AUTHOR'S NOTE: I know what you must have been thinking these previous chapters. Not much excitement. Some weapons go missing. Oooh, suspenseful. Well, guess what? This chapter is the official start of where things get interesting. You'll see why as you read on.

--

All four of the heroes arrived back in the Teleporter. Being in the Mushroom Kingdom was both exciting an awkward. They all knew many eyes were trained on the four creepy guys with swords walking around town. But still, Marth knew it made an impression on Roy and that he was a lot happier. Now if only it could stay that way.

"Did you have a good time, Roy?" Marth asked as he stepped out into the lobby.

He nodded. "I might lose more often for something like that. It was pretty good. What about you, Young Link? Was that hot chocolate any good?"

"Best thing I've ever tasted. Next time, I'm asking for whipped cream. And some marshmallows. And maybe a little cherry to go with it."

"If it costs more, you're paying for it," Marth reminded him. Young Link's expression dulled somewhat. Marth sighed. "What time is it?"

"Last I checked," Link said, motioning towards the Teleporter, "8:30."

Marth mouthed the word "wow." "How does one person get so tired by sitting down and doing nothing but lifting food to his mouth?"

Link moaned in agreement. "I feel fat."

"That's because you are," said Young Link, remaining nonchalant.

Marth tried to ignore the two green blurs running around the lobby, the bigger one chasing after the smaller one. "I think I might go to bed early. You know, after battling, sitting in uncomfortable stands, eating a lot, and having somebody huge step on you, it really does make you sleepy."

"You can't kill me!" Young Link laughed. "If you do, you'll disappear!"

Link paused for a brief breath beside Marth. "I didn't know I was like this when I was younger," he panted.

"You'd be surprised, the weird things you do in the old days," Marth said. He stretched and yawned. "Good night, everybody. I'm going upstairs."

The Four Swordsmen walked upstairs, Link and Young Link poking each other all the way. Marth hoped they wouldn't stay up and create too much noise. His arm was starting to ache, and he felt lightheaded and sleepy. He walked into his room, closed the door, and laid down on the bed.

--

Roy's room: One in the morning.

It was pitch black out. Roy's room was so dark that if he held his hand out, he probably couldn't see it. He was still awake, in fact. No matter what he told himself, he couldn't shake Mewtwo's words from his head: Train harder. Roy had won many battles, and yet he barely even touched Mewtwo? Did this mean he wasn't even fit to be one of the Swordsmen? Was he just a young boy with a sharp object in his hand?

Stop lying to yourself, Roy told himself in his head. That's no way to overcome battles. You have to face what's happened. The smart thing to do would be to take his advice: Train harder.

The dark room haunted Roy slightly. His imagination, drowsy with sleep and twisted by nightmares, formed enemies and leering faces. He tried to ignore them, but he felt helpless as the same phrases repeated themselves over and over again in his head. He shut his eyes, but now the faces were inside his eyelids.

That's it.

Roy fumbled for the light, turned it on, and got out of bed. The light stung his eyes, and he rubbed them to make them get used to it. It was no good lying in bed and trying to sleep; sleep was beyond him, and he didn't want the discouraging lies and frightening faces to repeat themselves the entire night. He sat on the edge of his bed. The room felt cold at such an early hour.

After a few minutes of mulling over what had just happened to him, he stood up and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. In case anybody had to get up during the night, Master Hand had created small lights that went along the lines where the floor and ceiling met the walls. Otherwise, it was pitch black, and someone would be sure to tumble down the staircase or bump into things. Roy walked down the stairs and went into the lobby. The lobby, too, had small lights hanging from walls to illuminate the large room.

He mentally scolded himself. The chances of losing were big, anyway. Nobody else is whining about it, and some of them were defeated more easily than I was. He imagined Marth's face if he found out that Roy was still sulking about it. The face was one of almost undetectable disappointment, but, as Roy knew, inside, he would feel very sad for Roy. Sad that he was such a pessimist about it. The discouraging words reappeared in Roy's mind, so he immediately stopped thinking about it and instinctively walked into the library.

