Author's Note:

Here it is, at long last...the overwhelmingly long author's note that you've all been waiting for. I had intended to write this on Christmas Day, but I was very busy - didn't even turn my laptop on until it was close to midnight. Usually I write these long author's notes out beforehand, but I couldn't do that this year...

...but enough about that, it's about time we get into what you've really been waiting for this whole time - this author's note. Some of you might look past this author's note and skip right to the chapter, but I wouldn't mind one bit. Since I don't know what to write about this time around, I'll keep this author's note short and sweet, and to the point...

Overall, 2019 was a year of firsts in a sense, for Smash Life. We had the first ever 4th of July chapter. We had the first instance of Overwatch characters appearing in the story, which is what I've been dying to do for almost two years. And Sony characters actually appeared in the story, for the first time ever. I remembered how much I was against the idea of Sony guys and gals being in Smash Life, but I changed my stance for the sake of that manor arc.

And not only that, but we got many characters debuting in Smash Life for the first time. The Luminary showed up along with his fellow Dragon Quest heroes, as well as Veronica and Serena. Banjo and Kazooie made it into Smash Life. And Terry Bogard got added in as well, along with fellow SNK characters Ryo, Nakoruru, and Iori. (Was really looking forward to Kyo Kisaragi and Athena Asamiya being Mii costumes, but it is what it is.) However, one character that I didn't envision being in Smash Life was Sans, who is obviously from Undertale. I recall past reviewers asking me to put Undertale characters in the story, and I kept promising that I would, and that promise finally came true this year.

But on the bittersweet side, we saw a few characters making their depatures - namely Aerith, Sora, Layton, Luke, and Impa. Aerith, as you may know, was pretty much a mainstay in this story as she stuck around ever since chapter 24, leading up to the 162nd chapter. That's over a hundred and fifty chapters! I didn't expect to keep Aerith around that long, but I did it anyway because, well, I like Aerith. And then there's Sora, and I will admit that I enjoyed making him look like a doofus at times...which seemed pretty accurate with his characterization in Kingdom Hearts III. Just so ya know, I prefer another Keyblade wielder - one that has cool-looking silver hair and a cooler Keyblade - over Sora, so bias might've gotten in the way of how I portrayed Sora in this story.

Then there's Layton and Luke. I had intended to keep them around for just one chapter - that wedding chapter with Mario and Peach - but the prospect of those two detectives doing an investigation arc was too big of an opportunity to pass up on. I feel like Layton and Luke are two of the more important characters in Smash Life, as they've played a major role in THREE story arcs. Maybe I've given those detectives too much clout, but hey, somebody's gotta do some investigating!

And who could possibly forget about Impa? I had assume that Impa would be a perfect character for that that Calamity Ganon arc, which is why I brought her along for the ride with Lana and Linkle. Why did I choose her? I just thought that with her attitude and the way she carried herself, she would be a perfect foil to Mario...and in a way, she was. I kinda missed having a character of Impa's archetype in the story, which is why I passed down the role of the straight man down to Spyro. Since neither Peach nor Hunter could be up for the task.

And now that 2019 is drawing to a close, it's time to move on to the next year...2020! I'm honestly pretty excited for next year, since they'll be plenty of new video game releases - which will in turn help me come up with ideas for new chapters. Already got my eye on the Final Fantasy VII remake. And there'll obviously be more DLC characters released for Smash next year, which presents a great opportunity to add new characters to the story. The amount of characters in Smash Life is growing at a high rate, and frankly there's no point in stopping.

I don't know what the future holds for me, but I'm pretty excited to keep this story ongoing. Sadly I haven't found a job...yet, but I'm been diligently job searching and applying to jobs left and right each day, so hopefully I'll be working very soon. Not having a job yet does give me more time to write...but the more time you have on your hands, the more bored you'll likely become. And I've always up and active and doing stuff to keep myself from being bored, like writing this story for instance. You could say that writing this story is like a side job - or a side hustle, rather. Yeah, a side hustle, let's go with that...

And now that this author's note is finally over, I now bid you all with this Boxing Day/Kwanzaa chapter. Since Christmas is over I obviously couldn't do a Christmas-themed year end chapter, so I've decided to focus on two holidays. To tell you the truth, I don't celebrate Kwanzaa, and I don't think anyone in my extended family celebrates Kwanzaa either...but I could always ask. This chapter takes place on the day after Christmas, so just keep that in mind.

Now, to end this author's note on a high note...Happy New Year to everyone! See you in 2020!

Episode 210: BoxingDay

'Twas the day after Christmas, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse...the stockings were still hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that Master Hand soon would be...

...hold on, Master Hand? Then there must be no house then - this was the mighty Smash Mansion we're talking about here. And the mansion sure had quite the Christmas celebration.

Just like how he did every holiday season, Master Hand went up and beyond for Christmas, having a Christmas concert on Christmas Eve and then an epic Christmas party on Christmas Day. And since participation still mattered, Master Hand invited a handful of guests over to said events. Whether it was the royal family of Nohr, Tracer and her fellow Overwatch heroes, or even Spyro's pals from the Forgotten Realms - Master Hand wanted Christmas at the Smash Mansion to be the biggest it could possibly be.

But even despite all the Christmas celebration and whatnot, Master Hand wasn't done. No, not by a long shot. The giant hand kept the folks he invited around in Seattle, for he had one more thing left to do on his to-do list...and it was an objective that nobody saw coming.

For the first time ever, Master Hand wanted to formerly introduce Boxing Day to the United States. And he didn't wish to do it alone.

Master Hand: An uncultured swine like yourself would come to me and ask, "Master Hand, oh, Master Hand, what on earth is Boxing Day?" And that's when I backhand the living daylights out of you, and make you go cry to your mommy. Or at least that I would do if I were in a sour mood. But since I'm always happy (most of the time), I would just say that Boxing Day is the day where people from the UK, Canada, Australia, and even South Africa go out shopping all day long. Basically it's like Black Friday, except that people act like normal functioning adults and you don't have to worry about your grandma being dragged across the floor for taking a flat-screen television at Best Buy. It's the only holiday where shopping till you drop is actually encouraged. Obviously, the United States deserves a holiday too, after Christmas, so with a help from a couple of friends...

There was another part of Boxing Day that Master Hand overlooked in his talking head segment, and that was the fact that people watched a ton of soccer during the holiday - either that, or play soccer. Mario was playing soccer right now, in the mansion's backyard, kicking the soccer ball around with a certain Pokemon trainer.

"That's some nice footwork you got there, Mario!" exclaimed Hop, the Pokemon trainer from Galar who was invited over to the mansion along with his friendly rivals, Bede and Marnie. Mario was bouncing around the soccer ball with his foot, and was looking like a pro.

"Oh yeah? Wait until-a you get a load of this!" shouted Mario, as he kicked the soccer ball with all his might. The plumber sent the ball flying over the fence, as it landed at a faraway location.

"Sweetie, we're being attacked by soccer balls again!" a man shouted from afar - must be that conspiracy nutjob from episode 197. "The apocalypse is coming soon! Are the survival kits ready?"

"Yes, and so is our apocalypse bunker!" the conspiracy nutjob's wife replied, sounding like her life was about to end any second now. "Made sure to clean out all the meth. We should be safe in there!"

"So those two do grow-a meth in their basement...good-a to know," Mario nodded his head, before looking at Hop. Hop looked pretty upset, as he and Mario had lost a soccer ball for the second time. "No worries, Hop...there should be another soccer ball in the storage room."

So Hop followed Mario to the storage room, where Mario found a soccer ball inside. Mario checked to see if the ball was properly inflated, as he and Hop exited the storage room.

"Might've put a little too much-a sauce into that kick," Mario told Hop, as he was about to close the door to the storage room. "Should've kicked-a with my heel..."

"Yo, Mario, leave that door open!" someone shouted from down the hallway, as they frantically ran over to the storage room. It was B.D. Joe, and the taxi driver was wearing some very...interesting attire.

"It's-a open." Mario left the storage room door open for B.D. Joe, and it took the plumber a moment to realize what B.D. Joe was wearing. "B.D. Joe, why on earth-a are you wearing a dashiki?"

"Oh, you talkin' about this?" B.D. Joe grinned as he showed off his yellow dashiki, accrediting Mario for recognizing fashion. "Looks really nice on me!"

"Yeah, but why are you even wearing it in the first place?" asked Hop, hoping that he didn't sound as insensitive with his question. "Seems out of place."

"It's all a part of Kwanzaa - Knuckles wants to celebrate Kwanzaa this year, and he wants me to join the celebration. How cool is that?"

Knuckles: Promised myself that I would go back to my roots...and what better way to do that than to celebrate Kwanzaa? I truly believe that I'm ready for the festivities - I learned the seven core principles, I gathered all the celebratory symbols, and I even watched that Rugrats Kwanzaa special on repeat, for good measure. And now... *puts on green dashiki* ...I'm ready.

"Knuckles wants me to join him in the lighting of the candles, on the kinara," B.D. Joe explained to Mario and Hop, before taking out a lighter that he would use to light one of the candles. "Knuckle is gonna light the first one."

"And I take it that you're-a lighting the second one?" asked Mario, and B.D. Joe would affirm as such with the nod of his head.

"So far, only me, Doc Louis, and Rodin have agreed to celebrate Kwanzaa with Knuckles...mainly because we're black. Knuckles is looking for three more black guys that he could celebrate Kwanzaa with."

"Sounds to me like he doesn't wanna celebrate the holiday alone," said Hop; he didn't know much about Kwanzaa, but he couldn't fault B.D. Joe for helping Knuckles get in touch with his "roots".

"Hey B.D. Joe, you got the unity cup or not?" Doc Louis was heard calling out to the taxi driver from down the hallway. "We can't start the first day of Kwanzaa without you, man!"

"One second, Doc!" B.D. Joe ran inside the storage room, and came out with a wooden unity cup before closing the storage room door shut. "I'll see you guys around!" B.D. Joe gave Mario and Hop the two-finger salute, as he ran down the hallway.

"Quick question: is Kwanzaa to black people what Hanukkah is to Jews?" Cappy looked down at Mario and asked the plumber this question; Mario was unsure how to word his answer.

"Of course it is, you stupid idiot, and I should know...for I invented both Kwanzaa and Hanukkah! Your ignorance earns you a spot on my list!"

Mario and Hop turned around, and saw Dr. Brio walking towards them. Brio, who was invited over to the mansion for Christmas, spent the entire Christmas Day adding as many people as he could to his list - the List of Brio.

"Is it even possible to even two holidays, at the same time?" Hop asked Brio, who gasped out of shock and clutched his pearls. Hearing such blasphemy being spoken greatly triggered Brio.

"You stupid idiot, is it possible!" replied Brio, before furiously writing down Hop's name on the List of Brio. "Has your brother not taught you? That's why your name is on the list, under Leon's!"

"What did my brother even do to deserve being on your list? He can literally do no wrong!" Only you believe that, Hop.

"I would've spared your brother, but him not acknowledging the fact that I invented his Pokemon made him a stupid idiot. And now, I must go...plenty of stupid idiots out there, deserving to be on my list. I invented all of them, of course..."

Mario and Hop went outside and back to the backyard, ready to resume their soccer-related activities. However, they weren't expecting to see a certain echidna standing in the backyard, with his arms folded...Knuckles.

"Knuckles, what are you doing here?" Mario asked the echidna, thinking that Knuckles was in the mansion with B.D. Joe and the others. "Aren't you supposed-a to be celebrating Kwanzaa with your fellas?"

"Not yet - Doc Louis and Rodin are getting things set up," replied Knuckles, looking firm and steady as he stared down Mario. Mario was barely even intimidated, much to Knuckles' chagrin. "I got some time to kill before we start."

"Great, so that means you'll play some soccer with us!" exclaimed Hop, as he took the soccer ball from Mario and placed it on the ground. Hop was smiling, but Knuckles certainly wasn't, which made Hop's smile fade away.

"I'm not here to play soccer with you...I wanna play soccer against you." Judging by Knuckles' tone of voice and his demeanor, he had revenge on his mind. "I want a rematch against you, Mario."

"A grudge-a match? I'm down with that," said Mario, agreeing with the terms. If Mario kicked Knuckles' butt at soccer once, he could certainly do it again. "The same as before?"

"Yeah, same ol' soccer match - first team to score three points wins. But we're gonna need different teammates. And luckily, I found a few...

Knuckles whistled, as he beckoned a boy and girl over to the backyard. But they weren't no ordinary boy and girl - they were Hyde and Linne, from episode 205. The two joined Knuckles, standing on either side of the echidna.

"We're gonna beat your team down to the ground!" vowed Hyde as he pointed at Mario, who was visibly shook; the plumber didn't expect Knuckles to find teammates so soon.

"Yeah what he said," agreed Linne, who was likely thrown into the soccer match by Hyde. She and Hyde were pretty inseparable, for the most part.

"It's gonna be a five-on-five soccer match, winner take all," Knuckles said to Mario and Hop, with winning on his mind. It would make Knuckles very upset if he lost to Mario before he started celebrating Kwanzaa. "Hope you're already used to the sting of defeat, Mario."

"Should-a be saying that about-a yourself..." responded Mario, who was now looking very determined as he looked over at Hop. "Come on, Hop...we got a soccer team-a to recruit."

"Oh yeah, I'm so pumped!" the ever excitable Hop pumped his fists, as he followed Mario inside the mansion. Knuckles smirked, knowing that a victory for his team was over the horizon.

"Um, just so we're clear, there's gonna be bragging rights, right?" Hyde asked Knuckles, after tapping the echidna on the shoulder. Knuckles smirked even harder.

"There'll be plenty of bragging rights...lots and lots of bragging rights," replied Knuckles, who knew that Mario's soccer team would be inferior compared to his.

"Hold up, did I hear you guys talk about some soccer game?" asked Cranky Kong, approaching Knuckles and company; accompanying him was a friend he made in episode 200, Hat Kid. "Mind if we join your team?"

"Well you can't...but the girl with the hat most certainly can. Don't need any old geezers on my squad."

"That author's trying to hold me back, I just know it...thanks Knuckles! I'm sure that Hat Kid will be a fine asset!"

In the last episode, Ruby and Weiss were ecstatic about seeing Blake and Yang again. Blake and Yang were previously working at a Japanese restaurant, which Yang claimed was a temporary "side job" to keep her and Blake busy. And thanks to X's tracking device, Mario was able to find out where Blake and Yang were in town, and used a heartbroken Snake as a vehicle to get to the two ladies. Sure, it got Mario strangled, but at least he got the deed done.

While Hunter was salty about Blake and Yang's presence at Mario's house, the cheetah was even more salty when three ladies from Hyrule came to down for the mansion's Christmas party - Impa, Lana, and Linkle. With Impa and her gals staying overnight, Ruby and Yang slept upstairs, Weiss and Blake slept in the living room, and Spyro and Hunter...had to stay down in the bunker.

Impa: Just when I thought the girls and I could leave and go back to Hyrule, Master Hand had the gall to force us to stay around, just so we could make his American Boxing Day thing a reality. As much as I wanted to say no, Lana and Linkle told me otherwise, thinking that I would put my own life on the line. What's the worse that Master Hand could possibly do, squeeze me to death? Like I would let some giant hand intimidate me...

Hunter: Good grief, I thought Ruby and Weiss were bad news...but Blake and Yang? *shakes his head* Those two are nothing but trouble. You got Yang punching things left and right, and roughing people up, and then you got Blake, who has some major identity crisis issues. I mean, who she's supposed to be, a human with cat ears? Does she wanna be a cat, or not?
Spyro: *walking by* She's a faunus, Hunter...
Hunter:...the heck is a faunus? Some kind of goat person?!

Impa, Lana, and Linkle were hanging around in Mario's living room, where Hunter was spending time with his girlfriend Bianca. Spyro was also there, with his friends from the Forgotten Realms - Sheila, Sgt. Byrd, Bentley, and Agent 9 - off at the mansion doing stuff.

