The instructions to find her sister was all she needed before heading back inside. It was nice that he'd actually made sure she was safe. As of how he did it so fast was beyond her though. Her bare feet ran on the tiled floor as she searched for her sister. "East hall~ Right ~Left~" She repeated the directions out loud as she sprinted as fast as she could. There were still some people exiting the stadium from inside and she yelled to them. "Whatever you do don't go back into the stadium! It's too dangerous! Everyone in here needs to leave the vicinity completely!" She needed to heed her own words and practice what she preached. She had no intention of leaving the stadium. Her main priority was to get her sister out and then leave alongside Toriko. There really wasn't much she could do, but she would at least try to protect people. "There!" The girl saw the room and stopped at the door. "Huh? This is the bathroom. Why would she~?" She didn't further question it and just walked in.
"Vanilla? Vanilla where are you!?" She looked under the stalls and saw nothing. She began to panic a bit. Was her sister going to be another missing chef? She began to just kick open the stalls until she saw the girl with her feet up on the toilet. "Vanilla you idiot! Why didn't you answer to me?" "You could have been anyone. You never know. It could have been a trap." The blond girl hugged her sister, "You idiot! You brilliant idiot! What are you doing in the bathroom?" She shrugged, "Tylan told me to go here and wait for you." "And of course you just HAVE to do what HE says instead of getting to safety!" She shook her head, "No! That's not it Clair, listen. He knew that you would get me. He knew that this was a safe place. ~So we can leave together." Éclair exhaled, "~Vanilla. ~I'm not leaving. My partner is still out there. The kings are still out there. Innocent people are still out there. I can't go without knowing everyone will be okay." She held the girl's hand as she pulled her off the seat, "So come on. You're my first priority. I'm getting you out of here." She'd not let go of her sister's hand as they left the room.
They came across an emergency exit and Éclair tried to open it. "Dammit! What kind of emergency exit is locked!? ~Alright, the quickest way for you to leave is to go through the stadium and back out. We're gonna make it quick okay? So keep up and don't let go of my hand!" The girls made their way back into the stadium and it was full blown anarchy. They ran as fast as they could down the stairs until they reached the ground floor. Just as the girls were turning toward an exit they found themselves in an encounter they were trying to avoid. The girl's eyes amplified as she spoke "Stay behind me Vanilla. Whatever you do, just stay behind me." It was an unfortunate situation considering everyone was busy with their own fights. No one was around to see the tough spot they were in. The creature lifted its fist and began to come down on the girls. As its fist came down at full force, it stopped mid attack. Éclair's eyes searched around to see what it was, and it was completely unexpected. "Vanilla?" The green haired girl nodded, "Knocking. Like I said Clair, there's a lot you don't know about me." She put her Knocking Gun back in her pocket, "I think you're a bit safer with me than by yourself. I know you want me to be safe, but I want you to be safe too. If you fight, I fight Clair. We're in this together."
She shook her head, "No Vanilla! This is something I won't argue about! You have to leave now! Nothing's going to happen to me. ~Remember, I have the best Bishokuya in the world as my partner. He'll protect me. The kings will protect me. I promise nothing will happen to me. I need you to leave though. If you don't I can't promise that I won't get hurt." Vanilla kissed her sister's forehead, "I will hold you to that promise Éclair Bleu Fire Reinbou." As Éclair began to walk away Vanilla yelled, "Wait! ~Put some clothes on." She tossed the girl her oversized sweater from around her waist and Éclair didn't argue. Éclair looked at her sister one last time, "I'll see you later." "See you later?" She nodded, "Because this isn't goodbye. I love you Vanilla. ~No go!" The girl ran out of the stadium and parted ways with her sister. It was Éclair's turn to finally step up and do something. She was on her way to see if there were any more innocent people left. Had Komatsu made it to safety? She made her way back to the other chefs to see what they possibly knew.
Along the way she ran into something that sent chills up her spine. It was as if its presence alone caused her to stay in place. She couldn't move a muscle. She was too afraid to. She turned to see what it was that made her feel like this. A Green Nitro. She'd experienced Nitro twice before, but at least in the time she was alone she was clad in sound armor. Luckily she wasn't the target. Part of her wished she was the target so she didn't have to see what she saw next. The chefs were being thrown around like rag dolls. Chef Yuda getting smashed into the concrete was something she never thought she'd see in this lifetime. Damala Sky getting dominated and Livebearer being torn apart. The Saisaya's rushed in just in time before he was a complete dead man. "Everyone close your eyes!" She quickly shut hers as they put Livebearer back together. Once it was over all she could think about was finding a safe spot. Maybe she was an idiot for not leaving with Vanilla, but she wasn't going anywhere without her partner. She found a small space in between some rubble and hid inside.
