The Beauty Shop of Horrors: Part Two

     "Engineers, light up my ship!" Sloth roared. He stepped down the metal steps of the station, eyeing the nerdy engineers who were bustling about frantically, trying to find their information sheets.

     "R-right away, M-Mr. Sloth!" an orange Grundo piped.

     Everyone screeched to a halt and gasped in horror. Dr. Sloth twitched slightly, and then instantly burst into a fit of rage.

     "Who do you take me for, you pip squat?!" he yelled, grabbing the Grundo by the collar of his white buttoned-up shirt. "Don't you ever call me Mr. Sloth, or I will make sure of it that you are zapped into a pile of sludge! Understood?"

     The Grundo emitted a cry and nodded. Satisfied, the evil mastermind let go of his employee and marched off towards his ship a.k.a his pride. It had taken five years to plan and construct the Galactica-130X, but Sloth had done it, with hardly any help from his engineers and constructors. Well, actually, that was a lie, but he hardly bothered to mention that to anyone.

     "Get the engines up and running for the Galactica!" proclaimed Sloth. "I'm taking her to Neopia Central!"

     "Neopia Central?" asked a blue Grundo who was positioned at the station's control panel, adjacent from the entrance.

     "Don't question me!" roared Sloth. "But if you must know, I plan to take over the minds and cash of more then a hundred prissy young female pets."

     "A-a-and h-how will t-that be accomplished, doctor?"

     "BY MAKING MY OWN BEAUTY SHOP, DIMWIT!"

     The Grundo's eyes grew into the size of plates. "You're making a what?!"

     "Don't question me any further, understood? And is my ship ready?" Dr. Sloth's face boiled into a dark shade of crimson.

     "Yes, Dr. Sloth," answered the Grundo, curtly nodding and focusing his attention back to the complicated control panel.

     "Good." The villain sped to his ship that was bursting with fuel at the ends. His stomach fluttered with excitement as he made his way down the entry hall that connected to the ship's entrance. He hadn't driven his prized possession in awhile, and this was the perfect time to do so.

     Ducking down, Dr. Sloth forced himself to enter the miniscule doorway of the ship, and finally entered the luxurious indoor area. Dr. Sloth had made sure that his ship was one of the most expensive, deluxe, and gorgeous machines that had ever been created in mankind. A small grin tugged at the corners of his lips as he viewed the leather seating, oak-wood tables, and ship-operating machines that could launch the ship off with a simple press of a button. The stars of Neopia's space twinkled down onto the huge moon roof of the ship from above.

     "Ooh, whoever stole my Neopoints will be terribly sorry for what they did!" hissed Sloth, seating himself into the main chair of the ship. The face of Dr. Sloth was imprinted on the back of it. In the image, he held a sadistic smile and a malicious twinkle in his eyes, which was exactly what the villain was known for. Evil and a dash of cockiness.

     The blue Grundo seated at the control panel gave Sloth thumbs up from the window of the control station, allowing him to launch off into space. Sloth laughed maniacally, and punched the huge red button on the middle of the ship's control panel that read, "GO!"

     "WHEEEEE!" yelled Sloth as the ship took off. The image of Virtupets Space Station steadily began growing into a mere speck, and the image of Neopia Central began appearing as a real world.

     "At last, I'm here," said Sloth, positioning his ship to land in the deserted fields of Neopia. That way, no one would catch sight of him landing. And with his Virtupets turbo jet-pack, he'd be able to get to the main populated area of Neopia Central very quickly.

     "Urgh, thirty seconds of flying makes me feel sick," remarked Sloth to himself. The ship gradually descended down into a lush green field. Unfortunately, the villain didn't quite know that someone was down there.

     Daisy, a little young baby Usul who loved to prance around in Neopia's fields, collected flowers in spring, and grew some herself in the summer time. Unfortunately, the fields were here deathbed when Sloth accidentally squashed her as his ship landed on the field.

     "Hmm, wonder what that squishing noise was…" Sloth said, peering out of his side window. He could see nothing, causing him to merely shrug the noise off.

     Dr. Sloth punched in the stair-opener button, which resulted in the side window exploding and the whole compartment opening to allow Sloth to step outside.

     "Ah, I love some fresh air. Especially Neopia Central's air."

     The villain shifted his eyes mischievously.

     **************

     "You ready to go?" Tina inquired as she cleaned up the last dishes in the sink.

