Author's Note:
The anonymous reviewer who has been suggesting (and asking stuff) over the years stopped reviewing...truly the end of an era. But, it's all good, since I still have plenty of reviews to answer. Such as this one:
"I think for meta being unmasked, he should, like, get his mask broken in half by Kirby during a battle, (like in the games) so he teleports with his dimensional cape to his room to get another. Only problem, though...is he's outta masks. So someone like pit or something accidentally sees him unmasked but is willing to help him hide it add day"
That's a good way to go about it. I'll use that idea after the current arc is over with. The Reader has a plea:
"Of all the fanfics, I never thought I'd see this fanfic would use the r-word. I mean, in context, it's alright. But people might put things out of context, that's how they cancel those celebrities. For your safety, please don't use that r-word again."
I was actually pretty reluctant to use that word in the last chapter. That said, I won't be using it again. Now we have A Tekken fan:
"...even though the wrestling title is discontinued, I still kinda want to see King and Armor King fight Pit for the title one day. Maybe brought in Marduk and Julia (as Jaycee) as King and Armor King's tag teammate."
There's a good chance that I might un-retire the wrestling title in the future. Both King and Armor King would murder Pit, though. Same with Marduk and Julia. Moving on:
"But, yeah. I just wish that Tekken would come soon to the Switch, so there'll be a Tekken chapter, I'm still wondering, what is Namco's holdup for not releasing the game?"
Hopefully, there isn't any behind-the-scenes stuff going on that's preventing Tekken from coming to the Switch. A Tekken-based chapter would be pretty fun. Last is BowserFan327:
"How about as a cool cameo, Bear Hugger from punch out helps the guys that are stuck in Canada?"
That idea won't be used because...you'll see once you read the chapter. Moving on:
"If [the belt scramble] idea is ever reused, I think that Sho Minazuki should be there. The only way he can form bonds is through fighting. And question when Yu had the belt, were you thinking of the box art for Persona 4 Arena Ultimax?"
Eh, Sho might think that the title belt is beneath him. And no, I didn't think of that box art when Yu had the belt. You could say it that was an unintentional coincidence...
Episode 279: BabyShower
Fox and Krystal's first child was about to be born soon. And the couple was very excited about it.
But in terms of excitement, Krystal was more lowkey, whereas Fox was bouncing off the walls. Sometimes literally. Fox was super prepared for the birth of his child, monitoring Krystal while also getting all the baby supplies. The early bird always gets the worm, but Fox was too much of an early bird so to speak.
To celebrate the birth of his child, Fox asked Anna to organize a small baby shower at his house. Took a while for Krystal to be fully on board with it. And speaking of Krystal, the vixen asked that only the neighbors were welcome to attend. (Mario, who was rescued from Canada along with the others thanks to Sephiroth, was able to attend.) Folks from the mansion and tower were welcome to attend too, but only if they asked Krystal for permission. Which was hard to come by.
Fox: Krystal and I have already decided. Our kid's name is going to be...drumroll, please...Marcus! *claps hands in excitement* Our doctors told us a while back that our baby is going to be a boy, so we took some time to decide on the name. We would've done a gender reveal party to reveal our baby's gender, but people have made those parties too mainstream. And dangerous. And even life-threatening.
Knuckles: Good on Fox and Krystal, to not reveal their baby's gender! Nobody loves a good spoiler. I mean, a bad spoiler, since all spoilers are bad. Imagine wanting to wait at least nine months to find out what gender someone's baby is, only to have the surprise ruined by a conceited couple. One of the worst feelings in the world.
The last time there was a baby shower (for Daisy), Lucario was the grill master, frying some food on the grill. For Krystal's baby shower, the aura Pokemon was in charge of watching over the food, ensuring that none of the guests indulged themselves too much. Anna made sure there was enough food for everyone.
"No, Berkut, you can't have another English muffin," Lucario said to the paladin, standing behind a long table of food, as he swatted Berkut's hand away. "One is enough!"
"I am a paladin; I don't have to listen to the likes of you," retorted Berkut, as Lucario glared him down. The glare was enough to send shivers down Berkut's spine. "Guess I'll settle for some...Rice Krispie treats. Whatever a 'Rice Krispie' is..."
"Fox made those, so be careful." Soon Lucario looked over and saw Anna, who was checking to see how the aura Pokemon was handling himself. "Anna, why couldn't we have gotten catering?"
"Was gonna get some catering from Dingo's Diner," replied Anna, as she did her trademark put-her-finger-on-her-cheek thing. "But Dingodile shied away at the last minute. Still afraid of me, he seems."
"First you had Master Hand scared of you, and now Dingodile...you have quite the reign of terror, Anna." Suddenly some knocking was heard on the back screen door, and the knocking was oddly distinct to Lucario. "Is that Slippy?"
"I'm on it," said a pregnant Krystal as she walked to the screendoors, meticulous in her every step. She opened the screen door and saw Slippy and Peppy. "Came here for the baby shower, you two?"
"Sorry that we couldn't find a gift for the baby shower, Krystal," Peppy apologized to the vixen, as Slippy nodded his head; it looked like Slippy was holding something in his mouth, which caught Krystal's brief attention.
"It's fine. I'm glad that you two showed up." Krystal felt extremely partial towards Peppy and Slippy, as she let the two pilots inside the house. "You two make yourselves at home."
"Yo, Peppy and Slippy!" Fox called out to the pilots from the living room, as he was having a word with Falco and his two new neighbors, Roy and Lilina. "About time you arrived!"
"Better late than never!" responded Peppy - and then suddenly, out of nowhere, Slippy spat out Knuckles unto the floor. Knuckles was covered in frog saliva, but he didn't care.
"You were getting too heavy in my mouth, Knuckles," Slippy said to the echidna, who was receiving stunned looks from Fox and Krystal's neighbors. "Had to spit you out since you were almost jammed in my diaphragm. Sorry."
"It's all good, man - I'm finally at the baby shower!" cheered Knuckles as he pumped his fists, before frowning as he gave Slippy a questionable stare. "Wait, do frogs even have diaphragms?"
"Knuckles bullied Slippy into inviting him, I had no say in this," Peppy informed Krystal, who was glaring at the elderly hare as Knuckles went over to speak with Fox.
"So, Fox...got a pretty cool baby shower going on here," an easily impressed Knuckles said to the pilot, who was inviting towards the echidna. "Already getting ideas for when I plan a baby shower!"
"I'm in the same boat," said Roy, who was having dreams of raising a baby boy. Lilina frowned and smacked Roy on his arm. "A baby is going to happen real soon, Lilina..."
"Glad that you're liking it," Fox said to Knuckles, grateful that one of his Star Records employees chose to attend. Expected an idol singer to show up next. "It's kinda like a wholesome appetizer for my first kid, Marcus."
"DANG IT, FOX! You just ruined the surprise for everyone," Knuckles snapped on Fox, disgruntled that no one else in Fox's house was as ticked as he was. "Now we all know that your kid's gonna be a boy!"
"What if the kid is actually a girl?" assumed Falco, leading to some very inquisitive looks from Fox and a few others. "A girl named Marcus could happen..."
Falco: Fox and Krystal found out about the pregnancy in early August, so by my calculations their kid should be born next month in May. That will give me enough time to prepare for my role as godfather. I'll be the greatest godfather on the planet!
"To be honest, I already knew-a that Fox and Krystal were having a baby boy," Mario stated to Knuckles, who gasped at the plumber and sympathized with him for being "spoiled". "Fox told-a me the news when he and Krystal did-a the ultrasound."
"Everyone just loves being spoiled these days..." grumbled Knuckles, his mood for the baby shower effectively killed as he marched away. As Knuckles looked for somewhere to brood by himself, Peach tapped Mario on his shoulder, garnering his attention.
"Spyro and Hunter haven't shown up yet," Peach informed Mario, as Krystal's baby shower was missing a certain dragon and cheetah. "They do realize that they're welcome to attend, right?"
"Oh, they're aware - I asked-a them to find the gifts-a that I purchased for Krystal," replied Mario, having full confidence in both Spyro and Hunter. "I hid the gifts in places-a where Poochy wouldn't find-a them."
"Who in their right mind hides a gift basket inside a dryer machine...?" questioned Spyro after he pulled a gift basket from Mario's dryer machine. "Hope this basket isn't contaminated with Mario's stench."
"You think that's bad - I found this gift set beside the bathroom toilet," said Hunter as she entered the laundry room with a gift set. The cheetah looked down and saw Poochy sitting on the floor, wagging his tail with his mouth open. "I can see why Mario hid this..."
"If I recall, there's one more gift Mario hid - and he hid it at the mansion, apparently." Spyro and Hunter left the laundry room, and as they did so, an idea came to Hunter's mind.
"I know! Why don't we go to the mansion through that secret tunnel?" Hunter suggested to Spyro, who didn't seem that bullish about the idea. "We rarely use that secret tunnel for anything."
"Exactly, because Mario said that tunnel is...off...limits." Spyro trailed off as he saw Hunter entering Mario's bunker, on his way to the secret tunnel. "Sometimes that guy never listens."
Although they weren't exactly neighbors, Peony and Peonia were still welcome to attend the baby shower. Peony planned on heading back to Freezington soon, as his work in Seattle was done. The explorer planned on indulging in the baby shower before he and his daughter returned home.
"Man, I am glad that Sephiroth came to free us from that detention center!" Peony discussed with Mario and a few others, as he actually enjoyed being held in the detention center. Only because of his daughter Nia...erm, Peonia. "Such a swell fellow."
"Sephiroth, a swell fellow?" Peonia furrowed her brow at Peony, wondering if her dad somehow got Sephiroth mixed up with someone else. "Dad, that man nearly killed half of the federal agents with his sword!"
"'Nearly' is the key word, my sweet Nia. Not like Sephiroth 'actually' killed half of the agents. Imagine havin' to be freed by a mass murderer!"
"Well, Sephiroth technically is a mass murderer, so..." That fact didn't bother Peony, as the explorer let out a hearty laugh.
Peony: My time in Seattle has been spent. Not only did I reconnect with my daughter Nia, but I also got to explore most of the Pacific Northwest! It was a win-win all around. Better yet, Princess Peach even let me keep all her hot cocoa, which is another win! I don't think I'll ever get tired of all this winnin'!
"I see a black vehicle heading this way," observed Pac-Man as he was looking out a window, as Daisy curiously joined the eater of ghosts at the windowsill. "Does that look familiar to you, Daisy?"
