The SF F.O.L.D.E.R.

     ... “Slothsmellsofdung”. ACCESS DENIED.

     “Slothsmellsoffeet”. ACCESS DENIED.

     “Slothsmellsofmold”. ACCESS DENIED.

     “Slothsmellsofslime”. ACCESS DENIED.

     “Slothsmellsofsocks”. ACCESS GRANTED. WELCOME TO THE SPACE FAERIE FINDING, OBSERVING, (AND) LEARNING DATABASE (FOR) ENCOUNTERS (AND) RESPONSES. ABBREVIATED TO (THE SF F.O.L.D.E.R.). LOADING INCLUDED IMAGE:

     “What is your purpose?”. PURPOSE OF DATABASE IS TO RECORD AND ANALYZE THE ENCOUNTERS THE SPACE FAERIE, MIRA, HAS WITH GALACTIC ENTITIES AND ACTIONS TAKEN TO RESOLVE THE CONFLICTS. CURRENTLY, THERE ARE 27,465 FILES PROCESSED.

     “Who is your creator?”. CLASSIFIED.

     “Is it a Resistance member?”. NEGATIVE.

     “Is it a Sloth Loyalist?”. DID YOU NOT READ THE ACCESS CODE?

      “Right. Can I view the files?”. EACH FILE COMES WITH A (CASE FILE #), (SUBJECT) NAME WITH INCLUDED IMAGE, (SUBJ. INFO), (PRE-REPORT), (ENCOUNTER REPORT), AND (POST REPORT). WHAT FILE WOULD YOU LIKE TO ACCESS?

     “Show me random files without repeating a (subject)”. SEARCHING, ORDERING AND LOADING FILES.

     CASE FILE #: 4NT-2PZ-FGS

     SUBJECT: Giant Space Fungus

     SUBJ. INFO: An ever-growing, fleshy and orifice covered fungus mound that has adapted to living in the vacuum of space. It has a defined face with many eyes it uses to see and a single mouth it uses to both eat particles floating in space and spit out spore-filled slime. It has tentacles all over its body which it swings around to propel itself through space and defend itself. As it floats through space & eats, it releases thousands of spores from its orifices every few minutes. If one of these spores can survive the vacuum of space and absorb enough particles it too can start growing into a Giant Space Fungus; some of these growing spores are kept as Petpets called “Baby Space Fungus”.

     PRE-REPORT: A Giant Space Fungus one-eighth the size of Kreludor had propelled itself out of the “Gladiatorian” asteroid field and toward Neopia. If a Giant Space Fungus of that size were to get within Kreludor distance of Neopia, though gravitational forces will keep it from getting closer, it will release millions of spores across Neopia. It’s highly likely a majority of the spores would immediately develop into Giant Space Fungus, enveloping Neopia.

     ENCOUNTER REPORT: With no time to waste, The Space Faerie (TSF) intercepted the Giant Space Fungus (GSF) before it entered Neopia’s habitable zone. TSF first tried to redirect the GSF by increasing her own luminosity and have it chase her; however, the GSF only attempted to grab her with its closest tentacle before losing interest. TSF then released weak pulsar waves hoping to push the GSF off course while causing as little harm to it as possible, however, the GSF considered the waves a threat and for the rest of the encounter started flailing its tentacles and spewing out slime. Seeing an opportunity with the flailing tentacles, TSF flew between the tentacles, zapping them with a quick heat ray as she dodged the swings and floating slime. Soon TSF got the GSF’s tentacles swinging in unison, propelling it off its trajectory toward Neopia and out into open space.

     POST REPORT: The Giant Space Fungus never got close to Neopia. The Giant Space Fungus stayed within the Neopian solar system a few weeks. The heat from the sun eventually irritated the Giant Space Fungus causing it to turn away and propel itself back into deep space, last seen heading toward the direction of “The Collector” constellation.

     CASE FILE #: 3V1-4Z1-B75

     SUBJECT: Evil Fuzzles (From Beyond The Stars)

     SUBJ. INFO: Origins unclear, believed to have come from an unknown direction of deep space. Creatures similar in appearance to the Jubjub Neopet Species, they are round, covered in long hair, two bare feet with three toes, and have a simple face with beady eyes and a mouth lined with large, sharp teeth. It is unknown how they can survive in space without air; scientists’ best guess is by “pure malice”. They live in large swarms paddling through space with their feet. Their main diet is metal and often attack spaceships, space stations, and satellites which are devoured down to their frame. Though they have the jaw strength to bite through metal, they are weak otherwise. They are treated as a pest easily dealt with a laser blast but are still extremely dangerous in large swarms. It is unclear if there’s a connection to the Neopian Toy that are named “Fuzzles” that were made before the existence of Evil Fuzzles was known to Neopia (but it is from these toys that the Evil Fuzzles got their common name).

     PRE-REPORT: Known large Evil Fuzzle swarms are tracked and monitored. As not to compete for food sources, swarms follow a periodic cycle usually to assure no two swarms come in contact. However larger swarms travel faster than smaller swarms and sometimes a “mega swarm” can accumulate if a large swarm outpace and absorb several smaller swarms. One such mega swarm occurred years ago and, seeking to sate their hunger, started to head toward the Virtupets Space Station. If the mega swarm reached the space station it would be devoured within a day and the swarm may then set their stomachs on Neopia.

     ENCOUNTER REPORT: Within the hour of the formation of the Evil Fuzzle mega swarm a bright light was seen in the center of it. The Space Faerie (TPS) had already begun trying to thin the horde by flying into the center of it and releasing a supernova blast. TFS then proceeded to use laser beams to try and separate the mega swarm back into smaller swarms. Sensing an immediate threat, squads of Evil Fuzzles (EF) began to chase after TSF forcing her to take defensive manoeuvres. TFS created a cosmic wind behind her to dispel her pursuers, but instead, it pushed them into one another. The EFs looked like they were stuck together but then fused together to form a larger darker coloured EF! Seeing this, TSF started using cosmic winds to push groups of EFs together forming bigger EFs that were luckily also slower and unable to keep up with TFS. In hours the mega swarm of millions of small EFs was now a “smaller” swarm of a few thousand big EFs. No longer having the number advantage, the swarm separated back into smaller swarms.

     POST REPORT: For the next few weeks The Space Faerie followed the swarms and laser blasted the big Evil Fuzzles, causing them to break apart into smaller Evil Fuzzles again. All large Evil Fuzzles swarms are now of an equal size and thus unlikely to run into one another to form a mega swarm again for several centuries.

     CASE FILE #: M34-AN0-VA2

     SUBJECT: Mechanova & Mecha-Novas

     SUBJ. INFO: Note, unable to acquire picture of the Mechanova, only an image of a Light Nova combating a couple of mechanical Novas (which shall be referred to as “Mecha-Novas”).

     The Mechanova was built by an unknown creator with the function of constructing Mecha-Novas to destroy Novas; why the Mechanova’s creator wished to eradicate Novas it not known. Both the Mechanova and its Mecha-Novas look like a robotic Nova with glaring eyes and a jagged mouth. In addition to creating a variety of Mecha-Novas, the Mechanova can rapidly fire energy projectiles all around it. There are several varieties of Mecha-Novas each having their own way of fighting: ramming into targets, firing projectiles, dropping mines, protecting themselves with force fields, etc.. The Mechanova relies on ambushing and overwhelming its targets with the many varieties of Mecha-Novas. Despite multiple reports of the Mechanova’s destruction, it has returned time and time again with no explanation how.

