"Thank you Master Hog," she said with a bow when she
started to walk towards the door that led out of the room.
"No, thank you. I have a feeling that you will
be one of the top heroines of Neopia in the future," he said, a smile of encouragement
on his face. "You did a great job, I wouldn't have been surprised if you forgot
it was all just a simulation and that you wouldn't really get hurt. Oh yes,
call me Judge Hog. We're partners now."
"All right, partner," Ylana said with a wink.
Ylana exited the room accompanied by Judge Hog,
with a jaunty smile on her face. She had been the first to join the Defenders
in ages, and she was proud of it, even if it was only the first step in her
plans. The other Defenders congratulated her as she came into the room where
they had all watched her performance.
"Great job, Flaming Sky!" a rather burly female
Kau called Moonifica cried. "Welcome to the team!"
"Wonderful!" a deep voiced Shadow Zafara who
had been dubbed Shadow Zeal yelled.
Many others said things of a similar nature,
but Ylana also noticed a few of the Defenders standing aside with unpleased
looks on their faces, one of which was the Aisha who had trained her, not to
mention the Aisha who suggested she become a Defender, Aclaimisha. This disturbed
Ylana somehow, and as soon as Aclaimisha left, the Acara followed.
"Aclaimisha?" she asked tentatively as she tapped
her old mistress on the back.
The Aisha turned around and stared at her. Aclaimisha
was pretty old, but was still very pretty. Her eyes were very thin, eyelashes
long, and her tight white suit did not show any unattractive bulges in the stomach
area. "Good enough to call me by my name now, are we?" she asked, somewhat annoyed.
"We're partners now. I have every right," Ylana
parried, her head held high.
Aclaimisha looked at her, her lips forming an
unpleasant grimace. "It would seem so," she finally muttered and then the Rainbow
Aisha sped away.
"Aclaimisha, wait!" Ylana called as she chased
after her. "What was that supposed to mean?"
Aclaimisha turned around, a strange, almost disturbed
look on her face. "Let's just say I have qualms over letting you join. I've
had them for a while now, ever since you told me about your childhood ages ago.
But for then I shoved them to the side, sure that they would be proven wrong,
but when I saw your simulation they were actually proven to be true."
"What?" Ylana cried, taken aback. "What qualms?
What'd I do in the simulation to prove that they were true? Most of the others
approved of my performance!" The blue fur on Ylana's arms was now sticking up
with rage and indignation.
Aclaimisha sighed, as if she were having to tell
a baby neopet that its Smiley died. "Your childhood was sad, I shall not lie
about that. You had many troubles and woes that usually end up affecting one's
attitude when they grow that I should have recognized when I first met you,
but I did not. I was blind since I was new to the Defenders at that time. You
had become rather heartless, or at least that's what I feared. It wasn't proven
until you destroyed that Skeith, though it was obviously begging for mercy,"
the Aisha finished with a heavy sigh.
"What?" Ylana cried. "That is the most ridiculous--"
"FLAMING SKY! ACLAIMISHA!" cried a voice from
down the hall. The two pets turned to see the Secretary Uni trotting their way.
"There's trouble at the Space Station! Evil robots-- everywhere! It's a complete
team job! Suit up, and then all of you load up on the rocket waiting to transport
you all; its in Sector C8."
Aclaimisha nodded, then immediately headed off
for the rocket since she was always suited up.
"Oh, and Yla-- Flaming Sky," the Uni said, almost
forgetting that Ylana was no longer a Defender-in-Training. "Take these weapons
and toss your old beginner ones. Judge Hog told me you'd need these more." She
then displayed a very heavy ray gun, and a utility belt, all of which were made
in the Space Station, like just about everything else in the Defenders of Neopia
Headquarters.
Ylana smiled at these new gadgets, and eagerly
removed them from the Uni's hooves. Then she ran off to change into her uniform
and dump her new weapons, which took her all of a matter of ten seconds. She
examined herself and gagged; she looked terrible in purple. However, it was
no time to worry about something as trifle as that, and she rushed over to the
Sector C8 where the rocket was.
The eleven other members were already there,
and most smiled when Ylana entered.
"S-sorry guys!" she said as she jumped into a
seat in the back and buckled herself in.
"Sorry doesn't cut it if we're too late," Aclaimisha
declared bluntly, but everyone else seemed forgiving.
"Okay, everyone here?" Judge Hog, who was piloting
the spacecraft, inquired. "Yes? Good. Lift off!"
The rocket started to rumble, and many Defenders
groaned at the thought of such a bumpy ride all the way to outer space.
"These rides always make me sick," said the Tremendous
Tuskaninny as he clutched his rather large belly.
"Don't worry, it won't take any time! Judge Hog
told me this ship can get there and back in two minutes flat!" Ylana reassured
him. It was almost sad for her, though; she really liked flying in space.
Before long they were there, and all the Defenders
piled out of the rather cramped ship.
"Where are the robots?" asked Judge Hog to a
pink Grundo who was running away frantically. "We're the Defenders of Neopia
and we've come to help!"
