The Petpet Brigade: Part Two

     "Cy.... Cyclopa?" he stammered. "Oh, no!"

     "Shh!" the strange Meowclops said. "I'm here to rescue you."

     "No! You'll only get caught, too!"

     "No, I won't," she said matter-of-factly.

     "Look, they're brainwashing us. Our minds are sane, but we can't control our bodies. I can't move anything except my eyes and mouth! That's the power of petpet nip. If this hits the streets, all of petpet kind is doomed!"

     "I know." Cyclopa pulled a flask of water from a small pouch almost completely hidden beneath her dark fur. She promptly dumped it on his head.

     "Hey! What was that for?!" he yelled.

     "Move your foot."

     "I told you, I-" He stamped his paw. "I can't?" he said, looking at the offending paw questioningly.

      "It always works in those stories," Cyclopa said frankly. "Come on."

     They ran, slowly at first, but clearly picking up speed as they sped out of the building.

      "Wait," Buttons said. "There's something else we have to do."

      As she realized what he was thinking, she mouthed the words, ARE YOU COMPLETELY INSANE?!!

     He nodded and took off towards the control room of the petpet factory, Cyclopa on his heels.

     As they reached the center of the factory, Buttons stated what he had seen in his brief stay. "There's a huge control tower in the middle of the factory. We should look for some sort of switch to stop them from making petpet nip."

     Cyclopa nodded. "Let's go!"

     They finally reached the center of the factory. The duo split up, Cyclopa going to look for the switch and Buttons to find the factory chief.

     He ran.

     It felt good to run, his small legs pumping with speed. After being controlled by petpet nip, he was happy to actually be able to control himself. Some sixth sense told him that he was close. Buttons backed up against the wall, arms and legs flat out to the side. He slowly peeked around the corner, made sure the coast was clear, and finally snuck around the corner. There was a strange noise. He drew his rainbow gun, and scanned the area. His holly-shaped ears found that the sound had come from the left. Running on two legs now, he sped around the corner.

     He had nearly crashed into a humongous Skeith. It was huge, purple, and smelled strongly of cheese.

     Though thoroughly scared, he whipped his rainbow gun around and yelled at the top of his lungs. "FREEZE!!! PUT YOUR PAWS IN THE AIR!!!"

     "Who said that?" asked the Skeith stupidly, looking around.

     "Down here!" yelled Buttons.

     The Skeith looked down, startled, then slowly rose his arms above his head.

     Truthfully, Buttons was uncertain of what to do next. In the Petpet Brigade drill, the opposing party had fired rotten veggies and taken off. This Skeith was too fat to run, and had not even moved his toe in resistance. Buttons thought for a minute. The Skeith could be bluffing. Technically, it could squash him if it pretended to stumble, or even stepped forwards once. Buttons carefully stepped backwards to avoid such a thing.

     "Uh... You'd better show me the switch to stop the petpet nip from being created," Buttons mumbled.

     "Oh, yes, yes, of course! Just don't shoot me! Please!" said the Skeith, nodding his head vigorously. He walked slowly to a door accurately labeled OFFICE. Opening the door, the Skeith bumbled in, Buttons almost on his tail.

     The Skeith walked over to his desk and sat down. "It'll take a few moments to reconfigure the devices. Don't worry, I won't try anything stupid. You have the gun. I, on the other hand, am weaponless."

     "Uh... Sure... OK..." muttered Buttons, still unsure of what to do. Looking around the cramped office, he quickly became horrified. Remains of Plushie Abominable Snowballs lay scattered across the floor. Slugawoo shells were lined up in a row atop the mantle of the electric fireplace. Maraquan Pfish were stuffed and mounted upon the walls of the office. The horns of Nuks were, too, mounted upon plaques. Framed awards for Best Petpet Hunter covered one wall. The winter coats of Felfs and the comfy jackets of Winnies were nailed onto pieces of polished wood. Only then did Buttons realize exactly how much danger he was in.

     The Skeith was a Trophy Petpet Hunter.

     Too enthralled in the horror of the hunter's trophies, he did not see the Skeith come up behind him. Suddenly, it grabbed him, tearing the Rainbow gun out of his hands and shoving it behind his ear. One shot would surely make him spontaneously combust.

     "So, ya like my trophies, do ya?" the Skeith said. "Well, ya won't like where you're goin' next. You and your little Meowclops friend, both!" The Skeith chuckled. "Like that little peashooter gun of yours could have done anything to me, anyway!" He tied the little doglefox's paws behind his back, trussed his feet together, and shoved a gag in his mouth. It tasted of rotten Tchea fruit and old gravy. Finally, the Skeith shoved him down a chute and all went black.

