The jet landed with a slight jolt on the Mystery Island
runway, awakening five sleeping beings. Rosie the red Ixi was the first to wake
up. She yawned, and tapped the sleeping Aisha in the bunk above her. Harriet clutched
her Usuki and mumbled something about cabbages.
"Harriet! Wake up!" yelled Rosie.
Harriet jumped up. "Where's the shark?" she
said, stupidly.
Rosie sighed as Albert the Chia and Sebastian
the Lupe came into the room. "Good morning, ladies," chirped Albert, fiddling
with his glasses. "Where's Jay?"
As if on cue, a devilishly handsome red Eyrie
appeared in the doorway. "We have arrived at Mystery Island at last. The Tiki
Tack Man is waiting. He has presents for all of you," he said.
"The Tiki Tack Man?" swallowed Albert. "Isn't
he, kind of, tacky?"
Jay rolled his eyes. "Well spotted, Albert."
The five marched out of the plane into the humid
atmosphere of Mystery Island. Immediately they felt the air around them change.
A gust of wind swept by them, and they were suddenly engulfed in an air of,
well, mystery.
A faint bell sounded as they walked into the
small shop owned by the Tiki Tack Man. Ugly plushies, toy sail boats, and all
kinds of gross food lay in coolers or on display in coconut shelves. A gruff
voice came from a back room, "Who's there?"
"It's us, Tiki," called Jay.
"May we call him Tiki, too?" asked Sebastian.
"No," replied Jay.
"Why not?" muttered Sebastian.
"Well, Tiki and I are on a first name basis.
You'll understand later," said Jay, as the plump figure of the Tiki Tack Man
ambled out into the shop.
"Aah! Fresh meat!" the Tiki Tack Man chortled
from behind his cheap plastic mask. Sebastian, Rosie, Harriet, and Albert all
backed up a few steps behind Jay.
"Tiki! Why, you look excellent! What have you
been eating? I need your dieting tips," Jay exclaimed.
Tiki rubbed his large belly. "Well, I start
off the day with a nice can of musho mushy peas, baked beans, and some nice
worm dogs. Then for my midmorning snack, I gnaw on a Fish Pop or two, then some
nice Tonguewiches for lunch, and by dinner time I'm hardly hungry at all! Though
I have to say, I usually cave in and have a few Eye Candies," laughed the Tiki
Tack Man loudly.
Jay forced a smile and nodded. "That's charming,
Tiki, thanks. You said you had some presents for these special creatures?" Jay
said, nodded at the four cowering beings behind him.
"Yes!" cried Tiki. "If you do battle in Mystery
Island, you have to look the look," he said, smoothing down his very tacky shirt.
"Mystery Island is all about... ," he stopped, glaring at all of them before
continuing, "the LOOK. So I'm going to provide you four with wonderful costumes
for you to battle in! Super Hero styles!"
Rosie turned to Harriet. "If our costumes have
Eye Candy on them, I'll scream," she muttered.
Harriet giggled, and turned to Sebastian and
Albert. "Him? Giving us capes and spandex and stuff? Sounds pretty sketchy,
don't you think?"
"Why do you always think things are 'sketchy',
Harriet? Is that even a word?" asked Sebastian.
"I'll look it up!" chirped Albert.
"Forget it, guys," said Rosie. "He's bringing
out the costumes."
The four watched as the Tiki Tack Man brought
out a bundle of fabric. "First, to that handsome green Lupe over there," he
said, pulling out a large, flowing, golden cape with a large 'S' monogrammed
on the back and a golden utility belt, full of interesting things that could
possibly result in the destruction of Neopia as we know it.
"Wow!" said Sebastian, as he gratefully accepted
the cape and belt. "Thanks, Tiki!"
"TIKI?" roared the Tiki Tack Man.
"...Tack Man!" finished Sebastian.
"That's better. Now, to that lovely blue Aisha
over there, yes, you..."
Harriet came forward, timidly. "A red cape for
you! With a 'H' on it! And a sparkly wand with a pretty star on it!"
"Ooh! A sparkly wand with a pretty star on it!"
cried Harriet, rushing forward to receive her gifts. She thanked the Tiki Tack
Man and went back to where Sebastian was sitting, examining his presents.
"Next, to the yellow Chia. A green cape, monogrammed
with an 'A' and a very large and intimidating weapon of mass destruction!" chortled
the Tiki Tack Man, handing Albert the cape and the very metal, very shiny weapon
with lots of little gadgets and levers and triggers attached to it. What it
was, or what it did, was beyond anybody's knowledge.
Needless to say, Albert seemed very happy, and
couldn't find the voice to say 'thank you'.
"And finally! To the red Ixi," the Tiki Tack
Man said.
Rosie stepped forward.
"A blue cape for you, with a 'R' on it. A quiver
full of magical quills, and a delicate long bow made from none other than Jhuidah
herself."
"Jhuidah? The Island Faerie?" stammered Rosie.
"Yes, Jhuidah herself," said the Tiki Tack Man,
and for an instant, it seemed to Rosie that his plastic mask was smiling.
"Thank you!" said Rosie, grinning, and tying
the cape on under her chin. "Thank you for all the gifts, Tiki Tack Man!"
The Tiki Tack Man smiled, and crossed his arms
across his chest. "Please. Call me Tiki," he said.
Sebastian raised an eyebrow.
Jay turned to all of them. "Yes, thank you for
the gifts. We still have a lot of work to do, however. You four are forgetting,
there is still an enemy out there to vanquish. That was our main reason for
coming to Mystery Island in the first place. Now, let's get moving, folks. Thanks
again, Tiki!"
"No problem!" called the gruff voice of the
Tiki Tack Man as the five headed out of the shop, back into the humid air of
Mystery Island.
Meanwhile, in a space station far, far away...
A group of nameless creatures sat around a long,
rectangular table in what could only be an evil genius's lair. At the head of
the table, a creature even fouler than the King of the Writer's Blocks sat.
"I have called you all to be on the lookout
for those miserable, writing brats," said the creature.
The collective group of writing woes nodded
and exchanged foul comments about the League. "That silly League destroyed #101567!"
cried the King of the Writer's Blocks from his place at the table, a few seats
away from the creature.
"Yes, yes. You've said that many times. We must
take actions against them now, before they become even stronger. Together, we
will not fail!" roared the creature, silhouetted in the dim light of the space
station lair.
"Muahahaha!" cried the King of the Writer's
Blocks. "Muahahaha! Muaha-"
"Oh, give it a break, blockhead."
To be continued...
Yikes! There's a whole bunch of evil in that space station! What will the
League do now? Will the Tiki Tack Man's new weapons prove worthy against their
new foes from space? What does Albert's shiny new weapon really do? And not
to mention Fred! (George is on vacation.) Find out in the next thrilling chapter
of the League of Super Authors!
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