Finally after what seemed like an endless amount of work, Éclair had some down time. She sighed as she walked down the hallways. She was tired, and all she really wanted to do was sleep. There was a spark of excitement that she felt as she could hear whispers concerning her name. She couldn't hear exactly what they were saying, but the fact that they were talking about her when she stood in the same building as greatest chef's in the world meant everything. "Éclair!" The girl heard her name and a familiar voice. It was familiar yet distant in her memory. The girl turned around to see her old friend, "Ume-chan!" She yelled as she ran to him. She hugged the boy and showered him in motherly kisses. "I missed you so much! Why didn't you say hi before!?" "I didn't get the chance to. But you're doing wonderful Éclair! Congratulations on making it to the finals. You'll do great!" She smiled, "Thank you so much for saying that. I am going to give it my all." "You're a magnificent chef Éclair. I know you have a chance at winning this. ~You know, somewhere along the way you ended up outranking me too. I'm so proud of you. It takes a lot to make it in the top rankings."
The girl embraced her old friend again, "Ume, seeing your face as brought me much joy. All of the nervousness I felt about having to battle it out with Zaus has disappeared. Even though he's ranked number one in the world, I can't help but feel calm." "Speaking of rankings wasn't Take-chan in it up until recently. Maybe he's one of those missing chef?" She released her hold and shrugged, "To be honest, I try not to keep up with what he's doing anymore. I loved him and a part of me still~" "Hey! Éclair!" The girl turned to see her partner walking toward her. "Good job! You made it in the finals." Coco nodded, "Congratulations." "Thanks. ~Ume, allow me to introduce you to the Heavenly Kings. ~The big one with the funny blue hair is my partner." The bluenette poked one of her pigtails, "I have funny blue hair? What do you call this color orangish blond?" "I am not a blond! This is honey! ~Anyway Toriko, say hello to my old pal Nakaume. He's honestly one of the greatest people I know." The boy stood there in awe, "Toriko is your partner for real? I thought you guys were just pairing up for the third round. ~that explains why you two were so close on that island~" Her eyes nearly bulged out of her head, "Close!? What do you mean close!? What did you hear!?" Ume laughed, "It's not what I heard. ~There are cameras on the island you know." She put a hand over her face, "I don't know how to feel about that."
She exhaled forcefully, "No matter. I must give credit where it is due. If you truly did see everything, then you saw that without him I would have failed miserably. He's the reason I stand here now." Sunny shook his head, "No, not exactly Muffin. I'd say you get 1% merit from your partnership with Toriko." Coco shook his head, "That's too low. I'd say about 20% Sunny." The man yelled at the two, "What!? I do more than that!" "HEY! You still haven't said hello to Ume-chan! Don't be rude guys!" The boy bowed before the three, "Hello, I am Nakaume." "So like I was saying, he's one of the greatest chef's ever. Everything he touches is gold. ~That reminds me. Where do you work now?" The boy hesitated to answer and before he could he was called to service. "There you are Nakaume. President Moi is looking for you. You better prepare his meal soon." Éclair looked around at all of the men in dark sunglasses. "Weird." Ume looked back at the girl, "Sorry, I have to go now." She nodded, "It was great seeing you again. Hey, make sure you get a chance to talk to Komatsu. He's in the crowd somewhere. He'd love to see you."
As he walked away the nervousness began to set in again. It was like he was her beacon of calmness. "You okay Éclair?" She looked at her partner, "Of course I am." As she was going to continue an announcement aired, "Would the participating chef's in the final tournament gather together? Now, please. The first match is going to be Chef Éclair versus Chef Zaus." Éclair smiled, "That's my cue." "Good luck Muffin! Don't lose in the first match of the finals!" Coco smiled at the girl, "We'll be cheering you on." Toriko knelt to the girl's eye level, "Hey, I don't mean this as a joke, but I think you really have a chance at winning. I don't think you can be outdone by Zaus, or Brunch, or anyone. Take the title Super Cook!" "Thanks Toriko. All I ask is for your support. It's all I need." She began to blush as she spoke. "I need your support and~ you know~ One for good luck?" She joked, "You never know, I could die in a blaze of fire during the final round of the tournament and you'll regret not having done it." He pulled her hood down over her eyes in a playful manner and gave her quick kiss. "You'll be fine Éclair."
She walked away with her head held high and all of the confidence that one could only wish for. Walking back out into the arena was not nearly as frightening as it was the first time. The crowd cheered as the chefs walked out for their match up. Munageh yelled out in excitement, "The first match up features Chef Éclair and Chef Zaus!" She stood next to Zaus and nodded, "Good luck." He continued to look forward as he spoke, "I'm glad I got matched up with you. Let's have as much fun as we can. For as long as the time allowed. I have a feeling you'll go all out in the end." "The end, sir?" Munageh continued his announcement. "Alright, this round will be the Darkness Cooking Duel!" As the large tent was lifted a bit of intimidation struck her heart. She'd do okay if she could see, but the element of blindness was another story. "With special preparation ingredients and such inside the tent, one mistake could be fatal. They must rely on all of their other senses as well as their intuition as a chef." The two walked over to the tent and prepared for the true test to begin. "Ready! Go!"
