The Five Kaus: Part Two

      "What just happened!?!" cried out Jacob, thinking that the Scientist actually DID fire a cannon at his pet.

      "Calm yourself, Jacob," said the Scientist as he removed his goggles. "You can't expect your pet to gain a large dose of strength without there being a huge release of energy in the process. Your pet is fine. Now let the smoke clear so that we can see the results."

      Having no other choice, he focused his eyes back on the firing pad, wishing the mist would clear faster so that he would know if Metonot was truly okay. After several seconds, the mist cleared enough so that Jacob saw the silhouette of a Kau. He began to breathe a sigh of relief... but then the air got caught in his throat. Another Kau appeared not far from the first. Then another. And another. And another. There were five Kaus where just one Metonot used to be.

      "Drat!" cried out the Scientist. "The experiment has failed! They are still Kaus!"

      Had not Jacob been stunned by what he saw, he would have thrown the scientist into the nearest wall. All he could do was watch as the mist continued to pass away, showing him the Kaus clearer than ever. He could see now that these Kaus weren't the same color as Metonot either. Each of them was different: Red, blue, yellow, white and grey. 'What happened to Metonot?' thought Jacob.

      Just then, the group of Kaus began to stir. The first to get to his feet was the white one, who got nimbly to his feet and shook himself awake, as if he had a delightful little nap. Next up was the red one, who grumbled under his breath as he began to sway back and forth on his feet, so that it was obvious to all that he was not well rested.

      The Blue, Yellow and Grey Kaus stayed upon the floor, though it was evident that they were awake. The blue one moved its head a little when the two other Kaus got to their feet, and turned away just as quickly, seeming to fall back to sleep, while the yellow one was shaking uncontrollably and the grey merely readjusted its legs.

      Suddenly, the eyes of the Red Kau snapped open, and he began to scream, "Alright! What happened to me this time?"

      The sudden outburst of the Red Kau startled the Yellow Kau, who yelped and literally took off from the floor, sprinting behind a shelf several feet away in an instant. He had moved so fast, a trail of yellow followed right behind him.

      "There is certainly no need to shout out like that," said the White Kau. "I can hear you just as fine if you talk with your inside voice."

      "I don't need to listen to you, you stupid Kau!" retorted the Red Kau, squaring off with the white one. "So just shut your mouth and keep your comments to yourself!"

      The White Kau, taken aback by the show of anger, backed off a few steps, while the Blue and Gray Kaus watched with renewed interest. The Red Kau began to look at himself with disgust then whirled around at Jacob. "Well, it looks like your stupid Lab Ray didn't do anything except change my color, now did it? To bad it couldn't turn me back into a Korbat, huh?"

      "What?" asked Jacob, still bewildered that there were five Kaus where there used to be one.

      "Is that all you have to say for yourself? You brought me here to this blasted laboratory for months, changing me into something I'm not, and all you can say is 'What'? How dare you!"

      With that said, the Red Kau rushed at Jacob head first. Still in shock from the current events, Jacob was unable to dodge and took the charge right in the chest, sending him flying into the air. He had smashed through three shelves of laboratory equipment before he finally landed on the ground.

      "I've been waiting to do that for a long time, don't you know?" laughed the Red Kau. "Know what else I've wanted to do? THIS!" and he kicked the Lab Ray 2000-X, smashing it instantly, and sending the fragments flying.

      "No!" cried out the Scientist. "I've been working on that model for months!"

      "Can it, you bug-eyed Scorchio!" and the Red Kau charged at him as well, sending him through a few shelves of his own.

      "Great! I feel much better!" said the Kau as he ran up to the semi-dazed Jacob. "Now leave me alone, or you will wish you've never been born!" and he went stomping off towards the Laboratory exit.

      A few seconds after the Red Kau left, the Grey Kau, who was now slowly getting to his feet, said, "Well, I'm glad I didn't get involved with that."

