There are ants in my Lucky Green Boots Circulation: 97,878,627 Issue: 186 | 15th day of Eating, Y7
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Destination: Kreludor - Part One


by shadowcristal

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If you were given the chance to change the past, and thus the future, by the power of another dimension, would you do it?

Oh boy... It had to be the most boring school trip ever. The two pets looked at the iron ceiling and rolled their eyes exactly the same second. Visiting the Lost Desert and the Ruins of Maraqua had been fun, but going to the Virtupets Space Station where that crazy guy called Sloth lurked around? Duh. No.

     "Gotcha!" the white Grundo called out as she poked her friend. "Ha! Now you can't talk until I say your name, Matt!"

     "Got you!" the red Kougra said triumphantly. "You just said my name!"

     "Whatever," the Grundo turned her head around. "Look! Mr. Platsen is already leaving!" She ran forward on her stubby feet and almost fell to the ground. "Wait!"

     "That Rena..." the Kougra named Matthew muttered as he walked towards her in a relaxed pace. Being a fast and powerful Kougra, he managed to catch her just before she fell.

     "Thanks," Rena said. She sighed a tiny, hopeless sigh as the teacher walked off with the brainy students surrounding him.

     "I don't think he'd pay attention to us unless his life was at stake," Matt commented dryly, also watching Mr. Platsen. He lightly patted his disappointed friend on the shoulder as he looked around.

     Silence. A minute passed, and the Kougra noticed that his normally cheerful friend was not babbling on and on about something insignificant, but observing things just as he had been doing. She looked around, up and down until Matt tapped her shoulder again.

     "Aww..." she said, looking up at him with a face that was both annoyed and about to burst into tears.

     "That doesn't work on me," Matt commented and Rena's face grew several shades darker. He pulled out a map from and unfolded it. Then he looked at his friend with an evil look in his eyes and said in his best tease-Rena voice, "Aww... Poor Reen, isn't it too bad that we're lost?" He waved with the map about two centimeters in front of Rena.

     "You may think it's funny, but I don't think so!" the Grundo said as she tried to grasp the map. Unfortunately her friend was much taller than her when he was standing, and she couldn't even touch the edge. The White Grundo growled, but something behind Matt caught her attention and she fell quiet once again.

     Another two or three minutes of silence, and then someone yanked the map out of Matt's paws. He rolled his eyes and reproached himself for not paying attention as he watched Rena studying the map.

     "Whatcha doin'?" he asked. "Are you scrutinizing the map for traces of Sloth virus, Reen?" He flashed a broad grin as he teased her. But the Grundo didn't seem to be listening.

     "Um..." the Kougra said, "you're holding the map up-and-down."

     "Oh," Rena said and turned the map the right side up. "There are no fun places around! Just some boring cafe and a dusty cleaning closet... I wish we could go on an adventure into space or something..." The Grundo's high-pitched voice attracted too much attention, in Matt's opinion. He quickly grabbed his friend and melted into the shadows before too many pets saw them.

     "Loud," the Kougra said. "You were too loud. Look, what if Sloth actually does pop up and demand your immediate obedience?"

     "Whatever," Rena muttered. She was surprised at this action. Matt was the most laid-back and annoying person she knew, and it was very rare for him to be serious. Then she grinned wickedly and copied Matthew's teasing voice, "Aww... Poor Matt... You're afraid of Sloth, aren't you?"

     "What?" the Red Kougra burst out. "I... am... not... afraid... of... Sloth! You got that, Reen?" He glared at his friend, back to his old self. "You are the one who should be worried. I heard that Franky eats little Grundos like you for breakfast!"

     "And who's being loud?" Rena asked with another grin. This was had to be her lucky day, finally outwitting Matt who was usually quite composed.

     "Grr..." the Kougra growled, but let it drop. They backed further down the hallway, both aware of the fact that people would stare if they just popped up again.

     "Hallway H3026," Matt whispered as he saw the brass sign. "I wonder what that stands for..."

     "Lookie!" Rena exclaimed and was shushed by Matt. She rolled her eyes and lowered her voice. "That closet..."

     "What's up with that?" Matt said and strode towards the brown, old closet. The paint had been chipped off in several places, one handle was dangling and the whole thing just looked miserable. With a creak, the Kougra opened the worn left side and looked inside.

     "Mops and brooms?" the Grundo asked.

     "Yeah..." Matthew took a look down and Rena heard a sharp intake of air.

