Author's Note:
I've been wanting to get this two-parter over with...oh yeah, guest reviews!
"Will another character become a resident since Layton left? Is Marianne from Three Houses gonna be mistaken for Berkut and Rinea's daughter if she shows up? A reference to How It Should Have Ended or HISHE for short in a future chapter? Will the Catherine cast show up? (Since Vincent had a small cameo in Persona 3 Portable) if Ryo from Shenmue appears, is he gonna ask where he can find some sailors like in the first game? And finally, what are your thoughts on Crash Team Racing:Nitro Fuel getting microtransactions?"
We'll see. She won't be mistaken in the slightest. Wouldn't mind doing a HISHE reference. A little iffy on the Catherine cast. Ryo might ask about finding some sailors, if he appears. And the microtransactions in Crash Team Racing: Nitro Fueled...don't bother me as much, honestly. I don't really have a strong opinion on them. Just Activision being Activision...another anonymous review:
"If you could have any xbox or playstation exclusive come to the switch, what would it be?"
I'd have to go with Persona 5. Just so people can play it on the Switch and live out their dreams. Derick Lindsey has a question about E. Gadd and Dr. Wily:
"I forgot what beef Dr. Wily has with E Gadd that makes him treat E Gadd like he's Mega Man or Dr. Light, is it just a Homer and Ned thing where E Gadd is better off then him and is a better inventor/scientist and thus Wily is jealous or is there more then that?"
The beef has been brought up before, in past chapters of the story. Might've been mentioned in episode 134, if I recall correctly. It isn't really a Homer and Ned thing; the reason behind the beef will be revealed over time. Last but not least, PinkRose4452:
"1. What are your thoughts on the 4.0 update?
2. Out of the four playable Dragon Quest Heroes in Smash, which one is your favorite(s)?
3. Are Minato and Yukari a couple, or will they become one?"
1. Thanks to the update, I feel above-average playing as Ridley now thanks to the buffs. And I like that they brought back the online tournament mode. Actually won a tournament as Mewtwo, of all characters...
2. Eight is my favorite hero, because of his design. And the little critter in his pocket, Yangus.
3. They're not a couple...yet. Or maybe they're already a couple. Or maybe they're not. Or maybe...they are...
Episode 190: Truce Part 1
One of Mario's favorite hobbies, in his down time, was to go through his scrapbook of memories and look at many various photos from the past. The plumber loved looking through his scrapbook, since it was always a trip down memory lane. Reminding himself of the awesome things he had done in his life, and then some...to say that Mario loved his scrapbook would be lightly putting it.
And what better way to spend his hobby, then to do it with his daughter Jennifer? Granted, Jennifer was still too young for looking through a scrapbook with her father, but it didn't stop Mario from enjoying other hobbies with his daughter. Whether it was cabinetmaking, aerobic exercises, or any other activity Peach typically frowned upon.
Mario was in the living room right now, sitting on the sofa with Jennifer in his lap and his scrapbook in his hands. Mario and Jennifer would look at the scrapbook together, as Spyro came over.
"That's me, sliding down-a the water slide," Mario said to Jennifer, as he pointed at a picture of him and Link sliding down a water slide at some water park somewhere. "Poor Link nearly lost-a his swimming trunks!"
"Um, Mario?" Spyro said to the plumber, as Jennifer smiled and clapped. Mario didn't hear Spyro, as he flipped the page and spotted another picture.
"Ooh, and that's a picture of that moment when-a your uncle Luigi got his head-a stuck in a fire hydrant! Took the fire department forever to get-a him outta there."
"Ha ha ha!" Jennifer laughed, amused by her uncle's own misfortune. Talk about a confidence killer. Spyro rolled his eyes, as he came over to the sofa so Mario could see him in full sight.
"Mario, don't you think it's too soon to be showing your kid your scrapbook?" the dragon asked the plumber, who lowered the scrapbook.
"I personally see nothing wrong-a with it," replied Mario, as he flipped through the pages of the scrapbook. "Gotta start-a off my Jennifer right."
"I mean I get that, but she's like what, only a year and a few months old? Why not wait till she's older and she can start remembering stuff?"
"Spyro, don't be salty that your father never looked-a through a scrapbook with you. Why don't you go take-a your pity party somewhere else?"
"Just saying, there's no way Jennifer will know all of that stuff at her current age. Only thing she'll do is just laugh and clap at whatever picture you show her!"
Spyro: Funny thing is, I have a scrapbook myself...and yes, it's a scrapbook of most of the stuff I did in my adventures. Also has a few embarrassing photos of Hunter, which a few fairies documented. I think Hunter removed some of those pictures, to preserve his dignity.
Peach: *walks out of bedroom, then looks down* What's this? *picks up picture off of the floor* A picture of Hunter flying off of a roller coaster? Hmm...I could use this. *looks around, then backs into bedroom before closing the door*
"Mark-a my words, Jennifer will remember those pictures, when she's-a older," vowed Mario, like the proud father he was. "I'll quiz her on-a the pictures when she's in like pre-a school or kindergarten."
"So what happens if she doesn't pass the quiz?" inquired Spyro, as he raised an eyebrow.
"Then I'll disown-a her and leave her all alone-a with Princess Peach. Who will be-a my scapegoat."
"Well then, congratulations on being a deadbeat in three or four years..."
Mario would flip the page in his scrapbook, before gasping when he saw a picture that offended him greatly. It was a picture of Mario and others on a cruise ship - back in episode 10. But the scene that took place when the picture was taken struck a major chord in Mario.
"What's the problem, Mario?" Cappy asked the plumber, who pointed at someone in the picture that was standing at the top. Cappy had to squint his eyes, to get a good look. "Is that who I think it is?"
"That's Raiden, from the All-Star Manor," explained Mario, remembering the time when Raiden tried to kidnap Isabelle. "The mercenary that tried-a to kidnap Joker, two months ago."
"Oh yeah, that's him! What was he doing there at a cruise ship, I wonder? Did Snake invite him or something?"
"Actually, Raiden invited himself - he was trying to kidnap-a poor Isabelle! But thankfully, me and everyone else that went-a on the cruise stopped Raiden in time."
"Wow Mario, I've never seen you speak about anyone with such contempt before," remarked Spyro, seeing a high amount of vitriol and anger from Mario that he had never seen before. "You must really hate Raiden, don't you?"
"If my memory serves-a me right, Raiden also got away with-a kidnapping Lucas, for Dr. Eggman's evil plot. Seems like Raiden has a strange-a hankering for kidnapping people...kinda sounds unlike-a him."
Coming down from the stairs was Peach, who had found a perfect spot to place that embarrassing picture of Hunter in her bedroom. She saw Mario looking through the scrapbook with Jennifer; since her husband wasn't doing cabinetmaking or exercising with his daughter, Peach was fairly content.
"So I just got off the phone with Chrom," Peach said to Mario, grabbing the plumber's attention as he looked up from the scrapbook. "Said that Robin finally beat Morgan and Marc at pool! He and Robin are bragging about it to everyone else, apparently."
"Robin beat his kids-a at something?" marveled Mario, unaware that Robin was even remotely average at pool. "Eh, as long as it keeps him as less of a deadbeat. Deadbeat, hehe..."
"That's what you're gonna be when Jennifer fails that scrapbook 'quiz'," Spyro murmured to Mario, causing the plumber to frown.
"Don't speak it into existence, buddy..." Mario threatened Spyro, pointing his finger at the not-at-all-intimidated dragon. Suddenly the house phone rang, and Cappy flew over to answer it.
"Hello, Mario residence speaking!" the talking hat spoke into the phone. "Oh, hi Isabelle! How ya doing?...Oh, you don't say? I'll let Mario know. We'll be there in a jiffy! Alright, see you later!"
