A strange reunion- part Two
Some five minutes after the calling spell had flown into the portal doors, Michael suddenly got an idea. "Hey, here's a thought: Why don't you guys go into the pit and welcome your buddies?" "And why should we do that?" Link asked, wondering where the wolf was going with this. "Simple: If your friends see you first when they come out, there'll be a better chance they won't try to hurt each other when they see each other, like Carmelita just tried in her confusion," Michael answered.
"He's got a good point there, Link," Mario said. "And if my remembrance is right," Michael continued, "Neither Falco or Murray is afraid to pick a fight with someone who doesn't look ordinary by their standards."
"That man really knows our friends well," Fox said with wondering in his voice, with Sly ending the sentence with a slightly nervous chuckle, "Yeah, and he haven't even met them yet!"
Some thirty seconds later, the heroes had been elevated into the pit, and just as soon as they stood in front of their respective home-world entrances, several people came through the portals.
From the Hyrule-bound portal, a young woman walked in. She was clothed in a dress and jewelry fit for a princess, which is what she was, of course.
"Princess Zelda!" Link said in joy. "Link!" the Hylian heir shouted in shock, shortly before the green-clad knight was in front of her and kneeled down in honor. "It's so great to see you, my dear friend," Zelda said, her royal upbringing showing in her manner of speech, even in a brand new place. She wasn't slow to continue, either, "I heard a most unusual voice that told me to follow it to your room. When I came there, I saw this strange magical portal floating besides your bed, and the voice told me to go into it. And the next thing I know, I am here.
"Please tell me, where are we?" "Oh, you will not believe it, my Princess," Link told his future queen, "But we are on an entirely different world, one that seems to be inhabited by talking animals, no less." "Just animals?" Zelda asked perplexed, shortly after she caught sight of Ash and Mario standing by their portals, "Then how come there are humans here, as well?" "Oh, them," Link said, looking at his new friends who his princess looked at, "They are from other worlds too, like us."
"I see," the long-eared princess responded, "But, what are you doing here? And how come this portal showed up in your room? And most important of all," she asked with a most girly pout, "Why didn't you wait until I was with you?" "Hey, excuse me, Princess!" Link said back a bit taken of guard, "Those guys who took us here wanted to see me first. They apparently need the heroes of these respective worlds first. And don't forget," he added a bit childishly, "I'm the Hero of Time, Remember?" "That is not fair," Zelda retorted, folding her arms a bit angrily, "I'm the Princess of Hyrule! If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have been who you are today in the first place! It was me who sent you on your journey for the Stones, the one who gave you the Ocarina of Time, the one who taught you the melodies needed to enter the temples, the one who-"
"Alright, alright, alright!" Link stopped her, feeling a bit ashamed for snapping at her in the first place, "I didn't mean it like that, okay? It's just, they wanted to meet me first, so they transported me here first, and then they were going to get you here." When Zelda still didn't look convinced, Link lowered his head and spoke to her, "I mean it. If I knew this was gonna happen, I would have told you at once, I swear, Knight's promise!"
"Alright, you overgrown mantis," Zelda said with a small smile of regret herself, "I believe you. You do not have to give me such a noble apology for something I started anyways. That wasn't very Princess-like of me." "It's okay, my Princess," Link said with a look of admiration for his young ruler-in -training, "The important thing is, I am alright, and we are together, just like before." "Yes, that is nice," Zelda said, her fondness for her guardian showing in her eyes. "And who knows," Link continued, "If this is kind of like what happened in our first adventure as grown-ups in the other timeline, perhaps we will get on a new adventure here."
"Oh no!" the Hylian heir said in sad shock, "Don't say that. I do not want to be parted from you again!" "Relax, Zelda," Link said, taking hold of her shoulders to calm her down, "I did not say this is going to be Just like the other time. Something tells me this is some kind of event that calls for great heroes and their closest friends and allies, meaning you are coming too." "Oh, well that sounds better," the beautiful royal lady said more happily, before she stopped herself, "But, what about my duties in the castle? And who is going to tell my father, the King?"
