Author's Note:
Only have two reviews to answer, this week...so let's see what they are:
"Is Melia's sister Tyrea going to show up for the Xenoblade chapter? (She is gonna play a role in the post game story) has McCree from Overwatch interacted with Chrom, Yusuke, Leon Kennedy, and Alvin? (Since Matt Mercer voices them). Will Caroline and Justine from Persona 5 stop calling Joker 'inmate' when they show up? (They can be part of the buddy cops too). And finally, what are your thoughts on the rumored Nintendo Direct that got cancelled?"
Since she'll be in the post-game story, yes. McCree has yet to interact with any of those characters. Caroline and Justine will stop calling Joker "inmate". And from what I've read, the Nintendo Direct isn't cancelled, but rather pushed back until late summer. Which I'm fine with. Wonder what that means for any Smash reveals. The other review comes from Prometheus:
"1) I recently played a fan game called Super Mario Dolor, you may want to check that out sooner or later if you want any ideas.
2) Ok I realized Wario isn't the only that dies 218 times, there is a video where Luigi gets hung by war crimes and Mario dies from falling off a cliff."
1) Just googled the game and...yeah, it looks like another Mario creepypasta game. I don't really mess around with those.
2) Mario dying from falling off a cliff sounds kinda funny...but Luigi, hung by war crimes?! Or was he hung for war crimes? Either way, that sounds messed up.
Episode 229: PartyBus
Being a robot and all, Zero was obviously a very tech-savvy dude. He made a high-tech printer that would make just about anything at voice-command, and also helped Samus make a giant robot suit. There was literally nothing that Zero couldn't do.
Like any other tech-savvy person, Zero owned a laptop. He didn't use his laptop that often, but he was still very protective of it. He knew that if his laptop ever fell in the wrong hands, his device would be damaged, lost, or even sold to a homeless man at a sweatshop. That happened to Diddy Kong's laptop once, and the spidermonkey to this day has yet to let it go.
Zero was using his laptop right now, as the robot was downloading some software in his room. The download was taking forever to complete, as it had only started around midnight. Usually, Zero was hesitant to leave his laptop on overnight, charged or not, but this was one of the few exceptions.
"Only a couple more minutes to go..." stated Zero, looking at the download dialog box and seeing the green download bar filling up. Something about watching that download bar felt oddly satisfying to him. "...laptop better not randomly restart, like last time."
"Hey Zero!" Waluigi greeted the robot, as he came inside the room. Waluigi being back at the tower was still something the other residents were getting used to; him being away was like an extended vacation for some. "Whatcha doin' on your laptop?"
"Oh, just downloading some pretty cool software I found online. You honestly have no idea how long this takes..."
"Is it possible to do other things on your laptop, like surf the web and stuff?" The way Waluigi asked that question made him sound tech-illiterate.
"Yeah, but this download is taking forever so I'm just dying for it to be completed. You need to borrow my laptop or something?"
"I need to borrow it, just for a hot minute...need to print something off. Don't reckon I can do it on that fancy printer of yours."
"Hold on just a second..." Zero checked his laptop's battery, and saw that it was fully charged. "...I think I might let you use my laptop."
"Are you for real?" Waluigi was elated, half-expecting Zero to turn him down, as Zero unplugged his laptop charger and offered his laptop to Waluigi.
"You need to use my laptop? Go ahead and knock yourself out." Zero handed his laptop over to Waluigi, and Waluigi, without closing Zero's laptop, hit himself in the head with it. "I didn't mean that literally..."
"I know - I was, uh, just testing you. I'll return this when I'm done!" Waluigi walked out of the room with Zero's laptop, as Zero slowly started having second doubts.
Zero: So the software I'm downloading is some music software that Knuckles was telling me about. Said that it was the best software around, and so I took his word for it. It better be worth all the time I spent trying to download it, though. Watching your laptop restart during a download for an update that does absolutely NOTHING is the worst!
Happy to be back in Seattle, and back at the tower, Waluigi hummed a happy tune as he strutted his way through the halls of the mansion. He entered the printing room, where he saw fellow lovable loser Dr. Cortex. Cortex, who was wearing a "MTSMGA" hat, was busy printing off similar hats with Zero's printer.
"What are you doing, Dr. Cortex?" Waluigi asked the evil genius, wondering why he was printing so many "MTSMGA" hats.
"Busy trying to make the Smash Mansion great again," replied Cortex; the search committee told the evil genius to suspend his campaign, but you just know that Cortex refused to listen. "What about you, Waluigi?"
"I'm about to file a trademark, for the Wah-Man!" Waluigi grabbed a USB cord from one of the printers, and connected it to Zero's laptop. "Don't tell Falco about it, he'll judge me forever."
"Do you need to use Zero's printer? I'll only make a few more hats, and make the rest later. There'll be enough hats for everyone! Muahahaha!"
"No thanks - I need to see how the 'WAH-MAN' looks like paper first. Got it on a Word document, on my email. After that, it'll be Phase Two."
"Well all the more power to you. Hope that trademark of yours makes you super rich! But not richer than me..."
Waluigi: I see a lot of myself in Robbie Rotten. I feel like we're both similar, in numerous ways. We're both cunning, intelligent, incredibly handsome, and exemplary villains. Then there's Robbie's signature song, which I can easily relate to - "We Are Number One". I use that song to acknowledge the three most important people in my life - me, myself, and I. Much like how Robbie acknowledges the three most important people in his life - him, himself, and, uh...he. I think that if Robbie and I switched places, nobody would notice the difference.
As Cortex continued to make more "MTSMGA" hats, Waluigi printed out the word "Wah-Man" on a blank sheet of paper. Waluigi took this sheet out from the printer tray, and looked at it proudly.
"Yup...Wah-Man is gonna look really fresh on a t-shirt one day," the lanky man remarked, before crumbling up the sheet of paper like it was nothing and tossing it into the nearby garbage can.
"Now that you mention it, I should start printing some MTSMGA t-shirts..." said Cortex, pronouncing the abbreviation MTSMGA without saying any of the letters. Waluigi closed out a few dialog boxes on Zero's laptop, leaving the one with the download open.
"Sweet mother of pearl! Zero's download is finally complete." Unplugging the USB port, Waluigi took Zero's laptop and ran out of the printing room. But as the lanky man left, he saw the download dialog box and stroked his chin curiously...
Almost every Friday, Mario would do some 80s-style exercises in his living room. Any other day, the plumber would do normal exercises, but on Fridays it was always the same old 80s fluff. Peach didn't mind the exercises as much, but the same couldn't be said for Spyro and Hunter.
"Lift that leg up, lift it as high as you can!" instructed the fitness coach on the television screen, Greg Smithey, as he and the other fitness geeks in workout gear were lying sideways on the floor lifting up their leg. Mario would do the same, in his living room.
"How can some-a thing that looks so simple be so hard?!" Mario complained, sweating buckets as he was lifting his leg up and down repeatedly. Spyro came across Mario in the living room, and saw the workout video on the TV.
"Was fashion considered irrelevant back then?" the dragon asked Mario, taking note of the attire of Greg Smithey and the other workout workaholics. "What's with the super tacky workout gear?"
"Like you have room-a to talk, you can't even wear-a clothes!" Done with his leg exercise, Mario fell unto the floor on his back, exhausted. "Also, wearing that gear helped-a them get buns of steel."
"Don't tell me you're trying to get buns of steel yourself..." Spyro couldn't picture Mario with rock-solid buns, the mere mental image was enough to make him cringe.
"I don't see why I can't, Peach would-a dig it." Mario would slowly sit up on the floor, just as the doorbell rang.
"Yeah, she'd be the only one..." Spyro mumbled under his breath, as Mario got up and ran to the front door. Standing on the doorstep were Link and Cloud.
"Hey Mario," Link greeted the plumber, before looking at Mario from head to toe. "Very interesting...workout ensemble you got on there."
"Oh, you like?" Mario struck a pose, as Link and Cloud looked on in disgust. "How about-a another one?" Mario struck another pose, and it was hard for Link and Cloud to look away. "Here comes-a the..."
"Stop it, Mario, I think we got the point..." Cloud said to the plumber, thankfully stopping him before he could do a back and flex his buttocks. That would've been something to see. "...can we speak with you for a second?"
"Why of course!" Mario stepped out unto the doorstep, interested in what Link and Cloud have to say. "So what's-a going on? How are you boys handling your candidacy?"
"We're handling it, pretty normally...except for Cortex. He's let the whole thing get to his head. As for the rest of us, we're just taking it one day at a time."
"Since we're both candidates, people have gone to us to complain more often that not," Link explained to Mario, getting used to what life would be like as the man of the mansion. "They keep voicing their complaints, and we don't know how to solve them."
"Okay, what's-a the most popular complaint?" asked Mario, willing to give Link and Cloud a few pointers. He could give as much guidance as he needed to.
