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Darkmoon and Dragoon were on the Neopian High Street. Like
they did every Saturday morning, they were searching the local game shops. They
had also, like every Saturday morning, gotten into an argument about game trivia.
"No, the Halberd of Inferno isn't a beat-everything
weapon, Darkmoon! It attacks with fire, so enemies like Scorchios and Draiks
would be able to resist!" said Dragoon, a green Shoyru.
"Of course that's what you'd say, sorcerer Shoyru!"
Darkmoon, a green Gelert, responded. "Maybe you could see me beat fire-resistant
monsters with a Halberd of Inferno if you weren't always so far behind me casting
healing spells!"
"Maybe you wouldn't need them if you used a
bow!"
"Maybe I could buy a really good bow if you
didn't waste all my gold repairing things!"
"I don't know why you don't have any gold -
you sell everything that finds its way into your paws!"
Undoubtedly, this argument was thoroughly annoying
one particular dragon - that's right, that dragon is Blue Dragon, how did you
guess? --who decided to take action. "Darkmoon!! Dragoon!! SHUT UP!!!"
The Gelert and the Shoyru both immediately stopped
their argument and faced their owner, standing straight like two pets in an
army. "Why, Blue, glad to see you! Where were you?" Darkmoon said.
"I was in the Food Shop, buying groceries,"
Bluey replied, still frowning. "I could hear you five blocks down the road!"
Dragoon laughed nervously and scratched the
back of his head. "Well, we were just, er, discussing a new game we got..."
"New game?" Bluey asked, becoming interested.
"What is it?"
"Oh, it's the best. I've played it once at a
computer store. It's got everything a game could need - great graphics, excellent
music, and the biggest and most detailed world I've ever explored... besides
Neopia, of course," Darkmoon stated.
Bluey smiled, "Well, I'd love to see it once
you get it home. I've still got a little shopping to do," Bluey started to walk
in the direction he came from. "Oh, and by the way, a Halberd of Inferno can
defeat fire-resistant enemies. You're just not trying hard enough. Bye!"
***
"Okay, let's see this new game," Spirit the blue Zafara said once Darkmoon
and Dragoon brought the game box into the computer room.
"Hang on a second, Spirit. I need to install
the game first," Darkmoon answered.
Dragoon pulled the game CD out of the box and
handed it to Darkmoon. Dragoon then proceeded to examine the box. "ER, Darkmoon...
is the game supposed to have 'Expansion Pack' in its title?"
Darkmoon had just put the CD into his computer's
CD-ROM drive. "I don't believe so. Are you saying we picked up the wrong game?"
Dragoon looked over the box one last time. "Darkmoon,
this is Niablo: Dungeons of Alertim, the expansion pack! We need the original
Niablo in order to play it!"
"Oh geez! I spent my last five thousand Neopoints
on that!" Darkmoon groaned.
"I told you that you guys needed me to come
along..." Spirit stated.
"Do you think we should take the game back and
try to get your money back?" Dragoon inquired.
"Never! The great Darkmoon of Valor will never
return a game, for he shall find a use for every game that graces his Golden
Gauntlets of Gaming!" Darkmoon said, standing up. "I'll just have to scrape
together the money and buy the original. Then we'll have two new games to play."
***
Darkmoon's Room...
Darkmoon's abode was a tribute to Gelert-kind everywhere, filled with posters
of famous Gelerts and a map of Darkmoonia - a version of Neopia designed by
Darkmoon himself. Darkmoon had a green-colored safe on his desk, which held
his small fortune. And speaking of small...
"It's completely empty! There's nothing but
a single Neopoint left!" Darkmoon pulled out the bronze coin and stared at it
longingly. "What happened to all my money?"
"You said you spent your last five thousand
Neopoints on the game," Dragoon said.
"Do you think I would hint at how much money
I actually had? I keep a whole bunch of Neopoints lying around for emergencies
and stuff like that."
"Apparently, your last five grand was your emergency
fund."
Darkmoon lay down on the bed. "How am I going
to get some money fast?"
"Well... you could ask Bluey."
"I guess so... in fact, I'll do that now. Away!"
Darkmoon ran out of the room.
***
Living Room...
Bluey sat in a chair, watching television. Darkmoon was negotiating a payment
plan with him.
"Bluey, give me some money," Darkmoon pleaded.
"No, I can't afford it," Bluey stated.
"Please?"
"No."
"Please?"
"No."
"Pleeeeeeeease?"
"No! I already said that I couldn't afford it."
"You could make it my birthday present."
"Your birthday was a month ago."
Darkmoon looked at the ceiling. "Oh, right.
Um... I could clean the house for a week!"
Bluey replied, "You? Clean the house? That's
madness!"
"Please, Bluey? I don't know what else to do."
"Go to the Games Room and make some money."
"You know I'm not very good at..."
"Do it! Now! I command it!"
"What? Okay! I'll do it! Away!" Darkmoon ran
out of the room.