The Grundo looked up at them, her eyes full of
gratitude. "Oh my! Thank goodness! They're in Grundo's Cafe, and they're wrecking
[i]everything![/i] " she cried.
"Thank you ma'am! And don't worry, we will stop
them!" Judge Hog cried as he, and the rest of the Defenders, started to run
down the metallicy halls toward Grundo's Cafe.
When they arrived, it was a complete mess. The
weird creations of the Cafe were strewn all over the place, and in the background
were three giant robots.
"They're bigger than I expected," Ylana heard
Shadow Zeal say softly.
Ylana could only nod in agreement with him; she
was to stunned for words.
"Er, okay, group, you know what to do," Judge
Hog muttered, his voice losing its usual jauntiness.
"And in case we don't?" Aclaimisha retorted,
her eyes gazing at the giant machines which were blasting their lasers at the
kitchens in Grundo's Cafe and melting all of the metal pots and pans as if they
were butter.
"Um, split up. Four to each. I'll lead the first
squad on the first robot, Aclaimisha, you lead the second squad on the last,
and Shadow Zeal you take the third squad to the one in the middle. You know
you're squadrons everyone--"
"--Actually," Ylana interrupted.
"Don't worry, your with me Flaming Sky," Shadow
Zeal said with a smile.
"Whatever you do though, don't destroy them totally!
There are pets inside those machines and I don't want any one to die, even an
enemy! Now GO!"
Everyone split up and headed towards their robot.
Two of them, Judge Hog's and Aclaimisha's, were heading into other chambers,
but Shadow Zeal's stayed at Grundo's Cafe.
"They're-- they're leaving?" Ylana asked uncertainly.
"Yeah, but just for a bit I suppose. They'll
probably finish off their robots sooner. Now come on, we need to get rid of
this thing! How we'll destroy it without hurting the pet inside will be the
tricky part though," Shadow Zeal cried as he ran toward the giant red machine.
The Acara was about to do the same, but then
someone grasped her arm. She looked around to see it was the Chef who owned
Grundo's.
"Miss 'FS'...," he said, reading her outfit.
"Flaming Sky," she informed him.
"Yeah, whatever. Look, get rid of that thing
as fast as you can. Get rid of the person inside and all. I mean, they're obviously
bad and if you let them live, then they're most likely gonna try stunts like
this again. I can't afford that, the Space Station can't afford that. You look
strong, and I'm depending on you," the Chef said.
Ylana faltered, not sure what to do. "I'm sorry
sir," she finally said, "but I'm on direct orders not to hurt the pet inside--"
"Direct orders, smirect orders, it doesn't matter!
Look, you seem like a bright young lady, and I'm sure we can reach an agreement..."
The green, rather large Grundo flashed a few very large bags bulging with gold
Neopoints. "They won't come out of this alive," he said, his eyes set firm in
his face. "Agreed?"
Ylana smiled at the money, greed consuming her
common sense. "Agreed."
But unknown to Ylana, she wasn't the only one
smiling at this agreement. A large figure clocked in black that lay in the shadows
had witnessed this shady dealing, and found it much to his liking...
***
Ylana caught up with her team, who was fighting
valiantly against the robot. Of course being valiant never defeated a dangerous
foe.
"Flaming Sky!" Shadow Zeal called. "Flaming Sky,
where have you been?"
"S-sorry, Shadow Zeal!" Ylana apologized. "How
are we doing?"
There were screams of pain in the background,
and two of the other Defenders who had been tackling the steel pest were slung
against the wall. However, one managed to get back on its feet, the other one
stayed there, head lolling to the side.
"Terrible!" Shadow Zeal screamed. He then jumped
in the air to avoid a laser. " If Judge Hog or Aclaimisha were here, it'd be
different I'm sure, but according to me it's impossible to defeat this thing
without hurting the pet inside!"
"If that's impossible, than let's do something
we know will work!" Ylana cried. She slung out her new ray gun, and turned
it on full blast.
"You're surely not doing what I think you're
going to do!" the Zafara gasped.
Ylana smiled greedily, nodded, then took off
towards the robot.
"NO FLAMING SKY! NO! I ABSOLUTELY FORBID IT!
STOP!" Shadow Zeal screamed, but it was in vain.
Ylana did not stop, she persistently ran towards
the robot, dodging everything that it threw at her. She wore a morbid smile
on her face, knowing what she was about to do and not caring an ounce. This
was the only way to defeat the robot anyway, and Ylana was sure Judge Hog would
understand when she told him it was for the good of the pets.
The Blue Acara stood before the robot, and lifted
her ray gun. Normally she would have told it to surrender, but what was the
point? No self-respecting villain ever did that, and the hero always got smashed
into a wall or something after they asked. A pointless gesture, really.
"FLAMING SKY, NO!" screamed a voice, but it was
not Shadow Zeal's, not that it made a difference. Ylana pulled the trigger,
and the robot exploded.
Ylana could feel the heat of the explosion on
her face, crisping her fur and outfit. Acaras weren't meant for the heat, but
there was nothing she could do about that now. The force of the blast lifted
Ylana off of the titanium ground, and thrust her against the wall. Then, against
her will, Ylana lost all consciousness
To be continued...
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