Once the light had disappeared, only darkness was left in its path. Roy's mouth refused to close as it dangled in horror, mind trying to hook to a single idea of how or what on Earth that did and was.

"Z-Zelda! Luigi! Kirby!" His throat managed to spill a few names as his futile eyes scanned for the remains of the intensive assault. He scrambled over to the death site of the light and searched for a hand or a back or a head. Nothing. It was just as bleak as this whole subspace was portrayed. In the dark, his mind could grasp the surreal and dismiss the real, and it seemed possible for anything to have occurred to the victims grazed down by the bluish light.

"Anybody hear me?" he questioned the darkness. Only his ears would pick up the sense of another being. His heart pounded as the chances of his own death increased. He was leaving himself vulnerable, but the adrenaline rush was the only thing enhancing his ability to escape a possible attack, heightening his senses in such despairing surroundings. No response was made. Roy's face fell.

His body twisted around as not a sound was made. It was as though he had gone deaf and the absence of sound was screaming in his ear canal. While his soul whimpered, his body prepared boldly for any kind of occurrence. "Hey, is anybody here? Somebody!" Now he found himself not only calling for the injured, but for anyone, someone. Oh Gods, there was nothing here! He was all alone! In a sense, he would be much more relieved if that notion was true, for if there was actually nobody here, then the supposed murderer had vanished as well. That could never be certain. It was such an inhuman presence, and the instinctual human fear of the unknown took over his body like the strings of a puppeteer clasping to his limbs.

"Okay, Mr. Darkness! If you're planning on killing me, just get over with it now!" he hollered, hearing no echo. Nothing. Not even the killer was willing to offer an answer to his loneliness.

Was this a trick of the mind? He couldn't trust himself.

Unbeknownst to Roy, there was a new situation hatching in the darkness. He no longer heard the sound of his lonely voice, but a potential companion. He wasn't sure quite yet whether it was a desirable companion or not. "Roy. Calm down."

"Huh?"

"You need to be quiet. Pay attention."

"Hey… why? And who are you? You sound familiar."

"That's because you know me somewhat. Mewtwo. Hit a chime?"

"Oh… yeah, it does! Hey, wait a minute, how do you know… ehehe, nevermind, stupid question." He laughed as a backup for his pointless question. Of course he knew Mewtwo was psychic! There were no more queries. "What's going on? Have any idea?"

"You'll see."

Those words made Roy's blood run cold. "Hey, wait a minute… ah, hold on… you sound… a little…"

"Suspicious?"

"Yeah! That's the word. But-"

"You and the goddamn rest of the world, I see."

"Hey, when you're in a pit of absolute darkness and anything beyond the capacity of my imagination is possible, you can never be too sure."

"Well… truthfully, I don't understand the entire situation as a whole. I sense nothing."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It's just you and me."

If Roy's blood was already cold, it dropped another fifty degrees. His foot traced backwards, his mind attempting to fathom where his only companion, a mistrustful one at that, was glaring at him. Was he next? Could he prevent his death? Was this how his friends died? "You-"

"Now don't go numb on me. If I were you, I'd get over that shallow idea. Give me one good reason to kill a fool like you. I want you to know that there's nobody here but us. Even I'm surprised."

Roy tried a new pathway for his brain to think. No, Mewtwo may not be the killer, though such a scenario seemed ridiculously perfect for a time like this. He decided to trust him from a distance. If he were to blindly listen to any of his requests, he would keep his ears open and his mind sharp for tricks or swift, sneaky maneuvers. "Well… where did everybody go? And why is it just you and me?"

"I may be psychic, an exceptional one at that, but even I am clueless. After the flash, nothing remained. However, I do feel the chilling presence of sleeping souls."

He had to word it like that. Roy swallowed in the dark, wondering just what he meant. "Ghosts?"

"Precisely. I'm fairly sure, but it feels insignificant. It is probably just the flavor of our surroundings."

"Oh, okay then." Nothing had cleared up in Roy's understanding.

"Not even the stale feeling of that murderous… being… is here. I don't feel anything."

"Well, that's the first thing you said I actually liked to hear." Roy felt the fumes of worry float off his conscious, but he was still wary of the psychic Pokemon who remained acute in the darkness.

"We're just special, I suppose. Nothing happened to us."

"Man… I don't know if that's good or bad." His heart ached to know what happened to everybody.

"I would like to know as well." A groaning, irritable sigh pushed from Mewtwo.

The general paced aimlessly through the unseen path ahead of him, unafraid of barging into a single wall or obstacle. He was gravely mistaken when his foot clashed paths with a spherical object lying uselessly on the ground. Normally he wouldn't be too shocked; it was usually something a careless person left behind, but in this case, something didn't add up. He was accustomed to nothing but him and empty space between the rest of the universe. Curiosity pulled its strings and forced Roy to pick it up.

