Author's Note:
Sephiroth is now in Smash! I repeat, Sephiroth is now in Smash! I didn't actually think they would add a third Square Enix character, but they went ahead and did it anyway. The moment I heard "One-Winged Angel" after Gallem got sliced in two, I almost lost my mind. Sephiroth might be another anime swordsman, but he appears to be a universally liked one. And judging from his reveal trailer, he might be the best DLC character so far. Can't wait to play as him soon. Oh, and one more thing...I'll be answering guest reviews, finally!
...or so I would have been. Unfortunately, I was unprepared; I figured I had a lot of reviews to answer, so I had planned on going all the way back to chapter 232 and copy and paste any guest review left behind (while also responding to any user review). But alas, I didn't do what I planned on doing (I partially blame Sephiroth's reveal), and I didn't feel like staying up all night gathering all the reviews I left unanswered. So I'm gonna have to hold off on replying to reviews till next week, just hold your horses. Answering reviews is something I haven't done since May, so it's been a pretty long time. As I said in the last author's note, I haven't been keeping up with the reviews as much as I used to...so I'm kinda scared about whatever things you might have suggested. But if you still have anything you wanna suggest, then feel free to leave your suggestions behind. With that out of the way...enjoy!
Episode 260: Lightshow
For most people who celebrate Christmas, it was almost customary to have Christmas decorations, whether they were in your house, outside your house, or even both. Besides Halloween, Christmas was the only acceptable holiday for decorating your home. Of course, you could decorate for Thanksgiving, but unfortunately, that's not very common...
The friendly neighbors who lived outside the mansion - Mario, Luigi, Marth, Olimar, Pac-Man, Alm, and Berkut - always went ham when it came to decorating their houses with decorations. Always got them in the Christmas spirit. Whether it was a standing reindeer, an inflatable snowman, or even a sleigh on top of the roof - you really couldn't go wrong with any decoration. As long as it didn't disturb the peace.
The Smash Mansion was very much in the spirit of decorating, as the establishment was decorated from head to toe with Christmas decorations of all kinds. Master Hand was outside looking at the bedazzled mansion with Nakoruru, who was put in charge of decorations this year. Nakoruru thought it was strange that Master Hand gave her the job, but she made the most of it.
"I love what you've done to the front of the mansion, Nakororu," Master Hand said to the shrine maiden, watching as the Christmas lights flickered. It was in the daytime, mind you; Master Hand just wanted to see the aesthetics. "However, there is one thing missing..."
"And what might that be?" inquired Nakoruru, fearing that whatever Master Hand wanted to add was greatly unattainable. Master Hand had a strong tendency of going up and beyond, as you might've learned over time.
"You know how people have every square inch of the front of their house decorated with lights? We should totally do that!" Nakoruru gave Master Hand a dubious stare, not fully on-board with the giant hand's suggestions.
"That would be too many lights! Zelda said the light bill's high enough as it is. Also, what if we get sued?" The thought of being sued made Master Hand laugh.
"Sued for what? For being too fun? For showing up the entire city with our Christmas display? Or would we be sued out of jealousy, because our display would be better than anyone else's? I'm gonna go with that one."
Master Hand: Decorating is one of the best things about Christmas since you can show your neighbors weak and pathetic they are. While your lousy neighbor can have some lousy wreath hanging on their front door, you can go all out and drape your house with Christmas lights, and pull off light shows that'd make people in Sydney, Australia cry! Obviously, we could've done much more this year, but Zelda stopped us from reaching our full potential. Either she hates fun more than I realized, or she's just cheap. Imagine being a princess, and being cheap.
Master Hand would continue to marvel at the Christmas decorations, before turning his left, at the Assist Tower...and seeing a large reindeer decoration in the tower's front yard. The giant hand gasped at the very sight.
"Oh wow...that's one really big reindeer..." remarked Nakoruru, as she too saw the large reindeer decoration. How big was it? It had the height of three Christmas trees. Master Hand was shaking.
"Wh-Where in the world did they get that thing from?!" questioned Master Hand, left with a plethora of answers as he floated over to the tower. Nakoruru cautiously followed behind as Master Hand approached the Excitebike Racer, who was looking for a power switch on the large reindeer.
"Power switch, power switch...where are you?" wondered Excitebike Racer as he searched high and low for the power switch, but couldn't find it anywhere. The biker turned around, spotting Master Hand as he screamed and jumped back.
"I demand answers!" Master Hand bellowed at the Excitebike Racer, who fell back on the ground in fear as he backed away. "This large reindeer decoration, where did you get it from and how much did it cost?"
"Knuckle Joe got it from the NME Superstore, it was like fifty percent off!" The Excitebike Racer was now cowering in fear, his hands over his head. "Please don't burn that reindeer or anything...just kill me instead!"
"No, I won't do either..." Relieved, the Excitebike Racer looked up, wondering why Master Hand was acting so candid. You'd think the giant hand would wipe the large reindeer out of existence. "...I'll just show up you punks instead!"
"By what, getting a reindeer even bigger than ours? This isn't a competition, Master Hand." The Excitebike Racer would be slapped by Master Hand, as the biker was sent flying a few feet.
"It's a competition now, Excitebike Racer! This just got personal." Now having a competitive edge, Master Hand turned his attention to Nakoruru, who gulped in fear. "Nakoruru, I want you to get the mansion a large reindeer, just like the one the tower has. But bigger."
"But what if I can't find a bigger reindeer, what if it's out of stock?" asked Nakoruru, asking some pretty understandable questions; Master Hand just responded by dropping a wallet in the shrine maiden's hands.
"Inside that wallet is a credit card that I only use for holiday purchases. Should have plenty of money left. Don't let me down, Nakoruru!" And with that, Master Hand vanished away, leaving Nakoruru behind with a seemingly improbable task.
A couple of episodes ago, Mario and Luigi went on a trip to the Crown Tundra, searching for legendary Pokemon with a boisterous man by the name of Peony. The Mario Bros had a pretty mutual bond with Peony, having braved through the cold and frost of the tundra with the explorer leading the way. In fact, Mario and Luigi for the life of them couldn't think of anyone that found Peony rather annoying.
However, there was one person that did...and that would be Peony's own daughter, Peonia. Peony mentioned back in episode 253 how he would try to be nice with Peonia, only to see her daughter refuse to return the favor. The explorer even mentioned these parental struggles to the Mario Bros...and it would be Mario who would come through for his fellow "Adven-Tour" buddy, letting him and Peonia stay at his house over the holiday season.
"You arrived-a from the train station? Great!" exclaimed Mario, who was on the phone speaking with Peony. Spyro and Hunter were peaking from the corner, wondering who Mario was speaking with. "I should expect to see you and-a your daughter soon."
"Sounds like we got a few house guests coming our way," Spyro whispered to Hunter as Mario continued his phone conversation. "It's no wonder that Mario was busy sprucing some things up around the house."
"If these guests are trying to kick us out, then they got another thing coming," Hunter whispered back, under the belief that Peony and Peonia were evil just like the ladies from Hyrule and the RWBY gang.
"Whoever these guests are, I think we should just leave them alone. The last thing we'd want is for them to think that we're weird or something."
"We need to execute a game plan, so we can maintain our place in Mario's home. You contain the daughter, while I take out her parent!"
"What if this parent is a mother?" Hunter wouldn't dare to hurt a woman, would he? The cheetah has done crazier things in the past.
"Then I'll let you handle the mother and the daughter. Since you're a smooth talker with the ladies. You can put them down easily."
"Me, a smooth talker...first time hearing that. But I must admit, I'm better talking with women than you are."
"That's not entirely true, I have my way with girls. Take Samus for example - the two of us are practically joined at the hip!"
Hunter: Want some advice? Never talk to Samus. Ever. She'll slap you, break your arm, kick you in the groin, or do all of the above. I'll never understand why the hottest chicks in existence have to be so violent. If only Bianca was violent like Samus... *pauses ...n-not that she's not super attractive or anything.
"Okay then, see-a you soon!" exclaimed Mario as he ended his phone call with Peony, just as Peach showed up in the living room. Mario diverted his attention to the princess. "Just got off-a the phone with Peony; he and his-a daughter are on their way."
"'He'?" Hunter furrowed his brow, as Mario noticed the cheetah's visible confusion and let out a slight chuckle. "Peony sounds like a girl name!"
"There's a literal flower called peony," stated Spyro; Viridi and Haru would be impressed by this factoid from the purple dragon. "Guys don't have names that belong to flowers!"
