Tails of Terror: The Malice of Mr Squishy - Part One

"And then you stick the final pole in… and… voila!"

     A triumphant grin, and the crimson-red Gelert stepped back, admiring his handiwork. The tent looked sound- he'd followed the instructions on the back of the box exactly, and frankly he was darn impressed with his construction "I have to say," he said, his grin widening still as he brushed back his long glistening fur, "that's one well-constructed tent."

     A giggle came from his side, and Toggerneo glanced down. The chuckles were coming from a short pink Cybunny, who he was pretty sure was named Mandy, and with a frown he poked her. She just giggled louder.

     Mandy was a very sweet Cybunny, her pink fur was always clean and premed as well as possible, unlike the speckled Cybunny who tottered up to Mandy's side clumsily, a bandage covering her eyes in what she called a "long-running hide and seek game".

      "Uncle Togger!" The speckled creature spoke, "Come on! You've still got to find sticks for the marshmallows, set up a fire, set up another two tents…"

     Toggerneo sighed exhaustedly and lifted the Cybunny onto his shoulders, Mandy already inside the tent Toggerneo had assembled beforehand.

     The Gelert walked all over the campsite, picking up pieces of wood and being careful not to drop MaukyMauky_2004 from his shoulders. The Haunted Woods were growing increasingly darker; the very inches of light that managed to penetrate the weeping branches of the trees disappearing.

     "Hmm," Toggerneo muttered, picking up a few more of the jet black branches which had fallen from the trees, "I think we have enough, we should head back now…"

     Mauky giggled. "Are you afraid of the dark, Uncle Togger?"

     "Of course not!" the Gelert said quickly, his fur standing on end indignantly. "Hey, I'm a world-travelling hero! We heroes don't get scared easily."

     It was at this point that Mandy coughed from nearby, making Toggerneo jump and almost drop Mauky.

     "… You were saying Uncle Togger?" the speckled Cybunny giggled. Toggerneo just shook his head and, his heart still thumping, walked over to the campsite.

     ***

     Later that night, when the sun had vanished entirely behind the horizon, the small group of Cybunny friends sat roasting marshmallows over the fire. Toggerneo, sat a little way back, yawned and leant back against a tree. "Why did I agree to this?" he asked himself with a stretch- as much as he liked spending time with Mauky (she called him cool occasionally, a direct route to the Gelert's heart), there were better things he could be doing with his weekend. Still, he decided this wasn't too bad- and that decision stayed for all of three seconds, until he felt something suspiciously similar to a Spyder's leg on his shoulder.

     "… AHHHHH!"

     Quickly Toggerneo's legs sprung into gear and he sped across the campsite, diving through the gap in his tent and underneath his sleeping bag. Trembling terribly, the Gelert poked his head out of the tent to see a pair of familiar Cybunnies doubling over with laughter.

     Mauky, he realised, was holding a long stick, much like a Spyder's leg.

     Regaining his breath, Toggerneo rose to his feet and stepped out of the tent, stomping over to the two girls, both of whom had collapsed on the ground in fits of laughter.

     "I suppose you think that's funny," he said with a growl. The girls just giggled louder, and with a sigh the Gelert picked then up, one in each arm, and walked over to the fire.

     "As punishment," he said, setting them down on the ground, "I think it's time for some scary stories."

     "Uncle Togger," Mauky said in between the laughter, "NONE of your scary stories are scary! The last one, the one that was meant to make me 'cower with fear', was just… weird."

     "The possessed pie one?" His lip trembled slightly, before he managed to get it back under control. "Well, I wasn't scared, but I thought you might be… but now it's time for the really scary material. Ladies, tonight… you hear the story… OF THE DEMONIC SNICKLEBEAST!"

     The young Cybunnies were all silent and giving Toggerneo unenthusiastic looks.

     "This doesn't have anything to do with a possessed pie does it, Uncle?" Mauky moaned, rolling her eyes as Mandy yawned widely.

