Soooo...I was supposed to finish this before Halloween, but after I got back from vacation, I was sick and in bed for days. That threw off my schedule and free time for writing, so I missed my own deadline. After that, I started putting work into other stories I'm writing, but I still had every intention of finish this. So after a few weeks delay, I present the latest chapter. One more to go after this.

Chapter 4: The House's Tragic Truth

Marth landed on a springy surface. He assumed it to be a mattress as the room was so dark that his sight was not any help in this case. The smell and generally claustrophobic feel lead him to believe that he had fallen into a basement or cellar beneath the house.

He stood up and inwardly cursed to himself when he reached for an empty sheath at his side; he had left the Falchion upstairs where he had killed the perverted Redead. He could really use it now, because he was certain something else was in the room with him.

"Will you submit to me?" A deep voice asked only inches away from Marth. Even with his failing eyesight, he had the inkling that the voice was disembodied.

"I submit to no one," the prince replied, adding a layer of snootiness to his words for good measure. If there had been light, anyone could see that he had literally turned his nose up at the question.

The voice had a thoroughly good laugh. "You would do well to submit to me, as you do not have a real matter of choice here. It will end a lot better for you and your friends if you do as I say."

"Be silent, cur! I have been harassed by the likes of the Redead and Captain Falcon all throughout the night. Your threats cannot instill fear in me for I have suffered far worse this evening."

"Then allow me to relieve you of said suffering."

Marth was no fool. He could sense the malevolent irony dripping off of that statement. But with little way to defend himself and no idea what he was up against, he easily fell to the fiend's attack.

Cold hands effortlessly jabbed through his chest plate and latched onto his insides, paralyzing the prince. What he assumed were the fiend's hands he slowly came to understand was the entity itself, invading his body as its presence expanded. With every passing moment, his senses dulled as the being threatened to overcome him...

"I'm sure it's this way," Kirby said in assurance. He led the others through a series of hallways. They were certain that Kirby didn't know where he was going, though he did navigate the house with more familiarity than any of them.

He opened the door to their immediate left and leapt up to flick on the light switch.

"Guess this isn't the way out after all," Kirby admitted a little carelessly and showing little regret.

It was the bedroom decorated for a young girl. A frilly comforter adorned the bed and pink wallpaper lined the walls.

"You make it sound like getting out of here isn't that important," mentioned Samus with a bit of firmness in her words. She did not like the idea of Kirby leading them around aimlessly.

"Well, it's no big deal. We'll just look for another exit," Kirby replied with continued nonchalance. "But look at this!" he exclaimed with newfound excitement, grabbing a small white book from off of the bed and presenting it to them.

Claude took the book since he imagined Samus trying to shift through the pages with her arm cannon while holding the book in her one free hand. That combination would have likely ensued in the destruction of the book and grief for everyone else in the room once the bounty huntress became enraged by the futile attempt.

"This is some little girl's diary. Julia Worthington," he read aloud. Before he could read anymore, Yoshi snatched it out of his hands and began flipping through the pages himself.

"What is this? It's just some kid's dreck!" he cried, shaking the book by its back as if some hidden pages or objects would fall out. "Why did you even show this to us?"

"Wait!" Samus called before Yoshi could toss the book. "Check the last few entries."

"Why?"

"If it belongs to the people that live, or lived, in this house, then it may give us some clues on what exactly is going on here."

Yoshi let out an annoyed 'hrmm' to show that he was not pleased with the idea, but obliged anyway. "Daddy and Alana are fighting agaaaiiin," he read to them in the exaggerated voice of a bratty little girl. "It's getting worse everyday! Dale says they might get a divorce and we might lose the house...

"Does that help?" Yoshi asked in a conceited manner. Samus grabbed the book and pushed him aside.

"Actually it does, wiseass. I feel a little bit better knowing that this was a real house that actual people lived in at one point instead of a manufactured trap." The bounty huntress tossed the book back to Claude. "Hold on to that. And this time, I'll look for the exit."

Kirby knew that last part was directed at him but didn't put up a fuss. "Hey, no big deal," he said, following Samus out of the room.

Kirby hid behind a potted plant at the end of the hallway. He could not muster up the courage to investigate the sounds coming from behind the door in the center of the hall. He hoped that the source would reveal itself in time, or perhaps even go away entirely.

He whimpered when he heard a male's voice. Beforehand he would have loved to come across company in the house, but now that he was alone, he wasn't taking any chances.

