Ail

Continuing to hold Raena's hand comfortingly, I opened the door.

Into the room where we would face the manipulator, once and for all...

--

We all entered the room, not knowing what to expect. And we definitely were treated to the unexpected... and by that, I mean we were treated to nothing at all!

The room was rather large, but literally the only thing in the room was some sort of overhang, casting a shadow over our heads. Despite there not being anything noteworthy in the room, it seems awfully familiar for some reason...

This room... It must be...

"A-Ail... It's strange..."

"Yeah, there isn't anyone in here..."

"N-no, that isn't what I meant." Raena shook her head. "Why does it seem like we've been here already? Many times, even..."

"... You too, huh?"

Having nothing else to do at the moment, we continued to walk forward, eventually reaching the center of the room.

It seems kind of eerie... Like a ghost is going to pop out or something...

"AHHH!!!"

Raena was the one who screamed just then.

"Jeez, louise!" Leia uttered. "You almost had me jumpin' out of my pants just then! Whatsa matter?"

"Yeah, are you okay, Raena?" Taffy added.

"T-this room..." Raena stated, looking back toward the direction we came from. "I-it's the room where the teachers helped us train!"

"Yeah, that's right." I confirmed. "That overhang we passed through is actually that platform were the teachers would always stand on top of."

"B-but why...?" Raena said in confusion. "Why would the elevator lead us here?"

"... It's an impressive imitation, isn't it?"

A dark, unfamiliar voice said to us.

"Who is that?! Where are you!?" I exclaimed.

A cloaked figure, with darkness shrouding them as much as their voice, stepped into the room from above the platform.

"But what's even more impressive is the fact that you managed to find this place." They continued. "Congratulations."

"You must be the manipulator, right?" I asked snidely.

"Nice try, but not quite. I am but the assistant to the real manipulator."

"Wait... what?"

"The one you are looking for..." They pointed in Raena's direction. "... is right there!"

"W-wha?!" Raena shouted in surprise. "M-me?"

"There's no need to hide it any longer. I have already finished the preparations for you... my master."

"What are you saying?!" I said angrily.

"You may not remember doing anything wrong, but that girl saw you push your friend into the lake. That was the start of everything that has led up to this point!"

"Then Chelsea came, and p-pushed her in!"

"N-no..." Raena let go of my hand, dropped to the floor, and curled up into a ball. "I-I couldn't... I DIDN'T!!!"

"Chelsea's a nice person, s-she wouldn't..."

I turned my attention to Raena.

"The more I think about it, the more it seems like it didn't actually happen..."

"So Raena was bad all along... Just like Lopez!"

"I can't believe tha' Raena and tha' manip'lator person are one and the same. She seemed so nice, too..."

Raena started to shake and sob, still curled on the floor.

"How does it feel, Ail? To know that the one you trusted so much turned out to be your enemy?!" The cloaked one said to me. "Must feel terrible, huh?"

"N-no... I-I'm not..." Raena squeaked.

"The one who caused everything... was you Raena!" The cloaked one repeated.

"SHUT UUUP!!!" Taffy bellowed suddenly, shocking all of us, even the cloaked one.

"Taffy...?" Raena uttered, looking up at her.

"Stop being so mean to Raena, you stupid, cloaked thing! Raena is really nice, brave, and one of my very best friends! She'd never do anything bad, you meanie!"

"Oh, really now?" The cloaked one retorted. "But it was Chelsea, another good friend of yours, that saw her push you i-..."

"I bet you just tricked her into thinking that! You tricked everyone! You're really the manipulator person, right?"

"Well said, Taffy. Good job." I told her.

"Of course, you never doubted her for a second! Right, Raena's cute boyfriend?"

"That's right. If you hadn't said anything, I would have..."

I went to Raena's side, and offered her my hand.

"What's the matter? Don't get discouraged. Weren't you going to see this through to the end?" I gave her a gentle smile.

"A-Ail..." She returned my smile, took my hand, and got back on her feet. "T-thank you... for believing in me."

"I figured as much." Leia said. "There's no way someone as meek as Raena would do anythin' bad like tha'."

"Yeah, no one could be as bad as Lopez. What was I thinking?" Sete added.

"Hey, you." I said to the cloaked one. "Sorry to tell you this, but your manipulating days are over!"

"... How sweet. You really believe in each other that much, huh? Very well, I am actually the manipulator, like you all thought." The cloaked one confirmed. "The one who created all of the monsters you have fought, and the one who 'drowned' everyone in the Lake of Death was I."

"T-tell us who you are!" Raena exclaimed, regaining her composure.

"What does it matter? We have never met before, anyway. We have absolutely no relation to one another."

"Yeah, that's a total lie." I stated bluntly. "Not only that, you were pretending to help us, but you've been tricking us this whole time!"

"W-what?!" Raena said, surprised by the news. "Really?!"

"Hm? What made you come to that conclusion?" The cloaked one asked, seeming as confused as Raena.

"When I learned that neither Raena or Chelsea was the one who pushed Taffy into the lake, I thought it was a monster that did it. But then I learned about this so called 'manipulator' person. I figured that they must have enrolled themselves in our school to make things easier for them. But I wondered; just what kind of student would be able to keep an eye on us so easily? ... And then, I learned the truth..."

I said, remembering what I saw on Tech's data disk.

"... I was confused by what I saw at first. The person I saw was an adult, someone definitely too old to enroll themselves as a student. But after thinking about it for a while, it made perfect sense. They couldn't enroll themselves as a student, but they could as a teacher!"

"A-a teacher?!" Raena said in shock.

"In fact, as a teacher it'd be a lot easier to keep an eye on us then if they were a student. When they learned that a couple of teachers were preparing to stop them and their monsters, they decided to become a teacher themself. To distract them away from the true culprit, they pretended to help the teachers by giving them more information about the monsters and preparing a place to train us... the very place we're in right now!"

