Author's Note:

Stupid cold! Why am I always getting sick these days? If I hadn't gotten sick, I would've had this chapter published much sooner than...oh yeah, this chapter! It mainly has to do with Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon (new game) and The Legend of Heroes: Trails to Azure (new Switch port). Sadly I couldn't do everything I wanted to do in this chapter (having Lloyd Irving interact with Lloyd Bannings and featuring the eight Octopath Traveler protagonists), but when you're writing while dealing with a cold your creative juices aren't that flowing. Also, this chapter was consequently shorter than intended but it is what it is. Fortunately, I feel well enough now to answer some guest reviews:

"Apparently, according to the Nintendo Power magazine, Mario's birthday was October 11. What's your opinion on that?"

Mario's birthday will forever be March 10th to me. One more anonymous review:

"One simple question...Where's Ruka?"

Ruka? Who's Ruka? I'll need some elaboration on who this Ruka is (unless my memory is failing me). One more anonymous review:

"Yeah, yeah. Cool chapter, whatever. What about Conker's girlfriend, tho?"

Oh, snap! I have totally neglected that whole thing about Conker's girlfriend. I'll have to address the situation in the next chapter. Up next is Cloudenstein:

"Can I be honest? This episode feels like "Roadside Attraction" to an extent. A filler episode in the middle of a very serious arc. It doesn't mean that I don't like the episode (even though I don't really like Roadside Attraction), it's just...a weird time to make an episode like this, you know? Xemnas and his buddies didn't fulfill their promise of waiting another week and freeing Magolor, are you really delaying some chapters by a week just for a Mario celebration? Eh, I guess you want to do what you want to do, and I can't prohibit you from doing that, I'm just a simple reviewer."

Appreciate the honesty. The whole Mario Day celebration (as well as this chapter) forced me to push things back. Next week we'll have some clarity (mainly since I won't be covering multiple games at once). David has questions:

"Will you do a Kid Icarus Uprising chapter for the game's 11th anniversary? Does Mona from WarioWare still work at Mona Pizza? Has Orbulon made any attempts at invading Earth or at least the Smash Mansion? Any nods or references to the Wii U and 3DS eShop shutting down? Does any area in the Smash Mansion have a habit of injuring people? (Think NXT Parking Lot). And finally, which matches are you least excited about for WrestleMania 39? (Some are also bummed out Bayley won't be wrestling Michael Cole this year. He remains undefeated still)."

Probably not. Mona no longer works for Mona Pizza. Orbulon has not made any invasion attempts. No nods to the Wii U and 3DS eShop shutting down. No area that I can think of. And the matches I'm least excited about for Wrestlemania? Perhaps the women's title matches, due to a lack of build. Last is A JRPG enjoyer:

"So...the most recent Fire Emblem Engage DLC got released, and included in that release are some new Emblems to use in the game. Some of them are guys you might be familiar (Soren, Camilla, Chrom and Robin) and you might add them to Omnis Adest. Some other...is very interesting. We got Hector (who maybe like Eliwood got young again), and Veronica. You know what that means...Fire Emblem Heroes is officially canon! That means you can have Kiran and his Heroes buddies appeared in this story! What do you think of that?"

Fire Emblem Heroes is officially canon? I guess so. Kiran and any other Heroes characters will be in this story. When they will appear, I won't say...

Episode 378: Cereza

Snake personally couldn't stand Bayonetta as a roommate. It wasn't so much that Bayonetta was a bad roommate - she just loved to get on Snake's nerves. Every now and then, Bayonetta would pester Snake about Meryl Silverburgh, or the Shadow Moses incident, or why he would wear his bodysuit all day long and never any regular clothes.

That isn't to say that Snake never had any welcome company, however. His best friend, Hal Emmerich, resided at Omnis Adest and would stop by the mansion to hang out with Snake. Or Snake would stop by Hal's apartment to hang out with Hal. Usually the former happened more often since Snake was often irked by the anime posters hanging on Hal's walls.

Hal was with Snake in the former spy's room, detailing to him the stuff he had seen during his time at Omnis Adest. Some stories were actually worth telling, while others...not so much.

"And then the unthinkable happened...he scratched his butt out in the open, in broad daylight!" Hal explained to Snake with pure astonishment, telling the story of how he saw Cranky Kong scratching his butt while walking across the street. Snake couldn't care less.

"Most primates do that," stated Snake, and he would know better than anyone else; he had seen Donkey Kong scratch his butt at the dinner table on multiple occasions, in very close proximity. "What's next - gonna tell me that Big the Cat was licking himself on a seesaw at the playground?"

"That was my next story! How did you know I was gonna tell that story? You must be some kind of clairvoyant!" A clairvoyant Snake was not, as the former spy sighed at this best friend's foolishness.

Hal: Saw Harvey in private licking his own crotch...Oh, is that a thing most dogs normally do? Is this a telltale sign that I probably should get out a bit more?

"Ah, if it isn't my favorite person...and Hal," Bayonetta smirked as she entered the room, saying Hal's name with an almost condescending tone. Snake gritted his teeth upon seeing Bayonetta.

"If it isn't my least favorite pest..." responded Snake, hopping up off the bed as he took Hal's hand. "...c'mon, Hal, let's go." But Hal refused to leave with Snake, as he remained sitting where he was.

"But I was comfy here," argued Hal, who was enjoying sitting on the windowsill; he had the perfect amount of shade. That's when Snake wrapped his arms around Hal, and lifted the hacker up off his feet.

"You can get comfy somewhere else. Let's give the stupid Umbra Witch her space." Snake was about to carry Hal out of the room, but as he walked past Bayonetta, Bayonetta stuck her foot out and caused Snake to slip.

"Whoops!" exclaimed Bayonetta as Snake tripped over her foot, causing both him and Hal to fall unto the floor. Snake took the worst of the fall, as he was left rubbing his head.

"You rotten..." Snake looked up and frowned at Bayonetta, who smirked away as she backed away from Snake and sat down and lay on her bed. In perhaps the most Bayonetta way possible.

"Rotten little what?" Bayonetta was lying stomach-first on her bed, looking at Snake with her chin resting on the palm of her hand. "Finish what you're saying, or forever hold your peace."

"Now, now, Snake, we already had a talk about this!" Hal said to the former spy, who was incensed with Bayonetta as he angrily rose up to his feet. Bayonetta was still smirking, greatly anticipating Snake's first move.

"Tell Magolor he's gonna have a jail mate soon..." Snake was about to get his hands on Bayonetta, and just as he was about to leap at the Umbra Witch, there was a knock at the door.

"Hello! Is Bayonetta here?" asked a certain robot inventor from outside the room, as Snake's momentum was halted. Dr. Wily poked his head inside the way, spotting Bayonetta lying on her bed.

"The one and only, darling," responded Bayonetta as she sat up on her bed to give Wily all of her attention. Snake was meanwhile plotting a sneak attack.

"I'm looking for a volunteer to test out my newest project. Figured that you were the right gal for the job!" Liking how things were headed, Snake ditched the sneak attack idea.

"Please...take here with you," Snake pleaded to Wily, willing to get down on his knees with begging hands if he had to resort to such measures. But the ball was in Bayonetta's court - what would she say?

"Let me think about it," Bayonetta said to Wily, mulling her options as she looked at Snake. She could tell how much Snake desperately wanted her to leave. "I'll happily volunteer for your 'project.'"

"YES!" Wily and Snake both exclaimed in unison, making their shouts of exclamation for their own reasons, only for both men to look at each other. It was the happiest jinx ever known to man.

"I'd like to see this machine in action if you don't mind," Hal requested to Wily, as he would love nothing more than to see a prototype machine in action. He was a sucker for all things technology, after all.

"Erm...my project isn't fully accessible to the public yet," Wily stated kindly to Hal, although it was somewhat clear that the robot inventor was hiding something from the others. "It's still in the testing phase."

"Then I'd love to give this project of yours a good test, doctor," Bayonetta said to Wily as she got up from her bed, ready to kick stuff into full gear. "So when shall we begin?"

"We can start right now. Follow me!" replied Wily as he led Bayonetta out of her room, much to Snake's relief. Snake's leave favorite pest was removed from the premises.

"Thank goodness, she's gone," remarked Snake, only to catch Hal in the act of sneaking out of the room. "Get back on the windowsill, Hal..." After being caught by Snake, Hal scurried to the windowsill, sitting down and basking in the shade.

Luigi celebrated his birthday last week with Mario, as the Mario Bros and others went down to Super Nintendo World to do nothing but have fun. (Minus Bowser, who was worried sick about Bowser Jr's whereabouts.) This week, it was time for Luigi's son Charles to celebrate his birthday, and on St. Patrick's Day fittingly enough.

Charles requested Luigi that the family would go and eat out on his birthday, but Luigi had promised something "even better" for his now six-year-old son. Luigi hyped up the surprise over the week, to the point where Charles was overexcited about what the surprise might be.

"Luigi, this had better be a joke," Daisy said to Luigi, who was guiding Charles down the street as Charles had a blindfold over his eyes. Daisy was informed of the birthday plans for Charles and was not a fan.

"Look on the bright-a side, this saves us money!" argued Luigi, as Daisy displayed her disagreement by rolling her eyes. Her plans for Charles's birthday were dashed in a hurry by Luigi, for better and for worse.

"Money that could've been well spent..." Soon Luigi and his family arrived at their destination, and Daisy was doing her best to be optimistic. "...so sorry we have to do this to you, Charles."

