Author's Note:

This chapter contains a few spoilers for Fire Emblem Fates. So if you have never played the game...just know that you have been warned. Starting the reviews off with An NFL Fan:

"Oh yeah, baby. Pre-season football is here! Are you excited? I sure am. Can't wait for September!"

I'm fairly excited. Gonna be interesting to see how the rookies perform in the preseason. Also gotta be on the lookout for any late-round draft picks delivering a surprise performance. BowserFan327 is back, and with a suggestion for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe:

"I came up with an excellent idea for a chapter to celebrate the release of Wave 2 of the Booster course pass for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe! It can even be a two-parter! We can have Master Hand make Sonic and Lavenza take the younger smashers on a camping trip through Mushroom Gorge to take them to Sky High Sundae! Also, as a little side story, have Waluigi make a giant pinball machine (like Waluigi Pinball) as a get-rich-quick scheme that even Wario would be proud of, and Anna won't be able to resist!"

The Waluigi side story sounds like money. As for the main story, I'm not sure how a camping trip from Mushroom Gorge to Sky High Sundae would turn out, but maybe I can figure out something. David has questions:

"Regarding the Portal chapter is Wheatley gonna cause chaos in the mansion when the cast shows up? What is Pit's reading level as of now? Has Pyra attempted to give Palutena cooking lessons? Is Pinstripe Potoroo using his Jess Harnell or Robbie Daymond voice? (Daymond also voiced Sorey in Tales of Zesteria and Hubert in Fire Emblem: Three Houses). Does Phoenix Wright have his hobo look from Apollo Justice now? And finally, do you think Drew McIntyre or Karrion Kross should be the one to end Roman Reigns's title reign of terror?"

Wheatly will cause plenty of chaos. Pit's reading level is...average at best. Pyra hasn't attempted that yet. Pinstripe is using his Robbie Daymond voice. Phoenix Wright doesn't have his hobo look. And I think that Drew will end Roman's title reign, and get his big moment with the crowd. I imagine that he'll take the WWE title, while Roman remains Universal champion. Last for today is the Reader, with questions regarding the recent Splatoon Direct:

"1. What's the most interesting part of the Direct? For me it's the story mode part, and the introduction of Deep Cut. God, they're so cute.
2. Speaking of Deep Cut, are you gonna have them appear in the Splatoon 3 chapter? Maybe have them host a Splatfest (no ink battle necessary) with some residents?
3. And is it possible for them to meet the Squid Sisters and/or Off the Hook? Sounds cool, don't you think?
4. Will the Octolings ever show up? I mean, they have the Mii costumes on the game since launch, and they're still not in the mansion.
5. Finally, the most important question. Are you getting the Splatfest demo on August 27? If you do, I hope you'll get a fun experience!"

1. My favorite part of the Direct was Deep Cut. I adore the fact that they have a manta ray as part of the group.
2. Deep Cut will definitely appear in the Splatoon 3 chapter. I've never done a Splatfest before in this story, so there's a good chance we might see one later this year.
3. Would make for a very unique meeting. I'd love to bring Off the Hook back for another appearance.
4. The Octolings will show up soon in the Splatoon 3 chapter.
5. I'm most definitely getting the Splatfest demo. Sadly I've missed the last one...

Episode 347: Rendezvous

A shocking development occurred last week when Jakob stopped by the mansion to atone for his past misdeeds. The Nohrian butler asked for forgiveness from Master Hand, Link, and Zelda, and they all gave him pardon. But many of the residents were less than forgiving, as they had booed Jakob out of the lecture hall. (Or so they would've if Jakob had, you know, left the stage.)

Until he was free to return to Nohr, Jakob was happy to stay at the mansion for the time being. His stay wouldn't be a long one, though. Thanks to some convincing from Layton and Luke, the butler reluctantly agreed to stay at Conker at his new house, in the guest room. For better and for worse.

Conker had yet to procure the money needed to actually buy the house; Sonic had given him a house key just to hold on to. So until then, Jakob remained at the mansion...and most of the residents had to endure his presence.

"These waffles should hold me over," said Jakob as he entered the dining room holding a plate of waffles. When he stepped foot into the dining room, Jakob saw several residents mean-mugging him at once.

"Sorry, but this seat is already taken," Ryuji said to Jakob, who was eyeing an empty chair next to the delinquent. Ryuji pushed the chair into the table, as Jakob was forced to look elsewhere.

"Go sit with Corrin and Kamui, they'll take ya," Villager suggested to Jakob, as Jakob saw that both seats on the other sides of Corrin and Kamui were taken. "Haha! Got em!"

"Very funny, Villager..." mumbled Jakob, seeing that finding a seat in the dining room was a struggle. Outside of Corrin and Kamui, and maybe a few others, no one was really open to letting Jakob sit with them.

"You can have my seat, Jakob," Bowser offered to the butler as he stood up out of his seat, letting Jakob take his chair. But Jakob would ignore the Koopa King as he kept looking, as Bowser sat back down.

Bowser: What is wrong with these people? They don't know how to acknowledge greatness when they see it. What Jakob had done years ago was an absolute masterclass! To have gotten away with what he did for so long without being caught deserves a pat on the back and then some. Conspiring to ruin Mario's wedding day will also make you a winner in my eyes.

"Why don't you take a seat next to me?" a certain elderly Toad called out to Jakob, who saw Toadsworth waving to him from afar. An empty seat was next to Toadsworth, ripe for Jakob's taking.

"No, Toadsworth, don't do it!" Diddy tried to warn Toadsworth, as he and many other residents were on edge. "Jakob will shoehorn you into a love triangle with Shantae and Akihiko."

"What?!" Akihiko frowned at Diddy, not liking how his "romance" with Shantae was slowly becoming the mansion's worst kept secret. Ignoring Diddy's warning, Jakob took a seat next to Toadsworth.

"Much appreciated," Jakob gave his thanks to Toadsworth, grabbing a fork, knife, and a bottle of syrup as he was ready to chow down. Those seated near Jakob kept a close eye on the butler, to make sure that he wouldn't pull a fast one on Toadsworth.

Jakob: Princess Peach's advisor Toadsworth has treated me with plenty of respect. Can't say that I didn't expect it, given that Toadsworth is the ambassador of the Mushroom Kingdom, but it says a lot when a visitor treats you better than a large number of your constituents.

Watching Jakob eat his breakfast were Sonic and Tails, who were seated with Lavenza. They saw how their peers were acting, and couldn't help but feel bad for Jakob. Never thought they would feel that way.

"Man, it must suck to be Jakob right now," Sonic said to Tails and Lavenza, as he was eating from his plate of sausage links. The closest he'll get to a chili dog when it comes to breakfast. "Asking for forgiveness, and you still get the cold shoulder!"

"He should be lucky that Knuckles isn't here," remarked Tails, half-expecting Knuckles and Shadow to randomly storm the dining room and teach Jakob a painful lesson. "He wouldn't make it out of this dining room alive!"

"Would be a good idea to make friends with him," Lavenza suggested to Sonic, believing that Jakob deserved more pleasant company than Toadsworth. Tails was intrigued by the idea...Sonic, not so much.

"Yeah, right - I get weird looks for holding the door open for Jakob," declined Sonic, who oftentimes had to think twice about getting Jakob a snack from a vending machine as an act of courtesy. "I'll let a guy like Cloud handle the burden."

"You have grown a lot since Jakob last saw you, did you not? This will be a good opportunity to show him how far you've come..." That got Sonic to reconsider a bit, as he would love nothing more than to show Jakob the new him.

"Heh, guess you have a point there! All I gotta do is act nice and friendly with Jakob, and just get to know him better. How hard can it be?"

"Looks like you've gained an extra pound or two since I saw you last night," Jakob said to Ribbon Girl, who was passing by; Ribbon Girl gasped at Jakob before sticking her nose up, as she stormed away. "Just trying to help..."

"...gonna have my work cut out for me, aren't I?" Sonic heaved a sigh, as Tails smiled and patted the blue hedgehog on the back. Lavenza followed suit.

"I'll be here if you need anything," Tails assured Sonic, willing to assist if necessary; he knew for a fact that Knuckles wouldn't do the same.

Captain Falcon would be at the breakfast table, but he had a huge dilemma on his hands. Many of his friends from the F-Zero Grand Prix were stopping by to visit, and he had no idea how to entertain them. He couldn't depend upon Samurai Goroh to come up with any ideas, so he turned to his fellow mansion residents for help.

"Suppose your friends are coming to town for a visit," Captain Falcon proposed to Cloud in the kitchen, as Cloud was trying to fix himself a glass of orange juice without being bothered. "What do you do for them? Throw 'em a party?"

"News flash, Falcon - I'm not really much of a party person," stated Cloud, placing the orange juice back in the fridge after fixing his glass. "Only parties I've ever been to are the ones Aerith invited me to."

"Not much of a party person, huh? Then how do you explain...THIS!" Captain Falcon pulled out his phone and showed Cloud a photo of him at a party wearing a party hat. Cloud made out the image as he squinted his eyes.

