Under Suspicion.
Summery: A missing person/murder enquiry is taking the Mushroom Kingdom by storm. Because of who is involved Peach and Mario are failing to see eye to eye and Luigi is struggling to cope.
Chapter 1It was early in the morning when the Mario brother's household was disturbed by loud banging on their front door. It came to no surprise to Luigi that it was he who had to get out of bed and answer it. In a rush he got dressed and flew downstairs, upon opening the door he came face to face with two toad policemen.
"Erm? Can I help you?" he asked, not sure as to why they would be at his home at such an early time in the morning.
"Yes as a matter of fact you can. We need to do some random enquiries," One of the policemen said flatly.
Luigi moved to the side of the door and allowed the policemen to enter the house. He led them to the kitchen where they sat down and stared at Luigi sternly.
"Mr Mario, when was the last time you saw the Princess of Sarasaland?" The first policeman asked. Luigi was a little puzzled by this and a little worried.
"Has something happened to Daisy?" He asked slightly alarmed. The policemen looked at each other with suspicion.
"I repeat, when was the last time you saw the Princess of Sarasaland?" The policeman asked putting great emphasis on the word Princess.
"It would have been last week. Yeah, we were at Peach's party," Luigi answered.
"Princess Peach's party?" The second policeman asked. Luigi nodded, he couldn't help but wonder where this was going.
"The very same party where Daisy turned you down flat?" The first policeman asked. Luigi sighed and nodded. The second policeman wrote this down on a small notebook and looked deadly serious.
"Where you aware that Daisy had remained in the Mushroom Kingdom?" The second policeman asked eyeing Luigi carefully. Luigi looked at him and shook his head. Why were they asking him these silly questions?
"Finally, where were you last night at around nine thirty?" The policemen asked him, both their gazes fixed on the green clad plumber.
"I was here,"
"All night?"
"Yes with my brother,"
As if on cue, at that very moment a rather tired looking Mario entered the kitchen. He looked at the policemen and then at Luigi before registering that something was going on.
"Mr Mario, where were you last night?" The second policeman asked Mario, whose reply was exactly the same as Luigi's. The policemen appeared satisfied by this answer and stood up to leave.
"Wait, before you go…what's this all about?" Mario asked feeling a little left out.
"Oh. Miss Daisy, Princess of Sarasaland has gone missing and it looks like she ran into a case of foul play," The first policeman replied passively. Both brothers looked at each other with a mixture of shock and confusion.
"What do you mean foul play?" Mario asked.
"The hotel room that she was staying in was trashed and is covered in blood. What other kind of foul play is there?" The first policeman said rudely before exiting the kitchen, followed by his colleague.
The Mario brothers quickly followed the policemen without much hesitation. However the policemen were just getting into their car.
"Which hotel was she staying at? You could at least tell us that!"
Luigi shouted.
"That boy is none of your business but I dare say it'll be in the papers soon," The policemen said before driving off.
Luigi was in shock. He just couldn't believe what he had heard. Something had happened to the woman he was in love with but no one would give him any straight answers. He looked at his brother helplessly.
"Don't worry Luigi we'll get to the bottom of this!" Mario said reassured.
"But how?" Luigi said feeling like he was about to cry.
"Wait here a moment," Mario said as he ran back into the house. In a few moments later he returned with his car keys. He smiled at Luigi and beckoned for him to get into the car.
"Where are we going?" Luigi asked curiously.
"It's not hard to know where Daisy stayed, she always stays in the same place. I thought you would have known that bro," Mario said as he started to drive off.
"Ah! The Mushroom Hall Hotel. Where all the famous people stay," Luigi said, mentally telling himself off for not thinking about that.
The journey to the Mushroom Hall Hotel was a very subdued one. No one dared mention what they were thinking and what they were thinking wasn't very good. Luigi couldn't help but think the worst, what if something terrible happened to her? What if she had been kidnapped? What if she was…? He couldn't bear it.
