Author's Note:
Usually I would answer guest reviews, in an author's note, but I've decided to save that until next week...for I have come forth bearing good news.
So, last week, on Saturday...I graduated from college! Well, for a second time, that is. And from a public, four-year university that I transferred to. I finally graduated from the University of South Carolina (go Gamecocks!) and earned my Bachelor's degree - a major in media arts, with a minor in English to boot. Still waiting on that degree to be mailed to my house...but at least I have a 3.2 as my final GPA.
Where do I go from here, now that I've graduated? Well since I enjoy writing, I've decided to pursue a career...as a television writer! Ever since I was a child, I dreamed of being either an animator, or a video game designer...but over the course of my college journey, I thought I'd be more comfortable writing for an animated show or a video game, rather than producing an animated show or video game myself. You could probably tell by my dedication to this story how much I enjoy writing in my spare time. I just can't help myself.
Now that I'm done with school for good, I have more free time on my hands, which means more writing for me! I have also been using my free time to look for a potential screenwriting job. Got a few screenplays ready to go for a screenwriting application. I'd love to be a showrunner for an animated show, since I love all things animation. It would be best if I start off writing for a show or something, and gradually work my way up into being a showrunner one day. Gotta commit and stick to the plan. Nonetheless, I will continue writing this story until it reaches a satisfying end - while starting new fanfiction stories I've had in mind.
But yeah, I just wanted to share that with all of you, since I'm still in a pretty happy mood. Got so excited about graduating that I literally couldn't sit down for nearly three hours straight! It was a good thing my graduation took place before I started writing his chapter - had it happened during the writing process, I would've phoned it in. Don't want a repeat of chapter 72. But that's enough from me...
...enjoy the chapter, everyone!
Episode 178: Outbreak
Master Hand has always hated tourism, as much as he hated massaging chairs (for some strange reason). The giant hand's disdain for tourism was very much exhibited back in episode 13, when Ryu invited the people of Seattle to tour around the mansion. It was all done to raise enough funds to buy Isabelle a glucose-monitoring system...one she didn't need, since she was diabetes-free.
However, Master Hand would overcome his hatred for tourism, and for one reason, and one reason only...to buy himself a new Lamborghini. The old Lamborghini, as you might recall, was totaled in episode 163 when a visitor by the name of Gerome took the car on a joyride around town. Tom Nook, who was only in the passenger seat, was blamed by Master Hand for crashing the Lamborghini, and has since been banned from the mansion indefinitely.
With Tom Nook still on his indefinite ban, Master Hand was about to let people from all over Seattle to come inside his mansion, and let them meet and greet all the residents and whatnot. The giant hand was at the front of the mansion, with Mario and Isabelle, with a banner over them that read, "WELCOME TO THE SMASH MANSION!" in colorful letters. A large crowd was there to greet Master Hand and company.
"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, to the Smash Mansion!" Master Hand said to the crowd, who were all cheering. "Today is your one and only chance to walk around the mansion, take photos with brawlers, vandalize some property - do whatever you want!"
"You break it, you buy-a it," stated Mario; no way Master Hand would be fine with random strangers vandalizing his stuff.
"At the Smash Mansion, you'll have the chance to meet legendary characters, and some of the best fighters in the world! Even better, you won't have to see this jerk bag around, Tom Nook!" Master Hand pulled out a stuffed animal, one that strongly resembled Tom Nook.
"BOOOOOOOOO!" everyone booed the Tom Nook stuffed animal - probably just to get on Master Hand's good side.
"No people, please, I insist...boo even harder!" The crowd booed harder at the Tom Nook stuffed animal, as Isabelle looked away and sighed.
Isabelle: Tom Nook will be banned until Master Hand got himself a new Lamborghini...or at least that's what the plan was. Master Hand claimed that there's no timetable for when Tom Nook will be allowed to return, which leads me to assume that Tom Nook might be gone forever. Master Hand's hatred for Tom Nook surpasses any other irrational hatred Master Hand has.
"Now that's out of the way..." Master Hand tossed the Tom Nook stuffed animal away, as it landed in a garbage bin. "...admissions prices are as follows: adults pay $30 to get in, and children have to pay $15. I am very generous about the prices today, so take what you can get."
"You never said how much teens have to pay to get in," said a teenager, as he raised his hand so Master Hand could recognize him. Master Hand groaned.
"Man, what is up with you dumb millennials always trying to act like you're always left out of things? Why you always gotta play the victim card? What, you think you're minorities or something? You want special privileges?!"
"I'm pretty sure I was born in Generation Z..." the teenager eyed around the surrounding area, feeling really bad for having been singled out by Master Hand.
"I think he has a point-a Master Hand, he could have been-a born past 2000 for all-a we know," stated Mario, only to be back-handed by Master Hand. The crowd giggled in response.
"Don't you dare defend him and his stupidity!" Master Hand scolded Mario, before returning his attention to the teenager. "Fine, Mr. Privileged, how about I charge you as much as the children? Fifteen dollars, how does that sound?"
"That works for me," the teenager happily replied, as his friends all nodded their heads in agreement.
"Good! That should take care of that...oh! Before I let you all in, just a reminder. We have a party later tonight, at 8 o' clock. Everyone in town is invited!"
"We also have karaoke at the party!" announced Isabelle, as she took out a karaoke flyer and showed it to the crowd. "Feel free to sing, to your heart's desire! Also featuring a performance, from the one and only, Mario Bros!"
"We never agreed-a to that," stated Mario, with a nervous grin on his face. Luigi, who was playing Frisbee with Polterpup, overheard Isabelle's announcement.
"Did some-a one say karaoke and Mario Bros?" Luigi called out to Isabelle and Mario, feeling pretty excited. "Mario, we've been waiting for this-a moment for so long! Let's-a sing..."
"Stop-a lying, we've been waiting for-a nothing! Go back to playing Frisbee with-a your stupid dog!" having his excitement crushed, Luigi held his head back down, as he threw the Frisbee at Polterpup.
Luigi: Mario and I sang-a some karaoke together, at a Christmas-a party last year. We were both-a singing "It's Raining Men". I was-a arguably the MVP of the night, as my singing swooned-a the ladies (well, some of them). Mario, on-a the other hand, somehow tore up-a his vocal cords. Even had to use-a the Heimlich maneuver on him...turns-a out he was just choking on-a his microphone.
Suddenly a loud air horn was heard, as King K. Rool burst out of the mansion. In his hands were many rolls of tickets, the kind you'd see at an arcade. Must've gotten the tickets out of the arcade room.
"Everyone come over, and buy a ticket!" the Kremling shouted to the crowd, holding up the rolls of tickets in the air. "Y'all know you don't have anything important going on in your lives! So buy a ticket!"
"This should turn out pretty nicely..." gleamed Master Hand, as the crowd came over to and crowded around K. Rool to buy their ticket.
The residents of the mansion were informed beforehand about the tourism going on today, so they all had to be on their best behavior. Especially Bowser, who insisted on wearing his speedo around.
"You sure that's such a good idea?" Joker asked Bowser in the foyer, as Bowser was showing off his speedo to the tourists. Some were disturbed, while others were...yeah right, like anyone would appreciate that ghastly sight.
"It's capturing everyone's attention, so it's working out pretty nicely I say," replied Bowser, before striking several few poses Hulk Hogan would be pretty of. That only made the tourists even more disturbed.
"It's working for all the wrong reasons..." As Joker looked away, someone tapped him on the shoulder, grabbing his attention. It was a middle-aged old man, with a mullet and a mustache.
"Hey there sonny, what's your name?" the middle-aged man asked Joker; it should be known that this man was wearing a shirt with an 8-bit Mario on it. Could be a fan of old-school games.
"I'm...I'm Joker," replied Joker, who could tell how old-school the man was judging by his appearance and apparel. "I'm one of the brawlers that lives here."
"Oh! Joker! So you must be Heath Ledger, right?" Joker furrowed his brow at such an asinine question.
