Author's Note:
This chapter features characters 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim. As a disclaimer...there aren't any giant robots or monsters duking it out, or anything of the sort. It's a relatively straightforward chapter, as I went out of my way to avoid as many spoilers as possible. Admittedly, it was hard to do - a few scenes I had in mind were ultimately scrapped. Fortunately, answering reviews isn't as hard...most of the time.
"Did everyone else in the theater got kicked out like other movie-goers, the whole theatre or just Sonic's group?"
Just Sonic's group. Derick Lindsey is back, let's see what he has to say:
"...since Sonic 2 is now released what did you think of it?"
Haven't seen it, but after reading the reviews...I might have to get around to seeing it. Never saw the first one, but I don't think that would matter as much. Moving on:
"Also apparently the director of the Sonic 2 movie has some interest in making a Smash Bros movie in the future if true what are your thoughts on that and what would you think or like it to be based on?"
If there were to be a Smash Bros film, they would have to build it up originally as Marvel did with the original Avenger films. Give each major Nintendo star their own standalone film so that the general populace will take interest in them over time and get hyped for the eventual team-up shindig. Moving on:
"Finally whenever Eggman does his Dr. Drip thing do you picture Seth Rollins's current theme playing in your head cause I do."
Haha, you and me both, my man! Such a rocking theme song. Speaking of which, Seth Rollins's current gimmick was unironically an inspiration for Eggman's Dr. Drip persona. And I gotta say, Seth Rollins is killing it right now. David's got questions:
"Are the Persona characters gonna hate on Sonic forever? Is Corrin gonna go through a Ninja Turtles phase when the game collection comes out? (Maybe have him drag Kamui, Pit, and Viridi along with it)? A reference to the Sonic IDW comic? (Since an Archie Sonic comic nod was made). Has Bowser ever done any Miz impressions? (Call me slow for asking). And finally, do you think AEW is making bad business decisions by having their talent job to former WWE and Ring of Honor talent? (Max Caster recently jobbed to an injury prone Samoa Joe)."
Nah. Corrin won't go through any Ninja Turtles phase. I can do a Sonic IDW comic reference. No Miz impressions from Bowser yet. And I do think it's a bad look for AEW to have their "homegrown" talent job to former WWE and ROH stars. Dudes like Samoa Joe should be putting over the young talent, not beating them in matches. A JRPG enjoyer has questions about the Kingdom Hearts' 20th Anniversary announcement:
"1. What do you think of that announcement? It looks really good.
2. Due to the..."circumstances" on that video, is it safe to say that you won't be following the KH canon for Sora's appearance in Smash Life? Since the Sora in Smash Life is from the first Kingdom Hearts.
3. Do you think there's a likelihood that the cast from TWEWY (& NEO: TWEWY) will make an appearance in KH4? I mean...it would fit the narrative of those two games."
1. I loved it all over. Wouldn't say that I had any expectations going on, but I liked what I saw.
2. Given that Sora in KH4 is in the afterlife, a la Quadratum...yeah, I won't be doing any KH canon in this story.
3. If we don't see any TWEWY characters in KH4, then I'll be very surprised. The setting of Quandratum straight up looks like something out of TWEWY, for crying out loud!
And would you look that that...more questions from A JRPG Enjoyer! These concerning the Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes trailer:
4. Let's get straight to the point. What do you think of the trailer? To be honest, I'm shocked. Seeing Byleth as the antagonist, that was really weird. Hope it's just a fakeout. But at least we actually got Monica as a playable character.
5. What's your opinion on Shez, the player characters of Three Hopes? I think they looked fine. Hot take, they looked better than Rowan and Lianna from the first Warriors game.
6. Will the Garreg Mach students (Edelgard, Dimitri, and Claude) be wearing their Three Hopes outfit if they showed up in the episode?
7. And do you think we'll got more character showing up with new outfits in the game? So far we got Hubert, Dedue, Hilda, Lorenz, and Mercedes showing up.
4. It was a very exciting trailer. Also hoping that Byleth as the antagonist is a fakeout. Could be a cover for the true final boss...
5. They look unique, I'll give them that. The purple hair kinda makes them stand out more.
6. Edelgard, Dimitri, and Claude will indeed be wearing their Three Hopes outfits.
7. Hubert, Dedue, Hilda, Lorenz, and Mercedes...all of them will be wearing their new outfits, too. (Holding out hope that Lorenz has a new haircut.)
Episode 330: Thirteen
Last week was the premiere of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 - and the film did fairly well (for a video game movie, that is). Since the movie was made in his likeness, Sonic went ahead and watched it at a movie theater. It was a mostly forgettable experience, thanks in part to Amy.
"Watching Sonic 2 "legally" wasn't Sonic's original intention, apparently. He wanted to watch a bootlegged version from the movie, with a copy he received from a totally-not-shady man he encountered in a back alley. He and the boys were to watch this bootlegged movie in the movie theater of Mini Mementos...which was closed for construction. Or so Sonic was told.
Sonic desired to have a movie experience at Mini Mementos's movie theater, so he stopped by the mansion's underground hideout spot to see if it was available. When he arrived at the entrance, he saw Elizabeth and Margaret.
"Sup sisters?" Sonic greeted Elizabeth and Marget, who were both glossing through a book when Sonic caught their attention. "Let me just say, you are so much nicer than those nasty twin sisters of yours."
"It pays to be rice," smiled Elizabeth, before realizing that she somehow botched the phrase. It was a thing that she was very prone to doing. "I mean, it slays to be nice!"
"We need to get you a dictionary..." Marget said to Elizabeth, finding her sister's grasp of the English language to be a bit embarrassing. "...what is it that you want, Sonic?"
"I see that Mini Mementos is still under construction," replied Sonic, as he pointed at the sign that was still above the Mini Mementos entrance. Every day Sonic stopped by, the sign was still there. "So when will it be open again?"
"Um...let us speak with Yu for a minute," replied Elizabeth, as she and Margaret went inside Mini Mementos. They returned a few moments later with Yu, who was honestly expecting Sonic's arrival.
"Well, if it isn't the man who shared our secret with everyone..." Yu greeted Sonic, who in his mind believed that he didn't do anything wrong. He was only seeking revenge. "...you miss being in Mini Mementos?"
"You bet!" replied Sonic, feeling the sudden urge to take out a chili dog and take a bit out of it. "Still don't care for those hot springs, but everything else is pretty legit."
Yu: I've got something special in mind for Sonic today. Let's just say that it's our own special way of getting back at him. Caroline and Justine picked it out themselves. *smiles*
"You have any idea what your mass text did?" Yu asked Sonic as he knelt down at the blue hedgehog, looking at him in the eye as he was sounding serious. "The others flocked Mini Mementos like they owned the place."
"You say 'others' like they're some alien race," said Sonic, not appreciating how close Yu was to him. It was almost making him feel guilty. "What is this, a lost episode of Lost? Hehe...get it?"
"Mini Mementos was meant to be our own little secret, for us Persona folk. Has been that way for almost three years. And you just had to pull the cat right out of the bag..."
"Don't blame me - blame those awful warden twins." Sonic was about to take another bite out of his chili dog...but then Yu slapped the chili dog out of Sonic's hand and unto the floor, as Elizabeth and Margeret both gasped. That let Sonic know that Yu meant business.
"You ruined Mini Mementos for us with what you did, Sonic..." Yu stood back up, as he was looking at the now intimidated Sonic with heavy contempt. "...and we're gonna make sure that you suffer the consequences!"
"Watcha gonna do? Gonna make the Phantom Thieves 'steal' my heart or something? Ha!" Sonic would find out what his fate would be, as Yu whistled into his fingers. Sonic turned around and saw Caroline and Justine show up.
"Is it time to take away the prisoner?" Justine asked Yu, smacking her nightstick in the palm of her hand. She had been waiting to punish Sonic for weeks.
"H-How did they get here so fast...?" Sonic nervously Yu as he pointed at the warden twins, who came over to the blue hedgehog. Each one grabbed Sonic's arm and held it tightly.
"Alright, twins, you know what to do - take him away!" So Caroline and Justine dragged Sonic away, dragging him through the tunnel. The fact that they were handling his punishment made Sonic all the more afraid.
"No, Yu, you can't do this! Let's talk this out, man!" As Sonic was dragged away, he saw Yu smirking to himself; Elizabeth and Margaret were smiling as well, but only neutrally.
"Shut up, you blue furball!" Caroline shouted at Sonic, and soon the warden twins were out of sight as they took Sonic with them. Not even Sonic's cry for help was enough to wipe the smirk off of Yu's face.
"Oddly enough, that felt...good," remarked Yu, his smirk slowly fading away as he turned to Elizabeth and Margaret with a friendly offer to make. "...you two ladies care for some Moscow mule? This calls for a minor celebration."
The warden twins brought Sonic outside to the front of the mansion, where his punishment was to take place. Positioned several feet away from Anna's shop stand was a pillory, which was made out of wood.