"That's right! How weird would it be to know a guy whose name was Petunia? Or Violet? It just doesn't sound right!" Just then, the doorbell rang, sounding much sooner than Mario and Peach anticipated.
"I wonder if that's them..." wondered Peach, as Mario went to the front door to see who it was. Mario opened the door and saw Peony, standing by with an adolescent girl - his daughter, Peonia.
"Mr. Mario! We have arrived!" announced Peony, who had all his belongings with him, as he flashed a hearty grin. Peonia was looking down at the ground, seemingly contemplating her life choices.
"Ah, Peony! You came-a earlier than I expected," Mario said to the explorer, with Spyro and Hunter getting good looks at Peony. As expected, Hunter was looking very skeptical. "Come in, come in!"
"Oh, man! Haven't been inside a house this warm in AGES!" Peony hammed it up as he and Peonia came inside Mario's house. And as soon as Mario closed the front door... "Mario, you never met my adorin' daughter Peonia, have you?"
"Really, do we have to do this now?" frowned Peonia, who clearly wanted nothing to do with her dad. She could've just stayed behind at Freezington, but when you had a father like Peony, you had little choice in the matter.
"Say hello to Mario, sweetheart!" Peony grabbed Peonia and held her in front of Mario, expecting Mario to greet the girl with open arms. But Mario...just stood there, with no reaction.
"I've already met-a your daughter, Peony," the plumber said to the explorer, who was unaware of Hunter sneaking upon him with a frying pan. Peach snatched the frying pan away from the cheetah. "We saw her at the Max-a Lair; she claimed that she saw a Rayquaza, and she took-a off while you were all star-a struck."
"I remember it now...and I thought there was an actual Rayquaza, too! I should've grounded you for that, Peonia, for messin' with your old man. But I love you too much to go through with it!"
"It was just a harmless joke," stated Peonia, although it wasn't a harmless joke in nature; the girl just wanted a break from her old man. Peonia saw Peach approaching her, with two cups of hot chocolate sitting on a plate.
"Hi Peony and Peonia, I'm Princess Peach," Peach introduced herself to the father-daughter duo from Freezington, as if they were both born yesterday. "Mario's loving wife. I made you both some hot chocolate!"
"How long do we have to stay here, dad?" Peonia asked Peony, not caring for Peach or the hot chocolate Peach had made. She just wanted to go back home and run around in the Max Lair, where Peony wouldn't bother her.
"We're gonna stay here until the end of the month," replied Peony, as Peonia felt herself screaming internally. The poor girl was in shambles, and then some. "This is a great place for some father-daughter bondin'!"
Peonia: Father-daughter bonding...I was afraid he was going to say that. *sighs* If I ran away, do you think my dad would notice?
"Couldn't bond with his daughter back home, huh?" Hunter whispered to Spyro, now even more skeptical about Peony than before. "Sounds like a pretty lousy father to me!"
"Just give the guy a chance," replied Spyro, as Peach offered a cup of hot chocolate to Peony. Peonia turned her cup of hot chocolate down in a hurry. "Maybe Peony's here to gain pointers from Mario! Not the kind of guy I'd be asking for help, though..."
Christmas was the absolute perfect time for shopping online, finding the perfect Christmas gifts on the Internet. While some residents such as Champion Link made the most of online shopping, others like Link found it to be a struggle. This was why the Hylian preferred to shop in person.
Link was out Christmas shopping, and he refused to go about it alone. So with Cloud handling business at the mansion per usual, the Hylian asked his other bestie Champion Link to be a tag-along. He even brought with him a Christmas list; most of the items were for Zelda.
"A humidifier sounds like an interesting gift for Princess Zelda," Champion Link as he was going over Link's Christmas list. The two Links were on their way to the nearest superstore, where they planned to do most of their holiday shopping. "Isn't that used by people who vape?"
"No...it just raises the humidity in a room," explained Link as he saw a superstore just up ahead, only a couple of feet away. Pretty decent crowd present. "It's also good for clearing up skin."
"So is it some kind of skincare product or something? I'm so confused..." As the two Links were about to enter the store, they suddenly bumped into a young blonde lad, who seemed like he was in a rush.
"Hey, watch where you're going!" the blonde frowned at the two Links, rubbing his head as he angrily stood up. The two Links also stood up, with the blonde pointing at both of them. "I'm gonna have to fine you both, for bumping into me without my permission!"
"Dang it, I literally just gave Vault Boy the last of my rupees!" frowned Champion Link, who had nothing of monetary value to give. The poor Hylian was more broke than Link ever could be. "I can't pay anyone some stupid fine..."
"Chill out Champ, I don't think this guy is serious," Link said to Champion Link before returning his attention to the blonde, who was still pretty angry. "What do you mean, we bumped into you without your permission?"
"Exactly what I said!" the blonde shouted, ready to throw a temper tantrum as he was almost starting a scene at the superstore entrance. "No matter where I go, there's always someone bumping into me! It's almost a conspiracy, at this point..."
"But what do you mean 'without permission'? Do you like it when people bump into you?" That got the blonde to think, as he realized that he might've used the wrong choice of words.
"Wouldn't say it's something that I like...but I'm getting sick and tired of it! Everyone is moving so fast! People need to slow down, you know what I mean? No more Mr. Nice Guy..."
"Barry? Is that you standing around at the entrance? Always taking off when I'm not looking...at least give me a heads up next time, will ya?"
A girl adorned with a red sweater-dress came up to the blonde, Barry, bringing a white bag with her. She came at the right time, for Barry had a Poke Ball in his hand ready to fight.
"Good timing, Dawn, right on cue!" Barry commended the girl, before angrily looking towards Link and Champion Link. Neither Hylian wanted any trouble. "These dorks had the audacity to run into me! I'll fine them later, but first..."
"I think you can save your Empoleon for another time," the girl, Dawn, said to Barry as she grabbed the Pokemon trainer's arm - the one with the Poke Ball in hand - and gently held it down. "This isn't the place."
"But how are we gonna teach those dorks a lesson?" Barry pointed at the two Links, both of whom had Dawn's full attention. One good look and Dawn could tell that the Links were far from being dorks.
"Green tunic and hat..." Dawn observed Link, before slowly turning her head to Champion Link. "...blue tunic and slightly feminine looks...and both of them have pointy ears! Which means..."
"...which means they're colossal dorks, and most deserving of an outrageous fine! Empoleon, show 'em who's boss!" Using his Poke Ball, Barry sent out his Empoleon, refusing to leave until he gave the two Links a piece of his mind.
"No, Barry, stop! Don't you see? These two must be incarnations of Link, from Hyrule." Before Barry could give Empoleon any commands, he took a gander at Link and Champion Link, cooling off on his anger.
Champion Link: Slightly feminine looks...why does everyone think I look like a girl? It's not even funny anymore...
Link: Told you months ago to ditch the bangs and ponytail. But one day, you'll learn...one day...
"The two legendary heroes of Hyrule...are at this supermarket?!" exclaimed Barry, who went from being angry with the two Links to fangirling over them in an instant. His attitude sure changed pretty quickly. "What are the odds?!"
"Looks like we got ourselves a number one fan," Link muttered to Champion Link before Barry ran up to him and shook his hand. He would do the same with Champion Link, to make sure that he wasn't imagining things.
"Wow! I can't believe I'm actually talking to you guys! I'm not gonna fine you two anymore! Feel free to bump into me as many times as you like!"
"Stop it, Barry, you're embarrassing yourself..." a humiliated Dawn said to the Pokemon trainer, as she saw several customers passing by and giving Barry questionable looks. Once he was done fangirling, Barry saw the Christmas list that Link had and took it out of the Hylian's hand.
"That's one shopping list you got there...how about I help you with it?" Link desperately wanted to say no, but Barry was too infatuated with the Hylian at the moment to have his feelings hurt. "What do you say?"
"Just say no, just say no..." Link pleaded to Champion Link through clenched teeth; Champion Link, who was feeling nervous for whatever reason, mustered up the courage to answer for his fellow Hylian buddy...
"We sure could use an extra hand, hop on aboard!" Champion Link said to Barry, with Link grunting in disbelief while Barry raised his fists high and smiled.
"Awesome! This is gonna be the greatest holiday shopping spree ever! C'mon, we got no time to waste!" Ever on the move as he always was, Barry ran off with his Empoleon, ready to prove his worth to the two Links.
"Barry, watch where you're going!" Dawn shouted at the Pokemon trainer, who ran into an old lady on an electric scooter by accident. Both Barry and the old lady fell unto the floor, with nearby shoppers looking.
