Author's Note:
Much like chapter 113, this chapter was inspired by some research I did...not on Japanese culture, but rather something else. No maid cafes. This chapter also has a storyline inspired by a video from my favorite YouTubers, Rhett and Link. You have been warned. Two reviews to answer today:
"Will an Overwatch 2 chapter happen when the game comes out? Will Sothis scold her daughter Rhea when they have their reunion or not? Has Rosalina or Bayonetta had any scenes with Lucas? (Fan arts portray one of them adopting Lucas) is there gonna be a scene of the characters talking about their deceased mothers for the Mother's Day chapter? Any obscure Namco bad guys like Wild Dog from the Time Crisis games showing up? (He died and kept coming back in the sequels) and finally, what are your thoughts on many game and comic book conventions being cancelled due to the virus?"
An Overwatch 2 chapter will most definitely happen. Sothis might not scold Rhea. Rosalina and Bayoneta haven't had any scenes with Lucas...and those scenes won't be based on the fan art. I might use that approach for the Mother's Day chapter (if there is one). Highly doubt that Wild Dog will ever be in this story. And it was only a matter of time until social gathering events like conventions were cancelled. E3 has been cancelled, which could have a silver lining to it - perhaps other video game companies can take the same approach to E3 as Nintendo. But I doubt it. The other review is from Derick Lindsey:
"So did Bowser ever get to finish that story he was reading to Yukari and did Kanji ever get his jacket back after he left the room early on in the chapter?"
That is only up for your imagination...
Episode 221: EyeSurgery
Mario was in high spirits, after his lack of adventuring was quenched after he was sent by Professor Kukui and his wife, Professor Burnet, into a Pokemon world along with Link and a few others. It was in this Pokemon world that Mario got to adventure again, going through a forest and a cave while saving his friends and battling Pokemon. Even found some gold along the way.
But as happy as Mario was, his happiness would soon dissipate when he was traveling with Peach to the eye doctor. Why was the plumber going to the eye doctor today, you ask? It was because he was about to receive the one thing he dreaded the most...
...laser eye surgery.
After Mario complained about how his eyesight was getting worse as of late, Peach suggested to him that he got eye surgery to correct his vision. Mario begrudgingly filled out some paperwork, and was now being driven to the eye doctor, by Peach.
"You know, Mario, you should be driving yourself to the doctor," Cappy said to the plumber, who was looking like Peach was literally driving him to his death. Mario never looked so scared for his life before until today.
"I'm a patient, Cappy - patients don't drive-a themselves to the doctor," stated Mario, who told Peach repeatedly to head back home; Peach refused to listen. "Not unless they're having a heart attack or some-a thing."
"Isn't that considered unsafe? Wouldn't you crash, if you were out on the road driving while having a heart attack? You're not making much sense, Mario..."
"Mario doesn't really make sense when he's scared, in case you haven't noticed," Peach said to Cappy, keeping her eyes on the road in the event Mario tried to distract her from reaching her destination. "Poor Mario's been having nightmares about the eye surgery since Wednesday!"
"I never said that I was-a having nightmares!" frowned Mario, getting all defensive for no reason while fidgeting just a little. "That tossing and-a turning I was doing, in the bed? I was just holding in-a my urine. Didn't want to wet-a the bed sheets."
"If that were the case, then you should've died from water poisoning," stated Cappy, as Mario angrily looked up at the talking hat and shushed him. "I was just stating an important fact..."
Peach: I've seen videos of the laser eye surgery procedure, in my spare time. It doesn't look that bad - first the doctor makes a flap in your eye, and then they fold the flap back to expose the cornea. Then they shine a laser on the cornea to remove the microscopic tissue from your cornea and reshape it, so the light that enters the eye focuses more accurately on the retina! I explained of all that to Mario, and I think he got the gist of it.
Mario: Welp, it's official...my own-a wife, Princess Peach, is trying to kill-a me! She told me how laser eye-a surgery works, and so I saw a video for-a myself and now I'm scared-a stiff. What I saw was truly some-a Final Destination crap. That laser eye surgery might-a be a precursor of something worse - my own-a death!
Mario and Peach would soon arrive at the eye doctor, with Peach parking the car in the parking lot. While Peach got out of the car, Mario refused to move a single muscle, not even taking off his seat belt.
"Hurry up Mario, you're going to be late for your appointment!" Peach told the plumber, opening his car door and unbuckling his seat belt. He then pulled Mario out of the car and grabbed his hand as she walked to doctor's office. But she couldn't move, for Mario stood in place, not moving an inch.
"You can't take-a me in there, they'll kill-a me..." Mario told Peach with a heavy facial expression, certain that the eye doctors were out for his blood. Peach sighed, as she grabbed Mario and hoisted him over her shoulder before heading to the doctor's office. "...they can't take-a me alive!"
"Mario, you're never going to have better vision if you don't get this surgery over with." Peach would pass by many onlookers as she carried Mario to the doctor''s office, as many wondered who the most dominant spouse in the relationship was. "Just get over your fears already!"
Peach entered the doctor's office, and carried Mario inside the waiting room and to the front desk. The princess then placed Mario on the floor, standing him up in front of the front desk lady.
"Hello, are you here for your eye appointment today, sir?" the front desk lady asked Mario, with a warm smile; Mario was looking nervous as heck, as he kept his lips pursed. Peach had to nudge Mario in the side, to get the plumber to speak.
"Mama mia..." uttered Mario, letting the front desk lady know how scared he was about his laser eye surgery by just saying his catchphrase. The front desk lady looked confused, yet at the same time understood why Mario was so scared for.
"He's here for his laser eye surgery, ma'am," Peach told the front desk lady, having to speak for Mario. Upon hearing the eye surgery being mentioned, Mario screamed and cried as he fell down to his knees, as folks in the waiting room were looking at him with weird looks.
"Laser eye surgery? Let's see..." said the front desk lady, as she reached into the files next to her and shuffled through said files, before finding the right one. "Ah, here it is! Mario Mario, is that correct?"
"Yep, that's the one!" Peach was feeling slightly embarrassed, as she picked up Mario off the floor. Mario was now sniffling, rubbing his nose before he wiped away a few tears from his eyes.
"Okay! Mr. Mario, Dr. Rogers will be with you shortly." The front desk lady smiled warmly at Mario, who had to be escorted to a chair in the waiting room by Peach. Peach sat Mario down in the chair, before sitting in a chair adjacent to his husband's.
"Why not read a magazine, to ease your worries away?" Peach suggested to Mario, who looked to his right and saw a Sports Illustrated magazine on the small table next to him. Mario picked up the magazine, seeing the late great Kobe Bryant on the cover.
"How come the good-a ones always die young..." wondered Mario, looking at Kobe as he heaved a heavy sigh. Peach just smiled and shook her head, baffled by how big of a deal Mario was making out of nothing.
Another person who was in high spirits after being in the Pokemon world was Link, who was feeling all sorts of heroic after he stopped the comet from striking the Pokemon world. With no time to alarm Rayquaza about the comet, Link took matters into his own hands, and with the help of Alakazam and Medicham using their psychic powers, Link destroyed the comet himself, using the power and strength as a Machop to get the job done.
Link wanted to be the hero of Hyrule that he was meant to be, a kind of hero that Zelda and many others would be proud of. Rather than wait for his moment to shine as a hero, the Hylian instead opted to keep himself busy, and was doing that right now by doing some archery practice outside.
"Ready to go?" Link asked Cloud, who was standing a far distance from the Hylian. Cloud had a target above his head, and his arms were outstretched as he was holding two green balloons. Link was holding a bow with three arrows, and was in shooting position.
"Ready when you are," replied Cloud, hoping and praying that he would make it out of Link's archery practice unscathed. When he was ready, Link shot the three arrows, which struck the two balloons and the target above Cloud's head. Cloud, who had his eyes closed, opened his eyes and felt relieved to still be alive.
"Not bad...not bad." Link was impressed by the results, nodding his head as Cloud took down the target that was attached to his head. Suddenly some rustling was heard, as a Bokoblin head appeared out from some nearby shrubbery.
"OOGA OOGA BOOGA!" the Bokoblin head exclaimed as Link quickly shot an arrow at it, striking it in the forehead. The Bokoblin head took off its...head, revealing Champion Link who appeared out from the shrubbery. "Nice one, Link - great reflexes!"
"Yeah Link, your reflexes have been much improved as of late," Cloud told the Hylian, who was appreciating the kind remarks as he grinned and patted his bow. "Guess that means we'll be making fewer trips to Leia's office, in the future..."
