Small note: some of the names should include underscores, but the new system doesn't allow them (most likely because peopel took advantage of them to make "faces"), so just bear with me. In case you were interedted in looking anyone/thing up, the names are: the (underscore) shannonator, and (underscore) (underscore) queen (underscore) ramoth (underscore) (underscore).
[Author's Note: Hiya! I know everyone thinks I'm dead and so is this fic, so I'm proving you all wrong! I realize it's been a while since I've updated any of my stories, but at least I have a good excuse for this one. I had this chapter all written, but it was in rough draft form, meaning it was still on paper. I lost it, and only recently found it again, but anyway, here it is.
Oh yeah, and pleeeaaaase note: In any of my first-person stories, unless the storyteller is a pre-existing character, it is my character, and the name is used is purely fictional.
Did I forget to mention this story is completely made up? Meaning none of the events in here ever happened. Terrorizer (deliberately spelled that way, so you know) isn't real. Alex is not a real person, nor is he based on one. My character is based on me, however, and the/shannonator is my Neopets account. Pixitrixi64 is real, and she is a christmas Gelert.Queen Ramoth is also real, and while at the time s/he was a male island Zafara, s/he is currently a happy male green Grundo. S/he will, of course, continue to change, as intend to continue her "lab therapy". Okay, I promise, last thing. Someone has brought it to my attention that there are never any Battledome points awarded for a two-player battle. I apologize, though I must admit, I don't think it makes a fleck of difference. At any rate, I apologize to all the detail freaks that have spasms when an author makes a mistake in a story, as it was purely unintentional.]
..:..Disclaimer: Whoops! I know I said last thing, but I don't want to get sued, so I'd really prefer to include a disclaimer. The Neopets site is owned entirely by Adam, Donna, and all the wonderful Neopets staff people who make the site such a joy. I own nothing except for my account, my pets, and my neopoints. That said, let's get on with the show!..:..
Everywhere around us, real Neopets were rushing around, busy with all different sorts of tasks. Some bustled around the shops, haggling the prices of valuable items with shopkeepers. Others milled about the marketplace, showing off their latest find. Nearly every Neopet was talking, though each appeared to be unaccompanied. They must be talking to their owners, I realized. As busy as they were, most of the Neopets didn't give us more than a sidelong glance before hurrying along to attend to their business. Some didn't even notice us, they were so wrapped up in whatever occupied them, and a few curious pets who weren't in such a rush stopped to stare at us for a few moments before reluctantly turning back to their duties. I turned to Alex to ask what he thought of the sight, but my mouth simply hung open when I saw him.
"You're a cartoon!" I exclaimed, staring. He looked down at his body, then did a double take. With wide eyes, he looked back at me.
"You too, Shannon!" He pointed excitedly at me, and I discovered that he was right—we were both just a colorful combination of pixels. Looking around somewhat uneasily, Alex tapped a blue Kacheek on the shoulder. "Excuse me, but would you by any chance know how we got here?" His voice was deceptively calm; I could see a hint of desperation in his green and gold eyes.
"You—you're the humans that got sent here!" the Kacheek exclaimed, his eyes expanding to the size of his fists. Then he schooled his expression. "I'm sorry," he apologized, "but everyone is talking about it. There are humans in Neopia, and nobody knows how they ended up here."
"But how could everyone know when we only just got here moments before we talked to you?" I asked, puzzled.
"I don't think you're the only ones here," the short Neopet replied. "Rumors have been flying faster than Gormballs around here for close to a half-hour now, so there must be others besides yourselves. Now if you don't mind," he paused to nod curtly at each of us, "I have some business I really must attend to." With that, he bounded away into the sea of Neopets.
"Other humans...?" I wondered aloud. But how? And why? I mean, I can't understand it." I ran a hand through my dark brown hair idly, just like I always did when I was thinking hard.
"I've got it!" Alex shouted, snapping his fingers and startling several pets in the near vicinity. His cheeks flushed, Alex lowered his voice and continued, "Who's the one person in Neopia who would be able to tell us what we needed to know?" I shook my head, perplexed at his sudden fire. "Sarah! She boast that she knows everything, so surely she'll be able to tell us something about why we're here, right?" I nodded, appreciative for his quick wit, when a barrier occurred to me.
"We don't know where she is, Alex! How are we going to find her when we've got a whole bloody planet and no idea of what part of it she might be on?" My teenage companion just smirked.
"I'd already thought of that, Shannon. We may not know where to find her, but she's more or less famous. Surely a Neopet, who's lived here all their life, can help us." I nodded, about to ask a passing pet where to look when I saw something that would make everything easier.
