Author's Note:
So, about this chapter...it's got characters from the newest Switch port, Trails of Cold Steel IV. What you will be reading is actually the second version of this chapter. What happened was, I didn't how the original chapter turned out, so I did a whole bunch of copy-and-paste, transferred a bunch of scenes to the new version, added some new scenes, shifted things around, all that jazz. Also, my knowledge of the Trails series isn't the best; I know about a few playable characters, but beyond that my knowledge is kaput. Just a warning. Now with that over with...you know.
"Since the Hearts siblings, Leia, and Akuma are gonna leave, will others move in to the mansion in their place? (Emil, Marta, Jude, Milla, Colette, and Sakura from Street Fighter would be good replacement choices). How will Little Mac react to Leia leaving the mansion? Is the Death end Re;Quest chapter gonna be pushed back? (The Switch port got delayed to May 14). A scene of Pandoria interacting with Tails? (Ryo Hirohashi voices both of them). And finally, will the Phantom Thieves find a way to bring Sophia into the real world when she shows up?"
Probably not. Little Mac would be heartbroken. The Death End chapter will be pushed back. I can have Pandoria interact with Tails. And that last suggestion will be used only if I decide to have Sophia appear in the story. Another anonymous review:
"screw nostalgia, I wanna see meta night unmasked lol"
I've held of unmasking Meta Knight for the longest...but you might receive your wish soon. Next is Fan of the Nets:
"Kinda feel bad for that Wayne, tho. Can't Master Hand just rope other people from Brooklyn? I don't know, how about his teammate in the Olympics who is also a flat-earther, Andrew? Or maybe that other guy, Edward, a former Houstonian? (I hope you understood my references.)"
Oh ho ho! I understood your references quickly. I'll take your suggestions into consideration. Now we have Romance enjoyer:
"Can we get some more Yu and Rise moments, please? It's been a while since they appeared together."
I always keep forgetting about Yu and Rise. My fault for having too many couples. I'll give 'em some love in the next chapter. A JRPG enjoyer is back again:
"I don't know if it's true, but isn't Lyn a tower resident? And Lyn is in her FE7 appearance, isn't that right? Does that mean Hector and Eliwood might appear in the future with their FE7 appearance? Since there's no appearance from Lyn in FE6. I hope that young Eliwood can meet his future son Roy. Also, is there a chance for at least a reference to Fire Emblem Heroes? Just asking."
Yes, she is a tower resident, and in her FE7 appearance. So are Hector and Eliwood, should they appear. I've never did a reference to Heroes, but I'll try and think of one. The Reader has returned:
"Is Lilina going to live with Roy in the mansion? Or they can move to Marth and Caeda's house? You did say Roy and Lilina were eloped."
Either option is fine. I'll come to a decision on it soon. Next is TIME TO GO:
"I don't think we need more non-Smash-related residents for the time being. Non-Smash-related here is a character that is not a fighter, an assist trophy, a Final Smash character, or a Mii costume character. You have to EARN your place to live in the mansion. We don't need more freeloaders."
I agree - that's why the only new residents from here on out will mainly be anyone who joins Smash under the criteria you listed. Many of the "freeloaders" will be moving out sometime this year. Moving on:
"I forgot. Remember Peony? Remember when he said that he and his daughter are staying with Mario until Christmas? Well, it's freaking Easter, and he's still in Mario's house! What's his actual goal here?"
Shoot, I almost forgot about Peony! So much stuff's been happening. I'll touch on him and Peonia in the next chapter. Last is I NEED PAC-MAN:
"PAC-MAN 99 IS COMING TODAY! No excuses for you to not making a Pac-Man chapter now!"
Been playing Pac-Man 99 since it was released...and I was even Pac-One! Very addicting game. That said, I'll give Pac-Man LOTS of love in the next chapter if I can. So many obligations...
Episode 277: FieldTrip
It was over. March Madness had finally come to an end. The chaos that started on the basketball court in mid-March had lasted into early April and came to a glorious end. And with it, came the end of Master Hand's bracket challenge.
All in all, many mansion residents decided to partake in Master Hand's challenge, hoping to win the giant hand's grand prize by having a perfect bracket during the entire tournament. Munity abounded, as many brackets were destroyed after just the first week - no thanks to a slew of upsets. By the time the penultimate Final Four round drew near, King Dedede, Geno, Lucas, and Junpei were the only ones to have a perfect bracket.
Soon, it came down to King Dedede and Geno when the college basketball title game happened on Monday. While Gonzaga won the entire tournament, both King Dedede and Geno's bracket were busted with Gonzaga's victory. However, there was actually one bracket remaining, belonging to one certain resident...and the answer may or may not shock you.
"Mewtwo?!" Byleth uttered the psychic Pokemon's name after Mewtwo turned in his perfect bracket to Byleth and Beleth in the ballroom. Safe to say that the professors were both shocked, looking at Mewtwo's bracket. "You were in the bracket challenge this whole time?"
"Surprising, isn't it?" remarked Mewtwo, slightly amused by the stunned looks on the professors' faces. Even though his visage wouldn't show it. "I entered the challenge in secret and made my submission known only to Master Hand. Guess you could say that I was the spoiler all along."
Geno: Meh, my bracket was bound to be busted anyway. I'm amazed that I even lasted that long! Just picked the wrong team to win the title game. Oh well, at least there's always next year.
King Dedede: DANG IT! My strategy for having a perfect bracket was pathetically simple! All I had to do was pick against the college basketball team that I disliked more. Yet in the end, Baylor won over Gonzaga...turns out that I actually dislike Gonzaga more than I dislike Baylor, and not the other way around. I learn something new about myself every day...
Master Hand: Although they're like four hours away from Seattle, I hold Gonzaga dear to my heart. Even though their basketball team didn't win it all, they still had a spectacular run. Their squad is exceptional. In fact, Pit claimed that Gonzaga's basketball team was so good, that they wiped the school's football team out of existence! *pauses* Should I tell him?
Mewtwo: Let it be known that I didn't enter the bracket challenge just for fun - I only did it to obtain whatever grand prize Master Hand had for the winner. If it has bad intentions behind it, I will throw it away for the sake of the residents. If not, I could give it away to charity. Someone out there will be desperate enough to take it.
"Because of my perfect bracket, I deserve a prize," Mewtwo said to the professors, making his demands urgently known to them. "Master Hand promised a 'grand prize' for whoever had a perfect bracket, correct?"
"Um...perhaps," replied Beleth before he looked up at Lakitu, who was disassembling the March Madness bracket board. The Koopa felt oddly sentimental during his task. "Lakitu, what is the grand prize?"
"Don't ask me, I don't even live here!" replied Lakitu as he shrugged, only for a large stick of a team logo to fall out of his hand. "Not again..."
"If Master Hand doesn't have a prize, then I will be greatly displeased," stated Mewtwo, as he expected Master Hand to hold up his end of the bargain. Despite Master Hand's history of not keeping promises. "I will be waiting."
"We'll see if he has anything for you," replied Byleth, as Mewtwo nodded his head before teleporting away. Byleth gave Beleth a nervous look. "Do you think that Master Hand might've forgotten about the prize?"
"Doubt it, he seems to remember everything else," replied Beleth, finding himself and Byleth in a pickle as he held his finger underneath his chin. "But we can't leave Mewtwo an unhappy camper, so..."
With spring in full bloom, Mario spent much of his downtime sprucing up his garden. Planted some flowers, pulled out some weeds, even added a few garden gnomes for some aesthetics. Despite his hard work throughout the week, his garden was still a work in progress and he didn't want a single soul venturing into his front yard and messing up his work.
"Back away from-a my garden! Back, I say!" Mario shouted at Guile, standing on top of the roof of his house with Spyro and Hunter. He and his compadres were armed with water balloons.
"I'm literally just putting something inside your mailbox," Guile explained to Mario, who pelted the major with a flurry of water balloons. Guile shielded himself with his arm as he retreated. "Way to be a family man, Mario!"
"Hunter, take-a out your binoculars and look out for any near-a by trespassers," Mario commanded Hunter, who donned his binoculars and looked through them. The cheetah scanned the surrounding area.
"I see Lucas, he's heading this way!" alerted Hunter, as a flying baseball landed on the ground and rolled into the grass of Mario's front yard. Lucas ran to retrieve the baseball, only to look up and see Mario.
"Just here to get my baseball," Lucas informed Mario, not wanting any trouble whatsoever as he pointed at the baseball. No amount of convincing from the PSI whiz could deter Mario's angry stare.
"It's my base-a ball now. Get out!" Mario shouted at Lucas before he and Hunter tossed water balloons at him. Spyro sighed as he watched Lucas run away to avoid the water balloon onslaught.
Ness: So weird...I hit a baseball earlier, and it broke a window in Mario's house. But Mario didn't even care. Peach was understandably angry, but Mario treated the incident like it was just a normal occurrence. It must be part of his plan to get some free house insurance money. He once got he got free car insurance once just for having a dead bug splattered on his windowsill, so it's not that out of the ordinary.
"Can't just keep scaring away people like that," Spyro said to Mario, who watched Lucas run away in fear. Mario was feeling vindicated from seeing Lucas run away like a coward. "Especially over your stupid garden."
"My garden is not-a stupid - soon it will be the best yard-a on the block!" proclaimed Mario, very confident that his spanking new garden would turn a few heads. Would be a failure if it didn't. "Even better than Luigi's."
"Competing against your brother, what a surprise..." Spyro rolled his eyes, very disapproving of one of Mario's motivations. "...never seen Viridi or Haru act like this over their garden work."
