"The winner of this year's Geology Club Science Contest is... Tayla!" the club president announced.

"I won! I won!" the Acara yelled, jumping out of her seat. She ran onto the stage and graciously accepted her trophy.

"Your study on minerals was amazing, my dear," the president said, shaking Tayla's hand. "As your reward for this exemplary science project, you've been awarded a weeklong trip to the Kreludan Moon!"

"Oh my! Really? Thank you!" she squealed, then hugged the president, who blushed. "I always wanted to visit the moon! Imagine all the cool rocks and minerals it has to study� I can't wait!"

Tayla's nose made smudges on the small window of the spacecraft as it jetissoned away from the Space Station. Slowly, the moon grew larger and larger, as did the Acara's excitement. I wonder what I'll find there? Maybe some great mineral that will help all of Neopia! Or, perhaps, some beautiful moon rocks, or... Tayla's thoughts were interrupted as the spacecraft gently set down on the planet.

"Here we are, miss... Kreludor," the green Grundo, who had been piloting the ship, told her. "I'll be back at this spot in one week to pick you up. Enjoy yourself!"

Tayla thanked him, grabbed her backpack, and stepped out of the ship...

Author's Note: No event that may occur in this story is in any way related to actual site plots, as it is a work of unrelated fiction by various site players.

Tayla gave a wordless cry, flinging her arms forward to brace herself, expecting to crash face-first at any moment. She floated gently down instead, though, landing safely on the crater-filled surface. "Wow!" she cried gleefully. "A reduction of gravity!"

As a dutiful science nerd, Tayla bent down to retrieve her backpack and take notes on her first observation, when she felt someone watching her. Looking up, her gaze was met by a pair of shining, orb-like eyes. "A native inhabitant!" Tayla exclaimed, her thoughts of recording data in a scientific method quickly vanishing. She lunged after the "native" at once, heedless of the farewell calls that came from the ship behind her as it took off into space.

The Acara had intended to run quickly, but her movements were exaggerated by the weak gravity field. The moment her foot hit the ground she was thrust ten feet into the air; after a great deal of thrashing about, she finally returned to the surface. Growling in frustration, she said, "How am I supposed to walk up here?!"

Tayla then looked up, just in time to see that the creature had appeared again before her. He was smiling and waving his hands... he was beckoning her...

..."Hi!" the orange Grundo cheerfully greeted her as she got close enough for them to see each other clearly. "We don't have too many visitors here, so welcome to Kreludor."

Tayla and the orange Grundo exchanged pleasantries. He told her that his name was Jondrem, and that he was a writer for the Kreludan Journal of Science.

This news excited Tayla, and she said, "Oh my! I'm actually up here to explore and observe the native geology... what a fantastic coincidence!"

She started to jump up and down in excitement. Luckily, though, Jondrem was able to grab her by the ankle. "Calm down," he said, smiling. "You planet dwellers don't know your own strength."

Tayla giggled her thanks, then asked Jondrem, "Do you know of any cool geological sites that I should explore?"

"Well," Jondrem began, "as a matter of fact, I do. I was just on my way to the mines to examine a new mineral that was just discovered yesterday... it looks pretty exciting. I understand that you just got here, and might be a bit tired, but if you feel up for a hike into the inner recesses of the moon, then you're welcome to join me! I'd love to show you around."

Tayla was overjoyed, but remembered not to jump up and down in excitement. Instead, she just squeaked her response.

"I'll take that as a 'yes'," the orange Grundo chortled. "Follow me."

As they walked toward the mines, Tayla and Jondrem shared stories from their academic experiences on their respective worlds. Upon reaching the mining area, and a short miner ran out to meet them.

"I'm sorry," the little Grundo began, "but I'm afraid we aren't letting anybody into the mines today... especially not planet-dwellers," he said, sneering at Tayla.

The Acara, who appeared crestfallen and a little hurt, pleaded with the miner. "Why?" she asked, "I just came to explore a little... I won't even get in anybody's way."

"Yes, I would also like to know what is keeping us from being able to down into the mines today..." Jondrem said sternly.

"Well," the miner said, "there have been a few highly experienced miners who came up missing after some strange noises were heard, and we haven't heard from them since. Rumour has it that the eerie noises may be coming from the depths in the mine, where Dr. Sloth used to rally his minions!"...

"Banging, machinery, that kind of stuff. There's something going on down there, that's for sure. I just hope it's not something too sinister."

"You never know," Tayla butted in, hoping to lighten the atmosphere that surrounded the worried Grundos. "It might not be anything sinister at all! It could be a toy factory or something!"

"Don't be silly," Jondrem said. "Who would build toys in a place like this?"