"W-what? This room is really..."

"It's the real thing. It's not some 'imitation' like the manipulator wants you to think." I confirmed for her. "After we came back from the Lake of Death the first time, I realized that I could sense it from this room. Considering how long the path is to this place from the school and that we had to take an elevator to get here the other way, it makes sense that this room and the training room are one and the same."

I turned my attention to the cloaked figure.

"Isn't that right... MS. REACHET?!"

"M-Ms.... Reachet!?" Raena, Leia, and Sete exclaimed in unison.

"Um... I don't know who this 'Ms. Reachet' person is, sorry..." Taffy added meekly.

"Isn't tha' the new teach we got a few months ago?!"

"A-Ail, are you serious?! Ms. Reachet?" Raena said, looking at me in disbelief. "She's the one who told us and helped us learn about our weapons and the monsters... How could she...!?"

"I know... It sounds shocking, but it's the absolute truth." I told her, repeating Tech's words. "She had us fooled, all of us..."

"Heheh..." The manipulator chuckled lightly.

"I'm right, aren't I?!" I yelled in the cloaked one's direction. "If not, then show us your face, right now!"

"... Very well. I suppose hiding my identity at this point is meaningless..."

The manipulator pushed back the hood covering their face, the darkness surrounding them dissipating. With that, their face was revealed... Ms. Reachet's face.

"I-it really is you... Ms. Reachet!"

"... Still, I can't believe I was found out in the end." She continued, talking in her normal voice now. "And of all people to figure out, it had to be you..." Ms. Reachet turned her attention to me, with a harsh glare in her eyes.

"Honestly, I wouldn't have realized it without Tech's help. I don't know if I would've even got to this point if it weren't for him." Or any of my friends...

"... Hmph. I knew I should've eliminated that nuisance a lot sooner."

"... Tech..." Leia whimpered to herself.

"Oh well, not that it matters anyway." Ms. Reachet said with an evil grin. "Things may not have gone the way I wanted it to, but my plans will still come to fruition in the end!"

"But... why?" Raena asked. "The lake incident, the captive people, the monsters... Y-you were a bit strict with us, but I thought you were a good teacher, Ms. Reachet!"

"Why...? Why you ask?!" Her devilish grin changing to a look of immense anger. "For revenge, that's why! Revenge that I've been waiting to satisfy for a long time!"

"R-revenge?"

"At first, when I gained the power to control the monsters, I simply used it to wreck mindless havoc to quench my anger. But it wasn't enough..." Ms. Reachet explained. "But then, I learned that a certain person was going to attend Neturus High, and was to be a part of a special few who would be tasked to eliminate my creations. It was my chance! My chance to take my revenge had finally come!"

Wait, what? What is she talking about?!

"But I didn't want to just kill them outright. I wanted to make them suffer... I wanted them to feel the pain of being betrayed by the people they held dear, especially the one closest to them. And then they would die, not even knowing that it was actually I that caused everything!"

"W-what?!"

"But things didn't turn out that way for me, did it? After all, that person is here now, and clearly not alone..."

"What the heck?!" I repeated. "What did Raena ever do to you?! To go so far to hurt h-..."

"You're mistaken." She cut me off. "Raena had absolutely nothing to do with my revenge. Although she did serve as a very big stepping stone."

"H-huh...? Then..."

"The one I wish revenge on... is you, Ail!"

"W-wha? Me!?" I responded, flabbergasted. "But why?!"

"It's all because of your father... Your real father."

"M-my father? You know about my father?!"

"Yes, very well. He took the life of someone very dear to me!" Ms. Reachet exclaimed furiously. "But since he is no longer around, I'll take my revenge on his son instead!"

I can't believe this... All this happened to everyone, to Raena, because of me? Because of my family? ...

... No.

"Treble!"

I took out my sword, and pointed it at Ms. Reachet.

"Look, I don't really know what happened between you and my dad in the past, but... None of that will make everything you did forgivable by any means! You'll pay for making Raena suffer all this time!"

"A-Ail..." Raena uttered, then... "Paint!"

She took out her paintbrush, and pointed it in the same direction as my sword.

"I-I've already decided! That no matter what happens, I won't be scared anymore! I'll fight with you, Ail!"

"Thanks, Raena."

"Heheh... If you two really think you can defeat me and my precious creations, then try it if you dare!"

"There's no way we'll back out of this!" I yelled. "Especially not now!"

"I see... By the way, have you been wondering what became of the other teachers?"

"Hm?" Come to think of it, weren't they supposed to be in here? Then where did they...?

All of a sudden, three panels on the floor opened up, three bodies being lifted up from the openings.

The bodies were actually... Ms. Pensil, Mr. Musico, and Mr. Kooc.

"R-Raena... A-Ail... Y-you have to get out of here..." Ms. Pensil uttered weakly. "G-go... B-before it's too la-..."

Before she could finish, she and the other two were swallowed up by three giant, purple globs of goop. And those globs transformed into something rather familiar...

"Monsters!"

The monsters made weapons for themselves from their own material, representing who they took over: a paintbrush, a conductor's baton, and a whisk.

"EH?! W-what's going on? What am I doing here?!" Sete shouted suddenly.

"So, ya finally woke up, huh?" Leia uttered.

"I don't get what's happening, but this looks dangerous! I'm out of here!" Sete ran to and hid behind one of the support beams on the far side of the room.

"Coward! What're ya hidin' for? It's time ta put up our dukes!"

"Actually, you should take Taffy and hide too." I suggested. "It's too dangerous for you to get involved in this."

"Mmrgh... Alright, fine." She gave in. "Sorry I can't do anythin' ta help ya right now, Ail." Leia reluctantly grabbed Taffy's hand and ran to where Sete was hiding.