     Hannah shook her hair, eyeing it to see if it was as dirty as Tina kept complaining it was. "I'm still not sure if I want to do this, Tina," moaned Hannah.

     "Oh, that's it," exclaimed Tina, growing irritated, "we're going now so you can stop that complaining!"

     "Well, where are we going to go?" yelled out Hannah, being forced out of the door by her Island Usul friend.

     "Mademoiselle Beauté's Beauty Shop of course!" Tina squealed, slamming the front door behind her.

     Hannah arched an eyebrow. "What the heck? I've never even heard of that place before!"

     "Oh, of course you haven't honey! It's only for the exclusive and VIP pets! And that would include ME, right?"

     "Yes, yes it would," grumbled Hannah. "Where is this place? Krawk Island?"

     Tina giggled profusely. "Oh, you're so funny, Hannah! It's in Neopia Central of course! How could you think a beauty shop would be in Krawk Island? Honestly! The ways some of these creatures out here dress and clean themselves is despicable."

     "You know, you shouldn't always judge people by the outside," commented Hannah.

     "Okay, what are you now, the Soup Kitchen who just had a serving of humble pie? Of course what's on the outside matters! That's what mostly gives out first impressions! Your look!" explained Tina in a shrill matter.

     "I think you're wrong, Tina," Hannah retorted, rolling her eyes. "Terribly wrong."

     "Fine, fine, don't listen to me! The most smartest, beautiful, and classy pet in the whole world!"

     Hannah was now annoyed. "Can you stop it, Tina?! Just because you're rich, doesn't mean you have the right to go bragging about stuff that isn't even true!"

     A surprised and hurt expression formed on Tina's face. "Well," she started, "I-I thought you were my friend H-Hannah!" she cried out. "But I guess I was wrong!"

     The Island Usul suddenly ran off in tears. Hannah wanted to call out for her to stop, but her mouth thought otherwise. She kept quiet as her best friend disappeared into the secluded inside of her home.

     **************

     "Wow, this is astoundingly perfect," whispered Sloth as he hid behind a bulky green bush. It was located right alongside of Mademoiselle Beauté's Beauty Shop, the most exclusive and VIP beauty shop in the world. He had heard from his peers that Ms. Gulluba visited there often, but he presumed that she was more likely a janitor there then a client.

     "When I start running this place, I'll have masses of naïve and stupid female Neopets come here, wanting to get their stupid hair and makeup done," Dr. Sloth concocted the plan to himself.

     The villain pulled out a miniscule ray gun from his black trench coat. It was small in size, but powerful in shooting and range. "Just what I need to get a bit of control around here," jeered Sloth nastily.

     He slid out of the bushes, ducking down so that no one could see him. However, many people did catch glimpses of him, but all who did thought it was some prankster who thought that he could grab some attention by dressing up as Dr. Frank Sloth himself.

     "Oh, Mademoiselle Beauté!" Dr. Sloth called out as he entered the freakishly pink shop.

     "Who is that? Violet? You weren't supposed to be here u-" The plump pink Kacheek walked out of the back of the store, mounds of hair products in her hands. When her head cocked to the entrance of the shop and she caught sight of Dr. Sloth, a shriek escaped her lips and she let go of her items in shock.

     "Aaaah! Someone call the police! Help!'

     "Urgh, I despise creatures who annoy me. She just has to go."

     Dr. Sloth pointed his ray gun to Mademoiselle Beauté, and zapped her instantly. A boom of blue smoke emitted around the area where Mademoiselle Beauté had been standing in, and when it disappeared, it revealed her frozen in a huge block of ice. Her eyes darted frantically, but that was all.

     "Mwuhahahahahaha," Sloth cackled softly. "This is Frankie's Beauty Shop now. Understood?"

     The poor Kacheek looked terrified as the mastermind walked up to her, scowling. "Now, I just need to find some place where you'll melt quickly. Hmmmm, perhaps, the closet?"

     Mademoiselle Beauté's eyes widened in fear as Sloth pushed her and the ice into the back of the store where a hallway and few closets were located. He swung open the nearest one, and slid the Usul inside.

     "There," he said, slamming the door shut. "That ought to get her out of my radar. Now, it's time to get to work!"

     And so as Dr. Sloth quickly began making some drastic changes to his shop, no way in his mind would he have imagined who his first client would turn out to be:

     Hannah the Usul.

To Be Continued…