Enough Adventure for One Day: Part Two

     That was where my sister, Jalexis and I, Colfer, were huddled together, shaking as we felt the box pass from conveyor belt to Grundo assistant and back again. We heard snippets of conversation from the workers in the Virtupets Space Station as we were sent into what we thought was probably the inner workings of some kind of factory, that nobody should ever be allowed to lay eyes on, but we heard no familiar voices. Worst of all, we couldn’t hear the voice of our beloved owner, who was somewhere else in the complex after being abducted.

     It wasn’t the ideal situation we wanted to be in on our very first family outing, that was for sure.

     Eventually, we slowed and the box was ripped open, flooding the small space with light and causing Lex to cry out in terror. A purple Grundo flipped the box on its side and sent my sister and me tumbling out of the rusty prison and onto the cold tile in the Space Station. The Grundo shut the door with a loud slam, shaking the walls of the room.

     I jumped to my feet and held out a paw for Lex. She stood up; we brushed ourselves off and gazed around the room. There was no furniture or way out, and we weren’t the only ones there either. Along the walls slumped a few other Neopets, some sleeping, some just staring into space.

     A blue Draik approached Jalexis and me slowly, with a hesitant smile. “I’m Varren. Who are you?” he asked.

     “I’m AcademyJalexis, and this is my brother GryffindorColfer.” Lex introduced us, shaking the Draik’s claw with a tentative look of hope.

     “I bet you’re wondering what is going on,” Varren said, leading us over to a Shadow Zafara who was sleeping lightly. He gave the Zafara a little push, and she jumped up with a panicked look. “DON’T TAKE ME!” she shrieked.

     Varren rolled his eyes. “Okay, drama queen, these guys are new and thoroughly confused. Can you please fill them in? I need a nap.” Varren flopped against a striped Wocky and fell sound asleep.

     The Zafara straightened and looked us in the eye. “My name is Charity,” she whispered. “As you know, we’re in the Virtupets Space Station. Do you know the history behind this place? The reason why it was created?”

     “Yeah, we got a creepy history lesson on our way in,” Lex grumbled, rubbing her cheek and shuddering.

     “We know that it was created by Dr. Sloth ten years ago, and he wanted to convert all of the Neopets in Neopia into mutants,” I expanded.

     “And do you know where Dr. Sloth is now?” Charity asked, leaning in toward us. We shook our heads no.

     “He’s still here. Deep in the Station, past the Hangar, he’s been working on a secret experiment with the mutants. He’s trying to make them even more powerful, so when he tries his plan again, it can’t fail.”

     “How is he making them more powerful?” I asked quietly, as Lex gripped my paw so tightly I thought it would explode.

     “First of all, he’s planning to create mutant species for all Neopets. This way, every species will be affected when he is able to perform his evil takeover. He also plans to make the mutants even more terrible than before.”

     “How can mutants become even more terrible?” Jalexis asked. I could tell she was afraid to hear the answer.

     “Well, something with tentacles for ears is definitely terrifying,” Charity said. “But they really can’t do much. He’s making it so that when Neopia tries to stop him from turning all of the pets mutant, they can’t. Because the pets will be able to fight back, far harder than pets have ever fought.”

     “Oh,” I whispered. I felt Lex sink to the floor next to me.

     “I know this much; he’s capturing Neopets to experiment on. And that’s why we’re here,” Charity explained.

     “What about the owners?” I asked, suddenly remembering that we had no idea where Shannon was. “Is he doing something with them?”

     “Why do you ask?” Charity wondered, puzzled. She paused, and then added “Wait, one second. I don’t want our conversation falling into the wrong ears.” She guided Lex and me to the back of the room so we were hidden in the shadows.

     “We’re pretty sure our owner got abducted by the same things that brought us here,” Lex explained tearfully.

     Charity pondered this for a moment. “It’s possible that Sloth is trying to see what the effects of the mutants are on the owners in Neopia.”

     “So they’re not going to hurt her?” Lex asked hopefully.

     “I think we have a bigger chance of being hurt than she does,” Charity said sadly.

     ***

     “What are you doing with me?” Shannon asked.

     “Now, now, dear, this isn’t going to hurt a bit,” Sloth sneered, approaching the teenager. She was hanging by her wrists between two beams, her legs hanging limply and her eyes were filled with tears.

