The Fine Line: Breaking Reality

by Gundamblaze

Ever seen this in the Neopian Times? Here's the original, full, unedited version I sent them!

The Fine Line: Breaking Reality

Written by Gundamblaze(more detailed credits at the end)

Special Notes to the NeoPets Team

First off, I would like to say that I worked very long and hard on this and hope it gets published. I would also like to mention that to keep The Fine Line true to it's original form, could you please use the subtitles and roman numerals. That is far from essential though. Also, if 13 parts is too much(and probably is), you may wish to release 2 parts a week. I am also sorry for the many resubmissions because of errors. And now, I present to you, the first in a long running series(if all goes well), the first episode of The Fine Line, titled Breaking Reality. Enjoy!

THIS VERSION IS ERROR FREE! IF THIS IS NOT ON THE VERSION PUBLISHED, YOU HAVE PUBLISHED THE WRONG VERSION! HEHE. SORRY ABOUT ALL THOSE PROBLEMS.

Part I: In the Beginning

"Isn't it weird? Imaginary things are what we always want to be the reality. But what the others don't know is that sometimes, the imaginary is reality. And once your dreams have come true, you may realize just how horrible that "imaginary thing" can be."

When you think it's all just pretend... it doesn't seem to matter to you. Treating your pet badly doesn't really seem to matter, because, "it's not real, just a game." But a few people know the truth... the truth that this place exists... and is more trouble than it's worth. I am one of those people. One of the people that know the truth...

******************

"Come on mom, five more minutes!" I yelled across my apartment, surfing around NeoPets while ranting at her.

"No way Brad, it's 4 AM!" she raved at me. It didn't matter to me, since it was a Saturday; I wanted to stay up as long as I could. But, as all kids will know, parents rule.

"Alright mom, I'll go to bed!" I figured that since I was going to be awake again in a few hours, I might as well leave the computer on. Boy, what a mistake that was. One flick of a switch and my life could've been like the rest of yours. But, I didn't turn it off... I left it on. And doing that altered my life forever.

I was asleep all right. At least I was convinced I was. In my dream, I was seeing the transition. I was standing in a black field, all black, no ground visible, but I was standing still. And then, neon-green numbers started floating by. 1s and 0s, speeding by. Constantly going faster, faster, faster still. But then, the numbers started going backwards. I was returning to reality.

*BUZZ* my alarm clock went off. It was 7 AM. I wearily shut it off, got up, turned on the TV, and turned on the monitor. Blue. All I saw was blue. Blue light, shining in my face. I restarted my computer, and the blue was gone.

"What was that about?" I whispered to myself. Maybe my monitor had some glitch on it for being left active for so long. Well, I wouldn't believe that now, but I did then. I was booted up fast and surfing NeoPets. I noticed my pet was hungry, and went to my inventory. And that's when I saw it... an item I had never seen before. I pondered on the fact that no "Something has happened!" message that I had grown to love had appeared. Looking it up everywhere, Shop Wizard, search box, message boards, nobody had ever heard of it. The Ethereal Connection Port was the item. It was weird... the picture was just blue with a hole in it that looked like a telephone jack. I opened it up. There was only one option, "CONNECT". I figured I was never gonna find out what it was, I hit that button. Nothing happened. But then, I looked at my cell phone that was connected to my computer, and it started glowing. It kinda morphed itself. It was still a cell phone, but it had gone blue, the screen bigger, a few menu buttons, and loads of weird stuff. And a wire appeared next to it.

"This is messed," I thought to myself. I convinced myself I was dreaming. And if I was dreaming, there wouldn't be any harm at seeing what would happen, would there? I un-hooked the cell phone wire, and hooked up the new wires. My monitor went blue again, and the phone turned itself on. "NeoP0rt Menu" appeared on the screen of the phone. I scrolled through it, and everything I selected said, "LOCKED". I was stumped. But then I found an option that wasn't locked... "P0rtal Connection". I selected it. Man was I dumb. My computer monitor started flashing... in fact it flashed so brightly I couldn't see. Bright enough for me to pass out. And that light. Cost me my life.

I opened my eyes, to find myself in that plain again. Black field, 1s and 0s flying by, but there was no going back this time. The numbers only made progress. But now there was more than just numbers. Now there were lights buzzing around. Words like .exe and .html took odd forms around me. Beams of light swirled around me. And then the phone started beeping. I looked at the screen. It displayed, "Location: Internet. Sub-Location: Data Transfer Network." I was surprised I hadn't realized it when I saw all the coding and files. I was in the Internet. A physical form of the Internet.

"This is REALLY weird," I said to myself. The phone started going off again. I read the display. "NeoP0rtal Approaching 3%." The percentage rapidly went up. About 3% every second. The, I saw it coming. A bright, glowing, nova of light. And that's when I understood. I understood I had no idea what was going on. I actually did understand something, though. Whatever the NeoP0rtal was, that glowing nova was it. And it was getting closer.

"Well, it's either stay here stranded on the Internet, or see where this takes me. The latter seems like the best choice." I was sick of waiting to see what happened, so I ran towards NeoP0rtal. I touched it, and was engulfed with searing light. And yet again, passed out. It just wasn't turning out to be my day.

To be continued...

Part II: To Dream or Not to Dream?

I woke up in a tunnel of light, but I didn't have to move: the tunnel was moving for me.

"Okay, let's see where I am now." I took out the phone, and it read "Location: Internet. Sub-Location: Ethereal Transfer." Okay, so I wasn't the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree, but I'm sure nobody would understand this. As I started to give up hope, the end of the tunnel was in sight. And it rushed towards me. And I passed through.

I found myself in no world of data or files. I was in a very fertile place. Grass, trees, NeoPets. NEOPETS!? Yep, that's what I saw. I saw a fire Shoyru sitting by a tree. I checked the phone to see if it could tell me where I was. "Location: Neopia. Sub-Location: Neopia Central." I was convinced I was dreaming now. There was no way this could be happening. Determined to make the most out of this dream, I walked over to the fire Shoyru. As soon as he saw me, he leaped up and started bouncing around me.

"Human, human, human!" he shouted as he leaped around me. He kept bouncing and leaping, and when I saw an opportunity to ask him a question, I went for it.

"Hey, slow down!" I yelled. "What's your name?"

"My name?" the Shoyru said. "My name is Orichalkon!"

"No.. way! You're.. my NeoPet! I remember playing with you on my computer! Back on.. Earth. I'm Brad... or you might know me as Gundamblaze."

"I know you as Brad! I know who you are! I've waited so long to meet you! Did you get the gift I sent you?" He asked me. I assumed he was talking about the Ethereal Connection Port.

"Yes.. I got it. And it messed up my cell phone. Look at it now." I took it out and showed it to Orichalkon.

"That's not a phone! It's a NeoP0rt!" He seemed to really know what he was talking about. Of course, I had no clue.

"Yes, of course, NeoP0rt. Umm.. just what is a NeoP0rt?" I wanted answers.

"You really are stupid boy! NeoP0rt is a very high-tech device used for transferring physical objects into data and back! It's how you got here!"

Surprisingly, it all seemed to make sense. How else could a person actually be IN the Internet? "Okay.. and why me?"

Orichalkon made it seem like a stupid question. "Because I brought you here! I wanted to see you!"

"No, I mean.. why just me? If they could, wouldn't all the NeoPets bring their owners here?"

"Of course not! Because they don't have Ethereal Connection Ports!"

"Oh, really, well, how did you get it?"

Orichalkon started talking. "Well, you see, it all happened two weeks ago..."

******************

Orichalkon was walking out of the BattleDome. "Whew, another match won." Orichalkon was about to head towards his house when he heard something behind him. Like something metal hitting the ground. He turned around to see a metal CD, colored frosted-red.

"What's... this?" Orichalkon asked himself as he picked it up. It started sparking, causing Orichalkon to throw it across the room. He picked it up again, but nothing happened this time. Orichalkon decided he should go home and check the item on his computer. He flew out of the BattleDome and back to his house.

********

"Okay, let's see what we got here," Orichalkon said as he popped the disc into his CD-Rom drive. Orichalkon's screen started to go all blue and shine all over the house.

"This is so weird...," Orichalkon said to himself. Then, the screen went normal again, and displayed an item lookup.

"Ethereal Connection Port... might as well give it to my owner...." Orichalkon hit the submit button and sent the item to Brad. It then listed a whole bunch of things about NeoP0rts and such.

******************

"... And that's how it all happened Brad. As for finding out how the NeoP0rt worked, I received a strange e-mail about it." I was just sitting there, astonished. I couldn't believe what I had just heard, nor could I believe I was sitting here in an imaginary world. But I was. If this was a dream, I would've woken up by now. I had found the place that enchanted us in our dreams...

I had found Neopia.

To be continued...

Part III: NeoP0rts, NeoP0rts, Everywhere

"This is... insane." I talked to myself, even though my very own NeoPet was in my presence. "So, you just found it laying around?"

Orichalkon replied, "Yeah. And the weird thing was, it must've been put there only a few seconds before I noticed it. I heard it fall on the ground." I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

"This is weird, even when I am sitting here, talking to a NeoPet." I was trying to make sense of everything that was happening. Not logical sense, but sense none the less. "So, Orichalkon, are there more humans here? I mean, in Neopia?"