***
The Neopian Gaming Center...
Darkmoon wandered around the huge arcade known as the Neopian Gaming Center.
"Oh, man, I'm in way over my head. What should I do first?" Darkmoon looked
over at a game machine that had "Meerca Chase" written on it. "Hmm... I've heard
good things about this game. I'll try it!"
Darkmoon took the helm of the Meerca Chase machine.
"Easy, medium, hard? I think I'll have to go with easy." Darkmoon selected easy
and started a game. He went through the game in the standard fashion - get Happiness
Neggs, avoid the red ones. "Hey, this is pretty fun! And easy." Darkmoon continued
playing until he accidentally hit a red Negg. He hastily selected "Send Score"
and the machine printed out a voucher for about 200 Neopoints.
Clutching his voucher, Darkmoon walked over
to the exchange table, where a friendly red Blumaroo was working. "Hello, would
you like some Neopoints today?" she greeted.
"Yes, I believe you've got something for me,"
Darkmoon said, smiling. He put his voucher on the table.
The Blumaroo took the voucher and slipped it
into a machine. The machine spit out a few fifty Neopoint coins, which the Blumaroo
handed to Darkmoon. "Thank you! Have a nice day!"
***
Bluey's NeoHome...
Darkmoon walked inside his NeoHome's front door and put down his bag of about
two thousand Neopoints. "I played almost every game in there... and this is
all I got."
Grabbing his bag, Darkmoon went into the kitchen
where Spirit was wiping a glass with a washcloth. "Hey," he said.
"Hello," Darkmoon greeted.
"Can I get you something to drink?"
"Sure... a Neocola, I guess."
Spirit went to the refrigerator and pulled out
a can of Neocola. He opened it up and grabbed a straw from a container on the
counter. He inserted the straw into the open can and slid the can on the countertop
to Darkmoon.
Darkmoon caught the can before it slid off the
counter. "I'm having some trouble, bartender."
"What's going on?" Spirit asked, wiping the
glass again.
"It seems I need some money quick and I don't
know where to go."
"Ah. I think I know what you need to do."
"What?"
"Go to Miss Bastet in the saloon on the other
side of town and she'll fix you up with a right purdy stack of Neopoints."
"Okay..." Darkmoon finished his Neocola and
got up.
"I'll start you a tab, then."
"A tab? Come on, Spirit, enough with the bartender
jokes."
Spirit and Darkmoon shared a little laugh. Darkmoon
started walking away, but Spirit stopped him by saying, "Hey, I'm serious."
***
Darkmoon knocked on the door of the Aisha Domain, also known as Bastet's bedroom.
Bastet the delightful red Aisha answered the door. "Hey, Darkmoon, what's up?"
"I've got a problem," Darkmoon replied.
"What's that?"
"I need some money fast."
"Money? Why, whatever for?" Bastet had a aura
of jauntiness around her.
"I need about three thousand Neopoints to pay
for a game."
"Three thousand?"
"Yep."
"Hmm..." Bastet thought for a moment. She then
disappeared into her room, and came back with a bag of Neopoints. "Okay, I'll
loan you the money."
"Cool! Thanks a million, Bastet!" Darkmoon reached
for the bag.
"Hold on there, Darky," Bastet pulled the bag
out of Darkmoon's reach. "First you'll have to agree to some terms."
"Did you just call me Darky?" Darkmoon asked,
tilting his head.
"Yes, indeed, I did. And if you agree to this
money, you'll be hearing it a lot more."
"ER, why exactly?"
"Because if you take this money, I'll own you
forever."
"Own me forever?"
"Well, for about a month, at least. See, you'll
have to be my personal slave for a month if you want this money."
Darkmoon thought about this proposition. "Hmm...
do I really want to be an Aisha's underling?"
"Just take it!"
"Oh, I'm convinced!" Darkmoon grabbed the bag
from Bastet's paw.
"Okay. Report back to me tomorrow, Darky, so
we can begin your duties. Bye!" Bastet shut the door.
"Uh oh... my 'duties?' 'Darky?' That doesn't
sound good."
***
Darkmoon, Dragoon, and Spirit were at the computer store, where they were
searching for the game Niablo. Darkmoon proudly toted around his bag of five
thousand Neopoints with him.
"So you got all the money?" Spirit asked.
"Yup, every point," Darkmoon answered happily.
"Here, I found the game," Dragoon announced.
"Ah, conquest awaits!" Darkmoon smiled.
"ER Darkmoon? Did you ever check out the price
of the original game?" Dragoon asked.
Spirit looked at the game's price label. "Oh...
bad news."
"Um... how much does it cost, Dragoon?" Darkmoon
inquired.
"It only costs two thousand Neopoints!"
"D'oh!"
The End
Author's Note: All the Neopets mentioned in this story are mine. If you
enjoyed this week's story, please drop me a Neomail. But no hatemail or I'll
jack up the price! Hah!
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