How many people are left?

Marth sat in a chair in his room, holding a pen and looking at a blank sheet of paper. He was trying to narrow down the list of possible suspects as well as anything else that would help. His door was closed so that nobody else could walk in and see what he was doing. He felt like a detective wannabe in a novel trying to solve a crime for himself.

He wrote down the names of the twenty-four fighters in the Super Smash Bros. Academy. He looked them over, then crossed out Marth, Roy, Samus, Link, and Zelda. That left nineteen fighters left. He continued to look them over, trying to decide who was suspicious. Surely Mario wasn't a villain, or his brother Luigi, or Capt. Falcon, who was a bounty hunter, or--

Basically, nobody who's known as a hero could be Mastermind, Marth thought. He circled the names Bowser, Ganondorf, Mewtwo, and Mr. Game and Watch. He looked at Samus's name and wondered if he should still circle her. Maybe she hid her own things for a reason. Or perhaps she stole them only to throw Marth off track. He still didn't believe Samus was Mastermind. That wouldn't even make sense.

It's so stressing, not trusting anyone, Marth thought.

Next, he wrote down the places where the crimes took place. Roy--at least, according to Marth's information--was kidnapped in the library. Falco's weapons were stolen in his room. While the most basic conclusion would be that Mastermind's base was right inside the academy, how did that explain Link and Samus's disappearance? Did Mastermind follow them? Or was Link Mastermind? Marth felt guilty for suspecting his own friends, but he decided that he couldn't be too cautious. Likely, Mastermind's little base of operatinons was inside Smash School itself. Which, of course, left the question of where exactly it was. Smash School wasn't all that big; how could one hide so many people in one spot? Unless they were in multiple spots. But that would be even harder. The most obvious place to look would be in everyone's rooms.

I've done who and where, Marth thought. Now I need to answer the questions of how and why. What and when don't really matter here because I already know what they are.

Marth had no idea how Mastermind did it. Sneakily, that was for sure. He had the element of surprise and took down the victims before they could respond. But did he have a certain weapon? Maybe Falco's things had something to do with that. But whoever committed the crimes had good sneaking skills.

As for why...Link's world-domination idea still seemed the most likely case. Nobody stole and kidnapped like crazy in such a small dimension just for fun or to get ransom money. To commit such acts, Mastermind had to be an expert in these things. Someone genuinely evil...or genuinely strange, Marth thought as he looked at Mr. Game and Watch's name. Maybe there was a pattern to the kidnapping victims as well. Maybe the Four Swordsmen were being kidnapped--in which case, Marth was in danger. Or maybe only fighters with special swords--again, Marth was in danger. Or people investigating and poking their noses into Mastermind's business. Marth was still in danger. Any way he looked at it, Marth might be the next to disappear.

Marth took his sheet of paper, tore it into as many pieces as he could, and tossed it in the trash can. He was done with it and didn't want somebody coming by, piecing the paper back together, and discovering what he was up to. He left his room and decided to go for a little 'walk.'

A walk was how Link and Zelda got kidnapped. Marth was half going to the spot where they disappeared to look for clues and half defying Mastermind to come and attack him. He stopped on the bottom step of the stairway and glanced around the lobby. No one was in there. He slipped around the corner and trotted silently to the exit and walked outside. He ran into the trees along the side of the path to make sure no one saw him. As much as he didn't want panic to ensue when everyone thought he was missing, he didn't want anyone to know where he was, either.

"I think little kids have lost their minds," Marth muttered to himself, still running. "Anyone begging for 'adventure' is borderline crazy. Nobody wants this."

He didn't stop running until he was far away from the academy. He wanted to get to and from the pond as quickly as possible so no one would think he'd gone missing, too. He still stayed in the trees, but he slowed to a walk and tried to catch his breath. It was only a little longer to the pond. He glanced around the trees to make sure nobody was hiding behind them, waiting to knock him unconscious, too.

