Author's Note:
It's getting close to Halloween...still not a huge fan of the holiday. But you know what goes great with Halloween, though? Bayonetta and Resident Evil! This chapter will focus on two games coming to the Switch today - Bayonetta 3 and Resident Evil Village. Bayonetta and Resident Evil should do a crossover one day. That, or Bayonetta and Devil May Cry. But I"m just getting carried away. Guest reviews? Guest reviews:
"BIG NEWS! NEO: The World Ends With You is now available on Steam! I guess it's finally time to have Neku reappear in the story, no?"
It's on Steam? That's a pretty big deal. Maybe I can squeeze in a Neku cameo before the end of the year. Another anonymous review:
"Since Pikmin 4 was announced, are you planning a pikmin-focused chapter any time soon or upon the game's release? Would love to see the koppai crew make an appearance. Also, random pikmin fact of the day - did you know alph is canonically allergic to mangoes and avocado?"
Of course! I'd love to do a Pikmin-focused chapter for Pikmin 4. And Alph is allergic to mangoes and avocado? Hehehe...good to know. One last anonymous review:
"FINAL UPDATE ON BAYONETTA. So Hellena Taylor have admitted that she was offered $10,000 (in total) to return as Bayonetta. Platinum then offered her an extra 5K, so their final offer was $15,000. She declined that offer. And months later, Platinum offered her $4,000 for voicing some lines, basically a glorified cameo. So, Hellena's statement on the final offer being $4,000 for the whole game? It was a bit of a lie from her. WHAT?"
Can't say I wasn't surprised that there was some falsity in Hellena's statement. I will say that the timing of her releasing her statement is fairly suspicious. But with Bayonetta 3 out, this whole situation will hopefully blow over. The Reader has some Capcom news:
"1. The Cloud version of Resident Evil Village is coming on the Switch on October 28, while the Winters' Expansion (the one with the Rose DLC) will follow on December 2. Time for Chris to come through with his promise of protecting the mansion. (Can't believe it's been 3 years since E. Gadd's Halloween party.)
(1.5. Speaking of Rose, did you know that she's voiced by Jeannie Tirado (Byleth's voice actor)? Any thought for some conversations between them?)
2. The Cloud version of Resident Evil 2 is coming on November 11. Time for Leon and Claire to reunite. Sherry and Ada too?
3. The Cloud version of Resident Evil 3 is coming on November 18. I would love to see Jill again.
4. Finally, the Cloud version of Resident Evil Biohazard is coming on December 16. An Ethan appearance sounds impossible, but if there's someone who can make the impossible possible, it's you."
1. Guess I'll be doing something related to the Winters Expansion on December 2. Chris Redfield will make his return.
1.5. I didn't know that about Rose! A scene with Byleth is in order.
2. Totally forgot about the Cloud version of Resident Evil 2. Leon and Claire will indeed reunite. Sherry and Ada will be there too. What do you think are the odds of Ada ditching her pals?
3. Jill Valentine will also appear with the Cloud version of Resident Evil 3 is also coming to the Switch. Plenty of Resident Evil in the coming month.
4. An appearance from Ethan Winters does sound impossible, but I'll see if I have any actual plans for him by then.
On to A JRPG enjoyer:
"Ooh, Tharja. Interesting update for Cloud's story. Is it possible that we could have Henry with her?"
It is indeed possible. Though I may pair Tharja up with another Awakening male character. Romance Enjoyer has returned and with a question about...masochism? Uh oh...
"Are there any secret masochists in the mansion? Don't know why, but I like to depict Felicia or Lilina as a secret masochist, because they'd like to see their husbands (Corrin or Roy) who're very nice to them giving them a bit of a rough time. What do you think? Sorry for my risky question."
The only masochist that I can think of is Pichu, mainly because he's prone to hurting himself in Smash battles. David has questions:
"Have the Nohr and Hoshido families made peace with each other yet? (Call me slow for asking). Have Kamui and Silas had a date scene yet? Is Hinoka using her Elizabeth Daily or Cindy Robinson voice? (Robinson took over since Fire Emblem Warriors). A small scene of Pit reacting to Elias's return? (Since Triple H buried the Ezekiel gimmick). Has Sonic ever mentioned Shadow's dark and edgy phase from 2005? No mention of Yuffie's air sickness? And finally, what are your thoughts on CM Punk no longer part of AEW and the rumors that he may go back to WWE?"
Not yet. Kamui and Silas haven't been on a date yet (but they've been close). Hinoka is using her Cindy Robinson voice. A little too late to show Pit's reaction to Elias. Sonic has never made any mention of Shadow's edgy phase. No mention of Yuffie's air sickness yet. And I figured that CM Punk would no longer be at AEW given the fallout of the scrum (and everything else that happened afterward). With his attitude, I can't see him returning to WWE; you know you're disliked in the locker room when stand-up guys like AJ Styles and R-Truth can't stand you. Ending this note with a joke from Guy w the Jokes:
"Here's my joke today: What do you call a happy Rabbid? A hop-timist! Man, Sans gotta love this one."
Ha, a hop-timist...aren't all Rabbids hop-timists, when they aren't being crazy loons? Even at their craziest, Rabbids are always hoppy-go-lucky creatures. Ayooooo!
Episode 358: Homunculi
Master Hand was a known hater of Halloween. Every year when the residents decked the mansion with Halloween decorations, Master Hand was constantly beside himself. He would go as far as badmouthing anyone who celebrated Halloween, demanding that they stop "following the trend" and learn how to think for themselves.
Fast-forward one year later since the Mario Party incident, and Master Hand has been much more reserved when it comes to Halloween affairs. Sure he might have a few qualms about the holiday, but no longer was he chiding Mario for going out trick-or-treating, or arguing that guys like Bowser were "too old" to be dressing up in Halloween costumes. It was a whole different attitude - and in turn, it allowed the residents to enjoy the Halloween season in peace.
With Master Hand now being in a much different mood than in the past, there were no problems in regards to decorating the mansion with Halloween stuff. Master Hand allowed the residents to do their thing, and let Link and Zelda handle any controversies that arose in regard to decorating. The living room was the most decorated locale of the mansion, with pumpkins, skulls, and the like on the fireplace. And a few Pokemon.
"Crack this open for me, good sir," Steve said to a Murkrow perched on the fireplace, handing an unopened soda can to the darkness Pokemon. Murkrow simply cracked the can open with its beak, with just a simple peck.
"Steve for the last time, Murkrow isn't your personal can opener," Researcher Zelda reminded the satisfied craftsman, who sipped from his can of soda and looked classy while doing it. As Researcher Zelda inspected the fireplace decorations, she noticed Master Mummy staring at something. "Master Mummy...?"
"Brother? Is that you?" Master Mummy asked a mummy, which was standing up near the fireplace as a decoration. Master Mummy was convinced that the mummy was living, as he shook it silly. "Wake up, brother!"
"Hate to burst your bubble, Master Mummy, but that's a..." Before Researcher Zelda had a chance to inform Master Mummy, Ann ran inside the living room and did a quick look around.
"Coast is clear! Hurry, hurry!" Ann called out to someone while beckoning with her arm; Ryuji and Yusuke soon barged inside the living room carrying a Christmas tree. A Halloween-themed Christmas tree, at that.
"Where do we place it?" Ryuji asked Ann, who pointed at an open corner in the living room. The Christmas tree was placed at the spot Ann pointed at, as Ryuji and Yusuke got the tree situated.
"Mission success!" rejoiced Yusuke as he wiped away some sweat from his brow, never imagining that carrying a Christams tree inside would be so tough. Researcher Zelda took a gander at the Christmas tree along with Steve, while Master Mummy maintained his focus on the mummy.
"Huh...who knew they made orange Christmas trees," remarked Researcher Zelda, pulling on the cobwebs on the Christmas tree with her finger. Steve, meanwhile, touched a skull that was hanging like an ornament.
"I've got a bone to pick with you!" the skull ornament said to Steve, before cackling like a madman as its eyes flashed a bright red. Steve retracted his hand and held it gently, deeply regretting the unspeakable act he just did.
"Oh, dear...I have made a mortal enemy out of that skull fiend," Steve said to Researcher Zelda, strangely fearing for his life. The craftsman was certain that an army of living skeletons was going to murk him in his sleep.
Joker: The owner of the Halloween store cut us a good deal - we buy a Halloween Christmas tree, and he'll give us an unlimited supply of candy in return. Compared to the other trees that were on display, the one we bought was pretty ugly. (It was the last one in stock.) We only agreed just for the candy; Haru had to convince us.
"The Halloween candy is usually restocked close to evening," Marth said to Mario as he led the plumber inside the living room, his attention soon drawn to the Christmas tree. "Better get some before Pit goes...oh my."
"Mama mia! Master Hand isn't gonna like-a that," remarked Mario when he first saw the Christmas tree, which like any other Christmas tree was adorned with lights. Yusuke plugged the lights in, and the lights shone a bright yellow.
"Why not? It captures the Halloween spirit!" argued Ryuji, while Yusuke placed a witch hat on top of the Christmas tree. "Master Hand was fine with all the other decorations."
"True, but he's not a fan-a of mixing holidays. May I remind-a you of the turkey incident on the 4th of July?" Mario brought to Ryuji's remembrance an incident that was memorable enough to make Ryuji cringe.
"Somehow Simon didn't know what a turkey sandwich was..." As Ryuji tried to delete the turkey-related memory from his mind, Master Mummy tried to wake up the mummy by shaking it silly.
"Wake up, brother! It is I, Master Mummy!" the ARMS fighter said to the mummy, refusing to stop until he got a single response. Then Master Mummy turned his head, his eyes falling upon a man who could help him with his predicament...Mario.
"Um, where exactly is the Halloween-a candy, Marth?" Mario asked the hero-king as he was moving about, knowing that Master Mummy wanted to see him. Master Mummy extended his arm to Mario, grabbing his hat.
"No! I've had nightmares about this!" shouted Cappy, fearing for the worst as he plucked off of Mario's head. "Save me, Mario!" Now in Master Mummy's possession, Cappy was placed atop the mummy's head. Master Mummy waited a moment, but nothing happened.
"Come on, work already!" Master Mummy was losing his patience, as Mario was still present in the living room searching for the Halloween candy. When Cappy wasn't working his magic, Master Mummy grabbed the talking hat and threw him on the floor, stomping on him repeatedly.
"My worst nightmare...it's even more painful than I've imagined!" Cappy was repeatedly stomped on by Master Mummy until Mario finally intervened after hearing enough of Cappy's cries for help.
"Lay off-a on Cappy, I just gave him a bath!" Mario frowned at Master Mummy, pushing the ARMS fighter away as he picked up Cappy and placed him on his head. As he did so, Marth and the others gave him weird looks. "What I meant-a to say was, I washed Cappy...in-a the kitchen sink."
"Should've stopped after the bath part," Researcher Zelda said to Mario, left wondering what Mario would wash Cappy - a sentient hat - in the kitchen sink of all places. Was the bathroom sink not available?
"Now I know what I did wrong - the capturing only works when Mario does it!" deduced Master Mummy, thinking that he totally understood how Mario's capturing functionality worked. "Mario, can you capture my brother for me?"
"Master Mummy, that's a..." Mario was about to inform Master Mummy, only to save himself some trouble as he let out a defeated sigh. "...I'll do my best." Mario threw Cappy at the mummy decoration repeatedly, though nothing was happening.
"Try aiming a little higher." So Mario tossed Cappy at the mummy's head, and still no capturing was taking place. Master Mummy placed his fist underneath his chin, wondering why Cappy's capturing ability wasn't working.
"All this tossing is gonna give me brain damage!" shouted Cappy as Mario repeatedly tossed him at the mummy decoration, and kept doing so until Master Mummy asked him to stop. "Wait, do I even have a brain?"
Sonic got a long-distance call from Samus, who informed the blue hedgehog that she was done with her mission. Samus told Sonic that she was heading back home, so Sonic gathered Lavenza and waited outside the mansion, expecting Samus' arrival. Crash was there, too.
