Thank you so much for the reviews! I have reached my 200 mark and have passed it. My 200 review goal has been completed! Yah! I especially want to thank CycleX for being my 200th reviewer!

What other goals am I striving for? Uh…most likely to finish this story before school starts. Which should not be a problem at all.

I remember I had told a couple of people the few smashers remaining. I believe I forgot to mention Nana as one of those smashers. I don't know if I did or not. I actually forgot about Nana, because before I was going to have her leave after her brother died, but I decided to keep her till the end…that is unless she doesn't die…

So Nana is one of those who is left and the others will be mentioned in this chapter as well!

Enjoy!

--------------------------------------------

What Lies In the Dark

Chapter 20

--------------------------------------------

Fox steadily made his way to the basement, where the rest of the smashers waited for him. His head hung low, as water dripped from the end of his fur. His clothes stuck to him, making him uncomfortable. He lost his flashlight, so traveled throughout the mansion in darkness.

The flames had subsided and the emergency sprinklers and alarm finally turned off. There was no more fire in the mansion, but the kitchen and small parts of the dinning room looked as if it had gone through an inferno. Fox had stayed and watched the fire die down. After the kitchen reduced to a room filled with ash, Fox had left.

He didn't want to find Captain Falcon's remains in the pile of ash. He didn't want to see another smasher dead. He was tired of it. He was so close to saving Captain Falcon's life. If only, he would have used forced to get the bounty hunter out. If only, the smasher believed his words that he was going to die.

Captain Falcon only laughed. He laughed at the face of death, and death had taken over. With Captain Falcon gone, the numbers once again dropped. Fox could only guess at how many smashers remained.

Fox stopped in the front of the basement and opened the door heading down the couple of steps. Once his feet reached the cold floor, millions of lights flashed in his direction. Fox lifted his hand in front of his eyes and stepped closer to see how many smashers actually remained. Once the lights were lowered, seeing everyone was much easier.

Roy. Mewtwo. Peach. Pichu. Nana. And Doctor Mario were the only ones present in the basement. Fox frowned at the sight. Out of all the smashers who began in the tournament, only six remained. The murderers were surely working since the tournament ended. Fox never realized how many lives they had actually taken. Of course five smashers were able to leave before Mr. Game and Watch and Craven truly began the killing spree.

Roy walked up and stood next to Fox. " I told them everything…"

Fox stayed silent and nodded as he glanced at the other smashers in the room. Mewtwo stood in the corner, with his arms crossed while Peach sat on the ground with Nana and Pichu next to her. In her lap was the book, and she was silently reading to herself. Doctor Mario stood in the back, his hands shaking uncontrollably.

" Where's Captain Falcon?"

Fox turned in the direction of the voice over at the physic Pokemon standing against the wall. "…He's with the others…"

The room remained silent and Fox knew why. They all knew what "the others" meant. They didn't really need to reply by saying another one of their friends was killed. They already knew, so no words were spoken.

Fox's dull green eyes scanned the room briefly. He noticed they were a man short…a kid short to be exact. Young Link wasn't in the basement, which meant he was still wandering the mansion, out in the open where Craven can easily strike.

" Where's Young Link?" Fox questioned. His heart raced.

Roy shrugged. " He went to go look for you."

" I haven't seen him…" Nana replied softly.

" He's out in the mansion still…" Fox explained, mainly to himself. " With…"

Fox turned to about to leave, but Peach immediately called his name in fright. Fox stopped at the stairs and turned back to the princess. She stood to her feet, with the book in hands and walked up to the redhead prince. Roy shined the flashlight onto the pages, carefully re-reading what Peach had read, while Fox steadily walked over to the two.

" What's wrong?"

" Y-you…" Peach briefly paused. " You're going to die next in the book."

Silence immediately filled the room. Fox felt his heart drop to his stomach, as he swiftly reached over and snatched the book from Peach's hands. He turned away from the group, and carefully read over the pages, with Roy reading over his shoulder.

Fox swallowed hard, as his heart beat fiercely against his chest. Was it his time to go? He couldn't even come to think of it. Craven was after him, he was next on the Handler's hit list. Craven was determined to finish Fox off…but how?

Fox noticed something, similar to his death portrayed in the book. Fox's death was exactly the same as how Falco had died in real life. Fox was in Falco's room, when Craven comes and stabs him in the chest. Fox is found, pinned to the wall.

After that…the book ended. Fox's eyes widened, as he turned to the next page. No more words were written. The book suddenly came to an end, which meant this was the part where Falco had died.