"A lot of folks have been complaining about cabin fever, and staying inside the mansion all day," replied Cloud, as Link nodded his head. "They want to go out, but obviously many places in town are closed."
"That stay-at-home order..." Mario heard recently on the news that Washington state's stay-at-home order was extended, and he wondered how that affected the mansion and tower residents.
"Nobody is anxious or anything, just bored," stated Link, as Mario furrowed his brow and scratched his chin. "This is our first time hearing that anyone at the mansion was bored."
"Anyone that isn't Samus," clarified Cloud, knowing how little patience Samus had; if there was one person that was bored to death by the mansion, it was Samus.
Samus: Always dreamed about actually getting away from the lunatics at the mansion, and going on my own extended vacation. No, I wouldn't spend it with Master Hand or Crazy Hand; the former is most responsible for me being always irritable. But with all that's going on in the world, I might as well book a flight to the moon...or even Corneria. The Cornerians there were surprisingly nice.
"I have an idea...why not take a few residents out-a on a bus ride?" Mario suggested to Link and Cloud, who took the idea into consideration. "It can be like some-a kind of party bus, where you just-a party...and stuff!"
"I dunno, Cloud here has motion sickness," said Link, as he teasingly elbowed Cloud in his side. Cloud's motion sickness was pretty well-known by many.
"Shut up, Link, I'll be fine..." grumbled Cloud, before turning around and see Toad happily walking to the mansion. "...Mario, are you insinuating that we should take some residents out on a ride in Toad's bus?"
"That's exactly what-a I'm insinuating!" exclaimed Mario, thinking that Cloud was some kind of mind reader or something. "You boys won't-a have to do this party bus thing along - I'll be joining the ride."
"You don't really have to, but we would appreciate the support. Just don't do anything to embarrass yourself..."
"I have a lot-a of pride, Mr. Strife...I won't do anything of the sort," Mario assured the swordsman as he went back inside his house. "Now where did I leave-a my clown suit?"
"Now that I think about, this might turn out to be a bad idea," Link discussed with Cloud, having second doubts the very moment Mario mentioned his clown suit. Spyro approached Link and Cloud, as he looked back at Mario.
"You guys said something about a party bus?" the purple dragon asked Link and Cloud, with the latter nodding his head. "I'll come along, and keep Mario in check. Obviously Peach isn't gonna do it..."
Some interesting stuff happened in the last episode, when Silas gave Kamui a box of chocolates. This was seen as a romantic power move by Sonic and Crash, who wanted Silas and Kamui to be an item. Sonic and Crash were committed to the idea, but what about Silas himself?
Heeding Sonic's advice, Silas consulted the mansion's apparent matchmaker Wolf, in the mercenary's matchmaking room. The cavalier dared not to question why a space pirate was into matchmaking, for he was desperately looking for some form of guidance.
"Kamui seems to be the one for me, I can almost feel it..." said Silas as he closed his eyes and clutched his heart; Wolf rolled his eyes at the cavalier. "...is it okay to be in love with a childhood friend?"
"I'd say that anyone who doesn't find their childhood friend remotely attractive is a lost cause," Wolf offered his two cents, in slight disbelief that he managed to reel in a sucker in Silas. Partly thanks to Sonic. "So you got your head on straight."
"That's very assuring to know. But I'm ready to take the next step. I already got Kamui some chocolate, so what should I do next?"
"Don't take her out on a date - it's predictable, and she'll expect it. Rather, take Kamui out on a walk through the park. Or just anywhere outside."
"A walk around the park...wouldn't that technically be considered a date?" Wolf shook his head at Silas, tsking at him several times.
"Aye, it seems very apparent that you're still a novice at this romance thing. But you still have a lot to learn. Just go out for a walk outside with Kamui, and the progress you'll make with her will be insurmountable!"
Taking Wolf's romantic advice to heart, Silas left the matchmaking room, aware of what he must do. Greeting the cavalier outside the room were Sonic and Crash.
"Well? What did Wolf say?" Sonic asked Silas, eagerly awaiting the cavalier's response. The hedgehog refused to stop until Silas and Kamui were an actual couple.
"He suggested that I go out for walk with Kamui, at a park or anywhere else," replied Silas, and Sonic and Crash knew what they were planning on doing for most of the day. "So I guess that's what I'll be doing..."
"Alright then! Crash and I will be going out for a walk, too." This bewildered Silas, as he looked at Sonic with a questionable look.
"Going out for a walk, too? You have a woman to spend your time with? Or are you and Crash just going on a friendly walk?"
"I would go out with my girlAmy, but I don't know if she's busy or not. So it'll be just me and Crash...bros being bros." Sonic would wrap his arm around Crash, who flashed a cheesy smile.
Sonic: Ain't got much going on in my life right now, so ensuring that Silas wins Kamui's heart completely is me and Crash's goal. The two of us will be observing Silas, and making sure he's doing the right things with Kamui. We won't be correcting him or anything...he'll just have to learn from the mistakes he makes. Kinda like all the boyfriends out there. Myself included.
Even though Fox was married to Krystal and all, that didn't mean the pilot could still hang out with Falco. Fox and Falco were outside, jogging around the nearby park and the surrounding area of the mansion. Gotta keep up with their fitness.
"On your left," Falco called out to Fox, who turned to his left and saw Falco running up to him. For whatever reason, Fox frowned at Falco. "What's with that face?"
"Please stop saying 'on your left' whenever I'm up ahead," Fox pleaded to Falco, as he and Falco eventually jogged their way to the mansion premises. "Every time you say that, I keep thinking that the Black Panther is gonna come out from one of Doctor Strange's portals."
"That's right I'm trying to do - reminding you of cinematic greatness." Fox and Falco would come to a stop near Luigi's house, both pilots taking a breather. "That Portals scene was the greatest moment in movie history, and everyone knows it..."
"Yeah, yeah, I know...don't have to remind me." Glancing at Luigi's driveway, Fox would furrow his brow as he saw Luigi exiting his car...wearing a hazmat suit. "Dude, check out Luigi!"
"The heck is he wearing that for? Is he working at a nuclear plant now?" Falco would be questioning things even more, when he saw Luigi dig into his car to pull out a few grocery bags.
"We need to get to the bottom of this..." So Fox and Falco approached Luigi, and Luigi looked up and noticed the pilots before either one of them could say a word.
"Fox and Falco! How are you?" Luigi greeted the two pilots, unable to wave since both of his hands were full with grocery bags. "What on earth-a are you doing outside?"
"We were both going out for a jog, not like we were hurting anyone. We barely saw anyone during our..."
"And why aren't you both-a social distancing?! I get that you're close-a friends, but still. Remember, six-a feet apart!"
"Any reason as to why you went out shopping in a hazmat suit?" Falco asked Luigi, as he and Fox got closer to the plumber.
"I would wear a mask, but I had to take-a some extremely safe measures. I plan-a on shopping only once a month; I was gonna shop next-a week, but Daisy and Yuffie were-a complaining too much."
"Once a month, eh? And how long do you plan on doing this 'shop once a month' thing? Sure got a lot of groceries..."
"The more groceries, the merrier! I plan on doing this until-a 2024 at the earliest. That's when things-a will be a hundred percent safe."
"2024, at the earliest?! Now that's just crazy talk." Falco would've accepted until the end of the year, but 2024 was purely unimaginable for him and Fox. "Can we, uh, talk more about this?"
"Why yes, I'd love-a to! Let me put away all-a my groceries first." Luigi went to his front door, and as the plumber struggled to reach for his house key, Fox and Falco exchanged worried looks with one another.
Cortex's man of the mansion campaign was in full swing, as the evil genius printed out a plethora of "MTSMGA" hats with Zero's printer. He expected to give a hat out to everyone at the mansion. Anyone who dared to turn down a hat would be faced with Cortex's fury, or something like that.
"I will probably regret asking this...but are you certain that your dumb campaign will work, Dr. Cortex?" Uka asked the evil genius, as he accompanied him through the hallway; he tried to talk Cortex out of doing the campaign, but to no avail.
"As long as I have the faith, then everything will work according to plan," replied Cortex, extremely confident that he will become man of the mansion with or without his campaign. "Always gotta have that faith!"
"You could have the strongest amount of faith out of any man on his planet, and you would still fail as always. What could possibly make you think you'll actually be successful?"
"My campaign isn't a one-man job, you know...once my VP shows up, everything will be smooth sailing for here on out!"
"A VP? You mean, as in like...Cortex, I'm starting to think that you're taking this whole campaign way too far."
Cortex: Everyone knows that every great campaign needs a VP, to get things rolling. My VP isn't a vice president, mind you, but rather a vice...person. Basically someone that can be my running mate, my beta, my Scottie Pippen, so on and so forth. I already have in mind who this VP shall be, and I expect nothing but a warm reception when the big reveal is made!
