Episode V: Force the Way
"I'll take this next one," said Willie. We spent the rest of the time travelling
through the dungeon in complete silence. We all started to feel more and more
lonely. There were only six of us now. All the NeoPets stuck close now.
"Willie, I'm with you, never forget that!" said Cubix.
"I know, I know, I won't forget," Willie sighed out. We reached yet another
of one of Malum's trademark rooms, and we waited for Willie and Cubix to walk
through. They took a deep breathe, and walked into the room. And, as always,
the glass door shot down. We all anxiously awaited for the test to begin.
"Drag yourself back alive," said SnowOhki. How uplifting. And then, we heard
the gears starting to churn.
"Come on Willie, you can do it!" Orichalkon yelled out. And then, it happened.
We couldn't believe the irony of a guillotine on a chain shooting at Willie.
"Be careful what you wish for, I guess," Ryo muttered out in disbelief. This
stage was brutally deadly; one false move and a guillotine would get him. But
it hadn't even started yet.
"Watch it, there's eight of 'em now!" Cubix yelled as the frantically dodged
the guillotines that shot at them. One had struck Willie right in the arm, but
not deep enough to stop him from moving. Then, something really weird happened.
Panels opened up in the walls and ceiling, dropping hundreds of skeleton bones.
Willie's face was now drained of colour, he was in an extreme state of fear.
I couldn't quite figure out why he was so scared, especially compared to what
we had been through before. Just then, a massive cannon fell from the ceiling.
It was over ten feet long! And it found it's way to Cubix...
"CUBIX, WATCH IT!" I yelled out. But Willie had it covered. Just as the cannon
was fired, Willie jumped right in front of Cubix. And oddly enough, the cannon
ball stopped in mid-air, and fell to the ground. Willie and Cubix looked up
in amazement. By the time they opened their eyes, everything that was previously
in the room was gone. Before they could even say goodbye, Willie and Cubix had
vanished in a surge of light, and the door opened.
"Looks like it's just us now," Ryo said to me.
"Yeah... hey Ryo, I want you to go. Get out of here, tell the others that
if I don't make it, to go on without me," I said.
"Okay Brad... but I hope we won't have to leave without you." When we had
arrived at the room, I could tell he was scared. But he ran right through. But
before SnowOhki could get through, the door shot down. The strange thing was,
Ryo didn't seem to notice. In fact, I saw SnowOhki standing next to him... a
fake one.
"HEY! A metal door! I can't see them!" Apparently it appeared as a steel door
from his side. I guess we would be unable to help him. SnowOhki was freaking
out, but Orichalkon was promptly there to calm her down. I anxiously watched
as the events unfolded.
"Yes, how unfortunate," the fake SnowOhki muttered evilly. The fake SnowOhki
then punched Ryo into the wall.
"SnowOhki, what's wrong with you!?" Ryo yelled. When Ryo hit the wall, a sword
that was suspended high above fell right next to Ryo. It was then that I realised
what Ryo's test was: To defeat SnowOhki.
"I see now," Ryo said. "SnowOhki has been possessed, and I have to beat her
with this." Ryo picked up the sword, and I saw a tear slide down his face. "I
can't do it... I'll just have to block her attacks until she wears herself out."
"RYO! IT'S ANOTHER ILLUSION!" I desperately yelled. But he didn't hear me.
He just kept using the flat edge of the sword to block the attacks. And it wasn't
doing much good either. The fake SnowOhki easily made it's way around Ryo's
sword. He couldn't take much more without dying.
"SnowOhki, why are you doing this?" I felt terribly sorry for Ryo. He was
seeing his most beloved friend beat him to death. The sight was just terrible.
I looked down to see the real SnowOhki bursting into tears. I picked her up,
trying to calm her down. It was all in futility though. I never thought I'd
see a hardened warrior like SnowOhki has such an emotional breakdown.
"SnowOhki, don't worry... he'll see the truth," Orichalkon said.
"Orichalkon's right," I said. "Ryo will pass this test. He's too strong, there's
no way that he can lose this."
"That's it SnowOhki... I won't let you destroy me! I WILL LIVE!" Ryo held
out the sword and charged at SnowOhki. And as soon as that blade hit the illusionary
flesh of that demon, it vanished into a flurry of red light. The door opened,
and we all ran in.
"Wait... SnowOhki... wait... what?" Ryo was totally confused. Good thing I
was there to help the poor, distorted boy.
"That was your test, to obliterate SnowOhki. And you passed. Your test was
about bravery. It takes strength to beat your enemies, but it takes an amazing
amount of emotional strength just to hurt your friends." I sounded like an old
wise man.
"Ryo... would you ever... destroy me?" SnowOhki asked, looking a little worried.
"Let me put it this way... would you ever try to do the same to me?" Ryo replied.
"No," SnowOhki muttered.
"Then you just answered your own question." At that moment Ryo and SnowOhki
started glowing blue.
"Remember," I said. "Don't wait up for us! Just get out of here if I don't
show up!"
"How about we leave anyway?" Ryo joked.
"Do it and I'll hunt you down," Orichalkon snarled. Ryo and SnowOhki laughed
as they vanished.
"It's just me and you now, Brad," Orichalkon said to me.
