Author's Note: Sorry, Chia owners, but this story is told from the Lupe's
point of view. The Chia-Lupe Debate always seems to favour the side of the Chia.
I wanted to change that, and see if I could make the sides more equal. (And
don't listen to the Chias' advice in the beginning.)
"Good evening, ladies and gentlepets," said a yellow Chia who was standing
at a small podium. The podium faced a stadium filled with nearly four hundred
Chias. "As you all know, my name is Sam Smith, President of the Underground
Rebellion of Chias. Thank you all for joining us at our weekly Chias-Against-Lupes
meeting. Today, we will discuss current events in Neopia and how Chias and Lupes
relate to them. Our first speaker today is Mr. Nigel Money, Neopia's finest--and
only--stockbrocker. Nigel?"
Nigel walked up to the stage and stood behind the podium, while Sam took a
seat in a row of seven chairs behind Nigel. "Thank you, Sam. I'm sorry to say
that stocks have been going down, and many are out of business after it was
made a rule that you can't buy a stock under fifteen points. It's getting harder
to make money, but the more people who invest in stocks, the better. Never invest
in the bank; always invest in the stock market, because you get more return
cash that way. Now, I know that people have predicted a depression, but there's
no reason to worry. It's just a small dent to the economy, and I predict a huge
rise by late spring, if not sooner. If the rise isn't what people expected,
however, we will need a way to persuade the Neopian government to stop prizes
such as the book award, and we'll shift the blame to Lupes again. I'll keep
you informed. Thank you."
Nigel walked off the stage, and the audience applauded.
"Our next speaker," said Sam, "is Mr. Joe Donut, head of the NeoPets Food
Department."
"Thank you," said Joe when he reached the podium. "I would like to begin by
saying to all the Lupes pretending to be Chias with morphing potions out there
in the audience that 'Chias' are not to be confused with 'cheeseburgers'. "
The audience laughed--tensely.
"The food department had been rough," Joe said, "because it's been hard to
get food in the winter. And Neopians are feeding their pets less; some are even
starving them to the point where they're... well, I don't want to say it. We
will have a new program this spring to begin a partnership with the Soup Kitchen
to help starving NeoPets. If all goes well, we'll even find a way to reject
Lupes--" the audience laughed again, more joyfully this time-- "but we won't
give more than a cup of soup a day to any pet, so people will still buy from
the food shops, which not only helps the food business, but owners of small
shops as well. The program isn't just to make Chias look good, no, it's to help
NeoPets. I hope you all are participating in the Gourmet Foods award, and also,
never go to the Tyrannian Omelette. It's unhealthy to eat barely-cooked
eggs scraped off rocks. NeoPets are even getting sick from some of them. Thank
you."
Everyone cheered.
"Our third speaker for today," said Sam, "is Miss Rita Blame. Rita?"
"Thank you," said a female blue Chia who walked up to the stage. "I would
like to begin by saying that Lupes are partially the cause of this economy drop..."
And so it went on, with Chias blaming Lupes for everything they could think
of. Meanwhile, oblivious to the Chias' gathering, there was a meeting of about
twenty Lupes in a NeoHome on Bread Street, Neopia Central.
"You all know why we're here," Phil, the leader of the Lupe Rebellion, began.
"We're here to discuss why Chias come up with such insane lies about how we
treat them. What was last week's thing they said?"
"That we set fire to the town pool," Lassie replied, trying to keep a straight
face.
All the Lupes burst into laughter.
"And they also said we stole from the Money Tree," another Lupe said.
Everyone laughed again.
"That's just it," said Phil, once the Lupes could keep a straight face again,
"we didn't do anything the Chias said we did, but whatever the Chias say is
what people believe. They say they're getting pushed around, and people are
compassionate to them. We prove that we're getting pushed around, but
nobody believes us because we're supposed to be the big, strong Lupes."
"Why not have another rally?"
"ANOTHER?"
"They always end with Chias claiming we ate some of them."
"Once they said we ate Sam, but he was at their meeting a week later."
"Did a Lupe ever eat one of them?"
"No."
"Chias have been against Lupes since the beginning of time," someone pointed
out. "Does anyone remember why?"
"I do," said Lassie, looking at Phil.
"Ah, so do I," said Phil. "All too well."
