Saving Neopia II: Light and Darkness
In this chapter, The Heroes of Light will investigate Neopia Central to see if the monster is indeed attacking the city...meanwhile, the Villains of Darkness will visit a museum to do some sightseeing instead of looting one for a change...but things will go crazy...
Oh yes...and they're going to have a run in with Willis's goons and Officer Peanuts' police force...
Chapter 5: Return to Neopia Central
Bloony and Cherry were touring Neopia Central, trying to see if they could find any sign of Neopets or the blob monster.
"I have to admit...we spent quite some time here at our last adventure..." stated Bloony.
"We certainly did...I hope that the monster hasn't arrived yet..." thought Cherry.
Thankfully, it seemed that they had arrived in time. In fact, it looked like the monster wasn't even attacking Neopia Central at the moment. The Neopets were happily conversing with each other and otherwise having a good time.
"Maybe I was wrong...maybe Deluge is still on Kreludor...or maybe he's simply gone somewhere else." thought the Blumaroo.
Curious, he decided to pick up a copy of the Neopian Times...immediately he started to get a bit worried. Apparently, strange puddles of slime had started to appear throughout Neopia.
"So he is somewhere around Neopia..." thought Bloony.
He also read in the newspaper that the Grundos inhabiting Kreludor had mysteriously gone missing...although some of them had been discovered recently away from their home. They had mentioned a horrible blob monster that had consumed their friends and family.
Of course, he had already heard about this story from Cherry.
"I'm just glad that we actually beat that horrible creature to the punch...but where exactly is it now? The more slime puddles that creature creates...the more monsters that are going to start invading Neopia..." stated Bloony.
"Ah yes...and the bigger the monster becomes...the bigger the puddles it's going to create." pointed out Cherry.
"You're right Cherry. We need to stop the monster and fast!" agreed the Blumaroo.
Suddenly, they began to hear rustling. Was the slime monster about to ambush them?
Thankfully, it quickly turned out that it wasn't Deluge...it was simply a gang of thieves that had tracked down the Heroes of Light.
"Oh brother..." stated Bloony.
Curiously enough, they resembled the two thieves that he had stopped from robbing the slushie shop earlier...could it be that they were working for the same guy?
"Give us all of your Neopoints! Otherwise we're going to take away everything you have until you're in your boxers!" demanded one of the thieves.
"You can't do that to me! I'm a girl! The Neopets staff will have your heads for that! They're trying to keep the game family-friendly here!" exclaimed Cherry.
"We can live with that." answered another one of the thieves.
Cherry simply sighed.
"In our boxers? That certainly sounds embarrasing...but to be honest I've gone through a lot worse...I'll have you know that I've held my own against a dark lord. Feel free to do your worst." stated Bloony.
"Very well." answered the leader of the thieves.
Unfortunately for the scoundrels, they weren't very smart. In fact, although there were about thirty of them and only two of their enemies, they felt the need to attack our heroes individually rather than attacking together as a team like Bloony and Cherry usually did.
Bloony effortlessly punched the thieves away from him, while Cherry jumped into the air and knocked them over like dominoes.
"Is that all you got?" taunted Bloony.
"This is a cakewalk!" exclaimed Cherry. "Speaking of which I could use some Neopets Birthday Cake right now...Neopets has been running for over ten years!"
Suddenly, one of the walls of an under construction building fell on top of the remaining thieves...they were squished like pancakes and were immediately reduced to zero hit points.
"Whoever's the ringleader of these goons is going to need to do better than that if he wants to take us down." stated Bloony.
"Still, I wonder how they managed to find us?" wondered Cherry.
"Come to think of it, that is rather odd...hmm, I've got a bad feeling about this. Something tells me that this criminal organization may go deeper than just Terror Mountain..." agreed the leader of the Heroes of Light.
"Does this mean we have nowhere to hide?" questioned the red Chia, who was starting to feel worried herself.
"I certainly hope not. I really don't look forward to having to deal with these thugs all the time." stated the yellow Blumaroo.