"Well, they're built-a different - just like-a how I'm built different. If I see a single person messing with-a my garden, I just might snap..."
"Uh oh, looks like we got some foreigners coming!" notified Hunter, seeing a group of individuals nearing the mansion premises. Mario got his water balloons ready to go. "Though they don't really look like 'foreigners', judging by how they dress."
"Let-a me see," Mario said to Hunter as he pulled the binoculars away from the cheetah. Mario looked through the binoculars and saw a man with white hair and red eyes leading a group of younger folks to the mansion. "Hmm...we should-a go easy on them."
"'Go easy on them'? So you'll still pelt them with water balloons?" Spyro asked Mario, only to be ignored by the plumber. The purple dragon shook his head and sighed.
"Now they're heading towards this way..." Mario kept a close eye on the group of foreigners, watching their every movement. "...mama mia! There's like six-a of them! We don't even have-a enough water balloons!"
"We don't have to use them, you know." Spyro was left ignored once again, as Mario watched the white-haired man lead his troupe to his house. Standing his ground, Mario handed the binoculars back to Hunter.
"Begone-a with you all - we don't accept-a foreigners around these parts," Mario said to the group of six, watching as they entered his front yard. Mario's attempt to shoo away the six gave Spyro second-hand embarrassment.
"Xenophobic much?" questioned the man with white hair, not knowing what Mario's problem was. "We're not here looking for trouble, we're, um...on a field trip! Isn't that right, my students?" The man looked at his troupe, seeing a few of them nod their heads.
"Those are your students?" scoffed Hunter, throwing shade at the man himself rather than his pupils. "Are you supposed to be their teacher or something? You look like some edgelord who finally decided to leave their house."
"Yes...I am their instructor. I'm Rean Schwarzer, and I am the instructor of Class VII! And these are my students - Juna Crawford, Kurt Vander, Altina Orion, Musse Egret, and Ash Carbide."
Rean: Just to be clear, we are here for a field trip...well, sort of. *looks around, before leaning in close to the camera* Apparently, the Thors Military Academy kicked me and Class VII out of their institution and forced me to take my students out on an "excursion". Said that I was responsible for everything that happens afterward. Somehow our excursion led to this place...
"So, you guys are really on a field-a trip, huh?" asked a very skeptical Mario as he folded his arms, looking down at Class VII. "Why the Smash-a Mansion?"
"Well, we've heard that the mansion is a great hiding spot," replied Rean - this was Mario's first time hearing of such things. "Such as the hot springs, for instance. All of us enjoy the hot springs!"
"Only he likes it," Juna clarified to Mario as she pointed at Rean, who made a slightly pained facial expression. "But as for the rest of us..."
"Be quiet, Juna, I'm trying to get on his good side..." Rean whispered sternly to Juna, before bringing his attention back to Mario. "...aside from the mansion being an excellent field trip destination, it would also be a place for us to wind down and relax."
"The mansion has hot springs?" Spyro asked Mario, who shrugged his shoulders; there were some hot springs down in Mini Mementos, but only Joker and his many pals knew about it.
"We do have a pool-a in the mansion's backyard," stated Mario, as one of Rean's students, Altina, suddenly looked intrigued. "With it being spring and all, everyone-a is free to use it..."
"Do people use it for swimming lessons?" Altina eagerly asked Mario, who nodded his head, before Altina turned her attention to Rean. "Instructor, may I see if the mansion has any swimming lessons?"
"Not now, Altina, we're still on our field trip," replied Rean with an earnest smile, as Mario was starting to see how things were slowly headed. A brilliant plan was forming inside the plumber's head.
"But that's-a not all - the mansion has food aplenty!" exclaimed Mario, ready to commit himself to the greatest sell job on planet earth. "Like noodles, burgers, sweets...did I mention-a that the mansion also has a world-a class chef?"
"Ha! You already had me at burgers," said Ash as he started walking to the mansion, before stopping and turning around. "Anyone else wants to get some grub?"
"I wanna see what kind of sweets they have," replied Musse as she followed after Ash. Two of Rean's students were heading to the mansion, having left their instructor behind. Much to Rean's great chagrin.
"Now that I think about it, they do have plenty of sports activities over there," stated Hunter, taking up after Mario's lead; Juna's eyes brightened. "Crash even invented a new sport, which he calls 'humiliskate'! Uh, Aku calls it humiliskate..."
"SOLD!" shouted Juna, the outgoing sports girl, as she grabbed Altina's hand and ran to the mansion. "We'll see you later, instructor!"
"Wait...we're going to do the swimming lessons now?" wondered Altina as Juna brought the girl to the mansion. Just like that, Rean and Kurt were the only ones from Class VII left standing.
"Looks like it's just you and me now," Kurt said to Rean, promising himself to stand at his instructor's side and not be a traitor just like his classmates. "If it takes two to tango..."
"Guess that means we're stuck together, for the time being," responded Rean, before looking up the roof of Mario's home...and seeing that Mario, Spyro, and Hunter had already left. "Where did that plumber and his friends run off to...?"
Spyro: I should've known - you caused Class VII to scatter, just so they wouldn't touch your garden. Wouldn't just simply telling him to go away do the trick?
Mario: Class VII is on a field-a trip, no? I was merely doing them a big-a favor! They'll all thank-a me later...though the instructor might-a be a holdout.
This was it. Today was the day. Cloud decided that he was going to man up, be the better man, and admit his fault to Pit and Lloyd. He was going to tell him straight-up that he used them to fund the Aerith Revival Project, and that all their work in the city was in vain.
But the thing was, he hadn't built up the courage yet to tell Pit and Lloyd what they needed to hear. The swordsman was hanging around outside Pit's room, eavesdropping on a group conversation with Pit, Kirby, and Lloyd. Oh, and Incineroar was there too if you wanted to include him.
"Really? You two are going to end the food delivery service, just like that?" Kirby asked Pit and Lloyd, astonished by the news. Cloud was feeling all sorts of guilty right now.
"This was Lloyd's intention, not mine," stated Pit, who was just happy that he and Lloyd raised $10,000 together. Even if it was all stolen in the end. "We kinda spent the past few days talking over our decision."
"What's the point of keeping on with the business, if our money gets stolen again?" questioned Lloyd, who weighed all the options in his hand. "It's a good thing we didn't carry on delivering food when we still could."
"Yeah, but look on the bright side. Cloud said that he's gonna find out who the thief is!" Pit delivered this positive bit with a smile on his face, but it only made Lloyd feel extremely skeptical.
"You still believe that? It's been a few weeks since our money was stolen. And Cloud hasn't found the thief yet? Very suspect if you ask me - especially for the man of the mansion."
"Give Cloud some time - he obviously has a lot on his plate," Kirby said to Lloyd, who looked away as he still felt skeptical about Cloud. "There are only so many problems that Cloud can solve at once!"
"What was I thinking...?" Cloud said to himself, shaking his head as the heat of regret was falling massively on his shoulders. "Should've known better than to put Pit and Lloyd in this position...and myself."
"Pardon me, sir," someone said to Cloud, who turned around and saw Rean and Kurt standing in the hallway. "I'm Rean Schwarzer, and this is one of my students, Kurt Vander. We're from..."
"One of your students, huh? I take it you must be a teacher." Cloud turned his body around, walking away from Pit's door as he loosened himself up.
"'Instructor' is more fitting, but either terminology works. Anyway, we are here because we're...we're on a field trip."
"A field trip...and there's only two of you?" Cloud looked around behind Rean and Kurt, wondering if there were some invisible students. "I take it that the rest of your students ran off or something?"
"They all ran off to do their own thing, I'm afraid," replied Kurt, with Cloud helping that Rean's students wouldn't venture down to the sanctuary and interfere with Moira's work. "Hopefully, it wouldn't be hard to round them up later..."
Cloud: Would say that visiting the Smash Mansion is the last thing I'd take into consideration when planning a field trip, but Master Hand did make this place a tourist attraction once. For the people in Seattle, that is. Might be a different story for the out-of-towners.
"I see you got yourself some new friends, Cloud," Joker said to the swordsman as he approached him, seeing Rean and Kurt. Cloud was constantly bothered by Joker's encounters, and this instance was no different.
"They're not my friends, they're just visitors," Cloud explained to Joker, hoping that the young man would buzz off already. "These two came from a military academy, and they're on a 'field trip'."
"A two-person field trip sounds...interesting. If I may, I can show these two around the mansion. I'll let you rest easy."
"I don't think so, buddy." Cloud was putting his foot down, not wanting Joker to do his job for him. Who knows what Joker was up to. "I'm not gonna let you act as some stupid tour guide. Would be out of your league."
"You know what, that young man looks very trustworthy," remarked Rean, as Cloud gritted his teeth; nothing the swordsman could do to deflect Rean's confidence in Joker. "He could show us around this mansion if he likes."
"I already did you a solid two weeks ago, when that monster attacked the city," Joker said to Cloud, reminding the swordsman of Magnamalo and how he recruited a group of men to defeat the monster. "So what is this about me being a tour guide 'out of my league'?"
"Fine...you win," conceded Cloud, admitting defeat as he walked away from Joker. "Just let me know when you're done." A part of Cloud wanted to keep a close eye on Joker, to ensure that the young man didn't see anything he wasn't supposed to.
"We're ready to start when you are," Kurt said to Joker, him and Rean more than eager to start the tour of the mansion. They better hope that the residents keep their hands to themselves.
"Just give me a minute, you two..." Joker told Rean and Kurt before he walked to the other side of the hallway, taking out his cellphone and dialing a number so he could make a private phone call. "Hello, Ryuji?"