"Okay, Charles, you can take-a off the blindfold!" Luigi told his son, who missed his father's command as his blindfold was still on. Rather than repeating himself, Luigi simply took the blindfold off of Charles.

"Wha..." uttered Charles, whose eyes were closed as he blinked a few times. Once his eyes were fully open, he saw that he was in front of a mansion. Professor E. Gadd's mansion. "...is that what I think it is?"

"Happy birthday, Charles!" cheered Mario, who was gathered at the front with his family - including Hunter and Yuffie. Peach blew into a party blower, while Spyro flew overhead raining down confetti which made Charles smile.

"Getting tired of holding this banner..." Yuffie said to Hunter, who was holding a banner that read, "Happy 6th Birthday Charles!". Both Yuffie and Hunter were standing on ladders.

"You and me both," replied Hunter, taking one of his hands off the banner to wind up his tired arm. Suddenly the banner fell down, and both Yuffie and Hunter fell along with it.

"Ha, knew that was gonna happen," Spyro chuckled when he saw the crashing banner, done raining the confetti as he landed on the ground. Mario would look at the downed banner as he facepalmed.

Mario: Banner took-a me six hours to work on. Could've gotten it done in less-a than an hour, but that's what perfectionists do. I chose to work on it for six hours because I'm a hard-a worker. *pauses* Also because-a it was Charles's sixth birthday.

"We could've gone out for pizza," Daisy said to Luigi, who brought Charles closer to the front of E. Gadd's mansion while Daisy brought Deanna along.

"There will be pizza here...I hope," responded Luigi, as the plans for Charles's birthday were mostly ambiguous. Ambiguous, why? Because the unofficial master of ceremonies would be handling everything. That unofficial master of ceremonies came as an old man with glasses and a lab coat.

"Is my grandchild here?" inquired E. Gadd as he exited his mansion, smiling with his lone tooth when he saw Charles. "There he is! Happy birthday, Charles!"

"Grandpa!" exclaimed Charles as he and E. Gadd ran towards each other, before embracing each other with a hug. E. Gadd picked up Charles and hugged him tight, while Daisy looked on with disgust.

"Just bring a smile-a to your face," Luigi said to Daisy, who was obviously not smiling as she had her arms folded. Daisy would smack E. Gadd with a frying pan if she had the chance.

Daisy: Luigi really sold Charles and Deanan on the idea that E. Gadd is their grandfather. He couldn't have picked a much worse option to fill the grand void.

"Why don't you and your sister come on in?" E. Gadd said to Charles as he placed the six-year-old back on his feet, ready to spend his entire day with the birthday boy. "I baked you some chocolate chip cookies!"

"Tiny loved those chocolate chip cookies, E. Gadd," Tiny Tiger said to the professor as he exited from the mansion, licking his fingers; E. Gadd smiled nervously, as Daisy's concerns were suddenly validated.

"...I have enough dough to bake another batch. Come inside, all of you!" E. Gadd led Charles inside his mansion, as everyone except for Luigi and Charles followed after the professor. Tiny remained standing as he was done licking his fingers.

"Baking more cookies for Tiny? Aw, you shouldn't have!" Overhearing E. Gadd, Tiny returned to the inside of E. Gadd's mansion as Daisy shot a worrying glance at the mutant tiger.

"That is who you're letting our children hang out with," Daisy said quietly to Luigi as she pointed at Tiny, acting as if Tiny was a child molester of the highest degree. Surely Luigi would reconsider.

"Dr. Cortex will keep-a his minions in check," Luigi reassured Daisy, who looked up at the heavens and shook her head as she and Luigi entered the mansion. Charles's birthday would go as well as E. Gadd would allow it.

Link and Zelda had more folks to help move into Omnis Adest, and it was the Special Support Section - you might remember them from episode 354. Lloyd successfully coaxed Master Hand into sending the SSS an invite, though it was only because the section leader was named, well, Lloyd Bannings.

Regardless, Master Hand found the SSS to be incredibly valuable and was more than happy to extend an invitation to the group. With Lloyd and his crew in town, it was up to Link and Zelda to secure the furniture needed for the Special Support Section's new digs.

"As an FYI, this is cutting into my nap time," Cloud said to Link, who was doing an inventory of items in the foyer with Zelda. Cloud was stuck holding a large cardboard box that felt extremely heavy.

"You sleep too much anyway," responded Link, who was going through a list of items and checking several items off with his trusty ink pen. "Also, we needed some muscle."

"Donkey Kong and Terry are literally right here." Not all muscular guys want to help with moving in furniture - did you not consider that, Cloud?

"Both of them declined," stated Zelda, who was moving stuff to the front door; Cloud groaned as he lamented how dependable he was. Champion Link came down the stairs and saw what was going on.

"Hey guys, need an extra hand?" Champion Link asked Link and Zelda as he pointed his thumbs at himself. "I can be your guy." Champion Link earned the Hylians' trust in a heartbeat.

"Sure thing! Help Zelda with moving the boxes," replied Link, as Champoin Link was about to get down to business. But not before Cloud placed his box on the floor, and pulled Champion Link to the side.

"Remember what I told you..." Cloud said quietly to Champion Link, hoping that the Hylian remembered his words of advice last week. Champion Link showed his understanding as he nodded his head.

One day, Lakitu asked Wily if he could borrow his dental floss. The bespectacled Koopa had planned on using this floss, only to realize...that he didn't have any teeth! So Lakitu planned on returning the floss to Wily, who was down in the tower's basement according to one of the tower denizens.

"Is a chaperone that necessary?" Hammer Bro asked Lakitu, after being asked to accompany Lakitu down to the basement. Lakitu was holding a torch to light the stairway. "Also, there's a light switch..."

"I knew that," replied Lakitu as he looked up at the torch to ensure that the flame was ablaze. "I'm only using this torch to save some money on the light bill."

"Nice excuse..." Soon Hammer Bro and Lakitu reached the bottom of the stairs, arriving at the basement. AT the basement they saw Wily with Bayonetta, and his newest project - a machine with some sort of portal.

"Better make this quick," Bayonetta said to Wily as she stretched out a bit, stretching her calves while Wily did a few last-minute configurations. "Luka and Jeanne are moving into Omnis Adest, and I'd like to visit them."

"Should have told me that earlier," Wily responded while Hammer Bro and Lakitu were looking on, checking out Wily's newest machine. "Otherwise, I would've gone with a different victim...I mean, volunteer."

Bayonetta: Master Hand has been dying to reel Luka into Omnis Adest. But Luka's job has made the process hard. You'd think that Luka would quit his job and pursue a new one since he won't stop complaining to me about his current field of work. But sadly, most men enjoy living in their pit of misery.

"Changed up pretty quickly, doctor," Bayonetta said to Wly as she crept over to the robot inventor, towering over him and making him feel emotions that he probably shouldn't. "What did you mean by 'victim'? Could I die from your experiment?"

"P-P-Perhaps you might..." stammered Wily, sweat running down his face as the manner in which Bayonetta was intimidating him gave him dominatrix vibes. Mostly had to do with Bayonetta wearing all black.

"Hey doc, I got your dental floss," Lakitu called out to Wily, saving him from his predicament as he held up the dental floss. Wily looked over at Lakitu, who was waving the floss in his hand.

"Hand it over." So Lakitu tossed the floss over to Wily, only to accidentally strike the robot inventor in the eye. Wily yelped in pain as he held his injured eye.

"Seems like you're the one who's the victim," Bayonetta said to Wily as she backed up off the robot inventor, giving him some space. Wily was able to shake off his injury as he took his hand away from his face.

"When I said, 'hand it over', I didn't mean it like that!" Wily scolded Lakitu as he picked up his dental floss and placed it in his pocket. "Now let's begin with a little test run."

So Wily walked up to his new machine and pressed the start button on the dashboard. A portal opened up, one that was big enough for Bayonetta to enter through without fail.

"You getting this?" Hammer Bro asked Lakitu, who was prompted to take out his trusty camera to record Wily's machine in action. Lakitu pressed the record button and got to filming.

"Alright, Bayonetta, just step through that portal," Wily commanded the Umbra Witch, as he had his hand on a lever. Bayonetta approached the portal in the sultriest way she knew how, before looking at Wily.

"If I end up dying...be sure to give Snake my finest regards," Bayonetta winked at Wily before stepping in through the portal. Once Bayonetta had gone through, Wily pulled on the lever.

"Woah!" exclaimed Hammer Bro, as the portal was changing in all sorts of colors. After a brief amount of time, Wily pulled the lever up, making the portal return to its normal state.

"Wonder what that was all about," Lakitu quietly discussed with Hammer Bro, as he and his friend waited for something to jump out from the portal. Fortunately for them, the wait wasn't that long.

Soon a young girl exited the portal, wearing glasses and having her black hair in twin ponytails. At first glance, this young girl looked like Bayonetta, but only younger. Wily was smiling with glee.

"Wh-Where am I?" the young girl wondered as she looked around, only for her eyes to fall upon Wily. She was understandably spooked by Wily, given the robot inventor's crazed smile.

"Eureka! It worked!" cheered Wily, jumping up and down with his hands in the air as if he was celebrating a successful space mission. Hammer Bro and Lakitu were both marveling at the young girl before them.

