Post by Miffy on Nov 15, 2008 12:58:52 GMT -5
My nt series keeps being rejected, saying they had too many good submissions. Does anybody have any advice for me so that it will be accepted next time please???
My series is called 'Deception, suspicion, alliance and missions'
My series is called 'Deception, suspicion, alliance and missions'
Operation Wingoball
Pacing his office, Lunor pondered over the recent events. How was he going to pull this one off? If he didn’t do it, he risked being struck off and he knew what that meant. He gulped at the very thought.
Going to his wardrobe, Lunor pulled out some black clothes and a balaclava, which were carelessly thrown onto the desk, shortly followed by a black, leather rucksack.
All of a sudden, the door burst open and in strolled a blue lupe.
“Still here, Lunor? I would have thought the Big Cheese would have given you the sack by now!” Snarled the lupe, chuckling to himself.
“Now, why would he do that, Blint? Besides, I’ve got the biggest mission in five months!” Blint’s smirk was wiped off his face by this statement.
“Humph! Well, see you around then, Luney!” Blint turned abruptly and left the office, head held high.
Lunor cursed him under his breath; he hated being called ‘Luney’. Noticing the time, he hastily changed and, backpack in hand, left the room.
Three hours later
Following the long walk from the Ice Caves to Neopia Central, Lunor prepared himself. It was a situation of all or nothing; this was the biggest mission of his life and, should he mess up, the Boss would be eating fried purple kougra on toast for dinner.
As he approached his final destination, Lunor felt butterflies in his stomach. He tried to rid himself of these pests, yet they only grew worse.
Looking up, Lunor gasped at the site that stood before him. A massive flashing sign proclaimed the location for any neopian dumb enough not to know where they were.
“Wingoball!” It exclaimed in big, fluorescent letters.
In the blackness of the night, Lunor was invisible to the naked eye. Flat against the building, he crept around its perimeter, wary of people that might recognise him from previous missions. Glancing from side to side in true commando style, Lunor entered the game…
He was immediately confronted by a cheery receptionist – the type that get irritating beyond belief.
“Hi there! If you want to play wingoball, please take the first door. If you have an enquiry about Wingoball, take the second door. To play a different game, take the third door. If you don’t know where you are, take the fourth door and, should your issue not be any of these, take the fifth door. Good day Sir!”
Lunor smiled weakly at this obviously revised speech although his insides were rolling around in laughter.
Taking the first door, he strolled into the first level of wingoball. No gnomes, red hatted or green hatted, were present as yet.
Clearing this level with huge skill and accuracy, Lunor continued.
The second level was very much the same and Lunor had no difficulty in passing it.
However, on the third level, Lunor came face to face with what would become his arch-nemesis, in due course. The green hat wearing gnomes, walking at a tenna’s pace up and down the level, stood before Lunor. He had realised, way back in the planning stage of this mission that, should these miniscule beings catch wind of what he was doing, they would do all within their power to protect their brothers.
Deliberately firing a few stray balls in order to appear as a newbie with no advanced level of skill, Lunor traipsed past the third level, receiving many evil glares from the gnomes as he did so.
Level four presented Lunor with yet more of the creatures Lunor had begun to hate. Their number was many more than the previous level, there could have possibly been as many as twenty gnomes, all with the same goal: to stop Lunor progressing through the game at any cost. Yet, once again, Lunor proved himself and the gnomes did not emerge victorious. Lunor continued.
Level five! This was where the last stage of his plan would be put into practice.
It seemed simple as he went through it in his head, yet Lunor knew he would not succeed with such ease.
The expressions on the red hatted gnomes were horrifying. Their glaring eyes seemed sharp enough to pierce even the strongest armour.
Taking his first step cautiously, Lunor approached one of the gnomes, the smallest and weakest looking one.
“Well? Are you going to play or not?” The squeaky voice was easily two octaves higher than Lunor’s.
“Where I come from, good manners and courtesy are immensely important. We must show each other our meaning of good will before the level commences.” Lunor replied calmly, although his insides were raging with nerves. A few snickers were heard from the gnomes.
“Very well then,” the reply from the impatient gnome was.
Gracefully, with both feet together and paws wither side of their bodies, the gnome and Lunor bent into bows.
However, Lunor’s good manners and elegance disappeared in a fraction of a second and, while the gnome’s face was pointed towards the floor, Lunor’s paw swiped the hat clean off the gnome’s head.
“Why you little…” The gnome began and gave chase after the kougra which had already sprinted off in the opposite direction.
After a slightly delayed reaction, the other gnomes ran to the aid of their comrade.
Lunor knew that he only had to keep his lead over the gnomes for thirty seconds before his time would be up and he would be immediately pulled out of the game.
Panting, Lunor continued his frantic dash. Extra gnomes had joined the chase as word of what had happened had reached adjacent levels.
10… The babbling of gnomes grew so loud that Lunor could barely hear himself think. Their number was spirally towards a hundred at an alarming pace.
9… Lunor, anxiously looking behind him, did not see the garden ornament which was strewn across the lawn in front of him. He tripped over it clumsily, painfully bashing his chin on the hard stone as he did so.
8… In a mad frenzy to get up, Lunor pulled a muscle in his left leg. His pace was slowing significantly as he half ran, half limped further.
7… Panicking at the amount of agony he was in, Lunor unthinkingly glanced over his shoulder although he was immediately faced with regret at this action. The gnomes were but five metres behind him and the gap between them was decreasing fast!
6… Unable to keep up the activity and drained of energy, Lunor collapsed to the floor. He was swarmed upon by millions of gnomes. That was when it all went black.
Lunor’s eyes flickered open. A bright light blinded him. Was this heaven, where good, angelic kougras lived in peace and harmony for all eternity? If so, what in Neopia was he doing here? Surely he was completely unworthy of such a place?
Lunor’s vision cleared and he became aware that he was not, in fact, in heaven. Instead he was within an office, sitting on a chair.
“Hang on a minute, this is my office!” Lunor thought to himself. Sensing somebody nearby, Lunor swung out violently, expecting it to be a gnome seeking revenge. However, it was Blint.
“What are you doing here?” Lunor growled, trying to sound threatening.
“Well, I could have left you at the mercy of the gnomes. Fyora knows what would have become of you had I not intervened and rescued you!” Blint replied, obviously rather offended at Lunor’s tone of voice.
“What? You saved me? How? Why?” Lunor was deeply confused. Surely Blint would do whatever he could to be rid of Lunor? What had Blint been doing there anyway?
“Okay I admit it! I followed you there. I was jealous of your mission and planned to sabotage it.” A gloomy Blint reluctantly admitted, obviously sensing Lunor’s quizzical mind. “I might have come across as though I’ve got it in for you but I couldn’t just leave you out there in that state!”
An awkward silence followed this revelation. It was Lunor who finally chose to break it.
“We’re friends now, right?”
“Yeah, I suppose you could say that.”
“Blint, I really need to tell you something.”
“Sure, what is it? If it’s about how that large fishy smoothie got in your wardrobe last week, I admit it was me.”
“No, it’s not about that. It’s just that, earlier, the incident with the gnomes went a bit too wrong.”
“Well isn’t that pretty obvious. We’ve already established that you mucked up big time, Lunor.”
“Yes, I know that! But, I can’t help wondering what went wrong. I planned perfectly down to every last detail! But those gnomes! How did they multiply so quickly! They must have had other help, I reckon they were warned.”
“Lunor, do you know what you are saying? This could be a huge scandal if it gets out!”
“Yes Blint, in fact, I’ve never been surer of anything in my life…”
Meanwhile, in another room, a shadowy figure observed Lunor and Blint’s conversation on a bizarre pyramid-shaped device.
“So, you’ve finally worked it out Lunor, you clever little kougra. But that’s just the start of what I’ve got in store for you…”
Pacing his office, Lunor pondered over the recent events. How was he going to pull this one off? If he didn’t do it, he risked being struck off and he knew what that meant. He gulped at the very thought.
