Okay, so let's revisit the situation. Peach is dead, Isolde has gone missing, and the remaining smashers are male... Hm...

I dunno about you, but there's something wrong with this set-up. Let's go see what it is, shall we?

Chapter 23

Marth was busy punching a pillow in his room.

Isolde had gone missing. Marth had checked every part of the mansion that he could access, searching for Isolde and having no luck at all in doing so. Communications were also jammed, meaning that the smashers could not keep in touch to tell Marth that they had found Isolde. When they had gone searching for her for an hour, however, it was clear that they were going to have no luck finding her.

As well, Marth was super annoyed by all of the accusations everybody had thrown at the German girl after she had disappeared. Mario had shouted that Isolde had to have been the murderer, and he insisted it before Fox pointed out that Isolde was not at the mansion for the first couple of days. Mario, and eventually Roy, supported the theory that Isolde had to have been the one killing everybody despite this evidence. The vulpine had gotten Popo on Marth's side, but as far as things were concerned the prince was angry that such an idea had even sprung up in the first place.

He was even angrier at Isolde, however, for not appearing at least to Marth and telling him that she was going to disappear. The truth was that despite all the fun poked at him over his liking for Isolde, Marth really did care about her. If nobody else had survived the tournament, Marth would have wanted her to survive most of all. But now that she had disappeared, he was not sure what would happen next.

This made the prince of Altea undeniably angry.

And so, he continued to punch his pillow to let out his frustration at the situation with Isolde.

"So how did Peach die?"

"She was choked to death. It was very slow..."

"And there was nothing you could've done?"

"Unfortunately, no... I don't exactly remember what happened, but I think there was yet another machine rigged to kill her..."

Mario nodded at this. Roy had gone to the plumber's room to talk to him about Peach's death. The plumber had taken it surprisingly well, considering that he had led to the death of the person he had always rescued. However, he still took it hard, and he had spent most of the day in his room in silence. He had let anybody who wanted to talk to him in, though, and so Roy had sat down with him. They were both on the bed, Mario with his shoes off and Roy with his feet resting squarely on the floor.

The plumber presently nodded, looking at Roy sadly. "How much time did this murderer have to compile everything?"

"I don't know," replied Roy. "All we know is that he did..."

Mario gazed at the roof absently. "He reminds me of that guy from the Saw movies..."

The plumber had continued speaking. However, Roy lost track of what he was saying, as a very strange image came across the lord's mind. He flashed into a dark place, not able to see much. A gunshot suddenly went off, however, and then the sight of blood and singed brains were visible on a far wall in the dark place.

After this, he seemed to flash back into reality as Mario looked him in the eyes. He had stopped talking briefly, looking down at the lord in a mixture of confusion and concern for the fellow smasher.

"Hey, Roy, are you okay?" he asked.

Blinking uncertainly, Roy shrugged his illusion off.

"I'm fine," I said. "I just got lost in thought is all..."

The plumber nodded, something in his eyes seeming a little suspicious.

"Okay," he said. "It's just... how does a guy get all of this stuff together? You know? You'd think he would need an assistant... And yet there's been no indication that that's the case..."

Roy shrugged. "Whoever is killing us has magic on his side," replied the prince of Pherae. "I wouldn't be surprised if he used that instead of having an assistant..."

"I don't know," said Mario. "All this is really complex... And what's worse is that the tournament is almost over..."

Roy glanced down nervously. "That's right," replied the prince. "It is almost over, isn't it?"

"Only three matches left," said the plumber nervously. "And... since you and Fox are the only people left to fight in this round..."

The lord of Pherae nodded. "Yeah," he replied. "I'm going up against Fox soon..."

The plumber shook his head, pulling his knees up against his chest. "This is all fucked up..." Mario spat. "This is all super fucked up."

"Well, look at it this way," replied Roy. "From the way the brackets were set up due to Jigglypuff's departure, I think you get to wait around for a full match before the final."

Mario rose an eyebrow at this. "So Albrecht showed you the brackets?"

Roy nodded, crossing his arms in front of him. "He did," replied the lord. "He said he also showed them to Bowser before he died, but now it's a little late to find out if he did..."

