"Whoa! Calm down there, silly," Claron said, pushing down on Shara's shoulder. She folded her wings in beside her and ruffled her tail feathers.

"Sorry Claron, I just really want to get there now so that we're the first volunteers there. I mean, it would be okay if we were the second or third Neopets there, but I want to be the first Neopet through that door so I can see all of the adorable Petpets first."

"Not all of the Petpets are going to be cute, though," Claron said. "What if we see an ugly Teasqito with their two over-sized hands and their bulging blue eyes?" Claron flashed Shara a smile.

"Then I'll let you take care of the Petpets like that," Shara said, fluttering in the air a little again. "I'll take care of the adorable Petpets like all of the little Faellies with their tiny fluffy wings."

"Ha, so I'll take care of all of the Gwortz, Melvies, and Boweens?" Claron asked jokingly. He hopped on his tail.

"Yeah, and some other ones, too," Shara said. "Now come on, we're almost there!"

The two raced to the doors of the Faerieland Petpet Shop. Shara could hear the jingling of a bell as she reached out a wing and opened the glass door.

The small Pteri gasped as she peered inside the store...

Claron peered over her shoulder to see what had caused such a reaction. Spying the poor Slorg fluttering in the doorway, he laughed. The sound attracted the attention of a Poogle bustling in from the back room.

"Thank goodness!" the Poogle exclaimed. "He's finally taken a liking to someone. We thought he'd never find a new home."

Shara gaped at the Poogle. He was clearly deranged. Her? With a Slorg? Never! "Actually, we just came to volunteer."

"Are you sure? He's certainly taken a shine to you," the Poogle said, nodding toward the Slorg as it continued following Shara around the shop.

"How did he wind up here?" Claron asked. "I thought Slorgs were Spooky Petpets."

The Poogle quirked a smile and replied, "It's kinda funny how we came by the little guy..."

"Anyway, the first thing I thought was that I had a thief on my hands. I immediately started counting all of my Petpets and, to my surprise, found that they were all here. Even after the mysterious figure had left, however, they were still spooked, and I hadn't had the faintest idea why... until I took a step back and slipped on a trail of slime."

"Eeeeeew, slime..." Shara said as she grimaced at the Slorg, watching as the slime dripped down to the floor. It didn't seem to notice, or care, that she was grimacing at all. In fact, it smiled even bigger.

Claron laughed while the Poogle only chuckled and shook his head. "Yes, slime. Anyway, I followed the trail of slime and found that little guy hiding under one of the tables. He was terrified, he was. It took me all day to coax him out. I figured that whoever left him here didn't want him anymore, so I decided to keep him and hope that his owner would return. A month passed and, when that didn't happen, I decided to paint the Slorg so that he would match my shop and hope that someone would give him the love and care he needs. Well, it looks like you are just the Neopet for it."

"I don't want to--" Shara started, but Claron spoke up first.

"I don't think that either of us could afford a Faerie Slorg, sir," Claron said with a brief chuckle of embarrassment. "Even when we combine all of our Neopoints together, painted Petpets cost quite a bit -- that's why we're here to volunteer, so that we can play with the Petpets until we can afford one of our own."

The Poogle's smile dropped before he heaved a sigh. "Well, the both of you do have a point there. Oh, and call me Alex, by the way. 'Sir' just sounds far too stuffy."

A wave of relief washed over Shara as she looked up at the Slorg. Only the Slorg wasn't up anymore, it was down. She looked down to see that the slimy Petpet was nuzzled up against her body -- its cold, wet, oozing slime coating her feathers. That was more than Shara could bear as she screamed and hopped into the air, fluttering a bit.

"Don't do that!" she shouted as she landed back down on the ground a good distance away from the Slorg. It didn't seem to notice her outburst, though, and immediately slimed its way over to her, thinking this was some sort of game.

Claron shook his head before he looked at Alex, and an idea clicked in him. "Alex, even though Shara and I won't be able to take care of Slime ourselves, perhaps we can take care of him in other ways?"

That got Shara's attention as she looked up at Claron and Alex. Slime? Slorg? Take care of? What in the world was her best friend thinking? All she wanted to do was take care of some cute adorable Faerie Petpets. Was that too much to ask?

Alex quirked an eyebrow also. "What do you mean?"

"Well," Claron said as he straightened his posture, "as a volunteer to this establishment, I think that it would be wise for Shara and I to help you find this Faerie Slorg, Slime, a new home."

Shara's mouth dropped as she stared at Claron. No, this can't be happening. She was not going to spend her first day of volunteering hanging out with this gross, slimy Slorg.

