Chapter 29 The True Culprits

Lemmy took a deep breath. His five siblings stood around him as he stood outside the door. They all appeared confused as Lemmy battled a round of chilly sweats. Wiping his brow, Lemmy took a step towards the door. The others were quiet as mice, which Lemmy didn't know if he appreciated or if he despised.

"Well…" He swallowed a lump. "This could potentially be it." He reached his hand out toward the doorknob before shrinking back. "I don't… I don't know if I can do this."

Ludwig took a step forward and placed his hand on Lemmy's shoulder. "Don't worry, Lems. The five of us will be right here. If something goes wrong, you can bet that we'll be the first to step in."

Sweat still poured from every pore on Lemmy's body. "And… you guys plan to get the police involved, right?"

Iggy grinned and got out his cell phone. "Dialing as we speak."

Lemmy let out a breath. "Okay. Good." Lemmy stepped closer to the door. "Wish me luck."

The others all did that, and Lemmy went inside. As he walked through the house, he couldn't help but focus on his fear. Maybe… maybe this was one of those times where it wouldn't be the worst thing to emulate Shellock Holmes. Shellock Holmes was usually able to put on a brave face and do what was needed to make sure the case was solved. Lemmy needed that bravery right now. That was the one part of Shellock Holmes's personality that he desperately needed.

With this thought in mind, Lemmy searched the house. The first thing he saw was the telescope that he had spotted the last time he was here. He frowned upon seeing it, as well as when he saw the book that was resting on the floor beside the telescope. He picked it up, softly snorting when he saw that it was turned to a page about cosmic clones. Oh, if only he had noticed that last time he was here…

But that didn't matter. He needed to focus on the here and now. Lemmy turned on his heel, continuing his search for the person who lived in this house. He checked several areas before he found a door slightly open. The clack clack clacking of computer keys being pressed could be heard, which made Lemmy put on a determined expression. This was it. Here was where he would find the answers.

So, he opened the door. The person at the computer didn't see him because his back was turned, but Lemmy saw them. On their screen, he saw security camera footage. Specifically, the footage from the security camera that had been hanging over Benson's door.

This caused Lemmy to grin. Yes. It was him. It was actually him. Putting on his serious face yet again, he cleared his throat. The person at the computer nearly jumped out of their own shell, rushing to change the tab on the computer as they did. They turned toward Lemmy, chuckling as they did.

"Shellock? What… what are you doing here?"

Lemmy cringed. "Actually, it's Lemmy." He glared at him. "You should know this, Tack."

By now, Tack was sweating bullets. "Okay, fine. What are you doing here, Lemmy?"

Lemmy glared at him. "Oh, I think you already know. He stepped closer into the room, keeping the door open just a crack. Thanks to the sunlight filtering in through the window on the opposite wall, Lemmy got a good view of Tack's worried being. "You thought you could get away with it. You thought that you could play all of us for a fool." Lemmy concentrated his glare into an even scarier expression. "Well, you were wrong."

"Wrong?" Tack chuckled. "Wrong about what? I have no idea what you're talking about?"

Bile rose to Lemmy's throat, but he tried to ignore it. "Yes, you do." He took in a breath. "It was you. It was you and Tillie all along. You were responsible for the crimes that happened last night."

Tack's eyes grew wide, but he didn't say anything. A seed of doubt sprouted in Lemmy's mind, but only for a brief second.

"The clues were right there all along." Lemmy stepped even closer to Tack. "You knew about the meteor shower tonight because of your telescope, as well as the research that you've conducted through that book I saw." Lemmy gripped his hand into a fist. "You probably wanted to control the clones to get as many goods and belongings as possible, but you didn't have any means to do so." Lemmy gripped his other hand into a fist. "Until last night."

Tack didn't say anything, just stared at Lemmy with wide eyes. That was all the prompting Lemmy needed to keep going.

"You managed to hack into Benson's security camera, which I'm sure it a crime you committed years ago in order to spy on your 'best friend.' You saw that Celia had the star bit ring last night, and thanks to your research, you knew that such a treasure would work wonders when it came to controlling the cosmic clones." Lemmy stepped closer to Tack. "You had been looking for answers for a while, and you finally found it. Convenient that it happened on the exact same night as the meteor shower that would get you access to the cosmic clones."

At this point, Tack didn't look frightened anymore. He just looked at Lemmy with a blank, if not slightly serious, expression. By now, Lemmy was on a roll with revealing the details of this case, and nothing Tack did would stop him from talking.

"But you couldn't just pull of a heist like this by yourself, oh no. You needed to get a second party involved." Lemmy glared at him, at this point feeling a form of hatred that he didn't normally feel. "And in came Tillie. You sent her to attack Roy and Celia. And while she did that, stealing the ring in the process, you decided to give yourself an alibi and help me and my siblings look for Roy and Celia." Lemmy snorted. "A sneaky practice, I must admit. If I wasn't so pissed at you, I would even say it's impressive."

Lemmy cleared his throat. "But you feigning innocence didn't stop there. When you saw me coming from Benson's house, you knew you were in trouble. You knew that I could eventually track you down if you weren't careful enough. And that's why you were so quick to agree with me when I said I believed Benson was the culprit." Lemmy looked Tack right in the eyes, glaring at him as he did. "That's why, when Tillie was helping me look through Benson's belongings, she planted the ring in his drawer. She thought that could fool me, which unfortunately it did. And you continued to fool me by pickpocketing the ring when you went to hug me that one time." Lemmy's anger was going through the roof right into the atmosphere. "Well, you fooled me enough, Tack. I thought you were a decent koopa when I first met you, but no. You are as far from decent as a koopa could possibly get. Both you and Tillie are responsible for this whole fiasco." He glared at him again, feeling ready to punch him. "I'm just disappointed that it took me so long to figure it out."

