VII: Two Grand Fights
"Why do I want to destroy that? Well, if you must know, I want to destroy
this world and reprogram it to my vision."
I was confused. I wasn't sure if he understood what this world really was.
"Reprogram? This place is more than just computer code!"
"Yeah right. NeoPets is just a game, nothing more. Now, I'll show you how
much power I have over this world!" With a wave of Kage's hands, a vortex opened
up, and started sucking us in. It was a lot like the NeoP0rtal, but was green.
The force pulling them all in was too much. Pretty soon, Orichalkon, SnowOhki,
Cubix, Ryo, Willie, and I were sucked into the vortex. I heard one thing that
Kage said just before I fell in.
"That's what you get for trying to lie to me."
***
"Where… are we?" I said as I woke up. I found myself in a hazy blue field,
with no ground. I was just floating, light blue and mist surrounding me. The
others woke up quickly after me. I took out my NeoP0rt. It read, "Location:
Ethereal Plains. Sub-Location: None."
"Ugh... Brad, where are we?" Willie said, holding his head.
"Well, according to my NeoP0rt, the Ethereal Plains... but I don't know what
they are!" But Ryo seemed to know.
"The Ethereal Plains are a place between the real world and Neopia. Kind of
a place of nothingness. But according to Neopian legend, the Ethereal Plains
are what give the NeoPets the power to live."
I simply said, "Makes sense." It really didn't, but who was I to doubt this
guy? "Hey Ryo, can I ask you something?"
"Sure, what's up?"
"When I was escaping from the Battledome, I was able to perform something
with my NeoP0rt called a..." Willie cut me off.
"Level 1 NeoWeapon, right? The same thing happened to me."
Ryo was ready to answer all our questions. "I reached the Level 3 NeoWeapon
in there. NeoWeapon is an ability your NeoPet can use in a situation of crisis
if the NeoP0rt is on. It's pretty simple, really." Simple? Nothing about this
was simple.
"Okay, so how do we get back, Ryo?" I asked.
"That's where I am stumped." Ryo wasn't going to be able to give me the answers
I needed, so I scrolled through the NeoP0rt. As I was scrolling through, a word
popped back into my mind: NeoP0rtal. I frantically scrolled through the menu
until I came across "Create NeoP0rtal." I selected it, and it said that there
was a NeoP0rtal created 200 yards south. I immediately directed everyone, and
we flew towards and through the NeoP0rtal. We appeared right back in the face
of Kage.
***
"Ha, those stupid children, thinking they could trick... WHAT!?" Kage was
put into a fury as we emerged from the NeoP0rtal right into is face. "How are
you back here? I sent you to the Ethereal Plains!" I took a step forward.
"You can't get rid of us that easily, Kage. We're here to annoy you..." I
made a ghostly voice. "FOREVER!"
"That's right Emperor. We're here to fight you," Ryo said, with SnowOhki loyally
by his side.
"I may be new here, but I can tell you're a bad guy," said Willie.
"Whatever. Ritsuzen, attack them!" The Eyrie flew towards us, and landed directly
in front of Orichalkon. Leaving them behind, I ran at Kage, and hit him with
a direct punch right in the face.
"Kage, you think you can take over all of Neopia? I won't let you!" I punched
him again, but he complied with my blows by drawing a dagger. I was overpowered.
While I fought with the Emperor, the others were about to take on Ritsuzen...
***
"You're going down you feathered freak!" Orichalkon slurred loudly. But he
was thinking, "Brad, I can't use the NeoWeapon without you! We'll need that
to win!"
"Let's go Cubix! We can beat this thing!" exclaimed Willie.
"SnowOhki, you better win," said Ryo. And with that, Ritsuzen lunged at SnowOhki.
"Big mistake buddy," murmured Ryo, and he had taken out his NeoP0rt. "Level
3 NeoWeapon activate!"
SnowOhki floated up into the air, and yelled the incantation, "Hora-Gyou!"
She radiated a blue wave, and fired an icy blast at Ritsuzen. Ritsuzen was blasted
back, and dug his claws into the ground as he slid. Willie then took out his
NeoP0rt.
"Level 1 NeoWeapon activate!" Cubix flew into the air, curled his wings, and
yelled out, "Sumizone Rakurai!" releasing a bolt of dark energy on Ritsuzen.