"What did Isabelle want?" Mario asked Cappy, who hung up the phone after the call was over. "Something went-a down at the mansion? Akuma didn't beat up Banjo again, did-a he?"
"No he didn't...well at least not this time. Isabelle said Master Hand wants you over at the mansion for the...interrogation." Cappy said the word "interrogation" menacingly, with his eyes squinted, like he was making a very dramatic announcement.
"Interrogation? Who am I even...?" It didn't hit Mario till seconds later whom the plumber was supposed to interrogate. "...oh yeah, that is right! The...interrogation." Like Cappy, Mario said the word "interrogation" with a menacing voice and squinted eyes and all.
"Am I...missing something here?" questioned Spyro before he looked at Peach, who shrugged. Not even Peach herself could understand Mario's madness.
"Well what are we waiting for, let's-a go!" Mario was about to make a mad dash out of his house...before he heard his stomach growling. "My stomach...not again."
Not wanting to head over to the mansion on a bloated stomach, Mario quickly ran to the bathroom to drop some deuces. And as the plumber retreated to the bathroom, two floating hooded figures were watching outside through the living room window unseen...
Not only were the hooded figures unseen by everyone in the Mario household, but they were also unseen by some folks who were handling business outside the Assist Tower, Spring Man and Ribbon Girl. They were speaking with a fellow ARMS competitor - Min Min, who as you know hailed from a family known for making noodles.
"Whaddaya mean, you have to take back all these noodles?" Spring Man asked Min Min, who was standing in front of large tanks of noodles. Said noodles were being consumed by the tower denizens. "You want us to starve?!"
"I thought we had a deal," Min Min said to Spring Man and Ribbon Girl, looking pretty stern. The sternest she had ever looked. "ONLY the tower is allowed to have the noodles. Not the mansion."
"But we never even let anyone from the mansion see the noodles! Right, Ribbon Girl?!" Spring Man looked at Ribbon Girl, who nodded her head with a disingenuous smile that Min Min and anyone else could see right through.
"Noodles were for the Assist Tower only!" stated Ribbon Girl, speaking through her still intact smile. Her eye twitch a bit, which made her more suspicious.
Min Min: Following that whole deal I made with Tiddus, Yuna, and Rikku, Spring Man contacted me and asked me if Mintendo could send free noodles to the Assist Tower. Since the tower's head chef - and probably only chef - was Chef Kawasaki, I had no other choice but to oblige. However, Mintendo could only send so much noodles to the tower, so Spring Man and Ribbon Girl both had to agree to only let the tower have the noodles - and not the mansion. Didn't want to cause any jealous rifts, or anything. But, as I've learned today, the deal was broken from the start...
"Yeah, I can easily tell you're lying, Ribbon Girl," Min Min said to the pop singer, who stopped smiling. Ribbon Girl's face and cheek bones couldn't possibly be any more relieved. "I know you let the mansion guys eat up my noodles."
"There is possibly no way you can prove that," stated Spring Man, exuding confidence. Just then, Pit walked by with Kirby and Incineroar holding a baseball bat, and dropped said baseball bat to the ground when he saw Min Min and the noodles.
"Are you seriously taking back those noodles?!" gasped Pit, about ready to cry his eyes out as he ran to Min Min and hugged her. "No, please don't do it, you have no idea how delicious those noodles are!"
"Believe me, I know how great the noodles can be," Min Min said to a despondent Pit, patting the angel on the head, before frowning at Spring Man and Ribbon Girl. Looks like those two just got outed.
"Pit is just one person - there's no harm done," Ribbon Girl said to Min Min, before letting out a slightly nervous chuckle. "Not like anyone else has..."
"Woman, you better leave those noodles where they belong right NOW!" Ryu shouted angrily at Min Min, as he came over to confront the Chinese blonde. "Without those noodles, what else will I snack on?"
"Aw man, don't tell me she's getting rid of those noodles!" whined Mr. Game and Watch, as he too came over to confront Min Min. "They're my most favorite thing in the whole wide world!"
"Mr. Game and Watch, you're a 2-D man. You can't possibly eat noodles."
"Shut up Ryu, you just want more noodles for yourself! You selfish jerk!"
"You see, these guys are just bluffing, they don't care about the noodles that much," Spring Man said to Min Min, who had heard and seen enough as she turned her back towards Spring Man and Ribbon Girl.
"Starting tomorrow, you won't be receiving any more noodles from Mintendo," announced Min Min; Spring Man and Ribbon Girl both frowned, while Pit let out a cry of despair and sank to his knees.
"Dang it, life, why do you always have to be this cruel?!" questioned Pit, as Kirby and Incineroar came over to comfort their friend. "Why do you have to be so unfair to me?!"
"We really goofed up this time..." Spring Man said to Ribbon Girl, watching as Min Min was pushing the tanks of noodles away on a large cart. Min Min would turn around, looking at Spring Man and Ribbon Girl.
"I'll be waiting on the side of the road, in case you wanna make your apologies," the Chinese blonde said to her fellow ARMS competitors, before she continued pushing the noodles down towards the road.
As you might recall, Ratchet and Clank were still being held hostage in the basement of the mansion. Mario, Joker, Makoto, and Yu tried to interrogate the Lombax and robot duo three episodes back, but got no answers out of them.
After the failed interrogation, Master Hand assumed that maybe if the cameras weren't rolling, then perhaps Ratchet and Clank would be more open to shedding some light on the manor's plans. Taking Master Hand's assumption to heart, Mario opted to interrogate Ratchet and Clank on the weekdays, when the documentary crew wasn't around. Still, Mario and company were unable to pry any information out from the lips of Ratchet or Clank.
But little did Ratchet and Clank know that Master Hand was ever the persistent, tenacious one - the giant hand was dedicated to getting some answers from the Lombax and robot, one way or another. So returning to the roots, Mario would go back to interrogating Ratchet and Clank, with the Smash Life documentary crew filming and all, hoping to get some answers.
Mario finally headed to the mansion following his bathroom break, heading to the mansion entrance. There he found two dogs guarding the porch in their policeman uniforms - an akita and a bulldog. The akita was Copper, wheras the bulldog was Booker.
"State your proof of identity, mysterious mustached man!" Copper shouted at Mario, pointing his hands at the plumber as if he were holding a gun.
"Copper, relax-a buddy, it's me, Mario!" Mario said to the akita, who nodded his head convincingly as he lowered his hands. "I used to live-a here!"
"Ah, I was just pulling your tail, Mario. I was only practicing for dealing with intruders trying to start trouble and mayhem...cough, cough, the All-Star Manor."
Master Hand: Isabelle and Ayaha both recommended that I hired some guards to protect the mansion, so I hired Copper and Booker from Smashville on Saturday to guard the mansion entrance. As well as patrol the outside area. Also, don't tell the buddy cops I've said this, but...Copper and Booker are the only legit police officers we have at the mansion. But I'm sure that Toon Link and Young Link are both aware of the fact. I hope.
"Um...how can you deal with intruders like that when you don't have any weapons, Copper?" Booker asked the akita, only to be slapped by Copper himself.
"We don't need any weapons, Booker!" stated Copper, as Booker rubbed his now aching face. "Weapons such as firearms are for indefensible cowards only."
"Guess that means I should carry a firearms, huh?" Booker's response earned him another slap from Copper. "Ouch! Sorry for thinking out loud..."
"Better keep your thoughts to yourself." Copper directed his attention to Mario, who was impressed by the akita's intensity while on the job. "So Mario, what brings you to the mansion today?"
"Master Hand wants-a me to interrogate Ratchet and Clank again," replied Mario, wondering if Joker and Yu were busy at the moment. "You know, manor stuff..."
"Yes, yes, I'm well aware about the manor and its ongoing beef with the mansion. Booker and I will let you step right on in this way..."
