The Beauty Shop of Horrors: Part Three

     Hannah groaned as a humungous red Eyrie stood before her with an elegant black carriage attached to his backside.

     "Well, there have been some difficulties," she mumbled, looking down at the ground.

     "Look, lady," the Eyrie began, "I'm going to have to take someone to Neopia Central. The expenses have already been paid for. I could get fired if I don't."

     Hannah groaned dismally. "Hold on," she said. "Let me go see if I can get my friend to come along with me."

     The Eyrie nodded curtly, allowing Hannah to run off to Tina's house. She flew up the steps, and banged on the door so that Tina could hear loud and clear. The door swung open, revealing a fuming Island Usul standing at the doorway.

     "What do you want?" snapped Tina, crossing her arms in an irritable motion.

     Hannah heaved a sigh. "Look Tina, I just wanted to apologize. I mean, I let my emotions get to the best of me, and I shouldn't have."

     "Well, did you bring a reconciliation present?" Tina asked hurriedly, stomping her foot on the hardwood tiling.

     Hannah raised her right eyebrow. "No! Why?"

     "Look Hannah, you should know me well enough by now. You're only gonna' be my friend again if you get me a gift. Okay? An expensive one. Maybe use your coins that you got to get me something at the Hidden Tower. That's the Tina way."

     The small Usul stood in shock as her friend rudely slammed the door shut. "How can she say that?!" cried out Hannah, balling up fists tightly. "WELL, YOU'RE NO LONGER MY FRIEND, LITTLE MISS PRISSY! AND WHY DON'T YOU GO GET SOME OF THAT HUMBLE PIE THAT THE SOUP FAERIE IS SERVING?! MAYBE YOU'LL ACTUALLY LEARN HOW TO BE NICE FOR ONCE!"

     And with that, Hannah stomped down the steps of Tina's residence, and marched through the thick and hot sand to the Eyrie. "I'll go myself," she growled, yanking open the door of the carriage ferociously.

     The Eyrie nodded, and began flapping his long, majestic wings. In a matter of seconds, he flew off with the carriage trailing behind to Neopia Central.

     **************

     Dr. Sloth painted the last area of the shop's wall, and put down his heavy paint brush. He wiggled his hand, slightly relieving his wrist's pain. "I hate painting," the villain scowled.

     However, he was still proud with what he had accomplished. He gazed around contentedly at the olive-green walls that replaced the once-pink walls. He had also changed the books at the waiting area from "Looking Your Best at Parties!" to "Finding the Perfect Villain Hair-do!" The sign outside had also been replaced to 'Madame Sloopeh's Beauty Shop". Sloth thought that using his codename was a brilliant idea, since obviously no one would figure out it was him. Well, of course, when he had his wig and make-up on no one would. Sloth wasn't looking forward to having to put on make-up and perfume, but he knew it had to be done to get his Neopoints back. At least he would smell good for a bit.

     Sloth kneeled down and slid open a drawer from the front desk. Inside was an auburn-colored wig and a makeup kit. Most likely Mademoiselle Beauté's, he had suspected. He gagged, but still grasped the wig and placed it on his disfigured head. Looking in the mirror, he smiled for a nanosecond at his unusual beauty.

     "Wow, you're gorgeous!" Sloth barked out to himself. When he realized what he was doing, he shut his mouth, adjusted the wig so it looked proper and opened up the tube of lipstick. Dr. Sloth wasn't a creature who wore makeup, since his good looks came naturally, or so thought. So when he attempted to put on lipstick, let's just say it didn't turn out too well. He smeared the coloring all across his cheeks and chin, resulting in a disastrous appearance.

     "Oh, no worries!" exclaimed Sloth. "I look even better then that stupid Mademoiselle Beauté herself! I mean, who doesn't look better then a puddle?"

     **************

     Hannah the Usul kneeled against the wall of the carriage, peering out of the window, which displayed a breathtaking view of the seas of Neopia. Heavenly white clouds lazily drifted by and the sea sparkled in wonder from the sun's rays. The Eyrie had said the trip would last thirty minutes, but to Hannah, this felt like forever without Tina.

     "Why did she have to be such a jerk today?" the Usul moaned, tears gradually welling up in her eyes. "I mean, what did I ever do to her? Or…maybe…I'm the one who's the jerk."

     Hannah sniffed, and looked down as tears began falling. Her and Tina had never gotten into such a big fight before. It was always small bickering about who got to play with which doll or who got to be the teacher for 'School'. Hannah miserably smiled as these memories whirled in her mind. Why couldn't the two be like that now? Everything had changed when Tina had discovered what money could do to pets and how powerful she could become.

     "Well, I'll get a total makeover, and then maybe Tina will accept me. Maybe I'll be more of her type. Yeah, that sounds good." Hannah sighed and closed her eyes as the journey continued on.