     “And where are Lex and Colfer?” she added.

     “Who are they?” Sloth asked.

     “My pets. Jalexis is a yellow Acara and Colfer is a red Gelert,” Shannon whispered. “I want to see them. I want to make sure they are okay.”

     Sloth turned from the girl and approached his desk, rifling through photographs until he found the ones he wanted. He took them behind his back and returned to the terrified teenager.

     “Is this your Acara?” he sneered, flipping a picture up.

     She screamed. The photograph was of an Acara, but with none of the normal features. It had grotesque, decayed and overgrown horns and ruffled rust-coloured fur with long beige claws and spikes down its back. The worst part was the face... it was like her face was a ghost. Electric-blue eyes and mouth and a red nose peered out from where the sweet, angelic face of an Acara usually is.

     “Is that Lex? What did you do to her?” she shouted.

     Sloth merely smiled evilly and flipped up the other picture.

     The girl’s stomach turned. It was of a Gelert with tentacles for horns, mottled green skin an evil gleam in its eyes. She was so confused... what was wrong with her pets? She’d only known Lex and Colfer for a week or so, but they were already a family.

     Sloth taped the photographs to the wall opposite where the girl was hanging. “Stare at these for a while. Martin here will monitor your reactions, which are turning out quite well. We’ll test you on the real things soon enough.” The evil man stood up to his 6’3” frame and gave the girl a ferocious grin before exiting the room, leaving the new owner to gaze at the photographs on the wall, heartbroken.

     ***

     Now, as you know, Lex and I weren’t actually mutated. But we knew all too well that Sloth’s intention was to try those horrific designs on us, as well as Charity, Varren, and all of the other Neopets in the holding room.

     It had been hours we’d been lying in the dark, cold, empty room together, waiting to see what would happen next. Suddenly, the door swung open, but instead of a cranky Grundo dumping a couple more unsuspecting pets in, it was a horrible-looking green-tinged man wearing a black cape. He surveyed the room before eyeing Lex and me, grinning horribly.

     “WHERE ARE JALEXIS AND COLFER,” he stated, not asking us but demanding from us.

     Of course, Jalexis and I had the common sense to stay quiet. He stared at us and repeated the question. Again, Lex and I remained silent.

     The man approached us, kneeling down to our height. “What are your names?” he asked, his evil smile growing.

     “My name is Academy,” Lex said shakily. I stared at her. Yeah, Lex, lying sounds like a great idea right about now. Why don’t we just throw ourselves into his arms, begging to be mutated? Silly little sister.

     “Academy?” asked Sloth, puzzled.

     “Yes, Academy. And my brother’s name is Gryffin,” she added smoothly.

     Suddenly, I realized what Lex was doing. AcademyJalexis... GryffindorColfer. She wasn’t lying... she just wasn’t telling the whole truth.

     “Yeah, I’m Gryffin,” I added. “We actually saw the other two escape not that long ago. They somehow got the door open and ran for it.” Lex looked at me with a gaze that said purely Well played, Colfer. Well-played.

     “Argh!” exclaimed Sloth as he ran for the door. “Shut it down, we have escaped pets! I swear they are going to be the first to go.” He slammed the door behind him, leaving a group of very bewildered pets, a worried Gelert and a smug Acara.

     I stared at my sister with awe. “Lex, I had no idea you had that in you! You always seemed so young and, I don’t know, shy, I guess. A little more timid. That was insane, you totally thwarted Sloth!”

     “There’s a lot you don’t know about me,” Lex said slyly, looking at me with a big smile.

     “Hopefully if we can get out of here, there will be plenty of time to get to know each other,” I countered with a nervous laugh.

     “Okay, but we don’t have much time,” Lex said, scanning the room with one finger on her chin. “Once Sloth and the henchmen figure out that we lied and Academy and Gryffin are actually the same Neopets as Lex and Colfer, they’ll be after us almost instantly. We need a way out of here other than the hallways.”

     “Academy and Gryffin are Lex and Colfer?” asked the sleepy Wocky.

     “Quiet, you,” snapped a pink Xweetok. The Wocky stared at us blankly and fell back asleep. Varren dragged her back into the corner.

     “How are we going to get out of here?” I whispered.

     Jalexis’ eyes met the vent system in the upper wall. She looked at me with a gleam in her eyes.

     “I think I have an idea.”

To be continued...