Author's Note:

A late Saturday update? This early in the year?! You betcha. Had a very busy week this week, so writing this chapter was hard to come by, hence the delay.

So this chapter is based on an idea that Underdog Emiya suggested some months ago. It's something I've had in my back pocket since the summer, and because I had no other ideas this week...what better time to unleash this chapter than now? If I had more time, this chapter could've been a whole lot more, but I still had fun writing it nonetheless. Only two reviews to answer:

"Since Otacon showed up does that mean Mei Ling will show up or she already did? Is Layer from the Mega Man X games gonna show up to visit Zero? (Since we know Iris dead at this point sadly). Will other Street Fighter characters from the later games show up? Does Terry own any Neo Geo systems in the mansion? Are any of the Elder Dragons from the Monster Hunter games going to show up and cause mayhem? And finally, do you think Vince McMahon has lost his mind with the continuing firings at the WWE? (He fired Samoa Joe again, and fired William Regal)."

Mei Ling will show up soon. Layer might not make an appearance. If you're talking about characters from Street Fighter IV and V...then I'm afraid not. Terry does own a Neo Geo system. No appearances from the Elder Dragons. And I don't think Vince has lost his mind entirely. Sucks to see Samoa Joe and William Regal go, but the writing was on the wall after NXT got that rebrand. Regal being with WWE for over two decades is quite impressive, I'll say. As for Joe, given his injury history, his best days might be behind him. Here's the other review:

"Assassin's Creed: The Ezio Collection is coming to the Nintendo Switch on February 17. Any chance for an Ezio appearance? Maybe have him and Altair together?"

Assassin's Creed is coming to the Switch? It was only a matter of time (especially with that Altair costume being in Smash). Ezio will make another appearance in this story around that time. Figuring out a way to bring him into the fold will be the only hard part.

Episode 317: Cosplay

The last instance of Master Hand dressing up his residents was a Marvelous affair; in anticipation of Avengers: Endgame, the giant hand forced everyone against their will to dress up as a Marvel superhero. Well, almost everyone - those who didn't wear any clothes got out of dodge. As for everyone else, though...they weren't that fortunate.

Since that one instance back in episode 175, Master Hand was looking for a reason, any reason, to make his residents play dress-up again. Even if it was done mainly for his own entertainment. But with no new Avengers movie in sight, Master Hand's weird superhero-fueled dreams were very slim. But whoever said that he couldn't dress up everyone as something other than a superhero?

Anna: One of the things I ordered over the holiday season finally came in the mail today - it's basically a whole bunch of anime costumes, which I got from NME's online store. I had originally bought them for Fox so that his idol singers could use 'em for like a music video or something. It turns out I have an excess amount of costumes in the package, and I obviously couldn't let them go to waste, so...that's when I consulted Master Hand. And that's when he came up with the most brilliant plan!

As it usually was whenever the residents were forced to play dress-up, Mario and his neighbors were forced to play along as well. Mario didn't anticipate being Iron Man again in the near future, and he had no plans of doing so given how heavy his Iron Man suit was. (Not a surprise, given that it's flipping Iron Man.) But as the plumber woke up that morning, he would be in for quite a rude awakening.

"Huh? What happened to the vision in my left-a eye?" questioned Mario after he woke up, noticing that his eyesight was only visible in his right eye. Confused the plumber got up and rubbed his hand over his left eye, and felt some fabric.

"Good morning, Mario - and nice eyepatch!" Cappy greeted the plumber, who was left in even more confusion; Mario couldn't recall going to bed dressed up as some kind of pirate. A look in the mirror was mandatory.

"Nice-a eyepatch, huh?" Mario hopped out of his bed and ran to his mirror, and saw not only a black eyepatch over his left eye but a different hairdo. His hair was combed back. "Mama mia! My hair!"

"Forget your hair - check out your new threads." Cappy pointed at some clothes lying on Mario's bed, and Mario saw a blue military coat complete with some slacks, a grey sash, and black dress shoes. Very classy.

"Who am I even supposed-a to be dressed as? Some-a army general? Where's Peach, I need answers! PEACH!" Nearly beside himself, Mario quickly hurried downstairs, sensing that his wife was too caught up in the shenanigans.

"You called?" asked Peach, who was standing at the base of the stairs; Mario saw that his wife was dressed up as Sailor Moon, as his mouth went agape. "Aw, don't look at me like that, you're gonna make me blush!"

"Wha...?" Mario was absolutely dumbstruck, which prompted Cappy to slap the plumber silly. Mario was broken out of his trance, shaking his head to bring himself back to earth. "Why are you all dressed-a up, princess?"

"Well, I would've worn my usual princess gown today, but instead it was replaced by...this." Peach showed off her sailor fuku attire to Mario, grateful that the skirt was longer than expected. "At least it was a perfect fit."

"Mama mia...did Master Hand steal-a our clothes again?" That was starting to look like the case, especially if what Peach said had any merit. Mario dreaded Master Hand pulling off these kinds of shenanigans.

"If it makes you feel any better, Spyro and Hunter were saved." Peach brought Mario to the living room, where Spyro and Hunter were both unharmed. Probably because they didn't have any clothes to be stolen.

"Nice eyepatch," Spyro quipped at Mario, thinking that the eyepatch looked somewhat fitting on the plumber. "Supposed to be some kind of pirate?"

"Why is Hunter using our computer?" inquired Mario, as he saw Hunter sitting on the computer searching the Web frantically. Hunter looked engrossed like he was trying to find a cure for cancer or something.

"Don't mind him - he's just salty that Peach gets to dress up as an anime character, and we don't. So he's looking for someone to dress up as."

"YES! Found an anime cheetah!" rejoiced Hunter, who was browsing online when he saw someone that caught his attention. "And his name is...Chiqicheetah. Weird name, but I'll take it."

Hunter: Know a place where I can find some white basketball shorts? And some purple shin guards?

"Good morning, Mario!" greeted Master Hand as he magically appeared in Mario's home, before noticing that Mario wasn't fully dressed. "Or should I say, King Bradley. Where is your uniform?"

"I'll do you one-a better...what s the meaning of this, Master Hand?" Mario questioned the giant hand while knowing that he wouldn't get the answer that he wanted. He knew Master Hand fare too well. "Stealing our clothes, just so we could-a be anime characters for a day?"

"Hey, this wasn't my idea - Anna put me up to it. She couldn't let those costumes of hers go to waste. Now, why don't you go back to your room and put on your military uniform?"

"Excuse me, Master Hand, but who exactly is this King Bradley?" Spyro asked the giant hand, curious as to what character Mario was supposed to be portraying. King Bradley certainly didn't sound like a pirate guy to Spyro.

"King Bradley - according to Anna - is some villain from Fullmetal Alchemist. Also goes by the title of Fuhrer, as such." So instead of a pirate, Mario was a ruthless leader of men.

"I guess that would-a explain some things," remarked Mario as he went over to Hunter...only for Hunter to back away from the plumber while sitting in the wheeling chair. "Hunter, why did-a you back away?"

"Sorry, but I can't associate myself with a literal Nazi," replied Hunter, crossing his arms in front of him as Peach let out an amused giggle. "Take your anti-Semitism somewhere else, Mario!"

"Hunter, don't-a be like that..." Soon the doorbell rang, and Master Hand was curious as to who it was. Taking it upon himself, Master Hand opened the door and saw some of Mario's neighbors.

"Well, well, if it isn't the Fairy Tail gang!" Master Hand greeted Marth, Roy, Caeda, and Lilina - who were all dressed as Jellal Fernandes, Natsu Dragneel, Juvia Lockers, and Wendy Marvell, respectively. "Tell me, what's the name of your Guild?"

"Master Hand, can I please get a new costume?" Lilina kindly asked the giant hand, not a huge fan of the green dress she was forced to wear. A bit too short for her liking. "I don't feel comfortable dressing up as a little girl."

"Lilina, are you secretly trying to hide the fact that you're a pedophile?" Her request left ignored, Lilina let out a sigh as Master Hand moved on to Roy. "Roy, for the love of...zip up your shirt, man!"

"I dunno, I kinda like having my chest exposed," smiled Roy, who had his chest open through his shirt for the whole world to see. "Makes me feel free...almost naked, even."

"Please don't say that," Marth advised Roy, before turning his attention to Master Hand - whom he had a slight gripe with. "Is this anime cosplay affair going to last the entire day?"

"That's what Anna had intended, and so that's what it will be," Master Hand confirmed to Marth, who made a mental note in his head to take his complaints to Anna soon. "Just a disclaimer, the costumes come with no special powers or anything, so...don't go too crazy."

"Dang it..." frowned Roy, who personally wanted to breathe fire just like how Natsu Dragneel could. Simply wielding fire with his blade wasn't enough for him.

Marth: See this on my face? *points at a red tattoo on the right side of his face* This was the first thing that I noticed when I looked at myself in the mirror this morning. That being said, I felt a weird brush stroking against my face when I was asleep last night...

Much like Mario and his neighbors, the residents at the tower fell victim to cosplaying as anime characters for the day. Cloud, for instance, was cosplaying as the legendary ninja himself, Naruto Uzumaki. It was quite an amusing sight for some.

"You're totally doing it wrong!" King K. Rool called out to Cloud, who was casually walking to the dining room counting down the hours until he could take off his ninja suit. "Where's your ninja dash?"

"Shut up, K. Rool," Cloud snapped at the Kremling, as he went through the living room where Little Mac and Doc Louis were present. Little Mac, fittingly enough, was Makunouchi Ippo of Hajime no Ippo fame, whereas Doc Louis...was Mr. Popo.

"I'm sorry, Mac, but this just doesn't feel right with me," Doc Louis said to the boxer, who was doing some boxing practice on a poor, innocent Sandbag. That Sandbag has a family, Little Mac. "Master Hand's got me being some blackface fatty!"

"That's what you got for being fat in the first place," replied Little Mac, as Doc Louis held in the strength to choke out his protege. Cloud moved past Little Mac and Doc Louis and went to the dining room, where residents were enjoying breakfast - while cosplaying as anime characters.

