July 19.

He then handed this note to Dr. Wright.

            Dr. Wright said, "Oh, thank you so much, MegaMan.  This is all I need to reswap their brains back to normal.  Of course, it means making some device, but I can definitely do it before tonight."

            * * *

            Control Room, Metroid.

            Meanwhile, on the sinister world of Metroid, Ludwig Kong�, Dr. Boy�, Wendy von Koopa�, Mother O. Koopa�, ProtoMan, Eggplant Wizard, and King Hippo returned.

            "Whoa!" exclaimed Koopa.  "Where is Dr. Wily?  WHERE IS MOTHERBRAIN?!?  WHAT'S THIS HAIRY BEAST DOING HERE?!?!?"

            Mother Koopa� said, "Oh, that stinking Donkey Kong happened.  He is the one in whose big, hairy body Ludwig is trapped.  I, MotherBrain, am trapped in Wendy's body.  Wendy is trapped in Ludwig's body.  Donkey Kong is trapped in Dr. Wily's body.  Dr. Wily is trapped in GameBoy's body.  GameBoy is trapped in my body."

            Koopa said, "Oh, my gosh!  We must get you four changed back to normal!"

            "Not just yet, Father," Ludwig Kong� said.  "I plan to stay in this body until we rip the N-Team to shreds!"

            "You know that that's a rottenly cruel idea, Ludwig," said Koopa.  "And I love it!  Ha, ha!  Let's get started!"  In burst Simon Belmont, MegaMan, and Dr. Wright.  Dr. Wright had in his hands a new invention.  MegaMan had GameBrain�, and Simon had Donkey Wily�.

            "Not if we have anything to say about it!" said MegaMan.

            Ludwig Kong� said, "It's the N-Team!"

            "How true, Ludwig," said Simon.

            Dr. Wright pressed a series of ten buttons, the tenth activating the machine.  "This will switch back your brains properly."  Light, ultraviolet, X-, and gamma rays and electricity formed between the bodies of Donkey Kong, Ludwig von Koopa, Wendy Koopa, MotherBrain, and GameBoy.

            "Oh, no!" Mother O. Koopa� said.  "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?"  Within ten seconds, the brain-transfer was complete.  All brains were back in their normal bodies.

            "Oh, no!" said MotherBrain.  "I'm back in this. . . ooh, this extremely beautiful brain!"

            Ludwig said, "Great!  Eggplant Wizard, veggisise them!"

            "Okay, Dr. Wright!" said Eggplant Wizard.  "Here're tomatoes in your eyes!"  Eggplant Wizard hurled tomatoes in Dr. Wright's eyes, temporarily blinding him.  "My string-bean net will hold you, MegaMan and GameBoy!"  Eggplant Wizard tossed several string beans in the air.

            MegaMan laughed, "Ha, ha!  Is that supposed to frighten us?"  The string beans all magically opened up to form a net, which entrapped MegaMan and GameBoy.  "Whoa!"

            "Veggie-net appears to be effective," GameBoy observed.

            Ludwig remembered that he had hypnotised Simon.  "Okay, Simon.  I order you to return to the Palace of Power."

            Hypnotised, Simon responded, "Yes, Prince Ludwig."

            "Hey!  Where are you going, Simon?" asked MegaMan.  Simon left.  "All right, you mega-rat!  What have you done to Simon?"

            Ludwig laughed, "Ha, ha!  I merely placed him under hypnosis with one of my latest machines, the Instant Hypnosis Inducer.  With it, I can hypnotise anyone anywhere.  For example, I am on the edge of the galaxy.  I can send a potent signal at over 100 billion trillion quadrillion times the speed of light - that's pretty darn fast - and hypnotise someone on the other edge of the galaxy within seconds."

            "What do you want to talk about?" MegaMan asked.

            Ludwig laughed, "Ha, ha!  Talk, MegaMan?  I want you to die!  Ha, ha, ha, ha!  Roy, give me the plasma-ray!"

            Giving Ludwig the ray gun, Roy said, "Here you go, Ludwig!"

