The Peculiar Incident that is Goldie the Snowbunny: Part Six

--Left Corridor of Brightvale Castle--

“You hear anyone?” Jane whispered.

      “No, I think it’s good,” Saphie whispered back.

      The hallway was as dark as night (and it was dusk outside), so all Jane could depend on was Saphie’s hearing. They were almost halfway done with finding Goldie’s headquarters deep in Brightvale castle while Coanneranne and Amrakarii kept watch outside the windows. The plan was foolproof, unless one of them messed up, but there was no time to think about that. The two kept each other in hands reach as they scoured the hallway. A light illuminated a room straight ahead.

      “Look!” Saphie drew a breath.

      Suddenly a Babaa turned around and peered into the blackness. He immediately sensed that something was back there... He approached the dark. It was empty except for a few banners and some armor.

      “Must have been my evil imagination.” He turned back.

      Saphie peered from around the corner. Whatever had been there had left, “Guess we should find some place else.” Jane nodded in agreement.

      Goldie’s room was vacant when Amrakarii landed on the carpeted floor. Coanneranne looked fascinated. She started rummaging through his desk. “Let’s look through some of his papers, Karii!”

      “We can’t do that, Annie! We need to find Goldie first!”

      “Oh, fine, and don’t call me Annie!”

      Amrakarii turned around and smiled. “Then can I call you sister?”

      That caught her unprepared. “Uh, yeah, of course!” Her face turned a few shades of red. “Sister, heehee.”

      The mushiness stopped abruptly when the doorknob turned. Goldie jumped in surprise to see his prisoners in his room.

      “What are you-?”

      “Whoops.” Amrakarii felt her heart sink to her toes.

      “Run!” Coanneranne commanded. They soared above his head and bounded down the hall.

      Jane and Saphie made their way to a staircase; where it led to they didn’t know. Suddenly there was a whooshing sound, and something purple came into view... Coanneranne!?

      “Watch out!!”

      Jane and Coanneranne loudly collided.

      “Sister! Are you okay?! Mom??!!” Amrakarii saw the crash from the top of the stairs.

      “Who’s there?” a voice demanded.

      They all froze.

      “There’s someone here,” another voice said, “go check.”

      A red Noil with a torch in hand jumped to see four figures scrambling in the dark.

      “Intruders! There’re Neopets here!!!” He ran like a maniac.

      “Run again!” Coanneranne commanded, but they were trapped by a force of a hundred Petpets that appeared from practically nowhere. Her heart sank.

      Saphie watched Goldie slowly descend the stairs. “What a surprise. It’s my dumb owner and her even dumber owner. You thought you were so smart, didn’t you?”

      “Obviously!” Amrakarii interrupted. “We escaped from prison right under your nose!”

      “Silence!!!” He had a loud voice for such a tiny villain. “I’ll be sure to do away with you like I should have before!”

      Saphie’s eyes darted about the room. There was no way out, surrounded by Petpets on every side... wait!

      “Mommy! The Honey Potion!”

      Jane suddenly remembered the potion Illusen had given her. She pulled it out.

      “Throw it! Throw it!!!” her pets shouted, and Jane quickly obeyed. The glass exploded and spewed honey everywhere. The minions, and their leader, were immobilized.

      “You think this will stop me?!! Guards! Guards!”

      Instantly more Petpets rounded the corner. There was only a split second to get up the stairs, and for Saphie to grab Goldie. She struggled to free him from the sticky goo.

      “Hurry, Saphie!” A wave of minions started for the stairs. She finally ripped it with her teeth.

      “Get your paws off of-”

      The door slammed shut before Goldie could finish his demand. Jane frantically ran about, the guards were pounding on the door, Goldie was wrestling with Saphie to grab his blaster, and the other two were examining the giant satellite.

      “How does this work?!” Coanneranne asked loudly.

      “Is there a reverse switch, Coanneranne?”

      “Ow! Goldie, stop pulling my horns!!” Saphie yelled.

      “I need that blaster!” He tried to scratch her.

      “Where in Neopia did you get that thing?!”

      “My minions thank you very much!”

      “You’re NOT welcome!!!”

      “Mom!” Coanneranne cried. “You have to get the DIFTCOP.”

      “I can’t, I dropped it in the halls!”

      Amrakarii whipped around. “You what?!”

      “I messed up!!!” Jane bawled.

      “No, Mom, don’t cry!” Coanneranne looked her in the eyes. “I've got a plan.”

      --Downstairs--

      The minions were still forcing the door open, but they stepped back as the knob turned. The human and the Korbat stepped out.

      “We give up.” They immediately shut the door again.

      “Where’s Master Goldie?” one of them demanded.

      “I-in the room, still; he told us to surrender out here,” Jane said calmly.

      The Korbat sighed. “We have something...”

      “What? Hand it over!”

      “...Okay!” Jane whipped out a blaster and fired into the crowd; it was a good thing she had terrible aim or she might have harmed someone.

      “Now let us go... please!” She recharged the blaster.

      “Fine! Just don’t shoot!” The guards scrambled out of the way.

      That was so easy, Amrakarii thought as they turned the corner; the disks were lying in the middle of the floor.

      “Got them.”

      “Good job, Karii! Now let’s get back upstairs...”

      From behind they heard a door being broken down. They exchanged a panicked look and ran back upstairs. Sure enough, the guards had finally busted the door open and were cascading into the room. Amrakarii took charge and flew back up the stairs.

      “Too late, Petpets!!” She sent the disks flying, capturing minion after minion. Saphie was still attempting to pin Goldie to the ground.

      “Let 'im go, Saphie!!” Jane said.

