Author's Note:

Well, this was much, much later than I intended! Life got in the way, that's all. But at least I got this published before midnight, so it's all good.

So, this chapter contains some elements from Kirby's Return to Dreamland Deluxe, Metroid Prime, and predominantly Octopath Traveler II. No worries, everyone - all eight heroes will be in this chapter. Had little information on most of them, but I made it work. On to the reviews:

"Guess who's moving to Phoenix...your favorite basketball player is!"

Ha! He's not my favorite player. My favorite basketball player is actually Luka Doncic (since I'm a Dallas Mavericks fan). That being said about Phoenix, however, I do have a small soft spot for Devin Booker. Several Mavs fans might hate me now for mentioning that. Other anonymous review:

"The Eagles has lost to the Chiefs. Was Eagles' loss a karma for Link for his obsession with his Eagles fandom that skewed his priority? Link is really devastated over his Eagles' loss, isn't he? Do you think Zelda would view Eagles' loss as Link's karma?"

You could say that the loss was karma for Link, and Zelda might think the same way. Considering how the game ended, Link is quite devastated. Next is The Reader:

"...since Sean's talking about having a girlfriend in Cali...does that mean Cassidy is coming then? Maybe just for a visit."

Likely a 0.1 percent chance. Cassidy may be nothing more than just a mention. The Reader also has some news from the most recent Nintendo Direct:

"1. Gotta bring out the biggest news first. ADVANCE WARS FINALLY GOT A RELEASE DATE! Advance Wars 1 & 2: Re-Boot Camp will launch on April 21! Finally, you can have Advance Wars in this story!
2. Tears of the Kingdom is out on May 12. What sort of chapter will you create with it in mind?
3. Apparently, there'll be an epilogue for Magolor on Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe on February 24. Gotta be perfect to wrap up Magolor's story both in that game and in this story, yes?
4. METROID NEWS. It's not Prime 4, but it's still a Prime game. Metroid Prime: Remastered is out on the Switch! The Physical copy of it will be out on February 22. I guess we're gonna have some Samus action too. Same week as Kirby and Octopath 2 too!
5. PIKMIN 4 IS ACTUALLY COMING. July 21, save the date. Time to give out some Pikmin love. You've been neglecting the Pikmin characters, man. Maybe have Louie, Brittany, and Charlie as apartment residents. I don't know what they can bring to the table...but I still want some Pikmin representation!
6. A remake of We Love Katamari is coming on June 2. Will there be some Katamari goodness?
7. Also, this wasn't on the Direct, but the Switch port of Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse will be out on March 9. I guess it's time for more Fatal Frame. Just saying, you need to use the Fatal Frame characters better, man. There's been a lack of Yuri and Miu scenes, you know."

1. Yes! I've been waiting forever to cover Advance Wars in Smash Life. Better late than never.
2. As for what kind of chapter it'll be, I haven't decided yet. I may bring back the Champions of Hyrule - Revali, Mipha, Daruk, and Urbosa. New Zelda characters revealed in the game will be introduced.
3. You might be right about that, but I won't spoil anything by answering that question.
4. Samus and Ridley will be featured quite a bit in this chapter.
5. More Pikmin representation will come soon. Also, for the record, Louis is already an apartment resident.
6. I do like Katamari - first discovered the series in eighth grade (from Pac-Man Rally, of all games). I'd love to do a Katamari chapter.
7. You're right about the lack of Yuri and Miu scenes. Many moons ago, Yuri and Mui appeared quite a bit in 2018 and 2019 when the Assist Tower was relatively new. With Mask of the Lunar Eclipse coming soon, Yuri and Miu will be prominent characters again.

The Super Bowl may have been a week ago, but I do have this football joke from Guy w the Jokes:

"Did you know that football players can't have a chicken as their pets? Because it's considered...a personal fowl. Haha!"

Ha! That's a classic. A JRPG enjoyer has a nagging question:

"Since Lucina's future friends are apartment residents, and so is Gex and his "family", doesn't that mean Tharja and Noire are in the same vicinity? Does that mean we can have this mother-daughter combo for a scene or two? I kinda hope not, though, since Tharja sounds like a TERRIBLE mother."

Tharja and Noire are indeed in the same vicinity since they are residents of Omnis Adest. But you're right about Tharja being a terrible mother, so I won't do Noire any harm by putting her in any scenes with Tharja. Moving on:

"Also, is that some Final Fantasy XIII appreciation in the year 2023?! Who woulda guess? Kinda missed seeing Lightning, Serah, and their pals for a while. Hopefully Sazh can join them, and we'll have some daddy moments between him and Barret. Sounds cool, no? Also in need of some Snow, too."

You're right, that was FFXIII appreciation! Always loved FFXIII, which is why characters from the game have shown up in past chapters of Smash Life. Characters such as Sazh and Snow will be gradually added to Omnis Adest. Promethus is back:

1) Have any of the DDLC characters appeared yet? If not, I'm assuming they can only make any appearance but some plot hole with the girls moving into reality because of a technological accident. Either way, I think it'd be cool to see them interact with all these other characters!
2) I've been checking out some interesting fan and indie games lately. The most recent one was Pizza Tower, a warioland inspired game. I think it looks really funky, but in a good way, so hopefully I get to play it sometime soon. Another game was S&K: Newtrogic Panic, and… oh my god. The game's so visually and musically appealing, and everything about the platforming Iooks awesome. I really can't wait for the game to come out. Another game was Skullgirls. I haven't checked much about it, other than its wild cast of characters and artstyle, but I really wanted to check it out. This got me wondering: Is there any fan/indie game that you anticipate coming out soon?
3) Will there be a chapter involving the upcoming Magolor Epilogue mode from the Krtd deluxe game?"

1) Monika from DDLC has appeared in chapter 291...with characters from Five Nights at Freddy's, amusingly enough. Just Monika...oh no, what have I done?!
2) No fan/indie games on my radar as of now.
3) I did want to incorporate the Magolor Epilogue in this chapter, but...I didn't know about the execution. So just expect to see Magolor.

Last is David:

"Sorry for the lack of reviews since the site is acting up on my end. Will we see a WrestleMania themed chapter with Pit and Ryuji hosting a party? Is Gloria or Marnie a fan of Nikki Cross? (Since they're Scottish). Has Lloyd gotten less dumber lately? Has Sora gotten any training from Ventus yet? Will the Fire Emblem Fates characters return next chapter? (Since the 27th is the final day for the Fates DLC). And finally, what did you like or dislike about the 2023 WWE Elimination Chamber?"

Was wondering where your reviews have been! Pit and Ryuji may throw a small WrestleMania party. Neither Gloria nor Marnie is a Nikki Cross fan. Lloyd has gotten less dumb since the Aerith Revival Project arc. Sora hasn't gotten any training from Ventus yet. The Fates characters will appear not in the next chapter, but in a later chapter down the road. And I liked everything about the Elimination Chamber, except for Lesnar vs Lashley. Short match and ended in DQ - not a good combo, in my opinion.

Episode 375: MysteriousPackage

"Magolor was currently in hot water with Dimentio. It first started last year in November, when he could not procure the Pokemon that was brought in from Paldea. He had a chance to redeem himself with an undercover intel mission at Omnis Adest, but Mario and Pit ran him and his accomplices out of the community.

With his recent past history, it was safe to say that Magolor was skating on ice. Dimentio told him that if he were to fail miserably again, he would be kicked out of the coalition for good. Magolor wanted nothing more than to prove his worth to Dimentio, so he had to stay on top of his game.

Fortunately for Magolor, he was given another chance to redeem himself. Mario and his folks were out at the swap meet, meaning that the Mario household was unoccupied...so Magolor was asked to leave behind a little "surprise" for Mario when he got back home. Surely he couldn't screw that up, right?

"This mask had better work, I got it on clearance!" said Magolor, standing at Mario's front door while wearing a mask that covered his entire body. The alien rang the doorbell, hoping that someone was home watching Mario's kids, and Chrom answered the door.

"Please stop crying, I really want to give Mario and Peach a good report!" Chrom said to the crying Lou, who he was cradling in his arms. The prince looked down and saw Magolor, who gave a friendly wave.

"Hello, sir! I'm totally not a shady person hiding my identity while wanting to sell you a suspicious package." Magolor feared that he might've said too much there, but all Chrom had to do was take the bait.

"Hello to you! I'm totally not a prince of a faraway land temporarily taking over a house belonging to a blue-collar worker. Don't mind the crying baby."

"Won't mind her...I mean, him at all! Would you take this package off my hands? It was supposed to be delivered to Mario yesterday." Magolor took a giant package out of his imaginary pocket, and Chrom thought very little of it.

"Sure can. Just put it on inside near the fireplace." So Chrom allowed Magolor to enter Mario's house, and place the mysterious package in the living room. Not once did he think about inquiring about Magolor's identity.

"Thank you, sir! And here's a bag of trail mix, on the house!" Magolor took out a bag of trail mix from the same imaginary pocket and gave it to Chrom who was trying to hold Lou with one hand.

"My daughter always refuses to share her trail mix with me, so I thank you." His mission complete, Magolor exited Mario's home but merely backed out of the front door so that Magolor wouldn't see his back. "Have a good day!"

Chrom: Mario took his folks to the swap meet, so I'm stuck babysitting his kids. He ought to buy me an item from the swap meet for all the trouble I must go through. My phone could use one of those screen protectors that Lucina somehow got before I did.
Lou: *cries from afar*
Chrom: Now here comes my least favorite part of babysitting...the diaper changing. *sighs* At least I hope that Lou needs a diaper change. It's too early in the day for unnecessary crying!

Magolor walked a short distance from Mario's house and took off his mask only when the coast was clear. A split second later, a dark corridor appeared, and Magolor anticipated the Organization XIII member that was coming out of it.

"Has the package been administered into Mario's dwelling?" asked a hooded Organization member as he exited from the dark corridor, speaking in a deep voice. The corridor vanished in an instant.

"You mean his house? Yeah, I just did it," Magolor confirmed to the Organization member, who took off his hood to reveal himself as Xemnas. Leader of the original Organization, and a higher-up in the real one.

"Excellent. While a small effort, you have done exceedingly well to ease your status of being an also-ran." Xemnas seldom offered words of praise, so Magolor took the Nobody's words to heart.

