Well, this is just a story that came out of seemingly nowhere. Either way, I was pretty excited about it as ideas kept flowing, so the first chapter just came to me like that. Anyways, enough of my rambling. Enjoy the story!

House of the Reaper

Koops awoke, his eyes slowly fluttering, but quickly shooting open the next moment. He sat bolt upright and looked around himself.
This wasn't his house. It was old and run down, wall paper peeling off the walls and the images of portraits long faded hanging on the walls. The other decor reminded him of what one would find in their grandparents' house. Plain flowers were placed in generic vases on tiny tables that seemed designed specifically for them. The curtains over the window were navy blue with white pinpricks adorning its surface. The blankets on his bed were identical.
He gasped when he saw a figure lying beside him. She mumbled and turned toward him, her eyes closed. She was obviously asleep.
Even though Koops had never seen the Goomba girl in his life, she looked extremely cute. Her blond hair was tied back in a pony tail and she wore a red neckerchief that complimented her pink skin. What was odd, however, was that she was wearing a miner's helmet. Why would one wear that to bed?
He examined himself and ate his own words. He was in his usual attire, a blue hoodie, green pants, and white shoes.
'I know I didn't fall asleep in my regular clothes.' he thought. 'Or...did I? I can't seem to remember anything about last night.'
Now he was worried. He had woken up in a strange place, certain memories missing from his head. It was odd, but he could remember some things, but not others. For example, he could remember all of the furniture in his room, but when he tried to remember the Koopa girl who was smiling in the picture on his bedside table, he couldn't recall anything. It was as if someone had erased the more personal parts of his memories.
He looked around again and pinched himself for good measure. Nope, he was not dreaming. He turned back to the Goomba girl who was smiling happily, a strand of drool dripping from her mouth. Now that he took a good look at her, she did seem a bit familiar, but he couldn't put his finger on it.
Koops poked her gently on the cheek and she grumbled. He did so again and her eyes slowly opened.
"Whuh?" she asked hazily.
"Hello?" Koops asked timidly. "I, uh, could use some help. You see, I-"
The girl shrieked and backed away from him. "Get away from me! What are you doing in my home!?"
Koops raised his hands in defense. "I-I'm sorry! I don't know how I got here, but I swear, I don't know what's going on! This is your home?"
The girl looked away from him for a moment, inspecting her surroundings. "Well, now that you mention it, I don't recognize this place." She quickly returned to her accusatory state, however. "But what's your deal, huh? Why were you sleeping with me, you creep!?"
Now it was Kooper's turn to retreat as the Goomba advanced on him, threatening him with a lamp. "L-look, I don't know what I'm doing here! Please, don't hurt me!"
The door to the room flung open and another person charged in. The door smacked Koops and sent him to the floor, clutching his head in pain.
"All right, what's the deal!" a very angry Koopaling shouted. "Why am I in this crappy place, and why can't I remember stuff?"
A tall monkey followed him in. "Yeah, and why were you in bed with me, weirdo? I want some answers."
"Who are you guys?" the Goomba girl exclaimed.
The Koopaling with the sunglasses smirked. "Well, well, well. At least I know that there are two cute girls around here. Maybe it's not all bad."
Two more figures entered the room, one a blue fairy, the other a green dinosaur.
"What's going on?" the green dinosaur questioned. "We heard voices coming from here, so we came running."
"Why can't I hover?" the blue fairy complained, hopping up and down, but failing to float. "I was always able to do that before. Why not now? And why were you in my bed, you lizard?"
"Where are you all coming from?" the Goomba shrieked exasperatedly.
Yet again, another pair entered the room, this one consisting of a female Toad and an elderly Bob-omb. They were closely followed by giant ape and mouse wearing a mask.
"Anyone have any idea what's happening?" the ape questioned.
"Why was I sleeping with a monkey?" the mouse asked.
The Koopaling sighed and face palmed. "Seriously, why are all of you chicks so hung up on that? Never woken up next to some random guy before?"
The female Toad spoke up. "Seriously, what's happening? Is this some kind of reality TV show or something?"
Voices rose and struggled to speak over one another, creating bedlam as everyone tried to yell over each other.
