Chapter 6

Sonic had been following the trail for an hour. He had originally arrived at the temple and was caught off guard when something shot at him. He was able to dodge it and disable the machine that shot it at him within a few seconds. After that, he began to suspect there was a reason that Master Hand hadn't returned yet. He searched the area thoroughly and eventually found a large area in the forest where a bunch of trees had been knocked over. At the end, the dirt had been moved, and it looked like something had crashed there. There was a thin trail that led away from the crash site and it looked like something had been dragged across the crash site.

Sonic had followed the trail until it led across the wastelands. Sonic began searching everywhere for a trail to follow again. Eventually, he gave up and returned to the temple to think it over. He ran over trying to think of where to look. He was so focused on thinking of where to look for Master Hand that he tripped as he ran over a hole. He crashed to the ground and rolled across it for a few seconds before he came to a halt. It took him a few seconds to get his breath back, but eventually he got back up. He looked back to see the hole he had tripped over.

He went back to the whole while wondering when it had gotten there. Sonic stared down the hole and was surprised to see, not only that it was a deep hole, but it also was very wide and it had a ladder connected to it. Sonic looked around a few seconds before he decided to travel down the hole. He got to the bottom and discovered a cave that went on for a few feet. Sonic hesitated before entering. It didn't take long for him to reach the end, but what he saw terrified him. On both sides of him, the two Hands were locked in chains with multiple thick wire stabbed into them and attached to the wall. One of the hands began to stir. As it did, an electric shock went through the wires and caused the hand to fall unconscious again.

Sonic stepped back out of the cave and quickly retreated back up the ladder. He reached the top and sprinted for the mansion. He had to tell the others.

Fox stood at the bridge that connected the Smash world with all the others. At the moment, he was wishing that he had one of his other Star Fox members there to help him, or even Samus. The rest of the smashers had assigned him with the duty of creating a force field that would block others from entering the world.

Fox began thinking about Zelda, Rosalina, and Luma. Since they weren't suspects, it meant that strategically it would make more sense to kill them now and leave all the suspects open.

As he was working, he heard someone approach. He could tell it wasn't coming from the mansion, so it had to be another fighter from the bridge approaching. He continued working and waited to hear the new fighter talk to him. Eventually, the footsteps stopped, and a voice he recognized said, "Hey Fox. How have you been?"

Fox smiled and looked up at King Dedede. For a villain, he was very good at making everyone smile. "Hey Dedede," Fox said. "I'm sorry to tell you this, but I can't let you through."

King Dedede looked at Fox confused for a few seconds before he started laughing. "That's a good joke. Has the mansion relocated or something?"

"It's still in the same spot, but I can't let you come through."

"Why not?"

"We're having problems with some kind of virus. IT has already killed someone, maybe two. We also think that it might have corrupted one of the smashers. Since there isn't a chance you are corrupted, it might target you. We want to avoid having anyone else die." Once again, King Dedede began laughing. It was now Fox's turn to be confused. "What?"

"You think keeping me away will help your chance. I'll probably be the most helpful one here."

"I don't want anyone else to die."

"I won't die. I can handle myself."

Fox thought it over. "Are you sure?"

"Absolutely."

Fox sighed. "Fine." He stepped aside and let King Dedede through. "But remember, you can't trust anyone." Dedede nodded and left for the mansion. Fox turned back to the his project. "You never know who it might be." A few hours later, he had the entrance sealed off.

Marth groaned and rubbed his head as he regained consciousness. He looked around the room he was in. He was surprised to see that he was back in his room. The room was about the same except for bars had been added to his window. He went to his door and tried to open it. It seemed the door had suffered the same fate.

Marth hesitated before asking, "Can anyone hear me?"

"Yep," Pit responded. "You finally recovered."

"Are all us just in our rooms?"

"Everyone except Mega Man. They locked him up."

"Are Link and Toon Link awake?"

"I am," Toon Link said. "Link is too, but he's been quiet for the last few minutes."

"Alright." Marth got off his bed and began examining the floor. He searched it until he found a place where the carpet had come off. He pealed it back until he revealed a hidden key that he put there in case of an emergency. He figured that a smasher killing virus being on the loose, and the others taking away everything he has to defend himself qualified as an emergency.

Marth went to the chest at the end of his bed. He unlockd it and pulled out a steel sword. It wasn't anything special, but it was better than nothing. He turned to the door and got ready to start breaking through. He raised his sword and jumped back as another sword pierced the wood. The sword chopped through again and Link stepped into the room wielding the Ordon sword. Toon Link was there wielding his practice sword, and Pit had equipped some claws.

Link smiled. "It looks like you're prepared."

"I always am." Marth put away the sword. "Does anyone know where Mega Man is?"

