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Advisor Wessle walked calmly into the living room with a
bobbing Meerca behind him. I turned away from the window and looked at them. I
could feel a rush of air stream into my open mouth.
"There is an angry mob on my front lawn," I
whispered hoarsely.
"Yes." The desert Kyrii nodded. He seemed pleased
about it.
"WHY is there an angry mob on my front lawn?"
I asked, changing my statement to a question.
"In situations like this, it's a good strategy
to have public opinion behind you," he replied.
"But public opinion doesn't seem to be behind
me," I whimpered. "Public opinion is in front of me and they look like they're
carrying weapons."
"Look again," he said with a crafty gleam in
his eye.
I stared out the window again. This time I scanned
the crowd more closely. There were about twenty Neopets milling around on my
lawn. They were fascinated by a small group of about six or seven Neopets marching
up and down the sidewalk in front of my place yelling at the top of their lungs.
The marchers were carrying banners and hand-painted signs. I had to squint to
read what they said, but they seemed to have a general Meerca theme to them.
MEERCA CHASE UNFAIR TO MEERCAS
STOP CRUELTY TO MEERCAS
MEERCAS AREN'T DIM-WITTED! MEERCA CHASE PLAYERS
ARE!
MEERCAS UNITE!
EAT AT GRUNDO'S
I wasn't sure what that last sign was all about,
but I suspected someone out there saw a good opportunity for free advertising.
"Ummm... " I began slowly, "I'm not sure why
this is a good thing."
I guess the blank look on my face convinced
my lawyer that an explanation was in order. The desert Kyrii strode up to the
window and peered out.
He turned to me and said, "They are professional
protesters. They're getting paid fifteen Neopoints an hour. But don't worry.
I'll bill you for the total expense later when they turn in their time cards."
I did a double-take. "You're PAYING them to
tear up my lawn and create a scene in front of my house?" I sputtered in disbelief.
"Of course," he replied with satisfaction.
Before I could reply to that, a van pulled up
at the curb and screeched to a halt. There was a satellite dish on the top of
it. Huge letters on the side panel proclaimed that it belonged to NTV News.
A Usul with a microphone in her paws jumped out, trailed by several Lennies
carrying video cameras and sound equipment. Within seconds they were set up
and the Usul positioned herself in front of the camera. I heard a voice boom
loudly behind me and swiveled around. It was my own TV set. It was still on.
"Good morning. This is Chet Flash with late-breaking
news in the case of the missing Meerca. Live at the scene in Tyrannia is Sally
Usul. Sally?"
"Yes, Chet. I am here live at 37101 Tyrammet
Close, Tyrannia..."
I looked at the Usul speaking into a microphone
on my TV set and then looked out the window at the Usul speaking into a microphone
on my front lawn. It was a surreal sensation.
"... where I have received an anonymous tip
that the Meerca that the Neopian police department is hunting for is here at
this address. The Meerca is claiming sanctuary here as a protest against the
game of Meerca Chase."
"Showtime!" Advisor Wessle said with a wry smile
and a wink. "Stay here. I'll be back after my press conference."
I let him walk out the door without asking the
ten dozen questions that immediately popped into my head. Questions like, "Are
you insane?" for example.
Reallyconfused bounced up and down on his tail
in front of the window. Every time his body sailed upwards, a volley of camera
flashes exploded in a blinding light from outside. After a few seconds of this,
his eyes went huge and glassy. He landed on his feet and stood for a moment
rubbing his eyes.
"The sun sure is acting funny today," he commented
naively.
A babble of voices shouting questions simultaneously
erupted from my lawn. I swiveled around and looked at the screen. My very distinguished-looking
Kyrii lawyer was standing on my doorstep. Sally Usul was parked next to him,
waving a microphone. He plucked it from her paw with the ease of someone who
was not intimidated by the press. He tapped on the top of the mike to test the
sound, and then held up his paw for silence. A partial hush actually fell over
the crowd. A few reporters still shouted out a few questions, but the Kyrii
ignored them.
"Good morning. My name is Advisor Wessle, and
I am representing the Meerca," he began.
I inched over to my stone armchair and eased
into it, never taking my eyes from the screen. The Meerca he was talking about
followed me and climbed up into my lap.
"Ooooo! I think I've seen that guy before!"
RC chirped, clapping his paws together excitedly.
I rolled my eyes and shook my head. This Meerca
sure was dumb. Cute but dumb.
"That guy was here two seconds ago, RC. That's
Advisor Wessle."
"Oh."
Reallyconfused squinted at screen.
"How did he get into that little box?"
My eyes blinked rapidly while my brain tried
to focus on a press conference and a silly question at the same time.
"Nevermind RC, I'll explain it later," I replied.
"I want to hear what he is saying, okay?"
Luckily I hadn't missed anything yet. The moment
he introduced himself, Advisor Wessle had been pummeled with a fresh round of
frenzied questions and had to silence the crowd and the reporters again.
"I have a statement to make," the Kyrii said
crisply. The shouting voices lowered to a low murmuring. "First of all, I wish
to make it very clear that the Meerca was NOT kidnapped from the Meerca Chase
Arena. He was rescued from the Meerca Chase Arena."
Another wave of hysterical questioning erupted,
but the desert Kyrii calmly silenced the noise with a wave of his paw.
"If you will not allow me to make my statement,
I will call an end to this press conference," he said firmly and with a stern
glare in his eye.