"What is King Dedede doing to me from behind...and why am I shirtless? When did you take this photo?" Cloud snatched the phone away from Captain Falcon, now in an angry mood as he looked long and hard at the unflattering picture of him.

"Oh, Captain Falcon! We've been waiting for you!" Nowi called out to the racer as she entered the kitchen; accompanying Nowi was her daughter, Nah, who hadn't been at the mansion in Lord knows how long.

"Sorry, babe, I was asking Cloud for some pointers." Captain Falcon pointed at Cloud, who was frowning as he stared at the image on Falcon's phone. "Now he won't even give me my phone! What a jerk!"

"Yeah, you're such a jerk, Cloud!" Nowi followed up Captain Falcon as she shouted at Cloud...and Cloud was too incensed to even respond. Regardless, Nah was facepalming at her mom's shenanigans.

Nah: I've stayed away from my mom for my own sanity. Whenever Lucina invited her friends for a day at the beach or even an egg hunt, I chose to stay behind knowing that my mom would be lurking around to embarrass me. *sighs* Today I wasn't as fortunate.

Captain Falcon: Nowi is gonna have her socks knocked off when she sees my old buddies from the Grand Prix. Which one will leave the biggest lasting impression on her? Good question! Dr. Stewart might dazzle Nowi with his surgeon skills. Pico could show off his blade collection. Mighty Gazelle can make Nowi a fan of his by doing the Robot (been bugging him for years to do it). Jody Summer, she can give Nowi fashion tips or something. And The Skull...I fear that he might scare Nowi away. In which case, I'll have to Falcon Punch him to oblivion.

"Any ideas yet?" Samurai Goroh asked Captain Falcon, stopping by the mansion to see how his rival was coming along. Goroh grabbed Cloud's glass of orange juice while Cloud was still looking at that embarrassing picture.

"Nothing as of yet," replied Captain Falcon, as Samurai Goroh scared down the orange juice in one gulp before slamming the glass on the counter. "But I'd hate to throw a party."

"Oh, you know they're gonna want a party...or some kind of get-together. We haven't seen them in ages, surely they'll want to do something big!"

"Here's your phone back, Falcon; I'm gonna have to ask some questions later," Cloud said to Captain Falcon as he handed the racer back his phone. The swordsman then grabbed his glass of orange juice...only to see that it was now empty. "Alright, who drank my orange juice?"

"I still think that you're a jerk, Cloud!" Nowi shouted at the swordsman, under the guise that she finally had his attention. Nah shook her head, seeing Captain Falcon as a bad influence on her mom.

If Conker wanted to have the house that Earnest used to live in, he obviously had to pay for it first. Being that he was living on the streets for so long, eating out of dumpsters and the like, finding money would be hard for him to come back. That's where Layton and Luke come in.

Layton and Luke's goal was to have Conker in that house by the end of the month, and they would do whatever was necessary to reach that goal. With that goal in mind, the detective duo stopped by the Happy Home Designers' office in Seattle to speak with Digby.

"Digby's office. It's just down this way," Lyle said to Layton and Luke, as the otter guided the duo down the hallway to where Digby's office was. Layton and Luke weren't alone, for they brought Wario with them.

"So nice of you to let me buy my own house!" Wario showed his appreciation to Layton and Luke, who were both smiling whimsically as they hadn't shared with Wario the full details. "Won't be living in it, though - it'll be just a flex."

"Who exactly will you be flexing on?" Luke asked Wario, who let out a really hearty laugh; Wario had an answer ready to go, as he anticipated Luke asking him that question.

"My haters, of course! Haters such as..." Wario's mind soon drawn a blank, as the fatso stopped smiling and scratched his head deep in thought. "...who is it out there that hates me?"

"Sounds to me like you haven't looked hard enough," quipped Layton, as Lyle soon brought Layton and company to Lyle's office. The door was wide open, as Lyle was in his office adjusting items on his desk.

"Lyle! You have clients," Lyle said to the Shih Tzu after knocking on the door, as he grabbed Digby's attention. Digby looked up at Lyle, who redirected his attention to Layton and company. "Here is Lyle. Not busy. Take all the time you need."

"Thank you for the guide, Lyle," Layton thanked the otter as he tipped his hat; Lyle nodded as he got out of Layton's way, allowing him, Luke, and Wario to enter Digby's office.

"Does he always talk like that?" Wario asked Digby as he pointed back at Lyle, unable to understand how Digby and Lottie put up with the otter. Layton and Luke both took a seat.

"He'll occasionally use only complete sentences on his best days..." replied Digby, before taking a sip from a perfectly brewed cup of coffee that Brewster sent to him...in the mail. "...on his best days. So! What can I help you guys with?"

"Wario here would like to buy a house," Layton explained to Digby, as Wario was too busy analyzing the trinkets hanging up on Digby's walls to take a seat. "So that he can...flex on his haters."

"Why did you have to say it like that?" Wario questioned Layton, who was busy picking his nose; he better not get any boogers on any of the pictures Digby had of him and Isabelle.

"Are you for real? I don't get why Wario would..." a confused Digby started, and it wasn't until Layton gave him a wink that the confusion Digby had suddenly vanished away. "...yeah, yeah, a house is definitely a good flex!"

"That's what I keep telling Alph, but he won't understand." Wario was finished picking his nose, wiping the boogers on his pants. Those pictures of Digby and Isabelle were saved. "A poor person like him will never get it."

Digby: The goal is to have Wario pay for Conker's house since Conker obviously can't be trusted to pay upfront. From what I've seen at that restaurant, he'd waste all that money on alcohol. We let Sonic chip in a bit so that he can feel further accomplished by helping Conker land a new home. But either way, I'll get a heck of a payday!

"Luckily for you, Wario, we have a house in Seattle looking for a worthy homeowner," Digby said to the fatso as he whipped out his tablet and pulled up an image of Earnest's house. He showed the house to Wario, and Wario...was not a fan.

"I dunno, it looks too average," Wario gave his honest critique of the house, rubbing his chin as he imagined the inside of the house to be just as average. "Can't really flex on poor people with it."

"So are you saying the poor people your haters, Wario?" Luke asked the fatso, who did very little to deny the very fact as he scrolled through the images of the house on Digby's tablet. "Way to be classist!"

"Kitchen looks blah, the living room looks blah, the bathroom looks...why is the bathroom in the kitchen?" Wario saw in one image a toilet visible in the kitchen area, which gave him some pause.

"...we can turn that into a closet," Digby half-assured Wario as he took the tablet away, saving Wario from seeing any more photos that might potentially reinforce his decision. "Or we could keep it! Who knows if you have to drop a deuce while cooking."

"I wouldn't know, I rarely cook as much." Not much of a surprise there; Wario was too lazy to even lift his pinky finger. "On that note, stuff like DoorDash should be mandatory."

"Do you want to purchase this house, or what?" Digby couldn't let Wario change the subject - he had to make Wario make a pivotal choice. "'Cause you're rich, you can pay upfront."

"No thanks, it's too 'meh' for my liking. Show me an upper-class house instead!" Left with no other choice, Digby looked toward Layton and Luke in the hopes that they could sway Wario's mind.

"We'll be taking Wario outside," Layton said to Digby as he and Luke got up from their seats. The detective placed his hand on Wario, about to lead the fatso out of Digby's office. "Gonna have a little...heart-to-heart. We'll be back."

"Hoo boy, I hope that's a code name for food!" Wario rubbed his hands excitedly, as Layton and Luke left the office - the new goal? Convince Wario that buying the house was a worthy investment.

"Sure hope that he can come around," Digby said after Layton and company left, as he got up from his chair and looked at the wall - and gasped, almost dropping his cup of coffee. "He left a booger on my college degree..."

Fox was in happy spirits after receiving his new laptop from Samus, and he was currently using his device in the mansion's computer room. Sitting next to Fox was his main man Falco, who wanted to see how great the laptop was. Especially after how much Fox talked up a storm about it.

"This laptop is phenomenal," Fox stressed to Falco, while Samus and X were in the computer room checking out the mansion's security tape. "I can use it indoors, I can use it outdoors, I can probably use it on a plane..."

"I hope that you can use it on a plane," Samus said to Fox, slowly starting to regret her decision in buying Fox a new laptop. "If you like it so much, why don't you make it your child or something?"

"I'll only accept it if I'm the godfather," stated Falco; the avian pilot was forbidden by Krystal to be Marcus's godfather, so he'll take any chance he can get. "Does the laptop have a name yet?"

"That...won't be necessary," replied Fox as he moved his laptop further away from Falco, seeing how much of an eager beaver he was.

Falco: Kinda upset that Samus never got me a laptop. You'd think that being the best friend of someone like Fox gives you privileges. But Samus never really had any genuine friends, so I can't blame her for overlooking me.

"There he is, right there," shouted X as he pointed at the computer monitor; on the screen was Dimentio, who was speaking with Giovanni and Magolor outside the mansion. Giovanni attracted the most attention.

