He was whistling again. It irritated him to no end and yet the boy persisted, an idle tune seeping out of his pursed lips every time he sat himself down in front of the computer terminal. 'Nervous habit,' he had called it. Can't help it. Just a reflex, helps him concentrate. Dr. Sloth took a slow deep breath and let it out again, standing just over the boy's shoulder, watching him fly through the commands on the keyboard. What was he whistling? Some random tune being made up off the top of his head, or perhaps some new catchy single from those Neopian bands? Twisted Roses, perhaps?
It didn't really matter. Dr. Sloth quickly dismissed it, trying to tune out the droning distraction, watching the human patter away at his task. More windows popped up on the screen, files opening too fast for the green-skinned villain to follow. The boy was brilliant, no doubt about that. Brilliant, ambitious, and willing to throw his lot in with one of Neopia's most infamous villains.
"Alright. Here it is."
Dr. Sloth turned to regard the large view screen on the opposite wall. It flickered once as the boy ported the file to its surface, then resolved itself into a recorded image of a frightened blue kacheek sitting in a chair in the middle of a cold steel room.
"I don't know if anyone else made it," the kacheek was saying in a frightened voice, "they were all over us. That kyrii, the fire one, just vanished and reappeared at whim. And the starry zafara, well, it was like I couldn't touch her. I swear I got close enough but then I just – wasn't. It was like reality itself was rearranging itself to help them."
"Was there anything else odd?" a voice from off-screen prompted.
"Yes. They all had dragon wings, well, all except for the human girl."
"Satisfied?" the boy asked from behind him.
"Yes. Quite. You can stop it now Tapaidh."
The view screen went black as the human stopped the recording.
"That kacheek came to us two days ago," Tapaidh said, rattling off what Dr. Sloth already knew, "saying something about a failed rebellion against Fyora. Most of the information was worthless but I think this relates directly to the information we've gleaned about the last gifts."
"Then you think these four pets may have the last gifts."
"I'm almost positive. The patterns of their actions reinforce what we've already learned. Furthermore; look at these graphs."
A grid appeared on-screen with five different colored lines on it.
"The gray line is the normal energy levels of Neopia, specifically around Neopia Central. Basically – magic, what the faeries and pets draw off of to perform those skills and spells and such."
"And the four lines are the pets."
"Exactly! They're a form of uncharted magic, something we've never picked up before. Remember when I had to re-program our sensors?"
"Yes. Your whistling gave me a headache."
Tapaidh blew off the insult, his brown eyes sparkling with excitement.
"Well, see how each line jumps at different times? Those jumps correspond directly with when the last gifts are being used."
"Or what we think are the last gifts."
"And see the blue one? Off the charts. It has to be the gift that alters reality. There's no other explanation."
The boy settled back as Dr. Sloth studied the graphs for a bit longer. Tapaidh was brilliant, no doubt about it. He was only twenty-three, fresh out of the Neopian University and ready to conquer the world. Literally. He'd come straight to Dr. Sloth, declaring that he could do incredible things for the villain if he was allowed to share in the glory of taking over Neopia. Seeing his potential, Sloth had agreed, and now found himself laden with a tall, scrawny pale-skinned boy with long brown hair that was always pulled back into a messy excuse for a ponytail and an annoying habit of whistling for concentration.
"Do you have a plan?" Tapaidh asked politely.
"Brilliant plans do not come at request," Dr. Sloth replied tersely, folding his hands behind his back, "Give me a moment. And no whistling."
There was a squeak as Tapaidh swiveled the chair back around to face his terminal. Probably playing games now. The Dr. paced the control room of his ship, lost in thought. If Tapaidh was right, and the last gifts had been divvied out, then it meant that he finally stood a chance on getting his hands on them. The last great spells of the faeries and the ability to alter reality. If he could somehow get his hands on those pets… somehow strip their abilities for his own use… and alter reality to his liking…
He needed more information. Sloth had learned the hard way that Neopians were no pushovers. And from what he'd learned from those that had run into these… Dragon Thieves… this group was a bit tougher than normal. They'd have to be taken by a ruse. Some sort of trick that they wouldn't expect.
