The Mynci Squad: Part Three

      Mono arrived at the tiny pond. It was so small that two Neopets - namely Mono and Pepper - could barely sit in it at the same time. However, it seemed to have some mysterious source of water, because no matter how long it had been since Mystery Island's last rain, the pond always kept its water, its level never lowering or rising. This meant that it was inhabitable for tiny fish, and indeed the little creatures thrived in this pond, eating invisible plants and keeping the pond clear and clean. Years ago Pepper and Mono had nicknamed it the Pond of Enchantment.

      This starless evening the pond was as mysterious as ever, but mostly because it seemed much deeper than normal; its waters were black due to the lack of light, and so the bottom was not visible. Mono stared at it in awe. The Pond of Enchantment never ceased to amaze him.

      "Mono."

      Mono jumped and shook himself out of his enchanted state. He looked up to see Shvon and - no, it couldn't be! - a shadow Techo. Mono eyed the Techo suspiciously.

      "Mono, meet my friend, Lumin."

      Mono reached out to shake Lumin's hand hesitantly. The Techo seemed worried; he kept twitching and looking around as if he were expecting to be attacked at any moment.

      "I know what you're thinking," Shvon said. "But Lumin's different from many of the Shadow Clan members. He was young and naive when he joined, and now he can't leave. This is the situation that many of the Techos are in, but they are too frightened to do anything about it."

      Lumin continued to glance around.

      "Could we hurry, Shvon?" he said, his voice much lower and raspier than Mono had expected out of this twitchy fellow. "I don't feel safe in this clearing. The master could discover me, and then I'd be doomed for sure."

      "Very well," Shvon said, sighing. "Mono, Lumin has agreed to feed us inside information on the Shadow Clan's plans and whereabouts, in return for a changed identity. He wants to become a Kougra." Shvon was obviously thrilled about this.

      "So what do I have to do?" Mono asked. "Why am I here?"

      "Well," Shvon started hesitantly. "We need someone who's quick, quiet, agile, and knows the island well. That person is you, and you need to slip in and out of the Shadow Clan's territory without being noticed, so that you can receive the information from Lumin without arousing suspicion. Can you do this?"

      Mono was rather shocked at this idea, but he ended up nodding determinedly.

      "Good. Lumin, I need you to write down any information that might have the slightest bit of use for us, and then Mono will take those notes from you every few hours to bring it to us. You only have to write things down, so don't worry. We'll handle the more dangerous parts."

      Lumin nodded hesitantly, continuing to glance behind him.

      "I'll do it," he said. "But I want an expensive Kougra Morphing Potion of my choice."

      Shvon nodded. "Your choice," he said. "You have my word."

     ***

      Mono couldn't sleep that night. He was much too nervous about the following morning to even close his eyes; he simply stared into darkness and thought about how he would get into and out of the Techo Tyrants' headquarters. Shvon had told Mono that their headquarters consisted of a combination of caves, trees, and tunnels. The main entrance was marked by two black trees-they had been painted by the Tyrants, and are kept eternally black.

      But Mono was not to enter through that entrance. No, he would use the back entrance; the entrance only known by a few Techos themselves, and only important ones at that. It was a good thing that Lumin had joined a long time ago and had worked his way up in ranks. This secret entrance was a Techo-made tunnel that was only about one body wide, so Mono would really have to work hard to get through it. It was considered a sort of "escape hatch" for emergencies. Apparently the Shadow Clan leader thought that only important Techos in his club were worth saving. It sickened Mono.

      Eventually the Mynci drifted off, but it was all too soon that his alarm clock went off at five o'clock and he had to make the voyage over to Mystery Island so he could collect his first report from Lumin by six o'clock.

      The boat ride over to the island was all too short, and before he knew it he was arriving at the duo of black trees. They were disturbing to Mono; they lacked any leaves and so one could see their branches weaving upward toward the dusky sky. They seemed unbelievably unnatural and evil to him.

      Instead of walking between these trees that marked the main entrance, Mono went around the east side as instructed. Eventually he came to the trio of shrubs that stood atop the entrance to the secret tunnel. Mono pulled the plants away and realized how small this tunnel really was.

      Mono had never been afraid of small spaces, but once he entered this tunnel and began to slither his way downward, he truly began to feel claustrophobic. He could hardly move his arms to propel him along, and it seemed to take hours for the tunnel to finally curve back upward and, with one final motion of strength, Mono rammed his head into a very hard surface above him. It seemed to be wooden judging by the sound it made when Mono's head hit it with a large amount of painful force. He managed to suck in enough air from his stomach to let his arm through, and punched open this wooden cover.

