Doctor Frank Sloth paced back and forth in his secret
headquarters situated on VirtuPets Station, musing aloud to himself. Today was
the day he had been awaiting for many days now, today was the day when he would
hold an underground meeting in the great hall of his secret headquarters. Only
the Grundos who had remained loyal to him, Commander Garoo, Maelstra and her
league of Dark Faeries were permitted to enter his sacred halls.
Sloth had not quite recovered from his last
defeat at the hands of his hated enemies, the Neopians who inhabited Neopia.
Tyrannia had slipped from his grasp, and next the Lost Desert in the very same
way. It was almost too much for him to bear, all his evil minions had been destroyed.
And they had cost so much to hire too, not to mention the insurance he had to
pay to cover his entire army. Oh yes, Sloth had lost quite a bundle of money
during the course of his past two botched invasions.
But the upcoming war was going to be different.
A new world had just opened its doors to the general public, although he had
known about it for quite some time. With more and more games appearing, two
new species of Neopets created and tens of thousands of Neopians who flocked
to Meridell each day, Sloth knew he had to act fast if he wanted to conquer
a land of his own at long last. Meridell was a juicy berry just ripe for picking.
First though, he carefully formulated his plans
and finished building up yet another army. His campaign to capture the medieval
land had almost come to fruition now. The pathetic Neopians never suspect a
thing, he chuckled maliciously to himself. Imagine not realising that there
had been hardly any medieval releases in the previous week! Oh sure, there was
one map release and maybe one or two games, Turdle racing, but what about the
huge war and the three maps that the Neopets staff had promised? They had as
of yet to be delivered, Sloth told himself with a grim chuckle. That was a result
of some of his careful sabotaging - only a genius like himself would have thought
of it! Sloth was in serious need of psychiatric help.
Anyway, Sloth had called his meeting for the
sole purpose of briefing his army and his allies about the upcoming war he would
be initiating. The dark faeries would be a valuable asset, as they were not
happy at all about Illusen opening her quests in Meridell and taking away their
leader Jhudora's customers. The corners of Sloth's mouth twitched upwards in
barely suppressed delight as he spotted Grundos strolling into the hall in pairs,
followed closely by Commander Garoo and a bunch of Dark Faeries led by Maelstra
as Jhudora was loathe to leave her cloud and turn away any quest seekers.
Poor Sloth, his meeting was ruined right from
the start.
Sloth took a full hour to call the meeting to
order as Grundos had a very short attention span. The dark faeries did nothing
but look around the hall and comment about how his headquarters was in serious
need of refurbishing and his trusted Commander Garoo just slouched against the
wall and waited. The Grundos chatted to each other in their native tongue and
covered everything from the newest slushie to baby Grundos.
Once he had finally gotten everyone's attention,
Sloth started on his customary speech on world dominion and the fall of the
Neopets, the ascension of his VirtuPets and how every single one of the audience
would be part of it all. Indeed, the speech had been recycled from the previous
rally before the Lost Desert Invasion. Finally, Sloth blinked owlishly at the
assembled listeners and cleared his throat importantly, before launching into
a song with a deep baritone voice that unfortunately, never missed a wrong note.
"I never thought
Grundos essential
They whimper and
are unspeakably plain
But they might have
a glimmer of potential
When allied to my
vision and my brain
It's clear from
your vacant expressions
The lights are not
all on upstairs
But we're talking
evil overlords and successions
Even you can't be
caught unawares"
Just then, Sloth's raucous singing was interrupted
by a great commotion from the band of dark faeries. Finally, Maelstra raised
her voice and declared, "Sloth copied this straight from the Lion King soundtrack
I lent him! This song is 'Be Prepared' which was sung by Scar!" Sloth glared
at her and she fell silent, so he continued.
"So prepare for
a chance of a lifetime
Be prepared for
sensational news
A shining new era
Is tiptoeing nearer"
At this point, Sloth stopped singing and cocked
his head, tapping his foot expectantly. Everyone looked up at their leader,
wondering why he had stopped singing, although they weren't complaining. Comparing
Dr Frank Sloth's singing to a crow cawing would be doing a great injustice,
to the crow, that is. As no one made a sound except for the occasional whispers
and snores, Sloth began to grow very impatient indeed.
"GRUNDO #675! You forgot your cue AGAIN! I knew
this speech required more than ten rehearsals." D Sloth hollered darkly, as
a frightened squeak sounded from the back of the crowded hall. A trembling Grundo
slowly stood up and attempted to sing but failing miserably, some words he had
learnt by heart just for this speech.
"And where do we feature?"
Sloth gave a satisfied grin and continued singing.
"Just listen to
teacher!
I know it sounds
sordid
But you'll be rewarded
When at last I am
given my dues!
And injustice deliciously
squared
Be prepared!"
As the tyrant delivered his last note, he lingered
far too long on it and as a result, sent everyone who had not the foresight
to bring a pair of ear plugs scrambling for cover. The onslaught of off-key
notes was too great for any one person to handle. Sloth bowed ceremoniously,
oblivious to the fact that no one was clapping, cheering or even listening.
They were far too busy crowding around a figure that had just arrived.
It was the Grundo Cafe hopkeeper.
Gathering everyone around him, he shouted at
the top of his lungs, "THE GRUNDO CAFɠHAS JUST RESTOCKED! COME AND GET YOUR
HALF PRICED GOODIES NOW!" For Sloth had chosen the day of his rally to be the
third of the month, the fateful day also known to the general public as Half
Price Day.
Within seconds, the hall had cleared out and
Doctor Sloth was left alone at the centre of the stage, miserably bemoaning
his fate.
"Why am I surrounded by imbeciles and idiots?
Why? Why me?"
The End
Author's Note: The song sung by Sloth is indeed 'Be prepared' in the Lion King
movie sung by Scar. No infringement of copyright laws intended. No harm intended
to Sloth's ego as well. | 