Maybe it'll be a good thing if I'm captured, too, Marth thought. Then I'll know who it is and everything. Of course, then I have to escape...and I think there's a reason why Roy, Link, and Zelda haven't escaped yet. But still, I'm kind of hoping I'll see Mastermind here.

After another few minutes of walking, the pond came into view. This was definitely where Link and Zelda had been when they were kidnapped. It was perfect. They had stopped moving. Being a naturally romantic spot, Link and Zelda would likely have paid attention only to each other. And then--bam. Mastermind would have gotten them while they weren't paying attention.

He stood in front of the pond, scanning the area for any immediate signs of a fight. It was around noon, and the sun was shining right down onto the surface of the pond. As beautiful as it was, it didn't change Marth's impression of the scene of a terrible crime. And besides, he had no time to admire things as trivial as glittering ponds.

Marth decided to try his luck. He had no idea if Mastermind was around, but he wanted to see if he could lure the villain out anyway. "I know you're here, kidnapper," Marth said, raising his voice. He waited, looking around him. He especially paid attention to what was behind him, although he never turned his head to look. That would be the most obvious place to strike. He waited for a punch, a footstep, anything that would alert him to an enemy sneaking up from behind.

There was nothing. Mastermind never came. Feeling relieved and bitter at the same time, Marth turned around and looked at the area behind him. Nobody was sneaking up behind him. Mastermind wasn't at the pond after all. He likely wouldn't have been anyway, but it was possible. Marth sighed, turned back around, bent down, and examined the ground.

Marth grinned. As quick and sneaky and dirty as Mastermind was, he hadn't come back to clean up the evidence. There were footprints, depressions in the ground--lots of clues to be gathered. Butterflies fluttered in his stomach. What do you know, I'm actually getting somewhere, he thought.

There were some big footprints around the area. They had been smudged and covered slightly with dirt and sand, so it was hard to tell whose they were. He thought he could detect Link and Zelda's footprints as well, although they weren't as easy to see. In front of him, there was a spot where the dirt had been squashed and moved around, so it looked like someone fell. Maybe Mastermind conked one of them on the head.

I need Samus for this, Marth thought. Samus was better as a tracker because, as a bounty hunter and speedy athlete, she could read tracks and decipher them much easier than the average person. Marth stood up and began to walk back to the academy.

I really hope it's this easy, he thought. I really do hope that we can find out who Mastermind is and stop him. End it right here. I wish things were back to the way they were.

--

"Hi, Peach. Do you know where Samus is?"

"Huh?"

Marth had just entered the academy again. Although someone--Peach--had seen him enter in from outside, he didn't care. If he could stop Mastermind in less than an hour...well, he would be happy, to put it plainly.

"I really want to talk to Samus," Marth said. "Do you know where she is?"

Peach shook her head. "No, she just disappeared somewhere, and now nobody knows where she is." Responding to Marth's facial expression, she hastily added, "But it's not like she's been kidnapped. She just said 'I'll be back in a second' and walked away somewhere."

Please don't tell me she's been kidnapped next, Marth thought. Oh, please don't.

"Okay," Marth said, trying to swallow back his rising mixture of emotions. "When you see her, come tell me. I'll be doing Multi-Man Melee downstairs."

Marth hurriedly rushed past Peach and walked down the stairs. The situation felt like a balloon. He had been struggling for such a long time to blow it up, and right when he finally did, it popped. He tried to listen to Peach's words and tell himself that Samus hadn't gotten kidnapped, but he still felt edgy. Besides, who could kidnap Samus? She could probably hear someone sneaking up behind her in a crowded room.

He pushed the matter from his mind and walked into the Multi-Man Melee Room. He pushed the Endless Melee button and was teleported to Battlefield. Crazy Hand's creation, Marth thought, remembering what he had read.