"How many spells does your spellbook have?" Lana asked Bianca out of curiosity as she, Linkle, Ruby, and Weiss were looking over the long-eared sorceress' shoulder.

"Um...it has a lot, I can tell you that much," replied Bianca, who had her spellbook all out in the open. Impa was looking on, hoping that Lana and Linkle wouldn't annoy Bianca to death. Hunter was also looking on, sickened that his girlfriend was talking to the ladies he despised so much.

"Can you show us a spell, pretty please?" Weiss pleaded to Bianca with begging hands, as Bianca had no choice but to show off a spell or two. Bianca stood up, spellbook in hand, as she picked out a spell to demonstrate.

"Since you wanna see a spell so bad...here goes nothing." Whipping up some magic in her right hand, Bianca would cast a spell on Spyro, who was sleeping peacefully on Mario's sofa. After the spell was cast, Spyro quickly woke up.

"Huh, what just happened?" the purple dragon questioned, his head feeling awfully heavy for some reason. Spyro would end up feeling even more confused, when he saw Bianca and company laughing at him. "What's so funny?"

"Go look at yourself in the mirror..." replied Linkle, doing her best to stifle her laughter. So Spyro hopped down from Mario's sofa and glanced at himself in the nearby mirror...and saw that his head grew big!

"Woah, what did you do to my head?!" Spyro jumped back out of shock, before glaring at Bianca who was laughing her tail off. "Did you do this, Bianca? I thought we already talked about this..."

"I'm so sorry!" apologized Bianca, who really wasn't that sorry at all as she kept on laughing. She meant to cast that spell on Spyro. "I must've used the wrong spell!"

"You look so dumb with that big head!" Hunter pointed and laughed at Spyro, before falling back on the floor and laughing even more. Being laughed at by his best friend made Spyro even more furious.

"I cannot believe that you caved into Linkle's silly request," Impa said to Bianca, who stopped laughing in an instant. Impa spoke in a serious tone that would make anyone stop laughing for good.

"Well it wasn't like I had much choice in the matter..." responded Bianca, as she closed her spellbook and placed it on the living room table. "I'm sure that you had to do your own fair of requests for others."

"Yeah you tell her Bianca, show that Impa who's boss!" shouted Hunter, mindlessly sticking up for Bianca. Bianca didn't appreciate it, as she gave Hunter a look so stern that it made the cheetah cower.

"Hey guys, I don't mean to interrupt, but have you seen Blake and Yang around the house?" asked Peach as she entered the living room with Jennifer.

"I think they went somewhere with Meta Knight," replied Ruby, although she was unsure where exactly Blake and Yang headed off to. "They've been gone for only a little while..."

Blake and Yang were asked by Meta Knight and K.K. Slider to accompany them to the isolated community, which had the well with all the "Navidad presents" at the very bottom. Even though Christmas was over, Meta Knight and K.K. Slider were interested in seeing what presents the isolated community had in its well.

"I cannot thank you ladies enough for accompany us," Meta Knight said to Blake and Yang, as he and the others were following the white man with the funky English-Spanish bilingualism. "You're the kind of hard-nosed women that would keep us from getting attacked."

"Just so you know, he was only referring to me..." Yang told Blake in a bragging manner, and Blake rolled her eyes as the white man led the group into the isolated community, where the community members greeted Meta Knight and company.

Mexican Man: Ese hombre sigue regresando, y siempre trae ese perro hippie con la guitarra.
Son: That man keeps coming back, and he always brings that hippie dog with the guitar.
Mexican Man: ese perro siempre es una mala noticia: habla en diversas lenguas y toca su guitarra sin ningún motivo.
Son: That dog is always bad news - he speaks in diverse tongues, and plays his guitar for no reason.
Mexican Man: A veces, el hombre traerá a dos damas con él. Hoy trajo a una mujer rubia y una dama con orejas de gato.
Son: Sometimes, the man will bring two ladies with him. Today he brought a blonde woman, and some lady with cat ears.
Mexican Man: La chica con orejas de gato está bien, pero la rubia me da más miedo...
Son: The girl with cat ears is fine, but the blonde scares me the most...

"Why are all these people calling us losers for?" asked Blake, as the members of the isolated community greeted their visitors with the loser hand signal. Blake really felt like she had entered the territory of an evil cult.

"To them, that hand signal means world peace," K.K. Slider explained to Blake, who now had more doubts and fears about the isolated community than before. "Wario taught them that when he came here."

"Ah, okay...that should explain everything." Soon the white man led Meta Knight and company to the well, in the middle of the isolated community.

"The well of a la isolated community has a surprising amount of Navidad presents inside," the white man explained to Meta Knight and company, standing at the side of the well. "You still want Navidad presents, no?"

"Yes we would - it's mainly for a Kwanzaa celebration a friend of ours is having," replied Meta Knight, as the white man raised his eyebrow out of intrigue. "We'll take whatever gifts are fitting for the occasion."

"Looking for Kwanzaa gifts? Luckily we have presents for any holiday, here at a la isolated community. Let me show you..."

With Master Hand's permission, Knuckles rented out the ballroom so he could celebrate Kwanzaa in its confides. He didn't tell Master Hand what he wanted to use the ballroom for, but it was for the best. The ballroom was decorated with Kwanzaa colors, with red, green, and yellow colors everywhere in sight.

"Nice job with the Kwanzaa flags, Sgt. Byrd!" Doc Louis commended the penguin, who was put in charge of hanging up the Kwanzaa flags from the ballroom ceiling. "Ballroom looks much more livelier!"

"Still looks the same to me, but to each their own," replied Sgt. Byrd, as he flew back down to the floor after his deed was done. Soon Bentley approached Doc Louis, carrying a drum.

"Found a drum that you could use for your Kwanzaa thingamajig," the yeti told Doc Louis as he placed the drum on the floor, before pulling out a vuvuzela. "Do you think that you'll need this horn as well?"

"Man, what?! Nobody blows horns when celebrating Kwanzaa!" Doc Louis scolded Bentley, who looked down in shame. Way to act uncultured, Bentley. "Also, where did you even get that horn from?"

"Has anyone seen my horn, my vuvuzela?" a Team Yell grunt asked as she poked her head inside the ballroom; Bentley quickly turned around, as he hid the vuvuzela behind his back.

"Nope, haven't got the slightest clue what a vuvuzela is," the yeti grinned innocently, as he looked towards Doc Louis. Doc Louis nodded his head, although he wasn't exactly sure why.

"I just said that it was a horn...oh well. Maybe it'll show up eventually." The Team Yell grunt left the ballroom, as Bentley let out a sigh of relief.

The Team Yell grunt closed the ballroom door and returned to the hallway, where her fellow Team Yell buddies were waiting. The grunts were joined by the Pokemon trainer they adored so much, Marnie.

"Found your horn yet?" Marnie asked the Team Yell grunt with the missing (erm, stolen) horn, who shook her head as she looked down at the floor despondently. "C'mon, I bet we'll find it very soon..."

"Marnie, Marnie!" Hop called out to the Pokemon trainer, as Marnie turned around and saw Hop and Mario running down the hallway. "Do you wanna join Mario's soccer team? I'm the co-captain!"

"That depends. Aside from you and Mario, who else is on your team?" Mario and Hop hadn't found much success recruiting, as neither of them wished to answer.

"No one...yet, but you can be our third team member! We just need to find five willing people, and we'll be all set!"

"You could let some-a body from your fan club take-a your spot, if you like," Mario proposed to Marnie, as he looked over at the Team Yell grunts. Talk about scrapping the bottom of the barrel.

"I'm afraid that nobody will be takin' my spot...because I'm not interested," responded Marnie, and on that note, the Pokemon trainer turned around and walked away, with Team Yell following after her. "Go find someone desperate."

"Aw man, we were so close, too..." Hop snapped his fingers in disgust, whereas Mario frowned mightily and punched the air. Mario looked over, and saw Viridi about to open the ballroom door.

"Viridi don't open that door!" Mario shouted to the goddess of nature, like there was something extremely powerful and dangerous in the ballroom. Viridi stopped, as she pulled her hand away. "You can't go-a in there, remember? It's because-a of your..."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it, it's because I'm a xenophobe..." grunted Viridi, who was still losing her hair gradually because of Ashley's spell. Which was mainly transpired by Viridi's xenophobia. "...this is just straight-up prejudice!"

"I completely understand, but you have-a to follow Master Hand's orders. Last-a thing I would want is for you to suffer from-a his wrath..."

"Suffer from what wrath? All he's gonna do is yell loudly for no reason, why should I be afraid of that?! Why does he care so much about my xenophobia?"

"I'm sorry, did someone say something about xenophobia? Oh dear, I don't think we can have that around the mansion..."

This remark was spoken in a British accent, and it came from a certain detective who was accompanied by his lovely apprentice. A man wearing a tall top hat showed up in the hallway, with a young lad at his side.

"Professor Layton!" Viridi uttered the name of this detective - Professor Herschel Layton - who smiled and tipped his hat. The young lad, his apprentice - Luke Triton - flashed a smile. "You didn't...overhear the conversation, did you?"

"Oh I think I've heard enough," replied Layton, smiling warmly as he made sure that his hat was properly adjusted on his head. "You sure had a lot to say, Viridi."

Layton: It was awfully delightful of Master Hand to invite Luke and I back to the mansion, for the holiday festivities. What's even better is that he allowed us to stay in our old bedroom - he never gave it to any of the newer residents! Shows you how much Master Hand respects us. You could say that Master Hand has a soft spot for us...which is unsettling to think about.

"You're still a xenophobe, Viridi?" an astonished Luke asked the goddess of nature, who was starting to feel bad. "You said that you would change from your ways!"

"Oh yeah, I did say that, hehe..." responded Viridi, nervously smiling as she grabbed her left arm and looked away. This was most definitely news to Mario.

"You said WHAT?!" the plumber boomed as he looked towards Viridi, who was feeling even more guilty. The past was all coming back to her.

"Viridi told me about how much she despised humans, before your wedding," Luke explained to Mario, fondly remembering the conversation he had with Viridi like it was yesterday. "I poked her, and she told about how she doesn't like humans coming in contact with her."

"That sure does explain a lot..." remarked Layton as he stroked his chin; the detective had several run-ins with Viridi in the past, and most of them were negative.

"I tried to talk her out of her xenophobia, and she promised that she would change her ways and start appreciating humans more. But, two years later, and I see that Viridi hasn't made any progress whatsoever..."

"...it's complicated," said Viridi, as she continued to hold her left arm and look away. Felt too guilty to look at anyone. "None of you would understand..."

"But maybe I can," volunteered Layton as he knelt down at Viridi - making sure not to touch the goddess of nature. "You can't afford to hate on humans forever, don't you think?"

"Well Ashley did put a spell on me for my xenophobia..." Viridi grabbed her hair, which was now a lot shorter than most people were used to. "...and my hair is still thinning out because of it."

"Ashley must be trying to teach you a lesson...say, if you get just rid of your xenophobia, then maybe your hair will stop thinning out. Heck, it might even grow back!"

"You mean I'll have my long, luscious hair again?" Viridi got all excited all of a sudden, as Layton nodded his head with a smile. "How can I overcome my xenophobia? I don't even know where to start!"

"Follow me, and I'll show you the way..." So Layton let Viridi down the hallway, with Luke following after him. But Luke came to a stop, when someone grabbed his attention by clearing their throat.

"You're not running off with Layton, are-a you?" Mario asked Luke, who turned around and went over to Mario. Wherever Layton went, Luke had to go no matter what - it was only natural.

"I just wanted to provide some moral support to Viridi," Luke explained to Mario, before looking back and seeing Layton and Viridi walk down the hallway. "I'd love to see Viridi appreciating humans more."

"That's nice and all, but we got some-a bigger fish to fry. How would you like-a to play for my soccer team?" Luke, not being the most athletic lad in the world or the most coordinated, was unsure about his answer.

"I appreciate the offer, Mario, but I wouldn't want to screw you and your team over. You're better off finding somebody else."

"Aw, don't sell yourself short like that!" Hop grinned at Luke with his infectious smile, as he wrapped his arm around the young detective. "It's not like we expect you to do much. Your presence could be key!"

"Are you so sure about that?" Desperately wanting Luke on Mario's team, Hop nodded his head, and Luke started to think things over. "Alright...I think I'll give this soccer thing a chance."

"Awesome!" Hop cheered and pumped his fist, before exchanging a high-five with Mario. "One down, only a few more to go!"

Master Hand was very serious about making Boxing Day a thing in America, and one of the few residents that wanted to make Master Hand's dreams come true was Bowser, who wished to dress up for the occasion. The koopa king was seen stylin' and profilin' through the halls of the mansion, wearing his white wedding attire from Super Mario Odyssey.

"Bowser why are you dressed up as a pimp?" the Luminary asked the koopa king as he and Veronica encountered him in the hallway. Baffled by the Luminary's question, Bowser sighed as he dusted off his hat.

"Because I am a pimp - A Pimp Named Bowser!" Bowser...erm, A Pimp Named Bowser responded, before showing off a few gold rings on both of his hands. "This is kind of a thing a like to do."

"You like being a pimp and walking around in expensive clothes?" questioned Veronica, wondering how A Pimp Named Bowser was able to afford his attire. "You're not setting a good example for your kids, Bowser."

"That's A Pimp Named Bowser to you, missy! And also, screw my kids! Well, except, Bowser Jr, he's fine...but the Koopalings, who cares about 'em?"

Ludwig: *looks up from a book he is reading, with a frown* I feel a very strong disturbance in the force...a foul stench in the air...
Sans: foul stench in the air? hope you're not too "chicken" to deal with it alone.
Ludwig: *frowns at Sans* Get outta my sight...

"Any reason as to why you're dressed up like that again, Bowser?" a jogging Wii Fit Trainer asked A Pimp Named Bowser as she passed by, before stopping in place. A Pimp Named Bowser was about to correct Wii Fit, but saved his breath. "It's not even Valentine's Day!"

"I know, but Master Hand wants me to go out shopping today to bring awareness to Boxing Day," explained A Pimp Named Bowser, before taking off his hat and brushing back his hair with his hand. "Gotta look good, when you shop till you drop!"

"You're the only one who's actually volunteered, as far as I'm concerned - a few others were forced to shop today." Hearing this made A Pimp Named Bowser's eyes bulge out, as the koopa king was shocked.

"Are you implying that there's residents out shopping in the name of Boxing Day?" A Pimp Named Bowser wished to set an example to the residents for shopping on Boxing Day, and he couldn't do it when residents were out shopping already.

"They've been out shopping for a while now. While you were in your room grooming and combing your hair, Master Hand already sent Nakoruru, Yoshi, Erdrick, and Ribbon Girl to a few select stores to shop as much as they can."

"Why didn't Master Hand tell me this before?!" A Pimp Named Bowser was very upset, as he stomped his foot on the floor with anger before marching away. "Y'all better look out...I'm gonna shop so hard, they'll have to take me out of the store!"

"It's a competition, Bowser - it's about bringing awareness, just like you said!" Wii Fit called out to A Pimp Named Bowser, who looked greatly offended as he gave Wii Fit the stink eye.

"That's A Pimp Named Bowser to you!" Despising the fact that he had to correct Wii Fit, A Pimp Named Bowser shook his head as he continued his way.

"Just so we're clear, there's no actual boxing on Boxing Day, right?" the Luminary asked Wii Fit, who was unfit for providing a history lesson. Frankly, Wii Fit didn't know much about Boxing Day either.

As A Pimp Named Bowser strolled through the hallway, he passed by a room where heard someone crying. The koopa king backtracked his steps and looked inside, and saw Corrin crying his eyes out, with Kamui and his other siblings - Xander, Camilla, Leo, and Elise - consoling him.

"It's okay Corrin, I'm sure she didn't mean it!" Elise told the prince of Nohr, who wiped away his tears with his left arm before crying some more. "At least she got you something for Secret Santa!"