The doorknob turned and the door creaked as it opened at an agonizingly slow pace. Kirby sighed in relief when Marth stepped out.

"Marth! What are you doing down here? I thought you were upstairs with the others!"

"I...I fell through a trap door," the prince stammered uncomfortably in the presence of the puffball.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but I'm glad you did! I got separated from the others a while ago and I just can't seem to catch up. This place gives me the creeps."

Marth knelt down and leaned forward, his face inches away from Kirby's. "Have you encountered anything strange?"

"Strange? Do you mean supernatural or paranormal?"

"Yeah, exactly. For example, have you seen...a ghostly woman?"

"No, nothing like that..."

"I see..." Marth took off down the hallway. He had moved so fast that he had nearly turned the corner once Kirby realized that he was being left behind.

"Hey, wait up!" Kirby cried out while chasing after him. "Where are you going?"

"You said you got split up from the others, right? I'll just have to find them."

"But you don't even know where you're going!"

"I have a good idea."

Kirby sighed. It wasn't like Marth to charge forward like this, but the only alternative would be to get left behind again, so he followed the prince.

"Great, we went in a circle!" Yoshi whined upon stepping into the first room of the manor once again. There was a new eeriness behind it that he couldn't explain. The room was exactly the same as they had left it. The chandelier kept a dim glow, the furniture was unmoved, and there were still traces of the imprint left on the carpet where Captain Falcon had landed after being tossed down the staircase.

"At least we know where we are now...sorta," Claude offered as weak consolation. "And I bet the doors are still locked."

"I hope the others are having better luck than we are," Samus said, fiddling through her visor modes. None of them were working. Their situation had no improved. "So far we've come across absolutely nothing that can help us get out of here."

"Perhaps you're here for a reason?" Kirby suggested. His mysterious words garnered the attention of his three friends.

Yoshi snorted. "If we're here for any reason, it's because of Madam Faker!"

Claude let out an exasperated sigh. "I thought I told you not to bring her up! You can't go one whole chapter without talkin' her up, can you?"

"I can't help it! That fraud makes my blood boil! We're trapped in here because of her! And to think that Kirby keeps defending that hag!"

"...I'm sorry," Kirby apologized.

Kirby's words only served to fuel Yoshi's anger. "You're sorry? YOU'RE SORRY!? After all of this time, you're just realizing the mess we're in? She probably orchestrated this whole thing! I'll tell you what though; I'm not going to be her puppet. There's no hope for you, but I'm getting out of here!"

Claude and Samus traded glances.

"Yoshi, settle down," the bounty huntress advised in a low, calming voice. "The stress is getting to you."

"How can you tell me to settle down when you know she's a fraud too?"

"You're right, she is a phony. But I don't think she's behind this."

"Of course she is! And I bet Kirby is helping her, aren't you!?" Yoshi delivered a swift kick, sending Kirby rolling onto his back. "That's why you disappeared before, isn't it? You were probably talking it over with her!'

Claude pulled the enraged dino away from his victim. "Yoshi, stop it! You sound crazy, just leave Kirby alone..."

Yoshi stepped back, horrified. "I can't believe it! How can none of you be on my side?"

"What 'side?' We're all stuck in this house!" Claude snapped back. "You really let this Baker heifer get under your skin. Comin' up with crazy theories about her and Kirby ain't helpin' us get out of here!

"I don't care anymore! You guys can stay here with him, but I'm getting out of here!"

Yoshi ran through the foyer and pulled on the golden handles of the front doors. As expected, they still wouldn't budge. He wasn't known for his arm strength, so he leapt back and lashed out his tongue. It firmly wrapped around the handles and, just as Yoshi began to pull with all of his might, an electrical jolt coursed from the door, using his tongue as a conductor to wrack his body with volts upon volts of electricity. It only lasted a few seconds, but was powerful enough to leave a small explosion as Yoshi lit up like a light bulb and was jostled through the air and into a couch.

"YOSHI!"

Samus and Claude were immediately upon the ruins of the couch while Kirby kept his distance. The bounty huntress grabbed Yoshi and laid him flat upon the floor. She released a massive sigh of relief when he began coughing.

"Are you okay? How do you feel?"

"I feel like anyone would after being electrocuted," Yoshi muttered dryly. "Why does stuff like this always happen to me?"

"Some people don't survive that," Claude said in a crude attempt to make him feel better. Yoshi would have shot him a dirty look if he felt up to it.

