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Excitement hovered in the air as the two Battledomers faced
each other. The fire Wocky and the green Nimmo were each glaring at each other,
each set on being victorious, like prehistoric beasts. A crowd was gathered around
the arena, breathlessly watching the staring contest and waiting for the first
move to be made.
Then, slowly, the Wocky drew his Golden Wocky
Blade and brought it out in front of him. The Nimmo brought out his Sturdy Blue
Sword. And at exactly the same time, the two lunged at each other.
The crowd exploded into shouts and noise as the
two began to have an action packed sword fight, the metal clinking and flashing
in the glowing lights of the arena. The agile pets leaped back and forth wildly,
striking and blocking, but neither inflicting any damage on their opponent.
Suddenly, there was a loud clash as the Wocky
knocked the sword from the Nimmo's hands. The weapon went skidding across the
floor, leaving a dent in the ground. The Nimmo was about to leap after it, but
with a strong blow, the Wocky knocked him to the ground. The audience was hushed
as the furry Neopet stood over the Nimmo, his flaming tail swishing. The Wocky
raised his blade, and-
"Okay! Okay! I give up, you win!" the Nimmo cried
out, covering his face with his hands. "Please, let me go! You were too strong
for me."
There was a long moment of stillness and silence.
Then, the Wocky lowered his weapon and stepped away from his cowering opponent.
He turned to look at everyone in the crowd, then bowed. Thundering applause
greeted him. He came out of his bow, smiled, and stepped out of the arena.
Outside of the arena, the crowd rushed to meet
him. He turned down all autograph requests and walked onwards, until he was
out of the throng. As he was taking a deep breath, he saw two other Neopets
approaching him: a Kyrii and a Kougra. They ran up to him and slapped him on
the back.
"Zuro!" the Kougra cried. "That was a good fight
back there!"
"Yeah, Zuro, you sure showed that guy who was
boss," the Kyrii said with a grin.
"Thanks, guys," said Zuro, sliding his Golden
Wocky Blade back into its sheath. "Another day, another Battledome fight. But
I was going easy on that guy, as you probably know. A Sturdy Blue Sword? C'mon,
he was a joke! I'm hoping for a better fight tomorrow."
"What, aren't you going to stay and fight some
more today?" asked the Kyrii, surprised.
"Nah," Zuro mumbled. "I have to go home. I'll
see you two tomorrow, though!" Then, with his friends waving to him, he strode
out of the Battledome and down the street.
*******************************
"He was really a weakling, I must tell you. I've seen much stronger Nimmos,
so I was expecting more. I mean, the battle was over in about 10 seconds. Honestly."
It was suppertime, and Zuro was seated around
the dining table with his owner and little brother, recounting his battle of
the morning while stuffing Omelette into his face.
"Man, you shoulda seen the look on his face when
I knocked him to the ground," he continued pridefully. "It was great."
His little brother, Arzi, looked at him in adoration.
The little blue Techo looked up to his big brother and all of his daring feats,
and regarded Zuro as a hero. "That's really cool, Zuro," he said admiringly.
"I wish I could have been there. You do so many great things."
"Uh... sure," Zuro muttered.
"I wish I could fight, just like you," his brother
went on. "That would be great."
Zuro rolled his eyes. Arzi was constantly complimenting
him, and though he was sort of glad to be a role model for his little brother,
it got quite annoying.
Their owner, a girl named Lea, finished off a
bite of Omelette and spoke up. "Hey Zuro, why don't you take your little brother
to the Battledome tomorrow?"
Both of the pets' eyes popped open.
"Oh, that would be awesome!" squealed Arzi. "I
could fight, just like my brother! And you would cheer me on, right Zuro?"
Zuro sat there in shock. He was a semi-famous
Battledomer, with quite a few friends and admirers he had met through battling.
His reputation would plummet if he was seen babysitting his little brother at
the Battledome! He was about to protest, but then he saw that Arzi's face was
full of joy and happiness. "Fine," he grumbled. Then he added hopefully, "But,
Arzi doesn't have any weapons. He can't go to the 'Dome without weapons!"
Arzi looked crestfallen, but Lea said, "Well,
you have all those old weapons you don't use anymore, Zuro. Arzi can use a few
of those."
