Author's Note:
The last chapter was not that well-received...primarily because it was AI-generated. But I have learned my lesson. That was a big mistake on my part, and I own up to it. Now for the reviews! First is The Reader:
"I remember a review from one chapter, I forgot who it was, but they said along the lines of "This story has a soul put in it." This chapter? Sorry, this is the most soulless thing I've ever read. This is legit robotic! AI can never replace human beings, man. No wonder the guys from WGA are doing their own strike. I hope this is just a one-time experiment. This is a terrible idea. Sorry, man."
This is a one-time experiment. This chapter, fortunately, has more effort put into it than the last one. No AI here! Next is A JRPG enjoyer:
"Is it okay if you can consider this episode as non-canon? A lot of things seem wrong in this chapter."
Feel free to do so. Just pretend the last chapter never happened. Moving on:
"Changing the subject, Atlus announced 2 new Persona games. Persona 5 Tactica (basically a tactical RPG [think Advance Wars or XCOM] spin-off of P5) and Persona 3 Reload (a[nother] remake of P3). Well, Reload is coming out on 2024, the story might already be done by then, but Reload is apparently bringing in a new cast to the P3 cast. Will the P3 cast retain their voices in Smash Life, or nah?"
The P3 will retain their voices. Moving on:
"Now, let's talk about Tactica. It's coming out on November 17. A slight chance for a chapter, mayhaps? Unfortunately, time travel included. I guess the chance is slim."
The chance is indeed slim, but we'll see how things unfold as we learn more about the game. Last, per usual, is David:
"Is Viridi gonna call on the Forces of Nature for the upcoming fight? Will the Hoshidans and Nohrians put aside their differences for the final battle? Has Azura shown up in any chapters? Is Ryuji or Tharja secretly a fan of Danhausen? What was Pit's reaction to the Bloodline falling apart? And finally, what are your thoughts on the Persona 3 Remake leaks as well as the rumored remakes of Final Fantasy IX and X?"
She might. Both families may put aside their differences before then. Azura hasn't shown up since episode 24, I reckon. Ryuji is a fan of Danhausen; Tharja is not. Pit's reaction to the Bloodline was likely full of shock. Didn't know that the P3 remake was leaked, to be honest, and I wouldn't mind a remake of FFIX and FFX (long as it's on the Switch).
Episode 391: Cramps
Kasumi Yoshizawa was a superb gymnast. According to some, the young lady was nearly uncontested in most competitions. Her proficiency in gymnastics carried on into the Metaverse, where she dazzled and amazed with her graceful fighting style.
That wasn't to say that Kasumi was the only gymnast at the mansion; she had a training partner in Wii Fit Trainer. Granted, Wii Fit didn't do gymnastics much and was more concerned about promoting physical fitness. Still, she and Kasumi would team up and do a few gymnastics whenever Kasumi called her name.
Kasumi and Wii Fit's most preferred spot to perform gymnastics was none other than the fitness center. Kasumi was on the balance beam doing the splits while moving her arms about. Wii Fit was looking on, water bottle in hand.
"You go, girl!" Terry cheered on for Kasumi, watching along with Wii Fit as he liked what he saw. Kasumi stopped moving her arms as she frowned at the easily impressed Terry.
"I'm just doing the splits," Kasumi informed Terry, who was impressed with Kasumi's body of work. Kasumi looked beyond Terry and felt uncomfortable seeing Hammer Bro leering at her. "What are you looking at, Hammer Bro?"
"Just...looking respectfully," Hammer Bro sheepishly responded as he looked away from Kasumi, holding his head low as Kasumi resumed her routine. "...knew I should've brought my sunglasses."
Hammer Bro: Sure is a good thing that most female gymnasts don't wear full bodysuits. *pauses* Because then they wouldn't have any room to let their glutes breathe. *pauses* By glutes, I was obviously referring to the area around the hips.
Done doing the splits, Kasumi stood up on the balance beam to do some complex stuff. She started doing some backflips, moving gracefully as she exhibited perfect form. Wii Fit and Terry were both applauding.
"Nice kicks," Wii Fit commended Kasumi, clapping her hands like a regular person...meanwhile Terry, on the other hand, was clapping at a much faster rate.
"The stuff of legends!" exclaimed Terry, acting as if he was a dad at a gymnastics show and Kasumi was his prize-winning daughter. Kasumi blushed in response to Terry's high praise.
"You should kick a little bit higher!" Hammer Bro called out to Kasumi after the young woman was done with her small performance. Kasumi, Wii Fit, and Terry all looked at Hammer Bro, who hightailed out of the fitness center.
"You think that's nice? Wait until you get a load of this!" said a jumpsuit-clad Ike, standing across from the balance beam that was opposite Kasumi's. The swordsman did a running start as he ran, only to jump at the last second and run stomach-first into the beam.
"Oof! That's gotta hurt," winced Wii Fit, as Ike crumbled to the floor in pain and held his midsection. Triggered by Ike's poor attempt at gymnastics, Kasumi looked ticked as her bottom lip was trembling.
"Ike you stupid idiot...your jumping form was off!" Kasumi snapped at the swordsman, as she angrily got down from her balance beam. Wii Fit and Terry were equally shocked at Kasumi's sudden outburst.
"Woah Nelly!" remarked Terry, as Kasumi marched over to the still-downed Ike. Kasumi was about to give Ike the absolute business, even while the man was ailing in pain.
"And why would you attempt this kind of gymnastics anyway, you're a guy! You have the upper-body strength that we ladies don't have! Stay in your lane!"
"I'm...sorry?" Ike apologized to Kasumi, looking up at her while trembling in fear. No one had ever seen Kasumi that incensed before, and poor Ike was receiving the brunt of it due to his foolishness.
"Sorry isn't going to cut it. Next time do us a favor, and stop acting silly." Kasumi walked away from Ike, but not before grimacing as she held her hands over her stomach. "All that yelling made my stomach cramp..."
"Oh dear, that's not good..." fretted Wii Fit, knowing that her joint gymnastics practice with Kasumi would have to be put on hold. Kasumi went inside a room and sat inside.. "...I'll be right back, Terry - going to check on Kasumi."
"I'll hold it down," Terry said to Wii Fit (as if there was anything for him to hold down), as Wii Fit went to the room that Kasumi went inside. Terry, looking around for a brief moment, went to Kasumi's balance beam and gave it a good sniff. "Mm, fresh chalk! Or is it rosin?"
It was another day in the lab for Junpei's baseball team, the Omnis Adesti Fideles. Junpei's squad - Zeke, Funky Kong, Owain, Sheldon, Rock Howard, Mighty Gazelle, Birdo, Espio, and Nemona - were out at the baseball field, doing what else? Baseball practice. Some extracurricular stuff happened on the side, such as a Gatorade-drinking competition (Owain beat Zeke at that one), but Junpei snuffed that out quickly.
"Oops! Sorry!" Nemona apologized to the Mighty Gazelle after striking him in the head with a baseball with an errant pitch. Fortunately, the Mighty Gazelle hardly felt any pain whatsoever.
"Getting real tired of you saying that..." responded the Mighty Gazelle, a common recipient of the baseballs that Nemona threw. Speaking of Nemona, her friends were in the bleachers, giving Nemona all their support. Well, only one of her friends.
"Woo, Nemona, let's go!" Arven cheered for the Pokemon trainer, sitting next to Mabostiff and hoping that Nemona heard his cheering. Arven was sitting on one side of Mabostiff, and Penny was on the other side watching anime on her laptop, headphones in her ears to tune out the noise.
"He promised me some baseball anime..." Penny muttered under her breath, hating the fact that she was lured to baseball practice. Mabostiff looked at Penny and gave her a good lick. "...ew, you got your saliva on my glasses!"
Arven: Every great sports team needs a great mascot. Omnis Adesti Fideles doesn't have one yet, so that's why I'm signing up my main man Mabostiff to fill the void! *smiles as he pets Mabostiff's head* Mabostiff can be a great asset, since he can intimidate the other team and make 'em wet their pants when they go up to bat. The only downside is, Mabostiff might have a tendency to bite people. Believe me, I don't want to catch a lawsuit...but maybe Junpei can handle the legal burden.
"When are we gonna have our first baseball game?" Birdo asked Junpei, who was overseeing the baseball practice standing near his arms folded. Birdo was doing batting practice with Sheldon, as Sheldon tossed her the ball.
"I'll do you one better - why haven't we had our first baseball game yet?" asked Espio, asking the most pressing question; Junpei seemingly knew the answer as he smiled underneath his baseball cap.
"Reason is that the local teams are too dang scared to face us," replied Junpei as he took his baseball cap and turned it forward. The good old-fashioned way. "They see how hard we go in practice and run for the hills!"
"Then that is an indictment on your part," Rock said to Junpei, causing some drama on the baseball field as Junpei looked at the young man. "These 'local teams' you speak of shouldn't be scouting us at our open practices."
"What was with those hand quotations? You don't believe me?!' As Junpei got angry with Rock, Penny looked up from her laptop and saw four individuals step into the baseball field.
"Um, Arven?" Penny alerted Arven as she tapped the Pokemon trainer on his shoulder. Arven, who was giving Mabostiff a noogie (while also kissing him simultaneously), looked up and saw three men wearing black suits.
"Look at that! Men in black!" exclaimed Arven, loud enough for Junpei and the others to hear; turning his attention away from Rock, Junpei saw the three sharply-dressed men and screamed.
"Oh crap, men in black!" shrieked Junpei - apparently too scared to see that the men in black were actually the quartet of Chrom, Captain Falcon, Ganondorf, and Wario. "They're coming to kill us!"
"What, we look that menacing in our suits?" grinned Captain Falcon as he pulled on his white dress collar, while Junpei got down to the ground and cowered away from Captain Falcon and company in fear.