"Is that what I think it is?" a now handcuffed Sonic asked Caroline and Justine, who brought him closer to the pillory which was already open. "What is this, the Middle Ages?"
"It's close enough," replied Caroline as she and Justine brought Sonic to the pillory, positioning the hedgehog in front of the wood contraption. "Now stick your head in, prisoner!"
"Yeah, as if! Like I'm willingly gonna go through this." Since Sonic wanted to act defiant, Caroline and Justine both wrangled with the blue hedgehog before Caroline stuck his head in. As Caroline held Sonic down, Justine took off the handcuffs and placed Sonic's hand in the holes, before closing the pillory.
"There ya go!" squealed Justine, as Sonic was now locked in the pillory with absolutely no means for escape. He was stuck like this for pretty much the entire day...or maybe even longer!
"C'mon girls, this isn't right...I can't even use my cellphone!" Soon Sonic heard his phone ring and it came with an unflattering ringtone that made both Caroline and Justine giggle. "WHY DID I LET AMY CHANGE MY RINGTONE?!"
"We didn't know that you were into k-pop," Caroline giggled at Sonic, who blushed as he was feeling embarrassed - and in front of the warden twins, no less.
Shulk: Life can sometimes be hard when your girlfriend is super into k-pop. Sonic laughed at me when I shared that sentiment with him, but ever since Amy bothered with his phone he's currently living the nightmare. We can share each other's agony!
"Hope you enjoy our punishment!" Justine said to Sonic, as she and her twin sister went back inside the mansion. Sonic's unflattering ringtone played for a few more seconds, before finally ending.
"Sure hope that wasn't Amy calling me," said Sonic, for he was dreading an angry voicemail from his Amy - followed by some angry text messages. "At least there was no one else around to hear that..."
"Aw man, they got you locked in, huh?" Falco asked Sonic, as he and Fox were coming from the idol singer's house. Just what Sonic needed but also didn't want either...some company. "Sucks to be you!"
"Good to know that you're into the k-pop fad," Fox said sarcastically to Sonic, who felt extremely crushed assuming that Fox thought less of him as a man. "Hitching on the bandwagon? Or did Amy teach you well?"
"If by 'teach' you mean 'annoy', then yes, yes she did," replied Sonic, as the pilots joined him at the pillory; Falco rubbed the wood to see if it was legit. "Why don't you help a brother out, and free me?"
"And get beat up by those twins in return? No thanks." Fox didn't mind a beatdown from the buddy cops, but the warden twins scared him more. "We're not here to solve your problems."
"I would ask how you ended up like this, but I'll just assume that you were acting a fool as always," Falco said to Sonic, before feeling the urge to take out his phone and snap a picture of Sonic in his current predicament. Which he did, much to Sonic's chagrin.
"Like you're the one to talk..." muttered Sonic, as Jigglypuff soon came over and saw Sonic in the pillory. The balloon Pokemon smiled as she took out her trusty black marker.
"Jigglypuff Jigglypuff!" exclaimed Jiggllypuff as she climbed up unto the pillory; Sonic was looking on, fearing for the worst as Fox and Falco tried to hold in their laughter.
"No, Jigglypuff...don't you do it!" But it was too late, as Jigglypuff got closer to Sonic and started drawing on the blue hedgehog's face. Unable to hold it in much longer, Fox and Falco burst out laughing as Sonic felt even more humiliated.
"She's turning you into a Picasso masterpiece!" Fox wheezed at Sonic, whose face was roughly ninety-five percent covered with black marker. Jigglypuff hopped down from the pillory, as Sonic sighed.
"Falco, if you take another picture..." Sonic tried to warn Falco, only for Falco to take another photo of the blue hedgehog. The hits just keep on coming. "...once I get out of this thing, you'll be sorry!"
"Keep telling yourself that, bud," Falco said to Sonic, saving the image to his phone as he and Fox went back inside the mansion. It was bound to be an exceedingly boring day for our speedy prisoner.
The Ice Climbers Popo and Nana (but mostly Popo) were always happy to share their talents with others, and they were happy to let the tower have many of their wonderful ice cream creations. One such creation was an ice cream bar, which Dr. Wily was nibbling on as he walked to his room.
"Ice cream bar, you certainly are no Klondike but I would do just about anything for you!" Wily said to his ice cream bar, finishing it off and then proceeding to lick off his fingers. Lakitu, Takamaru, and Elec Man would pass by, and all were quietly deep in conversation.
"Really? So he got out of Subspace thanks to a rift in time and space?" Takamaru asked Elec Man as the trio of tower denizens walked past Wily...who froze as he paid an attentive ear.
"That's what I heard from Link and Zelda," replied Elec Man, as Wily slowly turned his head back at the Robot Master that he and Dr. Light created. "Apparently, Cloud was responsible somehow."
"Cloud's Aerith Revival Project had unforeseen repercussions?" questioned Wily, a wave of vindication washing over him as he smiled big. "Ha! Knew that building the time machine was a mistake!"
The robot inventor started dancing, doing some dance moves that were...erm, questionable at best, and that was lightly putting it. But at least he had a little rhythm to him. Wily's dance moves caught the attention of Elec Man and company, who were all disturbed.
"He's creeping me out, man...let's go," Lakitu said quietly to Elec Man and Takamaru before the three denizens retreated down the hallway. Talk about an unwelcome sight they won't forget anytime soon.
Lakitu: You know that awkward feeling you have when you're at a family cookout and your uncle busts out a bunch of dance moves, and everyone standing around forces themselves to smile or has to play along? That's the feeling I got when I watched Dr. Wily. Granted, I don't have any uncles, nor have I been to any family cookouts. Let alone get-togethers.
Dr. Wily: I knew it! Knew it all along! Cloud's desire to travel back in time to get a DNA sample bit him in the back, and now he has to live with whatever mess he started! I see this as an absolute win! *pauses* Well, it's not exactly a win depending on the nature of the problem, but it's still a win in my book nonetheless.
As Wily continued to show off with his fly old man dance moves, he attracted the attention of Tiki who was staring at the robot inventor quite befuddled. Rodin and the Arcade Bunny would join the Manakete, feeling just as perplexed - if not more.
"Don't know how long he's been going at it like this," Tiki told Rodin and the Arcade Bunny, while Wily kept on dancing like there was no tomorrow. "I figured that he would run out of breath by now."
"Mans is celebratin' like he just found out that he won a paternity test!" Rodin commented on Wily's dance moves as he took a puff of smoke from his cigar. The Arcade Bunny furrowed his brow at the weapons dealer.
"You mean that he passed a paternity test?" the bunny asked Rodin, who stood by what he said; he wouldn't let the Arcade Bunny change his mind on just about anything. "How does one win a...ah, never mind."
"An old scientist guy doing weird dance moves..." remarked a male Japanese high school student, who strangely showed up in the hallway with a female companion of his. "...we really are in the future."
"In the what now?" Wily asked as he stopped and turned at the student, with the mention of the word "future" being the thing that got him to stop dancing. "Who are you, sonny?"
"I'm Juro Kurabe, and this is my good friend, Iori Fuyusaka," the student introduced himself and his female friend to Wily, who knew that something was off after seeing how old-fashioned the duo's high school uniforms were. "A weird vampire guy let us in."
"We both came from the 1980s," explained Iori, and that was the bit of info that tipped Wily over the edge. Any mention of time travel broke the man. "As to how we ended up in..."
"You mean to tell me that you traveled through time?!" Wily asked Juro and Iori, only to lose consciousness and faint on the floor in an instant. Tiki, Rodin, and the Arcade Bunny all gathered around the robot inventor.
"I think he's dead," the Arcade Bunny assumed, going with his gut rather than checking any of Wily's vital signs. "We should call Dr. Light and tell him the good news."
"Stop it..." Tiki scolded the Arcade Bunny, before kneeling down and checking Wily's pulse. The Manakete then poked at Wily a few times to get him to wake up if possible "...Dr. Wily, can you hear me?"
"THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING!" Wily screamed at the top of his lungs, waking up in an instant; the next thing you know, the robot inventor ran down the hallway, zipping past Juro and Iori as a personal nightmare of his was unfolding.
"That old man must have issues," Iori said to Tiki and company shortly after Wily left; Tiki, Rodin, and the Arcade Bunny would all agree with Iori wholeheartedly, without the slightest hint of hesitation.
Now that he was on Elfilin's good side, Mario wished to teach the blue creature how to be the best pet he could possibly be for Charles. Elfilin expressed plenty of doubt in the previous episode but Mario was willing to show him the ropes. Which was why he invited him over to his house.
"Do I have to wear this collar at all times?" Elfilin asked Mario, who was in the living room with his fellow "coaches" Spyro and Hunter. Elfilin had been wearing a collar that was given to him by Mario since Monday.
"Peach made me wear that collar when I first moved in," stated Spyro, taking great pity on Elfilin for he knew from first-hand experience how uncomfortable that collar was. "Took her four days to realize how stupid that was."