The younger brother perked back up, and the older
one sighed. "Okay," Zuro said. "We'll go tomorrow." He shook his head, knowing
he was going to regret this decision.
*******************************
The next morning, Zuro walked into the Battledome embarrassed, walking a few
strides ahead of his brother and hoping no one would notice that they were together.
However, his plan was not working since Arzi kept waving his borrowed Sword
of Domar in the air and yelling, "Zuro! Wait up!"
The Fire Wocky tried to ignore his brother as
he headed towards an empty arena to look for a fight. But before he got there,
Arzi caught up and began pulling on his tail, saying, "Zuro! Aren't you going
to help me find someone to battle with?"
Zuro sighed. He just wanted to have an exciting
day in the Battledome, with no one tagging along. He was glad he had seen none
of his friends or fans yet.
"Um..." Zuro mumbled, but then a plan to ditch
his brother formed in his head. "Sure."
The two pets walked onwards through the Battledome
crowd. Zuro kept an eye out for any pet who looked like they were ready for
a battle. Finally, he saw a weak-looking yellow Poogle sitting against the wall
bored, with his cheap weapons sprawled out in front of him.
"C'mon, Arzi, here's a competitor for you," Zuro
said, leading his brother towards the Poogle. When they reached him, the Poogle
looked up.
"Hey, would you mind fighting my little brother?
He's a first-timer out looking for an opponent," Zuro asked him.
The Poogle stared, then said in a squeaky voice,
"Okay, but I'm warning you! I'm tougher than I look. I've got a few surprises
up my sleeve, you know. Are you sure you want to fight me?"
Arzi looked a little worried, but Zuro grinned
and whispered to his brother, "It's okay. Look at him! I'm sure he's just bluffing.
Go fight him, and you'll surely win!"
"Okay, I'll fight you," Arzi told the Poogle.
"Great!" the Poogle replied. "Now, come with
me. I know an arena that no one's fighting in right now, and we can make use
of it." The three pets walked over to the arena. Arzi and the Poogle entered
the ring, and almost instantly a crowd began to develop around the arena. Zuro
quickly slid out of this large group of Neopets and owners, and began to run
away. He stopped and smiled when he had gone about 100 yards away. He had officially
lost his little brother.
As for Arzi, his battle was starting. As the
Poogle glared at him menacingly, he looked out into the crowd and called, "Root
for me, Zuro!" But Zuro did not answer back. Zuro was nowhere to be seen. Just
hundreds of expectant, watching eyes staring at him....
*******************************
Zuro forgot all about his brother for the next few hours. He won battle after
battle, with his Golden Wocky Blade at his side. He seemed to love that weapon
more than Arzi.
The Fire Wocky emerged out of the arena after
his fifth battle of the day, in which he had completely wiped out a Koi. Like
usual, the battle's audience greeted him and cheered for him. The Wocky spotted
his two friends coming up to him. "Were have you two been all day?" he asked
them, and they began to walk together away from the crowd.
The Kyrii laughed, giving him a high five. "We
were watching other pets get creamed. It's fun, you know."
"Yeah," chuckled the Kougra. "Remember that Elephante
and the Lupe?"
"Oh yeah!" laughed the Kyrii. "Now, THAT battle
had some surprises. And remember the Techo and the Poogle?" Zuro's friends exchanged
glances, and then burst into hysteric laughter.
Zuro was stunned as he remembered about his little
brother, and who he had been fighting. "What Techo?"
The Kougra calmed down in a few seconds and said,
"Oh, some shrimpy, weak little kid. I don't know what he was doing in the Battledome.
All he had was one weapon, some kind of thin little sword. Anyway, he got into
a fight with this Poogle. In fact, I think I saw you in the crowd for this fight,
but you ran off for some reason! Anyway, the Poogle was using all these weak
weapons. And then, the Poogle whipped out a few really rare, powerful items,
and just PUMMELED that Techo! It was awesome!"
"Yeah, I actually talked to that Poogle after
the battle," chuckled the Kyrii. "He said that's his strategy. He fools people
by making them think he's weak at first, and then SURPRISE! Out comes the heavy
arsenal!"
"You should've seen that Techo groan. Oh man,
he was beat up. He's going to be sore for weeks!" the Kougra howled.
