The most fantastic thing in the universe! Circulation: 149,520,230 Issue: 285 | 30th day of Running, Y9
Home | Archives Articles | Editorial | Short Stories | Comics | New Series | Continued Series
 

TNT's Everlasting Pranks


by lavalampsnake99

--------

“Ah! My pet’s turned into asparagus!” A faint cry from Year Six.

“WHAT?! I have to pay to load pages? But I just saved up a million neopoints!!” A shocked whine from Year Eight.

So what’s the secret behind all of TNT’s pranks? And what will come about this year? Read on to find out more.

The first prank that I can recall was in Year Three. I logged onto Neopets, very happy about my new pet Kiko, and clicked on New Features. I saw headline news- “Pet Makeovers!”

Good, I thought. It’s about time my Kiko looked better.

So I clicked on the link. The first pet listed was the Kiko, but- what’s this? It had grown paws, ears, and a LONG tongue! Its expression was silly, almost like an insane pet, and I recall screaming, “WHAT?!”

I scrolled down, and found out the name “Kiko” would become a new name, too- “Kreela!” So much for my hard earned Neopoints to buy a transmogrifying potion to get my Kiko- excuse me, Kreela!

I glanced at the next pet. To my horror, I also owned this pet- a Chia, who would be taking on the new name “Chyonko.” Its new teeth were the worst part- it had grown buck teeth and didn’t look a thing like a Chia.

I gasped, glancing over the rest of the pets. This had to be a joke- but no. TNT had never done something like this before; why do it this year? Maybe it really was time to get some makeovers. I couldn’t believe the new pets...

Then, the next day, to my great relief, I read the New Features- “APRIL FOOL!!! Most of you guessed anyway, but no, we are not changing the Neopets at all.”

I felt myself sigh with relief. I had fallen for it- and I promised myself I would never again go under TNT’s wrath.

Next stop, Year Four. The highlight of this year was that I reached Packrat status! But this Random Event on April 1st really gave me a scare. I was humming to myself, searching the pound for a yellow Kougra, when I saw a Random Event at the top of my page. Maybe I’ve finally found a paint brush...

But no! The Pant Devil had struck- and what had he stole? EVERYTHING! Including my ten paintbrushes I had packed in my SDB!!

“Oh no!” I said, and I felt a twinge of anger. How dare he?! That took SO long to save up for!

I was still fuming the next day when I did my dailies- the Wheel of Excitement, Tombola, and checking the New Features. My relief was calming when I read this about the Pant Devil- “UPDATE: Ok we were joking, but what did you expect... it is the 1st of April :)” about the whole Pant Devil thing. I nodded my head and bit my lip- TNT had once again fooled me. But, I swore to myself that TNT would never, NEVER, prank me again!

Year Five came next. This was the year that I had hit my four million Neopoint goal- yay! But when I logged on the first of April, I could not believe what the front page looked like!

“Hey kidz!” it yelled in hideous colours. “Neopets is TOTALLY changing to a crazy new EXTREME style- and here is a sneak preview!!!” I scrolled down. The whole page was weird and- how do I put it? - extreme! The most horrifying part was the part that claimed that all neopoints would be gone, that everything would be free for the public! I nearly fainted. I had played all those games and restocked and spent millions on paintbrushes just for- nothing?!

Well, I thought sadly. I should have seen this coming. They obviously have more of a kid audience than an adult or teenage audience.

I closed the browser and shut off the computer, too disappointed to play the rest of the day. The next day, I logged on, just to say goodbye to my pets, when the regular Neopets homepage greeted me! I jumped and clicked on New Features. Sure enough...

“MWAHAHA Yes, yes, the Front Page of the site was an April Fools Joke. Don't worry we would never, ever, ever make the site like that (and Neopoints are here to stay). Nick Neopia will promptly be deleted from all our servers... *phew*”

Instead of being relieved, I just got mad at TNT. They had managed to fool me again! I made a pact that I would NEVER, EVER, EVER, EVER, EVER fall for their pranks again. NEVER...

Year Six was a year of many surprises. There was no real April Fool’s joke- they did claim they were creating a Quiguki world, which I thought would be cool, but it never happened- so I thought I was off the hook. (I can hear Adam laughing- “Mwahaha!” right now.)

It happened December 20th. I helped my little brother log into his Neopets Jr. account, then settled on the couch with a good book. Soon a piercing cry interrupted me- “My pets have turned into broccoli!”

I sprang up. My little brother was pointing at his “kougra”- now a stalk of the well known asparagus!

