Then, the day came when they had to move, and it was a sad day for us all. Moisture had gathered around my windowsills, and I believed I actually cried for them, but I knew I had to be strong for the next family. That was my duty.

Over the years, families came and went. I grew older, but I was lovingly repaired to keep me looking my best. Fresh coats of paint were applied and my windows were replaced. All and all, those were good times.

That was until he came.

I didn't like the yellow Mynci on sight, but there was nothing I could do when he inspected me and told the real estate agent that he would take the house. He was a cold, angry individual who wanted no company or friendship. A scientist of some sort, he built a strange laboratory in my basement, and the sound of laughter to which I had grown accustomed was replaced with the tinkering of beakers and vials. There was more than one time that I wanted to trip him on the staircase, but I was still a good Neohome. I knew my job was to protect him.

He finally left one day. Actually, he simply disappeared without a trace, and I was relieved. However, rumors about what he had done still lingered about, and now no one wanted to make me their home. My paint began to peel and my porch sagged, but still I was left all alone, except for the wild Weewoo who had made a nest in my rafters. Sometimes children came by and would dare one another to step through my door. I wanted to stand straight and tall for the children, to show them that I was a good home, but my foundation was weakening.

I had about given up all hope the day a pretty, pink Cybunny stepped onto my porch. She had such a sunny smile upon her face as she looked, and I could feel a bit of my old confidence returning. "Look at this place," she said to her companion, a blue Lenny. "It has such potential."

"I don't know about that," the Lenny responded, noticing the creaking boards beneath her feet. "It looks like a dump to me."

"Oh, Kyra," the Cybunny laughed, "You have to look past the exterior. Can't you see how beautiful this place was and how beautiful it can be again? I think I'll buy it."

Kyra shook her head. "Whatever you think, Leandira," she responded. "It's a waste of Neopoints if you ask me."

I tried to surround Leandira with warmth as she walked into my parlor and kitchen. She had to know I could be her home, and I would be a wonderful one at that. I was happier than I had been in years as she looked around -- until I saw her reaching for the basement door.

I held the door tight as I hoped the hinges would hold. In truth, I hated keeping secrets from the one I hoped would be my new friend, but I had to keep her out of the basement.

After all, the scientist who'd once lived here had left something behind...

"That's odd," Leandira said, sighing. "It just won't open. Kyra, could you give me a... uh, could you help me?"

They both pulled at the door as hard as they could until I could hold it no more. The door flew open, a gust of wind in its wake, exposing the stone staircase that would lead them to my dark secret.

Kyra shivered. "I don't think this is such a good idea, Leandira."

"Oh, don't be silly Kyra. It's perfectly fine! Don't be such a scaredy Yurble!" Her bright smile seemed to put her friend at ease, and so the Lenny resigned to follow her down the cold, stone steps.

Their footsteps echoed into my foundations; I felt as my would-be owner tensed up with fright, and I heard every decibel of her scream.

"Kyra! Kyra! Please, help!" she called.

It was Kyra's turn to despair.

"Oh Leandira, it's just a Spyder!"

"No, not that!" she cried. "That!"

Her hands shook with fear as she pointed toward...

Dust flew in all directions, covering Leandira and Kyra in its gruesome fumes.

"I'm getting out of here!" Kyra yelped, sneezing from the dust particles. The helpless Lenny reached for her friend's arm, hoping to grab it, but was unable to. Without looking back, Kyra ran out of the basement and out of the house.

Leandira stayed, however. She was in awe of this machine. The Cybunny reached out to touch its metallic foundation, only to hear it shudder.

"Is this machine alive?" the Cybunny asked aloud.

Just then, a robotic voice answered...

I couldn't help but shiver; it had been so many years since the machine spoke, so many years since anyone had been down in that basement. It had remained quiescent all this time, waiting for its master to return -- but I had never forgotten it.

Leandira gasped, staring at the machine. Seeming entranced, she moved forward. Despite the flurries of dust her footsteps elicited -- and in a distant part of my mind I bemoaned the filth, longing for the days when I had been immaculate -- the machine was shiny, red lights flickering ominously here and there.

