"Maybe we should've gone in person?" Master Hand asked as he floated back and forth nervously.
"And ruins the other's surprise? no way!" Crazy Hand replied as he watched his sibling move around.
"But it's been ten whole years, do you think the letter will be enough to get him back?" Master Hand asked.
"Why are you so nervous brother?" Crazy Hand asked causing the other to stop "I've never seen you get so antsy about a Smasher before." He noted.
"Why, WHY?!" Master Hand questioned as he then gesture to the window "Because Snake is the ONLY fighter that we've EVER forced to leave! everyone else left because they wanted to either go home or wanted do something else for a while, but they still had an open spot on the roster for them should they ever come back." He explained before he pointed towards the door "But we both came to the decision that Snake was just too skilled of a fighter for the others so we HAD to let him go, this had to be the first time in history that someone was removed from a job because they were too good at it! and you're curious as to WHY I'm so uneasy?!" He questioned as he turned to face his sibling.
Going completely quiet which was honestly a rare thing for Crazy Hand to do, he really didn't know what he should say to his brother in this moment to make the atmosphere of the room go back to normal. So instead he did the next best thing that came to his mind, he rushed past his brother and out of the room as to just avoid dealing with it altogether. Letting a sigh escape him Master Hand simply floated behind his desk before he rested himself atop it, deciding to try and relax so that he wouldn't have a nervous breakdown. Unknown to the two brothers however, they weren't the only ones both excited and nervous for the return of Solid Snake, as while they both were busy dealing with the very nature of his return, everyone else in the mansion were busy with their own preparations for when he stepped through those front doors.
"Hmm hm hm hm hm hm hm, hm hm hm, hm hm hm, hmm hm hm hm hm hm hm, hm hm hm hm hm hm~" Peach hummed lightly as she danced around the kitchen.
At least that's what it looked like to anyone who had ever seen her cook, the way she moved about the space with such grace and elegance really showed how much of a proper lady she was. Not to say of course that a proper lady must be good in the kitchen no no no, but the fact that she took great pride and joy from helping to prepare meals and deserts for all of her fellow Smashers was an astounding quality to possess. Especially since EVERYONE had their own preferred tastes and whenever new arrivals came she would not only help in their welcoming banquet but would also prepare a massive feast for everyone, with proper aid of course. But seeing as how this looked to be the biggest welcoming banquet of all time for Smash, she was busy at work long before any actual plans were scheduled to be underway making an assortment of dishes and treats for all to enjoy.
This of course included Solid Snake, for unlike the decision to retire him both hands had immediately told the others first before anything else had been done as to avoid incurring their wrath and hatred like before. And upon hearing this, Peach couldn't keep herself from beaming with joy that their friend could finally return to the mansion and be a fighter alongside them once again. Which is exactly why as she cooked and baked for all of her friends, she made sure to give a bit more attention to Snake's dish as she wanted him to feel both right at home as well as though he'd never left.
"What are you making?" A voice from behind her suddenly asked, causing her to turn around.
Standing there in the doorway with her arms crossed, Samus was dressed in her training attire as she usually went for jogs in the morning after breakfast, at noon after lunch, and at night after dinner in order to keep in shape.
"Oh Samus! I didn't hear you coming." Peach replied as she looked the other over "Did you just return from your jog?" She asked.
"No, about to head out now actually." She answered as she walked over "But then I heard you humming and was wondering what you could possibly be making now." She admitted as she looked down at the counter "Which brings me back to my question, what exactly are you making?" She repeated as what she saw before her confused her.
Sitting on the counter top were two sets of ingredients which Samus thought she'd never see go together. The first was a tin and some dough to obviously make a pie, that wasn't too surprising as while Peach was a master chef arguably the best in the house, she did favor making baked goods and pastries. But then there was the other set of ingredients that rested next to these, two packages of beef properly sealed and seeming to have just been taken from the fridge as they still had condensation on them.
"I'm making a meat pie for Snake!" Peach answered happily as she looked down at the ingredients "When he used to live here he always seemed to like meat more than anything else, made him very easy to cook for back then." She explained as she clasped her hands together "So in celebration of his return to the mansion I thought I'd make him a traditional meat pie! what do you think?" She asked.
