Ch.11

The Finale

As he stood there staring into the huge red eye he felt a different kind of anger from all his other fights. It had started out as anger at himself for not being good enough. Then anger at the world for not leaving him be. That night he felt anger at all evil of the universe for targeting his home and his people. 

    "Let’s wipe this off the planet shall we?" he said taking one step forward. 

    "Do we have a plan?" Seunghoon asked never taking his eyes of the creature. 

    "Let’s just throw what we got at it for now" Mino replied unimpressed with himself, but he was still trying to evaluate if it would be possible for him to pull of a stunt similar to last time at the power plant. He knew he would feel a lot better if that thing was removed from earth completely and not just pushed back into the void. 

Neither Jinwoo nor Seunghoon needed to be asked twice and soon all three of them were attacking the creature head on. 

It didn’t take long for it to lash out against them once their attacks started to rain in on it. Letting out the screeching hollow sounds it tore at its surroundings making glass and metal from the surrounding buildings fly around them. 

Seunghoon’s shield did a good job at protecting them, but still small pieces of glass somehow got to them, leaving small cuts on their way. 

Seungyoon who were still to have a go at the creature kept behind them, constantly healing their cuts from when they ventured outside Seunghoon’s protective shields. 

He knew Seungyoon would need to get closer to be able to do his thing to the creature, but being so far up, with everything violently shaking that was a definite no no. 

It was then it occurred to him. If they combined everything they had done so far, then that might just do the trick. 

    "I got a better plan. Jinwoo get me down there. I got an idea. It might not be enough though so Seungyoon get down there and do your absorption thing as soon as I’m done with attacking" he half yelled as he kept firing his blue flames. 

He gave Seunghoon one last glaring look as to say don’t you effin’ lose him again while I’m down there. And then he walked over to the edge.

Seeing Jinwoo fly up he grabbed his hand. 

    "Just drop me when we get close to the ground and get ready to go back for Seungyoon" he said to Jinwoo. 

His inspiration for what he was about to do came from when Seunghoon had used his orb to dig into the creature they had fought back in Barcelona, combined with how he himself had dealt with the shadow hours before while Seungyoon healed the boy. 

When Jinwoo dropped him a few meters from the ground he went straight for it. 

Firing up he ran straight towards the creature, if his theory was wrong what came next could worst case kill him, best case hurt really bad. 

If he was right however.

Firing with all he got in front of him as he ran he watched as the dark smoke like particles burst out from the creature. Taking one last big breath he followed after his fire running straight into the creature. 

Completely surrounded by darkness with his own blue flames as the only source of light he brought up every bit of power left in him releasing it without hesitation. 

This time he had done it. Where he previously had blasted a shockwave of white light he had this time managed to bring out the blue. 

Watching as the walls of blue fire flew out around him in every direction he felt a sense of accomplishment he had yet to experience during a fight so far. The fire burned away everything it came in contact with, doing exactly what he had hoped for. By burning the monster from the inside it got ripped and burned apart. Practically singed away in one big blast from it’s core and outwards.

What he had not counted on was how the shockwave of his attack would shatter all the remaining glass around him. 

Surrounded by the utter chaos of the ground crumbling, glass falling and the lingering smoke of his attacks he staggered backwards as the ground gave way. Now that the monster wasn’t there to support the cavity created by it was the entire thing beginning to cave in on it self. 

Unable to find a way out, trapped between the burning remains of the building behind him and the wast nothingness in front of him he sighed. 

How ironic that he would end up falling to his death after everything he had been through. 

Just as the ground gave way beneath him and the darkness below surrounded him he felt something grab him by the collar of his shirt. 

    "I’m growing really tired of saving you" Jinwoo yelled at him as they flew at incredible speed directly upwards. 

    "I’m eternally grateful for your persistent efforts though" he yelled back feeling a surge of relief. Grabbing Jinwoo’s hand so Jinwoo could let go of his shirt. 

Flying through the air he quickly realized that they weren’t going back to the building where the fight had started. The city beneath them was covered in darkness, the power having been cut by either the fight or the many earthquakes caused by the monster breaking through to the surface. 

Beneath him he could see that several buildings had collapsed and the further from the scene of the fight they got the more people he could see making their way out of hiding, shining tiny lights of their own. 

Soon they descended landing in a small garden square where a lot of people seemed to have gathered together. 

    "I got them both out before your fire could reach them, but we soon realized the earthquake had done a lot more damage than the creature it self" Jinwoo explained, but he was already scanning the crowd for Seungyoon’s face. 