Alex had a thoughtful look on his face before he grinned. "You know, that sounds like a fair idea..."

"Eeeek! NO!" She started to swat at the Slorg, but stopped herself just in time. Instead she picked him up and placed him firmly on the ground, as far from her as she could manage, and wagged a finger at him, daring him to try it again.

The Poogle and Claron laughed.

"What?" Shara asked. "You think it's adorable, don’t you?"

"Yeah, kind of," Claron answered.

"You know what's actually adorable? That Alkenore."

"That Alkenore is spoken for already," the Poogle said. "Her new owner is coming to pick her up this afternoon, a lovely royal Cybunny.”

Shara made a face.

"You know, I bet the Alkenore's new owner might have some leads for us," Claron said. "Neopians who could afford to take in a Faerie Slorg. Can we meet her when she gets here?"

The Poogle nodded.

"Slime, you said?" She was so excited to finally be taking her Petpet home that Clarissa hadn't put him down since the moment when she'd walked into the store. Shara imagined that that's exactly how she would treat her own Petpet one day -- with constant love and affection -- and she couldn't imagine herself cuddling with ANYTHING that dripped slime. Over the course of the afternoon, she’d spent a good deal of time cleaning it up. "I see. Yes, every Petpet does deserve a good home, especially one that’s been so badly mistreated as poor Slime."

Shara stood nearby, Slime still stuck to her like glue. "We were hoping you might know someone that would want to adopt him."

"I don't think so."

Claron's face fell. Shara's remained impassive. The Poogle was busy trying to convince a Miamouse that he did not want to sleep in the food bowls.

"Wait," she said. "Now that I think about it, I do have a suggestion, an old friend. I haven't talked to him in years. He's got a bit of a twisted sense of humor, but is the kind that would delight at the thought of a Faerie Slorg."

"What's his name?"

"Mercius Kes. He lives here in Faerieland now, I think. Yes, yes, out by the Wheel of Excitement. Here, I'll write his address down for you, and the directions."

Claron glanced at the clock on the wall. They would have just enough time to go and come back before the shop was scheduled to close. He took the address and thanked the Cybunny.

"Are you sure I have to go along?" Shara asked, staring wistfully at the dozens of faerie Petpets, particularly the pair of Faellies with matching starburst patterns on their ears. She didn't want to leave them.

"Slime won't come along if you stay here," Claron said. "So yeah, I think you should come. We're trying to find him a home. That's hard to do without him."

"Fine, but if he doesn't want to follow along, you're going to have to be the one to carry him." She grabbed a bag of Petpet snacks on the way out, to entice Slime along the way.

They left the shop and started in the general direction of the Wheel of Excitement, not really referencing the Cybunny's notes until they were out of the city. Shara led the way, with Slime behind her and Claron behind him, trying to match the directions to the streets around them.

"Right here," he called out.

Shara turned, but as she did, she caught a shadow in the corner of her eye. Something had been following them...

"What is that?" Claron asked, peering down at the small creature.

"It's a faerie Kepru!" Shara squealed, patting the adorable Petpet on the head. "It must have taken a liking to me at the shop and followed us somehow!" The Kepru nuzzled into her hand, its almost-transparent pink wings humming with pleasure, until it spotted Slime peering from Claron's side. It stilled, sniffing at the wet Slorg, curiosity alight in big blue eyes.

Shara tried to hold it back, but the Kepru bounded toward Slime, ears perky and tail a blur of excitement. Before the Neopets could do anything, the Kepru was snuggling the Slorg as if it had found a long lost friend.

"Ewwww!" Shara gasped, repulsed by the slime now sticking to the far prettier Petpet's fur. "We have to take it back! I'll do that, if you take the Slorg to Mr. Kes's house."

"I don't know..." Claron considered the happy pair as the Slorg tried to bounce along with its new playmate. "We might as well just take them together. Who knows, maybe he'll like a pair?"

"But... but... okay, fine. I don't really want to touch the Kepru now that it's been... infected anyway." Shara half-heartedly tried to coax the Kepru from Slime, but it was to no avail. She sighed in resignation, beginning to walk again.

They approached the ornate front door, which was adorned with stained glass and intricately carved wood. "It looks like Mr. Kes will be wealthy enough for a fearie Petpet or two," Claron muttered as he reached for the doorbell. The door flew open before he could touch it.

The Neopets stood there, frozen. Even the Petpets seemed distracted from their play by the sight. "Well, they did say he was... odd," Shara whispered...

"Umm... hi. You must be Mr. Kes," Shara stammered awkwardly.

