Sorry for the crappy first version! The damn internet screwed the initial posting of the chapter. Now I have to stick with this, so you know where that leads.
Anyways, I made it into EMF! I'm hoping to have a great time (and hopefully play the Mahler 1st depending on how my seating audition goes when I get there), but this means that I won't be available to write chapters from the end of June until the end of July. I can't post any body else's chapter, either, so don't expect anything during the month of July.
I use strong language in this chapterr (I say the F-word six times, to be precise). Don't say I didn't warn you, because I did.
And that's all, folks! Here's the next chapter!
"Damn it! I have to look through the tapes again!"
"Bowser, are you sure this is a good idea?"
"Fox, I found evidence in this one tape of Ganondorf punching a frame and walking into one of those white screens that are all over the place! If what Nana said was true, then I must have been wrong about it all! For that reason, I have to check the tapes all over again!"
The sound of cassette tapes being shuffled around in a box dominated the scene.
Bowser and Fox were rummaging through the security tapes for the first time since the trial. Nana's words had scared the two investigators so much that they were searching for anything to prove or disprove Nana's statement so that at least they would be certain that something was going on.
The Koopa king in particular was shocked. This meant that if the evidence found by the investigation he had started was not correct, Bowser and a few others would have let down ten, possibly eleven innocent souls that left the earth before them.
Bowser was looking for the tape that showed Ganondorf punching the picture of Albrecht. The tape had been labeled "GanonRoom" since the camera was in Ganondorf's room when it had shot the footage. For some reason, though, it was not at the top of the pile of security tapes that had since been put in the basement for storage.
Finally, though, the flashlight Bowser was holding in his hand found the tape, and Bowser lifted it up.
"Here we are," said Bowser. "Here's the tape with the evidence. Fox, the TV is set up, right?"
"Yep," said the young pilot as he backed away from the TV that the two of them had miraculously gotten to the basement in spite of the lack of stairs. The screen was a blue beacon in the sea of partial darkness that was the basement.
"Good," said Bowser.
He then walked up to the TV and inserted the cassette tape inside the VCR player that was plugged into the TV. It automatically played to where Bowser had cued it before the trial in case any evidence was needed against Ganondorf if the court was adjourned before a decision would have been made (which, oddly enough, it was not so). It showed the familiar clip of Ganondorf punching a picture of Albrecht, look around the room, and walk into the white screen.
Nothing much happened after that. Bowser went to the VCR player and hit the stop button, after which the screen once again shone blue.
"I thought so too," said Bowser. "That's still incriminating evidence. Right Fox?"
"Wait a minute…" said Fox. "Didn't Ganondorf say he walked into the control room and found Yoshi in the tank?"
"Yes," said Bowser.
"Didn't Albrecht also say that he had cameras in the execution rooms?"
"Yes, but they didn't reveal anything," said Bowser.
A short silence followed. In the dim light the TV screen provided, Bowser saw Fox run to the box and begin sifting through it to find a tape.
"Fox, I thought I told you I checked those tapes already!" said Bowser. "There's nothing referring to Ganondorf on any of the others!"
The young fox was a bit fast, however, and he unearthed a tape bearing the title "YoshiEx" only seconds after Bowser said what he did.
"We'll see about that…" said Fox.
He walked to the VCR and inserted the tape in the player.
The room Yoshi died in came up on the screen. Everything was intact from how the investigation had found it after Falco had been murdered.
This image stood on the screen for a while, the bobbing of Yoshi's body in his grave being the only movement on the tape.
Suddenly, however, a figure entered the scene.
Bowser recognized this as Ganondorf.
"What is this?" asked Bowser with such sincere surprise.
"Something the matter?" asked Fox.
"This is YoshiEx, right?" asked Bowser.
"Yes," said Fox.
"This wasn't on that tape," said Bowser.
Before they could say another word, Fox ran back to the box and sifted through the tapes as fast as he could, lifting one up right away and looking through the rest.
Bowser turned to the TV screen to see Ganondorf looking around in fright and suddenly running out of the room.
The king sat there for a few moments, dumbfounded at what he had just seen.
If Yoshi was bobbing in his grave the way it was found by the investigation team, and if Ganondorf arrived in that area when Yoshi was in the water, then it had to mean that Ganondorf had been telling the truth about Yoshi.
"Bowser?"
Fox's somewhat nervous voice pulled the king back into reality rather quickly.
"Yes?" asked the king.
