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Tom the yellow Draik waved his flashlight about carelessly,
hoping it would provide some form of amusement that dull night at the Neopian
Museum of Fine Art. He turned to his accompaniment -- Lisa the brown Kyrii --
who looked just as bored as he was. They’d been patrolling the museum for a few
hours, but as the night grew older, they became tired and bored. Now they just
stood in one spot, silently hoping for something interesting to happen.
“Think there’ll be some thief in here tonight?”
Tom inquired of Lisa.
Lisa gave him an odd look. “What, you want
someone to come in here and steal the artwork? We could get fired if we let
them get away!”
Tom sighed, dropping his flashlight to his side.
“You’re right, I guess. But still, it would be a lot more interesting than this
is.”
“You think?” Lisa questioned, gazing at the decorative
glass ceiling. “...Maybe it would be.” She shook her head, trying to change
the subject. “Well, anyway, let’s just make the best of boring old right now.”
Suddenly, there was a loud zap! from the
next exhibit. The doorway was illuminated by a bright blue light for a few moments,
and then the light dimmed considerably. “What is that?” Lisa inquired.
“I’ll go check it out -- you stay here!” Tom
replied, running down the hallway and through the next door.
Lisa merely gazed down the hallway confusedly,
somewhat worried about Tom. A gasp could suddenly be heard from the room. “NO!
NOOOO! LISA! LIIIISAAAAA!”
“TOM!” Lisa exclaimed hysterically, running into
the exhibit. The light had gone -- the room was completely empty, save a flashlight
rolling back and forth on the floor. “T-Tom? Tom?” She fell to the floor
to pick up the flashlight. As she held it, she turned around and noticed something
about a painting behind her.
“But -- that’s not supposed to be there...” She
strolled to the painting of a yellow Draik with a horrified expression on his
face, reaching out to the viewer. Lisa gasped as she dropped the flashlight.
“Tom! No! No!”
NPIA Headquarters, an Undisclosed Location Somewhere in Neopia Central
Agent_Magnolia the disco Aisha shifted uncomfortably in her seat. “Chief, that’s
creepy.”
“It’s true!” Chief the yellow Wocky insisted.
“The painting there was never of a Draik -- it was originally the Mona Lenny.”
“Oh, really? I love that painting!” Sys-op the
pink Kadoatie exclaimed.
“Well, it’s quite renowned, but the problem is
that it’s gone,” Chief noted. “And that’s not the only painting, either.
No one actually knows for sure, but security cameras around the museum have
been showing that the same mutant Cybunny has been at every disappearance so
far.”
“And how many disappearances have there been
altogether?” questioned Magnolia.
“Five, including the one last night,” Chief replied.
“Some of the cameras have even shown the art pieces moving. Again, no
one knows for sure.”
“I’ll get to the bottom of it,” Magnolia confirmed,
picking Sys-op up off the table. “I’ll report back to you tomorrow morning,
okay?” she inquired, heading towards the door.
“Uh -- Magnolia, hold on a second!” Chief exclaimed.
“Before you go, I’ve been thinking of sending you with reinforcement.”
“Reinforcement?” Magnolia inquired. “Aww, come
on, Chief! I don’t need reinforcement!”
“Actually, I’ve been planning on sending you
on a mission with a particular Ixi for a while now,” Chief murmured. “You may
have seen her around before -- her name is Xing-Xing Li.”
“Umm... no, I don’t recall meeting anyone by
that name, actually,” Magnolia replied.
“Really? Well, at any rate, she’s a Faerie Ixi.
You two have a lot in common, really.”
“A lot in common? I doubt it,” said Magnolia.
“For one, I have a name that’s twice as easy to pronounce.”
Chief frowned. “Well, if you don’t have that
much in common, you both have the same perfect record, from what I know.”
“What?” Magnolia questioned indignantly,
darting back to the Wocky’s desk and leaning against it intently. “You’re kidding!
For years, you’ve been telling me that I’M the only one AT this agency
who’s never failed a mission!”
“What’s so terrible about Xing-Xing having a
perfect record, Magnolia? It’s not that big a deal, is it?” Chief inquired curiously.
