The (Almost) Final Battle
Burzwakh removed the cloak that had disguised him for so long. He had changed
a lot since they first saw him in the swamp. He was enormous, for a start. Several
times the height he used to be. His hands were scarred and sore. He had a kind-of
stretched, lethargic appearance, and most of the grit off his stone coat and
crumbled away. In only a day he had changed so much. Swifty looked from side
to side, then started to walk in a circle towards the right. Burzwakh noticed
this, and walked on the opposite side, to the left, never breaking eye contact.
"That was one sick plot you had," teased the Eyrie. "Too bad it just wasn't
meant to be."
Burzwakh growled defensively. "I wouldn't be so confident, boy. You know what
they say: 'Nice guys finish last'. You're a nice guy. And I'm sure you'll do
whatever it takes to get your girl back."
Swifty felt the fire of revulsion kindling in his soul. "You're sick."
"You have no idea." He side-stepped and turned suddenly to face Angel, who
was leaning against the wall, bound with rope. Swifty snarled and - grabbing
a clod of sludge - leapt at the Grarrl. He landed on his head, digging his talons
into hard concrete shoulders and shoved the sludge in his face! Burzwakh roared
and tried to get the sticky stuff off his face. Swifty jumped off his shoulders
and raced to help Angel...
But she was gone!
Swifty looked around, bewildered. No Angel. No Avabot. They were both gone.
He turned slowly to see the Grarrl blocking his only way out, his grey face
steaming with fury.
"Big mistake, kid. A very big mistake indeed."
Swifty's mind was telling him to Run! Run! RUN! But his feet just stayed rooted
to the spot. He peered up at the evil grinning face leering down at him. Then
something flickered behind his stone head. Swifty squinted at him.
"What? What are you looking at?"
There was a sudden screeching sound as sharp talons gripped a metal bar just
above Burzwakh's head. He groaned in pain suddenly, and staggered forward. Swifty
moved out the way just in time, before Burzwakh lost his footing, toppling over
and through the weakly built, brick wall!
Swifty coughed and felt a hand close round his to lift him off the ground.
Blinking, he shook the dust from his fur and saw ... "Angel! You're all right!"
Angel grinned at him. "What? You mean to say you didn't have faith in me all
along?" Swifty went red in the face. "It's okay, I'm kidding. I had help." They
hugged.
* BLEEEEEEEP *
The Avabot jumped out from behind her legs and leapt through the hole in the
wall. The Eyries heard it's bleep bouncing off the walls in an echo. There was
a loud shuffling noise.
"It's not over yet," groaned Angel. "Hey, do you still have your backpack?"
Swifty fumbled in the debris and eventually brought out the scuffed blue backpack.
"Why do you need this?"
"This is my secret weapon," she beamed, "that I've been keeping for just an
occasion."
She brought out a stick. Just a curved stick, and a few twigs. Swifty looked
extremely sceptical: "How's this supposed to help us?"
He watched as she opened her locket again. Within was a very intricate device,
full of flashing lights and mechanics. That's odd, he thought. I've never seen
that before. A bright string illuminated on the stick, tying itself to each
end. She showed him the twigs. They had turned into arrows, burning bright blue
against the darkness!
"A bow and arrows. A professional bow and arrows. How did you get these."
Angel sighed. "I have friends in very high places. Listen, I'll tell you when
we've got more time. Right now we've got to get Burzwakh."
Swifty nodded. She may be acting a bit weird, but he still trusted her. And
in a way, she looked like she had finally got something off her chest, and relaxed
a little.
***
They peered through the hole in the wall. Bleeper was still bleeping from somewhere
in the pitch-blackness. There was no turning back, unless they wanted Burzwakh
to get away: they launched off the platform and glided into the room, hugging
the walls until they found their footing on some scaffolding. They searched
the darkness for Burzwakh, and spotted his silhouette by a large glass window
in the far end of the room.
"What's he doing? You've got better eyesight than me."
"He's training!" stammered Swifty, baffled. "You've got good hearing. What's
he saying?"
"He's saying... one level to go. Just one more level, I think. No, I'm sure."
Swifty gulped. "Oh no! if he makes it to Grarrl Battlemaster we'll never be
able to stop him!"
"What have we got to work with?"
He looked around. There was a rope. Jump for juppy! They huddled together for
a minute to devise a plan.
***
Burzwakh was still training when Angel and Swifty took off again, gliding silently
towards him. Angel veered off to the right, Swifty to the left. Burzwakh stopped
and put the weights down suddenly. Swifty felt the adrenaline pump round his
body. He put on a burst of speed - Angel saw this and stifled a gasp. They were
supposed to fly wide, not too fast! She hoped the Grarrl didn't just...
THWAP! Burzwakh had sensed Swifty's approach and swung round, grabbing his
throat and pressing him against the wall. Swifty choked and struggled, helpless
against his colossal strength.
Burzwakh gave a sinister chuckle. "This is going to be sweet, kid. You've ruined
my plan for long enough. At the Swamp. At the Cheat! table. And here. But no
more. You'll never leave this factory alive."
"Wanna bet?" croaked Swifty. Just then a yellow blur hurdled into the air and
scratched madly at the Grarrl's face. He bellowed in pain, stepping back and
letting go of Swifty, who slumped to the ground, catching his breath. The rope
snapped as Burzwakh tripped over it and sprawled over the floor.
"Oh no! The rope!"
Angel landed by Swifty to see if he was all right. "I'm fine," he gasped, "just
go onto Plan B."
"What Plan B? We didn't have a Plan B!"
"You'll just have to make one up. I trust you."
Burzwakh had regained consciousness and was starting to stir. Angel's eyes
darted round, looking for a Plan B. Then, she saw it! Right above her ...
She took off and flew to be at eye level to Burzwakh and within range, then,
flapping madly, she hovered and waited, her bow and arrow poised and ready.
Burzwakh got to his feet, shook himself and looked at her. His eyes went wide
in shock and he visibly started to shake. Barely 15 feet away was a very cheesed-off
Eyrie aiming a bow straight at his head! He gulped.
"You wouldn't dare."
"Oh, wouldn't I?
"You couldn't shoot a defenceless Neopet."
"Just like you were planning to kill me and Swifty and possibly many more Neopets
if we let you get away with it."
Burzwakh smiled an evil, insane smile. "Too true. But you're not like me, are
you? Don't reduce yourself to my level, Angel."
Angel stopped. She lowered her bow. "No - I won't..."
She tightened her bow again.
"I just want to maim you."
Burzwakh went pale and opened his jaws in shock. Angel kept the bow tight,
aimed at his face, then turned it upwards and let go. The arrow TWANGed as it
hit some weak framework just above his head. The metal bar slipped, dangling
off the platform, and hit him - SMACK - right between the eyes. He wailed in
pain and staggered back: just like he did in the first room. Except this time
he was met by the window. He crashed through the fragile pane, sending glass
shards all over the place and landed on the ground with a crunch.
To be continued... | 
