Adventures of the Quad Team Investigators: Case of the PetPet Peril: Part One

by UniDagger

Alanna ShadowSpawn, a black and red Lupe, crept silently through the forest. Her nose caught the scent of her quarry and she smiled wolfishly. Slowing down she scanned ahead of her, looking for movement. There! Her sharp eyes detected a slight movement behind some bushes. She lunged with a strength that was natural to the Lupine specie, but had been trained and honed. She landed on her prey, pinning it to the ground she snapped her jaws and snarled fiercely.

"That’s not fair! You cheated!" The purple Grundo whined. Alanna cocked her ears and grinned. "I did not. You just can’t sneak. Too slow, too noisy…"

"Alanna, be nice. You know Cy is used to the non-gravity of space."

A dark blue and star-painted Uni chastised as she trotted up behind them. She turned to the Grundo who was picking herself up off the ground.

"I think you did lots better this time, Cy."

CycloneRider smiled up at the Uni. "Thank you, Romy. I am getting better. I got further than I did before, huh?"

"Yeah, OK. You’re doing a lot better, Squirt," the Lupe teased.

All three became aware of a shadow flying over them, and looked up quickly. As the image neared, they were able to pick out the green eyes of their shadowy friend and house-sibling, DragonFlier. DF landed with a light thud.

"Sorry I’m late. I got to take an extra class at School today. I gained a level!" the Scorchio told them excitedly.

"Cool!!!!" Cy remarked, echoed by the others.

"Way to go, bro!" Alanna tackled him and gave him a slurpy lupine-kiss on his cheek.

"Ewww!" DragonFlier chuckled, pushing her off.

"Let's go to Faerieland," CycloneRider suggested.

The others agreed and after DF set Cy on Romy’s back, they set off. It took about 30 minutes to get there, but as soon as they arrived they were transported to the main city. They walked around with wide eyes and gaping mouths. It never ceased to amaze them, no matter how many times they visited, how beautiful the city was.

"Let’s go play the Wheel," Alanna cried out.

"No, I always get scorched," CycloneRider moaned.

"Oh come on, the Faerie always heals us," Romy told her, looking back.

"We’ll take you to the Poogle Races afterwards," DragonFlier bribed.

Cyclone turned to look at him suspiciously. "Promise?"

"I promise," DragonFlier swore.

"Today!?" CycloneRider persisted.

Alanna and Romy chuckled. CycloneRider was indeed getting smarter, and not falling for DF’s old tricks.

"OK, OK. We’ll go today, right after the Wheel, unless we get scorched, then we go right after we get healed. Is that OK?"

The purple Grundo nodded happily, jumped down and raced ahead to the Wheel. Romy snorted in surprise. "She is getting better…did you see how fast she was?"

Alanna and DF nodded proudly. CycloneRider had been a prisoner of the evil Dr. Sloth. Their owner had traveled to Space to try and help the Space Faerie. Seeing poor CycloneRider she had not been able to leave without rescuing her. After doing so, she had taken her to Neopia to live with Alanna, DragonFlier and Romy. Cy had been extremely slow in action as well as defense, weak, and well….not intelligent. Their owner had told them that they would have to look out for their new sister, and help her to improve so that she could survive.

Like all siblings, they often got angry with one another, teased and fought; but, also like siblings, they loved each other very much. They had all taken turns reading to her, training with her and encouraging her. All their hard work was paying off. Their little sister was quite a contender for her level at the Battledome, her score actually higher than Alanna’s.

They reached the Wheel and it was decided that since it had been DF’s desire to play, he should spin the wheel. He rubbed his hands together and stepped forward. With a mighty heave, he set the wheel spinning. They watched it spin and spin, then begin to slow. They held their breath as it crept closer to the Flame Ghoul, but the wheel didn’t stop. They breathed in relief, but then caught it again as it neared the Pant Devil. Instinctively they all grabbed their packs closer to them, not wanting their items stolen.

