The Story of The Usul Suspects

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     Lumi pored over her babysitting resume for no apparent reason.

     She was sitting at her dining room table, absent-mindedly crunching NeoCrackers; She had just picked them up from the Money Tree. Her family was slightly poor, and they had to go to the Money Tree every once in a while when they ran out of omelettes, jellies and Tchea fruits.

     And of course, that was why she had first decided to start babysitting.

     She had babysat three babies so far, none of them too hard, but now she was going for one that had paid a lot more. Watching over ten Baby Usuls was going to be difficult, especially for five hours, but if she was getting paid six thousand NP an hour, she wouldn’t pass up the deal.

     30,000 NP! And a tip if I play my cards right! she thought excitedly, thinking of how good it would feel to buy a mega-size smoothie for every pet in her family, and have money left to put in the bank for interest.

     “Lumi! You better get going; it’s ten minutes to twelve! And guess what! I get to go to that huge park all by myself really soon too! Maybe even today!” Her blue Kougra sister zoomed by, chasing a bright red ball of string into the living room.

      “Oh yeah, thanks, Lily!” she replied, picking up her backpack and racing for the door. She was very excited, and she couldn’t wait to get there. It seemed to take hours.

     The family’s house was seven blocks away, across the street from Mondo Park, the biggest, most high-tech playground known to Neopets. There were ropes, ball pits, and nets you could get lost in, three jungle gyms, ten zip lines, hundred-foot long slides. It had three lift stations, elevators, electronic tire swings, countless tunnels, ball pits, monkey bars, and high platforms with views of the rest of the playground.

     Wow! she thought, wondering whether she could ever find her way through the enormous park if she ever went there.

     She finally arrived to the front steps, and after squaring her shoulders, straightening her clothes, and fixing her backpack, she rang the doorbell.

     A harassed-looking maid opened the door.

     “It’s about time, all the Usuls arri--Oh, you’re the babysitter! You can just wait in here, have a seat,” she said, pulling up and armchair and hurrying, her forehead wrinkled with worry.

     Then the parents finally came out, each of them somehow having stuffed five small baby Usuls in their arms.

     “We haven’t named any of them yet,” the father said, “So there’s no need to call them by name. Take them wherever you want. Here’s the leash,” he continued, handing Lumi a baby leash. Lumi wondered why it had thirty neck holes.

     “We’ll be back at five o’ clock!” the mother said, and they both left without another word.

      When the door shut, there was momentarily a dead silence. Lumi was just wondering if she should have a look around when she gasped. At least twenty additional baby Usuls poured into the room from all directions and jumped her, screaming at the top of their tiny lungs.

     “PARK! PARK! PARK, PARK, PA-A-A-A-R-R-R-K!” they yelled unceasingly as Lumi was crushed onto the floor. It went on for a painful five minutes until she began to understand that she couldn’t keep going without taking them to the park.

      “WAIT!” she yelled, unceremoniously throwing ten or twelve Usuls off her and onto the couch.

     “I’LL TAKE YOU TO THE PLAYGROUND IF YOU GET OFF! Into the leash NOW! DON’T MAKE ME SAY IT AGAIN!” she gushed, realizing that they didn’t care if they were handled roughly.

      Finally, after scratching her numerous times before complying, they were all in the leash, and Lumi was able to take them to Mondo Park.

     As soon as she had finally struggled her way to the park, she turned to the leash. Flashing colors, then nothing. All the Usuls had bitten through the leash and were headed into the playground. The source of the colors proved to be propeller caps.

     There goes my tip.

      She decided it would be best to just wait for them to gather up to one place. In a minute or so, Lumi was situated sitting by a lift, and quite enjoying herself.

     BOOM!

     The sky was suddenly filled with Usuls, who had somehow got their hands on Battledome equipment. They were shooting anyone and everyone, literally taking over the playground with no one whatsoever to stop them. Anyone who was safe was only so momentarily, and Lumi was the only one they didn’t seem to notice.

     Everyone she could see was screaming in terror, and within seconds, the park was empty.

     These little buggers are worse than Meepits! she thought menacingly as she stood up, dodging the ever-changing line of fire.

     She immediately took action, remembering she had left her Ice Gun and ammo in her backpack from a recent water fight. She took it in her hands and took aim at a flying propeller-capped Usul. She hit it in the face. It did nothing except daze it for a moment. How could she knock them out of the air?

     – Air! she thought, climbing onto the lift.

     Then something else dawned on her. The propeller caps! Now I get it!

     Taking aim at an Usul who had a Lava Gun, she shot precisely at the propeller cap.

     With an explosion and a plop, down it went. As soon as it was knocked out of the air, she noticed that it crawled around on the platform, not going anywhere, just crawling.

     Great! Now once they’re all down there, I can round them up and take them back! she thought excitedly, aiming at another one.

     But her relief was short lived. She then missed three Usuls in a row. She didn’t realize what that meant until they all went through a series of tubes, and ended up behind her, on platforms that edged the lift.

     WHAM!

     She was hit squarely in the back of the neck with what she later found out was a broom.

      “AAAHHHHH!” she screeched, falling onto the Usul-covered platform below the lift. They immediately threw her into the air, and to her immense surprise, she found that she had landed back on the trusty lift.

      Whew! she thought.

      She didn’t miss for a long time after that. In fact, she began to wonder how many she had shot down. It must have been at least thirty.

      Hold on.

      It was supposed to be ten, and it ended up thirty. But they kept coming. It was as though it would never end.

     She looked down.

     One especially chubby baby Usul was there, none other. The Usuls came down to her unmercifully, like there was an endless amount.

     They kept falling and bouncing off the ground again and back into the air.

     She had lost hope almost completely when a ball of string shot past her. She knew that ball of string.

     “Lily!” she called out, as the blue Kougra shot by. “The leash is gone but you can tie them up with the string! Don’t let them get away! They all fall onto that platform!”

     Lily seemed to understand Lumi’s short sentence, and leapt down onto the platform, ready to catch the next little monster that fell onto it.

     It did take longer than they thought, as the Usuls put up a very good fight, but after they were both scratched and bitten till they were in need of a huge grooming, all of the babies were tied up.

     They headed out victoriously.

     Lumi checked her watch. 4:55.

     “Lily! we need to be there in FIVE MINUTES!” she screamed, speeding down the road so fast that even the Usuls could barely keep up.

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     They arrived at precisely 4:59.

     They rang the doorbell five times before there was a scrabbling behind them. They turned around as the parents, looking as though they had run a mile, approached them.

     “Hi! How’d it go?”

     They seemed to be acting far differently this time. Cheery and calm, they chatted with Lumi for a while before bending down to one of the Usuls.

     “Did you have fun? Was Auntie Lumi nice to you?”

     The little Usul smiled broadly and made a chirping sound, making the sweetest face Lumi had seen on her. She didn’t understand until the father piped up:

     “They play a little rough, but all in all they’re good little Neopets.”

     Lumi grinned. They were only trying to play a game!

     “Well, the Usuls seem to love you, so what do you say to being our permanent babysitter?”

     One of the Usuls jumped up to Lumi and she caught it, as another grin spread across her face.

     “I’d love to.”

The End

This is my first entry! Hope you all like it! ^_^