Player 2

Shredded

Victims: Daisy, Luigi, Toad, Toadette, Mona, Wario, Bowser, Kamek, Pauline, Boo, DK, Bowser JR, Diddy, Birdo, Yoshi, Wendy, Morton, Roy, Waluigi, Lemmy, Larry, Iggy, Dixie

Suspects: Mario, Peach, Rosalina, Ludwig, Koopa

The five remaining suspects were all arguing, once again. The endless stream of profanities and allegations flowed from their mouths for hours upon hours. The end was drawing close. Who would be the one to die before they had to choose. Friends had long since become enemies and enemies, well, they stayed enemies. Trust had been lost. All bonds had been cut. No characteristics of their past selves remained. They were shells, deprived of all good things. Now, everything left was the dark traits that they'd buried deep inside them, hoping that they'd never rise again.

"I bet it was you!" Rosalina yelled, pointing at Koopa who, miraculously, hadn't contributed a single word to the conversation. He sighed and stepped forward, irritated at the fact he'd been dragged into this. 

"Could you not accuse everyone? It makes you look even more sketchy than you already do. I told ya'll ages ago, I'm innocent." Koopa said, lighting yet another cigarette and glaring at the group. He'd never thought the mismatched group of good guys and bad guys would get tossed together in this situation. Something had clearly gone wrong somewhere in this fucked up world.

"Where's the evidence that supports your claim?" Mario quietly asked, his voice sounding gentle and nothing like the loud, brash Mario that they were used to. Heads turned and Mario found all eyes on him. A sigh escaped his lips and he pushed his mess of dark brown hair back.

"There is none, you just have to believe I didn't do any of this. Do you believe I'm innocent, Mario?" Koopa said, his voice soft and dangerous. Those deep, black eyes met Mario's. An unsettling shiver ran down the plumber's spine. Koopa was a force to be reckoned with. 

"No," Mario began, trying his best not to stutter, "I don't think you're innocent at all."

"And why would you think such a thing, dearest Mario?" the sly man said, sidling up to the nervous Italian. Mario's heart was racing and he felt a cold sweat break out.

"For one, you have a knife in your pocket," he began, "and you watch Rosalina."

The man of mystery routine shattered and Koopa's face morphed into an expression of rage. How dare his work be exposed. His fists clenched and he stubbed the cigarette out on Mario's skin. The poor plumber howled in pain, clutching his neck at wincing at the pain. Koopa's eyes were colder, and despite the cigarette sending pain that felt like fire across his skin, Mario felt the room's temperature decrease. 

"Which slut gave you this information?" Koopa snarled, his voice digging daggers into Mario's skin. He gulped, fear rising in the pit of his stomach. The man in front of him was ruthless. Koopa wouldn't hesitate to raise the blade. He didn't care who's blood was on his hands at the end of the day, it could be his or it could be someone else's. It didn't matter.

"You're not as sneaky as you think you are. I watch people too, Koopa. I watch you." Mario smiled. Mario's stalking secret was now out of the bag. He'd resorted to watching everyone's every move. After all, what else was there to do? The blade shone in the light before it was brought down onto a gloved hand. Peach wrested with the knife for several seconds before wrenching it off Koopa, blood staining her gloves and streaming down her wrist. She held the steel weapon in one hand and Koopa's neck in the other. 

"You are never to raise a weapon to somebody in this room ever again, do you understand?" Peach growled, tightening her grip of iron on Koopa's throat. He spluttered, his face beginning to turn a shade of purple. Yet still, the princess would not release her hold.

"I said, do you understand?" she roared, shaking his barely conscious body. Koopa managed to stumble out something that vaguely resembled a 'yes', and only then did Peach let him crumple to the floor, clutching his throat and rubbing at the purple ring that now adorned it.

"Good." Peach said, her tone now calm and collected. She peeled off her bloodied glove, examined the wound and strode off, blood dripping in her wake. The knife and glove lay at Mario's feet. Violence ruined everything, he thought as he pocketed the blade to make sure that Koopa wouldn't stab him in his sleep. That would be unfortunate.

Mario wasn't ready to die yet. He had more watching to do. And watching was exactly the thing he needed to do, he thought to himself as he left the room and went to his secret place. It was the only place in the house that truly was a secret to everyone other than him. Nobody would ever find it. It was his. It special watching place for him and only him. He settled into the chair in the dimly lit room and began his watching. No one was safe from the eyes of Mario.

Unfortunately, Mario's watching couldn't save himself. The hand was clapped over his mouth and his arms and legs were bound before he could get a grip on the situation. No amount of resistance could save him now. His fate was written in red ink and had been sealed. He was doomed. Player 2 had been in plain sight the whole time and he'd never made the connection. Mario was dragged into a room, a room he knew very well. His room. 

A lightweight woodchipper stood in the middle of the floor. As he gazed at the gleaming monster of a machine that would take his life, the door slammed shut. As he whipped around, Player 2 flicked the switch that roared the machine into action. Mario's heart began pounding at higher speeds than he thought it ever could. The gun emerged and Player 2 began advancing towards Mario, leaving him with no choice but to back away towards the whirring blades that would obliterate his body in seconds and leave nothing left except a bloody mess of flesh shreds and blood. 

The last thing ever burned into Mario's memory before the grinding blades swallowed him, was the psychotic grin and ice-cold words of Player 2 before they turned away and Mario's world faded to black and finally, he was reunited with the brother he'd missed so dearly.

"Welcome, bro." Luigi smiled, wrapping his arms around him. Mario was home, with his brother, his friends and the life he'd wished he could have completed. 

"You shouldn't have spoken up," Player 2 smiled, tucking the unused gun back into the holster and leaving the crime scene. The ones who dared to speak up always got it the worst. It was how the psycho cycle worked. 

But now, the remainder would have to speak up. 

Yet they'd all die anyway.

And the cycle would continue.

OK, NOW NO MORE HINTS! IT IS THE FINAL FOUR TIME! OK SO HOW THE FINAL FOUR WORKS IS I POST A CHAPTER WITH THE NAME OF ONE OF THE FINAL FOUR, YOU GUESS WHICH ONE YOU THINK IT IS AND IF YOU'RE WRONG, JUST KEEP READING THEM UNTIL YOU GET IT RIGHT! HERE'S THE ORDER:

PRINCESS PEACH

LUDWIG VON KOOPA

ROSALINA

KOOPA TROOPA

WHY HAS THE ORDER SWITCHED AROUND? YOU TELL ME!

ALSO, THEY'LL ALL BE POSTED AT AROUND THE SAME TIME SO IT'LL TAKE ABOUT 1/2 WEEKS TO GET THEM ALL UP!

THERE WILL BE A COUPLE BONUS CHAPTER AFTER THE FINAL FOUR TOO!

ENJOY!

THANKS FOR READING THIS FAR!

GUESS WISELY! 

Was it Peach? The sweet and motherly princess.

Was is Ludwig? The arrogant and devious koopaling.

Was it Rosalina? The serene and calm space princess.

Was it Koopa? The shady and mysterious stalker.

You decide.