"Ready!" Eugene shouted from the engine room, his Buzz wings fluttering quickly as he zoomed around checking various gauges.

"Drill is at 100% full power, Captain Jakaar!" yelled Takken, using his long Meerca tail to reach the proper lever.

"Great!" said Captain Jakaar. "And everyone is painted fire, to withstand the heat, right?" He smiled as he got an enthusiastic "Aye, aye, captain" from his crew. "Okay guys, here we go!" the Shoyru said, flipping the final switch to begin countdown. The drill on the front of the ship began to spin, making a loud, whirring noise. "Seven, six, five, four, three, two... ONE!" The ship dropped nose-first into the ground, and rock was flung out of the way as the ship dug deeper into the earth.

Captain Jakaar smiled. "Center of Neopia, here we come!"...

"What?! Cut the engines!" shouted Jakaar, his wings twitching. "We can't possibly be there yet... something has to be wrong! What happened? Eugene? Takken?"

Eugene shrugged his translucent Buzz wings. Takken stuttered, "I-I don't know, sir. Something has jammed the drill."

"I could've guessed that myself," Jakaar snapped, his small, fiery legs pacing back and forth. "I didn't anticipate this; there's nothing happening. We'll have to go outside the ship and fix the problem."

"Outside?" the crew asked in unison, shocked.

"But what if there'zz a cave-in behind us? Or, what if there'zz lava?" Eugene asked.

"We'll be fine if there's lava. After all, we're fire pets." Jakaar said matter-of-factly. "And, if there's a cave-in, we'll find that out when we open the door. Follow me, crew!"

The Captain led the way to the exit nearest the drill and, once he'd worked the safety handle free, opened the door with ease.

"That can't be good," Eugene whined.

Jakaar peered around, only to find that the drill had moved into a rather large cavern, and that the ship was sitting in a small pool of lava. Determined to discover the problem, the Captain flew out of the ship and over towards the top of the drill. There below him, he saw their powerful, top-of-the-line, completely fire-and heat-resistant, years-ahead-of-its-time diamond-deposit crushing drill... absolutely mangled on a door.

"We appear to be jammed on a door," Jakaar called back to the crew, unable to completely hide the utter confusion in his voice.

"What do you mean a door?" Takken asked from where he was perched on his tail in the emergency exit.

"It appears to be a simple wooden door with a brass doorknob," Jakaar said, describing what he saw. "The drill is beyond repair."

"That doesn't make any sense," Takken muttered. He hopped out of the ship and waded through the lava on his tail. "You're right. It is a door."

"Of course I'm right," Jakaar said as Eugene flew up behind him.

"What would a door be doing so deep underground? And how did it withzztand our ship?" asked Eugene, wringing his claws together worriedly.

"There's only one way to find out," the Captain said determinedly. "Open it..."

Jakaar tried to see what was behind the mysterious door, but his eyes were blinded by a ferocious orange and yellow light, shining brilliantly.

"Cover your eyes!" yelled the Captain as they picked themselves up.

His crew obeyed, as they made their way toward the open door. Squeezing through it, the fire pets still had trouble seeing their surroundings.

"Here," Eugene said, fishing around in a pouch along his neck. "I've got some protective glasses."

He passed them out, and the crew were relieved to finally be able to see clearly. But each one of them gasped at the magnificent sight before them.

They were in a cavern so vast that it could easily be the home of dozens of Skeiths and still have room for a small city. Scorching black rock made up the ceiling and walls, the floor was covered by gallons and gallons of lava. In the center of the room was a bright yellow ball, obviously the source of the light. The ball spun around and around, seemingly soaking up the lava as it whirled.

"What is this place?" asked Takken.

"It's not in the maps," answered Eugene. "Even though this place must be very, very old."

"Amazing," whispered Jakaar, ignoring the others, staring at the yellow ball as if hypnotized. "The sphere... it's so... it's so..."

"Captain, watch out!"

A beam of light rocketed out of the ball, striking the Captain in the chest. He flew through the air, slamming into the thick black rocks. Crumpling up, he slipped into darkness.

"Captain!" yelled the two crew members. They rushed over, listening for signs of life.

"He's okay," confirmed Eugene. "He's still breathing."

Takken let out a long sigh, but suddenly, the two turned around, for an ominous voice resonated from the deadly sphere.

"My name is Solis," spoke the voice. "And you are intruders..."

Stuttering, Takken said, "W-we... we were..."

"What is your purpose here?!" boomed the sphere.