The mob became eerily quiet then. I was quite
impressed.
Puffing his chest out with importance, Advisor
Wessle continued, "There are those who regard the use of Meercas for Meerca
Chase as a great Neopian tradition that should remain unaltered. But the truth
of the matter is, this is a cruel game that harms innocent Meercas. This brave
Meerca is making a political statement here. He wishes only to be allowed to
live in peace with a sympathetic human. It's what any Neopet would wish. But
the officials at the Meerca Chase Arena are attempting to force this poor Meerca
to return to this despicable slavery. We, as concerned Neopian citizens, have
an obligation to protect the rights of poor, defenseless, dim-witted pets. We
cannot allow this Meerca to be forced to play Meerca Chase against his will.
We cannot allow the Chia police to arrest, persecute and frosty freeze this
human for daring to aid and protect this poor, unfortunate Meerca. This Meerca
is not just some nameless piece of equipment used to play Meerca Chase. He has
been given a name. Can we allow the government to separate a human from his
Neopet simply because there are selfish creatures in Neopia who want to make
Neopoints off of this poor Meerca?"
The crowd went wild with applause and enthusiastic
cheers. The herd of reporters exploded into another flurry of eager questions.
The police showed up.
"No questions for now," the Kyrii said, glancing
at the squadron of flashing lights and screaming sirens heading down the street
towards my NeoHome. "No comment."
Advisor Wessle grabbed the doorknob and quickly
slid back into the house. I turned away from the TV and stood up abruptly as
he entered and locked the door behind him. I had forgotten that RC was on my
lap and he not only slid off, he actually dribbled like a basketball in little
bounces across the floor. He didn't seem to notice though. He simply hopped
up on his tail and grinned.
"Hi, 'Visor Wessly!" RC cooed as he waved. "We
saw a guy that looks like you in the little box!"
Before he could reply, a familiar deep growly
voice boomed behind me.
"What the Pant Devil is going on here?" Stonewolf3x
demanded.
He stood in the dining room entrance to the
living room with a Crokabek carrying pirate Krawk and a Tyrannian Doglefox behind
him. They all looked rumpled and ticked off.
"I just had to fight my way through a mob in
the backyard," he snarled. "The Rock Garden looks like a pile of rubble. What
the heck is going on? And what is HE doing here?" he said, jerking his stubby
paw-thumb in Advisor Wessle's direction.
Luckily I didn't have to answer my angry Lupe.
The Kyrii did it for me.
"I am Advisor Wessle and I have been hired to
be Stoneman3x's legal counsel," he replied matter-of-factly. "I called a press
conference because as long as there are reporters and citizens here as witnesses,
the police will be very careful about generating bad publicity for their department.
They will simply disperse the crowd and let you off with a warning. After all,
I made it clear that the Meerca wasn't kidnapped. So they won't arrest anyone
now."
The screeching whistle of a bullhorn being activated
shattered the air.
"This is the Chia police! You are under arrest!
Come out with your hands up!"
"Or maybe they will," my lawyer said with a
nonchalant shrug.
I was so stunned and terrified that I stood
rooted to the spot without moving a muscle. My fire Lupe strode over to the
desert Kyrii. His blazing eyes pierced right through him. It was the first and
only time I ever saw Advisor Wessle flinch.
"I'll take care of this," Wolf growled.
Wolf headed for the front door. Stonekrawk3x
broke out of his own temporary freeze and trotted off after him. But Wolf stopped
him with a sharp look.
"The day a Lupe needs back-up to deal with a
bunch of Chias, is the day when Neopia discovers a new world that exists solely
to hand out free jelly," he sneered. "Fetch my weapons."
Krawk nodded solemnly, turned around and bolted
towards Wolf's training gym on the other side of the kitchen. He returned a
minute later with a hypno helmet and an iron Lupe sword. Advisor Wessle and
I exchanged concerned looks.
"Ummm... Wolf... maybe this isn't such a good
idea," I said nervously.
The Lupe flashed me a sly and confident half-smile.
Taking the sword from his bodyguard's hook claw, he strapped it on and adjusted
the scabbard. Then he nestled the helmet onto his head and pulled down the visor
to protect his own eyes from the hypnotizing ray. Without even glancing back,
he strode out the front door. The moment he exited, I rushed to the window to
see what was happening.
A half a dozen police cruisers were blocking
Tyrammet Close. They were lined up at odd angles to each other. The police officers
obviously hadn't spent more than a couple of seconds parking their vehicles.
In fact, one police car was actually parked on my front lawn. The crowd had
been pushed back behind a strip of bright orange tape that had been strung between
several trees. The officers appeared to be having a lot of trouble keeping several
Neopian Times reporters behind the barricade. I didn't know too much about Neopian
Times reporters, but they seemed to be feisty as all heck.
The moment the fire Lupe walked out the front
door, a mini-army of uniformed Chias squatted down, their Chia bubble guns drawn.
"This is Officer Bookem of the Chia police!"
a figure crouching behind a police car boomed through the bullhorn. "Lay down
your weapons and surrender and no one will get hurt!"
Stonewolf3x's eyebrow arched in his typical
"Is that so?" sort of way. He sat on the front stoop for a moment thumping his
tail. I winced. I knew something about that tail thumping that those Chias obviously
didn't.
To be continued...
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