"No," Toon Link said. "He wasn't put in a room like the rest of us."

"They probably would have kept his core separate as well," Link said.

"Then we need to look for two things," Pit said. "We need to split up."

"Is that a good idea?" Toon Link said. "We may get attacked by the virus."

"Anyone besides the four of us will try to take us out," Marth said. "We will have to simply avoid being spotted and fight if we are spotted."

"I'll search the basement," Link said.

"I'll check the top floors," Pit said.

"I can go through the secret passages," Toon Link said.

"I'll take the rest then," Marth said. "If anyone finds Mega Man or figures out who the virus is, come back here, go into your room and lock your door."

They all agreed and left to begin their search. Marth walked around as quietly as he could, He searched each room he came across he had to be careful a few times when he came across others, but he was able to move through the mansion without too much trouble. He was searching on the main floor when he opened a closet he hadn't seen before. It looked like it had been added in recently. He opened the door and saw he was right. It looked like the wall had been smashed away and a door had been added to hide it. Wires hung in front of the entrance and a ladder led down into a part of the basement. Marth stepped onto the ladder and climbed down. He was so focused on the ladder that he didn't see the small red laser as he crossed it. It flashed and then disappeared before Marth saw it.

He reached the bottom of the ladder and tried to look around, but the room was completely black. He searched around until he felt his foot kick something. He bent down and picked up a flashlight. He felt around for the on switch and flicked it. He quickly pointed it at the end wall. The wall had been formed as it was supposed to hold Mega Man, but he wasn't there. Marth continued to search the rest of the room, but he couldn't find anything else. The flashlight and the deformed wall were the only things there. Marth sighed and turned to leave.

He stopped when he heard someone else climbing down the ladder. Marth turned his flashlight off and turned toward the ladder. Mario stepped down from the ladder, turned around and turned his flashlight on. Marth dashed forward and smacked Marth with the hilt of his sword. Mario grabbed his head and looked up at his attacker. Marth made a swift kick and knocked Mario into the wall. Mario tried to stand back up, but Marth grabbed him and slammed against the wall. He held his sword to Mario's neck. "Where's Mega Man?" Marth said.

Mario squirmed a little, but he responded, "What-a do you mean where-a is he? What-a did you do with him?"

"Nothing, where is he?"

"There's-a no reason for you to lie. If he-a isn't in here then-a you had to have-a taken him. How did you-a get the core too?"

Those last words puzzled Marth. "Core? I haven't gotten the core."

"You or one of you friends had to, It was gone after you set the alarm off."

Marth sighed and bashed Mario on the head. Mario collapsed onto the ground as Marth dropped him. He set Mario down by a flashlight before leaving. He ran back to the rooms and saw Link and Pit there. "Did you find anything?"

"No," Pit said. "Something must have scared everyone. They all began running around."

"Mario found me," Marth said. "He said the core and Mega Man were both missing."

"Did Toon Link find them?" Link said.

"I don't think so. I found the room Mega Man was supposed to be hidden in, but he was already gone."

"Is there a third group that wants to get Mega Man?" Pit said.

"Yeah, and it was probably the virus," Link said.

Marth nodded. "We'll need to wait for Toon Link before-"

Marth was interrupted by a loud scream. Marth looked at the others and hesitated before running towards the scream. Link and Pit followed him down the stairs to the kids section of the house. They stopped when they saw Toon Link staring into the Villager's room. Marth froze. He had a feeling he knew what was on the other side of that door, and he didn't want to look. Toon Link slowly came forward and moved to the side. Villager was there with his hatchet next to him. The hatchet had a bit of blood on it. Toon Link came out with a note that said, "You didn't get all the weapons."

The swordsmen turned as they heard others approaching. Fox was the first one there. He aimed his gun at them. "What have you done?"

They moved out of the way to reveal Villager. Fox looked stunned as he saw the Villager. He dropped his gun and ran into the room. Marth sighed as he heard more footsteps. He looked down the hall and saw a black smoke in one of the lightbulbs. He ran forward, grabbed the gun and fired at the lightbulb. It took a few shots before he hit it. By then, the smoke had disappeared,

The rest of the smashers arrived soon after that. Mario glared at Marth as he got ready to fight. "What-a have you done?"

"It's Villager!" Fox said. "Someone attacked him." Fox ran out holding Villager.

"Maybe I can heal him," Rosalina said.

"It's too late," Fox said. "He's dead."

So it appears I'm getting worse about writing, but don't worry. I've got my schedule pretty free now, and writing is a major priority. However, I may start another story, so this may not be updated quickly. I got the next chapter partially done, and it's a short one, so it should be ready soon. As always, let me know if I have messed up somewhere, and tell me who you think is corrupted. Thank you for reading.