Author's Note:

What's this? An update in the early evening?! Yeah, it's been a busy Friday.

At long last, we finally have a major video game release in August...Pac-Man World: Re-Pac! (Almost feels like May all over again.) Meaning we have another Pac-Man chapter in the books. Two Pac-Man-related chapters in one year...that's a new record. Um, it's not too late to answer reviews, is it?

"Excuse me, I thought there's already a chapter titled "Infiltrate"? Chapter 153 or something?"

Whops! You are correct. When you've been writing this story for so long, you tend to forget chapter titles. I'll rename chapter 348 soon. One more anonymous review:

"Sonic Frontiers will be released on November 8. Add that to your calendar."

So Sonic Frontiers will be pushed up from December to November - which won't be much of a problem for me. A JRPG enjoyer has a slight criticism about the last chapter:

"Gotta say, the Xenoblade scenes were too short. I know, you're focusing on the Bowser Jr. plot and all, but I don't think you should give a very short amount of scenes to the Xenoblade meetup. This one needed a little bit more of a special touch to it, if you know what I'm saying?"

I totally see where you're coming from. I wanted to include more scenes, but I didn't know where to include them. There will be a more fleshed-out Xenoblade meetup later this year, involving more XC3 characters. Up next is The Reader.

"Well, buddy. Considering that this is the adaptation of "Into the Bunker", the next Gravity Falls adaptation you should do should easily be "The Inconveniencing" starring Inkling Boy and Kasumi. Since you've been teasing it since the 2019 Halloween episode, and you haven't done anything with them since. Also, since Splatoon 3 is near, you need to do an episode with the Inklings before it."

"The Inconveniencing" is definitely next on the menu. You might even see the adaption of it really soon. David with questions:

"Will Yukiko ever find a new boyfriend? Are some of the residents going to mistake Grusha for a girl when the Pokemon Scarlet and Violet chapter comes out? Any WWE shows or event themed chapters for when the Smashers can relax? A scene of Pit and Ryuji reacting to the cringe AEW Fight Forever game trailer? (They blew $100 Million or more on development just to throw shade at WWE). And finally, what are your thoughts on NXT UK being dissolved in favor of the new NXT Europe and the recent firings from the NXT UK brand?"

Perhaps. Some residents will mistake Grusha for a girl (I know I have). No WWE-themed chapters are planned as of right now. I may have Pit and Ryuji react to that AEW trailer - or even the game itself. And I didn't expect NXT UK to end this soon. Not familiar with most of the released NXT UK talent, so I won't comment on that. But I'm curious as to how NXT Europe will turn out, and what it'll look like. Won't be long until we get NXT Asia!

Episode 349: GhostIsland

For all the planning that he was doing, it was interesting to know that Dimentio had no qualms with the Assist Tower. For the most part, the jester's revenge tour was mostly against the mansion, but not once has the tower ever veered into his plans.

You'd think that a tower that had the likes of Shadow the Hedgehog, Alucard, Akira Yuki, and others would be on Dimentio's radar, but yet it wasn't. And why wasn't it? Was it because of whoever was in charge? If Waluigi was the de facto man of the tower, it would be understandable for anyone to not take the tower that seriously.

The tower seldom had to deal with Dimentio, for that was the mansion's problem to deal with. But the mounting talk was getting to Waluigi's head, as Waluigi feared that the tower would be next after Dimentio was done with the mansion. The lanky man was so afraid, that he called for a rare meeting in the tower's meeting room.

"Free refreshments, come and get your free refreshments!" Chef Kawasaki called out to the tower denizens, standing next to a table of deviled eggs. The deviled eggs smelled as if they were expired; anyone could smell them when they first entered the meeting room.

"No thanks, it's bad enough that we were forced to attend this meeting," said Gray Fox as he and the others took their seats, while Waluigi stood at the front with Crazy Hand. Nobody knew what the meeting was about, and nobody cared.

"Waluigi, why do you look so sad?" Tiki asked the lanky man, who appeared somber as he held his head low and sighed deeply. "The better question is...why did I even care enough to ask?"

Spring Man: Waluigi doesn't really call meetings that much, but the meetings we do have are generally stupid. In the last meeting we had, he wanted to find out who was responsible for making his arm completely numb when he woke up in the morning. In actuality, he had slept with his head on his arm throughout the night. No matter how many times we tried to reason with him, he would never understand.

"Is everyone here?" asked Crazy Hand as he and Serena were near Waluigi, looking to see if all the seats were filled. Once the last person to enter the room, Jeff, took a seat, it was time to begin. "Waluigi, you now have the floor!"

"Thank you, Crazy Hand," thanked Waluigi, trying not to look too downtrodden as he faced everyone in the meeting room. "For the sake of time, I'll just cut to the chase."

"So this meeting will be less than five minutes? That's what's up," said Rodin as he puffed a cloud of smoke from his cigar, which was something that he just had to do. "Now I can take that nap later."

"There won't be any naps taken once I tell you this shocking news." Given the current demeanor of Waluigi, the shocking news had better be a gut-wrencher of the highest degree. "I have decided..."

"You decided to no longer exist?" asked Shadow, unsure of what Waluigi was so depressed if that was the case. Waluigi magically poofing out of his existence was great news in Shadow's eyes.

"No...well, not yet at least. This is even worse. I've decided..." Waluigi took a brief pause, letting the moment soak in the meeting room so that the tower denizens were ready enough to hear. "...I've decided to step down as the man of the tower."

The somberness that Waluigi once felt vanished away, as Waluigi looked up at everyone expecting a huge reaction. Like maybe a bunch of cheers or even a bunch of boos - the latter of which he honestly preferred. But Waluigi got no reaction whatsoever.

"Aw, phooey, messed up my nail..." frowned Phosphora as she looked at her nails, showing how little she cared for Waluigi's huge announcement. Waluigi looked around the meeting room, perturbed by the deafening silence.

"Wah, where's the outcry?" the lanky man asked his fellow tower denizens, partially wishing for them to demand that he overturn his decision. "I literally just said that I was stepping down!"

"To be honest, I keep forgetting that you ever had authority in the tower," admitted Midna, and the imp wasn't alone as several others nodded their heads. Hearing that made Waluigi feel hurt.

"How'd you become the man of the tower again?" Dr. Wright asked Waluigi, unable to recall if the tower was looking for a man to lead them. He was one of the candidates in mind! "Memory's a bit hazy."

"I'm only stepping down because of Dimentio," explained Waluigi, trying to rebound from the lack of response he got. "He is a threat that even I can't handle."

"That's funny because you're barely a threat to anyone," commented Ashley, believing that the mansion would be screwed if Link and Waluigi ever switched places. Screwed would be lightly putting it.

"Hush your mouth, Ashley, nobody asked for your opinion! I'm only doing this for the greater good. For the tower!" Waluigi raised his fist up high, expecting to receive a response that way. But once again, he was met with crickets.

"For the tower, woo..." Shadow cheered with a deadpan tone as he held up his fist in solidarity - but mainly out of pity. Waluigi appreciated the gesture regardless as he pointed at Shadow.

"Much appreciated, Shadow! For your enthusiasm alone, you will be named the interim man of the tower." Interim man of the tower?! Shadow's eyes went huge, as the others murmured among themselves.

"Who said that I wanted to be 'the man?' I only raised my fist just to make you happy." Shadow realized that he made a horrible mistake, as Waluigi went over to the black hedgehog and dragged him to the front.

"You heard that right, folks!" Waluigi presented Shadow to the tower denizens, blissfully unaware that Shadow despised being the center of attention. "Shadow will be in charge for the time being, while I use this time to gather my thoughts."

"Gather what thoughts? You can't do this to me! Crazy Hand?" Shadow looked towards Crazy Hand, wanting the giant hand to veto Waluigi's decision, but Crazy Hand was apparently in favor.

"Good thinking, Waluigi, GREAT choice!" Crazy Hand gave a thumbs up to Waluigi, as Shadow now hoped to shoot up Crazy Hand in his slumber. "Shadow will keep us SAFE during Waluigi's absence!"

"Won't say that there'll be an absence..." stated Waluigi, letting the tower denizens know that he will always be around. "...that said, I'll be at the Sub Shop on 25th Avenue if anyone wants to speak with me. Bring a coupon if you wanna."

Shadow: This man of the tower shindig better only be for one day. I could care less about solving everyone's problems or keeping the peace. I'm the opposite of peace. Chaos is usually what I live for.

Serena: *from afar* Shadow, Elec Man and Magnus are fighting in the hallway! Can you please stop them?

Shadow: You're a Keeper, can't you do it yourself? *pinches the crown of his nose* I hate this stupid leadership position...I'd kick everyone outta here if I could.

Pac-Man was a simple man with a simple family. The eater of ghosts had a wife in Ms. Pac-Man, and also had two adoring kids. He even had a pet dog, although nobody really saw him around as much. He was no Poochy.

Pac-Man was unable to spend any time with his family that morning, as he had to go out around town to handle a couple of errands. He would return home that afternoon, looking forward to taking it easy for the remainder of his Friday. The first thing he expected when he stepped through the front door was Ms. Pac-Man greeting him with a kiss.

"Hello, sweetie, I'm home!" announced Pac-Man as he entered his house...only to gasp when he saw that his living room was in a mess. Stuff and furniture were all over the floor. Even the kitchen looked discombobulated. "Ms. Pac-Man? Junior?"

Pac-Man searched around for his house as he looked for his family, but saw that there was not a single soul in his household other than him. Coming to grips that something bad might've happened to his family, Pac-Man got down on the floor and got into a fetal position.

"Alright, Mario, this is your last brownie," Celica was heard speaking with Mario from outside, as Pac-Man began sucking on his thumb like a baby. "The rest are for Pac-Man's family."

"I'd like a second-a one please - just for Princess-a Peach," requested Mario, as he followed Celica and Alm into Pac-Man's home with the front door still open. Alm, who was holding the tray of brownies, came to a stop as he inspected the damage.

"Did a hurricane hit this place?" the king wondered as he saw how rummaged the living room looked, with a painting falling down from the wall. Alm and company then saw Pac-Man lying on the floor.

"Go away...I'm trying to be in my happy place," said Pac-Man, right after he sensed that he had company over. The eater of ghosts was rocking back and forth on the floor, trying to cope.

"What happened?" Alm placed the brownies on the only piece of furniture in the living room that was standing upright, as he knelt down at Pac-Man. "And where are your wife and kids? Were they kidnapped?"

"How do you know if they were kidnapped?" asked Cappy, as Alm tried to touch Pac-Man only for Pac-Man to slap the king's hand away. "Maybe they just left Pac-Man and didn't want to tell him."

"Don't be insensitive..." Mario quietly scolded Cappy, while Celica scoped around the living room for any signs of evidence. Celica gasped when she saw a piece of evidence - a videotape.

"Look what I found! A tape," the queen said as she showed the tape to Mario; Pac-Man perked up as he saw the tape, before looking over and seeing a living room window broken.

"Somebody broke my window with a videotape?" said Pac-Man, as Mario took the videotape from Celica and saw a VCR player below Pac-Man's TV. "That's just as horrible as my family being missing!"

"This tape might tell us all the answers," theorized Mario, sticking the videotape into the VCR player and then pressing the play button. A picture appeared on the TV screen, revealing a green Pac-Man ghost with a mouth.

"Greetings and salutations, Pac-Man!" greeted the ghost, with Pac-Man being the videotape's only intended audience. Pac-Man was listening loud and clear, as he and Alm quickly stood up. "It's your old pal, coming to ya from Ghost Island!"

"I know that guy! That's Orson!" exclaimed Pac-Man as he pointed at the television screen, while Orson was rambling on about unnecessary stuff. "He and I go way back."