            "The energy of the plasma produced in this ray is so high that the plasma can disrupt a blue star, cut open the planet Mercury, destroy the dense atmosphere of Venus, and a heck of a whole lot more."

            "When are you going to French-fry us?" MegaMan asked.

            "Oh, a few days.  In the meantime, I am going to hypnotise you three, just like I did Simon Belmont."  Ludwig got his hypnosis machine and hypnotised MegaMan, Dr. Wright, and GameBoy.  "I command you three to return to the Palace of Power and act the way you normally act.  Simon, I command you to act normally."  MegaMan, Dr. Wright, and GameBoy entered the warp zone to the Palace of Power.

            * * *

            Palace Jail, Palace of Power, VideoLand.

            Princess Lana led Mason into the jail room.  "Your defendant is in here, Mr. Mason."

            "Thank you, Your Highness," said Mason.

            "It helps that you know him."

            "It certainly does.  I believe that he would never commit this offence - that of stealing the Sacred Square of Tetris - in his whole life.  Once, I defended him in a murder trial.  Turns out he was saved by Duke's - ah - 'testimony.' "

            "I see.  After English, is there a secondary language in California?"

            "It is Spanish, but I'm afraid that I don't know much.  I learned French and Latin."

            "Interesting."  They arrived at a cell marked '023.'  "Oh, Kevin!"

            Captain N responded, "Hello, Princess!"

            "I was able to acquire you the assistance of a defence barrister."

            "Hello, Kevin," Perry greeted.

            Kevin said, "Mr. Mason!  Hello!  Boy, am I glad to see you!  How are you?"

            "Oh, I am quite well.  And you?"

            "-Sigh.-  Fine, considering the circumstances.  I just know that someone's trying to frame me, probably the Brain-Team.  This is all I know:  when I got back to my room, the Sacred Square of Tetris was in there."

            "I am glad to be certain that you wouldn't do this, Kevin.  I shall do the very best that I can do in court, as I should do anyway.  I looked over this book of law given to me by Princess Lana.  It seems that the form of justice and law is followed by 90% in VideoLand compared to the written form of justice and law in the United States.  Knowing that the same basic form of justice and law is used here as in the U.S., I'm sure I can use my legal knowledge to help you."

            Paul Drake, who along with Della had come with Lana and Perry, said, "There is also one of the best prosecuting attorneys on this case. . . Hamilton Burger."

            "Mr. Burger?  That nut!" said Kevin.

            Mason said, "Calm down, Kevin.  Now, let's start from the beginning.  What happened?"

            "Well, let's see.  King Hippo and Eggplant Wizard stole the Sacred Square, and Prince Lyle told us about it.  Ludwig had someone put a fake Sacred Square in its place.  Larry put the key on the ground in front of the Chamber of Tetris, where the Sacred Square is kept.  We fell for their trick, and, all of a sudden, I walk into my room and see the Sacred Square lying on my dresser, and Lyle calls us and tells us that the 'Sacred Square' that was in the Chamber of Tetris was a fake.  You don't need to tell me that the fake-square-business makes it seem worse for me."

            "I believe you, Kevin.  I should know who the judge is."

            Lana said, "I am, since the trial is being held in the Palace."

            "Why. . . oh, that's correct.  In the book, it says that, unless he or she is ill or missing, the ruler of VideoLand is to be judge over trials heard in the Court at the Palace of Power.  I would like to draw up some subpoenae {suhb-pé-nehy} for defence witnesses."

            "Namely?"

            "Simon Belmont, Prince Lyle, MegaMan, Ludwig, MotherBrain. . ."

            "Excuse me for interrupting, but do you think that Ludwig and MotherBrain would tell the truth under oath on the witness stand?

            "No, but I'll give it my best shot.  Who is the bailiff?"

            "Ordinarily, it would be Kevin, but since he is the one being tried, it'll be Simon."

            "Very well.  I would also like a search warrant, allowing the search of Metroid, Kevin's bedroom, and the Chamber of Tetris."

            "I don't know if Mayor Squaresly would approve of a search warrant for the Chamber of Tetris or if it would be safe to do it on Metroid, but I can let you search Kevin's bedroom without a warrant. . . if he doesn't mind, of course."