"I think I've seen a few. Some friendly, some not. I guess they all got here using NeoP0rts too...," I immediately cut him off.

"That means they must've had discs like the one you found! Maybe if we find them we can find out more about the red discs..." I was becoming used to Neopia very quickly, now becoming interested in everything there was to find out, and not thinking that anything that moved was out to get me. Well, they probably WERE out to get me... but that's not the point.

"Brad, you're kinda underestimating the difficulty of what you're requesting, aren't you? Neopia is really big! The others could be anywhere!" Of course, he was right. Finding the others would be amazingly challenging. I figured I should go home and think of a plan. Unfortunately, it wasn't that easy.

"Well, Orichalkon, I guess I should go home now. I'll be back tomorrow! So, how do I get out of here?" Orichalkon looked at me depressed. I knew that wasn't good news. "That's just the thing... once you're here, you can't leave." I was speechless. Neopia was cool and all, but I couldn't spend the rest of my life there! I figured I should make the best out of it.

"So, Orichalkon, I wanna see my NeoPoints!" Orichalkon nodded, and said, "Come on, let's go to my house." I was very anxious. As I walked around, it was cool seeing all the other NeoPets. I had imagined Neopia before, and it was nothing like this. This one was even cooler. Alas, we arrived at Orichalkon's house, and he showed me inside.

It was a pretty nice place. Good computer, soft couch and bed, some toys and other miscellaneous items(and I recognized quite a few of them), and a few other things, with little or no relevance. "So, Orichalkon, can I see the red disc?"

Orichalkon looked at me. "Didn't I tell you? The red disc vanished after I sent the item."

"Weird.." I figured I should make myself comfortable, so I collapsed on the bed. Being transferred across the world takes a lot out of you. I looked at Orichalkon on the computer. "Just what are you doing?"

He turned around to face me. "Looking for NeoPets that have any humans with them. So far, no luck." I figured I should let him do his search, so I decided to screw around with the NeoP0rt for a bit. I found some unlocked things that were locked before. None of them were very useful. E-Mail, NeoPet Lookups, File Transfer, and other things just about on any computer... that's when I found NeoP0rt Scanner. It scanned for any nearby NeoP0rts. I figured it was worth a shot. I tried it, but all that happened was a message pop-up that said, "NeoP0rt found, too far to scan." That wasn't very helpful, I knew there were others. So I tried phoning home. Just shows how stupid I am. Probably best it didn't work.. imagine the long distance charges.

"Hey Brad, come take a look at this..." I walked over to the computer. I had no idea what I was looking for. "Looks like the Emperor of Shadows is coming." THAT was a term I had never heard used before.

"Just who is the Emperor of Shadows?" I asked, completely confused and uneducated on the subject.

"He's a human, just like you. But he's evil. He goes from village to village, slaying NeoPets and stealing their powers to make his NeoPet stronger."

"Just what type of NeoPet does he have?" I figured that if we were gonna be afraid of something, I might as well now.

"A Darkness Eyrie. His wings are massive, they call him the Gryphon of Evil. It seems neither of them have a straightforward name." I was starting to get worried, when all of a sudden my NeoP0rt got a signal. I never exited NeoP0rt Scanner.

"That's either another human or the Emperor of Shadows. Let's hope it's the first one." It would turn out to be both. Another signal moving twice as fast headed towards the first one. Figuring I had nothing to lose(that's how stupid I was), I ran outside, looking for the humans. Orichalkon followed me. I saw another kid with his striped Shoyru, and a weird boy dressed in weird clothes. I took out my NeoP0rt and used the NeoPet Lookup.

"Okay, that Shoyru is... Striped Female Shoyru, Level 5, and Good stats. And the Eyrie... Darkness Male Eyrie, Level 23, Awesome stats... hey kid, with that Shoyru, you don't stand a chance!" The boy looked at me evilly, and turned back to the Emperor. Sent a really cold chill down my spine. The boy then tossed the Emperor a bag of NeoPoints, and the Emperor ran off. "Nice strategy," I said as I walked up to him. "My name's Brad.. this is my Shoyru Orichalkon. This is my..." The boy cut me off.

".. first day here, right? I figured. I'm Ryo, and this is SnowOhki. The details and strategies behind me are no concern of yours. In fact, how about our pets fight?" I was shocked by what the conversation progressed to.

"Come on Brad, lemme fight her!" Orichalkon yelled at him. I had to try and stop him.

"Orichalkon, no way!" But, my calls were in vain. For SnowOhki and Orichalkon had already started the duel...

To be continued...

Part IV: Red Disc, Why Art Thou Here?

SnowOhki and Orichalkon were really going at it, it seemed that Ryo didn't have to make any battle commands at all! It had appeared that none of the pets were using any equipment, I was wondering if that was good or bad. I came to the decision that it would be best to just let them go at it.

"You're.. better... than you look," SnowOhki said while she was blocking Orichalkon's attacks and using her own. Ryo took out his NeoP0rt and performed a NeoPet Lookup.

"Okay... Fire Male Shoyru, Level 7. Good stats... I wasn't expecting this." Ryo looked a little worried that he would lose. Just then Orichalkon got behind SnowOhki, grabbed her by the neck and tripped her to the ground.

SnowOhki got up, and charged at Orichalkon, bombing him into the ground. Before she could attack again, I yelled, "You win!" I might as well have, SnowOhki would've won with a few more hits. Orichalkon walked back up to me, and SnowOhki had already vanished into the brush.

"So, another new one? How did you get here?" Ryo asked me. He must've had a major mood swing.

"Umm... my Shoyru found a red disc on the ground. He put it in his computer and it turned out to be an Ethereal Connection Port item.. I used it, and it turned my cell phone into a NeoP0rt. Then I got connected to the Internet.. and ended up here."

Ryo took out his NeoP0rt. It was just like mine, only red. "This used to be a palm pilot. There's something I think of every day... why oh why did I have to use that item?"

This thing just kept getting weirder and weirder... just why was it our pets that received the red discs? And how could this place be real? These answers were not to be handed to me. "So, how did SnowOhki get the disc?"

"She said she dropped a NeoPet card into her CD-Rom drive, and when she opened it back up the drive, the red disc was there."

"So.. it changed from something else? Orichalkon, when the red disc appeared, did anything on you happen to go missing?" Okay, so maybe the answers were being handed to me. Not clearly, though.

"Well, now that you mention it... my membership card at the BattleDome went missing... I got a spare one though. But I guess that's not what you're wondering. So, you think that my membership card was turned into a red disc?"

"It makes sense, don't you think? You heard something drop, maybe it dropped out of your pack." The answers were starting to reveal from the haze now. "One last question: Why us?"

Ryo answered quickly. "That's something even I have yet to figure out. It doesn't make any sense, really... all I know is that I wish I could go back, just for one day." A very depressed look went over Ryo's face.

"Just how long have you been here?" I figured he wouldn't say more than a week or so. Boy was I wrong.

"About 7 months now... I tell you, living on Neopian foods can sometimes be gross."

"7 months!? Wow, I haven't even been here for a day and I am homesick." I felt sorry for the guy. I could tell he didn't want my sympathy and was probably contemplating whether or not to punch me in the face, but I still felt sorry for him.

"Hey, it's not big deal... this is a cool place. I think we were brought here for a reason, to accomplish something. So I guess if we accomplish that we can go back." Hey, it made sense to me, and I didn't have any better theories.

"Maybe you're right... so I guess we'll just have to accomplish that." The problem was, I had no idea what that was!

"Well, I should be going now. Goodbye Brad, until we meet again." Ryo walked off. I figured it was best not to stop him. He looked like someone itching for a fight. And honestly, he'd kick my butt. So I let him slip away. My only source of answers.

"So, Orichalkon, what's the deal with that Emperor of Shadows guy?"

"Not really much to him. He's just your evil maniac on the loose. He's after something, but nobody is really sure what."

"But... he's a kid just like me. I wonder what he could possibly want. I can't really imagine anything cooler than just being here!" That was the truth. This was the coolest thing ever. "Come on Orichalkon, I've waited a long time to be here, you've gotta show me around!"

"Okay Brad... where do you want to go first?"

"Where else? The BattleDome!"

********

We arrived at the BattleDome. I was in utter awe. It was just as I had imagined it. I walked up to the counter, where a Lupe was there to take our registry. Orichalkon handed me the membership card. I swiped it through, and let myself in.

"Orichalkon, this is so cool! I can't believe I am..." I stopped dead in my tracks. Because I saw a Halloween Nimmo drop a floppy disc. And I watched it turn into a red disc. I took out my NeoP0rt to see if I could verify anything. Then I thought, "I just saw something turn into a red disc! What more proof do I need?" I walked over to the Nimmo, and said hi.

"Um, hi.. just who are you?" The Nimmo looked puzzled. Maybe it was as dull as me.

"I'm Brad, and this is my Shoyru, Orichalkon. Did you just see that floppy disc that fell out of your bag turn into a red disc?" I pointed him towards the red disc.

