Author's Note:

So what's on the menu for today? Persona 3 Portable, Persona 4 Golden, and the main course, Fire Emblem Engage! Three RPGs covered in one chapter. Also, something I wanted to point out: episodes 346 through 369 was Phase 1 of the Dimentio arc. This here is the start of Phase 2. You have been warned. Now to cover some guest reviews - first a joke from Guy w the Jokes:

"Why does Minato hate Spain? Because he will BURRRRNN MAAAAADDRRIIIDDDDD! (Get it? The theme song and all)"

Ha! What a clever play on words. "Burn My Dread" is perhaps my favorite theme from Persona 3; it's recently overtaken "Mass Destruction". David has questions:

"When the True Organization XIII attacks, is Terra gonna get his body stolen by Xehanort again? Has or is Vanitas been mistaken for Sora by Pit? Is Yozora gonna pop up for the fight with the Organization? Are you gonna do a "Gondor Calls for Aid" scenario and bring back past characters and former residents for the final chapters? And finally, what are your thoughts on the whole WWE drama happening right now and Tony Khan rumored to wanting to buy the company?"

Terra may have his body stolen if it'll make things less complicated. Vanitas has never been mistaken for Sora by Pit...mainly since he has yet to physically appear in the story. Yoroza won't be present while the Organization is around. I'd love to do a "Gondor Calls for Aid" scenario, but only if the situation calls for it. I have no strong opinions on the drama taking place at WWE. And I can't see Tony Khan buying WWE; he and his dad would have to sell so many assets to get the money needed for the purchase. Last is A JRPG enjoyer, with some news:

"Just got some news. They're delaying Atelier Ryza to March 24. That means you only have to do Octopath Traveler II (and Kirby's Return) for the February 24 chapter."

That's great. One less game to focus on come February 24th. I imagined that focusing on P3P, P4G, and Engage in this chapter would've been difficult, but I have made the most of it.

Episode 370: DivineDragon

Have you ever wondered why so many mansions have more bathrooms than bedrooms? It was an issue so big, that someone even made a YouTube video about it. A five-minute analysis on the very subject.

However, there is a good enough reason why mansions have more bathrooms than bedrooms. Bathroom usage for people who work and go to school was at its highest in the morning so in many cases, more toilets are needed. Another reason was that having a bathroom surplus was a status symbol for some. Imagine flexing to other wealthy people and bragging about having eight toilets at your expensive personal digs.

This wasn't the case at the Smash Mansion, as there were more bedrooms than bathrooms. There were two bathrooms for every three bedrooms, as the mansion was designed. Speaking of bathrooms, Kanji was in one...and for some reason, Mario, Sonic, and a few others were huddled at the bathroom door, listening closely to the sound they heard.

"Mama mia...this is something else," remarked Mario, who had his ears pressed against the door before pulling away. The plumber, who was lured to the mansion by Sonic, was almost left speechless.

"Told ya that it was unlike anything you've ever heard," Sonic said to the convinced Mario, as Link came down the hallway and saw the group. Link knew that everyone was up to no good.

"Back away from the bathroom!" Link commanded Mario and company, as no one moved an inch. Link angrily came over to the group. "I told you about listening to someone while they're on the toilet."

"You never told-a me," Mario told Link, being technical with the Hylian as the sounds from behind the bathroom door persisted. Link heard the sounds as he crinkled his nose.

"Why do I hear singing?" asked Link, under the guise that someone was taking a shower. Except that there was no water running. "Who's even in there?"

"It's Kanji," giggled Leaf, as Link wanted to believe that the Pokemon trainer was pulling his tail. But the way that Leaf had her hand over her mouth to stifle her laughter strongly hinted at the truth.

"La di da da da, la di da da da..." Kanji was heard singing from behind the bathroom door, and soon the bathroom door opened. The delinquent revealed himself to everyone, greeting them with an unwelcome sight...

...as his hair was a different color. Dark brown. Kanji took notice of the shocked faces around him, as he crackled a smirk and put on a pair of glasses.

"Now introducing...the new Kanji!" announced Kanji, striking a pose as he soaked in all the attention. Fuuka walked past the bathroom, only to stop in place after being transfixed by Kanji's new look.

"Kanji! Your hair..." the young woman gasped, cupping her hands over her mouth as she tried her best to process what she was seeing. "...it's dark brown!"

"NOOOOO...we all totally thought that it was black," Rex sarcastically said to Fuuka, only to look nervously over his shoulder a split second later.

Rex: No lie, I legit thought that Kanji's hair was black at first. I am so colorblind.

"Link! Link!" Hop called out to the Hylian, as he came running down the hallway like he was the Flash. Once he caught up to Link, Hop was out of breath as he was bending over to take a breather.

"Yes, Hop, how can I help you?" Link asked the Pokemon trainer, who needed a moment as he held up his index finger. From the looks of it, Hop wouldn't be regaining his full breath anytime soon.

"Something's going down...at the apartments..." Hop was also sweating buckets, as he wiped away the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve. "...some guy is knocked out cold in the center plaza!"

"And you ran all the way here just to tell us that?" In almost an instant, Hop immediately straightened up as he looked refreshed. Despite the precipitation that was still visible on his face.

"It sucks when you don't have a ride Pokemon. Anyway, you gotta check it out. C'mon!" Hop beckoned to Link as he turned around and ran down the hallway, sure to work himself up another sweat. That jacket of his was gonna be drenched soon.

"Hop sure could use a ride," Sonic suggested to Link, who along with Mario was looking at the blue hedgehog. Sonic's eyes were darting left and right, as he knew what was expected from him.

Yu was going on a date with Rise today, at a restaurant in town that Rise showed him. The young man was raring to go, as Rise's Star Records bosses Fox and Falco were seeing Rise out.

"Have fun, you two," Fox said to Yu and Rise, being awfully touchy as he hugged Rise; the pilot then tried to hug Yu so that he wouldn't feel left out.

"Don't even think about it," Yu commanded Fox as he held his hand out to the pilot, only for Falco to sneak up on him with his arms out wide. Yu held his hand out to the avian pilot. "Not another move!"

"Just wanna wish you good luck..." moaned Falco, putting his arms down as he trudged away from Yu. Rise applied some lip balm to her lips, before putting the cosmetic back in her purse.

"I'm all ready to go," Rise notified Yu, before turning to Fox and Falco as she was about to tell them her goodbyes. "I'll see you two later."

"And we'll be seeing you later as well," responded Fox, sporting a cheeky grin that seemed to suggest some suspicious motives. Yu had every reason to worry about the pilots as he took Rise's hand.

Yu: A new restaurant opened up in town, and Rise has been begging me nonstop to go check it out. So we're going on a date at this new joint, which will effectively kill two birds with one stone. Going on a date, giving this new restaurant a try, and getting Rise to shut up. Guess that makes it three birds. A trifecta.

Fox: Rise might think that her date's gonna be all peachy, but little does she know that we're gonna crash it. We've been meaning to give Rise some new incentives to her contract, and she's been holding off negotiations for the longest.
Falco: Yeah, Rise's gonna be sitting at her table, chatting with Yu about how ugly his bowl cut looks, and we show up out of nowhere dressed as rookie waiters. Wearing mustaches, no less. Then we take our disguises off, and we get down to business.
Fox: *crinkles nose* Why mustaches, though? Do you think that Rise and Yu won't recognize us with facial hair?
Falco: Based on my past experience, you'd be surprised...

"Let's go, these two are creeping me out," Yu said to Rise as he hurried to the front door, opening it in a hurry. The young man was suddenly greeted by a red-haired girl standing on the porch, wearing a traditional black Japanese uniform.

"Maybe this isn't the right place..." the girl said to herself, lost in her own thoughts, only to look up and see Yu and Rise standing by. Yu caused her to perk up. "...oh, hello! You must be Yu Narukami."

"Why yes, yes I am!" replied Yu, startled that the girl even knew who she was. The girl recognized his face right from the jump. "How did you..."

"And you must be Rise Kujikawa!" The girl pointed at Rise, unable to shake off the sneaky feeling that she might've met the singer in the past somewhere. "You're such a talented singer."

"So you've heard one of my songs, that's cool," smiled Rise, as Yu took her hand and led his girlfriend down the steps. "But if you excuse us, we have a date to go on."

"Okay then, enjoy your date! Nice seeing you!" The girl waved to Yu and Rise, enjoying the short interaction that she had with the couple. She then faced forward and entered the mansion, encountering Fox and Falco.

"Sheesh, those two just blew you off!" Fox said to the girl, who remained upbeat despite the fact that Yu and Rise didn't want anything to do with her. "Do you know them from somewhere?"

"I think...I think I do," the girl replied, optimistic that Yu and Rise would return to the mansion soon; she had so much that she wanted to discuss with them. "By the way, I'm Kotone Shiomi - a member of SEES. Are there any other members here?"

The Blades were planning taco night today, and they were getting a head start in the kitchen as they were dicing tomatoes, grating cheese, washing lettuce, etc. Pyra was killing it as always, whereas Mythra was doing her best.

"The tomato chunks are too big," Pyra informed Mythra as she looked over the Blade's work, not a fan of how the tomato chunks were the size of literal dice. "Use the vegetable chopper, it's not that hard."

"You said you wanted 'diced tomatoes' - make up your mind," responded Mythra, about to toss the tomato chunks into the garbage disposal. Pyra gasped as she stepped in and prevented Mythra from doing the unthinkable.

"In the vegetable chopper, thank you..." Pyra placed the bowl with the tomato chunks back on the kitchen counter, as Mythra groaned and grabbed the vegetable chopper. In most instances, Mythra had to learn the hard way.

"Same vegetable chopper that almost cut my hand off..." As Mythra plugged the cord of the vegetable chopper into an available outlet, Bowser entered the kitchen and was pleased with what he saw.

"Ah, yes, today's my favorite day of the year!" the Koopa King gleamed, before taking a deep breath as he was about to make Lebron James proud by belting out the following. "TACO TUUEEESSSSSSDDDAAAAAAYY!"

"Why must we suffer..." mumbled Minato, who was in the kitchen grabbing a can of soda from the fridge. After closing the fridge door and turning around, Minato was approached by Bowser.

"Minato, what day is it?!" In true LeBron fashion, Bowser was about to go around and badger folks into giving their best Taco Tuesday shout. Minato was one person that wouldn't budge.

"...it's a Friday, man." Almost any other person on earth would be ecstatic about Friday but for Minato, it was hard to get hyped for Friday when Bowser was at his most annoying.

"Pyra and Mythra, what day is it?!" Since Minato refused to get along with the program, Bowser asked the Blades to give the best "Taco Tuesday" they could give. But the Blades flat-out ignored Bowser, with Mythra even turning the vegetable chopper on.

"Sorry, we can't hear you," Mythra shouted at Bowser over the vegetable chopper, angering the Koopa King in the process. Dunban entered the kitchen, coming from the dining room.

"Pyra, Mythra, we have a visitor...I let her in through the backdoor," Dunban informed the Blades, who stopped what they were doing as Mythra turned off the vegetable chopper. Dunban beckoned to the visitor, as a girl with a policeman cap and a blue bag around her waist stepped inside.

"Hi," the girl shyly greeted everyone in the kitchen, not looking that keen on interacting with anyone. When she first saw Bowser, the girl looked at Dunban as he pointed at the Koopa King and asked "...why is he so ugly?"

"Who are you calling ugly?!" Bowser angrily questioned, as he wanted to pummel the girl to a bloody pulp. Minato had to hold Bowser back. "Let me at her, let me at her!"

"Erm, this here is Marie, and she's a weather forecaster," Dunban introduced the girl to everyone, as Minato was losing his hold on Bowser due to how strong the Koopa King was. "Or so I've been told."

"I'm also a fashionista, which is why I can only eat healthy food," stated Marie, as Bowser ultimately gave up and walked away. A huge boon for Minato, who was strongly overwhelmed by Bowser's might.

"Then I suppose that Taco Tuesday would be out of the question for you," Minato spoke with Marie, fixing up his jacket after his tussling with Bowser messed up his clothes quite a bit. "Taco night, I mean. Stupid Bowser..."

