A Glimpse of Shinroobi's Journal

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     It was that time of the year when the Neopian Book Award was being given out to the Neopets who have read the most books in Neopia. Many Neopians were stopping by the following bookshops to buy books for their pets to read: Magical Bookshop, Faerieland Bookshop, Sutek's Scrolls, Booktastic Books, Words of Antiquity, Brightvale Books, and Moltaran Books. You first stopped by the Magical Bookshop. You stumbled upon a book that was glowing and it got your attention.

     You decided to open the book and all of a sudden you realized you were no longer in that bookshop but in a different world. You turned to your left and saw the sign labelled Brightvale. Neopians and Neopets were passing by you, but they seem to not acknowledge your presence even when you asked for directions on how to get back to the Magical Bookshop. For a place called Brightvale, this place looked gloomy you thought after seeing the majority of passersby looking rather miserable. You looked back at the Brightvale sign and found out that this peaceful kingdom is known for its knowledge and beautiful ornate windows and is ruled by King Hagan the Wise, who is the older brother of King Skarl or better known as the Grumpy Old King.

     A Stealthy Blumaroo caught your attention and you followed him. From the look on his face, he looked like he had somewhere to go and that the appointment was urgent. After following the Stealthy Blumaroo at a power walk speed for some time, the Stealthy Blumaroo came to a stop and he was standing in front of the big Brightvale Castle where we discover that King Hagan was expecting his arrival.

     “You made it in time Shinroobi, so I know you have received my message on this appointment!” said King Hagan, gesturing the Stealthy Blumaroo to enter his castle.

     Shinroobi entered the Brightvale castle alongside King Hagan.

     You decided to follow Shinroobi and stick around until you can figure out how to get back to the Magical Bookshop.

     Finally, Shinroobi spoke, “You can’t do this, King Hagan. But why?”

     “I hate to do this, but I have no choice. I will lose my kingdom to Dr. Sloth if I fight back. He wins. There is nothing I can do about it,” replied King Hagan.

     Dr. Frank Sloth, the most feared villain of Neopia, is an evil scientist whose species is unknown. He made his first appearance in year 2 in his Space Station and was barely defeated by the Space Faerie. Many would describe Dr. Sloth as a tall green alien with a rather rounded triangle head with a large chin. Whenever he made his appearances, he would always wear a black robe with a red interior. This evil scientist's mission had always been to seize the total destruction of Neopia.

     “So you’re going to give up just like that and not even try? How do you know that you can’t win this battle if you haven’t even tried?” asked Shinroobi.

     “Even the Wheel of Knowledge says that there is no way I will keep my kingdom without giving in to Dr. Sloth. For the price of keeping Brightvale and my loyal citizens, I have to agree to Dr. Sloth to shoot his laser at my kingdom and that laser will withdraw all of the happiness and fun from my kingdom, which means that no fun nor games will exist here. Dr. Sloth is attempting to rule the whole world of Neopia and have it under his command,” said King Hagan.

     “What happens if you refuse or put up a fight?” asked Shinroobi.

     “If I refuse, I lose my kingdom and everything in it. Brightvale will be in total darkness and there will never be any daylight again. If I agree, I get to keep my kingdom, but at the cost of it being gameless and boring and it will be under Dr. Sloth’s power. No fun nor creativity will ever exist again, but at least I can still see Brightvale if I don't put up a fight. Hence, I will lose anyway even if I try to do something about it,” replied King Hagan.

     “Not if I’m still standing here. I won’t let that happen. May I spin the Wheel of Knowledge? Maybe it has the answer for me?” asked the eager Stealthy Blumaroo.

     King Hagan nodded and led the way to the Wheel of Knowledge.

      “Wheel of Knowledge, please guide me or give me a sign. Is there a way on saving Brightvale from doom and prevent Dr. Sloth from accomplishing his evil scheme?” Shinroobi spun the Wheel of Knowledge.

     It took a complete minute for the wheel to come to a stop. After coming to a complete stop, the wheel revealed the following message: “Be the knight, find the correct door, and lead the way. Once you’re on board, do not give up, and only then will you block out total darkness and save Neopia.”

     “Ah... how will this help us?” Shinroobi asked in frustration.

     Shinroobi tried to spin the wheel again, but it would not spin. The wheel remained motionless.

     “Dr. Sloth is stopping by the castle tomorrow to talk about this and hear my decision. Maybe you can stay the night and talk to him tomorrow? Perhaps he will change his mind after you talk to him?” suggested King Hagan.

     Shinroobi agreed to stay the night. That night, Shinroobi could not sleep. His mind was occupied with different outcomes of tomorrow and the possibility of Dr. Sloth gaining an extra kingdom under his command. He could not let that happen without putting up a fight or doing something about it.

     ---

     The morning arrived, bright and sunny. Could this be the last day that we witness such a fine, peaceful morning? We will find out.

     “Enter,” King Hagan said after hearing a knock outside of his castle.

