SHERIFF LUPE STEPPED off a bus. "Ah yes… the Annual Strawberry Festival in
the town of Tak!" He looked and saw the small town he was in. "Wait, maybe I
should have gone the other way…" He saw a shop. "Maybe they have a map." He
walked in and saw an elderly Lupe sleeping at the counter of the empty shop.
Sheriff picked up a map, and some food. He walked up to the Lupe and tapped
his arm.
"WE'RE UNDER ATTACK! CHARGE!" the Lupe pulled
out a bag of Cheesy Neos and threw them at Sheriff.
"I'm just a customer!"
"Oh, sorry. What do you have?" The Lupe took
the items and began to add up the total "Okay, with the water that adds up to
one hundred Neopoints."
Sheriff Lupe was at a small store getting
some food and other supplies. He came up with ninety-five.
"Hold on," he told the old Lupe in charge. He
opened a pack he carried around and went through it for the five Neopoints.
As he did other customers began to come in. Sheriff continued to look through
it for another ten minutes. The other customers looked at a clock on a wall.
"Come on, we don't have all day!" Sheriff was
putting his head in the pack. Suddenly he grinned.
"Finally!" The other customers smiled when said
that. Sheriff then pulled out… one Neopoint. "Hold on, I got the other four
here." He went back through his pack. The customers rolled their eyes.
"Don't worry about it!"
Sheriff took his head out of the pack and
looked at the shopkeeper. "Really?"
The Lupe nodded. "It's fine!" Sheriff smiled
and put the stuff in his pack. The Zafara behind him came up.
"Do you have any mar codestones?"
The Lupe looked confused. "No, this is a food
shop." He pointed to the sign that read, "WE SERVE ALL KINDS OF DELICIOUS AND
GOURMET FOODS!"
The Zafara turned to a Petri. "I thought
you said this was the shop that had codestones!"
The Petri shrugged. "Guess this is the wrong
one."
All the customers behind Sheriff glared at the
Petri.
"ARE YOU TELLING ME WE'VE BEEN WAITING FOR TEN
MINUTES AT THE WRONG SHOP?" The Zafara looked as if he was going to burst with
anger in a few seconds.
"Uh, yeah, I guess. But I did get the right
directions while we were waiting." This made the Zafara turn red.
"YOU KNEW WE WERE AT THE WRONG SHOP?"
The Petri looked nervous. "Well, uh… last one
to the correct shop is a rotten negg!" He flew out fast and the other customers
followed. The old Lupe and Sheriff watched them.
"There's something you don't see everyday,"
Sheriff muttered as the old Lupe sighed. He looked at Sheriff.
"Would you mind hanging around? I have a break
right now, and since you've annoyed the customers…" He trailed off. Sheriff
nodded.
"Sure, why not?" The old Lupe sat down in a
small chair.
"Well, I've always wanted to talk to someone."
He then proceeded to talk about everything in Neopia that Sheriff knew about
and some things he didn't. Sheriff guessed he didn't talk to anyone much.
After hearing two hours worth of ramble, Sheriff
remembered something.
"Isn't your break over?"
The Lupe looked at the clock. "Actually, my shift
is over. That's what I meant to say. So anyway, while I was on that boat…" Sheriff
groaned as he listened to another hour of extremely boring stuff. By now he
knew that the Lupe had never talked to anyone before. Before he knew it, he
was being woken up. "I take it you might want to leave now," the Lupe said.
Sheriff rubbed his eyes and looked outside. It was almost night now. He shivered.
"Is it me or is it cold in here?"
The old Lupe smiled. "You really do sleep heavily."
He pointed to the puddles of ice water that came from the buckets he had thrown
them from. "Anyway, before you fell asleep, I was saying you might want to be
careful." Sheriff was about to go out the door, but then looked at the old Lupe.
"Why?"
The Lupe looked around as if Dr. Sloth might
be behind them. "I hear the Lupe Collector is back up to his old tricks. Here,"
he said as he handed Sheriff The Neopian Times. The title read, "FORTY EIGHTH
LUPE GOES MISSING, LUPE COLLECTOR SUSPECTED." The article went on to describe
how the Lupes were taken, and some safety precautions for any owners who had
Lupes. Sheriff looked at the town outside.
"Do you think it's safe to go outside?"
The old Lupe didn't say anything at first. "Well,
it might be," he finally said. "But why don't you take this just in case?" Sheriff
watched as the old Lupe gave him a small slingshot. He looked at it. It appeared
to have been used often, but it was in working condition. He turned it over
and inspected it.
"Wow," he said. The old Lupe grinned.
"Yeah, I remember how I used it when I was younger.