“OHHH, YES it IS!” Magnolia exclaimed.
“I believed you, even! And now you tell me about Who’s-it-Li and expect
me to NOT be upset?”
“Xing-Xing is relatively new to Neopia Central,
actually,” Chief remarked. “So I lied -- she’s always been a secret agent, but
not necessarily at this agency in particular. She joined the NPIA just
a month ago, if it makes you feel any better.”
“Hardly,” Magnolia mused. “Where’s she from?”
“Haiku on Mystery Island. You’re familiar
with the place, right?”
“Sure,” Magnolia replied. “Okay, now I’m curious.
I’ll go on the mission with the girl and find out for myself if she’s
really deserving of that title.”
Neopia Central Park
“Let me get this straight -- she said meeting in a public park would
be a good place to discuss an assignment?” Sys-op inquired in sheer bewilderment,
sitting in the dewy grass. “How is that logical at all?”
“Ask her when she gets here,” Magnolia replied.
“I’m sure that having a... perfect record would provide her with some
common sense.”
Sys-op glanced up at her partner curiously. “Gee,
Mag, you seem just a teensy bit--”
“Oh, DON’T go there, Sys-op!” Magnolia exclaimed.
“I’m not jealous at all! I haven’t even MET the girl!”
“I think you’re about to pretty soon,” Sys-op
murmured, motioning towards a Faerie Ixi happily chatting with a nearby police
officer. “Xing-Xing is a Faerie Ixi, right?”
“Yeah -- let’s go ask her,” Magnolia replied,
picking Sys-op up off the ground and starting off towards the Ixi. As they came
closer, the Ixi’s conversation came to a sudden halt as she looked up at them.
Magnolia stood rigidly with discomfiture. “Uhh--hi?”
“HIIIIIIII!” the Ixi abruptly greeted, suddenly
straightening herself up giddily. “What’s your name? Because you fit the description
of this girl I’m looking for here at the -- OHHHH, you haven’t met my friend,
Timothy!” She pointed in the direction of the police officer, a yellow Techo.
“I’m not your friend. I just met you a
minute ago! And that’s not even my name!” the Techo began to explain, interrupted
by the Ixi. “It’s--”
“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAA! You’re so FUNNY, Thomas!”
the Ixi exclaimed, patting the disgruntled officer on the back. “Oh -- I still
haven’t introduced myself yet! I’m so silly! Hee hee! I’m Xing-Xing -- nice
to meet you! Oh, and what’s your name?”
“Uh -- Magnolia?” Magnolia replied, her remark
sounding much like a question. “A-and this is Sys-op--”
“Ooooooo, so you’re the one I’m waiting
here for!” Xing-Xing exclaimed delightedly. “I’m Xing-Xing -- oh, I said that
already. You can call me Xing, though. And a lot of people call me Twin Star,
because that’s what my name means in Ch--”
“All right, already, I think I’ve decided on
what I’m going to call you, okay?” Magnolia replied, impatiently dragging Xing-Xing
away from her spot near the police officer. “And can we find somewhere else
to sit?”
“Of course we can!” Xing-Xing replied. “Bye-BYE,
Trent!”
“THAT’S NOT MY NAME!”
Xing-Xing followed Magnolia and Sys-op to a nearby
park bench where she sat down contentedly. “So, now what do we do?” she finally
questioned.
“What do -- YOU’RE the one who suggested we come
to the park in the first place!” Magnolia exclaimed, taking a seat on the opposite
side of the bench. “I think you’d know the answer to that question.”
“Oh, yeah!” Xing-Xing set her purse down in the
middle of the bench. “Some security guards took pictures of the disappearances.
I personally wouldn’t go near what they saw with a camera,” she drew
a few photographs from the purse and handed them to Magnolia, “but here you
go!”
Magnolia looked at the photographs closely. All
of them showed the same thing -- a picture frame and a bright blue light that
made anything else in the picture unable to be seen. “Umm... a glowing picture
frame? And these pictures are important?”
“Well, yeah, they are!” Xing-Xing answered, leaning
closer. She pointed at a silhouette that closely resembled a mutant Cybunny
in the bottom right corner of the picture. “There’s our suspect!”