"Is that...you, Bayonetta?" Lakitu asked the young girl, who took sight of the bespectacled Koopa and Hammer Bro. Lakitu and Hammer Bro concerned the girl much less than Wily did.

"I am not Bayonetta...but you may call me Cereza," the young girl introduced herself to Lakitu and Hammer Bro, all while holding a stuffed toy in her hands. The demonic appearance of the stuffed toy was a dead giveaway at the girl was in fact a younger Bayonetta.

"Lakitu, are you getting this?!" Wily asked Lakitu, as Cereza was strongly uncomfortable with the fact that she was being recorded without her consent. Wily was happier than Daffy Duck on his best day, as evidenced by his exuberance.

Wily: What I have just perfected was a time machine...but one that is for my own personal use, mind you. I made that time machine as a way to prove to everyone that time traveling is dangerous. And look at what it did - time travel reverted Bayonetta back into being a young girl! That is the narrative that I've decided to roll with.

"I assume that neither one of you has seen my Mummy," Cereza said to Lakitu and Hammer Bro, daring not to include Wily in the conversation. Wily was too busy celebrating anyway to even care.

"Send me that video whenever you can!" Wily said to Lakitu, before hightailing up the stairs to brag to his fellow tower denizens about his latest achievement. The robot inventor was heard cheering and hollering along the way.

"We have not," replied Hammer Bro, shuddering to think what Cereza's mom looked like as images of Madame Butterfly oddly played out in his mind. "But you look so tense! How about we take you to a place where you can relax."

Magolor may be stuck in the police station's jail cell, but that didn't mean that he couldn't receive any visitors. The buddy cops allowed folks to visit Magolor, provided that they were at "speaking distance" with the alien. Whatever that meant.

But little did the buddy cops know, however, that Magolor had already received visits from Sonic and Pit. Pit usually delivered food, while Sonic was just a guy for Magolor to talk to. Today, Magolor received a visit from the latter.

"Got you this honey bun from the vending machine," Pit said to Magolor as he offered the alien a honey bun. Magolor hastily accepted the honey bun as he snatched it out of Pit's hands. "It's very sticky, so...be careful."

"A honey bun just for me!" exclaimed Magolor as he turned around and ate the honey bun in private. He had yet to build up enough confidence to eat while someone's eyes were on him. "So good..."

"Yup, and it only cost me seventy-five cents! Vending machines are the one thing that inflation hasn't struck yet." As Magolor devoured the honey bun whole, the buddy cops Toon Link and Young Link entered their police station.

"Speaking distance, good sir," Toon Link said to Pit, showing the angel how close he should be to Magolor as he dragged him away. Pit was now sitting in his chair six feet away from Magolor's cell.

"But I was speaking to him just fine. What's the worst that he could do?" Pit watched as Toon Link took out some yellow caution tape and taped it on the floor, ensuring that Pit wouldn't cross the line.

"I dunno - anal probe you, perhaps," replied Young Link as his partner-in-crime applied the yellow tape, which extended across the police station. "He is an alien, after all."

"My specialty is amusement parks, not anal probing," Magolor kindly informed the buddy cops, only to be silenced by Young Link a split second later. Once Toon Link was done, he put the yellow caution tape away.

"Sorry that I was absent," Lavenza apologized to the buddy cops, returning to the police station after she had left to handle a few errands. "My sisters needed me down in Mini Mementos. Something about a plumbing issue."

"Way to steal the Mario Bros. shine," remarked Toon Link as he grabbed a chair and placed it right in front of Magolor's cell. The Hylian then pointed at the yellow tape on the floor. "See this yellow line? No one is allowed to cross it."

"Understood." So Lavenza went to her chair to sit down in it, but not before the buddy cops stopped her. "Am I not allowed to sit in the chair?"

"You're crossing the yellow line..." Looking down at the floor, Lavenza saw that she had one foot over the yellow line. So she attempted to walk past the yellow line, maneuvering past the open space where the tape wasn't present, only for the buddy cops to apprehend her again.

"Can't sneak past the yellow line either," stated Young Link, leaving Lavenza stumped - did the buddy cops expect Lavenza to levitate to her seat with ease?

"Then how am I supposed to sit down in the chair?" Lavenza was left looking for answers, and she was unconfident in the buddy cops having any for her.

"That's for you to figure out. We'll leave you to it." The buddy cops would leave Lavenza with their predicament, as they left the police station to continue their patrol duty. "Smell ya later."

"You can't just say that, that's Blue's catchphrase..." Toon Link scolded Young Link, as he was heard giving his partner-in-crime a vicious backhand. "...that's catchphrase infringement."

"This yellow line will be the end of me," fretted Lavenza, unsure of what to do, only to gasp in shock when she saw Pit step over the yellow line once the coast was clear. "Pit, you can't do that!"

"Oh yes I can, the buddy cops can't stop me!" boasted Pit as he was no longer within "speaking distance" of Magolor. No six-foot rule was going to hinder him. "Rules are meant to be broken."

Pit: Call me a professional rulebreaker. I break all sorts of rules at Cafe Leblanc - I drink coffee syrup, eat the coffee creamer raw, and I've even urinated in the sink a few times. Usually, I have Dark Pit disinfect the sink to hide the evidence.

Dark Pit: Pit is walking a walking FDC violation. *pauses* Screw that...he's more of an FDC disaster.

"Here's some M&M's," Pit offered a bag of M&M's to Magolor, who accepted the candy from Pit as Lavenza nervously looked out the door. "I'll get you some more vending machine snacks."

"Bring it on!" Magolor encouraged Pit, who nodded his head before leaving the police station in a jiffy. Lavenza, nervously biting her knuckle, took a deep breath as she stepped over the yellow line.

"One foot down..." the young girl said quietly as she gently placed her foot past the yellow line, before bringing her other foot over. A seamless movement. Lavenza then sat in her chair and sighed in relief.

"Guess that's one rule you don't mind breaking," Magolor said to Lavenza after he was through eating his M&M's. Poured the entire bag's contents into his mouth. Lavenza looked at Magolor as she let out a nervous giggle.

Link, Cloud, Zelda, and Champion Link were at Omnis Adest, assisting the Special Support Section members - Lloyd Bannings, Elie MacDowell, Randy Orlando, and Tio Plato - with moving into their apartment. The foursome had just gotten started.

"TV will go over there," Lloyd directed Champion Link, pointing in the living room where he wanted the TV to be placed. Champion Link was carrying a flatscreen TV and was struggling mightily.

"So...heavy.." wheezed Champion Link as he carried the TV, only for his arms to give up as he dropped the TV on his foot. The Hylian screamed in pain.

"Ah, who am I kidding? We barely even watch that much TV!" If only Champion Link had known that sooner, as he was on the floor writhing in pain and holding his foot.

"But you specifically asked for a TV..." stated Zelda as she was checking the inventory list in her hands; that's when Lloyd looked over at Randy, who looked away and whistled innocently.

"Screw me for not liking to read books," was all that Randy could say in his defense; him not liking reading books was blasphemous, and also a high offense. He ought to know better.

"Next time, let me handle the heavy stuff," Cloud came over to say to Champion Link, before helping the Hylian up to his feet. Champion Link's foot was still aching, but he could manage.

"Link and Zelda!" Falco called out to the Hylian couple as he poked his head in through the front door, as Link and company stopped what they were doing. "These two said they're with the Special Support Section."

"Bring them on in," responded Link, as Falco beckoned to the two individuals outside. Following Falco inside the apartment were a girl and a boy, whom Lloyd recognized right off the bat.

"Noel Seeker and Wazy Hemisphere!" exclaimed Lloyd, happily reunited with two of the remaining members of SSS. It was like a happy family reunion. "It's a pleasure."

"Likewise, Detective Bannings," Noel returned the favor as she saluted Lloyd, recognizing the police detective as her superior. Meanwhile, Falco was leaning in close to Wazy, who had to jump away.

"What is your problem?!" Wazy frowned at Falco, who was looking closely at the young man. Falco genuinely did not believe that he was in the wrong.

"Sorry, just wanted to see if you were a girl," replied Falco, who had many doubts about Wazy's gender since the first moment he met the guy. Wazy stared at Falco warily.

Falco: An exposed navel, a girly-looking face, and tall brown boots. If I had known any better, I'd have thought that he was a woman at first glance. In fact, I did think that he was a woman. Something about the way he presents himself.

"Was wondering when you would arrive," Lloyd said to Noel and Wazy, fully content that all members of the SSS were now under the same roof. "We could have had two guest rooms at our disposal!"

"Very funny," smirked Noel, giving Lloyd a modest seven out of ten for his attempt at being humorous. "But really, we have some car trouble along the way. That's why we arrived so late."

"Did someone say, car trouble?" Falco perked up as he rubbed his hands together, wanting to make himself of use to Noel and Wazy. "Nothing that I can't handle."

"It's a very advanced car, you might not be able to handle it," Wazy warned Falco, who could only scoff in response to prevent his ego from taking a hit.

"Oh please! I drive a literal spaceship - repairing a measly car is nothing for me. But if I were to fix your car, I would need a right-hand man..."

"I can be your right-hand man," volunteered Champion Link as he raised his hand, prompting Link and Zelda to look at him astonishedly. Cloud, on the other hand, looked at Champion Link like he was crazy.

"Then hop aboard, Champ!" So Champion Link ran over to Falco, signifying his partnership with the avian pilot as he gave him a high five. "Noel, Wazy, take us to your vehicle."