"Dimentio broke Giovanni out of jail, huh..." inferred Samus, as Ness and Lucas were gathered outside the computer room eavesdropping. "...he still has that dead weight around in Magolor, so at least that cancels things out."

"You hear that? Dimentio's back," Ness whispered to Lucas, as he had informed his friend about Dimenito's return. Up until that point, he was too nervous to tell his friends a thing.

"Anything you expect us to do about it?" asked Lucas, far more hesitant to deal with Dimentio straight up than Ness was. "Not like we know where he and his cronies are hiding."

"True, true, but it wouldn't hurt to do something. We were the ones who released Dimentio into our universe...might as well send him home packing."

Cloud still had some activities to do on his to-do list before returning Denzel home, and one of them was kart racing on the mansion's race course. Yet another activity that Sora suggested. Cloud hoped that the race course was unoccupied, but when he and Denzel arrived at the place...

"...of course, it's already taken," Cloud grumbled when he saw Captain Falcon setting stuff up on the race course, with some help from Samurai Goroh and the Excitebike Racer. Nowi and Nah were watching Captain Falcon's progress.

"Need more speed boosts!" shouted Captain Falcon as he placed a speed boost on the racetrack, stomping it repeatedly to make sure that it stuck. "We can't have a race with only a couple of them."

"Where do we get them from? You know how expensive they are?" asked the Excitebike Racer, who used all the speed boosts that were available in the mansion's storage room. The racer saw Captain Falcon fumbling around in his pocket. "What are you doing...?"

"Dang it, where did I leave my gun..." Captain Falcon checked his holster for his firearms, eventually giving up as he stopped his search. "...meh, I'll just threaten you with my fists instead."

"Guess go-karting will have to be saved for later," Denzel said as he turned around and was about to walk away...but Cloud placed his hand on the boy's shoulder, preventing him from leaving.

"We're not giving up that easily," Cloud said to Denzel, as he had an idea in mind - ask Captain Falcon and Samurai Goroh if he and Denzel could join their race. The swordsman led Denzel up to the race course, catching Nowi's attention.

"Hey, loser!" Nowi shouted to Cloud, as she waved to the swordsman. The half-Manakete then grabbed Nah's hand and brought her daughter over to Cloud and Denzel. "Came here to watch the race?"

"Why did she call you a loser just now?" Denzel quietly asked Cloud, who held his tongue as he allowed Nowi to exhaust her fumes. Nowi sounded like she had a lot more to say.

"Ooh, I know what it is - you wanted to show how superior your kid is to mine. Well, I got news for you, mister - my kid is so much better than yours!"

"You tell 'em, babe!" cheered Captain Falcon as he pumped his fist, showing some solidarity with his girlfriend...and Nah, who was facepalming away. "Look at Nah, being so humble..."

"Why me...?" lamented Nah, wondering what she had done to deserve having Nowi as her mom - and Captain Falcon being her mom's boyfriend. It was like she was living in a nightmare.

A bunch of vehicles zoomed overhead, as everyone at the race course looked up and saw several flying racing vehicles hovering above. Captain Falcon and Samurai Goroh smiled with glee, as these vehicles descended to the ground.

"They have arrived!" rejoiced Samurai Goroh, as the racing vehicles all parked near the race course. The first vehicle to land was a yellow one, as the hatch opened with a surgeon wearing a yellow racing suit stepping out.

"The doctor...is now in," the surgeon announced, cringing at his own line as he pinched the crown of his nose. "Why even compelled me to say that out loud..." Soon the hatches of the other vehicles opened.

"Mr. Robert Stewart! Long time no see!" Captain Falcon greeted the surgeon with a two-finger salute, as he was even more excited to see the rest of his F-Zero pals. Nowi was just as happy, Samurai Goroh was happy too, and Cloud and Denzel failed to see the appeal.

Cloud: Captain Falcon's racing buddies all arrived at the same time, in the same exact location...how awfully convenient.

"It's Doctor Robert Stewart to you," Dr. Stewart corrected Captain Falcon, extremely baffled that the racer could make such an easy mistake. Captain Falcon was joined by a green alien, who happened to look like a turtle

"Hey, Pico - how nice of you to take a day off from your professional killing spree," Captain Falcon greeted the alien, with the mere mention of Pico being a professional killer making Cloud worried about Denzel's well-being.

"Hope you got a guy at the mansion that you can let me kill," Pico said to Captain Falcon, pulling out his gun; that left Cloud even more on edge. "Gotta kill somebody before the end of the day."

"Yeah...we won't be doing that around here." Captain Falcon kindly lowered Pico's hand, before looking around to see if Kazuya was nearby eavesdropping. "...wait, is that the Mighty Gazelle?"

"Yes, it is I," replied a cyborg racer, the Mighty Gazelle who approached Captain Falcon with his hand out. Falcon shook the Mighty Gazelle's hand. "It's nice to see you again, partner."

"Same here! Say, have you met my girlfriend?" Captain Falcon grabbed Nowi and showed him off to the Mighty Gazelle and others. Nowi smiled and waved.

"I'm the best girlfriend ever!" exclaimed Nowi, before leaning in close to Captain Falcon and kissing him on the cheek. The other F-Zero racers didn't know what to make of the half-Manakete.

"Mighty Gazelle, do it! Do the Robot!" Captain Falcon had a crazed look on his face, expecting the Mighty Gazelle to bust out some dance moves. But the Gazelle would do no such thing.

"How many times do we have to go over this...I'm a cyborg, not a robot," the Mighty Gazelle informed Captain Falcon, who was still expecting the cyborg to bust out a move or two. Anything to entertain Nowi.

"Okay, so what's the difference?" Captain Falcon crinkled his nose, as the Mighty Gazelle sighed and walked away. Taking the Gazelle's place was the only female F-Zero racer in town - a brunette who wore pink.

"And here I thought that you weren't interested in love," the brunette smirked at Captain Falcon, who flashed a smile as he wrapped his arm around Nowi. Nah almost wanted to barf.

"I just couldn't help myself, Jody," replied Captain Falcon, as the love he had for Nowi could not be understated. "Although you could've been the one..." That got Jody to silence Falcon quickly, as she placed her finger on the racer's lips.

"Let's not get too ahead of ourselves - I prefer to operate alone." As Jody took her finger away from Captain Falcon, she saw the last F-Zero racer coming into focus...the skeletal racer known as the Skull.

"Captain Falcon...I have come to take your soul," the Skull said menacingly to Captian Falcon, coming off as intimidating and mysterious...only for the mystique to go away when he saw Nowi. "Is that seriously your girlfriend? A twelve-year-old?"

"You jealous?" Captain Falcon grinned as he wrapped his arm around Nowi even harder - if that was even possible to do. But Falcon wasn't done impressing his friends just yet. "Say, why don't you all say hello to my future daughter?"

"No thank you, I'm not interested," Nah called out to Captain Falcon, who ran over to the girl and dragged her over to Nowi against her will. Captain Falcon presented Nah to his friends, with Nah looking bummed out.

"She looks miserable," commented Pico, as both Captain Falcon and Nowi failed to see the misery written on Nah's face. "May I put her out of her misery?"

"Lay a finger on her and I will kill you..." Nowi threatened Pico, who was about to pull his gun out only to think twice when Nowi gave him a nasty look. Nowi rarely went full dragon these days, but she'd do it if it meant protecting her child.

"Didn't know that he was fine with a twelve-year-old bearing a child," the Skull whispered to Samurai Goroh, convinced and also a bit disturbed that Captain Falcon was potentially dating an underage female. Samurai Goroh chuckled.

"Wait! There's one more person I want to introduce you guys to," announced Captain Falcon, as the Excitebike Racer waited for his name to be called. however, he was met with disappointment when Captain Falcon walked over to Cloud. "This is Cloud Strife! One of my best friends."

"Said no one ever," grumbled Cloud, knowing that Captain Falcon was acting chummy with him just so he could look good in front of his compatriots. The Excitebike Racer lowered his head and walked away in sadness.

"He's also a loser," Tiki said to the F-Zero racers, making sure that they knew this pivotal information. Cloud grumbled once more, as the constant name-calling was starting to bother him.

"Yes, bravo...now enough with the introductions," said Dr. Stewart, not that interested in seeing Cloud as he wanted to get to the fun stuff already. "So what brilliant plans do you have, Captain Falcon?"

"Glad you asked!" Captain Falcon happily replied as he brought everyone's attention to the racecourse, which in Falcon's opinion was incomplete. "We're gonna have a race, for old times' sake. What do you say?"

Captain Falcon: A good ol' race is a great way to spend time with your fellow racing buddies. And Nowi, who will be the eighth racer obviously. The guys...and Jody...are only ever interested in racing stuff anyway, so it'll work out just fine. Totally not like they'll suggest that we do something else! Not in a million, trillion years!

"Really? I was thinking that maybe we can throw a party or a small get-together," suggested Jody, not in the mood for racing at the moment. The other racers (sans Falcon) felt the same way. "We can save the racing for later."

"Hahaha, I tried to warn you!" Samurai Goroh pointed and laughed at Captain Falcon, who was met with major disappointment. Never before has Captain Falcon been let down so much by the folks that he considered his friends.