You remind me of myself when I was younger."
"Just like in the movies?"
The Lupe seemed surprised. "Uh, yeah I guess.
Anyway you should practice as it might come useful one day." Sheriff took out
a small rock and fit it into the slingshot. He then aimed.
"Not in the shop!"
"Oh, okay then. Bye and thanks!" Sheriff left
with the slingshot. He went outside and found a can of beans. He set it up and
then aimed. He checked to make sure he would hit the can. He fired and watched
as the rock flew by the can and hit a book from a Nimmo's grip.
"Hey!"
"Sorry," Sheriff said. He replaced the rock
into the slingshot and re-aimed. He focused more, and fired again. It flew by
the can again and hit the book from the Nimmo again.
"Will you be more careful?"
"Sorry again." Sheriff moved to a different
spot. He aimed and fired. The rock bounced off a wall and hit the Nimmo's book
for the third time.
"WILL YOU KNOCK IT OFF ALREADY?" Sheriff decided
to try somewhere else. He went into the nearby woods and set up the can again.
He continued to practice, until he got bored. He picked up the map and began
to walk forward, missing the trap that sprung up.
"So if I go over here…" He stepped forward, and
a huge log flying by missed his head by millimeters. Sheriff stepped forward,
and then backed up. "No wait, I have to go this way." A large net fell down
where he had been before. Arrows flew out at him as he began to walk in one
direction and then changed his course. He stepped on a small button and gas
shot up from the ground. "Aha! I got it! I have to go east!" He ran that way,
leaving the gas behind. As he ran trees fell down, Lupe traps snapped, and flames
missed. Sheriff looked up from the map. "There it is!" He ran forward, falling
into the hole carefully concealed. He fell down what felt like a slide for a
while, and then he was thrown out. As he looked to see where he was, a voice
boomed out.
"WELCOME NEW LUPE! YOU WILL NEVER LEAVE!"
Sheriff tried to find where the voice was.
"Who are-"
"SILENCE!"
"But-"
"SILENCE!
"How-"
"SILENCE!"
"Well-"
"SILENCE!"
"Okay, this is getting-"
"SILENCE!"
Sheriff decided not to try and talk anymore for
now. He was making full use of all his senses so that no one could surprise
him from behind.
"YOU WILL NOW COME WITH ME LUPE!"
"To whe-"
"SILENCE!" A large red Grarrl came out of nowhere
holding a megaphone. Sheriff quickly turned around and saw the handcuffs he
was holding. He also saw the Grarrl was wearing a large collar.
"You won't take me! Hey, I can say-"
"SILENCE!" The Grarrl came closer and opened
the handcuffs.
"NEVER!" Sheriff raised his arm up in a sign
of soon freedom. The Grarrl just snapped the handcuffs on his paw.
"Well that wasn't smart," Sheriff muttered as
he was dragged away. He was eventually brought to a room. The Grarrl chained
him to a pole in the middle of the room. Sheriff looked and saw a Wocky sitting
in a chair. The Wocky turned around.
"Welcome Lupe, to your new home."
"I do have a name you know," Sheriff said as
he watched the Grarrl who brought him in leave.
"Really?" The Wocky came closer. "I DON'T CARE!"
"Well, you sure aren't going to make many friends
that way."
"I STILL DON'T--forget it." The Wocky went back
to his chair and looked at Sheriff.
"So, you're probably wondering what I'm going
to do with you."
"Actually no. Where is the Lupe Collector?"
The Wocky looked surprised. "Don't you know?"
Sheriff shook his head. "No." The Wocky hopped
out of his chair and came closer. "I'm the Lupe Collector!"
Sheriff shook his head again. "Yeah, sure. You
don't even look like him!" The Wocky paced back and forth. "I AM the Lupe Collector.
You should be feeling afraid!"
"You mean you ARE the Lupe Collector? I thought
you were supposed to be very scary!" The Wocky took out a stress reliever and
began to stomp it.
"Why don't Lupes think I'm scary? WHY WHY WHY
WHY WHY WHY?" Sheriff watched this with surprise. He didn't exactly expect the
Lupe Collector to be like this. Eventually the Wocky placed his stress reliever
back.
"Anyway, just fill out these forms," he said
as he got out some papers.
"But I'm stuck to this pole," Sheriff said.
The Wocky whirled around to face him.
"Oh yeah… I mean, never mind then!" He pushed
a green button and the same Grarrl that led him in came back. He took the handcuffs
off the pole and dragged Sheriff away. He then placed him in a jail cell.
"I DEMAND A LAWYER!" Sheriff was taking a cup
he had been given and was rattling the bars of his cell.