"It's-a to signify your status as a pet," explained Mario, who only gave Elflin that particular collar because he was too cheap to buy a new one. That was the excuse he gave to Luigi and Daisy.
"Still think I can do without one," said Elfilin as he pulled on the collar, which was constricting around his neck like a boa constrictor. "But I guess I'll have to suck it up for now..."
"That's the spirit! Now, first-a things first - in order to be a good-a pet, you have to eat pet-a food. What kind of food-a do you guys think Elfilin eats?"
"From the looks of it, he looks almost like a chinchilla, sort of," Hunter observed Elfilin's physical appearance, putting a surprising amount of thought into his brief analysis. "Therefore he must enjoy eating mice."
"That just sounds so messed up..." Spyro shook his head at Hunter, as some knocking was heard at the front door - and it sounded like frantic knocking too. Like someone was in trouble.
"How so? Mice are like common food fodder - you know that better than anyone, Spyro! Are you against the natural order or something?"
As Hunter bickered with Spyro, Mario answered the front door and saw Wily. Wily looked despondent and afraid as if he had some bad news to share, which left Mario perturbed.
"What's up?" Mario asked Wily, who leaned in forward towards the plumber and wrapped his arm around him for a hug. That only left Mario even more perturbed than ever before, for Wily rarely gave out hugs.
"Mario, it's terrible!" said Wily as he pulled away from Mario, his hands on the plumber's shoulders as he was ready to share the bad news. "Two high school students from the 1980s ended up in our time."
"We can hear you!" Juro called out to Wily, as he and Iori were standing outside. They were told by Tiki that Wily could help them get back home safely.
"So what's-a the big deal?" Mario asked Wily, looking past the robot inventor to get a good look at Juro and Iori. Wily slapped the plumber as if he was crazy.
"Don't act stupid, Mario - isn't it obvious?" Wily questioned the plumber, only to sigh deeply when Mario had no idea what he was talking about. "We need to save those kids and get them back home."
"Save-a them from what? What if they chose to end-a up in 2022?" In response to what he believed to be one of the stupidest questions ever asked, Wily laughed his butt off.
"False! It's more likely that they were forced at gunpoint to travel in time to this current year. No one ever agrees to time travel willingly."
"So are you gonna build us a time machine or what?" Iori asked Wily, who was offended by the question as he turned and glared at the student. Little did Iori know that she was asking the wrong genius.
"Well, Dr. Wily, if they traveled-a through time here..." started Mario, as a still angry Wily reverted his attention back to the conversation at hand. "...they'll need a time-a machine to travel back!"
"Right you are, Mario," Wily agreed with Mario in a surprise move, as he patted the plumber on his right shoulder. "Which is why I want you to ask E. Gadd to build one."
"You can ask-a him yourself, you know." But apparently Wily refused to; he still despised E. Gadd with a bitter passion, as his mainly one-sided feud with the professor was going on strong to this very day.
"No, I simply refuse! He'll infect me with his, with his...disease, or something. You'll have to be the one to carry our burden."
Mario: Quite-a frankly, I can't exactly pinpoint the exact-a moment that Dr. Wily started hating time-a travel. Or E. Gadd, for that matter. Speaking of whom, Wily refuses to watch the same-a TV shows and channels that E. Gadd does. Can't even recall the last-a time he mentioned watching the Science Channel.
"Have no fear, children...Mario here will speak with the man that will get you back home," Wily approached Juro and Iori with a smile, as Mario was left with no other choice but to perform his task. Backing out wouldn't be the wisest move, not with Wily.
"But we were told that YOU would be handling it instead," stated Juro, as Wily's smile faded quickly; Wily would much rather destroy a time machine, as opposed to making one.
"Well, whoever told you that must be an idiot. Or idiots, if there were two of them. Either way, they must be slapped regardless for their ignorance..."
"Go ahead, doc, slap us then!" challenged Rodin, who was standing outside with Tiki while holding the cigar in his mouth. Wily almost shrieked when he saw Rodin, fearing a Wicked Weaves coming his way.
"...I was referring to somebody else!" Wily quickly ran for cover, his arms over his head as he retreated back to the tower. Rodin watched as Wily left, choosing not to waste his time.
Now that they had Mini Mementos all to themselves again, the Persona gang was free to enjoy their own hangout spot as they pleased. Yu, Naoto, and many others were in the hot springs section of Mini Mementos, relaxing and whatnot.
"COWABUNGA!" shouted Yosuke as he dived off of a springboard and into one of the hot springs, splashing water all about. Yusuke, who was drawing a painting on an easel board, was annoyed as water splashed on him...and his art piece.
"My art, it's been ruined!" the artist overreacted, as only a few drops of water ran down his easel board rubbing into the paint. Like three or four. "Now my creation is even sadder than before..."
"Yosuke, no more diving into the water," Yu commanded his best friend, who did a two-finger salute as he swam out of the water. Yu then turned to Naoto, who was nearby, and asked: "Since when did we have a springboard?"
"For like a couple of minutes," replied Naoto; if Yosuke had gotten any water on the police detective, it likely would've been the end of him. "Yosuke had it installed while you were away."
"Oh yeah, back when I was dealing with Sonic...wonder how he's handling his punishment." Yu honestly had no idea what the punishment was, but with the warden twins, he knew that Sonic had it rough.
In fact, why don't we check up on the blue blur? Sonic was trapped inside the pillory, unable to go on his phone or use the bathroom, as all he could do was accept his fate. Situated a distance away from Sonic was Anna, who was running her shop.
"Come again!" Anna said to a customer, waving as she saw them off. The next customer to approach her shop stand was a mansion resident, Wolf. "Hello, Mr. O'Donnell! What can I get for you?"
"I need a lighter," replied Wolf, his eyes suspiciously darting left and right while hoping that Master Hand wasn't hearing from where he was. "Totally not for a puff of smoke or anything."
"A lighter, you say?" Anna went underneath the shop stand and came back up with a lighter...albeit a pink one. While Anna was smiling, Wolf looked like he wanted to kill the merchant. "Here ya go, Wolf!"
"Is this some kind of joke? Get me a new lighter." Wolf clearly didn't want to be seen carrying around a pink lighter - literally any other color would do.
"What's wrong with this one?" Anna turned the lighter on, and a small blue flame was lit. No faults, no defects; it was working as intended. "Works just like any other lighter to me."
"Yeah, well, it's not the right color. Now give me another lighter! My friends would think less of me as a man if they saw me with..."
"Take the lighter or I'll set this stand on fire and blame you for it..." To show that she wasn't playing around, Anna frowned as she held the flame very close to her shop stand. Any other time Wolf would brush off Anna's threat, but since Anna was chummy with Master Hand now...
"Y-You got yourself a deal!" Wolf took out his wall, pulled out a fat stack of cash, and dropped it on the stand. Anna smirked as Wolf took the pink lighter out of her hand, before walking away. "You can keep the change!"
Wolf: Let myself be intimidated by a woman...that's gotta sting more than buying a pink lighter! My friends will definitely laugh me out of the park for that one. No way will I ever live this down.
Leon: Wolf had to buy a pink lighter from Anna? A pink lighter? Haha... *holds up his own pink lighter* ...join the club, Wolf.
"Nice pink lighter, Wolf - way to show a different side of your masculinity!" Sonic called out to the mercenary, who hastily stuffed his lighter in his pocket to avoid any further teasing. "What's the matter - can't handle the heat?"
"Says the hedgehog who's stuck in a..." Wolf was about to retort, only to sniff the air as a foul stench reached his nostrils. "...did someone pee on the pillory?"
"I wish they did pee on it..." On that note, Wolf hurried back inside the mansion, while at the same time sympathizing with Sonic. Sonic let out a sigh, counting down the hours until the warden twins would free him.
Mario honestly didn't feel like going to E. Gadd's by himself, and since Spyro and Hunter turned him down, the plumber was forced to find another duo willing to join him for the trip. So he went to the mansion and during his search, he encountered Rex in his room arguing with Steve.
"No, Steve, you're dead wrong..." Rex frowned at the craftsman, as Mario poked his head inside the swordsman's room to hear what was being discussed. "...Gramps is one-hundred percent legal!"
"I wholeheartedly disagree; he is far from legal," Steve fired back at Rex, who was shocked as he took a few steps back. Mario furrowed his brow, understandably bewildered by the arguing taking place.
"What are you boys-a even talking about...?" Mario asked Rex and Steve as he stepped inside the bedroom, now searching for some answers. Answers that may potentially frighten him even more than he was right now.
"Oh, nothing - just arguing about legal stages in Smash," Rex responded with a smile, his answer not enough to quell Mario's still present concerns. "Uh, do you think that the Northern Cave is legal, Mario?"
"Let me ask-a you a better question." Mario walked up to Rex and Steve, wrapping his arms around both of them even though neither man asked for it. "Would you boys like to come-a with me to E. Gadd's mansion?"
"Yes, we would love to," replied Steve, who was interested in having thoughtful conversations with a fellow classy gentleman in E. Gadd. Rex, on the other hand, wasn't as keen about going.