The smell of blood lingered in the air and there were people crying. The small garden square had every inch of it filled with people either suffering or trying to help those injured. 

Finally he spotted Seungyoon by a woman on a bench with two kids laying on either side of her. She was crying and he feared for a second that the kids were already dead, but Seungyoon seemed to be assuring her. 

Then it dawned on him what Seungyoon got planned. 

He quickly made his way over to Seungyoon and grabbed his hand. 

    "Let’s do this" he said determined. 

Seungyoon smiled at him nodding before the two of them walked over to the small water fountain in the center of the garden square. 

He brought up his softest light right away, but for some reason was it a lot stronger than before. Looking to Seungyoon to make sure he weren’t harming him Mino found him to be smiling proudly at him.

    "Let’s do this this" Seungyoon replied closing his eyes to focus on the task at hand. Soon the soft blue light Mino had grown so familiar to began slowly flowing out around them. It looked like a river of blue stars shining brightly spreading blue light across the garden square, but not just going outwards but also upwards into the air. 

He felt his many cuts healing and simultaneously heard the sighs and aw’s from the crowd around them. 

When the last blue lights finally faded minutes later only silence was left behind. No more crying, no yells of desperation. Just calm. 

And then they started clapping. 

Releasing Seungyoon’s hand he took one step back and started clapping too. Seungyoon turned and shook his head at him. Taking his hands in his.  

    "It’s you they should be clapping for" he said "If it weren’t for you would that thing would still be crawling around wrecking the city" Seungyoon bent down his head slightly and kissed his newly healed hand.

    "Thank you for being my hero, our hero!"

They were all fueled by adrenaline alone by the time things had settled around them. Why it had taken normal rescue teams and healthcare so long to reach them they only found out later, it turned out that the entire area had been closed of due to the huge shifts in the ground underneath the city. 

Once the creature had been beaten things had gotten even worse, leading to an entire district caving in on it’s self leaving a huge crater. 

When they finally managed to break free of the crowd they got in a taxi and didn’t get out until they were at an hotel close to the airport. Tomorrow they would go home and Mino couldn’t wait. 

Carrying the takeaway boxes and a change of clothes they had picked up at a store next to the hotel he longed to sleep. Usually he would have dozed of in the car, but after everything that had happened did he have some trouble calming down. 

Although his wounds were all healed was his many worries and questions all consuming. 

    "This is it" Seungyoon said double checking the key card number to the door number. 

Pretty much every hotel had been overbooked with so many people being homeless after the earthquake caused by the monster, so they were happy to have found some simple rooms to hide away for a bit and sleep before going home. 

    "Jinwoo didn’t mention it being this traditional" he muttered seeing the tatami mats and the rolled out futons. 

    "It’s not so bad and the view is relaxing" Seungyoon replied putting his food down on the low table. 

Seungyoon was right, the view from the floor to ceiling tall window was pretty good, revealing a small traditional Japanese garden. Complete with lanterns, running water and stone figures. 

    "Wouldn’t have known this was back here" he mumbled sitting down on the floor to eat. It was only now he realized exactly how hungry he was. Munching away at his noodles he watched as Seungyoon poured them some water and sat down next to him. 

    "Today was something eh" Seungyoon said with a sigh.

    "Something, ya" he replied trying not to think too much.

They ate in silence, watching the Japanese garden outside the window. There was so much he wanted to say, to ask about, but it all could wait for later. 

    "Thank you for saving me" Seungyoon said breaking the silence. 

    "I’ll always come to save you" he replied honestly, still chewing on his food. 

    "Are you angry at me" Seungyoon pouted while leaning in closer so that his chin was resting on Mino's shoulder. 

    "I’m not" he said simply. He weren’t mad, but he understood why Seungyoon thought he might be. "I’m just glad it all worked out. You know they set us up at the first place we went because they used your suit" he began explaining, but didn’t feel like continuing half way through. 

    "How did you find me?" Seungyoon asked curiously. 

    "I can be very persuasive if I want to" he mumbled through another mouthful of noodles. 

Seungyoon laughed and picked up his food again. Mino thought it was best not to elaborate further, because he had a feeling Seungyoon wouldn’t be laughing if he knew exactly what he had done to get the information they needed. 

    "As long as you didn’t kill anyone" Seungyoon said, reading his facial expression a bit too well. 

    "Nah, just burned a hole through a reception desk" he said trying to sound innocent. 

    "You did what?" Seungyoon shook his head at him, but sounded low key amused. 

    "Stupid receptionist said I could get an appointment in two weeks. I weren’t going to sit around and wait for that" he explained before eating the last bit of his meal. 