Cloud: Being transported to that Pokemon world was the best thing to have ever happened for Link - dude finally got his sense of heroism back. Gotta thank the Pokemon professors for that. But the real thanks goes to Mario, for giving Link that talk. Now I'll be hanging around with Link the hero, rather than Link the buffoon. Not sure when all that buffoonery started though...probably happened after Midna moved into the tower. Midna might be a troublemaker, but she always knows how to keep people such as Link in check.
"I heard balloons popping, is someone having a gender reveal party?" asked Travis as he stepped out from the camper, only to look disappointed when he saw Link and company standing around. "Oh, it's just you guys..."
"Who would be having a gender reveal party?" Cloud asked Travis, wondering just what the otaku was thinking. "Not like anyone we know got impregnated..."
"I don't know man, you guys do live at the Smash Mansion...lots of crazy stuff happening there, I'm sure. Might have someone walking around with a man-eating parasite in their body, for all we know."
"That would be impossible - the man-eating parasite would eat their host whole, from inside their body!" stated Link, as Travis thought over the plausibility of the scenario he presented. Nothing about it sounded right.
"...I rest my case." Not wanting to make himself look like a big idiot, Travis retreated back inside his camper as he closed his door. Maybe he can fight man-eating parasites, in whatever video game he was playing right now.
"Not gonna lie, I'd love to see a man-eating parasite in person one day," Champion Link randomly stated, as Link and Champion Link gave the Hylian weird looks. Just then, the Luminary showed up with his keeper, Veronica.
"Howdy boys - you three don't seem to be that busy today," the Luminary said to Link and company - how do you know the swordsmen weren't busy, Luminary? "Care to join Veronica and I in some community service?"
"What kind of community service are we talking about here?" inquired Cloud, who slightly despised doing community service since he would be dealing with strangers. He'd do it in a heartbeat, if Aerith was around.
"The Seattle Children's Hospital is looking for some volunteers to engage with the little children," explained Veronica, who knew a thing or two about engaging with little children. What with being a Keeper and all - it was in her nature. "The Luminary and I are gonna volunteer - what about you three?"
"I think I'm in the mood for entertaining the children..." replied Link, before resting his elbow on Cloud's shoulder. Cloud would probably break Link's arm, if the swordsman felt motivated to do it. "...and Cloud here is secretly pretty good with children."
"Eh...sometimes I pick and choose," shrugged Cloud, who appeared to be pretty particular when it came to little children. Huh, that sounded weird... "Better not do anything 'entertaining', like you did with Yukari, Link."
"I won't do anything of the sort...that stuff I did for Yukari, I won't do ever again. This will be a good chance for me to redeem myself, you know?"
Peach was sitting by herself in the waiting room of the doctor's office, and it wasn't because Mario was having his laser eye surgery done. Mario told Peach that he had to use the restroom, and he was using it for an awfully long time.
"Where is that Mario...?" wondered Peach, looking up at the clock on the wall. The princess instantly knew that Mario was hiding in the restroom - a very bad look for the plumber, all things considered.
"Mario Mario?" a doctor called out the plumber's full name, stepping out from a door with a clipboard. She looked around the waiting room for Mario, but saw that he was nowhere in sight. "Mario Mario! Are you here?"
"He's here, he's just hiding in the men's restroom," Peach explained to the doctor as she approached her. "He's very nervous about his laser eye surgery."
"Ah, that's perfectly understandable. Though I imagined that Mario would be braver than that...let's go see if he's still hiding." So the doctor and Peach went to the nearest men's restroom, and once they reached the restroom door, the doctor knocked on it.
"Don't come in - there's a huge-a mess in the restroom!" a voice called out to Peach and the doctor, and it sounded an awful lot like Mario's. "The toilets stopped working and poured their waste-a out on the..." Mario would be interrupted, as the sound of a toilet flushing was heard from inside the restroom.
"That Mario is something else..." Peach said to the doctor, as the sound of the toilet flushing was accompanied with the sound of water rushing from a faucet. A moment later, a man exited from the men's restroom, seeing Peach and the doctor standing by.
"He's hiding in the restroom stall," the man informed Peach and the doctor, pointing his thumb inside the restroom before walking away. Taking the man's words to heart, the doctor rushed inside the restroom; Mario was heard screaming, as the doctor dragged him out of the restroom.
"I can assure you that the laser eye surgery won't be that bad, Mr. Mario," the doctor told the plumber, walking him away from the restroom and to the offices, with Peach tagging along. "Mr. Rogers is a trained professional!"
"That's what you want me to think," frowned Mario, making a scene as he was escorted through the waiting room. "You're all plotting to kill-a me! Stop-a her, Peach!"
Kanji was sitting alone in the mansion's foyer, thumbs pressed against one another as he was looking down at the floor. The delinquent was looking unsure, and yet seemed very deep in thought at the same time. Just what was on his mind?
"There you are, Kanji, I've been looking all over for you," Minato said to the delinquent, who quickly stood up when his name was called. Minato would reach Kanji, and couldn't help but notice how nervous the delinquent looked.
"Hey Minato, h-how's Yukari doing?" Kanji asked the young man, playing it cool as he scratched the back of his head. "Is she feeling any better?"
"She's been feeling much better - all of her symptoms are gone now. Thank goodness her flu wasn't anything serious."
"Yeah, that's awesome! Hey, uh, you wanna, I don't know...go grab some steaks or something?" Kanji was acting nervous as ever, and Minato could easily tell without blinking.
"No thanks, I already had lunch...I was wondering if you were busy. Joker, Yu and I have got something planned for..."
"Something planned for me? For me?! Well I can't be a part of whatever your planning, because I, um...gotta talk with Naoto first." Kanji rested his hand against the wall as he smiled, although Minato could easily see through his facade.
"Talk with Naoto about what...?" After asking the question, Minato shook his head before walking away. "...never mind. C'mon, it won't take long."
Yu: Fox and Falco spoke with us in private about Kanji's crush on Naoto...which we already knew. I've known Kanji for a while now, his crush on Naoto is probably his worst-kept secret. Aside from the fact that his grandma still buys his clothes. Since Joker, Minato, and myself are in love, we could pass on a few tricks of the trade to Kanji...
Minato: Fox claimed that Yukari was my girlfriend...which means that my "experimentation" was a success, I suppose. Now I just have to pass on whatever I learned to Kanji. A little disclaimer...I'm not exactly the best teacher in the world.
Joker: Things with Kanji will be smooth sailing for the most part...just as long as he doesn't find out that I kissed Makoto. He would freak out if he did. Oh, and make sure that Makoto or even Toad spill the beans to anyone, alright?
"But I have yet to talk to Naoto!" Kanji called out to Minato, refusing to follow the young man for his own personal reasons. "I've yet to speak with her, man."
"Let's get a move-on, Kanji!" Minato responded as he called out to Kanji, who sighed and ran after Minato. His conversation with Naoto would have to wait.
Cilan was in the dining room, searching for some items in the pantry. The connoissuer was in charge of dinner tonight, and he had to make sure he had all the necessary ingredients for the baked spaghetti he planned on cooking. With his arms full with noodles and spaghetti sauce, Cilan closed the pantry door, before heading to the kitchen...only for Pit, Kirby, and Incineoar to catch his attention.
"You boys sure look hungry today," Cilan smiled at Pit and company, who were sitting at the dining room table like the expected Cilan to feed them. "I can prepare you some lunch, after I put all of this in the kitchen. What do you fellas want?"
"Cheddar," replied Kirby, giving Cilan a one-word answer. Cilan was somehow able to understand what Kirby wanted, just from his terse response.
"One grilled cheddar cheese sandwich? I can make it happen!" Cilan looked towards Pit, as the items in his hands are getting too heavy for him. "What about you, Pit?"
"Thick," replied Pit, providing an answer that was more dubious than Pit. Took Cilan a while to infer from that one.
"You mean as in, an Angus Thickburger? Like the one they sell at Hardee's? Do they even sell those kinds of burgers anymore?"
"Thick, thick, thick." Now Cilan was even more bewildered, and decided against questioning Pit - not because he wanted to put up with Pit's shenanigans, but because his arms needed a rest.
"I'll just fix you a regular cheeseburger instead..." Cilan hurried inside the kitchen, making sure not to drop anything on the floor. Wasting any of the canisters of spaghetti sauce would be quite traumatic.
"Cheddar, cheddar!" Kirby shouted at Cilan, as if he we're reminding the connoisseur about his grilled cheddar cheese sandwich. Why were Pit and Kirby only saying one word?
Leia: Incineroar lost his voice yesterday - he's suffering from laryngitis. Something that I didn't even know Pokemon could have. To support Incineroar during his "trying times", Pit and Kirby took it upon themselves to say just one word repeatedly for an entire day - kinda like how Incineroar repeatedly says his own name. And you know Kirby had to be dragged into this...but hey, someone's gotta be Pit's unfortunate partner-in-crime.
