Mulvinn flicked through the folder. It contained details of a new giant ray
gun that Sloth was building. It turned out that the gun was run on juppies,
and that they only had one in Sloth's lair. Mulvinn looked up and gulped.
"What does the ray do?" asked Tirena.
"It-it t-turns pets into…" he sobbed. "Asparagus! Oh, no, no, no…"
"Man this is serious. Come on, we'll go back to my place."
As they talked over cups of hot borovan, Tirena thought for a few moments.
"Well, we can't tell the cops about it because there's no way they'd believe
us and we're wanted for like 20 crimes already, so it looks like we'll have
to track down Sloth ourselves. What do you think, Mulvinn?"
Mulvinn wasn't sure. "Hmmm… is it worth the risk? I mean, Neopia has been rotten
to me. I couldn't care less if they all turned into asparagus."
Tirena slapped him. "Mulvinn! That ray could turn US into asparagus too you
know!"
Mulvinn frowned in thought for a while. "OK, we might as well give it a try…"
The rocket rumbled as it sped through space, heading for the Space Station.
"Man, I hate these disguises! Striped is NOT my colour," Mulvinn grumbled.
"Oh shut up. YOU'RE not painted speckled!" retorted Tirena.
The rocket landed on the space station and the group of people on it got off.
Mulvinn and Tirena quickly started navigating their way round its many corridors.
They were looking for some kind of secret room, maybe a tunnel that would lead
to Sloth's lair. They scurried about for hours on end, looking for just a tiny
clue to find sloth. But they found nothing.
"Oh, let's face it. We aren't going to find Sloth here. He must be somewhere
el…WHOA!" a strange hand had pulled Mulvinn into what looked like a cupboard.
"So, you seek my ex-master eh? I can tell you where he is," the strange figure
muttered.
"Great!" said Tirena, who had now joined them "Where?"
"He can be found where one brave Grundo mounted a trusty steed, and fought
off 10,000 evil fuzzles."
"Um… thanks… I think…"
Soon, Tirena and Mulvinn were exploring the area where the evil fuzzles had
attacked the space station. As they approached a large door labelled: 'DO NOT
ENTER. DANGER OF ASPARAGUS' Mulvinn thought this might just be what they were
looking for…
The door creaked open, and two Mutant Grundo turned round. They charged. Mulvinn
and Tirena simultaneously leapt up and grabbed a bar, trying to avoid them.
But alas, the Grundo simply raised their arms and pulled them off. They were
then carted off to a strange area - two chairs with clips and chains attached
in the middle of a bright circle of light. They were tied to the chairs, and
surrounded by an army of Grundo Suddenly, a figure slowly began to glide towards
them.
"SLOTH!"
"That's my name, don't wear it out." The evil supergenius grinned, and seeing
the looks of scorn on their faces, said "You are obviously aware of my plan
to turn all of you dirty little," he spat the word out "Neopets into the one
thing your creator cannot resist! Therefore you will soon be eaten by your own
creator! MUAHAHAHA!!!"
Sloth then clicked his fingers and a large ray gun was lowered from the ceiling.
"The one juppie we have here on the Space Station is going to have the privilege
of destroying two of the most annoying little brats ever. After that, my agent
will simply collect the juppies, and I shall be ready to destroy you all! Haha!"
Sloth boomed.
"Goodbye, meddling petty criminals… Haha…"
Mulvinn went absolutely bonkers then. "RIGHT! OK, Mister. You can wipe out
my friends. You can feed me to Adam, but NEVER, EVER call me a petty criminal!"
At this point he pulled the chains so hard that he snapped them completely.
He then freed Tirena, and they both leapt out of the way of the beam, just as
it turned the chairs into asparagus.
"STOP THEM!" screamed Sloth. The army of Grundo obeyed, thundering after them
as they headed for the door. Mulvinn and Tirena quickly skidded out the door,
and raced to the main area where Sloth couldn't get them.
"Pheeeew… That was close," gasped Tirena.
