Ha. The end of last chapter was not a big-lipped alligator moment; Albrecht really is the murderer.

How does it all come together? Take a look.

Chapter 25

Fox locked the door behind him, Roy and Popo both looking to the vulpine. Peach and Mario settled on the bed as Marth pulled a chair out from the desk as Fox jumped onto the bed. Popo leapt onto the desk as Roy leaned against the wall.

"Okay," said the vulpine. "We should be safe for now."

"Safe enough to talk about the murderer without being interrupted?" asked Roy.

The starfighter shrugged. "I don't know about interruptions..." he admitted. "But if it's without interruptions, then that'll be great."

"Are you sure Albrecht is the murderer?" asked Popo.

Peach nodded from where she sat. "We have too much evidence proving that," said the princess. "It's honestly overwhelming..."

Roy nodded. "Well, if he's the murderer, then where do we start?"

"No, forget that!" said Popo. "How did Peach survive?"

Fox shook his head. "We'll start with Albrecht," he said. "So, let's begin..."

Marth crossed his arms in front of him. "So, what first lead you to the conclusion that it was Albrecht?"

"To be honest, I had been suspecting Albrecht since Master Hand's death..." replied the fox. "Even when he wasn't a prime suspect something told me in the back of my head that he was responsible. Something about Master Hand's death was always off to me. Pichu goes off and tells Albrecht about Master Hand, and the next thing we know the big hand is dead."

"It was too suspicious not to notice," replied Peach.

Raising an eyebrow, Mario twirled his moustache slighty. "But wasn't he the one who told Master Hand not to trap any more?" he asked. "And even if he had, that would've made his job easier, so why kill him?"

"It's not that simple," said the vulpine. "If Albrecht wanted someone he could trust, he needed someone who would carefully plan everything..."

"When asking for help, you want to carefully choose your allies."

"Like, a single misstep can be fatal for a murderer's friend."

"And that's why he was killed. Not because he disobeyed orders, but because he was not trustworthy enough to keep the murderer's cover for long enough to kill all of the smashers..."

"Damn... I was always wondering why the murderer would kill Master Hand."

"And now you know. Trust issues are dire like that..."

"So you're saying that Albrecht would have asked the hand to help?" asked the prince of Altea.

The vulpine nodded. "Exactly," he said. "He needed an ally he could trust. Which was odd seeing as how he already had an ally..."

Roy looked a little warily at the vulpine. "What do you mean?" he asked. "Was it Sergio? Because he's not in the room with us..."

Fox shook his head. "I'll get to the ally a little later," he said.

The rest of the group nodded as Popo shifted slightly where he sat. "So what about Sergio then?"

Fox nodded. "The puzzle didn't begin to come together for me until super recently," said Fox. "When Bowser died, I was contacted by some people... One of them was a mage..."

Marth raised an eyebrow. "A mage?" asked Marth. "The mage wasn't from Tellius, was he?"

At this, the fox stiffened visibly while looking at Marth, all of his fur standing on end as he looked at the prince. "You're a really good guesser," said Fox. "His name is Soren."

The royal nodded, his arms resting on the back of the chair he was sitting on. "I see..." said the prince. "You and I share a common aquaintance then. But that's a story for another day. It's good we've got such a powerful mage on our side..."

"Powerful?" asked Popo. "But what about Zelda?"

"Zelda was unable to read magic signatures the way this mage could," replied Fox. "He told me all the magic that was being used, and an extra spell."

With this, the vulpine stood up and began pacing the room. He looked to everybody at the same time and nodded.

"Tell me," he said. "When everybody was required to be at a certain place at a certain time, Sergio was always too busy. And when Sergio was walking around, Albrecht was nowhere to be seen. Where does this lead us?"

At this, Roy blinked uncertainly. "Are you suggesting that Albrecht and Sergio are the same person?" asked the lord.

"Impossible!" said Popo. "They look completely different."

Mario then raised a finger. "This murderer has magic on his side, though," replied the plumber.

Fox nodded, indicating the plumber. "Exactly," said the fox. "A spell that could make you hide anywhere...

"Think for a second. When I say 'spell that can make one hide anywhere', what are all the possibilities?"

"Well, invisibility is a definite one such spell. I could also put a chameleon like spell... But that's about it."

"You're not thinking hard enough."

"Well, those are all the possiblities that are coming to mind for me..."

"All right, let me put it this way. Has anybody seemed to not show up to anywhere? Someone important, mainly? And does that someone make someone else hard to find?"

"Well, now that you put it that way, the organizer of our tournament has been hard to find when the caretaker Sergio appears... Wait, you're not suggesting that he's..."

"That's precisely what I'm suggesting."

"No... No way..."