"He is pretty stupid - and ugly," commented Marie, as Bowser looked over his shoulder and glared intensely at the girl before exiting the kitchen. "But I didn't come here to eat tacos. I came here to find my boyfriend."

"Your...boyfriend?" Marie's boyfriend...was a resident of the mansion? Had to be one of the Persona dudes, for sure.

Sonic drove Mario, Link, and Hop to Omnis Adest, where a mysterious unconscious person was found at the apartments. Once they were out of the blue corvette, Sonic and company came across a crowd of people gathered at the spot where Athena Asamiya had her karaoke session.

"He must be unconscious still. Hurry!" shouted Hop as he led Mario, Link, and Sonic to the crowd, leading them past the onlookers. In the clearing Sonic and company saw a man in shining armor with red-and-blue hair, lying on the ground.

"CLEAR!" shouted Nemona, as her Pawmot was using its signature Double Shock move to wake up the man. No matter how many times Pawmot used the move, it wasn't enough to wake him up.

"What if he can't be woken up?" fretted Mio, as she and her Agnus friends began to worry about the man's livelihood. Pawmot's electric shocks simply weren't getting it done.

"Probably swimmin' with the fishes right now," assumed Pinstripe Potoroo, sticking a toothpick in his mouth as he provided a far less than optimistic outlook. "You hate to see it."

"Wait a moment! I've seen this before," exclaimed Chrom as he emerged from the crowd, having been in a vaguely similar situation before. "This man can be revived through the power of friendship."

"Did somebody say the power of friendship?" Sora perked up, stepping up to the plate as a few audible groans were heard among the crowd. Including one from his best friend Riku. "Luckily I have friendship in spades!"

"No one asked for you, Sora," Chrom told off Sora, who lowered his head in sadness as he returned to his original spot. Chrom knelt down at the man, as Pawmot used one last Double Shock.

"I could use Revival Blessing, but that would be a waste," Nemona said to Chrom, doubting that the move would have any effect on humans. "Are you positive that friendship will work?"

"If it worked for Robin, then it will work for this man," replied a confident Chrom, only for a miracle to happen...as the man was stirring from his slumber. "What's this?"

"Hmm...?" the man with red-and-blue hair slowly awoke, as his eyes were starting to open. Gradually, the man sat up on the ground rubbing his head.

"HE LIVES!" rejoiced Vector the Crocodile, holding his arms out wide as he and a few other onlookers were cheering. Pinstripe meanwhile snapped his fingers in disgust, before leaving the happy scene altogether.

"I live?" The man was slowly coming to his senses, rubbing his eyes as he saw all the folks that were staring at him. "Where even am I?"

"Had us in for a scare there," Link said to the man as he, Mario, and Sonic came over to help the visitor up to his feet. The man had some noticeable heterochromia going on - one red eye, and one blue eye.

"Thank you for waking me up from my slumber! I suppose that introductions are underway. I am Alear, a Divine Dragon from the land of...somewhere."

"The land of what? The Land of Somewhere?" Sonic asked Alear, whose mind was drawing a blank; Alear was clearly suffering from amnesia, likely from being asleep for so long. "That might be an actual kingdom!"

"In a fairy tale, maybe," Nemona told Sonic, only to look out in the distance and saw Junpei beckoning to her while holding a baseball. "Uh, I gotta go!"

"But I wasn't even finished with my introduction!" Alear said to Nemona, who went her Pawmot back inside his Poke Ball before taking off. Alear's mind was still drawing a blank. "Come on, mind, think..."

Nemona: Junpei gave me an offer that I couldn't refuse. Can't outright say what it is, but here's the catch - there are a million dollars involved! I'd have to be an idiot to ever turn down a million dollars. Imagine if you won a million dollars from winning Pokemon battles - that would make me enjoy battling even more!

"I think we oughta get-a you caught up to speed," Mario offered to Alear, who was deeply upset that any detail from his upbringing escaped him. "Who knows how long you've been asleep!"

"Where are the castles? Why do these buildings look so advanced?" questioned Alear, getting a sense of his surroundings as he analyzed the apartments. Clearly, the Divine Dragon had a lot to learn.

"Right-a this way, my friend...we'll treat-a you to lunch after our little conversation." So Mario and Link led Alear away, treating the Divine Dragon like he was a handicapped person even though he could walk on his own. Sonic was about to come along...until he got a phone call.

For Yu and Rise to go on their date, they needed a ride first. Yu had a driver's license but not a car, so he had to depend on someone to provide a lift.

"Our ride should arrive shortly," Yu assured Rise as he checked his phone, while he and his girlfriend stood by the driveway. "They just texted me from this unverified number..."

"And yet you trust them. Hmph," responded Rise, who didn't have to wait much longer as a car pulled up into the driveway. The car was a Toyota Prius, which looked brand new - like it came out from the shop.

"Who's driving?" Yu watched as the driver's window rolled down, revealing the driver to unfortunately be Teddie. "Oh no, Teddie is driving, how can this be?!"

"If there is a silver lining, master, it's that this isn't a car full of midgets!" chortled Teddie; Yu and Rise both got inside the Prius, and saw that it indeed wasn't a car full of midgets.

"Do you even know how to drive, Teddie?" asked Rise as she and Yu were in the backseat, buckling in their seat belt - never was buckling in a seat belt more vital than now.

"Fo' sho'!" Teddie pulled out a driver's license and showed it off to Yu and Rise, who could both tell that it was a fake one. "Ready to get this show on the road?"

"Just don't kill us, that's all I'm asking of you," replied Yu, and Teddie took that response as a yes as he backed out of the driveway. Yu said a quick prayer as Teddie drove down the road.

Snake: My fake ID machine hasn't failed me yet. And it hasn't failed anyone else who uses it. Bunch of suckers. *pauses* I made that machine, so I'm exempt.

Watching Teddie pull out of the driveway were Fox and Falco, who were anticipating the moment that Rise left. Both men were standing next to their own Arwing, fortunate that they were never spotted.

"It's go time!" Fox said to Falco as he got inside his Arwing, opening the hatch with his car keys. Falco attempted to do the same, but nothing was happening.

"Tell Captain Falcon that I need to borrow his crowbar," an embarrassed Falco commanded Fox, who rolled his eyes and groaned as he went inside the mansion. Of all the misfortunes that could befall Falco...

The grand opening of Omnis Adest was a plus for Cafe Leblanc, as it paved the way for more diverse patrons at the cafe. As opposed to seeing the same usual faces day in and day out. Joker watched with joy as Bandanna Waddle Dee and Silver the Hedgehog were sitting at the counter, drinking coffee.

"Feels like the holidays all over again," Joker described his joyous feelings to his fellow baristas, as Olimar's buddy Louie pulled himself up to one of the barstools and sat at the counter.

"You know what I want, the usual," Louie said to the baristas as if he knew what his usual was, snapping his fingers to get them crackalackin'. Let it be known that it was only Louie's second visit to the cafe.

"Does he even have a usual?" Pit asked the other baristas, as Shantae entered the cafe looking for her special someone - her crush. "I have so much trouble remembering people's orders..."

"Akihiko? Where are you?" asked Shantae as she looked around the cafe, her eyes soon falling upon the aforementioned Ahikhiko. The half-genie gasped with glee, as Akihiko was speaking with King K. Rool.

"Challenged Zangief to a fight," Akihiko said to K. Rool in an almost bragging manner, slightly amazed that Zangief agreed to the fight in the first place. "We'll spar later at the apartments."

"In that case, it was nice knowing you Akihiko," K. Rool told the young man, patting him on his shoulder. Zangief was by no means a man who showed his opponents mercy; he might rip Akihiko from limb to limb.

"Oh, Akihiko! Look what I got!" Shantae called out to the young man, before holding up a pair of bracelets - one bracelet in each hand. "Matching bracelets! One for you, and one for me!"

"I may have to lay down for this fight, for my own good," a tense Akihiko told K. Rool, drinking the remainder of his coffee before hightailing out of the cafe. "Stay away from me, woman!"

"But wait! You haven't picked which color you wanted!" Shantae chased after Akihiko, while Naoto and Kanji watched from the table that they were sitting at. Samus walked past Kanji, giving the delinquent a double-take.

"It's my new look," explained Kanji, but that didn't stop Samus from giving him a judging stare. It was like Samus encountered Kanji's classier, more well-mannered older brother.

"God must have been very unkind to you," commented Samus before she continued walking, as Kanji frowned and resumed eating his curry. Ever since his hair change, Kanji was starved for any positive feedback.

"Told you that returning to your natural hair color was a mistake," Naoto said to Kanji, unaware of the buddy cops creeping on her. Toon Link and Young Link quietly approached Naoto's seat, without making a single sound.

"Naoto Shirogane!" Toon Link pointed at the police detective in question, bringing plenty of unwanted attention to her. "You're coming with us."

"Ooooooh..." an instigating Pit cooed, believing that Naoto was in big trouble. The angel kept cooing until a sharp head turn from Joker made him stop.

"Your new boyfriend who dresses like Kanji can remain where he is," Young Link informed Naoto, who was wary about what the buddy cops had in store for her. Obviously, it couldn't be something good. "Follow us to our police station."

"Who are you kidding, I am Kanji!" Kanji yelled at the buddy cops, who assumed that the delinquent was lying as Naoto arose from her seat. Naoto had yet to finish her curry, but she hoped that her trip to the police station was short.

"Watch my bowl for me," Naoto made her request known to Kanji, who was mad upset that his girlfriend wasn't sticking up for him. Kanji's mouth was agape as Naoto followed the buddy cops out of the cafe.

Yosuke was really into ninja culture, as evidenced by the fact that he wielded a kunai as his go-to weapon. His Persona was based on a ninja, and if that wasn't enough, Yosuke's Shadow self predominantly wore a ninja suit.

As much as he loved fighting like a ninja from his favorite anime, Yosuke believed that something was missing from his ninja repertoire - a ninja blade, like the one Ryu Hayabusa used. Hayabusa obviously wouldn't defer his legendary Dragon Sword to Yosuke (especially after that New Year's Eve incident), but Yosuke could easily purchase his own sword if he wanted to. And he did just that.

"Guess who ordered a katana off of Amazon!" squealed Yosuke as he entered the gaming room, ready to show off his katana as he was carrying a cardboard box. Not a single person cared to give Yosuke their attention.

"What's next?" questioned Wario, as Yosuke placed the cardboard box on a table dying to open it already. "Buying a black fedora and referring to every woman you see as m'lady?"

"First off, that's stereotyping. Not cool. And secondly, I'm buying a brown fedora. Brown fedoras are cooler. Now feast your eyes!"

So Yosuke tore the cardboard box open, removing the packaging paper and all that good stuff, and then took out his katana blade. The young man proudly held his katana, feeling as if a lovely choir was singing down from heaven.

Yosuke: Authentic katanas are not that easy to find. The cheapest one you can find online is no less than $300. Only makes it sweet that I found this katana on Amazon for one/tenths of the amount! You might think it's a toy katana, which it sort of is, but it's real to me, dang it...

"Is he going to be okay?" Lucario asked Ribbon Girl, watching as Yosuke was wielding his sword like how a samurai would. Yosuke felt like Snake Eyes and Samurai Jack put together.

"Let's revisit that question at dinner after he's done exerting his energy," replied Robbin Girl, as she and Lucario walked away and allowed Yosuke to be great. Yosuke was swinging his sword about, with great disregard for anyone in his way.

"Who's gonna stop me now? Who? Who?!" questioned Yosuke, only to accidentally strike Mr. Game and Watch below the belt with the tip of his blade. Yosuke stopped posturing, as Mr. Game and Watch doubled over in pain.

"Even as a 2-D man, it still hurts..." moaned Mr. Game and Watch; rather than feeling bad or having sympathy for Mr. GW, Yosuke looked at his blade with renewed fascination.

"That stuff only ever happens to me..." Yosuke looked proudly at his katana, while Mr. Game and Watch was writhing on the floor in pain. "...this is the best ninja sword ever!"

