Author's Note: FINALLY. I've got the next chapter up! I don't want this fanfic to wither away into oblivion - I may not be able to churn out chapters as fast as I could during the Summer, but that doesn't mean I'm going to stop. The one thing that really helps me to keep writing is your reviews. After more than a month of not getting reviews, I got one a little while ago, and that was enough for me to want to get back into writing again. So, thank you very much if you leave a review. Anyways - enjoy the chapter!

COMFORT CRUISE, DAY TWO

The early morning sun shone up through the calm, blue water for a moment as it passed through the horizon, casting an orange haze over the waves. The air was calm and cool out on the surface of the ship. Mario and Luigi were sleeping soundly in their cabin when suddenly, somebody knocked three times on the metal door.

A voice called out, muffled by the door, "Mario? Are you ready to begin our investigation?" It was Christopher. Mario slumped out of his bed and sauntered over towards the door, eyes drooping heavily. I Guess he wasn't kidding about getting up early, he thought as he opened the door. "Ah, good," said Christopher. "I see you're ready. I did some brief investigating after you left last night. I hope you don't mind. After speaking with some of the kitchen staff, they informed me that a sack of potatoes went missing yesterday. Do you know what this proves?" Mario looked tiredly at Christopher. He stopped talking and didn't know why. "I see you're still half-asleep, my apprentice. No worries, you'll perk up in a few minutes I'm sure. Do you remember what you said about the mysterious figure last night? He, well...she, er...it was carrying something lumpy on its back, and I deduce that it must have been the missing stack of potatoes!" He emphasized the word 'potatoes' quite loudly and it echoed down the narrow corridor. "The investigation is afoot, my apprentice. Let us begin!" They started walking down the corridor and up the stairs. Upon reaching the floor of rooms, suddenly a blue viscous liquid suddenly started seeping out from one of the rooms to their left. "Heavens!" exclaimed Christopher. "What is going on here?" A plea answered his exclamation from within the room.

"Help!" yelled the voice. Mario went up to the door, walking through the mysterious, blue liquid. It squished about under his leather boots. He opened the metal door with a creak to see a giant mess of the blue goop splattered throughout the entire room. A Koopa in a white lab coat, although it covered nearly completely with the blue goop, lay frazzled against the bedframe.

"What in heaven's name is going on here?" asked Christopher.

"I-I was just working on my research, mixing together some chemicals and had the window open to vent out the fumes when all of a sudden, an old boot flew into my window and knocked over a beaker into the vial I was using and, well, you can deduce the rest." He pointed to a moldy old boot splattered with the mystery liquid.

"Deduce, I shall," said Christopher. "The vial knocking over into the beaker almost certainly caused the explosivity of this slimy, blue catastrophe! Except...how could a shoe have flown into the room? There would be nowhere for it to be thrown from." The room was silent for a few moments.

"...yes, that's probably what happened," said the Koopa as he got up out the goop. "My name is Antony. I'm a research scientist at UT, but they're sending me out into the field on Insula to do my research there."

"What kind of research?" asked Christopher, suspiciously.

"I'd tell you, but it's confidential." Christopher frowned.

"Confidential or not, that makes you a prime subject," he replied sternly.

"Prime subject for what?" said Antony.

"I'll be taking a sample of this goop for further investigation, as well as this boot. Good day, Antony." Christopher gave a stern glance as they left the room, leaving Antony behind in the goopy mess. "Clues are starting to pop up like daisies, Mario," said Christopher. "The missing sack of potatoes, and now this sudden goopy mess. The real question is who is behind these two, seemingly separate events? Shoes don't just go flying into windows, you know. Either someone deliberately sabotaged Antony's experiment, or Antony himself isn't telling us something...intriguing..." Mario nodded in agreement. "Perhaps that snobbish Boo we met on the Blimp could be responsible for this mishap – she did seem quite perturbed by Antony, here. What do you think, Mario? You haven't said a word since, well...last night, I just noticed." Mario nodded again, still trying to wake up.

"Ah, what a beautiful morning," said Jennifer calmly. She and Violet were out on the deck soaking up sunrays.

"Ab-sol-utely," replied Violet. She laid back and pondered for a few moments. "Hey, Jennifer, can Goombas get sunburnt?"

Jennifer paused for a moment. "You know, I don't think I've ever seen a sunburnt Goomba...I guess not!"

"Interesting..." said Violet. "I wonder why that is?"

"Yeah, me too," replied Jennifer. She tried to think of something interesting to say, but nothing came to mind. "This is kind of boring...want to go do something else?"

"Let's go!" exclaimed Violet as she popped up out of her chair to leave. They decided to go down to the lower deck that went along the contour of the ship to look at the waves. Rows and rows of wooden lifeboats were stacked up the sides of the ship above them. They were each affixed to a sort of pulley system that allowed them to travel vertically along the side of the ship, so they could be loaded at any level.

"Hey, look at that," said Jennifer.

"Look at what?" replied Violet. "I can't tell what you're gesturing towards, you know, no hands and all." Jennifer did a combination of rolling her eyes and glaring at Violet. "Oh, sorry. I forgot that was a touchy subject..."

"The lifeboats," said Jennifer. "There's one missing way up there."

"That's odd. Maybe they're using it for something?"

"What would they need a lifeboat for? Something seems fishy around here. We'd better go find Mario and see what's up."