"And trust me, Popo, I thought it was impossible too," said Fox. "I didn't think it was possible for a long time. But think about it. Albrecht and Sergio were never in the same places at the same time. As well, Sergio never appeared all that often. And Albrecht even mentioned at one point that Sergio was an expert in the kind of magic we're dealing with here."

"So since the logical conclusion is that since they're one and the same, Albrecht also has access to that magic and can make the rooms in which we were all supposed to be killed?" asked Marth.

"Indeed," replied the fox. "But I was very skeptical about that too."

The Ice Climber shifted where he sat. "Then what changed your mind?"

"Peach's near-murder," replied the vulpine.

All eyes went to the princess of the Mushroom Kingdom as she adjusted her legs so that she was more comfortable. Looking around her, she sighed softly.

"I saw a dead body in that room," she said. "It looked like it had gone through a long time of decomposition... And it wore one of Albrecht's suits! When I looked over it more, it also looked astoundingly like him."

Roy's head tilted to the side. "You mean...?"

"Exactly," said Fox. "Albrecht was dead the entire tournament. So technically, the murderer is Albrecht, but not Albrecht."

"Tell me everything you saw, princess."

"Okay. I saw a dead body in there. It looked like it had gone through months of decomposition... I mean, the skin looked like a brown paper bag! It also wore a brown pinstripe suit... Like the kind Albrecht wears. I also thought I saw brown hair on his head... And a moustache..."

"Exactly as I thought."

"But I'm confused. I saw what I think is Albrecht's dead body sitting in that room, and when I saw Albrecht later... Is the Albrecht I saw breathing an impostor?"

"Most probably. Think about something else..."

"Like what?"

"Think for a second."

"Then Sergio...?" asked the Pheraen, eyes widening in shock.

Fox nodded. "Yes," he said. "Sergio is the true murderer of the Smash brothers. And he was masquerading around as Albrecht to put us in a position that we could never leave the mansion from."

Roy began shivering where he sat, his eyes wide as he crossed his arms in front of him. Marth frowned. "Princess, why didn't you say anything about this earlier?"

"Fox asked me not to tell," said Peach. "According to him, if I said anything, the entire mansion would be destroyed..."

"How the hell is that possible?" asked Marth, getting increasingly agitated.

Fox crossed his arms. "We were up all of last night running around the mansion," he said. "We were busy defusing bombs... We were defusing ten bombs, to be exact."

"Okay, so let me know why I can't tell anyone again?"

"I detected some energy to make smaller objects invisible. Upon trying to identify the objects themselves, I found I was unable to..."

"And so I came in. Fox, the mansion is rigged with ten bombs placed in strategic places throughout the mansion. Whoever this murderer is has cast an invisibility spell on all of them so that you can't see them and know that they're there. If you find out who the murderer is and tell everyone in the mansion, then those bombs will go off, and everyone inside will most likely die-- including the murderer himself."

"So you mean if I tell..."

"You get blown to smithereens. Or you get crushed under a lot of rubble. Either way, your chances of survival are very slim if you tell someone. And that applies to every other person in the mansion."

"They're... I'm no expert at diffusing bombs..."

"Nah. From what Soren described them to look like, they sound like your average bombs from World War II. When you get an opportunity, I'll try to give you a crash course on how to defuse one of those bombs."

"Okay... So there's that to contend with."

Marth nodded grimly. "So that's why you didn't come back to us when you survived."

"I had already gathered all the clues I needed by that point," replied the vulpine as he paused in his pacing. "Peach and I had also snuck into Albrecht's office for clues, so we had that. We'll touch on that later. I just needed to make sure the bombs were defused first so that he couldn't activate them."

"I hope he doesn't know how to reactivate them..." said Mario.

Fox shook his head. "Reactivating a bomb isn't that easy, especially when it involves cutting wires," he pointed out.

"I still don't get something, though," said Popo. "How did Peach survive, and how did Isolde wind up dead in Fox's place?"

"Complicated story," said Peach instantly. "Fox and I were talking to Soren when we heard a knock on the door. We open it, and there's Isolde... She had heard everything we had been talking about in relation to the murder... and she wanted to help."

Marth gripped the chair, fearing the worst. "That... that didn't entail... what I think it does... did it?"

"Yes," said Peach. "Isolde and I switched places for my match."

At this, Marth's eyes widened. "You mean..." he said. "Isolde was the one who was strangled? And she left me of her own choice?"

"It was the only way we could save Peach's life without the murderer catching on that she was still alive," said Fox. "Peach knew too much, and the murderer knew this. So he would have rigged the machine so that Peach would die regardless of whether she won or lost. And besides, Isolde volunteered herself to replace Peach..."

With this, the vulpine took a note out of his breast pocket and handed it to the prince.

