Scientist Lupe (Scientist for short) was working inside his basement. He carefully
added ingredients to a large vial, writing down his progress.
"Careful…" He made sure not to spill any thing. He took down some notes, and
watched the concoction to see how it would react. He then added a stinky green
liquid, holding his nose away.
"Must be careful not to add the wrong ingredient… So one teaspoon of that…"
He poured it in, and mixed it. He adjusted his glasses and then wiped his paws
off on his lab coat. He held a pencil and scribbled down notes. The vial shook
violently, and Scientist ducked, just in case. But the potion just turned into
a solid blue goop and overflowed.
"Back to the drawing board I guess." Scientist shook his head and went upstairs.
He tossed the vial with the mess in it into the trash can. He looked at his
calendar.
"Trash day already?" He took out the trash can and left it at a curb. He then
walked inside his house to investigate further. What he didn't notice was the
mess that he had created was still growing…
"Careful…" Scientist was recreating the potion. He grinned as he placed an
ingredient.
"Perfect!" The vial began to shake again, and his grin disappeared.
"Or maybe not." It exploded, and Scientist ducked just in time. He took out
his fire extinguisher and sprayed the small fire that had started. Just then
there was a beeping. He looked at his watch that he had left on a table.
"Lunch time!" He extinguished the fire on it and then walked upstairs. After
getting some carrots, he walked outside and collected the mail.
"Junk, junk, junk, junk, junk…" He tossed away the junk and was left with two
envelopes. The first one showed his bank account, which was very low at this
point. The second was a Neocheck from his founders. He finished his lunch and
went to deposit the money. He passed his trash can without noticing that the
mess had began to go inside a house. He walked off whistling.
Hosh the Krawk, one of Scientist's friends, was sitting in an armchair reading
a book. He was so absorbed into it he didn't notice the loud THUD! that
came from his door as the gooey mess over weighed it. He turned a page and hummed,
reading the page intensely. Just then he felt something seep over his leg. He
placed the book aside and saw the blue goop.
"What the--" He heard a crashing noise as a window burst. He ran to the back
door, but when he opened more goo came out.
"Scientist," he muttered as he exited via another window that was not completely
covered. Meanwhile the blue goop was bursting into other houses, and pets were
scrambling out. In a few minutes the entire street was covered, and the houses
had the goop in it. The pets were stomping all over the goo in an attempt to
destroy it but it just grew back. It soon began to spread out further. Just
then Scientist came back from the bank.
"Well, it's been a good day so--" he stopped as he saw the mess. He ran over
to the pets gathered in a group. They all glanced at him.
"GET RID OF THIS!" They all said it together. Scientist watched the goop go
into a previously untouched house.
"Fascinating!" He took out his notepad when Hosh walked over.
"Scientist!" Scientist jumped.
"Oh yes, get rid of it. Right away." He ran back to house and got supplies.
He first picked up an axe and tried to hack the goo, but it just reformed. He
then lit a match and tried to burn it but it just took out the match.
"SCIENTIST! I KNOW YOU'RE OUT THERE!" This came from the newly invaded house,
and Scientist sighed when he saw it. It was the house of Arrow, a Jetsam who
hated Scientist, mostly because Scientist's experiments affected him. Scientist
walked inside his house, stepping over the puddles of goo. The red Jetsam grabbed
him by he front of his lab coat as soon as he stepped in.
"Hi Arrow. How are you?" Scientist tried to be friendly to Arrow but Arrow
didn't bother to return the kindness.
"DO YOU REALISE JUST HOW MUCH YOUR EXPERIMENT JUST DID?" He bared his sharp
teeth, and they flashed in the sunlight.
"I do now," Scientist said as he watched Arrow carefully. Arrow let go of his
lab coat and he smoothed it out. Arrow pulled out damaged boxes.
"These toys were collectors item. They don't make them anymore. And, it was
in ORIGINAL PACKAGE!" Arrow's eyes turned red for a moment, and then they returned
to normal. Scientist's jaw opened at the damage.
"I guess the mixture must affect the materials that--" Before he could finish,
Arrow continued to talk.
"I am sick and tired of everything that happens to me ever since YOU moved
here." Scientist mouthed the words along with him. "Do you know that my insurance
company raised their rate? Why? BECAUSE YOU DESTROYED MY HOUSE AGAIN LAST WEEK!"