"Do you want to tell the story, Phil, or should I?" Lassie asked him.
"Go ahead," said Phil. "I don't mind."
"All right. A long time ago, there was a young female Lupe named Lassie..."
"It looks beautiful," Lassie_9347122, a four-month-old red Lupe, commented
to herself. She was looking at the tiny toy shop she had set up in Neopia Central.
Ever since she was a Lupe pup, she had loved plushies and toys and wanted to
sell them at low prices to Neopians. Now she could fulfil her dream. She walked
into the store: all the shipments of plushies and toys had been set up; the
shop was ready.
It was around noon, and Neopia Central was full of people, though, compared
to today's crowds it was practically deserted. The skies weren't yet grey by
pollution, nor were the streets mobbed full of rushed people. But on the fourth
of Hunting, more things were about to happen than people realised.
"Hello," said a girl, walking in the store with a baby Uni in her arms. "I've
only been in Neopia for two days, and all I have for my Uni is an orange Fuzzle.
The sign outside says that you sell toys."
"I do," Lassie replied, smiling, "and you're my first customer!" Lassie showed
her around the shop and the girl picked out a blue Pteri plushie, a yellow Aisha
doll, a green Grundo plushie, and a blue Uni doll for her pet.
"Thank you," said the girl, paying for the plushies. "My name's Laura. I'll
be sure to come again soon." She walked out the door, and Lassie felt alone
again.
Ever since she was a puppy... it was hard to remember, yet hard to forget.
Only a month before, she had run away from her home, and she doubted that her
owner even noticed she was gone. She was adopted from the Pound as a puppy,
she'd been told, but she could only barely remember then. Her owner only cared
about collecting Neopoints, not about her. She had little food, no books, no
friends, and no toys. She had always wanted to allow every NeoPet to have a
toy... or maybe it was the sheer fact that she had to make Neopoints to live
that gave the little Lupe the courage to open her own shop.
Soon her shop was successful--or, rather, started out to be. Word of mouth
brought tons of Neopians to her store, which was stocked full of plushies and
toys for prices that were the cheapest anywhere. Lassie's first customer came
back regularly to buy toys. Soon Lassie even had enough money to buy her own
NeoHome: two small rooms made of cardboard.
But after about two weeks, customers were dwindling. As much as Lassie lowered
prices, no people came on some days.
One day at dusk, Lassie looked up as the first customer of the day walked
in, right when the store was about to be closed.
"Hi," Lassie said sadly.
"I was just shopping around Neopia," the boy said, "and I noticed that people
are in line for the plushie shop a block away, but this place is deserted."
"Another plushie shop?" she gasped, her eyes widening.
"Yeah," he replied. "It's owned by some Chia named Bob. You should see the
prices--on the Shop Wizard things that would normally go for 500 NP are only
75 NP at his shop."
"I've got to see this for myself," Lassie said, shocked but partially amazed.
"Please, show me where it is."
"It's not far," the boy replied. "As I said, only a block away."
They walked until they saw it--and Lassie gasped. It was about five times
the size of her shop, and it was packed about a hundred people and their NeoPets.
"If you don't mind," the boy said, "I have a baby Shoyru at home, and I need
to buy him supper for tonight."
She nodded. "OK, bye. And-- and thanks."
The boy nodded back. He slipped through the crowd and vanished.
Lassie waited in line, and finally her turn came. "Excuse me," she said to
the Chia, "I'd like to know why you're trying to put me out of business."
"Nonsense," the yellow Chia said confidently. "You're that poor Lupe who owns
that shop a little way's away, hmm? Well, I have just as much right to sell
as you. But it's really the better shopkeeper who deserves the most customers."
No Lupe could hold back the anger Lassie had. She knocked the arrogant Chia
off the desk he was standing on, and bared her teeth inches from Bob's neck.
"Say that again," she growled.
Every head in the store turned around to see what Lassie did. A customer whipped
out a cell phone and called the Chia Police. Within a minute, they arrived.
It took nine officers to hold down the angry Lupe, and they drove her back to
her NeoHome
"This is just a warning," the Chia officer said. "It's free enterprise in
Neopia. You can't just go attacking Chias, saying that they're putting you out
of business."
"You don't care about him trying to ruin my career," she retorted. "He's probably
got a million Neopoints I'm just trying to make a living--and a poor one at
that."