"Isolde requested that I give you this note once I was able to appear again," said the vulpine. "Here."

"You mean that regardless of whether Peach wins or loses, she's going to be the one who ends up in the room?"

"Exactly. She already knows too much, and the murderer knows this. And now he won't hesitate to kill her. So we have to give the illusion that she's dead so that she can live..."

"... I'll take her place in the match."

"What? Isolde? Are you crazy?"

"Isolde! I will not hear of it!"

"It's the only way we can save Peach. I have some blue contact lenses in my room that I can use, and Peach can always style my hair to look like hers. All that's left to do then is replicate her make-up, wear her dress, and put anything adhering to her moveset on me and we can pull it off successfully. It's the only way."

"But what about Marth? He cares for you a lot, Isolde! Do you know what he'll say when he finds out?"

"He could be really mad! Think about him, Isolde!"

"Do you have a pen and paper? I can write a note to him..."

"You really won't stand down from that, will you, Isolde?"

"I promised I would help you however I could. And if it means I have to die, so be it."

"Very well then... Here. Write your note."

"Dear Marth..." began the prince as he read the note out loud. "I think I should make a few things clear. First of all, Fox did not lie to you when he told you that I volunteered myself to die. I promised I would help the smashers, and if my death will help Peach and Fox survive, then so be it. Second, I think I should make my feelings clear. I love you, Marth. But sometimes, love doesn't allow you to stay together. And since I love you so, I wouldn't be able to live with the knowledge that I had the opportunity to save other peoples' lives but couldn't. Especially yours. So I sacrificed myself so that you could live on. Don't dwell on my death, my prince. I died so that you could have a chance at life. Ich liebe dich immer, Isolde..."

The Altean sniffled sofly as he looked at the note. He wiped a single tear from his eye as he looked to Fox, obviously very upset by the contents of this note. After a few seconds, he nodded with a discontented expression on his face.

"I see..." he said grimly. "I... Isolde..."

He simply shook his head as he hugged the note closer to himself. "Thank you..." he said. "I'll use my life accordingly, Isolde..."

Fox nodded, biting his lower lip as he fought to keep a tear from falling down his cheek.

"So then it was Isolde that got choked and not Peach?"

"Yes," said Fox. "And then Peach and I spent the night before my match putting Isolde in the trap that would have killed me."

"So that loss of communications...?" asked Mario.

"Yep," said Fox. "That was not the murderer. That was our way of covering our trick."

"So how do we disguise the body exchange trick? This thing is being broadcast on live television..."

"Simple. We make sure communications are down. It'll catch video footage, but it won't get out to the general public."

"Can't Albrecht just check the surveillance footage?"

"That's the flaw in his plan. At this point, all of his traps are ready. And so, all he needs to know is when people die. And by the time he checks the footage, it'll already be too late..."

"So then in his grief he won't question why Isolde got on there in the first place?"

"Exactly..."

"I see..." said Marth. "So when 'Albrecht' heard about Isolde's death, he... he wasn't acting?"

"No," replied Peach. "Isolde was also something of a close companion to Sergio. So the emotion he felt at her death was real."

Marth shook his head. "How sad..." he said. "And yet, I don't pity the man at all... It is his fault he killed her, after all..."

"Wait, wait, wait," said Popo, waving his hands out. "Isolde sounds like she knew that Roy was going to live through all of his matches. Sure, Peach is accounted for because she knew too much, but what about knowing about Fox and Marth being the losers? And furthermore, where the hell did you find out where Fox and Marth would be killed?"

"That brings us back to point B," said Fox. "Albrecht... No, Sergio... Sergio's ally."

The vulpine turned to Roy. "Roy," he said. "I believe you may have been used against your will..."

At this, Roy's shivering only increased. "Oh... Oh God..." he said. "I can't..."

"You're not to blame, Roy," said the fox. "Your pain when you were in Sergio's presence was forced upon you."

At this, the Ice Climber looked to Fox. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"What's the quickest way to a person's trust?" asked Fox.

Mario nodded. "You save them from pain," said Mario. "You stand by their side no matter what, and their presence always makes things better..."

"Exactly," said the vulpine. "And this is what I believe happened between Sergio and Roy... Sergio caused Roy pain to be able to get close to him... And once he did..."

"He hypnotized him?" asked Popo.

"Yes," said Fox, nodding slowly. "Sort of like how it's done in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Only, it isn't necessarily confined to one's sleep. And once the mind control takes over, then there is nothing you can remember, except in brief flashes..."

"Are you sure about this?"

"Yes, I did. Ganondorf is dead, meaning it can't be him and that the only candidate left is Roy. I'm not entirely sure of it, though... I mean, it could be someone we don't know is in the mansion... I mean, the thing about Roy is that he's a kind person. Sure he sleepwalks, but he's a pretty nice guy..."

