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"News reports say that at ten o' clock this morning, the city morgue caught on fire just as the show, Case Closed, ended.

Local authorities are unsure about the cause of the fire, and the Police Captain and city Fire Chief made no comment when interviewed.

As of now, the city morgue fire is a mystery, and it is being investigated now."

The newsperson on the TV set continued to prattle on an on about other, less important happenings in the city, while most of the audience in the room were either asleep, or distracted with something else.

Roy was draped over one of the armchairs like a towel set out to dry, snoring rather loudly, and Ness was curled up on the seat below him, playing one of his handheld games. Captain Falcon was sitting in his own armchair, with his head back, and mouth open. His snoring wasn't nearly as atrocious as Roy's, thankfully.

It was late at night, but seeing as there were no clocks in the room, I had to guess it was around eleven o' clock, because that was when the night news was aired.

What the heck happened, over at the Morgue? I wondered while staring blankly at the TV. I saw it with my own two eyes, and yet, it just didn't make sense. My eyes were fine, and my mental state is perfect, other than the recent depression I suffered over losing all my patients.

Just to make sure I wasn't dreaming, I plucked the newspaper off the table between C. Falcon's armchair, and the couch I was sitting on.

Sure enough, in blazing print across the top of the paper, were the words City Morgue Burns to the ground.

So it wasn't some random nightmare after all. It really happened. It was hard to believe, but Roy, and I were a part of it, even the cause of the fire. It was for the good of the city, though.

But then there was something else. How did that body come back to 'life'? Unbelievable, if you ask me. The body just 'happened' to end up in a morgue, where dead bodies are stored. That body had been infected with something.

I couldn't get the thought out of my mind, but I had a gut feeling it was almost as if whoever murdered that person knew the x-substance would spread.

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SPREAD

Thunk

Thunk

Thunk

Thunk

SPREAD

Its eyes took in everything it saw.

Metal pipes, the big stony tunnel it was in, and the water below.

SPREAD

It was a craving. It must spread. It must infect and pollute. It must KILL.

There was pattering below its head, and it lowered it so that it could see. It spotted two fuzzy creatures, with pink worm like tails.

SPREAD!!!

It nuked them with purple mist, and the little beasts instantly flopped down dead, and slipped into the running water.

It stepped into the water, and walked away towards what appeared to be a deeper section of water.

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I couldn't rid myself of the feeling.

It was going to happen again.

The TV was already off, because I had grabbed the remote twenty minutes earlier, and turned it off. It was about eleven thirty now, and Ness, the last one besides me that was awake, had fallen asleep while playing his game. Everything else was just as before, Roy draped over the chair snoring like a train wreck, and Captain Falcon snoozing quietly in his chair.

I quietly got up, and sneaked over to Ness, and flipped the power switch on his Game Boy Advance SP, then I walked back over to my spot on the couch, and picked up my lab coat. Without making a noise, I walked over to the door, and opened it up a crack before slipping out. I made my way upstairs from the den, my previous location, and slowly and quietly made my way towards the front doors.

I noticed a bedroom door open, and a light inside.

Fox's room.

, Fox has excellent hearing. I mentally cursed. If he's still awake, he'll notice me.

I silently pondered my options, and decided I would just have to tell him the truth if he asked. I gathered up my courage, and walked past the room as quietly as I could, but just like I expected, Fox called out.

"Who's there?"

"Sorry, Fox. It's the doctor." I whispered, knowing full well he'd hear me fine.

"Oh, you…Going to bed?" He asked.

"…No, I was thinking I'd take a drive…" I sighed.

"You wouldn't mind if I came along, would you? I'm sure you noticed…I'm having a little trouble getting to sleep..."

Fox peeked out of his room, and snapped the light off. I could see it in his eyes, he was anxious. Why, I didn't know, and I wasn't about to pry.

"Hey, who's there?" Fox suddenly asked while drawing his blaster. He aimed it somewhere behind me. I whirled around, and my eyes met with Roy's sleepy ones.

"…Yawn…It's Roy." He moaned. "I was sleeping a bit ago, and noticed Dr. Mario was gone. I got up to look around, but now I'm done…"

"Sorry." Fox apologized hastily, putting away his weapon. "I've been...jumpy."

"Why didn't you try to shoot me, though?" I joked.

"Eh…I was just waking up." Fox said. "It's been in and out for me, all night."

"Yeah, I know whatcha mean." Roy said, sounding more awake. "Say…what was this I was hearing about you guys driving around?"

"I was just going to take a drive, and clear my mind out a bit. The night air works wonders, sometimes." I said. "Fox here heard me, and asked if he could come."

"I wanna come!" Roy fake pouted.

"Fine, come on." I said. "…Actually, I'm not really going to take a pleasure cruise."

"You're not?" Fox asked, surprised.

"No…did you see the news today, Fox?" I asked quietly.

"Of course. I think everybody did." Fox said, with a frown.

"Well, Roy and I were there." I whispered. "There's something odd going on. Really odd. Tell me: have you noticed anything odd, besides the fire?"

"I was in town playing around with Falco." Fox said. "There was this horrid stench."

"We smelled that, too!" Roy said excitedly. "Then, there was that murder!"

"SHHHHHHHH!!!" I hissed violently. "Somebody's going to hear us!"

"Oops…Sorry." Roy whispered apologetically.

"So, let me guess, you want to investigate the smell?" Fox guessed. "And you're now wondering if I'd join you, now that I know what you're going to do?"

"That sums it up, and saves me time." I replied.

"Then, you can count me in!" He smiled, showing his sharp teeth.

"Glad to have you help." I said. I turned around, and looked at Roy. "You have your sword?"

"Always." Roy gave me the thumbs up.

"Ok, then. Let's get out of here, and quietly." I suggested.

We walked past Fox's room, and made our way into the foyer, where the main entrance was. We slipped out and went over to the car I used earlier, and we slipped in.

I started the car, and, as quietly as possible, pulled out of the driveway, and drove out into the black night.

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