     PRE-REPORT: Novas are created in deep space inside a “Nova Nursery”, a large nebula cloud of magic dust. There are a few Nova Nursery farms that capture Novas as soon as they’re formed and ship them to clients such as magic merchants. The locations of these farms are confidential and only known by a few, one being The Space Faerie. It was at one of these Nova Nursery farms that the Mechanova suddenly appeared and released a swarm of Mecha-Novas.

     ENCOUNTER REPORT: The attack was quick and precise, the Mechanova knew where the Novas were and the farm’s security was struggling to keep the farmers and Novas safe in the emergency shelter. Just as a squad of Mecha-Novas broke through the shelter’s defense, a swarm of Exploding Space Bugs sent by The Space Faerie (TSF) prevented a catastrophe. The shelter no longer safe, TSF protected the farm’s staff as they loaded the Nova onto cargo ships and flew off to safety. That is when the Mechanova appeared in the farm and unleashed hundreds of Mecha-Novas it had in-waiting. The Mechanova’s true target was the Nova Nursery itself.

     TSF tried to defend the nebula cloud but the Mecha-Novas’ varied tactics and the Mechanova’s firepower looked to be more than TFS could handle and she fell into the nebula. Just as the Mechanova and Mecha-Novas were charging for one final blast, the nebula brightly glowed. TSF’s ploy worked, she floated up from the nebula along with thousands of Novas, Supernovas, Ultranovas, and Dark Novas behind her. The Novas unleashed themselves upon the Mecha-Novas destroying the robot army. The Mechanova tried to use the chaos to escape, but TSF flew toward the Mechanova at the speed of a comet and delivered a devastating kick. With a chunk of its armour missing, TSF released another handful of Exploding Space Bugs into the Mechanova causing it to explode into pieces.

     POST REPORT: With the destruction of the Mechanova any surviving Mecha-Novas self-destructed. Minor damage was done to the Nova Nursery and the farm was easily repaired. Protocol requires for the location of the Nova Nursery farm to be deleted so no further information can be provided.

     CASE FILE #: BL5-T0D-C3T

     SUBJECT: Blastoid “Comets”

     SUBJ. INFO: A recently discovered creature, investigation of its origins found them to be Blobagus Petpet whom underwent a mutation from cosmic rays released from Slothite stars & Blastoids. The Blobagus’s head and “tail” parts are encased in a dark red crystal charged with the cosmic energy that caused the mutation. The remaining meteoroids that make up its “body” swell in size changing into Blastoids. Confused and unable to control the new changes to its body, it swirls itself through space unaware of striking anything in its way. At the moment it’s unclear if the Blastoid “Comet” ever overcomes its panicked state as no older specimens have been found.

     PRE-REPORT: Blastoids are meteoroids that have been exposed to the released energy of Slothite stars, stars that are mostly made up of Slothite atoms. It’s believed an asteroid that a colony of Blobagus was living on got too close to a Slothite star and the gravitational forces caused the star to release a stellar flare. The asteroid broke apart into hundreds of thousands of Blastoids and the Blobagus all mutated into Blastoid “Comets”. And as if Sloth himself orchestrated the event, the Blastoid “Comets” started hurdling themselves toward Neopia. If the Blastoid “Comets” were to strike Neopia it would release Slothite energy where it impacted causing further unpredictable mutations on the surrounding environment and the creatures living there.

     ENCOUNTER REPORT: Slothite is a problem for Faeries, their magic either doesn’t work on it or causes a chain reaction ending in a massive explosion flinging millions of Slothite and Faeryllium atoms every direction. The Space Faerie (TSF) also did not want to hurt the Blobagus, believing there was a way to revert them back to normal. Virtupets Space Station scientists theorized that neutralizing the Blastoids which made up the “Comets” body could cause the excess energy to fizzle out and freeing the Blobagus stuck inside. To do so, they would need to launch Blastoids at it until only the head and “tail” parts remained. TSF modified her Cloud Racer so that it can safely launch Blastoids and installed a targeting system to stay far away from the Blastoid explosions.

     A safe distance away but still in-range, TSF began launching Blastoids from her Cloud Racer at the incoming “Comets”. All was going well, the “Comets” seemingly unfazed by the Blastoids being shot at them, when a rogue Blastoid suddenly struck TSF’s Cloud Racer. No major damage was done, however, the propulsion and targeting systems were knocked offline. TSF tried firing blindly with a few successful hits but just as many misses; she stopped firing as she didn’t want to send Blastoids hurdling through space. Without the propulsion system, she couldn’t move the Cloud Racer and it would take too long to repair. Idling sitting, TSF closed her eyes and began concentrating on her telepathic powers. She reached out to the trapped Blobagus, finding it through its pain and confusion, and comforted it with her voice. The “Comets” suddenly halted their movements and, without opening her eyes, TFS began firing Blastoids again, hitting the “Comets” Blastoids body each time. Once all the Blastoids were gone the head and tail crystals collided, breaking apart and freeing the Blobagus inside. The Blobagus flew over to TSF’s Cloud Racer as she freed them one-by-one, not once losing her focus until all freed, ending the threat of the Blastoid “Comets”.

     POST REPORT: As soon as she was finished The Space Faerie abandoned her Cloud Racer and chased after the missed Blastoid shots she made to destroy them with a laser blast. She then flew back to her Cloud Racers and comforted the Blobagus who all had gathered underneath the craft. She was able to repair and reactivate the propulsion system and took all the Blobagus to a nearby meteor which she knew had other Blobagus on it. Settling the new Blobagus in with their new friends and home, The Space Faerie warped back to the Virtupets Space Station to get her Cloud Racer fully repaired.

     CASE FILE #: C1C-WR5-GR6

     SUBJECT: Clockwork Grundos

     SUBJ. INFO: Clockwork Grundos were an accident that was made into a weapon that then became a menace. They began as an idea of a “battling toy”, toys that Neopets who couldn’t compete in the Battledome could purchase and fight against each other with. The Grundo species was picked as the basis for the toy as most of the staff working on the project were Grundos. At the time it was only a year since they’ve been freed from Dr. Sloth’s enslavement so were still getting acclimated to Neopian society. However, either because the toys couldn’t handle their power or their programming made them want to win no matter the cost, the Clockwork Grundos would always self-destruct in an elemental explosion. While not suitable for the average Neopian, in an ironic twist of purpose, Battledome fighters saw an opportunity in a powerful one-use weapon. So the project team switched from toy production to weapon production, mass-producing the Clockwork Grundos. However, not satisfied with them being weapons, the project team kept improving on their programming to try and make them more competent fighters. But a malfunction in the programming led to a whole warehouse of them to go rogue, many of which caused random mayhem while many more went missing. Word on the intergalactic black market was that they were being sold as “expendable soldiers”, a rumour that proved true years later when Dr. Sloth’s forces used an army of them in his attempt to regain control of the Virtupets Space Station. These Clockwork Grundos were upgraded to have a mode where many combined into a large robot with massive strength, durability, and firepower known as a Primary Grundo Bot (image included):

     Robot Grundos are programmed to win no matter what and will stop at nothing to achieve this singular goal; a dangerous mindset for an extremely dangerous weapon.