Finally the wheel came to a stop, landing on 1000 NP.

"Woohoo!" DragonFlier yelled.

"Yay!" CycloneRider did a back flip.

The Faeries in charge of the wheel handed them their prize as Romey stated, "We can go get something to eat now!" Her tummy rumbled as to agree with her.

"Nooo…the races first. You promised," Cy reminded.

"OK, lil sis. We’re going to the races, but we can pick up something to eat on the way," Alanna reassured her.

Happily they set off, stopping to get a treat for each one of them. They bought a ticket and checked out the Entries. Feeling sure number 3 was a winner, they each set a small bet and went to find a seat. The crowds were cheering and the smell of popcorn and peanuts filled the air. Poogles of every size and color were down by the track. Suddenly a horn blared, and all was silent. It was the start of a new race.

The audience waited for the signal, then at the sound of a loud ‘pop’, the Poogles shot out of their markers. The audience began shouting and clapping, calling out to various numbers. CycloneRider stood up on Romy’s back, jumping and yelling "Go number 3! Go number 3!" Alanna smiled, thinking ‘wow, she really gets into this.’ As the Poogles neared the end of the race, Poogle 3 began inching forward. Just as Poogle 5 was about to cross the finish line, Poogle 3 lunged forward with a final burst of strength, winning the race by a nose.

The crowd went wild, especially CycloneRider. They made their way down to the Cashiers and picked up their winnings. Deciding they should head home before dark, they began to walk down the street. As they walked, Romy suddenly paused outside of the Faerie PetPets Store. "Awww!" she said, looking at the little creatures.

"No, Romy," Alanna told her.

"What?!" Romy asked indignantly.

"You already have 2 pets" Alanna reminded her.

"I know, I know. I’m just looking. Aren’t they cute?"

The others agreed they were, waving to the little creatures who hoped and warbled. All of a sudden there was a blast that knocked them all to the ground. A loud noise filled the air, followed by a whooshing and lots of dark smoke. Alanna peered around from beneath DragonFlier. She noticed a dark cloaked person sneaking around the corner of the shop. All of a sudden there was an agonized scream. The animals jumped up and raced in the direction of that scream…..into the shop.

Coming to a screeching halt, they stared in amazement. The smoke was dissipating and the first thing they noticed was that all the PetPets were gone, and there in the middle of the floor was a young Faerie girl, crying.

Alanna padded forward, nuzzled the Faerie and whispered, "What happened?"

"Are you OK?" CycloneRider asked as she walked up to the weeping Faerie, placing a kind little hand on her arm. The Faerie Girl wrapped her arms around the Grundo, hugging her.

"I am not hurt but…but…the PetPets," she sniffled, tears running down her face. "There was an explosion. When I got my senses back….they were gone. Just gone!!" She broke down again. "We can help!" Romy said softly.

Several Faeries rushed in then, and began asking questions. Some Chia Security Guards came running in (late as always), demanding to know what happened. When it got a little quieter, Alanna mentioned the figure she had seen. The older Faeries nodded.

One said, "Yes, I wouldn’t put it past Dr Sloth to be involved in this."

"That’s not what the Young Cub said," another interrupted. Alanna snarled a bit about the cub comment, but said nothing.

"Well who else could it have been? You know how he always wants to do experiments on animals." The first stated. While they talked and argued and questioned, Alanna and her siblings slipped outside with the Shop Keeper.

"Don’t worry, we’ll find who took your pets and get them back," DragonFlier reassured her, the others nodding in agreement.

"Thank you!" she told them tearfully. "Just be careful, I don’t want anything to happen to any of you. Here, take these, maybe they will help." She handed each one a bottle, adding, "only open those when you are in need."

They promised to be both careful and wise in their use of the bottles and headed in the direction the thief had taken. Alanna sniffed around for a scent but couldn’t find one. She did however see a mark in the ground, then another so they decided to follow these prints and see where they went.

To be continued...