Fun At The Toy Store

      "Wake up!" I cried. "You guys are missing the best holiday of the year!!!"

      "Christmas?" asked my blue Koi Jay.

      "Halloween?" asked my yellow Tonu Min.

      "Easter?" asked my fire Grarrl ApocClone.

      "The day all of Neopia accepts me as their supreme ruler?" asked my Christmas Bori Apoc.

      "No," I said after a long awkward pause. "It's Northwestern Altadorian Pineapple Day! Won't that be fun? A holiday consisting of three random words that I just thought up!"

      "MI," began Jay. "That is the worst idea you have ever had!"

      "It consists of me taking you all to the Toy Store and buying you things!"

      "And now it isn't!" cried Jay. "Let's go!"

      Soon the four of us were at the Toy Store. We walked into the store. A young Kyrii greeted us.

      "Hi, I'm Jennifer!" said Jennifer. "Welcome to our store! We stock all your needs in anything that's fun filled!"

      "Okay!" said ApocClone. "Do you have plushies?"

      "Not anymore, sorry!" Jennifer smiled. "A Cybunny bought our plushie stock a little while ago!"

      "What about Usuki dolls?" asked Min. "I like to dress Miss Usuki up in her dress for the ball!" Everyone stared at Min.

      "Nope!" said Jennifer. "Usuki dolls have their own store!"

      "I like Darigan stuff!" said Apoc. "Do you have any of that?"

      "Not really," sighed Jennifer. "The Darigan Citadel set up their own toy shop!"

      "Boy," I whispered to Jay. "When a place loses out to a store run by a Moehog with a skin problem you can tell they're in trouble!"

      "You know what they say!" cried Jennifer. She looked pretty annoyed, but still had her trademark smile plastered on her face. "Happiness loves company! So why don't you four pets go spread your happiness to the rest of the store!?" My pets shrugged and began to walk away.

      "Wait up, you guys!" I handed each of them 5000 Neopoints. "There you go. I'll be at Hubert's Hot Dogs. Bye!" I ran off.

      So my pets were left to fend for themselves. If you're wondering how I know about what happens to them, I later got an eyewitness report.

      ApocClone ventured down an aisle. His stomach was growling. Fortunately he was a Grarrl. If you don't happen to own one already, then here's some information. Grarrls will eat anything. I'm not exaggerating.

      ApocClone's first victim was the Springy Toy. However right as he was about to eat it, it fell out of his hands and began bouncing away. ApocClone chased after it.

      As the Grarrl ran after his meal, he noticed that it was headed for an elderly Meerca. As it bounced by her ApocClone came face to face with the revelation that if he didn't slow down he might hit her.

      Then he came face to face with her torso.

      As ApocClone got up he noticed something on the shelf. The Meerca was screaming something about Judge Hog but ApocClone didn't care. He had found something that meant a lot to him.

      He had found the Gumball Machine.

      Min too was having a blast. He was skipping down an aisle. Then he noticed something odd on a shelf. It was a Buzz plushie.

      "That's odd!" Min said to nobody in particular. "I thought plushies were moved to another store!" Jennifer was nearby, so Min called to her.

      "Jennifer!" yelled Min. "Hey Jennifer, it's me, Min! You know, the Tonu. I see you over there, pretending I don't exist. I see you trying to leave discreetly! I see you trying to run into the bathroom!"

      "FINE, YOU LITTLE TWERP, WHAT IS IT!?!" roared Jennifer.

      "That's better. What is this thing? I thought plushies were sold in another store now!"

      "No," Jennifer said with shaky breaths. "Plushies were taken. This item is a Yellow Buzz Toy. It's not a plushie at all!"

      "You must think I'm a complete idiot!" cried Min.

      Jennifer thought it best not to answer that question.

      Jay meanwhile was at the opposite end of the store.

      "What a waste of time!" he mumbled to himself. "I am a grown Koi. I shouldn't be in a toy store! I should be at Unis Clothing, buying cool new stuff to wear! Well, as soon as Neopets actually wear clothes!"

