Author's Note:

This is the longest chapter I've written since the one I wrote about Borderlands...and Xenoblade Chronicles...and Bioshock: Infinite...and XCOM. Man, what a chapter that was. On to the reviews:

"Have you heard the news that Toys for Bob Studios (the ones who made the Crash and Spyro remakes) will now be a support studio for Call of Duty: Warzone? This might mean bad news for Crash and Spyro. What do you think of that?"

I don't think it's bad news, in my opinion. Crash and Spyro might be left in the hands of another gaming studio. The revolving door of gaming studios for Crash might continue...another anonymous review:

"This is a cool arc, how far along is it? Will it end soon? (I hope not)"

Um...I've got some bad news for you, I'm afraid. Let's see what football-related question An NFL fan has for me:

"Will there be an episode about the NFL Draft? If not, it's fine. But I have to wonder, is there a Jaguars fan or a Dolphins fan in the mansion? Again, sorry for the random question."

Yeah...the ship has already sailed on the NFL Draft, I'm afraid (thankfully I got the last chapter done before the draft started). I would like to imagine that Bayonetta is lowkey a Jacksonville Jaguars fan since she's British and the Jaguars play a game in London every year. No Dolphins fans, though. Next is BowserFan327:

"Have you done a Nohr chapter yet since you did Hoshido? And if you didn't can you do one? Other than that, CUE LIFE WILL CHANGE! I would imagine that Futaba blasts it with Necronomicon at a frequency that only the Thieves can hear."

I did do a Nohr chapter...I think. But no Futaba blasting "Life Will Change" in this chapter, I'm afraid. Next is A JRPG enjoyer:

"This kinda sounds random, but could you have some Fire Emblem siblings visit the mansion for some kind of a family reunion? Like Elice (Marth's sister), Conrad (Celica's half-brother), Mist (Ike's sister), Lissa and Emmeryn (Chrom's sisters), or the Nohrian siblings (of course, Corrin and Kamui's siblings). Maybe you can have the Hoshidian siblings trying to ruin the family reunion."

Summertime sounds like a perfect time for a family reunion. I can do one in June or July. Moving on:

"Also, I read the reviews that someone wanted Lucina's friends from the future (Inigo, Severa, and a few others) to show up for an episode. Maybe they can show up for a beach episode? I don't know, it's been a while since there's been a beach episode in the story."

The last beach episode was in 2017, so yeah, I could do another one. Moving on:

"Also, did you know that Alm and Berkut are cousins?"

Yes I did. And they get along so well as cousins, right? Right?! Here's Ep. 234 review, from...chapter 234:

"Shut the freaking door! Nobody told me that Schezo made an appearance in this episode! Of all the Puyo Puyo characters, why Schezo? Is it because of his innuendos? I don't blame you for that, but isn't it weird that you had a Puyo Puyo character appear, but it's not Arle, Amitie, or Ringo (which are basically the main characters)?"

I watched a video about Schezo, and I found him funny enough to put him in this story. It did feel weird having him being the only Puyo Puyo character featured. Speaking of which...

"Man, this made me want a Puyo Puyo chapter, heck, a Puyo Puyo TETRIS chapter! That game is freaking underrated!"

I love Puyo Puyo TETRIS! Criminally underrated game. I would love to do a chapter about it, with Arle and Ringo (my favorite) and other characters involved. And the last review comes from Question:

"Where the heck is Viridi during this entire hoopla?"

Little Miss Cactus has flown under the radar, hasn't she? I had no way to fit her in the recent chapters. But her absence will be rectified soon...

Episode 281: Revival Part 2

At long last, Peony and his daughter, Peonia, were returning to their lovely town of Freezington. Their time in Seattle was well-spent, as Peony had grown a lot as a father. No thanks to Mario and Barret. Mario took Peony and Peonia to the airport, and you might think that Peony and Peonia were flying on a plane, heading back home...

...but that wasn't the case. Peony's plane had yet to take off! So to kill some time, Mario, Peony, and Peonia went around town. They dined at a restaurant, went window shopping, and even threw toilet paper in a man's backyard. (Mario apparently wanted to get back at some mailman, for causing him to miss his magazine subscription. Peonia declined, and for good reason.)

But all that fun came to an end, as Peony's plane was now about to take off, finally. Mario met with Peony and Peonia at the airport, ready to see them off.

"Well, Mario, it's been a fun five months," Peony grinned at the plumber, grateful for the opportunity to live in Seattle and improve as a father. "A great five months well spent!"

"Much agreed - we had lots-a of fun times together," responded Mario, as he couldn't help but reminisce over all the good parts of Peony's extended stay...and also all the bad parts. "Save for that one-a time in Canada..."

"Are you kiddin' me, man?" Peony frowned at Mario, making the plumber wonder what he said that was so wrong. "Bein' stuck in Canada at that detention center was one of the highlights of my stay in the United States! Spendin' more time with my Nia..."

"Seriously, dad, you bring that up like it was a good memory," said Peonia, and apparently it was a good memory to Peony as the explorer couldn't help but shed a small tear. "Sephiroth could've gotten us in even more trouble."

"And that would've made our stay even longer, which meant more quality time with the two of us!" Nothing that Peonia could say to refute that. "As Donkey Kong had said - we're an essential family!"

Peony: Man, Mario was such a huge help! And Barret Wallace was awesome as well. Thanks to those fellas, I've grown closer to Nia than I could ever hope to achieve. They're alright, in my book! But you know who isn't alright? Luigi! Mario claimed that Luigi would show me the ways of fatherhood, but that numskull twin brother of his never taught me a dang thing! This is one of the reasons why I can't stand brothers...

"The next flight is about to take off soon," said the announcer over the airport intercom, meaning that Peony and Peonia had no time to diddy-daddle. "I repeat, the next flight is about to take off soon. Also, for the owner of the red Prius parked outside, you left your blinker lights on..."

"Hehe...that must-a be me," Mario confessed as he giggled out of pure guilt. The plumber had a habit of leaving his lights on - and not just for his car. "It's a habit of mine."

"Looks like Nia and I will be on our way, then," said Peony as he held out his hand for a handshake; Mario gleefully shook it. "We might see you and your folks again soon, right?"

"I might invite-a you over for Thanksgiving...or Christmas. Or both." If Mario wanted to unleash his inner Master Hand, he'd invite Peony and Peonia over for Halloween as well. "Provided you aren't-a busy."

"Thanks again, for setting my father straight," Peonia thanked Mario, grateful towards the plumber for helping her tolerate Peony more. "Really made my time in Seattle more...tolerable."

"Ah, I'm just-a doing my job..." Mario waved off Peonia, before glancing at one of the clocks in the airport. Peony and Peonia had to go soon! "Well, I won't hold-a you two up any longer. Goodbye now!"

"I won't forget this wonderful time we had! Farewell, Mario!" Peony said his goodbyes to the plumber, as he and Peonia rolled their suitcases away.

"Hope to see you again!" Peonia said to Mario, as she and Peony waved to the plumber. Mario waved back, watching as Peony and Peonia went their way.

"Those two were some nice company," Cappy said to Mario, watching as Peony and Peonia were about to board their plane. "You know, this reminds me of that time we saw Lara Croft off...why is that?"

"Peony and Peonia were house-a guests, just like Lara," theorized Mario, as he headed to the airport exit. A part of Mario wanted him to stick around, for sentimental reasons. "So there could-a be some familiarity."

"Eh, you could be right..." Cappy mulled over Mario's theory, as Mario exited the airport. "...I wonder how much you truly miss someone until they're gone."

"Hey..." a man with a deep voice called out to Mario, just seconds after the plumber stepped outside. Mario looked around, searching for the voice. "...over here, you mustached freak."

"Who are you calling a mustached-a freak?" shouted an offended Mario, before he turned around and saw someone hanging around in the shade. It was Reaper - Talon mercenary, and also a plus-one. Being in the shade was awfully fitting for a guy like him.

"Reaper? What are you doing hanging around the airport?" Cappy asked the mercenary, who was not in the mood for answering nonsensical questions. "And in the shade, no less! Are you waiting to do a drug deal?"

"Why would I do a drug deal at the airport, in broad daylight? Do I look like the kind of guy that would deal drugs?"

"I mean, the skull mask, the black hood, your name being Reaper...the shoe clearly fits, in my opinion."

Reaper: What else about me made that talking hat assume I was some kind of drug dealer? The fact that I'm Mexican? I oughta shoot that dumb piece of fabric to smithereens...

"For the record, I can't accept-a any drugs," Mario informed Reaper, who facepalmed and sighed at the plumber. "Princess-a Peach is scared that I might suffer from stomach spasm, from having a drug addiction."

"I'm not here to do a drug deal, okay?" Reaper shouted at Mario and Cappy, as he emerged from the shadows. Very fitting for him to do. "I followed you here, Mario, to tell you something important..."

"So you stalked-a me to the airport? You really want to do a drug-a deal, don't you?!" Mario pointed accusingly at Reaper, who felt like ripping his hair out - if he had any hair on his head, to begin with. "Hate to break it to ya, but I'm not-a interested!"

"I don't have any drugs...why won't you understand! I just wanted to tell you about Cloud's project...the Aerith Revival Project."

"The Aerith Revival Project?" The name was obviously familiar to Mario, who lowered his arm. "I have heard about-a this project, from Cloud him-a self."

"Then you must know about his end goal - to bring Aerith back to life. And apparently, he wants to accomplish that through time-travel."

"With that Rift-a Generator in the mansion's basement?" Seeing that Mario knew a lot more than he suspected, Reaper nodded his head. "Yeah, Dr. N. Tropy gave me the run-a down."

"We can't let Cloud or N. Tropy use that machine. Who knows what could happen. I asked Moira to talk Cloud out of it, but..."

Reaper would find himself interrupted when a blonde bandicoot leaped down from the airport, delivering a flying kick to the mercenary. Reaper landed on the ground, as the bandicoot who kicked him stuck a perfect landing.

"My back..." Reaper writhed in pain, as the blonde bandicoot had her foot resting on the mercenary's back. "And my head..."

"I remember you...you're Tawna Bandicoot!" Mario said to the blonde bandicoot, and he wasn't spooked by her presence like last time. "Or should I say, alternate universe Tawna Bandicoot..."

"How nice of you to make the distinction," grinned Tawna, who had her arms folded as she peered down at a writhing Reaper. "Hope that edgy boy here wasn't giving you too much trouble. Thought I had to save your butt."

Tawna: I've been doing a lot of traveling around the globe and whatnot. Even met Nathan Drake while I was in New York. Can you believe that a "world-famous" treasure hunter like him lives in some rinky-dink manor? Ha, what are the odds! Anyways, I came back to Seattle to settle down a bit. And also hang out with Crash and Coco. Crash still owes me one in Tetris.

"Who are you calling an 'edgy boy'?" Reaper questioned Tawna, struggling to pull himself up off the ground due to Tawna's foot. "Why did I let some lousy bandicoot kick my butt..."

"You can lay off-a of Reaper, he meant-a no harm," Mario said to Tawna, who stepped away and took his foot off of Reaper. Reaper stood up, dusting himself off and stretching his back. "He was just telling me about-a the Aerith Revival Project - and the Rift Generator."

"The Rift Generator, huh?" Tawna furrowed her brow as she flexed her fingers. "Does it need to be destroyed or something? Say no more..."

"No, it doesn't need-a to be destroyed...right, Reaper?" Mario looked towards Reaper, and from the looks of it, Reaper and Tawna were on the same page.

"Mario, you have no idea what bad things could happen," Reaper said to the plumber, trying to show him the dark side of Cloud's plan. "Cloud is being selfish and potentially risking lives to get what he wants."

"And why do you care-a so much? You seem like the type-a of guy that just wants despair. Why stop-a Cloud from following his heart?"