"Watch it, grandma! Just because you're on that electric scooter doesn't mean you run the place. I'm gonna have to fine you for almost injuring me!"
"Oh, Barry..." Dawn shook her head at the Pokemon trainer, before turning to the two Links and giving them a warm smile. "...just give Barry a chance, he might grow unto you eventually."
"I hate you so much right now..." Link glared down Champion Link, who shuddered in fear as the Hylian bros followed after Dawn. Meanwhile, Barry was talking smack to the old lady, with his Empoleon having to intervene.
Nakoruru was at another superstore in town - this one being the NME Superstore. The shrine maiden's task was to find a large reindeer similar to the one the tower had and fortunately, she managed to find one.
"You're in luck - this is the last reindeer decoration in stock," a Flaming Leo said to Nakoruru and Captain Falcon - the latter was asked to take Nakoruru to the NME Superstore in his Falcon Flyer. "You came at the right time!"
"How much for it?" inquired Nakoruru as she took out Master Hand's credit card. There wasn't a price tag on the large reindeer, so it could be anyone's guess as to how expensive it was.
"Thirteen thousand dollars, last time I checked." Thirteen thousand dollars for a large reindeer? You could find a large reindeer for much cheaper online.
"They got all these expensive items on sale, and yet this place still looks like the most rinky-dink store in town..." Captain Falcon murmured to Nakoruru, who giggled as she handed the Flaming Leo the credit card. The Flaming Leo's eyes bulged when he saw the name inscribed on the card.
"Master Hand has a credit card now?! That sounds pretty scary the more I think about it..." The Flaming Leo scanned the credit card, as he made the transaction official, before handing the card back to Nakoruru. "Enjoy your large reindeer! You want a receipt?"
"Yes, that would be nice," replied Nakoruru, as the Flaming Leo handed the shrine maiden her receipt. The large reindeer was now purchased...for Nakoruru, that was only the easy part. "How do we get this reindeer back to the mansion?"
"I don't know, I thought you figured out a plan before we got here," replied Captain Falcon, as Nakoruru gave the racer a frown. "You know I didn't think that far ahead! This is on you!"
"Is there a way you can deliver this reindeer to the Smash Mansion?" Nakoruru asked the Flaming Leo, knowing that the Falcon Flyer wasn't large enough.
"We used to do delivery services, but our boss stopped that earlier this year," replied the Flaming Leo, not helping Nakoruru much with her situation. What store would ever stop delivery services? "It was mostly due to complaints."
NME Salesman: We used to deliver stuff to our customers, but then complaints starting building up and we had to pull the plug. We used to get all sorts of complaints! One customer says the package made her hair catch on fire, another customer claimed their package nearly exploded upon delivery. We even had one customer say that their package gave them extremely bad memories of their ex-girlfriend. Which wasn't really a complaint at all. Some people are just weak-minded like that.
"Well, Captain Falcon...can you think of anything?" Nakoruru asked the racer, seeing that the Flaming Leo was no help. The complaining customers were mostly to blame.
"I'll just get Villager to pocket the reindeer for us..." grumbled Captain Falcon, trodding his feet across the floor as he walked away. "...don't do anything stupid while I'm gone!"
Sonic was Crash's Secret Santa this year, and the blue hedgehog sought to make things right with his friend after he used him for his hamfisted "rivalry" between the bandicoots and Keyblade Hero 3. Aside from Crash, Sonic also had to do right with everyone else involved - Coco, Crunch, Sora, Riku, and Kairi - just for getting them caught up with his shenanigans.
While Sonic brainstormed different ways to redeem himself for his actions, Sora was on a quest to prove to Riku and Kairi (but mainly Riku, a nonbeliever) that Santa Claus was real. One might expect the Keyblade wielder to be grasping at the straws...which was exactly what he was doing.
"Look you guys, it's Santa Claus!" exclaimed Sora as he brought Riku and Kairi to the gaming room, where Doc Louis was dressed up as Santa Claus. Sitting on the boxing trainer's lap was Lemmy - one of the eight reasons why Doc Louis sometimes detested dressing up as Santa for Christmas.
"No, little boy, Santa can't get you an AK-47 for Christmas this year," Doc Louis said to Lemmy, extremely baffled that the Koopaling even asked for that. "Aren't you a little too young to own a gun?"
"I already owned my own airship and my own castle," replied Lemmy, and there was nothing Doc Louis could say to refute that. "So why can't I have my own gun? Maybe my dad will respect me more!"
"He never respected you, to begin with...now get off my lap." Grumbling, Lemmy got off of Doc Louis and walked away, as Sora and friends came near. "Ho, ho, ho! Which one of you three wants to sit on my lap?"
"It's actually him, it's really Santa Claus!" Sora said to Riku and Kairi as he pointed at Doc Louis; Doc Louis smiled and waved, with Kairi returning the favor while Riku looked unimpressed.
"That's clearly Doc Louis dressed up as Santa," stated Riku, who was beginning to wonder if Sora was insulting his and Kairi's intelligence. "You can't fool me, Sora!"
"I'm not Doc Louis - boy, you're just talking silly!" Doc Louis said to Riku as he slapped his knee and laughed. Riku couldn't help but cringe. "Now take a seat on my lap, and tell me what you want for Christmas!"
"Why would I want to sit on a grown man's lap? Sounds awfully suspect to me..." Sure didn't sound too suspect to Slippy Toad, who gleefully took a lap upon Doc Louis' lap. Which was not very ideal for Doc.
"Hey, frogman! What do you want for Christmas?" Doc Louis asked Slippy, wanting the frog off his lap ASAP; much like everyone else in the mansion, Doc Louis couldn't stand Slippy's presence.
"All I want for Christmas...is a picture with you, Santa!" exclaimed Slippy as he wrapped his arms around Doc Louis, who was looking scared for his life. "Fox, Falco, where are you? Take the picture!"
"We're coming, we're coming!" Fox shouted to Slippy as he and Falco showed up with their phones. The pilots both got into position.
"Smile for the camera, you two!" Falco said to Doc Louis and Slippy, as he and Fox used their phones to take pictures of Slippy with Doc Louis. Both pilots made sure to get the visible horror on Doc Louis' face in the frame.
"Is this some kind of setup?!" frowned Doc Louis as Fox and Falco kept on taking pictures of him with Slippy. "Why are y'all taking photos of me with this dumb frog? Get off of me, son!" Doc Louis aggressively pushed Slippy off of him, already fed up.
"But Santa, we haven't taken any funny photos yet!" said Slippy as he hopped right back on Doc Louis' lap, wrapping his arms around the boxing trainer as he had some kind of vice grip on him. "There! You can't push me off now!"
"Help, somebody help! Get this dumb frog away from me!" Sora and Kairi were both giggling at Doc Louis' plight, while Riku found none of the shenanigans to be quite funny.
"He does realize that's Doc Louis dressed up as Santa Claus, right?" Riku asked Fox, who was taking pictures until Slippy told him and Falco to stopped. "He's not a real Santa Claus."
"Anyone dressed up Santa Claus is a real Santa to Slippy," replied Fox, who found that statement to be just as baffling as Riku did. Did Slippy believe that there were multiple Santas? "Unless you're a woman, or you're not fat. Then Slippy thinks of you as a poser."
"If only Slippy actually knew the truth..." Having seen enough, Riku walked away as he was about to leave the gaming room. Sora turned around and saw the silverette trying to make his escape.
"Wait, Riku, come back!" shouted Sora as he chased his best friend out of the gaming room, with Kairi following after him.
Falco: One of the things Slippy likes to do every holiday season is taking a picture with a different Santa. So far, only he enjoys it. Can't say the same for me, Fox, or anyone else involved. We've nearly getting to the point where we might be banned from every shopping mall in Seattle. Thanks, Slippy...
Sora: Ha, I figured that Riku knew Doc Louis was dressed up as Santa Claus. I was just testing to see how smart he is. But I'm not done yet, I'll still find a way to convince him that Santa Claus is real! I know that there's a Santa in this universe somewhere. If push comes to shove, we might have to fly to the North Pole to find Santa! Isn't that where people say he lives?
Thanks to Villager's Pocket ability, Nakoruru and Captain Falcon were able to bring the large reindeer to the mansion. They presented the large reindeer to Master Hand, who placed the large decoration at the front of the mansion.
"Isn't that decoration too close to the porch?" Captain Falcon asked Master Hand, who had the large reindeer positioned in front of the porch steps. Ridley was about to enter the mansion, only to walk into the large reindeer and fall back on the ground.
