Author's Note:
So many moons ago, I had planned on doing a chapter for Shin Megami Tensei V. Even promised to do one in a previous author's note, to my knowledge. However, since I didn't know much about SMT - along with a lack of info for SMT V - plans were nixed. (The protagonist having no name outside of its fusion also posed as an issue, but that's another problem of its own.) But then, I discovered...another Switch game was released on the same week as SMT V. The Grand Theft Auto trilogy! So, for better and for worse, this chapter will have characters and elements from GTA III, Vice City, and San Andreas. Oh boy indeed. Hopping right into the reviews:
"Buddy, there is no way Yu got back together with Yukiko, unless Yu breaks up with Rise. You don't want Yu to break someone else's heart just to appease another, right? The least you can do is have Yukiko forgive Yu, and they stayed as friends. Don't make Yu break up with Rise."
That would work out best for everyone involved. One more anonymous review:
"Good news, Nintendo Switch Online is releasing The World Ends With You Final Remix for their members to play, but only from November 10 to November 16.
Hehehe..good to know. Glad that I'm a NSO member. Moving on:
"Speaking of TWEWY, are you gonna have Shoka joins the Wicked Twisters the next time they show up? Also, are you gonna have (SPOILERS) Beat and Neku joining them too?""
Yes, and yes. An NFL fan has a delightful question:
"Also, can you imagine how mad Master Hand would be if another Seahawks division rival managed to get to the Super Bowl for the 3rd time in the last 4 years? Would love to see his breakdown. And I would love to see what shenanigans Sonic will do with a Cardinals jersey before the Super Bowl."
He would be pretty mad. Also wouldn't mind seeing the Cardinals in the Super Bowl. Bills-Cardinals is the matchup I'd want to see - and it's not just because I'm a Bills fan. No bias. David has questions:
"Guess a Tales chapter will never happen? (Now that TIME TO GO got his wish for the non-Smash residents to leave). Will we see Champion Cynthia show up for the Diamond and Pearl remakes chapter? Will the Blue Reflection and Shin Megami Tensei V chapter be combined? (Both games come out next week). Won't a de-aged Sora cause some continuity problems when Roxas and Xion show up? (Just asking). And finally what are your thoughts on WWE firing even more of their talent recently?"
A Tales chapter will happen. Cynthia will show up next week. That Blue Reflection-SMT V won't be happening. I don't think any continuity problems will abound. And I was shocked to see WWE fire more talent. But if it means making the roster less bloated, then I'm all for it. And finally, A JRPG enjoyer has returned:
"1. Do you think you're ready for the SMT V chapter? Or do you think it will suffer from the lack of information, like what happened to the Astral Chain chapter, the Trials of Mana chapter, or the Fate Extella chapter? Always remember that you can always have a redux chapter for it, just like the one you planned for Astral Chain.
2. Will there be a meetup between the Sinnoh Gym Leaders and the Galar Gym Leaders, as some sort of a meeting of two different generations? Maybe have a meetup between their Champions too, Cynthia and Leon? (Also who do you think will win, Cynthia or Leon?)
3. Speaking of Gym Leaders, will there be a joke about the name of Sinnoh's Ice Gym Leader? (Which I think was a bit too vulgar to be said in the fanfic, but you can always have alternatives)
4. Will we also see Sinnoh's Elite Four? And maybe Professor Rowan too?
5. Will we have another appearance from Dawn and Barry? I mean they are the main stars of Diamond and Pearl.
6. Who's your favorite Sinnoh's Gym Leader?
7. And with Red being aged down, does that mean Blue is also aged down? How will he explain that to Professor Oak? Imagine how awkward it would be if Blue is not aged down while Red is."
1. The SMT V chapter will happen at a later time, once I learn more about the game.
2. A meetup like that would be possible. As for who would win between Cynthia or Leon...gotta go with Cynthia. Always.
3. There's a joke about Candice's name? Never knew about it until now...
4. Professor Rowan will definitely appear next week; the Sinnoh Elite Four might be a stretch.
5. Of course, Dawn and Barry will appear next week as well. Sorry, Lucas (the Pokemon trainer).
6. My favorite gym leaders are Gardenia and Volkner. I dig their styles.
7. I could have Blue remain the same, just so he could brag to Red about being physically older than him. But he'll be aged down too. As for how he would explain it to Professor Oak...I can't even begin to think of anything he would say.
Episode 308: Intruder
The Luminary had been keeping a close eye on Master Hand, ever since episode 306. The mage was there when Mario called out Master Hand, and he saw how hurt Master Hand was when he peeked inside his room.
One might assume that Master Hand was now committed to changing his ways - and based upon what he said in the last episode, he might be very well on his way to meeting that goal. The giant hand had organized a "Get It Kraken" initiative, where he and a few others went around promoting the new hockey team in town, the Seattle Kraken. It was hard to tell if any of the residents became a fan of the Kraken, but they did get some free merch. And Isabelle and the others were even rewarded by Master Hand for their efforts!
The fact that Master Hand rewarded his workers with ice cream was quite a surprise to the Luminary. Not only did Master Hand uphold a promise he made to Isabelle, but he also extended the award to those promoting the Kraken alongside Isabelle. The Luminary considered that a step in the right direction for Master Hand, and was interested in whatever next step the giant hand would take.
"So what did you do with your Seattle Kraken gear?" Lucas asked Ness, as he and his friend were playing a table hockey game in the arcade room. The Luminary was hanging out with Veronica when he overheard the two friends.
"Threw all of it away," admitted Ness, who had thrown a Seattle Kraken hoodie, baseball cap, canteen, and even bottle opener away in the recycling bin outside the mansion. "Master Hand caught me red-handed."
"Oh, man! What did he say to you? Did he chew you out?" This was the part of the conversation where the Luminary was listening more attentively.
"I just told him that I didn't want to root for the Kraken, and he said that he respected my decision. But he did give me a slap on the wrist, though."
Ness: I kid you not, Master Hand literally slapped me on the wrist. It hurts even worse than it sounds.
"Well, that's good," remarked Lucas, happy to know that Ness was able to express his opinion to Master Hand and live to see the next day. "I remember Master Hand grounding me on year because I claimed that the Seahawks wouldn't make the Super Bowl."
"For what it's worth, Master Hand didn't sound like a homer when I spoke with him," stated Ness while nursing his hand, or rather the part on his wrist where he was slapped at. "He sounded...reasonable? It was kinda weird."
"You seem lost in thought, Luminary," Veronica spoke to the mage, who was busy eavesdropping on Ness and Lucas until Veronica drew him back in. "What's on your mind?"
"Nothing, just listening to the conversation," the Luminary replied, as Veronica looked over and saw Ness and Lucas playing their arcade game. "How has Master Hand been to you lately?"
"Less troublesome than usual. He hasn't bothered me as much anymore." Veronica was used to Master Hand calling her "short stuff", and now she can't recall the last time she was called such a name. "How about you?"
"He's never annoyed me, so I can't really say he's treated me that differently. But I wonder if he's exhibiting a change in behavior..."
"Never been annoyed by Master Hand, is that so? Hmph. Well, aren't you a lucky one..."
The Star Records trio of Fox, Falco and Itsuki stopped by to see Master Hand, for they had some business that they wanted to settle with the giant hand. When they arrived at Master Hand's room, they already saw Ryuji, Corrin, and Banjo present, with Ryuji showing Master Hand something on his phone.
"Why are you showing me empty seats at an arena?" Master Hand asked Ryuji, as he was clearly annoyed by the delinquent. And Corrin and Banjo as well, just by mere association. "What exactly does this prove?"
"It proves that wrestling...is DEAD!" proclaimed Ryuji, using some extra emphasis to send his point home. "Or at least it's dying. But I know one wrestling promotion that could make wrestling a mainstream product again..."
"Look, Ryuji, I'm not gonna watch your stinking wrestling show. You can try and guilt trip me how many times you want, but it simply won't work."
