"Ahh, what a lovely day," said the Techo, as he lay on the soft green grass of a park in Neopia Central.

"You said it, Torix!" said his Kacheek companion, Megan, who was sitting nearby. She was perfectly content, and had her favourite book propped up in front of her.

The Techo smiled, and placed his hands behind his head for a makeshift pillow, then closed his eyes for a quick nap in the sun.

AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

The Techo jerked up at the scream, and was nearly trampled, as no less than three Neopets ran between him and his Kacheek friend.

Torix turned his head toward his friend with an incredulous look on his face.

Megan was utterly confused to, and a bit annoyed. She shrugged her shoulders, muttering something that sounded like, "Hrmf! Some Neopets..." then went back her book. Torix also shrugged, and laid back down.

However, before either could even finish a sentence, or close their eyes, a dozen more Neopets went running past, screaming at the top of their lungs.

Mildly alarmed now, the two friends slowly turned to look behind them.

Around fifty more Neopets were now running down the knoll towards them, arms flailing as they ran.

"What's wrong?" shouted Torix, as the frightened Neopets surged around them.

"T-t-the... STUFF!" a voice screamed.

Megan and Torix once again exchanged confused glances. Both then got up, and walked to the crest of the hill to find out what on Neopia these crazy Neopets were panicking over.

When they reached the top, it was quite evident...

The two Neopets looked down the hill and saw, in the valley, the remains of a massive picnic site. There were many checkered blankets laid out all over the ground, but no one was there to sit on them. Food was scattered on the blankets and surrounding grass, lonely and uneaten. Glasses were lying on the ground, knocked over and abandoned; the drinks they had been holding now seeped into the dirt. In the midst of it all, there was a huge pile of wriggling pinkish-red goo.

"Hmm, this must be where those scared Neopets came from," Torix said. His eyes then fell to the pink pile. "Wow, that looks like my sister's meatloaf! No wonder the other pets ran... I hide everytime she cooks meatloaf, too."

Megan, however, had gone as pale as the clouds that dotted the sky. "Torix!" she squeaked. "It's no meatloaf! It's the STUFF!"

"What?" Torix asked, confused. "What kind of stuff?"

"The Stuff. Just the Stuff," Megan explained. "The most infamous food in Neopia. We have to get rid of it, or it will grow and grow until Neopia has been taken over... look!"

The Kacheek pointed down into the valley again, and Torix saw that the gooey substance was beginning to move along the ground with a squelching noise, sliding towards one of the picnic blankets and leaving a trail of sticky slime in its wake.

The Stuff reached the blanket, which was covered in deserted cookies and sandwiches, then moved on top of it. There was a sucking noise, and right before Megan and Torix's eyes, the substance grew! It was only a slight change, but noticeable all the same. When the Stuff moved on beyond the blanket, the food was gone.

"You see, it absorbs things!" exclaimed Megan. "And each time it does, it gets a little bit bigger. Eventually, it will get so massive that it will need much bigger food... that's when it'll begin to devour Petpets, Neohomes, and even..." the Kacheek's voice trailed off and she swallowed.

"Oh no! What are we supposed to do?!" Torix cried, his voice panicky. He was wringing his scaly hands.

Megan looked at the Stuff down in the valley for a second before turning back to the Techo.

"Well..."

Torix gasped as the Stuff inched its way closer, consuming a few unfortunate bushes. The goo grew with each thing it ate.

"Are you serious?!?!" Torix cried, feeling himself gag. "That's disgusting! Besides, even if we did have the guts, figuratively and literally, to eat that junk, we'd never be able to consume it all!"

"Would you rather it eat us?!" Megan inquired, growing rather annoyed as she patted the floor with her tail. "Well, enough chit-chat! We've gotta get out of here! The Stuff is getting closer!"

The Kacheek grabbed the Techo's arm and, together, they dashed off in the opposite direction of the Stuff. The joined the crowd of Neopians who'd been overrun by fear, dashing away and screaming their heads off.