"Pretty sure Heath Ledger died over a decade ago..."
"Oh yeah, you're right, silly me...then you must be Jared Leto!"
"No, absolutely not. I don't even look like him!"
"What about Jack Nicholson? Are you Nicholson's son?"
"Do I even look like I would be related to him...?"
"Okay so you must be Mark Hamill's son, is that right?"
"Do you have any more weird guesses for who I am?"
"Um...are you...Nikola Jokic? You play in the NBA?" Now that guess was way off-base.
"I'm not even good at basketball..." Tired of the middle-aged man, Joker walked away.
"Wait, hold up Joker!" The middle-aged man hurriedly followed after Joker. "Do you at least like the Denver Nuggets? If so, I got something for ya!"
Joker: That guy with the mullet eventually caught up to me...and he gave me this. *holds up the back of a Denver Nuggets jersey, with the number fifteen and the name "JOKIC" on it* Supposedly the guy who wears this jersey is seven feet tall. It's a good thing sports jerseys stores don't make jerseys relative to player size.
As Bowser continued to pose for the tourists, much to their chagrin, Link and Champion Link were busy snapping selfies with some of the ladies. Because who wouldn't want to take photos with two legendary Hyrulian heroes?
"Thank you, enjoy the rest of your day!" Champion Link said to the ladies, after they were done taking the selfies. Soon as the female tourists walked away, Champion Link let out a sigh of relief, wiping away his forehead. "Who knew picture-taking could be so exhausting?"
"It's only exhausting when you're doing it with a bunch of ladies," replied Link, who had a few kiss marks on his cheek. He better wash 'em off of his face, before Zelda sees them. "It's even worse with grannies, since they like to pinch my butt."
"You took selfies with elderly people?" Champion Link now had a lot of questions about Link that he was unsure if they should be answered.
"It was back when we made food runs to retirement homes...in much simpler times." Link looked back at Bowser, who was still posing. "You wanna go ask Bowser if he has the 'thing'?"
"He's not doing anything meaningful, so yeah, why not." So the two Link walked over to Bowser, who was posing like he was a bodybuilder. Most of the poor tourists couldn't walk away, as they couldn't look away from Bowser.
"Ah, Link and Champion Link - came to admire my beauty?" Bowser asked the two Hylians, seeing them with the corner of his eye. The koopa king flexed his muscles, like he expected everyone to be impressed. "Gawk as much as you need to!"
"We're not here to admire your 'beauty', Bowser," said Link, easily hurting the koopa king's feelings. "We just wanted to know if you still have that hookshot. You know, the one you promised to give us?"
"Yeah, I know what you're talking about! Thanks for reminding me. One second, my adoring tourists..." Bowser stopped posing, as he walked away from the now relieved tourists. Their eyes and sanity could now rest easy.
"Thank goodness that's finally over..." one of the tourists remarked, as Bowser led the Links to a couch in the foyer. There, Bowser reached underneath the couch, and pulled out a hookshot.
"Here ya go, one awesome-looking hookshot!" Bowser tossed the hookshot to the Links, as it landed in Champion Link's hands. "That thing's got its own insurance policy, so don't sweat accidentally breaking it or anything. Better be accidental, too..."
"Much appreciated, Bowser - we'll take good care of it," assured Champion Link - has the Hylian ever used a hookshot before, in his adventuring? "Can't believe you would hand it over, just like that!"
"What else do you want, a kiss on the cheek?" Bowser pointed at his cheek, as Link and Champion Link backed away.
"We should probably get going now..." said Link, as he and Champion Link went away. King Dedede came over to Bowser.
"I wouldn't mind a kiss on the cheek!" the penguin proclaimed, as Bowser gritted his teeth. "Better pucker up, Koopa King!"
"Ain't gonna happen, get lost Dedede!" barked Bowser, as King Dedede walked away.
King Dedede: My main goal before the end of the day is to have at least ONE female tourist kiss me. Either on the cheek, or on the lips...preferably on the lips.
Zelda and Midna ventured through the hallway together, and as they ventured together, they saw many tourists interacting the mansion residents. Some were taking pictures with them, some were asking for their autographs, and others were just straight up annoying them.
"You're so awesome, Captain Falcon!" a young boy said to the racer, who was proudly smiling as he had a legion of young adoring fans surrounding him.
"Hands off the armor, it's not for show!" frowned .EXE, having to swat away the hand of a very touchy tourist. "Keep your hands to yourself!"
"Are you sure you aren't Nikola Jokic?" the middle-aged man from earlier pestered Joker, who wished he was somewhere else right now.
"I can't for the life of me see how these guys can put up with these strangers," Midna said to Zelda, who was making her way to Link's room. "So touchy, and so nosy! If I were one of the residents, I'd slap the tourists left and right!"
"Which would be great...for accruing a lawsuit, that is," said Zelda - like anyone would sue someone over getting slapped. "I wonder how Link, Champion Link, and Cloud have handled the tourists today."
Zelda and Midna soon reached Link's room, as the former opened the bedroom door. Inside was Link, Champion Link, and Cloud, with Link showing off the hookshot he and Champion Link got from Bowser to Cloud.
"And you really think that's gonna work..." Cloud said to Link, who was wearing a face full of confidence. "...because, honestly, I see some room for error."
"C'mon Cloud, have a little optimism!" responded Link, before looking towards the open bedroom door and spotting Zelda and Midna. "Oh, hi ladies!"
"Hello Link," greeted Zelda, as she and Midna entered the bedroom. The princess saw the hookshot, knowing that the object didn't belong to Link. "Where did you get that hookshot from, Link?"
"We got it from Bowser a while ago," explained Champion Link, who was still surprised that Bowser gave up his hookshot so willingly. "He promised to give it to us."
"You wanna hold it?" Link offered the hookshot to Zelda, holding it out with welcoming arms while sporting a smile. "I'll let you take your time..."
"Um, no thanks, I don't want to touch that thing," Zelda replied earnestly, before Link offered the hookshot to Zelda. Midna too objected, as she shook her head no.
"You think I'd want to hold that filth in my hands?" the imp frowned, as Link took the hookshot back from her and returned to his original spot.
"Apparently, Link wants to use that hookshot to take out Zant," Cloud explained to Zelda and Midna. "He's still pretty obsessed with the man, as weird as it sounds."
"'Obsessed' isn't the right word...'being curious' is what you obviously meant to say," Link said to Cloud matter-of-factly, as Cloud scoffed and folded his arms. "The hookshot will work to perfection, I'm telling you. Zant one day will be up in the sky, floating like it's nobody's business, then out of nowhere...YEET! We grab Zant with the hookshot, and bring him down to the ground so we can interrogate him."
Cloud: Did Link seriously just shout out "yeet" for no reason? I think...I think I wanna die peacefully now.
"I thought you said that Zant was acting peaceful," Zelda said to Link, who was a little too preoccupied with the hookshot. "So why take him down and interrogate him for?"
"That's the thing though, Zant wants us to believe that he's acting peaceful and orderly," stated Link, knowing that he was one hundred percent in the right. "It's all a ploy, to hide his allegiance with the manor!"
"A guy like Zant working with the manor?" Cloud raised an eyebrow, thinking that the prospect of such a thing was very untrue. "I find that very hard to believe."
"Well, it's Link we're talking about, he can be very delusional at times..." remarked Midna, as she floated over to the bedroom window. She saw a black SUV pulling up to the mansion that caught her eye. "Say, who's in that black car?"
"What black car?" Cloud leaped off his bed and joined Midna at the window, spotting the black SUV in question. "Hmm, they're probably government agents...sure hope Master Hand didn't get in big trouble."
The black SUV pulled up to the mansion, parking in the mansion's driveway. Tails spotted the SUV through one of the windows in the foyer.
"Hey Master Hand, there's a black SUV parked in the driveway," the yellow fox alerted the giant hand, who was trying to break up a tug-of-war battle involving two teenage girls and Chrom. One girl was on each side of Chrom, pulling on the prince's arm. "It could be a government vehicle!"
