Dane and the Terrible Meepit of Doom

     But it didn't matter anymore, because Dane could now plop down on his sofa and read another book, just like he had dreamed of in all of his classes. Most people considered Dane a bit of a geek, but he considered himself 'cool'. Right.

     It was as hot as ever by the time Dane reached the door of his Neohome. The sun had risen way up high in the sky, shooting temperatures to new records.

     Dane panted and yelled out, "I'm home!"

     "Hey!" said Luna, practicing a dance for her dance recital. Secretly, it had been annoying to everyone, but no one wanted to hurt her feelings so they kept quiet.

     "How's your dance going?"

     "Fine, I suppose," said Luna, whipping her yellow fur. "I just can't get this step right."

     The Ixi tried to demonstrate to her brother what was causing her trouble when, all of a sudden, she tripped on an oak shelf. And unfortunately, down came a ten-thousand-Neopoint vase.

     Dane plugged his ears and watched as the vase exploded into a hundred tiny pieces.

     "WHAT WAS THAT?!"

     Flowrey suddenly appeared at the end of the staircase, shooting gazes around the room to find the cause of the disruption.

     Dane didn't care. He simply ran up the stairs and into his peaceful room.

     "Gosh, I'm tired," he yawned, slipping his backpack off. "Maybe I should take a nap."

     So, the Gelert tiredly closed his eyes, and let himself fall into slumber.

     **************

     "Dane…Dane…"

     "Huh, what's going on?"

     Dane opened his eyes to see who was calling out his name. He looked up and standing there was Fantasia, with a rather stupid smile on her face.

     "What is it?" the Gelert asked irritably, rubbing his eyes and throwing his cover off his bed.

     "I've got a surprise for you!" squealed Fantasia, pulling back some of her newly-dyed auburn hair.

     "Wow, a surprise…" mumbled Dane unenthusiastically.

     Fantasia revealed a strange little pink ball in her hands. It didn't seem to be moving at all, causing Dane to think it was merely an object.

     "W-what is it?"

     All of a sudden, the shape threw itself up in the air, and landed on Dane's lap with a plop. Its eyes suddenly opened, revealing an evil, hypnotic gaze. Standing before Dane, in its entire three pounds of terror, was a pink Meepit.

     "AAAAH, IT'S A MONSTER!" cried Dane, backing up to the side of his bed.

     Fantasia laughed. "Don't be silly! It's a cutie, little adorable Meepit! I got an amazing deal on it! The trader was all panicked and frantic, and said I could have it for only five-thousand-Neopoints! Can you believe that?"

     "No!" Dane shook his head. "The trader ripped you off! That…thing should be taken out of Neopia forever!"

     "Dane!" Fantasia snapped. "Don't be rude! You'll treat Chubkins with respect from now on!"

     "Chubkins?" Dane asked in disbelief.

     "Yes. Me, Flowrey, and Luna decided on it while you were napping," she explained.

     Dane crossed his arms. "Great. Now I've got some evil beast in the house with a name that sounds like it came from an 'insane-psychopaths' support group."

     "Dane, that is it!" Flowrey yelled, standing up from his bed. "You're grounded for three days! I will not tolerate this kind of behavior in my home!"

     Dane gasped. "But Fantasia!"

     "No buts with me mister! I've made my decision, and that's that!"

     Dane's mouth hung open as Fantasia left the room. But right before she closed the door, Chubkins turned his head to Dane and shot him an evil grin.

     Dane froze. "That Meepit really is evil…"

     **************

     The next day, Dane returned home to find it strangely empty and quiet.

     "Hello?" he called out, closing the door behind him.

     No one replied.

     Dane shrugged, and headed to the kitchen to make himself a sandwich before heading up to his room. When he arrived, he found a note on the table that read:

      Hey Dane! I've run out to do some errands with Luna. Flowrey's gone as well to her friend's house. We'll be back with some supper. I expect you to stay in your room while we're gone. I've told Chubkins to keep an eye on you.

     Love you,

     Fantasia

     Dane glared and crumpled up the piece of paper. He turned around to throw the note in the trash when he suddenly received a big shock. Chubkins was standing right in front of him, silent, his eyes as wide as ever.

     "It's all because of you that I'm in trouble!" Dane spat, throwing his note in the garbage can. "Urgh, I wish you never existed!"

     All of a sudden, Chubkins threw himself on Dane's face, trying to bite the Gelert with his sharp, buck teeth.

     "Get off of me!" yelled Dane, whirling around the kitchen.

     He tried his hardest to pull the little monster off of his head. At last, he wrenched the Meepit off, and threw it to the ground.

     "I'm telling Fantasia what you did!" cried Dane, tears in his eyes. He had a large, bloody scratch on his neck because of Chubkins.

     "You'll be sorry for what you did!"

     And when Dane left the room, Chubkins cackled and began hopping around the kitchen like a maniac.

     **************

     "We're ho-AAAAH!"

     Dane's head shot up. "What's going on?" he muttered, taking his eyes away from his homework.

     He opened the door of his room and ran downstairs to find a horrible sight. Chubkins was lying on his back with a big bruise on his head. He had a distressed look on his face, as if someone had attacked him.

     Fantasia bent down, panicked. "Oh my gosh, Chubkins, my poor little baby! Are you all right, sweetie pie? What happened?"