Earlier this week, Zeke learned about Touma's tokusatsu-inspired show, Force Five, which was still going strong in its sixth season. The showman that he was, Zeke desired to be a part of Force Five, and so the Crown Prince spoke with Touma in the backyard where the newest episode was set to be filmed.

"Sorry Zeke, but Ridley's locked in as the main villain," Touma gave the bad news to Zeke, while his idol singer friends - and Itsuki - were outside setting up props and arranging the costumes. "Better luck next season."

"Then make me the mentor, I beg of you!" Zeke implored Touma, getting down to his knees and clasping his hands together in a begging manner. "Project my head and make it huge, so that I may impart my wisdom!"

"And you can make me the Force Five's robot assistant," Pandoria offered to Touma, performing some robot moves; Touma felt more impartial to Pandoria just for her dance skills alone.

"I like your idea more. You're in!" Touma said to Pandoria, who leaped for joy as she got the part. Zeke on the other hand was beside himself, standing back up as he felt dismayed.

"This is no way to treat the Crown Prince..." remarked a salty Zeke, unable to be happy for the gig that Pandoria landed. Funky Kong approached Zeke, tapping him on his shoulder.

"Hope you haven't forgotten!" Funky Kong said to Zeke while holding a baseball mitt in his hand. The gorilla tossed a baseball up and down in the mitt, as Zeke quickly got the clue.

"Baseball practice! Of course!" Zeke was a chipper man again, leaving the backyard with Funky Kong as he gave a two-finger salute to Touma and company. "Happy filming, you all. And have fun, my sweet Pandoria!"

"Baseball practice?" Tsubasa crinkled her nose, stopping what she was doing as she watched Zeke and Funky Kong leave the backyard walking side-by-side. "Did he just say baseball practice?"

"He wields a sword, so I guess it makes sense," Kiria replied with a shrug, while also relieved that Touma didn't sign Zeke up for Force Five. She didn't mind Pandoria, but Zeke would've been a dealbreaker for her.

"Hey, Ridley! You're just in time," Touma said to the dragon, who approached the redhead. "Here's your vitamins - your favorite!" Touma handed Rildey a bottle of vitamins, and Ridley ate all the vitamins in one gulp while Touma proudly looked on.

Ridley: *turns away from the camera and throws up on the ground*

"Yo, Eleonora! Ridley needs a power drink," Touma called out to the idol singer, oblivious to Ridley holding in the urge to vomit profusely all over the ground. "Ask Cloud if he has any more of those water flavor packets."

"Flavored water isn't a power drink, but you do you," replied Eleonora, humbly accepting her task as she laid a prop on the ground and walked away. The idol singer didn't get that far when she ran into a woman wearing a pink tokusatsu costume.

"Feather Pink!" the woman exclaimed, striking a pose as she wielded a bow and arrow. Eleonora looked bewildered, slightly intimidated even, only for Touma to clap in approval.

"If it isn't our sixth ranger - Miss Yukari Takeba!" applauded Touma, as the pink tokusatsu woman took off her helmet to reveal herself as Yukari. Of course, Yukari had to wear something pink.

"You're lucky that I had this suit hanging in my closet," Yukari said to Touma, as her tokusatsu costume fitted her like a glove. It was like a perfect match.

Touma: Jason David Frank's death was the biggest celebrity death for me in 2022. The man was the GOAT as far as sixth rangers in Power Rangers are concerned. Everyone knows that every Super Sentai crew needs a sixth ranger to help carry the load, and Yukari fitted the criteria perfectly! But I'll make one thing clear...if she becomes the breakout character, then she's getting the boot. The same goes for Pandoria. I'm holding out faith that Ridley will be the show's biggest star.

"Took you this long to find a sixth ranger?" Itsuki questioned Touma, as all the years of Touma speaking a sixth ranger into existence had finally materialized into something. "Can't wait for you to talk our heads off about having a comic relief duo next."

"Which is still on the agenda," confirmed Touma, always coming up with new ideas to keep his Force Five show as fresh as possible. "Pit and Kirby are the leading candidates."

"Leading candidates to drag the show down..." muttered Eleonora, knowing that Pit simply wasn't cut out for a role on Force Five. She deemed Pit's appearances on Microwave Idol Mamorin as evidence. "...I'll be right back."

Chie and Yukiko planned on doing some shopping today, as there was a clearance sale at one of their favorite retail stores. The problem was that they were relatively short on cash, so they asked their fellow residents for a few bucks. The friends were currently speaking with Cloud in the front yard.

"Three hundred...four hundred...five hundred dollars," Cloud counted up the money he had in his wallet, before placing it in Yukiko's hand. The swordsman had some big bucks. "Never ask me for money again.

"More than what we needed, but at least our Uber driver will be paid handsomely," Yukiko chirped as she placed the money in her wallet, while Chie took out her phone and dialed a number.

"I'm gonna call our Uber and see if they're on route," Chie informed Yukiko, holding her phone up to her ear as the dial tone sounded. Cloud was about to head back inside the mansion, only to be approached by Eleonora.

"Hi, do you have any water flavor packets for Ridley?" Eleonora asked Cloud, who dug into his pocket and handed Eleonora a water flavor packet. "Thanks!"

"No problem!" Water flavor packet in hand, Eleonora ran back to the backyard as Cloud continued his march towards the mansion. "People really have to stop asking me for stuff..."

As Cloud went up the porch steps, his eye caught Minato seated at the porch table with Marie. Minato learned from Marie that her boyfriend lived at the mansion, and Marie gave Minato a description of her supposed boyfriend's looks and personality.

"No, I think that he's no longer on the market," Minato kindly stated to Marie, who was certain that the young man was lying. Marie didn't come that far only to learn that her boyfriend was taken.

"That's so untrue; he promised me a date years ago," claimed Marie, hanging up on this years-old promise; that promise was her incentive for being in love. "He made a promise!"

"Plenty of other fish in the sea," Cloud offered these words of advice to Marie, commanding the girl's attention and garnering Minato's attention as well. "Minato, who is this girl?"

"Cloud?" Marie was starstruck by Cloud, before shaking her head to shake off her feelings of awe as she focused on her mission. "Do you know where my boyfriend is?"

"That's Marie; she came all the way to Seattle to look for her boyfriend," Minato explained to Cloud, wishing that he was chilling on the Force Five set watching Yukari kill it as Feather Pink. "She's bothering me already..."

"It's nothing personal, I just want to see my boyfriend again. Yu." Apparently, Yu was Marie's "boyfriend", and neither Cloud nor Minato was fully prepared to completely shatter Marie's world. "Do you know where Yu is, Cloud?"

"Maybe I do...maybe I don't," replied Cloud, keeping his answer super vague as he quickly shuffled his way to the front door. "But good luck finding him." The swordsman hurried inside through the front door, as Marie remained seeking answers.

"He's probably hiding from me, that's all it is," Marie assumed to Minato, who was playing along as he nodded his head in agreement. The truth was going to break poor Marie, for sure.

Mario, Link, and Sonic got Alear firmly caught up to speed, explaining to him where he was and what year he was in. Over time, Alear's memories slowly came back at a gradual pace. After the initial conversation, the three returned to the mansion and brought Alear to Cafe Leblanc for a quick bite to eat.

"One grilled cheese sandwich for our special guest," said Joker as he and Incineroar presented to Alear a freshly made grilled cheese sandwich on a plate. "Free as charged!"

"No fair, how come he doesn't have to pay for his meal but we do?" complained Louie, disgruntled that his cup of cappuccino (his "usual") took all the money he had in his pockets. "We really do live in a society..."

"Shut-a your trap, Louie, you're not that special!" Mario shut down Louie, as Alear took a bite from his grilled cheese sandwich. "So, what are your thoughts?" Mario, Joker, and everyone else at the counter eagerly awaited Alear's consensus.

"I can taste the cheese...and the butter...and a touch of paprika," Alear said as he chewed; Joker and Incineroar both furrowed their brow as they looked at an innocently smiling Pit. "A delectable sandwich befitting for a Divine Dragon!"

"don't eat too many of those sandwiches - it'll make you put on a lot of weight," Sans advised Alear, as he had a bunch of dragon-related puns to spare. "though that depends on the scales."

"This skeleton fellow is offending me..." Alear whispered to Mario and company, while also debating whether or not he should kill Sans with his sword. Sans looked no different from the monsters Alear may have fought in the past.

Sans: that alear guy is a divine dragon, which is kinda neat. he must be a fantastic storyteller - provided that he has a tail. *snickers*

"So I hear you've been asleep for many years," Champion Link chatted with Alear, finding something about the Divine Dragon that he could easily relate to. "Where did you fall asleep at?"

"Fell asleep at the land...the Land of Lythos," Alear confidently replied, overjoyed that he was finally able to remember his place of origin. "My mother, Lumera, spearheaded the Divine Dragons that ruled over the land."

"was your mom dragon her feet as the ruler?" Sans asked Alear, as he continued to offend the Divine Dragon with his dragon puns. Alear wanted to pierce Sans with his sword, just to get him to shut up.

"Pit!" Joker called on the angel, who grabbed a broom while letting out a hollering battle cry. The angel jumped over the counter, and Sans hopped down from his barstool as Pit chased him out of the cafe.

"I know what it's like to wake up after being in stasis for so long," Champion Link resumed his conversation with Alear following Sans' brief interruption, "Everything looks so unfamiliar, old faces you recognized look so new..."

"Yeah, man, I can relate," Sonic said to Champion Link, as he wanted to give his personal two cents. "Waking up after a long nap, for a moment it's like you're in a whole different world!"

"This is a hundred-year slumber we're talking about here," Champion Link kindly informed Sonic, who didn't care as he got his piece in. Sonic just wanted to help out.

"My slumber lasted a thousand years," stated Alear, one-upping Champion Link by a very long mile. He was in a deep sleep for an entire millennium! "At least it felt as such..."

"DANG IT! Where's Naoto already?" a lonesome Kanji angrily questioned, slamming his fists on the table as he was deeply missing Naoto. "Buddy cops got her tied up...those punks!"

"Nice haircut!" Wolf called out to Kanji, who could tell that the mercenary was joking as he gave him an angry glare. Kanji might have to dye his hair blonde again at this rate.

How about we check in on Naoto? The police detective had yet to be released from the buddy cops' police station, as she sat at the interrogation table. But Naoto wasn't doing any interrogating, nor was she the one being interrogated. The buddy cops brought her to the police station because they had a big favor to ask of her.

"Basically you want to solve your first-ever murder mystery," Naoto said to Toon Link and Young Link, who expressed their desire to crack the biggest case possible. Has been their dream ever since they first got their police badges.

"The Cloud-Dark Samus case doesn't count, no one actually died," replied Young Link, who expressed his desire to sink his teeth into a case that had an actual death involved. "It was also regulated to the mansion."

"Only the real murder mysteries belie outside the mansion," Toon Link stated matter-of-factly, he and Young Link looking for their big break. They believed that their moment was now.

"Well, news flash, boys - I don't keep up regularly with the city's crime blotter," confessed Naoto, causing the buddy cops to gasp simultaneously. The buddy cops' view of Naoto was likely shattered, but Naoto couldn't care less. "So you're asking the wrong person."

"That's incredible...we don't regularly keep up with Seattle's crime blotter ourselves! We really do have a lot in common." Having something in common with the buddy cops was Naoto's worst-case scenario.

"And that makes you the right lady for solving a murder mystery," Young Link pointed at Naoto, who regretted making her confession and endearing herself more to the buddy cops in the process. "Our first, legitimate murder mystery."

"Woe is me..." sighed Naoto, as she wouldn't be returning to Cafe Leblanc anytime soon. Kanji had to fend off all the haters at the cafe by himself.

"We'll meet up outside at the front," Toon Link gave some directions to Naoto, who buried her face in her hands as the buddy cops left the police station. "Gonna hand out some tickets first to get our fix in for the day."

Yu and Rise's date was at The Pink Door, an Italian restaurant offering burlesque shows and musical acts. The couple might have arrived too early for a musical performance, but that didn't stop them from being able to enjoy themselves.

"I'll take the bagna cauda," Yu gave his order to the waitress after making his final decision, adjusting the straw in the glass of lemonade he ordered."She'll have the cheese board supreme."

