Author�s Even *Longer* Notes: Ha! Look, no violence. Didn�t think I could do it, did you? This parts for all you people out there who think all I can do is graphic descriptions of gore. I might be a little morbid, but I�m not all about killing and blood and guts and stuff.

On another note, you might wanna know a bit about how I see the Mushroom Kingdom and basically the Mario-verse in general. Mushroom people... Now, they ain�t our usual short, stubby, what in the world is THAT?! kinda thing. They get to be more normal looking, since I happen to see things in a more realistic, anime-ish sorta light. They tend to be just short of regular people height with regular people features, with a mushroom stuck on their head like a hat. ::shrug:: Go figure.

And Mario, Luigi and Princess Toadstool? As you might have noticed in the earlier... part thing, they�re more realish too. Mario is your usual chubby plumber, but he�s not all fat, ya know? If you ran around all day stomping on things, you won�t be either. He�s got muscles and could actually be quite strong. And Luigi? My whole perception on him has been permanently changed by one picture. By one fan art. He is now forever embedded in my mind as a drop-dead gorgeous, droolalicious to an extreme bishounen. I�d link to it, but I�m too completely lazy and don�t feel like messing with it. Peach, and all her princess-ness, is just as beautiful as ever. If even more. I like her, what can I say?

Warning: This is for all you people out there who just can�t seem to handle this stuff. I�m really not a bad person, I just really get into it when I write violence, so I�d watch out throughout this whole story. This chapter doesn�t really have all that much to watch out for, so don�t worry. Just a short description of half-rotten bodies. That�s it, I swear! And another thing. I hate cussing. I usually don�t do it... In Real Life. But this is a fic, and I tend to put some naughty words in there. If you don�t like that, just try to ignore them. ::smile:: There really won�t be much, I promise.

People in the Mushroom Kingdom weren�t use to murders, to but it mildly. In fact, no one had ever been killed before. All deaths had been natural. Even during Bowser�s attacks, people might get hurt, but no one was ever killed. The mushroom people didn�t know how to handle something like that, and when they didn�t know how to do something, they left it up to the Mario Brothers. Too bad they didn�t know how to manage it either.

Luigi watched the landscape flash by with unfocused eyes as the carriage rushed along the dirt road. Sitting with his shoulder leaned against the side and forehead pressed on the glass of the window, he was the perfect picture of boredom. At least, that was what he hoped he was pulling off. Inside, his thoughts were in turmoil.

~Murder. *Murder* for Gods� sakes! How do they expect us to pull off this one?~ Princess Toadstool�s words still chilled him. ~Who would have ever thought that the word �murder� would be one I associated with the Mushroom Kingdom.~ Well, at least one of them was managing. Mario looked as calm and confident as always.

What Luigi didn�t know was that Mario was basically thinking the exact same thing as his brother right at that moment.

The day was perfect for traveling, just like the whole past month had been perfect. Just like, Luigi just realized, practically every day in the Mushroom Kingdom had been perfect. There was never a bad day in Mushroom Land. The slender plumber perked up, finally actually concentrating on the scenery rushing past outside with a wary eye.

Ever plant was healthy, luscious and as green as any plant had a right to be. The sky was the precise color of blue that was always associated with bright sunny days. What clouds that he could see through the dense trees blocking the sky were white and had just the right amount of fluff. It was perfect, and always had been.

Luigi flopped back into his seat and craned his neck around to glance at his brooding brother. "Hey, Mario? Can I ask you a question?"

Mario only gave him a second�s look, before turning back to his window and muttering, "What is it Weegee?"

"Has it ever rained?"

"What?!"

"Has it ever rained in the Mushroom Kingdom?"

"Well, of course it has. It rains everywhere."

"Yes," Luigi continued just as patiently. "But has it rained here?"

Mario opened his mouth, but stopped whatever words he was going to say in mid-breath, finally stopping and thinking about the question seriously. Taking the same suspicious, confused and slightly surprised look out the window, he studied the foliage the way Luigi had and came to the same conclusion. "What the Hell...? How do these plants even live?!"

"That�s what I was wondering."

Mario tried to think about it for a minute, then realized that he was getting nowhere. It just didn�t make sense and trying to figure it out just brought his developing headache baring down even harder. He shrugged. He�d just ask the Princess after this was all over.

The place where the Royal coach, that Peach had insisted that they use, had taken them was a quaint looking little place. A small farm house, a few miles out from a town that was itself quite far out from any major city. It had taken them a good three days of straight, uninterrupted travel to get there from the Castle.

The house, though possessing a minute base, was two stories and looked big enough to support a regular family. Like what was typical for all farm houses, there was a white, picket fence surrounding the yard full of child�s playthings. A tricycle was tipped over by the porch and a sandbox was encircled with a hefty amount of dolls. The area surrounding the house had been cleared of all trees and many different types of crops were planted in their place. The farm obviously wasn�t in to large business, looking mainly like it grew just enough for the family to live off of. Beyond the farmland stretched miles and miles of wilderness.

The house would have been quite charming and picturesque. That is, if it hadn�t been crawling with dozens of mushroom cops.

Mushroom cops were rare, and even more rarely used. Violence was a scarcity, but a police force was still needed for those small, domestic outbreaks. Policemen had been called in from everywhere and yet it was still a stretch for their numbers to get above twenty.

Mario stepped out of the carriage first, stopping for a few seconds on the steps of the door to survey the area. But right when his foot touched the ground, his hand was grabbed up in a rough handshake, then let go just as quickly. In front of him was a rather gruff looking man, for a mushroom person at least. He was of medium height, by mushroom standards, and possessed a compact, muscular frame. The uniform he was wearing identified him as being a captain, the highest rank a mushroom could receive in the police force.

