Content warning: Gore

Sonic groaned as he began waking up. He had woken up so many times last night from nightmares and his own horrid thoughts. He looked up at Lucario, who was still sleeping. He had dark circles around his eyes. A sharp pang of guilt hit the hedgehog as he sat up. He had kept him up so much... The Pokemon looked deprived of sleep. He felt his eyes prick as tears started to form, but he inhaled and wiped them away with his left hand. Once he was calm, he quietly got up and exited the room. He was hungry. He had barely eaten since the game began. Heading down the stairs, he saw a few people awake. Peach was reading a book in the library with Pichu, and Palutena was examining the breakfast options in the dining room. There wasn't much sense of time here, but to him, it was like very early morning. If only he could see the sky. He entered the dining room, trying to do so without Palutena seeing him. Despite his efforts, she saw Sonic enter and smiled.

"Good morning Sonic!" She beamed. Sonic jumped as he sheepishly waved.

"Hey 'Tena." He tried playing it cool, avoiding eye contact. The goddess noticed and gave him a hug, to which he wasn't sure how to react. He looked down and wiggled out of the embrace, a bit uncomfortable.

"I'm sorry, I should have asked you first." She apologised. "I'm happy you're alright. I know you're going through the motions."

"Well..."

If you need to talk to anybody, we're all here."

"I'll...I'll think about it..." He mumbled in response, not used to this level of attention or affection. He looked at the food and helped himself to sausages and baked beans. There were plenty of options, both hot and cold. They were in special containers that would keep them hot for hours. A few others started joining them, immediately acknowledging Sonic, hugging him, giving him encouragement. Sonic felt his heart beat quicken. It was like a claustrophobic feeling. He felt smothered. Why was everyone suddenly so nice to him?? His entire world began spinning like a merry-go-round. He heard them ask if he was okay but he blacked out before he could reply.

XO

Lucario woke up alone, an event that made him worry. The bedroom and bathroom were vacant, which meant Sonic was downstairs. He sighed at this realization, the worry subsiding a bit. It made him happy to know he was confident enough to interact with the others. He hoped the group would help him recover the best they could with the circumstances as they were. After showering, he headed downstairs. He saw Meggy bound up to him suddenly. Despite the difference in size, he nearly got knocked over.

"I was just gonna come get you!!" He noticed she looked alarmed.

"Why? What's happened?" He knelt down and took her shoulders gently.

"We...we were having breakfast and Sonic fainted..."

Almost immediately and with little to no hesitation, Lucario ran to the dining room. He saw Sonic lying on the floor, just starting to come around. Everyone had given him space, though Pyra was stroking his head. Lucario gave her a nod of gratitude before kneeling by his boyfriend's side, pulling his head onto his lap. He felt Sonic nuzzle him as the fluffy sensation helped him relax.

"It's okay, Sonikku. Just breathe, it'll be okay." The Pokemon soothed. He carried him to the lounge and laid him on a sofa. "Can you tell me what happened? Do you remember?"

"Kinda...everyone was giving me hugs and stuff, I couldn't breathe..." He recounted, shaking.

"It sounds like you passed out after a panic attack." Mario chipped in, after been listening so he could figure out the cause of the fainting. "You probably got a bit overwhelmed." He gave him a glass of water. A group had wandered in after the plumber, heads hanging in shame. Sonic just nodded as he sipped the water.

"We were just trying to help..." Robin said sadly.

"Yeah, we're really sorry..." Min-Min continued.

"I...I know...I just need space..." Sonic sighed. He then yawned. Lucario sat on the sofa and pulled Sonic on top of him. The group left the two alone, closing the lounge door. Before the two lovers could enjoy the peace and quiet, a loud buzzer sounded. The arrows lit up and guided everyone to the foyer. Part of the ceiling opened and the screen lowered down, instantly coming to life. The footage showed the first game room. The picture was very bad quality, like an old VHS tape. However, all of them saw something clear in the video feed. A dead body.

"That's...that's Falcon..." Popo croaked, his face white. Despite the grainy footage, they could see his limp body in a pool of blood, his head twisted at an unnatural angle. Sonic felt sick but managed to keep it together. He heard a scream. He saw Min-Min on her knees, having a hysterical meltdown. She couldn't cope anymore. Ryu and Ken helped her calm down with hugs and turned her around so she didn't have to see the horrific tape. Everyone was just as horrified. Text on the screen said he was executed for attempting to escape.

"So...trying to find a way out...results in death..." Joker gulped, trying to keep his calm. The screen suddenly changed to a cyan screen with a symbol of a wolf. An envelope fell from the ceiling. It landed by Toon Link, so he opened it and read it out aloud.