Samus aimed her cannon for the doors. She launched a missile on a straight trajectory, effortlessly sending it plowing into the entrance with an explosion. When the smoke cleared, the doors were fully intact. In fact, there was no sign of damage. And she was not surprised in the least by this phenomenon.

Claude helped Yoshi sit up while the dino traded forlorn glances with him and Samus. "We're never gonna get out of here, are we?" he moaned.

"I think it's become apparent more than ever that we have to escape. It was all fun and games at first, but now that we're being physically assaulted in our attempts to leave, I can't a-"

"There you guys are!" Kirby cried happily bouncing into the room beside Marth. "I knew I heard an explosion! What's the big idea leaving me behind like...that...?"

Kirby was staring at himself. They both tilted their heads in a childlike curiosity, studying one another while trying to solve the mystery.

Claude stood up quickly, letting Yoshi's head hit the flood with a notable thud. "Things got real freaky, real quick." He was tempted to grab his phase gun, but Samus beat him to the punch.

"Alright, obviously one of you here is the fake. My patience is starting to wear thin so you better identify yourselves or I may have to blast you both." Her aim darted between them.

"I'm the real Kirby!"

"No, I am!"

"He's lying!"

"I don't even know who HE is!"

"Enough!" Samus demanded. Both Kirbys squeaked in fear.

"Samus, let me try somethin'," Claude said, stepping forward. "I knew Kirby since the minute I first stepped into the Nintendoverse, literally. And he should know me by now. So here's the ultimate test." He was giddy on the inside, but didn't want to admit it to anyone. Instead, it manifested itself as a smug grin on his face. "What's my word?"

"Your word? That's so vague," the Kirby nearest to him responded with skepticism. This was the Kirby that had been with them since the kitchen, and that definitely roused his suspicion.

"You don't know it?" he asked.

"I didn't say that!"

"But you have been acting strangely ever since we met back up in the kitchen," Samus added. "You were the main cheerleader for the paranormal theory and Madam Baker, but as soon as we started to encounter strange phenomenon, you were the first to dismiss it."

"It didn't seem appropriate at the time. I mean, the subject really irritated Yoshi."

"And what about you?" Claude asked the Kirby that had arrived with Marth. The prince himself had made some distance from Kirby and chose to quietly observe the situation as it unfolded.

"Do I have to say that silly word?"

"No, but you'll probably get vaporized if you don't."

Kirby frowned. "Okay, okay...shadoink! Is that good enough?"

Arm cannon and phase gun were intently trained on the fake Kirby. He made no attempts to escape, though his eyes watched the weapons wearily.

"Okay, you've got five seconds to preserve your life by telling us who you are and why you're here," Samus told him calmly and slowly, but the harsh tone was undeniable.

The fake Kirby traded glances with everyone in the room before his eyes locked with Marth's. His demeanor changed, displaying a bit of distress for just a second before he relaxed again.

With another one of his sort-of-shrugs, he said, "oops," before turning into a pink wisp of smoke and disappearing. The room fell silent for a few seconds.

"No," Samus told Kirby suddenly, knowing beforehand that he was going to go into an 'I told you so' rant. "So the place is haunted. That just makes things worse."

"Well at least you're acknowledging it now," the puffball grumbled to himself.

"Marth, how did you get down here anyway?" Claude asked the prince.

"A trapdoor," the prince replied, "I was separated from everyone else and my sword in the process. When I came out of the cellar I fell in, I ran into Kirby. The real one, apparently."

"It's nice to know that we weren't the only ones dancing like puppets after we split up," Samus murmured. "Well, this is clearly a game to whoever's been putting us through this. I think we should regroup, because we're not getting out of here without confronting the source of our frustrations."

"Kill a ghost? Sounds...dumb," Claude thought aloud before Yoshi punched him in the side. "What was that for?"

"For dropping my head onto the floor! You're a terrible fanboy!"

"I guess that means you got some sense zapped back into you?"

"That's not funny."

"Maybe not. But if you'd flipped out any longer I woulda knocked some sense into you myself by slapping the hell out of you."

Yoshi looked no less than appalled. "Like I said: you're a terrible fanboy!"

"Enough of that," Marth intervened, a pressing question on his mind. "I need to know if any of you have seen a ghostly woman at all?"

There was a short silence as Yoshi traded a bewildered stare with Samus and Claude. "No...why? Have you seen her?

"You think she's behind all of this?" Kirby asked, tugging on the prince's cape. He retracted his flap-for-a-hand in disgust when an old piece of Captain Falcon's candy was stuck to it.

