Chapter 52-Rocky Eats

"Here we are," I announce once the five of us are standing outside Rocky Eats.

I must say, I'm…a bit DISAPPOINTED in Rocky Eats.  The restaurant itself is small, just a worn-out looking shack that's barely able to fit a singular chef and sous chef in the stands, who stand before an open fire that has a giant apple-stuffed boar roasting over it.  In front of the stand, are five wooden stools.  Behind each stool is a LOOONG line, damn near wrapping around the entire mountain.  The second a customer takes a stool, they order, they're served, and in less than a few minutes they are hustled out, where the next customer takes their place.

"I've never been to a restaurant before!"  Khione swoons, "Is this what they're all like?!"

"Same here."

"Never been.

"I don't know."

'Usually restaurants look…at least a little NICER than this," Old-Man F answers, "And they give customers time to chew their food."

"I-I see," Ana replies.

"Who cares?!"  Khione exclaims, "This food will be so good, imma eat it in one bite anyway, let's go!"

And with that proclamation, Khione begins marching towards the restaurant.

"Khione, wait!"  I exclaim as I hold a hand out to the woman, "We have to wait in line."

Khione turns around and begins walking backwards and shrugs at me.

"Who cares?!"  She replies, "I'll just woo the chef with my feminine charms and get us front row priority seating!"

"I'll seduce him too!"  Ana giddily replies as she hustles after Kione.

Old-Man F, Mary, and myself sigh, then follow after the two women.

"Hey!"

"Stop!"

"Line cutter!"

Unpleanatries and curses erupt from the people waiting in line to munch on Rocky Eats as Khione and Ana push their way to the front of the line.

Khione coughs, causing the two people sitting at the stools in front of her and Ana to turn around.

"Whaddya want?"  A fat man asks as they shove another fork full of pasta into their mouth.

"MOVE," Khione orders.

Ana crosses her arms.

The man looks Khione and Ana up and down then snorts.

"MOVE?"  He asks, "Maybe next time, sugar."

As the man turns back to his food, Ana reaches for her katana.

The man's eyes widen, and he turns to his friend, whose eyes are wide as well.  And then, without another word, the two jump to their feet and hustle away.

"SWEET!"  Khione and Ana swoon as they take their seats at the table.

Standing behind the counter, is the head chef, who is busy stirring some mystery liquid with a wooden spoon.  The chef is wearing an orange chef's jacket, white chef's hat, and a round pair of black glasses.  Underneath his glasses and hat, are his bright orange eyes, and short, black comb over sticking up in small spikes.  The chef is a bit taller than Old-Man F, around six foot two.

"Um…waiiit-er!  Yoo-hoo!"  Khione exclaims as she waves a hand towards the head chef, "We'd like some service."

"What is it?"  The chef snaps as he turns around, "You're the guys who cut the li-"

But before the chef can finish, upon noticing Ana, the chef's eyes widen, and his mouth falls ajar.

Ana's eyes widen as well.

"Umm…what's going on?"  Khione asks as she looks back and forth between Ana and the Chef.

"Sis-" the Chef begins to say, but he's cut off.

"STOP, THIEF!"  One of the customers cries as they point towards a cackling man in black who's running away from Rocky Eats with a bag of stolen goods, interrupting the Chef.

"He's stealing!"  One of the other customers cries.

"Stop him, Chef Gaia!"  Another customer cheers.

"Go, Gaia!"

"This is what I eat here for!"

The Chef sighs as he pulls off his chef's hat and carelessly tosses it to the countertop before him.

"Here we go again…" the chef grumbles as he aims the spoon he's holding towards the thief like a magic wand, and orange sparks of energy begin to burst and swirl around the chef's body, "I have a headache.  I don't feel like making this a show today."

Khione's and Ana's eyes widen.

"N-no…way…" Khione stammers.

"He…couldn't be…?"  Ana gasps.

"Earth Charge, Level One-" the Chef begins to say.

"-PITFALL!"

Swiftly, the Chef points his spoon towards the ground, and subsequently, a joint pitfall opens up in the ground.

The thief's eyes widen.

"H-huh…?"  The thief asls as they peer towards the ground, seeing a deep, black abyss below us.

The thief screams as they fall into the black abyss below, their cries growing quiet and quieter as they fall, until the thief's screams can no longer be heard.  But never to the customers here the thud of the thief's body hitting the ground.