"Rich or not, everyone has the right to sell. I'm not the type to judge a
NeoPet on his or her species or amount of money, but I'd suggest you lower your
prices and don't go attacking other pets."
The officer turned around and started to leave, but stopped suddenly and turned
to Lassie, noticing for the first time how small she was compared to other Lupes.
"How old are you?" he asked her.
"Four months," she replied angrily.
"Well, in that case," he said, "come with me."
The Chia Police found out that Lassie was a "minor" (under 18 months), and
didn't have an owner, so they put her in the Pound. They almost put her in jail,
but as someone pointed out, she had no way of knowing that she had been living
illegally. Lupes everywhere were outraged, because Lassie had been doing fine
on her own. Chias everywhere thought that justice had been served, because she
broke a rule.
Lassie was stunned when she was told that she'd have to go to the horrible
place that NeoPets told stories about over campfires, the ones that could give
even the bravest NeoPets nightmares for weeks. She'd been there once, and never
wanted to go back. That's why she'd run away from her owner in the first place;
she'd feared he would put her back in the Pound. He'd never cared about her
at all. What right did anyone have, to seal Lassie's fate like that? It was
all Bob's fault... she had been doing fine on her own....
What Lassie didn't know was that the Chias were trying to gain public support
after Lassie's "offence": attacking a defenceless Chia. In the end, they decided
that they would keep her in the Pound for a while, and try to reason with the
Neopian government. It was just before summer, and Neopians were feeling carefree.
Now wasn't the time to start a huge war. Yet, that's what happened.
Kicking and screaming, Lassie was dragged into the Pound, and put in a large,
two-pet cage. There was a Grundo in the same cage, and she started to cry.
"Every NeoPet does that when they're disowned," the Grundo said sadly, after
watching her wail for half an hour. "But you're lucky. A pretty young Lupe like
yourself could get adopted in a day. But me, nobody wants me. I can't even see
my family anymore, if they're even alive."
Lassie stopped. "Family?" She'd never had a real one.
"Yes," he said. "I was separated from my parents and little brother so long
ago... Sloth came and enslaved our entire planet of Grundos. My parents were
turned to mutants, into slaves, and my brother and I fled, and we managed to
get here, into Neopia. We were captured and sent to the Neopian Pound. I've
never been able to leave here since. My brother was sent to the Adopt-a-Grundo
in the VirtuPets Space station, and my parents are somewhere on Sloth's space
station, probably with their memories erased. Just when I thought my brother
got away from Sloth forever, I heard that he was recaptured by Sloth. I can't
ever know for sure." He started sobbing quietly. "I shouldn't have told you
all of that, when you were already so upset... my name's PhilosophyPhreak2_0.
Call me Philosophy."
"I'm sorry, Philosophy," she replied sadly. "My name's Lassie. I guess my
worries are nothing compared to yours. I'm sorry about your brother--I hope
one day you can find him."
"Find him? No, if he's still free, then I just hope that one day a nice Neopian
will come and save him--if they can. I never had an owner. It's unfortunate
that many of them can be so cruel."
"No, no no," Lassie said. "Owners take care of their pets, and treat them
as their friends."
"Why are you here, then?" the Grundo asked. "Did your owner ever treat you
well?"
More tears came. Lassie couldn't control them. "No."
"See?" asked the Grundo "So then maybe my brother is in better hands not having
an owner."
Lassie didn't say a word. She just turned over and went to sleep...
Lassie was in a dark forest. The Haunted Forest, she guessed.
"Why did I ever agree to come here?" a black Lupe walking next to Lassie
whispered.
"You know as well as we all do that we have to defeat those Chias," another
Lupe replied.
"We should never have taken it this far," a third Lupe sighed.
"Yes, we should have," Lassie heard herself saying. "Listen, we're one
of the best NeoPets in all of Neopia. Are we going to let a group of stupid
Chias continue to make us outcasts? Are we going to show them that we can fight
back, or not?"
Everyone agreed, but no one spoke for a while. Then they heard leaves rustling
in the distance. "Halt," someone commanded. The voice sounded familiar...
"No need to hide from us," came a squeaky voice. "We know where you are.
You can never beat us. You may think you have..."
"ATTACK!!!!!!!"
To be continued... | 
