A/N: Hey guys, we're back with a new chapter. A lot of stuff has happened since last update (nothing to worry about, though), and I've been really busy. That, and summer break makes a guy lazy. Oops

Anyways, to the chapter!

Chapter 52: A Day in the Park Finale

Snake and Falco ran in the only direction they could: forward. With Bowser and Ganondorf quick on their heels, they had no time to think about where to run. Over the hill they could see the huge playground that Toon Link, Ness, Villager, and Popo were climbing.

"Hey, we should go over there!" Falco said. "There's no way they would be able to follow us. They're way too big and bulky."

"Yeah, I agree. Let's go." Snake said. They ran to the playground and started climbing.

At the top of the mountain, Toon Link and Ness were discussing how to get across the obstacle.

"How are we supposed to get through these electric poles with only two shock-resistant gloves?" Ness asked. "Is there a shock-resistant clothing store nearby?"

"I don't think so." Toon Link said. "But look at the challenge design. It looks exactly like the first level of Donkey Kong Jr, right? The arcade game?"

"Yeah. Obviously." Ness said as he discreetly looked up "dinkey king jr frist level" on his phone. Typing without looking at your phone is very tricky. Trust me, I've tried, and you can tell how badly I mess up with some of my typos.

"So, I was thinking that there must be a reason for the design, and then it hit me. The game itself holds the key to beating the challenge! All we have to do is use the same technique Donkey Kong Jr. uses in the game!"

"Oh yeah!" Ness said, looking up "donkwy long jr climbinf anomatipn" on his phone.

"We'll link one pair of arms and legs each, and then we'll use our free hands to shimmy ourselves up the poles!" Toon Link yelled excitedly.

"Ahah! Thanks for the tip, guys!" Villager yelled. "Let's go, Popo. Put a glove on your left hand, I'll put the other on my right."

"Yeah, I know! I'm a pro mountain climber, remember?" Popo said as he slipped the glove on his left hand. He wrapped his right arm around Villager's left arm. Popo grabbed the first pole, and then spun around, keeping a hold of Villager. While spinning, Villager grabbed ahold of the next pole. Together, they started shimmying up, being careful not to let their feet or any other part of their bodies touch the poles.

"Um… Why didn't we try to stop them?" Ness asked. "They took, like, a minute to get started. Plenty of time for us to get the jump on them."

"We couldn't move. We were trapped in a cut scene. Now, let's go, hurry!" Toon Link said. They linked (or shall I say, "toon-linked"? Haha) arms like Villager and Popo and started their ascent.

"Left, right, left, right…" They chanted as they shimmered up the poles. . "We're doing it! We're gonna make it to the top!"

Suddenly, they felt something hit the top of their heads. They looked up to find Popo and Villager directly above them.

"Hey, we caught up to you guys!" Toon Link said. "You guys are really slow."

"Well, it's not my fault!" Villager scoffed. "Popo here isn't fast enough to keep up!"

"What?" Popo growled. "You've almost made us fall already! Twice! I'm not slow, you're just reckless!"

"Quick! While they're arguing! Pass them!" Ness yelled.

"How?" Villager taunted. "This is the last pair of poles before the end, so you can't switch poles to get ahead of us! Victory is pretty much guaranteed at this point!"

Suddenly, an explosion came from beneath both of them, and Snake and Falco appeared out of the smoke from the explosion, followed closely behind by Bowser and Ganondorf. The villains looked hilarious shuffling up the poles.

"These guys are more agile than I thought…" Snake mumbled. "Hey, kids!" He looked up at the four boys. "Go faster! Unless you want Bowser's literal fire-breath to get you!"

"So you're saying my mix-tape was fire?" Bowser asked gleefully.

Falco looked down. "No! He's saying that you have poop-breath!"

"You're saying I have bad breath? HOW DARE YOUUUUU!" Bowser yelled, breathing fire. Unfortunately, the poles were made of a flammable substance, and the fire caused the poles to catch fire. Bowser and Ganondorf fell from the charred bamboo, all while screaming some very foul words. The fire continued spreading upwards and towards the six climbers.

"Uh oh." Snake growled. "Guys, we gotta go NOW!"

The six started shuffling upwards violently, but the fire was catching up to them.

