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Agent Khargana, average-sized female green Wocky, Numero
Uno in The Wocky Detective Agency, presently at the Wocky Detective Headquarters,
sat on her small desk, at her electronic memo-briefcase she'd purchased from
the Space Station for just this purpose.
Absentmindedly sorting through some finished
files, she wondered what to do now. She'd solved that last case for Fernypoo
(the butler did it), done research on a suspicious toy store (clean), completed
the blueprints for her latest gizmo (handy electronic listening/recording bug),
and had lunch with a 'client' who turned out to be an apprentice to Jhudora
(had no idea that dark faeries were so ingenious at disguising themselves...).
Then she heard a faint knock on the door.
Quickly snapping off the electronic briefcase
and folding it (some not-so-top-secret files were open), she flicked around
to see a small, red Chia waddle in, carrying nothing but a large manilla envelope,
nearly as large as himself!
There was something odd about him, but she couldn't
place what. There wasn't anything particularly remarkable about him, nothing
that caught the eye anyway, except he was obviously overweight and acted like
he'd rather be anywhere instead of in Khargana's office. Not a good sign. Anyway,
he certainly wasn't expected, but so few people consider calling ahead a common
courtesy these days.
He spoke. "G-g-good a-afternoon, Miss Khargana."
Now that in itself is suspicious. I mean, whom, who as ever heard of Khargana,
would call her a Miss?!
Khargana tilted her head so her sly brown eyes
met his. "Call me either Detective or Khargana or both. Not 'miss'."
He acknowledged her response with a nod and continued:
"I've been sent to d-deliver a m-message... Here!!" He shoved a large yellow
manilla envelope on her desk and quickly waddled out the door.
Strange... thought the Wocky Detective,
reaching for the envelope.
Before she could pick up the envelope, she heard
a tapping at her window. Hearing the familiar voices of CarissaOfire, Stand_Off,
and Adriana_Flyer (her best friends) calling her, she checked through the pockets
of her nearly floor-length western-style leather vest.
Emergency potions, check... Mini screwdriver
set, check... Rubber band, check... Invisible tape, check...
"Khargana! Get out here!" they shouted together,
interrupting Khargana's double-checking. "Coming!" she yelled, nimbly hopping
off the desk and out the door, temporarily forgetting the mysterious manilla
envelope.
She would soon be regretting leaving such a suspicious
object unattended.
*****
"There ya'r!" shouted CarissaOfire gleefully. The tiny blue Shoyru jumped up
and down. "We're gonna 'ave a blast!" She sprung into the air, spun around,
lost her balance, and landed hard. Khargana winced.
Rissa, as that was her nickname, jumped back
up to her feet. "Let's get movin'!" she laughed. She absentmindedly rubbed her
slightly bruised shoulder.
Stand_Off, aka Tanny, a quiet blue Zafara, sighed.
"Are you okay, sis?" she patiently asked Rissa, not really expecting an affirmative.
"Nothin' ta worry 'bout sis'ta! Just a li'l bruise.
Can we get movin' now?!"
Khargana turned to Stand_Off. "So, where are
we going?"
Adriana_Flyer, a cute red Uni, giggled annoyingly.
"I've found this absolutely gorgeous grooming salon! We have to go there! You
know, you wouldn't look nearly so awful if you'd come with me! I've got some
wonderful ideas! C'mon Khar!"
Khargana faced her and glared in her eyes. "No."
She turned back to Stand_Off. "So?"
Tanny chuckled at her best friend and younger
sister. "We're going to this new Alien Aisha's club's grand opening! We know
how much you play with those gizmos and that memo-briefcase of yours, and figured
you'd like to come! Adri was just chatting about this salon next door to the
place. She's going to the dance with this blue Uni new in town and wants us
to come to the dance with them. She says he's taking his family, so she thought
she should take hers, and you, of course."
Khar rolled her eyes. "Adri! You know I hate
dances! They're so boring! Not a single one I've ever been to has had a murder,
thievery, mistaken identity, any attack on a celebrities of leading scientists..."
They all stared at Khargana for a second with
wide eyes.
"Err, not that I'd want anything like that to
happen... but I still say they're boring."
Adri stuffily answered, "I'm sure if you gave
it a try you'd have a marvelous time." She seemed a little more than a little
embarrassed at having had Stand_Off lay out the facts so bluntly.
