Team Haunted Woods: More Than Just an Ugly Face

If the Altador Cup awarded points based on glamour, the Haunted Woods team would place dead last. However, this is obviously not the case, as they have recently defeated Brightvale in the quarterfinals, and have moved on along with three other teams for a solid shot at winning this year’s tournament. While entering this year as underdogs, their winning streak (yes, I consider two wins in a row to be a streak) has caused many Neopians to look past their outer hideousness to their inner, um, well I wouldn’t go as far to say beauty. Their not-hideousness?

Their fan base growing with each goal they score, they are enjoying more support this year than they have in the past several tournaments combined. With such an increase in fan following, they have become one of the four hottest teams in the tournament, and I was surprised that I managed to book an interview with the team immediately following their well-earned victory against Brightvale.

I found the team in the halls of the Colosseum, cheering excitedly:

“We’re Haunted Woods!

We have the goods!

Are we gonna win?

Well, there’s a chance we could…s.”

I cringed at their terrible cheer, making a mental note of all the better things that rhyme with “woods.” But I was a journalist, and I wasn’t going to let a bad cheer ruin my interview. I greeted them all, introduced myself, and started following them around. Exhausted after their Brightvale match, they informed me that they were heading to Hubert’s Hot Dogs for a victory meal, and that I could come along if I wanted. I accepted the offer.

As we walked to Hubert’s the team resumed their chant, much to my dismay:

“We’re Haunted Woods!

We have the goods!

Now we’re really hungry,

So we’re gonna eat some… food…s.”

For the second time that night, I cringed. “Food” doesn’t even rhyme with “Wood,” so they pronounced it “fuhd.” I felt embarrassed to be around them, but I’ve never let poor rhyming ruin an article, and I wasn’t going to start now. Gritting my teeth, I stayed with them as they repeated the chant over and over (and over and over…) until finally we arrived at Hubert’s. We ordered our meals and sat down at a nice booth…

Me: So, I guess first thing’s first. How did you all find yourselves as the representatives of your world in the Altador Cup?

Chelo: Well, as the senior player here I think I’ll go first. When I was a young Chia, years ago-

Krell (interrupting): More like decades ago!

(laughter from everybody)

Chelo: Okay yes, decades ago. When I was a young Ch-

Wan: More like centuries ago!

(more laughter)

Chelo (now scowling): Okay, fine, yes. Centuries ago. Anyways, when I was young Chia, I used to-

Zo: More like millennia ago!

(no one laughs)

Zo: Sorry.

Chelo: Oh great, now I forgot where I was going with it.

Me: Uh, moving on… how about you, Zo?

Zo: Well, I was the youngest of all my brothers and sisters, and as a kid I was also the weakest. At school and at home, I would always get picked on, and decided the best way to gain respect was to become a really good athlete. So I practiced Yooyuball every day for most of my life. And look at me now!

Me: Wow, that’s great! And do you still get picked on?

Zo (pause): Yes.

Krell: For me, I was more born into the game. My father was a Yooyuball player, my mother was a Yooyuball player, my uncle was a Yooyuball player, my grandmother was a Yooyuball player, my… well, you get the idea.

Me: That’s quite a legacy. Do you feel you have a lot to live up to?

Krell: Nah, they were all lousy.

Me: I see. How about you, Fanetti?

Fanetti: Grrr!

Me (pause): I’m sorry?

Chelo: He said “grrr.” You’ll have to bear with him. That’s all he says, really. As for how he became a member, he just showed up to practice one day. We had no idea where he came from, but as luck would have it our old goalkeeper had mysteriously disappeared that very day, so we gave him a shot. He impressed us all.

Fanetti; Grrr! (starts chewing the table)

Me: Right. And you, Wan? Being a rookie, I imagine this is like your dream come true.

Wan: It’s funny you should mention it. I was actually never really a huge fan of Yooyuball. My real passion was throwing petpets at things (sighs wistfully). I remember when I was a kid, throwing Warfs out my bedroom window at people passing by. One day I saw a Chia walking by, and I hurled a Warf as hard as I could at her. To my amazement, she caught it! Turns out, that Chia was Chelo, and I had impressed her with my throwing arm.

Chelo (laughing): Right, and I asked you if you wanted to try out for the team. And you said “only if I get to throw petpets at people.”

Wan: Yeah, that’s right. Yooyuballs are a bit less fun to throw, because they actually WANT to be thrown, but I still enjoy myself.

Me: I have to say, that’s pretty twisted. Do you think people will mind when they read about your cruelty towards petpets?

Wan: Nah, not really. I mean, we’ve had to deal with some bad publicity in the past. What with the Blumario incident…

(Wan is referring to footage caught on tape of Krell forcefully shoving Roo Island forward Lilo Blumario into the ground while Wan watched and snickered. The footage, used in this year’s Altador Cup promo video, earned the Haunted Woods the label of being a ‘crooked’ team.)

Krell: It was an accident! I tripped and fell into him!

Zo: We know, we know. I think what Wan’s trying to say is that while we’ve had some bad raps in the past, our fans have always looked past it.

At this point, a Techo with bulging veiny eyes approached our booth and asked for an autograph. The team was happy to oblige.

Techo: Thanks! Oh, and by the way, I thought it was awesome how you slammed Blumario in the promo. You guys rock! (he leaves)

Wan: You see? Total fan devotion.

Chelo: Yeah, that’s right. And our support has happily been going up. I remember after we won the first round against Kreludor, the amount of Neopians who joined our fan club nearly doubled.

Zo: Yeah, and most of those were Kreludor supporters who were impressed by how well we played against them.

Krell: Haha that’s right. We had to open up a whole side club for them, called the Haunted Moon.

Me: Nice. Well, it’s getting late so we should wrap this up soon. You guys are known for having a primarily defence-oriented team. Beyond that, how do you plan to take home the Altador Cup?

Krell: By winning!

(they all cheer. They start to sing another verse of the Haunted Woods chant, but I quickly interrupt them)

Me: No, I mean, what’s your strategy?

(long pause)

Zo: Um… strategy?

Wan: What’s a strategy?

Me: I see… okay, last question. If you could change anything about the way the tournament’s gone, what would it be?

Wan: Oh, that’s easy.

Chelo: New uniforms.

Krell: Yeah, these ones kind of make us look like orange referees.

Wan: Yeah, and Fanetti’s colour-blind, so he often throws flaming Yooyus at the ref by accident.

Fanetti: Grrr!

Me: Yeah, I can see how that can be a problem. Anyways, thanks for the great interview, and best of luck in the semifinals.

Krell: Luck? Who needs luck! We’re number one!

Chelo: Number one!

Wan: Number one!

Fanetti: Grrr!

Zo: Number one!

The entire team: We’re Haunted Woods! We have the goods! We’re-

I quickly left before I could hear any more of their chant.