"Guess I really outdid myself this time." Slightly blushing, Magolor scratched the back of his head as he smiled underneath his mask. Provided that he even had a month under there.

"Perhaps you did, Magolor. But your work isn't done just yet. You have one more mission to fulfill while we're in this city." Double duty was coming for Magolor, who was more than game.

"Bring it on me!" Magolor envisioned that his next mission was at the mansion, and his suspicions were confirmed when Xemnas lifted his arm and pointed at the very establishment.

"Your remaining task is to infiltrate the mansion. See if you can find a way to destroy it from the inside out. Long as you are successful, Dimentio will deem your reward plentiful."

"Ooh, I like the sound of that! Magolor, away!" So Magolor ran to the mansion, and Xemnas watched as the alien ran...only to trip on a branch and fall face-first on the ground. Xemnas facepalmed.

"He truly has all the makings of an also-ran..." After Xemnas was done facepalming at Magolor, a Twilight portal appeared, and Zant and Astor both exited from it.

"Have you delivered him his 'mission'?" Zant asked Xemnas, as he along with Astor watched Magolor try to pick himself up off the ground. Only to fall face down yet again.

"He is taking his time getting there, but he is well on his way." Xemnas watched Magolor struggle for a bit, before turning around to face Zant and Astor. "Dimentio requires me at his lair, I assume?"

"There is some damning evidence that he wishes to show us," explained Astor, stressing the importance of returning to Dimentio's hideout soon. "We must make haste!"

"Make haste we shall. Do not worry about me going through that portal...I will make my own path." So Xemnas summoned a dark corridor and went through it, and Zant and Astor made their own exit by going through the Twilight portal.

"No wonder my foot kept getting caught...it was a vine!" remarked Magolor, who realized that the tree branch that tripped him up was actually a tangling vine from the ground. "Silly vine." The alien finally freed himself from the vine, before continuing his trek to the mansion.

"Come to my shop, good sir!" a person called out to Magolor from Anna's shop...and it wasn't Anna. Standing behind the shop stand instead of Anna was a man wearing a fedora.

"Uh, hello." Magolor walked up to Anna's shop to greet the man, whose warm demeanor made him seem inviting to the alien. "Is Anna out sick?"

"You could say that, but it's far from the truth. I'm Partitio Yellowil - I'm running the shop in Anna's stead. My dream is to rid this world of poverty!"

Fox: Anna is on house arrest after she turned herself in to the authorities for committing tax fraud. Somehow, it's the most surprising unsurprising news I've heard so far this year. So she asked some hotshot with a fedora to run her shop until her house arrest is over. We'll see how long it takes until the fedora dude becomes a pushover. Give it another day or two, and he'll break.

"Would you like to buy some goods?" Partitio asked Magolor, who was taking a gander at the stuff that was on display. None of it interested Magolor any. "Everything is fifty percent off...just don't tell Anna."

"No thanks, I'm sadly broke," declined Magolor, only for his eyes to be glued to a wallet that was sitting on the shop stand. "Though that wallet looks..."

"This is my last time telling you, I DO NOT CARE FOR LEMON-SCENTED FINE CHINA!" Fox was heard shouting angrily from afar, as Magolor turned around and saw the pilot in question outside on the phone. Magolor panicked.

"I can't stick around, gotta go! Nice meeting you!" Magolor said to Partitio, before high-tailing into the mansion before Fox saw him. Fox had just finished his phone call, as he put his phone away.

"Lemon-scented fine china...that Mario must be crazy. My peach-scented fine china is good enough." Fox walked up to the shop stand, putting his hand down as he looked at Partitio. "So how's it coming along?"

"It has been going well so far!" replied Partitio, who was generating a decent income for Anna the entire week he was running the shop. "Although I can't help but point out that you might have scared off a potential customer..."

That potential customer was Magolor, who was now inside the mansion. The alien was going down the hallway, looking for a place to temporarily hide in.

"This room seems unoccupied," assumed Magolor as he reached a door, before quietly opening the door and entering the room. Once in the room, Magolor quietly gasped upon seeing that there were people already in the room.

Occupying the room was the knitting club, which was having another one of its club meetings. Yoshi, Toad, Ashley, Pac-Man, Alm, and Celica were all sitting around, doing what they knew best - knitting quilts. Only one of them wished that they were somewhere else, though.

"When can I leave this stupid club?" Pac-Man asked the other club members, as Magolor quietly walked away from the door and looked around the room for a hiding spot. "Is there like some kind of exit fee?"

"In order to leave the club, you must pay with your life..." replied Ashley, although she was merely half-joking; the young witch still sent chills down Pac-Man's spine, and it was more than her menacing stare that did the trick.

"There is no exit fee, you silly goose," Toad informed Pac-Man, who had been asking the same old question for years on end. "You're stuck with us...forever."

"Okay, okay, I get it now!" said Pac-Man as he resumed knitting, while Magolor was still looking for a good hiding spot. "You guys are starting to creep me out with this whole not wanting me to leave the club stuff...a lot more than usual."

"I can just chill under here," whispered Magolor, coming across a stack of already finished quilts; the alien hid underneath the quilts, keeping himself concealed.

"Why is the door open?" Celica asked Alm, being the first club member to notice that the door was left open. Magolor moaned underneath the quilts, mentally slapping himself. "I don't like people staring at us."

"Had it closed earlier," stated Alm, who put his quilt and knitting materials down as he got up and close the door. "Apparently there must be some kind of ghost in this room."

Mario was done at the swap meet, returning home as he pulled up into the driveway. The plumber, Peach, Spyro, and Hunter all got out of the car with the stuff that they got. Well, most of the stuff was mainly Mario's.

"Fox is gonna regret-a not having this lemon-scented fine china," remarked Mario as he took the fine china set in question out of his car. The fine china was producing a funky scent that reached Spyro's nostrils and made the purple dragon grimace.

"Doesn't smell lemon-scented to me," said Spyro, using his wing to cover his nose although it was no use. The stench was that strong. Peach got her own items out of the car, which was just a bunch of garden knick-knacks.

"Where would be a good spot to put this garden gnome?" Peach asked Hunter as she presented to the cheetah a garden gnome. Hunter shrieked at the sight of the garden gnome before jumping into the shrubbery for safety. "In front of the bushes? I agree!"

"Thank goodness you're home," Chrom said to Mario, exiting the plumber's house with Lou after he had heard Mario pull up into the driveway. "Your infant son is driving me insane!"

"Can't handle a crying baby? Some-a grandpa you are," muttered Mario as he brushed past Chrom and went inside his house to put away his fine china set. Chrom got a whiff of the fine china's smell, making the same grimace that Spyro did.

"That smell..." Chrom sniffed the air, trying to make sure that his nostrils weren't fooling him. But the smell that he assumed to be lined up perfectly with what his nose detected. "...why do I smell urine?"

Hunter: Aight, so I may have peed in the fine china cups on the way home. They had no restrooms at the swap meet, only those portable potties that trick people into thinking that they're legitimate restrooms. I just hope that Mario or anyone else doesn't find out. 'Cause if they do, then Mario will never let me use his card ever again...

As Mario placed the fine china in the kitchen, he was soon drawn to the package that Magolor dropped off earlier. The package remained at the fireplace, and Mario inched over to it curious as to what was inside.

"Oh yeah, some masked man dropped off that package while you were gone," Chrom explained to Mario, still holding Lou as he entered the living room. Mario looked at the package all over, from every single angle.

"'To Mario, from...question mark, question mark, question mark'?" Mario furrowed his brow as he read the printing label on the package, as Chrom came over to take a look. Mario pointed at the label. "See? It literally says question mark, question mark, question mark!"

"How did I not notice that..." Chrom took a step back, as he watched Mario tear the package open. After Mario tore off the tape in the center, he was ripping the cardboard to shreds. "...you're kind of bad at this whole opening boxes thing."

"Shut up! Only Princess-a Peach is allowed to say that." Mario tore off much of the cardboard box, only to reveal...another cardboard box. Except this one was easy to open. So Mario took the lid off the second box, with much anticipation...

...and was greeted by a red four-headed dragon, with the head on top wearing a crown. The dragon roared in Mario's face, getting saliva all over the plumber.

"Mama mia, I just washed these!" moaned Mario as he looked at his overalls, believing that they were soiled. The next thing that happened was the red dragon flying out of the box as one of the heads grabbed Mario with its mouth.

"Mario!" shouted Chrom, watching as the red dragon flew out of the house creating a hole in the ceiling in the process. Lou smiled and clapped with joy as he watched his father being taken away. "Stop it, Lou, this is no happy matter!"

"Seems like a good spot to place the garden gnome," said Peach as she placed the garden gnome in front of the shrubbery, which Hunter was still hiding in. Chrom ran out of Mario's house to alert Peach about her husband.

"Princess Peach, your husband was just snatched by a four-headed dragon." But Peach wasn't listening, for she was too busy getting the garden gnome in the right place. The red dragon was flying overhead. "Princess Peach!"

"Woah! That's one gnarly-looking dragon!" remarked Fox, showing up with Spyro as he was checking out the red dragon up above. "Mutated dragons don't come around that often."

"Fox, Spyro, save-a me!" Mario called out to the pilot and purple dragon, as the red dragon started to fly away to places unknown. "Also, don't touch-a my fine china - you didn't want it, so it's all-a mine!"

"You have to listen to me, Peach..." Chrom stressed to the princess, who was hyperfocused on her new garden gnome while the red dragon was flying away with Mario. All the while, Lou was giggling at Mario's current predicament.

"Chrom, does the garden gnome look better turned this way? Or this way?" Peach asked the prince after finally detecting his presence, as she turned her garden gnome two different ways. Chrom let out an exasperated sigh. "Maybe I should ask Hunter instead. Hunter?"

"Forget about the princess - we gotta go save Mario!" Fox said to Chrom before he and Spyro ran off in the direction that the red dragon flew. Peach stuck her head through the shrubbery, poking Hunter in the hopes of getting his attention.

It was another typical day at Cafe Leblanc, with a slew of residents from the mansion, tower, and Omnis Adest alike congregating in the cafe to enjoy coffee or just to hang out. As it was revealed two episodes ago, Lightning Farron and her sister Serah were a part of Omnis Adest. An old traveling buddy of theirs was also at the community - Sazh Katrzoy. And he was at the cafe getting pointers from Sans.

