I froze.

No.

No.

He....

That's not....

Mitch smirked.  "Aww, can biggums not take that his 'lover' is actually the one who brought you all here?"

I looked over at the rest of the group.

They looked shocked.

Not really surprised.

I'm freaking shocked, too.

Mitch just looked around at us.  "Man, are you guys this shocked?  Yeesh, it's not that big of a deal."

Quentin seemed to regain his composure.  "Um, not that big of a deal?!  You freaking kidnapped us and took us from our old lives!  I don't even remember my old life!"

Mitch shrugged.  "Not my problem.  I just wanted revenge.  Revenge...for him...."  He muttered.

His eyes widened for a second before shaking his head.

"That's beside the point.  Honestly, now that you guys know who the mastermind is, whatcha gonna do, huh?"

I knew what he was trying to imply.

He literally wanted us to kill him.

Something wasn't right.

I can tell you, the moment I met Mitch, he was a fighter.

He would NEVER give up.

"Are you actually Mitch?"  I asked.

Mitch raised an eyebrow.  "Um, duh?"

I rolled my eyes.  "You aren't acting very Mitch-like right now."

Mitch facepalmed.  "No dip, Sherlock!  That was an 'act.'"

I frowned, thinking of the first moment we actually met.  Not just the introducing everyone, but the first time we sat together in the Grand Hall.

I felt...trust to the human.

I've felt trust for him...until...MonoKirby showed us the past....

"Wait, MonoKirby."

MonoKirby, who had been twirling on a podium, looked over.  "Boyo?"

I looked at Mitch.  "Is he the mastermind?"

MonoKirby shrugged.  "I dunno.  I told you, the mastermind was always veeerrrry mysterious, boyo.  I never knew their gender.  If he claims he's the mastermind, he's the mastermind, boyo.  'Sides, he's floating in the air.  The mastermind liked to do that a lot, boyo."

Wait.  MonoKirby's hung with the mastermind for a long time now.  He would know more about him than any of us.

"MonoKirby, do you truly believe this is the mastermind?"

He froze.  "Umm...well, yeah.  He saved me 3 months ago, boyo."

Mitch glared at me, his hazel eyes filled with frustration.  "Jerome, stop interrogating MonoKirby!"

Wait.

Mitch doesn't have hazel eyes.

He has brown eyes.

I would know.

How have I not noticed these past few days?

I crossed my arms and smirked.  "You're not Mitch.  You're an imposter."

Mitch smirked back.  "Uh huh, sure.  Do you actually have an evidence, or is it your 'bacca instincts?'"  He raised his hands, quoting bacca instincts.

Why did he quote bacca instincts?

He knows bacca instincts are serious.

Of course he knows.

He'd agree.

Not this person, though.

This was so very much an imposter.

"Mitch has brown eyes, not hazel."

Mitch froze, frowning.

"And...he knows bacca instincts are a real thing."

Mitch rolled his eyes.  "Is that all you got?"

I looked at his hoodie.

Call me a creep, but I knew both the original hoodie Mitch had and the replicas in the closet's patterns.

From the neck, it started as red, black, red.

Every single hoodie in his closet was like that.

Call me creepy, I checked.

Don't ask why.

This person, though, clearly made this hoodie cuz they got the pattern wrong.

The pattern on this hoodie, from the neck, was black, red, black.

"I don't know why you would make your own Mitch hoodie when there are, like, 20 in his closet, but that was a huge mistake on your part.  I know the pattern from the neck is red, black, red.  Your pattern, however, is black, red, black."

Quentin frowned.  "Since when did you become a super detective?"

I shrugged.  "Since now."

I looked towards 'Mitch.'  "I KNOW you're not Mitch.  Where is Mitch?"

He rolled his eyes.  "Dood, I'm right here."

"No, the REAL Mitch."

'Mitch' seemed to be thinking.  "Huh.  This has been quite interesting...."

He clapped slowly.

Evil villain much?

"So, you've found me out.  Nope, I'm not Mitch.  Mitch...well...here, I'll let you see him."

'Mitch' waved his hand, and a cloud of smoke appeared in midair.  When it cleared....

Oh.

My.

God.

Mitch....

Mitch was bound from shoulder to waist with rope, and he was gagged.  He looked confused for a second, but when he saw 'Mitch,' he froze.

'Mitch' smirked.  "Ah, well, it's Mitch's fault for being in this position.  He found out who I was a little too early.  I couldn't have him ruining my fun, so I...re-kidnapped him, I suppose."

My eyes widened.

When we saw the past....

Mitch freezing in my arms....

He knew.

He had figured it out.