"Nice headband, Cloud," Itsuki approached the swordsman, dressed up as Kirito of Sword Art Online; he was definitely gonna get the ladies now. "Going to show off your Sexy Jutsu?"

"I can do a whole lot worse than some Sexy Jutsu if you don't get out of my face," retorted Cloud, as Itsuki eased up and backed away. Cloud saw an available seat next to Link, who was cosplaying Meliodas of the Seven Deadly Sins.

"I just wish that my costume actually came with a shirt," Zelda discussed with Link, as the anime character she was cosplaying as was Cara Alberona. Lots of folks cosplaying as Fairy Tail peeps. "Don't like my body exposed this way."

"What way would you like it to be exposed, then?" Link asked in a joking manner, although Zelda clearly wasn't amused in the slightest. Cloud took a seat next to Link, not even bothering to move discreetly as a typical ninja would.

"Hey," Cloud greeted Link and Zelda; with a response like that, Cloud clearly wasn't that much of a morning person. "Nice tattoo you got there, Zelda."

"Oh, you mean this?" asked Zelda as she looked down at the Fairy Tail stamp on her abdomen, right above her hips. "I honestly have no idea where that even came from. Must've appeared overnight."

"Care for some more eggs?" Mythra came over to ask Link and Zelda, offering them some gross-looking scrambled eggs. The blade, ironically enough, was cosplaying as Erina Nakiri of Food Wars.

"No thanks, we're good," replied Link, as Mythra nodded her head and went back to the kitchen. Once Mythra left, Link sighed and muttered, "A shame that costume can't make her a better cook..."

Having a bone to pick with Master Hand, Daisy stormed off to the mansion dragging Luigi along with her. The princess was dressed up as Sakura Kinomoto of Cardcaptor Sakura, while her husband was Seven Deadly Sins' sin of pride, Escanor.

"Do we really have-a to do this, sweetheart?" Luigi asked an incensed Daisy, as he stood with his wife inside the foyer. "I kinda like-a my bartender get-up."

"Speak for yourself..." Daisy replied with a frown, as she kept her eyes peeled for Master Hand wherever he may be. "...having us cosplaying as a superhero was fine, but this is too far!"

Daisy: Luigi is some bartender guy, while I'm stuck cosplaying as some little girl. Something about that image feels off.

"Don't you two look spiffy!" Anna smiled at Luigi and Daisy as she entered the foyer, coming from Master Hand's room. Little did the merchant know that Daisy wasn't in a pleasant mood. "That tuxedo suits you, Luigi."

"Is Master Hand in his room?" Daisy asked Anna, as she had a knuckle sandwich that she wanted to give Master Hand. "I'm kinda ticked with him at the moment..."

"Lemme guess - is it because your princess gown has gone amiss?" Anna certainly knew why that was the case, as she gave Daisy a whimsical smile. "I hate to tell you this, but your gown is kept away! Only I know where it is."

"In that case, can I change this outfit into something less...kiddy?" Being a Cardcaptor had Daisy feeling like a womanchild. "This magical girl costume just doesn't suit me at all."

"Um, Daisy...I feel-a something going on with my body," Luigi alerted his wife, as he felt a funny feeling inside his bones. The plumber's legs were shaking, as Anna and Daisy were precariously looking on.

"Sure it isn't tendonitis?" Daisy asked Luigi, who saw his arms shaking along with his legs. Luigi's entire body was shaking, causing much concern. "Luigi, this is kinda weird..."

"I can't help it, Daisy, it's like-a my entire body's spazzing out on me! I can't make it stop!" Luigi tried to walk it off, but it didn't do any good as he continued to have the shakes. Daisy looked towards Anna, who was just as puzzled as she was.

"That's weird; I don't remember this being in that disclaimer," remarked Anna, who was wondering why Luigi's body was acting up. "Maybe I overlooked it by mistake. Then again, it is almost noon..."

"What disclaimer? What do you mean, it's almost noon?" Daisy asked Anna, before reverting his attention back to Luigi and seeing her husband suffer from even more body complications. "And why is Luigi growing?!"

Satisfied with the pancakes that he had for breakfast, Sonic was whistling to himself as he left the kitchen. When the blue hedgehog arrived at the foyer, he stopped in place as he encountered an extremely buff Luigi, who had grown out of his tuxedo as he was much, much taller than before.

"Woah-ah! Someone's really been hitting the gym lately," exclaimed Sonic, as Luigi was checking out his new muscular body. Along with some muscles, Luigi also had an eight-pack.

"Gotta say, I like this new-a me," smiled Luigi, as he was checking out his biceps and calves. Daisy and Anna looked at the plumber shocked, with the former fainting onto the floor.

"This is quite the unexpected development," remarked Anna, as Master Hand floated his way into the foyer. The moment that he saw the buff Luigi, Master Hand screamed with a high-pitch voice.

"Luigi! When did you start taking steroids?" the giant hand asked the plumber, who was too busy checking out his new body. Luigi had never felt so confident in himself before. "At least share some with the others!"

"I didn't take any steroids - it must've been that tuxedo I was-a wearing," replied Luigi, as he felt the unnecessary need to flex his muscles for Master Hand. "These-a muscles just came out of nowhere!"

"Anna, explain?" If Luigi's enhanced body had anything to do with his tuxedo, then surely Anna must have the answers. Quite frankly, Anna had no answer for Master Hand whatsoever.

"I think I was wrong about those anime costumes not having special powers," Anna admitted to Master Hand, as the mere thought of the costumes coming with special abilities delighted Sonic. "Probably didn't read the fine print too well."

Sonic: Why is it that everyone gets to dress up as a superhero or anime character for the day, while I'm always left out of the fun? It's kinda messed up when you think about it. Hedgehogs wear clothes, too! Maybe not as much, but there's no point in discrimination...

"Where's MY anime costume?" Sonic asked Master Hand and Anna; he would love to go Super Saiyan like Goku or have long, stretchy limbs like Monkey D. Luffy. The possibilities were endless for him.

"Oh yes, your costume! How could I forget!" replied Anna as she ran to Master Hand's room. Sonic was eager to see what Anna would pull out as he rubbed his hands with anticipation...but was left disappointed when Anna came back with just a pair of white gloves.

"Seriously, Anna? Those the same gloves that I usually wear." Sonic was hoping that Anna was trolling him, but judging by the smile on her face Anna was being quite serious.

"They're not just any white gloves...they're the ones from Sonic X! You do watch Sonic X, right?" Hearing that made Sonic insulted, as the hedgehog's left eye was twitching.

"Is this the best you can come up with? Was I not a part of your original plans when you did this whole anime cosplay thing? Will guys like me and Tails be left out of the fun entirely?"

"Why must you always bring up my name like that," Tails said as he popped up in the foyer...and interestingly enough, the yellow fox was dressed up as the nine-tailed fox, Kuruma. Sonic was beside himself.

"Are you serious right now?!" As Sonic was about to blow a gasket, Tails looked up and admired the new and improved Luigi. Luigi was growing an audience.

"Golly, Luigi! When did you get so big?" While Tails admired Luigi, Sonic waved off the yellow fox and everyone else as he stormed out of the foyer.

"I dunno, it just...came-a out of nowhere, I guess." Luigi flexed his muscles for Tails, as a slew of residents joined the yellow fox in the foyer. "Not that I'm complaining, of course."

"Luigi has reeled in quite the crowd," Master Hand whispered to Anna, as he saw the likes of Yusuke, Link, and Zelda and others show up. "This would be a great opportunity for one to make money off of him."

"The Lion Sin of Pride..." marveled Yusuke, dressed as Hideki Hinata, as he and the others found themselves in awe of Luigi's new physique. "...Luigi's powers have been fully unlocked!"

"And it's almost noon as well," stated Zelda as he glanced at the clock in the foyer. If the lore of Seven Deadly Sins is to be believed, Luigi might remain buff until nighttime. "Which means..."

"We're all gonna get special powers!" cheered Diddy Kong, who was fittingly cosplaying as Monkey D. Luffy. Yusuke turned and frowned at the spidermonkey, causing him to temper his flares. "Well, some of us will get special powers..."

"Let's not get too hasty," Yusuke advised Diddy, before looking over at Dark Pit - who was dressed up as Sasuke Uchiha - and seeing something peculiar about the doppelganger's eyes. "Is that...the Sharingan?"

"The Shari-what now?" Dark Pit perked up, as Haru handed the doppelganger her small mirror. Pit looked at himself in the mirror and was stunned when he saw that his eyes had a few black dots in them. "Oh! The Sharingan! Cool!"

"This is not looking good..." Master Hand said quietly to Anna, fearing that some of the residents who had powers might use misuse their newfound abilities. The thought of Dark Pit having the Sharingan brought much worry to the giant hand.

"Guys, you know what this means? I have awesome reflexes now! Quick, throw something at me!" Taking up Dark Pit's offer, Link took off his shoe and threw it at Dark Pit, nailing the doppelganger in the head. "Ow! Hey, I wasn't ready yet!"

"That isn't how the Sharingan works," Link said to Dark Pit, as an increasingly fearful Master Hand brought Anna away from the foyer so that he could speak with the merchant in private.

"Alright, Anna, which costumes come with special abilities and which ones do not?" Master Hand asked the merchant so that he could scope out certain individuals just in case. "I need to know..."

"I don't know, there's too many of them to keep up with!" responded Anna, who only held herself responsible for buying the costumes in the first place. "Let's just lay low for a bit."

"I'll just ask Isabelle to monitor everyone's behavior. Can't let the residents reenact anime fights and kill themselves. We don't have enough room in our backyard for a gravesite!"

"And who's gonna monitor the tower?" Suddenly, Master Hand was reminded that the tower denizens were also caught up in the anime cosplay shenanigans, as his worry was reaching an all-time high.

After they were done with their breakfast, Sora and Kairi searched around outside for Riku. Riku left abruptly during breakfast and hadn't returned, leaving his friends to wonder about his current whereabouts.

