A/N: Alright! It's after Grad Night at Disneyland(which I was INVITED to, haven't graduated yet), and I've gotten 2 hours of sleep! 8D But I'm still updating for you guys. Aren't I nice? Hey! Don't roll your eyes at me! Praise my generosity! PRAISE IT! (twitch) Okay, anyways, here's da chapter.
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The Fiend Within
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Marth
Marth had already gotten his breakfast, but hadn't touched it, too deep in thought. His cerulean eyes were elsewhere, giving the bowl of steaming oatmeal none of his attention. He subconsciously twirled a finger through a strand of his navy blue locks, his youthful face shifting strangely with his thought patterns. And there was a lot the exiled Alteanian prince had to think about.
Things had been getting way too suspicious. People were up and leaving without notice, and no matter how tedious an SSBM summer was, no one would be desperate enough to avoid sticking around for five more minutes to say goodbye or at least let everyone else know they were leaving. Even Captain Falcon, that annoying bounty hunter guy who went and punched a hole in his dorm wall in some blind rage, forcing the Hands to move him into Marth's dorm until they could fix it, seemed to ditch him sometime during the night before. And now others were not showing up for breakfast, probably halfway across the cosmos in whatever Nintendian homeworld they chose to go to, downing a martini on some secluded beach.
No way. That just wasn't possible. Not that instantaneously, and not that many at the same time.
But somehow, it seemed real, as he gazed over the tables at the few bodies that were still there. He would've gone on to think some more, but then the doors opened for about the third time that morning, and in stepped two faces he was glad to see. He watched them carefully, and when they had seated themselves, he got up and approached their table, taking his bowl with him.
"Hey, guys," he greeted causally, placing his meal down, only to disregard it again, as he took his seat.
"Hey, Marth," they responded simultaneously.
The clear grins in their voices caught his attention, making him think back to that saying he found somewhere online on some random browsing session: When you smile, I will know you got laid.
"Busy night in bed last night, huh?" he asked with a knowing smile.
Link's grin grew, and Roy blushed the shade of his hair.
"Ha. Knew it." Without his previous thoughts distracting him, he finally decided to eat, taking his spoon and pulling it out of the gloppy mess. It made an ugly, squishing noise as if protesting before he scooped up a lump and lifted it into his mouth.
"So, Marth..." Link started once that had passed. "You planning on leaving anytime soon?"
He paused, the spoon still in his mouth. He slowly spilled it out between his lips, swallowing quickly for the sake of washing away the god-awful taste. Once it was forced down, his gaze wondered aimlessly in deep thought again.
"...Marth? You okay?"
His glance rested on them, Link looking concerned and Roy's head cocked confusedly. Was there any harm in telling them his deepest fears?
Eh, why not.
"...Well..." He put the spoon back in, slowing sinking into the oatmeal like a lead weight sinking into quicksand. "...You've noticed, haven't you?"
"Noticed what?"
"Smashers are going on vacation without notice. No word, no warning, no nothing. It's too suspicious."
"Mmm, I know what you mean," Link nodded, growing thoughtful himself. "Fox and Zelda up and disappeared without so much as a word..."
"Have you heard that Mario and Luigi have left for Isle Delfino?"
Link's brow furrowed. "You're kidding."
"But Mario was just telling us yesterday that it was near impossible for them to book passage," Roy interjected, puzzled.
"Oh, really?" Marth sounded almost sarcastic. "'Cause C.H. told us they managed to squeeze themselves into a flight there."
"Pssh, yeah right," Link muttered, leaning back and crossing his arms. "I say something a lot more foul happened."
"Yeah..." Roy agreed uneasily. "He went in to see C.H. about Bowser, not the vacation, right?"
"...Maybe he was silenced."
Marth listened to this carefully, like a detective listening to a witness' testimony. When he pulled this all together, he sat up and made a bold statement. "I'm going to investigate."
Their attentions swerved back to him instantly, an expected response. Link's eyebrows went up. "...You're what?"
"I'm gonna look into this," Marth muttered in a more hushed voice, leaning forward as if someone was watching them. "Someone has to, just in case something's really going on."
That seemed logical enough to encourage no further protest, and yet Roy quietly asked, "...You need any help?"
"No, I don't wanna pull you guys into it. Chances are if something's really happening, I might as well be silenced too."
"Well, then, what good would that be?" Link nearly shouted, annoyed. "If you get caught, how will the information get out to the rest of us?"
