VIII: Pouring of Ether
"Way to go Orichalkon!" I yelled as I ran over to him and rammed him into
the ground just for the heck of it. We had beaten the unbeatable. We watched
as Ritsuzen vanished into blue energy, into the night. The other's NeoPets had
slowly recovered, and just as we were getting happier, Kage was seen, stumbling
up the trail up the cliff, holding his stomach.
"Whoa, you got him good," said Ryo. I felt sorry for Kage. I was starting
to think that he believed it was all only a game, that he didn't know he was
hurting things. If so, how could I possibly blame him of anything? Even though
he has caused so much pain? I guess I would just have to wait and see how he
reacted.
"You... I was beaten... by you," said Kage as he stumbled up to us. He was
infuriated, I had never seen anyone so angry in me entire life. "You destroyed...
Ritsuzen. You will... pay! I will destroy this world and everything thing in
it with the Ether from the Ethereal Plains!" One thing popped into my mind:
What the heck is Ether and how was he gonna use it?
"Your insane!" Ryo yelled at him, and then punched Kage in the face. I made
up my mind, we were gonna have to fight Kage. But for a human, he would prove
surprisingly strong.
"Orichalkon, Level 2 NeoWeapon activate!" Shinsei Hougeki was used against
Kage, which I was sure would destroy him, but...
"He blocked it!" yelled out Willie. "How is it possible for a human to stop
that!?"
"Oh great. It's my turn. SnowOhki, Level 3 NeoWeapon activate!" commanded
Ryo. SnowOhki put her fists out, and yelled, "Hora-Gyou!" Kage was pounded by
heavy ice, but was still standing strong. Ryo signaled to Willie.
"Right Ryo! Cubix, Level 1 NeoWeapon activate! Sumizone Rakurai!" Cubix shot
out several bolts of dark energy this time, increasing the power of the attack.
Kage was struck by every one, but was not dead. A maniacal laughter could then
be heard from Kage.
"Mmhmm... Aha... AHAHAHAHA! I will rip a hole between Neopia and the Ethereal
Plains! The power of destructive Ether will pour over this land! Neopia will
be destroyed!" I couldn't believe what I was hearing. He was going to use the
power of one world to destroy another! This guy was more maniacal than I had
ever imagined!
I yelled out, "No! I won't let you!" But it was too late. The rip between
the two worlds was already open. I could see the hazy blue energy flowing out.
And then, that's when the destructive Ether was activated. Blue beams shout
out across the sky, setting anything they touched ablaze. It was such a horrible
sight, I could barely keep my eyes open. This was destroying everything I had
always dreamed of... boy! And that was when my NeoP0rt went off.
"What's this?" I said as I looked at it. It said "Ethereal Field Transport".
I wasn't sure if this was a good idea in the current situation, but what else
was I to do? Nothing.
"Okay, let's try this... Ethereal Field Transport activates!" As soon as I
had said this and hit the button, everything went hazy. Literally. We all found
ourselves surrounded by haze. Then blue light. And then the ground beneath us
seemed to be replaced by an invisible floor like in the Internet. I had to check
where we were.
"Okay, let's see where we are now," I said as I looked up our location. It
said, "Location: Ethereal Plains. Sub-Location: Field of Ether." I had transported
us into the world of Ether!
"Brad, what'd you do!?" Ryo ranted at me. I had no idea what I did. But I
knew that the Ether pouring into Neopia while we were here couldn't damage us.
"Come on, let's beat Kage!" Willie yelled. Just then his NeoP0rt activated.
The next thing I heard from him was, "Level 2 NeoWeapon activate!"
Light appeared between Cubix's fingers. He yelled out, "Shuriken Kirite!"
and threw about 100 razor-discs of light at Kage, making him fall to the ground.
"Orichalkon, use Shinsei Hougeki! Level 2 NeoWeapon activate!" A barrage of
fireballs scorched Kage.
"SnowOhki, cast Hora-Gyou! Level 3 NeoWeapon activate!" Kage was plummeted
by powerful blasts of water and ice. Just after that, he put his hands up.
"I surrender," Kage said. He had taken as much as he could. And he had lost.
"I'll let you go," I said. I took out my NeoP0rt, and transported us back
to Neopia... where the Ether was still pouring. "I'll let you go if you can
stop this."
"Right," he said. He moved his hands in a formation that closed the rip in
the Ethereal Plains. The Ether stopped pouring, and Neopia was left with minimal
damage.
"If NeoPets have such a strong will to live... they can't just be computer
code... what have I done!?" Kage then ran off.
"Kage, wait!" I yelled. But it was in futility. Kage had already ran into
the distance, and was beyond eyesight. "Kage... he had no idea what he was doing..."
"I guess we'll be able to return home now," said Ryo.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"If we were sent here for a purpose, it would have to be to stop the Emperor.
It seems that he's been stopped, so shouldn't we be able to go?"
"Yes, but those are all theories. How do we know if we were sent here for
a reason, and if we were, how do we know if it was to stop Kage?" We all had
to think hard about this. I then started talking again. "Plus, we still have
no idea who created the red discs. I don't really wanna leave without finding
out who brought us here!"
Okay, so we all decided we were going to stay. The problem was, we had no
idea where to go to make progress! We knew what to do though...
To be continued... | 