She watched as the Chinese Emperor was thrown inside the cage beast to be captured. Her small shelter didn't last more than a couple minutes as the fight started heading that way. One of the monsters headed straight for her. She didn't know what to do except run from beneath the rubble and out of the way. As she made her way from under the pile, the monster was even closer. Before it could attack she felt something pick her up swoop her away. "My precious Cotton Candy Poof Ball! You are my hero baby! ~And~ You can fly!? Yeah! You can fly!" Her excitement didn't last very long as the Wall Penguin crash landed into the ground. "Oh~ So it's only for a small window of time?" As she helped her little buddy up, a crash appeared right in front of her. Instinctively she protected her pint sized furry and covered his body with hers. She looked back and saw Coco bloody and beat.
"Coco are you~" "Get back! Even with Zebra's barrier I am still excreting an exceptional amount of poison." The man looked up "Dammit." Grinpatch of the Bishokukai looked down at the man jovially, "Lemme have some more of that stimulating poison! Mmm! This flaaaavor!" Éclair frowned, "What a freak." The man inhaled deeply through his straw and Coco looked back at the girl, "Get away from here!" Her little pink friend took the words of Coco and guided her away from the attack just in time. The three avoided the attack and looked at the effect. "Whoa. Now that's a big hole." Coco nodded, "I can't even see the bottom. His lung capacity is astounding. He did this merely from exhaling." She watched as more chefs were being taken away. "Why go through this much trouble for chefs? I just don't get it." Coco shook his head, "It's because in this Gourmet Age the people who hold the most power are the chefs. Not world leaders or politicians. Compared to a chef, even us Bishokuya are meager existences. You chefs are the worlds treasures. That is why they try to take you and why we try to protect you. You fill stomachs of people all over the world and brighten the future with hope. That is why we fight. ~And we will never give that hope to the Bishokukai. Do you understand now?"
The girl nodded, "I do, Coco." "Good. Now that you understand that, understand this. According to my fortune telling this place is dangerous. Get out of here and get to where Toriko is." Just as she was getting ready to leave, Grinpatch reappeared. "I could just suck you up." Before he made his way to the chef, Coco jumped on the man's back and smirked, "Come with me for a sec. Let's change locations." He and the man fell into the endless hole. "Coco! ~Thank you." She put her serious face on, "Come on Poof Ball you heard the man! Let's go find Toriko!" She hopped back on and let him guide the way. If she could just find Toriko she would be able to feel some sort of comfort. Of course she felt protected from other people, but there was no sense of protection like she got from her partner. Maybe it was the food honor, or maybe it was the open air, but for some reason she found herself appreciating. She was appreciating life and the fact that she was able to get out of the stadium with hers. "If you need to stop for a break then do it. I understand that you have limited flying."
The penguin was determined though. It didn't stop for breaks. It was in tunnel vision with only one goal in mind. "Listen Poof Ball. If something bad happens~" She pull out her pigtails and let the bands descend to the ground below. "If something bad happens, I want you to know that I love you so much. I know I always give thanks, but I don't give you enough thanks. Every time I see you I just want to become a better person. I may never have kids in this life, but you are my kid, and I love you. I know that we're going to get Toriko, but in the meantime, be in this moment with me. Let's never stop appreciating the time we have spent together." She leaned down and kissed his fuzzy head. Even with all of the chaos, she wanted to find some type of silver lining. ~And that was spending time with the one she calls Poof Ball. The penguin followed the trail of the attack marks far outside the stadium. He began to drop altitude more and more until they both crashed into the ground. She rubbed his head, "We've gotta work on your landings, but I still appreciate the lift."
As she looked back up her smile faded quickly. Her eyes were instantly glued to the scene in front of her. It was like her heart was being stabbed over and over by the same bloody knife. She didn't know what to do. Starjun held her partner in his grasp. Both men were bloody, but Toriko was on the losing end. The evil eyes of Starjun glanced over at the girl, "There you are. We were just finishing up." She fell to her knees and yelled out "Toriko!"