AN: Before we begin, I would like to give a huge shout out and thank you to the people over at TVTropes. They have so graciously decided to set up a Super Koopalings page there and have been continually updating it, which I am very thankful for.

Chapter 10 Amusing Mystery

Shellock placed his napkin on his lap, letting it drape over his tiny knees. Watson sat directly across from him in the dining hall. Shellock examined the black, shiny structure of his bubble pipe, all the while thinking about the evidence that they had gathered. It all seemed so...peculiar.

"What are you thinking about, Mr. Holmes?" Watson asked as he leaned forward. Shellock let out a dreary sigh.

"Oh Watson, you amuse me with such simple questions." He placed his pipe in his mouth and allowed the bubbles to spray around the room. The sight was as dismal as everything else that Shellock encountered. "How can one possibly explain the electrical configuration that causes the patterns we refer to as 'thought processes?'"

Watson stifled a giggle, his eyes perking up. Shellock cast him a drowsy glare.

"What is it, my friend?"

"You sound like an old man." Watson chuckled again. "You're just one step away from asking me what the meaning of life is."

Shellock shook his head, his eyelids drooping further down as his mouth loped into a frown.

"The meaning of life. How do we know there is such a thing? How do we know that there is anything that we can latch onto and claim as our own? How can we know anything?"

A shocked look filled Watson's eyes. His mouth hung ajar as he digested what the great detective had said.

"That's...depressing."

Shellock nodded.

"As is life."

Shellock took another drag of his bubble pipe. All the while, Watson was sinking into his chair like it was made of quicksand. He didn't sit back up until he saw the waiters coming out into the dining hall. His face lit up like the full moon.

"Aww, finally! Food!" He chuckled as his platter was placed in front of him. When it was pulled back, Shellock was intrigued to see an ice cream sandwich sitting in the middle of the plate. Watson's eyes twinkled playfully as Shellock received his own ice cream sandwich.

"This is..an odd choice for lunch," Shellock said as he poked the sandwich. "Why would such a blatantly unhealthy dessert item be offered up as a nutritious meal?"

Watson laughed.

"Oh come on, Shellock! Not everything has to be gray and cloudy all the time!" His teeth glimmered, his eyes shined. "I thought you and I could use a little sugar after the hard time we had looking for evidence."

Shellock snorted.

"For a genius detective such as myself, gathering evidence was hardly an issue." He picked up the sandwich. "But, if it is your desire, I will eat up this neapolitan."

Shellock held the sandwich in both hands. The sticky, creamy ice creamed squeezed between the two Graham crackers was starting to melt, coating his hands in a substance similar to hand lotion. Shellock made a face. This was most unorthodox. Nevertheless, this was what Watson wanted. He raised the sandwich to his lips…

...and his heart caught in his throat. The ice cream melted on his tongue, bathing it in a torrent of sweet vanilla cream. Shellock felt another flutter in his ribcage, one that almost made him cry out in pain. Another picture flashed across his mind. This one was of Bowser handing him a treat of similar flavor and appearance. Shellock himself was bouncing up and down excitedly as he devoured the sandwich within the flash.

"Woah," he whispered to himself. Watson leaned forward.

"You alright, Mr. Holmes?" he asked. Shellock hesitated over what to say. He stared down at the sandwich.

"Did…your brother get enjoyment out of these?"

Watson nodded excitedly.

"Yes! Ice cream sandwiches were his favorite food!"

"Ah," Shellock said. He took another bite of his treat. "Well, I must say, your brother certainly has good taste."

"Mm," Watson exclaimed. A certain quality entered his features. His face dropped like a stone, his eyebrows fell a good centimeter. The two ate their lunch in silence after that. Once he finished, Shellock wiped his mouth and stood up.

"Well, now that that is out of the way, do you care to tell more about the performance that your brother was involved in, Watson?"

Watson stood up and gently pushed his chair back into place.

"Well," he began," after the performance, Lemmy came to find me. He wanted to know if he had done a good job."

"Ah. Seeking validation, I see. A common hobby of the immature," Shellock said. Watson glared at him.

"That's not true!"

"It is if a genius says it is, and I most certainly am one. But anyway, I digress." Shellock took another drag of the bubble pipe. "What else did he do?"

Watson still glared at Shellock. Nevertheless, his brow eventually softened.

"Well, eventually, a critic named Mr. Spiel showed up." Watson's speech started to slow down, his eyes started to grow wide. "And Lemmy asked him to write about his act in the newspaper…."

Shellock nodded slowly. So Lemmy wanted to seek validation from not just his brother, but other people. Interesting.

"Go on," Shellock said. Watson approached him and leaned down to his level.

"Mr. Holmes, I think I know the next place we need to search for evidence."

"Really? Where would that be, Watson?"

"If my theory is correct," said Watson as he grabbed hold of Shellock's hand, "we might find the answers we are looking for written in the newspaper. And I think I know exactly where Lemmy put it."

…

Of course, why didn't Ludwig realize this before? As he dragged Lemmy up the stairs to the room they shared, he couldn't help but berate himself. It was so obvious! If Mr. Spiel wrote a less than stellar review of Lemmy's show, then of course he would be upset! It all made sense now!

Of course, Ludwig needed to hold off on setting off the fireworks just yet. He was getting ahead of himself a little bit. After all, he hadn't actually seen what was written in the newspaper, if anything.

So, he continued to drag Lemmy up the stairs and into the room. Once there, he got on his hands and knees, checking underneath Lemmy's bed. Lemmy had a really bad habit of hiding stuff that could cause problems under there. It was where he kept Doris for a majority of the time before the act, after all. If Ludwig was correct (which he was pretty sure he was), his brother had also thrown the newspaper containing the review underneath the bed.

Sure enough, one of the first things Ludwig saw was a wrinkled up newspaper, resting among a pile of dust bunnies and an unlit Bob-omb. He triumphantly pulled it out and showed it to his brother.

"I think this is it," he said. Lemmy nodded.

"Hmm. Yes, that would appear to be it." He stroked his chin. "What does the review say?"

Ludwig flipped through the paper. He immediately found the review and eagerly began to read. As he did, it became more and more clear to him that the mystery had been solved. Honestly, Ludwig had never been this happy to read a negative review of anything.

"Woah," he said. "'The worst opening act to be subjected to an unfortunate, unsuspecting audience?' Man, that's a little harsh."

Ludwig noticed a sort of pang enter Lemmy's eyes as he heard his brother read a passage from the review. He bit his lip.

"Yes," he said, his voice breaking, "that is rather unpleasant."

Ludwig happily folded the newspaper back up and placed it on Lemmy's bed. He smiled brightly, holding up his arms as a sign of victory.

"Well, I think we did it, Shellock! We solved the mystery!"

Shellock shook his head.

"Oh no, Watson; we did not. We are still nowhere close to finding Lemmy. We need to do a little more digging."

Ludwig's face fell. He lowered his arms back down.

"How much digging?" he asked.

"Well," Lemmy said as he blew another batch of bubbles. "Obviously, this Mr. Spiel character is very suspicious. I think we might need to pay him a visit."

At first, Ludwig had to hold back a groan. But, as he thought about it, he realized that this might be good for Lemmy. If he wanted to talk to Mr. Spiel, and vent out some of his own frustrations, then who was Ludwig to say he couldn't? It would be a good way for Lemmy to release all the pent up emotions and finally escape from his fantasy bubble. So, Ludwig grinned.

"That's an excellent idea, Shellock! All we need to do is find his address on the web and then we can definitely go see him!"