"Why did she do it...why did she buy me that Peleton?!" whined Corrin, as A Pimp Named Bowser found himself smirking in a devious manner. What was that dastardly koopa king smirking about?

"It's because Ruby wanted you to work out, and become fit like the Wii Fit Trainers," replied Xander, trying to bring some reason and logic to the situation. But Corrin wasn't having any of it, as he kept on crying.

"But why did she have to buy it for me, of all people? I haven't got the slightest clue of what a Peleton is! I'm just not cut out for it!" Sounded like Corrin was allergic to being fit, and having the best body he could possibly have.

"You're not cut out for much anyways," commented Leo, as Camilla glared intensely at her little brother. Anyone who said anything remotely negative about Corrin was always on Camilla's radar. "Just telling it like it is..."

"Even worse, Ruby wants me to record my daily progress on the Peleton with a digital camera! Ruby just wants to laugh at me and mock me forever!"

Ruby: I was stuck on what to get Corrin for Secret Santa, and that's when Bowser told me to buy him some thing called a Peleton. Bought it with some help from Mario. When Corrin first saw his Peleton, he didn't mind it as much, he was very neutral. Now, I'm heard murmurings that he apparently doesn't like the Peleton anymore...it hasn't even been two full days yet!

A Pimp Named Bowser: Suggesting to Ruby that she should buy a Peleton for Corrin as a Secret Santa gift, that was my doing. Telling Corrin that Ruby wants him to document himself exercising on the Peleton over a year on camera...that was also my doing. Not expecting too many people to get on me for that...

"I cannot stand to see Corrin like this," Camilla told her siblings, unable to see Corrin cry any longer. Looking out for Corrin was always serious business to Camilla, and more often than not she took her duties very seriously.

"And what do you plan on doing about it?" Xander asked Camilla, who was about to make her exit. Camilla stopped, as she was about to exit through the door. "Getting rid of the Peleton won't do much."

"No it wouldn't...but having a word with the lady who bought in the first place should be some kind of remedy." Camilla left Corrin's room, and soon saw herself standing in the mighty presence of A Pimp Named Bowser.

"Uh, I just wanted to say that...your cat ears are fake," A Pimp Named Bowser told Camilla, having no clue what to say to the Nohrian princess. Any form of small talk was better than remaining silent.

"Thank you, I'm well aware..." responded Camilla, as she headed down the hallway to reason with Ruby. A Pimp Named Bowser knew what Camilla planned on doing, after hearing the conversation in Corrin's room, and didn't want the princess finding out the truth.

"Can't let Camilla find out..." A Pimp Named Bowser remarked, knowing what he must do; the koopa king ran inside Corrin's room, and came out with Corrin in his grasp as he ran away.

"Bowser where on earth are you taking our brother?" Kamui questioned the koopa king, poking her head out of her room and looking at A Pimp Named Bowser who was retreating. "Can you not see that he's very upset!"

"MY NAME IS A PIMP NAMED BOWSER, DANG IT!" A Pimp Named Bowser shouted down the hallway at Kamui, correcting the princess. Kamui shook her head, as she returned to her room.

Despite sending out Yoshi, Snake, Nakoruru, and Ribbon Girl out into the city to do some shopping, Master Hand needed two more folks to go shopping in the name of Boxing Day. He asked Toon Link and Young Link if they were interested, but the buddy cops turned down the offer much to Master Hand's chagrin. However, the buddy cops suggested two other dudes that could get the job done, and the only way to bring them to the mansion was via teleportation device.

"Just so ya know, these two gentlemen are bad news," Toon Link told Master Hand in the teleportation room, while Volnutt was getting the teleportation device all set up and ready to go.

"Well if that's the case, then why did you both suggest that I bring them to the mansion?" Master Hand questioned the buddy cops; the giant hand wished for his Boxing Day expenditure to be handled in an orderly manner, and not marred by bad behavior.

"Because we believe that being forced to shop is punishment for any man," replied Young Link, who wished to make the two gentlemen in question suffer as much as they possibly could. "Especially for men with character flaws. Starsky and I are good boys."

"Alright, the teleportation device is up and running!" announced Volnutt, as the teleportation device was now fully functioning. The robot keyed in the coordinates, and then backed away. "Time to let it do its thing..."

With the device all powered up, a flash of light emitted, and two men were standing on the teleportation pad. They were J.T. and Gerome - the same duo who first appeared in episode 163. The two were in the middle of doing their secret handshake, when they soon realized their surroundings.

"Woah...we really need to stop doing that secret handshake," J.T. said to Gerome, before taking sight of Master Hand and the buddy cops. "It really gets us into a lot of trouble..."

"Hello friends!" Master Hand hovered over to J.T. and Gerome and greeted them, hoping that he didn't come off as creepy or intimidating. "I'm Master Hand, but you can refer to me as Master Hand. You two like shopping?"

"Hey, aren't you that giant hand that was freaking out over that Lamborghini?" Gerome asked Master Hand; he wanted to tell Master Hand that he was responsible for the fate of the original Lamborghini, but he valued his life too much to admit fault.

"Yes, that would be I. Tom Nook wrecked my baby, but thankfully he apologized for his actions, and I got a new Lamborghini in due time."

"You got a new Lamborghini? That's pretty cool, man," remarked J.T. as he looked over at Gerome, who was smiling disingenuously. Gerome knew what he did, many episodes ago.

"Since today is Boxing Day, I want you boys to go around shopping in my Lamborghini, and shop for as many things as you like. You can do that much, right?"

"Didn't know that people actually celebrated Boxing Day here in the US, but sure, whatever floats your boat. Just give us the car keys, and we'll do our thing."

Gerome: Good to know that Master Hand still blames Tom Nook for what happened to his first Lamborghini, and not me... *lets out sigh of relief* ...that should keep me out of dodge for the rest of the day. And probably the rest of my life.

"Toon Link, Young Link, take our two guests to my room," Master Hand told the buddy cops, who led J.T. and Gerome out of the teleportation room. "I'll meet you boys down there soon." Master Hand hovered over to Volnutt, wanting to speak with the robot in private.

"Lemme guess - you want to bring another guest to the mansion," Volnutt said to Master Hand, knowing that the giant hand just couldn't help himself. It was past Christmas, and Master Hand was still in the inviting mood. "Who is it?"

"You know who I want...the black, lanky guy who likes to play basketball. I think he's in Brooklyn. You know who I'm talking about, right?"

"...sometimes I wonder why you like that guy so much." Knowing who Master Hand was describing, Volnutt begrudgingly keyed in some new coordinates into the teleportation device.

Cilan and Dunban had made a lot of food for Christmas dinner, and as a result they had food left over. Not wanting all the food to go to waste, Cilan and Dunban asked a noblewoman and a commoner to devour all the food - Ingrid of the Blue Lions, and Raphael of the Golden Deer, respectively.

"You think that Dimitri and Claude would mind us pigging out like this?" Raphael asked Ingrid, scarfing down on several turkey legs. Ingrid was treating herself with some pumpkin pie, wiping her mouth with a napkin after every bite she took. Very noble table manners.

"You're the one who's pigging out..." stated Ingrid - very ironic of her, given that she had six empty foil pans sitting next to her. Ate six pumpkin pies, by herself. "...besides, we won't get in trouble unless we get caught."

"Yeah, you're right...hey, you're gonna eat that?" Raphael reached over and snatched some coconut cream pie, as Ingrid shot a glare at the commoner. Cilan and Dunban watched Ingrid and Raphael devour their food, from where they were standing in the dining room.

"Those two will have digestion problems soon, all thanks to us..." Dunban said proudly, as Cilan nodded his head with a smile. Cloud was on the other side of the dining room, standing near the kitchen entrance as he shook his head.

"You guys didn't have to go up and beyond this year," Cloud said to Cilan and Dunban, who both dismissed the swordsman as being a dishonest hater. "Not like you were cooking for Thanksgiving."

"Remember, Cloud, food waits for no one," Cilan reminded the swordsman, who shook his head once more. That saying still never made any sense to Cloud. "Having an abundance of people over always presents an awesome opportunity."

"For what, making more food? That's gotta be the lousiest excuse I've ever..."

"Oh Cloud...you aren't talking bad about Cilan and his cooking again, are you?"

In a matter of seconds, Cloud softened. The swordsman, who was about to put Cilan on blast for his strange food-based philosophies, suddenly felt more relaxed when he heard a voice full of grace. A voice that belonged to a soulmate.

Slightly more jovial than what he was used to, Cloud turned around and saw Aerith walking towards him. It was the same Aerith that Cloud had known for about two years and a half.

"Hey, Aerith - I take it you're done checking out all the new flowers in the garden," Cloud spoke with the flower girl, as everyone in the dining room was looking on with amused faces. "Just so you know, I wasn't picking on Cilan..."

"He was about to," Ingrid said to Aerith, before eating an entire mouthful of pie. Cloud sheepishly looked down at the floor, as Aerith simply flashed a smile.

Cloud: It was awfully nice of Dr. Wily to bring Aerith back to the mansion, just for the week of Christmas. Only downside was, someone else had to come along with her...I'll let you guys figure out who that is.

"I'm sure Cloud just wanted to joke around with Cilan, that's all," said Aerith, oblivious to the fact that Cloud was far from a jokester. Someone knocked on the backdoor, and Raphael answered it right away.

"Come on in!" Raphael greeted the person who entered the dining room, Chef Kawasaki - the chef was holding a pot of chili inside. "Say, what's that inside that pot?"

"It's my favorite dish - Chef Kawasaki's Famous Chili!" exclaimed Chef Kawasaki, speaking very proudly of his chili as Raphael closed the front door. "The guys and gals at the tower love this stuff."

"Debatable," murmured Cloud, as he and Aerith moved out of the way so Chef Kawasaki could carry his pot of chili into the kitchen. However, it seemed like Chef Kawasaki was struggling to even hold the pot...

"The trick...is to undercook the onions...everyone's gonna know each other...in the pot...I'm serious about this stuff..."

"Need some help with that pot of chili?" Dunban offered to help Chef Kawasaki, who was determined to carry his chili in the kitchen without any assistance.

"No thanks...I was up all night...pressing garlic...and dicing tomatoes...toasted my own chilies...making this chili is the thing I do best..."

Eventually Chef Kawasaki couldn't hold his pot of chili anymore, and as a result the chef dropped his pot unto the floor and spilled his chili. Aerith gasped, cupping her hands at her mouth, as everyone else was equally shocked.

"Oh dear, not again!" frowned Chef Kawasaki, as he grabbed a few wash rags off of the dining room table and tried to clean up his mess. "Don't come over, I got this!"

"HONK, HONK, HONK!" a certain bird honked, causing Chef Kawasaki to shriek and fall back unto the floor. That honking came from the goose, who waddled his way into the dining room unnoticed before eating away at the chili.

"Bad goose, very bad goose!" Cortex scolded the goose, as he came into the dining room and picked up the bird. The goose tried to resist, but Cortex held the bird tightly in the grasp of his arms. "That chili isn't for you!"

"Dr. Cortex, is that your pet goose?" Aerith asked the evil genius; if you might recall, Aerith and Cortex were once mansion roommates. Many folks had a great deal of sympathy for the former.

"Yes, this is my pet goose...we used to be a thorn at each other's side for weeks, but with the help of some bird seed...and some fairy tales that make no sense...the two of us became best friends!"

"Does your pet goose even have a name?" Several times Cortex was asked this question, and every time the evil genius was stumped.

"I'm...I'm still thinking of one. I keep asking Uka for name suggestions, but he always comes up with awful names, like 'Terminator' and 'Doomfist'. What poor taste!"

"Say, Chef Kawasaki, why did you bring your chili to the mansion for?" Cilan asked the chef, as he came over to speak with him. The connoisseur wasn't exactly above cooking with Chef Kawasaki, since he still had bad memories of Thanksgiving last year.

"Knuckles wanted some chili for his little Kwanzaa thing he's got on," replied Chef Kawasaki, who realized that cleaning up the mess he had made wasn't worth it. "Wanted to spice up my chili with whatever stuff you guys had..."

With Knuckles preparing himself for his soccer game against Mario, and Doc Louis and Rodin getting things set up for the Kwanzaa festivities, the threesome of Coco, Futaba, and Fuuka were in the computer room, figuring something out. There was a strange message on the monitor of one of the computers, and the computer happened to be the one that operated the mansion's security system...

Samus: It's so weird...some weird message appeared on one of the main computer this morning, and it happened to corrupt the email surveillance system that was installed two months ago. I've tasked Coco, Futaba, and Fuuka with remedying the problem, but I made sure to give Master Hand's favorite merchant a call...

Sitting at the computer with Coco and company flanking at her side was Anna, who was looking at a bunch of dialog boxes flashing on the monitor. The merchant tried to move the cursor around, but it seemed like it was stuck.

"I've never seen so many flashing dialog boxes on one screen..." remarked Anna, certain that she was about to get a headache from all the dialog boxes popping up all over the place. "...then again, I haven't seen that many computer screens myself."

"And yet you're the one who installed that email surveillance system?" questioned Fuuka, as Anna bit her lip; looks like someone's got some explaining to do.

"To be fair, a customer just sold me the software. I just installed said software here at the mansion because the time called for it."

"You still haven't found out what's wrong with that computer?" Pit taunted Anna, as the angel was playing a few computer games on a computer with Kirby and Incineroar looking on. "Must be doing a lot of lollygagging..."

"Look who's talking..." retorted Coco, as Pit took a glance at his computer screen...which had some girly dress-up game. The same game he played in episode 169.

"This isn't lollygagging, this is, uh...a valuable learning experience. Playing this game teaches me so much about women." Embarrassed, Kirby and Incineroar both looked away out of shame.

"YOU!" shouted A Pimp Named Bowser, as he entered the computer room and pointed with authority. A Pimp Named Bowser could literally be pointing at anyone. "Come with me!"

"Who are you talking to?" Futaba asked A Pimp Named Bowser, who was completely baffled by the techie's question. Almost like he wanted to slap Futaba.

"I thought it was obvious who I was pointing at..." A Pimp Named Bowser took a step forward...before running over to Futaba, and snatching the young woman and taking her away.

"H-Hey, put me down!" With Futaba in his possession, A Pimp Named Bowser rushed out of the computer room. You'd think that Coco and Futaba would rescue their friend, but it wasn't worth their time.

Blake and Yang were ready to head back to Mario's home, but Meta Knight had to make one more pit stop. The Star Warrior took Blake and Yang to the NME superstore, which was surprisingly still open despite the high prices and the often combative employees. It was a miracle that Nightmare's only store in America was still up and running.

"So why are we buying all these presents again?" Blake asked Meta Knight, who led the faunus and Yang inside the NME Superstore. Both Blake and Yang were holding presents that they received from a la isolated community.

"They're for Knuckles, and his Kwanzaa celebration," replied Meta Knight, who wished to help out Knuckles as much as he could despite his Hispanic roots. "Being the multicultural man of culture that I am., I obliged to buy some gifts...we're also shopping 'in the spirit of Boxing Day'."

"We literally had Christmas yesterday," Yang pointed out, exposing her own lack of cultural knowledge. Considering that she came from an alternate universe, you possibly couldn't blame her. "Is this a second Christmas or something?"

"No...Kwaznaa is a week-long celebration. Doesn't happen on just one day. And it's celebrated by African Americans. Though other races are welcome to join in."

"So basically Kwanzaa is a week-long Christmas, but it's only tailor-made for a specific race." Blake was dumbfounded by Yang's response, as she gave the blonde a worrying glance.

"Like I said, other races are allowed to join. And as long as Master Hand doesn't find out about Knuckles celebrating Kwanzaa, we all should be fine..."

Meta Knight took Blake and Yang to the back of the store, where the layaway section was. Running this part of the store was the NME Salesman, who was still salty about having his butt handed to him two episodes prior.

