Miraculous Ladybug: Reality

Ch 16: Paris In Ruin

"Papa, why do people fight?" Marinette asked.

"Well, you see Marinette, some people in the world want to do bad things, but only become evil due to outside influence." Tom replied, closing the book he was reading.

"Are they bad?"

"That depends, honey. It's important to understand each other. There is no better gift than friendship. No one is ever truly bad."

"How do I know I can help those people?"

"You will know, sweetie. Everyone has a bit of good in them. And I know you are the purest girl in the world. I know you will change Paris one day."

Marinette gave her father a hug.

"I love you papa."

"Love you too."

Present

Her eyes opened... And closed. Opened again, then closed. Her head was spinning and her vision was blurry. Her ears were ringing in a painful manner.

Ladybug slowly opened her eyes once again. She was stuck under a piece of concrete. Groaning, she pushed the piece off, her super strenght coming in handy. Luckily she was without any major injuries, so she was able to walk, but the ringing in her ears didn't stop. Where was she?

"Cat? Rena? Carapace? Viperion!" she called, but no answer. She leapt up to higher ground. She then saw something black in the distance. Right under the ruins of the Louvre. The glass was broken, with only the metal supports remaining.

"Cat Noir!" she cried out and ran to the superhero. She knelt down and shook him.

"Cat! Cat! Adrien!"

The black leathered hero did not move. His eyes were closed. Ladybug checked for a pulse. He was alive, but heavily bruised. He didn't have enough luck to get out without a scratch like her.

"Cat... Please... Wake up...!" she begged. Her eyed began to tear up. She wiped her tears away, looking around for her other teammates.

"Rena! Carapace!... Anyone...?" she called. She began to lose hope. Lila was not around either. What did Reality do?

She saw a building somehow still intact and leapt up to the roof, now seeing the damage first hand. She gasped and held a hand over her mouth, in total shock, now letting her tears flow freely.

Destruction. Complete destruction. Paris was no longer a city. It was all destroyed. The school, Eiffel Tower... All of it. Gone. Where the Eiffel Tower once stood was just a massive crater. And at the very middle of said crater was someone kneeling down. Ladybug knew it had to be Reality. He was most likely drained from using that much power.

Ladybug heard a groan. She whipped her head around and saw Rena Rouge climbing out of the rubble, detransforming.

"LB? Cat? Carapace!?" she called.

"Alya!" Ladybug called and leapt down to her best friend, hugging her tightly. "You're ok!"

"Barely... I don't have any food on me to feed Trixx though..."

Ladybug held her yo-yo and opened it, pulling out an apple. "Hope this is enough. Best I can do for now."

Trixx accepted the apple and began to eat to regain her energy. "Thank you!"

"What happened here?" Alya asked.

Ladybug detransformed. Since she didn't use her Lucky Charm, Tikki did not need to eat. But still, she found a macaroon in Marinette's purse and ate just in case.