      The square of wood went clattering off to the side, and Mono was thankful that it was so early in the morning so that almost no one was around. No one, that it, except for one shrunken form in the corner, who Mono noticed when he popped his head up from the passageway, blinking from the sudden change in light.

      "Mono?" Lumin's raspy voice asked. He was the figure crouching in the corner. "That you?"

      "Yeah," Mono whispered in reply, pushing himself completely out of the hole. "You have the report?"

      "Mm-hm," Lumin said, shakily standing up. "Hurry out of here; this place will be full of members within an hour. Oh, and next time you come, be more careful when pushing off the cover. You don't want to attract attention."

      Mono nodded and, grabbing the report, dove back into the tiny tunnel from which he came.

      "I'll be back at nine," he called softly, his voice muffled from the earth surrounding him.

      "Yeah yeah," Lumin simply replied, his voice echoing slightly from the caved walls.

     ***

      Mono made it back to the Kougra Crew's den within ten minutes of his departure from the Shadow Clan's lair. Shvon seemed to be extremely relieved when he arrived unscathed.

      "Thank you," he said gratefully, taking the report from Mono's hands. "This is vital to our plans."

      Mono didn't quite know what he was planning yet, but he did not care to ask. He was tired from waking up so early, so he flopped down on one of the puffy, colorful pillows and took a nap.

      Nine o'clock came much too soon. Before he knew it Mono was being aroused from his calm state of sleep by Pepper.

      "Time to go," she said gently. "Be careful."

      The rest of the day consisted of Mono running back and forth from the Shadow Clan's territory, taking a break for three hours at a time. During those three hours he would listen in on the meeting that went on for the entirety of the day, but didn't say much. Shvon drew maps that listed where guards were posted, and they used this map to figure out how they would get into the Clan's caverns. Another problem that needed solving was the question that constantly loomed over the group: what would they do to scare these tyrants off?

      Right when Pepper said she had an idea, however, it was time for Mono to leave again and make his way to meet Lumin for a third report. When he returned from his small journey the club had made extreme progress.

      Finally it was evening, and all the wrinkles in their plot had been smoothed. Each club member was loaded with a "weapon" of sorts: something they had each chosen and bought individually that day, expensive as the items were. Their plan was foolproof.

      Mono was sent to Lumin to tell him their plan and let him know how he could contribute. Lumin reminded Mono he wanted a very expensive and rare morphing potion for this, and Mono assured him he would get what he wanted.

      Finally it was time for them to depart. They set off in silence and made it safely and silently to the Shadow Clan's land. They immediately made their way to the escape shaft and, one by one, slid down its dark depths. Soon the Kougra and the Myncies were all in the room Mono had been returning to throughout the day.

      Shvon divided everyone into groups; there were two groups made up of the Kougra Crew and two groups made up of the Mynci Squad, which were considerably smaller than the other two. The four groups went in four separate directions. Pepper led one of the Mynci groups, Mono led another, Shvon led one Kougra group, and Rissi - the faerie Kougra - led the other one. They were all equipped with potions and glasses of lemonade.

      Mono led his Myncies to a back tunnel that brought them to the lounge. His group included Sponge (the plushie Mynci), Skye, and Liza. Lance, Bria, and Keegan were with Pepper. Mono made sure no one was lounging, and when he finalized the clear coast he motioned for the other Myncies to enter the room. They placed a pitcher of lemonade on a nearby table, and glasses all around it. They each poured their potions into separate glasses, and then two doses of the same potion into the pitcher, so it would be effective to more than one Techo. According to Lumin, many members of the clan would soon have some free time, and chances were many of them would go to the lounge first. When they noticed the lemonade they would surely start drinking it, seeking a bit of refreshment. Then they would see the results of their plan.

      Mono and his Myncies took shelter behind a couch, praying no one would see them. Within moments at least six or seven - judging by what was heard from behind the sofa - Techos entered the room, talking and laughing. Sure enough, they immediately went for the lemonade, and within seconds there were confused shouts. Mono stole a glance over the back of the couch, his mouth dropping at what he saw.

      Before him stood six Neopets - two of which were shadow Techos. The other four were very different. They were all either Kougras or Myncies. There was a pink Kougra, a purple Mynci, a silver Mynci, and a green Kougra.

      "What happened to us?!" the silver Mynci cried, looking at his hands in disgust. The two shadow Techos just stared at their comrades in horror.

      "Someone should better tell the master," one of them said, running out of the room.

      "Y-yeah," said the other Techo, who seemed quite fearful. She escaped the cavern as well. The others just stood there in utter horror and humiliation, looking hopeless and confused. Mono took a deep breath and stood up from behind the couch. The Shadow Clan members jumped and one of them shrieked as they noticed the island colored Mynci behind their comfortable sofa, staring straight at them.