"Wait, what? A government vehicle?" questioned Master Hand, completely forgetting about the Chrom tug-of-war battle as he joined Tails at the window. "It's about that time, isn't it?"
Master Hand watched in fear and horror, as four individuals got out of the SUV. There was a man with brown hair, another man with blonde hair, an Asian woman, and a blonde woman with her hair tied up in a ponytail. The way these four got out of the SUV, wearing all black (except for the Asian woman, who was wearing a red dress), they clearly meant business.
"I wonder why they're here," wondered Tails, as he looked at Master Hand...who was no longer with him. "M-Master Hand? Where'd you go?"
At the living room, Cilan was showing off his charitable side to the tourists, by offering them meals. The connoisseur would show up in the living room, happily carrying a plate of smoked barbecue ribs.
"Who wants some delicious ribs?" Cilan asked the tourists, who were all cheers. Sadly those ribs would be wasted, when Master Hand appeared in the living room and slapped the plate of ribs to the floor. "Hey! Master Hand!"
"The Smash Mansion is no longer open for tourists!" Master Hand announced to the tourists, in perhaps the most panicky way possible. "Everybody out! I will NOT hesitate to use the hose on the elderly!"
"Aw, but we just got here..." one of the tourists moaned, as he held his head low in sadness. A tourist sitting next to him patted him on the back.
"Master Hand, what the heck is going on?" Pit asked the giant hand, as he and Kirby entered the living room. Master Hand was starting to hyperventilate. "It's a little too soon to end the tourist thing."
"Pit's right...it hasn't even been two hours yet!" Kirby agreed with his best friend, before the sound of the doorbell ringing was heard. Master Hand shrieked, in a slightly uncharacteristic manner.
"Wish me luck, you guys..." the giant hand said to everyone in the living room, shivering as he returned to the foyer.
With all the reluctance in the world, Master Hand calmly and slowly opened the front door...and to his chagrin, the four from the SUV were standing on his porch.
"Welcome to the Smash Mansion, folks!" Master Hand greeted the four, while wearing a friendly facade. "Can I interest you in some counterfeit money? I probably shouldn't have said that..."
"No thanks, we're not interested in that kind of stuff," said the man with the brown hair, who was leading the group. "I'm Leon Kennedy, and these are my accomplices - Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine, and Ada Wong. We're..."
"...oh, so you're those zombie-hunting guys, that kill zombies and whatnot!" Master Hand let out a sigh of relief, feeling much more relived. "Knew that Leon Kennedy name sounded so familiar."
"Heh, I was kinda hoping that you would recognize me. A fine pleasure to meet you, Master Hand. It is truly an honor."
"I'm surprised that giant hand hasn't given us a Smash invite yet..." Ada whispered to Jill, who nodded her head with an emotionless face. Jill was hardly ever the one to show any human emotion.
Leon: Leon Scott Kennedy, federal agent for the Division of Security Operations. Used to work as a police officer, until a zombie outbreak broke out on my first day on the job. Killed zombies all day. Since then, I've started working as a federal agent, even serving the President of the United States. Oh, and trust me...I've seen some stuff.
Chris: Captain Chris Redfield, top agent of the Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance. Made a living destroying bioweapons, and beating up the guys who make and sell said bioweapons. Also got a little sister named Claire, so...I have a bit of a big brother instinct.
Jill: Jill Valentine, Special Operations Agent of the Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance. I co-founded the BSAA and am one of the organization's original members, so I'm pretty respected all-around. Also got some Japanese heritage in me. Bet you didn't know that, huh?
Ada: Ada Wong, special agent...something. Look, I don't really have a strong allegiance for any agency in particular - I just work for whichever agency's the most convenient for me. Then when the iron strikes while it's hot, I ditch the agency and work for someone else! But don't worry, Leon knows how I operate sometimes - or rather, all the time.
"So, what brings you four to the mansion?" Master Hand asked Leon and company, acting more friendly and easygoing with the group. "I'm having a little tourism thing going on...wanna give you a tour of the mansion?"
"No, Master Hand, but thanks for the offer," replied Chris, stepping to the forefront as Leon moved to the side. "I'm afraid we came here for some very important things...life-threatening things."
"Basically we're here to investigate some mysterious activity in Seattle," stated Jill, as Master Hand was left slightly worried by what life-threatening things Chris could be referring to. "Especially around the mansion, and the surrounding area."
"Mysterious activity around the mansion, and the surrounding area?" Master Hand reiterated what Jill had said, refusing to believe what she and Chris had told him while still feeling slightly afraid. "This has got to be a joke!"
"I can assure you that it's not a joke, Master Hand," said Leon, wanting Master Hand to take the situation very seriously. "I have seen enough crap in my lifetime, that I can hardly comprehend humor anymore."
"Can't comprehend humor...hehe. That's a good one..." Master Hand started to laugh, as Leon furrowed his brow.
"What even is that sound coming out of your nonexistent mouth...?" Years of killing zombies has clearly taken its toll on Leon.
"I'm pretty sure he's laughing," Ada had to inform Leon, while smirking. "You really are one messed up man!"
"Now if you excuse us, we have to start some investigating," said Chris, as he and his accomplices entered the mansion without Master Hand giving them permission. "Where should we start first..."
"Man, where is that Joker?" wondered Ryuji, as the delinquent popped out of the trapdoor in the foyer. He pulled out his phone, and texted Joker. "He better not still be messing around with that man."
"Hey kid, you mind letting us inside through that trapdoor?" Leon asked Ryuji; Ryuji would let Leon and company in, but whatever was under that trapdoor was off-limits, at least for the time being.
"Sorry, no-can-do, nobody is allowed to go down here...yet." Leon and company couldn't believe that Ryuji had the gall to reject them, just like that. "But I gotta know, what's the catch?"
"We're investigating some mysterious activity going on around the mansion," explained Jill, as Ryuji was checking out the blonde half-Japanese woman. He was trying so hard to hide his smirk.
"Doing an investigation?" someone asked, as Jill and company looked over and saw Yoshi. "If that's the case, then you might wanna speak with Mario. He could help you guys out."
"You mean, the famous plumber Mario, from the Mushroom Kingdom?" Leon asked Yoshi, who nodded his head with an assuring smile. "Great! Take us to him."
One of the tourism hotspots at the mansion was the arcade room, which wasn't a surprise considering the abundance of arcade games that the room held. Mario was at the arcade room, kicking a tourist's butt at the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade machine.
"Here-a we go!" exclaimed Mario, landing the finishing blow as his character, Donatello, knocked out the tourist's character, Raphael, in a one-on-one fight. "Down-a for the count!"
"Dang it, I lost again!" the tourist raged, banging his fists on the arcade machine. He looked towards Mario, who was celebrating his victory. "Wanna do best out of five, Mario?"
"No thanks, I think that's enough-a arcade games for me. Who knew-a that freeing up bums in-a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles could-a be so tiring?"
Tourist: Mario just called me a bum...that might be the greatest insult anyone has ever told me, ever. I should take it as a compliment!
Relishing in his victory, Mario whistled a victory tune as he was about to leave the arcade room...only to be stopped by Yoshi, who ran inside the room.
"Good thing you're here, Mario!" Yoshi said to the plumber, as Leon and company entered the arcade room. "These four wanna speak with you."
"Nice to meet you - I'm Leon Kennedy, federal agent for the Division of Security Operations," Leon greeted Mario, as Yoshi moved out of the way so the federal agent could shake Mario's hand.
"I'm Mario, but you probably knew-a that already," grinned Mario, as he shook Leon's hand. "Are those-a your fellow federal agent buddies?"
As Mario met with Chris, Jill, and Ada, and got to know them a little, Corrin walked by when he saw Mario speaking with Leon and company. He stopped walking, so he could eavesdrop a little.