"Riku? Riku! Where are you?" Sora called out the silverette, meandering around as Kazuma Satou of Konosuba while he searched for his friend. Kairi, on the other hand, was cosplaying as Shirayuki from Snow White with White Hair.

"I see him, up there," Kairi alerted Sora as she pointed up at the roof of the mansion. Sora and Kairi saw Riku standing on the roof, dressed up as Gintoki Sakata...and peeing from the side of the mansion.

"Riku, why are you peeing on top of the roof?" asked Sora, as he and Kairi got closer to the silverette. Done handling his business, Riku zipped up his pants; hopefully, he will wash his hands soon.

"It's called 'staying in character', Sora," Riku informed the Keyblade wielder, as he slowly climbed down from the roof. Simply jumping down was too big of a risk for him. "Trying to stay one step ahead of the curve."

Riku: Got no clue as to why Master Hand wants everyone to play dress-up, but I think it's all part of some elaborate competition. Like a contest to see who can stay in character the most. Before breakfast, I did some research on the guy I'm cosplaying as and, well...some of the stuff he does, I would never do in a million years. Or ever.

"You two ought to do the same, if you know what's good for you," Riku warned Sora and Kairi, as he started picking his nose in true Gintoki fashion. A friendly reminder that he has yet to wash his hands.

"Yeah...I don't think we'll take any chances," smiled Kairi, choosing to remain her usual cheery self. The character she was cosplaying as was also cheery, so Kairi wouldn't be acting too out of line.

"Suit yourself." After he was done picking his nose, Riku turned around and saw a familiar face standing behind him, dressed as Arsene Lupin the Third. It was Waluigi, who was apparently wielding a gun.

"Say your last words, sonny!" Waluigi commanded Riku as he held his gun in the silverette's face. Considering who was holding the gun, Riku wasn't scared. "Lupin uses the word 'sonny', does he?"

"I know one thing - you're definitely making him look totally uncool." Riku would walk past Waluigi, who was left in shambles as he lowered the hand that was holding the gun. He came to a stop when Sonic zipped past by.

"Hey, Riku, do you know any famous anime hedgehogs?" Sonic asked the silverette, who was wondering if Sonic was being serious or not. He asked himself that question very often. "If you do, just give me a name."

"Sorry Sonic, but you're asking the wrong person," replied Riku, as Sonic frowned and snapped his fingers in disgust. "Trust me, you really don't want to be caught up in this cosplaying nonsense."

"But I do want to be caught up in that nonsense, thank you very much...and thanks for nothing!" Seeing that Riku was no help at all, Sonic sped off, away from the mansion. Sighing to himself, Riku pressed forward.

Joker was by all accounts a very handsome dude, and so he was given an equally handsome anime character to cosplay as...Light Yagami. The young man ran Cafe Leblanc with his white dress shirt and red tie under his jacket and was doing it in style. He even had the Death Note resting on the counter, which he had to keep out of the wrong hands.

"Cool, is that the Death Note?" Pit, who was cosplaying as Izuku Midoriya, asked Joker as he spotted the Death Note. The angel reached for the book, only for Joker to instinctively swat his hands away.

"Keep your hands away from the book, Pit," Joker commanded the angel, as he grabbed the Death Note and moved it away from Pit. "I don't want you writing down people's names in it."

"Aw, come on, it's not like I wanna use it to kill people! I just wanna see how authentic it is." Given that most residents had their powers "activated" from the costumes they wore, Joker simply couldn't take any chances with the Death Note.

"yeah, i would kill to take a look at the book as well," quipped Sans, seated at the counter while dressed up as One Piece's Brook. Sans sure looked goofy with the poofy afro upon his head.

"Well, you can forget it," Joker said to Sans, as he readily prepared a cup of coffee for any patron that walked through the cafe door. "That book is a prop, and you all will treat it as such."

Joker: That Death Note was conveniently resting on my nightstand this morning. I didn't look into it too much, but I did write down a name in there just to see if my ink pen was working. *pauses* It was the first name that came to my mind. Unless that book isn't magic, I just hope that I didn't accidentally kill anyone...

Joker and the baristas were soon greeted by an explosion, one that was big enough to blow the cafe entrance down. Once the smoke cleared, Ryuji was revealed to be standing where the cafe entrance once was, dressed up as Katsuki Bakugo.

"Check it out, Joker - I can do cool explosions!" Ryuji exclaimed to his friend, who was more than disappointed by the damage that was brought to his cafe. "No sweat required."

"Why is this cafe always undergoing new renovations..." Joker sighed as he facepalmed, starting to lose count of the times his cafe was damaged or in danger of being destroyed. Mr. Game and Watch could only fix the cafe up so many times.

"Uh oh..." fretted Pit, who found it scarily coincidental that Ryuji was cosplaying as Bakugo. The moment that he saw Pit, Ryuji frowned and pointed at the angel for he had a score to settle with him.

"Don't think I haven't forgotten what you did to me on New Year's Eve!" Ryuji shouted at Pit, letting him know how ticked off he was. He still had yet to let things go. "Sending in that overrated wrestler to kick my butt..."

"To be fair, he kicked my butt too, but only because I said that wrestling was real. That Roman tried to convince me otherwise! Who knew that our tribal chief was such a good liar?"

"Still don't get it, do you..." Ryuji shook his head at Pit, as he continued to be profoundly disturbed by the angel's ignorance. "...how about we settle this, once and for all? You and me, outside!"

"Please don't take up on his offer," Kirby quietly advised Pit, not wanting to see his best friend end up getting hurt. Pit might even hurt himself, trying to use the Quirk that his costume granted him.

"You got yourself a deal!" exclaimed Pit, as Kirby feared for the worst; Ryuji would put Pit in a body bag faster than he could say "uncle". "If it's a fight you want, then it's a fight you're gonna get!"

"Ha! I'm looking forward to it," smirked Ryuji, who was anxious over the thought of creaming Pit in his fight. Considering the kind of opponent Pit was, it would be a walk in the park for Ryuji. "Better be there, or be squared!"

"Uh, same to you!" With the challenge accepted by Pit, Ryuji walked out of the cafe, not caring about the damage he brought to Joker's beloved institution. The delinquent was more focused on how he was going to make Pit plead for mercy.

"Can't believe you, Pit," Joker voiced his disappointment to the angel, hoping that Pit knew the kind of trouble he was getting himself into. "Ryuji is going to kill you there - even if you're immortal!"

"Hold up, was Ryuji being serious when he challenged me to a fight?" Pit asked Joker and Kirby, needing some clarification; can't risk showing up outside just by himself, and making himself look like a fool. "Thought for sure that he was joking around."

"I think that he was being deadly serious..." replied Kirby, who was already getting some bad vibes. Viridi finally arrived at the cafe, dressed as Mai Kawakami of Myriad Colors Phantom World, and observed the damage that was done to the cafe.

"Sheesh, did a wrecking ball hit this place or what?" Viridi asked the baristas, as he entered through the gaping hole that Ryuji left behind. "Didn't know we're doing a remodeling this early."

"No, Viridi, that was just Ryuji being reckless with his costume," Joker informed Viridi, who went to go grab her cafe apron from the back of the cafe. "But we have bigger things to worry about than that."

"your boyfriend accepted ryuji's offer of having a fight outside," Sans said to Viridi, who gasped in shock; even Viridi knew that Pit would get destroyed in a fight with Ryuji, with or without Quirks. "might wanna call a local hospital, give 'em a heads up in advance."

"Pit, are you out of your mind?" Viridi asked the angel, as this was yet another instance of the goddess of nature questioning her boyfriend's sanity.

"I mean, I guess so," Pit replied with a shrug, fifty-fifty on whether or not Ryuji was being truly serious. It was apparently hard for the angel to tell.

"It might be too late for you to talk your way out of this," Joker said to Pit, who saw Joker's Death Note with the corner of his eye. "Better start finding someone to replace you."

"Eh, you can go on ahead...it won't bother me." Pit had a plan to get himself out of the fight with Ryuji...and it involved the booker that Joker had.

What anime characters would the Luminary and his friends cosplay as? Since so many folks commented about the Dragon Quest heroes looking like bonafide Dragon Ball Z characters...that's exactly what happened. The Luminary, Edrick, Solo, and Eight were cosplaying as Android 17, Goku, Goten, and Broly, respectively. It was only a matter of time.

"Believe me, I hate this as much as you do," Kazuya said to the Luminary and friends, whom he encountered in the foyer; the businessman was dressed up as Vegeta, which made sense since he kinda had the hair for it.

"Honestly, I'm surprised that we weren't in these stupid costumes until now," the Luminary responded; the only thing he liked about his outfit was that he at least got to keep his sword. Edrick, Solo, and Eight were so fortunate.

Luminary: *sighs deeply* We've really come full circle, haven't we?

"Just don't go Super Saiyan on anyone," Kazuya advised the Luminary and friends as he walked away from the foyer, wishing that he could take his Vegeta costume off. "Don't need anyone blowing this mansion to smithereens."

"Not unless you can beat us to it," Erdrick called out to Kazuya, who waved off the hero as he went upstairs. "Like he's the one to talk..." Erdrick muttered under his breath, as the doorbell rang seconds later.

"I'd hate to see him of all people go Super Saiyan," commented the Luminary, as he went to go answer the front door. Snake's good friend Hal was standing by, back at the mansion for a consecutive week.

"Hi, my name is Hal Emmerich!" Hal kindly greeted the Luminary, holding a flashlight in his hands. The hacker adjusted his glasses as he got a good look at the Luminary's costume. "I see that you're a big fan of Dragon Ball Z. What a coincidence!"

"Actually, I don't really care for that kind of stuff," the Luminary told Hal, who was both surprised and upset at the same time. Hal was so close to finding himself a soul brother. "I was forced to dress up as..."

"Hal! You made it back!" a certain former spy shouted, as Snake ran to the front door like the Flash and knocked the Luminary away. The Luminary landed on the floor, as Snake brought Hal inside.

"Just like you wanted me to!" smiled Hal, who couldn't help but notice Snake's anime costume. Snake was Asuma Sarutobi, the late jonin from the Hidden Leaf Village. "Nice Asuma costume, by the way."