"Both entrees are for two or more persons," the waitress informed Yu, letting him know the lunch entrees from The Pink Door were pretty big. But that didn't bother Yu any - and didn't bother Rise either.

"We can handle it," Rise smiled at the waitress, who took the pop singer's word for it as she took the two menus. Rise wasn't going to let some cheese entree overpower her.

"Your food will be here shortly." The waitress left the table, slightly unconfident that Yu and Rise would be able to finish their entrees by the end of their date. Yu and Rise were going to eat their food whole or die trying.

"Pardon us, but is this table taken?" someone asked Yu and Rise, who were both checking the notifications on their phone. Best to do that now, rather than risk doing it during the meal and showing poor dating etiquette.

"It is, but there's an available table right over..." replied Yu as he looked up, only to frown when he saw Fox and Falco taking their seats at Yu and Rise's table. "Guys, are you serious?"

"Yes we are serious," confirmed Fox, who took a seat next to Rise while Falco sat next to Yu. Yu and Rise were forced to scoot down and make some room. "This is a matter of life or death, sort of."

Falco: No point in waiting until the food is delivered. Based on my own personal experience, it takes the chefs in the kitchen forever to prepare your meal. The stuff on this menu is like $20 or above, so you know that Yu and Rise will be waiting forever. Their loss, our gain.

"I am so sorry, Yu," Rise said to her boyfriend, holding herself accountable for Fox and Falco crashing her date. "This is my fault for not starting negotiations with them last month."

"No, this is me and Falco's fault," objected Fox, shouldering the brunt of the blame as any good boss of a record label company would do. "It's our fault for not reminding you sooner."

"Can we stop it with the blame game?" Yu shouted at Fox, hoping that he wasn't being too late. It wasn't often that the young man raised his voice. "We are on a date, in case you aren't aware."

"We'll get this done shortly." Fox pulled out a folder, and a bunch of papers fell out before he could even place the folder on the table. Fox looked at the paper on the floor despondently, in no mood for picking up his mess. "So Rise, about your contract..."

Once he successfully ran off Sans with his broom, Pit returned to Cafe Leblanc which was a lot more pleasant due in part to Sans' absence. The angel had fixed a bowl of orange curry for Ken Amada, who was sitting at the counter with Koromaru.

"Eat up, buddy!" Ken chirped at Koromaru, holding his bowl of curry low so that Koromaru could lick from it. "Or is it drink up?" Not sure of which one was more correct, Ken looked up at Joker. "Which one is it?"

"I can tell you one thing...I'll ban you from the cafe temporarily if you don't stop doing that," Joker sternly replied, as Ken pulled the curry from Koromaru and placed the bowl back on the counter. Koromaru licked his chops, satisfied with his sample.

"Cafe Leblanc..." uttered Kotone as she wandered inside the cafe, taking a good look around. The girl gasped with joy when she saw Ken and Koromaru chilling together. "Ken! And Koromaru!"

"Uh, do we know you?" Ken asked Kotone, who ran over to the counter and gave Ken a hug. Ken's eyes were darting left and right, as Mario and everyone else at the counter looked amused.

"Hugged by a random-a Japanese schoolgirl...he must be so lucky," quipped Mario, as Link and Sonic laughed; Alear, despite not understanding Mario's joke, laughed as well just to feel included.

Kotone: The SEES does live at this mansion! Seeing a glimpse of Aigis in an elevator was all the confirmation that I needed. I hope that my friends remember me; I know that it's been a while, so I can forgive them if any of them don't.

"Seriously, do we know you?" Ken asked Kotone, as he had to push the girl away from him. Kotone was perturbed by Ken's standoffish attitude; Koromaru was even growling at her.

"We're members of the SEES," Kotone explained to Ken, as nothing was ringing a bell; Kotone had to point at her red SEES armband. "I was named the leader of the group!"

"No, it was Minato who was named the leader. You got it all wrong."

"He was...I don't recall...wait, who even is this Minato?"

"She could be an amnesiac, like me," Alear inferred to Mario and company, hoping that Kotone would regain her memories soon provided that she had lost them in the first place. Chrom entered the cafe, approaching Alear.

"Good afternoon, Alear!" Chrom greeted the Divine Dragon, who was startled by the swordsman's sudden presence. "You must not remember me from earlier. I'm Chrom, the prince of Yliesse."

"The prince of Yliesse? Yliesse...now that is a kingdom I have never heard of before." Alear clearly had a lot to learn, and Chrom was more than happy to educate him - if he only had the time.

"You should check it out one day, it's a great vacation spot. Um..." Chrom awkwardly cleared his throat, knowing that his attempt to lure Alear to Yliesse fell completely flat. "...I don't if you're interested, but there's a Lords' roundtable starting soon. Are you a lord, by any chance?"

"I do have this cape." Alear showed off his cape to Chrom, swinging it as he knocked down several cups and bowls off the counter in the process. Alear smiled at the patrons apologetically. "That has to mean something."

"Then that settles it. You're in!" Chrom unofficially signed up Alear for the Lords' Roundtable, as Alear liked how involved he was being. "I'll let Marth know that he'll be expecting you."

"Attending the roundtable, too?" Sonic asked Chrom, whose sigh made the answer obvious; Chrom looked depressed as FOMO was slowly taking over.

"Lucina prevented me from attending because I might 'embarrass' her. I promised that I would put my cell phone on silent! Speaking of which, could you show me which button to press?"

The Lords' roundtable promised to be an important meeting, one that would involve a bunch of Fire Emblem lords. Master Hand desired to be at this roundtable, but Marth forbade him. So he had a plan in mind...and it involved the man that he came on good terms with in the previous episode, Cloud.

"Cloud, what day is it?!" Bowser asked Cloud in the library, as Cloud was sitting in a chair noodling on his phone. When Cloud gave no response, Bowser took matters into his own hands and belted, "TACO TUUEEESSSSSSDDDAAAAAAYY!"

"Ssh!" Gil shushed Bowser from the counter, as Bowser shushed the de facto librarian back. Rather than sparking an endless shushing battle, Gil gave Bowser a stern look before returning to his post.

"Today is a Friday," Cloud plainly stated to Bowser, saying the same answer that everyone else gave when asked by Bowser what day it was. Bowser was looking relentlessly for at least one exclamation of "Taco Tuesday".

"Well...Taco Friday doesn't roll off the tongue!" admitted Bowser, before looking to strike gold with Tifa when he saw the martial artist approach Cloud. "Tifa, what day is it?"

"Don't know, don't care," Tifa quickly replied as she took a seat next to Cloud. Bowser marched off in a bitter mood, while Tifa took a peek at Cloud's phone. "'How to Make Yourself Happy'...?"

"It's from WikiHow," replied Cloud as he showed Tifa his phone so that she could see the page in full. The swordsman scrolled down the page with his finger. "Only use it since those '...For Dummies' books are out of style."

"They're not out of style," Gil educated Cloud, albeit in a rather defensive tone, only to sheepishly look away and stick his nose into a book. If you're gonna educate somebody, commit to it - don't back out like a coward.

"Well, I'm happy that you want to be happy," Tifa smiled at Cloud, wondering what took the swordsman so long to find his inner happiness. Maybe the events in Arcadia Bay had a profound effect on him. "Anyway, I just wanted to..."

"Cloud!" shouted Master Hand as he suddenly appeared in the library; Gil dared not to shush Master Hand, for he knew the grave consequences that would befall him. "I need you to do me a favor."

"Why am I the one stuck doing favors for everyone..." groaned Cloud, putting his phone down as he was sick and tired of others depending on him. His own fault for being so dependable.

"Rest assured that this favor won't take up much of your day." If that came out of Master Hand's mouth, then it was exceedingly hard to believe. "So you are aware of the Lords' Roundtable, right?"

"Yeah, I know about it; only the Fire Emblem lords are allowed to attend. And before you even ask, I'm not going to disguise myself as a lord and infiltrate this meeting."

"Funny you should say that...because that's exactly what I'm asking you to do! Almost took the words right out of my mouth." Master Hand caused Cloud to groan a second time, as this was one favor that Cloud wasn't so bullish of.

Master Hand: I owe it to Cloud after the giant cold shoulder I gave him for the past few months. I must show him that I can trust him, and this is one way to do it. They are undoubtedly discussing Dimentio at the roundtable, I'm sure of it, and Cloud will hopefully give me the intel that I need. As long as he looks the part, no one will ever know that it's him!

"Aerith and I can spruce up Cloud for you," Tifa assured Master Hand, dismaying Cloud for following along with Master Hand's plan. He'd expected that from Aerith only, not Tifa.

"You ladies know a thing or two about fashion design, so I trust you to make Cloud look spiffy," Master Hand entrusted Tifa, hoping that he would be able to see the final result of Cloud's makeover. "Might wanna slick back the spiky hair, if necessary."

"Touch my hair once, and see what happens to you," Cloud warned Tifa, awfully defensive of his iconic spiky hair - much like how Gil was defensive of those "...For Dummies" books. Gil was reading such a book right now!

It was standard for every apartment community to have a community pool, for all the lovely people to swim or even pee in. Lorenz and his fellow man of culture Ferdinand were relaxing in the pool, resting on floating rafts and sipping bubbly. Bubbly sparkling water, that is, from a glass.

"This pristine air makes for such a serene atmosphere," commented Lorenz, holding his glass of sparkling water as he took a small sip from his straw. "The delicate breeze puts me in an effervescent mood."

"I wholeheartedly concur - no moment is more exemplary than this!" Ferdinand agreed with Lorenz, the two noblemen having a toast as they clanged their glasses together. "It would disconcert me if this occasion were to be besmirched."

"LOOK OUT!" someone shouted from afar, as a baseball was flying through the air and landed in the pool. Water was splashed all over Lorenz and Ferdinand, and they didn't like it.

"What is this?!" frowned Lorenz as he saw the baseball floating on the surface, wondering where it came from. He grabbed the baseball as he and Ferdinand got out of the pool.

Soaking wet, Lorenz and Ferdinand stormed into an open field at Omnis Adest, where they saw...baseball practice? Nemona was on the mound, throwing a baseball at the batter standing at the plate, Funky Kong, while Sheldon was the catcher. Espio, Birdo, Owain, Zeke, Rock Howard, and the Mighty Gazelle were all on the field.

"That's a strike!" shouted Junpei, who was overseeing the baseball practice as he blew his whistle. He was so hyped that he almost took his cap off. "Nemona, that was a great throw!"

"It's all in the arm," smirked Nemoan as she winded up her arm, having more confidence in throwing baseballs than Poke Balls. Funny how that works.

"What is the meaning of this?" Lorenz asked Junpei, approaching the man like they were a pair of Karens demanding to speak with the manager.

"What does it look like, we're having baseball practice," replied Junpei, as Nemona threw a curveball at Funky Kong. It was the third strike, as Funky Kong struck out after swinging his bat.

"But why, this is winter," stated Ferdinand, as Funky Kong threw his bat on the ground in defeat while Owain stepped up to the plate. "The wrong season to play this sport!"

"Real men play sports in the winter when the weather is cold and nippy. Which is why American football is considered a real man's sport!"

"And why is she playing?" questioned Lorenz as he pointed at Nemona, who threw the ball at Owain and got the first strike. "Who made her the pitcher?"

"You mean Nemona, my million-dollar arm? Female pitchers are super common these days, in case you haven't checked out the news. One female pitcher threw a shutout in the Little League!"

"That doesn't even sound remotely impressive." Lorenz mustered a yawn, as Nemona threw another ball at Owain. Owain struck the ball, which flew into foul territory, as Owain had a primed home run strut.

"How about you boys meet the team?" Junpei blew his whistle, just when Nemona was about to make another pitch. "Omnis Adeste Fideles, front and center!"

"What kind of team name is that...?" Ferdinand crinkled his nose at Lorenz, as baseball practice was paused; all ten players of the apparently named Omnis Adest Fideles lined up next to Junpei.