"Just got a new insurance policy, so I advise you not to break anything," Noel informed Falco as he and Wazy led the avian pilot and Champion Link out of the apartment building. "We'll be back, Lloyd."

"Sure hope you know what you're getting yourself into..." muttered Cloud, no doubt speaking about Champion Link - would Champion Link do a great job, or risk imminent failure?

At last, Snake had peace and quiet - Bayonetta was gone, for she was off fiddling with Wily and his newest project. Now Snake could hang out with Hal in peace, and not be so easily annoyed - although Hal was annoying him a bit already.

"Trigun Stampede is an absolute must-watch; you have to give it a try," Hal discussed with Snake, as he was recommending new anime shows to the former spy. Snake appeared done with life with his thousand-mile stare.

"How about you try asking a woman out on a date?" suggested Snake, and he was coming from a good place as he was only looking out for Hal and his long-term life prospects. "Travis did it, and look at him now."

"But Snake, you have to watch Trigun Stampede. Granted the art style looks different from the original, and the soundtrack's a bit jarring, but it still has that same Trigun charm." Unable to care any less, Snake looked like he wanted to punch Hal in the face.

"Woah, did I hear someone talk about Trigun Stampede?" asked an overhearing Sonic as he sped inside the room, looking at Snake and Hal. Snake saw Sonic as the man who could save him from his misery.

"Yes, this man right here," replied Snake as he pointed at Hal, singling his best friend out and expecting Sonic to escort Hal out of the room like a prisoner. "Apparently he watches that stupid crap."

"That's cool, 'cause I watch that show as well!" Sonic would give his props to Hal, as he walked over to the hacker and gave him a high-five. Snake looked disgusted at Sonic, finding himself judgmental of the blue hedgehog.

"Everyone is such a nerd these days..." Partially blaming the Internet for making everyone a nerd, Snake went back to his thousand-mile stare as Hammer Bro and Lakitu entered the room.

"Here's your room, Bayonetta...I mean, Cereza," Lakitu said to the young girl as he welcomed her inside the bedroom. Cereza was unfamiliar with her surroundings as she looked around warily.

"This is supposed to be my room?" questioned Cereza, as the younger version of Bayonetta expectedly drew looks from Sonic, Snake, and Hal. "You're not saying that because of that gothic-looking bed, are you?"

"Dang, Bayonetta, did you de-age somehow?" Snake asked Cereza, whose unfamiliarity with Snake made her briefly afraid of the former spy. "I hope that you remain that way."

"He looks like a child predator," Cereza told Hammer Bro and Lakitu concerning Snake, who took great offense to Cereza's comment. Snake was about to throw an object at Cereza, but remembered that Cereza was a minor and so held in his rage.

Hammer Bro: Cereza understandably got some looks when we were guiding her to her room. A lot of folks asked us if Cereza was Bayonetta's daughter. Most didn't believe us when we told them the answer. Simon was personally hoping that Cereza was born out of wedlock with Luka Redgrave - just so that he would have a legitimate reason to have beef with Luka.

"Hey, do you know who I am?" Sonic asked Cereza as he hopped over to the young girl, curious as to how much she knew. The look on her face seemed to suggest that Cereza had no idea who Sonic even was.

"All I know is that you're a talking blue hedgehog," replied Cereza, as Sonic faceplanted unto the floor in disappointment - despite seeing the response coming from a mile away. "Never seen one of those before."

"A young Bayonetta...quite fascinating!" marveled Hal as he was about to go over to Cereza, only for Snake to hold his arm out and stop him in his tracks. Hal took a few steps back.

"I know how much you like little girls - contain yourself," Snake advised Hal, who was left deeply offended as he feared Snake knew too much. Once he was done being disappointed, Sonic hopped back up on his feet.

"Well, Bayonetta..." Sonic said to Cereza, only to stop speaking when Hammer Bro gestured his hand to the blue hedgehog.

"It's Cereza," Hammer Bro whispered to Sonic; if Sonic was going to speak to Cereza, he had to address her the right way.

"...Cereza, is that right? I can tell that you have no clue where you are, or what you're up to. But I can be your guide if you want me to."

"I'm looking for my Mummy," stated Cereza, as Sonic had no idea how to help out Cereza in that regard. "She's an Umbra Witch." That tidbit of information didn't make things any easier for Sonic.

"That's cool, I know an Umbra Witch myself! Excuse me for a moment." Sonic excused himself from his conversation with Cereza, as he wanted to ask Hammer Bro and Lakitu a question in private. "How did Bayo even end up like this?" Sonic whispered to the Koopa duo.

"Dr. Wily," Hammer Bro and Lakitu both whispered simultaneously, before pointing at each other with smiles on their faces. "Ha, jinx! Jinx again!"

"Why are they pointing at each other?" Cereza asked Sonic, who went away from Hammer Bro and Lakitu to speak with Snake. His conversation with Snake was also private.

"Snake, I want you and Hal to investigate Dr. Wily. Seems to be the dude who de-aged Bayonetta. I'll keep...Cereza company until you get some answers."

"For the record, I will not ask Wily to age Bayonetta back up," admitted Snake, who preferred Cereza over Bayonetta despite Cereza accusing him of being a child predator. Having Snake's word, Sonic returned to Cereza.

"Honestly, I don't know where your mom is, Cereza. But you can show me where to start looking first!" Sonic appeared as a trustworthy ally to Cereza, and so Cereza wished to have the blue hedgehog at her side.

"You can show me where to start," Cereza said to Sonic, throwing it back at the blue hedgehog as Sonic didn't see it coming. "You did say that you know an Umbra Witch. She must live here, I assume."

"Yeah, about that..." Sonic nervously chuckled, and Cereza looked at him in a way that prevented Sonic from breaking the young girl's trust. "...she lives outside of this mansion."

"Oh, you must be referring to..." started Lakitu as he knew who Sonic was talking about, only for Hammer Bro to shush him. Lakitu shushed Hammer Bro in response, as a back-and-forth shushing war was sparked.

"Take me to this Umbra Witch," Cereza urged to Sonic, who was much relieved that an Umbra Witch had recently moved into Omnis Adest. That Umbra Witch being Jeanne, incidentally.

The car that Noel drove in was an orbal car, and it was an armored sedan that was dripped out with all sorts of decals. Falco had the hood of the orbal car opened, as he and Champion Link inspected the car's insides.

"Orbal cars are powered by orbal technology," Noel explained to Falco and Champion Link, as she was filling the two in on how orbal cars worked.

"So what you're saying is, these cars don't need gas to refuel their tanks," assumed Falco, pulling on one of the cords in the vehicle...and causing a small explosion to occur. "That was totally intentional."

Falco: I only agreed to work on Noel's car as a way to redeem myself from that mechanic stint I did at The Pink Door. Champion Link was only brought in as a fall guy just in case things go awry.

"Some mechanic you are," Wazy snorted at Falco, sitting on a tree stump as he watched Falco fail to repair the car. Champion Link honestly wasn't that much help either. "Where's your wrench?"

"Thanks for the reminder," replied Falco as he dug into his pocket and pulled out a wrench. The avian pilot, bizarrely enough, started hammering away with the wrench as Noel and Champion Link looked on.

"I think he's doing this just to be funny," Champion Link whispered to Noel, although not a single person was laughing. Not even Wazy, who was amused by Falco's sad attempt at being a car mechanic.

"Sure hope so," Noel whispered back, feeling bad for Falco every time the avian pilot smacked the sedan. Noel was slowly starting to see that Falco truly wasn't all that.

"Know what, I'm gonna call my buddy for an extra hand," Falco said after he was done whacking with the wrench, walking away and taking his phone out to make an important phone call. "Champion Link, cover for me."

"But I thought I was your extra hand!" Champion Link said to Falco, who didn't hear the Hylian as he had his phone up to his ear. Champion Link let out an exasperated sigh, as he got to work.

Charles was celebrating his sixth birthday, and he was doing so in style with his "grandpa" E. Gadd. As the man in charge of Charles's birthday festivities, E. Gadd did everything possible to make Charles's special day the best day possible.

One activity he had in mind was doing a bubble wrap race, which took place around his mansion. Playing with Charles were a couple of Cortex's minions - namely the Komodo Bros, Koaloa Kong, and Ripper Roo - while the Mario Bros and their wives spectated.

"Where is the finish line already?" wondered Komodo Joe, as he and his brother Komodo Moe were racing down the hallway. Charles was up ahead, laughing as he was obviously having fun.

"You're doing it wrong - you're not supposed-a to pop the bubbles!" Mario called out to the minions, who didn't seem to care that much about the rules. Ripper Roo was even bouncing around just to pop the bubbles; he could care less about finishing the race.

"Can you please hurry up, you're making Lou cry," said Peach, as Lou was understandably crying from how loud it was in the hallway. Peach's plea was ignored as the bubble wrap race raged on.

E. Gadd: My knowledge of and experience with six-year-olds is very limited. It was for that reason that I asked a Party City employee in Tukwila for ideas for a six-year-old birthday party. They thought that I was a perverted old man and they showed me out the door.

"Charles wins! Wahoo!" cheered Charles, who crossed the imaginary finish line by simply reaching the end of the bubble wrap. The boy jumped up and down in celebration, while the sore loser Komodo Bros popped the bubble wrap in anger.

"Please keep it down!" Peach pleaded to the Komodo Bros as she held her hands over the ears of the crying Lou. Ripper Roo jumping on the bubble wrap just for the sake of it didn't make the situation any better.