"Thank you, come again!" the NME Salesman said to a customer, who walked away with a pet tiger he had purchased. Blake and Yang stared at the pet tiger out of intrigue, as they followed Meta Knight to the layaway counter.

"Blake, Yang..one of you hold me up," Meta Knight told the two ladies, and Blake would oblige as she picked up the Star Warrior and placed him on the counter. "I said hold me up, but this works..."

"Well if it isn't my favorite customer in the whole world, Meta Knight!" the NME Salesman grinned as he saw Meta Knight; he could tell that Meta Knight was beaming behind his mask. "How was your Christmas?"

"Don't flatter me like that...also, my Christmas was very swell. Minus a few hiccups. How about yours?"

"Nightmare almost fired me for drinking his eggnog by accident, but other than that my Christmas was great."

"Do you even have any legs?" Blake asked the NME Salesman, looking over the counter and seeing how short the NME Salesman was. Which did nothing but make the NME Salesman feel very insecure.

"Hey hey, no looking over the counter! That's against the store policy, ya hear?!"

NME Salesman: I take my height very seriously. There have been many times before, where I banned a customer or two from this store because they made fun of my height. One unfortunate customer nearly had his hand cut off; sadly, I missed. As for the little kids who pick on my height, I just burn a bunch of toys with with a flamethrower in front of their faces. Their cries and screams of terror is quite pleasing to my soul...

"I came here to pick up an item," Meta Knight told the NME Salesman, regaining the focus of Nightmare's trusty right-hand man. As always, the NME Salesman was ready to serve.

"Right on! Just hand me your NME card, and I'll bring you up," the NME Salesman said to Meta Knight, who handed over his NME card. As the NME Salesman did his thing, Blake and Yang heard someone laughing.

"Do you hear that?" Yang asked Blake, who nodded her head. Yang and Blake looked around, before they saw a man sitting on the floor near the men's restroom typing away on his laptop.

"Hehe...Kyle Merklov, you've done it again!" the man sitting on the floor, Kyle Merklov (ring a bell?) laughed to himself as he typed away. Two shadows appeared over Kyle, who stopped typing and looked up at Blake and Yang.

"Must be typing up quite a story over here..." Yang smirked at Kyle, folding her arms as she and Blake were looking all intimidating. Their intimidation seemed to work, as Kyle got up and closed his laptop fearing for his life.

"Uh, I was just sending a message to my loved ones..." Kyle was looking for a way to escape, but he was absolutely cornered. Blake and Yang were covering his escape routes. "...you'll take my word for it, won't you?"

"Maybe we won't, but our fists would..." Yang punched her fist into the palm of her left hand, as Kyle gulped nervously.

Meanwhile, at the Mario household, Peach was telling Impa, Lana, and Linkle about the mansion's beef with the All-Star Manor. The princess was telling the ladies every little detail, while Hunter confirmed every thing Spyro said just by nodding his head.

"And then, they tried to make us sign a treaty," Peach explained to Impa and company, with Impa relieved that the residents of the mansion was able to fend off the manor by themselves. "But as it turns out, it was just a trap..."

"I would've imagined that Master Hand would have caught on sooner," remarked Impa, knowing that Master Hand wasn't all that he claimed. That giant hand was mostly all talk, and no show.

"He kinda did, but he wanted to see what the manor had up their sleeves. Definitely should've nipped things in the bud while he still had the chance."

"Who is this guy supposed to be?" asked Weiss, as she showed up in the living room holding a piece of paper in her hand. On said piece of paper was a drawing of a man, one that Hunter quickly recognized.

"Hey, that's Guy Swanson!" exclaimed Hunter as he pointed at the drawing. The cheetah was wondering where his drawing of Guy Swanson was. "That dude used to be known as the Seattle Stalker."

"We've already been through this, Hunter..." said Spyro, who was on Mario's sofa trying to get some rest and relaxation. "...Guy Swanson was NOT the Seattle Stalker. It was essentially some eggplant dude sending letters to Shadow."

"Okay, well...the eggplant dude was Guy Swanson, in disguise. Props to him for pulling it off." Weiss looked on the living room table, and saw another thing that caught her eye - a picture frame.

"Who is this chick?" the young woman asked as she picked up the picture frame - it was a picture of Lara Croft.

"That would be Lara Croft - she was a guest of ours, from Britain," explained Peach, as Weiss looked at the picture of Lana out of intrigue. "That picture frame is something for Mario and I to remember Lara by."

Hunter: How is it that Mario has more lady friends than me? All Mario has is some sex offender mustache - at least I look pretty cool! Bianca might say otherwise, but most girlfriends tend to be very delusional.

As Weiss placed the picture frame back where it was, Peach heard a text notification from her phone. The princess saw that she received a message from Daisy.

"Hmm, Daisy says that she's having some problems with her stomach..." Peach furrowed her brow, after she read the message. There were lots of emojis. "...hopefully that isn't an omen or anything."

J.T. and Gerome were standing outside the mansion with Master Hand, in the driveway where Master Hand's Lamborghini was. Snake, King Dedede, and Diddy King were also outside.

"Since Impa turned me down, you three will go in the Hyrulian trio's place," Master Hand said to Snake, King Dedede, and Diddy, who wanted to reject Master Hand's offer but had no choice in the matter. "Basically, you three will shop with J.T. and Gerome, and shop till you drop!"

"That's all we gotta do, go around town and shop?" questioned Snake, who found the objective easier said than done. The former spy wasn't much of a shopper, unless he was shopping for Meryl. "If this is all for Boxing Day..."

"I've already gave Gerome the stipend - you'll have about a thousand bucks to spend. I want all that cash gone by the end of the day...that way it'll be easier for me to explain to Fox and Falco where their money went."

"Come on guys, let's hop in," J.T. told his guys, and Gerome was about to open the driver's door...before J.T. stopped him and flashed the Lamborghini car keys. "I'll be the one doing the driving..."

"Aight..." shrugged Gerome, as he peacefully got inside the car and sat in the passenger seat. Snake, King Dedede, and Diddy all sat in the back, and after J.T. turned on the ignition, he drove the Lamborghini away.

"Man, I have such an awesome car..." Master Hand told himself, sighing happily as Isabelle approached him. "Not now, Isabelle, I'm busy admiring my car..."

"Just wanted to inform you that one of our guests is apparently annoying everyone in the mansion," Isabelle told Master Hand, who wasn't paying attention as he watched J.T. drive the Lamborghini down the street. "I said..."

"Whuzzat, one of the guests is being an annoying pest?" Master Hand was suddenly brought back to reality, once his Lamborghini was out of sight. "Oh please don't tell me it's Sora..."

Camilla wanted to go and give Ruby a piece of her mind, but the princess was being held up in the middle of the hallway. The person holding her up was Rab, a friend of the Luminary's; the old man was stroking Camilla's hand, as Jade - another friend of the Luminary's - looked on distastefully.

"Oh my, what soft hands you have..." Rab told Camilla, who was feeling uncomfortable as she eyed around the hallway. Rab was stroking Camilla's hand for so long, that Jade already lost track of time.

"Yes, thank you, but I need to get going," replied Camilla; she was too nice to yell at Rab, and put the old man on blast for being the pervert that he was.

"Give it a break already, Rab..." grumbled Jade, looking up as she was completely bored out of her mind. "...this is why I refuse to be seen with you in public."

Rab: A Pimp Named Bowser (excellent name, I'll say) told me to hold up this Camilla girl, and keep her from leaving the mansion. I don't know what A Pimp Named Bowser wants with Camilla, or why he's intent on keeping her at bay, but whatever gets me close to the ladies!

As Rab continued to stroke Camilla's hand, a certain brunette walked by, holding a Keyblade over his shoulder...it was none other than Sora, who was brought to the mansion along with Aerith. Being the friendly dude that was, Sora knew all the new residents' names by the end of Christmas day.

"Man, I wonder what exciting stuff they got going on at the gaming room!" said Sora, looking jovial as ever as he walked past the cafe room. Sora heard a conversation from inside the cafe room and looked inside...and saw a bunch of Leons. Leon Powalski, Leon Kennedy, Leon the champion of Galar, and Squall (Leon)hart.

"And then I said, 'What do you mean you're not ugly? You have an N on your forehead,'" Leon Kennedy told the other Leons, who were laughing - even Squall, who was only laughing slightly. Speaking of Squall...

"Leon, is that you?" exclaimed Sora, as he ran inside the cafe and greeted Squall. Understandably, Squall looked confused. "I can't believe that you made it!"

"Hate to break it to ya, but Squall's actually my name," stated Squall, as Sora started to feel foolish. Squall pointed over at Leon Kennedy. "That's Leon."

"My name is also Leon!" Leon the champion of Galar introduced himself to Sora, pointing his thumb at himself and grinning confidently. "I'm the champion of Galar! Best Pokemon trainer there is!"

"And I'm a federal agent working for the government," Leon Kennedy told Sora, before showing off his badge. All and all, Sora was left with a great impression.

"So you guys are named Leon?" the Keyblade wielder asked, grateful to have met two pretty cool dudes in just one meeting. "Guess that means anyone named Leon is automatically cool!"

"Does that mean I'm cool as well?" Leon Powalski asked Sora, in a desperate tone; learning that he was cool would ultimately make Powalski's day.

"...okay, maybe I might've spoken too soon." Leon Powalski held his head in shame, as Sora directed his attention back to Squall. "So you're not from my universe?"

"This here is the universe that I exist in," confirmed Squall; Sora would accept this truth, as he nodded his head. "Sorry I had to spill the beans."

"Nah, it's all good. It was nice meeting you guys, by the way!" Sora would leave the cafe, passing by Golden Deer member Leonie. Leonie entered the cafe, and saw Leon Powalski hanging his head.

"What's the matter with him?" Leonie asked the other Leons (and Squall), as Leon Powalski trudged away and sat down at a cafe so he could sulk in peace.

As Sora went down the hallway, the Keyblade wielder bumped into Brio, making him drop his list. Realizing his mistake, Sora helped Brio up to his feet.

"Sorry about that," Sora apologized to Brio, who angrily slapped the Keyblade wielder's hand away. Sora just earned himself a spot on the List of Brio.

"No one, and I mean NO ONE, bumps into me without getting on my list!" frowned Brio, before jotting down Sora's name on the list. Only thing was, Brio didn't even know Sora's name! "What's your name again?"

"The name's Sora!" As Brio wrote down Sora's name, Sora took a gander at the list that Brio was holding. "Hey, isn't that Bowser's list? The List of Bowser?"

"What would a stupid idiot like you know about the List of Bowser? This is the List of Brio, my list, and there's nothing you can do about it!"

"I can knock that list out of your hand..." Sora armed himself with his Keyblade, but Brio didn't look threatened. The evil genius was standing his ground.

"You dare try to defy me with that weapon in your hands - the weapon that I invented? That's like beating Thomas Edison's head in with a light bulb!"

"There is no way you invented this Keyblade, it's from an alternative universe. My universe, I might add."

"And I invented your universe! Don't try and hide from me because you can't accept the truth!"

"Yeah...I should get going." Sora had grown tired of Brio's shenanigans, as he walked past the evil genius. Brio just stood there, in disbelief that Sora left him standing alone in the hallway.

"I'll have my hands on the Keyblade that I invented soon..." Putting his list away, Brio trekked down the hallway, and saw Layton walk by, with Viridi.

"You, with the tall hat!" Brio pointed at Layton, grabbing the attention of the detective as he and Viridi came to a stop. "Why do you wear such a tall hat for?"

"I'd say that it makes me look pretty fashionable," smiled Layton, taking pride in his top hat. Brio was absolutely disgusted by the level of pride that Layton was showing.

"No it doesn't, it makes you look like a stupid idiot, which I invented! You just made the list!" Brio wrote down Layton's name on his list, and Layton didn't seem to mind one bit.

"Made it unto two different lists...I must be in some pretty special company." While Layton was acting all nonchalant, Viridi felt slighted that the detective didn't even bother standing up for himself.

"Don't you dare put Professor Layton on your list - he's better than you'll ever be!" Viridi frowned and pointed at Brio, who could only scoff. He wasn't gonna let a little girl like Viridi talk crap to him. "If anyone's the stupid idiot, it's you!"

"With a response like that, it's no wonder how you're already on my list...but no matter, I can add you again." Brio would walk away, with Viridi frowning at the evil genius until he was out of her sight.

"Look at you, Viridi, standing up for a human being..." Layton smirked at the goddess of nature, not expecting her to be so incensed. "...I'm assuming that doesn't happen very often."

"Yeah, I'm pretty surprised myself..." As Viridi looked down at the floor, Layton took one step forward, before screaming and falling unto the floor. "...Professor Layton, are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine..." Layton rubbed his head and looked down at his pants...and saw his pants legs bound together by a belt. Confused, Layton looked up and saw Iori, who had stealthily attached the belt to the detective's pants.

"...it's a fashion statement," stated Iori, who was just trying to spruce up Layton's attire.

Just because he felt like it, Link was back in his Joker persona, wearing the green hair and the purple suit and everything else that Heath Ledger was known for. The Hylian now had an accomplice...Ann, who was dressed up as Harley Quinn.

"Link, you said that you would stop being the Joker after Christmas Eve," Ann told the Hylian, whom the blonde was following through the hallway. "Not that I mind dressing up as Harley Quinn again, but..."

"Ahem...the name is Joker, don't get it twisted," corrected Link, before he heard the sound of a toilet flushing. Link got all giddy, as he and Ann came to a stop. "How about we scare the crap out of whoever exits that bathroom?"

"Eh...I guess so." Staying put where they were, Link and Ann stood near the bathroom, as someone opened the bathroom door. Link was grinning from ear to ear...

...and out of the bathroom came Wayne, the guest that Master Hand wanted the most. As Volnutt alluded earlier, Master Hand was in love with Wayne. Upon closing the bathroom door, Wayne saw Link and Ann standing by, all dressed up.

Wayne: This is just getting ridiculous...Master Hand is inviting me over for every little thing! Christmas party? Gotta be there. 4th of July cookout? Gotta be there. Halloween party? Gotta be there. And now, I'm invited over for some holiday that's not even celebrated here in America. Wouldn't be surprised if Master Hand invited me over for the Diwali Festival of Lights.

"Link, bro...this ain't it, chief," Wayne said to the Hylian, unsure what to make of what he was seeing. "Halloween was like, two months ago..."

"Do you not realize who I am?" Link hissed at Wayne, grabbing the basketball player by the collar and holding his face close to his. "I'm an agent of chaos...I'm always around, twenty-four seven, 365 days a year! Who are you to criticize me?"

"He wasn't criticizing you, Link...I mean, Joker," Anna told the Hylian, who dropped Wayne down to the floor. Link would grab Ann's hand, before storming down the hallway.

"Keep living as a cretin, see where it'll get ya..." Link left this final remarks for Wayne, who was getting himself back on his feet. Wayne would receive some assistance, as a few gloved hands helped the basketball player up to his feet.

"You okay, man?" asked the person that helped Wayne up to his feet - Mario. Wayne nodded his head, brushing himself off.

"Yeah, thanks Mario, really appreciate it," Wayne thanked the plumber, before fixing up his jacket. "Sucks that Master Hand brought me back here, for some stupid Boxing Day crap..."

"I can make it all worth-a while for you...how would you like-a to play in my soccer game?" Wayne was slightly intrigued by the offer, as he raised his eyebrows. "Bowser Jr. obliged, but Waluigi backed-a out at the last minute and I need some-a body to replace him."

"No lie, I'd love to play...but I can't risk it, with my Achilles tendon and all. But I can always root from the sidelines, if you want me to."

"Aw phooey...who am I gonna find-a to replace Waluigi?" Wanting to help out Mario, Wayne looked around the hallway, before seeing Sora coming his way.

"What about him?" Wayne asked as he pointed at Sora. There wasn't any indication that Sora was an athlete, but then again Waluigi wasn't much of an athlete either. Outside of tennis, that is.