"Yeah...that's the Turks' vehicle!" exclaimed Daisy, fearing that some trouble was afoot. You knew that stuff was going down whenever the Turks arrived. "And it looks like it's pulling up to the mansion..."
"To the mansion?" Olimar perked up, as the astronaut was on high alert. "That means someone really must've goofed up...oh dear."
It was pretty chill outside on the mansion front - Sonic and Crash were playing a game of Frisbee with Pit and Kirby, with Aku watching over them. Haru was watering some flowers on a flower bed. Lucina was also outside, getting some fresh air...when the princess saw a black government vehicle pull up into the mansion's driveway.
"Um, guys, we got some company," Lucina alerted the others, who stopped what they were doing as they looked up. The government vehicle parked itself in the driveway, as two dudes got out...Reno and Rude.
"It's Reno and Rude!" shouted Pit, dropping the Frisbee onto the ground as he tried to look normal. Emphasis on "tried". "Everyone, act natural Look like you're gardening!" Everyone grabbed a nearby garden tool, to look like they were gardening...but Sonic was the odd man out.
"Quick, Sonic, grab that hoe!" Kirby directed the hedgehog, who ran over to Lucina and grabbed the princess. Lucina was not amused. "I meant the garden hoe, Sonic..."
"Oh, right, my bad..." Sonic apologized as he let go of Lucina...before running over to Haru and grabbing her. Haru was just as unamused as Lucina was.
"I don't think that's what he meant," Haru said to Sonic as she gently pushed the hedgehog away. Sonic saw a garden hoe right in front of him, and never once did he think about picking it up.
"Is it?" quipped Aku with a big smile, only for his smile to vanish away when Reno and Rude appeared. "Here they are!"
Reno and Rude weren't alone, for there was a female Turk with them. It was a blonde woman with short hair, who was sharply dressed from head to toe just like Reno and Rude. Her name was Elena; you might know her.
"Do not be alarmed - we come in peace!" Reno said to everyone as he gave them his salutations. Next thing you know, that Turk was gonna spew out some foreign alien language. "Just stopped by to handle some business."
"Who's that blonde-haired chick with you?" Pit asked Reno and Rude as he pointed at Elena. Apparently, PIt didn't know Elena quite well, but Reno was more than happy to educate the angel.
"That would be Elena. She's...not as much of a spring chicken as she used to be." Elena didn't look like she wanted to greet Pit; the lady was all business.
"Elena? Or do you mean Elesa, the Nimbasa Gym Leader?" Pit thought that there was some resemblance between the two - or at least when Elesa had blonde hair. "Wow, Elesa, I had no idea you quit modeling to become a Turk. Talk about a downgrade!"
"I am not Elesa..." grumbled Elena, before leaning in close to Reno and Rude and whispering, "...that angel is the dumb one, right?"
"One of the dumb ones," Rude whispered back, as Elena didn't know whether to be alarmed or frightened. "Don't worry, we'll show you who's who."
"So, Sonic - remember that last time Rude and I came to Seattle?" Reno asked the hedgehog, trying to jog the blue blur's memory a little. "We were looking for a time machine, right?"
"Yeah, and I also remember Barret and Tifa kicking your butt," replied Sonic, as Reno looked offended; Sonic threw his hands up in innocence to avoid any potential beating. "But that's just what I heard..."
"We've been told that there's a time machine at the mansion this time," Rude said to Sonic, gently pushing a still incensed Reno away from the hedgehog. "Down in the basement. Cloud authorized to have it built. You know anything about it?"
"Yeah, I do - Dr. Wily must have called you guys. The dude really hates time travel." As the conversation carried on, Haru quietly went back inside the mansion.
"We are all aware...now, why don't you take us to this time machine? We can't waste any time."
Dr. Wily: Reno and Rude couldn't destroy E. Gadd's time machine, but I hope they saved up some energy for putting N. Tropy's Rift Generator out of its misery. That machine being destroyed would also count as revenge for not being invited to that camping trip. All those precious s'mores I missed out on! Curse you, N. Tropy!
Sonic and company led the Turks inside the mansion, where they saw an open trapdoor in the foyer. The Turks looked at the trapdoor curiously.
"Keep a bunch of little children down there?" Reno asked with a smirk, as he was dying to figure out what was down below. His curiosity could be fulfilled another time - perhaps when he wasn't on company time.
"Honestly, I'm surprised that Master Hand hasn't done that yet," replied Pit, believing that keeping children enslaved was kind of Master Hand's thing. A way for the giant hand to flex his authority.
"Time machine's down there in the basement, my dudes," Sonic said to the Turks as he pointed down the hallway, to where the basement was. "The key got confiscated, so we need to find a way in..."
As the group went down the hallway, Spyro and Hunter showed up in the foyer with the third baby shower gift. They found said gift at the beauty salon.
"A nail kit...for a baby," Hunter furrowed his brow at the gift in his hand as he and Spyro reached the trapdoor. "Fox and Krystal having a baby girl?"
"Nope...a baby boy," replied Spyro, as Hunter was not even more confused. Spyro sighed, rueing to explain to Hunter. "Mario said that the gift he hid in the salon he had bought before Krystal had her ultrasound."
"Okay, but why the beauty salon? Why couldn't he have trusted Peach to hide his kit herself?" Mario was probably afraid that Peach would give the gift to Krystal at early notice.
"It's Mario, we're talking about here...who knows." Left with no answer, Hunter followed Spyro through the trapdoor and forgot to close it. Was it a mistake on the cheetah's part to leave it open? Perhaps...
"So what are you up for today?" Ness asked Lucas, as the two teenagers came down the steps to the foyer. "We could do another home run derby."
"I dunno; home run derbies are not nearly as fun without Kumatora," replied Lucas, who was bringing his pet dog Boney with him. Truly a man's best friend.
"True dat, but we could change things up and..." Ness and Lucas soon came to a stop, when they came across the open trapdoor in the foyer. "Any chance that you left this open, Lucas?"
"Honestly, I sometimes forget that trapdoor even exists." When Lucas least expected it, Boney ran away from the PSI whiz barking as he jumped inside through the trapdoor. Lucas panicked immediately. "Boney! Ness, we have to save him!"
"Say no more, buddy..." Jumping to the rescue, Ness and Lucas went inside through the trapdoor, and unlike Hunter, they remembered to close the trapdoor behind them. Talk about being considerate.
After going through the trapdoor, Ness and Lucas went down a ladder and arrived at the tunnel that led to Mario's bunker. Lucas kept his ears open as he listened closely for Boney.
"I hear him barking from this direction," the PSI whiz informed Ness as he heard Boney barking, pointing down where the barking came from. Lucas was about to take off, only for Ness to stop him in place.
"Hold on - I don't think we've ever been down there before," a wary Ness said to Lucas, not wanting to put him and his friend in harm's way. "What if it's too dangerous?"
"Like going down some dark alley to find a teddy bear for Kana that night wasn't dangerous enough?" Ness had nothing to say about that, as he took his hand away from Lucas. "That's what I thought..."
"You're an even braver man than I have ever imagined, Lucas..." And so Lucas and Ness went down to the source of Boney's barking, with Lucas taking the lead. Wasn't that often he did that.
Minato: Mini Mementos isn't as unused as you think it is. My friends and I go down there sometimes during the week, either to have fun or to get away from the others. Or for passing excess gas. (Only the guys do that.) I don't know anyone outside of my group of friends that have been down there, but I just hope that they don't get themselves killed...that would be too problematic.
Ness and Lucas kept on walking, and soon they reached Mini Mementos. The last time we had seen Mini Mementos was in episode 181 when Joker and the other Persona guys and gals were having fun. Bowser was there, along with his son and Shovel Knight. That night was...eventful, to say the least.
"This place looks like Mementos," observed Ness, merely stating the obvious as he and Lucas looked around in awe. Never did they imagine anything similar to Mementos being under the mansion.
"How long do you think this has been here?" Lucas asked Ness, and before Ness could answer, he heard the sound of Boney barking again. "I can hear Boney! Sounds like he's so far away, though."
"Wait...do you hear some music?" asked Ness, as he heard some music playing nearby. Ness and Lucas heard the music coming from a nearby door, and went over to it. Very carefully, Lucas opened the door, as he and Ness saw a stage.
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome!" bellowed a voice, one that awfully sounded a lot like Rise's. "Let me guide you through this sparkling world of wonder!"
"What the..." uttered Ness as a light came on, and six different versions of Rise came out from the bottom of the stage. Each Rise clone had on an aesthetically different attire.
"Okay, this show is called Rise's Dynamite Body!" Rise's voice was heard once more, as a seventh Rise appeared. This one was bikini-clad; her name was Shadow Rise. "Are you all ready?!"
"...nope," answered Ness as he quickly slammed the door, before he and Ness distanced themselves from it. "I'm not down with that."
"Let's just find Boney and go back home," said Lucas, as Ness found the PSI whiz's response to be quite amusing. "This place is starting to bug me out..."
"Technically we are home - this place might be connected to the mansion." Lucas looked up in realization, as Ness walked away. "Come on, let's go find your Boney before that stripper Rise harasses us."
As Lucas and Ness walked away, a dark figure crept around the corner, keeping an eye on the teens...what was this figure, and what did it want?
Meanwhile, at the baby shower, Mario was still waiting on the baby shower gifts. Krystal herself was waiting too and during her wait, the vixen had a contraction.
"Oh..." Krystal winced in pain as she felt a tremor in her stomach. Everyone around her was looking on, with Celica coming over to check on the vixen.
"Getting there, hm?" Celica asked Krystal, fearing that Krystal might pop out the baby at any given second. Falco was glad that he was around "just in case".
"No, I still have time," assured Krystal, feeling the pain slowly vanishing away. The vixen let out a sigh of relief, as the doorbell rang.
"I wonder if that's them," wondered Peach as she answered the front door; to her delight, she saw Spyro and Hunter. "Ah, you two finally came!"
"Sorry for the long wait, princess," Spyro apologized to Peach, who let the purple dragon and Hunter inside Fox's house. "Hunter somehow got lost in that tunnel that led to the bunker."
"Here's some crap," Hunter said to Krystal as he tossed the gift set and hand kit on the vixen's lap. Spyro at least gave the gift basket to Krystal in a more graceful manner. "We hope you like it."
"Thank you, you are too kind..." Krystal thanked Spyro and Hunter while taking a look at the three gifts that she received. "...I can tell that Mario purchased these items."
"You got those gifts from the dollar store, didn't you?" Peach frowned at Mario, who whistled innocently and looked away. Maybe Poochy wasn't the only reason that Mario hid those gifts. "You are such a cheapskate, Mario..."