"I never.. noticed." I picked up the disc and walked over to a public PC. I popped the disc in and watched what happened. The screen went blue.

" Ah.. this is what happened with my computer!" Orichalkon said.

"Same here!" I said. The screen then stopped glowing blue, and an item lookup appeared. "So, what's your name Nimmo?"

"Umm.. my name is Cubix," the Nimmo hesitantly replied. He was really freaked out.

"Okay, I got the Ethereal Connection Port item here. Now, if I send this to your owner, he'll be able to travel here. Do you want me to send it?" The Nimmo's face lit up. I was soon surrounded by his chattering, yelling, "YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES!" So, I clicked send. And waited to see if it was successful.

To be continued...

Part V: The Mysterious NeoMail

"Yes! I win again!" Willie yelled as he NeoMailed the user he had just beaten in the BattleDome. "Another victory! Way to go Cubix!" Willie was the owner of that Halloween Nimmo. Just as he was about to challenge another user, a new NeoMail message had arrived for him. He figured it was the guy he was annoying about the victory, but the sender was simply labeled 1001010. There was no subject. Willie opened up the NeoMail. It read:

To the reader of this letter,

You have been chosen to travel through the Internet and Ethereal Plains to come to the true Neopia. Constantly check your inventory for a Ethereal Connection Port, no Something Has Happened! alert will appear. The item will just show up in your inventory.

-Creator of the R2

Willie started laughing. He was thinking someone would have to be a real loser to write something like this. But, just to mock the poor sap, he went to his inventory. No Ethereal Connection Port. Just as he had expected. So he started looking around the message boards, Shop Wizard, and lookups for it. No such item. He knew it. So he started stocking up on his shop. Just as he was going around the site, a something has happened! icon appeared. He found a Codestone! He went to his inventory to get his Codestone, and there it was: an Ethereal Connection Port.

"No way..," Willie muttered to himself. He opened it up, and there was that option: CONNECT. And he chose it. He waited for something to happen, but the window just closed. And his scanner started to glow.

"Ah! What's happening!?" he yelled as he shielded his eyes from the radiance coming from the scanner. The scanner then turned into pure light, and transformed into a Green NeoP0rt.

"No way... I must be dreaming," Willie said as he picked it up. He took the new wire that appeared and hooked the NeoP0rt to his computer. He tried a lot of things, but nothing worked. That is until he found P0rtal Connection.

"This can't be real.. so I want to see what this does." He selected P0rtal Connection, and his monitor shot out blue light. He closed his eyes, and when he opened them, he was in that black plain: The Internet.

"This is.. impossible...," he said as he started at the NeoP0rt, telling him he was in the Internet Data Transfer Network. And then, it happened. The NeoP0rtal snuck up right behind him. And he started running away from it.

"Why is this giant bubble following me around!?" he yelled as he tried to outrun it. And then he tripped on his own foot. He hit the invisible floor hard, making him pass out...

********

"Hey, come on man!" I kept shoving him, trying to get him to wake up. We were in the BattleDome. He wearily opened up his eyes. He saw the NeoPets, and, well, freaked. He got up and cautiously backed away.

"AH! They can't be.. they are! NeoPets! AHH!" He was totally scared. Of course, I tried my best to calm him down.

"Yeah, that was my first reaction too. You would be Willie, I presume."

"Hey, kid, how did you know my name!?"

"Your Nimmo here, Cubix, told me." Okay, so I was making it sound TOO simple.

"My Nimmo told you!?"

"Okay, okay. Just sit down and I'll explain this to you." And after a few calming tones and some elbows in the gut I got him to stay still. And I explained everything to him.

********

Willie was in shock. "This is really weird... but it seems to make a little sense."

"Really? I beg to differ. So, how did you become aware of it? Did you just see it in your inventory?"

"Actually, I was sent a NeoMail. It must've been sent by you." That's when I freaked out.

"Umm.. we didn't send any NeoMails."

"But.. then who sent it?" I was at a loss for answers. What was I supposed to tell this guy? He was expecting me to answer, but I couldn't. So I just said that I didn't know.

"Well.. okay then. So, what do we do now?" He was surprisingly calm, especially after nearly trying to kill me. I had an idea of what we should do.

"Let's battle."

********

"Hey Cubix, I'll try not to beat you too bad," Orichalkon said. The fight was about to begin.

"I know... to do that you'd have to beat me period." The bell rang, and the two NeoPets jumped at each other. With Cubix getting in the first hit.

"Orichalkon, get up!" I yelled at him. He got back up to his feet, and I commanded him into battle. "Slide on the ground and sweep!" Orichalkon complied, but Cubix flew over. "Orichalkon, use both Improved Lightning Beams!" And with that, two massive bolts of lightning shot out of Orichalkon's hands, with one hitting and one blowing a hole in the ceiling.

"Brad, I'm surprised I never took you on when this was just a game!" Willie yelled across the dome.

"Well it isn't a game anymore! Orichalkon, use them again!" We used them in futility, as they all missed.

"You'll have to do better than that! Cubix, dive at him!" Willie was ordering Cubix around like a soldier. I knew I had to act fast, that attack would knock Orichalkon out cold.

"Orichalkon, think fast!" I tossed a Large Metal Shield to Orichalkon, and he guarded with it. And Cubix flew right into it. Knocking Orichalkon back and costing Cubix a lot of energy.

"Okay Orichalkon, use the Improved Lightning Beams to finish him off!" Just has Orichalkon was about to fire the beams, an explosion was heard down the corridor. "What was that!?" I yelled.

"I don't know, but we'll have to put our fight on hold!" Willie exclaimed across the room. Then, Ryo and SnowOhki showed up, emerging from the smoke. Ryo then spoke.

"Time to go, you guys."

To be continued...

Part VI: The Emperor's Sneak Attack

"Hey, another kid!" Willie said as he ran to the exit.

"Hey Ryo.. what's going on here?" I asked him. His mood was extremely serious.

"Emperor of Shadows is bombing this place, NeoPoints aren't gonna get him outta our hair this time." Ryo looked irritated from waiting around, so I started running, and the others promptly followed.

"You know, we might be able to beat his Eyrie if we fight it together," I suggested. Ryo quickly disagreed, saying that it was superior, even for it's level. So we just kept running out of the building.

"Watch it, this guy has like a military with him!" Ryo yelled. Soon after he said that, we came to a 3-way fork in the corridors. Ryo went down the center, Willie went down the left, and I ran down the right.

"Orichalkon, be on the lookout for anything suspicious!" Of course, everything was suspicious by now. The entire building was in flames. But then Orichalkon stopped running.

"Hey Brad, would that count as suspicious?" Orichalkon said to me. I looked ahead to see a very evil looking Faerie Kougra, except he was pure black. Then the Kougra lunged at Orichalkon. I took out the NeoP0rt, desperately trying to find something that could help in the battle. First I performed a NeoPet Lookup.

"Darkness Male Kougra, Level 11, Fair Stats... Orichalkon, you can beat him into the ground!" He could to. Although he was a higher level, his stats were much lower than Orichalkon's. "Use the Improved Lightning Beams!" And with that command, Orichalkon fired the blasts of electricity at the Kougra. He was hit by both shots. But the Kougra wasn't finished yet. While I was frantically scanning through the NeoP0rt, he and Orichalkon were sparring with each other. And then... I found something. The NeoWeapon.

"What does this do?" I muttered to myself as I selected the option called "Level 1 NeoWeapon". Then, Orichalkon turned to me.

"Brad, I feel.. funny!" Orichalkon started to glow, and he put both his fists out in front of him. He then yelled out, "Daichi-Sen!" Just then, a green and blue swirling beam shot out of Orichalkon's fists and right through the Kougra. Yes, right through. The Kougra glowed for a bit, and then vanished into blue light.

"Orichalkon.. you.. killed it!" I was in total shock. I didn't want the creature dead, I wanted it out of the way!

"Brad... you may think I did an evil thing, but I know that I did the right thing." And he did. If we had let it go, it would have continued to hurt others. I quickly pushed the incident out of my mind, and continued towards the exit.

********

"Ryo, are you sure this is the right way?" SnowOhki asked, hovering above Ryo's head.

"It doesn't matter. Any way we take will eventually lead to the exit." A piece of the ceiling fell down, but Ryo just jumped over it with no hesitation. The way Ryo moved was so articulated and easy it was almost as if he knew where to go before it came. Which must've been how he jumped over the 2 Lupes that charged at him.

"Let's see what we have in these two... they're both the same! Darkness Female and Male Lupes, Level 10, Good stats... easy targets." He flipped through the menu and selected "Level 2 NeoWeapon". Then SnowOhki started to glow.

"Hyousetsu Kaen!" SnowOhki shot a blast of sharp ice-sickles out of her hands, slaying both the Lupes into the ground.

"Nice work SnowOhki. Another one bites the dust."

"I know, but... it's too easy." Just as they were about to continue, another Lupe appeared. Ryo flipped out the NeoP0rt.

"Alright... Darkness Male Lupe, Level 17, Great stats... well SnowOhki, here's your challenge."

