"We have exactly 2 hours, 9 minutes, and 46 seconds to get this done."
Three shadowy figures peered around the corner of the hallway in the VirtuPets
Space Station. They were actually three Aishas, dressed in black. There was
weird wires and gadgets on the walls, and KiwiBonk, the biggest one, was itching
to pick at them. KiwiBonk was a desert Aisha, who loved to fight in the Battledome. Unfortunately, she was often beaten.
"Hey, KiwiBonk, do you think that if I press that red button on the wall over
there, the whole space station will explode?" whispered MinxJade. MinxJade,
her younger sister, was a white Aisha with a heart of gold. She volunteered
at the pound, cheering pets who were cruelly abandoned. She was a computer expert
that would put the NeoPets creators to shame.
"Probably, since the button says: 'Detonate'," said Rumples_Skin_Skin. He
was a speckled Aisha, resembling a golf field, and he regarded himself as superior
to his two older sisters. He was a mechanics master, who could build anything
with his hands.
"Shh, guys. Look, I see the main controls." The three Aishas scurried across
the hallway. It was night. No one was around. Well, not counting the night janitor
that now lay face down in the Space Station lobby with a bump on his head.
KiwiBonk was about to tiptoe into the room, but Rumples grabbed her collar.
"The security cameras," he whispered.
"Oh, yeah." She took a small object resembling a water gun out of her book
bag, and waved it around the room. A small red light lit up. KiwiBonk pressed
a button on the contraption, and there was a shower of blue sparks as the security
camera was destroyed.
"Now we can go in." The room was surprisingly bright. The computer monitors
were on, and there were little blinking lights all over the place.
MinxJade took her place in front of the biggest computer, and adjusted the
seat so she could easily press the keys on the keyboard. Rumples guarded the
door, armed with a Chia Bubble gun. KiwiBonk observed the screens that showed
different places all over the station.
Some minutes later, MinxJade was still tapping away.
"Where are you at, now?" Rumples asked. He had started to slack off, with
his head against the frame of the door, and the gun back in his book bag.
"Not far. I managed to get inside the security system, but there seems to
be something blocking me from changing the codes."
"Maybe they have Norton AntiVirus," suggested KiwiBonk.
MinxJade giggled. "You know absolutely nothing computers, KiwiBonk."
KiwiBonk went back to viewing the screens. Some of the screens were blank,
where the Aishas had broken the cameras. Suddenly, one of the screens went blank.
KiwiBonk gasped.
"What is it?" said Rumples. Another screen went blank, then another, then
another. They looked at each other in horror.
"Uh, MinxJade, you should come see this," said Rumples urgently. MinxJade
wheeled her chair over.
"Is it a technical difficult?" she asked, when she saw the rapidly disappearing
screens.
Rumples slipped behind the computer. "No, nothing here."
"Someone else is in here, and they have a Zapper3000 like us!" KiwiBonk whimpered.
"Quick, run!" MinxJade told them desperately. "I'll log out of the system."
Rumples took off running, his padded feet making no noise at all. KiwiBonk
followed, but then turned back and said, "What about you?"
"I have to log out, or they'll know we were here!" she answered.
"Do you really have to?"
"Yes, they'll know our names, and where we live. Go!"
"I'll wait."
MinxJade gave her sister a shove. KiwiBonk had no choice but to run down the
dark hallway, which suddenly seemed a mile long. Her scalp tightened, and a
bead of sweat ran down her back.
"Psst!"
"Ahh!"
"Shh, KiwiBonk, it's just me." Rumples appeared out of a dark doorway.
"What does it mean?"
"Someone, or something, is in this building. Did you see how fast they were
putting out those cameras? They must be moving really fast."
MinxJade came running to join them. "I logged out, but I couldn't erase all
the history. They'll still know we were here." The sound of footsteps approaching
made the three jump.
"Split up!" screeched MinxJade, no longer careful to be quiet.