"Please don't erase my memories, I have never seen any aliens! Well, I did see one in my dreams...aw man, you're definitely gonna erase my memories now!"
"We are not here to kill you, or erase your memories," Chrom assured Junpei, who was still too scared to get out of his cowering position. Leading Chrom to sigh deeply. "We're not total strangers either..."
"I saw an alien before," Nemona randomly remarked, happily recounting her most recent trip to the Pokemon sanctuary. "Saw an Elgyem with his mom, Beheeyem! Or maybe it was his dad."
"You weren't supposed to tell them that..." Junpei lifted his head and spoke quietly to Nemona, fearing that the Pokemon trainer would get memory wiped, killed, or both. In front of her friends, no less.
"Everyone start shaking your rump!" shouted Funky Kong, putting his back into it as he turned around and started shaking his butt. "Doing this will scare the men in black away!"
"For all the wrong reasons, perhaps," remarked Espio, as he and many others were making disgusted faces at Funky Kong. "Captain Falcon, Ganondorf, Chrom, Wario, can you four please..."
"I told you three men to 'act' professionally, not look like it!" shouted a certain hero-king, as Marth marched unto the baseball field scolding Captain Falcon and company. Accompanying Marth was Geno. Why does this look familiar?
"Funky Kong, what on earth are you doing?" Geno asked the gorilla, as he and Marth were rightfully disturbed by Funky's actions. Funky Kong did everyone a huge favor as he stopped shaking his rump, as Geno looked at the four sharply-dressed men. "You four shouldn't be wearing suits."
"Aw, but it puts us in the right mood!" argued Wario, as he fastened his purple bowtie; upon hearing Marth's voice, Junpei decided to man up as he stood back on his feet.
"Really you should've given that decree to just one person," Ganondorf said to Marth as he pointed stealthily at Wario. Wario saw Ganondorf pointing at him and growled at the demon lord.
"I will bite your finger off..." Wario was pretty close to Ganondorf's finger; he'd happily bite it off with or without anyone's permission.
"I'd rather see you try." Ganondorf was daring Wario, and Wario took the dare as he chomped down on Ganondorf's index finger. Ganon screamed in excruciating pain as he tried to shake Wario off.
"Stop it, you two, stop! Stop!" yelled Marth as he got in between Ganondorf and Wario, with Captain Falcon coming in for the assist. Captain Falcon managed to pull Wario away from Ganondorf, who was left holding his hand in pain.
"A shame that I couldn't bite that finger off..." grumbled Wario, as his job was half-done in his eyes; Marth attempted to inspect Ganondorf's hand, only for Ganon to slap him away.
"Okay Marth, what's the big deal, why'd you interrupt our baseball practice?" Junpei asked the hero-king, who was massaging the part of his face where Ganondorf slapped him at. "If you're not going to kill us, then what are you here for?"
"First off, let me apologize for my men giving off the wrong impression," Marth formally apologized to Junpei and his baseball team, not intending anyone to be afraid for their life. "They took my 'act professional' line too seriously."
"Still better dressed than you are," retorted Captain Falcon, as he felt the need to make mention of that very fact. Marth was unbothered by Falcon's claim.
"Only Nowi would think that. Anyway, Junpei, my men and I wanted to stop by to give you an offer that you simply cannot refuse."
"Found a baseball team for us to play?" Junpei smiled as he rubbed his hands with anticipation, wanting the first baseball team for Omnis Adesti Fideles to face to offer a challenge...or be a walk in the park. Any squad that was in the middle, Junpei wanted nothing to do with.
"This is even better than facing a baseball team. I want you, but mainly your entire baseball team...to be the sole protectors of Omnis Adest!"
"Where exactly are you going with this?" asked Sheldon; although he wasn't given a first opponent for his squad, Junpei was interested in his baseball team having an increased role around the community.
"Link and Zelda have received reports from the people living here that they have seen Heartless. So I want you guys to keep the Heartless out of Omnis Adest at whatever cost."
"Heartless exterminators, yeah buddy!" exclaimed Funky Kong, as the rest of the Omnis Adesti Fideles were looking intrigued. Their coach Junpei was nodding his head, grinning.
Funky Kong: Ya boi is eating good, real good! First I was named one of Cloud's guardian angels, and then I became the star hitter of Junpei's baseball team. One of the star hitters, at least. And now, I'm a part of the Heartless extermination crew! Next step? Mayor of Omnis Adest! Nowhere to go but up!
"Just to ensure that I'm not making a huge mistake, my men will oversee your men...and women," Marth explained to Junpei, making sure not to leave out Nemona and Birdo. "Your baseball team will scout the community for any signs of the Heartless, and my men will monitor them."
"We'll be monitoring them in style," added Wario as he flexed his black suit; Marth tore the black suit off of Wario, revealing the fatso in his underwear as everyone laughed at him.
"The four of you change into your normal clothes now..." Marth commanded Wario and company, who all walked away so that they could change into their normal wear at the mansion. So much for being in style.
Waluigi stopped by the mansion to make a quick visit, and he returned to the tower entering through the front door. The lanky man was entering the tower rather suspiciously, looking around as he slowly closed the door behind him.
"Coast is clear," observed Waluigi as he stealthily moved through the lobby area, albeit with a somewhat noticeable limp as he kept wincing in pain. Midna descended down from above with her arms folded, as she stopped Waluigi's progress.
"Hello, Waluigi..." Midna greeted the lanky man, who looked at the imp in fear as had his hand on his right leg. Midna was looking at Waluigi's right leg in a suspicious manner. "...what's with that limp?"
"Uh...leg cramp. My leg is cramping." Waluigi sat down on the floor, delicately as possible as he gently caressed his right leg. What was it with people getting cramps today?
"If that were the case, you should be in agony. Unless you're just faking it." Already right off the bat, Midna was accusing Waluigi - and it was up to Waluigi to dispel suspicions.
"I am not lying, I'm telling the truth when I say that...WAH, MY LEG, IT BURNS!" Waluigi held up his right leg, holding it as he screamed in pain. Not buying it, Midna rolled her eyes and facepalmed.
Suddenly, Waluigi's screaming came to a stop as he felt a sword slip out of his pants leg and fall unto the floor. It wasn't just any regular sword - it was the Master Sword. Link's Master Sword! Midna identified the blade as her eyes went big.
"Uh...that's a toy sword I got off of Amazon," Waluigi claimed as he quickly stood up and picked up Link's Master Sword. Shadow showed up at the lobby and saw Waluigi holding the sword.
"Why do you have the Master Sword?" Shadow questioned Waluigi, who was feeling the pressure as precipitation was forming on his face. Even Shadow knew that the sword belonged to Link.
"Because Link let me borrow it for a day." Waluigi wielded the Master Sword as he held it in front of his torso, only to accidentally poke himself in the nose. "Ouchie! Almost cut my nose..."
Midna: Link and Zelda are paying the Overwatch crew at the watchpoint a visit. It appears that the two left their bedroom door unlocked. Princess Zelda would never, so I'm gonna blame Link for this one...especially since he left his Master Sword behind.
"Admit it, you stole the Master Sword!" Midna pointed accusingly at Waluigi, who gasped at the imp as he clutched his pearls. Nothing that Waluigi wasn't used to - Midna always accused him of the littlest things.
"Did not! Link allowed me to watch over his sword for him," stated Waluigi as he held the Master Sword in a way where he wouldn't cut his nose or even poke his eye out. "I'm babysitting it."
"He must not care about ever getting his sword back, then," remarked Shadow, he and Midna refusing to believe a single thing that came out of Waluigi's mouth. Because of this, Waluigi had to come clean.
"But if you must know, I took the Master Sword so that people can finally show me the respect I truly deserve. Why is it that no one at the tower ever respects me? Why is that?"
"Was hoping that you'd found the answer by now." As one of Waluigi's most ardent critics, Shadow found it laughable that Waluigi was still looking for respect.
"No one will ever take you seriously even with the Master Sword," Midna warned Waluigi, finding Waluigi and the Master Sword to be a weird match. To her, Waluigi looked goofy and out of place holding the Master Sword.
"That's what you think!" Waluigi pointed at Midna, as he looked to make the imp eat her words. "I'm gonna prove you wrong! I'll prove everybody wrong! The folks of this tower will cower at my feet!"
"Would be more accurate if it was the other way around..." Shadow muttered under his breath, knowing that Waluigi was lowkey setting himself up for failure.
Wii Fit sat with Kasumi at the fitness center, as Kasumi was dealing with some cramps. Kasumi was grimacing in pain as the pain was unbearable for her.
"Feels like someone dropped a giant rock on my stomach..." Kasumi said to Wii Fit as she was doubling over on pain, arms over her midsection. Wii Fit was trying to understand what triggered the pain, while also figuring out a cure.
"A cup of herbal tea might do the trick," Wii Fit recommended to Kasumi, as she was massaging the young woman's back. "Herbal tea always makes my stomach cramps go away."
"You must know a thing or two about stomach cramps...you do sit-ups every day, even in your sleep." With an assist from Wii Fit, Kasumi stood up from the chair she was sitting in, although she couldn't really stand up straight.
"Here, let me escort you to the cafe." Putting her arm around Kasumi's waist, Wii Fit guided Kasumi out of the room and escorted her, moving at a slow pace that Kasumi was comfortable with.
Layton and Luke were at their apartment, as their stay in Seattle showed no signs of ending at this current time. The detective duo was open to visitors for as long as they remained in the city, and they would soon receive plenty as Layton heard someone knocking at the door.
"Everyone in position?" Mario asked Cloud, Sora, Mewtwo, Villager, Rayman, and Vault Boy as he was holding a birthday cake, which already came with lit birthday candles. Vault Boy had knocked on the door, which was soon answered by Layton.
"Hello? What's this?" asked Layton as he was joined at the door by none other than Luke. The detective looked down and saw the birthday cake. "Oh my!"