"We were drilling to the center of Neopia, when we crazzhed into the door that leadzz to thizz land!" spat out Eugene, whose sense of fear caused him to rush out his words. His wings fluttered from the chill that ran down his spine.

A slight rumbling noise came from Solis. He, if the sphere were a he, seemed to be thinking. Then he spoke. "Now that you've come, you may never leave! This place must remain unknown by the surface world! Take your friend to our doctor and fix him up. Afterwards, we'll speak again." Once the voice finally stopped echoing off the cavern walls, a beam of light appeared. It shone down onto a small, circular structure in the middle of the city. "Take him here!" was all they heard again from the sphere.

Takken and Eugene slowly made their way to the doctor. They had to carry Captain Jakaar the whole way. A small sign on the door made them stop.

"What do you think it says?" asked Takken.

Eugene looked at him oddly, saying, "I'm zzure it zzayzz 'Doctor'! We juzzt can't read it, becauzze it izz zzome kind of anzzient language."

Takken knocked on the door, but there was no response. After waiting a few moments, he knocked again. This time a squatty Usul, with strange markings on its ears and tail, opened the door.

"Chuckta domin to quira?" it asked. The short, fat creature stared at them. "Chuckta domin to quira?!" it asked again, this time more fervently. It seemed to be annoyed.

"We don't understand you." Takken and Eugene responded in unison. "However, our captain is hurt. He needs help." They barged past the creature, then set Jakaar on what appeared to be a table.

The Usul waddled over to Jakaar and examined him. "To quira domin Solis... frekaa chuli noyuli!" it said, starting to work on Jakaar's wound.

"He muzzt be the doctor," Eugene whispered to Takken. He fluttered his wings in anticipation.

Jakaar suddenly sat straight up on the table and looked around, a blank look on his face. "Where am I?" he asked, then spotted Eugene and Takken. "Ah, my crew. What happened?"

They walked over to help him off the table. "We'll explain later. We have to see Solis now," explained Takken. Outside they went again, returning to talk to Solis.

"I see your friend is better now," boomed the voice from the sphere. "Since you can't leave our land..."

"Canto," said Francis as he led them down a steep hill. "Donto fredo."

"Huh?" All of the crew and the Captain were puzzled. If he was supposed to teach them, shouldn't he know their language, so he could translate their words into common Neopian?

Francis spoke. "I know your language, it's just that... well, in the presence of Solis, we must use his language. Otherwise, he will become extremely upset. He is rather nice, though; maybe because you didn't speak his language he was a little cold to you."

The crew stopped and turned right. "Well, here we are. The learning center."

Jakaar whispered to Eugene, "I am a highly respected scientist, and yet I feel like I'm starting kindergarten all over again." At that moment, though, the lights disappeared. There was complete darkness.

"Folks, you've just experienced the transition to nighttime. It's very sudden. The rules are strict, and the punishment harsh. They are as follows," Francis said, counting off on his fingers. "First, you must go nowhere near Solis during the darkness. He uses so much energy during the day that he must regain his energy without disturbances. Secondly, You must go directly to your living quarters and not come out again until light shows. Then..." Francis went on, finishing his list, then directed them to the places where the crew and Captain would be staying.

"Remember, do not come out until the morning light."

When Francis finally left them alone, Jakaar looked weary. "Whaddya say we break the rules?"...

"Oh come on!" shouted Takken, "If we could make it back to that door, we'd be capable of returning to the surface! Forget about the core... let's try and get out of here!"

"I agree," began Jakaar, "however, we must be extremely quiet. I don't think Francis was joking when he said we must not go near Solis."

"Well, then! What are we waiting for?" proclaimed a considerably happier Eugene as they cracked the door open.

A bright flash of blue light suddenly filled the room, blowing the crew backwards. As their eyes adjusted to the constant light, they noticed an odd, black shape off in the distance. After a minute or so, Takken got up the nerve to investigate. He stood up, then walked slowly and shakily towards the figure.

"Come quick, guys! Jakaar, Eugene... hurry over here quickly!" Jakaar ran over to Takken to silence him, but when he reached the spot where Takken stood, Jakaar realized what all the fuss had been about....

"What's happening?" Takken asked his friends in a hushed tone. However, even that quiet was not enough. It broke the figure's meditation, and its bright, red eyes gazed at them, scaring the bones right out of their body.

"HOW DARE YOU EVEN SEE A GLIMPSE OF MY TRUE SELF?!? HOW DARE YOU DISOBEY THE RULES?!? YOU SHALL BE PUNISHED!!!"

