Chapter 10:

For Whom the Belle Tolls

If Senbo and Aibo manipulated a gamer girl in her own apartment building once, then they can do it again. Like Tari, Belle had recently gotten her own apartment at Game Go, going by her Twitter posts. And apparently, her room wasn't far from Tari's. They figured this was done on purpose so competitions would get all the spicier next time they play together. But actually, it was a result of how much closer the two gamer girls have gotten after the fall of Snitch Productions. Belle may be Tari's rival, but she's also her friend, and she doesn't hate her nearly as much as she did when they started off. Really, who could hate Tari? She was an absolute sweetheart who saw the good in everyone. Unfortunately for her, this included deceivers who wanted to use her.

Right now, those very same deceivers were in the hallway, waiting for Belle to come out of her apartment. Once she does, they could begin their plan to keep Tari too occupied to reveal herself to the outside world. Senbo had given up on his dreams of being a musician in favor of prolonging Saiko's misery, so this would work well into their plan. They weren't sure how long they would have to wait for the redhead to come out of that door, but when they see it open, that would be their cue.

So far, though, that cue didn't seem to be happening. They knew she was in there, since her growling and screaming indicated that she was getting frustrated with a particularly hard video game level. But she wasn't coming out. All the couple could do was wait, though Senbo felt they were waiting a bit too long.

"How much longer do we have to wait?" he quietly asked with a clear irritation in his voice. "It's been three long, dreadful, agonizing minutes!"

"Have patience, sweetie cakes," reassured Aibo. "I've been following Belle's Let's Plays. When she gets too frustrated with a game, she'll go outside and take a breath of fresh air."

"Does that happen often?" asked Senbo.

"It's Belle," replied Aibo matter-of-factly.

At last, the moment they were waiting for had arrived. The door opened, and out came Belle, looking as agitated as ever.

"Canary Mary can go die in a hole," she grumbled.

"Now," whispered Aibo, "follow my lead."

Right on cue, the young couple got into position and stayed out of the redhead's way, but made sure she was within earshot. They separated by a few inches, then walked closer to each other to give the impression that they were meeting for the first time so Belle could see their "run-in".

"Hey," greeted Aibo.

"Hey," greeted Senbo back.

"So, I guess you got that new Lost Island mode, huh?" said Aibo.

"I did," replied Senbo. "I did get it."

This already seemed to grab the attention of the redhead, whose history with Ultra Jump Mania was quite well-known. They technically didn't mention the platforming game by title, but they didn't have to. The new mode's title mention was enough for her to get the idea.

"Good stuff, right?" asked Aibo. "New enemies, new powerups, a whole new world to explore, and an all-new villain to fight."

The more the couple talked about Ultra Jump Mania's Lost Island mode, the more intrigued Belle became. Such a hot topic was bound to become the talk of the town, so she wanted to know everything she could about it before she could play it. As she discreetly listened in on their conversation, she hoped they didn't think she was stalking them. Of course, the reality was that they were counting on that.

"If that won't keep gamers occupied," said Senbo, "I don't know what will. I mean, God knows how far Tari's gotten on it."

"Oh yeah, Tari," said Aibo. "I've been following her Let's Plays. She's really good."

"Do you think she'll blow through the Lost Island in a heartbeat?" asked Senbo.

"She'll do a better job than Belle Fontiere, I can tell you that much," replied Aibo. "I just can't get into her Let's Plays the way I can get into Tari's. She's good, but not 'Tari' good."

To say this struck a nerve in the listening redhead would be an understatement. She was already an easily-angered individual, but she did not appreciate her ego being challenged like that, and even though she liked Tari, their competitions can still get quite intense. She couldn't help but feel agitated by people favoring other people's Let's Plays than hers. She was similar to Saiko in this regard.

Belle couldn't take it anymore. She thought about whaling on these two for daring to talk shit about her, but she was smart enough to know that wasn't a good idea. It could risk her getting into legal trouble, getting arrested by that creepy monitor guy, or even losing the apartment she just got. They weren't even doing it on purpose (as far as she knew).

No, instead, she went over to Tari's apartment to have an old-fashioned gamer-to-gamer talk. As she tried to get her rival's attention by knocking (read: banging) on her door, Senbo and Aibo watched the fireworks from a distance while remaining out of her sight, not believing how much the fired-up redhead was playing into their plan. It was as if they were hypnotists who just placed Belle in a deep trance, and now she was clucking like a chicken under their spell.

It didn't take long for Tari to answer the door. Most people would take offense to visitors, even close friends, banging on their front door, but she was polite enough not to.

