December 25, 2008 :: It's the big day!

Link stretched and smiled. He was waking up to a silent house, which was strange, but pleasant. It was better than waking up to either one of Roy's food fights or someone screaming about something random.

He got up, and changed into a big green T-shirt and jeans. He tugged a brush through his hair, and then dug under his bed to get everyone's Christmas presents. Link went downstairs and nearly dropped his load.

Under the huge Christmas tree, lay a ton of presents. He dropped his haul underneath it, and spread them around so it wouldn't be too obvious. He spotted a large square parcel with his name on it, and had an urge to open it. But he resisted the childish urge and sat on the sofa. Nothing was ever good on TV on Christmas Day, so he just relaxed.

Mario and the gang soon appeared, and it was time to open the presents. Everyone seemed to come to life, ripping at the paper and yelling with delight at their gifts. Zelda seemed happy enough that Link had bought her all ten seasons of Friends, and she thanked him with a massive hug and a kiss on the lips which earned many wolf whistles.

"Let's have a Christmas breakfast!" Roy cried.

"You can't get Christmas breakfasts!" Pikachu protested. "It's Christmas dinner, Roy."

Roy looked crestfallen, but then a wacky grin soon appeared on his face as he got a predictable idea.

"Yes, you can," Roy slyly smiled. "And it'll be a very fun food fight…"

After breakfast, Link and Mario cleaned up food which had landed in the living room. Mario swept the custard-encrusted sofa to cleanliness and Link dusted the mantelpieces and other ornaments. Soon, the room was spotless.

"So, Roy won the Put The Sellotape On The Fridge game," Link began. "And I won the See How Much Custard You Can Hold In Your Underpants tournament. So that makes it…ooh, one-all, between Roy and me!"

Mario looked sad.

"Why don't you go out, Mario?" Link grinned. "Shopping spree. You might even get a free pizza!"

"Nah," Mario shrugged. "Besides, even if I did get anything, my pants are full of custard."

"I suppose so…" Link replied. He heard loud voices coming from the kitchen. "Come on, let's go up to my room and watch some of them movies I got!"

Link and Mario didn't get the chance to watch movies - Roy and Kirby were playing the Jump game. The Jump game had been invented by the pair and involved one simple motive - jump out a window.

Unfortunately, they were playing in Roy's room, which was on the third floor. Link and Mario sighed, knowing there was no way they could get out of this one. Link opened the door. The window was open and Roy was nowhere to be seen. Kirby was leaning out the window.

"Roy! I don't think that one went so well!" Kirby yelled down. "Come back up, it's my turn now! Link and Mario want to play too!"

The plumber and the warrior looked at each other, and sighed. Roy appeared in the room, his clothes torn and leaves in his hair, but he appeared to be fine.

"Kirby, your go," Roy said.

Kirby turned to the window, jumped out, and puffed up. Kirby always won at the Jump game, and for five months nobody had beat him. Mario tried to use anti-gravity fireballs to help him stay up but it was no use. Link's spinning sword attack only propelled him a short distance for about two seconds before he fell to the ground.

"Let's do something else!" Link cried a while later, noticing it was near noon. "You know, look at the time. It's nearly lunch."

The four thundered downstairs to be hit by the smell of vegetables cooking. Roy slapped the banister. He hated vegetables more than anything. They ran to the kitchen, where Peach and Zelda were making lunch for everyone.

"What's cooking?" Mario questioned.

"Sprouts," Peach replied, not turning round.

"Aw! Not sprouts!" Roy cried suddenly. "I hate sprouts…"

"Oh, will you stop whingeing, Roy, nobody likes sprouts!" Peach retorted, whirling round to face him.

"Then why are we having them then?!"

"BECAUSE IT'S CHRISTMAS!!" the two princesses shouted simultaneously. Zelda went back to lunch, and Peach stood in front of the four.

"Now, look. We've got guests coming round, so I better get on with this turkey and sprouts. Don't want them all crunchy. I'll also get on with the brandy butter."

Peach narrowed her eyes as she held the empty brandy bottle. "Where's the brandy?"

Roy hiccupped.

"I don't believe it!" she growled. "You're absolutely no help. You've done absolutely nothing towards this year's goodwill. You haven't even bought a tree for the table!"