"Be careful, Raena!" Taffy told her before running off.

"... Okay, then..."

"RRROOOAAAARRR!!!" The three monsters bellowed, their cries sharply ringing in my ears.

"What do we do now?!"

"There's a lot of them, but we can't give up! Right, Ail?"

"Yeah, you're right."

After all we've been through... After all the friends we've lost... We can't give up! No matter what!

I began to run toward the music monster, charging up the sound in my sword. But as I got up to it, it swung its heavy baton at me, which I had difficulty blocking.

"Ergh... It's strong!"

The monster gave up pressing the baton against me, but instead choosing to swing it upward, causing my sword to fly out of my hands.

"Oh no!" I turned around to pick it up, but the monster stepped on me before I could reach it. "Aaaugh!"

"AIIIL!" Raena exclaimed, noticing what happened to me while fighting the painter monster.

With the monster's weight incapacitating my legs, I tried to reach for my emblem, but to no avail.

Darn it, what do I do now?! I could probably get out of here if I stab its leg, but my sword is...

... wait, stab?

I rummaged through my pockets, and took out the 'Switchflasher'.

"I completely forgot I had this thing until now. Good thing I kept it with me..." I took out its knife. "Well, here goes!"

I thrust the blade into the monster's leg as hard and deep as I could, causing it to wince in pain.

"RROOAAARR!!!" It roared, falling over and releasing me of its weight.

"All right! It worked!"

I picked my emblem up off the ground and turned it into a sword again.

"Now then, let's conti-..."

"AHHH!!!" I heard suddenly.

"R-Raena?!" I looked behind me, and saw the monster holding her up in the air, grasping her tightly. "Are you alright!?"

"U-ugh...! I-I'm sorry Ail, none of my attacks worked on it for some reason!" She apologized, trying to endure the pain the monster was causing her, although I could tell by the tears running down her face that she was having a hard time.

"Don't worry, I'll save you!"

I ran toward the monster to try and save her, but I was stopped by a pillar of fire appearing from the ground.

"Wha...?!"

It came from the cooking monster, who was running in my direction.

Dang it, I forgot about that one!

"Cyan Paint!" Despite her distance away from it, Raena was able to freeze the cooking monster's legs, rendering it immobile.

"Good job, Raena!" Now all I have to worry about now is the painter monster...

I sprinted toward the monster, charging up my sword again. But before I could get close to it, it used its paintbrush to shoot paint at me. I managed to block all of the flying paint with my sword, but the shots kept pushing me back.

Jeez, I'm never going to be able to attack it like this!

As I prepared to charge toward the monster again, I noticed a shadow looming over me...

... It was coming from the music monster, standing right behind me.

What the heck!? It recovered that fast?!

If that weren't bad enough, the cooking monster had melted the ice blocking its footing and had come up to us as well.

They had completely surrounded me without me noticing!

W-what... What do I...?

"Ail! I'll hel-..." Before Raena could do anything, the painter monster gripped her body tightly, making her drop her paintbrush on the ground. "N-NO!"

"Raena!"

What now?! T-this is... This is impossible!

"Heheh..." I heard a snicker come from Ms. Reachet, onlooking the whole thing safely from her perched platform. "What's the matter, Ail? You seemed so confident before..."

I said nothing, looking all around me. All of the monsters began to smile.

"DE... VOUR..."

"DE... VOUR..."

"DE... VOUR!!!"

W-what should I do!? I really thought as long as I was with Raena, I could defeat the manipulator! But now Raena's been captured, and I've become surrounded by three strong monsters. This definitely isn't the first time I've had to do something on my own, but...

Now I've come across a situation that I can't handle by myself! And I wanted to protect Raena so badly! Why... I thought I could handle everything alone... But, I...

"No. Not just us two. Let's have fun with all of our friends!"

Friends...

I can't do this alone! I need someone to help me!

"Please! Someone help me save Raena!"

"Help you?! That's not happening." Ms. Reachet said snidely. "You're all alone now. No one wi-..."

All of a sudden, someone melted a hole through the painter monster.

"W-what?!" I exclaimed in shock.

The painter monster toppled over on its back, throwing Raena into the air.

"Ail!"

"Raena!" I caught her just before she hit the ground. "Are you okay?"

"Y-yes. Thank you, Ail..." She answered, her face slightly red.

"But who did that just now?"

"Why, it was none other than..." A familiar face began to say, raising his spatula in the air confidently. "... the Master Chef!"

"Barry!" Raena said happily.

"Big brother!" Taffy added, from her hiding place.

"Chef boy..." I stated in disbelief.

"Of course! The Master Chef will always be there to help whenever his comrades are in need of assistance!" He stated as proudly as ever. "And with us three, the situation has now balanced out, right?"

Oh yeah, now we have three people to take care of a monster each! But will that be enough...?

"Heheh..." Ms. Reachet chuckled. "If there aren't enough monsters, I can just make more of them!"

"What? But they're aren't any people you ca-..." Ms. Reachet sent two monster shadows to where Taffy and Leia were hiding. "Oh no!"

Suddenly, right before they took over their bodies, the shadows were eliminated by two energy blasts.

"... Sorry I'm late." Tech uttered, walking into the room from the secret passage area.

"Tech!" I shouted, surprised to see him. "But I thought you..."

"It's not just me."

"Ail, Raena!" Another familiar face came running through the path Tech took. "Are you alright, buds?"

"Mac! W-what are you... what are you all doing here?!" I asked them, almost choking up.

"It was amazing, bud! I thought I was a goner, but a man with blue hair and a similarly-colored sword saved me!"

"He saved me, too." Tech added. "He opened up the path to this room and told us to come help you, Ail. We managed to convince Barry to come with us, but he ran off on his own..."

That blue-haired man... Could he be...?

"T-Tech..." Leia uttered, walking up to him.