"Who is this 'we'?" the swordsman questioned Steve as he tried to pull Mario's arm away, but to no avail. "You don't speak for me!"
"Too late, should-a have spoken up sooner," Mario said to Rex, who was left with no other choice as he groaned. It was now official - Rex and Steve would all be going with Mario to E. Gadd's mansion.
"Can I at least bring Pyra and Mythra with me? Wouldn't feel right going anywhere without those two." Bringing the Blades along would ruin the "boys' day out" vibe that Mario was going for; no way would Rex's request be granted.
"It is not okay to be a simp, Rex," Steve advised the swordsman, speaking from experience as he patted him on his shoulder with his blocky hand. Rex once again groaned, stuck with just Mario and Steve for who knows how long.
Lucina, Robin, and Chrom had some special company other for the weekend, as Lucina's second-generation friends came by the mansion for a visit. Owain, Cynthia, Severa, Gerome, Noire, Nah, Inigo, Kjelle, Brady, Gerome, Yarne, and Laurent...the whole gang was here, including Morgan and Marc. Chrom wanted to do a group activity with Lucina's friends, and with Easter coming up, he knew just the right one...
...an egg hunt! And yes, he was being serious. Chrom asked Fox and Falco to organize the egg hunt, and the pilots came through as they hid a bunch of Easter eggs outside. Chrom, Robin, and Lucina's friends were all gathered outside in the backyard with Fox and Falco, as the egg hunt was set to begin. Everyone was holding a basket, save for Fox and Falco.
"Father, you are an idiot for even coming up with this idea," Lucina frowned at Chrom, the princess hoped that her dad wouldn't be too embarrassing while her friends were in town, but she obviously had too much hope.
"It gets everyone involved," Chrom said with a shrug, expecting Lucina to endear herself to the egg hunt as it wore on. Lucina rolled her eyes, killing whatever optimism her dad had.
Robin: At the behest of Lucina, I've done everything I could to talk Chrom out of doing the Easter egg hunt. Apparently, I didn't do a good enough job.
Fox: An egg hunt is a cool thing for a dad to do with her daughter when her friends are around. But the only problem is, all of Lucina's friends are pretty grown...
Falco: But we still gave in to Chrom's demands anyway, because we have too busy schedules to allow any of Chrom's constant begging to take up much of our time. Also, he promised that he'd give us something in return.
"By a show of hands, raise your hand if this is your first egg hunt," Fox, the unofficial co-host of the egg hunt festivities, said to the crowd...as virtually everyone raised their hand. Which was to be expected.
"Shucks, do we have to go over the rules then?" Falco, the other official co-host, whined to Fox as he was in no mood for explaining stuff. "Do we have a rulebook or something?"
"There is no rulebook, the rules are pretty simple - basically you go around looking for eggs. You find an egg, you drop it in the basket. And remember, they have to be colored! Whoever gathers the most eggs before time is up wins."
"Looking forward to having an egg-citing time!" Robin cracked this pun, with Cynthia being the only person giggling; Lucina gave her husband a death glare. "Sorry, Sans taught me that one."
"Now, are there any questions?" asked Fox, hoping that no one would raise their hand...but alas, Cynthia had her hand high up in the air. "Yes, Cynthia?"
"After the egg hunt is over with, can we eat the eggs?" asked Cynthia, desiring to know what a painted Easter egg tasted like. Little did she know that she was setting herself up for disappointment - and also an upset stomach.
"Unless you enjoy the taste of paint, then no. Anybody else got a question?" The next person to raise their hand was Laurent, who had a pressing matter on his mind.
"How is it that a rabbit is able to lay eggs?" Laurent asked Fox, certain that he knew the answer given his familiarity with Easter customs. Fox frankly had no right answer to give.
"Now's not the time for thought-provoking questions," Falco would answer for Fox, as he was anxious to get the egg hunt started. That bird had absolutely no semblance of patience. "It's time to start the egg hunt!"
"YES!" shouted Chrom, the only person (other than Cynthia) hyped up as he pumped his fist; an angry yet embarrassed stare from Lucina made him calm down and slow his roll. "I mean...woo."
"Everyone get ready," said Fox as he took out a stopwatch, with all the participants holding unto their baskets. "On your mark...get set...GO!"
Once Fox started the timer, everyone ran their own separate ways to go find some Easter eggs. Some were looking through the shrubbery, others were checking behind the trees...meanwhile, Yarne was trying to enter the mansion through the backdoor.
"Uh, Yarne? The egg hunt is outside only," Fox informed the Taguel, who much to his chagrin saw that the backdoor was locked from the inside. Not like anyone would let him in.
"I knew that already!" Yarne shouted in response, grumbling to himself as he took his basket and forced himself to participate in the egg hunt. Away from the backdoor, Cynthia looked around and saw an egg lying at her feet.
"Yay! Found the first egg!" the pegasus knight cheered as she grabbed the egg and dropped it into her basket...only for the egg to fall through. Cynthia then looked around and saw another egg...the same one that fell through her basket. "Found another one!"
"Cynthia there's a hole in your..." Fox was about to warn the pegasus knight, who grabbed the egg and dropped it through the hole at the bottom of her basket. The process repeated itself multiple times, as Fox turned to Falco and asked: "...should we tell her?"
"Not yet," replied Falco, who was giggling as he recorded Cynthia making a fool of herself on his phone. Fox shook his head at Falco, as a teenage girl wearing a jacket approached the two pilots from behind.
"Hey," the girl greeted Fox and Falco, scaring them both as they turned around and had their Blasters pointed at her. "You're not gonna shoot me, are you?"
"State your business!" Fox commanded the teenage girl, while also taking a gander at her attire which he found questionable. "Also, tell us why you're only wearing your gym clothes and a jacket."
"I'm part of my school's track and field team if you must know...by the way, the name's Natsuno Minami." Now that they knew the girl's name, Fox and Falco both lowered their Blasters.
"Okay, Natsuno...tell us where you're from!" Falco commanded Natsuno, as he and Fox held up their Blasters once more. Seeing that Fox and Falco were both talking animals wielding space guns, Natsuno took a great liking to the two.
"Are you guys aliens? Because I'm really into that extraterrestrial stuff." Unfazed by those comments, Fox and Falco both assumed that Natsuno was trying to flatter them.
"We can't tell you, that's confidential," replied Fox, threatening to fire away at Natsuno if she didn't comply anytime soon. "Now answer our question!"
"Fine, I'll bite...I'm from the past. Ended up here from 1985." Hearing that made Fox and Falco cool off, as the pilots lowered their guards. And for good. "Have you two seen my friends anywhere?"
Natsuno: Never thought I would ever have the chance to meet an alien - let alone two of them. What year is this?...2022? *nods her head* This must be the sweet spot...
Cloud planned on having a great day today (great in his terms being somewhat decent), but his day was ruined. Why? Because his motorcycle was stolen! The theft of his motorcycle was brought to his attention by the Flying Man, who witnessed the theft taking place in broad daylight. Why didn't the Flying Man stop the captor? The mythical beast refused to answer.
With his motorcycle stolen, Cloud was tasked with finding any info on the thief using the security cameras the mansion had. The swordsman was with Samus in the computer room, as Samus was replaying security footage from earlier.
"There he is," said Samus, as she and Cloud saw footage of a young man grabbing Cloud's motorcycle and taking it away. The young man had looked around before making the theft. "Kid's got some nerve to do that..."
"I'll say," responded Cloud, who hoped to find this young man as soon as possible and bring him to justice. Cloud was perhaps the last person that anyone would want to steal from. "You mind rewinding the video?"
"Sure." So Samus would rewind the footage, just so she could see when exactly the young man made his move. Meanwhile, Wario passed by the computer room laughing manically to himself for some reason.
"Hehehe...those set of wheels will make me a fortune!" the fatso said, accruing the attention of Cloud; curious, Cloud stepped out of the computer room for a hot minute so that he could speak with Wario.
"Sold your bike, Wario?" Cloud inquired to the fatso about the Wario Bike, as Wario stopped in place. Wario selling any of his belongings was as rare as him taking a shower, let alone even flushing the toilet.
"Yeah, but it was a worthy investment...because I'm still rich!" There was nothing that Wario loved more than to flaunt his wealth, which he did just now as he cackled maniacally.
"Trying to make a profit, I see...one more thing, you have any idea who stole my motorcycle?" Curiously enough, Wario petered his laughing fit as Cloud was giving him a serious look.
"Uh, what color was it again? Black, grey, or...?" How did Wario not know the color of Cloud's motorcycle? He literally had his Wario Bike parked next to it every day!
"Forget it..." Cloud knew that continuing to speak with Wario would get him nowhere, as he returned to the computer room. Once Cloud was gone, Wario quickly hustled down the hallway.
Taking Rex and Steve with him, Mario drove to E. Gadd's mansion so that he could ask E. Gadd to build a time machine for Wily. Might as well leave out the last part. Mario, Rex, and Steve were standing at the front door, as Mario rang the doorbell.