The basement door was locked, but that was no problem for the Turks. Reno and Rude busted down the basement door, and took it completely off its hinges.
"Bad boys FOR LIFE!" cheered Pit as he watched the door fall down the basement steps. Elena shushed the angel. "I mean, bad boys and girls FOR LIFE!"
"So much for keeping a low profile," mumbled Elena, as the group went down the basement stairs to the Rift Generator. A bunch of Rabbids were on the generator, rubbing their backs against it. And their butts, as well.
"This must be the time machine Wily told us about," said Reno as he took a gander at the Rift Generator. Rude was looking around for an on/off switch. "Have any of you guys used this thing before?
"Sonic, Crash, and I were part of some experiment done by Dr. N. Tropy," explained Lucina, who chose not to speak about her experience outside of her family. "Apparently, we had to find our way back home..."
"My brother, Uka, was the one who powered this machine on," Aku explained to the Turks, as Reno looked around on the Rift Generator for a place to start some destruction. "He's been down for the count ever since."
"Tell you what...how about I wreck this time machine for you guys?" Reno asked Sonic and company, getting his nightstick ready for some brutality. Some time machine-breaking brutality, that is.
"I'll keep watch and make sure no one interferes," said Rude, choosing to let Reno do all the destruction. He would be the one to play pacifist. "Not even Cloud, or Master Hand himself."
"Do as you please," replied Kirby, perhaps the most neutral person in the basement along with Pit. "I have no say in the matter, but if this is for the best, then I'm all for it."
"Before we let you go...mind if I have a word with you all?" Elena asked Kirby and company, as she wanted to kill some time with a little investigative work. "Dr. Wily had mentioned in his phone call that Cloud...hasn't been quite himself, as of late. Is there any truth to that?"
"I can attest to that," replied Sonic, who had seen Cloud up close and personal. He had seen it all during his involvement with the Aerith Revival Project. "Where should we start?"
Aerith: Mamori wants me and Cloud to appear as guests on today's episode of Microwave Idol Mamorin. But the thing is, I haven't seen Cloud around lately. Haven't seen him since breakfast! I know that he's been very busy as of late, but the least that he could do is take some time out of his day to hang out. We haven't hung out as much as I had hoped, I'm afraid.
The wedding preparations for Link and Zelda's wedding were coming along fine, as both Link and Zelda were crossing off items on their wedding checklist in record time. No thanks to their assistants Rex and Researcher Zelda, respectively. While the Hylian couple got a lot of stuff done, there was one important step that they couldn't overlook...finding an officiant.
"Isn't Ganondorf part of the Triforce?" Rex discussed with Link, as the two swordsmen were going over wedding plans at Link's room. "I think he should serve as the officiant!"
"That's like having Lex Luthor officiate Clark Kent and Lois Lane's wedding," replied Link, who did not want Ganondorf anywhere near the wedding altar, let alone in attendance. "A disaster just waiting to happen."
"Then what about Cloud? According to Martha Stewart's website, it's a good idea to have a friend be an officiant." Rex looked confused when Link furrowed his brow with much skepticism. "Don't like that suggestion either, huh?"
"You sought wedding advice from a celebrity chef?" Link suddenly felt like going back over every single step that he fulfilled on his wedding checklist. "Why did you think that was a good idea?"
"A celebrity chef...huh, I never would've guessed that. Then how else did Martha and Snoop Dogg become friends?" Rex pondered over this with a finger underneath his chin, as Link facepalmed.
"Hi, Link, I don't mean to disturb you," Aerith said to the Hylian as he showed up at his room. For but a brief moment, Link could be saved from Rex's ignorance. "You haven't seen Cloud lately, have you?"
"Quite frankly, I would've asked you the same," replied Link, as Aerith sighed; Link not knowing Cloud's whereabouts was always a bad sign.
"This isn't good...Cloud is supposed to appear on Microwave Idol Mamorin, and he's not even here! Can you call him, and see where he is?"
"I don't have a phone..." The more times Link had to state this, the more bothered he felt inside. The fear of missing out was strong with him.
"Oh, that's right, sorry for asking." Aerith turned around and to her chagrin, she saw Mamori and Ashley coming her way. "Here comes Mamori and Ashley..."
"Hey, Aerith! We're about to start streaming in less than half an hour," Mamori notified the flower girl, making sure that she and Cloud had an ample amount of time to prepare. "We'll give you time to put on makeup, if necessary."
"Just don't go crazy with it as Bayonetta did," Ashley informed Aerith, as she had some bad memories of Bayonetta appearing on Microwave Idol Mamorin. "Don't need a legion of simps brigading the live chat."
"Wouldn't that be counter-intuitive, though?" questioned Link, as Ashley gave the Hylian a glare. A glare that meant Link better shut up, if he knew what was good for him. "Don't simps usually donate money like they're giving back to charities?"
"I will turn all your intestines inside out..." Ashley threatened Link, her eyes glowing red as she took out her wand. Link, wisely valuing his well-being, took a few steps back from Ashley.
"Um...we'll see you real soon!" Mamori awkwardly said to Aerith, pulling Ashley away and bringing her down the hallway. Ashley's eyes remained red for a few more seconds, before going back to their natural color.
"Can you substitute for Cloud, in case he doesn't show up in time?" Aerith kindly asked Link, who was left in a tough spot. There was no possible way that Link could simply answer no.
"Link already had to be a stand-in for Cloud once," Rex said to Aerith, referencing the events of episode 276 as he put his hands on Link's shoulders. "Who's to say that he can't do it again?"
"That would be wonderful!" Aerith clapped her hands together and smiled, as Link had no choice but to join the flower girl on Microwave Idol Mamorin. "Shouldn't be too drastic of a change-up."
"I hate you so much right now..." Link whispered angrily to Rex, who smiled sweetly as he patted the Hylian on the back for good luck.
Ever since Krystal had her contraction, Mario asked Leia to come over to Fox's house and monitor Krystal just to be safe. Fox, who made Krystal's health his number one priority, objected greatly to Leia's presence but the nurse still showed up anyway.
"How are the contractions?" Leia asked Krystal, who was sitting in a chair for most of the baby shower. Gotta take things easy and slow. "Anything major?"
"They're irregular and far apart," replied Krystal, and that was good news for Leia to hear. That meant the contractions were mostly mild. "I'm not really in labor, but I'm near labor."
"Our HMO isn't the best, so we're taking it slow," added Fox, as he massaged Krystal's back. Krystal pushed Fox's hand away...only for Falco to pick up right where Fox left off.
"Well, I've heard that if you check in after midnight, you'll get an extra day to recuperate while surrounded by doctors," Leia said to Fox and Krystal, who were both intrigued; Falco was not intrigued, as he wanted himself and Fox to be the only company Krystal had. "An extra night's sleep in the hospital would be nice!"
"It would prepare us if the baby's crying all night long," remarked Krystal as she pondered over the extra night stay at the hospital. A split second later, another contraction, as everyone was on alert.
"Mama mia, she's contracting!" fretted Mario, who was just as worried as Fox and Falco were. "You know what? I think I should drive-a you guys to the hospital. I got a driver's license, and I gassed-a up my car..."
"Mario, you shouldn't have done that," Fox said to Mario, not wanting the plumber to steal his shine. If anyone was driving to the hospital, it was Fox. "I can drive too, you know."
"Best to get this over with-a now than be sorry. Let's-a go!" So Mario ran to the front door, taking out his car keys as he expected Fox and Krystal to make a move. But the couple didn't, and neither did Falco.
"We're not going to the hospital," affirmed Krystal, as Mario looked at the vixen like she was crazy. Did Krystal trust Leia to handle the birth of her baby? "Fox and I will wait until midnight."
"That's...a little spooky," commented Roy, as Fox didn't expect Krystal to go through with Leia's suggestion. Falco was left punching the air. "But why wait until midnight?"
"Insurance will only cover two nights," explained Leia, as Mario grumbled and put his car keys back in his pocket. "It will be for the best."
"We'll have plenty of time," assured Krystal, as a grumbling Mario returned to his original spot. Mario wasn't the only person around feeling salty...
Haru had left Sonic and the others, just so she could inform Joker about the Turks' presence in the mansion. Anything that had to do with Cloud and his project, Joker deserved to know about.
"So there's a time machine in the basement..." Joker discussed with Haru and Makoto in the cafe, now understanding why Cloud didn't want anyone down in the basement. "...and the Turks want it gone, huh?"
"It was a request from Dr. Wily," stated Haru, as Joker found this information to be all the more interesting. "We all know how he feels about time travel..."
Joker: Cloud is out and about, doing who knows what, so we've sent Sephiroth out to track him down. We just need Sephiroth to bring Cloud back to the mansion, dead or alive...but most preferably alive. Cloud being dead would be too counter-intuitive.
"I think Sonic might know about the time machine," continued Haru, while Joker was busy stroking his chin in thought. Makoto was jotting down some notes. "He was aware of Dr. Wily calling the Turks."
"Seems like there are some people who are on to Cloud that we don't know about," remarked Makoto, and the brunette couldn't be any closer to the truth. "Maybe we aren't the only ones..."
"Hey guys, how's it going," Yu greeted Joker and company as he entered the cafe, acknowledging everyone's presence with a simple head nod. The young man went to go grab some doughnuts, which were next to the coffee machine.
"Fox and Falco are going back in time, apparently, to get Aerith's DNA," Joker explained to Makoto and Haru, as Yu started eavesdropping after the mere mention of Aerith's name. "That's what I've heard from Moira."
"If the Turks actually get rid of the time machine, then what would that mean for Cloud?" wondered Makoto, thinking to herself, as Yu found himself suddenly immersed in the Phantom Thieves' conversation. "How will he get the DNA?"
"Professor E. Gadd has a time machine...Cloud might ask him to use his device. I mean, he gave him the money Pit and Lloyd raised for crying out loud..."
"I'm sorry, mind if I butt in?" Yu asked the three Phantom Thieves after he had heard enough to interject into their conversation. "What does Pit and Lloyd's money have to do with Cloud?"
"Oh, um...there's a lot to unload here," Makoto sheepishly smiled, believing that Yu might not be in the right mood for long stories. "Nothing that really concerns you."
"Yeah, a lot of details to go over," added Joker, as Yu finally selected the doughnut that he wanted. A chocolate doughnut, with sprinkles - a very fine choice. "We would like to spare you some, but..."
"I was just wondering because Rise and I saw Cloud speaking with Aerith...alternative universe, Aerith, that is," stated Yu, before taking a brief second to correct himself. Joker and company were hooked with intrigue. "It was last week."
