And here is chapter two of my story. I hope you enjoy it. I'm actually pretty proud of this story.

Chapter Two: The Alley

The six heroes walked down the brick paths of Nintendo Street, looking desperately for some clue to the whereabouts of the next note. Cheerful, familiar faces lit up at the sight of the Smashers, and waved at them from under their umbrellas. They all seemed to be happy even though the clouds wanted to bring them down.

Rain splattered against windows of shops and on the road. The six probably would look strange to normal people (six people walking together, one dressed like a prince, on walking tough, on poking a girl, and two with long elf ears), but this was Nintendo Street. A lot of people were weird here.

Glancing down every alley, the heroes found nothing that resembled an alley to hide an important note in. Instead, they saw cheerful posters, closed down shops with umbrellas protecting the merchandise, side doors, and rain. Lots of rain.

"I can't believe I expected us to be able to find it . . ." Zelda sighed.

"Oh, come on you guys! We can find it if we just look harder!" Peach was her usual, cheery self.

"It's not as easy as the movies make it seem." Roy moaned.

"It never is! Stop complaining! You're starting to sound like Marth!" Samus shot a glare at the azure-haired prince.

"That idiot couldn't sound like me if he tried."

"Well, I wouldn't consider that a bad thing!"

"You foul-mouthed peas-"

"AHEM." Peach pulled out her Frying Pan.

"Shutting up now."

The six all seemed to stop. The rain patted on their umbrellas. They all looked at each other. A streak of lightning lit up the sky. "Let's get something to eat now." Roy was the first to speak.

The others nodded in agreement.

Kirby's Cafe

"Hello! Welcome to Kirby's Café! Oh, hello, guys." Kirby recognized them and showed to them to a table. "Want some soup?"

"Yeah, I'm starving."

Once they were all done eating the soup, Kirby approached them. "It's noon. Do you guys have anything to do? Would you mind helping out around the kitchen or taking orders?"

Marth scoffed, but was silenced by Samus' elbow. "Actually, Kirby, we would, but we have some other errands to do. Sorry." Samus smiled apologetically.

"Oh, no it's fine." Kirby walked back to the kitchen.

"Hmm . . . we got away without paying." Peach grinned. "Good thing too, cause what with six bowls already, Roy just had to get three more bowls. I ponder at how you stay so skinny sometimes."

"It's all in the charm."

"What charm?"

"Good point." Roy hesitated. "HEY!"

"Okay, guys, we need to get going. That note isn't going to find itself, you know." Link looked around at all of them.

"Wow, Link, that's one of the few times you've talked today," Samus exclaimed.

Link glared at her.

"Buuut, I suppose you're right."

Streets of Nintendo City

Zelda briskly walked at the front of the group. She had a feeling in her gut that something bad was going to happen. She stopped abruptly. What was that she just had seen? An alley?

"What is it, Zelda?" Link was at her side in a flash.

"I think I just found our alley."

The alley was long and dark, slimy and cold. Rats crawled around the floors, and the stench was horrible. It practically reeked of dead rat and sewage. Moss grew in between cracks in the ground, and a fog emitted from it.

"Since when did alleys in Nintendo Street become like this?" Roy said, glancing at a rat that scurried over his shoe.

"I don't know, but I know this is it." Zelda said as she began to walk forward.

Everything seemed to stop as they walked down the long alley. The sound of their shoes on the squeaky ground was louder than guns exploding. Their ears rang with nervous anticipation. Finally, they came to a halt at the end of the alley. The pungent stench was almost unbearable.

Nostrils flaring, Roy bent down and picked up a piece of paper on the ground. It was damp and grimy, crinkled up like someone was going to toss it into a trash can. He slowly unwrinkled it and peered down at the sloppy words expectantly.

"It reads, 'Good. You've passed phase two. Solve the riddle, get your Master back. You'll find the riddle; something that's littered, but organized. It's old, but contains the past and present. Good luck. I'm looking forward to it.'"

"What the heck is that supposed to mean?!" Link snarled at the paper. Zelda put her hand on his arm.

"Whatever we make of it."

"Dun, dun dun DUN." Samus whispered.

Smash Kitchen

The six Smashers were seated around the kitchen. The rest of the Smashers were probably playing with Snake's weapons, blowing stuff up, or getting limbs chopped off by Ike. They didn't see Mario anywhere, but the Smashers weren't screaming, so he'd probably fed them.

"This riddle doesn't make any sense. What kind of place can hold the dang past and present? It's impossible! This is stupid!" Roy put his head in his hands and glared at the note.

Though they didn't say it, the other five were thinking the exact same thing. What did hold the past and present? And what was littered but organized? How could it all fit together?

