Sakhmet Saga

by neoiceparrot

It could have been any other day. Alas, it was not. It was the fated day of the invasion of Sakhmet, the day it all began. That third of July started normally enough. The Neopians were busy bustling around, chattering avidly about the recent discovery of the city of Sakhmet. Few knew about Sloth's activities in the city all that week, so nobody seemed particularly worried. Until it happened, that is. A lone citizen, a young desert Kau, was loading the items she had bought in the city that day into a large bag to tote it all home in, when a lumbering shape came up behind her and overshadowed her. She slowly turned around, and let out a shriek of terror when she saw a horribly mutated Grundo, its beady red eyes glinting savagely. Still stunned with fear, the Kau madly scrambled away from the beastly mutation, knowing that only Sloth could be behind this. She ran throughout the city, yelling the news and calling everyone to arms. When Brucey B. heard, he quickly set up a war tent and sent a plea out to the Neopians. They would need all the help they could get.

Yawning, Chippy2000 walked out his front door to pick up his copy of the Neopian Times, which was lying on the lawn. He examined the front page as he went to get it. The news alarmed him out of his sleepy state, the newly found city of Sakhmet was being invaded by Sloth and his troops! Chippy could easily recall how helpless he and everyone else felt when Sloth set his focus on Neopia itself, and it was then that he decided he must help. After all, if he didn't, as soon as Sloth gained control of Sakhmet, he would once again come after Neopia. Chippy picked up the phone and dialed his friend's number.

Still in bed, Kikugoku dazedly picked up the ringing telephone. "Hello?" Chippy wasted no time in telling Kiku of the invasion. Finally awake, Kiku said, "Okay, I'll go tell Blossomy, and then head over to Sakhmet as fast as possible."

"Okay, I'll meet you there," Chippy agreed. They hung up, and Kiku anxiously dialed his girlfriend Blossomy's number.

Within moments, she was informed and ready to help. She started traveling to Sakhmet right away, and Chippy started only a few hours later. However, Kiku had to take care of some things. First, he stopped by a shop to buy some healing potions and battle equipment. Then, he bid farewell to his owner and his brother, Peepsazure the white Lupe, and his sister, OmenRyoko the skunk Lupe, he was off, but now considerably behind the others, who had probably arrived by now. He couldn't help but feel worried about them, and steadily quickened his pace in an effort to arrive faster.

Although it seemed to take eternity, he finally arrived. The sight that greeted his eyes sickened him. Millions of NeoPets were badly hurt, and even more were engaged in vicious battles with Grundos, Mechanoid Warriors, and Evil Sloth Clones. Before leaping into battle, he sought out Blossomy and Chippy. He found Chippy first, who was recovering in a medical tent.

"I feel fine now," Chippy said, "but I'm not going straight into battle. There's got to be something more to this invasion. These Grundos and machines can't be Sloth's only defense, I'm sure there's a greater evil in store. I'm going on ahead, I'll meet up with you later, hopefully."

Kiku nodded, trying to look calm, but he felt the panic rising in his chest. Where was Blossomy? Kiku desperately set off in search of her, praying nothing had happened to her.

After almost an hour of searching, Kiku did indeed find Blossomy, but she was injured and had stopped fighting. She had forgotten to bring healing potions, so although she beat many invaders, she kept getting weaker from not healing while the steadily decreasing army grew stronger with each defeat. Luckily, a medical tent wasn't far off, and Kiku managed to bring her there. He left with the nurses on call his supply of healing potions to use on Blossomy, and after promising to meet up with her again as soon as she was well, he set off to battle his own share of invaders.

Nothing had gotten better on the battle field. There were less invaders, but also less pets. Kiku wasted no time and leaped into the battle. He easily defeated a few Grundo Troopers, and after he did so, a higher rank of Grundos approached him, the Commanders. These, too, were relatively easy to beat, but Kiku found himself getting slightly tired. Next came the Mechanoid Warriors. The invaders were getting tougher and tougher, and Kiku had left all the healing potions at the nurses' tent. He found himself in Blossomy's predicament, he just kept getting weaker. After defeating a number of Mechanoid Warriors, followed by the tough Evil Sloth Clones, Kiku noticed something. The battle field had stifled into a deadly calm. Nothing stirred. Injured pets and defeated invaders lay on the ground, while the undefeated pets had undoubtedly wandered off to be healed at the nurses' tents. The fight was obviously over. However, Kiku squinted as he noticed a lone figure in the distance. His heart skipped a beat as he saw Sloth himself approaching fast. Or was it? No, not Sloth, but another Sloth clone, probably the very last of all the invaders. The clone's endurance was high after his companions had been defeated so many times. These Sloth replicas, like every other opponent, increased in strength when one of their number was defeated. Knowing that in his weakened state he didn't have a ghost of a chance, but at the same time knowing he had no other choice, Kiku weakly got to his feet and engaged battle with the last of the invaders. With his health almost gone, Kiku was pinned to the ground by the slightly weakened, but far from defeated, clone. With a wicked laugh, the robotic Sloth raised a deadly fist high and prepared for the final blow. Just as he was about the finish Kiku off, a blur rocketed towards the clone and knocked it off of Kiku and into the side of a nearby cliff, forever silencing him, the last of the invaders. Kiku opened one eye to find that his savior was none other than Blossomy. She quickly handed him a healing potion, and within a few minutes he was strong enough to get up. They embraced, then stared at the desolate battle field with a mixture of sadness and triumph etched on their faces.

"Let's go home," Blossomy said, and they both set off back towards Neopia together.

Once he arrived back home and recovered fully, Kiku began to worry about Chippy. As he wondered what was keeping him, the telephone seemed to read his mind. Kiku picked it up and heard an urgent Chippy on the other end.

"Kiku! The fight is far from over! I was right, Sloth had the ultimate evil in hiding all along. A ferocious monster known as the Rock Beast is savaging the town of Sakhmet! It's crushing everything in its unfortunate path, you've got to come now!"

"Oh, no...not again," Kiku sighed. He thought it was over, but obviously he was wrong. With a heavy heart, he delivered the news to Blossomy, and within an hour, they were once again heading to Sakhmet, this time side by side, to defend Neopia and help save the Sakhmet citizens.

They arrived within a day. However, both were surprised to see no signs of an intense battle, or any battle, for that matter, when they arrived. In fact, all of the NeoPets were celebrating joyously. They slowly made their way through the cheering and clapping crowd, where they came face to face with none other than Chippy.

"You two are a little late, but no matter!" he said with a grin.

"The Rock Beast has been defeated already, come and celebrate!" Kiku and Blossomy looked at each in shock.

The Rock Beast had been destroyed, but so quickly? An ecstatic Brucey B. interrupted their thoughts as he happily yelled into a microphone, "We now have the official stats, everyone! Sloth has left Sakhmet, the war is over, and we won!" All of the NeoPets sent up a deafening cheer.

"Sloth's been defeated," Blossomy said softly, staring out into the throng of jubilant pets.

"For now," Kiku said. The defeat was only temporary, both he and Blossomy knew that. Still, as they watched the tired but now joyful warriors celebrate after their long, difficult battle, they couldn't help but feel proud of the bravery and unity of their kind. The fight, no matter how short the victory, had been well worth it.

The End