Marth groaned in pain as he dizzily awoke. The first thing he noticed was the throbbing ache in his head. With a weak noise, Marth tried to reach for his head, only to learn that his arms were tied behind his back. Marth struggled a bit before feeling a small pulse of pain in his legs. He attempted to stretch, only to learn that his legs were bound as well. Starting to panic, Marth attempted to speak, only to utter garbled, stifled gibberish. The gag in his mouth was taken notice, making Marth's sanity zoom towards the highest level of hysterics. With a muffled, frightened cry, Marth began to twist and turn in his bounds in attempts to break free. What happened?! Who tied him up?!

That was when Marth remembered his capture. He remembered every detail of his abduction, from following "Elice" into the alley, being tackled, bounded, and gagged by three men, to being tossed into the van. But, what happened afterwards? Marth noticed the metal wrench next to his head. He probably did something that his abductors did not like, resulting in one of them knocking him unconscious with the blunt tool. Recalling the throbbing ache in his head, Marth concluded that it was futile to attempt to escape. If he were to make even a single, weak noise for help, it would result in his captors hurting him in order to prevent him from being discovered.

Since he was alone, Marth began to weep quietly to himself. He felt his hot, stinging tears pour down his cheeks, which were pink due to exhaustion. Fear consumed his body. Where were his kidnappers taking him? Were they going to demand a ransom from the Pheraes? Were they part of some sort of an illegal trafficking? Were they going to sell him to a stranger?

Whatever the reason was, Marth dearly wanted the Pheraes or anyone he knew to save him. He wanted them to halt the van, stop the criminals, discover him, free him from his bindings, and reassure that everything was fine for the time being. Then, he would go home and everything would go back to normal. However, even though Marth maintained the innocence of a child, he knew that the star he wished to was already dead upon the wish's arrival. His foster family and friends were probably oblivious to the fact that he was kidnapped. If they finally noticed that he was gone, it would be too late. Marth would be awfully far away from them, making it difficult for them to find him.

Now that he thought of it, where was he? Marth tried to move, as his position made it hard for him to look and see where he was. How far was he from home? Maybe he could flee his captors and return home! At that moment, the van abruptly halted. The sudden stop made a silent gasp escape from his lips.

The sound of the van's doors opening and his captors getting out began to make Marth awfully nervous. If the van stopped, there could be only two things. Either they were getting gas, or they arrived at their final destination.

"Let's see how the little boy is doing." Ghirahim said to his coworkers as he opened the van's back doors. He gasped in awe. "Oh look, the boy is awake!"

A small tear ran down Marth's cheeks as he looked at his captors; he had a hunch about his awaited fate.

"Awww, so cute." Aversa cooed at Marth, who continued to let his tears roll down his face. "He has been crying."

"Let's take him out right now." Ganondorf said as he got into the back of the van and took Marth by his bounded wrists. He dragged Marth out of the van and roughly set him onto the ground like a heavy bag of groceries. Marth flinched as he felt an ache in his backside and tried to move, despite his binds. Although he was out cold during most of the traumatizing trip, he sensed that he had not been moving for nearly an hour. This led to cramps in his exhausted muscles.

From there on, the workers began to untie Marth. As the gag loosened and pulled out of his mouth, Marth breathed a tiny sigh of relief and began to dampen his dry mouth and lips with his tongue. He was glad to have that cloth taken out of his mouth; the large knot absorbed most of saliva and made his jaw ache. The ropes that coiled tightly around his arms, stomach, and legs were also undone as well, allowing Marth to stretch briefly before the bindings were replaced by handcuffs and shackles. The reign of relief ended after a short period, now replaced with a new source of fear.

Trying to figure out his current location, Marth glanced nervously around his surroundings. He noticed that he and his captors were on an island in the middle of the blue bay. A large white building with an intimidating facade was seen glaring directly at him. Once plastered and painted white, it was now dull and gray with age and corruption. A watch tower was perched on top of the building, searching for any possible escapees. The impression that this environment was less than hospitable and more menacing. Beginning to tremble nervously, Marth looked behind him and saw a long, sturdy bridge that led back to the city Smashburg. Although it was considered to be a powerful structure by many, it was a symbol that spelled freedom to Marth.

"We must take him to Gharnef now." Validar spoke, gesturing to the other workers to come with him. "He will be pleased with this arrival."