"Mama mia..." uttered Mario, who was partially afraid of Orson - very amusing, given that the ghosts from the tower never gave him any trouble. "...why he does have a mouth?! How can-a he speak?"

"That's your primary concern?" Alm asked Mario, shaking his head in disappointment at the plumber before returning his attention to the video. Once he was done rambling, Orson went into the heart of the matter.

"By the time you see this video, Pac-Man, your family will have been kidnapped," said Orson; the fact that Pac-Man's family wasn't present indicated that Orson was successful. "Once you're not home...swoosh! I'll come in and kidnap your folks. How do you like that?"

"He sounds jealous," Celica said to Pac-Man, also taking note of how high-pitched Orson's voice was. The queen couldn't tell if Orson was squeaky or whiny.

"If you ever want to see your family again, then you'll have to see me here at Ghost Island. Be there...or else!" Orson didn't have time to make an evil laugh, as the video abruptly ended. The videotape was ejected from the VCR player a second later.

Pac-Man: Kinda shocked by this behavior from Orson. I know that we were at odds before, but I was convinced that we were on good terms now after we taught Erwin a lesson. Maybe it's my fault for not being more present in his life. Was I his only friend?

"Mario, we have to do something," Pac-Man stressed to the plumber, as he took the videotape out of the VCR and put it away. "I know he may not look much, but Orson is a serious threat."

"Any ghost that can speak-a is a threat to me," said Mario, still perturbed that a Pac-Man ghost had the ability to speak. He might not be able to sleep tonight. "That said, Luigi might be better suited for the..."

"Now isn't the time for excuses! We gotta move, and fast!" Pac-Man looked at the floor and saw a bunch of magazines at his feet, as he placed the magazines on a living room table. "Lemme clean up around here first."

"Must you clean at a time like this?" Alm asked Pac-Man, who was busy readjusting the living room table as he got the table legs stabilized. "Your family is in a hostage situation!"

"Well, they can't come back home with the place looking like this!" Pac-Man was about to retrieve his broom, only to stop and realize something. "Great, now I'm the one making excuses..."

It was another usual day at Cafe Leblanc for Pit, as the angel was the only working barista behind the counter. Kirby, Incineroar, and Viridi kept the angel company, while Joker was conspicuously absent. Pit had an itch to leave the cafe, but wasn't willing to take any chances.

"Are you a secret agent working for Dimentio?" Pit asked Kirby, only asking since Kirby was a friend of Magolor - and Magolor was Dimentio's trusted lackey.

"Am not; I haven't spoken with Magolor since St. Patrick's Day, for what it's worth," replied Kirby, displeased that his friend rejoined the dark side. He knew that Magolor wouldn't last as a good guy for long.

"What about Incineroar?" Pit looked towards Incineroar, who was standing in front of a mirror he found as he flexed his biceps. "He's from Alola, and Giovanni was in Alola once, and Giovanni is said to be working with..."

"Relax, Pit - take a chill pill," Viridi soothed the angel, stopping him in the nick of time before he could rattle off more nonsense. "You're sounding paranoid."

"I would take a chill pill if such a pill ever existed. On that note..." Pit took out a notepad and grabbed a pencil off the counter, as he wrote "chill pill" on his list. Right underneath "equally cut pepperoni slices". "...boom! New patent idea."

Joker returned to the cafe, and he didn't come alone as he brought Mega Man with him. Pit had a slight hunch for what was about to take place, as he saw that Mega Man had a small key.

"You're lucky this key was still in the bushes," Mega Man said to Joker, as he spent a huge chunk of his time looking for the small key. His pet dog Rush had to help him out at one point.

"I knew that key wasn't going anywhere," Joker responded matter-of-factly, as he and Mega Man went behind the counter. The two focused their attention on Pit, who knew what was coming.

"You're gonna anal probe me with that key?" Pit asked Joker and Mega Man, thinking that the key was too small for such a procedure. "Tried it by myself one time, and it didn't feel right."

"Just stay right where you are..." Mega Man instructed Pit, as the robot got down on one knee and began tinkering away at something. Seconds later, Pit heard a click sound as Mega Man stood back up - holding Pit's ankle collar.

"You're free to go now, Pit," Joker told the angel, who looked down at his left foot where his ankle collar once was. Pit held up his foot, which no longer felt tight and restricted around the ankle area.

"What gives? What's the catch?" Pit couldn't believe that Joker was letting him off the hook, after spending two months being forbidden from leaving the cafe without permission. "Why did you do that?"

"There is no catch...well, there is one. Toadsworth is going back home to the Mushroom Kingdom today, and I thought that now was the perfect time to..."

"Toadsworth asked for the ankle collar to be taken off?! That's awesome!" Pit was super happy as he gave Joker a hug, wrapping his arms tightly around the young man. Joker had to pry Pit off.

"Wouldn't say that he asked for it...but he was the impetus. And since you've already learned your lesson, the collar won't be necessary anymore."

Zelda: Toadsworth's pilot finally feels well enough to fly Toadsworth back to the Mushroom Kingdom. Also, the pilot said that he doesn't want to see Pit's face ever again after all the shenanigans. Quite funny, because he has never actually seen Pit's face before.

"Let's not get too crazy," Kirby advised Pit, who was full of excitement as he stepped from behind the counter. It wouldn't be until he stepped out of the cafe that Pit's excitement would boil over.

"Yeah, buddy! I'm free!" exclaimed Pit, eager to share his happiness with his fellow residents; the first person he saw was Doc Louis, who was sitting at the counter with Little Mac. "Heard me, Doc? I'm free! Freer than you could ever hope to be!"

"Not exactly the kind of person I'd be saying that to..." remarked Joker, surprised that Doc Louis didn't smack Pit in the face for what he said. Pit shook Little Mac silly, before grabbing a bowl of curry and sipping its contents.

"somebody's getting too curried away," quipped Sans, who saw his entire bowl of curry swallowed whole - not that the skeleton minded as much. Pit dropped the bowl and ran out of the cafe, excited that no alarm was sounding off.

"NOBODY'S GONNA STOP ME NOW!" Pit raised his fists, before running down the hallway cheering his head off. Incineroar was about to step from behind the counter to retrieve Pit, only to be stopped by Joker.

"No, let him have this," Joker said to Incineroar, choosing to let Pit exert all the energy that had been bundled up for weeks on end. "Who knows how long he's been holding this in."

Pit felt like a new creature with the ankle collar off - like an adopted pet dog arriving at his forever home. The angel was frolicking down the hallway enjoying his freedom, as he soon came across Cloud and Guile.

"Really? Waluigi stepped down?" Cloud asked Guile, who was sharing the news of Waluigi stepping down as the man of the tower. "All because of a jester that could care less about him?"

"Shadow is our interim el hombre," replied Guile, showing off a lick of Spanish as he surprised Cloud with his bilingual tongue. "I tried and offer him some tips, but he kicked me out."

"Let me guess, you told him to be a family man." Other than giving pointers on how to raise a family, Guile wasn't the best person for advice. "Well, in other news, Denzel will be heading back to Edge today."

"From one family man to another...I'm proud of you, Mr. Strife." Guile gave his respect to Cloud, as he put his hand on the swordsman's shoulder.

Cloud: Yeah, since Toadsworth is going back home, I thought that Denzel ought to do the same. It's about time. I'm just glad that we got to do a bunch of activities together the past few weeks, mostly thanks to Sora. Don't tell him I said that. Speaking of whom, Sora suggested the other day that Denzel and I go rollerskate at the park, wearing jorts and knee-high white socks. Like I would even...

"Cloud, Guile, guess what?" Pit asked the two, as Guile took his hand off of Cloud's shoulder before the swordsman quickly grew uncomfortable. "I'm a free man now!" Pit lifted up his foot and pointed at his ankle, showing that the collar was no longer there.

"That's nothing; I've been a free man since the day that I was born," bragged Guile, looking into the distance as he heard a bald eagle cawing in the distance. "My freedom is valuable."

"Sure it is..." Cloud said to Guile, before returning his attention to Pit and observing how giddy the angel was. "...don't get yourself in too much trouble, Pit."

"Easier said than done!" exclaimed Pit as he ran past Cloud and Guile, continuing to enjoy the freedom that he had. Guile watched as Pit ran down the hallway, oddly feeling the urge to salute the angel.

"Hey Guile, you know anything about that drug dealer?" Cloud asked the major, who tensed up instantly as he clenched his fists real tight. "Heard that you had something to do with..."

"That man is old news," replied Guile as he stormed off in a hurry, doing nothing but bringing plenty of suspicion towards him. "You should treat him as such."

"...I just wanted to know if he got arrested or not." Cloud remained where he was, figuring that getting an answer from Guile would be hard to come by.

When Earnest lost his home, his house was put on foreclosure...but it wasn't foreclosed for long. Thanks to the efforts of Sonic, Layton, and Luke, the house had a new homeowner in Conker. Jakob would be Conker's roommate until the butler was free to return to Nohr.

Of course, the house wouldn't be Conker's if Wario hadn't paid for it. And the Happy Home Designers took care of everything else from that point on, as they had to refurbish the house for Conker. Two weeks later, the house was finally open - though Conker wasn't quite ready.

"Conker had a bad tipsy last night," Layton spoke with Sonic over the phone, as Sonic was in the library standing in front of a bookshelf. "His liver almost went into overdrive!"

"Thought you said that we were gonna take care of Conker's drinking problem," Sonic spoke into the phone, as the lack of response and following silence from Layton indicated the detective's guilt. "Before he got the house."

"Erm, well...that's Jakob's problem to handle now. Luke and I are still at the hospital." Conker really must've had one too many drinks if he had to be hospitalized.

"If you're not checking out a book, I suggest that you leave," Gil said to Sonic as he stood behind the blue hedgehog, raising his voice to sound threatening. Sonic wasn't scared, but he still moved anyway.

"For the record, you're not that intimidating," Sonic said to Gil, who was mean mugging the hedgehog believing that he did a good intimidation job. At least in his own mind. "What were you saying, professor?"

"We'll give you the cue to bring Jakob to the house," Layton gave directions to Sonic, who saw Jakob sitting alone at a table in the library. Jakob was reading a book, as he flipped through a page.

"So I'll be the guy to move Jakob out, got it." Bad news for Gil, who was picking up a book off the floor when he overheard Sonic. The de facto librarian glanced at Sonic with a bummed-out look.

"Precisely! You and Jakob just dilly-dally until the time comes." Some select residents might appreciate Jakob being gone from the mansion, but Gil? Well, not so much...

Gil: A few years ago I couldn't stand Jakob, but now? I appreciate that man on a deeper level. I hope that his friends in Nohr - if he even has any - tell him to buzz off and never come back to the kingdom. Haven't had my arm or legs nearly ripped off for three weeks. Feels great, man. I love it. I just hope that Master Hand lets Jakob stay with us. *pauses* Preferably forever.

"Nice legs, Ribbon Girl," complimented Jakob, who saw Ribbon Girl pass by while showing off her newly toned legs. Ribbon Girl at first looked surprised, but then she smiled at Jakob.

"Aw tanks, Jakob!" the ARMS fighter responded kindly, as Gil took that as a sign that Jakob was embraced by the others and therefore here to stay. "My new workout plan has done wonders."

"I love your new shoes," Jakob said to the next person to pass by him, Kairi. Kairi stopped in place and looked stunned, never imagining that Jakob was capable of making a positive comment. "Where did you get them from?"

"This is a pair I usually wear," replied Kairi, as Jakob was unable to tell the difference. Nonetheless, Gil was beaming with joy, and for mostly wrong reasons. "But thanks for commenting!"