"I imagined that her quest would've taken her a month's worth," Lavenza discussed with Sonic, figuring that finding the missing body pieces of a person long dead would be nigh difficult.
"Who here thought that Samus and Pikachu would've been lost in space?" Sonic asked Crash and Lavenza, hoping to see a few hands raised or even a response of agreement. Not a single response whatsoever. "Just me, huh?"
"Woah!" shouted Crash, as he saw Samus' Gunship flying into the earth's atmosphere. The Gunship flew its way to the mansion, before slowly descending as it made a safe landing.
"Here comes Samus with the goods!" Sonic was getting all excited, as the Gunship landed and the hatch opened. Smoke exited from the Gunship, as Samus emerged through the opening in her Power Suit. Pikachu was on her shoulder.
"Hello, everyone," Samus cordially greeted Sonic and company, as he unsheathed her helmet; must be really nice to finally breathe in some fresh Earth air.
"Pika!" Pikachu gave his own greeting, as the arduous space journey he went wasn't enough to quell his joy. He was just happy to be there for the ride.
"Welcome back, Samus," Lavenza said to the bounty hunter, who stepped down from the Gunship as Pikachu leaped down from her shoulder. "Did you acquire the 'goods', as Sonic called it?"
"Oh yeah, Berri's remains...I'm afraid I have some bad news." Whatever this bad news was was the last thing that Sonic and company wanted to hear, as they feared for the worst. "I couldn't find them anywhere."
"I call cap," Sonic pointed accusingly at Samus, knowing that the bounty hunter was hiding something. Whenever Samus hid something, it was usually obvious to Sonic. "Bet you didn't even look hard enough!"
"I did look hard enough. Literally went to the very ends of the galaxy searching. I almost risked my life trying to find the remains of Conker's stupid girlfriend, thank you very much..."
Samus: To be honest, I didn't really search that hard. I barely searched much at all - only agreed to fulfill Sonic's request just so I could take an extended break from the mansion. Having Pikachu at my side made it sweeter. That isn't to say that I returned home empty-handed, however.
"Well...did you at least spend Crash's coupon?" Sonic asked Samus, as Crash looked at Samus with his puppy-eyes look. Crash was feigning to sink his teeth into a space burger for days on end.
"Count yourself lucky that I remembered," replied Samus as she reached into the Gunship and pulled out a brown paper bag filled with food, from the Toxic Burger. In Samus' other hand was a small box of pizza from Nuclear Pizza "Enjoy your meal, Crash."
"Yippee!" squealed Crash as Samus tossed him the Toxic Burger bag; Crash reached into the paper bag and took out a burger, taking a huge bite out of it.
"And a slice of pizza for you." Samus opened the box of pizza, revealing a pepperoni pizza that was glowing neon green. She gave a slice to Pikachu, who ate the slice without a care in the world. "Know what, Pikachu, you can have the entire box..."
"Does that burger have any nutritional value?" Lavenza asked Sonic out of concern, as Crash's burger was glowing just like Pikachu's pizza. Perhaps the glow helped the food taste better - or it could be just a cool aesthetic.
"It's space food - nutritional value is irrelevant!" stated Sonic, who was looking inside Crash's bag and pulled out a box of glowing French fries. "Glowing sea salt fries, don't mind if I do..."
"All that food, and yet you won't share a nibble with me..." a certain Umbra Witch said to Sonic and company, as Bayonetta arrived at the front yard holding several shopping bags with her arms. "...I am so flattered."
"Oh! Bayonetta!" Sonic shouted the Umbra Witch's name, leading Bayonetta to assume that Sonic was willing to share a few French fries with her. "Your friend Jeanne is in the mansion. And some punk chick." So much for sharing.
"A 'punk chick', you say? Must be the new witch-in-training." Bayonetta cracked a smirk as she went to the mansion porch, fully aware of what the rest of her day was like. "If any of you see Luka, let him know that I'm waiting on him."
"You got it," Samus half-assured Bayonetta with Crash giving a salute, while Bayonetta strolled her way up the porch steps with her shopping bags full of clothes. Once Bayonetta entered the mansion, Sonic had a pressing question to ask...
"Witches have to get training?" the blue hedgehog asked Lavenza, who dared not to answer the question. Sonic should probably look into watching Little Witch Academia in his spare time.
"It's best if you asked Ashley instead," Lavenza recommended to Sonic, which was a good idea since Ashley was, you know, a witch herself.
Bayonetta was inside the mansion, putting her bags down on the floor near the front door. Her best friend Jeanne was inside the mansion but the question was, where was she?
"Look who went shopping without us," a voice called out to Bayonetta, who looked up and saw Jeanne sitting on a couch in the foyer. Sitting next to Jeanne was the punk chick that Sonic spoke of.
"Hush now, darling, I only went shopping for a few essentials," responded Bayonetta as she strutted her stuff en route to Jeanne - likely strutting just to flex on her friend. "I'll have you spend the rest of what's left on my debit card."
"I was just joking...I've done my shopping already." Glad to know that Bayonetta and Jeanne both had their priorities straight. "So how have you been, Bayo?"
"Honestly can't complain. Every day is as chaotic as the day before, but life for me hasn't been any less peachy." Bayonetta's eyes were soon drawn to the punk chick sitting next to Jeanne, who was definitely looking the part with her blonde pixie haircut and punk attire.
"Yes, this is the new Umbra Witch in training." Jeanne promptly stood up with the punk chick following suit, as a few introductions had to be made. "This is..."
"...I can handle it," the punk chick rudely cut off Jeanne, wanting to do her introduction her way. Truly embodying the spirit of a punk rock girl. "My name is Viola - I'm an Umbra Witch from another reality!"
"You do remind me of a certain blonde bandicoot..." Looking at Viola's haircut while taking the "another reality" factoid into mind, Bayonetta was getting sudden Tawna Bandicoot vibes. Alternate universe Tawna Bandicoot, that is.
"She also goes by Kitty," Jeanne leaned in and whispered to Bayonetta, as she and the fellow Umbra Witch shared a quiet laugh together. Viola was eavesdropping on the two as she frowned and tightened her fists.
"Hey! I can hear you!" Viola shouted at Bayonetta and Jeanne, whose laughing grew in decibels; it was almost as if they were openly mocking Viola.
"Think I'm gonna need a new red hat to occupy..." said Cappy, who was carried out of the living room by Mario; poor Cappy had wear and tear all over him, no thanks to Mario and Master Mummy.
"It's a good-a thing I never run out of 'em," responded Mario, before coming to a stop when he saw Bayonetta, Jeanne, and Viola standing around. "Is that your rebellious daughter, Bayonetta? Or is that..."
"We have no relation...please go run along now," replied Bayonetta, threatening Mario as she pointed her gun at the plumber. Fearing for his life, Mario scurried out of the mansion taking Cappy with him.
"Nice," Viola smiled at Bayonetta, giving the Umbra Witch some props; Bayonetta smirked as she put her gun away.
Bayonetta: Mario clearly has been scared of me from the moment that we first met. His fear is intact even to this very day. I like to think of it as respect - hopefully, that respect will endure.
Mario: There are only two women-a who are scarier than an angry Princess-a Peach, and maybe Impa. Bayonetta, and Bayonetta with a gun. That's about-a it.
"So ladies, what's the special occasion?" Bayonetta asked Jeanne and Viola, inquiring why the two ladies wanted to pay her a visit. "I'm in no mood for a girls' day out, quite frankly."
"I'm afraid that a girls' day out is necessary," replied Jeanne as she sported a serious visage, leading Bayonetta to assume that some trouble was afoot. Hopefully, it was the kind of trouble that Bayonetta could handle. "Viola will explain everything to you."
"Ever heard of the Homunculi?" Viola asked Bayonetta, who judging by the way she furrowed her brow had no recollection of such a beast. "Let's just say that they're monsters inviting the multiverse...and they've found their way into your reality."
"The multiverse has been a hot topic lately," stated Bayonetta, hearing enough chatter about alternate realities and parallel universes from whatever private conversations between Link and Zelda she eavesdropped on. "But no matter - no monster from Paradiso can hold a candle to me!"
"Here's the thing - the Homunculi aren't from Paradiso or Inferno." Now that caught Bayonetta's attention, as Bayonetta was bound to go up against a force that she was hardly familiar with. "We don't know where they came from."
"All the Homunculi care about is destroying whatever reality that they infiltrate," added Jeanne, unsure if Bayonetta was taking the situation as seriously as she should. "And their leader, Viola says, wishes to collapse the multiverse."
"And what are we to do? Let them have their fun?" asked Bayonetta as she took her gun out, twirling it on her index finger whimsically. "I'd say we send the Homunculi back home crying to their mother."
"Well, Bayonetta, it's good to know that you're down to..." Jeanne trailed off, as Bayonetta walked away from Jeanne and Viola acting as if she didn't have a single care in the world. "...Bayonetta, we simply cannot stand our ground."
"I'm not staying at the mansion...preposterous of you to even think that. Obviously, we can't go about our business without an ally." Bayonetta went on down the hallway, leaving Jeanne and Viola to wonder who this supposed ally was.
"You said to trust Bayo, did you not?" Viola asked Jeanne, who mentioned to the Umbra Witch in training that Bayonetta would be leading the mission of defeating the Homunculi. "I'm already starting to have second doubts..."
"This is just typical Bayonetta being herself," replied Jeanne, putting all the eggs in her basket when it came to Bayonetta. She and Viola couldn't go about stopping an unstoppable force like the Homunculi all by themselves. "She isn't that frivolous all of the time."
The spirit of Halloween was alive and well at Cafe Leblanc, especially after the Phantom Thieves did their shopping at the Halloween store. Joker had purchased new Halloween decorations from the store and adorned them at the cafe to make the place even spookier than before.
"Sorry, Joker, but that Freddy Kruger statue at the entrance has got to go," Fox said to the young man as he entered the cafe, having been greeted by a plastic Freddy Kruger. Which was just as scary as the movie incarnation.
"I placed it there to scare off certain customers," explained Joker, who took heart in knowing that his Freddy Kruger statue was doing its job. Unfortunately, the statue wasn't enough to scare off Sans.
"freddy kruger is making a huge killing scaring people away," snickered Sans, who was seating at the counter with Jakob as Fox took a seat. Jakob groaned, getting a first-hand experience of Sans.
"Sucks that Joker won't let us wear costumes while on the job," complained Pit, owning a Halloween costume that he was dying to wear before the day of Halloween. It was found he found on the cheap. "I got a kissing booth costume that I've been..."
"That costume is borderline offensive, and you know it," Joker immediately shut down Pit, who grumpily folded his arms and looked the other way as he thought about what could have been. "A cup of coffee for you, Mr. McCloud?"
"Hot espresso, the regular," answered Fox, as Joker went ahead and fixed the pilot's cup of coffee. Jakob analyzed the new Halloween decorations set up in Cafe Leblanc, spotting several creepy lanterns hanging from the walls.
"I escaped to this cafe to avoid this Halloween fad," Jakob explained to nobody in particular, while Joker handed Fox his cup of espresso after he was done fixing it for him. "Yet anywhere I go, it's prevalent. I've grown to hate Halloween."
"Halloween isn't that bad," Fox said to Jakob before taking a sip of his espresso; Jakob strongly begged to differ as he scoffed haughtily. "It's fun if you make the most of it!"
"Perhaps it's fun. It must be fun to dress in lousy costumes for only one day out of the year. Bet it's even more fun to knock on people's doors, and 'kindly' beg strangers for easily-attainable candy."
"Free easily-attainable candy," Pit corrected Jakob with a smile, as Jakob stuck by what he said. Jakob's sentiments on Halloween were similar to that of Master Hand's.
Jakob: Conker and Orson have decorated the house with Halloween filth. Tombstones in the front yard, fake spiders on the front door, and jack-o-lanterns in the kitchen. Every inch of the house's interior is decorated - even including my own bedroom! I cannot wait to be free from that erratic squirrel and pathetic ghost.
