Nightshift

     There it was, the most precious gem in Neopia, the Cybunny Diamond. Hardly visible in her dark clothes, the young Aisha appeared at the gem's pedestal, almost as if she came from thin air. Slowly she circled the case, searching for alarms and traps.

     "Piece of cake!" the trained thief muttered into her facemask. She had had harder tasks when she was in ninja kindergarten! She was about to open the showcase when a noise made her hesitate. Cursing in thoughts, the Aisha quickly hid in the shadow of a big statue that was either an abstract Queen Fyora or a realistic Coconut Shy Quiggle.

     "Why do -I- have to do this job anyway?" a grumpy voice could be heard from the window. With a screech the window opened and a red Wocky climbed into the room.

     "Pirate!" the Aisha thought and squinted her eyes. Even in pale moonlight the red bandana on the Wocky's head and the cutlass on its belt were obvious. What could a pirate want in this museum? Surely this unwashed buccaneer was not here to study Neopia's culture! After a minute the second intruder had finally spotted the Diamond Cybunny's showcase. He examined the glass and began thinking.

     "This should do the job," the pirate said, taking out an explosive and a box of matches.

     "Are you crazy?" The Aisha jumped the other intruder, knocking the two items out of his paws.

     "Wha--" the Wocky shouted in surprise, "It's a landlubbin' ninja!" He shoved the black-cloaked figure off him and struggled up again.

     "What're ye doin' here?"

      "Same as you, I would assume. Difference is, that I will succeed," the ninja girl replied.

     Smirking and drawing his cutlass, the Wocky countered: "Oh, we'll see about that!"

     "What's going on in here?" a third voice all of a sudden yelled. The two thieves promptly spun around and saw a yellow Kyrii wearing a security uniform. Instantly the Aisha grabbed into her pocket, took out a small leather bag and threw it at the guard. When the bag hit, it burst and the Kyrii was engulfed in a cloud of yellow spores.

     "I ca-can't move!" were his last words before the paralysis had fully set in.

     "What did you do to him?" the Wocky asked curiously.

     "I could try to explain, but I seriously doubt that a simple minded pirate like you would understand the complex reaction that certain chemicals can have at the nervous system of a Neopet."

     "Huh?" the second intruder blinked. "You just called me stupid, didn't you!"

     "My point is proven."

     Angrily the pirate slashed with the cutlass for his rival, who dodged to the left side.

     "Cap'n Scarblade will be proud, when I tell him that I beat one of you bloody landlubbers easily!" Swiftly the Aisha unsheathed her katana and the two thieves crossed blades. Both knew that failure would end in punishment and shuddered at the thought.

     "What are you planning to do with it anyway? It doesn't look like Scarblade wants to use it as a gift for a girl! After all, who would--" just the thought of having a private meeting with the captain made the ninja sick.

     "Do you have any idea what the Cybunny Diamond is worth? We could buy a whole new ship and ten more cannons! And soon yer stupid training school would be nothing but ashes," the buccaneer said in a triumphant voice, followed by maniacal laughter.

     "Geesh! Are Neopoints and fruit grog the only things you pirates can think of?"

     The red Wocky glared at her with shifty eyes.

     "Sinking ships is good too. But then tell me, what are your plans for it? Build a temple and worship this piece of extra shiny glass?"

     The Aisha cleared her throat and began explaining.

     "We plan on using the gem as a magical focus for mental powers, so that we can teach new ninjas techniques like teleporting much easier. And we also--" The Wocky stared at the rival and could hardly keep himself from bursting into laughter. Slowly the ninja's head got red with anger. Quick as a lightning she leapt into the air and began to chuck throwing stars at the pirate. Avoiding the shuriken, the pirate hid behind a display case containing the eggshell the very first white Weewoo had hatched from. Then his eyes noticed something on the ground, his explosive.

     "But where are the matches?" the Wocky mumbled and began searching the floor with his eyes.

     In the meantime the ninja girl had hid herself in the shadows, preparing a surprise attack.

     She'd teach him what it meant to anger a ninja!

     Thinking about the things she'd do to him, she didn't notice that he had found the matchbox.

     "Hey pyjama wearer!" the pirate shouted, "Catch THIS!" With these words the pirate threw the lit bomb and hit the abstract Fyora statue. Too surprised to react, the Aisha could do nothing but shield her eyes when the explosion tore the statue apart and sent the ninja flying across the room from the shockwave.

     Crashing into another brick wall knocked the female ninja out and the Wocky rubbed his paws. Taking advantage of the moment he ran over to the gem's display case, ready to smash the glass.

     "Oh no, you don't!" The dark clothed Aisha had quickly regained consciousness and although she still was a bit dizzy, jumped the rival and tumbled over the tiled floor with him.

     "Why can't ye just let me do my job?"

     "Why can't you just let me do MY job?!"

     "Hear me, lass, pirates steal and plunder! While ninjas do, whatever it is ninjas do."

     "Why don't you go and sink a ship or something?"

     Suddenly a robotic arm came from above and grabbed the glass case with the Cybunny Diamond in it. The ninja and the pirate looked up and saw a huge Mutant Grundo steering the arm.

     "Dr. Sloth will be pleased," the mutant said, before teleporting himself, the robotic arm and the gem plus display case away.

      The Aisha cursed under her breath and the Wocky grumbled: "Oh great! The Cap'n won't be thrilled." The two kept staring at the hole in the ceiling.

     "We could, you know-- ", the Wocky started.

     "Team up?" the Aisha completed his sentence.

     "Just until we retrieved the gem from the Space Station, of course. Then it's you versus me again."

     "And I will be the one bringing it home!"

     "You wish, pyjama wearer!"

     "We will see, fruit grog drinking fool!" The two rivals took a short glance at the yellow Kyrii and just shrugged, before the ninja and the pirate engulfed themselves in a cloud of smoke and disappeared.

     The only person that remained in the room was the still paralysed guard. The 450 million Neopoint gem was gone... What was he going to do? Nobody would ever believe what really happened!

The End