"They aren't new shoes? Please pardon my ignorance." As Ribbon Girl and Kairi left, Jakob went back to reading his book, only to be ambushed by Sonic.

"Seems like our talk did the trick, huh?" Sonic asked Jakob as he nudged the butler with his elbow, smiling from ear to ear. Who would've imagined that Sonic prompted someone to have a change of heart?

"I guess it did. Who knew that being nice...could feel so weird?" Considering how sharp-tongued Jakob typically was, acting the exact opposite must've been a struggle for him.

"It's only weird if you're a demented person. Which is what we all thought you were. But look at you now." Sonic smacked Jakob aggressively on his back, causing the butler to wince in pain.

"Jakob's not actually leaving...Sonic's just saying stuff," Gil assured himself, soaking in false assurance as he placed the book on the bookshelf where it belonged.

Bowser Jr. and company had a unique experience in Vault Boy's fallout shelter (or bunker), finding cryogenic tubes, several canned beans from Vault-Tec, and even a Ganon incarnation capable of shapeshifting. Tails shared his experience with Falco, who then shared with Fox whatever information he gained. Fox and Falco took a trip to the fallout shelter that afternoon and were now exiting from the hidden entrance with some grub.

"Vault-Tec sure knows how to make good beans," remarked Falco, as he was eating from a can of beans - which that Vault Boy's face on it. Fox was holding several cans in his arms.

"Wonder if they can make a pizza just as good," said Fox, dropping the cans to the ground as his arms were getting tired from all the heavy lifting. The pilot peeked around the tree and saw Ness and Lucas playing catch.

"Don't mind us," Ness said to Fox, as he and Lucas were taking turns throwing a baseball at each other, catching the ball with their baseball mitt. "We're only doing this because Lucas has no dad to play with."

"Too soon, man..." Lucas frowned, wishing that his father Flint could magically appear near the tree just to show up Ness. "...though the same could be said for you."

"But you've been playing since early morning," stated Fox, who spotted Ness and Lucas playing catch as early as eight o'clock - roughly an hour before the residents convened for breakfast.

"We both had doughnuts and Powerade for breakfast, we should be good." Doughnuts and Powerade? Quite the eclectic breakfast combo. Fox and Falco had no choice but to take Lucas's word, as they left the teen and Ness alone.

Ness: Spoke with Samus a few days ago, and she said that she saw Magolor near this tree on some security footage. So in the event that Magolor pops up again, Lucas and I will be there. Hopefully, he'll bring Dimentio with him... *pounds fist into the palm of his hand*

"So how do we reach-a this Ghost Island?" Luigi asked Pac-Man and Mario, as Fox and Falco saw the green plumber and company headed in their direction. "Sounds super far away."

"I was thinking that maybe we travel by boat," suggested Pac-Man, curious if Kapp'n was up for the task; Kapp'n could take anyone to any island on the Pacific Coast with his trusty boat. "That's how I got there last time."

"Nah, traveling by boat seems-a slow," Mario offered his two cents, preferring to fly to Ghost Island instead - and that's when the plumber spotted Fox and Falco standing by. "But look-a who we have here!"

"Sorry peeps, I gotta get started on dinner," Fox said to Mario and company as he scooped up the canned beans and tried to make a run for it. But Mario stopped Fox in his tracks, putting his hand on the pilot.

"You do your preparations...we'll get the Great Fox revved-a up," Mario said to Fox as he leaned in close to the pilot, causing Fox to retract his head. "...the keys are in the exhaust-a pipe, right?"

"The left one, yes..." Fox groaned, walking past Mario as he had no choice but to serve as a chauffeur. Whatever it took for Pac-Man to rescue his family.

"Haha, sucks to be you," Falco taunted Fox as he pointed and laughed at his best friend, before eating another spoonful from his can of beans. While he enjoyed the beans, Falco believed that his lunch could use some sprucing up. "Hmm, a few herbs wouldn't hurt..."

So Falco stopped by the tower, only to ask Chef Kawasaki for some aromatics like rosemary and thyme. The avian pilot knew that Kawasaki wouldn't use those herbs for the right reasons, so he wanted to keep them out of the wrong hands.

"Don't mean to disturb ya, but I need some rosemary," Falco said to Chef Kawasaki as he entered the tower's kitchen, where Kawasaki was cooking meat on a cast iron. Chef Kawasaki had his back turned to Falco, who tapped the chef's shoulder to get his attention.

"You'll just have to wait a moment..." responded Chef Kawasaki as he turned around...scaring Falco when he revealed that he had a black eye. Falco screamed in fright as he jumped away, the black eye grossing him out.

"Bruh, your face looks messed up! Your bad cooking finally got your butt kicked?" If so, then it was certainly a long time coming; the tower denizens must've been holding in their rage for an awfully long time.

"I asked Shadow if I could cook steaks for dinner, and he answered yes...but only after punching me out of annoyance. Even worse, he forced me to season these steaks!"

"Seasoning steaks is what any sane person would do..." As many instances in the past have proven, Chef Kawasaki was far was sane. But Falco shrugged off Kawasaki's paranoia, as he presented to him his can of beans. "...mind shaking some rosemary on here?"

Chef Kawasaki shook a bit of rosemary on Falco's beans, and Falco was satisfied as he exited the kitchen. When Falco left the kitchen, he encountered Lyn speaking with Bomberman.

"Apparently, Shadow wants to cancel board game night," Lyn discussed with Bomberman, who was devastated by the news while Falco eavesdropped a bit. "Said that we all sucked at board games."

"Like he has room to talk, he's never won at anything!" said Bomberman, still intent on hosting board game night no matter what Shadow said. "He can't even win at Scrabble. Imagine being horrible at that."

"What is going on?" Falco asked Lyn and Bomberman, making his presence known to the two as he was trying to make sense of everything. "Why is everybody hanging unto Shadow's every word?"

"Because Shadow is our new man of the tower," replied Lyn, and as expected Falco gave a shocked reaction as he widened his eyes in shock. "But only temporarily, that is."

"Waluigi had to step down because of dementia," added Bomberman, inadvertently causing Falco to assume that Waluigi had Alzheimer's. To him, that would be a bigger twist than Shadow having any authority. "I mean, Dimentio."

"Dimentio? Pfft," snorted Falco, who like the tower denizens failed to see how Waluigi was so easily scared of a jester who could probably care less about him. "I don't see anyone else scared.

"This is Waluigi we're talking about here. A man who's still afraid of his Link's mailman." Soon Barbara appeared, holding her guitar as she looked despondent.

"Shadow barred me from playing my guitar," a saddened Barbara said to Falco and company, with an itch to loudly strum a guitar chord. "Claimed that I was making too much noise. Such a weird reason." Surely Barbara's roommate, Jill, was over the moon.

Jill: Shadow is the BEST! No more stupid guitar playing from Barbara. Now I have enough peace and quiet to do my own thing. *dons ear muffs and takes out her drill, drilling away loudly*

Black Knight: *from afar* Can you turn that off, some people are trying to read!

"Where can I speak with Shadow?" Falco asked Lyn and Bomberman, knowing that something must be done with Shadow before his reign of terror continued. Didn't want Shadow to be universally hated by everyone.

"He's in his room, refusing to be bothered," replied Lyn - way to hide from your duties like a coward, Shadow. "Finding a way in won't be easy..."

After two months or so, Toadsworth was finally leaving Seattle. He could've been back at the Mushroom Kingdom already, but Toad had to mess up the elderly Toad's flight plans. Just to keep him around for a sham wedding that would never happen. Thankfully, Pit saw the light.

Toadsworth was to leave for the airport that evening, giving him an ample amount of time to say a couple of goodbyes if necessary. Link and Zelda were the ones taking Toadsworth to the airport, and the Hylian couple stopped by Toad's room where Toadsworth would reside.

"You have been great company, Toad," Toadsworth said to Toad, who was busy looking through the elderly Toad's briefcase. Toadsworth didn't bring that much with him, which begged to question why Toad was being so thorough.

"Why do you have a picture of Peach?" asked Toad as he pulled out a picture of Peach, back when the princess was a young girl. A very young girl at that, as Toadsworth was holding her.

"Just for memory's sake." Toadsworth snatched the picture out of Toad's hands...and then kissed the picture, making Toad cringe. Toadsworth then turned around and saw Link and Zelda, and was startled.

"No need to say anything, we caught you red-handed," Link said to Toadsworth, who sheepishly placed the picture in his briefcase before tossing everything back in and slamming his briefcase shut.

"So, how about those Mariners?" Toadsworth tried to play it off, but it was no use as Link and Zelda both had amused faces. "World Series bound, am I right?"

"Surely pigs will be flying around that time," responded Zelda, with Toadsworth making extra sure that the locks to the briefcase were sealed tight. "We have a small surprise for you, Toadsworth."

"Oh ho! Then I shall follow you." Before he was about to leave the room, Toadsworth looked back sternly at Toad and said to him, "Guard that briefcase with your life..."

"You got it, Toadsworth!" Toad saluted his elder, who had Toad's word as he nodded his head. Once Toadsworth left with Link and Zelda, Toad quickly reopened Toadsworth's briefcase and dug through the belongings before discovering another picture.

Toad: Found a picture of Toadsworth when he was a young buck! *holds up a picture of a young Toadsworth, pointing at it* Look, he even had a six-pack. I didn't even know Toads could have abs! We've been lied to this whole time!

As Toadsworth, Link, and Zelda went down the hallway, they came across Felicia and Flora, who were doing their usual maid duties. Flora was cleaning a picture frame on the wall when Link and Zelda caught her attention.

"Link! Princess Zelda!" the maid said to the couple, as she and Felicia stopped working; the maids presented themselves to Link and Zelda, with Flora giving a formal bow. "Please excuse us if we're in your way."

"No, you're good," responded Link, with Toadsworth looking past the Hylian and noticing how awfully meek Flora was. Compared to Flora, Felicia was a pocket of sunshine. "We were on our way to surprise Toadsworth."

"Toadsworth's with you? May I ask him a question, please?" Flora perked up, as Felicia was led to wonder what question her sister was dying to ask.

"Here I am!" Toadsworth said to Flora as he appeared from behind Link; Flora braced herself as she gulped nervously "I'll do my best to answer your..."

"Is Dark Pit seeing other women?" A very loaded question to ask - and one that Toadsworth simply was not ready for. Toadsworth was perplexed, as he blinked his eyes twice.

"I reckon that he isn't seeing other women." Unsure in his response, Toadsworth looked up at Link and Zelda to possibly back him up. "Is Dark Pit really seeing other ladies?"

"Oh I knew it...it was too good to be true." Flora was now sorely convinced that Dark Pit was cheating on her, as the thought of being cheated on devastated her greatly. The maid was so devastated that she dropped her cleaning materials on the floor and stormed off.

"Flora, wait!" Felicia called out to her sister, who was trying to fight back tears as she retreated. Felicia looked back at Toadsworth and company, knowing what must be done. "Forgive Flora - she gets into her feelings too easily."

"If you need anything, just give us a shout," Zelda said to Felicia, who put her own cleaning materials away as she ran after her sister. Toadsworth looked on, feeling bad about making his inquiry.

Fox didn't use his Great Fox for transportation that much - the last time he did was when he took Krystal to and from Corneria for their wedding. So when the pilot flew his spacecraft to Ghost Island to help Pac-Man save his family, a few hiccups were encountered along the way.

"Uh, Fox, there's a warning message-a on that screen!" Luigi alerted Fox, as he pointed at a screen that was flashing in red text "SYSTEM OVERLOAD". Yet Fox was barely concerned.

