Not Just Another Lupe Story: Part Three

      "Whoops!" He quickly regained his hold on his meal. "I wouldn't want to lose this now."

      Sabre-X waved a tightly coiled fist in the air after them as they flew off.

      "Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!" Cobalt and Tarrow were laughing so hard that they could hardly stay in the sky.

      Cobalt turned to Tarrow, about to speak, "That was-- " He just didn't see the passing Scorchio.

      WHAM!

      Both creatures tumbled out of control, and as Cobalt tried to regain his balance his precious omelette dropped to ground far below. His eyes widened and he tried to dive after it, but it was too late. Once he reached the ground, his omelette was just a mess of egg mixed with Tyrannian soil. As he looked up to see the one who caused this, his eyes illuminated to a fiery crimson.

      Faster than anyone could have thought, Cobalt was back in the air and racing furiously after the Scorchio. The Scorchio stopped moving forward once he heard Cobalt. He turned around with a look of disgust on his face, but upon seeing the fury in Cobalt's eyes, decided to apologize.

      "Look, buddy, I'm sorry. Want me to give you my daily serving?"

      Although it seemed very reasonable, Cobalt was not in the mood to listen to reason. He plowed his body into the Scorchio, knocking the wind out of him. The two of them began to tumble toward the ground. The Scorchio wormed his way out of Cobalt's grasp. But Cobalt was faster.

      "Oh, no you don't," Cobalt said as he grabbed the Scorchio's back leg and yanked him back. The Scorchio began to fall again, and Cobalt dove after him. The Lupe and Scorchio barely escaped the ground, which was increasingly getting closer. Cobalt was right on the Scorchio's tail, as Tarrow became aware of what was happening.

      Tarrow soared toward Cobalt and grabbed him around the waist, preventing him from hurting the Scorchio any more. As the Scorchio flew away, he muttered to himself.

      "What some guys will do for an omelette..."

      Cobalt tried to push Tarrow off of him, but because of Tarrow's larger size and better knowledge of flight, he wasn't able to break free.

      Once Cobalt calmed down a bit, Tarrow started yelling at him. "What is wrong with you!?!" He slowly released his grip on Cobalt.

      "What?" Cobalt had a look of bewilderment on his face. "Huh?" He was shaking slightly, as he had just regained control over his body. "I don't feel so well, maybe I should go home."

      "That's the first good idea you've had yet." Tarrow frowned at him. Together, they floated down to the ground, because Cobalt no longer felt like flying.

      Once they arrived at Cobalt's home, Tarrow led him inside and laid him down gently on a straw bed.

      "You just get some rest, okay? I'll be back in a bit to check on you."

      "Where are you going?" Cobalt asked weakly.

      "Uh, I have some stuff to do."

      Normally, Cobalt never would have let that pathetic excuse go. But, for some reason, he didn't feel like arguing right now. So, he nodded slowly. He seemed in kind of a daze.

      Tarrow felt unsure if he should really leave Cobalt alone, after all, he did seem to be in a violent mood. However, he knew that the work he had to do was more important. So, he walked off to the Pharmacy.

      Meanwhile, Cobalt was drifting off into an uneasy and restless sleep. His dreams were disturbing him greatly. In them, he stood alone in the middle of a large crowd of yelling Neopians. They were mocking and taunting him. Then they started to throw rotten vegetables at him. Cobalt cowered, but the flying projectiles just bounced off of his shoulders. He tried to cover his ears, but the sounds of their merciless shouting only became louder.

      "No, stop!" he shouted, but no one seemed to hear him. With his eyes squeezed shut, Cobalt scrunched himself down as far as he could and tried to block them all out.

      Suddenly, Cobalt's eyes shot open. They were burning crimson orbs and seemed to manifest their harsh glow in everything around them. Cobalt threw his paws to the ground and clicked his lethally sharp claws, enjoying the strident sound they made against the floor. He staggered out of the small Neohome in a sort of wobbly gesture. He was dazed and his eyes were distant, but as he lurched forward unsteadily, he breathed one word.

      Revenge.

      Into Neopia Central, Cobalt swaggered. His fur was bristled and sharp to the touch and it made him look larger than he actually was. All around him, the only things he could see were Neopets with cold, cutting eyes who sneered in his direction. The sounds they made were harsh and grating which bit and stung Cobalt.

      At last, Cobalt could stand it no longer. He attacked the first thing he saw, which happened to be a mailbox. With a swift leap, Cobalt landed atop it and he clawed and struck it until neomails littered the street.

      However, killing a mailbox did not relieve much of Cobalt's animosity. The next thing he happened to see was a fire Lupe. Having excellent hearing, Lunikar the fire Lupe swung around a split second before the ferocious beast could complete his attack. Lunikar skidded out of the way quickly, disgusted that he would be attacked for no reason.

      "Save it for the Battledome!" Lunikar yelled as he started to jog away.

      However, Cobalt was not about to let him get away. He leaped into the air and with full force, drove his body straight into Lunikar.

      A few feet away, Harpy, Lunikar's brother saw the commotion.

      "Hey!" Harpy yelled. "What's going on here?"

      Startled, Cobalt released his grip on Lunikar slightly. Now with an advantage, Lunikar freed himself and ran up to Harpy.

      "I don't know what this guy's problem is, but he just started attacking me for no reason at all!" Lunikar quickly explained all in one breath.

      Harpy leaned slightly over to Lunikar. "Something should be done about these homeless guys," he whispered in his ear. "They're getting more vicious." Fighting to control his urge to physically defend his brother, Harpy turned toward the Darigan Lupe.

