A Different View of Super Kau: A Defenders of Neopia Story

      A beam of sunlight swam across the dim-lighted dusty room and hit Miss Strykes's face as the two Kacheek twins shuffled out of the large gym room. She flinched and slid back. One thing she disliked was dust, particularly dust in her room, "Have a nice day!" she called out as the dust finally had settled, and wasn't clogging up her sensitive Kau nostrils. However, she was to was to late. They'd already scurried out to their friends.

      "Another day," Ms. Strykes said absent-mindedly to herself, her hooves clanking against the floor as she got up from her seated position. Her empty gym room echoed everything, now that the students in her gym class had departed. Even her favorite students, the Kacheek Twins, had left her after helping clean up. Abruptly, her mind snapped out of her day dreaming stance at the sound of an unfamiliar call.

      "Mssss Strykkkesss," something hissed, the voice sounding as though it was inches away from Ms. Strykes large ears. Although she couldn't see anything around her, a sense of danger still grasped onto the young Kau's body.

      "Who's there?" she inquired in a commanding voice.

      Already she could feel the fear building up within her petite frame. She knew that if she screamed no one could hear her. The normal shuffle of the students was gone, and their chatter over boys and clothes had dimmed down.

      "W-who's there?" she inquired again, only this time with more fright in her voice. Her eyes darted across the desolate gym; but still nobody was there.

      Abruptly, the storage room door opened with a soft nudge. Ms. Strykes mind was screaming just to leave, but her stubborn attitude caused her to cautiously advance towards the ajar door, "Hello?" she asked once again, her voice as soft as a whimper.

      "BOO!" said a large Pteri, popping out from the murky darkness behind the door. A sly look pierced it's face as Miss. Strykes took a step back. Surprise and a mixture of confusion swirled up inside of her, scribbling across her features in an instant.

      "Uh, who are you?" she asked, her glare being placed upon the Pteri. He wasn't like any Pteri she'd ever seen before. It was brown, but a much darker shade then the normal brown Pteris, and it's wings spread further out then a normal. It's milky white claws, which hovered in the air, was what truly frightened the Kau as she took another step backwards.

      "Oh, don't worry about that. I've just come to deliver you uh...er..package."

      The same sly grin crossed the Pteri's beak as he slid into the darkness, only to emerge moments later with a small box adorned in pale brown paper. On the top, in large red letters, it read "MISS STRYKES".

      Miss Strykes cautiously took the package and unwrapped it, getting ready to attack anything that might pop out. However, nestled between the two sides of the packaging box, rested a small vial filled to the brim with some red substance.

      Ms. Strykes quirked an eyebrow, before tilting her head to the side in a questioning stance, "Uh, what exactly is this?" she asked, gently lifting the vile upwards into the cascading rays of sunlight.

      "Oh, it's the free sample you wanted," the Pteri lied, while eagerly rubbing his wings together in sick anticipation, "Now drink it!"

      "I don't remember asking for a free sample…" Ms. Strykes voice trailed off as she took a step backwards. "Let me go check my Neomail to see if I requested it."

      A soft thud echoed in the large gym as Ms. Strykes body made contact with the invisible barrier that separated her from the outside world. Despite the fact she flailed her arms and attempted to kick down whatever was there, she still couldn't get through it.

      "You will drink it, or live in this box forever!" the Pteri hissed through a clenched beak, eyes red with furry as he encouraged her onward. "Drink it, drink it!"

      "You lie," Ms. Strykes said in an almost unheard tone, her hooves lingering over the cap of the vile, "but, anything has to be better with this!"

      Quickly, she lifted the vile to her lips. The vile was tipped up so she could catch the last drops of the strange red juice. It had an odd taste, tangy yet sweet.

      Almost in a split second, Ms. Strykes stomach began to feel queasy side effect. A soft ragged breath tore across her lungs as she planted a hoof strongly against the invisible barrier, "Wh..wha..what was that?" she hissed, barley being able to breathe. "Why did...you...posion me?"

      The Pteri's loud and obnoxious laugh rang in the air once again, followed by a wheeze as he caught his breath, "Oh, not poison, it's a potion," he hissed, his smile beaming proudly, "a potion that will change your life-- for the good, or for the bad."

      Ms. Strykes body felt faint as the barrier disappeared, her body hunched over in support as her hooves planted themselves on top of her knees, "What?" she uttered, although she was talking to air now.

      The Pteri had disappeared already, leaving her with numerous questions. With a heavy sigh, she shifted her body weight and closed her eyes, her back pressed now against the gym room wall. Despite

      her almost sleep-like demeanor, she still heard the door open up. "Ms. Strykes?" the Kacheek Twins squealed in unison, shocked looks across their faces as they looked at the figure in front of them, "What happened here, Ms. Strykes?"

      Ms. Strykes raised an eyebrow, before wiping the sweat from her brow, "What are you talking abou-" with that, her body fell to a heap on the floor.

      ----

      I never really thought about what had happened, Miss. Strykes thought as she swooped through the air, green cape fluttering proudly behind her. If you'd asked her two hours ago if she turned into a superhero at night, they would have probably been suspended from Neoschool, but now what was she meant to say..?