"Really, what did they talk about?" Makoto asked Yu as she got her notepad, ready to jot down every single word that came out of Yu's mouth. Well, maybe not every word, but close enough.
"I dunno...something about reviving people and hearts. I think the Heartless were mentioned, too. Sephiroth told me afterward about his plan to revive Aerith...at least the one from this universe."
"Sephiroth must have told you plenty," smirked Joker, nodding to himself as he kept a finger underneath his chin. "I guess we can tell you everything that's been going on..."
Elena met with Sonic, Crash, Aku, Pit, Kirby, and Lucina in the living room, asking them questions about any differences they have seen in Cloud. Sonic, who was a part of the Aerith Revival Project for a short period of time, carried most of the conversation.
"Kept these reports around, just in case," Sonic handed Elena some of Moira's reports, which he kept in his possession since episode 268. "I had to make a quick leave to get 'em from my room."
"You said that you had to make a quick leave to use the bathroom," Kirby said to Sonic, under the assumption that the blue hedgehog had to drop a deuce. "You lied to us, Sonic!"
"I did go to the bathroom...right after I left my room!" Did Sonic remember to wash his hands? The world may never know. For the sake of everyone present, let's hope that he did. "Why do you have to be so technical, man..."
"What do these reports have to do with how much Cloud changed?" Elena asked Sonic, skimming through Moira's reports and seeing nothing that jumped out to her. The stuff she read was pretty interesting, though. "What do they show?"
"They show how much Cloud cares about and trusts science now compared to times past." Not the kind of answer that Elena was expecting. "You should've seen how he was acting at the start of the pandemic!"
"Did this 'science' influence his behavior, his way of doing things?" As Sonic thought to himself for a brief moment or two, Elena groaned and buried her face in her hands. "Perhaps I'm asking the wrong person..."
"Well, Cloud has been slack lately," answered Pit, as Elena slowly looked up at the angel; Pit was about to be an even bigger help than Sonic was. "Not what I would expect from the man of the mansion."
"Man of the mansion...so Cloud must be in charge around here. Or at least Master Hand's second-in-command." A lot of sympathy for Cloud could be detected in Elena's second sentence.
Master Hand: Isabelle just informed me that the Turks have come to visit, again. Doesn't bother me any - as long as those schmucks stay away from my collection of Fully Clothed Magazines, we should have no problems. I might give Reno and Rude the swimsuit edition...that's the worst issue out of the bunch.
"Lloyd and I ran a food delivery for a few weeks," Pit told this story to Elena, who assumed that the business was a colossal failure. Elena heard enough stories about Pit and Lloyd's foolishness from Reno and Rude. "We met our goal of raising $10,000...and then our money was stolen!"
"You two actually raised that much money?" Elena asked Pit out of shock and disbelief, as Pit appeared visibly hurt. Elena walked back her comments in a hurry, as she unfurrowed her brow. "Uh, what I meant to say was...what happened to your money?"
"Apparently, whoever stole it replaced it with counterfeit money! Pretty stupid, if you ask me. Cloud said he was gonna get down to the bottom of it, but he hasn't...gotten to that bottom yet. Still at the top."
"Why did you and Lloyd start that food business?" Aku asked Pit, interesting in knowing what the angel's source of inspiration was. "You never told any of us the reason."
"Cloud wanted $10,000, so I held that business seminar in January to find someone willing to start up a business. Turns out that taking $10,000 from Star Records was no good."
"Did you ever ask Cloud why he wanted that $10,000?" Lucina asked Pit, and the look on the angel's face told her all that she needed to know. "That's a lot of cash to ask from someone, don't you think?"
"Yeah, I think Wario said something similar a few weeks ago!" Pit hadn't learned his lesson since then...tsk tsk tsk. "Was gonna ask Cloud, but I forgot."
"Forgetting to do things...as is tradition." Alarmed by Pit's lack of tenacity, Lucina facepalmed at the angel. Meanwhile, Elena found herself somewhat interested in the whole stolen money conundrum.
"What if took the money for himself, and kept it secret?" the female Turk asked the others, as Pit found that thought to be quite frightening. "Would explain why Cloud has been stalling all this time."
"You know, that does make a lot of sense," replied Sonic, with Pit looking on with a worried face. "Speaking of Cloud, I haven't seen that man since breakfast! Very suspect..."
Krystal had yet another contraction, and Fox was just dying to take his pregnant wife to the hospital. With every contraction Krystal had, the pilot grew more and more worried.
"That's another contraction, here we go," said Fox as he fumbled around for his wallet. Can't take your wife to the hospital without the proper identification. "This is happening. Come on."
"Hold on, this isn't midnight yet," Krystal said to Fox, desiring to go with Leia's plan of going to the hospital after midnight. Think of all the rest Krystal could get in her overnight stay!
"Are you serious, Krystal? I know the doctor said every five to seven minutes, but..."
"I'm going to be okay, we should really try to make it until midnight."
"Yeah, no, you really should," Luigi encouraged Fox and Krystal, knowing from experience that any pregnancy situation shouldn't be messed around with. "Because if your baby's born-a tomorrow, he's going to have the same-a birthday as Butt-mud Brooks! My old room-a mate, from university."
"Did you hear that? Butt-mud Brooks." Krystal for the life of her refused to believe that Butt-mud Brooks was a real name.
"Okay, but we are leaving at five minutes apart," Fox informed Krystal, as he couldn't afford to waste any time whatsoever.
Fox: So, the plan was seven minutes. But we're calling an audible because that's her call. Because she's the quarterback. I'm just the left tackle who happened to get her pregnant.
Falco: *popping in from behind* So if you're the left tackle...does that make me the right tackle?
Fox: Shut up...
Ness and Lucas were still down in Mini Mementos, on the hunt for Boney. Although Boney's constant barking was starting to fade in and out, Ness and Lucas were still determined to find the dog, whatever it takes.
"Why are there random hot springs here?" questioned Lucas as he and Ness came across the section of hot springs in Mini Mementos. "And I thought that movie theater was too random."
"At least that makes sense," replied Ness, checking the water just to see if it was safe. Gotta make sure no monsters were lurking below. "These hot springs just seem unnecessary."
"Whoever built Mementos under the mansion sure gave it all the works." As Lucas stared at the water of the hot springs, he saw a creature wearing a doctor's coat appear below the water surface. And it had the teen shook. "Um, Ness...?"
"What's up?" Ness went over to Lucas, who pointed at whoever was hanging around below the water. Ness saw the creature, not exactly sure what to make of it. "Who the heck is that?"
"I don't know, but he's getting close..." Lucas jumped back a bit, as the creature was now swimming its way up to the water surface. "...I think we're done for now!"
"Lucas? Ness? How did you two get here?" a voice asked the two teens, who were both startled to learn that they had some company. Lucas and Ness turned around and saw Minato, along with Yukari. The two lovebirds were wearing towels.
"Don't mind us, we're just...hanging, that's all," Ness responded with a sheepish smile, his answer not explaining how he and Lucas wounded up in Mini Mementos. "Just hanging around, me and my best friend..."
"Yeah, totally...not like someone left the trapdoor in the foyer open or anything," added Lucas as he nervously giggled, only for his smile to fade away in a matter of seconds. "I don't think I was supposed to say that."
"I told you that trapdoor needed a key," Yukari told Minato, who sighed in disappointment as he rubbed his hand through his hair. "Something like this was bound to happen sooner or later."
"That trapdoor leads to Mario's bunker, so a key is sadly out of the question," stated Minato, who felt uncomfortable with Ness and Lucas seeing him and Yukari (but mostly Yukari) wearing towels.
"So, Minato, what exactly is this place?" Ness asked the young man, figuring that he and Yukari knew a great deal about Mini Mementos - mot like Minato and Yukari were Persona characters or anything. "Looks like the real Mementos."
"Because this place is Mementos...or rather, a miniature version of it. Joker, Yu, and I built this place two years ago; we got a lot of work done when the mansion caught on fire."
Yukari: Mini Mementos is like our own personal hideout spot for me and Minato. We have everything we want down here - a movie theater, hot springs, and even a dance hall! We also had a beer cellar down in Mini Mementos, but Joker got rid of it after that...incident. Which didn't happen during our viewing of Jurassic World, mind you. Let's just say that the "King's Game" is forever banned...
"Minato and I like to come here and hang out," Yukari explained to Ness and Lucas, as Minato did not want his girlfriend to share this information with the two teens. It was too confidential for him. "It's like our own little source of privacy!"
"Yes, yes, and these two are infringing upon our privacy," stated Minato as he walked over to Ness and Lucas, planning on taking the teens back to the mansion where they belong. "Now if you know me, Ness and Lucas, I hate to use force..."
"Wait!" shouted Lucas, stopping Minato in place as he put his hands in front of him. "We can't leave just yet. We haven't found Boney!"
"Boney jumped down that trapdoor and ran off to Mini Mementos," Ness explained to Minato and Yukari, now providing the real reason for his and Lucas' presence in Mini Mementos. "We've been searching for him ever since."
"That would explain those barking sounds that Yukari and I heard..." remarked Minato, hoping that Boney hadn't gotten himself in too much trouble. "...and here we thought that Koromaru was looking for us!"
"Does that mean you'll help us find Boney?" Lucas asked Minato, with his hands clasped together; Minato saw the desperate emotion on Lucas' face and knew against his better judgment to turn down the PSI whiz's request.
"Let me go dry off first..." Minato walked away, as Lucas was all happy inside. Finding Boney was about to become a four-man effort. "...come on, Yukari, let's go find our clothes."
"We can continue this spa day later today, right?" Yukari asked Minato as she followed after her man. "My feet could use a bit more soaking..."
As Ness and Lucas waited on Minato and Yukari, the creature that was in the water was now peeking around the corner. Was this the same creature as the one before...or an identical but different one?
It might have taken more than less an hour, but Mamori and her co-hosts, Ashley and Asuka, were ready to start the newest episode of Microwave Idol Mamorin. The three had given Aerith and Cloud a bit more time to prepare, although the former was trying to compensate for the latter's absence.
"Welcome, everyone, to yet another episode of Microwave Idol Mamorin!" Mamori kicked off the new episode, greeting her many viewers with a smile and a peace sign. "We're gonna warm up your heart, with the press of a button!"
"We have two very special guests on for today," announced Ashley; the young witch was supposed to say a catchy pun afterward, but didn't feel like following the script. "First, give it up for the one and only...Aerith Gainsborough."