"Agreed. But first, can we head over to the Snack Bar? I'm practically starving here."

It was early evening now, and everyone met at the buffet hall for dinner. Luigi and Toadsworth were already sitting at the table, seemingly discussing something. Luigi seemed bored out of his mind, since his brother was off investigating with Christopher the entire day. They had gone in search of more clues but didn't find anything of interest. Christopher had returned to his room to go over the evidence and study the mysterious blue goop. Mario entered the room with Jennifer and Violet and sat down with Luigi and Toadsworth.

"Hey, bro," said Mario as he pulled a chair out from the table.

"Hi," said Luigi flatly.

"Sorry I was gone all day, that Christopher guy kept on thinking he found more clues." Luigi looked perplexed.

"Clues?" questioned Luigi.

"Oh, I guess I haven't told you yet. I saw a mysterious figure last night make off with a sack of potatoes from the kitchen," said Mario. Luigi looked even more perplexed now.

"Potatoes?"

"Yep. Christopher has been taking me along everywhere in search of more clues."

"Even on a vacation, bro, you're hard at work doing something." Mario nodded. He always felt like if there was a problem, it was his job to fix it. "I hope you've gotten to relax at least a little bit." The conversation ended. The others were talking about other things of no particular interest. As nice as this cruise was, everybody seemed to be looking forward to getting to Insula to find the next golden cog.

"Hey, there's Bella," said Violet, pointing a couple of tables over. She wore her sparkling diamond necklace and a fancy purple hat. The way her necklace managed to stay on her body was perplexing, since Boos don't have any sort of shoulder to speak of. Everyone around her seemed extremely rich and snobbish. The Yoshi Chef came out from the kitchen with a pen and notepad to take their orders.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Oliver McCormick and I'll be your server and chef tonight. What can I prepare for you from our fine assortment of meals?" said Oliver.

"I'll have the Shroom Roast," said Bella, "and make sure it's golden brown. If there are any dark brown spots, I'll send it back."

"Got it, no brown spots," said Oliver, looking down and scribbling in his notepad. He looked up at who had just given him the order. "Excuse me, are you Bella? The Queen of Beauty?"

"Yes I am," said Bella, batting her eyelashes.

"Can I get your autograph? I've been a fan since your very first show."

"Sure, thing. Anything for my adoring fans." Oliver ripped out a sheet from his notepad and handed the pen and paper to Bella, who signed it quickly and efficiently, obviously used to doing it.

"Thank you so much, I really appreciate it," replied Oliver, smiling. He took the rest of everyone's orders at the table and returned back to the kitchen. A few minutes later, Oliver made his way to Mario's table to take all of their orders. Mario marveled at how he managed to take orders from every table, and cook them as well. It really seemed like he was an expert at what he did. Oliver returned once again to the kitchen, presumably to start making their orders and to finish another table's, and came into the dining area once again with Bella's Shroom Roast. He placed it on the table, bowing in front of her as he did so. After giving everyone at their table their meals, he returned back to the kitchen, and the door swung open as he entered it. Mario caught a glimpse of the inside. He saw Antony, the Koopa scientist for a brief moment before the door closed completely. Why is he in the kitchen, thought Mario. Simultaneously, Christopher walked by their table and over to Mario's.

"Mario, I've made some interesting discoveries. Could we talk for a minute in private?" asked Christopher.

"Sure thing," said Mario, and they walked out the back door of the buffet hall and out into the cool, brisk air out on the deck.

"I've compiled a list of subjects, tell me what you think," said Christopher, pulling out a notebook with scribbles written in it. "Subject one, Antony. Koopa Scientist. Suspicious behavior regarding mystery chemical experiment, refused to supply details on said experiment." He adjusted his glasses and turned to the next page. "Subject two, Bella. Movie Star. General hostility towards kitchen staff, possible reason for stealing potato sack from the kitchen. Also has demonstrated hostility towards Antony before, possible reason for the boot-throwing into his room early this morning. Subject Three, Violet. Dayzee—"

"What?" said Mario. "Violet? What has she ever done?"

"That is precisely why she is a subject. In my experience, the perpetrator is often the one you never expect."

"She's not the perpetrator," said Mario sternly.

"I'm not saying she is, but I cannot rule out the possibility. Sometimes a great detective has a hunch that he simply cannot ignore."

"Well, I don't think that—" Mario decided to put it behind them. She wasn't the perpetrator, so nothing would come of it. "Okay," said Mario. "Well, Jennifer and Violet mentioned to me earlier that a lifeboat has gone missing earlier this afternoon."

"Intriguing..." replied Christopher. "...ah HA! Mario, tell me, where exactly was this lifeboat missing from?" Mario thought for a moment, thinking back to their conversation.

"...right by Antony's room," replied Mario.

"Just as I suspected!" exclaimed Christopher. "Well, that certainly debunks the whole boomerang boot theory I had. Everything is starting to come together, Mario. I feel we're getting precariously close to solving this mystery, but we still need to figure out one more thing."

"What's that?"

A shriek came from within the restaurant. "My necklace! Where is my necklace?"

"What our perpetrator is after."

Author's Note: Thanks for reading! If you're enjoying the story so far, please leave a review with your thoughts. I really appreciate it!

(Also, sorry for no Amori/Peach interlude...again. I actually really wanted to write one, but I don't feel like it was the right time to do one. Expect a big one at the end of the chapter :)