Rissa jumped up and down for attention. "C'm
ON gals! We've gotta git movin'!! The party don las all day y'know!"
They started down the dirt path outside Khargana's
house. Khargana frowned.
"You know, clubs usually don't hold grand openings,
let alone let just anyone come in. I think something's up!" she announced to
the world in general.
Tanny smiled at her friend's eccentricities.
Rissa laughed. Adri snorted.
"Nothing's going to happen Khar! Calm down!"
chuckled Stand_Off.
Khargana frowned. "You see, the oddest Chia visited
right before you gals got here..."
Rissa laughed outright. "Get with it, girl! Don
worry bout no weird Chia dude now! Let's get to dat PARTY!"
Stand_Off smiled sweetly. "What's a Chia have
to do with a grand opening party anyway, Khar?"
Khargana shook her head, as if she could shake
her thoughts into order. "Well, nothing. But there was definitely something
wrong..."
Adri giggled. "Anyway," she perkily said, "I
want to tell you about HIM!" She sighed. "Mattretron..."
They walked down the path until it came to a
busy Neopian Street, Central Way, laughing and chatting, all suspicion forgotten.
Not a good idea for someone in the crime-fighting business, but you've gotta
have fun sometime! Err... right?
*****
The small, wobbly red Chia wobbled into a back door of a small, regular looking,
currently deserted warehouse. He glanced around nervously. "Matt?" he asked
the cold air around him, with no trace of a stutter.
A young, good-looking teenager stepped out of
the shadows. He had light hair, light skin, and dark blue eyes. The boy looked
tired, with his hair all mussed, the whites of his eyes reddish, his skin sallow.
"Did you do it, Jen?"
The small Chia, Jen, nodded. "I'm sure the Wocky
will help us Matt. She'll read your notes and work everything out for us."
Matt shook his head tiredly. "Don't be so optimistic.
It's too hard to take, lifting your hopes up then having them torn down--"
Jen glanced around. "This place safe?" Matt nodded.
"It'd better be. We have nowhere else to go," Matt answered, in a voice that
seemed to expect the worse to happen.
Matt looked up and sadly looked at the walls
of the old, dusty, empty warehouse. There were empty shelves along the walls,
some empty boxes in a corner, and gray. Everything was gray. Just like his life
at the moment. Nowhere near good, light-hearted white, but not quite turned
black yet.
He looked back to Jen, who looked worried for
his boy, for Matt. "I'm sorry, Jen. It's just- everything going on is kind of
getting to me. I didn't mean to sound to pessimistic."
Jen (the red Chia) smiled. "Don't worry Jen.
We can take whatever comes at us." Matt smiled. "We don't have much choice,
huh?" he answered, sounding slightly braver.
*****
Khargana the Wocky Detective suddenly stopped dead still in front of the grand
opening of the new A.A. Club. Her three friends, all girls, glanced at her with
differing expressions.
"Waz up, Khar?" asked the insatiably curious
CarissaOfire, a tiny but extremely athletic Blue Shoyru. Her sisters looked
like they were about to ask the same question.
"Hush," commanded Khargana, searching through
the pockets in her brown-suede western vest. Grabbing a weird piece of metallic
looking glass, she held it over her right eye. "I figured as much," she mumbled,
dashing forward.
"What?!" shouted her three friends, lunging after
her. The cry caught the attention of Khargana's target, a small Red Chia and
a teenage boy.
"Wait!!" shouted Khargana, seeing the two jump
and dash off. She followed. "I just have a few questions!!"
The two uncertainly slowed and turned, though
still obviously on high alert. The Red Chia stepped in front of the boy protectively.
Khargana trotted forward.
"You couldn't have read the file already!" growled
the Chia. "What do you want?!"
The boy glanced down at his Chia. "Calm down
Jen. You're the one that said we could trust her."
"I said I thought we could trust her, Matt,"
announced Jen, the red Chia. He glared at Khargana. "She shouldn't be around
here! She should be back at her NeoHome reading that file!"
"Wait a second!" yelled Khargana. "Is that what
you gave me this morning? A file? And if it was so important, why'd you just
throw it on my desk? And what happened to that nervous stutter you had earlier?!"
Suddenly, Matt's eyes took on a terrified cast.