"Never knew E. Gadd had-a this much bubble wrap!" remarked Mario, not caring that much about the fact that his infant son was crying. Growing displeased, Daisy looked at Luigi.

"Look at how much fun-a our boy is having," Luigi said to Daisy as he pointed at Charles, who was celebrating as he pumped his fists. Tiny Tiger came around the corner and saw Charles celebrating his victory.

"Charles won? This calls for a celebration!" exclaimed Tiny as he picked up Charles and tossed him up in the air. The mutant tiger would do this multiple times.

"WHEEEEEEE!" squealed Charles, having the time of his life as he was tossed up in the air repeatedly. But Daisy was not having the time of her life, as her anxiety increased each time Tiny threw Charles up to the ceiling.

"You hurt my Charles, and you are a dead man!" Daisy threatened Tiny, only to look offended when she saw Luigi smiling at what Tiny was doing to Charles. "There's no way you're actually enjoying this."

"But look at how much fun-a he's having!" responded Luigi, causing Daisy to groan and storm off highly upset. Luigi remained where he was, while Mario turned his head and saw Daisy retreating.

"Daisy, wait up!" Mario called out to the princess as he ran after her, wondering why Daisy wanted to leave so badly. Eventually, Daisy ran into E. Gadd, who was wearing a Confetteroni birthday suit.

"How do you like my birthday suit?" E. Gadd asked Daisy, before striking a few poses to gauge Daisy's opinion. Daisy was looking at the birthday suit in disgust - but not with as much disgust as she was looking at E. Gadd right now.

"It's not even your stinking birthday..." replied Daisy as she walked past E. Gadd, hiding the amount of vitriol she had towards him. Thinking that Daisy loathed his birthday suit, E. Gadd looked disappointed.

"Chin-a up, E. Gadd, she'll be fine," Mario assured the professor as he placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder, while also admiring the professor's drip. "Daisy's really not a fan of how you're handling Charles's birthday."

"That's what it's all about?" inquired E. Gadd, as he turned his head back and watched Daisy run off to find a place for solitude. "I've been doing my best. Certainly, you would think so too, Mario."

"I know-a you're doing your best. Just gotta try a bit-a harder!" Mario's words of encouragement provided plenty of confidence to E. Gadd, who was super determined to make Daisy's frown turn upside down. One way or another.

Pit had to wait around a while to get Magolor some more vending machine snacks, for Mr. Game and Watch was restocking the machines in the vending machine room. After that was done, Pit got some snacks as he made his return to the police station.

"Tape doesn't seem to peel off," analyzed Lavenza, who was down on her knees trying to peel the yellow caution tape off the floor. Soon Pit returned to the police station, with his hands full of goodies. "Oh, Pit! You've returned!"

"Back and better than ever!" proclaimed Pit as he was about to head over to Magolor's jail cell...only for Lavenza to stop him and point at the yellow tape on the floor. "Seriously, Lavenza?"

"Security cameras are present; the buddy ops can review the footage, you know." But Pit could care less about the security cameras, as he crossed over the yellow line without a care in the world. Lavenza gasped.

"As I've said before, rules are meant to be broken." Pit brought the snacks over to Magolor, and dropped them at the alien's feet close to the prison bars. "Hope you like beef jerky!"

"Hot fries? Ramen noodles? Fried cicadas?!" Magolor ogled at the pile of snacks in front of him, as Pit stared inquisitively at the bag of fried cicadas that he apparently bought. "I must be in heaven!"

"Fried cicadas? Thought it said fried chicken." Pit grabbed the bag of fried cicadas and inspected it, while Magolor grabbed the other snacks and devoured them one by one. Magolor opened a bag, poured its contents into his mouth, and then opened another bag.

"Wished I had a drink to wash this stuff down." Fortunately for Magolor, Pit came through as he dug into his pocket and pulled out a bottle of Powerade. "Powerade for me? Neato!"

"That is an energy drink, not a leisure beverage..." stated Lavenza, while nervously looking out the door for any signs of the buddy cops. The young girl could hear Toon Link and Young Link's voices further down the hallway.

"Man, vending machines just might be my favorite thing in the whole wide world." Magolor had only drunk half of his Powerade, as he fastened the cap on and placed the bottle next to him.

"Heh, I'll say," responded Pit, before widening his eyes as he remembered a question that he wanted to ask Magolor. "By the way, did you ever get the chance to speak with Kirby?"

"Not ever since I went on 'parole' a few weeks ago. He must be busy at his Cafe Leblanc." A scoff was made by Pit in response to Magolor's assumption.

"Please! Kirby's only half the employee that I am. He's a slacker - me, on the other hand, I'm the real deal. No one betta! Employee of the Month!"

Joker: I have never felt compelled to do an Employee of the Month promotion. The others haven't done enough to warrant such praise, so it would be only me having my picture frame on the wall. It'd be like Spongebob being the sole Employee of the Month throughout the year, but except in this case, Spongebob's the manager.

"That is definitely news to me," remarked Magolor, as Pit capped so hard that he made Magolor genuinely believe that he was hot stuff. "You work with him at the cafe - can you convince Kirby to come and speak with me?"

"He is a slacker, so he wouldn't mind taking time off," replied Pit, who was content with fulfilling Magolor's request. "I'll be back." The angel would leave, as he stepped over the yellow line and exited the police station.

"I'm in so much trouble..." fretted Lavenza as she looked at a corner of the police station, believing that a stealth security camera was peering right at her. The mere thought of it alone made Lavenza shudder.

Champion Link was left alone to work on Noel's car, using whatever vehicle repair acumen he had. Which was quite limited. But for what it was worth, the Hylian at least didn't break anything.

"Think I see what the problem is," Champion Link said to Noel, diagnosing the problem as his eyes were drawn to a device in the center of the sedan's hood. "This device seems busted."

"The Orbment!" exclaimed Noel, finally understanding why her orbal car was acting so faulty all of a sudden. The answer was staring her right in the face. "Orbments use orbal energy to power machinery."

"The circuits look like they're out of whack. Lemme see if I can fix 'em." So Champion Link got his hands dirty, using his hands to connect the electrical circuits. Okay, so maybe his hands weren't getting dirty, but to him, it felt like it.

"Guess who's back?" asked a certain avian pilot, as Falco returned to the premises with his main man Fox. Fox looked bothered as he had Marcus at his feet.

"Took you a while to fetch your 'extra hand,'" Wazy said to Falco, having kept time of how long Falco was absent. He would tell Falco how long that time was, but not at the risk of facing haughty accusations.

"Fox here was doing dad things when I called him." Falco would place his elbow on Fox, who was looking annoyed as he took Falco's elbow away. "The fact that he agreed to be here while taking care of his son shows how selfless he is."

"'Selfless' isn't the best word to describe it..." muttered Fox, feeling bad that his father-son bonding time had to be spent away from the house.

Falco: You know, I felt bad about making Champion Link my designated fall guy. So I got my man Fox to be my fall guy instead! That way I won't feel nearly as bad.

"Well, you and your friend aren't needed right now," stated Noel, much to Falco's chagrin (and Fox's delight) as Champion Link was connecting the circuits in the Orbment. "Champion Link has it covered."

"Erm...not quite," refuted Champion Link, who was struggling with connecting the circuits after a few moments of early success. "Some of these circuits won't stay in."

"Hold my kid," Fox said to Falco, leaving Marcus in the care of the avian pilot as he joined Champion Link at Noel's orbal car. "Might as well be useful somehow..."

"You're in good hands, favorite godson of mine," Falco smiled at Marcus, only for his cell phone to ring. Knowing that he couldn't multitask, Falco took out his phone as he handed Marcus off to Wazy. "Watch my godson for me."

"Your godson? What...?" Wazy crinkled his nose, as Falco momentarily walked away to answer his phone. Wazy was clearly in no mood for babysitting.

Sonic offered to help Cereza find her mom, who according to Cereza was an Umbra Witch. So Sonic brought Cereza to Omnis Adest, where the recently moved-in Jeanne was. Some directions were needed, and Sonic knew just who to ask when he saw Luka Redgrave speaking with Alucard near a playground. (Guess what Luka and Alucard both had in common.)

"My birthday was two Fridays ago," Luka discussed with Alucard, reflecting on how blah his birthday was. A sign of him getting older fast. "Yet Bayonetta didn't buy me a birthday gift..."

"Has she ever gotten you anything for Christmas?" Alucard asked Luka, who took that point into account as Sonic and Cereza got closer. "Then you shouldn't be that surprised."

"All I want from Bayonetta is for her to be a caring girlfriend. Is that so much to..." Luka stopped speaking, as he and Alucard drew their attention to Sonic and Cereza. Luka couldn't help but recognize Cereza at first glance.

"Sorry for interrupting your conversation," Sonic apologized to Luka and Alucard, while the former remained heavily fixated on Cereza. You'll see why soon. "This girl here is looking for her mom."

"Yes, I know this one..." said Luka as he knelt down at Cereza to get a closer look at the young girl, with a finger placed underneath his chin. "...you must be Cereza!"

"How does he know me?" Cereza whispered to Sonic, unaware that Luka had met her before. But there must be a reason why Cereza didn't recognize Luka.

"Not the same little girl that I knew, but it's you all the same. I can tell that you're a variant." Done checking out Cereza, Luka stood back up on his feet as Alucard gave him a puzzled look.