"QUIET!" Koops yelled, a headache making him turn sour. The others fell silent and stared at him, expecting him to say more.
"Well?" the fairy asked. "Care to explain what's going on?"
Koops scratched his head and answered sheepishly, "I, uh...I don't really know either...I just wanted you all to stop yelling..."
"Whatever, turtle boy. Go back to lying on the ground like a little pussy if you aren't gonna help, 'kay?"
"Hey, don't talk to him like that." the Toad reprimanded. "He didn't do anything wrong."
"Make me."
"Let's calm down, people. Just calm down." the dino said, stepping between them. "Let's at least learn each other's names fist. I'll start. My name is Yoshi. What's your name?"
"Toadette." the Toad responded. "And you?"
"Jojora." the blue fairy said unenthusiastically. "But don't bother remembering it since I don't plan on sticking around with you losers."
Yoshi rolled his eyes and turned to the ape. "Who might you be?"
"My name is Donkey Kong, but my friends call me DK. I guess you can too."
"And you?"
"Bobbery." the old Bobomb replied simply, his voice gruff.
"Might I ask your name?"
"I am Mz. Mowz." the white mouse said. "Pleasure to make your acquaintance."
"And your name?"
"I'm Tiny Kong." the female monkey said. Then she turned to DK. "I don't think we're related, but you do seem...familiar."
He nodded. "I was thinking the same thing. Maybe a coincidence?"
Tiny shrugged, thinking carefully.
Yoshi turned to the Koopaling. He stated his name, knowing the drill by now. "I'm Roy. Like Jojora said, there's no point in remembering it. As soon as this little ice breaker is over, I am OUT."
"I'm Goombella." the Goomba said, eyeing the others suspiciously.
"I'm Koops." Koops said, still rubbing the back of his head.
"Well, what now?" Toadette asked.
"How about we try to find out what the hell is going on?" Jojora snapped sarcastically.
Toadette glared at her in response, but Yoshi spoke up before a fight could break out. "Okay, let's just look around this place. I mean, none of us really know what's going on or where we are, right? Might as well explore."
The others agreed half heartedly. They all left the room, feeling extremely awkward, surrounded by strangers.
They ended up in a long hallway lit by light bulbs in fancy glass containers. The wall paper was peeling here as well, but not nearly as much as in the bedrooms, this color being green instead. Many doors were on either side of the hallway, providing them with tons of opportunities to explore.
They skipped the rooms that they had each woken up in since they all seemed to be the same. Conveniently, they were all located at the end of the hall and all were near each other.
They reached the first door after the bedrooms and decided to open it. Tiny was the first one to it. She pushed and tried to turn the knob with all her might, but the regular, brown door would not budge.
"Why won't it open? Can someone help out?"
Donkey Kong stepped forward. "It probably just needs a bit of muscle." he said, trying his best to open it as well. "Just a little...elbow grease..."
Unfortunately, no matter how hard he tried, the door refused to open.
Mz. Mowz sighed and gently pushed him out of the way. "I think I might be of better use here. Brute force doesn't seem to be getting you anywhere."
She produced a hair pin seemingly out of thin air and inserted it into the key hole. As she was tampering with the lock, Roy whistled.
"Damn, girl. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were a thief."
She smirked, not pausing from her work. "Looks can be deceiving."
Suddenly, a bright light flashed and Mz. Mowz fell backwards, shrieking in pain.
"Whoa! Are you alright?" Yoshi asked, bending down next to her. She nodded and he helped her up, her hair standing on end.
"It was an electric shock." Bobbery said. "I don't know about you guys, but I think we should refrain from pickin' any more locks. All these doors might be booby-trapped."
The other members of the group nodded and continued on, trying to enter each door normally as they went, but met with unsuccessfulness after each attempt.
Koops glanced at Goombella. He just couldn't shake the feeling that he had met her somewhere. He didn't remember her at all, but she felt familiar. Had she been erased from his memories as well as anyone else he had held dear? Did she feel the same thing around him?
Her eyes met his and she frowned. "What do you want?"
"Um...n-nothing..." he mumbled. They hadn't gotten off to a good start and he didn't want to make things worse.
