"So that's why I switched to jazz and I've never regretted it."
"Nip, you tell me that same story every few days. I get the picture!"
"That's because it's my favourite story."
Crooky24 the Christmas Chia and Nip72 the white Lupe were walking through
Neopia Central. They were on their way to check out the news of the day. After
a while, they reached the big board. It had all the info of the day.
"Hey Crooky, they made a new Pteri fun
image," Nip pointed out. Crooky shrugged and looked at a good looking
piece.
"Ooh! They came out with a new report on the Space Station thing. Let's go
see," he said.
The two headed down to the story area. It turned out to be very serious. Neopet
Version 2 or NPv2 had taken 4 young pets hostage as friends in an elevator.
Then, something caught Nip's eye.
"Hey! It says here that the prize makes a scarab look like an orange fuzzle!"
Crooky whistled in amazement.
Both of them looked at each other. They were going to try and figure that
puzzle out and save the kids (getting a prize).
I won't go into detail, but let's just say that it was hard from the beginning.
At the truth thingy spot, things got even worse.
"No, no! Nip, that goes THERE! AND you're doing it all wrong!" Crooky yelled.
"I'm tryin'! Stop yellin' at me!" Nip snarled.
They managed it and crammed more URLs together. The search led them off course
sometimes, like when they ended up in a dimension of reversed genders without
even knowing how they got in. Crooky jotted down code numbers as they got them.
Finally, they got to the drunk Grundo. The Grundo sang his song and Crooky and
Nip looked at each other nervously. Then they had to try and find out his favourite
food.
"Fungi fruits?" Crooky asked. The Grundo shook his head.
"Dessert?" Nip guessed. The Grundo moaned.
"Bargjelly Sundae?" Crooky said in desperation. They were amazed that it was
right! And now they had the directions to NPv2 himself (the two were pretty
sure that NPv2 was a male).
After a long journey, Crooky and Nip stood before a giant, black computer
with green writing. There were microphones for talking to NPv2. Crooky asked
the first question in the clue.
"Who are you?"
They asked questions for a while but didn't have the right ones. Yet as the
two asked this little creature questions, they began to like him. Soon Nip started
to give up and just reason with NPv2.
"Let them go! Your friends will be next!" He snarled. The kids didn't have
long.
"I love my friends. They will stay with me forever!" NPv2 would not give in.
Crooky and Nip soon gave up on arguing and trying to get the computer critter
to blow himself up. They took pity on him.
"I just want friends. I am misunderstood," the poor pet would say.
Then Crooky did something unexpected. "We will be your friends."
"But...everyone comes here and wants to deactivate me. Why not you?"
"Because you seem like you have a good heart but you are just a little crazy.
We don't want to hurt you. You are just misunderstood. That's how I met Nip,"
Crooky said.
NPv2 responded warmly to this. The three became friends. They laughed and
played Kau Korall. They also played Codebreakers. And even the oldest games!
NPv2 had access to all the deleted games. In a round of Pokemon Match, Crooky
got a bad thought. What if someone solved the puzzle? He brushed it out of his
mind. He was confident that Neopets would save the kids in time, as usual. And
how could anyone figure out all this?
It was a long way home, so Crooky and Nip slept on the floor of the computer
room. NPv2 "played" with his hostages into the night. Poor Crooky and Nip were
tired and slept until morning...unfortunately. They got a nasty surprise when
they woke up.
"What are you doing?" NPv2's voice sounded scared.
Crooky and Nip woke up. They were stunned to see a blue Pteri peck in some
numbers to the deactivation code panel and fly away happily, knowing it would
be rich. Crooky grabbed the nearest heavy item and tried to break the panel,
pretending it was the Pteri. He gave up quickly and the two looked at NPv2.
He was frowning.
"I...feel...sleepy. Good...night..." NPv2 said.
The screen went dark as the little creature's eyes closed. Crooky and Nip stared
in disbelief. Then Crooky bowed his head and let the tears flow. Nip raised
his head and howled mournfully. It was so unfair! NPv2 was just an innocent,
neglected little Neopet that had been shut off, probably forever, just because
he was misunderstood! After a long time of sadness, Crooky and Nip left the
room. They took one last look at NPv2 before shutting the door. And they both
quietly spoke.
"We'll never forget you NPv2. Never."
They headed home to Neopia.
"You know Nip, sometimes you lose a good friend before you even know you have
one," Crooky said that night. Nip nodded.
"But NPv2 really just went to sleep. Maybe someday he'll wake up again. And
when that day comes, maybe people will understand him," Nip pointed out.
"Maybe. But I don't think Neopia will ever stop misunderstanding. We were
just lucky everything turned out for the best."
"How did it turn out for the best?! NPv2 is shut off for who knows how long,
and we didn't get a big fat prize! Not even a trophy! I think things went terribly,"
Nip griped.
"Yeah, you're probably right," Crooky admitted. There was a long pause. "Well,
I think things are back to normal. Or as normal as they'll ever get for Neopia.
What do you say we get some Belgian waffles?"
Nip smiled. Things were back to semi-normal.
The End | 
