The Altador Cup From the Side

     Maizie, the Cloud Bruce, was no exception. Wearing a jersey of her favorite team, along with a cap in preparation for the long days under the sun, and a foam finger tucked under her wing, she was ready as can be for the Cup. She had been waiting for this all year. She even switched out her usual blue bow for a handmade cotton scarf she made, with her favourite team’s logo painted in the middle. It wasn’t her first time to Altador, having been to previous Altador Cups, but it has been a while, since the previous year’s Cup was cancelled due to the grey that affected Neopia.

     She stood in line with the other Neopians with her ticket ready in hand, bouncing in anticipation to enter the Colosseum.

     “Next! Tickets please!” A gruff Grarrl ushered her forward.

     Maizie handed her ticket over. As the Grarrl scanned her ticket, she stood on her tiptoes to look over his shoulder for a glimpse of the arena. She was so excited!

     “Sorry, this ticket’s not valid.” The Grarrl handed the ticket back and waved her off to the side. “NEXT! TICKETS PLEASE!”

     What?! How could this be?! She stared at her ticket in shock. “Excuse me, sorry, there’s no way-“

     “Can’t you see we’re busy here? Go find Customer Service. Next! Tickets please!”

     Maizie turned, frustrated that the Grarrl wouldn’t provide any explanation before shooing her off. Customer Service it is then! A few meters away, she found a make shift tent with a hanging indicating “CUSTOMER SERVICE”. A Speckled Ogrin and Pastel Meerca sat behind the table.

     “Excuse me, the Grarrl at the entrance said my ticket isn’t valid. Can you help me out? That can’t be right.” Maizie got straight to the point.

     The Meerca took the ticket and looked at it inquisitively. “Hmm… Miss, where did you get this ticket from?”

     “Well… I bought it from a Kau at the Neopian Plaza. I paid good Neopoints for it too!”

     “Was the Kau, perhaps, wearing a yellow jacket?” The Meerca asked, suspicion growing on her expression.

     “Yes, they were. How did you know?”

     The Meerca turned to the Ogrin on her side and they shared a knowing look. The Ogrin, who hadn’t said a word since Maizie showed up at their counter, spoke up. “Well, hate to break it to ‘ya, Miss, but you’ve been scammed.”

     Maizie could not believe her ears. She tightened her grip on the foam finger still tucked beneath her wing. “S-scammed?! How could it be? How did you know the Kau was wearing Yellow?!”

     “You weren’t the first person at our booth today with invalid tickets from a Kau wearing yellow, sad to say,” the Ogrin nodded. “We’ve found out that The Yellow Kaus are a group of unkind Neopians who have been selling invalid, unauthorized tickets around the Neopian Plaza. My hunch is that they’re preying on Neopians, like yourself, excited and eager for the return of the Altador Cup.”

     Maizie was incredulous. How could this be?! She had travelled all the way from Terror Mountain to Altador, wearing a handmade scarf and holding a foam finger that was close to losing its finger from how hard she had been gripping it throughout this conversation. “Okay, well, here I am now, with no ticket to the Cup. What can I do? Can I buy a ticket now?”

     “Sorry, no can do,” the Meerca shook her head. “Tickets are free anyway, but they were all gone on release day a couple o’ months ago. Possibly taken up by The Yellow Kaus…”

     She was about to scream. She could feel the heat rising in her head, filling her with anger. She was going to miss the opening ceremony of the Cup, and possibly the whole thing. All she wanted to do was meet Prytariel, the Captain of Team Terror Mountain, even if it was all the way from above the stands. Maizie felt hot tears escaping from the corner of her eyes as she thought about all that she was going to miss out on, right when she had finally made it to the Colosseum.

     The Ogrin and Meerca at the counter looked at Maizie with sympathy. Maizie knew it wasn’t their fault and she shouldn’t lash out at them. Sometimes bad things happened and they were out of her control. She just had to accept it.

     “Hey, ‘ya didn’t hear it from me, but I can tell yer a huge fan.” The Ogrin cupped a paw next to their mouth and spoke in a whisper, “Check out the Volunteer booth just on the other side of the Colosseum. I don’t know if they still need volunteers, but it’s worth a shot. Go!” The Meerca winked at Maizie and waved a good bye without saying another word. Maizie blinked away the tears, muttered a thank you to the two staff members, before hurriedly running to the other side of the Colosseum as directed.

     A Yellow Lenny wearing a shirt too baggy on their lanky figure that said ‘VOLUNTEER’ stood at the east exit of the Colosseum. They held a clipboard with the Altador Cup logo on the back of it. When Maizie approached them, they waved enthusiastically, as if emanating all the bright colours she adorned.

     “Hello! If you’re looking for the entrance into the Colosseum, it’s on the other side. If you keep going left, you’ll get there! Though if you want to go right, that’s all right too! It’s a circle after all, haha!” The sunny Lenny laughed loudly at their own joke.

     Maizie had no time for jokes. She could hear the fanfare coming from inside the Colosseum that she was already missing. “Actually, I was looking for you, I think? I was told that you might still need some volunteers? I’m here to sign up, if that gets me into the Colosseum.”

     “Hmm,” the Lenny squinted seriously at Maizie, the bubbly tone she had before was immediately taken over by professionalism. “I do need volunteers, since some of the volunteers who signed up before the Cup bailed on me earlier today the second they heard Tandrak Shaye was arriving.” The Lenny looked Maizie up and down, eyeing her giant foam finger and very obviously handmade scarf. “How can I know you’re going to actually help out around, instead of slacking off and going to watch the game like those other Neopians?”