Ganondorf nodded as his coworkers began to follow Validar. He noticed Marth staring into the distance at the bridge and the city. "Hey, get up!" he shouted as he suddenly grabbed Marth's handcuffed wrists and pulled him up to his feet. Marth cried out in fright and looked up at Ganondorf with wide eyes. "Come with me." Ganondorf ordered in a low voice as he began to drag Marth with him.

Marth softly whimpered as he followed Ganondorf. "W...Who are you guys?" he quietly asked, his voice shaking.

"You have the right to stay silent." Ganondorf only retorted. "Don't ask questions."

With a small nod, Marth obeyed Ganondorf's orders. As they began to enter the building, Marth looked behind and looked at the bridge, desiring his freedom.

"Marth! Marth?!" Roy called as he wandered the streets close to the pizza joint. "Where are you?!" he asked it loud as he peered into every alley.

When Roy and Pit finally arrived at the pizza joint, they were immediately told by Ike that Marth had not arrived at work. Combined with the fact that Roy did see Marth leave for work, they concluded that Marth has gone missing. Given permission by Dedede, Ike, Link, and Zelda was allowed to search for Marth along with Roy and Pit; Dedede decided to close the joint temporarily much to his frustration.

"Pit, do you see him?" Roy called to the brunet angel, who was quickly flying around above his head.

After glancing around for a few moments, Pit shook his head. "No, I don't see him." he sighed as he landed on the ground next to Roy. "Hey Roy, are you ok?"

Roy was silently looking directly at the ground. Since he did not reply to Pit's question, Pit assumed that he was awfully worried about Marth. Ever since the day he met the soft-hearted bluenette, Pit sensed that Marth already built a steady, strong bond between Roy, even though Roy did not enjoy his company at first. As the days passed, Roy eventually noticed Marth struggling to make new materials for his bridge and decided to help him.

"...It's about Marth, right?" Pit asked again, earning a small nod from the solemn redhead. "Don't worry, I think he's fine."

"N-No." Roy bluntly replied, struggling to not cry. "He's not ok!"

"Look, I know that you see Marth as someone who can't fight for himself." Pit tried to comfort his best friend. "But, if something did happen to Marth, I think he's enduring his pain for us. We just need to hope for the best!"

"Ok." Was Roy's short answer. "Let's go back to the joint. Maybe the others found him or something."

When Pit and Roy arrived back at the joint, to their disappointment, only Link, Zelda, and Ike were there, indicating that they had not found Marth yet. Once when the boys came in, Dedede immediately opened the joint for his customers, much to Roy's miff. C'mon, why couldn't that guy think about someone else instead of business and money?!

"Any luck?" Pit asked.

"Nothing." Ike huffed in frustration. "I asked people if they saw an azure-haired boy known as Marth. They said no." The indigo-haired male clutched his fists tightly. "I don't get it! Why is it damn hard to see a boy around my height with one of the bluest hair and eyes?! Are they colorblind or something?!"

"Link?" Roy spoke up.

"Nothin'." Link responded with a sad voice. "Like what Ike said, no one ever saw Marth."

"What?!" Roy exclaimed in shock. "No one saw Marth?! Did they even hear anything suspicious?"

Zelda finally spoke up. "Actually, I did get something strange." she stated. "I saw one of my neighbors and asked her if she saw Marth. She did say that she didn't see him, but she mentioned that when she was walking by the alleyways, she heard a boy screaming for help."

"Wait, a boy screaming for help?" Roy's face turned as white as snow, realizing that his worst fear might've come true.

"Yes, a boy screaming for help." Zelda concluded. "Do you think that was Marth?"

"...Could be." Link remarked. He noticed Roy, who suddenly sat in a chair. "Roy? Are you ok?"

Roy unsteadily set a weak hand on his light forehead. He began to picture horrid likelihoods of Marth's current state. An image of the bluenette bounded in thick ropes and blindfolded with duct tape slapped over his mouth was the first vision that appeared. The interior of a stuffy, heated car trunk acted as his enclosure. The vision then abruptly transformed into a new scene, showing Marth bounded to a chair located in a dark basement, carelessly left alone. The blindfold was removed, allowing Marth to fearfully look around his dim surroundings with wide, frightened, cerulean eyes. Unable to hold in his horror-struck emotions, tears bowled down his face.