"Sup man?" Ryuji greeted his best friend after he answered the call. For some reason, it sounded as if Ryuji's mouth was full. "How's it coming along? Still keeping an eye on Cloud?"
"Not quite...I've decided to do another favor for him." Joker turned around and looked back at Rean and Kurt, who watched peculiarly as a cardboard box moved across the floor. Pretty obvious who was underneath it.
"Really now? Let me guess, there's another monster in Seattle! Or maybe Birdo is back just to harass Yoshi. Still can't believe she tried to kiss me on my cheek on Monday...yuck!"
"No, nothing of the sort - just giving some visitors a tour around the mansion. Pretty simple. You and Sephiroth can keep a close eye on Cloud while I do my thing, right?"
"You bet we can!" replied Ryuji, who was in the dining room stuffing his mouth with some gourmet burgers made by Cilan. Keeping Ryuji company was Sephiroth, who was slightly judging the delinquent. "You can count on us, Joker!"
"My goodness, where are your table manners..." Sephiroth shook his head in dismay at Ryuji, who had ended his phone call with Joker. Ryuji placed his phone back in his pocket, before resuming his devouring spree on the burgers in front of him.
"Table dinners? Ha! Who needs that crap when you're having lunch?" Ryuji grabbed one of the burgers off the plate and, before he ate it, offered it to Sephiroth. "Wanna take a bite, Sephy?"
"I'm not in the mood..." Sephiroth did his best to resist the urge, as Ryuji slowly brought the burger close to his face. "...I am not interested."
"Oh well, more for me!" Shrugging his shoulders, Ryuji took a bite out of the burger, as Sephiroth facepalmed at the delinquent's endless appetite. "You know, Sephy, we've come a long way since I hit you with that steel chair around Christmas."
"Anyone care for some more burgers?" asked Cilan as he and Ash came inside the dining room; Ash was holding a plate full of burgers. "They're hot out of the oven! And the stove."
"No thanks, I'm almost full," replied Ryuji, before he heard his stomach grumbling loudly. The delinquent looked fatigued as he clutched his tummy. "Maybe a little too full..."
"I'll say..." remarked Sephiroth, as Cilan and Ash direction their attention to the one-winged angel. "...you try and offer me your undeserving food, and I guarantee that you two won't ever walk again."
"Hurry, hurry, hurry..." a fearful Cilan said to Ash, rushing Ash back inside the kitchen as he did his best to save his guest from life-threatening harm.
Ash: Asked that Cilan guy if the mansion had any burgers, and he responded by teaching me how to make burgers myself. Gourmet burgers, that is. I wasn't so keen on it at first, but now I've gotten the hang of it. Now I can cook all the burgers that I want back at the academy! And don't even think that I'll share any of them with my classmates.
"We ought to go now and see what Cloud's up to," Sephiroth suggested to Ryuji, who was screaming in pain as his stomach grumbled even louder than before. Sephiroth stepped out of the way as Ryuji fell out of his chair and onto the floor.
"You can...go without me..." Ryuji told Sephiroth as he laid over on his back, looking up at the dining room ceiling as he let out an exasperated sigh. His stomach was killing him. "...think I had one too many burgers."
"Tried telling you that ten minutes ago...looks like I will be going solo, then." So Sephiroth left the dining room, leaving Ryuji alone in a world of pain.
Cloud lost two willing participants from his Aerith Revival Project, as Sonic and Tails decided to join Ema's pact on...whatever she was working in her room. While Cloud and Moira were aware that Sonic's departure, they were out of the loop regarding Tails'. Only Fox, Falco, and Corrin left, although Corrin wasn't doing much due to fulfilling some parental obligations with Kana. So Fox and Falco had to do most of the work now.
"So this phone will let us call someone when we go back in time?" Falco asked Moira in the Pokemon sanctuary, as he was holding a blocky cellphone. One that reminded him of cellphones in the eighties.
"It will be your own way of keeping in touch with Cloud," explained Moira, as Falco checked to see if the phone had any apps on it. "Can't guarantee a successful mission without that in your hand. Now if only Fox was here to see for himself..."
"Yeah, I'll be there as soon as I could," said Fox, speaking on the phone as he showed up; Moira couldn't help but furrow her brow. "Okay then, babe. I'll just let her know. Alright. Goodbye."
"Not leaving so soon, are you McCloud?" Moira asked the pilot, who ended his phone call and placed his phone back in his pocket.
"Krystal is having some...baby issues. Nothing major, just won't stop complaining about how much her stomach hurts. Gonna go see how she's feeling."
Fox: Our first kid is due very soon, and Krystal is starting to feel the pain. Every night she's always screaming from a stomach ache or some serious cramps. As weird as it may sound, Krystal's painful screams are like music to my ears...but in a good way. Just an indicator that I'm one step closer to fatherhood!
"Of all the times for this to occur..." sighed Moira, pinching the crown of her nose after Fox had left the sanctuary. She had nothing against Fox's baby, mind you - she was just bothered that the child had to be born at such a critical time during the project.
"Cheer up, Moira, you still have me...and Tails," Falco said to the geneticist as he patted her on her shoulder. And that's when Moira remembered a certain yellow fox she took a liking to.
"Ah, Tails! Sonic claimed that he stopped working last week because of a nasty migraine. He should be feeling better - a migraine can't last for a week."
"You'd be surprised - I had a major brain freeze that lasted for like, two weeks." Feeling very skeptical, Moira gave Falco a dubious stare. "Hey, don't judge me, Popo tried to gorge me with his stupid ice cream..."
"Mr. Lombardi, I want you to locate Tails, and bring him to this sanctuary at once. If for any reason he is hiding from me, let him know that he will be very, very sorry..."
"Why can't you just tell him that yourself?" What Falco got in response was a mean-looking glare from Moira that slightly scared him. "I mean, I'll go now!" Falco handed Moira the blocky cellphone before he ran out of the sanctuary.
"No slacking off, Lombardi!" Moira called out to Falco, as she placed the blocky cellphone on her desk.
Zeke gave Rex parts one and two of Pyra and Mythra's gift for joining Smash in the past two episodes. Those gifts being a lighter and two boxes of candles, respectively. All signs pointed to the gift being a cake, but Zeke assured Rex that it was anything but...although Rex understandably refused to believe him.
So while Rex waited for Zeke and Pandoria to stop by the mansion today - presumably with some cake - the swordsman helped Link with his wedding plans in the lounge. Link and Zelda had both finalized their guest list and did all the invites, as things were chugging along.
"We're not doing a wedding website," Link said to Rex, shooting down the swordsman's request. "Zelda already said that she doesn't want one."
"But how else is the news about your wedding supposed to go out?" questioned Rex, as Link completely understood how frustrated the swordsman felt. "Are we gonna buy a bunch of billboards throughout the city? Do you realize how much work that requires?"
"I know, I know...but Zelda can be too old-fashioned sometimes. Hates electric toothbrushes, for crying out loud. Thankfully, she's no Marth, but..."
"Oh, Rex! Guess who's back?" a certain Crown Prince called out to the swordsman from outside the lounge, as Rex sighed. Soon Zeke and Pandoria ran inside the lounge, skidding to a halt at the same time and striking the same magnificent pose.
"You two are looking chipper than ever," Rex greeted Zeke and Pandoria, who both relaxed their poses. Zeke took notice of Link, relieved to see that the Hylian was in one peace.
"Ah, you are alive and well!" the Crown Prince exclaimed to the momentarily confused Link before he hugged the Hylian. Pandoria wanted to join in on the hug, but there was no room. "I see that spiky hair left you off the hook after he kidnapped you."
"You mean Cloud? Yeah, he never hurt me," Link informed Zeke, who responded by giving the Hylian an astonished look. "We're best friends, actually."
"You and spiky hair are friends now?!" Amazed by this revelation that had already happened, Zeke released his hold on Link. "What an absolute change of heart from that old chap. Good stuff!"
"Alright, Zeke, where is your gift for Pyra and Mythra?" Rex asked Zeke, wanting the Crown Prince to hand off the gift and leave so he could leave him alone. "I know it's some giant cake...I can feel it."
"Again, it is not a cake...but before we get to the gift, I want to rendezvous you with some friends of ours that I brought along! Wanted to make the moment feel a bit more special. Come on in, everyone!"
On cue, four individuals came inside the lounge - a young woman decked in dark blue military garb; a purple-haired woman wearing a purple-haired dress; a Nopon wearing denim dungarees; and a robot girl. All four of them were familiar faces to Rex.
"Say hello to your good friends, Rex - Morag! Brighid! Tora! Poppi!" Zeke said to the swordsman as he and Pandoria outstretched their arms to Morag and company, showing off some jazz hands. "Pandoria and I have been waiting for these four since..."
"Don't think we saw you camping outside the mansion, Zeke," Morag said to the Crown Prince, shutting his mouth up for good, before looking at Rex. "It looks like we meet again, Rex...I see you haven't changed much."
"I'll have you know, Morag, we were only camping outside the mansion for only three days!" stated Zeke as he held up three fingers in Morag's face. "Not like we've been here a whole week."
Rex: Zeke and Pandoria camped outside for three days? Where did they camp, and how did they manage to go unseen? I'm gonna have to review the mansion's security footage later...
Morag: Zeke desperately wanted us to join him at the mansion, as he wanted a crowd of familiar faces for when he gives Pyra and Mythra their gift. Asked Zeke if the gift was going to be some lousy cake, but he promised that it would be something much more "substantial". *sighs* It's going to be cake.
"Tora happy to see Rex!" Tora said to Rex, as the Nopon happily embraced the swordsman. "Been very long time since Tora last saw you."