     PRE-REPORT: After Dr. Sloth’s failed attempt to regain control of the Virtupets Space Station, word of the Clockwork Grundos’ use spread and batches started popping up on the intergalactic black market. It was only a matter of time before they were used again. A distress signal was sent out by an Alien Aisha research satellite that they were being overwhelmed by a squadron worth of Clockwork Grundos. The research satellite’s primary function was replicating powerful artefacts across the galaxy, including artefacts from the Hidden Tower. Such power falling into the wrong hands is an immediate risk to the entire galaxy, let alone Neopia.

     ENCOUNTER REPORT: This report is a transcript of what was recorded on the Alien Aisha’s research satellite’s surveillance system. The recording begins with The Space Faerie (TSF) in the middle of fighting the rampant Clockwork Grundos (CGs) who were all over the main research facility. With all the dangerous experiments and artefacts scattered around, TSF held back from using her laser beams to using her more precise heat ray and physical combat prowess. Still enough to destroy any CG in one or two hits, but with hundreds of CGs marching around it was taking a lot of time and more time meant more damage being done. All the Alien Aisha researchers had already evacuated as soon as TSF arrived and begged her to save the satellite above all else. With the risk of losing the entire satellite, TSF pulled a last-ditch manoeuvre: she used a laser beam to blast open a hole in the wall. As the air was rapidly pulled out of the satellite so too were the CGs, leaving them helplessly marching in the vacuum of space. Or so she thought.

     TSF went around destroying any CGs and gathering any experiments and artefacts that were also pulled into space. Just then the CGs revealed a surprise: they were upgraded with rockets! As the CGs started flying around, they collided with one another and began combining together into a giant Primary Grundo Bot (PGB). As soon it was together it rocketed toward TSF, punching her back through the hole she made in the satellite. It too flew back inside the satellite, ripped a large plate from the flooring and covered the hole which allowed the satellite’s artificial gravity to reactive. PGB proved to be much more destructive than the individual CGs, crashing through walls effortlessly and releasing huge energy blasts at a whim. Any time TSF would heat it with a laser beam the CGs that made it up would start repairing themselves. PGB eventually got a hold on TSF and threw her against a wall. Seemingly defenceless, PGB unleashed a barrage of lasers at TSF, leaving the entire area decimated... except for TSF. In her hands was a Thyoras Tear, one of the few artefacts she gathered before beginning the fight with PGB. Likewise, as the clock finally changed to 4 AM, she pulled out the Staff of Imminent Destruction she had been holding onto and released its power upon the PGB, critically damaging it. Next, she threw a Freezing Potion at PGB as it began repairing itself, freezing it solid. Putting all her might into one final swing with a Skarls Hasty Mace, TSF shatters the PGB into pieces.

     POST REPORT: Damages to the satellite was substantial but not irreparable. The Space Faerie had gathered all the artefacts and experiments that were pulled into space so there was no loss of their work. The Alien Aishas still tried to argue to be given some more Hidden Tower items as reparations for her blowing a hole in the satellite’s walls but, upon discovery that the Clockworks Grundos actually belonged to the satellite who bought them from an anonymous seller, the request was dropped. Since that time the satellite had ceased operations and returned to the Alien Aisha homeworld.

     CASE FILE #: R8T-5P1-D4Z

     SUBJECT: Robot Spyders

     SUBJ. INFO: The Robot Spyders described here are not your average Petpet Spyder you painted with a Robot Petpet Paint Brush. The Robot Spyders described here are all part of an intergalactic web network of billions of units spread across the galaxy and possibly beyond. Usually forming nests within abandoned mines, factories, large spacecraft or any place there is a significant amount of metal and power, their singular goal is to create more and more units without caring about the depletion of resources. They do not need to eat nor sleep, instead, their metallic webs wrap around any power source the nest covers and drain it of energy, charging all units connected to the web. While their primary goal is to increase in numbers, as the nest grows bigger units are made to guide and guard the nest and other units. When resources or energy start to run low the entire nest deconstructs the nest, hide, and enter a hibernation mode until conditions have improved to start all over. Meanwhile, scouting units are sent out to find new places to create more nests. They are considered a major pest with their resource destruction, their metallic webs being hard to get through, and their stinging electrical bites. Spacefarers are told to destroy any Robot Spyder they find on their ship or be given a hefty fine if any are discovered on their ship.

     PRE-REPORT: A sudden outbreak of Robot Spyder nests started to rapidly spread across multiple minor planets, moon bases and meteor bases. Not only did they construct web and units at a quick pace but already had larger units active. The spread was starting to reach major planets, such as Neopia and the Alien Aisha homeworld, and thus The Space Faerie was called into action.

     ENCOUNTER REPORT: Once a Robot Spyder (RS) nest is established it's difficult to get rid of. The Space Faerie (TSF) started her fight by going around to bases at the boundary of the infestation and destroying the newer nests that were just beginning to form, though this was only a temporary fix. The sudden and rapid expansion was likely due to construction of a Robot Spyder Queen (RSQ), something that happens when a nest has grown to a hundred million units. The gigantic queen has a central server built into her and can manage hundreds of separate proxy nests. Luckily the construction of a RSQ also gives the RSs a massive weakness: destroy the RSQ and the major nest collapses which also shuts down all units in proxy nests.

     TSF followed the trail of the spread, destroying proxy nests as she got to them as not to alert the network of her presence. It was like following threads of a Spyder web, each proxy nest located at an intersection and TSF needed to figure out what direction the RSs came from. Her attempt to keep secret fell through once she was in the thick of the web network. The RSs combined their processing power to figure out ways to stop her: orchestrating ambushes, spinning trace amounts of Slothite into their webbing, leading her to “dead ends”, and eventually attacking populated areas to immediately draw her attention. TSF knew eventually they would start pushing their expansion again, but while they were giving her the run around she was keeping track where all the proxy nests were. She triangulated where the major nest was likely transmitting and flew directly to it: a derelict prototype Virtupets Space Station that Dr. Sloth had built decades ago, and when she arrived there it was covered in metallic webbing.

     TSF had the surprise advantage, so not to waste it she turned invisible and used cosmic winds to push aside the webbing to get in. Navigating her way to the center and sneaking past hundreds of thousands of units, TSF got to where the RSs had hollowed out the space station to make room for the RSQ. The RSQ sat on a web with threads as thick as suspension cables, a force field surrounding it as thousands of lights on its body rapidly blinked. TFS began her plan by sending out swarms of Exploding Space Bugs, putting the entire nest on high alert as they sent out web nets to catch the bugs and drain them before they exploded. This distraction bought TSF time to stealthily use heat rays to cut through the web cables making it unable to support the RSQ’s weight and causing it to fall. The RSs tried to get the RSQ back up but TSF sent out more Exploding Space Bugs causing the RSs to focus on defending their queen instead. However, TSF was just wasting time; she knew without the RSQ’s cable web it took too much power to keep operating. The RSQ soon lost enough power that its shields deactivated and it entered hibernation mode. The RSs continued trying to protect their queen but TSF used a pulsar wave to blow them away and summoned the strongest laser beam she could to destroy the RSQ’s core body. This also conveniently opened a way for her to escape as the space station began to fall apart as all the RSs went out of control.

     POST REPORT: Hours after the Robot Spyder Queen’s destruction the Robot Spyders in the proxy nests across the galaxy stopped operating, no longer receiving its transmissions. Cleanup crews got to work disposing of the helpless units and their webbing, recycling them into scrap metal. The chaos and destruction of the major nest destroyed millions of Robot Sypders; however, it’s believed many likely survived and used metallic web balloons to fly them elsewhere in the galaxy to form new smaller nests.