"He's-a better than nothing," replied Mario, as he and Wayne went over to speak with Sora. "Hey Sora, how would you like-a to play soccer with me?"

"I'd love to play with you, Mario, but I was planning on hanging out in the gaming room," replied Sora, giving Mario more than enough leeway to sway his mind. "Heard that there might be karaoke!"

"But you'll be having more fun-a playing with me." Despite this enticement, Sora wasn't yet on board.

"And there'll be bragging rights..." added Wayne, as Sora was mulling over his decision. "...lots of it, too."

"You know what? Playing soccer might not be so bad after all." Glad that Sora came around, Mario let out a cheer. "Cloud never taught me how to play soccer, but I can always learn on the fly!"

There was actual karaoke taking place at the gaming room, and it was being conducted by Lucio, the Brazilian DJ. The Overwatch hero was put in charge since K.K. Slider was handling business with Meta Knight. Up on stage right now where Fox and Falco.

"Look at your watch now...you're still a super hot female?" Fox sang the lyrics that there presented on Yashiro's karaoke machine, furrowing his brow along the way.

"You got your million dollar contract...and they're all waiting for your hot track?" Falco sang his set of lyrics, not even singing the chorus because of his confusion. "Since when did I have a million dollar contract?"

"You don't have a million dollar contract, Falco - you're just singing a song. It's no fair, you get all the good lyrics!"

"Well then maybe you should've have lost to me in rock-paper-scissors, how about that..."

"Fellas, fellas, are you gonna keep singing or not?" Lucio asked Fox and Falco, wanting to keep the karaoke party going. "If not, then hand the mic to someone else!"

"This song is too suspect for me, I quit..." replied Fox, as he dropped his mic; refusing to sing karaoke all alone and without his best friend, Falco also dropped his mic, as he and Fox left the stage.

"Anyone else wanna sing some karaoke?" asked Lucio, as he looked around the gaming room. Layton and Viridi entered the gaming room, which was chock full of human residents.

"Master Hand says I'm not allowed to be here..." Viridi told Layton, who led the goddess of nature over to where most of the human residents were gathered.

"He's not here, so he can't hurt you," assured Layton, as he and Viridi sat down in one of the folding chairs in the gaming room. Sonic, who was sitting next to Amy, looked behind and saw Layton.

"Does ANYONE here want to sing some karaoke?" Lucio asked the crowd, not wanting to ask for a third time. "Going once, going twice..."

"I wanna sing!" volunteered Sonic, shooting his hand up in the air. Lucio was hyped, and so was Amy; Amy seldom got to see Sonic sing that much.

"Ha ha! Good vibes, man, good vibes! Step right up!" So Sonic went unto the stage, and picked up one of the microphones. "What song do you wanna sing?"

"I want to sing an original song - it's a remix of an old song I sang before, and it comes from the heart. And it's dedicated to that man sitting over there, with Little Miss Cactus...Professor Layton!"

All the attention was now on Layton, who smiled. The detective felt humbled, having a song dedicated to him.

"Play 'Goodbye Stranger'!" Sonic told Lucio, who selected the song on the karaoke machine. The instrumental of the song started playing, and Sonic got in the groove as he was ready to sing:

It was early morning yesterday
I was up before the dawn
And I really have enjoyed my stay
Sad that Layton and Luke moved on

Sonic: As it turns out, Layton wasn't as bad of a guy as I was making him out to be. He's not a boring dude...he's a boring dude with swagger! Perhaps the best boring dude that I've ever had the pleasure of knowing.

Here's yesterday, feel no pain!
Feel no pain! Layton! Luke!
Layton! Layton's here to stay!
Layton! He's up in here!
Layton! He's up in here!
Ooh! Hello Layton!
Hello Layton!
Hello Layton!
Hello Laaaaytooooon!

"How does it feel, being in the presence of so many humans in this room?" Layton asked Viridi, wanting the goddess of nature to give him an honest answer.

"Sometimes it makes me feel a tad uncomfortable..." confessed Viridi, while Sonic was b-boying all over the stage. Only Amy was digging it. "...but it's something I've gotten used to over time."

"You don't seem as unnerved as I would you would be...looks like you might be coming around!" Layton saw a slight smile on Viridi's face.

"I think so too..." Viridi sported a pretty confident visage - almost like she was fully content being in the gaming room for the first time.

Mario and Knuckles' teams were all at full strength, with five members on both squads, which meant that the soccer game could begin. On Mario's team, you had Mario, Hop, Luke, and Sora, and Bowser Jr. and on Knuckles' team, there was Knuckles, Hyde, Linne, Hat Kid, and Overwatch hero Winston. Cortex, Banjo, and Kazooie were the referees, and Team Yell was there to cheer on Team Knuckles, after being hired by the echidna. Also present were Chick and Stew, from CTR TV.

"Good afternoon, soccer fans, Chick Gizzardlips here!" said Chick, he and Stew standing in front of a camera. Lakitu was filming the fowl reporters. "Glad you could be with us, for this exciting soccer game!"

"It's a grudge match for the ages - Team Mario vs Team Knuckles!" added Stew, who was unable to contain his excitement for the soccer game. "Mario has already beaten Knuckles at soccer before, but Knuckles wants to exact some revenge!"

"And you better believe that Knuckles will give everything that he's got, Stew! With two great wings in Hyde and Linne, a reliable scorer in Hat Kid, and a bulky goalkeeper in Winston, there's no way Team Knuckles can lose!"

"But don't count out Team Mario...not only do they have Mario, but they also got Sora, who knows magic! Everyone knows that magic can do all sorts of wonders!"

"Why don't we ask this gentleman about his thoughts on the soccer game?" Chick saw Sans show up, and he and Stew came over to the skeleton. "So, who are you pulling for to win this game?"

"i'm not really pulling for anyone, just came here to watch," replied Sans, with his hands in the pockets of his blue hoodie. "wanna get a kick out of this game."

"Ha ha, aren't you the funny one...anyone you got your eyes on?"

"probably that chick on knuckles' team, linne. surprised that she's a wing...looks like a keeper to me. wink, wink."

"Oh ho ho...you are one heck of a comedian! I can totally see you tearing down the house at comedy clubs!"

"Here we go, Knuckles, here we go!" the Team Yell grunts chanted for Knuckles, clapping their hands and whatnot. They were on one side of the soccer field, while Pit, Kirby, Incineroar, Cranky Kong, and Wayne were on the other.

"You got this, Mario!" Pit called out to the plumber, who was conditioning himself for the soccer game as he stretched his glutes. "If you beat Knuckles before, you can do it again! I believe in you!"

"Keep it down, you might jinx Mario and his team," Kirby advised Pit, acting as if the angel would bring loads of misfortune to Team Mario.

"Knuckles, I am pretty sure that this is against the rules," Winston said to the echidna, serving as Team Knuckles' goalkeeper. The gorilla was practically standing in front of the entire net!

"It's not against the rules unless we lose," stated Knuckles, leading Winston to scratch his head in confusion at the echidna's logic. "If Team Mario wins, then we'll know that they cheated to win."

After Cortex blew the whistle, the soccer game officially began. Hop got the ball first, as he maneuvered the soccer ball past Hyde and Linne. The Pokemon trainer found himself in scoring position, as he reached Team Knuckles' net.

"No fair, how am I gonna kick the ball into the net?" frowned Hop, as he pointed at Winston, who was standing in front of the net, playing defense. Knuckles took advantage of the situation, as he stole the ball from Hop

"Ha ha, sucker!" taunted Knuckles as he carried the soccer ball to the other side of the field...only to be intercepted by Wayne. Wayne then kicked the ball to Sora, who kicked the ball in the air.

"Here goes nothing!" the Keyblade wielder shouted, as he struck the soccer ball mightily with his Keyblade. Winston ducked for cover, as the soccer ball flew over his head and into the net.

"GOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAALLLL!" shouted Mario, throwing some slight shade at Knuckles, as Team Yell jeered and booed. Knuckles was furious, as he wondered if the goal should count or not.

"Just like that, Sora scores first for Team Mario!" announced Chick, as Sora celebrated his goal with a simple fist pump. "And Team Yell isn't liking it one bit!"

"Sora used his weapon to send that ball flyin' over the large Winston!" added Stew, his enthusiasm dripping in every word he spoke. "Only question is, does that make the goal legal?"

"Tell me that was an illegal goal," the echidna angrily confronted Banjo and Kazooie, as the latter pulled out a soccer rule book and flipped through the pages.

"Nope, doesn't say anything about using Keyblades to score goals," stated Kazooie before closing the rule book, as Knuckles gritted his teeth and walked away. "Which means that Sora's goal counts!"

"We're up one to zip!" exclaimed Luke, as he and Hop exchanged a high five. Despite being down by one measly goal, Knuckles was acting like his team was extremely far away from victory.

Pit: Since Doc Louis isn't here to do it, I'll do it for him... *points at the soccer field* ...that's freaking soccer right there! None of that pansy wansy, smiling for the camera...pooping and puking on the field...uh, delivering babies...butt cheeks...
Wayne: Just stop it already, kid, you're embarrassing yourself...

While Winston was off playing soccer, fellow Overwatch hero Genji was at Luigi's home, inside Luigi and Daisy's master bedroom with the ninja pals. Yuffie, Sheik, Greninja, Asuka, Kat, and Ana were ready to welcome Genji into their club, as part of their initiation process.

"Hate to break it to you all, but I can't join," Genji told the ninja pals, hoping that they would all understand where he was coming from. "I don't really live here, I'm always up and about..."

"That's why we're gonna make you an honorary member!" exclaimed Yuffie, and Genji still wasn't enticed in the slightest. The ninja pals could offer Genji a million dollars to join their club, and the cyborg ninja would still turn them down.

"Nice gesture, but I'm still not interested in joining your club. I literally owe nothing to you guys."

"And we owe nothing to you in return," stated Sheik, as Genji really wanted to leave and return to the mansion. "Works out for both parties."

"Yuffie, are you and your friends-a done in there?" Luigi asked the ninja girl from behind the bedroom door, before knocking on said door. "You've been in there for quite-a some time now!"

"Shut up Luigi, we're busy!" shouted Yuffie, as Luigi was heard sighing and walking away. With Luigi gone, Yuffie directed her attention back to Genji. "So, Genji, how about we offer you some...Halloween candy? Would you join us then?"

Luigi was cleaning off a trophy of his with a white cloth (kudos if you know what Luigi might've won the trophy for), as he made his way down the stairs. In the living room of Luigi's house were the Hoshidan royal family - Ryoma, Hinoka, Takumi, and Sakura. The four siblings were discussing among themselves, as Daisy was looking on.

"What are those-a siblings talking about now?" Luigi whispered to Daisy as he came over to the princess, hearing Corrin and Kamui's names mentioned among Ryoma and company.

"They're apparently discussing their plan to take Corrin and Kamui with them to Hoshido," Daisy whispered back; taking Corrin and Kamui back to Hoshido has been Ryoma's MO since episode 187. "Seems like they don't want the siblings from Nohr to get in their way."

"Aside from the Nohrian siblings, who else could possibly get in our way?" Ryoma asked his younger siblings, dead-set on capturing Corrin and Kamui. He refused to return to Hoshido empty-handed.

"Master Hand might butt in, since he's very predictable," replied Hinoka; neutralizing Master Hand would be the hardest task to accomplish. "Who knows when he'll show up!"

"Yeah, but he'll just scold us, and then nothing else," said Takumi, who wasn't that worried about the potential threat of Master Hand. "I'd say that we should be aggressive, and charge inside that mansion and grab Corrin and Kamui."

"Good thinking Takumi, I like the way you think!" Ryoma commended his little brother, before looking at his little sister, Sakura. Sakura was looking meek, as she looked down at the floor. "What say you Sakura?"

"I'm fine with whatever you suggest..." replied Sakura, showing off her timid side in her response. Sakura's timidness was of much chagrin to Ryoma.

Ryoma: We were beyond discouraged upon learning that Corrin was a flat-earther...but there's always a chance for Corrin to change his ways. We're looking for that second chance, no matter what.

"...well then, our plan is settled - we'll barge inside the mansion, and take our twin siblings, regardless of who stands in our way!" said Ryoma before looking towards Luigi and Daisy, nodding his head towards them. "Thank you for letting us stay in your home, Luigi and Daisy."

"You're welcome..." responded Luigi, as Ryoma and his siblings left Luigi's house. Shortly after the Hoshidan siblings left, Daisy winced in pain, as she bent over and clutched her stomach. "...Daisy, what's-a wrong?"

"Oh, nothing...just a false alarm," assured Daisy; once the pain went away, Daisy walked away like it was nothing. Luigi was curious yet worried at the same time.

Unbeknownst to J.T. and Thomas, several cameramen from the documentary crew were keeping up with the two gents on the road, driving in the Lamborghini. Sadly the cameramen couldn't capture footage of J.T. and Gerome shopping with Snake, Diddy, and King Dedede, but at least they got footage of the five on the road.

"Where off to next, boys?" J.T. asked the fellas in the Lamborghini, as he took the Lamborghini on a stroll around town. Diddy was looking around, when he saw a store that caught his eye.

"What about that?" the spidermonkey asked as he brought everyone's attention to the store in question - the Halloween Store. According to Captain Falcon, the store was open 24/7, outside of Halloween.

"The Halloween Store?" questioned Snake, as he raised an eyebrow. The former spy recalled buying costumes from the store; ninety-percent of the time, it had mostly to do with winning Meryl's heart. "Not much we could buy from there."

"True dat, but Master Hand never said that we had to buy any particular thing...also that store has lots of candy!" This was of great intrigue to Gerome.

"Pull up to that store right now..." Gerome commanded J.T., who did as he was told as he drove the Lamborghini to the Halloween store and parked the Lamborghini in the parking lot.

Inside the matchmaking room, Wolf was speaking with a client. The client's name was Dr. Toadley, and he was discussing his love life with Wolf.

"Am I in love? I do not know. Will I ever find love? Perhaps, but in due time," Dr. Toadley kept asking and answering his own questions, as a bored Wolf looked like with drooping eyelids as he sighed. "Should I pursue love with Toadette? Only if she's willing..."

"Soooooo are you gonna let me do my job, or not?" Wolf asked Dr. Toadley, who immediately stopped talking in an instant. Wolf let out another yawn, as he stretched out his arms. "Because I can help you find a soulmate."

"A soulmate? I do think I could use one. My heart longs for it. Can it be someone other than Toadette? She's the only female Toad that I know."

"I know a woman that's the right fit for you...ever heard of a Swedish nurse named Mercy? I bet that she would..."

Wolf would be interrupted, when Link opened the door to the matchmaking room and poked his head in. Wolf looked at Link, with an angry scowl.

"You don't happen to have a coffin in here, do you?" Link asked Wolf, who looked behind himself. All that Wolf saw behind him was pitch-black darkness...and Andrew Oikonny.

"Don't look at me, I'm brooding!" Andrew snapped on Wolf, who slowly turned his head back around. You'd think that Andrew would've gotten over his father, Andross, by now.

"No, I do not have a coffin in this room," Wolf explained to Link, as if he expected the Hylian to know beforehand. Link grunted, as he retracted his head and closed the door.

Link: A wise man named Bray Wyatt once said that he will always light the way, but only if I let him in. So for him to light the way, to hurt and to heal, I must let...him...in...

Link went to another room, dragging Ann along the way, and in this room the Hylian found A Pimp Named Bowser with Corrin and Futaba. A Pimp Named Bowser was teaching Corrin how to slap girls, and neither Corrin nor Futaba were having any of it.

"Alright now, Corrin, you gotta overcome this..." A Pimp Named Bowser told the prince of Nohr, who was hesitant to even come in contact with Futaba. "...you have to get over your fear someday."

"But I don't even have any fear...I just don't want to do this," replied Corrin, who would rather have a doting Camilla all over him over participating in A Pimp Named Bowser's shenanigans. "There is no point!"

