Chapter 23: The Wind and the Waiting Room

We are climbing the final leg. The "special" staircase. The one that tourists never see.

Below us, the Main Deck is a chaotic memory. Above us, the Top Deck—and Kuro—waits in the center of the purple storm.

"My hands are freezing", Inoe shouts over the gale. She is climbing barefoot, her toes gripping the cold steel grating. "I cannot feel my fingers. If I fall, I am haunting all of you".

"Don't fall", Kenuji yells back. He is right behind her, using his telekinesis to create small windbreaks around us, but the atmospheric pressure is too erratic for a solid shield. "Just keep moving. One hand, one foot. Do not think about the drop".

"I am thinking about the drop!" Muji wails. He is clinging to the railing with all four limbs, looking less like a majestic tiger warrior and more like a terrified orange cat stuck in a tree. "Why is it so high? Who builds things this high? Birds? Are we birds?"

"We are cats", I say, grabbing the back of his tank top and hauling him up the next step. "And cats always land on their feet. So technically, falling is our superpower".

"That is not how physics works!" Kenuji corrects me, but he grabs Muji's other arm to help.

We scramble up. The metal groans under our weight. The tower is swaying. It is a terrifying, rhythmic lurch—left, right, left—as the structure struggles against the supernatural storm raging above.

We reach a platform. It is a small maintenance landing, barely big enough for the four of us. There is a heavy steel door leading back inside the central pillar.

"This is it", Kenuji says, wiping slime off the keypad. The corruption from the Eclipse has seeped into everything, coating the tower in a thin layer of black grease. "This door leads to the final elevator shaft. From there, it is a straight shot to the Top Deck".

He types on the keypad. Beep-beep-beep-buzz.

"Access denied", the electronic voice says cheerfully.

"Of course", Kenuji sighs. "Kuro locked it from the inside".

"Stand back", Muji says, cracking his knuckles. "I will knock".

"Wait", I say. "Listen".

We freeze.

Through the heavy steel door, we can hear music.

It is elevator music. Soft, generic, soothing jazz.

"Is that... saxophone?" Inoe asks, confused.

"Why is there jazz playing in the apocalypse?" Muji asks.

"Because Kuro has a flair for the dramatic", Kenuji says. "And he is mocking us".

Muji growls. He manifests his silver claws. "I am going to turn that saxophone into a pretzel".

He slashes the door. SHING.

The steel peels open like wet cardboard. We step through the hole.

We are not in an elevator shaft.

We are in a waiting room.

It is impossible. We are 220 meters in the air, inside a steel pillar, but the room looks like a dentist's office. There are beige chairs. There is a coffee table with magazines. There is a water cooler. The walls are painted a soothing pastel green.

And standing behind a reception desk is a demon.

It is a small demon, wearing a nurse's uniform that is too tight. It has green skin, four eyes, and horns. It is typing on a computer.

"Do you have an appointment?" the demon asks without looking up.

We stare.

"Uh", Muji says, lowering his claws. "No?"

"Then please take a number", the demon points to a red dispenser on the wall. " The Master is currently busy destroying reality. He will be with you shortly".

"We don't have time for this", I say, stepping forward. "We are here to stop him".

"I understand", the demon says pleasantly. "But procedure is procedure. Please take a seat. Would you like some water? It is filtered".

"It is a trap", Kenuji whispers. "Do not touch the water. Do not sit in the chairs".

"I am thirsty", Muji says, eyeing the water cooler.

"Muji, no", Inoe hisses.

"But it bubbles", Muji says.

"Listen, lady", Yoshi-no, wait, Yoshi is still fighting at the bottom. It feels wrong without him. I have to be the tough one.

"Listen", I say, summoning a ball of holy light in my hand. "We are going up. Now. You can either open the door to the stairs, or I can purify you until you are nothing but a bad smell".

The demon looks at the light. All four of its eyes blink.

"Code Red", the demon sighs. "Intruders in the lobby. Deploying countermeasures".

It presses a big red button on the desk.

The waiting room transforms.

The beige chairs grow teeth. They snap their jaws, turning into mimics. The coffee table unfolds spider legs. The water cooler explodes, releasing a water elemental shaped like a shark.

"I knew the water was evil!" Muji yells.

The magazine rack shoots razor-sharp pamphlets at us.

"Defend!" Kenuji shouts.

Muji drop-kicks a chair mimic. It tries to bite his foot, but he spins and slams it into the wall. "Bad furniture! Sit!"

Inoe catches the flying pamphlets with her mind. "Really? '10 Ways to Submit to the Darkness'? This is terrible reading material". She shreds them telekinetically.

I face the water shark. It lunges at me, jaws snapping.

"Evaporate", I command.

I hit it with a blast of heat. The shark turns into steam instantly, filling the room with fog.

"Kenuji! The door!" I yell.

Kenuji is already at the far door, hacking the lock while dodging attacks from the spider-table.