"Uh, Alex? I don't think that'll be necessary." I pointed towards a grassy knoll where there was a small crowd gathered around a blue Zafara wearing seriously oversized glasses. "C'mon, let's go!" I added, grabbing Alex by the arm and yanking him over.
"Are you Sarah?" I asked, feeling slightly foolish and more than a little bit self-conscious.
"I am," she replied, glancing up at us. The crowd of pets around her pushed between each other, all trying to get a chance to ask Sarah their questions. "Did you have a question for me?"
"Yeah," Alex replied, taking over the conversation to my great relief. I'd always been a tad shy. "We were wondering, do you have any idea how we might have gotten here?"
Sarah shook her head, a small sigh escaping her mouth. "I'm afraid not. I do know that there are four others here, though I haven't yet been able to figure out their usernames. Is there anything else I can do for you?" I shook my head, a little disheartened that she hadn't been able to tell us what we wanted to know. Still, now we knew there were four others here, so we couldn't say she hadn't helped us.
What do we do now?" Alex queried, shaking me from my thoughts as we plunged into the ocean of pets once more.
"Well," I began, struggling to keep him in sight, "We should prob—"I was interrupted as two antlers knocked the wind out of me. "Hey, watch where you're go—Pixitrixi!" Her full name was Pixitrixi64, but it seemed to be close enough, as the christmas Gelert looked up at me in shock, then grinned broadly.
"Shannon!" she exclaimed joyfully. "I had no idea you were among the humans here! And Alex, is he here too?" I didn't bother to ask how she knew our names, or even knew there were two of us, for that matter. I was still questioning how I recognized her, despite the fact that a small Tenna perched on her shoulder.
"Yeah, I'm here," Alex said in reply to Pixitrixi's question as he emerged from the living mass of Neopets. Nice to see you." He affectionately rubbed a hand down her back, allowing her to savor the caress. "Hey, is Q.R. here?" Q.R. was actually Queen Ramoth, but since he'd become a guy, we had called him Q.R.
"Yeah," Pixitrixi replied, "but he's not happy. After all, would you be if you were a guy named Queen?"
Alex laughed. "No, I guess not. It's not like we made him male on purpose, though. The Lab Ray does what it pleases." Every day we zapped Q.R. at the Lab Ray, lately for the purpose of turning him female, as we couldn't afford a Strange Potion. Before, we did it because it was fun, and it was something to do.
"Yeah, well just because it pleases doesn't mean I do!" came a grumble next to my arm. I looked down to see Q.R. standing there, a mock scowl on his island Zafara face. He managed to hold the expression for a few moments before bursting into an uncontrollable fit of laughter. "It's great... to see... you guys here..." he managed to stammer between laughs. He calmed down after a bit, taking in great amounts of air. "How did you guys get here?"
"You mean you don't know?" Alex asked.
"Why would I?" Q.R. frowned.
"I don't know," Alex murmured. "I guess I had just been hoping you guys would be able to help us. We really don't have a clue why we ended up here, and, well, we just been sort of trying to figure it out by asking anyone we can." He gave a rueful shrug. "Still, I know we'll find a way out of this, after all, when there's a way in, there's a way out, right?" He allowed us the honor of seeing his classic childish grin. "So, how have you guys been taking care of your petpets?"
"Gummyboy's a downright rascal," Pixitrixi said, making a face at the little green thing on her shoulder. "All eating, and no fun." Then her expression softened as the Tenna looked hurt. "I'm just joking, you little loon! Don't take it to heart." Gummyboy gurgled and yipped a few times. "Of course I'll keep you, silly!" The Tenna warbled doubtfully, but when Pixitrixi firmly nodded her head, it seemed satisfied and belched before fixing a blank stare on its face. I laughed after the exchange was over.
"Cute little thing, isn't he?"
"As cute a button," Pixitrixi replied sarcastically. Luckily, Gummyboy didn't catch it.
"How's Baelianter?" I asked, turning to Q.R.
"Oh, him? I left the little beastie at home. He kept biting me. Loveliest little Karren ever, but the thing needs to learn a little respect. Gotta be the most spoiled thing ever." I smiled and shook my head.
"You know," Q.R. said with a sly smile, "you haven't zapped me today." He looked up at me with his biggest, best puppy eyes ever. I melted.
"Okay, okay. You got it." I sighed to myself as he began bouncing up and down excitedly. "Watch it!" I scolded as his tail, whipping up and down, nearly hit me in the face. He apologized and stopped jumping, but I could tell that he was still excited, as his tail continued to restlessly flick about.