"here's a good tip for you, sazh," Sans said to the man as he showed him a glass jar with money inside; once he got the joke, Sazh let out a big laugh. "if you don't like change, leave it here."

"Now that...that is a good one!" exclaimed Sazh, wiping away a tear from his eye after he was done laughing. Joker and the baristas were giving Sazh judgmental looks. "Tell me another pun. Without the tip jar."

"okay then. i can tell ya why i don't trust stairs." Sans put the tip jar back underneath his barstool, as he had another pun ready to go. "they were always up to something." That pun got a second big laugh out of Sazh, who had to slap his knee because of how funny Sans' joke was.

"Twenty bucks that Sazh's laughing is insincere," Joker wagered to the other baristas, as Sans pulled his tip jar back out and held it in front of Joker. "I'm not giving you any money."

"aw...i just wanna have funds." Thanks to Sans' third joke, Sazh was laughing even harder than before, to the point of even falling off of his barstool and falling down on all fours. Everyone was staring at Sazh, wondering what had gotten into him.

Sazh: Man, oh man! That standup comedy act I did made me realize how funny I am. Ever since then, I've been telling my friends jokes from time to time to lift up their spirits. Usually, I get a smile out of them - heck, I even got Snow Villiers to laugh! You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that! But the point of the matter is, everyone loves my jokes. Even Lightning, who has never said anything bad about my material.

Lightning: Great friends let other friends know if they're really funny or not. Apparently, I'm not that great of a friend.

"We are one step away from this cafe turning into a standup comedy joint," Joker murmured during Sazh's laughing fit, acting as if he had no authority to prevent such a thing from materializing. "It's only a matter of..."

"You know what this place needs?" Pit asked profoundly, as the baristas were forced to give an ear to the angel no matter how stupid his idea was. "It needs a hot bartender!"

"Pit, this is a cafe," Viridi stated matter-of-factly, as Pit was left undeterred; he wholeheartedly believed that his crazy idea had some potential behind it.

"Well, in that case...what this cafe needs is a hot barista! Sadly you don't qualify, Viridi; you're not hot enough." Hearing that made Viridi gasp, as the goddess of nature became incensed real quick.

"You dare say that about your girlfriend?!" Viridi leaped at Pit, putting her hands on the angel's neck as she dragged him down to the floor. Joker, Kirby, and Incineroar, forced to play peacemakers, tried to pry Viridi off of Pit.

"And here is the cafe - Cafe Leblanc," Snake said to a woman, who was dressed as a dancer, as he brought her inside Cafe Leblanc before leaving. "Hope that you enjoy...stupid foreigner lady."

"Thanks again!" the dancer called out to Snake, as Joker detected the presence of a brand new customer in his establishment. Gotta make a good first impression.

"Look alive people, we got company," Joker said to his fellow baristas, as the wrangling on the floor came to an end. Pit dusted himself off as the baristas stood upright, as the dancer walked over to the counter while stepping over Sazh.

"Hi! This is Cafe Leblanc, right?" the dancer asked the baristas for confirmation, after having doubts that Snake knew where he was going. Snake's head wasn't all there. "I'm Agnea Bristarni!"

"Happy to have you, Miss Bristarni," responded Joker, oblivious to Pit leaning in close to Agnea to get a close inspection of the dancer. "We offer all sorts of goods at Cafe Leblanc, such as..."

"He's doing it again," Kirby alerted the young man, watching as Pit jumped over the counter to take an even closer look at Agnea. "The whole acting weird around strangers bit."

"Pit, get behind the counter!" Joker's command was for naught, with Pit hardly listening as he was looking at Agnea. Agnea, understandably wary of Pit, was smiling nervously while Pit stared at her.

"Guys, I think we finally found our hot barista!" announced Pit, who saw Agnea as the newest addition to Cafe Leblanc. While she appreciated what Pit was attempting to do, Agnea felt the need to clear the air.

"A barista, I am not - I'm a dancer destined for stardom!" exclaimed Agnea, revealing her aspirations for having a career that was more than just serving coffee all day long. "All I want is to follow my dreams."

"You can always start here at Cafe Leblanc. Work as a hot barista, and work your way up. Soon you'll be a household name in no time!"

"Thanks, but no thanks. It's not my cup of tea." Agnea inched away from Pit, before meeting with Joker at the counter to place her order. "May I get a cup of coffee, please?"

"Like you even had to ask," Joker smirked in response, as he went ahead and fixed Agnea her coffee. Agnea turned around and saw Sazh, still on the floor and recovering from his laughing fit.

"Now that was a good joke," remarked Sazh as he pulled himself up on his feet, only to interlock eyes with Agnea. Just then, a clever line was developed in Sazh's mind. "Say lady, how much did it hurt when you fell from heaven?"

"I'm only eighteen," Agnea informed Sazh, making him feel bad and even sit back on his barstool in shame and humiliation. Joker handed Agnea her coffee. "Might as well leave...these people are unnerving me."

"Can't say I blame you - leave while you can," Joker encouraged Agnea, giving her the green light to leave. Agnea waved to Joker as she took her coffee and retreated from the coffee before anyone else asked her suspect questions.

"Aw, phooey...I was just about to have a lovely conversation with her," moaned Viridi, miffed that Pit and Sazh contributed to Agnea leaving the cafe. And speaking of Pit, the angel was missing from the cafe. "Wait a minute. Where's Pit? Pit? Pit! Oy..."

When Tressa Colzoine operated Anna's shop for a day, Marth tried to sell most of his kitchen appliances to her only for his plan to be foiled. Today, the hero-king was trying to pull off the same stunt, only to be stopped in his tracks.

"Sorry, but I do not accept foreign items," Partitio kindly stated to Marth, who was holding a new microwave in his hands. The microwave was still in its box. "Try at another shop!"

"'Foreign items'? This is a new microwave!" stated Marth, although it wasn't enough to sway Partitio's mind. The hero-king let out a groan as he went back home. He would have to heat up his food with a new microwave, poor guy.

Marth: I'll never understand why Caeda wanted to buy a new microwave...and why she insisted on keeping the old one all these years. We literally have an oven in our kitchen!

As Partitio tidied the stuff on the shop stand, Zelda came down the porch steps. Zelda noticed Partitio and went over to speak with the merchant.

"How's it coming along with running the shop?" Zelda asked Partitio, as she saw a downtrodden Marth returning home; that gave her much relief that Partitio wasn't a pushover.

"Very well!" replied Partitio, while Link was coming down the porch steps...and he was going down the step backward. "Haven't made many sales today, but I'm making the most of it."

"That's good, Samus, ease him on up out the door," Link instructed the bounty hunter, who was escorting Ridley out of the front door. Weirdly enough, Ridley had on a collar, and Samus was holding unto the leash.

"Words cannot begin to describe how much I hate you," Samus said to Link, with Pikachu perched on her right shoulder. The bounty hunter made it down the steps with Ridley, as Link looked offended.

"Why am I being hated on, it was Zelda's idea too!" Link angrily pointed at Zelda, who did her best to stay out of the conversation. Samus only looked at Zelda for a brief moment before returning her attention to Link.

"Yeah, but Zelda is like one of my only friends in the world." Upon saying this, Samus felt a warm gentle nuzzle against her cheek that surprisingly didn't electrocute her. "You're my only other friend, Pikachu."

"Pika pika!" chirped Pikachu, elated to know that he was still Samus's main man; the bond that he shared with Samus was nearly inseparable.

"What is this? She's taking that bloodthirsty dragon out for a walk?" Partitio asked Link and Zelda; even as a foreigner, the sight of Samus holding Ridley on a leash seemed off to him.

"A breath of fresh air is all that he needs," replied Zelda, who had several reports about Ridley exhibiting deviant behavior around the mansion. Therefore she and Link called for Ridley to have an outside excursion. "Samus is there to keep him from murdering someone."

"I'd happily let him if it means keeping him gone forever," remarked Samus, favoring the idea of Ridley behind bars for a lengthy amount of time - even though it may not happen. "I'm just gonna get this over with..."

"Have fun!" Link encouraged Samus, who glared at the Hylian as she walked Ridley down to the street. Link and Zelda watched, as they observed Samus's body language.

"We should follow along," Zelda suggested to Link, for she knew that things would get tense during the walk. Pikachu wasn't really a reliable peacemaker.

Professor Herschel Layton and Luke Triton were still in Seattle, and the others often wondered when the detective duo would go back across the pond. But Sonic, who was now on good terms with Layton and Luke, certainly wasn't complaining. The blue hedgehog invited the duo over to the mansion, just to tell them about how smart Jigglypuff was...for only a short period of time.

"Toad claims that this Percepshroom can be found in northwest Oregon," Sonic explained to Layton and Luke outside on the patio, showing them a picture of the Percepshroom on his shroom. "We can use it to make Jigglypuff smart again!"

"Who is this 'we' that you speak of?" Layton asked Sonic, sitting in his chair at the patio table while taking a sip from his glass of lemonade "We never agreed to anything."

"You haven't agreed to anything...yet!" Sonic pulled Google Maps on his phone and pulled up a certain town in Oregon, before pointing at the very location. "This is where the Percepshroom can be found, according to Toad."

"Hm, that's nice," commented Luke, as he and Layton were looking at the map together. Sonic impatiently looked at the British detectives, waiting for at least one of them to get on board.

"Sooooo are we going to Oregon or what? Got enough gas in the tank for a road trip." The suspense was starting to kill Sonic, for Layton and Luke had yet to say a single word of confirmation.

"I don't think we'll be going to Oregon anytime soon," assured Layton as he took Sonic's hand and put the blue hedgehog's phone down on the patio table. Sonic was looking hurt.

"Come on! Think of all the cool stuff that Jigglypuff can invent! She can be even more prolific than Samus...smarter than Mewtwo himself! Mewtwo!"

Layton: Appreciate what Sonic wants to do, but it's just not sustainable. Jigglypuff being the smartest Pokemon in existence would perhaps upset the balance of the universe!

Samus: Told Layton and Luke in advance not to give in to Sonic's demands to "enlighten" Jigglypuff. They might be solid, but I knew that they were a bunch of suckers. *reveals wallet to the camera, smiling*

"Fine then, maybe I can tell you about that date I arranged for my man Sean," Sonic said to Layton and Luke, switching the subject, as Luke noticed a sharply-dressed bespectacled man with long air rummaging around. "Sadly, he and Lyra wanted to stay as friends."