The Stuff had, by now, devoured most of the park, including several fountains, and was now moving towards the Food Shop as the crowd watched in horror.

"Megan, we've got to get out of here!" Torix bellowed, "The crowd's not going to die down, and they have nowhere to go! But... where do we go?"

Megan thought for a minute before shouting, "The Catacombs!"

The two ducked and dodged their way through several hundred frantic Neopians, making their way to the dark underground catacombs of Neopia Central. It was empty, aside from a few others, who had shared their idea.

"I think we're safe here," Torix said, taking a seat by some strangers. "At least, for now..."

"Too bad neither one of us is a Skeith," Torix said jokingly. "They'll eat anything!"

Megan laughed as she got up to stretch, but her face then turned to a serious look.

"You know, Torix..." she began, "You're right. Skeiths will eat anything. The only problem is--"

"Where do we get one?!" Torix interrupted, sounding hopeful as he shot up from the ground. They looked at each other, then slumped back down to the ground. They sat there motionless, thinking of where to find a Skeith.

Meanwhile, The Stuff was continuing to wreak havoc upon Neopia. It had grown to a massive size, and was closing in on the main shops and Bazaar areas. The crowd of Neopians, seeing no other option, continued to run away...

"The Coin Shop!" Megan shouted, jumping up once more. "A Skeith runs the Coin Shop!"

"You know," Torix said. "You're right! Let's go see him!"

The pair then ran to the Coin Shop, only to be greeted by an unwelcome sight.

"Out to lunch?!?" Megan cried, stomping her foot as she read the sign. "What are we going to do now?"

"Why, go in anyway, of course." Torix said. "This is an emergency!" Megan nodded, following the Techo into the shop. They found the shopkeeper rummaging through the contents of a brown paper bag, which Megan assumed was his lunch.

"Um... excuse me sir, but can we talk to you for a minute?" Torix asked.

"Sure," the Skeith said. "How may be of service?"

"Well..." Megan started, "We need your help to get rid of The Stuff."

The Skeith's reaction was most surprising...

Torix and Megan, now extremely confused, chuckled nervously and looked at each other.

"Um..." Megan began. "Why are you laughing?"

The Skeith shook his head. "I don't know what kind of prank this is you're pulling--"

"But it's not a prank!" Torix cried. "We're serious! The Stuff really is out there, and it's probably already big enough to absorb this Coin Shop by now!"

The Skeith's face turned serious. "Look, kids. Your prank might've tricked some other innocent Neopian citizens in believing that The Stuff is back--"

"Back?" the Kacheek and her friend cried in unison. "What do you mean 'back'? It's been in Neopia Central before?"

The Skeith nodded. "That's why I don't believe you. It came a couple of years ago, appearing in a park in Neopia Central one day. It absorbed several Neohomes before the authorities could finally get enough Skeiths and Grarrls to eat the whole thing. I was one of those Skeiths, too," the Skeith said, smiling proudly at the memory. "Some people say The Stuff was created by Dr. Frank Sloth to take over Neopia. Anyway, you see... that's the reason why I don't believe you. The Skeiths and Grarrls got rid of The Stuff a long time ago, by eating all of it."

Torix was about to try and convince the Skeith that they saw The Stuff in the park again, when they were all startled by several Neopets running past the shop, screaming, "It's The Stuff! Run for you lives!!"

Torix and Megan looked expectantly at the Skeith, who blushed. "Erm, I'm sorry I didn't believe you," he apologized. "My name is Ernic," he said, getting up from his chair and making his way out the door of his shop. "We'd better get going."

"Nice to meet you. Uh, exactly where are we going?" Torix asked.

"The last place left to go," the Skeith replied...

"You're kidding, right?" Megan asked.

"Nope." Ernic replied. "Once The Stuff freezes, it tastes just like a strawberry popsicle. I personally prefer grape, but 'food is food' as us Skeiths say. Anyways, it's quite cold in the factory, and once The Stuff is slowed down, we can pack more ice onto it, then eat in safety."