"Happy birthday, Professor Layton!" exclaimed Mario and company, save for two individuals in Mewtwo, Cloud, and Vault Boy. Vault Boy couldn't speak, so he gave Layton his iconic thumbs-up and smile. Mewtwo at least compromised for his lack of enthusiasm by blowing into a party horn, while Cloud...did nothing.
"Today is your big day!" Rayman exclaimed to Layton, who was delighted from seeing the seven men that came out to visit him on his birthday. The birthday cake was a real treat.
"What are you waiting for, professor, blow out the candles!" Luke said to Layton as he nudged the detective forward, pushing him out through the front door. Before any candle could be blown out, Layton first had to adjust his collar.
"Very well then." Done with his collar, Layton leaned in close to the candles as he was about to blow...only to retreat his head when he realized something. "Wait just a minute...today isn't my birthday!"
"...are you serious?" asked Villager, as Mario looked massively disappointed, feeling like dropping the birthday cake onto the floor. Sora was seen sporting a nervous look.
"No, my birthday's not in June. In fact, I sometimes forget when my birthday is!" Layton scratched with his finger near the top of his head, as he did his best to remember when his birthday was.
"Same here," said Luke, letting Layton know that he wasn't alone - provided much assurance for Layton, who thought that he was getting old.
"Baking a birthday cake for a man who's not celebrating his birthday today..." Cloud said in a condensing manner to Mario, who was so angry with the revelation that his hands were shaking even.
"Dang it, Sora! I asked-a you if Layton's birthday was this-a month!" Mario yelled at the Keyblade wielder, who was holding several birthday presents that were intended for Layton. "And you said it was on-a the 16th!"
"Oh, I was just guessing," Sora smiled sheepishly, as Mario frowned at the Keyblade wielder. Part of Mario wanted to drop the birthday cake on Sora's head, but he was holding in his wrath.
"Did my best to warn you," Mewtwo said to Mario, despising the fact that he was dragged into attending Layton's birthday "celebration". Only because the select folks that Mario originally asked to participate all turned him down.
Mewtwo: I knew for a fact that today wasn't Layton's birthday. I just didn't say anything, so that Mario would find out the truth and give Sora the most deserving punishment. Got a feeling that Sora will have to walk his way home.
Mario: That Sora made-a me spend over $200 on Layton's birthday gifts. I had to use-a Princess Peach's debit card to buy everything! Oh well, at least someone else-a can wear that Speedo. Only bought that since-a it was on sale.
"You can't just guess another man's birthday like that," Rayman said to Sora, who was public enemy number one thanks to his misinforming Mairo. "Do you not know how much work was put into this?"
"I was up all-a night baking this cake," stated Mario as he held up the cake that was intended for Layton, which was now a perfectly-crafted and supremely delicious waste. "Four in the morning, Sora! Four-a in the morning!"
"Alright gentlemen, let's settle down!" Layton said to Mario and company, stepping in so that no hands would be thrown. A dark corridor appeared in Layton's living room, and not a single person noticed.
"Protect the cake!" shouted Luke, as two Organization XIII members exited the dark corridor - Marluxia and Larxene. Marluxia came to a stop, while Larxene walked up to Luke and mugged him.
"Organization XIII...they're back," alerted Mewtwo, as everyone stopped what they were doing and saw Larxene wrapping her arm around Luke. Luke was fighting back to the best of his ability.
"Professor Layton, save me!" Luke called out to the detective, as he was wrangling with Larxene. Larxene muffled the apprentice's mouth with her hand as she finally got a firm hold around Luke's neck.
"Act like the nice little twerp that you are, and quit resisting!" Larxene shouted at Luke as she dragged him away, moving towards Marluxia. Layton had seen enough, deciding to intervene.
"You let him go!" Layton commanded Larxene as he ran towards the Nobody, only for Larxene to kick him away. Layton was sent flying as he crashed into Mario and company...although one person teleported to avoid Layton.
"Much obliged for the offering," Marluxia thanked Mario and company, as Larxene dragged Luke towards the dark corridor with her. Then Mewtwo teleported behind Larxene, who bumped into the psychic Pokemon.
"Going somewhere?" Mewtwo asked Larxene, before smacking the Nobody in the face with the whip of his tail. That's when Marluxia took out his scythe and took a swing at Mewtwo, who teleported to dodge the attack.
"Nice one!" exclaimed Rayman as he looked up and watch Mewtwo handle Organization XIII. Mewtwo used Confusion to send Marluxia and Larxene into the dark corridor they came from, and the dark corridor closed.
"Marluxia and Larxene?! That's not good," fretted Sora, stuck underneath the small pile of humanity with Layton resting on the top of the pile. Layton eventually got up, allowing everybody else to stand.
"Mama Mia...the cake, it's ruined!" wailed Mario, seeing that the birthday cake that was intended for Layton was now smushed. The icing looked like a giant, ugly yet colorful splat.
"I think we have bigger problems than that cake," stated Cloud, as Mario debated whether or not he should take a bite out of the cake. Eventually making up his mind, Mario grabbed a handful of the cake and devoured it.
"Truly a first for us - our first time seeing Organization XIII in person!" remarked Layton, who had only heard the tales about Organization XIII and longed to meet them for years. "Trying to kidnap Luke must be rather on-brand for them."
"Kidnapping people is kind of their thing," stated Mario as he ate another handful of the cake, with Vault Boy joining in as he got a handful of cake for himself. "Hmm, didn't expect this cake to taste this good..."
"What if there's Organization activity in this apartment?" asked Cappy, making the others worry about the safety of the apartment tenants. "Could be some Heartless lurking around!"
"Cappy's right. Let's inspect-a the entire apartment, just to be safe. This cake should be finished off-a by the time we're done..."
MC Ballyhoo made the most of his time at Omnis Adest, hanging out with Fox and Falco and providing them tips on how to proficiently run Star Records. Now that the emcee had left Omnis Adest entirely (no thanks to Dimentio, perhaps), Fox and Falco had to apply the knowledge they'd gained and spread their wings and fly. Gotta do what they can to get Star Records out of the red.
The pilots' first order of business? Have a discussion with Touma concerning the future of his show, Force Five. Ballyhoo hinted that Touma should cancel the show, seeing that interest and viewership had waned as the years went by. Yet Touma wasn't man enough to do it. Maybe he needed some convincing.
"Been hearing rumors that Force Five might be canceled," Yukari spoke with Fox and Falco at the Star Records room, as she sounded a little upset. "I literally just joined the show!"
"Never too late for a spin-off," responded Falco as he did his best to placate Yukari, although it wasn't enough as Yukari maintained a frown on her face. Falco looked towards Fox and asked, "We can do a spin-off, right?"
"In theory, we could...but the people online would complain about the show being 'woke,'" replied Fox, weighing the pros and cons of Yukari having her own show. Yukari pouted as she looked away and folded her arms.
"Woke, how? Because the main character is a woman? What if we make her a well-written character, with none of that Mary Sue crap?"
"Yeah, but people will still complain regardless. Unless the show rakes in a ton of money, which then people would be fine with."
"Um, hello, I'm still here!" Yukari shouted at Fox and Falco, hoping that the pilots hadn't forgotten about her. As Yukari tried to get Fox and Falco's attention, Little Mac entered the Star Records room with Doc Louis.
"Yukari, I picked up your Pink Argus suit from the dry cleaners," Little Mac informed the young woman, who gasped with joy when she saw Little Mac standing at the Star Records door. "It's in mint condition."
"There you are!" Yukari ran over to Little Mac and grabbed the man by the arm, before dragging him over to where Fox and Falco were gathered at. "Please tell me that Touma isn't canceling Force Five. Kiria said that he was."
"Why are you asking Little Mac for?" Doc Louis asked Yukari as he came over to the young woman, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a chocolate bar. "He's not a part of the show!"
"True, but he's a part of Star Records so he has to be in the know. You can tell me too, Doc. Tell me that the show isn't canceled!"
"Why do you care so much, that show is as campy as I know what!" Doc Louis was letting everyone know how he felt about Force Five, and it made a slightly offended Yukari glare at the boxing trainer. "I mean...in an endearing way!"
Doc Louis: Campy shows like the Power Rangers have always bothered me. All the crazy villains and monsters and the crazy Megazord fights that take place in the city. Hardly see anyone bat an eye; it's like the city folks are nonexistent when the Megazord throws down. And the characters playing the Power Rangers aren't played by actual teens! It ruins the whole concept!
"Everyone, look alive...the man of the hour has come," announced Fox, as Touma entered the Star Records room; everyone turned their attention to Touma, who was taken by the pairs of eyes that were on him.
"Why's everybody staring at me?" asked Touma, thinking that he got busted for something - perhaps for taking that candy bar out of the vending machine without paying for it. "I get it, I'm a pretty handsome dude, but..."
"Tell me that Force Five isn't canceled," Yukari ran up to speak with Touma, holding the redhead's hands as she looked deep into his eyes. Touma felt as if Yukari was staring deep into his soul.
"Well, Touma? Is Force Five canceled or not?" Falco asked the redhead, as everyone waited to hear what Touma had to say. Touma gulped, as he was hesitant to give a reply.
"For what it's worth, I was thinking about the decision for a solid two weeks," answered Touma, as Yukari leaned in closer expecting Touma to make his big decision right now. "What I've decided, is that..."
"Yes, go on..." Yukari encouraged Touma, wanting the redhead to tell everyone how he really felt. But the longer Touma remained silent, the more he felt the pressure getting to him.
"I've decided...to ask my cast members for their feedback." Touma broke away from Yukari, as he hightailed out of the Star Records room and ran down the hallway like he was the Flash.
"But I'm one of the cast members!" Yukari called out to Touma as she poked her head out of the door. Left ignored, Yukari mumbled under her breath as she retracted her head.