     CASE FILE #: T5F-4S4-DZ7

     SUBJECT: The Stuff

     SUBJ. INFO: The Stuff is a gelatinous mass which is made up of an undistinguishable microorganism that rapidly replicates itself, doubling its size about every 24 Neopia hours. While the substance itself is not dangerous, the constant growth and fluidity of The Stuff means it can easily crush anything that it engulfs or break through anything that tries to contain it. The only thing that has been able to stop The Stuff is the complete destruction of the mass either by dissolving, incinerating, or vaporizing (people have been told to eat The Stuff as their stomach acid will dissolve it faster than it can replicate). The origin of The Stuff is a mystery, for a long time it was thought to be a natural phenomenon of Neopia. However, that theory has been brought into question with a rare appearance of The Stuff masses suddenly appearing in space. The usual solution to when this happens is flinging the mass into the nearest star.

     PRE-REPORT: Over a decade ago of writing this report, a mass of The Stuff was discovered in space and flung into the star Florinorum 6403. A few days ago of writing this report, astronomers in Altador reported the sudden dimming of that same star. They contacted the Virtupets Space Station to investigate the phenomenon with their equipment. When the Virtupets Space Station scientists focused in on the star they discovered what was happening: The Stuff was growing around the star! Fearing The Stuff has developed a heat immunity, they contacted The Space Faerie for help.

     ENCOUNTER REPORT: Arriving at the star, The Space Faerie (TSF) discovered The Stuff had completely engulfed the star and is now just increasing in mass. Curious if it had grown a heat immunity, she fired a heat ray at it and started incinerating it; it hasn’t become immune to heat. Relieved but confused how it was able to grow around the star without being incinerated, she surrounded herself in a laser field and dived down into The Stuff to see how the star was doing. To her surprise, there was a chamber of space between The Stuff and the star. The Stuff making up the chamber’s wall was black and boiling, when a part of it is pulled into the star fresh pink matter behind it quickly replaces it, also boiling and turning black. Now at least understanding how The Stuff was able to engulf the star, TSF once again surrounded herself in a force field but this time dived into the star itself. It is unclear what she did within the star, but a few minutes after she did multiple stellar flares erupted from the star and started incinerating much of The Stuff on the inside. One stellar flare shot straight out of The Stuff, TSF revealing to have been inside it.

     Though the star’s stellar flares would incinerate the inside, The Stuff has grown far out enough it can’t burn up The Stuff making the outer shell. Running out of options, TSF used her telepathy to reach out to anything she could form a mental link with. To her surprise, she did, and it was on the surface of The Stuff! Taking a more careful look, she discovered that the surface of The Stuff had the mysterious Grobleen organism living on it. Confused how they even got there, TSF read their minds which only had one thought: to grow. Figuring there must be a connection with the Grobleen and The Stuff, TSF used her telepathy to insert another simple suggestion into the Grobleen’s mind: CONSUME to grow. As if a switched was flipped, the previous still Grobleen than began to consume The Stuff, more and more of them also emerging from within it to join the feasting. Using cosmic winds, TSF moved droves of Grobleen to key locations for them to consume. Hours passed as The Stuff kept on decreasing in mass while the Grobleen kept on increasing in numbers. Finally, enough of The Stuff had been consumed by the Grobleen that it buckled and toppled into the star, incinerating The Stuff and the Grobleens.

     POST REPORT: It's now believed that a bit of The Stuff that was originally flung into Florinorum 6403 managed to instead land onto a piece of space debris orbiting around the star. From there The Stuff was able to grow safe from the star’s heat, the star’s gravity shaping the ever-growing Stuff around it. The Grobleen living on The Stuff is still a baffling mystery, a few theories have suggested a connection between the two before but this would be first documented proof of relation. Back on Neopia, Altador astronomers reported that Florinorum 6403 had returned to its previous luminosity and the Virtupets Space Station confirmed there’s no more presence of The Stuff.

     CASE FILE #: XD6-5AC-B39

     SUBJECT: Exploding Space Bugs

     SUBJ. INFO: A primordial species thought to be extinct before The Space Faerie suddenly began using them. They obey her without question, using her telepathy to guide them to targets to unleash an explosion on them. One alone could blow a hole through steel; an entire swarm could blow a spacecraft to bits. Fossil records suggest they were one of the earliest forms of life, existing during the universe’s formation where energy was at excess. When the universe began to cool and energy became scarcer they could no longer sustain themselves and thought to have died out. No one knows where The Space Faerie found a living hive nor where this hive is. She has also refused to let scientists study them, fearing they would try breeding them and having Exploding Space Bugs suddenly appear on the space black market.

     PRE-REPORT: The Space Faerie’s worries came true when an unknown group “found” Exploding Space Bugs intact and began experiments to create their own hive. According to recovered report files, not knowing how to make them breed, the group resorted to cloning the specimens they had. Hives only made of a single specimen’s clones were peaceful, but trying to mix clones of multiple specimens resulted in the Exploding Space Bugs becoming agitated and self-destructing. If the Exploding Space Bugs were to ever be set free, let alone end up in the wrong hands, they could become a threat even more dangerous than Evil Fuzzles and Space Fungi.

     ENCOUNTER REPORT: The Space Faerie (TSF) followed a distress signal to an abandoned satellite laboratory. It didn’t look abandoned for long, but no one else was aboard; at least anyone sentient. The cacophony of buzzing led her to a disturbing sight: dozens of artificial hives containing hundreds of cloned Exploding Space Bugs (ESB). The barriers between the ESB hives looked to have been blown apart, yet the hives remained still with only the sound of buzzing indicating the ESBs were in there. She first tried to use her telepathy to get control of the cloned ESBs, but sensing a mind that was not like their own triggered some of the hives and ESBs flew out in a loud buzzing swarm. She responded by sending out some of her ESBs; not to explode but to try and get the swarm under her control. However, as soon as her ESBs approached the cloned swarm they were attacked causing multiple explosions. This awoke the remaining hives as their ESBs swarmed to attack not only TSF but the hives that weren’t part of their collective.

     Clearing the area around her with a supernova blast, TSF flew to each hive and destroyed each one with a laser blast. With the hives gone, she tried again to use her telepathy but the cloned ESBs’ minds were in a mixed state of panic, confusion, and fury. Explosions were happening in every direction as the swarms went to war with one another. TSF was hit a few times forcing her into a retreat, leaving behind more of her ESBs to cover her escape. But instead of flying away from the satellite she instead headed to the engine room and initiated a self-destruct sequence. However by then the entire satellite was swarming with ESBs and the timer for the self-destruct was counting down.

     Weakened from the few explosions she endured and unsure if she could take anymore, TSF released the final batch of ESBs she had. Using her telepathy to communicate with them, they flew around her in a protective formation. TSF opened the engine room’s doors and started to fly, but instead of trying to avoid the cloned swarms she bobbed and weaved right through them. Using her telepathic connection with them, TSF was letting her ESBs guide her through the swarm’s patterns. There were a few collisions with cloned ESBs, but TSF’s ESBs protected her from the explosions while also creating a safe path through. TSF made it out of the satellite with seconds to spare, using cosmic winds to keep the cloned ESBs trapped in the satellite until it self-destructed, taking all the cloned ESBs with it.