"Hmm . . . could it be a time warp?" Link suggested.

"No, a time warp isn't organized but littered. Also, in the note it would say it held the future, too. This object can only hold the present and past." Zelda smiled solemnly at the elf.

"What if it isn't an object? If it's a place?" Marth looked around at the others.

They remained silent, each deep in thought. What if it was a place? But what could the place be?

"Could it be . . . a garden? Perhaps it's saying that the plants of the past and of the present are there. And the soil is littered, I guess . . ." Peach sighed and crossed her arms against her stomach.

The others didn't reply. They knew the answer. The Smashers didn't realize when the clock struck ten, and they had all already fallen asleep on the kitchen table.

A mysterious figure lurked the streets. It checked its watch; 1:00 a.m. All the lights in the street were off, and the shops were closed for the day. The figure smirked. It swiftly headed down the brick roads, heavy rain pouring on it and drenching it from top to bottom. It stopped and turned left.

The familiar stench of dead rats and sewage fought its way to the figure's nostrils. It stepped on one of the rat's tails and the rodent gave a painful squeal. The figure pressed its foot down and the rat screeched in agony. The figure stepped off of the rodent and continued walking forward.

Once the shadowy figure reached the end of the alley, in squatted and ran its hand on the ground. No note. It smirked, an evil grin spreading on its face. A bolt of lightning flashed overhead, revealing murderous, cruel, gleaming eyes.

Smash Kitchen

Marth groaned, raising his head from his arms to take in his surroundings. A table. Five Smashers. Oh great, that wasn't a dream. Surprisingly, all six of the heroes seemed to be awaking at the same time. 5:00. Well, except for Roy, but he didn't count since Peach whacked him with Mr. Torture to wake him up.

Then he realized someone's head was on his shoulder. He desperately hoped it wasn't Link's. He turned his head slowly, first seeing the blonde hair in a ponytail, then the grey hoodie. (A/N: huh wut? D:) Samus.

Samus.

SAMUS?!

Marth jumped fifteen feet into the air, shoving Samus off as he did so.

"What do you think you're doing?!" he panted, the hair rising on the back of his neck.

"Mmm? What's that, Gir . . . nnn . . . GIRLY-BOY?!" Her eyes widened. "HOW DARE YOU TRY TO GET FRESH WITH ME?! AND WHILE I'M ASLEEP, TOO!"

"I DID NOT TRY TO GET FRESH WITH YOU! YOU FELL ASLEEP ON MY SHOULDER! AND NOW THE FABRIC'S RUINED BECAUSE YOU DROOLED! YUCK!"

"I WAS DROOLING BECAUSE I WAS THINKING OF . . . UH . . . FOOD! YEAH, FOOD!"

"Oh dear, Samus, are you hungry? And you two really should stop yelling, you'll wake the whole house up." Peach was concerned, as usual, but she didn't need to be worried about Samus waking the house up. Most of the Smashers were used to being woken up early in the morning by yelling, and usually they just shrugged it off and fell back asleep immediately. Even most of the newcomers had already become familiar with the regular yelling. Most of them, that was . . .

"HOLY FLYING FRIED FLAPJACKS! WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON IN HERE?!" Ike was in the doorway, holding a teddy bear, still in his pajamas.

"Nothing unusual. Want something to eat?" Peach was pulling out her frying pan. Everyone, excluding Ike, winced at the sight of it. "I'm not going to hurt you all! I'm just going to make bacon, sheesh."

"Well, um," Ike began. "I'd love to and all, but I don't want to interfere with your detective work. Anything that gets me fighting faster." He winked and departed.

Peach blushed. "Wow! He is so fine!" She giggled a bit. Roy frowned.

"Come on; let's continue thinking about that note before we melt into puddles because of some blue haired jerk."

"Like Marth," Samus added. Marth looked at her darkly. Only I don't melt into puddles, Samus chuckled in her mind.

Zelda smirked a bit. "Is someone jealous?" She raised her eyebrows at the sight of Roy's face going beet red.

"NO!"

"What?" Peach looked up from the bacon she was cooking.

"Uh, nothing."

"Hmm."

Link sat up. "We need to get back to work on this mini riddle. If we can't figure this thing out, how on Earth will we figure out the other riddle? This stuff is probably kindergarten compared to the real deal."

The others nodded in agreement. Peach set a plate of bacon on the table as she motioned for Zelda and Samus to help her with the waffles. "Don't eat the bacon!" She glared at Roy, who already had half a piece shoved into his mouth.

"Well, what else are you supposed to do with bacon?" He mumbled, bacon crumbs falling out of his mouth. "It's not like this is a bacon art show or something."

Peach glowered at him, huffed, and turned around. She began to swiftly mix the batter, acting like it was Roy's brains. He obviously didn't have them anymore.