Jakaar, Eugene and Takken were petrified with fright as the booming voice yelled at them. However, as the figure (which they soon discovered was Solis) began to move closer to them, they ran for their lives towards the large wooden door.

"JAKAAR! HURRY, OPEN THE DOOR!" Takken shouted, as Solis continued to get closer.

"IT WON'T BUDGE!" Jakaar bellowed back to his friend.

"Solis!" echoed a voice echoed from nowhere, "Leave those three alone..."

"Why, master?" Solis asked in a fierce voice. "They disobeyed the rules!"

"Hush now, Solis," the figure replied, staring up at him. "Let's not wake up the young ones." The figure then walked up to the trio, who were still next to the door.

"Sorry about that, strangers," the master replied. "Solis... can get a little impetuous sometimes." The figure made a small smirk, then took down his hood. He was a petite fire Kougra, who looked over a hundred years old.

"I am the leader of this small population," the leader said. "Solis is my apprentice in training; he's learning how to keep the lava in place."

"Him?" Eugene exclaimed, staring at Solis's real form. Jakaar nudged Eugene and apologized for what he said. The leader just laughed, then carried on.

"I know you want to leave this place," he began. "However, its not our decision that you can't leave. This cavern has a magic barrier around it, and we have tried to get out, but we have been unsuccessful. We, too, at one point, were Neopians from above." Jakaar, Eugene, and Takken looked at him in surprise.

"There was an earthqauke a long time ago, which made a huge crack over my fine village." the leader began, talking calmly. "It dropped us into this place, and we never found a way out."

Takken replied shyly. "I have an idea..."

"No, no we have not," the master answered.

"Captain Jakaar, request permission to continue our mission," Takken said as he turned to face his Captain. Everyone looked at Takken like he had a Poogle growing out of his head.

"I'm afraid I don't understand," the Captain answered.

"It is very simple sir. We could fashion a makeshift drill. Using the drill, we dig straight down, then go out and around the magic barrier. While we're drilling, Solis and the master can control the lava so that it doesn't melt the drill. We can then go back, to the cavern where our old ship is, and just punch the reverse. I'm sure it would work!" Takken finished. Everyone looked around, then began nodding.

"Agreed. Well, let's go make a drill!" the Kougra said happily, while everyone scattered about to find what would be needed for a new drill.

After a few days of scrounging and improvising, they finally had a device that somewhat resembled a drill. Somewhat. Looking at the the device, there was a good bit of doubt written on some people's faces.

"Are you zzure zzis will work?" Eugene asked, surveying their creation.

"No, but there is only one way to find out." Jakaar answered. "Everyone ready?" he asked, looking at everyone's determined faces.

"READY!" they all chorused in unison.

in three, two... ONE!" Jakaar yelled. On one, they began to drill...

Solis nodded in agreement, as did his master. They pulled themselves into a sort of trance, then placed their arms in front of them. "Torrento, torrento, torrento," they chanted. A distant sound of bubbling lava was heard.

By this time, Jakaar and his crew had drilled a hole that was a couple of metres deep. "Now, turn!" commanded Takken. They turned the drill to the right, where the heat got even more intense.

A bead of perspiration fell down Solis's head. Clearly, he had never controlled this much lava before, and was struggling to push it back. Nonetheless, he had to do this for the sake of everyone. "Torrento, torrento, torrento," he continued, pushing his arms forward.

"Just a little more and we'll be there," Takken assured everyone. "But you've got to hang on until then." Jakaar struggled, even though he was painted fire. He could feel the heat burning through his back.

Then, the burning suddenly came to a halt. Jakaar looked around, then saw that they were back at the portion of the tunnel which contained their ship. "Mizzion zzucezzful!" Eugene cried with joy.

"Now all we need to do is reverse," Jakaar said. "We'll send our ship back in rounds to rescue your people. They can come through our drilled tunnel."

"Good idea," replied Solis, who actually looked happy. The crew entered their ship and used the reverse...

Two weeks after rescuing the pets from the core of Neopia, the lives of the crew had returned back to normal. "Wow, I really wish I could have gotten a souvenir or something back there," said Jakaar, as he and his crew pondered their latest adventure. "Or, at least something to observe."

"Yeah, that'zz too bad," agreed Eugene.

Takken laughed. "Well, you won't believe what I found in the mail today." he, handing them a tiny pouch.

Jakaar opened the pouch eagerly. Inside was a small, glowing orb, similar to the one held by Solis. There was a note attached to it that read, "To show our appreciation."

Jakaar grinned. This was one adventure he wouldn't soon forget.

The End