"And why haven't the police haven't shown up yet? They usually show up after we've defeated the Villains of Darkness...speaking of which I wonder what they're up to?" questioned Cherry.
Curious, Bloony decided to check the newspaper he had read earlier. As it turns out, the Villains of Darkness had struck again.
"I should have known..." he thought.
This time, they had impersonated Santa and a Raindorf...climbing down chimneys and then making off with their presents. They also stole a lot of their food, and had even stolen a Christmas tree.
"Wait, don't they mean a Day of Giving tree? Sometimes the world of Neopia confuses me..." stated Bloony.
However, they had a change of heart and decided to return everything they had stolen. Also, Redtooth had saved a bunch of Petpets from a ferocious Florg that wanted to eat him along with the innocent creatures for dinner.
"Wait, what? They've got to be kidding me...are the Villains of Darkness really deciding to change their ways?" thought Bloony.
Rather surprised by this shocking news, he decided to tell Cherry about what was going on.
"I'm just glad that maybe we can finally bury the hatchet...I'm getting really tired of all their crazy ambushes and their horrible crimes." stated the red Chia.
"To be honest, I was getting really tired of them too. They never seemed to give up, did they. I just hope that now they'll do something good instead of being evil. I wonder why Snotty decided to start doing bad things anyway. Surely you can't go crazy without a cause..." agreed the yellow Blumaroo.
He also read in the newspaper about a massive criminal organization that was spreading all over Neopia, and that lately the police force had become rather corrupt and were taking bribes from the said organization. Their police chief was also going ballistic in bringing criminals to justice.
"I guess that's why the police aren't doing anything to stop these goons...maybe I should have a talk with them. Still, I wonder who exactly is in charge of all these criminals. Surely someone has to be leading them. The question is who exactly." thought Bloony.
Nonetheless, he decided that he had more important matters to deal with than simply reading a newspaper. He could deal with the corrupt police force and with the greedy criminals after he had dealt with the blob monster that was eating everything and everyone and was creating crazy monsters.
"I guess we better start looking." stated Bloony, who began searching Neopia Central along with Cherry.
Meanwhile at the local museum...
"Why are we here again?" stated Redtooth.
"I figured that since we can't steal anything valuable anymore without getting busted we can at least look at something precious. That always makes me feel better." explained Snotty.
As it turns out, there were several priceless looking artifacts in the museum...personally, the green Blumaroo wished that he could steal them and sell them for quick cash...but he realized that they were likely guarded by heavy security and he would once again be arrested if he tried that.
Suddenly, he noticed that there was a valuable looking compass on display...apparently, it pointed towards six elemental crystals that were scattered throughout Neopia...and that if they were all gathered they could summon a powerful Draik that could grant wishes...personally, it reminded him of a TV show he used to watch. It was arguably just a myth, but Snotty was once again tempted to steal.
"Oh, how I want this so bad...thank about all the things I can get if I can find all those crystals..." murmured the green Blumaroo.
"Um, Snotty, those crystals probably don't even exist. And we're not supposed to steal anymore, remember? Every time we do that karma strikes and we end up in jail or experience some other sort of horrible karma." stated Redtooth.
Snotty sighed.
"You're right, Redtooth...we really should stop doing evil things...maybe that way we won't get beat up by the Heroes of Light again...although personally I would like to return the favor." he reluctantly agreed.
Near the entrance of the museum, it was almost time for it to close. A security guard was looking around the museum to see if there was anyone still there. After all, he wouldn't want to lock anyone inside by mistake.
Suddenly, he heard the door creaking. Apparently, someone was entering the museum. Curious, he decided to head back to the entrance.
"Er, sorry. We're about to close. You'll have to come in some other t-"
The security guard was then interrupted when suddenly he was blasted by a fireball, followed by being stabbed by an icicle. He immediately fell to the ground, unconscious.
As it turns out, there were two Neopets entering the museum and not just one. One was of them was an orange Scorchio wearing battle armour and wielding a sword. The other was a cyan Acara wearing a majestic-looking robe and wielding a staff.
