Yet not a soul in sight. She leaned up on her tippy toes and craned her long neck trying to see as far out as she could. All she was rewarded with was the sight of the colorful Pizzaroo roof, constructed to look like a Megapepper Pizza. Her stomach rumbled as she checked her watch. 10:18 AM - far too early to be daydreaming about lunch, but pizza would be on the menu for sure. It was decided.

She was just mentally finalizing her ideal toppings, when an eager looking Blue Grarrl came cheerfully stomping down the lane. Even without a heavy tread, it would have still been easy to hear him from a mile away. His light spring jacket pockets were stuffed with Nerkmids of various colours that clinked together as he walked, threatening to overflow and spill onto the ground.

Nova groaned to herself. She had been hoping for the run-of-the-mill average customer with a singular Nerkmid. Not the eager trophy run type hoping to walk away with 50,000 NP and a gold cup. It was the 3rd day of the month of Relaxing anyway. Already too late in the month to hope for a lucky high score. All the same, this was a customer facing job and she couldn't let her annoyance show.

She plastered on her brightest, fakest smile and prayed for patience. "Hi there! What can I do for you this morning?"

The Blue Grarrl did not pick up on any potential insincerity and grinned back. "Hi! I have 50 Nerkmids to gamble, can you believe it? I'm hoping for something cool!"

Nova sighed and resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of her nose. 50?! She'd never get to have her pizza! "Of course," she said smoothly instead. "Which Nerkmid do you use? Which large button do you press? Which small button do you press? How many times do you press it? How many levels do you pull?"

She rattled off the standard questions in quick succession and silently hoped that the Grarrl would at least stick to the same combination so she wouldn't have to keep re-configuring the machine.

"2, Right Purple, 3, 5!" He responded, clapping his hands together with excitement.

The Vending Machine to whir and hum and to Nova's complete shock, something unexpected fell out, something the machine wasn't even supposed to be stocked with....

Nova and the Blue Grarrl shared a perplexed look.

“Hmmm, that’s odd,” the Alien Aisha said, scratching her head in a genuine state of curiosity. All thoughts of a perfectly crafted pizza had left her head. Why had this Petpetpet been in the machine in the first place?

“A good prize nonetheless!” the Grarrl said in excitement. “I’ll take it!” With surprising gentleness, he picked up the tiny Rainblug and perched it atop his comparatively gargantuan shoulder.

“I can’t wait to see what else comes out!” he squealed in excitement.

“I wouldn’t get my hopes up,” Nova admitted, inputting the same combination as before. “2, Right Purple, 3, 5…”

But lo and behold, out fell an even stranger prize. Nova’s mouth was agape as she beheld a charmingly evil Malice Doll, adorned in hues of black and blue with bright, beautiful eyes.

“What in the world…” Nova said, grabbing the doll herself and turning it over in her hands.

“Hey, that’s mine!” the Grarrl teased, grabbing the doll. “This is awesome! What are these new prizes?”

“I… I think that somehow…” the Alien Aisha shook her head in disbelief. “The prizes from the Quest Log were stocked in the Vending Machine…”

Nova paced in front of the colourful metal giant as the orange face gleamed in the sunlight to taunt her.

“I’m sorry, but we need to put your 50 Nerk run on hold. I need to make a call,” she said, turning off the machine and storming off.

“Wait a minute! We need to get these all in before trophy reset tonight!” the big Blue Grarrl called out to her, waving his stubby arms.

Nova ignored him, intent on getting to the bottom of this…

“Morning,” Nova answered curtly. “I need to speak with Hannah. It’s incredibly urgent.” Nova hoped that the Usul was in the office today. Ever since she launched the Quest Log, Hannah was known to spend more time in Neopia’s Welcome Centre completing paperwork and filing reports.

“I’m sorry, but she is like, really busy right now and asked me not to let anyone bother her,” the Uni said quickly, a nervous look spreading across her Pink face.

Nova knew her way to Hannah’s office. She didn’t want to be rude to the kind Uni, but she had no choice. “She’ll understand,” Nova said as she moved quickly behind the front desk to the door leading to the Welcome Centre offices. “I can find her myself, thanks.”