"Maybe we came at the wrong time," assumed Rex, as he and the other men heard someone humming from behind the door. The front door would be opened by Cortex, who was wearing a towel around his waist.
"Hello, gentlemen!" Cortex greeted Mario and the others, scrubbing his back with a scrub brush. Like how anyone else would, Mario and company were disgusted to see Cortex's bare chest. "You're kind of interrupting me during my shower..."
"Cortex you fool, you left the water running!" Uka boomed to the evil genius from afar, his voice sounding awfully panicky. "Trying to flood this place AGAIN?!"
"Not now, Uka, I'm being a good Samaritan here!" Cortex responded, only to suddenly reflect on the words he just said as he looked down at the doorstep. "But I'm a villain, though..."
"Dr. Cortex?! You live-a here now?" asked Mario, who learned for the first time that Cortex and Uka were staying at E. Gadd's mansion. Apparently, no one didn't tell him yet. "But where's..."
"Mario! Knew I recognized your voice!" squealed E. Gadd, bumping Cortex out of the way as he appeared at the front door smiling with glee. "And you brought company, too! Today is truly extraordinary!"
Steve: "Today is truly extraordinary"? Must say a lot about Dr. Cortex, then. He must be having E. Gadd feeling super miserable.
"Professor, why is he living with-a you?" Mario asked E. Gadd about the evil genius in question, wondering if E. Gadd had lost some kind of bet.
"Because I'm a very loving and caring person," replied E. Gadd, although Mario was hardly convinced; Rex and Steve were both in the same beat, as E. Gadd lowered his head. "And, also, because I'm a pushover..."
"The greatest pushover ever!" exclaimed Cortex, who was sitting on the floor still scrubbing his back. Never once did it occur to him to turn off the water in the shower.
"That sounds pretty accurate," remarked Rex, as E. Gadd let his three guests inside the mansion. Now that he was inside, it was time for Mario to present to E. Gadd his mission.
"Dr. Wily wants-a you to build a time machine," Mario informed E. Gadd, who had closed the front door behind him...only to smile wide with absolute joy. The happiness on his face could not be understated.
"Does this mean he finally wants to make even?!" asked E. Gadd, so incredibly happy that he randomly hugged Mario out of the blue and squeeze him tight. "Today is even more extraordinary than before!"
"Let's-a not get ahead of ourselves." Mario pushed E. Gadd away from him, and it required a joint effort from Rex and Steve just to pry the professor off of the plumber. "It's just a one-time-only shindig, for the most part."
"There are two kids from the 1980s that need to get back home," Rex informed E. Gadd, relaying to him the same information that Mario told him on the ride to the mansion. E. Gadd fancied himself as the right man for the job.
"I do have my old time machine in my basement...let me go have it re-calibrated," responded E. Gadd as he went to his basement to get his hands dirty. That left Mario and company with E. Gadd's housemate...
"In the meantime, you boys can help me scrub my body," Cortex offered to Mario and company, apparently unaware of how willing the three were to turn down his offer. "Specifically the hard-to-reach areas..."
"No thank you, we are good," replied Steve as he, Mario, and Rex walked away from Cortex...only to come to a stop when they saw water running down from a hallway entrance. "Does Professor E. Gadd have a leak?"
"CORTEX!" Uka boomed from afar once again; fearing Uka's wrath, Cortex stood back up and ran to the bathroom to shut the water off.
Aside from Anna teasing him every now and then, Sonic didn't see that much action while in the pillory. Very expected, given the nature of the predicament that he was stuck in. Slippy showed up outside - not to mock Sonic, but rather to tell him about the Sonic film.
"Saw the rest of the movie online, bootlegged," Slippy said to Sonic, reluctant to share where on the Internet he found this bootlegged version. He didn't want to get Sonic - let alone himself - in trouble. "Sadly there was no Sonic vs Mega Man fight."
"We kept trying to tell ya," responded Sonic, happy that Slippy was no longer living in la-la land. Now it was time for Slippy to make himself useful. "Help a brother out, and get me outta here!"
"I can try and get you out...but only if you answer this one question." If that was the only way that Sonic could break free from the pillory, then so be it.
"Lay it on me," sighed Sonic, preparing himself mentally for whatever the question entailed. Depending on what the subject was, Sonic could give an answer without any trouble.
"The question is this...who would win in a fight: you, or Mega Man?" Slippy leaned in close to Sonic, interested in hearing the blue hedgehog's answer, and Sonic couldn't take Slippy seriously.
"A pretty objective question, don't you think? I mean, that's based on someone's opinion." Sonic gave a neutral answer in the hopes of appeasing Slippy but nonetheless, he made the frog frustrated.
"Too chicken to say that you would win, huh? Always knew you were full of yourself, Sonic..." Disgusted with Sonic, Slippy walked away as he left the blue hedgehog be.
"Hold on, you're still gonna free me from this pillory, aren't you? Don't be like that, Slippy!"
While Mario was off at E. Gadd's mansion, Wily was stuck at the plumber's house with Spyro and Hunter...as well as Juro and Iori. But it wasn't all bad, as he had Elfilin to keep him company.
"Mario says that I have to 'handle my business' outdoors," Elfilin said to Wily, who was sitting on a living room couch with his face buried in his hands. "Do you mind taking me outside?"
"Shoot me...please shoot me now," muttered Wily, wishing for someone to shoot him in the side of his head. Elfilin left Wily for a brief moment and came back with a leash.
"I think this is what you have to use." Elfilin dropped the leash on Wily's lap, and Wily would respond by falling forward to the floor in frustration. "Should I call the hospital?"
"This movie is right up my alley," Juro said to Spyro and Hunter, as the three were watching Godzilla vs. King Kong in the living room. None of them cared to check on Wily. "I also dig giant fighting robot movies, too."
"Are you an anime fan? What's your favorite anime?" Hunter asked Juro, seeing that the student was a colossal nerd. He wanted to pick at Juro's brain. "Mine is the Power Rangers!"
"Keep that to yourself, buddy..." Spyro advised Hunter, as Juro gave an amused smile; Spyro then muttered under his breath: "...why is he always embarrassing himself around the guests?"
Dr. Wily: Mario can't come back soon enough...that weird mouse demon is getting on my nerves! Whoever adopted him must be the biggest buffoon on the...It was Luigi who adopted him? For Charles? Well, he's friends with E. Gadd, so the math checks out.
"I'm so glad that you're feeling better!" Peach was heard from upstairs, speaking with someone; the princess came down the stairs with a blue-haired girl wearing a Japanese school uniform.
"Yes, that medicine really made my headache go away," said the bluenette, as Iori - who was in the kitchen, looking for a bite to eat - recognized the girl.
"Ryoko?" uttered Iori as she ran to the bluenette in question, looking at her all over to see if she was okay. "I had no idea that you were staying here."
"Mario and I found her lying on the ground near our house this morning," Peach explained to Iori, as she had brought Ryoko inside her room and nursed her back to strength. "She had a very nasty headache!"
"And it's all gone now thanks to you, Princess Peach," Ryoko said to the princess as Wily. Juro and company heard every word from the living room - and so did Wily, who stood back on his feet.
"Whuzzat? This girl was staying with you, princess?" Wily asked Peach as he and the other men came to the kitchen. The robot inventor was left with more questions when Juro got himself acclimated with Ryoko. "You three know each other?"
"Is it not obvious?" Juro asked Wily, as he was standing close to Iori and Ryoko. Wily was twiddling with his mustache. "If Ryoko's here...then all thirteen of us ended up in this present time."
"You don't say..." Wily, still pulling on his mustache, turned his attention to Peach as he had an important phone call to make. "...Princess Peach mind if I see your phone?"
Thanks to Cortex, the water in the shower had completely backed up...but since Mario was a plumber, he had the problem remedied in a snap. After he fixed the shower, Mario returned to the foyer he was greeted by Rex and Steve.
"Mario, look at what we found in the kitchen...water pudding," Steve said to the plumber, presenting to him clear gelatin on a red plate. Mario was not a fan, as evidenced by his grimace.
"Must taste-a as bland as it looks," Mario offered his two cents on the pudding before he heard someone knocking on the front door. "Hmm, wonder who that could-a be?"
Mario opened the door and saw a girl wearing a dark Japanese school uniform, with her hair tied up in a ponytail. From the look on her face, the girl seemed pretty feisty.
"Hello, are-a you...?" Mario was about to ask the girl, who cut off the plumber by punching him in the face. Mario yelped in pain and took a few steps back, as he held his hands over his nose.
"Honestly, I saw that coming from a mile away," Rex said with a slight giggle, only for the delinquent girl to do a leg sweep on him and brought him down to the floor. "Ow! What gives?"
"Shut up!" the delinquent girl shouted at Rex before turning her attention to Steve. Steve had nothing to defend himself - only the plate of water pudding in his hands.