“Oh, no, that’s not broccoli. That’s asparagus.”

My little brother was more curious than sad. “How’d it turn into asparagus?” he asked.

I shrugged. “Maybe you fed it something weird.”

“Nope.” My brother shook his head. “All I feed it is jelly from Jelly World.”

“There’s no such thing as Jelly World,” I said. “And let me log into my account.”

Soon I was staring at my own pets, which all were asparagus Chias too! With a gasp, I wonder if this was glitch, or a permanent change. How could this have happened? I used to have four beautiful painted pets- now I had four stalks of asparagus, a vegetable I didn’t even like!

The next day, when I got on, I saw my four regular pets, not four asparagus pets- and I smiled. But what had happened? I was going to ask on the Help boards, but I stopped when I saw this topic- “Happy Birthday Adam!”

Borovan’s birthday...

It all clicked together. Asparagus is our leader’s favorite food- he’s downright obsessed with it! - and yesterday had been his birthday. Of course, it was just TNT wishing Adam a happy birthday in the best way possible... by filling Neopia with asparagus! I took it as another joke, though- and I had, once again, fallen into their trap. I decided to keep my eyes peeled and my ears alert, ready for whatever joke seemed to be coming next. Because there was no way I would ever fall into the prank pit again.

You would think, after all these years, that I would be able to take TNT’s jokes without falling for them. Year Seven proved this wrong. April Fools rolled around, and TNT claimed that their weren’t enough pets- there’s only 54 pets now- so they were adding 50 new pets! I was shocked and looked at the list of all the pets. Some were cute, some were disgusting, and some were downright ugly. I was surprised at all the pets, especially the one that looked like a spider- wouldn’t these scare little kids? But I shrugged it off. TNT ruled Neopets, and whatever they thought was best went.

Later, of course, I heard this was yet another joke. I felt like shouting, “WHEN WILL IT END?!” but I didn’t. Of course, it wasn’t all a joke because the Lamameeah turned into the Gnorbu, and my little brother found it very funny. Even he hadn’t fallen for it- I must be the most gullible person in Neopia! For the hundredth time, I promised myself TNT would NOT prank me again.

Of course, a year later, in Year Eight, my promise failed. This was probably the scariest gag yet, and this one was highly believable.

NeoCharge was the story. It told users that we had to pay for whatever pages we loaded. And most users load A LOT of pages, which meant we would have to pay a LOT!! As I read this very believable article, my heart sank. I was so close to 10 million Neopoints- and it would all be spent uploading pages. My charges grew over the day, and I finally shut down the computer, wanting to save my money.

The next day, I promised myself that I would only go to the pages I needed to, not extras.

I let myself click on New Features, to see if they had somehow decided to cancel it, and then started laughing at my own stupidity.

“April Fools! - Yup, NeoCharge™ was a little prank we pulled in the spirit of April Fools day (April 1st). If you fell for it, don't worry. You weren't alone. (We even managed to fool a good chunk of our own staff members!)”

Can you imagine that? At least I wasn’t the only one who fell for it- TNT tricked themselves! I decided that this April Fools day didn’t count, but next April Fools day, I wouldn’t go along with the joke- I would stop it in its tracks! (Or at least not let it bamboozle me.)

And, you would think for that year, pranks were over. Nope. December 20th, (of course, Adam’s birthday), the Advent Calendar didn’t give anything out. I thought it was just a glitch, but I was really mad because all they had was a picture of the Super Attack Pea!! (An item I really wanted!) The next day we got double prizes and an avatar. Borovan had celebrated his birthday by fooling us... yet again.

There is still question, though... what does TNT have planned this year? Will they tell us that all pets have grown fins? That all paintbrushes have no use? That all plushie pets will turn back into basic colours? Whatever they plan, be ready- I, for one, will not be falling for their joke this year!!!

 
Search the Neopian Times




Great stories!


---------

What Jhudora Does For Fun...
Who says voodoo dolls are just nonsense?

by fruitcupandspoons

---------

A Practical Mistake...
A wise Gnorbu once told me you should always think things through...

Idea by edmarblecake

by x_seabee_x


---------

The Secret Diary of Danner Carnahan
We were supposed to spend the night at the inn in Hope River. But guess what, we're not. Glorious leader, also known as Sir Jeran Borodere, lead us down the wrong road...

by nimras23

---------

The Petpetpets of Neopia
Super Shrinker 5000

by starlet12



Submit your stories, articles, and comics using the new submission form.