"Alright, starting from the top..." Junpei walked past each member of the team, stating their name and their position on the field. "...Zeke is the leadoff man, he's the center fielder. Funky Kong's the shortstop. After Funky is our right fielder, Owain. Sheldon is the catcher. Rock Howard holds it down at first base. Mighty Gazelle's got left field. Birdo's the second baseman, Espio's the third baseman, and Nemona is our pitcher."

"Just so you know, Vector forced me to sign up to play baseball," Espio stated to Lorenz and Ferdinand, as he had no desire to play for Junpei. It came down to him, Vector, and Charmy; Espio "won out".

"Hmm, not bad," Lorenza gave his critique of Junpei's squad, nodding his head in approval. "Not bad for a team that is guaranteed to finish last in the standings!"

"Now that is something I can raise my glass to," grinned Ferdinand, with Lorenz tossing the baseball back to Junpei before he and Ferdinand returned to the pool. Junpei caught the ball as he frowned at the two noblemen.

"One day, you'll see - you'll all see!" vowed Junpei as he shook his fists, having high hopes for the Omnis Adeste Fideles. He was confident that his squad could go all the way.

Junpei: Screw playing for the love of the game - we're gonna win the championship! What championship? I don't know. But we're gonna find one, and we're gonna wreck shop!

Touma had yet to get started with filming the newest episode of Force Five, for he was working on getting the newest cast members acclimated - Yukari and Pandoria. It was smooth sailing for both ladies.

"Donning a cloak of wind, a Feather Arrow will cleave the sky!" Yukari acted out her part, wielding her bow as she pretended to fire an arrow into the sky. "Revive and fight, Phoenix Rangers!"

"Force Five, we're called the Force Five," Touma corrected Yukari, still nonetheless impressed by how adept Yukari was at portraying a tokusatsu hero. "But we can work the Phoenix Rangers into the canon."

"Ay yi yi! I am a robot!" exclaimed Pandoria, doing her best Alpha 5 impersonation as she was acting like a robot. Touma liked what he saw from Pandoria as well, already a huge fan.

"Who knew that Pandoria has a mind apart from Zeke!" marveled Yashiro, his expectations for Pandoria completely blown away. "I never would have known."

"To be fair, you don't know a whole lot of things," quipped Kiria, throwing shade at the fellow idol singer as Yashiro gasped and clutched his pearls.

"Bold of you to assume such nonsense! I know every little thing that there is to know! Why, in fact, I even know about the birthmark under your left elbow."

"My right elbow," Kiria corrected Yashiro, who felt pretty ashamed as he faceplanted unto the ground. Yashiro was not as clairvoyant as he hoped. "But hey, you tried your best."

"I can show you what cool gizmos my suit has," Yukari offered to Touma, but before she could do that she saw a sharply dressed man meandering into the backyard with a briefcase. And it wasn't Medali gym leader Larry.

"Uh oh, we got some company!" alerted Itsuki, as everyone was focused on the man in the sharp black suit. "Here comes Tohru Adachi." The sharply dressed man was indeed Adachi, and he looked miserable. Par of the course for him.

"Aw man, I've done it...I've really done it now..." lamented Adachi, so full of misery that he was staggering a bit. Itsuki and Touma both came over and prevented the police detective from falling.

"You good, man? What's up?" Touma asked Adachi, who panicked upon seeing Touma's face. Adachi broke away from Itsuki and Touma, before getting down on his knees with his hands over his head.

"Don't talk to me! I'm a bad man..." Adachi was so much of a bad man, that he couldn't bear to look another human being in the face. He must've goofed up big time to be acting like that.

"We'd appreciate it if you tell us what's wrong," Tsubasa said to Adachi, as she and the others came over to see what was wrong. Sensing that everyone was looking at him, Adachi slowly turned his head while his body was shaking with fear.

"I'll tell you what I did wrong..." Adachi was slowly building up the courage to tell everyone what he did, no matter how much crap he got. "I killed someone...I'm a murderer..."

The Lords' Roundtable was to take place in the mansion's meeting room, and most of the Lords had already shown up. Among those in attendance were Marth, Celica, Alm, Celica, Ike, Lucina, Corrin, Kamui, Byleth, and Beleth, as well as some new faces - Sigurd, Leif, Eirika, Ephraim, and Micaiah.

"Father told me that you were dead," Lucina said to Sigurd, who according to legend was sentenced to death by Arvis for acts of treason. Sigurd could only scoff and chuckle at Lucina.

"Your father must be a good liar, then - or an expert storyteller," responded Sigurd, alive and in the flesh as he swung back his majestic white cape. Sigurd only died on his terms.

"Soren once cast a wicked fire spell, and killed up to ten people!" Ike told his good friend Micaiah, telling her all sorts of tall tales about his main man Soren. "Then the fire spell resulted in an explosion."

"That sounds incredible!" marveled Micaiah, who was once told by Ike that Soren had gone to outer space and was the reason why there were no signs of life on the planets he visited. "But how come I have never heard about these feats until now?"

"Soren is humble like that; he lets his actions do the talking for him. Now that I mention it..." Despite whatever pitfall Ike fell into, his tall tales still left a lasting impression on Micaiah, which was his intention.

Ike: Started Micaiah off easy, and told her stories of Soren that were on the lower scale. I'll build my way up and tell her stories of how Soren saved the universe before it was deemed cool.

"This is my child, Kana," Corrin introduced Kana to Leif, holding his daughter in front of him. The prince was showing Kana off to the new faces. "She is the sweetest girl I've ever known!"

"Pleasure to meet you, Kana!" Leif greeted the young girl, showing off his friendly side as he patted Kana on her head. Kana smiled in response. "You are a bundle of joy, I bet."

"Corrin! No children allowed!" Marth scolded the prince, realizing the error of his ways and obeying Marth's command as he escorted Kana out of the meeting room. Corrin walked past Celica, who was sharing some bronies with Eirika and Ephraim.

"So sweet and so crisp - it's the perfect combination!" Eirika had this to say about the brownies, as she and Ephraim helped themselves. They were allowed to take as many as they like.

"Dare I say, it's the best confection I've ever tasted, bar none," Ephraim gave his own critique on the brownies, wishing that he had a tray all for himself. The brownies made him feel that greedy.

"Good to know, good to know," Alm said to Eirika and Ephraim, standing next to Celica while writing the critiques down on a notepad. Those critiques were meant for Berkut's eyes only.

"Pardon me, but is this where the roundtable meeting will take place?" asked a certain Divine Dragon, as Alear poked his head inside the meeting room before stepping inside. Everything in the meeting room came to a halt.

"You came to the right spot," replied Marth, as he came over to Alear to get a closer look at the Divine Dragon. "May I ask who you are?"

"I am Alear - a Divine Dragon hailing from the Land of Lythos!" That Divine Dragon factoid made a fan out of Corrin and Kamui. "I have awoken from a deep slumber, and found myself in a foreign land many, many years in the future."

"Sorry to hear that." Marth didn't know what else to say to Alear, other than offering his sympathies. "Are you a lord, by any chance?"

"He's wearing a cape, so he definitely qualifies," stated Caeda, as Alear's cape was a telltale sign. Wearing a cape and wielding a sword meant that you met the qualifications of being a lord.

"Perfect. In that case, you're free to attend this roundtable! We'll start our meeting after Roy and Lyn arrive." Roy and Lyn had yet to arrive, and no lord could be left behind.

"After Roy handles his mommy issues, he means," Ike clarified to Alear, as Marth frowned at the swordsman. Ike noticed Marth before looking away, whistling an innocent tune.

"In the meantime, you can have a seat. Or treat yourself to some brownies." Right on cue, Celica approached Alear with the plate full of brownies, with Alm right behind her to jot down Alear's critique.

"Take as many as you like!" Celica encouraged Alear, for she had another plate of brownies in waiting. Alear selected a brownie, took a bite, and smiled with satisfaction.

"Dearest me...I got crumbs over my shirt!" fretted Alear as he dusted off the brownie crumbs; Alear's white shirt couldn't afford to be dirtied.

Little did Marth know that he had one more lord to be attending the roundtable...Cloud Strife. Cloud was in his room with Aerith and Tifa, who were both getting the swordsman all tidied up for his makeover.

"You can pick from the red cape, or the black cape," Aerith said to Cloud, first holding up a red cape and then a black cape. Cloud was not a fan.

"I prefer neither," replied Cloud, as Aerith nodded her head in understanding and ultimately picked the red cape for Cloud. As Aerith placed the red cape on Cloud's bed, Cloud looked towards Tifa and said, "Told you to leave my hair alone..."

"It's for your own good," responded Tifa, using a thick comb to pull back Cloud's hair. Which was a harder job than Tifa imagined, because of how spiky the contours of Cloud's hair were.

"If he was hiding from you, he would've revealed himself by now," Minato said to Marie, as he and the girl passed by Cloud's room. Marie had caught a glimpse of Cloud, as she backpedaled a bit.

"Excuse me for a moment..." Marie told Minato, before entering Cloud's room unannounced; Marie stood in front of Cloud, needing to ask a question. "...have you seen my boyfriend yet?"

"Ask me again in an hour or two," replied Cloud, clearly looking unbothered; Marie was so incensed with Cloud that she wanted to stomp on his foot.

"Youstupidjerkfaceihateyousomuch!" Marie stormed out of Cloud's room in a huff, seeing that Cloud was absolutely no help. "I'm coming for you Yu, my precious boyfriend..."

"Boyfriend?" questioned Aerith, under the guise that Yu had two girlfriends - which wouldn't be a huge surprise for her. Yu was smooth like that.

Adachi, a supposed murderer, was looking as shaken as ever as Touma and Yukari escorted him into the mansion. Touma and Yukari believed that Adachi just needed to sit down somewhere - get a change of scenery and gather his thoughts.

"Take it one step at a time..." Yukari said to Adachi, who was gingerly escorted through the hallway like he was an elderly person. Yukari and company would pass by Male Wii Fit Trainer who was sporting a noticeable limp with his hands over his neither regions.

"It's best if you don't ask," Male Wii Fit said to Touma and Yukari, picking up the pace as he limped down the hallway. Touma and Yukari would soon discover how Male Wii Fit ended up in pain, as they came across Yosuke wielding his katana.

"Hiya!" Yosuke demonstrated his developed katana skills to Dante, using his blade to cut down a picture frame from the wall. The picture frame broke as it fell to the floor. "How awesome was that?"

"Well, yeah, that's pretty awesome," replied Dante, who had seen much better swordsmanship from people who weren't complete amateurs. "But I feel like anyone would've shot you from a mile away."

"No, no, they wouldn't, because you saw how I was zigzagging like this and making sounds?" Yosuke did a zig-zag for Dante, while also making some very suspect ninja sounds.

"It was distracting." Sure would be distracting, based on the nature of those sounds that came out of Yosuke's mouth.

"Yeah, but did you ever see Indiana Jones, where the guy does the whole sword thing and then he just shoots him dead?"

"Are you asking me if I've seen Indiana Jones? Are you seriously asking me?"

"I've seen that movie...I remember everything. But if I were to come at you, it's all about how I..." Yosuke made a move toward Dante, who clicked his gun empty at the young man. "Okay, in that circumstance, maybe you got there a little bit faster. But what if I..." Yosuke made a second move, and Dante clicked his gun a second time. "...got me again. But what if I zig-zag like this..." Yosuke did a zig-zag move, and Dante clicked his gun with every moment Yosuke made.

"It's so easy to get you," Dante said to Yosuke, who was slowly coming to an understanding while also realizing that his sword skills weren't exactly up to par.

Dante: The lesson of the day, boys and girls? Never bring a sword to a gunfight. Otherwise, you'd get shot dead like Yosuke.

"Nice katana, Yosuke," Yukari smiled at the young man, while trying to stifle her laughter. Yosuke perceived Yukari's words as a compliment, as he struck a goofy pose that almost had Yukari bursting into laughter.

"Finally got to live out my dreams of being a ninja!" exclaimed Yosuke, pointing his katana in a way that had Adachi scared for his life. Adachi's eyes went wide as a nervous drop of sweat ran down his face.

