Reunited
Chapter 14: Secrets
Prince Peasley sneaks through the lower levels of Popple's ship, anxious to find out what kinds of things Popple hides in his quarters. Upon entering the room, he locks the door behind him and immediately sits down at his cohorts desk. He pulls out one drawer and sees what you would expect: pads of paper, pens, old photographs, and a few other things. Peasley, realizing that this drawer is not of importance, closes it and moves on to the next. Inside it Peasley is shocked to find tons of newspaper clippings. Confused, Peasley pulls one out and begins reading through it.
"Keelhaul Key destroyed!
Did arson break loose on the island inhabited by the ghost of Cortez, as well as a small group of settlers? Authorities were stunned to find that the entire island had been burnt to nothing but ash, with a can of gasoline being the only thing found at the scene of the crime. All of the sailors who had settled upon the island, as well as Cortez himself, have not been seen since the fire and are presumed to have been killed either in the blaze or while attempting to escape.- K. Koopa"
Peasley gasps, "Why would he keep a clipping of something like this?" Confused greatly, Peasley pulls out another. The date on this is much more recent.
"Destruction of Sierra Beach Hotel Planned?
Recently, King Doopliss of Sarasaland authorized a pirate known only as Captain Syrup to tear down this infamous tourist attraction in order to get a priceless artifact buried deep below the building. How long does this historic hotel have left to stand?"
Peasley, still not sure what is going on with this, pulls out another clipping to see if it will offer some hints.
"Infamous pirate captain and king of the Kremling race K. Rool was recently found dead alongside a yellow female Mouser who has yet to be identified but is believed to be Pipsy Mouse, who went missing around 2 months ago. Police currently have no leads but an investigation is currently underway."
"What is he up to?" Peasley wonders aloud before shutting that drawer and opening another. In this, he finds two bottles of pills, with one marked "F. Death" and the other labeled, "Revival." No sure of what these could be, Peasley shuts that drawer and moves on to the last one. Inside it, he finds a thick folder loaded with documents, and a piece of paper with what looks like a checklist. Peasley reads down the checklist, which has no true organization to it and appears to be random.
"Bobbery (check), Syrup, Flavio, Cortez (check), K. Rool (check), Jamano (check), Johnny Jones, Pa-Patch,..." Peasley continues to read down the list, noticing that every single name on the list was a famous pirate, and that most had been checked off- and that all of those who are checked off are dead.
"This doesn't make any..." Peasley opens up the folder and shudders in horror. Inside are a ton of bios of not just pirates, but people who have been found dead alongside each pirate that is checked off. And most gruesomely of all... crime scene photos. Peasley recognizes most of these- he was shown similar pictures each time a new death in the Pirate Hunter case was brought to his attention. As he shifts through bios of Bobbery and Johnny Jones and Flavio and Cortez and Pipsy and the many other names either on the checklist or who had been found dead alongside those checked off, he gasps in horror when he stops at one of the later bios.
"Name: Prince Peasley
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 182
Born: Beanbean Town, Beanbean Kingdom
Status: Bachelor
Occupation: Prince of the Beanbean Kingdom
Weapon of Choice: Rapier
Target: Jonathon Jones"
"No.." Peasley likely would scream if not for the fact that he knows that Popple would have his head that much quicker if he were to discover what he was doing. It was then that Peasley discovers something else in the drawer that causes him to become sick to his stomach. Pulling out a small jar, he notices a large yellow eyeball floating inside of it, which makes Peasley realize that not only is Popple evil, but he is also completely insane. He decides to put everything like he had found it and leave everything as it was, then expose Popple when the two reach civilization. After putting everything back the way it was the bean snuck off back to his room.