The Day The Plushies Took Over!: Part Three

      "GET HIM, NAT! WE NEED YOU!" a few of them shouted out as she stormed in the castle.

      "Well, ladies and gentlemen I think we have our rodent. Shall we find him?" said Nat. "You three take the stairs; I will take the pulley. I was on the stairs once and... let's just say I didn't walk all the way down..." She said this with a slight blush and shied away. After the awkward moment, she ran to the right side of the castle while the other three ran up the stairs.

      "Billy, you take the left staircase. Kolmai and I will take the right. We will meet at the center and see what awaits. I have a feeling this is all a trap but we can't risk it. Time's at stake."

      At that moment the team split up and carried out their plan. When they got to the top, they found a big throne and although it looked empty, at the very bottom sat a plushie Meepit with a crown too big for its head and a little cape just the right size. Kolmai recognized this from an usuki set and could not help but laugh.

      "You know how hard it is to find clothing in my size!" shouted Thorin over Kolmai's laughter. "Stop your laughing or you will find yourself as worthless as a deserted fairground plushie, you Ruki!"

      At this very sentence Kolmai stopped laughing and showing any emotion as if she was put on mute. This seemed to be a weak point of hers, her concern to look good. Billy did not leave Kolmai and Sasha alone with this plushie rodent. He stormed in and ran to the plushie rodent as if to attack him and save his friends yet he simply stood on the side like a Gelert would stand next to its owner. Sasha and Kolmai seemed to know something was wrong and began to question their third partner.

      "What are you doing, Billy? You're on the wrong side! Remember, you have been my best friend since you got to the gallery all those years ago!" said Sasha in a sad yet scared tone.

      "Yeah, and you have always been my favorite pain-in-the-stitches neighbor since I got to the gallery," added Kolmai.

      Billy began to laugh and smile at his two partners who were now almost in tears over what he had just done. "I know, and just a few months ago I was informed of what Thorin had been cooking up... and in a thirst for power and adventure I took it, not knowing I would become so devoted to it."

      At this, Thorin looked up then climbed on the arm rest of the chair and smiled at Billy. Billy bent down to be eye level with his master.

      "Now you will listen to me and do what I say; otherwise you will suffer the fate of the workers out front who are tied together," said the little Thorin to Sasha and Kolmai.

      BOOM! Plushie bricks and cotton fell from the castle ceiling. Sasha noticed that a plushie Kacheek fell too. All of the rubble landed right on top of the throne and everyone in it.

      "So sorry, I went up too many floors and the castle is made of plushie. Roof is not very sturdy; I fell through. What did I miss?" said Nat.

      "Well, to be truthful, you actually did not miss!" said Sasha as he looked at Thorin and Billy getting up off the ground throwing plushie bricks off of them. Sasha and Kolmai could not hold it anymore. They laughed and laughed, falling over and gripping their sides.

      "Guess I have you in stitches, eh?" asked Nat.

      "SILENCE," shouted Thorin. "You clumsy fool, how dare you disgrace me!"

      "Yeah, how dare you make fun of us like this. If that queen wasn't away working for us, every one of you would be out of our way!" shouted Billy.

      Sasha ran and grabbed Thorin. After all he was only a Meepit plushie and fit in a small spot. He ran down the stairs with the struggling pink ball in his hand. He set free four plushies tied to the column downstairs, then used the rope to tie up Thorin. This stopped him from squirming in Sasha's hand. Kolmai and Nat handled Billy. Nat seemed to be more of a natural at holding plushies down. Being a princess was hard work, thought Kolmai, and then decided to drop the stuck up act and try to be herself.

      "We got Billy handled... we just need some -- OW, he bit me!!" shouted Kolmai.

      "We got the little tyke down here all tied up too. We are freeing the workers and then we can find out what to do with these two," replied Sasha.

      The crew met a few minutes later after tying Billy up and freeing the rest of the plushies. They still needed to figure out what to do with the two plushies and find out the queen's whereabouts.

      "How do we restore Neopia back to its normal Neopian state? We want to know, or Thorin -- you will be put in a gallery again," said Nat authoritatively.

      "NO, NO, anything but that!!" shouted Thorin. Sasha looked at him and pointed. Thorin continued talking. "Fine, I will confess. You need to get my wand and free me. I promise to restore all of Neopia. Just please don't put me in a gallery!"

      Sasha cautiously did as he was told and Thorin flicked his wand and said a few words. Kolmai opened the door to see that trees were becoming trees again, and real life was coming back to Neopia.

      "Billy, you can stay here and Nat, the new plushie queen, will send someone for you. Thorin, you can come with us. Kolmai and I have a few plans for you," said Sasha.

      "Me, queen?" questioned Nat.

      "Well yes, I think that if the plushie queen has betrayed us who better to do it than you. You seem very strong and good at being able to rule the plushies without letting it go to your head like this little one here," replied Kolmai, taking the words right out of Sasha's mouth.

      The new found friends and the little Meepit (still tied up) walked out of the castle after saying their goodbyes, and made their way to Neopia Central. When they arrived, they went back on their word and sold Thorin to a plushie shop. The note on the door of the gallery they once belonged to was replaced with a notice saying the baby paint brush could no longer be bought.

      Kolmai and Sasha decided to return back to their spots and live their happy lives in the gallery after their adventure outside of the big gallery door. When they arrived back to their shelf, they noticed that there was a blue Grundo plushie next to Sasha's spot and a small welcome back sign over it.

      "Sasha, I am back. A faerie was happy to fly me home after she found me laying on the cloud in Faerieland."

      Sasha ran up to the blue Grundo plushie and gave him a big plushie welcome back hug. When he did, Sasha knew that life sure would be much happier for him and Kolmai in the plushie gallery.

      Two weeks later Kolmai found out why the deal for her to be sold was called off. The paint brush that was to be traded for her was turned plushie and did not turn back. It seemed as if a lot of paint brushes had this same fate. Although they were no longer useful, they sold for a good price to the Neopians who could not afford the real thing, but wanted something to get the feel for what it might be like to own a real paint brush. Kolmai eventually moved next to Sasha when the owner of the gallery did some rearranging. This made the two friends even happier. Somehow, some way, Sasha was sure that a new adventure would be coming along any day now. Kolmai knew it too, yet kept it to herself for fear that Sasha would get another crazy idea.

      "I am back!!" Sasha heard a squeaky voice yell. He looked down to see that a Meepit plushie was sitting just a few shelves below him. Sasha shook Kolmai in alarm to tell her who their new resident was.

      "Go away. Didn't you know that there is a 'No Aggravations Allowed' sign just in front of this very shelf? That means you NOW go to sleep or something," Kolmai demanded.

      Sasha and Kolmai turned to each other and giggled.

The End