"Grr...come on you guys, help a brother out!" Ryuji turned to Corrin and Banjo, hoping for the two to help his argument. But as Banjo digging through his ear with his finger showed, neither man was up for the task.
"Is this the part where I bring up the ratings?" asked Corrin as he pulled out a few sheets of paper, fumbling around with it. "Not sure if this is the right documentation..."
"I'm only here just to aid the argument," Banjo randomly stated, as Ryuji let out a defeated sigh and hung his head low. Out of all the folks in the mansion that he had to choose from...
"Get out," Master Hand commanded Ryuji and company, who promptly left Master Hand's room to avoid any sort of fury. That was Fox, Falco, and Itsuki's cue to enter the room. "Ah, some much better company!"
"We've been needing to speak with you, Master Hand," Fox said to the giant hand, who was all ears for what the Star Records heads wished to say. "About a prized possession that you owned not too long ago..."
"Your Lamborghini," Itsuki would finish for Fox, as he had commanded Master Hand's full attention. "The one that you sold while you were gone away on your 'indefinite vacation.'"
"Yes, what about it? Did you miss seeing it in the driveway or something?" Master Hand remembered admiring his Lamborghini, and how he wanted to shed a tear just looking at it.
"No, it has to do with the money you spent on it. The money that you stole from us." That's when Master Hand suddenly remembered how he stole money from Star Records to pay for his dream car, as the thought made him laugh sheepishly.
"Hehehe...those were the days. I only stole from you chumps because I didn't think that Isabelle's funds would cover for the car payments."
"Can you, like, pay us back now?" Falco asked Master Hand, hoping that he and the others weren't asking for too much. They just wanted some of their hard-earned money back.
"The Lamborghini's been sold for over a year, so...I can happily oblige." Great news for Fox, Falco, and Itsuki, as the three exchanged high fives. They had expected more difficulty from Master Hand.
"Cool, so when can you pay us back in full?" Fox asked Master Hand, who mulled to himself as he floated over to the calendar on his wall - the calendar for 2022, that is. Gotta think ahead.
"Perhaps early next year. Tell you what - how about we go over the full extent of the payment plan, over some lunch?"
"That works with us," replied Itsuki, who was liking how things were going; the young man, along with the pilots, followed Master Hand out of the room wondering what kind of "lunch" Master Hand had in mind.
Fox: It's kinda funny - before he came back home last September, Master Hand was practically in love with his Lamborghini. It truly meant the world to him, for better and for worse. But one false accusation against Anna on Mario's part later, and since then Master Hand's treated his dream car like trash! Maybe that's why he's willing to pay us back. Thanks, Anna!
Anna: I might've been inside Master Hand's Lamborghini...I was just testing out all the buttons. Don't know if I did something wrong, but I might've broken the airbag just by trying to open the trunk. Let's keep that our own little secret! *smiles*
Outside Master Hand's room, Ryuji was forced to reconvene with Banjo and Corrin. The delinquent looked up and saw Master Hand leading the pilots and Itsuki down the hallway...away from the dining room. Strange.
"You guys suck," Ryuji frowned at Corrin and Banjo, hoping that the two knew how much of a failure they both were. "You really let me down back there."
"To be fair, you never gave me any material," stated Banjo; even with material, that bear still wouldn't have done enough to aid Ryuji's case. "Also, I just so happen to like..."
"Gaaah!" Ryuji instinctively covered Banjo's mouth, right before the bear could say three letters that often grinded Ryuji's gears. "Don't you say anything remotely positive about that wrestling company when I'm around, capiche?"
As Ryuji, Banjo, and Corrin remained where they were, a black man wearing a tank top and jeans conspicuously entered the mansion, surprised that the front door was left slightly open...
Rayman, Globox, and Barbara incidentally did the house-planning committee a huge favor, by giving out the names of potential neighbors. Rayman mentioned Lucina and Robin; Globox brought up the Crash clan; Barbara entertained the thought of Yu's friends being her neighbors one day. All in all, some great potential neighbors to choose from.
Jumping right out the gate, Mario went ahead and did some "recruiting". The plumber had spoken with Lucina and Robin throughout the week, seeing if they were the right fit for Rayman's neighbors. When Mario chatted with Lucina and Robin outside the gaming room, Lucina had something that she wanted to get off her chest...
"You're NOT moving out-a of the mansion?" Mario asked Lucina after the princess made her confession, with Mario's mouth falling agape.
"I would have, but this was before Father and I got back on the same page again," explained Lucina; to this day, she still thanked Alex Chen for helping her with her daddy issues. "Don't know why Father said that to Rayman..."
"Welp...I tried-a my best." Mario took a notepad out of his pocket and scratched off Lucina and Robin's names. Lucina saw how slightly upset Mario was, and suddenly had a change of heart.
"We still appreciated your company, Mario," Robin said to the plumber, doing his best to turn his smile upside down. "But this just isn't our time..."
"On second thought..." interjected Lucina as she placed her finger on Robin's lips, silencing her husband as she wished to reclarify her standing. "...Robin and I will move out, for our children."
"Ah, excellent-a choice!" smiled Mario, now in a happier mood as he wrote Lucina and Robin's names above the ones he had scratched out. "This whole-a time, I thought I was being played."
Lucina: Morgan and Marc can't stay at the mansion forever - at some point, they would want to move out. You know, live in a separate home and grow closer together as a family. Father isn't allowed to live with us, though; it would ruin the whole point of him being a grandpa.
Passing through the hallway were Little Mac and Leia, with Little Mac planning on spending as much time with Leia as possible before she departed. Little Mac and Leia wished to enter the gaming room, but there was one problem...and it wasn't Mario and company blocking the entrance.
"Doc, can you leave us two be?" Little Mac asked Doc Louis, who was standing behind the boxer and Leia with a flip phone. "And why are you carrying out that old flip phone?"
"Because I'm too lazy and cheap to afford a camera," admitted Doc Louis, as an embarrassed Little Mac turned around and shook his head, groaning. "Apparently, Lakitu charges you a fee for taking romantic photos. Who knew?"
"Why must you take photos right now..." Little Mac was tired of being embarrassed by Doc Louis' shenanigans, as he grabbed Leia's hand and ran into the gaming room. "...let's go, Leia."
"Not so fast, Little Mac!" Leia said to Little Mac, who brushed past Mario and the others en route to the gaming room. Doc Louis tried to follow after Little Mac, but Mario stopped him.
"C'mon, Mario, let me through!" Doc Louis demanded to the plumber, wanting to save him from a sucker punch to the mouth. "I wanna snap some pics of Little Mac and Leia looking cute together while they play table tennis."
"Doc Louis, you seriously need-a to take a chill pill," Mario stressed to the boxing trainer, who was trying to look inside the gaming room. "Let Little Mac and-a Leia have their fun!"
"You don't understand, Mario, these are Leia's last couple of weeks at the mansion. I gotta take pictures of her with Little Mac, for the memories!"
Doc Louis: Not many people can say that they're dating a nurse. Let alone one as beautiful as Leia. Dating someone in the medical field is also great for social status, so Little Mac...he's got it made. Little Mac is truly a dime in a dozen, and I don't ever want him to forget it!
"What memories? You have a scrapbook or something?" Robin asked Doc Louis, whose desperation was running nigh as Mario and company refused to move an inch. Ultimately, Doc Louis gave up.
"Fine, if you won't let me take pictures of Little Mac with his woman..." the boxing trainer began, only to hand his dusty flip phone over to Mario. "...then you'll have to take them for me!"
"But I can't take-a them on this phone!" complained Mario, who was so used to his iPhone that he totally forgot how the cell phones of yore functioned. "See? Your camera button barely even works!"
"Haha, you're right! Who am I kidding..." Realizing the error of his ways, Doc Louis got his phone back from Mario. "...in that case, I'll entrust you to take the pics on your own phone. Just send 'em to me when you're done."
"But Doc, that probably won't work-a for your...phone." Mario watched as Doc Louis left, walking away before the plumber could even finish his sentence.