"You guys forgot about the best part of Halloween..." Viridi said to Pit and company with her back turned...before turning around while holding an evil clown mask over her face. "...the jumpscares!" Everyone near Viridi screamed out of fright, save for Jakob.
"Woah! That is one horrifying mask," remarked Kirby, as the evil clown mask gave him weird Sweet Tooth vibes. Viridi was proud of the fact that her mask scared multiple people. "Thank goodness I have no pants to wet...let alone a..."
"Oh please, that mask wasn't that scary," interjected Jakob, thinking of Kirby and the others as wimps. His opinion of Fox, Kirby, Joker, and even Sans had dwindled - Pit, not so much. "Then again, I'm not so easily scared."
"Cheers, love!" Tracer greeted Jakob as she zipped her way inside the cafe, wearing her ghostly costume from episode 306. The pilot nearly gave Jakob a heart attack. "What's your name?"
"Ack!" Jakob screamed as he fell back out of his chair, falling unto the floor with a thud. Viridi stifled her laughter by covering her mouth, while Sans was giggling at Jakob's plight.
"Very pleased to meet you, Ack! You can call me Tracer!" Tracer held out her hand to Jakob, who was lying on the floor in slight pain. Jakob slapped Tracer's hand away, believing that the pilot wanted to help him up.
"Tracer, I thought we agreed that you wouldn't wear that costume again," Winston said to the pilot as he entered the cafe, wearing a werewolf costume. Jakob saw Winston's costume as he used his stool to get up, as he was hardly frightened.
"Yeah, well...nobody said that you could dress up as a werewolf! What gorilla pretends to be a werewolf?" Tracer was asking a pretty hard-hitting question, and it was up to Winston to his put his friend in her place.
"Nonsense! I can easily identify as a werewolf." Winston did a wolf howl in an effort to prove Tracer wrong, but he botched it terribly. He botched it so hard that he was left choking afterward.
"I'll give you one out of five stars for that," Wolf said to the choking Winston, sitting at a table with his Star Fox buddies. "Never do that again." Winston sure took Wolf's comments to heart, as he got down on one knee still choking.
"Werewolf howl aside...I genuinely believe that this costume best suits me." After he was done choking, Winston reassumed his usual demeanor as he adjusted his glasses. At this point, Jakob had seen enough.
"I have to go - I have no time for scares or lousy costumes," Jakob said to Joker and the baristas as he left the cafe, brushing past Winston as he made his exit. Jakob was wearing fear on his face thanks to Tracer, and fear was something that the butler wasn't really used to.
"What's the matter with him?" Winston asked those in the cafe, able to see how frightened Jakob was. He didn't intend for his werewolf costume to strike that much fear into an innocent butler.
"That was Jakob," Fox explained to Winston, and also to Tracer since she deserved to know what Jakob's true name was. "He was a real jerk to us a couple of years ago."
"He insinuated that Fox was a bastard child," Pit randomly stated as he pointed at Fox, who glared at Pit as he did not appreciate him bringing up that incident. Tracer's giggling perfectly showed why.
"...but he's been a good guy ever since. And, as you just saw, Halloween really isn't his thing." Fox's last sentence got Tracer thinking, as Tracer stroked her chin. She was thinking of a way to help Jakob overcome his supposed fear of Halloween.
"He just needs a good scare to make him embrace Halloween, that's all," suggested Tracer, as the gears were slowly turning in her head. "What if we scare him good - with a Halloween prank?"
"I'm down!" Pit raised his hand at the speed of light, as he happily volunteered for Tracer's master plan. Getting to scare Jakob was one item that Pit would love to check off of his bucket list.
"Um, doesn't that sound haphazard, though?" asked Joker, sharing some pessimism that scaring Jakob would somehow make him like Halloween. "You can back me up on this, can't you, Fox?"
"You're in luck - I got a Halloween prank that I've been prepping for Krystal," Fox said to Tracer, as Joker now looked toward Winston as his last hope for any source of a voice of reason. "It might work better on Jakob instead."
"I don't like where this is going..." started Winston, giving Joker a sense of hope that maybe Tracer's plan was a bit flawed. "...but if you need anything, Tracer, you know who to call."
"I can always count on you, Winston!" Tracer smiled at the gorilla, as Joker gave up all hope and continued with his usual barista duties. Best to let Tracer and the others be great. "You can hop along too if you wish, Sans."
"jakob's gonna be in for a real scare..." snickered Sans, voicing his desire to join Tracer's pact; no way Joker would align himself with Tracer now, even if he genuinely wanted to.
Despite his best efforts, and Mario's best efforts, Master Mummy was unable to wake up the mummy in the living room. Accepting the fact that his "brother" was "dead", Master Mummy went to the tower to consult a possible necromancer. Enter Ashley.
"My brother is dead, and needs to be revived," Master Mummy stressed his situation to Ashley, who was reading a book in the tower's library without a single care in the world. "Your revitalizing potions will do just the trick!"
"Potions that work specifically for mummies will run you $500," stated Ashley, refusing to give in to any silly demands as she turned a page. Master Mummy slammed his fist on the floor since he was broke; he just gave his last $20 to Ken Masters.
"Drat! Is there anything else that I can do?" Master Mummy was depending greatly on Ashley, as Ashely knew it too as she rolled her eyes and sighed. Ashley was forced to oblige.
"Speak with Alucard - he might have something up his sleeve." Ashley just threw that name out there, and the name drop did wonders as Master Mummy was elated.
"The vampire, of course! Thank you, young Ashley." So Master Mummy left the library, and Ashley was in relief as she was finally alone.
"He's a dhampir, but okay..." Ashley turned another page, able to read her book in the library in peace. At least until the next brief interruption occurred.
Ashley: I hate my "role" as a miracle worker. Knuckles, this is all your fault - you started the trend.
Leaving Ashley's room, Master Mummy pressed forward down the hallway when he conveniently encountered Alucard. Alucard was speaking with Richter, who was sharing with the dhampir Simon's thoughts about this year's Halloween decor.
"This is what he did to the Chucky doll," Richter said to Alucard as he showed him a decapitated Chucky doll - the head in one hand and the doll's body in the other. All would be forgiven if Simon was scared of the doll at first sight.
"I would have done the same if I were him," stated Alucard as he took the Chucky head from Richter. The menacing eyes of the Chucky doll stared deep into the dhampir's soul. "Doesn't look that expensive..."
"According to Rosalina, it was only $70; the good version of Chucky was worth more than seven times that amount!" That was ludicrous for Alucard to believe, as he looked at Richter out of disbelief.
"Good is more expensive than evil...what has this world come to." Alucard handed the Chuckie head back to Richter, as Chuckie's eyes probably got the best of him. "Guess that's $70 down the drain."
"Count Alucard! How good are your necromancy skills?" Master Mummy approached Alucard, choosing the right time to consult the dhampir. His question had Alucard and even Richter befuddled.
"I am not a necromancer, nor am I any user of dark magic...well, save for a few seldom instances. But where on earth did you get such lunacy from?"
"You see, I have discovered my long-lost brother in the mansion's living room. No matter what I do, I am unable to wake him up! I fear that he might be deceased."
"He's not dead, he's..." Richter was about to spill the beans, only for Alucard to silence him when he put his hand out. Alucard wasn't going to let Richter break Master Mummy's world that easily.
"It'll take supernatural magic to raise your brother from the dead," Alucard suggested to Master Mummy, playing along with the ARMS fighter's shenanigans against his better judgment. "Try speaking with Ashley."
"But I just spoke with Ashely a moment ago!" stated Master Mummy as he groaned - before an imaginary light bulb dinged over his head. "Though Tingle, he may have some magic to spare." Master Mummy left Alucard alone, walking away as he headed to Tingle's room.
"You are not to tell him the truth about that mummy," Alucard gave this demand to Richter, who promised to keep his mouth shut as he zipped his lips. Keep it secret, keep it safe. "Let him figure it out..."
Jeanne and Viola caught up with Bayonetta, who was in the gaming room speaking with a prospective ally. Bayonetta was standing off to the side watching Dante, who was playing a game of darts with Dunban.
"Monsters called the Homunculi have invaded our reality," Bayonetta explained the current situation to Dante, whose turn it was to throw a dart at the target. Dante's eyes were squinted. "Sound like they're right up your alley."
"Maybe up your alley, but definitely not mine," responded Dante as he focused on the target, before throwing the dart and striking close to the target's center. "Baddies that screw up the fabric of reality really aren't my preferred cup of tea."
"Won't hurt if you stepped out of your comfort zone," Jeanne said to Dante, as she instantly caught the demon hunter's attention. Dante turned his head to Jeanne, seemingly able to recognize her.
"You're the Umbra Witch Jeanne, aren't you?" Dante approached Jeanne, brushing his hair back with his hand, and Jeanne stood her ground just in case Dante pulled a fast one. "Bayo has told me about you."
"And you must be Dante." Jeanne and Dante were now in each other's presence, with one welcoming the other. No bad blood between the two, which was what Bayonetta was slightly hoping for. "I see you got some stubble on your chin. Growing old?"
"Not old enough to leave the demon-hunting business...or hop out of the dating pool." Dante rested his elbow on the shoulder of Jeanne, who didn't like how the conversation was turning out. "If Trish ever cuts me off, I'll let you fill the void."
"She's not for sale..." Viola said to Dante, stopping any possible romantic advance from the demon hunter as she slapped his arm away. Dante smiled, allured by Viola's feisty nature.
"And who might this be? Your rebellious daughter? Is she adopted?" Yet another person wildly assumed that Viola was somebody's kid, as Viola pinched the crown of her nose.
"She's nobody's daughter...she's Viola," Jeanne explained to Dante, as Bayonetta's phone was heard ringing in the distance. Yet Bayonetta was unable to hear. "An Umbra Witch in training."
"Never knew that Umbra Witches had to train. But I gotta ask...what's so special about Viola?" Much to Dante's surprise, Viola took offense to the demon hunter's remark as she got up in her grill. Dante was smiling.
"I was the one who sounded the alarm about the Homunculi..." Viola frowned at Dante, who held his arms up in innocence as he calmly backed away. Bayonetta got in between Viola and Dante, lowering the tension.
"Take it easy, he's merely being coy," Bayonetta said to Viola, who was glaring at Dante intensely. Dante smiled even harder, as he was liking Viola's feisty attitude. "We can't have you lay a finger on our ally!"
"Slow your roll, Bayo - I haven't agreed to anything yet," Dante said to the Umbra Witch, unsure if he was the right man for the job. He needed further background info on the Homunculi before making his final decision.
"Dante, I can't finish this game of darts without you!" Dunban called out to the demon hunter, after completing his turn in the game of darts. His dart landed on the target awfully close to Dante's. "You can chat with Bayonetta and her friends later."
"How about I finish creaming Dunban, then we can chat?" Dante clicked his fingers at Bayonetta and company, as he returned to his game. Bayonetta, Jeanne, and Viola were forced to wait around, but fortunately for them, Dante was almost done.
"Bayonetta, your phone just rang," Diddy informed the Umbra Witch as he approached her with her phone. The spidermonkey handed the phone to Bayonetta, who checked her missed call.
"My goodness! I missed Luka's call," Bayonetta reacted, seeing that Luka had called her phone not once but twice. Could be a sign that Luka was in danger. "Call him back and let him know that I'm busy."
"Busy doing what? Can't you do it your..." Diddy was immediately silenced, as Bayonetta handed her phone to him. Bayonetta mumbled as he took Bayonetta's phone. "I'll just leave it where you had it..."
In the Phantom Thieves' humble opinion, the Halloween-themed Christmas tree completed the spooky look in the living room. However, Mario argued that Master Hand might not be such a huge fan of the tree. Wishing to prove Mario wrong, Ann, Ryuji, and Yusuke brought Master Hand to the living room to see what he had to say.
"I want that tree out of the mansion before midnight," Master Hand spoke with Ann and company in the foyer, as the Christmas tree did not sit well with him. As Mario had predicted. "It'll make people confused."
