A/N: Thank you, thank you, thank you to all who reviewed, favorited, and/or followed! :) You all are the best! Now, without further ado, here's chapter three of Mansion Murderer (to those of you who guessed at who the killer is, all will be revealed in this chapter ;))! And, I still do not own Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Recap: Snake and Sheik are the last two Smashers alive. They decide to take a final stand against the killer.

Later That Night

Snake was keeping watch at the guard post, Home Run Bat in hand. Sheik was nearby, taking cover in the shadows. They figured that if the killer tried to strike, they could make it a two-against-one battle and increase their chance of winning. Right now, though, all they could do was wait.

Endless silence stretched on. Hour after hour, not a sound was heard. Sheik almost dozed off a few times, but jolted awake every time she thought of the possibility of losing her fellow Smasher, Snake. Snake, on the other hand, was not faring as well. He beckoned Sheik out of her hiding spot.

"I'm so tired…" he groaned, slumping against the wall. "I don't know how much more of this I can take…"

"Well, how about you rest right here and I can take the watch while you sleep?"

"Ugh, we already tried that, and—(here was where Snake yawned) look where it got us. I'll just tough it out."

"Just half an hour. I can hold my own for half an hour."

"…Ok. But you have to wake me if you even think that you hear something, or suspect something, or—"

"Relax, Snake. Go to sleep."

Less than three minutes later, Snake was out like a dead man. Sheik stood near him, her sharp eyes scanning the darkness. Nothing seemed amiss. As Snake's half hour drew to a close, she decided to wake the sleeping mercenary. "Snake… Snake! Get up, your shift starts soon."

Snake stirred and rubbed his eyes. "Wha…?"

"Snake," Sheik urged, shaking him, "wake—AH!"

Sheik let out a yell. Someone had grabbed her from behind, and she was fighting against him. Snake jumped up and tried to attack, but he couldn't tell who the attacker was and who was Sheik. "It's the killer!" She screamed, "The killer is—"

Sheik was punched in the head, knocking her out cold. Snake yelled, "NO!" and lunged at the murderer. The killer raced off at lightning speed, and Snake gave chase, hot on his heels.

Snake didn't realize that the chase had taken him to the attic of the Smash Mansion. It had only occurred to him as he was climbing the ladder exactly where he was and what he was doing. He blinked, then punched the locked trapdoor and climbed into the attic.

The lights were very dim; there were only a few to be found. Snake peered into the darkness, looking for a sign of Sheik. "Sheik," he called softly, "are you awake? Are you here?"

There was no answer. Looking around worriedly, he noticed a little shine that the light from the weak light bulbs had caught. Approaching the shine warily, Snake realized that it was a pile of something covered by a blanket. After a few seconds of thought, he threw the blanket off. It was the assorted weapons that had been missing from the weapons closet in the basement—all the Beam Swords, Lip's Sticks, Fans of Mercy, everything was there. A wave of realization swamped him—the killer was going to finish them off with those weapons…

At that moment, a low moan was heard. "Ugh… S-Snake? ...Is that you?"

"Sheik!" Snake rushed towards the sound of her voice. But out of nowhere, he was knocked to the ground. The lights strengthened somewhat, and Snake saw, face to face, who the killer was…

"Lucario…"

"That's right. I am the one who murdered the members of the Smash Mansion, who caused all this sadness, who created this terror!"

Snake noticed stained blood on Lucario's paw spikes and felt a wave of horror and sadness wash over him. "But, Lucario… Why in the world would you even think of such a thing?"

Lucario opened his mouth to reply, but was thrown to the ground by an unseen force. His breath came out in heaving gasps. His pupils were slits and his eyes were glazed over; it looked like he was in pain. What came out of his mouth was not his own voice, but that of someone else…

"I am Tabuu."

"Tabuu! But… I thought we ended you, in Subspace!"

"That's what you foolish Smashers thought. But I had one last burst of power, and needed a host to contain it. I watched you all for a while, thinking carefully over who could be the capsule for my Subspace Darkness. And then, I found this vessel. This Lucario is perfect. Strong-minded, agile, stealthy, it was everything I could have asked for. So I manifested my Subspace Darkness in him and made a Dark Copy, that which I am speaking through now. I killed him, though, when I made the Copy. No matter. His Dark Copy was everything he was, just evil and heartless. Through Lucario I have almost achieved revenge! And when I kill you two, I will absorb your power and convert it to Subspace Darkness… I will rule over the World of Smash!"

Snake looked on, horrified, as Tabuu's evil laughter rang through the room. When the echoes subsided, Dark Lucario was standing up. "It is time for me to end you and Sheik." Snake and Sheik looked on, horrified, as Dark Lucario's eyes morphed into pools of Subspace Darkness. His Aura sensors, black facial markings, paws, and feet were like that of which Tabuu's body was made out of.