"She may be right," the miner said. "It could be anything. I guess we'll never truly know what it is, unless we go down there and see for ourselves."

"Are you serious!?!" Jondrem gasped, clutching his mouth with his hands. "It might be Dr. Sloth!"

"And it might not be," the miner said, quite calmly. "As for me, I'm going down there. I guess that, if you want to go down there so badly, then you're invited to join me..." he said, eyeing Tayla. "I'm not afraid to go down, but if I go missing too, then you're going to feel awfully guilty."

Tayla looked at Jondrem and whispered, "He's right, you know... I think we should accompany him. If there isn't anything wrong down there, then I'd be missing a great opportunity to study rock samples. Besides, like the saying goes, there's safety in numbers..."

Jondrem smiled awkwardly, then replied, "Okay, okay... I guess it wouldn't hurt to just take a peek down there. If the situation gets dangerous, we can always double-back to the surface."

The trio prepared themselves with flashlights and other equipment, then set off into the depths of the mines. As they continued to descend, the air got progressively colder... then, after about half an hour, Tayla's flashlight began to dim.

"I think the power's going in this thing," she said, hitting the side of the flashlight.

"Well, that's peculiar..." the miner said, "because mine is going out, too."

"Mine also," Jondrem added.

Suddenly, all three flashlights went out at once.

"Oh no," the miner gasped. "I-I think that was a power surge."

There was a bang -- a big bang that shook the floor and ceiling of the small tunnel they'd been progressing along. It was also dark, very dark...

...All was still for a moment, then Jondrem tried to swallow his fear. "Did you guys f-feel that?" he asked, barely whispering.

Tayla shivered, clutching her flashlight. "Yeah, I-I did. Um, I think we should try to leave now..."

"Are my little friends afraid?" a booming voice hissed in a mocking tone. "Don't worry, you still have a few more minutes to live."

A bellowing, evil laugh echoed throughout the tunnel, causing the floor and ceiling to vibrate again. Tayla looked up, just as two red slits materialized out of the darkness. She gasped, then whimpered to Jondrem and the miner, "It's Dr. Sloth!"

"Yes, it's me!" the voice declared, its red slits widening to form large eyes. "I hope you've enjoyed your stay here on Kreludor, because it's about to end... right now, to be precise!"

Tayla shrieked as she and the two Grundos stumbled away from a fleet of machinery, which was approaching them as they tried to escape. It wasn't long, however, before they tripped and fell, sprawling onto the ground.

"Don't bother trying to escape," Dr. Sloth sneered menacingly, as Tayla felt the cold metal machines touching her paws. "It's all over..."

Wait a second! Tayla thought, The gravity is so much weaker here, I bet I could...

Without wasting another minute, Tayla grabbed the wrists of the two Grundos, then slammed her feet into the ground, full-force. The three rocketed ahead of the clanking metal machines, soaring past the cave walls at a speed that she didn't even want to try and guess. Suddenly, Tayla suddenly realized that, if they were to keep going at this rate, they would soon collide head-on with a rock wall!

Panicking, the trio flailed their respective limbs in a vain effort to impede the collision. At the last moment, Tayla was able to draw her body around, stick her feet forward, and bound off the wall. Again and again they bounced through the caverns at a miraculous speed. Eventually they would find themselves in a small cavern, which was filled with rock and mineral deposits.

The three stopped to catch their breath. The Neopian sun was currently shining onto the moon, shooting enough light down the shafts for them to see well enough to move around. Shiny deposits of minerals reflected the light through the cavern...

...Tayla squealed with giddy excitement, then dashed to examine the minerals with her magnifying glass.

Jondrem shook his head and sat down with the miner, to enjoy the minute they had to rest.

Tayla was soon gabbing energetically to herself, despite being so scared just moments ago. "Look at the shape of this mineral! And, oh my... a Kreludian sapphire!" She worked busily, classifying and tagging what seemed like every rock in the cave.

Jondrem raised his eyebrows as she sped past him. "A busy one, aren't we?"

Tayla shooed him away, "Can't talk... finding minerals."

She finally laid back against the cave wall, completely satisfied. "I found all of them... every single one."

Jondrem began to speak, but stopped suddenly and frowned. "Do you hear that?"

The miner got up, then pressed his ear against the cave wall. "Yeah, it's coming from in here." he said, tapping the wall nervously. "If this is Dr. Sloth's lair, then there's bound to be all kinds of trap walls and other stuff around here."

Jondrem nodded. "That makes sense..." He, too, began tapping the walls. After awhile they both gave up, slumping to the ground dejectedly.

