Adventures Through Time and Space

      They were playing in a park with a whole jungle gym set and red stone tables. They had been playing Tag, and Radi was It. Gorga stepped up to two mechanical-looking objects.

      "How did these get here?" she wondered aloud. Then she saw Radi coming, and she jumped right in it. Radi jumped into the other one with curiosity. Suddenly, it started spinning around.

      "Aaaah!" she screamed.

      "Turn it off!" shouted Radi. Apparently, they had contact.

      "I don't know how!" Gorga wailed, and then she accidentally leaned on a big, red button.

      "Emergency Hyper Drive" was printed on the button. The two little Neopets' lips were flying back, and their eyes were forced open.

      "My face is going to be ruined!" Gorga shouted, with a muffled voice. But Radi didn't hear her. The two Neos were going way too fast. Radi's beanie cap was flying off his head!

      Having been knocked unconscious, Gorga and Radi woke up on a deserted plain of barren rock.

      "Where are we?" Radi inquired weakly.

      "I don't know, but I broke a nail," she replied. Radi rolled his eyes.

      They had been walking for hours, but had found no forms of life.

      "I'm hungry," Radi whined. "I'd kill for a brain right now." Gorga stepped a few feet away from him.

      They decided to go exploring.

      "Look what I found," cried Gorga, climbing up a winding slope. "It's some kind of tiny mountain."

      "I found something too," he answered. "They look like round scorch marks. Come look!"

      "Okay." Gorga climbed a tiny cliff and a tube-like piece of rock connected to the tall mountain was holding Radi up. There were holes in it, and Radi was examining them closely.

      "Ewww. It's gross in there," Gorga remarked.

      "A laser." Radi's comment had come out of nowhere.

      "Huh?" said Gorga, distorting her face slightly.

      "These look like laser marks." Radi might have only been a year old, but eating brains wasn't just a hobby. He knew more than some adults did.

      Gorga had insisted on taking a rest. Radiaction had agreed to take the first watch.

      "I'll wake you at midnight," he said.

      "Midnight?" Gorga exclaimed in a disturbed voice. "I need my beauty rest."

      "Gorga, we're on a deserted plain, possibly on another planet, and all you can think of is your looks?"

      "But..."

      "Like I said, I'll wake you at midnight," he said, cutting her off.

      In the morning, Radi was explaining about a pill he had, but not just any pill. It was a special House in a Pill that he had obtained a while back. Gorga didn't pay any attention, though. She was too tired.

      "Okay. I threw the pill. Now we need to look for the house," Radi explained.

      "What about a pill?" asked Gorga.

      "Weren't you listening?!" Radi cried, frustrated.

      "Not particularly," Gorga answered

      "Ugh. Come on," said Radi. They headed around a large cliff, and walked along it until they came to a mansion.

      "That's it!" exclaimed Radi.

      "Ooh! A mansion!" cried Gorga excitedly, "Perfect!" Radi tripped over a large rock as he was about to race Gorga to the mansion. He landed on his face, and saw his House in a Pill.

      "Huh?" Radi was confused. "It didn't work." He picked it up. Then he and Gorga walked cautiously to the mansion. Knock, knock! Nobody answered. Radi tried the door. It was unlocked. They went inside and found a computer.

      "If I can get into this system, I can find out where we are," explained Radi. Gorga watched him as he tried to log onto the computer.

      "Got it," he said. They were looking at a picture of Neopia. "Wait a minute," he said. "If we're looking at a camera recording of Neopia, we must be on another planet," Radi said, with a hint of fear in his voice.

      "When'd you figure that out?" said Gorga sarcastically. Just then, somebody walked into the room.

      The two Neopets were too afraid to speak. Then they saw that it was a purple Grundo with a bent antenna and a Kougra with light blue fur, and beautiful pink stripes.

      "Hey! What are you two kids doing on my computer?" asked the Grundo.

      "Who are you two?" the Kougra inquired.

      "Hello. I didn't know anyone else lived on this planet," said Radi, finally able to speak, his voice trembling.

      "Oh, I don't live here," explained the Kougra. "I was just visiting my friend, Radiaction." She gestured to the purple Grundo.

      "That's my name!" shouted Radi, his beanie cap almost toppled off his head.

      "But that's impossible. No two Neopets can have the same name," said the other Grundo in a matter-of-fact sort of voice.

      "But it's true," Radi insisted. "My name's Radiaction, and I'm called Radi, for short."

      "Hmmm. Interesting," said the other Grundo. "What is your name, little Kougra?"

      "Um... I'm Gorga478."

      The older Kougra's fur stood on end. "That's exactly the same name that I have!" she cried in wonder.

      "Hmmm. Then they must be us, when we were kids," said the older Grundo.

      "You're right," said the older Gorga. "I was the color blue when I was smaller. I didn't get painted until just recently."

      "But you look blue. If you're not blue, then what color are you?"

      "I'm striped," said the older Gorga proudly.

      "Striped? I didn't know Kougras could be painted striped."

      "They can now."

      "Well then, if you're me, then... Man, I'm cute!"

      "Thank you," older Gorga said, flattered.

      "Talk about vain," the two Radis said in unison.

      "I'm not vain, I'm just aware of my own beauty," both of the Gorgas replied.

      "You guys are right. You are on a different planet. It should be easy to get back to Neopia."

      "But how do we get back to our own time," worried the younger Radi.

      "Well, how did you get here in the first place?" the older Radi asked.

      Gorga and Radi explained all about their adventure. The small mechanical things, the strange rock formations, and even Radi's House in a Pill.