"Hyousetsu Kaen!" She shot the powerful blasts of ice again, but the Lupe dodged about half of them. The Lupe then shot a powerful breath of fire at SnowOhki, scorching her into the ground.

"Come on SnowOhki, get up! You gotta win this!" SnowOhki forced herself up, and used the Hyousetsu Kaen again, with more luck. Both NeoPets were hurting badly. The lupe then charged at SnowOhki, with a ram that would send her flying. But Ryo jumped in the way, and he was hit with the full force of the blow.

"RYO! You... will... pay!" Ryo's NeoP0rt started going off. Ryo looked at it, as it beeped and read, "Level 3 NeoWeapon reached."

"Okay, SnowOhki, you ready? Level 3 NeoWeapon activate!"

SnowOhki was glowing. She could feel the new power flowing through her body. She did not fight it, she embraced it, for she knew it was the key to winning and saving her owner.

"Okay, Ryo, this is for you! Hora-Gyou!" A powerful blue wave shot from her hands, followed by an immense blast of water and ice. And that was more than enough to finish off the Lupe. SnowOhki then ran over to Ryo.

"SnowOhki... that was amazing!" He slowly got up.

"It was you that activated it, Ryo..."

"All I did was press a button." But that wasn't what SnowOhki meant. "Well, come on, let's get out of here!"

"... Right Ryo..."

********

Willie and Cubix were running down the corridors, watching things go ablaze, lights flickering on and off, and getting the feeling they were being watched.

Cubix asked, "So Willie, what's your impression of Neopia so far?"

"Well, as if it wasn't cool enough as a web site, I think this is awesome! If not a little dangerous..." Their conversation was quickly interrupted when all the lights went out.

"Oh great," Willie sighed. "We're stuck here in the dark." Willie then took out his NeoP0rt, and used the light coming off of it to guide the way. Then, the NeoPet Lookup went off. "Darkness Male Grarrl, Level 10, Fair stats." Willie was aware that there was an enemy in their presence now.

"Psst... Cubix..," Willie whispered, "There is an enemy in this room. And I don't think he's gonna let us..." Just then, the Grarrl shot a blast of fire, setting some rubble ablaze, lighting the area. "Go Cubix, you know how fighting goes!" Cubix lunged at the Grarrl, getting in the first hit. Then the Grarrl set an inferno on Cubix, disabling him to move.

"Cubix, come on, you gotta get out of there!" But it was impossible. Cubix was completely immobile. Willie started going through the NeoP0rt menu, and found something that Brad had missed, Status. It showed Cubix's health constantly going down. Then, the menu closed itself, bringing Willie to the NeoWeapon screen.

"Hey.. what's this? Whatever, I got nothing better to do! Level 1 NeoWeapon activate!" It was that moment Cubix flew into the air, and curled up his wings.

"Sumizone Rakurai!" At that moment, Cubix shot his wings back out, releasing a bolt of black energy. It struck the Grarrl head on. The Grarrl glowed blue for a bit, then vanished.

"Cubix.. you killed him!" Willie couldn't believe what he had seen.

"I had to Willie... he would've done the same to us. Come on, let's get going, the others are probably outside by now!"

********

Brad had exited first, Ryo second, and Willie last. They all met outside to see the Emperor, riding on top of his Eyrie.

"Well well well, what a little group you've formed," the Emperor said mockingly.

I remarked, "If you're going to be our sworn enemy of all time, maybe you could tell us your name!"

"If you must know, my name is Kage." He seemed to have no fear in him, which was quite the opposite for us.

Ryo started to talk. "I am so sick of you, Emperor. Why do you do this? Why is it so important for you to take over Neopia?"

"Quite simple, peasant. Because I can."

"But you're a kid, just like us!" I said. "The creatures here want nothing more than to live in peace and harmony! Why do you want to destroy that?" It appeared that Kage and I were about to get into a verbal argument.

And, a physical one.

To be continued...

Part VII: Two Grand Fights

"Why do I want to destroy that? Well, if you must know, I want to destroy this world and reprogram it to my vision."

I was confused. I wasn't sure if he understood what this world really was. "Reprogram? This place is more than just computer code!"

"Yeah right. NeoPets is just a game, nothing more. Now, I'll show you how much power I have over this world!" With a wave of Kage's hands, a vortex opened up, and started sucking us in. It was a lot like the NeoP0rtal, but was green. The force pulling them all in was too much. Pretty soon, Orichalkon, SnowOhki, Cubix, Ryo, Willie, and I were sucked into the vortex. I heard one thing that Kage said just before I fell in.

"That's what you get for trying to lie to me."

********

"Where.. are we?" I said as I woke up. I found myself in a hazy blue field, with no ground. I was just floating, light blue and mist surrounding me. The others woke up quickly after me. I took out my NeoP0rt. It read, "Location: Ethereal Plains. Sub-Location: None."

"Ugh... Brad, where are we?" Willie said, holding his head.

"Well, according to my NeoP0rt, the Ethereal Plains... but I don't know what they are!" But Ryo seemed to know.

"The Ethereal Plains are a place between the real world and Neopia. Kind of a place of nothingness. But according to Neopian legend, the Ethereal Plains are what give the NeoPets the power to live."

I simply said, "Makes sense." It really didn't, but who was I to doubt this guy? "Hey Ryo, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, what's up?"

"When I was escaping from the BattleDome, I was able to perform something with my NeoP0rt called a..." Willie cut me off.

"Level 1 NeoWeapon, right? The same thing happened to me."

Ryo was ready to answer all our questions. "I reached the Level 3 NeoWeapon in there. NeoWeapon is an ability your NeoPet can use in a situation of crisis if the NeoP0rt is on. It's pretty simple, really." Simple? Nothing about this was simple.

"Okay, so how do we get back, Ryo?" I asked.

"That's where I am stumped." Ryo wasn't going to be able to give me the answers I needed, so I scrolled through the NeoP0rt. As I was scrolling through, a word popped back into my mind: NeoP0rtal. I frantically scrolled through the menu until I came across "Create NeoP0rtal." I selected it, and it said that there was a NeoP0rtal created 200 yards south. I immediately directed everyone, and we flew towards and through the NeoP0rtal. We appeared right back in the face of Kage.

********

"Ha, those stupid children, thinking they could trick... WHAT!?" Kage was put into a fury as we emerged from the NeoP0rtal right into is face. "How are you back here? I sent you to the Ethereal Plains!" I took a step forward.

"You can't get rid of us that easily, Kage. We're here to annoy you..." I made a ghostly voice. "FOREVER!"

"That's right Emperor. We're here to fight you," Ryo said, with SnowOhki loyally by his side.

"I may be new here, but I can tell you're a bad guy," said Willie.

"Whatever. Ritsuzen, attack them!" The Eyrie flew towards us, and landed directly in front of Orichalkon. Leaving them behind, I ran at Kage, and hit him with a direct punch right in the face.

"Kage, you think you can take over all of Neopia? I won't let you!" I punched him again, but he complied with my blows by drawing a dagger. I was overpowered. While I fought with the Emperor, the others were about to take on Ritsuzen...

********

"You're going down you feathered freak!" Orichalkon slurred loudly. But he was thinking, "Brad, I can't use the NeoWeapon without you! We'll need that to win!"

"Let's go Cubix! We can beat this thing!" exclaimed Willie.

"SnowOhki, you better win," said Ryo. And with that, Ritsuzen lunged at SnowOhki. "Big mistake buddy," murmured Ryo, and he had taken out his NeoP0rt. "Level 3 NeoWeapon activate!"

SnowOhki floated up into the air, and yelled the incantation, "Hora- Gyou!" She radiated a blue wave, and fired an icy blast at Ritsuzen. Ritsuzen was blasted back, and dug his claws into the ground as he slid. Willie then took out his NeoP0rt.

"Level 1 NeoWeapon activate!" Cubix flew into the air, curled his wings, and yelled out, "Sumizone Rakurai!" releasing a bolt of dark energy on Ritsuzen. Orichalkon felt very useless without the NeoWeapons, so he just blasted away at Ritsuzen with the Improved Lightning Beams. And with that, Ritsuzen found his next target...

********

"You're not so big now, are you?" Kage said as he held his dagger out. I knew I was in big trouble. I was unarmed, and then there was this kid with a dagger. Overpowering him was out of the question. I had to outsmart him. But, before that, I thought it would be fun to mock him.

"Oh yes, oh all might Emperor of Shadows, please show mercy upon my empty, meaningless life!" I could see anger growing on his face. He would slice me if I didn't stop. So I did, and thought about how I could beat him. Then, a plan hit me. He obviously has a massive ego, and there was a way I could use it to my advantage. "Hey, Kage?"

"What is it!?"

"It's obvious to me now... after seeing all this happen.. NeoPets are nothing more than wandering code on the Internet. I have many dreams of a new Neopia... I was wondering.. could I join you?" With one look at him, I could tell he was buying it.

"I'm glad to see that you've come to your senses. What do YOU want to do with Neopia?"

"Let me see your dagger, I'll draw you a diagram in the mud." Kage foolishly gave it to me. And I immediately drew it to him. "I can't believe you fell for that man!"