"Come on, Master Hand! You don't mind the other Halloween decorations," argued Ryuji, as he had yet to hear Master Hand carping about the mansion's Halloween decorations. Master Hand was holding it all in.
"Let me ask you - is there such a thing as a Halloween leprechaun? Or a Halloween Easter Bunny? Do they sell Halloween fireworks?" Master Hand owned the three Phantom Thieves, as he had them exchanging looks with one another.
"The Viga Clan might have Halloween fireworks..." argued Yusuke, knowing that the Yiga Clan had fireworks for every occasion; the clan once set off fireworks on April Fool's, for crying out loud.
"They don't know any better, so they get a pass. But you three don't. You got until twelve for that tree to be removed from the premises, do you understand?"
"Yes, Master Hand..." answered Ann as she lowered her head, with Master Hand floating back to his room. Joker was about to make a return purchase; Haru may have to return her candy if she hadn't eaten it yet.
Master Hand: I have grown a lot since last Halloween. Hadn't said much about the decorations, and I've yet to give anyone crap for whatever Halloween costume they wear. If they want to dress up as an anime character, then fine. If someone wants to wear a gratuitously sexy costume, then let them! Do they want to put their infant child in a Halloween costume? Seems pointless, but it's their child.
Yoshi: Master Hand, look! I'm you! *walks into frame, wearing a Master Hand costume* I'm the king of the universe!
Master Hand: *shudders* Please tell me that's a costume of the Hamburger Helper mascot...
Yoshi: Hamburger Helper? Do they still make those?
"Off to tell Joker the bad news..." said Yusuke, as he and Ryuji both went their separate ways. Ann was about to leave the foyer as well before the doorbell suddenly rang.
"Coming!" shouted Ann as she hustled to the front door - a very slight chance that whoever was at the doorstep was an early trick-or-treater. Sometimes, you gotta get candy before the big shebang.
"Be on your best behavior..." a female voice was heard from behind the door, indicating that the mansion had some extra company. Ann opened the door and was greeted by a young man wearing a thick shawl and a young huntress woman.
"Cool! Foreigners!" exclaimed Ann, before looking over her shoulder for any signs of Snake. If Snake saw how the two guests were dressed, he just might have a fit. "Where are you guys from?"
"Good afternoon. I am H'aanit, and this is my faithful companion, Therion," the huntress introduced herself and her friend, as the young man was not appearing that friendly. "Therion, say something..."
"Mother always told me never to talk to strangers," Therion responded with a snarky attitude, as he took a bite out of the apple he was holding. H'aanit frowned as she smacked the apple out of Therion's hand.
"You must excuse Therion, he can be quite rude." H'aanit kicked the apple away with her foot, right before Therion had the opportunity to use the five-second rule and pick it up. "As expected from a thief."
"He does look pretty angsty," remarked Ann as she looked at Therion; the purple scarf around his neck really added to Therion's dark aura. "So why are you guys stopping by?"
"My snow leopard, Linde, has gone missing." A missing snow leopard didn't sound as bad as it seemed - they seldom showed aggression towards humans. "We were wondering if anyone in this mansion has seen her."
"She's about as big as a tiger," added Therion; a female adult tiger usually weighed up to 370 pounds, so Linde was a big cat for her species. "Can't possibly miss her."
"I haven't seen any snow leopards in these parts lately," said Ann, unable to recall any instance when a giant cat was running loose in Seattle. "Though if I were to look..."
"Ann, who are you speaking to?" Popo called out to the young woman, soon running up to her at the front door. At first sight of Therion and H'aanit, Popo squealed with joy. "Ooh! Are those early trick-or-treaters?"
"Even if they were, would they come at this time of day?" In a perfect world they wouldn't, but that didn't stop Popo from being convinced that H'aanit and Therion were bona fide trick-or-treaters.
"But look at their costumes! They look like high-profile extras from House of the Dragons." Popo was so convinced that Anna chose not to argue with the Ice Climber, as she looked away and facepalmed.
"'House of the Dragons'?" Therion crinkled his nose at Popo, before leaning in close to H'aanit and whispering in her ear. "What is this short man on?"
"Today's your lucky day, you two. Because you will be the first to try my new Halloween-flavored ice cream! Well, it's not exactly Halloween-flavored...but it's for trick-or-treaters only. And you two are viable test-tasters."
"No thank you, we are not interested," H'aanit said kindly to Popo, more concerned about finding Linde than tasting ice cream that she could hardly care for. "Get a regular person to do your favor instead."
"Aw, don't sell yourself so short! You trick-or-treaters are regular people, in my book. Do this just once, and I promise not to bother you again."
Popo: It has been a dream of mine to craft seasonal ice cream. A lot of ice cream companies have made all sorts of Halloween ice cream flavors, like bubblegum, pumpkin cheesecake, zombie unicorn, boo batter, and even DEATH! *pauses* Death by chocolate. I would love to go out that way.
"You better make this quick..." Therion said to Popo, as he and H'aanit followed Popo inside the door. Popo led the two "trick-or-treaters" to the kitchen, as Ann was done facepalming.
"Always gotta hop on the latest trends, doesn't he?" Ann muttered under her breath concerning Popo, as she closed the front door and walked away.
Master Hand foresaw a bunch of kids ringing the doorbell on the day of Halloween, so he had Link and Zelda make sure that there was enough candy to go about for the little kids. Link and Zelda asked Mario to join them in the lounge as they tallied up all the candy.
"Keep in mind that most of this is the candy that Captain Falcon planned on keeping for himself...and Nowi," Zelda explained to Mario, who was stuffing candy into several buckets while also discreetly stuffing some in his pockets.
"How greedy of him," Mario shook his head as Link saw the plumber in the act of smuggling candy, while Zelda had yet to catch him. But after a couple of seconds, Zelda caught Mario red-handed.
"Nice try, Mario...now put the candy in the buckets where they belong." Forced to come clean, Mario emptied his pockets as he hoped to get his hands on any bags of Skittles left remaining after Halloween.
"Special delivery!" announced Haru as she entered the lounge, coming forth with the candy she obtained from the Halloween store owner. Either she couldn't handle the remaining candy in her possession, or she was giving it all away before the store owner asked for it back.
"Just pour it on the table." So Haru poured her Halloween candy on the table in the lounge, as a whole bunch of candy poured out of the bag. Mario, unable to resist the candy's allure, rubbed his hands together and licked his chops. "Hands to yourself, Mario..."
"I'll take this one piece." Haru plucked a lollipop out of the pile of candy, claiming her piece as she left the lounge. That lollipop was a particular candy that Mario really had his eyes set on.
"Any luck-a yet with the washing machine?" Mario asked Link, who was determined to get 2B back to the future via time travel. Whether Dr. Wily approved of the method or not.
"Rayman says that he's going to ask a mechanic to 'fix' the machine," replied Link, as Mario's phone was ringing in his pocket. Cappy reached into Mario's pocket, with small candy pieces falling out. "That mechanic is gonna be in for a rude awakening..."
"Your phone is ringing," Cappy informed Mario as he handed the plumber his phone; Mario glanced at the caller ID, but the number was unfamiliar to him.
"Hello, this-a is Mario speaking!" Mario spoke into the phone as he temporarily stepped out of the lounge. The person on the other line was hyperventilating as if they were in complete danger.
"Hi Mario, is this the mansion's phone?" said the person that gave Mario a call; it was Luka Redgrave, and judging by the tone of his voice, he was in even more danger than his breathing indicated.
"It's close-a enough! So what's up?" Mario would love to save Luka from...whatever he needed to be saved from, but there was still Halloween candy left to sift through in the lounge.
"Got an emergency on my hands...you're not gonna believe this, but some hot vampire woman is holding me against my will. She's like, nine feet tall!"
"Mama mia! Not a hot vampire woman." Mario sounded like he cared about Luka's predicament, based on his reaction alone. "Soooo what's-a the emergency?"
"Were you not listening to me?! A hot vampire woman is holding me hostage! She won't let me escape!" Luka was heard screaming for his life, as he made several frantic footsteps.
"I'm confused, is this 'hot vampire woman' objectively ugly? Or are you intimidated-a by how good-looking she is?" Mario was absolutely no help to Luka, who was hyperventilating once more as he stopped running.
"Already tried calling Bayonetta, but she didn't answer...just tell me what the mansion's phone number is." Luka was clearly scared for his life, as whoever this vampire lady was had the man scared straight.
"I'll do you one-a better - I'll explain your problem-a to Rodin, and he can come-a in and rescue you!" Rodin likely saved Luka's butt on a few past occasions, so it seemed like a good idea in Mario's mind.
"It's more than just a problem - it's a living nightmare! And I don't want Rodin. You better not..." Luka wasn't able to give Mario a warning, as Mario ended the call and put his phone away.
"Gotta run along now," Mario informed Link and Zelda as he poked his head inside the lounge, letting them know that he had important matters to handle. "Bayonetta's beau is stuck in some hostage crisis."
"Take your time," responded Link, as Mario nodded his head and left for the tower. Link and Zelda continue to sift through the candy, though Link couldn't help that certain pieces had gone missing. "The Nerds and Jolly Ranchers have gone amiss..."
"Hm, strange, I saw them not so long ago," said Zelda, before she noticed a Jolly Rancher lying on the floor near the lounge entrance. The princess got up and looked outside the lounge, and saw Cappy trailing behind Mario...carrying candy with his stubby hands.
"There was a pile of them right here..." As Link wondered where the missing candy had gone, Zelda furrowed her brow as she returned to the lounge.
Tingle might be a fairy in name, but there were a handful of folks who were convinced that Tingle was an actual fairy. Take for instance Master Mummy, who brought Tingle to the mansion's living room to "revive" his brother.
"Lay him down gently on the floor," Tingle instructed Master Mummy, flexing his fingers and doing strange hand motions as Master Mummy laid the mummy out on the floor. "It'll make the process easier for me."
"He is all yours," Master Mummy said to Tingle after he was done, moving to the side so that he could give Tingle plenty of space. Done with his weird routine, Tingle focused mightily on the mummy as his face was squinching.
"Mummy, I command you to be brought up from the dead...now rise!" Tingle lifted up his hand, and he held it in the air for a prolonged period of time, but nothing was happening. "I said, rise!" Tingle repeated this multiple times, with Master Mummy growing irritated with every attempt.
"You are a fraud..." Master Mummy was finally smelling the roses - Tingle was nowhere near the fairy that he claimed to be. But that didn't stop Tingle from trying to revive the mummy.
Tingle: My resurrection abilities and life-giving skills have proven to be effective before. Why, in fact, I even brought a withering sunflower to sprout! Granted it took me nearly three months, but if it weren't for me...
Villager: Once saw Tingle dancing about near a sunflower after it was in full bloom. Feels great to know that gardening can be appreciated. *pauses* If you remember to garden, that is.
"Can't believe that you're wasting that poser's time..." uttered Alucard as he entered the living room, seeing Tingle refusing to give up on reviving the mummy. Master Mummy was all smiles when he saw Alucard, as he kicked Tingle away and caused him to crash into the Christmas tree in the corner.
"Right on time!" exclaimed Master Mummy as he grabbed Alucard and pulled him close to him with his extendable ARMS. "I know you're a necromancer, so show it!" Alucard had to turn his head away since Master Mummy's breath was kickin'.
"I regret to inform you that any necromancy of the sort would not be possible." Alucard went against his bitter judgment yet again, as he had no choice but to break the news to Master Mummy. "For that mummy is a dummy."
"TELL ME YOU DID NOT JUST CALL MY LONG-LOST BROTHER A DUMMY!" Master Mummy shook Alucard silly as he yelled angrily in the dhampir's face. Alucard got a blast of bad breath and saliva.
"Yes, that is exactly what your 'brother' is...a dummy." Alucard was doubling down, not caring what sort of reaction he got. Master Mummy seethed, as the tension levels were gradually rising.
"Kinstones, where are my lucky Kinstones?" said Tingle, knowing where things were headed as he emerged from the Christmas tree and fled the living room. Fortunately, no fighting would occur as Master Mummy dropped Alucard to his feet.