"You say that like it's a bad thing," smirked Layton, as Luke quietly got out of his chair and wandered over to the bespectacled man. "Perhaps Sean's heart just wasn't for...Luke? Where'd you go, Luke?"

"Good afternoon, sir - are you lost?" Luke asked the bespectacled man, who was looking around until he heard Luke speaking to him. The man came to a stop, standing upright as he adjusted his glasses.

"Could say that I am," the man replied, as Sonic and Layton took sight of the man and left the table to join Luke. "I am Osvald V. Vanstein, a scholar...I had recently escaped from prison."

"Not the first time we had a runaway inmate around these parts," Sonic whispered to Layton, as he recalled Carl Johnson from episode 308. To this day, Sonic was still amazed that Carl spared Knuckles' life after a huge misunderstanding.

"This is a breeding ground for drawing in strange folk, I tell you what," Layton whispered back, while Osvald was telling Luke his life story. Osvald's life story was something that you had to hear to believe.

"I was sentenced to life in prison for murdering my wife and son," Osvald told his life story to Luke, who gave the appropriate reaction as he gasped. "Had to spend 1,879 days locked in a freezing jail cell..."

"I'd say that's deserved for murdering your family," remarked Luke, and that's when Osvald looked at the apprentice and frowned. Osvald had only told just half of the story.

"Except it wasn't me who killed them. I was framed! Framed by Harvey, that wretched crook. He took everything from me - and he shall die by my hand."

"Hold up, did you say...Harvey?" Sonic asked Osvald, interjecting himself into the conversation after he and Layton eavesdropped without ever being noticed. "Harvey framed you for killing your family?"

"I'm afraid he did - and so I escaped from prison just to seek my revenge. Don't know how I winded up in this city, but I won't leave until I have my revenge."

"Well, you're in luck...because there's a guy named Harvey who lives in this town!" That was good news to Osvald but made for a peculiar revelation to both Layton and Luke. "Might be the one you're looking for."

"Sure hope that it is. Bloodshed will be on my hands...and in the end, it will all be worth it." Osvald was determined to deliver a beating today, and he wouldn't stop until his victim was done to his last breath.

"Also, just so you know, Harvey isn't in human form. He, uh, got punished for what he did to you and was turned into a dog. A worthy punishment."

"Pardon us for a moment," Layton said to Osvald, as he brought Sonic and Luke away from the scholar so that he could intervene with Sonic. "Sonic, what do you think you're doing?"

"So there's a hippie dog who moved into Omnis Adest, named Harvey," Sonic whispered to Layton and Luke, citing the only individual he knew personally who went by Harvey. "We can just pretend that this Harvey person was turned into a mutt."

"And if Osvald kills Harvey?" whispered Luke, hoping that Sonic had a fallback plan if things went awry. Wouldn't want Osvald to wind up back in jail for engaging in animal abuse.

"We'll break the truth to him at the last minute. Should Osvald retaliate...Luke, you can be our fall guy. Sounds good?"

Luke: Why do I have to be the fall guy? Can't wait until I mature faster so that I can lose this cute, innocent face. *pauses* But then I won't get freebies anymore. Why must the universe be like this?

"Alright, the meeting is adjourned!" shouted Sonic as he ended the meeting with Layton and Luke, who were both wary about the blue hedgehog's proposed master plan. "So, uh, mister - got any questions?"

"Quite frankly, I came to this city empty-handed," replied Sonic as he held out his hand, showing Sonic and company that he didn't have a weapon with him. Didn't feel like killing Harvey with his bare hands. "Any available weapons in the mansion?"

"...perhaps." Sonic exchanged a worried look with Layton and Luke, his worrying vindicating the detective duo in a way. "Layton, Luke, you stay outside."

"As you wish, Sonic," responded Layton as he tipped his hat to the blue hedgehog, who led Osvald inside the mansion. Layton remained with Luke outside, as he leaned in close to his apprentice and said, "Somebody seems obsessed with doing the right thing..."

For weeks, Donkey Kong had always wanted to get his hands on some banana chips. (Because he was, you know, a gorilla.) Today his wish came true, as he acquired a bag of banana chips from a vending machine. Donkey Kong waited until now to open his bag of chips, walking down the hallway while Altaïr was peeking just around the corner.

"Thank you Mr. Game and Watch!" exclaimed Donkey Kong as he kissed the bag of banana chips - while also making a mental note to kiss Mr. Game and Watch later. Out of thanks, of course. Altaïr jumped from the corner, appearing right in front of Donkey Kong.

"Greetings, Donkey Kong," Altaïr greeted the gorilla, who held his bag of chips behind his back for he knew exactly what Altaïr was all about. "Would you like to meet my good friend, El Kabong?"

"Is he going to take my banana chips?" The silence that exuded from Altaïr told Donkey Kong all that he needed to know. Altaïr's silence often spoke a thousand words. "Bring him on in."

"First you must turn around. He's pretty bashful." So Donkey Kong sighed and turned around, doing as he was told. Donkey Kong had his back turned to Altaïr, who pulled a guitar and wielded it with both hands, like a weapon.

"You're starting to give me serious doubts about your..." Donkey Kong didn't even have the chance to finish his sentence, for Altaïr bonked him on the head with his guitar. Donkey Kong was knocked out cold as he fell limp on the floor.

"KABONG! That's a new trick I learned from a Hanna-Barbera show." Altaïr placed the now broken guitar on the floor, before taking the bag of potato chips out of Donkey Kong's outstretched hands and inspecting it. "Mm, banana chips."

"Afraid of the dark?" a mysterious female voice asked Altaïr, just when the assassin opened the bag of chips. Altaïr looked around curiously, only for a dark magic spell to be cast on him.

"Augh!" Altaïr fell to his knees, dropping the bag of chips as his body was wracked with pain. A woman came over to Altaïr, smirking as she took the bag of chips for herself.

"How nice of you to not spill the contents." The woman stood over Altaïr as she ate from the bag of chips, left delighted by the chips' taste. "You can call me Throné Anguis - I'm a member of a Thieves' Guild."

"Well played, Throné...very well played." As Altaïr continued to lie on the floor, Sonic and Osvald were standing from afar having witnessed the whole shebang. Altaïr knocking out Donkey Kong, Throné casting magic on Altaïr, everything.

"How the heck are we attracting these kinds of people?!" Sonic wondered out loud after seeing Throné, asking the same question that Snake would ask himself. Snake was probably in his room hiding from the "foreigners".

"Forget having a weapon...those two might come in handy," surmised Osvald, as Altaïr and Throné both made a lasting impression on the scholar. He found the two to be worthy accomplices. "Certainly we can get them on our side."

"...only if we ask right." At this point, Sonic was starting to have second doubts about helping Osvald - if only he had said no earlier.

Partitio: I'd like to think that my presence has attracted a bunch of peculiar folk to this city. But that is just a hunch I have. Would love to prove this theory of mine, but I don't have the time or energy to do it. Or the resources.

Fox and Spyro managed to catch up with the red dragon, which they found flying overhead at a park in Seattle. The dragon still had Mario in one of its mouths, and Mario was getting tired from the motion sickness.

"Fox! Spyro! Do something!" Mario called out to the duo, fearing that the red dragon would either drop him to the ground below or eat him alive. Either fate would spell a disastrous end for Mario.

"That's what we're trying to figure out," responded Fox, only to look over and see a cop standing to the side eating a doughnut. The cop didn't give a single care in the world. "Officer, can't you shoot that dragon down?"

"No thanks, I'm off-duty," was the cop's excuse, folding his arms after he devoured the rest of his jelly-filled doughnuts. "Besides, you miss a hundred percent of the show you don't take."

"He totally missed," Spyro assumed to Fox, finding the supposedly off-duty to be a coward with a bad shot. Suddenly, the red dragon dropped Mario out of one of its mouths, and Mario was screaming as he fell.

"I got you, Mario!" assured Fox as he stood right below where Mario was falling, with his arms outstretched. Unfortunately, the pilot was a couple of feet off as Mario crashed on the ground with a thud.

"Ouch! That's gotta hurt," remarked Spyro, with Fox wincing over his gaffe; but Fox didn't have to feel too bad since Mario was able to pull himself up to his feet without much assistance. He was still in a lot of pain, however.

"On the plus-a side, it didn't drop me on my back," said a relieved Mario, only to later eat his words when he felt a sharp pain in his back. "Ow! How is that even possible?"

"The dragon, it's flying away!" alerted Spyro, as the red dragon was flying away from the park. Spyro and company were soon joined by Meta Knight.

"Taking a stroll around the city, what did I miss?" Meta Knight asked the others, before noticing the red dragon; he couldn't help but remember the dragon from somewhere. "Is that Landia?"

"You know him?" Fox asked Meta Knight, while Mario was snapping his back in place; a loud crack was heard, as Mario was yelling in excruciating pain.

"I may have crossed paths with him before. He's not a terribly evil creature - just a very misunderstood one. Though I recommend catching him before he destroys something."

"That is exactly what we plan on doing. Let's go, Mario." So Fox and Spyro ran off, leaving behind Mario whose aching back kept him from moving an inch.

"One-a moment...gonna need-a to see a chiropractor first," Mario said to Fox and Spyro, only to feel another crack as he yelled and got down on one knee. Meta Knight gently patted Mario's back out of sympathy.

If Agnea desired to abstain from the weirdoes and creeps of the mansion, her best bet was to hang out at the mansion's library. That's where the dancer was, as she was checking out a few books on the bookshelf.

"Who knew that storytelling would become so advanced?" Agnea marveled as she was checking out the cover of a science fiction novel. The dancer put the book back on the bookshelf, before walking down and running into Cloud.

"Trust me, you don't want to read those science fiction novels," Cloud advised Agnea, able to tell at first glance that the dancer was an old-fashioned young woman from a fantasy land of some sort. "That stuff can really mess with your brain."

"So what you're saying is that these books have inappropriate material in them." Taking what Cloud said into account, AGnea took a book off the shelf and ran off to go speak with Gil. "Excuse me, librarian! These books deserved to be burned!"

"Not exactly what I meant..." It was too late, the damage was done as Agnea caught up to Gil and showed him the book. Cloud sighed as he walked off.

