Quiggles Plus

      "What do we do?” said the orange Grundo, "Sloth will soon be here with his evil ship of doom.

      "We must save our son," said her husband. So he sneaks him onto a freighter (which doesn't take passengers) off of Grundor. An hour after, Sloth arrives and Grundor is no more.

      When the freighter arrives, the captain finds the baby Grundo eating his turnips. He's furious. He takes the baby with him, to the market in Meridell, then on to the rubbish heap to dump the half eaten turnips and leaves the youngster there. While haphazardly crawling about the disgusting piles of junk, he comes across a blue Quiggle morphing potion. He drinks it, and turns into a Quiggle. The dump keeper finds him, and gives him Samrin to raise.

      Samrin takes good care of him, raises him as a shepherd, his only other friends being the petpets and the occasional visit from Baby Aibo. He spends much time in the fields, and it is here that he learns to...fly.

      The blue Quiggle, who shall be known simply as Ichiban, was becoming known throughout Meridell. Finally, when Ichiban was full grown, Skarl comes to him and says

      "Ichi, boy, its a great big world. Go out and see it." Skarl then shoves him across the border.

      After flying for a while, he is looking for a place to spend the night. He looks down, and sees a Blumaroo coming out of a coffin.

      "I'll keep going," he thinks. Around dawn, weary from flight, he crashes through a window in Neopia Central

      "Master Niban, there is a blue Quiggle sleeping on the floor. Shall I remove him?"

      "Wait a minute, Rooves, how'd he get in?"

      "Through the window."

      "But we're three stories up. Lets wake him and ask." The Neopian millionaire and his butler move Ichiban to a guest bedroom. He comes to in six hours.

      "So," Niban asks nonchalantly, "how'd you get here?"

      "I flew," is the reply. The red Quiggle with the sky blue vest is surprised, and says

      "You know, we could use your skills, and I can pay you handsomely." He take Ichiban to the window, where they can see all of Neopia Central, being attacked by a robot.

      "My gadgets have proved useless against him. But you may be able to win! Neopia is counting on you." So, after a briefing from Lennyard, the two of them go out to confront the menace.

      "Hurt, maim, destroy!" says the robot, known as the Pteritor. Ichiban flies up, and the Pteritor follows. After a brief struggle, Ichiban knocks loose the Pteritor's rocket unit, and he crashes to the ground. From the heap, a red Pteri ejects and flies away. The Neopians cheer.

      "We should work together some time, call me," says Niban, and a hand on a spring gives Ichiban his phone number.

      Niban was relaxing at his vacation home on Kikoroo point (downstream from Kiko lake) Then his pteriphone rings.

      "Hi, its Ichiban, I'm on the glass bottom boat, and, uh, we have a situation. Something is attacking the boat."

      "what does it look like?" he replies.

      "All I can see is a yellow blur, I tried to stop it, but it was too fast. Oh no! It hit the boat!. We're going down. I'll swim down and get the Kikos to help, please hurry!" Within a minute, Niban was running on his mecha-stilts. He got there in twenty minutes, to find the passengers recovering on shore. Something yellow was hiding in the forest, waiting. It came out, running straight for the passengers. The brick wall that sprung up next to Niban stopped her, which turned out to be a yellow Quiggle. Quickly, a straight jacket and chains are placed on her. She growls and spits. They ask her why she did what she did. More growling and spiting. Ichiban pleads with her. Finally, they get through, and her anger fades. She says

      "Jhudora put a curse on me, for an argument we had. I've been able to run like this ever since, I won't cause any more trouble. I promise." And they relax and go fishing on the dock.

      While fishing, they caught three Rockfish, a Scrawnyfish, and an old rotten left shoe. "Some catch," mutters Ichiban. A Warf tears apart the shoe, then vomits. Then a purple mist comes over Kiko Lake.

      "Oh no!" shouts Sanban.

      "Jhudora is after me again." She runs off into the woods, faster than a wink. The cloud follows. "We've got to help," says Ichiban, and they head after her. Soon they are lost in the woods.