            Kevin said, "Certainly.  I don't mind.  The fact that there are no permanent warp zones in my bedroom may incriminate me, but the fact that temporary and permanent warp zones can be created with the use of special formulae may help me."

            "Of course, Kevin," Perry said.  "Do you want Della to stay with you and keep you company?"

            "Well, only if you don't mind," said Kevin.

            "Princess?"

            Lana said, "Go ahead.  There are no criminals in here to worry about."

            Della said, "Okay, I'll stay.  Where are you going, Perry?"

            "Paul and I are going into Kevin's bedroom to seek for anything which may be used as evidence," said Perry.

            Drake asked, "You sure we can search your whole bedroom, Kevin?"

            "Go ahead, Mr. Drake," Kevin said.  "Search every square millimetre if you have to do so."

            "Thank you," said Mason.  "I hope that we find something of use.  See you later, Kevin."

            "See you later, Mr. Mason."

            * * *

            Captain N's Bedroom, Palace of Power.

            Upon their arrival, Lana said, "I sure am glad that Kevin keeps his room this clean."

            "I don't think his mom would believe the state of this room, Princess," said Perry.

            "Why?"

            "His bedroom on Earth tended to - heh, heh! - get in a real mess at times."

            "So I've gathered from what he's told me."

            Drake said, "Well, this search had better turn up some evidence."

            "Here," said Lana, giving something to Mason.  "Use this, Mr. Mason."

            Mason asked, "What is it?"

            "It's a heat-seeking device.  It can detect heat left from warp zones which closed hours ago."

            "Thank you, Your Highness."  Perry Mason used the device all around the room until he reached where the warp from Metroid had been.  Then, the device beeped loudly.  "Ha!  It says that it has been precisely six hours since there was a warp here."

            Lana said, "It is 17.30 now, so the warp must have been here at 11.30."

            "It says that the warp was from Metroid," said Mason.

            Drake said, "Well, that is one bit of good news so far."

            "Maybe, Paul.  It can be introduced as material evidence, according to my handbook.  We had better search high and low for more evidence."  They did so for half an hour.  They found nothing to deal with the case.

            Lana said, "Well, I'm glad that we found nothing incriminating to Kevin."

            "I am sorry that we found nothing to deal with his defence," said Mason.  "Princess, we need that search warrant to Metroid.  Dangerous or not, Paul and I must go.  In fact, let's take Kid Icarus with us.  Someone will have to help us if we get into trouble."  Kid Icarus flew in.

            Kid Icarus asked, "Did someone mention my name?  Oh, wow!  You're Perry Mason!  I see that the Marios got you here."

            "Yes, I am Perry Mason.  This gentleman is my detective, Paul Drake.  My secretary, Della Street, is downstairs with Kevin.  The other two, Hamilton Burger and Lt. Arthur Tragg, are. . ."

            Entering with Burger, Tragg interrupted, "We are right here, Perry."

            "Hello, Hamilton and Tragg."

            "We figured that you might be here."

            "Hunting for evidence, Perry?" asked Hamilton Burger.

            "Of course."

            "Well, we were just convinced that Kevin did, indeed, do it."

            "What?"

            Tragg said, "Oh, we visited the Brain-Team just now.  Seems that Ludwig was lying to protect his accursèd image in public.  It appears that Captain N did commit the robbery."

            "Well, what was so convincing?"

            "A video film that shows Captain N sneaking into the Chamber of Tetris, using a blowtorch to break the seal between the Sacred Square and the wall and removing the Square, placing a fake in the Sacred Square's place, making off with the Sacred Square, putting it on his dresser over there, wiping it clean of fingerprints, and staging a faint," Hamilton said.  "Well, Perry, it is really too bad the Brain-Team's camera also includes a tape recorder.  Oh!  And one more thing."

            "Yes?"

            "See you in court.  Not that I really wish to prosecute Kevin again, mind you, but I must perform my civic responsibility."

            * * *

            Control Room, Metroid.