     “You’re lucky that I didn’t blast your door into a pile of sludge. I thought to show some courtesy since I will be gaining a new kingdom today. Be that as it may, some courtesy doesn’t mean I have changed my mind on ruling all of Neopia,” laughed Dr. Sloth.

     “Dr. Sloth, I won’t let you take Brightvale!” said Shinroobi, stepping forward.

     “Is that so? And how will you prevent me from doing that?" asked Dr. Sloth in amusement.

     “You always come up with evil schemes. This is all like a game to you, isn’t it? Well, name your game! I’ll go up against you. If you lose, Brightvale remains under King Hagan’s power and you will leave and never come back. Also, if you lose, you will leave the whole world of Neopia alone and cancel your plan of ruling the whole world!” replied Shinroobi.

     “Okay, I accept your challenge. But if I win, I’ll carry on with my plan of taking over Brightvale and the rest of the world and you have to be my sidekick for eternity and do as I say. Do you accept?” said Dr. Sloth with an evil smirk.

     “I accept. I won’t let you win without putting up a fight first. Name your game!” said Shinroobi, stomping his right foot to indicate challenge was accepted.

     “You’ll play me in a game of chess. Not an ordinary game of chess. We’ll use my Chess Set of Foreboding. This game will be quite fun. You’ll see,” laughed Dr. Sloth.

     “You’re on! I’ll play you right here, right now!” said Shinroobi.

     “Now hold it right there! What’s your hurry? This will be quite an epic game. An epic game requires a real live audience. Don’t you agree?” suggested Dr. Sloth.

     “I don’t care if the whole world sees. You’re on! Pick a date and time!” said Shinroobi.

     “We’ll play right after I deliver this message,” said Dr. Sloth.

     King Hagan and Shinroobi both watched Dr. Sloth as he reached inside his cape pocket and took out his laser gun, and shot it up at the sky.

     The whole kingdom heard the following message as if it came through a speaker:

     “Now listen up, Brightvale! I don’t have much time and I’ll only say this once. The Stealthy Blumaroo challenged me to a game of chess. You wouldn’t want to miss this one! If I win, Brightvale is mine to control and I'll continue with my plan of conquering the whole world! Here’s the fun part! Young Shinroobi will be my eternal sidekick if he loses to me and the world will be in total darkness as well as gameless and boring. No fun nor games will exist ever again! If he wins, which I highly doubt, I will cancel my plan of taking over the world and everyone gets to resume their daily lives and I go back home. Do stop by King Hagan’s castle if you want to see this match. You wouldn’t want to miss it. We sure need a live audience to make things more interesting and need witnesses for my victory and for everyone to see and remember the day that Shinroobi let everyone down!”

     “I never introduced myself nor have ever met you. How do you know my name?” asked Shinroobi.

     “I do my research. I know all about you. I know your backstory. You are that ninja warrior crowned Protector on another land. That land was deserted for centuries due to the missing Onyx stone and you were the one who found it and restored it to its rightful place. Because you restored that missing stone, you restored life to that land. Legends say that the Onyx stone was buried deep under the ruins of a maze on that land due to the aftermath of a battle that took place in that very maze. The Onyx stone was the heart of that land. Without the stone, life didn’t exist there and the stone’s been missing for centuries. Many pursuers attempted to recover the stone by going into that maze, but there were rumours saying that the stone had put a curse on that whole land when it wasn’t in its rightful place, therefore, nobody made it out of the maze to even tell the tale of their adventure. They all vanished for some odd reason and that was why it was believed that the stone had put a curse on the land and the curse could only be broken when it was at its rightful residence. Only the true ninja warrior would be able to break that curse and restore life on that land after recovering the lost stone. Only the Chosen One would make it out of the maze to tell the tale... everyone else disappeared when they entered the maze. Who would have thought it would be you, destined to be the Chosen One and crowned Protector? If I would have known about your expedition, I would have stopped you in any way that I could think of. But don’t get your hopes up! Just because you saved one land and restored life to it doesn’t mean you’ll save this one. I’m a tough opponent you’re going up against. Just a heads up for you!” said Dr. Sloth.

     Within ten minutes, Neopians and Neopets gathered around King Hagan’s castle waiting to watch the chess match. All spectators looked curious, but anxious at the same time.

     At this point, the whole kingdom of Brightvale was present to watch the chess match. Dr. Sloth reached inside his cape pocket and took out the Chess Set of Foreboding, and placed it on the ground. Dr. Sloth then shot his laser gun at the chess set and it started growing bigger and bigger until the chess board became the size of half the Altador Cup stadium and until the chess pieces became six feet and three inches tall, which was the same height as Dr. Sloth. The audience was amazed. All of the chess pieces were alive and could move and act on their own.

     “Since I know you have no chance of winning against me, I'll be courteous and allow you to go first. In the game of chess, white goes first and then black. But let’s make the game more interesting. My game will be different from the normal chess game that everyone is familiar with. In my game, we will command our pieces verbally. However, each player will be in the place of one of our actual playing pieces. Take your place! I don’t have all day!” said Dr. Sloth impatiently.

