|
Furgleton...
The streetlights had been left on in Furgleton, but
there was practically no need for them. The lights had gone on in every house,
and there were thousands of faces pressed against windows, but not a single
Chia had dared to venture outside and oppose the mysterious figures now lurking
through the streets. The alien Lupes were prowling, under orders to find a blue
Chia with a blue Cobrall.
The Princess, holding the important Chias hostage
within the observatory, had begun setting up a sort of mini-palace in which
the only welcome people were her prisoners, her guards, and the band, which
were still playing music calmly.
She waited patiently, drinking the punch and
nibbling the crackers and cheese that had been served to the guests earlier.
She had all the time in the world, and she knew that Al could not have wandered
far...
Deegribblepaw had only been half-heartedly searching.
He was eager for a good meal, seeing as he hadn't eaten in days, and he had
noticed there was a rather tasty looking tomato Chia amongst the important people
being held hostage. He had a special fondness for tomato juice, and if the Chia,
Phil, hadn't been so significant, he would have been happy to dispose of him.
He was also horribly sleepy, and still had jetlag
from the flight to Neopia. His temporary partner, Glaperwanapaw, constantly
had to cuff his ear to keep him alert as they patrolled the road between Furgleton
and Lupe Forest.
Deegribblepaw froze as he saw a pair of headlights
coming up the highway towards them. He nudged his partner, and the two soldiers
leapt into the cover of the nearby trees.
Sure enough, Al's blue jeep was zooming up the
road straight towards them. The Chia inside was looking up at the dozens of
Lupe heads swarming into the city like bees, wishing he could take their pictures.
Fluffy was keeping a wary eye on Al to make sure he kept driving straight as
he listened to Jazzmosis, his favorite music
Deegribblepaw nodded to his partner, and as Al
passed by their trees, he removed his blaster, aimed it at Al's tires, locked
on, charged it up until it gave a musical little twang, and then fired. A purple
bolt similar to the one that destroyed Clarence's flute blasted forth, and Al's
tires were instantly gone. The car almost comically flopped onto the ground,
bouncing twice before careening off-road.
Al screamed and Fluffy screeched as the car
scraped against the ground, sparks leaping into the air. The lupologist looked
particularly distressed.
"Ooooh, Piffle, the paint job!! MY POOR CAR!!
Don't worry, baby, daddy will buy you new legs!"
Fluffy rolled his eyes.
Out of control, the tireless car crashed noisily
into a nearby peachpa tree, shattering the windshield and activating the air
bags. They puffed out of the dashboard, engulfing the perplexed Chia and breaking
his glasses and nearly breaking the nose of the stunned Cobrall.
Deegribblepaw shot his arms up in the air in
a little celebratory dance before reattaching his weapon to his belt. He and
Glaperwanapaw jogged up to the jeep, puncturing the air bags and seizing the
dazed Chia and Cobrall.
"Geeze, this was almost too easy," Deegribblepaw
noted.
"Don't EVER say that!" Glaperwanapaw grunted,
dragging the Chia along on the ground. "Whenever you say that, it automatically
becomes harder."
"Oh, well, okay." Deegribblepaw paused and thought
for a moment. Al muttered something about pineapples in his unconsciousness,
but other than that the only other noise was more Lupes flooding into the city.
He looked back at Glaperwanapaw.
"Well, is it any harder?"
His partner looked around. "Well, no. This Chia
isn't any heavier, but he sure isn't lighter. But maybe..."
They were silent for a minute more, as if expecting
some horrible misfortune to come down upon them while they were off guard.
Glaperwanapaw's eyebrows went up. He cautiously
smiled. "You know what? I think you were right. It's safe to say that this was,
in fact, too easy!"
Confident, they dragged their captives to their
ship. Deegribblepaw stubbed his toe on the way in, and Glaperwanapaw rammed
his head on the doorway, but other than that it went without flaw, simply too
easy.
The Mother Ship, Outer Space...
Al blinked blearily as he looked around. Without his glasses, all he could
make out was a rather large, reddish blur. Confused, he reached into his pockets,
placing a spare pair of glasses over his eyes to make the scene around him a
bit clearer.
"Oh, hello Phil!" Al beamed, finding himself
trapped inside a round red force field prison. He tapped on the side, listening
to the glassy sound it produced.
"Ah, hello Al," Phil scowled, brooding in his
own force field prison.
Al turned towards the other direction and caught
sight of Fluffy, who was still dozing. He sighed and examined the round wall
of his force field prison with interest.
"Everything is red tinted through this thing,
did you notice that?"
Phil gritted his teeth. "Yes, Al, I did. I noticed
a few OTHER things, too, like the giant monster Lupes HOLDING US HOSTAGE!!."