"I see..." Mario stood up, putting his shoes on as he jumped on the ground. "I'm going to the match lounge. Today is the match between you and Fox, right?"

"Right," replied Roy, standing up as well. "Let's go hang out over there."

And the two of them left the plumber's room, heading to the match lounge slowly.

Fox and Marth faced each other in the teleport room, the vulpine looking to the prince of Altea. The two of them were waiting for Roy to arrive so they could continue the tournament. Marth had seemed worried all morning, and Fox was sure it had something to do with Isolde. He had grown very close to Albrecht's daughter in the time he had known her, so the vulpine understood that Marth might need some time to think.

"Hey, are you all right about Isolde?" he asked.

The prince shook his head. "No," he replied. "I'm worried about her. I'm very worried about her..."

Fox nodded. "Is it because of what Mario said?"

"Partly," replied Marth, crossing his arms in front of him. "I just don't think Isolde is the murderer. She's too caring an individual to kill people."

"That she is," replied Fox, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

"She also doesn't look like the kind to kill," the prince added. "She's the sweetest person I've ever met. People like her just don't kill for amusement. It's improbable if they decide to do so, honestly..."

The vulpine looked over to Marth, crossing his own arms in front of him. "You have strong feelings for her, didn't you?"

"Very," replied the princess. "She really is a sweet girl, Isolde... I kind of fell in love with her for that. Isolde can be a little naïve, but otherwise she is incredibly charming and very sweet. I only wish she wasn't in probable danger right now..."

Fox nodded, a pang of regret having gotten into him. "I see," he said.

There was a brief silence between the two of them as they stood in the room. All was eerily silent as Marth and Fox contemplated on this. Neither really looked at the other as they thought about how Isolde might be doing. The German girl really did have something of an impact on the smashers, always acting as some kind of moral support from someone that wasn't fighting. This was something that they had greatly needed, and Fox had been ever thankful that Isolde had shown up when she had. To think that the girl had disappeared quite suddenly was very disturbing, but it was disturbing more for Marth, who had to deal with the accusations levelled upon Isolde in her absence.

Finally, Fox looked over to Marth. "Marth?"

The prince looked to the vulpine that Roy would fight in a few minutes. "Yes, Fox?" he asked.

"I believe you," he said. "I don't think Isolde could have murdered anyone..."

Marth smiled softly. "I had already gathered that, but it's nice to have the reassurance," he said.

Fox nodded, giving Marth a thumbs up as Roy finally entered. The Altean swordsman nodded to Roy, and then he turned to the two of them.

"May the best fighter win," said the Altean prince.

Fox nodded, the prince exiting the room. Roy turned to Fox, and the two of them stepped onto the teleport pads.

"So, let's do this right, shall we?" asked Roy.

Fox nodded, seeming quite confident in himself. He then was teleported to the match, as was Roy.

Mario looked to Albrecht, the plumber shrugging. The two of them stood in the hallway

"So you want me to help you find Isolde?" asked Mario.

"Yes," he replied. "I just hope she's all right..."

"Don't worry, Albrecht," said Mario. "I'm sure we'll find her. And hopefully we'll bring her to justice, too!"

"I tell you, Isolde is innocent," replied the German. "My daughter would not willingly do such a thing."

The plumber shrugged. "Yeah, but her disappearing now of all times..." he said. "Doesn't that alarm you?"

"It does," replied Albrecht, straightening the collar of his jacket. "But not in the same way it alarms you."

Mario shook his head, crossing his arms in front of him. "I just can't help but feel that she's responsible for Peach's death somehow," he said. "Call me paranoid, but there's something not really right here..."

Albrecht raised an eyebrow as he faced a different direction. "I'm sure it's nothing," replied the German. "Now we should get going."

Mario nodded. "We're splitting up?"

"We're splitting up," replied Albrecht. "Now let's find her."

With this, the two of them split up, going separate ways down the corridor in search of Albrecht's daughter.

