Defender of Neopia - Tyranny of The Doctor: Part One

      Keenomarci surveyed the room she had found herself locked in. She had found herself trapped in a steely, cold, metallic room and realized that she had no choice but to answer the demands.

      "Alright, it began shortly after I met a strange looking Grundo..."

      . . .

      Keenomarci used to be a regular Purple Kyrii, until a strange experiment gave her super-neopian strength. She spent her days playing with her friends and attending training school. She spent her nights stopping Neopia's nastiest from taking advantage of the helpless.

      "Stop right there, Pant Devil!" she shouted. The Pant Devil loved to sneak up on hapless Neopets and steal their most prized possessions. "Unhand that Bicycle!"

      "Ha!" the Pant Devil snickered. "What is a puny Kyrii like you going to do to me?"

      Keenomarci reached to her side and drew her Sword of Skardsen. Seeing the sword, a sense of panic struck the Pant Devil.

      "T-that's not real... That's probably just a bendy one, not the real thing!" it nervously chuckled. She lifted the sword high and swung it in the Pant Devil's direction, sending a massive wave of dark energy towards it. The Pant Devil was struck to the ground.

      "T-that's impossible!" it shouted, picking itself off the ground. "If you want the bike that bad, you can KEEP it!"

      The Pant Devil flew off, rubbing bruises. The blue Acara that had been attacked by the Pant Devil was standing safely to the side, in awe. She stared at Keenomarci in disbelief as her bicycle was returned to her.

      "Here you go, young Neopet. I don't think that Pant Devil will be bothering you again anytime soon," Keenomarci said, patting the little Acara on the head lightly.

      "T-thank you, Ms." She managed to find her words. Keenomarci smiled gently and leapt into the darkness.

      Keenomarci headed back to Defender HQ under the cover of darkness, careful to ensure that she wasn't seen. Lightning Lenny was sitting at the hub, looking as bored as ever.

      "Hey, how'd it go?" he asked as Keenomarci walked in.

      "Mission accomplished, I taught the Pant Devil a lesson it won't soon forget," she replied.

      "Hmm, you okay?" He sat up with a look of concern. "You seem like there's something else bothering you."

      "Yeah," she replied. "I just feel like I'm ready for something bigger. I know I'm still in-training and everything but I want to really make a difference in Neopia."

      "Ahh, I see." Lenny slumped back down in his chair. "Well, like King Hagan always says 'the road to knowledge is long, but you have to take it one step at a time'. You're making a difference already."

      "But –" Keenomarci was cut off by the sound of a door sliding open. Judge Hog walked in with a slight smile on his face.

      "It's good to see you again, trainee. I heard things went well with Ginny and The Pant Devil?" Judge Hog's regal voice echoed in the Hall of Defenders.

      "Judge Hog! Um, yes, everything went well," Keenomarci replied, startled.

      "That is great news!" He smiled widely and patted her on the back stiffly. "I've got another mission for you, if you're up for it."

      Keenomarci's face lit up with anticipation; perhaps this was the break she was hoping for. Judge Hog handed her a tightly wound scroll and she took it eagerly.

      "This came to our attention recently. I'd like you to go take a look for us," he said as Keenomarci unravelled the scroll and began to read it.

      The scroll went on to say...

      "Dear Reader, I hope this finds you well. My name is Gorix and I've been looking for somebody... ANYBODY to help me... I hope this finds you well. Please meet me at Kiko Lake as soon as you can. Come alone." The rest of the note was hastily written and unintelligible.

      "I want you to go and survey the area. I've got a bad feeling about this meeting and I need someone who has a low-profile to check things out that won't raise suspicion," Judge Hog explained.

      Keenomarci silently realized that this was just another 'fetch' mission but she had an idea, as well. She wouldn't just 'go and survey' the area... She was going to go and meet this mysterious Gorix. Maybe she would be able to save him and prove that she deserved to be a full hero.

