The Apoc and Min Detective Agency

      The Christmas Bori set his book down. He had been reading The Zafara Detective. And he had just been interrupted by his yellow Tonu brother, Min.

      "Apoc," Min continued, "nobody wants our business!"

      Apoc sighed. He had opened a detective agency and was being assisted by Min and his Snow Kookith Cheeky. And Min had just interrupted his extensive education in the art of solving cases.

      "Alright Min, what's wrong?"

      "What's wrong!?" Min glared at his brother. "We've been sitting in your closet for two hours waiting for a customer! No offense, but I think we should get a new business. Maybe we could sell lemonade?"

      Apoc stared at Min and then very carefully explained to him why selling lemonade was a very bad idea.

      "I don't see anything wrong with it!" cried Min. "Money is money! Besides, Cheeky already made some!"

      "Meep!" went Cheeky.

      "Oh gross!" cried Apoc. "Bad Cheeky! Bad!! Min I knew we should've made our office in your room!" Apoc grabbed Cheeky and ran out of his room, anxious to get Cheeky outside. As he headed through the kitchen he heard a scream coming in the next room. Forgetting Cheeky he rushed in.

      There Apoc found his brother, a blue Koi known as Jay. Jay was staring at something on the floor. When Apoc peered down he saw it was Jay's Bearog Licorice. Licorice had recently been painted Tyrannian. However, Licorice was not sporting dark fur and pointy fangs. Licorice didn't even have the standard three heads a Bearog was supposed to have.

      Apoc shuddered. Someone had painted Licorice mutant.

      Then he heard another scream. This one came from his owner, MI. MI had just entered the room along with Min and their final sibling, a white Grarrl named ApocClone.

      Apoc groaned. His owner didn't exactly favour mutants. When Jay was a mutant, MI hardly spoke to him. But that was probably due to the fact that Licorice had gotten a Moach attached to him at about the same time. A Moach that cost MI 75 000 neopoints.

      Either way Jay was cuddling Licorice, who looked quite scared now that he could no longer see in three directions at once. MI looked much more scared; however, he had taken to hiding behind ApocClone, who was trying to push him away.

      "Who could have done this?" Min cried.

      "I don't know," Apoc began. "But I do know who will-"

      "I think you did it!" said Jay.

      "Shut up, Jay. Anyway this case will be solved by the Apoc and Min detective agency!"

      "Meep!"

      "Sorry Cheeky, the Apoc and Min and Cheeky detective agency!" Apoc struck a heroic pose. "Come Min, the jig is afoot!"

      Min didn't bother to correct Apoc and simply ran after him.

      Apoc paced up and down. This first suspect would be tough to crack. He turned and stared at his owner.

      "So, MI," Apoc began. "Are you willing to cooperate?"

      "Where am I?" asked MI.

      "You're in the Christmas room. It's where we put all the Advent Calendar furniture we got over the years. Now then may we begin?"

      "You're interrogating me in a room which is covered with sparkly lights and Christmas trees?"

      "Yes! Now sit down and be interrogated!"

      "I see his point!" Min was sitting in a corner. "It seems weird!"

      "Fine!" Apoc, MI, Min and Cheeky all went into the lounge. MI lay down on a beach chair.

      "First question!" Apoc looked at his owner. He was asleep.

      "Shall we get another suspect then?" Apoc asked Min.

      "Yes we should!" Min sighed.

      "Meep!" went Cheeky.

      "Why are you interrogating me?" The next suspect happened to be Jay, who was cuddling Licorice. "It's my petpet!"

      "Well, Jay," Apoc began pacing again. "We all know how jealous you are of me. How I'm so obviously the favourite. How much smarter I am. How I was painted first!"

      "What does this have to do with the case!?!" Jay stood up and was facing Apoc.

      "Oh, nothing whatsoever. Anyway, let's start!"

      Min slowly pushed Jay back into his chair and convinced him to stop pointing his Snowball Slingshot at Apoc.

      "Anyway, Jay, in answer to your question, I do have a reason for questioning you. When you were a mutant, MI was afraid of you and painted you blue. Now he's obviously afraid of your petpet. Admit it, Jay! You're angry at MI for painting you blue when you wanted to be a mutant! This is your form of revenge! Sure it wasn't a great plan, but for someone of your intellect it was the best you could do! " Apoc ducked as Jay was now firing snowballs at him.

      As Apoc, Min and Cheeky ran out, Min suddenly got an idea.

      "Apoc!" he cried, while avoiding snowballs. "Who was the one pet we haven't interrogated!?"

      Apoc ducked into the family room as Jay ran past. Then he considered Min's question.

      "You!" he cried, pointing at Min.

      "No. Try again!"

      Apoc and Min both said it together.

      "ApocClone!"

      Soon the Grarrl was tied to a chair. Now Apoc and Min were both pacing.

      "So ApocClone, do you want to know how we figured it was you?" Apoc leaned closer.

      "I didn't do anything!" cried ApocClone.

      "Sure. Anyway, we know it's you because it's just like The Zafara Detective. Every mystery has a minor secondary character who appears once and isn't heard from until the end. They have some crazy reason behind it too! So ApocClone, are you ready to confess?"

      "I'll confess this!" said ApocClone. "In The Zafara Detective it's the detective himself who committed the crime!"

      There was a long awkward silence.

      Apoc then untied ApocClone, gave him 5000np and whispered to him never to mention this again.

      "All our suspects told us nothing!" sighed Min.

      "Don't worry!" Apoc ran off to the dining room. "The outlaw always returns to the scene of the crime!"

      Soon Apoc was at the scene of the crime. Min and Cheeky called everyone and Apoc prepared to make an announcement regarding who painted Licorice.

      Soon everyone was there.

      "Now then," Apoc began. "As I suspected, the culprit is a Neopian in this very room! Unfortunately I have no idea who it is. Sorry if I got your hopes up!"

      "Wait!" Jay cried. "Look!"

      In a corner of the room sat Clonie. Clonie was ApocClone's faithful robot Anubis.

      "We have a witness!" MI laughed. "We can solve the case!"

      Clonie yipped.

      "Oh right, Clonie can't speak." Everyone glared at MI.

      "Hang on," said Min. "How do we know Clonie was here when the crime was committed?"

      "Oh he was here!" said ApocClone. "He's been here ever since I fed him all those Waterfish!" Everyone looked at ApocClone.

      "Besides," he continued. "Clonie comes with a recording device. I found that out when I painted him robot!" ApocClone pressed Clonie's eye. Clonie began talking in a strange raspy voice.

      "Hahaha!" went Clonie in a very high pitched voice. "Nobody will suspect that I have painted this poor Bearog. Yes I, Jay the Koi!" Everyone looked at Jay.

      "Let me get this straight!" said Jay. "You all seriously believe that I did this? Come on, remember The Zafara Detective? Remember how the outlaw always returns to the scene of the crime? And since when did I have such a high pitched voice?" Jay pointed at Apoc. "There's your culprit!"

      Min and ApocClone rushed at Apoc and carried him off to his room to await punishment from MI, who still hadn't quite figured out what had just happened.

      "Thanks for that book, The Zafara Detective, Jay!" said ApocClone as he helped Min carry Apoc away. "If you hadn't bought it I doubt we would have ever suspected Apoc!"

      Jay waved in return. When he was sure they were all gone he opened his fin. In it was a stick. But not just any stick. The remains of a Mutant Petpet Paint Brush.

      Jay patted Licorice.

      "Don't worry boy," he said in an extremely high pitched voice sounding quite a bit like Apoc. "We'll paint you Tyrannian again soon!"

The End