"TAKE ME, TAKE ME NOW!" Adachi implored Yosuke, falling to his knees and accepting his fate as a puzzled Yosuke lowered his katana. "Cut my head off, execute me! It's what I deserve..."

"Chill out Adachi, it's just a toy...I mean, it's a real sword!" Yosuke's affirmation brought even more despair to Adachi, who just wanted Yosuke to get the "execution" over with.

"You have to forgive him, he's clearly not in the best state of mind right now," Touma told Yosuke and Dante, as he and Yukari helped Adachi up to his feet. "He thinks he murdered someone."

"I killed a man in a white jumpsuit!" cried Adachi, so devastated by the crime he committed that he slammed his fist on the floor. Oddly specific of Adachi to mention his victim's attire.

"Know what I would do if I think I killed someone?" asked Dante, speaking specifically to Adachi as he desired to help the police detective out. "I'd let it all out. Act it out. Don't hold it all in."

"Yeah, good thinking! You should act out what happened, and maybe that'll make you feel better. Sounds good, Adachi?"

"Not good enough, but I'll make it work..." replied Adachi, holding onto Touma and Yukari as he allowed the two to escort him away. The police detective was too distraught to move on his own. "...please don't tell my boss what I did."

"It'll be our own little secret," Yukari assured Adachi, as she made him feel slightly better. Any slight improvement for Adachi was a miracle.

"That guy will get over it soon," Dante guaranteed, as Yosuke swiped down with his katana and almost struck Dante in the groin. Dante frowned, as Yosuke smiled sweetly. "You really need to watch how you're swinging that thing..."

Toon Link: Crime never sleeps. It's one of the most obvious facts in the entire universe. How else do you explain all the tickets that Hutch and I handed out today? We even had to arrest a person.

Alph: *standing behind bars* I literally did nothing wrong. What happened was, I asked the buddy cops if they wanted to get dropped. *holds up an eye dropper* Just wanted to see if this eye drop worked for anyone. All it does is burns my eyes.

The buddy cops got their fix in and were ready to solve their first "real" murder case. Toon Link and Young Link, along with Naoto, met with Fuuka in the computer room to check out Seattle's crime blotter.

"Says here that there was a 'self-reported murder' at 1919 Post Alley," said Fuuka, greatly intrigued by the headline she clicked on as self-reported murders were exceedingly rare. Almost nonexistent even. "Any of you know where that is?"

"Nope," replied Young Link, not even giving Naoto the opportunity to answer. Naoto herself might be familiar with that street address. "Do you mind taking us there? We're on a schedule."

"We can ask someone for reliable transportation." Fuuka was more than happy to lead the buddy cops and Naoto to the right spot, as she closed the window and logged out of the computer. "Right this way..."

Fuuka led everyone out of the computer room, and upon exiting she and the others ran into Pit. From the looks of it, Pit was most likely waiting for the buddy cops and Naoto to leave.

"Hi, Naoto, did you get in trouble with the buddy cops yet?" Pit asked Naoto as if he was going to reward the police detective for giving the right answer.

"Please tell me you didn't leave your job just to ask me that stupid question," Naoto begged of Pit, wondering why Pit was so concerned - could be from an overall lack of excitement in his life.

"Technically I'm on my lunch break, so it's not like I left from behind the counter without permission. But did you get in trouble or not?"

"Peppy Hare might give us a ride if we ask nicely," Fuuka said to the buddy cops and Naoto as she led them down the hallway. Pit trailed closely behind.

"You can't ignore me forever, Naoto! I'll ride out my entire lunch break to find out the answer if I have to!"

Bowser was looking for just one person to shout "Taco Tuesday", but no matter where he went he couldn't get anyone to comply. The Koopa King hoped to change his luck when he stopped by Cafe Leblanc, as he went to go speak with Kanji.

"Hello, kind stranger who I've somehow never met before!" Bowser formally greeted Kanji, not recognizing the delinquent - should make for a rather amusing interaction. "Do you know what day it is? Rhymes with Socko Suess-Day."

"I'm not a stranger..." replied an offended Kanji, causing Bowser to do a double-take; Bowser nearly knocked over a table in the process.

"Woah Nelly! You sound like a guy I know, Kanji! Makes sense since you wear the same clothing. Don't tell anyone this, but Kanji's breath stinks more than his body odor."

"What did you say about my bad breath?!" Kanji angrily stood up and confronted Bowser, as he was starting a scene. After he got the clue, Bowser eased up and began laughing.

"Is that really you, Kanji? You look ridiculous!" Bowser's laughing was make Kanji's face turn red, as Kanji was extremely flustered. "What are you gonna do with that new look? Work downtown at Microsoft?"

"Very funny...and very original, too." Once he was done laughing, Bowser left Kanji alone as a frowning Kanji slowly sat back down in his seat.

Kanji: It's not even worth it anymore. Going back to the old Kanji, starting tomorrow. Or starting this evening, depending on how things hold up. If Isabelle starts making fun of me, change is gonna happen sooner.

"It's so weird - Ken didn't even recognize who I was!" Kotone discussed with Mario, Link, and Sonic - the three men who had yet to leave the cafe. Neither man had the urge to leave their seat, and it was a collective urge at that.

"Everyone must be having amnesia today," Sonic provided a possible reason for why Ken and Koromaru didn't remember Kotone, as he took a bite from his chili dog. Either way, Kotone was upset.

"I just want my friends to remember me..." Kotone lowered her head in sadness, as Mario placed a gentle hand on her back. Kotone looked at Mario, who was smiling warmly.

"They might come around-a eventually," Mario assured Kotone, successfully getting the girl to smile. The touching moment was quickly interrupted, however, when Bowser approached Mario.

"Mario, what day is it?!" Bowser asked the plumber, depending on his arch-nemesis to come through. Mario, who had seen plenty of viral videos online, knew what Bowser was referring to.

"Taco Tuesday." At long last, Bowser finally got what he wanted - he got someone to say Taco Tuesday! However, the Koopa King was not a fan of how Mairo said it.

"Meh, the delivery was flat so that doesn't count." Bowser walked away from Mario, only to come across an entering Mitsuru and Aigis. "Mitsuru, Aigis, what day is it?!"

"Today is January 20th, 2023," replied Aigis, as Bowser remained where he was frozen with disappointment. Mitsuru and Aigis went to the counter, as Kotone got excited.

"A frappucino for me, and some oil for Aigis," Mitsuru placed her order, as Joker nodded his head and immediately got down to business. A chipper Kotone got out of her seat and approached Mitsuru.

"Hey Mitsuru, it's me! Kotone!" Kotone introduced herself to Mitsuru, who furrowed her brow as Kotone didn't ring a bell to her. "From the SEES group!"

"Hello, Kotone," greeted Mitsuru, being as nice as possible, before leaning close to Aigis a few seconds later and whispering to her, "Do you know her?"

"You remember, right? We defeated Shadows together. You, me, Junpei, Yukari, Fuuka, Shinjiro...and you were there as well, Aigis!"

"I recall completing that objective with Minato...but not you," admitted Aigis, as those comments struck Kotone like a freight train blowing into a school bus. Kotone really felt like she was replaced.

"That's so weird! Ken brought up this Minato person, and he was apparently a member of the SEES How have I never met him before?"

"You must have gotten us mixed up with someone else," Mitsuru said to Kotone, as Joker gave her and Aigis a frappuccino and some oil, respectively. "Thank you, Joker. Now if you excuse us..."

"Wait, come back!" Kotone followed Mitsuru and Aigis out of the cafe, looking for some answers. "You have to tell me about this Minato guy. You have to!"

"Why do I feel like Kotone is from a different timeline...?" asked Link, giving Mario and Sonic something to ponder over as he had the plumber and hedgehog lost in thought.

With Roy and Lyn now in attendance, the Lords' Roundtable could finally begin. The subject of the meeting, as Master Hand assumed, was about Dimentio and how the jester should properly be dealt with.

"Dimentio is unlike any court jester you have seen before," explained Marth, kicking off the meeting by giving the guests a brief introduction of Dimentio. "He is absurdly strong and powerful."

"I can take him on," guaranteed Ephraim, as he cracked his knuckles; the swordsman was always looking for a fight, sometimes against Eirika's discretion. "I don't pick fights that I can't win."

"Dimentio can manipulate dimensions," stated Lucina, as this tidbit of information made Ephraim even more interested in taking on Dimentio. "He is no one that you should take lightly."

"I stand by what I said." Ephriam once had to fight a necromancer to save his land; fighting Dimentio, he believed, would be a walk in the park for him.

"He can also teleport and make himself invisible," added Kamui, relaying some of the facts she gathered from Mario and anyone else who personally dealt with Dimentio. "He might even be eavesdropping on us at this very moment..."

"I hear a knock at the door...what if that's him?" asked Sigurd, as someone was on the door knocking. Marth was upset that his roundtable was interrupted this early on.

"Come in!" Caeda called out, as the door to the meeting room was opened. In came another lord, who wore a black bandanna, a red cape, and had combed blonde spiky hair.

In case the blonde spiky hair wasn't a dead giveaway, the lord was actually Cloud in disguise. Aerith and Tifa had the man looking like a near-identical clone of Ike. Their makeover was working wonders, as not a single person recognized Cloud.

"Hello, my name is..." Cloud was about to introduce himself, only to take a cue card out of his pocket and read it before putting it away. Not a good look so far. "...my name is Jober."

"Nice seeing you, Jober," Marth said to Cloud, as there were murmurings among the lords about who this mysterious lord was. "What are you, and where are you from?"

"I'm a lord, from the kingdom of..." This was the one part that Aerith and Tifa didn't help Cloud with - his place of origin. "...the Kingdom of Somewhere."

"He sounds like a fraud," Alm whispered to Celica, who expressed disagreement with her husband as she smacked him on his arm.

Sonic: ...what's that? Cloud pretended to be a lord to infiltrate the roundtable? And he claimed to be from the Kingdom of Somewhere?! *claps hands excitedly* My man!

"In that case...welcome to our Lords' Roundtable!" Marth extended an invitation to Cloud, as he and the others had yet to see through the swordsman's disguise. Give them some time. "You can have a seat next to Alear."

"I'm right over here," shouted Alear, waving his hand to be recognized by Cloud. Cloud went to the available seat next to Alear as he sat down.

"Continuing on, we must develop a surefire plan to defeat Dimentio," Marth stressed heartily to his fellow lords, while Cloud was taking a good look at Alear. "Whatever it takes."

"What's your deal?" Cloud quietly spoke with Alear, curious about the lord's origin story and how he ended up with heterochromia. "How did you get an invite?"

"I woke up in this town from an eternal sleep," Alear responded, keeping the details short and simple without delving too much into his backstory. "I feel so far removed from my..."

"Pay attention, you two!" Marth yelled at Cloud and Alear, snapping his fingers to get them facing front. Cloud and Alear quickly faced forward. "Now, who knows any good teleporting spells?"

Adachi was horribly stricken by the murder he just committed after he had murdered some guy in a jumpsuit. As a suggestion from Dante, Adachi was asked to relay what happened to Touma and Yukari. He would do just that in the lounge, where Kairi was.

"Really need to sharpen this pencil," said Kairi, who was writing in her personal diary as she noticed how soft the tip of her pencil was. The red-haired girl got up from the couch when she suddenly overheard Adachi.

"He had sharp teeth, and was super skinny," described Adachi, who was behind the couch giving Touma and Yukari a description of the jumpsuit man he saw. "The entire hood was over his head! And he had no hands!"

"Keep going..." Yukari encouraged Adachi, as the description that Adachi gave deeply intrigued Kairi. Kairi peeked around the corner as she kept watch.

"Also, the way he move was so unsettling. He moved like this..." Adachi walked up to Touma and Yukari in a rather seductive manner, constantly poking his chest out. "...it was self-defense by that point."

"I think I know who you're talking about," Kairi said to Adachi, who fortunately stopped the police detective before he got closer to Touma and Yukari. "What you just described was a Nobody."

"I KILLED A LITERAL NOBODY?!" Adachi was distressed yet again, falling down to his knees as he acted as if the whole world was ending because of him. "Total stranger on the street lost his life because of me..."

