The Revenge of the Pant Devil

     Back to the point, I was just looking at a non-interesting map of the east side of Brightvale, when I heard a knock at the front door of my neohome. I hoped it wasn’t that annoying Chia again selling baby paint brushes. Couldn’t she see I have already been painted with a baby paintbrush! I couldn’t possibly require another!

     "Congo! Congo! Open the door! It's Montu here!" the voice called from the door. It was ok. It was only Montu, my best friend.

     "I'm just coming!" I called back to her. I jumped down from my small mountain of books and ran to the door. I opened the front door expecting to see the happy Christmas figure of a Bruce. Instead, Montu had tears streaming down her face. Montu had never cried before! Something must be seriously wrong!

     "Whatever has happened, Montu?" I questioned her sympathetically.

     "He took her! He took her!" wailed Montu, "He took Angharad!" Angharad was Montu's petpet. She was a Puppyblew and she meant the world to her.

     "Who took her, Montu? Who?" I replied back to her.

     "The Pant Devil!" Montu cried. "I'll never get her back now!" Montu then fainted. Luckily, I caught her just before she landed on the hard stone floor. I carried her upstairs and laid her down on my bed.

     "Don't worry, Montu. I'll get her back for you," I whispered before closing the bedroom door.

     ‘I am going to get that Pant Devil whether he likes it or not,’ I thought, ’I am going to search the whole of Neopia to find him and when I do I am going to fight him! Nobody takes my friend's puppyblew away and gets away with it! That stupid Pant Devil has made me a very angry baby Lupe!’

     I stayed up all night planning on where I was going to go first to look for the Pant Devil. I worked out that the best route would be to go round Neopia in this order: Neopia Central, Roo Island, Meridell, Maraqua, Mystery Island, Krawk Island, Tyrannia, the Lost Desert, the Haunted Woods, Terror Mountain and finally Faerieland.

     I was concentrating so hard on my route that I only noticed that Montu had entered the room when she sat down.

     "I'm going to get Angharad back for you, even if it means I have to risk my life!" I told Montu. I then talked her through my whole plan of where I was going to go first. I hoped I had made it clear enough to her that there was no way that she could change my mind about going on this journey. Not even if she could get me a new owner or change my owner to a nice person!

     "When are you starting your journey?" Montu asked me quietly. I could tell she was worrying already.

     "Tonight," I replied.

     The night came too quick for me to bear. I was dreading the journey but I knew I had to do it for Montu and for Angharad. That might have been the last time I would ever have seen my dear Bruce friend. We dawdled slowly to the harbor that was five minutes away from my neohome. I tried to hold my tears back but every now and then one would drip down my nose. When Montu burst into floods of tears when we reached the harbor, I knew that I couldn't keep them in any longer and I wept. We gave each other one last hug, and after we had said our goodbyes, my boat departed.

     I couldn't sleep on the rickety boat. Seeing as not many people travel to Roo Island every day, I was in a tiny wooden shack which miraculously actually floated with two beds in a small cabin. There was only one other passenger on the boat. His name was Dylio and he was a Grundo. We were talking and he told me that he was escaping from the Space Station. He then made me swear to secrecy.

     I asked him where he was going.

      He only replied, "Anywhere that I can make the world a better place and can bring happiness to Neopia!"

     That gave me an idea. I explained about Montu, Angharad and the Pant Devil and he told me that he would love to be of use in my mission. So I asked him; I asked him if he wanted to come with me. There would be no doubt that I would get lonely with nobody to talk to, with no Montu to be there for me. And he agreed! In fact he was over the moon. He said the Pant Devil stole many toys from him when he was young and he would love to seek his revenge!

     About five hours later, we finally reached Roo Island and we were absolutely exhausted! As we couldn't afford to book into a hotel because we were saving our neopoints, we pitched my tent on the grass near the water. We were cautious not to pitch too near the water, as when the tide came in we didn't want our tent to be dragged in the water! That would be an absolute nightmare.

     As it was only three pm when we arrived, after pitching our tent, Dylio and I decided to start our search for the Pant Devil. We started our search next to the Merry Go Round and then we worked our way around the island. When we came to the Dice a Roo castle, Dylio asked me if he could have a go. I said of course he could if he paid with his own neopoints. He agreed - after all, it is only five neopoints! He came out with a huge smile on his face. It was obvious to me that he had won some neopoints!

     "How many did you win?" I asked him, wondering if maybe he had won a thousand neopoints! Wouldn't that be great!