If Marth was truly kidnapped, then what did his captors want from the Pheraes in return? Probably money. But, who committed the terrible act? Would the kidnappers alert the victims' family? How much time did they give? If the Pheraes did not give what they wanted in time, what would they do to poor Marth? As Roy began to frightfully wonder, Link suddenly went to his side and set a tender hand on his fiery hair.

"Roy, are you ok?" Link repeated, starting to feel a bit concerned for his friend.

"Yeah..." Roy started unevenly. "It's just that I'm worried about Marth! I don't want him to get hurt..."

"We understand, Roy." Zelda spoke up, trying to soothe the redhead. "But, the only thing we can do is hope. We can't control Marth or his kidnappers' actions."

"I-I know." Roy replied. "But, we don't know where he is now or if he even got kidnapped. How can we look for him?"

"We can always go on a search party." Ike suggested before eying the wall clock. "We need to get back to work, Roy, or Dedede's gonna get really mad at us! We'll talk this later!" Ike sternly added.

"Ok, where are going to meet?" Pit asked.

"Roy's house."

Pit and Roy began to exit the joint. "All right, we'll see you later!" Pit spoke as they walked out of the restaurant.

As the angel and redhead began to walk back home, the two stayed silent. Pit did not want to start a conversation about Marth. Being a close friend since middle school, he knew every personal detail about Roy. Knowing that the mention of his biological, deceased mother would trigger a breakdown in the redhead, Pit assumed that it would be the same with Marth. Roy on the other hand, just did not want to talk. He did not want to converse at this moment; he was lost in his thoughts.

Although Pit was by his side, Roy felt unusually empty and lonely, like if a piece of his heart was missing. A familiar feeling known as depression began to crawl back into his heart and leech on his joy. The lack of Marth's presence had a strange effect on Roy. When he was gone for work, Roy did not feel anything. He just knew that Marth would be home eventually. In this situation however, Roy had no knowledge of Marth's current status and whereabouts. Without this knowledge, he did not know whether Marth was safe or not.

In a blink of an eye, Roy was already back home. He did not even remember walking into his house. The only thing he remembered was magically sitting on the couch, like if he never left the house at all. Suddenly brain dead, all he could do was blankly stare at the empty television screen like a traumatized victim. The back of his head cringed at his own thoughts. He was not the victim, Marth was! Why was he so selfish?!

With each passing minute, Roy grew more concerned and anxious about Marth. He knew that Marth was still not found, and if he was kidnapped, that meant that he spent an awfully long, horrible time with his captors. Marth's agony could be longer if he and his friends could not figure out where he was.

The sound of a key sliding into a lock was the first thing that caught Roy's attention. As he looked directly at the door and awaited the visitor, he felt his hopes rising like a balloon. Maybe this was a dream! Maybe Marth was all right all along!

"Roy, I'm home!" Eliwood called as he entered the house, not knowing that he popped Roy's balloon.

Roy just sighed sadly and looked down at the floor. Oh, it was Dad who managed to come back from work early.

Eliwood noticed Roy sitting on the couching with a long face. "Roy, are you ok?" he asked, setting his baggage onto the floor. He went to the sofa and sat next to his son.

"...Yeah." Roy shakily said, wishing that his father would leave him alone.

"You don't sound happy." Eliwood doubted. "Did something happen?"

Roy slowly nodded. "...Yeah. Something happened to Marth..."

"Was it at work? Did an accident occur?"

"N-No." Roy swallowed nervously. "Today, Marth never made it to work."

Eliwood paused for a moment. "Oh..."

"We tried to look for him." Roy continued. "But we couldn't find him. We assume that someone took him."

"I see..." Eliwood was about to add something when he heard Roy sniff loudly.

"I'm worried, Dad." Roy trembled. "I just want Marth back..."

"Come here, Roy." Eliwood wrapped his arms around his son and tightly embraced him. He felt his heart sink when he felt Roy hugging him back and shake in his arms. "Are your friends going to start a search party?"

"Mmmm hmmm."

"Tonight, we can look for him with your friends." Eliwood stated. "Don't worry, we can find him."

Roy just nodded and snuggled closer to his father. Although he felt something warm filling his heart, he ignored it. He knew that a gas was acting as a filler for happiness.

As Marth was being led down a long hallway of cells by his captors, he eyed the fluorescent blue clothing that clothed his body. He was intrigued by the bright blue fabric not because he found it adorning, but because its hue was strangely familiar to him. Of course, he did not find his new outfit to his liking; he found it more to his disliking. Yes, blue was his favorite color, however out of all possible hues of this cool color, the fluorescent one was the color he dreaded the most. He found it associated with self-loathing and horror.

