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"WHEN AND WHERE DID JETSAM FLOTSAM DIE???" the tree boomed
aloud in a dark, menacing voice. Angel took one look at its face and scampered
back to Glitter and Sweet.
"Help! It's after me! It has released a trick
question! Help me, help me!" The blue Zafara hid behind his brother and sister.
"It's the Brain Tree, silly," answered Sweet.
"He just wants you to find the answers to his question.
"But we have no time for fun and games, or quests
for knowledge that might not even be useful in our Neopian lives!" screamed
Glitter. "We have to ask him where the lair of the evil Sloth is!!"
The Brain Tree leaned in and listened to the
trio. "So, you would like to know where Sloth's secret hideout is, eh?" he asked,
his menacing eyes piercing the three Neopets and making them shiver on the spot.
"Y-Y-Yes, Mr. Brain Tree, sir," responded Sweet.
"W-We have t-to find o-our…"
"Sister, yes," finished the tree. "Yes, yes.
I know about all sorts of things, don't you realize that? See, I found Sloth
coming here to the Woods and making a secret lair. Then I found him and a little
brown Grundo come out and teleport themselves out. They came back, all right.
They came back with a little white Aisha all bagged up. Surely she is the one
you three youngsters seek?"
Angel, Glitter and Sweet all nodded together.
"We just want to find her before Sloth does anything crazy and diabolical to
her," added Glitter.
The Brain Tree scratched its chin-or the region
beneath his mouth-with one of his long branches. "I can tell you where he and
your sister are, but at a price. You tell me where and when Flotsam Jetsam died,
and I tell you where you can find Sloth. You three have exactly one hour to
find him."
"Umm…Mr. Tree, I thought it was Jetsam Flotsam
you wanted us to dig up dirt on," corrected Glitter nervously. "Fine, we'll
keep our end of the deal and you keep yours."
The tree nodded, stretched out one of its branches
and shook the faerie Acara's paw. "Jetsam Flotsam it is. Bring back the answers
within the time limit, or else I won't tell you where Sloth is hiding." Then
Glitter turned to her brothers. "So, are we ready?" she asked enthusiastically.
"Yeah, but where in the Haunted Woods will we
find the answers?" asked Angel nervously. "It's a really big forest, you know…"
"The Esophagor can help us!" replied Sweet. "He
knows many of the times and places when certain famous guys died, and he's helped
Kat quite a bit too!"
"So where can we find him?" asked the blue Zafara.
"Over there!" Glitter shouted. She was hovering
in midair, pointing to a large mass of rock with eyes and a mouth. "Come on,
follow me!"
"Aren't I supposed to be the leader, since I'm
the eldest?" said Sweet to Angel. The latter just shrugged.
***
"Look, Miss Fluffy," groaned Sloth, "what will
I do to make you sign the stinking contract I hold in my hands above your head?
Threats and bribes don't work on you…"
"Of course not!" the white Aisha interrupted.
"I'm not going to help some weird villain with a head like a chicken and skin
the color of asparagus. Besides, I fight for the cause of justice, not evil!"
She turned her head away haughtily.
The villain gritted his teeth. "Well…there IS
still one thing I haven't tried yet, you stubborn little Aisha," he said to
himself. "BONEHEAD!! You good-for-nothing slave of mine, where is the Ensorcellator?"
he called out. "You better get in here quick, or else you'll suffer…"
"I can't come yet!" the Grundo replied loudly.
"I'm still washing one of your evil inventions, right? And you said I can't
stand up from the floor until it's squeaky clean!"
"Well, then I command you to stand up because
this is an emergency! I need the Ensorcellator!"
"But sir, I'm washing it right now. It has to
be nice and clean if you want to-"
"WHAT?? YOU CAN'T WASH IT! It'll rust and break
down-" Sloth ran over to where Bonehead was holding a dripping, soaked device
that still had some soap suds clinging on it. "Give me that, you fool!!" He
snatched it out of the Grundo's hands. "I have to fix this before I go on with
my master plan, and I've had enough of delays! I want to take over the world
right now!"
"But Mr. Sloth, we should always be patient.
We should always remember that a little patience goes a long way, and haste
makes waste, right? I thought you were an evil genius!" Fluffy chimed in cheerily.
"All right…all right…" mumbled Sloth as he set
to work, repairing his device.