"I have so!" Roy cried. "Shield your eyes, and I shall bring her in."

Link, Kirby, Mario and Peach covered their eyes, even though three of them weren't even looking at Roy or particularly interested in his 'tree'. Peach folded her arms but kept her eyes closed. Link and Mario looked at each other sympathetically. Kirby didn't seem bothered at all, even though he despised sprouts.

Roy was singing a fanfare as he carried his tree in. The four opened their eyes and looked surprised, but their expressions faded.

"Roy. That is not a Christmas tree. It's a geranium," Mario sighed.

"Well, it cost me £16, whatever it is. So that's £8 you owe me."

"£8? That's practically 50p a needle!" Mario cried, getting his wallet out. He slapped coins into Roy's hand and glared at him. "Did you get the four quid off the guests for the meal?"

"Yup."

"Great. Where is it?"

"I spent it on the brandy."

WHACK!

While Doctor Mario was busy tending to Roy's whack to the forehead, lunch was served. Everyone rushed to take their places. The princesses looked at Pichu, beaming.

"Would you like to say grace?" Peach asked.

Pichu nodded. Everyone bowed their heads and clasped their hands. Pichu cleared his throat.

"My name is Pichu Smash and your face turns to mash, when I give you my rap you can tell yourself 'SNAP!', I bought the Book Of Boosh and called it a douche, though I really like Boosh so it's not a douche, and you can finish my rap by wearing my cap, it's got my name on it, and you can fill yourself with shi--"

Pichu was interrupted by Fox sniggering to himself. Pikachu looked annoyed, but quickly saw the funny side, as did everyone except the smile-proof Snake, and the extremely vexed Peach.

"Fox, did you teach Pichu to rap instead of say grace?" she fumed.

Fox didn't say anything but his snorting gave it away. Peach stood up and walked over to the pilot, who looked nervous.

THUMP!

"So that's two injured," Link said when lunch was finished. "Who's next?"

Mario shrugged. "We'll find out at dinner."

They went back to watching Friends, thanks to Zelda putting the eighth series on and forcing the boys to watch it. They too were transfixed by the adventures of Rachel, Monica, Phoebe, Ross, Chandler, and Joey.

"Do you think they ever ran out of storylines?" Link asked.

"That's why they stopped making it!" Mario laughed.

"They could've done something like Ross's transsexual fourth cousin three times removed dating Rachel, and Chandler's sister-in-law getting heavy over it or something."

Mario looked at Link.

"That's actually not a bad idea."

Dinner was served. It was the same as lunch, really, though they didn't risk saying grace, though they did take Roy to the table. He had too much of a headache to enjoy a food fight, so it was the first meal in five months that did not end in a food fight.

"Dessert, anyone?" Zelda smiled, placing a large chocolate cake in the centre of the table. Everyone gasped in delight.

"Wow, Zelda!"

"Did you make that?"

"I love chocolate!"

"I love cake!"

"I hate all of you."

Zelda cut everyone a slice, except Kirby, who ate two slices and eventually what was left of it. Everybody was soon excused and they were left either to get their dinner down, eat more, or go and do their evening routine. For Link, Mario, Kirby, Luigi and Pikachu, that meant throwing a party.

Everyone was trying to guess which Friends character Kirby was impersonating, though nobody seemed to get it. Luigi raised his hand.

"Ooh, I know! Kirby, are you pregnant?"

"No, sweetie, but I think Snake is."

"Oh. He's not being Rachel then."

"He might as well have German subtitles."

"Alright! Here's another clue! I'm dangerously thin!" Kirby wheezed, pushing his body in to try and look thin.

"Yeah, like that narrows it down!" Mario laughed.

"Ooh! He's being Monica!"

"THANK YOU!"

More games were played, and Christmas was spent in a fun and Smash-like way. Snake was glued to his computer but Kirby had decorated it with tinsel. Link and Zelda were sitting on the roof, cooling down while the party raged on downstairs.

Mario had a fireworks display down in the garden, and Link and Zelda had the best view. They looked at each other, and edged closer.

Link tilted Zelda's chin up with his fingers, and kissed her gently on the lips. They looked at each other, and Link laid his arm round his princess.

"Merry Christmas, Zelda."