"Corrin's right, why does he have to do this for?" questioned Futaba, while Link and Ann looked on in silence. "What does he even have to prove?"

"Corrin has to prove to Camilla and his other siblings that he can stand up to bad girls, like Ruby," explained A Pimp Named Bowser, fingers crossed that Camilla hadn't reached Ruby yet. Rab should still be holding her up. "Only bad girls like Ruby buy unflattering gifts for Corrin."

"Wasn't it you who suggested that..." Futaba would find herself interrupted, when A Pimp Named Bowser shushed the techie. A Pimp Named Bowser didn't want Corrin to learn the truth.

"Now, Corrin, recite what I told you to say! Don't mess up this time!" So Corrin gulped nervously, as he grabbed Futaba by the arm.

"Futaba...I-I mean, skank..." said Corrin as he immediately corrected himself, not wanting to draw ire from A Pimp Named Bowser. "...g-get your behind in the..."

"Bum..." For Corrin's procedure to go perfect, A Pimp Named Bowser wanted the prince to use the right terminology.

"Skank, get your bum in the car...I DON'T EVEN OWN A CAR!" Corrin wailed, as he fell down to his knees. Futaba comforted the prince, as A Pimp Named Bowser sighed and shook his head.

"What are we gonna do with you, Corrin..." A Pimp Named Bowser told the prince, before looking over and seeing Link and Ann standing by. "...oh my! Looks like we've drawn a crowd."

"Enough with the flattery..." Link frowned at A Pimp Named Bowser, as he came closer to the koopa king. "...now riddle me this. Is there a coffin in this very room? Yes or no?"

"This really isn't a riddle, but yes there is a coffin, over there." A Pimp Named Bowser pointed to his right, and Link looked over as he smiled and rubbed his hands together in anticipation. "Hopefully I saved myself from a magic trick!"

So Link and Ann went over to where the coffin was, and saw the coffin all alone by itself. Slowly and delicately, Link took the top lid off of the coffin, and saw someone resting inside...Count Dracula.

"Are you sure this is such a good idea?" Ann asked Link as she looked at Dracula, who has been fast asleep ever since he was taken out in episode 201. "Is this the guy you are looking for?"

"A wise man once said that I have to let him in..." replied Link, before he pried Dracula's left eye open with his finger. "...he never specified who 'him' was."

Donkey Kong headed outside, and saw his grandpa Cranky Kong around on the sidelines during the soccer game. The gorilla came over, and saw Cranky hanging around with Pit, Kirby, Incineroar, Wayne, and Sans as Team Mario and Team Knuckles were still duking it out on the soccer field.

"Who's winning?" Donkey Kong asked Cranky, who had his eyes fixated on Hat Girl. Literally the only reason he was even watching the soccer game to begin with.

"Team Mario is up two to one," replied Cranky, as Hat Kid intercepted the ball from Hop and ran to the other side of the field, towards Team Mario's goal. "Though it could be anyone's..."

"...and Hat Kid ties it up for Team Knuckles!" announced Chick, as Hat Kid kicked the ball past Bowser Jr. and inside Team Mario's net. "It's now 2-2!"

"What an expert bicycle kick by Hat Kid, the stuff of legends!" exclaimed Stew, as Cranky started hooting and hollering for Hat Kid. "That bicycle kick got me all excited for no reason!"

"Doot doot - down with the mafia!" cheered Hat Kid, bringing her levels of cuteness past limits that could not be broken. Cranky couldn't be anymore enchanted.

"I now want that girl as my great-granddaughter," stated Cranky, before grabbing Donkey Kong and shaking the gorilla silly. "Adopt her, adopt her I say!"

"I can't just outright adopt a human child," Donkey Kong told Cranky, as he took his grandfather's hands off of him. "If we were in a jungle and Hat Kid was a feral child, then things would be different. But here in the city..."

Suddenly Donkey Kong's eyes went wide, and the gorilla started howling in pain. DK started banging on the ground with his fists, grabbing the attention of everyone on the soccer field.

"Time-a out!" Mario called out to Cortex, who granted Team Mario their timeout. Knuckles objected, as he wanted to resume play.

"No fair! You didn't give us a chance to veto their timeout," Knuckles frowned at Cortex, as everyone came over to the pain-stricken Donkey Kong. Knuckles was the last person to come over.

"You think there's something up with his butt?" Linne asked the others, as Donkey Kong kept howling in pain and banged his fist on the ground as he clutched his buttocks with his right hand. "I've never seen anyone in this much pain before."

"yeah, this really is a pain in the butt for dk..." remarked Sans, as everyone looked at the skeleton with dubious stares. "...just stating the obvious, you guys."

Then to everyone's surprise, a giant arm popped out of Donkey Kong's anus. Those who were close to Donkey Kong jumped back out of fright, as everyone else was shocked and disgusted.

"Bro what is that?!" questioned Wayne, acting like he had seen everything now. "Somebody must be stuck in there!" Incineroar would come to the rescue, mustering all his strength as he grabbed the giant arm and pulled. To everyone's disgust, Incineroar pulled out Crunch, who had Crash in his grasp.

"Would you look at that, folks - Crash and Crunch Bandicoot were inside of Donkey Kong!" reported Chick, who should probably give a viewer's discretion advised warning just in case. "And Donkey Kong is in a world of pain!"

"C'mon Chick, who would wanna look at that?!" questioned Stew, who had his head turned away so he could forget the very image of Incineroar pulling Crash and Crunch out from Donkey Kong's butt.

"Thanks Incineroar, appreciate that..." Crunch thanked the heel Pokemon, who saw Aku wedged in-between Donkey Kong's buttocks. Incineroar pulled the floating mask out in no time.

Coco: Donkey Kong kept going on about these two double-A batteries he swallowed by accident, and he was very paranoid about it. So, with the help of a Vacuum Mushroom, I sent Crash and Crunch inside of Donkey Kong to find those batteries, and I kept track of their progress inside DK's body on my laptop. For safety reasons, I had Leia keep Donkey Kong in the fitness center, so he wouldn't move around as much.

Leia: Did Donkey Kong leave? Yeah, I let him leave so he could get himself a banana. He should be back soon, I hope...

"I heard some screaming, was Anna trying to upsell someone?" questioned Master Hand as he appeared outside, seeing everyone standing around while Donkey Kong was moaning in pain.

"Anna is nowhere to be seen, Master Hand," Aku informed the giant hand, as Crunch held out his hand and showed Master Hand two double-A batteries. "Donkey Kong was screaming in pain because Crash and Crash came out from his butt."

"Honestly we don't know how we even made it out," confessed Crunch, grateful to be outside again. He and Crash had seen some stuff, inside of Donkey Kong. "That magic Bianca cast on us must've worn off..."

"Yeah I'm just gonna pretend that you guys have a very vivid imagination..." said Master Hand, before looking over at the soccer field and seeing the two soccer nets set up on both sides of the field. "...oh! Was I missing a soccer game?"

"Yes you were, and we gotta finish our game soon," replied Knuckles, refusing to end the soccer game in a tie. It would be too anti-climatic for the echidna. "Otherwise I can't start my Kwanzaa celebration on time!"

"A Kwanzaa celebration?! Is that why you asked to rent out the ballroom?" Knuckles didn't want to let Master Hand know about the Kwanzaa festivities, and the echidna realized he goofed up as he covered his mouth.

"You're not angry with me for not telling you, are you?" Master Hand wasn't angry in the slightest, as he laughed in response to Knuckles' question.

"Angry? Not even close! This is very exciting for the mansion, since we've never celebrated Kwanzaa before. This is a historical occasion that must be enjoyed by everyone! Time to spread the news!"

"No, Master Hand, wait..." It was too late, as Master Hand floated away from the premises. Knuckles sighed deeply. "...and this is why I never told Master Hand about my private party."

Master Hand floated to the front of the mansion, where he saw the Falcon Flyer arrive. The hatch opened, and Captain Falcon hopped out of the vehicle, with also Nakoruru, Yoshi, Erdrick, and Ribbon Girl making their exit while carrying shopping bags.

"I'm back with the shoppers, Master Hand!" Captain Falcon informed the giant hand, whose mind was no longer on Boxing Day. "When do I send in the next wave of shoppers?"

"No, Captain Falcon, that'll be enough shopping for one day," Master Hand told the racer, who found himself scratching his head. The shopping wave was only getting started, and Master Hand wished to end it. "Knuckles is about to have a Kwanzaa celebration, and we're all gonna be there!"

"Do you think that Knuckles would want others to show up?" asked Nakoruru, as Master Hand laughed at the shrine maiden. Little did Nakoruru know that Master Hand was BIG on participation.

"It's the thought that counts. The more people that show up, the merrier that Knuckles will be. Now I'll be off to inform the others!" Master Hand vanished away, as Nakoruru and company started having their doubts.

"Would it be acceptable for a dinosaur like me to be at a Kwanzaa event?" Yoshi asked the others, not wanting to feel like an odd man out.

Up on top of the roof were Mega Man and Aigis, who were doing some mansion patrol. Not because there was an incoming threat or anything - Mega Man and Aigis assumed that being on top of the roof would save them from being forced to shop by Master Hand.

"Just like old times, hmm?" Aigis asked Mega Man, who was at the edge of the roof looking through his binoculars. Nothing that caught the robot's attention.

"The old times that you speak of really aren't worth remembering," replied Mega Man, before he saw a man dressed up in a suit approach Luigi's house. "Hey, who's that guy and why's he heading over there?"

Luigi was chilling in his living room, scratching his back with a back scratcher he got for Christmas, when he heard the ringing of the doorbell. Putting his back scratcher away, Luigi answered the door, and saw the man Mega Man saw through his binoculars standing on the doorstep.

"Good-a afternoon, sir," Luigi greeted the man, who was all buggy-eyed - like he had discovered a pot of gold. "Can I help-a you?"

"You're Mario's famous twin brother Luigi, right?" the man asked Luigi, who nodded his head; he then shook hands with the plumber. "Nice to meet ya! I'm Tohru Adachi! I'm a police detective!"

"Wow, a fan! This is quite the surprise. So you've met-a my bro, haven't you?" Luigi let Adachi inside his house, allowing the police detective to sit in his living room.

"Yes I have...man, he's such a swell guy. I wanted to pay him a visit, but he wasn't at his house. Also, the lady that kicked me out was quite rude..."

Impa: Not allowing anymore people inside Mario's household. Hunter's girlfriend can stay, and I suppose that Ms. Croft is tolerable, but that man with the suit looks awfully shady.
Bianca: *looking over* You should never judge a book by its cover. Also, you didn't have to slap that man after telling him off...
Impa: I've had an indignation to slap Mario for months on end...felt necessary that somebody else faced my fury.

"You must-a be talking about Impa - she can be very rough-a sometimes," Luigi told Adachi, as Daisy climbed down the stairs and made her way to the living room. She was clutching her stomach along the way...

"Luigi, who ins that man?" Daisy asked her husband, who was mildly concerned. While Daisy was walking normally, the way she was holding herself made Luigi anxious.

"He's a police detective - Tohru Adachi," replied Luigi, as Daisy grabbed Luigi's back scratcher and started scratching her back with it. "Sweetie, that's-a my back scratcher - you don't know where that thing's-a been!"

"Just need to borrow this for a moment..." Daisy sighed in relief as she scratched her back, as Adachi was sharing the same concern that Luigi was having.

"I can smell something happening soon, I just know it..." Adachi warned Luigi, trying to clue the plumber in on something inevitable.

While Master Hand prematurely ended the Boxing Day shopping spree, J.T. and Gerome were still out shopping with Diddy Kong, King Dedede, and Snake. The five were still at the Halloween Store, and Snake wanted to leave.

"We can't try on Halloween costumes all day long," the former spy said to King Dedede and Gerome, who were trying on many different Halloween costumes. "We got what we need, now let's go..."

"Hey guys, check this out," grinned J.T. as he pointed at a toy skull on a shelf. The young man pressed the button on the skull, and the skull cackled.

"I got a bone to pick with you!" the skull said, causing J.T. to laugh; Snake rolled his eyes at J.T., as Diddy came over eating some Halloween candy.

"Where'd you find that candy from?" Snake asked Diddy, who started to feel guilty as he stuffed all the candy in his mouth.

"Totally not lying around on the floor or anything..." replied Diddy, before he and Snake felt a giant shadow looming over there. They both looked up, and saw a giant monster screaming at them.

"What are you doing in my domain?!" the monster bellowed, as he crept closer towards Snake and Diddy. The others saw the monster, and were left afraid as they backed themselves into a wall.

"This some freaky stuff right here..." remarked Gerome, as the giant monster had the five gentlemen right where he wanted them. "...who even are you, dude?"

"You can call me...the Halloween Trickster!" The monster was the Halloween Trickster, a candy creation Ashley had made some time. "When it's not busy, I roam around this store...but it seems that I have some visitors."

"Look, we just wanted to do some shopping, we didn't mean to intrude upon your...home," J.T. explained to the Halloween Trickster, wanting him and the others to leave with his live still intact. "We done all the shopping we needed..."

"SILENCE!" The Trickster didn't want to hear another word. "You've all trespassed into my abode, and now you will all pay dearly..."

"You two stand back, we got this..." King Dedede told J.T. and Gerome as he stepped up to the Trickster; Snake and Diddy would follow the penguin's lead.

"You're seriously gonna get yourselves killed!" J.T. whispered to King Dedede and company, who didn't care in the slightest...as the three brawlers started shuffling and moving their feet. J.T. and Gerome were bewildered by what they were seeing.

"We are the Smash Shuffling Crew..." sang Diddy, albeit in a nervous tone. "Shufflin' on down, doin' it for you..."

"We're so bad, we know we're good..." sang King Dedede, feeling the nervousness pulsating in his bones. "Blowin' your mind like we knew we would..."

"You know we're just struttin' for fun..." sang Snake, as he did some very nervous jazz hands. "Struttin' our stuff for everyone..."

"We're not here to start no trouble...we're just here to do the Super Smash Shuffle..."

"ENOUGH!" the Trickster bellowed, as he sent Snake and Diddy flying with the swing of his arm. King Dedede had dodged in time, saving himself from harm. "I have heard enough! With a song like that, you deserve to leave NOW!"

"May I interest you in a magic trick?" King Dedede asked the Trickster with a nervous smile, as he pulled out a straitjacket and some chains. "I remembered to bring my key..."

Suddenly the Trickster, who was looking menacing before, frowned in confusion as he heard someone eating candy nearby. The Trickster turned around, and saw that he was leaking Jolly Ranchers...and Gerome was eating them up.

"This some pretty good stuff right here!" grinned Gerome, eating the Jolly Ranchers was it was nobody's business. While J.T. found what Gerome was doing to be weird, the Trickster thought otherwise.

"You're eating the rejected flavors..." the Trickster told Gerome, as he shed a tears in the form of candy corn. "...literally nobody eats the grape flavors."

"Well, I'm glad that I could make your day. You don't mind if I take some of these Jolly Ranchers with me, do you?" Gerome started stuffing his pockets with Jolly Ranchers, bound to give himself a sweet tooth.

"This is good and all...but can we head back to the mansion now?" asked J.T., as the Trickster wiped away the candy corn from his eyes. "Master Hand is probably worried sick about us..."

Speaking of Master Hand, he was going around telling people about Knuckles' Kwanzaa celebration, and suggesting that they should come. The giant hand soon came across a room, where he saw Little Mac, Guile, and Overwatch hero McCree playing a game of Dallas. McCree was filling in for Doc Louis, who was obviously busy.

"I reckon that we should add a few more rules to this game, to up the stakes," suggested McCree, as Guile looked towards Little Mac and shook his head no. "What do you boys say?"

"No, no more rules," objected Guile, wanting to play Dallas the old-fashioned way. That was what the major always wanted. "We made up more than enough rules along the way as it is."

"Guile's right - and besides, you three should just stop playing," said Master Hand as he made his appearing to Guile and company, halting their game. "Knuckles' Kwanzaa celebration is what's more important."