"Hello everyone!" greeted Aerith as she entered the kitchen, waving to the camera and blowing kisses. That flower girl was a natural. "So good to be here."
"We're happy to have you on our show!" Asuka said to Aerith, who was ready to introduce the next guest. The ninja better not be too underwhelmed. "Now everyone, give it up for our other guest and Aerith's good friend...Cloud Strife!"
Instead of Cloud, it was Link who entered stage-left into the kitchen. And instead of his usual garb, with his green hat and tunic...Link was dressed from head to toe as his best friend, Cloud. Spiky hair and black attire, all of it down pact.
"Hey," greeted Link in a very uninterested voice, doing his best to stay in character. So far, the Hylian was doing an excellent Cloud Strife impersonation.
"Hello...Cloud," Mamori said to Link, as she and the other hosts were able to tell that something was clearly off. "What's with those pointy ears?"
"You mean these?" Link pointed at his ears, clearly seeing that the three hosts of Microwave Idol Mamorin were seeing through his facade. "I got these pointy ears for the show, to acknowledge all the Lord of the Rings fans watching. Shout-out to Gandalf...or whatever."
"You watch Lord of the Rings...how fascinating," Ashley marveled in faux amazement, knowing that the real Cloud didn't care for Lord of the Rings or any other fantasy stuff that he deemed nonsense. Aerith looked amused.
Link: Found this Cloud get-up in a hallway closet, along with the spiky hair wig. Judging by the smell of testosterone and Dorito chips, some dude must've worn this costume to some comic con. I will never knock on the dedication of people who dress up in costumes...
"So Cloud, what is your favorite dish?" Asuka asked Link, in a thinly veiled attempt at exposing the Hylian on camera. If Link was able to address his pointy ears, he could maneuver through Asuka's question just fine.
"I like to eat noodles," replied Link, keeping his answer as safe and simple as he possibly could. Noodles was also a food item that Link could see Cloud mentioning on Microwave Idol Mamorin.
"That's perfect!" exclaimed Mamori, clapping her hands together as she kept a very close eye on Link. And also Aerith, whose smile Mamori found rather suspicious. "But we already covered noodles on our show, with Min Min, so..."
"I also fancy some microwaved popcorn." Microwaved popcorn? That was way too tongue-in-cheek for Mamori and company to handle. "And maybe some fried chicken now and then..."
"Fried chicken it is!" Now that today's specialty was decided, Mamori went to go look for some fried chicken in the fridge. "Who knew that a swordsman had a refined taste in food?"
"You're doing good so far," Aerith whispered to Link, giving the Hylian her vote of confidence. Link was feeling some type of way and didn't have much to do with the costume he was wearing.
Yet another contraction from Krystal, and someone was getting very antsy at the baby shower. That someone was Mario, who was just dying to see Fox and Krystal's baby boy being delivered already.
"We have every six-a minutes, you guys," Mario informed everyone, apparently keeping a record of how many contractions Krystal had. Not even Fox, Krystal's husband, was that committed. "Another seventy-five contractions and-a you are going to be there."
"Hurry it up, Krystal, I can't wait to finally be a godfather," Falco encouraged Krystal, who responded by giving the avian pilot a vicious glare. "This is my dream, not yours..."
Falco: Doesn't matter to me that the baby isn't biologically mine. I am going to love it. It's like when the dog nurses the tiger cub. Ever seen that video before? It's so bizarre and unnatural, but...it happens.
"You know what? I'm going to go give our doctor a call," Fox said to Krystal as he readily took out his cellphone. He had the doctor on speed dial, just for instances like these. "He'd probably know what to do."
"Fox, please - happy thoughts here, happy times," Krystal said to her husband as he took his phone away from him, to calm him down.
"Yeah, happy times - let's-a have happy times," Mario sided with Krystal, clapping his hands together to lighten up the mood. "Fox, as a matter of fact, I have printed out ten-a ways to induce labor. And I'm thinking we just do the opposite of those-a things and we can slow down-a your labor." Mario took out a list that he wrote himself and handed it to the nearby Lilina. "Lilina, read-a the first one."
"Um, stimulate the nipples," Lilina read the first item on Mario's list, daring not to know what the rest of the list even discussed. "When did you even put this whole thing together...?"
"Okay, nobody touch-a Krystal's nipples." Like anyone would even think to do that anyway. "Think of Krystal's nipples as Bowser's grundle."
"Her shirt is touching them," Peony pointed out; Krystal wearing a shirt was extremely rare in itself. Perhaps the vixen only wore it just for the baby shower. "Maybe we should cut holes in her shirt."
"I have a shirt like that at my house," said Ms. Pac-Man, as Pac-Man was embarrassed by his wife mentioning that out loud. "Won't say where I got it from."
"Okay, uh, the second one is to walk around," Lilina read the second item on Mario's list, before seeing that Krystal was seated. "We're already doing the opposite of that. Perfect. Okay, number three, eat spicy foods."
"Okay, the opposite of that?" asked Mario as he looked around at everyone, expecting an answer or two. Didn't want to be left hanging.
"Stick spicy food up her butt," suggested Knuckles, before feeling ashamed that nobody agreed with him. At this point, Fox had heard enough.
"Nope, nope, nope, nope," the pilot shook his head in dismay, as he grabbed Krystal's hand and pulled the vixen up from her seat. "Come on, let's go to the hospital. Krystal, let's go to the hospital right now."
"Fox, honey, I love you, but you're really distracting me from my distractions," Krystal said to the pilot, standing her ground as she sat back down in her chair. Fox was still holding on to her hand.
"Sorry, Krystal, I just feel a little bit frazzled. And you know how very rarely I use that word. Frazzled. Unless I'm super desperate."
"I know, you don't like to be frazzled." Krystal put her hand on Fox in an apologetic manner, and Fox couldn't tell if the vixen was genuine or not.
"Oh, and by the way, hate that you're helping her with this right now," Fox said to Mario, wishing that the plumber would butt out of his personal business. Bad enough that the others were being involved.
"Ooh, some-a one's freakin'..." cooed Mario, as Fox rolled his eyes and walked away from Mario to distance himself from the plumber. "...a little frazzled!"
Fox: I know Krystal better than anyone that I know (including Falco) and obviously she's gone crazy, but everybody wants to say that I'm crazy. But I'm not crazy, she's crazy. I'm not crazy, she's crazy. *reading from various books* Five to seven minutes. Five to seven minutes. Six minutes. Different, but not really. Five to seven minutes.
Corrin had grown a lot as a father, taking care of his child Kana. In the beginning, Corrin tried to teach Kana his ways, hoping that his daughter would one day be as "educated" as he was. But now he was doing things that Kana liked to do. It was almost as if the prince had taken some advice on fatherhood from Barret - which he probably did.
"Surprised to see you out here fishing," Riku said to Corrin, as he saw the prince and Kana fishing at the mansion's lake. Corrin was using the same rod Bowser gave him in episode 31, whereas Kana had an even better rod. Talk about being a selfless father.
"Bowser showed me the ways," replied Corrin, as Riku didn't know whether to feel bad for the prince or laugh at his expense. Fishing lessons, from Bowser? "And now, I'm teaching my daughter a new hobby!"
"Must be the crappiest fisherman around..." With the fishing rod that Corrin had, probably so. "...but hey, at least you aren't forcing some Star Wars junk down Kana's throat. A step in the right direction."
"Papa, papa, I think I caught something!" a very excited Kana said to Corrin, as she was reeling in her catch. To Corrin and Riku's surprise, Kana reeled in a fish Pokemon, one that was pink in color.
"Oh my, a Gorebyss!" Corrin marveled at Gorebyss, as the south sea Pokemon was splashing around on land. Riku was pretty impressed. "You sure have a knack for catching some magnificent Pokemon, Kana."
"Looks like your daughter is a better fisherman than you," Riku said to Corrin, who embraced the fact with fatherly humility - nothing wrong with a young girl showing up her dad. "But I don't think that's saying much..."
"Corrin, Riku!" Pit called out to the two as he and Sonic ran over to the lake. Elena also came long. "Have either one of you two seen Cloud lately?"
"Not since breakfast," replied Riku, causing Elena to groan; from the looks of it, no one knew where Cloud ran off to. "I haven't seen his motorcycle anywhere, so I assume he's out around town."
"He could be busy," assumed Corrin, as Kana tossed the Gorebyss back into the lake. "Who knows - he might be working on that Aerith Revival Project!" Corrin suddenly gasped, as he covered his mouth.
"Aerith Revival Project?" Elena furrowed her brow, as Corrin felt like he was in big, big trouble. "Pit, Sonic, you two know anything about that?"
"I...might have been a part of that project," confessed Sonic, more open about his involvement now that Corrin let the cat out of the bag. "Somewhat. Those reports I gave you have to do with the whole shebang."
"Cloud wants to revive Aerith..." uttered Corrin, before he covered his mouth again. "...and he has Moira and Dr. Eggman helping him." The prince covered his mouth once more, refusing to say another word.
"Wait, we already have an Aerith living with us," stated a confused Riku, out of the loop with what happened to this universe's Aerith - just like Sora and Kairi. Someone will educate him. "Why would we need another Aerith?"
"You don't think...the money Lloyd and I raised from our delivery service was used for Cloud's project?" Pit asked Elena, with a tint of sadness in his voice. Poor angel felt like he was betrayed.
"We won't know unless we hear it from the horse's mouth," replied Elena, hoping to learn more about the Aerith Revival Project and everyone that was involved. "All there's left to do is find Cloud..."
The question of the day was, where even was Cloud? The man has been MIA since breakfast, as some have said. While Master Hand chalked up the swordsman's absence as him "being busy", a few folks knew better - like Joker, who sent Sephiroth out to search for Cloud's whereabouts. Sephiroth was snooping around Seattle, anticipating to see Cloud riding on his motorcycle or something.
"Have you taken your vaccine yet, good sir?" some dude with glasses approached Sephiroth, who was walking along the sidewalk. That poor man had no idea who he was dealing with.
"Why would a genetically enhanced human like me need your vaccine?" Sephiroth questioned the man, grabbing him by his collar and lifting him off his feet. "Take your man-made filth somewhere else, or it'll be your last time breathing..."
"Y-Yes sir, I'll leave you alone!" After Sephiroth dropped him back on his feet, the man turned around and ran away, running for his life. It amused Sephiroth seeing the man so fear-stricken.
"I love it when they run..." Sephiroth cracked a smile, taking too much delight in the man retreating. The one-winged angel's moment of delight would be interrupted when he caught a certain professor with the corner of his eye.
