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Untitled Document
"Question," Musician said. "Why did the virus only move
our oldest pets?"
"I don't know," Ridergirl333 commented. "But
I think I saw Sapphire, my third oldest NeoPet come halfway out of the computer
and then take a U-turn."
She turned around to scowl at me because I was
raiding the refrigerator. "Two questions," she continued. "One: Why did this
happen to us? Out of all the pets in Neopia, why were ours transported here?
We're not even very famous. I'm not in a very big guild. Cathy, you're not in
a guild at all! I'm not very important in the outside world either. We're just
a couple of teenagers!"
I had found the chocolate syrup. Ridergirl nudged
me hard while I poured sweet, rich chocolate down my throat. "Question number
two:" Ridergirl continued. "How are we gonna possibly return these guys? Like
you said, they stick out like sore thumbs."
Musician sighed. "Jen, you forgot question three.
If and when we find a way to return them, will they want to go? My Lupe Comet
is having a blast with Shelby's squeaky bone. Indigo is playing with Shelby
and all poor Shelby wants to do is take a nap. But they're having fun here."
Ridergirl gazed longingly at a chocolate-covered
Scorchio (me) and sighed. "My pets are having fun too. I wish we didn't have
to send them back." She paused, listening to the sound of the chocolate syrup
bottle breaking. Glowering at my hands, covered in the syrupy brown treat, my
owner Ridergirl shoved a blue towel into my claws. "Emerald. Clean yourself
up and wipe the floor, please! And get your sister!"
Grudgingly, I obliged. Ever since my sister
RubyRainbow333 and I were sneezed out of the computer by a freaky virus, Ridergirl
has been a bit… testy. But then again, discovering portals to other galaxies,
the reality of NeoPets and a mess on the kitchen floor has got to be grinding
Ridergirl's nerves.
Ridergirl continued to talk to her best friend,
Musician. Musician was also was visited by the dreaded virus. Her pets, Indigo
the blue Gelert and Comet the red Lupe are also trapped in this foreign land
with us.
"Kauvara told me all about it. An e-gate is
a portal through space and time. The NeoPets live in another galaxy. Food and
items regularly travel through the e-gates and into their NeoHomes. Then, the
gates close. However, someone built a gate, and then left it alone or something.
The gate is growing bigger and bigger. It sucked our NeoPets through. And if
we don't destroy it, it may well pull bigger things into our world. I don't
want the Soup Faerie living next door! It's time for a bit of Neopian intervention."
She sat at her computer and went to NeoPets.com. She showed Musician, Indigo,
Comet, Ruby and I the communications link she had discovered on the quick-ref
page. It showed a picture of the living room of our NeoHome. Kauvara, Sapphire,
and Amethyst were there, along with Indigo and Comet's siblings, Bluebell* and
Lightning*.
Kauvara wasted no time. "I've been doing some
research on e-gates. Something is seriously wrong… or seriously right, whichever
way you want to look at it."
"Let's hear it," Ruby said curiously.
"Something is actually freezing the growth of
the portal. I've been trying to track the source all day, but I've got nothing.
Whatever it is, it's buying us another week and a half of time. Plus, the communication
between worlds shouldn't have lasted this long either. Ridergirl, an enormous
amount of magic is being worked here. Magic is securing the communication lines.
Magic is immobilizing the gate."
"Not just magic," Bluebell the blue Kau said
quietly. "Kauvara says whoever did this also has a high level of technology
at their hands… or hooves, or paws, or wings, or…"
"We get the message Bluebell," Musician said
dryly.
"Point is," AmethystSkye111 said. "There aren't
many Neopians with lots of magic and super technology."
That's when I made a very stupid guess. "Dr.
Sloth has magic and technology!"
"Dr. Sloth is the slime of the universe, O genius
one." Ruby said, rolling her sweet azure eyes.
"I think it could have been anyone. Tons of
NeoPets are wizards," commented Comet. "And anyone who lives in the space station
or Neopia Central has a decent computer system."
"It's more likely that this is caused by someone
from the Virtupets Space Station. They'd have better access to the fibers of
space-time. They, after all, live in the vast cosmos." Kauvara said reasonably.
"Yeah," Lightning the red Peophin said. "But
why worry about it? Whoever did this is on our side. They aren't taking pains
to be recognized. I say we let them do their work in peace."
That's when it hit me. Like a ton of bricks
falling from the sky, it hit me. I've never been very bright, but I had a feeling
that… "Dr. Sloth was the one who made the e-gate! He created a virus to weaken
the computers. This allowed him to suck the NeoPets out. Our mystery person-who-is-helping-us
managed to save the youngest pets, but arrived too late to save the older ones."
"Sapphire," Ridergirl said urgently. "You were
half sucked out before this… person saved you. Do you remember them?"
SapphireCloud777 the blue Eyrie placed a lion
paw on her forehead, as if getting a major migraine. "I remember a brown hand
grabbing my tail. Not much else though. I was sort of focusing on the overwhelming
pain that comes with crossing through a ten-sizes-too-small e-gate."
Ridergirl and Musician's jaws both dropped.
"You guys never told me it hurt." Musician said to Indigo and Comet. "We didn't
want to complain," Comet (always the tough Lupe) said slowly. "Besides, by the
time we saw you, it was all over."
"We were knocked out," Ruby said. "We had forgotten
about the pain until now."
"Oh, when I get my hands on that extraterrestrial
sludge ball, I am gonna…" Musician put a hand on Ridergirl's mouth before the
feisty teenager could say any more.
"We'll get him Jen," Musician reassured her
best friend. "Someday."
To be continued...
Authors Note: Musician/Cathy and all of her NeoPets wish to remain anonymous.
Therefore, the numbers after their names will remain confidential.
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