Going to his wardrobe, Lunor pulled out some black clothes and a balaclava, which were carelessly thrown onto the desk, shortly followed by a black, leather rucksack.
All of a sudden, the door burst open and in strolled a blue lupe.
“Still here, Lunor? I would have thought the Big Cheese would have given you the sack by now!” Snarled the lupe, chuckling to himself.
“Now, why would he do that, Blint? Besides, I’ve got the biggest mission in five months!” Blint’s smirk was wiped off his face by this statement.
“Humph! Well, see you around then, Luney!” Blint turned abruptly and left the office, head held high.
Lunor cursed him under his breath; he hated being called ‘Luney’. Noticing the time, he hastily changed and, backpack in hand, left the room.
Three hours later
Following the long walk from the Ice Caves to Neopia Central, Lunor prepared himself. It was a situation of all or nothing; this was the biggest mission of his life and, should he mess up, the Boss would be eating fried purple kougra on toast for dinner.
As he approached his final destination, Lunor felt butterflies in his stomach. He tried to rid himself of these pests, yet they only grew worse.
Looking up, Lunor gasped at the site that stood before him. A massive flashing sign proclaimed the location for any neopian dumb enough not to know where they were.
“Wingoball!” It exclaimed in big, fluorescent letters.
In the blackness of the night, Lunor was invisible to the naked eye. Flat against the building, he crept around its perimeter, wary of people that might recognise him from previous missions. Glancing from side to side in true commando style, Lunor entered the game…
He was immediately confronted by a cheery receptionist – the type that get irritating beyond belief.
“Hi there! If you want to play wingoball, please take the first door. If you have an enquiry about Wingoball, take the second door. To play a different game, take the third door. If you don’t know where you are, take the fourth door and, should your issue not be any of these, take the fifth door. Good day Sir!”
Lunor smiled weakly at this obviously revised speech although his insides were rolling around in laughter.
Taking the first door, he strolled into the first level of wingoball. No gnomes, red hatted or green hatted, were present as yet.
Clearing this level with huge skill and accuracy, Lunor continued.
The second level was very much the same and Lunor had no difficulty in passing it.
However, on the third level, Lunor came face to face with what would become his arch-nemesis, in due course. The green hat wearing gnomes, walking at a tenna’s pace up and down the level, stood before Lunor. He had realised, way back in the planning stage of this mission that, should these miniscule beings catch wind of what he was doing, they would do all within their power to protect their brothers.
Deliberately firing a few stray balls in order to appear as a newbie with no advanced level of skill, Lunor traipsed past the third level, receiving many evil glares from the gnomes as he did so.
Level four presented Lunor with yet more of the creatures Lunor had begun to hate. Their number was many more than the previous level, there could have possibly been as many as twenty gnomes, all with the same goal: to stop Lunor progressing through the game at any cost. Yet, once again, Lunor proved himself and the gnomes did not emerge victorious. Lunor continued.
Level five! This was where the last stage of his plan would be put into practice.
It seemed simple as he went through it in his head, yet Lunor knew he would not succeed with such ease.
The expressions on the red hatted gnomes were horrifying. Their glaring eyes seemed sharp enough to pierce even the strongest armour.
Taking his first step cautiously, Lunor approached one of the gnomes, the smallest and weakest looking one.
“Well? Are you going to play or not?” The squeaky voice was easily two octaves higher than Lunor’s.
“Where I come from, good manners and courtesy are immensely important. We must show each other our meaning of good will before the level commences.” Lunor replied calmly, although his insides were raging with nerves. A few snickers were heard from the gnomes.
“Very well then,” the reply from the impatient gnome was.
Gracefully, with both feet together and paws wither side of their bodies, the gnome and Lunor bent into bows.
However, Lunor’s good manners and elegance disappeared in a fraction of a second and, while the gnome’s face was pointed towards the floor, Lunor’s paw swiped the hat clean off the gnome’s head.
“Why you little…” The gnome began and gave chase after the kougra which had already sprinted off in the opposite direction.
After a slightly delayed reaction, the other gnomes ran to the aid of their comrade.
Lunor knew that he only had to keep his lead over the gnomes for thirty seconds before his time would be up and he would be immediately pulled out of the game.
Panting, Lunor continued his frantic dash. Extra gnomes had joined the chase as word of what had happened had reached adjacent levels.
10… The babbling of gnomes grew so loud that Lunor could barely hear himself think. Their number was spirally towards a hundred at an alarming pace.
9… Lunor, anxiously looking behind him, did not see the garden ornament which was strewn across the lawn in front of him. He tripped over it clumsily, painfully bashing his chin on the hard stone as he did so.
8… In a mad frenzy to get up, Lunor pulled a muscle in his left leg. His pace was slowing significantly as he half ran, half limped further.
7… Panicking at the amount of agony he was in, Lunor unthinkingly glanced over his shoulder although he was immediately faced with regret at this action. The gnomes were but five metres behind him and the gap between them was decreasing fast!
6… Unable to keep up the activity and drained of energy, Lunor collapsed to the floor. He was swarmed upon by millions of gnomes. That was when it all went black.
Lunor’s eyes flickered open. A bright light blinded him. Was this heaven, where good, angelic kougras lived in peace and harmony for all eternity? If so, what in Neopia was he doing here? Surely he was completely unworthy of such a place?
Lunor’s vision cleared and he became aware that he was not, in fact, in heaven. Instead he was within an office, sitting on a chair.
“Hang on a minute, this is my office!” Lunor thought to himself. Sensing somebody nearby, Lunor swung out violently, expecting it to be a gnome seeking revenge. However, it was Blint.
“What are you doing here?” Lunor growled, trying to sound threatening.
“Well, I could have left you at the mercy of the gnomes. Fyora knows what would have become of you had I not intervened and rescued you!” Blint replied, obviously rather offended at Lunor’s tone of voice.
“What? You saved me? How? Why?” Lunor was deeply confused. Surely Blint would do whatever he could to be rid of Lunor? What had Blint been doing there anyway?
“Okay I admit it! I followed you there. I was jealous of your mission and planned to sabotage it.” A gloomy Blint reluctantly admitted, obviously sensing Lunor’s quizzical mind. “I might have come across as though I’ve got it in for you but I couldn’t just leave you out there in that state!”
An awkward silence followed this revelation. It was Lunor who finally chose to break it.
“We’re friends now, right?”
“Yeah, I suppose you could say that.”
“Blint, I really need to tell you something.”
“Sure, what is it? If it’s about how that large fishy smoothie got in your wardrobe last week, I admit it was me.”
“No, it’s not about that. It’s just that, earlier, the incident with the gnomes went a bit too wrong.”
“Well isn’t that pretty obvious. We’ve already established that you mucked up big time, Lunor.”
“Yes, I know that! But, I can’t help wondering what went wrong. I planned perfectly down to every last detail! But those gnomes! How did they multiply so quickly! They must have had other help, I reckon they were warned.”
“Lunor, do you know what you are saying? This could be a huge scandal if it gets out!”
“Yes Blint, in fact, I’ve never been surer of anything in my life…”
Meanwhile, in another room, a shadowy figure observed Lunor and Blint’s conversation on a bizarre pyramid-shaped device.
“So, you’ve finally worked it out Lunor, you clever little kougra. But that’s just the start of what I’ve got in store for you…”
The Cheat Scandal
In their cheap tuxedos and suffocating ties, Lunor and Blint looked quite the part as they sat down to play Cheat. Blint’s green eyes were narrow, attempting to read the minds of opponents. He eyed Brucey B up and down accusingly. The Bruce may look relaxed in his tropical shirt but Blint knew that, inside, he was as tense as a scarpering uni.
Lunor, however, was acting as chilled as the snowager. He had been given the apparently ‘no risk’ part of the operation due to the disaster that had engulfed his previous mission, ‘Operation Wingoball’. All Lunor had to do was loose the game. Sound easy? Easier said than done in Lunor’s opinion. He’d grown up with a pushy owner and, in his neohome, loosing had not been an option.