      "Okay, Judge Hog, I'll make sure that I survey the area thoroughly and I'll be discreet," she exclaimed excitedly. Lightning Lenny raised an eyebrow at the sudden change of heart Keenomarci had shown.

      "Excellent, I like the enthusiasm." Judge Hog smiled. His smile quickly wiped away to a look of concern. "Come, Lenny, we have work to do."

      Lightning Lenny scrambled in his chair and jumped up to attention. "Right away, Judge Hog!" he exclaimed, following him into the next room.

      Keenomarci clutched the scroll tightly with a wide grin on her face. "This is my chance!" she thought to herself. "I can feel it!"

      She made her way to Kiko Lake, as described in the scroll. It was a nice vacation spot and was remote and a fair distance from civilization. She noticed that the weather had turned and it was obvious that it had been raining for some time, as evident by the pools of water that had collected on the cobblestone walkways.

      There were no tours on the lake being given on this day. It was eerily quiet and there wasn't much in terms of tourist traffic. She thought to herself out loud "Hmm, guess it's not a great weekend to visit Kiko Lake."

      She made her way into the wooded area nearby, to mask her approach. She sifted through the trees silently observing the area. She noticed that the green Kiko and purple Kiko shopkeepers were peeking out of the windows periodically but seemed to be too afraid to leave their shops. The only sound that she could hear was the pattering of raindrops on the leaves above her.

      "Well, this is just great," she whispered. "Of course it's my luck that there's nothing here at all."

      She sighed as she started to walk back towards where she had been walking from when she heard the cracking of branches and rustling of leaves. She froze quickly as her eyes darted frantically attempting to discover where the sound came from.

      "Did you get my letter?" A hushed voice came from above.

      Keenomarci looked upwards to see a purple Grundo hanging from a branch, soaked through with rain and looking down at her with a quizzical look on his face.

      "Who are you?" she shouted.

      "Shhh!" The Grundo motioned downward with his hands. "Keep it down, do you want to get us caught?"

      Keenomarci was puzzled but she noticed there was movement from a far off cabin. She focused on the cabin while shrouding in the trees and noticed that there was a mechanical-looking figure shuffling along.

      "There, do you see that?" the purple Grundo whispered. "That's a C.L.O.N.E. bot. It's a Constructed Likeness of Negative Ergy"

      Keenomarci was puzzled. She never had seen this kind of technology. "What does that mean?" she asked.

      "In short: it's an evil robot constructed from massive amounts of Ergy Fruit, in the likeness of somebody even more evil than it is!" the purple Grundo explained. "Look, we don't have the time to go over the history of Virtupets technology, did you or did you not get my scroll?"

      She nodded, taking the scroll out of her pocket. "Are you Gorix?"

      "Yes," Gorix replied. "Let's save the introductions for when we get somewhere safer."

      She nodded and motioned to deeper in the forest. As they began to tread deeper into the forest she realized that maybe Lightning Lenny was right however, now wasn't the time for second thoughts as the real adventure had just begun.

      . . .

      Meanwhile, in Present Day...

      Keenomarci stopped a moment to catch her breath. She looked back up at the silhouette and noticed that it hadn't moved from its position.

      "Are you sure you're telling us the truth?" The loudspeaker boomed and echoed in her ears.

      "I'm doing my best to recall the details. Your goons did hit me pretty hard on the head you know!" she snapped back.

      She noticed that there was finally movement behind the glass. The figure stood up and seemed to pace back and forth. It picked up an object that she couldn't identify, the shape wasn't familiar.

      "You do realize that the fates of millions of Neopets are solely dependent on your accuracy," the loudspeaker bellowed yet again.

      "Alright, I understand." Keenomarci sighed. "It would be easier if you just explained to me what exactly is going on here."

      The room was silent, in reply. The shadowy figure resumed being seated behind the glass and even though she couldn't see its expression, she felt the gaze firmly locked onto her. She took a deep breath and tried her hardest to remember what happened next.

To be continued...