"Trust me, Mario...following your heart can be a very dangerous thing. Even with the right intentions. Like I told Cloud, you should never make a mistake that you can't run away from."

"You know, he does have a fair point," Tawna agreed with Reaper as she nodded her head. "And judging by the name 'Aerith Revival Project'...it sounds like Cloud is stuck in the past!"

"Which is exactly why we need to bring him back to the present." Reaper looked at Mario, hoping that the plumber took everything that was said into account. "So Mario...are you in, or not?"

"Cloud's plan does have a large margin of error..." Cappy said to Mario, who was mulling his options - was it worth it to end Cloud's plan? For Mario, the answer was quite simple.

"I've made-a up my mind..." Mario said to Reaper and Tawna, as his decision was finalized. "...we'll take care of the Rift Generator, and put an end-a to the Aerith Revival Project." Reaper nodded in approval, as Tawna cheered and pumped her fist.

"Figured you would make the right choice," a proud Reaper said to Mario, as he cracked his knuckles. It was now time for an intervention...

Even with Mario, Reaper, and Tawna looking to stop Cloud, Fox and Falco were already sent to the past. The pilots were in the slums of Midgar, and were on the hunt for Aerith, wherever she may be.

"Hard to imagine Aerith being raised in a trash heap like this," Fox said to Falco, finding himself constantly triggered by how dirty and rough the slums looked. "This place is like the inside of a recycling dumpster."

"That's an insult to recycling dumpsters," remarked Falco, wondering just how poor the living conditions of the slums were. "At least you can make out inside a dumpster - can't really do much of that here."

"You made out with Katt Monroe inside a dumpster?" Fox stopped walking as he asked Falco this question; Falco stopped as well, taking a brief moment to think over what he just said.

"It...it was a hypothetical answer, okay?!" Suddenly, some happy humming was heard from the distance, as Fox and Falco both perked their ears. "Bruh, do you hear that?"

Up ahead, Fox and Falco saw Aerith happily frolicking through the slums, leading Cloud along the way. The fact that Aerith looked so happy despite where she was greatly alarmed the pilots. With Aerith and Cloud coming their way, Fox and Falco hide somewhere and watched with attentive eyes.

"Man, I don't know about you, but if I was single right now...I'd marry the heck out of Aerith," Falco confessed to Fox in a whisper, as Fox looked at the avian pilot like he was completely out of his mind.

"Dude, don't say stupid crap like that," Fox scolded Falco, resisting the urge to slap the avian pilot for his remark. "That being said...my thoughts exactly."

Krystal: It hasn't been two minutes yet, and already Marcus is having a crying fit. I just hope that Fox does what he has to do, and doesn't waste his time in Midgar or wherever he is. As for Falco...I wouldn't be entirely opposed to Fox leaving him behind.

"You sure that Tifa's 7th Heaven is in Sector 6?" Cloud asked Aerith, as he was growing tired of walking. When was that swordsman not tired?

"Yup! Just have to pass through the slums," confirmed Aerith, before she turned around and saw that Cloud came to a stop, much to her chagrin. "You're going to stop right now?"

"Just need to rest for a bit. You can go ahead, I'll catch up with you soon."

"Hmph...suit yourself." So Aerith kept frolicking along, not giving a care in the world, until...

"Give us a DNA sample, or else!" Fox shouted at Aerith as he and Falco jumped out of their hiding spots. Aerith stopped in place, seeing Fox with a cotton swab and Falco holding a test tube filled with liquid.

"Um...do I know you guys from somewhere?" Aerith asked the pilots as she cocked her head to the side. She dared not to question why a fox and a bird wearing time-traveling clothes approached her, and why one of them was speaking.

"Screw your questions, woman. Let me stick this cotton swab inside your mouth!" Fox held the cotton swab in a way that was intended to be intimidating. But Aerith was hardly intimidated at all.

"Stick the cotton swab inside my mouth...and what?" Aerith refused to comply with Fox and Falco, and that was only making Fox more aggravated. "You guys sure are weird..."

"And we're gonna be cold-blooded killers on top of that if you don't what we say..." Falco threatened Aerith as he took out his Blaster and pointed it at Aerith's head. Aerith, at this point, knew better than to engage in further conversation.

"Fine...I suppose I can do your silly DNA sample thing." So Aerith opened her mouth, as Fox stuck the cotton swab inside and rubbed it around. "All done?" Aerith asked after Fox was finished.

"Yup, that's all we needed!" confirmed Fox as he stuck the cotton swab inside the liquid-filled test tube. "Thank you for your cooperation, Miss Gainsborough."

"Yo, Fox, check that out..." Falco said to his friend as he pointed at Cloud, who looked like he was staring off into space, likely daydreaming. Aerith turned around and saw Cloud in the state that he was in.

"Cloud?" Aerith called out to the swordsman, as she ran over to check on him. Cloud turned away from Aerith, refusing to look her in the face. "Is there something wrong?"

"No...just thinking to myself," Cloud quickly replied, doing nothing but raise Aerith's suspicions. And Fox and Falco's suspicions as well.

"What do you think that was all about?" Fox asked Falco, as Aerith chased after Cloud. You know that Aerith was gonna keep on dogging Cloud until he gave her an answer.

"Maybe he saw into the future and saw a glimpse of Aerith dying," assumed Falco as he casually shrugged his shoulders. "If he did, he probably spoiled himself by accident."

"Yeah, happens to the best of us...happened to me once, I believe. But bump that...we got Aerith's DNA sample! Which means we can head back home!"

"Yeah, buddy! Let me call Moira and tell her that we're done, so N. Tropy can send us back to the present." So Falco took out his blocky phone, and pressed the number buttons on it...but nothing happened.

"Um, isn't the phone supposed to make sounds when you press the buttons?" That was correct, and the fact that no sound was made had Falco sweating. No matter what button he pressed, there was no sound.

"I don't get it, the phone is supposed to be on..." Steadily running out of options, Falco checked the back of the phone and looked for batteries...and the batteries were inside. "...aw crap. This is not good."

"Let me see if my phone is working..." Fox took his time-traveling phone, and pressed a few buttons...and his phone wasn't working either! "...uh oh."

"Do you know what this means? We're...trapped!" The fear now settled in, Fox and Falco both screamed.

Back in the present time, N. Tropy was trying to reach out to Fox and Falco, using some kind of cellular device in the mansion's basement. Moira, Krystal, and Cloud were looking on, wondering what the problem was.

"I can't seem to reach either one of them..." N. Tropy furrowed his brow, as he had attempted to call Fox and Falco multiple times. So far the master of time has ended up with nothing but goose eggs.

"What do you mean, they had their phones on before they departed didn't they?" frowned Moira, with Krystal starting to act very panicky. N. Tropy lowered his head in shame. "I feared that this would happen...now we have no way to reach out to the pilots."

"You can still bring them back, right?" Krystal asked Moira and N. Tropy, wanting Fox back in Seattle safe and sound. She couldn't care less about what happened with Falco.

"We can't bring them back unless we have confirmation that they received a DNA sample from Aerith," replied N. Tropy, who did not want Fox and Falco's mission to go uncompleted. "And that they're also safe. That is why we needed their phones on."

"I'm sure that those two are safe, wherever he is in Midgar," Cloud assured Krystal, who had a strong amount of animosity building towards the swordsman. Nothing that Cloud could say would be able to cheer the vixen up.

"This is all your fault, Cloud..." frowned Krystal, blaming the swordsman as she refused to look him in the eye. "...my husband's stuck in the past, and now Marcus will be worried sick!"

"Well, it's not my fault your husband agreed to help me. At least he's setting a good example for your son." The very words that Cloud spoke caused Krystal to gasp - and Cloud knew that he was in for it now.

"You think it's all about you, isn't it? Having Fox go back in time, just so he could help you with reviving Aerith...what's so wrong with the Aerith you have right now?"

"Nothing's wrong with her, it's just..." Cloud bit his tongue, unable to give the real reason for his intentions. "...you probably wouldn't understand."

"Maybe you're right, I wouldn't understand...bet you don't even understand yourself." Krystal turned away from Cloud and walked away, keeping to herself in the basement as she held Marcus real tight.

"N. Tropy will have this issue resolved soon enough," Moira assured Cloud as she put her hand on the swordsman; Cloud let out an exasperated sigh, breaking free from Moira and running up the stairs. "Cloud?"

Moira: I sincerely hope that those phones are only acting faulty, and Fox and Falco hadn't done anything bad on their end. Sometimes those two never fail to amaze me, for all the right and wrong reasons.

Zeke, Pandoria, Dingodile, and Ty were surveying the mansion for Cloud, and the four mostly stuck around on the first floor. They were near the basement when the basement door opened, as Cloud quickly emerged.

"Aha! We finally found you, spiky hair!" Zeke pointed at Cloud, who brushed past the Crown Prince as he stormed down the hallway. Zeke was indescribably offended with his mouth agape. "Did...did you just ignore me?!"

"Shut up, I'm busy," responded Cloud, as he had absolutely no time for Zeke's shenanigans. The swordsman was a man of a mission, finding himself in a race against time. (Which was mostly literal.)

"Is it just me, or did it look like Cloud was about to cry?" Dingodile asked Zeke and company, thinking that for a brief moment Cloud was teary-eyed. Might've even seen a tear run down Cloud's cheek. "I have to document this..."

The Phantom Thieves were in Mementos, lurking around inside a palace that greatly resembled Maruki's Palace. Thanks to Ryuji bringing a camera along with him, everything that was inside the palace was documented.

"Duuuuude, is this place sick or WHAT?!" asked Ryuji, way more interested in filming every little thing inside the palace than, you know, working with the Phantom Thieves to steal Cloud's heart. "This is the best palace I've ever been in..."

"Don't make me break that camera," Joker threatened Ryuji, who quickly got with the program as he realigned himself with the Phantom Thieves. "Now then, is there anything you guys wish to point out?"

"This is definitely Cloud's palace, that's for sure," remarked Kasumi, seeing all the similarities with Maruki's palace - from the computers and technology to the hospital-like setting. "It's almost creepy how identical this place is to..."

"Look alive, everyone - we've got some company!" Yusuke alerted the Phantom Thieves, as a bunch of Shadows appeared. Unlike the Shadows in episode 279 that were adorned in lab coats, these Shadows all wore sharp black suits.

"Huh, these guys look just like the Turks," observed Morgana, as the Shadows' sharply-dressed style reminded the black cat of Reno and Rude. Elena was too incompetent to be remembered. "Quite a coincidence, don't you think?"

"I'd say so," replied Makoto, as she and the other Phantom Thieves got in a fighting stance. Time to kick some Shadow butt. "Let's get to business, shall we?"

Cloud went to his room to grab a few things, and the swordsman was surprised to see his bedroom door locked. To make things even more suspicious, there was a lot of chatter from behind the door. Who could be inside Cloud's room?

"How long do you think Cloud kept this stuff around?" Link's voice was heard from inside the room, as Cloud was fearful that the Hylian was going through his personal stuff. Cloud discouraged Link from going through his belongings when the two were roommates.

"Don't know, but who knows what Cloud even needs it for," replied Yu, as Cloud went from fearful to mildly angry - was Yu going through his stuff as well? "Might as well throw it out while we still can."

"Link? Are you in my room?" Cloud asked the Hylian as he banged on the bedroom door. Although it was faint, Link could be heard gulping nervously.

"No, I'm not...I mean..." Link replied before he stopped himself, leading Cloud to wonder what the pause was for. "...this is Rude. Please leave me and Rude alone, Cloud." Link was now speaking in a deep voice, reminiscent of Rude's, but Cloud did not fall for it.

"I'm not falling for that, Link. I'm not stupid. Now let me in!" Cloud banged on the door once more, refusing to remain undeterred. If Link and Yu found those items that Ryza Stout synthesized, it would be all over.