"L-Leia..." He uttered as well, his expression softening. "So you were okay, after all..."

"Looks like ya became pretty strong an' heroic while I was gone! I'm proud of ya, Tech!"

"I-I..." Tech started to tear up, but he wiped his face and adjusted his glasses, his serious expression returning. "No... There's a lot I want to say to you right now, but there's still something that has to be taken care of first."

He pointed his energy cannon toward Ms. Reachet.

"This all ends now, Ms. Reachet! We outnumber your monsters now!"

Hey, that's right! Now we'll defini-...

"Oh, really?" She responded, not backing down in the slightest. "I have plenty of power sources for my monsters in another room. I can bring a dozen more monsters in here if I wanted to!"

Oh shoot! I completely forgot about that!

Unlike me though, Tech kept his composure at her statement. In fact, he merely smirked.

"By 'power sources', you mean the people you have stored in green tanks, correct?"

"T-that's right..." Ms. Reachet said uneasily, probably wondering why he wasn't fazed.

"That man that rescued us... Haven't you been wondering why he sent us here instead of coming here himself?"

"Y-you don't mean...!?"

"As we speak, he's freeing all of the people in those tanks." He explained, Ms. Reachet not taking the information well. "Actually, he's probably freed them all by now."

"But they only open from sound vibrations." I told Tech. "Wouldn't it take him a really long time to open each and every one of them?"

"True... But I gave him something before he left; something I think would help him quite a bit." He took out some firecrackers from his pocket. "Explosions are loud. Even small ones."

"Heheh! That's ma Tech!"

"And speaking of explosions..." Tech tossed her a knapsack he had been holding. "Mind giving us a hand, Leia?"

She opened it up, seeing it was overstuffed with explosives.

"Yes! Now this is what I'm talkin' about!" She chuckled, putting the knapsack on her back. "Leia's back in action a' last!"

"This... is all very upsetting. But..." Ms. Reachet surrounded herself in darkness, sending some of it to the monsters. "If you think this is enough to stop me, then think again!" She exclaimed in an extremely angry tone.

"I'll definitely stop you, Reachet!" I exclaimed back, prepping my sword. "Especially with my friends here by my side!"

"Let us see whose resolve is stronger, Ail! Once and for all!"

Immediately afterword, the painter monster charged at me, launching more paint attacks.

"Soul Sound!" I sent sound waves from my sword to deflect all of the paint. "So, you want to be the one to fight me? Bring it on!"

"... No, Ail."

"Huh?"

Raena had picked up her emblem and transformed it into her paintbrush before pointing it at the painter monster's direction.

"I'll handle this one."

"But didn't you have trouble with it before? Let me handle it..."

"You can't!" She cried, startling me a little. "S-sorry, it's just... Ms. Pensil needs help right now, and I want to be the one to save her. She's done so much for me, so I..."

"Alright, then let me help you."

"Thank you, Ail... But no." She stated calmly. "Because I've been so weak and cowardly, I've had to rely on you all the time. Even though you've suffered as much as I have..."

"Raena..."

"But that changes now! I'll muster up all my strength, and use everything she's taught me, to free Ms. Pensil from that monster. No matter what!"

Wow... When we first met, she was a timid girl who cowered simply from me glaring at her slightly. She sure has come a long way since then...

"Please, Ail... Don't worry about me, and save the other teachers!"

Raena said to me, wearing the most serious expression I've ever seen on her face.

"... Okay. I'll leave it to you, then. Good luck, Raena."

And be careful...

"Good luck to you too, Ail!" Raena told me, before running off to deal with the painter monster.

"Alright, that just leaves..." I turned to look at the other monsters, towering over me with a harsh glare.

The cook monster began to spin its giant whisk rapidly, preparing to attack me with it...

... but before it could do anything, it was shot with an energy blast.

"Leia and I will take care of this one, Ail." Tech stated.

"We'll blow it up good! Until there's nothin' left!" Leia coughed. "Erm, 'cept the teach, of course."

"You save Mr. Musico. You don't need to worry about any interference from the cook monster."

"Thanks, Tech."

Tech and Leia went off to deal with the cook monster.

"... Okay, you." I said to the music monster. "I had a hard time with you before, but that's not going to happen again!"

I charged toward the music monster, charging vibrations in my sword. But then it swung its baton at me, which I had no choice but to block again.

"Nnrgh!" No way! I can't let this go the way it did last time!

"Flame-broiling Sriracha Mortar!" The monster was shot with a massive fiery blast, it releasing its leverage on me.

"Chef boy..."

"Have no fear going forward, comrade. The Master Chef will help you defeat this monster!"

"Thanks... Barry."

Let's see... These monsters recover quickly, and it's storing Mr. Musico all the way up on its head. The simple thing to do would be to cut its head off, but it's so tall...

... Wait, I know!

"Help me stall the monster, so I can reach its legs. It'll be easier to deal with if I topple it again!"

Barry nodded, giving me a thumbs-up. I sprinted toward the monster, who had retreated from us earlier.

Noticing it had two of us to deal with now, the monster tried something different. It took out a violin, and used it with the baton to send sound waves at me.

"That's not what you use a baton for!" I shouted, dodging the sound waves.

"Art of the Master Chef..."

The monster tried to send a sound wave at Barry, but I blocked it with my sword.

"... Jalapeño Cannon!" He shot a fiery blast at the monster, pushing it back slightly.

Now!

"Hyahhh!" I slashed off one of its legs.

"ROOAAARR!!!" It roared, falling to the ground once again.

"Time to end this!" I said, running up to its head. "8-BEAT!!!" I slashed and lunged at its neck with consecutive sound-based sword attacks, ending with a fierce lunge.

"ROOOAAAARRR!!!" It bellowed loudly one last time, before the monster burst into countless pieces, releasing Mr. Musico.