"One more thing - make sure Little Mac and Leia both look into the camera," Doc Louis shouted to Mario, believing that a little eye contact would make the pictures "pop" a bit more. "Don't let me down!"
"Mama mia..." Mario greatly despised the situation that he now found himself in, as he buried his face in his hands. Lucina did her best to comfort the plumber by massaging his back.
"You know, you don't have to snap any pictures..." the princess advised Mario, who took his hands away from his face as he looked up with renewed hope. "...just tell Doc Louis that you sent the pics to his phone, but it didn't go through because of obvious reasons."
"Lucina, you are a genius!" Mario's frown was immediately turned upside down, as the plumber happily hugged Lucina. Robin looked away, doing his best not to feel jealous. "Wait, what if Doc asks-a for the pictures at a later time?"
"That's for you to figure out." Plotting a plan in his head, Mario turned around and saw Little Mac and Leia at the golf simulator with their golf clubs. "Whatever you do, just don't bungle things up..."
While Mario was off doing recruiting for new neighbors, the rest of the house-planning committee met with the boss of the Carpenters, Mutoh, at the meeting room. They were mostly discussing financial matters.
"Will we get paid upfront, or at a later date?" Mutoh asked the group of Link, Zelda, Impa, and Lottie as he had his arms folded. No human soul has ever seen Mutoh with his arms unfolded - let alone seeing him actually build anything.
"You will be paid upfront," confirmed Zelda, and that was what Mutoh wanted to hear as he let out a hearty laugh. "In either cash or rupees. Your choice."
"Sorry that Pac-Man neglected to pay you," Link apologized to Mutoh, in some disbelief that Pac-Man would jiff the Carpenters like that. "Can't just have houses built without any money thrown around..."
"Nah, it's all good," said Mutoh, happy that negotiations with Link and the others went smoothly. "Now I'll be able to pay for my dentist appointment. I'm too dang old to have my wisdom tooth pulled out!"
Mutoh: Yeah, what happened was, Pac-Man asked us to build a new house in town...and never once did he mention anything about paying us. Said that he would fund the materials and whatnot, but no mention of our pay! That idiot Ichiro claimed that we should just work for free, and be "grateful that we even have the opportunity to do our jobs". I know he probably wants out of the Carpenters, what with his treatment (which is rightfully deserved, in my opinion), but he's gotta stop making it so obvious!
"We're still looking for who'll be occupying the house, so you and the boys just hold your horses," Cloud said to Mutoh, as Link looked outside the meeting room and saw an unfamiliar face pass by the door. It was the black guy from earlier, and he looked like he meant business.
"You folks take your time, then," responded Mutoh, as Link got up from his seat and wandered out of the meeting room. "I'll just harass that stupid idiot Ichiro to pass the time. Haha!"
"Sure love bullying that guy, don't you..." Cloud veered over and saw that Link was gone from his seat. "...hey, when did Link leave?"
"Link had left?" asked Impa, who along with Zelda didn't spot Link leaving the room. She didn't seem all that concerned about Link's current whereabouts. "Hmph, didn't even notice..."
"He's probably getting an early start on Ichiro," assumed Mutoh, letting out another hearty laugh as he couldn't blame Link in the slightest. "I'll let him get the first licks in!"
"You ladies wait right here, I'll be right back," Cloud said to Zelda and Impa as he left the meeting room, on the search for his best friend. "Link? Where did you run off to?"
Cloud wouldn't have to search too far, for he saw Link at the end of the hallway. The Hylian was with Sonic and the black guy that he saw earlier, as Cloud curiously (but cautiously) walked closer to the three.
"Look man, you don't get it," the black guy was explaining to Link, while Knuckles was looking like he wasn't trying to feel guilty. "This man Lil Knux promised me a grand. A grand!"
"Are you sure you aren't making this up?" asked Sonic, trying to play peacemaker, as the black guy dug into his pocket and pulled out a picture. It was a picture of him and Knuckles hanging out together, at some party.
"See this? Me and Lil Knux go way back! This is where we first met, at a party of his in 2019. You was there, too! Lil Knux promised to give me a thousand dollars on that day!"
"Knuckles promised to give this guy money?" Link asked Sonic, who kept his mouth shut as he had no way to speak for Knuckles. The black guy was looking at Sonic, feeling terribly hurt.
"C'mon, Lil Knux supposed to come through. He was supposed to come through for everybody! He's a big-time rapper, right? Tell me where Lil Knux is, so I can smack him!"
"Alright, what's going on here?" asked Cloud, having heard enough as he interjected himself into the ongoing conversation. "Link, who's this guy?"
"The guy with the tank top?" asked Link as he pointed at the black guy, who was ready to get his hands at Knuckles. "His name is Carl Johnson. Came all the way from San Andreas."
"Lil Knux gonna regret the day he made a promise to me..." frowned Carl, frowning as he looked into the palm of his open hands as they trembled with rage.
Sonic: The state of San Andreas? There's an actual state called San Andreas? Is California finally splitting up?! It's gonna be a whole lot better as a state if it keeps that up...
"Show me where Lil Knux lives!" Carl commanded Link, Cloud, and Sonic, refusing to drive back home until he had a few Benjamins in his pocket. "He can't just do me like that..."
"We have no clue where he is right now," admitted Cloud, who knew for a fact where Knuckles was - the goal was to keep Carl as far away from the echidna as possible. "But we can lead you to where he might be."
"You better, 'cause if you don't..." Carl dug into his pocket and pulled out a pistol - a silenced 9mm - threatening Cloud with it. "...these bullets are gonna find their way inside y'all brains!"
"We'll make sure to remember that." Barely harmed by Carl's threat, Cloud led the man away with Link and Sonic coming along. Carl put his pistol away, hoping that Link and Sonic also knew what the stakes were.
"Who even let this guy in here in the first place...?" Link had this to say about Carl while muttering under her breath; Copper and Booker must really be slacking on their jobs.
Thanks to his friendship with Blathers, Brewster had a cafe in the new museum's basement, in The Roost. Interested in checking out The Roost, Joker and the other baristas from Cafe Leblanc stopped by the cafe, with Joker and Viridi both getting the first taste of Brewster's delicious brew.
"Why do I taste pigeon milk?" Viriidi furrowed her brow after sipping her cup of coffee, as the taste of pigeon milk almost made her nauseous. The other baristas didn't seem that bothered by it.
"I highly recommend adding spinal fluid to your coffee, it really elevates the taste," Pit suggested to Viridi, who grew concerned when Pit handily took out a bottle of spinal fluid. "You want some?"
"No thanks, Pit; I have actual standards." More for Pit then, as the angel happily poured a swig of his spinal fluid into the coffee. If Viridi wished to throw up, then the time was now.
"Just an FYI, if you ever need your spinal fluid drain, I know a nurse that you can hit up anytime." After pouring in the spinal fluid, Pit drank his coffee in front of Viridi. Viridi grabbed a nearby trash can and vomited in it.
Pit: Getting my spinal fluid drained way the easy part. Finding a good enough reason to have it drained in the first place? Not so much. I tried telling the doctors that I broke my spine and neck while skating down a pipeline Mount Rainier, but they wouldn't believe me. Perhaps I should've thrown a car into a story, to make it more believable. Wearing a cast around my neck wouldn't have done nearly enough justice.
"Coffee tastes great...don't you think?" Brewster asked Joker, anxious to hear what the young man's thoughts were. Having drunk his entire cup of coffee, Joker had a big smile on his face.
"This is a perfect brew!" smiled Joker, happy that took off working at Cafe Leblanc today (or at least just the afternoon) to taste Brewster's coffee. "You, my friend, are truly a master."
"So you'll be able to deliver it later today?" Blathers spoke into a phone at The Roost, using a phone that didn't even belong to him. "That is truly magnificent news! I am all aflutter."
"New sculpture is supposed to be coming in today..." Brewster said to Joker and company, as he was preparing a cup of coffee. Not for anyone sitting at the counter - but for himself.