Looking down at his outfit he realized it was more of a mess than he had initially thought. Huge pieces of his shirt was missing from all the glass cutting into him previously and although his skin had been healed was there old blood stains everywhere. 

Pulling of his shirt before getting to his feet he decided to see if there was a bathtub in this place. 

    "The Japanese never disappoint" he said finding the smallest of bathtubs in the bathroom. A small wooden chair and a shower stood before the tub reminding him how the Japanese usually showered before getting in the bath. 

    "Mind if I go first?" he asked turning back towards Seungyoon. 

He got his mouth stuffed with food, looking like some hoarding chipmunk waving his hand cutely to say go ahead. 

Smiling to himself he started filling the tub before undressing. Sitting on the tiny chair throwing a bucket of water over himself he shivered. Should have checked the temperature before filling it. 

Gazing over at the now half filled tub he wondered if he’d even fit. Maybe he would have to have his feet out on both sides he mused getting up from the tiny chair. 

The tub proved to be deeper than expected and so he fit quite nicely despite his initial worries. His aching muscles already began feeling better as the warm water did it’s magic. He was about to doze of when Seungyoon poked his head in through the door. 

    "You done soon or? Ah, are you sleeping? Please don’t drown" Seungyoon said as soon as he saw him. 

Perking up a little he sat up looking around. 

    "I weren’t sleeping. I think.." he mumbled grabbing a wash cloth from the edge of the tub to rub at his face.  

    "Think there is room for both of us?" Seungyoon said walking into the bathroom. 

    "Not really" he replied honestly "But we can try anyway" he said with a laugh imagining the disastrous flooding they would cause in the attempt. 

    "Let me just shower first" Seungyoon said getting undressed. 

Minutes later and they had both managed to squeeze into the tiny tub. 

    "Well, at least we both fit in here somehow" Seungyoon said laughing. In the end he had ended up between Mino’s legs slightly hunched forward. Mino didn’t mind as he now could rest his head on Seungyoon’s back. 

    "Now I might really go to sleep" he mumbled eyes stinging from the damp in the room and the lack of sleep. 

    "Rub my back first and then you can sleep" Seungyoon replied trying to stretch out one leg only to slide further down into the tub. 

It was only now Mino noticed the tiny shadows on Seungyoon’s skin, like the many cracks that had appeared before only almost healed. Tracing one with his index finger he wondering if it hurt. 

    "What you did today was amazing. Healing all those people" he said picking up his towel and rubbing it lightly focusing especially on the dark lines as if they could simply be washed away. 

    "I was waiting for you. I couldn’t have done it without you" Seungyoon began. 

    "We are a pretty great team" he replied and hesitated before adding "When we stick together" 

Seungyoon leaned back against his chest then. Looking directly up into his slightly bloodshot eyes. 

    "Yeah, when we stick together. I’m sorry I weren’t there when you woke up. We should have gone together" 

    "Let’s not talk about it anymore" he replied, everything had worked out fine and they had both definitely learned their lesson. 

He managed to place a kiss at a slightly awkward angle before Seungyoon turned in his place making water splash onto the floor. 

    "Careful or they’ll charge us extra for water damage" he teased as Seungyoon leaned in for another kiss. 

Getting out of the tub a short while later the mood between them had changed considerably. 

They pulled the two futons next to each other and went to bed for the night. A small window on the opposite wall gave them the perfect view of the moon. 

    "Suddenly I’m not tired at all" Seungyoon whispered in the dark. 

Turning to his side Mino found his boyfriend laying half  practically glowing in the moon light. He had a feeling what that meant, but deciding to play hard to get for his own amusement he rolled back on his back and closed his eyes again. 

    "Just close your eyes and think of something nice and I’m sure you will fall asleep within the minute" he said cooly. 

    "Already did" Seungyoon replied. He felt Seungyoon move up next to him on his futon before whispering "Hello, something nice" 

Smiling into the darkness he felt tiny kisses accompanied by nibbles trace up his arm all the way up to his neck. 

Still playing hard to get he kept his eyes shut. Soon he felt a gentle hand caress the side of his face and before he knew it he was being straddled, soft lips crashing down rather forcefully on his. 

    "You really want to sleep?" Seungyoon asked with an alluring tone to his voice. 

    "Most definitely" he replied, but unable to keep a straight face any longer he smiled opening his eyes to look straight into his lovers dark twinkling eyes. 

    "I don’t believe you" Seungyoon huffed and unable to keep up his act any longer Mino took advantage of the fact that Seungyoon weren’t leaning down on him anymore he sat up slightly and rolled them over so that their positions were reversed. 

