Sloth's Revenge

     Meanwhile, in the darkness of space, on Neopia’s only moon, Dr. Sloth was hard at work in his secret lair. His thoughts echoed among the steel walls of his corridor. High above him rose a giant missile faced straight towards central Neopia. Sloth let out a cold laugh at the fact that the helpless Neopets had no idea what fateful doom awaited them.

     He paced about the floor, scratching his chin. He had to think of a way that no one could stop this missile. It had to be invisible, and invincible. He knew the hardest of the Neopians to get by were the faeries. “Fyora always has a keen eye set on my secluded Kreludor,” he whispered.

     While Sloth plotted, as he feared, Fyora stood in her tower, her telescope fixed on Kreludor. She knew something bad was going to happen. Only she noticed it, but something on Neopia was different, yet she did not know what. Possibly the wind blew a new song, or the sky was painted a darker blue… whatever it was, she did everything but ignore it.

     Fyora fluttered back and forth, high in her tower. She glanced through the telescope each time she passed by. “I just know something is wrong,” she murmured, looking through the telescope again, “Agh! This wretched piece of junk! The focus is off again!” She adjusted the lens until it was fixed perfectly on the building she theorized as Sloth’s hideout. She gasped, “I knew it!” Far off in the distance she could see the missile Sloth planned to use to destroy all of Neopia.

     “Ah ha!” Sloth screamed, “I have it! I will first cause an extreme distraction! I will fire a laser at Terror Mountain, melt it, and then most of Neopia will be flooded. In the mean time, I will fire the missile, which will destroy Neopia for good! Then I, Sloth, will begin a new world!” He let out an evil laugh. He knew his devious plan was ingenious.

     His thoughts were interrupted by a knock at he door. “What is it?” He screamed, “Come in!” The door opened up and an orange Grundo walked in. He began shaking and looking at the ground, “What do you need? I am in the middle of a very important operation!”

     “S… Sir. It seems that there is a bright light shining from Fyora’s tower. Th… This means that all faerie leaders are in the tower at this time,” he said nervously. “An event like this only occurs when something terrible has, or is going to happen. I would strongly encourage you to withdraw your missile quickly,” he stuttered.

     Sloth laughed. “I know this! I am the king here; you do not need to tell me what to do! Withdraw the missile at this instant. And hurry to it!”

     The Grundo lowered his head graciously, “Yes sir. Sorry sir.” He then retreated out the door.

     Sloth grunted. “Those annoying, pesky Neopets! I haven’t even began and already they interfere!” He raged, “I have no time to waste. I must put this plan into action immediately.”

     Fyora hushed the other faeries as the meeting was being called to order. “I would like to start off by apologizing for the short notice and inconvenience this meeting has caused. I have called you all here because I fear for the future of Neopia,” Fyora stated. The other faeries began murmuring. Fyora hushed them again. “It seems that upon Kreludor, Dr. Sloth has constructed a giant missile and has directed it towards central Neopia.” The faeries gasped.

     Illusen stood in the midst of the crowd. “I want to see this missile. Sloth has made many failed attempts to overtake Neopia," she started. "We always prevail. I see no difference in this situation.” The others agreed.

     Fyora raised her hand and motioned for Illusen to sit, as she did. “You may all see the missile soon. I would like you to understand that in this matter we must disregard all past attempts Sloth has made, and focus on the future attempt he will be making. This matter is very serious,” she said strongly. “Why even this morning I awoke feeling something terrible was to come. That is why I have been in my tower at the telescope all day. Now, you may all look through the telescope. Do not mess with the focus or position.” She directed them all the right way with Illusen first in line.

     Illusen glared through the telescope squinting and looking closer. She pulled her head back, “I see nothing. No missile,” she said.

     “What?” Fyora questioned, “that can’t be!” She pushed Illusen out of the way and looked through the telescope, then looked at the other faeries in shock. “I promise you, it was there earlier. Sloth must have seen we were having a meeting and withdrew it!”

     The faeries rolled their eyes and the Negg Faerie stepped forward. “Fyora, I doubt it was even there in the first place. The times of Dr. Sloth are over. The feeling you had when you woke up this morning probably made you hallucinate and see a false ‘doomsday’ for Neopia,” she said. Everyone agreed.

     Fyora stood strong. “No, what I saw was real. We must act, you don’t understand.” They all mumbled in laughter.

     Jhudora then spoke, “Fyora you’re always seeing things that aren’t there because you’re too paranoid. Lighten up! You’ve wasted enough of our time, now let us get back to helping Neopia in our own way. You can stay up here in your tower watching for more missiles.” All the faeries then turned and left in agreement.

     Fyora sat alone in her tower, weeping under the telescope. Even as the Queen Faerie she couldn’t convince everyone. She knew she would have to do this alone.

     Sloth slaved over his writing board, calculating details on the operation. Another knock on the door interrupted him. He slammed his pencil down. “What!” he screamed. Another orange Grundo came in.

