Neopia Central
Little Dippaw, the starry Lupe pup, smiled as he walked out of the Toy Shop
with his father, a brand new Meerca Balloon tied onto his paw. “Gee Pops, this
is SOOOO COOL!!” He cried, bouncing his paw up and down to make the shiny balloon
dance.
Big Dippaw laughed. “Ya deserve it for helpin’ me out with the Spring Cleanin’,
son. I couldn’t be more proud of ya! Pickin’ up dem boxes like they were filled
with nothin’ but Styrofoam!!”
Big Dippaw chuckled, opening up his newly bought book, How To Be A Better
Father. Suddenly, a dark shadow blocked out the sun. Little Dippaw gasped
as his balloon began to wildly bounce on his paw. “Uh…. Pops!?!??”
“Not now, son, I’m busy reading about paying attention to your children.”
Little Dippaw’s eyes widened as his paws went off the ground. The balloon shot
into the air, Little Dippaw still tied onto it. “THIS IS SOOOOOOO COOOOOOOOOOL!!!”
Little Dippaw screamed, zooming farther and farther up into the sky.
Big Dippaw looked away from his book. “Son, I told you to… son? Where are ya?”
Above Neopia…
Little Dippaw shrieked with delight as the balloon pulled him higher and higher
up into the air. The wind whistled on his starry fur as he looked down at the
shrinking city of Neopia Central. “Look at me!!” He laughed. “I’m a shooting
star!!” Suddenly, the balloon swerved sharply to the left, zooming straight
towards a dark, ugly-looking cloud. Lightning flashed from within its foggy
mass, and a deep, booming laughter echoed from within it.“THIS IS SOOO COOL!!
COOLER THAN COOL!!” Dippaw ranted, as the balloon sucked him deep into the dark
confines of the fluffy black cloud.
The little Lupe found himself in a dark, mysterious place, with no apparent
floor, ceiling, or wall. It was completely silent. Hovering quietly in the air,
he looked around. “Hello?” He yelled. “Hello… hello… ello… lo… o…” his voice
echoed. Suddenly, a dark, meerca-shaped form appeared from the endless shadow.
It hissed as it saw Little Dippaw. “AHA!! I HAVE DONE IT! I’ve summoned the
balloon!!” Little Dippaw blinked. “Uh… who are you?”
The dark shape snarled. “I HAVE NO NAME!! I AM SIMPLY THE DEEPEST, DARKEST,
MOST HIDEOUS EVIL THAT NEOPIA HAS EVER FACED!!”
Little Dippaw scratched his head with his free paw. “Why do you talk in all
capitol letters?”
The dark form fell silent. “UH…”
Little Dippaw frowned. “When someone asks you a question, you should at least
give some sort of response.” The Meerca opened his mouth and roared. It sounded
like a thousand forks across a thousand plates, and the blast made the tiny
balloon shake in the air. Little Dippaw’s eyes widened. “HEY!! Excuse yourself!!”
He scolded.
“ENOUGH!!” The meerca yelled. “My time has come again!!” And with that, he
whirled around in a circle and became a shadow. With a laugh, he threw himself
into the Meerca Balloon.
Little Dippaw’s eyes widened as his balloon began to distort, releasing blasts
of purple and black lights and radiating dark energy. “NIFTY!!” He cheered.
Suddenly, the balloon began to grow. The smiling meerca transformed into a snarling,
red-eyed one. The string was attached to the bottom of his foot, which kept
on growing bigger and bigger. And he kept getting bigger, until he roughly reached
the size of a blimp. Cackling hideously, the newly reborn plushie… er… balloon…
threw his enormous, overinflated paws into the air.
“FINALLY!! A new body with which to terrorize Neopia with!!” He cackled. “Soon,
I will take over Neopia!”
“Why?” Little Dippaw asked.
The Meerca glared down. “Are you still here?” He snapped.
“Remember what we said about questions?” Little Dippaw asked.
The Balloon threw a paw onto his face, massaging his forehead. It sounded like
someone rubbing two balloons together. “Listen, brat…” He said. “I’m going to
give you until the count of three to let go of that string…”
“My daddy bought this balloon, and I’m not going to let it go! NEVER!!” Little
Dippaw tugged on the string.
The Evil Meerca Balloon bobbed up and down. “HEY!!” He screamed, waving his
paws uselessly in the air.
“Get out of my balloon, you dark, ugly poo-head!!” Little Dippaw yelled, pulling
even harder on the string.
The Balloon’s face turned red as he bobbed up and down harder. “YOU INSOLENT
LITTLE…”
Little Dippaw pulled on the string again and again, making the balloon bob
up and down repeatedly. Suddenly, the Meerca began to dance uncontrollably.
Little Dippaw oohed and aahed as the gigantic balloon began to do the monkey.
Then, it changed to doing the twist. After that, it did the Macarena, the Fox
Trot, the Mashed Potato, and the Funky Chicken. The Evil Balloon was yelling
curses and screaming the entire time, but Little Dippaw simply kept on tugging
the string, making him dance faster and harder. “You’re funny!” He complimented.
“YAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!” The plushie screeched, beginning to breakdance in mid
air. “NO AMOUNT OF SUFFERING AMONG NEOPIANS IS WORTH THE SUFFERING I’M EXPERIENCING
RIGHT NOW!!” And, with a final gasp, he exploded.
A blast of wind blew Little Dippaw straight out of the Dark Cloud, which disappeared
in a puff of smoke, leaving the brave little pup gently drifing down to earth,
a string still attached to his paw. Little Dippaw looked at the end of the string.
A piece of rubber from the Evil Meerca’s foot was still attached to it. It was
large enough to serve as a parachute. “Aww… he broke it!” Little Dippaw whined…
Several Moments Later…
Big Dippaw paced nervously in circles. “SON!?!?” He cried. “WHERE DID YA GO!?!?”
He sat down on a bench, putting his head into his paws. “Oh dear, Pawla will
kill me! This is the umpteenth time I’ve lost that boy…” He didn’t notice Little
Dippaw, landing right behind him. “I guess I’ll have to go home and tell her…”
Big Dippaw got up, looking at his son. “Come on, boy. We have to go home and
tell your Mother that we lost ya.”
“Okay.” Little Dippaw replied, grabbing his father’s paw and tossing the used
balloon into the trash.
Big Dippaw began walking forward, his tail in between his legs. “I wonder where
he could have run off to…” Big Dippaw thought aloud. Suddenly, he stopped dead.
He did a double take at Little Dippaw.
“Hi Pops!” Little Dippaw smiled… | 