"An explanation would be lovely," said Alucard, out of the loop as to who Cereza was and how she ended up here. Fortunately, Luka was equipped enough to fill Alucard in.

"So this is basically Cereza, she's like a younger Bayonetta." Based on Cereza's appearance alone, Alucard could've inferred that much. "This must be a variant of her."

"A multiverse of Bayonettas...how absolutely splendid," Alucard responded sarcastically, as having to deal with one Bayonetta was too much for him. He couldn't deal with multiple Bayonettas from different universes and timelines.

"I've been told by Sonic that an Umbra Witch lives here," Cereza said to Luka, putting all of her hope and trust in the journalist after the info dump he delivered to Alucard. Luka was her best shot.

"Sure is, but I reckon she's not the one you're looking for," warned Luka, fearing that he might potentially set Cereza up for slight disappointment. But Cereza refused to give up.

"But Sonic said that she can tell me where my Mummy is." As soon as Cereza brought up her mom, Luka was left with no other choice. Luka sighed as he lowered the tip of his hat.

"I'm so sorry..." Sonic mouthed to Luka, who quickly got over himself after he was done looking at the ground. Luka looked up at Cereza, sighing once more.

"Okay kid, I can introduce you to this Umbra Witch," Luka said to Cereza, before pointing at a townhouse in the distance that was close to the playground. "She lives in that townhouse right over there."

"Take us there," Cereza implored Luka, who was more than happy to escort Cereza and Sonic to Jeanne's abode. As Luka and company left, Alucard would do the same.

"I'd hate to see what an alternate universe Bayonetta looks like...or even acts like," Alucard made this remark as he was en route to the Assist Tower. And as Alucard left...Dimentio appeared!

"I'd love to see an alternate universe Bayonetta!" gleamed Dimentio, thinking that he could have a Bayonetta on his side if he convinced her right. "Thankfully we have the machine to do it...off to spying I go!"

Luka: What are the odds...my first day living at Omnis Adest, and my girlfriend somehow gets turned into a youngr. It's a good thing that I don't have a thing for young girls, unlike some creeps out there.

Hal: Snake had the audacity to claim that because of my love for anime, I like underage girls. What is that supposed to mean?!

So Luka brought Sonic and Cereza to Jeanne's townhouse, as Luka knocked on the door while Dimentio floated to the townhouse unseen. Luka hoped that he wasn't disturbing Jeanne at a busy time.

"Doing my hair, give me a moment!" Jeanne called out from inside her house, as she was heard putting a few hair products on a table. Soon the front door was opened by Jeanne.

"So much for doing your hair; it literally looks unchanged," Luka said to Jeanne, noticing that the Umbra Witch's long white hair looked the same as it did before. Jeanne took offense to Luka as she gasped and slapped the journalist silly.

"I was just getting started, for your information..." As Luka moved out of the way, holding his face in pain, Jeanne took sight of Sonic and Cereza and was easily enchanted by the latter. "...who is this? Cereza?"

"A young Cereza," Sonic clarified to Jeanne, who walked out of the townhouse to get a closer look at Cereza. "She's looking for her Mum." It was safe to say that Jeanne's interest was piqued.

"Ooh, I can tell that you're an Umbra Witch," Cereza said to Jeanne, as her sixth sense for recognizing Umbra Witches was tingling. "You also remind me of a good friend of mine."

"Let me guess...her name is Jeanne," inferred Jeanne, as she caused Cereza to gasp as she cupped her hands over her mouth. "Quite the coincidence since I'm Jeanne myself!"

"You're...Jeanne?" Cereza struggled to accept the fact that the Umbra Witch she was speaking with was Jeanne, as she stared in disbelief. While Cereza struggled to accept reality, Jeanne went over to speak with Sonic.

"No way is this the Bayonetta that I know," Jeanne whispered to Sonic, sharing any suspicions she developed with the blue hedgehog. "This one must be a displaced Bayonetta."

"Snake and Hal are getting to the bottom of this," Sonic whispered back, certain that Snake and Hal were currently getting closer to the truth. Jeanne took this intel into account as she returned to Cereza.

"You said that are looking for your mum, is that correct?" Jeanne asked Cereza, who broke away from her trance as she looked up at Jeanne and nodded. "Then come in, and I'll see how I can be of assistance."

"Thank you very much!" Cereza thanked Jeanne, as she and Sonic followed Jeanne inside the townhouse. Luka, having made a full recovery from his slap, was about to enter the townhouse only to be pushed away by Jeanne.

"And you can stay out," Jeanne told Luka, before rudely slamming the door in the journalist's face. Luka turned away from the door as she snapped his fingers in disgust.

"All I did was say that her hair looked the same..." a salty Luka muttered under his breath, as he lingered at the front door. Dimentio, meanwhile, was on the other side of the townhouse trying to take a peek inside.

Magolor had devoured the entire second wave of snacks that Pit had brought him, and was now ready for the third wave. Until Pit returned, Magolor had Lavenza to keep him company.

"Psst, pass me that remote," Magolor whispered to Lavenza, his eyes drawn to a TV remote on a table. Lavenza saw the TV remote but thought against moving from her seat.

"I cannot, for I am not allowed to move past this yellow line," explained Lavenza, as Magolor looked at the yellow caution tape on the floor and groaned.

"Why do you have to be such a stickler for the rules? You're just gonna let that yellow tape rule over you?" Judging from how hesitant Lavenza was about moving from her seat, the answer was frankly obvious.

"Toon Link and Young Link said no one is allowed to move past this tape. Those are the rules."

"Some rules are meant to be broken, though. Pit broke the rules, so what's stopping you?"

Toon Link: We do have a television in our police station, but we seldom use it. If ever. It's hard to filter what shows we're allowed to watch.
Young Link: Depending on what show we watch, we would have to write our own selves a ticket.
Toon Link: On that note, watching The Big Bang Theory will earn you a ticket. As well as watching a children's show while being an adult. Better not let us catch you watching Dora the Explorer.

"Oh, Magolor...look who I brought!" shouted Pit as he returned to the police station, not with a bunch of vending machine snacks...but rather with Kirby. Pit brought Kirby over to Magolor's jail cell, making him cross the yellow caution tape.

"Speaking distance..." Lavenza reminded Pit with a whisper, but Pit couldn't care less as he positioned Kirby right in front of Magolor. No speaking distance was going to deter him.

"You do your catching up with Magolor, Kirby - I'll hold it down at the cafe until your return." So Pit left Kirby alone with Magolor, as he left the police station and returned to his job. Kirby watched as Pit left, before looking at Magolor.

"Well, Magolor...we meet again," Kirby said to the alien, willing to take as much time away from his job as was needed. "I take it that you wanted to speak with me?"

With some help from Fox, Champion Link got all the circuits in the Orbment properly connected. Now came the moment of truth - to see if the orbal car would operate without a hitch.

"Don't floor it," Wazy gave this whimsical warning to Noel, smiling as he was holding Marcus in his arms. Fox saw his son being held by Wazy and frowned.

"What are you doing with my son?" Fox questioned Wazy, wondering where Falco had run off to, as Noel turned on the ignition of her orbal car. The car turned on smoothly, as no noticeable warning signs were present.

"Now let's see how this car can drive," said Noel, putting her hand on the shift stick and putting the car into drive. Noel drove her car down the road, delighted by how well it drove.

"Looks like you're back in business," Champion Link said to Noel, sitting in the passenger seat while Noel drove her car down the road...and showed no signs of stopping.

"Oh no, the brake isn't working!" fretted Noel as she mashed her foot repeatedly on the brake pedal; she then tried to pull on the shift stick, but to no avail. "And the shift stick's broken..."

"Uh...shouldn't the car be stopping?" Fox asked Wazy, curious as to why Noel was driving her car all the way down the street. As Fox and Wazy were figuring out what was afoot, Falco returned finishing up his phone call.

"And don't ask me about my credit card info again. Good riddance," Falco spoke into the phone, before ending the call and putting his phone back in his pocket. The avian pilot then looked up, wondering where Noel's car was. "Sooooo what did I miss?"

E. Gadd took Charles outside to his backyard, for he had a pizza party for the birthday boy. Everyone was invited, including Cortex's minions. But there was one problem...there was no pizza! Not yet, at least.

"Delivery man will be here at any minute," announced E. Gadd, checking the tracking app on his phone as the pizza delivery man was just down the street. "Pinstripe, do you mind welcoming the delivery man when he arrives?"

"You got it, bossman!" replied Pinstripe, bringing his Tommy gun with him as he exited the backyard through the wooden fence door. The fact that Pinstripe had to bring his gun with him brought much anxiety to Peach.

"Does he really need to bring his gun?" Peach asked E. Gadd, who was smiling with glee as he had put his full trust in Pinstripe. The pizza delivery man had arrived at E. Gadd's mansion, according to the tracker.

"It shows people that he means business," replied a confident E. Gadd, only for gunshots to be heard; everyone took cover as the pizza delivery man ran inside the backyard, being chased by Pinstripe.

"Okay, okay, I'm putting the pizza on the table!" the delivery man shouted at Pinstripe, placing the boxes of pizza and whatnot on a picnic table. It was a miracle that he hadn't dropped anything.

"And don't forget the tip!" Pinstripe shouted at the deliveryman, who dug into his pocket and handed the potoroo a few dollar bills. How terribly backward. The delivery man ran out of the backyard, valuing his life as Pinstripe cackled.