     "… Have you heard it before? Look-- I PROMISE you it'll be scary! Just give me a few seconds to think of something to replace the possessed pie…" Something in Togger's dense mind quickly clicked, and soon an evil grin had spread across his face. "Alright. Prepare to be shaking in your boots!"

     "Slippers." Mauky wiggled her pink slippers and grinned.

     "Well, whatever. It all started on one dark and dreary Friday night…"

     ***

Three weeks earlier…

     "Toggerneo! We're going out now! You have to look after Birdie and Ako, alright?"

     The Gelert rolled his eyes and nodded, flicking through his copy of Shadow Pets Weekly. "Yeah, fine," he said absent-mindedly as he continued staring at the painted Pets. How he wanted to be a shadow Pet, with glistening fur… of course, he'd have to look after his fur better, but he was sure his shampooing technique was up to scratch for the moment-

     "GERROUTOFHERE!"

     The shouts, Toggerneo knew, were coming from BirdieBirdie246, a green Eyrie with a temper like thunder and a mouth to match.

     "YOU LITTLE PEST OF A GRUSLEN!" she roared. There was a frantic patter of paws, and a shadow Gruslen slid around Toggerneo's doorway, leaping onto the Gelert's lap and whining cowardly. Birdie stomped in a few moments later and glared at the Gruslen, a soggy "I love Lord Kass" pillow in her paw.

     "Keep that little dirt bag out of my room and away from my stuff!" she yelled furiously as Grant coughed up a patch of Lord Kass' face. Birdie gave one last look and flew back down the corridor, slamming her door with tremendous force.

     "Someone's a little grumpy." Toggerneo whispered to himself, stroking at Grant who was now curling up to go to sleep, a small patch of purple material still sticking out his mouth. That second, though, there was a soft knock on the door of the large Neohome. Toggerneo lifted Grant off his lap with a sigh, marking his page in the magazine before heading out into the hallway and downstairs.. Quickly he swung the front door opened and looked around, but no one was to be seen. Not, that is, until a cough came from lower down, and the Gelert swivelled his head down to see Sunny, their post Yurble, staring up at him, a large parcel in her paws.

     "Special delivery for one Toggerneo!" she chirped cheerfully, thrusting a pen and paper into the crimson Gelert's paw, "Sign here, and here, and here, and here…" Toggerneo nodded and did as the sunny yellow Yurble ordered, handing the paper and pen back after a moment. "Thank you sir!" she giggled, shoving the box into the Neohome with a powerful jolt of her foot.

     "Kicking parcels? Isn't that, well, not allowed?" Toggerneo rolled his eyes and prepared to close the door, taking another look at the parcel, when he heard a distinct "ahem" from Sunny, who was holding out her paw and winking. The Gelert stared curiously for a few seconds, but then clicked.

     "Oh, a tip? Uhh… sorry… umm… I'm not allowed to have a wallet. Bad for my health." Quickly he slammed the door shut and patted his pocket, feeling the thick wallet through the material. Nobody was touching his allowance- that was going straight into the Paint Brush fund-

     THUNK.

     Toggerneo froze. What was that? He looked around- no Birdie or Ako… so-

     THUNKTHUNK.

     A look of confusion spread across his face as he glanced down at the parcel.

     It was rocking back and forth.

     Air holes, movement- something told Toggerneo it wasn't a sweater from his Mum on Mystery Island. Nervously he poked the box with one paw, making it shake even faster and startling him into stepping back.

     "… What're you doing, Toggerneo?" he asked himself, shaking his head. "It's tiny, hardly going to be a monster or anything. Pull yourself together! And stop talking to yourself, it's odd." With a deep breath he took a step forwards, towards the box.

     The box shifted slightly.

     He screamed like a girl.

