Hawdry the Wocky was lying on the couch, reading the newspaper as she did every Saturday
morning when she came across an article much different than all the others. There was a picture of a beastly looking pet quickly
fleeing the front of a food stall that was just scorched to a crisp. There was something strange and unusual about the image.
Everyone in Neopia knew that the hot sun would sometimes scorch food, especially in the desert, but an entire shop? And
when Hawdry looked closer she noticed that a large "MT" was drawn into the sand. Interested, she began to read, collecting
as many clues as she could...
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Author: Neopets Staff
Date: 25 Feb.
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..."Yesterday, Special Shoyru's Spiced Snacks was burnt to ashes by an unknown Neopet. The food stall was one of the Lost
Desert's favourites and many pets are angrily searching for the suspect. It was described as wearing a dark cape and a mask.
Bystanders said it looked like a lanky poogle or a fat Lupe..."
Hawdry dropped the newspaper in surprise and shock. The cape and mask was the uniform for the Neopian Mountain Track Team!!
She knew because she was on that team. It was mainly made of Poogles, but there were also quite a few Lupes.
Hawdry had been to the food stall before to grab spicy treats and had loved it. She was determined to get to the bottom
of this...
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Author: ryo0oki
Date: 25 Feb.
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...or she wasn't Detective Hawdry, Private Eye, master of brain stumping cases. Well, she certainly wasn't a real
detective like her hero, Hairlock Combs, but she was close enough. But anyway, Hawdry's first intention was to visit
the food stall and look for clues that could help in pointing out the suspect.
30 minutes later, Hawdry found herself directly in front of Special Shoyru's Spicy Snacks. A gasp horror almost escaped
her throat. The shop looked even worse in real life than in the newspaper, only large piles of burnt ashes, with food
sizzled to a crisp buried in them, giving off a burning, spicy smell. Hawdry quickly regained her senses and began
shifting through the remains of the once grand store, sneezing every once in a while.
But the only thing of actual importance that she found was an extremely rare spicy food item that the shop had never dared to sell.
"Greedy hogs," thought Hawdry, giggling a bit. But after that she laughed no more. There was absolutely NOTHING left behind
by the suspect, except for the mysterious "MT". She was searching in vain for something else. Truly, whoever had done it
was an experienced criminal and not a member of her Neopian Mountain Track Team.
As she made up her mind to get home, Hawdry noticed something rather small and silver, glinting in what little light was
shining. She lunged forward to grab her first clue...
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Author: lightningsky354
Date: 26 Feb.
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...But it quickly disappeared within the sand. Hawdry dug to see if she could find it. Her paw hit something hard
and she grabbed hold of it and pulled it out. "Eeeeww!" she cried as she stared at a squished Scarab beetle in disgust.
Hawdry was about to fling it away when it started to say:
"Hey, kid! Ya really wanna know what happened? I'll tell ya. But first, lend me a chocolate bar."
Hawdry was confused. First of all, why was this bug talking to her, and second, what would it do with a chocolate bar? "I
am not going to give a puny lil' insect my precious NeoFudgeBar!" she thought, with a glance at her backpack.
'Always share, Hawdry, because those you help can help you back!' The voice of her owner echoed through her mind.
Reluctantly she pulled out the candy bar and gave it too the stinky beetle. Gobbling it down in a few seconds, the bug
looked up and said "Thanks." Then the strangest thing happened...
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Author: starry_night350
Date: 26 Feb.
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...The little scarab beetle began to writhe around in the sand, and before Hawdry's eyes it grew larger and larger until
it had become a Buzz.
"Thanks," said the mysterious Buzz, "I had a really bad curse cast on me by the criminal, because I was here shopping for
some pyramibread when the fire started."
Hawdry was confused by all this, but slowly she began to recognise the Buzz.
"Wait... aren't you..? Your picture's everywhere..."
"Yes," replied the Buzz, "I'm Prince Harminc IV, heir to the throne of Sakhmet."
Hawdry quickly kneeled before the young prince, and became horribly embarrassed about her behaviour towards the
scarab-beetle-prince-in-disguise.
"Your majesty," she stuttered, "I'm s-s-so sorry about the candy bar... If I had known..."
The prince reassured her, saying that the curse turning him into a scarab beetle had caused him to re-think his whole
attitude towards commoners. He would now be a kinder, gentler monarch. As she continued to hear Prince Harminc's gentle
voice, Hawdry became less nervous and started to feel comfortable with him, even though he was royalty and she was just
a lowly Wocky.
The two were so engrossed in their conversation that they didn't even notice...
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Author: smkork
Date: 27 Feb.
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...The horrible smell of burnt food! Finally, after all the chitchat with the prince, Hawdry took a deep breath.
"Eeeew! What's that smell! It smells like... like--"
The prince interrupted her. "Burnt chocolate! If only I had told you sooner... maybe we could've..." The prince shook
his head in doubt.
"Maybe we could've what?" Hawdry looked confused. "Solved the crime? Hello?"
