I Was Abducted by Alien Aishas!

     The Fountain Faerie giggled and reached for Aliiv. She tapped the Aisha’s collar and the glass disappeared.

     “Congratulations,” said the Faerie, “You’re now an Alien Aisha!”

     Aiiv gasped. Could it be true? She turned to look at her reflection in the water.

     Her skin was now a glossy green. Where there had once been two antennae, there were now four, all green as her face and bouncing joyfully in the light breeze. Her eyes were dark as the night sky and shone with starlight.

     “Holy Kau!” cried Aliiv. “I really am an alien!”

     The Faerie laughed again.

     “Technically,” said Frankenst, “You’re the colour alien. To be a real alien you’d have to be from off-planet, and you are definitely Neopian.”

     “Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?” Ali bit back.

     “Nothing!” Laughed Frankenst. “It just means you’re not really an alien until you’re in space.”

     “Ugh!” Scoffed Aliiv. “I didn’t even ask to be an Alien.”

     “Me neither,” Frankenst replied in a serious tone. He reached out to help his sister out of the fountain, and she took his hand with a pout. The Grundo could tell she was overwhelmed - suddenly having a whole new look and extra appendages must be a real shock. There was only one thing he could think of that always cheered her up.

     “You wanna get some faerie food while we’re here?” he asked. Now out of the Fountain, the Aisha shook off the water. She was clearly impressed by her new space suit, as it was completely hydrophobic. The water seemed to fall right off her.

     “Now that’s the best idea I’ve heard all day,” said the newly alien Aisha with a smile.

     After a round of tea and Fyora cakes, Aliiv finally had a smile on her face. While she had changed on the outside, laughing and joking with her brother made her feel like herself again. Frankenst hired a flying Uni taxi, and they were on their way home again. The journey back to their home in Neopia Central was uneventful. Aliiv was quiet as she watched the countryside roll by beneath them. With Terror Mountain on the horizon as the sun set below the rich blue seas of Maraqua, Aliiv thought that Neopia had never looked more beautiful.

     “Hey, Frankenst,” said Aliiv, breaking the silence, “You’re from the Virtupets space station, right?”

     “That’s correct,” the Grundo replied quietly.

     “Why don’t you ever talk about it?” asked the Aisha. Frankenst was quiet for a moment, and his sister gave him the space to think.

     “It was a really hard life, Ali,” he started, slowly, his eyes on the floor of the taxi. “I worked in the warehouses for twelve hours every day and slept in a room with eleven other Grundos. I didn’t have a name, just a number…” he trailed off. Aliiv waited until it was clear he was lost in thought.

     “But hey, you’re not a number anymore! You’re Frankenst, my super cool brother,” she said, elbowing the Grundo to get a smile out of him. It worked, and he returned her elbowing with a smirk.

     “Yeah, I know. But it’s still hard to talk about.” he continued, “We were always scared, Ali. Scared something would go wrong in the station, scared of the fuzzles or Dr Sloth attacking, and the worst was… well, nevermind.” he stopped abruptly. “You get what I mean.”

     “Sure, but what was the worst, Frankenst?” asked Aliiv. She knew she was pushing him by the way that his frown deepened, but her naive curiosity got the best of her.

     “Don’t take this the wrong way, but.. There are real Alien Aishas out there, Aliiv. They would raid our station and steal from the warehouses.” he said with a grimace. Aliiv frowned at the revelation but stayed quiet while her brother spoke. “It was terrifying. Every time we upgraded our defences, they would find a way around them. There was one day when they.. Well..” Frankenst stopped talking. He was wringing his hands and started to bite on his lip as he thought of what to say.

     “You don’t have to tell me if you’re not ready,” said Ali, regretting her impulsiveness. “I’m sorry I asked.”

     He shrugged off her apology, but he still seemed far away. Aliiv grasped his shoulder and shook him. She didn’t like to see her brother sad, and if she had to shake it out of him, she would.

     “Jeez Ali! It’s okay!” he said after a moment of jostling and swatted away her hands. “They would just mess with us, but I never got hurt or anything. Honestly, the worst part was cleaning the warehouse after they left.”

     “If you say so,” Aliiv said.

     They were quiet for the rest of the ride. It was almost dark by the time they got back to their Neohome, so they had a quiet dinner, a few laughs, and went to sleep.

     Aliiv was having a pleasant dream about cupcakes when she was awoken by a mysterious ticking sound. It was coming from outside her window, and some distance away, but she could hear it. She could hear a lot more things than usual. Her second set of ears made the quiet night come alive with sound. The AIsha scrambled out from under the blankets and to her window. A few streets over, a green light hung over the roof of a Neohome. Squinting in the dark, Aliiv could see that the light was coming from a spaceship.