Eventually they reached the hotel and Mario had been correct. The front of the Hotel was crawling with police and the public alike, everyone wanting answers. Mario and Luigi parked their car and joined the masses of toads and humans alike.
Mario and Luigi watched as the police tried to get the public into an orderly fashion. It wasn't long before the camera crews of various T.V stations had appeared. Mario and Luigi tried to keep their heads down; if they were spotted they wouldn't get away. They stood to the side and listened to the speculation of many people.
"Well I heard that she staged it herself…you know because Peach is more famous..." One toad said knowingly.
"Nah! I heard she was being stalked…by you know who…."Another toad added. Luigi and Mario looked at each other and shook their heads. Honestly, the things people made up. However, the stalking theory wasn't too far off from what the police had suspected.
"Ahem!" The Chief Inspector called out to the crowd. Everyone looked at him; he was about to address the press and the public.
"At the moment we are treating this case as a missing person case. Though foul play hasn't been ruled out at this point. We can confirm that we are looking for a man who was seen to be visiting the Princess Daisy of Sarasaland at half eight last night,"
Luigi looked at Mario, hoping he would dismiss what the Chief Inspector was saying, but he didn't. He turned back to watch the Chief Inspector and spotted another policeman whispering something to him. The Chief Inspector nodded and addressed the crowds again.
"It has just been confirmed that we have now arrested a man in connection with the Princess's disappearance,"
After finding out that last bit of information Mario convinced Luigi that they should go home. After all he didn't want to talk to the press, they would only highlight Luigi and Daisy's non-existent relationship.
When they got home Luigi didn't say anything. He was in too much shock. The only time he did speak was the moment when Mario wanted to turn the telly on, but Luigi couldn't face watching it for fear of seeing the unthinkable.
Hours passed on without Luigi saying much, much to Mario's dismay. Mario himself wondered who the person was that had been arrested. He wanted to turn the telly on and find out but out of respect for Luigi he didn't.
At mid-afternoon there was a soft rap at the door. Luigi looked at Mario and shook his head. Mario stood up and answered it but to his delight it was Peach.
"Oh Mario! It's just dreadful," She cried out as she walked in.
"I know; I just can't believe it. Luigi's in pieces," Mario answered.
"Him of all people though!" Peach cried out in anguish. Mario blinked at her.
"He did love her Peach, why wouldn't be upset," He said with a hint of anger. How could she be so heartless? Peach was taken aback by the tone in his voice.
"Mario? You can't seriously defend him? After what he's done!" She said incredulously.
"He's my brother, he's upset so yeah I can!" He retorted. Peach looked at him puzzled.
"You don't know do you?" She asked quietly. Now it was his turn to look puzzled.
"Know what?" He asked. Peach sighed sadly and walked over to the telly and turned it on. She picked up the remote and began flicking through the channels.
"Peach, we don't want to watch the telly, now tell me what's going on," Mario said impatiently.
"Look," Peach whispered as she pointed to the telly. Both Mario and Luigi looked at the telly and were shocked by what they saw.
The news reporter was outside a house they knew too well. They watched as the footage revealed the police arresting…
"Waluigi? You're kidding?" Mario exclaimed. Peach nodded and flicked the telly off.
"Apparently he went round to see her at half eight last night, the cleaner saw him," Peach said glumly.
"Peach you don't think that he would do anything awful to her…do you?" Mario asked. Sure Waluigi was a git but he wouldn't be so…evil.
"Well why not? He has been obsessing over her for years!" Peach said arguably.
"I don't think he would harm her, he likes her too much Peach. Besides I know my cousin well enough," Mario argued back.
"What about my cousin Mario! She's disappeared and it has something to do with Waluigi!" Peach yelled angrily. Why wasn't he seeing sense?
"Anyone could have gone in after Waluigi left!" Mario yelled back. Luigi watched them battle it out. He was starting to get a headache and decided to take matters into his own hands. Picking up the keys to his car he walked right out of the house without being noticed.