"Aaugh!" I used my sword as a ground to keep myself steady from the force of the released energy. "It's over... W-we did it..."

Well, this monster is taken care of. I wonder how Raena is doing...

-----

Raena

I have to defeat the painter monster and save Ms. Pensil! No matter what!

The painter monster continuously shot paint at me, which I kept having to block with my paintbrush.

"You shouldn't be using paint like that! It's a wonderful thing that should only be used for good!"

The monster ignored my speech and took out a giant bucket of paint, which it sent in my direction.

"Eyahhh!" The force of all the paint made me fall over and drop my paintbrush again.

No, I can't give up! Even if this monster is big and scary, I have to defeat it! Everyone else is working hard to take care of the other monsters... They're all counting on me...

... but can I really do it on my own? Am I strong enough?

"RROOAAARR!!!" It held up its paintbrush, preparing to strike. I was still lying on the ground, covered in paint.

M-my emblem! Where is it?! I can't find it in all this paint!

Before I could find it, the monster began to swing its weapon toward me...

Oh no! It's too late...!

... I'm sorry, Ail... I couldn't...

"ATOMIC KIIICK!!!"

Someone yelled, kicking the monster from high up in the air, sending it falling to the ground.

"I won't let you lay a finger on Raena, you big bully!" They said, standing in front of me after landing on the ground.

"C-Chelsea?" I said in shock.

"I won't forgive Reachet for manipulating my... our memories!" She stated, charging her fists. "Let's kick this monster's butt!"

"Okay!" I responded, finally finding my emblem and using my paintbrush to absorb all of the paint around me. "Thanks, Chelsea!"

The monster got up, preparing to attack once again.

"Red Paint!" I tried to stop it before it could do anything, but my paint didn't work against it.

It did nothing, just like before... But I won't give in!

"Yellow Paint! Cyan Paint! Watercolor Paint!" I tried many different paint techniques against the monster, but it just shrugged them off.

Having had enough, the painter monster used its own paint attack on me...

"Surge Wave!" ... but fortunately for me, Chelsea blocked it with a wave of energy from her palms.

"Thanks, Chelsea." I told her. "A-again."

"It looks like this thing is immune to paint attacks... How annoying."

"No, I don't think that's it..." I uttered. "I'm just not... strong enough. Not like the rest of you, anyway."

"Don't say that, Raena..."

None of my paint attacks work on it at all... Come to think of it, have I ever destroyed a monster before? It was always either Ail or Barry who did, wasn't it? The only one I really helped defeat was... Monster Paint...

... wait, that's it!

"There's a technique I have that might be able to beat this monster!"

"Really?!"

It's really powerful, but... It's also really scary and uses up a lot of my energy. But I've got no choice!

"I'm going to use it!" I pointed my paintbrush out in front of me with both hands, facing the painter monster.

Alright, I just need to concen-...

Before I could start charging, the monster jumped up in the air, towards my direction.

W-what?! No!

"Watch out, Raena!" Chelsea grabbed me and jumped out of the way just in time. Although the shockwaves from the monster's landing hit us before we safely reached the ground, sending us spiraling down with a thud.

"Chelsea, are you okay?" I asked worriedly, getting up off the floor.

"O-ow..."

"Don't worry, I'll help..." I waved my paintbrush in front of her. "Heal Paint!"

I used soothing paint on her to heal her injuries.

"Do you feel better now?" I offered her my hand, to help her up. "Here."

She simply stared at me for a second, then nodded. "Yeah... Thanks, Raena!" Chelsea accepted my hand, and got up with my assistance.

"And thank you, Chelsea. For getting me out of the way of the monster..."

"Okay, we can spend as much time as we need to thank each other later... But right now, we need to find a way to stop that thing!"

"Well, I can't do anything if the monster keeps jumping around like that..."

"You just need it to stay put, right? Leave it to me!"

"Huh?"

Chelsea ran toward the monster at full speed, dodging all of its paint attacks.

"Lovely Lace!" She spun around, expanding the bands around her wrists and using them to tie the monster's legs in place.

Alright! Now it won't be able to jump around again!

"There you go, Raena!" Chelsea said, moving to the side of the monster. "And hurry, I can't hold it for very long!"

"Right!" Once again, I pointed my paintbrush out in front of me, facing the painter monster's abdomen.

I need to calm myself... Focus all of my energy into the tip of the brush... And unleash it in one, full blast!

Time to use my last, new technique! And the most powerful one I've got!

"MONSTER PAINT!!!" I exclaimed, releasing the power of the Monster Paint out of my brush toward the monster.

"RROOAAARR!!!" It cried, trying to block my attack with its own paint.

"GGYYEEEHHHH!" The Monster Paint roared, equally matched with the painter monster's strength.

"WAAHHH!!!" I shouted, using all of my power to stop the monster's advance.

I have to... I have to overcome this! I just need a little more power...

I looked at Ms. Pensil's unconscious body, floating in the monster's head.

Ms. Pensil's counting on me!

I began to lose my balance, and it started to become harder to keep my grip on the brush.

N-no! I can't...

But all of a sudden, someone came from behind and supported me, and gently took hold of my hands, helping my grip on the paintbrush.

Who...

"A-Ail!" I said, after looking behind me.

He simply nodded, not saying a word. I did the same.

I feel like I have more power than ever! I can do this!

"Take this! THE FINISHING BLOW!!!" I released the rest of my power into Monster Paint, storming through the paint monster's attack, and right through its body.

"RROOOOOAAAAAARRRRR!!!!!" It bellowed loudly one last time, before the monster burst into countless pieces, releasing Ms. Pensil.

I felt the released energy from the burst, but I stayed steady thanks to Ail. The Monster Paint returned to my brush, before I lost my grip on it and dropped it on the floor.

"Are you alright, Raena?" Ail asked me.

