(Feel free to play watch?v=G2ui90B72RA during the first part!)

…

(From the creative mind of Lizardon the Dragon)

Duck Hunt!

Robin!

Lucina!

And Mega Man!

In the first exciting episode of…

DUCK HUNT MYSTERIES!

This episode: "Smash Bros. Hosts a Two-Headed Ghost!"

….

"Ooogh…You think maybe we ate a little too much at dinner, boys?"

Zapper would've normally received a bark or a quack in response from his two companions, Dog and Duck, but the twosome were too busy snoring away on the floor behind him.

Zapper rolled his eyes. He loved his pets very, very much, but they could be a real handful sometimes. Turning back around, the hunter tenderly picked up his Labrador Retriever and Mallard, and resumed walking back to their room. It was almost curfew, and the lights had gone out.

If there was one thing that the trio loved, it was food. All too often, Zapper and his pets would still be chowing down on some dinner hours after everyone else had left. It was something that Zapper's mother had always chastised him about when he was growing up. "Nathan E. Sparks! If you don't slow down your eating your stomach will explode!" Zapper smiled to himself, reminiscing on the days of his youth. It was a blissful time. Now he was a 28 year-old man, with a full beard and moustache, a slightly large belly, and two mongrels to look after. To him, he was still living the blissful life.

Unfortunately, Zapper was too busy thinking about his life (and food) to watch where he was going. Stepping around the corner, the sharpshooter ran right into a small, blue robot.

"Oh, sorry Zapper! I didn't see you there… I guess I should've been more careful…" Mega Man apologized, trying to be heard over the panicked barking and quacking of Dog and Duck, who were rousted out of their slumber in the crash.

Zapper, rubbing his head, finally managed to calm down his pets, then helped Mega Man get back to his feet.

"Oh, don't you take the blame for that, kiddo. I wasn't watching were I was going!" If there was one thing Zapper prided himself on as a proud Canadian, it was his manners.

The two smashers laughed it off, and casually struck up a conversation while they walked. Dog followed behind them, with Duck riding on his furry friend's back. Zapper and Mega Man were in the heat of a conversation about dogs when they rounded the next corner, and were met with a very unexpected sight. Well, unexpected for them, anyway.

Robin and Lucina were pressed right up against each other, locked in tight osculation. Dog and Duck took the liberty of covering each other's eyes. The couple were completely unaware of their surprise spectators, until Mega Man cleared his throat uncomfortably.

The two immediately pulled apart from each other, their faces beet red. Robin attempted to mutter some kind of explanation, and Lucina simply stood there, looking at the floor in sheer embarrassment.

Zapper sighed and cut of the stuttering mage.

"It's alright, lovebirds. We just wanted to pass through. Go about your business or whatever, eh?"

The hunter shoved pass them nonchalantly. Mega Man followed suit, uttering a small "Excuse me." Dog and Duck simply ran right past them, not caring for manners.

The two swordfighters stood there, watching the others walk farther down the hall. After a few seconds, Lucina turned around and smacked Robin in his arm.

"Ow! Please Lucina, that was not my fault!" the tactician complained, rubbing his arm.

Lucina was about to retort (or smack him again) when the feuding couple, as well as the Trio and Mega Man, were all interrupted by an otherworldly and terrifying moaning that reverberated down the entire hallway.

Dog and Duck each gave surprised yelps, and leapt into Mega Man's arms in a very familiar cartoonish fashion.

Robin and Lucina ceased their squabbling and walked with caution over to where Zapper and the others stood. By instinct, Lucina drew her Falchion.

Mustering up all the courage he had inside of him, Robin raised his voice to address the source of the awful groan.

"Who is there? Show yourself, coward!"

The hallway was silent for a few seconds. The only sound being the heavy breathing of the smashers. The next sound caused everyone present to do a double jump.

A maniacal cackling boomed from right behind the group. Duck began to quack noisily in alarm, and Dog just fainted. Turning around, the heroes were met with an ungodly sight.

Floating a good two feet off the ground was a terrifying apparition. It would've looked very much like a generic sheet ghost, if it wasn't glowing a sickly blue color and had two heads.

