A Meerca's Mission

     “Matatat got a little too enthusiastic,” Killua grunted, crossing his arms and glaring at the Meerca, “We would’ve been fine if he hadn’t tried to get all buddy-buddy.”

     “He can’t help it, he’s excited!” Macer said to his colleague. “And we did learn something big from those two nimrods.”

     “Oh? And what was that?” Chuychu asked, tilting her head in curiosity.

     “Sloth is on Althrax. He got out of that coin or whatever somehow and has a base. No clue where Althrax is, all I know is that he’s there,” Macer explained with a shrug. “Are you familiar with it?”

     Chuychu squinted as she thought while looking up at the ceiling of Matatat’s bedroom in the Space Station living quarters. He only had three rooms - a bedroom, a bathroom, and a small space that barely qualified as a kitchen and eating area. The four of them struggled to fit in his bedroom, so Matatat was stuck peering in at the other three through the open door to his bedroom.

     “Is it a planet? Somewhere on the Space Station or Kreludor? C’mooooon, give us the deets!” Matatat said, hopping up and down with impatience.

     “Neither,” Chuychu said calmly, returning her attention to her mentees in front of her. “It’s its own planet, not yet discovered by the average Neopian yet. There are a few astronomers in Altador and perhaps a few scientists in Brightvale that know, and I’m sure anyone who's taken a wrong turn trying to get to Kreludor has caught a glimpse.”

     “What about the Space Faerie? She must definitely know about it, and that Sloth is there,” Macer asked. “Shouldn’t she be actively working to stop it?”

     Chuychu shook her head. “She doesn’t know. Sloth wouldn’t be there if she did. She would’ve chased him back into whatever hole he first crawled out of. Unless she has some plan to wait it out, she doesn’t know about him.”

     “And how could someone not?” Killua asked, shifting his weight from one side to the other.

     “That’s what you’re going to have to find out,” Chuychu said, a playful smile beginning to form.

     Matatat, tired of being shoved out of his own bedroom, squeezed through the group to sit down on his tiny bed. He picked up his faithful MSP plushie and squeezed it to his chest, sighing. “I wish Eliv 2 could help. I’ve had him for years and he always listens to me when I talk about my plans. He looks evil enough that he could probably do whatever he wanted and find Sloth all by himself.”

     Killua and Macer ignored his comment, brushing it off as childish talk. But Chuychu’s face lit up. She saw an opportunity. “Matatat, what would you think about Eliv 2 being real? If he could actually follow you around and help you on your quest?”

     His head shot up to look at the Lupe immediately. “What? You can do that?!”

     Chuychu nodded. “That’s right. Magical MSP plushies usually turn the person playing with it into a MSP themselves, but I can use that magic to turn the plushie into a Neopet instead.”

     “NO WAY NO WAY NO WAY!” Matatat nearly screamed, much to the irritation of everyone around him. “Do it! Do it do it do it do it do it!”

     Killua and Macer shared a look, and then both looked at Chuychu. “Are you sure this is a good-” Killua began to say, but Chuychu cut him off by beginning to use her magic.

     “And with these hands, I shall create life from this plushie,” Chuychu announced to the room, waving her hands and making the plushie float out of Matatat’s arms. With one twist of her wrist, there was a blinding white light that enveloped the room for a few seconds before fading to reveal a real-life MSP pet standing on two feet before them.

     “Is - is that him? Is that Eliv 2? Does he even know who I am?” Matatat asked, staring at Eliv 2 with wide eyes.

     Eliv 2 spoke for the first time, in a voice that could only be described as gravelly with a touch of nails screeching on a chalkboard. “You’re… my… best… friend…”

     Killua covered his ears, wincing. “What is this thing, Warfenstein’s monster?”

     “Can you make it not sound like that, please?” Macer pleaded to Chuychu.

     “I like it!” Matatat said, hopping over to give Eliv 2 a big hug. He was soft and plush, just like he had always been, but now he was alive.

     Chuychu didn’t seem bothered by the voice and simply giggled into her palm. “Fine, fine, I’ll fix it.” With another wave of her hand, Eliv’s voice was taken from a screeching growl to a slightly menacing monotone.

     “Sorry…” Eliv 2 said, acknowledging the others in the room for the first time.

     “Not only did I bring him to life,” Chuychu began, resting one hand on the former toy’s shoulder, “he can fight as well. He now has the strength to walk beside you in your journey. Not bad for a little magic, if I do say so.”

     While Matatat stared at Eliv 2 with awe and admiration, Killua looked over at Chuychu. “Can this thing actually help us?”

     The Royal Lupe lowered her voice so Matatat couldn’t hear, but Killua and Macer could. “You’ll likely be facing far more sinister enemies than two idiotic mutants when you go to find Sloth. You need all the help you can get. The plushie can be the one to protect Matatat, leaving you two to focus on fighting.”

     “Well, if it keeps him from annoying us,” Macer said, looking over to find Matatat excitedly chattering about his plans with his living bestie.

     “It should. Just try to keep him from stumbling into spiked pits or black holes and Eliv 2 will do the rest,” Chuychu said with a nod. “But make sure he doesn’t get his stuffing ripped out. If you lose him, you’re going to have to deal with a weeping Meerca the rest of the way.”

     “So what happens when this guy croaks anyway? There’s no way he’s gonna make it through this whole journey and get to Sloth without someone permanently silencing him,” Killua asked, leaning even closer to ensure their privacy. “What then?”

     Chuychu sighed, looking over at Matatat again. “Well, I’m hoping that he realizes he’s in over his head and gives up before that even has the chance to happen. But if you do lose him along the way…” She tilted her head back and forth, weighing her options. “As long as I can tell that you two made a reasonable effort to save him, I’ll give you a pass and the deal is still on.”

     Killua smiled and leaned back, feeling reassured. “Perfect. We’ll start gathering info on Althrax and head out tomorrow. This mission’s gonna have a new lease on life.”

     After everyone had wrapped up their conversations, Chuychu did a little more magic and managed to take a book out of King Altador’s private library without him noticing. It was dusty, not having been touched in ages, but the pages of the book were supposedly kept up to date with new information without ever having to publish a new edition.

     “Even though he clearly hasn’t read it in a good while, King Altador enjoys regularly browsing his books, so we only have a few hours before either he or one of his servants notices that it’s gone. Write down as much as you can and I’ll transport the book back when you’re done,” Chuychu said as Killua, Macer, and Matatat furiously copied down every bit of information on Althrax that they could find. They had originally tasked Eliv 2 to help as well, but they quickly discovered that he was struggling to understand the concept of pencil and paper, so they let him go back to being fascinated with Matatat’s slinky toy.

     They were able to discern which planets Althrax was near; unfortunately, it would be a good few hours away from Kreludor. None of them knew how to pilot a spaceship, so the group began to despair for a moment before Matatat offered a simple suggestion.

     “Are there any Sloth supporter pilots?” He asked with a shrug.

     Although Macer and Killua wanted to write him off as foolish for his query, Chuychu seemed to light up with recognition at the idea. “Well, I’m not sure about them being a Sloth supporter, but there is a pilot that’s taken a keen interest in the man lately. An alien Aisha.”

     “Probably wants to go back to the motherland or whatever,” Macer said with a snort.

     “Can we go ask them?” Matatat asked.

     Chuychu nodded. “Yes, I think that should be your next step after you’ve finished copying down all the info. Wrap it up and I can show you where she works.”

To be continued…