Immediately, they walked over to the compass...apparently, this was what they were looking for.
"Well, this is ironic...we've spent ages searching for this compass...and yet, it ends up in a simple history museum." stated the orange Scorchio.
"Yes...but what matters is that we've finally found it...now we can use this to finally find the crystals and save our hometown..." agreed the cyan Acara.
"Can we help you guys?" asked Snotty.
The Scorchio and Acara looked surprised. Apparently they didn't expect anyone else to be in the museum at the time of night.
Of course, this was justified, as the Villains of Darkness had spent quite some time staring at all the valuable treasures. Apparently time flied whenever they did that.
"Who the heck are you guys?" inquired Redtooth.
The Scorchio and Acara simply shrugged and decided to introduce ourselves.
"My name is Cyrus. You see, we're from a land that consists primarily of magic. In fact, all of its residents have access to a particular field of it. I personally have access to fire magic...although personally I'm more of a knight than a wizard...unlike my partner here." explained Cyrus.
"So, your home is kind of like Faerieland?" questioned Snotty.
The Acara nodded. "And my name is Luna. Similar to my partner here, I'm a sorceress that has access to ice magic...in fact, everyone in my home considers me to be the most powerful wizard there. Unfortunately, the residents decided to take magic for granted...and as a result, our land is dying..."
"That's sad." stated Redtooth.
"Because of this, we have been sent on a mission to locate the compass and use the six crystals to make a wish...in this case, it is to restore our home to its former glory." continued Luna.
"Sounds like a plan." stated the green Blumaroo.
"Now if you want to give us a hand...simply give us the compass and we'll be on our way. No questions asked." stated Cyrus.
"Funny, part of me wants to make a wish using those crystals myself..." murmured Snotty.
"Do you want to help us or not?" questioned Luna in an angry tone of voice.
"Fine fine fine. Take it easy." stated Redtooth.
Deciding to try to be nice for a change, Snotty decided to pick up the compass and hand it over to Cyrus and Luna.
"Thank you for your cooperation." stated Cyrus.
Suddenly, an alarm began to sound. Apparently, they had triggered an alert.
Immediately, all four of them started to become worried.
Deciding to make a hasty giveaway, Luna teleported herself out of the museum along with Cyrus.
Unfortunately, in the process, they left Snotty and Redtooth behind.
"Well this is just perfect! We try to do something good for a change and now everyone is going to think we're criminals!" exclaimed the green Blumaroo.
"Aren't we already technically criminals?" pointed out the blue Lupe.
"Yes...but this time we're going to be arrested for something we didn't do! Curse you, Cyrus and Luna!" bellowed Snotty.
At that moment, several police cars arrived. They immediately heard the sound of Battledome weapons being loaded.
"Come on out with your hands up!" demanded the police force.
Snotty and Redtooth shrugged and decided to do what they demanded. What more could they do? Hopefully they would at least receive a trial so that they could try to defend themselves...but since they had a prior record they were probably going to lose the case.
But as it turned out, the police were trigger-happy...and they decided to shoot Snotty and Redtooth with their lightning guns even though they reached for the sky.
"What's the big idea?!" screamed Snotty.
Angered at this police brutality, the two Neopets decided to start resisting arrest. They started smashing the police cars, scaring the police officers away, and beating up the ones that decided to stand their ground.
Thankfully, the police offered minimal resistance, and before long they all retreated. Shortly afterwards, the sun rose into the sky.
"I guess that means everything will be peaceful and cheery now!" exclaimed Redtooth.
Suddenly, they heard the sound of an Elephante trumpeting. They looked around, and discovered that the police chief was standing just a few feet away from them. Apparently he wasn't too happy that they had taken down his squad.
"Uh-oh..." stated the green Blumaroo.
"So, you think you can get away with stealing a priceless artifact, don't you? I should have known that you'd tried to rob this place! Well guess what! Today you're going to be sent to a maximum security prison on a faraway island! And the water's going to be surrounded with mines, so you won't even be able to go for a swim! And to top it all off, you'll be there for the rest of your lives!" bellowed Officer Peanuts.