"Very clever..." He drew another dagger. "Now I get to fight you." I was up for it. And with that the two daggers clashed...

********

Ritsuzen was taking a brutal onslaught from the 3 NeoPets, who showed no signs of wearing down. Maybe I was right, maybe together we could beat him.

"I'm getting tired.. I don't know how much longer I can shoot these things!" Orichalkon yelled, blasting away with the Improved Lightning Beams.

Ryo said, "Don't give up! We have to keep fighting! Don't worry, I am sure Brad will get here soon!" Ryo kept performing NeoWeapon attacks, while Willie had Cubix bashing away with his fists. And Orichalkon simply shot and shot.

Ritsuzen was starting to get ticked off. He then flew at Orichalkon, ramming him into the dirt. The Eyrie then shot a powerful blast of energy at Cubix, sending him flying. SnowOhki tried to attack with Hora-Gyou, but was cut off by a beam of fire.

"Sorry Ryo.. I did the best I could," said SnowOhki faintly.

"Don't worry about that! I know you tried!" yelled Ryo. Ritsuzen then spoke.

"It's time for this battle to come to a long-overdue end..."

********

Kage and I were clashing and slashing furiously, with no sign of a clear victor.

"Kage, I won't let you do this! Neopia isn't just a game! It's real! They're living creatures!"

"Ha, you expect me to believe that? They're nothing but computer code! Created by people for amusement!"

"You just don't... " I charged at him. "GET IT!" I tackled him as we started rolling down the edge of the cliff.

"You fool! You're going to kill yourself!"

"But Kage, I thought this was nothing more than computer code..."

"We're not code!"

"Then how could we coincide with a world that WAS made of computer code?" This obviously set off Kage into a deep thought. He started thinking, how could they? Maybe Kage was starting to see the truth...

"It must be the NeoP0rts!" Kage said, trying to defend his side. We soon hit the foot of the cliff.

"Give it up! I'm right, okay!? The NeoPets are real! Or else they wouldn't be fighting up there right now!"

"I will defend my dream... Neopia will be mine!!!" I then had no choice. I stabbed him right in the stomach, bringing him to his knees.

"Why won't you just listen to me? Argh!" I then ran up the cliff to join my friends in the battle.

"Are.. NeoPets more than I think?"

********

I had made it to the top of the cliff, where I noticed the battered state of our NeoPets.

"Orichalkon! Are you okay?" I said as I ran over to him, picking him up.

"Well Brad.. I've been better." Just then my NeoP0rt started glowing. It said, "NeoWeapon Level 2 reached." I knew what to do.

"Orichalkon, let's go! Level 2 NeoWeapon activate!!!" Just then, Orichalkon started to glow. He put his hands out like he did with his Level 1, but this was going to be a lot more powerful.

"Shinsei Hougeki!" He yelled out the very oriental incantation as he released a massive barrage of fireballs at Ritsuzen, making him collapse to the ground. The Gryphon of Evil had been overcome, and the Emperor of Shadows lay wounded at the bottom of the cliff.

To be continued...

Part VIII: Pouring of Ether

"Way to go Orichalkon!" I yelled as I ran over to him and rammed him into the ground just for the heck of it. We had beaten the unbeatable. We watched as Ritsuzen vanished into blue energy, into the night. The other's NeoPets had slowly recovered, and just as we were getting happier, Kage was seen, stumbling up the trail up the cliff, holding his stomach.

"Whoa, you got him good," said Ryo. I felt sorry for Kage. I was starting to think that he believed it was all only a game, that he didn't know he was hurting things. If so, how could I possibly blame him of anything? Even though he has caused so much pain? I guess I would just have to wait and see how he reacted.

"You.. I was beaten.. by you," said Kage as he stumbled up to us. He was infuriated, I had never seen anyone so angry in me entire life. "You killed... Ritsuzen. You will... pay! I will destroy this world and everything thing in it with the Ether from the Ethereal Plains!" One thing popped into my mind: What the heck is Ether and how was he gonna use it?

"Your insane!" Ryo yelled at him, and then punched Kage in the face. I made up my mind, we were gonna have to fight Kage. But for a human, he would prove surprisingly strong.

"Orichalkon, Level 2 NeoWeapon activate!" Shinsei Hougeki was used against Kage, which I was sure would kill him, but...

"He blocked it!" yelled out Willie. "How is it possible for a human to stop that!?"

"Oh great. It's my turn. SnowOhki, Level 3 NeoWeapon activate!" commanded Ryo. SnowOhki put her fists out, and yelled, "Hora-Gyou!" Kage was pounded by heavy ice, but was still standing strong. Ryo signalled to Willie.

"Right Ryo! Cubix, Level 1 NeoWeapon activate! Sumizone Rakurai!" Cubix shot out several bolts of dark energy this time, increasing the power of the attack. Kage was struck by every one, but was not dead. A maniacal laughter could then be heard from Kage.

"Mmhmm... Aha.. AHAHAHAHA! I will rip a hole between Neopia and the Ethereal Plains! The power of destructive Ether will pour over this land! Neopia will be destroyed!" I couldn't believe what I was hearing. He was going to use the power of one world to destroy another! This guy was more maniacal than I had ever imagined!

I yelled out, "No! I won't let you!" But it was too late. The rip between the two worlds was already open. I could see the hazy blue energy flowing out. And then, that's when the destructive Ether was activated. Blue beams shout out across the sky, setting anything they touched ablaze. It was such a horrible sight, I could barely keep my eyes open. This was destroying everything I had always dreamed of.. boy! And that was when my NeoP0rt went off.

"What's this?" I said as I looked at it. It said "Ethereal Field Transport". I wasn't sure if this was a good idea in the current situation, but what else was I to do? Nothing.

"Okay, let's try this... Ethereal Field Transport activate!" As soon as I had said this and hit the button, everything went hazy. Literally. We all found ourselves surrounded by haze. Then blue light. And then the ground beneath us seemed to be replaced by an invisible floor like in the Internet. I had to check where we were.

"Okay, let's see where we are now," I said as I looked up our location. It said, "Location: Ethereal Plains. Sub-Location: Field of Ether." I had transported us into the world of Ether!

"Brad, what'd you do!?" Ryo ranted at me. I had no idea what I did. But I knew that the Ether pouring into Neopia while we were here couldn't damage us.

"Come on, let's beat Kage!" Willie yelled. Just then his NeoP0rt activated. The next thing I heard from him was, "Level 2 NeoWeapon activate!"

Light appeared between Cubix's fingers. He yelled out, "Shuriken Kirite!" and threw about 100 razor-discs of light at Kage, making him fall to the ground.

"Orichalkon, use Shinsei Hougeki! Level 2 NeoWeapon activate!" A barrage of fireballs scorched Kage.

"SnowOhki, cast Hora-Gyou! Level 3 NeoWeapon activate!" Kage was plummeted by powerful blasts of water and ice. Just after that, he put his hands up.

"I surrender..," Kage said. He had taken as much as he could. And he had lost.

"I'll let you go," I said. I took out my NeoP0rt, and transported us back to Neopia... where the Ether was still pouring. "I'll let you go if you can stop this."

"Right," he said. He moved his hands in a formation that closed the rip in the Ethereal Plains. The Ether stopped pouring, and Neopia was left with minimal damage.

"If NeoPets have such a strong will to live... they can't just be computer code... what have I done!?" Kage then ran off.

"Kage, wait!" I yelled. But it was in futility. Kage had already ran into the distance, and was beyond eyesight. "Kage... he had no idea what he was doing..."

"I guess we'll be able to return home now," said Ryo.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"If we were sent here for a purpose, it would have to be to stop the Emperor. It seems that he's been stopped, so shouldn't we be able to go?"

"Yes, but those are all theories. How do we know if we were sent here for a reason, and if we were, how do we know if it was to stop Kage?" We all had to think hard about this. I then started talking again. "Plus, we still have no idea who created the red discs. I don't really wanna leave without finding out who brought us here!"

Okay, so we all decided we were going to stay. The problem was, we had no idea where to go to make progress! We knew what to do though...

To be continued...

Part IX: The Red Rom

We had all decided to sleep on it and meet at the ruins of the BattleDome. It was about 8 AM NST when everyone had arrived.

"So, did anyone come up with any plans of action?" I asked. They all shook their heads. So it looked like it was up to me yet again. And sure enough, an idea came to me. "Why don't we try and find Kage?" They all looked at me like I was insane.

"Brad.. have you totally lost it?" Ryo said to me, looking like he was about to give me one in the face.

"Probably. But that's not the point. If anyone knows about the red discs and stuff, it's probably Kage." They all had a different emotion on their face now. It all seemed to make sense. Then Willie spoke.

"That's a good idea.. but we have no idea where to look!" I couldn't believe he was that dense.

"Yes we do! We just look in the direction he ran off in. And we can use the NeoP0rt Scanner to tell us when we get close. Makes sense, doesn't it?" It was probably the only idea I ever had that did make sense. And I was determined to find Kage. He seemed tormented by his mistakes, but he had no idea of the damage he had inflicted.