"That's just a small little malfunction, no worries," assured Fox, keeping his eyes on the road...erm the sky. If a large bird were to smack into the windshield, it was all over.

"Sounds like someone is making excuses," remarked Pac-Man, grinding Fox's gears as he made the pilot growl. But Fox managed to keep his cool, as he had to fly his gang to Ghost Island safely.

"I hope that this hostage situation doesn't have-a Dimentio's fingers over it," said Mario, growing concerned that Orson was commanded by Dimentio to kidnap Pac-Man's family. "It was bad enough-a that he invaded Snake's mind..."

"Dimentio invaded Snake's mind?" asked Fox; he was aware of Dimentio being freed from Subspace and all, but Dimentio's actions in episode 325 were foreign to the pilot. "Why am I just now learning about this?"

"Because you never cared-a to ask," replied Luigi; Fox wanted to make a snazzy comeback against the green plumber, but mentally slapped himself as he couldn't think of anything. "Talk to your neighbors for a change."

"Like you have any room to talk," Pac-Man said to Luigi, as the neighbors were now quarreling with each other. "You hardly talk to your neighbors either! Probably because of your nagging wife."

"Look who's making excuses now," Mario sneered at Pac-Man, who realized what he had done as he gasped and covered his mouth. "Fox, how long till we reach-a Ghost Island?"

"It's only a couple of miles away," replied Fox as he looked at a radar on his map, with a blinking dot indicating Ghost Island. "Sorry that this Gray Fox is moving too slow...not even gonna make an excuse there."

With Denzel going back to Edge sometime soon, a few mansion residents were not keen on letting the boy leave the mansion without a little bit of fanfare. That's why the party planning committee (specifically Palutena and Travis) wanted to throw a small party for Denzel. They consulted Cloud in the living room for permission and apparently, to their surprise...

"There will be no going-away party for Denzel," Cloud affirmed his final decision to Palutena and Travis, who were holding out hope that the swordsman would answer yes. "What's the point?"

"Come on Cloud, you know that going-away parties for those leaving is standard practice," replied Palutena, who was just looking for any excuse to throw a party. She had bought a bunch of party supplies from Party City and was anxious to use them.

"In that case, does Toadsworth get a party too just for leaving?" If the party planning committee wanted, they would kill two birds with one stone by having a joint party with Denzel and Toadsworth.

"He doesn't need one, Toadsworth's old news," stated Travis as he rested his elbow on Cloud's shoulder - a lot of folks touching Cloud's shoulder today, which Cloud did not appreciate. "But Denzel on the other hand is new and hip!"

"Denzel's not exactly hip, but..." Just when things couldn't get any more annoying for Cloud, the swordsman saw Bowser slither into the living room after doing a bit of eavesdropping. "...what do you want, Bowser?"

"You should totally approve of the party, Cloud," advised Bowser, desiring to attend a party since Captain Falcon didn't invite him to his. In all fairness, inviting Bowser to any party would be ill-advised.

"And what value would you bring? Aside from driving the party-goers away, of course." Luckily, Bowser had a few party suggestions after observing the party scene from afar two weeks ago.

"I'll bring plenty of value! I'll bring the food, beer, party tunes, and exotic dancers! We can do everything except for the exotic dancers."

"And the beer," stated Palutena, as Bowser waved off the goddess of light; Captain Falcon entered the living room, eating a banana. "Captain Falcon, how'd you like to attend Denzel's going-away party?"

"Won't be any better than my party, but I'll still be there!" Captain Falcon guaranteed with a smile, as Cloud facepalmed at Palutena trying to will the party into existence. Was there anyone that could save Cloud from his endless torture?

"Play it cool, and you'll be fine..." Sonic encouraged Jakob, giving the butler a pep talk as he, Lavenza, and Jakob entered the living room from the way Captain Falcon came from. Captain Falcon's smile faded a bit when he saw Jakob.

"Right..." Jakob said to Sonic, composing himself as he approached Captain Falcon; everyone was all ears as they listened to what Jakob had to say. "...how are you doing today, Captain Falcon?"

"Good...but not as good as I was a few seconds ago," replied Captain Falcon, not wanting anything to do with Jakob as he left the living room in a hurry. Poor Jakob was left hanging, as he really wanted to make amends with Falcon.

"Wanna come to Denzel's going-away party?" Travis asked Jakob, trying to lighten up the mood as Cloud glared at the otaku for his invite attempt. "They'll be food and beer and..."

"No beer," Palutena affirmed to Travis, putting her foot down; Bowser grunted in frustration as he figured out a way to smuggle alcohol to the party.

"If there was such a party for me, I'd love to be there..." replied Jakob; Lavenza, who was informed that Jakob was leaving today, had a few gears turning in her head.

"Oh boy, what are you thinking now...?" Sonic asked Lavenza, sensing that the young girl was in a thinking mood. Hopefully whatever was in store for the blue hedgehog was painless.

Getting into Shadow's room proved to be quite a challenge, as Falco had learned. Falco did everything - knock on the door, signal a bomb threat, claim that the feds were after Shadow - but none of his attempts were able to get the door open. Down to his last attempt, Falco knew just the trick to get Shadow's attention...

"Open up, it's...it's Maria Robotnik!" Falco squealed with a girly voice while standing in front of Shadow's bedroom door, trying to do his best Maria Robotnik impersonation. At long last, Shadow opened the door. "No way, you answered!"

"Only to see who was doing that awful impersonation," stated Shadow, left in a bad mood not only because of Falco but because of everyone else that had bothered him today. "What do you want?"

"Much appreciated, Falco - you're the best," Knuckles thanked his Star Records boss as the red echidna sneaked past Shadow and out of the room. Oddly enough, Knuckles felt like Pit when Mega Man took off the ankle collar.

Knuckles: I have been stuck in my room thanks to Shadow; he wouldn't let me open the door if it meant keeping the others away. Like, what is so bad about listening to the cares of your fellow man? Shadow is living proof of why anti-social types should never hold positions of authority.

"I've been told that you're the temporary man of the tower," Falco said to Shadow, who grumbled as he granted the avian pilot access into his room. "How is that coming along for ya?"

"Horrible," replied Shadow as he allowed Falco to sit on Knuckles' bed, needing to vent his inner frustrations to the avian pilot. He had already done the same with Knuckles. "Everyone is treating me like I'm their messiah or something."

"I mean, you are the leader, aren't you? You're supposed to delegate, man!" Falco's pep talk didn't work, as Shadow grabbed a shoe and threw it at the avian pilot's head. "Gah! Got me in my beak!"

"Well, I hate being the leader. Hate being the guy that everyone turns to for having their problems solved. I'm not some magical genie."

"Were they like this when Waluigi was in charge?" As Midna's comments earlier insinuated, some of the tower denizens forgot that Waluigi was the man of the tower. For that reason, they seldom consulted Waluigi for anything.

"Hardly. They wouldn't even trust Waluigi to kill a housefly in the kitchen. Shows you how much they respect him." Imagine someone asking Shadow to kill a house fly; Shadow would obliterate the poor insect with a Chaos Control.

"But I bet he respects you." Falco pointed at Shadow, who looked at the avian pilot as if he was smoking crack. "He picked you to take his place for a reason."

"Unknown reasons, perhaps." Shadow had to admit that Waluigi was always on good terms with him - must mean a lot if the lanky man had his life spared so many times.

"Think I know one reason why Waluigi chose you...he knows that you can be great." When Falco saw that Shadow's eyes widened, he was convinced that he had worked his magic on the black hedgehog.

"I want to go to the Sub Shop." The Sub Shop in Westwood Village, on 25th Avenue? To Falco, that was a strange request, but Shadow knew exactly what he was doing.

"What for? Wanna grab a sub sandwich?" Falco readily took out the keys to his Arwing, happy to fly Shadow to the Sub Shop. "Got a few coupons in my ship. We can talk more while out for lunch."

"Yes, we can go for lunch...and then some." Shadow desperately craved a break from his man of the tower duties - and the Sub Shop was the only place where he wanted to go. But why?

The Great Fox finally arrived at Ghost Island, as the spacecraft had made its landing at the shore. Ghost Island, as the name implied, had a Halloween aesthetic going on, with a large mansion, haunted houses, and graveyards being the landmass's attractions.

"We have-a arrived!" announced Luigi, albeit in a cheery mood, before he got down to the sand and kissed the ground profusely. "I was getting motion sickness in there..."

"Remember everyone: what happens on Ghost-a Island, stays on Ghost Island," Mario said to his crew, and during this time Fox was taking a bathroom break as he peed into the water along the shore. Fox was caught red-handed

"Uh, sorry about that," apologized Fox, quickly zipping up his pants and readjusting his belt as he rejoined Mario and company. "There wasn't a bathroom in the Great Fox, so...nature was calling."

"Here we go again with the excuses..." sighed Pac-Man as he threw his arms up in defeat; the dude was acting like a total drama queen. "...guys, we have to focus. My family is stuck on this island, and we can't save them if we're being so defensive!"

"I wasn't even being defensive, I was just speaking facts." Fox saw that Pac-Man was ready to snap, but Pac-Man held his breath as he cooled off in a hurry.

"Look...the point of the matter is, we have to stick together if we wanna make it through this island. We gotta go to the Valley of the Pirates, pass through the Volcano Ruins, find our way out of the Haunted Funhouse, and get past the Pac-Dot Factory so that we can reach the mansion. That's where Orson must be keeping them."

"You mean-a that mansion up ahead?" Mario asked Pac-Man, who turned around...and saw a large mansion not far from where he and the others stood. Pac-Man smiled sheepishly as he scratched his head.

"Golly, I didn't even know we were that close!" Good thing that Pac-Man and company didn't have to go through all that trouble of navigating through the entire island. "Picked a really good landing spot, Fox."

"Meh, I only parked here 'cause I wanted to save gas...and that wasn't an excuse," stated Fox, having to make an affirmation just to keep Pac-Man all the way off his back. "But if we're gonna get inside that mansion, we'll need costumes."

"What kind of costumes?" Pac-Man cocked his head to the side, watching as Fox returned to the Great Fox and opened up a secret compartment. Pac-Man's face sank when he saw what Fox pulled out.

As assistant groundskeeper, it was Dark Pit's duty to keep the mansion's vending machines constantly stocked. The more Mr. Game and Watch slacked off on that task, the more work there was for Dark Pit. Today was one of those days, as Dark Pit went to the vending machine room carrying a box full of snacks.

"What the..." uttered Dark Pit as he came to a stop at the vending machine room entrance, seeing Flora inside the room being comforted by Felicia. Flora had her hands on her cheeks, as her eyes were teary-eyed.

"Just let it all out...you don't have to cry," Felica comforted Flora, refusing to stop consoling her sister until she saw her smile. Dark Pit contemplated entering the room and cheering up Flora, but decided that Felicia had it covered.

"Wonder what's got her upset," wondered Dark Pit, choosing to restock the vending machines later as he grabbed the box of snacks. When he turned around, he ran into an unexpected face...Adeleine.

"Hi, Dark Pit! Wanna see my new painting?" asked Adeleine, who stopped by the mansion to simply paint her cares away. The way that Adeleine was holding her artwork made it feel special.

"Show me what you got." So Adeleine turned her artwork around, revealing it to Dark Pit; it was a painting of Adeleine and Dark Pit holding hands on a grassy meadow, with a sun in the foreground.

"Ta-da! It's a painting to signify our friendship." Adeleine handed the painting to Dark Pit, letting the doppelganger take a closer look. Dark Pit appeared to be a fan as he smiled in approval.

"Not bad not...though you kinda messed up my face. I'm not handsome enough." Dark Pit shared a friendly laugh with Adeleine, and just when the doppelganger was about to return the painting...