     "I won ten neopoints!" Dylio cried, overjoyed at his achievement. Obviously, these Grundos are very poor indeed!

     We looked on the island map to see if there was any shops around that we could buy food from. We were disappointed to find that the nearest food shop was all the way back in Neopia Central! Luckily I had brought a few tins of baked beans. As we ate our dinner silently, Dylio and I looked at our map. It felt like I and Dylio had known each other for yonks, I couldn't believe that it had only been a day!

     After clearing away our dinner plates and washing them in the sea, Dylio and I clambered into our tent and got into our sleeping bags. Well, I got into my sleeping bag. Dylio only had two shabby blankets to keep him warm during the night. Poor little Grundo! Sometime I would get him a sleeping bag or at least buy him some new blankets!

     I woke up in the morning feeling nice and refreshed in the Roo Island sunshine! For breakfast Dylio managed to catch some fish. I didn't know how he managed it, seeing as he only has a broken fishing rod! Well, he caught some all the same and we cooked them on our campfire and ate them. Yummy!

     We split up to look round Roo Island again searching for the Pant Devil.

     I began scouring every corner of the north half of the island and Dylio looked in the south part. By lunchtime there was still not even a piece of evidence that the Pant Devil had ever even visited this place. I decided that maybe it was time for Dylio and I to move on to Meridell. This was the place I was most looking forward to! I heard that Meridell was home to many of the best neopets games including Ultimate Bullseye! Wow!

     But before we went, we had to find a way to get to Meridell. We looked at the boat timetables and much to our disappointment, the next boat to Meridell was in a fortnight’s time! We needed something before that. So Dylio and I walked miserably round the island.

     "Hey, you two!" we heard a voice shout. Were they talking to us?

      "I said you two!" Dylio and I looked up in surprise. A very pretty faerie Pteri looked down at us through beautiful eyes. What on earth did this magnificent Pteri want to talk to us about?

     "Why are you looking so glum?" she asked politely. "It's such a wonderful day!" She then did a loop the loop in the air.

     We explained to her - Shania was her name - that we desperately needed to get to Meridell soon because Angharad could be in grave danger. I think she felt sorry for us and at one point I thought I caught a glimpse of a shiny teardrop in her eye.

     "If I can get you two a lift to Meridell today, what have you got to give me in return?" Shania asked us patiently. Dylio and I both searched our backpacks to find an item of worth and Dylio was the first to find something.

     "I have got this Fyora Kite which I could give you if you would be so kind as to give us a lift!" Dylio exclaimed excitedly.

     "Let me have a look at it a minute," Shania asked cautiously. She played with it for a couple of seconds before she cried, "What an item of beauty! I'll get you two a lift within five minutes!"

     Dylio and I were over the moon! Shania whistled loudly and two other beautiful faerie Pteris came down from the sky to join her.

     "This is Flora," Shania explained pointing to the Pteri on her left. And pointing to the other Pteri she said, "And this is Bella!"

     Flora had obviously taken a shine to Dylio as she quickly rushed to stand next to him, beckoning Dylio to climb on her back. So I went and climbed onto Bella. Shania whispered a quick good luck to us before flying off. Bella and Flora followed her with us on their backs.

     Flying on the faerie Pteri was like flying on the softest blanket in the whole of Neopia! They elegantly glided in the wind and at one point Flora did a loop the loop which made Dylio wear a smile as long as my red moehawk guitar!

     The journey went so quick as both Dylio and me were having the time of our lives! We landed on the pretty green grass in Meridell, near to the Ultimate Bullseye game. Dylio and I thanked Flora, Bella and Shania for the lovely, pleasant ride to Meridell and we waved them off as they flew into the distance, back to Roo Island.

     We pitched our tents before going to have a look around Meridell. We headed straight for Ultimate Bullseye first. This was the moment I had been waiting for for all of the two years of my life! I grabbed a bow and arrow and had a go at the target. Yay! One whole point! Amazing! I was very impressed until Dylio pointed out to me that that was the worst mark after missing the board! I went bright red in the face. Anyway, after three goes I had managed to win a hundred neopoints. Well, it was a start, wasn't it!

     "Hey! Congo!" Dylio shouted to me while we were playing, "Look! I just got a bulls eye!" And so he had! I had no idea Dylio was so good at Ultimate Bullseye. He said that he had never played it before in his life, but I wasn't convinced until he reminded me that until a few weeks ago he had been locked up in the Space Station.