      "This place gives me the creeps," says Ichiban.

      "I have just the thing," says Niban, and he pulls out eight suction cups. They put them on their hands and feet and climb a tree.

      "Over there, I see buildings," says Ichiban. Niban pulls out some of his spring hands and they swing all the way to the buildings.

      "This place is even creepier," says Ichiban. There are many seemingly empty and dilapidated buildings around. They approach a stone tower. And out comes a green Zafara. Ichiban talks to her, but Niban can't help noticing her shadow. First it plays with a yo-yo, then makes a face, then takes a nap, while the Zafara does none of these things.

      "I see you've noticed my shadow," she says. "I can't get it to obey me, no matter how much I discipline it. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some Meepit juice to fetch," She cackles and flies away on a broomstick, rather clumsily.

      After that strange encounter they meet up with Sanban and head towards a small camp. There is a crazy-looking Nimmo stirring a pot with some angry-looking Meepits in it. A Techo is on the porch strumming furiously on a banjo. They press on and come to an Aisha at a table.

      "That Aisha has six ears," mutters Ichiban.

      "I see flies in your future. French flies. That'll be 10 neopoints," she says. Ichiban says to her "First, your crystal ball is an overturned fishbowl, I see the dead fish on the ground. Second, we don't have any money so we're not paying," Then the Aisha motions and two burly Grundos step out of the woods and the three of them run. Before they know it, they have come upon a foggy old city. They walk by a window where a Meerca is scarfing down biscuits. Then they hear a blood-curdling scream! They run to the scene, to find out that a Lady Brucester has just been dragged away by bandits. They follow until they lose the trail. They find a note that reads

      "Find one where there should be three." They search the town until they find a Bearog in a window

      "My word, it has only one head," says a well dressed Quiggle, dropping his monocle.

      "Bearogs normally have three," Sanban says. Ichiban reads a note that says

      "Find two where there should be one." After a few blocks, they come to the jail, where, in a cell window, is a two headed Hissi. There they find a note. It reads

      "Find half orange where should be pink." Soon, they come to an auction where a Techo shouts "Whatamibid for lot #666, a split Meepit?"

      "Meepits are usually pink," says Niban. They see an red x on the ground, with a sign that says "stand here for a big surprise." When they stand on the spot, it turns out to be a trap door. leading to an dank underground lair.

      "Surprise," an evil voice says.

      Then the ominous figure steps out of the shadows. It looks like a robotic Lutari. It is holding a gun. Our heroes bolt. They run down the shadowy corridors. Then they hear a scream. They follow the source, and find that Lady Brucester has knocked the robotic Lutari's head off. "Back to the surface!" shouts Sanban.

      "And how do we do that?" asks Ichiban. Soon they are wandering the corridors, and before long they start to argue about which way to go. Then Niban has an idea. He puts on a pair of x-ray specs. And he soon spots a glowing red button. After another hour they reach the button. It says 'eject'. They hold on to each other and press it. And they are shot into the clouds!

      When Sanban comes to, she sees Ichiban and Niban still passed out nearby. There is a circle of 'dizziness' Pteris around each of their waists. She wakes them and the illusionary Pteris vanish. Then the cloud starts to shake.

      “Run for your lives! The Pet Counters are coming!” a terrified Aisha says, running past them. Closing in fast are a herd of mutant babaas, lead by one dressed as an accountant. They are chanting

      “We will count on you!” over and over again. As they close in on our heroes, Sanban runs up to their leader and circles him at about mach ½, making him very dizzy. He falls through a gap in the clouds, towards the aforementioned woods, but doesn't hit the ground, as he lands in the mouth of a mutant chia.

      “Mmm... crunchy,” he says continuing on his way carrying only a suitcase and an

      'I hate blue Wockies' sign. Just before he slips into the woods, he coughs up a scouring pad. Back on the cloud, the other Babaas have scattered, and the Aisha is very grateful.