Nova hurried down the hall to Hannah’s office as the Uni got up from her desk, no doubt preparing to stop Nova. She quickly slipped inside Hannah’s office and shut the door. Her mouth fell open when she saw Hannah sitting at her desk with a mountain of papers surrounding her.

“Hannah?” Nova asked. The Usul had dark bags under her eyes and looked positively exhausted. Her usual bright blue eyes were dim and bloodshot.

“It’s all wrecked. I messed everything up,” Hannah said as she buried her face in her hands and sobbed. Nova quickly moved around Hannah’s desk to rest a comforting hand on her friend’s shoulder. Her own problems could wait. “Tell me what’s wrong, Hannah,” Nova asked.

Hannah looked up at Nova as tears fell down her face. “They’re all so mad at me. Everyone started rolling gross food as their prize yesterday and now I’m buried in a mountain of complaints.” Nova glanced down at the papers piled on Hannah’s desk. In big red letters, she read: Anchovy Loaf, Ants on Ants, Bluna Burger, and the list went on.

Suddenly Nova realized her problem and Hannah’s were one of the same. She picked up a pile of papers and quickly leafed through them to confirm her suspicions. “Hannah, wait. This morning, my machine started dispensing Quest Log prizes and it looks like the Quest Log is now rolling Vending Machine prizes. A Grarrl just walked away with a Rainblug and a Malice Doll.”

Hannah looked up to Nova, her eyes opened wide. “But… How is that possible?”

Nova flipped through more pages and saw in green letters: Ultra Platinum Nerkmid. She had no doubt she solved the first part of this mystery.

“I have no idea. But I know who we can ask…”

"Pallen, I'd like a word," she called as she entered the warehouse through a side door. Her Vending Machine credentials were enough to get her in without needing to go through the hassle of going through the front entrance. Sometimes vendors needed to check their stock, after all.

"A little busy right now, Nova," a gruff voice called back. "I'm set to make a delivery for the - oh, it's for the Vending Machine, actually. If you'd've waited, I'd've been right to ya."

The breath caught in Nova's throat as she hurried toward the voice. "I need to see that package," she said. "There's been a problem with the Vending Machine."

Pallen, a very harried-looking Camouflage Eyrie, stood by a box looking perplexed. Nova ran her hand over the label that very clearly read 'Alien Aisha Vending Machine - Neopia Central.' She pulled out a Trusty Bowie Knife she'd gotten from the Advent Calendar and began to slice through the packaging, ignoring Pallen's squawk of protest.

When the box opened, out spilled a pawful of individually wrapped stamps and a handful of books. "I knew it," she breathed.

"Those don't look like the normal Vending Machine prizes," Pallen observed.

"They aren't," Nova replied. "That's why I'm here. These are the Quest Log prizes, while Hannah has my prizes. Pallen, who puts the shipping labels on these boxes?"

Pallen scratched his chin thoughtfully. "You know, we just had a new hire recently who took over that job. I can take you over there if you like..."

Inside, the Post Office was cavernous, with boxes towering in stacks nearly to the ceiling! Nova gasped at the magnitude of it all. She knew that not all of this was Pallen's job alone, and that other postal workers carried other packages, but it was still amazing to think of how they dealt with so much postage every day, and (usually) got it all where it was supposed to go without any issues.

"Back here." Pallen grunted, snapping Nova out of her thoughts, and leading her around a stack of packages to an out-of-the-way corner where a lone Red Lenny was humming as he worked.

"Hey, newbie." Pallen greeted him. "We've got a problem! The labels you've been doing on prize shipments are all mixed up!"

The Lenny looked at him in surprise, shaking his head in bewilderment. "How can that be?" He asked. "Take the fact that I'm so new to this job, add the fact that a new employee wouldn't be trusted to make decisions on their own, and divide that by the total number of years of experience and tradition accumulated in the Post Office management and you'll see..."

He snatched up a clipboard and gestured at it plaintively. "...That I've just been following the instructions that were given to me."

"Aren't you the Lenny who did the Lenny Conundrum?" Nova asked, tilting her head.

"I've been taking on other jobs lately." He admitted.

Pallen tugged the clipboard out of his grip and squinted at it.

"No signature on these orders." He grumbled, "But he's right. These do say to mix up the shipping labels on prize packages! Who would order something like that?"