"No, wait, let me clarify! You had encountered a Nobody; they're like evil monster henchmen for Organization XIII." Learning that he didn't kill a human gave much relief to Adachi, who calmly stood back up.

Adachi: Oh, I don't mind killing monsters. I once had to slay several zombies when I visited this town a few years ago. Funny how I only ever see zombies in the Pacific Northwest.

"Organization XIII? Aren't they the evil cult that Sora would tell us random stories about?" inquired Touma, who was unfamiliar with Organization XIII as he never saw a single member in person.

"Yup, and they're the real deal," confirmed Kairi, who knew better than anyone as Organization XIII always gave her and her friends trouble. "Master Hand was worried sick that they might come back..."

"So this means I'm not in big trouble," Adachi said to Kairi, who shook her head no; Adachi leaped for joy as he tapped his heels together. "YES! I'm not getting arrested! Or fired!"

"Pit did say that he saw Organization XIII at the apartments," Kairi explained to Touma and Yukari, as Adachi walked out of the lounge strutting his stuff and doing a happy dance. "I'd love to tell you more about them, but I need to sharpen this pencil first."

"You can tell us another day, no biggie," responded Yukari, as Kairi took her pencil and left the lounge. A relieved Adachi sat down against the large window in the lounge. "Feeling better now, Adachi?"

When Kairi stepped foot out of the lounge, the first thing that she saw was Mitsuru and Aigis. Both ladies were speedwalking down the hallway, trying not to waste their drinks.

"Pick up the pace, she's gaining on us," Mitsuru whispered to Aigis, who picked up the pace as Mitsuru did the same. Following Mitsuru and Aigis was Kotone, hot on the ladies' heels.

"Please come back! I just want to ask a few questions," Kotone called out, refusing to leave Mitsuru and Aigis alone until they told her about Minato. Recognizing who Kotone was would also help.

"Pencil sharpener should be in Ness and Lucas' room," assumed Kairi, barely thinking about the chase she witnessed as she started her trek. Minato and Marie came from the opposite direction that Mitsuru and company went, with Marie bumping into Kairi.

"Whoops, sorry," Marie apologized to Kairi, her blue bag dropping to the floor as she picked it up. Minato came to a stop, as he turned around and saw Marie about to ask Kairi something. "Have you seen Yu Narukami anywhere?"

"He went on a date with Rise." Kairi was spilling the beans, and Minato was motioning her to not say another word. But Kairi wasn't noticing Minato.

"So he wasn't hiding from me? He went on a date with another woman?! Where at?" No matter what Minato did, it wasn't enough to get Kairi to look his way.

"Some place called The Pink Door. If you want to see him so bad, you can ask someone in the teleportation room to take you to the restaurant."

"Then that's what I'm gonna have to do. Thanks!" So Marie went over to Minato, aggressively grabbing him by the hand as she stormed off down the hallway. "Minato, teleportation room, now!"

"You've really done it now..." Minato said to Kairi, as he finally had the redhead's full attention. It was at that moment that Kairi knew she goofed up.

With Touma and Yukari dealing with Adachi, the cast of Force Five was on standby. Made for a perfect storm, as the show's main villain Ridley was still vomiting as he got puke all over the ground.

"Poor Ridley - he must have an upset stomach from those vitamins Touma gave him," Pandoria sympathized for Ridley, as she and the others were joined by Ken Amada and Koromaru. Koromaru was licking the vomit.

"Stop that!" Ken shouted at Koromaru, as he got the Shiba Anu to stop licking. If only Koromaru was capable of human speech so that he could say what space dragon vomit tasted like.

"Hey, Ken, didn't you say something about some strange girl you met at the cafe?" asked Itsuki, who had missed the brunt of a conversation that took place earlier. Had to get stuff organized with Touma's absence.

"Yeah, her name was Kotone, and she claimed to be a SEES member," replied Ken as he petted Koromaru, worried that his canine companion might get really sick soon. "Had the red armband and everything."

"Did she say where she got this armband from?"

"Said she got it when Junpei and Yukari got it."

"Junpei and Yukari, do they know about Kotone?"

"Don't know, but I wouldn't put it past them if they didn't."

"Sick katana blade coming through!" shouted Yosuke as he slashed his way into the backyard with his katana. Amazingly, he didn't strike anyone in the groin with his blade. "Where's Touma? Put me in the show!"

"Touma did say that his Force Five show needed some comic relief," joked Tsubasa, as Yosuke did so much aggressive sword-swinging that his pants fell down. Yosuke pulled his pants up in a hurry.

Yosuke: Where do I rank all-time among the greatest swordsmen in history? *taps chin in thought* I'd say that I'm a step below Aragon, but four steps ahead of Geralt of Rivia. Deadpool and I are neck-and-neck.

"Sorry Yosuke, but Touma's not here," Itsuki informed the young man, as Ridley held his mouth only to puke on the ground seconds later. "Also Ridley has an upset stomach, so filming will be stalled until he's well again."

"Upset stomach? Nothing that I can't handle!" exclaimed Yosuke, wrapping his arm around Ridley who wanted nothing to do with the young man. "Come with me, Ridley! I can give you the cure."

"And where do you plan on taking him?" Itsuki watched as Touma led Ridley away from the backyard, with Ridley too sick to resist Yosuke's grasp.

"Taking him back inside! Not like we're going anywhere dangerous." Yosuke kept his arm wrapped around Ridley, who looked back at Itsuki and company with a rueful face full of sorrow.

With Fox and Falco bothering Yu and Rise at their date, both pilots were out of the question in regards to taking the buddy cops, Naoto, and Fuuka, to 1919 Post Alley. So Fuuka and friends had to consult another Star Fox pilot in Peppy Hare.

"Of course, I can give you a lift!" Peppy said to Fuuka and the others in the hallway after he was given the street address. "Chauffering is something that I certainly don't mind doing."

"1919 Post Alley is where a murder took place," Toon Link explained to Peppy, whose eyes went big with fear. The desire that Peppy had to provide transportation had now vanished.

"...on second thought, I reckon that I don't have enough room for everyone. But good luck finding a ride!" Peppy scurried away from the group, as the mention of murder had him shook.

"Nice going, Toon Link," Naoto scolded the Hylian, who shrugged his shoulders as if he did nothing wrong. "Peppy could've been our only hope."

"Yeah man, way to go..." frowned Pit, who was standing off to the side as he joined Naoto in scolding Toon Link. The angel had his arms folded, as Naoto was bemused by his presence.

"Pit why are you still..." Naoto saved her breath, as she sighed and pinched the crown of her nose. "...screw it, I'm not a fan of losing brain cells."

"Come on, we have to keep searching," advised Fuuka as she led the group - Pit included - down the hallway. "Someone will give us a ride."

Fuuka led everyone into the foyer, where Ridley was lying on the floor. Standing over Ridley with his katana pointed downward was Yosuke, as Ridley had a certain kind of fear that the seldom felt before.

"Sit tight, Ridley - I'm gonna cut your stomach open!" Yosuke said to the dragon, frightening him; switch Ridley with a pregnant woman about to give birth, and Bowser would be feeling proud of Yosuke.

"HOLD IT!" Pit shouted at Yosuke, saving Ridley from harm; Pit ran over to Ridley, looking at Fuuka and the others as he pointed at the dragon. "Why not ride atop Ridley?"

"He looks pretty unwell," observed Naoto, as Ridley was resisting the urge to puke on the floor. He didn't want to leave behind a mess for Mr. Game and Watch or Dark Pit to clean up.

"Which is perfect, since he won't have any choice in the matter," stated Toon Link as the buddy cops went over to Ridley to verify that the dragon was legitimately sick. "Ridley, it is!"

"I'll wait till you come back so I can cut open your stomach," Yosuke said to Ridley, backing off as he put his katana away. Ridley had Pit and the buddy cops to thank for holding off on his laceration.

"We're not actually going through with this, are we?" Naoto asked Fuuka, who walked over to Ridley and petted his head for comfort. Taking Fuuka's silence as a yes, Naoto groaned.

Up in the teleportation room, Marie was badgering MegaMan .EXE into taking her to The Pink Door. The girl was in a mood, and she wanted to let Yu know how deeply upset she was with him.

"Okay, okay, I'm gonna take you to Yu's date!" .EXE promised to Marie after he was badgered enough times; the NetNavi was getting the teleportation device booted up. "So annoying..."

"It's not my fault that Yu decided to break my heart," Marie had this to say for how she was pestering .EXE, believing that her behavior was justified.

"Did my best not to tell her..." Minato told .EXE, only coming along for the ride to ensure that Marie wouldn't put her hands on Rise. More than one person would be needed to keep Marie in check.

"Whatever, just...just tell me the address," responded .EXE, ready to put in the address; since the location was in town, not that much work was required on .EXE's end.

"One sec..." Minato pulled out his phone and Googled the address to the Pink Door. Got his search results in an instant. "...the address is 1919 Post Alley."

Once he got over himself, Adachi asked Touma and Yukari for a bite to eat. All that worrying made him hungry. So Touma and Yukari took the police detective to the kitchen, and by no means did they have to escort him down there. Adachi was able to walk on his own.

"This is meant for our dinner, but we'll let you have one," Pyra said to Adachi in the kitchen, offering the police detective a taco. Adachi accepted the taco and took a huge bite out of it.

"Mm, delicious!" exclaimed Adachi, smiling likely for the first time today - his candor right now was a complete 180 from when he first arrived at the mansion.

"Might wanna eat in the dining room," Yukari advised Adachi, who looked down and saw small pieces of ground beef on the floor. "You're kind of spilling the filling unto the floor."

"It's not much. But I'll sit down anyway." So Adachi headed off to the dining room, with Touma and Yukari following behind. Adachi turned to Pyra, holding up his taco. "Thanks for the taco!"

Pyra: That was a taco Mythra made herself. I apologize in advance if our visitor winds up in the hospital in a day or two.

Adachi, Touma, and Yukari went inside the dining room, where Kotone was bothering Mitsuru and Aigis. Mitsuru wanted to enjoy her frappucino in peace, but Kotone was making it hard.

"I just want to know who this Minato is," Kotone expressed to Mitsuru, as Yukari watched from afar; she could tell that Mitsuru had enough of Kotone.

"You can go on without me, I'll be right over," Yukari said to Adachi and Touma, who went ahead and sat down at the dining room table. Yukari ventured over to Kotone.

"As I've said, Minato is a trusted friend of ours," Mitsuru explained to Kotone, wishing for either one of Pyr and Mythra to escort Kotone out of the dining room. "What more do you need to know about him?"

"Like, how did he join the SEES?" asked Kotone; getting a chance to meet with Minato in person would clear up the air for her. "He was never around when I was a part of the group."

"Hey, Mitsuru, who's your new friend?" Yukari asked the woman, as Kotone turned her head and gasped with glee when saw Yukari standing in her midst. Kotone almost wanted to give Yukari a hug.

"Yukari! So good to see you! You remember me, don't you?" As much as Yukari wanted to say no, she smiled nervously as she conjured an answer that would appease Kotone.

"I see that you're, uh, wearing that red armband." Yukari chose to switch up the subject, mentioning Kotone's armband. Kotone held up her left arm, which had the armband.

"Why wouldn't I? It's a sign of our allegiance to the SEES - so where is your armband?"

"Don't really need it anymore. We're called the Shadow Operatives now!"

"Shadow...Operatives? So the SEES, is it no more? It's history?

"Wouldn't say that it's history, but we're just rolling under a different moniker."

"I see..." Kotone lowered her head, unsure of what to make of this revelation. "...so I assume that you're not familiar with me."

"I'm so sorry." Yukari felt bad about crushing Kotone's spirits, while Mitsuru just wanted Kotone gone. "But I'm glad that you know who I am!"

"That's good." Having learned the truth that Yukari and her friends didn't know her, Kotone left the dining room. "They were right...I really am from a parallel universe."

"Good riddance," Mitsuru muttered under her breath after Kotone made her departure, only to later look up at Yukari and ask, "Did she just say parallel universe?"