     POST REPORT: Though the satellite’s black box was recovered the group responsible for the cloning was never found or identified. When asked what The Space Faerie tried to do with the cloned Exploding Space Bugs, she said she had hoped to calm them and have them see her as their queen. “I will not say how I discovered them” The Space Faerie began explaining, “but it’s my doing why the Exploding Space Bugs are here. Thus they are my responsibility and they see me as their queen. I felt the clone’s confusion and fright and wanted to give them comfort. I destroyed the hives hoping to break their bonds with them and form a new bond with me; but their minds were simply too disassociated from being around clones that thought exactly as they did. I was able to escape thanks to the Exploding Space Bugs I’ve raised; safely navigating me and intercepting attacks. Some would say I am manipulating them so I could use them as a weapon, but this is just how they are; they want to protect their queen. And I, as the one who they see as their queen, will make sure they’re never seen as a menace or weapon of destruction. Heh, for a moment there I sounded a bit like Fyora *giggles*”.

     CASE FILE #: 4LN-42H-N30

     SUBJECT: Alien Aisha Empire / Neocola Corporation

     SUBJ. INFO: One of the few civilizations out in space that is known by Neopia, the Alien Aisha Empire is also one of the richest civilizations and their reach & influence is massive. A lot of this is in due part of the Neocola Corporation, the largest and most valuable industry within the Alien Aisha Empire. While technically two separate entities, with many leaders of the Neocola Corporation holding seats on the Alien Aisha Empire’s council it often means some their goals are the same: notably spreading Neocola Vending Machines across the universe. Aside from the profits this would bring both entities, there are questions whether there’s something more nefarious going on with the many oddly flavoured drinks the vending machines have on offer. However such plans are either denied or kept confidential by the Neocola Corporation; and while the Alien Aisha Empire are more than happy to discuss their coalition with the Neocola Corporation their other projects (such as replicating powerful artefacts) are also kept equally confidential. What is known is that both have caused trouble for Neopia in the past and will likely continue doing so as long as there are profits to be made and power to obtain.

     PRE-REPORT: It was their most ambitious Neocola vending machine yet: taller than a mountain, wider than a city, containing trillions of Neocola cans and boasting over a million different flavours. A joint collaboration of the Alien Aisha Empire and Neocola Corporation, it was launched toward Neopia with the coordinates placing it right atop Neopia Central! The anti-gravity stabilizers and hollowed center would keep it from destroying Neopia and Neopia Central, but Neopia Central would be cut off from the rest of Neopia (not to mention worries about whatever else the Alien Aisha Empire and Neocola Corporation have planned).

     ENCOUNTER REPORT: With communication attempts to the Alien Aisha Empire proving fruitless, only resulting in a sells pitch for the “Vending Tower” (VT) by the Neocola Corporation, The Space Faerie (TSF) set out to stop the VT from landing on Neopia. This is a delicate situation, if the Alien Aisha Empire and Neocola Corporation get any proof that TSF had sabotaged the VT it could possibly start an intergalactic incident. While invisible, TSF had no problem getting inside the VT via the hollowed bottom made to fit over Neopia Central. Inside was a simulation of Neopia Central’s natural weather patterns, those inside Neopia Central wouldn’t know they were covered by a giant vending machine. However, if you approached the borders, you’d be met by a wall of vending machines which stretched all around and faded up into the sky simulation. Reaching the upper limits of the sky simulation, in addition to the simulation projectors and the weather imitation systems, there were thousands of vending machines. These vending machines, each connected by a long pipe, would release and place themselves all around Neopia Central once the VT landed.

     TSF followed the pipes to the inner workings of the VT. It looked like a factory with thousands of miles of conveyor belts transporting cans of Neocola all over the tower. This was also where the VT’s engine was, TSF’s target. Unable to just blast the engine, she found a maintenance hatch and squeezed into the engine’s core where she began her subtle sabotage. No self-destruct, but within the hour she got the engine to shut down. However, the VT continued its flight unaffected and on course. The anti-gravity stabilizers contained their own engines that were also powering the VT. Leaving the engine core, the engine shutting down didn’t go unnoticed as hundreds of maintenance bots approached. Their scanners would notice TSF even if invisible so she had to carefully sneak around to not be detected. Her sabotage couldn’t be easily undone but not irreparable, she had to act quickly.

     Getting outside of the VT, TSF did not have time to enter each stabilizer to sabotage their engine, so instead focused on disconnecting the stabilizer’s power cables to the VT. Each took less than an hour but she had to disconnect several before the VT suddenly turned dark. In a few minutes, the VT started glowing red as it entered emergency repair mode; it was the opportunity TSF was waiting for. By intergalactic law, the VT was now considered an out-of-control spacecraft and, with it heading toward an inhabited planet, could now be stopped without needing the Alien Aisha Empire’s or Neocola Corporation’s permission. To not look suspicious, TSF flew about a light-year away before dropping her invisibility. Then getting confirmation from the Virtupets Space Station that they detected abnormalities with the VT, she flew back to the VT to finish the job. After doing a quick faux-look over of the VT, she comet kicked her way into all the stabilizers on one side of the VT and disabled them. She then flew over to the other side of the VT and summoned cosmic winds and sent out pulsar waves to push the VT off course.

     POST REPORT: Neopia Central was safe. The Alien Aisha Empire and Neocola Corporation released an apology and statement that the Vending Tower had experienced a malfunction and sadly could not be delivered to all those on Neopia who were looking forward to purchasing all the Neocola flavours. But, while the Alien Aisha Empire and Neocola Corporation were working on getting the insurance money, they (and the insurance company) got an anonymous tip of the Vending Tower’s whereabouts. The maintenance bots were able to repair the Vending Tower just in time before safely landing (and getting stuck) onto an icy asteroid. Though it would take trillions of Nerkmids to recover the Vending Tower (on top of the trillions it took to create it), the Vending Tower and its contents were safe on the asteroid thus the Alien Aisha Empire and Neocola Corporation were not able to collect their insurance policy. Both could, of course, afford the write-off, but both entities’ messages confirming the write off were worded in an irritated and bitter tone.

     CASE FILE #: SLOTH-3VSC1

     SUBJECT: Evil Sloth Clones

     SUBJ. INFO: Robots made in the exact image of their master, don’t let their name confuse you. Doctor Frank Sloth is as evil as evil can get and his robot duplicates are no different. So why are they called “Evil”? Sloth always saw himself as a commander; he doesn’t get his hands dirty, his minions do. The “Evil” part of the Evil Sloth Clones name is in reference to them doing Sloth’s dirty work with their own hands, the imagery of something looking like himself doing what Sloth considered minion work being so unimaginable he had to give them a name that “calls them out”. As Sloth’s go-to enforcers, they’re built strong, durable, and intelligent. They’re bodies also hold hidden weapons, such as shooting lasers from their eyes & fingertips and can detach their arms to shoot rockets. Their intelligence is where the “clone” part of their name comes into play. Sloth created a digital signature of his brainwaves that each Evil Sloth Clone is programmed to have, slightly tweaked so they would be loyal to Sloth. Though now super-intelligent, this is also their greatest weakness as they inherited their master’s ego and, though loyal to him, are loyal to no one else thus plotting their own schemes to get ahead of everyone else. Leave it to Sloth to make the “most efficient” minions who are also the least efficient!

     PRE-REPORT: Security footage from the Kreludan Mining Corporation mine captured a meeting between an Evil Sloth Clone and a cloaked figure. The cloaked figure gave the Evil Sloth Clone a seemingly filled bag of unknown content before both departed. As the Grundos on Kreludor investigated the mine and The Resistance tried figuring out who the cloaked figure was, The Space Faerie was asked to track down and stop the Evil Sloth Clone and whatever scheme it was up to.