"How come there are two YoshiEx tapes and one of all the other tapes?" asked Fox.
"Two tapes?" asked Bowser. "Why would—"
And then, a thought clicked in Bowser's mind that horrified and angered the king beyond belief.
"Fuck!" roared the king. He yelled the obscenity so loudly it reverberated through the basement walls and went right through whatever white screens were waiting to be found in the subterranean world that they were in.
"Bowser, watch your language!" said Fox even more nervously than before. "What—?"
"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" With each obscenity, the king banged his fist on the stand which the TV rested on, banging it so hard Fox was more afraid than ever.
"Bowser, settle down!" yelled Fox. "Take a deep breath, uncurl your fists, and for heaven's sake stop swearing!"
The Koopa king eventually began to exhale quite heavily as his rage watered down.
"What happened?" asked Fox.
"Somebody made a second tape," said Bowser. "He then replaced the tape with the evidence that would have proven Ganondorf innocent with a tape that would not have done so."
Silence was in the air afterwards.
"You think Albrecht did that?" asked Fox.
"No," said Bowser. "I let it happen because I left the tapes by the TV figuring nobody would tamper with them."
"And why's it so bad that you have to scream the f-word six times?" asked Fox.
"It's because of the swapped tape and my immediate assumption that we ended up doing the murderer's work for him."
Fox stepped back, shock showing on his face.
"Are you freaking kidding me? ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?"
"I'm afraid not. I wish we could have noticed it earlier."
"So the murderer is still around?"
"Yes."
"No!"
Other cries of despair followed.
Bowser and Fox had to be the unlucky ones to inform the rest of the investigation team about what they had found. Poor Zelda just stared blankly at the two creatures while Nana was crying uncontrollably. Isolde and Mario were both found shaking their heads violently in a state of denial.
The group had let down ten innocent souls that had gone before him.
"I can't believe this!" shouted Mario. "Why were we so blind earlier?"
"I think we thought a little too much on the personal side," said Bowser. "In a way, I believe what Samus said in the trial was correct. We were too concerned with trying to pin blame that we ended up paving the way for more murders to happen."
"Which basically means we have to be more careful," said Isolde.
"Yes," said Fox.
"Still, I can't believe we're in crosshairs even after Ganondorf died!" said Popo. "I really thought that we were safe!"
"It will be hard for us all," said Isolde. "However, we must overcome. There is no exception."
Heads nodded in agreement to Isolde's statement.
"Do you think we should tell the others about this?" asked Nana.
"Definitely," said Bowser. "They have a right to know. Especially Samus, since she fought so hard to prove Ganondorf innocent when we all thought he was guilty. In the end, she was correct…"
"I know," said Popo. "Come on. We should tell everybody else."
The group left the room.
The eeriness that had taken over the mansion when people knew the murderer was there returned when the news that Ganondorf had not been the murderer had resounded throughout the mansion. The gloom of the blood-red walls that could be stained with blood any second reverberated more than ever in the mansion and the floating candelabra could have been the murderer using a cloaking device to his advantage.
Such were Isolde's thoughts as she walked down the hallway with Marth. The Altean prince had really begun looking out for her for a while now. The young woman had noticed this since the trial, for he would never let her wander about without keeping a steady eye on the young woman. He continued doing this even after the trial where differences in opinion should have separated them.
Neither of them had spoken since leaving the match lounge.
At the moment they reached the dorm floor, however, Marth finally made a move to speak.
"I do not feel very good about what is going to happen next," said Marth.
"Neither do I," replied Isolde. "With everybody's reactions to our revelation, we might get anything."
"Albrecht seemed disturbed by it all," said Marth. "I think he was forced to come to terms with the fact that we had mismanaged all of the information."
"I know," said Isolde. "I wonder where it all began…"
"I think Samus was right in the trial," said Marth. "We were ready to pounce on anybody if we had enough evidence to prove them guilty."
"Thinking back on it, I think so too," said Isolde. "But I can't help thinking of the fact that the trial was somehow rigged."
"It could have been," said Marth.
"I don't think it would have made a difference if it had not been rigged, though," said Isolde. "I mean, Ganondorf might have been found dead in his room afterwards if the trial declared Ganondorf innocent, so the murderer would have gotten him either way."
"I see your point," said Marth. "Samus did not take any of this good."
"I know," said Isolde. "She must have yelled so loudly the space pirates from her home galaxy would have heard her. I understand where she's coming from, though. I'd be frustrated if I defended a person who got executed and my defense proved to be correct."