Fox listened to Roy gasp and step back turning to the remaining smashers in the room. " The book ends!"

Numerous voices filled the room, as everyone began to speak at once. Fox remained with his back to the smashers, as he glanced down at the blank whites pages. He remembered the book had come to a sudden end, when he first uncovered the story. After the killings had started, Fox's mind was focused on other things, that he totally forgot Falco never finished the book.

So this wasn't a surprise to him, but he knew something the others didn't know. And it brought a smile to his face.

" What's going to happen now?" Peach cried, gripping tightly to her flashlight.

" Are all of us going to die?" Nana was heard whimpering next to Pichu.

" Craven must be stopped…" Mewtwo explained.

Doctor Mario reluctantly stepped forward, his soft blue eyes staring over at Fox. " Fox…are you really going to die?"

Fox turned and closed the book for the final time. He smiled at the group in front of him, which caused them to become perplexed. He carefully placed the book under his arm, making sure he had a good hold on it.

" I finally understand…" He began. " It makes sense…now…"

" What does?" Roy questioned.

" Falco died, the same way I die in the book." Fox explained. " I didn't activate the book…Falco must of. The book must have been opened to the part where I die…and then somehow the book was activated and Falco basically took my death…"

Doctor Mario gulped, and carefully stepped back so he wasn't visible to the other smashers. Peach frowned and looked up at the young fox. " So you mean…you're not going to die?"

Fox nodded. " Right. I'm not going to die, because Falco saved my life, by taking my place. The entire time, Falco and I had switched places. Don't you see?" Fox removed the book from under his arm and held it up in front of him. " Ever since the book was activated, I became the author. I became Falco, trying to stop the murderer. The book shortly comes to an end…but now I know…I have to end the book." Fox paused, and glanced at Falco's name written on the back. " I must become the author, and write an ending for this horror story."

Roy felt himself smile. " It makes sense…"

Mewtwo nodded. " Of course…I understand."

" So you're going to end it…" Pichu explained softly. " By killing Craven…Master Hand's brother?"

Fox nodded. " It's the only way…"

Doctor Mario walked out of the darkness, from the back of the basement and headed over to the group of smashers. He had his head low, looking down at the ground disappointed. Fox clearly saw the expression held on Doctor Mario's face. He questioned the doctor.

" There's something, I have to tell." Doctor Mario explained.

" What is it?" Fox questioned.

" I know how the book was activated…" Doctor Mario confessed. " It was my fault."

Peach gasped. Roy crossed his arms. " What?"

" The night of Falco's death…I was showing him some of my potions I had created." Doctor Mario explained. " One of the potions was accidentally knocked over and spilt all over Falco's book. After the killings, and hearing the book was related to them, I went back and stayed in my room, researching. I've been checking all of the potions and figured out that one of them worked."

" So…the reason for all of this is because of you." Mewtwo questioned as he immediately glided off the wall.

Doctor Mario stepped back, shivering. " I—I didn't mean to. It was an accident. I-I'm sorry."

Nana frowned, looking over at Mewtwo. " He said he was sorry."

" Sorry isn't good enough when more than half of your friends are dead." Mewtwo replied insolently.

" Look!" Fox shouted. " Let's not blame Doctor Mario. He didn't kill everyone, Craven did. Let's put our anger out on him."

Roy nodded. " I agree."

Fox lowered his hands to his side, calming down. " But first…we need to find…"

Fox's voice was cut off, by a loud high scream that echoed from the mansion down into the basement. Fox immediately dropped the book to the floor as his eyes widened. The scream was ended, which left the basement in silence.

" Oh no…" Fox muttered. He immediately turned and headed for the door.

Peach walked up to where the book was dropped and looked at Fox. " Who was that?"

Fox knew who it was. It was the only person who wasn't with them right now. It was the only person who is wandering the mansion besides Craven. It was the only person Fox had made a promise to and was determined to keep it.

And right now that person was in trouble.

" Fox?"

Fox didn't reply to Peach's frightened voice. He didn't even stop or look back at the other smashers. The only thing he did was run…

And six other smashers immediately followed him.

-----------------------------------------------------

A/N:

Cliffhanger! Except more cliffhangers since this is near the end of the book. Gasp!

Is Young Link really going to die? Do I really have the heart to kill off a smasher I favor in this story? Well, I did it to Marth…

I guess you all have to wait until the next chapter to find out what happens next. And if you ask nicely, I might update sooner.

Until Next Time!