Cloud: Overheard Snake in his room ranting about "foreigners". Thought that he was going on a xenophobic tangent, but now I can see why he was so ticked. I'm not angry myself - just slowly losing my patience.

"I simply cannot burn Fahrenheit 451," Gil kindly stated to Agnea, as he and the dancer were both unaware of Pit snooping around the corner ready to strike. "That novel is a classic."

"But Fahrenheit 451 sounds like a deadly weapon," argued Agnea, showing just how old-fashioned she was to Gil, as Pit was sneaking up on Gil from behind. "You can't let the little children read this!"

"News flash - it's not for little kids. Believe me, some of them learned the hard way. The book is mainly for..." Gil wouldn't get to finish, as Pit grabbed the de facto librarian and tossed him to the floor as if he was trash.

"Nice to meet you, ma'am, Pit's the name!" Pit formally introduced himself to Agnea as he held out his hand, which Agnea was too hesitant to shake. "Good news - Cafe Leblanc has an open barista job, and you seem like a perfect fit!"

"As I've told you before, I'm not interested," Agnea declined the offer, keeping her distance from Pit as she exited the library for her own good. "I'm not cut out enough."

"Yeah, that's right, you keep holding yourself down! See where that gets ya!" Pit gave those parting words to the retreating Agnea, before looking down at Gil who was very miffed with the angel. "Your friend, Ki...is she hot, Gil?"

"Not a valid question..." Gil replied as he frowned, using a nearby bookshelf as support to get back on his feet. With Gil turning him down, Pit was even more focused on Agnea than ever before.

Mario's back woes were finally gone, thanks to Meta Knight giving him a brief chiropractic session. (And it was done for free!) Able to walk without being in pain, Mario had to catch up to where Fox and Spyro were located, as he was speaking with Fox over the phone.

"So it's at the Pacific Place-a shopping district," Mario spoke into the phone, jogging to the shopping district in question as he hoped to read Landia in due time. He didn't want Fox and Spyro hogging all the glory.

"Uh, yeah, smack dab in the center," replied Fox, as Mario heard some loud dragon noises in the background. Landia must be getting his butt handed to him. "But you probably won't have to do much, though."

"Won't have to do much?" Worried that Fox and Spyro were beating up Landia without his involvement, Mario gradually picked up the pace. "Whaddaya mean I won't have to...do much..."

Mario eventually reached the center of the Pacific Place shopping district, where Fox and Spyro were already present. Landia was also present...along with a small girl that was on top of him.

"Weeeee!" the girl screamed, as she was attempting to ride on Landia; she eventually got the reins of the dragon, and Landia let out a roar that scared multiple shoppers away.

"When we arrived, this was the first thing we saw..." Fox explained to Mario, as the girl was riding on Landia like it was her new pet dragon. Seeing how the girl had control of Landia gave Spyro max anxiety.

"Let-a me speak with her," Mario said to Fox as he delicately approached the girl, making sure that Landia wouldn't snap at him or anything. "Hello, little miss, how-a are you..."

"Hiya mister! You like my new pet dragon?" the girl asked Mario, riding atop Landia like an absolute pro. Mario saw the cat ears on the girl and knew that she wasn't an ordinary human.

"Yes, your pet-a dragon looks...it looks-a splendid." It was the nicest comment that Mario could say about Landia without upsetting him. "I take it that you're not scared-a of it?"

"Nope! The mighty Ochette is scared of no dragons!" With that kind of attitude, the small girl would make for an awesome dragon-type trainer. Might even hold her own against Lance or Iris. "I am a Beastling, after all."

"Must be an extremely distant cousin of Nia," Spyro quietly quipped to Fox, as he and the pilot shared a laugh together. A loud grumbling noise was heard, as Landia's stomach was growling.

"Uh oh! My new pet dragon must be hungry." A filling meal would be most deserved for Landia, after all the trouble that he caused so far today. "Know a place where dragons can be fed?"

"Sadly I don't, but I do know a guy..." replied Mario, before turning around and looking at Spyro. Not liking the way that Mario was looking at him, Spyro responded with a frown.

"Why is everyone looking at me?" questioned Spyro as Mario, Fox, and Ochette were all staring at him. He hated everyone's being the last hope. "I only eat whatever Mario feeds me."

"Well, I'm not cooking! Fox?" Mario looked towards Fox, who groaned deeply as he took out his debit card. Looks like Fox would be paying for Landia's meal.

Partitio was selling all sorts of stuff today, from stuff that Anna offered at her shop to items that he had in his own stock. But every now and then, the merchant would deal with a customer asking for services that were...a little out of the ordinary.

"Came to the wrong place asking for a vacation," Partitio said to Slippy Toad, who was one of the more bothersome customers that Anna had to deal with. Partitio was about to learn the hard way.

"No...vaccination," said Slippy as he held up his terribly outdated vaccination card, with the time of his appointment and everything. "I had scheduled a second appointment, and I totally forgot about it until I found this card underneath my bed."

"Quite frankly, I am no doctor. You're gonna have to ask a professional to handle that."

"And here I thought that you gave off the vibe. Sorry for wasting your time."

Slippy: I can't go back to the pharmacy store again. The pharmacist who administered the first dose gave me an ouchie and caused my arm to hurt for a day or two. Which is why I'm asking another trained person to handle the second dose. A real pro who doesn't hurt their patients.

Peppy: Did Slippy really bother someone about a vaccine? I must ask, what does he need the vaccine for? Frogs can't catch the coronavirus! *pauses* But General Pepper probably can.

Slippy left Anna's shop, putting his vaccination card back in his pocket hoping to get an appointment scheduled soon. Cloud appeared outside, looking to get some fresh air.

"Good afternoon!" Partitio greeted Cloud, whom he had been trying to lure to the shop throughout this entire week. "Got a big sale today!" Partitio was using every trick in the book to coax Cloud.

"Shut up," responded Cloud, straight up giving Partitio the gold shoulder as he pressed forward. The swordsman walked as far away from Partitio as possible, showing how unbothered he was.

But soon Cloud came to a stop, as he saw three individuals sitting at a park bench across the street. Out of curiosity, Cloud went over to the three individuals...and yes, he looked both ways before crossing.

"...then I woke up," said one of the individuals, a woman wearing a white nurse hat, as she was recounting her story to the two men that she was sandwiched in between on the bench. "I only have this satchel full of medicine."

"Do you remember anything about your past? Anything at all?" asked one of the men, who appeared to be a cleric. The white cape he was wearing showed that he dressed the part.

"Not a single thing. It seems as if my memories all but vanished after I was adrift at sea. It was thanks to you two that I have been found..."

"An amnesiac person... haven't seen that one before," remarked the eavesdropping Cloud, with a strong feeling of deja vu from the conversation.

"Looks like we got some company," said the other man - a warrior who had a side at his side. Like any great swordsman, he likely took his sword with him everywhere he goes.

"Sorry for intruding upon your conversation. I didn't mean to butt in." Now that Cloud had the attention of the three individuals, there was little to no point in turning back. "So what are your names?"

The knitting club was all done knitting their quilts, and now it was time to show their work to everyone. It was Pac-Man's turn to present his quilt, and his masterpiece was a little...avant-garde.

"It's not much of an art piece as it is a cry for help," Pac-Man explained to his fellow club members, who all liked the eater of ghosts' quilt as they clapped. "Don't clap, that wasn't the intended reaction!"

"Man, it's getting hot in here..." mumbled Magolor, who was hiding underneath the pile of quilts. He was laying low for the most part, but then he heard his cell phone ringing. "...eep!"

"You guys hear that?" Toad asked the knitting club members as he heard Magolor's phone ringing. The ringtone came to an end as Magolor quickly answered the call.

"Hello, Magolor! It is I, Rufus Shinra," greeted the person who was calling Magolor, Rufus, as Magolor was trying to turn down the volume. If the knitting club members discovered that he was hiding, it would be all over for him.

"Did you have to call me at a time like this?" Magolor was keeping his voice low as he whispered into the phone, but Toad was still very much on edge. "I am hiding from the others!"

"Hiding from the enemy, great strategy Magolor! Well, you won't be hiding any longer, since there has been a small change to the objective of your mission."

"A small change? What kind of change we're talking about here?" Magolor had moved a bit underneath the quilts, as his body temperature was raising. Ashley saw the pile of quilts move, with her head cocked to the side.

"Dimentio wants you to go to the computer room, where the place where that stolen laptop was discovered. You know the one that I'm talking about."

"Yeah, I remember!" As the phone call carried on, Ashley made her way over to the pile of quilts to do a little investigating. "I'll be there in a jiffy."

"I can detect some movement from these quilts," Ashley said to the knitting club members, as she had also heard Magolor speaking. Magolor knew that his cover was about to be blown, so he took matters into his own hands.

"Excuse me for a moment..." Magolor would put his call with Rufus on hold, and then he lifted his arms and swayed a bit as he started making ghost sounds. "...WOOOOOOOH, I AM A GHOST! FEAR ME!"

"Aah, it's a ghost!" panicked Alm, who along with the other club members was slightly afraid. Ashley, however, eschewed no fear whatsoever. "Told you that there was a ghost here, Celica!"

"What are you waiting for, kill it!" Celica stressed to Alm so that the club meeting could go on in peace. Taking out his sword, Alm stabbed the "ghost" with it.

"Ow! That hurt." Lifting up his sword, Alm picked up the pile of quilts and threw them on the floor...revealing the ghost to be none other than Magolor. Everyone save for an uncaring Ashely gasped.

"Wait, what are we gasping for?" wondered Yoshi, who along with everyone else eased up after remembering that Magolor was hardly much of a threat. "Magolor can't really hurt us, he's just a stooge."

"You guys saw nothing! Smokebomb!" Magolor threw an imaginary smoke bomb unto the ground, before making his getaway escape as he ran out of the room. The alien ran down the hallway, soon coming across Dunban.

"My guitar, what happened to my guitar?" wondered Dunban, left in a great deal of despair as he was holding the pieces of his broken guitar. The Homs doubted that his instrument could be easily fixed anything soon.

Fiora: Dunban's guitar is broken? Let me show you how much I care about his problems. *makes a blank face*

"Sorry about your guitar, man," Magolor offered his condolences to Dunban, only to gasp a second later and cover his mouth. Dunban looked up at Magolor.