"That's the name of the guy I'm cosplaying as?" Snake looked down at his threads, wishing that one of the residents had clued him in sooner. "Is this Asuma guy any good?"

"Are you telling me that you've never watched Naruto, Snake?" Hal was so shocked, and Snake had no idea what the big deal was, hoping that Hal wasn't taking things too personally.

"Be honest with me, Hal...do I even look like the kind of guy that would watch that anime crap? I'm only dressed like this because my spy suit was stolen."

"And I take it that your regular clothes were stolen too?" Hal had rarely seen Snake wear everyday civilian clothing, and his curiosity was always orbiting around that one thought in his mind.

"No, it's just...this is a thing Master Hand likes to do. He'll steal our clothes while we're asleep, and force us to play dress-up for a day. We've been through this three times before when we were dressed up as superheroes."

"You make it seem like both a good thing and a bad thing." Hal would've loved to be a fly on the wall when all that superhero stuff was going down. "I was kinda hoping that the mansion was having some kind of mini comic-con."

"Settle down, you little nerdy weirdo...we have way bigger priorities to handle." Snake turned his head back at the Luminary, who was looking at him while on the floor, before returning his attention to Hal and leaning in close. "That journal..."

"I brought a flashlight!" Hal showed off his flashlight to Snake, shining it in the former spy's face. Snake wasn't a big fan, as evidenced by the terribly blank look on his face.

"Don't know why you even brought one...but whatever gets you in a searching mood. Now let's move." So Snake and Hal left the mansion, with Snake closing the door behind him hoping that the Luminary would follow. Even then, he had a sneaky feeling that the mage would be hot on his trail.

Mario was getting used to his anime cosplay, as he was rocking his King Bradley military suit. Hunter, who wanted to be part of the cosplaying fun, found some clothing pieces necessary to complete his attire.

"I am Chiqicheetah...hear me roar!" bellowed Hunter, who was wearing a purple shirt and some white basketball shorts. The basketball shorts belonged to Mario, whose legs were too small to fit into them.

"What is a Chiqicheetah?" Peach curiously asked Mario, who was in the living room combing his mustache. Feeling powerful and mighty, Hunter flexed his nonexistent muscles to nobody in particular.

"I'm sorry, Hunter, but that 'cosplay' of yours looks totally low-budget," Spyro said to his cheetah friend, who couldn't be bothered by the purple dragon's comments. Hunter felt like he was at the top of the world. "You look like some scrub at a basketball rec center."

Spyro: Hunter has this weird, insatiable desire to be a part of stuff. I would call it FOMO, but I like to think it's further progress at this point.

"Quick, Spyro!" Hunter pointed at the purple dragon, who was wary of what the cheetah would ask of him. "Go on that computer, and see what kind of special abilities this Chiqicheetah dude has."

"He probably doesn't sound that special..." remarked Spyro, as he went to a computer and pulled up a tab that was already open. "...according to this page, Chicicheetah can transform into a cheetah."

"Well, I'm already a cheetah, so I got that part down pact. What else does it say?"

"It says here that he can also run at extreme speeds. But it seems like he can only do it on all fours."

"Oh...that might be a problem." Hunter was so used to walking around on two legs, that walking like how a normal cheetah would was sometimes a struggle for him. "But if it'll make this cosplay feel more authentic, then so be it."

"How would-a that be a problem?" Spyro watched as Hunter uncomfortably got down on all fours, with his front paws and knees on the floor. "I think you aren't supposed to have your knees like that, Hunter."

"Are you serious?" Letting out a groan, Hunter followed Spyro's word of advice as he had all four of his paws on the floor. And boy did he feel uncomfortable. "Why is being a cheetah so hard...?"

"Mario, open up!" Snake shouted from outside, as he banged on Mario's front door. "It's me, Snake." Mario would open the front door, seeing Snake and Hal standing on his doorstep.

"Howdy," Mario greeted Snake and Hal before his eyes were completely focused on the latter. The plumber had missed seeing Hal last week."Oh! Is that your friend, Snake?"

"Hello, Mario...I'm Hal Emmerich, Snake's closest friend!" Hal eagerly introduced himself to the plumber, as he gleefully shook his hand with a smile. "It's so nice to meet you!"

"Let me do the talking..." Snake said to Hal, pulling the hacker back out of the front door as he confronted Mario. "...have you seen a journal, Mario?"

"Uh, what-a journal?" Mario asked as he nervously twiddled with his fingers, and Snake could tell that the plumber was hiding something. The nervousness from Mario was clear as day.

"I had a journal that I was writing in. It's been missing since November, and Chie told me that you might've taken it by mistake. So where is it?"

"To be honest-a with you...I have absolutely no clue where-a the journal even is." Not the answer that Snake wished to hear, as the former spy's left eye was twitching mightily. Mario was really testing Snake's patience.

Mario: Seriously, I don't know the last-a time I saw that journal. When I asked E. Gadd about it after that party with-a the Wayfinder trio, he claimed-a that he didn't know where it was. Sounded very suspicious.

"Please don't make me have to strangle you in front of your wife and kid," Snake pleaded to Mario, as Hal looked past Mario and saw Hunter struggling to crawl like a proper cheetah. "Don't play dumb with me."

"What is wrong with him?" Hal asked Mario as he pointed at Hunter; Mario turned around and saw Hunter crawl through the living room on his paws, or at least trying to without breaking his back.

"Who knew that being a cheetah would be so hard?" questioned Hunter, before collapsing to the floor as he couldn't take it anymore. Hal stared inquisitively at the cheetah, before bringing his attention back to Mario.

"Ignore-a him - he's an embarrassment to his own-a species," Mario advised Hal, before bringing his attention back to Snake who was seconds away from strangling the plumber. "Sorry, Snake, but I haven't seen-a that journal since last month."

"You're just asking for this, buddy..." Snake scowled at Mario, getting his hands ready to choke out to plumber...but before he could put his hands on Mario's neck, Snake saw Peach armed with her frying pan.

"I wouldn't do that, if I were you," Peach warned Snake, smacking her frying pan in the palm of her hand. Snake had no other choice but to back off of Mario, lest risk suffering a concussion.

"We're coming for that journal..." Snake vowed to Mario, pointing at the plumber as he and Hal walked away. The former spy closed the front door, salty that Mario alleged to have no idea of the journal's whereabouts.

"Well, that went absolutely nowhere," Hal said to Snake, who saw Luigi standing outside his house; Luigi was still in hulk form and was flexing his triceps, which captured Snake's attention. "Are you even listening to me, Snake?"

"At this rate, I don't think you can go inside the house," Daisy said to Luigi, amazed that her husband was even able to leave the mansion without breaking anything. Or maybe Luigi did break something, but only in secret. "You're just too big!"

"Not a problem," replied Luigi, who was too bothered with his new and improved body to care about being inside his own house. It was time for the whole world to see the new him. "With these muscles, I can just build-a myself a new house!"

"Never thought I'd see the day you would be so buff," Snake said to Luigi, as he approached the green plumber; Hal had no choice but to follow after the former spy. "Even more buff than I am!"

"What can I say, it just happened like-a magic. Literally!" Luigi would show off his newfound strength to Snake, as he grabbed the former spy by the head and held him up in the air. "Look, I can pick you up like a twig!"

"Put me down, this is making me uncomfortable!" Granting Snake's wishes, Luigi gently placed the former spy back on his feet, and Snake sighed in relief. "You have no idea how much that hurt my reputation, letting a guy like you do me like that."

"Even with-a these muscles I got?" Luigi was flexing and posing for Snake, happy with how much the tables have turned compared to before. "Admit it, Snake - you just hate the new me!"

"Who's your friend?" Daisy asked Snake, as she saw Hal standing by; Hal was flashing his flashlight on and off, hoping that there would be some use for it.

"This is Hal Emmerich, also known as Otacon," Snake introduced Hal to Daisy, as he grabbed the hacker and brought over him to Daisy and Luigi. "You might have heard me say stuff about him in the past."

"And I take it that it's been mostly positive things?" Hal asked Snake, who kept his lips pursed as Hal was anxiously awaiting an answer. The silence from Snake caused Hal to give his hopes up.

"...eh, most of the time. Hal and I are looking for a journal, and that idiot Mario won't tell us where it is." As much as he didn't appreciate Snake calling Mario an idiot, Luigi also didn't appreciate his twin brother being so difficult with others.

"Is he supposed-a to know?" asked Luigi, wondering why Snake was so bothered with looking for a silly journal. Little did the plumber know that the journal contained some pretty valuable information.

"He was the last person to have it, so obviously he knows where it's at. Since he wants to be stubborn, we might have to convince him a little..."

"I see...and why are you looking at me like-a that?" Luigi noticed Snake looking at him with intent in his eyes, and it brought him much worry.

As requested by Master Hand, Isabelle went around the mansion to see if any resident was acting totally out of line with their costumes - or rather, the abilities that came with their costumes. The Shih Tzu, during her trek, came across Simon who was dressed up as Edward Elric.

"Is using alchemy immoral?" asked Simon, who was recently informed that his character was a powerful alchemist. It took the vampire hunter some time to get used to wearing the fake mechanical arm that came with the costume.

"I think you're asking the wrong person," replied Isabelle, before noticing the fellow standing next to Simon in some Alphonse Elric armor. "Richter, is that you under all that metal?"

"It's so hot in here..." Richter said from inside the armor, as he was likely sweating buckets. Richter was definitely one of the more unfortunate cosplayers. "...why didn't this armor come with a fan or something?!"

Anna: The Alphonse armor is made up of real metal. That being said, I'd be very surprised to see anyone try and walk around in that thing.

"That's your own fault," Simon said to Richter, not doing much to help out the fellow Belmont's plight. Poor Richter felt like he was having a heatstroke. "Should've come prepared."

"Like I'm supposed to know that this hunk of metal has no insulation..." grumbled Richter as he tried to march forward, only to fall face-first unto the floor with a loud thud. The vampire hunter yelped slightly in pain, struggling to get up.