"Be patient," replied Zelda, and once Cloud heard the princess's voice, he was stunned. The woman of the mansion, going through the stuff in his room? Now it was getting personal.

"I didn't want to do this..." Sighing, Cloud took a few steps away from the door...before bashing into it with his side. Even with Cloud using all his might, the door refused to go down.

"Locked yourself out of your room, eh?" Captain Falcon asked Cloud as he approached the swordsman; Cloud bashed against his bedroom door a second time, and yet no results. "Happened to me twice - in the same day!"

"You wouldn't mind Falcon Punching this door off the hinges, do you?" Cloud asked the racer as he took a breather, not wanting to exert any more effort on his bedroom door. "Might be beneath your skill level..."

"Are you kidding me? Falcon Punching doors is one thing that I do best! Aside from racing, of course." Flexing his fingers, Captain Falcon confidently approached Cloud's bedroom door, staring it down as if it were his mortal enemy.

"Just don't blow it to smithereens or anything." Cloud kept his distance, as he watched Captain Falcon building up in power. And flames. "I don't wanna hear an earful from Mr. Game and Watch..."

"Falcon...PUUUUNCCH!" Captain Falcon unleashed a wicked Falcon Punch on Cloud's bedroom door, sending it down to the floor in a hurry. Falcon cooled off, as Cloud saw everyone that was in his room...Link, Zelda, Yu, Rise, Minato, and Yukari.

"Cloud!" Link uttered the swordsman's name, sounding very nervous - before the Hylian cleared his throat and deepened his voice. "I mean...Cloud."

"That Rude impersonation still doesn't work, Link," Cloud said to the Hylian, who finally put the horrible Rude impersonation (if it was even worthy enough to be deemed an impersonation) to rest. "Now, what are you guys doing in my room?"

"Um, we're just...doing a room inspection!" Zelda replied with an innocent smile, as she grabbed Cloud's alarm clock off of the dresser. The clock was unplugged in the process, but Zelda didn't care. "Your room was next in line for inspection."

"Was my room inspected?" Captain Falcon asked Zelda, who bit her bottom lip as she was too reluctant to answer. "Aw, come on Zelda, don't tell me that you let those Ganons have their way with you!"

Captain Falcon: Predictably, I had to be roommates with Ganondorf...and later Gerudo Ganon. And boy let me tell ya, it is the worst! The constant snoring at night, the useless complaining, the strange hair clippings that I find on my side of the room...imagine all of those things, times two. It's twice the pain and suffering!

"The better question is...why are these guys helping you with your 'room inspection?'" Cloud asked Zelda, as he was referring to the Persona folk. Zelda didn't have an answer to that question either.

"We thought that Zelda might've needed a few extra hands," replied Minato, who was holding a sack in his hands. Cloud recognized the sack - it was the same sack that he kept all of Ryza's synthesized materials in.

"Hey, what are you doing with that?" Cloud questioned Minato as he marched over to the young man, who quickly moved out of the swordsman's way. "Give that sack to me!"

"You mean this sack that I found hidden in your closet?" Minato dug his hand into the sack and pulled out a glistening stone. "What's this? Some kind of rock? You collect rocks now, Cloud?"

"That's a marblestone. Now hand the bag over." Cloud held his hand out to Minato, expecting the young man to hand over the sack all willy-nilly. But little did Cloud know that Minato wouldn't give in that easily.

"Alright, let's see how much you care about your little rock collection..." Putting himself in a daring position, Minato opened Cloud's bedroom window and looked like he was about to throw the sack out. Had Cloud on high alert.

"No, wait, let me explain..." Cloud wanted to give Minato the 4-1-1 before he had to put his hands on the man and set him straight. "...what you got there are a bunch of stones that some girl named Ryza Stout synthesized for me."

"The alchemist girl that visited the mansion a few months ago?" asked Zelda, as Cloud looked towards the princess and nodded his head. "Why did you need her to synthesize those stones?"

"Ooh, I get it...Cloud must need those stones to power on that time machine!" theorized Captain Falcon, acting as if he had made the biggest scientific discovery known to man. Cloud widened his eyes, worried that Falcon knew too much.

"Shh..." the swordsman angrily shushed Captain Falcon, as if that was supposed to make things any better. "...how did you know about the time machine?"

"It's okay, Cloud...we all know about it," Link confessed to the swordsman, who was taken back as he looked around at everyone standing in his room. Cloud was truly at a loss for words. "Yu told me what was up."

"Really?" Cloud turned towards Yu, wanting to discipline the young man for snitching about the time machine. "And who told you about the time machine, Narukami?"

"Your roommate," Yu replied while trying to hide the biggest smirk on his face. Cloud's resentment towards Sephiroth had now grown by tenfold, as the swordsman angrily tightened his fists.

"Joker also told us about the time machine," added Rise, and Cloud wasn't really that surprised; he had a hunch that Joker was on to him. "And your Aerith Revival Project!"

"Yeah, Cloud, what's up with this project of yours?" asked Link, asking Cloud a question that the swordsman hoped he wouldn't ask. "I heard somewhere that you wanted to revive Aerith..."

"It's none of your business," replied Cloud as he tried to repel Link; Link would accept Cloud's non-answers any other time, but not now. Not in this instance.

"None of my business, huh? Then I guess it's none of Zelda's business either. How did she not know about your project?"

"Literally had no idea that it existed until today," admitted Zelda, rueing the fact that she hadn't inquired about the project with Joker a few episodes back. "Does Master Hand know?"

"Yeah...he knows," answered Cloud, and a part of him didn't want to make that known. It only made Link feel more hurt inside, for being left out.

"And you couldn't even tell me or Zelda about it?" Link questioned Cloud, the angriest he has ever been with the swordsman in a long time. "Is this why you wanted to 'hold off' on helping me prepare for my wedding, just for some stupid project? Is that what it's all about?"

"To be fair, I've been working on the project before you proposed to Zelda. I kinda wanted to keep it a secret..."

"And for what reason?" Zelda frowned at Cloud, putting the swordsman on the spot. The princess wanted to know every little detail about the project.

"I just thought it would be a nice surprise...the result, I mean. Seeing Aerith alive again, and in the flesh...would be cool, don't you guys think?"

"And you need those stones for...?" Minato asked Cloud as he was still holding the sack of stones. He was about to drop the sack out of the window at any given minute.

"I would tell you why but it's...it's complicated." And on that note, Minato casually dropped the sack of stones out of the window. Cloud screamed as he ran to the window, looking down and seeing the sack below.

"Sorry, Cloud, but since you wanted to be difficult, I figured that two could play that game," Minato said to the swordsman, who was still looking out the window. Who knew that Minato could pull off such a savage move like that? "You did this to yourself..."

"Why would you do that for?" Cloud scolded Minato, hoping that the young man was aware of how much he screwed things over.

"Let's be really honest, Cloud," Link said to the swordsman, as everyone in the room was now in interrogation mode. "You don't want to revive Aerith because it would be a 'cool surprise'...you want her back because you're just selfish!"

"Cloud, you think that you have the right intentions, but you shouldn't be doing this," advised Zelda, worried about Cloud turning out to be a villain. And the princess wasn't too far from the truth. "You think that Aerith would want to be alive again?"

"Yeah man, think about her sacrifice!" Captain Falcon shouted to Cloud; the racer only stuck around just to see some fireworks fly. The only thing he was lacking was a bag of popcorn. "Don't let her sacrifice go in vain!"

"Come on, Cloud, do you really want Aerith alive again?" Link questioned his best friend, asking for a heart-to-heart. "Got bored of alternate universe Aerith or something?"

"Well, Link, you wanted to follow your heart, so why shouldn't I do the same?" replied Cloud, sounding very defensive as the pressure was starting to mount. Poor Cloud couldn't take it anymore, as he left his room. "Just leave me alone..."

"Now wait just a minute, Cloud!" Captain Falcon said to the swordsman, who brushed past the racer and stormed down the hallway. "Aw man, it was just starting to get good..."

The "boys" - Pit, Kirby, Incineroar, Sonic, Crash, and Lloyd (and Aku, if you wish to include him) - were in Radiant Garden, and were welcomed inside the large castle known as Hollow Bastion. They were granted access by Ienzo, who was one of the scientists working inside the castle.

"Believe it or not, I used to be part of Organization XIII," Ienzo explained to the boys, telling them his life story in the castle's library. Everyone was listening save for Crash, who was snoring away and getting slobber on his pants. "Well, the original Organization. I used to go by Zexion."

"Did your fellow members refer to you as Zexy?" inquired Sonic, as Ienzo frowned at the blue hedgehog. The name Zexy brought up some rather unflattering memories for Ienzo. "Um, carry on..."

"Anyway, most of the work I did for the Organization as Zexion took place in Castle Oblivion; it was there that I met my end as a Nobody when that Riku Replica absorbed all of my power."

"Speaking of replicas, we came here looking for one," Kirby stated to Ienzo, who raised his eyebrows with much intrigue. Ienzo found it fascinating that Kirby and company knew about replicas, despite being from another universe.

"You know about replicas? Who told you about them?" Ienzo believed that the boys possessed a heightened knowledge - a kind of knowledge that was rare to find anywhere else.

"Some forensics chick named Ema Skye," answered Pit, and judging by the look on Ienzo's face, Ema Skye's name didn't ring a bell. "She was persuaded into working for the Organization once."

"Ema Skye? I'm not sure if I'm familiar with that name. Any chance that she's friends with Luigi? What about Marth?"

"She's acquainted with them...I guess." Acquaintance seemed like the best way to describe Ema's relationship with Luigi and Marth.

"Hmm...good enough for me. Luckily for you, my lab partner Even might have a spare replica you can borrow. I'll go see if he's busy."

Ienzo: Still think that "bandicoot" is an alien, and his elegance is severely lacking. Only wears pants and shoes, the absolute madman. But aside from him, Luigi's friends are very friendly. Also, why are you so interested in recording my response? Why are you videotaping me...?

"So, Pit, now that we're here and all..." Lloyd said to Pit, acting all casual as he stretched out his arms. "...aren't you gonna tell me about this whole Aerith Revival Project crap?"

"You know, now would be a good time," Aku suggested to Pit, who rolled his lips as his nervousness came in the form of small sweat droplets on his face. "Don't be like Cloud and hold on out on the truth!"

"Oh yeah, Cloud! That guy never found out what happened with our money." The longer Cloud had dragged things on, the more that Lloyd's respect for the swordsman had eroded. "Bet he didn't care enough to investigate."

"Or, Cloud knows what happened, but is too chicken to tell ya," said Sonic, before winking at Pit and nudging the angel in his side. Sonic was trying to get the truth out of Pit's lips, one way or another.

"So which one is it?" Lloyd asked Pit, knowing how much the angel engaged with Cloud the past few weeks. Pit's entire forehead was sweaty. "Did Cloud investigate at all, or was he just hiding the truth from us?"

"...it could be both," answered Pit, but the angel knew that answer simply wouldn't work on Lloyd. He had to tell Lloyd the truth, straight up. "But the truth of the matter is, Lloyd, is that..."

"Oh no!" shouted Dilan, scaring the boys as he entered the library. Pit and the others looked on in fear...only for Dilan to simply adjust a crooked painting on the wall. "Ah, there we go. That was bothering me."

"Who the heck is that supposed to be?" Sonic asked Dilan as he pointed at the man in the painting. Pit let out a sigh of relief, grateful that he could hold out on telling Lloyd the truth...for now.

"This man in the painting? That's Xehanort - he used to conduct his studies here, under Ansem the Wise. But then he banished Ansem into darkness and stole his name...I'd rather not go into details, there's a lot to explain."

