Fans cheered and applauded as the winner from each arena was announced. Gooblah grinned and waved when his name was called, then sat back in his chair and let out a large satisfied belch. Ah, Grarrl life was good.

Once the formalities were over, Gooblah left the arena in a jubilant mood. Buoyed by the high of his latest win, he entertained himself with thoughts of how he would spend the rest of the day. Perhaps he would head home for a long nap, then nip down to the tavern that evening for a hearty meal and a tankard of Grog, then turn in early to be well-rested for tomorrow’s competition… Yes, that sounded like an excellent plan.

He turned onto the path that would take him home, humming cheerfully as he went. He was in such a good mood that he didn’t notice the shadowy figure who had been quietly following him since he left the arena…

- "Aghhhh!" Gooblah yelled as something jumped in front of his path. He was so shocked that he almost lost his appetite right then and there.

Almost.

Gooblah stood bent over, cowering and shielding his eyes. What could it be? Gooblah wondered, thoughts of dark faeries and wraiths crossing his mind. Finally, he mustered up the courage to open his eyes and found -

- a Cybunny?

"Wha...what?" Gooblah stared, unable to form words.

"I need your help," the Cybunny said, tapping her foot impatiently.

"What...what could I possibly help you with?" Gooblah stuttered.

The Cybunny looked impatient. "Allow me to explain..."

Getting a better look at her, and recovering from his embarrassing yelp, Gooblah noticed the Cybunny was wearing stealthy attire.

"I thought you stealthsters were good at sneaking around trouble," Gooblah said.

The Cybunny lets out a deep sigh.

"That's my problem... I'm not."

She removes her hood.

"I'm snot... they painted me snot!" The cybunny burst into tears.

"Hey, now..." Gooblah tried to put on a sympathetic voice, "What am I supposed to do about that?"

Measuring his next words carefully—the last thing Gooblah wanted was to make the Cybunny sling more snot at him—he asked, “You said ‘they’ painted you snot… who, exactly, are ‘they’?”

“Why should I know?” The Cybunny rolled her eyes, impatient as ever despite the tears rolling down her cheeks. “You think hooligans like that were polite enough to tell me their names?”

“Well—no—but…” Gooblah tried desperately to think back to the last mystery book he’d read. What would a detective ask in this situation? “Um,” he started; “what did they look like?”

For once, the Cybunny stopped tapping her foot. “Well, one of them was a Kyrii.” She paused, blinking back tears, then added, “He was a heavyset fellow, and he had a shiny hook on one of his paws. All pirate-like, you know. I guess it’s the style here—“

“And the other one?” Gooblah was holding his breath. There’s no way…

“A Techo, I think?” The Cybunny shuddered. “He was the one who got me. He had a cutlass he kept waving around to keep me from running away…”

Gooblah thought he might faint, but he steadied himself with thoughts of Streaky Bacon cooked to perfection. “I think I know who our culprits are…”

He nodded slowly. "Yeah. The Kyrii is Lucky McKyriggan, and the Techo is probably...you said he had a cutlass, right?" Gooblah snapped his fingers. "Franchisco. It has to be Franchisco. He was always more trouble than his brother. But more importantly, how did it happen?"

The Cybunny winced, but told him her story, scrubbing a paw across her face. A stray strand of snot went flying, but Gooblah was thankful he wasn't within range.

"They...they found me in Faerieland," she began, beginning to tap her foot again. "The Kyrii - Lucky - he told me he had a surprise for me and said I should go to the Rainbow Fountain with him. I didn't trust them, so I tried to escape, but Franchisco wouldn't let me."

Gooblah wisely held his tongue to keep from commenting about how he wouldn't easily trust Lucky or Franchisco either, especially when they were competing.

"So I went with them," the Cybunny said. "When we got to the Rainbow Fountain, we found Naia, asking Franchisco if he already had a new colour in mind." Her lip quivered. "Then...t-then...they pushed me into the fountain, and told her I wanted to be snot!" She shouted that word so loudly that Gooblah looked around to see if anyone else heard her.

"I don't get it," said the Grarrl, scratching his head. "Lucky and Franchisco can be uh, a handful, but why would they do this to you? You don't even know them!"

"Exactly!" she cried, punctuating that word with a sob. "They even kept calling me Undine...that's not my name! I kept telling them it wasn't, but they wouldn't listen!"

Gooblah gasped. "Undine? They thought you were Undine?"

"Who's Undine, anyway?" the Cybunny asked petulantly.