      "When Super Kau is in town, you better all frown!" she called into the crisp air of night. In a quick motion she'd swiped up the squeaking baby Kacheek, who had been shoved off the edge of a tall building by an unknown figure.

      "It's okay," she purred out, gently stroking the top of the poor Kacheeks blue head.

      "Gaaa..." it squealed out in retort, it's eyes propelling themselves back in forth like a Ping-Pong ball.

      Now, ever since she'd been turned into a superhero, Ms. Strykes was used to the sudden noises that she would hear. Not only could she fly, but she could hear things from a 25 mile distance. Of course, there was the whole drawback of saving whatever was in trouble-- from a distressed Chia with a plushie in a nearby tree, or from a scared Anubis whose owner had left them.

      Ms. Strykes mind immediately shifted away from her looming thoughts as a chill shot through her body. There was something not right about the figure, despite the fact that he'd pushed a poor baby Kacheek off of a building, of course. Slowly, Ms. Strykes cleared her mind and swooped down into her Neohome and nestled the Kacheek within the many folds of blankets. She often took the weak Neopets home with her, at least until she could find their proper owner.

      "We'll find your owner in the morning," she murmured softly, before gently kissing the top of the Kacheeks head, "now let me go catch the bad guy."

      Ms. Strykes tore through the sky once again. As she neared the scene of the crime, the constant shivers made her skin crawl even more.

      "You hurt the Kacheek, now I will hurt you!" she replied curtly, her voice hanging in the air. She knew this figure already, having already fought the cloaked being numerous times before, although a word was never uttered between the pair on those occasions.

      "It was for a reason, Super Kau," the voice hissed from underneath a dark cloak. "Or should I say, Ms. Strykes?"

      A soft gasp wretched itself out from between Ms. Strykes lips as she took a step back, "How... what?" she stuttered, her eyes large with fear. At the back of her mind something kept nagging her, almost screaming at her that there was something familiar about the voice she was hearing.

      The cloak ripped itself from the villains form, and an almost-black Pteri stood proudly in the night. "Yes, it's me, Ms. Strykes, " the Pteri hissed, wings crossed smugly, "the one that gave you this gift."

      Ms. Strykes felt tears sting the back of her eyes as she stared at the one who had changed her life for the worst. "Why?" she said softly, eyes brimming with tears by now. "How could you do this?"

      "All will be answered with one decision," the Pteri said, eyebrow raised in a malice like manor. "If you want to go back to normal, you can take this potion and be transported back into being a gym teacher."

      Ms. Strykes shook her head, a soft sigh parting her lips.

      "What do you mean?" Ms. Strykes replied meekly, before taking off her mask, "I know now that I am no superhero, I am merely a Kau who hurts others."

      With that, the potion was ripped from the Pteri's wing, and was guzzled down by Ms. Strykes. She felt the same effects as last time, and as she fell to a heap on the floor, the Pteri's laugh continued to ring in her ear.

      ----

      "Ms. Strykes?"

      Ms. Strykes body shuddered awake as a soft pinch pressed upon her shoulder.

      "WHO KNOWS MY SECRET IDENTITY?!" Ms. Strykes cried, her upper body shooting upward and scaring the startled Gelert by her side. "Ms. Strykes, we found you on the gym floor," the startled Gelert said softly, soothing the scared Kau, "Unless your real name isn't Ms. Strykes, then I don't think anybody knows your secret identity."

      The Gelert's soft laugh filled the room.

      "Where am I?" Ms. Strykes murmured as she settled herself among the sheets that nestled her body soothingly. "What happened?"

      "Two weeks ago you had quite the fall after drinking a potion from the new Potion Making teacher," the Gelert, whom Ms. Strykes had already assumed was the school nurse, replied, "He thought it was going to make you stronger, not have the effects that it did."

      Abruptly, the almost-black Pteri's head poked up above the edge of the bed. Startled, he adjusted the new glasses over his beak.

      "I was just trying to scare you," he replied, laughing nervously, "the box trick was something I picked up on my travels, and the potion wasn't intended to make you faint for this long… or give you a third ear."

      "I have a third ear now?" Ms. Strykes squealed, then shook her head, "I'm just glad I'm up from that dream."

      "We'll leave you to continue resting now, Ms. Strykes," the nurse said happily before setting down a glass of water on her bedside table, "we'll see if you can leave tomorrow, right after George makes you a potion to change back."

      "Right, Ms. Strykes, now have a good rest," George replied happily, his large brown wings propelling him around, "Or should I say.. Super Kau?" George winked as he turned around, his laugh filling the petite room.

      "How..?" Ms. Strykes said softly, before looking down underneath the covers. Poised on her stomach was a mask, a green mask with the letters 'SK' on it, for Super Kau. Ms. Strykes grinned, then put the mask back over her eyes, "When Super Kau is in town, you better all frown."

      Authors Note: ^__^ Hi ya'll! I have no clue if there will be a teacher named George when Neoschools come out (soon, I hope!). However, I did see an automatic connection between the super hero defender Kau that you can use for your shop and with Ms. Strykes.

The End