Chapter Twenty-Five
Haruki and Tomoko were just about to head up the steps when they felt the explosion from below.
"That was fast," Haruki mumbled. Xinu had woken up as it quickly changed into its human form after landing onto the floor. "Whoa!" The male gasped to see another man with them.
"This is Xinu. He's the one that helps me go back," she explained. Xinu waved as he then frowned.
"Hello," another voice interrupted. They glanced toward the main lobby to see the two older men and woman.
"It's you," Tomoko beamed. "Haruki, this is Mr. Rel, Mr. Aulia, and Mrs. Aulia." The men had almost bald heads with white hair, and blue eyes. The woman had short hair and crimson eyes. All three of them were wearing black suits, but she was wearing a skirt instead of pants.
"'ello," Haruki gently bowed. He got back up to see Xinu doing the same.
"We found the staircase that will lead you to the Creator," Mr. Rel explained.
"We'll follow you," Mrs. Aulia explained.
"Alright. Come on," Tomoko smiled as she grasped Haruki's right hand, and pulled him along. Mr. Rel led the way as the younger ones were behind him, and in front of the couple. They entered a stairway that seemed to go up for a mile. "Are you sure it's safe for you to go up these steps?"
"Maybe we should take the elevator," Mrs. Aulia agreed. "We'll see you up there then." They stepped out of the separate area as the door shut behind them, and left the three of them alone.
"It would be faster if we used my wings," Xinu muttered.
"You won't be too tired?" Tomoko questioned with concern in her tone. Haruki felt their closeness as he stepped back a little.
"I'm fine," he continued. The male changed back into its other form as it grew in size and extended its long wings. Tomoko jumped onto it as she grasped Haruki's right hand and pulled him along.
"Haruki, we're so close," she beamed. They went up and up and around as the amount of staircases seemed endless. He could feel his ears pop as the elevation was slowly rising. Xinu would sometimes gallop on all fours as it became exhausted from flying so much. It eventually reached the hundredth floor as it changed back and collapsed.
"Xinu!" Tomoko gawked. She saw it fall asleep on the floor as she picked it up and held it in her arms. The girl looked at Haruki as she was on the verge of tears. "We need him."
"Maybe, maybe not. Is this how it was the last time you got this far?" he inquired.
"Kind of," she replied with a frown. "If we wait a minute he will regenerate." The female then did something very odd. She began unbuttoning her blouse as Haruki immediately blushed.
"What are you doing?" he bellowed. He watched as she exposed her covered chest, and placed Xinu between her bosoms. Her hands held it close to her as she narrowed her eyes.
"The heat from my body will boost his energy," she explained. "It's either this or I stick him in your pants."
"W…What?" Haruki's eyes widened as he jumped a little. "Eh, okay. Just hurry." He relaxed and gazed at the creature as it began moving around. Xinu opened up its eyes as she placed him onto the floor and buttoned up her attire. He was human form once more as he took out his knives.
"Thanks, Tomoko," he complimented.
"No problem." The girl then sighed as she looked at the door and back at them. "From what I remember it's basically a massive room with nothing in it but the Creator and his desk. He likes the view of the city, so he removed all of the cubicles so that he could see a clear sight. There might be several Chassis there, so this is the ultimate battle per say."
"So we're basically ambushing and destroying everything in there?" Haruki wondered.
"If things go the same then he'll talk about himself for a bit first," she said as she folded her arms in annoyance. "Haruki…"
"Hm?" Haruki asked again. Tomoko then fell silent as she sighed.
"Stay by my side. I want this to go perfectly," she ordered. "And I…I don't want to lose you again."
"I know," he muttered with a faint smile. He embraced her as she put her head against his chest for a bit in relief. They let go as Xinu was already opening up the door.
Haruki was amazed to see that Tomoko was correct. It was an empty room with only a man at a silver desk. There were people around, but they seem occupied. The Creator was around their age, or late teens. He had spiky black hair and deep penetrating azure eyes. He was wearing a business suit that was a midnight blue.
"Welcome," he sneered with his arms out. He stood up as the crowd around him paused and immediately eyed them. "I've been waiting for you."
"Of course," Tomoko answered with gritted teeth. The three of them walked into the room as they could hear Masako and Chisuzu step behind them a minute later.
"We're here!" Chisuzu cooed. They were still cloaked as only Haruki, Tomoko, and Xinu could communicate with them. They joined up as a group and stood side by side. Tomoko was ahead of them as she had her arms crossed in a serious tone.
"Yeah. But those steps were tedious," Masako complained. "Tomoko, give us the signal when you want us to shoot." The girl didn't move as she tried to make sure that the Creator wouldn't notice their presence.
"My name is Lelunry," the man interrupted. Just as he relaxed his arms across his chest an elevator door opened, and the elderly stepped inside. "So is there anything that you would like to know or say before you join us?" Tomoko opened up her mouth a minute later.
"No. We already wiped out the shard. We understand how you came to be, and we're here to do one thing, which is to stop you from spreading your Flounces all over the place, and hurting innocent beings. Like Mao and Ayume." She leaned on her right leg, as she seemed highly uninterested in talking with him.
"Oh, I see," Lelunry grinned. "Even if the source is eliminated we can still breed with the assistance of the Periphery. We can still crush you today, and continue to multiply our family. I pity you. You're so outnumbered."