Magnolia frowned. “Oh, yeah. Well. Still.
We need more than some photographs of a shadow to get to the bottom of this.”
“I know,” Xing-Xing simply replied. “And that’s
why you, your adorable little kitten--”
Sys-op looked up irately. “What--?”
“--And I are all going to the museum tonight!”
Xing-Xing finished. “We’re gonna have LOOOOOTS OF FUN!”
“Fun?” Magnolia inquired. “How do you even know
the thief, whoever it is, is going to even be there tonight?”
Xing-Xing gave Magnolia a disappointed look.
“Gee, you haven’t been researching this assignment very thoroughly, have you?
For the past week, pictures have been stolen every night! And more and
more security guards are disappearing, too!”
“Yeah, I guess that’s logical. But, still...”
Magnolia sighed. “All right, fine. What time should we be there?”
“Anywhere between 11:00 and midnight,” Xing-Xing
replied. “That’s when most of the disappearances have happened, really.” She
stood up, taking her purse with her. “Well, I’ll see you tonight, Magnolia!”
She gave Sys-op a pat on the head. “And you too, cute little kitty!”
Sys-op heaved a sigh as Xing-Xing strolled off.
“Despite that one annoying aspect about her, I think she’s a nice girl. Don’t
you, Mag?” Sys-op inquired. She looked up. “Um... Magnolia?”
“WHO does that girl think she IS -- Shylock Usulski?”
Magnolia questioned indignantly, standing up. “HONESTLY! I can’t believe her!”
“What’s wrong?” asked Sys-op. “I thought she
was nice...”
“You honestly think that, Sys?” asked Magnolia.
She swaggered around, pretending to swing a purse at her side. “‘Ooh,
I’m Agent Twin Star! And I know everything about everything!’”
She finally sat down crossly. “SHEESH!”
Sys-op giggled. “Aww, is Magnolia jealous of
Xing-Xing?” she asked playfully.
Magnolia eyed her partner with utter disgust.
“I am NOT! Come on, Sys-op, we’re going home. No way that goody-goody
Ixi is going to outdo ME!”
Neopian Museum of Fine Art
Magnolia, completely clad in black, peeked around a hallway in the museum’s
entrance, making sure she was completely alone, (save a half-asleep Sys-op,
of course.) After warily, (if not somewhat dramatically) cocking a lightning
gun, she turned to her partner with an instructional briefing.
“Okay, Sys-op, I’m going in. You stay here till
I give you the signal.”
Sys-op looked up confusedly. “Signal? What signal?”
“Umm...” Magnolia paused, lowering her weapon
to her side. “Uhh -- I don’t really know now... but you’ll know it when you
see it, Sys-op!” Magnolia smiled complacently, walking past a marble statue
of a heroic-looking Lupe. “I’ve got to at least get to the scene of the last
disappearance before Xing gets h--”
“Mag-NOLIA!” The Aisha fell back in surprise
as Xing-Xing quickly leapt in front of her, holding a piece of paper. “YAY!
You MADE IT!”
“You’d think the entire WORLD doesn’t need to
know!” Magnolia protested, tapping her foot in annoyance. “Can’t you be a little
quieter while we’re in a museum at 11:30 at night?”
“I’m sorry,” Xing-Xing replied, holding up the
piece of paper she had with her. “This is the floor plan, by the way. So we
won’t get lost in the museum, you know.”
“And where did you get that?” Magnolia
inquired suspiciously.
“...I... know people,” Xing-Xing replied simply.
“Well, you’re not gonna leave Sys-op in here, are you? Okaycomeonlet’sGO!”
Magnolia sighed as she picked Sys-op up and left the entrance hall. She followed
Xing-Xing into the next room -- a short corridor leading to the modern art exhibit.
“I think there was a disappearance here, too,” said Xing-Xing, looking though
a clear, irregularly-shaped statue. “Hee-hee! Look -- it’s a blob statue!”
Magnolia heaved an exasperated sigh as she and
Sys-op continued into the next room of the exhibit, where there was something
slightly more interesting. Lying on the floor was a cracked stone statue of
something that didn’t look very modern. “Is that another security guard down
there?” asked Sys-op suddenly.