"No, I think this is the perfect spot!" exclaimed Master Hand, as Ridley - who couldn't squeeze his way through underneath the large reindeer - got up and rubbed his head. "Compliments the entrance so well. Take that, Assist Tower!"
Master Hand looked over at the tower and gasped out of fright when he saw another decoration at the building's front yard. The tower now had meteor shower Christmas lights, all adorned on a tree, with Guile turning the lights on to see if they worked.
"Gah, the light, it blinds!" Guile frowned after turning on the lights, with bright white lights radiating on his face. The major quickly took out his pair of sunglasses and placed them over his eyes, sighing in relief. "Ah, much better..."
"LED Christmas lights? Are you kidding me?!" growled Master Hand, angry all over again as he hovered over to Guile. The bitterness was pulsating throughout the giant hand. "Whose bright idea was this?!"
"nice pun," remarked Sans, randomly showing up as he clicked his fingers at Master Hand. The skeleton scurried away when Master Hand turned to face him.
"These lights were a suggestion from Waluigi," Guile informed Master Hand as he turned off the lights and put his sunglasses away. "He got them from Sears."
"Sears? Sears?! Since when did appliance stores start selling Christmas lights?" Sears also sold clothes, but that wasn't important to Master Hand right now.
"Is everything okay, Master Hand?" Nakoruru asked as she approached the giant hand, before looking at Captain Falcon and whispering, "I think I know what's going to happen next..."
"Nakoruru, I need you and Captain Falcon to go to Sears and find some LED Christmas lights. But brighter. And better. Much better!"
"But we have enough lights as it is. We've literally draped every corner of the mansion with lights, we don't need anymore!"
"The LED lights are for the trees, you idiot!" Calling Nakoruru an idiot? Some folks might take great offense to that. "Uh, I mean...go get those lights for me or else, woman! I'll skin your bird companion alive..."
Link and Champion Link got all of their Christmas shopping done, and they got it done with a helping hand in Barry. Dawn wasn't much help, but she was around to keep Barry in check. Lots of people at the superstore were charged by Barry with fines, and not a single one of them cared.
"Thanks for the help, Barry," Link said to the Pokemon trainer as he and Champion Link were holding shopping bags full of Christmas gifts. The Hylian turned his attention to Dawn, who was standing next to Barry. "And thanks to you, Dawn, for uh...your presence."
"Eh, it was the least I could do," responded Dawn before giving a side-eye to Barry...who was sporting a black eye. Evidently, someone took great offense to being fined - must've been Seattle Seahawks legend, Marshawn Lynch.
"I'm going to fine everyone in this entire store!" proclaimed Barry as he looked up at the heavens and pointed upwards. The shoppers just stared at the Pokemon trainer for a brief moment or two, before continuing with their business.
"...yeah, good luck with that, buddy," replied Champion Link as he and Link were heading out of the store. "You two take care!" So the two Links left the superstore, having gotten what they came for, and just as they made it out to the parking lot...
"Hold it...I think we're being followed," Link said to Champion Link as he put his arm in front of his friend. The Hylian slowly turned around...and saw Barry standing a couple of feet behind him and Champion Link. Dawn was with Barry, but only because the thought of Barry being alone sounded hazardous.
"Would you look at that, we're both headed the same way!" grinned Barry in a lousy attempt to play off the Links' concern, as Dawn facepalmed. "Talk about a coincidence, amirite?"
"Be honest, Barry, were you following us?" If Barry insisted on following the Links, he might receive another black eye real soon. Not even Dawn could save him from trouble.
"Heck no! Who do you think I am, some kind of stalker? I was just making sure that you guys made it out of the parking lot alive."
"He was totally following you," Dawn told the truth to the Links, as Barry was now angrily punching the air. Suddenly, a car horn was blown at Barry and Dawn, as the Pokemon trainers were obstructing a car's path.
"I'm trying to prove my innocence here, thank you very much!" Barry moved out of the way along with Dawn, and the car passed by as Barry shook his fist at it to send a message. "I'll fine you later!"
Barry: When you sit down and think about it, Christmas is the perfect time for handing out fines. More fines mean more money in my pocket. Which means more gifts that I can buy for my dad!
"We're pretty capable guys, we can handle ourselves," Champion Link assured Barry, as he and Link were more than equipped to fight off any kind of threat. As expected from heroes of legend. "Now if you excuse us..."
"Wait! You can't leave just yet!" shouted Barry as he ran in front of the Links to prevent them from leaving. "Those gifts, you need someone to wrap them. After a long day of shopping, don't you just wanna relax?"
"You're becoming obsessed...it's really creeping me out," Link said to Barry, with Champion Link sharing his sentiments. Dawn remained where she was, pinching the crown of her nose. "Can you just leave us alone?"
"Just let me wrap those presents for you!" Barry got down to his knees, pleading to the Links and causing yet another scene. Making scenes in public must be Barry's other forte. "Give me this one chance..."
"If it'll make you stop crying..." Link saw the desperation written all over Barry's face; the Pokemon trainer really wanted it. "...you can come with us to the Smash Mansion."
"Yippee!" Barry leaped up for joy, as his day with the Links' was now extended. Link, Champion Link, and especially Dawn couldn't be anymore disgruntled. "Let's go, Dawn - we're off to the Smash Mansion!"
"Life is suffering..." sighed Dawn as she had no choice but to tag along with Barry and the Links en route to the mansion. She was going to be Barry's minder for as long as she needed to.
Peony came to Seattle with one thing in mind - to get his daughter Peonia to appreciate him more as a father. That was why the explorer came to stay with Mario, in the hopes that the plumber could help repair his seemingly broken relationship with his daughter. With Chrom at Mario's house to help with Peach in the kitchen, Mario was busy speaking with Peonia in the living room.
"Do you and-a your dad ever celebrate Christmas? Or the holidays?" Mario asked Peonia, wanting to get to know the girl a little better. Perhaps Peonia could offer some info about why she resented her dad so much.
"We haven't celebrated the holidays for so long," replied Peonia, solemnly looking down at the floor. Hunter was peeking around the corner eavesdropping on the conversation. "Dad's always been so into his 'Adven-Tours'...he never has time for Christmas!"
"So her dad's an atheist...good to know," whispered Hunter, nodding his head as he wrote down this detail on his notepad. Spyro came around, seeing what his best friend was up to.
"About to attack someone because of how they feel about religion, eh?" Spyro questioned Hunter, not yet having the energy to put Hunter in his place. "You're not even a religious person yourself!"
"I believe in fairies! Is that not religious enough for you, Spyro?" Deciding not to further engage with Hunter, Spyro shook his head and walked away as he allowed the cheetah to continue his eavesdropping.
"Even if we did celebrate Christmas, it wouldn't matter," stated Peonia, who felt pretty cynical about celebrating any other holiday. Only because of Peony. "Dad would find some magical way to embarrass himself...or me!"
"There's nothing wrong-a with having an embarrassing dad," Mario said to Peonia, knowing that embarrassing dads were a part of life. If your dad never embarrassed you, then something wasn't right. "Take-a Chrom over there, for example. He always embarrasses-a his daughter Lucina!"
"That's not entirely true," a rather offended Chrom said to Mario as he took some blueberry pie out of the kitchen oven. "Lucina just doesn't understand how most fathers operate."
"Wouldn't you say Lucina was embarrassed when-a you attended that Halloween party wearing nothing but-a your underwear?" Chrom was suddenly reminded of this incident, as he looked away and scratched the back of his head.
"I can assure you that was part of my Halloween costume...not like the Duck Hunt Dog stole my clothes or anything. Totally a costume."
"Chrom, the blueberries!" Peach squealed at the prince, who looked down and saw the blueberries slipping out of the pie. Only because of how Chrom was holding it. Chrom screamed as he quickly placed the pie on the nearby counter.
"A hole in the pie...just as I suspected." Chrom saw the hole in the blueberry pie and shook his head in dismay. "Do we have any flour left?"
Chrom: Why was I helping Peach with baking her blueberry? Because Sumia claimed that I was an "expert pie maker". I made her just one pie, and now she thinks I'm some kind of pie aficionado! That's why you should never go out of your way to please other women.
"Got some good news, Mario!" shouted Peony as he came inside Mario's house through the back screendoor. "My Aggron and I did some diggin' in your backyard, and it seems like you got enough space for your very own ice rink!"
"My very own what-a now?" questioned Mario as he ran to the open screendoor to see what was up. The plumber gasped when he saw a gaping hole in his backyard, next to the patio, with Peony's Aggron standing near it.