"Hope you get a hang of that armor, Richter," Isabelle said to the vampire hunter, leaving him to fight his own battle as the Shih Tzu walked away from the Belmonts. Soon Isabelle came across Red the Pokemon Trainer, who had jumped right in front of her.

"Hey, Isabelle! Guess who I am?" asked Red, who was showing off some jeans, a short-sleeved vest, green fingerless gloves, and a baseball cap on his head. It was kinda obvious who Red was.

"You're a...Pokemon trainer?" guessed Isabelle, as Red smiled and nodded his head beckoning Isabelle to elaborate further. Isabelle was right on the money, oh so close to getting the name. "I'm having a blank, who is it?"

"Um, hello? Ash Ketchum? Best Pokemon trainer in the world?!" Red was hoping for Isabelle to recognize the attire and realize how foolish she was, but Isabelle was still staring blankly.

"Sure you don't mean Blue? Or Cynthia?" Hearing Isabelle mentioning Blue's name first almost triggered Red, as the Pokemon trainer wished that he could sucker punch the Shih Tzu in her face.

"Forget it..." Extremely disappointed with Isabelle, Red lowered his head and walked away, looking for anyone else that would appreciate his Ash Ketchum outfit. Soon Jacky Bryant came down the hallway, eager to speak with Isabelle.

"Check it out, Isabelle - I'm Trigun!" Jacky exclaimed to the Shih Tzu, as he was wearing a long red coat and some glasses. The racer took out two guns, wielding them in his hands. "I even got guns!"

"Vash the Stampede...his name is Vash the Stampede," Isabelle corrected Jacky - how is it that she recognized the Vash outfit, but not the Ash Ketchum one? Isabelle was totally backward.

"That's good and all, but I got guns!" Jacky was firing with both guns, and Isabelle was relieved to know that the guns had no ammo. Can't risk having an accidental shooting. "Guns blazing! WOOO!"

"At least you're excited about your cosplay attire. Well, enjoy the rest of your day!" Isabelle allowed Jacky to have his fun as Trigun...erm, Vash, as she moved on from the racer. Further down the hallway, Isabelle encountered Viridi.

"Have you seen Pit anywhere?" Viridi asked Isabelle, as she was on a search for the angel. It appeared that Pit had left the cafe again. "You know how much he likes to leave his job without giving us a warning."

"I am well aware..." Isabelle was asked upon many times to find Pit whenever he wandered out of the cafe, and she greatly despised going on such a mission each and every time. "...what's his excuse for leaving this time?"

"Beats me, but apparently the Death Note that came with Joker's outfit is also missing. Pit might've taken it with him. He just couldn't help himself..."

Since he was Sasuke Uchiha - and since he also had the Sharingan - Dark Pit had the freedom to steal anyone's power. He could steal Simon's alchemy or even the Quirk of anyone dressed up as a My Hero Academia superhero. Or supervillain. The possibilities were endless.

Keeping his eyes peeled, Dark Pit ventured into the lounge, where he saw Riku and Captain Falcon sitting together on a couch. Captain Falcon was wearing an All Might suit, although one part of his normal attire remained.

"If I recall, that All Might guy never wears a helmet," Riku informed Captain Falcon, who was meant to wear a wig that resembled All Might's hair. Captain Falcon just couldn't bring himself to do it.

"You can consider me a different breed of All Might," responded Captain Falcon, as Dark Pit sneaked up on the racer. Dark Pit would love nothing more than to possess the All For One quirk. "The one that actually cares about keeping his identity a secret, like Batman!"

"Don't try and change up the canon just to fit your narrative." Riku, staying in character as much as possible, drank out of a gallon of milk in true Gintoki fashion. Dark Pit drew closer to the couch, about to steal Captain Falcon's Quirk.

"You're all mine now..." the doppelganger said in a quiet tone...yet loud enough for Riku to hear. Riku turned around and saw Dark Pit, smacking him in the face with his milk carton.

"Keep your hands to yourself." Riku watched as Dark Pit took a few steps back, holding his nose in pain. Captain Falcon took sight of Dark Pit and instantly knew from the jump what the doppelganger wanted from him.

"You were trying to steal my Quirk, weren't you?" Captain Falcon smirked at Dark Pit, aware of the doppelganger's Sharingan ability. "I'll have you know, not everyone can be like All Might!"

"Too many wannabes these days..." remarked Riku, as he took another sip from his milk carton while Dark Pit writhed in pain. "...and it's all because of calcium deficiency."

Captain Falcon: You gotta admire Riku's character work, he's really committed to the character he's playing as. It's not often that you see him pick his nose, but these are the kind of days that you have to be thankful for. *pauses* Kinda weird thing to be thankful about...

His plan foiled by Riku, Dark Pit left the lounge as he was forced to search elsewhere. Upon exiting, the doppelganger saw Pit sitting on the floor next to the lounge entrance, writing something in a notebook of sorts.

"What's that you got there, a stupid diary?" Dark Pit asked as he snorted, wanting nothing more than to grab Pit's diary and rip it to shreds. Only if it meant reducing Pit to tears.

"Dark Pit, how do you spell Ryuji's last name?" Pit asked the doppelganger, who was completely dumbfounded by the question. "I keep misspelling his name."

"You've lived with Ryuji for a few years, and you're asking this now? Also, why do you wanna know so bad? Is he part of your stupid diary entry?"

"Diary? What diary? This is a Death Note I'm writing in. I'm trying to write down Ryuji's full name, so that way I can kill him off for good."

"That's gotta be the saddest thing I've ever heard..." Soon Pit heard a notification sound from his cellphone, and the angel took out his device to see that he had a text message.

"Oh snap! Ryuji just sent me a text, telling me to meet him outside in half an hour for our fight. How did he even get my phone number?!"

"You do realize that you gave him your contact info, right? I'm surprised that he even challenged you, of all people, to a fight."

"Thought he was joking about it at first, but it turns out he was dead serious. That's why I'm trying to write his name down in this Death Note so that way I can kill him and not worry about..."

"I think there's a better way to do this." Dark Pit placed his hand on Pit, causing the angel to stop his attempts at correctly writing Ryuji's last name. "You know there's another option..."

"You're gonna help me dodge this fight with Ryuji?" Pit was looking at Dark Pit with pleading eyes, wanting to do whatever was necessary to avoid ending up in a body bag. Not wanting to hurt Pit's feelings, Dark Pit sighed.

"...I could try and steal his power." That was great news for Pit, who grinned as he closed the Death Note - likely for now. "Why do I have to be the one to save your butt..."

Pit, Ryuji, and Captain Falcon weren't the only residents to have Quirks, thanks to their cosplay outfits. As Cloud was in the gaming room, keeping to himself, he looked to his right and saw Lucas phasing his head out from the wall.

"Sorry for disturbing you, Cloud," Lucas apologized to the swordsman, who let out a small, terrified scream as he jumped back. "But have you seen my hero costume anywhere?"

"Your hero costume?" Cloud asked Lucas, who completely phased out of the wall wearing no clothes on his body. Not even any underwear. But at least Lucas was modest enough to cover his privates with his hands.

"Yeah, I fell through the wall somehow and lost my costume in the process. I had dozed off for just one second, and now look at me..."

"Nice butt cheeks, Lucas!" Wario called out to the PSI whiz in a teasing manner, as he and a few others were laughing. Lucas felt embarrassed with his buttocks out in the open, his face turning beat red. "Clean like a baby's bottom!"

"Picked the wrong day to go nude!" wheezed Pigma, as Lucas wished he had a Quirk that would allow him to vanish away. Cloud got tired of Wario and company's teasing and was ready to put them in their place.

"Is this yours?" Aerith approached Lucas, holding up a small hero costume. Aerith, who was dressed up as Tohru Yonda of Fruits Basket, quickly caught the attention of Lucas. "Saw it lying around."

"My hero suit!" exclaimed Lucas, as he grabbed the costume from Aerith and quickly put it on. With Lucas fully clothed again, Wario and company were forced to subside with their laughing spree. "Thanks, Aerith."

"No problem." Aerith gave a warm smile to Lucas, who exited the gaming room in style as he phased through the wall...and left his hero suit behind in the process. Which made Cloud sigh.

"Guess some lessons aren't meant to be learned..." remarked Cloud as he picked up Lucas's hero suit, before handing it to Aerith. He wasn't in the mood for returning the suit himself.

The gaming room would receive a visitor from the tower, as Zero entered the room with a familiar face...Ventus, of the Wayfinder trio. Ventus was holding a gift in his hand - the same one that E. Gadd had given him and his friends a few episodes ago.

"This 'gift' doesn't really do much for me," Ventus explained to Zero, as Cloud and Aerith noticed the Keyblade wielder. "I had meant to return it sooner."

"I doubt that E. Gadd would want it back," commented Zero, curious as to what kind of present E. Gadd would even give to a trio of Keyblade pros. "Might as well give away, if I were you."

Dr. Wily: I knew it! I knew that the Wayfinder Trio weren't smart people. They accepted a Christmas gift from that lousy E. Gadd, for whatever reason, and now they're having receiver's remorse! Shame on them. Hope this will be a teachable moment for them.

"Ventus, welcome back," Cloud cordially greeted the Keyblade wielder, as he and Aerith walked over to greet him. "I see you got a Christmas present."

"Yeah, my friends and I weren't such big fans of it," Ventus admitted to Cloud, before offering the Christams gift to Cloud. Anything to get it off his hands. "You're free to have it if you want."

"What kind of gift is it?" Aerith asked Ventus, who didn't know how to respond as he bit his bottom lip. Zero was curious too, as Ventus had yet to tell him what was inside the box.

"It's...nothing special, I can tell you that much." Ventus was holding out the Christmas gift, waiting for Cloud to take it, but Cloud had no intention of accepting anything. Not after the description that Ventus had given.

"Nothing special, huh?" questioned Cloud, who was now skeptical of whatever Ventus was trying to give him. "You just want us to accept your trash."

"But it's not trash! It's just..." Ventus was becoming frustrated, groaning as he found himself stuck in a rock and a hard place. "...it's complicated."