"Do you boys have a second?" Wendy Koopa asked Pit and company as she showed up in the dining room. She then showed Pit and company a picture of herself posing, on her phone. "Can you tell me how good I look in this dress?"
"Thick," Pit offered his two cents on Wendy in her dress, as he nodded his head. He looked up at Wendy, whose mouth was left agape in shock; Pit had never offended her until now.
"Did you mean that in a good way...or a bad way?" If Pit meant thick as in curvaceous, then Wendy's confidence and self-esteem would feel safe. And Pit wouldn't have a black eye, either.
"Thick, thick." But instead, Pit appeared to be doubling down on his claim, legitimately making Wendy convinced that she was fat.
"So you think I look fat in this picture? Well what would know about body shapes, you called muscular men crack addicts! Who are you to talk?!"
"Thick, thick...thick thick thick." Pit was definitely not holding back for a second, as he was letting Wendy know how he truly felt. The savagery put on display by Pit made Wendy growl angrily, her face turning red with anger as steam exited from her ears.
"Who cares what you think, Pit!" Wendy would let Pit know how she felt, as she aggressively slapped the angel across his face. Pit winced in pain, as Wendy angrily looked towards Kirby. "Do you think I look fat in this picture too, Kirby?!"
"...cheddar cheddar?" Kirby nervously replied, and would you know it, the poor puffball got slapped in the face too. Even angrier, Wendy looked up at Incineroar, bothering not to ask the heel Pokemon.
"No point in asking you...I already know what you think!" Wendy growled at Incineroar, before stomping away and pouting. Incineroar shook his head, as Kirby comforted Pit, who got slapped by Wendy much harder than he did.
"Cheddar cheddar cheddar..." Kirby consoled Pit, who was rubbing his hand around his cheek - which was as red as Wendy's angry face was.
Mario was in a room, sitting in the surgery chair and regertting ever getting out of bed today. Peach was sitting in a chair in the room, humming peacefully as she waited patiently for Dr. Rogers to show up.
"If we leave-a now, we don't have to pay anything, right?" Mario asked Peach, wanting to ditch the laser eye surgery as soon as he possibly could. Peach giggled at Mario's question.
"We've already paid for the eye surgery...there's no turning back now," replied Peach, as Mario snapped his fingers in disgust. Mario wouldn't be nearly as salty, had he not agreed to use most of his tax money to afford the eye surgery.
"So if someone were to kidnap-a me right now, and take me to Madagascar and enforce-a me as a slave for some native tribe...my eye surgery will still-a be paid for?"
"Yep. Which means that you can't get your money back!" Mario buried his face in his hands and moaned loudly, knowing that he should've spent his tax money on a new massaging chair. He could always get some contacts. "That is, unless, the surgery goes wrong."
"You don't say?" Mario took his hands away from his face, as he was left deep in thought. "Would be quite-a unfortunate if something were to go wrong..."
Peach: I can just tell that Mario is scared to death about his eye surgery - when I momentarily left the room, I could hear poor Mario crying his eyes out. But I'm not all that worried - Mario typically acts like this whenever he goes to the doctor's office. Don't even get me started on how he handles a dentist appointment...
The wait for Mario and Peach would come to an end, as an eye doctor came inside the room. He looked fairly pleasant and cheerful, although Mario assumed that it was a facade.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Mario!" the eye doctor greeted the hesitant plumber, shaking his hand before shaking Peach's hand. "And good afternoon to you, ma'am! I am Dr. Rogers - I'll be the eye surgeon for today."
"It's so good to see you, Dr. Rogers," Peach said to the eye doctor, before glancing at Mario who appeared to be on edge. Mariow as looking at Dr. Rogers as if the man was a bigger threat to the universe than Thanos.
"Likewise, likewise...so, Mario, how have you been today?" Dr. Rogers started some small talk with Mario, as he sat in a wheeling chair and pulled himself up to Mario.
"I was doing just-a fine - until Princess-a Peach threw me in the car," mumbled Mario, as Dr. Rogers let out a heartfelt laugh. Mario had no idea what was so funny.
"Ah, that's rich! But don't fret, Mario - your wife was just doing the right thing. Now tell me a little something about your eyesight...when did it start going bad?"
"My eye-a sight was never that bad to begin-a with - it's all just fake-a news." Mario was now telling fibs - doing whatever he could to get himself out of laser eye surgery. Which meant that Peach had to speak for her husband.
"...Mario has been having issues with his eyesight since early February," the princess had to explain to Dr. Rogers, who nodded his head as he jotted down some notes on his clipboard. "Might've strained his eyes, from watching television and staying up all night."
"That Timmy the Tooth is a classic, and-a you know it..." Mario hissed at Peach, pointing at his wife with heavy vitriol as Dr. Rogers dotted down a few more notes.
"I see, I see...eyestrain is never a good thing," stated Dr. Rogers, hoping that Mario would change his habits after his eye surgery was over with. "Now, before we can begin the eye surgery, we gotta take care of some things first."
"Do I have an option to leave-a before the eye surgery takes-a place?" Dr. Rogers just laughed at Mario's question, before gettig up out of the wheeling chair.
"I'm afraid you missed your opportunity, my friend! Before we can begin the procedure, you must first take the eye exam. This will determine whether or not your eyes are healthy enough for the surgery. Follow me."
"I'm gonna fail-a the heck out of this exam..." Mario vowed quietly as he and Peach followed after Dr. Rogers, with Peach signing in response.
Fox and Krystal's wedding was now three weeks away, and Fox and Falco were making sure to get a bunch of last-minute stuff done before the big day. The pilots were speaking with folks who were expected to ensure that the wedding day would be grand.
"Here's a shot list I had in mind for the wedding," Lakitu said to Fox and Falco, as he showed the pilots a shot list in the Star Records room. "I made sure to include a whole lot of variety in the shots."
"Lakitu, why are there so many behind-the-back shots?" Fox questioned the bespactled koopa, who grinned nervously and scratched his head. "You trying to check out the ladies?"
"It makes more sense, when you see the pictures for yourselves...it's the meaning of the shot that matters the most." Fox and Falco couldn't help but grin, when Lakitu said that.
"Sure, whatever you say, Lakitu...just make sure you have all your equipment ready to go." After giving Fox and Falco a salute, Lakitu floated away out of the room on his cloud, as Iori came forth.
"Not sure if you have heard, but I'm been trying to put together a jazz band," Iori said to Fox and Falco, as the jazz bassist was currently looking for a gig. "Mind if I perform during the wedding with my jazz band?"
"Nah, bro - save that jazz stuff for the wedding reception," replied Falco, as Iori frowned and ignited a blue flame in his hand. Fox and Falco got scared real quick. "You can provide the wedding score, no biggie..."
"That's what I thought..." Iori made the blue flame vanish away, as he left the room. Fox and Falco both let out sighs of relief. "...you boys better be ready to have your socks knocked off."
Iori: Finding a guitar player and a drum player was easy - K.K. Slider and Donkey Kong were so easy to recruit. Finding other musicians for my band was harder than I expected. Thanks to the shortage of street musicians in Seattle due to the coronavirus, I had no choice but to find "talent" within the mansion...and I don't mean to use those air quotes liberally, either.
Red the Pokemon Trainer: *holding a trumpet* Believe it or not, I've never played an actual musical instrument before, like this trumpet. Why am I playing the trumpet? Basically I irritated Iori with my Poke Flute skills, and he destroyed my Poke Flute and gave me a trumpet instead. Then I asked him if I could join his band, and the rest...the rest is history.
Shortly after Iori left, Peppy and Slippy entered the Star Records room, about to give Fox and Falco a wedding update. The hare and the toad were working in the background, while Fox and Falco did their own thing.
"Some good news - the wedding rings just came in today," Peppy informed Fox and Falco, as the former pumped his fist and smiled. "The names are engraved, just as you requested!"
"What about the wedding cake, is Cilan almost done with it?" asked Fox - can't having a wedding without some wedding cake. That was like having the 4th of July without fireworks.
"Cilan said he'll put the finishing touches on the cake, after he's done making the spaghetti. We now only have a few things left to do, on our wedding checklist!"
"Except that there's just one teensy-weensy problem..." Slippy spoke up, as Fox and Falco were both curious as to what this problem was. "...it has to do with Krystal."
"Don't tell us she's backing out of the wedding, at the last minute!" panicked Falco, before he grabbed Fox's shoulders and shook his head friend silly. "Bruh, Fox, I warned you about this! Krystal's a straight-up turncoat!"
"Is Krystal starting to have second doubts about getting married?" Fox curiously asked Slippy, taking Falco's hands off of him. "Thought we already went over this..."
"No, it has something to do with her wedding dress. Apparently she can't fit in it." Fox and Falco, who were at first worried, were now angry with Slippy for wasting their time.