"Who is going to tell your father what, Princess?" an older females voice could be heard from the portal, just before a tall woman with white hair, long ears, red eyes and a dark-blue, skin-tight, sleeveless combat outfit entered through the swirling mass of energy.
"Impa!" both Zelda and Link said in shock, just before a small ball of light with wings sprouting out from its back appeared from behind the tall female monk. "Hey, you two lovebirds!" the floating light said at the two, "So this is where you two were hiding." "Navi!" Link said embarrassed, "Show some respect for her highness. And we're not lovebirds!" "Whatever," the small fairy said with an unseeable grin before she asked him, "But where in Hyrule are we now, anyways?" "Yes, my dear Lord Link," the tall woman called Impa asked as well, "Where are we now? This strange place could be hazardous for her highness, what with these ruffians standing around here," she said when she saw the others in the pit.
"It's a long story," Link said, and started to tell his friends what he knew about the situation.
Donkey Kong and Mario, on the other hand, were greeting Peach, the princess of the Mushroom Kingdom, who were followed by her steward Toadsworth and the young pink-capped and -haired mushroom girl Toadette, as well as the chimp-girl Dixie, DK's old father Cranky and the gorgeous blonde gorilla woman Candy, with the princess and her shroom-subjects coming from the Mushroom Kingdom portal, and the monkey-people coming from the DK Island-bound one. Also, a green parrot followed after the apes as well.
"Mario! So this is where you are," Peach said in joy, happy to see her dear rescuer again. "And you too, DK," Candy said with glee at seeing her favorite jungle-swinger too. "Peach!" "Candy!" "You're finally here!" both the plumber and gorilla said in near unison, after which Mario took hold of Peach and started to swing her around in a joyous dance, while Donkey gave his girlfriend a tender monkey-hug which left Candy poor on her breath. "Arch! DK's here! DK's here!" the parrot sang while flying over everyones heads.
"Master Mario, what is going on?" the elderly Toadsworth asked his kingdoms' defender #1 after the plumber stopped his waltz, "This strange voice called her majesty into the courtyard and told her to go through this odd-coloured swirling mist that had appeared out of nowhere. I could not let her Highness go into possible danger all alone, so I followed her."
"Yeah, same story with Candy," the hunched ape Cranky said with his raspy vocals, "Only we don't have a courtyard in our village, and she told me to follow her, even thought I didn't want to really." "We snuck with them too," both Dixie and Toadette said too, the two small girls looking at each other with big grins, and the parrot parroting after them, "Snuck with them too! Snuck with them too! Arch!"
"Well," Mario said to his and DK's friends, "Our "Abductor" will be better to tell you what's going on than us two." "Yep," Donkey said approvingly, "You'll just have to wait a little bit. Our new friends wait for their buddies to arrive too." "Well, I hope they'll hurry up," Cranky said in his trademark cranky way, "I'll need to go to the bathroom soon. A gallon of Pineapple Surprise doesn't wait long in my bladder."
"Watch your tongue, elderly primate sir!" Toadsworth said with a repulsed frown, "We don't speak about such delicate private matters in the presence of ladies, and especially NOT in front of the Princess!" "Ah, shut your trap, you overgrown footstool," the old monkey retorted grumpily, "I speak my mind wherever I am!" "Yeah, and that's where you've got your name from," Donkey Kong spoke up in his usual monkey manner, shortly before he got a swift whack to his head from Cranky's walking stick. "I heard that," the senior Kong said to his offspring. "I heard that! I heard that! Arch!" the parrot cried vigorously on DK's shoulder. "Squawks, shut it!" Donkey said to his little animal buddy, grabbing his beak. "Bwarch! Alright, alright," Squawks the parrot retorted muffled before his gorilla boss released his grip, stroking his beak with his left talon, "You only had to say so."
