"Ahhh!! Where is it?" Satasha yelled, lifting a throw pillow over her head as she looked beneath it. "Ahhhhhh!" she continued screaming, running around her room with the pillow still held over her head. Exhausted, she finally stopped, sat on the floor, then dropped her arms and stuck her face into the throw pillow and began to sob. It was gone. Satasha's personal diary, the place where she wrote down all her innermost thoughts, was gone. Stolen, most likely, she thought to herself, but by whom? She was always sure to hide it in her super-secret spot when she was done writing every evening.

The red Usul lifted her head from the tear-stained pillow and looked around. Her bedroom now looked like a tornado had hit it, with drawers flung open, her rubbish bin upended, and most of her belongings scattered across the floor. Still no diary, and now I need to clean up this mess. The worn out Usul slowly stood up, then started arranging her room again. However, her mind wasn't on the task at hand - it was on what she had written in her diary, and what would happen if anyone read it...

Another snort of laughter from behind the door caused her to make up her mind. He was the kind of Neopet to steal his sister's diary. She stormed through the door and into her brother's room, nearly tripping over a discarded tray of food in doing so. Temar was sitting on the windowsill with his friend Patrick, a yellow Yurble. Her face immediatly flushed with embarrassment -- she hadn't realized that Temar had a guest.

Satasha turned away and caught sight of herself in the mirror across the room. I look terrible, she screamed in her head, momentarily forgetting the real reason she had entered her brother's Snorkle sty of a room. Her tail was all ruffled, her eyes were red from crying, and she hadn't brushed her hair since yeterday.

"What are you doing in here!" Her brother's slightly guilty voice jarred Satasha to her senses. She glowered at him, noticing that he was hiding something behind his back. Craning her neck, the Usul caught sight of a corner of what looked like a pink leatherbound book.

"Give me my diary, Temar!"

A cheeky grin spread across her brother's face. "Why should I? Pat and I were just about to read it!"

Patrick was blushing now, staring at his claws. Satasha gave a growl of anger and threw herself at her brother, grabbing at the book whilst he tried his best to keep it out of her reach. The fight was short-lived, though. Temar lost his balance, and fell backwards. Satasha dived for the diary, but to no avail. It flew from Temar's paws, arched through the air, and shot right out the window...

"My diary! You idiot!" Satasha shrieked, slapping Temar as she bolted from his room and down the staircase. Lunging like a Kougra on the prowl onto the living room rug, she darted to the front door and leapt upon the sidewalk with a frenzied cry.

Her eyes flew to the spot beneath the limbs of the tree where she had seen the book land. And, to her horror, the diary had mysteriously disappeared! Letting out a furious shout, she looked up and down the road for one who might have taken it.

Something rustled in the branches above the tree. Her eyes narrowing to slits, now brimming with ferocious fire, she walked directly beneath the oustretching branches and looked up. Unsurprisingly enough, she saw Gregor there, clutching her diary and snickering quietly.

"Gregor! Give me back my book this instant!" Satasha demanded, shaking a clenched fist at the triumphant spotted Mynci. How could her brother be friends with that brat? She suddenly realized that she'd just answered her own question.

"A book, eh? This looks too private to be a book," the Mynci responded with a sneer. "I think it's a... Oh, it's a diary! How... surprising." Gregor then let out a burst of high-pitched laughter. Cold tendrils of fear wove their way through Satasha's wide eyes.

"I said, GIVE IT BACK!" Satasha shrieked. "I've been looking for it for the past day! Give it back to me, now!"

"If you were so interested in finding it, why did you chuck it out the window, hmmmmmm?" Gregor asked, cocking his head slightly to the left. "Since you don't want it, I think I'll keep it for myself. Better yet, why don't I read it aloud?"

"Stop it!" Satasha cried, but the anger was lost from her voice, now replaced with tearful fear. "Just give it back already!"

"Ah-ah-ah," the Mynci taunted, wiggling a finger. "Say the magic word."

"Please?" Satasha pleaded. "Please, I beg of you!"

"No, that's not the magic word," Gregor replied with a toothy grin before laughing loudly. "It's 'chokato'! Hahahahaha!"

"Gregor, just give it back!"

"The 15th Day of the month of Hunting, Year 3. Dear Diary--"

"Gregor, I'm warning you!"

"'School is awful. I don't think anyone likes me. No one will talk to me... I'm just a geek with glasses whom everybody hates. Oh Diary, I--'"

"That's it!" Satasha hissed, clambering up the trunk of the tree and swiping at Gregor. With a gasp the Mynci lost his grip on the tree branch and toppled to the sidewalk below. The hand that clutched the diary slammed down onto the sidewalk -- Gregor winced in pain -- and the fluttering book whizzed through the air, flopping onto the side of the street.