"Hey!" Villager yelled. "Stop poking me with your elbow!"

Popo glared at him. "Why don't you get your stomach away from my elbow!"

"Uh, guys? Can we hurry it up a little?" Toon Link said nervously. "We can only go as quick as you guys can."

Popo scoffed. "I'd hurry up if Villager here wasn't in my way!"

Villager gasped. "Why you little-" they started struggling with each other with their free hands. Punches and kicks were exchanged, but only for a little bit, as the ruckus of the fight threw both of them off balance, causing them to fall off.

Their voices could be hear for a dozen seconds after they had started falling. "Noooooooooooooo…"

On the ground, Wario and Donkey Kong were on their phones, looking for Pokemon.

"Hey! I'm about to catch me a juicy snorlax!" Wario yelled triumphantly. Before he could, however, Villager and Popo landed on him, killing him instantly.

Just kidding. They only sent him to the hospital for a couple months. Like, only 8 or 9 months. Maybe 7. Don't count on it.

Back to the top of the mountain...

"Great! Now we can go at full speed!" Ness cheered. The two started working at full capacity, widening the gap between the flames and the climbers. Finally, they made it to the top platform and could see the victory bell a couple feet in front of them.

"Quick! Ring the bell!" Snake yelled.

"Right!" Ness and Toon Link ran up to the bell, gripped the bell's rope, and rang it together. A deep, resounding note rang throughout the park so that everybody could hear it. Instantly, the four climbers were teleported to the ground to be greeted by a polar bear in a wacky purple tuxedo with yellow polka-dots.

"Cooooooooonnnnnnngraaaaatuuuuuuulaaations!" The bear said slowly and grandiosely (imagine the voice of the guy who announces the winner of a boxing match). "You're the first to have beaten the playground mountain! The Everest of fun! The trials of tomorrow!" He did a little jig and pressed a button that was hidden in his suit, which played a recording of an audience clapping from another area of his suit.

"Hey, do I know you?" Popo said, jumping off an unconscious Wario.

"Well, of course you do!" The Polar bear laughed. "You may not recognize me since I'm not in my usual pink swimsuit, but it is 100% me! The polar bear!"

"Oh yeah! I remember you! You were a giant jerk!"

The bear laughed loudly. "That's enough about me. Let's talk about the two handsome warriors who rang the bell over here!" He gestured to Toon Link and Ness. He also whispered "aka: not you," quietly to Popo.

"Yeah! We did it! Our names are going into the hall of fame!"

The polar bear stopped his grinning abruptly. "What? The hall of fame? Why?"

"Because we beat the playground mountain!" Toon Link said cheerfully.

The Polar Bear looked at them and then chuckled awkwardly. "Um… Sorry to break it to you guys, but this isn't the mountain you were supposed to climb for the Hall of Fame."

"What?" Ness gasped. "What do you mean?"

"Well… The builders never really expected anyone to beat this mountain, so they never bothered giving this mountain a spot. The mountain you were supposed to climb is over there." He pointed to a playground that was barely taller than Toon Link. Baby goombas were trying to climb up to the top, to no avail. It's hard to climb without arms.

"You've got to be kidding me." Toon Link grumbled.

Villager approached the Polar Bear, clenching his fists. "Wait, so you're telling me that we went all the way up there for nothing?"

The polar bear laughed anxiously. "No, of course not! I'm supposed to give you guys this prize!" He reached into his suit and pulled out a mug. "Stay cool!" Was written in sans font beneath a picture of the bear's face.

"Dude. This mug sucks." Popo said.

"What? I'll have you know I made these myself!" The polar bear said. "As a team, you guys beat the mountain, so my face is on the mug to remind you guys of the teamwork that was required to do it!"

Villager looked at Toon Link, and Popo at Ness. Together, they all nodded.

"Oh, we'll teach you the power of teamwork…" Ness said with a devilish look.

The polar bear started backing up as the four boys slowly started walking towards him. "W-w-what do you mean? Boys?"

"Get him!" Toon Link yelled.

"Yipes!" The polar bear ran away as fast as he could with the four boys hot in pursuit.

Snake and Falco had watched the whole thing unfold. Bowser and Ganondorf had seen it as well.

