Untitled Document
Two seconds or so after Sloth proclaimed himself and Venera
emperors of Neopia, the TV reported the Money Tree had been cut down. It was the
last in our list.
"I just can't believe it… Neopia watched us
crush all those places and didn't even blink! They did nothing to stop us!"
Grargadon exclaimed.
"Well, what did you want them to do? The faeries
were all knocked out in Faerieland when they burned down the Wheel, and the
Neopets could do nothing against our beasts…" Sloth replied, caressing Venera's
hand, "I guess it's time I show up…"
"No, Frank, maybe we should wait a while. You
know, get them in even worst conditions. I'm sure the economy will change abruptly,"
the Ghost Lupe commented, "Then it will be the perfect time to attack."
"Yes, the Ghost is right. And that would give
us time to plan our final attack better," Maelstra pushed the power button in
the panel of controls, and started the helicopter-submarine, "Now let's get
outta here. I'm sick of the ocean already."
We returned to Krawk Island, to the secret meetings
room, and Venera turned on one of the screen to listen to the night news. We
were sure they would resume all our attacks, and so we didn't leave the room
until images of the Wheel of Excitement burning appeared on the screen.
Sloth dropped his bubbling blueberry pizza slice
and said, with his mouth full, "Finally! Louder!"
He grabbed the remote control and turned on
the extra speakers in the back of the room. He also moved the image to a bigger
screen above the one we were watching. Now it looked like we were really there,
watching the attacks live.
The reporter said something about it being a
tragedy and the attackers being under an invisibility spell and how the faeries
and the Chia police could do nothing and then the film was shown. First Faerieland,
we could see a torch being lit up and thrown at the Wheel of Excitement, followed
by several fire attacks. The flames consumed the Wheel, as everyone ran, panicking.
A couple of faeries flew down to the location, but puzzled with the invisibility,
were easily knocked out.
On a nearby cloud, there were the Healing Springs,
also being smacked by the Army. Nereide watched the scene, sobbing and crying
in a corner, not able to do anything to save her Springs.
Faeries kept coming from all over, but they
were knocked out as easily as counting to three. Other pets and owners came,
equipped with powerful weapons, but what was that compared to fearsome well-trained
beasts armed exclusively with Hidden Tower and Smugglers' material?
Some more houses were crushed before the Healing
Springs and the Wheel of Excitement were destroyed, and then the Army left,
victorious, leaving perplexed faeries and Neopians behind.
We were all grinning with joy when the screen
showed us the second part of the attack to Neopia.
In Mystery Island, it was even worse. The Tombola
was wrecked, and the Tombola man was caught by one particular violent soldier
who chose to take his mask and burn it. A huge rock was lifted from nearby the
beach and thrown on fire to the trading post. It collapsed immediately, putting
the Island Market on fire too. Houses were trashed, the cooking pot was spilled
and thrown into the ocean, and the Sacrificers statue was knocked down.
Then the Army moved to Tyrannia and caused some
havoc there. The Wheel of Mediocracy was completely destroyed, the eggs in Keno
were smashed and the omelette was eaten by the famished soldiers. Sabre-X tried
to intervene, but one of the soldiers punched him, knocking him out.
Strong Chombies and Elephantes managed to somehow
organize a small protection force and attacked the army. They took them by surprise
while they were eating the Omelette, but it only lasted for a while. When the
last Chomby was sent through the air by a powerful attack from our soldiers,
Tyrannia was no longer Tyrannia, but a world of ruins.
When the Army arrived at the Lost Desert, everyone
was gathered there, ready to fight them, but like the faeries and the Chombies
and Elephantes, they were easily knocked out. Coltzan's Shrine was no longer
in a second, and the Fruit Machine suffered irreparable damage. After some more
attacks in random worlds that weren't scheduled, the Army got to Neopia Central,
and there was chaos.
Everything was in flames, people were truly
thinking it was the end of Neopia, and they were running around. Everyone had
already given up trying to fight back the Army, so they were just trying to
protect their stuff and pets.
Neopians were running to the Deep Catacomb,
thinking that could save them. I have no idea why they thought it, but it just
made things easier to our soldiers. The Money Tree was all alone when they got
there.
Using their swords, the beasts started to cut
the Tree down. It didn't scream, nor tried to avoid the end. Instead, it kept
quiet the whole time. When the Tree was finally cut down, it fell on the ground
with a loud crash. They took all the donations and then headed to the deep catacombs
to scare a bit more.
"Hey, Frank, aren't they just a little too excited?"
I asked, interrupting the screams that came from the TV
"Yes, a little bit. But who cares, huh, Dalí?
They're causing havoc, and that's exactly what I want. The more weakened Neopia
is, the easier it will be to take over," He munched on his pizza some more and
after several seconds added, "Actually, I could take over today if I wanted."
