Fuzzle--to Be Or Not to Be?

      Billy the red Skeith tapped his blue Fuzzle repeatedly. *tap**tap**tap* Then, he took to pulling one of its eyes and ripping the fur-soon, the toy was broken, and Billy began to cry. Needless to say, the toy should have been crying; but that issue was set aside as Billy's owner came running to him. The Fuzzle was then tossed into the rubbish dump near Meri Acres Farm, instead of being rightfully presented to one of the numerous broken toy repair shops.

      Night gently caved in, as more and more owners tossed their broken toys onto the pile of junk. The stars shone brightly as the broken Fuzzles lay on the pile of rubbish in silent sadness. Suddenly, the Fuzzles caught sight of each other, all of them thrown out in the dumpster. Neopians were not respecting their Fuzzles, and they would one day regret this.

      Sadly, this is only the beginning in the sad tale of the Fuzzles They deserved better, and maybe if they would have been, Neopia would have been safe. But the Fuzzles kept getting abused, and thrown away. Soon, the Fuzzles grew weary of their persecution, and one snowy winter's night a visitor came to speak with them…

      Snow drifted lazily down and landed upon the group of Fuzzles huddled together in misery. Their attempts to build a fire had failed, and consequently singed one of their party. Suddenly, the padding of feet was heard outside of the bucket in which they hid. A strange face appeared, one none of them recognized.

      "Hello, you look sad," commented none other than Dr. Frank Sloth himself.

      "We quite are," one brave Fuzzle replied.

      "You look a little tattered too. Anything I can help you with?"

      "Not really. All of our owners all threw us out. They tore us up and tossed us away without consideration for our feelings. Go figure…we only made them happy, and when they were bored, the wanted nothing more than to hurt us."

      "Poor little Fuzzles" Dr. Frank Sloth's plan ran quickly through his mind again; the Fuzzles were worth the effort. The Fuzzles were now convinced that this man had rescued them from all harm. Dr. Sloth picked up the bucket by the handle, and carried it gently out to his spaceship. He placed it in the cargo hold and knew that his master plan was now in perfect motion.

      The spaceship landed on the outskirts of Terror Mountain, down by Happy Valley. A vicious storm had formed, as it often does in Happy Valley. Shielding the Fuzzles, Sloth raced over to a small rock nestled by the mountain. He stomped his foot on the rock, and a small trapdoor buried under the snow flung open. The trapdoor revealed stairs leading into the ground below. This, yes this, was Sloth's infamous laboratory.

      Doctor Sloth now performed daring acts to rebuild the Fuzzles He stitched their mouths, put a tuft of fluff here and there…He even made them colorful! However, this was only to distinguish their ranks when he enlisted them in his army. When Sloth reached the last Fuzzle, he only had a little of each color left-thus-the rainbow Fuzzle was born. The only rainbow Fuzzle ever created, and the leader of Sloth's marvelous army of Fuzzles

      Above all, Sloth made these Fuzzles-evil All the Fuzzles had a deep desire to conquer Neopia. But, since they seemed so friendly, they would be the ultimate weapon. Now, to only unleash them in the Neohomes of those unsuspecting Neopians…And what better time than Christmastime?

      Under the Christmas tree, Billy spied an oddly shape present wrapped with blue paper. He chose it for his next gift to open, and then ripped the paper off. It was-his old Fuzzle? Except, it must have been the deluxe edition-how lovely!

      "Thanks, mom! This is the best gift ever!" Billy's owner was preoccupied, didn't even glance at the toy, and commented "You're welcome, honey." All was well, until Billy poked the Fuzzle. Suddenly, its expression turned dark and twisted. Its mouth opened as it sucked in air and then let out an eerie noise. "BOOOOO!" In alarm, Billy tossed the toy into the corner and ran to his mother, scared out of his wits. Dr. Sloth's plan was working…marvelously.

      Back at the laboratory, it appeared as if Sloth and his evil army were in a heated battle.

      "Sloth, we want pay for our services to you!"

      "Pah! You're mine now! You have no power here." The evil Fuzzles began to revolt against Sloth, jumping on him in an attempt to convince him to their ways. Sloth waved his hand at the evil Fuzzles, and they flew into the corner and hit the wall with a sickening crunch. The evil Fuzzles picked themselves up, broken and bruised; mouths coming unstitched.

      "That will teach you to listen to me more often, eh?"

      "Never, Sloth. We've worked tirelessly for you, as your Fuzzle army, scaring little children for you, and what have you given us? Nothing."

      "But just wait; just wait until my master plan unfolds! After I scare them all, I will convince everyone that I am the only person who can ward off these evil beings."

      "But that means you'll destroy us!"

      "Exactly." Sloth withdrew his ray gun from a pocket of his long black jacket and aimed it at the evil Fuzzles The Fuzzles were desperate; they had nowhere to run, except perhaps onto Sloth! One jumped onto him, then another, and another. Soon, Sloth was caught in a whirlwind of evil Fuzzles! His ray gun fell to the floor, the trigger snapped, and the ray zapped up and hit his seemingly robotic hand. Sloth screamed in agony and fell to the floor as the Fuzzles jumped off him. They escaped through the trapdoor and ran out into the icy depths. All of the Fuzzles escaped before Sloth could say "Neopia is mine forever!" Dr. Frank Sloth leaned out the door and yelled "This isn't the last you've seen of me, my little evil Fuzzles! Mark my words carefully, my--!" His voice was quickly drowned out by the storm's gusting wind.

      One Bori silently watched from his tightly concealed cave at the base of the snowy mountain next to Sloth's lair. This Bori had previously exposed Sloth and his devious plots against Neopia. He was no ordinary Bori-he had formerly worked for the B.N.I. or the Bureau of Neopets Investigation. His alias was Donny, and he owned no other name but that. Seeing how mistreated these Fuzzles were, Donny decided to devote his life to helping broken toys. Even in Donny's old age, he began a trek up the side of Terror Mountain. He was surprised by the mounds of snow and ice everywhere-for Happy Valley has quite different scenery.

      The snow started falling harder as Donny neared the top of the mountain. It started slow, and then increased to a hard blizzard. Ice spliced Donny's eyelids, and he quickly shut them in pain. A quick light of hope shattered through his feelings of weariness. His arm clenched over the top of the mountain, he had made it! Donny stumbled around, dazed and confused. He saw an old abandoned shack straight ahead, and made a mad dash for the shelter. The door was quickly jerked open and Donny soon felt comfortable, which was quite an accomplishment considering how rickety the shack was.

      Throughout the years, the shack became Donny's broken toy repair shop. His first customer was a little Skeith named Billy who shyly brought to him a small little furry thing. Donny looked at it, and soon realized it was a Fuzzle.

      "I'll fix 'er up in a jiffy there!" Donny said with a smile, and he fixed the Fuzzle at last to be good-never evil again.

      See? Fuzzles do not have it as easily as some may think. Thankfully, after Sloth's terrible deeds, some Fuzzles were fixed by Donny, but few were damaged beyond repair. They live on today, still with the will to conquer Neopia, but they hide it-like dirt swept under the rug. Many events came from the liberation of the Fuzzle. A game (Evil Fuzzles from Beyond the Stars), Fuzzle galleries were created (forever preserving the Fuzzle's majesty), and most importantly, Neopets were happy again. Now, for the answer to an age old question…

     Question: What is the difference between a Fuzzle and an evil Fuzzle?

     Answer: Simple, one is evil and one is not!

The End