"No," answered his brother. "I dropped the Starry paint brush! And after all
the trouble I went through to get it too."
The red Shoyru then noticed that he and Yang weren't the only NeoPets in the
dusty room. There was also a White Lupe, and a teenage girl dressed in robes.
She seemed to be rubbing an upturned goldfish bowl.
"Who are they?" asked Ying.
The white Lupe left its owners side and walked towards them. "My name is Destiny,
and that is my owner, Fortuna Dimension. We saved you from the Sinicar."
The girl stopped rubbing her 'bowl' and joined them. "We were lucky to save
you. We tried to save others but we got to the tree too late. All the other
pets were turned into mutants."
"Whoa, whoa, what are you talking about?" asked the confused Ying.
"I've already told your brother, but I'll explain it to you as well," replied
Fortuna. "Many centuries ago, a terrible, immortal creature arrived to Neopia.
Its name was Sinicar Sloth."
"As in Dr. Sloth," shouted Ying.
"No, but he was related to Dr. Sloth. In fact, he was his brother. And he was
much more dangerous and powerful. However, he wasn't very smart."
"I like this bit," said Yang.
"You see, I am a Predictor. I see visions of the future in my dreams and crystal
ball. I saw what would happen if the Sloth brothers were allowed to roam wild."
That explains the goldfish bowl, thought Ying, and then had a thought.
"Hey wait, this happened centuries ago right? So you couldn't have been alive
then!"
Fortuna smiled. "Hey don't judge a book by its cover, me and Destiny aren't
exactly spring chickens."
Ying gasped. "You mean…"
Fortuna nodded. "The Faeries and the Sloth brothers aren't the only immortal
creatures. I will be 2005 next near." Then she continued with her story. "So
the faeries designed a spell to imprison the Sloth's, they would seal them in
a tree. They spotted them in the spot that will one day be Neopia central, and
muttered the spell. However, Dr. Sloth figured out what was happening, and ran
away, not to be seen again for quite a few years. But Sinicar was captured.
As the years went on, this tree became known as the Money Tree. Since the spell
needed the power of good to work, donating things was a perfect way to seal
the tree."
Yang looked sad. "But the spell only worked if good prevailed. But rich Neopians
took things from the tree leaving nothing for the poor, and people started to
fight for certain items that appeared. Head butting the Kacheek allowed just
enough evil to let Sinicar loose."
"Oh," said Ying, looking down.
Destiny smiled. "Don't blame yourself. The evil would just have been released
an hour later than it was if you hadn't done that. But you can help us out."
"How?" asked the Shoyru brothers.
Fortuna looked serious. You've been out cold for about a day, but Sinicar has
reunited with his brother, and are turning every Neopian they find into a mutant.
By the end of today, they will reach Faerieland and attempt to capture the Faeries.
If they do the battle will be lost. They must be stopped before this happens.
Can I count on you? We need all the help we can get."
Yang looked pale. "We, we have, to fight?" he asked.
Ying smiled and put his arm around the green Shoyru. "Don't worry bro, I'll
watch your back."
Yang smiled, and then winced as his brother's hand landed on his arm.
"What? What's wrong?" asked a worried Ying.
"Nothing, its just…" Yang moved Ying's hand to reveal a white bandage on his
arm. "My arm just got hurt in the blast, but it doesn't hurt that much."
"Well…if you say so," said Ying.
Destiny and Fortuna smiled and started packing a bag. Ying and Yang kept them
selves busy by looking at some of Fortuna's more…original potions, and eating
some food from Yang's bag.
When they were ready to go, Fortuna opened the door, and took them up a flight
of steps. Finally they came to another door. They swung it open and looked out.
Unable to contain their shock, Ying and Yang gasped in surprise.
"This is the street we live on," gasped Yang, as the four of them stared out
the door. "At least I think it's our street."
The road was a mess. Everywhere there was rubble and broken furniture. There
were even a few poor PetPets wandering around.
"What happened?" whispered Ying.
"Sinicar didn't waste any time," replied Fortuna. "He and Dr. Sloth must have
came down this street and turned any NeoPet they found into a Mutant."
"We should go now," said Destiny, walking out of the garden and into the street.
"Every second counts."
To be continued... | 
