Astpyr Babysits

      I heard a knock on my door. As we’re the only ones who live here, it had to be my owner, Qazx301. She was going to set me free! Oh yeah! I leapt off my bed and opened the door. There she was, glasses and all, holding a crumpled Neomail in her hand.

      “Astpyr, this came for you this morning.” She thrust it into my paw, then headed downstairs, slamming the door as she went. I sat back on my bed again, and opened it. Dear Astpyr, it read, I’m going to the Battledome today at two. Could you come too? We could have a match. Yours truly, Ashinean0rg006.

      Wow! One of the coolest Gold Unis in school asked me to the Battledome! This was amazing! Rumor had it she had a personal trainer, and had beat up every boy in school. I fiddled through my weapon stash, looking for something I could bring and show off. Attack Fork, Wooden Blocking Shield, a few potions, Not good. Maybe I could convince Qazx301 to give me two thousand more neopoints so I could by those Kougra Facial Goggles I wanted.

      Quietly, I stole downstairs. When I reached the bottom, I saw there was no need to worry, as my owner had left. Along with a note, there was a bag on the table. I picked it up. Inside, there were two thousand neopoints. I looked at the note. She had just gone out to play some games, and would be back in two hours. If I hurried, I could just make it to the Battledome and back. The weapon shop was on the way.

      “Astpyr! You came!” exclaimed Ashy at the Battledome. She was dressed in full body armor, with an impressive cache of swords and daggers on her back. Behind her, the neon lighting flashed across the Battledome walls “Nice goggles!” she commented “Are you ready to fight?”

      “You bet I am,” I answered. “Are you?” We both walked into the dome. The fight lasted for about fifteen minutes, but in the end, I won. After saying goodbye, I snuck out of the Battledome and headed home.

      When I arrived, I went back up to my room, just in time for my owner to return. When I heard her open the door, I flopped back on my bed, opening a book as she knocked. “Come in,” I yelled, trying to seem as if I’d stayed in my room the whole time.

      “Astpyr,” she said with a frown, “why were my neopoints missing? I left them on the table and now they’re gone. I know you took them. So, how are you going to pay me back?”

      “Um... I was thinking forgive and forget,” I muttered. “That’s not going to work, right?”

      “Nope,” she said, rubbing my fur. “This time, you are going to earn the money yourself, along with a lesson on the value of money.”

      I sighed. This was not my day. “Can I do chores?” I asked, hoping she’d say yes. It was just a few thousand Neopoints!

      “No, you’re going to have to get a real job. I’ll bring up the classified ads.” She left the room with a smile on her face. Great. A job.

      She brought up that day’s NT. I flipped through the classified, until I found a relatively good job.

      Wanted: Good Babysitter

      Neomail Alexa322352

      Babysitting. Not the best job, but all I had to do was put the kids in bed and read for a few hours. Best of all, my owner knew Alexa. I’m sure she’d let me watch her pets for an hour.

      Sure enough, Qazx301 was okay with it. She neomailed Alexa, and told me I’d go watch her two pets Friday. By the time Friday rolled around, I was ready. Armed with a book and a few baby bottles, I went to work.

***

     Alexa was a nice young women about twenty years old. “The twins are in their cribs,” she said while trying to put on her earrings, “so just sit down and make sure they’re okay.” Putting on the last earring, she walked out the door, leaving me alone with the twin baby Gelerts, Neo and Points. Did I mention Alexa was rich?

      I settled down on the couch and pulled out my book. After half an hour, I decided to check on the twins. When I went up the golden stairs, there they were. Two cute little babies, sleeping in their cribs. Closing the silver (and extremely heavy) doors, I went back down the stairs.

      I read until I heard a thump from upstairs. What was that? Sneaking up the stairs again, I opened the door to find the twins were missing! Looking across the decorated room, I saw the golden window was opened. I went for a closer look. There seemed to be a rope ladder attached to the bottom of the window.

      “I can’t believe it! The little cuties ran away!” I whispered to myself. Looking out the window, I could see two fluffy shapes running down the street towards the dock. Grumbling about my stupidity, I climbed down the ladder. It broke halfway down, dropping me straight onto Alexa’s prize glass roses.

      As soon as I recovered, I chased the little monsters down the street. Turns out, I was just in time to see them run onto a ship headed for Faerieland. I ran to the terminal, where a White Skeith in a red vest handed out tickets.

      “Excuse me,” I gasped, completely out of breath, “can I get a ticket to Faerieland?” Digging in my bag, I found an extra two hundred neopoints. “Is this enough?”

      He nodded, and handed me a ticket. Racing, I managed to get on the ship, but with all the Neopets, I couldn’t see the twins anywhere. I had to wait until we got off to look for them. Alexa wasn’t paying me enough for this!

      The ride took half an hour. Faerieland loomed in the distance, tall towers of purple and gold marking Faerie City. When we landed on the cloud dock, it took me a few seconds to get my bearings on the cloud, and to look for the two trouble makers. There they were; running in the direction of - Jhudora’s cloud?

      Following at a distance, I saw Neo and Points craw onto the dark faerie’s cloud. Small puffs of green smoke erupted from their paw prints, dissipating back into the cloud when Jhudora emerged. She was wearing a flowing purple gown. In one hand, she clutched a wand topped with a single eye. She loomed menacingly above them. Focusing my ears, I listened on their conversation.

      “Did you bring it?” she asked, clearly impatient. “I hope you did! I do not tolerate fools!”

      “Of course we did, oh great Jhudora,” said Neo, the oldest. In his hand he clutched a bag of Neopoints. “We stole it from our owner this morning. It’s the hundred thousand neopoints she was going to put on the Money Tree!” The three of them cackled, Jhudora in a low, evil sound, the twins in voices that bespoke playground bullies, really little ones.

      Well, I wasn’t being paid to baby-sit the minions of evil. Then again, Qazx301 would be even worse than Jhudora if I left the twins unattended. Twins, save my fur, twins, save my fur. What one should I choose?

      The choice was made for me. Points and Neo suddenly caught my scent. “It’s our babysitter! Get her!” they yelled, and the next thing I knew, big bolts of purple lightning were flying at my head! I ran for my life, stopping only when I reached the ferry and bought tickets back to Neopia Central.

      Quietly, I let myself back into Alexa’s neohome. Worn out and tired, I slumped down on the couch and fell asleep. When I opened my eyes, however, it was to see Qazx301 and Alexa standing over me.

      “Where are my twins?” Alexa cried. “My two precious babies?” Her hands reached out towards my neck, like she was planning to kill me.

      “Um, this might sound stupid, but it’s the truth...” I told Qazx301 and Alexa how the two precious babies were minions of evil. I don’t know why, but they didn’t believe me. “Qazx,” I said, in a last-ditch attempt, “I’m your pet. Do you think I’d lie to you?”

      “You are in a lot of trouble, young Kougra, so you better tell me what happened to the twins!” She had her no-nonsense face on, which was normally the last thing I see before I get grounded. Yep, I was in a lot of trouble. Thankfully, the golden door opened at that moment, and in walked Neo and Points.

      Both of them were wearing I Love Jhudora tee-shirts. Also, they were being escorted by a Defender of Neopia. To make a long story short, the twins, using Jhudora’s magic, tried to break into the Hidden Tower. Poor Alexa paid me twice the amount she promised, embarrassed at the fact her two perfect babies were minions of evil. And Qazx301 decided to reduce my grounding to one more week instead of five.

      All in all, a successful day’s work.

The End