"Maybe it's best we turn back," Samus suggested, her blonde hair getting blown back by the wind as she continued to step forward.
The bleak sky was illuminated by the full moon that shined above the path before her. With each little breeze that brushed its way by, the air around her started to feel like it colder than a moment ago.
Other than the sound of boots stepping through the forest, a portion of land outside of the property Smash Mansion stood upon, the chilly night was void of all noise. That lifelessness that seemed to be encompassing the passage around her sparked a sense of dread, a presupposition that something would emerge from the trees surrounding this forest.
Directly to the left of her was Snake, who shook his head and mumbled a chuckle under his breath. "Don't tell me you're actually starting to believe those stories going around the mansion," he replied.
"I'm not saying I do, Snake," she responded defensively. "You have to admit to yourself that this spot does put off a ghostly vibe. And you remember what Master Hand said about this. When it's called a forbidden forest, it obviously means that it's strictly forbidden."
"That was Crazy Hand that said it," Snake corrected as they walked forward. "Everyone at the mansion knows he has a tendency to sprout things that are… well, crazy."
Samus shrugged his shoulders. In complete honesty, there was no arguing the mischief that more-than-often came from Crazy Hand. His name, she observed since she had first became a resident at Smash Mansion, was pretty much self-explanatory to those who were unsure why he was called that. "That is true," she admitted.
Snake replied, "Don't let the whole potential ghost-haunting crockery deceive you. We're going to get a good look around this part of the forest and we'll show all of them that there's no such thing."
The two trekked forward a couple feet in silence, nothing but the now-audible chirping of some distant crickets disturbing the stillness. Just like he had said, they would be the ones that proved the ridiculous theory wrong that had been currently spreading around the mansion.
There were rumors that there was a ghost that haunted this particular area, one that could only be seen on a full moon at this time of night. There were a couple occupants of the mansion that actually believed such a claim, but Samus and Snake thought it was completely false. Even though she honestly felt a bit creeped out by the current state of nighttime, she knew quite well that was nothing but her mind playing tricks on her. They would soon enough return back to the mansion to inform them that they had been fooled pretty soon.
The path before them split into two directions, neither of them having as many of the vine-covered trees as they had passed up before. After stopping for a brief moment, the two decided to make a right and continued onward.
"Just like I assumed," Snake said to himself. "There's absolutely nothing out here."
Not even an instant after he made that remark, shuffling arose from in front of the, coming from behind a tree to their left.
"What was that?" Samus inquired in that moment
They both looked in that direction as something came into view, appearing some spaces in front of them. The figure they now saw was shorter than either of them, and it had pointed ears and a distinguishable tail that swished from where it stood.
Snake, upon realizing who was now standing there, informed that this was just a false alarm. Nothing dangerous whatsoever.
"Fox?" Samus asked as they walked up to where that figure had emerged. "What are you doing out here? I thought you were still at the mansion."
"I overheard you and Snake's plan to debunk all that hubbub goin' around," Fox McCloud explained, "so I decided to head out myself some time after you two left."
"Great," Snake grumbled. "We got a tag-along."
The vulpine standing before them grabbed his blaster and spun it around on his finger. "Should there actually be some ghost out here, you might end up needing someone to rescue you." He clipped the blaster back onto its holster and pointed at himself with a look of self-pride. "And who would be better to answer the call for help than a hero like yours truly?"
Snake shook his head at McCloud's cockiness. If anything, had the circumstances been different and it was the fox and Samus that set out in search of the supposed spirit, it would have been him, a skilled soldier, that would be best suited to provide rescuing. "Well, aren't you adorable," he muttered in reply to him.
"I'll tell you what," Fox responded. "Since we've already crossed paths with one another, why don't you both just let me follow along as backup? I might not be the highly-intelligent, multilingual person you are, but I might come in handy if peril comes our way."
"Fine," Snake huffed after a moment of silence. "Consider this your lucky day, because I'll have you know that I'm not fond of foxes. In fact, I've grown sick of 'em."
"Really?" McCloud inquired. "What of us foxes ever done to you?"
Samus chimed in to answer the question. "Well, there was this unit Snake worked for called FOXHOUND, and-"
"That's none of his business," Snake interrupted.