Suddenly Mega Man was heard screaming, as the robot was flung from the roof of the mansion. He landed on the ground, along with his binoculars, before sitting up and rubbing his head.
"Mega Man!" Mario shouted the robot's name, as he and the canine guards rushed over to the robot. "What happened?"
"I just got thrown off the roof, that's what happened," replied Mega Man, feeling ticked as Copper and Booker helped the robot up on his feet. "By some woman I accidentally offended."
"Some-a woman? It was Aigis, wasn't it?" Speaking of whom, Aigis leaped down from the roof, sticking a perfect landing on the ground. She saw Mega Man, startled that the robot was on his feet.
"Mega Man, how are you feeling?" Aigis asked the fellow robot as she came over - only to be stopped in her tracks by Copper and Booker.
"Not so fast, robot lady!" Copper frowned at Aigis, once again holding out his hands like he was carrying a weapon. "Tell us, why did you toss Mega Man from the roof like that?"
"I was not responsible for Mega Man's misfortune. Rather, it was someone else who threw Mega Man...likely someone from the manor."
"S-Someone from the manor?!" stammered Booker, as his legs and entire body were shivering in fright. "Can you describe what this person looked like?"
"It was a woman, with black hair that had red highlights at the bottom. And she was wearing black attire. Definitely up to no good."
"And she was manipulating gravity, too," added Mega Man, which reminded Mario of a certain manor denizen who also manipulated gravity.
"You think the manor guys came to the mansion to rescue Ratchet and Clank?" Cappy asked Mario; it was about time someone from the manor decided to save two of their buddies.
"How about we find out for our-a selves?" Mario said to Cappy, as he ran up the stairs on the porch. "Copper, Booker, be on the look-a out for any intruders!"
"Sir, yes sir!" Copper saluted Mario, who quickly ran inside the mansion.
With no time to lose, Mario ran to the basement door, and opened the door with a basement key Master Hand had given him. The perks of being a former man of the mansion. Once inside the basement, Mario tried going down the steps, before realizing that he forgot to do something.
"Whoops, forgot to turn-a on the light switch," the plumber said, as he flipped the light switch on. With the basement lights on, Mario went down the staircase, but only stopped halfway...
...when he looked down and saw Ratchet and Clank, being untied by Carmelita Fox. The Rabbids were already taken care of - forced to stand at the side of the basement, all handcuffed - as they watched Carmelita finishing her deed.
"Thanks for untying us, Carmelita," Ratchet thanked the fox, he and Clank relieved to be able to move around again. "And a huge thanks for coming to rescue us."
"You're welcome, Ratchet - obviously I couldn't let you and Clank stay down here forever," responded Carmelita, before she and the others realized that the lights were turned on. Carmelita had used the flashlight on her phone to assist her in the untying.
"Hey, who turned on the lights?" wondered Clank as he and the others looked around, before looking up and seeing Mario standing on the staircase.
"...hello everyone," Mario waved to everyone below, flashing a cheesy smile. Just then, one of the DQ heroes, Eight, burst through the basement door, looking alert.
"Mario, we have some bad news - the mansion's under attack!" the swordsman alerted Mario, who looked pretty shook. "I repeat, we're under attack!"
"No way, it can't-a be...this has to be some-a kind of joke..."
"This isn't a joke, I'm afraid. We're under attack by the manor."
"You mean to tell-a me this whole time...you can talk?!"
"Mario that's beside the point, aren't you gonna do something?"
"For over a month I known-a you, and you've decided to start-a talking now?!"
"We have more pressing matters going on now..."
Eight: Why has everyone I talked to recently suddenly made a big deal about me talking...I nearly gave everyone I've spoken to a heart attack. One of them was almost legit.
"Mario, watch out!" Cappy alerted the plumber, seeing that Ratchet had a rocket launcher out. Eight ran down towards Mario and grabbed the plumber's hand, rushing him up the stairs after Ratchet and fired a rocket.
"Come on, let's get outta here!" Eight shouted at Mario, as the two left the basement. Ratchet frowned, seeing the dark spot on the basement wall where his intended target, Mario, was standing at.
"Dang it, I almost had him..." said Ratchet as he held his rocket launcher down, before Carmelita rested her hand on the Lombax's shoulder.
"Don't bother wasting your ammo on that portly plumber," the fox said to Ratchet, with an assuring smile. "We'll just let the 'minions' take care of things."
"Yeah...wait, what do you mean by 'minions'?"
Eight took Mario to the foyer of the mansion, where a whole bunch of action was going down - mainly because guys and gals from the manor were, as Eight said, attacking the mansion. Or rather, attacking the residents. Mario and Eight watched, as mansion residents and manor denizens alike were fighting one another.
"You may be strong and mighty, but you're nothing compared to the likes of Captain Qwark!" famed superhero Captain Qwark said to Captain Falcon, as the two were involved in a test-of-strength battle.
"Cowabunga!" shouted Murray the Hippo as he leaped into the air and landed on Crash, who was underneath him, and likely crushed the poor bandicoot. "Sorry, hope I didn't rough you up too bad..."
"I'll let you kiddies out, but only if you answer this million dollar question!" Buzz the game show hosts said to Bowser Jr. and the Koopalings, who were trying to escape, as he took out a card and read it. "What is another name for a harmonica?"
"Aw crud, none of us know the answer!" whined Bowser Jr, acting like all hope was lost as he had his hands on his head. Several of the other Koopalings reacted similarly.
"Follow me, there's some major stuff going on elsewhere in the mansion," Eight said to Mario, as he led the plumber down to the living room. "A whole lot of stuff..."
In the living room, Mario saw that the place was literally infested with monkeys - Pipo Monkeys, to be exact. These small apes were causing a ruckus - knocking down stuff, messing up the walls, and the like. Many residents who were in the living room were being harassed by the Pipo Monkeys.
"Get 'em off, get 'em off, get 'em off!" shouted Ken Masters, as he tried to throw the Pipo Monkeys off of him. "Argh, I hate monkeys so much!"
"What did you just say?" questioned Donkey Kong as he came by, also having Pipo Monkeys crawling all over him.
"Oh...nothing...just pretend that I didn't say anything!"
Ken: Those manor guys are so insensitive! Sending monkeys our way...what if someone at the mansion had some kind of allergic reaction to monkey fur? Are they trying to kill someone? *pauses* On second thought, maybe that's what they're going for...
Diddy Kong: *poking his head in* You'd think that someone who was allergic to monkeys wouldn't be living in this mansion...right?
Ken: *starts scratching his skin* Come to think of it, my skin is all scratchy all of a sudden...
"FORE!" someone shouted from outside, as objects came crashing into the living room breaking the living room windows. Mario looked outside, and saw two golfers from the manor - Jessica and Suzuki, of Hot Shots Golf fame.
"Hand over those golf clubs at once!" shouted Copper, as he and Booker chased after the retreating Jessica and Suzuki. Mario continued looking outside - seeing Spring Man trying to fend off Ratchet's arch-nemesis Dr. Nefarious - before looking down and seeing the two objects. Not golf balls...capsules, two of them.
"How did so many people get-a here so fast?" wondered Mario, oblivious to Captain Qwark who was sneaking up on him. "And what's inside-a these capsules?"
"Got you right where I want you, Mario..." Captain Qwark snarled as he looked at Mario with a smile on his face. Mario was still oblivious, but Eight noticed Captain Qwark sneaking on the plumber in time.
"Mario, watch out!" Eight alerted the plumber, who turned around and saw Captain Qwark. Mario screamed out of fright, enough to make Qwark jump back.
Then out of nowhere, a large fist came through the living room, curving around and sucker punching Captain Qwark in the face. The punch knocked the snot out of Qwark, and sent the superhero to the floor with a thud.