Dark Lucario lunged at Snake, who just barely threw himself at Sheik's prison. Stuffing a grenade into the keyhole frantically, he lit the bomb and ducked as it blew up. Sheik emerged from the explosion and stood by Snake's side.

"The missing weapons from the basement are in a pile over in that corner," Snake gestured to said corner. "We can use those to fight against Dark Lucario!"

So, keeping cover under the smoke from a Smoke Ball that Snake pulled out, they made their way over to the weapons pile. Sheik grabbed a Beam Sword and a Fan of Mercy, while Snake chose a Home Run Bat and a Star Rod.

By then, the smoke had cleared. Dark Lucario was levitating on flaring Aura. He rapidly fired off huge Aura Spheres, which Sheik reflected with her Fan of Mercy. "Whoa! It usually takes Lucario a second or so to power up those giant Aura Spheres!" She shouted.

Dodging another attack, Snake called back, "I know! It must be Tabuu's power enhancing Dark Lucario's Aura power!"

Just then, Dark Lucario thundered, "Tabuu Aura Power!" He then hurled a series of large Aura Spheres at Snake and Sheik. But these Aura Spheres were different, somehow… In the center, there were long blades instead of a blazing core. Snake and Sheik were having a more difficult time fending these attacks off. A particularly strong one blasted through Sheik's Fan of Mercy and Snake's Star Rod, and hit said Smashers hard. They were blown back into the wall.

"Ugh… That attack was so strong…" Snake got to his feet, seeing Sheik looking furiously at Dark Lucario.

"His attacks are fused with Tabuu's attacks!" She cried, picking up another Fan of Mercy. "Be careful, Snake!"

Snake nodded, getting himself another Star Rod. "Sheik," he whispered fiercely in her ear, "we need to close in on him. I'll try to distract him while you move in for the strike."

Sheik looked at Snake, worry in her expression for a second, then she nodded. "Be careful, okay?" Snake nodded, then lobbed another Smoke Ball. Motioning for her to go, Snake got out his missile launcher and directed it to Dark Lucario. It exploded in his face, doing a little bit of damage. Snake emerged from the smoke and hurled a grenade at Dark Lucario. Dark Lucario teleported to dodge and started to fire off short blasts of Tabuu Aura. Snake didn't take a lot of damage, only getting nicked by most. Meanwhile, Sheik had powered up her fighting needles and was sprinting over to Dark Lucario. With a mighty leap, she stabbed them into his back. Dark Lucario snarled in pain as Sheik began attacking his head with jabs so fast that they were a blur. Dark Lucario's levitation broke and he collapsed to the ground. Snake saw his chance and pounced, grabbing Dark Lucario into a headlock. They thought they had him subdued, but he released a wave of energy that expelled Snake and Sheik into the wall. The two Smashers both took heavy damage. Rising up into the air again, Dark Lucario started shooting out little destructive bits of energy, chasing Sheik and Snake around. They ran and ducked for cover behind a stack of crates.

Sheik's breathing was labored. "I don't know how much more of this I can take…"

Snake agreed, saying, "We can't get close to him without getting hit. He knows that, and he's making good use of it."

"We need to out-power him…" Sheik thought out loud. Just then, a Tabuu Aura Sphere blew their cover and they were thrown to the side, right by the pile of weapons. As they ducked behind it, Snake asked Sheik, "How do we out-power him? This is a Tabuu-infused Lucario we're dealing with here!"

"We need a power source to tap into, like a Smash Ball or something!"

At that moment, Dark Lucario fired off another round of destructive energy "bullets" and destroyed the pile of weapons that the two Smashers were hiding behind. There was a loud crack that sounded like a crate splitting in two. Snake threw down another Smoke ball and the two Smashers peeked inside the cracked crate…

They saw the swirling colors of a Smash Ball.

Sheik grinned. Snake smirked.

"Ready?"

"Am I ever."

They punched through the crate at the same time, right through the Smash Ball. They felt raw power racing through their blood. It turned their eyes golden and enveloped them with a color-changing energy. They felt all their injuries and pain melt away.

"It's showtime!"

Snake grabbed Sheik as he activated his Final Smash, pulling out a huge Grenade Launcher. Sheik drew out her Light Arrows. "We can attack together for extra-high damage!" Sheik cried, aiming at Dark Lucario, who was looking at the two furiously.

"Don't miss," was the reply. With that, Snake and Sheik fired/shot at Dark Lucario. Every time he teleported away, they were right there with either a grenade or a Light Arrow. Taking heavy damage, Dark Lucario was visibly weakening.

"This is the last shot…" Snake eyed his last grenade.

"Let's make it count, shall we?" Sheik drew her last Arrow and aimed it straight at Dark Lucario's heart. Dark Lucario, anticipating this, teleported away. But the two Smashers counted on this, and in the instant that he appeared, the shot connected with his heart…

A great, unearthly cry was emitted from Dark Lucario. His body was dissolving into nothingness, disappearing forever from the world. The lights in the room strengthened, and a small window on one of the walls showed the coming of dawn.