     “It’s a long story why I’m here, but I promise you, I will do my best as a Volunteer! I can’t see the matches either way, so any chance I can get of even being inside the Colosseum will be enough for me.” Maizie saluted with the foam finger and straightened her posture. She wanted to get in, no matter what it takes.

     After a beat of silence, the Lenny perked up again and tapped on the clipboard. “Alright, you pass!” Maizie let out a sigh of relief. The Lenny continued explaining the role, “My name is Hazel, and I’m the Volunteer Coordinator. So, the job of Volunteers is very important, and often goes unseen. Everyone will be stationed at different parts of the Colosseum, so you may or may not be able to catch some of the games. Just don’t run off and start cheering like a mad Techo.” Maizie nodded in agreement and chuckled at the mention of the crazy Blue Techo that all Altador Cup fans knew of. “Our main job is to keep the Colosseum clean, especially picking up empty slushie cups. You can’t imagine how many empty cups Neopians toss on the ground, especially when their team loses, and how many times someone has slipped on one while going down the stairs!” Maizie could believe it. She didn’t realize it was such a hazard, and was always too engrossed in the games to pay any mind to the volunteer cleaners around.

     Hazel handed her a Volunteer shirt, just like the one she had on. “You will need to change out of your team jersey to put this on. It’s one size fits all, so hopefully it fits you as well as it fits me,” they raised their arms, revealing skinny Lenny legs from under the overly baggy shirt. “You’ll be stationed at the concourse in the morning, where Neopians are getting their slushies and food before entering the stands. Locker rooms for volunteers are located at the first turn on your right - you’ll see a sign on the way. You’ll find everything else you need there. We’ll have a lunch break at around noon, so I’ll see you then!”

     Maizie changed out of her team jersey and into the volunteer uniform as instructed, picked up her gear, and got straight to work. The concourse was crowded with Neopians bustling about, some trying to find the right area for their seat, others trying to get in line for the already crowded slushie store. Away from the main arena, she couldn’t see what was going on. She had accepted that she was going to miss most of it, but it still made her feel a little sad.

     The next three hours were the most chaotic, exhausting work Maizie had ever done. She witnessed manic Altador Cup fans shouting at the poor Red Tuskaninny who managed the slushie stand alone, even dumping out slushies right on the floor when their order wasn’t right, then throwing the empty cup right back at her. It seemed that all that excitement and energy she felt before had brought out the worst in some. She spent hours picking empty slushie cups, hot dog wrappers, and all sorts of items. Why would anyone need to bring a King Altador Leg Lamp to the Colosseum?! Maizie had no time to think about watching the games when her mind was so preoccupied with the seemingly-endless mess to clean up.

     When the concourse finally cleared up close to noon and the games had started, Maizie could finally relax a little. She put away the third bag of thrash in the garbage rooms and decided she deserved a short break. She felt as if she had just played 29 Yooyuball matches against the practice team. Her body had already begun to ache in places she never thought had muscles. She headed back to the locker rooms and grabbed her Team Terror Mountain towel. Hazel might be around, and Maizie wondered if volunteers at least get some food for the work. She didn’t think she could stomach any hot dogs or slushies after all the mess she had to clean up earlier.

     Maizie wound the corridors of the Colosseum as she looked for Hazel. It was quiet back here, and she could hear the distant thunder of cheers coming from the main arena. She looked up at the tall pillars of stone and felt like she was truly appreciating the magnificent structure for the first time. There was nothing like this back home in Happy Valley. Even the sun rays seemed to glow brighter, more radiantly here in Altador. She was so lucky she managed to be in here right now, even if things didn’t work out as planned. Maybe she’ll miss the games she wanted to see, but at least she managed to make it here, seeing a corner of Altador most Neopians never had the chance to experience.

     “Hey! It’s our towel!” A voice echoed through the open corridor, snapping Maizie out of her reverie. She turned to the voice and there stood a familiar Cloud Aisha dressed in a blue and white uniform. The captain of Team Terror Mountain was currently walking towards Maizie. Behind her was the rest of Team. Maizie couldn’t believe it.

     “Nice to see a volunteer repping for Terror Mountain!” Minae, the Blue Chia goalie commented.

     Maizie just stared at the team, starstruck and dumbfounded. She had never seen any of them up close. Too close! Her voice was stuck in her throat and she couldn’t get a word out. Prytariel patted Maizie on the shoulder, and Maizie thought she would disintegrate at that very moment. “Thanks for keeping the place clean! We hope you can cheer us on during our match later today!” And with that, the team continued to walk ahead, down the large Colosseum corridor. It felt like time had stopped and her entire body had stopped working. Prytariel… touched her…!

     “G-good luck!” She shouted towards the backs of the team. It wasn’t much, but it was all she could manage. The Cloud Aisha turned and gave Maizie a big thumbs up, a big smile on her face, before turning into the locker rooms, out of sight.

     “There you are!” Hazel ducked out from a bend in the corridor. “I was wondering where you went! Good job cleaning today! The concourse is spotless! You hungry?”

     “Starving!” Maizie replied a little too loudly, with a little too much cheer. Her voice echoed in the large corridor. All the emotions that Maizie had been holding back spilled out of her all at once and she let out a giggle, which turned into the biggest happiest laugh she had ever let out. It was the best Altador Cup ever, and she hadn’t even seen a single Yooyu.

     The End.