"Likewise, pal," smiled Rex, as he saw Tora's Blade, Poppi, waving to him. Poppi would do the same with Link, unnerving the Hylian.
"Why is that Nopon with that robot girl?" Link whispered to Rex, watching in horror as Poppi continued waving at him. "Does he have some kind of weird anime fetish that I should know about?"
"That's Poppi, his Blade." The more Poppi waved, the more scared Link felt inside. Poppi was making the Hylian feel some things.
"Doesn't answer my question, but okay..." Link pulled away from Rex, as the endless waving from Poppi finally came to an end.
"Since you're all here together, the two of us shall retrieve the gift," Zeke said to Rex and the others as he and Pandoria were backing out of the lounge. "In the meantime, why don't you all get our two favorite Blades nice and comfy?"
"I'd imagined that you already had the gift prepared," Brighid said to Zeke, who froze in place as his eyes suspiciously darted around.
"Just need to pick it up, that is all. Toodles!" And with that, Zeke and Pandoria hightailed out of the lounge. The way those two left was awfully suspect.
"Nia was right...he really is a shellhead," Morag had this to say about Zeke, as she facepalmed - gotta wonder if she felt the same way about Pandoria. Pandoria's cuteness couldn't possibly absolve her of any scrutiny.
Inside the kitchen, Ash was cooking some burgers on the stovetop, with Cilan overseeing the student's hard work. Present in the kitchen was Musse, who was helping herself with some sweets that Cilan treated her with. Mostly candy.
"I see you have quite the sweet tooth there," Popo said to Musse as he entered the kitchen, spotting the student licking a giant lollipop. "Would you care for some delicious ice cream? It will make you a very happy girl!"
"No thank you, but I appreciate your kindness," replied Musse as she gave Popo an assuring smile - a smile that Popo saw as fake and full of deceit.
"Don't try and play games with me, young lady! I'll have you know, that my ice cream is the best in town...no, wait, the whole world. Ben and Jerry's? Ha! Bunch of posers..."
"Well, it's great to see that you have that much confidence in yourself." Musse took another lick from her lollipop, and Popo was still triggered that Musse had yet to take up on his offer.
"Look here, I'm not playing these games...I'm not gonna entice you for the last time. Does it look like I'm playing around? Do you honestly have ANY idea what you're missing out on? How immoral not having ice cream is?"
"Stop bothering her, she's clearly not interested..." Nana scolded Popo, grabbing her brother...boyfriend...husband...cousin...whatever you want to call Popo, as she dragged him away. Popo was fighting out of Nana's grasp but to no avail.
"No, Nana, I wasn't done yet! Haven't you heard of anything called emotional appeal? Appealing to customers? You are such a failure when it comes to advertising..."
"That was a strange encounter..." remarked Ash, having been sidetracked by Popo's attempt at emotional appeal advertising. "...poor guy sure looked desperate. Ha, wonder if Juna and Altina had their sports fix in..."
Juna and Altina hadn't gotten their fix in, but they were seemingly on the cusp. The two students went to the table tennis room, where they saw Crash and Sonic playing some table tennis. Aku was the only spectator.
"Go, Crash, give it your all!" Aku encouraged the bandicoot with his totally not biased support, as Sonic and Crash hit the tennis ball over the net with speed and precision. And with their paddles. Juna found herself allured by the fast-action pace.
"This one's for all the marbles!" shouted Sonic, before he struck the tennis ball with great vigor. He sent the ball flying towards Crash, who ducked under the table in fear as the ball bounced off the wall. "Aw yeah, I won!"
"Actually, that was only the first point scored the entire game." Sonic, who was doing his celebratory dance, looked at Aku in disbelief. "You two were really going it at!"
"All that back-and-forth we did, and that was only the first point? Thought we played the entire match! I think one of us should just forfeit the game, and save our energy. Preferably you, Crash."
Sonic: Ema told me and Crash that she didn't need us just yet for her "experiment", but she'll give us a holler when she does. In the meantime, Crash and I will just take it easy until duty calls. I'm just glad that I'm not stuck doing menial tasks for that androgynous science freak Moira anymore...my Fridays are now as free as they're supposed to!
"I would love to take some swimming lessons before we leave," Altina expressed to Juna, as her and Juna's presence caught the attention of Aku.
"Look alive fellas, we have some company!" Aku alerted Crash and Sonic, as he brought the two friends' attention to Juna and Altina. "You two ladies came to town to visit?"
"I...guess you could say that!" grinned Juna as she scratched the back of her head; Altina gave no reaction, which was a red flag to Sonic. Crash started sniffing Juna and Altina, doing a sniff test, with Juna gently pushing the bandicoot away. "I'm Juna, and this is my friend, Altina."
"Do you have swimming lessons?" inquired Altina, as Sonic started acting like he was going through some PTSD. Aku took notice of the fear on Sonic's face.
"...not quite, but we do have table tennis!" replied Aku, with Altina looking very much bemused. Then again, with her stoic nature, it was quite hard to tell how she really felt. "If you win, we'll let you take some lessons. Free as charged."
"Okay then - I will pick him as my partner." Altina pointed at Sonic, wanting the hedgehog as her partner. Sonic, snapping out of his PTSD trance, saw Altina pointing at him and felt nervous for some reason.
"That wasn't what I had in mind, but we can make it work...Crash and Juna versus Sonic and Altina, those are the teams."
A new table tennis game had started, with Crash and Juna on one side, and Sonic and Altina on the other. Altina was the first to serve, as she hit the ball...and sent it flying into Juna's face.
"Ow!" Juna winced in pain after the tennis ball struck the crown of her nose. You'd think that Altina would show a little remorse, but she just stood there like nothing was wrong.
"The swimming lessons, please," Altina looked up at Aku, as Juna got down on one knee grabbing her face. Crash comforted the student the best way he could by simply patting her back.
"Did you seriously try to end our match early on purpose, just so you could take some stupid 'swimming lesson'?" Sonic frowned at Altina, who did not respond, as Sonic angrily turned his attention to Aku. "You're not gonna give in to this chick, are you Aku?"
"Uh...who's the best swimming instructor around here?" inquired Aku, as Sonic threw his arms up in defeat and walked away.
Running as if his life had depended on it, Fox ran to his house to check on his wife Krystal. As stated by Fox earlier, the baby was due soon, and it was getting hard on Krystal to bear the pains of pregnancy. When Fox entered the house, he saw Krystal sitting on the living room couch...with Mario, Spyro, and Hunter all keeping her company.
"Mario, why are you inside my house?" Fox asked the plumber, who was comforting Krystal to the best of her ability. Krystal wore a lot of pain on her face.
"Your wife-a let me in after she gave-a me a call," Mario explained to Fox, who was salty that Krystal prioritized calling Mario first over her own husband. "Got-a here as soon as I could!"
"My stomach's hurting more than ever, Fox," Krystal said to the pilot, who rushed over to the vixen and placed his hand on her forehead. "Why are you touching my forehead...?"
"Just checking to see if you had a fever." After touching Krystal's forehead, Fox then moved on to the vixen's throat. "You're not feeling dizzy, are you? What about nausea, got any of that?"
"Please forgive Fox - my pregnancy has turned him into a hypochondriac," Krystal apologized to Mario and company, as Fox started patting the vixen's stomach. "No, Fox, stop touching my stomach like that!"
Krystal: Fox has taken my pregnancy a bit too seriously. Beforehand, he refused to visit WebMD, claiming that it was a website for "very fragile people". Now he visits that site every other hour of the day and even has a few pages bookmarked. Guess who's "fragile" now.
"According to this article, Krystal might be having fake labor pains," stated Hunter, reading from a page article on Fox's laptop that was bookmarked. "Even mentions something about Braxton-Hicks contractions. What makes Braxton and Hicks so special?"
"I think you're just being paranoid, Hunter," Spyro said to his cheetah friend, as Fox was now inspecting Krystal's loincloth in an aggressive matter. "Uh, Fox, what are you doing with that loincloth?"
"Just checking for any signs of blood," replied Fox, who was satisfied to see that Krystal's loincloth was perfectly spotless. "You never know when the uterus starts bleeding...was that TMI?"
"Not even I was this paranoid-a when Peach was pregnant..." Mario whispered to Krystal, who was very much bothered by the way Fox was acting. Especially in the presence of his neighbors.
"This is why I originally just wanted you around," Krystal whispered back, as Fox was now putting his ear against Krystal's stomach. "You can keep a close eye on my husband, right?"
"I suppose-a that I could babysit your husband." Accepting his role, Mario now had to keep a close eye on Fox. "Stop rubbing her stomach-a like that, Fox, it's not some-a magic lamp..."
Zeke and Pandoria were down in the foyer, and the former was in a very dire mood. Why? Because his gift for Pyra and Mythra had yet to arrive. The Crown Prince attempted to call whoever was supposed to bring the gift, but he didn't know the gift giver's number. Let alone how to use a phone properly.
"Where is he, where is he...?" wondered Zeke as he paced back and forth in the foyer, with Pandoria looking on. The sound of the doorbell ringing was heard, as Zeke gasped with glee. "Could that be him?!"
"Let's go see!" said Pandoria, springing into action as she went ahead and answered the front door. Standing on the porch were Dingodile and Ty, as the former was holding a large gift box.
"Got you your cake, mate," Dingodile said to Zeke, who sprinted to the front door with a big smile. So Pyra and Mythra's gift was nothing more than just some cake...Rex and Morag, get yourselves some. You two were right all along.
"Yes! Bring it on in!" Zeke beckoned to Dingodile, as the mutant and Ty brought the gift box inside the mansion before gently placing it on the floor. "All there's left to do is to present the cake...and light the candles, of course."