     There was a pounding of paws on the stairs, and a tall green Kyrii slid into the hallway, panting, sword in hand. "What's going on?!" he asked quickly, swinging his sword around as he looked about him. "Where's the damsel in distress? The terrifying beast to smite?!"

     Toggerneo, shaking, shook his head firmly. "Uhh… Nick just saw a Mootix and ran out screaming. Yeah."

     "Oh." A sigh, and Ako turned to leave, happening to see the parcel as he spun on his heel. "Oh! What's that?"

     "It's a sandwich, dough-head," Toggerneo replied sarcastically as the box suddenly became strangely quiet, as quiet as a Miamouse… or a Kougra ready to pounce. The thought made Toggerneo shiver- what WAS in that box?

     Ako shrugged and moved back upstairs and away from his Gelert brother, leaving Toggerneo with the box as his only company. The box that kept growling menacingly, and then going quiet again. Too quiet. Too loud. Too quiet-

     "It's up to something," Toggerneo growled, not realizing he was talking to the box itself. "And I need to find out what!"

     In a flash the crimson Gelert leapt on the box and ripped the packaging off, growling ferociously as he tugged the parcel open-

     "TOGGER!" a voice roared. "Togger, get of him at once!"

     Startled, the Gelert stood up and looked around, coming face-to-face with a Darigan Aisha whose red eyes pieced the Gelert's very ego- not an easy feat. A friend for a long time now, and the only person that could make him shake with quite that much terror, Silas0689 was now working her glare perfectly.

     "He- hey, Sila," he said nervously, almost shaking under her glare. "I was just… uhh…"

     "Attacking your new Petpet?" she asked incredulously, shaking her head.

     "My new Petpet?" A frown. "I've got Hissy already! I mean, he… uhh… well, he sleeps quite a bit, but I love him to bits!"

     Sila chuckled, her glower fading. "Well, yeah," she said with a smile, "but it's an avatar Pet. If you hold onto it for a certain amount of time you get to use a new avatar! And you know how much Nick loves avatars-" At this moment she pointed to a small cabinet filled with small badge-like avatars, all glowing or blinking- "I thought you might want to do him a favour, and earn him a new one."

     "… How much is Nick paying you to try and convince me to do this?"

     "Two hundred Neopoints and a box of cookies." A triumphant grin, and the Aisha dipped her paws into the tattered remains of the box, producing a small ball of white fluff. "He's cute, he actually MOVES, unlike that Cobrall…"

     "… Will you share the cookies with me?"

     ***

     "This story's boring, Uncle Togger!" Mauky complained to the Gelert, looking nervously around at all her clearly-bored friends. The Gelert, who was deeply engrossed in his own tale, glanced up as she continued "Can we just go to bed now, Please?"

     "Hang on, we're just getting to the good part! So I was left alone with the terrifying beast-"

     "You mean the tiny Petpet that comes up to your knee?" Mandy snorted a laugh, most of the girls joining in. Toggerneo blushed, filled with both humiliations for his pathetic story, and for Mauky.

     "W-w-well, let's just get you all put into your tents and we'll say goodnight…" Toggerneo sighed miserably.

***

     A few minutes later the tents were zipped up, filled with all the members of the camp trip. Dejectedly Toggerneo sat at the campfire as it began to die, staring into its flames with gloom.

     "… Uncle Togger?" a soft voice spoke from behind the Gelert, "I… I was wondering… what happened next?" The Gelert swivelled to see Mauky looking in his general direction, having lifted up the bandage that usually covered her beautiful eyes. Mauky was blind, although she would usually tell her friends it was just a game, her wearing the bandage- and there, hugging her Yurble plushie tightly to her chest., Toggerneo felt all the sadness flow out of him. A broad smile spread across Toggerneo's face.

     "Well," He started, lifting the young speckled creature onto his lap. "At first I thought it was just a Petpet like any other; surreally cute and as daft as a … well, Petpet. When Sila left, I knelt down to the Snicklebeast…"

To be continued...