"Really, a wedding dress? Really? Man, Slippy, you had me and Falco convinced that the situation was a matter of life or death. A wedding dress, of all things..."
"Yeah, Krystal doesn't seem to like the fit, she's not a huge fan of the dress. She hates that she spent nearly a fortune on it, too."
"Krystal just told me that she might cancel the wedding altogether, if her wedding dress isn't the right fit for her," stated Peppy, and that's when Fox got all panicky again. Imagine having a wedding cancelled, over a wedding dress...Fox simply wouldn't allow it.
"Tell me where Krystal is right now..." Fox demanded of Peppy and Slippy, wanting to speak some sense into Krystal. The fate of the wedding depended on it.
As expected, the eye exam was just a test meant to determine how good your vision was. While Mario felt confident in failing his eye exam, that didn't stop the plumber from hiding in the restroom, only for Dr. Rogers and Peach to find him.
"Hiding again in the restroom, I see..." Dr. Rogers said to Mario, shaking his head as he jotted down a few notes on his clipboard.
"I wasn't just-a hiding...I was also studying for my eye-a exam," said Mario, as Dr. Rogers let out another heartfelt laugh. Even while acting skittish about his eye surgery, Mario sure knew how to make others laugh.
"Then I guess that was all for naught, for you had nothing to study for! Now we will begin with the visual acuity test. See that eye chart over there?"
"You mean that-a one?" Mario pointed at the eye chart on the nearby wall, which was a pretty far distance from where he was standing. "Why are we doing this basic test-a for?"
"We're just going to see how sharp your vision is. Just start off with the first letter you see on the chart, then make your way down and make out all the letters you see."
"Okay then, here it goes..." Mario stared at the eye chart, with Dr. Rogers and Peach looking on. "E...F...P...T...O...Z...uh, W...Q...the number 3...O..."
"Oh my...Mario's vision can't possibly be that bad," Peach said to herself; Mario wanted to "fail" the eye exam just by getting all the letters correct, but it was a struggle for him.
"D...the number eight...Z...ah, it's-a coming to me...pi sign...some phonetic symbol..."
"Sheesh...I think you can stop now, Mario," Dr. Rogers told the plumber, who stopped immediately as Dr. Rogers wrote down some alarming notes on his clipboard. "Your eyesight really must be that bad!"
"Dang it...I should've gotten all-a the letters right." Maybe you could have if your vision wasn't so terrible, Mario. "What's-a next, doc?"
"Next, we're going to do a refraction. We usually do this for those getting eyeglasses, but we're gonna do this test to see how bad your eyesight is."
Dr. Rogers brought Mario to a chair, and sat him down in front of an instrument called the phoropter. Dr. Rogers then sat in a chair in front of Mario, and positioned the phoropter in front of Mario's eyes.
"Tell me, Mario...between the two lens, which one looks clearer?" Dr. Rogers asked the plumber, who saw two separate lens with the same picture, of varying quality. Mario, not understanding the point of this refraction test, wanted to get the test over with.
"I don't know, they both look-a the same to me," the plumber shrugged, as Dr. Rogers found Mario's comments to be interesting. The eye doctor moved on to a second series of lens.
"Okay then...how about this set of lens? Which one looks more clearer to you?" At this point, Mario had enough of the refraction test, and just wanted to go back home.
"Same at the last ones...they both-a look the same." Dr. Rogers found Mario's comments rather interesting, as he took the phoropter away from the plumber's eyes and wrote some notes down.
"Fascinating...very fascinating. But we're done not yet. We got one more test before we begin the laser eye surgery...which is the slit lamp exam!"
"You're gonna slit my eyes-a open with a lamp?!" Mario was so shocked that he gasped out of fright; he could literally faint, at any given second. "Always knew-a you doctors were out to kill-a me..."
The Three Musketeers - Link, Cloud, and Champion Link - went with the Luminary and Veronica to the Seattle Children's Hospital, to put a few smiles on the children there. In one of the rooms of the hospital, Cloud was joined by several hospitalized children, who were in awe of the swordsman.
"Can I pick up your sword, Mr. Strife?" one of the children asked, as he pointed down at the Buster Sword lying on the floor. Cloud was unsure of why he even brought his sword - probably did it out of self-defense.
"Sure, kid, go ahead," replied Cloud, as the young child grabbed the Buster Sword by the handle. He tried to lift the sword over his head, but couldn't even lift it an inch off the floor. "Put your back into it!"
Cloud: My Buster Sword is really good for fighting with, but I guess it's also good for show as well. I have my right to use my sword; other people have their right to delude themselves into thinking they can wield it. This isn't Captain America and Mjolnir...
Down from the room that Cloud was in, Link and the Luminary were standing together in the hallway, looking out through a window. Two heroes, standing together...
"Being a hero is tough, isn't it?" Link asked the Luminary, as he turned to face him. The Luminary was inclined to agree, nodding his head.
"Always gotta be on your best behavior, as a hero..." replied the Luminary, as he looked at Link. "...something you were incapable of doing." Link could do nothing but smirk, as he looked down at the floor and shook his head.
"Don't know what got into me back then...looking back on it, I was acting pretty silly. I bet that Zelda was super ashamed of me!"
"Maybe you were acting out the way you did...because you were jealous of being under Cloud's shadow." A very interesting thought for Link to mull over.
"Me? Being jealous? And being under Cloud's shadow?" This was something that Link had clearly never thought about before. "What made you think that?"
"I bet you were the man, before Cloud showed up - people thought you were the best swordsman around! Then Cloud joined at the mansion...and you were bumped down from 1A to 1B."
"I mean I personally don't mind being 1B...after all, I like to think that Cloud and I are equals. But me being jealous of Cloud, that's just silly talk."
"That's just a thought I had - a little preconception that's been going about in my head. You don't have to believe it, if you want to."
"Hey guys - the kids down the hallway are ready to see us now!" Champion Link called out to Link and the Luminary, standing at the far end of the hallway. Link and Luminary walked away from the window, and to Champion Link.
"Me being jealous of Cloud...what a silly thought," Link said quietly as he smirked to himself. Who was he to be jealous of anyone?
Kanji was sitting in Joker's room, and was sitting on Joker's bed. The delinquent could be hanging out with Naoto right now, but instead he was looking ticked off as Joker, Yu, and Minato were standing over him.
"So, Kanji, it's been brought to our attention that you want Naoto to be your girlfriend," Joker said to the delinquent, who was too ticked to look Joker in the face. "Which is unsurprising, considering you have a crush on her..."
"I don't just want Naoto as a girlfriend...I also want to kiss her," stated Kanji, letting Joker and company know what his true main objective was. "Gotta show you punks how it's really done."
"Okaaay...but before you can kiss Naoto, you have to learn how to be a good boyfriend. And if you want to be a good boyfriend, you have to learn the little things."
"What little things are we talking about? Being a boyfriend can't be that hard. You fellas make it look so easy!" Kanji must be super naive if he thought that being a boyfriend was as easy as he made it out to be.
"Being a good boyfriend requires a lot of commitment," explained Yu, as if he were speaking from experience. And he had a lot of experience, too. "Are you a very committed person, Kanji?"
"I do my regular morning routine every morning and I brush my teeth every night...that means I'm committed enough, right?" Yu, Joker, and Minato did not answer, which made Kanji feel a little anxious.
"Patience is also a requirement for a being a good boyfriend," said Minato, who earlier claimed that he wasn't the best teacher around. But at least he would make the most of the opportunity. "In fact, that'll be your first test - showing patience."
"Heh, can't be that hard.' Kanji was showing a bit of confidence, grinning as he folded his arms. "I can be as patient as you need me to!"
"We'll have to be the judge of that..." said Yu as he, Joker, and Minato advanced towards the bedroom door. Kanji went from confident to panicky, as he saw Yu and company ready to make their leave.
"H-Hey, where are you guys going?" Kanji stood up and asked Yu and company, acting nervous and not knowing why exactly he was feeling that way. "You can't just leave me here all alone!"
"No, Kanji - if you can be patient, then consider this trial a success," Joker said to the delinquent, who grunted and sat back down on the bed. "We'll be coming back soon - if you ever leave this room, then we won't help you again."
"Can we do a different test instead? Like, I don't know...a commitment test?" Kanji's request was turned down, as Joker and company left the room. Kanji groaned, as he had to stay put in the room. "Really wish that Naoto was here right now..."
Pit, Kirby, and Incineroar, after having their lunch, went to the gaming room to hang out and stuff. The three were watching some television while sitting on a couch with Sonic, who was grooming Shaymin.
"Thick thick thick, thick thick thick," Pit said to Sonic, attempting to get a response out of the hedgehog. He certainly got a good response, as Sonic looked at Pit with a very surprised face.