"I can accept your trash," an eavesdropping Slippy approached Ventus while wearing a Tsuyu Asui frog suit. "Everyone loves giving me crappy gifts for Christmas. And on my birthday!"

"And for good reason..." Cloud muttered under his breath, before returning his attention to Ventus. He could tell that Ventus wanted to get rid of the gift with any chance possible. "...if you want to get rid of it to so bad, Ventus, Slippy's right here."

"Please give me your gift, I beg of you!" Slippy implored Ventus as he fell down to his knees, his hands clasped together. "A deflated football was the best thing that I got for Christmas..."

"How pathetic..." remarked Ventus, who was taking a lot of pity on Slippy - almost to the point where he eventually made up his mind. "...you know what, you can take it. Enjoy our belated Christmas gift."

"Yippee!" Slippy cheered as he snatched the Christmas present out of Ventus's hands, kissing it like how a winning tennis player would kiss a trophy. The frog's actions only made Ventus pity him even more.

"Let's let him have his moment," Zero suggested to Ventus, giving Slippy some space as he and Ventus walked away. Cloud and Aerith followed suit afterward, as Slippy held his Christmas present close to his chest.

"Oh man, wait until Fox and Falco get a load of this! It'll serve 'em right for giving me that deflated football." Easily the happiest frog on earth, Slippy scurried out of the gaming room, taking his gift with him.

Because of how heavy the Alphonse armor was, Richter found it challenging to even move around in the armored suit. If the vampire hunter couldn't make it to the end of a hallway without struggling, one can only imagine how he would fare going down a staircase.

"Why can't we just use the elevator?" Richter asked Simon, as the two Belmonts were at a stairwell. Simon had already started his trek down the stairs, while Richter was too reluctant to make his first step.

"Elevators are a known safety hazard, and are prone to crashing," replied Simon, who had a slight phobia of elevators - which he would never disclose to anyone, unless in private. "Also, you wouldn't be able to fit in with your armor."

"Some simple knight armor would've been nice..." Sucking up his pride, and getting over any fears that he had, Richter decided to brace himself and go down the stairs. The vampire hunter gently took his first step...

...but when he took his second step, that's when he slipped and fell. Richter crashed into Simon, as he tumbled down until he landed at the base of the stairs. Standing at the base of the stairs was Ryuji, who pointed and laughed at Richter.

"Ha! Sucks to be you!" the delinquent jeered at Richter, laughing to himself as he turned around and walked away. He would soon be approached by Dark Pit, who came up to him from behind.

"Stop it right there," Dark Pit shouted at Ryuji, who came to a stop as he looked at the doppelganger. "First off, I dig that Bakugo outfit, looks nice on you not gonna lie."

"All I can say is, it went to the rightful wearer," smirked Ryuji, appreciating Dark Pit for giving him some props - though he had a suspicion that the doppelganger was up to something. "Any reason as to why you're being so nice?"

"What, I can't you positive feedback? Wasn't like I wanted to steal your Quirk because, you know..." Dark Pit brought Ryuji's attention to his Sharingan eye, which had a power dying to be activated. Such a magnificent power couldn't be allowed to go to waste.

"Why do you wanna steal my Quirk?" Ryuji took a few steps back from Dark Pit, having a hunch for what the doppelganger was trying to pull. "I'm not giving you a thing!"

"I don't wanna steal your Quirk - I just wanna see you use it." Dark Pit still didn't seem trustworthy to Ryuji, who walked away from the doppelganger before making a run for it. Dark Pit chased after him.

"You can't have my Quirk, man - find your own!" Ryuji thought for sure that he could outrun Dark Pit, but then Dark Pit used his wings to catch up to the delinquent and bring him down.

"Now I'm gonna take your power!" Holding a strong grip on Ryuji, Dark Pit activated his Sharingan as he was about to steal Ryuji's Quirk. Ryuji looked on in fear as Dark Pit's Sharingan...basically did nothing. No power of any sort was taken from Ryuji.

"Done yet?" Ryuji asked Dark Pit, whose Sharingan eye was barely moving. That was a clear sign that the Sharingan wasn't yet activated.

"Give me a moment...my Sharingan must be acting faulty." Dark Pit sheepishly got off of Ryuji, saving himself some embarrassment as he retreated. Ryuji watched as Dark Pit left, standing up and dusting himself off.

Zelda: Something about Dark Pit's Sharingan that I found out about online - he can only steal ninja jutsu. No other special power. I seriously doubt that Dark Pit will be running into Cloud anytime soon...so yeah. Just wanted to share that.

It took him a while, but Roy soon discovered that his costume gave him some special powers. For instance, he could breathe out flames just like the character he was dressed up as, Natsu. And he wanted to show off his fire breath to Mario and Peach.

"Watch this..." Roy said to Mario and company in the living room, inhaling for a few seconds before releasing some fire from his mouth. "...I'm a firebreather just like you, Spyro! Might as well start calling me a dragon!"

"Stop being such a wannabe," Spyro said to Roy, and you know what Riku said earlier about wannabes - they only exist because of calcium deficiency.

"Oh yeah? Get a load of this!" Hunter told Roy as he got back down on all fours, making sure that his back paws were on the floor instead of his knees. The form he was in made him super uncomfortable, "This feels so unnatural...for me, that is."

"But you're a cheetah..." stated Roy, who was disturbed by how much Hunter was poking his butt out in the air because of the stance he was in. "...how is that so unnatural?"

"Bro, come-a outside!" Luigi called out to Mario from behind the front door, eager for his twin brother to see how he looked. "I'm a chiseled specimen now! See for yourself!"

"He starts-a using that ab machine for two weeks, and now he thinks he's-a Superman..." mumbled Mario as he went to go answer the front door...only to be surprised when he saw a giant, muscular behemoth of a man standing by. That behemoth was his own brother, Luigi.

"Hey, Mario!" Luigi looked down and waved to the plumber, who couldn't believe what he was seeing. Mario was being looked down at by Luigi - but only much more than usual. "Told-a you that I was chiseled."

"Mama mia..." Mario had to step outside so that he could get a better look at Luigi, and see all the muscles and abs his brother had. In a way, Mario almost felt pretty jealous.

"So who are you supposed-a to be? Some kind of Nazi army general? Seems tasteless, but that's probably just Master Hand playing tricks on-a you."

"How did-a you get so big? I mean, all I got was a military suit and some-a eyepatch, which does nothing for me. Meanwhile, Roy's in here breathing fire..."

"Cheetah powers, ACTIVATE!" shouted Hunter, as he was soon heard screaming like he was about to go Super Saiyan. One could make the argument that the cheetah sounded more like he was in excruciating pain.

"It happened so fast - Daisy and I were at the mansion, and then POOF!" Luigi explained to Mario, still in disbelief at how everything transpired. "This glow-up came out-a of nowhere."

"I can tell," remarked Mario, realizing that asking Luigi for bodybuilding tips was absolutely worthless. He always had time to use Luigi's ab machine, though. "If you weren't-a married, you'd be pulling in all the ladies!"

"Alright, do it!" a voice whispered to the green plumber, which Mario had picked up on. Mario looked around outside his front yard, wondering where the whispering voice came from.

"You heard-a that?" Mario asked Luigi, who proceeded to grab his twin brother by the head. Mario screamed as he was held in the air. "Luigi, put-a me down! You have no idea how bad this makes-a me feel."

"Sorry bro, but it's nothing personal," responded Luigi, as he took Mario away while holding the plumber's head with just his index finger and thumb. "This will be pain-a less, I promise you."

"What's gonna be painless? You have a lot-a of questions to answer, mister!" Luigi carried Mario away to an unknown location, and Mario felt helpless as he could do nothing to break himself free.

Seeing that no one at the mansion was acting out of line, Isabelle went next door to the tower to see how the tower denizens were handling themselves with their costumes. One such denizen, Takamura, was dressed up as Kotaro Katsura of Gintama - and he even had a long black wig to boot. He was in the hallway with Lakitu, who was holding a boombox...what the?

"Let's try that again," Takamaru said to Latiku, apparently wearing a hoodie and a baseball cap along with his outfit. Was the samurai seriously about to spit some bars? "Ready?"

"Yup!" replied Lakitu as he placed the boombox on the floor, double-checking to see if he had the right tape inside. Takamura was seriously about to spit some bars - and there was frankly nobody around to stop him.

Takamura: Riku seems to be embracing this cosplay thing more than anyone, by simply being in character. If I want to make the most out of today, then I'll have to follow Riku's steps. Thankfully, Lakitu showed me the way. *pauses* And the internet, too. Specifically YouTube.

Lakitu would press the play button on the boombox, and Takamura bobbed his head to the beat as he got in the groove. Takamura then took out a microphone, about to drop some rhymes:

If you're gonna do it, do it now. Zura
If you're gonna do it, do it now. Zura
Joi is Joy!
Joy is Joi
Now, the chorus!

"This song has a chorus?" Lakitu asked Takamaru, who had pointed at the bespectacled Koopa after spitting some flames on the mic. "But I can't even rap!"

"Whoever said that you were going to rap?" asked Takamaru, as Lakitu let out a small sigh of relief. "You were going to sing instead." In a matter of seconds, Lakitu was all panicky again.

"I can't sing either! If you wanted a feature so bad, then why didn't you ask anyone other than me?" Lakitu just wanted to play the track, darn it.

"Does it look like any of our friends know how to sing? Or rap? Or have any vocal talent? Deep down, everyone here is a talentless hack!"

"Who are you calling a talentless hack?" an offended Waluigi confronted Takamaru, showing off his Lupin attire a bit as he was ready to square up. "That is no way to talk about the most talented person in this building!"

"Didn't know today was opposite day," quipped Lakitu, as Waluigi was about to smack the Koopa in the face. But before he could, he saw Isabelle coming down the hallway.

"Hi boys!" Isabelle greeted Waluigi and company; Waluigi, having a reputation to keep up with, took his hand away from Laiktu and smiled sweetly at Isabelle. "Have there been any problems, with anyone using their costume?"