"I found something weird, I think." In his hands, it had a smooth, glassy feel. He shook it just for a start but was bored and disappointed when nothing happened. "It fails to be exciting, though…"

"Hmm? What did you find?"

"This b- oh crap!" With a false slip of the fingers, the sphere tilted from his grasp and darted for the ground, shattering and emitting a bright, colorless light that exploded into the sable night. Roy stood utterly speechless, not sure whether to feel guilty, stupid, clumsy, or all the above.

"What did you do this time?" Mewtwo was not an ounce amused.

Roy glanced around. "I didn't necessarily mean to. Just saying."

"Well, please be more careful next time you find something interesting. Now we can't do anything with it." The extrasensory being sounded rather irate about this mistake. After a pause, Mewtwo then suggested, "Perhaps we should teleport back inside the mansion for now. I don't see any reason why we should remain here."

"Yeah… I guess." Roy was surprised to find his grim companion closer than he originally expected, and with a touch of the ball-like hands that graced his shoulder, the pair vanished in a smidgen of a second.

- - -

A few more feet and the forbidden door would be in reach, and hopefully the spell would disband. It was doubtful, but Ness figured that, if he couldn't worm his way into the mansion again to free everyone from the inside, he would simply have to get outside help. The Smash Tournament was an exceedingly popular event, after all, and this cycle or murders had gained quite the load of publicity.

Rather than returning to the mansion as Link had, Ness took another route. He teleported to the exterior of the Smash Mansion, appearing with an unfortunate case of unconsciousness in the garden. Freshly awoken, the 13-year-old boy scrambled to the front doors, hoping to pry it open. If anything, I have to hope it's unlocked in the first place, he considered. If it's not, then it wouldn't budge regardless, barrier or not. Ness' hand found the handle, and when his fingers clicked the lever that would release the hold on the door, he pulled.

…

"YES!"

Immediately after intrusion, Ness could feel and vaguely see the force that kept the building in a massive invisible eggshell. It dispersed with a faint glimmer and allowed the young smasher to view the mansion from the outside, something he hadn't done in a while. Grinning ear-to-ear, he tried calling somebody over to discover what had just happened.

"Oh my God, guys! Look! The doors are open! The doors are open; the barrier is gone! You've got to see! Come on! There's…" He ended his cries to the sad end of disappointment. Nobody would hear him. He tried calling louder, but his echoes reached no one. His voice was swallowed by the emptiness of the mansion.

It concerned him. This was a big place, but surely somebody would pick up his shouts. It irked him in the back of his brain that the murderer may be watching him and prevent him from unleashing his prisoners. "Hey!" He tried it louder. "Hey! Everyone! Hellooo? I opened the doors! We can get out of here!"

Still no response. He sighed in defeat. Before he could give up, however, he reached into his pocket and retrieved his cell phone, pushing for his contact list and scrolling down in order to find the names of particular smashers. Samus seemed appealing. He could trust her. Pushing that number, he held the device up to his ear intently.

It rang once. Twice. Three times. Finally, Ness' heart was charged by the sound of an answer. "Hello?" It sounded rather groggy, however, which barely concerned Ness at the moment.

"Samus! Oh, oh, this is Ness, and I have something to say. It's really important."

"Mmm? Ness? Huh. Wait- you disappeared!" Her voice had woken up.

"That I did, but I'm here now. I'm all in one piece, too, if that makes anything better." Ness continued to shine. "But I have some good news, I think!"

"Say it." She still sounded a bit tired…

"The doors and everything else was covered with a barrier, right? Well, not anymore! I killed it. It's gone."

"Seriously?" She nearly squeaked with a sort of excitement. "When did that happen?"

"Just now! Where are you?"

"I…" She seemed to stop. "Um… Looks like the kitchen on the second floor. I…"

"You okay? You don't sound like you're in top shape."

"Ah… no, it's just… well, something happened, long story, and if you must hear, here goes. This is the short version. The majority of the smashers decided to go to the dimension you, Link, and Game and Watch traveled to, including me. We were there, confronted by the would-be killer, but suddenly, after a weird spell, I wound up… here. By myself." She coughed. "In the dishwasher door."

"Tch… funny. I hope you're not still in there." He snickered softly into the phone, trying to hide his humor for such a crucial moment. "Come to the door."

"Wait. You can't let the door go. We need to keep the barrier open, just in case it activates again. Can you stay there?"

"Um… sure. I'll wait for you then. Good luck getting out of the dishwasher."

"I'm not in the dishwasher. Thanks, Ness." She was disconnected, and Ness put his cell phone away with a triumphant beam, pressing his back against the oak door.

