Said owner did not disagree.

"Come now, Plumpy, sweet, it's only time for your bath--" the young Kau implored, just barely dodging a swipe from Plumpy's claws as the Angelpuss hissed and scurried further under the bed. "I'll make it quick and put your favorite Battle Duck in the tub!" The Angelpuss growled louder in response, refusing to budge. Plumpy's owner sighed and crawled out from underneath the bed. "What do you suggest, then?!?" he cried out, nearly losing patience.

Edgar put his head in his hands. Ever since he'd first received the Angelpuss to take care of, he was hopelessly attached to him and desperately did everything he could to please him. Unfortunately, despite the fact he'd had him for years, Edgar still got scratched at least once when it came to doing things the Angelpuss did not like to do.

The only thing that seemed to appease Plumpy in the least was a heaping plate of bacon. Edgar didn't see the appeal in the sizzling meat, but something about it made his Petpet purr like nothing else, and so the Kau tried, as often as he could remember, to keep his refrigerator stocked with bacon. The savory aroma alone could definitely coax Plumpy out from under the bed.

As a matter of fact, bacon was the one thing that got Plumpy to do just about anything.

Edgar opened his refrigerator and sighed at the empty shelves. Of course, he'd used the last of his bacon stash the other day to prevent Plumpy from tearing up his couch... again. Edgar gasped as a sudden realization hit him. His Plumpy hadn't had a bite of bacon for nearly two whole days! No wonder my darling Plumpy has been so crabby these days! Edgar thought. I'd better go and get some more.

Fearing he'd be recognized as "Plumpy's owner from the legend," Edgar pulled on a long-sleeved shirt and left his Neohome. "I'll be back soon, Plumpy. Be good and don't destroy the Neohome while I'm gone and I promise I'll get you some more bacon." Edgar shut the door and scurried toward the Food Shop.

On his way there, he approached the Kadoatery and instinctively slowed down. Edgar appreciated the round faces, gentle mewing, and purrs of gratitude of the Kadoaties, especially when they were being fed. Every time he made a bacon run, he stopped to stare at those who were generous enough to feed the hungry Petpets and, once or twice, got to feed one of the critters himself. Edgar secretly thought that was the best part.

Today, however, all of the Kadoaties looked glum and murmured unhappy meows.

Edgar stopped.

He noticed the tags underneath each Kadoatie: Honey and Bacon Burger, Bacon Muffin, Seaweed Bacon, Bacon Achyfi... Edgar's heart did a backflip. All of the food the Kadoaties wanted had bacon in it. "Coincidence," the Kau said, trying to calm himself. "Mere coincidence."

Glancing back at the melancholy Kadoaties, Edgar passed them and drew near to the Food Shop, where an angry crowd was forming.

"Get back! All of you!" the proprietor of the Food Shop bellowed, brandishing a rolling pin. "Edgar!" he called, beckoning only him. "I'm glad you're here! I need all the help I can get to keep them back! It's bacon they're after!"

Edgar uneasily edged through the crowd and shut the doors of the Food Shop. "Do you know what's going on with the crowd and the Kadoaties, and why it's... 'bacon they're after'?" Edgar's breathing quickened. He hated to see the Kadoaties unhappy, as well as his fellow Neopians, but did their predicament mean something for his own Petpet?

The Chia put down his rolling pin. "Edgar, there's no more bacon, no more bacon..."

"Don't you restock it anymore, though?" Edgar asked, staving off the sneaking suspicion that the situation was more serious than he thought. "I've also got a... Kadoatie at home who has a real hankering."

The Chia shook his head violently. "Don't you see? You're the only one I trust around here, so I'm going to tell only you: I physically can't restock any bacon," he spluttered.

"What?!?" Edgar exclaimed.

The Chia went on. "It's a disaster! I've personally convened with several other shop owners and we can confirm what I'm about to tell you: all of the bacon has simply vanished off the face of Neopia! The Kadoaties in the Kadoatery, yours, and those of the people are doomed to unhappiness! Nobody will ever buy from me again!" He paused, breathing heavily, then took off his toque and suddenly became very interested in his feet as he whispered his next words.

"Nobody wants to admit it at this point, but I truly think Neopia has a bacon-pocalypse on their hands..."

In that fraction of a second, the crowd amassed outside the Food Shop heard the Kau's cry, and their frenzied effort to push their way into the shop redoubled. The Chia appeared to be on the verge of tears. He picked up his rolling pin and ushered Edgar under a piece of lettuce hanging haphazardly from the burger-shaped building, another casualty of the madness gripping Neopia Central.