"In order for my campaign to really get some steam, I'll need a good campaign manager," said Cortex, before passing by the lounge. The evil genius looked inside the lounge, and saw Pit playing Connect 4 with Kirby. Yes, Pit was losing...badly.
"Don't tell me you're considering Pit as your 'campaign manager'..." a worried Uka said to Cortex, who found himself scratching his chin in deep thought.
"Actually, I was gonna go with Kirby, but Pit seems like a better choice." Uka now wished that he had never opened his mouth. "He seems like he would enjoy being a campaign manager more."
"While that may be true, Pit is still an idiot by heart. Did you not see how he was, during Master Hand's Pikachu Day phase? He'll burn your campaign to the ground! Not that I would mind, of course."
"You can't have a great campaign without taking risks...and having Pit as my campaign manager is a risk I am willing to take!" Cortex would walk away, as he was considering his options. "I should discuss this with my VP first."
"Go ahead, and take your time..." Uka would follow after Cortex, knowing that no matter what decision Cortex and his so-called VP made, it would ultimately end in failure.
Mario, Link, and Cloud were speaking with Toad outside the mansion, where Toad's bus was located. Toad was still a bus thief - don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
"We were wondering if we could use that bus of yours," Cloud asked Toad, who didn't mind using his bus for any function. Carpooling, road trips, cross-country drug dealing, you name it. "We want to use it as..."
"...as a party bus!" Mario would finish for Cloud, exclaiming with a crazed look on his face. "Take all the residents that claim-a to be bored, and take-a them out for a ride around-a Seattle."
"Oh yeah, I like the sound of that!" exclaimed Toad, predictably in favor of the party bus. "We can start at the mansion, then head downtown, then to Bellevue and back to the mansion. How about that?"
"Sounds like a pretty good route," Link offered his two cents, as he nodded his head in intrigue. "Well, we might as well round up all the residents we can..."
"Better start-a now," said Mario, as he, Link, and Cloud went to the mansion. As the three went over to the mansion, Spyro would approach Toad, who was about to get his bus all tuned up.
"Hey Toad, do you take any suggestions, regarding this whole party bus thing?" the purple dragon asked the bus thief, just before he could enter the bus. "I have just a few in mind..."
Walugii wanted to use the music software that Zero downloaded, and he wanted to do it in private. Thing was, there was not a single place in the mansion - save for the bathrooms - where that was possible. And he didn't want to return to the tower, where Zero was. But there was one place the lanky man hadn't considered...and it was the mansion's attic.
"Heh heh...nobody can find me here," snickered Waluigi as he climbed his way into the attic, with Zero's laptop. After closing the attic door, Waluigi placed the laptop on the floor, and flex his fingers. "Time to get this show on the road!"
So after clicking the start button on the dialog box, and going through the terms and services mumbo jumbo and clicking "I Accept", Waluiig was now ready to use the music software. For whatever reason Waluigi overlooked the name of the software, but he got a good look at it now.
"'Project DIVA'?" the lanky man stared inquisitively at the name of the software, suddenly having many questions about Zero and his perceived masculinity. "Why would Zero wanna download this for? Does he want to be a diva...?"
"Waluigi! You still using my laptop, man?" Zero was heard calling from outside the attic, making Waluigi all sorts of nervous. Waluigi had to use the software real quick, before Zero caught him.
"How do I even start this thing?" Waluigi was clicking on all the screen, not sure what he was even clicking on - he just wanted to make the software work. "C'mon, you stinking software, do something!"
The software would do something, as a projection - no, three projections - were beamed from Zero's laptop. Waluigi would watch in awe, as the three projections revealed holograms of three individuals - two girls, and one guy. One of the girls, with her green ponytails, was recognized by Waluigi the most.
"Konichiwa!" the girl with the green ponytails greeted Waluigi, flashing peace signs with her hands. Waluigi was still amazed, backing himself into the wall.
"I don't believe it..." the lanky man said, pointing at the green-haired girl with his arm shaking violently. "You're...you're...you're Hatsune Miku!"
"Oh! You know my name!" Don't act so silly, Hatsune - a whole lotta people out there know who you are. "I see that you have downloaded the Vocaloid singing synthesizer software."
"So that software is not called Project DIVA? Thank goodness, because I was starting to have some serious questions about my friend, Zero...he's actually the one who downloaded the software."
"These are two of my friends - Megurine Luka, and Kaito," Hatsune would introduce the holographic girl and boy, respectively, to Waluigi. "Much like myself, they're Japanese idols!"
"Megurine Luka, and Kaito...hold up, is Kaito a boy? I thought all Vocaloids were female! Unless Kaito is a woman, disguised as a man."
"I am one hundred percent male..." confirmed Kaito, looking unnerved by Waluigi's assumption as Hatsune and Luka both shared a giggle.
"I'm dead serious, Waluigi, where is my laptop?!" Zero boomed from down below, letting out all his anger. You wouldn't like Zero whenever he's angry. "I know you're hiding somewhere!"
Zero: *facepalming* Why did I agree to let Waluigi borrow my laptop...I only did it just to be nice to the guy. He was stuck in jail for almost a month, so the next two weeks pretty much serve as his honeymoon period. This is why I hate being nice sometimes...I just don't know how X does it!
"Aw shucks, Zero is coming for me..." panicked Waluigi, who had no choice but to come out of the attic now just to appease Zero. "Can I trust you guys to stay here in the attic, until I come back?"
"We'll stay here for as long as you need us to," assured Luka, giving Waluigi a sense of confidence as the lanky man slowly opened the attic door. But before Waluigi could leave, he had one more question to ask.
"What if I closed out of the program, will you guys go away? I've only just met you, and I'd hate to see you go on such short notice..."
"We'll be just fine, provided that Vocaloid program is still up and running. Now go, if you must!" And go is what Waluigi did, as he opened the attic door and climbed down the latter extending from the door.
"Phew...out of the attic." Waluigi let out a breath of fresh air, once both of his feet reached the floor. "Now, to give Zero back his laptop..."
"I'm right here," announced Zero, standing a mere feet away from Waluigi. Waluigi screamed out of fright, as he nearly dropped Zero's laptop to the floor. Now that would've been very tragic.
"Good gravy, don't scare me like that Zero! Almost gave me a heart attack..." Zero could care less, as he took his laptop away from Waluigi. The robot then looked at the laptop screen, frowning.
"Is this...the music software that I downloaded?" The name "Project DIVA" served as a dead giveaway for Zero. "You weren't using the software before I could, did you Waluigi?"
"I would never...I just took care of the boring stuff for you. Like you know, terms of services and user license agreements..." Waluigi gave Zero a big smile, while looking suspiciously nervous.
"Oh you did? Thanks so much, Waluigi! I personally hate clicking through all that stuff, not like anyone reads that crap word-by-word. I better get going now."
"Have fun with that music software thingamajig!" Waluigi said to Zero, who went downstairs with his laptop. The lanky man then sought to go back to the attic, only to realize that the attic door...was closed. That door closed up pretty quickly. "Dang it, now I have to ask someone for a key..."
Luigi welcomed Fox and Falco inside his home, and both Fox and Falco were astounded by how different everything looked inside Luigi's house. More specifically Luigi's living room.
"Sure made a lot of changes here," remarked Fox, standing in the living room with Falco and seeing several pieces of furniture removed. "You plan on doing some redecorating?"
"Nope, I had to remove-a the furniture that carried the most-a germs," replied Luigi, as he was sweeping the living room floor. With the living room looking almost empty, Charles had more room to play around.
"Daddy, me wanna go outside!" Charles complained to Luigi, while he was sitting on the floor playing with his Play-Doh. He was about to put some Play-Doh in his mouth, and Luigi swatted it out of his hand in no time.
"Eh...I'll think about that." As Falco wandered off to Luigi's man cave, he saw something that greatly caught his attention. Something that made him appalled.
"Bruh, Fox, come here..." the avian pilot called out to his friend, who came over to the gaming room. What Fox saw inside that gaming room almost made him want to vomit...but not from disgust. From disbelief.
"Luigi, why is your man cave FULL OF TOILET PAPER?!" Fox shouted at the plumber, seeing the man cave nearly full to the brim with packs of toilet paper. Luigi was obviously one of the panic shoppers that came out in full force in mid-March.
"I dunno...I never realized-a how much I didn't need an abundance-a of toilet paper until now," confessed Luigi, admitting fault for his panic shopping ways. Which must've driven Daisy insane.
"At least you didn't buy a lot of food and let it go to waste..." mumbled Daisy, as she went inside a nearby closet to grab something. "...that would've been tragic."
Daisy: As I expected, Luigi became a worrywart when the pandemic started gaining traction in the United States. Being in Seattle certainly didn't help either. One day, Luigi was doing his best to remain calm, and the next day he was fighting with other shoppers over toilet paper. He literally gave in to the panic...sadly, he's only as good as the world allows him to be.