Despairing, I knew I couldn't let her get closer to that device, and in desperation I flooded her with another blast of cold air, but she seemed unfazed.

"Lea, please... that thing is creepy!" her friend whined in the background, but the Cybunny paid her no mind whatsoever.

Slowly, Leandira ran her hands over the machine, fascinated by its many parts. It clicked and whirred ominously, its sounds loud in the otherwise silent basement. Slowly she examined every bit of it, studying every nook and cranny as if to memorize it. Finally, she stood at the place I feared most. In the center of the machine was a plain black screen and a tiny keyboard.

Please, please... I begged no one in particular. For the love of Fyora, I impore you, don't touch it...

My silent pleas were in vain, however; even as I begged, Leandira's paws ghosted over the keyboard and the screen flared to life...

Kyra sighed heavily as she wondered why she'd come back into the house for her friend when she had just been safe outside. Why did Lea always have to get them into these kinds of situations? I sighed along with the Lenny, my walls creaking slightly in discomfort.

"Isn't this amazing, Kyra? Have you seen anything like this?"

I sent a small gust of breeze to move the basement door, hoping that the squeaking of my hinges would encourage them to leave, but my efforts went unnoticed.

Leandira stared at the screen as it loaded, and I became very still and quiet in anticipation. I knew that, when it finally loaded, they would be driven away and never come back, and I would go on forever never having another Neopet to protect and care for...

Then, suddenly, it happened. The screen finally loaded, and out from the huge machine came the loudest, most horrifying noise, which shook the walls of my basement. It was one of the many noises that had haunted me before the scientist disappeared, when he worked in his basement every night...

"Wow!" the Cybunny shouted. "The last person who lived here sure did love showtunes!"

To my relief, she quickly figured out how to turn the music off.

Once it was quiet again and I was finally able to get all of my walls to settle down, the pink Cybunny gasped loudly. I slightly cringed at the noise, which made my floorboards creak.

"KYRA..."

"Whaaaat?" Kyra whined, clearly as uncomfortable as I was at that moment. I really wanted to show her that I was a good and safe Neohome, but it's really hard to make someone feel safe when you feel so uncomfortable yourself!

"The last person who lived here was trying to recreate Boochi's ray gun! Look at all of these colors -- look, this one turns Neopets into Myncis!"

A file labeled "EVIL PLANS!!!1!11!!" caught Lea's eye. She held her breath as the cursor hovered over it...

Kyra let out a little gasp and covered her eyes, almost as if she was afraid that Dr. Sloth himself would reach out of the screen and grab them. Instead, it contained a few harmless picture files. Kyra let out a sigh of relief as Lea started to click through them.

"Don't do things like that to me! For all you know, simply clicking that file could have started up the machine and led to something horrible happening!" she scolded her friend, but the Cybunny just seemed to ignore her.

I was getting extremely anxious now, for nothing good had ever come out of that contraption. I remembered the last time the Mynci scientist had fired up the machine, and how his laser had whirled and clicked and made all sorts of noises that caused me practically quiver. After that, he was gone.

"All these pictures are of Myncies," Leandira stated as she clicked around. There were so many of them, in all sorts of shapes and sizes and colors. "It's almost like they were his blueprints or something... his visions of what he wanted to change every one in to," she explained.

Kyra shuddered. "Uggh, I would NEVER want to be a Mynci. They stink of bananas... if given a choice, I'd much rather be zapped into a Uni," she told her, but her Cybunny friend was ignoring her once more.

As Lea looked through the images, a chilling thought began to blossom in my mind... the Mynci had disappeared without a trace. Where had he gone, though? I could have sworn he'd left to go to the store or something and just never returned, yet as I tried to recall the memory, my fear began to grow. Come to think of it, I'd never seen him leave that day -- it was all a blur; I'd forgotten that detail for so many years, and now...

I heard the Lenny gasp. "Lea, look! That picture, it... it's MOVING!" she cried, pointing to a picture of a yellow Mynci, clawing at the screen as though trying to escape...