"She also said stuff about how we were incompetent fools and things like that," said Marth. "I do not believe she meant it, though."
"I don't think so either," said Isolde. "Anger can do that to you."
"Yes," said Marth. "I wonder if the murderer is planning out the next murder as we speak."
"It's scary," said Isolde. "Either we lose Captain Falcon and have angry fans after our tails, or we lose Pichu and get angry parents and fans after us. Either way, the match tomorrow is a very dangerous affair for all of us."
"I know," said Marth. "Let us pray that nothing major happens…"
The two continued walking down the hallway.
"This is very disturbing…" said Falcon as he walked up to his spot on the warp pad.
"Pichu," said the only yellow mouse that was left. "Pichu pi pi!"
"I don't want to die either," said the F-Zero pilot. "But I guess it's inevitable."
"Pichu!" said Pichu.
"I'll tell you what," said Captain Falcon. "I think I'll purposely lose just to let you live."
A confused silence took hold of the warp pads.
"Pichu?" asked a confused Pichu.
"I don't think that children such as yourself should die," said Captain Falcon.
"Pichu pi pichu!" shouted Pichu angrily.
"I know it's stupid," said Captain Falcon. "But you are a child, Pichu! You have a whole life ahead of you! Me? I have lived my life, and I don't regret anything. In the end, living a life that you won't regret in the afterlife is the greatest gift anybody can give you."
Pichu sat on his pad in deep thought. Finally, the mouse Pokémon nodded in agreement.
"Good," said the captain. "Do your best!"
With this, the competitors were warped to their destinations on the arena.
Bowser was sitting alone in his room. He had been thinking about where to begin the investigation again over the past hour.
The king was especially disturbed by the fact that all the evidence they had was incorrect the entire time and that an innocent person had been killed because of one little blunder in the investigation. He knew that from then on he would have to double-check all of the evidence the investigation found to see if there was anything missing.
But even then, Bowser knew this was not foolproof. The murderer had made a second tape in Yoshi's execution room and swapped it with the tape that would have proven Ganondorf innocent. He would have to be careful with the evidence from then on, with one of the first steps being not to reveal where the evidence was to anybody but people in the investigation.
Bowser also thought about the people in the investigation. Marth and Peach had both expressed interest in joining the investigation earlier in the day, so Bowser figured more people were finding out about it. This was good, since the group would get multiple points of view, which would always help in an investigation. Samus was probably going to be the only person not in the investigation since she was still angry over Ganondorf's death.
"Daddy!"
This interrupted his train of thought as the figure of Bowser Junior entered the elder koopa's view. The young koopa's very small form ran to Bowser as he picked up the young child in his arms.
"Junior!" exclaimed Bowser, attempting to hide any depression he was having when he thought. "What brings you here?"
"Everybody's at the match lounge!" exclaimed Bowser Jr. "Why aren't you with us?"
"Well, daddy has… things to think about," said the elder koopa. "Someday you might understand what it is about."
"Oh," said the young boy. "I wonder what you're thinking about!"
"I can't tell you that," said Bowser. "Daddy was thinking of adult topics. You know what I say about those, right?"
"That I wouldn't understand them?" asked Bowser Jr.
"Yes," said Bowser. "And this topic in particular is very confusing for you."
"Okay," said Bowser Jr., a slight sigh revealing disappointment. "Daddy?"
"Yes, son?" asked Bowser.
"Do you think you will die now that the murders are back?" asked Bowser Jr.
This surprised Bowser beyond belief. The elder koopa wondered how Bowser Jr. was able to understand what was going on in the mansion. It did not exactly come as a relief, either, since his son knew that he was in danger of dying.
"I don't know," said Bowser finally after thinking of a response. "Anything can happen. I don't believe I will, but I might."
Bowser knew that the question was ridiculous; as long as he was in the tournament, he could lose anytime. Therefore, he knew that he probably would die as the thing progressed. However, he said he did not know simply to assuage his child's fears.
"I don't want you to die," said Bowser Jr. "My friends back home tell me that when a person's father dies they send that person to an orphanage where the person is hurt until they grow up. I don't want to end up there! I don't!"
"Your friends tend to make it seem worse than it really is," said Bowser. "But if you do not want it, I can… change some things around."
"Really?" asked Bowser Jr.
"Yes," said the elder koopa. "In fact, I think I might go to do that now."
"Hooray!" shouted Bowser Jr. "I want to tell all of my friends about it!"