Within minutes, Samus appeared clanking down the stairs, forcing her feet to hurry and greet Ness with his accomplishment. It was an exhilarating moment to grasp the sun-painted grass, the porch leading up to the Mansion's entrance, trees, rose bushes, the pathway swirling around the fountain and the exclusive garden for the first time in a long while. The sight of freedom chimed through her mind like invisible bells. She was smiling underneath her armor as she met Ness, who was committing the same gesture. "How was it so easy?" Samus was breathless.

Ness shrugged. "Dunno. I just managed to come through from outside. I teleported away from the mansion just so I could see what I could do from the outside. Link didn't think of that…"

Samus laughed, recalling how she found the blond Hylian when he tried returning. "I know that very well. Okay, well, I should scout the area about now." Samus was becoming serious again. "I'm willing to bet I'm not the only one who returned like this. I want you to keep the door open for me."

"Good luck, then." Ness watched as Samus turned to leave. "I'll do that."

The psychic youth loitered around the door for a while, protecting the hinges from any unpredicted breezes. The wait was relaxing, that is, until he noticed a few large vans carrying multitudes of people far off in the distance. Ness squinted, raising a flat hand to defend his vision from the brightness of the sun as he gazed into the scene. Then, it smacked him. "Oh snap. News crew."

As if they knew! This had to be some funky coincidence, because there was no possible way they had any scoop on Ness' recent doings. Ness understood that, because the cable wasn't cut inside the mansion, the local and universal studios were driving themselves haywire obsessing over the mysterious murders at the Smash Mansion and why the tournaments were cancelled due to such issues. Anybody outside of the mansion's gates were not admitted entrance thanks to the same barrier blocking exit from the mansion that positioned the whole lot inside a bubble. How he managed to dispel it with the touch of his hand, Ness felt he would never know. That is, aside from a weird, icy prick that shoved through his brain cells.

Immediately, the shouts and screams from various newscasters and reporters burst from the white vehicles and charged into Ness' eardrums. Their hands were on the bars of the big gates no seconds later. Ness felt he had seen something like this in a movie once and swallowed, widening his perception and wishing he could scramble back inside the mansion, to safety. One lone smasher could never survive a flood of publicity. It was much more undesired than your average tourney match.

A scream bubbled up inside Ness' throat as he watched them pool onto the stone pathways and onto the lawn (which required some good mowing) and stampeding towards the majestic building. He could hear his name being called and questions already being thrown at him, and for a second he considered whether Samus' punishment for disobeying her was greater than that of a hyper wad of media monkeys. In no time, they were positioned on the porch, running a frantic race to see who could tackle Ness first.

"Wh-whoa, hang on! Couldn't I, uh, get changed first or something- uwaao!" The predator was upon its prey as Ness struggled for personal space, being bombarded with questions such as "Why are you out here?" "What happened in there?" "Could you please tell me who the murderer was?" and "Are you the sole survivor? How did you do it?" In the haste, the colorful crowd had accidentally bumped the door shut with the help of a mischievous breeze.

Unfortunately, Samus had arrived with the whole lot of smashers, and directly when she laid eyes on the previously open door, she halted right on the stairs. Everyone else stopped simply because she had stopped and blinked every which way, staring at the door with confusion that could never equal Samus'.

…

"NESS!"

"You said it was open!" Young Link objected, face growing skeptical.

Samus shook her head, continuing her trek slowly. A few still followed.

"I really thought-a we could get out. Where's Ness?" said Luigi with extensive disdain.

Donkey Kong scratched his head and noted, "What that noise?", staring at the unyielding doors with bewilderment.

The other smashers paused to pinpoint just what sort of sounds the ape was hearing. Indeed, there was the faint roar of a riot just outside the door. Now everybody had halted and realized that Ness just might be in trouble.

"Let's just hope we can open the door still!" Samus exclaimed as she grabbed ahold of the handle. Time seemed to stop just as everyone else did when the door opened. It truly was a scene with the fortitude of a riot, but all it turned out to be was a crowd of reporters.

From the top of the stairs, Ganondorf thundered, "For the love of Din, don't you hellspawn know about the media policy? Get off our property now!" Naturally, everybody, including everybody, shut up at the magnitude of the evil king's voice, and now the news crew had quit shrieking and shaking and remained bug-eyed with fear and guilt. Ganondorf looked stern. Ness took this opportunity to scramble away from the grabby hands and huge microphones so that he could reside somewhere safe for now.

However, the new intrusive sunlight seemed to color the smasher's hearts with light, a symbolism of hope. The reporters were still invasive, but the smashers were willing to answer questions for the sake of worldwide knowledge and awareness that yes, the murder epidemic was over, and yes, everyone would return to whence they came. As for the next tournament? Well, there was no reliable answer for that one.

This whole turn of events was not over yet. Fox understood this well.