The Ninja Who Was a Good Traitor

     One of them, a Blue Nimmo, appeared to be the leader, and was addressing the group. “Listen up, you blockheads,” he sneered. “Only STRONG fighters are allowed to join our club. I don’t want to see any of you inviting wannabes, cheerleaders---” He noticed Walda and pointed to her. “Or in her case, a snivelling BABY looking for her MOMMY. What do you want?! Get lost, kid!”

     “No, I’m strong,” answered Walda. “I wanna join!”

     The three Neopets immediately burst out laughing. “You must have the defence of a wet paper bag!” joked one.

     “And the offence of a----OWWWW!!!”

     Sure enough, Walda had hit the Nimmo with her Sword of Malum and Blazing Embers.

     “...Mootix.”

     “Care to rectify that statement?” smirked Walda.

     The Nimmo sighed. “Alright, kid. You’re strong! You can join. What’s your name?”

     “Walda.”

     “I’m Wave. You know, blue like the ocean waves.” He turned to his friends. “Meet Flame the Red Scorchio and Bolt the Yellow Shoyru.”

     “Glad to meet you all!”

     “Glad to have another recruit. Now someone get me some tea or something, because she sure left a dent in my hit points!”

     ---

     Walda came home in a cheery mood. “I joined a club of strong fighters today!!!” she announced to her family.

     “That’s great, Walda,” answered her sister, Maldice the Stealthy Draik.

     “I know! They’re called the “Nimmo Ninjas,” but you don’t have to be a Nimmo to join. You just have to be STRONG!!! Which I am, of course. Apparently, the club was originally founded by Nimmos.

     “Were they impressed?” asked Maldice.

     “Very! First, they started laughing at me, but I showed off my skills, and they soon saw my true strength.”

     “Yeah... That Baby paint job doesn’t exactly give you the look of a strong fighter, now, does it?”

     “Well, I like being cute. There are also advantages, like being able to crawl into small spaces and being able to pass myself off as a harmless little kid.”

     “True... Have fun with your new friends.”

     “Thank you!”

     ---

     The next day, Walda and her newly found friends had spent hours on end practicing combat skills. That afternoon, it was time for her to go home. She waved goodbye to her pals and left.

     However, a few minutes later, she realized that she had forgotten her purse in the locker room, so she returned to the school to retrieve it. As she was passing the gym, she overheard a conversation between Wave, Flame, and Bolt.

     “Listen, you numbskulls,” snarled Wave. “We CANNOT let that child in on our plan for our upcoming heist, or even the fact that we’re an organized crime syndicate, for that matter. She has been a member for ONE DAY. She can’t be trusted yet.”

     Walda narrowed her eyebrows.

     “Ummm...” began Flame, “are you sure it was a good idea to let her join? She’s a child. She may be too innocent and pure-hearted. You know, the whole “stealing is wrong” thing that adults drill into the minds of small children repeatedly...”

     “You weren’t the one that got hit,” snapped Wave. “Her battle prowess is AMAZING! She may hold some promise. Just don’t tell her about the bank robbery plan for tomorrow night.”

     Walda scowled.

     “Any briefing about that, as you promised?” asked Bolt.

     “Sure thing. Tomorrow night, at 3 in the morning, we’re gonna show up at the National Neopian Bank. We’ll smash the windows open, use this Ghostkerbomb to blow open the safe, fill this sack full of Neopoints, and hightail it out, all in two minutes or less. The Defenders of Neopia come QUICKLY once that alarm goes off. If they appear, this Thick Smoke Bomb will blind them long enough for us to escape.”

     “Sure thing!” The other two crooks grinned.

     “Anyway,” began Wave, “DO NOT TELL WALDA. If she foils our plan and gets us arrested, then we will be out of luck. Until we get revenge, of course.”

     Walda knew that she was going to stop the bank robbery somehow...but how would she foil it without the criminals knowing that it was her? She would rather not deal with vengeful enemies if possible.

     The crew walked toward the gym exit, where Walda was standing. She quickly threw on her Kacheek Inviso-Cloth, and thus remained unseen. After the goons had left, she retrieved her purse from the locker room and went home.

     ---

     “Maldice?” began Walda. ‘I need your help.”

     “With what?” she asked.

     “Well...the ‘friends’ I made yesterday turned out to not be nice after all.” She explained the situation. “I’d like to foil their bank robbery plot, but if they know that I put them in their place, they’ll be seeking revenge on me. They said so.”

     “Then you can stay home. I will work with the Defenders of Neopia to stop this. I work with them frequently, as they find my dark magic skills helpful. You can stay in bed and get some well-deserved sleep at 3 am.” She smiled.

     Walda grinned back. “Thank you!”

     “Of course. I despise criminals just as much as you do!”

     ---

     In the middle of the night, Maldice flew up onto the roof of the bank and waited for the robbers. Even though she was a Stealthy pet (and therefore blended in with the night), she used a spell to turn herself invisible in case the crooks used a Lens Flare to brighten the area. The Defenders of Neopia had agreed to let Maldice catch the goons first, and then they would show up with the handcuffs. If they were already waiting when the criminals arrived, then it would be fairly obvious to them that someone, maybe Walda, had tipped off the Defenders.

     At 3 am, the crew appeared as promised with a load of Battledome weapons. Walda had described the goons to Maldice so she would know whom to look for. “Ready to rob this place?” smirked Wave.

     Maldice wasn’t having it. Without saying a word, she cast a spell, and the three crooks were paralyzed by dark magic. “What gives?!” shouted Flame.

     “Quiet!” scolded Wave. “You’ll draw attention to us!” He sighed. “Now, how do we get ourselves out of this tangle?!”

     “I don’t think we can....” frowned Bolt. “It’s magic!”

     “Fighting magic: One thing that they DO NOT teach us while pummeling punching bags in the gym,” lamented Wave.

     “WHO could possibly be doing this?!” scowled Bolt. “This is NOT the work of a Battledome weapon!”

     “So not Walda...”

     “Someone in cahoots with her?!”

     “How would she know about our plan?! She had already left when we started discussing it!”

     “True...I would blame this on intelligence gathered by the Defenders of Neopia. We ARE a wanted criminal syndicate, after all.”

     “Speaking of the Defenders...”

     Of course, the Defenders had appeared with three pairs of shiny handcuffs. Maldice grinned as the goons were dragged away. “We didn’t even get to break the windows...” whimpered Flame.

     Wave glared at him. “Stop incriminating yourself, you baby!” he snarled.

     Trying not to laugh, Maldice undid the paralysis spell once they were safely in custody.

     ---

     Walda woke up the next morning and ate her cereal. “So, Maldice...” she began, “how did it go?”

     “Perfect! The clowns got arrested before they could even break the windows. Furthermore, they have NO IDEA that you tipped me off. They blamed their arrest on intelligence from the Defenders.”

     “Great!” grinned Walda. “I am SO DONE with them!!!”

     Maldice smiled. “I guess you could say that you’re a good traitor.”

     Walda nodded. “I’m proud to disown THEM! Today, I’m going to go train and have fun WITHOUT those losers!!!”

          The End.