Sensing Lunor’s jumpiness, Blint shot a glance of reassurance in his newly gained friend’s direction. Lunor smiled weakly in reply.
The game commenced. Both pets played their parts perfectly; Blint cruising through the rounds with Lunor just skimming in behind him. Everything was going as planned.
By now, Blint’s pockets were heavily weighed down with battle cards and neopoints. He was beginning to feel the strain of the situation and perspiration was pouring out of him. Sometimes he wondered whether he was really cut out for the job – Lunor was better at it, not him; everybody knew that.
“Cheat!” Lunor growled, attempting to sound angry; something he did not excel at. The accused party, Agent 00 Hog, gave Lunor a look of hate as he was forced to pick up the huge pile of cards in the middle of the table.
Playing his final card, Blint noticed he was on the receiving end of a killer stare from Princess Fernypoo. She narrowed his eyes at him when he looked up and made eye contact. Slamming her handful of cards down on the table in a rage, the acara was granted the attention of her fellow players.
Blint panicked and stood up next to the outraged Acara, dwarfing her easily. She knew they were undercover! He immediately spun round to give a shout of warning to Lunor but it was too late – Princess Fernypoo had already managed to send signals to the other players and they too had stood up, furiously.
Lunor scarpered, terrified of a repeat of his previous mission. He ran as fast as he could but, wherever he looked, all he could see were gnomes. They were falling from the ceiling, tugging at his shirt, swarming at his feet. They were everywhere!
Blint gathered that Lunor was not going to fulfil a heroic action (something he had previously been famous for). Leaping onto the game table, Blint was surrounded by his opponents. Making eye contact with each neopet in turn, Blint grinned, sheepishly.
Eyes wide, he leapt higher than he believed any lupe could, skimming over the heads of his opponents. As he did so, his back paw hooked Princess Fernypoo’s magnificent crown, expertly.
“Don’t just stand there! Get after him!” Princess Fernypoo ordered the Jetsam and Moehog who had been staring in awe at Blint’s agility, both of whom sprung into action, desperate to impress the beautiful acara.
Jamming the precious tiara upon his head, Blint continued his sprint. As he approached the doors, the two other neopets were hot on his tail, yelling for security guards. Their calls were answered.
Blint was overwhelmed by the sea of security guards. He was lifted up onto their shoulders and paraded around the lobby, like a newly won trophy. Blint managed to keep hold of the crown as, in all the commotion, none of the security guards had actually realised what crime it was that Blint was to be found guilty of committing.
A chant had started up as the jubilation of catching a secret agent hit the security guards.
Blint sighed; he loved the way that some neopets lacked so many brain cells.
Meanwhile, Lunor was facing a different battle, but just as challenging, in attempting to grab control of his sanity.
“It’s just hallucinations! They’re not really there! Come on, Lunor, don’t be such a coward! Blint could be in danger and you’re the only neopet that can save him!” The kougra gave himself a confidence boost.
He looked up, transformed from a babbling wreck to a courageous hero in a matter of seconds. He started to walk towards the game but realised he had a better idea and set off in the opposite direction at high speed.
Blint’s early optimistic attitude had vanished as he realised that he was alone. The clock was ticking and Lunor was not coming to save him this time. Crest-fallen, he gave way to the vicious security guards hands and allowed himself to be carried away.
All of a sudden, the front door of the game burst open, and Lunor strolled in wearing the most ridiculous outfit Blint had ever seen. He wore a giant hotdog costume, complete with mustard, ketchup and extra fried onions. Blint stifled a snort.
“Free hotdogs at Hubert’s hotdogs! Special offer! Limited stock only!” Lunor yelled at the top of his lungs. “Ketchup included!”
Immediately, there was a stampede as the crowd of security guards sped out the doors and into the streets, Lunor was shoved aside and Blint tossed to the ground. In just over thirty seconds, the lobby had been emptied. Blint couldn’t believe the happenings of the last minute.
“Wow! Thank you so much Lunor! It appears you do have a brain in there somewhere”
“I guess I owed you one anyway. And, if you want me to risk myself for you again, I suggest you lay off the sardonic comments!”
The two neopets smiled at each other. Lunor put out a hand to help his friend up, Blint took it.
“You still got it then?” Lunor asked, looking down at the crown. The beautiful gems were a sparkling spectrum of colours which appeared to be calming to the Kougra.
“Yep, absolutely.”
Two hours later
Lunor reclined on his comfy, jelly sofa, munching on yet another hotdog. Blint sat on an office chair, scribbling wildly into a notebook.
“Do you ever stop working?” Lunor gasped, amazed at Blint’s dedication to his job.
“Yes! And, do you ever stop eating?”
“Shut up, a girl likes a man with a healthy appetite. What are you doing now then, isn’t that work?”
“Technically, this isn’t work.”
“Well, what is it then?”
“I’m…thinking.”
“Oh no! You’re not one of those meditating people from Shenkuu are you?” Lunor groaned, staring at Blint as though he had just beamed down from Kreludor.
“No! I’m writing down possible suspects for the role of the informant - I think we can both agree that they were involved today as well.” Blint put the lid back on his pen and looked up from his work.
“Go on…”
“Well, so far, I’ve got The Big Cheese, Trixie…”
“Come off it! Trixie’s about as innocent as they get – she’s practically painted faerie! Besides, I don’t think she could even change a light bulb, let alone pull off something this big!”
“Exactly! She’d have the perfect personality – quiet and secretive.”
“Fine, if you say so…”
Blint’s list continued for over twenty names. Lunor soon lost interest and started dissecting his hotdog, separating the onions from the meat and mustard. It took him a while to realise when Blint had stopped reciting.
“So, there are not many people it could be then.” Lunor said, sarcastically, while cleaning the sticky red ketchup from underneath his nails.
“Ha ha, very funny, Lunor”
“I’ve got to go somewhere now,” Blint began, looking up at the clock sharply, as though it could jump out at him and bite his nose at any second.
“What? Where?” Lunor replied, startled by his friend’s sudden statement. Why hadn’t he mentioned anything earlier?
“Oh, The Big Cheese wanted to see me. Probably for another mission briefing or an explanation of what happened today. Don’t worry, I’ll stick up for you,” Blint shrugged, as though it was no big deal that they could both be in deep water.
“Oh, okay then. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Blint exited the room quickly, walking in a stiff manner. Lunor shook his head in disbelief; that Lupe sure loved and was dedicated to his work. Glancing at his desk, Lunor observed that Blint had left his notebook behind, still open on a page containing the list of names. Unable to avoid temptation, Lunor crept over to the chair and sat down. Picking the notebook up to place on his lap, a small slip of paper fluttered gracefully to the floor which Lunor quickly snatched up. Expecting it to be a long-misplaced mission briefing, Lunor unfolded it and read. He was both astounded and astonished at what he had found. It seemed to appear to be an unusual set of instructions – the type that, unless you knew what it was for, you had absolutely no idea what it was for. It was apparent to him that maybe the Lupe that had finally befriended him was full of secrets too…
In their cheap tuxedos and suffocating ties, Lunor and Blint looked quite the part as they sat down to play Cheat. Blint’s green eyes were narrow, attempting to read the minds of opponents. He eyed Brucey B up and down accusingly. The Bruce may look relaxed in his tropical shirt but Blint knew that, inside, he was as tense as a scarpering uni.
Lunor, however, was acting as chilled as the snowager. He had been given the apparently ‘no risk’ part of the operation due to the disaster that had engulfed his previous mission, ‘Operation Wingoball’. All Lunor had to do was loose the game. Sound easy? Easier said than done in Lunor’s opinion. He’d grown up with a pushy owner and, in his neohome, loosing had not been an option.
Sensing Lunor’s jumpiness, Blint shot a glance of reassurance in his newly gained friend’s direction. Lunor smiled weakly in reply.