"Can't let a good thing go," Fox shook his head in disappointment at Touma's behavior, with Falco sharing in Fox's disappointment as he lowered his head. Doc Louis tapped Little Mac on his shoulder, silently communicating to his protege with a smile.
"Using physical force on Touma isn't going to solve anything, Doc," Little Mac informed his boxing trainer, who sighed in defeat as he took the first bite out of his chocolate bar.
Wii Fit escorted Kasumi to Cafe Leblanc, believing that Joker had something that would make Kasumi's cramps go away. Like a soothing cup of herbal tea. Joker had just the right flavor of herbal tea for Kasumi, fixing her a cup while Wii Fit massaged Kasumi's back.
"Shouldn't be too hot for you," Joker said to Kasumi after he was done fixing her tea; taking Joker's word for it, Kasumi took her cup of tea and sipped.
"It's just perfect, thank you," Kasumi thanked Joker, before putting her cup back on the counter as she held her arms over her stomach "Stupid cramps..."
"Quit worrying about your cramps...drink up," Makoto said to Kasumi, encouraging her friend to drink her tea - which she in fact did. Sans, seated a few barstools away, couldn't pass up the opportunity to crack a pun.
"no cramp is worse than a foot cramp," said Sans; Kasumi, who was drinking her tea, made a frown as she knew what Sans was about to do. "i had it and i felt it deep in my sole."
"Be cool..." Wii Fit warned Kasumi, who angrily stood up and turned to Sans to give the skeleton a piece of her mind. Sans was grinning from ear to ear as he had Kasumi riled up.
"What would you know about cramps, you're just a skeleton!" Kasumi blew up on Sans, whose grin remained intact as he was being yelled pain. "Your puns are all terrible anyway." Kasumi's outburst caused everyone in the cafe to look at her.
"Dang, Kasumi! Tell him how you really feel!" King Dedede encouraged the young woman, who had said what was on everyone's minds with her second statement. Kasumi glared at Dedede, who looked on in fear.
"Oh, I'll tell you how I really feel..." Kasumi marched over to confront King Dedede and pointed in the fat penguin's face once she got close enough. "...you are nothing more than an obese, greedy, sorry excuse for a king!"
"Hey, only my Waddle Dees can tell me that! Which is really nice anyway because they can't speak...but still, you better take back what you said!"
"Alright Kasumi, let's calm down..." Lucario did his best to soothe the young woman as he came over to her...only for the aura Pokemon to be caught off-guard when Kasumi slapped him in the face. Everyone gasped.
"Why don't YOU calm down?!" Kasumi clapped back at Lucario, before marching back to her barstool and taking a seat. The young woman was back to dealing with her stomach cramps, wincing in pain as she sat down.
"Maybe getting up wasn't the best idea," Wii Fit said to Kasumi, who realized as such as she took another sip from her herbal tea. Pit came over to Kasumi, although speaking with Kasumi after her outburst probably wasn't the best intention...
"Kasumi, you should really take a breather," Pit advised the young woman, telling her the worst possible thing that he could say given Kasumi's current mood. "One thing I tell Viridi to make her stop acting like a Little Miss Cactus is..."
"Who cares what you think, Pit, you're just a worthless peon!" Kasumi snapped at the angel, leaving everyone in shock once more. Viridi gasped, while Pit stared at Kasumi dumbfoundedly.
"You think I'm worthless...?" Pit had been dealing with issues regarding his self-worth no thanks to Young Xehanort and Giovanni, and Kasumi's recent outburst made the angel feel some type of way.
Wolf: *laughs* Kasumi calling Pit worthless was funny. Kinda harsh, and maybe also true, but funny.
"Dang, what's with the yelling?" wondered Sonic as he entered the cafe; the blue hedgehog wasn't alone, for he brought with him Haru who looked very tired.
"Hey, Sonic!" Makoto greeted the blue hedgehog, catching him off-guard by how affable she was. Not that Makoto wasn't an affable person, but it was the happiest that Sonic had ever seen her.
"Weird, you never greeted me like that." Sonic sat a tired Haru on an empty barstool, before sitting on a barstool himself. Haru's head crashed against the counter, causing Pit to snap out of his trance.
"I dunno, maybe I'm just that happy to see you. By the way...what's wrong with Haru?" Makoto looked at Haru, whose eyes were closed; fortunately, Haru wasn't in a deep sleep, as she was able to lift up her head.
"Just tired, that's all," replied Haru, struggling to remain awake as she rested her chin in the palm of her hand with her elbow on the counter. She tried to keep her eyes open as she yawned.
"Was hoping that you might know what the problem is," Sonic said to Makoto, who appeared emotional as some tears were welling in her eyes. "Hey, relax! It's not that big of a deal!"
"I'm sorry, I just never seen Haru like this," apologized Makoto as she fanned her eyes to remove any suspicion. Sonic remained curious about Makoto's behavior, as he turned to Joker.
"Sup Joker! Never got the chance to congratulate you for winning the NBA Finals," Sonic said to the young man, who looked befuddled as he was cleaning out a glass coffee pitcher. Joker was far removed from being average at basketball.
"Yeah, congrats Joker!" Ike applauded the young man, as several other cafe patrons were clapping along with Ike and also cheering. Joker was left befuddled even more.
"I never even played in the..." stated Joker, only to later realize what Sonic was talking about. Joker looked at Sonic, who had a whimsical grin. "...very funny, Sonic. Hilarious."
"Joker led the Denver Nuggets to their first NBA title, woo hoo!" cheered Spring Man, only to receive a text notification; the ARMS fighter read the text message in full. "Meeting at the Assist Tower, what...?"
Joker: The best player for the Denver Nuggets is Nikola Jokic, and he often goes by the nickname "Joker". As you can imagine, people make jokes about how I'm a "basketball maestro" and "better than old LeBron" because my name is, well, you know. Someone even left a Jokic jersey on my bed the night the Nuggets won the championship. Already have one in the closet from that crazy guy with the mullet.
"Why even talk about the Denver Nuggets?" questioned Makoto, getting emotional yet again as those seated around her grew concerned. "What about the Miami Heat? They didn't deserve to lose..."
"One team has to pull it out at the end," stated Spring Man, standing up as he was about to leave the cafe for the tower. Might as well go now before Makoto burst into a fountain of tears.
"But it should've been the Heat! They worked so hard and came so far, only to come up short on the big stage..." Makoto was back to fanning her eyes, a tear running down her cheek, as Spring Man left the cafe. "...I need a moment, excuse me."
"Didn't know your girlfriend was that much of a Miami Heat fan," Sonic said to Joker, as Makoto excused herself and left the cafe to dry her eyes. Shame on Joker for beating Makoto's (supposed) favorite NBA team.
"Sonic, can I ask you a question?" Pit came over to speak with the blue hedgehog, as his pressing question had just spurred in his mind. "Might be a loaded question, but you can handle it."
"Lay it on me, fam," replied Sonic, who was totally game as he folded his arms and rested his arms on the countertop, his back against the counter.
"Do you have any tips on like, finding self-worth?" It was a good question to ask, but nothing that Sonic expected to ever come out of Pit's mouth. Sonic wasn't looking so confident in answering anymore.
"Woah, that is a loaded question! Lemme think about it for a bit." Sonic took out a chili dog, getting his brain juices flowing as he took a bite out of it. Kasumi was disgusted upon seeing Sonic eating his chili dog.
"Chili dogs are the only thing you ever eat," Kasumi angrily told Sonic, who stopped chewing as he had no idea where Kasumi's outburst came from. "Do you know a thing called variety?"
"Chill out, let me live!" Sonic expected Kasumi to make a retort, but Kasumi grimaced in pain as she clutched her stomach. "What is up with the female Phantom Thieves today..."
"Sit back down, you have to drink your tea!" Wii Fit stressed to Kasumi, who got up and speed-walked out of the cafe. Could've run out of the cafe if the pain from her stomach wasn't holding her back.
"Kasumi's cranky and crampy! That's not a good combination." Sonic finished the rest of his chili dog, as he stuffed the rest of the frankfurter down his mouth. "I oughta find out what's going on with her."
"Can I go with Sonic?" Pit asked Joker as he raised his hand, wanting to finish his conversation with Sonic. The angel was seeking some valuable answers.
The mansion had a pair of visitors from the All-Star manor, as Ratchet and Clank were here. They came to the mansion primarily to speak with a certain bounty hunter.
"Hello, Ratchet and Clank!" Researcher Zelda cordially greeted the duo, encountering them in the middle of the hallway. "Did you want to speak with Link and Zelda? They're both at the watchpoint, with Master Hand. Quite busy."
"That stinks - Polygon Man wanted to deliver them something," replied Ratchet, who had some reservations about the item that Polygon Man apparently wanted to be delivered. "Can we speak with Samus instead? I assume that she's not home either."
"No, she's not, but I can tell you where she is. She went to the bank." Researcher Zelda felt dirty disclosing this information, fearing the ire that she might get from Samus later.
"Do you know which bank specifically?" Clank asked Resarcher Zelda, who bit her bottom lip as she was pressed to give an answer. No choice but to cave in.
Marth and his crew did it - they secured a group of individuals that would keep Omnis Adest safe from harm. Junpei's beloved baseball team, the Omnis Adesti Fideles. But so that the baseball team could be identified as Omnis Adest's mightiest protectors, Marth had to give each member an armband.
"This armband signifies that you are a part of the Heartless-busting crew," stated Marth as he wrapped an armband on Owain's arm, with Owain flexing his bicep just to be a show-off.
"When the Heartless sees this armband, they'll run straight for the hills!" proclaimed Owain, before proceeding to kiss his armband once Marth was done dying it on. Marth gave the myrmidon a judging glance.
"Do I get one too?" Junpei asked Marth for an armband, seeing that the members of his baseball team all had one. Marth eyed around as he was reluctant to answer Junpei's question.