     I carried on with my game and when we had both finished our first ten arrows, I looked at Dylio's score and I was astonished to see that he had managed to get a hundred points out of a hundred! Wow! This Grundo really was amazing!

     He got through the next round too and halfway through the round after he won the avatar! Amazing! Then he missed a couple of shots so it was game over for him. He won just over two thousand neopoints! Dylio was overjoyed!

     "I don't believe it!" Dylio kept repeating over and over again. I reminded him that we had to search the whole of Meridell for the Pant Devil quickly because we were moving on to Mystery Island tomorrow morning. I sent Dylio off to search Meri Acres Farm while I went into the castle. We arranged to meet back at Ultimate Bullseye in five hours time.

     The castle looked quite welcoming from the outside but I knew this wasn't going to be all peaches and cream! I have heard about the grumpy old king that inhabits the castle. First of all, I headed towards Kayla's Potion Shop. I thought that maybe she might be able to tell me if the Pant Devil had been sighted in Meridell within the last couple of days.

     "What could I do for you, Young Lupe?" Kayla asked me in a kind voice. "Have you come to purchase some of my potions?"

     "No, I was wondering if you can tell me if the Pant Devil has been seen in Meridell recently?" I questioned her politely.

     "The Pant Devil stole a green aisha plushie from a young neopet only ten minutes ago in Brightvale. They say he is off to Mystery Island for his summer holiday now!" Kayla replied.

     I thanked her before quickly leaving the castle. I headed straight towards the timetables to see when the next boat to Mystery Island was. Oh no! It was only an hour until it left Meridell and I was not meeting Dylio for another three hours! I had to find Dylio quick!

     I ran straight to Meri Acres Farm as fast as I could. I just had to find Dylio! I checked everywhere! He wasn't picking berries, guessing the weight of the marrow, playing attack of the Slorgs or Extreme potato counter and he was not in the rubbish dump! I sat down and began thinking. Where on earth could he be? He wouldn't leave the farm, would he? Then it came to me! I had missed one very important place! Potato Counter! I rushed in just in time and saw Dylio sitting down with a cup of tea chatting to the yellow Kacheek! I had been so silly to forget Potato Counter!

     I grabbed him and rushed him away before you could say neocola!

     "Whatever is the matter, Congo?" he asked me as we ran towards our tent.

     "I'll tell you later! Grab your stuff and help me put this old tent away as quickly as possible!" I said to him before chucking his rucksack to him. I couldn't believe how quickly he put the tent away in its bag!

     With our belongings in our hands, we sprinted to the harbor. We were just in time. Luckily, they had two seats left that were only twenty neopoints each. We paid and then clambered on board.

     The boat journey went really quickly. It was meant to take two hours but it only felt like two minutes to me! Actually it probably felt so quick to me because I think I nodded off on one of the really comfortable chairs! Dylio went to sleep very quickly as well but not until I had finished explaining why exactly we were skipping going to Maraqua and going straight to Mystery Island instead.

     When we arrived there, I insisted on us pitching our tent and then going straight to seek out the Pant Devil. I had no idea where to look and I was about to dash off to the Lost City of Geraptiku when Dylio grabbed my arm.

     "Where are you going you, Silly Billy? If you were on holiday here, where would you head straight for?" Dylio hissed to me. It was only then that I realized the importance of actually using my brain.

     "Of course! The beach! Why didn't I think of that before?" I replied. "You are such a clever little Grundo, Dylio!" He gave me a pleasing grin.

     We rushed off to the beach to see the Pant Devil lying on his back in a deckchair, fast asleep. This was my one chance.

     I jumped and attacked. They Pant Devil woke, bruised and startled. Before he had a chance to get me I did a fierce attack on him.

     "Ok, ok, you win!" he yelled at me as if in agony.

     "I will only go away if you give me my mate's puppyblew back!" I said back to him, threatening.

     The Pant Devil slowly took Angharad out of his bag.

     "Here you go! And don't come back again if you please!" he replied, gesturing for us to leave.

     So Dylio and I are now back here in my neohome in Neopia Central. Montu is happily playing with Angharad on my bed while Dylio is putting his coat on to go out to the shops to get a bed for him to sleep in. He is staying with me now. And he will never have to go back to the Space Station ever again.

     So here I am just finishing this story when a thought comes into my mind. I have achieved what my owner wanted me to. I have written a good story for the Neopian Times! Yay!

The End