      "Agreed," said the White Kau. "That Kau would have definitely destroyed us if we had provoked him any longer."

      "Well, I'm glad you guys thought that through rather nicely," groaned Jacob as he got himself out of the rubble. "Helping me out would have been much appreciated though."

      "And what could we have done, Jacob?" whined the Blue Kau, still upon the floor. "You saw what it did to you. He took you out with one blow. I can only fight off a few villains, and you want me to take out something like that?"

      Jacob was about to reply-but then stopped. The Blue Kau had called him by his name.

      "How is it that you know my name?" he asked the Blue Kau.

      "What? Why wouldn't I know you name? You've been taking care of me for the past few years, haven't you?"

      "What are you talking about?" asked the White Kau. "Jacob has been caring of me these past few years. I believe I would know if he was taking care of another pet, as I have never left his side."

      "You're lying," whined the Blue Kau. "I've never seen you before in my life. Just who do you think you are?"

      "Metonot," said the White Kau matter-of-factly.

     ********

      Near the entrance of the Secret Laboratory, a master and his Neopet, an Electric Acara, were waiting for the elevator to come to the surface. When the bell rang, signaling the elevator was ready to use, the master happily jumped up from the ground.

      "Alright!" said the caretaker. "Now we can use the lab ray!"

      "Yippee," said the Electric Acara, who had already been changed into so many species he had lost count. They both lined up at the elevator, expecting to see another caretaker and his Neopet, but what met their eyes was just a Neopet. And a very angry one at that.

      "What are you two staring at?" yelled the Red Kau in the elevator. "You wanna start something?"

      "What? No!" replied the caretaker, flustered that a Neopet would show such uncalled-for anger. "We are just waiting to use the lab ray. Honest!"

      "What? You torture your Neopet as well?" said the Kau, glancing at the Acara. "You make me sick! Take this!" and the Kau charged forward, sending the Neopet's master flying into the air.

      "Why did you do that?" said the Acara. "I don't like visiting the lab ray, but you didn't have to do that to him."

      "I help you out and this is the appreciation I get? Fine! See how you like it!" and he kicked his back feet out at the Acara, sending him flying in the other direction. "You all make me sick! But I'll show you! I'll show you alright!"

     ********

      Back down below in the Secret Laboratory, things weren't going smoothly either. The four Kaus that were left behind were all shouting at each other (save the Grey Kau), each proclaiming that each of them was the true Metonot.

      "Oh yeah?" whined the Blue Kau. "Well, what does Jacob usually feed you when you're hungry?"

      "Well," said the White Kau, "I believe he feeds me from the batch of surplus omelettes and jellies that he has collected over the years. More so the jellies, as they are in higher supply than the omelettes, which sell faster in his shop."

      "Anyone with a brain could have known that," mumbled the Blue Kau as he looked towards the floor.

      "You guys are REALLY beginning to scare me!" cried out the Yellow Kau, who was running around the lab in circles at an incredible speed, leaving a yellow trail behind him. "Each of you are saying things only I would know. Have you guys been spying on me for the last year? Oh no! How much do you know about me?"

      "ENOUGH!" yelled Jacob, stopping all the proclaimed Metonot's in their place. "There is a very simple way to figure this all out. I have in my pocket Whooper, right? Whooper can only follow orders from Metonot, no matter what shape or form he is in. So if I activate him, he will go right towards one of you, dispelling this whole argument."

      "Of course!" said the White Kau, smacking his head in frustration. "Why didn't I think of this before? Good thinking, Jacob!"

      "Yeah," said the Blue Kau. "Now you will know for sure that I am right and you are wrong. Bring out Whooper, Jacob."

      "Just give me a second, will ya?" said Jacob as he reached into his pocket, pulling out the inactive Avabot. "Wake up now, Whooper. Metonot is waiting for you."