"Woah, dude, that's racist," Sonic sternly told Pit, leading Shaymin to ponder over what Pit could've possibly have said that was so racist. "You can't just be saying stuff like that out in the open!"
"Cheddar cheddar," Kirby told Sonic, in great disbelief that he was following up on Pit's shenanigans for this long. Sonic frowned at Kirby, and shook his head.
"Oh you don't think so? Tell you what...Pit, how about you go up to Doc Louis over there, and tell him the things you just said to me? See how he likes it!"
Pit: Thick, thick, thick...thick thick thick thick. Thick, thick? Thick.
Kirby: *sighs deeply* Cheddar cheddar, cheddar cheddar... *shakes his head* ...cheddar cheddar.
Pit and Kirby went over to Doc Louis, with Incineroar following behind to see how much trouble Pit and Kirby would find themselves in. Doc Louis was busy playing some darts with Lloyd Irving.
"You boys came to see the mansion's darts champion?" Doc Louis grinned at Pit and friends, before tossing a dart at the faraway target. The dart struck the target, close to the center, as Lloyd grunted. "Ha ha, bullseye!"
"Thick," Pit said to Doc Louis, who felt rather insulted by the angel's word choice. It wasn't that often people made fun of Doc Louis' weight.
"Watch your mouth, kid - just because I'm fat don't mean a thing! When you're retired, sometimes you gotta let loose, you know what I mean?"
"Thick thick thick thick thick." Saying "thick" once didn't bother Doc Louis as much, but Pit saying that word five times consecutively was enough to trigger Doc Louis, who looked at the angel wide-eyed with a shocked face.
"Oh my goodness..." Nearly at a loss for words, Doc Louis looked the gaming room for backup, and found the perfect man in Little Mac. "...yo, Little Mac, get your butt over here - this man Pit is saying mean stuff about my family!"
"Pretty sure he didn't mean it..." responded Little Mac, who was trying to keep himself focused as he practiced his boxing skills on a Sandbag in a far corner of the gaming room. That Sandbag has a family, Little Mac!
"Cheddar cheddar cheddar," said Kirby, who now regretted saying a single word for Doc Louis grew incensed as he tightened his fists.
"Yikes...that's pretty harsh," remarked Lloyd as he covered his mouth, no doubt aware that Kirby was cutting in real deep into Doc Louis.
"Now Kirby's joining in on the charades!" exclaimed Doc Louis, knowing that things would go from bad to worse whenever Kirby followed up on Pit. "Little Mac I really need you man!"
"I can't solve all your problems, Doc Louis..." responded Little Mac, before delivering a wicked punch that sent the poor Sandbag flying across the gaming room. Where was the level of respect?
"Since Little Mac's leaving me hanging...guess I'll just have to take matters into my own hands." Doc Louis stared down Pit and Kirby, who were looking afraid as Doc Louis rolled up both of his sleeves. "Who's going first?!"
While he may have lost his voice, Incineroar certainly didn't lose his fighting spirit - or the bond he shared with his two pals. The heel Pokemon took hold of Doc Louis, preventing the boxing trainer from getting any closer to Pit and Kirby.
"Cheddar!" Kirby yelled at Pit, likely telling the angel to scram. Scram is what exactly Pit did, as he and Kirby quickly ran out of the gaming room while Incineroar was holding off Doc Louis.
"I'll be coming for you boys later!" Doc Louis vowed to the retreating Pit and Kirby, while Incineroar prevented him from moving. "Phew, and they said that all cats were weak..."
Fox and Falco went with Peppy and Slippy to Krystal's room in the Assist Tower, to handle Krystal's wedding dress dilemma. Inside Krystal's room, the pilots saw Krystal wearing her wedding dress, and by the look on her face, she wasn't a huge fan.
"That wedding dress looks real nice on you," Fox said to Krystal, trying to be nice so Krystal could put the whole dilemma to rest. Just for the sake of the wedding. "You're just bugging out, Krystal."
"I dunno, this dress feels real tight on me..." frowned Krystal, as he tried to loosen the straps of the dress. That didn't help matters as much. "...it'd be hard, walking down the aisle in this thing."
"It looks like the perfect fit for you, how can you not like it? I mean, if I can wear that dress and have no problem, then the same can be said for you."
"And what is that supposed to mean, exactly?" Krystal put her hands on her hips and looked at Fox, wondering what her fiance was getting at.
"All I'm trying to say is, if that wedding dress can fit on me, then it most certainly can fit on you. I mean, we both have similar bodies, do we not?"
"Then I'll just have to take your word for it...I dare you to try on the dress." Trying on a wedding dress? Fox could never agree to that.
"Yo, I'm not putting on a dress! Who do you think I am, Cloud?!" Krystal would pull herself in close to Fox, as her face met his. Fox was feeling uncomfortable.
"You know, I'd hate to spend nearly a fortune on another wedding dress...perhaps you can change my mind on the dress, if you're a man of your word." Clenching his teeth nervously, Fox looked towards his buddies, looking to them for guidance.
"Go for it, my man," Falco enticed Fox, with Peppy nodding his head in agreement and Slippy chanting "Do it!" over and over again. "Whatever you gotta do to make your girl happy."
"You guys suck so much..." Fox frowned at his fellow pilots, before directing his attention back to Krystal. "...fine, I'll wear the stupid wedding dress. I'll see how it fits, and whatnot."
Fox: Just gonna wear a wedding dress for like what, a few hours...it's not like I'm gonna wear a wedding dress while crashing someone's wedding. Mario's the kind of person that would stoop down to that level.
A few moments later, Fox was wearing Krystal's wedding dress, and walked out of the Krystal's room and into the hallway where Falco, Peppy, and Slippy were waiting. Falco and company couldn't stifle their laughter, much to Fox's chagrin.
"It's not that funny..." seethed Fox, as Krystal left her room smiling at her fiance. If people were laughing at Fox already...
"Why are you still wearing your pants, Fox?" Slippy asked the pilots as he pointed at his green pants. Fox still had on his normal clothes; he was just wearing Krystal's wedding dress over them.
"Because I have to maintain some part of my dignity while I'm doing this, Slippy." Already having major second doubts, Fox looked towards Krystal. "How long do I have to do this?"
"Maybe for a couple of hours," replied Krystal, as Fox snapped his fingers in disgust. The way things were going from an early start, Fox couldn't wear the wedding dress until then. "But it might end sooner than that."
"I sure hope so...can't believe that I agreed to meander around looking like this. I feel absolutely ridiculous!"
After running a few more tests on Mario, Dr. Rogers was now ready to perform the laser eye surgery on the plumber. Mario was resting on a patient bed in a separate room, while Dr. Rogers was joined by two nurses. There was a whole lot of equipment in the room; Peach was also in the room, speaking on the phone.
"how is mario's eye surgery coming along?" asked Sans, the person that was calling Peach for whatever reason. At least he was checking in.
"They haven't done the surgery yet, but they're about to start pretty soon," Peach said into the phone, before turning back and seeing Dr. Rogers taking off Mario's cap and putting a bouffant scrub hat on Mario's head. "Mario is looking very tense right now..."
"i'm sure that mario will get over it real quick. that surgery will be a real eye-opening experience for him." Sans was heard laughing on the phone, but Peach wasn't impressed as she furrowed her brow.
"Did you seriously call me just to make that pun?" The cat was out of the bag, as Sans was heard laughing even harder. "Don't know what to do with you, Sans..."
"Princess Peach, can you hurry up with the phone call?" Dr. Rogers asked the princess; usually guests weren't allowed in a room where a surgery took place, but having Peach around was a special request from Mario.
"I'll talk to you later, goodbye Sans!" After saying her goodbye, Peach quickly hung up and put her phone away. With Peach's phone call over, Dr. Rogers could now get Mario's eye surgery done.
"Can I sue-a you guys, if some-a thing goes wrong during his eye surgery?" Mario curiously asked Dr. Rogers and the nurses, who didn't know how to answer. They've never been in the position of being sued before.
"Uh...I guess so," shrugged Dr. Rogers, who had all this equipment and tools ready to go. "But if it makes you feel any better, all eye surgeries done here at this office have been successful. Now, are you ready to begin, Mr. Mario?"
"One moment...Peach, can you hold-a my hand?" Mario held out his hand to Peach, who refused to do anything. Mario felt like singing some Hootie and the Blowfish to Peach, if it meant swaying her mind.
"Mario, I am not your mommy," replied Peach with a smile, desiring Mario to man up and face his laser eye surgery like a man. "You can do this!"
"I'll let-a you be my mommy, just for today..." Wanting to get the eye surgery done, Dr. Rogers cleared his throat, garnering Mario's attention. "...I'm-a ready, doctor."