His captors still did not tell Marth where he was. Judging by the appearance and atmosphere of his surroundings; jail cells packed with individuals behind stiff, restrictive bars. While some minded their own business and ignored the unfortunate newcomer, others hopelessly watched the vicious, merciless sheepdogs herd their victim. Looking at the innocent appearance of Marth, they thought to themselves, "How tragic... He is probably another forgotten orphan they picked up from the streets."

Still, the iron bars that confined them and the presence of harsh authority did not prevent a few to warn Marth.

"Hey, kid!" one of the prisoners yelled as he slammed onto the bars to get the bluenette's attention. Marth flinched and looked at the deranged stranger. "You can still escape! This is your last chance! C'mon!"

The workers Ganondorf, Ghirahim, and Hades paused in their path and sternly glared at the individual, who continued to scream at Marth. Still bounded by handcuffs, Marth could only frightfully watch. Judging by the tone of the man's voice, this was a place he should not be in!

"Listen to him!" With a small gasp, Marth looked behind him and spotted a few women, men, and even teenagers close to his age beginning to cry to him. The first man's warning was a fuse that set off an explosive bomb that tried to warn Marth of the incoming disaster. "You're not locked behind bars like us! Run if you still can!"

Marth looked at the shackles around his ankles. Although he could still walk, he probably could not cover so much distance in a short amount of time.

"What are you just standing there?! Do something!"

Gathering his courage, Marth finally made his decision. A strange, animal-like fury in his blood known as adrenaline began to boil in his veins as his heart began to pump the liquid throughout his body. Eying Ganondorf's firm yet slightly loose grip on his handcuffs, Marth suddenly pulled away and slammed Ganondorf's thin ribs with his elbow.

"Yoow!" Ganondorf exclaimed.

"What the—" Hades and Ghirahim looked at the startled Gerudo as Marth began to scurry away as fast as he could. Due to the cuffs that restrained his ankles, Marth knew that one abrupt, large step could send him tumbling onto the ground.

"Get that boy!" Ghirahim exclaimed as he and his coworkers began to chase Marth.

Marth's heart rate and breathing rate began to increase as he heard loud footsteps a creating behind him. Darn those annoying cuffs! If it were not for them, he could run faster without the risk of tripping. Marth looked behind his shoulder to see how far his captors were.

BUMP!

"Ahh!" Marth cried out as he fell onto the cold, flat ground. While running, he suddenly collided with something, or someone.

When Marth looked up, he came face-to-face with one of the scariest people he had ever seen. The person he bumped into was an elderly man at the age of... seventy? Eighty? Maybe a century or two? He had dark skin that had a hue of green and winkles from aging and work. At first glance, Marth thought that he needed to go outside and get some fresh air more often. His hair was neatly combed, nearly matching the style of the expensive, dark green overcoat, purple dress shirt, and shiny, black shoes that adorned his body. This expressed his high, mighty status. His eyes, a merciless hazel, glared directly into Marth's cerulean eyes.

Upon inspecting Marth, Gharnef began to recognize several physical appearance of the bluenette. He recognized the fearful, almond-shaped cerulean eyes that gazed fearfully at him, the round cheekbones that gave Marth his youthful appearance, and the hue of the hair that fell over his eyes. The final touch was Marth dressed in the infamous fluorescent blue clothing, which made him look nearly exactly like him. The only large difference was Marth was in pure shock and horror when he "first" saw him. When he saw him, he was in pure hatred and fury.

"You must be our newest newcomer." Gharnef spoke creepily calmly to Marth.

Before Marth could reply, Ganondorf suddenly came over, grabbed Marth by one of his wrists, and pulled him up onto his feet. Marth yelped as his face turned pink, probably from embarrassment for being recaptured.

"Yes, he is." Ghirahim responded. "Isn't he a beauty? He looks nearly identical to the Masked Slasher!"

"Wait, who?" Marth asked himself, thinking that he misheard.

"Yes, too identical." Hades agreed.

"...The boy is the Masked Slasher." Gharnef spoke.

"Huh?" Hades asked. "Do I have something in my ear?"

"No, I cannot see anything." Ghirahim replied.

"He is?" Ganondorf questioned.