"No problems to be had!" assured Waluigi as he flashed the "OK" hand signal. Isabelle smiled and walked past the group, as Waluigi looked discreetly at Lakitu and shook his fist at him. "I'ma give you one of these later..."

"Isabelle, Waluigi wants to beat me up," Lakitu called out to the Shih Tzu, only for Waluigi to hastily cover the Koopa's mouth with his hands. Isabelle, barely even hearing Lakitu, kept on walking until she encountered Ashley, cosplaying as Nico Yazawa. That could only mean one thing...

"Come on Ashley, do the thing already!" Knuckles pleaded to the young witch, as he had his phone out and on camera mode. Ashley was glaring at Knuckles, holding in the urge to put a curse on the echidna.

"How many times do I have to tell you, I'm not doing it," stated Ashley, standing her ground as she refused to act cute for Knuckles. Let alone at all. It wasn't in her nature.

"Just this once! Do it this one time, and I'll never ask you again. It'll be our own little secret." Taking Knuckles' word for it, Ashley heaved a heavy sigh as she turned around. Knuckles pressed the record button, as Ashley did the unthinkable...

"Nico-Nico-Ni!" Ashley turned around and smiled - with perhaps the most forced smile known to man - as she acted all cutesy for Knuckles. "I'll nico nii your heart! I'm Yazawa Nico-Nico, and I'll put a smile in your heart! Remember, I'm Nico-Ni, and I love-Nico you!"

"...and that's a wrap!" Knuckles ended the recording, happy that Ashley came through with her cute idol impersonation. "Thanks, Ashley, I appreciate it."

"Good, now I hope that you delete that footage forever." Ashley was hoping that Knuckles was deleting the footage already, based on how much he was tapping away on his phone. "You won't share it on social media, are you?"

"As I said, this video will be our own little secret. I'll watch it every once in a while for my own personal amusement, and leave it at that."

Knuckles: Who is she trying to kid? Of course, I'm gonna share that bad boy on social media! I'd be an idiot not to.

"What a nice rendition, Ashley!" Isabelle applauded the young witch, who blushed profusely as she looked down at the video. So much for that impersonation being only a secret. "Aw, cheer up! I won't tell anyone."

"I hope you won't," Ashley said to Isabelle as she glared at Knuckles, who was still tapping away on his cell phone. Doing a whole lot more than supposedly deleting a video.

Pleased that everything at the tower was pretty tranquil, Isabelle hummed a happy tune as she went down the hallway, before stopping abruptly. Why did she stop, you ask? Because Mario was calling her, and that usually meant serious business.

"Yes?" Isabelle answered the phone, readily available for whatever Mario was about to ask of her. "Any troubles at home, Mario?"

"No, Isabelle...I'm having some-a trouble outside," replied Mario, who sounded like he was in a precarious situation. Which he honestly was. "I think Luigi is about-a to beat me up."

Luigi stood by himself in the mansion's backyard, still holding Mario by his head. The green plumber was wielding the ax that came with his Escanor costume and was waiting for a signal of sorts.

"He said-a that he'd be here soon..." said Luigi, starting to lose his patience as Mario was finishing up his phone call with Isabelle. "...what's keeping him?"

"Sorry for the wait," Snake apologized to Luigi as he and Hal showed up, just as Mario ended his phone call and put his phone away. "Had to take care of some business, if you know what I mean."

"Asked him twice to use a toilet, but he just wouldn't listen..." stated Hal, as Mario grew suspicious when he saw the hacker and Snake side by side.

"What is this all about? Is it about-a that journal?" Mario asked Snake, with a frown on his face; It was slowly coming together for the plumber.

"Gotta hand it to ya, Mario - you're smarter than you look," replied Snake, delighted to know that he and Mario were both on the same page. "Only asking you one thing - tell me where that journal is, and nobody gets hurt."

"Did you not hear-a me the first time? I don't know where-a that journal even is! It's gone missing." Mario was pushing Snake's buttons yet again, which meant that he was gonna get whatever was coming to him.

"You asked for it...Luigi, give your brother the business." Getting beat up by Luigi was nothing for Mario to worry about, but buff Luigi? Luigi could easily ragdoll Mario with ease.

"You wouldn't do this, would-a you Luigi?" Mario looked at Luigi with brotherly love in his eyes, knowing that Luigi would think twice about going through on Snake's command. Along with pain, disappointment was also coming Mario's way.

"Please forgive-a me, bro," Luigi said to Mario, who felt betrayed; there was nothing that could possibly save Mario now. "Snake and I made a deal."

Luigi: I was against-a the idea of pummeling Mario at first, but Snake promised-a me big bucks if I agreed to do it. You could-a say that I'm gullible, but this isn't one-a of those times. It's called shrewd-a decision-making.

Snake: There are no "big bucks", I tricked Luigi into doing my bidding. Played him like a violin. I'd much rather let someone else get their hands a little dirty than my own.

The beatdown commenced, as Luigi tossed Mario onto the ground like it was nothing. Luigi then took out his ax, holding it high up in the air.

"No, Luigi, wait!" Mario called out to his brother, who was about to come down with his ax. It could've ended very poorly for Mario, and then some. "Can I have a mercy rule, if some kind?"

"Is there a mercy rule?" Luigi asked Snake and Hal, as Snake shook his head no, finding the question totally asinine. "No can do, bro. You'll just have to take-a this beating like a man."

"Might wanna give them some space..." Snake advised Hal, as he and his friend backed away from the Mario Bros so that Luigi could do this thing. "...this one could get ugly."

While Luigi was about to lay the smackdown on Mario, another one-sided fight was about to take place - Pit vs Ryuji. Pit refused to face Ryuji unless he knew for certain that Dark Pit stole the delinquent's Quirk.

"I couldn't steal his Quirk," Dark Pit spoke with Pit in the foyer, as Ryuji was likely outside in the front waiting for Pit's arrival. "My Sharingan wasn't working."

"Is it too late for an impromptu eye exam?" Pit asked with a wry smile, as Dark Pit gave the angel a blank stare. "That was such a stupid question..."

"I'll say. I know you're not gonna like this, Pit but you're gonna have to go about this alone." Accepting the fate he was bound to receive, Pit nodded his head.

"Figured as much. But before I let you go..." Pit pulled out the Death Note and ink pen, which Dark Pit had anticipated. "...can you show me how to spell Ryuji's last name properly?"

Ryuji stood outside the mansion, waiting for Pit to come down the porch steps. He wouldn't have to wait much longer, as his opponent had just exited the mansion, standing on the porch.

"About time you showed up!" Ryuji called out to Pit, smirking and flexing his fingers as he got himself in a fighting mood. "Ready for your butt-kicking of a lifetime?"

"I think that it is I who will be having the last laugh," replied Pit as he came down the porch steps, while Ryuji looked on confused. Ryuji could tell that Pit looked ready to cheat - and by no means would he allow that to happen.

"Hey, hey, how about we lay out some rules first? No cheating! Just our..." Ryuji would stop speaking, as Pit pulled out the Death Note. Ryuji recognized the cover of the book right away. "...is that a Death Note?"

"You're absolutely right! And with this Death Note, I can write your name down and kill you instantly...but only on one condition."

"First of all, death isn't instant - I think the person has like forty seconds until they die or something." Forty seconds is still kind of instant, Ryuji. "Also, you really think that stupid book is gonna work?"

"Why not? If it means avoiding a fight with you, then so be it! Now, prepare to die." Pit had his ink pen ready to go, as he furiously wrote down Ryuji's full name in the Death Note. The angel then waited forty seconds, as he waited for the Death Note to do its thing.

The forty seconds had passed, and Ryuji had yet to drop dead to the ground. Pit looked at the Death Note, double-checking to see if Ryuji's last name was spelled correctly.

"Is this the correct spelling of your last name?" Pit asked Ryuji as he showed the delinquent his full name written in the Death Note. Ryuji could tell that something was off.

"You dolt...my last name has a 'k' in it!" Ryuji stated with a frown, as Pit saw that Ryuji's last name was spelled as "Sacamoto" instead of "Sakamoto". "But I can't say that I'm not surprised..."

Dark Pit: I couldn't bring myself to tell Pit the right way of spelling Ryuji's last name. Didn't want to take any chances, you know? Also, imagine dying at the hands of Pit. That would be such an embarrassing way to go out, so I did Ryuji a huge favor.

"Thanks for the heads up," Pit thanked Ryuji, as he wrote down the delinquent's full name but this time spelling Sakamoto correctly. Pit then waited forty seconds for Ryuji to die...but Ryuji had lived past the time duration.

"Sooooo...am I gonna die or what?" asked Ryuji, who had yet to suffer from some kind of cardiac arrest or anything else of the sort. Pit had finally spelled Ryuji's last name correctly, so what gives?

"Maybe writing down the cause of death under your name will help speed up the process," assumed Pit, biting on his ink pen as his brain juices were flowing. "Is there any way that you wish to go out, Ryuji?"

"You know what...this isn't worth wasting my time and energy." Ryuji had enough of Pit at this point, as the delinquent walked past Dark Pit and went back inside the mansion. "I'm calling off the fight. Consider yourself lucky."

"I know! Death from getting eaten alive! That sounds painless." Pit saw that Ryuji had gone back inside the mansion, as he chased after the delinquent. "Ryuji, wait - what kind of animal do you want to devour you?"

Isabelle had returned to the mansion from the tower, informing Master Hand, Link, and Zelda that Mario was in trouble. The Shih Tzu took the three outside to the backyard, which was where Mario was.

"Mario said that Luigi took him to the backyard..." stated Isabelle, as Luigi was the only plumber that she saw outside. Luigi was striking the ground with his ax, creating a giant dust cloud in the process.

"Are you mining for gems?" Link called out to Luigi, who continued to strike the ground until he stopped his barrage. Luigi looked over at Link, as he wiped away the sweat from his forehead.

"No, just trying to beat-a up Mario," answered Luigi, as the giant dust cloud cleared...revealing Mario to be in one piece. Mario was lying on the ground without a scratch, as he had his eyes closed.