"Hey… You wanna chase that polar bear?" Snake said to Bowser.

Bowser nodded slowly. "Yeah. Seems a lot squishier than you. Bet I could make him squeak like a chew toy."

Snake laughed. "Music to my ears." Together, the four smashers ran forward to help chase the polar bear. The mob chased the polar bear all the way into the setting sun, exiting the park just as the gates were closing.

The end. Of this chapter arc.

A/N: This was a really fun arc to write. There was a lot of comedy as well as a lot of drama…

Drama… Hmm...

Oh wait! I forgot about Lucas, Nana, and Waluigi! Oops.

Um… To the chapter! Again!

Chapter 52.5: A Day In the Park Final Finale

"So… What was that whole thing about?" Nana asked when Waluigi had exited earshot. "That speech was…something."

Lucas sighed, his eyes filled with nostalgia. "I dunno. Well, actually, I kinda do know. My brother… made some bad choices. If he had just made some better choices… if he chose to be as good as he could've been, none of this would've happened. Waluigi reminded me of this. I think I overreacted a bit, though…"

Nana stopped him there. "No, of course you didn't! Well, maybe a little… But it's understandable! I don't know exactly what happened between you and your brother, but it seems tough."

They sat together for a few minutes silently, alone in their thoughts.

"Hey," Nana said after a few minutes. "I don't think it's all bad though. I mean, if everything went alright, you wouldn't be here now, right?"

"Hmm… I guess that's true." Lucas said, smiling a little bit. "I wouldn't have any of the friends I have now, and I wouldn't have you, Nana."

"Ahem…"

Lucas and Nana turned around to find Waluigi, who was clutching a piece of paper.

"What do you want?" Lucas tried to sound mad, but talking to Nana had numbed his feelings towards Waluigi.

Waluigi cleared his throat. "Well, this isn't going to be easy, but… I'm sorry. I let the park rules get control over my moral compass, but you guys helped me realign myself." He looked at the paper in his hand and smiled. "You guys are free to ride the boat."

"Really?!" Nana yelped. "That's awesome! Thank you so much!"

"Wait wait wait!" Lucas said. "You said that it was the rules that caused you to do this?"

Waluigi nodded. "According to the rules, if I let any minors go on the boat ride by themselves, they'll fire me."

"Oh no!" Nana gasped.

"Oh, it's perfectly fine! I'm willing to make this sacrifice to correct my mistake."

"No, it's okay! You need to keep this job. Nobody would do it better." Lucas said. "But, uh… Thanks for the offer anyways. It really means a lot."

Waluigi smiled. "Anytime, kids. If you ever feel like riding, just hit me up. I got a backup job already ready. Now, I gotta go guard the boats tonight. Maybe I'll take a quick nap between the hours of 1 and 2 AM…" He said, winking.

Nana smiled. "Thanks, Mr. Waluigi!"

Nana and Lucas exited the park and started heading home.

"So… We gonna sneak in tonight to ride the boat?" Nana asked.

"Oh yeah, definitely." Lucas said.

"And if we get caught?"

"I have a feeling Waluigi won't see anything." He said, smiling. "Now, let's go home."

A/N: Now I'm done with this arc.

Oh, and to the anonymous reviewer (if you're reading this, you know who you are), thank you. Reactions like yours are why I continue with this story. :)

To be honest, if I hadn't seen that review, this chapter might've been finished/released a week later.

Oh, and I've never heard of Slice of Life. I assume it's an anime. I haven't really watched any anime, just all of Avatar, some Dragon Ball Z, the first few episodes of Dragon Ball, and all of DBZ Abridged. I'm not too knowledgeable in anime, but maybe I'll check it out.

And yes, Link does seem to be a stud, and while he might as well be one, the stud-appearance is amplified because I tend to focus on him more than anyone else in the story (because I love Legend of Zelda too much). I try to make his thoughts, actions, and life (including love life) as enriched as possible, which is why there seems to be a good amount of drama in it. If I focused on another character, like Pit or Samus, they would probably receive similar treatment.

Seriously though, that was the realist review I've received in a while, and it definitely did mean a lot to me, contrary to what you may have thought!

Until next chapter!