One face was grinning from metaphorical ear to metaphorical ear, with sharp and filthy teeth filling its mouth. There was no way that anything alive could have a mouth stretch that far without its head being ripped in two. The smiling head also hosted a set of big yellow eyes, almost popping right out of their sockets, with dilated pupils, giving a further emphasis on the "maniac" look.

The other face was no better. Instead of smiling, this head's face was contorted into a mug of sheer agony. The edges of its mouth were also stretched, albeit downwards, and it had sunken eyes with no pupils whatsoever.

It took a few moments for the smashers to register what they were looking at. Once they did, all four of them let out ear-splitting screams, then turn and ran down the hallway. The ghost began to give chase, the happy head whooping like a lunatic and the sad head screeching it's awful moan.

The fighters closed in on the end of the hallway, which split off into two directions. Panicking, Robin shouted to the others.

"Split up, everyone! It cannot follow all of us!"

The others nodded and tore off down the different hallways, with Robin, Dog and Duck taking the left and Zapper, Lucina and Mega Man running down the right.

The ghost reached the end of the hallway only a few moments later. With a frustrated howl, the ghost floated right through the opposite wall and disappeared.

….

"What on earth was that?!" cried Lucina, trying to catch her breath. "I've faced my fair share of foul creatures, but that…that…THING was simply atrocious!"

The group had reunited in the foyer, after being separated from their unexpected guest. Zapper plopped down in a nearby armchair, exhausted. The duck and the dog came up to their master and lay down as well. Robin continued to pace back and forth, thinking deeply. He clenched his Levin sword tightly, as though fearing someone or something would take it from him. Mega Man finished scanning the mansion, and spoke.

"I can't locate it…whatever it was. It's just…vanished!"

Lucina perked up. "Vanished?"

Mega Man gave an uneasy nod. "Yeah…poof! Gone! It's not in the mansion anymore."

Zapper gave an audible gulp from his chair and tossed his messy hair out of his face.

"Y-you mean like a…a g-ghost?"

His pets picked up on their owners fear. Dog gave a pathetic whimper while duck covered his eyes with his wings and gave a startled quack.

Gears inside Mega Man's head began to turn, processing the new theory. "It's entirely possible…I can't pick up ectoplasm on my scanner."

Robin stopped his pacing and scoffed. "Ghosts? Honestly, Zapper, you're a grown man. How could you believe in ghosts?"

The gunman sent a glare in Robin's direction. "Yeah, I believe in ghosts! We just saw one!" he stood up and faced the tactician. "What I want to know is, why don't you believe in ghosts? You come from a world with dragons and zombies!"

Lucina had had enough. The swordswoman cried out, silencing both men. "Stop it, both of you! Ghost or no ghost, we need to find out what that thing was, and what it's doing in our mansion!"

Mega Man stepped forwards. "I agree. Do any of us have a match tomorrow?"

Lucina and Robin both raised their hands. "We have an 8-player team battle at 10 against Diddy Kong and a few others." Robin explained.

The blue bomber shrugged and continued. "Ok, then Zapper, you and I and Duck Hunt will go into town tomorrow and ask around. You know, see if anybody knows anything about a blue, two headed ghost."

At that moment, the same ghastly moaning reverberated through the mansion, causing a chill to ride up all the smasher's spines. Duck hid behind Dog, who hid behind Zapper's legs.

Zapper broke the new silence. "S-sure thing, man…If we m-make it through the n-night."

Duck Hunt looked at each other, worriedly, and Dog muttered something that sounded a lot like "Oh boy…"

….

The next morning, all of the smashers at breakfast were eager to inquire about what they all heard last night. Once word got out that Duck Hunt, Mega Man, Robin and Lucina saw a ghost in the halls, the six wouldn't stop being bombarded with questions. Robin and Lucina managed to get away from the crowd, since their match was starting shortly. Zapper and Mega Man took the opportunity to ask everyone if they knew anything about their strange visitor. Unfortunately, barely anyone had useful information. Lucario had proven to be the most useful, bringing up the possibility of it being a ghost-type Pokémon, or something that could mask it's appearance. The aura Pokémon spoke very cautiously, however, and kept staring at the two throughout breakfast.

Eventually, the two smashers got out of the Mansion, and headed towards the town.

"You know, Robin and Lucario could be right about it not being a ghost…" the robot started.