Smash Kitchen

"Alright. So, it holds the past and present, is organized yet littered, and it's not a time warp or a garden. That's all we know." Everyone had finished eating and now were discussing the note.

"Hmm . . . well, I just don't know what it could be! I'm completely out of ideas!"

"Maybe we should give it a rest and take a break." Marth looked around hopefully.

"The more we wait, the more danger Master Hand is in."

"Well, I'm going to the bathroom." Roy got up and walked out of the kitchen. As he approached the hall that held the facilities, a wide-eyed Snake was standing there, staring into blank space. He was wearing a shirt that had a piranha plant on it and said "Bite Me" above it (I'm so unor, with dark jeans.

"Snake? Snake?! Snaaaaaaaake?!"

"Roy." Snake turned his head to the redhead, his eyes still wide.

"What is it, Snake? You look like you've seen a ghost!"

"It's Ike. He's missing."

Ike's Room

Roy scrambled in Ike's room, desperately searching for something, some note, some sign to the knight's disappearance. He tossed Ike's blue blankets aside, and eventually slammed his fist against the wall in anger and frustration. "Why? Why, why, WHY?!" Roy muttered as he punched the wall.

Though Roy didn't know it, Peach was standing in the doorway, her eyes wide and face pale. Rain splattered outside. "Roy . . ." she muttered.. "Roy! Roy, stop!" Her eyes welled with tears and she approached him.

Roy glared at her a glare so painful and horrifying; it was like taking a blow to the heart. "Peach. Go away. NOW!" His face was inches away from hers and his voice shook with pain and rage.

Peach lifted her hand into the air and slapped him. Roy blinked once, twice, three times. "Roy. What happened?"

Roy explained everything to her. "He was one of my best friends, Peach! And now he's gone!" Peach put a hand on his back and patted him awkwardly.

"Uh, there, there, Roy." Peach slowly bent down and picked something up. "Huh? What's this? A note?"

Roy's head shot up. "What." It came out as more of a statement than a question; his voice didn't rise as it would if it was a question. "A note."

"Yeah. It's about Ike. It says, 'I see you've found this note. Good for you, but can you find him? Stop dawdling or I'll take the rest of your precious friends to convince you to hurry up. I do not have time for games, Smashers.'" Peach glanced at Roy. "Let's go tell them." Roy nodded.

Smash Kitchen

"So Ike's missing now, too, and we can conclude that the person who took Ike is the same person who kidnapped Master Hand. They left a note, and we've concluded that it means that every day we waste, another person will be stolen." Zelda had kept a notepad and written every piece of evidence down on it. "So, basically, if we don't hurry up and solve this mystery, everyone we're close with and know will be picked off."

The other's nodded in agreement.

"But . . ." Samus looked up from her coffee, and her eyes had deep purple circles under them. "What's bothering me is how easily this person is taking our people here at Smash Mansion. Surely Ike and Master Hand wouldn't go without some kind of fuss. So . . . it's making me wonder if one of our fellow Smashers is the one doing this."

Everyone stopped what they were doing, from stirring coffee to jotting notes down, and looked at Samus. They didn't want to believe it, but she had a major point. Suddenly, Link took out a sheet of paper and wrote down all of the Smasher's names, marking out Ike's and Master Hands'. He hesitated a moment, but marked out the six that were investigating the mystery, too.

"What exactly does this guy want? Money? Power? What could we, a group of people and creatures that beat each other up, have for this person?" Peach murmured, her voice barely audible.

Samus suddenly shot up from her chair, knocking it over and slamming her fist into her palm, smiling. "It all makes sense! The second note, that is. The place where the third note is! I know it!" Everyone stared at her, urging her to continue. "It's the attic! It's organized but littered. See, there are boxes everywhere, scattered and really dusty and all, but it's organized, 'cause everything is packed into the boxes! And it holds the past and present! What the boxes hold is the past and present, from pictures and weapons, to calendars for this year!"

Everyone stared at her for a moment. Marth stood up, shaking her hand and smiling. "You're a genius, Samus."

Samus snickered, and playfully added, "You just noticed?"

Smash Kitchen, Later That Evening

Peach stood around the table, staring at each and every one of them. "Alright. We'll head up to the attic and find the note; however, we don't have much time to waste! Keep too long and I'll bring Mr. Torture to your butts. The longer we take, the more people get taken every day. It's already lonely without Ike here."

The six nodded, and stood, each looking fierce in their own way. Even Marth, in all his feminine glory. They marched to the attic stairs and stopped at the base of them. One person at a time, they slowly ascended up the steps, pressure weighing down on them like a ton of bricks . . .

End of Chapter