"That's not fair...we didn't do this! At least give us a trial!" demanded Redtooth.
"No! I'm not giving you a trial! A trial is too good for you! And everyone knows you did this! You'll be going there whether you like it or not! Have fun!" exclaimed the police chief.
Realizing how crazy the Elephante was, Snotty and Redtooth decided that their best course of action was to flee like cowards, which interestingly enough they were good at doing.
"Run!" screamed Snotty.
The two of them then started running away as fast as they could.
"Oh no you don't! You won't be getting away from me this time! Just wait until I get my hands on you!" bellowed Officer Peanuts, who began to charge after them, leaving a path of destruction in his wake.
Elsewhere in Neopia Central...
Marvin the Mynci had been having a good time lately. He had recently been hanging out with his crush Ursula, who interestingly enough really enjoyed his company.
He had also been building several different machines, which he had been giving to the public to assist them in their many tasks. Not all of them had been successful, and in fact some of them had gone berserk, but thankfully he had been able to learn from his mistakes.
Overall, everyone in Neopia Central was looking forward to his next invention, particularly Ursula, who had even asked if she could help in his next creation. At the moment though, she was busy exercising. After all, just because she was a girl didn't mean that she had to be stereotypically feminine, although exercising so much meant that she never had to worry about being overweight.
Suddenly, he noticed that the latest copy of the Neopian Times had arrived...so he decided to give it a read. After all, it was important to take a break from building more machines after all.
It then became apparent that perhaps Bloony and Cherry needed his help again. According to the paper, they had run-ins with slime monsters, a rock golem, and even a gang of bandits. They were also trying to hunt down some kind of strange gelatin beast...
Deciding to take as many of his inventions he could carry, he set out to once again give the Heroes of Light a helping hand. After all, he always had something they could use to topple their opponents.
And so he set off to look for them. Hopefully they would be nearby...
"I'm not going to let you down, Bloony! Just wait until you get a load of my newest inventions!" he squealed.
In Tyrannia...
Ironically enough, it turned out that Rocky was doing the same thing as his good counterpart Marvin was doing. In this case however, he was reading a copy of the Neopian Times that was made entirely of stone. It was rather surprising that the newspaper went all the way back to the Stone Age, but due to his limited mental capacity he decided not to question it.
Unlike Marvin, he decided to see if there were anything about the Villains of Darkness in the newspaper. He in fact wasn't terribly concerned about the Heroes of Light, as Snotty had told them that they were a bunch of losers that sucked their thumbs and lived with their mothers.
Much to his surprise, he discovered that the Villains of Darkness had been doing good things lately...such as returning the presents they had stolen or saving Petpets from Florg the Mutant Chia.
Ironically, he had done something good himself about a year ago...he immediately began to flashback to that particular day.
In his cave, an evil Grarrl was gluttonously eating the food that the citizens of Mystery Island was giving him...he licked his lips and let out an enormous burp.
As it turns out, he had abducted the local Aisha jungle princess...and had demanded that the residents give him all of their food or he would toss her into a volcano.
In truth however, he wasn't actually planning on doing so...mainly due to the fact that everyone in Mystery Island including him thought the jungle princess was ridiculously beautiful...of course it also helped that all she ever wore was a fur bikini...
"Let me go!" demanded the jungle princess, who was locked in a cage.
"Never! They're about to give me gourmet food! If I keep this up I'll have a trophy in no time!" demanded the Grarrl.
Suddenly, he heard the sound of someone screaming.
"Huh? Is someone there?" questioned the prehistoric Neopet.
Shortly afterwards, Rocky crashed through the cave ceiling, causing light to shine through the cave in the process.
"Where is Rocky?" questioned the caveman Mynci.
The evil Grarrl was not amused.
"You dare bring light to my lair? You must die!" he bellowed.
Immediately, the Grarrl approached Rocky and started trying to take bites out of him. He immediately panicked and started trying to whack the dinosaur with a club...