"It's...smart." Samus replied trying to find the proper way to compliment it "I've just never heard of a pie having meat in it before, usually it's a fruit or something." She admitted.
"Oh well yes meat pies are an acquired taste, and while I do prefer a more traditional pie such as apple or pumpkin, this is something that I know he'll love and will make him feel at home." She said.
"Yeah it probably will knowing him." Samus replied as she turned around and walked away "I'm going out now." He said as she left the kitchen.
"Have a good run Samus!" Peach exclaimed as she began to knead the dough "Oh! and don't forget to be back before it get's too late! the banquet is tonight!" She called after, before focusing back on her cooking.
Rolling her eyes a bit at how excited Peach always seemed to get for things like this, Samus made her way out of the mansion before doing a few stretches then got on on with her run. And while this was to anyone else just another routine workout for the interstellar bounty hunter, the truth is she was actually doing this to ensure she was in top physical shape for when Snake returned.
"Just you wait Snake." She thought as she ran away from the mansion towards the city "This time around, you'll be the one trying to keep up with me."
No matter what time of day it was, morning, evening, or night, the city of Smashville always seemed to be bursting with life as it's citizens were quite the rambunctious bunch. Not to imply that they were heathens or troublemakers by any means, but it was nearly impossible to lead a bland and boring life when surrounded by so many different people and creatures all put together in one massive place. Yet unlike most cities Smashville wasn't some concrete jungle with but few trees and parks scattered to and fro, it was a colorful and vibrant place that had a section dedicated to every Smasher to make them feel more at home. This also included bringing from their worlds many of the animals, foods, people, and so forth that made their homes what they were, if anything Smashville could easily be compared to a massive melting pot where everyone and thing was brought together to make something that had never been made before.
All except for Snake however, but it wasn't because the hands had for some reason excluded him from this of course, for upon first arriving all those years ago he told them that in no way were they to bring anything from his world to here, if they ever did he would immediately take his leave and never return. No one not even the hands could understand why he didn't want a part of the city dedicated to him like all the other Smashers had, but no one ever pried as they respected his privacy and knew that making him angry would probably not end well for them. Still, with no section of the city dedicated solely to him and the world he came from, this meant that everywhere he could possibly go was like a brand new adventure and he would always find something even after being here for so long that managed to surprise and amaze him. Though after being there for an entire decade, he had grown used to quite a lot that the city had to offer, which of course included the occasional call to deal with some unruly chaos that just suddenly happened out of nowhere.
Which was exactly the case as of right now, for after being hired by a toad in the Mushroom Kingdom section of the city, he made his way over and found that the problem he had been hired to deal with was quite the big one.
"There you are Snake!" The toad who had spoken with him on the phone exclaimed in relief and joy as he rushed over to meet him "PLEASE you have to help me!" He pleaded.
"Calm down sir, tell me what the situation is first and then I'll be happy to help." Snake replied as the other took a few breathes to steel his nerves.
"Okay, so I came into the shop today and did as I always did, raised the blinds from the windows, checked inventory, and made sure everything was where it needed to be, but then as I'm just about to get settled behind the counter I hear a knock at the door and someone saying delivery, I wasn't expecting anything to come in but still I was curious so I hopped down from my stool and walked over to the door to see what had arrived, only to have a swarm of mechakoopas rush in and start destroying the place!" The Toad explained, recounting the whole story.
Unable to keep himself from pinching the bridge of his nose out of irritation Snake knew EXACTLY who was to blame for this. Ever since the last batch of newcomers arrived a string of pranks and light property damage had risen due Bowser's children having been added to the roster of Smashers. And while there was a great deal of evidence against his children for every stunt they had pulled since they arrived, the fact is none of it could be directly connected to them nor was there ever any video evidence of them doing the deeds, so the hands were quite literally tied to just give them warnings but no actual punishment. Needless to say, it helped that their father was a grade A villain and no doubt gave them some pointers on how to continuously get away with it.
"Are you okay Snake?" The Toad asked causing him to move his hand back to his side.
"Yeah I'm fine." He replied with a sigh as he looked towards the storefront "Look, I'm going to do my best to disarm these things before they can explode but there might be some more property damage, if that happens I'll stick around and help you repair it." He offered causing the other's face to beam in joy.
