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Neofaerie bolted down the hallway, past rows and rows
of empty cells. Wasn't there anything else in this spaceship? He didn't have
the time to look over his shoulder, but he could hear shouts and grunts, and
heavy footfalls…
Neofaerie was much faster than the Grundos, but
they kept popping out everywhere; behind solid walls, down from panes in the
bright white ceiling, and out from the glossy floor. He had to be constantly
alert for Grundos that shot up right in front of him, and there was no time
for panic. It was scary, not knowing when the next one would emerge. He'd lost
track of all the times a Grundo had appeared right in his face, its muscled
arms stretched towards them…
"Look, a door!" came Happiness's voice, cutting
through the Kougras thoughts sharply. He felt relief wash over him as a pair
of gleaming silver doors came into view, like a beacon of hope.
As he hurtled towards the door, a fresh wave
of Mutant Grundos came running down the hall adjacent theirs, rumbling along
awkwardly like huge old-fashioned carriages. Neofaerie jumped forward with one
last burst of speed, and the silver doors slid open smoothly to let him through,
Happiness clinging onto his back and the Grundos right behind.
***
Sloth smiled as a list off names appeared under the transparent surface of
the glass, giving them a floating effect. He scanned the list thoughtfully,
and then raised one long finger and pointed at the name, 'Meuka.'
Sloth waited patiently as the glass piece whirred
faintly, and then a vicious snarl came from underneath the glass and a small
dot beside Meuka's name flashed yellowish-green, indicating that Sloth had reached
Meuka.
"Hello, fellow villain," Sloth said in a business-like
manner. "I wish to make a trade with you."
More snarls, and the sound of bushes being ripped
out of the ground by teeth.
Sloth ignored this and ploughed on, over the
sound of Meuka eating, "It seems that you are hungry! Well, I have a deal for
you. How would you like a grand feast?"
Meuka stopped snarling, and then a loud grunt
came, to show that he was listening.
"A large, plump and juicy Kougra, fresh from
Mystery Island; a delectable, fattened young Cybunny, since the younger they
are, the better they taste; and a ripe, succulent human girl," said Sloth, exaggerating
just a little. How else was he supposed to sell them?
Meuka smacked his snot-covered lips, and howled
wistfully. There was the thudding noise of a large tree root being dropped onto
the ground.
"Not so fast," said Sloth as kindly as he could,
although it probably made no difference to the Meerca on the other end, "you'll
need to pay me first. I think 100,000 Neopoints and a new Grundo slave is a
fair price, don't you?"
The horrible snotty (literally) Meerca started
snarling again, and mixed in a disbelieving roar as well.
Sloth cringed. Okay, so Meuka was smarter than
he acted, and knew that 2 pets and an owner weren't worth 100,000 Neopoints.
"Haha, I was just kidding," said Sloth hastily, laughing heartily and instantly
wishing he hadn't. "Anyway… I do think 50 000 Neopoints is a good price -- and
you can forget the new slave."
There was a clicking noise, and the dot beside
Meuka's name turned white again.
"Pretty Pink Usuki!" swore Sloth, using one of
the most horrible toy names known to neokind. His eyes scanned the list again,
and he smirked as he told himself reassuringly, "No matter, I know someone who's
probably loaded with Neopoints from all that stealing…" he cackled evilly (he'd
been working on his evil cackle lately) and tapped the name, 'Pant Devil.'
More whirring, the dot turned blue, and a voice
said greasily, "hello, this is the Pant Devil, the greatest pant-thief in Neopia
that doesn't actually steal pants. To whom am I speaking?"
"This is Dr. Frank Sloth, and I have an amazing
deal for you which I'm sure you will accept," said Sloth forcefully. "One green
Kougra, one rainbow Cybunny, and one human girl."
"What would I do with them?" asked the Pant Devil.
"How should I know what you do with your captives?"
asked Sloth impatiently. "You can comb their fur for all I care! Do you want
them or not?"
"You sound desperate," taunted the Pant Devil
pleasantly.
Sloth didn't reply to this, because he couldn't
think of a nice comeback. Actually, he was beginning to doubt if he would be
able to sell these annoying prisoners at all. 'It's alright,' he told himself,
'if I can't sell them then I'll just make them into more of my slaves. You can
never have too many slaves.'
