Meepits vs Feepits... Vs Dr. Sloth: Part Two

Everyone, including Sloth, stared at the door silently, temporarily frozen in fear. “Who... who’s going to open it?” asked Lily shakily.

     “I will,” said Daisy bravely, after recovering from her shock. She got up, being careful to first smooth down her clothes and check her make-up in a small, paw held mirror. Whoever was on the other side of the door knocked again, this time louder.

     “Look ‘ere,” came an impatient and surprisingly squeaky voice from outside. “Ain’t anybody gonna let me in? I has me here a gun labelled ‘High Explosive Fancy Door Opener’ and I am quite afraid to use it, but that don’t mean I won’t!”

     “I’m coming!” shouted Daisy, finishing her make-up. By this time the others were starting to recover and were grinning at each other in amusement at the voice coming from outside.

     “This should be a piece of cake getting rid of him,” said Sloth, regaining all of his confidence and self importance. “Honestly, is this the best Dr. Sloth can do?”

     “Oh, finally!” came the voice from outside as Daisy opened the door. A short blue Grundo stepped inside, dressed almost head to toe in fancy gadgets. He was, presumably, wearing a black shirt and trousers underneath but it was completely hidden by layers of fancy buttons, weapons and other mysterious Space Station objects. In his hand was the gun labelled ‘High Explosive Fancy Door Opener.’ Daisy shut the door behind him and watched as he waddled (thanks to all the fancy gadgets strapped to his legs) over to Sloth. “I take it you are Sloth then?” he asked in his squeaky voice.

     “How did you know?” demanded Sloth, quite forgetting he was wearing a crown.

     “Dr. Sloth said you would be the one wearing the crown that is too tight for your over-inflated head,” replied the Grundo, while clipping his door exploding gun onto his right leg.

     Sloth started to turn red. “How, how DARE you!” he spluttered, glaring at the Grundo. The Grundo took a step back.

     “Don’t you go blaming me for what me master said!” he exclaimed, his voice becoming even squeakier in fear. He gulped. “Anyway. I expect you know what I has come for? Sloth, you must gimme your Neopian Domination plans so I can –”

     “You will refer to me at all times as Your Majesty Lord King Sloth!” said Sloth loudly, nearly shouting. “And I will NOT give you my plans. You tell your fat lump of a master that I am taking over Neopia and he can give me his plans to destroy!”

     The Grundo started to fiddle with the devices around his belt, presumably searching for a particular one. Eventually, he pulled out a small metallic tube with a label saying ‘To the Space Station, version 3.56.’ He pointed it directly at Sloth, his thumb sitting on top of a big red button. “I got me here a teleportation device that will take me and whoever it is fired at back to the Space Station. It is even the most updated version – 3.56! Me master says that if you don’t gimme the plans, I am to use it on you!”

     By this stage Sloth had turned completely red with anger. He opened and shut his mouth a few times, like a goldy, but could not think of anything to say. Just when he was about to reply and just as the Grundo was about to push the red button, the Grundo vanished. He just completely disappeared into thin air. Standing directly behind where he had been was Alex.

     “What did you do?” demanded Sloth, slowly turning pink again now that the Grundo had gone. “Where did he go?”

     “Well,” said Alex, pushing his glasses back up his nose again. “I pushed a button on his shoulder saying ‘Teleport.’ Fancy device that, I wonder how exactly it works. I think it must have something to do with Nootun’s eighth Law of Motion. I think I will investigate it sometime. Anyway, I assume he has gone back to the Space Station.”

     ---

     The blue Grundo walked slowly down a long, metallic corridor, somewhere deep inside the Space Station. What would his master say when he didn’t come back with the meepits’ Neopian Domination plans? Perhaps he just shouldn’t come back. Perhaps he could run away. Or perhaps not. Nasty things always seemed to happen to the assistants who deserted Dr. Sloth. Eventually, after what seemed like minutes but was actually seconds, the Grundo reached the door he had been heading for. The sign on the outside said ‘Dr. Sloth – Your Leader and Neopia’s soon to be Leader.’ The Grundo knocked three times, as loudly as possible. Unfortunately, the door was very thick and inside, Dr. Sloth was too busy eating to notice a faint sound of knocking. The Grundo unstrapped a hammer from his left leg and heaved it over his shoulder. Taking a deep breath, he hit the door with it, three times, as hard as possible.