     Aliiv watched in shock as a beam of light burst from the bottom of the ship. There was a deep mechanical hum in the air as it settled over the Neohome. She could hear voices from inside the house, likely Neopets awakened by the sudden brightness. Ali panicked suddenly - there were aliens above that house and the people inside had no idea! - so she jumped up from bed and headed out to warn them. She shrugged off her fuzzy pink pyjama robe and rushed out the front door. Luckily, she was still dressed in the sleek white bodysuit she received from the Fountain Faerie. To tell the truth, she didn’t know how to get out of it.

     As she ran towards the light of the spectacle before her, Aliiv was light on her feet. She could see and hear everything around her in crisp detail. She had always been fast, but now the wind whipped her hair around wildly as she raced down the street. The voices had become louder. The residents of the Neohome must be fully awake and on their way to investigate the lights. There was an opening of a door, and then a shout. As Ali turned the corner of the Neohome’s street, she saw a dark silhouette of a Neopet with horns and a slim tail against the bright yellow tractor light.

     “HEEELP!” cried the Kau as he rose up toward the ship’s underside. Holy Kau - literally! Thought Ali as she finally reached the perimeter of the light. She hesitated for a moment before stepping into the beam - and was immediately lifted off the ground.

     “Oh, no! Oh no no no!” she cried as she flailed her limbs helplessly. She was caught in the intense artificial gravity of the ship’s beam. First, she tried to flail, then walk, then swim out of the light’s pull, but it was useless. A porthole opened in the bottom of the spaceship where the light had originated, and it was clear that the two Neopets were headed for the interior of the ship. Aliiv looked down at the Kau’s husband and children as they watched their father (and their neighbour) be abducted by aliens.

      Once they were lifted into the ship, the reverse gravity of the tractor light went out and they were dropped unceremoniously onto the floor. They were inside a glass tube that appeared to have a door, but the locking mechanism was on the outside. The Kau groaned on the floor next to Aliiv and rubbed his head. Aliiv scurried over to him, noticing he was still wearing his pyjamas.

     “Are you okay?” she asked. The Kau huffed.

     “I’m fine,” he replied. “This is the third time this week.”

     Before Aliiv could ask what he meant, she heard a chorus of laughter coming from behind her. She whipped around in its direction to see a group of three alien Aishas bent over in laughter. They were all Aishas, but they weren’t wearing collars. There was something different about them that Aliiv didn’t understand. The Yellow Alien Aisha scoffed and took her seat. She took hold of the controls, and suddenly Aliiv had the sensation of being in an elevator going way, way too fast. Her ears popped and she began to float once more. The pink and blue aliens’ feet left the ground with grace as they manoeuvred over to the capsule. Aliiv began to panic. Alien Aishas! Ahhh!!!! She thought. However, next to her, the Kau had fallen asleep. He snored lightly as he dozed in zero gravity.

     “Oh my Fyora!” giggled a pink alien, “We got an extra Petpet this time!”

     “Isn’t she cute?” asked a blue alien.

     “How exactly did this happen?” demanded a yellow alien. She was the tallest, and therefore, Aliiv assumed she was the captain.

     “She jumped into the tractor beam,” explained the blue alien.

     “And nobody noticed?” asked the Yellow Aisha. The others looked at each other and shrugged.

     “HELLOOO!” cried Aliiv, the green alien Aisha, “I’m right here!” she said. Aliiv started to bang on the glass of the capsule.

     “Ugh, she’s loud,” complained the Yellow Aisha. “You two figure this out. We’re continuing our mission as planned,”

     “Yes, captain!” said the Blue Aisha.

     “Wait, captain!” shouted the Pink Aisha. “Can we keep her?”

     “NO!” responded the captain and Aliiv. The green alien Aisha banged on the glass capsule again.

     “You let me out of here RIGHT NOW!” Aliiv demanded. The captain sighed heavily and pressed a button on her dashboard, causing the door to the capsule to slide open. Aliiv wasted no time in grasping the door frame and pulling herself out of the capsule. She pulled quite hard - hard enough to launch herself from the door frame. The Aisha cried out in surprise as she flew from the capsule and barreled into the pink and blue aliens. They shouted as the three girls tumbled and spun in zero gravity.

     “Get off me!” shouted the Blue Alien Aisha.

     “Just kidding, I definitely don’t want to keep her!” cried the Pink Alien Aisha.

     “You guys stink!” yelled Aliiv as she flailed her limbs wildly, catching the Blue Aisha in the arm with her foot. Her antennae had become tangled up with the Pink Aisha’s and she tugged on them, earning an irritated hand in the face from the other alien.