Orichalkon felt very useless without the NeoWeapons, so he just blasted away
at Ritsuzen with the Improved Lightning Beams. And with that, Ritsuzen found
his next target...
***
"You're not so big now, are you?" Kage said as he held his dagger out. I knew
I was in big trouble. I was unarmed, and then there was this kid with a dagger.
Overpowering him was out of the question. I had to outsmart him. But, before
that, I thought it would be fun to mock him.
"Oh yes, oh all might Emperor of Shadows, please show mercy upon my empty,
meaningless life!" I could see anger growing on his face. He would slice me
if I didn't stop. So I did, and thought about how I could beat him. Then, a
plan hit me. He obviously has a massive ego, and there was a way I could use
it to my advantage. "Hey, Kage?"
"What is it!?"
"It's obvious to me now... after seeing all this happen.. NeoPets are nothing
more than wandering code on the Internet. I have many dreams of a new Neopia...
I was wondering.. could I join you?" With one look at him, I could tell he was
buying it.
"I'm glad to see that you've come to your senses. What do YOU want to do with
Neopia?"
"Let me see your dagger, I'll draw you a diagram in the mud." Kage foolishly
gave it to me. And I immediately drew it to him. "I can't believe you fell for
that man!"
"Very clever..." He drew another dagger. "Now I get to fight you." I was up
for it. And with that the two daggers clashed...
***
Ritsuzen was taking a brutal onslaught from the 3 NeoPets, who showed no signs
of wearing down. Maybe I was right, maybe together we could beat him.
"I'm getting tired.. I don't know how much longer I can shoot these things!"
Orichalkon yelled, blasting away with the Improved Lightning Beams.
Ryo said, "Don't give up! We have to keep fighting! Don't worry, I am sure
Brad will get here soon!" Ryo kept performing NeoWeapon attacks, while Willie
had Cubix bashing away with his fists. And Orichalkon simply shot and shot.
Ritsuzen was starting to get ticked off. He then flew at Orichalkon, ramming
him into the dirt. The Eyrie then shot a powerful blast of energy at Cubix,
sending him flying. SnowOhki tried to attack with Hora-Gyou, but was cut off
by a beam of fire.
"Sorry Ryo.. I did the best I could," said SnowOhki faintly.
"Don't worry about that! I know you tried!" yelled Ryo. Ritsuzen then spoke.
"It's time for this battle to come to a long-overdue end..."
***
Kage and I were clashing and slashing furiously, with no sign of a clear victor.
"Kage, I won't let you do this! Neopia isn't just a game! It's real! They're
living creatures!"
"Ha, you expect me to believe that? They're nothing but computer code! Created
by people for amusement!"
"You just don't... " I charged at him. "GET IT!" I tackled him as we started
rolling down the edge of the cliff.
"You fool! You're going to destroy yourself!"
"But Kage, I thought this was nothing more than computer code..."
"We're not code!"
"Then how could we coincide with a world that WAS made of computer code?"
This obviously set off Kage into a deep thought. He started thinking, how could
they? Maybe Kage was starting to see the truth...
"It must be the NeoP0rts!" Kage said, trying to defend his side. They soon
hit the foot of the cliff.
"Give it up! I'm right, okay!? The NeoPets are real! Or else they wouldn't
be fighting up there right now!"
"I will defend my dream... Neopia will be mine!!!" I then had no choice. I
stabbed him right in the stomach, bringing him to his knees.
"Why won't you just listen to me? Argh!" I then ran up the cliff to join my
friends in the battle.
"Are... NeoPets more than I think?"
***
I had made it to the top of the cliff, where I noticed the battered state
of our NeoPets.
"Orichalkon! Are you okay?" I said as I ran over to him, picking him up.
"Well Brad... I've been better." Just then my NeoP0rt started glowing. It said,
"NeoWeapon Level 2 reached." I knew what to do.
"Orichalkon, let's go! Level 2 NeoWeapon activate!!!" Just then, Orichalkon
started to glow. He put his hands out like he did with his Level 1, but this
was going to be a lot more powerful.
"Shinsei Hougeki!" He yelled out the very oriental incantation as he released
a massive barrage of fireballs at Ritsuzen, making him collapse to the ground.
The Gryphon of Evil had been overcome, and the Emperor of Shadows lay wounded
at the bottom of the cliff.
To be continued... | 