      "Hmmm, " the older Radi thought about what they had said. "It seems that you guys found some Kreludan spaceships. They took you here to Kreludor."

      "Kreludor?" the younger Gorga said, "You mean Neopia's moon?"

      "That's right," answered older Gorga, "It's not much, but this is Radi's home. He's lived in it ever since he threw a House in a Pill."

      "Yes," said the older Radi. "The same pill that he threw." He pointed to his younger self. "You two not only went to a different planet, you went through time as well."

      "I think we figured that out," Gorga muttered sarcastically.

      "Yes. Er... *ahem* How did you do it?"

      "Well, Gorga pressed the Emergency Hyper Drive button on accident," explained the younger Radi.

      "Yep. That could do it," replied the older Radi. "Anyway, if you want to get back you'll have to find us those ships."

      The older Gorga had gone home.

      "They were around these cliffs," said the younger Radi.

      "Say," said the older Radi, "why do you wear this?" He flicked the other Radi's beanie cap.

      "Hey," the younger Radi cried. "I respect this beanie cap!" He bopped the older Radi on his broken antenna. By that time they were around the cliff.

      "Um, it's somewhere around here," Gorga told the older Radi. "This is where we got lost." The older Radi slapped his forehead.

      "I can locate them," the younger Radi suggested. "I set a homing device on the spaceships, just in case we needed them again. I just now remembered it."

      "Excellent," the older Radi said.

      When the Neopets found the Kreludan spaceships, the older Radi set to work. He had brought along a toolbox with him, filled with Kreludan tools.

      "I think I should be able to reverse the hyper drive on these things," the older Radi remarked. "If I can, you'll go back in time, instead of forward."

      "Are you finished yet?" Gorga asked impatiently, breaking the silence. Then the older Radi got out of the second spaceship.

      "Not only that, I'm done," older Radi joked.

      "So we can go?" asked Gorga excitedly.

     "Not just yet," he replied.

      "Oh." Gorga was disappointed.

      "It needs fuel," the older Radi informed them. "Special Kreludan crystals."

      "Kreludan crystals?" the younger Radi questioned.

      "Yes. They glow green, and are about the size of a fist. We need to look for some."

      "But I'm tired," Gorga whined.

      "Okay, fine," older Radi said impatiently. "You can stay the night at my house. But we're looking first thing in the morning."

      "I bet our owners are worrying about us," younger Radi said, before he and Gorga had drifted off to sleep.

      "Yes. We must try hard to look for those crystals," she replied.

      "Yeah, so we better get a good night's rest," Radi agreed.

      In the morning, they had a breakfast of Kreludan food, which Gorga almost refused to eat, but decided against it since she was very hungry. Straight after that, they went on a long search for the Kreludan crystals.

      "Kreludan crystals have strong radiation currents, so me and um... *ahem* myself, should be able to pick them up with our antennas," the older Radi explained.

      It had been hours, possibly. The Neopets had not kept track of time.

      "Have you found any yet?" Gorga complained.

      "I think I'm picking some up," answered the older Radiaction after a long pause. "In two places, but one is very far away, and the other is very dangerous."

      "Aw, you don't need to worry about us. We can handle a little danger," Gorga said, like she was making the decision.

      Radi glared at her then pressed a button on a gadget on his wrist. They appeared in front of his house. "You'd better pack up young ones. We're going on a long journey."

      The two younger Neopets didn't have any of their own stuff, so the older Radi provided them with packs of rations, a first aid kit, and other necessities.

      "It should take about three days," Radiaction explained to the two younger Neopets.

      "Three days!" Gorga478 shouted. "Where are we going to sleep for three days?"

      "I brought a Tent in a Pill," he replied. "When we fold it up, it will turn back into a pill."

      Three days went by, but not without conflict. They had been attacked by the Pant Devil, amazing as it was to have found them there, and an oversized Grundo got on their case about being in an "unauthorized area." Finally, they came to what looked like a flea market. They walked through it, finding many interesting things, but not what they were looking for. Then, they saw an Alien Aisha, with... Kreludan crystals!

      "Excuse me," The older Radi ran up to the Aisha. "How much are you selling those for?"

      "I was kind of hoping I could get some Nerkmids for them," she replied.

      "Oh, shoot," he said, looking defeated. "Do either of you have any Nerkmids?" The other two Neopets shook their heads. The three of them walked away from the market. "I'm sorry, you guys. I promised I'd help you."

      "Don't feel bad," Gorga sympathized. "You did your be..." They saw a baby Uni, playing in the sand, with a shovel and pail, and he was digging up Kreludan crystals. The older Radi picked up two.

      "This should be enough for the spaceships!" he exclaimed. The baby Uni looked at them, confused. Radi pushed the button on his wrist-gadget again, and they appeared back at his house.

      They ran to the spaceships. They were too excited to walk. The older Radi opened a compartment in the spaceships, and put a crystal in each one.

      "Thank you," he said as he closed the compartments. "You two gave me a really great adventure."

     "And thank you!" cried Gorga.

      "You must go now," he answered, and gestured towards the spaceships. Both of the young ones jumped in, and just like last time, they started spinning as soon as they did. Gorga knew what she had to do. She hit the "Emergency Hyper Drive" button.

      "Good b..." the older Radi's voice was cut off by a sonic boom.

      Radi and Gorga stepped off the spaceships dizzily.

      "We're still on Kreludor," Radi remarked. "I wonder..." He threw his House in a Pill. They walked around a cliff, and found a familiar-looking mansion. "You can go ahead and go home," Radi said to Gorga. "I think I'll be staying here for awhile." He winked at her.

The End

~A work by Saru-Chan... 0(^w^)0