            Back on Metroid, MotherBrain was watching on her monitor.  "Hee, hee!  Perfect!  Our tape worked!  Hee, hee, hee!  While Captain N has the told the unbelievable true story, we have told the perfect lie!"  Having heard, Ludwig entered.

            "Yes," Ludwig said.  "And with the aid of my magnetic tape distorter, none the less!  Ha, ha, ha!  With it, my act of changing the magnetic pattern coating on the tape to any formation I want is a breeze.  With the proper junk set up in our lair, we can make it look as if we actually recorded the stuff!  Ha, ha, ha!"

            "That evidence will be so convincing. . . and so convicting!  Ha, ha, ha!"

            "Too bad they do not have a spy satellite like the Silver Hawks' Tally-Hawk!  Ha, ha, ha!"  The doorbell rang.  "Ah, the doorbell.  This time, let them in, Eggplant Wizard, or I'll. . ."

            Hurrying, Eggplant Wizard said, "Yes, Prince Ludwig!"  Eggplant Wizard cautiously opened the door.  "Who's there?"

            Mason announced, "Perry Mason, Paul Drake, Princess Lana, and Kid Icarus with a legal search warrant are here to search this location."

            Eggplant Wizard said, "Oh, yeah?  Well, go away anyway!"

            "Shut up, you dumb idiot!" said MotherBrain.  "Let them in!"

            "Okay, Your Peachiness."  He let Perry, Paul, Lana, and Kid Icarus into the control room.

            MotherBrain greeted, "Ah, Thy Highness.  Thou gracest us with thy presence."

            Lana said, "Cut the sweet talk.  We are come to search, not chat."

            "Of course," said Ludwig.  "Let me show you a video that I showed to Hamilton Burger and Lt. Arthur Tragg."  He switched on the tape player.  Perry Mason, Paul Drake, Princess Lana, and Kid Icarus saw exactly the same thing that Ludwig had shown to Hamilton Burger and Arthur Tragg.  "Can there be any doubt?"

            Lana said, "-Sigh.-  Not enough to switch my thinking of Captain N from 'innocent' to 'guilty.' "

            "Hmph!" said Kid Icarus.  "I may not be a material witness, but I know that you somehow were able to alter the magnetic field on the tape to make it look as though that is actually what happened.  I also know that Kevin-icus would never do such a thing."

            "Not nearly enough," said Perry.

            "Eighty percent on one side of the coin, twenty on the other," said Paul.

            Ludwig said, "Well, you can take it.  I have no further use for it."  Mason took it.

            "Well, guys, let's get back to the Palace.  We are in for a doozy in the courtroom tomorrow."

            * * *

            July 20.

            Palace Jail, Palace of Power.

            The next morning, at 7.30, Mason arrived at Kevin's cell  "The preliminary hearing is in only thirty minutes, Kevin."

            Captain N said, "Well, I guess I'm ready."

            * * *

            Control Room, Metroid.

            Back on Metroid, the Brain-Team was getting ready.  "Ready, everyone?" asked Ludwig.

            MotherBrain, Koopa, Larry, Roy, Wendy, Morton, Lemmy, Iggy, Eggplant Wizard, King Hippo, Dr. Wily, ProtoMan, Ridley, and Mouser said, "Ready, Prince Ludwig."

            Koopa's mother said, "Wait up!  I'm going, too."

            Koopa began, "But. . ."

            "Oh, I'm glad that you approve, Bowser," interrupted Bowser's mom.  "Let's go."  MotherBrain, Koopa, Ludwig, Larry, Roy, Wendy, Morton, Lemmy, Iggy, Eggplant Wizard, King Hippo, Dr. Wily, ProtoMan, Ridley, Mouser, and Koopa's mother entered the warp to the courtroom.

            * * *

            Palace Courtroom, Palace of Power.

            At 8.00 the trial started in the courtroom.  In VideoLand Standard�, Bailiff Belmont announced, "All shall arise for the honourable Judge Lana."  Everyone in the courtroom arose.  Judge Lana (Princess Lana in judge's robes) came in and took her seat behind the judge's bench.  She bashed down her gavel.  "All witnesses and officers shall remember that this court uses the language VideoLand Standard."  [� - The formal language of VideoLand; basically English, except that thou and its forms are used for the singular and you and its forms for the plural in the second person.]