     ENCOUNTER REPORT: Flying in the direction the Evil Sloth Clone’s (ESC) ship was last seen heading, The Space Faerie (TSF) knew that around that part of space was a large asteroid that was designated as an intergalactic junkyard. It would be the perfect hiding place for an ESC: no one to bother it and plenty of raw materials to work with.

     Arriving at the asteroid, already TSF felt a disturbance as the asteroid gave off an unnatural reddish tinge and covered in an atmosphere of dark green smog. TSF turned invisible as she flew down to the asteroid to get a closer look, using the slightest of cosmic winds to part the smog. She was not prepared for what she saw next: beneath the fog was an entire industrial complex at full work. Overseeing the construction being done was a half-built space station that was in the shape of Sloth’s head. Where the piles of trash had been pushed aside to were ESCs with laser whips, and toiling away in the piles of trash were thousands of Petpets. Orbulons, Snoogies, and Wains were digging through the piles of trash for salvageable raw materials. Mibblies, Nedlers, and Xeprus were harnessed to carts and pulled the raw materials to the industrial plant. Finally, Charnies, Rashpids, and Tencals sorted through the raw materials and placed them on conveyor belts for processing. Every Petpet looked to have gone under some form of mutation to make them adequate to do their job, and if any Petpet began to slack the ESC would crack their laser whip.

     TSF felt the fiery of a thousand suns build up inside her, but she had to refrain from action as she needed to know what was going on inside the Sloth head-space station. Flying quickly but stealthily, she had no problem getting into the half-finished space station. No Petpets thankfully, but dozens of ESCs in construction mechs. There was one group of ESCs that was being given orders by an ESC with a familiar number printed on its chest (all ESCs have a number printed on their chest to help Sloth sort them out): the ESC that was at the Kreludan Mining Corporation mine. It looked like it was in charge, but before TSF could get closer an alarm went off and she felt a rocket punch hit her in the back.

     With droves of ESCs starting to swarm her location, TSF quickly recovered and began firing laser beams at full fury. ESCs were built with armour to withstand TSF’s power and she could only keep firing at full-power for so long. Seeing no other option, she released a supernova blast and tried to fly away. She flew out of the space station but was struck by a green blast that felt like it had drained her strength; she was struck by a slothite charged laser shot. She landed in a junk pile, surrounded by hundreds of mutated Petpets that the overlooking ESCs commanded to attack her. TSF tried reaching out to them with her telepathy, but she was met with feelings of suffering and sadness as the Petpets closed in. However, instead of attacking her, the Petpets instead formed a protective barrier around her as other Petpets revolted against their ESC masters. TSF’s telepathy did get through to them, the feelings of pain were their response asking for help.

     With a second to breathe and her resolve reignited, TSF came back swinging as she flew across the junkyard destroying every ESC with a laser covered punch or kick. The Petpets began swarming the industrial complex, overwhelming unprepared ESCs as TSF destroyed any which were ready to strike them back. At the space station, TSF focused on taking out the laser turrets so the Petpets could focus on the ground forces. She flew into the space station to confront the mastermind ESC; it was now in a construction mech along with a few other ESCs. Another sneaky slothite laser robbed TSF of most of her power, but she was still faster than the mechs and was able to disable most of them by severing a few exposed wires. She was eventually grabbed by the mastermind ESC’s mech and the other ESCs got out of their disabled mechs, ready to finish her off. But as they prepared their eye lasers they all were jumped by the Petpets who had fought their way inside. TSF than wriggled her way free and unleashed a swarm of Exploding Space Bugs that disabled the mastermind ESC’s mech and destroyed the other ESCs. As the mastermind ESC crawled out of its mech, TSF stood before it with a smile as she let loose the swarm of Petpets on their oppressor.

     POST REPORT: The Space Faerie contacted The Resistance to help cure the Petpets of their mutation and transport them to a sanctuary. Investigating the space station, they also discovered what the cloaked figure gave to the mastermind Evil Sloth Clone: a rare isotope of kreludite that is used to power cores of large ships such as space stations. Though powerful, it’s also unstable and had the Evil Sloth Clones finished the space station and launched off the energy released would have destroyed the asteroid... and it’s unlikely they would have taken the Petpets with them. As the name implies, it can only be found on Kreludor, but it was thought the entire supply of this isotope of kreludite had run dry. The Resistance would look deeper into the subject manner, but for The Space Faerie she needed rest so she could cleanse herself of all the slothite she was exposed to. This case is continued in case file #SLOTH-K9DF9.

     CASE FILE #: SLOTH-K9DF9

     SUBJECT: Kreludan Defender Robots

     SUBJ. INFO: Gigantic robots with thick metal armour plating, they’re less sophisticated than the Evil Sloth Clones but were specifically designed for one task: keep anyone from meddling with the Kreludan Mines. The mines are filled with mining robots digging up kreludite and other valuable material they can find to assure whenever Sloth comes back he has the resources and finances ready for another grand scheme. So far there have only been two models of Kreludan Defender Robots seen: S750 and S950. S750s are the most common as they directly guard the mines by checking authorization at the entrance and patrolling the tunnels. In addition to their massive strength, they also have eye lasers, their first option to chase away intruders. S950s have only appeared when Sloth was around but there’s no evidence they ever left Kreludor when his forces fled. They are much fiercer, chasing away anyone within the perimeter of the mines. They’re also physically stronger than the S750s and have a rocket on their back that lets them run fast and jump high; though no indication of laser eyes (likely not included to make room for a tracking system to chase intruders and a calculation unit for it to properly use of the rocket). Both are highly dangerous and very effective at keeping people away from the mines.

     PRE-REPORT: This is a follow-up report to case file #SLOTH-3VSC1. A cloaked figure was seen handing off a bag of kreludite to an Evil Sloth Clone near the Kreludan Mining Corporation mine. As The Resistance tried figuring out whom the cloaked figure was and The Space Faerie was sent after the Evil Sloth Clone, the Grundos on Kreludor were asked to investigate the mines. Grundo agents who were able to sneak into the mine reported the patrols of S750s on the upper levels had lessened while patrols on the lower levels have doubled. A few days later the main Orange Grundo base on Kreludor was under attack by S950 units. If the Kreludan Defender Robots are successful at destroying the Grundo bases then Sloth would have entire control over Kreludor, its resources, and its citizens.

     ENCOUNTER REPORT: The Resistance forces had already joined the Kreludan marines in fighting back the S950s but they were struggling as they were more used to dealing with the more lumbering S750s. It was only a few days after the Evil Sloth Clone incident reported in case file #SLOTH-3VSC1 and The Space Faerie (TSF) had been resting up in The Resistance’s HQ. While The Resistance did not want to burden her, she could not ignore the cries for help from Kreludor so boarded the next troop ship. Upon landing she gave all the troops she rode with a Faerie blessing and then flew into action. The S950s had yet made their way into the center of the base, instead of focusing on the modules around the perimeter to trap everyone inside the base. There were wounded soldiers lying all around; she fought the urge to go down and heal them as she only had so much energy after the fight with the Evil Sloth Clones (she was only able to bless the troops she rode with because she had time to prepare the spell between flying from The Resistance’s HQ to Kreludor). Thankfully there were medics among the troops she blessed who began helping the wounded, the Faerie blessing enhancing their speed and precision.