"You were lucky to make that phone call," Ty said to Zeke, who lifted the lid of the gift box and looked inside to confirm that the cake was there. "This was the last cake in stock! Some retirement home ordered all the other pastries."
Dingodile: Zeke told me over the phone that he already had a cake ready to go. He had a cake for Rex and kept it around for about two years, planning to give it out one day. Fortunately, common sense eventually told him that keeping a cake for so long wasn't the brightest idea.
"Mind I ask what's inside that box?" Byleth asked Zeke and Pandoria as she came inside the foyer, focusing her attention on the gift box. Zeke and Pandoria hastily stood in front of the box, obstructing Byelth's view.
"Oh, it's nothing really...not like there's some grand cake inside," replied Zeke, trying to dispel Byleth, as Pandoria facepalmed at the Crown Prince's lousy attempt. "Even if there was a cake, it's not meant for you!"
"I don't see a name tag on it. That means the present could go out to anyone, correct?" Sweat running down his face, Zeke nervously glanced at the gift box and didn't see a name tag anywhere.
"You ruffians forgot to put on a name tag?" Zeke frowned at Dingodile and Ty, whispering to them through clenched teeth. Clearly, Dingodile and Ty didn't believe that a name tag was that important.
"Look here, professor, this bad boy isn't for you," Dingodile informed Byleth concerning the gift box, which he picked up - almost like it was nothing. "So why don't you just skedaddle, and leave us be?"
"Yeah, why don't you go and find a cake for your own self!" Zeke pointed at Byleth before nervously backing away. "I mean...gotta go!" The Crown Prince ran off, with Pandoria not that far behind.
"Where is that bloke running off to?" Ty asked Dingodile, befuddled by the way Zeke made his grand escape. "That was very random of him to do."
"I reckon that he's going to look for Pyra and Mythra," assumed Dingodile, carrying the gift box as he and Ty left the foyer. "Let's just hang out in the gaming room, for now. Bet that Zeke doesn't even know where he's going!"
"This is not good..." remarked Byleth, realizing that time was of the essence. Beleth entered the foyer, looking like he was in a long search. "...did you find anything yet?" Byleth asked her fellow professor.
"Afraid not - still left empty-handed," answered Beleth as he shook his head. Byleth sighed in despair. "Master Hand better come through, otherwise Mewtwo won't be a happy camper..."
"Saw Tails going into Ema's room," Geno said to Falco, who asked the Star Warrior for any signs of Tails' whereabouts. Geno was leading Falco to Ema's room right now. "Tried doing some small talk with him, but he looked pretty busy."
"Too busy, huh? We'll just have to see about that..." responded Falco, as he and Geno eventually reached Ema's room. Falco knocked on the door. "Yo, Ema, it's your boy. Let me in!"
"No can do, not accepting any visitors now," replied Ema, and judging by the tone of her voice, the forensics expert was deeply engrossed in whatever she was working on.
"Is Tails in there? Are you holding him hostage?" Not a single response from Ema, which Falco found highly suspect. "Your silence is really saying a lot..."
"Looks like we're camping," said Geno, as Falco sighed as he sat down against the wall. "I should have a deck of cards with me..."
While Lloyd was moping about the counterfeit money, Pit went to the arcade room with Kirby and Incineroar to keep his mindset positive. As Pit was playing Pac-Man, Joker brought Rean and Kurt inside the arcade room.
"And this is the arcade room," Joker said to Rean and Kurt, who were both easily allured by all the arcade games that were present. "Yes, we have to pay for the arcade tokens..."
"Even though you guys live here?" asked Kurt, to which Joker solemnly nodded his head. So much of Joker's money, all gone to the token machine. "I feel so sorry for you..."
"I wonder if this mansion has a fishing spot, or somewhere for snowboarding," said Rean, as the eavesdropping Pit suddenly perked up. "Fishing and snowboarding are my two favorite hobbies."
"Did I hear someone mention snowboarding?" asked Pit, pausing his Pac-Man game as he excitedly went over to Rean. "You wanna know what's even better than snowboarding?"
"I don't think there's anything better than snowboarding...unless you're talking about skiing, which I despise. Got pantsed once while skiing...it was horrible. Don't like being embarrassed."
"Well, have you ever heard of a sport called 'humiliskate'?" Pit asked Rean while holding his arms out for special effect. "It's the best new craze to sweep the mansion!"
"Pit, this man just said that he didn't like being embarrassed," Kirby said to the angel, not wanting Rean to follow up on Pit's shenanigans. "Humiliskate might not be a fit for him."
Kirby: Crash and a few others play humiliskate on a very high hill not that far from the mansion. Just behind the Yiga Clan hideout. Basically, all you do is ride on top of someone like a snowboard and ride down the hill. It's as painful as it sounds, and then some. So far, Dr. Cortex is everyone's favorite "board".
"I remember some talking cheetah mention 'humiliskate' to Juna earlier," remarked Rean, holding a finger underneath his chin as he weighed his options. "I'd like to see this 'new sports craze' in person."
"No, no, we're on a tour here," Joker reminded Rean, as Pit was cutting into his time. Watching residents ride down a hill on each other was not a part of Joker's mansion tour. "Don't you want to see our cafe? We have coffee machines..."
"Well, if you're free later, then just give me a call," Pit said to Rean as he, Kirby, and Incineroar returned to the Pac-Man game. "If you actually wanna do the humiliskate thing...you got your own board standing right next to ya!"
"Wonder who that could be," wondered Kurt, before he saw that he and Rean were standing right next to each other. "Oh, for the love of..."
Being that they were at the beauty salon, Pyra, Mythra, and Nia had no idea that their friends from Alrest were visiting the mansion today. The three ladies (and Dromarch) were bound to be surprised later as Rex led them down the hallway.
"You girls won't believe it, but apparently Zeke was camping outside the mansion for three whole days," Rex said to the three ladies, still unnerved that Zeke had camped for that long. "Sounds unbelievable, no?"
"It would be had it been literally anyone else," replied Mythra, feeling strongly indifferent about the prospect of seeing Zeke again. "Though I'd like to imagine that Zeke camped on the mansion's roof. Sounds more like him."
"Alright ladies, we're here!" announced Rex, arriving at his bedroom along with his fake harem (no, Dromarch doesn't count). He had his bedroom door closed to further add to the surprise. "Got a few special folks that want to see you."
"Special folks?" Pyra furrowed her brow, as Rex slowly opened his bedroom door with a giant grin. Pyra, Mythra, Nia, and Dromarch were all pleasantly surprised to see who was inside Rex's room.
"Well, I'll be!" exclaimed Dromarch as he saw Morag, Brighid, Tora, and Poppi all hanging out in Rex's room. "This is quite the reunion, I'll say."
"Yeah, a much better reunion than the one we had with Shellhead..." remarked Nia, before she saw a fifth person in the room...one that was far removed from Xenoblade lore. "...Link? What are you doing in Rex's room?"
"This dumb Nopon refuses to let me leave..." replied Link as he pointed at Tora, who had taken a great liking towards the Hylian. Tora's Driver, Poppi, drew closer to Link, startling the Hylian and causing him to shriek.
"How may I be of service, Master?" Poppi asked Link, who jumped back in fear as he landed on top of Rex's bed. Tora gasped deeply, seeing that something was amiss with his robot creation.
"Tora left Poppi on wrong setting!" the Nopon freaked out, losing his marbles as Link took the time to catch his breath. "Tora meant to put Poppi on correct setting before leaving for mansion. Tora very sorry!"
Link: What did that Nopon mean when he said that the robot was on the "wrong setting"? He doesn't mean that... *pauses, as his face falls completely* ...oh no...oh no...
The next few minutes in Rex's room were spent on friendly terms with Pyra, Mythra, Nia, and Dromarch doing some catching up with their friends. Mostly talking about how mansion life was, and how Master Hand was a major pain in the butt and the bane of everyone's existence. Though that was a conversation for another day. It was during this time of catching up that Mythra felt obligated to make an announcement...
"Rex and Nia like each other," the Blade informed Morag and the others, finding it a struggle to hide her smile. Lots of surprised faces all around.
"Really now?" said an astonished Morag as she looked at Rex, who was smiling sheepishly. Pyra was feeling some type of way again. "I didn't think that you would want to commit yourself to be an actually decent boyfriend, Rex."
"Guess I just didn't realize it until later," Rex sheepishly replied, while under the assumption that Morag was throwing some slight shade at him.
"You look rather upset, Pyra," Brighid said to the Blade, who tried to brighten up her face a bit to avoid further suspicion. "You're not...jealous, are you?"
"Me? Jealous?" Pyra scoffed, smiling as she awkwardly wrapped her arms around Rex. The awkwardness that Rex felt couldn't be put into words. "What would I be feeling jealous for?"
"Never seen her do that before, she's obviously jealous," stated Link as he pointed at Pyra, whose smile faded away as she released her hold on Rex. The heat was all on Pyra now.
"Okay, maybe I am a little jealous...but Rex and I, we're still friends." Pyra heard someone clear their throat, as the Blade looked over and saw Nia. "And I'm still friends with Nia, too."
"You can always find yourself another man," Nia offered these encouraging words to Pyra, understanding why the Blade might be feeling bitter. "Just as long as it's not Shellhead..."
Dingodile and Ty were chilling in the gaming room, as they waited for Pyra and Mythra to arrive with the others. To pass the time, Dingodile offered to tell Ty everything he should know about the recipients of the cake, and then some.