"Hey, Peach," Candy suddenly said, "It seems like there's another princess here too." "Where? Is it Daisy?" Peach asked excited. "No," the slim gorilla-woman responded before she pointed at Zelda, "I think she is someone from a far-off land or something, what with how her dress looks compared to yours." "Well, actually," Mario said when he looked in the direction of the portal to Hyrule and the persons standing in front of it, "I think that would-a happen to be the princess of the land of Hyrule, a kingdom that's-a set in some different time and world than ours."
"Good Heavens!" the short Toadsworth whooped when he heard about and saw the Hylian heiress, "A princess from a different time and world than us? My lords! Uh, Master Mario, would you be so kind to introduce us to this lady of the unknown lands?" "Well, I could a-try," Mario said a bit unprepared for this, "But don't a-get your hopes too high, Toadsworth. I haven't met her yet me-self, she arrived just at the same moment as you." "Well, all the better a time to make a good impression," the elderly mushroom man said with bravado, "And as I always say, "Make acquaintances today, and we can make both kingdoms prosper tomorrow", eh, what, what?"
"Toadsworth," Peach said with a giggling whisper and a tired expression, "You're a hopeless ambassador through and through."
Meanwhile Toadsworth were on his way to meet Zelda with Mario, DK and the others in tow, Sly watched as Fox came face to face with his old friends and team-members again.
"Fox!" the short, green frog Slippy and the tall, blue falcon aptly named Falco shouted when they saw their old pal and commander. "We've been looking all over the ship after you," Slippy said hugging his furred leader, "We got so scared for you." "Puh! Much to get scared for," Falco said with his usual tough-and-bored manner of language, "You just disappeared, and Krystal turned all soaky-eyed, all the while you're just in some fancy teleporting-station, drinking soda and eating caviar without inviting us to the party." "That's not what I've been doing, Falco," Fox said, annoyed as always by his un-serious right-wing man, but still happy to see him too.
Shortly after them, a pink frog woman, a black-furred cat-girl, and a gold-colored humanoid robot followed suit. "Captain Fox McCloud, found and identified," the advanced machine said out plainly in its metallic voice. "Well, duh, you trashcan," the female feline smartly retorted, "We can see it's old Foxie without you telling us." "Sorry, Miss Monroe," the robot answered her, "I am programmed to talk this way. It's all in the hardware." "Whatever," the black cat-woman said tired.
"Katt, would you be so kind?" the frog-woman said to her feline team-member, "We have arrived in some new fantastic place, and all you can do is insult poor R.O.B.?" "Don't mind her, Amanda," Falco said matter-of-factly, "Katt wouldn't get interested about anything new if it can't be used to kill some rich pirates with."
"Don't even think about starting, you two," Fox said when Katt were about to bark back on Falco, the fox-man having gotten used to the cat-and-bird-couple bicker about the most stupid things, but not liking it anymore than the others. "Humph. Whatever you say, Foxie," the bird-man said with a pouty beak. "Same here, McCloud," Katt replied in her own right.
"Now, Mister McCloud," the female amphibian Amanda said to her husbands' old friend, "Where are we right now?" "Well, according to our host," Fox said to his team, "We are on a planet called Earth, someplace in the spiral galaxy they call the Milky Way." "Earth? Really?" Slippy said interested, "The planet whose people have been sending those funny old-fashioned radio-signals for years?"
"What, you know about them?" Fox asked his froggy friend with wonder. "Of course," the Star Fox team mechanic said proudly, "I've always been interested with Earth ever since I first read about it in an old science-magazine back at the academy. But I'd never thought we would be the first to make contact with this old civilization!"
"Watch your tongue, frog," Sly said with a smart remark, "Otherwise the people of this old civilization will be happy to invite you for dinner, with your legs as the main course!" Slippy got so scared by the raccoon thief's sudden presence and his threatening speech, he jumped right into Amandas arms, making the poor woman fall flat on her back with her beau's added weight.