"My arm!" Gregor shouted, then let out a cry of pain.

"My diary!" Satasha screamed, leaping from where she stood at the book. But yet again, it evaded her grasp. This time, however, it found a new home in a place she wouldn't dare look for it.

For her diary had now slid down the gutter and into the sewer...

"I've been telling you that!" laughed Temar, who was now standing in the open doorway of their Neohome. Only Patrick, who timidly stood behind Temar, seemed partially embarrassed at the situation.

Satasha, meanwhile, was too upset to even listen to their cruel and taunting words. She leaned down by the gutter and tried to peer into the inky blackness of the sewer, but found it was no use. The tears, which had been falling all day since she first found her precious diary was missing, poured from her once more.

"So, Gregor," Temar said, completely ignoring his sister, "what are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to show you this cool new toy I managed to get from the Money Tree." He pulled a Koi replica who appeared to dressed for battle.

"Neat," Temar said, "but who is he?"

Satasha slowly stood, a darkness passing over her features like a dark cloud over the sun. "You don't have time to play with dolls right now," she announced in a heavy tone. "You're going to help me get my diary back."

"They're not dolls!" Temar shouted. "I've told you before; these are action figures!"

Satasha didn't answer as she walked over to a nearby manhole cover and struggled to lift it up. It took several minutes, and her sweat was intermingling freely with her tears, but finally she managed to set the heavy cover aside.

"You really are crazy!" Gregor shouted. "No one goes in the sewers around here. Haven't you heard of the Sewage Beast? He'll eat you up if he catches you."

"I don't believe in that silly old story. Besides, I'm not going in alone," Satasha stated. "In fact, you're going in first." She jumped forward and grabbed the struggling Mynci and pulled him closer to the hole.

"You can't make me!" Gregor screamed, his voice becoming laced with fear. "Stop her, Temar!"

"He can't help you," Satasha continued in her even tone. "Now, either you climb down, or I'll drop you. The choose is yours."

Gregor finally saw that she meant business, so he stopped struggling. Satasha released her grip on the small Mynci, who turned again to Temar for support. Seeing that his friend wasn't going to risk his sister's wrath to help him, he slowly began to climb down the hole.

Minutes passed with agonizing slowness. "Do you see anything?" Satasha finally called down.

At first, there was no answer. But then...

"What is it?" Satasha yelled down into the inky blackness.

"Oh, this is awful!" Gregor moaned. "Do you realize what I'm standing in?" On hearing this, Temar and Patrick wrinkled their noses in disgust. Satasha, however, remained unmoved.

"It's your own fault," Satasha answered. "If you would have just given back my diary when I asked for it instead of acting like a jerk, you wouldn't have to be down there right now. And speaking of jerks..." Satasha turned her icy stare onto Patrick and her brother.

"What!?" Temar exclaimed. "You expect me and Patrick to go in, too?"

"Absolutely," Satasha replied in a cold voice dangerously edged with hot anger. "After all, you two started this mess."

Temar scowled bitterly. After watching Satasha threaten to drop Gregor into the sewer, he knew better than to argue, and a glance at Patrick's guilty face showed that his friend agreed with Satasha. The thought of what might be down there, however, made his skin prickle like a Thornberry.

"I just want to know what suddenly happened to 'ladies first'," Temar muttered as he clambered down the hole. Noxious fumes wafted into his face, suggesting the unpleasantries waiting below.

"Watch out! I'm coming down!" Patrick called after him as he lumbered onto the small, slick metal ladder.

"Be careful, Pat," Temar replied. "The ladder's a little sli--"

Too late. Temar watched in horror as the Yurble fumbled his large claws at the tiny rungs and suddenly slipped from the ladder. Patrick's broad, hairy yellow back met Temar's upturned face. The tangled duo landed with a sickening "splosh" on the sewer floor.

"Eww!" Temar whined as he jumped up from the noxious pool of greenish goo. "It's going to take more than shampoo to get this reek out of my fur!"

"Sorry about that," Patrick murmured, his wet matted head hanging low. Temar turned to glower at Satasha, who had just descended the ladder.

"Well, I hope you're happy, Satasha," Tamar raged through gritted teeth, tiny flecks of foam shooting from his mouth. "Not only do I smell like the Sewer Beast, but we're probably not going to be able to find your stupid diary in this mess until sometime around Christmas!"

Satasha calmly met her brother's vehement glare, aware that she had gone too far to turn back now.

"I don't care," she said. "I want my diary back in my paws today, no matter what happens."

"Hey!" Patrick suddenly piped up quietly. "Where is Gregor? Have you seen him since you came down?"...

"Where do you think he went?" asked Temar, rubbing his head in confusion.