"Sure got plenty of hand sanitizer, too," remarked Falco, picking up a bottle of hand sanitizer that he found lying at his feet. "This one only kills 99 percent of germs!"
"ONLY 99 PERCENT?!" Luigi freaked out, grabbing the bottle of hand sanitizer and staring at the label. His eyes were glued to where the 99% was. "What about-a the other one percent-a of germs?!"
"I hope you realize that..." started Fox, only for Luigi to frantically throw the hand sanitizer out of a living room window. "...that no hand sanitizer can kill ALL germs at once. It's nearly impossible."
"I think you need to take a chill pill, buddy," Falco said to Luigi, as he wrapped his arm around the paranoid plumber. "Why don't you tell us a bit about how your life has been lately..."
Rounding up as many residents as they could, Mario, Link, and Cloud gathered the residents inside Toad's bus, ready to get the party bus on the road. Mario stood with Link and Cloud at the front of the bus, having to make a few announcements.
"Welcome, everyone, to the party bus!" exclaimed Mario, only to be met by feeble cheers and applause. Thank goodness Master Hand wasn't around to hear such a meager response. "Now tell-a me, who's ready to have-a some fun?!"
"Will there be food?" asked Yoshi, as he raised his hand up high. Mario saw that question coming from a mile away.
"Sure, there will-a be food...can't make any guarantees, but we might make a stop-a or two."
"Are you three going to be standing during the entire ride?" asked Anna, one of the few residents to ask Mario to be on the party bus. Was she really bored of being at the mansion?
"Yeah, that's a straight-up safety hazard!" shouted Hisui, sitting next to his younger sister Kohaku. "You're gonna get yourselves killed!"
"Oh please, when was the last-a time anyone has ever died-a standing in a moving bus?" questioned Mario, before having some second doubts about the question he just asked. "Actually, don't answer that..."
"This party bus is only meant for fun, since most of you guys complained about being bored," Link explained to the bus passengers, before being mindful of a certain smiling merchant. "Except for you, Anna...you badgered Mario into being here."
"I feel like one of the residents already!" grinned Anna, who was about to take great delight riding in the party bus. She couldn't contain her excitement.
"Letting her on may or may not be a mistake..." Cloud whispered to Mario and Link, before focusing all his attention on the passengers. "...so here's how this is gonna work - we'll start here, then head downtown, then to Bellevue, and Toad will take us all back to the mansion.
"Can you start back over again, I might've missed something," requested Yoshi, holding pen and paper as he was apparently writing down all the stops of the party bus route. Mario, Link, and Cloud all gave the dinosaur blank stares.
"...everyone keep your hands-a and feet to yourselves, during the ride," Mario advised everyone, completely ignoring Yoshi's request as he wanted to get the party bus a-rolling. "Toad, let's-a get moving!"
"Setting course on the party bus!" announced Toad, turning on the bus and stepping on the gas pedal as he backed the bus into a nearby tree. "Hehe, sorry about that, guys..." The bus thief then drove the bus unto the road, as the party bus was on a roll.
Sonic and Crash were walking along the sidewalk, a fair distance away from the mansion, when they saw Toad's bus pass them by. Although the bus was a "party bus", it was pretty hard to tell from the outside.
"Look at that, Crash, Toad must be taking some of our friends out on a field trip!" Sonic told the bandicoot, pointing at the bus as it rode down the road. "They must be practicing a lot of social distancing in that bus, amirite?"
"Ah, there you are, Crash! Been looking all over for you," exclaimed Aku, as the floating mask magically appeared behind Crash. Aku just couldn't live a single day without following Crash, could he? "What are you and Sonic up to?"
"We're just taking a walk outside, getting some vitamin D in," replied Sonic, as Aku appreciated the hedgehog for helping with Crash's immune system. "But most importantly, we're keeping watch of the mansion's next IT couple."
"The next IT couple? Who could that be?" Sonic would point up ahead at the two folks walking up ahead on the sidewalk - Silas and Kamui. "Please don't tell me you're trying to pair those two together..."
"Whaddaya mean, trying? Not like I expect to fail, or come up short. Excuse me for seeing potential between a man and a woman..."
Aku: I'm sorry, but I still think of Silas as an older-looking Lucas. Not only that, but when I heard him speak, his voice was scarily resemblant of Dark Pit's. What if...Silas is Dark Pit and Lucas combined? Dark Pit and Lucas could've perfectly mastered a fusion dance, like the ones they do on Steven Universe. Or the ones from Dragon Ball Z. Whichever one worked best for them.
Why don't we see how the "mansion's next IT couple" Silas and Kamui were handling things? So far, there was somewhat of a romantic feeling going on, as Silas and Kamui walked along the sidewalk.
"Things at the castle have been peaceful, especially with no Jakob around," said Silas, as an amused Kamui did her best to hide her smile. She knew exactly why Jakob wasn't back at Nohr.
"Oh, I bet..." responded Kamui, smiling just a little but not enough for Silas to notice and suspect some things. "...last time I saw him was at the mansion, a few years back. Three years, I think."
"Wow, that's a pretty long time! Don't know why he hasn't come back ever since. Got any idea as to what happened to him?" Kamui now wished that she kept her mouth shut, what with Silas being very curious.
"He...was brutally attacked by a dragon. That's all I remember." That was true, as Jakob was attacked by Rayquaza back in episode 105. Kamui wisely left out the part where Jakob got arrested by the police.
"Attacked by a dragon? I bet you were the one who was responsible." Silas teasingly elbowed Kamui, and Kamui giggled in response.
"I would never hurt Jakob...he might be a jerk to everyone that isn't me or Corrin, but he's still good at heart." Don't be telling likes like that, Kamui.
Toad was taking his bus - the party bus - to downtown Seattle, humming a happy tune along the way. With there being few traffic on the road, it was pretty much smooth sailing for the bus thief.
Of course, one obviously couldn't have fun on the party bus without a few fun activities. Thankfully for Mario, Link, and Cloud, Spyro came through and suggested some activities to Toad, which Mario and company agreed upon. One of those activities was hangman; one of the passengers gave Mario a secret phrase, and the others had to guess what that secret phrase was.
"Any more guesses?" Mario asked the passengers, standing in front of a whiteboard as the passengers had to guess the secret phrase. Only the letters M, A, T, R, H, D, and I made up the phrase so far, as the hanged sticky figure was only missing two legs.
"S...I'm gonna go with an S," guessed Little Mac, as he wrote two S's - one in-between the A and T, and another after the I. Little Mac pumped his fist, feeling good about his correct guess.
"I would like to buy a vowel...an E!" Yoshi shouted out, as everyone on the bus gave the dinosaur weird glances. Toad would've given one himself, if his eyes weren't on the road. "What's with the funny faces?"
"This isn't Wheel of Fortune..." Cloud pointed out to Yoshi, as Mario wrote an E in-between the T and R. The word "master" was formed.
"Is there a N? There has to be an N..." said Bayonetta, and the Umbra Witch was right as Mario wrote an N right before the D. Bayonetta smirked, as Master Hand's name was now fully written on the whiteboard.
"We're getting close-a people - keep-a the guesses coming!" Mario encouraged the bus passengers, as Toad finally arrived in downtown Seattle. The bus thief desired to play hangman with the others, but he was willing to make a sacrifice to keep the party bus going.
"Oh, is there a G?" guessed Akihiko, and Mario would shake his head no as he gave the stick figure hangman a leg. "Aw man...sorry, guys."
"I'm gonna guess there's a B," guessed King Dedede, and Mario nodded, writing down a B as Akihiko was feeling salty. "Ha, in your face, boxer boy!"
"Only one-a more letter left!" announced Mario, looking around at the bus passengers who haven't guessed a single letter yet. His eyes soon fell prey on Doc Louis. "Doc Louis, wanna take a stab-a at the final letter?"
"Ain't no way, I hate Hangman!" frowned Doc Louis, astonishing Mario and everyone else on the bus with his confession. "It's just a way to discourage bad spelling, through a casual display of public execution."
"Well then...that was a pretty loaded-a statement. Not entirely sure how I should-a respond to that..."
"I would like to solve the puzzle!" Yoshi blurted out, still thinking that he was a contestant on Wheel of Fortune. Tails would hold Yoshi back, determined to solve the phrase himself.
"The final letter of the phrase...is a U!" the yellow fox guessed, and Mario gave Tails a thumbs up as he wrote down a U between the B and M. The secret phrase was now completed...
"'Master Hand is a bum'!" Bowser read the hangman phrase out loud, with a high amount of glee. "Such a perfect phrase!" It was certainly a phrase that most of the passengers could agree with.
"Alright, who was the wise guy that came up with the phrase?" asked Link, as he looked around the bus. It could literally be anyone. "Speak now, or forever hold your piece..."
