"Once upon a time, within the depths of Lupe Forest,
there was a small lake that the peaceful Lupes called Lupe Lake. Although the
lake was very beautiful, it had one flaw: There were way too many Greebles overpopulating
it. There were so many that they had to be piled on top of each other, and they
wouldn't just ruin the waters of the lake, but they would also swarm into the
deeper parts of the forest, driving the Lupes out of their own homes and eating
all of their food. The Lupes were thrown into despair, and soon they began to
act harshly towards each other, forgetting their manners and their peaceful
ways because of the infestation.
But fortune and fate befell the Lupes one day,
when a noble Quiggle by the name of Yappuf came upon Lupe Lake. The Quiggle,
dressed in medieval garments, hopped down the street, beating a small tambourine
and singing a strange song in an awful-sounding froggy voice. The Lupes cruelly
laughed at him, they threw stones at him as he passed, they called out harsh
words and mimicked him. But the Quiggle simply smiled, continuing to sing and
giving a pleasant greeting to all the Lupes he passed, even the ones who tried
to harm him. No matter how harshly the Lupes acted, he would simply respond
with kindness. He made his way through the forest, the Lupes following behind
and jeering, until coming to the Lake. The Quiggle paused here, and, with another
one of his strange smiles, began to sing a strange song...
Suddenly, the Greebles all stopped croaking.
Like a perfect military, marching one by one, they all lined up behind Yappuf.
Singing the strange song over and over again, he led the terrible Greebles all
the way over the high hills and into the sunset.
Since then, not a single, solitary Greeble has
ever been seen in Lupe Forest, nor any trace of the Quiggle who had lead them
away. The Lupes, feeling guilty that they had rejected the very pet that had
saved their lives, decided to have a festival every year, dedicated to Yappuf
the strange Quiggle and his honourable deed."
Big Dippaw, the starry Lupe, slammed his storybook
shut, smiling down at his son, Little Dippaw, who was gazing at him with awe.
They were seated near the fireplace in their cave, which was located inside
the boundaries of Lupe Forest.
"And that, son, is why we have the Lupe Lake
Festival. Do ya have any questions?"
"Ya dad..."
Little Dippaw, his starry son, scratched his
head.
"Can I go ta the bathroom now?"
Lupe Lake...
Big Lupes, little Lupes, tall Lupes, short Lupes,
no matter what size, shape, or colour, every Lupe had gathered around the crystal
clear waters of Lupe Lake. The younger ones were splashing around in the shallows,
laughing happily as they played chicken and captured fish. The older Lupes were
cooking the fish caught by the smaller ones, and were dancing and conversing
in a cleared area. A band had been hired from Furgleton, the nearby city that
was populated by nothing but Chias, and they nervously played requested tunes
as the Lupes eyed them hungrily. They were having the times of their lives.
Well, most of them, at least...
Deep in the western part of the forest, there
was one Lupess who WASN'T happy. She sat grimly on a soggy stump in the darkest,
creepiest part of the forest. Her cold, yellow eyes glared through a set of
binoculars, two electric-blue paws grasping each piece and tightening.
"Everything is set..."
The Lupess set the binoculars down to reveal
a rather pretty, but sad-looking face, with a black headband keeping her blue
hair from her eyes. She also wore a gloomy-looking tie-dye dress that stretched
out a long ways behind her, stained with purple, blue, and black shades of colour
instead of the brighter kinds usually used in tie-dying. Little bells jangled
at the hem, and they were so rusty and old that it was depressing to listen
to them.
Weepaw stood up and swept across the forest
floor, stopping in front of a humongous metal box. A sticker stating 'DANGER'
was stamped across the front, and on the back, another sticker was labeled 'FRAGILE'.
Her expression still sad and somewhat angry, she quietly tapped the side. There
was a loud croaking sound from within. The entire box began to shake angrily,
so much that it nearly tipped over. Weepaw reached for the padlock attached
to the chains that held the box shut, taking a deep breath.
"Your time has come..."
