The night that Moxi and Eddix had been returning with the lost scientists, awaiting the celebrations and medals they were to receive, the Kreludor security robot had smashed into their spaceship, crashing it down to the obsidian asteroid belt.

Thankfully the scientists, Eddix and Moxi, except for some minor bruises, were all ok. Their ship, however, had been smashed, and as the crew huddled around the small space-fire, pieces of the ship floated around them.

“So, what do we do now?” Eddix said, disturbing the silence.

“Maybe, we could rebuild the ship!” said the blue scientist.

“With what?” Responded Moxi sharply. She looked very unhappy with their current situation; she had been looking very much forward to the congratulation ceremonies.

“With…” The orange scientist went on….

"You're not seriously suggesting we go searching through strange asteroid caves in search of spare spaceship parts?" Moxi asked, incredulously.

"That is precisely what I am suggesting," replied Eddix, striding off in the direction of the cave, leaving Moxi to stare dumbfounded at his back until she had no choice but to catch up with him.

The entrance to the cave appeared carved out of a rock surface only slightly taller than Eddix. There was no natural light (they were, after all, in deep space), so he could not see farther than the shallow light of his spacesuit allowed.

"Eddix," Moxi breathed, laying a hand on his shoulder. "I really don't think we should be going in there." As she spoke, the cave seemed to respond in creaks and groans, a whisper of whatever lay beyond the surface.

"And what would you have us do?" Eddix asked, a worried tone cutting the edge in his voice. He motioned to the crew. "We've got to get them home in one piece." With that, Eddix took a deep breath and strode deep into the cave, sure that Moxi would follow.

They were both engulfed in darkness, save for the faint glow around their suits. Subconsciously, they moved closer to one another.

"We got ourselves into a mess this time." Moxi stated, her voice echoing off the cave walls, and making it sound way louder than she intended. In response to her statement, a shifting of rocks could clearly be heard deeper within the cave.

"Shhh," Eddix scolded, barely above a whisper. "We may not be the only living things in this cave."

Moxi suppressed a groan, and they continued to venture further.

The cave quickly went from a more sloping downward trend to dropping off rather suddenly. At the bottom? Eddix and Moxi could only guess, but they both noted that somehow, the pit that lay below their feet seemed even darker.

The pair of rescuers looked at each other. "We've been through worse." Eddix mumbled to Moxi, making sure to not let his voice carry too far.

"I know." Moxi murmured back, her tone resigned. The mission they had just been on wasn't easy by any means. Nonetheless, she was terrified to go further.

Eddix swallowed hard. "If we aren't able to repair the ship... We will be stuck on this asteroid until-"

"Don't say it." Moxi interrupted sharply, and once again her voice echoed down the ravine. The pit creaked loudly in response.

Moxi let out a frustrated huff of air, and turned to her partner, controlling her volume once more. "We're going to have to repel down- and hope some other unfortunate souls crashed here that we can pillage off of."

Eddix nodded wordlessly, and they both deployed their repelling gear from their suits, finding secure enough places to tether themselves to. And down they went.

Deep into the belly of the astroid.

Eddix unhooked his repelling gear and reattached it to the floor of the pit. “We can use this as a trail.”

Then, the pair set out, Eddix using the repelling gear rope so they would not get lost forever. Large, grey space rocks littered the landscape. Some were smaller than their fists, others were larger than the two combined. It was impossible to say how far the pit reached as the darkness stretched on. Unfortunately, there was no sign of anything that could get them out of their predicament.

“This was a terrible idea.” Grumbled Moxi. She was too busy being irritated to Eddix to notice the small crater in front of her, tripping her. She landed flat on her face.

“AHHHH!” She screamed as fell.

Eddix spun around. “Are you trying to get us caught?!”

Suddenly, in the distance, the two saw a burst of light for a few seconds. It disappeared as quickly as it appeared.

“Eddix…I don’t think we are alone.” Moxi was unable to keep the fear out of her voice, lifting her head up, but still sprawled on the ground. “They could be a friend, Moxi.”

“Or foe!” She hissed back.

The light appeared again, closer this time. “They are getting closer, Eddix!” She began to scramble to her feet, ready to run.

“HEY! IS ANYBODY OUT THERE!” A voice cried out in the darkness. The two were paralyzed in fear. After all the missions they had completed successfully, this would be the end.

The light appeared again, even closer. Someone was up in the air, drifting down. They were close enough for the two could make a silhouette out. Whoever they were, they landed and began walking toward the pair, rock crunching beneath their boots.

“THANK FYORA! I might be an expert at navigating caves, but this one sure has me stumped.”

The young face of Usul appeared in the darkness, blue eyes shining, brown hair flowing, a knowing smirk across her face.

“Why, it’s Hannah the Brave!” Said Moxi, shocked. “What are you doing here?”

“It’s a long story…” Said Hannah.

"A map." Moxi repeated, blinking. "Like...a treasure map?"

