The Pranking

It was nighttime in Serenity Cavern in The Eastern Caverns. Rong Chun and her boyfriend Juro Hishikawa were guiding Dr. Schnee, his son Tad, and Tad's girlfriend Ha-Chan out of the jungle cavern. They had a picnic as double dates in Serenity Cavern. Though, Dr. Schnee joined in because he wanted to do some research on the cavern.

"I'm so sorry I lost track of time at our picnic. I didn't mean for us to get caught out here after dark," Juro apologized.

"But there's really nothing to be afraid of. The forest at night is the same as the forest during the day," Rong Chun assured.

Suddenly, a gust of wind blew and seemed to howls. "Only... darker," Tad added.

"At least there are no man-eating plants anymore since we defeated the Emperor and returned the slugs here," Rong Chun said.

"Still, maybe we should... hurry back home," Ha-Chan suggested while chattering her teeth.

All of the sudden, something whooshed by the bushes. Rong Chun's two Slug Hounds were startled by it. "Nothing to worry about. No reason to..." Another whoosh was heard as Rong Chun tried to comfort everyone. An eerie wailing echoed throughout the cavern. A pair of red eyes stared at them.

"Ruuuun!" Ha-Chan screamed and zipped away as fast as she could. The others followed her.

They stopped on their tracks when they saw a horrifying creature appeared in front of them! "Aah!" Ha-Chan gasped. The creature let out an eerie wailing. The creature let out a roar.

Ha-Chan screamed and jumped onto Tad's arms! Rong Chun, Juro and Dr. Schnee loaded their blasters for the fight. Suddenly, a laughter was heard coming from the bushes. "Gotcha!" It was Kord! It turned out that Kord had put some wooden branches and trunks to depict himself as the creature! He laughed harder.

"That wasn't funny! You really scared my girl!" Tad scolded Kord. Ha-Chan was still hyperventilating.

"I hope you're happy, Kord Zane," Ha-Chan said angrily. Rong Chun's Slug Hounds growled at him.

"Nope. You're too easy. You're scared of everything," Kord told Ha-Chan.

"That's not true," She defended.

With that, Kord let out a "Boo." Ha-Chan screamed and jumped out from Tad's arms, and onto a tree branch! She was clinging onto it and her teeth were chattering. Tad glares at Kord for scaring his girlfriend.

The next day, in the Crystal Castle of Harmony in Marinatopia. Dr. Schnee, Juro, Rong Chun, Tad, and Ha-Chan complained to us about Kord's prank.

"I mean, how could you not appreciate that?" Kord asked playfully.

"Because I don't think being scared is very funny!" Ha-Chan exclaimed angrily.

"Of course!" I agreed.

"I do!" Pronto shouted. "Your heart gets all racy, your feet get all tingly, your mouth gets all dry-ie! Actually, I don't like that part. But the rest is great!"

"Since when Pronto likes getting scared?" Trixie wondered. Eli, Keon, Nate, Falcon and John shrugged.

"See? Everyone likes a good prank! They're just jokes!" Kord stated.

"Now, Kord, I don't think Ha-Chan, Tad, Dr. Schnee, Juro, and Rong Chun would have called us all here to talk about this if she thought it was funny," Junjie told him. "Everybody has things they like and things they don't."

"And scarin' Ha-Chan is just lazy," Nate blurted out.

"Lazy?!" Kord scoffed.

"A prank isn't very good if you're the only one laughing," Khai stated.

"But what if it's really, really, really, really, really funny? And I can do funny," Kord said.

"I know you can. I guess the trick is making sure that your idea of funny matches the other you're pranking," Khai explained as she walks toward her chair. Somehow, Kord was stifling his giggle.

"That way-" Khai sat onto her chair and all of the sudden, a prolonged fart noise echoed throughout the room!

Kord laughed! Khai stood up and found a whoopee cushion on her chair! Pronto tried to stifle his laugh, but ended up laughing with Kord. "Good one, Kord! Ha-ha! You have to admit! That was funny!" Pronto laughed.

"Not really," Khai said matter-of-factually.

"Seriously, Pronto? You once promised to protect the Princess of Marinatopia, and you pranked her with Kord?!" I exclaimed in disbelief.

"Yeah. Plus, a whoopee cushion is like a joke shortcut," John said, while Eli nodded in agreement.

"What?!" Kord and Pronto were shocked.

"Honestly, Kord, if you are not willing to put forth the effort required to pull a prank that everyone can enjoy, you may as well not pull one at all," Eli told him.

"Fine! If you guys want effort, then that's just what you'll get," Kord said and left the room.

"I'm not sure he understood what we meant," Khai said softly.