I'll never know why he didn't tell me cuz he won't tell me even if we escape somehow.

Mitch growled and thrashed against his bonds, shouting something at 'Mitch.'

'Mitch' rolled his eyes.  "He's so annoying.  All he does is glare at me or yell at me.  It's gotten so boring.  I was considering having him disguised as a body for the execution procedure when Seto and Ross died, but I didn't have the heart to do that.  You do not want to know what Mitch's execution would've been."

I crossed my arms.  "Then who the frick are you?"

'Mitch' laughed, and Mitch stared at me with such intensity, I swore he was trying to tell me through his eyes who 'Mitch' actually was.  "Oh, Jerome, I'm not going to tell you!  You must figure it out on your own."

'Mitch' waved his hands at the rest of the group, and they seemed to freeze.  I could see emotion in their eyes, but they could not move, could not speak.

'Mitch' chuckled.  "We've got eternity, Jerome.  Take your time.  Piece the evidence together."

The moment he said that, I saw Rayn appear behind 'Mitch.'

'Mitch' turned around.  "Ugh, Rayn, I told you not to interfere!"

"And I told you to stop this nonsense.  Can't you see?  None of this is going to bring him back, big...sibling.  You're just murdering the people you care about because you can't figure out how to vent your anger any other way!"

'Mitch' froze.

Sibling??

"Rayn, you're related to the mastermind?!"

Rayn sighed.

Sometimes, I wish I could see her face.

Maybe that would've given some insight.

"Jerome, I'm not allowed to interfere.  But this...this is going too far."

Rayn looked directly into my eyes.

"You have all the evidence you need, Jerome.  Remember EVERYTHING."

'Mitch's' eyes widened.

Suddenly, memories began popping up.

Random moments of time....

SEEMINGLY random moments of time.

'Umm...habit, I guess. Back in my dimension, I have a stuffed Kirby his exact size that's pink and freaking adorable. I like to hold him at night and sleep with it. He seems crazy, but he's still plushy.'

"You treat me almost the exact same way as the mastermind, boyo!"

"With all the fourth wall breaking we've been doing, why hasn't she, like every other author in every other book that breaks the fourth wall, called out to us and told us to leave the fourth wall alone?"

What if the author is throwing the readers for a loop?

With every memory I remembered, 'Mitch' seemed to being straining himself more and more.

MonoKirby groaned. "Gosh, Jerome, leave the fourth wall alone!"

MonoKirby had told me to leave the fourth wall alone.

'Mitch' looked like he was in pain.  "Jerome...stop...stop it...."

A purple cloaked figure stood about 10 blocks from Dedede.

Mitch's favorite color is blue, not purple.

'Mitch' had actually landed on the ground and was clutching his head.  "STOP!  STOP IT!!!"  He yelled.

Mitch came over and hugged me. It still felt strange.

It still felt strange...because....

"AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!"  'Mitch' screamed.

And then there was no fourth wall.

I looked beyond to see a girl dancing around.  "I knew it!  I knew it was Mi---"

She stopped and stared at 'Mitch' and Mitch.  "Umm...."

I pointed at the still-floating Mitch.  "That's the real one."

A girl with purple dragon wings was yelling random things.  "THE VOTE BUTTON IS THE MASTERMIND!  THE FOURTH WALL IS THE MASTERMIND!  THE STICK IS VITAL IN EVERY DR BOOK!!!"  She was waving a stick around.

Umm....

Now I see why there's a fourth wall.

Or there was a fourth wall.

This is just scary.

I turned to 'Mitch.'

'Mitch' had stood up.  "MonoKirby, can you get my cloak from my room?"

MonoKirby nodded and disappeared.  A few seconds later, he reappeared with the same purple cloak, just like in that past memory.

'Mitch' put it on.

I immediately knew.

It was HER.

SHE was the mastermind.

"You...you're HER!"  I exclaimed.

She giggled, her Mitch voice turned off.  Hmm...this is really fun!

She covered herself completely with the cloak.

Mitch fell to the ground with a yelp, the rope and gag gone.

I quickly ran to him and helped him up.

He kissed me deeply the moment he was stable.

"Oh, God, biggums, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry...."  He said sadly as he pulled away.

I noticed the other unfreeze.

A light shone through the cloak, and then SHE threw the cloak around, revealing her true identity.

Dirty blonde hair.

Hazel eyes.

Tiny hands.

Kirby shirt.

White tennis shoes.

Oval purple glasses.

Tan shorts.

Rayn's face suddenly became clear, and I could immediately see the relation between her and her sister.

Or should I say...not Rayn, but Rachel?

The mastermind, BeccaWise4, laughed.  Now THIS...is a plot twist!