The game commenced. Both pets played their parts perfectly; Blint cruising through the rounds with Lunor just skimming in behind him. Everything was going as planned.
By now, Blint’s pockets were heavily weighed down with battle cards and neopoints. He was beginning to feel the strain of the situation and perspiration was pouring out of him. Sometimes he wondered whether he was really cut out for the job – Lunor was better at it, not him; everybody knew that.
“Cheat!” Lunor growled, attempting to sound angry; something he did not excel at. The accused party, Agent 00 Hog, gave Lunor a look of hate as he was forced to pick up the huge pile of cards in the middle of the table.
Playing his final card, Blint noticed he was on the receiving end of a killer stare from Princess Fernypoo. She narrowed his eyes at him when he looked up and made eye contact. Slamming her handful of cards down on the table in a rage, the acara was granted the attention of her fellow players.
Blint panicked and stood up next to the outraged Acara, dwarfing her easily. She knew they were undercover! He immediately spun round to give a shout of warning to Lunor but it was too late – Princess Fernypoo had already managed to send signals to the other players and they too had stood up, furiously.
Lunor scarpered, terrified of a repeat of his previous mission. He ran as fast as he could but, wherever he looked, all he could see were gnomes. They were falling from the ceiling, tugging at his shirt, swarming at his feet. They were everywhere!
Blint gathered that Lunor was not going to fulfil a heroic action (something he had previously been famous for). Leaping onto the game table, Blint was surrounded by his opponents. Making eye contact with each neopet in turn, Blint grinned, sheepishly.
Eyes wide, he leapt higher than he believed any lupe could, skimming over the heads of his opponents. As he did so, his back paw hooked Princess Fernypoo’s magnificent crown, expertly.
“Don’t just stand there! Get after him!” Princess Fernypoo ordered the Jetsam and Moehog who had been staring in awe at Blint’s agility, both of whom sprung into action, desperate to impress the beautiful acara.
Jamming the precious tiara upon his head, Blint continued his sprint. As he approached the doors, the two other neopets were hot on his tail, yelling for security guards. Their calls were answered.
Blint was overwhelmed by the sea of security guards. He was lifted up onto their shoulders and paraded around the lobby, like a newly won trophy. Blint managed to keep hold of the crown as, in all the commotion, none of the security guards had actually realised what crime it was that Blint was to be found guilty of committing.
A chant had started up as the jubilation of catching a secret agent hit the security guards.
Blint sighed; he loved the way that some neopets lacked so many brain cells.
Meanwhile, Lunor was facing a different battle, but just as challenging, in attempting to grab control of his sanity.
“It’s just hallucinations! They’re not really there! Come on, Lunor, don’t be such a coward! Blint could be in danger and you’re the only neopet that can save him!” The kougra gave himself a confidence boost.
He looked up, transformed from a babbling wreck to a courageous hero in a matter of seconds. He started to walk towards the game but realised he had a better idea and set off in the opposite direction at high speed.
Blint’s early optimistic attitude had vanished as he realised that he was alone. The clock was ticking and Lunor was not coming to save him this time. Crest-fallen, he gave way to the vicious security guards hands and allowed himself to be carried away.
All of a sudden, the front door of the game burst open, and Lunor strolled in wearing the most ridiculous outfit Blint had ever seen. He wore a giant hotdog costume, complete with mustard, ketchup and extra fried onions. Blint stifled a snort.
“Free hotdogs at Hubert’s hotdogs! Special offer! Limited stock only!” Lunor yelled at the top of his lungs. “Ketchup included!”
Immediately, there was a stampede as the crowd of security guards sped out the doors and into the streets, Lunor was shoved aside and Blint tossed to the ground. In just over thirty seconds, the lobby had been emptied. Blint couldn’t believe the happenings of the last minute.
“Wow! Thank you so much Lunor! It appears you do have a brain in there somewhere”
“I guess I owed you one anyway. And, if you want me to risk myself for you again, I suggest you lay off the sardonic comments!”
The two neopets smiled at each other. Lunor put out a hand to help his friend up, Blint took it.
“You still got it then?” Lunor asked, looking down at the crown. The beautiful gems were a sparkling spectrum of colours which appeared to be calming to the Kougra.
“Yep, absolutely.”
Two hours later
Lunor reclined on his comfy, jelly sofa, munching on yet another hotdog. Blint sat on an office chair, scribbling wildly into a notebook.
“Do you ever stop working?” Lunor gasped, amazed at Blint’s dedication to his job.
“Yes! And, do you ever stop eating?”
“Shut up, a girl likes a man with a healthy appetite. What are you doing now then, isn’t that work?”
“Technically, this isn’t work.”
“Well, what is it then?”
“I’m…thinking.”
“Oh no! You’re not one of those meditating people from Shenkuu are you?” Lunor groaned, staring at Blint as though he had just beamed down from Kreludor.
“No! I’m writing down possible suspects for the role of the informant - I think we can both agree that they were involved today as well.” Blint put the lid back on his pen and looked up from his work.
“Go on…”
“Well, so far, I’ve got The Big Cheese, Trixie…”
“Come off it! Trixie’s about as innocent as they get – she’s practically painted faerie! Besides, I don’t think she could even change a light bulb, let alone pull off something this big!”
“Exactly! She’d have the perfect personality – quiet and secretive.”
“Fine, if you say so…”
Blint’s list continued for over twenty names. Lunor soon lost interest and started dissecting his hotdog, separating the onions from the meat and mustard. It took him a while to realise when Blint had stopped reciting.
“So, there are not many people it could be then.” Lunor said, sarcastically, while cleaning the sticky red ketchup from underneath his nails.
“Ha ha, very funny, Lunor”
“I’ve got to go somewhere now,” Blint began, looking up at the clock sharply, as though it could jump out at him and bite his nose at any second.
“What? Where?” Lunor replied, startled by his friend’s sudden statement. Why hadn’t he mentioned anything earlier?
“Oh, The Big Cheese wanted to see me. Probably for another mission briefing or an explanation of what happened today. Don’t worry, I’ll stick up for you,” Blint shrugged, as though it was no big deal that they could both be in deep water.
“Oh, okay then. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Blint exited the room quickly, walking in a stiff manner. Lunor shook his head in disbelief; that Lupe sure loved and was dedicated to his work. Glancing at his desk, Lunor observed that Blint had left his notebook behind, still open on a page containing the list of names. Unable to avoid temptation, Lunor crept over to the chair and sat down. Picking the notebook up to place on his lap, a small slip of paper fluttered gracefully to the floor which Lunor quickly snatched up. Expecting it to be a long-misplaced mission briefing, Lunor unfolded it and read. He was both astounded and astonished at what he had found. It seemed to appear to be an unusual set of instructions – the type that, unless you knew what it was for, you had absolutely no idea what it was for. It was apparent to him that maybe the Lupe that had finally befriended him was full of secrets too…
The Revenge of the Attack
Lunor inhaled a deep breath of salty air which stung the inside of his lungs. Today was the day; the day he would seek his revenge. From now on, there would be no more ‘Mr Nice Kougra’.
Looking up at the crow’s nest, he could see the dark silhouette of a Lupe, defending intruders by battering them viciously with an oar.
All of a sudden, Benny the Blade lurched out of the water, speeding towards Lunor. Lunor jumped back in surprise before seizing a mop and forcing the attacker down to Davy Jones’ locker.
A creek of the boards next to him made Lunor aware that Blint had obviously retired from his previous lofty position and decided that all hands were needed on deck. Wielding weapons of buckets of mud, yellow toothbrushes and everything else they could lay their paws on, no matter how useless it appeared to be at first glance, the two neopets look a laughing stock. If they didn’t know better, pteris would fly past them in giggling fits. Yet, the pirates knew not to underestimate this unlikely duo. Both the Kougra and the Lupe were obviously trained in combat and they were not to be trifled with.