The Lenny brightened instantly. "Oh! Well that sounds like a conundrum. Let's see now... Start with the former market value of each prize in each of the various prize-giving ventures across Neopia, multiply to account for fluctuations in price caused by the chaos of supply suddenly growing chaotic, and subtract what the average Neopian would have received normally, if their prizes weren't disrupted!"

"I see!" Nova gasped. "You're saying to figure out who would benefit from this happening!"

"Correct!" The Lenny clapped his hands.

"Can't imagine many Neopians benefit from this." Pallen rumbled, shaking his head.

"Exactly." Nova agreed. "But that means that whoever would come out of this with a profit is even more suspicious! And I think I know where we might find them..."

“Do you think maybe I could tag along on your quest to solve the conundrum? I do so miss a good mystery to solve.”

“What about your deliveries?” she asked.

“Well you’ve already indicated the addresses have been tampered with so I should probably help clear that up before sending off anymore packages.” He grinned crookedly at her.

She exchanged a glance with Pallen who rolled his eyes, but seemed resigned at the addition to their team.

“Fine,” Nova agreed. “Follow me.”

The trio left the Post Office, Nova leading them through the Bazaar towards the Marketplace where they passed dozens of shops selling various goods.

“Where are we going? Pallen finally asked, falling into stride beside Nova, the Red Lenny keeping pace behind them, squawking excitedly when he saw something interesting for sale in the windows they passed.

“There,” Nova replied, pointing to a tall building shaped like a wizards hat. “The Shop Wizard.”

“Oh!” The conundrum Lenny cried. “A wizard always loves to meet another wizard.”

They entered the building and saw the Shop Wizard before them, a Yellow JubJub in blue robes and a lopsided wizard’s hat.

“Welcome to the Shop Wizard’s,” he said rather monotonously, “you can search for anything you need by using the machines around the walls. Just type in your item and click the green button to bring up your options. If you need help-“

Nova cut off his spiel. “We’re not here to shop. I wanted to ask if you’ve had any large Nerkmid purchases lately. Anyone buying a suspiciously large amount of Nerks.”

“Good thinking,” Pallen mumbled. If someone knew the Vending Machine would give out such nice prizes, it would make sense they’d benefit the most by using Nerkmids. Probably those trophy hunters.”

“Hmm,” the Shop Wizard said thoughtfully. “Can’t say that I’ve noticed anyone buying over the usual amounts at the beginning of the months.”

Nova’s heart dropped. But the Shop Wizard continued.

“But I have noticed something else kind of weird…”

Lenny chuckled happily to himself after hearing the Shop Wizard say this. "Oh what a conundrum, indeed!" The eccentric riddle wizard took out a notebook from his pocket and began scribbling and mumbling to himself in the corner. Pallen stared off into the distance looking bored, and the Shop Wizard began his tired explanation to the line of Neopians that had formed while he was speaking with them.

Nova was left alone to ponder what this all meant. Why did all but one shop stop selling Nerkmids?

"By golly I think I’ve got it!" Lenny excitedly bounced over to Nova and wrapped a feathery wing around her shoulder.

"Look at this!!" He held up his notebook right in front of her face, though the page just looked like a strange assortment of scribbles and drawings.

"Ummm, I don't get..." However, before Nova could finish her sentence, the jumbled up words and numbers before her started to slowly make sense.

"Oh... I think I'm kind of following you, but just in case please explain it!"

Lenny smiled brightly and clapped his wings together. From seemingly out of nowhere he procured a starry wizard hat which he promptly placed on his soft head. "It would be my pleasure! You see..."

"So...the shop owner is our culprit?" enquired Pallen.

The Lenny shook his head. "Not likely. If a single shop owner was responsible for buying all of the other Nerkmids, they would have no time to run their own shop. No, it's far more likely that the shop owner is an accomplice. Which means someone else is the responsible party."

Frowning, Nova asked, "If that's true, how are we supposed to find them?"

"It's simple!" exclaimed the Lenny, a smile appearing on his face. "Buying every Nerkmid for sale would require an enormous amount of upfront capital. And there's only one place that has the means to provide said capital."

Pallen and Nova exchanged a glance.

"The National Neopian Bank!" they said, simultaneously.

Bidding the Shop Wizard farewell, the trio quickly made their way to their next destination. The National Neopian was crowded as always, and it took several minutes for the group to push its way to the front counter. The large Green Skeith glanced down at them.