"Look, Pant Devil," said Sloth, regaining his
professional tone, "I just thought you might like to be included in this great
deal. I'm guessing they're worth 60,000 Neopoints, but I'll give them to you
for only 50,000. Think about it, you know you're not going to get this bargain
anywhere else!"
"HAH! That's pathetic, Sloth! I could go outside
and catch 3, fresh Neopians by myself!"
"Did I mention that the human girl is wearing
excessive amounts of jewelry?" added Sloth hastily, although he remembered the
girl had absolutely no accessories other than her pathetic dagger, but the Pant
Devil had already hung up.
Sloth flung himself against the back of his chair
furiously, and crossed his arms. "I wasted so much time catching those hostages,"
he said to himself. "I'm going to sell them if it takes all day!"
He rolled the chair back up to his desk, and
inspected the list of villains again, one finger tapping cantankerously against
the polished metal of the desk.
***
Neofaerie ran through what looked like a vast dry plain, the ground cracked
and covered in arid dust. Since they were in outer space, Neofaerie knew that
it couldn't be a field. It must've been some sort of hologram. But if he was
in outer space, how could they breathe?
Too much thinking, he thought to himself,
quickening his speed. He was still in Sloth's spaceship, he supposed, but the
Kougra could see a door far away, that looked somewhat familiar. He had a feeling
that it would lead back to the main Virtupets Space Station.
"Hey, the Grundos are catching up!" Happiness
called in his ear. The Kougra turned around fearfully and saw that all the Grundos
had clambered onto a huge slab of extremely thick wood on top of a steel plate,
which was whizzing rapidly towards the two pets, powered by a blaze of rocket
fire coming out the back.
Neofaerie sprinted towards the door, running
even faster than before, but it was no use. Within 10 feet of Neofaerie and
Happiness, the Grundos hopped off on all sides, so that the two helpless pets
were cornered. Neofaeries eyes darted frantically from Grundo to Grundo, looking
for a tiny whole which they, or at least Happiness, could slip through, but
there was none. They were completely surrounded.
Neofaerie shuffled around, spinning as he tried
to get all the Grundos in his view at once, although he knew it was impossible.
He looked up at their faces, trying to find the shortest one, to see if he could
leap onto its head. Happiness's grip tightened on Neofaeries fur.
The Grundos took small steps forward, some rubbing
their hands together eagerly, others merely grinning in a nasty way. Neofaerie
hissed at them warningly, but he knew it wasn't going to help them at all. He
also knew that he wasn't going to be able to take on so many of the powerful
mutants at once. On his back, Happiness looked over her shoulder innocently.
They were doomed.
***
Sloth was beginning to get rather frustrated. He had cancelled his Mystery
Island vacation to sell these prisoners, and now no one would buy them! Well
he, Dr. Frank Sloth was not going to take that lying down! No, he would sit
up straight in his black leather chair, and he would sell them all!
Sloth clasped his fingers together grimly. Once
again, he looked down the list of names. No one wanted the prisoners. He had
even dropped the price to 25,000 Neopoints, and still no one wanted them.
His eyes stopped as he spotted an unfamiliar name.
"Denriada," he read aloud. He frowned. "I don't
remember giving a communicator to someone by that name," he muttered, but he
tapped his finger against the thin black words, anyway. Maybe this 'Denriada'
was a newbie villain who would buy the prisoners out of stupidity and inexperience.
A sinister low voice rasped from the glass, asking,
"What is it?"
"This is Dr. Sloth," said Sloth pompously, "and
I have an excellent offer for you."
From the sound of the new entity's voice, Sloth
could tell that he/she was smirking when he/she said, "go away."
"Excuse me!" retorted Sloth angrily, appalled
at the behavior of this pathetic newbie. "Do you know who I am? You can't talk
to me that way! Now, I have 3 creatures in excellent condition that I'd like
to offer you. A green Kougra, a rainbow Cybunny, and-"
"I don't want them."
"But I have an amazing price-" Sloth broke off,
staring out the window at the scene below. "Hang on a second," he said to the
glass, "something's going on down there…"
To be continued...
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