"You are going to revive my brother...and you better get it done," Master Mummy commanded Alucard with an intense look in his eye, poking his hand into the dhampir's chest. Alucard's face remained unchanged...Master Mummy's bad breath notwithstanding.
"Don't bother putting your trust in me," responded Alucard, as Master Mummy left the living room with a huff. Alucard peered down at the mummy at his feet, hating what he found himself in.
Winston convened with Fox, Pit, Tracer, and Sans at Fox's home, as the group was going over their plan of pranking Halloween. It was a prank destined to change Jakob's opinion on Halloween, although Winston was certain that the room for error was nigh.
"We gotta start off him easy," Fox explained his master plan to Tracer and company, showing them a step-by-step process for his multilayered prank which he wrote on a piece of paper. "First, we make him drink from a glass with frozen gummy eyeballs as ice cubes."
"What about regular eyeballs?" inquired Pit, as those gathered with the angel gave him judgmental looks. "I've got plenty of those!" Fox and the others tried to dismiss Pit's suggestion, as Fox moved right along.
"...after he sees the eyeballs, he'll hopefully give the desired reaction. But here's the thing: the drink will be a liquid laxative! We'll put in enough so that Jakob runs to the bathroom."
"that would really stink for them," snickered Sans, as Winston wasn't a fan of how the prank was turning out to be. He thought that it was too mean-spirited for a guy like Jakob.
"Jakob will run to the nearest bathroom, and lift up the toilet seat, and then he'll see a large spider in the toilet! That's when he'll scream and fall back out of the open window, and wind up next to a..."
"Quick question, if I may," Winston spoke up as he raised his finger, as everyone directed their attention to the gorilla. Winston had some thoughts to share. "What if Jakob doesn't run to the nearest bathroom?"
"If he has to go that bad, I don't see why he wouldn't," replied Tracer, smacking Winston on his arm in slight disapproval of his question. "Always so hung up on hypotheticals!"
"I'm just saying. Also, what if someone sees the spider before Jakob does, would that ruin the prank?" Winston was overthinking stuff, and overthinking stuff when it came to a Halloween prank was not advised.
"'Does that ruin the prank'..." Fox reiterated what Winston said but in a sardonic tone, as he was making Winston feel bad. "...that'll just let us know if the spider in the toilet works."
"Fox! A random house guest just appeared in our bathroom," Krystall called out to Fox from the bathroom, though she didn't sound like she was worried for her life. In fact, she sounded...perfectly chill?
"Must be Midna...she loves doing random jump scares this time of year." Fox was a known recipient of Midna's scaring ways, and so was his son Marcus. Midna enjoyed scaring Marcus the most. "Bring 'em on in."
So Krystal brought out the random house guest, but it wasn't anyone that Fox was expecting. Entering the living room with Krystal was Cloud, who was nursing a black eye.
"Calibrations have been off yet again..." remarked Cloud, holding his Translocator in his hand while rubbing the side of his face where Krystal slapped him at. His right cheek was as ever.
Cloud: Yeah, in case you've guessed it, Big and Cream are annoying me. We kept running into Cream at a grocery store, and Big literally followed me into a restroom at some doughnut shop. Said he wanted to tell me that my fly was down - and that I also "looked fly". *cringes* Sooner or later, the gig will be up.
"Cloud Strife?!" Tracer uttered the swordsman's name, as she sipped over to Cloud and was meeting him face-to-face. Tracer's bubbly nature sadly had no effect on the stoic Cloud. "Long time no see, love!"
"Long time no see? I literally saw you last year," responded Cloud; with how Tracer was acting, you would think that she hadn't seen Cloud in ages.
"Hi, Cloud!" Pit waved to the swordsman, giddy about seeing him for the first time in weeks. He missed Cloud that much. "I've been taking good care of your pet Chocobo for you.
"Much appreciated." Cloud deemed Pit as his last option for being a caretaker of his pet Chocobo, Cloud Jr, but he took heart in knowing that his pet was in the right hands.
"I cannot believe you, Cloud," Fox shook his head at Cloud, wondering if the swordsman had left his manners behind at Arcadia Bay. "How are you gonna show up without even knocking?"
"To be fair, I teleported here by accident." Cloud held up his Translocator, which he had to hold away from Tracer due to how allured the pilot was. "I meant to be at the mansion."
"No way! Sombra gave you her Translocator?" Tracer asked Cloud as she reached out for the Translocator. Cloud instinctively held the Translocator away from Tracer's reaching hands. "Let me see it!"
"Keep your hands off..." Cloud had to tuck the Translocator under his chest, as Tracer was playfully wrangling with him for possession of the device. "...is there any reason why Tracer's at your house, Fox?"
"Overwatch has a watchpoint in town, so she stays close by whenever she can," Krystal explained to Cloud, who was now on the floor guarding his Translocator as Tracer was all over him. "I thought you filled him in, Fox."
"I mean, that's not really my job," stated Fox, who never once thought about texting Cloud or even giving him a call. Way to be a good Samaritan. "I'm not obligated to tell Cloud everything."
"Are you done yet?" Anna called out to Fox from outside, as she knocked on the front door. "I have to come inside; my shop needs restocking!" Around this time, Cloud fought Tracer off of him.
"I gotta go - I'll try and speak with Master Hand tomorrow," Cloud said to the others, wanting to teleport back to Arcadia Bay before Aerith was worried sick. Without even saying goodbye, Cloud teleported away.
"Oh, darn! I was so close to getting that Translocator from Cloud," frowned Tracer after she hopped up to her feet, as Fox answered the door and let Anna inside his house. Anna ran to the bathroom, brushing past Krystal.
"Anna, I'm not letting you sell any more of my beauty products," Krystal said to the merchant as she followed her into the bathroom, as Anna was heard frantically opening the bathroom cabinet doors. "We had a deal!"
Bayonetta, Jeanne, and Viola were in the dining room with Dante, who was sampling some Halloween-themed ice cream crafted by the Ice Climbers. Jeanne stood at the edge of the dining room, peering at some of the living room decorations.
"Please tell me why you have a Christmas tree as part of your Halloween aesthetic..." Jeanne said to Bayonetta, who knew nothing about the Christmas tree until Jeanne brought it up. Bayonetta had to take look for herself, as Ryuji and Yusuke lifted the tree off the floor and carried it away.
"Clearly my peers have bought into the early Christmas hype," replied Bayonetta, partially blaming the holiday-themed World Cup commercials that she saw on television. "Will say though, the orange is a cheeky tree color.
"We'd appreciate it if you ate faster," Viola said to Dante, who was sitting at the dining room table eating the ice cream at an almost snail's pace. Therion and H'aanit sat next to Dante also eating ice cream, albeit much faster, while Popo and Nana watched.
"Don't rush him! He's savoring the flavor," Popo said to Viola, as Viola groaned and threw her arms up in defeat. At this rate, Bayonetta might have to drop Dante as an ally in stopping the Homunculi.
"You heard the man," Dante backed up Popo, likely eating the ice cream at a slow pace on purpose. If that was the case, then he should be grateful that the Umbra Witches had yet to catch on.
"Dante is just asking for free samples," Nana clarified to the Umbra Witches, and that was confirmation that Dante was just wasting the Umbra Witches' time. The chance to drop Dante just got wider.
Nana: Dante gained a lot of respect from Popo for his role in the whole ice cream delivery service thing, and for handling the fallout when it came to our finances. For that reason, Popo gives Dante free samples of new ice cream flavors, or Dante will just ask for a sample himself. Dante is like our human litmus test for our new products.
"We're done," Therion announced to the ice Climbers, as he and H'aanit finished the rest of their ice cream. Several empty containers were lying on the table. "And before you even ask, we don't want anymore."
"Scared of a little brain freeze?" quipped Popo, unable to get a laugh out of either Therion or H'aanit. Both guests were too serious for laughter. "You can toss the containers outside, in the recycling bin..."
"Very well then," said H'aanit as she and Therion gathered up the empty ice cream containers. The two guests headed to the backdoor, with H'aanit placing her hand on the door handle. "I'll say this though, the black cat licorice didn't really taste like licorice..."
As H'aanit opened the backdoor, she was suddenly ambushed by a white humanoid monster. The monster had H'aanit pinned down to the floor, attempting to choke H'aanit out, but H'aanit was undeterred as she kept her cool.
"Therion, my axe!" H'aanit gave her command to Therion, who grabbed the axe off the dining room table and tossed it to H'aanit. Catching her axe, H'aanit knocked the monster away before getting up and slamming the door shut.
"Good gravy...these early trick-or-treaters are going all out with their Halloween costumes!" exclaimed Popo, as Nana facepalmed at fellow Ice Climber. H'aanit held her back against the backdoor, locking it shut.
"They're definitely not after your ice cream, that's for sure..." Viola said to Popo, before turning to Bayonetta and Jeanne as she pointed at the backdoor. "...that's the Homunculi I was telling you about."
"Nothing that we can't handle," smirked Bayonetta as she took out her guns, seeing the humanoid Homunculi as not much of a challenge. "We can put those lousy chavs in their place."
"But that's just the smaller Homunculi. There are some who are even bigger than that!" Viola did her best to stress that point, and when Therion took that point into consideration, he believed that he had heard enough.
"Well, I'm not in the mood for fighting," confessed Therion, taking the apple that he obtained from the kitchen and stashing it in his pocket as he casually left the dining room. "This is your problem to handle."
"Therion..." frowned H'aanit as she chased after Therion, refusing to be left behind. The humanoid Homunculi was clawing at the door, looking to get inside.
"Wait up! You haven't given your critique yet!" Popo shouted at Therion and H'aanit, as he and Nana ran after the two "trick-or-treaters". Dante saw the Homucili clawing at the backdoor, with many others of its kind behind it, and then looked at the Umbra Witch trio who was looking right at him.
"I, uh, got brain freeze," said the demon hunter, who just sat in his seat as he had no idea how to fake a brain freeze. Dante sighed, eventually conceding as he rose from his chair. "Guess I have no choice now..."
Master Mummy put his trust in Alucard to revive his long-lost brother - otherwise known as the mummy decoration from the living room. Alucard had to get it done pronto so that Master Mummy would stay off his case. So the dhampir brought the mummy outside to the mansion's front yard, where he was joined by Raven.
"You're positive that this black magic of yours will somehow give him life," Alucard discussed with Raven, who was standing over the mummy which was lying on the grass. Raven had her spellbook out.
"It'll make him alive for like two seconds," replied Raven, running her index finger down the page until she found the spell that was required. "Two seconds should be enough."
"Works for me, I suppose." Alucard looked up at Lakitu, who was hovering above riding his comfy cloud while wielding a digital camera. "Don't hit the record button until I give the cue!"
"Gotcha!" exclaimed Lakitu as he flashed the "OK" hand signal, before getting himself prepared. The bespectacled Koopa floated closer to Alucard and Raven, zooming in on the action.
Alucard: My necromancy experiment is not meant to awaken the mummy, but rather show Master Mummy that his so-called brother is nearly a prop. Quite frankly, there is a solid chance that Master Mummy will accuse Raven's magic of not working when the magic has no effect. Which would show his lack of intelligence in that case.
"Aha! Found the spell," announced Raven, as Alucard gave Lakitu a thumbs up; Lakitu squinted his left eye as he looked into the camera lens, pressing the record button. "Black Nosferatu!"
Raven cast the dark magic spell on the mummy, and a dark glow emitted from the prop for only a couple of seconds. Suddenly a loud thud was heard, which nearly shook the mansion's foundation.
"That's weird; no Nosferatu spell has ever done that," remarked Raven, wondering what caused that giant thud; Lakitu knew what the cause was, as he looked down from his cloud.
"Um, guys?" Lakitu nervously said to Alucard and Raven, pointing at a giant monstrosity in his midst. Alucard and Raven both saw three monsters - one bulky, the other flying, and the third just like the one H'aanit fought off.