     Chubkins groaned and pointed towards a piece of paper that lay on the kitchen counter. Fantasia stood up and grabbed it and a pencil as well, handing it to the Meepit afterwards.

     Chubkins quickly scribbled something down, and then handed it to Fantasia, eyeing Dane the entire time.

     Fantasia's eyes quickly flashed across the paper. "Dane!" she gasped, horrified. "You did this?!"

     Dane's jaw dropped and he looked horrified. "I s-swear, Fantasia, I didn't do it! Believe me!"

     Fantasia had tears already streaming down her face. "How could you, Dane? He's just a little, innocent Meepit. I can't believe you hurt him. I just can't."

     "F-Fantasia," Dane whimpered, "I swear, I didn't do it."

     Fantasia suddenly pointed to the staircase. "Go to your room, Dane," she said, hiding her face in her hands. "I don't want to see you anymore."

     Tears of his own fell down Dane's face as he looked at Fantasia, astonished. He couldn't believe it. Chubkins had done this! He had framed him!

     "Dane, go," Luna said sternly, standing behind Fantasia. The expression she held broke Dane's heart into pieces.

     The Gelert whimpered once more and hopped up the steps of the staircase. He overheard Fantasia saying 'how bad of a Gelert he was' to Luna. He hung his head down, and trudged back into his room.

     That night, he cried himself to sleep.

     **************

     The old grandfather clock struck twelve in the living room, a silent tune emitting from it. Rain had begun pouring from outside, and all was dark inside the house. And if you looked closely, you would notice a small shadow making its way upstairs.

     Dane snored as he lay in bed, his sheets tangled all around him. He always moved a lot during his sleep, but that particular night, he was having nightmares about Chubkins.

     All of a sudden, the door slowly creaked open. A dark shadow stepped forward and made its way to Dane. The Gelert shifted to his right side, facing the figure that stood before him. A glimmer suddenly appeared, from two large teeth.

     A huge lightning bolt abruptly shot out from the skies, illuminating in the figure in its entirety. Dane suddenly bolted up upright, and peered down at the ground.

     "AAAAAH!" he shrieked.

     Chubkins's eyes grew into a devilish red glow, and he jumped on Dane, laughing insanely.

     "Somebody, help! He's going to kill me!"

     Chubkins grabbed Dane's sheets and completely stuffed them in his mouth, shredding them apart with his pointy fangs.

     Dane jumped out of his bed and ran to his closest, sliding it open as fast he could. He stepped inside, and closed it shut, holding it with his paws so that Chubkins couldn't enter. He stood still, his breath shaky as he peered through the small crack of light from outside.

     The door of the closest suddenly began shaking, a sign that someone was trying to get in. It shook again, this time much harder. Beads of sweat rolled down Dane's as he shut his eyes tightly.

     He could perceive maniacal laughs, and things being thrown around in his room. Dane's paws begin hurting, and he couldn't hold on much longer. Two more minutes had passed. Four. He couldn't do it anymore. The Gelert let go, and fell into a pile of clothes.

     The closet door suddenly burst off of its hinges, flying across the room with an enormous crash. Loud screams suddenly erupted from the house. The family had woken up! Dane just needed to stall the Meepit for a few more minutes before they came in.

     He looked around, trying to find something to throw at Chubkins as it slowly paced towards him. His eyes gazed intently at Dane's. The eyes never stopped. Never stopped. Those eyes. They wouldn't stop. Those two eyes. So dark and evil. Two eyes.

     Dane closed his eyes. A second later, he heard a loud shriek and the sound of glass exploding. The Gelert opened his eyes and saw his desk flying towards him. He quickly shuffled to his left before it could slam into him.

     "FANTASIA!" he cried, now scared to death.

     The lights suddenly switched on, and Fantasia, Luna, and Flowrey bolted inside.

     "Dane, where are you?" they cried in unison.

     Dane shivered, exiting the closet on his knees. Glass was on top of him, as well as all around the room. His desk was now broken into three parts, his bookshelf had completely collapsed with the books landing everywhere, and his windows was shattered, letting the rain pour in and wet the carpet.

     "Mommy, help me!" Dane whimpered, running towards his owner.

     Fantasia grabbed her Gelert in her arms, stroking his head lovingly. "It's all right, Dane. Everything will be all right. I saw what Chubkins did."

     "Chubkins did it?" Flowrey asked, astonished.

     Fantasia nodded. "I was in the kitchen, trying to find some water, when I saw Chubkins walking up the staircase. I thought he was sleepwalking, so I followed him. I then saw him go into Dane's room and attack him."

     "Why didn't you help me when I called for you?" said Dane, tears dripping down his face.

     "I was…shocked," responded Fantasia with a frightened tone. She looked very startled by the event.

     "Wait a minute…" Dane whispered. "Where's Chubkins now?"

     The family looked around the room. The Meepit was nowhere to be found.

     "Do you think that someone…threw him out that window?" asked Flowrey, shivering.

     Everyone gulped and said nothing. They were all too shocked and numb to think at the moment.

     And standing by in the hall, with a big smile on his face, was Midnight, the family's Weewoo. He looked around, content, for his dinner had been absolutely delicious…

The End