"We have to help him, Kyra," Lea was saying, hands hovering over the panel of buttons on the machine. "We can't leave him in here."

I tried to stop her, opening and closing the door a few times so that an eerie squeaking noise echoed through my halls. While Leandira looked about, alarmed, Kyra simply ignored it. I wondered if scaring her would work -- I did have a few loose beams I could drop. Not on them, of course, but close to them. Close enough to frighten them so they'd go away, because if I had to choose between having him back and not seeing these two ever again, then I'd prefer the latter.

"I wonder what this one does," Leandira murmured, jabbing her finger into one of the buttons...

The room was suddenly filled with Myncies! Whichever button Lea had pushed had released not only my previous owner, but also released all of the pictures of Myncies saved on the machine!

Leandira and Kyra looked around at all the Myncies that were there now. They all looked to be as confused as anyone else, not knowing what had happened or what was going on.

"Finally!" one of the yellow Myncies said. "After so long, I have been freed!"

I shuddered as I recognized the voice of my previous owner. After all this time, he had been trapped in his own vile machine, and now he had been released, along with all of the other Myncies also within it.

"Now!" he said. "Now, with that unfortunate setback overcome, I can continue on with my plan of turning every Neopian into a Mynci!"

So that was his evil plan... and now he had been released to set it in motion! I would've much rathered to remain empty and alone forever than to have him be released!

His attention now turned to the only two in the room that weren't Myncies. "You must be the ones who released us," he said. "You shall have the honor of being the first of my new army! Then, once I take over, I shall give you a position of power next to my throne!"

Kyra and Lea seemed to be caught in a mix of confusion and fear. That meant it was up to me to save them and to put a stop to my previous owner...

The whole room -- Myncies, Lenny, and Cybunny alike -- gasped in unison. Recovering from the sudden shock, Lea immediately grabbed Kyra's paw and ran upstairs, leaving the evil Mynci to groan in pain on the floor behind them.

"Cursed house!" he snarled, rubbing his head vigorously. "W-wait! You two can't leave now that you kow my plan!"

He snapped his fingers. "My loyal Mynci subjects!" he shouted, gesturing to his army of Myncies. "Seize them at once!"

The crowd of Myncies immediately darted toward the stairs. I told myself that I had to stop them. Mustering all of my strength, I slammed the basement door hard in their faces, shutting them in. I winced in pain as I felt several hard thumps against the wood. I was getting old; I couldn't keep them at bay for long. They burst through my doors and quickly resumed their chase.

"Stop, Kyra!" Leandira panted, tugging against the Lenny. "He's hurt! We have to help him!"

"Are you crazy?!" Kyra shrieked, turning around and facing the Cybunny. "He's a psycho! He wants to turn everyone into Myncies! We have to stop him!"

As they reached my front door, I swung it open for them quickly. However, as they ran out into the dazzling sunshine, I heard their gasps of horror as they discovered...

"Has everyone in Neopia been turned into a Mynci?" Leandira asked, wide-eyed and her mouth agape.

"Apparently not," Kyra replied while pointing at a rather terrified young Acara running away from the surrounding Mynci horde.

While the idea that his master plan had yet to be executed came as a relief to me, it certainly did not ease the two girls, who were still in much danger. I tensed, almost feeling their anxiety. I knew, however, that my previous owner had to be stopped despite the costs.

In an instant, though, Leandira and Kyra were surrounded by the cluster of creations. A yellow Mynci wearing a lab coat stepped forward and spoke in a voice that made my hinges cringe.

"Greetings," the professor said in a low voice. "State your names, you vile two."

A hesitation. The world seemed so still, so quiet, almost tranquil -- save the domineering crowd of Myncies.

"Er, Kyra," the Lenny finally spoke, very hesitantly.

"Leandira," the Cybunny said afterward with slightly more confidence than her companion.

The professor nodded. "Until a time when we are better acquainted," my previous owner continued, "you may call me 'Professor.' Now..." he trailed, a smile coming to his lips, "do you wish to work for me or against me?"