"I...I'm not sure, but if you do see a ghostly woman, keep your distance. And tell me right away."

"Marth!?" Zelda gasped from the upper floor, having entered through the right hallway. Captain Falcon and the Links were with her. "Thank the Goddesses you're okay!" She held her dress as she dashed down the staircase and gave Marth a long hug.

Link wasn't the only one a bit displeased by that.

"Hey, what about the rest of us?" Yoshi asked.

"Oh...Yoshi. You're still alive. Good."

Captain Falcon went in for a hug of his own. "I missed you, Samus!" he happily confessed, squeezing her armor tightly. "When we were apart, all I could think about was you! And cars. But mostly you!"

Young Link was determined to end the mushiness. "So did you guys find a way out or not?"

"Nope, but besides Marth in a cellar, we found this!" Claude held the little white diary up and waved it around. "Julia Worthington's diary. I guess people did live here before."

"Hm? Julia Worthington?" Zelda stopped and looked at the book. From the way she was staring, there was clearly more to it than anyone realized. "May I take a look?" the princess requested, and Claude obliged.

She flipped through a few of the pages and her eyes widened, a combination of horror and awe. "Oh....oh! Why didn't I realize this sooner? The Worthington manor? Are we actually in the Worthington manor!?"

"Wanna fill the rest of us in?" Yoshi asked bitterly, his arms folded. He was clearly holding on to her earlier greeting with resentment.

"Well, the story is that the Worthingtons are a long line of nobles that were even in good with the royal family. That all came to a tragic end when the butler returned to the manor one morning and found the entire family murdered. It was concluded that the father had a psychotic episode and killed his family before killing himself. That was around fifty years ago. The stigma behind the manor's tragic history ensured that no one else moved in and it's supposed to have been that way ever since."

"Where did you hear such idiotic nonsense?" Marth questioned suddenly, thoroughly disgusted by the story.

"I- well I...everyone in Hyrule knows it. It's the legend," the princess replied, a little shaken. Marth had never spoken to her in such a way before. His presence was almost threatening.

"That was pretty harsh, Marth! What's gotten into you?" Kirby scolded.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean for it to come out that way."

"Well maybe you're just feeling a little angry because you're missing this!" Captain Falcon pulled the Falchion from his candy bag and shook off some of the candy that was stuck to the blade, hitting several people with tasty treats in the process.

"Thank you," Marth said. Upon grabbing the hilt, a shock was released and the Falchion dropped to the floor.

Marth massaged his burning hand and tried again. This time the sword gave off a more forceful shockwave that made the prince step back.

"I see that the house must have cursed my blade..." he uttered a bit nervously.

"That's bull!" Claude proclaimed, gripping the phase gun. "I played enough Fire Emblem to know that."

"What are you implying?"

"The Falchion is a sacred blade," Zelda elaborated. "It strikes down evil. And only Marth can wield it properly. If the sword is rejecting you, then..."

"Alright, what are you? Another clone?" Samus demanded, holding her arm cannon steady. "I'm getting sick of these games!"

Marth let out a nervous laugh. "Guys, you can't believe that, can you? I'm Marth. Just look at me!"

"You're not Marth! You don't act like him at all!" Zelda pointed at him accusingly. "He would have never spoken to me like that! Marth is kind and respectful. You're just a poor imitation!"

Marth's shoulders sagged. He closed his eyes and let out a chilling laugh, his personality warping right before their eyes. "Okay, fine. The jig is up. At least I don't have to pretend to like any of you anymore."

He waved his hand, summoning a strong blast of wind that entered the room and knocked everyone off their feet.

"You're right, I'm not Marth," he continued, looking down upon them. "Well, that's not entirely true. I'm taking his body for a ride, so shoot me and you hurt him." He let out a sigh and shook his head. "It's a shame none of you could help me instead of having to resort to this. You're not my target. So stay out of my way...or else."

He clapped his hands twice and a horde of Redead shambled in from the upper floor. He climbed the staircase and walked past them without eliciting the slightest response. They had obeyed his command and were inching down the stairs, their familiar haunting moans forewarning the inappropriate things they wanted to do to their would-be victims.

Captain Falcon did what he was expected to do in this situation: he screamed at the top of his lungs.

"What are we going to do?" Zelda asked, looking around desperately.

Claude was similarly at a loss. "We better do somethin' soon or it's goin' to be a Redead orgy in here!"