"So if Pyra and Mythra were to date each other, wouldn't that make them both asexual?" pondered Ty, as Dingodile was extremely reluctant to answer the Tasmanian tiger's thought-provoking question.
"...that's for you to figure out on your own, mate," Dingodile replied to the best of his ability, as he patted Ty on his shoulder. He would stop the patting, however, when he saw Sephiroth from a far distance, staring at someone. "Crikey..."
"Where ya going, Dingodile?" Ty watched as Dingodile got up off the couch he was sitting on and ventured over to Sephiroth. The way that Sephiroth was standing around looking at whoever he was looking at caught Dingodile's intrigue.
"Hey, buddy, who are you looking at?" Dingodile asked Sephiroth, who didn't respond as he had this gaze completely locked on. Dingodile waved his hand over Sephiroth's eye, and the one-winged angel didn't even blink. "Hello, earth to..."
"Shh..." Sephiroth shushed Dingodile before he pointed outwards. Dingodile looked towards where Sephiroth was pointing and saw Cloud in a corner of the gaming room, speaking with Ganondorf and Wario.
"You have second doubts about liking Aerith?" Wario asked Cloud, as Dingodile now found himself eavesdropping on the conversation. He promised Joker that he and Ty would be "informants" - this could be his big break.
"It's...it's complicated," replied Cloud, daring not to mention the fact that he wasn't really talking about alternate universe Aerith - but rather the Aerith that he wanted to revive.
"Then why did you bring Aerith back from her universe, if it's so 'complicated'?" Ganondorf questioned Cloud, who folded his arms as he looked down at the floor. "You're not making much sense, Mr. Strife..."
"It's just that...I really don't know. Like, what if my heart goes out to Tifa, and not Aerith?" Quite the conundrum for Cloud to find himself in. "I mean, one is super nice and friendly...and the other is my childhood friend."
"A childhood friendship is a good basis for liking someone," Wario said to Cloud as if he was offering some sage romantic advice. "Especially if you've been tight with that special someone for some time."
"Don't listen to him, Cloud - he thought that dating a high schooler was acceptable," Ganondorf advised the swordsman, as Wario gritted his teeth at the demon lord. "Probably still thinks that. He has no moral code."
"Let me at him, let me at him!" growled Wario as he made a lunge towards Ganondorf, only for Cloud to grab the fatso in the nick of time. Ganondorf laughed in Wario's face, only making the fatso even more incensed.
Wario: How are things going with me and Mona? It's...going. Mona's been a lot busier these days, always finding a new job every other month it seems like. But that is to be expected when a girl that you like is finally out of high school. *pauses* And blossoming into an adult, of course!
"Cloud has plans to revive the deceased Aerith Gainsborough," Sephiroth informed Dingodile, watching as Cloud calmed down Wario to the best of his ability and placed him back on his feet. "He must be having second doubts right now."
"Maybe that's where all that money Pit and Lloyd took went to..." assumed Dingodile, planning on asking Cloud later just to see if his assumptions were true.
Fox was acting more tranquil at home, no longer doing questionable things that made Mario, Spyro, and Hunter judge him. That said, however, the pilot was still on high alert when it came to Krystal.
"So how did it go?" Fox asked Krystal, who had just exited from the bathroom that Fox was lingering around. "No blood? No leakage of any weird fluids?"
"Nothing of the sort..." sighed Krystal as she returned to the living room, with Fox trailing behind her. Fox would come to a stop when Mario cleared his throat at him in a commanding way.
"Fox, don't you think that your wife-a is hungry?" Mario asked the pilot, doing whatever he could to make Fox act normal...ish. "Treat her with-a some lunch."
"You like grilled cheese sandwiches?" Fox asked Krystal, who responded with a blank stare. That stare told Krystall all that he needed to know. "I'll take that as a yes!" So Fox rushed inside the kitchen, so he could get his materials ready.
"Mario!" Aku's voice was heard, strangely coming from the fireplace. Soon Aku appeared from out the fireplace, floating his way over to Mario. "Mario, we need you outside!"
"Who's 'we'? And how did-a you know that I was here?" Mario asked Aku, who was in too frantic of a mood to answer either one of Mario's questions. "And did-a you seriously go down-a Fox's chimney?"
"We have no time. Just bring your swimwear, and head outside to the mansion's pool!" Aku flew into the fireplace and up the chimney...before returning to the living room for some more info. "Oh, and bring Spyro and Hunter, just in case."
"You got your break from Fox," Krystal said to Mario in a congratulatory manner, as Aku finally left Fox's house for good. "Maybe soon I will get my break..."
"Which cheese do you like more, babe - Pepper Jack or Colby-Jack?" Fox asked Krystal, as he held up two different slices of cheese; Krystal gave him another blank stare. "Pepper Jack it is..."
Byleth and Beleth were getting super desperate to find a gift for Mewtwo - so much, they were now asking Isabelle if she had anything for the genetic Pokemon.
"Mewtwo won Master Hand's bracket challenge?" Isabelle spoke with the professors in the hallway, having just learned about Mewtwo's victory. "Was he even in the running?"
"He said that he entered in secret, and made his submission known to..." started Beleth, only for Isabelle to take out a list of names on her clipboard. A list of names of those who signed up for Master Hand's challenge. "...you've got to be kidding me."
"Nope, don't see Mewtwo's name on this list! I think he was just lying to you." Isabelle put away the list of names, as she looked up and saw the professors walking away. "Don't worry, you guys - you'll get used to it! Just like me!"
Byleth: Why does Mewtwo care so much about some prize? He's never been this materialistic before. Can't we just give him a basketball with some fake autograph on it, and call it a day? Why can't it be that simple?
Juna and Altina were gathered with Sonic, Crash, and Aku outside in the mansion's pool, ready to start some swimming lessons. Because he couldn't find a swimming instructor in the mansion, Aku asked Mario if he could fill the role, and he obliged. Mario brought Spyro and Hunter to the pool - but what did he need them for?
"For the record, I sometimes suck at swimming at the surface-a level," Mario warned Altina, not wanting the student to have too high expectations for him. "I'm much-a better swimming underwater."
"That sounds kind of backward, don't you think?" Sonic asked Mario; the hedgehog would've done the swimming lessons himself, if not for his infamous aquaphobia.
"It's a good thing you didn't ask Spyro here for swimming lessons," Hunter said to Altina as he gave Spyro a playful nudge. "Dude literally had to pay someone to teach him how to swim! A stupid bear named Moneybags!"
"Isn't that how most swimming lessons usually happen, by paying someone to teach you?" questioned Juna, as she shot down Hunter's attempt of throwing shade at Spyro. Hunter frowned as he snapped his fingers in disgust and failure.
"Whatever...let's-a get this done," said Mario, standing at the edge of the pool...before he ripped off his overalls to reveal his red shorts. A lot of folks widening their eyes, with Crash even doing a wolf whistle. "Miss-a Orion, do you have your swim-a wear?"
"I didn't bring any," replied Altina, causing Mario to faceplant unto the patio. "I asked a fitness trainer for some, but she didn't have any."
"Stupid Wii Fit-a Trainer..." grumbled Mario as he picked himself up off the patio, before dusting himself off. "...guess you'll just have to watch-a and learn, then. No biggie. Spyro, Hunter, get-a my towels ready!"
"Mario brought towels?" Spyro asked Hunter, as he and the cheetah looked around for any towels that Mario might've brought. As they did so, Mario got himself into position.
"First things first, you must be waist-a deep in the pool." Mario gave these instructions to Altina, as he checked to see if the water was safe for swimming. "Watch and-a learn..."
So Mario jumped into the pool, and for some reason, the plumber went far in deeper than he was supposed to. A couple of bubbles arose from the surface of where Mario jumped into the pool...and that was it.
"D-Did he just drowned?" fretted Juna, very much unnerved by the lack of response from Mario. A few seconds passed, and still nothing. "Guys...?"
"Seriously, Mario?" sighed Spyro, having to be a lifeguard as he and Hunter dove into the pool to rescue Mario. Maybe that's why he and Hunter were asked by Mario to join him at the pool, in the first place.
"Nuh-uh, I'm not going in there to save him..." said Sonic, standing his ground as he refused to jump inside the pool. Crash crept up to Sonic, with a mischievous smile, before he pushed the hedgehog into the water.
"Crash!" Aku scolded the bandicoot, watching as Sonic was helplessly splashing around on the water before he sank underneath. That made Juna even more worried than before, whereas Altina showed no reaction. "Oh, where's Tails when you need him?"
Tails was still in Ema's room, and Falco and Geno were camping outside the room while playing cards to pass the time. Falco was kicking Geno's butt so far.
"Goldfish," said Falco as he laid out his card on a pile of cards, before taking a double look at it. "Wait, is this a Yu-Gi-Oh card? Why does it look like it was painted over?"
"I'm gonna go print this off for you, Coco," Tails said to the blonde bandicoot, as Ema's bedroom door was finally opened. Falco looked up and saw Tails, and Tails saw him. "Hey, Falco! Weird spot to be playing cards at."
"About flipping time!" Falco exclaimed cathartically, dropping his cards unto the floor before he scooped up Tails and ran away. "Had me waiting forever...you're gonna pay me back soon."
"Pay you back for what? What were you waiting on me for?" Tails saw his questions unanswered, as Falco made a mad dash to the Pokemon sanctuary. Soon Coco poked her out, looking around, before seeing Geno sitting on the floor.
"Wanna play some cards?" Geno asked Coco, picking up the cards Falco left on the floor and offering them to the bandicoot. "Just ignore the white paint..."
Being that Tails was no longer a part of the Aerith Revival Project, and he hadn't told Moira about his departure...Moira had to learn the truth sooner or later. And with Moira still in the sanctuary, the time for truth was now.