“I think it is,” Magnolia replied, picking up
the pieces of the statue. This time it was an unlucky Bruce. “We’ve really got
to get to the bottom of this before the entire staff goes ‘missing’.”
Xing-Xing quickly entered the room seconds after,
glancing at the broken statue. “Oooo, what’cha got there?” she inquired.
“Another security guard,” Magnolia replied. “By
the looks of it, that criminal has been here just n--”
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!”
“Huh? What was that?” Sys-op questioned, looking
around.
“I don’t know -- I think it came from...” Xing-Xing
looked down at the floor plan. “The Ancient Lost Desert Artifact Exhibit? That’s
next door -- let’s hurry!”
Magnolia and Sys-op followed Xing-Xing out of
the room and down a short hallway (lined with authentic hieroglyphs) leading
to the exhibit. But it was too late. This time, a small statuette of an Aisha
in a security guard’s uniform sat on a short pedestal surrounded by a visible
security system. “And the alarm didn’t go off? What’s WITH this place?” Xing-Xing
questioned.
“I don’t know, but they’ve lost another security
guard,” Magnolia replied. “And I think--” A shadow could be seen moving along
the wall and quickly darting out of the room. “Umm... you saw that, didn’t you?”
“Well, let’s go after it!” Sys-op suggested,
instigating a mad dash after the unidentified figure. Once in the next room,
Xing-Xing, Magnolia and Sys-op had already lost the stranger.
“I think we’re a little late,” Magnolia murmured.
“He or she’s probably had enough time to hide by now.” She began looking around
the room curiously in search of the shadowed criminal. Suddenly, Xing-Xing noticed
something.
“MAGNOLIA, LOOK OUT!”
“Eh?” Magnolia had just enough time to turn around
and notice a tall, gray Zafara about to strike her with a sword. “YEEEE!” Magnolia
exclaimed, tumbling to the floor and furiously crawling away as the weapon nearly
missed her, chipping the marble flooring. She scrambled to her feet and ran
as the Zafara struck once more, this time hitting the wall. “OKAY, WHERE’D THE
CRAZED ZAFARA COME FROM?!” Magnolia demanded, still running.
“She was standing over there -- on that pedestal!”
Xing-Xing exclaimed. “She just... stepped off!”
“You mean to say that a statue came off
the pedestal and started attacking Magnolia?” questioned Sys-op. “I find that
a tad hard to believe -- maybe a bit creepy, actually.”
“You COULD worry about that LATER!” Magnolia
cried, running in a circle around a sarcophagus. “What happened to my PARTNERS?!”
Xing-Xing sighed. “Magnolia, you’re pathetic,”
she murmured, taking a sword solely meant for decoration off the wall. As the
statue chased Magnolia around the sarcophagus once more and past her, Xing-Xing
thrust the sword between them, stopping the statue suddenly. “Oh...” she murmured
as the statue turned to her. “Ummm... I didn’t mean to interrupt your chasing
of my partner, Mr. Statue-with-the-sword. Uhh... I really... didn’t...
“AAAAAGH! NOOO! NOT ME! CHASE HER, NOT ME!” Xing-Xing
implored loudly, breaking into a run around the same sarcophagus Magnolia had
been frantically darting around earlier. She finally got a bizarre idea after
glancing at the vacant pedestal the statue previously stood on. Xing-Xing ran
to the pedestal and climbed on top of it, quickly jumping off afterwards. The
statue ran past the pedestal, but its hand hit the side of it. The second it
touched the pedestal, the statue abruptly stopped running, a few cracks forming
along its arms and face. It was a statue again.
Magnolia walked towards it and tapped its arm with her paw to verify this.
“How on Neopia would you think to do something like that?” she inquired curiously.
“Oh, I don’t know,” Xing-Xing replied. “Just
an odd thought, maybe? Aaanyway, since this statue was moving, I think I know
what’s going on here. Whoever’s responsible for all this is switching the security
guards and the artworks in the museum, Magnolia,” she explained. “See, if they
wanted a particular statue in here, they would find the nearest person, take
the statue, and somehow turn the person into a statue to be put on the
pedestal in its place.”