"Unfortunately, I ran out; I'll give you one later," replied Marth, as Junpei accepted the hero-king's answer; Junpei saw Nemona adjusting her armband and was already feeling jealous.
"You literally have a box of extra..." Geno started as he picked up a box of armbands, only for Marth to snatch the box out of Geno's hands and close it immediately. Marth gave Junpei a sheepish smile as he handed the box to Wario.
"Extra pins, he meant...which we do not need," Marth said to Junpei, before whispering something into Wario's ear. Wario nodded as he took the box away. "We settled for armbands instead."
"Because they don't pierce through your skin," stated Captain Falcon, showing what he meant as he pulled down the collar of his racing suit. A small wound was revealed on his upper torso.
"Pierced through your skin since you put it on the wrong way..." Ganondorf said to Captain Falcon, who looked guilty as ever as he whistled an innocent tune. Wario returned seconds later as he put the box away in an undisclosed location.
"Looks like everyone has an armband," confirmed Junpei as all the members of his squad were sporting an armband. It reminded him of the SEES and brought back some memories. "Now Marth, I have to ask..."
"A baseball team is in dire need of a mascot?" a certain Pokemon trainer shouted from afar, as Arven later showed up with his Mabostiff. "Have no fear - Mabostiff is here!" Much to Arven's chagrin, there was hardly any reception.
"Why?" uttered an embarrassed Nemona, who facepalmed out of shame; Mabostiff did a few excited barks, which was not what Arven wanted.
"No, Mabostiff, you have to growl! Strike fear in the opponent's eye. Like this!" Arven growled like how Mabostiff would, and his humorous attempt made the others laugh while Nemona facepalmed even harder.
"How many times I gotta tell you, man, we don't need a stinking mascot!" Junpei shouted at Arven, who looked towards the facepalming Nemona for backup. Nemona was turned away from Arven.
"But he's good for branding and image purposes. Mabostiff can make Omnis Adesti Fideles popular!" Nothing that Arven said could convince Junpei, who had his hands in his pocket to keep himself from backhanding Arven silly.
Birdo: Omnis Adesti Fideles doesn't have much of an identity. We don't have a mascot, a fight song, or any uniforms. We don't even have an official logo! Junpei said he'll make a team logo with MS Paint, which is...less than ideal.
"Here's the game plan," said Marth, delving into his plans for today while Arven waited for Junpei to respond to him. "Chrom, you'll go with Espio and Owain. Captain Falcon will be with Mighty Gazelle and Birdo. Ganondorf has Zeke and Funky Kong, Wario has Rock and Sheldon, and I have Nemona."
"What about me, what will I be doing?" Junpei excitedly asked Marth, eager to know what his task was. Marth looked towards Geno, whom Junpei excitedly turned his attention to.
"You will be with me doing...stuff, fun stuff," replied Geno, keeping the detail of Junpei's task ambiguous as possible. Worked like a charm, as Junpei raised his fists and cheered.
"Doing fun stuff with Geno, let's go!" Junpei happily rejoiced as Geno stared at Marth out of pity. Marth did a circular motion with his finger at the side of his head, signifying that Junpei was a crazy person.
"Wherever you go, the team mascot and I will follow..." Arven whispered to Nemona, who looked at the Pokemon trainer through her fingers as she kept facepalming. Nemona now had a reason to facepalm even longer.
Even with Waluigi wielding Link's Master Sword, Midna had her doubts that the lanky man could be taken seriously by his constituents. Ever willing to prove his haters wrong, Waluigi called for a meeting in the tower's meeting room, looking to command the respect of his peers with the legendary blade that he stole. The lanky man stood at the front, with Crazy Hand, Serena, and his "right-hand man" Shadow at his side.
"Hear ye, hear ye!" shouted Waluigi, standing at a wooden podium as the tower denizens were busy chatting among themselves. Hardly anyone was paying Waluigi any attention. "I said, hear ye, hear ye!"
"We don't want to hear you," Alucard said to Waluigi, before resuming the friendly conversation he was having with Magnus. Waluigi grew upset as his face was turning red.
"WHEN MY SWORD GOES UP, YOUR MOUTHS GO SHUT!" Waluigi held the Master Sword up high, and his trick worked to perfection as it got quiet in the meeting room. Everyone looked at Waluigi...more specifically, the sword that was in his hand.
"Clearly that is Link's Master Sword," Tiki pointed out, with the others finding themselves in agreement with the Manakete as there was chatter within the meeting room. Waluiig was left shaking his head in dismay.
"Looks can be deceiving, my sweet Tiki. This is my own Master Sword, which is a testament to how worthy I am. Only the best of the best get to wield a legendary blade like this!"
"But you're not even a Hylian," Skull Kid pointed out, as he felt incredibly insulted by seeing a person of Waluigi's caliber holding the Master Sword. Made him sick to his stomach.
"He does have the pointy ears, though..." stated Dr. Wright; the only physical trait that Waluigi was missing was a set of blue eyes, since most Hylians usually had those.
Shadow: Waluigi stealing Link's Master Sword is the most desperate thing I've ever seen from him. Which says a lot, since I have seen him doing plenty of stupid things just to command everyone's respect. The only thing that would top this is if he faked a suicide attempt by jumping off from the tower's roof. Astonishingly, that has never crossed his mind - thought that's probably somewhere on his bucket list.
"Waluigi, did you seriously paint the grip of the Master Sword purple?" questioned Gray Fox, and the cyborg ninja wouldn't be surprised by the revelation - everyone knew that Waluigi loved the color purple as much as Prince did.
"I would if I stole this blade...which I obviously did not," replied Waluigi as he held up his hand, with the tower denizens making note of the noticeable purple paint that was stained on Waluigi's white glove. "An old man gave it to me."
"Did the old man bequeath the sword to the wrong person?" asked Shovel Knight, as the tower denizens laughed in response; Waluigi got angry at Shovel Knight as he tightened both of his fists.
"He got it from an old crab fisherman, that's the only explanation," theorized Knuckle Joe, believing Shovel Knight's theory just as everyone else was doing.
"Wrong, and wrong!" shouted Waluigi as he stomped his foot, before holding the Master Sword up high once more. "This Master Sword is all mine, baby!"
"Prove it then - do some cool sword movements with it," Isaac challenged Waluigi, who was up for the task as he was about to prove his worth. Waluigi sliced the air with the Master Sword, only to somehow poke himself in the eye in the process.
"Totally called that," chuckled Magnus, as the tower denizens were laughing at Waluigi's misfortune. Holding his eye, Waluigi frowned as he saw the tower denizens laughing at him.
"Don't laugh at me! Is this how you treat your faithful leader?" Waluigi asked the tower denizens, who responded by laughing even more. Waluigi cut just could everyone with the Master Sword if he wanted to.
"You should try pulling the Master Sword out of some stone," Samurai Goroh suggested to Waluigi, albeit in a joking manner as his stomach was hurting from all the laughing. "Like Captain American lifting Thor's hammer!"
"Waluigi couldn't even lift Thor's hammer without breaking his back, or his fingernail," quipped Guile; you just knew you were down bad when stone-faced Guile was cracking jokes about you. Waluigi, tired of the nonstop laughing, wanted to shut everyone up.
"How about I do a Spin Attack?" said Waluigi, looking to redeem himself as he stood away from the podium. Taking a deep breath, the lanky man performed a Spin Attack but became dizzy as he fell unto the floor.
"You were spinning around for only two seconds," Lyn said to Waluigi, who was lying on the floor as he looked up at the ceiling seeing stars. The tower denizens found another reason to laugh at Waluigi yet again.
"Three seconds is too much for him," quipped Midna, as she floated over to Shadow and was hovering at her side. She wanted a front-row seat to Waluigi's pathetic attempts at wielding the Master Sword.
"Come on, you guys, give Waluigi some SLACK!" Crazy Hand addressed the tower denizens, wanting them to stop laughing - not for Waluigi's sake, but because his ears were hurting. "Yes, Waluigi isn't WORTHY of holding the Master Sword, but that gives you no reason to LAUGH at him!"
"Wah, you're supposed to be on my side, Crazy Hand!" Waluigi whined at the giant hand, standing back up on his feet once he stopped feeling light-headed. Callie whispered something into Marie's ear as the laughing in the meeting room died down.
"Be real with us, Waluigi...why'd you steal Link's Master Sword?" Akira Yuki asked the lanky man, triggering him by making the accusation. Waluigi's blood was absolutely boiling at this point.
"I didn't steal anything - this is MY Master Sword!" proclaimed Waluigi as he confidently held the Master Sword, looking to take out any haters with it. "But you wanna know something? I'm holding his sword because I want your respect. I want you all to see how worthy I am!"
"I know of a way that you can prove your worth and gain everyone's respect," Marie spoke up, as everyone in the meeting room turned their attention to the Inkling. The spotlight went from Waluigi to Marie.
"Oh, do tell..." Waluigi was smiling with joy, hoping that the suggestion Marie had was something serious. He would take anything just to prove his many doubters wrong.
"Got a text message just now..." Marie held up her phone, with her text message app open. "...and Dimentio is at the watchpoint." A collective gasp was heard in the meeting room, as Waluigi nodded his head understanding the magnitude of the situation.
"So what you're saying is, I should go to the watchpoint and handle of Dimetnio." The tower denizens discussed among themselves if Waluigi was strong enough to even face Dimentio - with or without the Master Sword. "I shall be the one to defeat him, once and for all!"
"If you were the one to defeat Dimentio, then we're all doomed," remarked Shadow, shuddering at the thought of Waluigi single-handly defeating Dimentio by himself. Callie whispered something to Wily, who she was sitting next to, and Wily stood up after Callie was done.
"May I come with you to the watchpoint?" Wily asked Waluigi, who at first wanted to decline the offer as he feared that Wily would only get in the way. But the more he thought about it, it would be nice to have an "adoring fan" watch him in action.