"Monsters on a Friday before Halloween...how peculiar yet unexpected," said Alucard, already used to all sorts of monsters appearing on the mansion grounds. The dhampir unsheathed his Valmanway. "Recognize them, Raven?"
"Not at all," replied Raven as she too was on guard, wielding her spellbook as she was ready for combat. More of the Homunculi had arrived.
But before Raven or Alucard had a moment to strike, several daggers were thrown at the monsters. The monsters in the air were immediately taken out of the sky, crashing to the ground in an instant.
"Out of the way!" shouted Therion, leaping down from the porch as he threw more daggers, these ones nailing the humanoid Homunculi. Alucard and Raven moved out of the way, as H'aanit came running down from the porch with her axe.
"Hey, Alucard, do I stop recording or what?" Lakitu asked the dhampir, as H'aanit drove her axe into the bulky Homunculi monster. Her axe was wedged in the monster's head, and she pulled out with much force. The bulky monster fell to the ground in defeat afterward.
"Don't think the video is necessary anymore..." Alucard finally responded as the bulky Homunculi was defeated. H'aanit yelled as she wielded her axe at the remaining Homunculi, who all fled at the sight of the huntress.
"I have never seen that much fire out of you," Therion said to H'aanit, putting his daggers away as he met up with H'aanit. Even H'aanit herself was surprised by her bravado, as she regained her usual composure.
"Seeing monsters of a different variety must've pushed me to my limits," H'aanit sheepishly responded, as the Ice Climbers caught up to their two visitors. Popo and Nana showed up after all the action had already taken place.
"You trick-or-treaters haven't critiqued our ice cream yet!" Popo said to Therion and H'aanit; he refused to let them leave until they gave their thoughts and opinions on the ice cream.
"Please just say something, he loves the feedback," begged Nana, with Popo anxious to hear what Therion and H'aanit had to say. He was almost dying with needless anticipation.
"Why do you care about feedback at a time like this?" Alucard scolded Popo, feeling the need to backhand the Ice Climber for his twisted priorities. And he did just that. "Monsters are invading our territory."
"And we would love to leave before more start coming in," addressed H'aanit, before looking into the far distance for any signs of danger. "I have a snow leopard to find."
"Snow leopard? I did hear a colleague of mine mention a leopard recently." Just like that, Alucard had H'aanit's full attention... "Forgot who it was, though." ...only to make the huntress lose all hope.
"Suppose we could stay behind a bit longer," Therion said to H'aanit, who was muttering under her breath as she took Therion's hand and angrily marched up the porch. "Away we go..."
"Hold up, you haven't given your feedback yet!" Popo shouted at Therion and H'aanit as he followed them inside the mansion; Nana had no choice but to accompany the fellow Ice Climber.
"I'll make sure that the Ice Climbers don't disturb them," Alucard said to Raven, forgetting about making Master Mummy happy - he already put in the effort. "You and Lakitu keep your post, in case any monsters disturb the peace."
"You're seriously going to leave me here with Lakitu?" Raven questioned Alucard, who left without saying a word; Raven groaned as she looked up at Lakitu, who gave the mage a friendly salute.
"I believe that we owe Spyro a thank you," Raven said to Lakitu, sharing a fist bump with the bespectacled Koopa. Turns out that staying outside was the best intention.
Rodin was one person that Mario trusted to save Luka from the hot vampire lady enslaving him. But getting Rodin to comply was hard, as Mario was chasing the demon throughout the tower. Eventually, Mario had Rodin cornered on the balcony.
"Leave me alone, man!" Rodin begged Mario, before looking down below and gauging if jumping off the balcony was a good idea. "I don't wanna help Luka!"
"But a hot-a vampire lady won't let him leave," Mario said to Rodin, who made up his mind as he slowly pulled his legs over the balcony railing. "That's what he told-a me!"
"Then the vampire lady won't let him leave, it's as simple as that! Let the man solve his own problem, leave me out of this!"
"Would you save Luka for some Jolly Ranchers?" Cappy offered to Rodin, displaying a bunch of Jolly Ranchers that he sneakily stole from the lounge. Rodin had one leg over the railing when he saw the candy.
"Got any sour pieces?" Rodin got off of the railing and walked over to Cappy, who dropped the sour Jolly Ranchers in the demon's open hands. Rodin was smiling like a kid at the candy store.
"Great! So that means-a you save Luka, right?" Mario asked Rodin, who unwrapped a Jolly Rancher and popped that sucker in his mouth. The Jolly Rancher's sour taste put Rodin on cloud nine.
"Nope. But thanks for the Jolly Ranchers though." Rodin happily sucked on another Jolly Rancher, as Mario faceplanted unto the floor. Not even an unlimited supply of sour Jolly Ranchers would change Rodin's mind.
"But Luka is-a your friend!" Mario got back on his feet, begging Rodin to do the right thing and not suck on Jolly Ranchers all day long. Even if he wanted to join in on the sucking fun.
"Did Luka not tell you who this hot vampire lady was?" After looking at each other, Mario and Cappy both shook their heads no. So Rodin leaned in close to them, and whispered, "It's Lady Dimitrescu...
"Lady Dimitrescu?!" Mario and Cappy gasped simultaneously in shock and horror, as they hugged one another. The moment of horror lasted for but a moment, as Mario's phone was ringing.
"That must-a be Luka calling," inferred Mario as he took out his phone, and he was right as Luka on the caller ID. Mario updated that contact info in due time. "Hello, Luka?"
"Hey, Mario - some good news," responded Luka, who sounded like he was panting loudly - must be on the run from Lady Dimitrescu. "I made it out of that vampire lady's lair alive!"
"Great! So where-a are you headed?" Mario hoped that Luka would find a place of shelter soon before Lady Dimitrescu caught him and ate him alive or something.
"To the mansion, since I'm in the city. Met you there!" Unsure of how to feel about that, Mario had a thousand-mile look in his eyes as he held his phone.
"Quick, Mario! Tell Luka to..." Rodin tried to tell Mario, but it was too late as Luka ended the call. Rodin grunted as he dropped the Jolly Ranchers in frustration.
"What's the worst that could happen?" Cappy asked Rodin, curious to know why the demon was so upset with the decision Luka was making. "Is Lady Dimitrescu gonna suck on people's blood?"
"Even worse - she'll make every man in her vicinity fall head over heels for her!" replied Rodin, as the very thought of such an instance caused Mario and Cappy to gasp simultaneously in horror. "Then she'll suck on their blood."
Rodin: I've known plenty of men who crossed Lady Dimitrescu. Many of them made it out alive. Some men will even let themselves be kidnapped by Dimitrescu so that they can be her slave and let her torture them as they please. Sickos.
"We oughta be on the lookout for Luka from this balcony," Rodin said to Mario and Cappy as he stood over the fencing, looking out into the horizon for any possible signs of Luka or Lady Dimitrescu.
"Good thinking," Cappy agreed with Rodin, scoping things out from the left side of the balcony. The talking hat saw some action taking place down below, in the mansion's backyard. "Woah! Mario, check this out!'
"Hm?" Mario perked up as he joined Cappy at the railing, seeing the likes of Bayonetta, Jeanne, and Viola battling Homunculi monsters - with Dante fighting at their side. "Those are some-a strange-looking hooligans!"
"Are you looking out for Luka or not?" Rodin barked at Mario and Cappy, who took their attention away from the carnage in the backyard as they were now both on Luka Watch. The urge to watch Bayonetta and company throw down was hard to resist.
In case you somehow weren't paying attention, then you might have noticed that Tifa was highly infatuated with Cloud. The martial artist had a chance encounter with Cloud a few episodes ago; from that encounter, she deduced that Cloud wanted to see her because he liked her and was too shy to admit it. Putting all the eggs in her romantic basket, Tifa went to go pluck some flowers outside intended for a gift for Cloud upon his return.
"Aerith says that Cloud isn't too picky when it comes to flowers," said Tifa as she emerged from some forestation, with a handful of flowers that she plucked from outside the entrance to the Yiga Clan hideout. "He can just throw away the ones he doesn't like, I won't mind!"
"Watch out!" Dante shouted at Yiga, as a flying Homunculi was flying in her direction. Since she had her hands full, Tifa shielded herself, and soon a dart striking the flying Homonculi sent the monster crashing to the ground.
"You're welcome," said the person who fired the dart, Viola, as she had several other darts in her hand. "Now get to safety!" So Tifa ran towards the mansion, ducking past the Homunculi, as Bayonetta saw her in the corner of her eye.
"Oh, I wonder who those flowers are for..." smiled Bayonetta as she continued to fight the Homunculi, having a very big hunch about what Tifa washed to do with the flowers.
Tifa retreated inside the mansion through the backdoor, arriving in the dining room. She had her back against the door, huffing and puffing as the sounds of carnage carried on outside. The martial artist was fortunate to make it inside alive, as the slightest noise could make her scream...
"Cheers, love! Are those flowers for me?" a certain pilot playfully asked Tifa, who screamed in fright as she saw Tracer standing at the dining room entrance with Fox. "Aw, my costume must've scared you to bits!'
"Sorry, Tifa, we didn't mean to frighten you," Fox apologized to Tifa, assuming that the martial artist had seen some stuff judging from her hyperventilating and how she was so easily scared. "We're looking for a lucky person."
"For what?" The answer would come to Tifa at lightning speed, as Tracer zipped to the martial artist holding a glass with water in it. "Is that a glass of water?"
"Nope! Liquid laxative," replied Tracer, as Tifa was beginning to shy away. "But look! There are eyeballs as ice cubes." Tracer pointed at the frozen eyeballs at the bottom of the glass, which made Tifa shy away even more.
"Our goal is to scare Jakob with a prank," Fox explained to Tifa, telling her about the prank before Tracer said or did something else to make the martial artist lose her trust. "All we need is somebody to coax him into drinking that."
"I was scared that you wanted me to drink it," Tifa said in relief, as she was down with pranking Jakob. "I'm game. Let me put these flowers in my room first." The martial artist left the dining room, as she passed through the kitchen.
"We'll be waiting on you!" Tracer called out to Tifa, and once Tifa was out of sight out of mind, Tracer leaned in close to Fox and asked, "Any idea who those flowers are for?"
"If I told you who it was, it might get ugly..." replied Fox, fully aware of where the heart of Tifa's admirer truly lied. The pilot was keeping his mouth shut for his own benefit.
Mario and Rodin remained at the tower balcony looking out for Luka, with Cappy serving as Mario's extra pair of eyes atop Mario's head. No signs of Luka or Lady Dimitrescu yet, but one lone individual showed up.
"Sun's already setting; Lady Dimitrescu's gonna take her sweet..." Rodin said to Mario, only to stop when he saw the lone individual. It was a big, green dude wielding a hammer. "...you know this fool?"
"Mama mia..." groaned Mario when he saw the big, green dude, with a feeling of Deja Vu washing over the plumber. The annual weekly nuisance was back once again.
Peach: This coming Monday will mark Lou's first Halloween! Usually, Master Hand will butt in and chide us for forcing Halloween onto our offspring, but I have yet to hear a peep out of him. He's been noticeably quiet! Mario wants to dress Lou up as Captain Lou Albano for Halloween, but it's hard to find a costume that works when your infant doesn't even have any facial hair.
When Master Hand told the Phantom Thieves to remove the Halloween-themed Christmas tree from the mansion, he didn't say that they were forbidden from gifting the tree to somebody. After being turned down by Marth, Olimar, and Luigi, Ryuji and Yusuke found someone to take the tree off their hands in Peach.
"Placing gifts under that particular tree isn't encouraged," Yusuke advised Peach, who was placing fake Christmas presents under the Christmas tree in the living room. Really made for a clash of styles and customs.
"But it would look naked without the gifts," explained Peach, placing one last fake present under the tree. Peach smiled as she was satisfied with her work, as Spyro showed up and checked out the Christmas tree.
"Why am I not surprised...Mario already bought a Christmas tree," remarked Spyro, believing that the Christmas tree was Mario's doing; he was slowly accustomed to Mario's track record over time. "And it's not even the right color!"