"Thought your backyard needed a little sprucin' up, so I did what I had to do!" Peony was smiling proudly at the hole he and Aggron made, as everyone in the Mario household took a gander. Mario fainted to the floor. "I guess he likes it!"
"I strongly beg to differ," said Spyro, lifting his head underneath the unconscious Mario as he dragged the plumber away. Peonia was just staring at the hole in the backyard, with her mouth agape.
"So Peonia...that hole is pretty neat, don't you think?" Peony asked his daughter, hoping that she would heap all sorts of praise upon him. Instead, Peonia slowly turned her head to Peony as she shook her head at him.
"Seriously, dad?" Peonia shook her head at Peony before storming away - something that she was greatly accustomed to back at the Crown Tundra. Peony sighed, watching his daughter walk away from him, as Hunter crept around the corner with his notepad.
"Damaging one's property just so you could impress your daughter..." Hunter quietly said about Peony as he wrote down another bullet point on his notepad. "...you got yourself quite a record, Peony."
Captain Falcon and Nakoruru went to a Sears store, buying some Christmas LED lights that Master Hand so desperately wanted. A Sears employee would show the two where the lights were, and there were plenty in stock.
"We'll take the brightest ones you have," Nakoruru said to the Sears employee, who was busy looking through the selection of lights. The employee found a string of lights, taking a real good look at it.
"Now these are the brightest lights that we have on stock," the employee explained to Nakoruru and Captain Falcon as he looked for a nearby outlet. "Just lemme see how bright they really are..." So the employee plugged the lights in...as an extremely bright flash of light was emitted.
"Augh, my eyes, I've gone blind!" shouted a customer as he covered his eyes and fell unto the floor. All the nearby customers were now complaining, as a bright shining light was lighting up the entire store. Nakoruru and Captain Falcon saw all the chaos that was unfolding because of the light and soon came to a final decision...
"We'll take 'em!" Captain Falcon said to the Sears employee, who was given Master Hand's credit card by Nakoruru. The employee saw Master Hand's name on the credit card as he frowned.
"Hey, this is the creep that kept bothering us about some mixer he wanted to use for 'massage therapy'..." he said to Nakoruru and Captain Falcon, who exchanged dubious looks with one another. "...eh, I'll just scan this dumb card anyway."
Link and Champion Link returned to the Smash Mansion, but they didn't do it without any company along the way. Barry and Dawn accompanied the two Hylians, and surprisingly, Barry wasn't that annoying during the walk back home.
"So this is the Smash Mansion!" Barry exclaimed in awe as he and the others arrived at the mansion premises. The Pokemon trainer saw the large reindeer that was positioned at the front. "Cool reindeer - really ties in well with the other Christmas decorations!"
"This is our first time seeing it," stated Champion Link as he and the others had to duck underneath the large reindeer to get through. Apparently, there was no way to get around it. "Definitely Master Hand's doing."
"Whoever decorated the mansion really must be in the holiday spirit!" remarked Dawn as the group went up the porch steps. Once the Links reached the front door, Barry stepped in front of them before they could enter.
"Step aside, gentlemen...allow me to hold the door open for you," Barry said to the Links, showing off his hospitality as he opened the front door wide open. Dawn rolled her eyes in response.
"Uh, thanks Barry," Link thanked the Pokemon trainer, bothered by how nice he was acting. Before either one of the Links could enter the mansion, Akuma walked out through the front door, which made Barry gasp.
"Hey mister, that door was open for the Links only, not for you!" Barry pointed at Akuma, having absolutely no clue whom he was dealing with. That finger he was pointing with was gonna be broken soon. "I'll have to fine you!"
"Go ahead, fine me then..." Akuma challenged Barry as he got all up in the Pokemon trainer's grill. Barry backed down, shivering in fright as a few droplets of sweat ran down his face.
"R-Right this way sir!" Barry moved out of harm's way, allowing Akuma to pass. Akuma nodded at Barry, acknowledging him for backing down and valuing his life, as he walked down the porch steps...only to bump his head on the large reindeer and fall.
Akuma: *holding an ice pack to his head* Now who in their right mind placed that large reindeer near the porch?...It was Master Hand? Should've known. When I see something strange in or around the mansion, I always ask myself, "Why would Master Hand do that for?"
"Soooo are we just gonna stand around here outside?" Dawn asked the others, remembering that the Links had to wrap up their Christmas presents. Or rather, Barry wanted to wrap up the presents.
"Oh yeah, you're right...our bad," apologized Link as he and Champion Link went inside the mansion. Barry and Dawn went in afterward, as Akuma was left rubbing his now throbbing head.
Cloud, being the man of the mansion and all, was usually keyed in along with Zelda about those joining Smash. So when the swordsman learned from Master Hand that Sephiroth would be in Smash, and join the mansion as a result...it was safe to say that Cloud felt some type of way.
So until Sephiroth started his mansion residency next week, Cloud did whatever he possibly could to keep himself upbeat and afloat. He even took it upon himself to bake some Christmas cookies, baking away in the kitchen with Sonic and Dunban.
"Why did you want to bake cookies again, Sonic?" Cloud asked the hedgehog as he was decorating the cookies. The swordsman was phoning it in on the designs, for the most part; he thought decorating was irrelevant. Somehow.
"It's an apology gift for the Keyblade Hero 3," replied Sonic as he was piling M&Ms on the cookie dough like it was nobody's business. "To make up for the beef I tried to instigate between them and the bandicoots."
"Sonic, can you please be a bit more tactful when designing the cookies?" Dunban said to the hedgehog, seeing one piece of cookie dough completely covered with M&Ms. "We don't really need any M&Ms!"
"I'm not an artist, shouldn't expect too much from me..." Doing it just to appease Dunban, Sonic took the M&Ms off the cookie dough...before eating them all in one gulp. "...if we're not using M&Ms, can I eat the rest of the bag?"
"We should just let Sonic bake the cookies," Cloud suggested to Dunban as Sonic grabbed the bag of M&Ms, pouring its contents into his mouth. "Can't be any worse than Lady Palutena."
"Wow! Cloud Strife!" exclaimed an excited Barry as he ran into the kitchen to greet Cloud. Imagine how he would act if met Sephiroth. "No way! I'm a huge fan of yours! So awesome..."
"Am I supposed to know who you are?" Cloud asked Barry; Link and Champion Link ran inside the kitchen, both garnering Cloud's attention. "Link, do you know who this guy is?"
"He's some dude we met at the supermarket today," explained Link, as Barry continued to be in awe of Cloud. Barry felt honored to even be standing in the swordsman's mere presence. "Helped us with our Christmas shopping."
"That's right! They wouldn't have gotten it done if it wasn't for me!" proclaimed Barry as he confidently pointed his thumb at himself. Cloud just stared at Barry for a few seconds, before looking at Link.
"Link, you sure have an odd way of attracting weirdos to the mansion," the swordsman said to the Hylian, as Barry felt quite hurt by Cloud's comments. Never before had his self-esteem taken a bigger hit.
"What about me, what am I known for?" Champion Link asked Cloud, as he wanted to be known for doing something. Can't let Link have all the glory.
"What about you?" Sonic asked the Hylian, who gave the blue hedgehog a quick glare. Barry saw Sonic and eagerly approached him. "Woah, dude, back off!"
"You must be Sonic the Hedgehog!" Barry said to Sonic as he poked Sonic in the chest. Apparently, he expected something to happen, as evidenced by the frown on his face. "Hey, you were supposed to drop some gold rings on the floor! Maybe I should've inflicted some pain."
"I don't think that would be necessary, dude..." Sonic nervously chuckled as he took Barry's hand and pulled it away from him. Sonic was always about meeting fans, but being touched by them was where he drew the line.
Dawn: Don't mind me, just taking a short break from Barry. *whispering* We're supposed to be back home before the end of the day, but Barry's too allured by every little thing he sees in the mansion. At the rate that he's going, we might not make it back home until after Christmas...
"Barry, aren't you forgetting something?" Link asked the Pokemon trainer, having to remind him of what he came to the mansion for. Barry, who now resorted to pinching Sonic, suddenly looked up in realization.
"Oh, of course, how could I forget?" the Pokemon trainer exclaimed as he finally left Sonic alone; Sonic let out a sigh of relief. "I have to wrap your Christmas presents for you!"
"You're letting this guy wrap your Christmas presents?" Cloud asked the Links, as Barry went from an obsessive fanboy to a man on a mission in a hurry. "You two sure are putting a lot of trust in him."
