| "Hey Metonot," said Jacob, "get your Avabot out of the ground
before it gets stuck."
Whooper, Metonot's petpet, started spinning
on its head when they had gone into the store. It was still spinning, and it
had already dug itself into the ground halfway. Metonot flew above the swirling
feet of Whooper, and grabbed them with his own feet, stopping him in mid-spin.
Flapping hard, Metonot proceeded to pluck Whooper from the ground. As the Avabot
was dropped on its side, it gave off the impression that it didn't know what
had just happened. After giving off a few sparks, he jumped to his feet, and
tried to shake off all the dirt that had gotten inside of his interior.
Metonot landed in front of Whooper, with
a concerned look upon his face. Cautiously, he asked, "Are you okay, Whooper?"
As if to answer Metonot, Whooper took a
single look at him and fired a small laser blast from his eyes at Metonot's
feet. The blast wasn't large enough to harm Metonot, but gave him a giant sting
of pain.
"Ouch!" cried Metonot, who was know ten
feet into the air. "That hurt Whooper! What did you do that for?"
Whooper merely fizzled and sparked, and
started to do a tap dance.
Jacob began to giggle at the show the Avabot
was putting on. "I always wondered what was up with Whooper's actions." He then
looked at Metonot above him and said, "Do you think he might be broken? I'm
sure we could fix him, or even get a replacement."
Metonot flew down in front Jacob, a very
furious look upon his face.
"Oh gee, that would be nice! Let's get
rid of my petpet, whom I happened to bond with even though he has trouble expressing
his feelings! Or better yet, we could even go to the Virtual Space Station,
and have one of the many robot builders there give him a complete work over,
so that he can finally stop acting so quirky. But no! We got no time to be doing
that, we are to busy frolicking in the grass! And you don't want to spend any
money!"
Jacob's hands were in front of his face,
as if to protect himself from Metonot rage. He was not scared though, as he
had a small smile on his face. He was being playful, kidding as always, and
not being serious a bit.
"Metonot, if Whooper was actually broken,
he wouldn't be following you as a petpet should. Since we aren't trying to chase
him down, he isn't really broken. He just happens to have a screw loose is all!"
Metonot gave one final grunt of anger,
as he knew he wouldn't be able to get through Jacob's strange sense of humor.
Jacob could never get serious about anything. Metonot stopped flapping his wings
and dropped to the ground, defeated.
Jacob took notice of this, and decided
to cheer him up as he rummaged through his bag. He said, "Don't you worry Metonot.
I got just the thing that will cheer you up!"
Metonot looked up at Jacob with hopeful
eyes, thinking Jacob was going to do something rational to cheer him up. His
gaze of hope turned to horror as saw that Jacob was holding in his hands one
of his oldest weapons. The Sword of Domar. This could mean only one thing. Jacob
intended to have Metonot fight in the Battledome.
"Jacob, you can't be serious!" cried Metonot.
"I haven't fought anybody in months! And the last time I did, I was wupped by
the Pant Devil! For the seventh time!"
"Oh, don't you worry Metonot," reassured
Jacob. "I also think it would be a bad idea to put you in a fight. Especially
since you don't want to be in one! The sword is just going to be for show, so
that we can enter the Battledome. What we are going to do is watch other Neopets
fight."
Metonot's heart leapt, as he enjoyed watching
good fight. When he watched great fighters duel, he always imagined himself
fighting like them one day. As things were turning out, however, it didn't look
like that was happening in the near future. Still, it was wonderful to dream
of such things. Metonot began to smile again and asked, "Which Battledome are
we going to see this time?"
Jacob began to ponder, and his eyes beamed
with joy as he said, "How about the Mystery Island Battledome?"
"What?" said Metonot, very surprised.
"Couldn't we just go to the one here in town? It's not that far off."
Metonot knew that it would take a few days
to get to Mystery Island, as they were supposedly not very rich. The rich could
go on any boat or flying vessel they wanted, as they had the ability to do so.