"This is a Christmas tree we bought from the Halloween store," Ryuji clarified to Spyro, who quickly understood as he noticed the skull ornaments hanging from the tree. "Master Hand apparently didn't want it."
"The Halloween store sells Christmas trees now?" Bold of Spyro to assume that the Halloween store never used to sell Christmas trees in the past. "What else do they sell? Dreidels?"
"Funny you should ask..." grinned Yusuke as he dug into his pocket and pulled out a Halloween-themed Dreidel, spinning it in the palm of his hand. Spyro rolled his eyes at the Dreidel - and Yusuke's failed attempt at spinning it.
"Hm, on second thought, Mario may not like the tree," stated Peach after a brief moment of thought and consideration, putting Ryuji and Yusuke back at square one. "He'll say that it takes up too much space in the living room."
"You could wait and see how he feels about it." Yusuke tried to get Peach to reconsider, but Peach's mind was already made up. The princess had no time to be waiting on Mario.
"Somebody open the door..." sighed Ryuji, him and Yusuke lifting the Christmas tree off the floor as Spyro opened the front door. Ryuji and Yusuke carried the tree outside, and later a loud thud was heard. "...move it, Gnasty Gnorc!"
"Gnasty Gnorc?!" Spyro perked up with his eyes widening, as he quickly ran outside; Ryuji and Yusuke had crashed into Gnasty Gnorc, and all three were lying on the ground with the Christmas tree.
"How dare you bump into me!" Gnasty shouted at Ryuji and Yusuke, unleashing his anger on the two friends as he smacked them repeatedly with his fists. "Why I oughta..."
"You oughta what?" Spyro questioned Gnasty, who totally forgot about Ryuji and Yusuke as he was laser-focused on his purple dragon nemesis. "I love how you keep coming back just to get your butt kicked!"
"Screw it, I'm not running off like a coward in this instance..." Gnasty fought Ryuji and Yusuke off of him, as he stood up and grabbed his hammer looking for a fight. "...show me what you got, dragon!"
Before the first blow could be dealt, a man was heard screaming from the distance. Luka Redgrave was running to the mansion, running as if his very life depended on it.
"She's coming, she's coming!" Luka shouted, warning those who were outside about the incoming threat. The fear on his face showed how big this threat was. "Everyone get inside!"
"Who's coming?" Ryuji asked Luka, who ran past the delinquent and others en route to the mansion. Luka was suddenly stopped in his tracks when Mario and Rodin leaped down from the tower balcony, confronting him.
"Mario...and Rodin?" Luka looked at the plumber and demon duo, before looking up at the balcony that they just jumped down from. "Did you...did you jump all the way down from up there?"
"That is besides-a the point," replied Mario, as Luka was anxious to get inside the mansion before you-know-who reached him. "Where-a is Lady Dimitrescu?"
"Uh oh, here comes trouble!" shouted Spyro, as a very tell aristocrat arrived at the mansion grounds. The aristocrat was over nine feet tall and had clammy skin while wearing a white dress and a black hat.
"There's Lady Dimitrescu..." replied Luka, as Dimitrescu was now at the scene; Dimitrescu was equal parts beautiful, and equal parts terrifying.
"Back off, Gnasty, you're way out of her league!" Spyro shouted at the Gnorc, who approached Dimitrescu without a care in the world. Things got weird as Gnasty and Dimitrescu smiled at one another. "Gnasty Gnorc...?"
"Say hello to my friend...Countess Alisa Dimitrescu!" Gnasty formally introduced Dimitrescu to everyone outside, as Spyro and the others were baffled by his odd pairing. "Dimentio forced an 'associate' to revive her from the dead, just so she could haunt you before Halloween!"
"Sorry I took so long to get here," Dimitrescu apologized to Gnasty, before smiling evilly at Luka as she gave the journalist chills. "I had too much 'fun' with my prisoner..."
Kamek: Dimentio deliberately chased me down and made me revive Lady Dimitrescu. When I asked him how he was aware of my necromancy, he told me about the "receipts" he had on me. I'd be a goner if he discovers that I enjoy smelling broom-scented candles.
"At least you have your prey," Gnasty said to Dimitrescu, as he brought her attention to the men standing before her. Dimitrescu changed her fingers into claws, as she looked to make a killing.
"For a first batch...they'll do," smiled Dimitrescu, inching towards the men mulling over which man she wanted to kill first. Mario and company ran to the mansion's front door, as Mario fumbled around with his keys.
"Don't tell me you left the key at your house!" Rodin shouted at Mario as he, Luka, Spyro, Ryuji, and Yusuke were huddled at the door. Mario later came up empty-handed. "Story of your life, Mario...story of your life."
"To the backyard!" shouted Luka as he leaped off of the porch, running to the backyard for safety. The others followed Luka's suit as they jumped over the railing and ran from the advancing Dimitrescu.
"Please don't run away...I just want to devour you!" Dimitrescu shouted at the retreating men, grabbing a dagger lying on the ground as she picked up the pace. Gnasty looked on, relieved that he wasn't Dimitrescu's target.
"Countess Dimitrescu's got a crazy diet!" remarked Gnasty, only for a Spiny to be dropped atop the Gnorc's head. Gnasty rubbed his head as he looked up, seeing Lakitu on his cloud.
"Hey!" Lakitu waved at Gnasty, before pointing downwards; Gnasty looked down and straight ahead and saw Raven before him, armed with a tome as she charged up some electricity.
"THUNDER!" shouted Raven as she summoned a Thoron spell, firing a wicked beam of electricity at Gnasty that sent the Gnorc flying into a tree. Gnasty collided against the three and fell down, the impact making him down for the count.
"I see dragons..." said a dizzy and dazed Gnasty, looking up at the sky; Raven and Lakitu peered down at Gnasty, who closed his eyes as he passed out.
Bayonetta, Jeanne, Viola, and Dante were almost done taking care of business in the backyard, dispatching the remaining Homunculi. Jeanne defeated the last of the monsters with a fist of Madama Styx, smashing it until it was no more.
"And that should do it," said Jeanne, as the last Homunculi monster disintegrated; the Homunculi monsters were defeated, which was a cause for celebration. "I must say, you are a pretty good fighter, Dante."
"Pretty good?" snorted Dante, amused that Jeanne didn't put enough respect on his name. "Come on, you can do better than that." Some noises were coming from the nearby forestation, and it didn't sound like any Yiga Clansmen.
"I think the Homunculi brought some backup," said Viola, and soon enough more Homunculi monsters emerged; the work was far from over.
"Too bad for them - I've yet to run out of bullets," smiled Bayonetta, who could fight monsters all evening long and look stylish while doing it. "But if it's a fight they want..."
"OOF!" shouted Luka as he ran into Bayonetta, bringing the Umbra Witch to the ground with him. Bayonetta saw Luka on top of him, with Luka smiling at her in a sheepish manner.
"A cheeky run-in, I'll say, but I would've liked a heads-up." Bayonetta pushed Luka off of him, as Mario and the others showed up in the backyard. "How nice of you to bring your friends."
"Oh great...more monsters," groaned Rodin as he saw the Homunculi, now wishing that he had stayed behind at the tower and sucked on Jolly Ranchers. Those Jolly Ranchers were calling out to him from the tower balcony.
"Those-a are monsters?" Mario asked as he pointed at the Homunculi, his ignorance causing Rodin to smack his forehead. "I thought-a they were early trick-or-treaters wearing ugly costumes."
"Wonderful - you've led me to even more prey!" smiled Dimitrescu, who caught up with Mario and company as she had her claws out. The aristocrat was fascinated by the Umbra Witches and Dante...the Homunculi, not so much.
"Th-That lady locked me up in her abode and refused to let me out!" Luka explained to Bayonetta, hiding behind the Umbra Witch as he pointed at Dimitrescu. Poor Luka was haunted by Dimitrescu's presence.
"What a coincidence! I always wanted to do the same with you," Bayonetta admitted to Luka, who gave the Umbra Witch a questionable stare. Bayonetta grinned as she thought nothing of her confession.
"How about I make things interesting..." said Dimitrescu, holding the dagger he found close to her nose as she took a whiff of the danger's scent. The aristocrat began to mutate, as her body increased in size.
"The scent of that dagger is making her mutate!" exclaimed Yusuke, as Dimitrescu kept growing in size; Dimitrescu grew so much, that she no longer resembled a vampiric aristocrat.
By the time she was done mutating, Dimitrescu had grown into a ginormous dragon-like creature with wings. She let out a roar, as any dragon-like creature would do.
"Luka, Rodin...get the men inside," Bayonetta commanded the two, as she now had to deal with Dimitrescu and the horde of Homunculi. "We can't have you halt our momentum."
"Bayo, you're a real one for doing this..." Rodin said to the Umbra Witch as he and Luka led Mario and the other men inside the mansion through the backdoor. Dante tried to sneak away with the guys, until...
"And where do you think you're going?" Bayonetta called out to Dante, who stopped in place as he flinched. Dante slowly turned his head at Bayonetta, smiling whimsically.
"Just realized that dragons also aren't my cup of tea," Dante said to Bayonetta, but that excuse didn't work as Bayonetta impatiently tapped her temple with one of her guns. "What did I get myself into...?"
Therion and H'aanit hadn't left yet, for H'aanit had to find her snow leopard Linde. According to Alucard, a colleague of his knew about Linde, and so H'aanit went about asking residents about her feline companion.
"She's white, and is the size of a tiger," H'aanit gave a brief description of Linde to Ridley, while Therion and Alucard stood by. Ridley had no recollection of Linde as he gave a shrug.
"He's the last person that you should ask," Alucard said to H'aanit as he guided the huntswoman away from Ridley, while Therion followed. "Knowing Ridley, he would want to eat Linde..."
Ridley: *nods his head while licking his chop, rubbing his hands together*
"Surprised that the Eskimos have left us alone," Therion said to H'aanit and Alucard as the three pressed on down the hallway, with the search for Linde still ongoing. "Unless you had something to do with it, Alucard."
"I may have given Popo a misdirection," said Alucard, who was only accompanying Therion and H'aanit to ensure that H'aanit's search was done without any interruptions or distractions. "While you were chatting with Donkey Kong..."
"NANA, SAVE ME!" Popo was heard shouting from the distance, sounding like he was in danger. Alucard and company made a turn at the corner of the hallway and came across the Ice Climbers...and a snow leopard.
"Looks like we found her," announced Therion, as the snow leopard had Popo in her mouth; Nana was trying to pull Popo out of the leopard's mouth with all her might but to no avail.
"Linde!" shouted H'aanit, and the snow leopard looked at the huntress upon hearing her name called. "I command you to drop him at once." Following the command, the snow leopard dropped Popo to the floor, as Popo was shaking.
"Your pet leopard...violated me..." the shaking Popo said to H'aanit, as Nana checked on her fellow Ice Climber by slightly opening his parka. "...tell me how many scars I have."
"Not that much," answered Nana, as she saw a few bite marks on Popo's body but nothing too deep. "Please stop with the shaking - I can tell that it's fake."
"Sweet! You found my new pet leopard," Falco said to the Ice Climbers as he appeared in the hallway, feeling like a dad reunited with his child. "Can't believe I let him escape from my closet. Sure did a good job hiding him, though."
"A good job hiding her," H'aanit corrected Falco, catching the avian pilot by surprise with her commanding yet dignified voice. "That is my snow leopard you've been keeping in your room."
"This woman has been inquiring about her snow leopard," Alucard explained to Falco, as Linde happily reunited with H'aanit by rubbing her head against the huntress in an embrace. "Time for you to yield the cat, Falco."
"Legal documentation," countered Falco as he pointed at Alucard, refusing to give up Linde without a fight. "I require legal documentation that says she's the owner of that snow leopard."
"I may not have any legal documentation...but I do have this," H'aanit said to Falco, taking out her axe and intimidating Falco as she held her weapon up high. "Does this change your mind?"
"You betcha! Enjoy your snow leopard!" Valuing his livelihood, Falco left the premises as he chose not to argue with Alucard further. H'aanit put away her axe, as she went back to embracing Linde.