Tack frowned. He stepped away from the computer desk, looking Lemmy right in the eye. Neither koopa said anything for a solid minute, instead looking at one another with the utmost ire. Lemmy dared him to speak with his eyes. He almost wanted Tack to try to defend himself, to try and weasel his way out of the punishment that he so clearly deserved.

Eventually, he smirked. "Well. I must say, Lemmy, I'm very impressed." He chuckled. "You could really make it as a police detective, you know that?"

The bile in Lemmy's throat grew stronger in flavor. "Don't patronize me." He walked over to Tack, who refused to make the smirk leave his face. "I worked long and hard to find the answer to this mystery."

"That you have." Tack laughed. "I will say, Tillie and I did put our all into covering our tracks. Clearly, we didn't do it well enough."

"Hell no!" Lemmy had to use all his self-control to not lunge at Tack and pin him to the wall. "You really think you could get away with this?" Tack started laughing, making Lemmy even madder. "The people who you hurt are VERY important to me! Do you really think I would just sit idly by while they get hurt? You really think I would just let this crime go unpunished when members of my family are actively suffering?!"

At this point, Tack couldn't stop laughing. Lemmy felt chills run down his arms as he listened to that sound. He also felt a twinge of fear occur the longer he stared at this koopa.

"No. I suppose I shouldn't put it past you."

"Hell no you shouldn't!" Lemmy gripped his hand into a fist. "This is it, Tack. You and Tillie are going to jail. You're gonna return the stuff you made the clones steal, and you are gonna spend the rest of your lives ROTTING AWAY IN PRISON!"

Tack smirked again. "Oh, Lemmy." He reached into his hammerspace, pulling out the star bit ring. He grinned wickedly at Lemmy as he stuck the ring on his finger. "I'm not going anywhere."

The ring glowed, and before Lemmy knew it, some cosmic clones crashed in through the computer room window. Lemmy gasped as he looked at them, all in the forms of either Lemmy himself or that of his siblings. Tack touched the star bit ring as he looked at the clones.

"You are an impressive sleuth, Lemmy, but I know for a fact you aren't the best fighter." He looked back at his posse of clones. "Rush him!"

And with that, the clones descended on Lemmy. They punched and kicked him, knocking the air out of him and providing him more pain than he had ever felt in the past. Seriously; not even getting dunked in lava hurt as much as the cosmic clones's fists making contact with his skin. Lemmy felt like crying. He really did.

But that didn't mean he was just going to stay here. Using his small stature to his advantage, he squirmed his way away from the clones and rushed out of the room. He bolted down the stairs, all while Tack and the clones rushed after him. He stopped in the middle of the living room to catch his breath, which was all the time the clones needed to catch up with him. They pounced on him, pinning him to the ground. Lemmy gasped and struggled, but he couldn't get free.

"LET ME GO!"

Tack just chuckled. "Sorry, Lems. I did have fun hanging out with you, but I think you know too much at this point." He looked at the clones holding Lemmy down. "Kill him! And kill him good."

Sweat poured from Lemmy's head as the clones started beating him again. SMACK, one fist made contact with his nose. WHACK, another hit him right in the eye. Throughout all this, Lemmy had the hardest time breathing in. It became clear to him that, if Tack really wanted him dead, he wasn't going to stop at anything until that goal was accomplished. Lemmy closed his eyes, knowing that he had no hope of fighting back when…

BOOM!

And just like that, the clones got pushed back. Lemmy opened his eyes, wondering what the heck was going on when he noticed a new type of heat in the room. He turned toward the door, grinning when he saw his siblings. Wondering how he could've possibly forgotten about their presence, he felt giddy looking at Ludwig, standing at the front of the pack with his fist ablaze.

Tack's eyes grew wide. "What the…?"

"First thing you need to learn about the Koopalings, Mister," Ludwig said with a grin. "You mess with one of us, you mess with all of us."

Tack gritted his teeth and clutched the hand that wore the ring. "You think you're all that, huh? Well, you aren't going to stop me. I control the clones! I…"

And with that, the ring was surrounded by a blue aura. It slid off of Tack's finger and floated right over to Ludwig. When it got into the Koopaling's hands, the cosmic clones faded into the ether. This just left Tack, standing near the stairwell with wide eyes and a dropped jaw. Even with his injuries, Lemmy had never felt so thrilled. Lemmy rose to his feet and stared down Tack.

"It's over, Tack. Your days of crime end right… now!"

When he said "now," police officers filtered into the house. Without the ring, Tack had no way to defend himself against them. This meant that all he could do was run. He attempted to do that, but the officers pounced on him before he could. He struggled and wriggled, but not nearly enough to stop the officers from putting him in handcuffs.

"This isn't over!" Tack cried as the police dragged him away. "You will pay for this! All of you will!"

The police dragged Tack out of the car, and… that was that. Lemmy stood in place for a second just breathing in. The more breaths he took, the happier he became. He let out little laughs as he walked up to his siblings.

"We… we did it!"

"No, Lemmy," Ludwig said as he placed his hand on his shoulder. "You did it."

Lemmy couldn't remember the last time he felt this proud of himself.

AN: Don't go away! There's one chapter after this, so stay tuned! :D