How To Tackle A Thief

     The Kreludan Yooyuball Federation's Headquarters was made up of a large central grey dome under which the main indoor training pitch of Team Kreludor lay with many corridors shooting out on all sides to a number of purple and orange pods that contained other facilities. One of the purple pods was home to the spacious dormitories of the players, with each pet getting their own room to stop any arguments from breaking out. Each room came with an inbuilt bed, side table, adjacent wardrobe and shelving on the far wall but each player was free to customise their living arrangements almost to their heart's content. A certain Pirate Quiggle was still sore about not being allowed his own cannon.

     It was the small hours of the morning when a soft whistling noise could be heard emanating from Ealyn Hawkshanks' abode. The centre forward wasn't known for abiding by the team's bedtime regiment, having found it hard to drift off without the gentle swaying of a ship at sea. He was yet again up late, happily whistling to himself as he sat on the end of his bed polishing a golden Mirgle Trophy that usually took pride of place on the shelves opposite him. They were full of the treasures he had collected over the years from his many adventures, both in Yooyuball and just generally being a pirate. From meteorites to pearls and the accolades he had won with Team Krawk Island. It was this trophy though that meant the most to him. His papa had been a Deckball Champion in his youth. The Quiggle wasn't so bad at it himself before he had switched to Yooyuball.

     Placing the trophy back where it belonged, the pirate nodded to himself with a twinkle in his eye.

     Pleased with his night's work, it was time to go to bed. Or at least the hammock he had slung from one end of the room to the other above the bed that had been provided for him. Sleepily shuffling across his black and white skull rug towards his side table, he switched off his pirate ship-shaped lamp with a yawn. He was about to say goodnight to the framed photograph of him and his papa that sat next to the light source when he realised that he hadn't picked up a drink from the Cafeteria to tide him through until morning. Sighing to himself before turning to leave, he mumbled, "I'll be back soon, 'pa."

     Returning from his night-time quest to the other side of the Headquarters in triumph, Ealyn meandered back into his bedroom with a wooden mug of Grog in his webbed hand. About to place it down on his side table, something glinted in the corner of his eye. Turning to face his shelves, his eyes widened in shock as his beverage fell to the floor. In the half-light, he could see a golden shield floating in midair! Maybe the Headquarter's artificial gravity was malfunctioning? Looking down to his skull rug, the Pirate Quiggle could just make out the outline of two footprints pressing down on the weaved material. The answer was clear. "GHOST!" the centre forward shouted with all of his might. Before trying to tackle the fiend. Obviously.

     Missing and landing on his rug, he quickly sat up as the shield floated out of his room.

     This was far from over.

     -----

     Ealyn Hawkshanks was not the only light sleeper on the playing staff of Team Kreludor. His Captain and long-suffering neighbour in the dormitories Derlyn Fonnet also suffered this affliction. She would never dare blame her friend... but his late nights didn't exactly help her insomnia. Having grown up with cool albeit misty at times mountain air, her real problem lay with the base's ventilation system and just how dry she could find the atmosphere when trying to sleep. Opposite her bed and underneath her own shelves, she had installed a Jade Fountain for both humidity and for the gentle rippling sound of water to help her frayed nerves. It perfectly matched the rock garden that surrounded it as well as an Upsidown Tree. A place of tranquillity. Usually.

     A large crashing sound just outside her bedroom door woke the Purple Gnorbu.

     She groaned.

     On her side table sat both an Antigravity Tulip, whose structure was decidedly unstable thanks to whatever-it-was that was going on outside, and an illuminated Talking Tombstone Alarm Clock that was a gift from her long-time pen pal "Brains" Mortigan of Team Haunted Woods. A quick look at the time caused another groan. As she suspected, it was very late. Or very early, depending on your point of view. Turning over to bury her head in her pillow, she knew that either way someone was about to burst through her door with another disaster that they needed her help with. Best case scenario? Qlydae Wegg was sleep-scoring-the-winning-goal of the Altador Cup. Again.

     As soon as that thought had crossed her mind, Ealyn careered into her room.