Patrick looked pale, but it was hard to tell whether it was because of fear or from inhaling the sickening fumes of the sewer. "Maybe we should go back," he suggested.

"No way," Satasha said sharply. "We're not leaving this sewer until I have my diary back."

"Forget your diary!" snapped Temar. "My friend is gone!"

Sighing, Patrick resigned himself to their fate. "I guess we'd better start looking," he said.

Steeling themselves, the three began wading through the thick, mucky waters of the sewer, starting through the slime-coated tunnel.

"We shouldn't go too far," Satasha said after they'd taken a few steps. "My diary won't have washed far from the opening, I don't think."

"We're going until we find Gregor," growled Temar through gritted teeth.

A sudden gush of water rose up to belly-level, ending the argument. All three Neopets started, staring in alarm at the dark reaches of the tunnel, trying to decipher a hint of what had caused the surge.

The narrow walls echoed with a grumbling roar, and the three wide-eyed Neopets gasped at what rose from the stinking watery stream before them...

Satasha ran with all her might, her breath coming quick and fast as she tried to escape. Suddenly, her foot caught on a large piece of rubbish, and she fell to her knees. She instantly began tugging at her leg, trying to free it, but it was thoroughly stuck! Resigned to her fate, she looked up in terror at the creature of her nightmares as it came ever closer...

As Satasha stared, though, she took an instant double take. As the "monster" approached, the flailing arms began to take shape. Her eyes slit as she tried to make it out, her terror abolished in the midst of her curiousity. Two of the flailing arms looked suspiciously like vacuum cleaner hoses...

Luckily, the mysterious creature now stepped within a patch of light, and its true identity was revealed. It was Gregor, covered head to toe in slick sewage muck, not really the monster at all! The "eyes" were in reality assorted bottle caps and tops, while the extra five "arms" were composed of two vacuum cleaner hoses, a stick, a broom, and the long handle of a mop.

"G-G-Gregor?" Temar asked, standing warily behind his trapped sister, using her body as a shield. The shape only nodded wearily, wiping a paw across its face, and the Mynci suddenly appeared from within the muck with a rather disgruntled expression.

"Unfortunately..." Gregor muttered, trying to peel some of the sewage from his body.

Satasha was still at work trying to free her foot whilst they spoke, and she had soon succeded, scrambling to her feet with only a small amount of difficulty. "You--" she began, but her voice soon cut off, her eyes locked on something further down the tunnel. Her diary!

She ran toward it and snatched it from the small shelf in the sewer wall. It was waterlogged and sodden, but Satasha clutched it to her chest anyway, wondering how in Neopia it had gotten up there. Suddenly, she remembered the water surge. That must have been how it had moved up so high, but what had caused that? Gregor was far from large enough to make such a huge wave...

She turned back to her three companions, diary in hand and prepared to ask them about it, but she found them all staring at her wide-mouthed and pointing behind her with frightened expressions. Suspecting a trick, she glanced behind her, not really impressed, but something caught her eye. Where the diary had been lying there seemed to be a shiny row of teeth...

"Temar," whispered Satasha, so quietly that she would have never expected her noisy, ignorant brother to hear. "Remeber what you said about the Sewage Beast?"

"Y-y-yes," Temar stuttered in a cracked, soft voice.

"Did you ever have a plan for if you met him?"

"No," Temar said, his voice barely rising above a whisper. "But I do now -- run."

"Temar." Even in such a situation as this, Satasha found herself irritated and exasperated at her brother. "That's so original."

"Then what can we do?" This time, it was Gregor, speaking in a rasping voice.

"I have a plan," Patrick suddenly said softly. "And believe me, Satasha, when I say that it is original..."

"Er -- hmm, excuse me?" Patrick said, holding up one finger. "Don't eat us, please."

The Sewage Beast lifted one slimy eyebrow as if to say, "Why not?"

"We, uh, we're from the Head Committee from The Gallery of Evil. Er, that is to say, we're a delegate team sent to notify new members of their inclusion in the Gallery," Patrick continued.

So that's what his plan was! Satasha quickly stepped up beside Patrick, hoping this would work. "Yes!" she said, "Congratulations! You've been selected to join the elite list of very, very evil Neopians!"

"Very evil!" Patrick said. "Well done!"

The Sewage Beast clamped its teeth shut in a grin. Its red eyes glowed with pleasure. "Snargle ick slugg ishen," it burbled, spitting balls of slime.

"Well, of course you're evil enough to join," Patrick said. "In fact, I heard a rumour that most people consider you far more dangerous than even Dr. Sloth."

Still grinning, the monster sat back in a gooey hump, snot oozing down its flesh. It nodded proudly, tapping its chest. "Grooling ishckle sphloggin."