"Very good. I will see you later and Mr. Rosenberg later, Mr. Vercetti. I hope that this new sculpture will be a rousing addition to the museum! I humbly appreciate your kind donation."
"Vercetti sounds like a mobster name, don't you think?" Pit asked Kirby and Incineroar, wondering what kinds of secrets Blathers had. "What if...Blathers is secretly a mafia boss?!"
"If he was, he'd make for a terrible one," commented Kirby, before sucking in his cup of coffee with his mouth. Also Made sure to spit the cup out. "I can see him falling asleep in the middle of a bank robbery."
"I'll be seeing you later, take care," Blathers finished his phone call with Mr. Vercetti, before ending the call. "Now who does this phone belong to?"
"That would be mine..." Joker spoke up, as Blathers handed the phone back to the young man. Joker took a glance at his call log and saw a bunch of suspicious phone numbers. "...who was that you were calling?"
"Tommy Vercetti, a businessman from Vice City. I believe that's somewhere in New York. He found an expensive sculpture that he wanted to sell to the museum, for a very high fee."
"I thought you said that you accepted donations without giving money in exchange," Viridi said to Blathers, who sheepishly smiled to himself as he scratched the back of his head.
"Yes, well...sometimes you have to make sacrifices for the greater good of the museum. I expect Vercetti to be a man of his word, and hopefully, his artistic addition will liven up the art gallery a bit."
"Yup...he's definitely a mafia boss," Pit whispered to Kirby and Incineroar as he nodded his head, convinced that Blathers had mafia ties. "He totally speaks the part. And looks the part, too!"
Little Mac and Leia were at the gaming room, and they were having lots of fun together - though that was mostly attributed to Doc Louis not being in her presence, staring at them creepily. In Doc's place instead was Mario, who was making it seem like he was "monitoring" Little Mac and Leia just for the sake of optics.
"Nice one, Little Mac!" Leia commend the boxer, who had successfully thrown a dart in the middle of a target. A great boxer always gotta have great precision. "You're on a roll."
"Thanks, Leia, but I'd feel a lot better if Mario wasn't staring at us," responded Little Mac, who was standing a few feet away from the target looking at Little Mac and Leia. "Why are you looking at us like that, Mario?"
"I dunno - I just adore-a watching other couples have-a fun," admitted Mario, with a smile on his face that was very uncanny. "Keep-a doing you, you two."
"Okay...weirdo." Bugged out by Mario's presence, Little Mac took Leia and guided the nurse to another attraction in the gaming room. Mario followed after the two lovebirds, only to bump into the Luminary.
"Whoops! Sorry, Luminary," Mario apologized to the mage, who was still hanging out with his keeper Veronica. "I was too busy following the trail-a of love."
"The trail of love?" the Luminary furrowed his brow, only to look over and see Little Mac and Leia now at the pool table. "Mario, are you going through some kind of jealous phase?"
"Sorry, can't talk, love-a awaits!" Mario ran over to the pool tables, much to the great chagrin of Little Mac, as the Luminary looked on with a weird face.
"He must really enjoy being someone's surrogate parent," remarked Veronica, as she and the Luminary continued on their way. They would pass by Snake, who was chilling on the couch until he heard his codec ring.
"Must be Hal," assumed Snake as he took out his codec, placing it in his ear. The former spy hopped up and leaped over the couch, promptly catching the Luminary's attention.
"Something wrong?" Veronica asked the Luminary, who stopped in place as he gave Snake a slight side-eye. Snake went to the far corner of the gaming room so he could speak in private.
"Let me guess - you found something about that dream factory you wouldn't stop talking about." Curious, the Luminary drew closer to Snake, with Veronica following closely behind. "Well, it better be good. Don't waste my time."
"Snake?" the Luminary said to the former spy, who slowly looked up assuming that the mage was on to him. "Who is that you're speaking to?"
"Hold that thought, Hal..." Snake scurried out of the gaming room to avoid further suspicion, but that only made him even more dubious. "...now what were you saying?"
"Veronica...you'll just have to play ping pong without me," the Luminary said to his keeper, as he ran out of the gaming room on the chase. "You'll do great!"
"You want me to play against the Kongs myself?" Veronica shouted at the Luminary, who was already long gone. The Keeper sighed afterward.
Link, Cloud, and Sonic had an arduous task on their hands - they had to lead Carl around, while at the same time leading him away from Knuckles. And Carl being strapped only made the task even harder. Link and company did their best to keep Carl cool, as they led him around the mansion to spots that Knuckles would usually frequent.
"Here are the lyrics for the new Force Five theme song," Touma said to Tsubasa as he handed the idol singer some sheets of paper with lyrics on them. "Wrote the entire song myself!"
"'Our friendship is our love...our love is hearing throughout the nations'?" Tsubasa read some song lyrics out loud, and she couldn't help but cringe at the rest of the lyrics she read in her head. "Touma, why are there so many grammar errors?"
"Because I wrote the song entirely in Engrish. It's a Japanese tokusatsu show, after all." Touma was smiling and beaming with pride, content with his songwriting skills, while Tsubasa was getting a headache.
Touma: If the idol singers refuse to record the theme song...then I'll have to do it myself! It'll be even better. And more authentic.
"This is the recording studio where Knuckles...I mean, Lil Knux, records his music," Link explained to Carl as he, Cloud, and Sonic led the man inside. "You could say that this place is like a..."
"Show yourself, Lil Knux!" shouted Carl as he took out his pistol, cocking it as he drew the attention of Touma and Tsubasa. "Can't hide from me forever!"
"Who the heck are you supposed to be, pal?" Touma asked Carl, who grabbed the redhead by the collar and held him against the recording studio dashboard. "A simple introduction would've been nice!"
"When was the last time you saw Lil Knux?" Carl pointed his gun in Touma's face, intimidating the redhead to the point of getting a response out of him. "Answer me, fool!"
"Lil Knux is no more! He's gone! A thing of the past!" Devastated by the news, Carl dropped Touma to the floor as he had a thousand-mile stare on his face.
"You mean...somebody killed Lil Knux?" Carl had his eyes set on killing Knuckles - provided that the echidna didn't give him his money - but now he was convinced that someone else beat him to the punch.
"I don't know, I guess!" Touma was struggling to help himself up to his feet, as Tsubasa offered to help the redhead out. "But yeah, he's old news."
"Then answer me this...who killed him?" Killing Knuckles' supposed murderer would at least make Carl feel better about not getting those thousand dollars. "Was it Claude?!"
"Yeah, sure, let's go with him..." Touma threw his arms up in defeat, and Carl was now certain that an old rival of his killed the rapper who owed him money.
"That dumb snake without a tongue...he's gonna regret this!" Carl cocked his gun a second time, as he stormed out of the recording studio.
"And where do you think you're going?" Cloud asked Carl, who stopped in the hallway and looked at the swordsman with a face full of anger. "You still want those thousand dollars?"
"Forget the money...that snake Claude's got blood on his hands!" Carl ran away, as Cloud and the others were left with no other choice but to chase after him. With a bad temper, a pistol, and a license to kill, Carl simply couldn't be left unmonitored.
Joker and the baristas were all done at The Roost and were ready to head back to Cafe Leblanc. Or so they would've if it weren't for Viridi wanting to stick around the museum for a bit longer. The goddess of nature wanted to look around the museum with Pit, and today her dreams came true.
"We don't have all day, you know," Joker called out to Pit and company, while he was standing from the distance. The baristas (save for Joker) were in the art gallery, checking out the art on display.
"Cafe Leblanc isn't going anywhere, Joker - we'll be fine," responded Viridi, as Pit was inspecting a Creation of Adam painting. It was amazing how many famous paintings Blathers secured for his museum.
"Is it acceptable to have this painting on display?" asked Pit as he pointed at the Creation of Adam painting, asking his question with genuine concern. "Think of the children!"