"Great! First things first, we're gonna dim the lights," said Dr. Rogers, as one of the nurses dimmed the lights in the room. "Then we're gonna give you a few eye drops, to keep your eye moisturized."
"So far, so good..." Mario let out a deep breath, as Dr. Rogers applied a few eye drops to Mario's left eye. This was easily the least stressful part of the procedure.
"Now we're going to hold your eyelid open, with an eye speculum." Eye speculum in hand, Dr. Rogers used the tool to open up Mario's left eyelid, which kept Mario's left eye exposed. "Doing good so far?"
"Ooh, can I do the Undertaker eye-a trick with this thing on?" Mario would attempt the eye trick, and doing so caused his left eye to roll to the back of his head. Only the white was seen in Mario's eye, much to the great chagrin of Dr. Rogers and the nurses.
"No, Mario, you can't do that here! Not during the eye surgery. That would be dangerous." Mario would roll his eye back, and now thought of Dr. Rogers as a killjoy.
"But how? The Undertaker did the eye-a trick for three decades, and it never took-a years off his wrestling career."
"Yes, but that was in the wrestling ring. This is a laser eye surgery - one that can correct your vision."
"...so what's the big-a difference?" Dr. Rogers couldn't help but sigh, as he shook his head at Mario. Peach kept her lips pursed.
"Totally should've asked him if he wanted a sedative..." one of the nurses whispered to Dr. Rogers, having failed to ask Mario about being sedated. "...huge mistake on our part."
Nurse: We've dealt with people far worse than Mario, while doing laser eye surgery. We had one person cry like a baby during the entire procedure, and constantly beg for one of their parents to come and pick them up. It was a seventy-five year old man.
"Next thing is to put a ring on your eye, to create suction on the cornea," said Dr. Rogers, as he placed a metal ring on Mario's left eye. "Might be a little painful...the ring is just putting pressure on your eye."
"My eyesight, it's-a going dim..." panicked Mario, as he saw the vision in his left eye dimming thanks to the metal ring. "...it's the beginning of the end-a for me."
"Don't be such a drama queen, Mario." Dr. Rogers let out a chuckle, as he ensured that the metal ring was firmly in place. He then took out a surgical tool. "I will now use this microkeratome, to create a corneal flap in your eye."
"This is where-a the Final Destination stuff begins..." Mario tensed up a bit, as Dr. Rogers used the microkeratome to make a corneal flap in Mario's left eye. "...when do I start-a to feel the pain?"
"Pain? What pain? There's no pain whatsoever when making the corneal flap!" Dr. Rogers laughed at Mario's question; he hadn't laughed like this in a while.
"Are-a you for real? Man, that Final Destination movie had-a me thinking otherwise! For years, I thought they kept-a that deleted scene out of the final cut, just to hide-a the truth. I'll get-a those stinking movie producers later."
"What deleted scene...?" wondered Peach, as Dr. Rogers took the metal ring and the microkeratome away from Mario's eye. Dr. Rogers then looked at the monitor on the machine above Mario, inspecting Mario's left eye.
"Uh huh...your eye looks pretty good," Dr. Rogers told Mario, ready to conduct the next step of the eye surgery. "But it's about to be even better! Now, Mario, can you see the green light that is above your eye?"
"GIVE ME THE GREEN-A LIGHT...GIVE ME JUST ONE-A NIGHT..." Mario sang, for no apparent reason, as Dr. Rogers frowned at the plumber. "...sorry, what was-a the question?"
"Do you see the green light above your eye?" Mario, seeing the light despite his vision being temporarily dimmed, nodded his head. "Great! That right there is an excimer laser - it'll remove the issue from your cornea with an ultraviolet light beam. Just stay still, and let the laser do its thing..."
"I could really go for some-a one to hold my hand right now..." Mario's request was not fulfilled by Peach, as the plumber had no choice but to look into the green light as the light beam removed the tissue from his cornea and reshaped it in the process. Only last for several seconds.
"Aaaaaand...we're done!" Dr. Rogers announced, as he pulled the machine away from Mario. "That should take care of the vision, in your left eye."
"Ah, thank-a goodness." Mario let out a sigh of relief, as Dr. Rogers used his surgical tools to lay Mario's corneal flap back in place. "That means we're-a done, right?"
"Oh no, not by a long shot! We still have to do your right eye. After we do that, you should be good to go. Just stay still, and you'll be just fine!"
"Mama mia..." Mario moaned, as Dr. Rogers and the nurses were preparing themselves for the second found of Mario's laser eye surgery.
Cloud was walking through the hallways of the hospital, holding a bag of chips that he got from a vending machine. As the swordsman walked through the hallways, he heard a commotion of sounds coming from a nearby room.
"What in the world..." said Cloud, left wondering who could possibly be making so much noise inside a children's hospital. He looked inside the room where much of the noise was coming from, and was surprised to see Professor E. Gadd, working on a machine.
"Can't get these two wires to connect..." grumbled E. Gadd, who was trying to connect two large electrical wires. Cloud walked inside the room, watching as E. Gadd was doing his thing.
"Hi professor," Cloud greeted E. Gadd, who turned around and smiled with glee when he saw the swordsman standing by. "Surprised to see you here."
"Good afternoon, Mr. Strife! Please pardon the noise I've been making - I've been trying to reconfigure my time machine."
"A time machine? I think I've heard about this before." Cloud took a slight interest in the time machine, as he took a real good look at it.
"Yes, I've been working on this time machine for a lengthy period of time. Development was stunted, after Ema Skye stole parts from my laboratory, but I got said parts back thanks to Peppy Hare and Slippy Toad."
"And why are you working on your time machine here, of all places? Don't you have your own personal mansion, where you can work on the machine in peace?"
"Sadly working on my time machine takes up a huge chunk of my light bill, so I asked the staff at this hospital if I could work on my time machine here. To my surprise, they all said yes."
Professor E. Gadd: The light bill wasn't the only reason for working on the time machine at the hospital...I had to move to a different location, in the event something awry happens with the time machine, and it results in a shattering kaboom! *pauses* Come to think of it, choosing this children's hospital was a bad idea in hindsight...
"Was it working just fine, before you started reconfiguring and stuff?" Cloud asked E. Gadd, who was now trying to wrap the two electrical wires together. Like that would solve anything.
"Yes it did - it worked like a toaster!" replied a confident E. Gadd, his hands tied up in the two wrapped electrical wires. "I managed to bring in some folks from the past, all from 1000 A.D. They're staying at this hospital until I bring them back."
"Professor E. Gadd, I might've found a solution for your...time machine..." a girl with glasses called out to E. Gadd as she entered the room, only to trail off when she saw Cloud. "...uh...is that your lab assistant?"
"Ah, there you are, Lucca ...as you can see, I'm a little tied up," E. Gadd smiled sheepishly, as he looked down at his tied up hands. "Cloud, I'd like for you to meet Lucca Ashtear; she's one of the folks from the past."
"Wow, your hair is even spikier than Crono's..." Lucca said to Cloud as she took a gander at the swordsman's blonde, spiky hair. "...you totally have Crono beat, in the hair department."
"Is that supposed to be a good thing or something? Also, who's Crono?" Little did Cloud know that he was about to be in a meeting of epic proportions.
"C'mon, I can show you! Follow me!" Against his own free will, Cloud followed Lucca out of the room, leaving E. Gadd all alone. E. Gadd's hands were still tied up, thanks to the electrical wires.
"Lucca where are you going, I need someone to free my hands!" E. Gadd called out, trying to wiggle his hands out of the electrical wires but to no avail. "Help, someone help me!"
Cloud followed Lucc down the hospital hallway, and ended up in a room where Link was seated with a bunch of child patients, playing some therapeutic games. With him was Champion Link, the Luminary, and a third guy, with red spiky hair.
"This is Crono, he's one of my best friends," Lucca introduced Cloud to the guy with red spiky hair, bringing the swordsman over to him. "Say hi!"
"Hey," Cloud greeted Crono, who just smiled and nodded his head. And that's...that was all Crono did to greet Cloud. "He's not much for conversation, is he?"
"Yeah, he doesn't really talk that much...unless he sees girls fawning over men. That apparently bothers him a lot."
"Good to know...well, it was nice meeting you, Crono." Cloud walked away from Crono, who nodded his head at the swordsman. Cloud then ventured over to Link, who appeared to be playing with the sick children. He was sitting on the floor with the kids.
"So, Dennis, what's your favorite hobby?" Link asked the child in particular, reading a question off of a card. There was a deck of cards at the Hylian's side.
"My favorite hobby is playing video games!" exclaimed Dennis, his enthusiasm shining in not only in his response, but his smile. Link nodded his head with a grin.