"She's a childhood friend," he said. "She never misses any of my Food Club matches." Gooblah couldn't help but chuckle despite the Cybunny's current predicament. "And she's been trying to break into Food Club recently as a new contestant."

"Well, that explains it," the Cybunny suddenly said.

"Explains what?"

"When Lucky and Franchisco pushed me into the Rainbow Fountain, they said they wanted to get revenge on you for always beating them..."

"And they decided to hurt me by going after Undine?! Too scared to face me, so they go for an easier target?!" the Grarrl said loudly, breathing hard. "And they couldn't even do THAT right! They attacked the wrong Cybunny! What IS your name?"

The Cybunny looked at him with wide eyes and wiped the tears and snot from her face. Well, the tears at least. "It's Temmie." she said uncertainly, intimidated by the outburst.

"Well Temmie, nobody treats my friends this way - or Neopets mistaken for my friends. Let's go find those two and teach them how to play fair."

"But how will we find them? They were gone by the time I emerged from the fountain, and I haven't seen them since!" Temmie said, tapping her foot anxiously.

"I know just the guy to help us. Come on!" Gooblah said, running toward the large rocks that lined the river before disappearing from view. The startled Cybunny followed suit and realized that the Grarrl had disappeared into the mouth of a cave!

Soon the both of them were travelling deep under Neopia through the caves of Moltara. Finally, they arrived at the entrance of a room concealed by a thick purple curtain. A voice from within called, "Come in... I've been expecting you."

Gooblah swept back the curtain for Temmie before following her into the hot cavern. Temmie swallowed nervously as she glanced at the main source of light in the room - a large fireplace adorned with bones. Next to it, a flaming Gnorbu was seated at a charred tree stump that served as a table, a blazing orb levitating upon it. Gooblah nodded encouragingly at Temmie as he sat down on the floor across from the Gnorbu, glad for the large amount of floor space in the cave. She sat down next to him, farther from the table than her size necessitated, and tried to hide even deeper in her stealthy clothes.

"Ah... I see you have a question for Igneot. What is it that you wish to ask?" the Gnorbu intoned with a cool, tranquil voice that contrasted sharply with the flaming body that produced it.

"Where are Lucky McKyriggan and Franchisco Corvallio?" Gooblah asked immediately. "They attacked-"

"I know what they have done," Igneot said evenly, "and I am happy to assist. They are where gluttons and beggars alike go to fill their bellies under the hot sun..."

"That must be the Giant Omelette!" Gooblah deduced instantly, brushing aside his mild offense at the Gnorbu's characterization. Igneot clearly didn't understand the intense training necessary for Food Sports athletes such as himself. "Follow me!"

The pair rushed out of the cavern with a quick "Thank you!" from Temmie, but they didn't get far down the tunnel before Gooblah paused again. He was stopped in front of a large stone door that didn't entirely block out the bubbling sounds that were coming from the other side, as if from a giant pool of boiling lava.

He turned to the sorry, snotty Cybunny by his side, a brilliant idea forming in his mind. She wouldn't stay pitiful for long!

"Do you trust me?" the exultant Grarrl asked.

"Close your eyes," Gooblah replied, a tremor of excitement behind his otherwise level tone.

She complied, and he slowly and quietly opened the large stone door -- to reveal the magnificent Magma Pool in its fiery splendour.

Then, Temmie shrieked, as the Grarrl pushed her down into the Magma Pool.

She emerged a few seconds later, crying. "Why would you DO that to me!?" she shouted at him, her tone as heated as her new colour.

Gooblah grinned playfully at her. "You're not snot anymore!" he triumphantly announced.

Her anger turned to a curious excitement as she examined herself. Her stealthy clothes were lightly singed, but at least they weren't sticking to her in strands of snot. This was, undeniably, an improvement. She smiled with newfound and literal warmth. "Thank you, Gooblah."

"Don't thank me yet," the Grarrl cheerfully replied. "Not until we get back at Lucky McKyriggan and Franchisco Corvallio."

Temmie paused, her eyes looking pensively at the ground. "D-do you trust me?" she stammered.

Gooblah furrowed his brow. "I do," he responded with a single nod.

"Good," she said with a slight smile. "Let's head to the Giant Omelette then."

The route from Moltara to Tyrannia wasn't easy, but the systems of underground tunnels and well-travelled ground-level hiking trails made it more tedious than strictly arduous.

