"Are you sure this is going to work?" Link asked as he hid behind a couch.
"Of course it is." Zelda replied, giving an amused smile as she hid beside the hero. "Pikachu will lure him in, we all jump out and yell surprise, then Mario brings out the cake. It's simple, and the best plans are always simple. Now quiet down, we don't know if he's in earshot."
Just then, Mario poked his head into the room. "We have a problem." He announced anxiously. "Kirby ate the cake."
"Oh, no!" Zelda came out of hiding, rushing into the kitchen. "Now what do we do? The party's ruined!"
"I guess we improvise." Link shrugged. "C'mon, Marth, Robin, Ryu, Samus, and… Captain Falcon. Let's go be a distraction. How long do you need to make another cake, Zelda?"
"About an hour and a half should do." Zelda estimated. "Thank you, Link."
"You hear that? Let's go!" Link led his team out of the party room. "Robin, you're the tactician. What's the plan?"
"Split up. Whoever comes across Pikachu first has to tell him the change in plans." Robin answered quickly, a determined look on her face. "We're leading the mark on a wild goose chase through the mansion. Here's what we'll do…"
Pikachu was quickly brought in on the plan, and agreed to it readily. Upon returning to the mark, he made a quick jump and divested him of his hat.
"Hey!" The mark protested. "Get back here with my hat!" As Pikachu refused to listen, he gave chase, soon coming across Samus.
"Oh, hi! Just the man I wanted to see." Samus smiled. "I've been having a bit of an argument with Snake over whose weaponry is cooler. What do you think?"
"That depends. I personally like Snake's weapons better, but I know that Ike likes your suit better." The mark replied. "With stuff like this, it's a matter of personal preference."
"Makes sense." Samus shrugged. "Thanks for your opinion!"
"You're welcome!" The mark called. "Now, where did Pikachu go…?" Down the hallway, he saw a bright light. "Thunderbolt." He jogged off towards the light.
He arrived at the scene just in time to see an angry Pikachu running off, wearing his hat. "Pikachu, get back here!" He called, but Pikachu didn't listen. Again.
Behind him, Captain Falcon climbed to his feet from where Pikachu's Thunderbolt had thrown him against the wall. "What? Oh, hello… why are there two of you?" The dazed racer asked, confused.
"Did you hit your head, Captain?" The mark sighed and, without waiting for an answer, took the racer's arm to lead him to the infirmary. Which was on the other side of the building. Joy. At least Link showed up to help him get the Captain there.
"Open the oven for me, please, Peach?" Zelda asked, as both her hands were full with the two large cake pans.
"Sure, Zelda!" The ever-cheerful princess said with a smile. Opening the oven, she waited until Zelda had placed the pans within and withdrawn her hands before she closed it again. "Now, how long do they need to bake?"
"Fifty-five minutes." Zelda replied, after consulting the cookbook.
After taking Captain Falcon to the infirmary, the mark started searching for Pikachu and his hat, with Link's assistance. Instead of finding the elusive Pokemon, he ran into Ryu. Literally ran into him, as he wasn't looking where he was going. The bigger man didn't seem to care, however, and Link stopped before he ran into Ryu, as well.
"Spar with me?" He invited, opening a nearby door to reveal one of the many training rooms.
"Sure, why not?" The mark shrugged and entered the room, preparing for a fight. Link followed, sorting through his gear.
At some point, their fighting turned into Ryu attempting to teach the mark how to do one of his signature moves, which took up half an hour.
After they finished, Ryu went off with a nod of farewell, and the mark tried to remember what he was doing before the spar.
"Pikaa~" Pikachu appeared down the hallway, waving cheekily whilst wearing the mark's hat. Once the Pokemon knew he had his attention, he took off, the mark giving chase immediately.
After chasing Pikachu halfway round the mansion, the annoyingly elusive Pokemon ran straight into Marth, who quickly picked him up and plucked the hat from his head. "This is not yours, I believe." He said, just as the mark rounded the corner, followed shortly by Link.
"Marth! Thank goodness, you caught him." The mark braced himself against the wall with one hand, breathing heavily. Running after an electric mouse just after sparring with Ryu was rather tiring.
"This is yours, is it not?" Marth held out the hat which had caused the mark so much annoyance.
The mark took it gratefully. "Yes, thank you." Replacing the hat on his head, he stared at Pikachu. "Don't do that again."
"Pika, pika pi." Pikachu replied despondently. He had been having fun playing chase with the mark. As soon as Marth put him down, he ambled off sadly.
As per the plan, after Pikachu left, Marth drew the mark and Link into a discussion of tactics, later joined by Robin. Their discussion lasted quite some time; in fact, when Robin checked the time, she found that they had successfully kept the mark busy for fifteen minutes longer than Zelda needed.
Then Pikachu decided to change the plan a bit, racing up from behind the debating trio and snatching Robin's Nosferatu tome. "Hey!" Robin immediately gave chase, followed by Marth, Link, and the mark.
Eventually, Pikachu led them into a room. Robin and Marth entered first, then Link, then the mark. Once he went into the room, he stopped and stared. He had seen Robin, Marth, Link, and Pikachu race into this room, and there was no other way in or out. Yet they had disappeared into this dark room.
Suddenly, the lights went on, revealing all the Smash characters arrayed around the room. Even Captain Falcon, whom he believed to have sustained a concussion, was there and grinning and looking perfectly fine.
"SURPRISE!" They chorused, smiling hugely as Mario wheeled in a cake decorated with the Smash symbol. "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MII!"