"Thought you guys could use a little help..." said the person responsible for knocking Captain Qwark out...Min Min, standing at the living room entrance as her left ARM retracted. Good thing the Chinese blonde hadn't left yet.
"Yes, a savior, just what we need!" cheered Ken, before the Pipo Monkeys ganged up on the fighter and brought him down to the floor. "Aah, my skin! So itchy!"
With all the action going on, Isabelle frantically ran through the hallways of the mansion looking for Master Hand. She ran past Chrom, who was using his sword to do battle with Yunica, one of Kat's acquaintances. She had to duck under the missiles fired back a Lombax named Azimuth, who was firing rounds at Yoshi who was flailing his arms about. And she had to breeze past K.K. Slider, who was literally fighting with PJ Berri over a flipping record.
"Give me back my record...or else!" K.K. Slider shouted at PJ, as he was involved in a tug-of-war over some large flat disc.
"No, I had my hands on it first!" retorted PJ, as he pulled the record closer to him with all his might. "It's all mine, now!"
Tired of running, Isabelle ran to the elevator she saw down the hallway, and frantically pressed the button. The elevator door open, and Isabelle ran inside the elevator before taking a breather.
"HOLD IT!" some guy with long brown hair and pointy ears - just like Jak - shouted down the hallway, before entering the elevator before the door closed in time. His name was Torn. "Which floor are you headed?" Torn asked Isabelle.
"Sixth floor, please!" Isabelle kindly responded, as Torn pressed the number six button on the dashboard. Torn would then pressed the number five button, before the elevator started moving up. And boy, was it moving slow.
"Elevator seems to be moving pretty slow...are the elevators usually like this?"
"Most of the time, not really. Could be a sign that we need some maintenance done!"
"Yeah you might be right...but hey, at least the elevator music's pretty nice."
Soon the elevator reached the fifth floor, and the elevator door opened as Torn made his exit. A woman with a jetpack on her back entered the elevator before the door closed; her name was Yunica, an acquaintance of Kat.
"This elevator is going up to the fifth floor, right?" Yunica asked Isabelle, who nodded her head. "Thanks - didn't really feel like climbing any stairs."
"I don't blame you in the slightest," replied Isabelle; the shih tzu just had discourse with two manor denizens, and she paid little to no mind at all.
Once the elevator reached the sixth floor and the door opened, Yunica hopped out of the elevator before turning her jetpack on and flying out of a nearby open window. Isabelle ran out of the elevator and to the Star Records room, busting her way in.
"Master Hand, we have a major...problem," Isabelle said to the giant hand, before being bemused by what she was seeing - Master Hand, flying on a lawn chair, with Fox and Falco fanning him with large feathers. Fox and Falco, understandably, both looked dead inside.
"As you can infer, neither one of us is particularly enjoying this..." Fox said to Isabelle, in a bored tone. Isabelle looked over to her left and saw Tsubasa and her sister Ayaha, who were just chilling.
"Those two lost a bet," Tsubasa said to Isabelle about Fox and Falco and their current misfortune.
Master Hand: I feel like I don't really get pampered as much, what with being the creator of the Smash universe and all. Which means that it should be my duty to make everyone else feel the same way. Whether they want to or not.
"Master Hand, the mansion is being attacked by the manor!" Isabelle alerted the giant hand, who immediately sprung up as he nearly knocked Fox and Falco down.
"Well why didn't you tell me this sooner, woman!" Master Hand snapped on Isabelle, as Fox and Falco were suddenly relieved. "Does Mario know about this?"
"I'm pretty sure someone made him aware. He should be at the mansion handling things right now, if he hasn't already."
Suddenly one of the windows in the Star Records room was broken, when Pit was flung inside the room. He was flung in by Raven - a contemporary of Kat's. Interestingly enough, the angel was holding unto a capsule - the kind Mario had seen earlier.
"First Mega Man, and now you..." Raven said to Pit, as she floated her way inside the Star Records room through the broken window. "...you guys really are some easy work."
"Oh yeah, who are you calling easy work?" questioned Pit, as he sprung back up on his feet. "You...you...witch lady!"
"I mean, that's not entirely accurate...but it's a pretty good guess. Now, where was I..."
Before Raven could do anything, a smoking ball was thrown inside the Star Records room, landing in the center. Raven frowned at the smoking ball, before turning to the Star Records door and seeing an Eucadian soldier.
"Someone here sure knows how to ruin the party..." Raven had this to say about the Eucadian soldier, who slowly backed away from the Star Records door.
"It's about time for us to retreat," said the Eucadian soldier, before taking out a capsule and rolling it down on the floor towards Isabelle's feet. "Boss' orders."
"Hold up...you guys have a boss?" Falco asked the Eucadian soldier, who declined to answer. "Also, what's with that capsule thing on the..."
Falco would soon be interrupted, when the smoking ball exploded and caused a giant smokescreen to fill up the Star Records room. Everyone was left coughing and wheezing, before the smoke slowly faded away.
"Crap, that soldier guy and that woman left!" frowned Fox, seeing that both Raven and the Eucadian soldier had retreated. "Bunch of cowards!"
"Hey everyone, the manor guys have left the mansion!" Ryu shouted from outside, as Ayaha walked over to the capsule at Isabelle's feet and picked it up. "They're gone, every single one of them!"
Waluigi: I was at the lounge fending myself from some crazy guy with a gun, with my trusty tennis racket, when that smoke bomb went off. Seconds later after the smoke went away...POOF, that guy was gone! Guess he didn't want a piece of Ultra Instinct Waluigi; he probably wanted to live another day.
"I can't believe it - I literally missed out on the mansion being under attack!" frowned Master Hand, acting sort of like Pit when the mansion was set on fire. "All because I desired to be pampered!"
"Hey Master Hand, check this out," Ayaha approached the giant hand, showing him the capsule the Eucadian soldier had left. "Some kind of message."
"A message? How can you be so sure?" Ayaha would reveal to Master Hand the side of the capsule that had a label on it:
To: The residents of the Smash Mansion (and the Assist Tower)
From: The All-Star Manor
"Ah, I see...Ayaha, Isabelle, round up everyone and tell them to come to the meeting room for an important meeting. Including our neighbors."
"What about the Yiga Clan? Or Travis Touchdown?" asked Isabelle, as Master Hand let out a slight grumble.
"...just tell Master Kohga he can come if he wants to. As for Travis...we'll just live-text him what's going on at the meeting."
While Isabelle and Ayaha were rounding up everyone for the meeting, Master Hand went to his room, where he and Crazy Hand had a word with Copper and Booker. Both hands wanted a report on the manor's actions.
"It was AWFUL, Master Hand, absolutely HORRENDOUS!" Crazy Hand said to Master Hand, telling him about how the tower was attacked by the manor. "There was a man, with GUNS, and he was literally firing BULLETS at Shadow!"
"But Shadow carries guns too, so he knew how to protect himself," stated Master Hand, as he left Crazy Hand stumped.
"Yes, that may be true...but that POOR Hammer Bro was literally being chased by a CRAZED box turtle!"
"Who, Bentley? Last time I checked, that turtle had to move around on his wheelchair." Crazy Hand was left stumped a second time.
"Yeah, doesn't sound that threatening when you think about it...but some BLACK cat, with a RED bowtie, was using his HAND to..."
"There is nothing remotely intimidating about a cat wearing a bowtie." And for the third time, Crazy Hand was left stumped.
"Um...do you two want a status report or not?" asked Booker, already tired of the back-and-forth between Master Hand and Crazy Hand. "We have to get back on duty, you know..."
"Our apologies," Master Hand said to Copper and Booker, as Crazy Hand settled down for a bit. "Copper, status report!"
"We inspected the exteriors of the mansion and tower - other than the windows, there were no noticeable damages," reported Copper, leaving Master hand pleased. "Not a single person from the manor is within the premises."
