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"I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves... everybody's
nerves, everybody's nerves! I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves, and
this is how it goes!" sang Harriet the Aisha. "Oh! I know a song that gets on
everybody's nerves, everybody's nerves..."
"HARRIET! Be quiet!" yelled Sebastian
the Lupe. Rosie the Ixi, Albert the Chia and Spot the rock nodded in agreement.
Rosie sighed deeply. "Right, we've been
searching for Jay for three days now... he's not here! In fact, nothing's here!
We haven't seen a soul in Neopia Central since we arrived!"
"Sketchy, very sketchy," Harriet mused.
Albert sat down and began to pound and
punch the keys of his computer. Sebastian gave a loud groan that even Albert
could not ignore. "Well, do you have any better ideas, Brainiac?" Albert snarled.
"Well, no," admitted Sebastian.
"LOOK!" cried Spot suddenly. He turned
around slowly and nodded at a dark, billowing shadow... a very familiar dark,
billowing shadow...
Sebastian and Albert wasted no time. "AFTER
IT!" they cried simultaneously. The five charged at the shadow. The shadow,
sensing the hunt, ran for it. Down dark alleys and narrow streets the chase
commenced.
The dark shadow ran down a corner and
stopped. A 10 foot wall of brick was blocking the way to the other side of the
street. The Super Authors and Spot cornered the shadow. "Show yourself!" yelled
Rosie, whipping out her longbow.
The shadow did not move, but laughed.
A odd laugh, high-pitched and a bit on the Psimouse side. "Never!" it squeaked.
"Ah-heeheeheehee!"
Rosie looked at the shadowy figure in
sympathy. "Poor thing, he must have been teased something awful at school."
"Never mind that, Rosie," Albert said.
"Get him!"
The five lunged at the shadow, but he
was too quick. He leapt up the brick wall on dark blue wings and flew away into
the night.
"No! He's getting away! Oh, if only we
had a helicopter," whined Harriet.
"A helicopter?! ARE YOU PAINTED FAERIE
OR NOT?" yelled Albert, loosing his temper.
"Ah-hah!" said Harriet triumphantly, as
the four rose into the air. "Stay there, Spot!" she yelled back down at the
poor rock. Spot nodded, and a lonely tear rolled down his igneous cheek.
The four flew after the shadowy figure,
who was now many miles ahead. They darted back and forth between the clouds
hanging solemnly over Neopia Central.
"C'MON! We're gaining on him!" yelled
Sebastian, pumping his purple Faerie wings ever faster.
The shadow stopped suddenly, and whipped
around in mid-air. It laughed oddly, ("Ah-heeheeheehee!") and then hurled a
small object directly at the Super Authors. Harriet screamed, as a thick green
gas was emitted, clouding the sky and the vision of the Super Authors. They
all felt extremely light-headed, and were forced to return to the ground.
"Ooohh, i dunt feel gud," cried Harriet,
in exasperation, landing on the pavement in front of 63994, Neopia Ave.
"Y r u talkin like dat?" asked Rosie,
quizzically. "Wate, y m I talkin lik dis?!"
"OMG, like, mebbe it wuz dat gren gas
stuv," said Sebastian.
"Hey, i tink it's wearing of," said Albert.
He shook his head vigorously. "There, do I sound any better?"
"Much," said Harriet and Rosie in unison.
"That's stuff is horrible... we've got to stop him!"
"I think that this shadowy figure and
Jay's kidnap are linked, but I just can't figure it out!" Albert said.
"Maybe..." Harriet thought, pacing. "Maybe...
Jay's kidnap, and this shadowy figure are related! Hey, I'm smart!"
"No, just annoying," Albert mumbled.
"I am not annoying!" she retorted.
Albert sighed deeply. "Harriet, you're
so annoying there are things Tyrannian skin diseases could learn from you,"
he said.
Sebastian stepped between the Chia and
Aisha. "Guys, we've got to think of something. FAST! Jay's in trouble, and we're
the only ones who can save him! If the kidnap and the shadowy figure ARE related,
we've got to find out who and where that guy flew off to, and we've got to find
out NOW!" he yelled, stomping his foot for added effect.
Rosie, Albert, and Harriet nodded.
"Right... where's Spot?"
The five ran to the alley where Spot was
last seen. A crumpled up note lay on the ground. Albert picked it up and read
outloud, "Leeg uv supr athurs- HAHAHAH! ets uz agen! u still hvnt found ur lil
Eyrie friend j and now weve got ur lil SPOT ROCK! HAHAHAH! u all smell like
frezh dung plops! luv (NOT)- DUNT U WIZH U NEW!"
"Sketchy."
"This is getting bad. We need advice...
we need... OH!" cried Rosie, in a sudden spurt of inspiration. "Why didn't I
think of it before?"
"What?"
"I'm such a fool!"
"Yes, we know, but what?"
"How could I be so dumb?"
"ROSIE! WHAT IS IT!"
"Let's ask the Library Faerie!" she said.
"I can't believe I forgot her!" Albert
cried. "Stupid!" he yelled, taking his computer out of his pack and whacking
himself on the head with it. "Stupid... stupid... stupid..."
The Lupe, Ixi, and Aisha watched Albert's
progress for a long time. A second large bruise had appeared on his head. Finally,
Harriet pulled the computer out of the Chia's arms and the four headed to Faerieland.
The flight to the Faerieland Bookstore
was uneventful. No shadowy figures were seen, or no clouds of green gas. Landing
on the front of the bookstore, the Super Authors knocked loudly on the door.
"Coming! Let me finish this chapter!"
came the reply of the Library Faerie.
The Super Authors waited for many minutes,
until they finally heard footsteps coming to the door of the bookstore. The
Library Faerie stepped out and smiled. "Good afternoon," she said, tucking a
very thick book in the crook of your arm. "Won't you come in?"
The four Super Authors allowed themselves
to be led into the very roomy and comfortable shop. A fire was lit in a stone
hearth, and several fat armchairs surrounded the fireplace. Books lay on tables
and on shelves, in all sizes and shapes. A candle lay lit on a nearby table
that the Library Faerie sat down next to now.
She set her book down and Sebastian, Rosie,
Albert, and Harriet all took seats as well. "What seems to be the problem?"
she asked.
"Well, umm... Ms. Faerie? We need some
help in this mystery," said Rosie. The four Super Authors spilled out all the
details of Jay's sudden disappearance and the strange, garbled notes, and of
the shadowy figure and the green gas. The Library Faerie listened intently and
did not interrupt. After they were finished, she leaned back and sighed.
"He's back," was all she said.
To be continued...
Oooh, who's back? I wonder who it could be? I bet it's not who you think
it is if you read The League of Super Authors and are guessing that it's...
well, you know who you think is behind all of this! Anyway, what's going to
happen next? What secrets will the Library Faerie reveal? And not to mention
Bill! Find out in the next thrilling chapter of... Jay and the Super Authors
Strike Back!
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