"Oh so that's why that Ansem guy we saw a few years back was evil, it was all because of Xehanort!" It was at this point that Dilan realized keeping his mouth shut was an excellent decision. "Now it makes sense."

"Yes...yes it does make sense..." Dilan meekly walked away and returned to his bodyguard duties; anything else that Sonic and the others wished to know, Dilan would let Ienzo explain.

Cloud was outside the mansion, inspecting the sack of stones that Minato had dropped and making sure that the stones weren't broken. The swordsman saw Mario pull up into his driveway, and darted behind the mansion to avoid any suspicion.

"We're finally home," Mario announced to Reaper and Tawna, the occupants of his car...before he reached down below and grabbed a doughnut, eating it. "Good-a thing we stopped by Krispy Kreme on our way here, right?"

"Please excuse Mario's behavior," Cappy said to Reaper to Tawna, as Mario was now sipping from a cup of coffee. Out of a plastic straw, no less. "He tends to be very...hungry when there's stuff going down."

"We can tell..." said a disgruntled Reaper, as he and an equally disgruntled Tawna both got out of Mario's car. "...knew that riding with Mario was a mistake."

"To be fair, he never even gave us an option," responded Tawna as she closed her car door - by kicking it with her foot. The bandicoot just preferred to do things her way. "He was worried about leaving us behind! Ha!"

Mario: Krispy Kreme is doing this thing where-a if you get vaccinated for the coronavirus, you get a year's-a supply of free doughnuts. But I'll have you know, I didn't get vaccinated just for the doughnuts. I'm an actually decent and-a caring human being, not like those fools that need-a to be incentivized to do things. *pauses, then takes a bite from his doughnut* The doughnuts are nice, though.

Daisy: Luigi told Mario about that free doughnuts thing a few weeks after Mario got vaccinated. Which was kinda funny, because beforehand Luigi was mostly on the fence about getting the shot. Then he heard about those free doughnuts from Krispy Kreme...now he's hoping for Dunkin' Donuts to do the same thing! If some popular pizza chain does the whole "get the vaccine for free food" thing, then I'll be happily content with knowing that America is going down the tube. Gotta keep the fat American stereotype ongoing.

"Is he still inside the car?" frowned Reaper, seeing that only he, Tawna, and even Cappy were outside. To his chagrin, Reaper saw Mario still sitting in his car, eating more doughnuts. "Starting to think that I should've gone solo..."

"FREEZE!" a certain police detective shouted to Reaper, who saw Naoto positioned at the front of the mansion. Naoto was holding a gun at Reaper, and she wasn't afraid to use it. "Stand your ground!"

"I know you aren't talking to me..." Reaper took out his shotguns, ready for a Wild West-style showdown...only to be ambushed by Kanji. Kanji tackled Reaper to the ground, causing the mercenary to drop his shotguns while holding his hands behind his back.

"Sheesh, Reaper, this is the second time you've been attacked today," Cappy said to the mercenary, as he and Tawna watched Kanji wrangle Reaper. "Today must not be your day!"

"Hold up, Naoto...I don't think this is one of the scientist dudes," Kanji said to the police detective as he stopped wrangling Reaper. Reaper threw the delinquent off of him. "It's just Reaper."

"True, but he's associated with Moira O'Deorian," responded Naoto as she came over to Kanji. Reaper angrily stood up and dusted himself off. "So he could be up to no good."

"Up to no good, huh?" Reaper confronted Naoto, but not before he gathered his shotguns. He needed those guns for intimidation purposes. "I'll have you know that I'm trying to stop Moira, rather than help her..."

"Wait, you're trying to stop Moira?" Naoto wasn't sure what to make of this information, assuming that Reaper was just playing games with her. "But if that's the case..."

"This is UNBELIEVABLE!" boomed Mario as he (finally) got out of his car, dusting the donut crumbs off his mouth as he made his way over to the others. "You guys had the nerve-a to leave me behind! Even you, Cappy?"

"You were taking too long," Cappy said truthfully to Mario, before taking a look at the plumber's belly to see if it got any bigger. Eating doughnuts in surplus could really fill you up. "We got stuff to do, man!"

"Yes I know, Cappy, but the least-a that you guys could've done was to wait-a for me. First, you turn down-a the free doughnuts, that I offered..."

"Wait, Mario...you brought Reaper and the bandicoot chick to the mansion?" Kanji asked the plumber, who nodded his head. Never did Kanji imagine that he would see Mario and Reaper working together. "So you know about Reaper's plan?"

"To stop-a Cloud? Yes, I'm aware. I knew about Cloud's plan for some-a time now...he even stopped by my house-a to discuss it with me!"

"And now, after a change of heart, Mario's gonna put an end to Cloud's whole charade," added Tawna, smirking as she put her hand on her hip. "So, it looks like we all have a pretty common goal..."

"Are you Crash and Coco's older sister?" Kanji asked Tawna, having never seen the blonde bandicoot before. Tawna was puzzled for a brief moment, while Naoto pinched the crown of her nose.

"Let's save the stupid questions for later..." said Naoto, who didn't have enough in her to be fully embarrassed by Kanji's ignorance. "...how about we just get down to business?"

"First things first, we gotta put an end-a to that time machine," stated Mario, as he looked towards the door that led to the basement. "Moira and N. tropy should-a be in the basement."

With Fox and Falco's time-traveling phones not working, N. Tropy was looking for another way to contact the pilots. The master of time was going to work down in the basement, crafting some device that could be used to call Fox and Falco's regular phones. Or just any phone in general.

"No need to rush, take your time," Moira advised N. Tropy, as she and Krystal were watching the master of time do his thing. Krystal had faith that N. Tropy would be able to reach out to Fox (and Falco) soon.

"Work out all the kinks if you have to," Krystal said to N. Tropy; the vixen had yet to entertain the thought of raising Marcus by herself, without Fox around.

"Eureka! I'm finished!" N. Tropy announced in a jovial tone, as he was putting the finishing touches on his device. Once he was done, N. Tropy held the device up for Moira and Krystal to see. "At last, it is done! With this, we can finally..."

N. Tropy would soon be interrupted when Tawna kicked the outside door to the basement wide open. Tawna stood in the basement entrance, as Mario, Reaper, Naoto, and Kanji joined her.

"Moira...we need to talk," Reaper said to the geneticist, who was appalled with the mercenary for trying to stop her.

"It's the end of the line, N. Tropy!" Tawna yelled at the master of time, as she pointed at him defiantly. N. Tropy furrowed his brow.

"Yeah, you're going down, Whiskers!" Kanji followed up on Tawna, as N. Tropy felt some type of way about the moniker that Kanji used. In fact, the master of time was seething.

"Do not...call me...WHISKERS!" boomed N. Tropy - in his fit of rage, the master of time threw the device he just built on the floor, breaking it in the process. Moira and Krystal gasped collectively.

"Um...was that supposed to happen?" wondered Cappy, as a devastated Krystal fell on one knee - while still holding unto Marcus. "Krystal, why are you taking this too personally?"

"We needed that device to reach out to Fox and Falco..." explained Krystal; it was about time that the vixen acknowledged Falco's existence. "...and now N. Tropy might have to start all over again."

"We gave Fox and Falco phones that they could use to contact us, while they went back in time," Moira explained to Mario and company as N. Tropy, realizing the damage he had done, scrambled to gather up all the broken pieces of his devices. "Their phones don't seem to be working..."

"Did Cloud show any care for their predicament?" Reaper asked Krystal, who solemnly shook her head no. "So no sympathy or anything?" Krystal shook her head once more. "Yup...Cloud has completely lost it."

Reaper: Fox and Falco have already gone back in time...that's not a good thing. Wished they could've turned down the whole time-traveling crap, but they were probably too nice to say no to Cloud. Good guys always finish last; Fox and Falco must be really comfortable always sitting in last place.

"Can't you just, I dunno, bring them-a back with the Rift Generator?" Mario asked N. Tropy, thinking that time travel was simple. Or at least he thought it was simple from some of the movies he had watched.

"We would, but we don't know what condition they are in," replied N. Tropy, as he placed the pieces of the broken device on Moira's desk. "That is why communication with them is imperative."

"Mario! I think I have an idea," Cappy said to the plumber, before whispering something in the plumber's ear. Mario nodded his head continuously, hearing what Cappy had to say.

"I can barely hear him," Ryuji whispered to Naoto, as Cappy's whispers were too low for the delinquent to hear. "Can you decipher what he's saying to Mario?"

"Do I look like some kind of translator?" an annoyed Naoto whispered back, as Kanji cautiously backed away for good measure. Once he was done whispering to Mario, Cappy went back on Mario's head, as Mario approached Moira.

"I know of a way to reach-a out to Fox and Falco...physically, that is," Mario said to Moira, who raised an eyebrow in intrigue. "Just need some help-a from a mask friend of ours..."

"You don't mean Uka, do you?" N. Tropy asked Mario, as he recalled Uka using all the energy inside of him to power on the Rift Generator. "Is he no longer incapacitated?"

"Perhaps, but he should-a be awake again. Cortex should have found a way to bring-a Uka back to his senses by now."

Cortex hadn't restored Uka's strength...but the evil genius was working on it, along with Dr. Wily. Cortex and Wily spoke with Ashley, hoping that the young witch had a remedy for Uka.

"Waking up Uka requires the right spell," Ashley explained to Cortex and Wily, as she was going through a plethora of spellbooks in her room. "So, sorry that I have to keep you two waiting."

"If Uka was awake, he'd be complaining about how bored he felt," stated Cortex, who at times found Uka's dormancy as a positive. Never had to worry about being bullied all the time. "Why, he would blame me for no reason!"

"I'm starting to think that you have no spine whatsoever," Wily said to Cortex, who looked extremely hurt; Wily just shrugged in response. "Hey, I'm just calling it as I see it..."

"Aha! I've found the spell," announced Ashley, as Cortex and Wily gathered close to the young witch. Ashley placed the spellbook that had the spell on the floor, as she memorized the spell.

"Okay, Ashley - do your thing!" Cortex told the young witch, as he held Uka in front of him. Focusing her attention on Uka, Ashley closed her eyes as she waved her magic wand around, emitting magic.

"Alakazam, alatrazain...make Uka alive again!" After waving her magic wand a few necessary times, Ashley cast her spell on Uka. Ashley, Cortex, and Wily waited for a couple of seconds...and Uka didn't wake up.

"...what?" uttered a disappointed Wily, seeing that Uka was still lifeless. Even Ashley herself was disappointed, glancing at her wand in confusion. "Ashley, that spell didn't even work!"

"It did practically nothing!" growled Cortex, wishing that he had legal grounds to strangle Ashley to no end. "If you ran a spell-casting business, I would definitely give you a bad review!"

"Meh, I'd give my business a bad review myself," shrugged Ashley, speaking in a very self-deprecating tone. But it wasn't over for Cortex and Wily just yet. "Since that spell didn't work, we can go with a second option..."

"A second option?!" questioned Cortex, he and Wily getting all excited again as they leaned in close to Ashley. "Do tell!"

"Give me some personal space, will you?" Fulfilling Ashley's request, Cortex and Wily backed away. "So I actually made a potion not so long ago, but only because Corrin begged me for one. It's a potion that can bring any living being back to its senses."

"Okay...and you believe that Corrin still has this potion with him?" asked Wily, fearing that Corrin of all people was his and Cortex's last hope.

"He should have some potion left over. I'd highly recommend speaking with him."

Ashley: The only time I give potions these days is typically for emergency reasons. I gave Corrin a revitalizing potion since he wanted to revive some stupid dead frog that he found on the side of the road. Turns out he just wanted to make a good impression on his daughter. Show-off...

The Phantom Thieves were rummaging through Cloud's palace, and along the way, they had to put up with many obstacles. Those obstacles being the Shadows...and Ryuji's horrible singing.

