Brains vs. Beauty

      "Beauty!"

      "Brains!"

      "Beauty!"

      "Without brains, nobody would know what beauty is!" said Ann the cloud Poogle.

      "Well, without beauty, there would be no point of paint brushes, NC Mall, and the Beauty Contest so people would lose neopoints and jobs!" said Ursula the yellow Usul.

      "Girls, what's the problem?" Hannah, their owner, asked.

      "The usual," said Ann.

      "Well, I'm going to do the laundry and you guys can figure it out on your own," said Hannah.

      Ann and Ursula walked to their rooms and didn't talk for a while. They did have one thing in common: they both loved toys. Though what they would do to them was different. Ann would read to her dolls and do the news in front of them. Ursula would gossip, brush, and groom her dolls and toys. They're usually very common toys, ones everyone have. The creepier it is, the more Ann wants it. The prettier is it, the more Ursula wants it.

      "Oh, Mau, if just Ann would agree with me. Maybe if I somehow became stronger than her, smarter, or cooler than her, she would agree," Ursula said to her Magical Hair Usuki.

      Ursula kept brushing Mau's hair until she heard her golden Mauket, Mimi, meow. "What is it, Mimi?" Ursula asked.

      Mimi kept meowing until she grabbed one of Ursula's dolls and flew off with it. "Mimi!" Ursula yelled.

      Ursula ran down the halls and a set of stairs until they both reached the safe. They went through a series of tunnels until they reached a very special room. This room had seven podiums and seven different paint brushes. Mimi dropped the toy and Ursula immediately picked it up. "Why did you fly into here?" Ursula asked.

      Mimi flew up, grabbed a paint brush, and started painting herself with it even though a petpet couldn't paint themselves with a regular paint brush. "You want me to paint myself to show beauty is better than brains?" asked Ursula.

      Mimi put the paint brush back and nodded. "But which one would make me the most beautiful?" Ursula asked herself.

      Ursula looked at the paint brushes. There was a glowing, cloud, Christmas, baby, ghost, and camouflage paint brush. She couldn't paint herself glowing; she didn't want to look like an elf or be treated like a baby, Ann was already cloud, and she didn't like the shade of green camouflage was. But ghost was perfect. She would be able to fly, the shade of blue was very pretty, her hair would have a ton of volume, she would be able to turn invisible, and she loved the shade of eyes ghost's had.

      "I'll do it. I'll paint myself ghost. I'll do it after I humiliate Ann in front of everybody in Neopia Central at the Rainbow Pool tomorrow. You'll be with me in case, all right, Mimi?" asked Ursula.

      Mimi nodded and they headed back upstairs to her room. They didn't know it but Kon was right behind them, getting a snack. Ursula didn't notice Kon but Kon definitely noticed them and Ursula's plan.

     ~~~

      Dinner was as boring and quiet as usual. It was juice, jelly, omelettes, and cookies as usual. Kon the green Kiko was shaking nervously as Ursula and Ann stared at each other. Ursula sighed and said, "I'm need to be excused."

      "No, you don't!" yelled Kon.

      Everybody had their eyes on Kon as he pointed at Ursula. Ursula didn't look the least bit nervous. "Anyway, I need to be excused to give Mimi a bath. I'll eat later."

      Ursula carried Mimi upstairs to the second floor to give her a bath. Once they reached the second floor, Ursula put Mimi down into the bath tub and sat down on the floor. "What do you think I should do?" asked Ursula.

      "Mew."

      "It's too bad I can't understand you. I don't know what to do. Maybe I can trick her into going to get a new Usuki but we head to the Central instead of the Bazaar. I'll think of it when I get there."

     ~~~

      It was a bright and sunny morning in Shenkuu. Ursula woke up extra early to get the paint brush. Once she went all the way downstairs and to the safe, she saw Kon blocking her way. "What are you doing?" Ursula asked.

      "Stopping you! I know you're going to use the ghost paint brush and I know you're going to become ghost, but I'm going to stop you!" Kon said.

      "Not if I do this!" Ursula yelled.

      She punched a few pressure points on Kon's body and Kon fell down to the ground. "Now Kon, what are you doing down here?" asked Ursula.