      "Who are you?" demanded the pink Kougra, who was blushing horrible due to his new feminine color.

      "My name is Mono," Mono began. "And I am the president of the Mynci Squad."

      The green Kougra gasped, clasped her paw to her mouth and stared at Mono with huge, unblinking eyes.

      "Don't worry, I'm just here for an offer. Since you are all Myncies and Kougras now, you won't be accepted by your leader. So I suggest you join us - the Mynci Squad, or Shvon and his Kougra Crew."

      The purple Mynci, who had previously been silent, now spoke.

      "And why would we join the enemy?" he asked, narrowing his eyes angrily.

      "We're not the enemy," Mono told him. "You were the ones who attacked us first!"

      "You are too the enemy," he replied. "The master told us you were planning a way to get rid of us, so we had to ruin your headquarters to show you we wouldn't allow you to destroy our club."

      "Wait..." Mono said thoughtfully. "What are you talking about? We hadn't even heard of you until your attack. Heck, we hadn't even heard of the Kougra Crew!"

      "What?" the green Kougra replied, confused. "But that can't be true..."

      "It is," Mono replied simply, looking straight into his eyes. "Your leader was lying to you."

      The Kougra looked at her friends, her mouth gaping.

      "If what this Mynci says is true," she said to her comrades, "then we've been serving the master for nothing. We've been wasting our lives and getting lies in return!" She turned back to Mono. "Fine, we'll help you with whatever you're doing tonight," she said. "And we may or may not join your clubs. Now, what do you need us to do?"

      Mono grinned.

     ***

      At about the same time as Mono's small adventure, Lumin was running quickly down the dark corridor, praying that he was not too late. If the master had already been informed of what was happening in those four rooms, he would not drink the lemonade in Lumin's hand, and things would not go at all as planned.

      Lumin was about three feet away from the master's room now, and he slowed to a walk so that he would not seem frantic and breathless as he entered. He needed to do everything perfectly so the master would drink this lemonade... Everything depended on it!

      Lumin knocked four times on the dark, wooden door, as was customary, and entered when the master's deep voice told him to.

      "Hello, sir," Lumin said, smiling. "I made a bit of lemonade, and I figured you'd want some yourself."

      Lumin poured a glass of the yellow liquid and handed it to the master, who in turn took it gratefully.

      "Good work," he said. "I've been working so hard that I wasn't even able to grab a drink of water."

      He took the glass and, simple as that, drank it down in three gulps.

      "You may go now," he said, his voice turning rather high and squeaky. He cleared his throat and tried again, but the same thing happened. Lumin could only stare at the once mighty master in horror. The man who had been the king of the club for so long, the master of hundreds of Techos, the all-powerful genius behind their force of terror, was...

      a baby Mynci.

      Lumin covered his mouth, partially to keep from crying out and partially to keep from laughing.

      "What? What is it? Tell me!" the tiny Mynci squeaked, scrunching his miniature face into a frown.

      Lumin simply shook his head and left the room, sprinting down the corridor as fast as he could. It was time to find Shvon and Mono and tell him the mission was a success.

     ***

      TWO WEEKS LATER

     ***

      Mono stepped into his beloved tree house, grinning at all the Myncies sitting in a circle on couches and pillows. There were several new arrivals to the Mynci Squad, and almost all of them had previously been shadow Techos. These were the few from the Shadow Clan that actually enjoyed being a Mynci, and they were okay with whatever color they had ended up.

      There had been many recent additions to the Kougra Crew as well, which remained to be the Mynci Squad's ally. One of the Kougra Crew's new members was a shadow Kougra named Lumin. The clubs often did activities together, and Mono and Shvon continued to be close acquaintances.

      There was one club, however, that was no longer receiving new members. In fact, it no longer even existed! It was true, the Shadow Clan was no more. After the master appearing like a useless infant many of the clan had been engrossed in fits of hysterical laughter, and the poor creature lost all respect and had to retire. He bought a Morphing Potion and went back to being his old shadowed self, of course, but he would always be known as the "baby master."

      All in all, Mono and Pepper's club began to thrive, and life was good. Of course they had their little adventures, some actually being quite frightening ones, but the group stayed together and supported each other more than ever.

      And that's what counted.

The End

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hey everyone! Thanks so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed my lil' story. ^^ I was planning on writing random stories about the Mynci Squad, and this would just be the first of many short stories, but then it turned into a whole big series. Lol. So anyway, feel free to Neomail me or join my guild! I don't accept random Neofriend requests or Battledome challenges... Sorry! ~Rose