There was a moment of silence that resonated around the three as they walked along, which was broken by Fox when he started to speak once again. "Anyway, I thought you the kind of guy that carried things out solo."
Snake nodded and replied, "Solo missions are my specialty."
"Then how come Samus is here with you?" was the question he got shortly after he answered the vulpine.
"This is one of those occasions that I have some accompaniment. I kindly agreed to have her join as we investigated this rumor."
Fox started to grin as he looked over at the man walking along with him. "Could it be," he responded, "that you're afraid of ghosts and need someone to protect you?"
"What? No…" Snake answered defensively.
McCloud simply continued to make jokes about the ghost that supposedly occupied this particular area. "Ooooh," he remarked in mockery. "I think I just saw something shadowy floating in the distance. I think it's lurking around here to find you, Snake. It wants to give you a fright."
Snake rolled his eyes, having enough of the foolery. No one liked a wise guy, and McCloud was surely fitting the behavioral mold of one right now. "Shut it, Fox," he muttered out of annoyance. "The paranormal is nothing more than science with smoke and mirrors. I choose not to waste my time putting belief in something that can't be proven, and we'll find out that there's something logical behind the whole rumor."
"Oh, denial," Fox carried on. "The first stage of every process, whether it's grief or belief in ghosts."
"Still no signs of anything out of the ordinary," Samus said informatively, though it was quite obvious that nothing unusual was in their midst.
The walking pace of the three started to slow down, and they were starting to come to terms with just heading back to the mansion, ready to let anyone that believed in this ghost that they had fallen gullibly for a hoax.
Just as they stopped and were about to turn around, Fox's ears heard a noise that didn't sound quite right. If his assumptions were correct, it almost sounded like someone was making some deep inarticulate sound like they were in agony. His ears flattened in that moment, a shiver running down his spine.
"Guys," he said to the two that were with him, "I think I heard something."
Snake let out a small laugh under his breath. "Nice try," he mumbled. "Not going to fall for any of your little tricks."
"No, seriously," Fox replied with certainty, fear present in his current tone of voice. "I swear that I heard some sort of groaning."
"I wasn't born yesterday, Fox," Snake responded, refusing to believe the vulpine's claim. "I know from tons of experiences when someone cries wolf."
"I'm telling the truth," McCloud said with a raised voice, his paws now in the air.
"He's being honest, Snake," Samus added. "I can tell by the look in his eyes that he is. Besides, he has a much more keen sense of hearing than we do, so it's possible he heard something from far away."
"I suppose you're right," Snake admitted, putting the facts regarding a fox's senses into consideration.
The groaning noise that Fox heard a few moments ago was heard once again, and this time Samus was able to detect it. "There," she remarked. "I heard it."
"I heard it as well," Snake said with nod of his head. "Very faintly, though."
"It's like somebody is out in the distance wailing about something," the woman replied.
"You mean the way a ghost does?" Fox added.
"But there is no such thing," Snake argued. "It is simply impossible for something that isn't physically there to be capable of producing such a sound. That's basic science."
"Oh, cut the scientific jargon out for a second," McCloud snapped back. "What else could be doing that if literally nobody else is out here?"
"Trespassers…" an unknown voice hissed not even a few seconds later, the three becoming completely still the instant they heard it.
The path out in front of them, they noticed, was becoming quite foggy, rendering them incapable of seeing anything beyond what was a few yards in front of them. The fogginess traveled closer to them, casting quite an eerie vibe as it came their way.
Fox withdrew his blaster and held it out in front of him. "Who's there?" he asked with the bravest face he could put on right now. "I have a blaster and I'm not afraid to use it!"
"Not for long, Star Fox…" the hoarse voice snarled in reply.
The vulpine, though he had a good grip on it, felt the blaster being swiped away from his paw. He watched in shock as it landed on the ground not too far from where he stood, and he saw it being pulled into the dense fog without explanation. He gulped out of nervousness, but then he quickly realized the possibility of a certain somebody that was kidding with them right now. There was only one person in Smash Mansion that called him by that name, and it was none other than his enemy.
"This isn't funny, Wolf," Fox said. "Show yourself. We all know that's you behind all of this fog."