"Who on earth tips the person buying the food?" questioned Daisy, hoping that Luigi saw how wrong that was - but apparently, Luigi didn't think that much of the matter.

E. Gadd: Thanks to Cortex's minions, I have never had to leave behind a tip for any order I make. Granted I do pay the delivery workers in secret for their troubles, but don't tell the minions that...

"Let's get this party started," said Mario as he was about to open the boxes of pizza, only for E. Gadd to stop him in his tracks. There was one thing that must be done before the pizza party could begin.

"Wait a moment - we have yet to receive a visit from Cortex the Clown," E. Gadd told Mario, causing Daisy's mind to drift back and forth on how ridiculous it was that Cortex served as Charles's special entertainment.

"That must be him!" assumed a giddy N. Gin, hearing the sound of a clown horn from behind the fence. Everyone waited in anticipation, as a clown entered the backyard area...Cortex the Clown.

"I don't get paid enough to do this..." muttered Cortex, who was dressed up as a clown while looking depressed as ever. The minions pointing and laughing at him didn't make him feel any better.

"Is this some kind of joke?" questioned Daisy, already not a fan of Cortex the Clown; the fact that she never cared for Cortex, to begin with, didn't do much to improve the princess's sentiments.

"It was either him as a clown, or as a Power Ranger," Komodo Joe whispered to Daisy - and based on those two options, Daisy was now perfectly fine with Cortex dressing up as a clown to entertain Charles.

"I got him for cheap," E. Gadd said to Daisy, who was looking rather skeptically at Cortex as the evil genius was about to start his performance. For his first act, Cortex took out a long red balloon.

"Who's ready for some balloon modeling?" Speaking with fake enthusiasm, Cortex used the red balloon to form a balloon poodle. While Cortex was able to form a balloon poodle with ease, he encountered a problem.

"Totally knew-a that was gonna happen," remarked Mario, as Cortex's hands were caught in the balloon poodle. Cortex was in a state of panic, as Charles laughed at Cortex's plight.

"Oh dear, my hands are stuck! Someone help!" Rather than help Cortex with his problem, everyone was laughing at the evil genius. Even Daisy was laughing.

"I gotta admit, that was kinda funny," Daisy admitted to Luigi, with Cortex screaming his head off as he looked for a needle of some sort.

Jeanne was chatting with Cereza in the living room of her townhouse, with Sonic listening on. Jeanne promised Cereza that she would help her with finding her mom, but little did Cereza know that the Umbra Witch had some other intentions in mind.

"My Mummy...is nowhere to be found?" Cereza asked Jeanne, with Dimentio peeking in through the window trying to peep in on the conversation.

"It seems that you have been displaced," theorized Jeanne, as the sound of Sonic's cell phone ringing didn't bring the conversation to a halt. "Swapped out for the older you. That is my best explanation."

"Excuse me for a sec..." Sonic said to Cereza and Jeanne as he exited the living room, while Dimentio kept a watchful eye on the blue hedgehog. Once he was all alone, Sonic answered the call.

"It's Snake...I'm here," said Snake after the call was answered, calling Sonic on his codec. Sonic had been waiting to hear from Snake or Hal. "We found out what happened with Cereza."

"Dr. Wily built a time machine, and used it to bring in a younger Bayonetta," Hal was heard over the phone, as the hacker was chiming in. "Now he's getting put on blast for it by..."

"...did I say that you could join in on the call?" Snake frowned at Hal, who smiled sheepishly as he pulled away from Snake's codec. Snake and Hal looked inside Master Hand's room, and they saw Master Hand yelling at Wily while Lakitu stood by with his camera.

"You seriously built that time machine just to prove a point to Professor E. Gadd?" Master Hand questioned Wily, finding it super ironic that the robot inventor built the time machine in the first place. "What is wrong with you?"

"I didn't build it just to prove a point!" proclaimed Wily, only to be forced to admit his fault a split second later. "Okay, maybe I did..."

"You have an hour at the most to bring Bayonetta back to the present. At the most. You fail to do it, and you and your friend will be very sorry!"

"Why me, I was just the cameraman!" wailed Lakitu, with Snake and Hal pulling away from Master Hand's room after they had heard enough.

"Sonic, you have to return Cereza to the tower," Snake stressed to Sonic over the phone, dreading the thought of being stuck with Bayonetta as his roommate forever and ever. "Can't believe I'm saying this, but you gotta do it for Bayonetta's sake..."

"Not gonna lie, I'd let Cereza stay here just to see the result," snickered Sonic, who was on Team Chaos as he wanted to see how Wily would be punished. Suddenly, some shouting was heard from outside.

"Please don't tell me that's Luka," groaned Jeanne, recognizing Luka's screams from anywhere as she, Cereza, and Sonic exited the townhouse. Jeanne and company crept around the corner, before encountering Luka trapped in a clear glass box...with Dimentio above him.

"Let me out, let me out!" shouted Luka as he banged his fists on the glass box like that was going to break him out or something. He was clearly a rookie when it came to dealing with Dimentio.

Luka: So that's Dimentio...he's unlike anything that Bayonetta described him as. I imagined him to look even scarier. But what do I know?

"Now where, oh where, is the little Bayonetta?" pondered Dimentio, only to smile with glee when he saw that Cereza was outside and ripe for the taking. "There she is! I have lured you in, little Bayo, like a fisherman reeling in his big catch!"

"You let Luka go this instant!" Sonic pointed at Dimentio, before performing a spin dash on the jester. Dimentio teleported out of the way to avoid Sonic's signature attack.

"I will not be letting anyone go. Not until you give me what I want..." What Dimentio wanted came in the form of a young girl with glasses, as he had his eyes all on Cereza. "...give me the girl, or else!"

"Stay close to me," Jeanne advised Cereza, who stuck close to the Umbra Witch as if she was her own mother. "He won't lay a finger on you long as I'm around."

"I'll do you one better - why not get your boy Magolor?" Sonic challenged Dimentio, who was reminded of Magolor being kept at the mansion as he let out a light-hearted laugh. "He's been waiting for ya!"

"Let's just...let's just say that we're still re-evaluating him," replied Dimentio, and he refused to elaborate any further than that. "But we're almost done."

"Almost done? Why not get him now? You must not value Magolor that much, do you? Maybe you don't, but I sure do!"

"Whether or not we value Magolor should be of no concern to you. But what should concern you, hedgehog, is the fact that..."

Dimentio would be interrupted, as a car came flying down to Jeanne's townhouse. Sonic and company moved out of the way, as the car crashed into the glass box that Luka was trapped in. The person driving this car? Noel, with Champion Link still in the passenger seat.

"This car has gotten out of control!" shouted Noel, who was struggling to hit the brake pedal, let alone put the orbal car into neutral. But Luka didn't care either way, as he saw the car as his way of getting out.

"Mash on the gas pedal harder!" Luka encouraged Noel, hoping that the force of the orbal car would break the clear glass box. But Dimentio was confident that the box wouldn't break.

"Don't bother, there is no use," Dimentio told Noel, as Champion Link looked up and spotted Dimentio. Taking out his bow, Champion Link fired an arrow at Dimentio and struck him in the crown of his nose.

"Bullseye!" cheered Champion Link, as Dimentio was left writhing in pain; as a result, the clear glass box broke as Luka was freed. However, Noel's orbal car was still running.

"Stop the car, stop the car!" Luka shouted at Noel, who fortunately stopped the car in the nick of time as she turned off the ignition. Noel let out a sigh of relief, wiping away the sweat from her forehead.

"Finally, turning off the ignition worked," remarked Noel, grateful that the ride of terror came to an end. The sergeant major got out of the car safely, along with Champion Link as the car was finally brought to a halt.

"Regardless of how many times I have to say this...this isn't over," Dimentio vowed to everyone, teleporting away before anyone else had the chance to inflict pain upon him. Wazy and Fox soon arrived at the scene, and there were no signs of Falco.

"Told you not to floor it," Wazy said to Noel, as Luka took sight of the young man and wanted to ask him a very pressing question.

"Are you a woman, by any chance?" Luka asked Wazy out of bitter curiosity, and Wazy looked offended as he tried to cover up his navel.

"I couldn't help it, the car acted as if it had a mind of its own," Noel responded to Wazy, before looking at Champion Link for answers. Champion Link had no answers to spare.

"Maybe I connected the wrong circuits to each other," assumed Champion Link, willing to accept all the blame for how Noel's orbal car was acting. "By the way, where's Falco?"

"Sent him back home," replied Fox, who was holding Marcus's hands as his soon-to-be two-year-old son was standing right in front of him. "I sent that fake mechanic packing."

Falco: So I may have been unsuccessful in repairing Noel's car, but I'm happy that Champion Link did the hard work for me. He's no longer a fall guy in my book. He's the, uh...he's the opposite of that. I'll come up with a word for it soon.

"Always thought that he was a poser," remarked Wazy, who knew from the jump that Falco was nothing special when it came to car repair. Episode 371 had already proved it. "Say, Noel, how about we drive the car back to the apartment? See if it'll still act funny."

"I suppose it's worth a shot," replied Noel, and before she could re-enter the car, Noel looked at Champion Link to extend to him an offer. "Do you wish to come with us? You'll have to seat in the backseat."