Zapper looked down at Mega Man, with a queer look on his face. "What part of floating, glowing, cackling, moaning and walking through walls dissuades the 'ghost theory' exactly?"

Mega Man blushed sheepishly. "Point taken." Dog snickered at Mega Man before being scolded by Zapper.

For the next couple of hours, the two asked around Smashville and its residents, hoping somebody knew something about their phantom. Mr. Resetti knew nothing, but made sure to give them a two-hour monologue about saving. By one o'clock, the Smashers were growing very tired and decided to grab a bite to eat, then head back to the mansion. Robin and Lucina would be done their match by now, so they could resume clue-hunting together.

….

Lucina growled in frustration as she respawned for the second time that match. Now that she was on her last stock, she would need to be extra careful.

The 8-player Smash had lasted much longer than anyone had anticipated, however, it was finally nearing a conclusion: Lucina and Robin were left on the Red Team, each with one stock, while the Blue Team was down to only Luigi with two stocks, who, to their frustration, had begun to camp.

….

From the control room, Master Hand grimaced at the scene before him.

"Maybe Palutena's Temple is a tad too big…"

…...

Lucina met up with Robin on the bridge of Palutena's temple, to order to strategize.

"Are you alright, Lucina? That was one strong up smash…"

"At least it wasn't Falco…" Lucian shuddered at the memory.

At that moment, both an Assist Trophy and a Smash Ball, both at an equal distance from the twosome and Luigi. An idea popped into the tactician's head.

"Lucina, if you can grab the Smash Ball and hold onto it while I get the Assist Trophy and use it to take one of Luigi's stocks…"

He didn't have to finish his sentence for Lucina to understand what he was getting at. Immediately the two broke of, making a dash for their respective items. Luigi also stopped taunting from his safe position and was going for the Smash Ball.

Robin reached the Assist Trophy while Lucina and Luigi were trying to break the powerful sphere. Popping off the top, he prayed for someone useful, perhaps Dark Samus, or Magnus…

"Huh!?"

Nobody came out of the assist trophy.

Robin's confused cry distracted Lucina long enough for Luigi to grab the Smash Ball. Within seconds, he had whipped out the Poltergust 3000 and snagged both fighters, launching them offstage.

"GAME!" Master Hand boomed over the loudspeakers.

….

Lucina and Robin apologized to their teammates, who were very understanding, in the waiting room afterwards. After leaving, Lucina gave Robin a quick peck on his cheek.

"You realize that our loss was not your fault, right?"

Robin merely nodded. The mage was still trying to figure out why at least one of the Assist Trophies were missing.

"Come on, Robin." Lucina spoke, snapping him out of his daze. "We need to go meet back up with the others, and solve this ghost problem."

Robin took a second, then smiled. "Yes…hopefully they've had some luck."

….

"What do you think, Mega Man?"

"I really can't tell…we might need a second opinion. Dog? Duck?"

"Arf!"

"Quack!"

"They're right, kiddo. We need to listen to our gut instinct."

"Right."

"We'll have one extra-large meat lovers, and a small Canadian with hot sauce on top. Anything to drink, guys?"

The group had decided to have some Pizza, and the best place in Smashville for the delicious meal was Mona's Pizza, right in the middle of downtown.

After eating their pizza, the two smashers were waiting on their bill from Mona, and were discussing the ghost.

"So…we have no leads on what this ghost is, other than utterly terrifying." Zapper mumbled.

Mona's eyes widened. "Did you boys say there's a ghost at Smash Mansion?"

Mega Man nodded. "Yep. Big and blue, with two heads! Show her, Duck Hunt."

Dog and Duck got up onto the counter, despite Mona's protests. Duck landed on Dog's shoulder and stuck his head right next to the canines, who stood up on his hind legs. Dog then stretched his face into as wide a smile as he could and popped his eyes, while Duck twisted his into a foul grimace and squinted his eyes. The two then lurched around the store, Dog laughing evilly an and Duck trying to make a groaning noise. Unfortunately, Duck's moans sounded more like a rubber ducky squeak.

Mona kept herself from laughing at the display before her. Then a light bulb went off in her head.

"Hey! You know, if you guys have a problem with ghosts, you should talk to Ashley! She's all about that supernatural stuff!" she exclaimed with a snap of her fingers.