"I am so sorry!" The prince's smile turned into a frown, and off in the distance a fire breathing Scorchio known as
Magnus the Torch appeared with a burst of fire...
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Author: sunnydale4321
Date: 27 Feb.
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...Magnus' face was alight with rage as he appeared in front of them, small flames licking his nostrils. Hawdry
could only stare in terror and surprise as the Scorchio sat down, exhausted.
"I've been chased all day. It'll take them a little while to find me," he breathed, his chest heaving wearily.
Prince Harminc regarded him evenly standing straight but still having to tilt his head up to stare at Magnus the Torch.
The fire breather stared down at him, a hard glint to his eye. Then he lunged for the prince, throwing a searing ripple
of fire at the royal Buzz.
Hawdry shouted as she jumped up to yank the prince out of harms way. She pushed him behind her protectively.
"What are you doing?" she cried to Magnus, who looked furious at her.
"He's the criminal! I saw him do it. Don't be fooled girl, he's an imposter," he told her, his voice rising in tone
and volume until he bellowed small flames with his words.
"That is the biggest piece of rubbish I've ever heard in my life," the prince told Magnus indignantly. "Besides, what
would I gain from torching such a mundane shop? And have the entire wrath of the desert thrown upon my head at that?
I'd go so far as to say that you're the imposter here." The prince went on stepping in front of Hawdry to glare at the
Scorchio.
Hawdry looked at them both not sure of what to do, though the MT was finally clear to her, but it was too obvious or was
it...
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Author: akashiru
Date: 28 Feb.
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..."Why are you looking at me like that?" demanded Magnus the Torch.
She was so caught up in thought she hadn't noticed she was staring at him. "Sorry," she replied. She started thinking
again, but just at that moment a stampede of news reporters rushed in.
The Buzz flew away as fast as he could, shouting, "It was him! Thy Scorchio did it, not I!" The reporters turned to the
Scorchio, fire still trickling from his nose.
"Don't look at me!" he shouted, but it was clear they were accusing him. Hawdry started to push away the reporters.
"Back! Get back! Leave him alone!" she hollered. Gradually the reporters left since there was nothing going on and they
weren't getting anywhere anyway.
"Well," asked Wocky, "what do you have to say for yourself?"
Magnus replied, "You really want to know?"
"Of course I do!" exclaimed the Wocky.
"Well," Magnus started, "It all started probably in second grade. We had a spelling bee. I was in it, as well as Prince
Harminc and a few other students. Everyone wanted me to win. You see I was smart and pretty popular then. Harminc, well,
wasn't. He had huge glasses and always had his shirt tucked in. A nerd. We all made fun of him. I remember we called him
'Sloppy Joe' because he was so neat all the time. Anyway, I made fun of him the most. He had studied for this spelling
bee for months and when the day came he was ready to go...
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Author: mizclementine
Date: 28 Feb.
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...My friends and I played a huge trick on him. We locked him in a room, so he would be late. We thought he was going
to get out with his master brain of his, but he never did. I won, and from that day on, he wants revenge," the Scorchio
said, fire licking his chin.
"He should get over that!" Hawdry worried.
The Scorchio didn't say anything.
Meanwhile...
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Author: sweet16dragon
Date: 1 Mar.
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...The Buzz was flying overhead the Lost Desert, mumbling to himself, "It was not I! How could they believe such a..."
He was interrupted by a pet talking below him. He flew in closer to listen.
The pet was a blue Kyrii and a yellow Nimmo. "Do you see that store. Ha ha ha ha! They didn't even suspect us. They're
all going to think it was either that prince or Magnus the Torch," the Nimmo said. The Kyrii added, "Yah, it was great
tricking that magician into turning that Buzz into a scarab."
The prince frowned behind the tree.
The pets walked off and the prince flew back to the store. The Scorchio and Hawdry were still there. "I know who the
thieves are!" the prince yelled. Hawdry and Magnus the Torch turned to the Buzz.
"What? Who?" Hawdry asked. She paused. "Thieves?"
The Buzz nodded. "Yes. I overheard them talking. Kyrii and a Nimmo. They burnt down the shop and tried to put the blame
on Magnus and I."
Hawdry nodded. "We have to get back at them. But how? "There was a moment of silence. Then Magnus blurted out, "I've
got it!"
Later...
The Kyrii and Nimmo were walking into a shop when there was an alarm. The Kyrii and Nimmo panicked.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!" they yelled. "We've been found. They ran towards the door. Suddenly Hawdry appeared. "You can't get
away now," Magnus and the prince also appeared. The two knew they were beaten. They put their arms in the air.
Later...
"And I now present this award to Hawdry the Wocky," said a Lupe. Hawdry stood up and walked onto the stage. They were all
at the centre of the Lost Desert.
"Thank you," Hawdry said. "But I couldn't have caught those pets without the help of Magnus the Torch and Prince Harminc IV."
There was clapping when both of them stood up and walked on stage.
They are all held up the medal... as a team.
The End
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Author: creamerk
Date: 1 Mar.
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