"Why should we care about it?" questioned Little Mac, as Master Hand had the sudden indignation to backhand the boxer. "I don't think that Knuckles would want a crowd for his Kwanzaa celebration."

"And how do you know that? Did he tell you? Always assuming things, my goodness..." Master Hand would vanish away, as Little Mac looked at Guile and McCree and shrugged.

Layton took Viridi to the lounge, where he saw many mansion guests playing charades with Simon and Richter. Gathered around with the Belmonts were Noel Vermillion, Mai Natsume, Phoenix Wright, Trucy Wright, Maya Fey, and Charlemagne and his lady friends from episode 170, as they watched as Woke Link flapping his arms about.

"Uh, let's see...you're an eagle!" guessed Maya.

"No, you're an albatross!" guessed Charlemagne.

"Just so you know, I'm NOT a bird..." stated Woke Link.

"Okay then...you must be a flying ship!"

"Wait, I think I got it now...you're the Wind Fish!" guessed Viridi, and she was right as Woke Link smiled and nodded his head.

"That's right, the Wind Fish!" exclaimed Woke Link, whose arms were worn out from constant flapping. "The fish that led me back home!"

"Nice one, Viridi!" said one of Carlemagne's lady friends, Hakuno...who exchanged a high-five with the goddess of nature herself. Layton looked on, amused.

Layton: Took me shorter than expected, but Viridi is finally coming around with humans. Now she can come in contact with them, without worrying about this and that regarding her well-being. Not sure if my efforts will be enough to break Viridi free of Ashley's spell, but at least I've done my part.

Viridi: Read about the Wind Fish in that Hyrulian tome at Mario's house. That book also has a bunch of recipes in it, surprisingly enough...

It was now Simon's turn to do some charades, and the vampire hunter wanted Richter to join him. For his charade, Simon had Phoenix lying on the floor with his arms outstretched as if he was chained up, while he and Richter whipped the disbarred attorney with imaginary whips.

"Somebody guess what this is already so I can get up!" Phoenix shouted out - must not be that much of a floor person.

"Um...are you taming a bull?" guessed Noel, as she and the others were stuck.

"Phoenix wouldn't be lying on the floor, if that were so..." replied Noel, who had a guess but was too afraid to blurt it out loud.

"I'd like to think that they have magical wands," said Woke Link, paying close attention to Simon and Richter's hand movements. "They must be waking up a sleeping princess from her slumber!"

"You idiots...this is an exorcism!" frowned Simon, as he stopped his imaginary whipping. Richter would stop afterwards, feeling relieved.

"An exorcism? That looked more like a beating to me..." commented Trucy, as Phoenix stood back up and dusted off his suit.

"There is very little difference between the two. Isn't that right, Richter?" Simon looked towards Richter, who looked away and walked off.

"Attention, everyone, attention!" shouted Master Hand as he magically appeared in the lounge. "There will be a Kwanzaa celebration in the ballroom, and Knuckles will be handling everything. That is all." With his announcement made, Master Hand vanished.

"Please don't tell me that attending this celebration will be 'mandatory'..." sighed Noel; she remembered how Master Hand badgered folks to attend his Christmas party yesterday, and how uptight he was doing it.

Joker was walking through the hallway, looking at a jersey he was holding a jersey in his hand. It was the same jersey he had received in episode 178, and he was looking to get rid of it for good.

"Hello, master..." a voice called out to Joker, who was stricken with fear as he stopped in place. The young man, with a drop of sweat running down his face, looked up slowly...only to be relieved when he saw his teacher, Sadayo Kawakami, in her regular attire.

"...oh, it's just you, Miss Kawakami," said a relieved Joker, as he saw a woman standing next to Kawakami - Makoto's older sister, Sae. "You look...refreshed."

"Makoto wanted to show me and Sae around the mansion's beauty salon. It was far better than I imagined..."

"Save for a few men peeking inside, I must say that the beauty salon is...quite nice," remarked Sae, as she looked at her manicured nails. "Really has all the works."

"G'day Joker!" Shovel Knight greeted the young man as he walked by, greeting with his shovel. "'Tis a nice day in the lovely city of..." The knight would soon come to a stop, when he saw Sae.

"Well hi there...you sure look familiar." Sae leaned in close to Shovel Knight, who was left shivering in fear. "Have we met before?"

"Y-You must be Makoto's older sister..." Shovel Knight cautiously backed away, defending himself with his shovel.

"And you must be the knight that was flirting with Makoto. I take it that you've learned your lesson?"

"Y-Yes I have learned my lesson...and now I must go!" Shovel Knight hightailed out of the hallway, running as far away from Sae as possible. Sae sure knew how to strike fear in a man's eye.

"Can't see Shovel Knight bothering Makoto again after that..." remarked Joker, before he saw Mario walk by wearing a blue dashiki. Everyone was giving the plumber weird glances. "...Mario why are you wearing that dashiki?"

"Shut up, Master Hand put me up-a to this..." replied Mario as he walked as quickly as possible. There goes Master Hand, shoehorning things again...

Being the dutiful second-in-command that he was, Hubert fixed Black Eagle house leader Edelgard a cup of tea, and was carefully maneuvering his way through the hallways while trying not to spill his tea. One slip-up, and Hubert would be doomed.

"Slow and steady...slow and steady wins the race," Hubert told himself, walking at a slow pace as he had his eyes fixated on the cup of tea he was holding. The nobleman would find himself distracted, when he heard yelling nearby; he went over to an open bedroom door, and saw what was going on inside.

"Why do I hear yelling..." wondered Goemon as he came over to the open door and peered inside, before smiling at the chaos unfolding. "Guys, guys, there's a custody battle going in here!"

"No way, is it what I think it is?" asked Yoshi as he and a few residents came over, and saw the Nohrian siblings and the Hoshidan siblings arguing with one another, with Kamui caught in the crossfire. Hubert had to get away while he could.

"Must protect the tea..." the nobleman told himself as he resumed his slow, steady pace down the hallway. Suddenly, Knuckles bumped into Hubert, and the echidna was looking angry as he marched down the hallway, wearing a red dashiki.

"That Master Hand is a goner..." vowed Knuckles, as Hubert gasped when he saw that he spilled Edelgard's tea on the floor, courtesy of Knuckles. The teacup was also broken, which added insult to injury.

Hubert: That blasted echidna made me waste Edelgard's tea...I'm going to have to kill him.

Meta Knight returned to the mansion premises along with Blake and Yang, after a long day, carrying bags of stuff in their hands. And now, they had more than enough gifts for Knuckles' Kwanzaa festivities.

"Did you seriously have to ask that Merklov guy we beat up to treat us out for lunch?" Blake asked Yang as the three headed over to the mansion. "Way to completely milk him out of his money."

"He saved himself from another beatdown, so he did the right thing," replied Yang as she, Blake, and Meta Knight placed the Kwanzaa gifts on the mansion porch. "Wasn't much of a conversationalist, though..."

"You two can go back to Mario's place if you like - I'll put these gifts inside," Meta Knight told Blake and Yang, who returned to Mario's house without even the slightest bit of hesitation. Good thing those two had lunch beforehand.

As Blake and Yang made their way over to Mario's house, J.T. pulled Master Hand's Lamborghini up to the driveway. He looked over, and saw Meta Knight putting the Kwanzaa gifts through the front door.

"Looks like that guy did some Boxing Day shopping himself," said J.T., as he and the others got out of the Lamborghini. "Let's help him get that stuff inside."

Blake and Yang entered Mario's house, and saw doing some Peach catching up with Impa in the kitchen. They also saw Hunter in the living room, flipping through channels on the television.

"It's them..." Hunter whispered to Spyro, spotting Blake and Yang with the corner of his eye; Spyro just ignored the cheetah as he continued to nap away.

"We're home!" announced Yang, and right on cue, Ruby ran to Yang and gave her half-sister a hug. Blake was left out of the hug, but the faunus didn't care as much.

"I missed you so much!" Ruby told Yang, as Hunter felt like vomiting all over the living room floor. "You were gone for so long, I was worried..."

"Yeah, some hacker guy was kind enough to treat us out for lunch. Although we kinda forced him to do it." Soon the house phone rang, and Bianca picked it up.

"Hello? Hey Luigi," Bianca spoke into the phone, before her face started to sour. "...what, really? You're joking, right?...Uh, yeah, we'll be over quick. Bye."

"Is Luigi in trouble?" Peach asked Bianca, who hung up the phone as she started to look worried.

"I think it would be best if we all came over and see what's going on..."

So Bianca and company went over to Luigi's place, with Luigi's front door curiously left open. In the living room they saw Daisy on the couch with Luigi, Adachi, and Rotom at her side. Downstairs were the ninja pals and Genji, with Sheik having reverted back to Zelda. Also present were Luigi's neighbors...you know who they were.

"Luigi, why is Daisy huffing and puffing?" Spyro asked the plumber, as Daisy was hyperventilating and fanning herself with her hand. "It's not that hot in here..."

"I didn't think that this-a day would come..." replied Luigi, who wasn't ready yet emotionally to handle whatever was bound to happen.

"What day are you talking...about..." Spyro had realization over his face, and it was the same realization that Peach and the others had. "...oh boy."

Knuckles was incensed, as he reached the ballroom door. Standing near the door were three friends - Tidus, Yuna, and Rikku.

"It was so weird...yesterday Viridi gave me the stink eye for touching one of her gifts," Tidus told Yuna and Rikku, oblivious to the approaching Knuckles. "But today, she gave me compliments on my hair!"

"She's just trying to mess with your head," assumed Rikku, before Tidus was rudely shoved to the floor. That shove came from none other than Knuckles, who wanted to deal with nobody but Master Hand.

"Get outta my way, I've got stuff to do!" Knuckles barked at Tidus and company, as Yuna and Rikku helped Tidus up to his feet. Tidus rubbed his head, wondering what had gotten into Knuckles.

"What's the big deal, why are you so upset?" Tidus asked Knuckles, who had his fists clenched. Knuckles didn't want to throw hands, not just yet. "And what's with that dashiki?"

"This dashiki is for Kwanzaa!" shouted Knuckles, doing his best not to cry. He wanted to cry over something actually worth crying about. "Master Hand wants to ruin my Kwanzaa, but I won't let him!"

"I think you're going about this the wrong way," Yuna told Knuckles, who refused to believe the brunette even for a second. "There's no need to be angry."

"Knuckles, sorry I'm-a late - had to fix-a my dashiki!" Mario called out to the echidna, as he ran over to where Knuckles and company were. Seeing everyone standing around made Mario confused. "Why are we standing around-a for?"

"Knuckles is very angry with Master Hand." The more Yuna talked about Knuckles being angry, the more angrier Knuckles became. "He needs to take a chill pill..."

Mario and company were soon caught by surprise, when Chef Kawasaki came flying through the ballroom door and landed on the floor. The chef had his pot of chili in hand, and said chili was spilled across the floor.

"Aw, not again!" moaned Chef Kawasaki as he got up and saw the mess on the floor. So much for Chef Kawasaki's Famous Chili ever being consumed.

Chef Kawasaki: Every time I make my famous chili, it always gets ruined. Maybe I should just stop making that chili altogether. *pauses, then starts crying with his face in his hands* But it's the only good thing I can make!

"Chef-a Kawasaki, what happened?" Mario asked the chef, who was making sure that his chef hat was still atop his head. Who knows what was underneath that hat.

"Master Hand turned down my chili," replied Chef Kawasaki with a whimper, as he stared at his wasted chili. "Said that my chili was crap..."

"Master Hand?!" fretted a very worried Mario, wondering what Master Hand was doing inside the ballroom. "What is he doing in there?"

"Knuckles, all your Kwanzaa gifts are in the foyer," Meta Knight informed the echidna, showing up at the ballroom door with J.T., Gerome, Diddy, King Dedede, and Snake behind him. "Thankfully I got a little help from the gentlemen behind me.

"Not now, Meta Knight...Master Hand is in the ballroom. He's trying to ruin my Kwanzaa!"

"Ruin what Kwanzaa?" someone asked as everyone looked over and saw A Pimp Named Bowser show up, with Corrin and Futaba. "Why are we ruining holidays all of a sudden now?"

"It's nothing, Knuckles is just acting very paranoid," replied Rikka, as Knuckles started pacing back and forth. "Emphasis on very..."

"This is quite a crowd," remarked Layton, showing up at the premises with Viridi; he and Viridi pretty much followed A Pimp Named Bowser to the ballroom door. "What's the occasion?"

"Master Hand is in the ballroom, and we need to get him out," replied Knuckles, as Tidus had his ear pressed against the ballroom door. "Or else he's gonna ruin my Kwanzaa for good!"

"Knuckles I think you're Kwanzaa is ruined already...I hear A LOT of people inside that ballroom," Tidus told the echidna, who was frozen with fear. Last time Knuckles checked, it was supposed to be Doc Louis, Rodin, and B.D. Joe in that ballroom, with Spyro's friends setting things up. So who else could be inside?

"Tidus...can you...open the door?" Able to sense the fear and panic inside of Knuckles, Tidus slowly opened up the ballroom door, and led everyone inside...

...and to Knuckles' great chagrin, there was a lot of people inside the ballroom. From the people playing charades, to the folks in the gaming room, to those that were outside earlier today - many were inside the ballroom, with many more to come. Master Hand was at the center of the ballroom.

"Ah, Happy Kwanzaa, Knuckles!" Master Hand greeted the echidna, whose mouth was left agape as he looked on in shock. "I can say that, right? Happy Kwanzaa?"

"Quit your gawking...this isn't a freak show," a certain vampire told Knuckles, drinking from a glass of wine...it was Dracula, who had woken up from his slumber. Thanks in part to Link.

Link: I promised that I would let "him" in, and so I let Dracula in...inside the ballroom. Planned on doing much more, but Master Hand had to go against the name of chaos and intervene.

Master Hand: Dracula and I...made a handshake deal. I would let him out of his coffin and let him return to his land...provided that he partake in the Kwanzaa festivities.

Noel: As expected, being at the Kwanzaa celebration was "mandatory"...I feel so bad for the residents. Must suck living at a mansion - let alone any place, for that matter - ran by Master Hand.

"Knuckles, I really loved what you done to the place!" Master Hand commended the echidna, who barely did any decorating of the sort today. "The ballroom feels very Kwanzaa-esque, I dig it!"

"Yeah I gotta admit, this place looks pretty dope!" remarked A Pimp Named Bowser, before he saw Knuckles hyperventilating. "Knuckles, are you okay?"

"NO I AM NOT OKAY!" growled Knuckles, as he punched a wall out of frustration. Terry, who was standing with Ryo and Nakoruru, gasped out of shock as Knuckles was hyperventilating angrily.

"Knuckles why are you acting like this?" Master Hand asked the echidna, wanting to solve his problems - little did he know that he was inherently creating the problems himself. "Is there not enough people in this room?"

"I don't want ANY people in this room, period!" This was apparently news to Master Hand, who gasped. "Celebrating Kwanzaa is supposed to be about me, and me going back to my roots!"

"But Knuckles, we are your roots! These people, the very people you live with and spend time with - they're the very people that make you awesome each and every day of your life!"

"Lies! Blatant lies! You're just looking for a way to make the people in this ballroom involving themselves in crap they don't even care about!"

"So what you're saying is, Kwanzaa is considered crap in your eyes?" This caused Knuckles to think twice for a second. "Sounds to me like you're being arrogant."

"Me being arrogant, in what way? Like you're the one to talk, Master Hand...you're more arrogant than anyone!"

"The way you talk, it's all 'me, me, me'...well what about Doc Louis? And Rodin? And B.D. Joe? You don't think that they want to go back to their roots too? You're more concerned about YOUR roots rather than the roots of the men you plan on celebrating with!"

"Master Hand's telling the truth, Knuckles," Viridi told the echidna, as Knuckles started to cool down and regain his normal demeanor. "Ever since you started calling yourself...Lil Knux, you've been acting big-headed and delusional."