"I-it's destroyed... The monster is..." I uttered in disbelief. "D-defeated..."

Due to my lack of energy, I could no longer stand, so I fell to the ground.

"Raena!" He said worriedly, holding my body up.

"W-we did it... We did it, Ail!" I began to cry tears of joy.

"No, Raena. You did it!" He corrected, patting my head gently and smiling at me happily.

-----

Ail

"Ail!" Tech called out, running toward us with Leia. "We took care of the cook monster!"

"Took it out good!" Leia added.

"So that means... We did it! We defeated all of the monsters!"

"The monsters are truly no more! The Master Chef is ecstatic from this news!" Barry interjected. "Well done, comrades!"

"N-no... All of my beautiful darlings! Gone..." Ms. Reachet collapsed on her elevated platform, not uttering another word.

We did it... It's finally over...

"Raena!" Chelsea ran over to us, seeing Raena lying on my lap on the floor.

"C-Chelsea..." Raena replied weakly.

"... Here." Chelsea offered her hand to Raena. "Can you stand?"

"Yeah..." She grabbed her hand and got up with Chelsea's help. "Thank you, Chelsea."

"You guys!" Taffy ran up to us from where she had been hiding earlier.

"Taffy..." Chelsea uttered silently. "TAFFY!!!" She cried, hugging Taffy as hard as she could.

"Oh, Chelsea! It's nice to see you're okay, too!"

"I missed you sooo much!" She sobbed, bursting into tears. "Oh, Taffy..."

"It looks like you got a lot stronger since I saw you last time." Taffy said calmly, while Chelsea was hugging her. "Just like Raena did!"

"Yeah, thank you for your help, Chelsea." Raena added.

"No..."

Chelsea let go of Taffy and faced Raena.

"I don't deserve your thanks. Because of me, everyone thought you killed Taffy and all the other people Reachet captured, and made bad rumors about you. But even after all that, you still came back and saved Taffy... I'm so sorry, Raena!"

"It's not your fault, Chelsea." Raena reassured her. "Ms. Reachet altered your memories to make you think I killed Taffy. You just wanted to protect everyone, right?"

"Raena..."

"You know..." Taffy began to say. "When I was in that green thingy that whole time, I dreamt that we all got along and did a lot of fun things together." Taffy wrapped her arms around one of Chelsea's and one of Raena's. "I really want to make that dream real!"

"Me too!" Raena said happily.

"And m-me too..." Chelsea also said, starting to cry again.

It's good that they're getting along now. Now Raena won't have to worry about being alone anymore...

"Hey... Ail."

"What's up... Barry?" I asked him.

"The Master Chef... Er... no." He cleared his throat. "I want to apologize to you for what happened before. I lost faith in my comrades, my friends, despite all we've been through. You were strong enough to believe in Raena, but I was not... I'm truly sorry."

"Well, as much as I appreciate the apology, are you sure you're apologizing to the right person?"

He had a moment of realization, then... "Right."

Barry walked up to Raena, who was still talking with Chelsea and Taffy.

"Raena, I..."

"Yeah, I know. I heard what you said to Ail." She told him. "It's okay, Barry."

"I'm really sorry!" He exclaimed. "I really do consider you a friend, Raena. It was wrong of me to try and attack you, when you were trying to save Taffy..."

"You were just worried about your sister, right? So, it's alright. Don't worry about it, okay?" Raena said, giving him a warm smile.

"Oh, I can't believe it, grr!" Taffy cut in suddenly. "I can't believe you were so mean to Raena, brother! Meanie!"

"But Taffy, he transferred from his other school for your sake... I'm sure he was really worried about you."

"Wha, really? You mean the school you said you were so happy to get into because it had good culinary classes, it was challenging, and there were cute girls to show off to?"

Wait, what was that last thing...?

"Yes... But that doesn't matter now." Barry hugged Taffy. "I'm just glad you're safe after all, little sis."

"Heehee, everybody wants to hug me today, huh?" She uttered, then hugged Barry back. "Okay, I forgive you, big bro!"

Heh, that's actually kind of sweet. Good for you, Barry...

"That being said..." Barry let go of Taffy, and entered a... very familiar flamboyant pose. "The Master Chef feels very distraught with himself, that he would go and attempt to lay a finger on a lady... Especially one as cute as yourself, Raena!" He bowed. "Please accept the Master Chef's most sincere apologies."

"E-eh...?" Raena responded in confusion.

And he goes back to his "chef boy" self... Seriously though, how did I not see this coming?!

"And how could the Master Chef not notice you were a girl this entire time?!" He slapped his head lightly. "He is most distraught with this as we-..."

"Hey, that's enough, brother!" Taffy said, purposefully interrupting him. "Stop hitting on Raena! She already has a boyfriend!"

"N-no, the Master Chef was merely expressing his appreciation for the cute lady before hi-..."

"Be careful, Raena! My brother is a playboy; don't listen to anything he says!"

"H-hold on just a second! The Master Chef is no-..."

"And would you stop talking so weird? I thought after all this time you would have stopped pretending to be a 'Master Chef' or whatever!"

"P-pretending!?" Chef boy stated in horror. "H-how can one's own sister say such a hurtful thing...?"

It took all I could to keep myself from cracking up laughing at that point.

"... You know, I thought that no matter what I did, the most important things to me, or anyone else, would never return..." Tech told me suddenly. "But things turned out good for everyone in the end, didn't they? I'm... really glad."

"Yeah, me too..." I responded. "But if that's really what you thought, why did you even bother doing anything at all?"

"I guess... I didn't want anyone else to feel the same pain as me, or you, or probably even Ms. Reachet..."

It's true I don't know what she went through to come to this point... It doesn't justify her actions, of course, but... I wonder what happened between her and my father...?