"Hiya, Belle," the kind android greeted.

"Yeah, save your 'hiyas'," replied Belle in her usual…Belle way. "I have a question for you. How far did you get on Ultra Jump Mania's Lost Island mode?"

"I just got started," explained Tari. "Right now, I'm in the process of finding all the tokens in the Lost Island. You only need 75 to access the final boss, but collect all 100 and you get the complete ending. From what I hear, it's a really good ending that ties the game together, so I kinda want to see what it's all about."

"And how many tokens did you get?" asked Belle.

There was a short pause as the ever-shy Tari gave her answer.

"50," she replied.

"What?!" asked Belle, shocked. "But you just got the mode!"

"I know," said Tari. "It all kinda came together. That's not to say it was easy, though. They cranked up the difficulty from the main mode, while still keeping it fun and fair."

"Oh, is that right?" said Belle. "Sounds too easy for you, if you ask me."

"What are you—?" asked Tari, but Belle cut her off.

"You were content with taking your sweet-ass time getting all the tokens by yourself," said Belle, "but I would have gotten them before some other sucker could. I mean, they gave you that co-op feature for a reason. You might as well use it."

Tari knew where this was going.

"You're challenging me?" she asked. "Sweet!"

With the redhead's challenge accepted, Tari stepped aside and made inviting gestures for her rival, and she gladly let herself in.

"I am so gonna get more tokens than you," said Belle.

Senbo and Aibo were listening in on the two gaming rivals' entire conversation from a distance, once again not believing how much Belle was playing into their plans. Even after the girls were in the apartment ready to game, the couple could still hear them talking for a bit.

"Now," explained Tari, "here's an extra controller for you. There's plenty of food in the fridge if either of us get hungry. I just need to save my progress and start again on a new file."

"Do what you have to," said Belle, "just get this thing started!"

At last, the front door to Tari's apartment was closed, and the couple could already faintly hear that iconic Ultra Jump Mania startup theme through that closed door. It was still playing as they were walking past the door, heading toward the empty apartment they lured Tari into earlier, while holding hands.

Once again, their plan was a success.

"They deserve each other," said Aibo as soon as they made it to the empty apartment.

"How long do you think they'll be at that game?" asked Senbo.

"Who cares?" replied Aibo. "The longer they play it, the longer Saiko will think her precious Tar-Tar is dead!"

"Oh, what I wouldn't give to see the look on her ugly face!" said Senbo sadistically.

"You can," said Aibo. "On the way over here, I saw a bunch of people walking toward the forest where the quicksand pit is. No doubt that's where they're holding Tari's funeral."

"Oh, we have to go there and watch Saiko cry!" said Senbo excitedly.

"We're gonna need to go in disguise," said Aibo. "You still have your movie director clothes, don't you?"

The would-be musician reached into the closet and got out the very costume his girlfriend was talking about.

"Don't worry, babe," he reassured, "they're right here."

Aibo was working on a disguise of her own as she removed her ponytail, allowing her long hair to flow. Then she removed her glasses, and put on her contacts. She now looked totally different than she did before.

"Next stop: Tari's funeral," she declared.

Since she hadn't shown herself to disprove what Saiko saw and told her friends, Tari was declared officially dead, and a funeral was had for her soon after. Normally, a body would be required for that, but they couldn't recover her corpse from the quicksand—after all, quicksand swallows everything. As such, the funeral was held by the very pit Tari sank into. It was relatively close to where Saiko lived, and she was a witness, so she could identify the pit easily. The gamer girl was probably buried enough under there anyway.

The funeral was an appropriately somber one, with everyone dressed in black suits and dresses for the occasion. It was also a crowded one, with basically all the people whose lives she touched attending to mourn. You have Saiko and her band, Mario, Luigi, SMG4, Fishy & JubJub Boopkins, Axol, Melony…and many, many more. And this time, Melony would definitely not be sleeping. Instead, she had many tears to shed, with Axol putting his hand on her shoulder.

It was clear that Tari's kind deeds have made her quite popular around these parts. Even the biggest grouches in the universe have admitted to liking her to some extent, as evidenced by people like Wario and Waluigi attending. Lamar Williams, Sofia Porter, and Masa Shimamoto were also there.

Nearly all of the mourners came with beautiful flowers and bouquets to gently lay into the quicksand, as their way of paying their last respects. They all watched as everything they offered slowly sank, just as the gamer girl supposedly did.