      "I was getting food, but now I'm not hungry. Have a good day," Kon said as he made his way upstairs.

      Ursula made her way to the paint brush room and grabbed the Ghost Paint Brush. She stuffed it in her sack and while she was at it, she grabbed the Ghost Petpet Paint Brush in case she needed to paint Mimi. She walked back to her room to grab Mimi and get ready to wake up Ann. Ursula slowly walked to Ann's room and opened the door.

      She went to the edge of Ann's bed and shook her awake. "I'm awake! Earthquake! Ursula...? What are you doing?" Ann asked.

      "I felt bad about fighting with you yesterday so I decided I want to make it up to you. I want to take you to the beauty parlor and get you an Usuki too. I'll pay for it all. Is that okay?" Ursula asked.

      "After lunch, okay?"

     ~~~

      It was lunch time and Ann was trying to eat as many fruits and omelettes she could. She packed a few weapons and her blind but motion-sensor Quetzal, Nix. She ran downstairs to see Ursula was ready to go. "Chariot or flying ship?" asked Ann.

      "Chariot. Also, bring a few extra coins in case," Ursula said.

      Ann snapped a coin in half, threw it on the ground and there appeared a Uni Chariot. Ann kept talking on and on about how excited she was for today. Ursula just kept thinking about how great she would look as a ghost. The chariot stopped right near the Money Tree. When they got out, Ann looked confused. "Why are we here and not in the Bazaar?"

      "I wanted to do something fun. For me, that is!" Ursula tried to round-house kick Ann, but Ann was quick enough to take out her practice shield.

      "You're not even powerful enough to break the practice shield. I knew something was up! What are you up to?!" Ann yelled.

      Ursula pulled out the Ghost Paint Brush and ran to the Rainbow Pool. Ann pulled out her sword and ran towards Ursula. "Let go of the paint brush and I won't hurt you!"

      "Let go of the sword then and I will," Ursula told her.

      Ann let go of the sword but Ursula didn't let go of the paint brush. Ann quickly picked up the sword and tried to slice Ursula. Ursula barely made a backflip into the pool and disappeared into the water.

      "Oh, Fyora, no. URSULA! GET BACK UP HERE!" Ann yelled.

      A few seconds later, Ursula came out of the pool with a new look. She started to float and stare at Ann with a creepy smile. "Let's battle," said Ursula.

      Ursula reached Ann's pack and grabbed the Metallic Sun Staff. She sent a few sun rays her way but Ursula was able to dodge them. "I'm telling Mom!" yelled Ann.

      Ann broke a coin in half and soon, a chariot popped up. She got in it and told the Unis to step on it! The Unis flew as fast as they could but they were no match for Ursula. Ursula morphed into Ann's body and took control.

     ~~~

      When "Ann" got home, she threw both packs onto the couch and walked up to Hannah. "Hannah, I have something bad to tell you."

      "Ann, whatever you have to say probably isn't bad. Go on, sweety."

      "I gave Ursula the Ghost Paint Brush and told her to paint herself with it."

      "Great. You saved me a whole lot of work," Hannah said.

      Ursula came out of Ann's body and said, "What?"

      "I knew it was you, Ursula. Anyway, didn't you see the plaque underneath? It said, 'For the Usul' and being the fact you're the only Usul here, it's for you."

      "Really? So I'm not in trouble?" asked Ursula.

      "Well, you have to paint Mimi ghost if you want to stay ghost."

      "How is that punishment?!" yelled Ann.

      "Ursula loves having gold so I think she would rather have gold than ghost," Hannah told Ann.

     ~~~

      When Ursula came back from the Petpet Puddle, Mimi was a ghost Mauket. "She can fly but she has tiny wings!" said Ursula.

      "Now that you're a ghost, here are some rules you must follow: don't go into other people's bodies, don't run away by flying, don't eavesdrop by going through walls, and under no circumstance steal anything. Got it?" Hannah asked.

      "Got it! This is so cool!" Ursula yelled.

      "Don't expect to be painted anything like Usuki or Zombie anytime soon," Hannah told her.

      Moral: Depending on how you see it, either one wins.

The End