"Aw yeah, we're gonna take Cloud down, gonna show him we're the best in town..." Ryuji sang, as his friends had to subject themselves to the poor singing. "We're so cool, stealing hearts is what we do..."

"My ears have never been in so much pain before," remarked Haru, wondering what she had done to deserve such auditory torture. Nonetheless, she and the others pressed on, hoping to find some kind of Treasure soon.

"Would you look at this..." said Joker, as he and the Phantom Thieves came to a stop when they arrived at what appeared to be some kind of altar. Interestingly enough, the altar strongly resembled the one where Aerith was killed by Sephiroth.

"Didn't Aerith die at the altar?" asked Morgana, as the Phantom Thieves looked around the altar for any clues. "The resemblance here is very uncanny!"

"We must be one step closer to finding the treasure," assumed Makoto, searching for any sign of some Shadows. They might show up out of nowhere at any given minute. "Futaba, do you know if we're getting close?"

"We're on the right track, it seems," replied Futaba, as she took a glance at her trusty Metaverse Navigator. "Just have to keep on pressing forward!"

The boys were waiting around for Ienzo, and some of them had wandered off in the castle. Pit, Kirby, and Incineroar, for instance, went to the castle's laboratory, where they saw Sonic and Crash fiddling around with a computer.

"Be careful, you two," Aku advised Sonic and Crash, as the former was typing away on the keyboard. "You don't wanna break that computer!"

"What, do we look like two old guys who never used technology before?" retorted Sonic, who was causing a bunch of dialog boxes to appear on the computer screen - much to Aku's dismay. "Not like we're gonna give this computer a virus or something!"

Sonic: So, out of my own curiosity, I took a peek behind that painting Dilan adjusted earlier, and saw a bunch of Disney Princess names. Princess Jasmine, Snow White, Cinderella...whoever runs this place must have a very weird fetish. Even worse, I even saw Kairi's name on the wall! Sora won't be happy to know that his girl is being admired by a potential pedophile.

"Sup guys, what are you up to?" Pit asked Sonic and Crash, as he and his pals came over to the two buds. "Trying to unlock the secrets of the universe?"

"Eh, I guess so," shrugged Sonic, who had opened up a whole bunch of dialog boxes. Each one of them containing indecipherable jargon. "I was just typing away and junk, and now I got all these boxes on the screen!"

"Yes, and you should close out all of them at once," advised Aku, as Sonic did not appreciate the floating mask talking to him like he was his parent. "What if Ienzo sees you terrorizing that computer?"

"What if...what if...always so hung up on hypotheticals, Aku." Soon Lloyd arrived at the laboratory, relieved to see the rest of the boys.

"There you guys are!" the swordsman exclaimed as he ran over to the boys. The nervousness that Pit once had made an unexpected return. "I went looking for you all, but got lost at some tram station."

"This castle has a tram station?!" asked Kirby, left wondering what other kinds of perks Hollow Bastion had. "Nobody tell Master Hand about our visit...we don't need him getting any ideas."

"So Pit, are you gonna tell me all about the Aerith Revival Project?" Lloyd asked the angel as he rubbed his hands together in anticipation. Pit saw that question coming from a mile away, as he nervously gulped.

"Um, yes, sure..." replied Pit, taking a deep breath as he started to sweat. The angel had nowhere to run; he was stuck. "So the Aerith Revival Project...it was started by Cloud..."

"I mean, yeah, I figured that much - it has Aerith in the name, for crying out loud. But is it a bad thing? Why did Sonic leave the project?"

"You should ask Sonic yourself..." Pit brought Lloyd's attention to Sonic...and Sonic shook his head to Lloyd as he threw his hands up.

"Nah, I'm not telling Lloyd anything," Sonic stated to Pit, as he didn't have it in him to potentially break Lloyd's heart. "This one's on you, fam."

"Ah, I see you all have found our laboratory," said Ienzo as he arrived at the laboratory, standing at the entrance. "Sorry for keeping you waiting - Even was very busy. And so was Ansem the Wise."

"Did you say...Ansem the Wise?" questioned Kirby, as he couldn't imagine Ansem being anything other than evil. Little did the pink puffball know that he was thinking about the wrong person.

"Even! Ansem the Wise! Luigi and Marth's friends are in the lab!" Ienzo turned around and called out, as two men wearing lab coats soon entered the laboratory. One had platinum blonde hair; the other had blonde hair, and also wore a red scarf that made him look regal.

"So these are Luigi's companions," said the scientist with the red scarf, as he took the time to observe the boys. "They seem like a very diverse bunch. That plumber must know how to get around!"

"Wait, which one of you is Ansem?" Sonic asked the two scientists, as the red scarfed man raised his hand. "Yeah, you were there when the Organization tried to invade Seattle! I'm gonna take you down!"

"No, Sonic, wait!" Ienzo called out to the hedgehog, who lunged at the red scarfed scientist only to be held back by Incineroar. "This isn't the Ansem that you might've seen in the past. This here is the real Ansem - Ansem the Wise."

"Yes, the Ansem you met before was merely a Heartless," confirmed the red scarfed man - the original Ansem. Incineroar gently placed the slightly convinced Sonic on his feet. "Ansem, Seeker of Darkness. I understand if it might be confusing, but most of it was my fault."

"So these are the 'friends' that came from Seattle?" the other scientist, Even, asked Ienzo as he was giving the boys judging looks. "How could that nervous wreck of a plumber and his androgynous 'hero-king' have friends?"

"Be nice, Even..." frowned Ienzo, as Even grumbled and folded his arms. Ansem approached the boys, slowly taking a liking towards them.

"Ienzo informed me that you all came here looking for a replica," Ansem said to the boys, exuding reality as he held his hand behind his back. "But first I must ask...who brought you into our world?"

"It was Dr. Wily who did it, Sir Ansem," answered Aku; Ansem usually wasn't addressed as sir, even by his apprentices, but Aku thought that it was a perfect fit for the scientist. "He built this machine that can transport anyone to this universe."

"Dr. Wily was also in cahoots with the Organization," added Pit, as Ansem raised an eyebrow in much intrigue. "He was working alongside your evil brother who happens to share your name!"

"Heartless," Ienzo corrected Pit, while also wanting to remind the angel that Ansem was also the Heartless of Xehanort. Pit wouldn't understand regardless.

"I see...and why do you need this replica?" inquired Ansem, asking the boys the million-dollar question. "Does your universe has metaphysical hearts, too?"

"...not quite, but a friend of ours, Ema Skye, needs one," explained Sonic - even he didn't know why Ema needed a replica. "She was jiving with the Organization as well."

"Sounds like you've had quite a history with the Organization," Even said to the boys, as held his hand over his mouth. "Though I could not for the very life of me wonder why they chose to fiddle around with you miscreants..."

"Hey, who are you calling miscreants?!" a highly offended Pit shouted at Even, while Crash stood next to the angel picking his ear and nose...at the same time. It disgusted Even greatly.

"Don't be rude to our guests, Even," Ansem scolded the scientist, who backed away slightly in fear. Ansem clearly had the ability to intimidate others.

"Did you say that you're friends with Ema Skye?" Even asked Sonic, as he was forced to play nice with the blue hedgehog and the others. Sonic nodded his head, as Even found himself fascinated. "Yes...I may have discussed my replica program with Miss Skye, back when I was a Nobody."

"Cool, so does that mean you'll give us a replica?" Sonic asked Even, who looked towards Ansem; only Ansem had the final say.

"If that is what you desire, then we will be happy to give you one," replied Ansem as he gave the boys a warm smile. "We should have a spare replica in our collection."

Although Chrom appreciated the remarks from his family about his rhubarb pie (even though they were all fronting for him), the prince needed a second opinion. So he invited Corrin and Kana to the dining room to taste test his pie...and one of them apparently liked it! Guess who it was.

"See? Told you that Corrin would enjoy my pie," Chrom said to Raven and Lucina, who were both gathered with the prince as Corrin happily ate his slice of rhubarb pie. Raven shook her head, as she felt disappointed in Corrin.

"For some strange reason..." mumbled Raven as she rolled her eyes, while Chrom looked on beaming proudly at Corrin. Meanwhile, Kana had yet to take a nibble from her slice of pie.

Raven: How did I get out of eating Chrom's pies? Simple - I just told him that I was allergic to rhubarb. Obviously, that's not true, but if I tell Chrom that I'm medically exempt from jogging with him or something like that, he'll believe me without question. It's truly done me wonders.

"One more slice of pie, good sir!" Corrin requested of Chrom, who happily gave the prince another slice of his rhubarb pie. Corrin ate his slice of pie, as two geniuses were standing behind him.

"Today would be nice, Corrin..." Wily said to the prince, as he and Cortex were waiting on Corrin to be done devouring Chrom's pie. Corrin was really wasting their time.

"Dr. Wily, Cortex, you must try out this delicious pie!" Corrin said to the two, as a bored Kana yawned with her eyelids getting heavy. "It's like a kiss from a goddess inside your mouth..."

"Screw that stupid pie!" shouted Cortex as he took out his ray gun and fired a shot at Corrin's slice of pie. Corrin and Chrom collectively gasped as the slice of pie disintegrated.

"What was that for?" Corrin frowned at Cortex, getting up out of his chair so he could give the evil genius a piece of his mind. "If you wanted a slice so bad, you could've just asked Chrom."

"We're not in the mood for pie...especially if it's Chrom's pie," Wily stated to Corrin, as Chrom had his feelings hurt by the robot inventor. "Ashley said that you gave a potion, is that correct?"

"We need it to wake up Uka," Cortex explained to Corrin, as he held up Uka for the prince to see. "He's been out of commission for the longest now. And as weird as this might sound...I kinda miss him."

"No wonder things around here have been quieter," Chrom murmured to Lucina and Raven; the prince wondered why life at the mansion was peaceful as of late, and now he knew the answer.

"You must mean the revitalizing potion," assumed Corrin, as Wily and Cortex both smiled and nodded their heads. "Well, you came to the right person, because I still have a full bottle!"

"A full bottle?!" exclaimed Cortex, who expected Corrin to have maybe a swig of the potion left. "That is exactly what we need!"

Corrin: Technically it's not a full bottle...but it's close to full. Used a few drops on the potion to revive a dead frog I found, but it didn't work. Poor frog must've been homicidal, and wanted to stay dead.

"Dr. Cortex...I've found-a you," Mario said to the evil genius, as he came inside the dining room slurping down some noodles. With him were Reaper and Tawna, who were both annoyed by the plumber's lack of urgency.

"It's her again...hide me!" Cortex said to Wily the moment he saw Tawna, as he quickly hid behind the robot inventor. Wily stood where he was, as Mario approached him.

"Must you keep on eating like this, Mario?" Reaper asked the plumber, who finished off his bowl of noodles as tossed it on the dining room table. "I mean, come on..."

"I have a problem with stress-a eating, okay?!" Mario snapped on Reaper, before turning his attention to Wily. Cortex slowly poked his head out. "Cortex, is Uka still...you know?"

"Y-Yes, yes he is," confirmed Cortex, recollecting his fortitude as he appeared from behind Wily with Uka in his hands. "I take it that you miss Uka, too?"

"...not quite, but we need-a him to handle some business. Some time-traveling business..." The moment that Mario mentioned time travel, Lucina perked up.

"Let me guess, is Cloud involved?" the princess asked Mario, who nodded his head in response; Lucina sighed. "I should have known..."

"Fox and Falco went-a back in time to get a DNA sample," Mario explained the situation to everyone in the dining room, letting them in on what was going on. "Apparently, their communication devices...don't-a work, so they're kinda stuck."

"This is why time travel is a bad thing," stated Wily, who was ready to go on a long-winded lecture about how dangerous time-traveling was. "Every bad thing that could happen will happen!"