Edgar closed the door behind him and, before he turned around, the Chia was already walking toward him with a handful of 2" x 4" planks and a pail of nails.

"Wait, wait, wait," Edgar said. "You want me to help you figure out what's going on with all the bacon? There's no way we can do it from in here! You already said you can't restock bacon, so how are those going to help?"

The Chia dropped the pail and boards. "Yeah, you're right." He thought for a fraction of a second -- about as long as Edgar had wailed when he heard the dread bacon news --and then promptly picked them back up. "We do need a plan, though, and we can't make a plan with half of Neopia trying to beat down the door."

Edgar opened the door just a crack, only to then slam it shut again. "Nope. I'm pretty sure all of Neopia is trying to beat down the door."

"Well, give me a hand."

The pair started to board up the door, and as they worked the wheels turned in their two very different minds: Edgar, his thoughts dominated by his beloved Nova Sofa, brainstormed ways to appease Plumpy if there was no more bacon in Neopia; the Food Shop owner wracked his brain for ways to stay in business if he couldn't find the missing meat.

With two boards left to spare, they had managed to cover the entire inside of the door, floor to ceiling, with wooden reinforcement. They stepped back to admire their handiwork when they heard the telltale sound of splintering wood from behind them, on the opposite side of the store...

Edgar stared, his eyes widening as the split in the wood planks grew wider and wider and wider until... CRACK! The wall collapsed, bits of wood toppling over the Chia. An enormous cloud of dust filled the store and a wave of heat washed over Edgar. He squinted as the dust settled, trying to glimpse the crowd that was surely going to tear him limb from limb.

Much to his surprise, framed in the hole was not the angry mob that Edgar had anticipated, but rather a single alien Aisha, who was holding what appeared to be a laser gun.

"Bring me your bacon," the alien Aisha said.

"Who... who are you?" Edgar asked, his voice shaky. The Chia struggled to pull himself out of the pile on the floor.

"Who I am is not important," the alien Aisha said. He strode forward and pointed his gun directly at the Chia.

"Now," the alien said, "where is the rest of the bacon?"

"I-I don't know what you're talking about," the Chia said.

"All the bacon in Neopia is gone," Edgar added. Saying the words out loud tasted hollow in Edgar's mouth. He reflected on his dismal plan to try feeding asparagus to Plumpy instead. He could almost feel each thread of his couch being unraveled.

"Not all the bacon," the alien declared. "My radar says that there is a large stash of bacon hidden around this area -- one that our transfer beams failed to lift."

"Wait," Edgar said, "you're the one who made all the bacon vanish?!? Do you know what you've done? Neopia has fallen into riots! My precious Nova Sofa is probably being torn to shreds! I may never be able to pet my Plumpy again!"

"Your problems do not amuse me," the alien said. "I am here on a mission." He pressed his laser closer to the Chia's face.

"Listen," the Chia said, "you have the wrong guy. If you don't let us go, then we'll be stormed by that angry mob outside." The Chia trembled as he spoke.

"No, you listen," the alien said. "If you don't tell me where you're hiding your secret stash, then I'll blow the door down and let all of Neopia know that their precious bacon is being hoarded by a greedy savage. Drop the act."

"You're one to talk," Edgar shouted. "You've stolen everyone's bacon!"

Even as Edgar spoke, he noticed that the Chia seemed to be shifting uncomfortably on the ground, his face changing from fear to something else.

"Stolen?" the alien Aisha asked. "You don't know what you're talking about..."

Edgar's face scrunched into a one-of-kind grimace of mounting panic and stern disbelief.

"Yours? What do you mean yours?"

"The bacon is our technology, our energy source, our way of life," the Aisha hissed, glaring deep into the Chia's black, beady eyes. The Chia, in response, seemed to be trying to crawl out of his own fur. "Our reserves are gone, stolen from us by you savages!"

Edgar pondered on this a moment, as something blunt and remarkably heavy-sounding cracked against the boards nailed to the front of the shop. The Chia flinched. The alien dug his blaster barrel a centimeter deeper between the Chia's eyes. Edgar sighed.

"Okay, hold off on that a moment. I've got some questions before you turn Mr. Cassidy into a crispy Lupe treat," Edgar sighed, waving a vaguely placating hand.

The alien shot him a glare, unnaturally sharp teeth bared in a snarl, and shouted back, "I have no time for this nonsense. Our orbital colonies are losing power as we speak!"