"Hm..."

"Actually, you know, there's this old movie that came out in the twenties. It's called The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Something like that."

"Sonic, you really don't look like the type to be into those kinds of movies..."

"You'd be surprised, Wolf. You'd be surprised. But anyways, I bring that up because that movie is about a mad asylum director who seems to be able to trick a somnambulist into killing people. Maybe something similar is going on here? I know it sounds crazy, but it's an idea."

"Sonic, we've been through rooms with traps rigged to kill people that are not on the blueprints for our mansion. We also have a murderer who's living a magic-powered double life while making the mansion inescapable. And on top of that, the rooms in which people are killed can only be entered by running through walls at opportune times, with a master wall and a bunch of corridors that don't seem to belong to this world. And your idea is crazy?"

"Good point."

"Actually, it has plenty of credence in magic theory. Theoretically, a longer-term spell like the one used for mind control is stronger if the person it is being casted on is more receptive to the caster. And it is strongest when the victim is not aware of what he is doing..."

"So it's not entirely crazy... But there's something else..."

"And what's that?"

"Other things he's done..."

"So, why'd you guess that it was Roy?" asked Mario, scratching his head. "You didn't get to tell me that before we had to move it to save Marth..."

Fox looked to the red-head with a soft gaze. "I first guessed it was Roy given the aftermath of Ganondorf's trial," he said. "Roy was the one who branded Ganondorf guilty, remember?"

"Yes, it was a tie..." said Marth, scratching his chin. "And Roy's vote was the one that killed him."

The vulpine nodded. "Either way, it wouldn't have made a difference," said Fox. "The murderer would have gotten to Ganondorf eventually whether or not we had declared him innocent. But this opportunity to lull us into a false sense of security was great. The murders would continue and we wouldn't even know it until it was too late. Actually, if not for Nana having noticed that, we all would have fallen for it..."

"But that's not enough..." said Popo, crossing his arms in front of it. "Is there something else?"

"A few other questions," said Fox. "Peach had reminded me that Roy was nowhere to be found around the time that Falco was murdered. That lends credence to the theory that Roy was the one who fired the crossbow that killed him. As well, there was Bowser's wound..."

The rest of the group nodded. "Because Sergio could have gotten Roy to stop Bowser from killing him..." said Mario grimly.

"Which explains how we knew that Roy would survive all of the final matches," said Peach. "A murderer wouldn't try to kill his most effective killing machine..."

"But that doesn't explain how you knew where the last rooms were," said Popo.

The vulpine nodded, reaching into his pant pockets for a few folded sheets of paper. "Then take a look at these."

Popo jumped off of the desk, hopping onto the bed as Mario and Marth moved closer. They unfolded one sheet of paper and noticed what looked like a drawing of a corridor with many pathways leading to large cubes that resembled rooms. The three of them looked on, and then they slowly unfolded a paper. The paper had a numbered list on it that scrolled down from whatever there was. All eyes went back to the floor plan, suddenly noticing numbers in all of the cubes.

"No way..." said Mario. "He had a list?"

"Why write this list in the first place?" asked Popo.

Marth glanced at the Ice Climber. "With all the magic he is already using?" he asked. "I would imagine there is only so much you can use before you lose your bloody mind..."

"That's exaclty what it is," said Fox. "With this list, Albrect kept track of which rooms were being used when..."

Mario squinted suddenly, pointing at the cubes. "But not all the numbers are there..." said the plumber. "So... so maybe he ran out of rooms to put machines in?"

"And that is another reason why some of us weren't killed in the rooms?" asked Marth.

"Yes," said Fox. "That, and I guess he hadn't built some of the traps yet..."

Marth and Mario both looked to Peach nervously. "There's still the matter of Mewtwo..." said Marth. "But given how much magic this murderer is using I wouldn't be at all surprised if the answer was simple."

Fox nodded. "So, there we go. That's the truth about the murderer..."

"The question is, why would he do such a thing?" asked Mario.

The vulpine shrugged. "I have no idea," he said. "Once we corner Sergio, we'll be free to ask..."

"Now, how do we get out of this mansion?" asked Popo.

"Simple," said Fox. "We have to kill Sergio first. It'll destroy all of the magic that he used."

"So we have to kill him in the corridors of the mansion, right?" asked Mario.

"Yes," said Peach. "We have to stay away from the rooms, though, because our way back to this world will disappear once Sergio dies."

Marth nodded. "About those," he said. "Why did they open in the first place?"

"They always opened whenever Sergio was using magic," he said. "He was using so much magic he had to take away some from the walls for other things. He couldn't risk his disguise or the bombs being seen, and he wanted the illusion there to keep he smashers in fear and the barrier to keep us in. So in the end, the walls were the one that took the blow."