"We need wrapping paper and Scotch tape, stat!" Eager to wrap some presents, Barry ran out of the kitchen. "And some scissors, while we're at it! And a good spot for the gift wrapping!"
"Barry, wait!" shouted Champion Link as he and Link ran after the Pokemon trainer. Cloud, Sonic, and Dunban all received a first-hand look at how much of a rush Barry was always in.
"Good riddance," said Dunban, shortly after Barry left as he and the other two gents resumed their work in the kitchen. But seconds later, Barry returned to the kitchen just to ask a question.
"Are you guys baking cookies?" the Pokemon trainer asked Dunban and company, as he couldn't help but notice a cookie tray on the kitchen counter with pieces of cookie dough on it. "You better share some with me, or I'll have to fine all of you!"
"BARRY!" Link shouted from afar, as Barry quickly retreated from the kitchen. And with that, Dunban, Cloud, and Sonic were finally left alone.
"What does he mean, he's gonna fine us?" snorted Sonic, wondering what kind of authority Barry even had. "Who does he think he is, some kind of sports commissioner?!"
Nakoruru and Captain Falcon brought the LED lights to the mansion, with Master Hand using said lights to decorate the trees outside. The lights were then turned on, just so Master Hand could see how the scenery looked.
"Yup, I think we're the light of the world now!" remarked Master Hand, as Nakoruru and Captain Falcon had to shield their eyes. Sans showed up outside again, bringing a drum set with him. "Don't even think about it, Sans..."
"Master Hand, did you seriously have to get such-a bright Christmas lights?" Luigi asked the giant hand from afar, as the brightness of the LED lights reached his house. Might be a safety hazard. "I can-a barely see!"
"Remind me to have Isabelle issue out a sunglasses mandate..." Master Hand said to Nakoruru and Captain Falcon, before turning towards the mansion...something that he should probably stop doing. "What on earth?!"
The newest Christmas decoration at the tower to garner Master Hand's attention was a Christmas tree - one that was just as tall as the one at the Rockefeller Center and adorned with bright Christmas lights. Magnus and Phosphora were decorating the tree, as Master Hand drew close.
"Don't look now...I think we got some company," Magnus alerted Phosphora, as he soon felt Master Hand's presence. Phosphora looked up and saw Master Hand, squealing out of minor fright.
"First the large reindeer, then the lights...and now a giant Christmas tree outside?" Master Hand seethed at Magnus and Phosphora, wishing that he could burn the Christmas tree down to smithereens. "When does it ever end for you punks?"
"You sound pretty jealous there, Master Hand," Magnus said to the giant hand as he nonchalantly continued decorating the Christmas tree. "If you're so salty, why don't you get a Christmas tree to put outside yourself?"
"That's what I plan on doing...I'll show you!" Master Hand went back to Nakoruru and Captain Falcon, having one last favor to ask of them. "I need you both to go to New York City, and steal that Christmas tree at the Rockefeller Center."
"Stealing is wrong, Master Hand," Nakoruru stated to the giant hand; the shrine maiden was too innocent and pure for stealing. "Especially if you're doing it for bragging rights."
"It's not stealing if you don't get caught. Just go to New York, uproot the tree, and bring it back here safe and sound! Is that so much to ask for?"
"What if we both get arrested?" Captain Falcon asked Master Hand, who just laughed before vanishing away. Captain Falcon groaned. "Master Hand never really cares if you get arrested for doing his dirty work..."
Sora was still on a quest to make Riku a believer, and convince him that Santa Claus was real. The Keyblade wielder was in the hallway, asking Pit some questions about Santa.
"Personally, I stopped believing in Santa Claus years ago," Pit confessed to Sora, who was beyond startled to learn of this information. "Viridi and Sonic showed me the light."
"You stopped believing in Santa Claus?" asked a very disappointed Sora, who hoped that Pit would be on his side. Unwritten Rule #28: you should never trust Pit to be on your side, regardless of the circumstance.
"As it turns out, Santa Claus is just an alter ego of Dr. Eggman. The more I thought about it, the more silly it sounds. I mean, Dr. Eggman being Santa Claus, delivering presents? Didn't sound right. So I suspended my belief in Santa for good."
"That's, not...that's...good talk, Pit." Having nothing else to say, Sora walked down the hallway, seeing that Pit was no help. "It was nice speaking with you."
Pit: I stopped believing in Santa Claus...Sora still believes in Santa Claus...that alone technically makes me smarter than Sora... *gasps* ...I''M ACTUALLY SMARTER THAN SOMEONE! *runs off* Hoo boy, wait until I tell Dark Pit!
Sora went down the hallway, as he passed by Falco. The Keyblade wielder remembered Falco talking about Slippy's fascination with Santa, and decided to ask the avian pilot a question.
"Hey Falco, do you know if they have Santa at a mall somewhere in town?" Sora asked the avian pilot, who so desperately wanted to answer no. But the determination written on Sora's face prevented him from doing so.
"Uh, there's a Santa at the Westfield Southcenter Mall," replied Falco, having regretted telling this to Sora. "Fox and Slippy are going there in a few to take some pictures with Santa."
"Cool! Can you ask Fox if my friends and I can come? I wanna prove to Riku that Santa Claus really exists." Falco's eye twitched when he heard that.
"You honestly believe that Riku seeing Santa at the mall would change his mind?" Rather than arguing with Sora, Falco shook his head and sighed as he took out his cellphone. "Lemme see if Fox can make some room in his Arwing..."
Mario was up and awake again, as he was eating a slice of blueberry pie in the dining room. Peach was standing by, waiting to hear her husband's remarks.
"Why do I taste-a blackberries?" wondered Mario as he ate his slice of pie. Not that the plumber was complaining, but blueberries and blackberries together was quite an interesting mix.
"Some of the blueberries spilled out of the pie, thanks to Chrom," explained Peach, as Mario found Chrom's slightly innovative decision to be understandable. "He thought that adding blackberries would be a good idea..."
Peach: Sadly, Chrom is not the great pie expert that I've been hearing rumors about. All this talk about Chrom being a pie expert must've been some kind of ploy to make him look like a desirable husband. Raven's desire must not be that strong.
"Well, I don't seem-a to mind," replied Mario, before taking another slice of the blueberry pie and eating it. The plumber looked to his right and saw Peony seated at the table, looking down in the dumps. "Want-a some pie, Peony?"
"No thanks, not interested..." sighed Peony, looking down at the table as Hunter crept upon him with his notepad. "...I'm just not hungry right now."
"Fasting even though you're an atheist...very suspect," whispered Hunter as he wrote down his notes on his notepad, before leaving the kitchen unseen.
"No matter what I do, Peonia just can't seem to get along with me. Even after I dug up that hole for your ice rink, Peonia still thought bad about me!"
"That hole you made was uncalled for," said Peach, as Peony saw where the princess was coming from. "And we don't need an ice rink in our backyard."
"While that may be true...I just wanted to impress my daughter. Make her appreciate me more, you know? I keep doing all the wrong things!"
"Perhaps you need-a some seasoning," Mario suggested to Peony, believing that Peony's questionable choices were dooming him as a father. "Why don't you refill that hole-a you made, and then we'll think-a of some ways to get you and Peonia back-a on track?"
"Sure you two don't want a personalized ice rink?" Peony looked at Mario and Peach, and both of them had blank faces. Peony sighed as he left the dining room. "Time to get back to work..."
Fox, Slippy, and the Keyblade Hero 3 were at the Westfield Southcenter Mall, with slippy dying to take some pictures with Santa. Riku was easily the least interested out of the five, scowling with his arms folded.
"Why exactly are we here again?" Riku asked Kairi as he found the strength to keep on walking. The presence of the others kept him from sitting down and rethink his life choices.
"Sora claims we came to the mall to do some Christmas shopping," explained Kairi as Sora was turning his head, searching high and low for Santa. "I already did my Christmas shopping days ago."
"Same - got a bunch of Christmas gifts, all for myself. Felt pretty good." The group came to a stop - a huge delight for Riku, who had grown tired of walking. "What is it?"
"Looks like we found Santa Claus," announced Fox as he saw Santa Claus from a distance; Santa was sitting behind a plexiglass barrier, with a line of little children with their parents waiting to greet him. "Let's hope Slippy is on his best behavior..."
"SANTA CLAUS, I'M COMING FOR YOU!" exclaimed Slippy, plowing through the parents and their kids on his way to Santa Claus. Fox groaned as Slippy reached the plexiglass barrier in no time.