Lunor set upon Nathan while Blint smacked Swabby back to the fishes. This sequence of events continued for many minutes, repeating itself over and over until, eventually, Lunor cracked.
Turning from his original opponent, he faced his so-called ally. Standing on his hind legs, Lunor leant his whole body weight upon Blint, pinning the unfortunate and unexpectant Lupe to the floor.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Blint screamed in surprise.
“Something I should have done a while ago,” the angry kougra replied through clenched teeth. As he said this, Lunor slammed his foot into Blint’s side, creating an angry cry of pain from both pets.
“What kind of armour are you wearing?” Lunor yelled, hopping up on down in agony. “You’re side is hard as steel!”
Blint ignored the question and retaliated, making a quick movement and throwing Lunor off of him, onto the rotting wood beside him.
“Hello there, me hearties!” The infamous Captain Scarblade and his gang of pirates had their swords pressed against the battling neopets’ throats.
“Yeah, what ever. Just go and ‘shiver me timbers’ elsewhere, we’re kind of busy at the moment.” Lunor snapped, as though they were being threatened by just another gang of neopets, not a stinking bunch of pirates, bent on his destruction.
“Well, if you’re going to be like that…” The Captain awkwardly lowered his sword, confused about what to say in return, and his shipmates soon followed suit. “To the rigging!” The pirates left Lunor and Blint to squabble in peace.
They picked off from the exact point that they had left off before the interruption, except, by now, both the Lupe and the Kougra were on their feet.
Fists at the ready, an awful silence and time space of nothingness existed as they waited for each other to commit themselves to the first move. Blint finally shattered the icy atmosphere.
“Look, Lunor. What’s this about? Can it not wait until we’ve completed this mission?”
The quote had the opposite effect on Lunor than it’s speaker had intended.
Adrenaline and hot red anger pumping through his muscles, Lunor sprang at Blint, razor-sharp claws spread wide. Soon, the Kougra lay on top of his pre-acclaimed friend, pinning Blint to the ground. The duo wrestled, rolling up and down the deck of the ship, from port to starboard and back again.
All of a sudden, the wooden boards of the creaky old ship gave way and Lunor plummeted towards the icy depths, pulling Blint down with him.
Lunor landed with a loud thump on the hard floor of the lower deck. Looking around, he became aware that this area of the boat was in a much poorer condition and had obviously not been adequately maintained.
Peering around in the shadowy surroundings, Lunor scanned the area for Blint. Maybe he could finish him off while he wondered what had just happened.
A strange glugging sound attracted Lunor’s attention. He crawled towards it and discovered that there was a hole in the boat. It may only be small, but it was, never the less, letting water in. Looking around for something to plug in the hole, Lunor caught a glimpse of Blint. He was only a couple of metres away and was scampering away from the growing puddle that was spilling out of the hole, not bothering to aid Lunor.
“There’s nothing you can do, Lunor. It’s too late – the water will continue to rise no matter what you do and you’ll just be getting soaked. Come on; give us a leg up this hole.” Blint said, looking up at the gaping space in the ceiling where they had tumbled through just moments ago.
“No, Blint. I won’t give you a leg up. If you want to get out of here, you’ll have to swim.” Lunor replied, denying the Lupe any help. With that, Lunor leapt off a wooden barrel and easily soared through the hole, up onto the upper deck.
Blint began to panic, Lunor was at least half a foot taller than him and his agility too was much superior.
“Lunor! Please! I can’t swim!” Blint yelled, edging away from the white water that was gushing onto the floor, spreading out like branches on a tree. He realised that the Kougra was probably already out of ear-shot and would not come back and help him. Tears rolled down Blint’s face and Blint realised that, for the first time in his life, he was actually crying!
Above deck, Lunor was beginning to feel guilt. How could he leave Blint there? He had heard Blint’s cries, yet was the Lupe really unable to swim or was he just using that excuse to create the sense of weakness in Lunor’s heart show itself.
Realising that he could have left his comrade to die, Lunor rushed back to the hole, sticking a long paw down the hole. Blint quickly accepted and Lunor only needed half his strength to pull the Lupe up.
However, once both Lunor and Blint were stood up, they realised that they were no longer on the ship. They were back in the lobby of the game, back before anything bad had happened to their mission.
“We must have failed the game, we’ve got to go back and have another go.” Lunor winced at the thought of word getting round that he had failed a mission and had been forced to go back for a second chance. He strolled towards the entrance, pulling a whimpering Blint along with him.
“Oh no you don’t!” A blue Acara stood in his way. “You two have already caused too much trouble, leave now before I charge you for the damage you have done to the ship.” She pointed towards the door, gesturing them to leave.
Lunor and Blint obeyed. Traipsing back to Headquarters, it finally dawned on them how much trouble they were going to be in.
Back at Headquarters, three hours later
Blint and Lunor stood before the Big Cheese. Although both neopets had attended many mission briefings with him, neither knew the lease bit about him, including what he looked like. Once again, the Big Cheese was in a ninja style costume, covered from tip to toe in black fabric with only his eyes visible.
“I am disgusted at your behaviour! You are both senior agents, especially you, Lunor, yet you behave like a bunch of myncis in a banana shop!” The Big Cheese bellowed, quite unnecessarily as the two neopets being spoken to were only two metres from him. Blint looked down at his feet, unable to make eye contact. Lunor was trying to see right through the Big Cheese, as though he was pretending he was not there.
“If this is tracked back to me, you two will be the ones suffering the consequences, not me!”
Lunor glanced sideways at Blint. The Lupe was twitching strangely, as though he was having some weird kind of seizure. It took Lunor a while to realise that Blint was, in fact, gesturing him to look somewhere.
But what at? Maybe this was just a stupid prank Blint was playing on him. Ha! He wasn’t falling for that!
However, out of the corner of his eye, Lunor saw a piece of loose ebony fabric from the Big Cheese’s ninja costume that was trailing along the floor.
Carefully, so nobody but he and Blint would notice, Lunor placed his paw over the piece of material.
Almost immediately afterwards, the Big Cheese began to pace his office.
Just as the two neopets had planned, the costume began to unravel and, by the time the wearer had become aware of what was happening, it was too late. Blint and Lunor had already seen their identity. And they were horrified at what they saw…
Lunor inhaled a deep breath of salty air which stung the inside of his lungs. Today was the day; the day he would seek his revenge. From now on, there would be no more ‘Mr Nice Kougra’.
Looking up at the crow’s nest, he could see the dark silhouette of a Lupe, defending intruders by battering them viciously with an oar.
All of a sudden, Benny the Blade lurched out of the water, speeding towards Lunor. Lunor jumped back in surprise before seizing a mop and forcing the attacker down to Davy Jones’ locker.
A creek of the boards next to him made Lunor aware that Blint had obviously retired from his previous lofty position and decided that all hands were needed on deck. Wielding weapons of buckets of mud, yellow toothbrushes and everything else they could lay their paws on, no matter how useless it appeared to be at first glance, the two neopets look a laughing stock. If they didn’t know better, pteris would fly past them in giggling fits. Yet, the pirates knew not to underestimate this unlikely duo. Both the Kougra and the Lupe were obviously trained in combat and they were not to be trifled with.
Lunor set upon Nathan while Blint smacked Swabby back to the fishes. This sequence of events continued for many minutes, repeating itself over and over until, eventually, Lunor cracked.
Turning from his original opponent, he faced his so-called ally. Standing on his hind legs, Lunor leant his whole body weight upon Blint, pinning the unfortunate and unexpectant Lupe to the floor.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Blint screamed in surprise.
“Something I should have done a while ago,” the angry kougra replied through clenched teeth. As he said this, Lunor slammed his foot into Blint’s side, creating an angry cry of pain from both pets.
“What kind of armour are you wearing?” Lunor yelled, hopping up on down in agony. “You’re side is hard as steel!”
Blint ignored the question and retaliated, making a quick movement and throwing Lunor off of him, onto the rotting wood beside him.