"Mr. Game and Watch and Dark Pit are cleaning up things around the mansion as we speak," added Booker, as Mr. Game and Watch was seen outside through the window sweeping the front yard. "Those Pipo Monkeys really made quite a mess!"
Yukiko: Those brain dead monkeys with the yellow pants stole my makeup kit...but, Yu had bought that makeup kit for me, as a birthday gift, so it's no biggie. *shrugs*
"Excellent! Those two should be done in time for the meeting," said Master Hand, elated that no serious damage was done to he mansion. "No way I'm letting them work overtime."
"That's good and all, but...WHAT are we gonna do about the manor CRETINS?" questioned Crazy Hand, desiring some kind of retribution for the things the 'minions' had done today. "They must PAY!"
"Perhaps you'll need some...intervention," a brooding voice was heard, as Booker was left shivering in fear as they hugged an annoyed Copper for dear life.
"Wh-Who g-goes there?" stammered Booker, as he looked around. Master Hand, Crazy Hand, and the guard dogs saw a portal, in the center of the room, which looked like a portal to another dimension.
"Why don't you let me attend your little meeting?" the brooding voice said from the portal, before a robed individual stepped out from said portal. One that was frightening enough to make even Cooper shiver in fear.
All the mansion residents gathered in the meeting room, for an important meeting. The meeting was so important, that everyone at the Assist Tower had to be in attendance as well - which only made the meeting room as cramped as it usually would be during the Secret Santa festivities.
"My glasses, has anyone seen my glasses?" asked Futaba, as the meeting room was still filling up with residents from the mansion and tower alike. As well as the neighbors.
"Give me back my chair!" Berkut shouted at the Excitebike racer, as he snatched a chair away from the motorcyclist. "I had my hands on it first!"
"Um, guys, I think I'm stuck..." alerted King K. Rool, who was apparently stuck in the meeting room doorway. "...I'm surprised that this has never happened before."
"We really need a bigger meeting room..." Master Hand said to Mario, Isabelle and Ayaha, watching as people were trying to push K. Rool inside the meeting room.
"Or we could just move the meeting to the lecture hall," suggested Isabelle, as Master Hand felt stupid for not considering the lecture hall earlier.
"Of course, Isabelle! That's genius! Everyone, we have a change of plans - everyone has to move to the lecture hall! We'll conduct the meeting there!"
Following Master Hand's command, everyone moved to the lecture hall where there was not only enough space for everyone, but enough seats as well. Everyone had their own seat, as Master Hand and Crazy Hand were at the stage along with Mario, Isabelle, and Ayaha.
"Welcome, everyone," Master Hand addressed the crowd, bringing the crowd noise inside the lecture hall to a halt. "As you may know, we have been feuding with the All-Star Manor for a few months now."
"The All-Star Manor sucks!" shouted Lloyd, as several others shared the swordsman's sentiments by nodding or clapping their hands.
"Thank you for stating the obvious, Mr. Irving...we all know the manor sucks, with the way they attacked the mansion and tower. However, when they retreated, they left a little something behind..."
"This is what they left behind," stated Ayaha as she stepped to the forefront of the stage, holding out the capsule in her right hand. "A capsule. They were leaving capsules like these around, as some of you may have noticed."
"Is it a capsule full of laughter?" asked Diddy, as the capsule reminded the spidermonkey of Monsters Inc.
"Or is there poisonous gas inside?" asked Red the Pokemon Trainer, certain that the capsule was a trap.
"No, it's not either one of those. According to the label on here, this capsule appears to contain...a message."
"A message from the All-Star Manor?" inquired Simon, as he scratched his chin in thought. "This has to be some kind of threat!"
"Ooh, ooh, the manor inviting us to a college football tailgating party?" asked Banjo, as he excitedly raised his hand.
"No, Banjo, they're not inviting us to some tailgating party..." replied Master Hand, as Banjo put his hand back down...before putting back up again. "And no, they're not inviting us to a pie-eating contest, either."
"Well it was the thought that counts..." Banjo put his hand back down for good, letting out a sigh as Kazooie petted his shoulder.
Banjo: Haven't been in a pie-eating contest, for a good while now. I should probably enter one very soon, to see if I still got it.
Kazooie: *shaking her head* ...Banjo doesn't have what it takes. I'm just keeping it real.
"Miss Oribe, would you LIKE to do the honors?" Crazy Hand asked the young woman, who nodded her head as she laid the capsule on the stage floor. Ayaha then knelt down at the capsule, and pressed a red button on it.
Soon a holographic image was fired out from the capsule, big enough for everyone in the lecture hall to see. It was a holographic image of a giant head, one that was all blocky and purple in color. Its pupils were yellow, and its hair was quite spiky.
"Greetings, despicable mansion scum..." the giant head said to everyone in the lecture hall, speaking in a deep tone like he was trying to intimidate someone.
"He was clearly talking about you the most," King Dedede murmured to Champion Link, with a giant sneer; Champion Link would pay the fat penguin no mind.
"...for months, the many folks at my manor - the All-Star Manor - has feuded with you to no end. They have done despicable things in the past, whether it was stealing your food, ruining your parties, or even forcing you all to lose weight."
"We still haven't forgotten about that!" frowned Wario as he shook his fist, still salty to this day that he had to lose more than two pounds of weight.
"But, with all this feuding going on, I'm starting to feel as if we should come together, on a common ground. I've been thinking that maybe, just maybe, we should..."
"Mere mortals of the Smash Mansion!" shouted a certain bearded demigod, appearing in front of the suddenly annoyed giant head. It was Kratos, the Ghost of Sparta. "Prepare to die at my mighty hands!"
"Good thing he wasn't talking about me," smirked Palutena, one of the few immortals in attendance at the meeting.
"Kratos, move out of the way, I'm trying to relay a message here..." the giant head ordered the demigod, who walked away out of the holographic projection. "...anyways, before I was interrupted, I was thinking that maybe we should establish some sort of peace."
"'Some sort of peace'?" questioned Olimar, as he scratched his head - or really, his helmet - in confusion. "Just what is he hinting at?"
"After much thoughtful consideration from both myself, and everyone at the manor...we all ultimately came together on a mutual agreement. That agreement, you ask? That we should make peace...with the Smash Mansion. And the Assist Tower. Can't leave them out..."
"The manor wants to make peace with US?!" frowned Captain Falcon, as there was a majority of jeers and boos within the lecture hall. "Are they out of their minds?!"
"Now I know what you might be thinking in response - 'this seems so sudden', 'why would they want to make peace with us', 'does any of this feel genuine at all'...but I can rest assure you all, that..."
"Do you hear me?! I will kill every single one of you!" shouted Kratos, as he ran back in front of the giant hand to threaten the residents one more time. "Do I make myself clear?!"
"Kratos, for the love of all things merry, will you please stop that?! I cannot afford any interruptions. Nariko, Emmett, get your scrawny butts over here and get Kratos off my screen at once!"
Two individuals ran unto the holographic projection, to take care of Kratos - one was a woman, wearing a white loincloth with her red haired tied up in a ponytail; and the other was a muscular black guy with some blue aura emitting in his eyes. Their names were Nariko and Emmett Graves.
"Kratos, you must please calm down!" Nariko frowned at the demigod, as she was holding unto Kratos' right arm. "There is a time and place for everything!"
"Nariko's right man, you really need to chill out!" Emmett frowned at Kratos, as he was holding unto the demigod's left arm. "Is this how you plan on making peace with our enemy?"
Ashley: How could I forget, even the manor has their own token black minority...I wonder how that must make Doc Louis, Knuckles, and Rodin feel.
Doc Louis and Knuckles: *chanting together* One of us! One of us! One of us! One of us! One of us! One of us!