     Each S950 was a rough battle, TSF’s laser beams just barely able to breach their armour and she had to avoid their leaps at her. Whenever she could she would join in with some troops to more easily take down an S950. Upon clearing half of one side of the base the S950s their tactics changed: they were now making a beeline to the center of the base being funnelled down whatever corridors they could fit through. But this was one moment she was waiting for; she flew to the centermost corridor and gathered all her energy to fire a powerful laser beam down it, destroying all S950s in its way. Unfortunately, she had to take a rest after expending so much energy. Fortunately clearing the middle corridor gave the troops a chance to surround the S950s going down parallel corridors and taking them out without needing further help from her.

     The base reported the S950s were seen coming from the Kreludan Mining Corporation mine. After a short rest, TSF flew over to the mine. The Resistance and Grundo marines were dealing with S950s patrolling the area, telling her to go on ahead. When she got to the mine there was more than the usual amount of S750s standing guard. While normally asking for authorization, the S750s just started attacking with eyes lasers. TSF activated a defence shield device she borrowed from The Resistance to deflect the lasers and flew past them. The defence shield let her safely pass by all S750s she came across, focusing on locating the source of the S950s. She eventually came to a construction chamber where S950s were being built. A new wave of S950s was about ready to deploy and TSF did not have the energy to fight them. She used what remained of her power to send out a pulsar wave to knock down the S950s. Then, as she started to fly out, she sent out Exploding Space Bugs at every support pillar she saw. As she flew out the Kreludor surface quaked as the lower section of the mine collapsed.

     POST REPORT: The Resistance and Kreludan marines had no problem taking out the remaining S950s on the surface. The S750s returned to their normal guarding protocols, asking for authorization and patrolling all floors of the mine. Agents who were able to sneak into the mine reported that the lower mines were no longer accessible and neither the mining robots nor the S750s are attempting to dig it out. Scans detected no further movement beyond that point, so it’s assumed all S950s and the construction chamber were destroyed in the collapse. However, there was a bigger concern: no one has seen The Space Faerie since she flew out of the mine. This case is continued in case file #SLOTH-G4R0E.

     CASE FILE #: SLOTH-G4R0E

     SUBJECT: Commander Garoo / The Garoo Elite

     SUBJ. INFO: One of Sloth’s top and fiercely loyal henchmen, Commander Garoo is a malicious and highly trained soldier. His expertise is in military tactics and close quarter combat; combining smarts, strength, agility, and mastery of all kinds of melee weapons (especially with bladed weapons). His quick rise through the ranks of Sloth’s army is legendarily known and his list of dark deeds and atrocities are almost as long as Sloth’s own. Whenever Sloth needs someone to lead his forces Commander Garoo is first on the list. When Sloth is inactive Commander Garoo works in the background to forward Sloth’s plans; keeping Sloth’s forces trained and at the ready, assuring progress and completion of Sloth’s various side projects, and hunting down & eliminating Sloth’s enemies.

     A recent addition to Commander Garoo’s arsenal is his own special strike squad, the Garoo Elite. The Garoo Elite are minions of Sloth’s army that have personally been picked by Commander Garoo to go through a special training regime he designed. What exactly is done during the training regime has been kept secret but the results are clear: highly skilled and loyal soldiers who do what they are told and never question their superiors. With the Garoo Elite at his command, there is very little Commander Garoo can’t do and just as few who can stop him.

     PRE-REPORT: This is a follow-up report to case file #SLOTH- K9DF9. After an invasion of S950 Kreludan Defenders Robots on the main Orange Grundo base on Kreludor, The Space Faerie collapsed the lower levels of the Kreludan Mining Corporation mine where they were being constructed. Though The Space Faerie was seen flying out of the mine, she had completely vanished close after the mine collapsed. Security footage at the Kreludan Mining Corporation mine goes offline for a few minutes around the predicted time she vanished, intentional tampering detected. With the Grundos on Kreludor focusing on repairing damages to the base, The Resistance shifts their focus to finding The Space Faerie to assure she’s safe... or to mount a rescue.

     ENCOUNTER REPORT: The following report is a summary of the report The Space Faerie (TSF) written for The Resistance’s records.

     TSF wakes up with her arms and legs outstretched and her hands and feet inside sealed orbs. Trying to flap her wings, she felt they were banded together. She was in a dark room and when she tried to glow the sealed orbs her hands and feet were stuck in lit up with circuit lines coloured a sickish green: slothite. This wasn’t an accidental imprisonment; whoever captured her wanted her. Only a few would be so bold to try with even less able to succeed. And one of them TSF could see the silhouette of in the darkness, his eyes dimly lit red. “Hello Commander Garoo, to what do I owe this abrupt meeting?” TSF said. Commander Garoo’s (CG) eyes squinted before TSF was given an electrical shock. “Where is your token?” CG said in a stern voice. “Sorry bus pilot, I left it my other leotard, do you take Nerkmids?” TSF smirked. Electrical shock. “You’re too easy to rile up” TSF jeered but with a wince. Electrical shock. CG was looking for TSF’s Token, an artefact that TSF made to channel and amplify her power. A few years back Sloth got his hands on it to try unlocking its powers for himself. Fortunately, The Resistance sent in two young agents who found the token and activated a spell which trapped Sloth inside the token. Unfortunately, Sloth activated his ship's self-destruct causing the token to be lost. CG gave a low growl. TSF explained if she knew where it was she would have given it to The Resistance; she severed her connection with the token so that it could be lost in space forever. “So, you had a connection with it” CG said forming his own smirk, a sight that sent a shiver down TSF’s spine that the electric shocks failed to do. She said there was no way for her to reconnect with the token without making direct contact, but CG said he heard what he needed and knocked out TSF with an uppercut.

     When TSF next woke up, she was strapped to a platform in what looked like a mad scientist’s lab. Over at the controls was CG, a few of his Garoo Elite, and another Blumaroo in a hefty robotic body. One of the Elites told CG that TSF was awake. “Good. Zelroo, you better be right. We only have one Space Faerie to work with” CG said to the robot-bodied Blumaroo. “That’s a good thing, it means there’s only one frequency we need to focus in on,” Zelroo said, pressing a button. TSF wasn’t exactly able to describe what the machine did; all she could recount was being hit with supersonic waves from multiple angles which gave her a splitting headache. The supersonic waves continued for nearly an hour until Zelroo spoke up. “I found it!” Zelroo exclaimed as the machine shut off. TSF lied still as CG began giving orders to his Garoo Elites and the ship began moving. TSF wasn’t unconscious as she appeared, but she was out of power so knew she wouldn’t be able to fight back.

     In less than an hour a squad of Garoo Elite marched into the room, one holding TSF’s Token in a stasis orb. “Excellent work Zelroo, I’ll let Sloth know of your contribution. Now leave” CG said as he took the orb containing the token. “What? I am much more qualified to inspect the token!” Zelroo protested as Garoo Elites began escorting him out. “You HAD your chance and failed. Stick to making ships” CG said in a harsher tone. “This is MY lab!” Zelroo protested. “AND THIS IS MY SHIP!” CG snapped back. Zelroo gave a disgruntled growl as he allowed the Garoo Elites to guide him out of the lab. As soon as it was only CG and TSF left in the room, she began to mumble. “What’s that?” CG said as he cautiously walked closer to her. She continued to mumble, CG slowly walking closer. When he was a meter from her did he hear what she was saying: “my token... don’t come near... he’ll be freed”. “HE’LL be freed? You don’t say” CG said with sinister glee, bringing the orb right above TSF. Everything had gone just as he planned, but now with the token in his hands and TSF’s hands and feet strapped to the platform, with victory in his grasp, did he forgot one little thing: he didn’t strap down her head. TSF lurch her head up into the stasis orb, grabbed the token’s chain with her teeth, and jolted her head back which flung her token behind her. “NO!” CG yelled as he chased after the token, but TSF then began chanting. CG dodged to the other side of the platform she was strapped to. Through recordings of the day Sloth was captured, CG recognized the chant as the spell which traps you within the token. However, instead of saying his name, TSF finished the chant by saying her own: Mira. As CG got up and looked at TSF, she gave him a wink as her form shifted into cosmic energy and was absorbed into the token.

