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The Gelert raised his silver head and blinked sleepily,
peering around the cave with a confused sort of expression. Finally, his gaze
came to rest on me, and he snarled angrily, baring his teeth and extending his
claws. He was just about to jump on me when I whipped out the Rainbow Swirly Thing,
hypnotizing him instantly. His eyes became dull and glossy, and he sank back down
to the cave's floor, a blissfully unaware smile spreading across his face.
I gave a quick sigh of relief, keeping the swirly
thing focused at his face. I took a step forward, trying hard not to blink,
as I prepared to question him.
"What is your name?" I asked, keeping my tone
steady and firm. He let out a small sigh before answering.
"Kybo." He spoke slowly, as though unsure of
what he was saying. I nodded, and continued my interrogation.
"What are the names of your team-mates?"
"Saysha, she is a golden Gelert, and Vilux, he
is a shadowed Gelert."
"I see. What roles do you all play in the Team?"
"I'm the one who does all the fighting... Saysha
is our spy. Vilux is the master planner, he's very clever, and dangerous."
I raised a brow; obviously, Vilux was the Gelert
that I would have to watch out for. I decided to probe deeper with the subject
of this particular Gelert.
"Why is Vilux dangerous?"
"He's very sly, like the Zafara Rogue... He prefers
the dishonorable tactics of fighting rather than paw to paw combat."
"What kinds of tactics?"
"Poison. Nothing too dangerous, just concoctions
that can disable someone for a certain amount of time, or scramble their minds."
I felt myself growing slightly sick with worry
as I remembered Shelly. Had I sent her wandering right into Vilux’s claws?
"And where is your Headquarters located?" I asked
quietly, scribbling down all of what Kybo had told me on a sheet of notepad
paper.
"Neopia Central, in the abandoned chocolate factory."
"The Chocolate Factory?!" I shouted, unable to
keep my tone clam and level. "But- The Jelly Chia, what about him?"
"Long gone. He lives in the Haunted Woods now.
Everyone thinks that he is still there, though, which makes the Chocolate Factory
the perfect HQ location."
He lapsed into silence, staring blandly forward.
I rolled my eyes before quickly tying him firmly to a large and sturdy rock
jutting out of the rocky ground. I sat down on the floor of the cave, my head
in my claws. I had some serious thinking to do-- mainly about how I was to approach
this little problem. I occupied my wandering mind by thinking about Shelly,
and wondered if she had made it into Team Alpha.
The silence hung in the air like a heavy fog,
until the piercing beep of my walkie-talkie cut through it like a Cobrall dagger.
My eyes popped open as I fumbled for the 'on' button. Finally, I managed to
get the walkie-talkie on and positioned up against my ear.
"Shelly? Where are you? How'd it go? Over."
On the other line, I heard Shelly groan in exasperation.
"Oh for crying out loud, Ez! You don't need to say over. I can tell when
you're finished!"
"Whatever," I snapped, my momentary good mood
punctured by Shelly's negativity. "Just tell me how things have been going,
are you in?"
"Yup. It was like shooting Pfish in a barrel.
They practically made me join after I told them that I was interested."
"Really?" I asked, a puzzled expression on my
face. "It was that easy?"
"I think it was because of my statistics, they're
quite high, you know. I'm stronger than the both of them, though their speed
points are through the roof."
"Well, that makes sense. They'd need it, wouldn't
they? With all the crime that they do… They’d have to be able to make a fast
getaway."
"I suppose so. So how did your phase of the operation
go?"
I grinned, twirling the rainbow swirly thing
in my claws. "Extremely well, Shelly. I got all the information I need." A thought
suddenly occurred to me. "Shelly, I just remembered something. The Gelert I've
got captive, the silver one, he said to watch out for Vilux. He's that greasy
furred shadowed Gelert."
Shelly's voice sounded confused. "How'd you get
him to tell you that?"
"Three words: rainbow swirly thing." I smiled
as I imagined what Shelly's face probably looked like right now. One of immense
jealousy, I was sure.
"No way! You'd better give it to me when we meet
up again, I've wanted one for ages." Shelly exclaimed, her tone one of anger
and envy. "Well, anyway, I already figured that much out; he seems to be the
sneaky type, always slinking around in the shadows." There was a pregnant pause.
"His voice is real oily, to." Shelly suddenly added, as though that made all
the difference everything.
"Careful, Shelly," I replied, fighting the urge
to snicker. "My captive told me that Vilux uses poison. He could always just
be luring you into a false sense of security."
Shelly laughed. "You underestimate me, Ez. I'm
almost insulted." She paused for a second, before adding, in a voice dripping
with sarcasm, "Over." There was a soft click, and Shelly went out.
I kept the walkie-talkie clenched tightly in
my claws, feeling quite insulted. I didn't have much time to feel sorry for
myself, though, because Kybo had long since overcome the after-effects his hypnosis
and was struggling rapidly out of his bonds. With a loud roar, he snapped through
the remaining strands and lunged at me, fangs bared. Fortunately, us Krawks
are famous for our quick thinking.
In one brilliant move, I rolled to the side,
causing Kybo to crash into the hard, rocky ground. While he was collecting himself,
I dashed over to the loot bag and hastily searched through it, looking for a
powerful Battledome item. At last, I found one. A fire and ice sword, the blade
flickering with its strange red and blue flames. I wielded it in both claws,
ready to swing at the opposing Gelert.
Kybo heaved himself up off the ground, and shook
his massive head. Then, he caught sight of me, and charged. I was ready. When
he got within a foot of me, I swung my sword at the tiny little spot between
Kybo’s shoulder and neck. It had the desired effect; For the second time that
day, Kybo fell to the ground like ton of bricks, the force of his fall making
the cave walls shake. I didn't waste anytime.
Quickly, I tied him to the rock again, this time
using much more rope. I grabbed the bag of items, threw the rainbow swirly thing
around my neck and ran in the direction of Neopia Central and the abandoned
Chocolate Factory.
I gathered up all of my courage and strength
as I cantered to the dark and looming shape of the Factory, where I would finally
get the opportunity take down Team Alpha. It was either sweet victory, or grim
defeat....
To be continued...
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