"..." Dammit. Marth hadn't thought of that. "...I'll figure something out. You guys just hang in there, alright?"
Link sighed gruffly. "I guess so..."
"...Be careful, Marth."
He nodded towards a frightened Roy almost comfortingly. "...You too."
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The solitude of night descended as it always did, forcing Marth to click on his desk lamp, its yellow light illuminating the paperwork scattered about. He managed miraculously to get a list from C.H. of the locations where each Smasher was staying, with the excuse of wanting to "look into the places himself." Beside that was a pile of pages printed online, mini-previews of hotels, including contact numbers and times. The phone was lifted to his face in one hand as he spoke into it, idly twirling an orange highlighter in the other.
"...You're sure they never checked in... Mmm. Any idea if they went elsewhere, the Mammal Bay, the Cornerian Hilton...? ...No? Ah, alright. Thanks for your time."
He hung up and popped open the pen, crossing a neon orange line across Fox and Zelda's names. Shuffling through his papers, he found one last number to dial and punched it in. Each beep that pierced through the silence did a good number on his nerves.
"...Hi. Um, I was just wondering, did Mario Mario or Luigi Mario ever check in today? ...No? Are they planning to...?... Huh... oh, right, Mario called in for Master Hand a week ago, I know that... Is there anywhere else besides Hotel Delfino they could've checked into? ... Hmm. Okay. Thank you."
He sighed tiredly, hanging up and drawing another gash through the last names on his list. he took the paper into his hands, looking at it as if it were a complicated puzzle. Every name was marked off. None of them he was able to locate or contact.
He slumped into his chair and made the biggest understatement in history.
"...This is too weird..."
Once he processed this information, a thought came to his mind. He yanked open one of the drawers, pulling out a map of the Mansion that was left at the beginning of the tournament. It had been folded over twice, splitting the map into four sections: three floors and the basement. Marth gazed at it thoughtfully, highlighter in hand as he marked desolate and possible rooms with question marks and other symbols. Then something on the basement floor caught his eye. He never remembered there being more than one room...
Yes. That had to be it.
Hastily, he stuffed the papers into the drawer and shoved it closed. But the second he lurched his chair back, he paused, feeling another's presence. His instincts were proven correct as a deep chuckle filled the dorm, chilling him to the bone as he stayed perfectly still on his chair.
"So... think you've got it figured out, hmm?"
His fingers curled around the chair's base in tension and fear.
"My dear Marth... you may think you have the answers, but truly you haven't the faintest idea of what you've dragged yourself into..."
His neck snapped to the side as his closet door creaked open.
"Don't be afraid. Your time was approaching. Time to get it done and over with, right?"
The room temperature grew hotter, near choking with fumes, while invisible beams of static leaped forth from the threshold as two figures stepped out. They wore near-identical clothing, only distinguished by two balled fists of fiery embers and two opened, clawed hands with blue flashes of electricity jumping from their fingertips.
Still rooted to his seat, Marth squinted to try and identify the seemingly familiar duo. When it hit him, his heart plummeted in horror.
"There is no turning back now."
The two each took a few steps forward. Marth began to physically tremble, eyes bulged in terror.
"Do not fear. This is not sacrifice."
Their eyes snapped open simultaneously, burning red and blue in fury.
"It is evolution."
Before he could so much as scream, they were on him.
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Darkness descended upon the entire Mansion as the next hunting began. The three Pokemon, little Pichu, Pikachu, and Jigglypuff, were rounded together by the beautiful witch who had ensnared those before them, along with a wild, rabid woman with a frying pan. Donkey Kong was swept away in his sleep by two psychics, and Falco was visited by his dear friend, or a more demented version. Ganondorf entered his dorm to find a horde of miniature demons within, and he never had a chance against their numbers. After slipping out of her Power Suit, Samus encountered her boyfriend, and before she could protest, he had violently violated her until she lost consciousness.
In the span of one hour, the SSBM Mansion was coated in a veil of darkness and silence.
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A/N: Whoof. Yep, not for the younger readers. Yikes. Don't get mad at me for that. Oh, yeah, and that online comment was somewhere on according to my pal, so yeah. Next chappie's gonna be LOOOOONG, so... expect an update in the distant future. XD Just kidding, I'll get it up ASAP. Now review, pl- (collapses from lack of sleep) ...zzzzzzzz...