            After everyone was seated, Lana ordered, "The court shall come to order."  Eggplant Wizard stood up.

            The foolish vegetable said, "Okay.  I'll have an eggplant sandwich, hold the pickles."

            Everyone in the whole courtroom laughing, except herself, Mason, and the Brain-Team, Lana said, "We require no comic relief.  Bailiff, bring that - er, ah - vegetable to the bench."  Bailiff Simon took Eggplant Wizard up to the bench.  "Prosecutor, shalt thou have any questions of this witness after the charges and plea are taken?"

            Burger stood.  "Yes, I shall, Thine Honour.  The People of VideoLand charge the defendant, Captain N, whose actual name is Kevin Keene, with the robbery of the Sacred Square of the World of Tetris."

            "What is thy plea, defence?" Lana asked.

            Mason stood.  "Our plea is not guilty, Thine Honour."

            Burger said, "Very well.  I call Eggplant Wizard to the stand."

            Eggplant Wizard said, "That's I!"

            "Raise thy right hand, please," said Bailiff Simon.  Eggplant Wizard raised his right hand.  "Swearest� thou to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help thee God?"  [� - When the subject is thou, the verb is placed before thou in a question, and generally the verb 'do' is not included.]

            In French, Eggie said, "I do."

            "Please say it in VideoLand Standard English," Simon said in English.  "Although French is an official language of VideoLand, this is not the French Republic, thou knowest.  And, although Spanish, German, and Italian are official languages, do not use them either, since this is not the Kingdom of Spain, the Federal Republic of Germany, nor the Italian Republic.  So, assume that this is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and speak English!!"  Everyone in the courtroom laughed quite audibly, an action which Lana made no attempt to silence.  It would have been useless.

            "Okay, I do!" snapped Eggplant Wizard in English.

            Bailiff Simon said, "Very well, thou mayest be seated."  Eggplant Wizard sat in the chair on the witness stand.

            Burger asked, "Now, Eggplant Wizard, wast thou yesterday morning at precisely 11.30 on the planet Metroid?"

            "Yes," the incompetent vegetable responded.

            "Couldst thou tell the courtroom what transpired that morning?"

            "We taped someone entering the Chamber of Tetris, removing the Sacred Square, putting a fake square in its place, taking the real Sacred Square back to the Palace of Power, putting it on his dresser, and removing the fingerprints."

            "And couldst thou point to this person?"

            "Yes, he is right there in the defence seat.  It's Captain N."

            "Thy witness, counsellor."

            Mason got up and went over to the witness chair.  "Eggplant Wizard, knowest thou what the punishment for perjury is?"

            Burger said, "Thine Honour,. . ."  He got up.  ". . .Mr. Mason is asking a totally irrelevant question."

            "I was merely inquiring the witness as to his knowledge of what would happen if it were found out that he was lying under oath."

            Sarcastically, Burger responded, "Oh!  I am truly sorry, Mr. Mason."  He sat down.

            "Dost thou, Eggplant Wizard?"

            "Not really," said Eggplant Wizard.

            "One to three days in jail, along with four or five days for that little outburst of thine.  If thou hast not perjured, thou wilt just have to spend four or five days behind bars instead of five to eight for the outburst and perjury.  I've no questions."

            Judge Lana said, "Bailiff, take that eggplant into custody and hold him in jail in contempt of court for five days for his outburst."  Bailiff Simon took Eggplant Wizard to jail.  "Call thy next witness, prosecutor."

            "I call King Hippo to the stand," said Burger.  King Hippo got up.  Once King Hippo had been sworn in, Burger asked, "In thine own words, King Hippo, tell this courtroom what happened that morning."

            "Well, actually, I refuse to answer on the grounds of incrimination," King Hippo said.

            Burger's face contained a look of slight surprise.  "Incrimination to whom?"

            "To me, Mr. Burger."