Gharnef ignored Ganondorf's questioned and darkly said to Marth, "It has been months since I last saw you, Marth Lowell."

Marth jumped at the mention of his name. "W-What?!" he quietly gasped in shock. "How do you know my name?"

Once again, Gharnef ignored the question. "Bring him to his cell." he ordered.

"Yes sir." With that, Ganondorf, Ghirahim, and Hades continued to guide Marth down the hallways with Gharnef trailing them. The on looking, jailed persons in their cells could only silence and sadly watch the scene play.

Marth gave Gharnef an alarmed yet suspicious look. "Wait, please tell me who are you!"

"I am Gharnef, the main administrator of this facility." Gharnef answered, hoping that Marth would silence after his answer.

Much to Gharnef's annoyance, Marth asked another question. "Facility? What is this place?"

Gharnef continued to look straight ahead and ignored Marth's question.

"Where am I?" Marth repeated his question, his voice rising. "Where am I?!"

Ghirahim suddenly struck Marth's face with the palm of his hand, earning a high-pitched cry and teary, large eyes from the bluenette. "Stay silent, little boy!" he snapped.

Shaking wildly, Marth tried to hold his tears back. "W-Where am I?" he asked in a softer, higher voice that resembled a scared child's.

"You have the right to stay silent." Ganondorf strictly responded.

As the workers led Marth to the furthest, empty cell away from the other prisoners, Marth gradually began to panic. The cell was awfully empty and terrifying compared to Roy's medium-sized, familiar, warm bedroom. The only thing it had was an average-sized bed. A small, barred window was placed at the furthest wall. It teased the prisoner with its view of freedom.

"I'm s-scared..." Marth said shakily as they approached the entrance of the cell. Hades began to undo the shackles and cuffs on Marth's wrists and ankles. "I'm so scared..."

Seeing that he was unbounded, Marth tried to run and escape, only to have Ghirahim and Ganondorf hold him down.

"Let me go!" Marth exclaimed hysterically as he struggled against the workers' stronger grasp. "I don't like you! Let me go!"

Ganondorf and Ghirahim violently shoved Marth into his cell. As soon as Marth fell clumsily onto the ground, the quickly shut and locked the barred doors. "Our job is complete, right boss?" they asked.

"Yes, your job is compete." Gharnef answered, allowing his men to leave and do whatever they please. He continued to watch Marth, who unevenly got up to his feet and rushed towards the door.

With a loud grunt, Marth grabbed onto the door's iron bars and began to pull on them, hoping that it would open. When the effort failed to work, Marth banged onto the door with his fists in frustration before sinking onto the floor, sobbing uncontrollably. He dearly wanted to go home; he did not want to stay in this cold, merciless facility. Besides, what was this place? His captors only mentioned that it was a facility. But, what did it do? Who were his captors?

Gharnef only continued to cooly watch the bluenette's angst. To him, it was quite strange, as Marth had a much more different personality. Although he closely resembled him, Marth had no memory of living in the insane asylum. But why? Was this "Marth" coincidentally physically identical to the notorious serial killer? Or was this the Masked Slasher himself who somehow lost his memories?

His sobs ceasing, Marth looked up at Gharnef with miserable puppy eyes. "I w-want to go home..." he whimpered weakly.

"Home?" Gharnef coldly responded. "You never had a home. You belong with us." he said, before walking away, leaving Marth alone in his tiny cell.

Sniffing, Marth weakly got up and shivered as a breeze flew into the room from the window. In an effort to comfort himself, Marth trudged towards the bed, got into it, and snuggled in the thin covers. Although the blanket provided little warmth, its softness gave Marth a sense of comfort. Due to his trauma, Marth suddenly felt sleepy. As his eyelids fluttered shut, he saw a brief vision of a familiar-looking child's room.

What was that place? Was I there before? Maybe I...

Author's Notes: My catfish's name is Elvis!

OT: Here's the long 21st chapter! I hope that I can explain how the asylum treated the "insane". TBH, I feel that I'm not developing the bad guys enough. However, they will appear in future chapters! The next chapters will be about Marth's past, so keep on reading!

Also, I opened a new poll asking what fanfic should I start next, so please check it out and vote! (Unless if you're a guess. You can mention your choice in your review if you want to.)

Story Questions:

How should Marth escape from the asylum?

How do you think Marth's past was like?

(Maybe a spoiler question, but people already suspected it.) What do you think made Marth into serial killer?