***
"Great. Now that…that…Esophagor wants us to get him Ghost Marshmallows and
a Pumpkin Slice…for only one answer!" screamed Angel angrily. "I thought we
were going to interrogate him, not buy him his brunch!"
"I think this is not the time to anger him,"
whispered Sweet nervously. "Let's just get what he wants…or else that big piece
of moldy rock will go totally nuts over us and whack us with his large oversize
arm!"
"Look, will you guys stop snapping at each other?
I happen to have a Pumpkin Slice from last October, and it's in my lunch box!
Well, he won't notice that, right?" Glitter pulled out a slice of pumpkin with
a few seeds still in it from her own lunch box.
"Thanks, sis. You saved our butts. At least Ghost
Marshmallows aren't that expensive," said Sweet. "But now we have to hike back
to the Shop Wizard to find some! We've wasted enough time dawdling in the woods!"
"Let's try that shop over there!" said Angel,
pointing to a shop in the Deserted Fairground.
The three pets ran over to the gate of the fairground
and stopped at the spooky food kiosk. Sweet slapped a pile of Neopoints onto
the counter. "Ghost Marshmallows, please, and make it snappy," he said loudly.
The shopkeeper came closer to the trio, holding
a bowl of Scary Soup in one paw. "Look, kids, we're out. The Shop Wizard is
the best place to find them. Besides they clean me out all the time."
"Oh, nuts," groaned Glitter. "Now we really have
to use the really-faraway Shop Wizard! And time is Neopoints, you know!"
"We have no choice, sis," answered Sweet. "It's
better to use the fairly far Shop Wizard rather than wait for the shop to restock.
Come on, guys, but we have to make it quick." He stood up and ran back the way
they came.
"Sweet, wait for us!" yelled Angel as he ran
after his brother. The blue Zafara stopped briefly to catch his breath.
"Mind if you take the Faerie Acara Express?"
asked Glitter as she lifted Angel into the air and followed the striped Kacheek
in the air.
"Thanks Glitter!" said Angel loudly over the
strong wind. "Do you mind making it faster? Sweet is running faster than we
thought!"
She nodded and zoomed even quicker, still hot
on the trail of their older brother. After several moments of flying and sprinting,
the three emerged out of the woods and into the bustling, bright place called
Neopia Central. Glitter and Angel landed and ran over to Sweet, who was not
far from the Shop Wizard now.
The trio slowed down in front of an orange JubJub
wearing a starry cloak and a matching cap. "What do you want, little Neopets?"
he asked.
"Ghost…Ghost Marshmallows…cheapest you got,"
panted Sweet. The wizard began to search through his records of different stores
all over Neopia Central, and after a few seconds gave them a piece of paper
with the location of the shop. "Thanks," said Sweet, and he and his siblings
took off towards a small store located just a few steps away from the Shop Wizard's
tent.
"Ghost Marshmallows, please," gasped Angel to
the shopkeeper, a grumpy-looking Poogle.
"Ten Neopoints, please," the shopkeeper replied
in a gruff voice. Sweet plunked the amount onto the table, and got the marshmallows.
"Thank you for stopping by," grumbled the Poogle, trying to smile at the three
pets.
The striped Kacheek shoved the Ghost Marshmallows
into his backpack. "Come on, we have got no time to lose!" He set off on a run
back to the Haunted Woods, with Glitter and Angel behind him. As usual the faerie
Acara followed her brothers in the air.
"How much time do we have left?" asked Angel
as he tried to keep up with Sweet as they ran.
"I don't know," answered the Kacheek anxiously.
"That's why we have to hurry back as fast as we can!"
The trio made a mad dash towards the dense path
leading back to the Haunted Woods, Angel and Sweet on foot, while Glitter soared
just above them to keep from getting caught in one of the trees.
***
"Finally…finally the Ensorcellator is fixed!" said Sloth gleefully. "Now…we
can hypnotize our little friend into-"
"Master, our computers have picked something
up! Three Neopets have decided to search for Fluffy, and the Brain Tree and
the Esophagor are helping them out! What do we do?" asked Bonehead frantically.
Sloth stood up and looked closely at the monitor.
"Don't worry," said the villain. "I know just
how to trap them."
***
"Hurry, we have no time to lose!" exclaimed Angel. Just as they were nearing
the expectant Esophagor, the blue Zafara tripped over a stray tree branch-and
fell into a gaping hole that had appeared beside it.
"ANGEL!" shouted Sweet and Glitter together.
To be continued...
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