Al nodded. "Yeah, the Alien Lupes, or as I like
to call them, Lupus Freakus. I haven't seen too many of them in a while, of
course they tried to murder me a few times, but they lead a fascinating lifestyle..."
A vein popped out of Phil's head. "Just eat
me now!" he yelled to the Lupes guarding them.
The Princess carefully tossed her paper punch
glass into the trash before turning to her newly caught prisoners, catching
a hiccup, and then smiling.
"Ah, hello Al! We haven't met, but my father's
told me all about you! I'm Princess Ginniyakamirklepaw of the Purple Planet,
daughter of King Meerkadoodadhorfadorfapaw and heir to the throne. I was adopted
off this pathetic planet called Neopia to see my true potential, and I've come
here to compress you and the other Chias into a health snack for my father,
he's recently had a bit of trouble with his hearts."
"Oh, that's a shame," Al said.
"Yes, quite," Phil droned. "Do go on."
The Princess smiled at Al and scowled at Phil.
She grabbed another cupful of punch before continuing.
"I'm a fair person, and I'm going to tell you
exactly why we're here. Now, Al, you've defied my father many times, and Phil,
you're the one who sponsored naming out planet 'Furgleworld.' My father would
very much like to see both of your heads on a platter, but since it was just
too easy to catch you..."
At this point, Deegribblepaw and Glaperwanapaw
dusted off their uniforms and puffed out their chests proudly.
"I'm going to give you a chance to save your
friends and family with a test!"
Al smiled. "Oooh, a Lupology test? Judgement
of character? Will you send me off on a grand and noble quest?"
Ginniyakamirklepaw raised an eyebrow. "No, none
of those. This will be a test of your PHYSICAL ABILITY, in the ARENA OF DEATH!!"
A ring of purple fire burst from the ground,
and a crowd of alien Lupes began cheering and jeering, their multicolored eyes
making them appear like an huge aurora borealis in the stands. Glycopaw stood
at the opposite side of the arena, clad in a sumo loincloth and a mechanical
monocle that seemed to have weapons capabilities. He stamped his feet and roared,
and the crowd went wild. Next to him stood what appeared to be another evil
clone of Al and Fluffy. The Imposter Al in the black lab coat cracked his knuckles,
and the pitch-black Rocky the Cobrall snarled menacingly at his counterpart.
"Awww..." Al whined. "I detest these tests!"
The Princess nodded. "That's part of the reason
I picked it. Now, take a look here…I'm going to allow you, Fluffy, and Phil
to compete against Glycopaw, our clone, and Rocky being given only one weapon
each. Should you manage to defeat them, I will agree to leave Neopia. After
that, we'll have an ultimate round of death, in which you'll compete against
the strongest fighter we have, and should you defeat THEM, you'll get your OWN
freedom. Should you happen to fail this final test, your decapitated heads will
have the opportunity to meet the King."
"Er, sounds fair, I guess," Al spluttered.
Phil, by this time, was looking more like an
avocado Chia
"What weapons do we have to choose from?"
Ginniyakamirklepaw held up a stick, a stone,
and a broken bone.
"What," Al mumbled. "No words? Ah, well, they'd
never hurt 'em." The Arena of Death, minutes later...
Al bravely waved a stick, Fluffy clutched the
stone in his mouth, and Phil carried the broken bone. All looked dwarfed in
comparison to the gigantic competitors before them. The Princess stood up and
waved her paws.
"I want a good, clean fight from you all. Now,
START!"
(Due to violence of a graphic nature, the following
depiction of the fight sequence has been edited out by the Neopian Decency by
Censorship Committee. Remember, we're here to improve, not muffle!)
"Woah, all this blood, gore, and violent messiness
is making me queasy!" Al moaned, poking the ooze that used to be his clone with
his stick. "Thanks for saving me there, Fluffy. We probably would have lost
without you."
"I'd have to agree with you there!" Phil nodded,
as Glycopaw tearfully regrew his limbs. "I thought they almost had us there,
but then Fluffy just got that look of blind fury…"
"Hiss!" Fluffy exclaimed, tightening the knot
that his opponent was now in.
The Princess blinked. "Well, then, I guess that's
over. Congratulations, you've saved your planet. BUT, can you now save YOURSELVES?"
She stood up, a smile forming on her face as
the Lupes all began wildly cheering.
"For now, you must face our planet's ultimate
warrior..."
She threw her hands up into the air, and the
spotlights wove around the audience. Al, Phil, and Fluffy cowered in terror
as they began to close in on their subject, and finally, all the lights were
on...
"ME!!!"
To be continued...
| 