The Bori jumped back like he had just noticed her. "How do ya know my name?" he asked in a wheezy voice.

"One of your friends mentioned you to us at the Faerieland Petpets shop. We were wondering if you would be interested in some faerie Petpets," Claron said confidently.

"Wha-what?" Mr. Kes murmured drowsily. "Oh, yes. That's right. What kinda Petpets do ya have for me?"

Claron pointed to Slime and the Kepru, who were still roughhousing on the ground.

"What is that thing?" Mr. Kes gasped.

"That's Slime. You see, he's been stuck at the Petpet shop for ages, but no one would adopt him. We volunteered to help find him a good home, and he seems to have made a friend along the way! Would you be interested in the set?"...

At the thought of business, his demeanor changed completely. In an instant, the Bori went from eccentric hermit to savvy consumer.

"At what cost would ya be willing to part with the pair?" Kes inquired stolidly.

Claron, adopting the air of a negotiator, started. "Well--"

And he was immediately cut off by his companion. "Honestly, you can take them for just about anything," Shara stated smugly. "One's downright disgusting, and the other seems to have made friends with it. I've no idea why."

The Blumaroo sighed. It was at times like this that he wondered why he was Shara's friend. With an exaggerated smile, he attempted to make up for the Pteri's borderline crass comment. "Yes, well... what might you offer?"

"I can do a million Neopoints for the two -- nothing more."

Claron and Shara's eyes widened. "Er..." the Blumaroo trailed. He turned to his partner. "Is that a good price?" he whispered to her.

"I don't know," she replied in a hushed tone, "but do you really think we can better?"

He shrugged, and turned to face Kes. "We convivially accept your offer."

"You don't know what convivially means, do you?" the Bori replied condescendingly as he extended his arm.

Smiling sheepishly, Claron shook his hand. The exchange was made, and the volunteers were on their way.

Despite departing from the source of her recent misery, Shara still pouted.

Her Blumaroo friend sighed. "What is it now?"

"That guy accepted the Petpets WAY to quickly," she accused.

A barely perceptible smile formed upon Claron's lips. "You want Slime back?" he jested.

The Pteri scrunched her face. "NO!" she retorted. "I'm just saying that his agreeing to take the ugly thing means he's either out of his mind or plotting something nefarious." With a smile, she added, "And multi-millionaires are never out of their minds."

You're so naive, her friend thought. "So, what do you want to do? Go back there?"

"Well..." Shara trailed, "we could snoop around, search for clues and the like." She grinned.

Claron sighed. "Alright, fine."

The two made their way back toward Kes's abode. Shara quickly discovered a window near the back of the house, the view inside obscured by blinds.

"No other windows were covered -- this must be hiding some secret," she said as the Pteri tried to peer through the cracks in the blinds.

"You're insane," Claron replied.

Kes's voice was then heard. "Ah, ya two will make splendid additions to my army," he said, his voice muffled through the glass. "I suppose I can withdraw those blinds, now that the youngins are gone."

The blinds opened, and Claron and Shara ducked down. When they were sure he had gone, they peeked up and then gaped.

Inside the room were hundreds upon hundreds of faerie Petpets...

"You were right," Claron said. "Kes really is up to something."

Shara scanned the hundreds of Petpets until she found what she was looking for. "Look!" she whispered. "There's Slime and the Kepru!" The two were apprehensively looking at the room full of Petpets, still clinging to each other like long lost friends.

Shara stepped away from the window with a thoughtful expression.

"What?" Claron asked his friend.

"We need to find out what Kes is planning!" Shara exclaimed enthusiastically and a little too loudly.

Claron shushed her quickly and she covered her mouth. They waited for a few moments to see if anyone had heard. When it seemed safe to do so, Claron said, "How are we going to do that?"

Shara inspected the opulent house. "We could get in through the chimney."

Claron looked at her strangely. "You'll get covered in dust and ashes from the fireplace, though..."

"So?" the Pteri asked. "There are Petpets in danger!"

Claron was impressed. He grinned and, together, they devised a plan to free the Petpets, including Slime. Within moments, they had flown to the roof of the house and carefully begun going down the chimney.

"I think I was repainted Christmas," Claron joked as they went down the chimney.

Shara giggled. When they reached the bottom, they carefully looked out into the room. When they saw that it was empty, they clambered to the floor.

"Now, like I said before, let's search for clues," Shara said.

They wandered around the room, leafing through papers and searching through cabinets. Shara meandered toward a big, wooden desk. There were papers scattered all around it. She began reading through them quickly.

