When Neopia Turns Evil: Part Two

      "What should we do? I think we need some answers! I mean, why weren't we frozen?!" Spike yelled.

      "Maybe it's because Xandra was aiming at all the Shoyrus and Unis at H.Q. I think the real question is what villains are running around Neopia?" asked Kroost.

      "Right now, let's focus on Xandra. Maybe if we stop her, everybody will return to normal, right?" Spike asked.

      "No, she used an artefact to turn all the faeries to stone and that was destroyed later on. Maybe she's using her magic with another person's magic! That could be it!"

      Before Spike could respond, the TV and radio turned on without them touching it. They both ran in front of the TV to see Dr. Sloth's face.

      "Is this thing on? Okay. Hello, citizens of Neopia! As you know, I am Dr. Sloth. I have escaped the Space Token. How, you may ask? Before Xandra turned to stone and did all that freezing-the-faeries stuff, she unfroze me. Why? I still don't know. Anyway, with the help of her and the Darkest Faerie, we have frozen all heroes and eligible heroes at H.Q. Also, to all the owners out there: you might think of escaping or asking for help from a hero owner. Think again! I have sealed all the ways, in and out. You are now trapped!

      "Okay, back to business. I will give almost all pets and owners a choice: join me or be turned to stone. It's that simple! Some neopets don't get the same choice as you do, though! Grundos and Darigan pets will be turned to the dark side, forcefully. Faerie pets will automatically be turned to stone. Sorry, but we don't want the faeries to come back! Lord Darigan will give any further instructions to Darigan pets. Those who do not cooperate will have to deal with my Spider Grundo, Jelly Chia, and Meuka.

      "Count Von Roo will bite anyone who tries to run! Captain Scarblade and his crew will get anyone who is in or on the waters that tries to escape. Have fun picking, for it might be the biggest decision of your life," Sloth said.

      The TV and radio turned off in a flash. Kroost and Spike were left staring.

      "What do we do?!?!" yelled Kroost. Spike slapped his hand on Kroost's mouth and put his finger on his lip.

      "They're almost here. Get your sack and head towards the safe as quietly as possible," Spike whispered.

      They grabbed their packs and petpets and tiptoed into the safe. Once Spike closed the door, he let out a sigh of relief. He lit up his Magic Torch and looked for the right tunnel.

      "What's our plan exactly? Are we going to check on my family, perhaps? Are we going to join the dark side or what?! I'm not even supposed to be here! Mom just wanted me to get some fresh air with some friends! This is all a huge mistake! I don't deserve this!" Kroost complained.

      "Shut up! Our family and friends are in terrible danger and you decide that this has nothing to do with you?! Face it; we're the chosen ones! We are going to fight 'til the end! If we can fight and free the pets, we'll be saved! Just pull it together!" Spike exclaimed.

      Before Kroost could respond, he heard voices coming from the other side of the door. Spike and Kroost listened very closely.

      "Are you sure this is the chosen one's house?" one voice asked.

      "Positive. At least that's what Xandra said. Maybe if Xandra was here, we could use her magic!" the other voice said.

      "Well, she's not, so we have to live without it. Now, do you think they're in the safe?"

      "No way! It's too big to hide in! Let's go check the other houses," said the voice.

      Once they left the house, Spike opened the safe. "We're not leaving through the house doors or windows. Follow me."

      Spike closed the safe doors and lit up his torch. He went through the tunnel that said "Special." As after two minutes off walking, he reached the Battledome room.

      "Meepit, we're under a state of emergency! I need some new weapons," Spike called out.

      No response. He walked forward and saw that even the Meepit was a statue. "Oh great. They're been here too!"

      "It doesn't matter. All we need is some weapons and some food on the way. We might also need some cures incase they give us a disease," Spike explained. Spike equipped as much equipment he could find.

      "What about me?!" asked Kroost.

      "We'll go back to your house and get you some weapons too. I mean, your family can't all be frozen too, right?" A cold chill went down their spines.

      They left the arena and went back to the beginning. They went down another tunnel named "For the pets." They took all the cures, all the food, a staff, and x-ray goggles from the safe.

      "Why all this?" asked Kroost.

      "We might not be coming back. We might as well pack for the worst."

      They went all the way back to the beginning of the safe and went through the one more tunnel: "Home." It took them an hour to get through it. Once they were at the end, all that was there was a small door that Spike and Kroost could barely fit through. They opened the door but didn't see anything but a tunnel above. Spike flew up through the tunnel and noticed that they were in the Wishing Well. Kroost came up after.

      "My family should be staying in the Neolodge. It takes Mom forever to get an appointment so she stays in the Neolodge until then," explained Kroost.

      They walked through the plaza and the quietness of the plaza gave became very creepy. "It's so quiet here that even the Kadoaties are silent. This place is so peaceful and it's never peaceful," said Kroost.

      They reached Neopia Central and saw the Neolodge. They ran towards it but knew something was wrong. They pushed against the doors and they seemed to be locked.

      "What do we do?" asked Kroost.

      "Why not use your fire hooves to melt the glass doors?" asked Spike.

      Kroost pushed against the doors and they started to melt. Once they got inside, they looked through the guest book. Kroost's family was on floor 5. They had no time to take the elevator so they just flew up the stairs. Kroost busted open the door and gasped in shock. Kroost's family was turned to stone.

      "How is this possible?! I know Gout wasn't much of a hero and Dino never wanted to save anybody! Why would this happen?!" yelled Kroost.

      Spike walked around and said, "Maybe they wanted to weaken you. Get you off guard. If we fix all this, we can get your family back."

      Kroost walked around to see his family all turned to stone. Even his annoying sisters he started to dearly miss. Soon that feeling of regret turned to a feeling of hatred.

      "I'm going to destroy those villains! Starting with Xandra! She's going to pay! Or maybe I should destroy the Darkest Faerie first?!"

      "Kroost, if you don't calm down, they're going to use your anger against you, got it?" Spike asked.

      Kroost took in some deep breaths and said, "Alright. Where should we start?"

      "Well, whoever we find first. Every night we start a camp and every morning we break it up. Since it's already night, we're going to set up camp here. We can just eat in the kitchen and sleep in here. If it gets too creepy with the statues, we can just pick another room. Agreed?"

      Kroost responded, "Agreed. We should have some kind of code incase someone catches us. Maybe a whistle?"

      "Sure, like this!" Spike made a whistle that went from a low to a high pitch really quickly.

      They both agreed and decided to eat.

     ~~~

      They ran down to the kitchen with their petpets and took as much food as they could carry back up. They ate as much as their stomachs could hold in case they didn't or couldn't eat for a while. They ended up eating for an hour until they couldn't take in anymore.

      "Okay. We have to make a promise together before we start doing anything else," Kroost said.

      "What kind of promise?" asked Spike.

      "I mean we have to promise not to steal unless it is necessary, not to hurt any civilians, not to betray each other, and do not leave each other unless we say so. Also, to rescue each other unless there is no time to. Got it?"

      "Fine, I promise to do everything you said. Happy?" Spike asked.

      Kroost nodded. When it started to rain outside, Spike and Kroost put their petpets on the couch and went into bed.

      "Good night, Kroost. Get enough sleep because tomorrow is a big day."

To be continued...