As he got into his car he could still hear the warring couple argue. He sighed, there was only one-way to be sure of which one was closest to the truth. He needed to know whether his cousin did have something to do with Daisy.
He headed towards the Police Station and decided to put the radio on. Any information would be welcomed at the moment. How he wished he'd braved the telly earlier on.
"…Suspicion is rife that the Princess of Sarasaland has been murdered…"
Luigi shook his head as he listened to the radio.
"…The police have now issued a statement regarding the Princess. They have said a possible murder weapon has been located in the Hotel room in which she was staying..."
Luigi's heart sank. Would he ever see Daisy again?
"…Waluigi has now been arrested on suspicion of murder…"
Luigi turned the radio off. He'd heard enough. He was now very determined to find out the truth.
He reached the police station and noticed that there was a lot of the press hanging around. He sighed to himself. He didn't want to answer any questions. He left his car in a nearby car park and walked up the steps and into the police station. He had many questions thrown at him but he ignored them.
He walked into the foyer and straight up to the desk at the front. A plump angry looking toad sat there glaring at people.
"Mr Luigi what are you doing here?" She asked.
"I want to see Waluigi…" He replied. She looked at him curiously. It was widely known that the two cousins did not get on at all. She wondered if he was here to cause trouble. As if he read her thoughts he added to his earlier sentence.
"I don't believe he did anything wrong. I just want to see him for myself," Luigi said almost pleadingly. The woman didn't answer him back and put out a call for a member of the police force to come out into the foyer.
Luigi waited patiently for something to happen. Eventually someone came out to see him. It was the Chief Inspector himself.
"You requested to see Waluigi?" He asked and Luigi nodded. Suddenly he felt a little nervous. He now wasn't sure whether he did want to see Waluigi.
"You can have half an hour with him," The Chief Inspector said flatly. Luigi muttered a thank you and briefly wondered about what he was getting himself into.
The Chief Inspector led Luigi down a corridor and into an interrogation room. Luigi walked in without the Inspector who just stared at him blankly. Luigi spotted Waluigi sitting at the table in the middle of the room, his head in his hands. Luigi also noticed a policeman standing in the corner of the room with his arms crossed. Luigi sat down on a spare chair on the other side of the table to Waluigi.
"Erm…" Luigi had no idea what he was supposed to say. Waluigi finally looked up at him. He looked tired and worn.
"I suppose you're here to accuse me of something as well?" He asked bitterly.
"Nope, actually I don't believe that you did anything," Luigi responded quietly.
"You're on your own then…." Waluigi said still keeping his harsh bitter tone.
Luigi didn't respond to this, he just looked over at his cousin. He knew he didn't do it deep down.
"Why are you here anyway?" Waluigi broke the silence.
"I just wanted to know if you were alright…" Luigi said, not actually giving the real reason.
"Like you care…" Was the only response he got in return.
"Any way what were you doing going to see Daisy…?" he really wanted to know.
"Nothing…" Waluigi responded coyly. He was hiding something.
"Don't lie..." Luigi said with a sigh.
"Fine, I was going to ask her if she wanted to come for a drink…that's all,"
Luigi watched his rival closely. He realised that Waluigi still actually liked her and was probably now going to pay for that attraction. Luigi didn't feel totally comfortable talking about his attraction for Daisy so he changed the conversation.
"Has anyone else visited you yet?" Luigi asked, not really interested but it was the first thing that came into his head.
"Nope,"
"Not even Wario?" Luigi asked surprised. Waluigi gave a low chuckle.
"Nope, he doesn't even want to know me now. He's afraid it'll affect WarioWare Inc."
"I know you'll probably mock me for this and at some point in my life I'll probably regret it but I'll do all I can to get you out of here," Luigi told his old adversary.
Soon the half hour was up and Luigi bid Waluigi farewell. He was determined to stick by his words no matter how hard it would be.