"I see..." said Mario. "This is fucked up..."

Fox chuckled bitterly, looking to the door. "It definitely is..."

Marth turned to Roy, who had not said anything throughout the revelation that he was involved. He had instead only looked forward, gripping the edge of the bed with enough force to crush the wood with his bare hands. The lord was also pale, with his eyes seemingly wild as he stared ahead of himself and seemed to pay attention to nothing else. The prince of Altea blinked, looking to the noble as he turned in his seat.

"Roy, are you all right?" asked the prince.

Roy did not respond in words. Rather, he began to pant heavily as he let go of the edge of the bed. This got everybody's attention, and suddenly all eyes were on the Pheraen lord.

"Roy?" asked Fox.

With this, Roy drew his blade, looking at everybody as tears began to flow down his face.

"Roy!" exclaimed Peach. "Calm down! It's not your fault!"

"It is my god damn fault!" cried Roy, voice choked by tears. "I killed all of you guys! I killed them! And I let Sergio use me! Don't pretend there's nothing wrong with that!"

"You weren't in control!" retorted Fox. "Put the blade down! We're not going to kill you!"

"Maybe that won't make it better!" cried the noble, the hold on his sword faltering slightly. "I have to live with this, damn it! I have to live with the fact that I killed people!"

With this, there was silence. Roy's eyes filled to the brim with tears as he looked at everybody around him. Shaking his head, he turned the sword around in his hand so that the blade faced him.

At once, the other smashers were alarmed. "Roy, wait, no--!" cried Fox as he leapt forward.

But it was already too late, for Roy then plunged the blade of his sword into his own stomach. The lord looked to everybody as the group stopped short, looking at Roy in shock.

"I..." said the lord. "I can't live with the guilt... I just can't..."

And with this, the lord collapsed, his sword still embedded deep within him as he looked up blankly. Wordlessly, however, he worked on pulling his blade out of him.

"Don't do that!" exclaimed Marth. "You'll worsen the bleeding and you'll die!"

"Maybe... I want to die!" said Roy, the tears becoming almost uncontrollable as he pulled the blade out of himself. "Maybe... I..."

The lord grew silent, stopping the pulling of his blade as it was almost out of his body. The blood came gushing out of the lord's wound at a rate that was too fast to stop. The group simply watched as Roy stopped moving all too quickly, his gaze fixed in front of him.

In a matter of moments, the lord had stopped breathing.

Putting a hand on is head, Fox sighed sadly.

"Damn it..." he said. "Roy... Why'd you have to be so stupid...?"

Peach shook her head as she knelt down in front of Roy, minding the pool of blood that had formed around him. She closed his eyes slowly, shaking her head as she stood up. Once she did, everybody's heads bowed in memory of the Pheraen lord. This eventually turned into a memorial for everybody that had died in the mansion up to that point, and they thought about everybody that had died. Noble Zelda, who had helped the investigation. Kind Nana, who had been a sister and a friend. Roy, who had done horrible things against his will and was the only figure truly worthy of pity. Ganondorf, who had been framed and killed when he was innocent the entire time. Bowser, who had tried to save everybody even at a cost to himself. And of course, Albrecht, who had been dead the entire time.

After a few minutes, Marth frowned, his resolve strengthened. He drew his blade then, looking to the others.

"Come on," he said. "It's time we find Sergio and give him his due for all that he's done."

Fox nodded, Popo drawing his hammer as Peach and Mario both took up a fighting stance. The vulpine drew his blaster out, knowing that it was deadly outside of the matches.

"Then what are we waiting for?" asked the vulpine. "Let's find him!"

The group of five exited the vulpine's room slowly, knowing to stay together and to avoid the walls at all costs.

The group wondered down the blood-red corridors. The quintet was no longer afraid of the walls and how creepy their color scheme really was. All they cared about then was finding Sergio and giving him what he rightfully deserved. They moved so that they were in a circle, their arms linked together so that there were eyes in all directions that he could come from. The five no longer feared Sergio, and so they looked around with frowns on their faces. Fox and Peach had known a way to destroy the voodoo doll representing Marth without killing him, and they had done so.

Now, the only thing left was to kill the one responsible for all of their pain.

And suddenly, footsteps were heard coming from a particular end of the corridor. Despite the fact that they could hear the direction the steps were coming from, nobody dared move from their formation. However, they stopped in the hallway, with Popo turning around in case Sergio had decided to attack from within the circle.

The footsteps only became louder as they approached the group. They kept their fighting stances, waiting for the murderer to come by.