"Oh, no, Franky, today's definitely not a good
day!" Venera said.
"Why not, honey?"
"They are too weak now. Plus, they fear you."
"That's exactly the point! They fear me, yes,
what is wrong with that?"
"You want them to want you as a leader, to need
you. They will have to see you as their saviour if you want to be obeyed. In
a couple of days, they'll need someone to save them more than ever. And when
it happens, you go and build something to help them. They'll cherish you, and
then it will be easy to build a new Neopia according to our standards!"
Venera persuaded Sloth to wait, but with all
the talk, we missed a really fun part where the Deep Catacombs entrance statue
was knocked down, and the catacomb were devastated.
The film was over, and the reporter came and
talked a bit more. Afterwards, they showed the video of the melting Lilac Island.
"This one was a pity…" the Ghost Lupe lamented.
"I have to agree. The island was lovely…"
"Don't worry guys. If you liked the island so
much, I'll get Zairiu to do it again! Maybe he'll shape an iceberg with my face
too, and make it an island of terror…" Sloth grinned.
We stayed there, talking and laughing, for a
while until it was dark, and then everyone went home. The soldiers had been
careful enough not to trash the houses of the thieves, soldiers and allies,
so in my neighbourhood, my house was the only one still standing.
In front of my door there were dozens of Neopians,
with this miserable look on their faces, waiting for me to arrive.
"Please, can you give us something to eat?",
"Can we stay here for the night, please?", was all I was hearing from the small
crowd in front of my door.
It made me smile to myself, but I kept a cold
look and said no to all of them. And watching them leave, hungry, disappointed
and utterly miserable, made me be happier about myself, about Sloth, about the
attack and evil in general.
I opened the door and started my usual routine
of lay-on-couch-eat-something-watch-TV-until-fallling-asleep-on-the-couch. All
they were talking about on TV was the recent attack, how it affected Neopia,
and speculating about who was behind it.
I was actually surprised that Sloth was never
mentioned. Maybe they thought he was too dim-witted to plan all this… Pff, how
wrong they were…
The most talked about villain was Captain Dread.
Apparently, they thought he was more competent… Another thing that surprised
me, but not completely, was that no one seemed to connect the melting of Lilac
Island to anything. No one knew about the Crown, but still, Neopians were smart
enough to make a connection to something. They didn't; the only theory I heard
that night was that whoever was behind that, had only melted the island to get
back at Princess Lilac for something still unknown.
"How boring…" I turned the TV off and went to
sleep.
The following week was crucial. The day after
the attack was a terrible day to Neopia The Soup Kitchen was full 24/7; it looked
like everyone was there, either donating things, or helping out, or feeding
their pets. Nothing else in Neopia was working, and quickly the stock market
crashed.
Then the two days after, many humans abandoned
Neopia, leaving their pets alone, because there was no longer the pound. The
misery was aggravated, and the prices of food skyrocketed. Everything else was
being sold for 1 NP, but it was still expensive, since they had no use in that
crisis moment.
By the fourth day, Sloth made his apparition
in Neopia Central and, using the powers of the Crown of Ultimate Power, built
something similar to the healing Springs, except that the water was black and
it didn't heal pets. Instead, it turned items into Neopoints. Neopians were
very glad for this, and Sloth's popularity increased greatly.
Two days after the springs appeared, Sloth rebuilt
two neighbourhoods in Neopia Central. The houses were small and dark, and all
made of cold stones. This was what Sloth wanted Neopia to be like. And they
were glad for it. They even went to the Space Station to thank Sloth personally.
The next day, Sloth was proclaimed ruler of
Neopia He changed his title to Emperor, and, of course, made Venera the Empress.
I was second in command, Maelstra was Queen of Faeries, the Ghost Lupe was in
charge for almost anything happening in Neopia, and Grargadon was the Army's
commander. All the thieves were Lords and they had, along with the Army, supreme
benefits and advantage to other Neopians
Each world was rebuilt according to some strict
standards, and that meant small houses to everyone, but Lords and Army. Some
special buildings and sites were built, but they didn't benefit Neopians at
all, only we had something to gain with it. Also a tremendously huge and luxurious
palace was built, and that was where I lived, along with Sloth, Venera, Maelstra,
Grargadon and the Ghost Lupe.
After about three days since Sloth took command,
a portal was opened to Earth and every single human was kicked to it, out of
Neopia A big party and celebration was done around it. Now Neopia was everything
Sloth wanted: Dark, without humans, and full of Neopets waiting to become his
slaves.
Everything was going well, until one day, something
happened. Something that just came to confirm the bad feeling I was trying to
ignore ever since we had found the Crown.
To be continued...
Author's Note: What are your comments on this part? Are you enjoying the
series so far? Any advice on what I could have done to make it better, any feedback
or comment, Neomail me! Everything is greatly appreciated!
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