"We believe that there might be some...erm, paranormal activity taking place around the mansion," Ada explained to Mario, who was taking the situation more seriously than Master Hand did. "Yoshi here thinks that you could..."
"Excuse me, but did you say 'paranormal activity'?" Corrin asked Ada, getting all giddy and excited. Mario and the others turned their attention to Corrin. "Because if you're interested in scary stuff, then I'm your guy!"
"What's the matter with him?" Chris leaned in close and whispered to Mario, thinking that Corrin was some kind of weirdo. A pretty reasonable thought to have.
"He just watches lots-a of scary films after midnight," replied Mario with a wry smile, hoping that Corrin wouldn't embarrass him as much. "At least that's what his twin-a sister told me..."
"Well, kid, if you're interested...we're here to investigate a paranormal conspiracy around this mansion," Ada said to Corrin, taking note of how excited the prince of Nohr was. "We just need a little cooperation to solve this mystery."
"Splendid! My increasing knowledge of the paranormal has finally led me up to this!" exclaimed Corrin, as he was getting all pumped up for no reason. "Knew watching those horror films would pay off!"
"Not gonna lie, he looks like an absolute trooper," remarked Leon, as Corrin's excitability and eagerness left a fairly good impression on the federal agent. "I think he should tag along. What do you think, Mario?"
"Corrin might not be the most-a gracefully helpful person around...but he's still-a serviceable," shrugged Mario, seeing nothing wrong with having Corrin tag along with the likes of Leon and company. "We can-a make it work!"
"Good, good...but before we get started, I should probably give you this." Leon dug into his pocket, and pulled out a business card which he gave to Mario. "That's my business card. "That's my business card, with my number on it. You can call me whenever needed, and we can deal with paranormal activity and..."
"I'm sorry, but what's all this talk about the paranormal?" a certain voice boomed, as Master Hand magically appeared in the arcade room. "Are we doing an investigation, or filming a horror movie?"
"Mario and I are gonna team up with those four to crack open a paranormal conspiracy!" Corrin explained to Master Hand, as he pointed at Leon and company.
"Paranormal conspiracy?! BWA HA HA HA HA!" Master Hand laughed away, as Leon was strangely left confused. "Agents, you seriously don't wanna work with Corrin, he is an extremely delusional person. As for Mario, well...he has a farting problem."
"Ha ha, ZING!" Wendy laughed, after Mario got roasted by Master Hand. Several others in the arcade room were laughing as well.
"Also, there's no such thing as paranormal activity at the mansion. Paranormal stuff is meant to prevent Internet users from sleeping, as punishment from surfing the Web too long."
"Fine then...in that case, we'll just investigate elsewhere," responded Jill, as she and the other agents left the arcade room. "We'll be on our way..."
Jill: *holds up arcade tokens* Found these tokens lying about on the floor. Had to confiscate them for evidence.
Chris: Ah, yes, very smart move...
"No, guys, where-a are you going?" Mario cried out to the four agents, as they left the arcade room. The plumber soon turned to Master Hand, angered. "Why'd you have to drive-a them away?"
"Trust me, Mario, last thing you'd want around at a party is federal agents," replied Master Hand, before taking Leon's business card away from Mario. "It would be best for Leon and company to do their work elsewhere."
"Also, why are you-a taking away the business card? I need-a that so I can contact-a Leon, and help-a him out!"
"Oh please, Leon and friends already have this taken care of...now go help Isabelle prepare the party tonight. And make sure to leave those agents alone!"
With Leon's business card in hand, Master Hand vanished away from the arcade room, as Mario let out a sigh. Corrin walked over to Mario, as he placed an assuring hand on the plumber's back.
"No need to fear, Mario - we'll get our chance one day!" Corrin assured the plumber, as the Squid Sisters soon approached Mario and Corrin. "Marie and Callie...care to join us in our supernatural escapades?"
"Ew, no, we're not interested in that supernatural junk!" grimaced Marie, leaving Corrin greatly offended as he placed his hand on his chest. "We were gonna ask Mario if he's ready for karaoke tonight."
"Heck no I'm-a not interested!" frowned Mario; last thing he'd want was to sing karaoke with Luigi, and risk choking again. "I've already let-a Isabelle know that I'm-a not participating. I'm more interested in helping those-a agents than anything."
"Why fiddle around with a bunch of federal agents when you could be doing this instead?" asked Callie, as she pulled out a karaoke book. She handed the book to Mario, who was reluctant to hold it.
"Like I said, I don't-a wanna do any karaoke!" Mario aggressively threw the karaoke book on the floor, before grumpily folding his arms. "Luigi better fly-a solo tonight!"
"When I say 'kara', you say 'oke'! Kara!" Mario remained silent. "Kara!" Mario remained silent once more. "We'll have to do this all day if we have to..."
Fast forward to 7:30...ish, and it was almost time for the party to begin. The residents from the mansion and the tower were making final party preparations, with Dunban organizing the food, and Fiora preparing the confetti cannon.
"The confetti cannon should be up and running now," remarked Fiora, before pressing a button on the confetti cannon. The cannon shot out a large wave of confetti, as the confetti was fired at Shulk.
"Pleuh, bleeh!" frowned Shulk, spitting out some of the confetti that landed in his mouth. "Watch where you're firing that thing, Fiora!"
"Let's see what songs we have on the karaoke machine..." said Marie, as she and Callie previewed the songs on the karaoke machine. They were on the stage, which was all ready to go. "'We Built This City'...'Mr. Blue Sky'...'Wait You Waiting For'..."
"Believe-a me, you two, you don't wanna hear a guy-a like me sing," Mario told the Squid Sisters, as he was about to carry a garbage bag into the mansion.
"Silly Mario, karaoke isn't about sounding good...it's about sounding terrible together!" Callie said to the plumber, who shook his head as he entered the mansion. Elsewhere outside, Corrin was hanging up balloons and LED lights with Sonic.
"Check it out Corrin - these lights make my teeth look scary!" exclaimed Sonic, demonstrating as he turned on the LED lights and smiled. His teeth were looking pretty bright in the light; Chip Skylark would be jealous. "It's like a crime scene in my mouth!"
"It's no fair...Master Hand would let Mario and I solve paranormal mysteries together!" complained Corrin, not caring at all about Sonic's little demonstration. "Not only that, but he took away that federal agent's card, so we can't contact them!"
"Pretty sure Master Hand has that card lying about somewhere in his room. He could be calling those federal agents and taking your spot, for all we know!"
"True, but there's no telling what would happen to me if I sneaked inside Master Hand's room without permission...I could be grounded, or even worse!"
"But that's what really makes it fun! High risk, high reward! Sometimes you gotta take the high road, or go crashing into a dead end!"
Sonic: Man, Corrin and Kamui are a bunch of babies - always gotta play it safe! I've gone beyond blaming their dad for their troubles, at this point. When Corrin and Kamui grow old and wrinkly, they won't even whittle because they'll think doing so would shorten their lifespan or something. Their safeness will corrupt them even into their elderly age!
Invited to the party were Rayman, Barbara, and Globox; the three were tasked with hanging up a pinata over a tree. It was a pinata of Tom Nook. Any guess as to who had the final say on what the pinata would be?
"Master Hand's really gonna enjoy everyone bashing Tom Nook's pinata head in!" grinned Rayman, as he and his friends successfully hung the pinata over the tree. Barbara looked over, and saw cars pulling up to the mansion.
"Don't look now laddies, but I think the party's about to get started!" the barbaric princess alerted Rayman and Globox, as she pointed at the cars. People were filing out of said cars, on their way to the party.
"Aw what, is this just some lousy party?" frowned Waluigi arriving at the party along with Saki, Yuri, and Yuri's friend Miu. "I was told that it was gonna be a rave!"
"Take off your shirt Waluigi, make it a rave!" dared Saki, as Waluigi cautiously looked around. Hardly anyone was looking, which meant that the coast was clear, as Waluigi unbuttoned his overalls.