    "Believe me now?" he asked teasingly, tracing soft, open mouth kisses down Seungyoon’s neck like he knew he loved. 

    "Not at all" he heard Seungyoon reply, but he was already making his way down his chest. 

For a moment he had though he had the upper hand, being on top, but soon Seungyoon had sat up and pushed him backwards on his back. 

In the end he had been seduced into submission yet again, but who was he to complain when it felt so good. 

Moments later and he was reduced to a panting trembling mess. Still shivering in pleasure he pulled Seungyoon down to him. Whispering in his ear he mumbled between big puffs of breath:

    "Huge monsters can’t kill me.." 

Swallowing hard, trying to catch his breath still he paused for a moment before continuing

    "..but you might just be the end of me" 

Seungyoon looked up at him, while smirking he laughed a little. 

    "Cant let that happen now can I?" he replied in a hoarse voice. 

He then rolled back onto his back and found Mino’s hand to hold in his. Lifting it up in the air between them. 

    "You heal me, if I heal you" Seungyoon said waving their hands a little. 

    "Sure sure, but don’t blame me if we combust. I’m exhausted" he replied, but soft white light was already seeping out in between their intertwined fingers. Soon Seungyoon’s blue mist followed and filled the room completely. 

    "I’ll always see stars when I’m with you won’t I?" he said marveling at the light show above them. 

Seungyoon only chuckled and leaned over kissing him gently on the shoulder. 

They fell asleep like that, watching the lights slowly fade into darkness until the only light left was the soft moon light.

The next morning they made their way to the airport super early only to find pretty much every flight canceled or delayed. Luckily for them weren’t they flying on a commercial plane. 

Relived beyond words when they finally could board the jet Mino sank into the soft leather seat and were fast asleep before the plane had even reached the right travel altitude. 

The next time he woke up it was to violent turbulence just as they were about to go in for landing. The pilot announced that they would be doing an extra loop before trying to land again. 

Looking over at Seungyoon he wondered how he had slept through the violent shakes just now. 

Seunghoon was awake though, scrolling violently on his phone. Smiling wider and wider by the second. 

    "Seems you might just have saved the entire planet yesterday" he said handing him his phone. The news reported on how the monsters terrorizing cities around the world having suddenly disappeared. 

    "I only killed one though" he mumbled as he kept scrolling. 

    "Yes, but it was a mighty big one wasn’t it?" Seunghoon replied taking back his phone. 

That they both could agree on. What had gone through his mind as he ran into the darkness of the creature last night he couldn’t explain now looking back, but it had worked and that was all that mattered. 

    "Jinwoo got a theory that the big one was the first one, the mother if you will and that they were all connected. Even when we took out that first one back home another appeared at the power plant. This one was the source and by taking it out we killed the weak link.. or something" Seunghoon rubbed his eyes, blinking hard afterwards. He was obviously very tired too.

    "I think I get what you are saying. Not sure if weak is the right word to describe it though" he mused trying to wrap his head around this theory. If it was true then that was definitely music to his ears. 

No more monsterfighting for now. Sounded like bliss to him. 

The jet finally landed after taking another lap around the city. The weather was terrible, strong winds and rain hitting them hard in the face as they stepped out of the plane. 

    "Welcome back heroes" Jinwoo mumbled before pulling his coat up to his nose to guard against the weather. 

Seunghoon hurried along first and Mino was tempted to follow. The only one who seemed unbothered by the weather was Seungyoon who stepped onto the soaked asphalt, took a big breath and said: 

    "How good to be back home" 

Before walking happily after Seunghoon and Jinwoo. Mino shook his head smilingly at this, considering how Seungyoon had been abducted and taken by force out of the country wasn’t it really that strange for Seungyoon to be this happy. 

When they entered the arrivals hall was the press already gathered along with what looked to be half the city. 

They waved and greeted the people without answering any questions. That could wait until later. He spotted a sign saying Sewage Heroes which made him snort in laughter before they headed out to the car waiting for them. 

    "Please tell me we can go home" he complained as the car took them out on the highway leading towards the city. 

Authors note: So that was pretty epic right? I hope so! I did my best. 

The big bad enemy was defeated and the world saved.. And people healed! Honestly that scene with the garden square was one of the reasons I wanted to write this whole story. It’s a metaphor for how healing I find his singing to be <3 

Thank you all for reading! What do you think is coming in the next chapter? Will Mino finally get a break from saving someone? The 12th chapter will be the last so please anticipate it!