A Real Battle: Part Three

by _ana_2

It was Friday, almost a week since the Battledome had opened and Valorie was back to her normal, healthy, Peophin self. Actually, the battle that she'd won had probably made her stronger. I had bought her new weapons to replace the ones she'd lost and got her a new stock of Snowballs. Meredith and John came over frequently to hang out and sometimes practice. That morning, I was reading the Neopian Times. My eye caught an article which I read aloud to Valorie.

"_Valorie_ beats Jim509! An intense battle took place on the Opening Day of the Battledome" I needn't read any more. I already knew what had happened that day. I looked over my paper at Valorie. Her grin couldn't have been wider. Just then, the doorbell rang. I went over and opened the door. Nobody was there, but on the doorstep was a Neomessage. I picked it up and took it inside.

I looked it over at the table, then gasped.

"We've been invited to a special occasion at the Battledome! They want you to go to fight other special pets, Valorie! Look!" I handed the invitation to my blue Peophin.

"Trophies and NP prizes, not to mention refreshments, hehe! Can we go, Anna? Huh, can we?"

"I thought you didn't want to battle anymore."

"I never said that."

"Oh. Well, I guess it'll be fun, then! When is it?"

"Tomorrow, five o'clock PM."

So we were off the next day at 4:30 PM to the Battledome again. There wasn't anybody there except a few people who had invitations like ours in their hands. On the way, John and Meredith met us and insisted to come along and watch. They sat down in the seats while we waited for the party to start. At five on the dot, the double-doors suddenly closed and locked with a clang. A shiver ran down my spine. Something was wrong here. The lights all turned off except for one in the middle of the stadium. A few NeoPets whimpered as a voice echoed through the arena.

"Show your pets."

Valorie and the other pets stepped shakily forward. There was a Kacheek, Quiggle, Uni, Bruce, and Lupe. As they stepped up, 6 pets appeared, each one like one of the others except that they were black with red, glowing eyes.

"I don't like the look of this, Valorie. Use your Night Vision." Valorie turned on her Night Vision and her eyes glowed yellow like a cat's in the darkness. Suddenly, a person appeared out of nowhere. It was a boy of about 17. His eyes were an illuminating, dark, reddish-brown and his hair was more black than the dark the surrounded it.

"Let the battles begin," he said.

And they did. Meredith and John jumped down from the seats and joined me. "This isn't right," said Meredith, "There's something wrong with the way they're battling.."

"It's too-" John began.

"Real," I finished, "People think NeoPets is just a game. They battle because they don't care if their pets are hurt. They don't know their pets can feel it. They're just... cyberpets. And it's been proven that they can't die, so they don't care! They never feed them or play with them because they can't speak up or complain! NeoPets just don't have rights!"

"Anna, calm down," Meredith said to me. I growled. Somebody had to do something about this. NeoPets have feelings. Only good owners know and respect that.

To be continued...