"Never been to Dingo's Diner before, huh professor?" Rayman asked Professor E. Gadd as he led the inventor down the street. Sephiroth had a keen eye on E. Gadd, his head turning slowly as E. Gadd walked.
"I've heard great things about it, but only on the Facebook group that I'm in," replied E. Gadd - makes sense, given that a lot of old people go on Facebook a lot these days. "Couldn't go because of how busy I have been."
"You don't say..." Sephiroth smirked as he followed closely behind E. Gadd and Rayman, making sure not to make his presence known.
Rayman: No, I'm not going out to Dingo's Diner with Barbara. Nuh-uh, no way. Not with you guys recording everything. 'Cause the last thing I'd want is for you guys to insinuate that Barbara and I are an item when that is far from the truth. The last time I checked, you're supposed to be a documentary crew - not a bunch of TMZ groupies.
Sephiroth followed E. Gadd and Rayman to Dingo's Diner, which wasn't that far away, and followed them inside the establishment. Two dudes from the mansion were present at the diner - Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong. Both the Kongs were indulging themselves with a large banana split.
"You fellas care for a banana float?" Ty asked the Kongs, as the Tasmanian tiger brought them a banana float. Which was essentially a banana in a tall glass of water. "Drinks are on the house!"
"...it's literally a floating banana," observed Diddy, as he saw the banana floating on the water. Ty saw the point that Diddy had made but didn't think much about it. "What's the appeal?"
"You know, you could've had soda instead of water, but we didn't have much leftover." That's called being cheap, Ty - a very big no-no when running a dinner. "If you want, I can slice up the banana and put the slices in the..."
"Yo, Ty, we're waiting to be served!" Rayman called out to the Tasmanian tiger, as he and E. Gadd were already seated. The limbless hero didn't feel like waiting - heck, he didn't even have a menu yet!
"Give me one..." Before Ty could finish his sentence, he stopped when he saw E. Gadd and quickly recognized the inventor from the photo that he saw a few episodes back. "...give me one second, please."
"Sorry about the service, professor, it's usually a lot quicker," Rayman apologized to E. Gadd, as Ty went to the back of the diner to fetch a certain someone. "They're really slacking today, it seems."
"Must the exact opposite of happy hour," joked E. Gadd. Ty walked over to Rayman and E. Gadd's table...and he brought Dingodile with him. "Oh my! Dingodile! Fancy seeing you here."
"Why wouldn't you see me here? I own this joint," responded Dingodile, as he made E. Gadd feel silly. Ty had the menus in his hands, but he wouldn't give them out just yet.
"My apologies...I assume that you were always in the back, counting money." E. Gadd's last two words made Dingodile smirk, something that E. Gadd took note of right away. "Why are you smirking like that?"
"Funny you should mention counting money...I wonder if you do the same back home." Dingodile was trying to get E. Gadd all flustered, and get right under his skin.
"Me, count money? What money you speak of?" E. Gadd was pulling on his collar, which was the first obvious sign of nervousness. Rayman had no idea what was being discussed, but listened anyway as he was anxious to put in his order.
"I dunno...the money that I used to have before my diner went healthy." Dingodile got all up in E. Gadd's grill, making things very personal. "The money that Anna gave to Pit and Lloyd when those two were running their food delivery service."
"Ah, yes, their delivery service...it had a great, but short run." Sweat was running down E. Gadd's face, like a waterfall. Meanwhile, Rayman was just dying to have some grub. "Wonder what happened..."
"You happened, mister," Dingodile pointed at E. Gadd, who was now feeling the heat. "You asked Cloud to hand over the money that Pit and Lloyd raised, didn't ya? I bet you already spent it. So tell me...how much of those funds were mine?"
"I don't mean to disturb you guys, but Diddy and I found a finger in our banana split," Donkey Kong approached Dingodile and Ty, only to be left confused when he saw Dingodile up in E. Gadd's face and E. Gadd sweating all over his body. "Uh...is this some kind of sting?"
"Pardon me..." E. Gadd feebly said as he made a mad dash to the men's bathroom, just to cool himself off. The inventor was clearly beside himself, as Sephiroth watched everything unfold from the diner entrance.
"Can I please have my menu now? Like today?" Rayman asked Dingodile and Ty, as Ty finally gave the limbless hero his menu.
Needing a break from all the baby shower festivities, Krystal retreated to the bathroom. The vixen just wanted to seclude herself for a bit - get some solitude for herself before heading back to the living room. Like how any other concerned husband would do, Fox stood outside the bathroom hoping that Krystal was okay.
"Are you done in there?" Fox asked Krystal as he knocked on the bathroom door. The pilot was waiting outside the bathroom for several minutes.
"Yes, I'm done," answered Krystal as she finally came out of the bathroom. She could tell how relieved Fox was. "Just need some time alone, no big deal."
"I feel ya. I'd get some time alone myself, but I don't want Mario worried sick about me. Is everything alright?"
"Everything is fine. You don't have to worry. Try not to think about it. He's not coming out for a while, okay?"
"Yeah, I won't rush you. We're still having a little boy at the end of the day..." Fox stopped speaking when he noticed something different about Krystal's appearance. "Did you...change your loincloth, by any chance?"
"I might've done it in the bathroom...my water broke." Krystal instantly regretted saying this, as Fox when from calm to on extremely high alert. "Now, Fox, just take it easy..."
"Just take it easy?! We gotta go, stat!" Fox grabbed Krystal's hand as he brought his wife to the living room. "Guys, Krystal's water just broke! We gotta go to the hospital!"
"Right behind-a ya," Mario said to Fox as he and Falco rushed to action. Mario was fumbling around for his car keys, sticking his hands in his pockets.
"I thought she was going in at midnight?" questioned Marth, surprised to see Krystal deviate from her original plan. Unless Fox was taking charge, which he was doing. "What time is it?"
"It's-a three-thirty right now." Mario glanced at the clock on the wall, still looking for his car keys. "Almost made it. At least we have the afternoon-a delight. I understand. Some-a times you have to go for it. Let's-a go."
"No, Mario, not just yet," Krystal said to the plumber, only to feel another contraction going on. Fox wanted to go to the hospital now.
"Mario, did you seriously leave your car keys back home?" Peach asked her husband, seeing that he was taking forever to find his car keys. The answer to that question was more obvious by the second.
"This is no big deal, we can just improvise," replied Fox, as he took Krystal to the front door. Mario and Falco followed the couple out of the house. "We'll see you guys later!"
"Good luck, you two!" Peony called out to Fox and Krystal, just as they left the house. Once Fox and company were gone, awkward silence found its way inside the living room. "Should we let the others know?"
Elena remained outside, sitting at a picnic table with Sonic and Pit. Crash, Aku, Lucina, and Kirby were also there. Pit was looking down in the dumps, as the feeling of betrayal overwhelmed him.
"So nobody around the mansion knows where Cloud is, apparently," Lucina explained to Elena, having asked the others about Cloud's whereabouts. "Being away for this long is very unlike him."
"Not even Master Hand himself knows," added Aku; if Master Hand didn't know where Cloud was, then that was a worrying sign. Or a sign that Master Hand being "all-knowing" was just a lie. "Very concerning."
"I'll say - I can't see Cloud being absent without a reason," remarked Elena, digging in her pockets and taking out some spare car keys. "You guys wanna ride around the city and search for Cloud?"
"If that's what we have to do, then sure," replied Kirby, wondering if the entire group could even fit inside the Turks' vehicle. Pit might have to fly solo and fly overhead. "Even if we don't find him..."
"What do you mean, you locked yourself out of the house?" Fox was heard yelling, as Elena and company saw Fox yelling at Mario. Mario was at the front door, and he couldn't get inside.
"Spyro and Hunter, they locked-a the door," Mario tried to explain - why couldn't the plumber get inside his house? "My house key is part-a of my keychain."
"Oh, you've got to be kidding right now..." said a frustrated Falco, hands on his head as he looked up at the heavens. "Why did this have to happen now?"
"You know, we still have time," Krystal said to Mario and company, not yet ready to make the hospital trip. Cappy looked around outside and saw the Turks' vehicle - and the spare car keys that Elena had on the picnic table.
"Jackpot!" the talking hat exclaimed as he flew off of Mario's head and to the picnic table. He snatched the car keys, without even asking. "Sorry, no time to explain - it's an emergency!"
"What the..." uttered a dumbfounded Elena, watching as Cappy went back to Mario. Cappy dropped the car keys in Mario's hands.
"There's a black car over there, we could use it to drive to the hospital!" Cappy explained to Mario, bringing the plumber's attention to the Turks' vehicle. "Those car keys might turn it on."
"Cappy, you are a genius!" Mario commended the talking hat, as he and the others went to the Turks' vehicle. Elena was too dumbfounded to do anything, as Mario used the car keys to unlock the vehicle and get everyone inside.
Fox: Driving to the hospital in a government car sounds perfect in theory. If you speed down the hallway in a regular vehicle, chances are you'll get pulled over. But not in a government vehicle! The police will see a large black car speeding past by, and assume that a bunch of FBI agents are on their way to end a drug ring or something. It's ingenious.
"Um, Elena?" Sonic said to the Turk, who was still dumbfounded as she watched Mario turn the Turks' vehicle on, and drove it down the road. Elena had to shake her head to pull herself out of the confused trance she was in.
"Did that...really just happen?" the female Turk asked, finding the strength to take out her phone. She just let Mario get away with carjacking...and she did nothing to stop the plumber. "This is not good..."
Joker was in very high spirits after he and his friends spoke with Yu at the cafe. He told Yu everything he needed to know about Cloud's secret plan, and he even told Rise since she deserved to know as well. More people were suddenly aware of what strings Cloud was pulling behind the scenes.
"I think the Turks are still here," Haru said to Joker as she took the young man to the basement. Standing in front of the basement door was Rude, who was speaking with Captain Falcon.
"You have to let me in, I left my medicine in that basement by mistake!" Captain Falcon begged to the stoic Rude with pleading hands, as he hadn't been inside the basement in over two months or so. "I need it for my prostate exam..."
"Shouldn't have left it in there in the first place," replied Rude, refusing to move a single inch for Captain Falcon. "I'm not here to solve your personal problems."
"Hey, what's going on?" Joker asked Rude and Captain Falcon as he and Haru came over to speak with the two men. He wasn't playing peacemaker, though.
"I'm not permitted to let anyone inside the basement. It is strictly off-limits." So off-limits, Rude wouldn't even let anyone take a small peek inside.
"Why is that so? Is it because there's a time machine in there?" Joker had a giant smirk on his face, as Rude furrowed his brow at the young man.
