An Unusual Client, An Unusual Case: Part Two by moonsunangel |  |
The next day, Skye kept me busy, sending me out to collect
the "freebies". The freebies are Tombola, the Fruit Machine, Coltzan's Shrine,
places like that. I won unbelievably at Tombola, and walked away with 101 Neopoints,
a Light Faerie, and a Mau Codestone. Skye was very pleased, and I was surprised
at my good luck. Hopefully it was a good omen. I won again at the Fruit Machine,
receiving 1000 Neopoints, and then got my level raised a notch at the Shrine.
I also spun the Wheel of Excitement, just to see what would happen, and walked
away, stunned, with 10000 Neopoints.
Skye was also startled, but quite happy. I gave
her the freebie rewards and stayed outdoors, enjoying the crisp autumn breeze
that was blowing. I visited Maraqua and said hello to the grumpy old slug that
lived there. He was by now used to my daily visit but the poor fellow was stumped
on why I kept coming back. I was bored again, and for some reason visited Tyrannia.
The Jungle's food shop didn't have anything interesting, so I strolled on to
the Ticket Booth. The band Wock Til You Drop was playing, but tickets were sold
out, so I left. I visited the Weapons shop but that too proved to have nothing
of value.
Frustrated, I wondered why I had come here. I
left and began surfing the Shop Wizard, simply for something to do, looking
for some Baguettes Skye was missing from her collection. A shop caught my eye
and I went inside, examining each exotic item with delight. At least it was
something interesting to do. Then something caught my eye. I put my hand on
this weird looking piece of metal, and in a dizzying whirl was transported to
a distant volcanic area. I blinked, clearing my sight, and righted my sense
of balance. It must've been one of those rumored teleportation devices. I knew
enough about what I saw to realize that I had been transported to a place in
Tyrannia.
A weathered, battered wooden sign said something
about a distant volcanic land. I groaned, but saw another weird plate of metal.
This one had inscriptions on it that read "Back to Tyrannia". I was about to
pick it up when I saw a dusty scrap of paper flip and roll by on the wind. I
grabbed it before it could flit away, and hastily read it.
Well detective, having fun yet? I'll give
you a clue just for fun- I am feared everywhere, but especially in Tyrannia.
I was angry at the mocking laughter in the first
sentence, but my mind raced at the second one. "Feared everywhere, but especially
in Tyrannia?" This was a good clue that the culprit was in the Gallery of Evil.
Any creature "feared everywhere" would be there. I hurried home, ignoring Kashee's
curious glance. I ran to my room and grabbed an old book off my shelf, opening
it hurriedly. Huh, not the Monocerous, it didn't say anything about Tyrannia…
Sloth, he wasn't in with Tyrannia either…
I was flipping anxiously through the pages when
an entry caught my eye. Of course! The Monoceraptor! Any true Neopian knew the
story of how the Monoceraptor rose from deep underground in Tyrannia and began
a swathe of burning destruction, until he was stopped by heroic forces. I closed
the book, put it back, and took down another fat book. I hardly glanced at the
title, Neopedia, before quickly turning pages, looking for an article on the
monster.
Let's see, Age- as old as evil itself…. Well,
that wasn't encouraging. Occupation and Hobby both clearly stated that he liked
burning and destroying. The roared Quote wasn't much help, and I scanned the
story. It had a picture of the ugly brute, tar black and with green-colored
horns and claws. Its yellow eyes were slits in a huge black face, and its mouth
was filled with teeth, gaping open and disgusting. It seemed to be over ten
times bigger than the pets scrambling away from it. They were portrayed as little
more than dots on the page. I examined the photo more thoroughly, but couldn't
find anything else, and scanned the other info. It could spit fire, hmm, that's
not pretty. I flipped back to the Gallery of Evil and read the last paragraph
in the entry-
Rumor has it that the return of the Monoceraptor
was actually planned by some more powerful being…but what could possibly control
this beast?
Ugh, not good. That rumor was probably true,
and if so I was dealing with a really powerful duo…
I ran off a copy of the Gallery of Evil entry,
and on second thought, copied the Neopedia article as well. It might come in
handy. I put the slip of paper and the copies in a folder, which I tucked into
my backpack. The pack contained all the supplies I would need when on the job.
On the job meant going out and searching for
clues. Before I left I scribbled notes on the Monoceraptor.
- spits fire
- black
- makes any pet seem like a dot
- gaping mouth with teeth
- lived for tens of thousands of years, existed before Neopets came to Neopia
- defeated Tyrannia's native forces, was injured by volunteer army, defeated
by Lupe
I stuffed the noted paper into the folder, and
then hurried down the stairs. Skye was getting some lunch, and I grabbed a container
that Skye had packed with a pyramicake, a pyramibread, a fried chicken breast,
and some water. I could lunch on the go.
First, I went to Jhudora's place. Upon seeing
me, she shooed off her latest questing customer and made sure the Cloud was
empty.
"Have you got anything?"
"Yeah, I got a lot."
I explained how I got the scrap of paper and
gave her the folder to look through. She nodded, satisfied.
"You've got a good lead."
"I'm hoping for some more clues that can lead
me to more answers."
Jhudora nodded.
"Good luck."
I left her place feeling more desperate for
answers than ever. Where did the beast live? Why was it taking items from the
Hidden Tower now, when it could've chosen to steal years and years before? What
was it doing with the items? How did it get into the Tower?
I needed another clue.
To be continued...
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