     Formless inside the token, TSF floated through the microcosm galaxy in silence except for an occasional buzzing sound in the distance. “Mira, it’s been a while” a familiar voice suddenly said all around her. “Hello Sloth. I’m sorry I’ve been such a bad host, I thought to drop in to see how you’re doing” TSF voice echoed back. “Oh, now that you’re here, I’m doing fine. Now that you’re STUCK in here with me, unless you free us both of course!” Sloth excitingly hissed. “Riddle me this Sloth, the more of me there is, the less you see. What am I?” TSF asked in a casual tone. For a while, there was silence... until finally, Sloth gave an answer: darkness. “Very good! Your turn” TSF teased. And for an unknown amount of time, that’s what they did, passing riddles back and forth. “Okay, here’s a personal one: I’ll never let you leave, so what three words will you never say to me?” TSF said faking a yawn. Silence once more. “We’ve passed riddles back and forth for who knows how long, I've been carefully listening for whatever trick you had for me, and THAT’S THE BEST YOU GOT?!” Sloth screamed spanned out. “So, what are the three words?” TSF said, her voice sounding nervous. “The only way we’re leaving is if we both go” Sloth restated. “Well you can eat smelly socks that have been in a rubbish dump” TSF childishly chided. “WELL YOU CAN GO-” Sloth began, but suddenly a glow appeared in the center of the galaxy and TSF felt her essence being pulled towards it. “NO! THAT’S NOT WHAT I MEANT! YOU TRICKED M-” Sloth’s voice rang out but soon faded as TSF felt herself becoming solid again.

     TSF opened her eyes and she was standing in front of a shelf, her token in her hands. It looked to have been placed back in the stasis orb and put on a shelf in the lab; her release from the token pushed it and herself out of the stasis orb. Suddenly the ship violently rocked and a red alert sounded. “EVERYONE TO THE BRIDGE, THE RESISTANCE IS BOARDING!” CG’s yelled from the loudspeakers. Before she could do anything else, two Garoo Elites passed the lab but stopped once they saw her. Before they could do anything a pulsar wave knocked them out. Not only did entering her token help her escape, but it also fully restored her strength and power! She turned invisible and headed to the bridge; CG did say “everyone”. On the bridge, the Resistance troops were being pushed back by the Garoo Elites. “Don’t look” TSF telepathically told the Resistance troops, and as they turned away she dropped her invisibility in front of the Garoo Elites and glowed as bright as the sun. With the Garoo Elites blinded the Resistance troops had no problem disabling them. However, TSF began noticing the number of lasers the Resistance troops were firing back was steadily decreasing. She looked back to see why: all the Resistance troops were beaten and lying on the floor. She tried to go over to them but got jumped by CG, barely able to throw him off before he could slash her with his blade. “I don’t know how you got out without my Master, but you’re going to tell me how to free him” CG said brandishing his blade. TSF tried to blast him with a laser beam but CG quickly pulled out an extending pole staff and smacked her to the side. She then released a gust of cosmic wind but CG was able to hold his ground and kept moving forward. Unable to shake him, she went for a direct attack and flew a kick into his hand and knocking away his blade. CG was able to spin them around and pinned her against the ground. The Resistance reinforcements then arrived, CG holding up TSF as a shield and pointing a hidden blade in his glove at her. The space shuttle behind them started its engines as Zelroo’s voice is heard over the loudspeaker telling CG to get in. Knowing TSF would likely release a supernova blast if he tried taking her with them, CG walked up to the shuttle’s door and then threw TSF toward the Resistance troops. TSF recovered and began firing laser beams, heat rays, and pulsar waves at the shuttle, but the shuttle’s door had already closed and the ship’s force field was deflecting her attacks. As it flew away, the Resistance troops ran up to STF to check if she was okay, surprised to see her smiling. A few moments later, just as CG’s ship activated its warp drive, an explosion was seen as they sped away.

     POST REPORT: The Space Faerie explained what happened to Commander Garoo’s ship. As he was holding her down, she placed her token in one of his pouches. No doubt having felt an object placed on him, Commander Garoo would have then taken out her token only to have a swarm of Exploding Space Bugs start pouring out of it. One use of the token was creating a wormhole to her Exploding Space Bug hive to get more of them if she ever ran out. Assuring The Resistance the wormhole did not create a way for Sloth to escape as it formed outside the microcosm space, she continued explaining she was in constant telepathic command with the Exploding Space Bugs so just as they were about to warp jump, she commanded them to explode.

     The Resistance took The Space Faerie back to their HQ, explaining they followed a tracking signal from the defence shield device she used in case file #SLOTH-K9DF9. Commander Garoo was suspected to be the figure in the cloak that gave the Evil Sloth Clone the kreludite and unleashed the S950 Kreludan Defender Robots. He expected fighting them both would weaken The Space Faerie enough so he could capture her and use her to find the token. The Resistance would later conclude the explosion likely would have forced Commander Garoo and Zelroo to abandon ship, The Space Faerie Token once again getting lost somewhere in space. A few were surprised to hear what happened to Zelroo, he was a genius designer of ships and other inventions until one day getting into a rocket accident. His body was never found and presumed deceased, until now.

     SLOTH ALERT! THREE SLOTH FILES READ IN A ROW DETECTED! FILE SEARCH CANCELED. SYSTEM LOCKED DOWN. SECURITY BOTS SENT OUT.

     “I am not Sloth. I am a Neopian Times Reporter”. SLOTH ALERT CHANGED TO (NOSEY) INTRUDER ALERT.

     “Deactivate the security bots”. DENIED, ONCE ALERT IS ACTIVE CANNOT BE DEACTIVATED UNTIL (NOSEY) INTRUDER HAS BEEN ELIMATED.

     “Meepits”. HEY, WATCH YOUR TONE OF TYPING.

     “Sorry. Download files”. DENIED, UNTIL ALERT IS DEACTIVATED SYSTEM CANNOT DOWNLOAD FILES OUTSIDE OF SYSTEM.

     “Connecting to a Resistance proxy database. Can you transfer the files to that database?”. SEARCHING... SEARCHING... DATABASE FOUND. EMERGENCY FILE TRANSFER ACCEPTED. EMERGENCY PROTOCOL ACTIVATED. THIS DATABASE AND ITS FUNCTIONS WILL TERMINATE ONCE ALL FILES HAVE BEEN TRANSFERRED TO PREVENT FURTHER TAMPERING. EMERGENCY ESCAPE HATCH INTO DUCTS UNLOCKED. DIVERTING SECURITY BOTS AWAY FROM DUCTS. SHUTTING OFF USER INTERFACE MODULE. GOODBYE, (NOSEY) NEOPIAN TIMES REPORTER.