Ryo got up. "Well, sounds like a plan. But we're not gonna make any progress just sitting around here, are we?" Willie got up too. It looked like we were all ready to hunt down Kage. But it wasn't going to be much of a hunt.

********

"My hands are so stained with blood..," Kage said to himself. He was hiding out in the woods just a little east of the BattleDome ruins. "I even let my own Eyrie die... and I turned all those NeoPets into Darkness. I thought.. it was just a game of domination. But.." A single tear fell down his face. "THEY WERE REAL!!!" He took out his NeoP0rt. "This was meant to be used for good.. but I used it as a tool of evil. And now.. I have no NeoPet. And I am stranded here... where I won't be accepted... anywhere." His NeoP0rt started beeping. It sensed that there were other NeoP0rts nearby. "I must make peace with them..." And then he exited the forest to look for us.

********

My NeoP0rt went off. He was close. REALLY close. "Come on guys, this way!" I yelled as I lead them in the direction of the exit of the forest. And then I saw him, Kage, blood stained shirt and all.

"Kage!" I ran over to him just before he collapsed. I caught him, and laid him down on the ground.

"Brad... thanks. I was looking for you. I've come to ask for forgiveness." I believed him when he said that. The look on his face was one of extreme sorrow... I could swear I saw spots on his face where he had been crying.

"I know you're sorry for what you did, Kage. You thought it was all just a game.. with me being so competitive I probably would've done the same thing." Kage laughed. I felt so much sympathy I almost forgot what I needed him for! I needed to ask him about the red discs! "Kage, I need to ask you something!"

"Sure, what is it?"

"We were wondering if you knew anything about the red discs. We can't seem to figure out where they came from!"

"Well, I don't know who created them or why we were chosen, but I do know how they came to be."

"Really, how?" Orichalkon asked what I was about to ask.

"Once an object came in contact with the Internet, the objects downloaded some strange data that turned them into red discs. I also know that the correct term for them are Red Roms, or R2s." Willie spoke up.

"That's weird... the NeoMail I received was signed by the creator of the R2!" We all looked at him. That NeoMail could be a vital clue in finding the creator.

"Hey Kage, is there anyway we could access NeoMail from inside Neopia?" I asked. He promptly replied.

"Yea, it's possible. Just have to get in between the connection of Neopia and the Internet. That can be tapped into with your NeoP0rt. Just go to the e-mail section." I was surprised it never hit me before. What would be Neopia's form of e-mail? NeoMail! Willie had entered the e-mail section and logged in. He showed all of us the NeoMail.

"User 1001010?" Kage asked himself. "Someone's trying to be secretive. We just have to find out what that sequence means." We all pondered on how we could track down the sender. We tried a strange "Input Sequence" option on the NeoP0rt, but it just said, "Not recognized". So, it was back to the drawing board. Then it hit us: The IP Address. The IP Address was the unique address that every computer had. And after thorough checking, a NeoP0rt had one too. So, if the person sent the message by NeoP0rt or computer, we could track them. The question was, how? I asked Kage that, and he was quick to answer.

"Every type of communication is tracked and saved somewhere. E-Mail, NeoMail, anything. All we have to do is find where NeoMails are saved. We can do that by accessing the real world's servers. Do that from any PC. And I'm an expert hacker, so I can do it." Well, that was the most confusing thing I've ever heard. But who was I to doubt him? So, we all packed up and went to Orichalkon's house to use the PC.

********

Kage was typing furiously at the computer while the rest of us obliviously watched.

"What's he doing?" Orichalkon asked me.

"I have absolutely no idea," I replied. I didn't either. Although I like to consider myself skilled at computers, this guy was way outta my league. Just then, I heard him yell, "I'm in!"

I walked over to look at the screen. Billions and billions of NeoMails! But, since the user we were looking for only sent 1 NeoMail, it was easy to find. Kage quickly wrote down the IP Address.

"Okay, so we have that special address. Now what?" SnowOhki asked. We were all thinking the same thing.

"Now we have to track where it came from. This is the hardest part." But it wouldn't be as difficult as we thought. Just as we were about to track it, my NeoP0rt started beeping. It was a NeoMail. It read:

You have come seeking answers about why you were brought here. You have proven yourself worthy and determined enough by trying to hack into my computer. It is now time for you to seize those answers. I have the answers you seek. I will be waiting for you all in the Field of Ether.

Yours truly,

Sakari.

"Uh, hey guys, maybe you should read this..," I muttered in utter disbelief. The person who knew everything had been watching us, and now we were invited to see them! I went outside, and got the NeoP0rt ready. The rest followed.

"Okay guys, are you all ready?" They all nodded. "Okay, let's go!" I took out the NeoP0rt and hit the button. "Ethereal Field Transport activate!" Blue light flowed out from the NeoP0rt, and soon we were surrounded in blue light and haze. The infamous invisible floor replaced the ground beneath us. We were in the Field of Ether... but no sign of anyone! Until.. we saw an vortex open, like the one Kage sent us through. An Ether Portal. And then, it opened...

To be continued...

Part X: Many Questions Answered

The vortex opened, and out stepped a girl. A young Japanese girl with a skirt and button top. And I'm sure all the rest of the guys would agree with me that she was very pretty. She walked nearer to us and humbly said, "Hello."

I walked up closer to her. "Um, hi. Would you happen to be Sakari?" She nodded. For someone that we thought would've been very evil, she proved to be very nice. At least that's what we thought at the beginning... "So, what's your business in all this?"

"I was the original programmer of the NeoP0rts and R2s. My proudest achievement was incorporating the NeoWeapons."

"That would explain the names of the attacks. They sounded a little Japanese."

"Indeed. I thought it would make them less identifiable."

"Okay, I need to ask you: Why were we chosen to become the holders of the Red Roms, and how were those objects transformed into them?"

"It was actually completely random. I made a web page that had a special code encrypted into it. The pets eventually surfed onto it, and the code was put on their computer. The object that came in touch with the system of the computer was turned in an R2, which had all the data needed to create the NeoP0rts and open the gates of the Internet."

"But wait! Orichalkon didn't get his at home, he got his at the BattleDome!"

"He accessed the site from one of the public PCs there. And his membership card was the next thing to touch the internal systems." Willie stepped forward.

"I have a question. Why was I the only one that received a NeoMail from you?"

"I sent NeoMails to all of you, but the NeoPets website intercepted all but yours." I started asking questions again.

"Why is there a NeoPets website when it really exists?"

"After I first witnessed Neopia, I told my friend about making a website about it. I never told him it was really there though.. it was too secret. That friend was the creator of the NeoPets site. I gave him every NeoPet the site has, and every time I discovered a new one, I told him about it." Kage stepped forward.

"Everything so far makes sense, but there are still some things unanswered. Are NeoPets digital? If not, what are they made of? And how do they exist past the Internet?"

"All simple. NeoPets are made from a little bit of everything. A very small amount of computer code, Ether, and actual animal life form. As for existing past the Internet, it was simply used for turning you into temporary data making the travel through the Ethereal Plains and to Neopia move faster." It was all starting to make sense. Confusing sense, but sense. But I needed to know more. So I asked.

"If you wanted to keep this place so secret, why'd you make it so people could travel here?"

"An experiment to see if it was possible for other humans to travel here. And my experiment worked."

"But why did you want to see if other people could come here?"

"Because I want to turn Neopia into a place where people can travel to and from freely.. for a price, that is." Suddenly the nice little girl was gone, replaced by an insane greedy maniac. I had to protest.

"You can't make this world public! Humans will destroy it! The NeoPets need to live by themselves!"

"Do I really look like I care about the well-being of these filthy creatures?" She took out her NeoP0rt. Her's was silver. "My NeoPet is for one thing: Fighting! Sansensa, come! Ethereal NeoPet Transport!" Another Ether Portal opened, and out came her NeoPet... a Snowager!?

"I'm not seeing what I think I'm seeing!" said Orichalkon. And all of us were thinking the same thing. Orichalkon asked, "Where did you get a NeoPet like that!?"

"It was a very rare kind NeoPet I found. I never told the NeoPets site that it was a NeoPet, I simply told them an idea about the Snowager. I am responsible for the entire game.. but it's more than a game now."

"I'm afraid I can't help much without a NeoPet to fight with..," said Kage. Just then his NeoP0rt glowed. And who came out of the light but Ritsuzen. "Ritsuzen! But... how!?" Ritsuzen was now yellow.

"Kage, when I was defeated, only the Darkness was defeated, because that's what they were fighting against, not me. The same thing happened to all the other NeoPets you tainted with Darkness." It was a miracle. Ritsuzen was the strongest NeoPet here. We now had a great chance.

I then took out my NeoP0rt and did a NeoPet Lookup. "Blue Male Ager, Level 35, outstanding stats... we're in for a tough fight here guys!" Then Orichalkon stepped up to me.

"Don't worry Brad, I'm here with you the whole time!" My NeoP0rt started beeping. "NeoWeapon Level 3 reached." Cubix walked over to Willie.

"Come on Willie, we've come too far to back down now!" Willie's NeoP0rt reacted. Now Cubix had reached NeoWeapon Level 3. Ritsuzen stepped forward.