Zuro was silent. He dropped his Golden Wocky
Blade, where it landed with a clank. "Did you see where that Techo went?" he
asked.
"Oh, he didn't GO anywhere," the Kougra said,
and the Kyrii started to crack up. "He was in no shape to do that. He was carried
out by a few pets. I think they took him to the NeoHospital."
Zuro took off running as fast as his legs could
take him towards the Battledome exit. His two friends stared after him, and
his blade lay glimmering on the ground.
*******************************
Zuro burst in through the doors of the NeoHospital, panting wildly. He found
himself in the carpeted waiting room. The waiting pets and the red Acara receptionist
were staring at him. He limped over to the reception desk, clutching at the
cramp in his side.
"Do you need to see a doctor, sir?" asked the
Acara in an alarmed tone.
"No, I just ran all the way here from the Battledome!"
growled the Wocky. "I came to see my brother. Was a blue Techo brought in here
earlier?"
"Yes," the Acara said. "He was pretty bruised
and scraped up. If you'd like to see him, he's in the second room to the right
down that hallway." She pointed to some double doors.
"Thanks," Zuro said, and he walked painfully
through the doors, down the hall, and into the room he was instructed to. When
he entered the small white room, an awful site met him. His brother was sitting
in a large, plastic chair, with his feet in a tub of warm water. He had bandages
thickly wrapped around his arms, legs, and tail, and smaller bandages were taped
onto assorted places on his body. He had a black eye and other bruises, and
looked like the personification of devastation.
Zuro's eyes opened wide, and he rushed to his
brother's side. "Arzi! Arzi! Are you okay?" he cried.
Arzi looked up at him. "Brother!" he said weakly.
"You came! I just knew you would. We got separated before the fight, but I know
you've been looking for me."
Zuro looked into his brother's eyes, the impact
of his choice to ditch his brother hitting him in the face. "Are you feeling
okay?"
The Techo shrugged weakly. "I hurt pretty bad,
but I'm feeling a lot better. A nice Meerca and Blumaroo took me in here. The
doctor fixed me right up and said he'd bill my owner. I've just been waiting
for you here, since I don't think I can make it home by myself. But I knew you'd
come!"
"Hey, I'm sorry. I feel bad about what happened.
Really bad," Zuro said.
"Don't feel sorry!" exclaimed Arzi. "That Poogle
was tough, and tricky as well. You probably could've beaten him with ease, though.
You're such a wonderful fighter!"
"But Arzi, you don't know what I do at the Battledome!
It's not like I'm defeating evil or... or saving Meridell or anything! I'm beating
people for no good reason except for my own pride, okay? I'm not the wonderful
big brother you think I am! In fact, I'm a pretty bad one," Zuro shouted, then
he turned away from his brother, hiding the ashamed look on his face. It took
a while for his brother to reply.
"Zuro," Arzi said at last, a tear rolling down
his scaly cheek, "I can't pretend anymore. I didn't think you would come to
find me, after all. I know you left me on purpose, and you were hoping you wouldn't
see me again all day. Why, Zuro? You've always been my hero. If you didn't want
me there, you could have just told me..."
Zuro bit his lip, trying not to look at Arzi.
But he heard the Techo's soft voice: "Zuro, I always wanted to be just like
you, that's all. But now, I guess I really don't. I thought you cared. I seriously
did. I... I really guess I shouldn't have tricked myself into thinking that."
"I'm sorry," Zuro muttered to the wall, his voice
quivery. "Arzi, please forgive me." He turned back to the poor, beaten Techo
in the chair. Zuro's eyes were red, and at last he cried a single tear. "I'm
truly sorry, Arzi. I promise I won't leave you ever again."
The corners of Arzi's mouth curled up in the
tiniest sliver of a smile. "It's okay. I forgive you. Just like in battle, Zuro,"
he said, "you always pull through in the end."
The End
Author's Note: I do not claim to hate or have anything against Wockies;
in fact I like them a lot! They're my favorite pet and I obsess over them, but
I just tried one out in the prideful-selfish-bad-guy-who-turns-good position
here ^_^ As always, your comments on this story are appreciated. Thanks for
reading! ~Fluff
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