Rodin: *looking on while shaking his head* Simpletons...
Ashley: Come to think of it, I think the manor has TWO token black minorities...the other one might be a black woman, if my memory serves me correct. So, go figure.
"Get him outta here!" the giant hand ordered Nariko and Emmett, as the two manor denizens walked the restraining Kratos out of the holographic projection. "Sorry about that, everyone...sometimes, Kratos' bloodlust can be too hard to contained."
"Glad he doesn't live here..." whimpered Yosuke, wondering how the guys at the manor could put up with Kratos. A demigod like Kratos could kill every single one of his fellow residents, if he wanted to.
"So yes, I want all of us to come together, and come to terms in a treaty in which we will put our little feud in the past. I wish for this treaty to be signed at the mansion site, so I want everyone in attendance...today! Especially you, Master Hand."
"I really hate that guy..." seethed Master Hand; he and the giant head must go way back.
"Okay, that's all for now - just wanted to make the treaty known to you all. Me and the others will be making our way to Seattle, in time for the treaty to be signed. See you all very soon!"
The message came to an end, as the holograph of the giant hand went away. Ayaha picked the capsule off of the stage floor, as the residents were sharing worried sentiments about the treaty.
"Just who was that guy, Master Hand?" asked Leaf, being one of the many residents who had no idea who that giant talking head was.
"The person you saw in that holographic message was Polygon Man," explained Master Hand, before shuddering with fury as he uttered his arch-nemesis' name. "He is the head - no pun intended - of the All-Star Manor."
"I think you meant Polygon Head," stated Geo Stelar, thinking that such a name was a more fitting moniker.
"Nope, his name is Polygon Man. Don't ask me how we got that name in the first place, but that's how it is."
"How can he be a man, when he only has a head?" pondered Peppy, raising a contentious issue within the lecture hall.
"Yeah, shouldn't a man have like, arms and legs and stuff?" asked the Arcade Bunny. "We only saw the dude's head!"
"That's because the only thing he has is his head," stated Master Hand, wanting to get the meeting back on track.
"It could be that he did the message from the neck up," theorized Mitsuru, as Master Hand's anger started to boil over. "Then again, why would he..."
"EVERYBODY JUST SHUT UP, HIS NAME IS POLYGON MAN, OKAY?!" Master Hand boomed at everyone, bringing in silence to the lecture hall. "Just refer to him as Polygon Man, alright? He's just...he's very sensitive about his name. Now, as you have heard, this treaty proposed by Polygon Head...erm, Man..."
"Got it right the second time," Vince commended Master Hand as a gave a thumbs up - only for Master Hand to point his index finger in the artist's face.
"Don't you even start..." Alarmed by Master Hand, Vince shivered as he sank back into his seat. "...this treaty proposed by Polygon Man, must be signed today so we can put our differences behind us. There could be many reasons why Polygon Man wants the treaty signed - either he's tired of having his residents' butts kicked, or he has finally admitted that the mansion is much, much better than his manor."
"Whatever the case-a may be, we encourage everyone in this lecture hall to attend-a the treaty," Mario advised the residents in the lecture hall. "It is in our best-a interest to accept-a the treaty, and put our beef-a with the manor in the past."
"Honestly this whole treaty sounds like a trap," one of the DQ heroes spoke up, Erdrick. Much like with Eight speaking, Mario was stunned. "How do we know if the manor is genuine or not?"
"You can talk-a as well?!" Mario pointed at Erdrick, who was looking pretty puzzled. "What on earth-a is going on?!"
"Come on Mario, it isn't that big of a deal," said an other DQ hero, Solo, as he caused Mario to faint unto the stage floor. "What did I even say?"
"Point of the matter is, we want everyone to be present for the treaty to be signed," Isabelle said to everyone, as Ayaha dragged Mario's body to the backstage area.
"But, in order for the treaty to be signed, we will need a mediator," said Master Hand, leading everyone to wonder who this mediator could be. "Someone that will handle both sides, the mansion and the manor."
"And would you know it, the perfect candidate fell right into our hands! Just before this meeting began, too."
"I would like for you all to give a warm welcome to my hand-picked mediator - a man who will ensure that the treaty will be signed, and that everything will go peacefully and without any fist-fighting. Everyone give it up...for ZANT!"
A Twilight portal appeared on stage, and a certain Twili walked out of said portal before it vanished. Making his appearing in the lecture hall was Zant, the infamous King of Twilight. Murmurings in the lecture hall reached an all-time high.
"My goodness, does this place smell..." remarked Zant, as he grimaced behind his fish helmet. Midna looked pretty disgusted when she saw Zant, but only one person was more disgusted than the imp herself.
"WHAAAAAT?!" Link shouted angrily, as he got up and was about to leave. "Well, everyone, it's been real."
"Please sit back down, just give him a chance..." Zelda frowned at Link, who mumbled and returned to his seat. Link could not believe that his own girlfriend, Zelda, was seemingly giving Zant a pass. "...can't believe I'm actually saying that."
"For those of you who've never met him before...this here is Zant, the self-proclaimed King of Twilight," Master Hand introduced Zant to those who were unfamiliar. "He will be serving as our mediator during the treaty signing today."
"Much obliged for giving me the opportunity, Master Hand," Zant thanked the giant hand, acting awfully cordial; Link and Midna looked on with angry glares. "I can rest assure that the signing of the treaty will turn out well."
"No, Zant, thank you for showing up in the first place. If it weren't for you, I would've had to rely on freaking Isabelle to handle everything! Imagine that!"
"...what are you trying to say about me, Master Hand?" asked Isabelle, feeling very offended. Master Hand should learn to put some respect on Isabelle's name.
"Oh, nothing Isabelle, I was just playing with ya, just yanking your chain. Can't take a joke, can ya? Now, are there any questions?"
"Can I please go home now?" said Min Min, who was forced to attend the meeting by Master Hand. "I probably missed my ride, thanks to you..."
"Yeah, yeah, that sounds like a personal problem. Now, are there any more questions?" One person raised their hand; it was Banjo. "...that don't have to do with tailgating or eating pie?"
"I told you he wouldn't change his mind..." Kazooie said to Banjo, who slowly put his hand back down with a sad-looking face.
"We should probably start setting up things outside the mansion," Zant suggested to Master Hand, thinking about having a grand stage of sorts. "Got to make the treaty signing feel like a big deal."
"You are right, Zant - which is why Mr. Game and Watch and Dark Pit will set up the stage together. As well as the folding chairs. Do we even have any folding chairs?"
"We actually have some folding chairs in a shack near the mansion," replied Volnutt; this shack Volnutt speaks of must not be frequented as often. "Nobody really goes in there but me."
"Oh yeah, I forgot that we had a shack...Volnutt, you go and set up the folding chairs. Mr. Game and Watch and Dark Pit, you set up a stage. As for everyone else, I expect you to be outside for the treaty signing this afternoon! Capiche? Meeting adjourned."
"Why did I even bother speaking up..." Realizing he should've kept his mouth shut, Volnutt got up and left the lecture hall with everyone else, as the robot had a long, exhausting task ahead of him.
Midna: Zant is our "mediator" for the treaty? Do we even need a mediator to begin with?! This whole thing sounds fishy to me.
Ness: Yeah, I'm with Erdrick, this whole treaty thing sounds like a trap. No way the manor changes their tune this quickly.
Pigma: Of all the people to choose from, and Master Hand...chose Zant. *groans* Why do I even care anymore?
Banjo: So the manor doesn't want to invite us to some tailgating event this fall? They better do a pie-eating contest, to make up for it.
Mario: The more I think-a about it, having Zant as the mediator does sound-a suspect...almost as much as the treaty itself. Perhaps I should speak with-a Master Hand about whether we should trust-a both the manor AND Zant.