"We would like to come as well," Callie said to Waluigi as she and Marie both stood up, desiring to bring their ink-based weaponry with them to the watchpoint. "You could use some backup."
"Doubt that I would need any backup, but I can carry you both to victory," replied Waluigi, who would be most upset if it was the other way around in his fight against Dimentio. Would be a huge hit to his confidence.
"Imagine Waluigi carrying anyone to victory," Jill muttered under her breath, the Drill Dozer believing that it was her last time seeing Waluigi. She and many others were certain that Dimentio would kill Waluigi outright.
Since not all of Mario's party could fit in Mario's vehicle, a second car was needed to transport everyone to Layton and Luke's apartment. Jacky Bryant came through for Mario, and he was waiting outside the apartment standing next to his car.
"Mario's front tire is almost flat!" Jacky observed as he inspected each one of Mario's tires, before going to his car and taking out a tire pump. "How it didn't run out of air yet is beyond me."
Jacky: Mario had no room in his car for the fellas, so that's when he asked me for extra space. I had Sora and Rayman; Mario got everyone else. It was a fun ride for the most part...until Sora started asking us questions about how and why Ariel "became black". Told him that the new live-action Little Mermaid movie was a remake, but it only left his brain in even more knots when he asked about the "live-action" bit.
Rayman: Never sharing a car with Sora ever again, never ever. If I have to hear him sing Little Mermaid songs one more time...
"Knowing Mario, I bet he also drove to this apartment on a nearly empty tank," assumed Jacky as he was pumping air into Mario's front tire. A blonde bandicoot soon showed up, standing to the side as she watched Jacky do his thing.
"You're really working that pump," the blonde bandicoot smiled at Jacky, who was putting in so much effort that the man was sweating. A task like pumping air into a tire shouldn't require that much exertion.
"What can I say, I take flat tires very seriously..." All done, Jacky wiped away the sweat as he stood up with the air pump in hand...only to turn around and take a step back when he saw Tawna Bandicoot. "...oh! It's you!"
"Yup, it's me." Taking a small amount of credit for frightening Jacky, Tawna walked over to Mario's car and placed her hand on the trunk. "I see Mario's car next to yours. What's the special occasion?"
"The special occasion is that it's Layton's birthday today." Jacky looked around before leaning in close to Tawna, having to disclose some confidential info. "...but to tell you the truth, it's not really his birthday."
"Oh really? Then whose birthday is it?" Evidently, Jacky did not know as he didn't say a single word. Tawna was left to wonder as she folded her arms and smirked, tapping her foot. "I'm waiting."
"To tell you the truth, it's no one's birthday. Really, I'm just a nice guy offering free rides." Jacky was ashamed of the fact too, as he sighed and looked down with his hand resting on the hood of his car.
"You know what they say, nice guys finish last." Tawna and Jacky would soon have company, as Mario and his boys exited the apartment building with Layton.
"Jacky, Organization XIII was inside-a Layton and Luke's apartment!" Mario informed Jacky about the current situation, who looked stunned and took his hand off the hood of his car as he was on high alert. "Also, they ruined-a the birthday cake."
"Which you didn't have to bake," stated Cloud, as Mario licked some of the icing off of his gloves. Vault Boy, who joined Mario in eating the cake, was licking icing off of his fingers.
"Layton and Luke? Who are they?" inquired Tawna, as Mario and company finally saw the blonde bandicoot standing by. That's when Mario recalled that Tawna had never met Layton and Luke before.
"Ah, Tawna! Back-a in town, I see." Grabbing Layton by his arm, Mario brought Layton over to Tawna and had him shake her hand. "Professor Layton, this is Tawna Bandicoot; she's from-a an alternate universe."
"Pleasure, ma'am," Layton tipped her hat to Tawna, shaking the blonde bandicoot's hand for as long as Mario allowed the handshake to endure. Mewtwo was staring at Tawna skeptically, as Villager noticed.
"Something wrong?" Villager asked Mewtwo, who was staring at Tawna as if she was untrustworthy. Something about Tawna that Mewtwo couldn't shake off.
"She's giving off a weird vibe..." replied Mewtwo, seconds after Mario ended the handshake between Layton and Tawna. Handshake went a little too long for both parties.
"So I heard you talk about Organization XIII," Tawna said to Mario, cracking her knuckles as she looked to give the Organization a good fight. "Would like to meet 'em in person, if you catch my drift."
"You'll get-a your opportunity soon," Mario told Tawna, whom Mewtwo was still staring at as his skepticism was at a high. "Let's scan-a the entire city!"
Apparently, Kasumi wasn't the only Phantom Thief gal that was dealing with problems - Makoto was acting very sensitive, and Haru complained about feeling bloated and tired. Sonic and Pit followed Wii Fit and Kasumi to the bathroom, and peeking inside they saw Ann standing in front of a mirror.
"So many pimples..." moaned Ann as she looked at her reflection in the mirror, identifying several pimples across her face. Sonic and Pit turned their attention from Ann to Kasumi, who was sitting on the toilet seat hunched over while dealing with her stomach cramps.
"Ready to head back to the cafe?" Wii Fit asked Kasumi, who was in so much pain that she didn't have the energy to even stand up. The pain in Kasumi's lower abdomen was killing her.
"I can really go for an ice pack right about now," replied Kasumi, feeling some pain near her pelvis; Wii Fit didn't wish to leave Kasumi behind, but she did see Sonic standing at the door.
"Sonic, do you mind getting Kasumi an ice pack? Should be at one at the fitness center." Looking up, Kasumi saw Sonic and Pit standing at the bathroom door and was incensed.
"I got you," replied Sonic as he sped off down the hallway, en route to the fitness center. Pit locked eyes with the frowning Kasumi, and smiled sweetly in hopes of alleviating the young woman's mood.
"What are you looking at?" Kasumi angrily questioned Pit, who quickly looked away to avoid suspicion. Kasumi went back to grimacing in pain.
"Beats me," replied Pit, as he was later joined at the bathroom door by Makoto; Makoto was eating a banana, "Since when did you start liking bananas?"
"Who are you trying to kid, I've always loved bananas," claimed Makoto as she finished off her banana...before pulling out another one. Makoto gave the banana a kiss before unpeeling it, as Pit was weirded out.
Donkey Kong: Diddy and I are gonna have a word with the Yiga Clan; they've made by far their biggest heist yet on our banana hoard yet. Can they not grow their own bananas? Why do they have to take ours, man?
Master Kohga: Two dozen bananas were stolen from the banana hoard?! *laughs uncontrollably* Jokes aside, my men have nothing to do with that. I'd kill them if they ever stole more bananas in one sitting than me! *shakes his fist*
"Wii Fit, I have the ice pack!" announced Sonic as he came running down the hallway to the bathroom. The blue hedgehog gave Makoto a weird glance as he entered the bathroom, handing the ice pack to Wii Fit.
"Thank you," Wii Fit thanked Sonic as she accepted the ice pack, placing the item on Kasumi's stomach after removing her hands. "How does that feel?"
"It feels good..." replied Kasumi, finding much relief as she pressed the ice pack against her stomach. The young woman let out a sigh of relief of joy.
"Can I get you anything else?" Sonic asked Wii Fit as he stood by, happy to run another errand for the fitness trainer. He wanted to know what was wrong with Kasumi, most of all.
"You've done your part...now get lost." Kasumi was getting all snappy with Sonic, although Sonic was asking his question to Wii Fit only. But that didn't stop Sonic from backing away from Kasumi.
"Uh, as you wish!" As Sonic left Kasumi alone, he would run into Ann who was super preoccupied with the pimples all over her face. Ann hadn't dealt with a breakout like this in a while.
"Ugh, could this get any worse?" wondered Ann, who was feeling bloated as she passed some gas. Looking embarrassed, Ann turned her head towards Sonic who was standing close to her. "Sonic, you better not..."
"I didn't hear anything!" claimed Sonic, throwing his hands up in innocence as he left the bathroom in one piece. He joined Pit outside, and said, "These girls are acting all out of sorts..."
"Must be a new virus going around," assumed Pit, thinking that this so-called virus only affected women. The angel was forced to change his tune as he saw Makoto eating a third banana. "Don't know what virus makes you addicted to bananas, though."
Touma couldn't do it - he couldn't bring himself to Force Five, although he told Fox and Falco that he was dwelling upon the thought for "a solid two weeks". Disgusted with his own indecisiveness, Touma ran off to hide in the idol singers' house, away from his friends.
"Open up, Touma!" Itsuki was heard shouting from upstairs, while Mamori and Asuka were in the kitchen making preparations for Microwave Idol Mamorin. They already had their special guests in Leaf, Pikachu, and Pichu, now all they needed was their other co-host.
"Do you know if Ashley's coming or not?" Leaf asked Mamori and Asuka as she held Pikachu in her arms; Pichu was on the counter near the stove, inspecting the pans that were on the stove.
"She never gives me a heads up, so your guess is..." answered Mamori...only for the front door to be opened by Ashley, much to Mamori and Asuka's delight. "...would you know it, there she is!"
"Pika pika!" exclaimed Pikachu, sharing in Mamori and Asuka's excitement - so excited, that she accidentally gave Leaf a light electrical shock. The mouse Pokemon smiled at Leaf apologetically.
"Waluigi held me up," Ashley said to her co-hosts as she entered the kitchen, getting down to setting up the camera on the tripod. "Apparently, he stole Link's Master Sword and wanted to brag about it."
"Sounds like a very Waluigi thing to do," remarked Asuka, as Ashley suddenly heard some loud knocking from upstairs. Ashley would've looked concerned if she cared enough. "Touma locked himself in his room, by the way."
"Good - that means no distractions." Ashley was done setting up the camera, which meant that it was showtime. But then Itsuki came down the stairs, wanting to speak with Ashley. So much for distractions.
