Hold-up At The Robo-Jello-Snow Convention!: Part Two

     The first-ever Robo-Jello-Snow Convention seemed to be going down a treat, and was highly successful both for business and the general community that a second Convention was a sure bet. There were even rumors that it would be an annual event!

     Though, of course, such big and successful events soon reach the ears of the wrong people who not only decide to visit the event even though neither of them are any of the three exclusive colors required for the convention, but also for the wrong reasons.

     Sadly, the duo in question had heard about the Robo-Jello-Snow Convention for some weeks now, giving them ample time to apply an ingenious plot on how to crash the party. Indeed, right this minute, as the event was in full-swing, they were round the back of the gigantic building, checking-off their tools.

     "Double Dryer?" asked a red Jetsam in a black tux, complete with brown hat and eye-mask as he and his partner sat hidden under some bushes.

     "Check," answered a striped Blumaroo wearing - quite ironically - a black-and-white striped jumper and jeans.

     "What about the water gun I made? That took me days, so don't tell me you forgot it." This was true; it had taken the Jetsam just under a week to modify the Ultra Bubble Gun so that it could shot high-powered jets of water. The liquidizing the bubbles wasn't so bad, it was the fact that he only had fins to do the work with that was most of the trouble.

     "Right here, Boss," replied the Blumaroo, giving the Jetsam a squirt for proof.

     "Quit it, you moron! We need that thing full! There about a hundred robot pets in there, and they ain't gonna get scared none 'less we threaten them with some water, you got me?"

     "Sorry, Boss…got four gallon tanks of water to supply it, too, just like you said."

     "Fine, fine…what about the Lightning Gun?" That was part of the back-up plan in case they ran out of water. Hopefully the electrical surge would overload the robot's controls and shut them down…hopefully.

     For this the Blumaroo put on some gloves and began to bounce as he retrieved the Lightning Gun from their sack. This seemed to work, as the gun only zapped him when he hit the ground.

     "Here it…ow…is, Boss! Charged…ouch…and ready to…ahh…do business!"

     "Okay, okay, put it back already," the Jetsam began to wonder, not for the first time, just why he kept the dumb Blumaroo in his employ, before remembering the two answers; he did what he was told and, surprisingly, he got the job done. "And what about the Trumpet of Blasting? I need to make myself heard."

     "RIGHT HERE, BOSS - IT SEEMS TO WORK FI -"

     "Give me that!" angrily the Jetsam snatched it away and threw it back into the sack. "You wanna give us away, huh? Why don't you just paint a sign saying 'The Crooks are HERE'?"

     "Sorry Boss…"

     "You will be you ever try that again…lastly, is the MechaBerry Bomb armed and ready?"

     Gulping, the Blumaroo put the Lightning Gun back and slowly, reluctantly, took out the bomb. "Gee, do we have to do it this way, Boss? You know I ain't one for explosions…"

     "How else are we going to get inside, doofus? You think the bouncer we passed whilst casing the joint is just gonna let us in?" the Jetsam didn't wait for a reply as he snatched the device out of his partner's shaking hands. Setting it down beside the wall, he pressed in the button for a two minute timed detonation, and motioned for the Blumaroo to pick up the sack and follow him as he went and hid round the corner. "Nope, we've got to make an explosive entrance, Mac…scares the victims, see?"

     "I dunno, Fins," the Blumaroo muttered uneasily, calling his boss by the nickname he had earned through the work he did with his fins. "Can't we break a window or something?"

     "Listen, Mac…when that baby blows, all the windows will break, you got me?"

     "I got you, Fins, it just that I really, really don't like explosions."

     "Quit your whining and cover your ears, it's about to go!"

     ~**~

     On second thought, Mervin the baby Jubjub reasoned to himself as he walked sulkily down yet another seemingly mile-long aisle of jellied goods, maybe coming here wasn't all that great an idea…I can't see anything on the tables up there, and if I climb up I'll jus' get noticed and kicked-out. This stinks…and the number of times I've almost been stepped on! Ugh…

     Then something happened that broke the kid's boring monotony, something totally unexpected.

     The wall behind him blew inwards with an ear-splitting explosion, causing brick, plaster, chipped paint and wallpaper to go flying everywhere.

     Other pets around him, being fully-grown and, in the robot's case, very heavy stayed on their feet, some stumbling slightly from the shockwaves of the explosion. But not poor little Mervin, who was so close to the blast that it picked him up off his feet and threw forwards about a dozen feet…

     Right into the path of a jelly Poogle's backside.