Falco: The snow leopard and I had fun times together. *pauses* If you exclude the instances where it almost clawed my face and my jugular, we had fun times. Maybe it was sending a message...?
"Well, I'm happy that you found your pet leopard," Popo said to H'aanit, but he couldn't leave the huntress or Therion alone without asking them one thing that was on his mind. "So, uh, about that critique..."
"We both liked your ice cream - black cat licorice was our favorite flavor," Therion said to Popo, satisfying the Ice Climber with his short yet effective critique. "Now take it or leave it..."
Several loud sounds were heard from outside, as Alucard looked through a window in the hallway and saw Bayonetta and friends battling Dimitrescu. Surely the noise outside was a nuisance for everyone inside the mansion.
"Pity...a dragon in the backyard," Alucard plainly remarked, before his eyes widened as he knew of a way to assist Bayonetta and company. "I have an idea!" The dhampir darted away, wanting to put his idea into action.
"Now that we've found your leopard..." Therion said to H'aanit as he dug into his pocket, only to gasp when he felt that something amiss. "...a dagger of mine is missing!"
At another part of the mansion, Jakob watched the fight outside through a window in the hallway, all alone. The butler had seen a few dragons in his lifetime - so what did he think of Dimitrescu?
"Meh, it doesn't hold a candle to the Nohrian dragons," Jakob gave his two cents on the mutated Dimitrescu before he felt someone tap him on his shoulder. The butler turned around at Tifa, who was holding a glass of water with a straw in it.
"You look parched," Tifa said to Jakob as she offered him the glass of water. "Care for a drink?" Jakob reluctantly accepted the drink, while Fox, Pit, Tracer, Winston, and Sans watched from their hiding spot.
"Hide somewhere else, you're too big..." Pit whispered to Winston, who grumpily got up and hid in the bathroom across the hallway. Jakob adjusted his straw to his liking.
"No one has ever offered me a drink, so I thank you," Jakob said to Tifa, before sipping through the straw. When the butler looked inside the glass, there he saw the frozen eyeballs. "What in the..."
"What's wrong? Scared of some eyeballs?" Tifa asked Jakob, who was so shaken by the eyeballs that he nearly dropped his glass. The next phase of the prank started, as Jakob felt a funny feeling in his stomach.
"Bathroom, where's the bathroom?" Jakob clutched his stomach, feeling as if his anus was about to explode. Between his anus and his stomach, Jakob wasn't sure of which one he should hold.
Fox: The laxative that Jakob had to drink was meant to go into effect in thirty minutes. We had Ashley "enhance" it so that it'll work its intended effect after only the first sip.
Ashley: Yeah, the sentiment's the same. *groans* I hate doing favors.
"Bathroom's over here!" Winston shouted to Jakob from the bathroom; Jakob ran inside the bathroom and slammed the door, while Winston hid behind the shower curtain. When Jakob lifted the toilet seat, he was greeted by a giant fake spider.
"Why is there a giant spider in the toilet?!" wondered Jakob as he jumped back - nearly falling out of the bathroom window which was conspicuously open. Winston emerged from the shower, creeping up on Jakob...
"HOOOOWWWLLLL!" the gorilla spooked Jakob as he did a werewolf howl, causing the butler to scream; Jakob hopped out through the bathroom window and jumped, as a loud thud was later heard.
"Did it work?" asked Fox as he and the others entered the bathroom, with Winston looking out through the window. Tracer joined Winston at the window, checking to see if Jakob was okay.
"...I'm okay," said Jakob as he was stuck in the shrubbery that broke his fall. His glass was still in his hand, miraculously enough. "It's official...I don't care for Halloween."
"JAKOB NO LONGER HATES HALLOWEEN!" cheered Pit, as he was the only person who celebrated Jakob now being indifferent about Halloween. Weird thing to celebrate, but a victory nonetheless.
"Wanted him to like Halloween, but indifference is better than hatred, I'll say," remarked Tracer, as she was cool with Jakob's changed opinion of Halloween. At least she got a good scare out of Jakob.
"You were right, Tracer - it is fun to scare people!" Winston said to the pilot, who did a 180 on his opinion of the prank after he scared Jakob. "Also, that howl went better than I expected."
"missed opportunity to wish jakob a happy howl-oween," Sans said to Winston, as the others groaned at the skeleton's pun. Even Pit was groaning. "but at least jakob had a howling experience."
"We get it, Sans..." Fox said to the skeleton, silencing him in a hurry as Sans saved his other werewolf puns for the day of Halloween.
The Umbra Witches and Dante were taking care of the Homunculi, and they also had their focus on Dimitrescu. Dimitrescu in her mutated form was as tough as she looked, putting up quite a fight.
"We need to attack her when her mouth is open," shouted Viola, striking Dimitrescu ruthlessly with her Mab Dachi sword as Dimitrescu fought back. "It's our only chance!"
"Hard to do that when she's being aggressive!" said Dante, with Dimitrescu delivering an attack that knocked the demon hunter off his feet. "You think we can throw something in her mouth and make her choke?!"
But that's exactly what happened, as an object was thrown in Dimitrescu's direction. It was the mummy from the living room, and it was thrown inside Dimitrescu's mouth. Dimitrescu began to choke and gag.
"Well, that came out of nowhere..." remarked Jeanne, as she and the others ceased their fighting. Soon the Halloween-themed Christmas tree was thrown into Dimitrescu's mouth, making Dimitrescu choke even more as her larynx was blocked.
"She's gonna fall! Run for cover!" shouted Dante, as he and the Umbra Witches ran while Dimitrescu began to teeter as her oxygen was cut off. Dimitrescu let out a scream as she eventually collapsed, crushing all the Homunculi underneath her.
"Took out the Homunculi with her...very considerate," said Viola, grateful that Dimitrescu did the dirty work in her last moments alive. But the question was, who threw that mummy? And the Christmas tree?
"I highly concur," said Alucard, who showed up while dusting off his jacket. The dhampir really had nothing to dust off; he was just trying not to flex.
"Lovely maneuver, Alucard," Bayonetta said to the dhampir, who was checking out the mutated form of Dimitrescu. "We had it handled by ourselves, but we do appreciate the assist."
"Essentially I was killing two birds with one stone. With the mummy, at least. The Christmas tree was thrown in for good measure - literally, I might add."
Master Hand: Did the Phantom Thieves dispose of that awful Christmas tree?...Alucard did it, you say? Such a fine gentleman! Perhaps I can trust him to set up our Thanksgiving Christmas tree. It's...it's a way to ease people into the holiday season.
"Ah! Found my dagger," said Therion, picking up the dagger that Dimitrescu had used off the ground. He and H'aanit were outside with Linde, as the companions were reunited with Alucard.
"Got everything you need?" Alucard asked Therion and H'aanit, as Therion placed his dagger underneath his shawl. Props to him for keeping up with all of his daggers. "You better get going."
"You're right..." agreed H'aanit as she saw Dimitrescu's body, choosing to leave now before more monsters invaded the mansion grounds. "...thank you for everything, Alucard." H'aanit left with Therion, happy that she found her beloved snow leopard Linde.
"Seems to me that you had an eventful evening," Bayonetta said to Alucard, who saw Therion and H'aanit off as he was glad to be of assistance. But there was one last deed that Alucard had to fulfill.
"Evening's not done yet..." said Alucard before taking off, as he had to speak with a certain ARMS fighter. Had to speak with them before dinnertime.
"So the Homunculi - how many of them are there?" Jeanne asked Viola out of curiosity, as Dante was sneaking away as he tiptoed from the Umbra Witches.
"A whole lot of 'em," answered Viola, as Dante reached the backdoor and moved his hand around feeling for the doorknob. "They appear across many different worlds - including earth, apparently."
"I'd love to fight the Homunculi with you, but I have obligations to fulfill," Bayonetta said to Jeanne and Viola, as Dante finally located the doorknob and opened the backdoor, sneaking inside. "You ladies can handle it by yourselves."
"Better not let that be an excuse," Viola warned Bayonetta, who simpered at the Umbra Witch; Viola then noticed that somebody was missing. "Did Dante seriously escape from us?"
"Don't mind me ladies - just had to relieve myself," a relieved Jakob said to the Umbra Witches, emerging from the shrubbery as he adjusted his pants. The Umbra Witches ventured away from the backyard, knowing what business Jakob had to handle.
Due to the chaos outside, Pyra and Mythra were running behind on dinner because of the many outside distractions. While the Blades were working hard in the kitchen catching up (mostly Pyra's doing), Mario, Rodin, Luka, Spyro, Ryuji, and Yusuke ate some ice cream in the dining room.
"After an entire day with Lady Dimitrescu, some ice cream is all I need," said Luka, with Dante right behind him with his back against the wall. Like Drax, Dante was invisible to the naked eye.
"My ice cream tastes like licorice!" exclaimed Spyro, smiling wide as his teeth were black. A major sign of cavities if no ice cream was involved. "Must be a special kind of ice cream that Popo concocted."
"WHY ARE YOU EATING MY ICE CREAM?!" boomed Popo, who along with Nana returned to the dining room. The Ice Climber was in shambles. "That Halloween-themed ice cream is for trick-or-treaters only!"
"Do we count as trick-or-treaters if we dress up in costumes?" asked Yusuke, only for Popo to toss his shoe at the artist's head. Popo was so irate that his face was tomato red.
"That specific ice cream is meant for people who go out trick-or-treating. Not freeloaders who eat it without anyone's permission! Do you know how angry that makes me feel? Does it look like I give preferential treatment?!"
"Popo, buddy...mind if I get a scoop of ice cream?" Dante asked the Ice Climber, wishing to eat some ice cream after an evening spent slaying monsters. And also battling a vampiric aristocrat-turned-monster.
"Man, you didn't have to ask, go right ahead!" So Dante fixed himself a bowl of ice cream, as Popo resumed his tirade on Mario and company. "Again, do I look like I give out preferential treatment? Do I?!"
"But you just..." Mario said as he pointed at Dante, who was fixing ice cream in his bowl; the plumber saved his breath, as he allowed Popo to put him and his fellow men on blast.
Master Mummy paced back and forth in the living room, hoping to hear good news from Alucard concerning his "brother". Alucard found Master Mummy in the living room, and Master Mummy's spirits were suddenly lifted upon Alucard's arrival.
"Count Alucard! Were you able to revive my brother?" Master Mummy asked the dhampir, who solemnly lowered his head; that led Master Mummy to believe that bad news was afoot.
"I did manage to revive him..." answered Alucard, with Master Mummy wrapped around his finger as the ARMS fighter leaned in close to hear Alucard finish his sentence. "...but he sacrificed himself to eradicate the dragon outside."
"The monster in the backyard was a dragon? And my brother sacrificed himself for the greater good to kill it?!" That was the story Alucard was rolling with, and it was a story that had Master Mummy tear up. "So brave of him..."
"Rest assured that it's nothing worth...crying over." Alucard was embraced in a hug by Master Mummy, who lifted the dhampir slightly off of his feet. Alucard had a look on his face suggesting that he was done with life.
Min Min: *holds up a picture frame* Here's a picture of Master Mummy's long-lost brother. This is him right here. *points at a mummy in the picture, standing next to Master Mummy* Master Mummy told me today that the mummy that's part of our living room decorations is his brother. With that logic, I fear that anyone trick-or-treating on Halloween in bandages will be mistaken as Master Mummy's relative.
"That makes me so happy!" said Master Mummy, shedding tears of joy as he placed Alucard back on his feet. Alucard still looked like he was done with life. "Thank you, Alucard, for reviving my brother and respecting his selfless choice."
"Duly noted..." Alucard flatly responded as he gently grabbed Master Mummy's hands and took them away, before patting Master Mummy on his shoulder. "...he will be missed."
"He will be missed indeed..." Master Mummy stood where he was, shedding another tear as he looked up at the heavens thinking about his brother. Alucard left the living room, shaking his head.
Maybe one day, Master Mummy will actually be rekindled with his long-lost family members - his wife and son, to be exact.