"It was all me...I'm the genius around here," confessed Pigma; the space pilot became somewhat of an instant celebrity, as he was happily exchanging high-fives with the other passengers for coming up with the phrase. "Yeah, keep it coming!"
"Playing hangman wasn't so bad-a of an idea after all," Mario said to Spyro, who was seated at the front of the bus just to keep the plumber in check. Spyro would respond with a smile.
Spyro: Mario's concept of a party bus was pretty lame, since Toad's bus obviously looked more like a public bus than anything. The optics of it all was out of wack. That's why I suggested those activities to Toad, to make things a little exciting during the ride. Who knows what Mario would've done...he'd probably have everyone workout on the bus, just like those tacky dudes with no fashion sense in that workout video.
With Waluigi looking for a way to get back inside the attic, Team Rocket on the mansion's sixth floor, looking to get into the attic themselves. One of the members, Meowth, had a key to the attic door.
"Why do we need a key to the attic door again?" James asked Jessie, watching as Meowth was on the ceiling trying to open the attic door.
"It's all because of some 'magic storybook' that Master Hand's apparently scared of," replied Jessie, letting out a grumble; kudos if you know what this storybook was. "Yet he claims to be scared of nothing..."
"Yeah, that's nothing but a blatant lie! Just like how he claimed to be all-knowing, yet he had no idea about my chair modeling career."
"You had a chair modeling career?" Jessie stared inquisitively at James, before a ladder fell down at her and James' feet. Both Jessie and James looked up, seeing Meowth next to the opened attic door.
"This way inside the attic!" Meowth said to Jessie and James, pointing inside the attic; Jessie and James both climbed up the ladder, as Meowth headed on in.
"That care package Giovanni gave us should still be in the attic," said James, as he and Jessie crawled their way into the attic. "I remember leaving it behind when we...installed...that thing..."
Once all members of Team Rocket were in the attic, they were staring straight at the three holographic Vocaloids standing before them...Hatsune, Luka, and Kaito. It was like they were staring at ghosts.
"Konichiwa!" Hatsune greeted Team Rocket with a smile, hitting 'em with two peace signs. Not even her smile was enough to wipe away Team Rocket's shocked faces.
"The Vocaloids...are in our attic?!" questioned a very perplexed James, able to recognize who Hatsune and company were. Even Wobbuffet wanted to join in on the fun, as he popped out from his Poke Ball.
"WOOOOOOOBUFFFFEEETT!" the patient Pokemon cried out, as Meowth slowly fainted unto the floor.
While Team Rocket was already in the attic, Waluigi was still trying to get in the attic himself. He figured that he should ask one of the candidates for an attic key, and he opted to go with Mitsuru.
"There you are, Miss Kirijo..." Waluigi creepily greeted Mitsuru, who just walked out of the beauty salon. "...I've been expecting you."
"You were waiting for me, weren't you?" asked Mitsuru, finding it strange how Waluigi knew to find her at the beauty salon. "How long have you waiting around at the beauty salon?"
"Eh, it was a pretty long time. Sadly I don't have much going on in my life right now."
"I can tell...so, what is it that you want, Waluigi? My patience for you is quite thin."
"I just need a key to get inside the attic. Didn't know that you know need a key to get in, so..."
"Well I hate to break it to you...but I don't have a key." This was bad news to Waluigi, who frowned and snapped his fingers in disgust.
"Dang it! I thought you would be the one. Now those poor Vocaloids are stuck in the attic, missing my awesome presence!"
"The Voca-what now?" Mitsuru looked sternly at Waluigi, who had his mouth covered.
"The..the Vocals! They're a local a capella group here in Seattle. They've been self-quarantining themselves up in the attic."
"Uh huh...and why haven't I heard about this..." Before Mitsuru could finish, Waluigi scrammed away to save his hide. "...and there he goes."
Someone rang the doorbell, at the front of the mansion, and Lip went to go see who it was. The red-haired fairy ran down to the foyer and opened the front door, startled to see a certain bald-headed evil genius on the porch. Any idea who it was?
"Greetings, sweet fairy girl that I invented!" greeted the evil genius, who was none other than Dr. Nitrus Brio. He was carrying a briefcase in his hand, which kinda worried Lip a bit. "Hope you are doing well."
"I'm doing just fine, thanks for asking..." responded Lip, as she kept a very close eye on Brios' briefcase. "...so what brings you to the mansion?"
"Cortex asked for my presence, and so here I am. I have important business to discuss with him, regarding his campaign!"
"Don't tell me you're sipping any of Dr. Cortex's kool-aid..." Brio would march his way inside the mansion, without Lip even letting him in. "...where are you going?"
Lip: Brio bringing that briefcase with him must mean that he plans on living at the mansion, for the short-term...oh no...oh no.
"The only kool-aid I drink is the kool-aid of success!" Brio proclaimed to Lip, while shaking his fist at the fairy. "Which I invented. Also invented all the other kool-aid flavors, in case you weren't aware."
"Dr. Brio, why on earth are you at our mansion?" Lucina questioned the evil genius, as she came down from the stairs. "We don't have anything special going on today."
"But you do have something special going on...the race for man of the mansion! And guess what? My good friend Cortex wants me to be his VP!"
"A VP? As in like, a vice president? I think you need to let Cortex know that he's taking his campaign thing completely out of proportion."
"Not a vice president, you ninny...a vice person. I'll be nothing more than a sidekick, who will help Cortex become man of the mansion."
"Is that why you brought your briefcase, so you can stay at the mansion and plan stuff with Cortex? This is going to suck so much..."
"Ha ha...I beg to differ. Now show me my room, or else I'll blow your precious kingdom - which I invented - to smithereens!"
After a quick pit stop, Toad got the party bus rolling, as Mario and company kept the passengers engaged. Right now, everyone (except for Toad) was playing charades, and it was Diddy Kong's turn as the spidermonkey stood in front of the bus.
"Uh...you're constipated!" guessed Red the Pokemon Trainer, as Diddy was looking angry with his arms folded. "Is that not it?"
"Brainstorming?" guessed Researcher Zelda, and the princess turned out to be wrong as Diddy shook his head. "Okay, what about meditating?"
"This has to be some kind of anime reference," assumed Alph, and the young astronaut was getting somewhere as Diddy nodded and pointed at him. "He's entering Sage Mode!"
"Doesn't take that long to enter Sage Mode," stated Tails, as time was quickly running out for the bus passengers. "Obviously he's not using a jutsu..."
"Time's up, people!" announced Link, looking at his stopwatch as time reached zero. Diddy ended his intense pose, letting out an exhale. "So what was it, Diddy?"
"Guys, c'mon, I was using a STAND!" an exasperated Diddy shouted at the confused passengers, alarmed by their ignorance. "Have any of you ever watched Jojo's Bizarre Adventure before?"
"How were we supposed to know that, you were just standing there frowning the whole time!" frowned Mr. Game and Watch; the 2-D man seldom watched anime, if ever, so it's not like he would've gotten it right.
"That's the point! I was letting out bundles of Stand energy, by standing in place. If you guys ever watched the anime, you would understand."
"Okay Diddy, that's enough," Cloud said to the spidermonkey, before looking around at the passengers. "Altaïr, you're up next."
"Knew I should've done the torture dance instead..." Diddy grumbled to himself, returning to his seat as Altaïr went up to the front of the bus.
"This is only my first time playing charades, so please forgive me if I confuse any of you," Altaïr informed the bus passengers, before acting out his charade. The assassin got down on the bus floor, and lifted his leg up and down and looking like he was in pain.
"Photo shoot! Beach model!" guessed Yoshi, giving out his guesses at rapid fire. "KC and The Sunshine Band!"
"KC and The Sunshine Band?" Little Mac looked inquisitively at Yoshi, who shrugged as Altaïr stood up and started doing squats.
"He's imitating a fitness trainer," assumed Iggy Koopa, as Altaïr was doing his squats up and down with a straight face. "I'm guessing...Jillian Michaels!"
"Wait a minute, I know what he's doing..." said Spyro, who was quick to recognize the exercises that Altaïr was doing. "...Altaïr is imitating Mario, when he does those lousy '80s exercises!"
"That is correct," Altaïr said to Spyro, as he stopped doing the squats. "I saw Mario doing those exercises, through his living room window...most disturbing thing I've ever seen him do."
"Yeah, you tell 'em, Altaïr!" gleamed Mario, before his face sank as he smile turned upside down. "What, hold-a on..."
Mitsuru was very curious about "The Vocals", the so-called local a capella group that Waluigi spoke of, and was going around looking for answers. The young woman consulted the residents about this a capella group, and even a few select pets.
"You seem pretty smart and aware..." Mitsuru said to the Duck Hunt Dog, who was too busy licking his privates in the middle of the hallway to listen. "...ever heard of an a capella group called The Vocals?"