      "What do you want? A hundred?" The skunk Lupe tossed several coins to Cobalt's feet and walked off with Lunikar.

      Cobalt glanced down at the coins and grinned evilly. He had succumbed to the immense power of evil.

      As Cobalt swiveled around to find something else to attack, the glint of a glittery object caught his eye. He walked toward it and found that it was an Iron Lupe Sword in the window of a weaponry shop. An evil grin spread across his maw. With his dagger sharp claws, Cobalt broke the glass and took the Iron Lupe Sword. He could do some damage with this.

      Immediately an alarm sounded. A yellow Grarrl, a red Meerca, and a red Moehog came running. Upon seeing the Darigan Lupe that stood a full head taller than any of them and looked dark and menacing, they simultaneously gasped. Cobalt took one massive paw and knocked the three guards several feet away. With a grim smile, he took flight.

      Meanwhile, Tarrow slowly opened the door to Cole's Neohome, and stepped inside.

      "Hello?" he said as he glanced around, "Cobalt?"

      Just then, Cobalt alighted beside the house. Tarrow's keen ears heard him and he stepped back outside.

      "There you are!" Tarrow approached Cobalt, "I thought you needed to rest."

      Cobalt was glaring at him, eyebrows furrowed.

      "What's wrong with you?" Tarrow's tone shifted to a worried one.

      "Nothing... anymore." Cobalt's voice was low and raspy, "In fact, I'm perfect. I've learned how to live my life to the fullest extent possible!" He slowly drew the Iron Lupe Sword out of its sheath, hidden behind his back.

      "How did you get that?" Tarrow was shocked.

      "Why, I stole it, of course!"

      Tarrow's gasped, "You've become..." his eyes widened, "... evil."

      "So you do understand, then!"

      "I knew there was something wrong with you the moment I saw you painted Darigan!"

      Cobalt ignored him. "Join me, and together we will be stronger than Darigan, Kass, or any villain!"

      Tarrow took a step back, "I will never harm innocent Neopets for my own gain!"

      "I gave you your chance." Cobalt began to advance upon the Eyrie, sword in hand. "Have it your way."

      "What are you doing?!" Tarrow continued to step back. "We've always been friends, why would you -"

      With that, Cobalt charged at him, but missed him narrowly as Tarrow flew off.

      "Just you wait, I'll get you yet..." Cobalt whispered to himself. He slipped the Iron Lupe Sword back into its sheath and headed off to Neopia Central.

      Upon arriving, Cobalt found that the Neopets living there had quickly realized that he was bad news. Therefore, there was hardly anyone around and those who were ran to find a safe shelter.

      "Hurry up, Bobby!" a mother Kougra whispered to her son as she pushed him into the nearest store. Cobalt bared his fangs at the two of them and they shuddered as they hurried off. He grinned, enjoying the power and control he had. Never before, had Cobalt had any sort of control over even his own life. It was always, "Do this, do that," from everyone.

      There was no one in sight anymore, and Cobalt grew bored of merely standing there. He decided to stir things up a bit. He raised his hackles, flattened his ears against his head, and flared his wings. With a smirk upon his face, he glared at the scared Neopians who peeked at him from behind closed blinds.

      Cobalt put one foot forward ad suddenly heard a little girl's scream of terror. He looked down and at his feet sat a small, insignificant snowbunny. As soon as Cobalt looked up, he saw a little blue Zafara girl running toward him and the snowbunny. She wrapped her fragile body around the little petpet, protecting it with her life, and began to sniffle. Cobalt opened his mouth, intending to roar, but for some reason his heart would not let him. The sight of the Zafara's selflessness protecting her pet made his heart feel like it was melting.

      At that moment, Tarrow and Cole came running toward him.

      "Cobalt! No!" they yelled simultaneously.

      All of a sudden, a blinding light smothered them all. As everyone started rubbing their eyes and began to be able to focus, they could see what had caused the light. Standing where the light was at its brightest point, the Faerie Queen herself shone brightly. Immediately, everyone bowed.

      "I have seen enough!" Her voice boomed and it was surprising that such a loud voice could come from such a delicate creature. "Although Cobalt here has done some bad things, I have seen now that his heart condition is good. You, Cobalt, and you, Cole, shall come back with me to help me rule the empire known as Faerieland, for I need someone with as pure of heart as yours."

      Cobalt was awestruck. "But, why me?"

      "I have been studying you for some time now. After I placed that bag of Neopoints there, I had to see what you would do. I must admit, I was worried for a while, there, but in the end," she paused, "you have proven yourself worthy."

      "So you mean, that this was all a test or something?"

      "Precisely." The Queen paused again. "Now come. We must leave at once. But first, we will have to do something about that color of yours."

      A few weeks later, a faerie Lupe stood beside Fyora.

      "Cobalt," the Queen said. "Please check the date for my former chief advisor's goodbye party."

      "Yes, ma'am," Cobalt replied and went to the calendar. "It's the 15th day of Swimming."

      "Very good," she responded. "I do suppose I've kept you overtime again, haven't I?"

      "Oh, it's not a problem."

      "Well, you best be off, then," Fyora said, "Say hello to Cole for me."

      Cobalt left the castle and flew to his new home in Faerieland. He opened the fluffy cloud door and saw Cole and Tarrow there waiting for him.

      "So how was your first week?" Cole smiled.

      "Great!"

      "What's it like working for the Queen, anyway?" Tarrow asked.

      "Well, let's put it this way: I get paid great, I get free housing, and all the bad things I did when I was painted Darigan have been pardoned." Cobalt paused. "Plus, I still get to enjoy flight, but without any negative side effects."

      The three laughed. Life was finally as it should be.

The End