     “I can’t believe this is my life,” sighed the captain. She pressed another button and the knot of alien Aishas was dropped on the ground as gravity returned to the ship. Back in the capsule, the Kau had been woken up by the ruckus. He rubbed the back of his head where he had collided with the floor twice. The aliens continued to complain as they untangled their appendages. As soon as she was freed, Aliiv scrambled to her feet and backed against the wall, her fists up and ready to defend herself.

     “Aw, look, she wants to fight,” said the Blue Aisha.

     “Yeah, right,” said the Pink Aisha, “She’s only level ten. Not exactly a threat.”

     Aliiv huffed at the insult. She was still in training! Not cool.

     “Explain to me right now why you abducted us,” Aliiv insisted, trying her best to sound confident despite her shaking hands.

     “We’re Kau tipping,” said the Pink Aisha matter-of-factly. “It’s our thing.”

     Aliiv stared blankly as the Blue Aisha stood, brushed the dust off her space suit, and sauntered over to the open capsule.

     “Something has happened!” said the Blue Alien Aisha. “You’ve been abducted by alien Aishas and Kau tipped.” Then, she produced a bag of Neopoints from her pocket and handed it to the Kau. He accepted the tip and counted the Neopoints.

     “Only fifteen hundred this time?” He said. “You guys really woke me up for this?”

     The three aliens burst into laughter. Even the serious captain was bent over her dashboard in hysterics. Aliiv did not laugh.

     “Seriously? This is funny to you?” she accused. “You really scared us both! And all for some sick game? It really isn’t cool or nice or anything! You shouldn’t be doing this!”

     “I wasn’t scared,” said the Kau. “They do this about once a week.”

     “But you screamed for help!” Aliiv cried.

     “I was asking my husband,” he replied. “You’re not much help, anyway.”

     The Pink and Blue Aishas began to laugh again, but the captain was quiet. She stood and approached Aliiv with her hands on her hips.

     “You think you’re better than us,” she accused. They were face to face now. Aliiv tightened her fists and frowned, trying her best to look intimidating. It did not work.

     “But really,” continued the captain, “We’re better than you,” she said and slapped the palm of her hand against the wall of the ship behind Aliiv. The Neopian heard the click of a button as the captain’s hand connected with the wall. Then, the Yellow Aisha grinned from ear to ear and shoved Aliiv. Behind the two Aishas, a compartment had opened and Aliiv was stuffed into it. The door to the compartment slammed shut. Aliiv banged on the door again, shouting her protests, but a blaring alarm droned her out. A robotic voice sounded from a speaker above her.

     “Evacuation in five.. Four.. three.. Two.. “

     There was a sound of a blast, and Aliiv was plastered against the wall of the compartment as it shot from the spaceship at rocket speed. The alarm continued to scream, flashing red lights that blinded Aliiv. She could see a seat and what looked like a control panel, but it was below her and she was moving too fast to reach it. Another blast and increase in speed, and Aliiv lost consciousness from the force of the blastoff.

     Aliiv was certain she was done for.

     This was the first thought she had when she awoke. Then, the pain hit her. Her head was pounding and her body was sore. She felt like she’d lost to the battle faerie in a one-hit knockout. Her eyes were unharmed, however, and she opened them to see a bright light and a flurry of motion.

     “She’s awake!” someone said and scampered off. Aliiv groaned. What happened? She laid there stiff as a board for a moment, staring at the ceiling, until the scampering returned along with a second set of footsteps.

     “Alliv!” called a familiar voice. In the doorway was Aliiv’s favourite Grundo, her brother Frankenst. Despite her sore muscles, she sat up with enthusiasm and a weak smile. Frankenst was at her side in a flash. “Are you okay?”

     “Yeah, I’m fine,” she replied. “I was abducted by Alien Aishas. It’s no big deal,”

     Frankenst cracked a smile.

     “Well, at least they left you in one piece,” said the Grundo. “You’re on the Virtupets space station. Honestly, you’re lucky that our security systems found your escape pod.”

     “They probably sent me here,” Aliiv scoffed. “Like you said, they just messed with me,” She held her head in her hands. It still hurt to think. Frankenst rubbed her shoulders sympathetically.

     “Guess what?” inquired Frankenst with a smirk. Aliiv looked at him. “You’ve been to space. You’re officially an alien,”

     “Huzzah,” said Aliiv, "Why are you here?"

     "I was in the mood for some space food," said Frankenst.

     "Seriously?"

     "No!' laughed Frankenst, "I saw you get abducted and I called a friend for help. I wouldn't leave you out here alone."

     "Aww, gee thanks." said Aliiv sweetly. She sighed and put both feet on the floor. There were so many things she could've said to her brother, but there was only one thing she really needed to say.

     "Can we please go home now?" asked Aliiv. The answer was yes.

     The End.