The Myncis of the Beach

     "Garet, you'll never do a flip if you keep chickening out at the last second!" the Gelert, who happened to be named Kara, said as her friend coughed up some ocean water.

     "Yeah, yeah, like you could do any better."

     "I bet I could!"

     Kara swam a little ways, accelerating as she did. Leaping out of the water, she whipped her head forward, causing water to be sprayed in random directions around her, and did a perfect flip, plunging into the water paws first. Garet rolled his eyes as the Gelert swam back to their swimming spot. She burst out in laughter.

     "I told ya so!"

     "Yeah, yeah, we're all impressed," he said sarcastically, while clapping quietly.

     But this sentence didn't quite make sense, as they had no other friends with them. The only other pets on the beach were four Myncies playing volleyball. They were all different colors, though none of them were painted. Kara watched them from the shallow water, admiring how they could jump up on their hind legs and smack the ball over such a high net. She became mesmerized by the jumping, hitting, jumping, hitting, jumping, hitting...

     "Kara! Are you listening?"

     "W-what? Oh, sorry Garet. I was just watching the game."

     "Yeah, yeah. I was just wondering if you're enjoying the vacation I planned."

     "Yeah, it's cool. It's much better during the winter than Terror Mountain, woo! Does it get super cold up there or what?"

     "Yeah. Hey, you want to head down to that shack? It looks like whoever's there is selling food."

     "Food? But then we can't get back in the water."

     "Exactly."

     Kara smiled at her friend as they stepped onto the warm sand, and scrambled over to their towels to dry their bodies off. As they headed over to the shack, a wind picked up and made the little water left on them turn very cold. The Christmas pet pulled her towel around herself, hoping to warm up. She turned around to catch part of the game that was still being played.

     "Welcome to Tropical Foods! What would you like?"

     "Some Shrimptail with Kelp Sauce, please."

     "Here you go. And you, miss?"

     ...

     "Miss?"

     ...

     "Hello?"

     "Kara, wake up!"

     "W-what? Oh, I'm sorry, you guys. The game is just really getting good."

     "Yeah, yeah, just order already!"

     "Do you have any of your Famous Crab Burger left?"

     "Of course, miss. Here you go."

     "Uh, thanks."

     Kara and Garet walked to a nice spot on the grass near the volleyball game. The side with the green and red Myncies were in the lead, according to the score recorded on a chalkboard. The Gelert immediately became engulfed in the rhythmic movements of the players, soon falling asleep. She began to dream.

     In her dream she saw black. Lots of black. Then some white dots began poking through the black, some pulsing. With each throb, they got brighter. Soon they all began doing this. Faster now...There was a weird beeping noise. Then there was a noise that was a little annoying.

     'What is that noise?'

     It happened again.

     'Is that...Is someone screaming?'

     'AAAAAGGGGHHHH!!'

     'Someone is screaming? Hello? Hello? Is anyone there?'

     From behind Kara's dream self, she heard a deep cackling. She turned around, but her dream ended in a swirl of green, red, and black...

     Garet woke his friend when the game ended and decided to start a conversation. When Kara opened her eyes, she forgot about her dream.

     "So why don't you just play with them, if you're so obsessed?"

     "Obsessed? I am not obsessed."

     "Yeah, yeah. You've only been staring at the game nonstop for the last hour. Except for when you fell asleep. That actually surprised me."

     "Okay, so I like the game. Big deal!"

     "Just go play with them."

     "I couldn't."

     "Why not?"

     "I wouldn't be any good."

     "Just try, lunkhead!"

     "Fine!"

     Kara walked over to the players, but as she got close, they faded away. The word, "Huh?" escaped her lips. She took a few steps back. The players came into view again. She stepped forward and back a couple of times before she finally confirmed to herself that the players weren't there!

     "It's like...they're...pictures...or ocean spray...or..."

     Her eyes widened as her dream shot back into memory.

     "Something made by Dr. Sloth."

     She turned around, yelling and running back to Garet.

     "Garet, Garet, Garet! The players aren't real, they aren't there!"

     "What are you talking about? They're right there."

     He pointed to the fake Myncies.

     "No, they aren't real. Come look!"

     She nudged him with one of her antlers, and then began running off towards the beach.

     "Come on!"

     He began to follow her, worrying for his friend's sanity. They got closer and closer to the players, when all of a sudden, when they were only a few feet away, they disappeared.

     "But where...?"

     Then, a big green light flashed from above and the two Neopets were jolted upward. They both looked up to see a giant spacecraft. They were being sucked into it!

     "AAAAAAGGGGHHHH!!"

     As soon as they were inside completely, the green light shut off and the bottom door closed. Kara looked around. There were cells made of glass and metal in ten rows. There were Myncies inside four of them, each a different color. They seemed as though they didn't know what was going on. All of them had a dazed, faraway look to their eyes as they did different volleyball moves. They all did jumps and hits precisely at the same time as the Mynci next to them. Garet gasped, while Kara screamed. He turned to see his friend looking behind them. He spun around to see what she was looking at, and when he saw it -- or should I say, him -- he screamed, too.

     "D-d-d-d-d..."

     "Dr. Sloth! Yes, that's my name. I see you've stumbled upon my new plan. I captured these Myncies and forced them to do volleyball moves. I then made illusions of them down below on the beach. Whoever watched them long enough became dazed and would be captured by my ship soon enough. Soon, I will have all the Neopets on Mystery Island in my control! Then, I will use them to hypnotize more Neopets all around Neopia! I will have complete power! Muahahahaha!!"

     "But, uh, Mr. Sloth?"

     "That's Dr. Sloth!"

     "Right. But why did you tell us your plan?"

     "Because! You will soon become mindless zombies just like these Myncies. You will no longer remember what I've just told you!"

     "Then, what was the point?"

     "Because there are readers and they'd like to know my genius plan! Gosh, don't you go to school?"

     Dr. Sloth pulled a remote control out of nowhere and pressed the large green button on it. Another green light shown down on Kara and Garet, sucking them up into another chamber. They were greeted by an Island Kougra. He had the same dazed look on his face.

     "Come this way."

     He walked away, and the Gelert and Grundo would've run away, but they seemed to be forced to move by some...force. They were led into separate cells at the other end of the room. Kara looked around her. The glass must be one-way, because all she could see around her was her own reflection. That, and a small purple button on the wall in front of her. She pressed it and the door to her cell opened. She walked out thinking that it was a dumb place for a button. Garet pressed the purple button in his cell and he walked out as well. They looked at each other.

     "That was dumb."

     "Yeah, let's go."

     And so, they pressed all the purple buttons that held the Myncies in captivity, thus letting them free. Then they pressed a large purple button which caused a woman's voice from the ceiling to say, "Dr. Sloth's spacecraft detonation in 5...4...3..."

     The two Neopets looked at each other and pressed the green button next to it, which opened the door and made a green light shine down on the beach below. It sucked them in and let them safely on the ground. They walked away, having learned a valuable lesson. Dr. Sloth should remove purple buttons from his spacecraft.

The End