When Neopia Turns Evil: Part One

      "Because the others are getting doctor's appointments and the Uni doesn't need one. Besides, it's a male Halloween Uni," Hannah, Spike's owner, said.

      Spike pouted on the way to Brigitte's house. When they stopped to knock on the door, Hannah turned around to Spike and said, "Don't pout like that! She's taking care of a pet for me so you should be happy!"

      Hannah turned back around to the door and knocked. Kroost, the Halloween Uni, answered them.

      "Let's go and get this over with," he said.

      Kroost grabbed his pack and started to walk. When he got a little farther than Spike, Spike noticed a little Lizark head popping out of the bag and smiling at Spike. Spike questioned why he smiled at him but Spike decided to smile back.

     ~~~

      Once they reached Hannah's house in Shenkuu, Spike got out some jelly for lunch. Kroost groaned at the sight of the jelly on the table.

      "What?" asked Spike.

      "I eat jelly and omelettes every day! Don't you guys have ANYTHING different?" Kroost asked.

      Hannah and Spike gave each other a look. Spike ran to the safe and came out with cookies, gummies, and fresh juice. Kroost was shocked to see all this food.

      "How did you get all this?!" he exclaimed.

      "Well, it's an advantage to being an only child," Spike explained.

      Kroost and Spike started eating lunch while Hannah read the Neopian Times. "Hey, they found a new prophecy deep in a cave in Faerieland. Someone translated the ancient letters to, 'Heroes frozen, villains rise. Shoyru and Uni will save from demise.' They're going around all of Neopia to find a Shoyru and Uni to save the world. That's just a load of Gnorbu dung! I mean come on! You can't just pick who's the heroes of the world, can you?"

      Spike and Kroost tried to talk with their mouths full but just kept eating. Ming the Mirgle came out of the safe with his own jelly on a plate. Kroost's Lizark came out of the pack and started to eat with Ming.

      Spike swallowed some of his cookies and asked, "Kroost, what's your Lizark's name?"

      "His name is Bugga. If you catch him doing something he shouldn't, put him back in the pack," Kroost said.

      Kroost and Spike finished lunch and sat down on the couch to watch some Neovision. Spike flipped through the channels and saw that even the news was reporting this prophecy! Maybe it was more important than they thought.

      "Heroes like Judge Hog and most of the faeries are doing door-to-door searches and recruiting as many Shoyrus and Unis they can find. If you have a Uni or a Shoyru, please bring them to H.Q. immediately," said the green Ixi news anchor.

      Spike and Kroost started to worry. They didn't want to be taken away. Spike and Kroost ran to Hannah and Spike said, "Hannah, what do we do? I don't want to leave you!"

      Before Hannah could react, someone was pounding on the door. "It's Judge Hog! Open up and there'll be no trouble!"

      Hannah turned around and whispered, "Spike, go to the safe and go to the Battledome room and do not come out until I come and get you. Just tell the Meepit it's a code blue. Take Kroost and his petpet with you. Coming, Judge Hog!"

      Kroost grabbed his pack and Bugga while Spike grabbed Ming and started to open the door to the safe. Kroost and Spike went into the safe and locked it shut and listened in on Hannah and Judge Hog's conversation.

      "Hello, Judge Hog! How long has it been since you've come to report Spike?" she asked.

      "I know Spike is a Shoyru and I know he's here. Give him to me," Judge Hog commanded.

      "Sorry for the inconvenience, but he's at a friend's house. I think he might be sleeping over there too. Maybe another time, okay?"

      "I know you're lying, Ms. Hannah, but I have no time to argue with you. I need to keep going. But why do you look so nervous? Like you're hiding something?" he asked.

      Spike knew where this was going. Judge Hog was going to open the safe door and take Spike and Kroost away. Spike lit up his Magic Torch ability and grabbed the Downsize. "Take this, quickly. Then fly to a shelf and try to turn off your fire hooves."

      Spike and Kroost to a dose of the Downsize and hid on a shelf. "Ming, make sure you and Bugga don't give us away, okay?" Spike said.

      Ming nodded and told Bugga. Spike and Kroost hid behind a couple of bottles and tried their best to not move. Judge Hog opened the safe and looked around. He wasn't smart enough to check the tunnels. He looked at Ming and Bugga with suspicion.

      "Does anyone own these petpets?" asked Judge Hog.

      "Nope but I'm saving them for new pets if I get any. Now, if you could close the safe door and leave my home before I get the weapons," Hannah said.

      Judge Hog closed the safe and left the house, being very confused. Hannah waited a painful few minutes until Judge Hog left the neighborhood. Hannah opened the safe and gave Spike and Kroost a Supersize.

      "Guys, this is more serious than I thought. I'm going to need you guys to go stay with my cousin until this whole prophecy dies down," said Hannah.

      Spike asked, "But how are we going to get there? There are faeries looking for Shoyrus and Unis everywhere!"

      Hannah reached for a purple and orange potion. "This is a Split Lenny Morphing Potion. If you each take one half, you will be temporary split Lennies. Sam's house is on Kreludor. If you get to the port in the next twenty minutes, you could get a flight there. Got it?"

      Hannah handed Spike the potion. Spike drank half of the potion while Kroost drank the other half. "Got it!" they both said.

      In less than a second, they changed from a blue Shoyru and a Halloween Uni to two split Lennies. "The potion only lasts one hour, so rush it to Sam's house, got it?"

      They both nodded. They both grabbed their petpets and put them in their packs. Then headed off. It was hard for Spike to walk with such skinny legs and much harder for Kroost to walk on two legs. They couldn't fly that well but they could run really quickly. They made it to the port right before the shuttle left. They sat down in relief, knowing they were going to be safe.