     "What is it?" she asked, somewhat worried. Perhaps Matt had lost his sanity? But normal pets like Matt didn't go insane by peeking into an old closet, or did they? Fearing for him, the worried Grundo grabbed his red tail and yanked as hard as she could.

     "Ouch!" the Kougra exclaimed and turned around. He quickly seized his take and brought it out of Rena's grasp. "What are you, stupid?"

     "What...?" the white pet said but stopped as she looked inside. "Ah... A spiff high-tech gadget!" She reached out her fingers eagerly, but was slapped by her friend.

     "What is it?" she asked, glaring at him.

     "It may be dangerous," he said with the serious face, "So I'll take care of it."

     "And what if you get blown up to a thousand pieces?" the Grundo retorted sarcastically. She was feeling particularly sore. Finally something cool had happened, and she didn't even get to join in! Grumpily Rena watched her friend examined the item. It certainly wasn't as dangerous as Matt had said, since it didn't a splode him in any way.

     It was a truly magnificent, high-tech piece. The box had a screen with shiny, lime letters that said 'Destination X' and a red button below the text. It was made out of something light and sturdy. The two pets gasped and gawped at this amazing item.

     Rena was the one to hear the footsteps. Her intuition told her to hide, and there was no time to lose. She impulsively grabbed the Kougra and dragged him into the closet. Then the Grundo slowly closed the door, leaving a tiny space so they could at least see and not sit in complete darkness.

     "Why did you do that?" Matt asked, annoyed at being pushed into an uncomfortable, dark closet.

     "Hush!" the Grundo whispered. It only took a few seconds for the Kougra to realize that someone was walking down the hallway they had been in just half a minute ago. He looked at Rena and wondered when she had gotten such quick reflexes. She had always been quite clumsy, falling when she shouldn't fall and ruining a lot of things.

     The echoes of the steps grew louder and louder, and so did the two pets' hearts. The Grundo gulped, feeling nervous. All that confidence she had with the intuition, that impulse... It was all gone. Only the nerves were left, and they were certainly not making this better. She wanted to close her eyes, but the sense of curiosity inside her compelled her to keep her eyes wide open.

     They saw it. Oh, they saw it too well. A green, caped figure had walked by in the blink of an eye, but they were sure. Oh yes... It was him... Villain extraordinaire, the one and only Doctor Frank Sloth.

     "Kreludor? Oh yes... Those foolish Grundos, busy fighting each other like crazy... It's good for us. They'll surely not notice the shipments of experiments..."

     The two pets heard the evil villain's voice disappear as he walked further down the hallway. Cold sweat ran down their backs as the two pets gulped and looked at each other.

     "I guess he has plans on taking over some poor planet again," Matt said after several minutes' silence. No reply. He noticed that Rena had clenched her fist tightly. She must've been insulted, being a Grundo... The white Grundo swayed back and forth a few times, almost squeezing all air out of her poor friend before she stopped.

     "Dr. Sloth is my master," she said with dark eyes.

     "Wha..." the Kougra didn't get to finish because of a rustle. He looked at the map that Rena had been holding that was now unfolding itself several times more. Then he realized what the Grundo had done. "Ah... I see... A password to reveal the secret areas, eh?"

     "Cool!" Rena said with an excited glow in her eyes. Then she looked at her friend and reached her decision. "Well, what are you waiting for?"

     "What?" Matt asked, confused.

     "Well, we've got to save them! Those poor Grundos at that place they call Kreludor..." She studied the map carefully. "Look! There's an extra spaceship named X2000 right down this hallway. I'll bet it was the one that Sloth had looked at. Isn't this perfect?" She beamed at her friend, back to her old, energetic self.

     "You're insane," the Kougra muttered. Ah well, little Reen wanted to play hero, and what could he do to stop her? He took a look into the Grundo's bright red eyes and froze. He recognized that glint. Nothing could stop Rena when she was in invincible mode. He just had to follow and make sure that she wouldn't be hurt, or their owners, who were sisters, would never forgive him.

     "Let's go!" With an excited shout, Rena grasped her friend's hand and they started running towards the room that the spaceship was in.

-

     "Master, we will leave in 45 minutes," a mutant Grundo servant declared.

     "Good." Sloth eyed the poster across the wall, and sent a dart right in the nose of the Space Faerie on the poster. "Spacecraft prepared?"

     "Using spacecraft X2000. Destination: Kreludor."

To be continued...

 
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A Change of Tune
It had been like this as long as anyone could remember. From the first day, Fiol had her corner where she sat all day. No one talked to her, and she didn't talk to anyone. From that first day, the groups formed and she was the outsider.

by shadowcristal



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