      “Do you need someplace to stay? I can take you into town.” the Aisha says.

      “Yes we do. Thank you,” says Niban.

      “Hop in,” the Aisha says, and our heroes hop into an open-top, ellipsoid car painted black with stars all over it.

      “Its on loan, so don't mess anything up.” the Aisha says. As they approach the glittering city, Sanban remarks

      “This place looks nice. I doubt I'll have to relive the horrors of that week in the Fleapit Motel.” Then she looks up and gasps. Overhead is a fight between Illusen and Jhudora. Jhudora tries to impale Illusen with a jhavelin, misses, and then Illusen shoots a beam of light at her and melts the jhavelin. Jhudora flees. Sanban breathes a sigh of relief as they approach the city gates.

      They arrive at the gates. An orange Yurble sticks his head out through a small opening high in one of the gates.

      “State your business!” he shouts.

      “We need a place to spend the night.” the Aisha states.

      “HERE!”he shouts as he throws a 4 7/8 feet stack of paper into the car.

      “Fill out tourist form 67d89v,” The stack collapses, filling the car. Some pages blow away.

      “And if you forget even one page, you'll be sent to the bubble mines. Look at the time! My new job starts in 1 minute.” With that he presses a brass button on his shirt and vanishes in a beam of blue light. Moments later he is replaced by an armored, red Skeith.

      “State your laziness!” he shouts.

      “Pardon?” the Aisha asks.

      “Oh, you need a pardon from King Altador? Go right in.” he says and opens the gates, then proceeds to eat an ice cream cone. Once they are inside the gates, they pull over, and the Aisha tells them

      “You can explore the city on foot while I de-paper the car. I've lost track of the go-pedal.”

      Our heroes walk only one block before they encounter a Halloween Kacheek yelling at everyone who walks by

      “You are a pink Slorg!” Our heroes walk faster and avoid eye contact. They enter a bookshop. A speckled Xweetok is carrying a stack of textbooks including such titles as

      'Maniacal Laughter: Advanced Studies' and

      'Altador Statuary.' Sanban looks at a book called

      'Scaredy Korbat.' Then Ichiban opens

      'The Big Pop-up Book of Meepits.' A jelly Meepit pops out on a spring! Ichiban screams

      “A Meepit! Run!” Our three heroes flee the shop in a panic.

      A few blocks further they pass a beggar in an ordinary location with a sign that reads 'Will work for Asparachucks.' Ichiban shrugs and Niban tells him

      “I've never heard of such a thing either.” Then another Quiggle approaches them.

      “Have I got a deal for you!” the stranger says.

      “Don-” is all the beggar says before the Quiggle stuffs a small boulder in his mouth. The stranger leads our heroes away and tells them of this deal.

      “I'm a small time Realtor. I've got a hot property for you to take a look at.” He leads them down an alley in a remote part of the city, then pushes one of the blocks of stone, which moves back, revealing an opening. They crawl through and emerge outside the city. After leading them some ways further, the stranger announces

      “Here it is! Isn't she a beaut?” A towering mountain looms in front of them.

      “More like a butte,” Niban whispers to Ichiban.

      “Here's the entrance, you can tour it yourselves, I have some paperwork to finish,” the stranger says, looking at a hospital bill. Our heroes are two feet inside when the stranger slams and locks the door from the outside.

      “Its a trap!' Sanban shouts.

      “Relax, there's probably another way out near-” Ichiban stops walking just in time to avoid being impaled on a spear that suddenly rises out of the floor. Sanban clings to Niban for dear life.

      “I suggest we try this other route,” says Niban. They walk six feet without incident, and then a large boulder falls from the ceiling. Sanban shoves them out of the way. Our heroes breathe a sigh of relief. Then a gray balloon descends towards them.

      “What now, a bomb?” moans Ichiban. All three of them cover their eyes as it lands. It only makes a small popping noise. They look, and in front of them are three breathing masks and a computer pad.

