Part 3 - Altadorian Shadow Battle

Next morning, Lola gently arose from her sleep. She noticed that Crusherwhite wasn't in bed.

"Crusherwhite, where are you?" she called. She took a look around the room and noticed the passageway was open. "Maybe he went to the main room," she thought as she entered. It was then she realised that she was so busy admiring the tunnels, she hadn't paid any attention to the route he had taken yesterday. With a sigh, she walked through the tunnels, hoping to find him. After passing the same carving for the fifth time, she began to lose hope. Suddenly, she heard noises nearby. It sounded like someone was fighting. Rushing towards the source, she soon came across a door she hadn't noticed earlier. She opened the door and was greeted by an amazing sight. A huge Battledome arena, the likes of which she had never seen before, was right in front of her, and in the centre of this room stood Crusherwhite. Lola stepped inside and walked over to him. "Where are we?" she asked with amazement. Crusherwhite turned to look at her.

"When my owner first had this place built, we discovered this network of underground tunnels. One day, as I explored these pathways and mapped them out, I came across this place. I use it every now and again to train or relax," he explained, letting out a small sigh. "Not even Chris knows of this place, so please don't tell anyone." Lola gave a nod and looked around.

"Do you think you could explain everything to me?" she asked him. Crusherwhite fell silent for a moment.

"I'll understand if you don't want to," she told him, knowing it was seriously upsetting him. Crusherwhite nodded.

"You deserve to know everything I know," he told her. He went into a detailed explanation of everything he knew. The dreams, the mysterious Lupe, the curse, the events in Faerieland, the freezing of the Aisha and Kougra and all that Queen Fyora told him.

"So, the curse made you cause the events in Faerieland?" she asked, not entirely sure she understood. Crusherwhite nodded.

"Yes, while the dream showed me what I had done," he said. Lola began to walk towards the door. "Wait, can you tell me about the shadow Lupe you talked about?" he asked. Lola turned around to face him.

"I'll tell you what I know. Long ago, a shadow Lupe tried to take over Neopia. In the end, he was challenged by a brave white Lupe. However, in the last moments of the battle, he placed a curse on this Lupe and all who belonged to the same bloodline as him. The shadow Lupe disappeared, but where he disappeared to, nobody knows. The shadow Lupe's name was SoulGunBlack" she explained. Crusherwhite seemed lost in thought at these words. "Umm, are you in there?" she asked, waving her paw in front of him.

Crusherwhite looked at Lola and said "Sorry, I was just thinking." Lola sighed and turned to the door. She didn't like it when Crusherwhite did this.

"Well, we'd better get to Chris and the others. They'll probably want to know about the second dream," she said. Crusherwhite gave a slight nod and began to follow her. Soon they arrived in the main room. Chris and the others, including Sarah and her pets, were waiting.

"So, did you have another dream?" Chris asked. Crusherwhite nodded and told them of all the events in the dream, including the green Kougra. "So, Altador was the new target. The question is, why go to such lengths to curse these places, and why it has to be these specific locations?" Chris said as he thought about it. Crusherwhite looked down at the floor sadly.

"Don't blame yourself. It wasn't your fault," Lola told him. Lola walked over to Chris and whispered something to him. Chris gave a silent nod, and walked over to Crusherwhite.

"Crusherwhite, Queen Fyora didn't blame you for the events in Faerieland, and I'm sure King Altador won't blame you for it either," he said, trying to make Crusherwhite feel better. Crusherwhite looked up and gently licked Chris' cheek.

"Thanks. Now we'd better get going," Crusherwhite said confidently, racing out of the door. Chris nodded, and ran after him.

"We'd better get going too," Lola told the others as she gave chase. The others looked at each other, then ran after Lola.

After arriving at Altador, they took a few moments to observe what had happened.

"This is unusual. Why don't the eleven Heroes do anything to help?" Chris asked in confusion. Crusherwhite had already gone over to the Hall of Heroes to have a look around. He soon came back.

"There don't seem to be any barriers stopping them from getting out. But I did hear the sound of fighting from inside," Crusherwhite told them.

"Okay. Crusherwhite, you take Lola and go to the Hall. We'll help the citizens here," Chris told him. Crusherwhite looked at him for a moment, and then nodded.

"Lola, let's go," he said, taking Lola's paw. He used his Flight skill to get them there quicker. Inside, Crusherwhite and Lola were exposed to a very unusual sight. The eleven Heroes were fighting, but it looked as though they were fighting themselves.

"Huh? How can they be fighting themselves?" Lola asked.

Crusherwhite took a moment to observe, and then said, "They're fighting their own shadows, only they seem to be more physical than they should be." Altador attacked, and the shadow blocked it with the sword it held. "A normal shadow wouldn't be able to block an attack. It would just go straight through," he said. Altador was knocked back against the wall, now weakened. The shadow prepared its bow and aimed straight at him. As it fired the arrows, Crusherwhite leapt in the way and held out his Leaf Shield, blocking the attack. "Time for you to go back!" Crusherwhite yelled as he fired a stream of acid from his Scarab Ring. The acid struck the shadow, making it disappear. "Now for the others," Crusherwhite said excitedly. Thunder wrapped around his tail again and he leapt at the shadow of Siyana. The shadow Siyana tried to attack him, but he was too fast. She disappeared as soon she was hit, just like Altador. Crusherwhite then defeated the other shadows. Soon, there was only one left, and that was the shadow of Marak. "You want to take this one, Lola?" he asked, throwing her the Bone Sceptre. Lola caught it and leapt at the shadow of Marak, striking it and making it disappear. She handed the Bone Sceptre back to Crusherwhite.