"Take this water pudding as a peace offering," Steve offered the water pudding to the delinquent girl...who angrily smacked the plate out of the craftsman's hands. That chick was not playing around. "Oh no..."
"Yuki, what did I tell you about laying your hands on the operators of this mansion?" someone with a calm voice called out to the delinquent girl from outside, as a man wearing glasses entered the mansion. Looked very serious.
"I'm sorry, Renya," the delinquent girl, Yuki, apologized to the man who closed the door behind him. Yuki did a formal bow, showing how sorry she was. "I was just...scoping these guys out."
"Violently scoping us out, I'll say..." grumbled Mario, his nose still in pain as he helped Rex up to his feet. Steve peered down at the water pudding on the floor, lamenting over the wasted...jello...creation, or whatever.
"You must excuse Yuki for her behavior," Renya said to Mario and company as he placed his hand on Yuki's shoulder; Yuki slapped the hand away. "She can act very abrasive with strangers."
"Only for good reason," said Yuki, firmly believing that her fighting always was justified in most situations. Huge emphasis on most. "You never know who you're dealing with."
"Your clothes..." Mario said to Renya as he analyzed the young man's black uniform, which looked old-fashioned to Mario. "...are you two from-a the past?"
"Why yes, we are," replied Renya, keeping his overall excitement in tow as he maintained the serious look on his face. Must be hard for him to do. "Well, some of us are from the past..."
"What do you mean-a by that?" Mario wouldn't have his question answered, for he heard his phone ring. Taking his phone out, he saw that Peach was calling him as he promptly answered. "Yes, Peach?"
"Quit your whining, I promise I won't break your phone..." Wily was heard on the other line, only to realize that the call was answered. The robot inventor quickly changed his tune. "...oh! Hi, Mario! Dr. Wily speaking."
"Asking about the time-a machine? E. Gadd's down-a in his basement getting his old-a one up to speed." Even during a phone call, the mere mention of E. Gadd's name made Wily grind his teeth.
"...that's great! Splendid! Erm, I have some news about our visitors...there's thirteen of them." A relatively big number like that made Mario's eyes grow big.
"Thirteen? Well, two of them just showed-a up at E. Gadd's place just now. What should-a we do with them?"
"Nothing, just...just let them stick around until E. Gadd's done. Once E. Gadd is finished, give me...erm, Peach, a call."
"Will do! Uh, should I let anyone-a else know?" Who knows - a couple of the thirteen could be lingering around OR be inside the mansion! Take Natsuno, for instance.
"Anyone you deem trustworthy." So Mario went to his contact list and scrolled through the long list of names, before stopping when he saw a name in the letter J section...
Business at Cafe Leblanc was booming as usual, as residents such as Sans were either getting their fix of coffee in or just hanging out. Sora and Riku were both sitting at the counter waiting for their curry, while Joker was on the phone speaking with Mario.
"Thirteen folks we gotta keep an eye out for? Got it," Joker spoke with Mario over the phone; Sora instantly perked up and looked at the young man. Joker saw Sora staring at him from the corner of his eye, before turning away.
"Don't get any crazy ideas," Riku warned Sora, not wanting the Keyblade wielder to get in over his head. Sora was perhaps the only man capable of embarrassing Riku.
"So they all wear old-fashioned Japanese school uniforms...understood." Joker would turn his head back around and saw that Sora was still staring at him. "Excuse me for one moment, Mario...Sora, do you mind?"
"Sorry, Joker, but anything and anyone associated with the number thirteen always has a bad vibe," Sora told the young man matter-of-factly, as Riku pinched the crown of his nose. Sora couldn't help himself.
As Joker was about to resume the phone call, he saw Mewtwo bring in a girl and a mean-looking delinquent, inside the cafe; both of them matched the attire description that Mario gave to Joker. Joker felt as if he struck the jackpot.
"Make sure you don't break anything," Mewtwo advised two guests, whom Joker was keeping a very close eye on. "This cafe has undergone enough repairs as it is."
Mewtwo: Those two have a very sketchy backstory. When I asked them where they came from, one said from 1985; the other claimed that she was from 2024. When I asked how they even met, they mentioned time travel and aliens invading their land. Now I see what Snake meant when he talked about unwanted guests being nothing but trouble.
"I see two of them now...talk to you later, Mario," Joker spoke quietly into the phone before ending the call, putting his phone away as the girl and delinquent took a seat at the counter.
"Welcome to Cafe Leblanc!" Viridi greeted the girl and delinquent, as the baristas stood front and center. Pit took a great deal of interest in the delinquent. "What can we get for you?"
"I dunno, some coffee I guess..." answered the delinquent, who was sporting a very 80s haircut. That was the one thing that made Pit enamored with him.
"No way...it's Josuke Higashikata!" squealed Pit as he pointed at the delinquent, who could only furrow his brow in confusion. "He's actually real!"
"That's Nenji Ogata to you, kid..." The delinquent, having given his name, turned to his lady friend as he cracked a smile. "...can you believe this guy, Usami?"
"Sure aren't doing yourself any favors with that haircut," the girl giggled in response, causing Nenji to groan; safe to say that Tomi was nowhere near on Nenji's side.
"Can you show us your stand, Crazy Diamond? Pretty please?" Pit requested to Nenji, overwhelmed with excitement as he was jumping up and down with a grin on his face. "I want to see him beat up Joker!"
"Why me...?" frowned Joker; even if Nenji was a Stand User, his Stand would probably be no match for Joker's Arsene.
Zelda and Midna hurried to Master Hand's room, to inform Master Hand about a stranger that Midna encountered lingering around the tower. When the princess and imp arrived at the room, she saw Master Hand and Link gathered together, with a young man sleeping on top of Master Hand's bed.
"Jigglypuff seriously needs to take up on some art classes," Master Hand said to Link, as the young man had black doodles all over his face. Courtesy of a certain balloon Pokemon.
"And you seriously need to take that marker out of Jigglypuff's hands," replied Link, as Zelda and Midna both entered the room; Link took notice of the two right away. "Hey, Zelda - as you can see, we got ourselves a sleeping beauty."
"Where did you find him?" asked Zelda, while Midna was getting a closer look at the young man...by hovering close to his face. The young man, still sleeping, had twitched a little.
"Captain Falcon found him lying on the side of the road. His initial thought was that..." Link would stop speaking, as she and Zelda saw how close Midna was to the young man. "...Midna, what are you doing?!"
"Doing my job, shut up," replied Midna, who got down on the young man as she peered down at his face. The imp smiled wide as she readied her hand...
...and gave the young man a good ol' smack on the cheekbone. Zelda gasped, Link had his hands on his head, Master Hand...well, he did nothing, but the slap worked to perfection as the young man woke up.
"Ow...what on earth was that?" the young man wondered, rubbing his face and sitting up as Midna got off of him. Once he fully opened his eyes, he saw Midna staring at him.
"Hello, sleepyhead!" Midna greeted the young man, who looked around the room and saw Link, Zelda, and Master Hand all staring at him. "Sorry I had to end your little power nap."
"I'll say this...this is much better than waking up next to a dead woman." The young man sat up more on Master Hand's bed, as his legs were hanging from the mattress. "I'm Ei Sikigahara, by the way. Thanks for rescuing me."
Master Hand: Ei talked about waking up next to a dead corpse like it wasn't a bad thing. I don't know how I can vibe with a man who is secretly into necrophilia.
"Consider yourself welcome," Link said to Ei, who got used to his unfamiliar surroundings as he tried to get himself as comfortable as possible. "My friend thought that you were a goner when he first saw you."
"Are they after me?" Ei asked Link and company as he hopped up off the bed, looking out Master Hand's window for any suspicious dudes. "The men in black. Do they know where I am?"
"He must be talking about those Turks..." Master Hand said quietly to Link and Zelda, while Ei's paranoia kept on increasing by the minute. "...one of you safeguard my Fully Clothed Women magazine collection."
"No thanks," replied Zelda, before going over to Ei so that she could calm him down a bit. She was made for moments such as these. "Take it easy, Ei - no one is out to get you."
"Princess Zelda!" a voice called out to the princess, and it was a voice that Ei recognized right away as his paranoia went away for good. "Where are you?"
"I'm in here!" shouted Zelda, and soon a girl wearing glasses entered Master Hand's room. She looked serious just like Renya, though compared to him she was a close second.
"Megumi..." said Ei as ran over to the girl, seeing her as a sight for sore eyes. In a way, Ei was almost relieved. "...what a coincidence running into you."
"I was just about to say the same," replied Megumi, as the presence of Master Hand spooked her quite a bit. "I guess you got some explaining to do..."
The egg hunt carried on out in the mansion's backyard, and so far Owain was killing it. The myrmidon found an Easter egg lying on the ground and picked it up, holding it as if it were a rare piece of treasure!
"I have found yet another egg!" Owain announced loudly to nobody in particular, feeling proud of himself as he dropped his egg on the basket. Severa, who was nearby, rolled her eyes in response.
"Must you do that for every egg you find?" the mercenary asked Owain, wishing that she could take her basket full of eggs and bash it against Owain's head. "It's gotten annoying after a while."
