The Warp Machine: Part Four by jolteon25 |  |
"The Shadow Thieves, as the mysterious robbers from the bank robbery have been
dubbed, have struck again. This time the legendary Blizzard Orb has been taken
from deep within the Ice Caves. Said to control all forms of weather, this mysterious
orb has kept Terror Mountain snowbound for years. Sure enough, Terror Mountain
is slowly thawing out and may soon melt down and cause the water levels to rise
and flood. Other stories today are..."
"Well?" asked Carp, chewing on a tuna sub. Lupe and Carp were listening to
a handheld radio/walkie-talkie that Mist had made a couple of months back. Lupe
had been carrying it around in a little purse she always wore.
"Kind of obvious, isn't it?" replied Lupe. Carpetia nodded as they walked around
the corner of Sakhmet Main Street. The two were in the Lost Desert, where Eyrie
Enterprises was located.
"Here we are." They looked up at a building that was about five stories tall.
There were few windows, and those only at the very top, so nobody could look
in, but anybody inside could look out. Other than that, the building was unremarkable
and rather plain and needing a new coat of paint. There wasn't a door in sight.
"How 'bout let's go around the back?" said Carpetia, already going to the
other side of the building. Lupe trotted after, and she found Carpetia examining
a small metal door in the very back.
"Locked," said Carpetia, not looking up.
"Oh?"
Rather strange, Lupe thought, there being only one small door for
such a big building. Lupe noticed a white transport with the words
"Eyrie Enterprises" in, sure enough, parked in near the door. It was empty.
"Okay, here's the transport, so how'd they get such a big thing into that
tiny door?"
"Dunno. Ah-hah!" Lupe turned as the door swung open. "You said it was locked."
Carpetia grinned and held up a number of thin metal pieces. "You're right, it
was locked. Mist taught me how to pick locks. Come on!" Carpetia walked
in, and Lupe followed.
The door opened up to reveal a hallway lined with blue tiles. At the end,
there were two flights of stairs that led downwards. Carpetia chose the right
one and led the way down the dark stairs, and Lupe noted that there was mold
growing all over the place. The walls were also rather damp. As the bottom of
the spiraling stairs, Carpetia suddenly halted.
"Carp? What's wrong?"
When she didn't answer, Lupe looked over Carpetia's wings to see a large,
cavernous room, filled with stalactites dripping water. The walls were lined
with computers and monitors. Next to the stairs they had just come down was
another one leading up, which was probably the set of stairs on the left side
of the tunnel they had entered. In the middle of the room was a flat, smooth
circle lined with white marble. On the marble the outline of a black star had
been painted. And in the middle of the star was a green cylinder.
"The Warp!" Lupe said.
"Look there!" Carpetia pointed over to a corner. A crystal sphere hung suspended
in a glass case, dome shaped and tall, like the ones used to display cakes in.
Blue and white mist swirled inside the sphere, constantly changing shape and
form. "Is that what I think it is?" asked Lupe. Carpetia looked at her, "Well,
what do you think it is? A Tonu egg? That must be the Blizzard Sphere that was
stolen from the Ice Caves. But how do you think they got the warp in here? That
tiny little door we came through would never have fit this giant thing."
"Hey, Carp!"
"Hm?"
Lupe pointed to another set of stairs on the other side of the room that neither
had noticed upon coming in. "Want to check it out?"
"Sure."
"You know, technically, what we're doing isn't exactly within the perimeter
of the law."
Carpetia only looked at her. "Uh-huh. And robbing a couple hundred million
NP from the bank, stealing a priceless treasure, not to mention trespassing
on private property, topped off with breaking into private property isn't against
the law. Sure." Lupe grinned. "Okay."
The two of them went up the stairs, which were also in a spiral pattern. Carpetia
suddenly said, "Listen." Lupe cocked her head and heard faint voices. "Let's
get closer." Carpetia nodded and they went up farther as the voices became clearer.
"When will the next operation start?"
"Tonight, sire."
"Brilliant. You have done excellent work, my faithful servant. With the most
powerful weapons of Neopia in my possession, I will rule Neopia and all the
pitiful creatures within it!"
Upon reaching the landing, the two pets peeked inside. A sleek black Aisha
was standing near a chair, where another creature, this one with its face hidden
by the hood of its cloak, was seated. Lupe looked at Carpetia, who shrugged
and turned back down the stairs. "Let's go get the police and tell them what
we've found", she whispered. Lupe nodded her agreement as they reached the room
with the marble centre. The two raced up the stairs that led outside, and crashed
straight into two silver Eyries! One of them, recovering, squawked out, "What
the heck?! Who are you?! You're not one of us!" Before they could recover fully
and realise what was going on, Carpetia and Lupe immediately did an about face
and scrambled back down to the marble room to use the other set of stairs up.
As they skidded down the stairs and turned to use the stairs on the left, another
pair of silver Eyries came down from that flight. "Uh-oh." Carpetia grimaced.
They turned to the stairs that had led up to the room with the cloaked figure,
and saw the shadowed Aisha and the cloaked figure walking down, doubtless drawn
by the noise cause by the collision with the two Eyries.