"We thank you for your assistance," Altador told them both, bowing in appreciation. Crusherwhite merely smiled and told him, "No need to thank us. We're just here to do some important research. Besides, I needed to loosen up a little; I haven't been in a proper fight for ages." Lola laughed a little.

"You're so confident in yourself. Just like always," she said. Jerdana stepped forward.

"You said you came to do some research. Would you care to explain?" she asked. Crusherwhite hesitated for a moment, and then explained the purpose of their visit. Altador nodded.

"I see. An ancient curse was the cause of this problem," he said. Crusherwhite nodded sadly and walked towards the door.

"It's time we learned more," he said as he left. Lola gave a bow before chasing after him. At the archives, the others were waiting for him.

"The Archivist gave us permission to enter. Now we'll find the answers we seek," Chris told them as he stepped through the door. After an hour of searching, they found a book titled "The curse of SoulGunBlack." Chris opened it and began to look through.

"This looks interesting. 'SoulGunBlack once tried to take over Neopia but was defeated by a white Lupe. In the final moments, he cursed the Lupe and his bloodline before disappearing. The curse would allow SoulGunBlack to take over the afflicted pet in their sleep and cause terrible events in three places. In ancient times, three powerful dark circles called Focal Points existed. The combined energies of all three would awaken a great power that would allow the wielder to dominate Neopia. In response to this, three Neopets known as the Focal Guardians sealed the magic away. In time, cities were built over them. These cities were Altador, Faerieland and Shenkuu. In order to reactivate them, the lands must be infected with dark energy and the Focal Guardians must be frozen,'" he read. Crusherwhite thought long and hard over this. Suddenly, everything made sense. SoulGunBlack was using him to unlock the great power.

"I must be one of the ancient bloodline," Crusherwhite told them. Lola looked at him, understanding.

"Of course - you're suffering from SoulGunBlack's curse. It's the only explanation," she said. Chris still was unsure about one detail.

"None of the Focal Guardians have been frozen, though. He can't be suffering from this curse," he argued. Crusherwhite walked over to Chris.

"The Aisha and the Kougra must have been two of them," he said. Sarah walked over to Lola and stroked her gently.

"Let's go now. We have to come up with a plan to stop him," she said. Everyone gave a nod of approval and left.

Back at Chris' house, they all sat in a circle.

"So, how will we stop SoulGunBlack?" Chris asked. Crusherwhite put up his paw.

"The first question would be how we find him," he said. Everyone murmured in agreement.

"That's true - it would be hard to defeat him if we don't know where he is," Sarah stated. Chris sighed.

"So we have no way of finding him. I guess we'll just have to wait," he told them all. "In the meantime, we'll get some rest." The four Lupes yawned slightly. Lola watched them.

"He has such a kind family," she thought to herself. Chris looked at Sarah.

"It might be an idea if you stayed with us tonight," he said. Sarah gave a nod.

"That would be great. Right everyone?" she asked. All four of her pets gave happy nods. Lupussilver, Horizongold101 and Sharkgrey had already fallen asleep while Crusherwhite and Lola had departed for his room. Chris and Sarah walked over to them. Chris sat in the chair and went to sleep while Sarah and her pets lay on the floor.

Crusherwhite began to stir at midnight. Now he found himself in Shenkuu -but nothing seemed wrong with it.

"Maybe the curse hasn't affected this place," he said gladly.

"Keep dreaming. It has affected this land, but in a different way," said the familiar voice. Crusherwhite turned to see the Lupe.

"No more hiding in the shadows. I know who you are, SoulGunBlack," he said angrily. The Lupe began to take a more physical form. He looked just like Crusherwhite, only black.

"So you now know everything. I knew I should have made you freeze the archives," he said. Crusherwhite began to grow angry, thunder wrapping around his tail once more.

"Why are you making me do these things!?" he roared as he attacked. SoulGunBlack easily dodged the attack.

"I hate your bloodline. Your ancestor defeated me in the last battle and I swore I would have revenge. Now I'm taking the opportunity," he told Crusherwhite. "I guess it's time for one last scene in the central." At these words, Shenkuu disappeared and Neopia Central replaced it. A yellow Shoyru was standing next to the two frozen pets.

"Don't worry. As long as I'm not frozen, he will not succeed," he told them. Crusherwhite watched.

"This must be the last Focal Guardian. All I have to do is stop myself from freezing him," he thought. Sure enough, SoulGunBlack emerged from the bushes in Crusherwhite's body.

"Time to say goodbye," he said. Crusherwhite immediately ran towards SoulGunBlack and tried to attack, but he passed right through. He saw flashes of SoulGunBlack's past as the Shoyru was frozen. SoulGunBlack pulled the dagger out once more and dragged it across his chest, slightly cutting it. "Good. Now it begins," he said. Crusherwhite woke up once more and noticed the cut. Lola was right next to him.

"Don't worry, everything will be fine," she said, trying to make him feel better.

Crusherwhite sighed and said, "I very much doubt it. I couldn't stop him. The last one has been frozen." Lola went back over to the rug.

"We'll worry about what will happen next when the time comes. Until then, rest," she told him. Crusherwhite nodded.

"Why was there nothing wrong with Shenkuu?" he thought as he went to sleep.