The library was huge. There were two floors to it and multiple sections on each. Here, one could read fictional fantasy, science books, biographies of the fighters in Smash School, and even notes and info Master Hand himself had discovered. These mainly regarded the Linking Dimension, the power that surrounded it, and the like. The floor was made of black, polished stone, and multiple chandeliers hung from the ceiling. The chandeliers were gold colored, very elaborate, and always had a hundred tiny flames dancing around on it.

The ceiling itself was, perhaps, even more breathtaking. It was just a clear, open window. But through the windows, the stars were all visible. It was easy to get lost in the beautiful image, and Roy used it to distract himself. Whenever it was noon, the sun would shine directly down through the window and illuminate the entire library with light. It was a sight that could only be seen to really be believed.

But, of course, it was a little after midnight, so it held a different beauty. The full moon was also visible, and the moonlight created a square in the center of the library. He tore his gaze away from it and decided to read a book. He walked up to the second floor via a staircase and wandered through the shelves. He was about to pass by one when he noticed a figure in one of the rows. Surprised to see somebody else up, he took a step back and walked inside the row.

"Sorry. Did I startle you?" he asked.

No response came from the person. The person was at the back of the row, so it was completely dark and impossible to determine who it was. The figure was also hunched slightly, so all Roy saw was a black blob. Maybe it was Mr. Game and Watch. That would explain why the person didn't say anything. But Mr. Game and Watch was usually easily picked out by blips and beeps whenever he moved....

"I couldn't sleep, so I decided to come in here. Find anything interesting?"

Still no response. Roy started to become a little suspicious. Why wouldn't the person talk? Was he or she getting into something bad? Roy cocked his head slightly.

"Why aren't you saying anything?"

Of course, there was no answer there, either. He didn't expect one, but now he was starting to get impatient. Roy crossed his arms.

"You aren't doing something you're not supposed to, are you?" he asked. He leaned in a bit closer to see who it was. "Were you the one responsible for Falco's missing things? If so, you're in a heap of trouble." Roy's eyes widened a bit when he saw who it was. "Wait, are you--"

The figure leaped at him before he even had a chance to shout. The next thing he knew, he was unconscious.

--

Marth woke up very refreshed. His arm didn't hurt, and he felt numb but not exhausted. He got out of bed, got ready, and went downstairs. He walked into the kitchen to have breakfast and saw most of the people already downstairs. He grabbed a glass of water, two blueberry muffins, and an apple, then sat down at an empty table waiting for Roy.

He tried to suppress the irritated feelings rising up inside him. They had a long day yesterday, and Roy was probably just tired. He probably wasn't moping again, especially not after the very expensive meal that Marth and Link had paid for. Any second, Roy would show up and make Marth feel guilty about his thoughts.

But he didn't show up. Marth was working on a fourth muffin, waiting for him to appear. After he threw away the papery cup, he decided to go up and check on him. He downed the rest of his water, set it on the counter, and walked back upstairs. Roy's door was still closed. Perhaps he really was just sleeping in. Marth opened the door slightly and peeked in. Roy's bed had empty covers on it. He knocked on the door lightly and walked in. The room was empty. He wasn't sleeping in, and if he was still feeling bad, he was pouting somewhere else.

Marth went down two floors into the basement. Perhaps Roy was foregoing breakfast in favor of distracting his thoughts with a Target Test or Multi-Man Melee. He checked into the Target Test Data Room, which was a very small room with a computer in it that showed records for each person's test and who was in what test currently. According to the computer, nobody was in a Target Test. He went to the Multi-Man Melee Room next, where you could enter into a Melee and watch who was currently fighting. Roy wasn't in there, either. Becoming desperate, he went out to the Home Run Stadium. There was nobody there, either.

The Meeting Signal went off, so Marth didn't have much time to search. No doubt it was about the next round of the Ultimate Tournament. Marth went upstairs and headed for the Meeting Room. After awhile, all the other fighters gathered there--everybody except Roy.