Edgar squinted. "Your orbital colonies run on... bacon?"

"Of course, foolish Neopian! Haven't you been listening?"

"Don't listen to him, Edgar, he's obviously telling lies!" Mr. Cassidy shouted, appearing to sense an opportunity. "There's no way bacon could--"

The alien pulled a second blaster from his belt, aimed it to his left and, without ever looking away from Cassidy's trembling stare, shot a hole through the wall. And the floor. And quite a bit of shelving. The smoking ruins of the shop's structural integrity smelled remarkably of...

"Sweet Psellia, it smells just like bacon," Edgar said, his voice a reverent hush, as the alien blew a wisp of plasma smoke from the tip of his gun and reholstered it at his side.

"The finest grease-tech this side of Kreludor," the alien replied, undeniably smug as Cassidy took stock of the remains of the cereal aisle and let slip a soft, choked sob. He quickly let slip another as the alien returned his attention to poking his blaster very firmly into Cassidy's forehead. "Now, tell me where you're keeping the bacon, Neopian!"

Edgar peered into the floor-hole that the alien's showboating had made appear as Cassidy stammered his denials once more. "I don't know what you're talking about," he half-sobbed, feet scrabbling against the hardwood. "If I had bacon I'd give it to you, I'd, I'd be selling it! I'd be handing it out as fast I could to all the folks outside, you've got to believe me!"

"Our sensors don't lie," the alien snapped back, by the sounds of it fishing for something new in his belt pockets. Edgar didn't turn to check, still staring down into what could only be a lower level of Cassidy's store. Cassidy's store had a lower level?

Cassidy made another noise, blubbering and incoherent as Edgar squinted down into the dark. "Lives are at stake, man!" the alien suddenly shouted, agitation starting to creep into his voice. "Give me the bacon or be prepared for a face full of hot plasma grease!"

"Please, please," Cassidy replied, fully sobbing now, "I don't have it, I don't have anything, please--"

"Mr. Cassidy?" Edgar called back over his shoulder. The sounds of the small drama playing out behind the Kau's back suddenly ceased. "Mr. Cassidy, you should probably stop lying to the poor alien now. I can see what you've been hiding in your basement."...

"Holy Kreludor crater," the alien Aisha murmured as he came up behind Edgar, dragging a whimpering Mr. Cassidy in his wake.

Most of the basement space was occupied by stacks of cardboard boxes with the word "bacon" stamped on the front. The only empty wall space was occupied by a painting of Queen Fyora, smiling on a bed of tulips.

Edgar felt his mouth begin to water. With this much supply, he could keep Plumpy fat and happy for years! His Nova Sofa just might be safe, after all. Yet, when he inched near the closest box, he was sad to find it empty. "They're all empty," he remarked.

The Aisha pushed Mr. Cassidy into the middle of the room and detached a small square instrument from his belt. It began to ping softly. The noise quickened a tiny amount when he held it over the boxes, but only when he neared the Fyora painting did the pinging reach its highest intensity, issuing a single ear-splitting wail.

The stranger turned toward the cowering Chia. "Where's the bacon, thief?"

"I'm not a--" Mr. Cassidy began indignantly, but he stopped short when he found the barrel of the bacon blaster pointed once more at his face. He sighed, inched around the alien Aisha, and carefully pushed aside the painting a foot to reveal a secret door, which was barred by a lock and keypad.

He was about to enter the secret code when he paused. "Do you mind?" Mr. Cassidy asked, looking over his shoulder. He turned back toward the keypad, but yelped a second later as a well-timed blast from behind smoldered Queen Fyora’s face and left a gaping hole in the wall beyond.

"Enough. Out of the way, fool." The Aisha pushed through the opening.

Edgar followed. Finally, he saw what Mr. Cassidy had been doing with all of the bacon...

"Is that... the Darkest Faerie?" the Kau asked.

Before Mr. Cassidy could answer, the alien Aisha roared, "What have you done?"

"Nothing!" the Chia answered. "I had no idea this was here, I swear!"

The Aisha blasted a hole clean through the Darkest Faerie statue. The pleasant aroma that burst from the ray gun was quickly overwhelmed by something much less pleasant -- the putrid stench of sizzling, rotten bacon.

The Aisha lowered his ray gun and walked up to the statue, examining it. "Spoiled," he muttered. "All spoiled. How could you have done this? Do you not understand the consequences?"

"No, clearly not," Edgar said, surveying the scene. The rancid odor paled in comparison to what his imagination was doing to his beloved Nova Sofa.