"Way to ruin my plans for..." Captain Falcon started, only to regain his composure as he was now forced to call an audible. Nothing he can't handle. "...Nowi, I need you to watch over Nah while I secure a party venue."

"Should be the other way around..." Nah muttered under her breath, as Captain Falcon ran off to make lemonade out of a couple of lemons. With the race course now free for the taking, that only meant one thing.

"Looks like we can have that race after all," Cloud said to Denzel, as Nowi overheard the swordsman speaking with the urge to say what was on her mind. "We'll leave the speed boosts right where they are."

"Have fun racing with your inferior kid, loser!" Nowi taunted Cloud while flashing the loser hand signal over her head. The half-Manakete was enjoying the teasing, while Cloud - and Nah - felt the opposite.

Captain Falcon wasn't just focused on finding a party venue - he was also looking for anyone to help him with the party-planning process. Believing that asking the party planning committee for guidance was a "copout", the racer instead sought out Mario.

But when Captain Falcon went to Mario's house, he learned from Peach that Mario wasn't even home! Quite peculiar, given that Mario's car was in the driveway. So the question at hand was...where on earth was Mario?

"Mama mia! These brownies sure-a hit the spot," gleamed Mario, who was at Alm and Berkut's house treating himself to some brownies. Spyro and Hunter accompanied, but only to keep Mario in check since Alm and the others chose not to.

"At any minute his stomach will burst out," Spyro said to Hunter, keeping a close eye on Mario's gut; it was a miracle that the brownies didn't make Mario any fatter, given that he was eating them in excess.

"What's wrong, Berkut?" Alm asked the paladin, who was watching Mario eat away with his fists clenched. A vein was even protruding from Berkut's forehead. "Mario is eating too many brownies?"

"No, it's just that he's eating them...as a blue-collar," replied Berkut, wishing for his homemade brownies to be some kind of gourmet delicacy. An average joe like Mario eating the brownies kind of ruined the illusion. "He must be stopped at once."

"We're working on it," Hunter assured Berkut, despite doing very little to actually stop Mario; he was mainly delegating that task to Spyro.

"Falcon...PUUUUUNCH!" shouted Captain Falcon as he Falcon Punched the front door down, taking it off its hinges. Everyone looked at the racer...save for Mario, who was still devouring the brownies. "Sorry, everyone, I'm not that keen on using door handles."

"When have you ever used a door handle?" Berkut questioned Captain Falcon while having an idea of why the racer wanted to drop by. "Also, the brownies are twenty cents apiece."

"Don't upsell him..." Rinea whispered to Berkut, frowning at her husband as she nudged him in his side. Berkut mumbled under his breath as Captain Falcon approached Mario.

"Captain Falcon, you have to taste-a these brownies - they're the best!" Mario said to the racer, not knowing when or even how to stop. Shows you how obsessed he was with the confections.

"I know they're the best, but that is beside the point," stated Captain Falcon as he swatted the brownies out of Mario's hands. The brownies landed on the floor, as Alm and company gasped. "My friends are in town, and they want me to throw a party for them!"

"Need some catering?" Celica proposed to Captain Falcon, as Hunter was grabbing the brownies off the floor when no one was looking. "We have enough brownies for your friends...provided that Mario doesn't eat them all."

"You are so gross, man..." Spyro shook his head at Hunter, who was down on all fours stuffing the brownies into his mouth. Best to take hold of the opportunity while you still can.

"Catering with brownies sounds like a good start," said Captain Falcon, happy to know that he wouldn't be alone in securing the party food. "But we'll obviously need more."

"Quick question: are these friends of yours in the same class of racing as you are?" Berkut asked Captain Falcon, only to receive weird looks from Alm, Celica, and his own wife Rinea. "Just asking..."

"If you want, Captain Falcon, I can have Anna hook-a you up with some 'special entertainment,'" Mario told the racer, after taking the time to swallow. Can't talk with your mouth full. "She knows-a exactly where to look..."

Sonic was about to do something that many of the other residents would pass up on doing...having an honest sit-down conversation with Jakob. The blue hedgehog would find Jakob chilling in the lounge, speaking with the Team Rocket trio of Jessie, James, and Meowth. And maybe Wobbuffet, should he appear out of his Poke Ball.

"I feel as if we're all on the same wavelength," Jakob said to the Team Rocket trio, as Sonic and Lavenza were standing outside the lounge eavesdropping and keeping watch. "Worked for a bad guy, and then later wished to make amends."

"You are so right..." Jessie agreed with Jakob as she smiled; when Jakob momentarily looked away, Jessie leaned in close to James and Meowth and whispered to them, "...do we even know this twerp well?"

"My best memory of him was getting Dragon Pulsed by that Rayquaza," Meowth whispered back, still amazed that Jakob somehow survived Rayquaza's powerful attack. "But I did catch a glimpse of him getting punched by a pixelated wrestler before that."

"You mean the same one that Pit summoned?" inquired James, who recalled the raucous scene at the drop tower on last year's New Year's Eve. "His sharp pixels gave me a cut on my finger!"

"Stop being such a weakling, James!" scolded Jessie as she gave James an aggressive backhand, before returning to her conversation with Jakob. "So, Dr. Eggman...what was working for him like?"

Jakob: Not a lot of places in the mansion where I can find any sort of solace. Whether it's the gaming room, or the arcade, nine times out of ten I'm getting a dirty look for someone. Can't even step inside Cafe Leblanc without facing disapproval. Has my alliance with Dr. Eggman damaged my reputation that much? And if the others forgave Eggman for what he did...why haven't they forgiven me?

"Hey, mind if I take this? Wanna chat for a bit with Jakob," Sonic said to Team Rocket as he entered the lounge; Team Rocket got up from the couch, assuming that Sonic got triggered when Eggman was mentioned.

"Not at all! We'll be out of your way," replied James as he, Jessie, and Meowth were elated to no longer give Jakob a single iota of their time. As the trio was about to leave the lounge...Wobbuffet appeared out of his Poke Ball.

"WOOOOBBBUUUFFEEET!" cried Wobbuffet, as Jessie angrily gritted her teeth wanting to backhand the patient Pokemon. But she had already used her backhand on James.

"Must you be such an attention hog?!" Jessie growled at Wobbuffet as she grabbed her Pokemon by his ear - wherever it was - and dragged him out of the lounge. With Team Rocket gone, Sonic and Lavenza both took a seat.

"Nice of you to join me, Sonic," Jakob said to the hedgehog, curious as to why he wanted to speak with him all of a sudden. Sonic propped his feet on the table in front of him, as he took out a chili dog.

"You've never been fully introduced to Lavenza, have you?" Sonic asked Jakob, leaning back so that Jakob could see Lavenza in full view. Lavenza was sitting right next to Sonic. "Jakob this is Lavenza; Lavenza, this is Jakob."

"My pleasure," Lavenza warmly greeted Jakob as she extended her hand to the butler; Jakob gingerly shook Lavenza's hand, unable to shake off the feeling that something was off.

"Alright, Sonic, what is this twisted game you're playing?" Jakob asked the blue hedgehog, who took a bite out of his chili dog. Jakob was almost certain that Sonic had a secret ulterior motive.

"Whatever this 'twisted game' is, I'd love to hear it," replied Sonic, finishing the rest of his chili dog as he stuffed it down his mouth. At least he took the time to chew his food. "I really wanted to ask you about your jail experience."

"My jail experience?" Jakob did have a few stories to tell about his time in jail, but he didn't think that Sonic was a person worth hearing these anecdotes. "Why would someone like you want to know? Even know what jail is like?"

"You bet - I've been to jail three times!" Sonic held up three fingers in front of Jakob, who was aghast as he never would've imagined anyone of Sonic's caliber being behind bars that many times.

"Three times? I assume that it was for speeding." In the state of Washington, a speeding offense often resulted in a $5,000 fine and up to a year in jail.

"Ended up in regular jail two times, and also had to do time in North Korean jail too. Still crazy how I made it out of North Korean jail alive."

"Well, well...guess this means that we have something in common." Jakob was pulling on his ascot, as he was...smiling? Jakob seldom smiled, so Sonic saw that as a huge achievement. For Jakob and for him.

"Would ya say that your old jail buddies treated you better than anyone here has?" Sonic was smiling at Jakob as he gave the butler a slight nudge, trying to bring more personality out of him if possible.

"Received less cold shoulders at the jailhouse...the inmates there were more concerned about their business. I doubt that I ever existed to any of them."

As Jakob stated, Cafe Leblanc was a mansion locale that he couldn't visit without getting any dirty looks. With no Jakob around, it was peace and quiet in the cafe, save for some chatter and a few jokes from Sans.

"Isn't that a great catch or what?" asked Jacky Bryant, sitting at the counter showing some folks a video on his phone. It was a video of the Duck Hunt Dog catching a Frisbee at the beach two weeks ago.

"he has that dog in him," quipped Sans, as his pun immediately killed the mood; Jacky and the others groaned at Sans, with Pit getting back to work.

