The Shoyru Tamer: Part Three

     "Uhhh… I'm up…" She looked over the edge of her bunk bed and saw Angel waving and smiling up at her. Duel then looked over at the clock and almost cursed. It was only 6 in the morning!

     "Come on down; breakfast is being served, and the mail's coming soon."

     "Mail?" Duel asked as she climbed down the ladder and hopped down onto the floor. She looked around the room for Nik, but he was no where to be seen.

     "Yeah," Angel explained. "It's pretty much the only way that the owners of these Shoyrus can keep in touch. We write to them, they write to us."

     "Cool," Duel said. "Hey, where'd Nik go?"

     "He went with Auo earlier. I think they're becoming good friends."

     "Eh, that's good for him," Duel said sleepily. She opened up the door to the room and saw hundreds of Shoyrus flying down the hall towards the Dining Room.

     "Looks like we're having pancakes," Angel said, walking up next to Duel.

     "How can you tell?" Duel asked.

     "Well, there are two things we could get for breakfast; this gooey glop or pancakes. Whenever there's gooey glop, they're usually flying in the other direction." The two giggled and joined the other Shoyrus to the Dining Room.

     As soon as they got their food on the red tray, they headed over to a table and sat down. The Blue Shoyru entered the Dining Room with a large sack in her hands. "Mail's here!" the Blue Shoyru yelled. Most of the Shoyrus' heads turned.

     Tamer helped pass out the packages and letters to the Shoyrus they were addressed to. About 20 minutes later, the bag was empty and everyone was ripping open their packages and letters.

     A brown box sat in front of Duel. Medium sized holes lined the top of the box. "I think I know what's inside," Duel sang.

     "Well," Angel said, "open it!"

     Duel did so and opened the top of the box. A Faerie Anubis poked its head out of the box. "Sweet mother of Fyora!" it cried. "Light!"

     Angel shrieked and jumped up. "It talked!" she yelled.

     "Well," the Anubis muttered, "of course I talked!"

     "Uh, Angel," Duel said quietly. "Meet Curse."

     "My name is Nathan B. Alzarez!"

     Angel blinked, and then smirked. "Nice try little man, but Alzarez ruled Neopia hundreds of years ago. Plus, he went missing after traveling to-"

     "The Lost Desert," Curse yawned. "I know, I know. I was him, after all."

     "Curse here is Nathan's reincarnation." Curse jumped out of the box and onto the table.

     "Yes, it is true. A hundred years ago, I took Fyora down and ruled Neopia with an iron fist. But, one fateful day, while I was traveling to the Lost Desert, Fyora reappeared and destroyed me. A hundred years later, I emerge from the warm sand in this puny body, and the first thing I see is Duel's face."

     Angel's jaw dropped. "So, let me get this straight. Your Petpet is a reincarnated dictator?"

     "Yup. My life's weird like that."

     "But how can he talk?"

     "Maybe because he's reincarnated from a Neopet."

     "That sounds logical to me."

     Duel looked back in the box and found a note. She read it out loud. "Dear Duel," she began. "That little monster of yours kept demanding his 'Queen,' so I sent him to you. Just try to make sure he doesn't blow anything up. Love, Sammy."

     Angel gulped. "He blows things up?"

     "He used to. Now he just sets things on fire." Duel looked over at Curse. He was now digging through and eating her pancakes. Duel laughed. "But give him some pancakes and I think he'll be fine."

     After breakfast, every Shoyru filled the hallway like the last night. This time, every single Shoyru opened the back door and went outside. Duel's jaw dropped at the sight of the equipment. There were wires that were connected to Virtupets computers, punching bags, fake weapons, training suits, and a machine that was huge and bulky.

     "Duel," Angel hissed. "Get in line." Duel looked around and saw that the Shoyrus had gotten into a line across the training field. She and Curse were the only ones not in it.

     Duel blushed and quickly got into line next to Angel. Just as she did, Tamer and his Shoyrus walked in front. Tamer was wearing the same expression he wore on the poster. The Shoyrus gave a glaring look.

     "Good morning, everyone," Tamer said. "I hope you all slept well, because we will be training hard today. As you know, my name is the Shoyru Tamer. My Shoyrus here are MD, Sea, and Mega.

     "Today I will divide you into groups based on your first name. There will be four groups: A-F, G-L, M-S, and T-Z. Every hour or so the groups will switch off to the next area until lunch. After lunch is over, training is over for the day.

     "Alright, Shoyrus. A-F first names go with Mega. G-Ls go with Sea. M-S will get MD, and T-Z, come with me. Now let's get training!"

     Duel picked Curse up. "Curse," she whispered to him, "go back inside. I don't want you messing anything up." Curse grunted, and then headed for the back door.

     Tamer's red Shoyru walked over to Angel and Duel. Duel gulped. "Hello sir," she said weakly. "I'm assuming you'll be my trainer today."