Throughout the journey, the two discussed many things. Gooblah brought up his longtime friendship with the real Undine, and how he believed his friend needed much more practice before competing in the Food Club, but he was rooting for her nevertheless. Temmie described some of her history growing up on neighbouring Mystery Island, just starting training at the School there (she wanted to be a ninja one day). She had been in Faerieland to complete a Battle Faerie quest when she was found by Lucky and Franchisco. Temmie was becoming very comfortable with Gooblah, but he had the nagging suspicion there was something she was hiding.

At last, the pair arrived at the Plateau of the prehistoric land, the silhouettes of the Giant Omelette, Concert Hall, and the Obelisk visible on the otherwise empty ancient skyline.

Gooblah started his march up to the Omelette. He squinted -- why, he could just about see his competition munching away at the eggy goodness, much to the futile consternation of Sabre-X.

But then the Grarrl stopped, about 10 strides ahead of Temmie, when he realized she was no longer following him. "What's up?" he called to her, turning back to face her.

She opened her mouth to speak...

Gooblah thought about this. He was getting more and more suspicious - this seemed like an odd thing to be focused on, when they'd almost arrived at the Giant Omelette. He was trying to help her, after all, and now she was talking about going to a concert? Still, he couldn't help but feel sorry for the little Cybunny.

He sighed. "Well, do you want to go to a concert tonight then? I hear Sticks N Stones are playing. But are you sure we should be going to a concert right now? We're so close to tracking down Lucky and Franchisco!"

"I know," said Temmie. "But I'd really like to go to a concert. My sister had a Axle Roo poster on her wall growing up, she'd be so impressed to hear I went to see Sticks N Stones live!"

Temmie looked so excited, that Gooblah didn't have the heart to say no. He was starting to think he was in for more than he bargained for, but they'd come this far together. Besides, just how much trouble could one little Cybunny get him into at a concert?

"Alright," Gooblah said. "Let's go to the concert. But I still think-"

Just then, someone jumped out at them from behind a rock, covered in little bits of omelette. "Going somewhere?" they asked.

Gooblah jumped up in surprise. "Great Coltzan!" he exclaimed. "I wasn't expecting to see you here!"

Gooblah grinned, enveloping the fluffy, eggy creature in a tight hug. “It's good to see you're safe,” he began. “But how did you know how to find us here? And,” the Grarrl stepped back, finally noticing bits of egg stuck to his clothing. “What happened up there?”

Undine shook her head. “If I told you the whole story, we'd be here for about two weeks, but the short version of it is that I waited for you at the tavern to surprise you, but then when you didn't show up, I started listening to conversations and rumours.”

Temmie tensed, but Gooblah wasn't too sure why.

Undine continued. “The thing about rumours is that the ones that seem likely probably contain only nuggets of truth, but there was one so absolutely outlandish and unpredictable, I knew it had to be true! So I trailed after you, but found my own way to the Omelette, destroyed the set-up at the concert hall....” here she took a long, hard look at Temmie, who cowered behind Gooblah. “And here we are. I've come to warn you about that one.”

Gooblah's tail switched. “So there was something else you wanted to tell me, Temmie? If that even is your real name?”

“I-it is!” the Magma Cybunny squeaked. “I...well, at first...”

Gooblah loomed over her, baring his teeth. “The truth.”

“You better not listen to a word she says. She was working for Lucky and Franchisco the whole time!” Undine folded her forepaws.

“Okay, that was true, but...as I got to know you, and you even took time to help me get rid of that nasty, disgusting, colour, I didn't want to go through with it. No Neopoint reward is worth that much.” Temmie sniffed, sizzling tears running down her face instead of sticky ones.

“Ah, but you did.” Undine snorted. “Why else lead him to the Concert Hall?”

Temmie looked down, glowing bright red and orange. For several moments, there was no sound except the slowly pulsing magma in her skin. “Because they'd catch me and do the same thing to my Snowbunny.”

“That is the biggest lie I've ever heard!” Undine protested. “Snotbunnies are entirely different from Snowbunnies!” She turned back to Gooblah. “Let's just leave her be and get back to Krawk Island,” the non-magma Cybunny implored.

Gooblah took a deep breath, conflict swirling in his heart. His petpet knowledge was far too limited to know whether or not Temmie's petpet story held water. And yet...

“Or...” he said, a brilliant plan taking shape in his mind. “We could face off against Lucky and Franchisco, once and for all...”

How will this story end?

"My help?" the Moltaran Cybunny said with a quick excited smile.

"Her help!?" Undine gawked. "You can't trust her, remember!"

Gooblah, with a neutral expression, said, "I said it before, but I do trust her. However, she has some trust to earn back, and some amends to make -- but I trust her not to be dishonest again."