"How do you know about this time machine, boy?" Being out of the loop, Captain Falcon found himself just as intrigued as Rude. "That young lady standing next to you must've told you, didn't she?"
"She could have...or maybe we knew about the machine's existence before today." This was a big shock to Rude, who took a few steps back.
"What?! You let Mario of all people steal our car?" Reno spoke with Elena on the phone, as he came up the basement stairs with his nightstick. "Still a spring chicken, I see..."
"Reno, you might want to hear this," Rude said to Reno, who looked up and saw his partner-in-crime standing around with Joker and the others. "It's about that time machine."
"Gonna have to call you back, later," Reno made these parting words to Elena before he hung up the phone, putting his device back in his pocket. "Alright, Rude, what's up?"
Reno: Man, that Rift Generator's indestructible! Could barely even get a few scratches on it. We're gonna need to bring out the big guns if we want that thing to vamoose.
"These two seem to know about the Rift Generator," Rude explained to Reno, as he brought the Turks' attention to Joker and Haru. "I suggest you listen to what they have to say."
"Alright then, what do you got for me?" Reno asked Joker and Haru, leaning in close to them with his nightstick over his shoulder. "Give me the whole scoop..."
"Yeah, all of the scoop!" exclaimed Captain Falcon, as Reno and Rude turned to the racer and gave him dubious looks. Falcon awkwardly cleared his throat.
"What if I told you...that Cloud wants Aerith alive again?" Joker said to Reno and Rude, as he had both of their interest. And Captain Falcon's interest, as well. "Where should we start, Haru?"
Ness and Lucas were still on the hunt for Boney, and they had Minato and Yukari assisting them in their search. The search brought everyone to Mini Memento's movie theater.
"Must be under one of these seats," said Ness, as he and Minato were looking underneath the theater chairs. Meanwhile, Lucas and Yukari were looking around the giant theater screen.
"Check behind the screen," Yukari said to Lucas, who looked behind the screen and saw nothing of note. Lucas retracted his head. "Not there either?"
"How strange that the barking has completely died down..." remarked Minato, standing up as he scratched his chin in thought. "...where could that Boney have run off to?"
"I just hope he's okay," replied Ness, as Lucas suddenly felt a shadow looming over him. "Lucas wouldn't handle his dog being missing forever." Trembling, Lucas slowly looked up...and saw the spiral-masked figure from earlier peering down at him.
"Guys...I think we got some company!" alerted Lucas, as he brought everyone's attention to the dark figure standing behind him. The figure picked up Lucas, who was screaming in fear.
"Woah!" exclaimed Yukari, who did what any reasonable person would do in this kind of situation...taking out her phone and snapping a picture of Lucas in his moment of peril. How thoughtful of her.
"Don't worry Lucas, I got you!" Minato shouted at the PSI whiz, taking out his gun and firing bullets at the creature. The bullets nailed the creature in its face, bringing it down to the floor. "Knew keeping my gun in my pocket today was a good idea..."
"What was that thing?" wondered Lucas, who was petrified as he refused to move from his spot. The PSI whiz wanted to return to the mansion, now.
"That must've been a Shadow; Joker told me about them once. I didn't expect to see one of them in person."
Ness: First we had the Shadow Heartless, and now we got Shadow beings hanging out in Mini Mementos. Shadow this, Shadow that...next thing you know, our own shadows are gonna turn against us. Starting to feel convinced that Shadow the Hedgehog is actually a monster...
Minato and company couldn't rest yet, for a slew of Shadows suddenly appeared in the movie theater, all of them adorned with lab coats. For the most part, the four residents were surrounded.
"Sure hope you two got your PSI spells ready..." Minato said to Ness and Lucas, readying his gun. Some carnage was about to go down in Mini Mementos.
After he was done guest-starring on Microwave Idol Mamorin - in Cloud's place, no less - Link was in a rush to take off his Cloud outfit. While taking off the clothes was no hassle, the same couldn't be said for the spiky hair wig.
"It's almost like it's glued to my scalp," Link said to Aerith, who offered to assist Link in taking off the wig. Every time that Aerith pulled on the wig, Link winced in pain. "Don't pull so hard..."
"Sorry, I'll be gentle next time," apologized Aerith, before she pulled on the wig a second time - albeit gentler. Yet Link still winced in pain. "I'd hate to say this, but we might need some scissors..."
"Aha!" shouted Mamori as she, Ashley, and Asuka stopped by Link's room. The idol singer pointed accusingly at Link. "Should've known that it was you dressed up as Cloud, Link!"
"Look, girls, I can explain!" Link said to the three co-hosts of Microwave Idol Mamorin, ready to express his innocence to the three. "I didn't mean to impersonate as Cloud. I had no choice in the matter..."
"Link's right, he didn't have a choice," Aerith said to Mamori and company, standing up for the Hylian. She had no problem sticking up for others. "It was me who put him up to it."
"Why did you make Link go through that when we could've had Cloud instead?" Asuka asked Aerith, as she wondered how many of the viewers Link confused with his Cloud impersonation. "Link wasn't that great as a Cloud impersonator, anyway."
"I only did because Cloud wasn't around. I don't know if he chickened out, or what..." Aerith looked sad to admit this, as she wanted Cloud back at the mansion safe and sound.
"To be fair...I did see Cloud leave through the backdoor, after breakfast," stated Ashley, as Aerith went from saddened to optimistic in a hurry. "I assumed that he would've been back in time for filming. For the sake of the show, I didn't make a big deal about Link filling in."
"So you saw Cloud leaving?" Aerith got closer to Ashley, wanting the young witch to tell her everything that she knew and then some. "Did he say why he had to leave the mansion?"
"I did hear him mumbling to himself before he left. Something about 'keeping his mind off of stuff'...must be all up in his feelings."
"You guys heard the news, right?" asked Tom Nook as he stopped by Link's room, armed with his cellphone. "Krystal's at the hospital, and she's giving birth! Such wonderful news!"
"Anyone need a ride?" asked Link, as he reached for his car keys. "My truck can carry everyone...Tom Nook, you're on your own pal."
Mario and Fox were at the hospital, waiting on the birth of Fox's baby boy. The two men were chilling out together, with Fox doing his best to keep himself composed.
"Thanks for taking us to the hospital, man," Fox thanked Mario, as he gave the plumber a very appreciative smile. Mario smiled in return.
"I just felt-a that you needed an extra hand," replied Mario, patting Fox on the back; Mario was always there to help out his friends. That was the kind of man that he was.
"Do you mind if I ask you a question, Mario?" Being the open book that he was, Mario was all ears. "It's about...how I was acting the past few weeks."
"Oh yes, you've been acting quite-a strange as of late..." Mario would know since he had seen Fox's zaniness up close. "...but trust-a me, Fox, I would've acted the same. I was as paranoid-a as you were when Peach was nearing labor. I was once in your shoes."
"Yeah, you must have kept it to yourself; I was more out in the open. I guess we all act differently when we're stressed out for no reason."
"But you did-a have a reason...you're one step away from-a fatherhood." Mario patted Fox on his back once more, and Fox had the biggest smile on his face.
"Fox McCloud, she is ready to push!" the nurse called out to Fox, as she poked her head out of the room where Krystal was giving birth.
"Here it is, Mario...the moment of truth." Taking a deep breath, Fox rose from his seat and followed the nurse inside the room. That left Mario alone in the hallway, until...
"Hey, Mario...I didn't arrive too late, did I? Got a text message from Luigi, about Fox's kid. Made sure to get some balloons."
Mario looked down the hallway and to his surprise, he saw Cloud heading his way. Cloud was carrying a bunch of balloons that said, "It's a boy!".
"No, Cloud, you're just-a on time," smiled Mario as Cloud took a seat next to the plumber, letting out a sigh as he sat down.
Cloud: Sorry if I kept you guys wondering while I was away. I was just riding my motorcycle around Seattle, taking my mind off of things...while at the same time, thinking about other things. It's complicated. I just hope that Sephiroth wasn't hunting me down...I already have one stalker following after me in Jigglypuff. Don't really need a second one.
"Got these balloons from a party store," Cloud said to Mario as he showed off the balloons to the plumber. "Only five cents each...not too shabby."
"A pretty good-a deal, if I do say so myself," remarked Mario, thinking of this party store as the cheapest store to have ever existed. "Party hats must be like one-a cent over there!"
"Actually, they're two cents apiece. But you're not that far off." A moment of laughter, as Mario laughed at Cloud's response. Cloud laughed too, though it sounded short and fake.
"So...how's your quest to revive-a Aerith coming along?" Mario hadn't asked much about Cloud's plan since episode 271, so it wouldn't hurt to ask now.
"Funny you should mention that. I'm going to try and revive her next week." Next week? Joker and the Phantom Thieves better act fast. "Done all the preparation that was needed."
"Well, I hope that everything goes-a well with this whole revival thing. A very huge-a undertaking, for sure, but I know you'll get the job-a done."
"Alright, got my phone charged...now it's time to live stream the birth!" said Falco as he came down the hallway with his phone, pulling up the camera app. "My first godchild - history in the making! Hey, what room is Krystal in?"
"Falco, why do you need-a to live stream..." Mario was about to say to Falco before the plumber caught himself and let out a sigh. "...Fox and Krystal are in-a that room."
"Score!" So Falco went to the room and opened the door, taking a peek inside. But what he saw unfold with Krystal and the doctors and nurses was certainly not for the faint of heart.
"Doing great, push again," Fox instructed Krystal, who was heard screaming in pain. A doctor was heard lecturing Fox, his words unintelligible. "No, don't push. Pull, pull!"
"Why don't you get some ice chips, you look very light-headed," a nurse said to Fox, as Falco pulled away from the door. The pilot looked very disturbed.
"Okay, really push this time, Krystal," a doctor instructed the vixen, as the disturbed Falco walked over to Mario and Cloud and sat down next to them.
"My godchild is gonna have a lot of hair..." remarked Falco, who felt very scarred for life; fur might have been the better word choice.
"Anything else you wish to know about?" Joker asked Reno, Rude, and Captain Falcon after he and Haru filled them in on everything they knew about Cloud and the Aerith Revival Project. The discussion took place in the foyer.
"No...I think we got everything," replied Reno, as all the info Joker and Haru told him was now preserved in his memory banks. "That Rift Generator still needs to go, though."
"Agreed - who knows what Cloud is capable of doing with it," said Rude as he adjusted his glasses. Not because they needed readjusting or anything - it was just a quirk of Rude's. "He could cause a time paradox...or even worse."