"I'LL DO ANYTHING FOR YOUR APPROVAL!" Waluigi took off his purple shirt, before waving his shirt in the air like a rallying flag. Taking advantage of the moment, Yuri snapped a picture of the shirtless Waluigi.
"You're not going to send that to everyone, are you?" Miu asked her best friend, who found herself smirking at the picture she just took.
"Not everyone..." assured Yuri, as she pulled up her contact list. "...just a few people I could trust."
In order to join the party, the citizens of Seattle had to pay money - $30 for adults, and $15 for children (and teenagers). If you were already a tourist at the mansion today, then you had to pay money again.
"Can't believe I'm giving that giant hand my hard-earned money..." a woman grumbled, as she handed her money to Timmy and Tommy at an admissions table. She grumpily walked away, muttering some bad things about Master Hand under her breath.
"Thank you for your patronage, ma'am!" Timmy and Tommy thanked the woman in unison, with bright faces. Master Hand appeared above the tanokis, giggling like a little child at the money that was accrued.
"Oh yeah, I'm giving none of that money to charity!" the giant hand exclaimed, proving how uncharitable he was. "I'm gonna use those funds to buy me a new Lamborghini. A bigger and better one!"
"After you get your new Lamborghini, do you think you'll let Tom Nook back at the mansion?" Tommy asked Master Hand; life at the mansion for him and Timmy hasn't been the same, ever since Tom Nook was banned.
"Sure I will...provided that Tom Nook learned his lesson." On that remark, Master Hand floated away, leaving Timmy and Tommy to wonder what he meant when he said that Tom Nook needed to learn his "lesson". Master Hand floated over to where Sonic and Corrin were...
...but to his shock, the hedgehog and the prince of Nohr were nowhere to be found! At least the LED lights and balloons were still around.
"Hold up, where did Sonic and Corrin run off to?" questioned Master Hand, as he looked around and scoped the entire party scene. "I thought I told those bums to hang up the lights and balloons!"
Sonic and Corrin were now inside the mansion, standing in front of Master Hand's door. Behind that door should be Leon's business card, somewhere in the room.
"I'll stand out here and be on the lookout for Master Hand," Sonic informed Corrin, who cautiously entered Master Hand's room. "I would go in there with you, but those paintings on the walls give me the creeps!"
Sonic: Sometimes Master Hand likes to have Vince or Yusuke craft paintings to hang up on his wall in his room. Said paintings are inspired by some stage builder thing I've been hearing about. You got paintings of the DVD logo, Patrick Star stuck in a trombone, Reggie Fils-Aime, Steamed Hams, Mario peeing, Jotaro vs Dio...and then you got paintings of some anime chick from an anime that I am now too ashamed to admit that I watch. Let alone heard of. But if this stage builder has proved anything, it's that the human race has always been prone to making mistakes...
Once inside the room, Corrin looked around, wondering where that business card could be. The prince didn't know where to look first...
"If I were Master Hand, where would I put the card at..." Corrin stroked his chin, as he wandered to Master Hand's nightstand. He looked on the nightstand, and saw several issues of the Fully Clothed Women magazine. "How could Master Hand read such filth...he doesn't even have eyes!"
Corrin grabbed the magazines, and tossed them on Master Hand's bed. Situated underneath those magazines was a card - Leon's business card. Corrin gleamed when he saw the business card lying on the nightstand.
"Found it!" cheered Corrin, as he picked up the business card. He looked on the nightstand, and saw a telephone. The prince picked up the phone, and quickly dialed Leon's number.
"Leon Kennedy, Division of Security Operations," Leon answered the call, much to Corrin's joy; Corrin thought the dial tone would sound forever.
"Hi Mr. Kennedy, it's me, Corrin," Corrin spoke into the phone, trying his hardest to contain his excitement. "The boy with the silver-haired hair? I was thinking that maybe we can team up and solve paranormal mysteries together! Me, you, and Mario! You know, the plumber with the farting problem?"
"Yeah I know who Mario is...pretty sure everybody does. So kid, you think you're up for the challenge?"
"Yes sir, I am one-hundred percent ready for the challenge! Bring it on!"
"Very well! Meet me outside near the back of the mansion, where that forestation is. There we can..."
Suddenly a dead tone was heard in the phone, as Corrin gasped. The prince turned around and saw Master Hand and Sonic behind him; the former had unplugged the phone from the wall.
"Ha, caught you red-handed!" Master Hand taunted Corrin, twirling the phone cord around on his index finger.
"I'm sorry dude, I kinda got distracted..." Sonic apologized to Corrin, chuckling sheepishly as he held up his phone. The picture of the shirtless Waluigi - the one Yuri sent out to "trusted individuals" - was on the screen.
"Corrin, why did you call those agents?" Master Hand scolded the prince, backing him into a corner. "Leave them alone and let them do their job!"
"But Master Hand, there's a supernatural conspiracy afoot!" said Corrin, as Master Hand hung up the phone and plugged the phone cord back into the wall.
"See, your obsession with the supernatural is getting you into trouble! One of these days, it's gonna get ALL of us in trouble. Now leave my room, and go enjoy the party or you're grounded!"
So Corrin let out a sigh, as he and Sonic left Master Hand's room. However, that didn't stop Corrin from being determined to crack the supernatural case open.
Wanting to take precautionary measures for any paranormal event, Mario asked X to rev up the mansion's security system, to which the pacifist robot obliged. After the deed was done, X went to go speak with Mario in the living room.
"The security system has been upgraded," X informed Mario, who was shuffling through some party hats that were in the garbage bag the plumber carried inside. "It should be able to deal with any supernatural baddies - zombies, ghosts, banshees, you name it!"
"Much appreciated, X," Mario thanked the robot, as he shuffled through the party hats and separated them by color. "Only light-a colored party hats at the party, he said...Master Hand is one-a weird individual!"
"Heh, you can say that again...oh, I also wanted to give you these." X tossed small objects at Mario, which landed at the plumber's feet. Mario picked up one of the objects, which was a pretty tiny sphere. "They're, um...nifty spy cameras."
"Nifty spy cameras? So you can-a like, insert one in some-a one's clothes, and use it to spy on-a others?"
"You can also insert one inside of someone...though I wouldn't advise doing that. They came with the security system when I first installed the system into the mansion. Sadly, twelve of them are missing - can't even pull the cameras up on my dashboard!"
X: When the security system was first installed, I had about twenty of those spherical spy cameras, ready to go. Six months later, when I was about to use them...twelve went missing. I'm willing to bet someone mistook the spheres for candy, and ate them. They're probably digested by now.
"I was thinking that maybe we could use those small cameras to look out for any paranormal activity lurking around the mansion," continued X, as Mario inspected the spy cameras lying at his feet. "We could attach them to certain people, and..."
"Mario, we have no time to waste - Leon Kennedy needs us!" Corrin ran inside the living room, before grabbing Mario's hand and running out. Mario yelled, as he dropped the tiny spy cameras on the floor.
"...use them to search for zombies and ghosts," X would finish his sentence, before letting out a sigh. "I hate it when no one gives innovative technology a chance."
Luigi was super stoked about getting to sing karaoke with Mario at the party tonight, and the plumber was in pretty good spirits. He walked around the party scene, strangely wearing a lei, as he watched everyone dance.
"Howdy boys, looking good!" Luigi said to several boys, who were dancing their tails off. "Way to cut a rug-a Villager!" Luigi said to Villager, who was doing the Shrunk Funk Shuffle. "Wave that shirt-a proud, Waluigi!" Luigi said to the shirtless Waluigi, who was waving his shirt in the air. "Flipping weirdo..."
"Luigi, we have a grievance!" Fox confronted the plumber, along with Falco; both pilots were looking pretty angry. "It's about this dumb party!"
"Well, boys, what appears-a to be the problem? Is this party not turnt enough-a for ya?...I'm using the word-a turnt correctly, right?"