"How are we going to get it there, though?" Torix said angrily. "What about all the Neopets in the way, and their Petpets? We can't just forget them!"

"Of course not!" the Skeith explained. "You mistake me for an amateur, my boy. I told you, I've done this before. See, the trick is to lure The Stuff along a safe path, away from those it might harm, and what it likes most is..."

"Yes?" Megan and Torix wondered aloud.

"Leftovers." Ernic smiled at their baffled expressions. "It's true. I saw it devour an entire leftover Cybunny Carrot Pasta, one large enough to feed fifty Neopets. We must ask all the residents of Neopia Central to donate their leftovers. Then, we will make a trail along the outskirts of Neopia Central, leading right up to the Ice Cream Factory."

"There's only one problem." Megan said nervously.

"And what would that be, my dear?" Ernic asked.

"That!" she said, pointing at something behind him. It was...

"Um... forget about asking for leftovers, grab those abandoned picnic baskets up... now!" Ernic said.

Megan and Torix quickly dashed across the grass, scooping up as many baskets of food as possible. Megan stumbled onto the grass, after slipping in a spot of spilled Neocola.

"Oh no... Megan! Be careful," Torix yelled.

Megan slowly pushed herself up, gathering the dropped food. As soon as the two brought out the food, Ernic started eating.

"Ernic! What are you thinking?!" Megan snapped, shaking him fiercely. "The Stuff is going to eat us if all you can think about is gobbling up food."

"Remember what I said about leftovers?" Ernic asked.

"Oh!" Megan said, then started to eat too, tossing aside the food as soon as she'd eaten a bit of it. By then, The Stuff was practically upon them. Torix and Ernic picked up the leftovers as Megan dropped them behind her.

They started to set the food along a path that would keep the other Neopets from harm...

Megan, who had been walking backwards, creating the leftover trail, bumped into their rigid backs. "Ouch!" she complained, rubbing the back of her head. "Hey guys, what's... oh!" The Kacheek's jaw hung open at the sight in front of them.

Gathered before them was a massive, teeming crowd of wailing Neopets. "They just had to run away to this spot..." Torix growled, while nervously continuing to glance over his shoulder for The Stuff.

Ernic gritted his teeth. "It doesn't matter, we have to move." The Stuff was going a little slower, now that it was eating the leftovers, but it was still on their trail.

Megan stood on her tiptoes, and craned her neck to see over the crowd. "It's right there... the Ice Cream Factory is right there!"

Torix tapped his chin, when suddenly an idea came to him. "Ernic! Roar as loud as you can NOW! We have to make the crowd think that you're ferocious!"

Ernic nodded, and inhaled...

"RAAAGGHHH!!"

The trio charged through the enormous throng, Ernic at the front, shouting his head off. The gathered Neopets scattered, terrified of this "ferocious" Skeith. This left a clear shot to the Ice Cream Factory.

Torix and Ernic wrenched open the huge, icy doors of the Factory. Megan dumped the last of the leftovers in the middle of the giant, freezing cold warehouse, and they waited.

It didn't take long. Before they knew it, the giant blob was squishing itself through the doorway. Megan whimpered a little, staring at the gigantic writhing mass.

The Stuff began to slither over the pile of food, then began to slow. "It's working!" Torix cried.

Frost began to creep over the edges of The Stuff. Torix, Megan, and Ernic rushed to grab bags of ice, packing them around the bottom of the glop. It didn't take long for The Stuff to become the equivalent of a pale-pink popsicle.

Ernic grinned as he gazed upon the now-immobile Stuff. Torix and Megan ran outside to round up the Skeiths and Grarrls for the upcoming feeding frenzy.

Much later, when numerous Skeiths and Grarrls were lying around the Factory, moaning from overstuffed bellies, Megan and Torix strolled outside.

Torix sat down in the grass, leaning against a tree. "Now," he said lazily, forming a pillow with his hands behind his head, "About that lovely day..."

The End