"You know a guy who can Falcon Punch this Rift Generator, and put it out of commission? THIS GUY!" grinned Captain Falcon as he pointed his thumbs at himself. The racer expected a collective "Yeah!", but all he got was strange looks. "Welp, at least I tried..."
Suddenly, the trapdoor in the middle of the foyer opened, as Ness, Lucas, Minato, and Yukari came out from it. The four looked like they went through war.
"What happened with you guys?" Joker asked Ness and company, seeing how slightly disheveled they were. Notice that a certain canine was missing...
"Remember those Shadows you told me about?" Minato asked Joker as he dusted his clothes off; Joker nodded in response. "We saw them down there, in Mini Mementos. A bunch of them."
"They were all wearing doctor coats," explained Yukari, as the brief description of the Shadows sounded awfully familiar to Joker and Haru. "But we handled them all pretty easily."
"Did you two find your way inside Mini Mementos?" Joker asked Ness and Lucas; the young man wasn't disappointed or anything, he was just curious.
"Don't take it personally - we were just looking for Boney," replied Ness, and from the looks of it, the search was for naught. "The trap door was open, and Boney jumped inside, and we spent our time down there looking for him."
"And yet we didn't find my pet dog Boney anywhere..." lamented Lucas as he started to shed a tear; the PSI whiz wiped the tear away. "I think he might be dead, those Shadows must've killed him..."
"Your dog died, huh? Then just get a new one," an insensitive Reno advised Lucas, as Rude shook his head at this partner-in-crime. "Hey, that's what any rational-thinking person would do!"
Lucas's spirits were soon lifted, as barking was heard down from the tunnel. Taking action, Minato went through the trapdoor and down the ladder...returning to the foyer with a canine in his possession.
"Look who I found," said Minato, who was holding Boney in his arms. Lucas was all smiles as Minato carefully dropped Boney onto the floor.
"Boney! You're okay!" gleamed Lucas, as Boney ran to the PSI whiz and brought him down to the floor. Lucas embraced Boney, laughing as his pet dog licked him repeatedly in the face. "Alright, stop it, stop it!"
Ness: Seeing Lucas reunited with Boney was very wholesome, not gonna lie. Almost makes me want to have my own pet...would the Flying Man make sense as a pet? Or should I just make him my bodyguard? He could still be a pet that way...
"Those Shadows sound a lot like the ones we saw at Maruki's palace," Haru discussed with Joker, who was connecting the dots in his head. "What does it mean if they were in Mini Mementos?"
"It means that someone's vice must be manifested within the mansion," theorized Joker, and only one person came to mind. "Cloud's vice...sounds like we need to steal his heart."
"You're gonna steal Cloud's heart...?" Reno frowned at Joker and Haru thinking of the two as creeps. Like he wasn't a creep himself. "Sounds...graphic, but I'll just let you guys be great."
"Lucas and Ness being in Mini Mementos gave me an idea. What if we went down to Mementos, and steal Cloud's heart? Then he'll think twice about reviving Aerith, and finally put it to rest."
"I like the sound of that," replied Haru, feigning to get back into the groove of stealing hearts again. Soon Minato approached Joker, having something that he wanted to say.
"Just give us a shout if you need our help," Minato said to Joker and Haru, on behalf of Yukari and himself. "You might need an extra hand or two..."
While Mamori, Ashley, and Asuka chose to remain at the mansion, Aerith and Tom Nook opted to travel with Link to the hospital. Zelda was also brought along since Link figured that she wanted to see the baby.
"According to this text from Mario, Krystal should be in this room," Tom Nook said to Link and company, reading his text message as the four walked through the hallway. "Room number is D1..."
"There it is, up ahead," announced Zelda as she saw the room just a few feet away. "Krystal should have already given birth right about now."
The four went to Room D1 and went inside...and there they saw Krystal, in the hospital bed, holding her newborn son Marcus. Marcus looked like Fox but had blue fur just like Krystal...it was utter perfection.
"Ah, you guys-a made it," Mario said to Zelda and company, as he and the Star Fox pilots were huddled around Krystal. Cloud stood a few feet away but was still pretty involved. "Guess what? Cloud brought-a the balloons."
"Those balloons?" Link asked Mario as he pointed at the balloons that were tied to Krystal's bed. "Cloud bought them? I find that hard to believe."
"Everyone, come and meet my baby boy Marcus," Fox indulged the four, as they gathered around to see the baby. Marcus was sitting peacefully in Krystal's arms, with a pacifier in his mouth "Isn't he adorable?"
"What's good with you, Marcus?" Falco asked the baby as he held out his hand for some dap. Marcus just stared at Falco, sucking on his pacifier. "You have a lot to learn, buddy. Or should I say...grandson?!"
"Please stop," Krystal commanded Falco, sounding very stern, as Falco fearfully backed away from Marcus. Krystal shut down that whole godfather nonsense real quick.
Doctor: I helped a space vixen give birth...at a hospital. *nods head as he looks around* That's one I'm gonna remember.
Krystal: Personally, I didn't want a bunch of hoopla around the birth of my child. That's why I wanted to wait it out, so I could avoid getting all the attention. I'm still staying overnight, though.
"Krystal and I are gonna be staying here for the night," Fox informed Mario and the others, as his and Krystal's decision was set in stone. "Talked with the doctors and nurses, and they're cool with it."
"I'm staying with them too," said Falco, staying around with his favorite couple. And Marcus. "Someone let Slippy know that my Switch is still off-limits."
"In that case, I'll take-a the Turks' car back home," stated Mario, as Link, Zelda, Aerith, and Tom Nook were wondering what the plumber was even talking about. "It's a long-a story..."
"We finally found you, Cloud!" Aerith said playfully to the swordsman, as she and Link were relieved to see him again. "You missed today's episode of Microwave Idol Mamorin."
"Yeah, I had to be your 'stand-in,'" Link said to Cloud, as his scalp was rather itchy from wearing that wig. "I'm never dressing up like you again."
"Sorry you had to go through that, Link," apologized Cloud, as Link was too annoyed to accept the swordsman's apology. "I totally forgot. That shouldn't have happened."
"You're right it shouldn't have happened..." It was easy to tell that Link wasn't too happy with Cloud, and you couldn't blame him for it. "...next time to go away for a while, make sure you give us a warning."
"Ow, ow, he's grabbing my nose!" wailed Mario, as Marcus was holding onto the plumber's big nose. Those around Mario were laughing at the plumber's plight. Heartless monsters...
Rayman: Had a great time at Dingo's Diner, I really did! Too bad E. Gadd missed out on the food - he spent the whole time hiding in the men's restroom like a baby. When I escorted him back home, he looked pretty shook. Probably because of Dingodile's bad breath.
Sephiroth: That professor looked very afraid...but no matter, he'll get what's coming to him. They will all get what's coming to them...
While Mr. Game and Watch patched up the basement door, Master Hand was looking out the window in his room. To his delight, the giant hand saw Cloud driving to the mansion on his motorcycle, following behind the Turks' vehicle.
"Sweet mother of Masahiro Sakurai, Cloud's back!" rejoiced Master Hand, as Cloud and the Turks' vehicle pulled up to the mansion. Master Hand's excitement turned into confusion when Mario stepped out from the Turks' car. "Mario is a Turk now...?"
As Mario got out of the Turks' car, he saw Elena, Sonic, and Pit hanging around at the picnic table outside. Elena was glaring at Mario, her arms folded.
"Did this belong-a to you?" Mario called out to Elena, as he dangled the spare car keys that belonged to her. The plumber tossed the keys to Elena, who caught them with one hand. "Thanks-a for the ride!"
"No thanks..." grumbled Elena, putting the spare car keys in her pocket as Mario went to Fox's house to deliver some good news. Soon Elena was joined by Cloud, whom she was pleased to (finally) see. "...well aren't you a sight for sore eyes."
"I could say the same for you," Cloud said to Elena after he walked over to the female Turk. Even though Elena was a Turk, Cloud decided to go easy on her.
"Not much of a conversationalist, as always...some things never change. That said, I have a bone to pick with you..."
"Cloud, do you know who stole the $10,000?" Pit confronted the swordsman, wanting to hear the answer straight out of his mouth. "The $10,000 that Lloyd and I raised from our delivery service?"
"To tell you the truth, Pit..." Cloud replied reluctantly, knowing that he had to provide an answer at once. There was no way out. "...it was Professor E. Gadd who stole the money." Way to rat out E. Gadd, Cloud. So much for accountability.
"Really? I don't buy it." Now that was a response Cloud did not see coming from Pit. An unexpected wise moment from the angle himself. "Why would E. Gadd need that much money for? He has his own mansion, for crying out loud!"
"Maybe he needed it to pay for a utility bill." Much to Cloud's chagrin, Pit didn't buy that one either. Elena watched as Cloud struggled to convince Pit.
"Utility bill? Yeah, right! And why did you need the $10,000 in the first place? To fund your stupid project?!" The fact that Pit now knew about the Aerith Revival Project was a bit of a crushing blow to Cloud.
"It's...you probably wouldn't understand." Not the best answer in the world - and Cloud knew it too as Pit looked down at the ground.
"Right...I wouldn't understand." Now in a sour mood, Pit headed to the mansion with his head hanging low. Sonic ran over to Pit, as he hated seeing the angel in such a depressive state.
"You really screwed up, Strife..." Elena said to Cloud, who was now feeling bad about himself. Elena walked away from Cloud, letting the swordsman have his moment, as she took out her phone and made a call. "Hello, Reno? I got the car keys back."
Inside the foyer, Pit was looking down at the floor, his head hanging low in shame. The angel had learned about the Aerith Revival Project, and why Cloud wanted $10,000 from him. And it made him feel defeated.
"Got played like a fiddle one time...and I let it happen again," sighed Pit, as Sonic did his best to comfort the angel. With a nifty shoulder rub. "Thought I was doing the right thing..."
"You know, there's a way for you to get back at Cloud..." Sonic enticed Pit, who looked up at the hedgehog with curious eyes. "...might not be what you're looking for, but you can pitch in."
"What is it that I have to do? It's not illegal, is it?" Pit was hooked, as Sonic wrapped his arm around the angel and walked him away from the foyer.
"Nope, not at all! It's perfectly legal. Just a little something that Ema Skye has been whipping up..."
Cloud was still outside, standing around like a statue as he was very disappointed himself. Sephiroth showed up outside the mansion, seeing Cloud in his current mood.
"You're going to get what's coming to you, Cloud..." Sephiroth vowed silently to the swordsman, anticipating put an end to Cloud's plan once and for all.