     **************

     Dr. Frank Sloth sat irritably at the front desk of his shop, gazing at a list of VIP clients who were scheduled for an appointment today. The nearest appointment was fifteen minutes away, at 3:00 p.m., and Sloth certainly didn't feel like waiting this long. And how would anyone believe that Mademoiselle Beauté had suddenly vanished and he was replacing her? Unfortunately, he hadn't properly thought it through, resulting in a miscalculation. One that could destroy his entire plans.

     "Wait," Sloth mumbled, scratching his head in a thoughtful state, "maybe I can say to the clients that she has some sort of sickness and I'll be replacing her for a few days. And then, when I have enough Neopoints and have brainwashed enough of those prissy clients, I'll get out of here and no one will know it was me, the brilliant Dr. Frank Sloth! MWUHAHAHAHAHA!"

     **************

     "We've arrived at our destination, Neopia Central," the Eyrie-flyer proclaimed at the front.

     Hannah sighed in relief. Near the end of the trip, she had begun feeling sick from her woozy stomach, and she was anxious to get out.

     "Would you happen to know where this place is?" Hannah questioned as she jumped out of the carriage.

     "Well, I have brought Ms. Tina here a couple of times," stated the Eyrie. "I think you keep going straight down the road, take a sharp right once at the Bookshop, turn left, and then you should see a small pink shop. Got it?"

     Hannah wasn't sure if she did, but she nodded anyway. The Eyrie smiled and as a final remark, he said, "Have fun. I'll be here in one hour to pick you up."

     And then he flew off, leaving Hannah to stand there alone in the masses of crowds passing by.

     "So, I go straight," muttered Hannah as she started to make her way to the beauty shop. She did this for a few minutes, until the view of the bookshop came clear into her eyes. "Now, a right." The Usul abruptly turned her direction to her right, continued to walk, and then changed directions once again on the first left.

     "Gosh, I really hope I'm not lost."

     Luckily, she wasn't. A small shop with a sign that read 'Madame Sloopeh's Beauty Shop! VIP AND EXCLUSIVE ONLY!' appeared into sight. Hannah sighed, and then something suddenly struck her as bizarre. "Didn't Tina say her name was Mademoiselle Beauté?" she whispered to herself. "Hmmm, I must have misheard."

     The Usul walked up the cobblestone pathway and entered the shop where the ring of a melodic bell welcomed her. Hannah was surprised to see someone who looked more like a male covered in a makeup then a female sitting at the front desk.

     "Um, hello," she said timidly. "A-are you Madame Sloopeh?"

     "Oh, of course I am dear! Come, come, come in!" Madame Sloopeh, or Sloth, stood up from his desk and made his way towards Hannah the Usul. He hadn't quite recognized who it was yet. "Your name is?"

     "Oh, um, I'm Hannah. Hannah the Usul."

     Sloth's expression dropped in horror. "Hannah the Usul."

     Hannah raised an eyebrow, surprised. "Uh, is something wrong?"

     "Oh no, my dear!" replied Slothy, flinging his arms madly. "It's just I've heard wonderful stories about you and your adventures! I'm such a fan!"

     Hannah seemed astonished. In fact, she was. She had never heard anyone say that they were a fan of hers. "Thank you so much!" she replied, breathless. "You're very kind!"

     Sloth giggled, and motioned Hannah towards his desk. "Well, m'dear, to start off, I'm adding ten-thousand Neopoint charges for a charity that my good friend started," he stated, pointing at a small piece of paper that lay on the desk.

     "What's the charity called?" asked Hannah, inspecting the paper at a closer range.

     "What's it called?" said Sloth with wide eyes. His mind frantically tried to come up with a name. "Um…The Historical Meepit Society of course!"

     "The Historical Meepit Society? I've never heard of them before…"

     "Of course you haven't! Exclaimed Sloth, placing his thin and narrow fingertips on the Usul's shoulders. "That's because my friend just created it a few days ago, and is asking for donations that could really shoot up on this charity on the radar. Poor little thing. His Meepit died in a freak blimp accident two weeks ago. So unfortunate."

     Hannah seemed suspicious about this whole thing, but hadn't a clue of how she could say no to such a kind lady who had said she was a fan of hers. "Well," began Hannah, fishing out a coin from her pocket, "I did find some nifty coins in the Galagarth Caves in Krawk Island. I guess I could give you one. It's worth more then ten thousand Neopoints, that's for sure, but there are creatures out there that are more needy, like…Meepits."

     "Oh, wonderful!" squealed Slothy in an exaggerated tone. "You're an angel, honey!"

     Hannah gave a faint smile. "Thank you. Now, I'd like a makeover to surprise my friend. Is it possible to do this in an hour?"

     "Of course it is, dear! I'll be able to whip something up in no time!"

     As Hannah dropped one of her coins on top of the fake charity paper, and began walking away to seat herself down, Sloth opened up another drawer and pulled out a secret formula: BRAINWASHING SHAMPOO

     "Perfect," cackled the evil villain.

To Be Continued…