      The Avabot immediately shot up from Jacob's outstretched hand, landing on the floor with both feet before beginning a tap dance. It continued this for several seconds before the Blue Kau got impatient and said, "Will you cut that out, Whooper? I need you to come to me so I can prove to these liars here that I am Metonot."

      Whooper's ears perked up, and it began running to the Blue Kau... then stopped with one foot still in the air when it saw the White, Yellow and Grey Kau. Slowly placing its foot to the ground, Whooper began spinning its head from one Kau to the next.

      "Why are you just standing there?" whined the Blue Kau. "Come on over here!"

      "It would seem that Whooper cannot make up its mind on which of us to go to," observed the White Kau.

      "Oh no!" cried out the Yellow Kau. "If Whooper only follows around the real Metonot, and he doesn't come to me, does that mean I'm not me? AHH!" and he began running around the laboratory again.

      Jacob merely stood there, feeling cheated out of a resolution that he thought for sure would work. Sighing, he said, "That's enough. All of you go wait for me at the elevator. I'm going to have a little chat with the Scientist, who may be able to shed some light on the current situation."

      One by one, they each left for the elevator, the last being the Grey Kau, who seemed to have been taking a nap during the whole ordeal. Whooper followed after them with small hops, still quickly snapping its head from one Kau to the next. When they were all out, Jacob stomped over to where the Mad Scientist had fallen and picked him up into the air by the collar of his lab coat.

      "You have a lot of explaining to do, you insane inventor!" said Jacob through clenched teeth.

      "Insane inventor? I resent that comment! I'll have you know-"

      "Shut up! Just tell me what just happened to Metonot. I thought you said the Lab Ray 2000-X was flawless?"

      "I said no such thing, Jacob. What I said is there would be no negative results, and from what you and I saw, there were none, as showcased by the power of those Kaus. And about the side effects, I'm sorry Metonot wasn't turned back into a Korbat, but I already told you that feature needed tweaking so-"

      "That's not what I'm angry about!"

      "Really?" said the Scientist, surprised at this change of events. "Then what is the problem?"

      "I want to know why there are now five different Kaus proclaiming to be Metonot."

      "Oh, that," sheepishly said the Scientist, scratching his head. "Well, perhaps the Lab Ray 2000-X fired too much power into the body of Metonot, and he couldn't contain it. Luckily, I installed a feature that would clone the subject should such an event occur."

      "...And what would have happened to Metonot if this 'feature' of yours wasn't installed?" asked Jacob with sullen eyes, though he was pretty sure he knew what the answer was.

      "Why, he would have exploded, of course! And I would never do such a thing to another Neopet. I would run out of subjects to test on!"

      Jacob dropped the Scientist, who yelped with surprise from landing on the ground.

      "Alright then," sighed Jacob. "Can this be reversed?"

      "Of course it can!" said the Scientist with a self-righteous tone, shaking off the dust he collected from the drop. "I will simply have to repair the Lab Ray 2000-X, which will of course take several months to accomplish and..." grinning evilly, "a hefty fee for all the new parts I shall need to buy."

      Jacob merely looked at him with those sullen eyes, and nodded his head. The scientist had him right where he wanted him.

      "Good!" laughed the Scientist, who began rummaging through the scrap that was once the Lab Ray 2000-X. "Now go off and catch the Red Kau that has run off. If you have any hope of getting Metonot back to normal, I need all of them here. Go!"

      Jacob stayed for a few more moments, watching the Scientist work through the rubble, and wandered off. When he got to the elevator, he saw all four Kaus waiting within, Whooper hopping around the legs of each Neopet. Jacob walked in without a word or greeting, and pushed the button that led to the surface.

      After a few seconds of silence, the White Kau asked, "What shall we do, Jacob?"

      "We are going to catch Metonot and bring him back here," he said, not looking away from the closed elevator doors.

      "But I'm Metonot!" piped the Yellow Kau, his voice almost a screech.

      "I know. You all are."

To be continued...