"Tapaidh. Where's that pet of yours?"
"Eeeh, I dunno. I'll call him."
He flipped a couple switches and spoke briefly into a small mic. Dr. Sloth could hear Tapaidh's voice resound across the ship's loudspeaker system, summoning Leantainn to the control room.
"Did you turn it off?"
"Oh!"
Another couple clicks.
"Forgot again. Sorry."
Dr. Sloth sighed. Brilliant, yes, but sometimes a touch absent-minded. He'd never survive on his own as an evil mastermind, hence his partnership with Dr. Sloth.
The two only had to wait a couple minutes before the doors slid open and a shadow gelert trotted lazily. While Tapaidh was all energy and intense concentration Leantainn was nothing but loose and easy-going. They were opposites, but somehow managed to get along without driving each other crazy. For his part, Dr. Sloth actually liked having Leantainn along for the ride, and made sure to use the gelert's talents.
"What's up boss?" the gelert yawned, revealing a pink tongue amidst his black muzzle.
"I have a job for you," Dr. Sloth replied.
"Oh joy. Does it involve food? Because the stuff you got around here ain't worth the effort of eating."
Both ignored the NeoPets comments, used to Leantainn's easy sarcasm. The gelert was a bit large for most of his kind, tall and muscular, fur gleaming on top rolls of muscle. He wore silver anklets studded with as single blue gem about each leg and a matching collar around his neck. Embedded in these were various devices Sloth had installed, a recorder on the collar and small charges in the anklets that could stun an opponent. Leantainn had made frequent use of that when kidnapping pets for Dr. Sloth to test new potions on.
"It does involve going to Neopia," the Dr. explained, "I want you to spy on a human by the name of MiracleStar and her pets. Jaix NightStalker, Skyil SecretJewel, Taffin StarJumper, and Nianso DreamWish. Be very careful, the pets are extremely powerful and their owner is no exception."
"Yeah yeah, spy on pets, don't get seen, etc, etc. Do I get money to buy stuff while I'm out?"
"You have enough junk!" Tapaidh called out, still enwrapped with whatever he was doing on the computers.
"I never have enough stuff!" the gelert protested, "Besides. I want decent food. You can spare some neopoints for food, can't you?"
"Yeah yeah, fine. Just don't take all my np, alright?"
The gelert grinned and turned his attention back to Dr. Sloth, gazing up at him with lopsided ears.
"So. When do I start?"
"Right now."
The gelert yawned again and made his way to the door, vanishing into the hallway. Dr. Sloth sighed inwardly and walked back to stand over Tapaidh's shoulder.
"I want you to turn on Leantainn's collar receiver as soon as he gets to Neopia. Inform me if you find anything of use."
"Sure thing."
Dr. Sloth waited one more moment before making his way to the exit also. This was going to be a delicate mission, finding and extracting the last gifts, but if all went well, he would have everything.
It took only a matter of hours for Leantainn to get shuttled down to Neopia from the Virtupets Space Station. Once in Neopia Central he made his way for the address where this MiracleStar resided. He noted with some disgust how the neighborhoods steadily deteriorated as he made his way closer through the suburban area. It wasn't too hard to pick out MiracleStar's house – it was the shabbiest of the lot. The paint was peeling, scattered balls resided in the front yard. He sniffed at one that had rolled over to the sidewalk, taking in the scent of leather, red stitching, and the odor of a kyrii. He raised his head, gazing at the untidy house front and garden that had once been beautiful. Now it had fallen into disrepair, as had everything else about this house. Pathetic indeed. With a sigh the gelert kept moving, quickly scouting out a path of approach for when night fell. He'd have to get closer, but not in broad daylight. Once the sun was gone he'd see what he could find. For now, the tantalizing scents wafting down from the shops of Neopia Central were calling him. The bag of neopoints around his neck were waiting to be spent, and he was positive there was some delicacy with his name on it out there.
"Hey Tapaidh," he said, brushing an ear against the comm. piece, "I think I have an idea. We'll need a temporary residence and I'll need you to come to Neopia in person."