            "I see.  Thy witness, Mr. Mason."

            Mason said, "No questions.  This may be extremely unusual, Thine Honour, but I should like to call someone who is very familiar with the afternoon.  I would like to call Mario."

            "Is there any objection from the prosecution?" asked Lana.

            "Well, normally, I would find this objectionable because of Mr. Mason's well-known 'theatrics' from Los Angeles, but I do not," said Burger.  "Go ahead, Mr. Mason."

            Mason said, "I call Mario to the stand."  Once Mario was on the stand, Mason said, "Now, Mario, please describe the afternoon in question."

            "It must have been the craziest afternoon of my life," Mario said.  "MotherBrain, Ludwig von Koopa, Wendy Koopa, Donkey Kong, GameBoy, and Dr. Jerome Wily had their brains swapped."

            Mason said, "I do not want that thou tell� how their brains were switched in relation to who received whose and so forth, Mario.  I do, however, want to know how their brains become unswapped."  [� - In this case, the subjunctive mood is used; therefore, -est is not added to tell.]

            "Dr. Xavier Wright, MegaMan, and Simon Belmont warped to Metroid. . ." began Mario.

            "Excuse me," Mason said, remembering a detail.  "What is Metroid's official name in English, if thou knowest?"

            "In English, the official name of Metroid is the Planet of SR388."

            "I thank thee.  Please use that official name from now on."

            "Of course.  Anyway, Dr. Wright, MegaMan, and Simon warped to the Planet of SR388 with a special device and got all of their brains unswapped.  Those bad guys have not learned that it is unwise to perform illegal activities with the N-Team around."

            "I thank thee, Mario.  I have no further questions."

            Burger arose.  "Now, Mario, couldst thou tell me how their brains were swapped in relation to who got whose, a door which Mr. Mason opened?"

            "Well, Mr. Burger, let me recall."  He thought back.  He knew he should have remembered, but he had forgotten.  "I can't remember.  I do know, however, several people who might remember:  MotherBrain, Ludwig von Koopa, Wendy Koopa, Dr. Wily, GameBoy, and MegaMan."

            "Very well.  That is all."  Burger sat.

            Judge Lana asked, "Hast thou any questions on re-direct, Mr. Mason?"

            "No, Thine Honour," said Mason.  "I should like to bring back Eggplant Wizard as a defence witness.  Until that can happen, however, I should like the prosecution to continue.  I want no time to be wasted."

            "Witness is excused."  Mario left the stand and went back to his seat.  "Next witness, Mr. Burger."

            Burger said, "I would like to call Dr. Jerome Wily to the stand."  Once Dr. Wily was sworn in, Burger asked him, "Now, Dr. Wily, what rememberest thou concerning the day in question?"

            Wily said, "We had abducted Princess Peach, whom Prince Roy and Prince Morton had brought to us, and Ludwig would try to put her brain in Wendy and Wendy's brain into Princess Peach.  MotherBrain wanted to put her brain into Princess Lana and vice-versa.  Ludwig made an invention that would painlessly do so.  Anyway, Peach escaped to KongoLand, where we went and finished the invention.  Those who went were Ludwig, Wendy, Eggplant, Hippo, MotherBrain, ProtoMan, and I.  When we had finished the invention, we went via motorboat on the Floating River to find Peach.  MotherBrain had Ludwig, Wendy, ProtoMan, and me in her tentacles, protecting us from the current, while Eggplant and Hippo were riding behind on water-skis.  MotherBrain had the Brain Changer on her jar.  The enormous denizen of KongoLand, Donkey Kong, grabbed her jar and Ludwig, Wendy, and me along with it.  Donkey Kong also had GameBoy.  ProtoMan, Eggplant and Hippo smacked into a tree.  The electromagnetic brain-strainers, part of the brain-transfer device, attached to Donkey Kong, GameBoy, Wendy, Ludwig, and me.  Those two idiots, Eggplant and Hippo, flung a coconut at Donkey Kong, trying to make him let go, but instead they hit the button on the Brain Changer.  When they did that, the brains switched in the following manner:  Ludwig's brain went into Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong's brain went into me, my brain went into GameBoy, GameBoy's brain went into MotherBrain, MotherBrain's brain went into Wendy, and Wendy's brain went into Ludwig."