Yu and Rise's date was...well, it wasn't going exactly as intended. Due to the intrusion of Fox and Falco, neither Yu nor Rise were able to properly enjoy themselves. The pilots were heavily concerned about giving Rise some new incentives.

"If your newest single gets over a million shares on Spotify, we'll give you a raise," Fox enticed Rise, who was finishing off her cheese board supreme. Fox nibbled off of the entree when Rise wasn't looking.

"We'll double the payout if it's a love song," added Falco, driving up the offer so that Rise would have little to no reason to refuse. "We can even throw unlimited gummies into the mix."

"That won't be necessary," responded Rise, who was not impressed by the incentives that Fox and Falco were throwing at her. Fox and Falco had to step up their negotiating game.

"Enjoyed your food?" the waitress asked Yu and Rise...and Fox and Falco by extension. The Pink Door workers did their best to get rid of the pilots, per request of Yu. "Here's your check."

"Thank you," responded Yu as he took the check from the waitress and placed it on the table. The waitress walked away, as Yu looked to the pilots and said, "And thanks for intruding upon our date, Fox and Falco."

"It was for the best," stated Fox as he and Falco stood up, with Fox picking up his folder and making sure that none of the papers fell. "Since your date is almost over with, Rise, we'll resume negotiations at the..."

"Yu Narakami, you are the WORST! You chose to be with that skank over me? We were meant to be together!"

Some drama found its way into The Pink Door, as Marie came storming inside the restaurant with Minato and .EXE closely behind. Marie was angry with Yu, as she confronted the young man.

"Hi, Marie, you look...well," Yu sheepishly greeted the girl, who smacked Yu across the face. Several gasps were heard, as everyone in the restaurant was focused on Yu and Marie.

"How could you do this to me? I literally confessed my love to you on a weather channel broadcast. And this is how you repay me?"

"Hey, nobody slaps my Yu like that!" Rise shouted at Marie as she stood up and confronted the girl, sizing her up for good measure. "Get over it, Marie - Yu wants to be with me."

"'My Yu'? Is he like your most prized possession or something? Because he was supposed to be MY most prized possession!"

"Really hope this devolves into a catfight," Falco whispered to Fox, the pilots getting front-row seats of the action while Yu was left rubbing his face.

"You and me both, pal," Fox whispered back, as he bumped fists with Falco. After recovering from the slap, Yu looked up and saw in the distance three jumpsuit men bothering a customer.

"Um, guys, we have a problem!" alerted Yu, recognizing the jumpsuit men from before...only because they had a Nobody symbol on their heads. They weren't men, they were Dusks. Nobodies!

"Not now," Fox responded to Yu, fixated on the Marie-Rise beef while the three Dusks kept on harassing the customer who was cowering in fear.

"What makes YOU so special?" Marie questioned Rise, as the Dusks diverted their attention from the lone customer and focused on the quarreling ladies. "You're only half the girlfriend that I am."

"I see that you're quite the comedian. Very funny," Rise clapped back at Marie, as the Dusks maneuvered over to the pop singer. They were doing that walk that Adachi demonstrated to Touma and Yukari.

"Guys...?" uttered Yu, as the Dusks were behind Marie and Rise looking to pounce. Yet Yu was the only person that was willing to take action.

Suddenly, there was a loud crash, as Ridley crashed through a window and crashed into the Dusks. Out of instinct, Rise grabbed Marie and tackled her to the floor as the ladies narrowly avoided Ridley. The buddy cops, Naoto, and Fuuka were all riding atop Ridley, as they got off of the dragon.

"Woah, you just broke that window!" exclaimed Pit as he showed up at the scene, entering through the broken window while a still-sickened Ridley was lying on the floor. "Does that mean Naoto gets in trouble already?"

"No, it doesn't," Naoto quickly replied, as Pit moaned in sadness; his lunch break was probably over by now, so Pit might as well return to the cafe.

"We are here because a murder took place at this establishment," Toon Link told the Pink Door patrons, as he and Young Link flashed their police badges to let everyone know that they meant business. "Where did it happen?"

"There was no murder at this restaurant," the Pink Door Manager informed the buddy cops, as he had come from the back of the restaurant to reason with Marie and Rise. "Did hear a gunshot, but we didn't see a body lying about."

"But you did kill three Dusk Nobodies," Yu said to the buddy cops, hoping that he wasn't the only person who noticed the Dusk trio. "So there's that."

Toon Link: Our goal for today was to solve a murder mystery, and yet...we ended up killing someone! Are we the true murderers?
Young Link: They never said that killing wouldn't be part of the job of a police officer. It's an unfortunate consequence that we must take.

"Rise, you...saved me," Marie said to the pop singer, who was checking Marie out just to see that she was okay. "Could've been a goner there."

"Guess you could say that instinct kicked in," replied Rise, as Fox came over and helped the pop singer up to her feet. Falco would do the same with Marie.

"I think you two should settle your differences," Fox encouraged Marie and Rise, while slightly disappointed that a catfight didn't break out between the ladies. "Do what's best for Yu."

"If you say so," replied Marie, as Ridley was heard throwing up on the floor. Those poor Pink Door workers now had to clean the floor up of space dragon vomit, on top of repairing the window that Ridley crashed through.

The Lords' roundtable was over with, as the lords stuck around in the gaming room for some small talk. Alear, the special visitor of the day, was chatting with the professors when Marth approached him from behind.

"A nice roundtable meeting, if I do so so myself," remarked Beleth, who found the roundtable to be a fruitful and engaging assembly. "Marth didn't drag on for as long as I feared."

"That had better not be a dragon pun," Alear said to Beleth, as he got a chuckle out of Byleth. Marth would approach Alear from behind, putting his hands on the Divine Dragon's shoulders.

"How would you like to live at Omnis Adest?" Marth offered to Alear, presenting to him the offer of a lifetime. Or at least he portrayed it as such. "You offered some great points - we could use you."

"My brother and I are staying at an apartment suite with Micaiah," Eirika approached Alear, while Ephriam wasn't looking so keen on having an extra person at his apartment. "We have room aplenty for you!"

"I can stay in town for as long as needed," Alear told Marth, effectively agreeing to Marth's offer; the Divine Dragon already had a roommate in mind. "I would love to room in with Jober over there."

"Ah, yes, I've been meaning to speak with Jober..." Marth furrowed his brow as he marched over to Jober, who was just Cloud in disguise. Cloud was chatting it up with Leif in the far corner.

"The Kingdom of Somewhere must sound like a dangerous place!" Leif said to Cloud, who was talking up a storm about the fictional kingdom he came up with. Marth grabbed Cloud by the collar and dragged him away.

"Excuse us for a moment, Leif," Marth said to the lord, as he took Cloud out of the meeting room. Once outside, Marth tore off Cloud's headband and tidied up Cloud's hair.

"Much appreciated, that headband was too constricting," Cloud thanked Marth, almost certain that there was visible redness below his hairline. "Also, why are you so angry?"

"You think that I'm stupid or something? I knew that I was you from the moment you stepped inside that room. The audacity of you to infiltrate my..."

"Well, Cloud, how did it go with the roundtable?" Master Hand asked the swordsman, as he and Zelda came down the hallway. Marth tightened up real quick when he heard Master Hand speaking.

"Oh, Master Hand! You...you had Cloud infiltrate the roundtable on your behalf?" Marth appeared nervous in front of Master Hand, smiling as if he wasn't putting Cloud on blast before.

"He wanted to know what you were all talking about since you wouldn't let him attend," Zelda explained to Marth; the princess tried talking Master Hand out of his master plan, but it was no use.

"It was a run-of-the-mill planning meeting; nothing major was discussed," Cloud gave his honest thoughts on the roundtable, expressing an opinion that might be the opposite of Marth's. "That said, we do have a new guy."

"Why do I hear yelling?" asked Alear, as Master Hand's loud voice brought the Divine Dragon out of the meeting room. You could imagine his reaction when he first saw Master Hand. "Oh my!"

"Hello, new guy! I'm Master Hand," Master Hand floated over to and introduced himself to Alear, a huge fan of his already. Alear nailed the first impression. "Who are you?"

"I am...I am Alear. A Divine Dragon from the Land of Lythos!" Alear said that with the most confidence he ever felt the entire day. "My mother spearheaded the Divine Dragons that ruled over the land, and I am her heir apparent."

"Well, welcome to our city, Mister Alear! I'm sure that you'll make some great friends during your time here." Before Master Hand got to ask Alear another question, he was approached by Isabelle from behind. "Yes, Isabelle?"

"Just spoke with a visitor," replied Isabelle, as Master Hand hoped to have a quick chat with this visitor pronto. "She claims to be from a parallel universe. Make of that what you will."

"Parallel...universe? A parallel universe like the Twilight Realm? See if you can convince her to stay in town..."

The visitor Isabelle spoke with was undoubtedly Kotone Shiomi, and it was clear that Master Hand had some plans he wished to fulfill with her.

Sometime later, Chie and Yukiko returned from their shopping trip, with both ladies carrying shopping bags. They didn't shop till they dropped like Bayonetta and her gal pal Jeanne would do, but they bought a modest amount of clothes.

"Good thing we came while all the stuff was on clearance," Chie said to Yukiko, as the two ladies were in the foyer. They saw Akihiko pass by, holding his bruised face while Shantae followed after him.

"Get away from me!" Akihiko shouted at Shantae, who was holding an ice pack that she obtained from the freezer. "My injuries will heal on their own."

"Let me heal you - I can be your nurse!" yelled Shantae, as she chased Akihiko out of the foyer. Akihiko was ruining Shantae's chances of proving her worth (as an awesome girlfriend) to him.

Akihiko: *massaging his jaw* Zangeif can sure put up a fight. Fought him minutes after he woke up from his nap, and yet he still clobbered me! I shudder to think what he would've done if he were at full strength.

King K. Rool: *claps his hand* This applause goes out to Akihiko. Happy that he got to live to see another day.

"Wait until I show you my new winter clothes!" Yukiko said to Chie, taking her shopping bags as she and Chie left the foyer. Soon Adachi emerged from the living room, happy and refreshed.

"That taco tasted better than it looked!" remarked Adachi; that was quite the miracle since Mythra fixed that taco on the fly without any assistance from Pyra. "Thanks, you two, for everything."

"Don't go around 'murdering' people again," Yukari advised Adachi, as she gave the police detective a playful wink. Adachi smiled in response as he went to the front door and opened it, suddenly greeted by Yu, Rise...and Marie.

"Coming through," Yu said to Adachi, barely even acknowledging the man as he, Rise, and Marie slid past by. Adachi mumbled a few choice words as he closed the door behind him. "You ladies good now?"

"Yeah, we already talked it out," replied Marie, who squashed their beef at The Pink Door; Fox and Falco were both witnesses. "It's totally cool if you want to be with Rise."

"Won't be any catfights between us anytime soon," Rise assured Yu; the fact that there was no catfight between Rise and Marie left Fox and Falco disappointed.

"That's good." As Yu grinned, he saw Kotone sitting alone on the windowsill, looking depressed. Yu went over to speak with the girl. "And who might you be?"

"Just somebody that no one remembers..." replied a melancholy Kotone, letting out a deep sigh as Yu felt bad for her. Master Hand appeared in the foyer, driving Yu away.

"Leave her be, she's not in the mood," Master Hand warned Yu, having already spoken with Kotone and asking her where she came from. Kotone chose not to go into any exact details. "I'll work on her later."

"Then I won't bother her. Oh, while you're here..." Yu leaned in close to Master Hand, wanting to share something relatively major with him. "...I saw some Nobodies on my date. The weaker ones, that is."

"First Organization XIII tries to crash move-in day, now their underlings plan on wrecking shop...I'll let Polygon Man and the manor know."

If the major Organization XIII threat ever loomed, the mansion always had the All-Star Manor to rely on as backup. Imagine that five or six years ago.

Master Hand: Saw the mysterious video that was on that laptop. Saw the security footage of those Organization members on those Omnis Adest cameras. One security camera had footage of Big the Cat picking stuff out of his belly button, which I'm working on deleting from my memory banks forever. But Big picking his belly button pales in comparison to what Dimentio is cooking. He serves something up, and we'll serve it right back...