"Hey, easy on him, Sly," Fox said, worried about his friend, "He didn't mean it that way. We Lylatians just have this old stereotype about our galaxy being one of the most advanced in the Universe." "I can imagine that, alright," the raccoon said with mirth before he continued, "I just didn't think he'd be so easily frightened by such a poor joke."
"Hey Fox, who is this masked clown?" Falco asked, still trying to stop laughing after Slippys stunt. "This "clown", Falco Lombardi," McCloud said with a glint in his eye, "Is my new friend-" "SLY!" a loud shout interrupted him, just before a big light-purple hippo with a blue shirt and a white scarf rushed out from the Cooper-portal and gave the raccoon a crushing bear-hug.
"Oh, Sly, it's so great to see you again!" the hippo almost cried in happiness. "The feeling is mu-ugh!-tual, Murray," Sly said breathlessly. "Hey, you big lunk," Falco said at the large jungle-mammal, "Let that man breathe. I was about to get introduced with him." "Oh, ops! Sorry, mister," Murray said blushing, releasing his grip from his old gang boss, "Heh, excuse me, Sly." "Nothing to it, Murray," Sly said while popping his right shoulder back into shape, "I've not trained more than half my life to be a master thief for nothing."
"Woo, Foxie," Falco said with new-struck interest, "I didn't think you'd be the type to acquaint yourself with criminals." "Why are you surprised?" Fox retorted smiling, "I've been working for years with an old raven on my team who does as he pleases." "I couldn't have said it better myself, McCloud," Katt said with a grin. Falco just gave her and Fox a pretend cold-stare.
"Sly?" a nasally voice could be heard from the right portal entrance behind the others, "Is that you?" "Bentley! You came?" Sly said with happy surprise in his voice. Making his way past the Star Fox team, who turned in the direction the raccoon went curious to who he were going to meet, Sly saw a man he'd never thought he would ever see again.
There, in front of the portal that had led him to this building, a turtle-man in his late-twenties sat in his customized wheelchair, his legs still hanging limp, but his thick glasses and white-spotted red bowtie still the same, a little gasp plastered on his green-scaled face. Right to his left stood a short mouse-girl, her round glasses, orange sweater, old overalls and cute surprised smile only confirming for the master thief that the young, former disguised mistress of the mid-European air-zones were also in his presence.
"Bentley! Penelope!" Sly cried in joy, running up and giving his old teams' brain and RC-expert a hug each. "Oh, it's been too long since we last saw each other," the raccoon said with tears in his eyes. "Oh, Sly," Penelope said with a little wetness in her own pupils, "It's so great to se you too." "I couldn't said it more truthfully myself, sweetie," the glassed turtle said smiling to his special one, shortly before he looked at his childhood friend again, a more serious look on his face now, "So tell me, Sly, what have you got yourself caught up in this time?"
"Would you believe," the raccoon started, "We are inside the Multi-Billionaire Julius Royalhart's secret building, the talk of the streets' biggest topic that everybody has wondered for the past four years what's inside." "What!" Bentley yelped, suddenly shivering all over, "Are you saying we are in THE Julius Royalhart's secret building, with staff and guards on the job right NOW?" "Indeed, Mr. Wiseturtle," a voice unfamiliar to the turtle said, "I persuaded old Julius into building this place for a special, ah, event. He and I have some veerryyy good use of you, Cooper Gang."
"Ach-ah! Who's talking, Sly?" the poor turtle said, nervous like a chicken in a fox-den. "Oh, he," Sly said, catching a wink from Michael who was on his way down with a rope behind Fox and his team, a smile plastered on the wolf-fox' muzzle, and now one on the raccoon's, "That is the person who dragged me and those other poor chaps around you out from our beds, almost got one of us killed with a living stone-lion, and served us food that could have very well been cooked by Mz. Ruby's second cousin." This only doubled the poor crippled reptile's fear, making him shout, "OH, WHO IS HE, ALREADY?"