The man saluted sharply. "Captain Sol Stephen, at your service, sir."

Mario nodded back to him respectfully. "Mario, of the Mario Brothers... If you didn�t know that already." Sol just quirked his lip, so Mario continued. "And this is my brother... Weegee! Get over here!"

Luigi had leapt silently off the stagecoach and had tried to creep off quietly to the side. Cops had never been his thing, especial after that time he had been arrest back in Brooklyn. When his older brother called out his name, he winced and scuffed his way over to the couple, looking slightly sheepish.

"This is my brother Luigi. Luigi, Captain Sol Stephen." Mario finished, then elbowed his taller sibling in the side when he just stood there.

Grumbling a bit, Luigi finally stuck out his hand for a shake. Captain Stephen glanced down at it before taking it an excessively hard handshake, thick fingers practically swallowing up Luigi�s own slim ones.

Luigi broke away first, giving Sol�s dark blue eyes a flickering glance before taken his customary place at Mario�s side. He didn�t trust the suspicious-looking little bastard.

"Now down to business." Sol abruptly said after a few awkward seconds of silence. "If you�ll come this way." The mushroom cop made his way with ease through the small crowd, leading the Mario Brothers to the front porch of the house. They stopped in front the Mushroom Land version of caution tape - duck tape, running from one side of the door to the other.

"As the Princess has hopefully told you, three people in total were killed. A man, his wife and their child, a six year old girl. From what we can make out, the husband and wife were killed in their room, when they were asleep or right after they woke up. There were not much signs of struggling. The girl was assaulted in her room, then supposedly dragged out to the hallway and thrown down the stairs, breaking her neck and killing her.

"The bodies weren�t found until a few days after the killings. As you can tell, the family, the Hendersons, were sort of recluse and only visited the nearby town once a week. The only reason they were found this soon was because their nearest neighbor, a farmer herself, came over to ask for a cup of sugar, of all things."

The Captain stopped, making sure he had the Brother�s undivided attention. "Before we go in, I want to make sure you two don�t have a weak stomach. It could be bad for someone not accustom to this sort of thing."

Luigi smirked, but Mario was the one who answered for them. "I�m sure we�ll be fine, Captain."

Sol sighed, gave both of them a look, before ducking underneath the duck tape and making his way inside. Mario and Luigi followed right after him.

Inside, the house was musty. The air was filled with the man-made, semi-clean smell of air freshener, but there was a definite underlying aroma of metal. A tangy taste was left in the mouth after every breath. A few more police were in the front room, but besides them, the house was basically empty.

Sol went over to the foot of the stairs, where most of the action appeared to be. Kneeling down beside a sheet-covered lump on the floor, he motioned for the Brothers to join him.

"I�m giving you one more chance. This is the body of the girl, Amy, and it isn�t very pretty. If you don�t think you can handled, leave."

Mario sighed and met the mushroom captain�s eyes. "It doesn�t matter, does it? If we can or if we can�t, we still have to do this. This is our job. The people expect this of us."

Sol, understanding what Mario meant, just nodded and, without any warning, pulled the cover away.

The little corpse that was unveiled was stiff, keeping it in it�s deformed shape, and crusted with blood covering almost all of it�s face. A cheek was split wide open, exposing the bone below. One wide blue eye was staring upward vacantly while the other... The other eye was completely missing, the space where it should have occupied a mass of half-dried tissues and fluids. The head only seems to be attached by bruised skin alone, laying like a rag-doll at a crooked angle.

Mario inhaled sharply, taking one quick glance before looking away, appalled. Luigi�s reaction turned out to be much worse. The rangy plumber gave a strangled cry, staring transfixed at the body of the small girl. Dark eyes wide and still focused on the carcass, he scrambled to his feet, taking a few steps backwards. When his back hit the railing of the stairwell, he grabbed a hold of it with a shaking hand and darted upstairs. Mario shouted his brother�s name and followed right after him.

On the second floor, Mario looked around worriedly, searching for signs of his sibling. At the end of the hall, a door was open, covered in more Mushroom Kingdom caution tape. Closer, another door was open, but it�s duck tape was broken. Mario made his way to that one and went in.

Mario had guess right and inside he found his shuddering brother huddled in a corner, knees drawn all the way up to his chest and arms wrapped about them. Mario cautiously picked his way through the room, stepping over a few toys and a large puddle of blood, and kneeled down beside Luigi.

"Hey Weegee." he called softly, laying a gentle hand on Luigi�s bony shoulder. "What�s wrong?"

Luigi squeezed his eyes shut and didn�t answer for so long that Mario was about to ask again, when he finally blurted out, "How could anybody do such a thing?"

"I don�t know Luigi. I wish I did, but I really don�t know."

Downstairs, Sol glared disgustedly towards the up level, and cover the body back up gently.

Pisces: Aw yes, brotherly love... (sniffs) Smell that good ol� over dramatization!

Luigi: (come storming in with Mario right behind him) How dare you make me seem like such a wimp!

Pisces: Eep. Er... Hello Luigi... Mario... How�s your day been?

Luigi: Cut the crap! What�s with this shit about me freakin� out over a dead body of stupid girl I didn�t even know?!

Pisces: Well... hehe... Ya see, I have this thing where I have to make everything overly dramatic and...

Luigi: (growls)

Pisces: (chuckles weakly, giving a cowardly smile)

Luigi: Mario - Get her! (both Super Brothers come charging at Pisces)

Pisces: (screams and goes running off screen)