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Joe looked out over the ocean at the sun. It was a bright
orange ball hanging heavily over the horizon. Sunset was less than an hour away.
He had to decide before then if he was willing to take the biggest risk of his
life. The red Shoyru looked down at the piece of paper he clutched in his paws.
You passed the test. Meet us tonight at the
Rainbow Pool for initiation. Joe turned the crumpled note over and over in his
paws. He had guessed the invisihat was the test, but what had he done to pass?
While wearing it he hadn't really done anything. If the hat had been from the
Neopian Police, then he would have passed the test by simply not committing
any crimes, but he was almost completely sure that this note wasn't from the
Neopian Police. He thought that they had probably forgotten about him by now.
This note was from someone else. Some person-
or some group of people- that had been watching him since his escape from the
police a week ago or maybe even for longer. They had been responsible for his
freedom right now, but it wasn't a sense of obligation that made Joe think that
he should go to the Rainbow Pool.
Memories kept coming back to him from when he
had been little and going to the Battledome every day. He had blocked out most
of that times, and the memories came back only in bits and pieces, but he kept
remembering a strange friend he had once had, named Bart Mint Bar. Somehow,
Joe thought Bart Mint Bar was important to what was happening now, connected
in a way he couldn't figure. One thing Joe did know was that Bart Mint Bar had
been good, and if these people were connected to the old friend, they had to
be good, too.
Didn't they?
* * *
Joe walked into Neopia central, looking around the now-shadowy marketplace.
There seemed to be no one here except the glowing ghosts floating around the
Money Tree. He walked as stealthily as possible to the Rainbow Pool, and sat
down on a bench a little ways off to wait. The last of the light faded, and
he was left in total darkness. Joe started to wonder if this was a mistake.
He sat awhile longer, and started to get up to leave.
"Don't leave, Joe," a voice said next to him.
Joe's eyes widened and he turned towards the sound of the voice, but could see
nothing in the blackness. All he could discern was that the voice was male.
"Who are you?" he asked. "What's going on?"
The voice came from much closer now as it answered.
"I'm a friend. We're all friends. My name is
Peter. Don't be scared, Joe. This isn't the first time you've met one of us."
"Bart Mint Bar? Was he one of you?" Joe asked.
"Very good." Joe couldn't be sure, but he didn't
think Peter was being sarcastic.
"And the voice that warned me off, when the
Neopian Police were looking for me? Was that one of you?"
"Yes," Peter replied.
"Did you set me up that day? Did you rat on
my owner?"
"No. Your owner was careless. We were watching
you, though. Bart Mint Bar told us that someday you might join us someday. He
said he had a hunch."
"Who are you?" Joe asked. He groped forward
in the dark but met only empty air. Another voice answered this time.
"We're the IFA," it said, and Joe guessed this
one was female. "I'm Jennifer, by the way," she added, confirming Joe's guess.
Joe turned towards the new voice.
"The huh?" he asked, ignoring the introduction.
The answer came from right next to him this time.
"The Invisible Friends Association," Peter answered.
The female voice came from the other side, just as close.
"Invisible, not imaginary. There's a difference,
remember, Joe?" Joe gasped as a new wave of memory overtook him.
"Yes…"
* * *
Little BattlerJoe was arguing with a group of older Neopets at recess.
"Bart Mint Bar is too real," he said. "He's
my best friend. He's always there. I didn't make him up."
"Oh yeah? Then show him to us!" one of the Neopets,
a green Kau, taunted him.
"He's right here," the little Shoyru replied.
"You just can't see him. Right, Bart?"
"Right," Bart Mint Bar said, grabbing one of
the little Shoyru's paws. BattlerJoe looked up at his friend, and although he
couldn't see his friend, he could tell where he was. Bart Mint Bar was definitely
there.
"See?" he asked. "Bart Mint Bar said he's real."
The green Kau rolled his eyes.
"So you can do a little ventriloquism. Big deal."
"That wasn't me!" BattlerJoe protested.
"Oh, sure. Fine. Have fun with your imaginary
friend, kid. You're not worth our time" the green Kau said, and walked away.
His other friends followed.
"He's not imaginary, he's invisible!" BattlerJoe
called after him. "There's a difference!"
"A big difference," Bart Mint Bar added. "Forget
about him, Joe. He's not worth our time." The Shoyru stared after the older
Neopets a moment longer, then nodded.
"Yeah. Will you push me on the swings?"
"I thought you'd never ask," Bart Mint Bar replied.
"Come on. We've only got a few minutes of recess left." The two walked together
towards the swings, BattlerJoe's hand appearing to swing back and forth in midair,
half-open and holding something no one could see.
* * *
"Yes," Joe repeated. "There's a big difference. But… but he was really real?"
The voice to his left laughed.
"Yep. He was once a neopet like you, who had
to leave his home and his old life. We don't take Neopets away from their families,
you see. But you'd be surprised how many Neopets have good hearts and bad histories.
Those are the ones we track down and recruit."
"Like you," added Jennifer. "We want you to
join us. We would like to initiate you tonight, and take you back to headquarters."
"But you have to accept," Peter finished. "And,
you have to take the oath."
"What oath?" Joe asked. A match was struck,
and lit a lantern appearing to hover in midair. A piece of paper floated up
next to it.
"You guys are invisible too," Joe said.
"Well, duh," Jennifer said, but not unkindly.
"We're members of the society. We're scouts- that is; we're between Friends,
so we're helping recruit. We'll explain all that later. For right now, just
read this over and sign it."
"And if I don't?" Joe asked.
"Then we leave you here, and you go on living
in a little tent in the woods, wondering what might have been, or if any of
this even really happened, just like you wondered about Bart Mint Bar," the
female replied. Joe nodded, and took the piece of paper.
"I hereby promise, as a member of the Invisible
Friends Association, that I will find a child in need and befriend them. No
harm shall come to the child through my doing, either through my presence or
my absence. I will not leave the child until the child is able to be without
me," Joe read aloud. A pen floated up to him. "Sign here," Peter, hovering the
pen over a line at the bottom of the paper. Joe swallowed hard, then took the
pen.
"What name do I sign?" Joe asked. "Can I just
sign as Joe?"
"Is that your name?" Peter asked. Joe hesitated.
His legal name was BattlerJoe, but he had given up the old violent name when
he set out on his own.
"Yes," he said finally. "It is now." He signed
on the line in his best script, Joe. The two other Neopets clapped.
"All right! Now let's get you painted and down
to H.Q.," Peter said. Joe felt a paw gently take each wrist, and lead him to
the rainbow pool.
"You ready?" Jennifer asked. Joe nodded. He
closed his eyes and felt a cold liquid being splashed on him. The paintbrush
smeared invisible paint on his feet, then moved up his legs and torso.
"That feels really weird," he said nervously,
and opened one eye. He looked down at his body. Half of it was gone, and the
other half was rapidly disappearing.
"Almost done," Jennifer assured him. "Close
your eyes again." Joe obediently closed his eyes and felt the paintbrush gently
brush his face. He sneezed but held still. "There," the female said. "You're
ready." Joe opened his eyes and looked at himself. He was invisible, this time
for good.
"What now?" he asked.
"Come with us," Peter replied. He felt a hand
take his own and pull him forward. "We'll explain what you have to do next once
we get to H.Q." Joe let the invisible pet pull him forward, out of his old life
and into a new one he still did not fully understand.
To be continued...
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