"I told you, I--"

"Stop lying." The ray singed one of Mr. Cassidy's three tufts of orange hair. "Right now, as we speak, two -- TWO -- of our spaceships are nearing a critical energy deficiency. A critical bacon deficiency. Do you honestly think your mockery of the Faerie Queen's garden is more important than two massive spaceships that could plummet into the surface of Neopia at any hour?"

"It's not a mockery," Mr. Cassidy protested. "It's art! Food art."

"So, you admit it, then," Edgar said.

"Yes! Yes, I admit it," the Chia wailed, dropping to his knees. "I used up all the bacon reserves to create my masterpiece, but now I can't find any more. No one can. I can't help you, like I said."

"You can help us," the Aisha replied, "or the crash landing of those ships will be all on your hands."

"Also, my sofa!" Edgar added.

"How?" Mr. Cassidy asked.

"You're going to start by telling me everything. The truth, this time..."

"Continue." The Aisha's voice was impassive and, with a click, he brought the bacon blaster back to rest against Mr. Cassidy's squishy forehead. "I don't have all day, Neopia-ling. The truth!"

"Right." The alien's four green ears waved at him rather threateningly and Mr. Cassidy squirmed. "The truth." His lips parted, though no words came out.

"How did you steal the bacon?" the alien pressed, pushing the gun closer. "Neopians have been stealing from us for years, but these particular reserves were quite well guarded."

"Alright, alright!" Mr. Cassidy shuddered, holding out his paws in supplication. "It wasn't me," he admitted, "who... stole it from you, exactly. Bacon, as you know," he went on, his glance skittering between the alien and Edgar, "is not produced on Neopia. My... our... only means of acquiring the product is to, well, source it from... from... the alien colonies above the planet." He cleared his throat. "Need for it here was dire and I wasn't the only one who sought to, uh, relocate it. Our own supplies were dwindling and we had," he squeaked, "no choice!"

"Our? We?" Edgar asked, feeling his eyebrows draw together. He'd noticed the Chia correct himself and remembered how Mr. Cassidy had earlier mentioned other shop owners. "You weren't the only shopkeeper involved in the theft," he realised. "It was one of the other shopkeepers who stole the bacon." There were at least a couple shops that Edgar could think of that sold items with bacon ingredients or components.

"Yes." The word was soft and only the dark expression on the alien's features made Mr. Cassidy raise his voice. "You asked how the bacon was stolen? There were three other shopkeepers who were... involved in the plot. Emily, the... the... earth faerie who runs the Faerie Foods shop, Hubert, the Mynci who... owns Hubert’s Hot Dogs, and Thomas, the Nimmo who keeps the Magical Bookshop. It was," the yellow Neopet continued, pitch high, "Thomas who... er, worked out the finer details of the plan and Emily who we relied on to carry it out." He paused before wiping away the sweat shining on his features. "They needed it for items like Bacon Belly Busters, Bacon and Cheese Hot Dogs and, in Thomas's case, Bacon Guides to Bacon."

The alien's eyes narrowed into even narrower slits as he mused, "I see, a faerie." Faeries were winged and, Edgar knew, with the assistance of Emily, there was no need to procure a spaceship of the shopkeepers' own for the purposes of reaching the alien colonies, although she would have needed, in transporting the bacon, to make several trips. "How clever," the alien Aisha said, pronouncing the words like something vulgar. "Go on."

"I did steal," Mr. Cassidy confessed, "the bacon from the others once the... uh, relocation was complete. They'd dug right into it and eaten entirely too much. I packed it up and slipped away while they were sleeping the celebratory food off." His beady eyes flickered and started to wander around their surroundings, seemingly evasive.

"Why did you create this garden? It was the garden, wasn't it, that you wanted the bacon for?" Edgar piped up, which caused Mr. Cassidy to jerk back. Clearly he'd been hoping that he wouldn't be asked the question. He'd called his work "food art," but Edgar had to wonder if there was more to it than that.

"I hardly think that you need to ask that," the Chia began, backing away a few steps.

"Answer," the alien ordered, his sharp tone cutting over Mr. Cassidy's flustered words. "Answer the question now..."

The Aisha was not amused. "Mister Cassidy, if you really think that rotted bacon can do any harm against me and my ray, then you're sorely mistaken." His demeanor became much darker. "Now, answer the question," he reiterated, holding his blaster to the Chia's head, "or I'll render you incapable of doing so."

Cassidy released a forlorn sigh. "Fine," he accepted, "but let me fix my statue first."