"Me," the voice whispered from behind him, making the turtle scream as he got turned around by unknown black paws. "AHH! GET YOUR HANDS OF ME, YOU BIG, UGLY, NASTY Son of a biiiittt..." Bentley started, but slowed down and stopped when he saw the friendly face of a young wolf-man smiling at him, "..."
"Son of a lousy, fleabitten, scrawny old bitch?" Michael ended for the turtle who had apparently lost his voice. "Pretty much what he was about to say, I guess," the spectacled Penelope by Bentley's side answered with a giggle for her boyfriend, with Sly, Murray, the Star Fox team and Michael's friends and guests on the platform and in the pit guffawing like mad at the half-wolf's practical joke.
"I must say, kiddo, you are not half bad," Falco said after the laughter had died down, "With a wit like that, you could even trick old fancy-claws O'Donnell." "Oh, I wouldn't exaggerate that much about my own skill, my kind Falco," Michael said smiling to the birdman, "Then again, your boss' old nemesis Wolf O'Donnell wouldn't know a joke from a death note, either." "Hah! I like him," Falco said to Fox, "Tell me, uh, I mean, tell us, who is he?"
""He", your flightfulness," Michael answered in the space mercenary leader's stead, "Would happen to be Michael, the person who needs all of you, and the others behind and above you," here he pointed at the others in the pit and up on the platform, "To do what you've done before: save the world."
"Nothing else?" the birdman said with a fake yawn, "Then you would only needed to contact me. Saving the world is what I do for a living." "Yeah," Michael continued for him, adding in, "With Fox and Katt watching your tailfeathers when you go into cocky-mode and let enemy fighters on your back." At this, Falco got a face that had the words "WTH?" written all over.
"Anyway," Michael continued from where Falco interrupted, "I have summoned you to me and my friends' home to tell you of something that could very well mean your worlds' survival or destruction. And that is no joke."
"Gee," Murray said with a nervous chuckle, "It must be something serious if you need Sly and us to help you with this." "Trust me, Hippo," the young mutt said with a grave expression, "This is more serious than any other adventure or heist you and your friends have ever attempted."
"Then what is all this about then, mister?" Bentley asked, his voice back, "And what do you have to do with all this in the first place? You look a bit young to have something to do with the world's safety." "Said the turtle who, at the age of twenty, helped stop a crazed diminutive parrot and a lousy tigress from taking over the world with a former millennium-old android owl," Michael smartly responded.
"...Okay, you've convinced me," Bentley said a bit speechless'd from the wolf's remark, "But how do you know about the Clockwerk affair? I thought Interpol had that all covered up." "Believe me, Bentley," Sly said to his childhood friend, "This guy is just as much a mystery to me as he is to you."
"Don't worry to much," Michael told his guests, "Everything is going to be explained in just a few hours." "Well, I hope you've got a good explanation for whatever you've got planned, you freak!" a new voice was heard, this one belonging to a girl, "I really don't like to not know where the blazing Slugma's I am."
"Ah, Misty Waterflower, I presume," Michael said when he recognized the voice, making a gesture to his anthropomorphic friends to step aside. After they did, they could see a redhaired young human girl with a tense look on her face, nervously looking at these strange beings in front of her.
"So Ash," Michael said to the male teen who was standing ten feet away, "Haven't you told her about me yet?" "She wouldn't listen to half my explanation," Ash said with a hopeless shrug, "And she just rushed up to you when I pointed in your direction."
"Enough about this nonsense," the redhead called Misty said, "You let Ash and me go, or you're gonna face the wrath of my Pokémon." "Really now, Miss Misty," the half-wolf said a bit taken aback by the girl's fighting spirit, "I do not mean you or your boyfriend any har-" "He's NOT my Boyfriend, you mutated dog-thing!" the girl shouted, a red-and-white capsule suddenly in her hand.