In Endless Melee, a fighter would battle as many weak, basic, wiry fighters as they could before they were either knocked off the stage or decided to quit. It was very fun and was a nice way to train. Fighters were constantly trying to break each others' records for the highest score of them all. Currently, Luigi had the highest score, which shocked everybody as Luigi had rarely been on an adventure and didn't do much fighting himself.

Marth landed on the stage and prepared himself for the Fighting Wire Frames. A few seconds passed by, and then a couple of strange beings made of purple wires appeared on the stage as well. He lunged at a Male Wire Frame, which was closest, then turned and sliced a Female Wire Frame who had attempted to hit him from behind.

This process repeated for a long time. Marth tried to keep his mind on fighting but couldn't help but wonder where Samus had wandered off to and why she was taking so long. Maybe she really had been kidnapped. In which case, Marth's fantasy of solving the mystery would vanish in a puff of smoke. Every time his mind wandered, he started to take more hits, so he concentrated on defeating the next Fighting Wire Frame.

After defeating his one hundred and twenty-eighth Fighting Wire Frame, he decided to call it quits. He was exhausted, and he wanted to wait for Samus peacefully rather than fighting until he dropped and then hearing Samus's voice call him on the microphone in the Multi-Man Melee Room. That microphone had helped and annoyed fighters during Multi-Man Melees. A fighter could be told that Master Hand called them, for instance, while Young Link might use it to annoy the living daylights out of whoever was fighting. To end the Endless Melee, he touched a button on his Home Bracelet and waited to be teleported out.

The words "Unable to Return" appeared on a miniature screen on his Home Bracelet. Puzzled, Marth pressed the button again. The message appeared again. He ignored it long enough to defeat a few more Wire Frames, then jammed the button as fast as he could. The message still displayed.

It wasn't just the fact that he couldn't leave an area full of dangerous enemies that scared him. It was the fact that if the Home Bracelet had stopped working, the blast lines had, too. If Marth was knocked off, he wouldn't be teleported back to Smash School. He would fall and fall and fall all the way down until he landed on Smash School and died a painful death.

But then something even scarier happened.

The Fighting Wire Frames that had appeared next began to twitch. The strange hearts inside them became brighter and began glowing, as did their faces, which were made of the Super Smash Bros. logo. Endless Melee had turned into Cruel Melee.

In Cruel Melee, the Fighting Wire Frames became so quick and powerful that most fighters were defeated within seconds. If someone had defeated only one of them, it was something to brag about. And there Marth was, stuck on a small, floating island of metal, trapped with beings that could kill him in seconds. Even his Smart Shield wouldn't save him.

Marth jumped out of the way of one of the Fighting Wire Frames only to be kicked in the back by another. He went flying to the edge of Battlefield and barely managed to cling on. He almost dropped Falchion. He thought it would be kind of funny--in a dark, twisted sort of way--if someone had to go out and retrieve his sword in the middle of a lake. He climbed back on and blocked a punch with his sword. The punch was so powerful, it almost sent him flying again. He ran to the other end of the stage, swinging his sword at the Fighting Wire Frames to repel them.

I guess I just have to accept it, he thought. I'm dying here.

He jumped over the next Fighting Wire Frame and stood on the platform above it. He jumped to the next one just as two Wire Frames collided with each other where he was. One of the Wire Frames leaped up and punched him in the stomach. Marth landed on the platform he had just been on and was kicked to the center of the bottom of the stage. He was aching so much, he couldn't even lift his head up.

Why fight it? he thought. If I'm going to die anyway, I might as well let them have their fun. Even though they have no minds.

The five Fighting Wire Frames that had ganged up on him surrounded him. All he could see was a wall of enemies. He closed his eyes and waited for the pain that would come before his death.

It didn't come. When he opened his eyes, the Wire Frames were disappearing. First their hearts and faces went, and then the wires dissolved.

"Marth! Are you okay!?!" Samus's voice called on the microphone.

Glad to be alive, Marth reached over to his Home Bracelet and pressed the button that would return him to the academy. This time, it worked. He never thought something as strange and deadly as what he had experienced could happen.