"Well. What have we here? Two little lost NeoPets." The figure drew back its
hood to reveal the head of a male silver Eyrie, with one eye. A thin scar replaced
the space where the right eye should be. Lupe bristled. "If you honestly think
I'm scared by a bunch of your idiots, you've got another thing coming." Carpetia,
normally rather aggressive, though lazy, was more sensible during an emergency.
"Uh, Lupe… that's not that great an idea," she whispered, softly enough that
only Lupe could hear it. The silver Eyrie only laughed at Lupe's remark. "Foolish
child. My team and I have eliminated far more dangerous creatures than two young
NeoPets." He turned to Carpetia "Ah. You are one of the creators of this fabulous
machine. Foolish of you not to take precautions." The Eyrie smiled cruelly,
"Doubtless you realise that the two of you may not leave this place alive, lest
you stop our operations. A pity. Goodbye." With that he nodded to the silver
Eyries and went upstairs along with the black Aisha.
The second he left, the other Eyries immediately leapt to attack, armed with
Ice Swords. Lupe drew out her Ice Scimitar as Carpetia pulled out her Platinum
Tech Bow. Lupe blocked a slice at her side and ducked under another, thrusting
at one of the Eyries. Parrying a thrust, she dodged in and managed to slash
at one of them, who leaped back in surprise. The other feinted to the left and
then slashed right. Lupe twisted and grabbed his paw, jerking him over her hip
and causing him to crash down on the floor. The one she had cut earlier had
recovered and lunged at her unprotected side. Lupe spun and slashed, while the
Eyrie she had thrown kicked her from behind. She dropped and rolled as the Eyrie
vaulted at her, and this time she threw him over her head and at the wall, where
he crashed with a heavy thud. Vaguely, she noticed that Carpetia was bleeding,
which wasn't that surprising, since the bow wasn't a very good weapon for paw-to-paw
fighting. She should get a sword, a Pteri sword… she could afford it. Lupe shook
her head. Strange thoughts to have while you're fighting for your life. Whipping
her scimitar around in a crescent, she flinched slightly as the Eyrie blocked
and swept his blade around, grazing her arm and cutting the strap of the purse
she was carrying. As she blocked and retreated, the purse fell and opened, and
a small metal orb rolled out. A metal orb? Her thoughts raced. It will completely
destroy the machine, anyone using it, and anyone within half a mile. She
risked a glance at Carpetia, who was bleeding rather badly and running out of
arrows. Carpetia noticed the glance. Lupe saw her pause slightly as Carpetia
spotted the metal orb. She looked at Lupe, and nodded. Deflecting a crosscut,
Lupe dived, scooped up the metal orb, and pushed the red spot. The world went
black.
Darkness. Emptiness. Nothing but a void.
"Lupe?" A faint light appeared, like one seen at the end of a tunnel. She
swam upwards out of the shadows toward the light, and the light grew until it
surrounded her.
Lupe opened her eyes. The world seemed pale and blurry. She blinked and shook
her head to clear it.
"Lupe?" Looking up, Lupe saw Carpetia, covered in bandages but grinning. "You
feeling OK?"
"Am I alive?" Lupe was on a bed, in a white room. Looking around, she saw
an open window, and a vase of glass roses and a pile of brightly wrapped packages
on the small table next to her. Seeing her notice the flowers, Carpetia grinned.
"Get well presents. I got some too. Mostly from classmates and family and stuff."
"Why are we alive? Didn't you say that anything within half a mile of the
machine would be destroyed? And where am I? Why aren't you in bed? What's going
on? What happ-"
Carpetia laughed and interrupted. "Whoa, slow down! One at a time. We're in
the NeoHospital, ward three. The Chia police came over earlier to ask stuff,
but you were asleep, I guess. I'm up and about because the doctors weren't around
after the police left so I just snuck out and came here. Mist and I miscalculated
the actual range and power of destruction. He's the one who gave you the glass
roses, by the way. At any rate, it only blew up the building and not anything
else. Somebody saw the explosion and called the police, and here we are. I think
we're the only two who survived though; cause the police said they didn't find
anybody else in the residue." Carpetia yawned. "I'm hungry." Lupe shook her
head. "Don't you ever think about anything besides food? We just got blown up,
and all that's in your mind is your stomach. And you didn't answer why we're
alive."
"Oh. Um… I don't know why we're alive, actually. But hey, I'm not going to
complain." Carpetia shrugged and went to the door. "Well, I suppose I'd better
head back. See you later, Lupe!" With that, she left, and Lupe was alone with
her thoughts about their mysterious survival.
Elsewhere, a silver Eyrie was having the same thoughts.
Epilogue
Life went back to normal afterwards. Carpetia and Guadalupe were thanked
for their efforts in recovering the stolen items, and indeed, the Blizzard Orb
was recovered because of its resistance to the fire resulting from the explosion.
Carpetia and HauntingMists did not rebuild the Warp Machine, because the notes
that they had written had been destroyed in the explosion, and they decided
that it was better not to build another, in case criminals stole it later. Carpetia
and Guadalupe never did find out how they survived the blast, but after much
speculation, it was decided that it was simply luck. Or was it?
The End |
