Furgleton...
The Mailchia whistled as he walked down the
dark road, finally through with his deliveries. The hustle and bustle of the
city always stopped at night, and this night was no exception. The streets were
empty, and the lights were out in all the beautiful houses along the street.
All of the city was asleep.
Well, almost everyone...
Suddenly, the Mailchia heard footsteps behind
him. Very faintly at first, then steadily growing louder. His eyes widened as
he whirled around.
"Who's there?!" he screamed, brandishing his
mailbag like a weapon.
He was threatening air. Nothing was behind him.
The Mailchia swallowed, breathing heavily and continuing down the road, this
time a little faster.
The footsteps returned, also a little faster,
and a little louder.
The small yellow Chia felt a chill like he had
never felt before as he turned around again.
"THE POST OFFICE IS CLOSED UNTIL MORNING!" he
yelled. "IF YOU WANT ME TO DELIVER A PACKAGE, IT HAS TO...wait?"
Silence greeted him once more. The only vision
he saw was the dim glow from a streetlight. The Mailchia blinked. Was that a
flicker of black he just saw brush past those leaves? Taking no chances, he
turned around and began to sprint down the street, dropping his mailbag. His
blue hat fell off as he fled, panting and looking over his shoulder every other
moment.
It was a large, dark figure. At first, he thought
it was Doctor Sloth, but it had a deep, black Lupe face instead of a green monstrous
one. It also wore a top hat, and two glowing yellow eyes were peering from underneath
the black cloak the figure wore over his deep coloured body. He held up a large
pair of scissors as he glided after the Mailchia, his face grim and determined,
gaining very quickly, until...
"AUUUUUUUGH!!"
Suddenly, two huge paws were upon him! The misfortunate
Mailchia let out a shrill yell before his assailant raised the scissors in the
air and...
"MY NEW UNIFORM!!" the Mailchia screamed. "HE'S
RIPPED MY NEW UNIFORM! HE'S SNIPPED IT TO BITS!! HELP! I'VE BEEN ATTACKED BY...THE
RIPPAW!"
The culprit faded into the shadows, his eyes
glowing brightly before fading away. The Rippaw had claimed another victim.
It was all over the newspapers.
"JACK THE RIPPAW STRIKES AGAIN!"
"POLICE BAFFLED!"
"TROUSER RIPPING RATES OVER THE ROOF!"
"NEW EVIDENCE SHOWS CHOCOLATE CHIAS GIVE YOU
CANCER!"
(That last one was unrelated, but I thought it was an interesting article...
anyway...)
Everyone in Furgleton began wearing stronger
fabrics, in the hopes that they would be too tough for the Rippaw to rip. But
unfortunately, his scissors were blessed with a dark, dark magic, and he could
use them to finish off every article of clothing, paper, cardboard or stale
slice of bread he could get his paws on (He could make julienne fries in seconds).
No one knew exactly who it was underneath the dark visage carrying out these
awful crimes against the fashion world. But one thing was for sure: The culprit's
species was a Lupe
Angry mobs of Chias began attacking Lupe Forest,
trying to drive away every Lupe they could find. The Lupes, however, retaliated,
and soon the attempts to attack the forest were abandoned as the Lupes fiercely
drove them back off their land. 500 more pants, shirts, dresses, socks, and
other clothing accessories would be ripped before the Rippaw finally disappeared.
To this day, no one knows who it was, or why he did it… until now…
Furgleton, 10 Years Later...
Phil the tomato Chia waltzed down the same street
that the Mailchia had been attacked on, clad in his usual black cape and square
glasses. The fabric was beautifully woven. It had a silky texture, and yet was
firm and hard to damage. Phil, being the richest Chia in town, was very proud
of his clothing. His white mallard, Andromeda, waddled behind him, quacking
primly as Phil giddily hopped down the street.
"I've never felt so alive until today!!" Phil
cried. "I've finally become the richest person in ALL of Neopia! I'm so happy
I could just scream!"
Suddenly, something happened that DID make Phil
scream. A dark figure leapt from the shadows. He pounced upon Phil, and after
a short scuffle, snatched his beautiful cape, as well as the clothing he wore
under it.
"AUUUUUUUGH!!"
Phil screeched in agony as his favourite cape
disappeared into the Lupe's even darker clothing. The Lupe held up a pair of
scissors, and with several neat slashes, the Chia's other clothes were swiftly
terminated. Phil toppled over, his face a perfect picture of shock as his fine
clothes fell into tatters before his eyes. Andromeda shook up a quacking storm,
his feathers ruffling as he fled down the street. Phil, now clad in nothing
but his underwear, glared angrily as the Lupe vanished back into shadow.
"LOUSY PIFFLING PILFERER!!" Phil screeched,
trying to cover himself up. "I'LL HAVE YOUR HEAD FOR THIS!!"
Phil turned around and sobbed as he fled down
the street after his petpet…
Milford's Residence...
Milford the purple Chia and Mark the green Chia,
Phil's two closest friends, sat down by the fireplace, chortling merrily as
they swished apple juice in their wine glasses. Milford took a long swig from
his glass before continuing.
"Say, have you heard about the new Lupe Movement?