Edgar watched as his proprietor friend -- former friend? -- took the bacon he had in his hand and plugged the hole that the ray gun had blasted clean through his statue; all the while the Aisha had the bacon weapon pointed right at him.

A barely perceptible smile then reached the Chia's lips. "Sure, I could tell you--"

"You WILL tell me," the Aisha interrupted, the anger in his tone rising.

"Or I could show you," Cassidy finished.

There was tension in the atmosphere, stronger than the stench of rotting bacon.

The Aisha pondered this. "That would be... acceptable."

Cassidy led the party to an offshoot room from the bacon garden; flipping a lever, a door opened and they walked through.

Inside was the missing stone statue of the Darkest Faerie herself. Edgar gaped.

"You see," Cassidy started, defeated -- or feigning defeat, Edgar suspiciously believed -- "I hoped to use the reserves of bacon to provide the energy to reanimate her." He sighed. "That never came to fruition, though."

The Aisha scaled the statue and fired a shot at it.

Cassidy yelped. The statue started to glow a bright purple... "What have you done?" he screamed. His face then softened and he grinned diabolically. "Oh yes, exactly what I stole the bacon for, exactly what I attracted you for... exactly what I wanted you to do..."

"What's going on?" the Alien Aisha gasped, continuing to shoot at the glowing statue, which only made the shaking intensify.

Cassidy was laughing maniacally now, his eyes wide with wonder. "She's coming! She's coming!"

There was a sudden flash of poisonous purple light that was so bright Edgar had to shield his eyes, which was accompanied by a guttural rumbling sound. Once everything had died away, Edgar opened his eyes... and felt his stomach churn in fear.

The Darkest Faerie was standing in front of him, freed from her stone prison. Her great purple wings were raised behind her, and her dark raven hair flapped in all directions, as if blown by some great wind. Her body shimmered with uncontained power.

"I'm free," she said, her voice rattling like a wisp of air, slightly hoarse from lack of use. Her crimson eyes flickered between the three Neopets in the room, sizing them up. "Who was it that freed me from prison? Speak now!"

Cassidy stepped forward immediately and then collapsed onto his knees, his head bowed. "It was I, my dark queen! I freed you from your prison. I hatched a plan to lure the alien Aisha down from space to use the alien's technology to set you free!" He pressed his face to the basement floor. "I wish to serve you!"

The Darkest Faerie smiled at him. "I like your ambition," the faerie said sweetly, but then her hands blazed up with magic and she sent a purple ball of light toward Cassidy. A second later, he had vanished, disappearing from the room entirely. "Unfortunately, I work alone."

Edgar gasped, fear flooding through his entire body. "What did you do to him?"

"Don't worry about your friend," the Darkest Faerie said, blowing on her nails so that smoke swirled into the air. "I sent him away, into a dungeon of my own creation. He will stay there -- as will all of my prisoners -- until I finally take over this forsaken planet. Then, you all shall be my servants." Her eyes glittered and she held out her hand, which was still glowing a deep purple. "Now, you shall join him there!"

The alien Aisha tried to blast the faerie with his ray gun, but her magic diverted the beams, sending them instead toward the bacon structures all around them. The smell of rotted, sizzling bacon was becoming unbearable and Edgar began hacking on the thick air.

This is my fate, he thought. The Darkest Faerie is going to win... she's going to take over all Neopia again!

However, before the Darkest Faerie could blast him away, Edgar heard a sound from behind him -- the sound of skittering claws. He turned, hopeful for a moment that there were reinforcements behind him, or perhaps the Faerie Queen herself. Instead, he saw an angry Angelpuss.

Plumpy....

Plumpy soon sat on his hindquarters and looked up to the sinister faerie. The two locked eyes for a moment, each with the biggest and angriest expression that they could muster. Edgar hated to say it, but seeing how mad Plumpy was right now made him think that whatever the Darkest Faerie did to them would be less cruel than his Angelpuss.

After a moment, the Darkest Faerie did something surprising. She laughed and smiled.

"In all of my years," she said, "I have never met a being or beast even remotely close to the hatred and malice that I hold within myself, until now. I respect your darkness, plump one, but I shall still give no quarter!"

Plumpy hissed again as the Darkest Faerie launched a great blast of purple magic toward him. Edgar didn't even think about the dangers and dove toward his precious Petpet, scooping him up before the blast hit.

"Ah, so you are a servant of that dark one," the Darkest Faerie said upon seeing his actions. "I suppose I'll have to eliminate you first before..."