"Hm?" the plumber perked up as he opened his eyes, seeing that Luigi had yet to get a single lick on him. More damage was done to the ground than him. "I'm okay? I'm-a okay!"

Link: How sad...even in his buff form, Luigi still can't fight. That Escanor costume was really wasted on the wrong person.

"Luigi you bozo, you didn't even get him once!" Snake frowned at the green plumber, as he and Hal emerged from the shrubbery they were hiding behind. While also garnering the attention of Master Hand and the others in the process.

"Snake?!" Master Hand uttered the name of the former spy, and Snake could tell that Master Hand was very ticked off with him.

"Hurry, Hal, let's scram!" Trying to avoid Master Hand's wrath, Snake skedaddled away as he ran to the mansion. Hal, however, chose to stay behind.

"I have-a you now, bro..." Luigi said to Mario, willing to finish the job even with Snake vamoosing because of Master Hand. The green plumber held up his ax, as Mario turned his head away fearing for the worst.

"Mario, quickly!" shouted Hal, taking out his flashlight as he turned it on. He shone the bright light in Luigi's eyes, causing Luigi to wince and drop his ax to the ground in the process. "Run while you still can!"

"Cheetah powers, to the rescue!" shouted Hunter, as he came running to the backyard - impressively on all four of his paws. The cheetah leaped towards Luigi, latching unto the green plumber and gnawing away at him.

"Get...off...of me!" Luigi shouted at Hunter, as he tried to shake off the cheetah but to no avail. Not wanting to be outdone by Hunter, Roy joined the fray.

"Hold him still!" Roy shouted at Hunter, who had Luigi standing in place; Roy readied himself before he blew a giant fireball at Luigi and nailed him in the face.

"Mama mia! My hair's-a on fire!" Luigi's hair had caught on fire, and Luigi was desperately trying to pat it out. Hard to do that with a cheetah on you.

"Well, that sure escalated quickly," Zelda said to Link, as both Roy and Hunter were manhandling Luigi. "Where do you think Snake ran off to?"

Snake had gone inside the mansion, believing that Master Hand and the others were hot on his tail. The former spy eventually came to a stop when he saw that Master Hand was nowhere to be found.

"I think we lost them," Snake told Hal - only to soon find out that Hal wasn't present. Snake looked around the hallway frantically, fearing that he might've left his friend behind. "Hal? Don't tell me that you went missing..."

"You were saying something, Snake?" Lucas asked the former spy, as he phased out from the wall. The PSI whiz appeared naked to Snake, who screamed and jumped back out of fright.

"Lucas! Cover up, will you?" Snake backed away from the naked Lucas, before backing up into the last person that he wanted to see...the Luminary.

"You appear lost..." the Luminary said to Snake, who jumped back from the mage. "...need some help getting somewhere?" Snake had nowhere to go, for Lucas was right behind him.

"Have you seen my suit anywhere?" Lucas asked Snake, with his hands over his privates. His butt was exposed, though, so the deed was only half-done. "For some reason, I keep losing it..."

"You were able to phase through that wall, right?" Snake asked Lucas, who nodded his head as he wondered what that had to do with his suit being missing. "Can you show me how it's done?"

"I guess I could." So Snake took Lucas's hand, holding it real tight and giving it a good squeeze. "Here it goes..." Lucas would demonstrate his Quirk as he phased through the wall, and Snake expected to phase through the wall with him.

But much to the former spy's chagrin, he was left behind as his body did not go through the wall at all. Snake had tried to escape, but his attempt failed as he was left alone with the Luminary.

"Thought you could get away from me that easily?" the Luminary asked Snake, who feared what the mage would do to him. Especially if the Luminary had unlocked his Android 17 powers. "Fat chance..."

"Better leave me alone, kid..." Snake snarled at the Luminary, as he ran down the hallway from the mage. The Luminary watched as Snake left, knowing that his business with the former spy was far from done.

Unable to find Pit anywhere, Viridi had returned to her job at the cafe, hoping for her boyfriend to return sometime soon. Meanwhile, the goddess of nature was forced to entertain the company of Slippy, who had received a Christmas present from Ventus.

"I see you haven't unwrapped your gift yet," Joker said to Slippy, who was seated at the counter with his present in his hands. Slippy was dying to unwrap his present, but only on one condition.

"I'm still waiting on Fox and Falco," stated Slippy; he could've just shown his present to Peppy, but maybe Peppy wasn't that important. "They're supposed to be back today."

Itsuki: Fox and Falco both flew out of town two days ago, to attend what they called an "important business meeting" in Tokyo. Somehow I wasn't invited to this so-called meeting, so I can only assume that those two went on a secret vacation and were too afraid to tell anyone about it.

"What up, party people!" exclaimed Falco, as he and Fox entered Cafe Leblanc through the now fixed cafe entrance. That Mr. Game and Watch was one heck of a miracle worker. "Guess who's back?"

"Fox! Falco! You're back!" exclaimed Slippy, leaping out of his chair and giving both pilots a big hug. Really shows how much he missed those two.

"Chill out, Slippy, we've been gone for like two days," Fox said to the frog, before noticing the Christmas present that he had in his possession. "Somebody gave you a gift?"

"It was Ventus - he didn't like it, so he gave it to me. Isn't that nice of him? I bet it's a better gift than that stupid deflated football you gave me."

"That deflated football was meant to be a joke gift - you were the one who took it seriously." Now that he had Fox and Falco's attention, Slippy unwrapped his gift, which was revealed to be...a journal?

"No way! My own personal journal, finally!" Slippy was going gaga over the journal, gleaming at it like it was a briefcase full of money. Fox and Falco exchanged weird looks with one another, as Slippy opened the journal up and gasped. "There's even stuff already inside, too!"

"...and that makes it a good thing?" questioned Falco, as Slippy was flipping through the pages like a madman. "I think Ventus might've goofed up."

"Let me see that journal," Fox requested to Slippy, who handed the journal to the pilot so he could take a look for himself. "Sheesh, this handwriting is horrific! Even worse than yours, Slippy."

"I'll take what I can get," Slippy shrugged his shoulders, as Pit returned to the cafe. Joker and the baristas were looking at Pit like he was a ghost.

"Pit? You're alive?!" asked Kirby, who saw not a single scratch on Pit's body. The pink puffball was blinking his eyes twice in disbelief. "I mean..."

"Yeah, I'm alive!" replied Pit, taking out the Death Note and placing it on the counter. "Ryuji called off the fight; he punked out at the last minute."

"I find that seriously hard to believe," remarked Joker as he picked up the Death Note and looked through the pages, only to see Ryuji's name written down. - at the bottom of a page, with several names scratched out above. "You didn't...outright kill Ryuji, did you Pit?"

"Well, I could've, if that Death Note actually worked." Hearing that made Joker sigh in relief - on more than one account. "So Ryuji got off easy, I'll say."

"So that means the Death Note was merely a prop this whole time." Joker looked up at Slippy and saw the frog embracing his journal. "That's reassuring."

Speaking of the journal...what if it was the same journal that Snake and Hal were looking for?

Feeling bad about what he did to Mario, Luigi stopped by his brother's home to make an apology. He knocked on the front door, and Mario answered.

"Hey, bro...sorry about trying to beat-a you up earlier," Luigi apologized to Mario, showing some remorse over his actions. "Snake made me do it."

"It's all good-a Luigi - Hal told-a me everything," responded Mario, as Luigi suddenly felt better about himself; Hal took a lot of weight off his shoulders. "Apologized-a for how Snake was acting. Also, I'd actually be angry with-a you if you hit me with that ax."

"Yeah, even with-a this strength, my aim still isn't the best..." Luigi was chuckling sheepishly, rubbing his fingers through his slightly burnt hair. "...guess some-a things never change."

Luigi: I was promised-a big bucks, and all I was left-a with was goose eggs. I feel played.

"What in the world is that?" Riku was heard asking someone, accruing the attention of Mario and Luigi. Mario stepped out of his house and followed Luigi to the front of the mansion, where they saw Riku speaking with a returning Sonic.

"What does it look like, it's my anime hair!" frowned Sonic, who was wearing a spiky anime wig on his head. "Spiky hair is mandatory for a lot of anime dudes, you know."

"Okay...and what's with the bathrobe? About to go showering or something?" As for his attire, Sonic was wearing a purple bathrobe, which didn't mesh well with his anime wig.

"My character is supposed to be that of a sage. Personally, I wanted a more authentic robe, but I had to settle for this one..."

Rayman: Sonic was at Crash's place, looking for some stuff so that he could create "the ultimate anime character". Along the way, he stopped by my house and saw my bathrobe. I don't think he ever asked for permission to use it.

"For the record, this character I'm playing as is totally original," Sonic explained to Riku as if the silverette didn't know already. "Can't think of a name, though. Got any suggestions?"

"Everyone wants to be a wannabe these days..." sighed Riku, as he went back inside the mansion. Seeing that Riku was no help at all, Sonic saw Mario and Luigi standing nearby.

"Woah, Mario! Nice eyepatch. I would ask if you were some kind of pirate captain, but that military suit you got in clearly says otherwise."

"I'm actually King-a Bradley, of Fullmetal Alchemist," explained Mario, as he lifted up his eyepatch. "He goes by the title of 'Fuhrer'." The moment that Mario said the word "fuhrer", Sonic lost all interest in the King Bradley costume immediately.

"So I guess that makes you a Nazi, huh? Gross..." Disgusted with the costume that Mario was wearing, Sonic frowned as he headed inside the mansion.

"King Bradley isn't a Nazi!" Mario tried to inform Sonic, who had already gone inside the mansion. Mario groaned, before looking up at Luigi and asked, "Is it too late to switch-a our costumes?"

"If my shirt hadn't ripped-a into pieces, then I would've entertained the idea," replied Luigi, who had no idea where the remnants of his tuxedo shirt were. "Even then, I still wouldn't go through with-a the exchange."

"Forget-a you, Luigi..." Mario was in an angry mood, as he stormed back to his house. If it meant the plumber feel any better, his time as a "Nazi" was only a one-day affair.