You know, that would allows Lupes to live in Furgleton?"
Mark snorted. "Are they crazy? The Lupes will
certainly eat all those Lupe-loving fools who trust them. If they let one Lupe
set paw in this neighbourhood, I swear I'm moving out."
Suddenly, the door burst open. A short tomato
Chia with glasses and heart-patterned boxer shorts stood in the doorway, panting
heavily. "HE'S BACK!! JACK THE RIPPAW!!" He screamed. Mark and Milford screeched,
falling off their chairs and crashing onto the floor…
Lupe Forest...
The Lupes were abuzz as they read the latest
newspapers from Furgleton (The Furgleton Facts). It appeared as though a Lupe
had attacked one of the Chias last night. The Lupes had gathered in the large
clearing that they called... the Clearing, to discuss the matter with their
fellow citizens.
"I can't believe it…"
Thornpaw the Lupe shook his head, waving a copy
of the newspaper into the air. Thornpaw always wore a red scarf over his white
fur, even in the summer. Most people thought it was to cover his nose, which
released incredibly powerful sneezes that blew everyone away. But even through
the thick crimson wool, Thornpaw could smell a rat.
"Jack the Rippaw? He's just an urban legend,
right?" Thornpaw finished.
Stenchpaw, the rather 'odious' skunk Lupe, shrugged.
The other Lupes shyed away from him as soon as he entered, and he ended up having
a full 10 foot radius to himself.
"I am not being knowing of this 'Rippaw', but
I have been being hearing many things from the other Lupes."
Peacepaw was calmly sitting to the side, holding
a burning stick of incense and focusing, eyes closed.
"Dudes, mellow out. It was, like, simply the
work of an angry spirit out for revenge against Chias, mans. He has some sort
of business to attend to against them, and his spirit must be, like, calmed."
He pulled out a Wadjet board, a peculiar wooden
board with letters and strange patterns, and, humming a strange chant, began
to wave his paws over it.
Stenchpaw shook his head.
"That Lupe is being worrying me at times…"
"I'm really worried about this whole situation!"
Thornpaw hollered. "We could all be banned from Furgleton forever! I have to
go through there to reach my favourite restaurant, and they have the only airport
for miles! How else am I supposed to see my family in the Ice Caves?"
Goldpaw, a yellow Lupe, stepped onto a rock
and raised his paws into the air. "Enough!! All of you, be quiet!! Don't make
me use the whistle!"
He threateningly reached for a golden whistle
that was attached to a string around his neck. Some of the Lupes settled down,
but most began to shout at Goldpaw irritably.
"My grandma needs medication that's only available
in Furgleton!"
"I have a job on the other side of Furgleton!
I CAN'T get barred out!"
"How can I survive? My main food source is Chias,
and if I can't get into Furgleton, how will I get enough to eat?"
Several Lupes stared at the last speaker, a
sickly green Lupe, with a bemused expression, and a few Lupe policeman soon
dragged him away.
"It's that Hannibalpaw again..." A nearby Lupe
whispered to another. "The guy who got arrested for doing serious damage to
the Chia population. He WAS on parole, but it looks like he just got more prison
time. Poor fellow. I guess he just got addicted... a roast Chia for Thanksgiving
is fine for me."
"What, you eat LIVE Chias? Chocolate ones are
much healthier, you know, and it costs much less. Plus, you don't see chocolate
Chias retaliating, do you?"
"Good point..."
Hollypaw the Christmas Lupe, who had been arguing
with Warpaw the red Lupe and Hotpaw the fire Lupe, hurled a stone at a tree,
chipping a hole in the bark.
"THOSE STUPID CHIAS!!" she shrieked. "THEY'LL
RUIN EVERYTHING!!"
Warpaw nodded, raising his sword. "When I went
to Meridell, I learned how to FIGHT!! Why can't I use these skills against the
Chias?"
Hotpaw shook his head. "You're all overreacting...
this is the work of a copycat, not the ACTUAL Rippaw. It's only logical."
Goldpaw began to plead, then to warn, and, finally
losing his temper, resorted to shouting. The Lupes yelled on, some worried,
some angry, some confused, and some, who came for the free food, simply yelling
because everyone else was.
The Alpha, seeing no other way to silence the
crowd, snatched his whistle and blew into it as hard as he could. It made no
apparent noise, but every Lupe present fell silent. Goldpaw, now greeted by
complete silence and attention, took a deep breath, counted to ten, and, opening
his eyes, continued.
"All right…" He cleared his throat. "As Alpha
of Lupe Forest, I would like to express my outrage at this situation. We Lupes
have the right to defend ourselves against these wild accusations on the part
of the Chias However, we must remain calm. We need to keep an open and observant
mind, and try to figure out who the culprit is in order to help the Chias find
the true attacker."
The Lupes nodded in agreement to Goldpaw's wise
words. He smiled weakly, the stress of the past few days obviously adding a
few gray hairs onto his head.
"But just remember, the culprit could be anywhere...
he could be standing right next to you... he could be a Chia with a Lupe costume,
plotting away in Furgleton... or, he could even be... YOU!!!"
To be continued... | 
