of dead and decaying plants. The acrid air washed over the heroes, and Ladybug tensed, dropping into a fighting stance and spinning her yo-yo to one side. What would Paris look like after this, even if they could stop the Tarasque? Would anything grow again? Could Miraculous Ladybug even repair this much damage?

Ladybug clenched her jaw, fighting against wave after wave of nausea. Staring up at the Tarasque, there was so much that she needed to do, right now. She held up one hand to cover her mouth in a vain attempt to avoid inhaling the poisonous air. Someone beside her coughed wetly. Across the river, she could see a handful of people trying to make their way across a damaged bridge, only for it to collapse, spilling cars and vans into the water. People began to swim across the river, and the Owl and Volpinax tossed a couple ropes down to those in the water to start hauling them out. Resigned, Ladybug refocused her attention on the Tarasque. The rest of her team could handle the civilians. But for herself, all that mattered was to hold the Tarasque back as long as she could, long enough for everyone to escape. The Tarasque snarled, its front legs crouching down to spring forward. "Ready?" Ladybug called, not taking her eyes off the Tarasque.

"Waiting on you!" Ryoku answered confidently.

Cat Noir squeezed Ladybug's shoulder.

"Now!" Ladybug sprinted forward, slid between the Tarasque's legs, and threw her yo-yo behind her, wrapping it once around both front legs. The yo-yo caught back around its own string, and she raced under it and out the other side. Two trees, killed moments earlier by the Tarasque's breath, sat along the water's edge. Ladybug ran between them and around the first, leaping over the yo-yo string as she crossed it. The string pulled taut, and she dug her feet into the ground, desperately trying to hold the Tarasque in place.

"Water Dragon!"

"Water Works!"

"Watery Depths!"

Behind Ladybug, an enormous tidal wave rose up out of the Seine, refracting the sunlight as it blocked the sun. Higher and higher the water built, until it dwarfed even the Tarasque. Out of the corner of her eye, Ladybug could see that the water level in the Seine had dropped almost to nothing – all the water in the city was being held suspended in the air above her. The sound of rushing water filled her ears from behind. Suddenly, with a roar, the water swept down over her, flowing above Ladybug and crashing down onto the Tarasque's back. Ryoku, Fin, Kunoichi, and Kamimizu brought their weapons down almost in sync and pulled all the water together, and the Tarasque was utterly engulfed. An Australian sorcerer waved her arms in a complicated pattern, and the water froze into a solid block, leaving the Tarasque encased in ice. Her feet caught in the ice and already starting to freeze despite the insulation provided by her suit, Ladybug held her breath, willing the ice to hold.

For a long moment, the ice remained unmoving, the Tarasque within caught in the middle of a step.

But then…

The ice around the Tarasque's face began to glow a warm red, visible even to Ladybug, standing behind the Monster's back. Her eyes widened in worry. Through the Tarasque's legs, she could see concern on Cat Noir's face where he stood just behind Ryoku and Kunoichi. Pockets started to form in the ice around the Tarasque, which spawned cracks that began to spider-web through the whole surface. Then, with a groan, the ice shattered in a million pieces, raining shards of ice on the heroes. Ladybug dove behind the tree next to her, moments before a hundred tiny glass shards sliced through the tree branches and shot through the spot where she had been standing moments earlier. Sunnguvuk jumped in front of the main body of the group, holding her shield sideways to block as much of the ice as she could. The ice tinkled against her shield and piled in front of her, even as more sailed over her shoulders. Coquette bobbed and weaved, evading every piece of ice thrown at her. Hato Gozen backed away, raising a wide, long light-shield in front of herself which melted the ice as it passed through it. Majestia unleashed her heat vision, targeting as many of the largest pieces of ice as she could get, even as the smaller pieces peppered her face. The Tarasque bellowed, sending another wave of poison air at the heroes. Its feet were still stuck, though the ice was melting quickly.