"Says the guy who wanted a naked statue of himself on display at the front of the mansion," remarked Kirby, finding himself fortunate that he and Incineroar hadn't seen Pit naked in person. Yet.
"Yeah, well...Master Hand had a naked statue one time and no one batted an eye! Just add a six-pack to distract from the lower extremities and BOOM! No one gets distracted for the wrong reasons."
"Master Hand isn't really 'naked' though..." As Joker watched the conversation between Pit and Kirby, Joker suddenly heard his phone ring. As soon as he took his phone out of his pocket, Blathers flew over and took it away.
"That must be Mr. Vercetti," said Blathers as he answered the call and walked away. Such a terribly rude thing for the owl to do. "Hello, Mr. Vercetti? It's Blathers again!"
"Hey, get back here, Blathers!" Joker shouted at the owl as he chased after him. Kirby and Incineroar watched as Joker ran away...and then veered to his right and saw a familiar face hiding behind a statue.
"Hm?" Kirby said as he and Incineroar walked over to the statue, only for the familiar face to be spooked and take off. "Wait, come back!" Kirby and Incineroar chased after the mysterious figure, leaving Pit and Viridi alone.
"Pit, can you take a picture of me under this Mona Lisa painting?" Viridi asked the angel, who was up for the task as he readily took out his phone. "It'll look great for our scrapbook one day!"
"You got it!" replied Pit, as Viridi assumed her position under the classic Leonardo da Vinci painting. "You want in on the shot, Kirby and Incineroar?" Pit looked over and saw Kirby and Incineroar were nowhere to be found. Joker, too. "Kirby? Incineroar? Joker?! Where'd you guys go?"
Little Mac: Today was the most fun I've ever had with Leia - and it's because Doc Louis wasn't around! It was great doing things with Leia without Doc breathing down my neck. Sometimes, he'll even do it literally just to show how much he cares. Kinda a miracle that Leia hasn't thought about breaking up with me, considering how Doc behaves.
Little Mac and Leia remained in the gaming room, and Mario had grown tired of "monitoring" the couple as he was now noodling on his phone. Doc Louis entered the gaming room anxious to see how things were coming along.
"Hi, Doc Louis," Leia waved to the boxing trainer, as she stood at a pool table with Little Mac. The nurse hit a cue ball into a few pool balls, sending two into the corner pockets. "Woah! What a great shot!"
"Atta girl!" Doc Louis commended Leia, smiling as he walked over to Mario. Mario looked up and saw Doc, as he put his cellphone away. "How have they been coming along, Mario?"
"They haven't been more-a happier together," summarized Mario - and part of that happiness had to do with Doc Louis' absence. Doc himself wasn't aware, but he was happy to hear the good news as he let out a laugh.
"Haha, that's what I like to hear! But did you take any pictures of them?" This was the part where Mario would sink or swim - would he put Lucina's words of advice to good use?
"I did take-a some pictures...but when I sent-a them to your phone, it didn't go through! Probably because of different-a technology, I don't know."
"Didn't work, huh? My fault for still using a flip phone, that one's on me." The easy part was no slouch for Mario...but here came the hard part. "Let me see the pics you took on your phone."
"I can't just let you look at my phone-a like that." But Doc Louis did not care in the slightest, as he snatched the phone away from Mario and opened up the plumber's photo gallery. "Hey, watch it!"
"Doc Louis, can you not?" Little Mac asked the boxing trainer, whom he had caught in the act of stealing Mario's phone. Doc Louis was going through Mario's photo gallery (seeing some unflattering pictures that were taken while Mario was asleep) and did not like what he saw. Or did not see.
"Hold up, where are all the pictures of Little Mac and Leia?" the boxing trainer questioned, seeing that the most recent photo on Mario's phone was taken about a week ago. "Explain yourself, Mario!"
"I guess someone deleted-a the pictures off my phone," Mario replied with a shrug, hoping that his answer would placate Doc Louis. Instead, it had the opposite effect and made the boxing trainer angrier.
"Which one of y'all deleted the pictures of Little Mac and Leia off of Mario's phone?!" Doc Louis shouted at everyone in the gaming room, as Mario facepalmed and Little Mac felt embarrassed. "Speak now, or forever hold your peace!"
"Nobody deleted the pictures, man," Dante said to Doc Louis, being the only brave soul to confront the boxing trainer. The absolute stones on that guy. "You're just making things up."
"You were the one who did it, weren't you?" Doc Lous got up in Dante's grill, frowning and pointing in the vigilante's face. "Why did you delete the pictures? You hate seeing love in action?"
"Pretty bold accusation you got there...but hey, at least I'm not living vicariously through my protege's relationship. I'm not that pathetic."
A few gasps were heard here and there, in response to Dante's savage remark. Dante had a giant smirk on his face, as Doc Louis looked at the vigilante with shock, not knowing what to say in retort.
"Boy, I oughta..." Doc Louis frowned at Dante as he rolled up his sleeve, looking to deliver a sucker punch. The boxing trainer would hold in his emotions, rolling his sleeve back down as he marched out of the gaming room. "...I'ma deal with you later!"
"Don't count on it," Dante called out to the retreating Doc Louis, not expecting the boxing trainer to follow through on his vow. "Hope you found an actual girlfriend by then."
"Mama mia..." moaned Mario, as Little Mac was looking more embarrassed than ever. Mario was feeling all sorts of guilty. "I'm-a so sorry, Little Mac. This was mostly my fault."
"No...Doc Louis probably deserved that," responded Little Mac, who didn't expect Dante to cut in so deep as he did. "I can't believe he was that hung up over some dumb pictures being taken..."
"Just for the record, I did you a huge favor," Dante approached Little Mac, grinning as he patted the boxer on his shoulder. "Bet you wanted to say that to Doc for a long time."
"I personally would've gone about it a different way...but thanks, Dante." Little Mac was left to wonder how hurt Doc Louis was, as Dante walked away.
"Still wanna play pool?" Leia asked Little Mac, who was too discouraged at the moment to even think about hitting some cue ball. "Ready when you are..."
Fox, Falco, and Itsuki were outside on the patio with Master Hand, who was having some lunch with the Star Records trio. The lunch came in the form of a tea party, organized by Twintelle and Arthur. Twintelle provided the tea; Arthur was responsible for the edibles.
"Who serves sandwiches with cucumbers in them?" questioned Fox, who was not a fan of the food; quiche, lemon bars, and meringue pies were the other items that were served. "Is that what people eat when they're poor?"
"Cucumber sandwiches are a common delicacy at tea parties," stated Arthur, as Fox and Falco looked at the knight in shining armor with disbelief. "I got that from the Internet, okay?!"
"So you admit to not being original, good to know." Fox stuffed a cucumber sandwich in his mouth, stomaching the taste as much as possible. To him, bread and cucumbers just didn't mix.
Arthur: The pilots both think of me as a numskull, all because of some harmless research I had done on one of those computer thingamajigs. Curse you, Pinterest! *shakes fist at the sky*
"Truth be told, I never should've bought that Lamborghini in the first place," confessed Master Hand; much of his conversation with the Star Records trio had to do with the Lamborghini. Both Lamborghinis. "It was incredibly vain of me..."
"Nice of you to show some self-awareness," Itsuki commended Master Hand; Master Hand showing self-reflection was so rare, any instance of it should be marked in the record books.
"I just wanted to improve my social status, to make everyone look at me and admire my greatness! That doesn't make me a narcissist...does it?"
"Self-awareness is every narcissist's worst enemy," said Twintelle, as she poured up a cup of tea for Master Hand. Kinda pointless, considering that Master Hand rarely drank. "Though you are more of a sociopath than anything..."
"Yeah, you didn't care when Tom Nook got the flu that one time," Falco accused Master Hand, reminding the giant hand of the one time when Tom Nook was terribly ill a few years ago. "You wanted him to die!"
"I didn't want him to die, I just..." replied Master Hand, struggling to think of something to say as everyone had their eyes on him. "...wanted him to suffer from symptoms that would linger for the rest of his life. But we're good now."