      He was running, running for his life. Behind him came scores of rotten Tchea fruit and old gravy puddles, and a huge purple Skeith's head with a smelly piece of cheese for a body. It was holding a Rainbow gun and yelling, "Spontaneously Combust! Spontaneously Combust!"

      Suddenly, he was awoken by a slap in the nose. Groggily, Buttons the Christmas Doglefox came to.

      "C'mon, kid, get out there and fight!" said a voice from above.

      "Whuh- What?" Buttons moaned.

      "C'mon, we don't have all day! Look, this is the Petpet Battledome! Get out there already!" The mean figure, which was actually a Darigan Gelert, shoved him into the iron cage and pulled the back door shut.

      He was trapped!!!

      Beginning to feel claustrophobic, Buttons panted heavily, spinning in a tight circle around the iron cage. Suddenly, a door opened. He rushed through, eager to get to any outdoor place.

      He was in a humongous dome, much like the Battledome, but a lot smaller. He looked around. He only saw one way out, and that was through-

      "Aaahh!!!" Buttons screamed. An immense Dua had just sunk its teeth into his foreleg. It was obviously insane. Its eyes were rolling crazily in its head and it stagger-walked around in a crazy circular dance.

      Buttons somersaulted backwards, out of striking range. He had been trained well in the Petpet Army, and now his skills were being put to the test.

      He rushed forward, applying a back ridge-hand to the face of the crazed Dua, compromising it with a spin-kick to its belly. The Dua flew through the air, smacking against the far wall before thudding to the ground. Buttons pulled himself back into a guarding stance, and an Eyrie was sent to pull it off the field. Buttons would have to time his exit perfectly. 3... 2... 1...

      He sprang.

      Shooting past the Eyrie, he flew through the door it had come through. He found himself in a hallway lit with torches. He slammed and locked the door behind him, so the Eyrie would be trapped. Scanning the room, he saw a cage against the wall, supposedly the next fighter. In it was Cyclopa.

      "Buttons!" she yelled out to him. "Are you okay?"

      "Yeah, I'm fine. Let's get out of here!"

      Turning around, Buttons aimed his back paws at the rusty old lock on the door of Cyclopa's cage. Tensing his body, he kicked back hard and the lock sprang open. Sliding it off the door, he opened the latch and let Cyclopa out.

      "Thanks a bunch, I was getting claustrophobic," the Meowclops said, shaking her fur into a better position.

      "Tell me about it," agreed Buttons, remembering his experience inside the caged-in tunnel. "Let's go!"

      They sped off down the hallway. "Do you even know where we're going?" Cyclopa asked, panting slightly.

      "Uh... no, not really..."

      "We should have asked for directions!"

      "Hey, there's a guy up there!"

      "Then let's ask him!"

      "He" was a Mutant Babaa, and turned out to be friendly.

      "Whatcha wanna do is hang a left at the end o' da hallway. Take right, hold left, ba-da-bing, ba-da-boom, you're there, capische?"

      The doglefox and the Meowclops stood, mouths open in confusion. Cyclopa was the first to recover.

      "Look, buddy, my man here don't undastand street talk, capische? Speak the language, ba-da-bing, ba-da-boom, much better, right?"

      "Don't talk street, lady, it don't work for ya. Look, turn left at the end of this hall. Then turn right at the first intersection in that hallway, and left at the third intersection in that hallway. Is that okay wit chu?" grunted the Babaa, obviously frustrated.

      "Okay, thanks, Mr...."

      "Joe. Just Joe."

      "Okay, thanks Joe, we'll be on our way back to Neopia Central!" said Buttons, already on his way with Cyclopa on his heels.

      Once Joe was sure the two were gone, he left to send a quick message.

     ***

      The Petpet duo had made it safely out of the battle lodge. Running towards the edge of the Citadel, they found hundreds of hang gliders.

      "So this is how you get off this place without wings!" Cyclopa muttered in amazement.

      "Yeah, I guess so, but we have to leave," Buttons said, pointing back at the troop of petpet catchers running towards them. "No time better than now!" Buttons stepped back, braced himself, and leapt off the edge, paws wrapped tight around the handles of the hang glider. Two seconds later, Cyclopa joined him, and the two glided back in the direction of Neopia Central.

     ***

      Three hours later, a Skree flew down carrying a message. A blue Gallion was waiting for it. The Skree gave the Gallion the message, and the two exchanged words. Finally, the Skree left, and the Gallion unrolled the parchment. It read simply the two words:

      "They Know."

To be continued...