Player 2

Ludwig Von Koopa

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, Mario

Suspects: Peach, Rosalina, Ludwig, Koopa

The three innocents and the wolf in sheep's clothing, Player 2, had gathered in the room that brought back many memories of their brains being wracked for clues alongside their now deceased peers. Those memories were ones they never wanted to think of again. The scent of tobacco filled the room and all eyes turned to Koopa who sighed at the judgy stares. Peach opened her mouth to remark on how smoking was horrible for your health, but was thankfully cut off by the crackling of a microphone. 

"Alright, victims, guess who I am. Grass up your friends. I don't care, just don't kill each other, that's my job. Also, all of you are going to die, you can't prevent it. I'll kill you before you have a chance to even think about killing me. Don't fight back. It's not worth it. Have fun! Sincerely, Player 2." the deep voice from the first day rumbled over the loudspeaker. The prerecorded audio cut off and left the group in a silence filled with nothing more than sharp pangs of loss.

"Let's get this over with. Quick and easy. Maybe it'll spare us some pain..." Koopa said, exhaling a long, smoke-filled breath that was followed by a sigh. He was in no mood to play games. 

"For once, you've come up with a good idea, you braindead, pathetic excuse of a human." Ludwig sneered, rolling his eyes. He didn't cope well in these circumstances so often turned to insulting others to fill the void inside him, combining that with being an entitled, egotistical cunt, made him a very dislikeable person. It also made his customary smug grin seem a lot more punchable, Koopa thought. To Ludwig, anyone who wasn't of as high a rank as he was lowly scum. 

"Ludwig, could you not? Now really isn't the time to be a prick," Rosalina growled, folding her arms and glaring distastefully at the only surviving koopaling. She'd never liked Ludwig. His attitude made her wary of him. With all his family lying dead and decomposing in the basement of this madhouse, there was no way he could be this much of a pompous asshole with that sort of weight on his shoulders. Maybe he was just heartless or maybe there was something else going on. 

Ludwig threw a quick eye-roll in her direction. Peach awkwardly stared down at the floor, sensing the aggravated tension hanging in the air. Koopa was the one to break the ice. Rosalina stayed silent, wishing the ground would swallow her up.

"Anyways, I'm pretty sure our little murderer is Ludwig. Shady bastard..." Koopa muttered his insult under his breath and puffed on his cigarette, glancing shiftily around the room. He didn't trust anybody, not even himself.

"Oh, come on. Just because I insulted you doesn't mean I'm gonna kill you." Ludwig groaned. He thought it was ridiculous that anyone could accuse him of murder, and that thought was evident in his tone of voice. His eyes rolled and landed on Peach with a dark glint in his eyes.

"Peach, Princess, would you agree with this bad apple on his accusation?" Ludwig purred, manipulation seeping into his words like deadly poison. 

Peach's head jolted sharply upwards, she'd been zoned out, contemplating everything. The shock of hearing her name mentioned had startled her. Especially since Ludwig had said it in such a bone-chilling way. She regained her composure and nodded, hoping he wouldn't lash out. Ludwig wouldn't do that, surely? The slap stung her cheek and she teetered backward before finally, toppling to the ground like a bowling pin, hand clutching her now red, hand-marked cheek. 

"Slut." he hissed before turning to face Rosalina, who was staring in shock, her mouth agape, "Let's hope this blonde isn't as stupid as the other two. Rosalina, who's side are you on? All in favor of me being a murderer get bitch-slapped."

Rosalina stumbled over her words, but eventually came to a rather forced decision to decide Koopa was the psycho. The gangster smiled sympathetically at the princess in blue as she stuttered out her choice. Ludwig had a smug smile on his face, but that quickly faded.

"There's still two not siding with you on your decision to try and incriminate me. Don't try and assault me like you did to Peach, I have a knife and I will slit your throat. I was always going to but now I have a good reason that won't send me to jail." Koopa threatened, latching onto the blade in his pocket, ready to whip it out if necessary. Ludwig snarled but didn't comment.

"Guys, please, could we not do this? Our lives are on the line, now is not the time to argue. Could we focus on the task at hand, which is figuring out which one of us is going to flip out and stab us all?" Rosalina timidly asked, toeing the hardwood floor with her shoe, avoiding eye contact with everyone.

Ludwig let out an audible sigh but nodded, "I have to agree. But, I can assure you with certainty, that I am no murderer. You'll be making a decision you can't take back if you choose me. All our lives will be lost. Choose wisely, please." He had a gentleness to his voice that temporarily shocked the blonde trio consisting of his enemies. Who was this new Ludwig? He'd been threatening to assault them not two minutes ago, and now he was being as kind as he possibly could? Dishonesty was a quality passed on by blood through the generations of Bowser's family, Ludwig could very well be using the manipulative trait to his advantage. The tension in the room was thick, distrust created barriers between the four.

"All in favor of me being 'Player 2', raise a hand," Ludwig sighed, closing his eyes as he saw the three hands raise. He knew he couldn't convince them he was innocent. A slow smile began painting itself upon his lips and a slow laugh of madness escaped him. His eyes were wild and crazed as he looked at the group. The insanity that he'd once thought only Iggy could have possessed had now embedded itself in him. Distraught was the only emotion he felt as terrified looks dawned on the blondes who stood before him. 

"Don't you see? You've sealed our fates and now we're all fucked! You chose wrong! I've never laid a knife on flesh in my life!" he screeched, raking his hands through his frazzled mess of dyed hair. A laugh rang out through the room. A laugh even more maniacal than Ludwig's. Two blondes and the only bluenette glanced at the gun-wielding maniac. 

"Indeed, you are all fucked. Give in now. Surrender to me. I am god," Player 2 hissed, raising their gun and firing a shot straight into Ludwig's temple as the two remaining people watched on in horror. 

"Now, who wants to go first?" Player 2 grinned, their sharp, pointed teeth making bile rise through the throat of the second victim. "Nobody? Oh well, decisions are my specialty!"

Another bullet flew, robbing another life from the innocent person. One was left. Their eyes were wide. All sense of reality had been carried away like leaves in the breeze. This couldn't be happening. Death couldn't come so soon, right? As the metallic stench of blood began filling the room, the final bullet of the night left the barrel of the gun and the final body crashed to the floor. After several minutes of reminiscing about their old life and old kills, Player 2 left their masterpiece behind and set off on a quest to find another life to rob and another city to traumatize. 

Their game was over and they had won. 

Players 3 and 4  watched the show from afar, the massacre that their fellow Player had created was one to admire. They were not as skilled as Player 2, nobody was, but watching enabled them to pick up their tactics. As Player 2 strode off into the distance on a new adventure, they sent the final text.

'Game over. World 1 complete. Moving onto World 2.'

Haha, ya'll got it wrong! Ok but Ludwig was a good guess, the first line of this story creates something that links directly back to him in some way. Better luck next time, keep guessing! Also, thank you for reading! And who could Players 3 + 4 be? Maybe they'll be explained in Player 1, the sequel. Who knows?