"What do you mean?" Haruki growled. The three elderly folk then changed into Chassis as Tomoko gasped.
"W…What?" The entire club was in awe to see the other half of their team betraying them.
"It happened during the ambush at the house," Mr. Rel explained. "You children are so young."
"So…You have two choices," the Creator interrupted. "You can either become one of us, or go back to your place and never bother us again."
"No," Haruki argued. He felt everyone face him as he shook his head. "We'll win, and we'll go through tomorrow without your existence."
"Heh. You won't last a minute when you're violated by the Creator," one of the human Flounces chuckled. Suddenly, they all altered into their Flounce form, and the room was filled with shadowed beings floating about.
"Fine then. I accept your invitation to fight," Lelunry stated. He turned all black, as his form was unique. It grew twenty feet high, as it appeared to be a giant worm with many tentacles sprouting and extending everywhere within the room. "I still warned you though."
Tomoko heard a yelp as Chisuzu was knocked over, but she quickly got back up. The Flounces spread out as the miff began. The club began shooting as Tomoko had her scythe, and Xinu had his petite knives. Haruki felt like they had the advantage with Masako and Chisuzu being unseen, but he wasn't sure how long the rest of the group would last. He kept both hands on his gun as he rapidly shot about.
The Flounces were all around and about as the girls sometimes felt tentacles wrapping around parts of their beings, but they would quickly react. The Creator wasn't able to move due to its size, but it was still strong enough to knock someone over with one swing. Chisuzu and Masako were causing the most Flounce casualties, as the enemy couldn't see them.
Haruki watched as the amount of enemies was slowly decreasing, and soon it would just be the Creator. Xinu and Tomoko were by his side constantly as the other two girls were all around. He could hear Tomoko heavily breathing as he sensed his own energy already running out.
"Come to me. You know you want me inside," the Creator taunted. With only a few Frames left the group spread out and encircled the giant shadow like slug. It then suddenly managed to grab them all at the same time as its tentacles immediately began violating their beings.
"Get off!" Tomoko roared. Masako and Chisuzu dodged the assault, but their strikes kept missing. Xinu was being covered with tentacle arms as well as he tried to struggle. Haruki wasn't sure what to do as he watched in horror. A tentacle arm was already trying to insert itself into Tomoko's skirt. She was whining and wailing as her arms and legs were being pinned down.
"H…Haruki! Touch the Creator!" she yelled. The male paused for a moment. Another arm was reaching into her mouth as her sounds were muffled by it.
"Wait, what?" He glanced at the giant worm as he did as told anyway. He placed his right hand onto it as it began to growl.
"Why can't I move?" the Creator bellowed. The tentacle arms stopped fidgeting as Xinu and Tomoko both wriggled their way out of its grasp.
'Did I really do that?' Haruki wondered. He had figured out his personal ability, or his touch could freeze an opponent. Everyone went around the giant slug once more as if getting ready for an event.
"Do it!" Tomoko screamed. Haruki gazed at the others as they all took out their guns, and pointed them at the same monster. Haruki watched as the girls and Xinu began activating their special attacks. He did the same as they were glowing their individual colors. The Creator was still smirking and slamming its tentacles about as it began trying to focus its attention on Tomoko.
"Oh yeah!" Masako grinned. The strings from her weapon wrapped around it as Chisuzu's vines went along with them, or intertwined. Haruki's book was high above as Xinu's knives were hovering in the air like missiles. Tomoko's went last as she jumped into the air, and went right for its center.
"Die!" The dark haired girl shrieked as she sliced through it, and then tumbled onto the floor. The needle from Masako stabbed the same spot as the iris flower blossomed and crushed it from Chisuzu. Xinu's knives struck it like lasers as Haruki's book fell on top of it. A huge explosion blasted as smoke and debris went everywhere. The Creator shrieked and wailed, as Haruki couldn't see anything at all for a minute. He could hear glass shattering and the floor was violently shaking like a bomb just went off. He then felt someone hold his right hand as he found himself on top of Xinu.
"We did it!" Tomoko cheered. Haruki rubbed his eyes and opened them to see Masako and Chisuzu sitting behind him. They were flying and heading toward the shore as the skyscraper was still erupting and causing a huge puff of smoke to enter the city's atmosphere.
"That was close," Chisuzu whined. Haruki glanced back to see Flounces gliding into the air, but quickly dispersing into nothing. They had really defeated the Creator, and ended the game.
"Where are we going?" he wondered. The other girls were laughing and enjoying themselves as they could hear the alarms from down below, or the various signals telling them that it was over.
"Home of couse," Tomoko told him. "We decided to use your place as our new base since there won't be anyone there. But first, here." She pulled her backpack around to her front, and removed the book from it.
"Oh, thanks!" Haruki complimented. It was his favorite book, and also his forte. "So our fortes were in your bag the entire time?"
"Pretty much," she answered. "We finally did it. Now I don't have to do this over, all thanks to everyone and their sacrifices." Haruki tried to relax as his heart was racing.
"Yeah." They were picking up agility as the ocean was up ahead beneath the setting sun. He couldn't believe it, but Tomoko had her wish finally come true, and he helped her achieve it.
The End