"You can do so," said Bowser.
The young koopa ran outside jumping in the air in glee. Bowser followed shortly after, seeking a different destination.
It is about time that I redo my will anyways, thought Bowser.
Falcon zipped to the edge of the stage as Pichu landed a final Thunder on the F-Zero racer.
Here goes… thought the captain as he sailed into blackness.
For a few minutes, the captain was in a black void that held nothing in particular.
After a while, though, he felt himself materialize face-down on a table that vaguely resembled a surgical table. He was strapped to the table by his arms and his legs, and he felt himself unable to move from anywhere else thanks to a metal band around his waist that had somehow appeared where he was.
"I see you struggle," said a hoarse voice.
Falcon had figured out that the voice belonged to the murderer.
"I'm just testing my grip here," said Falcon. "What are ya gonna do to me, huh? You gonna dissect me while I'm still alive?"
"Now really," said the hoarse voice. "If I was thinking about dissection, I would have laid you face up instead of face down. You have got the wrong murder idea, my friend."
A patting of metal was heard soon after.
"You see, you are strapped to a guillotine," said the murderer. "I believe you know what that can do, right?"
"It chops people's heads off," said Falcon. "You really think I'm going to allow you to do that?"
"You cannot forbid me," said the murderer. "You are strapped to a table after all."
"Yeah," said Falcon. "But my mouth can do stuff."
There was a slight pause in the conversation.
"Always the rebel until the end?" asked the murderer.
"Hey!" shouted the captain. "I lost on purpose to let Pichu live! I'd be letting him down if I was afraid in the face of death!"
"So you took his death-token…" said the murderer. "Interesting what human nature will do to get others motivated. How did you find out Ganondorf was not the murderer anyway?"
"We were told so by Bowser!" said the Captain.
"Eh, that fool will never get enough evidence to stop me," said the murderer. "You will see in the afterlife, my friend."
At this sentence, rapid footsteps were heard.
"Damn!" said the murderer. "You dirty windbag!"
"Better a windbag than a coward," said the captain in eloquent speech that Falcon himself realized was unusual of him.
"Shut up!" yelled the murderer. "You die now!"
The captain heard Bowser's voice yell out loudly before hearing rope being sliced to his right.
And then, the razor came down on his neck and ended his life.
Bowser, Zelda, and Isolde were all shocked at what had just unraveled.
When Captain Falcon had lost the match, the three of them were off to the basement to search out the white screen with Falcon in it. The others went separate ways to raise the chances of them finding the murderer before Falcon was murdered, and so they were the only three there.
However, right when they got there, a blade had cut the rope of a guillotine in half. This in turn severed Falcon's head off, which then obviously ended in a very graphic way that would have scarred any other onlooker for the rest of their lives.
"Holy shit!" said Bowser. "Search the room! Quick!"
Isolde and Zelda ran throughout the room searching for any traces of the murderer. Anything would have done for either of them; hair, a piece of their garments, anything would have sufficed to satisfy their need to figure out who the murderer was.
Bowser went to the severed head of Captain Falcon, meanwhile. When he picked it up, he was surprised at what he saw etched in Falcon's expression when he died.
A smirk had been placed on his lips forever, and his eyes were wild not with fear but with the air of a victorious king that had won a major war.
Bowser wondered what could have caused such a facial expression to be formed on the face of Falcon right when he died.
"We can't find anything!"
Isolde's voice snapped Bowser out of his trance. With a reluctant sigh, Bowser turned to Isolde.
"Nothing?" asked Bowser.
"Nothing," said Isolde. "What is going on with Falcon's head?"
"I don't know," said Bowser. "It's almost as if—"
And then, everything made sense to the king.
Captain Falcon had gone into the murder knowing he was going to die. However, he was defiant until his time came. As stubborn as Falcon usually was, Bowser knew that in the end his stubbornness garnered him one little victory for the other competitors.
"Isolde," said Bowser. "Zelda."
"Yes?" asked the two women.
"We have to show the others Falcon's head," said Bowser. "He was defiant until the end, and I think it would speak a great deal to the others to show how fearlessly he walked into the shadow of death. This murderer is hard to catch, but he is not invincible. This head is the most obvious testament of that. The smashers would need great motivation to hear that this murderer is not the invincible one we take him to be!"
"I agree," said Isolde. "Except I think you might want to be careful with the details…"
Bowser nodded, and walked out of Falcon's death room.