     “Sir, I was just wanting to tell you that the faerie meeting is now over. We would like to know what your requests are,” the Grundo said, even shakier than the last one.

     Sloth grunted. “I’m always so rushed! Leave for now! I will call you once I am done thinking.” The Grundo exited. Sloth got up and hastily paced back and forth. “What to do, what to do…” he whispered, thinking aloud. “I must hurry. The faeries are on to me. Fyora surely has a plan up her sleeve. I think it is best to just go for it… yes… just go for it.”

     He buzzed for assistance and another Grundo stepped in. “Fire the laser,” he said. The Grundo looked in shock as Sloth gave an evil grin.

     “B… But sir. We haven’t even made a fool proof plan!” the Grundo started. “Don’t you think…”

     “Do it!” he screamed. The Grundo nodded and quickly left the room. Moments later the warning alarms alerted that the laser was ready to fire in 5… 4… 3…

     Fyora glanced through the telescope again, “Oh… my…” she screamed. She quickly teleported in front of where the laser was pointing. She powered up her magic to stop the laser. She closed her eyes, as she knew it was soon to come.

     Sloth grinned as he saw Fyora in the path of the laser. 2… He belted out an evil, gruesome laugh. 1… And the laser fired.

     The laser clashed with Fyora’s magic as Fyora was pushed farther back. She could feel the laser breaking through the barrier, as she grew weaker. Suddenly the barrier broke and Fyora was sent tumbling to the water. The last thing she remembered seeing was, when tumbling, Terror Mountain melting to nothing.

     Sloth grinned as he watched Neopia flood and Neopets run in terror. The sight of it all crazed him for more. All the Grundos surrounded him, watching, pretending they liked what they saw. But truly, it saddened them. They hated working for Sloth. They were merely slaves that Sloth used to do all of his dirty work.

     “Get ready, my friends. It will not be long until we fire the missile,” Sloth grimaced. The Grundos saluted him and walked out. Sloth sat down, still watching Neopia fall. “I wonder where Fyora is…” he whispered.

     The faeries watched in horror high above Neopia. They were all safe, and doing well, except Fyora that is. She lay unconscious on her bed, the faerie leaders surrounding her. Some wept, the others stood in disbelief. “We should have listened to her…” Illusen said. “Now, she’s close to her death because of us.” More began to weep at the thought of her death. Most thought about the fact of how lost Neopia would be without a Faerie Queen.

     A sense of anger overcame the room. The faeries looked at each other, they knew what they had to do. Jhudora arose and gazed through Fyora’s telescope. “My ladies,” she said, “it seems we have more to deal with.” They all quickly got up and ran to the telescope. Each faerie looked through it. They all felt the same way… fearful, yet happy… happy that they had a chance to get revenge on Sloth.

     Jhudora put her hand in the air and lowered it. “To getting back at Sloth,” she said. All the faeries put their hand on hers in agreement. “To getting back at Sloth!” They cheered.

     Sloth sat in his chair, still watching Neopia in its suffering. He snarled. “Neopia shall be no more,” he said. He called for assistance and another Grundo walked in moments later. “It’s time. Fire the missile.”

     The Grundo stood there a second, his eyes open wide. His hands shook and his lip trembled. He then exited as Sloth laughed under his breath.

     The alarms sounded again stating, “Warning, the missile will be fired in 10… 9… 8…”

     Jhudora and the other faeries watched as the missile arose and adjusted its position towards central Neopia… straight at Faerieland. They knew it would not be long. Sloth was serious this time, and he was not going to give them any time to make plans. They knew the only thing they could do is combine all their magic. Without Fyora though, it would be near impossible.

     They all held their hands together tightly, knowing it wouldn’t be long. Suddenly they heard a loud boom and a light overcame the sky. They could see the missile approaching. Their hands grew tighter, their faces more fearful. The force field around them was growing. They knew it wouldn’t be strong enough.

     The missile was getting closer, the magic barrier still not powerful enough. They squinted as it got close enough to feel the heat of it.

     Everyone screamed as the missile slammed into the barrier. Their magic struggled. It wouldn’t hold.

     Suddenly off in the distance a pink blur joined the faeries. It was Fyora. The barrier grew stronger, pushing the missile backwards. Still yet, they struggled to hold it.

     Then, from nowhere, thousands of faeries joined. Small faeries, big faeries, young faeries, and old faeries alike all joined. They held their hands tight and looked towards the sky cringing their teeth. The barrier grew strong enough, and the missile gave way. It was pushed back into the depths of space forever.

     Sloth fell to his knees and raises his hand screaming. "No! Not again!" he cried. He sat in his chair helplessly watching Neopia rejoice in victory. He had failed again. He knew now it was time to think of another plan. A plan that could not fail. He knew Neopia's time was limited, and soon, they will fall to their knees chanting his name.

The End