“Hello there, me hearties!” The infamous Captain Scarblade and his gang of pirates had their swords pressed against the battling neopets’ throats.
“Yeah, what ever. Just go and ‘shiver me timbers’ elsewhere, we’re kind of busy at the moment.” Lunor snapped, as though they were being threatened by just another gang of neopets, not a stinking bunch of pirates, bent on his destruction.
“Well, if you’re going to be like that…” The Captain awkwardly lowered his sword, confused about what to say in return, and his shipmates soon followed suit. “To the rigging!” The pirates left Lunor and Blint to squabble in peace.
They picked off from the exact point that they had left off before the interruption, except, by now, both the Lupe and the Kougra were on their feet.
Fists at the ready, an awful silence and time space of nothingness existed as they waited for each other to commit themselves to the first move. Blint finally shattered the icy atmosphere.
“Look, Lunor. What’s this about? Can it not wait until we’ve completed this mission?”
The quote had the opposite effect on Lunor than it’s speaker had intended.
Adrenaline and hot red anger pumping through his muscles, Lunor sprang at Blint, razor-sharp claws spread wide. Soon, the Kougra lay on top of his pre-acclaimed friend, pinning Blint to the ground. The duo wrestled, rolling up and down the deck of the ship, from port to starboard and back again.
All of a sudden, the wooden boards of the creaky old ship gave way and Lunor plummeted towards the icy depths, pulling Blint down with him.
Lunor landed with a loud thump on the hard floor of the lower deck. Looking around, he became aware that this area of the boat was in a much poorer condition and had obviously not been adequately maintained.
Peering around in the shadowy surroundings, Lunor scanned the area for Blint. Maybe he could finish him off while he wondered what had just happened.
A strange glugging sound attracted Lunor’s attention. He crawled towards it and discovered that there was a hole in the boat. It may only be small, but it was, never the less, letting water in. Looking around for something to plug in the hole, Lunor caught a glimpse of Blint. He was only a couple of metres away and was scampering away from the growing puddle that was spilling out of the hole, not bothering to aid Lunor.
“There’s nothing you can do, Lunor. It’s too late – the water will continue to rise no matter what you do and you’ll just be getting soaked. Come on; give us a leg up this hole.” Blint said, looking up at the gaping space in the ceiling where they had tumbled through just moments ago.
“No, Blint. I won’t give you a leg up. If you want to get out of here, you’ll have to swim.” Lunor replied, denying the Lupe any help. With that, Lunor leapt off a wooden barrel and easily soared through the hole, up onto the upper deck.
Blint began to panic, Lunor was at least half a foot taller than him and his agility too was much superior.
“Lunor! Please! I can’t swim!” Blint yelled, edging away from the white water that was gushing onto the floor, spreading out like branches on a tree. He realised that the Kougra was probably already out of ear-shot and would not come back and help him. Tears rolled down Blint’s face and Blint realised that, for the first time in his life, he was actually crying!
Above deck, Lunor was beginning to feel guilt. How could he leave Blint there? He had heard Blint’s cries, yet was the Lupe really unable to swim or was he just using that excuse to create the sense of weakness in Lunor’s heart show itself.
Realising that he could have left his comrade to die, Lunor rushed back to the hole, sticking a long paw down the hole. Blint quickly accepted and Lunor only needed half his strength to pull the Lupe up.
However, once both Lunor and Blint were stood up, they realised that they were no longer on the ship. They were back in the lobby of the game, back before anything bad had happened to their mission.
“We must have failed the game, we’ve got to go back and have another go.” Lunor winced at the thought of word getting round that he had failed a mission and had been forced to go back for a second chance. He strolled towards the entrance, pulling a whimpering Blint along with him.
“Oh no you don’t!” A blue Acara stood in his way. “You two have already caused too much trouble, leave now before I charge you for the damage you have done to the ship.” She pointed towards the door, gesturing them to leave.
Lunor and Blint obeyed. Traipsing back to Headquarters, it finally dawned on them how much trouble they were going to be in.
Back at Headquarters, three hours later
Blint and Lunor stood before the Big Cheese. Although both neopets had attended many mission briefings with him, neither knew the lease bit about him, including what he looked like. Once again, the Big Cheese was in a ninja style costume, covered from tip to toe in black fabric with only his eyes visible.
“I am disgusted at your behaviour! You are both senior agents, especially you, Lunor, yet you behave like a bunch of myncis in a banana shop!” The Big Cheese bellowed, quite unnecessarily as the two neopets being spoken to were only two metres from him. Blint looked down at his feet, unable to make eye contact. Lunor was trying to see right through the Big Cheese, as though he was pretending he was not there.
“If this is tracked back to me, you two will be the ones suffering the consequences, not me!”
Lunor glanced sideways at Blint. The Lupe was twitching strangely, as though he was having some weird kind of seizure. It took Lunor a while to realise that Blint was, in fact, gesturing him to look somewhere.
But what at? Maybe this was just a stupid prank Blint was playing on him. Ha! He wasn’t falling for that!
However, out of the corner of his eye, Lunor saw a piece of loose ebony fabric from the Big Cheese’s ninja costume that was trailing along the floor.
Carefully, so nobody but he and Blint would notice, Lunor placed his paw over the piece of material.
Almost immediately afterwards, the Big Cheese began to pace his office.
Just as the two neopets had planned, the costume began to unravel and, by the time the wearer had become aware of what was happening, it was too late. Blint and Lunor had already seen their identity. And they were horrified at what they saw…
The Final Encounter
“You’re a girl!” Lunor gasped, flabbergasted.
“You’re not just a girl, you’re the Soup Faerie!” Blint added, as amazed at the discovery as Lunor.
The black ninja costume had been concealing a dark and dangerous secret. But now the blue wings roamed free and brown locks of hair fell across a now feminine face. Stripped of her costume, the Big Cheese had shrunk to five foot tall and her once wrinkled face had smoothed out.
“Oh no! Seize them!” The Soup Faerie’s voice was much higher than that of the manly Big Cheese’s but just as powerful and full of authority. An army full of petpets, mostly tennas, burst from a cupboard in the room in response to the call. But Blint and Lunor were ready: Lunor in a martial arts stance he had seen on neovision and Blint wielding a brass lamp as though it was the sharpest sword in the land.
However, both neopets were facing the opposite direction, having assumed that an attacker would enter the room through the door.
Blint didn’t need to look behind him to realise their mistake and the fact that he and Lunor were seriously outnumbered. He turned to look to Lunor for guidance, but the Kougra had already sped off, away from the advancing battle. Blint quickly followed, anxious not to be left alone.
The gap between the two pets was, to Blint’s alarm, increasing, due to Lunor’s long legs and Blint’s short stumps. Nervously looking over his shoulder, Blint was surprised when he ran straight into Lunor with a loud crash! The two pets lay on the hard, metallic floor in a heap. Lunor threw Blint off of him with force.
“It’s a dead end, you idiot!” An angered Kougra growled. Blint groaned, adamant that they were doomed.
However, both pets spotted the broom cupboard at the same time and made a mad rush to get inside first. They were awkwardly wedged in the doorway and Lunor had to let the smaller Lupe through before him, yet he made sure that Blint didn’t have enough time to slam the door behind him. With both pets inside, Lunor locked the door and sat with his back against him, Blint sat facing him, just one and a half metres away against the opposite wall. The atmosphere was as tense as a bolt of lightning.
“Look, Lunor, what’s been up with you recently?” Blint asked, trying to put his last few minutes of his life to good use.
“You know exactly what’s wrong! You, Blint, are the saboteur! Why, Blint? Why?” Lunor bellowed, through clenched teeth. If the petpets didn’t know where they were, they surely did now.
Blint looked down at the floor at the knowledge that his secret was now out in the open.
“I think it’s time I told you about me…” Blint began, uninfluenced by Lunor’s angry manner. “Back, when I was young, I had an accident.”
“What kind of accident?” Lunor butted in. Blint ignored his intervention.