"Well, what's impo'ant is tha' everythin' turned out okay in the end, right?" Leia said to Tech. "You've worked real hard to get ta this point, so ya've pro'ably got lots o' stuff ta say ta me now, huh?"

"Leia..." Tech stared at her, with emotion-filled eyes. "There are a lot of things I want to say, but they don't matter now..."

Tech brought Leia to an embrace, crying on her shoulder.

"I-I'm just so happy to see you again, Leia! So happy I can hug you like this again..."

"J-jeez Tech, ya're emb'rassin' me... Since when were you such a crybaby?" She said, hugging him back, trying to keep from crying herself. "Ah well. I'm glad ta see you again, too..."

"Hey, buds!" Mac yelled, running up to all of us while carrying Sete on his back.

"Oh, it's good ol' Mac! How're ya doin'?"

"What kept you?" I asked him. "You could've come back sooner; we beat the monsters a while ago..."

"Well, I found this guy tuckered out way over there... I tried to wake him up, but I wasn't able to. So I just decided to carry him here instead!"

"Jeez, that Sete!" Leia exclaimed angrily, after removing her embrace from Tech. "Always makin' trouble for people, as usual!"

"Nah, don't worry about it, bud. He's just tuckered out, is all!" Mac turned to the rest of us. "And so is everyone else, right? How about we all head back, buds?"

"Yeah, sounds good." I answered him. "Let's go ho-..."

"... None of you are going anywhere!"

Ms. Reachet exclaimed in anger, having got back up, surrounding herself with dark energy again.

"It's over, Ms. Reachet!" I exclaimed back to her. "There's no one left for your monsters to take over!"

"Oh, really now?! I'm not so sure about that, Ail!" She said snidely, clearly peeved at all of us, especially me.

"If you try and take the power of any of our comrades, the Master Chef will give you a good roasting!"

"There's still one person left, besides the teachers and your friends..."

"W-who? Who is it...?" Raena asked worriedly.

"Heheh... HAHAHA!!!"

The darkness surrounding Ms. Reachet grew, sending out multiple monster shadows. And they all took over... Ms. Reachet's own body!

Is she insane?!

Ms. Reachet, in her giant monster form, jumped up and landed near our area. The resulting shockwave knocked most of us over.

"W-what power..." Tech stated in bewilderment. "It's much more powerful than the previous monsters!"

"You guys are all tired from before, right? I'll handle this!"

"No, Ail!" Raena shouted in disagreement. "You can't do this alone!"

"Indeed. If this is truly our final battle against Ms. Reachet, then it is only fitting that the original trio finish this, right?" Chef boy suggested.

"... Okay. Let's do this, Raena! And chef boy!"

"Chef boy...? I thought I wa-..."

"We'll leave it to you, Ail. Be careful." Tech said.

"Kick her butt, Raena! For everyone's sake!" Chelsea added.

"Good luck, buds!"

--

"Paint!" Raena took out her paintbrush.

"Culinary!" Chef boy took out his spatula.

"Treble!" And I took out my sword.

"FOOLS!!!" Ms. Reachet bellowed in a monstrous voice. "Do you not remember who gave you your weapons?! Who taught you how to fight!"

"I remember full well! It was Mr. Musico who taught me!"

"And it was Mr. Kooc who taught the Master Chef!"

"A-an-... And Ms. Pensil taught me!"

"It is no matter. You still... WILL NOT DEFEAT ME!!! Your measly powers alone won't be enough!"

"Maybe you're right..." I admitted. "But I'm sure they will be when combined together!"

"A combined attack, you say? The Master Chef likes that idea! Our 'Art Tri-Blast' will surely..."

"Art Tri-Blast?! That's a stupid name..."

"All right then... What do you suggest?"

"U-um, I have an idea..." Raena uttered.

"Okay, let's hear it!" Chef boy and I said in unison.

Raena told us what to call it.

"What a wonderful name! The Master Chef is most pleased by this!"

"Yeah, it sounds pretty good! It also gives us an easy way of knowing what we should do." I patted Raena's head. "Good job!"

"Heehee, thanks..."

"Alright, let's go! Our final attack!" I ran up to monster Reachet, charging up my sword.

"FLAME-BROILING..." Chef boy shot heat energy into my weapon.

"... CHROMA..." Raena gathered a multitude of paints around my blade.

I jumped up into the air at her, with my sword fully charged, and unleashed all of the gathered energy at Ms. Reachet.

"... VIBRATO!!!"

"N-no... NO!!! NOOOOO!!!!! AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!" And then she exploded.

--

"Are all of you okay?" Taffy asked us, after we had walked back to them.

"Yeah... But man am I beat!" I said, almost collapsing on the floor.

"B-but we did it, right?" Raena asked me weakly. "W-we finally did it!" She gave a huge smile.

"Heh, we sure did!" Seeing her face, I couldn't help smiling back at her the same way.

"So, what happened to Ms. Reachet, bud? Is she..."

"She's still alive. She somehow managed to survive that explosion... But she's unconscious right now, so there's no need to worry about her anymore."

It's over... for real this time. Finally...

"Oh, I'm so proud of you all!" A voice said from behind us.

"Ms. Pensil!"

She walked up to us slowly, Mr. Musico and Mr. Kooc following close behind.

"You all did a fantastic job!" Mr. Musico stated, adjusting his moustache. "Well done, all of you!"

"Indeed! That battle left a good taste in my mouth!" Mr. Kooc added.

"I still can't believe it, though..." Ms. Pensil said sadly. "That Ms. Reachet was the one behind everything all along. She did so much to help us, then she..."

"Ms. Pensil..."

"But you all managed to pull through in the end! So we won't have to worry about the monsters ever again! Oh, I'm so proud of you all!"

"You... said that already..." I uttered.

"Heheh, I guess that just goes to show how proud of you all I am!"