"Just…how deep does that pitall go…?"  Khione asks.

The customers begin whistling, cheering, and hollering.

"GO, CHEF GAIA!"

"A GREAT SHOW AGAIN!"

With a sigh, the Chef lowers his spoon, then turns back around to face his customers, but not before sliding his white chef's hat back on.

"Now…how can I serve you?"  He asks.

Khione's and Ana's eyes widen.

"YOU'RE THE EARTH CHARGER?!"  They cry.

"And you…?"  The Chef replies as he makes eye contact with Ana, "I…can feel it.  What's this nostalgic feeling?  It…sort of hurts in a sad way…"

"Sort of," Ana answers with a chuckle as she shakes her head, "I…am the Wind Charger, Ana"

The Chef's eyes widen.

"Gaia," the Chef replies, "Head Chef of Rocky Eats."

"Gaia?"  Khione snickers, "That sounds like a girl's name!"

Ana and Gaia peer over at Khione, roll their eyes, then turn back to face one another.

"Guys, what happened?"  I cry as I jog over to Ana and Khione, with Old-Man F and Mary in tow.

"Noah, you won't believe it!"  Ana excitedly exclaims as she turns to face me, "The head Chef of Rocky Eats…is the Earth Charger!"

My eyes widen.  "N-no way…" I marvel.

I then turn to face the Chef, who, upon noticing me, his eyes widen as well.

"Y-you…" the Chef stammers, "I can feel it too…the same thing I felt with her…"

"That's because I'm the Water Charger," I answer, "Noah."

"And I'm Gaia," the Chef replies.

"This is great!"  Mary exclaims as she claps her hands together, "Now we have three out of four of the E-Chargers gathered here!"

"We are SOOO close to preventing the Elemental Apocalypse!"  Old-Man F happily adds.

"Yeah…how great…" Khione grumbles as she crosses her arms and looks away.

"So how about it, Gaia?"  I ask as I hold a hand out to the Chef, "Wanna join our team?  My friends and I are gathering the E-Chargers of the four original elements to prevent the Elemental Apocalypse!"

And without a moment's hesitation, Gaia says: "No."

"HUH?!"  The other four cry.

"Yeah, I thought so…" I reply with a sigh.

"Huh?"  Ana asks, "You EXPECTED Gaia to say no?"

"Of course I did," I answer as I peer up at Ana, "After what YOU pulled, I just assume that recruiting new members is gonna be harder than I thought.  Mary, too."

Ana and Mary awkwardly look away.

"Well this makes things simple," Gaia says as he pushes his glasses up on his nose and peers down over it at me, "Now if you excuse me-"

"THAT'S ALL FOR TODAY, PEOPLE!"  Gaia booms to the crowd, "MY HEAD HURTS, SO I'M CLOSING UP FOR THE DAY!  I'LL BE BACK THE SAME TIME TOMORROW!"

"Oh come on!"

"This isn't fair!"

"I came all this way for nothing?!"

The customers cry and boo and protest, but eventually, they fan out.

Gaia pinches the bridge of his nose and shakes his head with a sigh, then begins to clean up the shop.

"So…may I ask why?"  I ask Gaia.

"Eh?"  Gaia asks as he pauses, then turns to face me.

"Why won't you join the team?"  I ask, "Ana had a good reason, so I want to see if you do, as well."

"Well…if you want to know," Gaia begins to say as he pushes his glasses up, and peers down his nose at me again, "It's because…I HATE humans."

My eyes widen.

"I have no desire to protect humanity, whatsoever," Gaia continues.

"EVEN IF IT MEANS YOU DIE?!"  I cry as I slam my fists on the table.

"Even if it means I die," Gaia answers as he peers down at me.

"PEOPLE ARE DYING BECAUSE OF THE ELEMENTAL APOCALYPSE!"  Khione roars, "AND YOU'RE JUST GOING TO SIT BACK AND DO NOTHING?!"

"I won't raise a finger," Gaia answers.

"How…horrible…" Mary gasps as she covers her mouth.

"Forget it," Ana snorts as she turns away from Gaia and waves a hand at him, "This guy's just an ass."

"This guy is so NOT a hero," Old-Man F sighs.

Khione storms away from Gaia, and Old-Man F then Mary and then Ana smile.

I don't budge.

"Go ahead," Gaia says, "Get outta here."

I sigh, then turn away from Gaia.