"Fine with me," replied Champion Link, as he hopped in the backseat while Wazy got in the passenger side. Noel entered the car and turned it on, and was able to back out of the yard and unto the road without any trouble.

"Mummy..." said Cereza as she looked down at the ground, no doubt thinking about her mother. Sonic understood this, giving Cereza an understanding smile.

"C'mon, let's get you back home," Sonic said to Cereaza, knowing for a fact that the young girl's mom was waiting for her in her own universe.

Pit was all done delivering snacks to Magolor, as he was back at Cafe Leblanc serving the cafe patrons. In the angel's place was Kirby, who was brought into the police station to do a little...catching up with his old friend.

Kirby had yet to return to Cafe Leblanc, so Pit asked Joker for permission to stop by the police station to see how things were coming along. When Pit entered the police station, he was shocked to see Lavenza doing the unthinkable.

"You're peeling the tape off of the floor?!" an astonished Pit asked Lavenza, who was pulling the yellow caution tape off the police station floor. Lavenza was aware of what she was doing as she grinned.

"Some rules are meant to be broken," Lavenza replied matter-of-factly, balling up the yellow tape and tossing it into the trash can. Pit's eyes soon drifted to Kirby, who was having a splendid conversation with Magolor.

"To this day, the buddy cops had no idea that I was the one who burped," Magolor said to Kirby, earning a laugh out of the pink puffball as Pit came over to investigate.

"And they wrote each other a ticket...priceless," remarked Kirby, with Pit listening closely to the conversation. Pit was standing too close to Kirby, startling his best friend.

"Having fun, you two?" Pit asked Kirby and Magolor, able to see that the two were gradually getting back on friendly terms. The angel deemed it a personal victory.

"Yes we have...and would you look at the time!" Kirby saw the clock on the police station wall and realized that he had gotten carried away during his chat with Magolor. He had a job to get back to. "Sorry Magolor, but I have to bounce."

"That's okay, friend - come back and stop by whenever you have a day off!" responded Magolor, unaware that when you work at Cafe Leblanc, you never have a day off. Gotta work even on Sundays.

"Yeah, that won't be until Memorial Day. You'll be out of here by then, I'm sure. Well, I'm off." Kirby left the police station with Pit, as Magolor waved farewell to his friend.

"Just visit me during your lunch break. I'll be waiting for you then!" Enjoying the time he had with Kirby, Magolor was already looking forward to hanging out with the pink puffball again. The alien was feeling good inside.

"Watching Bluey while being a grown man with grandkids...Chrom was begging for that ticket," Toon Link said to Young Link, as the buddy cops walked inside the police station. Then Toon Link was soon left in shambles, falling to his knees for something was amiss.

"What happened to the yellow tape?!" wondered a panicky Young Link, as Toon Link stared despondently at where the yellow caution tape once was. Lavenza sat back down in her seat, with an amused smile.

Charles had a bubble wrap race and a pizza party in E. Gadd's backyard (which came with a visit from Cortex the Clown). And now came the big finale...the lighting of the candles on Charles's birthday cake! A moment that E. Gadd worked extensively hard to prepare for.

"Please don't sing the happy birthday song - you're all terrible singers," Cortex pleaded to his minions, while Mario and everyone else was given free rein to sing happy birthday to Charles. E. Gadd brought the cake out to the dining room, moving very gently.

"Dingodile, light the candles," commanded E. Gadd, after he placed the birthday cake on the table. Surely a cake with six birthday candles wouldn't require the use of a flamethrower...

"With pleasure," replied Dingodile as he took out his trusty flamethrower; everyone moved out of harm's way as Dingodile doused some fire on the birthday candles. Instantly the cake was set on fire.

"Mama mia!" shrieked Mario, leaping into action as he took out his FLUDD and sprayed water on the fire. While the fire was put out, the birthday cake was sadly a soggy mess.

"Have no fear, everyone...I have a backup cake!" assured E. Gadd as he left the dining room to retrieve this backup cake. It was a pastry that Daisy had little to no hope for.

"Watch it be a measly cupcake," Daisy murmured to Spyro, keeping her expectations for Charles's birthday cake extremely low. Her expectations would be blown out of the water, however, when E. Gadd wheeled in a cake that appeared to be six feet tall.

"Ta-da! Now introducing, the backup birthday cake!" E. Gadd presented the birthday cake to Charles, who was left in awe just like everyone else. N. Gin fell out of his seat, even.

"No way he baked that by himself..." marveled Spyro, licking his chops as he wanted the first slice of the cake. Even over the birthday boy, Charles.

E. Gadd: Funny story - that birthday cake was originally intended as a wedding cake for one of my good friends. I had it redesigned at the very last minute, too. Who was the wedding cake meant for? I would say their name, but they might be upset with me, so...I'll keep it a secret.

"Light the candles, Dingodile...and use a lighter this time," E. Gadd commanded the mutant, who moaned in sadness as he put his flamethrower down and pulled out a lighter. Dingodile used the lighter to light the six birthday candles at the top of the cake.

"Blow out the birthday candles!" Tiny encouraged Charles, as he picked up the six-year-old...only to hear someone clear their throat. Tiny looked down at Luigi, who was tapping his foot with his arms folded.

"Let-a me handle this," Luigi offered to Tiny, who handed the green plumber his son. Standing up on a chair, Luigi lifted Charles above his head as Charles blew out the six birthday candles.

"Woooooo!" cheered N. Gin, so hyped from Charles blowing out the candles that he shook Cortex silly. Cortex angrily pushed N. Gin away from him.

"Now we can cut the cake," announced E. Gadd, grabbing a few cake-cutting tools and handing them to Mario. The professor was suddenly pulled to the side by Daisy. "Oh dear, Daisy..."

"Can I speak with you for a minute?" Daisy asked the fearful E. Gadd as he pulled him to the side, bringing him out of the kitchen. "I know that I was skeptical of you at first..."

"And I take it that you still are?" E. Gadd was shuddering, worried that Daisy might smack him in the face with her hand - or even a steel pan. But Daisy didn't want to do either option.

"...but you slowly won me over in the end. Charles had a lot of fun, so I really can't complain too much. So I thank you." Daisy showed how thankful she was as she kissed E. Gadd on his cheek, causing the professor to smile.

"I really did a bang-up job, didn't I?" Being kissed by a woman made E. Gadd a little woozy, and seconds later he fainted on the floor.

"Professor...?" Daisy tugged on E. Gadd's lab coat, as E. Gadd showed no signs of waking up anytime soon.

Dimentio and Giovanni were having a private meeting just beyond Omnis Adest, with Dimentio detailing his encounter with Cereza. The jester told Giovanni about how there were possibly alternate versions of Bayonetta...meaning plenty of alternate universes to explore.

"Any baddie from those alternate realities can be a worthy addition to our pact," Dimentio said to Giovanni, selling the Team Rocket boss on the idea of growing the numbers of his coalition.

"We do have my machine to pull it off," replied Giovanni, warming up to the idea as Cereza's presence in Seattle had opened up a potential can of worms.

"Exactly! Which is why we should get to exploring these alternate realities at once. But who can we get to do the work for us? Hmm..."

As a command from Master Hand, Wily was forced to bring Cereza back to her own universe in less than an hour or so. Sonic came through for the robot inventor as he brought Cereza to the tower's basement.

"I see...I didn't build a time machine," observed Wily, who was doing a quick inspection of his new machine while the portal was opening. "The technology from my universal transport device, it had overlapped with the new technology! Therefore I had nothing to prove to..."

"Can you hurry up already?" Snake shouted at Wily, as he and Hal waited around to see Wily bring Cereza back home safely. Wily stopped his dilly-dallying as he pulled on the lever to make the portal open faster.

"Good luck with finding your mom," Sonic delivered his parting words to Cereza, who was holding unto her stuffed toy. Couldn't leave anywhere without that toy in her possession.

"Thank you. And thanks for everything, Sonic," Cereza thanked the blue hedgehog, turning to face the portal before briefly looking back at Sonic. "Bye now..." Cereza went through the portal, as Wily was about to enact part two.

"Now to bring in Bayonetta," said Wily as he pulled on the lever a second time, causing the portal to change colors. Everyone waited with bated breath, as a certain Umbra Witch exited from the portal.

"There she is..." muttered Snake, as Bayonetta found her way inside the basement. Bayonetta walked up to Snake and showed him how much she missed him by stomping on his foot.

"Missed me, darling?" Bayonetta asked Snake, who fell to the floor in pain while holding his foot. Bayonetta then approached Hal, who backed off while holding his hands up in innocence.

"Welcome back, Bayonetta!" Sonic greeted the Umbra Witch, greeting her exactly how she wanted to be greeted. Snake didn't get the memo. "Hope you had fun...wherever you were."

"I did have some fun - the wonders of the Avalon forest did keep me entertained. That said, I do have a bone to pick with someone..." That someone was none other than Wily, who Bayonetta turned to.

"Look, Bayonetta, it was an experiment..." Wily said to the Umbra Witch, who didn't want to hear the robot inventor's crap as he grabbed him by the neck and dragged him up the basement stairs. "...just be grateful that you made it out alive!"

"Still wanted to see what Master Hand would've done to him," Sonic admitted to Snake and Hal, watching as Wily was dragged out of the basement by Bayonetta. No amount of pleading could possibly save Wily from imminent doom.

Thanks to Wily's machine, Bayonetta winded up in an alternate reality - what were the chances that Dimentio and his crew would infiltrate that reality?