      Right as Jay was about to leave, something caught his eye. As he turned to make eye contact with it, he realised that he could never live without this object. Jay was staring at a Cheery Blossom.

      "It's so adorable!" Jay cried. "I've never had such a good reason to spend 700 Neopoints!" As Jay picked up the plant and headed to pay, the Cheery Blossom seemed to smile a little more.

      Apoc was also smiling. He had just found the store's keychain collection.

      "Wait a minute!" Apoc said to himself. "Keychains have to be the most useless item I ever saw. OH MY GOSH!!! THERE ARE SO MANY DIFFERENT KINDS!!! I MUST HAVE THEM ALL!!!"

      As Apoc was caught up in his little frenzy a passing Nimmo bumped into him. Apoc fell over, causing an item on the shelf to fall onto his head.

      As Apoc looked at the item he gaped in awe. A Baby Paint Brush had landed on him. This could only mean one thing.

      "I'm a baby!!!" Apoc cried. "This is great! I can do anything and get away with it!!"

      "You're not a baby!" said the Nimmo. "A Baby Paint Brush Plushie fell on you. I guess they forgot to move it to the Plushie Palace. Are you feeling okay?"

      His words were wasted. Apoc was already running off laughing and contemplating world conquest.

      ApocClone was also laughing. He was amazed at all the different colours of gum there were. He placed it under his arm and headed off to the front desk to buy his item.

      Then ApocClone stopped.

      He didn't know anything about this gum inside. He'd better have a taste test to make sure it was worth his Neopoints.

      The fire Grarrl inserted 5 Neopoints into the machine. Then he sat and began to wait.

      After a few minutes ApocClone realized it must be stuck. He inserted another 5 Neopoints. Nothing happened. He kept trying and trying. Eventually it had to work.

      At this point ApocClone should've realized the label on the Gumball Machine read, 'Gumball Machine Of DOOM!!! Trick your friends!' However he didn't notice this and shook the machine angrily.

      ApocClone then tried the next most logical thing. There was a hole where the gum was supposed to come out. A hole just big enough to fit a paw.

      ApocClone stuck his paw into the hole and to his disappointment, found that he couldn't really reach the gum. He tried to remove his paw but found it was stuck.

      ApocClone shook his paw viciously. He tried pulling it off with his free hand. He even tried biting it. But he soon realized there was only one thing to do.

      ApocClone ran down to the end of the aisle, turned around and took off! He ran as fast as he could straight into the opposite wall with a crash! Feeling dizzy, he got up and stared at his hand, then at the battered machine on the floor. ApocClone sighed. The machine was off.

      Then he looked up to see the Lupe who ran the place.

      "You've ruined this machine!!" she cried. "You're coming with me!" She grabbed ApocClone by the paw and dragged him away.

      Meanwhile Min was still with Jennifer.

      "I'm on to your little plot!" laughed Min. "I know you're still making plushies and marketing them as Buzz Toys or Elephante Dolls!"

      Jennifer's smile stretched even wider.

      "But you didn't count on me!" laughed Min. "I'm going to shut down your scheme right now!" He ran to the exit. "I'm telling the Cybunny at the Plushie Palace!"

      As Min was running, he suddenly fell down. He looked up to see that Jennifer had tripped him.

      "You're in big trouble!" smiled Jennifer. She grabbed him and led him away.

      Meanwhile Jay was having a blast. He was composing a song about his Cheery Blossom. The Cheery Blossom was sitting there smiling.

      As Jay was entering the fourteenth verse of his song, he realized he was at the front of the line. He turned to the Blue Nimmo.

      "Hello." Jay paused to read his nametag. "Hello, Chris. I would like to purchase this Cheery Blossom and make myself whole!"

      "Great," sighed Chris. "Nothing makes me happier then seeing someone express joy through a long and obnoxious song!"

      "What's with you?" asked Jay.

      "Nothing," sighed Chris. "I just lost my job at the Neolodge. Budget cutbacks. You know how it is!"

      "No, I don't!" smiled Jay. "In fact, I've never had a job. My owner cares for my every need. Best of all, now I have a Cheery Blossom to care for!" Jay reached for his plant.