Zapper and Mega Man lit up. "Great idea!" Zapper said "Thanks a ton, Mona!" Mega Man even kissed her hand in gratitude. Then the boys got up and zoomed back to the mansion.

Mona laughed to herself. "Boy, what crazy stuff happens over th-HEY! YOU GUYS DIDN'T PAY FOR YOUR PIZZA! COME BACK HERE!"

….

The four smashers had reunited in the foyer once again. Robin and Lucina informed the others about the mysterious missing Assist Trophy, while Duck Hunt and Mega Man shared their lead.

"Alright then, looks like we're going to have a talk to that witch. Hopefully she can help us get rid of the ghost!" Robin declared, and lead the group down towards the Assist Trophy wing, where those characters had their rooms. Lucina knocked on Ashley's door, and while the crew waited for a response, Dog and Duck went sniffing down the hall.

….

Soon, Dog and Duck came across the game room. Seeing nobody inside, the mischievous duo decided that it wouldn't hurt to play a round or two of Wii Sports. Gathering together their Wiimotes and Nunchucks, the two began an engaging match of Wii Boxing. The match was so engaging, they didn't hear the door shut behind them. The also didn't notice the two-headed shadow closing in behind them.

Dog growled as he lost the 3rd match of their boxing match. Duck laughed at his friend's frustration. Getting madder and madder, Dog finally gave up and threw his controller over his head, rage quitting.

A startling growl from behind them made both the animals jump. Turning around they saw the Two-Headed Ghost itself, with its two heads tied together by the Wiimote and Nunchuck, which had wrapped around it when Dog threw them away. Duck Hunt screamed and bolted past the phantom an back towards their owner, but not before Duck wrapped his controller around the ghost's heads too. As they made their escape, the apparition struggled to come undone, both heads arguing with each other.

….

After a few minutes of waiting, Zapper had decided to boldly walk into Ashely's room. His three friends followed behind him.

"Well, would you look at that? Ashley's not home!" Mega Man noted, stating the obvious.

"But she has been here recently. Look, all of her brewing supplies are still out." Lucina said, picking up an empty vial. Her eyes glanced around a table, before setting on a half-hidden tome under a blanket.

The group continued to scan the room, seeing if they could find anything about their ghost. A few minutes later, Dog and Duck rushed into the room, making a big commotion. However, the noise didn't last long, since Dog tripped over something underneath the carpet and fell flat on his face.

Zapper rushed over to help his pooch get back on his feet.

"What's wrong, guys? Why the hurry, eh?"

Dog and Duck immediately did their famous Two-Headed Ghost impression.

"Interesting," Robin spoke up. "So the ghost has been out during the day."

"Yeah," Mega Man added, "Aren't most ghosts, like, allergic to daytime or something?"

"Clearly, this one isn't. So perhaps this means we aren't facing a ghost at all." Lucina concluded. The others nodded. Duck waddled over to the carpet and lifted it up, to see what was underneath.

Zapper and the others turned again at the alarmed quacking of Duck from behind them. The bird was holding something in his feet.

Robin's eyes widened. "Is that…"

"Yup."

"Everyone!" Lucina called, "Look at this tome, and what page it's opened up to!"

Zapper took the book and read it over. The man's face broke out into a grin.

"Well then, looks like we've got to capture our 'ghost,' gang." Zapper decided, while patting Duck on the head for his discovery.

"And I think I have just the plan to do it." Robin added. "Of course…we'll need to lure the ghost into the trap." Everyone's eyes turned to Dog and Duck, who's pupils dilated.

….

That night, the gang put Robin's plan into action. The idea was for Duck Hunt to get the Ghost to chase them back to the split in the hallway. When Dog and Duck went in opposite directions, the ghost would flee through the wall like before. However, on the other side of the wall, Robin and the others would be waiting with Luigi's Poltergust 5000 to suck up the ghost!

Everyone loved the plan…except for the bait.

Dog and Duck walked slowly down the hallway. A strange chattering noise kept following them, and it put the two on edge. It took a while for Duck to realize that the chattering was actually Dog's teeth. Duck quacked at Dog to stop, and he did his best to hold his mouth shut and walk at the same time. A few minutes later, and the two were halfway down the hall. Hopefully the ghost would show up soon.