Her bells jangling dejectedly, she reached into
her drooping sleeves and pulled out a silver key. Holding it up over dramatically,
she ever-so-slowly inched it towards the padlock... until it fell into the keyhole...
and ever so slowly, she carefully turned the key...
Suddenly, the box sprang open. Weepaw swept
aside, her arms raised in triumph as the contents of the box spilled out.
"YEEEEEEES!!! MY PLAN IS COMPLETED!! NOTHING
CAN STOP ME NOW!!"
Lupe Lake (again)...
Little Dippaw was playing with the rest of the
youngest Lupes in a designated Pup Pen. Little Dippaw was reading a rather heavy
book called 'Peace and War'. His best friend, a rather nerdy Christmas pup named
Hypawtenuse, was playing with a bow and arrow set. He sighed as he hit the centre
of his red and white target for the umpteenth time, twanging his bowstring carelessly
as he loaded another arrow inside.
"I thought this festival was supposed to be
fun..."
"Peh!"
A blue Lupe pup named Pawlita with pigtails
in the far corner turned her abacus over. She entered a few numbers on her calculator,
scribbling a few figures on a piece of paper.
"It's fun for the adults, at least. It's the
same as last year..."
She pushed three beads over to the left side
of the toy before shaking her head, erasing something from the paper, and turning
the abacus over again.
Little Dippaw sighed, setting the book aside
and opening his portable laptop. He took a long drink of hot chocolate from
his coffee mug before beginning to lazily write a book report.
"While we're left here, they go off and party,
and drink too much, and end up snoring loudly afterwards. It's the sad truth
of all the festivals they have...I'd love to destroy this Pup Pen and actually
DO something..."
A slimy, green creature smacked down through
the canvas roof and onto the ground in the centre of the Pup Pen, answering
his prayers. The pups all gasped, setting their things aside.
"HOLY KAU!!" Little Dippaw screamed. "WHAT THE
HECK IS THAT?!?!?"
Hypawtenuse picked up his bow and precariously
poked it on what appeared to be one of its arms. Two yellow eyes swerved in
his direction, and a rather wide, frowning mouth flew open and snapped the bow
in two. Hypawtenuse blinked, staring at his ruined toy.
"Whatever it is, it appears to be hostile..."
Pawlita, who had backed up as far into her corner
as possible, began to shiver.
"EEEEEEW!! KILL IT!! KILL IT!!"
Little Dippaw raised his copy of 'Peace and
War' and swung it like a giant hammer. But the creature nimbly dodged the heavy
book, jumped over to the other side of him, and bit him on the tail.
"AaAaAaAaUuUuUuGh!!!!!"
Little Dippaw jumped up and dropped the book
on his foot, causing him to scream even louder. The creature croaked once, then
hopped out of the pen, bouncing towards the festival without a second notice
of the dumbfounded pups staring after it.
"Well..." Hypawtenuse helped the sniffling Little
Dippaw back onto his feet.
"I think the terror is over..."
Suddenly, the ground began to tremble. Then,
it began to shake. Finally, it grew into an outright roar, accompanied by loud,
bellowing croaks and a diabolical laugh. The four pups in the pen gasped as
a gigantic wall of the creatures they had seen flooded towards the festival
like a stampeding herd of Kau. Slimy arms and legs, foul-smelling bodies, long
tongues, buggy eyes, of all colours, shapes, and sizes were there. Little Dippaw's
mouth fell open in shock as he realised what he was seeing.
"They're baaaaaaaaaaack..."
***
Confusion and terror quickly overcame the joy that had once been the Festival.
Thousands upon thousands of Greebles had invaded. They destroyed everything
in their path, mercilessly ripping the forest apart. Delicious foods were devoured.
Beautiful artwork was destroyed. Lupes were bullied and attacked by large groups
at a time, and most were forced away from the lake. The hired band stood no
chance, and as soon as the Greebles hit, they were hurled from the forest, screaming
at the top of their lungs. And in the midst of all the destruction stood a single
Lupess who wasn't fleeing from the onslaught of terror. As a matter of fact,
she was smiling as she drifted down the hillside in her sweeping tie-dye dress,
a blue Greeble sitting on her shoulder.