"Man, I can't wait until I get this collar off," said Pit as he looked down at his ankle, and saw the ankle collar wrapped around his foot. Couldn't go anywhere while on the job with that collar on. "When can I take it off, Joker?"

"Whenever Toadsworth returns to the Mushroom Kingdom," replied Joker, who was noodling around on his phone playing a game. "His pilot should be ready to go. Speaking of which, did you ever..."

"Hey, Pit, you got a moment?" Link asked the angel, as he and Zelda entered Cafe Leblanc; in Zelda's hand was some kind of document. Pit was all ears, stepping away from the coffee machine.

"Sure, what's up?" Pit asked Link and Zelda, under the pretense that he was about to be given a million-dollar check. He didn't know any other reason why Link and Zelda wished to speak with him at this time.

"We regret to inform you that you may be in big trouble," Zelda informed Pit, before showing him the document she had in her possession. Pit squinted his eyes as he made out the documentation.

"That's one weird-looking check." Upon seeing that no monetary value was listed, Pit immediately saw the title at the very top. "The heck is a bench warrant?"

"Basically another word for an arrest warrant," explained Link, as Pit looked on in sudden fear knowing what his fate was. "A judge wants you arrested for missing your court date."

"You gotta be joking! I showed up at the court, and right on time too. It was that stupid pilot who no-showed, he deserves the arrest warrant."

Zelda: Pit never showed up to his court date. While the pilot was in the courtroom, Pit on the other hand...was at the wrong court. The tennis court. Decked in his tennis gear and all. He thought that he and the pilot could settle their differences over some tennis match. But at least he got a tennis match for all his troubles, although he nearly lost to a man with no working arms.

"There's a way for you to get out of this," Link said to Pit, letting the angel know that not all hope was lost. "You can always pay a fine."

"Or you can have a bail bondsman post a bail to the court," added Zelda, not entirely confident that Pit would find his way out of his predicament so easily. "The choice is up to you."

"Eh, I'll figure it out," said Pit as he accepted the bench warrant from Link, hoping to figure something soon to avoid being arrested. "Before you go...what exactly does a bail bondsman do?"

"That's for you to figure out," replied Link, as he and Zelda both left the cafe; seeing that the Hylian couple was no help, Pit hurriedly took out his phone and googled "bail bondsman".

"Let's hope that Pit knows what bail bondsman means..." Kirby said to the other baristas, willing to take a step back and allow Pit to handle his own situation.

With some help from Alm and others, Mario and Captain Falcon were setting things up for the party, which was to take place in the mansion's living room. Spyro and Hunter also offered to assist, since they both felt that Mario could use some extra hands.

"These party decorations look awfully kiddy," remarked Spyro, who found the race car decorations that Mario was putting up to be oddly fitting. "Did you plan on saving these for later or something?"

"For Charles' sixth-a birthday, yes," replied Mario, who pulled the decorations out from his attic. The plumber hoped that none of Captain Falcon's friends would pay the Lightning Mcqueen toy stand any mind.

"Any party would be incomplete without a few soft drinks," stated Nowi as she placed a bunch of sodas on a nearby table. Said sodas came from Alm and Berkut's house.

"How did she get our sodas...?" Alm asked Celica, who shrugged in response as Nowi had a big smile on her face. The half-Manakete felt accomplished.

"This is some tasty party food you got here, Mario," Bowser Jr. said to the plumber, as he and Bowser were in the living room...but not helping. Rather, they were eating some of the food that was on display.

"Keep your hands off!" Berkut shouted at Bowser and Bowser Jr. as he swatted their hands away from the food. "This food is for cultured folk, and by cultured folk, I mean Captain Falcon's friends. Hopefully, they are cultured."

"Junior and I just wanted to verify that the food about to be consumed isn't crap," stated Bowser, trying to reach for a brownie when Berkut was looking. But Berkut caught Bowser red-handed, as he wrangled with the Koopa King.

"Captain Falcon, I have a question to ask of you," Pico said to the racer as he came from the dining room; the Skull was following after him. "How exactly can you destroy a 'Crystal Core'?"

"Pico is just dying to kill somebody before the party," the Skull explained to Captain Falcon; Pico clearly couldn't wait until later in the day. "Personally, I hope to see him succeed..."

"Who said that you two were allowed to be here?" Captain Falcon scolded Pico and the Skull, as he pushed both racers out of the living room. "Wait until the party starts, dang it!"

"Oh, Mario! Captain Falcon! I have acquired the special entertainment!" Anna called out from afar, as both Mario and Captain Falcon were elated to hear the news. The special entertainment would really bring the party together.

"Bring 'em on in!" So Anna brought in the special entertainment, which consisted of a dancer wearing red garb and a young man who looked like an alchemist. Nobody knew what to make of this duo.

"Let me introduce you to your special entertainers - Primrose Azelhart and Alfyn Greengrass!" Anna did a little show of jazz hands, as Primrose and Alfyn had everyone's full attention.

"Much obliged for inviting us to your party!" the alchemist-looking fellow, Alfyn, thanked Mario and company; he brought a book with him just in case the party died down.

"This isn't a tavern..." muttered the dancer, Primrose, who was looking to kill a man today; she and Pico might bond during the party proceedings.

Anna: It was admittedly pretty easy finding Primrose and Alfyn. When they said that they were "lost", I was immediately sold!

"So you're a dancer, eh?" Bowser asked Primrose, after throwing Berkut off of him; he approached Primrose, who was wise enough to back away. "Do a little dance for me!"

"I am not dancing for your entertainment," Primrose bluntly stated, refusing to bust out a single dance move even if Bowser paid her a dollar.

"Okay then, in that case..." Resorting to different measures, Bowser grabbed Bowser jr. and held him in front of Primrose, while turning his head away. "...dance for my son's entertainment instead! Promise that I won't look."

"So if she's a dancer, what's his schtick?" Hunter asked Anna as he pointed at Alfyn; nothing about Alfyn truly screamed "special entertainment" material.

"Glad you asked - I'm an apothecary!" Alfyn happily replied as he showed off his book, largely expecting Hunter and company to know what an apothecary even was. All that he got instead were a bunch of confused faces.

"Apothecary is another word for chemist or pharmacist," Celica whispered to Hunter and company, as they quickly understood right away. Captain Falcon only heard the word pharmacist and grew upset.

"You invited a drug dealer to my party?" Falcon asked Anna, who frowned as she checked around to see if this drug dealer was in hiding. "What on earth is wrong with you?"

"Drugs? Someone's selling drugs?" inquired Samurai Goroh, overhearing Captain Falcon as he giddily stepped inside the living room. "Yeah, baby!"

"Out, OUT!" shouted Mario, pushing Samurai Goroh back to the dining room where he belonged. Very much beside himself, Captain Falcon walked over to where Nah was, at the living room entrance away from her mom.

"We can't let your mom anywhere near Alfyn," Captain Falcon quietly spoke with Nah as he looked at Alfyn, seeing the apothecary as nothing but trouble. "Don't want her smoking up the joint!"

"I'll say..." responded Nah, failing to see Alfyn as much of a threat; the Manakate was more worried about how Nowi would conduct herself during the party.

While Sonic was getting to know Jakob better, Tails was at the tower hanging out with Knuckles. Knuckles had just recorded a new rap song and was playing it to Tails, expecting praise from his fox friend.

"Who the heck is doing the adlibs?" Tails asked Knuckles, cringing nonstop through the song as he had to stomach the music. "Sounds like a dying cat mixed with an old man."

"Alucard - had to give him a lot of autotune," replied Knuckles, as Tails had to do a double take. Several folks passed by Knuckles' room with disgusted looks, wishing for Knuckles to hit the pause button.

"But why Alucard? How'd you get him on this joint?" Obviously, Alucard was not a huge fan of rap music; classical music was more up the dhampir's alley.

"Personally invited him to a 'poetry in motion' session...and he fell for it!" Knuckles raised his fists, acting as if he was the most ingenious person among his echidna people. "Well, fell for it isn't the best way to describe it, since this song is poetry in motion..."

"I strongly beg to differ." Tails looked at this phone and saw that he had received a text notification from Sonic. The yellow fox got to typing away.

"Who are you texting? Sonic? Ask him where Lavenza dragged his butt off to - he's gotta check out this song!" Too late for that, as Tails had just sent his message.

"Sonic will have to hear it later; he's busy with Jakob." It was a mistake for Tails to mention Sonic and Jakob in the same breath, as Knuckles paused his rap song and looked at Tails all crazy.

"FINALLY, HE PAUSED THE SONG!" Saki Amamiya was heard rejoicing from down the hallway, as Tails realized the damage he had done. "The torture has come to an end!"

"I mean, he's busy with Jacob...with a C! Jacob's the realtor for Conker's house." Tails' letter switcheroo trick worked, as Knuckles eased up and hit the play button. Tails sighed in relief, as Saki screamed in agony.

Samus and X continued to review the security footage, looking for any other signs of Dimentio, Magolor, and Giovanni. They were currently going over last week's footage, as they saw Jakob standing at the lakeside.