"Woof woof!" barked the Duck Hunt Dog, before resuming licking his privates - an act that only dogs could pull off without judgement. Imagine seeing a human licking their own lower extremities.
"Why did I bother asking you...talking to you is like talking to a wall." Mitsuru saw Team Rocket pass by, with the corner of her eye, and the trio was all smiles. "Team Rocket, why are you all smiling?"
"Um...beats us," replied Meowth, grinning suspiciously while holding a Team Rocket care package in his hands. Mitsuru stared down Team Rocket as they went down the hallway, no doubt feeling wary about them...
Fox and Falco spoke with Luigi, asking him how he's been handling things ever since the pandemic first started. The pilots then spoke with Daisy and Yuffie, to see how Luigi's recent behavior was affecting them.
"We haven't ordered stuff from Amazon as much as we used to," Daisy spoke with Fox and Falco in the living room, with Yuffie standing by. "And we can't even order pizza. Luigi doesn't trust the delivery services anymore."
"Is it because the packages and boxes and whatnot carry germs?" asked Fox, with Daisy nodding her head as she wished to do online shopping again. "That's insane, when you think about it."
"Not only that, but Luigi is afraid of going outside, even for things like shopping for groceries. He thinks that just being outside is a guaranteed death sentence!"
"Which would explain his hazmat suit..." remarked Falco, as he stroked his beak in thought. "...normal people would just wear a mask."
"Well Luigi is turning into anything but normal," said Yuffie, as she walked away from the living room. "I'm worried that he might turn into a crazy germaphobe! Not the wholesome kind, like Howie Mandel."
"Leaving so soon?" Daisy asked Yuffie, watching as the ninja girl was advancing to the screen doors. "Our discussion isn't over yet, you know."
"Oh I know - I'm just heading out to the patio, to get some fresh air. Pretty nice weather outside!" As soon as Yuffie touched the screen doors with her hand, Luigi came running down the stairs to stop her.
"No, Yuffie, don't go out-a side!" Luigi yelled at the ninja girl out of concern of her livelihood, as he pointed at her. "You'll kill some-a one's grandma!"
"I'm just gonna chill out in the patio...can't kill anyone's grandma from there!" Yuffie stepped out of Luigi's house and into the patio, and Luigi let out a sigh of relief once he saw that Yuffie remained where she was.
Yuffie: Luigi would shame me for whenever I go outside...yet I see him taking Charles outside for secret play dates. With AND without his hazmat. Which makes him the supposed granny killer! Anyone else see the irony in that?
"Me wanna go outside too!" Charles called out to Luigi from the living room, as Luigi was looking nervous. Luigi went over to Charles, picking him up and cradling him in his arms.
"One day we'll go out-a side together, one-a day..." Luigi assured his son, as Daisy looked at her husband with a look of skepticism. The doorbell rang, and Luigi would answer the door, seeing Brio.
"Great googly moogly...your living room looks almost empty!" Brio said to Luigi, looking past the plumber and see how much furniture Luigi had removed. "If the furniture you removed was not invented by me, I see your line of reasoning."
"Dr. Brio!" Luigi greeted the evil genius, who was scratching his itchy noggin. "You look to be in good-a health."
"I'm the greatest inventor ever...health is always a priority of mine. Anyways, I've been told that you have a large stash of toilet paper."
"Why yes-a I do! Don't know why I bought-a so much for...I think I scared-a out of my mind at the time."
"Very likely story...Cortex and I require all the toilet paper that you have, for our super-secret paper-mache creation. Which is super secret. Forget that I ever mentioned anything."
"Follow me - I'll show-a you my stash!" Luigi let Brio inside his house, leading the evil genius to his man cave. Fox, Falco, and Daisy watched the plumber.
"At least that toilet paper's good for something..." mumbled Fox, as Luigi was tossing rolls of toilet paper unto Brio's arms.
Silas and Kamui just finished their walk, and were now sitting together on a bench. Spying on them from a distance were Sonic and Crash, hiding behind a tree with Aku accompanying them.
"We should give those two some privacy," suggested Aku, as Sonic turned around and looked at Aku with a scowl on his face. "They need some quality time together, without us intruding upon them!"
"Dude we're like, six or seven meters away from them," Sonic said to Aku, before bringing his attention back to Silas and Kamui. "They probably don't know that we're here."
Silas and Kamui were looking at the sky together, and there was not a single cloud. Nothing but the sun, shining its sunlight and its sunbeams down.
"Any more childhood memories of us two coming back?" Silas asked Kamui, as he wrapped his arm around the princess. Sonic was liking where the conversation was headed.
"No...I can remember all of them now," smiled Kamui, laying her head against Silas' arm as Sonic was grinning from ear to ear. "So many memories..."
"Yes, we had plenty of fun times together...you, me, and even Corrin. But I reckon that I spent more time with you than I did with Corrin."
"You know, I've been having a lot of daydreams lately...about finding my own Prince Charming." Silas perked up, interested in what Kamui had to say.
"Oh, you do? Go on, spill it all out...I'm not here to judge." Knowing Sonic, that hedgehog must be at the edge of his seat right now.
"So everyone knows that Prince Charming goes out to save the damsel in distress, right? I was just thinking to myself and..."
"You're not insisting that you're a damsel in distress yourself, are you Kamui. I'd say that you're far from it!"
"Of course I am...I am just a damsel. But, I couldn't help but wonder if I have already found my own Prince Charming."
"Believe me, there's a whole bunch of them out there...finding the perfect one is no easy task!"
"Certainly, it isn't...but if you ask me, I think that I've finally found my own Prince Charming."
"Is that so? Care to tell me who this Prince Charming is?"
"Well I've always been a believer actions speak louder than words, so...let me show you."
Kamui would soon catch Silas by surprise, reaching out for a kiss as she kissed the cavalier. And just like that, Silas and Kamui were kissing each other, sharing a romantic moment together on the bench.
"Would you look at that...they actually kissed," remarked Aku, who looked down at Sonic and saw the hedgehog recording Silas and Kamui's kiss. "Sonic...?"
"History in the making, boys..." smiled Sonic, almost shedding a tear as he recorded the kissing scene. He was even considerate enough to record horizontally. What a flipping hero.
"Sonic do you really need to record this, does them kissing mean that much to you? You're way more invested in this than I imagined..."
"Woah!" shouted Crash, as he pointed at an approaching vehicle. Sonic stopped recording and looked up, and saw Toad's bus.
"Sweet, that's Toad's bus!" exclaimed Sonic, as he put his phone back in his imaginary pocket. "Let's see if we can beat Toad to the mansion." So Sonic and Crash ran off, with Aku staying behind and watching Silas and Kamui kiss.
"There might be some potential with those two..." the floating mask had this to say about Silas and Kamui, before floating away. "Wait up for me, boys!"
Yashiro was one of the passengers on the party bus, and at the suggestion of Toad (through Spyro), the idol singer brought his karaoke machine unto the bus. Which could only mean one thing...karaoke.
"The winner takes all...it's the thrill of one more kill..." Red sang into the microphone, standing at the back of the bus with music from the karaoke machine playing. "The last one to fall...will never sacrifice their will!"
"Why did we let him pick his own song?" Cloud mumbled to Link, not in favor of how seriously Red was taking his karaoke performance.
"Don't ever look back, on the world closing in..." Red continued to sing, as he marched his way to the front of the bus. "...be on the attack, with your wings on the wind...oh, the games will begin!"
"At least this makes up for last year's Super Bowl," Link said to Cloud with a shrug, just as Red reached the front of the bus.
"And it's sweet, sweet, sweet victory... yeah! It's ours for the taking...it's ours for the fight! And it's sweet, sweet, sweet victory... yeah! And the one who's last to fall..."
"Wooo, guitar solo!" cheered Yoshi, as he Red immediately stopped and frowned at the green dinosaur. "No guitar solo?"
"Dang it Yoshi, you ruined my performance! I was killing it, too...nice going, man."
Peach: Mario is gone, and he still has that workout tape of his paused in the living room...which means that I can finally get my own workout on! Mario is going to be in for a real surprise when he sees my new and improved glutes. *smiles*
It was now Yosuke's turn to sing some karaoke, and the young man picked a song that surprised a lot of the passengers. The song he had chosen...was a signature song of System of a Down.
"I don't think you trust...in...my...self-righteous suicide..." sang Yosuke, doing some kind of weird shimmy as he sang his heart out. The shimmy was so weird, it was hard for anyone to keep a straight face. "Why...cry...when angels deserve to DIIIIIIEEEE!"
"He's right, angels do deserve to die," remarked Bayonetta, as she nodded her head in approval of the lyrics. As Yosuke was shimmying, Mario looked out the window and saw Sonic and Crash.