"Y-y-you a-are h-h-here, so w-where's the f-file?"
"Back at my office, of course. I had no idea
it held anything of any importance or urgency."
"We've g-gotta get it!" gasped Matt. "Where's
y-your h-house?"
Khargana glanced back at her shocked friends,
and tilted her head down the path. "Come on. I'll take you there. If this file
is that urgent we have to get moving."
She started running back to her NeoHome. She
turned her head back to her friends. "Go have fun without me! I'll join up later
if I can!" she shouted.
"NO WAY!" shouted Stand_Off, the usually quiet
blue Zafara. "We're not missing out on this!" So the three sisters dashed after
Khargana, Matt, and Jen.
*****
Back at Khargana's NeoHome, Kay, Khargana's owner/girl/human, was tidying up
the house. Her long light brown hair was tied back in a rather untidy ponytail.
Stray strands kept flapping in her face, only to get shoved behind her ears.
The doorbell rang. "Coming!" she shouted, dusting
off Khargana's briefcase. Couldn't have dust getting in the mechanics, no matter
how often Khargana insisted that was impossible. She'd spent way to much for
that stupid thing. Five year's savings for a briefcase, even one supplemented
with Space Station technology, seemed such a waste.
She walked over to the front door, which Khargana
and her rarely used since they had a client door and a back door. Dusting her
hands on her jeans, she asked who was there. "The Neopia Central Authorities!"
barked a commanding voice from outside. "Open up!"
The NCA? thought Kay, this could be
serious. She opened the door, to see a large red Draik, in uniform, on her
doorstep. "Yes?"
"We're here concerning your Neopet, Khargana
we believe?" he asked.
Kay's mind suddenly started racing. The NCA knew
exactly where Khargana lived and who she was. She even got a few cases from
them from time to time. She had lunch with the Chief Investigator regularly!
Or she could just be jumping to conclusions --perhaps the Draik was a newbie.
"Were you sent by Chief Investigator Jay Kazowski?
Tell him Khargana isn't here right now." The Draik suddenly looked relieved.
"May I come in Miss, ummm," he looked at a notepad
he was holding, "appaloosa500?" Kay frowned. Officers these days don't carry
notepads. They had high-tech minicomputers. Khargana and she had helped design
them.
"May I see your badge?" she asked politely, in
case she had the wrong idea. She wasn't about to let a gangster or something
in. She had a theory, but it could be wrong. Unfortunately, it turned out she
wasn't.
The Draik appeared to reach into his pocket for
a badge, and yanked out Lightning Gun. "I hoped you might consider letting me
in without a badge," he smirked.
Aiming the Lightning Gun at Kay's stomach, he
started into the house. Kay wasn't stupid enough to fight an armed Draik with
just her bare hands. She backed up, but kept her hands to her sides. She just
might get her chance...
"So, is or is not that amateur detective wannabe
Khargana here?" asked the Draik. Kay's temper began to rise, but with an effort
she kept her cool.
"She's not here. And I recommend you get out,
she will be home soon, and with company." The Draik smiled.
"I'll leave when I'm good and ready to, human-girl,"
laughed the Draik, glancing at his gun, which he still aimed at Kay. "Show me
that lame-o Wocky's office. I need to get something."
It would have been obvious to anyone but that
stupid Draik that Kay's temper was getting the better of her. "How about you
find it yourself?" she answered, hoping to get the Draik to turn his back.
He was too smart for that idea. "Oh, no, human.
I've heard of you, and your Wocky too. You're staying where I can see you. Take
me to the Wocky's office now," said the Draik.
Kay slowly tuned and pointed to a large room
where the door stood open. "Right through there," she told him, as if he was
stupid.
The Draik motioned for her to lead the way into
the room. She started through the doorway, with the Lightning Gun now pressing
itself against her back.
*****
Khargana was running alongside Matt, the boy who owned the Chia that had visited
her this morning, to her NeoHome. "So what's the problem?" she asked.
He panted, but didn't answer directly. "Is your
owner at home?" he gasped. He obviously wasn't used to being on the run.
"I don't know. Last night Kay told me she was
going to Faerieland to talk to the Fyora about Petpet civil rights. She stayed
the night and wasn't back when I left this morning," answered Khargana. "She
could very well be back by now.