"Nothing out of the ordinary so far," observed Samus, watching as Mario had a conversation with Jakob before returning to his house. Seconds later, Samus and X saw Dimentio approach Jakob.

"This is interesting..." remarked X, certain that Jakob and Dimentio were having a candid conversation with both men on the same page. Ness and Lucas sat together in a row behind Samus and X, peeking at the footage.

"A discussion of an evil plan, or just Dimentio trying to recruit Jakob?" Lucas asked Ness, as the footage being played looked suspicious to those who had their eyes on it.

"Definitely the latter - Jakob wouldn't return to the dark side that quickly," replied Ness, as Fox wheeled his chair over to Ness and Lucas while bringing his laptop.

"Psst, have you boys heard Knuckles' new rap song?" Fox asked Ness and Lucas, with the rap song Knuckles played for Tails pulled up on the laptop. "It's a real bop if you give it a chance."

"Not now, you'll blow our cover..." Blow Ness and Lucas' cover Fox did, as he pressed a button on his keyboard and played the rap song. The questionable background music, mixed in with Knuckles' rap and Alucard's adlibs, made for some interesting reactions.

"Why do I hear awful autotune...?" wondered Samus as she crinkled her nose, only to turn around and look at Fox. While Ness and Lucas took cover, Fox smiled and waved. "...ah, should've known. Think I've made a huge mistake."

Alucard: Knuckles tricked me, and now my name will forever be stuck to that wretched song. Thought it was my one chance to take a crack at some slam poetry, but it was nothing more than a trap.

The party was underway in the living room, as Captain Falcon was partying it up with many of his friends (and Nowi). Not much partying was going on, as the F-Zero veterans were more or less focused on catching up with each other.

"Chef Kawasaki is a horrible chef," Samurai Goroh said to the Skull, super grateful that Kawasaki wasn't in charge of the party menu. "He bakes extra fat into his pancakes. His pancakes!"

"I personally see nothing wrong with it," shrugged the Skull, who didn't eat much of the party food; undead people like him hardly ate at all!

"It seems-a that you two require motivation," Mario said to Primrose and Alfyn, sticking around to see how the party was going. The "special entertainers" were not doing what was asked of them, as they were just standing in place.

"What kind of motivation?" asked Primrose, and Mario right on cue took out a pair of maracas. The only thing that was missing was a sombrero, and maybe even a poncho.

"I'll shake-a mine if you shake yours!" Unfortunately for Mario, his plan did not work as Primrose gave the plumber the most threatening blank stare that any human could give.

"No, no, that won't be necessary. I'll entertain the party guests soon, don't you worry..." Half-committed to her promise, Primrose distanced herself from Mario, who put away his maracas in defeat.

"Word has it that you sell drugs," Pico said to Alfyn, who was creeped out by the alien. "So...where do you keep the stash?"

"You're asking the wrong person..." Alfyn nervously as he took a step back from Pico. But Pico was hot on Alfyn's tail, as he followed the apothecary around the living room. "Please, leave me be!"

"C'mon Mighty Gazelle, do the Robot!" Captain Falcon encouraged the cyborg, who was highly against doing the famous dance move. Captain Falcon chanted "Do it!" over and over again, as Nowi joined in.

"For the last time, I am a cyborg - not a robot," the Mighty Gazelle clarified, wishing for Captain Falcon to one day tell the difference. Cloud entered the living room with Denzel, taking a look to see how the party was coming along.

"No way, it's the loser!" squealed Tiki, who was among the first to notice Cloud as she pointed at the swordsman. Captain Falcon and the others turned their attention to Cloud and Denzel.

"Ended your racing early, huh Cloud?" Captain Falcon asked with a smirk, slightly contemplating ending the party on short notice so that he could race his friends. And Nowi. "Denzel smoked you too hard on the race track?"

"No, we had to end our race because of a dumb bystander," replied Cloud - a good call by Cloud to end the race for safety purposes. "Yoshi was lying on the track for some unexplained reason."

"It was a protest!" Yoshi shouted at Cloud as he poked his head inside the living room, shaking his fist mightily at the swordsman. "You were supposed to feel uncomfortable!"

"A protest against what exactly?" Denzel asked Yoshi, who promptly left without a response. Whatever Yoshi wished to protest against was up to Cloud and Denzel's interpretation.

Yoshi: Found it insensitive how Cloud wanted to go go-karting with Denzel with all these high gas prices. Really sticking it to the common man. My protest was meant to make Cloud reconsider his ways, if possible. I mean, sure they're saying that the gas prices were falling, but I won't believe it till I see it. Talk to me when the gas prices are below two dollars, like the good ol' days.

"Well, this party is for my friends only, so I can't let you stick around for long," Captain Falcon said to Cloud, who was prompted to point at Mario as the plumber was eating a bunch of brownies. "Mario is, uh, he's here to keep the peace."

"She doesn't look like a friend of yours," said Denzel as he brought Captain Falcon's attention to Primrose, who was taking a drink. Gotta quench that thirst before entertaining the crowd.

"Yes, well, she's the special entertainment. Primrose, do a little dance for us!" But Primrose refused to dance, as she gave the same look to Captain Falcon that she gave Mario.

"Why don't you dance yourself?" the dancer fired back at Captain Falcon, while her friend Alfyn hid underneath a table to keep away from Pico. "Since you're egging on everyone else to do it..."

"Now that is something I'd love to see," remarked Jody, as she and the other racers were interested in seeing Captain Falcon attempt to dance. The pressure was on Captain Falcon, especially with Nowi watching.

"Do your best, babe!" Nowi cheered on for Captain Falcon, as Nah held her hands over her eyes just in case Captain Falcon embarrassed himself. With his girlfriend pulling for him, Captain Falcon had no choice but to dance.

"You asked for a dance, you got it!" exclaimed Captain Falcon, looking to cut a rug on the dance floor. The racer started dancing in place, as he kicked his legs out and pointed in the air.

"What kind of old-fashioned dance is that?" Dr. Stewart commented on Captain Falcon's dancing, not sure who the racer was trying to impress. "Looks like something out of the 1920s."

"He's still a better dancer than you," the Mighty Gazelle said to Dr. Stewart, relieved that he was no longer obligated to dance. Captain Falcon was stealing most of his thunder

"Here comes the grand finale!" shouted Captain Falcon, putting a fitting bow on his dance...by doing a split on the floor. Since he had never really done a split before, one might assume that Captain Falcon was left in pain.

"Oh my goodness!" exclaimed Jody, as Nowi gasped with her hands over her mouth. Nah had to look away. "Are you okay, Captain Falcon?"

"Never better!" Captain Falcon gave a thumbs up as he smiled, sounding like he was in slight pain. The racer fell over on his back, feeling a painful tingling sensation in his nether regions.

"For the record, I am off for today," Dr. Stewart informed Captain Falcon, letting the racer know that the doctor was not in. Captain Falcon responded with a small moan.

"Hmph...serves you right," Primrose said to Captain Falcon, who was gently dragged away from the party by Nowi. Once Captain Falcon was out of the picture, the party resumed.

Layton and Luke took Wario out on a brief excursion - took the fatso to a restaurant, where he had all the burgers that he could eat. (At least until the restaurant manager begged Wario to stop.) At the restaurant, and on their way back to the Happy Home Designers' office, Layton and Luke had some rather thought-provoking conversations with Wario.

"So what you're saying is, by buying this house I can set a good example?" Wario asked Layton and Luke as he walked with the British detectives down the sidewalk. The fatso was eating a burger that he snuck out of the restaurant.

"Others will want to buy a house just to flex as well," Layton convinced Wario, who really liked the sound of that as he smiled and rubbed his chin. That was the kind of example that Wario would love to set.

"Ha, you're right about that! Then losers like Alph buy houses once they get rich, and flex on all of their friends. It'll be like real-life Monopoly!"

As Wario and the British detectives arrived at an alleyway, they suddenly stopped in their tracks when they saw a man wearing a black suit heading their way. This man had a red "R" on his chest, making it obvious who it was.

"Team Rocket?!" Luke exclaimed after he saw the red "R", only to get on the offensive as the man in the black suit got close enough. "Look, Professor Layton, it's Giovanni!"

"Surprised to see me, aren't you?" Giovanni asked Luke and the others, as his lovely Persian was at his side. He sure knew how to make an entrance. "I am now a free man again!"

"We can assume that you're up to no trouble," Layton said to Giovanni, willing to call the authorities if necessary; there was a payphone nearby, just in case Layton had to make a call.

"No trouble at all...I just wanted to make a kind offer." Giovanni pulled out a briefcase and opened it, and predictably it was full of cash. Wario was hooked instantly, as Giovanni anticipated.

"That's a lot of money, where did you get it from?" Layton was open to giving Giovanni a pass, but he knew from the briefcase that the Team Rocket leader had a trick up his sleeve.

"A kind gentlemen gave me this upon my release. I can't have it for myself, so..." Giovanni looked towards Wario, who was heavily entranced by the Benjamins that were on display.