"Uh, Claron?" she asked. "I think you need to see this."

These papers showed what Kes planned to do with the hundreds of Petpets, and it was bad. Claron looked over her shoulder and his eyes widened. "Oh no..."

The title read, "Faerieland Takeover: Mercius Kes."

"So that's what he's planning!" Claron whispered. "Taking over Faerieland with an army of Petpets..."

"But why?" Shara said. "That's the stupidest idea ever!"

"Not in his mind." Claron pointed toward a paragraph written in one of the corners. "Apparently, faerie Petpets are so non-threatening that no one will think anything of it until it's too late. He's going to use these Petpets to brainwash their owners into obeying him!"

"Well, we have to stop him before he does something," Shara said resolutely. "I'm not going to be brainwashed by a bunch of faerie Petpets... and I'm certainly not going to let him take our Petpets!"

"Our Petpets?"

"Hey, just because I don't like Slime doesn't mean anyone else can hate on him," Shara said stubbornly.

Just then, there was a crash -- like the smashing of porcelain -- followed by angry shouts...

"We have to hide." Claron looked around frantically. Would the nook behind the sofa work, or maybe under a table?

"The chimney," Shara said immediately. "We'll blend in perfectly."

They dove into the fireplace, the soot on their fur allowing them to camouflage effortlessly with the blackened stones. Neither of them dared move a muscle as Kes burst into the room, red in the face and looking as though he was going to explode.

His beady eyes darted around the room, finally coming to a rest on the splotch of ash on the carpet. Claron's breath caught in his throat as he hoped desperately that Kes wouldn't suspect anything.

"Which one of you nasty creatures has been playing in the fireplace again?" he bellowed. When there was no answer, he started storming around, stomping in the little mound of ash and tracking it all around the room.

He's really crazy, Claron thought.

He glanced toward Shara, hoping to figure out what she was thinking, but all he could see were a bright pair of eyes, staring out into the room. She wasn't looking at Kes, though, or even the Petpets: she was focused entirely on the dusty window they had peered through...

"Boy, he sure is a slimy one!"

"Shh!" Shara hissed. "They're our ticket -- as well as the Petpets' -- out of here!"

Shara grabbed one of the treats she was still holding in her pocket and waved it around to gain Slime's attention.

The Slorg's eyes lit up at the sight of the treat and, in a futile attempt to gain the delicious snack, he glided straight into the window with a large bang!

"What in Fyora's name was that?!?" Mr. Kes asked, heading straight toward the window. "Some foul creatures must've escaped..."

Shara's plan was going exactly as she had hoped. She next handed Claron the bag of treats. "Now, of the count of three--"

"What are we doing on three?!?"

"One... two... three!" Shara bolted out of her hiding place and ran straight into Mr. Kes, knocking the old Bori over. "Now, Claron! Throw the treats!"

Claron emptied the entire bag on to the floor. The smell was overpowering, and soon hundreds of Petpets swarmed the small room.

The Bori shook off his daze and got to his feet, blocking the window. "What do ya youngins think you're doing?!? These are mine! I paid for them fair and square."

In his moment of confusion, Mr. Kes had forgotten that he had left the window wide open. Slime and his friend jumped on Mr. Kes, crawling all over him while he futilely tried to get them off.

Claron and Shara put the final step into motion. Claron grabbed a handful of treats from the floor and threw them out the window. A menagerie of brightly colored Petpets quickly followed.

Within minutes Alex burst through the door, followed by two Neopians dressed in PPL uniforms.

"I saw a rainbow of faerie Petpets in the sky and followed the trail to this house. What's going on here?!?"

Mr. Kes, who was now encased in pink slime, mumbled something about having no idea what had happened.

"Sorry Alex, he seems to be in a sticky situation!" Claron said with a giggle.

Shara held up the paper that had disclosed Mr. Kes's vile plan. "We found this and knew we had to stop him."

The two PPL authorities only took a glance at the plan and announced, "Mr. Kes, you are under arrest for mistreating Petpets, and for forcing them to participate in your evil plot!"

"But... I didn't do anything! I'm just an old Bori..." Mr. Kes pleaded as he was dragged away.

"Well, you two did quite a good job today! I've never had volunteers save hundreds of Petpets on their first day!"

"We never really found Slime a home, though..." Shara said, looking sadly at the playful, wide-eyed Petpet on the floor.

"I think you did," Alex said, smiling. "Congrats on becoming Slime's new owner!"

Shara picked Slime up and gave him a hug. She suddenly no longer cared about the slime mottling her feathers.

The End