“I went near the Lost City of Geraptiku and found myself lured inside the deserted tomb by the forbidden magic that seemed to dwell there. The booby traps impaled me upon a spear. I was found there, five days late, by a man I have come to know only as Master. My insides were beyond even the skills of the Water Faerie. But my Master, he rebuilt me; gave me a body of metal.”
“You’re a robot!” Lunor gasped, not out of anger but of shock. A tear rolled down Lunor’s cheek at Blint’s tragic tale.
“But, what I hadn’t realised is that he has been controlling me, making my body do things that I don’t want it to. And I…” Blint hesitated. “And I hate him for it! He used me for his own selfish and wrong purposes!”
It was at this statement that Lunor realised he had wronged his friend, jumping to conclusions too quickly. Those weird instructions – they must have just been the diagram of the circuits of Blint’s body!
“Look, Lunor, I’m sorry...”
“No, I’m the one that should be sorry” Lunor replied, not allowing Blint to take responsibility for the misunderstanding. A feeling of guilt was felt by Lunor, right down to the end of his tail.
“Now, haven’t we got a battle to fight?” Lunor gave Blint a cheeky grin as he said this. Blint smiled in reply, glad that his revelation was over.
Surprisingly, as neither neopet had noticed this previously, the cupboard they were hiding in happened to be storing many weapons; many of these were useless one neopoints bargains whereas others, such as desert arrow launcher which Lunor wore and the million degree sword wielded by Blint, were of great or moderate worth.
Throwing the door open, the pair sped out into the corridor, shouting war cries that even Sloth himself would cower at.
The petpet army, upon hearing this, turned around agilely and went back the way they had come towards Lunor and Blint. But the two pets were readier and more prepared than any nightmare the petpets had could have warned them of.
Immediately, Lunor opened fire, decreasing the health of the petpets, picking them off one by one. Then it was Blint’s turn. He ran forward, slicing through the army with his sword as though he was a cook slicing an onion.
All of a sudden, the petpets seemed to disappear and then reappear, as though the film was stuck in the cinema. Lunor and Blint looked at each other, before glancing behind them.
“Stupid thing!” The Soup Faerie was hitting a strange, magical triangular item which Blint and Lunor had never seen before. “I should never have traded my wand of supernova for this with Jhudora!” Realising she had spectators, the Soup Faerie looked up at the onlooking faces of Lunor and Blint. She turned a blood red colour.
Nodding to each other, the Lupe and the Kougra walked up to the Soup Faerie, taking an arm each. They easily dwarfed her which made carrying her securely no problem. Walking back into the Soup Faerie’s office, they tethered her to her office chair.
“Look Guys, I’m sorry. Is there any way that we can come to some kind of agreement?” The Soup Faerie attempted negotiation although, not so far down inside her, she knew her fate was already sealed.
Blint and Lunor tried to copy a scene they had seen on Neovision; Blint pacing up and down the office and Lunor sitting in front of the Soup Faerie, staring at her with a look that could kill with a glimpse.
“So, why did you do it?” Blint began, raising his eyebrows in an awful attempt at the impersonation of a police pet.
“I guess I’m just a ‘bad’ faerie.” The Soup Faerie sniggered, as though sharing a private joke with her inner self.
“So, exactly what were you attempting to achieve?” Lunor interrogated the Soup Faerie further, slamming his clenched fist down on the table and making her jump.
“Power!” The Soup Faerie yelled. However, neither pet was so easily fooled.
“Yeah, right.” Muttered Blint, raising his eyebrows. “Do you feel like telling us the truth now?”
“Okay, okay. I just wanted to be noticed! Everyone takes me for granted – I received no thanks for preventing the biggest starvation epidemic in Neopia ever! If it wasn’t for my Soup Kitchen, few new neopets would live past their first week!” The Soup Faerie burst into floods of self pity. Lunor, who could never be considered as a sympathetic neopet, rolled his eyes but received a sharp look of disapproval from Blint.
“Please excuse us for a moment; I need to have a quiet word with my companion” Blint politely told the Soup Faerie. Blint strolled out of the office, followed by Lunor.
“What are we going to do then, Boss?” Blint asked Lunor, using Lunor’s superior position to his advantage due to his shortage of ideas.
“Well, I…. um. I haven’t actually got a plan as such.” Lunor began, embarrassed that he had nothing to show his junior. “You know I’m a doing person, not a thinking one!”
Blint laughed, amused by his friend’s lack of brain cells. “Listen, I have an idea.” With this he placed his mouth to Lunor’s ear and whispered.
Four hours later
Opening the door of the Soup Kitchen, Blint took the Soup Faerie’s coat and placed it upon a wooden hook on the wall.
“Why don’t you put your feet up and I’ll make a nice cup of hot borovan.” Blint ushered her towards the tattered plushie sofa, before making his way into the kitchen. He opened several cupboards before discovering the one he needed and pulled out a half full caddy of mint flavoured borovan.
Meanwhile, in the sitting room, the Soup Faerie picked up a three week old Neopian Times and began to fill herself in on everything she had missed. She was just reading an article on the newly-discovered pastime of double painting when there was a loud knock at the door. Placing the paper back into its basket, she got up and made her way to the hall. Expecting it to be Illusen asking to borrow her brand new pair of heart shaped sunglasses, she unlocked and opened the door.
“Surprise!” Lunor shouted.
Before her, the Soup Faerie could see a huge crowd of millions of neopets and owners alike. Many were holding banners and balloons, others were deafening those around them using party blowers.
“Right everybody! What have we gathered here to say?” Bellowed Lunor, in a shout even the Snowager couldn’t have gone louder than.
“THANK YOU!” The crowd shouted back. Clapping, cheering and chanting of ‘Long live the Soup Faerie’ followed.
“Oh my goodness. This means a lot to me.” The Soup Faerie attempted to hold back her tears of happiness.
“Oh, and while I remember…” Lunor whistled loudly. Two young kacheeks stepped forward, struggling to carry an enormous present. “Here you go.”
‘To the Soup Faerie, from all the neopets in Neopia’ The label on the gift read.
The Soup Faerie unwrapped it eagerly.
“My own book!” She exclaimed, ecstatically. “I feel so privileged! Thank you guys.” The inevitable waterfall began, spilling salty water onto Lunor’s feet. Blint had come from the inside of the house and joined his friend on the doorstep.
The Soup Faerie descended into the crowd and joined in the celebrations. Music was booming from a band somewhere and everyone was having fun.
Blint and Lunor looked at each other, smiled and gave each other a high five.
“Well, Lunor, what are we going to do now? We’ve got no job, no home, no nothing!”
“Relax, mate. Have fun for once in your life. We’ve got each other. Friends forever?”
“Friends forever.”
“You’re a girl!” Lunor gasped, flabbergasted.
“You’re not just a girl, you’re the Soup Faerie!” Blint added, as amazed at the discovery as Lunor.
The black ninja costume had been concealing a dark and dangerous secret. But now the blue wings roamed free and brown locks of hair fell across a now feminine face. Stripped of her costume, the Big Cheese had shrunk to five foot tall and her once wrinkled face had smoothed out.
“Oh no! Seize them!” The Soup Faerie’s voice was much higher than that of the manly Big Cheese’s but just as powerful and full of authority. An army full of petpets, mostly tennas, burst from a cupboard in the room in response to the call. But Blint and Lunor were ready: Lunor in a martial arts stance he had seen on neovision and Blint wielding a brass lamp as though it was the sharpest sword in the land.
However, both neopets were facing the opposite direction, having assumed that an attacker would enter the room through the door.
Blint didn’t need to look behind him to realise their mistake and the fact that he and Lunor were seriously outnumbered. He turned to look to Lunor for guidance, but the Kougra had already sped off, away from the advancing battle. Blint quickly followed, anxious not to be left alone.
