Grippaw's Glade...
Cybil fled through the forest as fast as her
legs could carry her. Her paw was injured, her glasses were askew, and her lab
coat was torn in several places. She was furious at being forced to run, but
with the sheer strength of her pursuer, she saw no other option. As she dashed
past the purple trees, she could hear the laughter of the Evil Meerca Plushie
from somewhere behind her.
He was gaining on her. Panting, she dashed onward,
desperate to escape the evil plushie's wrath.
Suddenly, her bare foot hit a stone. With a
yelp, she tumbled to the ground, her glasses flying through the air and into
the bushes.
Cybil blindly scrambled onto her feet, blinking
and squinting to make out the blurry shapes in the scattered, murky daylight.
A blurred golden shape appeared before her eyes, and although her vision was
impaired, she knew what it was.
"What do you want from me?" she yelled, bravely
standing tall and preparing to go out fighting.
"I WANT NOTHING FROM YOU BUT YOUR LIFE!"
the plushie responded. "SO THAT ONE DAY I MAY BE FREE FROM MY CURSE!!"
"What?!? What are you talking about?!?"
Suddenly, another shape darted before Cybil's
eyes, a mesh of black, white and gray. Cybil felt something push her onto the
ground as a loud chanting began to echo through the woods.
"Eville Merka Plushe! Eville Merka Plushe!!
Merka merka merka merka merka..."
"NOOOOOO!! NOT YOU AGAIN!!"
Cybil heard a wild hiss above the chanting,
and saw the golden shape retreat from the grey blob. Suddenly, the golden shape
faded away, disappearing into the blurry shadows of the nearby trees. The black
and white blob continued to chant for a minute more, slowing down and getting
exhausted before finally coming to a stop.
Everything was silent.
The blur turned around and placed something
into Cybil's paw. She put her glasses back onto her face to see a black and
white Lupe smiling at her.
"Looks like you've made an enemy, friend."
"Who...who are you? How did you..."
"Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Hypotenuse
Perkins, a historian. May I presume from your name tag you are Cybil P. Antigoni?"
Cybil climbed onto her feet, scowling.
"I don't need to hear your life story. All I
need to know is exactly what that thing was."
"Very well then..."
The Lupe sat down on a rock, clearing his throat.
"I'll try to remember all of it, but my memory
is a little bad, so forgive me if I leave out a few details..."
Hundreds and Hundreds of Years Ago...
Once upon a time, deep within the confines of
the Haunted Woods, a creature of magic came into existence like a storm sweeping
across the sky. His name was Eville Merka Plushe. Neopet and monsters alike
trembled with joy and fear at the mention of his existence, and his mere appearance
was like music to the soul.
His eyes were like sapphires, his smile burned
into your soul like butter. He was a Meerca, with fur of gold and a heart made
of a similar material. To friends, he was seemed friendly and charming, but
the last thing many of his enemies ever saw was his long, magical tail lashing
out to finish them off.
He had a clan of followers, to whom he taught
his most wonderful magical secrets. They recorded those secrets in an ancient
book and hid it in a secret place, far away, where hopefully no one would ever
find them. They were supportive of their leader, and the leader was supportive
of the group.
But Eville was impatient to destroy all of the
evil in the world. He gathered his 'Children' and tried to attack the Dark Cloud
of Jhudora.
It was a fast fight. The faerie's minions quickly
defeated all his apprentices, and Jhudora herself struck the final blow against
the evil sorcerer.
She decreed that from that day forward, he would
no longer be a threat to the security of the Dark Faerie's take-over, and that
she would see to it he suffered for his evil deeds. Using her dark, evil magic,
she transformed the defeated Eville Merka Plushe into an actual Evil Meerca
Plushie, one of the finest and most beautiful pieces of craftsmanship ever seen.
And she sent the plushie away; to the Hidden Tower.
There, he rested. The Queen, thinking it nothing
but a mere toy, left it forgotten for years, until the day came when she decided
to turn her magical tower into a shop. Thinking of a clever way to duplicate
and sell the adorable golden plushie, she went to retrieve it from the dungeons.
But upon opening many locks and doors, she discovered that the plushie was gone.
A clever Aisha thief managed to steal him from his once secure home.
The thief found that the object brought him
lots of good luck. After being rewarded greatly for many years, he got rid of
the artifact by chucking it deep into the Haunted Woods, where he remained confident
that another lucky pet may someday pick it up and achieve the same fortune as
him.
And it was so, passing from paw to paw and creating
more and more joy and prosperity. At least until he reached the paws of a cult
called the Society of Chia Despisers.
Using the same ancient book that his followers
had created all those many years ago, they resurrected the powers of Eville
and brought it back to life.
He managed to find a way to harness Eville's
power, to control him, by using the very object he created. He cursed him using
the book, forcing him to make him obey his every whim. The leader forced the
plushie to do his bidding, which mainly consisted of foul murder and trickery
against his foes.
So it was that Eville lived again, but in constant
torture, a slave, trapped to the Leader against his will. He longed to be free,
to be able to create utter chaos, to seek his revenge against the Dark Faeries
and the world that condemned him to his fate, but he knew he never could.
To this day, the cult gathers in secret places
to summon and use the once admired powers of the Evil Meerca Plushie.
Back with Cybil...
"And..." Hypotenuse finished. "It seems as though
they've decided to use them against you."
Cybil blinked.
"Incredible. But I have a few questions. One,
how do you get it to leave you alone/destroy it? And two, exactly how do you
know all this?"
"All right...One, the Evil Meerca Plushie cannot
be halted in his task. He will keep pursuing you until the one he is bound to,
the Leader, says otherwise. You will have to lift the curse that binds him to
the Leader. In other words, to stop him, you'll have to free him. Now, in order
to lift the curse, both parties must be present in a ceremonial area, and you
have to say some magic words...I'm not quite sure what words, however..."
Cybil nodded, wrapping her paw up in gauze from
a pocket somewhere in her lab coat. "Doesn't sound too hard. Where can I find
the leader?"
Hypotenuse winced. "That...is where my memory
gets a bit more fuzzy."
She groaned and covered her face with a paw.
"Oh, geeze..."
"No time to complain!" the checkered Lupe roared,
leaping onto his feet. "I'll have to recover my memory by traveling to the place
where I am certain we will find the most clues!! ONWARD!!"
To be continued... | 