A large green Skieth also wearing a large collar
came over. "What are you doing?"
Sheriff looked up at him. "I do have rights you
know!" The Skieth unlocked his cage, took the cup, walked out of the cage, and
then locked it. He then threw the cup on the floor. Sheriff stuck his head out
the cell. "HEY! Come back and listen!" He put his head back in. Sheriff paced
back and forth thinking of an escape plan, wondering what was going to happen
tomorrow.
"WAKE UP ALL YOU WORTHLESS MONGRELS!" Sheriff
jumped awake as several pets that worked for the Lupe Collector came in. There
were all types except Lupes, of course. They all had different types of weapons
and were using them to force the Lupes to leave. Sheriff was watched as a collar
wearing Zafara eyed him suspiciously. Eventually they were all led outside.
A few Lupes were pouring soup into bowls and handing them to the Lupes in front
of lines. Sheriff ate his quickly. Almost at the time he was done, all the Lupes
were led away. Sheriff was put in an assembly line. The Zafara who led him there
began to explain.
"You will put together the weapons that come
out the other end," he said as he pointed to the spot. Soon the assembly line
was started up and the Zafara left. Sheriff put together weapons by placing
the parts and then sending them off to another part. All was going fine until
Sheriff began to go to another part. He accidentally tripped and began to wave
his arms around in order to grab something. He grabbed the switch and accidentally
put it on the fastest speed. He ran back over and began to assemble the weapons
faster. But he couldn't keep up and soon the front was jammed with different
parts. More were forced in, and Sheriff could see what was going to happen.
"Oh no…" He went behind some crates, just as
the jammed part exploded. He ran over and tried to fix it. Just then, a Grarrl
came over.
"What's going on in here?" Then he saw the damage,
countless parts all over the place, and Sheriff.
"Uh…. I didn't do it!" The Grarrl grabbed him
by his neck, and dragged him over to the Lupe Collector.
"We have a Lupe who is causing a few problems."
The Lupe Collector looked at him.
"Put him in…solitary confinement!" The Grarrl
dragged Sheriff away and threw him into a smaller cell. In this one he could
hardly move.
"Okay, that's it!" Next day
The Lupe Collector opened the cell door.
"Let's see how our Lupe is doing." He looked
in and his jaw dropped. There was a huge hole in the middle on the cell.
"I knew I shouldn't have put dirt as flooring!"
He went inside after getting a Lenny to follow him. They saw Sheriff digging
away with a shovel. The Lupe Collector went over and tapped his shoulder.
"Oh Lupe…" Sheriff continued to dig away.
"Don't just stand there, help me!" Then he turned
around.
"Uh oh…"
The Lenny used a Bagguss Bomb to guide Sheriff
to his work spot.
"You will get nothing to eat today!" The Lenny
was assigned to watch Sheriff.
"Then why work?" The Lenny paused.
"Or else I use this!" Sheriff began to work,
when he saw the Lenny was wearing a collar.
"What's with the collar?"
"Just shut up and work, Lupe!"
After a hard day of work, Sheriff went to bed
tired, sore, and dirty. In the morning he was woken up rudely, had to eat horrible
food, was forced to work, and then was sent to his cell. By now, his mind was
working on a plan. The next day, Sheriff was sleeping when the Grarrl who supervised
the cages opened his.
"New cell mate!" He threw a starry Lupe in, who
landed on top of Sheriff. The Lupe quickly got off.
"Sorry about that."
"No problem…Alvator?" Sure enough, it was a member
of his pack, Alvator. The two caught up on news.
"Everyone was wondering where you went! I was
on my way to a pack meeting, and I got grabbed by that Grarrl." Sheriff told
his tale of how he got captured.
"Anyway, the food here's horrible, you're forced
to work all day, and they really don't care if you get sick." Sheriff described
some of the rules, and told Alvator what to do. "But don't worry, I have a plan."
Alvator sighed.
"A plan? Since when do any of your plans work?"
"Just listen! I figure if we can somehow stop
the bigger commanders, we can slow them down. And it could distract them long
enough for us to escape!"
"All of us?"
"Yes, all fifty of us. We just knock out the
commanders, after getting them to a special place."
"How do we do that?"
"All the pets who help the Lupe Collector are
going to have a feast celebrating the fiftieth Lupe caught. I heard they celebrate
every ten Lupes. We just say we got special outfits for them, and then we get
them! After all, strength is useless without the brain." There was a pause.
"Wow, Sheriff. How did you think this up? This
is great! And that saying. How original!"
"Thanks. I saw this in a movie."
To be continued... | 