As the residents exited the lecture hall, they were talking among themselves about the treaty, the manor, and Zant being the mediator. Once everyone had left the lecture hall, a certain mercenary suddenly dropped down from the ceiling, watching the residents heading their separate ways...it was Raiden!
"Guess that meeting's finally over..." the mercenary said to himself, seeing that the coast was now clear. "...time for me to make my move."
Over in the living room, many of the residents were discussing the treaty - among those were the Luminary, Andrew Oikonny, Mewtwo, Akuma, and several others.
"Why are we signing this treaty in the first place?" frowned Akuma, standing against the wall with his arms folded. "The timing and intent sounds fishy to me..."
"I don't see how the treaty would benefit the manor, as a whole," Andrew offered his two cents, while eating a banana. "What would the manor do, without having anyone to antagonize against?"
"The manor has been fine without constantly harassing us," said Mewtwo, like he knew what manor life was like. "They'll be just fine, I'm sure."
"Oh please, I bet the manor doesn't have perks like we do!" said Ryuji, wanting to brag about how awesome the mansion was. "A Jacuzzi, a library, some tennis tables, an underground movie theater..."
"All those things are superfluous, and you know it," Samus said to Ryuji, feeling that the mansion itself had too many perks. Not many others shared the bounty hunter's sentiments.
"Forget the manor - I just wonder how Link feels about Zant," said the Luminary, recalling the Hylian's reaction earlier. "He looked more angry about Zant than anyone else!"
Cloud headed to his room, to see how his buddy Link was handling Zant being the mediator for the treaty signing. When he arrived at his room, he saw Link packing up his belongings. Champion Link was just sitting on his bed, minding his own business.
"Hurry up Cloud, we gotta move!" Link said to his best friend, while stuffing his tunics down a suitcase he found in the basement. "Our lives depend on it!"
"Way to have faith in our mediator," Cloud said to Link, as he stepped inside the room. He would stop in place, when Midna appeared in front of him.
"Cloud, are you implying that you're confident in having Zant around?" Midna questioned the swordsman, before shaking her head in dismay. "You are so lost..."
"To be fair, Zant did get us out of a few predicaments. Took care of the manor guys for us."
"Eh...that may be true, but Zant still cannot be trusted. Link and I, we both know what Zant is all about."
"That's right," confirmed Link, as he was zipping up his suitcase. "Which is why we should leave the mansion, while we can."
"What if Zant turns out to be a good guy?" questioned Champion Link, as Link was about to exit the room; Link immediately stopped in place.
"Zant? A good guy? Is this some kind of joke?" Link could only chuckle at Champion Link's assumption. "What if Zant is a part of that coalition Spike spoke of?"
Walking by Link and Cloud's bedroom was Sonic, who stopped in place when he heard the word "coalition". The hedgehog went to the bedroom door, to hear more.
"Think about it - the moment Spike mentioned the coalition, Zant showed up and shooed him away," continued Link, wanting the others to believe him. "The man was practically shook."
"Your obsession with Zant is starting to make you insane, Link," Cloud stated the obvious to his best friend, as Sonic resumed walking down the hallway.
Sonic: A coalition, huh? Sounds like something worth pursuing, but I promised myself not to be involved in conspiracy theories anymore. That whole Seattle Stalker thing ruined me.
"At least I'm not the only one who's entirely obsessed..." Link grinned as he looked up at Midna, who looked away and rolled her eyes.
"I'm not the one ditching my current residence forever all because of one bad guy," remarked Midna, putting Link in her place as she floated away. "Where was that same energy, when Giovanni took over the mansion?"
"Giovanni was an entirely different case, you wouldn't even understand!"
Mario went to Master Hand's room, wanting to have a quick word with Master Hand before returning home. When the plumber showed up at Master Hand's room, however, he heard a lot of commotion from inside...and it didn't sound like it came from Master Hand.
"Everything alright-a in there?" Mario asked through the door, hearing some punches and whatnot being thrown. The plumber curiously opened the door...and saw Raiden, beating the snot out of Zant on Master Hand's bed. Zant would push Raiden away from him, before getting back on his feet.
"No, you got it all wrong, it's just a big misunderstanding!" Zant fired back at Raiden, who was determined to take the Twili down. Raiden took out his sword, and charged at Zant who moved out of the way. "Please, just listen to me!"
"I'm not finished with you!" Raiden tackled Zant to the floor, before trying to stab his sword through the Twili's heart. Or neck. Or head. Or whichever body part Raiden wanted to stab at the most.
"Mama mia, what's going on-a here?" Mario asked Raiden and Zant, as both men looked at the plumber. "Raiden, why on-a earth are you here?"
"Mario, thank goodness you came!" exclaimed Zant, as Raiden pulled himself off of the Twili and put away his sword. "This ruthless mercenary here was trying to kill me for no reason!"
"Mario...I've been needing to speak with you," Raiden said to the plumber as he walked forward, only for Mario to back away cautiously.
All of a sudden, the buddy cops Toon Link and Young Link came barging inside the room, along with Isabelle, Copper, and Booker. Young Link fired arrows at Raiden, sending him down on one knee, before Toon Link rushed over with handcuffs to arrest the mercenary.
"Got hassled by two stupid kids...but how?" frowned Raiden as he was handcuffed, unable to reach for his sword. Isabelle ran over to Zant along with Copper and Booker, to see if the Twili was okay.
"Mr. Zant, are you okay?" Isabelle asked the Twili, who was helped up to his feet by Copper and Booker. "Did Raiden hurt you any?"
"I'm just fine, Isabelle, Raiden didn't hurt me too bad," replied Zant, as he dusted off his cloak. "However, the work of Toon Link and Young Link is only half-done...ARREST THAT MAN!"
To everyone's shock, Zant would point at the man that was to be arrested - Mario. But why was Mario being arrested for? Such a shocking turn of events.
"Me, being arrested? For what?!" frowned Mario, being framed for nothing. Ever on the case, the buddy cops reverted their attention from the now handcuffed Raiden to Mario.
"Mario and Raiden were working together to ruin the treaty!" Zant explained to Isabelle, as the buddy cops had their handcuffs ready. Toon Link would hold Mario's hands behind his back, while Young Link handcuffed the plumber.
"No, Zant's lying! He's up-a to no good! I saw him-a getting attacked!"
"You and your silly assumptions...Toon Link, Young Link, take Mario and Raiden away." So Toon Link and Young Link escorted Mario and Raiden out of the room, respectively, while Zant and Isabelle looked on. "We cannot afford ANY distractions during the treaty."
News about Mario and Raiden being arrested and taken away began spreading around the mansion, as the plumber and mercenary were taken to the buddy cops' makeshift police office. Residents who were in the hallway watched as Mario and Raiden were taken away.
"Mario being arrested, is this some kind of dream?" questioned Chrom, who couldn't for the life of him see Mario being arrested ever.
"Raiden, is that you, what are you even doing here?" Snake questioned the mercenary, who declined to comment. Raiden's presence in the mansion alone was newsworthy already to the residents.
"Woah, Mario, what's going on?" Sonic asked the plumber, as the buddy cops walked Mario and Raiden past Sonic and Tails. "Also, Raiden...really digging that hairstyle! Perfect ten!"
"Enough of your flattery..." grumbled Raiden, as Sonic and Tails followed after Mario so they could get an answer from the plumber.
"Zant is trying to frame-a me, after I saw him having his butt-a handed to him by Raiden," Mario whispered to Sonic and Tails, keeping his voice low so Raiden and the buddy cops wouldn't hear.
"Why would Raiden want to beat up Zant, of all people?" asked Tails, before gasping when a curious thought entered his mind. "You think Zant might have some ulterior motive under his sleeve?"
"That could very well-a be the reason. I don't trust-a Raiden as much as the next-a guy, but he might know some-a thing about Zant that we don't."