"Look at that - it's-a Sonic and Crash," the plumber said to LInk and Cloud, as he pointed at Sonic and Crash. Sonic was running fast, as always, while Crash was struggling to keep up.
"Yeah, I see them too!" said Toad, who was starting to slow the bus down much to Mario and company's chagrin. "Let's see if they wanna be on the party bus!"
"No Toad, you don't have to do that..." advised Cloud, wanting to end the party bus on a peaceful note. Sonic and Crash would prevent that from happening.
"Here you go, create another fable - you wanted to!" sang Yosuke, as he was moving around at the front of the bus. "Grab a brush and put a little makeup - you wanted to! Hide the scars to fade away the shakeup...you wanted to...why'd you leave the keys...upon the table...you wanted to..." Yosuke was moving around so much, that he was nearly out of breath.
But the young man would be allowed to take a breather, for Toad stopped the bus...just to let Sonic and Crash in. The bus door open, and a moment later, Sonic and Crash made their way inside the bus.
"More people inside than I thought..." remarked Sonic, as he looked around at the bus passengers. "...I wanted to beat the bus to the mansion, but Crash and I will take what we get."
"Don't forget about me!" a voice called out from behind the bus door, which opened; Aku floated his way inside the bus, as the bus door closed back up.
"Toad, why'd you have to let Sonic and Crash inside the party bus?" Link questioned the bus thief, making Aku feel all left out. The Hylian knew how much trouble Sonic and Crash could bring. "Everything was going so smoothly..."
"Oh snap, this is a party bus?" said a very excitable Sonic, rubbing his hands together before spotting Yashiro's karaoke machine. "You guys singing some karaoke? Can I take a crack at it?"
"No, Sonic, it's not even your turn. Yashiro has yet to finish his song." Link would look towards Yosuke, who was no longer in the mood for singing.
"Actually, Sonic can go ahead...I'm all tuckered out," said Yashiro, regaining his breath as he tossed the mic to Sonic. "Take it away, Sonic..."
"Will do!" exclaimed Sonic, as he caught the mic from Yosuke. "Since I'm in a lovey-dovey mood today...how about a song called, 'I Believe in a Thing Called Love'?"
"You got it!" replied Mario, the operator of the karaoke machine, giving Sonic a thumbs up before finding the song that Sonic selected.
Sonic: I learned a few things today. One, love still exists. Obviously. Two, love never fails. That's from the bible. And three... *grins* ...Silas and Kamui are gonna make for one heck of a couple. Don't know why, but I feel very empowered.
Waluigi finally found someone who had a key to the attic door, in Dark Pit. Being that Dark Pit was a secondary groundskeeper and all, Waluigi should've asked the doppelganger for a key from the get-go.
"Here's your key, I guess," Dark Pit said to Waluigi, as he handed him the key. Waluigi was happy as he repeatedly kissed the key, much to Dark Pit's disgust. "Make sure you give it back, aight? And disinfect it, too..."
"Thank you, Dark Pit, you're a lifesaver!" Waluigi thanked the doppelganger, before running down the hallway like a crazy madman. "Vocaloids, I'm coming for you!"
"Did he just say...Vocaloids? What a delusional man..." Dark Pit shook his head as he turned around, only to bump into Pit, who was smiling. "What are you so happy about?"
"I have some very good news to share with ya, Pittoo," replied Pit, and Dark Pit couldn't care less. "I was speaking with Cortex and Brio earlier..."
"Brio? As in like, Dr. Nitrus Brio? If I ever have to hear him go on about his 'inventions', one more time..."
"...and they both want me to be Cortex's campaign manager!" Dark Pit was left stunned, looking at Pit in a utter state of disbelief.
"They want to make YOU a campaign manager? Is Cortex that desperate? Or is he purposefully sabotaging himself?"
"I dunno, but I gotta say I'm pretty stoked. With my vision, goals, and intellect, Cortex will be man of the mansion!"
"Ha, what intellect..." Dark Pit snorted and looked away, still in disbelief that Cortex chose Pit of all people. "...guess we can kiss Dr. Cortex's chances goodbye."
Cortex met with Brio, and the two were discussing things about Cortex's campaign and whatnot. Cortex was even kind enough to let Brio stay in his room, although his roommate Wario was at odds of having extra company.
"Thank you for being such a great VP, Brio!" Cortex thanked his friend, hyping him up despite it being his first day as VP. "So, you think Pit will make for a great campaign manager?"
"Frankly, he was the only person that would agree to do it," replied Brio, as he and Cortex made their way to the sixth floor of the mansion. "He may prove his worth, in the creation of our paper mache display."
"Correct! Speaking of which, we need some wallpaper paste, for our project. Should be enough in the attic."
Cortex and Brio were pleasantly surprised to see the attic open, with the ladder to the attic already extended. The two evil geniuses climbed up the ladder, into the attic...and were startled to see Waluigi, hanging out with the Vocaloids.
"I'm sorry for being away for so long - the powers that be were working against me," Waluigi apologized to the Vocaloids, as Cortex and Brio were looking at the Vocaloids with dumbfounded looks.
"It's okay, we've been waiting patiently for your return," replied Hatsune, wanting to pet Waluigi on his shoulder but couldn't knowing that she was just a hologram. "We had some company during your absence..."
"Yeah, I bet, but they were nothing compared to the likes of I. Now, how about you give me a rocking musical performance, for yours truly...the Wah-Man!"
"Hold on...I think we have even more company," said Luka, as she saw Cortex and Brio huddled together at the attic door. Cortex's dumbfounded look was slowly turning into a smile.
"Are you seeing this, Brio?" the evil genius asked his friend, as he excitedly pointed at the Vocaloids. "Holographic anime girls, standing in my presence! One of my wildest dreams has finally come true!"
"Ah, yes, the holographic anime girls that I invented..." remarked Brio, smiling creepily as he rubbed his hands. Something about Brio's comment was very off-putting to Kaito.
"Um, just to be clear, I'm not an anime girl..." Kaito frowned, his fault for being a Vocaloid. And a male Vocaloid, at that.
Zero: Something's wrong with my music software...Knuckles mentioned that when I play a song on the software, a Vocaloid hologram is supposed to appear and start singing. But so far, nothing's happening - just the music is playing! Waluigi must've tampered with the download process...
"Oh, you're here for the performance, too?" Hatsune asked Cortex and Brio, unaware of how creepily they were smiling. "We could really use an audience!"
"As in, a musical performance?" inquired Brio, before something clicked in the evil genius' head. "Dr. Cortex, I think I have a BRILLIANT idea..."
Mitsuru was still feeling suspicious about Team Rocket, and so the young woman hunted down the trio to find out what they were smiling about earlier. She would eventually corner them in the gaming room, ready to interrogate.
"Explain this..." commanded Mitsuru, holding a Rotom Phone, before thrusting said phone into the faces of Team Rocket. All three members cowered in fear.
"It's...it's a Rotom Phone!" explained Meowth, scared to the point of not giving Mitsuru any eye contact. "The hottest new thing in the Galar region!"
"I don't care about the phone...what I do care about is what's ON the phone!" What was on the phone was a picture...or rather, a group selfie that Team Rocket took with Hatsune and the other Vocaloids. Mitsuru swiped through the selfies, making Team Rocket feel guilty.
"Yeah, it's just a bunch of selfies we took with holographic Japanese idols, why do you care so much?!" questioned Jessie, who didn't like being put on the spot. "Sounds like you're jealous..."
"Am not. Judging by these selfies you took, I can assume that these idols - the Vocaloids - are up in the attic."
"Why do you want to know so bad?" asked James, tired of the interrogation. "Yes. they're up in the attic!" Now having known that, Mitsuru tossed the Rotom Phone back to Team Rocket, before walking away.
Luigi looked inside his man cave, proud of all the toilet paper he got rid of. It was thanks to Brio, for asking for some...erm, all of it.
"With all that excess toilet paper gone, I think it's about time you had a change in behavior," Fox told Luigi, approaching the plumber from behind along with Falco.
"What, are you saying I should start-a buying hand soap, in surplus?" asked Luigi, as Fox shook his head at the plumber. Why buy a lot of hand soap?
"No, what I'm saying is, you need to stop being such a worrywart. You're letting things get to your head, man."
"He's right - think about the example you're setting for Charles!" said Falco, as Luigi took a peek inside the living room and saw Charles playing toys with his younger sister, Deanna. "If you keep up your hysterics, he'll think you're an even bigger coward than advertised."
"But how do I stay-a calm?" asked Luigi, acting like keeping tranquil during unprecedented times was impossible to do. "All I'll do is panic even-a more!"
"Then just get away from the things that make you panic in the first place." Falco made his suggestion, as he wrapped his arm around Luigi. "Turn off the news, avoid crap on the internet...think about the positive stuff. Good vibes."
"Good vibes...yeah, good-a vibes!" Luigi was now showing more confidence, as he smiled and tightened his fists. "I can't let this whole-a virus hubbub get to me. I need to stay up-a beat, and positive!"