"Well, I'm not doing it on purpose Arrow. I don't know why it sometimes does
stuff like that. But-" Before he could finish Arrow's phone rang. Arrow looked
at him and then hit the speakerphone.
"Hello?"
"Hi Arrow? This is Rall. You need to finish the report and turn it to--" The
phone had fallen into the goop and it dissolved. Arrow picked it up and tried
to use it.
"Hello? Rall? RALL! ARRRGH!" He threw the phone in his anger.
"I guess the ingredients also works on phone," Scientist mused, and Arrow turned
around.
"SEE WHAT I MEAN?" He grabbed Scientist and this time shook him violently until
he felt satisfied. Scientist saw a drop of the blue goo plop in front of him.
He looked up, and saw the ceiling. It was a ton of cracks in it and it looked
like it was caving in. He looked across a hall and saw the goop ooze past a
vase on a stand. The goop knocked the stand and the vase was knocked forward.
It hit the ground and shattered. Arrow turned around.
"WAS THAT MY RARE ONLY ONE IN THE WORLD VALUABLE VASE?"
"Uh, no?" Arrow narrowed his eyes.
"I don't believe you." He let go of Scientist and went to check. As he did,
Scientist ran out of the house.
"ARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHH!"
Just as Scientist got out the house burst from the goop stuck inside. The house
collapsed, but Scientist just walked onward. He tripped, and fell face first
into the goop. Some went inside his mouth, and his first reaction was to spit
it out. But then he actually tasted it, and his eyes widened.
"Woah…" He picked up a pawful and ate it. He then scooped more.
"Gross!"
"Disgusting!"
"Actually, it's quite good," Scientist said with his mouth full of it. Hosh
picked up a small bit and placed it in his mouth with his eyes shut. He then
opened them and picked up some more.
"He's right!" Several pets picked it up and ate some. Pretty soon all the goop
was gone. To make up for the damage Scientist helped everyone clean up. They
were very used to this, and it was finished quickly.
Meanwhile Arrow was struggling to get out of his destroyed house. As soon as
he was out he began to stomp on the ground in frustration. Scientist then saw
he was on top of a huge lump of goo.
"I wouldn't do that!" Arrow just looked over and grinned.
"Oh yeah?" He continued to stomp onto it, until it exploded. He went flying
over everyone. Scientist looked at Hosh.
"I better help him. Thank everyone for helping." With that he went into a nearby
forest. He looked around until he heard shouting. He glanced up and watched
Arrow, who had the misfortune to land near some nests. Defensive Pteris were
pecking at him thinking he was after their nests. Arrow was running around trying
to get the Pteris off. While running he ran onto a weak branch and fell.
"Don't worry, I got you!" Scientist held out his arms. Just before Arrow reached
him, Scientist sneezed. He instinctively took out his handkerchief, and Arrow
hit the ground. He jumped back up, with his eyes a flaming red.
"Eh… I guess you're a little mad, huh?"
"Mad? I'M FURIOUS!" Arrow charged toward Scientist who ran. Just another day
in the town of Poplar.
The next morning at five o'clock Scientist's alarm went off. His arm fumbled
around to hit the off button but he wound up knocking over the glass of water.
It splashed into his face and woke him up faster. He stumbled out of bed and
took off the lab coat he had worn yesterday. He placed on a new one and set
off to his lab to work again. At about twelve his doorbell rang and someone
knocked on the door.
"What now?" He went upstairs and opened the door. Arrow was standing outside.
"Scientist--" Scientist slammed the door, not interested in talking to him.
"OW! My flipper!" Scientist quickly opened it, and Arrow glared at him. He
handed Scientist a sheet of paper that unfolded a few times.
"What's this?"
"This is the price value of things you destroyed. I expect to be paid soon."
Scientist's eyes widened at the total amount.
"Thirty-thousand Neopoints?" Arrow nodded.
"Everything the insurance company couldn't replace. You have a week." Arrow
then left, humming happily. Scientist walked back inside his house and looked
at the cost again. He grabbed a bottle and drank from it.
"Yuck!" He spat it out. "Bearog slime! I have got to stop doing that." He took
his drink that was next to the Bearog slime and opened up The Neopian Times.
"Maybe I can find a job in here." He looked at all the help wanted ads, when
one caught his eye.