"Dr. N. Tropy can't bring-a those two back without knowing their current-a condition, so we need a way to rescue-a them. Which is why we need Uka."

"Nothing like a revitalizing potion to make Uka alive again," said Corrin, overjoyed over the prospect of being a hero. Could be a good showing for Kana. "Should have that potion somewhere in my room."

"Can I go back in time with them, papa?" Kana asked Corrin, allured by the concept of time traveling. Wily was silently discouraging Corrin from saying yes.

"I'm sorry, little one, but time-traveling is simply too dangerous." Kana lowered her head in sadness, as Wily let out a huge sigh of relief. "Leave this one to the others."

"Father, can I go with them?" Lucina asked Chrom, not even bothering to ask let alone include her own mother Raven. Some daughter she was.

"You don't have to ask me for permission," smiled Chrom, proud that he had a daughter who could travel through time. It even made him feel better about some of his...fatherly shortcomings.

It was getting very lonesome for Aerith and E. Gadd, as the two remained in the bunker waiting for Cloud to return. Aerith was humming a happy tune to herself, to soothe her boredom, when she heard the footsteps of a certain swordsman. Gasping happily, the flower girl turned around...and saw Cloud.

"Cloud! You finally returned!" gleamed Aerith as she ran to the swordsman and hugged him. E. Gadd, who was sitting in a corner of the bunker, shared in Aerith's happiness as he gave a toothy smile.

"Hi, Aerith, E. Gadd - sorry for keeping you waiting," Cloud greeted the flower girl and inventor, as Aerith ended the hug. "You have no idea how hard it was to make it back here...felt like a ninja. Like Yuffie."

"Is that what I think it is?" E. Gadd asked Cloud as he pointed at the sack the swordsman was holding. Cloud held up the sack, as he walked over to E. Gadd.

"It's got what you want." Cloud dropped the sack in the hands of E. Gadd, who felt like a very relieved man. "Someone threw the sack out of the window, but the contents inside didn't break."

"Ooh! Is whatever inside that bag part of the surprise?" Aerith asked Cloud, eager to know what was inside the sack. Both Cloud and E. Gadd exchanged looks, not knowing exactly how to respond.

"Well...it's got something to do with it." Suddenly, a loud thud was heard from upstairs, along with a rumble that shook the foundation of Mario's house. Cloud and company almost lost their balance. "Was that some kind of explosion...?"

Cloud, Aerith, and E. Gadd ran to Mario's living room to investigate, and upon arrival, they looked up and saw a large hole in the roof. In the living room were Peach, Spyro, and Hunter...who were all standing around and staring at Eggman, who was lying on the floor in pain.

"I see stars...and flying foxes," mumbled a dizzy Eggman, writhing in pain from the fall. The mad scientist rolled over on his back, revealing a squashed Kamek who got it pretty, pretty bad.

"My internal organs are screaming in pain..." moaned Kamek, who was flat as a pancake thanks to Eggman's weight; the Magikoopa soon inflated back to his original size.

"Oh, dear...I just bought that living room table," said Peach as she saw her newly purchased living room table now in pieces. She was treating that table like it was her child.

"Really, princess? That's your biggest concern?" Spyro frowned at Peach, who was picking up a few pieces of the broken table. "Not the giant piece of lard that crashed through our roof?"

"Shut up, pipsqueak dragon..." Eggman told Spyro, recognizing the purple dragon's voice; he was sure to give Spyro a piece of his mind in the future.

Peach: That living room table nearly cost me a fortune - a hundred and five dollars, the most I've ever spent on any living room furniture! Eggman better hope that he has a big bank account.

"Is everyone okay?" Cloud asked everyone in the living room not named Eggman and Kamek. Poochy came over to lick Eggman's face, as Eggman pushed the dog away. "Nobody hurt?"

"We're all fine," answered Peach, wondering how she was going to explain to Mario how the living room table was destroyed.

"Someone must've flung Eggman into this house..." assumed Spyro, analyzing the damage that was done...and the purple dragon knew who was responsible. "...Sephiroth. He must be around here."

"Is he really? I don't hear any boss music," said Hunter...only for Sephiroth to slowly descend through the hole in the roof. Hunter shrieked at the sight of the one-winged angel. "OH NO YOU GUYS, IT'S SEPHIROTH!"

"Cloud...what a coincidence seeing you here," Sephiroth said to the swordsman in question, whom Hunter hid behind in fear. Cloud glared at Sephiroth, watching as the one-winged angel descended to the floor.

"Alright, Sephiroth, what were you doing with Dr. Eggman and Kamek?" Cloud asked the one-winged angel, who glanced at E. Gadd and had the inventor shivering in fear.

"I don't know, Cloud...why don't you take a look outside?" Sephiroth walked to the front door and opened it, before gesturing to the others. "Come and see for yourselves..."

"See what for ourselves?" asked Spyro as he and Peach looked outside - and saw a damaged machine lying in Mario's front yard. "Woah? What is that?!"

"Oh, just a machine that I saw Eggman working on at his lair." E. Gadd came over to the front door to see, and he gasped out of shock. "I knew there was something fishy about Cloud wanting Eggman at the mansion that one day..."

"You knew all along, didn't you Sephiroth?" Cloud asked the one-winged angel, who smirked in response. Sephiroth appreciated Cloud for knowing him too well - just like how any arch-nemesis would.

"As I've said before Cloud...I'm always watching you. Even when you least expect it. My condolences that me wrecking the machine had to put a wrench in your little project."

"What project is he talking about, Cloud?" Aerith asked the swordsman, who was gritting his teeth at Sephiroth. Cloud did not appreciate the mention of the project one bit.

"The project isn't over just yet..." replied Cloud, ignoring Aerith's question as he brushed past Sephiroth and exited the house. Sephiroth allowed Cloud to leave, as he was still smirking.

"You can run Cloud...but you cannot hide," the one-winged angel remarked as he left the house. Likely to go stalk after Cloud.

"So Cloud has a project now?" Aerith asked, still dying to know what the big surprise was as Eggman sat up on the floor. "Is his surprise part of it, or...?"

After finding the revitalizing potion in his room, Corrin went to the living room where Mario, Reaper, Tawna, Cortex, Wily, Naoto, Kanji, Lucina, and Kana were all present. The lifeless Uka was lying on a couch, as Corrin poured the potion into the mask's mouth.

"Please work, please work, please work..." chanted Cortex, as he and Mario had their fingers crossed. Once the task was done, Corrin took a few steps back, waiting to see if Uka would respond...

"AAAAAAAHHH!" shouted Uka, the floating mask fully reinvigorated as he floated up from the couch. He started gagging a few seconds later. "Blegh! What is this foul liquid in my mouth?"

"Uka! You're back!" rejoiced Cortex, as Uka was bummed out to see the evil genius again. The feeling was far from mutual. "I've missed you so much...but in an endearing way."

"Dang it, Cortex! Why did you let me stay out of commission for so long?" Uka looked around and saw the others looking at him. "And why are you all gawking at me like that? What am I, some kind of freakshow?!"

"He even yelled at me...just like the good old times." Cortex was smiling, as he wiped away a tear from his eye. Lucina tared inquisitively at Cortex like the weirdo that he was.

Lucina: I find it kind of sad that Cortex unironically missed Uka verbally abusing him. His life truly is a mess.

"Uka, we have some bad-a news," Mario informed the floating mask, who tried his best to care. "Fox and Falco went-a back in time, and something happened, and they need-a to be rescued!"

"Went back in time because of the Rift Generator?" asked Uka, before he started laughing at Fox and Falco's plight. "Those two would find themselves stuck in the past, wouldn't they? Those fools!"

"Can you like, open up a time portal so these guys can reach the pilots?" Naoto asked Uka, who wondered if he could open up a time portal - while also considering if he even felt like helping Mario and the others.

"I might have some of the technology from the Generator infused in me...so I could open up a rift that leads specifically to where Fox and Falco are. Wouldn't hurt to give it a shot."

"I asked Dr. N. Tropy for some-a coordinates," Mario said to Uka as he showed the floating mask some coordinates that N. Tropy wrote down on a sticky note. Uka took the time to memorize them. "Not sure-a if they'll help."

"Eh, they'll do. Stand back, everyone..." So Mario and the others backed away, as the reenergized Uka mustered all the energy inside of him. Soon enough, he opened up a giant rift in the living room.

"Wow! So cool!" marveled Kanji, acting like a little kid as he fangirled over the feat that Uka had pulled. Naoto tried not to feel embarrassed.

"Hope this leads us to the right spot," said Reaper, as he and Tawna went through the rift. Mario and Lucina went in afterward, and Cortex was next to go.

"Do you want to come along with, Uka?" Cortex asked the floating mask, as he had one foot inside the rift. The look on Uka's face was very self-explanatory to Cortex.

"And be seen by strangers with the likes of you?" questioned Uka, who cared a lot about his public image. "Go, go I say!" So Cortex entered the rift, as Uka sighed in relief.

"We're gonna stick around, and make sure this portal thing doesn't go away," Kanji said to Uka, him and Naoto opting to stay behind. A very fine choice.

"Good," replied Uka, before turning his attention to Corrin and Kana. Kana, who had never seen Uka before, found the mask very scary. "Corrin, take me to the basement. Want to see how the Rift Generator is handling itself..."

Corrin and Kana guided Uka to the basement, and at the basement door, they saw the foursome of Dingodile, Ty, Zeke, and Pandoria. The four were waiting for Cloud to return, and to pass the time, they were playing a game of thong pass...but not with the kind of thongs you're thinking of. Get your mind out of the gutter.

"Here it goes!" shouted Zeke, before he threw a thong sandal down the hallway. The sandal sailed through the air, before nailing Ryu in the head.

"Hey, I'm walking here!" Ryu shouted at Zeke, who apologetically winced as Ryu grumbled to himself and kept on walking.

"Would you say that was a new record, Dingo?" Ty asked Dingodile, who had a small pile of thong sandals sitting at his feet. Carried them all in his imaginary pocket of his.

"I guess so," shrugged Dingodile, before he saw Uka with Corrin and Kana. Dingodile smiled, happy to see the floating mask. "Ah, Master Uka! G'day, mate."

"And a good day to you, Dingodile!" Uka gleamed at the mutant, whom he considered his favorite among Cortex's minions. "How are you doing today?"

"You know me - just hanging in there." As Dingodile and Uka had their conversation, Ty went down the hallway to retrieve the thong...sandal. "Been keeping my eyes peeled for a blonde swordsman bloke you might know..."

"Wait, I think I see him!" announced Ty, who stopped in the middle of the hallway as he saw Cloud coming his way. Cloud was armed with his Buster Sword, and he looked like he was on a quest.

"Spiky hair! You've returned!" yelled Zeke, whipping out his sword as Cloud drew closer to him. "And I see that you've brought your sword. Now, let us fight like men!"

"Move it, Zeke," Cloud said to the Crown Prince, shoving him to the side as he entered the basement. The swordsman went down the stairs and to the Rift Generator.

"My device is sadly beyond repair..." a defeated N. Tropy said to Moira and Krystal, as his communication device was too broken to be fixed. Cloud walked past N. Tropy and to the Generator, as N. Tropy noticed him. "...Cloud, what are you doing?"

"You said that I can access an alternate timeline with this machine, right?" Cloud asked N. Tropy, as he was keying in some coordinates; the swordsman was in desperation mode right now. "How can I access one?"

"Cloud, you shouldn't do this! Fox and Falco are still..." N. Tropy walked to Cloud, to reason with the swordsman, but the master of time stopped when Cloud pointed his Buster Sword at him.

"Put in the right coordinates...now." Valuing his livelihood, N. Tropy helplessly did as he was told and put in the coordinates. Moira and Krystal were taken back by how Cloud was acting.