And then, in front of Fox and Marth, Sergio presented himself, not withered as he usually looked but with all of the strength of Albrecht's figure in his body. Peach and Mario turned around when Popo patted them, and for a while, nobody said anything. The air was thick with tension as they stared each other down.

Sergio was the first to speak. "I must give you credit, you stupid vulpine," said Sergio. "I never figured you would find out that I was the one killing you all."

"I had some outside help," replied the vulpine. "Someone outside of the mansion came to me without you knowing about it."

"And ultimately, you found me out by playing my game..." said the caretaker. "It's too bad you destroyed that voodoo doll. I would have tortured Marth until you submitted to me."

Marth growled. "You would be surprised to see how hard I am to kill," he said.

"You've said enough!" said Peach angrily. "Now you've got a lot to explain. Why kill us?"

Sergio shook his head, black hair splaying across his shoulders as he did. "Simple," he said. "I had a ritual I needed to do."

At this, all of the smashers strengthened their fighting stances. "You mean we all died for a pointless Satanic ritual?" asked Fox. "I seriously hope you're kidding!"

Sergio shook his head. "If I was, I would have done different things..."

With this, he began pacing the width of the hallway directly in front of them. "Nobody ever cared about me, you know," he said. "My father raped me, my mother beat me, the others always beat me... But I had strength in his holiness. He was the only comfort I had in this world amidst everything that was thrown at me.

"He offered me a chance at revenge whenever I could," he continued as he stopped walking. "Twenty-four of the most powerful souls I could find had to be sacrificed to him during my miserable existence. He promised me then that he would destroy everybody that ever did anything to me at all..."

"Twenty-four powerful souls..." muttered Fox. "Then that means..."

"I first saw you during the first tournament that was hosted by the Hand brothers," said Sergio. "I remember thinking about how strong you were to fight everybody and try to come out on top. Your tournaments that you held every year were the only other light, not because of escapism, but because I knew where I could harvest souls... Nevertheless, I had not struck then because I would have gotten only half of the souls I needed and I would have wanted to get all twenty-four at the same time. But then, a miracle happened..."

"Crazy Hand going mentally insane..." said Peach. "You made him get locked up in that psychiatric ward, didn't you?"

Sergio shook his head. "Princess, why the assumption?" he asked. "His insanity was not my fault. That was merely a... coincidence... Especially since he was foretelling everything that was about to occur..."

As the smashers glared at the murderer, he continued speaking. "And then Albrecht took his place. When I first found out that the number of competitors would be changed to twenty-six, I was ecstatic. I finally had the chance to collect all of my souls.

"I had studied dark magic with his holiness when I was younger," he continued. "And so, I had all of the power I needed to collect the souls. The only thing left to do was to put the pieces in place. And so... in the dead of night a month before the tournament, I snuck into Albrecht's house and suffocated him to death with a plastic sheet."

A silence took place, the murderer letting the truth settle. It did not daunt the smashers any, however, for their determination was made quite apparent. Even Peach, who he had been expecting would buckle, had her fists out.

"I then took his place," continued Sergio. "I hired myself as his caretaker to make sure my double life wasn't too suspicious to anyone, I organized the brackets with Master Hand, and I made the extra rooms in an alternate dimension. I had underestimated the timing and I was unable to make every trap I wanted to, but I was ready. The withdrawal of Jigglypuff was a problem, but I made the Ice Climbers one fighter so the tournament could continue as planned."

The murderer crossed his arms. "The first seven murders were simple," he taunted. "You were all so confused. I enjoyed your confusion until Ganondorf found Mewtwo's body. I am surprised you figured it out as soon as you did, however. I would have liked to keep my pattern unknown a little longer than that.

"The murders remained simple up to Ganondorf's murder. I had caught on that you were all thinking of Ganondorf as a prime suspect. Thus, approaching his match, I doctored as much evidence against him as I could. That buffoon Bowser bit right into it, and before I knew it you had all killed him. It's too bad Nana pointed out that pattern of mine, otherwise it would have been the first seven murders all over again.

"Killing the rest of you wasn't so difficult. By then all of my death traps were ready, and so I only had to kill them all. Bowser's death was especially fun to watch. That buffoon thought he could survive while paralyzed. I tell you, his match was so fast I almost didn't have any fun with it."

Sergio's expression seemed to change from one of insane glee to one of frustration. "And yet, you had to fucking ruin it!" he cried, pointing a finger at Fox threateningly. "You with the body exchange trick and defusing all of my bombs before I knew what had happened. The final murders would have been beautiful if not for your meddling! And now, my instrument is dead! And I can't make him kill any of you!"

"Well, we can't have that," said Marth. "Why did you choose Roy, of all people?"

Sergio looked over there. "Because Roy had the weakest soul of you all."