The gap between the two pets was, to Blint’s alarm, increasing, due to Lunor’s long legs and Blint’s short stumps. Nervously looking over his shoulder, Blint was surprised when he ran straight into Lunor with a loud crash! The two pets lay on the hard, metallic floor in a heap. Lunor threw Blint off of him with force.
“It’s a dead end, you idiot!” An angered Kougra growled. Blint groaned, adamant that they were doomed.
However, both pets spotted the broom cupboard at the same time and made a mad rush to get inside first. They were awkwardly wedged in the doorway and Lunor had to let the smaller Lupe through before him, yet he made sure that Blint didn’t have enough time to slam the door behind him. With both pets inside, Lunor locked the door and sat with his back against him, Blint sat facing him, just one and a half metres away against the opposite wall. The atmosphere was as tense as a bolt of lightning.
“Look, Lunor, what’s been up with you recently?” Blint asked, trying to put his last few minutes of his life to good use.
“You know exactly what’s wrong! You, Blint, are the saboteur! Why, Blint? Why?” Lunor bellowed, through clenched teeth. If the petpets didn’t know where they were, they surely did now.
Blint looked down at the floor at the knowledge that his secret was now out in the open.
“I think it’s time I told you about me…” Blint began, uninfluenced by Lunor’s angry manner. “Back, when I was young, I had an accident.”
“What kind of accident?” Lunor butted in. Blint ignored his intervention.
“I went near the Lost City of Geraptiku and found myself lured inside the deserted tomb by the forbidden magic that seemed to dwell there. The booby traps impaled me upon a spear. I was found there, five days late, by a man I have come to know only as Master. My insides were beyond even the skills of the Water Faerie. But my Master, he rebuilt me; gave me a body of metal.”
“You’re a robot!” Lunor gasped, not out of anger but of shock. A tear rolled down Lunor’s cheek at Blint’s tragic tale.
“But, what I hadn’t realised is that he has been controlling me, making my body do things that I don’t want it to. And I…” Blint hesitated. “And I hate him for it! He used me for his own selfish and wrong purposes!”
It was at this statement that Lunor realised he had wronged his friend, jumping to conclusions too quickly. Those weird instructions – they must have just been the diagram of the circuits of Blint’s body!
“Look, Lunor, I’m sorry...”
“No, I’m the one that should be sorry” Lunor replied, not allowing Blint to take responsibility for the misunderstanding. A feeling of guilt was felt by Lunor, right down to the end of his tail.
“Now, haven’t we got a battle to fight?” Lunor gave Blint a cheeky grin as he said this. Blint smiled in reply, glad that his revelation was over.
Surprisingly, as neither neopet had noticed this previously, the cupboard they were hiding in happened to be storing many weapons; many of these were useless one neopoints bargains whereas others, such as desert arrow launcher which Lunor wore and the million degree sword wielded by Blint, were of great or moderate worth.
Throwing the door open, the pair sped out into the corridor, shouting war cries that even Sloth himself would cower at.
The petpet army, upon hearing this, turned around agilely and went back the way they had come towards Lunor and Blint. But the two pets were readier and more prepared than any nightmare the petpets had could have warned them of.
Immediately, Lunor opened fire, decreasing the health of the petpets, picking them off one by one. Then it was Blint’s turn. He ran forward, slicing through the army with his sword as though he was a cook slicing an onion.
All of a sudden, the petpets seemed to disappear and then reappear, as though the film was stuck in the cinema. Lunor and Blint looked at each other, before glancing behind them.
“Stupid thing!” The Soup Faerie was hitting a strange, magical triangular item which Blint and Lunor had never seen before. “I should never have traded my wand of supernova for this with Jhudora!” Realising she had spectators, the Soup Faerie looked up at the onlooking faces of Lunor and Blint. She turned a blood red colour.
Nodding to each other, the Lupe and the Kougra walked up to the Soup Faerie, taking an arm each. They easily dwarfed her which made carrying her securely no problem. Walking back into the Soup Faerie’s office, they tethered her to her office chair.
“Look Guys, I’m sorry. Is there any way that we can come to some kind of agreement?” The Soup Faerie attempted negotiation although, not so far down inside her, she knew her fate was already sealed.
Blint and Lunor tried to copy a scene they had seen on Neovision; Blint pacing up and down the office and Lunor sitting in front of the Soup Faerie, staring at her with a look that could kill with a glimpse.
“So, why did you do it?” Blint began, raising his eyebrows in an awful attempt at the impersonation of a police pet.
“I guess I’m just a ‘bad’ faerie.” The Soup Faerie sniggered, as though sharing a private joke with her inner self.
“So, exactly what were you attempting to achieve?” Lunor interrogated the Soup Faerie further, slamming his clenched fist down on the table and making her jump.
“Power!” The Soup Faerie yelled. However, neither pet was so easily fooled.
“Yeah, right.” Muttered Blint, raising his eyebrows. “Do you feel like telling us the truth now?”
“Okay, okay. I just wanted to be noticed! Everyone takes me for granted – I received no thanks for preventing the biggest starvation epidemic in Neopia ever! If it wasn’t for my Soup Kitchen, few new neopets would live past their first week!” The Soup Faerie burst into floods of self pity. Lunor, who could never be considered as a sympathetic neopet, rolled his eyes but received a sharp look of disapproval from Blint.
“Please excuse us for a moment; I need to have a quiet word with my companion” Blint politely told the Soup Faerie. Blint strolled out of the office, followed by Lunor.
“What are we going to do then, Boss?” Blint asked Lunor, using Lunor’s superior position to his advantage due to his shortage of ideas.
“Well, I…. um. I haven’t actually got a plan as such.” Lunor began, embarrassed that he had nothing to show his junior. “You know I’m a doing person, not a thinking one!”
Blint laughed, amused by his friend’s lack of brain cells. “Listen, I have an idea.” With this he placed his mouth to Lunor’s ear and whispered.
Four hours later
Opening the door of the Soup Kitchen, Blint took the Soup Faerie’s coat and placed it upon a wooden hook on the wall.
“Why don’t you put your feet up and I’ll make a nice cup of hot borovan.” Blint ushered her towards the tattered plushie sofa, before making his way into the kitchen. He opened several cupboards before discovering the one he needed and pulled out a half full caddy of mint flavoured borovan.
Meanwhile, in the sitting room, the Soup Faerie picked up a three week old Neopian Times and began to fill herself in on everything she had missed. She was just reading an article on the newly-discovered pastime of double painting when there was a loud knock at the door. Placing the paper back into its basket, she got up and made her way to the hall. Expecting it to be Illusen asking to borrow her brand new pair of heart shaped sunglasses, she unlocked and opened the door.
“Surprise!” Lunor shouted.
Before her, the Soup Faerie could see a huge crowd of millions of neopets and owners alike. Many were holding banners and balloons, others were deafening those around them using party blowers.
“Right everybody! What have we gathered here to say?” Bellowed Lunor, in a shout even the Snowager couldn’t have gone louder than.
“THANK YOU!” The crowd shouted back. Clapping, cheering and chanting of ‘Long live the Soup Faerie’ followed.
“Oh my goodness. This means a lot to me.” The Soup Faerie attempted to hold back her tears of happiness.
“Oh, and while I remember…” Lunor whistled loudly. Two young kacheeks stepped forward, struggling to carry an enormous present. “Here you go.”
‘To the Soup Faerie, from all the neopets in Neopia’ The label on the gift read.
The Soup Faerie unwrapped it eagerly.
“My own book!” She exclaimed, ecstatically. “I feel so privileged! Thank you guys.” The inevitable waterfall began, spilling salty water onto Lunor’s feet. Blint had come from the inside of the house and joined his friend on the doorstep.
The Soup Faerie descended into the crowd and joined in the celebrations. Music was booming from a band somewhere and everyone was having fun.
Blint and Lunor looked at each other, smiled and gave each other a high five.
“Well, Lunor, what are we going to do now? We’ve got no job, no home, no nothing!”
“Relax, mate. Have fun for once in your life. We’ve got each other. Friends forever?”
“Friends forever.”