Cat Noir spun his staff in front of himself, trying to blow the Tarasque's breath back, away from the heroes. Coquette dropped to one knee, coughing thickly and hacking up green phlegm. Coyotemaria pulled a respirator from her pouch and placed it over Coquette's mouth and nose, even as she began coughing herself. The Tarasque roared, sending a burst of fire vision at Cat Noir. The Knight's sword flashed, and a white shield interposed between the fire vision and Cat Noir, even as the Knight unleashed his own fire on the Tarasque above the shield. A car next to the Tarasque shuddered and morphed, the metal parts being twisted out of it and wrapped around the Tarasque's legs.

Ladybug could feel her grip on her yo-yo's string slipping as the Tarasque forced its way out of the ice holding its legs in place. "How is it going?" she demanded of Pegasus.

"The evacuation is proceeding," he reported immediately. "But every minute you can stall it helps immeasurably."

"Have you seen my parents? Have–have they gotten out?"

"No…" answered Impératrice Pourpre slowly. "Or at least I haven't."

Ladybug groaned. "Mom, get to the portal!" she ordered, shifting communicator channels.

"What?" her father's voice demanded.

Ladybug glared ahead of her at the closest target, the Tarasque. "We're escaping," she explained briskly. "There is a portal just south of the Seine, and you need to get through it!"

"Sorry, sweetheart," her mother's voice came through. "We can't move fast enough. Emilie's not strong enough to move that fast, especially with this green air so thick around the bakery. But Papa blocked off the doors and windows with towels."

"What!?" Ladybug demanded. "Then Doorman can–"

"For just the three of us?" Her mother sighed. "We all appreciate it, but other people need it more than us. He can get so many more people evacuated just by clearing out the evacuation centers."

Ladybug's stomach clenched, her jaw dropping in terror. "But–"

"It's going to be okay," her mother assured her. "We trust you to fix this, just like you have fixed so many other problems. And maybe we need to be here to help out. So when you fix it, we'll be here waiting for you."

"Mom! D–Dad! I–"

"We love you, too, sweetheart," her mother interrupted gently. "And all three of us are so very proud of you and Adrien." The communicator clicked.

Ladybug's grip on her yo-yo went slack, and the Tarasque pulled it forward, ripping out the trees around which she had wrapped her yo-yo. It lumbered ahead, toward the group of heroes. Cat Noir smacked it across the face with his staff, drawing its attention. The Tarasque sent a wave of fire at him, and Ryoku tackled him out of the way. The flame licked at her calf, and she cried out in pain, skidding across the ground. With a sudden jerk, the Tarasque pounced into the midst of the group of heroes, grabbing onto Hoda with its teeth. She cried out in shock as it pulled her off the ground, and Joey and Sunnguvuk both jumped onto its shell to try to pull her free. Majestia struck the Tarasque in the side of the head, but it clamped down on Hoda's arm and lashed out at Majestia with its tail. Poison air poured out of the Tarasque's mouth and straight into Hoda's face. She shouted, waving one arm in front of her face. Valkyrie sent a gust of wind at Hoda, pushing the poison gas away. It loomed ever closer, almost stepping on Fin before Coyotemaria grabbed him with a grappling wire and pulled him back. Sunnguvuk dropped from its back moments later, followed by Joey supporting Hoda, who dripped a fluid from her arm. Joey stumbled, almost dropping Hoda in the process, and the Tarasque kicked them with one of its middle legs. Sunnguvuk gasped, grabbed Joey's arm, and pushed him and Hoda away. Her eyes shot wide as the Tarasque leg came down on her, driving her into the soggy ground with a crunch.

The Tarasque lurched forward, roaring into the heavens.

They couldn't hold it back any longer. The Tarasque was free. And her parents and Emilie – three of her favorite people in the world – were not going to make it. Cat Noir raced around the Tarasque, narrowly avoiding its tail, and grabbed her arm. "Come on, we need to move!"

Ladybug pushed him away and shook her head. "No! No, I–I need to get home. I need to get my parents."

Cat Noir shook his head, eyes wide. "We can't! The portal is going to close soon, and we need to be there! We will come back, I promise. But you have to come now!"

Ladybug's eyes narrowed. "But what about–"

Cat Noir put his hands on her shoulders. "They trust you. I trust you. Everyone trusts you. Please, Milady. We will figure this out."