Mining Mayhem

      “Hello,” answered the Space Faerie. “Are you Vicki?”

      “Yes, I am. If you are going to give my owner a quest, she is at her shop.”

      “Actually, I have a quest for you.”

      “What do you mean?”

      “I need your help to stop Sloth from taking over Neopia. He is using robots and enslaved Grundos in the mine he owns on Kreludor. He sells the gems to finance his other activities, but my sources indicate he is up to something far more sinister. I believe he is digging to the center of Kreludor and will threaten to destroy it with several strong explosives, unless he gets to rule Neopia.”

      “What can I do? I am not a genius or a fighter.”

      “I have my reasons,” answered the Space Faerie with a mysterious smile. “In exactly one hour I want you to go to Café Kreludor and buy an Orange Moonrock Pie. Two other neopets will join you. One of them has done missions for me in the past. Please take this blue bracelet to ensure the other two will recognize you. Good luck!”

      As soon as the faerie left, Vicki wrote her owner a note to tell her that she was going shopping on Kreludor and would be back soon. Then she left on the first flight to Kreludor. She arrived early, so she decided to do some exploring. On the far side of Kreludor she discovered a large, crashed meteor. Out of curiosity she poked it with a large stick that was on the ground. The meteor cracked to reveal a meteor rock. Vicki recognized it as a Battledome weapon and decided to take it with her. Then she proceeded to Café Kreludor and followed the Space Faerie’s instructions.

      Soon a blue Grundo sat in the seat next to her. “Right on time,” he remarked.

      Then a Cybunny joined them. “I guess that is everyone,” she said. “I think we should start the introductions. My name is Cylara.”

      “I am Vicki.”

      “My name is Gorix,” said the Grundo, “and I think I better tell you a little bit about my past. I was one of Sloth’s slaves from when he first came to Kreludor. He mutated many Grundos into his mindless minions, including my brother. Eventually, one of the Space Faerie’s spies rescued me. I know the layout of the mine and we should go to the control room to self-destruct the mine.”

      “Let’s go!” suggested Vicki. Soon the three neopets were approaching the mine, only to find a robot blocking the entrance. “How do we get past him?”

      “If you two can distract him, I might be able to alter his programming,” said Cylara.

     “Good idea!” commented Gorix. Then he joined Vicki in taunting the robot and dodging his lasers. Cylara quickly managed to open a panel on the robot’s leg and began to rearrange the wires. In no time the robot stopped fighting and allowed the trio to pass.

     Soon Gorix was leading them through a maze of hallways. “Intruders!” shouted a mutant Grundo as he advanced toward them.

     “Not today,” growled Vicki as she threw the meteor rock straight at his head. The guard collapsed unconscious to the floor.

     “Someone probably heard that,” commented Gorix. “I think we should hurry.” The trio picked up their pace and fortunately didn’t run into any more guards. “The control room is right around the corner.”

     However, when they turned the corner they saw a dozen robots waiting for them. Turning around they saw a tall, dark Kougra with yellow eyes and several mutant Grundos behind him. “We don’t like intruders,” said the Kougra. “Take them to Dr. Sloth.”

     Soon the trio was face to face with Sloth. “You must be working for my nemesis,” he growled. “Commander Gormos, dispose of these intruders.”

     “Sir, they are just children,” said the Kougra with uncertainty in his voice.

     “Who cares,” replied Sloth. “That is an order.”

     “Yes, sir,” he agreed as Sloth left the room. “Grundos and robots, go back to your stations. I don’t need help with this task.” When they left he turned to the trio and said, “We have to leave.”

     “You are letting us go?” asked Cylara skeptically.

     “I no longer like what he is doing,” replied Gormos.

     “Before we go we have to shut down the mine,” reminded Vicki.

     “We also have to release the Grundo prisoners,” added Gorix.

     “First, I will lead you to the prisoners,” agreed Gormos. “Then I will show you the potion that will revert the mutant Grundos back to normal. After that we will go to the control room and shut the mine down.”

     With the combined knowledge of Commander Gormos and Gorix it only took a matter of minutes before they had released the Grundos. Then Gormos showed them a secret room which held a large amount of the potion which would restore the mutant Grundos. “How are we going to get them in here?” asked Vicki.

     “They think I still work for Sloth,” answered Gormos. “Troops!” he called and several minutes later all of the mutant Grundos were in the room.

     Instantly, the four neopets poured the potion on top of all the Grundos. In a few seconds the room was full of Grundos of different colors, but not a single mutant. “Brother!” screamed Gorix as he rushed to hug a nearby green Grundo.

     “Sloth has probably caught on by now,” said Gormos. “We better hurry if you still want to close the mine. While the Grundos escaped the mine, the four pets rushed to the control room. “How should we destroy it?”

     “I have an idea,” replied Vicki. “We can program the robots to destroy it and to attack Sloth instead of us. It should give us enough time to get out.”

     “I like it,” agreed Cylara. “I wish I could stick around to watch him try to dodge their lasers.”

     Commander Gormos soon got to work on the control panels. “Done,” he said. “I also changed the password. He will never be able to figure it out in time to save the mine.”

     Then the four neopets left the mine without any trouble because the robots were focused on destroying it. All of the Grundos were gone, except for Gorix’s brother. “Gorix, let’s go home,” he said.

     “Thank you, everyone,” said Gorix as he left with his brother.

     “I better head home too,” said Cylara. “See you soon!”

     “Commander Gormos, what are you going to do now?” asked Vicki.

     “I will find a job elsewhere. I recently received an offer from the Virtupets Space Station.”

     “Maybe I will visit you some time. Goodbye!” said Vicki as she left for the next flight back to Neopia. An hour later she arrived back at her neohome. “I’m back!”

     “Did you have fun?” asked her owner. “Did you buy anything?”

     “I had fun. Though I didn’t buy anything, I did find a meteor rock.”

     “Cool! Now wash your paws and we will have dinner in ten minutes.”

     “Okay,” agreed Vicki. Maybe being bored isn’t always a bad thing, she thought to herself as she imagined herself relaxing for the rest of the night.

The End