     "Capt'n!!" he exclaimed, "I've been robbed by a ghost!"

     She let out a muffled sigh.

     "Brains... says ghosts don't live in space..." the Purple Gnorbu responded, wearily.

     "But Capt'n!" the Pirate Quiggle pleaded, "LOOK!!"

     As her centre forward pointed towards the corridor that ran alongside both of their rooms, the defender sleepily sat up to see what all of the fuss was about. All she could see was a golden shield lying on the floor. That slowly floated into midair. Derlyn was awake now. As soon as the shield was airborne, something began to flicker around the item. Like... a broken computer monitor? Blinking furiously, she could see it happen again. A silhouette of some sort of pet was becoming visible every time whatever they were wearing malfunctioned, even if it was only for a few brief moments. "That is no ghost," she declared with moderate confidence, "It's like some... high-tech ninja." Or something. That crash Derlyn had heard must've damaged their outfit.

     Ealyn was furious. "Interloper!!" the Pirate Quiggle yelled before dashing at the thief once more.

     He was no fan of Ninjas.

     Catching the intruder off guard with his turn of speed, the centre forward ran into his foe before they both collided into the opposite wall of the corridor. This time his enemy's invisibility-granting outfit gave up the ghost. Flickering a few more times, the display finally turned to black to reveal what appeared to be a Grundo. As Ealyn rubbed his head, the mysterious intruder got back to their own feet. Running out of her room, his Captain was not best pleased to have a guest. "You are not going anywhere," Derlyn stated forcefully as she helped her teammate up. The Grundo had other ideas. Grabbing the golden shield from where it had landed on the floor in the tussle, they made a break for it.

     Speeding down the corridor with two professional Yooyuball players in pursuit, the intruder realised they needed an edge. Spotting a console panel at the end of the corridor, they found one. Watching the Grundo stop abruptly at the interface, the Gnorbu knew what was coming next. In an instant, the thief smashed the control box with the golden shield. Which was still as shiny as ever and clearly well made. Before Derlyn and Ealyn could reach them, a sound blared over the base's speaker system. "Error, Error," it warned in a robotic voice, "Artificial Gravity Malfunction." They didn't need the warning. Their next steps sent the pair bounding past the intruder and onto the training pitch below the main dome.

     Just about managing to skid to a halt on the sandy surface, the duo turned to face their foe who had yet to move from their spot by the corridor's entrance. "This is no good," Derlyn noted angrily, having had a chequered history with artificial gravity malfunctions, "we'll never catch them like this." Her equally frustrated teammate agreed. They needed a plan. "I'll head to the Maintenance Pod and see if I can get the gravity working again," she plotted on the spot, “You keep our guest... entertained."

     "Aye, aye, Capt'n," grinned the Pirate Quiggle, approving of his leader's tone. As the Purple Gnorbu bounded over to the entrance of a separate corridor, her centre forward leapt towards the one presently occupied by the mysterious Grundo. Before he could land, the intruder attempted to bounce over in one stride to the main entrance of the central dome and thereby out onto the moon's surface. Ealyn wasn't known for his running plays for no reason though. Turning on a Neopoint coin, he propelled himself towards the scoundrel. Colliding into each other once again and with the lack of gravity, this time they sprang off the dome's wall and across the field of play.

     This scuffle had caused the golden shield to land in the middle of the centre circle. The two foes both bounded over to the prized item before bouncing off each other before either could get their paws on it. "That 'ere treasure be mine!" declared Ealyn tiredly, his lack of sleep finally catching up with him as he struggled to his webbed feet. Unfortunately, the thief was clearly more well-rested. Yet again they jumped towards their target and this time snatched it up. Waving the exhausted Quiggle goodbye, the intruder leapt towards the main entrance once more leaving the pirate to only yawn. He yawned so loudly that he almost missed the base's next automated message. Almost.

     "System Reboot complete," stated the robotic voice, "Artificial Gravity reinstated."

     The mysterious Grundo was in mid-air at the time.

     Was.