     The Shoyru snorted. "Get in line with the others." He pointed to another smaller line of about 20 Shoyrus, all of them different colors. Angel and Duel nodded at him and got in line next to a Halloween Shoyru. The Red Shoyru walked back over to the line.

     "As some of you know," the Red Shoyru began, "my name is Mega. For those who don't, well, now you do." Some of the younger Shoyrus giggled. "Stop giggling!" Mega barked. The Shoyrus stopped giggling at the command. In fact, they were now as quiet as a Miamouse.

     Mega walked over to the large, bulky machine and put his hand on it. "Today we will be working on your speed. When told to, this machine will attack you. It is impossible for you to hit the machine and defeat it. You have to dodge all the attacks in 5 minutes without being hit. If you get hit, you fail this test. Understand?" The Shoyrus nodded. "Good. Zombie Girl, you're up first." Everyone was silent. Mega looked at Duel. "Hey Zombie Girl, where's your make up?"

     Duel gasped. "Oh no, I forgot to put it on this morning!"

     "Too bad for you, Zombie Girl," Mega snorted. "You're up." Duel sighed and walked up to the machine. Mega flipped a switch, and then robotic arms popped out of the machine. Each robotic arm held one Battledome weapon.

     5 seconds later, the hand that held the Rainbow Gun shot at Duel's feet. Startled, she quickly flew into the air. Almost instantly, a Million Degree Sword swung at Duel. Duel flew backwards, and the Rainbow Gun shot at her.

     Duel's eyes scanned the machine. She was quickly interrupted when a snowball was shot at her. Duel flew to her left, and the snowball barely missed her right wing. Her eyes narrowed as the Snowball Slingshot shot three more snowballs at her. Duel was ready.

     "4 minutes to go!" Mega yelled. Duel smiled. She could probably do this. The Rainbow Gun shot at her again, but Duel was able to dodge it. One hand threw a Cheat! Card at her. Duel ducked down to dodge it, but then the Rainbow Gun shot at her stomach.

     Suddenly, Curse appeared out of nowhere. He jumped up in front of Duel and took the hit. "Curse!" Duel cried, flying down at him. "Are you okay?"

     "I'm…I'm fine…" Curse muttered. "Look up." Duel did so and saw a snowball flying at her. She shrieked and jumped up into the air. The snowball barely missed her.

     "3 minutes," Mega said.

     The next two minutes passed quickly. Duel was doing fine. Suddenly, Mega pulled a lever and two more robotic hands popped out. Duel and the rest of the Shoyrus in her group gasped at what they held. One hand clutched a pair of Asparachucks while the other held Maractite Battle Duck.

     "That has to be worth at least 17 million neopoints!" Angel cried.

     The Asparachucks came hurtling at Duel with great speed. Duel was losing her energy, so the attack almost hit her. Not only that, but the Rainbow Gun and the Million Degree Sword shot and swung at her at the same time. Both attacks missed her.

     "30 seconds!" Duel panted as the machine attack Duel with the Battle Duck. Once again, the attack nearly missed her, but she was able to dodge it. "15 seconds!"

     "Bring it on," Duel said. The machine seemed to respond, because all of the weapons attacked her at the same time. Her eyes widened and she flew all over the place, dodging each and every single attack.

     A buzzer rang, and the robotic arms withdrew back inside the machine. Duel panted and sweated, trying to regain her energy. She floated back to the ground and looked at Mega. He seemed impressed.

     "Nice job, Zom - I mean, Duel. Grab your Anubis and go get a drink. I bet you're thirsty." Duel nodded breathlessly. "Okay. Just go back inside and get yourself some water." Mega smiled at Duel. Duel smiled back. Mega's smile vanished as he turned his head over to the Halloween Shoyru. "Emma! You're up!"

     *****

     Duel stumbled into her room and collapsed onto the floor. Angel stumbled in after her. "Oh my aching legs…" Angel muttered.

     "Forget your aching legs," Duel said weakly, "what about my aching body!" She groaned. "That was the hardest training I have ever gone through!"

     "You just wait," Angel said as she climbed the ladder to her bed. "It gets tougher."

     Duel sighed. "Joy."

     "You know, I think Mega is starting to like you," Angel said. She smirked.

     "Yeah, he seemed impressed."

     "Not like that, Duel. I mean, 'like' like." Angel winked at Duel.

     "Uhhh…" Duel changed the subject. "What do you want to do?"

     "Wanna go see the Snowager?" Angel suggested.

     "But we're not allowed to leave Tamer's house!" Duel cried.

     "Well, what if we just snuck out and came back before anyone noticed?" Duel sighed.

     "Fine, whatever." Angel grinned. She flew towards the door, opened it up quietly, and snuck outside. Duel followed her.

     "We're almost at the front door," Angel whispered. Duel said nothing, but continued tip-toeing down the hall. "Just a little close - AH!" Duel looked up and saw Tamer appear out of thin air.

     "What do you think you're doing?" he asked angrily. Duel and Angel exchanged looks, and then hung their heads. They knew there was no way they would be able to talk their way out of this one.

To be continued...