"Magolor? What are you..." Dunban was about to ask Magolor, who took off down the hallway as he scurried away. "...get back here!" Tossing the broken guitar pieces unto the floor, Dunban chased after Magolor who saw an open door within his sight.

"Close sesame!" Magolor ran through the open door and slammed the door shut, just when Dunban had caught up to him. Dunban tried to open the door, but Magolor had just locked it.

"That's the producers' room he's in." Dunban recognized the room that Magolor was in, as he gave up on twisting the doorknob. "Magolor better not be that tech-savvy..."

Sonic, Layton, Luke, and Osvald were at Omnis Adest to do one thing, and one thing only...to kill Harvey, for framing Osvald and getting him imprisoned. Just not the Harvey that Osvald had in mind. Two folks who would assist Osvald were Altair and Throne, with the latter needing a weapon. Specifically a guitar.

"This guitar was a birthday gift from Swanky Kong," Funky Kong said to Altair as he bestowed his guitar to the assassin. The guitar looked brand new as if it just came out of the guitar factory. "I ask that you kindly return it to me when you're..."

"Yes, sure, whatever," Altair cut off Funky Kong, as he accepted the gorilla's guitar and hoisted the musical instrument over his back. "Thank you." Altair took the guitar with him as he rejoined Sonic and company, who were standing around at a street light.

"An assassin using a guitar as a weapon seems unheard of," Throne smirked at Altair, resting coolly against the street light with her back turned. She was slowly digging Altair's style.

"Harvey is going to receive a nice little visit from El Kabong..." Altair would practice for his beatdown on Harvey, swinging the guitar as if it were a hammer. Sonic looked nervous as Altair was swinging in the air.

Funky Kong: The guitar wasn't the first thing on my list, as far as birthday items go. Originally, I wanted a necklace, but Swanky Kong laughed at me! What's so wrong with wearing a manly necklace?!

Altair: All Throne and I have been told is that Harvey must die. Don't know what for, but I get to kill somebody so I can't explain. I have no qualms about killing anyone, whether it be humans or animals. Somehow aliens have been thrown into the mix recently.

"Enough swinging...it's almost time for action," Osvald said to Altair, who ended his guitar-swinging practice as he refocused on the task at hand. "Harvey will be a dead man soon..."

"It's never too late to turn back," Layton quietly suggested to Sonic, able to see the regret on the blue hedgehog's face. "You can tell Osvald the truth."

"Nah, it's too late to turn back now," responded Sonic, forced to go through with the assassination plot since Osvald showed no signs of turning back. Just then, Blathers appeared, walking down the sidewalk.

"Lovely day outside, isn't it Sonic?" Blathers asked the blue hedgehog, as he was making a rare appearance outside of his museum. Only a matter of time until he fell asleep during his walk. "Who knew that the outside can be so fun yet terrifying!"

"He knows as much as I do...ask him about Harvey," Sonic whispered to Layton and Luke, nudging them to spark a conversation with Blathers. So Layton and Luke approached Blathers, meeting the owl for the first time.

"I don't believe we've ever met in person before," Layton said to Blathers, coming off as friendly with a gentle smile and an earnest tip of his hat. "Professor Herschel Layton is the name."

"And I'm Luke Triton," Luke happily introduced himself to Blathers, as Layton looked back at Sonic and flashed an OK hand signal. Didn't take long for Blathers to vibe with Layton and Luke, as he was all cheery.

"Well met, Layton and Luke!" exclaimed Blathers, who was already digging Layton's style; he was mainly envious of the detective's hat. "I hope to see you at my museum one day."

"Oh, we've visited the museum several times before - we just never saw you," stated Luke, as Blathers' eyes went wide; Blathers never failed to greet new visitors at his museum, so he must be off his game.

"Anyway, Blathers, we are looking for a person named Harvey," Layton said to Blathers, who was pretty cool with Harvey - he was more than happy to show Layton and Luke where Harvey was. "We were wondering if you could perhaps..."

"...take him to us," Osvald would finish for Layton, butting into the conversation as he ran over to Blathers. Osvald refused to wait around any longer.

"Fortunately for you, I have Harvey's address," Blathers informed Osvald as he took out a note from his imaginary pocket, which had Harvey's address written on it. "Just follow me!"

So how was Samus walking Ridley around the block and beyond coming along? For the most part, Samus had no desire to kill Ridley, which was a good sign. But the bounty hunter was bothered by how Ridley was scaring other pants, which was expected.

"No, Mr. Mittens, come back!" a pet owner shouted at her tabby cat after it screeched and ran off at the sight of Ridley. The woman chased after her cat while Samus looked on.

"That's what you get for walking your cat outside," Samus called out to the pet owner, before resuming her walk with Ridley as she walked down the sidewalk. "Who even takes a cat out on a walk...?"

"Pika pi," Pikachu agreed with Samus, as the mouse Pokemon was still perched atop the bounty hunter's shoulder. Little did Pikachu and Samus know that the Hylian couple of Link and Zelda was following closely behind them.

"This walk has gone far better than intended," Link discussed with Zelda, fortunate that the worst things Ridley had done during the walk were scaring a few pedestrians and pets - and maybe some mailmen as well.

"A change of scenery can really do wonders for someone," responded Zelda, as Ridley walked up to a fire hydrant; Samus feared for the worst as Ridley sniffed the hydrant like how a dog would.

"Rildey, please don't..." Samus pleaded to the space dragon, but it was too late as Ridley lifted up his hind leg and peed on the fire hydrant. Samus sighed.

"Pika..." Pikachu facepalmed at Ridley, while Link and Zelda were both amused as she shared a giggle together. Cloud approached Link and Zelda from behind, bringing some company along with him.

"Hey, you two - look who I found," Cloud said to Link and Zelda, who both stopped giggling and turned around at the swordsman. Accompanying the swordsmen were the three individuals sitting on the bench.

"Let me guess - you three aren't from this city," Zelda asked the three individuals rhetorically, as the trio all nodded their heads. Zelda, who knew the answer from the jump, let out a sigh.

"Told you that Partitio was a visitor magnet," Link said to Zelda, before returning his attention to Cloud and the three individuals that he brought along. "Where'd you find them, Cloud?"

"At a bench across the street," answered Cloud, before looking at the three individuals and hoping that he remembered their names. "Castti, Temenos, and Hikari are what they go by. Also, the woman has amnesia."

"It's true - I cannot remember who I once was," stated the woman, Castti, as Temenos and Hikari expressed their sympathies for her. Casttii seemed like a fighter, so she may get her memories back in no time.

"Hate to be a bother, but is there a place at Omnis Adest where they can stay? I'd hate for the community to turn into a charity place."

"I mean, we do have Barry, so it's not that bad..." replied Link as he threw some unnecessary shade at Barry, leading Zelda to nudge the Hylian in his side. "...but yeah, there's an available apartment for anyone who needs it."

"Ask Falco to help you with moving them in," Zelda advised Cloud, for she knew that moving someone into their apartment was by no means a one-man show. "You can easily get him on board if you ask him right."

"Yeah, ask him right...like I'll get him on my first attempt," muttered Cloud, who would much prefer a different move-in buddy as opposed to Falco. But the princess's orders were meant to be adhered to, as Cloud took the three foreigners away.

"Partitio would make for a fine housemate, don't you think?" Link asked Zelda, thinking Partitio would have excellent synergy with the three folks that Cloud found. Zelda looked on, finding herself in agreement.

Agnea claimed to be a dancer, but so far today she never had a chance to show off her dancing skills. She would get the opportunity to exhibit her dancing ability, as she danced for Wario after he had stopped her in the hallway. Wario liked what he saw, as evidenced by the big smile on his face.

"Ta-da!" exclaimed Agnea after she was done with her dancing routine, capping off her performance as she raised her arms up high. "Hope you enjoyed it." Wario did enjoy it, as he was clapping earnestly.

"Bravo, bravo!" Wario commended Agnea, before taking several wads of cash out of his pocket once he was done clapping. "I don't do this very often, but take my money!"

"Aw, you're too kind!" Agnea was all smiles, as Wario was literally tossing his money at the dancer. Shantae would pass by Wario and Agnea, looking jealous.

"Good job on holding her down for me, Wario!" a certain angel called out to Wario, who turned around and saw Pit just down the hallway. Agnea's smile turned upside down in an instant.

"You again? Please leave me alone!" Agnea turned around and ran down the hallway, wanting to escape from Pit. Pit ran in the direction that Agnea went, refusing to relent until he captured his prey.

"Darn you, Pit, I wasn't done!" Wario growled at the angel, for he was not yet done throwing his money at Agnea. Shantae smiled with vindication as she carried on down the hallway.

Wario: I was this close to having that Agnea girl in my room. She could've been my slave, dancing for my entertainment day in and day out! And she would get paid on top of that, she'd be dumb to turn me down! Imagine being a slave and not wanting to be paid for your services.

"Let me in, let me in!" shouted Agnea as she reached a door near the end of the hallway, knocking on it repeatedly as she looked back. Pit was drawing near, as the door was opened...by Magolor.

"Come inside!" Magolor said to Agnea as he let the dancer inside; Agnea ran inside the producers' room, and Magolor closed the door just as Pit arrived.

"I got cookies, open up!" Pit knocked on the door, only to be left with no response. Pit did a second attempt, knocking on the door even harder. "I got chocolate chip cookies..."

"Gingerbread cookies are far more superior!" Upon hearing Magolor from behind the door, Pit gasped; Magolor gasped as well, but for a different reason. "Welp, me and my big mouth..."

"Don't worry Agnea, I'll save you from Kirby's evil friend!" Pit whipped out his phone, forced to make the phone call of his life. Or something akin to that. "Snap, my phone's about to die! Better make this phone call count."

Being that Landia was a dragon - and one that would naturally scare people off - there weren't that many eateries for him to dine at. Especially for his four heads. But one buffet in town was willing to take in Landia, with the caveat being that the restaurant had to be cleared out for safety reasons. Fox, who had to pay for Landia's meal, happily obliged with those terms.

"Eat up, dragon friend!" Ochette said to Landia, who was devouring from multiple plates since he had so many mouths to feed. Mario, Fox, and Spyro were seated at an adjacent table, observing Landia's appetite.

"He's eaten more food than you have, Mario," Spyro said to the plumber, who had fixed multiple plates and cleaned out every single one of them. With barbecue on the menu, Mario couldn't help himself.