“And how do you turn someone into a statue?”
Magnolia questioned. “It seems as if we’re still missing some part of the solution
here.”
“Yes, but we’ve found some of it out,” Xing-Xing
replied. “Now LET’S GO FIND THE REST OF THAT SOLUTION!” She grinned from ear
to ear. “We’re gonna have LOOOTS of FUUUN!”
Xing-Xing skipped out the door and down the next
hallway. Magnolia sighed. “You know, she’s really starting to irk me.”
“You know,” Sys-op replied, “I really
think you’re jealous.”
“Wh-- but-- HEY!” Magnolia exclaimed. “No more
of that, okay, Sys-op? I’m so not jealous!”
Sys-op sighed and followed Magnolia after Xing-Xing.
The next exhibit featured a collection of Neopian Renaissance paintings. “Ooo,
these are pretty,” Xing-Xing cooed, looking through the gallery.
“That must be where the Mona Lenny was,”
Magnolia murmured, pointing at a picture of a Draik on the opposing wall. “And
it seems like a lot of these pictures have gone missing.”
“Well, no wonder,” Xing-Xing answered. “These
paintings are worth a lot, you know.” Suddenly, a bright beam of light
hit the painting just to the right of Xing-Xing. The subject of the painting,
a radiant Earth Faerie, stepped out of the frame.
Magnolia merely gaped at the painting before
she had enough sense to warn Xing-Xing. “Xing -- right next to you--!” The Ixi
turned to the Earth Faerie, her first expression showing her to be unfazed.
She then turned to the empty frame and realized what she was looking at.
“AAAAGH!” Xing-Xing exclaimed, stepping back.
“It’s not going to ATTACK me like before, is it?” The Earth Faerie merely continued
walking past Xing-Xing, quietly answering her question. Xing-Xing watched as
the Faerie casually strolled into another picture frame -- this one held by
a Mutant Cybunny. Magnolia gasped as the Cybunny began to run with the painting.
“Oh NO! Get that Cybunny!” Xing-Xing squealed,
leaving her spot by a picture she was previously gazing at. Magnolia, (carrying
Sys-op,) and Xing-Xing followed the Cybunny to the next room of the exhibit,
where she pulled what looked like a lightning gun from the bag she carried and
fired at several nearby paintings.
Needless to say, all the subjects stepped out
of the frames bearing weapons of all kinds, grouping around Magnolia, Sys-op
and Xing-Xing in a circle. Also needless to say, the Cybunny was getting away.
Xing-Xing backed up against the wall where she
found a collections of daggers and swords, (again, meant for decoration.) She
took a dagger from the wall and suddenly threw it across the room at a button
near the door. As it hit the button, the door to the next room closed, leaving
the Cybunny stuck in the Neopian Renaissance room. The paintings still surrounded
them, however.
“Umm...” Magnolia began, turning to the swords
on the wall behind them. She took a sword from the wall and swung it around
blindly. “OKAY! WHO WANTS A PIECE OF ME?!” The group of artworks drew swords
simultaneously. “Um... not... literally... a piece of me...” Magnolia looked
to her right where she noticed an empty spot near the wall through which she
could escape. “Ah... ha-ha... yeah... little joke there... piece of... RUN FOR
IT!”
Sys-op and Xing-Xing ran from the group of paintings
after Magnolia until they realized there was nowhere to go. “Xing, you LOCKED
the DOOR?” Sys-op questioned disbelievingly as Magnolia tried to kick the door
open.
“I didn’t know I’d lock it -- just close
it!” Xing-Xing exclaimed. “And according to the floor plan, the only switch
that opens the door is on the other side!”
“Then how do we get out of here in time?” Magnolia
queried hysterically.
Xing-Xing glanced at the empty picture frames.
“Maybe we don’t need to,” she replied. “You know -- remember the statues last
time? I think all we need to do is get the pictures into the frames again!”