Rumples continued down the hallway, MinxJade took the corridor to the left,
and KiwiBonk opened one of the doors lining the passage. She found herself in
what appeared to be the janitor's closet. The tiny room was filled with brooms
and mops, and the smell made KiwiBonk sneeze. She crammed herself into a bucket,
and held her breath as the footsteps approached. Her heart was thumping so loud
she thought her pursuer would hear it. The door to the closet opened. The beam
of a flashlight scammed the walls, and a familiar voice called, "Hello? Anybody
there?"
Rumples was running along, when he heard a bloodcurdling scream rent the silence.
KiwiBonk! He didn't know if MinxJade was caught as well, but he knew he had
to get out of there. Rumples dashed as fast as he could to the lobby. The janitor
wasn't there anymore. 'He must be walking around somewhere.' Rumples thought.
Rumples rushed to the door, but to his horror, it was locked. He looked around
in anguish. He had to find a place to hide, where he could stay until morning,
and the Station was open to the public. Rumples' heart was racing and all four
of his ears were tingling. He squeezed through a hole in the wall, and found
himself tangled in all sorts of wires and cables. 'Hmm, this seems to be the
wiring for the entire station.' Rumples switched two of the wires, cut another,
and reconnected the rest. Instantly, the lights flickered on.
'Now I'll be able to see where I'm going.' Unfortunately, his searcher was
able to see clearer as well. No sooner had he stepped back into the open, he
was covered by a blanket, and heard a muffled, "Gotcha!"
MinxJade had heard KiwiBonk scream. She tore down the corridor, until she
reached the VirtuPets cafeteria. The lights flickered on. The cafeteria appeared
to be empty. But there was a sound approaching. With her keen hearing, she was
able to pick out four different sets of footsteps. She threw her book bag into
a nearby garbage can, then heaved herself onto one of the tables. From there,
she sprang to the top of a shelf, where she crouched, waiting.
From around the corner, a human appeared, followed by... could it be? MinxJade
took the binoculars from her belt, and zoomed in. Yes, KiwiBonk and Rumples
were following that human. They looked strangely sheepish. The human had a flashlight
in her hand, and was pointing it all around. A tiny shadow appeared. MinxJade
zoomed in even more. It was a snowman, wearing a tuque and a hat. The hidden
Aisha took her Ventriloquo90 from her belt, and pointed it at the hall from
where they came. The Ventriloquo90 enables her to make her voice sound like
it's coming from somewhere else. MinxJade make a squeak, and, just like she
expected, the foursome turned to look. MinxJade leapt silently to the next shelf.
"She must be using that Ventro thingy," said the human.
"Where's Cornelius and Tinky-Winky?" asked KiwiBonk. They still had their
backs to MinxJade, and she took the opportunity to jump ahead to the next shelf,
getting closer and closer.
"Snuffs, go get 'em," commanded KiwiBonk. The snowman took off.
MinxJade jumped again, but this time the shelf creaked. They whirled around.
"MinxJade, we know you're there. This is Alison. Please come out," hollered
the girl.
"It's not fun anymore," called Rumples.
Snuffs returned, with Cornelius, Rumples' Flightning Bug, and Tinky-Winky,
MinxJade's Magaral.
"Meep meep." The little purple creature burbled, and wobbled over to the shelf
where MinxJade was hidden. "Meep meep."
MinxJade sighed and hopped down. "You got me," she said.
"Come on," Alison said to her pets. "Let's go home."
"That was fun," KiwiBonk cried. "Let's do it again."
"No," MinxJade said firmly. "I've had enough sneaking around for the rest
of my life."
"Yeah," agreed Rumples, "I'm tired."
Alison sighed. "The stuff you guys do, just to play on NeoPets."
The End
Author's Note: I have one other pet named Jesse_634, who was not in this
story. I used to have an Abominable Snowball named Snuffs and a Magaral named
Tinky-Winky, but somebody was kind enough to take over my my account, and steal
all my PetPets but Cornelius. How nice of them. NOT! | 