     “I’ll be in place for one of my knights! Knight on the right, you are excused from the game and I will take your place!” said Shinroobi.

     The white knight piece on the right side of the white-playing side of the board exited the match and joined the spectators to watch the game.

     “Very well! I’ll be in place for my black rook on the left since it resembles a castle, which symbolizes that I will conquer you and gain Brightvale under my power after this game ends!” said Dr. Sloth, walking over to replace his black rook and allowing that chess piece to join the spectators.

     The crowd cheered, showing their support for Shinroobi the Stealthy Blumaroo and rooting for him. He was their last and only hope of saving Brightvale.

     The game started after each opponent took their place on the chessboard.

     Shinroobi had to plan his moves wisely because any move can depict the future of Brightvale.

     Dr. Sloth appeared to be enjoying himself. Going into the game, move after move, everyone saw on Dr. Sloth’s end of the board that he had taken 8 white pieces: 5 pawns, a rook, a bishop, and the knight that started on the left initially on Shinroobi’s side of the chessboard. Therefore, Shinroobi was the only remaining knight on his side at this point in the game.

     Directing our attention to Shinroobi’s side of the board, the spectators saw that he had taken 6 pieces that belonged to Dr. Sloth: 3 pawns, a bishop, a rook, and a knight. Now seeing some space around Dr. Sloth’s king piece, Shinroobi was thinking of tactics on how to put Dr. Sloth’s king piece in check or under threat of being captured. This was definitely a very challenging game so far and Shinroobi could not ever remember playing against an opponent like Dr. Sloth before. Internally, Shinroobi had to admit that Dr. Sloth was very good at chess even though he was evil.

     After many moves, Dr. Sloth was losing his patience because no pieces were being captured by either opponent.

     “You’re not going to win! Seeing this game is getting you nowhere, why don’t you just forfeit the match and we’ll call it a day?” said Dr. Sloth, wiping the sweat on his forehead with a handkerchief.

     It was Shinroobi’s turn to make a move. He was under a lot of pressure and the future of Brightvale depended on the outcome of this game. Shinroobi did not want to admit it, but he was unsure how this game would end and was worried that he would lose to Dr. Sloth.

     “Hurry up! We don’t have all day to wait for you to make a move!” said Dr. Sloth pointing at his pocket watch.

     All the hope that Shinroobi had before was starting to fade. After a few minutes of thinking and being unsure, all that hope came back to him and he felt unstoppable and that he will indeed save Brightvale! It was a feeling he could not explain, but for some reason, he felt unstoppable.

     Shinroobi commanded his front-runner pawn, the pawn that was the closest to Dr. Sloth’s side of the board, to move forward one space.

     Dr. Sloth commanded one of his pawns to move forward one space as well, not wanting to move any of his other pieces or risk the chance of Shinroobi’s queen piece taking any of his pieces.

     “This will be me! Knight to E5!” said Shinroobi, moving to E5, who was still in place for one of his knight pieces.

     “Checkmate!” said Shinroobi.

     “This can’t be! I never lose,” said Dr. Sloth, not believing his eyes.

     The Chess Set of Foreboding started to shrink until it became its original size. The sound of the explosion startled everyone leaving behind a thick layer of smoke. As soon as the smoke started to clear up, we saw that there was a pile of sludge on the ground in place of the Chess Set of Foreboding. Not too long after that eruption, Dr. Sloth left the kingdom of Brightvale to return home without saying another word.

     The whole kingdom of Brightvale was so happy and blown away by Shinroobi’s courage, keen intelligence, and allegiance that they officially made August 9th (the actual day that he became a Stealthy Blumaroo) Shinroobi Day in Brightvale, and King Hagan made sure that Shinroobi Day will be one of the biggest celebrations in Brightvale every year from now on. King Hagan also crowned Shinroobi, giving him the title “Knight in Shining Armour.”

     Shinroobi the Stealthy Blumaroo, the "Knight in Shining Armour" and also a ninja warrior, waved at the whole kingdom and thanked them for not only supporting him but for also having hope and believing in him. You saw Shinroobi continuing to wave at everyone and thanking them. You then started to realize that everything in view was fading. Everything looked blurry and out of focus. You closed your eyes and as soon as you opened your eyes again, you found yourself back at the Magical Bookshop with the journal you stumbled upon earlier in front of you. You decided to buy that journal from the Magical Bookshop for your Neopet to read. “What an adventure!” you thought.

     Shinroobi hopes that getting a glimpse of his journal inspires everyone to not be afraid for trying even when the situation may force them to get out of their comfort zone. At times, a situation may not be ideal or the way we want it to be, but that does not mean it will remain that way forever. The current chapter in your life does not define who you are because you are so much more than that. At times, the thought of trying and the thought of the possibilities may be scary and overwhelming, but you will not see your potential at its greatest if you do not give yourself a chance. Your potential is endless and you will be amazed at what you are capable of.

     To my friend who inspires me to live with meaning, purpose, and integrity, and the definition of a true friend, this story is dedicated to you, my best friend, Mark.

     The End.