"Depositing, withdrawing, or collecting interest?" the Skeith asked in a lazy tone.

"Um...none of the above," replied Nova. "We'd like to ask you a few questions about a loan you might have given someone recently."

The Skeith's face drained of colour. He leaned forward and mumbled, "What do you know?"

Pallen was the one who replied. "We know that the Quest Log and Vending Machine have had their prizes switched. We also know that every shop except for one has had all of their Nerkmids purchased recently, which requires a large amount of...upfront capital?" He glanced at the Lenny, who gave him a thumbs-up.

The Skeith looked at each of them in turn, and said, "Very well. I'll tell you what you want to know..."

The trio followed behind the stocky Skeith as he made his way down a long hall. If their business wasn't so serious, Nova would have better appreciated the rare opportunity of being invited behind the counter of the National Neopian. They walked down a wide, lit-up hallway, lined with offices that housed a handful of the Bank's busy employees. The Green Skeith entered the double doors of the office at the end of the hall.

"My apologies for what happened this morning with your Vending Machine," the Skeith said to Nova as he pulled open the top drawer of a filing cabinet and began leafing through the files. "When I heard the news this morning, I found it a bit unsettling."

"Why didn't you report it?" Nova asked, more out of concern than being accusatory.

"I can't stop him from spending his loan on Nerkmids, but I would have decline the loan had I known that was his intent. But he did nothing illegal to report and there's no concrete evidence to say he was the one who tampered with the Vending Machine." He paused for a moment to give a brief sigh. "But I'm also a firm believer that there's no such thing as coincidences." He stopped leafing through the files to read a label.

"Ah, here it is," the Bank Manager said as he pulled out a file and dropped it onto a table in front of the three investigators. A photo of a Blue Grarrl was taped to the front.

Before the Skeith could utter a word, Nova piped up. "Hey! I know that Grarrl!"

How will this story end?

Nova accusingly jabbed the photo after her declaration.

Lenny titled his head curiously as he also studied the photo. "I recognize him too actually!" He snatched up the photo and held it up close to his face, squinting. "Yes, I'm sure of it now. This is the fellow who gave me the instructions to mix up the labels at the Post Office! He called himself the substitute supervisor and it was my first day so I didn't know any better."

Lenny's shoulders sagged as he recognized he had been tricked. "Clearly, he was an imposter," he said sadly. "Drat. I'm smarter than that!"

"Enough chit chat," Nova grumbled. No one messed with her or her beloved Vending Machine. "It's time to confront this greedy Grarrl."

The trio thanked the Bank Manager for the information and bade him farewell, heading towards the Neopian Plaza. Nova's stomach grumbled as they passed Pizzaroo. When this was all over with, she would have earned her Whole Pepperoni and Mushroom Pesto Pizza - that much was for certain.

As they approached the Vending Machine, Nova was half expecting to stumble upon a long line of overeager gamblers with bags full of Nerkmids to use. She had genuinely been worried that word of the elevated prizes would spread to all of Neopia and cause a commotion. Yet when they arrived, there was only the lone blue Grarrl from earlier, sitting cross-legged on the grass, spelling a phrase with his remaining 48 Nerkmids to entertain himself while he waited.

I AM RICH

Nova glared as she read the Grarrl's creation.

"Hey, you're back!" He hopped to his feet and beamed. "Let's continue this run!" He took a step back in hesitation as he assessed Nova's heated glower. "Is something wrong?"

"The jig is up, kiddo," Pallen said grimly, taking a step forward and crossing his arms. "Don't play innocent. We know you're responsible for the Vending Machine mishap in an effort to make some quick cash."

The Grarrl's act crumbled immediately. Panic rushed to his eyes as his cheeks flushed bright red. He scrambled to his feet and started to run...straight into the now extended wingspan of Pallen.

"Why do they always try to run?" The Eyrie wondered aloud as he gently but firmly prevented the Grarrl from escaping. "Consider this a Citizen's Arrest!"

By the time the Defenders of Neopia had been summoned, statements had been taken, and the Vending Machine prizes had been restored, it was well past lunch time.

"So now that the situation is sorted..." Nova began with a tired, but sincere grin. "Can I buy anyone a pizza?"

The End.