"No, this party is pretty turnt already..." replied Falco, leading Luigi to wonder what the pilot's beef was. "...it's just that we were never invited!"
"Now now, you two know-a that these events are free-a to everyone except the public." Luigi took out two party horns, and handed them to Fox and Falco. "And by everyone, I mean-a us...you're always-a permitted to join!"
"Oh yeah, silly us, what were we thinking..." Falco and Fox took their party horns, and blew into them. "Hey Fox, how about the two of us go on that stage and sing some karaoke?"
"Let's get it!" grinned Fox, as he and Falco ran to the stage. Luigi looked on, smiling proudly. Mario couldn't show up any sooner...
...but before Mario could sing karaoke with Luigi (if he even wanted to), the plumber first had to meet up with Leon. Corrin took Mario to the forestation, where the meeting would take place. Leon, Chris, Jill, and Ada showed up, walking to Mario and Corrin.
"Guys, we're both so glad to see you," Corrin said to Leon and company, unable to hide let alone control his excitement. Mario, on the other hand, was pretty chill. "Working together, we can crack all sorts of paranormal mysteries in Seattle!"
"Kid's getting a little too ahead of himself," Ada whispered to the other agents, who all nodded in agreement. You'd think that Corrin wanted to be an aspiring paranormal monster hunter, with the way he's been acting today.
"So, where-a do we begin?" asked Mario, as he rubbed his hands together. "Let's make this as quick-a as possible; Corrin and-a I have a party to attend. Hopefully Luigi won't rope-a me into singing karaoke..."
"We can start right now, so you two can go back to the mansion and enjoy the rest of your night," said Leon, before kneeling down on the ground and touching the soft soil underneath his feet. "We did some scouting around the area, and Jill here detected a strong presence of the supernatural at this very spot."
"Found it on my scouter device," said Jill, holding up her scouter to Mario and Corrin. The device was blinking, with a red flashing light. "Judging by how fast the light is blinking, I would have to assume that there might be monsters lurking about."
"But where exactly are-a these monsters?" questioned Mario, quickly getting on the offensive so he could brace himself for any surprises. "Are they invisible, or are-a they under the ground?"
"I would have to assume that they're buried underneath this earth," replied Leon, as he was repeatedly touching the ground. "I got a sense that there might be something underneath this spot..."
"Looks like you finally found the jackpot!"
This mumbling voice was heard Leon and company, as a certain skeleton appeared out of the shrubbery of the forestation. It was Sir Dan, the skeletal swordsman from the manor! But he wasn't alone - with him was a sorcerer of sorts, wielding a pointy staff.
"Hands up where we can see them!" Chris shouted at Sir Dan and the sorcerer, as he and the other agents donned their weapons. Sir Dan instinctively held his hands, before the sorcerer motioned the skeleton to put his hands down. "State your business!"
"At ease, kind sir...we come in peace," the sorcerer said to Chris, who cautiously lowered his gun. "I am Zarok of Gallowmere, and this is my arch-nemesis...erm, ally, Sir Daniel Fortesque."
"It's nice to meet you!" Sir Dan smiled and waved at the four agents, before Zarok backhanded the skeleton hard enough to nearly send his skull down to the ground.
"Don't engage in friendly banter with them, you simpleton..." Zarok scolded Sir Dan, before returning his attention to Chris and company. "I take it that you are here to investigate some 'paranormal activity', is that correct?"
"Said activity must've been-a started by YOU!" Mario accusingly pointed at Zarok, knowing what Zarok was all about. "Don't try-a and hide it, Zarok!"
"You know this guy?" Leon asked Mario, his gun still pointed at Zarok.
"He's from the All-a Star Manor - the guys from-a there have been major pains in-a the butt for us, recently."
"Calling us major pains in the butt...we are so flattered," responded Zarok, in a sarcastic manner. "But, no matter, time to do what needs to be done..."
Zarok held up his staff, summoning some kind of spell. The ground began to rumble violently, as a giant crack was formed. Mario and company backed away, as zombies started coming out from the crack.
"Oh my goodness! Actual zombies!" squealed Corrin, as more and more zombies appeared out from the crack. Mario was alarmed, while Leon and the agents had their guns ready to go.
"You see, Mario, while you and your friends were sleeping away, Sir Dan and I planted some zombies under the earth, at this location," explained Zarok, as the zombies crept closer towards Mario and company. "We plan on using these zombies to eliminate everyone at the mansion, and damage the mansion itself!"
"Not on our watch!" shouted Leon, getting his gun locked and loaded. "Fire away, everyone!" Leon and the other agents started firing bullets at the zombies, dispatching them one by one. They kept backing away, as Mario and Corrin backed away long with them.
"Keeping on firing!" ordered Chris, as he continued to fire rounds at the zombies. Ada kept on firing at the zombies, until she ran out of bullets.
"Crap, ran out of ammo..." the Asian woman frowned, before quickly leaving the scene. "I'll...see you guys later...gonna look for some bullets." In true Ada Wong fashion, the agent ditched her friends, much to the other's dismay.
"Did she seriously ditch us?" Jill asked Chris and Leon; she would've been surprised by Ada's actions, but she already knew what Ada was all about.
Ada: It's not like that I wanted to leave Leon and the others behind...sometimes, you just need a little break every now and then from the action. Sadly, Leon would never understand.
With Ada having left them, the remaining agents continued to fire shots at the zombies. Eventually, the zombies caught up to Leon and company, and tackled them to the ground and dragged them away into the forestation.
"Save yourselves!" Leon shouted to Mario and Corrin, as he, Jill, and Chriss were dragged away. Sir Dan and Zarok smirked at Mario and Corrin, who were now hugging each other as the zombies crept closer.
"Mario, if we are to die right now, let me just say that...you really do have a farting problem!" confessed Corrin, as Mario glared at the prince of Nohr. Just when it seemed like it was all over for Mario and Corrin...
...a Yiga footsoldier appeared, and fired a bomb arrow at the zombies and killed them all. Several over Yiga clansmen appeared, and fought the zombies with their sickles and whatnot.
"You guys go back to the mansion and alert the others!" the Yiga footsoldier ordered Mario and Corrin, who ran away to deliver the news. The footsoldier joined his fellow clansmen in the action, firing away arrows.
"No, those bums are ruining our plans!" Zarok growled in response to the Yiga Clan saving the day, before looking at Sir Dan...who was holding out his fist, expecting a fist bump. Zarok swatted Sir Dan's hand to the ground, with his staff. "Now's not the time for that..."
Back at the party, everyone was having a great time. People were dancing, Pigma and Leon (the chameleon) were eating up all the food, King Dedede was looking for a woman to kiss, and Cortex was blindfolded and armed with a baseball bat as he was looking for the Tom Nook pinata.
"Where is that Tom Nook?!" wondered Cortex as he was violently swinging his baseball bat, while Rayman and his friends laughed at the evil genius. Meanwhile, Luigi was on the karaoke stage waiting for Mario, while Fox and Falco were singing karaoke already.
"What up, fools, it's Falco and Fox!" Falco sang into the microphone, while music played from the karaoke machine.
"Spitting out those bars that sound so orthodox!" Fox sang into the microphone, moving his hand in the air to get the crowd engaged.
"What do you say guys is this party legendary?" Marie asked the crowd, interrupting Fox and Falco's karaoke session, as the crowd cheered. "When I say 'Marie', you say 'Callie'!"
Unbeknownst to the Squid Sisters, the ground started to shake, making everyone fearful of a potential earthquake.
"Marie!" Marie shouted into the mic, but nobody responded.
"AAAAAAAAH!" a woman screamed, understandably panicked as ever.
"Marie!" Marie shouted into the mic once more, this time expecting a response.
"WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!" a man screamed, as the citizens of Seattle screamed and ran around frantically.
"Why does that never work?" a distraught Callie asked Marie, who could only shrug her shoulders. "Guess we're not as popular in this city..."