"He has truly lost it..." Moira whispered to Krystal, as N. Tropy got the Rift Generator up and running. A new portal was created.

"This is a very bad idea, Cloud," N. Tropy warned the swordsman, who wasn't in the mood for listening to anyone. "Having two subjects in the past, and one subject in a different timeline...the Rift Generator won't handle it!"

"Not my problem," replied Cloud, as he was about to step through the portal...before he detected a certain one-winged angel enter the basement. The swordsman turned around and saw Sephiroth at the top of the stairs with his Masamune.

"Trying to play hero, I see..." Sephiroth said to Cloud, who wished for the one-winged angel to just leave him alone. "...quite ironic, since you've been acting the complete opposite."

"Shut up!" Cloud shouted in response, as he ran in through the portal. Sephiroth raced down the stairs and entered the portal afterward...and then the Rift Generator started acting up.

"Oh, dear...I think Sephiroth has done it now," fretted N. Tropy, as the Rift Generator continued to sputter with sparks flying everywhere. Seconds later, the Rift Generator shut down for good. "Welp, it's definitely out of order for sure..."

"Why did he have to do this?" wondered Krystal, as she reflected on Cloud's selfish actions; her hope now was that Mario and the others could rescue Fox...and Falco too, she guessed.

"Dr. N. Tropy!" a voice called out to the master of time, who perked up as Uka floated inside the basement. Uka led those hanging around outside the basement down the stairs. "We all heard some strange noises...what happened?"

"Cloud Strife happened," answered N. Tropy, elated to see Uka alive and well again. "He forced me to open up a portal that led to a different timeline, and in doing so he made the Rift Generator go haywire and shut down!"

"Which leaves Fox and Falco trapped in the past...until Mario can save them," added Krystal, having confidence that Mario and company will rescue Fox and bring him back home.

"Well...how about I open up a rift that leads to this alternate timeline?" Uka suggested to N. Tropy, who was more than down with the idea. "I already opened up one rift for Mario and friends..."

"You did?! Uka, you are a lifesaver!" N. Tropy said to the floating mask; lifesaver was a title that Uka was seldom used to. "Open up a rift this instant!"

Uka: I have the power to open up portals to just about anything. The past, alternate universes, alternate timelines, the quantum realm, the insides of Cortex's anus...Hank Pym is a meager atom compared to the likes of me.

Everyone gave Uka some room, as Uka created a giant rift in the basement. This one took much more energy than the previous one, possibly due to a different timeline and all that jazz.

"I nominate Corrin to retrieve Cloud," Moira volunteered the prince, who looked at the geneticist with a doubting glance. "He's an excellent choice."

"Why me? I can't just leave my daughter behind..." replied Corrin, only for Moira to smile and place her hand on the prince's shoulder.

"You've been absent for most of the duration of the project...this will be your chance to redeem yourself."

"I'll watch over your daughter for you while you're gone," Krystal assured Corrin, who felt cautious as he looked at Kana. Kana smiled, not minding Krystal one bit, and her smile gave Corrin all the confidence he needed.

"We'll go along with you, chum," Zeke told Corrin, wrapped his arm around the prince as he and Pandoria volunteered to go. "Can't set spiky hair straight just by yourself!"

"He has a name, you know..." Moira informed Zeke, who honestly preferred calling Cloud "spiky hair". It was a habit. "...make sure you address him as Cloud Strife when you see him."

"Your request will be fulfilled, my fair lady!" Zeke gave Moira a thumbs up, as he, Pandoria, and Corrin went through the giant rift. Dingodile and Ty were about to enter the rift too, until...

"Hold it right there, you two," N. Tropy held his hand out to Dingodile and Ty, who both stopped in place. N. Tropy slowly turned his head to the Rift Generator. "Something needs to be done here..."

Ansem, Ienzo, and Even found a replica for the boys, having done their due diligence to ensure that said replica was safe and ready for use. The scientists met with the boys outside the castle along with Dilan and Aeleus, ready to see them off.

"Thanks for the replica, you guys," Sonic thanked the three scientists, as he held the replica in his hands. The hedgehog really felt like he was holding a shopping mannequin.

"Take good care of that replica," Ansem advised the boys, happy that he could entertain some visitors for once. "And tell Luigi we said hello. I wonder if he even remembers us..."

"Hey Pit, now that we're leaving and all...are you gonna tell me about the Aerith Revival Project, finally?" Lloyd asked the angel, making him all nervous. Ansem raised an eyebrow in intrigue.

"Sorry, I have short-term memory loss," replied Pit, trying to throw Lloyd off - but Lloyd wouldn't fall for that one. "What's this Aerith Revival Project?"

"You know...the project where Cloud duped you and Lloyd out of your hard-earned money," Sonic said to Pit, whose nervousness had now boiled over. Lloyd had a defeated look on his face.

"We were duped...?" the swordsman asked, not knowing what to think or who to trust anymore. "Tell me he's lying, Pit..."

"...he's telling the truth," Pit sighed, lowering his head as this truth bomb almost devastated Lloyd. "That business seminar, back in January? I only did it to start up a business, all because Cloud wanted $10,000 for a secret project of his. I didn't know at the time..."

"So he was the one who took our $10,000 all along?" Lloyd wanted to smack Cloud so hard right now. "We were both played all this time?!"

"Just so Cloud could have enough money in his effort to revive Aerith." At this point, Pit and Lloyd had Ansem's full attention. "He manipulated the both of us!"

"Reviving people isn't the wisest thing to do," stated Ansem, feeling the need to inject himself into the conversation. "That said, I know why Cloud would want Aerith alive again."

"When we met with Luigi in the town, he told us of his desire to have Aerith at his wedding," Even explained to the boys, as he remembered his encounter with Luigi and Marth. "Since his universe's Aerith was dead. The reason was...he just wanted to make Cloud happy."

"So you think that Cloud is chasing after his own happiness?" asked Pit, slowly starting to see the writing on the wall. "That kinda makes sense..."

"He must be looking for a permanent fix, rather than a temporary one," assumed Ienzo, referring to the fact that Aerith was from an alternate universe. "Having an Aerith that would stick around forever must be his goal."

"Tell me, is that replica used for Aerith?" Ansem asked Sonic, who peered down at the replica in his hands. "Your friend, Ema Skye - does she have a heart she can use to perfect this replica?"

"I think so," replied Sonic, not fully confident in his response. But all signs were pointing to Ema making a replica of some sort.

"She should have crafted an artificial heart," theorized Even; it was likely that he told Ema about artificial hearts when was a Nobody. "That would do just the trick!"

"Perhaps," said Ansem, who would love nothing more than to see the replica completed. "But rest assured...there will be an Aerith back in Radiant Garden, before the end of the day. Right?"

"You can count on that, mister!" replied Sonic, as Crash gave Ansem a heads up. Ansem smiled, as he nodded in response.

"Alright you guys, let's head back home!" exclaimed Pit as he turned around and looked up...and saw the portal back up home in the sky. "Oh...right. Which one of you wants to go first?"

Fox: We're stuck in past Midgar, in the slums, and it's getting really hard to cope. Despite these awful conditions, the people that pass us by look happy to live in this dump! Depressed weirdos, they are...

Fox and Falco remained in the slums of Midgar, with only the company being the cameraman that videotaped the pilots' anguish. Multiple times Fox and Falco tried to get their time-traveling phones to work, but each attempt was futile.

"This sucks...I really miss Marcus," lamented Fox, wishing that he could hold his newborn son and cradle him in his loving arms.

"I miss Marcus too..." Falco lamented as well, as Fox gave the avian pilot a highly concerning glance. "...I mean, in a totally different way."

"You know what, Falco? We should've never went back in time. Who knows if stuff like this would've happened!"

"I'll do you one better...we should've never involved ourselves with Cloud and his stupid project! It was all a waste of our time..."

"Fox, Falco?" Lucina's voice was heard from the distance, as Fox and Falco excitedly stood up. The pilots were overjoyed to see Lucina in the slums, along with Mario and the others.

"Lucina!" Fox squealed the princess's name, as he and Falco ran over to Lucina and embraced her in a hug. They acted like they haven't seen Lucina in a decade or two. "We're so happy that you're alive..."

"Um...why wouldn't I be?" Lucina eyed around the area, feeling relieved once Fox and Falco ended the hug. "We all went back in time to rescue you both."

"You should-a thank Uka," Mario said to the pilots, happy that Uka was able to come through. "He literally opened up a way for us to reach-a you guys."

"Uka actually agreed to help with saving us?!" marveled Falco, not sure of what to believe in anymore. "Somebody pinch me, I must be dreaming!"

"One thing's for sure...the two of us are never traveling though time again," assured Fox, speaking on behalf of himself and Falco. Wily was smiling, as a huge wave of vindication washed over him.

"You two sure are delirious right now," Tawna said to Fox and Falco, who both flinched at the sight of the blonde bandicoot. Tawna laughed it off. "Relax, I'm not gonna kick your butts or anything! How about we take you boys back home?"

"The portal should still be up," said Reaper, as everyone left the premises; a certain group of friends popped up in the mercenary's mind. "Wonder how those Thieves are dealing with Cloud..."

The Phantom Thieves had gone through Cloud's palace, having fought Shadows along the way. Soon they arrived at a church, which had plenty of blossoming flowers in it. Very reminiscent of the church in the slums below Sector 5.

"The treasure is nearby," announced Futaba, taking a glance at her Metaverse Navigator, before she looked up and pointed. "That should be it up there!" The hermit pointed at a guard staff, which was resting against a wall. Question: who did that staff belong to?

"So this must be the treasure," said Joker as he walked over to the guard staff; Ryuji recorded the staff on his camera, panning the camera up and down.

"Oh yeah...this whole video's going up online!" the delinquent said, as Joker frowned and shook his head. Joker was about to grab the guard staff...

"Um, Joker...we got some company!" Kasumi alerted the young man, as the Phantom Thieves saw a figure enter the church. The figure resembled Cloud, except he had yellow eyes, a flowing wed cape, a metal claw on its left hand, and a demonic wing on his back.

This wasn't regular Cloud, of course...this was Cloud's Shadow Self. Just like regular Cloud, the Shadow Self wielded a Buster Sword, which he unsheathed. The Shadow Self was looking for a fight with the Phantom Thieves.

"Ryuji, put the camera down..." commanded Joker as he took out his knife; Ryuji placed the camera on the floor, making sure that it could record the action the way it was positioned. "...it's about time we got down to business."

Corrin, Zeke, and Pandoria were in Midgar...albeit in an alternate timeline, as they were on the hunt for Cloud. And Sephiroth. But it was Cloud that they were focused on. The trio was away from the slums, as they traversed through the city.

"Spiky hair, where are you?" Zeke called out to the swordsman as he walked through the streets. The city folk stared at Zeke like he was crazy. "Come out, come out, wherever you are!"

"'Spiky hair' has a name, you know..." Pandoria reminded Zeke as she wagged her finger at the Blade. Zeke smirked as he waved off his Blade.

"Run, everyone run away!" a man shouted, as a horde of people were running away from...well, something. What could they be running from? A monster? Some mechanical monstrosity? A naked Don Corneo?

"Why are you all running? Why don't you stop and admire me?" Zeke shouted at the retreating city folk, trying not to get lost in the shuffle. He was holding unto Pandoria for dear life.

"How about we see what they're running away from?" Corrin said to Zeke and Pandoria, as he led the two through the rush of humanity. Eventually, Corrin and company reached a highway...

...and there they saw Cloud and Sephiroth, duking it out in the middle of the road with their swords. They were battling it out pretty hard - so much, they must have scared those city folk away.

"Look at what you've become, Cloud..." Sephiroth said to the swordsman, seeing the anger on his face as he dueled with his sword. "...you thought of yourself as a hero, yet you've become a villain to everyone else!"

