"I claim this mountain in the name of--"

Cleo

"What are you doing?" asked Cleo, an Acara, looking bewildered at her Techo friend Chad, who was planting his walking stick in the peak of the mountain they were climbing.

Chad drooped his head and tail. "All the great explorers do it," he mumbled, kicking a bit a snow.

"Yes, but we're not great explorers, Chad." Cleo said with a sigh, putting her hands on her hips. "What is our mission?"

Chad

The Techo looked down at his feet like a berated schoolchild. "To take the radioactive waste far away from the rest of Neopia." he mumbled.

"Were we told to dally on mountaintops, pretending to be heroic explorers?" the Acara asked, prodding him further.

"No..." the Techo said, his head and shoulders dropping down even further.

Secretly amused by her friend's antics, the Acara let up. "Well, come on then. We're nearly there." Chad unplanted his "flag" and began to follow Cleo, but tripped on a rock that was protruding from the snow, just as Cleo removed a vial of glowing green liquid from her backpack. "This stuff won't hurt anyone where we're taking it. No one lives on the other side of this mountaaaaaaaaaain!" the Acara let out a scream as Chad fell against her, sending them both rolling down the backside of the mountain at an incredible rate.

The snow packed around them in a great ball as they rolled down the mountain. Trapped inside the snow, the two Neopets could see nothing, but could feel the friction as they rolled down the mountain. There was a hard bump, and then no friction at all, but both Neopets felt like their stomachs were going up as their bodies were falling downward. Moments later, the giant snowball smashed into a field of soft, green grass, exploding on contact.

The Techo sat up and put a hand against his head, so dizzy that he couldn't see straight. Cleo rose up a few moments later, and looked as if she were going to be sick. "Well," she said while attempting to stand up, but falling over immediately. "At least the snowball broke our fall."

"Yeah," Chad said, holding his head with both hands now, trying to get the world to stop spinning. "At least--" his eyes suddenly focused. "Cleo!" he yelled, pointing at a spot in the meadow several feet away. "The vial!"...

"No!" Cleo cried, jumping towards it. "No, no, no!"

"Cleo!" Chad shouted, trying to hold her back. "Don't go near that!" It was too late, though. Moving by her reflexes, Cleo had already picked up the broken vial. Her pink paws were already covered in the glowing green liquid. As if waking up from a nightmare, she suddenly realised what she was doing. She looked down at her palms and then towards Chad, her eyes widened in panic.

"Cleo..." Chad whispered faintly. He was torn between the danger of the waste and the desire to help his friend. However, when Cleo spoke, her voice was strangely calm.

"Don't come near me, Chad," she said softly. "Go and get help. This whole area has to be sealed off, and everything in it destroyed."

"But... what about you?" the Techo said.

"Don't worry about me," Cleo said bravely. "Just make sure no one else comes into contact with the waste. If you happen to see any doctors, get them in protective suits and bring them along. I just don't want anyone else getting hurt." Chad was shocked by the shudder in his friend's voice, who was trying hard to smile. Looking up, he saw a tear running down her face. She looked terrified.

"For Coltzan's sake, Chad!" Cleo barked. "There isn't time for this. I'll be fine, but you've got to go and get help!"

The Techo looked once more at the Acara. It seemed only moments ago that she had been telling him off on the mountaintop, in her usual sarcastic way. Then, moved by a sudden selfish terror, he turned tail and fled...

...As he ran, Chad didn't know where he was or where he was going... in fact, he didn't even look where he was going. He just ran, and ran, and ran.

Eventually, he ran out of energy and finally stopped. Regaining his senses slightly, he looked around.

He was back in the field.

"Chad!" Cleo said, looking up from the grass. "What are you doing back here? I told you to get help!"

"I - I tried!" Chad said uncertainly. "I ran for a long time, but just ended up back here!"

"Well, run in a straight line this time!" Cleo snapped. "There's radioactive waste spilled all over the place, and all you can do is run around in circles?!?" She clenched her paws, wincing. "I'm sorry. I'm not... just get out of here, okay?"

"I'll try," Chad said, turning back into the trees. This time, he carefully watched to make sure he wasn't going in circles.

This made it even more surprising when he ended up back in the meadow again.

"Chad?" Cleo said. She was sitting on the grass, her back turned towards him.

"I don't get it!" Chad said. "I know I didn't go in a circle!"

"Great," Cleo muttered. "Our only hope is the Techo who gets lost in his own Neohome."

"I haven't-- " Chad began.

"Just get out of here," Cleo said quietly.

As Chad turned to leave yet again, he noticed something. "Was the grass that color before?"

"Why wouldn't it have been?" Cleo snapped. "And why are you still here? GET OUT!"

Chad got out. This time, he had only walked for a few minutes before he came back to the same meadow again.

Or, at least, he thought it was the same meadow...

Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, something seemed to move. Turning quickly toward his right, Chad noticed that a nearby tree was no longer in the same place. The scenery was changing! He had been so busy running and arguing with Cleo that he had never noticed it before!

Something (or someone) was determined to keep he and Cleo stranded there.

But why? Chad thought to himself.

Why go through so much trouble? Chad knew he was going to need help from Cleo if they had any chance of figuring this out. He hated to admit it, but Cleo had always been smarter and braver than he.

Turning quickly on his heel, Chad hurried back to Cleo's location. Something told him they didn't have much time. Much time before what? The thoughts inside his head propelled his feet forward faster than ever.

"I can't think about that! Not now!" Chad yelled out loud. Silently, he hoped that he was wrong. Chad knew, though, that those chances were slim...

...Chad quickly ran until he saw Cleo in the distance. Whenever he seemed to get closer, though, Cleo just got farther away. He looked behind him, and Cleo was there, too, just as far away.

"Cleo!" he called out desperately. He had to reach her before something happened.

Before WHAT happens? he thought to himself. The sky overhead was a pale blue, with little clouds that were as elusive and whimsical as Cleo herself. Chad ran faster, but to no avail. Finally, he got an idea, and stopped suddenly. Before he knew it, Cleo slammed into him from behind, and the surrounding trees screeched to a halt, too.

"What just happened?!?" Cleo cried in surprise, inadvertently grabbing Chad's hand for comfort.

Does she just pretend to be so tough all the time? Chad thought to himself. Both looked at their hands for a minute, then gasped.

"Oh no!!!" Cleo cried. "The radioactive waste!"

It was too late. Chad's hand had started glowing a strange colour of green...

"It's alright, Chad," she spoke quietly, trying to comfort her friend.

However, Chad just stood there, staring blankly down. He could feel the effects of the radioactive waste beginning. His hands started to tingle.

"Chad! Don't just stand there!" Cleo yelled, beginning to get worried.

Chad slowly lifted his head and stared straight into Cleo's eyes. He began to shake his head and laugh.

"Well, there is a bright side to this," he said with a grin. "If we turn into mutants, then at least we won't have to spend all those Neopoints on paint brushes!"

"Chad!" Cleo yelled, stomping her foot on the ground, "You're not being serious!" The Acara brushed past her friend as she began to pace back and forth, looking off into the distance. The field stretched far away, until it hit the slowly darkening sky.

What can we do? Chad thought. What will happen to us?

"I have an idea!" Cleo suddenly shouted out. "Perhaps if we both run, then the scenery won't be able to change and trick us both. I'll go this way," she said, pointing straight ahead of her, "and you go that way," she continued, pointing behind her.

Chad shrugged. Without saying a word, he began to run...

...It was the strangest thing. As Chad ran, he found that he was still going in circles, but these were different circles than before. The ground and sky were slowly beginning to turn. Soon, they had switched positions. The Techo found himself, for a brief second, running on air before dropping from the sky (or wherever he was). He fell faster and faster, spinning uncontrollably.

Shapes and colors began to swirl together. The whole world had almost turned into one big mess, when he suddenly hit something, and his surroundings were changed.

The meadow and trees were all back in place.

"Did I just open my eyes?" Chad wondered as he picked himself up off the ground. From the corner of his eye, he thought he saw something dash into the trees. "Did I imagine all that?" he whispered. "This radioactive stuff is starting to affect me."

"If you're talking about what I think you are, you didn't imagine it. It happened to me, too."

Chad looked down. Cleo was sitting on the ground beside him.

"Cleo! How did you get here?" the unnerved Techo exclaimed.

"I don't know. I was running when bang! Here I was."

"Oh, Cleo! What's going to happen to us?!?"

"Don't worry, don't worry," Cleo soothed. "We'll think of some way to beat this system."

"But... but... what if this is all in our heads? I mean, who knows what could happen to someone after touching that waste? Maybe we should just stay here, and someone will come help us."

"That's just it!" Cleo exploded. "We can't risk anyone else coming near here! We have to fix this mess by ourselves before anyone else is affected."

"All right, all right," Chad breathed, finally getting the point.

"Now think... what can we do?"

"Would you like me to give you some ideas?" a voice out of nowhere asked.

Both Neopets whipped their heads around to see a terrible-looking creature standing in the trees.

"Perhaps you could stand here very still, and let me see what kind of horrible mutants you turn into. That would be fun! Or you could go over there and pull that boulder around until you collapse. I'd love to see you giving your best effort, and it would prepare you for becoming my slaves. Or you could just run around and around, lost in my perpetual maze until you can run no more. Then you can still come back and be my slaves!"

Cleo and Chad were shocked. "I don't know who you are," Cleo yelled, "but if you prevent us from getting help, then you will be very, very sorry. We have plenty of radioactive waste for you, too."

