Clio felt a sharp tug on her arm, and Crade pulled her towards the commentator's box in the far corner. They skirted the field, blending in with the shouting fans until they reached the door.
"Where are the security guards?" Crade muttered, peeking through the window of the metal door. Suddenly, he jumped backwards, nearly crashing into Clio. She stepped out of the way, then leaned forward to look for whatever he had seen. "What? What is it?!"
Crade responded with an uncharacteristically high-pitched squeak of fear. What she saw before them answered her question immediately. Behind the thick glass, a figure in a white cloak stood over the commentator's microphone. Below it, though...
"Where are its feet?!" Clio gasped.
Crade pushed past her and reached for the door handle, all his fear gone in an instant. "We're going to figure out exactly what's going on!" Before Clio could protest, he swung the door open, pulling her in behind him.
The figure turned to face them. "What the- Crade?" it exclaimed. The voice was oddly familiar to Clio.
Crade realized it too. "Tobias?" he said, taking a confused step back. "What's going on?"
Tobias, or the white sheet that Clio now knew to be him, sighed. His shoulders slumped. "I suppose this can't go on forever. It happened a few weeks ago before the Cup started. I wanted to look my best, see, so I was going to freshen up a bit. I usually use a new paintbrush every year before the cup to brighten things up, but..."
"But what?" Crade asked, still confused. Clio suddenly came to a realization.
"But you painted yourself invisible instead, and you were too embarrassed to show yourself!"
Tobias' head bobbed in what must have been a nod. "I was in a hurry and grabbed the wrong paintbrush. I would have just painted over it, but by the time I realized what had happened, I was already late for that day's pre-season commentary! I figured I'd come back and use the Disco Fever paintbrush afterwards, but it was gone, and I haven't been able to get another since! Everyone wants one right before the Cup. They're in such high demand!"
Crade still looked confused. "That explains the doors, the moving items, but what about the Yooyus? Why would you kidnap poor Yooyus?"
"I would never!" Tobias responded, offended. "They're just such fast little things that they kept running into me and getting dizzy. They didn't know I was there, so they got confused trying to figure out what they'd run into. I didn't stick around, of course, or they would have run into me again."
Clio couldn't help but laugh. Crade followed suit, handing Tobias his pin.
"Ah, yes," Tobias said sheepishly. "I tried to avoid you and left this behind. Thank you for returning it."
Clio rummaged around in her bag, reaching under the sparklers. "Actually, I think I have... aha!"
With a flourish, she handed Tobias a brand new Disco Fever paintbrush. He gasped in delight. "Why thank you!"
In just a few moments, Tobias was back to his regular self, his sheet discarded on the floor. "Say, why don't you two watch the match from here? I owe you both. Also, I hope it's an incentive not to tell anyone about this little incident."
"You got it!" They agreed, and settled down to watch the game.
The End,
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