"You ladies started filming yet?" Itsuki asked the three co-hosts of Microwave Idol Mamorin, with Ashley silently begging Mamori to say yes. But she did not say a word. "Ashley, can you come with me?"
"Do I have to?" asked an exasperated Ashley, as Itsuki waited for the young witch to get a move on. Ashley sighed as she followed Itsuki upstairs to Touma's room, with all the idol singers gathered outside Touma's door.
"We need a gun," Yashiro suggested to the idol singers, who all widened their eyes at the drastic suggestion that Yashiro threw out. "Once he hears the sound of gunshots, he's guaranteed to leave his room!"
"The goal is to make Touma leave peacefully, not scare him," stated Tsubasa, as she saw Itsuki returning to the group as he brought Ashley along. "I see that you've brought Ashley, Itsuki."
"Caught her just in time before Mamori went live," responded Itsuki, who had to lead Ashley to Touma's room - even having to drag the young witch, in an instance or two. "Perhaps she can work her magic to get Touma out."
"Asking the wrong person..." mumbled Ashley, looking to get the job done ASAP as she walked to Touma's bedroom door. "...everyone, move." Tsubsaa, Kiria, Eleonora, and Yashiro all moved to the side, although Kiria moved at the last minute.
"Are you really texting at a time like this?" Eleonora questioned Kiria, who was on her phone as she was tapping away with her fingers. Kira placed her phone in her pocket once she was done sending her text.
"Gotta go, Ann needs me," Kiria said to her idol singer friends, giving them a two-finger salute as she hurried to her room. Kiria closed the door behind her, as Eleonora looked up at the heavens and shook her head.
Wendy Koopa: Ann's asking every lady in sight for an acne cream to get rid of her nasty pimples. Gave her some of my acne cream, and I think it made her breakout even worse! Then again, that cream was made for Koopas only...oops.
"I'll cast a spell on this door," said Ashley as she positioned herself in front of the door, taking out her wand and waving it to generate some magic. "See if it'll make the door disappear."
"Well, go for it - give it your best shot," encouraged Itsuki, as Ashley stopped waving her wand once she had enough magic. Eyes glowing, Ashley cast a spell on the door...and nothing happened.
"Still waiting..." said Eleonora, as she waited for the door to disappear as Ashley said. Many seconds passed, and nothing remotely exciting happened. "...Ashley, I thought that spell would've worked."
"Never said that it was the right spell," said Ashley, giving everyone's hopes up as she left and went down the stairs, returning to the kitchen. "But you guys can figure it out."
"YOU WILL NEVER TAKE ME ALIVE!" Touma vowed from inside his bedroom, as he wasn't leaving his personal abode anytime soon. Itsuki and the idol singers were back at square one.
Ratchet and Clank wanted to speak with Samus, looking to redeem themselves from the previous episode. Speaking with Researcher Zelda, they learned that Samus was at the bank. So Ratchet and Clank flew to the bank that Researcher Zelda provided just to see if the princess was correct.
"There's her gunship," said Clank as he and Ratchet stepped out of their spaceship, spotting Samus's gunship parked in the parking lot and taking up two parking spaces. They arrived right on time, as they saw Samus exit the bank.
"Here goes nothing..." said Ratchet, taking a deep breath as kept his eyes fixated on Samus. Samus had several bank documents in her hands, along with her credit card.
"Fifty dollars spent on stupid fertilizer, and I didn't know about it," grumbled Samus as she walked down the steps to the parking lot, with Ratchet and Clank waiting for their opportunity to pounce. "Alph is gonna regret stealing my card."
"Hey, Samus!" greeted Ratchet as he jumped right in front of the bounty hunter, smiling. The Lombax slowly became nervous as Samus stared blankly at him. "Remember us?"
"Yeah, I remember you. Good talk, Ratchet." Giving Ratchet and Clank the cold shoulder, Samus walked to her Gunship. Down but not yet out, Ratchet jumped in front of Samus yet again.
"Wait Samus! Before you go..." Ratchet said to Samus, running to his ship and returning to the bounty hunter with a giant red glove. "...you gotta check this out. The Glove of Doom!"
"Maybe another time." Samus could care less about Ratchet's Glove of Doom, as she went inside her gunship. Ratchet and Clank watched as the gunship hovered off of the ground, before flying up in the air.
"...so close, yet so far." Ratchet watched in defeat as the gunship flew across the sky, flying back to the mansion. So much for the Lobax impressing Samus.
"We'll get her next time," guaranteed a confident Clank, sharing a fist bump with Ratchet as Mario and Cloud showed up at the bank. "...well, look who it is."
"Ratchet and Clank! Just the men I wanted-a to see," exclaimed Mario as he and Cloud arrived at the parking lot. Mario fist-bumped Ratchet, while the unfriendly Cloud did no such thing. "Some bad-a news - Organization XIII is here in the city!"
"Woah! That's not good!" exclaimed Ratchet, knowing that the situation was perilous as evidenced by how Mario delivered the news. "Speaking of which, who's Organization XIII again?"
"That's right, you All-Stars don't really know about them..." Mario wanted to explain who Organization XIII was, but he was in no mood for long explanations.
"Just know that they're a bunch of bad guys who wear black cloaks," Cloud explained to Ratchet and Clank, letting them know how Organization XII could be best identified. A simple enough explanation. "We all split up to find them."
Mewtwo: Cloud opted to go with Mario, as the thought of teaming up with Sora bothered him. I volunteered to go with Tawna because I still have my doubts about her. She's not what she seems...
Sora: Really wanted Cloud, but he aligned with Mario before I had the chance to swoop him up! The two of us, we would've made for an epic dream team. But Vault Boy, he's just as good.
Vault Boy: *gives a thumbs up to the camera*
"Any signs of Organization XIII yet?" Tawna asked Mario and Cloud as she and Mewtwo coincidentally showed up at the bank. The blonde bandicoot smiled as she saw Ratchet, waving to him. "Hey, Ratchet!"
"Uh, hi," Ratchet waved back to Tawna, recalling the bandicoot's visit to the All-Star Manor just to see Nathan Drake. Mewtwo looked at Tawna as he couldn't shake off the feeling he had about her.
"Got any room-a in your spaceship?" Mario asked Ratchet and Clank, as Cloud looked down the street and saw someone waving their arm to him. "We can search-a for Organization XIII through the skies."
"Aphelion's a two-seater; she can only take one passenger," replied Ratchet, as Cloud broke away from the group to discern the person that was trying to get his attention. "Isn't that right, Aphelion?"
"Affirmative," replied Ratchet's spaceship, Aphelion, alarming everyone with her ability to talk. Meanwhile, Cloud saw that the person waving to him...and it looked like it was Zack Fair! But it wasn't the Zack Fair that he knew. Zack was dead!
"Wanna come with us and look for the Organization together?" Ratchet asked Mario as he pointed his thumb at Aphelion, which had a comfy passenger seat for Mario to sit in. Mario looked up at Cloud, about to ask a very suspect question.
"Mind if I sit-a in your lap?" Mario asked Cloud, as he did not want to leave the swordsman behind. Cloud was speechless, offended by Mario's question.
"...we might have some room in the back for you, Mario. Should be enough wiggle room."
Ann was dealing with a breakout, and she needed some acne cream fast. Kiria had some acne cream for her, and the idol singer stopped by the mansion to make the pressing delivery.
"Apply this twice per day, and you should be good to go," Kiria instructed Ann as she held a small bottle of acne cream, while Sonic, Pit, and Wii Fit watched from a distance. Ann snatched the cream from Kiria and poured some into her hand.
"Thank you so much!" Ann thanked Kiria as she applied the cream to her face, or more specifically her pimples. Kiria furrowed her brow at Ann as she backed away, only to back up into Fox and Falco.
"Is that...acne cream?" Fox asked Kiria, watching as Anna was frantically applying the acne cream to her face. "I asked you for some months ago, and you never gave me any!"
"Foxes can't get acne," Kiria said matter-of-factly, effectively putting Fox in his place; Fox was left speechless, as Falco held his hand over his mouth in shock.
"Never said that I needed it...for acne." Fox felt uncomfortable after Kiria owned him, and the fact that he had no rebuttal pained him greatly.
Fox: They say that non-prescription acne products are good for treating burns. The medical experts on YouTube have never let me down. *pauses* The medical experts in the YouTube comments section.
"By the way, if you're looking for Touma, he's at our place hiding like a coward," Kiria gave this tidbit of info to the pilots, before exiting the mansion and returning home. Makoto soon entered the foyer, eating a banana in one hand, and holding a banana branch in the other.
"Why so many bananas?" Falco asked Makoto, who came to a stop and looked at Falco as if nothing was wrong. "Are you a fatty?" Falco inadvertently upset Makoto, who looked as if she was about to cry. "No, wait, I didn't mean..."
"You're right...someone else might've wanted these bananas. How insensitive of me..." Fighting back tears, Makoto ran back to the kitchen to put the banana branch where it once was. Falco was bewildered by the interaction that took place.
"Thanks for escorting Kasumi," Wii Fit thanked Sonic and Pit, who escorted Kasumi to the foyer as Wii Fit led the way. Kasumi didn't seem to appreciate Sonic or Pit's assistance.
"I didn't need any escorting, let me go!" yelled Kasumi, as Sonic and Pit released their hold on the young woman. Kasumi got down on one knee as her stomach was killing her.
"You said you wanted to go back to the fitness center. Sure you still want to go?" Wii Fit knelt down at Kasumi, gauging how the young woman was feeling, as Fox and Falco were looking on. Then Futaba entered the foyer.
"My lower back is killing me!" stated Futaba as she held her lower back, massaging the area with her hand. Falco had major difficulty making sense of what was going on.
"You got issues too?" Falco questioned Futaba, speaking to the hermit as if he was bothered by her having back pain. "What is up with you ladies today?!"
"Maybe it's that time of the month," assumed Fox as he shrugged, as Falco believed that to be the most likely answer. Pit had no clue what Fox meant.