"We all knew you'd get in one day, too," Patrick said.

Satasha squeezed the Yurble's hand and gave him a comforting smile. Then she said, "So, with that announcement, begging your pardon, we need to go get your trophy."

"It's specially engraved with your name and everything," Patrick added, as the two Neopets took a step back.

The Sewage Beast inclined its head in agreement, waving its hands at them and covering them in gross-smelling goo. Needing no further encouragement, the four Neopians turned tail and fled back down the sewer.

"We'll be back sooooon!" Satasha called behind her, clutching her diary tight.

The Sewage Beast...

Satasha tugged on Patrick's hand, confused. "What's it doing?" she hissed at him. The four came to a stop, turning around to see the wrathful monster as it snarled and hissed at them.

"Grool ashgg ichban," it sputtered, large globules of snot dripping from its curling lips. "Grool ashgg ichban!"

"What does that mean?!?" Gregor asked, turning to Temar and Satasha with wide, frightened eyes.

When the Sewer Beast received no reply, it let out a long, agonized groan of discontent before shuffling through the mucky scum that coated the ground. It disappeared for a few moments before returning, clutching something in its mouth. The object was slathered completely in oozing yellow slime and crusted in brown gunk.

"Yuck," Satasha murmured, wholly disgusted.

The Sewer Beast dropped the object, which fell to the ground with a sickening plop. It nudged it, then stared at the four pets expectantly. Its eyes communicated deep anger, and none of them felt secure enough to go near.

Reluctantly Temar stepped forward, approaching the unkempt object of the Sewer Beast. He dislodged it from the gooey muck and examined it, then wiped off some of the brown crust. His eyes suddenly grew wide with terror and he whirled around, jaw agape.

In his hands was a trophy for entrance to the Gallery of Evil.

The remaining three pets all let out inaudible gasps of terror. Temar stood in stunned silence, at a complete loss for words. How could this be happening? Their plan was so original!

The Sewer Beast let out another panged howl before treading a paw through the muck -- as if it were ready to charge. Immediately panicked thoughts surged through Satasha's mind, and before she could stop herself, she blurted, "TEMAR! RUN!"

Her brother broke into a frenzied run, and the others dashed off through the goopy sludge as best they could. The Sewer Beast let out a defiant roar before sweeping forward, a tide of garbage, discarded food items, and decomposing objects surging along with him.

"Here, the manhole!" Gregor shrieked, lunging upwards and clutching the edge of the entrance to the outside world. "Take my paw!"

Patrick grabbed his hand first; with great pain the Mynci yanked the Yurble out, back onto the street. He grabbed Satasha's paw next, swinging her onto the pavement. The spotted Mynci then peered down into the darkness, waiting for Temar to arrive.

"Wait... my diary!" Satasha suddenly screamed, realizing the trash-covered book she held so dear was missing. With great agony she thrust herself at the manhole, looking down into the darkness. "No!"

"Who gives about your stupid diary?" Gregor shouted at her. "Temar's in trouble, deep trouble!"

"Guys, help!" called the agonized voice of Temar, echoing off the walls. "I'm... almost there!"

For several seconds the trio stayed in silence; tears streamed down Satasha's face. Only the terrified voice of Temar shattered the tension.

"Now!" he cried; Gregor thrust a paw down into the hole and lifted up his muck-covered friend. Temar rolled out onto the pavement, clutching a small object covered in bits of rotting banana peels and slime.

The diary.

"MY DIARY!" Satasha shouted, grabbing the book from her panting brother's grasp and fondling it lovingly. "Oh, thankyouthankyouthankyou!"

"Don't mention it," Temar growled behind clenched teeth. "Ever."

"Well, I guess we could call that a day?" Gregor commented, rolling the manhole's cover back into place. Patrick nodded wearily. At the edge of the horizon, the golden sun began to set.

Temar got up, staring off into the distance. "What a beautiful sunset," he commented. Satasha, too, turned to gaze.

"Wow..." Satasha breathed, ignoring the stench of her mucky fur and the fact that her diary was in the worst condition of its inanimate life. She forgot it all, completely entranced by the setting sun. And suddenly, a feeling welled up within her.

Gratitude. Gratitude that her diary was safe. Gratitude that she'd made it out okay. Gratitude that her brother had, in one of his more dire moments, finally helped her.

"Temar..." Satasha mumbled, "I'm sorry. For everything. I shouldn't have made you do that... but thanks. A lot." A sad smile creased her sludge-covered face.

"It's okay," Temar said, wrapping an arm around his sister's shoulder. Beside him, Gregor and Patrick stared off at the sunset, and together the four of them watched it slip beyond the horizon.

As they headed home, Satasha smiled.

She knew just what to write in her diary.

The End