"Really? thank you Snake!" The Toad exclaimed "But please be careful, those things are dangerous when there's a lot of them!" He warned.
Simply nodding in response Snake then made his way over to one of the windows and looked inside to get a full read on what he should expect. Looking around the space to try and spot every mechakoopa that there was, in total he managed to spot six of them but there was the chance that there were more in the back. But this didn't seem to phase him at all, probably since the best way to deal with these things was just to grab the winding key in their backs and pull it out as to keep them from moving, how they managed to just keep going for extended periods of time with that being their only means of movement he had no idea, it was probably magic though. Taking a few more seconds as to make sure he knew where all of them were in the space, he then walked over to the front door and slowly opened it, hoping he might get the jump on at least one of them.
Thankfully these things were in no way actually sentient, so while they could somewhat react to being touched or whenever they were near another living creature, they for the most part just waddled across the floor or even just stood still. This would make dealing with the lot of them very easy, as the first one he had to disarm was right in front of the door and even had it's back turned, making it even simpler. Pushing the door open carefully as to not immediately alert them, he then with impressive speed leaped onto the first one and quickly rolled behind a nearby shelf, removing it's key the moment it was in his hands.
"One." He counted as he set it down before peeking around the shelf to spot the next one.
Not too far away from where he was there was another that was chewing on a magazine, though it wasn't actually trying to eat it of course it just happened to get the thing in it's mouth. Luckily it too was near a shelf, so all Snake had to do was roll behind it and take it's key out before it noticed he was there.
"Two." He continued as he took the slightly damaged reading article from it's mouth.
From that point on it was basically the same throughout, dodging behind things for cover while more often than not grabbing one as he did in order to disarm them, making this job go by rather quickly. But then came the final two of the lot, they had somehow managed to get on top of the counter and were right next to the cash register, and while Snake didn't know for certain if there was any money in there or not, he wasn't going to be reckless and allow them to potentially damage any as well as the register itself. And while in most situations like this he would just simply take out his gun and quickly shoot the both of them, he couldn't do that because it would just cause them to explode anyways, and that would be incredibly reckless as well as just plain stupid. Looking around himself as to try and spot something that might help him in some way, he spotted on the shelf in front of him a cooking bowl that would be big enough to trap one of them.
Having a plan quickly come together in his mind, he took the bowl from the shelf then made his way around the room and stealthily behind the counter, still undetected by the mechanical terrors. Holding the bowl in one hand while leaving the other empty, he then in one swift motion sprung up from behind the counter, placed the bowl over one of them, then quickly grabbed the other and took out it's key. Feeling a small smile of satisfaction come to his face as he executed his plan flawlessly, he then removed the bowl from the other and with the same speed removed it's key, and thus all six of the metal koopas had been disabled.
"Six, that's all." He said as he set it down beside the other "But I should look around just to be safe." He decided as he then moved towards the back.
Taking a quick but thorough look at the back room of the store, besides some dust bunnies that had formed behind some of the crates that rested against the back wall, there was no sign of any more mechakoopas. And so with the job being done, Snake made his way out of the store and back to it's owner, who had an excited look on his face.
"You did it Snake!" The Toad cheered as he approached "Thank you so much for your help!" He added.
"It was nothing." Snake assured as he crossed his arms "But next time you get a delivery that you're not expecting, be more careful in opening the door will ya?" He suggested.
"Will do! oh and here's your payment!" The Toad replied as he held out a gold coin.
Now some would think given how many different sections there were to the city that the hands would've just made some general currency for everyone, smashers included, to use when it came to making purchases. But because they seemed to nearly be gods, whenever you moved to any section of the city the currency you kept would automatically change depending on where you were. So in this instance of a gold coin being given to snake, while it was basically the Mushroom Kingdom equivalent of a dollar, the moment he stepped back into his office which was located in the Onett section of the city, it would become ten regular dollars. As for how the conversion rates had been figured out for every bit of different currency that existed in Smashville, no one could ever get a simple nor straight answer from either of the brothers.
"Thank you." Snake said as he took the coin "You have a good day." He added before he took his leave.
Waving goodbye for a few seconds as he walked away, the Toad then went back inside as to clean the place up before any customers should arrive. And so, with another job successfully complete Snake made his way back to his office with payment in hand.