He crossed his arms. "Wolf O'Donnell was originally going to be here," said Sergio. "But before that hand made the official announcement, I convinced him to change him with Roy. That way, I would have an accomplice to solidify my alibi on both of my two lives. It would also leave me to have at the other competitors.

"Of course, I had not expected Master Hand's poor cooperation, so I killed him. That is the only reason I spared Popo; Master Hand's soul proved to be strong enough to substitute for that pesky ice climber. If Bowser had taken my gamble, I would have killed Isolde to seal the deal, but the brave buffoon took the chance. But I have you now..."

There was a silence that hung in the air. Fox frowned, looking at Sergio angrily.

"You know, I should feel pity for you," he said. "I really should. But whatever happened to you doesn't change the fact that this is making you worse than they are."

The vulpine aimed his laser gun at Sergio. "You had a tough childhood. So did most of us. I had to deal with my father's death without a mother to look after me. Marth was exiled from his kingdom in his early teens. I don't know much else, but you understand my point well enough.

"And we learned to deal with it," he said. "You didn't!"

"I dealt with it perfectly with his holiness by my side!" replied Sergio. "And now I shall deal with it!"

"Killing people doesn't make you better than them!" replied Fox. "If anything, it makes you worse than they are!"

"Why not?" asked Sergio. "I would get revenge on them all! And I would be even with them! They want to abuse me? Then they shall pay the price slowly and painfully!"

Without saying anything more, Fox aimed his gun and fired. The laser hit Sergio in the foot, blowing it right off. As the madman fell and screamed in pain, Fox shot his other foot off, and then his hands. The starfighter looked to Sergio as he panted, the pain obvious.

"Then leave my regards to your family when you see them in hell!" cried the vulpine!

Marth jumped at Sergio, picking him up by the collar and shoving him against the wall. Before Sergio could react, Marth had plunged his blade into the madman's chest, snarling angrily. Without giving Sergio a chance to do anything, Marth retreated, letting Sergio fall to the floor in pain. Nothing was said at all.

And then, Popo raised his hammer high, and with a fast swing the head of the hammer came down on Sergio's head. The Ice Climber brought the hammer down on Sergio's head a few more times, and the man was dead.

The smashers panted nervously as they looked at Sergio's body. It was still, laying in the ground as its own blood began to pool all around him. Peach wiped the sweat off of her forehead as she looked at the body.

And then, suddenly, the entire room felt extremely hot. Before they could think about what could have caused the sudden spike in heat, black flames began to light up around Sergio's body. A hole opened up in the ground around the body of Sergio, and suddenly hands darted out of it. The hands had an odd discoloring thanks to the ethereal red light that was in the area, made worse by how bloody they all seemed to be. Without warning, Sergio's disfigured head shot up as it screamed in agony. The group watched as the hands seemed to feel around for the madman, his face catching fire as his black robes became singed.

Loud laughter suddenly rang out in the hallway. It was an odd otherworldy laughter consisting of many other voices that rose out, and Sergio's eyes looked up in terror.

"No... No!"

"You have failed, miserable one," shouted this otherworldly voice. "And now, your soul is mine!"

And with this, the hands clasped around Sergio. Without much more delay, the hands pulled the murderer down into the hole. As the hole closed around him, he screamed out loudly, his hand rising up as he was dragged into hell.

When the hole closed, the flames disappeared, and all was silent. The red on the wallpaper suddenly regained its normal coloring, the group looking to each other as the windows around the mansion finally opened, letting the sun into the mansion for the first time since they had gone in.

Peach and Mario looked around, Popo resting his hammer on his shoulder. Marth sheathed his blade as Fox holstered his gun, looking to the others.

"It's over..." said the princess. "It's finally over..."

Overcome with emotion, the princess suddenly leaned back against the wall, hitting it with her back as she sat down on the ground. The rest of the smashers took a moment to think about everything that had happened to them over the past few weeks, all of them suddenly becoming overcome with great feelings.

And suddenly, an ethereal white light filled the hallway, illuminating everything. Everybody that was alive was snapped out of their stupor as they beheld the bright light.

And then, from the floor, the souls of all that had died had begun to rise out of the ground. All of the smashers that had died appeared briefly, looking on as the spirits began to crowd the hallway. The living smashers turned around, looking at all of the souls surrounding them.

At the head of this procession, then, appeared Bowser. He was in front of all of the spirits, with all of the spirits behind him. He smiled to Fox as Peach stood up.

"Bowser...?" asked the vulpine.

"Thank you, Fox," said the koopa. "You've set us all free..."

"Yeah, I think you deserve a better fate than to be sacrifice fodder for the devil," said Mario as he and Peach walked over to the spirit of the koopa king.