"How else am I supposed to let everyone know about my progress?" Owain looked through the nearby shrubbery and gleamed when he found yet another Easter egg. "Another egg found! Ladies and gentlemen, I am on a roll!"
"Nobody cares..." As Severa held her index and middle fingers to her forehead in annoyance, Cynthia came over with a dilemma she had to address.
"Guys, I have some bad news!" Cynthia alerted Owain and Severa, who both turned their attention to the pegasus knight. Whatever this bad news was sure seemed serious. "All my eggs have disappeared!"
"Inconceivable! Let me see your basket," Owain said to Cynthia, who gave him her basket; Owain took a brief look, only to laugh when he discovered what the problem was. "Silly Cynthia...your basket has a hole in it!"
"It has a hole in it?" Cynthia apparently found out about this for the first time, as Owain held up her basket to reveal to her the hole. "Oh, now you tell me..."
"Go show Fox and Falco, maybe you can exchange that basket for a new one," Severa suggested to Cynthia, only to look around the backyard for the whereabouts of the pilots. "Where even are those two anyway?"
Severa didn't have to look far for Fox and Falco, for she saw the pilots near their parked Arwings. With them was Natsuno, who had taken a great liking to the duo after assuming that they were aliens.
"This is what we use to get around town," Fox explained to Natsuno, who was ogling at the Arwings; she touched them to see if they were legit. "Sure beats driving a stinking car, amirite Falco?"
"My Arwing is the superior spacecraft," Falco said matter-of-factly, expecting Fox to agree with him...but if he was expecting that, then he was a fool.
"Just gonna feed her lies, huh?" Fox took great offense to Falco's statement, as he grabbed Falco by the neck and strangled him. Falco would return the favor, as the pilots were now wrangling with one another.
"Courting an underage girl, are we?" Owain asked Fox and Falco as he saw Natsuno, his shout grabbing the pilots' attention. "Very daring move, I'll say."
"Uh, for the record, she came to us first," stated Fox, as he and Falco took their hands off of each other before dusting themselves off. Natsuno looked through some trees and saw an unidentified object hidden behind them.
"Is that...?" the track star asked as she ran over to the trees, just to see what was hidden; to her amazement, she saw a large UFO. If there was a time for her to geek out, that time was now.
"Oh yeah, that spaceship - it's a memento from Gex," Fox explained to Natsuno, as he and Falco caught up to the track star. "Some lizard guy who wears sunglasses."
"Word of the wise - never meet your heroes," Falco wisely told Natsuno; Natsuno, not sure of what to do with that information, took Falco's words to heart as she inspected the UFO.
Samus: Gex had to return the UFO that he once piloted to Shinra, but that didn't stop him from sending a replica of it to the mansion as "something to remember him by". According to that note attached. On the replica, apparently, are his "favorite quotes", such as "this is like sipping tea at Val Kilmer's house". No wonder he never had a girlfriend - or any genuine friends.
Elsewhere in the backyard, Cloud was doing a little snooping around, doing some investigative work after his motorcycle was stolen. To his surprise, he saw the Wario Bike parked in its usual spot.
"Weird - Wario said that he sold this bike," said Cloud, holding a finger underneath his chin as he contemplated whether or not Wario was speaking the truth. "Unless he..."
"Hehehe, thanks for the big bucks, kid!" Wario was heard speaking with someone, and his laughing fit caused Cloud to perk up. Hearing Wario around the corner, Cloud carefully took a peek around the mansion...and saw Wario with a young man, while stroking a wad of cash.
"Guy at the front desk said that it was in perfect condition," the young man said to Wario, as Cloud recognized him...as the young man who stole his motorcycle in that security footage. You best believe that Cloud was incensed.
"Hey!" Cloud shouted at the young man, as he angrily marched over; Wario panicked when he saw Cloud, hiding his cash behind his back. "You're the punk that stole my motorcycle."
"How do you know it was me?" The young man felt guilty, while also fearing what Cloud might do to him. If Cloud was armed with his Buster Sword, it would be all over for him.
"Saw you doing it in the security footage. Got some nerve to steal my motorcycle and sell it, especially for this fat oaf."
"Leave him alone, he was doing the right thing!" Wario defended the young man, standing in front of him as a pudgy human shield. "He was helping me line up my pockets."
"I'm still getting my fair share, right?" the young man asked Wario, only to feel deflated when Wario laughed in his face. For a moment, Wario thought that the young man was joking.
"Fat chance! I played you for keeps, and thanks to you I'm even richer! Haha!" Wario was laughing away...until the young man snatched the cash out of the fatso's hand. Way to stand up for yourself.
"In that case, you don't deserve this..." The young man held the cash high up in the air, and Wario repeatedly jumped up to try and grab it. Cloud folded his arms as he looked on, seeing Wario getting his just desserts.
"Shu?" Natsuno called out to the young man from afar, as she ran over to greet him. The reunions just keep on coming. "I can't believe that it's you!"
"Ah, Natsuno! About time that I saw a familiar face." Shu stuffed the cash down in his pocket, putting all his focus on Natsuno. He sensed Wario's hands drawing closer, and he swatted them away.
Same here. But...what are you doing stuck with that ugly elf thing?" Natsuno pointed at Wario, who was about to reach for Shu's pockets a second time only to be offended by Natsuno's question.
"What did she call me?" Wario asked Shu, wanting to make sure that he was hearing things correctly. He had cleaned the earwax out of his ears a few moments ago.
"I'd rather not say, it's a long story," replied Shu, as Cloud slowly inched over; Shu pulled the cash out and gave it to the swordsman. "Motorcycle should still be at the shop."
"You better hope it's still at the shop," Cloud told Shu, kicking Wario away for good measure. Didn't want his grabby hands anywhere near him. "Or you're going to be in big trouble...and Wario, too."
Wario: That jerk ruined my plan! He was supposed to let me have the cash, not give it away! Amateur. Would I have spent the cash? Nah. It's always important to have a spare stack of cash on hand so that you can flex on your poorer friends. You guys wouldn't know about it, obviously.
While her friends (and her dad) were engrossed with the egg hunt, Lucina took the opportunity to sneak away from the festivities. Not wanting to be left behind, Robin came along with her.
"Should we bring the kids?" Robin asked Lucina as he looked back at the backyard; he saw Morgan and Marc looking around a tree for Easter eggs.
"We'll let Father handle them," replied Lucina, leading Robin to the mansion...but not long before she encountered Sonic still in the pillory. The princess came to an abrupt stop, as Robin bumped into her.
"Lucina and Robin! Perfect timing," Sonic greeted the married couple, who dared not to question why or how Sonic ended up in his current plight. "Do me a solid, will ya, and..."
"I can do you a solid." Lucina went over to Sonic, and Sonic was getting all excited...as Lucina simply adjusted his white gloves. "There. Fixed your gloves."
"Wait, Lucina, that's not what I meant!" Sonic's excitement instantly died down, as Lucina took Robin and led him away from the pillory. "Come back!"
Lucina: Like I would ever free Sonic...I'd say he deserved what he got. A long time coming for him. If I had to choose between saving Sonic, being stuck in quicksand, or getting run over by a train, I'd elect to be stuck in quicksand while also getting run over by a train.
"Another one bites the dust!" chirped Anna, writing down a tally mark on a board posted on the shop sign. For every time Sonic was turned down, another tally was made.
"Eat your words, Anna - somebody's gonna free me sooner or later!" Sonic vowed to the merchant, holding out hope that either one of Tails or Knuckles would be the one to free him. "Give it time..."
Even with Elfilin over at Mario's house, Charles was able to manage as he played with his toys in the living room of Luigi's house. Luigi was busy vacuuming the floor when suddenly, his door was kicked down by an irate Wily. Why was he so angry?
"Wow, Dr. Wily! I didn't know that you could-a kick down doors like that," Luigi said to the robot inventor, turning off his vacuum as Wily's face was red with fury. Luigi had never seen Wily so angry before.
"I'VE HAD IT!" Wily shouted at the top of his lungs, as Elfilin showed up behind him. Perhaps he was the main source of Wily's anger. "This blue rodent won't stop leaving me alone!"
"Mr. Cranky here won't take me out to the potty," Elfilin said to Luigi; he honestly didn't have to use the bathroom, he just wanted the full pet experience.
"Shut up, you! I've just had it with you, with your cuteness distracting me and your..." Wily would end his rant, as he saw two young men sitting in Luigi's living room. "...Luigi, who are those men?"
"Oh, you mean-a these two?" asked Luigi as he went over to the young men, placing a hand on their shoulder. Neither man reciprocated the friendly feeling. "Say hello to Takatoshi and Keitaro!"
"A pleasure to meet you," Keitaro said to Wily as he tipped his hat to the robot inventor. Didn't seem like he wanted to take that hat off at all.
"He definitely fits the evil scientist stereotype..." muttered Takatoshi, having this to say about Wily as he rubbed his hand through his long brown hair.