"Security!" someone shouted, as Slippy now had his face and hands plastered all over the plexiglass. Santa Claus saw the frog, kindly waving to him.
"Ho ho ho, Merry Christmas!" the jolly ol' fellow said to Slippy, who was being subjected to verbal insults from the parents that he pushed out of the way. Slippy had completely tuned out all the parents, with his focus targeted on Santa.
"Santa, it's me, Slippy Toad!" Slippy called out to Santa Claus, waving both of his hands to get the jolly ol' fellow's attention...although Santa had Slippy's attention already. "I'm one of your biggest fans!"
"Why did I even agree to do this...?" wondered Fox as he pinched the crown of his nose. Riku saw Fox during his plight, knowing that something must be done.
"I've had just about enough of this," the silverette said as he marched up to the plexiglass barrier that kept Santa Claus protected. Taking out his Keyblade, the Dark Seeker, Riku cut through the plexiglass until the barrier was no more.
"Riku, what are you doing?!" Slippy questioned the silverette, who was now staring down Santa Claus. Santa looked scared for his life, as Riku confronted him with his Dark Seeker in hand.
"We have to do something!" said Kairi, as Sora felt helpless watching Riku confront Santa Claus; Fox, on the other hand, was recording Riku on his phone, which angered Kairi. "Fox, seriously?"
"Now, now, this is no need to be violent!" Santa Claus said to Riku, remaining calmly in his chair as Riku held his Dark Seeker up high. "No violence during the holiday season, Santa Claus says so!"
"Shut up, you're just a guy dressed up as some stupid fairy tale," Riku said to Santa Claus, before looking behind him and seeing that he attracted quite a crowd. A few security guards were around.
"Stay away from the Santa!" the lead security guard shouted at Riku as he held out his taser at the silverette. "Remember - social distancing!"
"Santa won't be socially distancing himself from this..." Riku dropped his Dark Seeker on the floor, before jumping behind Santa and wrapping his arms around the jolly ol' fellow's neck.
"Riku, stop it!" Slippy shouted at the silverette, who brought Santa down to the floor while keeping him in a chokehold. All the parents and kids were going hysterical, watching as Riku was choking out Santa.
"This is not good..." stated Sora, seeing all the mayhem Riku was causing; people in the mall were running about, freaking out over what Riku was doing to poor Santa. All of Riku's unbridled rage was being released.
"Guys, chill out already!" Fox screamed at those in the store, while he was recording the entire scene on his phone. "I can only record so much!"
Fox: It's not that often you see Santa Claus being choked out in a mall by a silver-haired dude from an alternate universe, while everyone is losing their marbles about it. Moments like those are ones you should never take for granted.
"Is this your Santa Claus?!" Riku asked everyone presented as he stood Santa Claus up, and ripped off the jolly ol' fellow's beard...revealing him to be just a man dressed up as Santa. But you probably knew that already.
"You just shamed Santa, how could you?!" Slippy scolded Riku, on the verge of tears as all the little children were now crying. Riku looked around and saw all the hearts he had broken - and he thought he did the right thing.
"Screw you, man!" a father angrily pointed at Riku as he consoled his crying son. "You just ruined Christmas for my son! You...you monster!"
"If what I did ruined your son's Christmas, then you must not be doing such a good job raising your kid," retorted Riku, as he made the father gasp. Soon the security guards came close to Riku, armed with their tasers.
"Hands off the Santa...back away!" the lead security guard commanded Riku, who mulled over what his next course of action would be. Rather than giving up the man dressed up as Santa, Riku dragged the man away.
"Riku, let go of him!" shouted Sora as he ran over to his best friend, trying to break him free from the man in the Santa costume. In the process, Sora accidentally elbowed a woman in the head, sending her to the floor instantly. "Sorry, ma'am!"
"Oh snap!" exclaimed Fox, after witnessing Sora elbow the woman. The pilot ran over to the woman, who was lying on the floor unconscious, and took a picture of her before casually walking away. "Hopefully that wasn't anybody's mom..."
"Saaaaanntaaaaa!" Slippy cried out, watching in horror as the mall security chased after Sora and Riku. Kairi remained where she was, wondering where it all went wrong...
With the help of Mega Man and the teleportation device, Nakoruru and Captain Falcon were in New York City at the Rockefeller Center. Mega Man and Captain Falcon were at the base of the Rockefeller Christmas tree, with Nakoruru - as pure as she was - standing at a far off distance.
"Cut the tree down, let me know when you're finished..." the shrine maiden called out to Captain Falcon and Mega Man, her back turned towards the two while she had her eyes covered. She wanted to distance herself from any likely arrest.
"I'm totally gonna Falcon Punch this tree down!" grinned Captain Falcon, as he rubbed his hands together before he saw Mega Man looking at him weirdly. "What's with that face?"
"Falcon Punching a tree, is that really gonna work?" asked a very skeptical Mega Man; the Christmas tree burning down was a worst-case scenario that Mega Man had in mind.
"You think that Mega Buster of yours would be any better?" If Mega Man came equipped with a Silver Tomahawk, he would've made himself useful. "Now let's get this done with! Falcon..."
"FREEZE!" shouted a police officer, as members of the NYPD showed up at the Rockefeller Center. "Hands up where we can see them!" Captain Falcon and Mega Man, not wanting any kind of trouble, held up their hands.
"Nakoruru, come and save us!" Captain Falcon called out to the shrine maiden...only to look around and see that she was nowhere to be found! Not ideal. "Welp, we're screwed..."
Link and Champion Link were both in the lounge, chilling on the couch and reading some magazines to pass the time. Geno entered the lounge, curious as to why the Hylians looked so chill.
"Didn't you guys go out Christmas shopping?" the star asked the Links, slightly confused by their carefree, nonchalant behavior. "Shouldn't you be, I dunno, wrapping up gifts or something?"
"He's got it covered," replied Champion Link as he pointed at Barry, who was wrapping up several Christmas gifts behind the couch in the lounge. Dawn was keeping him company because she had no other choice.
"Dang it, another papercut!" frowned Barry, wincing his pain as he held his finger. "I'm gonna have to give this stupid wrapping paper a fine!"
"We're going to run out of band-aids at this point..." sighed Dawn, as Barry fought through the pain to finish wrapping up the gift. In the process, the Pokemon trainer got another papercut, yelping in pain.
"Come to think of it...we should've just abandoned that guy in the parking lot," Link said to Champion Link, as Dawn handed Barry yet another band-aid.
Master Hand was waiting outside the mansion, and waiting impatiently. He couldn't help but look at the tower's Christmas tree, doing his best not to feel jealous about it.
"Where are Nakoruru and Captain Falcon with that Christmas tree?!" questioned Master Hand as he was starting to lose his patience. Soon Bass came outside, bringing the mansion's house phone with him. "Oh, hi Bass."
"This is for you...someone from New York is calling," Bass said to Master Hand, who was both delighted and intrigued as Bass held the phone up to the giant hand's ear...or where he could at least hear.
"Hello, Master Hand...this is Nakoruru speaking," said the person on the phone, Nakoruru, as Master Hand was now expecting to hear some good news. "Sadly, I have some bad news..."
"You finally realized how spineless you are?" guessed Master Hand before bursting into a laughing fit, as Nakoruru could be heard sighing. "That's good news, actually - showing some self-awareness. But what about the Christmas tree at Rockefeller?"
"Well, Captain Falcon and Mega Man were about to cut it down...but the police came in and arrested them. I got away before they saw me. I'm using a phonebooth, in case you're wondering."
"Do I seriously have to bail those two out of custody?" Master Hand sighed, having already saved his residents from custody and/or jail multiple times. "Time to go threaten someone's entire family again, I guess. Where did I leave that bribe money..."
"Look Master Hand, up there!" Bass shouted to the giant hand as he pointed up at the mansion roof. Master Hand looked up and shrieked when he saw Skull Kid undecorating the front of the mansion.
"Say goodbye to your precious display!" Skull Kid said to Master Hand as he tore off the Christmas lights that draped over the mansion. Master Hand watched in horror as Skull Kid tore off any Christmas decoration in sight.
"No, you can't do that, Nakoruru worked hard on the display!" cried Master Hand, as Skull Kid did an elbow dive through the large reindeer that Nakoruru had purchased earlier. Master Hand shrieked a second time.
"I'll just...leave this here," Bass said to Master Hand as he placed the house phone on the ground, before retreating inside the mansion. Skull Kid began tearing off the LED lights off the tree, breaking them as Master Hand felt helpless watching the carnage.
