Hey. Thanks for clicking this. This work was done at 5am and is exactly how I wrote it down except with periods spaces and multiple paragraphs. Good luck. Also am I the only one who cannot picture Ike in that new look he's got. I think I'm just gonna stick to my own mental image of Ike from Brawl...

I finally got back to Smash. A week and a half away was far too long. I breathed a sigh and entered the large building. Four steps in and a terrified scream tore through the halls. I bolted, taking the first staircase I almost tripped onto the second floor which was far from my usual agility.

"Ike?!" I called as I recovered from my misstep.

I swore the hallway was never as long as this before. I couldn't get there fast enough. I tore the door open and stopped. The room was dark besides the light in the hallway that was leaking in, typical of such an early hour this time of year. My breathing was slightly labored more due to my own panic as I had never heard Ike scream like that before. If Ike was screaming you knew something was wrong. I was really hoping it was just a horrible nightmare, but the presence of the three blank, wooden mannequins standing in the room erased that hope. One looking down at the empty bed while the others flanked it. The blankets were halfway off the bed. After a moment I slowly entered the room and got down on the floor to peer under the bed. Ike was curled up in a shaking ball. Hands over his face, making pathetic whimpering noises like a beaten puppy.

"Ike?" I spoke softly and calmly as I reached out.

He burst into quiet, muffled sobs the moment I touched him. I could practically feel something snap within me. I shot up and threw the supposed causes into the hall. Then taking the closest one by the neck I stalked the halls until I got to the dining hall. I was livid. The doors slamming open with such force I didn't even know I possessed seemed to convey that to everyone else there as I entered, dragging the wooden doll behind me. All chatter had ceased.

"Whose sick idea of a joke was this?!" I threw the mannequin into the room hard enough to make it thump with that almost hollow clack that most wooden bats have. "Well?!" I shouted when all I got was silence.

"Marth…" Link spoke up tentatively.

"If you're not telling me who did it, your input is not needed nor welcomed." My response was clipped and harsh. Then I went to crossing people off my mental list. "Roy, you're a suspect due to obvious reasons."

"What? I-" He started, but one look silenced him.

"Dark Pit you're a suspect. Pit, you are a suspect because you're trying to sneak out."

Said winged suspect slumped at being caught. This went on for a minute before I began knocking those in question off the list. Roy dashed as soon as he got the clear as did most of the others, but Pit just took exiting slow this time as opposed to his earlier strategy. Then came the anger influenced punishment to Dark Pit before I was heading back to Ike's room only to find that things were just how I had left them. I sighed again and lowered myself back to the floor just to see that he hadn't moved.

"Ike?"

I waited a minute for some sort of reaction. However that hope was also in vain. Ever so slowly I shifted and slid under the bed with him. He was quiet and gave no hint to show he was conscious of my presence. So I risked slipping an arm around to pull him under the cover of my cape. Then I just waited. Several minutes passed by before he, ever so slightly, shifted into me.

"Hey… Are you ok?"

He shook his head. It seemed like my voice was loud in the silence almost to the point that the quiet was deafening.

"I suppose not… Do you want to come out?"

Another shake. "I can't- I don't…"

"I know…"

More silence.

"I got rid of them for you." I tried gently.

He looked up at me.

"They're gone. I promise."

"...K."

"You'll come out then?"

He nodded hesitantly.

"We'll do it together, ok? Just a little bit at a time."

"K."

So inch by inch we shifted out from Ike's makeshift cover. Each time I'd ask if it was ok to move before we did. Just trying my best to coax him out. I could see him scanning the darkness before we were even fully out and I was mentally kicking myself for not turning on the light.

"Ready?"

He took a moment, but nodded and we shift back a little more.

"See? Nothing. Just like I promised."

"I'm sorry."

"For what? Having a fear doesn't make you any weaker. Everyone's afraid of something." It felt like a cliche speech, but there was a reason cliches were around.

"... And what is the great Marth afraid of."

"Well… I suppose being alone."

I leave the punishment to your imaginations as again I just put it down as I wrote it in my notebook. I have a fear of mannequins if you were wondering and it was a conversation between my siblings at a horrible hour that made me thing about things and well... this happened. Maybe that's why I find Slender so scary. He's like a mannequin too what with that blank face... Well I hope you liked it or at least found it entertaining.