"Alright, lead the way!"
"Three hours later, We finally reached the lab. After crossing the entire Neopia central and taking a ferry for what seemed like miles, My feet were crying out. "How do you guys stand it?" I asked as I tore off my shoes to massage my feet. While Alex and I were exhausted, Q.R. and Pixitrixi weren't even panting.
"Just one of those perks of being a Neopet, I suppose," Pixitrixi replied. So far as I remember, I've never gotten tired except for after a fight in the Battledome, nothing a quick healing potion couldn't cure anyway. Don't humans have anything like the Healing Springs?"
"Nah, we're not as... versatile. Besides, if we had to walk as far to get to it as we just did to get here, no one would want to go anyway." Both Neopets laughed. "But hey, blisters heal, right? I should be rid of these by... Christmas!" I massaged my calluses for a moment more before slipping my shoes back on. I grimaced as the sneakers rubbed my tender feet.
"My mom's going to be so worried," I muttered, standing up.
"How come?"
"Well think about it. I've been gone for hours already, and it's likely going to be hours more before I get back. She'll have no idea where I am, and I'll probably get grounded since I won't be able to tell her." I sighed dejectedly, looking up at the cloudless Neopian sky.
"You've got nothing to worry about," Q.R. said with a grin. "Apparently you're unfamiliar with the Earth-Neopia time ratio?" At my blank stare, he continued, "For every day in Neopia, only a few minutes pass. Your mom won't even miss you, 'cause you'll only be gone for a minute!" A wide grin spread over my face at this news, and looking over at him, I could tell that Alex was pleased too. Feeling considerably mire lighthearted, I stepped up to the Secret Lab.
"So, this is the infamous Secret Lab, huh?" Ale asked as we entered the inconspicuous brick building. It would have been even more inconspicuous if it hadn't been for the fact that it was the only thing occupying the island. As we stepped inside, I was astounded at what I saw. The building was just one big room that looked like some psycho's playroom. The floor was littered with tons of devices that must have had all sorts of different purposes. The only bare spot on the floor was located directly in front of an enormous laser gun, what I assumed to be the Lab Ray. A grey concrete floor stared up at us from the spot, daring someone to stand there to get zapped. Right next to the Lab Ray, on a weak-looking wicker chair, an old Scorchio in a lab coat and huge glasses was napping. Every couple of moments, a loud snore escaped his mouth, which hung slightly ajar.
"It's the Lab Ray Dude," Alex whispered to me. Duh, I thought, but I didn't say anything.
"Hey Q.R., are you ready?" Pixitrixi asked, turning to face her brother, hopefully soon-to-be sister. The Zafara managed a nod and stepped into the cleared area.. Even though he wanted to be zapped, I could tell he was nervous, so I came up to his side and began smoothing his fur. He smiled, grateful for the company. Pixitrixi began scaling the Lab Ray as though it were a mountain.
"Are you sure that's how you're supposed to use that thing?" I called up to her as she continued to climb. The Gelert merely nodded and continued upwards. After a few moments of watching, I realized she was trying to reach a large red button at the top. Guess it must be the 'Start' button, I mused. I got ready to step back as soon as she reached the top.
Unfortunately, I didn't see Alex, whose curiosity had got the better of him, fiddling with the other machines until it was too late. The object in his hand, which looked like a bizarre kind of Rainbow Gun, released a bright bolt of multi-colored light at the ceiling. It ricocheted off, diving straight at the activation button on the Lab Ray.
"What have you done?" I screeched in a panic as the Lab Ray fired a bright burst of light that engulfed both Q.R. and me. I felt an odd sensation run through my body, unlike anything I knew, and then the light died down. I saw a small slip of paper flutter onto the ground and snatched it. Queen Ramoth changes colors to Cloud," I read aloud. I turned to Alex and gauge his reaction to the news, but to my surprise, he was trembling violently.
"Sha—Shan—Shannon... look in the mi—mirror," He stammered, pointing with a shaky hand to a large and antique-ish wall mirror on the far end of the room that I had not noticed before. His dark hair stood stiffly up, as though he had been electrocuted. Confused and slightly frightened, I went over to the mirror to inspect myself. I fainted upon seeing my reflection, a single thought registering in my mind. I'm a Neopet...
[Author's Note (yeah, I just had to have another one): Whoah... this one's so much longer than the last... Are you guys happy? I'll try and see if I can grab enough time to re-write the first one, seeing as it's so incredibly short. But I might have to put that little project on hold, seeing as I have other fics begging to be updated... oh well. I guess I'll just have to wait and see how things go down.]