"Yeah, thanks for spiking my bill," Fox frowned at Mario, who was satisfied with his fill as he licked the barbecue off of his gloves. Mario noticed Fox frowning at him, and shrugged in innocence.

"My fault that I was-a hungry," responded Mario, as Fox waved off the plumber and looked the other way, resting his temple on the palm of his hand. At least Mario wouldn't come back home on an empty stomach.

"The dragon seems like he's done," Ochette informed Mario and company, as Landia was licking his chops. The beastling petted Landia on one of his heads. "Now it's time for the next phase!"

"The next phase of getting Landia home, I assume," said Fox as he cleaned up Mario's mess - only because Mario was too full to do it himself. Ochette laughed at Fox, who furrowed his brow in confusion.

"Who said anything about taking him home?" If Ochette didn't want to take Landia home, then what else did she have in mind for the red dragon? "I was planning on cooking him..."

"You want to cook-a him?!" questioned Mario, as he was not fine with those terms; Landia wasn't fine with those terms either, as his eight eyes went wide with strong worry.

"Of course! He would make for an awesome meal. Let's go, dragon!" So Ochette led Landia out of the restaurant, with Landia looking back at Mario and company with begging eyes.

"Ochette, wait!" shouted Mario as he, Fox, and Spyro chased Ochette out of the restaurant. The restaurant worker who served Fox showed up at the table.

"Hey, where's my tip?" the worker yelled, disgruntled that Fox and the others only left him with a bunch of dirty plates...with no tip to be found.

Cloud brought Castti, Temenos, and Hikari to the mansion so that Falco could take them to Omnis Adest and help them move in. Falco could provide instant transportation that the three foreigners could use since Cloud was in no mood for walking on foot.

"I refuse to take a ride in that contraption," stated Temenos as he was looking at Fox's Landmaster with heavy contempt. It was safe to say that the man didn't care that much for modern transportation. Very modern transportation, that is.

"Take it or leave it," Falco said to Temenos, poking his head briefly out of the Landmaster to speak with the man. "You think that I can't take you to your new digs safe and sound?"

"Highly doubt that you can. Then again, doubt is what I do." Choosing to let Temenos doubt his piloting ability, Falco waved off Temenos as he went back inside the Landmaster. Just then, Cloud's phone rang.

"There's a bird ringing in your pocket," Hikari informed Cloud, who was stuck in a minor trance when he heard his phone. Cloud took out his phone swiftly. "That's one weird-looking bird!"

"Yes, Pit? I'm busy," Cloud spoke into the tone in an uncaring voice, having no time for any of Pit's shenanigans. He hoped that Pit would get the clue, but this was Pit we were talking about here.

"Thank goodness you answered, Cloud!" exclaimed a relieved Pit, so loud that he nearly burst Cloud's eardrums. Cloud had to momentarily pull the phone away from his ear. "Link didn't answer his phone."

"That's because he doesn't have a phone yet. Who did you even call?" The silence that came from Pit led Cloud's imagination to go in several directions.

Iono: Just got a call from some stranger rando, telling me about Kirby's evil friend. Good, evil, I don't care about the affiliation...all I care about is the viewership. Anyone who can get me a million views is always a friendo in my book!

"...that's beside the point," Pit finally answered, before getting to the topic that was at hand. "Magolor is in the producer's room, and he's holding the cafe's future hot barista hostage!"

"Everything except the hot barista part sounds legit. Give me a second." Cloud put his phone down as he looked at Castti, Temenos, and Hikari. "How would you guys like to take out the trash?"

"You blokes got five minutes to get it done," Falco said to Castti and company as he poked his head out of the Landmaster once more, only for a hard metal sound to be heard from inside. Falco winced in pain. "Gah, I dropped the wrench on my foot!"

"Making us take out the trash...no way to treat your guests," remarked Castti as she, Temenos, and Hikari followed Cloud inside the mansion. Falco crawled out of the Landmaster, holding unto his foot.

Pit remained outside the producers' room, looking for a way to get inside. With the angel was Dunban, who was also looking for a way inside.

"A crowbar ought to do the trick," said Dunban, who was using a crowbar he found to pry the door open. The Homs was unable to move the door at all, as he ultimately gave up. "Maybe this crowbar only works on car doors."

"So the crowbar is only used for opening car doors, and not beating people up?" Pit asked Dunban, who was looking at the angel with a concerned look. Sounds like Pit has been watching too much wrestling.

"We made it," announced Cloud as he showed up along with Castti, Temenos, and Hikari; all hands were on deck. "Brought with me some friends."

"You mean acquaintances," Hikari clarified to Cloud, who responded with a stare that almost effectively put Hikari in his rightful place. "Excuse me for my technicality..."

"Perhaps your 'friends' can help us a way inside," Dunban said to Cloud as he twisted on the doorknob to prove a point to the swordsman. "Magolor is hiding and he's kept the door locked."

"While holding our future hot barista hostage," added Pit, stressing this to be the most important part of Magolor occupying the producers' room. Predictably, everyone ignored Pit.

"Not a problem for me - I can open this door lickety-split!" said a confident Hikari as he stood in front of the door, taking out his sword. He did a downward strike with the sword, cutting it open.

"Nicely done - although the folks have to pay for a new door now," remarked Castti, as the producers' room was now easily accessible. A satisfied Hikari put his sword back in its holster.

"Now to see what Magolor is up to..." said Cloud as he and the others stepped inside the producers' room. Magolor was sitting at the desk, watching a video on one of the laptops.

"Wonder how this video got on here," commented Magolor as he was watching a video, only to pause the video when he detected human presence. Very slowly, Magolor turned around and saw Cloud and company.

"It's the end of the line, Magolor!" shouted Dunban, looking to put the alien in his place; Pit, meanwhile, was looking around for Agnea and saw the dancer hiding from him in the darkness.

"Agnea, I've found you!" Pit pointed at the dancer, who darted out of the producers' room as Pit made chase after her. "You can run, but you can't hide!"

"Just leave me alone, I beg of you!" Agnea was heard pleading to Pit, as Pit's chase of the dancer picked up right where it left off. No one had the energy to facepalm at Pit's foolishness.

"That reminds me, I have to leave too!" said Magolor as he hopped down from the chair he was sitting on, only to be suddenly apprehended by Temenos. Magolor shuddered in fear, as Temenos towered over him.

"You seem like an interesting subject," Temenos smiled at Magolor, wishing that he had a pair of glasses to push up the bridge of his nose. "Want to ask you a couple of questions...and I will get answers."

"Get every possible answer out of him," Dunban encouraged Temenos, desiring to know what business Magolor had at the mansion. Temenos was smirking hard, driving up Magolor's fear.

Mario and his pals managed to catch up with Ochette and Landia, just beyond the restaurant. Ochette was wrangling Landia to the ground, although Landia was putting up some resistance.

"Stay still, will you?" Ochette shouted at Landia, wrapping her arms around one of Landia's necks to keep the red dragon at bay. "I would like to cook you before you're no longer full!"

"Don't even bother with the police, they're no help," Fox advised Mario, who was taking his phone out of his pocket. "Take it from us." Fox's word of advice kept Mario from dialing a single number.

"I was going to call-a Luigi instead," stated Mario, before putting his phone away just to appease Spyro. Fox and Spyro found Luigi to be even less useful than the Seattle police force.

"Haha! Now you're mine!" smiled Ochette, as she successfully had Landia pinned to the ground. With Landia moments away from being roasted over an open fire, Mario and Fox looked towards Spyro as their last line of hope.

"Honestly have no idea why you want to keep looking at me," Spyro muttered at Mario and Fox, as he was in no mood for rescuing a fellow dragon. Not today, at least. But Spyro didn't have to worry about lifting a single finger...

"Roasted dragon, anyone care for roasted dragon?" asked a certain Star Warrior, who showed up holding a bag with meat pieces inside. That Star Warrior was none other than Meta Knight, whom Ochette took sight of.

"I do! I do!" replied Ochette, totally forgetting about Landia as she hopped off the red dragon and ran to Meta Knight. She snatched the bag from Meta Knight, opened it, and devoured it in one gulp. "Pre-cooked dragon, yum yum!"

Meta Knight: *holds up a bag of meat* It's not really roasted dragon. Just an ordinary bag of beef jerky, which is somehow expensive. But with anyone with an insatiable appetite, you can make it anything you want it to be.

"Wow MK, you sure came in the clutch," Fox said to Meta Knight, who had to hold out his hand to keep a super greedy Ochette away from him. "How did you know that..."

"I have been following closely behind you," replied Meta Knight, in a way that didn't sound unnerving; the Star Warrior came off as chill, like stalking people was totally normal to do.

"Yeah, that doesn't sound creepy at all..." remarked Spyro, who barely saw Meta Knight much since the first encounter. That's how you know that Meta Knight was a grade-S stalker. "...how much did you see?"

"To be frank, I saw a lot. Including you, Mario - I saw you through the restaurant. You still eat like a pig."

"A handsome-a looking pig, you mean," retorted a defensive Mario, as Meta Knight went over to check on Landia. Landia was in much calmer spirits, as his temper was more tranquil.

"Really, I only followed you three to see how Landia handled himself." Even near Landia, Meta Knight still had to keep Ochette at a distance as the beastling was flailing her arms in excitement. "I must find him a way home. Unless..."

Osvald was primed to kill Harvey, as Blathers brought him and the others to Harvey's residence. Which, strangely enough, was a hippie RV. Worked for Osvald, long as Harvey was inside. But before anyone could enter in they had to wait on Altair.

"Sorry for the holdup, I had to fine-tune my guitar," Altair apologized as he returned to the group with his guitar - couldn't beat anyone's head in with it if it was out of tune.

"An RV requires an address?" Layton asked Blathers, able to deduce that a hippie was inside the RV He was also able to detect a big fat misunderstanding coming from a mile away.

"It was the address that Harvey gave me," defended Blathers, only satisfied that he did his job and to perfection. Anything less than perfection would be deemed a blemish in Blathers' book.

"All that matters is that Harvey is inside," stated Osvald as he went up the stairs of the RV, as Altair and Throne followed after him. Before Osvald could knock on the door, Sonic ran up to him and tapped him.

"You know, it's never too late to turn back," Sonic informed Osvald, telling him the very same words that Layton had told him earlier. But at this point, it might be a little too late.

