Lebki laughed. "Alien Aishas? Nice joke, CP30."
"From what I've heard, it's true," he said. "But I don't know all the details.
Wait and ask Sloth yourself." The green Grundo shuddered.
"Why should I be afraid of him?" she asked. "I've beaten the Pant Devil in
a Battledome match when I was very young. This guy--" with that, she froze.
"So we meet at last," said a dark figure, entering the room. Lebki's courage
was replaced by fear.
"I'm not afraid," she said.
"Oh, but you are," said the figure. "For you see, I am your worst nightmare.
You may call me Sloth."
"You may call me Lebki," she shot back instantly.
Sloth opened the cage and grabbed the little Aisha. "I hear that you are as
brave as a Shoyru," he said. "More loyal than a Gelert, and fight better than
a Lupe. We'll see if that's all talk, or the truth."
"You don't scare me!" she shouted, struggling to break free. Right now, this
guy was nothing. All Lebki was worried about was for this poor Grundo, and that
she'd never get home, that her owner would never find her.
"What do you want with her?" CP30 asked angrily. "She's just a little NeoPet.
Leave her out of this."
Sloth ignored him and turned back to the yellow Aisha squirming in his tight
grip."You'd get quite a ransom from your owner, but no." He smiled evilly. "I
have an even bigger plan. This Grundo here has been learning about this place
for awhile, and already knows what I'm plotting. Knows too much, actually."
"So it's true?" Lebki asked quietly, suddenly still.
"Yes," said Sloth. "My mutant Grundos are too easily spotted. Then I discovered
that Aishas can be mutated with my special potions--" He held up an experimental
Aisha Transmogrification Potion. "--and I created alien Aishas. They are
aliens, since they come from this station, far, far from Neopia. They have such
perfect hearing that, when put in Neopia Central, the busiest marketplace in
all of Neopia, they can hear exactly what's going on. And who's suspect that
a little machine's holding a conspiracy?"
"My owner will find me," said Lebki. "And besides, I've got my Battledome weapons
in my--my--" she gasped in horror, remembering that she'd left her backpack
in the Food Shop when she disappeared. But Leaf wasn't with her; that was good.
For one thing, the PetPet was far too timid to deal with Neopia's greatest enemy,
and for another, he would lead her owner right to her.
Sloth threw back his head in laughter, not paying attention to Lebki's smile.
"Mwahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! NeoPets shall be mine!"
~Later~
"Jamez?" Six75 asked. "Um, you'd better come look at this." The blue Shoyru
held up The Neopian Times for his owner to see. "It's about leb388's second
pet. Really nice, but I don't like that Pegasusmon3...."
Jamezbfod read the article angrily. "What? My sister's pet's missing?!? Six,
ObiGrarrl, SirenSalo, Wingston, get ready..."
His pets knew without words what was coming.
~Meanwhile~
Leb388, Pegasus, Bounce the Poppit, the Pant Devil, and Leaf the Selket were
hiding in the bushes.
"Are you sure this is the place?" asked leb388.
"Positive," said the Pant Devil.
They were in the Lost Desert. It was the last place Sloth had been spotted;
perhaps he had a hideout built there.
"I've got some Hidden Tower weapons," the Pant Devil said, smirking.
"Pant," said leb388, "remember to return them." She didn't like calling him
a "devil," so she just called him Pant.
"Yeah," said Pegasus. "We don't want to get in trouble with the faeries. We
need everyone on our side if Sloth is involved."
Bounce and Leaf squeaked in agreement.
"But we're going to need them," the Pant Devil argued. "And the Hidden Tower
Faerie just left them there for me to take, I couldn't resist, after all, I
am the Pant Devil..."
Leb388 just rolled her eyes. "Come on. So, where do you think Sloth is?"
"I led you all the way here," said the Pant Devil. "He's not here, but I've
got some sort of feeling that we can find him from here."
"Like that's helpful."
"I'm just wondering, Pant," said Pegasus. "Why are you helping us? I thought
you didn't like Lebki. You don't like pets at all, since you're always stealing
from them."
"I'm not all bad," he said. "And I just can't stand Sloth. That big show-off!
Mind you, that's the only reason I'm helping you mortals."
"Whatever," said leb388. "Guys, um, this might not be the best time to break
it to you, but my brother, Jamezbfod, is supposed to help out."
Everyone gasped, especially Pegasusmon3. "Jamezbfod? I hope Six75 isn't with
him, we've been long-time rivals, and now wouldn't be the best time to fight...
sure, he was born a day before me, his stats are a little better, but
still..."
"We're all going to have to put past experiences behind us," said leb388, "to
save Lebki. Now, listen to my plan..."
To be continued... | 