"Come to papa!" exclaimed Wario, rubbing his hands together as he inched towards the briefcase. Giovanni smiled sinisterly, seeing that his plan was working like a charm.

"Wario, don't, it's a trap!" Luke tried to warn the fatso, but it was no use as Giovanni had successfully reeled Wario in. Giovanni knew what Wario's main vice was, and he was taking huge advantage of it.

Giovanni: We were unsuccessful in convincing Jakob to join our pact, so we were forced to look elsewhere to grow our ranks. Luring someone from the mansion and making them a turncoat is worth a shot.

"We gotta do something, Layton," Luke stressed to Layton, who knew what to do as he ran inside the alleyway. Luke watched as Layton left, wondering what the detective was planning. "Professor Layton?"

"Yes, Wario, come and take this money!" Giovanni enticed the fatso, whose grin was growing bigger with each and every step he took towards the briefcase. "It's all yours for the taking."

"Definitely gonna buy another house with this moolah!" gleamed Wario, his hands close to the briefcase; he was almost fingertips away. "Gonna flex on my haters so hard that they'll..."

Just when Wario was about to put his hands on the briefcase, he stopped in a heartbeat as he heard a chainsaw sound. The sound came from the alleyway, as Layton stepped out.

"Oh, Giovanni...a friend of mine would like to speak with you," Layton informed the Team Rocket leader as he stepped to the side...and exiting the alleyway was Conker, armed with a chainsaw.

"Where is he?" asked Conker as he looked around, causing Giovanni to grow nervous as he revved the chainsaw. "Let me at 'im, let me at 'im!"

"Right over there, giving that briefcase of money to Wario. Surely you won't let him get away with it, would you?" Layton pointed at Giovanni, as Conker saw the Team Rocket leader and frowned.

"You'd rather give that fatty the money over me?! You're gonna PAY!" Conker revved the chainsaw once more, before letting out a battle cry as he ran towards Giovanni. Giovanni screamed, closing the briefcase as Conker chased after him.

"Why are you running too, Persian? Stop him!" Giovanni shouted at the classy cat Pokemon, who too was running away from Conker. Wario watched as Conker chased Giovanni and Persian off, feeling a bit salty.

"Darn it, Layton! That briefcase had my name on it," Wario frowned at the British detective, his chance of being even richer squandered. It would take him up to a week to get over it.

"Don't you see what he was trying to do?" Layton asked Wario, who evidently didn't know what kind of stunt Giovanni was trying to pull. He was only focused on getting that money. "He was trying to lure you."

"Recruit you with money," Luke explained to Wario, saying what Layton had said but only in slight Layman's terms. Wario understood right away, as he had a face of disgust.

"Recruit me into what, Team Rocket?" questioned Wario, who didn't think that much of Team Rocket given that they employed Jessie, James, and Meowth. "Please! I don't wanna join those losers. They're not even the kind of losers I'd wanna flex on."

"That's good to know," said Layton, happy to know that Wario was very particular about who was worthy to be flexed on and who wasn't. "Let's go speak with Digby, shall we?"

Samus and X were reviewing the security footage of Jakob and Dimentio, trying to get audio if they could. So far, no such luck, as they were only able to zoom in and do a bit of lip reading.

"Can't really draw any conclusions from the footage," X said to Samus as he was busy transferring the footage unto a flash drive, before taking the flash drive out after the process was done. "Wanna go speak with Jakob himself?"

"Don't see why not," replied Samus, as she and X left the computer room; with X's computer unattended, Ness sneaked to the device as Lucas followed.

"What are you doing?" Lucas whispered to Ness, who sat in X's chair as he clicked the rewind button on the security footage. Ness played the conversation between Jakob and Dimentio from the very beginning.

"Just wanna see if I'm a better lip reader than they are..." replied Ness as he played the footage; Lucas was on the lookout for anyone that might enter the room and bust Ness's cover.

Sonic was having a surprisingly pleasant conversation with Jakob, learning about the butler's experiences in jail and how he was looking for acceptance. The blue hedgehog asked Jakob how the residents have treated him, which made for some very interesting responses.

"Captain Falcon still won't talk to me," said Jakob, whose attempts to make even with Captain Falcon usually fell flat. "And Fox hasn't forgiven me for insinuating that he was a bastard child."

"Eh, they'll get over it eventually," Sonic assured Jakob, giving the butler a sense of optimism to keep his head up. Jakob won't get around with Captain Falcon and Fox if he stopped trying.

"As for the newer residents, Kairi was upset when I commented on her feet being ginormous. Told Sora the same thing, and he hardly batted an eye!"

"Still a rude jerk I see...tsk tsk tsk." Sonic shook his head disapprovingly at Jakob, who showed some regret over the stuff he recently said. "...when are you ever gonna learn?"

"Perhaps I should control my tongue better...speak with a filter." As Jakob took the time to reflect, Sonic responded to a text message he received from Tails.

"Ya think? You're never like that with Corrin and Kamui. I know that you served as their personal butler, but why not spread the love to everyone else?"

"Because they were the only ones at the kingdom who were nice to me...nobody else had that same compassion."

"Dang, not even your own parents?" Sonic saw that Jakob lowered his head, meaning that Jakob was about to delve into a dark past of his.

"My parents were very abusive - they even turned me over to the Nohrian family without hesitation. They wanted to get rid of me!"

"Was it any better for you at the place?" A shake of Jakob's head indicated that it wasn't; the poor guy must've really had it rough.

"Far from it - the place staff mistreated me greatly until I first met the twins. It was because of their care that I devoted my life to them."

"Guess it makes sense as to why you love them so much." With a tragic backstory like that, Sonic almost had to have sympathy for Jakob.

"When I accepted Dr. Eggman's offer to spoil Mario and Peach's wedding, I did it not only to prove myself but to shake off my past...and yet, it only landed me in trouble. Not only did I want to get back at those who've wronged me, but...I just wanted to be accepted."

"We accept you," Lavenza said to Jakob, giving the butler a reassuring smile; Sonic was forced to nod in agreement, although he was already accepting of Jakob after hearing that backstory.

"I will humbly take that as a small victory. Now if only I can get the others will do the same...it'll be a tall mountain for me to climb."

Tails: Kept in touch with Sonic a bit during his conversation with Jakob. Gave him a few pointers. Based on the messages I've read, I assume that everything went well! I hope that Sonic wasn't on his phone the whole time, because that's just rude.

"Sorry if we're interrupting," said X as he and Samus stepped inside the lounge, as the robot was holding a laptop. Jakob, who had vivid memories of episode 96, was slightly afraid.

"I'm not in trouble, am I?" the butler asked as he stood up from the couch, with X opening the laptop and inputting the password.

"You're not in trouble...," replied Samus, as Jakob let out a sigh of relief. "...yet." Then the fear that possessed Jakob made its return. "We just want you to verify this footage."

"What footage?" Soon X played the footage for Jakob, showing the butler his conversation with Dimentio outside the mansion that night. "Oh, that? He wanted to recruit me for his so-called revenge tour, but I turned him down."

"Okay, that's all we needed to know. Thank you for the clarification." With Jakob having cleared his name, X stopped the footage and closed down his laptop. "Gotta ask, though - why did he want to speak with you?"

"Somehow Dimentio was aware of my past workings with Dr. Eggman. He asked for my release so that he could entice me to join him, but I declined. Not going back down that road again."

"Well, we're happy that you made the right choice," Sonic said to Jakob as he put his hand on the butler's back. Jakob smiled in response, surprising Sonic and the others as Jakob didn't smile that often.

Giovanni managed to escape from Conker as he ran to the mansion for safety, but the leader of Team Rocket was left with a few bruises and scrapes. Thankful to be alive, Giovanni was standing near a tree with the briefcase on the ground, as he took a breather.

"How did it go?" asked a certain jester, as Dimentio magically appeared waiting to hear some good news. It wasn't until he saw the briefcase that he was met with disappointment. "Wario turned you down?"

"He was about to accept my offer, but a squirrel with a chainsaw chased me away," replied Giovanni, angry that his Persian did very little to stop Conker. Maybe it was understandably afraid of the chainsaw.

"And like a magician with his hands tied behind his back, you made your grand escape? Bravo!" Dimentio had to applaud Giovanni for escaping from Conker alive, as such survivability had to be commended.

"I'm just grateful that he didn't cut a limb off." Even if Giovanni had his limbs cut off, he'd probably still beat Pit in a game of tennis. "I'll just stake out here until Wario returns."

"Alright then, take all the time you need. Ciao!" So Dimentio vanished away, as Giovanni recuperated from the slight injuries he sustained. The only thing that would make him feel better would be his Persian licking his wounds...but where was Persian?

"Persian? Where are you? Where did you run off to?" Giovanni momentarily left the tree, as he searched around the front yard for his Persian. The briefcase was left unattended, as Sans spotted it when he passed by the tree.

"money in the bank?" wondered Sans as he knelt down at the briefcase, opening it and seeing the stacks of cash inside. "come to papa..." The skeleton looked around before closing the briefcase and taking it with him.