"Yeah," agreed Mulvinn "Now all we have to do is think of a way to stop him…"
***
Tirena and Mulvinn were rather upset. Which isn't surprising, seeing as they
knew that Neopia would be turned into asparagus in 48 hours, and there seemed
to be nothing they could do about it. Mulvinn sighed. After their little escapade
in the space station, they had quickly jumped on a rocket home, and after stopping
off at an illegal paintbrush shop to get back to their original colours, had
hurried back to Tirena's house.
"Well, the first thing we need to do is sell these juppies, so Sloth will
lose track of them!" said Mulvinn.
"Hmmm… OK. I hear the Smoothie factory needs some for a whole new brand of
drink they're making…" after a few phone calls, the juppies were all gone, and
they had 46 hours to stop Sloth.
"OK, stay calm… think…. Think… THINK!!!!" Mulvinn screamed at himself.
"Wait, shut up a minute…" Tirena thought for a few moments "Of course! That's
it! Why didn't I think of it before?"
"What?"
"Mulvinn, listen up. We're about to do the greatest thing in our lives…"
***
Mulvinn gulped. He pressed himself against the cold metal wall, and pulled
out his trusty sparkshooter, and loaded it. Several Grundo guards, all with
mutate rays, stood guarding the area from attack. He took a deep breath, and
picked off one of the guards. And another. And another! And more until there
were none left. Then, he made a low whistle. This was the signal for Tirena.
She now crept along the metal rafters of the large Space Station Room, a Tiki
bomb held between her teeth. She levelled herself directly above Sloth and the
ray, lit the bomb, and dropped it. It went spiralling down to earth, and landed
right on the console for the Ray.
-- BOOM --
The explosion was monstrous. It totally tore apart the console, and brought
the ray crashing to the floor. Sloth simply vanished, leaving only a loud, ghostly
laugh behind. The guards also vanished with him, leaving no traces of Sloth
ever being there. Then suddenly, Sloth appeared, floating in the air in front
of them.
"YOU IDIOTS!!! You may have foiled my plan, but you will not feel my power…"
he clicked his fingers, and a Grundo Commander appeared with a jetpack, and
grabbed them both.
"HAHAHA! Who's laughing now, Mully-boy?" laughed Sloth.
"BE QUIET!" Mulvinn spat.
"Take them to the depressurising chamber, at once!"
The Grundo grunted in agreement, and carried them both by the scruff of the
neck to a large door labelled: 'DANGER: HIGH PRESSURE' and grinned evilly. He
opened the door, and tossed them in like they were cotton wool.
"Bye-bye! Hooyahahahee…" he laughed a hoarse, nasty laugh. The depressurisation
chamber was a very clever piece of equipment generally used to keep money or
food fresh. But in the case of animals and humans, well… it generally made their
heads explode. And that was exactly what Sloth wanted to happen to them.
"Well, it looks like this is the end, Mulvinn…" sighed Tirena.
"Yes… I guess so…" he replied shakily "Tirena?"
Her large eyes turned to look at him. "Yes?"
"Well… I… um… I er, kinda… love you."
Tirena smiled. "And I love you too, Mulvinn," she replied. And they kissed.
Suddenly, the air began to thin. The end was near. Their heads began to swell,
and they looked at each other in horror. But then, just as the walls were about
to be decorated with the colour known as 'hint of brain', the air came back.
"Huh?" The door was slowly opened, and in stepped a large group of Police
Chia. The leader spoke.
"Mulvinn Sparkton, Tirena Stimpson, I place you under arrest for criminal
damage, attempted murder, damage to wildlife and Juppie smuggling." Mulvinn
was shocked.
"WHAT? But we saved Neopia! Sloth, the ray, everything! Don't you know?"
The police chief smiled.
"Ha-ha-ha. A likely story, Mr Sparkton. Now if you'll just accompany us to
the station…"
Epilogue: The Police Van swung round the corner to the Neopian Prison. Inside,
Prisoner 983745 (Mulvinn) and Prisoner 103593758 (Tirena) gazed at each other
sadly. Then Mulvinn got up, and looked out through the barred window, and smiled.
This really had been the final act.
The End | 