However, as it turned out, the beast was all bark and no bite, and before long he passed out on the ground.
"You did it! Now can you get me out of this cage?" inquired the Aisha princess.
Rocky shrugged and whacked her cage with a club. Curiously enough, this caused it to slide right open.
"My hero!" squealed the princess, who immediately kissed the caveman Mynci on the cheek.
Immediately, Rocky's cheeks turned bright red. Never in his life had he felt more warm and fuzzy.
Rocky was glad that he had found a Neopet that didn't think he was ugly and in fact loved him with all her soul...although personally he was started to get a bit annoyed that she followed him wherever he went, and wished that she would take things a bit slower.
She had introduced herself as Jade...and that her father would be grateful that she had been rescued.
Sure enough, he had thrown a party in his honor...and said that he would even allow Rocky to marry her. Personally, he wasn't ready for that kind of commitment yet, although personally he thought that Jade was the most beautiful Neopet in the world.
He still enjoyed her company though. Nonetheless, he noticed that as of late the Villains of Darkness had run in trouble with the law, and decided that maybe he should give them a hand. He didn't want them to be arrested like they had so many times before...it was only a matter of time before they encountered a prison that they couldn't escape.
However, his love interest noticed where he was going.
"Where are you going?" Jade asked.
"Rocky's going to help his friends..." stated Rocky.
"Don't worry! I'll always be there for you!" she exclaimed.
The caveman Mynci simply shrugged and decided to board a taxi towards Neopia Central. Curiously enough, the driver drove the taxi by running his feet together.
"Rocky's coming for you guys!" he exclaimed.
Meanwhile in the outskirts of Neopia...
Due to the fact that he was created from Lord Cataclysm's remains, and because he had absorbed Professor Nyctus...Deluge quickly realized that the Heroes of Light would try to stop him from absorbing new people.
Because he was still weak and had not yet eaten many Neopets, he figured that it was probably a good idea to stay away from Bloony and Cherry for the time being and not to attack an enormous group of people at once. After all, if he tried attacking a crowded city, they would likely take notice.
So he decided to take it small. In fact, he decided to take it about as small as the puddles he was currently making.
And speaking of them, one of the slime puddles he created suddenly began to bubble.
Deluge reacted with curiousity.
Out of nowhere, several slimes sprouted from the puddle.
"Ready to serve!" exclaimed one of the slimes.
Deluge immediately became curious, but he decided not to look a gift Uni in the mouth.
Immediately, he ordered the slimes to search for any potential victims, and to warn him if they saw a yellow Blumaroo and a red Chia.
Sure enough, one of the slimes discovered that several Neopets were roasting marshmallows on a campfire. Deluge immediately smiled. He had found exactly what he was looking for.
"Very good." he stated.
"Do you hear something?" inquired one of the campers, a blue Kacheek.
"It's probably nothing." answered another camper, a green Ruki.
Suddenly, the slime monster leapt on top of the Neopets. Before they realized what was going on, they had been completely consumed.
Deluge then laughed as he grew several inches...however, in the process, he also noticed that he had absorbed the fire the campers were using...immediately, he started to feel hot.
Shortly afterwards, his normally green goo turned orange. Apparently, he could also absorb substances such as water or poison and not just people.
Curious, he decided to see if he could now breathe fire. As it turns out, he was in fact quite capable of doing so, as he noticed when he reduced the grass in front of him to ash.
He then spat out a ball of slime...sure enough, several fiery slimes sprouted out of it.
"You rang?" they asked.
He then smiled, realizing that Professor Nyctus in his haste to complete his project gave him powerful tools to absorb his victims...
Suddenly, one of the slimes warned him that Bloony and Cherry were approaching, so he decided to wander off elsewhere to see if he could find anything else to eat.
Deluge is growing more powerful...can Bloony and Cherry find him before he hurts anyone else? And will Willis send even more criminals after them? And can the Villains of Darkness outrun Officer Peanuts? Tune in next time for the next chapter of Saving Neopia II: Light and Darkness...
Gosh, it feels like I'm hosting a TV show...