      "Whatever," said Chris. "Let me see, your item is 319 Neopoints. However the Neopian inflation rate is going up by 2.31% so I just need to add that to your price. There we go, your total is 14 758 Neopoints!"

      "Are you insane!?!" cried Jay. "That's completely false!"

      "Well, you learned a lesson here. Don't anger store employees, because we have the power to change prices!" He grabbed the Cheery Blossom, which now looked sad. "Say goodbye to your little friend!"

      "Never!" cried Jay. He whipped out a Snowball Slingshot and fired a few snowballs at Chris, who dropped the Cheery Blossom. Jay grabbed the plant and ran. However, Chris tackled him. The Nimmo picked Jay up and carried him away, leaving the Cheery Blossom behind.

      Apoc meanwhile was enjoying his new power.

      Now it was time to test it.

      "Hello," he said to a passing Techo. "I sure would enjoy it if you gave me 20 000 Neopoints this very second. If you don't, I just might cry!"

      "You're weird!" yelled the Techo and stormed off.

      "Drat!" muttered Apoc. "What else can I do? I know! I can get away with crimes because I don't know any better!" He ran after the Techo.

      "You made me feel sad!" he cried, in what he hoped was a cute baby voice. Apoc whipped out an Electrical Mote and threw it at the Techo. The Techo yelped and ran off.

      Apoc then saw the keychains.

      "I want those!" he yelled, and grabbed as many as he could.

      After getting as many as he could carry he headed for the exit. A passing Ixi asked him where he was going.

      "I'm a baby!" laughed Apoc. "I can take anything I want for free! All you adults can do is point and say what a little rascal I am!"

      Suddenly the Techo reappeared. Behind him were two Skeith security guards.

      They grabbed Apoc and headed off.

      Apoc came to in a dungeon. Next to him were Min, ApocClone and Jay. Suddenly the door opened. One of the guards threw me in.

      "What are you doing here?" Min asked.

      "The guards are really strict about their 'no outside food' policy," I said, holding a hot dog.

      "What do we do?" cried ApocClone. "The guards said that we would be stuck here for a really long time!"

      "I have a plan!" cried Apoc.

      Everyone screamed.

      "Thanks for the moral support," snarled Apoc. "Anyway, I present to you a Queela Bomb!" He took out an Electrical Mote. "Now to light the fuse!"

      Everyone screamed at Apoc to stop, but it was too late. The fuse was lit and the entire building shook. As Apoc laughed and held the Queela Bomb up high, we all tried our best to unlock the door. We screamed at the guards what had happened and they responded by running for the exit.

      Finally the bomb detonated. A purple light blinded us.

      Apoc came to sometime later. He was outside the Toy Shop. The building itself looked fine. On the other hand, a Queela Bomb didn't really have that much power. Enough to wreck the cage, sure, but not enough to do any real damage to the main floor.

      "What happened?" he asked a passing girl.

      "There was a big explosion in the basement of the store! Judge Hog and the Defenders of Neopia went to investigate and they found you! They also found old plushies being marketed as toys and dolls. The Lupe in charge is getting sent to the worst place imaginable!"

      "Faerieland?" asked Apoc.

      "No," the girl said. "They're making her spend two weeks with that Kougra on Mystery Island who speaks only in haikus!"

      "That is bad!" gasped Apoc.

      "I'll get you for this!" the Lupe yelled as Danger Buzz and Lightning Lenny carried her away. "You've ruined my life! I will have my revenge!!"

      Apoc chuckled at this.

      "If I had a Neopoint for every time someone said that to me, I would be one rich pet!"

      Suddenly a thought came to him, and he ran up to Lightning Lenny.

      "Sir, were a teenager, a Koi, a Tonu, or a Grarrl spotted?" he asked.

      "Nope, sorry!" Lightning Lenny glanced at Apoc. "I hope you learned a lesson from all this!"

      "I sure did!" said Apoc. "As a baby, I can do anything I want!"

      "You're not a baby!" said Lightning Lenny, holding a Red Mirror in front of Apoc. Apoc stared blankly.

      "That explains a lot!" he said to himself, and headed home.

The End