     "This really stiiiinks!" he squealed in dismay as he flew towards it, unable to stop himself or change direction. With a dull splat he landed at the base of the Poogle's spine, but the startled pet was either to scared out of their wits to notice, or just excuse it for another piece of debris.

     Luckily, though, the explosion had flipped him around, so he was now stuck back-to-back with the Poogle.

     "Wait 'til my owner hears about this!" he muttered darkly to himself, tapping his feet lightly against the large pet's back, his toes to small to register any type of response from the creature.

     ~**~

     From the other side of the hall, both Selma and TN09 saw the wall blow-up, and both of them thought the same thing at the same time.

     "Merv!" they both cried in alarm, trying to look high and low for any sign of their little brother. But everyone was in such a state, and they were shouting so loud that the pair could neither hear nor see any sign of little Mervin.

     What they did hear though, was a loud, clear voice above the cries of panic and distress. They didn't believe what it was saying, however…

     "Okay, everyone just stay calm! This is a stick-up, and we want all the money and items to be handed to us without any fuss, you got me?"

     "I got you, Boss," a second person replied faintly, as if they were further away from whatever it was the first was using to increase his voice.

     "Not you, you dolt! I want you to start relieving these people of their valuables…oh, and if you happen…"

     ~**~

     "…And if you happen to be considering resistance," Fins announced as he spied a burly robot Skeith similar to the one guarding the entrance approach them purposefully, "then let me just tell you that I have ways to handle each and every one of you, robot, jelly or snow."

     The robot Skeith slowed down at the mention of this, but continued to move towards the criminals with every intention of apprehending them as was his job. But the look on his face asked how can you be so sure you can stop me?

     A question Fins quickly answered by dousing him once over with the water gun, bringing the robot Skeith to a standstill as he checked himself over.

     "Is That It?" it asked in mock surprise, it metal lips twisting into a smirk. "You Think A Little Bit Of Water Will Stop Me?"

     "Ahh, no, not average water…you see, what I have just hit you with is a little something of my own invention," the Jetsam crook announced proudly as the Skeith approach began to grow more slow and jerky. "I have found the element in water that causes rust, and added a lot more of it to the water in my water gun…I call it Rust-U-Quik, and as you can see," he added, sweeping a fin majestically towards the robot, who was now completely statuesque and covered in red rust, "it does exactly what it says in the name."

     "Even so," a snow Grarrl roared as he stomped towards them from the other side of the hall, "not even your special water will work on snow…the more water you give me, the bigger I'll get, so give me your best shot!"

     "Gladly," Fins murmured smoothly, signaling for his Blumaroo partner to retrieve something from the sack. Mac dove his hand in, and pulled-out the Double Dryer, handing it over and taking back the water gun. "Another special modification of mine," the Jetsam announced as he stepped closer to the Grarrl who was now only just a few feet away. "Obviously there is no electricity in Neopia apart from that which we can get from Lightning - speaking of which, I have a Lightning Gun also, so watch your step - so I began to think, how could I power this Double Dryer?"

     The snow Grarrl seemed to think this question also, and since he couldn't seem to find a reasonable answer, he growled victoriously and stomped even closer, just as Fins hoped he would.

     "Then it occurred to, but why of course!" so saying, he flicked on the Dryer, attacking the Grarrl with a heavy gust of steaming hot air, causing the snow pet to scream out in alarm as he began to shrink and melt. "Solar powered Dryers! As you can see, ladies and gentlemen, this works all too well…"

     When he finally turned it off, there was nothing left of the Grarrl but a large puddle of slush and two large lumps of coal that stared up at the Jetsam with a look that seemed to say, boy was I suckered.

     "Fear not," Fins announced, turning his back and walking back up to his partner, "he is still alive and, given time, he'll freeze again and reform so we should - heh, heh - give him some time to collect himself. Oh, and that jelly Chomby bracing himself to charge at me?" he added, pointing the Dryer in the particular pet's direction. "Didn't you learn that jelly melts under heat? No? Well, now you know…

     "Well, I guess that accounts for everyone here, so without much more delay could you all begin to pass along your valuables…?"

     ~**~

     Fortunately for Mervin, he had been able to see all this due to the fact that he had seemed to have landed on the back of a coward, who was cowering on the floor with his back to the two crooks.

     So, dey thinks they have the means to stop everyone, eh? Mervin wondered, a smile curling his lips as a plan began to formulate in his mind. Not everybody! Dere is only one person who can save the day, and dat person is me!

     …

     Or it would be if only I could get off of quiver-rump here…

 To Be Continued…