All right. Now that the revelation has been dropped and the murderer disposed of...

We can finish this sucker! *cue Hallelujah chorus in the background*

So without further ado, I bring you the epilogue of this story!

Epilogue

When the smashers had opened the front door, they were greeted not with the illusion of the lava pit, but with the sight of the driveway. Fox sighed at this, looking around him.

"Well, it looks like killing the caster did work after all," he said as Peach, Mario, Marth, and Popo stepped out of the mansion for the first time in what felt like years.

Marth nodded grimly. "Indeed it did," he said. "I only wish Bowser had managed to kill Sergio back when he had a chance... This would have ended so much sooner if only Roy hadn't stabbed Bowser..."

Mario looked around. "So, where are your friends?" asked the plumber to Fox.

"I dunno," said the vulpine with a shrug. "According to them, they weren't able to get onto the driveway given that there was a force field around the mansion..."

The group then heard tires screeching on the driveway, the group looking around. And then, in front of the walkway to the door a pick-up truck pulled up to the mansion. Four people, including Bowser Jr., were left on the back. The four of them jumped out of the truck as the car halted.

"Bowser Jr.?" asked Peach. "You got stranded at the nearest town, didn't you?"

The koopa kid nodded. "Unfortunately," he said. "My dad didn't survive did he...?"

The princess of the Mushroom Kingdom shook her head sadly. "He didn't," said Peach. "He was a valiant man, though. Always looking out for us to the end... I hope you become a man that your father would be proud of."

"I'll try," said Bowser Jr. solemnly.

With this, the koopa nodded as the other three in the back of the car came up to the smashers. Immediately, Marth walked over to the two more medieval-looking people.

"Soren!" said the prince. "A pleasure to see you again!"

"Ah, Marth," said the mage. "Likewise, although I wish circumstances were better."

"Prince Marth?" asked the larger man beside him.

"Ah, Ike," said Marth as he nodded to the mercenary. "A pleasure to see you again as well."

"So I guess this leaves the last one left to be Sonic?" asked Mario, crossing his arms in front of him as the blue hedgehog approached.

"Heck yeah!" said the hedgehog jovially. "Nice to finally meet you, Mario!"

The plumber nodded, taking off his hat and tipping it to the hedgehog. "Same here, although I wish things were better..." he said.

Sonic scoffed at this as the doors to the truck opened. "Don't we all?" he asked.

Mario nodded, feeling a little bitter at this.

Fox looked on at the people exiting the truck, seeing someone he didn't know and someone he had ambivalent feelings towards with everything that had happened.

"Wolf?" asked the vulpine.

The rival starfighter walked over to the fox, bowing his head. "Looks like ya made it out alive," he said. "I knew you were made of better stuff than what you showed me when we first made contact in this mansion."

Fox nodded, clasping his hands in front of him. "Thanks," he said. "For helping us out."

"Hey, I can't let sick fucks like that Sergio guy get away with what he's doing, can I?" asked the lupine.

"You kill people regularly," pointed out Fox.

Wolf shrugged. "Kill? Yes," he replied. "Kill in such a sick, twisted way? Hell fucking no."

Fox nodded, seeing the fellow starfighter's point. "That's true," he said.

The small conversations between various members of the group continued for a brief peroid as the group caught up just outside of the mansion. Snake stood by the truck, not really having anybody to talk to.

"Good thing they made it out alive," he said to himself. "We proved that bartender wrong, that's for sure."

After a few minutes of cordial discussion from all parties involved, the group had piled into the pick-up truck and was now on their way to the nearest town. Fox and Popo had both joined Wolf and Snake in the truck itself, leaving everybody else to sit on the bed of the truck as it rolled by. To be certain, it was quite uncomfortable what with there being seven people on the bed of the truck and having to fit into a small space. But the group managed, and they were facing each other, Peach's hair flying in the wind as the survivors looked to the ones partly responsible for their rescue.

Peach, Mario, and Marth had all related how their rescue had come about. They talked about everything that had happened from the communication cut to when they had gotten out of the mansion. They even talked about the spirits of the deceased smashers that rose up to the heavens.

And when all was talked about, the others on the bed of the truck nodded. Soren straightened his robes slightly as he looked at the group.

"Anybody else would have a tough time believing that," said Soren loud enough to be heard over the wind. "But given all that happened with the murders themselves..."

"Makes me wish we had something that could have just gotten us out of here without too much fuss..." said Peach, looking beyond the truck. "I really do wish we had another way out of there..."

"I wonder why he wanted to get revenge with satanic ritual anyway..." added Sonic, rubbing his chin in thought.

Soren crossed his arms in front of him. "Whatever that reason is, it doesn't truly matter anymore," said the mage. "You stopped him: that's all that really matters..."

"Yep..." said Mario. "I still can't help but think of all those that died, though... It could have never happened if Crazy Hand hadn't gone to the asylum..."