"You can do nothing to me!" the creature laughed. "Go pick up that vial and run towards me as long as you like. You'll never reach me!"...

"You look like you're right in front of us," she pointed out cautiously.

The gruesome creature threw back his head in obnoxious laughter. "Just like I said, it's all part of my perpetual maze. If you still don't believe me, try touching me," the strange mutant said. He gave a mocking smile, daring the Neopets to come and try.

Cleo shook her head. "I've found a problem with your story," she replied. "If we can't get to you, then you can't get to us." She smiled as the creature's eyes grew red with rage.

"Still challenging me, my dear? Well, take that!" The creature reached out and pushed the stunned Acara to the ground. She began to breathe shallowly.

"Why don't you ease up on us? Don't you have better things to do?" Chad said, intervening quickly.

The evil creature shifted its glare to Chad's small face. "If I did, then I wouldn't be talking to you now, would I? It just so happens that this is a hobby of mine - tricking Neopets into thinking that they're hopelessly lost, when they really aren't. Or are they?"

The crazy mutant paused, a wicked smile curling at the corners of his gruesome mouth. He licked his lips evilly. "I am harassing you. Or am I? Perhaps I'm just a figment of your imaginations. Perhaps the radioactive waste is messing with your minds. It is all possible," the creature finished with a grin on his lips.

Chad inhaled sharply. He had to do something before this creature permanently disabled their minds...

... While the Neopets frantically tried to think of what to do next, Chad suddenly noticed that there were now two of the evil creatures.

The creatures saw the look on Chad's face and said simultaneously, "Like my little trick?"

Instead of answering, the two friends just gaped.

"Both of you want to leave, right?" the two mutants said evilly. "How about a little game? The two of you can work together and answer my riddle. If you get it right, I will let you go, and cure you of the radioactive waste. If you get it wrong, though, you will have to stay here and be my slaves forever! Do you accept?"

"Yes!" Cleo said.

"Cleo!" Chad protested, "I'm not sure!"

"C'mon, how hard could it be?"

"Ok," the creatures said, "this is the riddle: there are two paths behind me, and you have to guess the right one. You get two clues. First of all, the answer is in the form of a question. Second, each one of us is guarding a path, but one of us only tells the truth while one of us only lies. You have five minutes starting now!" they said in unison.

Think! You must think! Chad said to himself. He and Cleo talked it over for moment. Then, it clicked.

"Thing on the right," Cleo said, "what path would the thing on the left say is the correct one?"

"His path," the mutant on the right answered.

"Then we choose your path!" Chad said.

"NOOOOO!" The piercing scream cut through the air like a knife. "How could you have gotten it right?!? No silly Neopets have defeated the Master of Games before!"...

"I don't like this. Do you think we might have taken the wrong path?" Chad said, nervously rubbing his forehead.

Cleo quickly slapped his hand away. "Don't get any more of that stuff on you!" she snapped, looking around. "No, I'm sure that our answer to the riddle was correct. Let's keep going." The Techo and Acara resumed running, and soon found themselves on a small snowy path that exited the woods.

"This is starting to wear me out," Chad said, breathing hard. Cleo nodded in agreement.

The place looked almost familiar, though...

Suddenly, Cleo recognized it, almost tripping in her joy. Chad helped her catch her balance. "You ok?" he asked, looking a bit worried.

Cleo smiled weakly and nodded. "I think the radioactive waste is getting to me," she said, "but Chad, I know where we are! Come on! We have to keep going. It's the path that led us up the mountain!"

"Are you kid-" Chad started to argue, but Cleo would not have it this time. She grabbed his hand and sprinted up the path, pulling the Techo behind. Soon, stumbling in dizziness, they reached the top of the familiar mountain.

"Look!" Chad said. He had spotted something strange. Quickly, Cleo looked over.

Two Neopets, a Techo and an Acara, were lying unconscious in a pile of snow. The Techo had something gripped tightly in his hand. It looked like...

"The vial! It's safe! But this is so confusing!" Cleo said, rubbing her temples for a moment and pacing back and forth. She was so deep in thought that she didn't notice Chad, who was stumbling around, until he crashed into her. They both started rolling down the mountain as the snow packed around them in a round form...

"Cleo! Are you alright?"

The Acara awoke to her friend shaking her. Her eyes fluttered open. "Chad? Wh- where's the-"

"The vial?" he asked with a grin, then held up the small tube of radioactive waste.

Cleo sat up and hugged Chad with great joy. "But... how?" she said in wonder. She stood up and grabbed her backpack. Her paws slightly felt like they were still burning.

"Guess it was a dream," Chad said, shrugging. "Wanna get rid of this stuff and go home?" he added with a smile. Cleo nodded, and they began to trek towards their destination.

A pair of glowing yellow eyes watched from a nearby tree. "Goodbye for now, my friends," a voice whispered with a cackle. "We'll see who stumbles down my mountain next time..."

The End