Thanks for all the nice reviews! And an answer to a FAQ: no, just because someone gets sick doesn't automatically mean they're dead. No one's dead yet. And no, don't take that as a promise that someone's going to die. I can't promise anything in that regard. Onward!

Chapter 2

41 Smashers remaining…

It was complete chaos when Samus finally walked into the Smash Mansion, carrying Roy and grumbling under her breath. "Where do you want him?" she asked, and Dr. Mario led her to same room Ness was in and gesturing for her to lay him down in there.

"Sorry for making you go out and get him, Samus, but if this is contagious then we can't risk anybody else catching it. You, on the other hand, wear a special suit that no viruses can get through.

"Yeah, sure," she muttered under her breath before laying Roy down. "Need anything else, just call."

"Well, I need you now. Marth, get in here. Everybody else, stay out there."

With a confused frown, Marth followed Dr. Mario's instructions, walking inside and shutting the door behind him. "What? I didn't do anything," he complained as Dr. Mario handed him a surgical mask.

"Put that on. Marth, since Roy carried Ness yesterday and is the only one who got sick, I can only guess that it spreads through physical contact. And since you've had the most contact with Roy since then..."

"Wait- you think I next? You think I'm going to get sick now? No!" Marth snapped, turning to glare at him furiously. "What about Ganondorf? He and Ness fought yesterday; I don't see you calling him in here and talking to him!"

"Well, Lucas isn't sick either, and he slept in the same room as Ness! It has to only be exchanged through prolonged physical contact. If Ganondorf gets sick, then I'll reconsider. Until then, I'm going to have to quarantine you, just to be-"

"I don't think so!" Marth snarled, drawing his sword and advancing on Dr. Mario. "I'm not staying locked up in here. If I'm not sick, all you're doing is locking me up with the source! I'll get sick, prove you right, and probably spend a week in bed with the flu! This whole thing is an overreaction! Roy just got sick with the flu and you've got us all running around like lab rats terrified that there's some infectious killer virus out there when, really, it's just-"

"If it's the flu, how do you explain the blood?"

"I don't need to; you're the doctor!"

"Hey!" Samus shouted, interceding before it came to blows. "Both of you, calm down! Marth, I think Dr. Mario's right about you possibly being next. But there's no need to keep him here with Ness and Roy; if you're wrong then he could just get sick from exposure! Just tell the others that Marth may be sick and that they shouldn't touch him for a day to make sure that he's fine. Anyway, that's not what we need to focus on." They all turned to look at Ness and Roy, who were both still unconscious and mumbling restlessly in their feverish sleep.

Dr. Mario sighed. "You're right," he admitted. "I've never seen anything like it. Ness has been out of it for three days and there's been absolutely no change in his condition. Roy's probably headed the same way as him if we don't do something."

"Well, what should we do? You're the doctor; it's your call."

Dr. Mario looked up at Samus and sighed apologetically. "Until someone else gets sick, all I can say is it targets humans, because no one but humans have gotten sick. Of course, that could also be simply because no one else has been exposed to it… how much do we know about the land surrounding the Smash Mansion?"

"Nothing. I've been here since this place was built and no one ever goes exploring. We don't come out here to get involved in more adventures, we come here to get away from the dangerous missions that await us back home. No one has ever gone exploring, as far as I know," Samus said, watching as Dr. Mario nodded thoughtfully.

Finally, he said, "Well, since whatever this is is clearly spreading, I can say it's either an infection or caused by something in the environment. And because Ness has't changed in three days, that rules out infection, which only leaves an environmental cause… Samus? I think you need to go exploring."

It was Samus's turn to get angry. "Hey, what? No, I don't think so. And what are you doing in charge here, anyway? If anybody's going to be making decisions, it should be Mario, Link, me, and all the other original Smashers! Not some knock-off half-clone of an original!"

"Look, it's not like I'm asking you to go set off on another epic adventure and risk your life or anything. Just check things out, see if you find anything weird that could explain why Roy and Ness are so sick. And since when was seniority so important?"

Before Samus could retaliate, Marth took a turn playing mediator and said quickly, "Hey, we're all tired and none of us are in a good mood, we don't have to start a fight now. Samus, come on, you should go. You can take your ship so if something changes back here, we can tell you. Besides, that means you don't have to take care of all the sick people- that'll be Olimar's job, since he's the only other one with a suit."

Samus looked between Marth and Dr. Mario for a moment before throwing her hands up in the air and giving up. "Fine, you both win. I'll go. But I want to know if anything at all changes back here- don't send me out on some unnecessary, wild goose chase just because you neglected to mention that these two had the flu after all."

All the other Smashers- minus Dr. Mario, Ness, and Roy- watched as Samus's ship flew from out into the unknown, leaving behind safety in favor for adventure. "I feel bad for her," Link confessed Zelda as they watched her depart. "She spends all her time saving her galaxy from Space Pirates and just when she finally gets sometime to relax, she has to go out exploring again."

Zelda nodded in agreement. "At least, after we save Hyrule, we get to take a nice vacation out here. I hope, for everyone's sake, that this is just the flu and not something worse…"

Dr. Mario was just heading towards the large pile of ice cubes given to him by Lucas- courtesy of his 'PK Freeze' maneuver- when the door to the makeshift infirmary burst open to reveal a panicked Toon Link. He was panting for breath and clearly frightened, blue eyes wide in shock.

"Someone else is sick."