"Sorry for interrupting your tea party," the Luminary apologized to Master Hand and company as he showed up at the patio, looking for a certain former spy. "But have any of you seen Snake around?"
"Haven't seen any conspicuous cardboard boxes lately, so no," replied Fox, much to the chagrin of the Luminary. "But we'll be on the lookout."
"Okay, well, I appreciate it." Suddenly, the sound of a car engine revving was heard, and it was pretty loud. Loud enough to be heard from the patio.
"Was that a getaway car I heard?" asked Arthur as he took out one of his trusty javelins. "That could only mean one thing...zombies are afoot!"
No, Arthur, that wasn't the sound of a getaway car driving away from the mansion...it was the sound of Carl turning a car on. Luigi's Dodge Charger, apparently. Link, Cloud, and Sonic, who had lost track of Carl, managed to catch up to the man outside - but it was too late.
"See ya punks later!" Carl shouted at Link and company as he took off down the road, with vengeance on his mind. "Claude is a dead man! A DEAD MAN!"
"What is it with Luigi leaving his car keys in his own car...?" pondered Cloud - a shame that Luigi has yet to learn his lesson.
"Hurry, to the truck!" Link said to Cloud and Sonic as he ran to his truck. The Hylian stopped and turned around, seeing that Cloud and Sonic hadn't moved a single inch. "Well...?"
"No offense, Link, but I like our chances better in Sonic's corvette," Cloud admitted to his best friend, who felt betrayed as he solemnly put his car keys back in his pocket. "At least his air conditioning still works."
"Great choice, my man," Sonic commended Cloud, as he and the swordsman headed over to the blue corvette. Link grumbled to himself as he followed after Cloud and Sonic.
Kirby and Incineroar were alone at the museum, as they were on the hunt for the mysterious figure. The two pals reached the space exhibit of the museum, where Incineroar the figure hiding behind a space shuttle display. The heel Pokemon pointed them out.
"Is that...is that Magalor?" wondered Kirby, as he recognized the mysterious figure's visage. The mysterious figure, upon being spotted, ran off. "Wait, Magalor, come back!"
As Kirby and Incineroar made chase after the mysterious figure, two men entered the space exhibit. One was wearing a Hawaiian shirt; the other wore red glasses, as he rolled in something on wheels with a cloth over it
"Hehe...that Blathers is such a gullible pig, isn't he Tommy?" the man with the glasses asked the guy in the Hawaiian shirt, cracking a smile. If one had to guess, these two men were Tommy Vercetti and Ken Rosenberg.
"Sure is," replied Tommy, as he fastened the collar on his Hawaiian shirt. The man had a taste for fashion - kinda expected since he was Italian. "He better come through, and make our trip to Seattle worth it."
"So we just wait around until he shows up, or just bring the sculpture to him?" Rosenberg was anxious to show the sculpture to Blathers, whatever it was hiding underneath the cloth.
"Let's just wait around, to see how much he really wants it. If he doesn't pay up..." Tommy took out a gun, making sure that it was loaded. "...we'll have to send him a message."
Little Mac felt pretty bad about Doc Louis getting dissed by Dante and wanted to see how his boxing trainer was feeling. The boxer stopped by his room, along with Leia, and saw Doc Louis sitting on his bed eating a chocolate bar to ease his sorrow away.
"I think you should go speak with him," Leia whispered to Little Mac - nothing like a good ol' pep talk to turn Doc Louis' frown upside down.
"Right," Little Mac nodded in response, as he entered the room; a bunch of chocolate bar wrappers was littered on the floor, making Little Mac mindful of every step that he took. "Hey, Doc!"
"Hey, Mac..." Doc Louis greeted the boxer, looking down at the floor as he took a bite out of his chocolate bar. "...don't mind me, just eating some chocolate. You can have some if you want."
Doc Louis: Eating chocolate has truly got me through a lot. It got me through the world circuit, my final exams in college, and my very bad case of diarrhea. You could say that eating chocolate while sitting on the toilet is disgusting and even unsanitary, but unlike y'all, I rarely lose my appetite.
"No thanks - not really into chocolate like that," said Little Mac as he took a seat on the bed next to Doc Louis. "Uh, I'm sorry that you had to miss out on my fun with Leia."
"I just wanted to see you be happy, man," Doc Louis told Little Mac, letting his protege know that he meant no ill will whatsoever. "I know I might butt in a few many times...but I just like seeing you grow."
"'A few times' might be a huge understatement..." A curious question was spurred in Little Mac's head, one that Little Mac has been dying to ask for the longest time. "...did you ever have a girlfriend, Doc?"
"Can't say that I have - I was always too busy training to chase after women! That's what I like about you, Mac. You're a better multi-tasker than I am!"
"You're quite the multi-tasker yourself...I mean, you eat chocolate all the time! It's almost unhealthy." That got a laugh out of Doc Louis, for he knew that it was true. The unhealthy part, that is.
"Ain't that the truth! But I'm afraid that I'm too old now to go skirt-chasing. Put in all that hard work on the world circuit, and I'm lonely as ever..."
"You're not lonely, Doc. You got a friend. You have me." Little Mac laid a reassuring hand on Doc Loius, who looked at his protege with a big smile. "And a few others as well."
"Heh, you got that right, kid...I oughta cut it out with the woulda coulda shoulda. Can't always focus on the past - that's my ego talkin'!"
The tea party continued in the patio, as the Luminary was around searching for Snake. The Luminary was still convinced that Snake was somewhere outside in the backyard and its vicinity.
"I must thank you, Itsuki, for selling my Lamborghini after Anna had touched it," Master Hand thanked the young man, who didn't think that Master Hand deserved a "you're welcome" remark. "Hm, but why do I despise Anna in the first place?"
"Because you despise capitalism," replied Falco, who had swallowed a cucumber sandwich and was on the verge of throwing up. "Which is kinda ironic, since you're a money-grubber."
"Alright, so what if I'm a greedy pig? I don't upcharge customers as Anna does!" But he did charge folks unreasonable prices to attend a party - and he refused to give none of the money to charity!
"I think you should open up to Anna a bit more," Twintelle suggested to Master Hand, believing that it would be beneficial for the giant hand's development. "What you think Anna is is nothing more than a caricature."
"Yeah, Krystal and I let Anna stay with us, and we get along with her just fine," Fox said to Master Hand, who refused to believe the pilot unless he provided some evidence. Had to be video evidence, too.
"Easy for you to say, but I doubt that Anna and I would get along that well," commented Master Hand, before showing a slight change of heart. "But maybe I can prove myself wrong..."
"Anna doesn't seem to mind your existence that much," stated Itsuki, reflecting upon the few times that Anna acted cheeky around Master Hand. "So why can't you do the same?"
"I suppose it's worth the shot...sure, Anna might try to rip me off a couple of times, but what greedy pig isn't guilty of doing that?"
Sonic was driving around Seattle as he, Link, and Cloud were looking for Carl. It was imperative that the three got to Carl before he threatened to shoot someone...or even worse.
"Where are you, Knuckles?" Sonic asked the echidna as he was speaking into the phone - with one hand on the steering wheel. Link and Cloud were both understandably worried for their safety.
"Still on my date with Rouge," answered Knuckles; he wanted to turn down the date, but Rouge wouldn't give him a choice other than yes. "Everything's going well so far. I think."
"Well, tell Rouge that you have to end the date. Let her know that there's an emergency situation at the tower. If she doesn't respect your wishes...then break up with her, or something."
"Sonic, can you not drive and talk on the phone at the same time?" Link shouted at the blue hedgehog, sitting in the backseat as he was fearing for his life.
"Not my fault my corvette isn't hi-tech enough...alright, talk to you later, Knuckles." Sonic ended the call and put his phone away, as he kept his eyes on the road ahead of him.
"I see Luigi's car," Cloud called out to Sonic, as he spotted Luigi's Dodge Charger parked at a Wendy's restaurant. Sonic, seeing the Charger, pulled up to the Wendy's and parked his car as he and the swordsmen got out.