"Can't get that far away from me!" Giovanni said to his Persian, as he found his faithful Pokemon drinking water from the mansion lake. When Giovanni returned to the tree, he saw that the briefcase was missing. "Where did the briefcase go?"

Without that briefcase, Giovanni had no way to lure Wario. The money that was in the briefcase was the last thing on Wario's mind right now, as the fatso was in Digby's office with Layton and Luke. Wario had just made a big purchase.

"Congrats, Wario, you got yourself a deal!" Digby said to Wario as he shook hands with the fatso, unnerved by how sweaty and unclean Wario's hand was. "House is all yours!"

"Another flex to add to my collection!" gleamed Wario, elated that Layton and Luke made him change his view of the house. "A sparkly new motorcycle will be my next flex."

"Don't mess around too much and pull a Master Hand," Layton advised Wario, who signed the contract that Digby presented to him. Digby then signed the contract himself, meaning that the deal was officially done.

"Excuse me for a moment while I print a copy of this," Digby said to Wario as he left his office, hoping that neither Lyle nor Lottie were currently using the copier machine.

Digby: It's now settled - Conker now has his house, and he and Jakob are free to move in. Once we give them the green light - we Happy Home Designers have to figure out the furniture and other perks. And on the plus side, Wario has made me richer! Almost makes up for the hideous booger he left on my college degree...

"What was that deal with Giovanni?" Wario asked Layton and Luke, believing that the money in the briefcase was enough to cover buying the house. "Was he trying to trick me?"

"You are an easy person to trick," replied Luke, and even Wario had to admit to that as he usually fell for any trick under the sun. Especially if a single dollar bill was involved. "Your greed is boundless!"

"Dare I say, it's also your biggest fatal flaw," added Layton; for the longest, Wario considered his greed to be a resounding positive. He'd even list it as such on his dating profile. "May explain why Giovanni targeted you."

"So if I wanna keep Giovanni away, I'll have to be...the opposite of greedy?" Wario nervously asked Layton, who mulled it over for a bit before convincingly nodding his head. "Sounds like a lot of hard work!"

Thanks to an unspecified resident leaving the door open all willy-nilly, Giovanni sneaked inside the mansion with his Persian. He was certain that the briefcase was stolen, and was taken inside.

"Keep your eye out for any and all threats," Giovanni commended his Persian, as he and the classy cat Pokemon were nearing the living room where the party was still taking place. "We have to keep a very low profile, too."

"When are you gonna get it through your thick head?" Alfyn was heard shouting at Pico, as Giovanni and Persian quickly hid against the wall. Out of sight, out of mind. "I am not a drug dealer!"

"But you're an 'apathy carry'...whatever that is," replied Pico, only to be punched in the face...but not by Alfyn, mind you. Giovanni saw Pico drop to the floor, with Primrose standing over him.

"Did he stutter?" Primrose asked Pico, who was writhing in pain as he held his face. So much for Primrose and Pico bonding over killing dudes.

"Primrose! Anna didn't say that you could-a beat up the party guests!" Mario reprimanded the dancer as he exited the living room and arrived at the scene. The moment that it saw Mario, Persian began acting temperamental.

"Now now, Persian, you'll give us away..." Giovanni delicately warned his Pokemon companion, as the hairs on Persian's back were standing up. Persian looked ready to pounce, as Alfyn took notice.

"Guys, that cat looks like it wants to attack us!" Alfyn alerted Mario and Primrose, as Persian was inching closer and closer. Not affording to be seen, Giovanni made his escape as he let his Persian handle things.

"Nice kitty...nice-a kitty..." Mario said to Persian, holding his hand out as he tried to get on the classy cat Pokemon's good side. Primrose and Alfyn stood behind Mario, letting the plumber take initiative.

Just when Persian was about to leap at Mario, a brownie was thrown over everyone's heads. Persian watched as the brownie sailed through the air, before running away to grab it.

"I hope that Pokemon can eat chocolate," said the person who threw the brownie, Cloud, as he appeared from the living room. Mario wiped away the sweat from his forehead.

"Cloud, I'm so glad you chose-a to stay at the party!" Mario said to the swordsman, not knowing what he would've done if he had to stop the Persian himself. "Or rather, that Falcon let-a you stay."

Cloud: Captain Falcon let Mario stay to keep the peace, so I told him that I wanted to do the same. That got him to shut up quickly.

"Is it just me, or did that Persian belong to Giovanni?" Cloud asked Mario, as he recalled a Persian being Giovanni's signature Pokemon. Looking back, Mario believed that Cloud was right on the money.

"Maybe it was trying to send a message..." presumed Mario, as he was feeling suspicious - but the suspicions that he had were short-lived. "...wanna go back to the party?"

Sure, why not." So Cloud returned to the living room, as Primrose and Alfyn followed after the swordsman. Mario would return as well, only to stop momentarily and look back before continuing his trek.

"Nobody's gonna help me up?" asked Pico, lying on the floor on his shell as he was in no position to stand up on his own. "You punks are the worst!"

Pit was doing endless research on what a bail bondsman was, while he was doing his barista job. Since he had no way of contacting Phoenix Wright, Pit opted to speak with Tom Nook when the tanuki stopped by the cafe.

"A bail bondsman and a bounty hunter are NOT the same things," Tom Nook explained to Pit, who reacted by slamming his fist angrily on the counter. "Meaning that you can't have Samus snipe the judge."

"Google, you've failed me yet again!" shouted Pit, so angry that he could spike his cellphone unto the floor. Pit's anger was short-lived, however, as Sans returned to the cafe holding Giovanni's briefcase.

"got a question for you, pit..." Sans said to the angel as he sat on a barstool, placing the briefcase on the counter. "...wads up?" The skeleton then opened the briefcase, presenting the money to a totally stoked Pit.

"No way! How'd you even..." Pit was nearly at a loss for words, as he pulled the money out of the briefcase checking to see if it wasn't counterfeit.

"heard that you had to pay a fine, and would you know it I found a briefcase of money lying under a tree outside. what were the odds?"

"Yes, what were the odds..." muttered Joker, not a fan of how Pit obtained the money; the young man probably wanted to see Pit slave for that cash.

Captain Falcon was unable to move around as much at the party, as his pelvis was killing him after he did that split. But thanks to Alfyn being an apothecary, Falcon was healed of his minor injury.

"That'll do 'er!" remarked Alfyn, after he used his apothecary skills to heal Captain Falcon's pelvis. Captain Falcon was able to stand upright without any pain.

"Thanks, Alfyn, you're not bad for a drug dealer!" exclaimed Captain Falcon, stretching his legs to see how much his pelvis healed. "I feel another dance coming on!" The racer went back to dancing in place, with Nowi squealing and hollering while Nah facepalmed.

"Alfyn exhibited his-a talents, now it's your turn," Mario said to Primrose, wanting the dancer to hold up the end of the bargain she made with Anna.

"If you insist," replied Primrose as she got into a dancing stance; Mario whipped out his maracas, much to Primrose's chagrin. "Please don't..."

"This has been a swell party, Captain Falcon," Dr. Stewart said to the racer, who was dancing to his heart's content as he rejoiced no longer being in pain. "Even if Mario gobbled up most of the food..."

"Not my problem!" smiled Captain Falcon; under the guise that he was being ignored, Dr. Stewart mumbled to himself as he walked away.

"Bet that you can't even dance," Cloud said to the Mighty Gazelle, as he watched Captain Falcon dance; Captain Falcon just might dance until midnight!

"Glad that someone around here noticed," the Mighty Gazelle said to Cloud, patting Cloud on his shoulder before walking away. Cloud would soon be approached by Nowi, who startled the swordsman.

"Mario told me that you drew that scary Persian away," Nowi said to Cloud, having been told about the heroic deed that Cloud had done. "Is that true?"

"Wouldn't say that the Persian was 'scary', per se, but one of the brownies lured him off." Berkut would be proud to hear that his brownies enchanted a sophisticated Pokemon such as Persian.

"Well, I just wanted to say that was cool what you did. You aren't such a loser after all!" Nowi patted Cloud on her chest, smiling to herself as he walked away.

Cloud: Winner or loser... *shrugs* ...I'll take what I can get.

Left empty-handed with the briefcase and Wario, Giovanni was back outside with Persian hiding behind the same tree. Dimentio appeared, unaware of the bad news he was about to receive.

"The briefcase...it was stolen," Giovanni gave the bad news to Dimentio, partly putting the blame on his Persian for getting him side-tracked. "Which means that we'll have to find another way to..."

"There is no need," stated Dimentio, as Giovanni looked shocked; did Dimentio have a different plan in mind? "For I have found not one, but worthy allies to join us!"

"So I guess that today isn't entirely a loss." Giovanni cracked a smirk as he stood up to his feet, dusting off his suit. "Who are these folks that you've found?"

"Just know that they already have a history with the mansion. And like a resentful high school student in a dodgeball game, they will strike with a vengeance!"

Whoever these two individuals were, they surely had to be better than Wario. Imagine recruiting a greedy cheap stake like Wario for anything.