Tayla shrieked and flew past them yet again, this time to examine a growth on the wall. "Ouch!" she yelled. Her cry was immediately followed by a large explosion.

Jondrem and the miner looked up, startled.

Tayla was gripping her toe and staring at the far wall. "I-I accidentally kicked a rock... it hit the wall..." she said breathlessly, her mouth agape.

All three stared at the hole in the cavern wall that the explosion had made. From it, a teeming group of overjoyed Grundos poured out. "You found us! You found us! We knew you would!"

Jondrem gasped, then said, "It's the missing miners!"...

"Dr. Sloth is here!" one of them whispered while looking around nervously, almost as if he was afraid Dr. Sloth would hear him. "We all, at one time or another, wandered down into the mine, working as usual. Then, these strange robots came up and captured us! Ever since, he's been forcing us to mine out a strange mineral that none of us had ever seen before. We do not know what it all means!" the Grundo explained eagerly.

"What did the mineral look like?" Tayla asked, certain that she would know what it was.

"It had a strange gold and silver sheen to it, and it broke easily. Once broken, it is bright red inside. It's extremely smooth, and very glossy." one of the Grundos in the back piped up.

Tayla gasped, a look of horror coming over her face. "OH NO! That's Deptormite! If Dr. Sloth were to get his hands on enough of it, he'd be capable of destroying the whole of Kreludor!" Tayla moaned. "A-and if he blew up Kreludor, then the remains would fall down in a meteor shower and destroy Neopia!"

"We have to stop him!!" Jondrem cried upon hearing the information that Tayla had given them.

Tayla put a paw up to her chin and thought for a moment, then looked up. "I think I have an idea. If we all..."

..."I don't think so!!!" a booming voice rang out in the small chamber. Tayla and the miners looked up to see none other than Dr. Sloth, with his fleet of machinery pouring from the hole behind him.

The miners gasped in fear and, backing away from the imposing figure, left Tayla standing there alone. Well, almost alone, as Jondrem was standing just behind her, trembling.

Tayla quickly looked around the room to see if, perhaps, her plan was still salvageable from this point. There, a few feet away from her, was a mid-sized chunk of Deptormite, which had rolled out from the hole where the miners had emerged. Turning her head just a little, she whispered, "Distract him." to Jonderm.

"How?" Jonderm whispered back, trembling with fear.

"However you can." Tayla whispered, pulling him in front of her.

"S-sir, why are you doing this?" he asked Dr. Sloth, remembering that all super-villains loved to explain their plan in great detail before finishing off any who might oppose them.

"Wouldn't you like to know?!?" Dr. Sloth said with a chuckle. He was then caught off guard when, much to his surprise, Jondrem nodded eagerly.

"Oh yes, indeed, it must be a fascinating plan you have!!" Jondrem said, seizing upon his chance to help Tayla.

When Dr. Sloth launched into a long lecture about his plans, Tayla crept closer to the miners and, in hushed tones, explained her plan to them, before creeping out and retrieving the bit of Deptormite she had seen. They carefully spread out, with several of the miners picking up smaller pebbles of Deptormite that littered the ground.

As Dr. Sloth finally got around to explaining the final part of his plan (much to a quickly greening Jondrem's horror), Tayla gave the signal, then hurled the explosive rock towards the evil villain. The other miners quickly followed her example, and thunderous booms sounded as the rocks went off, creating lots of blinding flashes and smoke.

When the smoke cleared, Dr. Sloth was nowhere to be seen, and his fleet of machinery lay scattered in pieces.

"Yay, it worked!!!" Tayla shouted, jumping up and down, forgetting in her excitement that there was less gravity than she was used to. "OWW!!!" she exclaimed when her head met roughly with the cave roof.

The miners couldn't help but giggle at her exuberance, and Tayla pouted for a moment, before realizing that Jondrem was standing there, staring in shock, at where Dr. Sloth had been mere moments before.

"What's wrong?" she asked him as the miners celebrated and congratulated each other.

"I think Dr. Sloth got away." Jondrem related sadly.

"Maybe so... but next time, you'll be ready for him!" Tayla announced. "Come on," she said, lifting up her backpack full of mineral samples. "Let's get back to the surface! I think I need a vacation to recover from my vacation," she said, laughing.

Jondrem grinned, then began following her as they all made their way back to the surface. "Why don't you come back to Neopia with me, Jondrem?" Tayla asked. "You, too," she said, turning to the miner that had originally accompanied them down. "I bet you two could give a great lecture at the Geology Club!"

The two Grundos considered it, then happily agreed. Tayla smiled... not only had she found a backpack full of minerals to study on her trip, but two friends as well.

The End