"Yeah, that's the spirit!" Fox nodded his head, as he gave Luigi a thumbs up. "Think about Daisy, and how she feels - she feels stressed out with all your constant panic! Yuffie, too!"
"Hey Luigi, I'm back!" announced Yuffie, returning inside the house as she made she made her way to the living room. The very moment that the ninja girl sneezed, Luigi started panicking again.
"Sneezing isn't a symptom of the virus..." Fox informed Luigi, who took a deep breath as all the panic went away. "...just take a chill pill, dude."
"I might need-a my doctor to prescribe me for that," quipped Luigi, sharing a quick laugh with Fox and Falco. The whole world could really use a chill pill.
Yuffie: Now that Luigi is acting more calm now, I won't have to worry about asking him for permission to go outside! Not that I ever did that in the first place, that would make me feel like a teenager. But Luigi won't be accusing me of "killing grannies" anymore!
The karaoke session was quite a hit among the bus passengers. So much, that the passengers even asked Toad to keep the party bus going. Toad obliged, as he rode his bus around a nearby cul-de-sac. You had to wonder what the folks living in the cul-de-sac were thinking, seeing a bus driving around in circles.
But as the old saying goes, all good things must come to an end. And so when Toad parked his bus at the mansion driveway, it signaled the end of the party bus. The residents filed out of the bus, with Mario standing outside with Link, Cloud, Toad, and Spyro.
"That was a pretty fun experience, really needed that," Akihiko said to Mario and company, as he got out of the bus. "Hope to do that again in the future."
"We'll have-a to see about that," responded Mario, with Akihiko flashing a smile as he headed inside the mansion. Sonic and Crash then got out of the bus, with Aku not too far behind them.
"Did I have the best karaoke session or what?!" Sonic asked Mario and company, with none of them keen on answering. "Don't try and hide it. I just wanted to sing one of my favorite songs."
"I'm sure there was more to it than that..." remarked Link, and the Hylian had no idea how right he was. Anna would step out of the bus, having something she wanted to say to Mario.
"Honestly, I've never been on a bus before," the merchant said to Mario, looking like she had a fun time on the party bus. "So my first ever bus ride...was a pretty fun one, I'll say."
"Well I'm glad-a you liked it, Anna," Mario smiled at the merchant; the plumber still struggled to see why Master Hand disliked Anna, in spite of her greedy ways.
"And I'm glad to have been a part of it. I must thank you, Mario, for putting the party bus together."
"Actually, don't thank-a me...thank Link and-a Cloud. It was their idea." Mario, giving Link and Cloud all the credit? Talk about a baller move.
"Really? In that case...thank you, Cloud and Link! With the way you two are going about do things, this whole man of the mansion race might end in a tie!"
"I wouldn't rule that out," remarked Cloud, who saw him and Link as being equals, albeit with a few differences. "I'd say we're the cream of the crop."
"I'm inclined to agree...anyways, I should head back in. Good luck to you both!" So Anna went inside the mansion, her day having been made.
"Bet you're glad that I came along for the ride," Spyro said to Mario, who was pretty appreciative of the purple dragon. Who knows what stuff Mario would've come up with, without Spyro's involvement.
"You really made-a the party bus feel special..." responded Mario, giving Spyro a smile as Spyro smiled in return. "...you, Link, Cloud, and even-a Toad. This was a great-a group effort."
"I'd be down for a party bus 2.0," said Sonic, who was really craving for the full party bus experience. "But with flashing lasers, and paint battles, and..."
"Paint battles inside a moving vehicle is a safety hazard, Sonic," Aku said to the hedgehog, who snapped his fingers in disgust. "So hold off on the weird ideas..."
Mitsuru was up in the attic, searching for the Vocaloids. But when the young woman showed up, she saw that the Vocaloids were nowhere to be found. So she climbed down the ladder, with more questions than answers.
"Where could those Vocaloids be?" wondered Mitsuru, once she was back on the mansion floor. Just then, she saw Zero walking in the hallway with his laptop, speaking with Knuckles.
"I play a song from the software, and not a single Vocaloid shows up!" Zero explained to Knuckles, with music blaring from his laptop. "There's only three Vocaloids in the software, and I have yet to see one of them."
"Fox and Falco dabbled in this kind of software before, they might know what to do," Knuckles said to Zero, before he and the robot came to a stop when they came across Mitsuru.
"Hello boys - I heard you mention something about Vocaloids," Mitsuru said to Zero and Knuckles, wishing to help the two out if it meant finding the whereabouts of the Vocaloids. "I take it you're looking for them?"
"Yeah, they were supposed to be projecting from my laptop, with this software I downloaded," explained Zero, as Knuckles furrowed his brow when he heard some loud music nearby. "No matter what I do, nothing seems to work!"
"Wait, do you guys hear that?" asked Knuckles, as he made a few steps over to the nearby recording studio. "There's some music playing in the recording studio..." Curious, Knuckles opened the door to the recording studio...
...and saw the Vocaloids - Hatsune, Luke, and Kaito - all recording a song in the recording booth. Cortex, Brio, and Waluigi were watching, as Mitsuru and Zero joined Knuckles at the door.
"So that's where they've been..." remarked Mitsuru, as Zero tightened his fists when he saw Waluigi. Waluigi turned around, and panicked when he saw Zero looking angry at him.
"Waluigi! Did you mess around with my software?!" Zero questioned the lanky man, angrily stepping inside the recording studio as the Vocaloids stopped recording.
"No, no, it's not what you think!" replied Waluigi, backing away as Zero moved Cortex and Brio aside to get to Waluigi. "I can explain!"
Cortex: Brio came up with a brilliant idea...use those Japanese idols to produce a song that we could use to brainwash the search committee (and all the residents, if necessary) into naming me man of the mansion! It would be our backup plan, if for some explicable reason I'm out of the running. I have a feeling that Brio might use the song against me, so that he could be man of the mansion, but what are the odds of that happening, amirite?
Brio: You trust that man way too much, Dr. Cortex...
"I'M GONNA WASTE YOU SO MUCH, WALUIGI!" Zero yelled at the lanky man, closing his laptop as he lunged towards him. Waluigi screamed as Zero chased him around.
"...we're still recording, right?" Kaito asked Cortex and Brio, as Zero chased Waluigi out of the recording studio.
A new couple was formed today, in Silas and Kamui. The two had their first kiss earlier, which signified the beginning of their relationship. And with evening approaching, it was time for Silas to head back home.
"We had such a great day together," Kamui spoke with Silas, at the mansion's front door. "You can do more than just visit every Friday, you know..."
"I'll try to come and visit on Monday, if I can," assured Silas, knowing that Kamui could no longer wait another whole week for his presence. "Or Sunday. Whichever one works best for you."
"No, Monday is fine. Don't want you to feel compromised with your schedule back at Nohr. I'll be waiting for you till then!"
"I'll make sure to be a man of my word." Silas would lean in forward to Kamui, for a very romantic kiss. "Take care now, Kamui!"
"See you soon!" Kamui said to Silas, waving to the retreating cavalier before closing the front door. The princess then let out a happy sigh. "He'd make for a great Prince Charming..."
"Yes, I was on the so-called 'party bus'...learned a lot about the others," someone said, sounding like they were speaking on the phone. Kamui, hearing this, looked over and saw Yoshi speaking on the mansion's house phone. "Manged to keep up the act during the entire ride."
"Yoshi...?" Kamui uttered the green dinosaur's name, as she walked closer to the dinosaur in question. Yoshi, sensing that Kamui was eavesdropping on him, wanted to end the phone call ASAP.
"I think they're on to me...I have to go. We'll talk another time. Bye." Yoshi quickly hang up the phone, before looking back at Kamui and skedaddling out of the foyer.
"Yoshi, wait, come back!" Kamui chased after the green dinosaur down the hallway, only to come to a stop when she saw that Yoshi was nowhere to be found. Seemingly vanished into thin air. "Where did he go...?"
"Something wrong, Kamui?" Zelda asked the princess, approaching her from behind. Kamui was bewildered, wondering where Yoshi ran off to.
"I just saw Yoshi speaking on the phone, and his phone call sounded a little suspect. I tried chasing him down, but he just...disappeared, I guess."
"That is very strange...but, as a candidate, I feel that it's my duty to get to the bottom of this. I'll ask Yoshi about this later."
"Okay then, I'll let you handle it." Kamui looked behind her, before walking away from the hallway cautiously. A few moments after Kamui left, the sound of toilet flushing was heard, followed by the sound of sink water...followed by Yoshi exiting the bathroom.
"Ah, glad I got that out of my system!" Yoshi exhaled happily, before closing the bathroom door. "Now, why do I feel like someone called my name?"
Just from the looks of it, something awfully screwy was afoot...