Everyone was sad as they mourned for Tari, but none more so than Saiko. The anime girl wouldn't stop crying for one of her best friends, someone she's been so protective of lately. The other band members tried to console her any way they could, but they themselves were hurting a lot inside.

"T…T…Tari…" she whispered in-between quiet sobs.

Senbo and Aibo managed to make it to the funeral in their disguises, the latter now wearing a black dress, not wanting to miss a second of their enemy's misery. As they sat in the back row, they could see her sobbing—they'd recognize that anime hair anywhere. To them, her misery was not a letdown, and they were glad they came to watch her cry.

"Skanky bitch," the would-be musician whispered to Aibo, who let out a soft giggle at the prospect of punishing someone who said no to her Senbo.

The role of the minister once again fell to Kermit the Frog as he stood at the podium reading from the Bible, in front of a picture of Tari giving her usual wonderful smile—which was rather ironic, considering his love of murder, killing, and murder.

"Friends, relations, whatever Bob counts as," said Kermit, "we gather today to commemorate the loss of Turbo Artificial Rapid Intelligence—otherwise known as Tari. Beloved charity donor, and dear friend. She has lost many lives in the video games she plays, and now she has lost her one in the game of life. But the friends she made and the lives she touched with her kindness have proven that she still earned many points in the game of life. Your first speaker: Meggy Spletzer."

At the call of her name, the cop-in-training got off of her chair and walked to the podium to speak to the mourners.

This was going to be painful.

"I have been through a lot of shit in my life," she began, already trying her best not to break down mid-speech, "from getting trapped in a paint can to permanently changing species. But this is easily the worst pain I ever had to go through. It's no secret how much Tari meant to everyone. Not just because of her charity donations, but because of her kindness in general. She didn't have a mean bone in her body. She only wanted everyone to be happy in the end."

Even though Meggy was trying not to break down mid-speech, that didn't stop a few tears from shedding, and judging from her voice breaking, she wasn't sure how much of this she could take.

"We'll miss you, Tari," she continued. "I…will miss you…"

After a minute or two of holding it in, the former Inkling finally broke down in tears in front of everyone over the loss of her friend. More specifically, her first real girlfriend. The other attendees understood, as a good majority of them were in tears themselves—barring Senbo and Aibo, of course.

But Meggy soon pulled herself together in order to continue. She wasn't quite finished with her eulogy yet. The cop-in-training still had one more part of it to add. One that would make the cockiness of the teenage couple fade away.

"And your death will not be in vain," she said, as her tone turned much more serious. "From what Saiko told me, Tari's hand was too far away for her to reach, so I refuse to believe she fell in by accident. This was a murder! She was thrown into the quicksand! Someone was out to get her! And I will not rest until that someone is found! I am going to use my police skills to personally go over all of the evidence, then present it to Mr. Monitor!"

As soon as Meggy's statement ended, Senbo and Aibo's concerns began. They were looking at each other with fear and worry. This girl, in no uncertain terms, said she was associated with Mr. Monitor, their worst nightmare. And if he was relentless in catching criminals, they couldn't bear to imagine the influence he had on Meggy. The couple didn't want to think about the repercussions they could face if they were found out. After all, even though nobody actually died from their actions, they did break quite a few laws in their quest to play Saiko's guitar, and their quest to prolong her sadness. And they knew they wouldn't be in the clear forever, having heard about Meggy's accomplishments in the final Splatfest, among other things.

It looked like the former Inkling had more to say, but before she could continue, she heard high-pitched screaming from behind her. Recognizing that voice, she turned around to find none other than Mario stabbing the pit of quicksand with a big knife.

"DIE, YOU BASTARD!" he screamed. "YOU TOOK OUR FRIEND! ARREST THIS SON OF A BITCH, OFFICER MEGGY!"

Luigi and Fishy Boopkins did their best to hold Mario back as he kept stabbing the quicksand pit.

"Pull yourself together, Bro!" said Luigi.

"The mean old quicksand learned its lesson," reassured Boopkins. "It knows what it did."

Normally, Meggy would roll her eyes when Mario did something stupid or acted crazy, but in this instance of both, he did it out of pure defense of Tari, which the cop-in-training couldn't help but find admirable. Though, that still didn't stop her from looking on in bewilderment, as one does when dealing with the red-clad idiot's shenanigans.

After all, this wasn't the best time for shenanigans. She had a murderer to catch, and a friend to avenge.

This is as good a time as any to mention the story's length. There will be a total of seventeen chapters unless plans change.

Again, I thank everyone who viewed, commented on, and favorited my story. See you next week for Chapter 11!