     Inside, Dr. Sloth choked on a piece of cheese and then scowled. ‘It must be that agent of mine,’ he thought. ‘Nobody else ever thinks of using a hammer.’ He stuffed the last of the cheese and crackers into his mouth. “Donna,” he called through his mouthful, “go and let Ralph in, will you.”

     A white Grundo dropped the black cape she was mending and unlocked the ten bolts on Dr. Sloth’s door. She opened it silently, letting Ralph step inside.

     “Well?” demanded Dr. Sloth. “Did you get the plans?”

     Ralph shifted uncomfortably. “Uhh, no, sir. Your Majesty. He said, he said –“ Ralph trailed off, mumbling the rest so softly even he could not understand what he was saying.

     “What did he say?” asked Dr. Sloth menacingly.

     “He said I can tell me fat lump of a master that he is taking over Neopia and that you should give him your plans. Sir!”

     ---

     “Why does Sloth always have to call his emergency meetings right when we are in the middle of an emergency? I am really busy right now – I have a lot of warriors to train. My new apprentices are terrible!”

     Lily looked at Daisy sympathetically. “My new apprentices aren’t too bad, just a bit lazy. I have them collecting – ”

     Lily did not get to finish because at the moment Charles, Alex and Roger burst in the room, talking loudly to each other.

     “Honestly, this is the limit. What emergency do we have that is urgent enough to call me away from the lab?”

     “We haven’t had any more trouble from Dr. Sloth yet. Do you think His Majesty King Sloth has received a letter of some sort from him?”

     “Good thing we haven’t had any trouble from the feepits lately!”

     “I wonder what they are up to...”

     “It’s just like Sloth to be late for his own meeting; where is he?”

     The meepits of the High Council waited impatiently for five minutes before King Sloth burst into the room, carrying a small suitcase and wearing casual clothes – without his crown. “Sorry I am late – I had to pack my suitcase and I couldn’t find my toothbrush! Oh gosh, it took me ages to find. Turns out it was in my shoe, Fyora knows how it got there!” He sat down in a hurry, not noticing that nobody stood up respectfully for him like usual. “I expect you are all wondering what this meeting is about? Well, I have decided I really need a break, so I am taking a holiday to Mystery Island.”

     “I bet he is hiding from Dr. Sloth!” Daisy murmured to Lily. Thankfully, Sloth didn’t hear.

     “You guys will need to take charge while I am away. I wish to just relax while I am away, and so to avoid everyone being scared of me and treating me like a king, I have decided to wear a disguise. Roger, you are an expert at disguising, so you will help me.”

     ---

     Dr. Sloth and Ralph bent over a small black device eagerly. Through it they could quite clearly hear voices. Donna stood nearby with paper and pen, ready to take notes.

     “I am glad you at least managed to hide a listening device in that pink twit’s little meeting place before you left!” said Dr. Sloth in excitement to Ralph. Ralph nodded, glad that he was at least temporarily forgiven for not returning with the meepits’ domination plans.

     They listened to the meepits complaining for a moment before they distinctively heard Sloth’s voice. “Donna, take notes!” snapped Dr. Sloth, leaning even closer to the little black device. Donna started to scribble down everything that Sloth said.

     After a few minutes Dr. Sloth pressed a little button on the black box, turning it off. “Did you get everything down?” he asked Donna.

     “Yes, sir. Even the bit about the toothbrush, sir.”

     Dr. Sloth rolled his eyes and snatched the notebook from Donna. “Excellent. So, Sloth is planning a little ‘holiday’, is he? Well, Ralph, I want you to find and capture him.”

To be continued...