"It is a puzzle lock!" Kenuji shouts, frustrated. "I have to solve a Sudoku to open it!"

"A Sudoku?" Muji screams, wrestling two chairs at once. "Just break it!"

"It is magical! If I break it wrong, the room explodes!" Kenuji types furiously. "Six... no, nine... okay, row three is complete..."

"Hurry up!" Inoe yells. She is floating in the air, holding back the receptionist demon who has pulled out a shotgun. "She has a gun! Why does the nurse have a gun?"

"American healthcare system?" Muji guesses, punching a chair into splinters.

"Got it!" Kenuji cheers.

The door clicks. Ding.

"Elevator going up", a pleasant voice announces.

The door slides open.

"Go! Go! Go!" I shout.

We dive through the door. Muji grabs the spider-table by one leg and throws it at the receptionist.

"Here is your tip!" he yells.

We pile into the corridor beyond. The door slams shut behind us, cutting off the sound of the shotgun blast.

We are in a service tunnel. It is dark again. The air is cold.

"That was weird", Muji says, panting. He checks his arm. "A chair bit me. I have teeth marks".

"We are getting closer", Kenuji says, pointing ahead. "I can feel the pressure. It is heavy".

We run down the corridor. It slopes upward. The walls are vibrating.

We turn a corner and stop.

Standing in the hallway is a girl.

She is young, maybe six years old. She is wearing a red kimono. She is holding a temari ball.

She is crying.

"I am lost", she sobs. "I cannot find my mommy".

My heart breaks instantly. "Oh, sweetie", I start to step forward.

"Stop", Inoe grabs my shoulder. Her nails dig in. "Look at her shadow".

I look.

The girl has no shadow.

Instead, the shadow of a massive, multi-headed hydra is cast on the wall behind her.

"It is a lure", Kenuji whispers. "A spectral trap. If you touch her, she will eat you".

"That is messed up", Muji growls. "Using a kid?"

The girl looks up. Her face changes. Her mouth opens too wide. Rows of shark teeth glitter in the dark.

"Play with me", she hisses.

The hallway stretches. The walls fall away.

We are no longer in the tower. We are in a void. A dark, empty space with no floor and no ceiling. Just us and the girl.

"Illusion barrier", Inoe says calmly. "She pulled us into her mindscape. She wants to play a game".

"I hate games", Muji says.

"Tag", the girl screams. "You're it!"

She lunges. She turns into the hydra shadow—a massive beast with seven heads made of smoke and teeth.

"Scatter!" I yell.

We jump in different directions. But there is no ground. We are floating in the void.

"There is no gravity here!" Kenuji realizes, flailing. "We cannot move!"

The hydra heads snap at us. One catches Muji's leg.

"Get off!" Muji kicks it, but his foot passes through the smoke. "It is intangible! I cannot hit it!"

"It is a mental battle!" Inoe shouts. "Physical attacks don't work! You have to believe you can hit it!"

"I believe I want to go home!" Muji yells.

"Focus!" Inoe closes her eyes. She projects her mind outward. She visualizes a cage. A bright, pink, psychic cage.

A cage manifests around the hydra. The monster roars, thrashing against the bars.

"I got it!" Inoe strains. "But I cannot hold it forever! It is strong!"

"Haruka!" Kenuji calls out. "Light conquers shadow! Imagine the sun!"

I close my eyes. I am floating in nothingness. I think of the sun. I think of the dawn. I think of the light that burned away the spirit in the convenience store.

"Sacred Art: Imagination Breaker!"

I open my eyes. I project a beam of light from my chest. It is not real light; it is the idea of light.

It hits the hydra.

The monster screeches. The illusion cracks. The void shatters like a glass mirror.

We fall.

We land hard on the concrete floor of the hallway. The little girl is gone. In her place is a small, burnt paper doll lying on the floor.

"Creepy", Muji shudders, standing up and brushing dust off his pants. "I am never having kids".

"We are almost there", Kenuji says, looking at the door at the end of the hall. "That is the maintenance hatch to the Top Deck".

We walk to the hatch. It is vibrating violently. Purple light is leaking through the seams.

"Ready?" I ask.

"No", Inoe says honestly. "My hair is a mess. I look terrible".

"You look like a warrior", Muji says, punching her lightly on the shoulder. "A very messy warrior".

"Thanks", she smiles weakly.

"Yoshi isn't here", Kenuji says quietly. "We have to do this without our tank".

"We are the tank", Muji says, puffing out his chest. "I am the tank. You are the brains. Inoe is the control. Haruka is the nuke".

"I am the nuke?" I ask.

"Big boom", Muji nods. "We just have to get you close enough to Kuro to set you off".

"Okay", I take a deep breath. "Let's go punch a wizard".

Muji grabs the wheel of the hatch. He spins it. The metal groans.

He kicks the door open.

Wind howls. Purple light floods the corridor.

We step through.

We are not in a waiting room anymore. We are not in a hallway.

We are at the top of the world.

And the world is ending.