"Finally, you will feel the pain and suffering
that I have felt for so many years!!"
The Lupes were too busy fighting off Greebles
to acknowledge her, so she cleared her throat loudly and repeated herself a
little louder.
"Finally, you will feel the pain and suffering
that I have felt for so many years!!!!!"
"What?" One of the Lupes yelled.
Her face turned purple as she screamed as loud
as she could.
"FINALLY, YOU WILL FEEL THE PAIN AND SUFFERING
THAT I HAVE FELT FOR SO MANY YEARS!!"
"Oh," the Lupe responded, before getting lost
underneath a sea of pink Greebles
She took in another deep breath before loudly
continuing.
"I, WEEPAW, HAVE BROUGHT THE GREEBLES BACK TO
LUPE LAKE!!! NO MORE SHALL I BE ALONE IN MY DESPAIR, FOR YOU WILL ALL SUFFER
WITH ME!! MY REIGN OF HOPELESSNESS AND SADNESS WILL START TODAY!!"
A yellow Greeble hopped onto her head and croaked
loudly. She paused for a second to brush it off before continuing.
"Now, BEHOLD MY GREEBLE ARMY!! I HAVE FOUND
THE SECRET TO CONTROLLING THEM, AND THEY WILL ONLY OBEY MY WILL AND COMMAND!!"
She reached into her sleeve and pulled out a
flute. Placing it onto her mouth, she played a few notes carefully and beautifully.
Suddenly, all the Greebles stopped attacking. They hopped around until they
stood in rows by colour, giving rapt attention to the smiling Weepaw. She put
the flute back into her sleeve, raising her paws in the air.
"My minions!" Her horrible smile stayed stuck
onto her sad face. "What do you say we take a dip in the Lake?"
The Lupes gasped in horror as the Greebles all
turned towards the lake at once. With no will and complete determination, they
all hopped in, croaking loudly and soon taking over the lake, ruining the crystal
clear waters. Weepaw tossed her head back and cackled maliciously, gliding over
to an ancient dark blue boat sitting in the water near the shore. Three Greebles
on board kicked a plank off the side, which she swiftly climbed up to get onboard.
A dozen more popped up underneath the large ship, and crated it to the centre
of the lake, croaking as loudly as she was laughing...
Deeper into Lupe Forest...
Alexander T. Chia, the greatest (and only) Lupologist
in Lupe Forest, whistled as he waddled through the large forest. He was in a
white swimsuit instead of his usual white labcoat, and was preparing for another
great festival with his Lupe friends (and a day of avoiding his Lupe enemies).
Fluffy, his loyal blue Cobrall, followed close behind, wearing sunglasses and
carrying a miniature surfboard.
"Fluffy," Al sighed. "It's a lake. There won't
be any waves."
Fluffy shrugged, tossing the surfboard aside
and tying a handkerchief around his head.
"There aren't any pirates either."
Al shook his head as Fluffy took off the headband
and wriggled into a mermaid costume. Suddenly, Goldpaw, Alpha of Lupe Forest,
emerged from the trees nearby. He teetered towards Al with a dazed expression
on his face, his eyes rolling around.
"Ugh..."
He collapsed against a tree, bruised and battered.
Al dashed over, horrified.
"Goldpaw?!? Who did this to you?"
Goldpaw looked up, his vision fuzzy. "Nopaw?!?
Is that you!?!?"
"Who?" Al reached for the first aid kit in his
labcoat. However, he wasn't wearing his labcoat, which proved to be a problem.
Goldpaw smiled.
"Ah, Nopaw!! I hope you remembered my three
O'clock appointment with Girpaw from Tanzania! Did you bring my coffee? I'm
feeling a bit thirsty..."
Al winced. Goldpaw was obviously disoriented
and thinking Al was his secretary.
"Uh..." Al decided to play along. "I did remember,
sir...The coffee may be a bit late, but..."
"Never mind that! Weepaw has taken over Lupe
Lake! You must call the Defenders of Neopia and have Judge Hog stop her!!"