"Nice painting, Pittoo!" Pit said to Dark Pit from behind, peeking over the doppelganger's shoulder; Dark Pit shrieked as he dropped the painting to the floor.

"Don't sneak up on me like that!" As Dark Pit took a breather, Pit picked up the painting and analyzed it, puzzled as to why he was omitted from the artwork. "Also, aren't you supposed to be at work?"

"Joker deactivated my ankle collar. I'm on an extended lunch break! Unofficially, that is." For Dark Pit, that was perhaps the worst kind of news that he could hear all day. Or all month. Or all year.

Dark Pit: I gave Joker my respect for keeping Pit contained with that ankle collar, but now I see that he decided to reverse course. Congratulations, Joker...you're an idiot once again.

"Also, your girlfriend is super upset," Pit informed Dark Pit as he still held onto the painting, looking to paint himself next to Dark Pit once he had the time. "You should do something about it."

"Yeah, I probably should," Dark Pit agreed with Pit as he took Adeleine's hand and walked away. He was gonna have a long talk with Joker once he was done with his groundskeeping duties. "Let's go, Adeleine."

"But my painting..." Adeleine said to Dark Pit, understandably worried about what things Pit would do to her painting. The painter reached her hand out to Pit, who was fancying where he should insert himself into the painting.

"I'll put myself next to Dark Pit...and Kirby can go there!" said Pit, deciding where he and Kirby would be placed in the painting, as Felicia and Flora exited the vending machine room. "Won't have Kirby hold hands, that would be weird."

"You're right, Felicia - I was just overthinking things," Flora said to her twin sister, standing in the hallway as the maids caught Pit's attention.

"Of course - you're always jumping to conclusions!" smiled Felicia, happy that she was able to cheer up Flora. Soon Pit approached the maids, holding up the painting.

"Hey, should I put myself to the left of Dark Pit, or to the right?" Pit asked Felicia and Flora, with the latter getting a long look at the painting as her eyes were tearing up yet again. Felicia was quick to notice.

"Now, Flora..." Felicia said to her sister, who buried her face in her hands as she ran down the hallway sobbing. "...what did I say about jumping to conclusions?" Pit watched as Felicia chased after Flora, before going back to Adeleine's painting.

"Might as well be on the right; I'll be too centered." Pit also figured that adding a symbol between Adeleine and Dark Pit would make the artwork pop.

The documentary crew caught up with Waluigi, who took his talents to a sub sandwich shop in west Seattle as he cleared his mind. That shop was called Sub Shop, and Waluigi was sitting outside at a table while eating a sub. (Because what else would he be eating, a cheeseburger?)

"Dimentio will never find me here," said a confident Waluigi, while also keeping his cover low just in case he was later proven wrong. "Jesters don't really care for sub sandwiches. I've done my research..."

Waluigi would soon get some company, as he saw an Arwing park in the Sub Shop parking lot. Waluigi expected to see a Star Fox pilot exit the spacecraft, but he was surprised to see Shadow get out once the hatch opened.

"Um, who do you think you are?" Falco questioned Shadow as he followed the black hedgehog out of the Arwing. "I should be the one exiting the Arwing first. Pilot's privileges. Just like driver's privileges."

"No such thing," stated Shadow, checking out the parked cars in the parking lot just to scope out how many people were at the Sub Shop. Sensing that Shadow might look in his direction, Waluigi grabbed a magazine off the table and covered his face with it.

"These coupons are gonna expire this year." Falco pulled out the coupons that he kept in his Arwing, making sure he had all of them in his possession. "I had planned on using them for a date, but..."

"Hold it..." Shadow held his hand out to Falco, using his sixth sense to deduce that Waluigi was nearby. The black hedgehog saw a pair of white gloves holding a magazine, and that's when he knew.

"We going inside or what?" Falco was left ignored, as Shadow marched towards the table where the white gloves and magazine were at. Shadow pulled the magazine away to reveal, guess who, Waluigi.

"Wah! You found me," wailed Waluigi, disgruntled that a person from the tower found him at the Sub Shop - that person being Shadow, which added further insult to injury.

"How could I not? You told us where to find you," said Shadow as he took a seat at the table across from Waluigi. There was an umbrella above the table, which Shadow preferred as he wanted to be in the shade.

"Now that you're here...care for a hot pastrami sub?" Waluigi offered his half-eaten sub to Shadow, nudging his sandwich closer to the black hedgehog who wasn't interested in the slightest. "Oregano's kinda spicy."

"Much agreed, oregano is pretty spicy." Shadow did something that would make Waluigi gasp, as he smacked the hot pastrami sub sandwich to the ground with just the swipe of his hand. Waluigi acted as if Shadow had killed a newborn baby point blank.

"Oh, we're eating outside?" Falco asked Shadow as he came over to the table, before seeing Waluigi. "Ay, what's up Waluigi?" The avian pilot fist bumped Waluigi, as Shadow looked away and shook his head.

"How lovely, you brought coupons!" gleamed Waluigi when he saw the coupons in Falco's hand, curious as to how Falco got the memo. The lanky man feared that many people were on to him.

"Falco, why don't you go inside and use those coupons?" Shadow said to Falco, desiring to speak with Waluigi in peace. He knew that Falco was the type of guy that would interfere and get himself hurt, or worse.

"What toppings do you want?" When Falco was met with silence, and a mean look from Shadow, the avian pilot quickly retreated. "All the way, then..."

Waluigi: Been living large ever since I stepped down from my post. *takes a drip from his fountain drink* I've felt stress-free ever since I left the tower, although I hardly had to deal with any stress prior to making my decision. Guess the stress never really settled in. But I'm a new man now. A new Wah-Man! *leans back in his chair, only to fall to the ground* Ouchie...

"So why did you choose this sub sandwich shop?" Shadow asked Waluigi, who was craving for another sub; he hoped that Falco would come through with those coupons. "Trying to be like an Italian gangster or something?"

"Am I truly Italian?" pondered Waluigi as he looked up deep in thought, left with many questions as to what his true nationality was. His accent could only tell him so much.

"Back to the conversation..." Shadow snapped his fingers to regain Waluigi's attention, as Waluigi broke out of his stupor and reverted his focus to Shadow. "...that man of the tower job, I don't want it anymore."

"That's too bad, buddy. I'm retired...well, half-retired. Semi-retired. Either way, I'm not coming back!" Waluigi folded his arms in defiance as he turned his head away, choosing to stay put.

"The people at the tower are annoying me. I'm not able to solve all their problems. But you, on the other hand..."

"Aw, don't sucker me with that nonsense! You're just angry because you haven't given yourself a chance."

"A chance to what, to prove myself? I'm not in the business of proving anything, thank you very much."

"Face it, Shadow, I'm not coming back to the tower anytime soon. Well, I might come back later this evening, since I'll need a place to stay at..."

"...and you'll be reinstated as the man of the tower. I'll even make sure of it." Shadow would force Crazy Hand to reinstate Waluigi if he had to.

"Who wants a sub sandwich?" asked Falco as he came outside, nearing the table Shadow and Waluigi sat at while holding three subs. No salad was included, what a surprise. "A vegetarian sub for me, a chicken cheddar for Waluigi...and a Destroyer for Shadow."

"Wah, why'd you give me oregano?" Waluigi complained to Falco when he saw that his chicken cheddar sub came with oregano. The lanky man's mouth was about to be burning a second time.

"This man won't return to the tower and take back his mantle," Shadow said to Falco as he pointed at Waluigi; Falco gave Shadow a blank stare as he sat down in his chair with his sub.

"Is that why you asked me to take you to this sub place?" Falco asked Shadow with a frown, hating the fact that he was being used. Shadow's eyes shifted around, as Falco sighed. "Here's what you should do...have a race to decide who'll be the head man from now on."

"Would that even be fair?" asked Waluigi, not liking his chances against Shadow; while not as fast as Sonic, Shadow was still a speedy hedgehog.

"I'll make it fair for the sake of competition," replied Shadow as he held out his hand to Waluigi, looking for any way to get out of being The Man. "We'll race after lunch."

"Alright then...I'll take your word for it. you're on!" Waluigi shook Shadow's hand, signifying that the race was officially on. After the handshake, Waluigi took a bite out of his sub and screamed. "Wah, the oregano burnt my lip!"

The lone mansion on Ghost Island was very much a haunted one, as its front yard was essentially a graveyard with ghosts lurking around. Pac-Man, Mario, Luigi, and Fox were hiding behind a giant tombstone, waiting until the coast was clear.

"Let's move," Fox whispered to the group as he led his men to the mansion entrance, arriving at a large door. Fox knocked on the door, and seconds later it was answered.

"How many times do I have to tell you punks to stop ordering pizza?!" shouted a red ghost who answered the door, as he looked back to scream at someone. When the ghost turned around...

...he saw Fox and company all dressed up as the Ghostbusters. Every man had on the standard Ghostbuster attire, and they even had the ghostbusting weaponry to boot. Luigi was the lone exception, as he had his Poltergust 3000 out.

"Play the theme music..." Fox whispered to Pac-Man, who did as he was told as he took out his phone and pressed the play button. The Ghostbusters theme began playing, sending chills down the red ghost's spine.

Pac-Man: We legitimately had an argument over which Ghostbusters theme to use. Mario and Luigi wanted to go with the original theme; Fox recommended the Extreme Ghostbusters one. Truth be told, Fox had no sound argument other than citing that goth chick from Extreme Ghostbusters, which wasn't even much of an argument to begin with.

"Pac-Man?! Wh-What is the meaning of this?" questioned the red ghost, so paralyzed with fear that he didn't make a run for it. At least until Luigi wielded his Poltergust 3000 while sporting a mean look. "MOMMY!"

"Yeah, you better run!" Luigi shouted at the retreating red ghost, missing out on an opportunity to suck the ghost in. Maybe it wouldn't feel right since the ghost wasn't in a vulnerable state.

"You were right about these costumes," Pac-Man said to Fox, who led his men inside the mansion. They were now on enemy territory. "Look at how much they fear us!"

"That was only one-a ghost, though," stated Mario - soon an orange ghost approached Mario and company, only to go away screaming his head off. "I stand-a corrected..."

"Where do you think this Orson guy is keeping your family?" Fox asked Pac-Man, who scratched his chin as he tried to recall the last time he was at the mansion. It was an awfully long time since his last visit.

"Should be in Toc-Man's lair," replied Pac-Man, as another ghost appeared only to turn away when he saw Pac-Man and company in their ghostbusting gear. "Toc-Man is a robot that Orson had built. We might have a brief encounter with him..."

Sonic returned to the library, as he saw Rosalina checking out a book. The blue hedgehog was tasked by Lavenza to ask the head of the party planning committee, Rosalina, about doing a party...but not for either Toadsworth or Denzel.

"The Fault in Our Stars? This is a young adult book," stated Gil, slightly judging Rosalina as Sonic walked over to the mother of Lumas. "Are you trying to tell me something that I don't know, Rosa?"

"Just scan the barcode already..." replied a snappy Rosalina, as Gil scanned the barcode of The Fault in Our Stars before handing the book to Rosalina. "...don't know why you even have to scan barcodes. This isn't a public library."

"Hey Rosalina, you got a moment?" Sonic asked Rosalina, catching the mother of Lumas before she left the library. "I was wondering if you were interested in doing a going-away party." Gil grew afraid at that moment.

"Palutena and Travis originally wanted to do one for Denzel...but Cloud turned it down." Rosalina knew that Cloud would say no; for some reason, Palutena and Travis expected different. "You have someone in mind?"

"Yeah, and it's not Toadsworth...it's Jakob." His worst fears now realized, Gil grew uneasy as he felt like punching a wall. "He'll be moving in with Conker -hopefully, today."

