Night was falling over Mystery Island. A figure skulked around the door of
the Tombola. Just after the last pet came out, a Lenny carrying a toy sail boat,
the figure went in.
"We're closed," the Tiki Tack man said.
"I don't think so somehow," the figure said, putting his foot in the door,
"You got the stuff?"
The Tombola owner gulped.
"This is getting too risky, Mulvinn.
People are getting suspicious about the number of juppies I'm buying!"
"Do you have it or not?" snarled Mulvinn.
The man beckoned, and the Wocky put a bag containing 10,000 NP in the Tombola.
Then, the man behind the counter handed him a sack of juppies.
"Thanks. I've got something to tell you. This is my last haul. The biggest
one yet. I've got more sources than ever this time. The Big One. After this,"
the crook paused, "I'm gonna be richer than Nigel the Chia."
And with that, the smuggler walked out.
The sun was now rising on the coast of Mystery Island. Down on the harbour,
a figure pushing a huge barrow filled to the brim with golden juppies. Mulvinn
paused for a moment.
"Need any help?" he spun round. There, behind him, was a blue female Wocky,
clad in leather gear and sunglasses like him.
"Tirena's the name, smuggling's the game. Looks like you're with me!" Mulvinn
couldn't believe his luck. He had enough juppies to make him richer than Antorcha,
and now he had a not-too-bad looking accomplice! Could things get any better?
"By the way, if you wanna get those out in a flash, I have a speedboat."
Mulvinn sighed. They certainly could.
The wind whipped through the two smugglers' hair as the boat gathered speed
through the wide sea.
"So where are we headed?" asked Mulvinn.
"Neopia central! It has the biggest demand ever since the gourmet club opened!"
replied Tirena.
They approached the land, when suddenly a huge cruise liner swept by. The huge
wave sent the boat veering to the left, and spinning helplessly out of control…
The boat slammed into a sand dune on a beach. Mulvinn was sent flying through
the air, and was knocked unconscious on a rock. The juppies, now all in a huge
crate, stayed in the boat. Tirena was sent flying, and landed on top of Mulvinn.
A few hours later, Tirena opened her eyes. She slowly got up, and looked around.
"Mulvinn! Wake up! We're on Krawk Island!"
"Huh?" muttered Mulvinn.
After a while, they had found out that they had been swept off course, and
landed on Krawk Island beach. They popped into The Golden Dubloon, (with a few
Dubloons they'd managed to erm, 'find') and had a chat with some of the locals
to see if they could hire a ship to get off the island. Unfortunately, all of
them refused to be paid with anything other than Dubloons, so they had a meal
and went off exploring. They found out that a tourist ship (which thankfully
excepted good old Neopoints) left the island once a week. They lugged their
crate of juppies to the harbour, only to see the ship sailing off into the distance.
"NOOOOOOO!!!" wailed Mulvinn.
They went to the Swashbuckling Academy, and started training. After a week's
hard work, they had actually got much stronger! And after purchasing a couple
of items from the Smuggler's Cove, (using their 'International Smuggler's Ring'
discount cards) they were ready for anything!
The ship finally pulled away, and this time, Mulvinn and Tirena were on board.
The ship was halfway there, when a police boat pulled up and a squad of Police
Chias with Arsenic Dart Guns came on board. They saw Mulvinn.
"Freeze!" one yelled, and fired.
Mulvinn and Tirena each pulled out a Rainbow Gun and fired. Three Chias fell
in the water, and Mulvinn threw the crate into a lifeboat, and jumped in. Tirena
followed, and pulled the release lever. The little boat tossed about in the
water, hurling each of them from side to side. One of the Chias threw an exploding
snowball at them. It blew a hole in the side of the boat's hull, and they began
to sink.
"Do something!" screamed Tirena. They were sitting ducks now for arsenic darts.
Mulvinn took a Juppie out of the crate, and crammed it in the hole.
"Now start bailing!" he yelled.
"What?"
"Getting water out of the boat!"
When the boat was no longer sinking, Tirena turned on the engine and they sped
off. But the Chias were prepared for this. One of them yelled something at the
police boat, and five top class, highly trained Police Chias in riot gear and
holding Mud Bazookas popped up from the boat and chased after them.
"Holy Kau," muttered Mulvinn.
***
The Police Boat was now gathering speed. Mulvinn was just thinking they might
make it, when the sun was blocked out. The Chias had obviously called reinforcements,
for there above them was a huge squadron of Eyries. Their orders had changed.
Get the juppies, regardless of what happened to Mulvinn and Tirena. A mudball
hit the back of the boat, and Mulvinn strained at the motor. Then, a whole load
of exploding snowballs smashed into the water. The Eyries were using immense
power. Luckily, they missed. Then, they all moved together and created the world's
biggest Grand Lightning Beam. It zoomed towards the boat, and just when it was
about to hit, Mulvinn pulled out a Battle Mirror. He reflected the beam into
the police boat. The noise was tremendous. The Lifeboat was hurled forward,
flying towards something they couldn't quite make out. They slammed into it,
and stayed on it. Tirena screamed. 'It' was Chiazilla. It roared and flicked
them off his back. The Eyries were now retreating. Chiazilla picked up the little
boat and was about to hurl it away when Mulvinn brought a Sword of Domar down
into its arm. It roared in pain and dropped the boat. Then, Tirena hurled two
stone snowballs at it simultaneously. They hit it square in the eyes, sending
it crashing to the ocean floor to recover.
"Let's get outta here!" yelled Mulvinn.
As they sped away, Mulvinn thought. This really was going to be the biggest
haul ever.
The next day, they were in Neopia Central. They decided to hang around the
Gourmet Club to sell them to passers by. But first, a change was needed.
They popped into the grooming parlour and bought some new clothes. Mulvinn
came out in a tweed suit and tie, Tirena had a businesslike dress which went
well with Mulvinn's choice of clothing. After that, they started to sell the
juppies. The first customer was a young Acara, hoping to get a trophy. After
a few more customers like these, a wealthy looking Kau approached them.
"My name is Harold Kasakov. I see you are selling juppies. I am willing to
buy the entire batch from you," he said, producing a huge bag of Neopoints.
Mulvinn wasn't sure. "Well, what exactly do you need them for?" he asked.
"That I cannot tell you. Just give me the juppies!" the Kau asked.
"No deal, Mister! We want these to go to big corporations so we can get really
rich!"
The Kau grunted and stomped off. As he left, a folder fell from his jacket.
Mulvinn picked it up, and flicked through it. He gasped, and Tirena came over
and asked what it was.
"Tirena, this guy's working for Sloth!"
To be continued... | 