"Oh snap, I think it's an earthquake!" shouted King K. Rool, before taking out an airhorn and blowing it. "Everyone evacuate the area!" The citizens left the mansion premises, as the residents from the mansion and tower stayed behind.
"Wait, don't leave, I've yet to kiss a single woman today!" King Dedede called out to the citizens, but it was too late...they had all left. Soon, Mario and Corrin returned to the mansion, as they were both out of breath.
"There you guys are, we've been wondering were you where!" Sonic approached Mario and Corrin, who were both taking a breather. "Where'd you both run off to?"
"I'm afraid...we have-a some trouble..." panted Mario, before Sonic looked behind the plumber and panicked when he saw the nearing zombies. They were moving faster than normal, in an almost intimidating way.
"Everyone to the front porch, we got zombies coming our way!" Sonic alerted the residents as everyone ran to the porch, including Mario and Corrin. From Rayman and Waluigi, to Dunban and Yuri, to Joker and Robin and his kids...the residents present outside were now on the front porch, as the zombies caught up to them.
"Stand back everyone, I got this!" shouted Chrom, heroically stepping up to the plate...as the prince took out his cellphone and took a picture of the zombies. Everyone glared at him - so much for being a hero. "You have to admit, this is pretty neat."
Chrom: Ah, first time I've ever taken a photo on my phone...and it's a picture of zombies. *holds up phone to the camera, with the picture of zombies on the phone screen* A first for everything...
"Don't panic, maybe they're just an ugly flash mob!" Barbara said to the others, trying to quell everyone's fears and worries. A zombie swung at Barbara and company, but missed horribly.
"Guys, stay calm...Globox has been training for this moment his whole life," assured Globox, stepping up to the plate more heroically than Chrom did. "With all the horror movies Globox has seen, he literally knows all there is to know about to avoid zombies."
Suddenly a zombie bit Globox, quickly turning the amphibian into a zombie. Globox's skin turned green and clammy in an instant.
"Second thought, gonna flip the script," Globox turned around and said to Mario and company, now more scared than ever. "Can Globox eat your brains? Yea or Nay? Seeing some Yea faces over here."
"Everyone inside!" shouted Joker, as everyone quickly ran inside the mansion. Waluigi, the last to enter the mansion, closed the front door, but that would be all or naught as Globox slammed the door to the floor. Globox and the other zombies followed Waluigi and company, in slow pursuit.
"Aw, come on!" frowned Waluigi, as he and the others backed away from the zombies and entered the nearest hallway.
"Globox is very sorry - he just wants those brains!" Globox said to Waluigi and company, as he and the zombies were hot on their heels.
"Stay back!" Robin shouted at the zombies, grabbing a nearby vase and throwing it at one of the zombies. The vase struck a zombie in the head, and the zombie stopped moving momentarily before it continued to walk.
"Give it up, your fighting only makes Globox and pals look more rad!" Globox told the residents, as he and zombies crept closer and closer.
"What do we do? Where's Master Hand?" asked Morgan, knowing that Master Hand could wipe out the zombies lickety-split.
"How's he supposed to help?" retorted Marc, knowing that he and the others were doomed. "He probably doesn't care what's going on right now!"
Master Hand was in his room, proudly looking at the paintings Sonic had spoken of earlier in his talking head segment. The giant hand continued to look, until something bothered him.
"Why do I feel like Mario and the others are in big trouble...?" pondered Master Hand, seemingly able to detect the presence of zombies in his mansion.
The residents eventually reached the second floor of the mansion, and they were still running away from the zombies as they reached an intersection in the hallway. Leon (the chameleon) looked at Marie, who had the karaoke machine in her hands, and took it from the Inkling.
"Take this, suckers!" Leon threw the karaoke machine at a few zombies, decapitating them. Marie and Callie glared down the chameleon. "Your karaoke machine is a surprisingly good weapon," Leon told the Squid Sisters, in an apologetic manner.
"We need to board up the windows!" shouted Shulk, as he heard some crawling sounds outside. King K. Rool rushed to action and tried to board up a window with a chair, before Globox and a few zombies broke through the window.
"Globox taught the zombies how to get into the fuse box!" Globox said to the residents, as he and the other zombies crawled inside. "Among these dudes Globox is like a genius! Even though he can't use personal pronouns..."
Several lights in the hallway went out, as Globox and zombies had Mario and company cornered. It seemed like it would be the end for the residents...until a chain was fired at the zombies, latching a zombie and sending it flying. Everyone looked down the hallway...and saw Link, armed with his hookshot, along with Champion Link, Cloud, Zelda, and Midna.
"You want some, come get some!" Link taunted the zombies, showing off his hookshot. It looked like the Hylian and his friends were ready for a fight.
"Mario, get everyone to the top floor!" Cloud shouted to the plumber, donning his Buster Sword. "We'll take care of the zombies." Heeding Cloud's instruction, Mario led the group of residents away from the zombies, taking them into the intersecting hallway.
"Alright you undead jerks, you ready to die twice?!" Forfeiting his Master Sword for just this one occasion, Link had his hookshot ready to go.
Up in the Star Records room, Kiria and Yashiro were chilling out, enjoying their solitude, when Mario and company burst inside through the door. Kiria and Yashiro stopped what they were doing, as they looked at the residents who were nearly out of breath.
"Woah, what happened to you guys?" asked Yashiro as he and Kiria came over to Mario and company. "I thought you were at the party?"
"Party got cancelled, sadly," replied Rayman, once he was done taking his breather. "There's a bunch of zombies outside!"
"Is everyone okay?" asked Cloud, as he and the others who fought the zombies entered the Star Records room. They all looked like they went through war. "Took out as many zombies as we could..."
"Yeah we're fine - we had quite the workout!" replied Pigma, wiping away the sweat from his face. Never had the pig ran so fast in his life.
Pigma: Here we were, running away from zombies, and not one person left their room to help us...shows ya how much they care!
"Mario I got here as soon as I could, are you and everyone else alright?" asked Master Hand, appearing in the Star Records room. "Had to follow your scent to this very room."
"That sounds-a very creepy...and yes, we're all-a fine," replied Mario, before Falco yelped in pain as he fell down on one knee and clutched his shin. "...everyone except-a for Falco."
"We must head back outside, Leon and the others need us!" stressed Corrin, as Leon (the chameleon) looked at the prince in confusion. Corrin refused to let the federal agents be zombified. "Who knows what happened to them!"
"Did you mess around with those agents, even though I told you not to?" Master Hand asked Corrin; he shouldn't be surprised that the prince didn't listen to him. "Did you at least see who or what summoned the zombies?"
"It was Zarok, that sorcerer from-a the manor, who summoned the zombies," explained Mario, as Master Hand let out a sigh. Clearly the giant hand knew Zarok all too well.
"Ah, figures...of course it would be Zarok's doing. Zarok's been feigning to invade my mansion with zombies for the longest now, I'm sure. This zombie outbreak has to be a part of the manor's plan to destroy us!"
"It sure looks like a war zone out there..." remarked Kiria, looking out the window and seeing the Yiga clansmen battling the zombies. "..what do you think we should do to make those zombies go away?"
"If my knowledge of zombie movies serves me correct..." Corrin stroked his chin in thought, thinking of a plan. "...the primary weakness of a zombie is loud music, along with singing. We can make music and sing, and make the zombies' heads explode!"
"What kind of zombie movies have you been watching?" Pigma asked Corrin, who dared not to answer the question.
"I make music by making sounds with my body," stated King Dedede, salty that he couldn't complete his girl of kissing a female tourist. "Sometimes intentionally."
"No, we'll need a karaoke machine," stated Marie, before glaring down Leon (the chameleon). "Too bad Leon threw the one from the party at the zombies..."
"Don't worry Marie, for we have a karaoke machine of our own in the recording studio," assured Yashiro, before looking around the room. "So, who wants to volunteer for some karaoke on the mansion rooftop?"