"Scientist and assistant wanted, good pay, apply at Kauvara's shop. Sounds
good." He ate lunch and then went over to apply.
"Okay Scientist, welcome. I need you to help me stock the shop." Kauvara was
getting some items out. Scientist took a couple of potions and some Faeries.
After stocking them he ran over to take the orders of customers. Within minutes
all the Faeries were sold out along with a lot of the potions. Scientist placed
the money in a safe spot, and then got the items ready for the next restock.
Later Kauvara came over.
"Come with me for a moment." They went in back area where most of the items
were stored. Kauvara placed a hoof on a wall and it slid open to reveal stairs.
"Follow me." They both walked down for a few minutes until they reached the
bottom. Lights flicked on and Scientist saw a table. Kauvara walked over to
a cabinet and opened it, and took out a small bottle. The liquid inside was
dark black.
"I need you to analyse this. I would like to know if it's safe or not."
"What is it?"
"It's a potion I found along with several others while getting ingredients
for the potions I sell." She motioned toward the cabinet where several other
bottles were there. She left and Scientist rubbed his paws together.
"Time to get to work." He then opened the bottle and began to work.
A few hours later he went up the stairs and walked over to Kauvara
"Bad news, I'm afraid. The potions affect any Neopet's body severely, although
I'm not sure if it's good or bad. I don't know if you can sell it yet."
Just then the door was opened, and Scientist walked over to the counter.
"Hello, how may I help…" He trailed off because no one was there.
"That's a little strange." But he just walked to Kauvara and continued to talk
about his results. As he was talking he saw a strange sight from the corner
of his eye. All the potions with the black liquid were floating in mid-air.
"Hold on Kauvara," he said as he dashed over. He swiped his paw around, and
eventually hit something. A Wocky appeared from nowhere.
"Darn," he muttered as he looked at the Invishat on the floor. He pulled out
a sparkshooter and aimed it at Scientist.
"Freeze right there!" Suddenly Kauvara came out and aimed a spell at the robber,
who dropped all the bottles and dodged the spell. Scientist quickly grabbed
one bottle, but the rest shattered. The liquid inside turned into smoke, and
soon the shop was filled up with it. Scientist quickly went to the door to block
it. He opened it slightly to let out the smoke, but then he was grabbed. When
the smoke cleared he saw the Wocky had the Sparkshooter aimed at him again.
"One move and this Lupe gets it," he said, watching Kauvara Scientist thought
quickly.
"Your shoelace is untied," he said, but the Wocky laughed.
"Nice try. I don't have shoes."
"Well, 'gullible' is written on your foot."
"Really?" The Wocky bent over to look, and Kauvara hit him with a spell that
knocked him out. Scientist grinned.
"Well, now that that's over with, maybe I can get back to work." He reached
over and grabbed a bottle and drank from it.
"Scientist! That's the new potion!" Scientist looked and saw his drink that
he had brought right next to the spot where the new potion had been.
"I have got to stop doing that!" They both stood there, unsure of what would
happen. Five minutes later Scientist was still alive.
"Well, I guess everything's okay," Kauvara said as she got things ready.
One week later
"Here you are Scientist." Kauvara handed him some money for helping. "And here's
a reward for helping me catch the robber." Scientist counted the money and grinned.
"No problem." He grabbed a bottle and before drinking checked it. When he was
sure it was safe he gulped it down. He then left to go home. As soon as he got
there he saw Arrow was waiting for him.
"Well Scientist?" Scientist handed him the money, and Arrow's smirk disappeared.
"How…You weren't supposed to get this!" Arrow stormed off and Scientist went
inside his house to work.
Later Scientist went over to present his work to the company, Regulator's Scientific
Research Company, that funded him. They were very pleased with the results.
"Great work Scientist! Just put in this walk in vault." The Bruce opened the
vault after unlocking it and Scientist placed his work inside. When he walked
out he looked at the large vault door.
"This looks pretty strong." The Bruce beamed.
"It is. No weapon invented can break through this. This was the result of a
lot of work and millions of Neopoints." Scientist took the handle of the door.
"Pretty heavy too." He swung it back and forth. There was a loud ripping noise,
and soon Scientist had the vault door held in his one paw. He dropped it quickly.
"Uh, sorry about that." The Bruce stared.
"How did you do that?"
"Well, uh, I ate my vegetables when I was young..."
To be continued... | 