"They showed up at my house not-a too long ago," Luigi explained to Wily; two empty plates with crumbs were in front of Takatoshi and Keitaro, implying that Luigi and Daisy treated the two men with hospitality. "Said-a that they were looking for their friends."
"Looking for their friends, you say?" Wily asked Luigi, approaching the green plumber as he held his hand out. Luigi was understandably wary. "Mind if I see your phone?"
It took him shorter than he originally intended, but E. Gadd got his time machine up and working again. The professor hurried out of his basement so that he could tell Mario and company the good news.
"Mario, I'm finally done with the time machine!" exclaimed E. Gadd as he arrived at the foyer, only to come to a stop when he saw Mario speaking on the phone - fielding multiple phone calls at the same time.
"Thanks-a for letting me know, Dr. Wily..." Mario spoke into the phone, clearly flustered by the multiple calls that he had to handle. "Yes, Cloud, I'll punish-a him for stealing your motorcycle...Peach, don't give-a her all our aspirin...make sure-a he doesn't lay a finger on Pit, Joker!"
"I'll just wait until you're finished." So E. Gadd calmly stood to the side, only to see a new face in his foyer that he had never seen before. "Who's that girl?"
"Why won't you go down?!" frowned the girl in question, Yuki, as she was laying haymakers on Steve. Steve took the punches like a man, giggling with every fist that Yuki threw out.
"Your punches, they tickle," Steve said to Yuki, feeling little to no pain whatsoever; seeing that Steve was unharmed, Yuki turned her attention to Rex who was unfortunately nearby.
"Steve was right, this water pudding is decent!" Renya calmly exclaimed, holding the plate that the water pudding was on as he stepped inside the foyer. There he saw Yuki, putting Rex in an armbar.
"Uncle, UNCLE!" Rex cried for mercy as Yuki manhandled him; Steve shook his head at Rex, disappointed that the swordsman wasn't fighting back.
Steve: Well, that is what happens when you are a simp...you tend to let women boss you around.
Renya: *sighs* Why must Yuki be more violent when none of her peers are keeping an eye on her?
"Okay, Fox, talk-a to you later!" Mario spoke into the phone, sighing in relief as he ended the last phone call. He then saw E. Gadd, just the man that he wanted to see. "Well, professor...it looks-a like we got all thirteen."
"Splendid!" responded E. Gadd, anxious to get the thirteen visitors back home safe and sound. "Can you get someone to bring the whole gang here?"
"I'll see if Captain Falcon is available..." Rueing having to make another phone call, Mario dialed Captain Falcon's phone number as he heard Rex screaming in agonizing pain. "...Yuki, please don't pull Rex's arm out of its socket!"
Captain Falcon got the call from Mario, and now he was outside prepping his Falcon Flyer. Unlike in the last episode, his flying vehicle had more room, meaning that all the eleven visitors at the mansion grounds could fit in. As Falcon checked his fuel tank, he saw Chrom peeking inside the Falcon Flyer.
"Woah there, buddy!" Captain Falcon said to Chrom as he grabbed the prince and pulled him out of the Flyer, putting him back on the ground. "Trying to hitch a ride or something?"
"I'm just looking for Easter eggs," Chrom said to Captain Falcon as he showed him his basket of Easter eggs. And he found plenty. "Totally going to crush Lucina at this egg hunt."
"That's weird...because I saw her inside the mansion with Robin a while ago." Beyond devastated to hear this, Chrom was left speechless as he looked around outside to see if Captain Falcon was speaking the truth.
"Surely they hadn't forfeited the egg hunt or anything..." Chrom was about to lose it, and Captain Falcon had to do something fast to temper the prince.
"OR, maybe they already 'won' the egg hunt, and didn't want the glory that came along with it so they just went back inside." Captain Falcon's excuse worked on Chrom, who was no longer worried about Lucina leaving him in the dust.
"I can see that; Lucina doesn't like being on a high pedestal." Soon Chrom saw Fox and Falco pass by, with the former glancing at his stopwatch.
"Time is almost up," Fox told Falco as Chrom ran up to the pilots and stopped right in from of them, bringing them to a halt. "How's it coming along, Chrom?"
"Why didn't you boys tell me that Lucina and Robin won the egg hunt?" asked Chrom; both confused, Fox and Falco turned around at Captain Falcon, who silently motioned the two to play along.
"Oh, uh, um..." Fox looked at his stopwatch, ending the timer and then resetting it back to zero. He then gave a fake reaction afterward. "...would you look at that! Time was already up."
"So that means Lucina and Robin won, right?" Chrom was pressing Fox and Falco for an answer, and the pilots were left with no other choice but to give in.
"Yes, Lucina won...I mean, they won," confirmed Falco, as Chrom was satisfied with the result; Falco then cupped his hands as he shouted, "ATTENTION ALL EGG HUNTERS - THE EGG HUNT IS NOW OFFICIALLY OVER!"
"Darn it!" Owain was heard shouting angrily from afar, likely throwing his basket of eggs unto the ground in bitter defeat. "Curse the hidden eggs that I haven't found..."
Sonic believed that he was in the pillory long enough, and he was waiting patiently for the warden twins to set him free. But to his surprise and delight, he saw Tails and Knuckles arrive at the front yard.
"Been waiting forever for you guys!" Sonic said happily to Tails and Knuckles, as he could feel the taste of freedom upon his lips. "What took ya so long?"
"Sorry Sonic - Caroline and Justine forbade us from ever going outside," Tails said to the blue hedgehog, having taken the warden twins' decree to heart.
"Personally I would've gone out sooner, just to show how hard I am," admitted Knuckles, as Tails gave him a dubious look; Knuckles frowned in response. "What? I don't have to listen to little girls!"
"So I guess you peeps are gonna be the ones to free me," assumed Sonic, as Tails and Knuckles both eyed around nervously; Sonic's excitement died down at that exact moment.
"Um, about that...the twins just wanted us to tell you that you'll be stuck here until midnight," stated Tails...until midnight?! Sonic doubted that he could even remain sane until then.
"Also, they said that I would have to spoon-feed you dinner," added Knuckles, giggling at the thought of spooning Sonic. Obviously, Sonic was not a huge fan of those terms.
"Really? That's why you two came outside?" Sonic frowned at Tails and Knuckles, dismayed that his friends didn't defy the warden twins in any way. "You guys are the worst..."
"Say, Sonic, you haven't had lunch yet, have you?" Knuckles asked the blue hedgehog, who was too salty to speak with the echidna right now. "I can always grab you a chili dog..."
Captain Falcon came through for E. Gadd, as he brought the visitors staying at the mansion and the Mario Bros' homes to the professor's mansion. Juro, Iori, Shu, Megumi, Takatoshi, Yuki, Ei, Natsuno, Keitaro, Nenji, Usami, Ryoko, and Renya were all gathered in E. Gadd's basement, where the time machine was up and running and ready to go.
"Remember everyone, one at a time!" E. Gadd instructed the thirteen, providing them guidelines for how they should enter the time machine portal. "Otherwise, you'll make my machine go haywire?"
"You think it'll matter much if all of us ended up in 1985?" Iori whispered to Juro, as E. Gadd went up the basement stairs. Juro mulled for a bit, keeping his lips pursed. "I mean..."
"Eh...we can figure everything else out once we get there," Juro whispered back, before turning his attention to the entire group as a whole. "...so which one of us is going in first?"
Juro: How we ended up in 2022, we can't say...but I'll have you know that all of us came from different time periods. A few from World War 2, and others from the very distant future. Would say how we all met, but...it gets complicated.
Out of the basement, E. Gadd went to the foyer where he saw Mario and Captain Falcon speaking with each other. The professor believed that one person was missing from the scene.
"Cloud's motorcycle sold-a for how much?" Mario asked Captain Falcon, almost at a loss for words as his mouth was agape. Captain Falcon confirmed the price with a nod of his head.
"That's what he told me in that text he sent," replied Captain Falcon - Cloud sends text messages? Must be a thing that he seldom does. "Fortunately, he got it back from the shop."
"Greetings, gentlemen," E. Gadd greeted Captain Falcon and Mario as he approached the two, with a question he desired to ask. "Captain Falcon, did Dr. Wily come with you?"
"No, why do you think that he would?" Captain Falcon saw that E. Gadd was looking down when he said no, able to tell that the professor was clearly hurt.
"Mario said that Dr. Wily wanted a time machine...I took it as a sign that he wanted to put aside his differences." E. Gadd let out a defeated sigh, and Mario comforted him by putting a hand on his shoulder.
"Don't sweat it, professor," Mario encouraged E. Gadd, gently rubbing the professor's shoulder. "He'll come around eventually." E Gadd knew he couldn't be sad forever, as he lifted up his head and smiled faintly.
"Well, if it took time for Master Hand and Anna to get on the same page..." The example E. Gadd had used alleviated his mood - and also gave him a small spark of optimism.
However, with the kind of guy that Wily is, E. Gadd might have to wait for a while...