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Untitled Document
We rejoin Scarlet and Snowberry at an outdoor card table.
"Mr. Lupe, sir," an annoyed Scarlet said, "I
don't mean to be rude, but I don't think that the invisible version of the card
game Go Pfish will catch on with Neopians. Can we do something else?"
"Aww," the Lupe said from the other side. "I
was about to beat you too… I think."
Suddenly, a thunderous roar echoed in the plains
behind them. Scarlet, Snowberry, and the Lupe turned and saw a pink dragon towering
over the plain only a few hundred feet away. And his red eyes were glaring right
at the three of them.
"Tell me this is part of the game," Snowberry
said, with eyes bulging, "Maybe a special effect?"
The dragon took a deep breath and spit out a
flame at an Eesa tree between him and the card players, burning it to the ground,
then looked back at them.
"A really good special effect?" Snowberry added.
The Zafara and Chomby both looked at the Lupe, but he was too stunned to say
anything. "Run for your lives!" yelled the invisible Techo as she ran up to
the others. "A Floud got into the invisible carrots! …Oh, you noticed. Well,
anyway, RUN!!"
The Zafara, Chomby, and Lupe ran as hard as they
could away from the dragon down the dirt path on which they came. He saw them,
blew smoke from his nostrils, and pursued in long strides on his hind legs.
Unfortunately for him, he ran right toward an invisible NeoHome and tripped
over it, sending his entire heavy body crashing to the ground. The impact caused
a Neoquake that could be felt for miles, which knocked Scarlet, Snowberry, and
the Lupe to the ground. All was still for a moment, but only for a moment, for
the dragon balanced himself on all fours and started crawling towards the three
Neopets.
Scarlet pointed to a cave in the distance and
told the others, "C'mon, in here." He took off running again, with Snowberry
right on his tail. On the way, the Chomby turned to look back, gasped, and grabbed
Scarlet's tail by the teeth to make him stop. "Wait!" she said, "The Lupe's
still back there!" Scarlet looked, and sure enough, the Lupe was still stretched
out on the ground.
"RUN!!!" Scarlet and Snowberry yelled to the
Lupe. But it was too late for that, since the dragon had already reached him.
All the Zafara and Chomby could do was watch as he picked up the Lupe by the
lab coat and held him dangling over the ground. He then looked into the trembling
Lupe's eyes and told him, "Now I have you right where I want you!"
Suddenly, something large struck the dragon on
his left side, almost making him lose his balance. He whipped his head around
to see what caused it, but he saw nothing there. He shrugged and turned back
to the Lupe, figuring that whatever it was is gone now. As soon as he did, he
was struck again. And again. Barking, roaring, and neighing sounds started up
all around him, growing increasingly louder. Scarlet and Snowberry smiled as
they realized what was happening.
"What's going on?" the dragon said. He shuffled
on three legs to the right, hoping that would work, but then the jabs started
happening on his other side too.
"All right, guys, I've got the kit!" said the
Techo shopkeeper as she ran to the scene with a white box that had a picture
of a carrot on the top. "Just hold it off a little while longer."
The Techo put down the box and opened it to reveal
a large orange bottle. She pointed it toward the confused Floud and pulled off
the cap, releasing an orange-colored gas. The dragon recognized what was coming
immediately, dropped the Lupe, and tried to run away. But the fog got to him
before he could take a step, completely enveloping him in seconds. He immediately
started shrinking down before everyone's eyes. In a matter of seconds, the dragon
became a Floud again. Back in his old state, the Floud kicked the ground with
his fin in disgust.
"Whew," the Lupe said as he got up. "That was
a close one. Thank you everyone!"
"No problem," the Techo and numerous other voices
said.
Scarlet told the Techo, "It was an awfully good
thing that you happened to have that bottle. Where did you get it from?"
"Oh, this thing?" the Techo responded, "All
food shopkeepers keep these stored in their shops just in case this happens.
It's called an 'In case a Floud gets into the carrots kit.'"
"I'm sure that you don't have to use it very
often, huh?" Snowberry asked.
"Well… actually… it's happened here quite a
few times for some reason."
"Yeah," the Floud angrily squeaked, "And you
Neopets deserved it too!"
The four pets turned and looked at the Floud,
shocked.
To be continued...
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