Chapter 3
That same night, the ghostbusters were conducting their experiments. Peter and Winston used all the languages they knew, and surprisingly, all were understood. They suspected it was an effect of the weapons, making Morse code the only thing not understood by people. Although frustrating for them, they had no choice. What they didn't know was that the weapons only translated their original language to others, and that the people in the castle had a spell to understand languages from anywhere. Knowing this later made them laugh a lot, thinking that everything they were doing was meaningless. Meanwhile, Egon and Ray were walking in the long corridors of the castle, focusing on the distance at which the weapons repel each other and being able to gain experience without problems, discovering that at 10 meters (32.8084 feet) the weapons could already exercise their full potential. This made them happy, causing them to return to their room, being interrupted by Utena, asking them why they were awake so late, to which Ray replied, "Just doing some experiments." To which Utena asked if breaking some paintings and vases was part of the experiment with an angry look since in the end they should fix it before the king discovers what they did. Ray and Egon started laughing and apologizing for that, saying they would fix it in the morning. Utena, seeing them sincerely wanting to fix their accident, forgave them and asked them to go to their room before someone saw what they did. She started to go fix what they broke while Ray whispers to Egon, "I hadn't been this scared since I saw Janine angry because we used her computer for an experiment." To which Egon only affirmed with his face and the two quickly went to their rooms waiting for their friends, and after they left, Utena smiling only said, "We must have faith."
That same night, Malty was creating her story to bring down the heroes, being helped by the church since they didn't like that the 4 heroes were so united and preferred that the 4 were fighting among themselves, as they did with the previous heroes. In the morning, she presented herself to her father with a carefully crafted story with help from the church. "Father, these heroes... they're conspiring against us. I've heard rumors and seen signs of betrayal. The Ghostbusters are not what they seem, and I fear they have hidden intentions." The king, always prone to believing his daughter's words, frowned and listened attentively. "Conspiring?" replied the king, still doubtful. "But... they are going to fight for the kingdom."
Malty, with a false expression of concern, added: "That's precisely what makes me suspicious, father. Their behavior is strange, and I don't like the rumors about them. I fear the heroes might be planning something much bigger than simply saving our kingdom." The king, confused by the information his daughter had provided, decided to take action. He sent for the heroes, intending to confront them in the throne room. Meanwhile, in their rooms, they were resting, unaware of the princess's plans. The next day, when they arrived at the throne room, everything seemed normal... until Malty made her move.
"Heroes!" shouted the princess, with a voice full of false indignation. "I accuse you of treason! I have discovered that you are conspiring to overthrow royalty. All your movements have been carefully planned, and now you will pay for your betrayal!" Winston, upon hearing this, stepped forward, determined to calm the situation. "What? This makes no sense. Why are you accusing us of treason? We haven't done any of what you're suggesting."
But the princess, with a cunning smile, gave no room for defense.
"I have proof, father. To begin with, the spear hero took out all the arsenal they had and we don't know the location, which tells us he has sold their devices to other kingdoms. Then there's the bow hero, who spoke of other gods to a faithful believer of the church making him doubt his own faith, and the sword hero who insisted on dangerous places, surely to have an empire at his orders and overthrow us, and finally the shield hero who with his witchcraft learned our language and read things that weren't for all people, surely he has in his mind secrets that he will give to other kingdoms to finish us and eliminate us." At the end of her speech, she turned and started crying, falling to her father's knees asking for justice so that they wouldn't hurt her and her little sister. Peter, who had quickly realized the manipulation, tried to intercede. "Enough!" shouted the king, who seemed completely convinced by his daughter's words, and the King, blinded by anger towards the shield hero and by his daughter's deceptions, sent everyone to jail while everything was sorted out since he couldn't kill them as it would cause the other kingdoms to go to war, and a betrayal and the danger of his daughters dying made him act without thinking. "This is a betrayal we will not tolerate. I will arrest you and when the wave comes you will be the first to go and die so other heroes can come."
The group was stunned. They couldn't believe what they were hearing. The princess, with her well-constructed falsehood, had achieved what she wanted: the condemnation of the heroes.
Author's note: all rights to Ghostbusters belong to Columbia Pictures and Ghost Corps and The Rising of the Shield Hero to Aneko Yusagi