"That's not true!" Cloud defended himself, before charging at Sephiroth; Sephiroth drew Cloud back with his Masamune before he and the swordsman stared each other down.

"Cloud Strife! At last, we've found you!" Zeke called out to the swordsman, who broke away from Sephiroth as he saw the Crown Prince. He dared not to question how Zeke followed him here.

"You actually know my name?" Cloud was momentarily distracted, as Sephiroth took advantage by sweeping Cloud off the feet with his sword. Cloud fell on his back, dropping his sword.

"Got you right where I want you, Cloud..." Sephiroth pointed his Masamune at Cloud, who backed himself into a highway barrier. "...atone for your sins, and I promise to go easy on you. So what will it be?"

"I don't have to atone for anything." Cloud grabbed Sephiroth's Masamune, trying to push it away from his neck. "I know what I'm..."

Suddenly, Cloud grabbed his head, as he was having some kind of headache. He clutched his head with both hands, seemingly in a world of pain.

"Is he...is he going to be alright?" Corrin asked Sephiroth, as he and the others came closer to the one-winged angel. Sephiroth smiled, knowing what was taking place.

"Yes, he'll be fine...the Thieves have done their deed," Sephiroth responded as he grabbed Cloud, and hoisted the swordsman over his shoulder. "One of you, grab his sword. We are heading back home..."

"Nice sword...Cloud Strife," said Zeke as he grabbed the Buster Sword. Had to muster a lot of strength to do it. "Ah! Even heavier than it looks!"

Krystal was now in the foyer, holding Marcus and watching over Kana. The vixen heard the doorbell rang, and when she answered the front door...she saw the Turks - Reno, Rude, and Elena - standing on the porch.

"Let's just cut to the chase, shall we?" Reno said to Krystal, pounding his nightstick in the palm of his hand. "We're the Turks, you probably knew that already, and we're here to..."

"Does it have to do with a time machine in the basement?" inquired Krystal, as Reno smiled at the vixen with a deep appreciation for her foreknowledge.

"Yeah, that's right, the Rift Generator! We tried to destroy it last week, but we couldn't get the job done. So we asked Shinra for some perks, and..."

"Oh, it's fine...the Rift Generator's been dismantled." This was devastating news to the Turks, as Reno's mouth went agape. "Dr. N. Tropy asked for his generator to be taken apart."

"It's true," confirmed N. Tropy as he showed up in the foyer with Dingodile and Ty...who were both holding parts of the Rift Generator. "I can assure you, we've only just begun with the dismantling..."

"To the backyard, we go!" bellowed Dingodile, as N. Tropy led the mutant and Ty away. Reno still had his mouth agape, as he watched N. Tropy and company walk through the foyer.

N. Tropy: The Rift Generator, which I took the time to build, was nothing more than an instrument of selfishness used by Cloud. The egomania I saw from Cloud, I had never seen from a man of his stature. It was at that moment that I saw the light...wish I had seen it sooner.

Reno: Shinra gave us all this crap to destroy the Rift Generator, and it took us forever to get to the mansion...and what does N. Tropy do? Dismantle the machine. He dismantled it! *throws arms up in defeat* Why?

"Screw you guys..." grumbled Reno, his final remarks as he aggressively slammed the front door. Then the mansion's house phone rang; Krystal went over to pick it up.

"Smash Mansion - this is Krystal speaking," Krystal answered the phone, having no idea who was on the other line. "Who is this?"

"Hey, Krystal...promised to call you, just like I said I would," responded the voice on the other line - a voice that Krystal not only recognized but also heard in her vicinity. Gasping, Krystal turned around...and saw Fox, standing with Falco and Mario.

"Guess-a who made it back home?" Mario said to Krystal, who had tears welling in her eyes. Krystal ran to Fox, as she and the pilot embraced one other in a hug. Marcus was perfectly in the middle of the embracing.

"Oh, Fox, I was worried sick..." said Krystal, tears running down her face as she pushed Falco away from joining in on the family hug. "...thank goodness that you're safe!"

"Think I learned a big lesson today," said Fox, after the hug was over, as he grabbed Marcus and hoisted his kid. "No more time-traveling for me!"

Reaper: We could've made it back to present times sooner...but Mario had to pig out on the way back! We had just found Fox and Falco, what was he so stressed about?!

Mario: Eating food-a from the past shouldn't mess up my stomach...right?

"So do we give this DNA sample to Moira, or what?" Falco asked Fox, as he held up the DNA sample in question. Hearing her name called, Moira came into the foyer and teleported over to Falco.

"I'll be taking this..." the geneticist said to Falco, snatching the sample away from the pilot before teleporting away. Falco just stood there, slightly puzzled.

"Mario! There you are," Ema greeted the plumber as she came down the stairs, with the box from the previous episode. "Mind doing me a solid?"

"Not unless I can-a do you a liquid," replied Mario, in a sad attempt at being funny; Ema grabbed the plumber's hand, and took him away. "Woah, easy there!"

"We're back..." announced Sephiroth, arriving at the foyer with Corrin, Zeke, and Pandoria shortly after Mario and Ema left. The one-winged angel was holding Cloud, who appeared to be unconscious.

"Papa!" squealed Kana, running to Corrin with arms wide open. Kinda like a certain song by the band Creed. Corrin happily picked up Kana, embracing his daughter.

"What happened with him?" Uka asked Sephiroth as he floated over to the one-winged angel. Sephiroth gently placed Cloud on the floor.

"His own selfishness clearly got the better of him," replied Sephiroth, peering down at Cloud's unconscious body. Cloud was really down for the count. "He had a brief mental episode."

"Like a headache, or some kind of PTSD?" The answer was up for Uka's imagination to decide. "It must have been really bad!"

"Most certainly. I'll take Cloud to a mental institution...with Master Hand's permission, of course. The staff workers will know what to do with him."

"You go do your thing. I'm gonna go close the rift in the basement before some freak finds his way through..." So Uka floated to the basement, as Zeke knelt at Cloud's side.

"You are going to be in good hands, Cloud Strife..." Zeke assured the unconscious swordsman, as he patted him on his shoulder; Pandoria also patted Cloud's shoulder, just for added effect.

Having spoken with Ema, Mario went back home, hoping that Peach and the others hadn't missed him too much. Paying no mind to the destroyed machine in his front yard, Mario entered his house...and was surprised to see Eggman, Kamek, and E. Gadd in his living room, speaking with Aerith.

"Oh, so the machine is like a giant, mechanical kaleidoscope!" assumed Aerith, as Mario saw the hole in his ceiling and gasped."

"That's right!" affirmed Eggman, who was feeding Aerith nonsensical info. "Now you're getting it!" Peach, Spyro, and Hunter were listening on, and Spyro was shaking his head the entire time.

Kamek: The machine that Sephiroth totaled was meant to create a clone of Aerith, with past Aerith's DNA. And those stones E. Gadd had were intended to make a memory potion that would transfer Aerith's memories to the clones - which I would've made. Aerith kept asking about the machine, so Eggman and I had to throw her off her scent. It was a challenge.

Eggman: Why, if I knew that working on that cloning machine would result in Sephiroth finding me at my evil lair and beating the snot out of me, I would have never agreed to help Cloud with his project! That $10,000 I spent on buying machine parts could've been used to start my very own swimwear line!

"Dr. Eggman, did you make-a that hole in the ceiling?" Mario asked the mad scientist as he pointed up at the hole. Good thing Eggman was quick-witted.

"Yes, I launched myself from my lair into your house," answered Eggman; Spyro was about to mention Sephiroth, but Peach covered his mouth. "With my new catapult. I meant to target Marth's house instead."

"Mario, where is Cloud?" Aerith concerningly asked the plumber as she stood up from the couch. "He said that he had a surprise for me..."

"Cloud couldn't make it, but he wanted me to give out the surprise," replied Mario, hoping that Aerith was prepared. "And the surprise-a is...you'll be sticking around-a for two more weeks!"

"R-Really?" Aerith was stunned, and so was everyone else in the living room. "But Cloud said that today would be my last day in Seattle."

"It was a trick - your actual last day won't be two weeks-a from now. So don't say your good-a byes just yet."

"Haven't said goodbye to anyone yet, except Peony...but thanks, Mario! Oh, and tell Cloud I said thank you!"

"Got it!" After Mario gave Aerith a thumbs-up, he turned around and gave a thumbs-up in secret...to Ema, who flashed an OK hand signal. Mario had done what Ema asked of him.

Ema went to the tower, hoping that the boys had found a replica. When the forensics expert went to the basement, she saw the boys along with Wily, who was turning off his device.

"Remind me...to never carry...Incineroar again..." an exhausted Pit said to Kirby, sitting on the floor panting. Took a lot in the angel to carry Incineroar through the portal in the sky; it required many attempts.

"Ema!" exclaimed Sonic, as he handed the replica to the forensics expert. "Here's the replica you wanted. Is it the right one?"

"Yup! It's the one I wanted," confirmed Ema, taking off the lid of the box she was holding. Sonic peeked inside the box and was intrigued. "This artificial heart I made should get the Aerith replica done soon."

Ema: What did I use to make the artificial heart? The prototype version was made with a hair strand from Kana; the new one was done with some brain fluid that leaked out of Aerith's nose. (Got it while Aerith was asleep.) Still think that I'm missing one very important ingredient...

"A replica of Aerith, hm?" someone asked Ema, standing behind the forensics expert. Ema shrieked and turned around...and saw Moira. Sonic was on alert.

"Er...yes?" replied Ema, only for Moira to hand the forensics expert Aerith's DNA sample - with a sticky note attached to the test tube. Written on the sticky note was a phone number.

"If you need any assistance...just give my associate, Sombra, a call. She'll relay the message to me." Moira looked to her right and saw Sonic, who was shaking in fear. "You be a good boy, alright Sonic?"

"...y-yes ma'am!" answered Sonic, who expected Moira to backhand him for deserting the project. But it appeared that Moira had moved on...

"I take it that you're through with the project?" Reaper asked Moira, as he joined the geneticist in the basement. Moira smiled as she pointed at the DNA sample that Ema was holding. "Nice...glad you came around. Didn't have to do it myself."

"This young lady seems to have the right intentions," Moira said to Reaper about Ema, eager to see what the Aerith replica looked like. "I can tell that she is nothing like Cloud. I sincerely hope that Cloud will learn the error of his ways..."

The last thing that Cloud remembered, he was on a highway, with Sephiroth standing over him with his blade. The swordsman finally woke up from his unconsciousness, finding it weird that it was now nighttime and he was resting on a bed that wasn't his. Even weirder, Ryuji had a camera in his face.

"Wakey wakey, Cloud!" grinned the delinquent, who was accompanied by Joker and Kasumi. Ryuji pulled away from Cloud, who sat up in his bed.

"Where am I?" wondered Cloud, observing his surroundings and saw that he was in some kind of hospital room. "Is this a hospital?"

"Not quite - it's a mental health institute," answered Kasumi, as Cloud rubbed his head. Cloud felt like he had the most intense headache. "Sephiroth was kind enough to take you here."

"That was awfully...nice of him..." Cloud felt weird describing Sephiroth as nice. You'd feel the same way, too. "...and why are you guys here?"

"To pay you a visit...and to say you're welcome," smiled Joker, keeping his visit short and sweet as he and his friends were about to leave the room. "Hope you get better soon, Cloud."

"Uh, you too." So Joker and friends left the room, as Cloud facepalmed in response to his awkward farewell. "Why did I say that..."

Cloud had a lot of folks on his mind - Aerith, Fox and Falco, and even Sephiroth, among several others. But for now, the swordsman just had to rest...

Joker: The treasure in Cloud's palace was a guard staff - Aerith's weapon. The treasure in the real world? We'll just have to stick around for that one. *grins*