Jacob could only afford the cheapest boats, and those were the slowest.
Of course, whenever Jacob says he can only
afford the cheapest boats, Metonot knew that he was just being cheap. He knew
this, as Jacob usually sent him and his siblings to the Cockroach Towers for
vacation. Metonot sighed, as he knew he could not change Jacob's mind. So he
might as well live with him, and hope for the best.
A few minutes later, Jacob, Metonot, and
the dysfunctional Avabot named Whooper set off towards the docks to find a boat
heading for Mystery Island, where they hoped to see great fighters compete against
each other for higher glory.
S loth walked into the chamber holding
the Roboball with his two strongest Mutant Grundo warriors. The Roboball took
notice of Sloth, and stepped down from the pedestal he was standing on.
"Master Sloth, what shall you have me
do?" said the Roboball in an electronic voice.
Sloth smiled, as that was exactly what
it was supposed to say when he came before it. He then pointed at his creation,
and said, "Your codename is Roboball. Whenever I call out your name, and nothing
else, you must acknowledge me by saying 'Yes Master Sloth' and await my commands.
Understood?"
"Yes, Master Sloth," replied the Roboball.
Sloth giggled to himself again. To see
if his orders were followed, he said, "Roboball."
"Yes, Master Sloth?"
Sloth began another bout of laughter. His
programming had done well. He knew that it was time to test one final element
of the Roboball's design.
"Begin scanning perimeter for strong energy
signatures," said Dr. Sloth. "Upon identification of two strongest signatures,
commence program 'Energy Steal', then await further orders."
On command, the Roboball's sensors kicked
in, scanning in every direction for one mile. When it was done searching, Sloth
knew it would identify his two Grundo slaves, as they were the strongest warriors
in the entire base. Roboball's second counter measure would then come into effect.
Program 'Energy Steal'. It would literally absorb his two warrior's strength,
thereby making Roboball even stronger. After Sloth's two warriors have been
drained, he would send Roboball into the world, to assimilate the powers of
the strongest of beings. By use of this power, Sloth would take out the strongest
of warriors, and at the same time use their power for conquest.
The Roboball had finished his searching,
as two metal collars came out from a hidden chamber in his body. Both collars
floated in the air. Sloth smiled, seeing that his programming as done well,
as Roboball's actions have been completed at record time. The first collar flew
at one of the Mutant Grundos, snapping around its neck. The second one… went
straight at Dr. Sloth! Unable to dodge the fast collar, Sloth's neck was also
caught in its grasp.
"What do you think you're doing?" screamed
Dr. Sloth, trying to tear off the energy absorber from his neck. "This collar
is supposed to be on my other Grundo warrior, not around my…"
Sloth's words were cut sort as the Roboball
activated the collars. The Grundo warrior and Sloth collapsed as their will
to stand was taken away. A few seconds later, both of them fainted.
"What are my orders Master Sloth?" said
the Roboball.
Dr. Sloth could not answer though, as he
was in a deep sleep. The Roboball waited several more minutes for a reply, and
then secondary programming kicked in.
"Master Sloth incapacitated. Secondary
program 'Revenge' activated. Begin assimilation or destruction of strongest
of warriors and destroy Neopia."
Roboball then transformed into his protective
sphere, and crashed through the ceiling of Dr. Sloth's laboratory, and through
the many miles of earth and rock that was above it.
***
Jacob had just bought two tickets to Mystery Island from the ticket booth.
He was smiling like a child with a new toy, as he had gotten a bargain from
the dealer. As Jacob was buying the tickets, he noticed that the Kyrii ticket
seller was famished from lack of food. Seeing that the poor Kyrii needed nourishment,
and that he had little cash at hand, Jacob bargained with the ticket seller.
Two tickets at half price for a Baggus.