"What if the Rift Generator just explodes?" Reaper asked Moira, sparking some conversation in the Pokemon sanctuary. He was only there just so Moira wouldn't feel so lonely by herself. Talk about being a great friend...even if Reaper barely thought of himself as such.
"Only you would want that to happen..." replied Moira, as she was looking inside a test tube in her hand. "...anything that happens to the Rift Generator would be a colossal failure for Cloud. Nothing less."
"I think he should just pull out while he still can." Reaper cracked his knuckles, as he offered his two cents to Moira. "He's just not ready for..."
"Yo, Moira! Guess who I got here," Falco called out to the geneticist, as he finally returned to the sanctuary. With him was a certain yellow fox. "I finally got your favorite fox, Tails."
"Took you long enough, Lombardi..." Moira said to the avian pilot, before focusing her attention on Tails. "...hello, Tails - I hope that you are feeling better after that migraine you had."
"Yeah, been feeling a lot better," replied Tails as he scratched his head, trying not to make himself look suspicious. "It was a pretty nasty headache."
Falco: Felt like forever waiting on Tails. All that time, I could've been with Fox, and helped him comfort Kyrstal while she dealt with the pains of pregnancy. Imagine if Krystal's water broke, and she went into premature labor, and Fox had to deliver the baby by himself without his best friend at his side...that would be a very sucky feeling. Not for me, but for Fox.
"Now that you're healthy again, I assume that you're ready to continue working on the project at hand," Moira said to Tails, as she saw right through the yellow fox's reluctance. Tails couldn't hide anything from the geneticist.
"I would love to, but at this point...I don't know," Tails nervously replied, as Moira raised an eyebrow; Reaper must be smiling underneath his skull mask.
"Hmm, and why is that so? Why the change in heart? Out with it..." As stated before Tails couldn't hide a thing...he had to give the whole truth.
"It's just that...I don't like the whole time-traveling aspect being incorporated into it. Kinda makes things complicated. If not for that, then..."
"No worries, Tails - I completely understand." Hearing that from Moira made Tails feel all sorts of relieved. "I've personally tried talking Professor E. Gadd out of it, but he claimed that it was 'the only way.' So, it is what it is..."
"Oh, well, uh...okay then." Tails let out a sigh of relief, as he gained a decent amount of respect from Reaper. "So you have no problem with me leaving?"
"At least you were being honest; honesty can go a lot of ways." Moira scowled, as Cloud instantly came to mind. "If only Mr. Strife could learn how to be honest..."
"You gonna find someone to replace Tails, or what?" Falco curiously asked Moira, knowing how much of a huge asset Tails was. A young genius like Tails was dang near irreplaceable.
"We're nearing the end of the project, so a replacement at this time won't be necessary. We will just have to keep trucking on..."
Zeke and Pandoria had both ran off after they spoke with Byleth, and in true Zeke and Pandoria fashion, they both got sidetracked. But after they got sidetracked, they bumped into Cilan and Ash, who were offering some of Ash's burgers. Ash had originally planned on taking the burgers with him on the way back home, but Cilan calmly talked him out of it.
"Mhmm! Delicious! Spectular! Incredible!" remarked Zeke after he finished off a burger, unable to think of another adjective. "These burgers are simply, in a word...phenomenal!"
"Easy now - we can't have you go through the entire dictionary," Ash said to Zeke, as was holding a plate of burgers that he made himself. Zeke reached his hand out, only for Ash to push him away. "No, save some for the others..."
"Ah, some consideration - that's what I like to see!" Cilan smiled at Ash as he proudly patted the student on his back. "Being considerate is always the first great sign of a good chef."
Cilan: I have only known Ash Carbide for only a day, but he has been the best pupil I've ever had! A much better learner than that Chef Kawasaki. At least Ash was willing to learn from his mistakes; Kawasaki wanted to legitimately kill people and pass it off as "good cooking".
"May I have another lollipop, Cilan?" Musse asked the connoisseur as she showed up in the hallway; her sweet tooth was craving some more candy. "If it's not too much trouble."
"Not much trouble at all!" Cilan happily replied as he dug into his pocket and pulled out a small lollipop. He must carry candy around in his pockets as if they were currency. "Here you are!"
"You geeks again?" sighed a certain swordsman, right before Cilan could hand Musse her lollipop. Standing in the hallway was Cloud, who was bemused seeing Zeke and Pandoria a consecutive week.
"Spiky hair! We meet again," Zeke pointed at Cloud, who couldn't be any less bothered by the Crown Prince's presence. "It has been recently brought to my attention that you and the elfin boy are friends now. Good stuff, indeed!"
"Who, Link? We've been friends with each other for years." Zeke wanted to believe Cloud, but he couldn't - his ego wouldn't let him. "Now, tell me why you're here again?"
"We're here because of a gift we had to bring...or rather, we had someone to bring for us. A gift for the newest fighters in Smash, Pyra and Mythra!"
"So you're friends with those two...I bet you tire them out easily." Cloud was already tired of just being in Zeke's presence.
"Those two, not as much...but Nia, she's a different story. But deep down, I know that she can't resist me, no matter how much she tries to hide it."
"Well, Zeke, you are a pretty swell gentleman," Cilan said to the Crown Prince, puffing up his ego and making him smile. Cloud shook his head distastefully.
"Now this is what I like to hear! Ooh, come on, yeah, keep it coming!" Zeke was indulging Cilan to flatter him more, and it made Cloud sick to his stomach.
"Cloud Strife..." a voice with a thick Australian accent said to the swordsman, who turned around and saw Dingodile. Cloud could tell by the look on Dingodile's face that the mutant was not in a happy mood.
"Um, don't you have a diner to operate?" Cloud asked Dingodile, as he recalled Dingo's Diner; Barret implored Cloud repeatedly to check the diner out, but Cloud rejected the offer in a heartbeat.
"I would, but my employees got it all covered. I run my diner like a democracy - shouldn't run into any problems once I get back."
Dingo's Diner Employee: Dingodile and Ty left to go deliver some cake, and since then the jukebox started acting up. Been playing nothing but "Baby Shark" the entire time. *buries face in her hands, then cries* We can't get it to stop...
"Lay off of him, Dingodile! Cilan wasn't done flattering me!" Zeke shouted at the mutant, his desire to be flattered frightening Cloud slightly. "Spiky hair will be next on the menu."
"Not now, mate - Cloud and I have a score to settle," Dingodile said to Zeke, before directing his attention back to Cloud. "So, you planning on funding your secret plan, eh?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," replied Cloud, acting dumb on purpose so that Dingodile could leave him alone. But little did he know that Dingodile was much smarter than he looked.
"Really now? Then why did Joker stop by my diner last Friday, and inform me that Pit and Joker had their money stolen and replaced? I know that he didn't stop by the diner just to spread nonsense."
"Cloud, what secret plan is he talking about?" inquired Cilan; Cloud shook his head, not liking the situation that he found himself in.
"Tell me, Strife, what is it so about your secret plan? I reckon it's got something to do with your lady friend, Aerith. Can't just let go of the past, can ya?"
"I got some important stuff to handle...gotta go," responded Cloud, retreating from the scene to avoid further questioning. Dingodile's words cut in deep into the swordsman.
"Heh...guilty as charged." Dingodile watched as Cloud left, having found out the swordsman's soft spot. Seconds later, Ash approached Dingodile with his plate of burgers. "No thanks, mate - got all the burgers I can eat at my diner."
Joker had shown Rean and Kurt everywhere around the mansion. He showed them the arcade room, the gaming room, and even the Jacuzzi that was on the fifth floor. Now that Rean and Kurt saw everything that the mansion had to offer, the mansion tour finally came to an end.
"Would you look at that...should be time for us to go!" said Rean, glancing at one of the clocks on the wall as Joker led him and Kurt out of the Star Records room. A shame that there were no idol singers around to give Rean and Kurt an impromptu performance.
"Hope that you two enjoyed the tour," Joker said to Rean and Kurt as he stretched out his arms and flexed his fingers. "My tour guide skills aren't so shabby, but I did my best..."
"Hey, you got some time for humiliskating?" Pit asked Rean and Kurt, coming around the corner with Kirby and Incineroar. "Me and the boys are gonna head out to the hill outside. You guys in?"
"No thanks, we should be going now," Kurt quickly replied, right before Rean could even say a single word. "Don't want to be running late!"
Kurt: Like I would let my instructor ride on top of me down some hill...stupid angel with his fanatical ideas.
"You can always come back if you wanna give it a chance," said Pit, with Kurt making a mental note in his head to never return to the mansion ever again. "Won't hurt unless you try!"
"It will hurt - don't take Pit's word for it," Kirby warned Rean and Kurt, as he and his pals walked away. "Trust me, it's not worth it!" Pit and friends went to the nearby elevator door, and it opened as Zelda got out.
"Ah, Joker - I've finally found you," the princess said, as Joker was the first face that she was. As Pit and friends entered the elevator, Zelda walked over to speak with Joker. "May I ask who these two are?"
"Just two gentlemen on a field trip together," replied Joker as he looked at Rean and Kurt; Zelda made a funny face in response. "The other students are out and about somewhere in the mansion. We'll round them up in a few."
"Okay then. But before you do that...mind if I speak with you in private?" So Joker followed Zelda to the end of the hallway, near the window. Rean and Kurt were left alone, as the same cardboard box from earlier moved past them.
"This mansion must be hunted by ghosts..." Rean said to Kurt, daring not to lift the cardboard box and see what was underneath. Little did he know how wise of a decision that was.