"Hooray! Hooray! Everyone's okay!" Taffy danced around in joy. "Let's celebrate! Party time~!"

"Maybe later..." I said in exhaustion. "I'm so tired!"

"You all have been through a lot; go get some much deserved rest. We'll take care of Ms. Reachet." Mr. Musico assured us.

So I managed to overcome all of the battles and hardships I've faced, thanks to the kind people I've met over the course of the past few months. It's funny... Despite all of the bad things that've happened in this school, I got what I wished for... great friends. This school definitely didn't turn out being dull at all!

I stood there for a while, watching all of them leave through the familiar path back to our classroom.

Tech, Mac, Chelsea, chef boy, Taffy, Leia... And of course, my best friend of all...

"Um, Ail?"

"Raena!" I said, surprised she stayed behind with me. "Sorry for falling behind."

"I-it's not that. I just... wanted to thank you."

"Thank me?"

"You know... for everything. If it wasn't for you, I would have either stayed behind my guise as Tear, or have been on the run as Raena. And Ms. Reachet would have kept terrorizing everyone with her monsters..." She turned her frown into a smile. "But everything's fine now, thanks to you, Ail! Thanks for always staying my friend, no matter what!"

I shook my head. "Nah, there's no way I could've done it alone. I was a wreck before. I thought I would be alone forever; I thought no one would ever stay by my side if they knew the true me." I changed my frown into a smile. "But you did. I feel a lot better about myself, about everything, thanks to you. So I'll say back to you... Thanks for always staying my friend, no matter what, Raena!"

"Ail..."

"So let's go back, get some rest, and do some fun stuff like we promised!"

"Yes, okay! B-but there's still something I want to say to you first..."

"Sure, what is it?"

"U-um... I-I..." Raena's face turned red, and she began fidgeting.

"Huh? What's wrong?"

"I-I... I lo-...!"

"Congratulations, comrades!" Chef boy fiercly patted our backs suddenly, almost pushing Raena and I into each other.

"Argh, chef boy!"

"Mngh..." Oddly enough, Raena seemed to be unusually upset with him as well.

"My apologies. The Master Chef realized he forgot to give a proper congratulatory speech to the both of you! And... that was it."

Really? Some "speech" that was!

I sighed. "Well, whatever. Everyone must be waiting for us, so let's head back already. And say goodbye to this room for good..."

"W-wait, Ail...!"

"Ah, right. You had something to say to me, Raena?"

She sighed as well. "It's okay, don't worry about it. I still have plenty of time to tell you, right?"

"Yeah. We'll still have long and fun-filled years of school together!"

We'll have lots of fun... with all of our friends!

The End of the Final Chapter of Paint & Treble!

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Writer's Comments:

So marks the end of the tale of Raena and Ail! I hope you had as much fun reading this as I did writing it! I can't believe it's over... and I can't believe this chapter ended up being so long!

Yeah, I know I said that so many times before, but this one is sooo much longer than the others. And to be honest, I'm kind of happy about that. It means I was able to put as much detail into this one as I wanted to. My thoughts on this last chapter?

I think it turned out pretty well. I'm not that happy about the fighting parts, but I really like the rest. And this being the final chapter, I really wanted to do a good job with this one (obviously).

So yeah, this is the end. No more Paint & Treble. Now on to writing other stuff! Yay!

- CS-Masyet

... What's that? You want more stories about Raena, Ail, and the others? Well, too bad! There won't be anymore!

...

Just kidding! This story isn't over yet! It'll continue, in the new season of Paint & Treble! In fact, here's a preview for you...

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Ail

A couple weeks later...

It's been a while since the incidents with the monsters took place. All of us were now leading normal, peaceful lives, having no need to fight any longer. Thankfully the bad rumors revolving around Raena died down, and Ms. Reachet was now in prison. Most of the people she captured had no memory of what she did, only thinking she simply kidnapped them for some reason.

The only ones who know about the monsters are me, Raena, chef boy, Taffy, Chelsea, Tech, Leia, Mac, and the three teachers who taught us about our weapons. Sete technically knows as well, but he seems to think it was all a bad dream.

As for the guy with the blue sword... I never got the chance to meet him. After he saved the people trapped in the green tanks, he vanished without a trace...

And as for my weird powers? I've decided to tell my friends about them... someday. But I know they'll still support me no matter what, so I'm not worried. There was something else more pressing on my mind, anyway...

... I sat in my bed in my room, now the only usable bed in the room, feeling a bit melancholy. Why is that?

The other bed, Raena's bed, was now devoid of any sheets, instead holding bags of her things.

"You finished packing?" I asked Raena, getting up from my bed.

"Yep, all done."

"I still can't believe you're moving out of this room..."

"W-well, it's not like the teachers will let a boy and a girl share the same dorm room, no matter who they are... We were lucky they gave us some extra time together as it is."

"Yeah, I suppose so..." I sighed. "So which dorm room are you moving to? Do you know who's going to be your new roommate?"

"Actually, my older sister has moved to an area near here. I'm going to be staying with her from now on."

"Really? I didn't know you had a sister."

"She's really nice. You should come visit sometime."

"Alright! By the way, do you need help moving your things to your sister's house?"

"I was going to call her to help me..."

"You don't have that much stuff, right? We can bring them over with my moped if you want."

"O-okay, if you're offering. Thank you, Ail!"

"Of course! Let me help you carry some stuff outside."

I grabbed one of Raena's bags, proceeding to the door out of the room. I waited for her, who was having trouble moving the bag she was holding out herself.

"You okay?"

"Ergh, this is heavy... Oof!" She dropped her bag lightly out on the hallway floor.

"Maybe we should get some more help..."

"Um, excuse me..." Said a unfamiliar voice from behind us.

I turned around, seeing a young person in a ponytail.

"Who're you?"

"Your... new roommate."

To be continued... in Paint & Treble: RART!