"Do you like to play Legend of Zelda games?" Dennis didn't answer Link's question, and instead just stared at the Hylian. Link sighed, placing the card in his hand down on the floor. "I'll just ask that one later..."
"Since when were you so popular with little kids?" Cloud asked Link, who pulled a card from his deck of cards. Link checked the card, to see if the question on it was worth asking.
"I'm just being a good guy to the little ones, that's what any hero would do. So, Sidney, what's your favorite movie?"
"I don't like watching movies," replied Sidney; Link just stared at the little girl in amazement, as if it were a crime against humanity to not enjoy watching movies.
"Pretty rebellious girl, aren't you..." Link would place the card down on the floor, before noticing that Cloud was still around. "...hey Cloud, since you're here, I kinda need to tell you something."
"Whatever it is, save it for later," Cloud told Link as he walked away, causing Link to snap his fingers in disgust. "I'll be right back. Think I need to do a quick solid for E. Gadd..."
"E. Gadd? Why is Cloud so fascinated with that guy..." Link knew that Cloud had a pretty extensive history with E. Gadd, and often pondered over how Cloud even got along with the bumbling professor. It was a mystery, for sure.
The threesome of Joker, Yu, and Minato were chilling in the cafe, bidding as much time as possible while Kanji demonstrated patience. Samus, who was in the cafe fixing herself some coffee, would soon leave the cafe coffee in hand only to bump into Pit and Kirby.
"Thick," Pit said to Samus, catching the bounty hunter off-guard. Samus' first clue was that Pit was referring to her body.
"Nobody has ever called me that before, but thanks, I guess..." shrugged Samus, as she left the cafe with her cup of coffee. A part of her was in some disbelief.
Doc Louis: *pants* I managed to fend off Incineroar...no thanks to Little Mac...but Pit and Kirby are still public enemies! They thought they could say mean things about my family, and us black people, and expect to get away with it?! No siree, not in America! Once I get a hold of those boys, they're gonna wish they never spoke again!
Pit and Kirby ventured over to Joker and company, deciding to chill out with the three best friends until the coast was clear from Doc Louis. Kirby saw that Minato was drinking coffee.
"Cheddar," the pink puffball said to Minato, grabbing his attention. Understandably, Minato looked confused.
"No, this is coffee," Minato informed Kirby, as he held up his cup of coffee for Kirby to see before taking a sip out of it.
"Cheddar." Minato looked a bit angrier now, after he told Kirby what his drink was. Why couldn't Kirby just get with the program?!
"No, this is coffee..." Joker and Yu were both watching Minato carefully, for they've never seen Minato so incensed before.
"Cheddar." At this point Minato had reached peak anger...at least for him, as he slammed his fist on the table. The young man knelt down at Kirby, looking at the pink puffball and pointing at his drink.
"Do you see this? This is coffee. Coffee. What about it looks like cheddar to you?" By Minato's standards, the young man was clearly stepping out of line...Joker and Yu had to do something quick.
"...let's go hang out in the lounge," suggested Yu, bringing Minato with him as he, Minato, and Joker left the cafe together. Gotta distance themselves from the weirdness being exuded.
"Thick, thick!" Pit commended Kirby, holding out his hand for a high five. Kirby, having major second doubts, just left Pit hanging.
As Yu and company walked through the hallway, they came across Fox...and they couldn't help but notice that the pilot was wearing Krystal's wedding dress. As if things for the three men couldn't get anymore stranger.
"Why are you wearing that wedding dress for?" a very concerned Joker asked Fox, under the assumption that the wedding dress belonged to Krystal.
"I'm just doing whatever I can to help my fiancee out," replied Fox; Joker and company quickly turned around and walked down the hallway, with the swiftness. "You guys have no idea what it's like to be engaged!"
Mario's laser eye surgery was finally completed, after Dr. Rogers performed eye surgery on Mario's right eye. Mario seldom felt any pain during the procedure, which meant that he had absolutely nothing to worry about the whole time.
"Here are some sunglasses, for your eyes," a nurse gave a pair of sunglasses to Mario, who put them on. Dr. Rogers was standing by, as Mario now had the sunglasses on his face.
"I feel-a like Blade...mixed-a with Neo," remarked Mario, before looking towards Peach who was standing next to him. "Does John Wick-a wear sunglasses also?"
"Mr. Mario, you were quite a handful at first...but I'm glad you mellowed out throughout the procedure," Dr. Rogers said to Mario, wearing a bright smile on his face. "Now you don't have to worry about the eye surgery anymore! So, how's your vision?"
"Better than it was before-a I came to the eye doctor! Think I learned a very valuable lesson-a today...don't watch-a too many horror films."
"I've been telling you to do that weeks ago," Peach said to Mario, as she nudged the plumber in the side. You best believe that Mario would listen to Peach more now.
Dr. Rogers: Mario has been a fine patient - much better than that seventy-five year old crying old man. Mario, he was like BoJack Horseman...things start off rocky at first, but then things get peachy as time goes on. And when it all ends, there's an empty gaping hole in your chest, and it hurts so much...not the right analogy I was going for, but my point still stands.
"Do I get a lollipop, for being a good-a patient?" Mario kindly asked Dr. Rogers, who could only laugh in response. Dr. Rogers thought that Mario was joking.
"If you were a little kid, then yes, yes I would," replied Dr. Rogers, after he was done laughing at Mario's asinine question. "You could buy yourself a day's worth of lollipops, with the funds you have."
"We can have lunch at the children's hospital nearby; they have a cafeteria," Peach said to Mario, who seemed pretty hesitant at first. Cafeteria food of any kind should never be trusted. "I can walk you there."
"No, Peach, I'm not a blind-a man. I'll walk over there myself...w-with you, of course."
Iori was getting the gig to play during Fox and Krystal's wedding, and the man was looking for another member to add to his jazz band. He only needed someone to play the trombone.
"Trombone player, looking for a trombone player!" Iori shouted as he stood in the middle of the hallway. He saw Pit and Kirby approach him, and felt desperate enough to ask them about their musical abilities. "Can either of you two play the trombone?"
"Thick, thick, thick," replied Pit, answering Iori's question in the best way he could. For some reason, Iori thought that he could trust Pit...
"Fine...I trust you." Knowing that he was eventually making a wrong decision, Iori handed the trombone to Pit, bestowing the angel with a huge responsibility. "I want you to perform with my jazz band, at the wedding in April. Got it?"
"Cheddar," said Kirby, as he and Pit were looking at the trombone together. If Iori knew any better, he'd prevent himself from questioning things.
"You want to name the trombone...Cheddar? Well, I've heard of a guy who named his trombone Francesca...so it can't be that weird."
Mario and Peach went to the nearby children's hospital, and were eating lunch served by the cafeteria staff. Food was much better than Mario expected. Coincidentally, Mario and Peach were the same children's hospital that Cloud and company were, for they saw a certain professor there.
"Nice shades!" E. Gadd said to Mario, as he walked past the plumber and Peach. The professor's hands were untied, as he was holding a tray with a cheeseburger and fries on it.
"Hi Professor E. Gadd!" Mario greeted the professor, always welcoming his company. Then again, Mario would welcome the company of just about anyone in the world. "I take it that you're showing off-a your inventions, to the children?"
"Not quite...I'm actually working on my time machine. I asked for permission to work on my machine here, in order to save on my mansion's light bill."
"Very interesting of you to pick-a this hospital, of all places...but about-a your time machine, how's it coming along?"
"I was working on it earlier, when I actually warped people from a over thousand years ago to the hospital. The machine stopped working, and the visitors fro the past are stuck here, as a result. I'll be getting the time machine running back to normal, once my lunch break is over with."
"Well that's good," said Peach, before looking over and seeing a familiar face seated at a nearby table. "Look, it's K.K. Slider!"
"Are you for real right now?!" frowned K.K. Slider as he was speaking on the phone, clearly ticked off about something as Peach and company eavesdropped on him. "Pit joined the jazz band?! You're bugging out, my man! Tell me this is a joke!"
"Wow, I've never seen him so angry...all because Pit joined a jazz band?" It's much worse than you think, Peach. "We should cheer him up."
"Okay then. Guess this is something we'll have to deal with...talk to you later. Bye." K.K. Slider ended his phone call, just when he saw Peach, Mario, and E. Gadd come over. "What's up, my groovy cats?"
"Hey K.K. Slider - you sounded pretty angry on the phone. What's this we hear about Pit and some jazz band?" K.K. Sliider would look down at the floor, as he let out a big sigh.
"Iori is putting a jazz band together, and Donkey Kong and I are a part of it. He's still adding new members to the band, and some of his more recent additions have been a little...questionable."
"I'm sure that Iori will make-a the most of it," assured Mario, fairly positive that Iori could get the most out of Pit. It would be a miracle. "Also, I gotta ask...why are you at-a the children's hospital?"
