Loading into the elevator with the three of them, he was smiling.

She wanted to punch it off of his face.

"What are you so happy for?" Kumatora snapped at him, scowling up at the expression on Duster's face, like the man had just been given a bath in warm fuzzies. He gave a small "hm?" sound and looked down to her, unaware that she had been looking at him, as he always seemed to be unaware of everything that wasn't right in front of him. The things he missed sometimes, she had to wonder if he was playing any of it off.

"What do you mean?" he asked, furthering the point. Can't even tell you've got that dumb look on your face?? You've gotta be kidding me!

"You've got the sappiest look on your face. Honestly, it's making me feel a little sick."

He blinked at her, looked upwards as though he had to think on the matter a minute. "O-oh. Oh, well," he said, almost a little awkwardly. Lucas looked over at the two of them, waiting for the answer as well, his hand on Boney's head while the elevator went up, and up, and up, and up, and up...

"Well," he started again, "I guess I just... I realized how many good things I have in my life."

Kumatora continued to stare at him, her expression nonplussed. "You realize the situation we're in, right? Baddies around every corner? Sleeping beauty beneath us here with a freaking needle in his head?? Nevermind the fact we're goddamn aliens here!! This isn't even our own damn world!!!"

Duster winced a little as her voice rose, an eye towards the ceiling and the other shut as he reached up to rub the back of his neck. Lucas stared at her, surprised by her outburst, and also glanced away nervously.

"I guess... I mean, I know you're right. I know all that. But... it's still good. I never would have thought I'd find some great friends like OJ and Shimmy. I know a lot happened, I know a lot of it was my fault, but those three years were the best I can remember. It was hard to leave them, I never expected that I'd see them again... I didn't expect that they'd welcome me back so easily." He shrugged his shoulders a little and smiled again, cheerful. Duster wasn't a handsome man, but even with her glare trained on him, the smile had a way of making him more attractive.

Son of a bitch, she thought to herself, I believe him.

"Having those guys, and my dad- he asked you to look for me, Lucas, and that, no matter what it meant... I mean, I like to think... well, if it was something else, I don't want to know!" he added, hastily, and then laughed. "Just the thought of him sending you to look for me, that's enough... and, well, you guys, of course," he finished up, brightening again.

"Huh?" Kumatora asked, eyebrows lifting in confusion. The floors passed them by as they talked. Up, and up, and up, and up, and up, and...

"You guys," Duster repeated with the utmost sincerity. "I'd never have believed I'd be doing something like this! And I can't imagine doing it with anyone else. I'm really happy. Despite everything that's happened to me, and everything that we're going to go up against, I... I'm really happy."

There was silence in the elevator. Lucas grinned up at Duster bashfully, sharing the sentiment, but Kumatora just opened and closed her mouth like a fish out of water before she finally decided she had nothing to say to any of that.

It was a stupid thing. Even if she believed him, what a stupid, sappy thing to say! "Moron," she snapped finally, unable to keep it back. A chuckle escaped the man and he scratched at his face sheepishly. However, his thoughts seemed to go right back to where they were, which left her alone to her own thoughts.

Sure, he has DCMC... and he has his dad. Hell, that's not much. Even Lucas has his dad still. And his... his dumb dog. What do I have? A bunch of stupid ghosts. They aren't even mine, really...

That was a sad thought. Dumped into Osohe Castle without a single family member to speak of. Magypsies, sure, but they were all gone now. When they reached the end, there wouldn't be anyone waiting for her. She glanced down and scuffed her boot on the ground.

"Floor 100..."

She shut her eyes and took a deep breath. Get it together, damnit. This isn't over yet.

***

They'd gone through a lot together. Finding the egg for starters, and then the Magypsies and their Needles... uncovering the layers of intrigue, fighting against the perversions of nature called chimeras, and finally coming to the end of a hundred hundredth floors to meet up with the mastermind of all their sorrows. It was draining to finally come to this point- to finally be able to move, at the expense of a little boy that died three years ago.

Kumatora coughed and dragged herself up to her knees, her stomach feeling queasy. She ignored it in favour of watching Lucas clasping his brother's body, a few final breaths making the red-haired boy's chest rise and fall before finally it lay still. Where's your happiness now? she found herself asking no one in the most acid tones she could dredge up. It was a long, slow process to get up to her feet. Flint's words bounced around in her head- they didn't seem real. She swallowed.

After all that had happened and everything they'd learned... yeah, it was a little hard to believe. Hard to believe that all the corruption could be redeemed just through Lucas' little heart. Is that all it'll take? And what if it's not? What if he pulls the needle and bam, we're done for?

She looked over at Duster and nearly snapped. That look! That stupid look on his face still, all calm and serene, like nothing could go wrong. But so much has! She felt like she was drowning, unable to say a word, to say how frustrated she was, choking in her own disbelief.

Duster looked at her over the body of the dead boy and his wounded father. And he smiled before his eyes turned to watch Lucas pull the final needle.

They all shielded their eyes as the light poured out of the dragon's head. The ground all around them began to tremble violently, more than it had in any other location. Instinctively they all began to move closer together, forming a circle around Claus and Flint, Boney wedging himself in between them all with a whimper as dust began to fall from the rock ceiling. Lucas rejoined them, his expression determined.

The end was coming. Kumatora squeezed her eyes shut, the fear all the way up in her throat.

A hand rested on her shoulder. She looked over, saw Duster looking at her again, and he gave her a shake.

"No regrets, right?" he asked her. She hesitated, her head shooting up again as larger rocks started to fall from the ceiling. She could... she could feel the earth moving, living, breathing...!

He shook her shoulder again and her attention snapped back to him. "Don't tell me you don't have any!" she said, her voice raised over the shuddering earth, her shuddering heart. And he shook his head.

"No regrets!" he yelled, though they weren't very far apart at all. "Why? We're here! We made it, Princess, we made it!"

She had no words. She panted instead, fear gripping her, uncertainty on the verge of belief, if only the rocks would stop falling...

A third time he shook her shoulder, and her gaze focused on him again. He was staring at her over that big nose of his, and for a moment there was nothing else- no rocks, no Lucas or Flint, no dead little boys, no whimpering dog, no darkness and no earthquakes and no dragon.

"We're here," Duster said. His voice was at regular level again, as though everything had gone quiet. "You're here. You're here with me at the end of it all. Of course I'm happy."

Dust and sharp pebbles continued to rain down on them. Unbeknownst to them a chopper lifted into the bloated red sky above, only to be taken down by fiery rocks from the mountains encompassing the valley that once held New Pork City. The seas twisted and the air burned. At the edge of her vision tears were making her see double, and all of hurt and worry and loneliness and hope filled them. And he smiled at her again.

"Moron."

Everything went dark. The dragon awoke.