As soon as the word 'go' was said, Zaus was on his way inside. Éclair was right behind the man, "Oh what I would do to have the lady killer's eyes right now. ~Ouch!" Her hip bone immediately ran into a counter top upon entering the tent. She ran her hand across it and there was nothing there. "This isn't starting off very well. ~Sing to me baby. Let me know where you are." She began to feel her way around. In the corner of her eye she saw a bright flame. It only lasted a second, but it was enough to instill panic. "Zaus is already cooking? I haven't even found any ingredients yet. Hell, I don't even know where the kitchen is. I've gotta keep looking." She began to feel around more until her hand made contact with something. "What the hell is this. It's fleshy and weird. ~I don't have time to be picky; I'll learn to cook it. At least I found something." As she began to take it with her, she felt something grab her back. Blue flames filled her vision.
She looked at the man holding onto her and all she could feel was anger. He hadn't spoken, but she knew this man. His demeanor alone was one that she could never forget. She looked into the eyes of the man holding her captive, and hers burned with a great fury. Her tapered pupils looked at the man. She hadn't been this angry in so long that the feeling was very uncharacteristic. "Get you damn hand off of me." "I've come for you, girl." She began to yank her hand away but it was all for not. Starjun wasn't budging. She clenched her fist and saw a grainy light shroud her body. This was much different from regular sound armor, but she knew it was the work of Zebra. She watched as poison moved from her to him. The man released her arm and she went flying back. She watched as the man was then strained by what she hoped to be Sunny's Hair Lock. It was only for a moment that he remained immobile. She saw as he was powering up and that's when she finally felt the fear she should have been feeling.
Even with the sound armor, she was sweating heavily. Inside the fire walked Starjun. He once again advanced toward the girl. She knew she was no match for the man, but she wouldn't go without kicking and screaming. The girl took a fighting stance as she looked into his one track eyes. "I won't leave without a fight." As the two stood within the flames, Starjun began to reach out his hand to grab the girl again. Though her exterior seemed tough, she was truly a frightened on the inside. She could only hope for a miracle. Her eyes broke from the man to see that Toriko had entered the engulfed tent. She always claimed that she'd walk through fire and he actually did. Starjun turned to the man "I've been waiting for you. Toriko." The man's eyes spoke volumes as he looked at Starjun. "Let's step outside, Starjun!" "No need to step outside, we already are. Campfire Medium Blaze!" Éclair put her hands over her head as he fired of his attack. Just as he said, they were 'outside.' His flames burned the tent in an instant. Éclair was finally able to see what was going on beyond the tent. As the dust settled she noticed an unresponsive Zaus.
Zebra put a barrier around the audience and the fight had begun. The blond girl backed away and found herself hiding behind one of the seats in the stadium. She unzipped her charred rabbit suit and left it on the ground. She ducked behind the seats in her blue tank top and underwear. It wasn't to prevent anyone seeing her half naked, she just didn't want to get hit by any of the attacks being thrown. She peaked over one of the seats and found what she was looking for. "I've gotta get to my baby sister and protect her." Everyone began to run out of the arena in a panicked frenzy. Each of the kings seemed to have their hands full with a target of their own, so protecting the audience was not going to be a top priority.
She was losing sight of her sister as more fights started to break out. "There's no way I'm getting to her if I walk around this entire arena. I have to cut across." It was a dangerous decision considering there were GT Robots and other sorts of creatures everywhere. If she cut through the likely hood of her getting into a fight was very high. However, if she went around there was an even higher percentage that Vanilla would be gone. She couldn't take the risk of losing her sister, so it was her life she'd put on the line. As she ran down the stairs she had to be careful not to trip on or fall into any of the cracks made from all the fights. She took a moment to look at the mess surrounding her. "It's a shame that the festival had to end this way." "It's a shame that you still haven't gotten to shelter yet." She looked behind her, "Mr. Brunch." "Good job keeping safe." She shrugged, "Well it wasn't really me. Toriko ~the kings. It was them. I've gotta get my sister right now before she gets hurt by any of these Bishokukai scum." The man nodded, "They're pretty tough bastards so your sister better watch her back. Hmph, there comes a horde of them right here." She looked up to see a large group headed right for them.
"Better find your sister and get to safety. If you stay here you're just gonna get in my way." "Don't worry, we've got these guys Éclair." Out walked Livebearer and the rest of the chefs. "Vanilla, she's in a safe place." Éclair frowned, "Chef Tylan? You know where my sister is?" He nodded, "She's okay. She was a bit shaken up. If you want to find her she's in the third room to the right immediately after entering the East Hall from the left side." "Thank you! And thank you all for protecting everyone. Let's get this mess cleaned up so we can restart this Cooking Fest!"