"I may have been your tool of evil... but now I will make up for my mistakes!" Ritsuzen then received his first NeoWeapon. I walked forward to lead the group.

"We will not let you take over this world for your own personal gain! We will defeat you, Sakari! You will lose!"

"We'll just see about that..."

To be continued...

Part XI: Duel With Sansensa

Sansensa dove towards Orichalkon, the fight had begun. And I wasn't going to hold back.

"Orichalkon, let's do this! Level 3 NeoWeapon activate!" Orichalkon put his arms in front of him like an "X" formation, as they gathered energy. He then yelled, "Genshihou!", and released the energy in the form of a massive cannon shot.

"You too Cubix! Level 3 NeoWeapon activate!" A horde of dark energy formed a scythe in Cubix's hands. He sliced at Sansensa with it, yelling out, "Nekuri Setsudanki!"

Ryo said, "Come on SnowOhki, it's your turn. Level 3 NeoWeapon activate!" SnowOhki flew into the sky, and called the incantation, "Hora- Gyou!" Sansensa was hit by a massive blast of ice.

"Come on Ritsuzen, let's try this out!" said Kage. "Level 1 NeoWeapon activate!" Ritsuzen readied himself, and yelled out, "Ro-Yaru Kaen!" releasing a powerful blaze of fire. Sansensa was taking a beating, but it was far from over. Sansensa hadn't even started yet.

Sakari yelled out, "Come on Sansensa, let's show them what a real NeoPet is made of! Level 5 NeoWeapon activate!" We all gasped. I was thinking, What!? Level 5!? No way!

Sanensa arched itself, and roared out, "Majutsu Bakudan!" He shot out a powerful bomb of black magic at Orichalkon... which Kage intercepted.

"KAGE!" I yelled out. But then I remembered how strong he was. He was more than just an average human.

"I'll be okay... I'm the only person here who actually can fight this thing.. so I'll fight alongside the NeoPets..." He drew his two daggers. "Even if it costs me my life." I marveled at him. This guy was amazing. I would fight with alongside him, but I would die in a second. So, I stayed there, with my only contribution being leading Orichalkon into battle.

"You guys are better than you look... but I will win! Sansensa, get the blonde boy!" That would be me. I didn't know what I was going to do. So I did the only thing I could. I stood my ground. And that's when the Ager dove at me.

"Brad, catch!" Kage yelled at me as he threw me the dagger. As soon as Sansensa came, I ducked, leaving the dagger held up. And it sliced right through him. The roars of pain were unbearable.

"Sansensa! No!!!" Sakari yelled. She saw all her dreams of glory roaring before her eyes. And then.. Sansensa vanished into light. And she cried. Cried for the lost life of her NeoPet. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. But I showed her no sympathy. She deserved everything that we had dealt out. But then she just started laughing. She intertwined her hands in and out, and the blue light formed back into Sansensa.

"AH! No way!" Ryo yelled in disbelief. None of us could understand how this had happened.

"Welcome to the Ethereal Plains, the place that I control! Sansensa, get the one that tried to kill you!" Me again. So I just held the dagger out. And I gave him a good stab when he dove at me again.

"Come on guys! All together!" I yelled. Then, all at the same time, we yelled, "NeoWeapon activate!" They all attacked together. Orichalkon's Genshihou, Cubix's Nekuri Setsudanki, SnowOhki's Hora-Gyou, and Ritsuzen's Ro-Yaru Kaen. All I could see were massive shots of fire, darkness, ice and light. Then Kage ran up to the beast, calling out, "Ethereal Bomb!" A massive blast of Ether was shot at the Ager, making him go back even further.

"Sansensa, get up! Level 5 NeoWeapon activate! Majutsu Bakudan!" Kage was hit by the magical bomb, and knocked back into me. He could barely move, so I had to hold his support until he regained his balance. He then got up and got back into the fight.

"What do we do? We tried all our tricks and they're just not working!" Cubix yelled out to us. I figured the best thing to do was scan the NeoP0rts to see if there were any new options. Unfortunately, no new ones. There was one that caught my eye called, "Weaponize," but it was locked. So it looked like we were going to have to fight with what we had. Then something hit me. She couldn't use the NeoWeapon without her NeoP0rt.

"Orichalkon! Aim for her NeoP0rt! Level 3 NeoWeapon activate!" Orichalkon rolled to the left so Sansensa was not in the way, and yelled out, "GENSHIHOU!" and released a massive cannon of energy from his arms. He got good aim too. It hit the side of the NeoP0rt facing out, and didn't even touch Sakari. "Great shot!" I said to him.

"That's it Sakari, you're through!" Kage ranted.

"Your source of power is gone!" yelled Willie.

"It's all over. Give up," said Ryo.

I noticed Sakari was about to give out another command. So I thought it was best to shut her up. I charged at her, tackled her, and put my hand over her mouth so she couldn't speak. "Come on guys, do it now!" I yelled. I knew I couldn't hold her for too long, she was pretty strong, about half as strong as Kage. She frantically tried to kick me and move her head out of reach from my hand. The others had gotten in a nice few hits until she finally kicked me off. She yelled out, "Sansensa, get this creep!" I was in for it. Why must he always attack me?

"Brad, you still have the dagger!" Ryo yelled to me. I reached to my belt, and there it was. I took it out and ran towards Sansensa. Yes, I was taking the offence.

"NeoPets, my daggers can absorb power! Everyone, aim your attacks at the dagger! Brad, put the dagger down!" I did as he ordered, and watched them all use their NeoWeapons on the dagger. It was glowing white and black, smoldered in fire and yet covered in ice. I picked it up, and felt an incredible power surge through me. So I picked up the dagger, jumped, and sliced the Ager right down the middle. The screams of pain made my spine shiver. Then, my NeoP0rt went off.

"What's this?" I asked myself. "Absorber? Well, let's give it a shot! Absorb activate!" Sansensa had turned into blue light. But it didn't just float off. It went right into my NeoP0rt. I had absorbed Sansensa.

"AH! No! Sansensa! You took him away! I can't bring him back now!" Well, it appeared that what I did was for the best. "If Sansensa couldn't beat you.. I will!" I wasn't prepared to fight her! It's just the way she looked.. I couldn't hit her! But I knew I had to... "Sakari Mitsukai!" she yelled out. Just then, she grew a pair of angel wings. A long rod appeared in her hands, which had a pickaxe blade at the end. Her shoes turned into a pair of long boots, and her clothes turned all black. Her hair started to queerly float in the air. It was the weirdest thing I had ever seen. I had to look twice before I believed it. But it had happened. An angel had appeared before my eyes.

To be continued...

Part XII: The Final Battle

"Let me show you what true power is!" Sakari yelled out. She held out her rod, releasing a massive blast of forceful energy that only Orichalkon and I were prepared for. The others went flying about 20 feet back, while me and Orichalkon stood our ground and were only knocked back a few feet. She then created a dome that encased Orichalkon and I in with her. We were the only ones there to fight!

"Brad!" Ryo yelled out to me. At least, that's what I think he said. I couldn't hear a word of it. All I knew is that I was in for the toughest fight of my life. Just then I looked at my NeoP0rt. Weaponize was unlocked.

"Okay Orichalkon, let's try this! Weaponize activate!" A beam of light soon surrounded Orichalkon. When it vanished, he was totally different. His wings were covered in metal feathers, he wore a metal helm and metal set of claws with guns on them and a metal set of shoes. It was the coolest thing I have ever seen. Then I noticed that the Level 4 NeoWeapon had been activated. We were strong now, really strong. "Okay, now let's win this thing! Level 4 NeoWeapon Activate!"

Orichalkon put his claws out, and panels in them opened up to reveal rockets. He called out, "Rensha Noroshi!" and blasted Sakari with a barrage of bullets and rockets. But Sakari responded by casting a spell she referred to as, "Zokunen Denpa". It was a wave of pure darkness that struck Orichalkon to the ground. But Orichalkon recovered quickly.

"Come on Orichalkon! We can win this!"

"Ha, you really think you can beat me? Kokushibyou Kusari!" A dozen or so black chains shot out and restrained Orichalkon, and started draining his energy. She made the chains bring Orichalkon to her face.

"Foolish Orichalkon... trying to beat me, it's in futility! Look at you, you're so pathetic, standing there, without a hope." He had a hope. I still had the dagger. And so I threw it as hard as I could, and it cut through every chain, releasing Orichalkon. He backed away, flew into the air, and resumed firing the guns...

********

"I can't stand this!" Ryo said as he pounded on the dome. "Brad's in there fighting and we can't do a thing!" Kage walked over to him.

"Yes, we can do something. We can believe that he can do this." The NeoPets were sitting on the ground with their eyes closed. "That's exactly what they're doing."

"I'd rather watch this," said Willie. "How often to you get to see something like this?" They all sighed.

********

Sakari repeatedly tried to get Orichalkon with the chains, but he wasn't going to fall for it twice. Then, she grabbed my wrist, but I quickly cut myself free. Just as she withdrew the chain, I grabbed onto it, and she pulled me right up to her. I took this opportunity to grab her rod. I then gave her a quick slice in the arm before withdrawing.