      “I wonder what these are for?” asks Sanban as they each pick one up. Niban turns on the pad. “Welcome to the beginners guide to the caves,” a pixelated Grundo on the screen says. Niban goes through the menu options

      “Nothing here, but I'm a good enough hacker that I should be able to find something.” Niban looks at the screen again and now there are many more menu options.

      “Hmmm, Auto-destruct sequence. This says that this cave can be destroyed if three Neopets of different colors agree by placing their fingerprints on the touchscreen below. Further, it assures us that it doesn't explode, but that the bottom half falls off as the top half is splitting in two.” They look at each other and each of them in turn presses the touch screen. Sure enough, the bottom of the cave soon comes out from under them. Niban and Sanban cling tightly to Ichiban's legs as he keeps them aloft. The bottom half soon splashes down in the ocean, sending a tidal wave towards Neopia's southern icecap. As the top half splits down the middle, a split (purple and orange) balloon descends towards them. Ichiban grabs onto it. As the top quarters fall, they crumble into smaller, less dangerous pieces. Meanwhile, our heroes are going up, and up, and up......

      As they head beyond the blue, they put on the breathing masks. Niban is still holding the computer pad. After about forty minutes of going straight up, they reach the space station! At first, there doesn't seem to be a way in, as they are on the underside. Then a Quiggle sized hatch opens up. They enter one at a time and climb a long ladder on the side of the tube. They reach the other end of the tube, and enter a small room with six other Quiggles.

      “Welcome,” says an island Quiggle. “We need your help to free us, restore our friends and save Neopia. I am called Nisi.”

      “I am Lestes,” says a pirate Quiggle, giving them a suspicious glare.

      “I am Kryos,” says an ice Quiggle.

      “I am Karpos,” says a snickering jelly Quiggle.

      “Ugga Paylos Ugg!” says a tyrannian Quiggle.

      “My name is Nipper,” says a baby Quiggle. Nisi explains

      “One day, a spell came over all the Quiggles of Meridell. We never saw who did it, but all the Quiggles except us turned into the most hideous things Neopia has ever seen, with three eyes and claws! The spell must have not worked correctly on us, because we changed into these other colors. All we know of the mastermind's plans is that he is preparing to use the station to conquer Meridell and Brightvale, if not the rest of Neopia too. We need Niban's computer skills to get past the security system,” she says, pointing to the Neopet V2 standing guard. She continues, “We weren't sure how to get you here until we heard you had the 'Flying Marvel of Meridell' with you.” Ichiban blushes. Nisi finishes “After that, preparing the balloons and the voice command pad was simple. We are going to have work as a team if we hope for a future.”

      Niban opens a panel, and in less than three minutes the Neopet V2 picks up a pair of suitcases and happily waltzes off towards the virtual horizon. The chamber door then opens. As soon as the guards enter the doorway, they are frozen stiff. Our nine heroes cautiously head down the corridor. Around a corner is a guard by a storage locker. Nipper toddles up to him herself. The guard thinks she is nothing but adorable. As he is cradling her, she takes his keys and tosses them on the floor by the locker. He is utterly oblivious. She then gets him to take her down the corridor before letting her down to toddle as he follows after. Soon they are out of sight.

      “She can take care of herself.” Nisi assures Sanban. They open the locker and inside are Paylos's club, Lestes's sword and Nisi's wand. Nisi puts some standard space station weapons in a knapsack on Paylos's back. She also gives a ray gun to Niban.

      “I'm sure with your vast technological expertise you know how to operate one of these.” she says. They head through the corridors toward the master control center. The first guards in their path are knocked out by Paylos and his club. Soon alarms are going off. Our heroes turn a few more corners and encounter a much larger and more heavily armed group of guards. The guards start shooting at them. All of our heroes except Karpos (the jelly quiggle) take cover. Karpos uses his bending and twisting skills to dodge every shot. But soon the guards close in on him and he is surrounded. He grins a sheepish grin. Just then he does a mid-air triple somersault over their heads, landing behind them. At the same time a Bagguss bomb lands amongst the guards. It goes off and they are left knocked out in a heap.