Just as he was about to throw it, a small yellow mammal with red cheeks and a lightningbolt-shaped tail ran in front of the two-legged canine, shouting something to the girl that sounded like, "Pika-ka-Pi, Pi-Pi-Pi! Pikachu chu-Pi-Pi!" This stopped the teenage girl in her tracks, but it didn't stop her from talking back at the strange mouse-creature, "What do you mean, "listen to him," Pikachu? He's the freak who took Ash to this place and lured us here too! I'm not going to listen to something that could very well be a Pokémon-monster!"
"Seriously, Misty!" another female voice was heard now, only this one came from an older woman with brown hair who stood right besides Ash, "That "Pokémon-monster" talks to you like you were royalty or the like, and you threaten him in return? Shame on you."
"B-but, but Miss Ketchum," Misty said taken aback a bit to the human woman, "Can't you see he isn't a human being? He got fur, a head and a tail like a beast, and he-" "And he didn't do anything to threat you in the first place, Misty," the woman said back, giving Michael an apologetic look, "You have to excuse Misty. She sounds all brash and such, but deep below, she is just a fragile little girl who doesn't want to seem weak." "I'm not!" Misty said, stomping her left foot indignantly.
"See what I mean?" the older woman said to illustrate her point. "Uh, Mom," Ash said to the brown-haired female, "I think you better quit before Misty blows something." "Alright, dearest," his mother said to her only son, "And perhaps now you could introduce us to this dog-like man who brought us here, who you told us about." "Right away, mom," Ash said, at which he told Misty to listen as well, with his Poké-pal Pikachu now nestled on his shoulder.
"Mom, Misty, Pikachu," the young trainer began, "This is Michael. He has got some exceptionally big kind of task that he needs us to help him with. And Michael, this is Misty, my first friend I made as a trainer, Pikachu, my first Pokémon, and my mother, Delia Ketchum." "Nice to meet all of you," Michael said with a smile, shaking paws first with Pikachu, then Misty (she was rather reluctant about touching his clawed hand) and finally, Delia, who got a most surprised look when the upstanding canine leaned down and kissed her hand. "It's an honor to be in the presence of a lady who brought up such a brave young man and great trainer like your son," Michael said to her. "I-I-I'm flattered, I guess," Miss Ketchum said a bit flustered by the kiss.
"Now when we are introduced, aren't you going to tell us what's going on?" Misty finally asked, still not trusting the canine one bit. "In a while, Misty," Michael said to the young Gym leader, "We only have to wait for the last guests to arrive." "Who's waiting for who, Fangface?" a new voice was heard from over Michael's head. When the group looked up, they saw a little green guy with a wide grin and dressed like a leprechaun, hovering over them thanks to two fly-like wings on his back.
"Well, isn't this a fun surprise?" Michael said at the frog-faced critter over him, "Murphy the Greenbottle, Rayman's private tutor, is in the house." "So, you've heard about me, eh?" the strange fellow said back, his grin even bigger, "Rayman must of told you everything I've did to help him destroy the Pirates and the other big, bad, fat bozo's, right!" "Actually, no," the lupine man retorted, "He haven't said anything about your big, grand adventures where you fled out of harms way while Rayman took care of the creeps. I knew about all that before we transported your limbless buddy here."
"Waitwaitwaitwait, whaaaat?" the odd-looking fairy-man said flabbergasted, his smile turned into a slackjawed gasp of disbelief, "Bu-bu-but, how did you know that I haven't, uh, eh..." "Haven't done anything but mostly blab the ears of people? That is, if they've got ears in the first place," Michael said with a grin of his own to the Greenbottle, before he said, "That's for later explanations. But now, if you would be so kind, I want to meet my other guests from your realm." At this, Michael walked away from the humans and animal people to where Rayman stood with his acquaintances, Murphy flying right behind him while Ash, Fox and Sly tried to introduce each others group with varying effects.