Eventually, the party made it to the end of the hall, every door remaining unopened. However, there was a flight of stairs leading downstairs.
"I guess we descend, huh?" Koops said, more to himself than anyone else.
The ten people walked down the staircase, but one of them was having trouble.
"Would you guys slow down?" Jojora pleaded. "I'm not used to walking, and stairs are tricky!"
"How can you not be used to walking?" Tiny asked incredulously. "It's so basic!"
"Well excuuuuuse me, princess! I usually hover over the ground, so it's not a problem for me. However, some ass hat decided to turn up the gravity or something, so I can't float."
The others rolled their eyes, but made sure she could keep up with them.
Soon, they were at the bottom of the staircase and what seemed to be the foyer. Again, there was more of the same type of furniture.
"Look!" Toadette exclaimed, pointing towards the front door. They ran to it and tried to force it open, but weren't surprised to find it locked as well.
"Damn." Roy sighed. "It just couldn't be that easy, could it?"
"Hey, has anyone tried looking out the windows?"
DK's question took a moment to sink in. Then everyone pressed their faces against the nearest window, shoving each other out of the way for a glimpse.
It was pitch black. There was nothing to see outside except...nothing. It wasn't black as if someone had splashed paint over the glass or put a black sheet over it. It was just...black and empty, but three dimensional, like the darkest night imaginable. That's what truly scared them.
"I don't like this..." Tiny moaned.
Yoshi turned around and spotted another room. "Hey, let's go check there."
The others followed him and the entered the living room.
Arm chairs and couches were scattered around, and, without much of a thought, the ten confused people sat in them. Before they could discuss what they were thinking, a figure darted out from behind Toadette's chair. It stopped in the center of the room and the others stared, dumbfounded, at it.
It was a small, humanoid shaped person, about the size of a nine year old. It wore a black cloak with a hood that fell over its head to meet its mask.
The white mask was unsettling, to say the least. Two large, black circles were where its eyes should have been, and no one could tell if they were just painted on or actual holes. A toothy, skeletal smile was where its mouth was, the perpetual grin embedding itself in their minds.
It behaved very strangely. It made small giggling noises and twitched every so often. Then it would freeze entirely, wait a minute or two, and then go back to snickering.
The party became more creeped out by the second, until another figure stepped out of the shadows.
This one looked exactly like the Grim Reaper. Tall, black hood, scythe. There was nothing about him that didn't make him look like the Reaper himself.
"Greetings." he said in a chilling voice. "I am the Reaper. This is Mischief. We welcome you to The House of the Reaper."
He gave an elaborate bow and Mischief applauded him, dancing around on his stubby legs and laughing like a mad man.
He then turned back to the ten people. "I assume you are all wondering why you are here."
Roy slammed his hands onto the arm rests and stood up, pointing at the Reaper accusingly. "You're the one who brought us here, huh? Well, hardy-har-har, what a great prank! Now take us home, asshole."
The Reaper signaled him to sit down again, not answering him until he did so. When Roy, reluctantly, reclaimed his seat, the Reaper continued. "I assure you, this is no prank. This is entirely real, and the challenges you will face will test you physically, mentally, and psychologically."
Jojora interrupted him. "Yeah, right, and I'm the tooth fairy. Listen, I don't want to participate in whatever stupid game show this is. Just let me go home."
"Silence!" the Reaper shouted, startling everyone. This was enough to keep both Jojora and Roy quiet.
"This is real. Many of you might not survive the next few hours. But if you want to leave this place with your life, you will have to take on whatever awaits you with your team. Only by working together can you survive."
"Working together? With her?" Toadette scoffed, pointing to Jojora. "I'd rather not."
"Yeah, what kind of game show are you running here, anyway?" DK joked, looking around him. "I don't see any hidden cameras!"
The Reaper slammed the end of his scythe to the ground, clearly annoyed. "Perhaps I should show you how real this is."
In his skeletal hand appeared a bloody, beating heart. The others stared at it with expressions of distaste on their faces. However, one of them was very worried.
Koops put his hand to his chest. Sure enough, where he had felt his heart racing just moments ago, he felt no beat. He felt empty.