I really hoped they would say for -- then, at least, they would survive, even if everyone including themselves became Myncies.

There was another pause. "Er... for," Leandira responded, a slight quiver in her voice. She did have a tiny gleam in her eye -- I hoped she had some plan for escaping his clutches.

"Splendid," the professor said in his low voice. "Follow me, then, and be changed into a Mynci," he finished before stepping back inside me. His Mynci horde followed.

The walk through my dilapidated corridors was fairly uneventful, until Kyra piped up. "So... nice sum of Myncies you have here, under your control."

"Oh, these aren't real Myncies," the professor replied. "These are just robots, constructed to obey my command." He then smiled.

Wait, these weren't real Myncies? These aren't walking, talking, living Neopians? An idea struck me... a horrible, horrible idea. I quickly cast it aside, though it kept returning. I sighed, my beams loosening with the heave -- I would have to execute it, for the sake of the world.

Leandira quickened her pace. She now walked right alongside Kyra. "Kyra," she hissed in a voice barely above a whisper. "We're going to escape."

"How?" the Lenny responded. She realized that the professor was far ahead -- in no way would he be able to hear them.

"While I was studying the machine in the basement -- if, pray Fyora, he takes us there -- I noticed a breaker switch box on the wall. If we can get to it and flip the switches, the lights will go out and the basement will be plunged into darkness, providing us with time to escape." Leandira smiled. Kyra returned her grin.

Leandira stood by the machine, bathed in a warm glow. An ominous laser was pointed right at her head. "This won't hurt, right?" The Myncies were watching her; Kyra sneaked quietly to the switch box. The Cybunny hoped Kyra would get there in time to power down the house.

"Oh, I didn't promise that," the professor said, grinning mischievously. His fingers hovered over the keyboard. "You are about to be the first mutated Mynci in my master plan." His finger touched the button...

And the power went out. I felt a sudden tired feeling, having all the electricity surging though my vessels cut off. I knew what I had to do, though. I just had to wait for the right time.

Leandira and Kyra fled from the scene, with the Myncies -- including the professor -- chasing them down.

They ran past my peeling wallpaper, dashing through the creaky corridor and then fleeing up and down the flights of sagging stairs. Finally, I saw a Cybunny and Lenny leave my door, the Myncies not ten yards behind them... that's when I executed my plan.

Crash! I just released myself, let myself go. Beam after beam, plank after plank, nail after nail -- I collapsed myself, crushing the robot Myncies as well as the professor. It didn't take much for me to fall; I was already having a bit of a tough time supporting myself up.

As the last shingle fell from the sky and the dust clouded all around me, I knew it was done. I had stopped the professor. I, too, was done, though. With one final lament, I winked out of existence and became no more.

Kyra was the first to speak. "That house collapsed! Thank Fyora we got out in time." She turned and faced Leandira. "I told you this house was no good -- it should have been condemned."

The Cybunny came forward and gave the broken wood a little kick. "No..." Leandira started, facing her companion. "The house crushed the enemies, but let us pass safely through. It's almost like it saved us." She observed the mangled lines of cables from the broken robots.

An officer came up from behind them, startling the two. "Hello," the Skieth said. "I spoke with a young Acara, who said something about a whole horde of Myncies at this address?" He looked questioningly at Kyra and Leandira.

"Yeah, there was," the Cybunny started, "but then the house fell, destroying them all."

All of a sudden there was a groan from beyond the wood. The officer came rushing over to find a badly hurt yellow Mynci in a torn lab coat.

"That's their leader!" Kyra said. The Skeith nodded and handcuffed him. A call went out for medical help, and the officer left soon after the professor received treatment.

The girls stood alone, outside the lot. "I'm going to buy this lot," Leandira said firmly. "I'm going to put a house on it, and live here quite contentedly for the rest of my life."

Kyra smiled. "Alright. You go do that. But first, we have to clean up this mess."

"Mess?" Leandira asked. "I'm going to use as many good beams from this old house as I can... to honor it, in a sense. You know, breathe old life into the new." She smiled. "Let's start going through the pile, shall we?"

The End