"Well, he was shouting about how every smasher would be killed in the upcoming tournament, right?" asked Ike. "Maybe he isn't crazy after all..."

Peach shook her head. "It's not fair that he was given the Cassandra treatment..."

All the others on the truck bed nodded in agreement. Mario suddenly remembered something. "Oh, and Jigglypuff too!" he added. "Remember she stayed out of this tournament because she wasn't feeling well..."

"Or maybe because she had a feeling something like this would happen..." replied Marth. "I am not sure..."

"Either way, it was clear that they wouldn't have access to their souls," said Ike. "I wonder... What are you going to do now that all this has happened?"

Peach crossed her arms in front of her, smiling. "Well that's easy," she said. "I'm going to work with Bowser Jr. to forge a lasting peace between our kingdoms, of course! And Mario's going to be helping me through that!"

The plumber nodded. He then looked to Marth. "And what about you?" asked the plumber.

Marth nodded, his fingers lightly going over his blade.

"I think it's time I reclaimed my rightful place on the throne," said Marth. "I never reclaimed it before... but now I have no excuse to run and hide anymore."

The others in the group nodded. "You think of taking anybody along?" asked Ike.

"I was thinking of asking Fox to accompany me," said the swordsman. "And you as well, Soren. Possibly even Ike or Wolf if neither mind coming along."

Ike nodded. "Oh, trust me, I'm up for an adventure," he replied. "Especially since Soren is coming along too."

"As am I," added the mage. "I would be more than willing to help, Marth."

The prince nodded, smiling. "Thank you," he said. "I wonder what Fox and Wolf would say..."

"We'll leave that up to them," said Peach. "For now... we're approaching the city!"

And with this, the group nodded, looking around as they saw the buildings of the nearest city rise up ever so slowly in the horizon.

Much later in the day, the group had rested in the pick-up truck.

Snake, Peach, Mario, Bowser Jr., and Sonic had all already left the group to go back to their respective homes. Sonic had decided to tag along with Mario seeing as how the hedgehog really wanted to get to know the plumber better, and Snake had needed to return for a debriefing meeting with his mercenary unit.

This left Fox, Wolf, Popo, Marth, Ike, and Soren with the pick-up truck. This was parked away from the road for the night, with everybody laying on the bed of the truck. Wolf was looking up at the stars as Fox sat back against the wall of the truck bed. Soren and Ike were both already fast asleep, the mercenary's arm draped over Soren protectively. Popo and Marth were both still awake, looking up at the stars as well.

"You know, it's so hard to believe what just happened..." said Fox, crossing his arms.

"I hear ya," replied Wolf, blinking as he looked at the twinkling lights in the heavens. "It's not every day you see your friends getting murdered..."

"It's so sad..." said Popo. "We didn't deserve this..."

"Nobody does," added Marth. "And yet, here we are, survivors of some madman's satanic rituals..."

Fox shook his head. "I still can't get over Bowser's death most of all..." said the vulpine.

"Most of us can't..." replied Marth, crossing his arms. "It's sad... Zelda... Nana... Falco... Roy... It is horrible what happened..."

Popo nodded. "And yet we managed to survive..." he said. "How are we going to live on like this?"

"I don't know," said Marth. "The only thing we can do is look on to the future, however. Hence, why I will be going to reclaim my homeland."

Fox crossed his arms as he looked to Marth. "Why didn't you do that earlier?" asked the star fighter. "I've always been meaning to ask that..."

The prince nodded. "I've never done it because I never had the courage to," he said. "I only finally mustered up the courage after this. Isolde gave me my life to live. And now, I know what I have to do. And that gives me the courage to return and face my fears."

"Capture, death, hunger, the whole nine yards..." said Fox, nodding. "Just know that Popo and I will be by your side every step of the way."

"I mean, if we weren't, we'd be horrible friends," added the Ice Climber with a hand geture.

Marth nodded. "Fire forges friends," he said. "Maybe some good did come out of his murderous rampage after all..."

Fox nodded, looking up at the sky. "And with a little courage, we can move mountains..." added the star fighter.

Wolf simply looked at the stars, his hand coming over Fox's gently. He nodded, and Fox knew that in the end, everything would work out.

And so, he smiled, gazing up at the night sky as he realized the future that lay ahead of him would go better from there on.

Fin.

A/N: And after over three years of this, I've brought this to an end! Cue Hallelujah chorus!

Well, I dunno if this will mean a spin-off based on how it changes the events of Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon (the original FE story, by the way), but still, it's nice to see that this is finally over.

Thank you guys for sticking around. But most of all, I have to thank RF, KTE, and BabyG for being able to do this as long as they could! Thank you so much, guys!

And with this, I officially end La Belle. Good night, and if you have any questions, send a PM my way!

-Herr Wozzeck