Al nodded. "I'll...er...do that, sir!"
"Right! Go now, Nopaw!! Save the day!! For me!!
And for uncle Willy!!...Now, remember, I like my coffee with lots...of...sugar..."
And with that, the Alpha completely passed out.
Al stood up, a determined look on his face.
"Not even the Defenders of Neopia can stop Weepaw...This looks like a job
for Al the Lupologist!"
He turned to Fluffy, who had thankfully taken
off the mermaid fin and was staring at Goldpaw strangely.
"Fluffy!! You have to look after Goldpaw and
all the other Lupes, kapeesh?"
Fluffy nodded, smartly saluting his owner. Al
whirled around, digging into his swimsuit pocket before pulling out a small
blue vial. He sighed.
"Weepaw is a female Lupess, so...I think that
this means I'll have to don a little...disguise..."
Weepaw's Boat, AKA The SSS Greeble
Weepaw sat on a comfortable lawn chair on the
main deck. She was still clad in the long, flowing dark dress, and she was still
as miserable as ever. The boat rocked back and forth repetitively, and the sun
was shining brightly in the sky, but she was feeling terrible (as usual.)
"I don't know why..." She muttered. "But I'm
feeling terribly lonely for some odd reason...I wish I had some companionship
other than these ugly wart-machines..."
The Greebles didn't react to her lament. They
were too busy stuffing themselves with flies and swimming in the lake. She twirled
the flute around in her paws like a baton, deep in thought.
"Maybe I should hire an accomplice...Someone
to help me create even more despair in this Forest..."
"Maybe someone like ME!"
Weepaw jumped onto her feet to see a blue Lupe
with a confident grin, paddling through the lake towards her solitary boat and
knocking the Greebles aside. With an athletic leap, he landed right next to
Weepaw, shaking and splashing water all over the place. He was wearing a white
swimsuit and a peculiar, broad grin. Weepaw couldn't help but smile back as
the Lupe bowed and introduced himself.
"That's right! It is I, Alpaw!! The greatest
swimmer since sliced bread!"
Weepaw, happy to talk to anyone, immediately
befriended this strange Alpaw character. She had no idea that hidden within
his swimsuit, a handy dandy tape recorder was whirling away, recording every
second of their conversation.
"So, Weepaw," Al began, leaning against the
railing. "Tell me about yourself!"
"Well, Alpaw, I've had a very, VERY, sad life..."
She dramatically put a paw over her forehead
and snapped her fingers with the other. A Greeble perked up and grabbed a violin
from underneath her chair. With a nod from Weepaw, he began playing a long,
nostalgic song. Weepaw stretched out onto the lawn chair like an ancient movie
star would sprawl over a couch, over dramatically beginning her sad tale.
"When I was a pup, I was abandoned in a cardboard
box down the road because I wasn't painted, and I was very sick, and my owner
hated me and loved his other painted, happy, and snobby pets. I remember that
day...It was cold, it was snowing, there were so many harsh pets calling me
ugly and spitting at me...Then, a Lupe named Goldpaw found me. He picked me
up and carried me back to his pack, where he painted me with an Electric paintbrush
and gave me my name, Weepaw. I was raised under the nurturing care of the Dippaws,
as most of the pups in the forest were, but I was always an outcast. They'd
throw stones at me, they'd laugh at me, they'd ignore me...blah blah, blah blah
blah blah blah, blah! Blah, blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah..."
Alpaw tuned out for about half the story, until
she got to the good part.
"And so, this curious little creature by the
name of Yappuf the Fifth taught me this strange song. Whenever he played it,
all the Greebles in his village would obey his every whim and command..."
"Could I hear it?" He interrupted. Weepaw blinked.
"Certainly. I suppose if you're to be my accomplice,
I'll have to teach it to you."
She began playing a familiar, echoing melody
that bounced around Alpaw's ears like a superball in a rubber room. The Greebles
seemed hypnotised by it, and they snapped to attention. As she played each note,
they all began to create formations in the water. First, a large round circle,
and ending up with a glamorous Greeble, standing on a lilypad as the other Greebles
swam circles around her and firecrackers fired into the air. Alpaw whistled
and clapped his broad blue paws.
