BattlerJoe walked home from Neoschool, dodging the other
students expertly with downcast eyes. He always did he very best to avoid any
and all confrontation with other Neopets his age. He was a strong neopet, and
had fairly well developed Battledome skills, but he hated to fight. He understood
the irony in this given his violent name, but he had spent too much of his life
being forced to fight.
The red Shoyru had once had a kind owner, he
supposed, early on in his life. He didn't remember much from that time, but
he remembered vaguely that he had visited Coltzan's shrine every day, and now
he was quite well developed in level and skill. His first owner had likely been
one of the kind people in Neopia who built up pets' levels, then gave them up
for adoption so that other owners could have pets with high abilities.
BattlerJoe's current owner had snatched him
up as soon as he was in the pound, and had been quite happy with BattlerJoe
at first, matching him up in the Battledome against any other pet that would
fight. Perhaps his owner had been unkind then, but at least had shown an interest.
The red Shoyru remembered this time, which had taken up a large part of his
childhood, as if it had been a long nightmare, full of violence and pain. Sometimes
he still woke up and found his mattress slightly scorched from him breathing
fire in his sleep, fighting off half-remembered challengers. He had been going
to Neoschool, but he had slept through nearly all of his classes and had gotten
poor grades. BattlerJoe had half-hoped that would make his owner stop, but his
owner hadn't cared.
Then, the fighting had stopped. Not all
at once, but slowly. BattlerJoe had been relieved at first, but when his owner
stopped making him fight, he also stopped paying any attention to the neopet.
BattlerJoe was still fed on a fairly regular basis, and would sometimes find
a few Neopoints with a note to buy school supplies if he asked often enough,
but his owner was mostly gone, either upstairs in his living quarters, or not
in the house at all. The Shoyru wasn't quite sure what was going on, but strange
people sometimes came into the home at odd hours of the night and shuffled around
upstairs, talking in hushed tones. BattlerJoe could never make out the entire
conversation, but key phrases like "Neopoints," "pickup," and, most telling,
"case the joint," made him suspect that his owner was doing something illegal.
He heard a shout from somewhere behind him that
broke him out of his memories. He turned and saw two large Techos, one yellow,
one green, tossing a book back and forth over the head of a crying JubJub. He
hated to fight- but he hated to see people getting picked on even more. BattlerJoe
tucked his books under a bush and flew over the other students to intercept
the book on its next arc. He landed in front of the JubJub and handed her the
book.
"Here you go," he said. The JubJub mumbled something
that sounded like a Thank You and scurried off. The green Techo started towards
BattlerJoe. The yellow one stopped him.
"What?" asked the green Techo. "I ain't never
seen him fight."
"I have," said the yellow one. "He won. And
it was against George42649." George42649 was a well-known Moehog who fought
often, and won often, even on the rare occasions when he wasn't picking on a
neopet half his size. The green Techo looked at BattlerJoe, then shrugged.
"You ain't worth my time, loser," the green
Techo said. The red Shoyru shrugged in return.
"I feel the same way," he said, and retrieved
his books form under the bush. He glanced back one more time in case the Techos
wanted to fight dirty, but they were walking off in the other direction. The
JubJub was, of course, gone. BattlerJoe sighed, and continued home.
He walked slowly, watching a few other Neopets
playing in the gardens outside their homes. It was a planned neighborhood, and
all of the houses were made of brick and surrounded by gardens. BattlerJoe's
home varied from most of the others in one way: there was no joy in the home.
There was also very little furniture, at least in the Shoyru's half, just his
straw mattress, a sink, and a toilet. His owner lived upstairs and BattlerJoe
assumed it was quite lavish, but he wasn't allowed up there.
The red Shoyru was taken away from his brooding
by the sound of laughter. A yellow Aisha sitting and playing patty-cake by herself,
tapping her hands on air, back and forth. BattlerJoe had been worried about
her, because she seemed to be crying all the time. It was good that she was
coping with whatever had made her so unhappy.
BattlerJoe waved. "Hey!" The Aisha looked up
and grinned.
"Hi! I was just playing with my new friend!"
BattlerJoe craned his neck and saw no one, so the Aisha must have been talking
about a toy or something. He smiled and waved again.
"Cool!" he said, and walked on. There seemed
to be a memory tugging at the back of his mind, but it was interrupted as a
squad of Neopian Policeman ran by. This really isn't a very good neighborhood,
even if the houses did all look pretty, BattlerJoe thought to himself. The
siren continued, but didn't fade much.
Looks like somebody local got busted,
BattlerJoe thought. I wonder who it is this time. He continued on, not thinking
much more of it, even when he heard angry shouts close by.
He saw two Chias tossing a water balloon back
and forth. They were probably playing pretend Gormball. Being a Shoyru he didn't
care much for water sports, and he unconsciously shielded his side with one
wing as the balloon exploded. The Chias burst into hysterical laughter. BattlerJoe
half-smiled again and moved on. He was an outcast at his school, but he was
crazy about little kids. It was like he never really grew up, which was funny,
considering how tough his life had been.
Just before BattlerJoe turned the final corner
onto his street, he heard a low voice coming from behind him.
"Don't go any further," the voice said. BattlerJoe
whirled around, but saw no one. He wondered if he had imagined the voice.
Like Bart Mint Bar? something in him
asked. BattlerJoe again had that weird feeling of remembrance. Who was Bart
Mint Bar? The name sounded familiar, albeit weird. It reminded him of the days
he had spent nearly living in the Battledome when he was younger. His train
of thought was cut short when the voice spoke again.
"I mean it, Joe." BattlerJoe's heart seemed
to stop.
BattlerJoe ran forward
and peeked around the corner. The Neopian Police surrounded the house. He jumped
back before he could be seen. He wasn't exactly surprised, but he was still
terrified. He had always assumed that his innocence would be obvious. Frightened,
he spun around again and asked the hidden person:
"Do they think it's me, too?" BattlerJoe asked.
"Listen," came the reply. BattlerJoe peeked
a bit around the corner again and listened as best he could.
"You find the Shoyru yet?" asked one officer.
"No. But watch out when you do. He can get violent.
Juts picked a fight with two Techos today, according to eyewitnesses," replied
a second.
Battler Joe swallowed hard, then asked in a quavery
voice, "What do I do now?"
"Run," the unseen person answered at once.
"Where?" BattlerJoe asked. Unseen hands turned
his body towards a path that he had seen Neopets using frequently when playing
hide-and-seek. Adults rarely used it, and some didn't even know about it.
"Take the path out of the neighborhood. Go hide
for a few days, anywhere you can find. Go by a different name if anyone asks.
We will meet you at the money tree in a week. Hurry, before they catch you!"
BattlerJoe stumbled forward as if pushed, but when he turned around he saw no
one. He hesitated, and took one last look around the corner. His owner was being
escorted away from his house, and the police were talking outside the home,
probably wonder when BattlerJoe would arrive home from school.
He didn't know whom the voice had belonged to,
but he seen enough to believe it spoke the truth. Whether or not the voice had
his best interest at heart, or even if it was real, was not something he had
time to deal with. He stayed one moment longer, still watching. The Neopian
Police were standing, their arms crossed. They were definitely waiting, and
he was the only one they could possibly be waiting for. BattlerJoe bit his lip.
"Hurry!" the voice repeated. BattlerJoe nodded,
then turned and ran down the path. He didn't know where he was running to, but
he knew two things. One, he had to get where nobody could find him. Two, he
could never come back.
To be continued...
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