How Do Mika and Carassa Have All That Stuff?

      "What should we do?" asked Tidekion, my purple Koi.

      "Let's do something fun!" Cariiena, my spotted Gelert, piped up. "Who's up for a snowball fight?!"

      Cariiena suddenly seized a clump of snow, hurled it at Tidekion, and screamed, "Gotcha!" Tidekion, shrieking, dashed under a fir tree and clumped together some snow to throw at Cariiena. Muff, Cariiena's spotted spardel, rolled in the snow, making a snow angel. What great fun this was, frolicking in the snow with my beloved pets! I laughed merrily and easily ducked one of Tidekion's snowballs. The snowball whizzed past my head, and hit something behind me with a thud. Suddenly I noticed that the valley we were in was quiet; no one was talking or moving. All the other pets and owners seemed to be hiding behind trees or peering out from behind mounds of snow, looking anxiously at... me.

      "B-b-behind you," squeaked Muff.

      "Wha... Oh," I said, as I turned around slowly. There, behind me, was the Pant Devil! Looking at me nastily, he said, "Good morning, Floriah."

      "M-morning, Pant Devil," I said, trying not to stutter.

      "Don't worry," the Pant Devil growled as he glanced at his watch. "No time to steal anything... I have a meeting... don't even think about throwing that snowball, Cariiena... Hello, Bristol, didn't I steal 40,000 NP from you a week ago?... And that plushie paintbrush..." Muttering and looking about at everyone, the Pant Devil walked down and disappeared over a hill.

      "A meeting?" asked Tidekion incredulously. "Who has meetings with the Pant Devil, other than the Tax Beast or the Swamp Ghoul?"

      "I don't know, but we're about to find out," I said. "I don't want that Devil stealing any more Neopoints or items. C'mon, everyone, follow me..."

      We crept after the Pant Devil. The Pant Devil was moving slowly, grinning evilly at cowering Neopians and their pets, muttering about how much he'd stolen or what he'd do if he met them again.

      "What a beast!" Cariiena muttered. "Why does he have to steal innocent Neopian's hard earned NP?"

      We followed the Pant Devil for a few more minutes, until, unbelievably, we reached Mika and Carassa's garage sale. There, looking around suspiciously, he stole inside.

      "Mika and Carassa?" said Cariiena in wonder.

      "Fishy," I said. "Veeerrry fishy. I think we ought to inside."

      My pets and I quietly entered Mika and Carassa's home. We stole past the store, which, as usual, was empty, to the back room. To our utter amazement, there were Mika, Carassa, and the Pant Devil, sipping hot chocolate, around a table! The table was laden with bags of NP, paintbrushes, rare books, neggs, and other precious items.

      I crept inside and lunged behind a large fir tree. I pushed aside its branches and peered into the living room. Muff jumped on my shoulder and Tidekion and Cariiena looked over my shoulders at the scene.

      "Boochi's zapped a few more pets," the Pant Devil was saying. "So if they save up for new paint brushes, you'll be set."

      "Oohh, goody!" said Mika. "We really do ruin people's days, though, when you steal things."

      "I don't feel as bad... really, they way they taunt me with those Tiki Armours and Clawed Shields," said the Pant Devil, sipping his brunette brew.

      "Well, thanks, Pant Devil," said Mika as he stood up and picked up a few paint brushes. "Oooh, a Maraquan paintbrush! Those're rare!"

      The Pant Devil stood and bowed. "It was my pleasure to steal it. Well, I think I'll be off now. So many days to ruin, so little time!"

      "Yes, and I've got to get these paint brushes to Jacko," said Carassa.

      "And give Sloth the transformigeration potions," reminded Mika.

      The Pant Devil grinned formidably and turned to leave. "I'll come around again next week," he said, turning. "Neomail me if you see the Grundo leader, though; I've been trying to contact him-YOU!"

      I leapt about three feet into the air as the Pant Devil advanced on me.

      "Look what we have here," he sneered. "Spying, were you?"

      Muff whimpered behind me. "S-s-s-orr-"

      "No," I said firmly. "I'm NOT sorry. How dare you! You steal innocent Neopians' precious items, items they have worked so hard for! I can't believe it! You don't have a heart, do you?" I defiantly stepped out from behind the fir tree. "And you two," I began, turning to Mika and Carassa. "You hoard all these items, and give them to bad people like Sloth who want to take over Neopia! And I thought you were good!" It was then when I stopped my tangent to notice that Mika and Carassa were silently shaking with laughter.

      "What?! THIS IS NOT A LAUGHING MATTER," I roared.

      "Oh, shush," snapped the Pant Devil. "Another goody-goody. Floriah, remember my last visit... Bye, Mika and Carassa!" With that, he clomped out the door.

      "Have a seat, my dear, and we'll explain everything," said Carassa. Tidekion, Cariiena, Muff and I slowly walked to the table and sat down.

      "Now, all these 'bad' people - the swamp ghoul, the Monoceraptor, the ghosts, the Pant Devil, that pink Grundo with the oversized feet - they are actually the "Robin-Hoods" of Neopia, so to speak," said Mika, as he poured himself another cup of hot chocolate. "They steal items from extremely rich, stingy, greedy Neopians who have too much, and through random events, bestow gifts to especially kind, nice Neopians who are less fortunate."

      "Oh," said Cariiena, his face softening slightly. "So, you return all this stuff?"

      Carassa nodded. "In various ways, yes. Jacko gives out paint brushes. Sloth gives out transformigeration potions. Sometimes, we stock expensive items at low prices right when a certain Neopian walks through the door. Illusen and other faeries sometimes give out NP and items, too. We give them these items to give you Neopians who are in need or who are just very kind to others."

      "So then this act of 'moving' is just a ruse? You just act as if you're moving and you have to give away items, when actually they are stolen and you sell them?" asked Tidekion.

      "Yep!" tittered Mika. "We're never leaving Terror Mountain. The whole moving thing is a façade to have items to sell. Why would we ever leave such a cool place? No pun intended." He smiled and handed me a cup of hot chocolate.

      I sipped it and its warmth filled me. I drained the cup and stood up. "Thanks for explaining everything," I said. "It all makes sense now... those random events aren't really that random then, are they?"

      Mika winked as Carassa led me to the front of the store as a pompous, snotty looking Neopian walked in. "You don't have any items, do you?" he muttered at Carassa, his wrinkled nose in the air.

      "Oops! - We just ran out of items. Mika - go up to the attic and fetch lots more down! They are going like crazy!" sang Carassa.

The End

Note: I totally made this up, random events really ARE random... I think :O...