The spirit extended his hand out to the vulpine. Surprised at the gesture, Fox moved his hand forward nervously. Upon finding that he could actually hold Bowser's hand, his expression took on one of surprise before he smiled. Gripping the koopa's hand lightly, he shook it.

It was then that Zelda's spirit appeared by Bowser's side, smiling at Peach.

"Peach, you're all right after all!" said the princess of Hyrule.

The princess of the Mushroom Kingdom nodded. "I barely made it out, but I'm all right," she said.

"I hope your afterlife is good..." said Mario

"It might be annoying, what with Ganondorf being all 'I told you so'," replied Bowser, chuckling. "He kept good on his promise, I'll tell you that much."

Fox nodded, looking around the room as Peach and Mario laughed good-naturedly. His eyes set upon Marth as he hugged the spirit of Isolde tightly. The German girl was hugging Marth back, the light from her illuminating the Altean's tears of bittersweet joy. Looking down, he saw Popo and the spirit of Nana in a similar embrace, with the male Ice Climber crying profusely at seeing his sister one last time.

Bowser looked up suddenly, and he crossed his arms.

"We don't have long," said the koopa. "We'll have to go soon."

Fox nodded, crossing his arms in front of him. "Well, we can't stop you," said Fox. "Thank you, Bowser. For everything."

The deceased king smiled, looking at Isolde and Nana. "Come on, we've gotta go."

With this, the two spirits parted from the people they had been in an embrace with, Marth lingering as he held Isolde's hand.

"Thank you, Isolde," said the prince longingly. "Say hello to your father for me when you meet at the gates of heaven..."

"I will," replied the German girl.

"Bye, Nana..." said Popo sadly.

"Bye..." replied the female ice climber.

And then, the spirits ascended slowly, the ethereal light intensifying as they did. Slowly, all of the spirits of the smashers ascended through the ceiling, the light dying out as their forms disappeared.

And finally, all was back to the familiar lighting of the hallway. The five living smashers looked to each other, Marth looking at Fox as he crossed his arms in front of him.

"So, what now?" asked the prince.

Fox nodded. "Well, since there's no head of the tournament to run anything anymore, and since Roy killed himself... I guess that means Mario wins by default..."

Mario shook his head. "Please, I'd rather not think about myself like that," he said.

"Trust me, neither would I," said the vulpine. "With that out of the way, the only thing left to do is to leave this damn mansion forever."

The others nodded. "I can't wait to get out of here," said Peach. "This place has so many bad memories..."

"Then let's go," said Fox. "To the front door!"

With this, the group of five walked down the corridor, elated that their plight was finally over and that there was no murderer attempting to kill them. And so, there was a light spring in their step as they made their way to the front door of the mansion.

A/N: All right, so there's your explanation, and his defeat. The murderers were Sergio disguised as Albrecht and Roy possessed by Sergio.

No, the fic isn't over yet. I have one epilogue to write out. But I wrote this A/N anyways. Why? So I could explain the clues that were left behind throughout the fic for all that was in this reveal, that's why! So without further ado, let's begin.

--At least one reviewer brought up Roy leaving the hospital bed at the time of Falco's murder, and guessed right there that Roy was the murderer. To him I say, good job you!
--Those scenes where Roy first encountered Sergio were also there for a reason. Why else would anybody need your mind?
--If you had noticed Roy's suspicious behavior, another clue was in the jury scene when they all turned to him. And then he proclaimed Ganondorf guilty. Subtle hint, but when you think about it in retrospect it's kind of obvious. Along a similar vein, the death of Pikachu also partly had Roy's hand when the murderer's original idea failed him.
--Pichu mentioned that the hooded figure had red hair during the trial. Who else besides Ganondorf has red hair?
--There was a hidden clue when Albrecht smirked during the chapter in which Master Hand was killed. Also consider the fact that RoyalFanatic was originally going to add another line for Albrecht after the smirk which I asked her to remove due to the line being a little too obvious that early in the fic.
--Remember when "Peach" said nothing before her final match and fought as if she didn't know much about her moveset? That was your clue that something wasn't normal with Peach. I'm surprised nobody picked up on that and tried to go anywhere with it, honestly.
--Of course, Albrecht and Sergio never being in the same room at the same time doesn't need to be mentioned.
--The doctored surveillance footage also was a clue, and one person managed to pick up on that... after the reveal. To be fair, though, it was a fairly vague clue, as Bowser did say he had left the tapes out, so it doesn't necessarily incriminate Albrecht/Sergio.
--"Opera. I like his taste." If you know anything about Europe, you'd know a lot about their heavy classical music tradition. Super subtle clue, but it was there.

And that's about all the clues I can remember right now. You might find others upon looking back, but try not to spoil them in the reviews.

Anyways, I'll see you guys in the epilogue, to come soon!