"What do you mean by hopefully?" The conversation would be momentarily interrupted, as Sonic's phone was ringing. Layton was likely calling Sonic, wanting to give the hedgehog an update on Conker.

"Hold that thought..." Sonic took out his phone and answered the call, with Gil eagerly hoping that Sonic would be told some (objectively) bad news. "...wassup, professor?"

"Hi, Sonic, we got some good news," Layton said over the phone; whatever this good news was would be bad news for Gil. "Conker had his liver repaired, and he'll be leaving the hospital soon!"

"That's awesome! Great to hear." Wasn't either great or awesome for Gil, who lowered his head in sadness as he saw that the writing was on the wall.

"The doctors managed to get the swelling down, so we should be in the clear. Once we get the discharge papers, we'll tell you to bring Jakob over."

"Just give me a call when you got the goods. See ya!" After Layton said his goodbyes, Sonic ended the call and put his phone away as he returned to his conversation with Rosalina.

"So you want to throw a going-away party for Jakob?" Rosalina asked Sonic, as Gil wished for the mother of Lumas to turn down Sonic's request. "Won't say there'll be much of a party...but we'll still do something special."

"Fine with me. Thanks, Rosalina!" Letting Roslaina handle the proceedings, Sonic exited the library, exiting through the library entrance where Lavenza waited.

"Hehehe...no way Jakob is leaving this soon," Gil said to Rosalina, hoping that there was some big miscommunication and Sonic had somehow gotten Jakob mixed up with somebody else.

"Why do you say that?" asked Rosalina, only to later hear the sound of a bookshelf falling to the floor with a loud thud. That bookshelf was brought down by Dovahkiin, who screamed his lungs out with his fists in the air.

"Screw you, science fiction!" shouted Dovahkiin, raging a war against a genre of speculative fiction as he was looking to pick a fight. Any fight. "You are no match for medieval fantasy!"

"No reason, no reason at all..." Gil told Rosalina, before stepping from behind the front desk to reprimand Dovahkiin for his actions. "...Dovahkiin, put that bookshelf back up this instant!"

With Denzel leaving soon, that meant Marlene would have nobody else to hang out with. Denzel was the only youngin that would plant flowers with Marlene, or even play a simple game of hopscotch...and his departure was bound to leave a big void.

"Are you sure that you have to leave today?" Marlene asked Denzel in the gaming room, wanting the boy to stay forever. Granted that would never ever happen, but it didn't hurt to dream.

"I'm afraid that it was only a matter of time," Denzel replied with a shrug, grateful that he got to spend time with Cloud again. He looked forward to hanging out with the swordsman in the near future.

"Only a matter of time indeed," Toadsworth agreed with Denzel, having listened in on the conversation as he approached Denzel and Marlene with his cane. Denzel and Marlene both looked at Toadsworth funny. "What's with that face, Denzel?"

"Is that a gold cane?" Denzel pointed at Toadsworth's cane, which wasn't wooden; in fact, it was an entirely new cane, one that was crafted entirely in gold.

"Why yes it is, my dear boy! Link and Zelda gave me this golden cane. A nice parting gift, if I do say so myself. Now watch what this bad boy can do!"

Toadsworth pressed a button on his cane, which extended his cane. The elderly toad wielded his cane like a sword, as he fenced away; Denzel backed Marlene away for good measure.

"Haha! Yes! Have at thee!" exclaimed Toadsworth, aggressively poking at the air as if it was his mortal enemy. He was in the groove. "Ooh! Right in the kisser! And another one!"

Heihachi: *sporting a black eye* I for one am glad that Toadsworth won't be staying with us after today. *wraps a bandage around his bruised left arm* Good riddance...

"He seems to be really enjoying his new cane," Cloud said to Link and Zelda, as he and the Hylian observed Toadsworth from a distance. Toadsworth was thrusting his cane at Lucina, likely trying to challenge the princess to a fight.

"We didn't know that the cane could extend beforehand," admitted Zelda, as Lucina retreated from Toadsworth; Toadsworth followed after Lucina, jabbing away as he was looking for a fight.

"I was the one who paid for that golden cane," Guile said to Cloud as he joined the swordsman, Link, and Zelda in observing Toadsworth. "Bought it with the money I got from that drug dealer."

"The money from who now...?" questioned Link, as he and the others had their eyes on Guile. Guile never specified to Link and Zelda where and how he got the money, and he was feeling the heat.

"I don't know...that might've been a slip of tongue. We never had this conversation!" Guile hightailed out of the gaming room, as Link and company still had their eyes on the major.

Navigating through the mansion on Ghost Island was easy, especially with Pac-Man leading the way. Since Pac-Man had been to the mansion before, he knew every corner of the establishment like the back of his hand.

"Once we reach the end of the catacombs, we should be home free," Pac-Man said to Mario and the others, as he led the men through some creepy catacombs. The four had to be mindful of the large spiders that were crawling about.

"These catacombs suck, where's the rollercoaster?" complained Fox, wishing that his catacombs experience was more exciting than just a bunch of spiders. "Like the one from Emperor's New Groove."

"There are no catacombs-a in The Emperor's New Groove," Mario corrected Fox, having watched the Disney film enough times to correct anyone if needed. "Unless you're talking about an unreleased-a sequel."

"I was talking about the video game..." Suddenly the four came to a stop, as they heard loud footsteps approaching. The four men huddled together, wielding their weapons, as Luigi shivered in fear.

"Luigi can you stop shaking, you'll give us away!" Pac-Man whispered to the green plumber, who got over himself in a hurry as the shivering came to a stop.

"Sorry..." apologized Luigi, now cowering in fear as the loud footsteps sounded like they were getting closer and closer. A giant foe was coming Pac-Man and company's way.

The four stood their ground, as a giant robot came into full view. At first glance, the robot resembled Pac-Man...but it was angry looking. It also had giant black eyebrows - something that Pac-Man lacked.

"Here comes Toc-Man, you guys," Pac-Man said to the others, as he had a feeling that he would run into the giant robot eventually. "I'll handle this..." Lowering his guard, Pac-Man approached the robot, Toc-Man, while coming off as cordial.

"Ah, Pac-Man! You have returned," Toc-Man greeted the eater of ghosts, wishing that he could embrace him in a hug. He would only crush every bone in Pac-Man's body - if Pac-Man even had bones.

"You look... as angry as I last remembered you." Pac-Man took sight of Toc-Man's ginormous sharp teeth, unsettled by the thought of being chewed alive by those chompers. "So, uh...what's shaking?"

"Came to Ghost Island to see your family, right? I can show you where they are." Expecting Toc-Man to eat him and his friends alive, Pac-Man instead found himself surprised by Toc-Man's offer.

"You will?" For the most part, Toc-Man seemed friendly enough...visage aside. However, Pac-Man's allies had doubts about Toc-Man's sincerity.

"Don't trust him, Pac-Man!" warned Fox, as Mario saw a lone pink ghost pass by and stroked his chin in thought. "Robots with sharp teeth can't be trusted. Granted I don't know any, but...just go with me on this one."

"Just follow me, and I'll take you to my family," Toc-Man enticed Pac-Man, knowing how much the eater of ghosts longed to see his wife and kids. As well as his pet dog. Pac-Man's mind was made up.

"I came this far, so it's not like I have no other choice," said Pac-Man, making his final decision as Fox faceplanted onto the floor. "Show me where my family is, Toc-Man!"

Instead of showing Pac-Man where his family was, Toc-Man instead tossed the eater of ghosts and his friends inside a jail cell. Everyone literally saw this coming except for Pac-Man.

"Have fun in prison!" Toc-Man taunted Pac-Man and company after he slammed the jail cell door shut. The giant robot laughed evilly as he walked away, taking the door keys with him.

"Tried to warn you..." Fox shook his head in disappointment at Pac-Man, baffled by how gullible the eater of ghosts was. "...this never would've happened if you weren't so trusting."

"Now isn't the time for excuses," Pac-Man said to Fox, as Luigi dug into his pocket and pulled out a harmonica. Pac-Man placed his hand on Luigi, stopping the green plumber. "We can do without the harmonica, Pac-Man.

"Pac-Man? You came to rescue us?" a voice called out to Pac-Man...and it sounded an awful lot like Pac-Man's wife! Pac-Man looked towards the opposite side of the jail cell and saw Ms. Pac-Man and the rest of his family behind prison bars.

"No way...what a coincidence!" Pac-Man was all smiles as he ran to the prison bars, happily reunited with his family. "The whole gang's here. My wife, Junior, Baby Pac-Man...and Chomp Chomp's here, too!"

"Woof woof!" barked Pac-Man's pet dog, Chom Chomp, excited to see his owner again as he wagged his tail.

Fox: Real talk, does Pac-Man's youngest kid ever age? He's probably gonna be stuck as a baby forever...

"I'm just glad that you made it here alive," Ms. Pac-Man said to her husband; she knew for a fact that Pac-Man would be the one to rush to action, although Pac-Man wasn't like that initially.

"I'm just glad that you're alive!" exclaimed Pac-Man, who wouldn't know what he would've done if he found his entire family dead. "A shame that Orson kidnapped you all."

"Yeah, about that..." said Pac-Man Jr, as he brought his dad's attention to a ghost sitting alone by himself in the jail cell that Pac-Man's family was in. Pac-Man made out the ghost, who was green in color.

"Orson? Is that really you?" Pac-Man had his hands on the prison bars, as the ghost did not respond. But it did let out a sigh - a sigh full of shame.

"Just leave me alone, Pac-Man..." the ghost finally responded - and in a high-pitched voice, no less. All signs pointed to the ghost being Orson. "...I'm not in the mood."

"Whaddaya know, it is you! But wait, how did you end up imprisoned with my family when you had them kidnapped?"

"Because I wasn't the one who kidnapped them." Orson finally had the stones to face Pac-Man, as he floated away from the corner of the jail cell and over to the eater of ghosts. "Somebody else did."

"But what about that tape? You were talking all that jazz about how you were going to kidnap my family, and I had to come here to Ghost Island to rescue them. You threw the tape into my living room, for Pete's sake!"

"Somebody else threw that tape. And for what it's worth, I was forced to say those things on camera. That guy who stole Toc-Man put me up to it."

"Oh really! Guess it's all starting to make sense now. So who's the guy responsible for all of this hoopla? Tell me who he is so I can..."

"Hate to interrupt-a the conversation, but..." Luigi said to Pac-Man, as he had a very pressing matter that he wanted to address. "...where's-a Mario?" Pac-Man looked around in his jail cell and saw that Mario...was missing.

Flora was in her room sobbing away softly, as she was being comforted by Felicia. The maid was convinced that Dark Pit and Adeleine were a thing after Pit presented Adeleine's painting to her. Not wishing for Flora to sob her eyes out, Isabelle brought Dark Pit to the maids' bedroom to resolve matters.

"She's been sobbing nonstop," Isabelle explained to Dark Pit, who hoped that Felicia got her sister to stop crying by now. The doppelganger just wasn't in the mood for attending to Flora's emotional needs. "It's up to you to settle her down."

"If I must..." muttered Dark Pit as he entered the maids' room; when Flora looked up and saw Dark Pit, she sobbed even harder with her face buried deep in her hands.

"She thinks that you're cheating on her with Adeleine," Felicia whispered to Dark Pit, as she soothed Flora by gently patting her on the back. That back pat could only do so much.

"For real? Is this some kind of dumb rumor?" Dark Pit hated it whenever a rumor about him spread around the mansion...and for whoever started the rumor, let's just say that it doesn't end pretty for them.