      She gratefully released her grip on Goldie, and a split second later Jane had him at her blaster as Karii threw the final DIFTCOP.

      “Nooooooooooo! I’m ruined!!” Goldie wailed and wailed, but it didn’t matter; Goldie had been caught, and the remaining Petpets had been captured. The girls sank into an exhausted heap.

      “Guys, we- we did it,” Jane breathed. It felt like she had been holding her breath since that first day THEY had been the prisoners on their lawn.

      “I knew we could, Mommy,” Saphie said.

      “Yes, yes, you did... you guys did great.”

      Amrakarii pulled out the EPS; wouldn’t the Doc be proud?

      “Time to send you home, you little abomination.” She poked his barrier. “Would you do the honors, sister? He is your Petpet.”

      “Hooray!!” Saphie was instantly refilled on energy like she usually was. “Bye bye, Goldie125!!!” She tossed the disks, and he vanished.

      An atmosphere of relieved victory took over and the family all smiled. But now the room was eerily quiet; what did they do now?

      “I guess we should get more disks and handle the minions in the honey,” Coanneranne figured.

      “That’s right,” Saphie agreed, “there are still gonna be talking Petpets around Neopia.”

      Jane groaned. “I forgot! Now there’s gonna be stray evil Petpets everywhere.”

      “Wait...” Amrakarii flew through where the door used to be. “Hey guys! If you go to Neopia Central with us quietly, we’ll give you a free and painless ride back!”

      The honey entangled Petpets hesitated, and agreed. Amrakarii could see it in their eyes. What was the use of World Domination if there was no leader of it? She turned back and gave her new family the thumbs up. Jane stood up.

      “Come on, guys! We’re not done quite yet!”

     --A Big Old Boat Headed for Neopia Central--

      “Wow,” the Kougra captain whistled at the site of a cartful of Petpets. “I hope they can all fit in me ship.” He didn’t bother to ask details.

      “Don’t worry, Captain.” Coanneranne smiled. “They won’t keep us up ‘till three in the morning this time.”

      The trip was peaceful, the ex-minions were cooperative and quiet, and the family of four knew that their semi-epic quest was finally coming to a close.

      “So Karii...” She and Jane were standing alone on deck. “We still have that room to think about.”

      “Oh yeah!” Her voice rose with excitement. “I want a chocolate room! With a lot of books, and rugs too! They look so nice on the floor!... I mean, if that’s alright.”

      Her owner, who was really her owner now, laughed. “Whatever you want, just like I promised.”

      Saphie and Coanneranne emerged from below. Jane noted that there was something bouncier about the way they came up this time around.

      “What’re you guys talking about?” Coanneranne asked.

      “We were talking about what Karii’s room will look like when we get home.”

      Their faces brightened like the sunset over the water, “It’s gonna be so fun to get some new sister!” Saphie exclaimed.

      “A new sister,” Coanneranne corrected her.

      Jane laughed again. It felt like a long time since she had done that.

     --Secret Laboratory--

      “Excellent work, girls! I knew you could do it!” The Scorchio scientist seemed genuinely impressed. “Goldie has been zapped, and he has lost all the symptoms of evil genius. If you’d like, Saphie, you can take him home.”

      “No!!!” The four of them nearly screamed his head off.

      “I can get Saphie a new Petpet, one that isn’t evil! He may not be an evil genius anymore-”

      “-But he’s still evil! I know he can’t do anything, but I don’t want something in my room that tried to take over the world! He locked us in a dungeon!!” Saphie finished for her owner.

      The Doc nodded. “Alright, then don’t worry, Saphie, I know just what to do with him...”

     --The Kadoatery--

      “Hey, look at that!” A family of two Rukis looked up at a cage that said ‘Goldie wants world domination.’

      “He doesn’t look like a Kadoatie,” the little girl Ruki said.

      “He does look a little odd, doesn’t he?” her brother commented. “I wonder how long he’s been here?”

      Goldie scratched pitifully at the bars on his permanent cage.

     --One Month Later--

      “Girls! I’m home!”

      Coanneranne, Saphie, and Amrakarii whizzed down the stairs to see their owner. “How was the guild, Mom? Did you make any new friends yet?” Coanneranne asked.

      "Well, I met this girl named Icy... and I told everyone about your gaining two levels today at the Lab Ray, Karii! They were really happy for us.”

      “It was fun today, wasn’t it?” she agreed. Going to the lab ray had become a lot more fun lately; and of course, they had stayed far away from the... other ray.

      “It’s Friday today, Mommy!”

      “That’s right, Saphie! And I already picked them up.” Jane grinned and showed them her purchase.

      The girls gasped, “Tickets to Shenkuu!”

      “That’s right!”

      Life had returned to normal at the Roo Island Household. Saphie had a gotten a new Petpet: Bella the Faerie Hasee. Amrakarii had moved into her own room, instead of the couch. Jane had dumped her old friends; she was having a lot of success finding new ones. Coanneranne had written a journal about their adventure, with perfect grammar of course. And the Doc had learned his own lesson: keep your toys, especially ones that can cause world catastrophe, under tight security.

      They were still paying the price, as there were still evil Petpets wandering Neopia. The Doc had tracked some talking Fungrees in Shenkuu last week, and they were causing a minor irritation in the neighborhood. Someone still had to perform (for free, unfortunately) the service of rounding the remaining mini criminals. As for Jane and her pets...

      “You have the DIFTCOP, right, Coanneranne?” Jane asked.

      “All ready!”

      “Saphie, the EPS?”

      “Uh-huh!”

      “What time did the Captain say he’d be here, Karii?”

      “He’ll be ready for us by 5 o’ clock sharp at the docks!”

      ... it’s good to have a hobby.

The End