The Kyrii jumped at the offer. After they
switched the tickets for the desert fruit, the Kyrii instantly bit into the
Baggus. Through its chewing, Jacob could almost hear the thank you from the
starving Kyrii. Jacob smiled and nodded, and gave the now happy Kyrii a wave
before he turned around. As he walked away, Jacob felt extremely happy, and
not just because he saved money or fed the hungry Kyrii. He had gotten rid of
a Baggus, a desert fruit that Metonot absolutely loathed.
Speaking of his Neopet, he was currently
waiting at the docks with Whooper. As Jacob came up to them, he could see that
they had gathered a crowd of assorted Neopets around them. This was usually
common considering both of their eccentric attitudes. Politely pushing through
the crowd, he saw that Metonot and Whooper were doing their daily exercise.
In reality, that meant that Metonot was trying to stop Whooper from acting weird.
It happened almost every day. Whooper would
suddenly crackle and fizzle with electricity, and then fly about, spin in the
air and ground, fire lasers here and there, and speak complete gibberish. Metonot
would get in a fit and try to stop Whooper, as his stray laser shots usually
hurt people. That and the fact that Whooper's gibberish talk annoyed Metonot
completely. The exercise, as Jacob liked to jokingly call it, would go on for
at least ten minutes before Whooper powered down. By then, Metonot was exhausted,
and needed to rest on Jacob's shoulders for awhile before he could move again.
Which was about to be the case in a few
more seconds if Jacob allowed the exercise to continue. Jumping between the
two of them, Jacob swiftly grabbed for Whooper. As Jacob held him in both of
his hands, Whooper spun around his head a few more times, and then calmed down.
He could hear everyone gathered around them sigh in disappointment, as they
knew their show was over. Not too happy with any of them, Jacob called out to
all of them in a polite voice lined with anger.
"The show is over folks. You all go abbot
you business now, and keep in mind to help those that need helping."
The crowd, unnerved by his words, slowly
spread out and disappeared. Jacob turned around to see his tired and thankful
Korbat gasping for breath. Jacob was glad, as Metonot wasn't too tired to need
a rest. That meant he wouldn't have to hold his arm up for an hour while Metonot
slept upside down from his wrist. Jacob was strong, but not that strong!
"So Metonot," said Jacob. "Are you ready
to head off to Mystery Island?"
Metonot wiped the sweat from his eyes,
saying, "Sure. I'm ready to go. As long as Whooper stays away from me."
Noticing that Whooper was still in his
hands, Jacob set him down on the ground. As the Avabot spent most of its excess
energy already, it was now content with just staring up at the sky, as if it
was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Jacob looked back at Metonot
with a smile, and said, "You of all people should know that you two are bound
by a pact of friendship."
"Well," scoffed Metonot, "I don't have
to like it though. And it's more like ownership if you ask me."
"Don't sound as if you aren't grateful
Metonot. I seem to remember when I first gave you Whooper. You were happy that
I was able to get you a petpet. And not just any petpet, but a robot petpet!"
Metonot sighed, as he knew that was true.
Of course, he was beginning to regret that happiness, as he found out over the
past two years they've been together that Whooper was an insane robot that could
not be controlled.
Seeing Metonot's glum face, Jacob thought
he had spoken some sense into him. If he wasn't so ignorant, he may have been
able to see the emotional torment that was going through his Neopet. As he didn't,
Jacob simply turned around and began to walk towards the waiting boat that would
take the three of them towards Mystery Island.
"Come on then," said Jacob. "If we get
on the boat now, we might be able to pick the best cabin before anyone else
gets there."
As Jacob walked away, Metonot stared at
Whooper, who was still as docile as a sleeping baby. He sighed, and lifted himself
into the air with a few flaps of his arms. As he started to fly off after Jacob,
Metonot began to believe his life had hit the lowest point of sadness. At least
it can't get any worse, thought Metonot. Not far behind him, Whooper noticed
that he was being left behind, and he quickly hovered after Metonot and the
boat leaving towards Mystery Island.
To be continued...
| 