"Yep. You're not chicken, are you?"
"No way Brad. You just better not run off on me," Orichalkon scoffed at me.
So, the time had come for my test. I was frightened, I'll admit that. Orichalkon
and I took one last glance at each other, held our heads up high, and walked
into the darkness. What awaited us there, however, was unknown.
Episode VI: Horrors of Illusions
We emerged from the long, dark corridor into a room, which was quickly encased
by a steel door falling behind us.
"There's no backing out now, Orichalkon," I said.
"I'm not afraid Brad... I'll never back down!" Orichalkon yelled. But it seemed
we weren't going to have to do anything. Because the next time I blinked we
were outside, and I saw all my friends.
"Brad!" Sakari yelled as she ran up to me. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine... weird, I wasn't tested," I replied. They all looked at
me oddly.
"Lucky... I was horrified," Cubix said. Just then, I saw a shadowy figure
creep up behind Kage.
"Kage, watch it!" I yelled out. But it was too late. Kage had been hit right
in the chest. Ryo quickly ran over to his assistance, but was hit too. One after
one, everyone had been eradicated. The only ones left after a few seconds were
Orichalkon and I.
"You... you monster!" I yelled as tears streamed down my face. Orichalkon
looked exactly the same. But all the shadowy figure did was laugh, and point
in the distance. Apparently he had used that time to get away. But he was pointing
to something... a massive wave of power that looked like fire.
"What's going on!? How is all this happening so fast!?" I yelled. Neopia was
being destroyed before my very eyes, I couldn't believe it. In fact, I passed
out.
***
"Brad, wake up!" I woke up to the voice of Orichalkon, in the room we had
been transported out of.
"Wha... aren't we dead?" I was very confused.
"Nope. It was all an illusion!" Malum had finally pushed me to the edge. The
sight of all my friends being obliterated was brutal. He was going to pay.
"That couldn't have been our test... I know it. The test is going to be bigger,
that was just to shake us up," said Orichalkon. Just then, Malum jumped down,
in the flesh, and walked up to me.
"I'm afraid you're too late to save your friend's Brad," Malum said. He then
held out a strand of Sakari's hair. "Pretty girl, wasn't she? It's a shame she's
been destroyed." I was infuriated at Malum, but I couldn't fight him! I had
no weapons, and he was extremely strong! But then, I felt some weight in my
pocket had forgotten about... Kage's dagger! Plus, Orichalkon's Senka Weapon!
"Let's go, Orichalkon!" I yelled.
Within a flash, he was formed into his golden-radiating Senka mode. I had
the dagger drawn, and we were ready to fight. I was going to avenge Sakari's
passing.
"Orichalkon, Level 5 NeoWeapon activate! Gurando Toukai!" Malum was bombed
by thousands of rays of light. But when it all cleared, Sakari's body lay there.
I ran over to her.
"SAKARI! Sakari, I am so sorry!" I couldn't believe what I had done! I was
crying, and crying hard. Wouldn't you, after just destroying your best friend?
"Brad..." she put her hand on mine. "It's okay, you couldn't have possibly
known. Just do me one favour: end this. Take me out now." She took my hand and
put it on the dagger. "I can't take the pain anymore."
"Yes... Sakari, if you wish," I said, shaking. But Orichalkon, still in his
Senka mode, walked over.
"Brad, I can do this much better. These claws will just get rid of her," Orichalkon
said. Sakari and I nodded, and I looked away as I heard the quick swipe of Orichalkon's
claw. When I turned around, Orichalkon had reverted back to his normal stage,
and Sakari was gone. "All has been said and done, Brad..." Just then, Orichalkon
had vanished into a flash of blue light, and I found myself glowing to. I felt
like I had blacked out. Is it just me, or does that happen to me a lot?
***
"Brad, are you okay?" I woke up to the warm voice of Sakari this time.
"But... what... we... what?" I was so very VERY confused. Orichalkon walked up
to me.
"Brad, all of that was part of Malum's illusions! These are our real friends.
Also, we noticed a pattern in the tests. All of the tests were based on the
fears of the person taking it!"
"That's right," said Sakari. "My greatest fear is my former Mitsukai self."
"I'm kind of claustrophobic, plus I have a huge fear of water," said Kage.
"Believe it or not, I am afraid of things too," said Willie. "I am afraid
of kicking the bucket."
Ryo said, "I am afraid of what happened to SnowOhki, and me having something
to do with it." They all looked at me. Orichalkon had already explained my test,
but they wanted me to tell them what it meant.
"I am afraid of the loss of Neopia and my friends... why Sakari was singled
out I have no clue."
***
"Wow, they're stronger than I thought, emotionally and physically," Malum
said, sitting atop his cybernetic throne in the mysterious castle, busily typing
away. "But trust me, that was only the tip of the iceberg for you. There will
be more to come. Atrox, come here!" A shadowed, indistinguishable beast came
to Malum's side.
"What do you need me to do, your majesty?" the beast said in a deep, rough
voice.
"I need you to dispatch twenty Dark Parasites on some NeoPets. Make sure they
are strong, too. We can't have weak NeoPets doing our bidding, can we?"
To be continued... | 