"You, what are you doing in the ballroom?" Master Hand questioned Viridi, pointing his finger at the goddess of nature. "You're not allowed to be here!"

"I can explain, Master Hand! You see, I was spending much of my day with Layton, and he was telling me some things, and..."

"No, I have heard enough!" Master Hand looked towards Mario, whose eyes were bulged out as he was scrolling through his phone. "Mario, tell Viridi to take her xenophobic butt outta here!"

"Uh...I'll be back," said Mario as he dropped his phone and ran out of the ballroom. With Mario not around to kick Viridi out, Layton stepped up to the plate.

"Master Hand, you may not believe it, but Viridi here is a changed person," Layton told the giant hand, being as frank and sincere as he could be. "The Viridi of old despised humans, and wanted nothing to do with them."

"The Viridi of old is the same person as the Viridi of new," stated Master Hand, not wanting to hear another word from Layton. "Argument closed."

"No they are not! The Viridi of new is a changed person. The disdain she had for humans is no longer intact. In fact, it's gone for good! Tell him, everyone!"

"It's true - Viridi stood up for a human being, when she could've easily put them down!" stated Brio, recalling the moment when Viridi stood up for Layton.

"Viridi gave me a high five!" exclaimed Hakuno, as she showed everyone the hand she gave a high five with - like that hand was special.

"She even complimented my hair!" added Tidus, a lot more excited than he probably should be. "Nobody has ever done that before!"

Soon there was a great furor in the ballroom, as more and more human were telling Master Hand about the nice things that Viridi had done for them. Some folks said the were surprised, others said they were pleased.

"You see, Master Hand? I helped Viridi change from her ways," Layton told the giant hand, as A Pimp Named Bowser picked up Mario's phone. "What was once a heart full of hatred, has now been replaced with a more...friendly heart."

"The people that have spoken up all made great points..." said Master Hand, not yet ready to acknowledge Viridi's change of heart. "...but I won't believe it till I see it. So until then..."

"Hold on, there's something that needs to be said..." A Pimp Named Bowser interrupted Master Hand, after reading a few text messages on Mario's phone - messages that Mario might've read a little too late. "...who here was aware that Daisy's water broke?"

Running like the wind, Mario raced out of the mansion and to Luigi's house, after seeing the text messages and missed phone calls from Peach. He saw Daisy being escorted out of her house, with Luigi and Pac-Man helping her along the way.

"Mario, boot up your car bro!" Luigi told his twin brother, as he and Pac-Man escorted Daisy over to Mario's vehicle. "We gotta go to the hospital, and-a fast!"

"Say no more!" said Mario, as he quickly ran inside his house to grab his car keys. The pained facial expressions on Daisy's face told the whole story to Mario...

Bianca: Just as I feared...Daisy was pregnant, this whole time! Kinda knew there was something fishy about her the last time I was in Seattle. Didn't know if it was the right thing to say what was up.

Not at the ballroom, Mega Man and Aigis were atop the mansion, as they Mario driving off in his car with Daisy, Luigi, and Pac-Man inside. Mega Man was looking through his binoculars as Mario drove down the road to the nearby hospital.

"I shall inform the others..." Aigis told Mega Man as she ran back inside the mansion, as Mega Man took out a cellphone to call somebody.

"Hello, Auto? It's me, Mega Man," Mega Man spoke into the phone, after Auto answered the call. "I need you to bring your critter gitter over here...yep, Daisy's having another baby. Yeah, I'll hold, I guess..."

Mario got Daisy to the hospital in due time, and was hanging around with Luigi and Pac-Man while Daisy was in the room giving birth and whatnot. Luigi was twiddling with his thumbs, like how any nervous husband would in this situation.

"I had assumed that Daisy was just-a gaining weight," the plumber said, as he looked down at the floor. "If only I had known-a about Daisy's pregnancy sooner..."

"Don't be so down on yourself, Luigi - what's done will be done soon!" Pac-Man assured the plumber, giving him an encouraging pat on the back. "Good news is, Charles will be a big brother soon!"

"Eh, I guess you're right..." That's when Luigi made a sudden realization. "...mama mia! I left-a Charles at my house!"

"That's okay. Yuffie can drive your car, right? She's probably taking Charles and her ninja pals to the hospital as we speak." The thought of Yuffie driving around with Charles in the car almost made Luigi faint.

"We have a visitor, zrrt!" notified Rotom, who was Luigi's tag-along during his trip to the hospital. Mario and company looked down the hallway, and were surprised to see a certain Brit show up, wearing a familiar yellow jumpsuit.

"Cheers, gents!" greeted Tracer, catching Mario and company by surprise just by showing up. "Am I not too late to see the baby? Or am I early?"

"Tr-Tracer?" Mario blurted out the British sharpshooter's name, like he was seeing a ghost. Almost felt like laughing for no reason. "How did-a you know..."

"I was there at the ballroom when Bowser mentioned something about Daisy's water breaking." A Pimp Named Bowser, Tracer...get your names right, woman. "You left your phone behind."

"I did?" Obviously Mario did, as Tracer pulled out the plumber's phone and handed it back to him. "Oh, thank-a you so much!"

"No worries, love! I reckon that some of the others should be showing up soon...I got here as early as possible, what with with my teleportation and all. Used that phone of yours to let the others know which hospital to go to."

"Oh, Luigi..." Yuffie was heard calling out to Luigi, who turned around and saw Yuffie approaching...and bringing Charles along with her. Luigi was all smiles.

"Charles, you're-a alive!" Luigi ran up to Charles and picked up the toddler, while Yuffie looked on with an amused face. "Thank-a goodness you survived Yuffie's horrible driving...I bet she scratched-a by car!"

"Yuffie didn't drive your car here...I did," said Genji, showing along with Zelda, Asuka, and Greninja. "All Yuffie did was sit in the passenger, and hold unto your son. Surprised that we didn't get a ticket..."

"That means you're gonna be an honorary ninja pal, right?" Yuffie grinned at Genji, who shook his head no. Can't count Yuffie out for showing effort.

"Luigi, your wife is now ready," a nurse informed the plumber, poking her head out of the room that Daisy was in. It was now time for the moment of truth...

Many of those at the mansion (and the tower) made their way to the hospital, using whatever means of transportation was necessary. Knuckles and Corrin were at the hospital, and Knuckles rested his head against the wall while Corrin... was lost.

"Which way to Princess Daisy's room?" Corrin asked a doctor who walked by; the doctor walked faster, just to get away from Corrin. "You're no help at all..."

"Corrin!" a woman shouted the prince's name; soon Camilla came running to Corrin, hugging the prince and embracing him in his arms. "There you've been! Knew I'd find you here at his hospital."

"I'm surprised that you found me, Camilla. But where are the others?" Corrin knew that Camilla didn't come to the hospital alone.

"Kamui, Leo, and Elise should be here any minute; as for Xander, he's still trying to fend off the Hosidan siblings. Ryoma really wants you in Hoshido."

"Even after I acted out as a flat-earther? The Hoshidans sure are persistent...oh, and what about Ruby Rose?"

"Saw Ruby earlier after I got there...she told me the whole story. Turns out, Bowser made her buy that Peleton for you!"

"Bowser seriously did that? Ooh, that rotten..."

"Why don't we go see where your other siblings are? We'll talk about Bowser later."

A Pimp Named Bowser: *points at black eye* See this black eye? That's what happens when big sisters care about their little siblings too much. There's no way to spread the love around!

So Corrin went along with Camilla, as Knuckles stayed where was feeling all upset. Rouge showed up around the corner, and saw her man down in the dumps.

"Look at you, acting like such a downer," Rouge smirked at Knuckles as she came closer to the echidna. Knuckles wouldn't even look at the bat.

"Master Hand ruined my Kwanzaa..." moped Knuckles, pulling his head away from the wall as he finally looked at Rouge. "...he straight up ruined it."

"Ruined it in what way? Did he knock all your precious candles to the floor, and start a fire? Or did he give away your Kwanzaa gifts?"

"He ruined it by inviting a needless amount of people to the ballroom, where I planned on acting out the first day of Kwanzaa! It was supposed to be me, Doc Louis, Rodin, and B.D. Joe!"

"I'm sorry, could you repeat those names, from the top? I couldn't quite hear you the first time around."

"Okay then...four of us were supposed to do the Kwanzaa stuff today. Me, Doc Louis, Rodin..."

"...and there goes your problem. ME. Me, me, me. Always gotta be about you, doesn't it?"

"I...I don't think you understand what you're saying." Knuckles backed away from Rouge, shaking his head.

"Oh, but I do...ever since you started your Lil Knux charade, you've made it all about yourself."

"No I haven't, you're just making things up! I'm the most humble dude around!"

"Having an entourage, having outlandish parties, faking your own death...almost like you're fishing for attention."

"Am not, you're just talking nonsense! Bet you don't even believe the things you're saying!"

"Fess up, Knuckles - you've only created that Lil Knux persona just so people can notice you. Hmm?"

Knuckles looked at Rouge, ready to make another retort...but he could not, as he sighed and admitted defeat.

"...fine, you got me," Knuckles fessed up, throwing his arms up in the air in bitter defeat. "It was a persona, the entire time. Didn't want people to ignore me."

"Who would ever want to ignore you?" Rouge questioned Knuckles, putting an assuring hand on the echidna's back. "I wouldn't ignore you!"

"I know, but I was thinking about everyone else. When I got arrested that one time, I thought that the others would cast me aside...so that's why I made up that Lil Knux persona, to ensure that nobody would forget me."

"Sounds to me like you're pretty insecure. Is that the vibe I'm getting from you, Knuckles?"

"Guess you could say it's insecurity...or maybe it's fear or doubt. Whatever that feeling is, it's probably gone by now."

"Good to hear! Now that this whole Lil Knux thing is behind you...what about that Kwanzaa celebration?"

"Ah, forget about it...I wanted to use Kwanzaa as a way to get back to my roots...but my roots, well, are the people that got me to where I am today."

"That sounds...cheesy, but believe in whatever you wanna believe, lover boy."

"Knuckles, you left your dashiki at the mansion, for whatever reason," Zelda approached the echidna, handing him his red dashiki. "Rodin said that he found it lying on the floor."

"I was wondering why I came to this hospital feeling naked!" said Knuckles after accepting his dashiki, saying something that no human should ever say out loud at any hospital in America. "Thanks, Princess Zelda..."

"You're welcome..." Zelda found herself wincing, mustering up the courage to say whatever she was about to say. "...Lil Knux."

Knuckles: SHE SAID IT, SHE ACTUALLY SAID THE NAME! I'll honestly let it slide, from now on...BUT SHE SAID LIL KNUX OUT OF HER MOUTH!

Zelda: *left eye twitches* Sonic forced me to call Knuckles that...my mouth feels weird...

"Hey guys, have you seen Daisy's baby yet?" Hop showed up, excitable as ever, as he was infecting Knuckles and company with his excitement. "You gotta come and see, she's cute!"

"I'll have to be the judge of that..." replied Knuckles, acting like a baby critic, as he and Rouge followed after Hop.

Knuckles and Rouge followed Hop to Daisy's room, where they saw the Mario, Luigi (holding Charles), and Peach hanging around with Daisy. Several guests from the mansion were in the room, taking turns holding the baby - a baby girl.

Nurse: So it turns out that Daisy was about nine months pregnant - and neither she nor Luigi knew about it during that time span. Luigi said that Daisy didn't "look" pregnant, but was concerned by how much weight she was gaining over time, at a relatively mild rate. And now we know the reason why was gaining so much weight to begin with...

"Who's a good baby? WHO'S A GOOD BABY?!" Sylvando - one of the Luminary's companions - asked the baby he was cradling in his arms, playing around with her. "Coochie coochie coo!"

"Alright, Sylvando, hand her over already..." Daisy told the circus performer, who almost shed a tear as he handed the baby back to Daisy. Knuckles and Rouge got a closer look at the baby, as Layton, Luke, and Viridi entered the room together.

"Ooh, is that the baby?" asked Viridi, as she and Layton came over to see the baby up close. "I can tell that she's a girl...what's her name?"

"Yes, please, tell us the name of the baby that I invented so I can add her to my list..." implored Brio, strangely sitting at Daisy's beside with his list as he got his pen ready to go.

"Her name...her name is Deanna," replied Daisy, as Brio jotted down the name of Daisy's newborn baby on his list. Wayne, who was hanging around in the room, took the list from Brio, confiscating it.

"You wanna hold her?" Wayne asked Viridi, who mused as she looked at the baby. Viridi then looked at Daisy, who was smiling and silently encourage the goddess, and then she looked at Layton and Luke.

"Go for it!" exclaimed Luke, as Layton simply nodded his head. Her mind made up, Viridi reached out for Deanna, very slowly...

...and Daisy gently placed Deanne in Viridi's hands. Viridi was cradling Deanna close to her chest, and it was a very...calming experience.

"She's quite peaceful..." remarked Viridi, keeping her voice low so she wouldn't disturb the baby. "...are humans always like this?"

"Only if you give them the chance," replied Layton, with a warm smile, and Viridi would smile right back. It was a crowing moment - Viridi's xenophobia was now a thing of the past.

"Such an adorable baby you are..." Viridi was really enjoying the very moment, and everyone else was pretty much happy for her (save for Sylvando). Ashley walked by and took a peek inside the room, and saw Viridi cradling Deanna.

"...my work here is done," the young witch had this to say, as she kept on walking.

Ashley: Now that Viridi's no longer a xenophobe, her hair can grow back to what it originally was. Or, she can just keep it short, as a pixie cut. Pit did say that she preferred Viridi having short hair, so...

"Daisy you didn't let Anna hold your baby, did you?" Master Hand asked the princess, after showing up in the room. "If you did, I'll smack the living daylights out of you AND Luigi..."

"Master Hand, look what I'm doing!" squealed Viridi, garnering the giant hand's attention. Master Hand was shook, as he saw Viridi holding Deanna. "I'm holding a human infant! Can you believe it?"

"She did it...they were right all along..." Master Hand was so shook, that he fainted unto the floor. Everyone just looked at the fainted Master Hand, before sharing a laugh together.

All in the name of a rather eventful Boxing Day.

That night, after the residents were back home and the guests returned to wherever they came from, someone came knocking on Mario's front door. Mario opened the door, yawning and stretching his arms.

"Mama mia, I need-a some sleep..." remarked Mario after he finished yawning, before looking at the man standing on the doorstep... "...Nathan Drake?!"

"Shh!" Nathan shushed Mario, before looking around and handing the plumber an envelope. "Wanted to make sure that you see this."

"What is this?" Mario took out whatever was inside the envelope, which was in fact a peace treaty. "A peace treaty?"

"An actual peace treaty. Not a fake one - no setup whatsoever. This treaty was co-signed by Master Hand AND Polygon Head, in private. Don't ask how Polygon Head made his signature."

"When was this peace-a treaty signed?"

"Uh, two weeks ago, after some private negotiations. Thought that you'd wanna know..."

"I see..." Mario skimmed through the peace treaty, reading the provisions and whatnot.

"Basically, the mansion and the manor are at peace now. That feud that went on between us? We won't talk about that feud ever again. No Zant, no fighting, nothing of the sort...everything that happened during those months will be erased from our memories."

"Sooooo...this is an actual truce?" Sure seemed like it, as Nathan held out his hand for a handshake.

"Call it a truce..." With Nathan smiling, Mario shook the archaeologist's hand, he and Nathan officially putting the past behind them for good.

"I should get-a going...can't stay up too late. You know-a what I mean?"

"Yeah, I feel ya..." Nathan nodded his head, as he turned around and walked away. "...have a good night, Mario. Oh, and Happy New Year."

"Happy New-a Year to you too, Nathan!" After waving goodbye to Nathan, Mario closed his door, grateful of the friendly moment he shared with Nathan.

Again, all in the name of a rather eventful Boxing Day.