     -----

     By the time Derlyn returned to the training pitch, she was in for quite the sight. In front of the Purple Gnorbu and in the middle of the centre circle, Ealyn had tied up the intruder with one of the two goal nets that flanked the playing surface. Despite their fall, the mysterious Grundo was quite well and trying their best to wriggle out from their bindings. With the Pirate Quiggle's knowledge of maritime knots though, that was unlikely. Spotting his teammate as she headed over, he called out, "Lookey 'ere Capt'n, the catch of the day!" He couldn't help but laugh at his own joke now that his golden shield was safely tucked under one of his arms.

     His Captain daren't share his hilarity. Some pet had managed to break into the Headquarters of the Kreludan Yooyuball Federation. For all she knew that shield was a diversion and in reality they were a spy for a rival team or worse. Derlyn was getting to the bottom of this. Now. Up close, she noticed that the mysterious Grundo's outfit consisted of an all black full-body suit threaded with circuitry with a headpiece that came separately but similarly constructed. She snorted. Here goes. "Right," she gulped, fearing the worst, "I guess it's about time we found out who is behind the mask." Grabbing the headpiece, she pulled it off to reveal an Orange Grundo.

     The duo paused before realising just who it was.

     "Ber...nard?" they both said in sync.

     Derlyn shook her head before regaining her composure. It's always the quiet ones. Crossing her arms, she tried her best not to interrogate one of Team Kreludor's main sponsors too harshly, "Should I even ask why the proprietor of Booktastic Books is sneaking around my Headquarters and taking things from my teammates?"

     Bernard scowled. "I think you'll find that award belongs to me!"

     The Gnorbu raised an eyebrow.

     "Several Neopian days ago," the downbeat Shopkeeper began his explanation, "I lost my gold Booktastic Books Award somewhere in Orange Central." His eyes turned from the Gnorbu to the Quiggle. "I looked everywhere for it and in the end I got my friend to check the base's security cameras. Turns out a certain pirate here found it on the ground in the middle of one of the corridors and took it home with him!" Bernard was clearly most aggrieved. "I earned it by reading every Booktastic Book in print - he hasn't even read a single one!" The defender took one look at the shield under her comrade's arm and instantly recognised the rocket and stars insignia. He was telling the truth.

     It was Ealyn's turn to scowl. He did not appreciate the Grundo's dismissive tone. The centre forward enjoyed reading - just not Booktastic Books. He preferred the sort of adventure tales that were on offer in Neopia Central. As Derlyn untangled their benefactor from the goal net, her centre forward was more than happy to set a few things straight. "Arrr, lad," he retorted, "there be this principle of finders keepers from where I be from. So as farrr as I am concerned, this here trinket belongs to-"

     Before the Pirate Quiggle could finish his thought, his Captain relieved him of the Booktastic Books Award and handed it to his foe. "Here, take it," she said bluntly trying her utmost not to get into an argument with one of their largest financial backers, "and leave." As the Purple Gnorbu put her hands on her hips, the Orange Grundo realised he had very much overstayed his welcome. And probably crossed several lines when it came to the sort of behind-the-scenes access he was entitled to. With Bernard scurrying off as fast as he could, Derlyn sighed heavily. The Board of the Federation really needed to stop giving their sponsors such ready access to their Headquarters or this was going to happen again.

     To say that her centre forward was aghast would be fair. Up until now she had always stood by him regardless of how ridiculous things had become. This hurt. "C-Capt'n!" Ealyn protested simply, too exhausted by this point to put together the words needed to describe this perceived slight.

     In fairness, her mood was no better but her paws were tied. "I know," she once again sighed, "I know. But Booktastic Books are one of our main sponsors and if the Board found out I'd jeopardised that..." Derlyn trailed off as she saw her usually cheerful teammate become resigned to the situation. The pirate was no fool. He'd been at Team Kreludor long enough to understand the politics behind the scenes. But his leader knew better than to let that affect the squad. "...it's just one of those things. Listen," she continued, garnering her comrade's attention, "how about the next time we're on Krawk Island, I buy you some Grog at the Golden Dubloon?"

     Ealyn smiled.

     "Better make that a Hogshead, Capt'n."

      The End.