      “You never told us you had one of those!” says Kryos.

      “I kept it hidden so that Paylos wouldn't eat it,” Lestes explains. They continue down the corridor. As they cross a bridge, the master control center being just on the other side, a strange scene is happening on the deck below them. Three dozen mesmerized guards are following Nipper, who is leading them in circles.

      Soon they arrive. Ichiban picks up an access card left by one of the mesmerized guards. Inside they find a Skeith with a handful of bodyguards. Kryos quickly stops the guards cold.

      “All right. I surrender. But before I get hauled off to the glass mines, let me explain. I am Jedder, the rightful king of both Brightvale and Meridell. In the earliest historical times, my ancestors were the chieftains of the Merivale peninsula. In fact, the kingdom of Merivale only split when those buffoons Hagan and Skarl fought over power. Their distant ancestors were a power hungry family of troublemakers. One night one of them sneaked into the chieftains tent and murdered him. The blame ended up being put on his brother, who was executed. We lost the resulting power struggle and soon went into exile. The only member of our family who's had any success in life in the past few centuries runs the National Neopian Bank. The rest of us have to get by as thieves and wanderers. I even gave some tips to a young Ixi once, but I doubt he listened, as he has been caught many times. I got back into Meridell by way of the Darigan Citadel, hired a spell caster, and, well, you know the rest.” Jedder then dives toward the weapon control panel. He tries to fire the weapon, but barely avoids being frozen with the weapon, which goes off and blows up The Evil Ship of Doom. The weapon then permanently shuts down. Jedder then makes a run for it through the corridors. Our heroes soon corner him on the supply deck. But the guards they had dealt with in the corridors have awoken and regrouped, cornering our heroes. Nipper, however, having locked her 'followers' in Grundos Cafe, arrives. The guards let her pass, and she walks right up to Jedder, who is amazed at how cute she is. As he is cradling her in his arms, she points to something behind them.

      “What, you want me to pull this lever?” he asks her. He pulls hard on the lever, and a large wooden mallet comes out of the wall and hits him on the head, knocking him out. She backs away and Kryos freezes Jedder, and with a wave of her wand, Nisi teleports the Skeith into space, far far from Neopia. The guards then turn back into ordinary Quiggles, who then have a celebration in honor of their heroes in Grundos Cafe.

      Soon afterward, the Quiggle watching the communications panel reports

      “We're being hailed. Its the Grundos who fled after the station was seized by Jedder.”

      “With the Grundos back, things will return to normal in a few days,” our heroes are informed “and the other Quiggles are already starting to go home. You nine may stay or go. Its your own decision.”

      “Hang on, another message is coming in,” says the communications Quiggle, “It's from... The Antipodal Islands?” Our heroes gather around the panel to hear the mysterious message.

      “Its from some ice Jubjubs. They were ruled by an evil Snowbeast until a tidal wave largely melted their island's icecap, forcing the Snowbeast to retreat to the southern mountains. They heard the wave was caused by a large object falling in the ocean. They would like to know who they have to thank.” Our heroes huddle and soon reach a decision.

      “We'll go there,” they announce. After saying goodbye to the other Quiggles, they meet the pilot who will take them back to Neopia, a green Quiggle named MadelinTalbert3. They are greeted to a heroes welcome from the Antipodal Jubjubs. They make up their minds to stay. While everyone is celebrating, Niban realizes he still has the computer pad. He turns it on and a holographic Grundo appears. The Grundo explains that all his life he has been a sentient Grundo trapped in a computer generated world, dreaming of living in the real world. The Jubjubs have something that might help him. They hand him a device and he steps off of the pad!

      After a few days as pampered, venerated heroes, Ichiban decides that this isn't the life for him. He decides to continue helping others, and flies toward the Lost Desert in search of his next mission.

      The End.