On Rayman's right stood a plump frog-guy with short feet and long arms, blue coloration and a white belly and hands. He looked a bit scared by all the technology around him and the several unknown people who were around, but also had a simple look of awe at the same stuff too. At Rayman's left, there stood a tall, slim girl with long purple hair, long ears and a long purple tail, who wore a tight suit the color of her slight-brown/orange skin with purple swirls imbedded into it, which made her look like she wasn't wearing anything at all.
"Ah, it is so good to finally meet your friends, Ray," Michael said smiling to the limbless man. "The pleasure is ours, o stranger," the girl said with a smile, putting out her hand to shake with the wolf. "Oh, you're to kind, Ly the Fairy," Michael responded, taking the offered hand and shook it before he kissed her hand too, "But I'm pleased to hear that coming from you." "Oh, you're too kind yourself, my handsome dog-being with the big ears," the fairy-girl said, with a slight blush caused by the wolf's gentlemanly behavior appearing on her cheeks, a bit to Rayman's jealousy.
"Now, then," Michael turned to the blue frog, "It's a pleasure for me to also meet you, Globox." "Uh, um, feelings returned back to you, Mister Sir, uh, I think," the big blue amphibian said a little shaking, trying to sound just as formal as the half-fox but failing miserably. When Michael gave Globox a hand-shake, the poor toad was still shaking his arm up and down twenty seconds after Michael let go. "Is he always this nervous around strangers?" Michael asked Rayman while Murphy tried to stop the not-so-smart Glute. "Yeah, but mostly around someone not from the Glade," Rayman told his new friend.
"Oh, Rayman, you and Mister Michael here have to tell us what we're doing here," Ly asked her big-nosed friend with curiosity shining in her big eyes. "Yes, Big-shot, please," Murphy said too, looking up to the platform where he saw Falisa and Abigail giggling at all the hustle down in the pit, "And while you're at it, could you introduce us to those cutie-pies up there too?" "Hey, keep your pants on, Toothy-grin," Michael said smartly to the flying green weird fellow, "One of them is MY girlfriend, buster, and the other one's occupied too."
"Well dang," the Greenbottle said with a frown, "All the cute ones are always taken." "Don't feel down, Murphy," Rayman said to him, "There's always the Lums." "Yeah, but if I play any scary jokes on them, they'll just turn into Black Lums," the funny fairy-man said with a huff, "Lums don't got a sense of humor."
"Well, it's neither here nor there," Michael said, before he looked around him, "But now you'll have to excuse me, I have others to get introduced with." And with that, he set of to finish his self-appointed task.
After everyone in the pit had been introduced with Michael and each other, and everyone had been transported up to the main floor of the room, they got to introduce with the rest of Michael's friends and guests. After this was done, and the portals where securely locked, Michael told the newcomers they were going to give them some time to recuperate inside the facility before he would give them his reason for summoning them. Most (if not, all) of the people from different realms were glad to get their bearings in this unknown place.
The only ones who were still a bit edgy were Impa and Toadsworth, thinking about their respective Princesses welfare, Carmelita, who had woke up some time ago and was not in any mood to talk to anyone, especially Sly, and Misty, who had still not get used to the talking animals around her. (Meowth was one thing, this was something else.)
When they heard that most of the facility was free for their use, many of the new guests went of to look around. Luigi, Yoshi, Diddy, Murray, Slippy, Murphy and others went straight for the mess hall to get a bite. Old Cranky was of course more interested in the nearest W.C., but he made a note to himself to meet Albert and check out his laboratory after his little toilet-trip. (The old gorilla was an old quack himself, remember?)
The rest of them, mostly the far-off heroes and their girlfriends, followed Michael and his friends who took them to a big room on the top of the building, which doubled as a part-greenhouse with exotic flowers, had panorama view of the Pacific Ocean, New Preda city and the desert, and lots of comfy sofas and refreshments for the picking .There they started conversing, getting to know each other a little better, and tell about their homeworlds as best they could.