"I think I know a good-a volunteer or two..." smiled Luigi, as he looked at Mario. Mario looked at Luigi, before gulping nervously.
As the Yiga clansmen and the zombies fought each other, Yashiro was situating a karaoke machine on the mansion rooftop. On the rooftop, ready to sing some karaoke, were the Mario Bros, Mario and Luigi. Luigi looked excited, while the same couldn't be said for Mario.
"Hello? Hello! Is this thing-a on?" Luigi spoke into his microphone, as sound was emitted from a loudspeaker. The fighting ended, as the Yiga clansmen and zombies looked up at the Mario Bros.
"Zombies and gentlemen!" Yashiro greeted everyone outside, standing near the edge of the roof. "My name is Yashiro, and I'm here to present to you the Mario Bros, Mario and Luigi! This famous duo will be singing karaoke for you tonight."
"I'm gonna lose-a so much dignity tonight..." grumbled Mario, wishing he had someone else taking his spot.
"Let's do it!" Yashiro pressed the play button on the karaoke machine, as "What You Waiting For" by Gwen Stefani started playing. Seeing that Mario was too reluctant to sing first, Luigi offered to go ahead...
What an amazing time
What a family
How did the years go by?
Now it's only me
Luigi then started to sing the "tick-tock" portion of the song, moving his head and feet along to the beat, as the Yiga clansmen and zombies looked at one another in bitter confusion. Having sung his part, Luigi pointed at Mario, who felt slightly more comfortable and ready to sing:
Like a cat in heat stuck in a moving car
Scary conversations
Shut my eyes, can't find the brake
What if they say that you're a cloner?
"What even is this singing?!" questioned one of the Yiga clansmen, unnerved by Mario's horrid singing. "Lets get outta here!" The Yiga clansman left via smoke bomb, as his fellow clansmen followed suit one by one.
Yashiro: For what it's worth, the Squid Sisters had the final say on what song the Mario Bros should sing. It was their intention to have the brothers sing that Gwen Stefani song at the party.
As the Yiga clansmen returned to their hideout, the zombies on the other hand were disturbed by the singing - so disturbed that they had to cover their ears, till their heads exploded! As the zombies' heads were exploding left and right, the Mario Bros continued to sing, as Mario started to sing the pre-chorus:
Look at your watch now!
You're still a super hot female?
"I'm sorry Luigi but I can't sing-a the rest, I feel-a so stupid!" Mario told his brother, forfeiting the rest of the pre-chorus. Luigi was too much in the groove to listen to Mario.
"WHAT YOU WAITING, WHAT YOU WAITING, WHAT YOU WAITING, WHAT YOU WAITING, WHAT YOU WAITING FOR!" Luigi aggressively sang, as he was hopping up and down. Mario looked down, and saw zombie heads exploding everywhere.
"Luigi it's-a working, keep on singing!" Mario encouraged his brother, letting him sing the rest of the song. Luigi was really into it.
"What's that dreadful sound, what's happening to the zombies?" wondered Zarok, as he and Sir Dan showed up at the front of the mansion. They were shocked, as their zombies were being defeated by Luigi's singing. "What's killing the zombies?!"
"Up there!" Sir Dan pointed up at the rooftop at Mario and Luigi, with the latter singing his heart out. Also on the rooftop was Yashiro, who was armed with the confetti cannon Fiora had earlier.
"Hey losers...eat confetti!" Yashiro shouted to Sir Dan and Zarok, before firing some confetti at the two manor denizens. Sir Dan and Zarok dodged the blast of confetti swiftly, like it was the most dangerous substance in existence.
"Bleh, they're ruining our plan..." frowned Zarok as he looked around, seeing that there were only a few remaining zombies left standing as they covered their ears. "Let's head back to the manor, and deliver the bad news!" Using his staff, Zarok teleported himself and Sir Dan back to the manor, in a flurry of green flames.
By the time Luigi was finished singing the song, all the zombies were dispatched. There was nothing left but headless zombie corpses, littered around the mansion.
"Take-a that, zombie idiots!" Luigi taunted the zombies...well, the zombie corpses, before looking at Mario and holding out his fist for a fist bump. "We did-a great, bro! And you didn't choke-a on your microphone, like last-a time."
"I told you not to speak-a of that again," grinned Mario, as he bumped his fist with Luigi's. "You know I can never live-a that down."
"Nicely done, you two," Yashiro commended the Mario Bros, unplugging the karaoke machine and the loudspeaker. "Hopefully that singing of yours will keep that skeleton guy and the sorcerer away from the mansion for a while. One can only hope...let's head back inside, shall we?"
Corrin: As I've learned from Yashiro, it's not just music mixed with singing that kills zombies...it's music mixed with BAD singing that also makes their heads explode! I should experiment with different types of singing in the future, to test the plausibility of my theory. But I wonder, who would make for a great test zombie...Heihachi's son Kazuya would be a good start. And it's not like Heihachi would care what happened to Kazuya anyways.
X: My upgraded security system did NOTHING when the zombies attacked... *flexed his fingers* ...time for some more upgrades.
Zelda: We took care of the zombies inside the mansion - had to blast Mario and Luigi's singing throughout the hallways to kill the zombies. Now if you excuse me, I have to bleach my ears...if that's even possible. Or safe.
Later that night, Mr. Game and Watch, Dark Pit, Flora and Felicia got to cleaning up the foyer, and anything else the zombies damaged or messed with. Master Hand was with Mario and Corrin in the foyer, surveying the work done.
"My apologies, you two - my eagerness to be a supernatural expert got us into trouble," Corrin apologized to Mario and Master hand. "Even got Leon and the other agents into trouble..."
"It's alright, Corrin, Zarok's zombie invasion would've happened anyways," responded Master Hand; he should thank the Yiga Clan, for fending off the zombies. "At least you and Mario gave everyone a heads up, otherwise we really would've been screwed!"
"Brains! Brains!" said a still zombified Globox, who was blockaded by a bunch of chairs. He was the only zombie left standing. "Globox wants brains!"
"We've decided to keep Globox here contained, until Rayman and Barbara find an online cure for his zombification," Mr. Game and Watch explained to Master Hand, before Globox took a swipe at the 2-D man. "Hey, watch it!"
"Hehe, sorry! Globox just really wants your brain. Do you even have a brain...?"
"I should head-a back home - gotta go see if the neighbors were-a affected by the zombies," Mario told Master Hand and Corrin, as he opened the front door. "My house better not have-a any damages..."
"Any idea what happened to Leon and the others?" Master Hand asked Corrin, after Mario had left. Let's see what those agents were up to...
Leon, Jill, and Chris left the forestation they were dragged into, and all three agents looked battered and bruised.
"That was pretty crazy!" remarked Chris, rubbing the several scars all over his left arm. "Never seen a zombie outbreak like that in a while."
"I'm definitely reporting this incident to the Division of Security Operations," said Leon, pulling a zombie head off his jacket as the head dissolved in his hand. "They can do everything in their power to protect the mansion from any potential supernatural forces...and maybe also from that All-Star Manor Mario mentioned."
"Where do you think Ada ran off to?" asked Jill, figuring that Ada would've returned to rescue the agents. "She never really ran out of ammo, did she?"
"You seriously thought I ran away for good?" a voice asked, as Ada finally showed up. Leon and company were relieved. But Ada didn't come alone. "Oh, by the way, look who I found...some guy left behind from that party Mario spoke of."
"Where is that stupid pinata?!" asked the guy from the party, blindfolded while swinging with his baseball bat. It was Cortex, who was still looking for that Tom Nook pinata.
"Aah, another zombie!" shouted Chris, as he pulled out his gun. Leon and Jill followed suit. "Drop your weapon this instant!"
"A zombie? Where?" Cortex took off his blindfold, and looked at Chris and the agents. The three agents lowered their weapons as they looked at Cortex, disturbed.
"Oh, false alarm, it's just...a very ugly man..."
A very ugly man indeed...