"Yeah, the more I think about it, Zant isn't that trustworthy. Very odd for Master Hand to pick him."
"Since I can't-a do it, you boys will have to be the ones-a to warn Master Hand. Warn him about-a Zant!"
"Keep on moving, mustache man!" Toon Link yelled at Mario, kicking the plumber in the leg. Mario kept up the pace, as he and Raiden were nearing the police office.
"Man, we sure could use Layton and Luke right about now..." remarked Sonic - would've been quite a bombshell if the hedgehog said before he got along with the British detective duo.
Toon Link: How many brownie points do you think we'll get from arresting Raiden?
Young Link: Given Raiden's history with the mansion, that should put us at... *takes out a calculator and does some "calculations" on it* ...over five hundred brownie points. Sure would love to exchange those points for actual brownies, though.
Toon Link: Yeah, especially the ones with chocolate chip...those sure hit the spot!
Mario and Raiden were now sitting in the buddy cops' police office, still handcuffed while sitting in chairs. Their legs were handcuffed together, for good measure.
"So Raiden, why were you beating up-a Zant earlier, in Master Hand's room?" Mario questioned the mercenary, while the guard dog - Duck Hunt Dog - was sleeping away. Some guard dog he was.
"Look Mario, you're probably the last person I want to be stuck in a room with," replied Raiden, wishing he had his sword to break free from the handcuffs. His sword was away from the mercenary, lying on the buddy cops' desk. "That being said, I can't have you distracting me from breaking outta here."
"And what do you plan-a on doing after you bust out? Kidnap someone?"
"No...I actually am intent on stopping that treaty. Once and for all."
"But what for?" Before Raiden could answer Mario's question, some metallic sounds were heard. Mario and Raiden looked down at their hands...and saw Cappy taking off their handcuffs.
"Those silly buddy cops, they put the key for unlocking the handcuffs near their board of suspects!" Cappy said to Mario and Raiden, holding up the key he used to unlock the handcuffs. "Suckers!"
"Excellent work, Cappy!" Mario stood up and tried to walk away...before falling down a second later. To see what was wrong, Mario looked at his ankle, and saw that his leg was still handcuffed to Raiden's.
"Apparently, the handcuff used for your leg requires a different kind of key. Sadly I couldn't find such a key lying around."
"Guess that means wherever I go, Mario has to go as well," stated Raiden, as he stood up and walked over to retrieve his sword from the desk. Mario was dragged along, across the room.
"Can't you just use your sword-a to break open the leg cuffs?" Mario asked Raiden, who used his sword to cut open the chains...but to no avail. Some pretty strong metal.
"Crap, we really are stuck together...not exactly the most ideal situation, but we can try to make it work."
Sonic and Tails went to Master Hand's room to speak with Master Hand, but the giant hand was nowhere to be found. Must be very busy at the moment, what with the treaty and all.
"I think Master Hand's outside, getting everything situated," assumed Tails as he walked to the bedroom window - before looking out and catching something that caught his eye. "Hey Sonic, check it out!"
"Oh cool, is it a mailman getting attacked by a flying eagle?" inquired Sonic, as he came over to the window to see what was what. "Because if it isn't..."
Sonic looked through the window with Tails, and did not seeing an eagle attacking a mailman. Much to his dismay. However, the hedgehog did see Min Min standing at the side of the road waiting on her ride...while arguing with Zant.
"It's that Min Min chick, from the ARMS competition - and she's arguing with Zant!" exclaimed Tails, seeing how incredibly frustrated Min Min was. She must really want to return home. ""What do you think those two are arguing about?"
"Zant could be asking for Min Min's permission to have noodles at a possible luncheon, after the treaty signing," shrugged Sonic, who wouldn't mind devouring bowls of ramen noodles. "Or, Zant might be trying to recruit Min Min to his coalition!"
"A coalition of what? I can't for the life of me see Min Min working with Zant, let alone anyone remotely evil. Also, what coalition?"
"Meh, it's just some silly crap I heard from Link...dude's lowkey paranoid about Zant. Anyways, we should go find Master Hand, and tell him that Zant is bad news!"
Armed with his sword, Raiden broke out of the buddy cops' police office, breaking through a window and jumping down to the ground. Because he dragged Mario with him, the mercenary caused the plumber to land on the ground face-first.
"Ouchie!" Mario yelped in pain, as he slowly stood up on his feet. "Should have-a given me a warning, man!"
"Sorry, I don't really do warnings as much," Raiden apologized to Mario, albeit disingenuously, as he and Mario walked away from the mansion. "Now we got to work together, and stop that treaty."
"Why do you want to stop-a that treaty so bad?"
"Why not? This whole treaty thing, it's obviously a trap."
"Heh, that was kind of the vibe-a I was getting after that meeting we had earlier..."
"Well good on you for seeing the light. Hopefully your friends will see the light as well."
"But why do you want to stop-a the treaty for? Being double-crossed-a as well?"
"Not really - it's kind of like my own personal agenda. Now shut up, and keep walking..."
Having walked a considerable amount of distance away from the mansion and the backyard, Mario and Raiden ventured into the outskirts of the mansion premises - where they would encounter some kind of spaceship. One that was blue in color.
"Mama mia, whose space-a ship is that?" Mario asked Raiden, who had a pretty proud smirk on his face.
"It's my own personal ship - Ratchet gave it to me as a gift," explained Raiden, as he snapped his fingers to open the spaceship's hatch. "It's how I usually get around. Even opens on command when I snap my fingers."
"Not gonna lie, that's...pretty neat. Looks even cooler than-a Samus' gunship. Don't tell her I said-a that..."
Raiden would take Mario inside his spaceship, and sat the plumber down in the passenger seat. The mercenary got in the driver's seat, and turned the vehicle on with the press of a button.
"Before we actually go and stop the treaty, we just have to make one little pit stop..." Raiden said to Mario, before the spaceship took off and flew away.
Samus: *looks out through a window and sees Raiden's spaceship flying away* Someone else has a spaceship, huh? Pfft, amateur... *drinks from her cup of coffee*
Outside at an giant open space near the mansion, Master Hand and Crazy Hand were watching as Mr. Game and Watch and Dark Pit were setting the stage, while Volnutt was setting up the folding chairs.
"Who knew that we had THIS MUCH open space on the other side of the road?" expressed Crazy Hand, who obviously didn't do that much exploring outside of the mansion premises.
"And who knew that we had so many folding chairs?" asked Master Hand, as he counted almost two hundred folding chairs being set up. "Totally forgot that shack even existed until Volnutt brought it up."
"Master Hand, Crazy Hand, we need to talk!" Sonic called out to the giant hands, as he and Tails had to cross the street to reach the powerful duo.
"Sure thing, Sonic - what's up in the hood?" That Master Hand, trying to sound cool and hip... "Sounded pretty natural there, huh?"
"Uh, whatever you say, dude...anyways, we gotta talk about Zant. Tails and I think he's up to no good."
"What are you and your friend discussing?" asked Zant, making his appearing as he descended down to Sonic and company from up above. His presence was enough to spook Sonic and Tails.
"Man, why you gotta so nosy? We just wanted to speak with Master Hand and Crazy Hand, that's all!"
"You'll get to speak with them...after the treaty. Otherwise, I can just, you know...toss you both into the Twilight Realm..."
"No thanks, we'll leave the giant hands alone," Tails smiled nervously at Zant, as he took Sonic's hand and led him away. "We'll see you later, at the treaty!"
"C'mon Tails, this could be our big breakthrough!" Sonic frowned his best friend, trying to resist his grasp. "You're just gonna let some guy with a funny fish helmet intimidate you?"
As Tails led Sonic away, Zant cracked a devious smile, underneath his helmet...Zant really must be bad news.