From the fog a green-hued laser beam came bolting in his direction. His instincts quickly sensing the beam approaching him, he swiftly dodged it. Snake and Samus, still standing behind him, ducked to avoid getting hit with it as well.
"This person of which you speak of is not here," the voice muttered from behind the foggy veil before the three. "You should have listened to the warnings before you set out in search of my presence."
All of a sudden, Snake and Samus felt the weapons that they carried with them just in case slipping from out of their grasp. They suffered the same fate as Fox's blaster, being pulled back into the smog.
"Now," the mysterious voice rasped, "leave this place and make no attempt to return to this spot. For if you do so, the consequences will be unbearable."
Snake started to chuckle at the threat. "And what consequences might those be, 'Your Ghostliness?'"
They weren't sure whether it was just their eyes deceiving them, but it appeared like the fog was twice as dense as it was before just now. Their visibility of what surrounded them was becoming even more restricted.
Just then, the three started to see the outlines of what appeared to be a face in the brume. The features of said face started to take shape within their obscured field of vision, and they started to see closed eyes, an aquiline nose, and a mouth that appeared to be forming a grin. The three looked at one another with uncertainty.
Before they could even blink, the eyes of the face that formed in the fog opened up. A bloodcurdling scream emerged from the lips of the face in which they saw the instant it opened its mouth. A phantasmal glow hovered around it as it uttered this shrill sound.
The instant they saw the hideous look on the face and the scream pierced their ears, Snake and Samus couldn't help but jump slightly with fright. The reaction that came from Fox, however, was a lot more dramatic than theirs. He let out a petrified shout and placed his paws out in front of him to shield his eyes from the sight before him. His response to what he and the two had witnessed just now made him look like a complete fool, but that scary face was just too much of a fright for him at the moment.
The face in which they saw suddenly disintegrated back into the fog until it was no longer visible, and the screaming quickly died off along with it. A few moments after it disappeared, the three just stood perfectly still.
Fox looked back at the two standing behind him and nervously laughed. "Uh…" he started to say. "You guys thinking what I'm thinking?"
"That we go back the same way we came and not look back?" Samus responded.
"And do so in a way that is one-hundred percent not out of fright?" Snake chimed in. Had this situation been a different one, he would have made a remark about the vulpine's reaction to what just happened. However, he decided to keep that to himself now.
Fox nodded his head vigorously. "Yep," he replied with a now-shallow tone of voice. "Good to know we're all on the same wavelength."
With that, the three suddenly abandoned the area as quick as their legs could carry them, fleeing in the direction of Smash Mansion. About a minute of stillness went by after they left, and someone quite familiar started to chuckle out of enjoyment.
From the fog emerged Crazy Hand, being none other than the one who had created the illusion that Snake, Samus, and Fox had just fallen for. Being the one who started the whole legend in the first place, he was definitely going to be the one to pull a joke on the ones that greeted his rumor with disbelief.
Just as Snake remarked, the way he did was nothing more than science with smoke and mirrors. The mistiness had been created by the fog machines back at the mansion, which were kept stowed away in a supply room and were seldom used. The voice that emerged from the "fog" was simply him throwing his own voice around, one of the abilities that he possessed. As for how he managed to get his blasters to be pulled away from them, all it took were some strong magnets placed together to create enough of a drawing force. And the way he managed to create the illusion of the face was using a projector that he hid out where he had placed the fog machine in advance.
The reason why he went through he trouble of pulling such a complicated charade, though? Well, the didn't call him crazy for nothing.
"Can't believe they truly fell for that," Crazy Hand laughed to himself in surprise, his work here being considered complete.
"Who dare insults me with such mockery?" something called out from behind him.
Those words were enough to make go stiff with fear. There was no possible way that there was actually a real ghost within this portion of land. All of that was something he made up.
Perhaps their truly is one around here, he thought.
Author's Note: Hey there, readers! This was another idea that's been buzzing around in my head for a couple days and I finally got around to typing it out. Wanted to write something about the Smashers that involved a ghost, and this was what came about. Also tried to do a story that was a little bit longer than the previous ones that I did.
That being said, hope you enjoyed this little story of mine. These little one-shots of mine are my first foray into writing about Smash Bros, so your feedback, whether good or bad, is gladly appreciated.
'Til next time! :)