"I was just spreading some positive vibes to the sick children, through the power of music. Since I'm on my lunch break now, I gave Link the honors of playing my guitar, and singing songs for the kids."
"Link playing the guitar? Oh dear..." fretted E. Gadd, as the thought of Link playing the guitar sounded very unimaginable to the professor.
"Mellow out my dudes, no worries! Link took a few guitar lessons from yours truly, a few years back. He's got this."
Wendy was still offended by Pit's comments earlier, and was being comforted by Bowser in her room. Bowser held his daughter tight, letting her know that things would be okay.
"Don't let that pipsqueak Pit get to you like that," Bowser told Wendy, patting the female Koopaling on her head. "If you let people like him get under your skin, you know you goofed up!"
"I know, but I didn't expect him of all people to call me fat," said Wendy, who had spent most of her time crying before Bowser came to comfort her. "It was so sudden, so out of the blue!"
"So what? I've seen Mario take my girl Peach away from me, out of the blue, and you don't see me making a big deal...about it?"
Bowser furrowed his brow as he saw someone walk past Wendy's room, only to shriek when he saw Fox in Krystal's wedding dress. The koopa king covered Wendy's eyes, as Fox looked at Bowser in confusion.
"What's the big deal?" Fox asked Bowser, as he stood at Wendy's bedroom door. Bowser's mouth was agape, as he was looking in shock.
"Fox what are you doing, you're too cool to be wearing a wedding dress!" Bowser shouted at the pilot, sounding more like a disappointed father than anything. "You're not Mario!"
"I know, I know...but I'm doing this for Krystal. If I can prove to her that I can wear this wedding dress just fine...then she has to wear it at our wedding."
"But why do you have to wear it for? Did you buy the wedding dress yourself? Or are you just trying to psyche us all out?"
"No, just doing what I have to do...I should just get going." Fox would leave the premises, as Bowser stared the pilot down.
Link remained with the little children at the hospital, except this time he was armed with a guitar. Champion Link, the Luminary, Veronica, Cloud, Crono, and Lucca were sitting around, as Link was playing the guitar.
"There he is..." K.K. Slider said to Mario and Peach as he walked the married couple inside the room. He pointed at Link, who was strumming away on the guitar.
Link: Yeah, I remember taking a few guitar lessons from K.K. Slider. And I remember all the things that he taught me. Can't say the same for anyone else that took the lessons, though.
"The next song I'm gonna sing is called 'Free Love Freeway'," Link said to the little children, with the song lyrics written on a sheet of paper laid out on the floor. "Kinda touchy, but I think you'll like it."
"I got the lyrics off the Internet," K.K. Slider whispered to Mario and Peach, as Link was strumming a chord on the guitar. He was ready to sing...
Pretty girl on the hood of a Cadilac, yeah...
She's broken down on freeway nine
I take a look and get her engine started
I leave her purring and I roll on by...Bye bye
Free love on the free love freeway
The love is free and the freeway's long...
I got some sweet love on the sweet-love highway
I ain't going home 'cause my baby's gone.
"It is because she's dead?" inquired Champion Link, as Link gave the Hylian a questionable stare as he kept playing the guitar.
"She's not dead..." frowned Link, not wanting Champion Link to kill the song's vibe. After shaking his head, Link resumed singing:
Free love on the free-love freeway
Where the love is free and the freeway is long...
I got some sweet love on the sweet-love highway
I ain't going home 'cause my baby's gone
She's gone...
Link would play a final chord, before ending the song altogether. The children were impressed by the performance, as they were all clapping. Hardly any of them understood the point of the song, but they appreciated Link playing some guitar for them.
Link: Basically I filled in for K.K. Slider, while he was on his lunch break. Filling in for someone else...that's what a hero would do.
"Great performance!" Lucca commended Link, as she was clapping; Crono didn't clap, but instead smiled and nodded his head at Link.
"Much appreciated, Lucca!" Link thanked the young woman, before looking towards Cloud. Hard to gauge Cloud's reaction, since he had a typical Cloud face - absolutely zero emotion. "You don't think my performance was dumb, do you Cloud?"
"No, actually...that was a pretty wholesome performance," replied Cloud, letting Link know how he genuinely felt. "Not bad, not bad at all..."
"Thanks, Cloud. That sure means a lot, coming from a guy like you..."
Done hanging out for the day, Yu, Minato, and Joker returned to Joker's room. There they saw Kanji on Joker's bed, taking a nap.
"We're back," Joker said to Kanji, who didn't wake up - perhaps Joker was speaking a bit too low. "I said, we're back!" Joker spoke up louder, waking Kanji up from his slumber.
"I-I'm ready to talk with you, Naoto!" a very frantic Kanji exclaimed, looking around only to see Joker and friends standing by. "Oh...it's just you guys. Did I pass?"
"Seeing that you haven't left the room while we were away...I'd say you passed. Which means that you, Kanji, have shown patience."
"Sweet! But I don't understand - what does patience have to do with being a great boyfriend?"
"There are some times when you have to be patient with Naoto," explained Yu, speaking from not only experience but from the heart. "It takes time to know your girlfriend better. The better you are at being patient and waiting things out, the more your relationship can grow."
"Huh, I never really thought about it that way...you make it seem like being a boyfriend is hard! How am I gonna master this?"
"You'll master it pretty soon, Kanji. All you need is a little, you know...patience, to get it done."
Fox was tired of being judged for wearing Krystal's wedding dress, and so he hurried back to the tower and begged Krystal to try the dress on. Would Krystal have a change of heart?
"I walked around with that dress on, it felt just fine to me..." Fox said to Krystal, who was wearing her wedding dress in her room. "...please tell me you like it."
"You know, it feels much better compared to when I first put it on..." replied Krystal, checking herself out in front of the mirror. "...I actually like this dress now."
"THANK GOODNESS!" Fox pumped his fists, and gave Krystal a hug that caught the vixen off-guard. "Don't let me go through what I did ever again..."
"To be fair, you did set yourself up for humiliation. Let's not do anymore hypothetical scenarios until wedding day, alright?"
Dr. Rogers advised Mario that he should not drive, which meant that Peach had to drive the plumber back home. Mario and Peach would stop by the mansion, to let Master Hand know that the laser eye surgery was a success.
"How can I be so sure that your vision is healed?" Master Hand asked Mario, who was in the giant hand's room with Peach. "You're wearing sunglasses!"
"I'm just protecting my eyes - my cornea is still-a healing," explained Mario, who felt like hacking security systems and slaying vampires at the same time. "These glasses will-a be off soon."
"Oh I hope so...because you don't look fresh wearing those things at all. No offense."
Master Hand: I am relieved that Mario's eye surgery went fine, and his vision has been corrected. I cannot for the life of me imagine Mario wearing regular eyeglasses; it's already bad enough that his eyes are bigger than average human eyes. Which means that Mario isn't even human! The jury was out on Peach, until that whole Peachette thing... *shudders*
Mario and Peach would leave Master Hand's room, only to run into Pit and Kirby - who were now rejoined by Incineroar. Pit, the newest member of Iori's jazz band, was holding the trombone that Iori had given him.
"Hey fellas - what do you think-a of my sunglasses?" Mario asked Pit and Kirby; although the plumber was only wearing the sunglasses temporarily, the shades made him look stylish. Only he thought that...
"Thick," Pit offered his take on Mario's sunglasses, as Mario nodded his head. Almost like he agreed with what Pit said.
"Yep, you're right...I should've asked-a for tinted sunglasses instead." Mario was now feeling sad, as he walked down the hallway.
"No, Mario, I don't think that's what Pit meant..." Peach said to Mario, as she chased after her husband. So much for feeling like Blade and Neo.
In the foyer, Link was chilling by himself, as he adjusted his hat. Zelda would join the Hylian in the foyer.
"Heard that you, Cloud, and Champion Link went to the Seattle Children's Hospital," Zelda said to Link, startling the Hylian a bit when she made her presence. "Did volunteer work there, I assume?"
"I was doing some stuff with the kids there," replied Link, who was proud of the things he accomplished today. "And some entertaining, on the side." That remark made Zelda very skeptical. "Wholesome entertaining, as Cloud described it."
"Well that's nice to hear. Glad that Cloud was there with you at the hospital. It seems like he's looking out for you!"
"Yeah...guess you could say that. Not like I'm jealous of the guy, or anything. Hehe." Link would walk away, as Cloud approached Zelda from behind. Cloud heard what Link just said, and lightly smirked.
"Slightly jealous," Cloud quietly told Zelda, watching as Link went down the hallway. While Link had fun at the hospital...did he redeem himself? Did the Hylian do enough to make up for some of his previous actions, particularly with an ill Yukari?
In the eyes of Cloud, the answer...was yes.