A/N: Here's chapter 3 of the detective case. This chapter was on the difficult side to write, but I got there! Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter!
Thanks goes to Byoshi for beta reading this chapter!
-- Chapter 3: Confrontation --
Perhaps it was because of their odd formation; perhaps it was the unlikely group they had become, but people were not afraid to give them curious glances. Ganondorf was in the lead, unleashing a deadly rhythm with every confident clunk of his heavy iron-rimmed shoes. Behind the Gerudo, the remaining five were clumped together, conversing in hushed tones.
"Confronting Master Hand? Marth, you're an absolute genius," Samus said dryly.
"He is!" Snake agreed earnestly, failing to catch into the sarcasm. "Instead of coming up with all these bizzare theories, it's far more sensible to see what Master has to say first."
Lucario didn't put much effort into hiding his displeasure. He let out a groan and shook his head. "Please, stop the bickering. I got enough of that in Ganondorf's room, I don't need it on the way to Master Hand's office as well."
Lucas could relate to the Pokemon. Ganondorf's room in general was far from cosy, and the constant debating had made the environment even more uncomfortable. Now that he was out of the room, he felt he could do with some quiet time to think, but no one wanted to cooperate.
Marth, on the other hand, seemed oblivious to everything around him. He took out a watch from his pocket and began circling his index finger above its face, deep in thought.
"Come on, confronting Master Hand head on? Wow, he's going to be so thrilled!" Samus rolled her eyes at Snake. "And what are we going to say to him, exactly? 'What the heck's the matter with you?' isn't going to go down particularly well. I think even you know that."
"Hmmm." Snake glanced at Lucario, hoping for some sort of solution.
"Don't look at me," was all he said, suddenly finding the ceiling incredibly fascinating. Lucas shrugged when Snake turned to him next.
"Master Hand said we're leaving the Mansion tomorrow afternoon, right?" Marth said, still holding his watch. "If it's mid afternoon now, we only have twenty hours to sort out this mess! It's not nearly enough. We need to eat and sleep, as well as coming up with some masterplan."
Lucario gaped at him. "Seriously? Master Hand likes to keep things last minute, by the look of it."
"All the more suspicious," Samus muttered, nodding her head seriously. "The quicker we work out the source of the problem, the better."
To her left, Snake was muttering, making himself unheard by turning his body away slightly. "Weren't you saying the complete opposite before?" He was rewarded with Samus' elbow.
"I wasn't saying the idea itself was bad, nitwit. I was more concerned about how we're going to go about all of this. Master Hand's not going to be impressed if a bunch of Smashers burst into his office and demand answers. Perhaps it's just me, but I like to have a plan behind me before I leap into fire."
Snake's mouth opened and closed similar to a fish for several moments, before saying defensively, "It's not like we're going to give him a presentation!"
Lucario agreed with a mild purr. "It's better if we just say what we think, Samus. You know, just winging it and hoping for the best."
Samus glared at him moodily before raising her head defiantly. "It's just not my style at all. Blindly seeking answers without any regard for the consequences."
Snake snorted. "How come you don't attack Lucario? He's the same distance from you as I am." The bounty huntress sighed.
"Lucario just doesn't have the skills or stupidity required to instigate said attack."
"Quit the squawking, parrots. We're here." Ganondorf rapped on the walnut door before stepping back. A bronze unicorn statue by the door proved to be a useful mirror for Samus, who used its glossy surface to tidy her hair. The other four Smashers suddenly felt the urge to look presentable, and dusted down their fronts and stood up straight.
The large door opened and the thumb of a gloved hand curved itself around the door frame.
"Six little parrots paying a visit. I heard you coming. Might want to keep it down, Master's taking a nap. Shall I get some salad and hot chocolate ready for you?" Judging by the thumb's awkward way of twitching every now and then as well as the bizarre greeting, it was Crazy Hand who had opened the door.
The master's brother opened the door wider, inviting the Smashers to come into the office, then began crawling aimlessly round the room.
Lucas had never been into Master Hand's office and, as he expected it to be, it was enormous. It had to occupy two massive hands after all. There were two large armchairs at the head of the room, a table set between them. Presumably, that was where the hands discussed Smash matches and important matters. Smaller, wooden chairs were placed along the width of the table for Smashers to sit on, should they ever feel the need to talk to Master Hand in person.
The walls were highly decorated with various wall hangings and eerie display cabinets. Stag heads, with lifeless eyes, hung alongside beautiful tapestries of elegant patterns and paintings of calm scenery. There was even a long sheet on one wall, where large handprints and fingerprints spanned across its width. Several glass cases were placed along the wall, where some contained china plates and a small rock collection whilst others housed sinister skeletal hands. Lucas couldn't help but wonder if they were very good imitations, or the real thing.
Lucas distracted his attention from these artefacts upon seeing Crazy bang into a doorframe unintentionally, then continue to stumble his way into the next room. The boy only had a few seconds to appreciate the silence before everyone in the room (and most likely people in the corridor too) heard Crazy shout.
"Wake up, brother!" he yelled, before rapid tapping sounds could be heard crawling away.
"I wasn't sleeping in the first place, it was unnecessary to shout at me," came Master Hand's voice from the unknown room. Snake and Samus exchanged a look of concern, and Lucario was struggling to hide a smile. He quickly stopped once Ganondorf gave him a slight nudge.
Master Hand entered the office leisurely, but not in the carefree way he normally had. The hand looked tired and his gliding missed the usual enthusiasm. The six watched the hand as he made his way to one of the armchairs and gingerly sank into it.
Soon after, Ganondorf walked down the room and helped himself to one of the wooden seats at the table. Nervously, the others followed him.