"Not a rumor - Pit showed Flora Adeleine's painting, and Flora made her own assumptions." As Dark Pit had feared, Flora's sadness was mainly Pit's doing.

"Stupid Pit..." Dark Pit muttered under his breath, vowing to get his hands on Pit later. "...move, let me talk to her." So Felicia moved to the side, as Dark Pit sat on the bed next to Flora. Flora looked up at Dark Pit, ceasing her sobbing.

"Did you come to rub it in my face?" Flora asked Dark Pit, who placed a heartfelt hand on the maid's shoulder. Flora kept herself silent, keeping her ears peeled for what Dark Pit had to say.

"Just wanted to clear things up. Adeleine and I are NOT seeing each other. That painting of her and me was just a token of our friendship."

"How do I know that you're not lying?" Flora wasn't a hundred percent convinced, and Dark Pit knew exactly what to do...the doppelganger leaned in forward to Flora and kissed her on the cheek, as Flora's eyes went wide.

"Better now?" Dark Pit would have the favor returned to him, as Flora wrapped her arms around the doppelganger for a hug. Dark Pit and Flora were once again on equal terms, as Dark Pit smirked. "Yup..."

"Aw..." Isabelle cooed from the doorway, enjoying the scene unfolding before her. When Dark Pit glared at Isabelle, Isabelle instantly looked away.

Dark Pit: Has Pit ever kissed Viridi before? Like, on the cheek, or anything?...He hasn't? *folds arms behind his head* It's always great to have a few bragging rights...

Ness and Lucas remained outside near the tree, staking out until Dimentio showed up on the mansion grounds. The two friends got tired of playing catch with the baseball, so they moved on to a new activity...playing catch with a football.

"Face it, Ness, Dimentio isn't coming," Lucas said to Ness as he threw a perfect spiral to the PSI whiz. "Let's put a sock in it already."

"You're right, it's been too long," responded Ness as he caught the football; had it dropped it or something, the perfect spiral would've been tainted forever.

"Besides, I'm getting real..." Lucas stopped speaking, as he and Ness heard some commotion coming from the tower. "...what's going on over there?"

Ness brought the football with him, as he and Lucas ventured to the tower. They saw all Crazy Hand and all the tower denizens gathered around, with Waluigi and Shadow standing next to Falco.

"Here is the finish line," Falco said to Waluigi and Shadow, pointing at the finish line that Lakitu drew on the ground. Lakitu was on his cloud holding a checkered flag. "Whoever crosses this finish line first after running twenty laps wins."

"Easy peasy," said a confident Waluigi, preparing for the race as he stretched his arms and legs. Shadow, on the other hand, did no warm-ups.

"If Shadow wins, he will remain the man of the tower indefinitely, until Waluigi feels comfortable enough to reassume his position. But if Waluigi wins, then he has no choice but to return to his post.

"Let's get this over with..." said Shadow, whose main objective for the race was to lose on purpose. He had to look good in defeat, though, lest he wanted to risk accruing accusations of throwing away the race.

"Are both men ready?" asked Lakitu, as Waluigi got into starting position; Shadow got into starting position too, only if it meant Lakitu would get a move on. "Good! On your mark, get set...GO!"

Both Waluigi and Shadow were off, both men running as they raced against each other. Shadow was far ahead of Waluigi, and as he made a sharp turn around the corner...

"Ow, my knee," the black hedgehog shouted in an incredibly deadpan tone, falling down and grabbing his knee in faux pain. Waluigi, when he had caught up to Shadow, took out his racket and banged his knee against it.

"Ow, my knee!" the lanky man wailed in pain as he collapsed to the ground holding his knee. While Shadow was faking his injury, Waluigi might've legitimately busted his kneecap.

"You idiot, you could've won the race fair and square!" Much to Shadow's dismay, Waluigi didn't fall for the bait; instead, Waluigi evened the score. Or so he thought.

"Would've won it square, but certainly not fair!" Waluigi pulled himself up to his feet, hobbling on one leg as he mustered through the pain. "Now we're on an even playing field."

"Then you better keep up..." Shadow got up and continued the race, forced to abide by Waluigi's shenanigans. Waluigi tried to keep up with Shadow, injured knee and all.

"Imagine Shadow losing to a hobbling Waluigi, how embarrassing that would be..." Knuckles snickered to Shovel Knight, only for his smile to turn upside down when he remembered that he was Shadow's roommate. "...on second thought, I hope that Shadow pulls out a victory."

A rouge cameraman on Ghost Island was on the hunt for Toc-Man, curious about what the robot did while Pac-Man and company (sans Mario) were imprisoned. The cameraman managed to find Toc-Man's whereabouts...at a party with a horde of ghosts.

"PUT YOUR HANDS UP, PUT YOUR HANDS UP!" shouted Toc-Man, who was standing on a stage as the ghosts were all getting crunk. "Is this party super turnt or what?!"

"He was never like this at our last party!" a purple ghost said to a yellow ghost, as Toc-Man danced on the stage. "I'm digging this new Toc-Man!"

"What's this? We have a ghost joining me on stage!" Toc-Man got some company, as a pink ghost appeared on the stage to dance with the giant robot. However, something about this pink ghost was a little off...

"Hold up, that pink ghost has a mustache!" shouted a blue ghost; pink ghosts were traditionally female, so a ghost of that color having facial hair was extremely suspect. "What ghost even has a mustache?"

"She's wearing a Mario hat too!" another ghost pointed out, as the pink ghost was wearing a Mario hat on her head. "We don't sell those on this island..."

Suddenly, the pink ghost was decaptured, as Mario appeared on the stage. The ghosts reacted in shock as they gasped collectively.

Mario: I was in a body of a female-a ghost. The thought alone-a makes me feel...dirty inside.

"M-Mario?!" Toc-Man uttered the plumber's name as he took a step back, easily scared of Mario. The ghosts were equally as scared, as the presence of Mario had everybody on the dance floor shook as ever. "But you were with..."

"Party's over," said Mario as he took his ghostbusting weaponry out of his imaginary pocket, flipping the switch on. "Now to see if this crap works..."

Turns out that the ghostbusting weaponry did in fact work, as it started sucking once Mario turned it on. The weaponry was sucking away at the top part of Toc-Man's head until said part was ripped off. The pilot of Toc-Man was revealed, causing everyone to gasp.

"Magolor?!" Mario and Cappy both shouted in unison, as they saw the alien inside Toc-Man working the controls. The party music came to a stop, as Magolor tried to play it cool by waving to Mario.

"It's not what you think!" Magolor pleaded his innocence, although he knew what was eventually coming to him. "I just wanted to have a party with my new ghost friends. That's all it was."

"Excuses, excuses...nice-a try, Magolor. I take it that's-a why you kidnapped Pac-Man's family?" Before Mario could lay his hands on Magolor, a young man with red hair and a green Japanese high school uniform arrived at the party, disappointed by what he walked into.

"Seriously, Magolor?! What did we say about throwing a party" the young man scolded Magolor, making the alien cower in fear. Mario looked back at the young man, recognizing his face.

"Look, Mario, it's the guy who was about to ruin Charles' birthday!" Cappy alerted the plumber, as the ghosts murmured among themselves about the young man's presence. "Sho Minazuki!"

"I didn't get broken out of jail by Dimentio, just to see you throw a party with these dumb ghosts. But you did lure Mario to this island, so at least you did something right..."

"Mind if I use-a this?" Mario asked Magolor, using Cappy to knock the alien out of Toc-Man. Mario hopped inside and sat behind the controls, pressing a button as the top part of Toc-Man's head clicked back on.

"Uh oh..." Sho stood his ground, as Toc-Man was alive once again. Several ghosts moved out of the way as Toc-Man marched towards Sho, who unsheathed his sword. "...don't come any closer!"

The race around the tower was drawing close to an end, as Waluigi and Shadow were on their last lap. With Waluigi struggling to keep up thanks to injuring his knee, Shadow was far ahead much to his chagrin. A few folks were even cheering him on, which didn't make Shadow feel any better.

"You can do it Shadow, we believe in you!" Knuckles cheered for the black hedgehog, perhaps the biggest Shadow supporter out there. He was only looking out for himself.

"I have to lose this race somehow," said Shadow as he saw the finish line in sight, thinking of a way to lose the race and make it look convincing. "But how can I..."

As Shadow neared the finish line, he came to an abrupt stop - a few feet away from the checkered flag. The reason why Shadow had stopped was that he saw a man in the distance, standing along with his Persian. Giovanni was standing afar off, locking eyes with Shadow.

"Is that Giovanni?" Shadow questioned quietly, wondering why the leader of Team Rocket was in town. Giovanni and Persian walked away, and Waluigi, taking advantage of the distraction, ran past Shadow and crossed the finish line.

"Yeah baby, I won!" cheered Waluigi, raising his fists triumphantly as he was able to win the race despite his knee injury. The lanky man's face soured when he realized who the victor was. "No, wait, that wasn't supposed to happen!"

"We have a winner!" announced Falco as he took Waluigi's hand and held it up high, signifying the lanky man's victory. "Give it up for Waluigi!" The tower denizens responded pathetically to the result, and there was only small applause.

"Looks like you're BACK to being the Man!" Crazy Hand said to Waluigi, who made a pouty face as he realized his hiatus was coming to an end. His break was fun while it lasted.

"To be honest, I was really starting to miss you," Serena said to Waluigi, preferring the lanky man over Shadow any day of the week. Speaking of Shadow, the black hedgehog remained where he was, before returning to his senses.

"At least I won," remarked Shadow, as he saw Waluigi being embraced by Crazy Hand and Serena. He could finally be a regular tower denizen again. "That distraction worked out almost perfectly..."

"Can we get a do-over?" asked Knuckles, as the tower denizens either walked away or went back inside the tower. "Five extra laps, how about it?"

Giovanni and Persian were a short distance away from the tower, strolling side-by-side as Giovanni's phone was suddenly ringing. Giovanni took his phone out of his pocket and answered the call.

"Hello, Giovanni speaking!" the Team Rocket leader spoke into the phone as he and Persian came to a stop. "Is this Sho Minazuki?"

"Yeah, and I got some bad news..." replied the person on the other line, Sho, as Giovanni grew upset real quick. "...Mario foiled our plan."

"He did what?!" Giovanni was so upset that he could throw his phone unto the sidewalk and stomp it to pieces. "Don't tell me he rescued Pac-Man's family."

"I'm afraid he did. He got a hold of that robot, beat me and Magolor up with it, and used the robot to free Pac-Man and the others. By the time we made it outside, Mario took off in..."

"Was this Magolor's fault? He's been slipping as of late." Magolor was sure to hear a bad report from Dimentio once he returned to the jester. "Sorry that your first mission out of jail was a failure, Sho. Our one chance to keep Mario out of town..."

"What's this I hear? Magolor failed?" someone asked, as Giovanni was soon joined by Dimentio's newest ally, Zant. "His track record hasn't been pleasant, to say the least..."

"Mr. Giovanni!" a teen called out to Giovanni, who along with Zant looked over and saw Ness and Lucas coming their way. "Can we speak with you?"

"They're on to us! Quickly, through here!" Zant summoned a Twilight portal, and Giovanni and Persian quickly went through it while it was still open.

"No, wait!" Ness and Lucas were too late, as the Twilight portal vanished away after Zant went through it. The two friends skidded to a halt, with Ness snapping his fingers in disgust. "Giovanni could've led us to Dimentio, for sure."

"Why do you think that Zant was with him?" Lucas asked Ness, who recalled the mansion's past encounter with Zant three years ago. And that's when Ness and Lucas were both greatly concerned...