"Crap...we're too late," remarked Link as he and the others ran to the behind the restaurant and saw Carl beating up an innocent man. Not a single person was there to save the man, or even capture his beating on film.
"You're a bad man, Claude!" Carl shouted at the man, punching him in the face multiple times. Link and company felt helpless as they watched the senseless beating from the distance.
"Stop it already!" Cloud shouted at Carl, who stopped the punching as he looked up at Cloud. Carl was surprised to see that Cloud and the others had followed him to Wendy's.
"Nah, man, this fool deserves what was coming to him. He killed Lil Knux, the dude owed me a grand! I can't stand for that!"
"What are you even talking about...?" the man who got beat up asked Carl, finding the opportunity to finally speak. Carl looked at the man with wide eyes.
"Claude? You can speak now?" Carl was amazed, as the bruised and battered man smacked Carl's hand away before standing up.
"Yes, I can speak...I have for the longest time. And my name isn't Claude, it's Damon!" Damon adjusted his jacket, as Carl was looking foolish.
"Damon, huh? So I guess that means you never killed Lil Knux." Carl was slowly calming down, as Damon looked at him like he was crazy. Which he was.
"If I knew who Lil Knux even was and had a desire to kill, then maybe I would have." Left in a bitter mood, Damon walked away as he went to his car. "Happens to me every time I go to Wendy's..."
Damon: Isn't it ironic that Wendy's is my favorite restaurant? Why do I always choose violence for going there?
"Bet you feel pretty stupid right now," Sonic said to Carl, as he and the swordsmen went over to the man. The regret on Carl's face was nigh.
"I really dun goofed up..." sighed Carl as he walked away...and headed to the restaurant entrance as he took his wallet out. "...nothin' like a cheeseburger to keep my hopes up."
"That's not such a good idea," Cloud advised Carl as he and the others followed him inside Wendy's. Who knew what Carl was capable of doing? "Let's not..."
Cloud and company followed Carl inside Wendy's, and guess who they saw taking an order at the counter? Knuckles, who was standing with Rouge.
"I'll have two number 9s, a number 9 large, a number 6 with extra dip, a number 7, two number 45s, one with cheese, and a large soda," Knuckles gave his order to the cashier lady, as Sonic smacked his forehead.
"Sir, this is a Wendy's..." the cashier lady informed Knuckles, who looked up at the menu and realized that he made a fool out of himself. "...do you want a Baconator, or not?"
"Ay, Lil Knux! You're still alive!" exclaimed Carl, cutting through the line en route to Knuckles. He happily gave the echidna some dap. "What's poppin', man?"
Hey, you're Carl, from that party!" said Knuckles, as Sonic and the two swordsmen watched Knuckles' interactions with Carl carefully. "Nice seeing you!"
"Must be a big fan of yours," Rouge smirked at Knuckles, who was happy to see Carl again. Was he in any way prepared for what Carl would ask of him?
Knuckles: Carl legit thought that I was dead. Huh. But the party I had was after the whole drive-by shooting thing...weird.
"Alright, Lil Knux, how about those thousand bucks you promised?" Carl asked Knuckles as he rubbed his hands in anticipation. Knuckles was confused at first, but then he remembered his promise.
"Yeah, about that...I was joking," admitted Knuckles, as Carl's face sank immediately. Knuckles joked with the wrong guy. "It was only a joke."
"So this whole time, you were joking? You mean to tell me that I drove all the way from San Andreas to Seattle for nothing?"
"Nobody told you to waste your gas...or even take what I said seriously." Knuckles found himself in some hot water, as Carl was mean-mugging him. "But hey, at least you came to see me!"
Master Hand enjoyed a wonderful tea party with the Star Records trio, with the giant hand spending much of the conversation reflecting upon his Lamborghini. His two Lamborghinis. Now, he was ready to wrap things up.
"So when can we expect you to pay us back, in full?" Fox asked Master Hand, who had the right date in mind. It was a date that he decided upon after looking at his calendar.
"I can pay you boys back weekly until the middle of March," replied Master Hand, hoping to hold up his promise. "Or even earlier than that, possibly."
"What a coincidence - that's when the contracts for the idol singers are supposed to end," stated Itsuki; resigning Tsubasa and the gang should be a top priority for Star Records.
"Star Records wouldn't be the same without the idol singers...my precious babies. I should stop calling them that, should I?"
"Yes, please..." replied Falco as he, Fox, and Itsuki were all cringing. Master Hand was quite possessive of the idol singers.
"Okay then, I'll just come up with a new pet name. Hopefully, the money that I'll pay you back will keep those singers on the hook."
Knuckles had quite the day today. First, he was on a date with Rouge, and then he reconnected with Carl at a Wendy's restaurant. Where was the echidna now? Riding in the backseat of Sonic's corvette, while Sonic was speeding around town.
"Hello, Sonic?" Mario answered the call after Sonic made a call to the plumber on his phone. "Why do I hear-a gunshot sounds?"
"Hey Mario, Link here," Link spoke into Sonic's phone, holding it in his hand - no lives were endangered by Sonic this time. "Cloud and I are out of the mansion. Can you have Zelda, Impa, and Lottie excuse us for leaving?"
"Sure-a thing! I will let them-a know about your absence. But why do I hear guns-a firing?" That was the question that deserved answering the most.
"YOU STILL OWE ME A THOUSAND BUCKS, LIL KNUX!" Carl shouted at Knuckles out the window of Luigi's Dodge Charger, as he chased after Sonic's corvette. Carl fired shots at the corvette with his pistol, but like an average stormtrooper he kept on missing.
"Drive faster!" Knuckles yelled at Sonic, as Carl firing his gun was giving him mad anxiety. "Why did Rouge have to dessert me at the last minute...?"
Rouge: *watching from a rooftop, with her bicolours* Oh, don't mind me, just watching the car chase down below. It's a lot more fun spectating a car chase than being a part of one.
"Where exactly are we headed?" Cloud asked Sonic, who was aimlessly driving around Seattle. Carl had to run out of bullets at some point.
"I dunno, I'm just trying to throw this man off my scent!" replied Sonic, grateful that Carl's aim was absolutely horrible. "If you're so concerned, then how about you give me an exact location?"
Kirby and Incineroar remained at the space exhibit at Blathers' museum, and Kirby was super convinced that Magalor was somewhere nearby. The pink puffball was looking inside a small space shuttle, checking to see if Magalor was there.
"Nope, he's not in here," confirmed Kirby, who was looking inside the shuttle's exhaust pipe. The poor fella was stuck, unable to pull himself out. "Um, a little help here Incineroar!"
"Incineroar!" cried Incineroar, as he grabbed Kirby and mustered all the strength to pull the pink puffball out of the pipe. Kirby was freed, as Incineroar was sent back from the force and landed on the floor.
"Thanks for the assist." Happy to be free, Kirby was placed on his feet by Incineroar. "Hm, Magalor must've left this exhibit already. Which means that most of the searching we did was all for naught..."
"What searching?" a certain angel asked Kirby, who was spooked when he saw Pit creeping up on him along with Viridi. "Funny, we were searching for you guys this whole time!"
"Yeah, you literally ran off without any warning," Viridi said to Kirby and Incineroar, hoping that the two knew how guilty they both were. "You had us worried!"
"I wasn't as worried - I could've found a new pair of friends." Good luck with that, Pit. "That said, it's great knowing that you two are still alive."
"We were looking for a former enemy of mine, Magalor," Kirby explained to Pit and Viridi; Magalor was now an ally of Kirby's, for those unaware. "I reckoned that I saw his face here at the..."
"Who are they?" Pit would cut off Kirby, as he heard some folks talking. The angel pointed in the distance at Blathers, who was speaking with Tommy and Rosenberg.
"Brought you the sculpture, just like you asked!" Tommy said to Blathers, as Rosenberg presented the still-covered sculpture. "Made it through the trip safe and sound."