      They noticed a lot of pets in overcoats. Someone walked over to Spike and asked, "Are you twins?"

      Spike nodded vigorously until the neopet left. Spike noticed that when a pet was bending over to pick up a neopoint, their hat fell off to show a horn. Spike suspected these pets were running away from Neopia Central, maybe like Spike and Kroost were. The ride to Kreludor was a painful thirty minute one. The only thing they could do without getting caught was talk to their petpets, talk about the weather, and lie about how fun a vacation this would be.

      The shuttle stopped and Spike and Kroost were the first ones to get off. They rushed out of the port and ran to the closest tour guide stop. Spike took out a piece of paper and stared at it for a few seconds.

      Spike put the piece of paper on the desk and asked, "Can you tell us where this address is? My friend told me it's his house, but I don't know where this is!"

      The tour guide gave Spike and Kroost directions. Spike took the paper, thanked the guide, and they both ran off. In less than five minutes, they were at Hannah's cousin's house.

      "What if he doesn't believe we're Hannah's son and friend?" asked Kroost.

      "Trust me, he will," said Spike.

      Spike knocked on the door and was answered by a purple Grundo. She stared at the two Lennies. "Dad! There's two weird Lennies at the door!" she yelled.

      "Let them in!" said the dad.

      They walked inside the house and sat on a couple of chairs. The owner, most likely Sam, came into the room and saw the two Lennies. He smiled sweetly and sat down across from them.

      "You must be Spike and Kroost," he said.

      They were both stunned. "How did you know?" asked Kroost.

      Sam held up a yellow letter and said, "Hannah sent it ahead of time. Now, they already checked our house so you guys should be safe. You guys will be staying in Grunder's room, but stay away from any doors or windows. If anyone sees I'm holding a Shoyru and a Uni, the penalty is they'll throw me in the dungeon. Also, stay away from John, our blue Kacheek. He's not really happy the prophecy said a Uni and a Shoyru, not a Kacheek."

      Kroost smiled. "Let's get you guys up to your room before the potion wears off! I don't have the neopoints to get another!" said Sam.

      Spike and Kroost ran upstairs and into the room that had a plaque on the door that said, "Grunder's room." They found a bunk bed inside. Spike claimed the top and Kroost got bottom. They relaxed for a while until they both fell into a deep sleep.

     ~~~

      Spike woke up to find himself back to normal. He saw Kroost hadn't woken up yet. He woke up Kroost and told him that the potions had worn off. Before Kroost could say anything, two omelettes slid through a little slot on the bottom of the door. Kroost groaned, but Spike took his plate and dug right in. Kroost took his plate to his bed and gave half to Bugga. Spike did the same with Ming.

      "What if we are the ones?" Spike asked from his top bunk.

      "The ones what?" Kroost asked.

      "The ones to save the world? I mean, the closest I've saved from anything was saving Ming from going on the carpet. I don't even have any weapons!" Spike exclaimed.

      "Well, you have a Magic Torch. Besides, there are sixteen million Shoyrus and twelve million Unis! What are the chances that it's going to be us? Besides, all the eligible Unis and Shoyrus are on their way to H.Q. to practice being heroes! Dude, we're safe, so don't worry. Relax and enjoy the omelette," Kroost said.

     ~~~

      Spike and Kroost were woken up in the middle of the night by a scream. They ran downstairs to find the source of the screaming. They ran to the backyard to see the whole family in shock. Spike and Kroost found out why. John was turned into a rock statue! Spike walked over to Sam.

      "What happened?" Spike asked.

      "I don't know! I was finishing doing the housework when I called John back in from his training. When he didn't respond after the first couple of times, I came out here, to see him in his fighting pose as a statue!" explained Sam.

      Kroost understood what this meant. "He was a threat to the villains! He became frozen because he was mistaken for a hero! It's all part of the prophecy! But the only person I know who is powerful enough to freeze people is Fyora and... Xandra! She must be one of the villains that will rise!"

      Grunder the green Grundo ran to the TV to see if this was all on the news... and it was. "We have breaking news! All over Neopia, heroes and other civilians are statues! All the Shoyrus and Unis at H.Q. are frozen too! From the faeries to even King Hagan! Everybody who has been a hero at least once has been frozen! We're suspecting this might be the work of Xandra and she might be one of the villains that will rise! Will anyone stop this?!"

      Grunder turned off the TV to try and take this all in. "We're doomed!" he shouted.

      "No, we're not! Spike, Kroost, I have only one escape pod! I can send you back to your house in less than five minutes but you have to make sure my cousin is all right!" Spike and Kroost nodded.

      They ran upstairs, grabbed their packs, and ran back down. They climbed into the tiny escape pod and buckled up.

      "You should be there in less than five minutes. If I set the coordinates right, you'll end up in her backyard," he told them.

      They were ready for take off. In less than ten seconds, they were off! They raced through space so quick that Neopia looked like a giant boulder, heading right for them. They saw Shenkuu and knew they were almost home. They crash landed in the snow and got out of the rocket. They ran inside the house and searched for Hannah.

      Once they found her, Spike dropped to his knees. Hannah was frozen in stone. She looked like she had been running away from something. "How?" Spike asked.

      Spike thought for a minute and said, "She saves pets from the pound and finds new owners for them. She's a pound hero."

      Kroost walked over to Hannah and pulled out a yellow piece of paper and read it. He passed the paper to Spike.

      "'Xandra is out. Spike and Kroost are the chosen ones. Protect them at all costs.' She knew right before she got frozen." Spike was in a major deal of shock.

To be continued...