"No...what must be done must be done." With no turning back, Osvald kicked the door in and stormed inside the RV. The scholar hoped to see Harvey inside the RV...

...but instead, he saw a different Harvey. The hippie dog Harvey. Harvey was chatting with Yosuke, and he had yet to be aware of the unwanted company in his vehicle.

"One ninja sword, just for you!" Yosuke presented a ninja sword to Harvey, which he found online for sale. Harvey accepted the sword from Yosuke, feeling like a giddy kid on Christmas Day.

"My very own ninja sword!" cheered Harvey, as the dream he pursued since the Christmas raffle in 2021 was finally realized. Now he and Ryu Hayabusa finally had something in common.

Harvey: Moved into Omnis Adest myself, after reading all the good reviews online and...Oh yes! Omnis Adest can be reviewed online. All of the reviews are five stars, though.

"Harvey, where is he?" shouted Osvald, interrupting the wholesome moment taking place in the RV. Yosuke and Harvey both looked at Osvald, with the former nervously pointing at the latter.

"You called?" Harvey asked Osvald, only to be blindsided when Altair leaped at him with his guitar. Harvey fended himself with his new ninja sword. "Hey, chill out, Altair!"

"Yeah, Altair, lay off the dude!" Yosuke yelled at the assassin as he looked to intervene, only for Throne to cast a black magic spell on him. Yosuke fell down in pain, as Throne smirked.

"I'd stay out of this, for your own good..." Throne advised Yosuke, who wanted to throw up because he believed that he was in that much pain. just a slight over-exaggeration by him. Sonic, Layton, and Luke entered the RV after hearing all the commotion inside.

"An assassin wielding a guitar, fighting a hippie dog using a ninja sword..." Luke analyzed the fight that was playing out before him, as Altair easily had the upper hand over Harvey. Harvey barely stood a chance.

"An assassin a hippie dog fighting is enough on its own," commented Layton, before looking at Sonic who was clearly nervous about the fight and how it would turn out. "You can always clear the air, Sonic."

"Just tell him already," Luke whispered to Sonic, as he and Layton were wishing for the blue hedgehog to bring the whole charade to an end. Sonic didn't want to do it but at this point...

"Uh, yeah, about that..." Sonic said nervously to Osvald, knowing that he had to speak up with Altair overpowering Harvey and Yosuke affected by Throne's dark magic spell."...I kind of lied to you."

"So Harvey didn't get turned into a hippie dog that wears glasses?" asked Osvald, ashamed that he even believed Sonic in the first place. That was not very scholarly of him. "Who is this dog, then?"

"The dog is named Harvey...he's just not the Harvey that you're looking for. I made it all up."

"You did WHAT?" Osvald boomed so loudly, that he got Altair to stop wrangling with Harvey. Everyone looked at sonic, who now had to come clean.

"You said that you knew someone named Harvey, I knew someone named Harvey...I wanted to help you out somehow. Wanted to do the right thing."

"So you wasted everyone's time...and for what?" Altair frowned at Sonic, standing up as he allowed Harvey to run free. The silver lining was that the guitar wasn't that damaged, so Funky Kong might be relieved.

"As I said, I wanted to do the right thing. Guess I got so obsessed with doing that..." Sonic looked down at the floor, feeling instant regret, as Layton smiled and put his hand on his shoulder.

"Nothing wrong with doing the right thing," Layton assured Sonic, as he made the blue hedgehog feel slightly better. "Just need to do it with the right intentions. One day I can show you how it's done."

"Sure would appreciate it, professor." Sonic looked up and smiled at Layton, hoping to follow in the professor's footsteps.

"Well, if Harvey is not here, then I might as well leave," remarked Osvald, adjusting his glasses and choosing to put this whole incident behind him. "I have the faintest clue how to return home."

"You and I are in the same boat," Throne said to Osvald, as she followed the scholar out of the RV leaving Yosuke in a great deal of pain. "Remains a mystery how we both..."

Soon as Osvald and Throne both exited the RV, they were met by Link and Zelda standing outside. Link and Zelda appeared warm and inviting.

"Hello; we have received word from our constituents about some unfamiliar company today," Link said to Osvald and Throne, who exchanged looks of doubt with one another. "How would you two like a place to stay?"

Meta Knight was able to find Landia a home...and that home was at Omnis Adest. The Star Warrior found a spacious backyard and allowed Landia to take residence in it. But first, Landia needed a seal of approval.

"Of course, I'll take this red dragon as my pet!" Raihan said to Meta Knight and company, watching proudly as Landia was moving about in Raihan's backyard. "He'll be my awesome pet."

"Just an FYI, he's not a Pokemon," Fox informed Raihan, as he slightly killed the gym leader's excitement. Fox and company left Raihan alone, as they walked out of the gym leader's front yard.

"I still wanna know how that dragon ended up-a in my house," said a curious Mario, who had more questions about the person who delivered Landia to him. "One dragon is already enough! No offense-a Spyro."

"Well, at least he's not in a mood anymore," replied Fox, expecting Raihan to keep Landia in the enclosure of his backyard and not let the dragon cause too much mayhem. "Maybe he acted out earlier because he was hungry."

"Hey, where's that Beastling girl?" inquired Spyro, as everyone was looking around for Ochette; Meta Knight let out a grunt as he seemingly let Ochette out of his sight.

"Yummy dragon tail!" exclaimed Ochette, as the guys saw Samus walking Ridley walking down the sidewalk on his leash. Ochette had her teeth sunk into Ridley's tail, and Ridley was screeching his head off.

"That's the spirit, weird cat girl," Samus said to Ochette, amused by Ridley's plight as she had no desire to save her arch-nemesis from the pain. "Show Ridley who's boss."

"Guess we'll be seeing you walk Bowser around this neighborhood real soon," Fox quipped to Mario, as he and Spyro tried to hold in their laugh. Mario didn't find Fox's joke all that funny.

Cloud: Temenos did his best to interrogate Magolor. For every question that Temenos asked, Magolor replied with the most ambiguous answer possible. So we had Master Hand throw him in the buddy cops' jail cell until he decides to give us the real answers. Dimentio can come and pick Magolor up if he really wants him. And trust me, we'll be waiting for his arrival.

Because he chose to be difficult with Cloud, Dunban, and Temenos, Magolor was thrown in the buddy cops jail cell, as Cloud had stated. He was being kept as a prisoner. Toon Link and Young Link were forbidden to throw anyone in the cell, long as Magolor remained imprisoned.

"Xemnas was right...I really am an also-ran," Magolor sighed depressingly, hoping for Dimentio to come and free him soon. Just then, Magolor heard his phone ring, and he answered the call. "Yes, Rufus?"

"No...it is I, Xemnas," answered the caller, Xemans, as his deep voice was easily recognizable by Magolor. How nice of Rufus to let Xemnas borrow his phone. "I take it that your mission was a failure?"

"They threw me in a jail cell...take a wild guess." Magolor probably shouldn't have mentioned that being in a jail cell part, Xemnas likely thought less of him. "Why do I say so much...?"

"Being held captive is a predicament that would only happen to an also-ran. Had you been successful in your task, this likely would not have occurred."

"To be fair, I didn't exactly fail - those folks just couldn't accept what I was feeding them. But you guys will come and free me, right?" Magolor hoped to hear a yes from Xemans, but all he got was silence.

"We will let you stay where you are. See how the situation plays out. If you can cause discord within the mansion from the confines of your imprisonment, then your redemption shall be great."

"So I have a chance to redeem myself? Neato!" Magolor would take any chance at redemption, especially if it meant winning favor in Dimentio's eyes and never losing his trust.

"Do whatever you can to tear the mansion apart from the inside. I will let Dimentio know about your current situation...as well as your new mission."

"First two missions didn't go so smoothly, but the third time's a charm! I won't let you guys down!"

"You ought not to let us down, for your own good. Do your best." Xemnas sounded like a father when he said this - like he was setting himself up for inevitable disappointment.

"Aye-aye captain. I can call you captain, right? Okay, bye!" Magolor sheepishly ended his call with Xemnas, fearing a response from the Nobody, before putting his phone back in his imaginary pocket and shaking his head. "Man, I still wonder how they got that video..."

"Partitio said that he'll move into the apartment after he's done at Anna's shop," Isabelle was heard speaking from the hallway, as Magolor hid in the far corner of the jail cell. Magolor saw a giant shadow pass by, indicating Master Hand.

"That makes eight then," said Master Hand, who remained up-to-date in regards to new folks staying at Omnis Adest. "Any available space for eight more individuals in the adjacent apartment?"

Not only Castti, Temenos, and Hikari were moving into an apartment...but Osvald and Throne would be moving in with them. Ochette was added after she was done biting Ridley's tail, and Partitio was slated to move in once Anna returned to her shop following her house arrest. The eighth spot in the apartment went to a certain dancer.

"This will be your temporary home," Link said to Agnea, as he and Zelda welcomed the dancer into the apartment. Agnea was already a fan, as she danced her way into the living room.

"Such a nice living space...I love it already!" exclaimed Agnea, as she couldn't hold in her excitement; Hikari, who was sitting in the living room, was slightly enchanted by Agnea's joy.

"Seems like fate somehow brought us all together," Hikari said to Osvald, who was sitting at a table penning a letter. Likely a letter to the Harvey that he knew personally, vowing to kill him one day.

"Fate does have its way in the end..." commented Osvald, who wrote his letter the old-fashioned way with a feather dipped in black ink. Soon Pit ran inside the apartment, as Agnea gasped and hid behind the steps.

"I'm looking for Agnea, is she staying here?" Pit asked Link and Zelda, as his desire for recruiting Agnea to Cafe Leblanc had yet to be quenched. Link and Zelda knew from Agnea's reaction that Pit had to be promptly dealt with.

"Afraid not - she returned home with her family to pursue her dancing career," replied Zelda, before looking away and muttering under her breath. "I hate lying so much..." Nonetheless, Zelda's fib worked on Pit.

"Aw, what?! She's gonna regret this." As Pit walked out of the apartment, he heard his phone ring and answered the call. "Yes, Joker, I'm coming back to the cafe! No, you don't have to ask Master Hand to put me on janitor duty!"

"Coast is clear," Link called out to Agnea, who arose from her hiding spot with relief on her face. Pit's quest to make Agnea a hot barista was over...for now.

Just wait until he finds out the truth.