Magnolia nodded unenthusiastically. Really, she
hated this mission. Perhaps it wouldn’t be as awful to endure if Xing-Xing wasn’t
her temporary partner. She was so... so... bubbly. And the solutions
she had to problems were so... so... reasonable. Magnolia would rather
have anyone for a temporary partner -- just as long as it wasn’t Xing-Xing.
Magnolia finally realized something. She really
was jealous.
But why?
Jolted back into reality by an arrow hitting
the wall inches away from her, Magnolia stepped to the side. The group of assorted
paintings was approaching, Xing-Xing desperately swinging at them with the sword
she’d picked up. Magnolia noticed that above the swords and daggers was a helmet.
She took the helmet off the wall and it quickly fell to her side as she realized
how heavy it was. “Xing, move over!” Magnolia exclaimed as she threw the helmet
across the marble floor.
As the paintings jumped and scrambled to avoid
the helmet, they fell back and were pulled simultaneously into their frames.
Xing-Xing simply dropped the sword, and looked around, making sure that none
of the frames were empty. “YAAAAAAY!” she finally squealed, rushing to Magnolia
and holding her in an enthusiastic embrace. “You SAVED meee! You’re so SMART,
Magnolia!”
Magnolia frowned, pushing Xing-Xing away. “Okay,
cut it out with the hugging. I’m not huggable.”
Sys-op looked around suspiciously. “Um... where’d
the Cybunny go?”
Ominous applause could be suddenly heard in the
room. The mutant Cybunny stepped out from the shadows with the presumed lightning
gun in her left paw, faintly smiling and clapping. “You are a bunch of
smart people, aren’t you?” she began.
“What’s going on?” Xing-Xing inquired. “What
are you doing to the poor security guards? That’s really mean!”
“Mean, is it?” the Cybunny questioned. “Well,
seeing that it’s so mean, and we’re all stuck in here, I suppose I should
tell you. But not before a proper introduction. The name’s Paige -- it’s a pleasure
to meet you. I’ve been working on creating this for some time.” She held up
the lightning gun-type object. “It’s a ray specially designed to manipulate
museum artworks, if you will.”
“You’re using that thing to make paintings and
statues easier to steal?” Magnolia inquired. “Gee, I thought this was so much
more complex than that.”
“You be quiet!” Paige snapped. “I spent
years perfecting this ray, and you’re not about to ruin my chances
at all the money I can get from all my hard work!” With that, Paige fired the
ray at another painting, this time of the Battle Faerie holding five daggers.
Magnolia, Xing-Xing and Sys-op ran from the painting as she threw the first
dagger, slightly off target. By the time she had thrown her fourth dagger, Magnolia
got an idea.
Magnolia stood directly in front of Paige as
the painting raised the dagger, and ran as she threw it. Paige was left standing
in the same spot. She dropped the ray and ran as the dagger hit the wall. Magnolia
ran to the ray and picked it up.
As Paige scrambled to her feet, Magnolia looked
around nervously. She didn’t exactly think this part over very well. She soon
spotted a painting behind Paige of a carefree Shoyru with a butterfly net raised
in the air. Magnolia fired the ray at the painting over Paige’s head and the
Shoyru instantly swung the net over her head and onto Paige’s.
Xing-Xing immediately took a pair of handcuffs
from her purse. “You carry those around with you?” Magnolia inquired.
“Well, duh, Magnolia; I’m prepared
for this kind of stuff!” Xing-Xing replied, restraining the Cybunny with her
handcuffs. “You know,” she began, “Magnolia, I don’t think you like me very
much.”
“Er -- well...” Magnolia murmured, ignoring Sys-op
clearing her throat below her. “Where would you get tha--”
“Magnolia, don’t play dumb with me -- that’s
just as bad!” Xing-Xing told her. “And -- you know, if you don’t like me, I
won’t like you either. Starting tomorrow, you and I are enemies, and I’m out
to make your life miserable.” She grinned maliciously. “But NOW we’re
gonna be the BEEEST of FRIENDS!”
Xing-Xing motioned to the mutant Cybunny desperately
trying to remove the handcuffs. “Let’s take Paige in, okay?”
Magnolia sighed. “Let’s. Friend.”
The End?
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