Matt slowed down. He was having a hard time running
through the forest terrain, though the path was fairly straight. "I hope your
owner isn't. I don't want anyone to get hurt..."
"Who are you dealing with that's so dangerous?
And why'd you come to me?" asked Khargana, beginning to slightly pant at the
grueling pace.
Matt flicked his eyes at her nervously, but didn't
answer. Instead he asked, "Are we almost there?"
"Right around that turn there," she answered.
They dashed around the corner.
"Oh, Neoflakes!" groaned Matt, when he saw an
out-of-place motor bike propped at the front of the house. He also saw a rather
cool looking fading blue circle in the middle of the front yard.
Khargana growled. "Kay's home, and it looks like
she has company."
Stand_Off caught up and saw the circle.
"The alarm! Oh, Khargana, where's Kay?!" she
half-spoke half-whispered. But Khargana wasn't standing in the front yard anymore.
Jen ran after Khargana and tackled her before
she reached her back door. "Get off, Chia!" she growled.
He continued sitting on her. "Not until you think
sensible, there's a dangerous guy in there!"
With a quick jerk and twist of her back, Khargana
caused Jen to lose his balance and crash to the grass. "Next time listen," she
said, more calmly, not as rashly. She seemed to think a second, then turned
and snuck through the front door.
Jen, Matt, Stand_Off, Adriana_Flyer, and CarissaOfire
all looked terrified, but none dared move. Khargana silently opened the door,
left it open, and snuck toward her office, where a red Draik was threatening
Kay with a Lightning Gun and moving toward her precious desk and briefcase.
"HEY DRAIK!!" she shouted at the top of her lungs.
The large, red menace slowly turned around, to see Khargana.
Before he knew what hit him, Kay had pulled a
tiny cylindrical flashlight from her pocket and pushed a button. He instantly
fell to the ground, stunned.
Khargana calmly walked toward her desk, pulled
two sets of paw-cuffs from a file cabinet, and ended standing over the Draik.
Her eyes scanned over the Draik's uniform. "Mugged
a cop lately, Draik?" she asked, snapping the cuffs.
Her timing was perfect. Just as she locked the
cuffs, he started getting over the stunray.
Jen, Matt, and the girls all slowly crept in.
Kay sighed and slipped the pocket stunray back into her jeans.
*****
"So let me get this straight," said Kay. "You're some sort of computer genius
that served as an engineer on the Space Station and you've invented a minicomputer
that can hack into anything on Neopia?"
Matt sighed. "Yep. It's actually very small."
He glanced at Khargana. "It, umm, would fit in a manilla envelope."
Khargana pulled a long, flat, rectangular box
from the envelope. It was surprisingly scarcely heavier than a stack of paper
the same size would be.
With a sigh, Jen admitted, "It was all my idea.
We were trapped on all corners by these gangs and dark faeries and all. Then
we saw an article in the Neopian Times on one of your cases."
"We were at our wit's end," added Matt. "We had
to try something. Or at least get that mini-hacker out of our hands."
Khargana stood up and stretched her lean body.
"And you figured I'd watch over it for you until you could come retrieve it."
Jen and Matt simultaneously nodded.
Matt looked at his feet. "I suppose you're going
to say we should destroy it so we won't be in danger anymore."
"Of course not!" exclaimed Kay. "To create something
so advanced you must be a true genius for computers! It would be a shame to
destroy such a work of art! And such a useful little thing too..."
Khargana suddenly cleared her throat. Every eye
in the room turned toward the Green Wocky. "Not that you asked my opinion, but
I'd say all you have to do is make a few minor adjustments to it's programming."
"I'm listening." Matt leaned forward, obviously
interested.
"Just program it to only work for certain people.
No offense, but for a computer genius you don't show much common sense."
Kay suddenly smiled. "I have a further idea."
All eyes turned toward the long-haired teen.
She shrugged. "We can just give it to Fyora.
I'm sure she'd pay well, and it'd be in very safe hands that could actually
make use of it for the betterment of Neopian society."
Everyone in the room stared at her, then burst
out laughing. Rissa actually fell backwards out of her chair. Though no one
else fell from their seats, all had tears of laughter in their eyes.
"Now why didn't I think of that?" asked Matt
to no one in particular.
The End
I'd seriously welcome feedback! If you enjoyed this story and have something
to say, go ahead and Neomail me! Thank you!
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