"I promise I won't be dishonest with you again," affirmed Temmie with a respectful bow.

The Grarrl looked back at the Omelette -- his rivals were no longer there. He glanced to the Concert Hall, and saw a Techo and Kyrii slipping through a side door. The pair must have started there immediately after spotting Temmie and Gooblah.

"I thought you 'took care' of the Concert Hall business?" the Grarrl asked as he turned toward his longtime friend.

She gave a wan smile. "OK, maybe I didn't, and just wanted to sport some bravado against this one here." She pointed at Temmie. "But I still maintain, Goob, you can't go there."

"At least," interjected Temmie, "you can't go there alone. I'll tell you what was supposed to happen."

"Alright," the Grarrl replied. "And then I'll tell you my plan."

***

Temmie, Undine, then Gooblah approached the Concert Hall. "Tickets Please!!!" shouted the Mynci at the gate. Temmie handed over the two tickets she had been given by Lucky. "For me and Gooblah," she said, gesturing to the Grarrl. She smiled sheepishly at Undine. "Er, sorry I don't have a third ticket but you weren't part of the original plan."

Undine burned a wary, indignant look into her. "Don't you dare hurt my Goober."

Gooblah groaned at the nickname.

The other Cybunny cowered in her stealth hood. "Don't worry Miss Undine. He's safe with me." She gripped the Grarrl's arm protectively, causing Gooblah to give a brief timid chuckle.

"He'd better be," Undine finished. "I'll meet you at Phase 2." She then dashed off.

They walked into the Concert Hall, with Temmie leading the way, Gooblah a safe few paces behind.

When they arrived inside, Gooblah's eyes widened in horror. The scene was even worse than Gooblah had imagined from Temmie's description.

There were slushies, EVERYWHERE, like a minefield. He looked up -- and saw, just as Temmie described -- a net stretched over the whole Concert Hall, a net just FILLED with slushies, ready to all drop at the command of--

He spotted them across the Hall. Lucky and Franchisco, laughing away.

"Now!" Temmie shouted as loudly as she could.

Lucky and Franchisco thought she had uttered the command to them, as they had arranged. But it had really been for Gooblah -- who now knew to take a huge leap backwards and into the safety of the entrance wing.

Slushies fell from the sky and littered the ground. The ground was full of slushies. Slushies. SLUSHIES. This was Gooblah's worst nightmare -- but Temmie's warnings prevented what might otherwise have been his untimely end.

Once it became obvious that Lucky and Franchisco's plan had failed, the two pirates became angry and dashed up to Temmie. "What!? You betraying us?" Franchisco started, cutlass drawn.

The Cybunny crossed her arms and launched a tirade against the two. "You found me in Faerieland, offered me the role because I was a Cybunny -- the same species as Gooblah's friend -- forced me to be painted snot despite my wishes, and then took away my Snowbunny, threatening to do the same to him! And you promised me a Neopoint reward -- just so I could buy a paint brush to remove the snot colouring." Her voice rose even further. "You KNEW that Gooblah was so nice that he'd want to help me and seek you two out even though he didn't even know me, and orchestrated this whole trap that I was supposed to lead him into." She almost shrieked. "Well, guess what, I'm not snot anymore. I'm not playing your games anymore. You, you two, are just... you're bullies! That's what you are!"

Gooblah's eyes widened -- he didn't expect this from his hitherto meek acquaintance!

"He, meanwhile," the Cybunny continued, gesturing toward the Grarrl, "actually cared for me and my feelings. He helped me get rid of the ugly colour! But I brought him here, I upheld my part of the bargain. So give me back my Puffball!"

"Why should we?" Franchisco said with a wry grin -- a grin that quickly became a nervous frown when he saw Gooblah, his sharp teeth on display, towering over the scene.

"Give... the Snowbunny... back," the Grarrl demanded slowly.

Lucky growled and handed the Petpet -- unharmed -- back to Temmie, who squished him happily and put him in her cloak.

"Now then," Gooblah announced, "I know how badly you want me to quit the Club. So, I have a proposition for you two."

***

The four arrived at Phase 2 of the plan -- the Giant Omelette. Undine had used her charms and strength to "convince" Sabre-X to divide the Omelette into 4 pieces -- one for each of Gooblah, Franchisco, Lucky, and the new Food Club hopeful Cybunny herself.

"As we discussed," stated Gooblah, "if either of you two can finish your section of omelette before either Undine or I finish our respective sections, I will drop out of the Food Club forever."