With Pit off enjoying his "freedom", the other baristas at Cafe Leblanc went back to working behind the counter. The customers sitting at the counter included Sonic, Lavenza, Sans, and Vault Boy - who was sharing his Vault-Tec beans with the patrons.

"These beans sure are tasty, Vault Boy!" Sonic said to the mascot, eating from a can of beans; Vault Boy smiled as he gave Sonic a thumbs up.

"i've bean thinking that these beans should be added to the menu," Sans recommended to Joker, also eating from a can of beans. Vault Boy was committed to making his beans a hit. "how about it, joker?"

"Don't count on it," replied Joker as he cleaned off the counter with a white cloth. It wasn't so much that Joker didn't care for the beans; he just didn't want Sans to crack bean-related puns at every expense.

Sans: ever got gassy from eating too many beans? we've all bean there...

"Joker, I'm back!" announced Pit as he returned to the cafe, having lived out most of his "freedom". Spent much of his time at the arcade. "I'm ready to get back to work."

"That won't be necessary, Pit," said Joker as he was done cleaning off the counter; Pit gasped in shock with his hands on his face.

"Won't be necessary? Are you saying that you fired me while I was gone?!" To find out that Joker fired him during his time off would be a real gut punch to Pit - the lowest of low blows.

"Absolutely not! I'm just giving you the weekend off since you worked so much. We got it all from here."

"An entire weekend off? Aw, you're just too nice, Joker. My freedom is growing stronger than ever!"

"But that's not all - since I've overworked you, I'll give you a part-time schedule. You won't be full-time."

"A part-time schedule?! That's even better!" Pit having a part-time schedule would give the angel more freedom than he'd know what to deal with. "Does this mean that I get my very own special counsel?"

"Um, no...but you can come to work whenever you feel like it. Just remember to clock in at least three times a week."

"Hello?" Sonic answered his phone, putting his can of beans on the counter as he answered a call from Layton. "Is it about that time?"

While their husband was away handling business on Ghost Island, Peach was outside hanging a few fall decorations on her house. Autumn was fastly approaching, and the princess wanted to get a nice little head start.

"No eating the pumpkins, those are decorations only," Peach commanded Spyro and Hunter, who were tasked with assembling the pumpkins. Hunter was about to take a bite out of the pumpkin he was holding until Peach made her command.

"Take a bite, I dare you," Spyro challenged Hunter, wanting his cheetah friend to prove to him how real he was. A large shadow flew over Spyro and company, as everyone looked up. "Well, look who's back home..."

The Great Fox returned to the mansion, as the spacecraft made its slow ascent to the mansion grounds. Once the hatch opened and the ramp extended, Fox and his men all walked out, along with Pac-Man's family.

"Your ride was slower on the way back than-a it was to Ghost Island," Mario said to Fox; Luigi, who had dealt with motion sickness, knelt down and kissed the ground once he stepped foot on the grass. "What do you have-a to say for yourself?"

"I would make an excuse, but that's not favorable..." replied Fox, who looked over at Pac-Man; Pac-Man was happy to be reunited with his family, as he was embracing his wife and kids.

"Thank you for breaking us out, Mario," Ms. Pac-Man thanked the plumber, doing her best to ignore Luigi rubbing his face in the grass. "Toc-Man seemed a lot less scary when you were piloting him!"

"The original pilot wasn't that-a scary anyway," responded Mario, who took care of Magolor and Sho. Gave those two troublemakers an absolute butt-kicking. "He punked-a out so easily."

"Hey Mario, nice ghostbusting gear!" Spyro called out to the plumber, snickering when he saw the plumber's attire. "Switching careers already?"

Pac-Man: We left the Toc-Man robot back on the island. Would've brought it home, but I don't have any room in my house for it. Also, the baby cried at the mere sight of it. If only there was a way to get rid of that sharp teeth...

"You guys go ahead on, I'll catch up," Pac-Man said to his family, as Ms. Pac-Man led her kids and Chomp Chomp away from the Great Fox. Shortly after Pac-Man's family left, exiting from the Great Fox was Orson.

"Ah, feels great to not be stuck on Ghost Island!" exclaimed Orson after exiting the Great Fox, taking a deep exhale as he stretched his arms. "Gonna be weird mingling with non-ghost people."

"Don't worry, you'll get the hang of it eventually. The people in town aren't that..." Pac-Man was soon cut off, as Sonic came running up to the Great Fox at the speed of sound.

"Right on time!" Sonic said to Pac-Man and company, with some exciting news that he wanted to share. "There's an open house going on, you guys wanna check it out?"

"I'd love to take a peek." Pac-Man gave Sonic his word of confirmation, before turning to Orson. "You should come too, Orson! Get to mingle with everyone."

"You think it would be such a good idea?" Orson was nervous at first, but the ghost quickly came around if it meant Pac-Man wouldn't badger him. "If you want me to be there...I'll go."

So Orson followed Pac-Man to the open house event, which happened to take place at, drumroll, please...Conker's new home. The event was organized by Rosalina, who invited a bunch of residents to the home - just to get to know Conker better.

When Pac-Man and Orson arrived at the house, they saw the new homeowner, Conker, speaking with Link and Zelda while a bunch of residents were standing around. A few refreshments were provided.

"It was this big, and it was ugly too!" Conker said to Link and Zelda, describing a hideous creature that he fought during one of his adventures. "But luckily I made him down for the count."

"So you fought a giant poop monster...good for you," commented Link, who was easily disturbed by Conker's story as Zelda giggled. As Pac-Man and Orson ventured into the living room, they came across Dovahkiin hugging Gil.

"We are roommates once again!" rejoiced Dovahkiin as he had Gil in a bearhug, squeezing the de facto librarian too tight. "Such a glorious day!"

"My intestines are pleading in agony..." Gil wheezed in pain, left in shambles as his dreams of Jakob being his roommate forever was crushed.

"I see that you've made it, Pac-Man," a certain detective said to the eater of ghosts, as Pac-Man and Orson were approached by Layton. "May I ask who your friend is?"

"This here is Orson," Pac-Man introduced his friend to Layton, smacking Orson on his back; Orson smiled meekly. "We kinda rescued him from Ghost Island."

"I'm also looking for a place to stay temporarily," Orson informed Layton, not wanting to take too much space in Pac-Man's house. That's when an imaginary light bulb dinged over Layton's head.

"Well, I got some good news for you...because you came to the right place!" Layton beckoned to Conker, who came over to the British detective after telling his story to Link and Zelda.

"Hey Layton, what's up?" asked Conker, as he gave Layton a small fist bump - a token of appreciation for being with him at the hospital. "Somebody wants to hear my Great Mighty Poo story?"

Link: I thought the story of the Great Mighty Poo was disgusting enough, but then Conker had to sing a song about the guy. Excuse me for a moment, princess... *walks away as he covers his mouth*
Zelda: Thankfully, Layton called Conker over before he deeper into the song.

"This gentleman is looking for a temporary home," Layton said to Conker as he placed his hands on Orson's shoulders. "Mind taking him in?"

"Hmm..." Conker mused, scratching his chin as he looked at Orson. He looked at the ghost all over...and even licked him for good measure. "...I suppose that he can hang here."

"Thanks for taking me in," Orson thanked Conker, as he wiped the squirrel saliva off of his face. The ghost would much rather be eaten by Pac-Man. "No clue how long I'll stay, but..."

"Wait a minute! There's one more person you gotta speak to." Conker grabbed Orson's hand and led the ghost to the guest room, with Orson screaming along the way. "Stop screaming, the guy's not that bad!"

Conker brought Orson to the guest room, and inside the room were Jakob, Captain Falcon, and Nowi. Jakob and Captain Falcon stood in front of each other, with Nowi holding their hands.

"Come on, Captain Falcon, you have to be the bigger man," Nowi stressed to her boyfriend, who felt slightly uncomfortable being in Jakob's presence. "If I can let things go, then so can you!"

"Yes, let's let bygones be bygones," Jakob said to Captain Falcon, using the hand that Nowi was holding to offer Falcon a handshake. "Shake on it?"

"Whatever makes you happy..." Captain Falcon muttered to Nowi, before sucking up his pride as he shook hands with Jakob. Nowi beamed with joy. "...all water under the bridge, Jakob."

"Yo, Jakob, this guy wants to stay with us!" Conker called out to the butler, as he pointed at Orson. Once the handshake was over, Jakob went over to inspect Orson, who was intimidated by the butler.

"He doesn't look like he'll have to sleep anywhere," stated Jakob, wondering if Pac-Man ghosts such as Orson ever slept. That was a thought for another day. "Welcome aboard, my friend."

"Phew! That was painless," Orson sighed in relief, as Jakob returned to Captain Falcon and Nowi while Pac-Man rejoined Orson. "Looks like I'm staying put."

"Come and visit anytime buddy," Pac-Man said to Orson, relieved to know that his ghost friend wasn't in the business of kidnapping families. It was all a big misunderstanding...

While some folks were mingling inside Conker's house, others were mingling outside. Such as Toadsworth, who had met Conker and was now waiting for Link and Zelda to take him to the airport. The elderly Toad was currently speaking with Sonic and Lavenza, but mainly Sonic.

"So you're the one who got Conker this house, old chap?" Toadsworth asked Sonic, who confirmed as such with a smile and a nod. Toadsworth patted Sonic on his leg. "Good stuff!"

"I made the offer to Conker; Wario helped pay for the house," stated Sonic, as Toadsworth widened his eyes astonished to hear Wario being so generous. "He was pretty chill about it."

Wario: People have said that I've slowly become a changed man, and they have every right to think that. But what I wanna know is, why is being generous so hard? I gave away some of my money to a Boys and Girls Club, and it was like putting my beloved children up for adoption!

"We're about to head out," Zelda said to Toadsworth, as she and Link exited Conker's house. Link was still looking nauseous from hearing the infamous Great Mighty Poo song. "Ready, Toadsworth?

"Ready as you are!" replied Toadsworth, before returning to Sonic and earnestly shaking the blue hedgehog's hand. "I hope to continue to hear great things about you Sonic."

"You can count on it," guaranteed Sonic, waving to Toadsworth as the elderly Toad followed after Link and Zelda. Sonic watched as Zelda helped Toadsworth inside Link's truck, smiling. "Just trying to be better..."

Cloud chose to skip out on the open house event, for he had to get Denzel back to edge. The swordsman was in the teleportation room with all his friends, ready to see Denzel off.

"Come back soon," Marlene said to Denzel as she gave the boy a hug, a tear running down her face. She was obviously gonna miss Denzel a lot.

"I'll try," smiled Denzel, as the hug ended when Barret pulled Marlene away. Denzel then looked up at Cloud, showing the swordsman his appreciation. "Thanks for everything, Cloud."

"Take care, Denzel," Cloud said to the boy, feeling oddly sentimental - a kind of feeling that he rarely felt as much. "Take care of everyone in Edge, too." With Aerith, Tifa, and Barret having already said their goodbyes, it was time for Mega Man to send Denzel back home.

"A shame that Denzel is leaving on good terms with Cloud..." grumbled Sephiroth, peeking inside the teleportation room and watching as Denzel got on the teleportation pad. "...but there's still time to mess with Cloud another way."

"Wah, why couldn't my personal vacation last longer?" whined a bummed-out Waluigi as he walked down the hallway, before encountering Sephiroth. A few gears were suddenly grinding in Waluigi's head. "Hey, Sephy, wanna rule over a tower?"

"I would like to...if you wish to pay with your life." Sephiroth looked at Waluigi and unsheathed his sword; Waluigi screamed and ran off, as Sephiroth put his Masamune away. "That's what I thought..."

Sorry, Waluigi, looks like you're still the man of the tower - and there's not much you can do about it.