"To the remaining survivors, welcome to the fourth game. In this game, you will be given roles. Among you are two werewolves, who will be tasked to kill a player. The villagers will then vote for two people to kill. If they are correct, the werewolves will be executed. If they are wrong, any remaining werewolves can kill an additional player each. There are also additional roles: the Seer who can look at other players' roles, a Bodyguard who can protect one player but cannot protect themselves, the Twins who know who each other are and finally the Witch, who poisons a player and they die if the Werewolves win. Happy hunting. Your roles are on your beds. You are forbidden from sharing your role."

There was silence as everyone was struggling to comprehend the rules.

"Worst case scenario, six of us die..." Pit whispered. Everyone headed upstairs, all on edge. The tension in the air was so thick it could be cut with a knife. Sonic closed his door and saw a black envelope on his bed. He opened it up reluctantly and a card fell out onto the ground. It was the size of a regular playing card. On it was a young boy dressed in medieval clothing. Underneath was writing.

Villager.

Sighing in relief, he flopped onto the bed. He wasn't going to be a murderer. Meanwhile, Lucario sighed in relief when he saw his card. It had a knight on it.

Bodyguard.

"So I can protect Sonic tonight... but what if he is the werewolf? I doubt it, but it is possible." He wondered who the werewolves were. They had been told via note that everyone were to remain in their rooms until the roles had been fulfilled. A low bell ring went over the tannoy, signifying the start of the game. Lucario had to go first. He exited the room as quickly and as quietly as he could and slipped the bodyguard card through a slot in Sonic's door. Sonic smiled as he received the card.

"Thank you..." He could relax. The werewolves couldn't kill him, he was safe. He ended up falling asleep, he just felt so tired...

XO

Min-Min was curled on her bed, shivering. She didn't want to play anymore. This was too overwhelming. She suddenly heard her door handle jiggle and it opened. She froze when she saw two figures in dark clothing wearing wolf masks. She lifelessly stared at them before weakly chuckling to herself.

"Don't bother screaming. Nobody is gonna save you." The first werewolf chuckled, pulling a dagger from their cloak. The two approached.

"I'm aware that nobody will. Go ahead. You're doing me a favour. I don't want to play this game anymore. I'm sick of the bloodshed, the betrayals...we're all friends." The werewolves looked at each other, laughed and shut the door. The first knocked her to the ground and stabbed her stomach repeatedly, laughing maniacally. The second one then took the knife and sat on her, caressing her cheek.

"It's a shame you're a cute little Chinese bird. A bigger shame you're hot. I would love to have my way with you, but now isn't the time. We're not friends, honey bunch. This is survival of the fittest, and right now, you're easy pickings." They looked into the dying girl's emerald eyes. They were glassy. They chuckled before violently slashing her throat, cementing her fate. She choked as her blood splurged from her neck. Her entire room was covered in blood splashes. Eventually, her silent, agonizing cries stopped as her body lay limp in a deep lake of her own blood.

XO

Another low bell signified the end of the round. Lucario oddly heard no screams. He cautiously exited his room and headed downstairs to discuss findings. They needed to find the werewolves. Mostly everyone else was there.

"Is this everyone?" Isabelle asked.

"We're still missing Min-Min, Falco, Sonic, Robin and Red." Pyra noticed.

"You don't think one of them is dead, do you?" Whimpered Rosalina.

"No, I know Sonic is okay." Lucario intervened.

"How do you know?" Dark Pit challenged.

"Because I'm the bodyguard. I protected him last night." The Pokemon revealed. Everyone looked at each other in surprise. The door suddenly opened.

"Sorry!! We're here!!" Robin called. He, Red and Falco all come in. Falco had been pretty normal since the game started, but he hadn't said a word, had dark circles under his eyes and was a shell of his usual eccentric self.

"Did any of you see Min-Min or Sonic?" Daisy asked. They all shook their heads. Lucario sighed and stood up. He went upstairs to go check on Sonic. The door was unlocked. He saw Sonic curled up on the bed, letting out soft moans. He sat next to him and took his hand.

"You okay?" His ears heard people heading down the hall. Sonic shook his head.

"I don't feel well..." He explained, clutching his stomach.

"You aren't coming down with a bug, are you?" Lucario then noticed a half eaten cookie on a plate near the bedside table. "You got food last night?" Sonic nodded in response.

"I got a knock at the door and saw it on the floor. I thought everyone else must have gotten something similar, but I immediately felt sick while munching it. It feels like my stomach is getting clawed."

"I don't think anybody else got food, unless..." His eyes went small as a horrifying revelation hit him. "The Witch..."

"The...Witch?"

"It was one of the roles. They can poison a player and they only get the antidote if we successfully find both werewolves. If not...they'll die..." He immediately took Sonic gently into his arms, trying to hide his emotions. He suddenly heard a scream from further up the hall. "You rest, I'll be right back." He ran to where the screams had come from.

He froze and screamed himself when he saw the horrific corpse of Min-Min.