Lucky and Franchisco laughed. This wasn't going to be easy... but this was a once in a lifetime competition, and they were going to put their all into it.

"On your marks, get set, ready..." shouted Sabre-X. "...GO!"

And they were off! Eating away at that yummy egginess.

And after several minutes, when they were all starting to become more stuffed and sluggish, Phase 3 was initiated.

Temmie, using her ninja skills, snuck around and right behind Gooblah's adversaries... neither saw the swipes coming. She gave a silent chuckle to herself as she extended a paw to the Kyrii's neck and, in one graceful motion, reduced him to an unconscious mound on the ground.

Before Franchisco even noticed that Lucky had fallen, Temmie had hopped over and tackled the Techo. He, too, went down, and a quick pinch of a shoulder nerve left him unconscious in a pile of egg. With a slow grin, she decided to acquire a "trophy" -- Franchisco's cutlass. She picked it up and held it playfully up to her new friends as they came running over.

Gooblah and Undine cheered. Sabre-X, witnessing the state of the Omelette, cried.

"I underestimated you, girl," Undine spoke warmly to Temmie. "I guess you were trustworthy after all. And -- loathe as I am to admit -- a better ninja than myself." She gave her a playful grin.

Temmie beamed back at her. She then looked back at the fallen pirates. "They'll be OK... in a few hours. For now, they can have a good sleep. But hopefully wicked, snotty dreams." She smiled mischievously and petted her Snowbunny. "Hopefully they'll know better than to try and mess with you again, 'Goober'."

Gooblah inwardly groaned again at the moniker, and then turned to his longtime friend. "I underestimated you, too," he remarked. "You ate WAY more than I expected you would during that time!" He looked at their remaining Omelette pieces -- sure, the Grarrl had eaten more, but not by much.

"Hey, big boy, I've been practising," she wryly replied, poking a paw at him. "When you found me covered in bits of egg, did you think I'd just fallen in?"

The Grarrl clapped. "Soon I'll have to seriously worry about you as a contender!"

They all shared a good laugh.

"Oh, one more thing..." Gooblah turned to Temmie. "Just HOW did Lucky and Franchisco afford renting out the WHOLE concert hall?"

The magma Cybunny shrugged. "Between them and their supporters, it was easy. Food Club people are rich."

They all laughed again.

"Well," the Grarrl stated, "let's go back to Krawk Island. I could really use some Grog at the Golden Dubloon after all this."

"Yes," Undine purred, grinning and grabbing his arm.

"Let's go," finished Temmie with a smile, taking his other arm. "Man, ranting at the top of one's lungs can really make one thirsty."

Gooblah gave a sheepish chuckle, and the three started the trek back to the pirate paradise.

***

Gooblah, Undine, and Temmie arrived at the Krawk Island tavern just as the last rays of sunlight had begun to recede from the crystal-clear waters off the coast. Like usual, Gooblah ordered several Bacon Muffins with a Sweet Potato Fizzy Drink to curb his appetite, while Undine and Temmie split an order of French Fries and Spicy Chicken Wings.

"So, what's next for you, Temmie?" Undine asked between bites. "Are you planning to resume your studies to be a ninja?"

"Well, I'm not sure." Temmie glanced over at Gooblah, who was too enamoured with his food to pay much attention to the conversation. "I was thinking of returning to Mystery Island to continue my studies, but..." she lowered her voice to a whisper. "I think I'll transfer some of my studies to the Academy here so I can follow Gooblah's adventures at the Food Club."

"Aye, I welcome the competition," Undine remarked vaguely as the two Cybunnies exchanged grins. She reached over to grab one of Gooblah's drinks; he made a sound of protest, but let her do it. "You think ol' Captain Threelegs'll take an aspiring ninja like yourself?"

When Temmie nodded confidently, Undine grinned. "If he doesn't, you just yell at him like you did with Franchisco and Lucky -- yeah, I could hear it all the way from the Omelette! I'm sure that'll whip ol' Threelegs into line!"

The magma on Temmie's face flushed a deep red. Then she smiled, too. "You know, I wouldn't make a half-bad pirate, with that cutlass I 'borrowed' from Franchisco. Who knows -- maybe I'll become the first ninja pirate Neopia's ever seen!"

Undine laughed heartily, and the women raised their glasses in cheers.

"Ninja pirate?" Now Gooblah was listening. "Who's going to be a ninja pirate?"

"Oh dear," Undine sighed. "Gooblah, how about we start from the top? Temmie here was saying she wants to..."

The End,