"Much thanks for coming through, Mr. Vercetti!" Blathers thanked Tommy, beaming with joy as he was eager to add a new piece to his art gallery. "I am bursting with joy to see what magnificent sculpture you have brought to me."
"It was well worth the effort, I'll say," commented Rosenberg, who personally found transporting a statue from New York to Seattle to be quite a struggle. "But before we can pull the curtain...you gotta hold up your end of the bargain."
"Show me the money," Tommy demanded Blathers, as he held out his hand to the owl. Blathers looked confused, believing that Tommy got it all backward.
"Shouldn't you show me the sculpture first?" the owl asked; he wouldn't pull out wads of cash that easily. "I reserve the right to know what I am paying for."
"I said, show me the money!" This time Tommy took out his gun, pointing it at Blathers and striking fear into the owl. Blathers was shivering in fear, as the museum visitors at the exhibit saw Tommy's gun and ran away screaming.
"Don't do it, Blathers!" Pit called out to the owl, only for Rosenberg to take out his gun and point it at Pit and friends. Tommy and Rosenberg were not pulling any punches.
"Stay out of this, kid!" Rosenberg barked orders at Pit, making sure that Pit's pals also got the message.
"Blathers, are you done with my phone?" Joker asked the owl as he stepped into the space exhibit, coming to a stop when he saw the guns pulled out. "What did I just walk into..."
"Joker, help!" Blathers pleaded to the young man for help, sweating buckets as Tommy had his finger on the trigger. "This man wants to murder me in cold blood!"
"I won't kill you unless you cough up the money," stated Tommy, as Blathers' nervous restraint was testing his patience. "Time's-a tickin'!"
"I have to do everything myself..." Joker sighed, as he dug into his pocket and pulled out his gun. He pointed it at Tommy, who along with Rosenberg was quite amused.
"Ooh, check it out, that kid's got a gun!" Rosenberg said to Tommy, with a smile on his face that he couldn't wipe off. "Scared, Tommy?"
"Heh, not in the slightest," replied Tommy, as he had his attention now focused on Joker. "Stay where you are, kid, and nobody gets..."
Suddenly, not one, but two cars crashed through the museum wall - a blue corvette and a green Dodge charger. Blathers flew away in time, but Tommy and Rosenberg weren't so fortunate as the blue corvette knocked them to the floor. Sonic parked his corvette, skidding to a halt, while the Dodge Charger crashed into a shuttle.
"Of all the places in town, and you go with the new museum..." Sonic scolded Cloud, before noticing the damage that he caused in the museum. He left behind a pretty gaping hole in the wall. "...whoops!"
Sonic: I'm not paying for any damages to the museum. I'm no Daddy Warbucks.
"Stupid...car..." grunted Tommy, trying to pull himself up off the floor, only to pass out seconds later. Link, Cloud, Sonic, and Knuckles got out of the corvette and saw Tommy and Rosenberg lying on the floor unconscious.
"Those guys look suspicious, so I'm not apologizing," remarked Sonic, as the sculpture was lying on the floor after Sonic's corvette had run into it. Curious, Joker took the cloth off the sculpture and was amazed by what he saw...or did not see.
"There's nothing inside!" the young man exclaimed, seeing nothing but a clear tall box just full of air. Blathers was agast, beside himself as he held his feathery hands up to his face.
"I have been bamboozled!" the owl lamented, as Carl finally got out of the Charger by opening the front door. "How could I have let this happen..."
"Dang it, I ran out of ammo!" grunted Carl, tossing his pistol to the floor as he looked up Knuckles. "No matter, Lil Knux will just get these hands instead!"
"I'm not interested, thanks..." said Knuckles, cautiously backing away as Carl walked closer to him. Acting out of pure instinct, Incineroar grabbed Carl from behind and gave him a suplex.
"Alright, Incineroar!" Pit cheered on for the heel Pokemon, who flashed a thumbs-up as Carl was left on the floor writhing in pain, his back en fuego.
"How did I let myself get suplexed by some dumb cat..." wondered Carl, making a mental note not to tell his homeboys back in San Andreas about his embarrassing moment. Would make him lose a lot of street cred.
"I find it very unfortunate that I put myself in such a harrowing position," said Blathers, seeing Tommy and Rosenberg unconscious next to the clear box. "How can I possibly redeem myself?"
"We can always call the cops on these two posers," Link said to Blathers regarding Tommy and Rosenberg, before he heard Carl screaming in pain. "Might need an extra one for that Carl guy..."
"Yes, that would be the best way to remedy this issue. I'm sure that law enforcement will sort everything out. These scoundrels deserve maximum jail time!"
"Hello, Link? You still there?" Mario's voice was heard, as Link was still on the phone - Sonic's phone - with Link. Cloud took out his own phone, about to call the cops. "Is everything alright? I heard loud-a noises..."
"Yeah, we're alright - we're at the museum right now," answered Link, as he walked to a corner of the space exhibit. "Did you speak with the ladies, about what I said? We'll be back home soon."
"Yes, I spoke with-a them - they'll be expecting your return," replied Mario, conducting his phone call with Link in the middle of the mansion hallway. "Don't keep-a them waiting too long...ha. Alright, see ya."
Mario ended the call and put his phone away, as he looked up and saw Little Mac, Doc Louis, and Leia all in Little Mac's room. Little Mac and Leia seemed to be enjoying Doc Louis' company.
"This chocolate is delicious!" smiled Leia, who was eating a chocolate bar that Doc Louis offered to her. If Doc Louis gave you one of his chocolate bars, then you have officially made it.
"Gotta say, Mac, I always knew you picked out the right woman!" Doc Louis smiled at his protege, playfully punching the side of his arm. "Hope you and Leia take the chocolate as an apology for my...nosy ways."
"It's the sweetest apology gift ever," responded Little Mac, who too was eating a chocolate bar offered to him by Doc Louis. "Just give me some distance with Leia until she leaves, okay?"
"I'll give you all the distance you need, Mac. A whole thousand yards!" Doc Louis laughed in true Doc Louis fashion, as Little Mac and Leia both giggled.
Little Mac: Doc Louis rarely shares his chocolate with others; I'm one of the only known folks to have received chocolate from him. Leia's now in some pretty special company.
The tea party was over, as Twintelle and Arthur were on clean-up duty. Fox was doing his part - by eating the cucumber sandwiches that were left behind.
"You're sick..." Falco grimaced with disgust at Fox, who was eating the cucumber sandwiches one by one. He found Fox to be a terribly brave soul.
"Someone's gotta eat 'em," shrugged Fox, who ate to his heart's discontent. The Luminary returned to the patio, needing to speak with Fox and Falco.
"No sign of Snake?" the mage asked the pilots, as Arthur and Twintelle took the materials inside the mansion. Fox and Falco both shook their heads.
"Okay, Hal, talk to you later," said Snake, as he emerged from underneath the tea table. The former spy appeared from under the tablecloth, starling the Luminary and the pilots.
"Bruh, how long were you hiding under the table?" Falco asked Snake; he was far more used to Snake hiding under cardboard boxes.
"Long enough." Snake casually walked, as he put his codec back where it belonged. "You boys didn't see a thing."
Snake: I was hiding under that table, and then Twintelle organized that stupid tea party. Had to keep my voice down. I don't think anyone heard me, which is a good thing if they didn't.
"Snake, wait up!" the Luminary ran to the Snake, who stopped in place without bothering to look back. "Who were you speaking to?"
"It's none of your business," replied Snake, as he wished for the Luminary to stop being so nosy. "Whatever I discussed with Hal is not meant for your ears."
"Heard you mention some dream factory. Care to elaborate on what that is?" The Luminary was asking for a lot at this point, which was Snake's cue to leave.
"Got no clue what you're talking about. Get lost, kid." Snake resumed walking, as the Luminary stood where he was. Snake was obviously hiding some juicy info, and it was clear as day.
Meanwhile, the mysterious figure from the museum was poking his head out of the shrubbery, watching as Snake left...