"My favourite kind," Hannah grinned. She patted around on her spacesuit until there was an audible wrinkle of paper. Reaching into a pocket, she pulled out a folded-up paper and opened it up for the Aishas to read.

The map looked like an asteroid from the asteroid belt they were currently trapped on. A map of the very asteroid, in fact. From the look of it, the entire belly of the asteroid was a complex of caves and tunnels, and Moxi groaned at how complicated the labyrinth was. Deep in the core of the asteroid, a cave was marked off for treasure.

"Say, this is great news! If there's treasure in these caves, we'll definitely be able to find something we can scavenge for parts." Eddix beamed.

"Or get lost trying," Hannah added, folding the map back up. "I've been stuck here for hours, even with a map. I've thought of something different to try, but I wasn't sure how to do it alone. It's lucky you two came along."

"How can we help?" Moxi asked curiously. If they lived through this, helping Hannah was going to be the best story ever.

Hannah smiled mischievously. "Follow me."

"I actually found this earlier, but it's not something I can do alone," she explained. "I think it may be a shortcut left by the Neopians who originally hid their treasure here. An easy way to get back to it without needing to navigate the entire cave system."

Hannah came to a stop after leading a bewildered Moxi and Eddix along for about a quarter of an hour. She gestured grandly at a blank stretch of wall. "Ta-da," she said, hands on her hips, grinning impishly. "Clever, isn't it?"

Moxi and Eddix looked at the wall, then at each other. Neither of them could see what was so special about it. "Er..."

Hannah's eyes were alight with adventuring energy. "No, see, look at these scrape marks on the ground! This wall slides out, you see," she explained, gesturing to gouges in the stone that extended out from the wall.

"But how do we open it?" Eddix asked.

"By standing on these three stones," Hannah replied, pointing behind them. The stones were about a foot high and perfectly round. "These are definitely not natural."

She hopped up onto one and Moxi swore she saw it depress slightly under Hannah's weight.

Sharing another look, Moxi and Eddix climbed onto the two remaining stones. The wall did not slide out as Hannah had predicted, but a sudden rumbling indicated that they had in fact triggered something...

"AAAAAAAAHH!" Eddix and Moxi shouted, while Hannah simply let out a loud sigh that sounded as if it was only a minor inconvenience.

After about five long seconds of falling, the group landed in a small pool of water that was carefully carved into the ground so that it didn't take up more space than necessary.

After a few seconds, Moxi felt a familiar hand grasp onto hers and pull her up to the surface. After catching her breath, she saw that it was Hannah, with Eddix sitting nearby.

"So much for a shortcut," said Moxi as she wiped the water off of her face with her hands as Hannah stood up and started to walk around.

"Well, I wouldn't exactly say it isn't a shortcut just yet," Hannah responded while looking around carefully at her surroundings.

"After all, these markings must indicate something!" Hannah said while pointing at something on the wall.

Moxi and Eddix stood up and walked towards the intricate wall markings that Hannah was trying to show them.

Moxi looked at Eddix, and then at Hannah. She sighed, and said "Hannah, have you ever been to Moltara? These markings... they look just like what the markings that the magma Slorgs leave behind. I don't think these markings mean anything."

Hannah stamped her foot. "Of course they do. Besides, how would you know, you're just pilots. I'm the adventurer!"

Eddix looked at Hannah. "Well, we're the only pilots you've got, and we're telling you, these aren't anything."

Hannah huffed and began busily digging in her backpack. "I know I've got something in here..."

Moxi had been silent, looking around, when she noticed that the water was slowly trickling away, uncovering a seamless metal disc.

"Uh, guys, I've got a bad feeling about this..."

How will this story end?

"And we've already pressed it by falling down here." Moxi said.

"Magma slorgs..." Hannah muttered. "Sure, okay, probably just the magma slorgs installing buttons and trap doors..."

There was a horrible grinding noise as yet more of the stones surrounding them began to scrape apart. The group braced for a fall, but the ground under their feet stayed steady. Only the walls opened, to reveal a gigantic cavern. A cavern full of... beanbag chairs and slorgs?

"How did you find me here?" A voice echoed from within the cavern, full of anger.

"We, uh, crashed, and Hannah was looking for treasure, and-"

"What?" The speaker emerged from the cavern's recesses, revealing none other than Mira the space faerie. She looked less angry now, more confused than anything else. "I'm sorry. I thought you were Sloth's minions. Welcome to my vacation home."

"This is your vacation home?" Eddix asked. He looked around dubiously.

Mira nodded. "Best place in the galaxy to raise magma slorgs!"

***

Moxi and Eddix returned to their ship a few hours later, well stocked with all the repair parts they'd need. They had promised Mira to keep her vacation home location a secret. Not that they could imagine too many other Neopians wanting to come here for fun.

Eddix considered their haul with satisfaction. "The only question now is how we'll explain these shiny new spaceship parts to the crew."

The End,