The canine and the bird kept waiting for that telltale moaning or laughing, but it never came. This just made Duck Hunt even more nervous. The seconds ticked by on a nearby clock.

…Tick…Tick…Tick…

Duck ruffled his feathers.

…Tick…Tick…Tick…

Dog whimpered.

…Tap…Tap…Tap…

Duck Hunt's eyes widened. As far as they knew, clocks didn't go "Tap!" The duo looked beside them, and wouldn't you know it, there was the ghost, floating right next the them, tapping it's fingers impatiently.

Dog howled and the two began to run for the end of the hallway, while the ghost laughed and moaned after them. Unfortunately, Duck Hunt made one big mistake…the ran back the way they came. Too late, they realized, that their friends wouldn't be waiting on the other side of this wall! To save their own hide, however, they split anyway: Dog taking the left and Duck taking the right.

The ghost reached the intersection and looked at the two at the same time with both their heads. They were about to escape through the wall when something that each member of Duck Hunt was carrying caught their eye. Both heads screamed in rage and started to give chase. The sad head went after Dog, and the happy head went after Duck. Too late, the ghost realized, that the other head wasn't going in the same direction!

RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIP!

In a second, the ghost was split down the middle, and both ends fell out of the air. Zapper and the crew ran up just in time to see their haunting host fall to pieces.

"Well done, Duck Hunt! We've caught the ghost…er, ghosts!" Robin congratulated. Lucina pet the two animals on their heads.

Master Hand floated up behind them. "I got Mega Man's call, and I expect you all to have a good reason for being up past curfe-huh? Who are they?"

Zapper and Mega Man waltzed over to the two halves, who hung their heads in shame.

"These, sir, are the 'ghosts' that were haunting our mansion!" Mega Man explained.

"But you see, they're not really ghosts, but in fact are…" Zapper continued. Simultaneously, Mega Man and Zapper pulled the heads off of the two halves, revealing who it was underneath.

Master Hand gasped. "Why, it's Ashley and Waluigi! Explain yourselves, you two! Why were you dressing up as a ghost?!"

The skinny Italian man and young witch glared at the hand, before Waluigi gave in and explained. "Well…we wanted to-a scare off-a the Smashers, so we could be-a playable characters."

Master Hand sighed. "I should have expected as much." He turned to the group of Smashers. "What I'm curious about is how you figured out who the ghost was! Care to enlighten me?"

Robin stepped forwards. "Of course sir. There weren't that many clues at first, but our first hint was during the 8-Player Smash battle Lucina and I partook in today."

Lucina picked up the explanation. "When Robin got the assist trophy, but there was no one inside, we figured that at least one of our assist Trophies was doing something else."

Mega Man stepped in. "Zapper and I talked to Mona about the ghost. She was the one who gave us our Ashley lead."

Zapper concluded. "When we searched Ashley's room, Lucina found a spell book about how to infuse a costume with the powers of flight, and the power to walk through walls. Also, Duck here found Waluigi's tennis racket underneath Ashley's rug, so that's how we figured he was in on it too."

Ashley frowned "We would've succeeded too…if you meddling smashers didn't come along!"

Master Hand turned to the culprits. The snapped his fingers and the two had vanished. Then he brought his attention back to the characters.

"You have all done very well in foiling their plan. I will be having a little…talk with those two. Now all of you, get to bed. It's hours past curfew!"

With another snap, Master Hand vanished as well.

The group stood around each other for a few seconds, before Robin spoke up.

"We make a rather good team, wouldn't you agree?"

"Yeah! We should become an organization, dedicated to solving mysteries!" Mega Man chirped excitedly, "We could call ourselves 'Mystery Incor-'"

"How about we skip the name, eh?" Zapper said, cutting off the blue bomber before they could be sued for copyright.

Lucina kissed Robin before speaking up. "I, for one, agree with Mega Man. We are quite good at this mystery-solving!"

"What do you two think?" Zapper turned to asked his pets.

Dog and Duck high fived each other, causing everyone to laugh. Robin spoke up once again.

"Very well then! From now on, we shall become professional mystery solvers!" he held his hand out into the middle of the gang.

Lucina put her hand on top of his, followed by Mega Man, Zapper, and Duck Hunt.

Dog looked at the camera and gave his trademark laugh and Duck waved 'Goodbye' to their audience.

THE END!