The chapter came a little later than I anticipated, but I actually wrote the entire thing today (generally I split it up between a few days). I may even write another one today or tomorrow, so expect the next update soon!
Murder in the mushroom kingdom
Chapter 8-Too Difficult of a Case
It seemed as though everyone woke up in sync. It's not that everyone actually wanted to wake up, it's just that they didn't want to get back to the dreadful reality…or they just wanted to finish that good dream they were having. Good dream? Was it even possible to have a good dream in a time like that? No, definitely not…right?
Well, there was certainly no good dream for Mario, unless a nightmare would be considered as such…The thing was, though, Mario never had nightmares, so it was a big change for him. Not the kind of change he would want to remember, though. Well, he did have nightmares before, but only a few times in his childhood days…like the time he watched his first horror movie. This dream, however, was much more violent. Mario dreamt that he was the killer and murdered Peach by pushing her out of a window. Gee, Mario sure had some pleasant dreams…
Luigi, somehow, did have at least a semi-good dream. 'Semi-good' was the key part there. Well, at least wasn't going around and murdering Daisy…
It was several hours after the groups awakening that they managed to find time and hold some sort of a talk. Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Toadiko, Toadbert, Toadsworth, and Toadetta crowded into the still messed up ballroom. Again, everyone thought this entire situation to be a dream…it was too terrible to be true. At first, everyone just seemed to be glancing around at each other, almost as if they wanted somebody, anybody, to talk…
Well, why not let Peach break the ice? She was generally good at starting conversations…but not very good at ending them…, "Mario? You're a good detective…you can solve the case…"
Mario hated it when Peach would refer to him as a detective. He didn't want anybody to get the wrong impression of him…ah well, it didn't really matter. However, just because he was good at solving cases, as he's done it many times in the past, doesn't make him a top-notch sleuth. Maybe she was trying to hint to him that he should become a detective? Well, if that was the case, her wishes weren't coming true anytime soon…, "Well…this particular case seems to be…a bit confusing…"
"Don't be so modest…" Peach said, "You'll know that you'll solve the case…just like always!"
Mario sighed. Why doesn't Peach try and solve something for a change? She had always claimed she was a straight A student in school, so why doesn't she try and show off that intelligence and stop trying to make somebody else do it? She was really becoming a jerk over the past few days…
"C'mon…think!" Peach tried to encourage him, but she only got a glare in return. It was never good when Mario gave someone 'the glare'; it either meant that Mario didn't have a good meal for lunch, or that you were very close to death…
"Okay…"Mario finally gave in, "Now let me think…"
Silence settled over the room. Everyone's eyes were fixed on Mario as he just…stood there. It was boring…a few of them almost wanted to tell him to think faster, but what could happen of they interrupted his train of thought? Would he have to start all of his thinking over again? Now that was something they didn't want…
It had been almost five minutes of waiting now, and some of them were getting the sensation that someone had hit the 'off' button on him…it would have been better if the 'off' button was on Peach; she never shuts up…
"Okay…" Mario announced. He wouldn't have been surprised if a few people had forgotten what they had even been talking about…, "First, I think we should go over why my name wasn't on the list…"
"Peach, are you sure you didn't forget to put Mario on there?" Toadsworth asked. It made him think of the time when Peach had hosted some ceremony and she forgot to put Mario's name on the list. He and Peach had gotten into a huge fight, similar to that of the previous night, except it was much more violent, it lasted longer, and you would want to consider offering Peach some anger management classes. Toadsworth wouldn't have been surprised if that was just the case again…
"Yes, I'm sure! I think I would know if Mario was on there!" She made Toadsworth sound like he was some old fool. Maybe it was Peach who was the fool…
"And the weird thing was…, "Luigi started, actually getting a say in the conversation, "I was on the list…"
"Yes…" Mario agreed with his brother, which was quite odd. Usually he would disagree and would start quarrelling, but he didn't really want to start another fight, "Peach, can you say for an absolute fact that you remember putting my name on the list?"
Peach nodded, but didn't speak. She feared that anything she said might be the start of a screaming match. That was the last thing they needed in a time like that. Especially considering that Peach screaming would probably cause a few people to go deaf…
"Okay, do you still have the list?" Mario asked, keeping his fingers crossed that she didn't think of it to be a useless piece of junk and throw it out. She would be the kind of person to do that…
"Yes, I think I know where it is…" She disappeared and reappeared in a flash. She didn't plan to waste any time dilly-dallying. For all they knew, the murderer could be half-way to Donut Plains by now…
Everyone huddled over each other to see the list. It was a quite uncomfortable few seconds, and you would probably find yourself asking the person behind you to give you some breathing room…
"What?!" Peach shrieked, "You're not on here!" Either the name had been removed from the list, or Peach was just going crazy. Well, she was already crazy. It made her think of the time when she called the police because she thought that there was a murderer outside of her castle. She kept spreading rumors and even had an article put in the newspaper that there was a murderer about. It turned out that it was only her gardener…
"I bet someone took you off of it…" Daisy pointed out the obvious. She was generally good at doing that, except it always annoyed people.
"The murderer, no doubt…" Toadiko managed to say in the midst of the talking and confusion.
Mario nodded, "I just don't get it…" It wasn't common to hear Mario say something like that…generally only out of complete desperation would he say something such as that. Was this case too difficult for Mario?
"But Mario!" Peach whined, "This case isn't nearly as difficulty as the Poshley Heights case!"
"Yeah…" Mario said, "But you solved that one…"
"Oh yeah…" And maybe Peach had memory loss, too. This girl was falling apart at the scenes! What would be next? Would she park her car at the wrong castle? Hopefully not…Gee, she was sure having a rough time.
"Are you saying that you can't solve the case?" Toadiko looked at Mario. What, was she trying to make him feel even worse that he couldn't figure out what was going on?
"Yes…I guess I am…"
"Well…" Toadiko started. What did she have up her sleeve? Hopefully she had found some clue everyone had overlooked. Or a vital piece of information that no one caught onto. Everyone looked at her anxiously, eager as to what she was going to say. Mario almost wanted to slap her if she didn't come out with it already! "I know a detective…and I think we should give him a call. He might figure something out that we didn't…"