            "I thank thee, Dr. Wily," said Burger.  "I have no further questions."

            "No questions," Mason said.

            Judge Lana said, "Witness is excused.  Call thy next witness, Mr. Burger."

            Burger said, "Thine Honour, I should like to call Miss Wendy O. 'Kootsie Pie' Koopa to the stand."

            Wendy arose.  "I beg thy pardon, prosecutor!  I just happen to be a member of a royal family!"

            "Okay, I call Princess Wendy O. 'Kootsie Pie' Koopa to the stand."

            "That's better!"  She was sworn in.

            Burger began, "Now, what canst thou. . ."

            "Pardon me!" Wendy interrupted.  "I am a princess, while thou art not of royalty.  I strenuously request that thou address me in a more respectful fashion."

            Lana sighed, impatient with Wendy.  "Counsellor, she has the right to be granted that privilege.  Her request is extremely rare, but she does have the right."  I ought to do away with that, though. . .

            It was quite clear that Wendy was getting on everyone's nerves, especially the prosecutor's.  "Very well, Mademoiselle {mahd-mwah-zehl}.  What does Mademoiselle recall of the afternoon in question?"

            Wendy said, "I thank thee, Mr. Prosecutor.  I wanted to transfer my superior brain into Peach's inferior body.  This was so that I could control the measly Mushroom World."

            "Now, would Mademoiselle mind telling me of the official name of the Mushroom World?"

            "I would not mind at all.  In English, the official name is the Kingdom of the Mushroom World."

            "I thank Mademoiselle.  Please refer to the Mushroom World as its official name in English.  And I suggest that, if Mademoiselle is about to talk about Metroid, she use its official name, also, in English."

            Judge Lana said, "Enough speculation as to the witness's testimony, Mr. Prosecutor."

            Burger said, "I apologise, Thine Honour."

            Wendy said, "When we got to the Planet of SR388 after the brain transfer, King Dad nearly freaked out!  Then, Simon Ring-mont, GameBrat, Dr. Wrong, and MaggotMan showed up and switched back our brains!"

            "Very amusing.  I thank Mademoiselle, Princess Wendy.  That will be all."

            "I have no questions, but I reserve the right to recall this witness," said Mason.

            Judge Lana said, "Mademoiselle may step down, Princess Wendy."  The hearing continued until noon.

            Burger said, "Thine Honour, I believe that I have made my point crystal clear that Kevin Keene did, in fact, have the motive and opportunity to commit the crime.  He desired to end the Brain-Team's threats to VideoLand, and I have established that he could have taken the Sacred Square as a means to accomplish those ends.  I move that he be bound over for jury trial, unless Mr. Mason bring about a case for the defence right away. . ."  He looked at his watch.  ". . .or, should I say, right after court reconvenes, in view of the hour.  It is nearing the lunch hour.  I suggest that the court hold recess until 14.30."

            "Defence has no objections," said Mason.

            Judge Lana said, "Very well, gentlemen.  Court will recess until half past two."  She brought down her gavel.  Everyone rose as she was leaving.

            Mason said, "It does not look very good for you, Kevin."

            Captain N asked, "Do you think I don't know that?"

            "Don't worry," said Mason.  "Kid Icarus has just gone to Mount Icarus in order to purchase an arrow that will make anyone under its power tell the truth."  Extremely unfortunate for them was the fact that MotherBrain was listening to their conversation!

            MotherBrain whispered, "Hee, hee!  Ludwig, I have an interesting piece of news for you."

            "What?" Ludwig asked.

            "I overheard Perry Mason and Kevin conferring over there, and it just so happens that Kid Icarus has left for Mount Icarus to purchase an arrow to make anyone under its power tell the truth."

            "Ha, ha!  If we can stop him from getting that arrow, Captain N will just be normal ol' Kevin Keene!"

            "Exactly," said MotherBrain.  Bailiff Simon took Captain N to jail as Ludwig, MotherBrain, and the rest of the Brain-Team were taking their leave to Metroid.