The Darkest Faerie stopped for a moment as she smelled at the air. The scent of the rotting and sizzling bacon was heavy in the air, and that mixed with the foul odor of dark faerie magic looked to be too much even for her to handle.

"Agghh..." she gasped out. "New plan. First, I destroy all of this foul food, and THEN I shall destroy all of you!"

Plumpy squirmed in Edgar's grip upon hearing that as the Darkest Faerie began blasting the rotting bacon with her magic shots. Bits of bacon flew through the air as black flames burned much of it to ashes. Even if the bacon was spoiled, Edgar could tell how much his Petpet was hating this. However, his grip was soon forcibly loosened when he felt the Angelpuss's sharp claws slash across his arms.

"Plumpy! No!" Edgar cried out as Plumpy, in the most acrobatic move he had ever seen his Petpet do in all his years of caring for him, leapt out of his arms and jumped right into the Darkest Faerie's face!

"Aaggh!" she cried out. "Unhand me, Dark One!"

The Angelpuss scratched and bit at the Darkest Faerie, slashing every bit of exposed skin he could sink his pointy parts into. The faerie cried out in pain as she struggled to pull Plumpy off of her.

"Get! Off! Me!" she angrily exclaimed before aiming another blast of dark faerie magic toward the Petpet, until Plumpy soon let go. The Darkest Faerie soon blasted herself with her own magic shot, knocking her into a large pile of rotten bacon.

"Now's our chance!" the alien Aisha said. "We need to get out of here!"

"We can't!" Edgar replied. "If we don't stop her now, then nothing will keep her from taking over Neopia!"

"What do we do, then?" the Aisha asked.

Edgar thought for a moment. They didn't have much time. The Darkest Faerie might have been stunned by that attack, but she would be up soon. The Kau looked back and forth between the Darkest Faerie and the Aisha, thinking about what lead up to that, when he suddenly got a brilliant idea.

"Does that thing of yours have a reverse function?" Edgar asked, pointing toward his blaster.

The Aisha was silent as he looked at the Kau, then to his blaster, when the realization hit him as well.

"Yes, it does," he said, flipping a few toggles and switches.

Just as he was doing so, a massive wave of Dark Faerie magic sent bacon flying all over. The Darkest Faerie was covered in bacon, with grease covering her hair, clothes, and face.

"I was in a good mood," she said. "I was going to make all of your deaths quick and painless... but now I'm thinking about dragging it out over a thousand years. Now..."

The Darkest Faerie grabbed some of the bacon that was on her, taking her attention off of the two for just a second. That was the only opening they had, and the Aisha soon fired, blasting the Darkest Faerie with his reversed ray.

She cried out, feeling her power being sapped away by the advanced technology. Her bacon-clutching hands were starting to turn to stone again.

"No! No! Not again!" she cried out, trying to move, when another stack of bacon fell upon her, covering her in bacon as she turned to stone once more. It felt like forever, but soon she had been trapped in stone once more. A disgusted look was upon her face as she was covered in stone bacon.

"I honestly can't believe that worked!" the alien Aisha said, looking down at his weapon.

Edgar didn't answer, as he went over to Plumpy, who was glaring at the statue of the Darkest Faerie.

"You saved us all!" the Kau said as he picked up his angry Angelpuss.

Plumpy hissed.

"I know," Edgar said, "but Mr. Cassidy spoiled all the bacon for his plan. There's no bacon left anymore!"

"My civilization is doomed..." the Aisha sighed. "It's not like bacon grows on trees!"

Edgar stopped for a second before looking over to the alien.

"I have an idea!"

As soon as the duo escaped from the hidden room, the first thing they did was contact Queen Fyora and King Altador to return the statue of the Darkest Faerie to them. It would be much safer in their capable hands than left hidden underground. King Altador thanked them, and Edgar couldn't help but notice a small, humorous smile cross his face seeing the Darkest Faerie covered in stone bacon.

When they explained the situation of how she escaped and the issue with the missing bacon, Fyora agreed that something had to be done.

With some help from Illusen, mixed in with some of the magic of the other faeries, a tree that grew bacon instead of fruit was created. Several seeds were gathered, with half given to the Aisha to take back to his civilization so they could grow their own bacon, while the remaining seeds were scattered by air faeries across Neopia... except one.

"Bacon time, Plumpy!" Edgar said as he picked a few strips from the tree in his backyard. For the first time in a long time, his Angelpuss smiled as it went outside.

Now, they'd never run out of bacon again.

The End