Waluigi: I had an excellent plan for today, and it was carried out beautifully! Step one: get a bunch of extravagant Christmas decorations to decorate the tower exterior with. Step two: make Master Hand so jealous of the decorations that he tries to one-up us by purchasing decorations that are just as good, if not better. Step three: create a scenario where the person in charge of Christmas decorations (being Nakoruru) has to get a tree in New York and leave her stranded. And step four? Have Skull Kid tear down all of the mansion's outdoor Christmas decorations! Thereby leaving the Assist Tower with the best AND only grand Christmas display in town, it not the entire state! My plan worked like a charm!
Shadow: Waluigi's "ingenious" plan apparently had a second motive to it - make Master Hand spend so much money on decorations, that he wouldn't have any money left over for buying gifts. Waluigi said that would guarantee the people at the tower having better gifts for Christmas. Not that I care.
Master Hand: I shouldn't expect to take too big of a financial hit...still have plenty of money in my bank account, as far as I'm concerned. Star Records really came through, having raised enough money for me to steal from.
Sonic had finished baking the Christmas cookies for the Keyblade Hero 3, and he did it with the help of Cloud and Dunban. Although the hedgehog was trusted with only baking the cookies, it was still a good experience.
"So did we do a good job or what?" Sonic asked Cloud and Dunban, looking at the Christmas cookies sitting on the cookie tray. Some of the cookie designs were pretty questionable.
"Still better the chocolate chip 'cookies' Mario had baked," remarked Cloud, who couldn't shake off the mental image of the cookies out of his head. Zelda entered the kitchen, having some news to share with Cloud.
"I just got word from Falco that Riku apparently got himself in trouble," the princess said to Cloud, as this news also alarmed Sonic and Dunban. "He was harassing some man dressed up as Santa at the Westfield Southcenter Mall."
"Whatever possessed Riku to do that?" Cloud knew that Riku never believed in Santa, but the story he was hearing was too much for him.
"Beats me, but from what I've heard, he ripped off the man's beard. Slippy was crying his eyes out."
"Slippy cries over the dumbest things, so I'm not surprised. Master Hand can just bail out Riku, right?"
"He had to make a quick trip to New York...something about the tree at Rockefeller. So it looks like you'll be doing the dirty work..."
"Suppose I'll be asking Mario for a ride...thanks for the info, Zelda." So Zelda left the kitchen, as Cloud glanced at the Christmas cookies. "Mind if I bring those cookies with me, Sonic?"
"To give to the Keyblade Hero 3?" asked Sonic, to which Cloud nodded his head; something about the Keyblade Hero 3" moniker made Cloud cringe. "Sure, man, go ahead!"
"I'll tell Sora and friends it's a gift from you. Not sure if they'll accept the cookies or not, but...we'll see."
Cloud went to Mario's house, ringing the doorbell as he held a bag of Christmas cookies in hand. Mario opened the door, as the bag of cookies were the first thing the plumber saw.
"Are those-a for me?" inquired Mario as he reached for the cookies, only for Cloud to hold them away from the plumber. "Don't tease-a me like that, man!"
"They're not for you, they're for Sora and his friends," replied Cloud, as Mario finally kept his hands to himself. "I need you to take me to the Westfield Southcenter Mall; I'm afraid Riku's got himself in trouble."
"Sure-a thing, but first..." Mario turned around and saw Peony in the living room, hanging out with his Aggron. "...mind if I borrow some-a of those cookies?"
"They're meant for..." Suddenly, after a brief moment of reflection, Cloud handed the bag of cookies to Mario. "...actually, you can take them. They're all yours, Mario."
"Really, I can have-a them?" A nod from Cloud was all Mario needed to see, as the plumber felt like jumping for joy. With the cookies in hand, Mario handed them to Peony, before whispering to the explorer, "Share these cookies with-a your daughter."
"Huh?" Peony perked up, staring at the bag of cookies as Mario ran back to Cloud. Cloud was staring at Peony, obviously never recognizing the explorer.
"Who's that guy?" Cloud asked Mario, who grabbed the swordman's hand as he left the house. Soon as Mario and Cloud left, Peonia showed up.
"What's that you got there, dad?" asked a curious Peonia as she came over to Peony. She approached Peony without any forced incentive, which had Peony smiling from ear to ear"Are those...Christmas cookies?
"Uh, yes, yes they are!" Peony replied confidently, as he opened the bag and gave some cookies to Peonia. "Baked these in secret, when you weren't paying attention. You should give them a try!"
"The cookie designs look pretty...suspect, but if you went out of your way to make them, then I won't complain."
Cloud: I know Sonic's expecting me to give those Christmas cookies to Sora, Riku, and Kairi, but he can always make another batch. Provided he doesn't design any of the cookies. His cookie designs were even worse than a kindergartner's.
The moment of truth came, as Peonia took a bite out of one of the Christmas cookies. Peony looked on, with Peonia chewing...until Peonia flashed a smile.
"Mm, these aren't half bad!" exclaimed Peonia; it wasn't a particularly great critique, but Peony would take whatever he could get. "Taste much better than that look."
"Glad you liked them!" grinned Peony, as he placed the bag of cookies in the center of the dining room table. "I'll leave these out in case you want more."
"Sounds good. I'll just finish off the ones in my hand." So Peonia walked away, treating herself to the Christmas cookies as Peony looked on with pride.
"You did good, Peony...you did good," the explorer said to himself, unaware of Hunter creeping around the corner. Inquisitively, Hunter grabbed one of the cookies off the dining room table, sampling it.
"He totally didn't make these cookies himself," whispered Hunter, eating the rest of the cookie before scribbling down on his notepad. "Trying to take the credit from somebody else! He'll get what's coming to him later..." Hunter would walk away, in secret...but not before grabbing another Christmas cookie.
Barry finished wrapping the Christmas gifts for the Links, as he and Dawn were ready to depart. Link and Champion Link were in the foyer to see off the two trainers from Sinnoh.
"It was nice getting to hang out with you guys!" Barry said to the Links, waving to them with his bandaged hand. Well, a hand covered with band-aids. "Had a blast!"
"Good, now don't show your face around here ever again," Link said to Barry, before realizing the words that came out of his mouth. "I mean...take care!"
"You do the same! Merry Christmas!" Dawn said to Link and Champion Link, who both left the foyer once they made their farewells. "The Link with the blue tunic sure looked feminine..."
"Could be the bangs. Totally the bangs." So Barry and Dawn left the mansion, and upon stepping out on the porch, Barry stopped and gasped.
"What's the matter, Barry?" Dawn asked the Pokemon trainer, who had a thousand-mile stare. Dawn looked ahead and saw some of the mansion's Christmas decorations on the ground, including the now damaged reindeer decoration, thinking that was what caught Barry's attention.
"Those Christmas cookies! I forgot to ask for some. Cloud and Sonic better give me some of those cookies, or they're both getting fined!"
"Really, Barry? Let's just go..." Dawn grabbed Barry by the ear and walked down the porch steps, maneuvering through the Christmas decorations as she left the mansion premises. At the same time, Mario pulled up to the mansion's driveway in his car, as he, Cloud, and the Keyblade Hero 3 got out.
"Someone must've gone hog wild on the Christmas decorations..." said Cloud, being the first to see the wrecked Christmas decorations at the mansion's front. "...maybe that'll teach me to stay put at the mansion. I was only half-joking."
"Mr. Game and Watch and-a Dark Pit should have that all cleaned-a up," remarked Mario, not caring for who ruined the Christmas decorations (or why they were ruined in the first place). "So, Riku...have you learned your lesson?"
"I guess," shrugged Riku, only giving this answer so Mario would leave him alone. He didn't really have much remorse over his actions at the mall. "Never seen so many folks that upset over a holiday figure..."
"Yo, Keyblade Hero 3! Did you get my Christmas cookies?" Sonic ran out of the mansion to ask Sora and company. They had no idea what Sonic was talking about, as they went on their way. "I made them myself! Tell me you liked them..."
"Couldn't have made them without me..." said Cloud, as Mario chuckled. Sonic chased after Sora and company, following them into the mansion and bothering them along the way.
Riku: Slippy was a crying mess, so Fox had to fly him back home to the mansion. As for me, I had to be held by the mall security until Cloud came and pretty much saved me from being arrested. Sure made Sora and Kairi wait it out...but at the end of the day, I think I sent a pretty big message.
Sora: Couldn't get Riku to believe that Santa Claus was real...not even the Santa and the mall could prove it to him. But I know for a fact that there's a Santa somewhere in this universe. Just gotta believe...