Marth had been asked to wait in the basement with Popo. Popo had been left under Marth's supervision as Mario and Albrecht were working at finding Isolde. The Ice Climber looked in the small room in slight trepidation, afraid of what could possibly jump out at him as he scooted closer to the prince. They had been waiting there for a few minutes, and Popo was beginning to get both frightened and impatient

"How do we know when the match ends?" asked the boy.

The prince nodded. "We'll know as soon as we can pass a had through this wall..." he said. "I hope Mario and Albrecht can find Isolde."

"So do I," said Popo. "She's really nice, you know. I don't think she could kill people."

"Neither do I, Popo," replied the prince. "Neither do I."

As they talked, the wall suddenly seemed to give way, as Marth's hand passed through it almost without ceremony. Seeing this, the prince's eyes widened considerably.

"Okay, let's go!" he shouted.

Without hesitating, the two of them ran through the wall, finding themselves running down a corridor as quickly as he could. Popo trailed along, his hammer at the ready in case he saw something. Their run down the hallway went without event for quite some time, the two of them wondering why the hallway was so long this time.

As they moved along, however, Marth though he saw something on a divergent path. For a split second, Marth thought he saw the end of a furry tail disappearing into a passage, the wall cutting off his view of it. Pausing where he was, the prince blinked. Popo bumped into his leg unceremoniously, falling to the ground as he did.

"What was that?" asked the prince of Altea.

Popo blinked. "What was what?" he asked.

"I thought I saw something running along," said the prince.

The Ice Climber looked down the hallway that Marth was peering down. The two of them stood there, awaiting nothing but silence.

"Maybe it was nothing," replied the Ice Climber, tugging on Marth's leg. "Come on. Let's go."

The prince stood still, however, not certain that everything was all right.

"Come on!" cried Popo, now tugging on his cape as he tried to get the prince to move. "Someone's gonna die if you stand here!"

The prince snapped out of his stupor and followed the young boy down the rest of the corridor. The two of them then ran as quickly as they could.

They approached a door at the end of the hallway, the two of them sighing softly.

"Finally!" said Popo. "Come on!"

The two of them ran as quickly as they could to the door, Marth grabbing the handle. They were stopped when a splash was heard, however. Both of them froze in place, and then looked down to see that a puddle of blood was beginning to form underneath them.

"Oh shit..." muttered Marth.

He twisted the knob, only to find that it was locked.

"Oh, damn it, of all the doors to be locked, it had to be this one!" cried the prince of Altea as he twisted the knob relentlessly.

"Let me," said Popo, raising his hammer.

Taking the hint, the prince stepped to the side, giving Popo a clear shot at the door. With this, the Ice Climber slammed the hammer against the door. A loud, metallic boom sounded out at first, with nothing truly visible having happened. The Ice Climber had to hit the door at least four more times before it noticeable began to dent. Popo was determined to go in despite the fact that he already knew that either Fox or Roy were already dead before they had even gotten in. Thus, he bashed the door a couple more times as hard as he could.

And with one final all-mighty blow, the door fell down to a harshly lit room.

The scene they got was almost a complete departure from the scene that they had expected. All of the elements were in place for the murder; a trap had been set up on the far wall, with a body strapped to it that was lacking a head. A pool of blood had formed on the cold steel floor, bright crimson shining painfully in the light.

However, the one element that seemed most out of place there was the body. The body belonged neither to Fox, nor to Roy. Rather, it had on a now-bloodstained white dress that shocked Popo and Marth.

And sure enough, in the center of the pool of blood that had formed was the head of the last female left standing in the tournament.

"Isolde!"

The prince ran straight into the pool of blood, bright red splashing up as he knelt at Isolde's head. Slowly, he brought his hands down as they shook almost uncontrollably. Slowly, they cupped Isolde's head, and he looked into the woman's face with a look of abject horror on his face.

"Damn it... no...."

Marth was scarcely able to speak as he beheld the sight of Isolde's head laying there. Slowly, he brought it up against him, not caring that he was smearing himself in her blood.

"Isolde... no...!"

And nothing more was said as Marth simply cried out in anguish. He reeled back, facing the heavens as he cradled Isolde's head in his arms and let out his sorrowful sound. Popo just stood wide-eyed at the doorway, shocked at what he had just seen.