"Cloud informed me that you and the Phantom Thieves have been...pestering him, as of late," Zelda spoke with Joker in private, sounding very stern. "Do you wish to explain?"
"We're just keeping tabs on the man of the mansion," replied Joker, in a casual and laidback tone that Zelda found very disapproving. "Making sure that he's not up to no good."
"That's Master Hand's job, not yours. If you keep bothering him, he might have to reprimand you, and your friends. Do you want that?"
"No, I guess not...but just know that we're doing you a favor, princess." Joker casually walked away from the window, as a still stern Zelda looked on. "Rean, Kurt, let's go find the rest of your class."
After being rescued from the pool by Spyro and Hunter, the two friendly rivals Mario and Sonic were chilling in Master Hand's room, their teeth chattering from the cold pool water. They both had towels over them, to help them cool off.
"Wow, Sonic, I've never seen you scream so much before," Cappy said to the Sonic, who was accompanied by Master Hand and everyone that was outside near the pool. "Even if the water drowned out your voice. Your fear of water is really legit!"
"Thanks for noticing..." mumbled Sonic, as he sniffed in some snot. Came down with a minor case of the sniffles.
"Are we still having swimming lessons?" Altina asked Mario, who turned his head and glared at the student.
Master Hand: People complained about the pool outside having too much "standing room", so I gave in to their complaining and made the pool deeper. If they are still complaining, even after today's incident, then they will never be satisfied. Posers...
Their desperation having run out, Byleth and Beleth were in Master Hand's room speaking with Master Hand himself about Mewtwo's prize. The professors told Master Hand that Mewtwo wanted his prize and that he would be upset if he didn't receive it in time.
"Oh yeah, Mewtwo's prize is on its way to the mansion," Master Hand informed the professors, as he lifted a lot of pressure off their shoulders. "Had Isabelle order it for me - she doesn't even know what's it for!"
"Would explain why she was confused when we spoke with her about it," remarked Byleth, now thinking of Master Hand as some kind of hero. Most people saw the giant hand as the opposite. "The prize should be coming today, right?"
"Sadly, it won't come until next week...the delivery man somehow got stranded somewhere in Alaska. Or at least that's what it said in the email that Isabelle showed me. Just tell Mewtwo to expect something next week."
Zeke and Pandoria followed Dingodile back to the gaming room and were now waiting on Rex to bring Pyra and Mythra. Zeke asked Peppy Hare to bring over Rex and his gang (sans Link), and the rabbit came through.
"You have some wonderful friends, Rex!" Peppy said to the swordsman after he had brought Rex and company to the gaming room. "This military fellow is very charming, I must say."
"Hope you weren't referring to me," Morag frowned at Peppy, sounding very offended; she hated any comments about how manly she looked. "I'll have you know that I am a woman."
"A woman, eh? I don't see it." Peppy looked at Morag up and down and saw no signs of femininity. "How about you put on a skirt and some heels?"
"How about you die in a fire..." Morag glared down at Peppy, as some tension grew between the two. Brighid had to step in and keep Morag away.
"Pyra! Mythra!" Zeke called out to the Blades, beckoning to them and the others. "I have a present for you. One to signify you two joining Smash!"
"Uh, we joined Smash like two months ago," stated Mythra as she and her friends went over to where Zeke and Pandoria were at. "You're a little late to the party, Zeke."
"Better late than never, amirite? It's the thought that always counts. Now, Dingodile, are you ready? Reveal the present, at once!"
"Right on it, mate!" exclaimed Dingodile, as he and Ty ripped off the sides of the gift box to reveal a giant pastry inside. Pyra and Mythra looked surprised, although it was strongly feigned.
"Wow...it's a giant cake," marveled Pyra, in faux amazement, as Zeke was feeling mightily proud of himself. "Thanks, Zeke...you shouldn't have."
"Aw, don't flatter me like that!" blushed Zeke, as he found Pyra's words all too flattering. Even though she wasn't that genuine. "I did my best."
Rex: Yup, just as I figured...it was cake. Did NOT see that one coming.
"Now, Rex, the candles and lighter!" shouted Zeke as he pointed at the swordsman, who already had the two materials in his hands. "Light the candles!"
"Woah, wait a minute...why are we lighting some candles?" questioned Mythra, stopping Rex in his tracks as she put her arm in front of him. "Are we celebrating some kind of birthday?"
"Well, how else are we supposed to signify your big Smash moment? You thought that I would just present you with some cake, and be done with it?"
"After this, Zeke will leave us alone," Rex convinced Mythra, who sighed as she folded her arms and looked away. "How many candles on the cake, Zeke?"
"Sixty-nine red candles for Pyra, and seventy gold candles for Mythra." That's like 139 candles! Rex had to give Zeke a dubious look. "What's with that face, old chum?"
"That's too many candles for one cake," Brighid said to Zeke, who didn't seem that bothered by the gargantuan amount of candles. "Even for one of that size. Wouldn't that be a huge fire hazard?"
"Fire hazard? Not on my watch!" growled Bowser, as he came over to give Brighid a piece of his mind. "If anyone's gonna start a fire hazard, especially for a fire drill, it's gonna be ME!"
"And that is relevant to the conversation because...?" asked Rex as he raised an eyebrow; having nothing else to say, Bowser stormed off and returned to the couch he was sitting on. "My thoughts exactly..."
"If there was a huge fire, then this mansion could handle it!" proclaimed Zeke, as everyone around the Crown Prince looked at him like he was insane. Including Pandoria. "Fine...just put two red candles and two gold candles at the top."
"Thank you for being reasonable." Doing as he was told, Rex placed the candles on top of the cake and lit them both with a lighter. "Now what, Zeke?"
"You know what...I actually haven't thought that far ahead." Groans a many were heard all around from Rex and friends. "The candles were all supposed to mean something."
"How about I just offer some cake, so it won't go to waste..." sighed Dingodile, cupping his mouth with his hands before shouting out the following: "WHO WANTS SOME FREE CAKE?"
"All-you-can-eat free cake, come and get it!" shouted Ty, following Dingodile's lead; that was music to the ears of Pigma, who ran to the gaming room like he was turning in a winning lottery ticket.
"Free cake?!" the pig exclaimed, his eyes suddenly fixated on the cake in the gaming room. Pigmathen looked down the hallway and shouted, "Guys, someone brought a giant cake!"
"No, you ingrate, what are you doing?!" Zeke frowned at Pigma, pulling on his hair as Pigma and many other residents stormed inside. "The cake is not for you! It's for Pyra and Mythra! Dingodile, stop these monsters!"
"First come, first serve!" shouted Dingodile as he and Ty took out a bunch of plastic plates and eating utensils. Zeke slowly slumped to his knees, as his dream was turning into a nightmare.
"That should be everyone..." remarked Rean, showing up at the gaming room along with Joker and the now reunited Class VII. "...wait a minute, is that cake? My goodness, it's big!"
"What are you all standing around for?" Ty called out to Joker and Class VII, as Dingodile was now slicing the cake. Zeke couldn't be any more devastated. "Come and help yourselves!"
"Can we have some, instructor?" Musse asked Rean, her sweet tooth still craving for more. The student had a cutesy face that not even Rean could turn down.
"It has been a pretty long day...you guys deserve it. Go ahead." So Class VII joined the others in line for cake, while Rean and Joker stayed behind. "Don't forget to save some for me!"
"I know this probably won't mean much, but...thanks for the cake, Zeke," Pyra thanked the devastated Crown Prince with a smile. Zeke was still on his knees, as Mythra patted him on the back to make him feel better.
Rean: A pretty interesting field trip, I should say. Juna and Altina got to play some table tennis, Ash is apparently a chef now, and Musse had the opportunity to eat candy to her heart's content. Already see a dentist's appointment in her near future. Would I take my students out on a field trip to the Smash Mansion again? Hmm...perhaps. Provided that I don't have to "humiliskate".
One person who wasn't in the mood for some cake was Cloud, who was relaxing on his bed while looking up at the ceiling. His conversation with Dingodile earlier gave the swordsman the suspicion that more people might be on to him.
"Okay, thank you for the information," said Mewtwo, having spoken with Byleth about his prize. The genetic Pokemon passed by Cloud's room...only to poke his head inside through the door. "Is everything alright, Cloud?"
"Yeah, man...I'm just thinking," replied Cloud, wondering why Mewtwo cared so much. Mewtwo rarely asked him about his feelings, it at all. "Thinking to myself."
"All that thinking won't matter much if you don't put things into action. Wanted to make sure you remember that." Mewtwo departed, leaving Cloud to meditate on his words of wisdom. Then in came the one-winged angel...Sephiroth.
"Must have had a pretty busy day," Sephiroth smirked at Cloud, hoping to get under the swordsman's skin. Cloud refused to let Sephiroth get away so easily. "Or did someone push my buttons?"
"Why do you want to know..." mumbled Cloud, as Sephiroth now stood over the swordsmen's bed. A little too close for Cloud's liking.
"Here is one thing that you should know...you can't hide anything from me, Cloud," Sephiroth smirked even harder, as he let his words soak into the marrow of Cloud's soul. "I know all your secrets."
"Keep telling yourself that. I'm not bothered." Displeased by the lack of response from Cloud, Sephiroth stopped smirking as he was about to leave the room. But before he could, he turned his head back to his arch-nemesis.
"I will always be watching you, Cloud..." Sephiroth gave this stark warning to the swordsman before he left the room for good. Although his reaction was mostly minimal, the best that Cloud could do was a sigh.
Cloud ought to keep a close eye out for Sephiroth if he wanted his plan to be a success.