The Reaper touched the tip of his scythe ever so slightly to the heart, so they were barely touching.
Koops cried out in pain and clutched his chest, drawing everyone's attention. He fell off of his chair and some people rushed to help him.
"Oh, god, what's wrong?" Tiny screamed.
"Is he having a heart attack?" Mz. Mowz asked.
Bobbery slowly came to a realization, turning to the Reaper as he did so. "That's impossible...you sunuvabitch..."
He almost seemed to smile from behind his hood. He bent down to where Mischief was rolling on the ground and patted his head. "Do you believe me now? Your lives are quite literally in my hands. Or should I say your hands?"
"What do you mean?" Goombella asked, worry rising in her voice as she watched Koops heave and gasp for air.
The Reaper dropped Koops's heart on the ground and let his scythe fall as well. The point of the scythe was about to hit the heart, impaling it and ending Koops's life.
Yoshi dived just in time and caught it before it could come in contact with the organ. He lifted it up higher, glaring at the Reaper. "Who do you think you are? You think you can toy with our lives?"
The Reaper chuckled. "Yes, I do. You seem eager to start, so let me explain the rules."
"First of all, you will all be working as a team. Your primary objective is to find a way out of this house. You will need to work together to solve various puzzles and overcome many obstacles that will stand in your way. Don't be fooled by appearances. This house has more than what meets the eye."
"Secondly, I suppose I should explain Hearts under the Scythe. My scythe will remain here, positioned above one of your hearts. You will be unable to move the scythe, and it will continually gravitate to the heart, threatening to pierce it. You are not allowed to move the heart, or its owner will die instantly. Holding it, however, is not as easy as it sounds. Not only is it a test of psychical skill, but the images you will see will affect your mind state as well. You may switch with someone else whenever you want, but know that the heart will randomly switch as well. You will never know whose life is on the line, so be careful if you hold the scythe. It is a big responsibility." he chuckled at the last part. "You should know that this will keep at least one player from participating in the puzzles and trials that await you. Maybe two, if you choose to keep a back up scythe bearer with them in case they can't hold it anymore."
"This isn't happening...this isn't happening...this isn't happening..." Tiny muttered to herself, smacking her face to try and wake herself up from the nightmare.
"That should be all you need to know." the Reaper concluded. He ducked when a fist flew by his head.
Roy was fuming next to him. "You bastard! You think you can mess with us? Fuck you!" Roy threw another punch, but the Reaper caught his arm and twisted it behind his back. Mischief cheered and jumped onto his face, scratching at it furiously. It would have been comical to see the jerk being clawed at by the midget, but their situation was anything but funny.
The Reaper pushed him back to his seat and he wiped the blood off his scratched face, Mischief's dirty nails doing quite a bit of damage.
"I do not mess around." the Reaper warned. "You WILL partake in this, or you can wait around and die. It's your choice."
With that, he and Mischief vanished, leaving the others wondering what to do.
"Why is he doing this...?" Toadette asked to no one in particular, shaking her head and breathing heavily.
The nine 'players' sat in silence for a few minutes before Yoshi spoke up.
"Hey guys? He was right. This isn't as easy as it looks. Can someone else take this for a bit?"
When no one volunteered, DK stepped forward and took the scythe in his hands, allowing Yoshi to let go. As soon as he did, the heart underneath it changed shape and size slightly. He let out a huge sigh and thanked him.
"Okay." he addressed everyone. "I say we all put our heads together and think. What should we do first?"
"Say our final words before we die..." Jojora muttered pessimistically, her head rested in her hand.
"Who made you leader?" Roy snarled. Yoshi hadn't done anything to him, but he was obviously trying to find someone to turn his wrath on.
Yoshi sighed. "Look, we have to work together if we're gonna get through this."
Nobody responded in a positive manner. They either sighed in defeat or refused to meet his eyes, accepting their fate.
Yoshi shook his head, crestfallen.
They were doomed.

This chapter actually didn't turn out the way I had expected. It seemed a bit more comical than I had intended, and nothing really horrific happened in it. Ah well, that'll change in later chapters.

Anyways, please review and tell me what you think. Also, tell me who you want to survive.