Silence reigned in the room for a few moments. Finally, Snake spoke. "It's finally over…"

Sheik nodded in agreement, sadly thinking of those that had gone before her. Snake, somehow sensing this, put an arm around Sheik. They stood for a minute or so with their eyes closed, letting memories wash over them.

Finally, they stepped apart and looked around the now-lit and thoroughly decimated room. The first thing that they noticed was a large, black curtain. Cautiously, they drew the curtain back. It revealed a large set of shelves with little vials on them. They were labeled with the names of all the fallen Smashers. They were filled with a whitish-crystal-colored energy. There were two empty ones on the end for Snake and Sheik.

Sheik gasped. "This… this is everyone's life Aura! Lucario told me about it once, before the killings started…"

Snake picked up the empty vial that was labeled with his name. Giving an involuntary shudder, he put it back on the shelf. He picked up Master Hand's vial, gazing at the shimmering energy. A wonderful idea came to his mind.

"Sheik… what if we poured life Aura over the Trophies as we restored them?"

Sheik's expression grew hopeful. "It's worth a try."

So, taking Master Hand's vial to the backyard/graveyard of the Smash Mansion, they dug up the body of Master Hand, which had converted into Trophy form long ago. Snake and Sheik placed their right hands on Master Hand's Trophy base and Snake poured the Life Aura onto the base. The Life Aura disappeared, like it was being absorbed into the Trophy Base. Nothing happened for a second or two. The hopeful gleam in Sheik's eyes dimmed.

Then, to their utmost delight, the base of the Trophy began to shine. There was a brilliant flash of light, and there, healthy and restored, was Master Hand.

"Ugh…" The giant hand shook himself, then focused on the two Smashers in front of him. "Thank you for reviving me."

"You remember what happened to you?" Snake asked.

"I remember battling Lucario, except something was wrong with him. I realized too late that it was the work of Tabuu and tried to send for help, but it was too late. I transformed into a Trophy, but there was nothing but darkness all around me. Now I know why—I was buried."

"Aha, yeah…"

"Well," asked Master Hand, "how did you revive me?"

Sheik held up the vial that used to contain Master Hand's life Aura. "This vial held your life Aura. We put our right hands on the base of your Trophy and Snake poured the life Aura onto it."

"Well, there's not a moment to lose. Let's go up to where you found the vial."

A few minutes later, Master Hand, Sheik, and Snake were in the attic of the Smash Mansion.

"So this is where the killer was hiding…" murmured Master Hand, looking around at the destroyed attic. Snake and Sheik led him over to the shelf behind the black curtain. There were the Smashers' life Auras, shimmering softly. Master Hand gently picked up the vial that was Lucario's. "Where is he?"

Sheik and Snake turned to look at him. "Who?"

"Lucario."

"Hmm… Good question."

They spent the next few minutes scouring the attic. Master Hand found his Trophy behind the shelf. Placing his finger on the base, he motioned for Sheik to pour the life Aura on the base. She did so, and in a few seconds, Lucario was revived.

He blinked, looking into the eyes of Sheik, Snake, and Master Hand. "…I'm sorry."

Master Hand, understanding, said, "Lucario, don't blame yourself for that. It was all Tabuu."

"What did he do to you all?"

They took him to the backyard. Lucario was stunned. "He…murdered everyone?"

They nodded. Lucario stood there in silence for a few minutes. Then, he turned to Master Hand. "You have a way to revive them?"

"Yes, we do. Put your right hand on the base of the Trophy and pour their life Aura onto the base."

A few minutes later, Master Hand and the living Smashers were at work, reviving those who had fallen. Once they were all revived, Master Hand explained to them what had happened. How Tabuu had possessed Lucario's body with his last shred of power, how he had tried to murder all of the Smash Mansion, how Sheik and Snake foiled his plans (this was met with a round of applause). He ended with, "Tabuu is behind us. Let's continue with our lives and get even stronger!"

Three Months Later

Lucario, Pit, Sheik, Snake, Ike, and Peach were sitting on the roof of the Smash Mansion. Lucario had invited them all to watch the sunrise, and the promise of dawn brightened the sky. They had all formed a deep bond of friendship and it had stayed strong even after Tabuu was destroyed. Pit remarked, "It's funny how the whole Tabuu ordeal seems like so long ago now."

The others nodded; indeed, many of the Smashers had let the matter slip from their minds. The few who cared to remember did not dwell on it for long.

Lucario said, "Well, at any rate, I'm glad it's finally over. Now we're all stronger."

There were murmurs of agreement all around. Looking to the sky, the six Smashers saw the morning sun ascend the horizon, a sure sign of the new day.

THE END

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