Chase clutched her stomach on the train ride back to Kerning City.
She had, through sheer luck, won the competition between her, Tear, and Kyle for two big reasons:
First, Kyle had a weak bladder.
Second, Chase had been too paralyzed with fear to even move.
She sighed. She was an Explorer! Part of the Maple Alliance! She had fought off countless bad guys! She had fought in a war for crying out loud!
Well, a war against a mostly android army. But that still counts.
Regardless, she had managed to slip away from the Nova couple while they were in line to order the celebratory lunch, bought and paid for by Kyle. Chase half-wondered if she was being rude by walking out on them.
No, more importantly than that, she hadn't learned anything useful at all! First Kinesis tells her that couples act all flirty, then Tear and Kyle tell her that couples don't act all flirty. It made no sense!
"Now arriving at: Kerning City station" The subway announcer voice chimed as the train car screeched to a halt. The various people who were riding the train gathered up their belongings; coats, bags, assorted spears, bows, and wands…Chase managed to squeeze herself in between a warrior with a small sword strapped to her hip and a rather stern businessman clutching a briefcase before darting out the doors as they opened.
As she climbed up the steps the ceiling fell away to reveal the dusty skyline of Kerning City. Normally the shadowy figures of thieves could be seen darting in and out of various buildings, practicing stealth. Today, however, the city was fairly quiet, as if everyone simply decided to take a nice summer nap, only waking up to realize they had slept through the entire day before just saying "screw it" and ordering a pizza for dinner. Chase's stomach rumbled.
She briefly wondered if she could still catch the train back to New Leaf City in time for Kyle and Tear to treat her to dinner, but was interrupted by some muffled voices. Curiously, she peeked around the corner of the nearest building, and spotted two explorers. There was a girl with shiny, purple-tinted hair, wearing a red Armis and holding a white Nisrock bow. And there was a boy with blue-green hair, wearing a Dark Burglar hat. They were arguing about something.
"…or the last time, Olive: You. Can. Not. Touch. Them." The boy stamped his foot to make his point.
"Aw come on, just a little?" The girl, Olive, cooed. "They wook so fwuffy!"
"Quit making fun of them!"
"Rondo, you're no fun…"
The boy, Rondo, huffed. "I don't like people touching my ears. Do I look like a puppy-dog to you?"
"A little, yeah."
"HEY!"
"I tell it like it is." Olive shrugged. "And you look like a puppy." She made a begging motion with her hands and started going "Arf! Arf!"
"Cut that out!"
"Make me!" She stuck out her tongue.
Chase stared at the two from behind her wall. She had seen them before, briefly, and she knew they were part of the Maple Alliance. They were friends of that explorer guy who had fought Lotus on the Black Heaven.
"What are those two idiots arguing about now?" Sighed the explorer guy who had fought Lotus on the Black Heaven, who had appeared next to Chase while she had been watching the two.
Chase mumbled a response before the realization set in. She leapt back and nearly tripped over a rainspout. The explorer caught her hand before she fell completely.
"You ok?" He asked.
"F-fine, thanks…" Chase said. She regained her balanced and let go of his hand to brush off her blouse. "Don't startle me like that, though! You nearly blew my cover!"
"Cover? Sorry, I guess."
"Ehh, it's ok. So…um…"
"Yuuki."
"Yuuki! Sorry. So, what are those guys arguing about?" Chase gestured to the pair, who were still arguing about something Chase didn't understand.
"Those two?" Yuuki shrugged. "Could be anything. They argue about the littlest things. They've never really gotten along, they're like oil and water."
"Huh." Chase stared at the two.
"I mean, at one point Rondo was trying to arrest Olive." Yuuki continued. "Tess once joked that there might be something between the two, but they're just way too different."
"Uh-huh." Chase nodded quietly while the warrior kept talking.
"Like this one time, we were all eating some songpyeon…"
Chase snapped to attention. "Wait, what did you say?!"
"Uh, songpyeon, it's like a rice cake with…"
"No, not that!" Chase said, suppressing her growling stomach. "You said there was something between the two of them?!"
"Well, no, that was a joke Tess-"
"Eehehehehe!" Chase giggled and wagged her tail. "Like Tear and Kyle, gotta get them together!"
"Um, I don't think that's such a good-"
"Matchmaker~! Matchmaker~!" Chase hummed. She took out her whistle and blew, as quietly as she could. She thought of Eka, and so she appeared in a discrete flash of light.
"You called?" Asked the pink hawk.
"Eka! I need you to sneak up behind those two…" She gestured at the pair still arguing about something pointless. "And blast the guy with the strongest wind gust you can muster, enough to push the two of them together!" Chase giggled and bounced up and down.
"W-wait, this really isn't such a-" Yuuki started.
"Oh!" Interrupted Chase. "But be sneaky about it! Nothing too suspicious and nothing hurty!"
"Why am I doing this?" The hawk sighed. "Ehh, if it makes you happy, then, whatever." Eka flapped her wings and took off into the sky. Chase peeked from behind the corner.
"Chase, wait, stop for a-"
"Shhh!" She waved her hand to dismiss him. From an alley across the way, Chase could make out a large, shadowy figure. The figure raised two apendages, and brought them back down.
The alley was accosted by a gigantic blast of wind, which seemed to be amplified by the narrowness of everything in the city. The visible mini-storm roared through towards the pair with astonishing speed, and plowed right into the back of the boy. In a single, smooth movement, Rondo lost his balance and fell forward. He reached out his arms to catch something to break his fall. At the same time, Olive raiser her hands in self-defense from the falling thief. The two hit the ground with simultaneous "oofs". What remained of the gigantic windstorm rocketed out through any exit the pressure could find. Both Chase and Yuuki covered their faces as they were hit with the remaining strength of the gale.
When the wind died down, Chase peeked out from behind the wall, as did Yuuki. Chase saw Eka disappear in a small flash, and then glanced at the pair on the ground. Rondo had landed on top, while Olive had landed on her back.
"Ow! Ow, ow, ow!" Olive complained, clutching the back of her head. "Ow!"
"Urrrgh…what hit us…?" Rondo struggled a little to get up.
"Ow! Quit elbowing me!" Olive shoved the thief off of her and to the side. She looked around for her bow and when she found it, she quickly grabbed it, pulled an arrow out of nowhere, and notched it, pointing at anything and everything.
Rondo took an equally defensive stance, pulling two throwing knives and warily looking around the alley.
"Who's there?" He ventured.
"Come out so I can turn you into a pincushion!" Shouted Olive.
"T-that…didn't work…" Chase looked crestfallen.
She was startled by one of Rondo's throwing knives flying inches from her face. She immediately jumped back behind the wall.
"I know you're there!" Shouted the thief. "I can hear you! Both of you!"
"You wanna fight, you coward? I'll give you a fight!" Olive pointed her bow in the same direction and began muttering the enchantment for Flame Surge.
A panicked Chase glanced over at Yuuki, who mouthed to her:
"Run."
She nodded furiously, then took off as fast as her legs would carry her.