Master Hand scanned the crowd. "Where's Roy?"

"I was looking for him," Marth said. "I've checked just about everywhere. I can't find him."

"Maybe he's outside," Link suggested. "If he really is still feeling bad, maybe we should let it be. He'll come back when he's ready."

Marth nodded. Roy was probably just outside doing something. Maybe he didn't even feel bad. Maybe he just wanted some fresh air. He would come back when he wanted to.

"Then we'll continue without him," Master Hand said. "The third round of the tournament will start in two days. Prepare yourself until then. The most skilled fighters will be in the third and final rounds. I have once again updated the tournament sheets so you can see who is fighting who."

Marth grabbed a sheet and couldn't help but notice that there was still a sheet left. He decided to take it and keep it for Roy when he came back. If he came back. Marth ignored that concept and studied the sheet:

Battle #1: Ganon/Donkey Kong

Battle #2: Mewtwo/Link

Battle #3: Marth/Kirby

Marth's battle was last. There were only three short battles. And to think that, not so long ago, they were struggling to get in twelve matches. Even if Marth lost, the fact that he made it to the semifinal round was nice to know.

"That is all," Master Hand finished. "You may go now."

Marth walked out of the room and decided not to worry about Roy. Maybe he would read a book, or watch a movie, or play a board game with some of the other characters. What would happen would happen.

--

It was eight o' clock at night. Roy still hadn't come back. Marth had even checked in his room and in the basement again. Nobody had seen him since yesterday. Worried, he walked outside and began looking for him. Although the Linking Dimension was extremely small, it was still large enough to get very lost in. There were forests and ponds and all sorts of things. Roy could have gone for a stroll anywhere. Hopefully, he hadn't gone far from the building.

"Roy!" Marth called. Nobody answered. "Roy!!" he shouted again. He walked around the entire building. Roy wasn't anywhere around there. His worry grew a bit more. Maybe Roy had gotten lost. Or perhaps he had an accident in the forest and was laying bleeding on the ground. The thoughts scared him. He walked faster in the direction of the walking trail that led to the nearby pond.

He arrived at the pond quicker than normal, although perhaps that was just because it felt quicker to him. The pond was wide and had lily pads and flowers floating on the surface. Reeds and tall flowers grew on the sides. It was definitely a romantic spot, but romance was the last thing on Marth's mind.

"Roy!!!" Marth called again. He hoped to see a startled redhead walk out from nowhere, saying, "I'm right here!" No such thing happened. A knot formed in Marth's stomach. Something must have happened to Roy. He rushed back to the academy and went to find Link. He found him in his room drawing a picture of what must have been a monster from his dimension.

"I still can't find Roy," Marth panted. "I've checked outside. I checked the pond, around the academy, just about everywhere. I'm starting to think something's happened to him. Can you help me look for him?"

Link set down his pencil and looked up at Marth. "How do you know something's happened to him?" he asked. "Are you sure he's not just taking a really long walk?"

"Yeah, a twelve-hour walk," Marth said sarcastically. "I think he'd have gotten over it by now. He'd have come when I called his name. Something happened to him."

Link nodded. "I'll try and get some other people to look as well. Wait down in the lobby."

It only took a few minutes for Link, Samus, and Mario to come down the stairs, but to Marth, it felt like an hour. He was eager to get out the door and start looking. The moment they joined him, he walked quickly out the doors. They headed for the forest trail, wandering into the woods where Roy might have gotten lost.

They were calling his name and looking for him for around an hour. It was pitch black in the woods. Eventually, Mario decided that they should go back to the academy. Maybe he would be there tomorrow. Or maybe they'd have to look again.

But back at the academy, when everybody else had gone upstairs, Marth stayed in the lobby and thought about something that had occurred to him while in the woods. Mysterious things were happening. Strange noises. Missing items that were clearly stolen. And now, a missing person. A panicked thought ran through Marth's mind:

Had Roy found out too much?