"Very impressive!"
"Thanks!" She beamed, wiping the flute off on
her sleeve. "I've been practising for a LONG time now...plotting...planning...preparing
for this day...And now..."
She grinned, holding the flute up in the air.
"Nothing will stop me!"
"Not even...this?" With one swift kick, Al booted
the flute out of her paws. It soared through the air, whistling several times
before splashing into the water with a loud smack. Weepaw screeched, sweeping
to the railing and moaning as it sank beneath the waves.
"NOOOOO!! Now look what you've done!!"
Alpaw laughed heartily. "Looks like your little
plan is ruined without that flute, Weepaw!!"
Weepaw's lips curled into a malicious smile.
"Not quite...Now that the flute is gone, no
one can control the greebles...They'll be stuck here in Lupe Lake forever!!
MWAAAA HA HA HA HAAA!!! As long as I can ruin the water and infest the lake
with Greebles once again, NOTHING WILL STOP ME!!"
The Lupe pulled a tape recorder out of his swimsuit,
waggling it in the air.
"Not even this?"
Weepaw let out a war cry, jumping at Alpaw and
knocking him to the ground. The tape recorder fell out of his paws and slid
towards the railing. Desperately, Weepaw and Alpaw reached for it while trying
to restrain each other. The Greebles looked extremely confused, not knowing
what to do until Weepaw yelled out a rather frightening command.
"DESTROY THE LUPE!!"
The Greebles leapt onto the boat. Croaking loudly,
they advanced towards Al, licking their lips and eyeing him like a hamburger.
Alpaw threw Weepaw off with a grunt and snatched the recorder, desperately pushing
the play button. The tape started up, then slowed down, and finally, stopped
with a grinding screech. Weepaw grinned, cackling as the Greebles slowly advanced
forward.
"Oh Piffle..."
He covered his face as the Greebles pounced!!
But just as the first Greeble seized hold of Alpaw's ear, the sound of loud,
froggy singing filled the air. Alpaw, the Greebles, and Weepaw whirled around
to see a small Quiggle in Medieval clothing, hop-skipping across the lake and
warbling a peculiar melody in the most wonderful tenor voice either of them
had ever heard:
"Hello my baby, hello my honey, hello my ragtime
gal!! Send me a kiss by wiiiiiiiire, baby my heart's on fiiiiiire!! If you refuse
me, honey you'll lose me, then you'll be left alone, so baby telephone! Tell
me I'm your ooooooooooooooooown!!"
Weepaw wailed in anguish as the Quiggle winked,
continuing to skip all the way across the lake with all the Greebles following
obediently. As the Greebles slid off the boat and into the water, Weepaw pounced
and managed to grab a blue one by the legs. It turned and snapped at her, but
she kept her grip, only able to watch as the rest of her beloved army swam away
from her. Alpaw breathed a sigh of relief, pulling himself onto his feet with
the support of the railing and checking his ear to make sure the Greeble hadn't
bitten it off.
"Well, Weepaw, looks like your plan has been
foiled..."
"Yes, I guess so..."
She released a melancholy sigh, staring out
over the lake and clutching onto the remaining Greeble as it tried to kick its
way out of her arms.
"I guess spreading world-wide misery is going
to be harder than I thought..."
She turned to Alpaw, her face now malicious.
"But trust me, I shall accomplish my goals!
Alpaw, I shall always remember you, and you shall be the MOST miserable when
my reign of sadness finally begins! YOU SHALL PAY!"
"Oh, yeah, sure..." Alpaw rolled his eyes. "What
are you going to do, sic your Greeble on me?"
Weepaw snarled, whirling around and kicking
Al off the boat. Grumbling furiously, she swept to the steering wheel, tied
the Greeble to the railing, started the motor, and zoomed to shore, not to be
seen again for quite a while.
Yappuf the sixth laughed heartily, continuing
the song over and over again until he disappeared into the sunset, along with
the Greebles, all in single file order...
The End | 