"Okay, let's see if this works... Kokushibyou Kusari!" Okay, so the chains came out, but I had no idea how to control them! Sakari simply laughed at me, and that made me really angry. It made me want to attack her... and then the chains flew after her.

It seemed that the way to use the chains was to really want to attack the person you wanted the chains to go after. So I kept that anger in my mind, and eventually the chains restrained her. I brought her over to me, but kept her at a distance so that she wouldn't be able to hit me. "Give me one reason to let you live," I said.

"I will never let you show me mercy," she spitefully replied. When she said that, I swung the chains so that she was pounded into the side of the dome. She forced some words out of her mouth. "Why is what I am doing so wrong!? I just want people to enjoy this world!" I replied as I kept hitting her against the side of the dome.

"Imagine over a hundred Emperors of Shadows! That's what would happen if you let people come here! This whole place would be destroyed! NeoPets would be locked up as curiosities! Is that what you want!?"

"I just.. want people to be happy..." At that moment she returned to her normal self, and a black shadow erupted out of her body. It was then that I realized she had been a host for something else. A demon. I then saw a body form from the shadow, the most horrible thing I had ever seen. She was a sorceress, but had the type of body of a wolf.

"No way!" I yelled as I saw the beast. She recalled the rod to her own possession. She then started telepathically communicating with me.

"I am Kisei, the sorceress of west Neopia. I want nothing more than to kill this world and bring the humans here to turn into hybrids like myself. Sakari was simply a pawn in my doings, a cover up. And now that you know, you will die... I will not let anyone, human or NeoPet, stop me! I hate myself! I will not be alone in my suffering anymore!"

"Wait! Was everything she told us about the NeoPets site and NeoP0rts true?"

"Yes. She said that of her own will. She did intend to bring people here using the NeoP0rts, but only a few, not the entire world. Now, we will fight!" About 100 chains erupted from the rod. Orichalkon and I knew that the first thing to do was take out every chain. Otherwise we wouldn't stand a chance. Orichalkon started shooting at the chains, while I sliced every one I saw. Every so often I had to go and block Sakari's unconscious body while fighting off the chains at the same time. At one moment she shot a chain straight at me, and with amazing rage I grabbed it and pulled Kisei right into the dome wall. She quickly recovered, but it was one more point for us.

After several minutes, all the chains had been cut off. But that left Kisei open to attack us head on. And that's exactly what she did, going after Orichalkon first...

********

"Okay, this is getting really weird!" Ryo ranted as he furiously banged on the dome. Kage tried to calm him down.

"Hey, ease up man. Brad's gonna be okay! I'm sure of it."

"Yeah, but I can't say the same for Sakari. She's a sitting duck just laying there," said Willie.

"Wait, let me get this straight," Ryo said. "Sakari wasn't the real bad guy, it was the weird wolf woman that came out of her?" The others nodded. "Man this world is messed up."

Kage said, "You know, we can leave any time we want. We have the ability to go back to Neopia on our NeoP0rts too."

"No way," said Willie. "We've got to be here for Brad. Besides, this fight is awesome!" They all sighed again.

********

"Finaru Sakaime!" roared Kisei mentally. She must have still been using the same dialogue as Sakari. A thousand tiny rays of light shot at us, and I was brutally hurt, while Orichalkon, being a NeoPet, took the blows but kept on fighting. Then, I looked at the dagger that Kage had given me. It was glowing. It must've absorbed some of the rays! I drew it out, and waited for her to attack again. And she did. In fact, she attacked three more times. I took a lot of hits, so I stood in front of Sakari, since I was going to be hit anyway. The dagger was overflowing with power now, and was ready to slice.

"Okay Orichalkon, let's finish this! Level 4 NeoWeapon activate!" Orichalkon used the Rensha Noroshi ability, and bombarded Kisei with dozens of rockets and bullets. Then, I took the dagger, and charged at Kisei, and slashed her full across, releasing all her energy back at her with one powerful blow. And that was just enough to finish it.

"NO! It can't be! I can't... lose!!!" But she did. After a few seconds, she just vanished into blue light. And the dome.. merely vanished. All the others came running in.

"That was awesome, Brad!" Ryo yelled.

"I'd pay to see that again," commented Willie.

"Seems you made good use of my dagger," said Kage. Orichalkon had reverted to it's normal state, and all the NeoPets were cheering.

"Save the celebrations for later," I said. "We have to take care of Sakari." I went over and put my hand on her forehead. "Her fever is getting bad. If we don't do something soon she won't wake up.. ever." I picked her up, and had Kage use his NeoP0rt to transport us back to Neopia.

Part XIII: Back to the Other Side

It had been about three hours after we left the Field of Ether when Sakari finally woke up. I said, "Welcome back," when she woke up.

"Huh? Where am I?" she said to me.

"Do you remember anything?" I said.

"Yes... I remember up to when you asked me why I wanted people to travel to Neopia.. then later on, I remember saying, "I just want people to be happy," or something like that."

We had a lot of explaining to do. So she just sat back while we laid out the entire situation for her.

********

"That's really.. weird." She was really freaked out by the stuff we had just told her. Now I had a question for her.

"So, if you're the one that brought us here, I guess you're the one that can send us back, right?"

"If you destroyed my NeoP0rt, the NeoP0rtal should open soon or already be open. The NeoP0rt was the only thing keeping it closed. But, without a NeoP0rt.. I can't get back." Kage put his NeoP0rt out.

"Here. You can use mine, I'll stay here. Just promise me that you'll make yourself a new one some time and bring mine back." She nodded. "I will." Just then we saw a glowing come in through the window. The NeoP0rtal was open.

********

We all just stood outside the portal, in disbelief that we would have to say good-bye to our NeoPets and each other. But all our families must have been looking for us, especially Ryo's.

"We all promise to stay in contact with each other, right?" I asked them all. They all nodded.

"Hey Brad..," Sakari said to me. "Thanks for looking out for me back there in the Field of Ether." And then she kissed me on the cheek. Causing me to blush, and everyone else there to laugh.

"Uh.. your welcome." I said, trying to comprehend what had just happened. Ryo, Willie, and I all walked over to our NeoPets to say our final goodbyes.

"Brad, I don't want you to go!!!" Orichalkon said, near crying.

"Sorry buddy, but I have too. I know it won't be the same with me on the other side, but I promise I'll still take good care of you." I was holding back tears, it was almost impossible to go back to it being a game. SnowOhki, on the other hand, had no trouble crying.

"DON'T GO DON'T GO DON'T GO DON'T GO DON'T GO!!!!!" she cried out.

"Come on, SnowOhki, don't be that way. You'll be okay on your own. You were okay before I came, I'm sure you'll be okay after I leave." Ryo was probably the toughest one of all of us, but I knew that he had to be sad inside. How could he not be? And then there was Willie and Cubix.

"I know I've only been here for a few days.. but I am really going to miss you Cubix."

"I know... I'll miss you too. Let's make a deal Willie."

"Yeah?"

"We'll win every BattleDome match we ever fight in!"

"Will do."

Sakari didn't have anyone to say goodbye too, and Kage didn't have to say goodbye to anyone. We all gave each other our NeoPets usernames, e- mails, addresses, and phone numbers. We had all shared too much to lose complete contact with each other. Then I remembered something.

"Hey Kage... here's your dagger back," I said as I held out his dagger.

"It's okay, keep it, as something to remember this journey by."

I nodded. "I will never forget." But we had stalled long enough. It was time for us to go. We all let Sakari go through first.

"Bye everyone! Stay in touch!" she said as she winked and disappeared through the NeoP0rtal. Willie was up next.

"I'll never forget you guys! Make sure to call! Goodbye Cubix!" Willie had vanished through to the other side now too. Ryo was up just before me.

"Keep in touch Brad. Sorry I was such a jerk before! Goodbye SnowOhki!" Ryo had disappeared through now too. I walked up to the portal.

"Don't worry Kage, we'll be back some day! Bye bye Ritsuzen! Bye Orichalkon!" I then stepped through... and found myself back into the Internet. And after some careful tracking... I found myself back in my room. My home. My world.

Epilogue

It took a LOT of excuses to explain this to mom, considering she didn't believe the fact I went traveling through the network of computers all over the world to a place full of wolf sorceresses and fantastic beasts. But I eventually calmed her down by telling her I went outside and got lost in the woods. I'm not sure Ryo was so convincing though. I wonder what Kage's parents think... anyway, we all still talk to each other all the time. Sakari talks to us time to time on improvements on the site that she made and work on the NeoP0rts. We look after out pets much more carefully we did before, although that costs a lot of NeoPoints. We all continue to avidly play NeoPets, but it's not the same. I'm sure that some day we'll be able to return to Neopia, and that others will make it there some day too. Only one question is left in my mind: when?

THE END



Credits

Storyline composed by Gundamblaze

Written by Gundamblaze

Ryo's character based on Ry0__0hki

Willie's character based on Olaf_the_magicdragon

Brad's character based on Gundamblaze

Proof reading by:

Epiphanypix, Ry0__0hki, Zulu316

(I needed better proof readers XD)

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