"What is it, everyone?" the hand asked. His tone was flat, almost distant.
"We want to know what's going on," Ganondorf began. "We want to know whether the Mansion's actually closing, and we want to fight back for it." Master Hand remained still as the Gerudo proceeded. "The Mansion's our home! You can't just throw it away without our consent!"
"That's right!" Lucario agreed. "We've made friends here, and the thought of leaving, this whole Mansion being gone forever…it's unbearable."
"Don't give up, Master-sama!" Marth exclaimed.
Master Hand silenced any further complaints with a wag of his index finger. He stretched his fingers out before speaking. "There's more to it than you think."
"Then tell us! We're here to help," Snake demanded, slamming a hand into his palm. "We can--"
Snake never finished his sentence, since Crazy Hand had whizzed to the table in such a hurry he knocked the mercenary unconscious. Everyone watched wordlessly as the mercenary slumped onto the table, out for the count. Crazy was balancing various dishes and drinks on his fingers, each of which were in danger of falling over from Crazy's occasional twitches.
"Sorry to keep you waiting! Now, who ordered, the…" Crazy lowered his index finger onto the table. "The…what's this called?"
"Enough with the role playing, they're not staying long." If Master Hand's spitefulness was meant to send Crazy away, it didn't work at all.
"Lobster! That was it!" he shouted triumphantly. "Who ordered it, eh? It was you, no?" He brought the lobster to Samus' stunned face.
Master Hand sighed, swatting away his brother lazily. Crazy seemed to get the gist nevertheless, for he abruptly finished his babbling and went back to the kitchen with the dishes still on his body, untouched.
"It would be better if you let the matter rest." The leader of Smash Mansion pointed to the door. "I recommend that you leave before you regret dwelling into it."
The Smashers had no choice but to leave the office. Ganondorf led the way, being the unsaid leader. Lucas, Samus and Marth followed him gloomily, the latter holding the door open for Lucario, who had the job of carrying the unconscious mercenary out. As soon as they were all out, Master Hand slammed the door in their faces.
"Tch!" Samus scowled immediately. "That went well!" In her anger, she was very tempted to kick Snake's limp form on Lucario's back, but she refrained from doing this guilty pleasure.
"We learnt something though," Marth reasoned. "Master-sama doesn't want us to get involved."
Lucario gave a contemptuous snort, shifting his shoulders so Snake slid off onto the tiled floor. "Probably because we're not good enough to know rather than because he cares for us. What I can't understand is why he treated Crazy like that." He glowered at the walnut door.
"I know we're all angry about the outcome, but do you mind if we keep all that aside? It's not going to help," Lucas chipped in. Heads round him began to nod, and he was thankful they weren't looking at him.
"This makes things a lot more complicated," Ganondorf mused. "We give up now, the Mansion will be gone tomorrow. We keep going, Master's going to do anything to keep us away." He rubbed his forehead broodingly.
"I reckon we should keep going," Samus spoke up. "We've already made it this far. We should see to it right to the very end."
"That's the spirit!" Ganondorf exclaimed, clapping a hand on Samus' shoulder in enthusiasm. "We've got to keep going! Anyone else with us?"
"I'm in," Marth said determinedly. Lucas smiled and nodded vigorously. After much thought, Lucario raised a hand retiringly, using his other free hand to make one of Snake's arms wave in the air madly. As much as he tried to remain serious, he couldn't help but crack a smirk as people round him laughed.
The laughter ceased as Samus cleared her throat. "To track down who exactly is behind this, we need a plan."
"This again," Lucario muttered.
"Okay, I think we can narrow down out culprits to two types:an old friend of Master's, or a Smasher." Ganondorf arched an eyebrow. "With there being two sorts of people the culprit could be, how can we safely assume it's one over the other?"
"We can get that information easily. I have an idea," Samus remarked nonchalantly, glancing behind her. "But we should get going. It's not really safe to discuss it here." She took an arm of Snake's and pulled it over her shoulder. Marth ran to Samus' side and hoisted the other arm.
However, even with two people, it was impossible to lift Snake up the stairs without breaking his feet. Samus unhooked Snake's arm from her shoulder whilst Marth carefully placed the mercenary on the bottom step, ensuring each limb wasn't stuck out in an awkward position.
"So winging it won't work. Tell us a bit of your idea at least, Samus," Lucario said, leaning on the banister of the staircase. The halls were empty now, and it gave off a feeling of abandonment. The Pokemon looked hesitantly round the hallway before making eye contact with Samus, who smiled.
"We're going to break into Master Hand's office."
"W-what?" Marth yelped, not even bothering to keep the volume down. No one shushed him though; Marth had spoken on their behalf, really.
"Smasher or not, there's got to be some sort of physical evidence," Ganondorf thought aloud, tapping his chin pensively. The flickering light of candles made this action rather creepy as there were more shadows than distinctive features.
"But…that's going to be impossible!" Lucario stammered. "I mean, two hands are going to be very difficult to fool, and if you think that's a problem, then think of the size of the office! The evidence could be anywhere! We're looking for a needle in a haystack."
"Give me some time to think. Trust me, we're going to need a plan. I should be able to come up with something." The bounty huntress twirled a finger round one of her tresses. "Let's meet back in Ganondorf's room tomorrow morning." She looked reproachfully at Snake before adding, "And someone tell Snake that when he wakes up."
-- End --
A/N: Believe it or not, I've managed to come up with what's the matter ;p Byoshi gave me a bit of help, so once again, I owe even more to her. That's for the next time though. Meanwhile, please leave a review on what you thought of this chapter :)