            * * *

            Mount Icarus.

            Meanwhile, on the extremely difficult but picturesque world of Mount Icarus, Kid Icarus made the dangerous journey to the summit to the home of Pernicus, the arrow-maker.  At last, he arrived half an hour before court was to reconvene.  "Whew!" said Kid Icarus.  "I made it!"

            Larry and Roy came out of hiding from behind Pernicus's house.  "Hold it right there, Kid Foolicus!" Larry said.

            "Koopalings!  What are you doing here?"

            Roy asked, "What does it look like, Kid Wimpicus?  We're beating you up!"  He grabbed Kid Icarus by the neck.

            Kid Icarus said, "Ooh!  Mario and Luigi will beat you up when they find out what you're doing!"

            "Oh, yeah?  Not if they don't find out what we're doing!  Ha, ha, ha!"

            Larry said, "Come on, 'Bully.'  Let's beat it before Pernicus gets his fat rear out here."

            Coming out, Pernicus asked, "Did someone mention my name?  -Gasp!-  Kid Icarus!  What are you two mean - and quite disgusting - reptiles doing to my friend?"

            Roy said, "We're capturing him. . . and don't call us disgusting!"

            "Help!" cried Kid Icarus.

            "My sleeping spell will stop him!" said Larry.  "Ha, ha, ha!"  Larry swished his sceptre from left to right once, and it was beddy-bye time for the arrow-maker.

            "Let's scram before he comes to!" Roy suggested.

            "Excellent idea, brother."  They entered their warp to Metroid, which closed once they were through.

            * * *

            Control Room, Metroid.

            "We did it, all!" Larry announced.

            MotherBrain said, "Excellent."

            Kid Icarus said, "-Nng!-  Let me go, you rotten Koopaling-us!"

            "Whatever you say!" said Roy nastily.  He tossed poor Kid Icarus at King Hippo's huge belly.  King Hippo was unfazed by the impact, while Kid Icarus was totally knocked out.

            King Hippo laughed, "Ha, ha, ha!  That's what you get for messing with us!  We're too strong for you, Kid Icky!"  MotherBrain grabbed him by the leg with her tentacle.  "Yaah!"

            Lifting him up to her face, MotherBrain asked, "WHO'S too strong for him, King Hippo?"

            "You!  You and the Koopas are too strong for him, MotherBrain!"  Mouser was quietly chuckling.

            Ludwig demanded, "WHAT'S SO FUNNY, MOUSER?!?!?"

            "Huh?" asked Mouser.  MotherBrain moved King Hippo over Mouser and released the fatso.  From Mouser, scrambling but not moving to get away, popped out a ton of dud Bob-ombs.  King Hippo landed on Mouser with a loud thud.  "Nothing, Prince von Koopa.  Nothing's funny at all."

            MotherBrain said, "That's right. . . especially for those poor souls on the N-Team.  Soon, Captain N will be Captain N no longer.  Then we Koopas, excellent-looking gods and goddesses whom we are, will be the rulers of the Milky Way Galaxy!  Ha, ha, ha!"

            "Yes," said Ludwig.  "Then I shall despotically control this galaxy!  Hee, hee, hee!"

            King Hippo got up.  "I'll still be captain of a battle-cruiser starship, will I not?"

            MotherBrain said, "Of course.  A promise is a promise.  Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!"

            "Now," said Ludwig, "take Kid Icarus down to our special accommodations for good guys."

            "Yes, sir!" said King Hippo.  "I'll get a Waver to guard him."

            "Good, King Hippo."  King Hippo took Kid Icarus and left the room.

            "Ah, why do we have nice rooms prepared for do-gooders?" asked Mouser.

            "The expression 'special accommodations' does not necessarily refer to nice rooms, you idiot," said MotherBrain.  "Ludwig was talking about the dungeon in Brinstar."

            "Oh.  Sorry, MB."

            "And well you should be!"

            "Well," said Larry, "it should be fun seeing Captain N writhe in agony in court!  Ha, ha, ha!"