"That time of the month for what?" Pit asked Fox, who responded by giving the angel a pitiful stare. Banjo, overhearing Pit as he entered the foyer, looked excited for whatever reason.
"That time of the month for a spanking!" answered Banjo as he turned around and pulled down his yellow pants, flashing everyone with his buttocks exposed. "Let 'er rip!"
"Pull your pants up..." Kazooie commanded Banjo, who did as he was told as he pulled his pants up ending the unpleasant sight. Kazooie spoke to Banjo with the same tone of a strict mother.
"I'm not following, what is this 'time of the month?'" Sonic asked Wii Fit, as he felt bad about not understanding the lingo. Being on the same level of ignorance as Pit was not ideal for him.
"You and Pit sure could use an explanation," replied Wii Fit, as she brought the cramping Kasumi over to Fox and Falco. "Can you watch over Kasumi for me?" Wii Fit asked the pilots, almost ready to throw Kasumi on them.
"Uh, sure," replied Fox, as Wii Fit handed Kasumi to the pilot before beckoning to Sonic and Pit. Wii Fit led Sonic and Pit out of the foyer, while Fox and Falco were stuck with Kasumi.
"I would appreciate it if you weren't holding my arm so tight!" Kasumi snapped at Falco, who saved himself some trouble as he stopped holding Kasumi's arm altogether. Seeing Kasumi's outburst made it event to Fox what the issue was.
Thanks to the Squid Sisters and Wily, Waluigi was convinced that Dimentio was at the watchpoint and that Link, Zelda, and any Overwatch operatives at the base were somehow unaware of Dimentio's presence. So the lanky man went with Marie, Callie, and Wily to the watchpoint, and brought Lakitu with him so that the bespectacled Koopa could record his heroic exploits.
"Keep the camera focused on me," Waluigi instructed Lakitu, as the lanky man stood at the watchpoint entrance with Marie, Callie, and Wily. Cassidy greeted Waluigi and company at the entrance, happy to see a few visitors.
"Welcome to the watchpoint," greeted Cassidy as he tipped his hat, only to notice the Master Sword that Waluigi was holding in his hand. The legendary blade was unmistakable to Cassidy. "I see you came to return Link his sword."
"Nuh-uh, this is MY Master Sword!" To show Cassidy that he wasn't cap, Waluigi did a few poses with the Master Sword. The poses Waluigi did were awkward and also made the Squid Sisters laugh. "Stop laughing, you two! It hurts the aura..."
"Nice of you to paint the grip in your color." Cassidy was drawn to the grip of the Master Sword, and he could tell that the purple was painted on as he saw the original blue color eking through. Waluigi saw the blue as well.
"Wah, I didn't apply enough paint...I mean, where is Dimentio?" Judging from how chill Cassidy was, Waluigi was under the heavy assumption that Dimentio was already dealt with.
"He's not here, but if you want, I can let you inside." So Cassidy led Waluigi and company inside the watchpoint, as he took them to an outside area where Link, Zelda, Tracer, and Sojourn convened.
"So Pandora, she's the goddess of calamity, right?" Sojourn asked Link and Zelda, as there was a discussion taking place about the newest members of Dimentio's coalition. "Makes sense that she's affiliated with Dimentio."
"And this is Nitros Oxide," said Zelda as she showed Tracer and Sojourn a picture of Oxide, which was taken during the race held on episode 183. A very unflattering picture of Oxide all things considered.
"He looks absolutely mental!" giggled Tracer, as the visage of Oxide looking crazy with his eyes enlarged and his mouth wide open tickled her silly.
"To be fair, this picture was snapped during that race Oxide at the racetrack. Oxide likely demanded the picture to not be taken...but Lakitu rarely listens to such requests."
"We got some visitors," announced Cassidy, as he was waiting for the most opportune moment to speak. Everyone looked over and saw the tower denizens standing with Cassidy.
"Cheers, lovelies! Care to join us?" Tracer offered to the tower denizens, as Link angrily stood up; Link was frowning, for he saw that Waluigi had possession of his Master Sword.
"Waluigi...what are you doing with my Master Sword?" Link questioned the lanky man, frowning intensely; Waluigi would've acted cowardly in this given moment, but he was standing his ground.
"You mean MY Master Sword!" Waluigi fired back at Link as he struck an awkward pose with the Master Sword, unnerving Link significantly while the others were giggling at Waluigi's expense. "Got it fair and square."
"Nice try, Waluigi, but you're not a hero of legend. You're not even a hero of anything. Now give me back my sword!"
"I am a hero - a hero of the Assist Tower! I'm their top dog, their tough-nosed leader, the man who runs the place!"
"Only because of a lack of options, probably," Zelda muttered under his breath, as everyone except for Link snickered in response. Waluiig felt like attacking Zelda with the Master Sword, just to send the princess a message.
Link: Zelda and I left our bedroom open because we trusted the mansion people to not bother our stuff. Apparently, we didn't extend that same trust to the folks living at the tower...
"Lovely, what a nice little gathering we have here! And here I come, like a hooligan crashing a surprise birthday party!"
"Dimentio!" shouted Tracer, as the jester in question appeared at the watchpoint; everyone pulled out their weapons, although Link and Wily were the odd ones out.
"Waluigi, give me back my sword!" Link demanded the lanky man, who refused as he looked to strike Dimentio with the Master Sword. Waluiig wanted to have his big moment.
"Oh no, everyone wants to kill me! I'm so scared!" Dimentio sardonically fretted, pretending to be scared as he held his hands up to his face. "My magic greatly transcends any weapon formed against me."
"Any weapon such as THIS?" questioned Waluiig as he pointed the Master Sword at Dimentio, who couldn't believe what his eyes were seeing. "Fear my Master Sword, Dimentio!"
"Do my eyes deceive me? Is that...is that Waluigi holding the Master Sword?" Dimentio was almost giggling, as he found Waluigi and the Master Sword to be an uneven match. If it was someone like Kirby wielding the Master Sword, Dimentio would hardly bat an eye.
"Best believe it! I'm the big dang hero! And with this Master Sword, my Master Sword, I will cut you in...why are you laughing?" Waluigi looked upset as Dimentio was laughing his butt off, the hardest that anyone ever heard him laugh.
"You? A HERO?!" Dimentio was laughing so much and so hysterically, that Link and the others were even showing concern. "You're barely even a less-than-significant threat to my grand scheme! You're an insignificant speck."
"An insignificant speck?!" An offended Waluigi clutched his pearls, as Dimentio continued to laugh in his face. Dimentio eventually tempered his laughing fit, wiping a tear from his eye.
"I must thank you, Mr. Waluigi, for giving me that laugh. Now my stomach aches dearly no thanks to you. I promise to return when my stomach is no longer ailing me."
"Who knew that a guy made out of paper can have a stomach..." muttered Marie, as Dimentio's laughing fit hurt Waluigi's feelings. Waluigi was reduced to a frowning grump.
"For now, I must bid you all adieu. Hopefully, when I return, this watchpoint will be reduced to ashes. Ciao!" Making his goodbye, Dimentio vanished as he left everyone at the watchpoint alone. It was a pyrrhic victory for Waluigi.
"I can't believe it...but you actually drove Dimentio away from the watchpoint," Sojourn said to Waluigi, who wasn't in the mood for receiving props. Dimentio killed Waluigi's mood. "Nice work, soldier."
"Nice work indeed - now hand over my sword," Link commanded Waluigi with his hand held out, only for a salty Waluigi to storm off and take the Master Sword with him. "Waluigi!"
"Worry about Waluigi later," Callie said to Link, as the Squid Sisters stepped in and kept Link from chasing down Waluigi. "Dr. Wily has something he would like to share."
"...it's something that I only tell you and Zelda," Wily informed Link, who was looking past the Squid Sisters as he watched as Waluigi took off with the Master Sword. Link sighed, deciding to deal with Waluigi later.
Touma was still in his room, and Ituski and his idol singer friends struggled to get the redhead out. They tried every trick in the book, but it wasn't enough to make Touma open his bedroom door.
"This is hopeless, he'll never get out at this rate," said Yashiro, willing to throw in the towel and admit defeat. Just then, Fox and Falco came up the stairs while escorting Kasumi.
"One foot in front of the other...there you go," Fox said to Kasumi, as he and Falco gently led the young woman down to Touma's room. Itsuki and the idol singers were looking on, wondering what was up with Kasumi.
"She's super snappy and dealing with cramps," explained Falco, as Itsuki and Yashiro both felt bad for poor Kasumi. Tsubasa, Eleonora, and Kiria, on the other hand, were sympathizing.
"I'll be right back, gonna get some pain relief medicine," Kiria said to her friends as she went to her bedroom, looking to retrieve some items for Kasumi. "Knew something was up with Ann..."
"We'll follow you," Fox said to Kiria as he took Kasumi to Kiria's bedroom; Falco stayed behind as he saw everyone standing at Touma's door.
"He locked himself inside, didn't he?" Falco asked Itsuki, only to sigh as he took out his phone. Falco dialed a number and made a call to one of the Star Records employees. "Sup, Little Mac? You busy?"
Fox: I assume this is what Kasumi needed all along. *holds up a box of pads* As a man, I cannot tell you how weird it is for me to hold this. I'm not the only one, am I?
Mario, Layton, and the rest of the gang remained on the hunt for Organization XIII. But no matter where they looked, they couldn't find them anywhere. That was until Ratchet and Clank entered the picture.
"Mario's calling," Villager said to his partner, Rayman, as he heard his phone ringing. Villager took out his phone and answered Mario's call. "Yes, Mario?"
"Hey Villager - we've found-a out where Organization XIII is," Mario said from the phone, as Villager and Rayman exchanged looks of joy. "At the closed-down dry cleaners. You know-a the one."
"The one that closed down because Wario defecated one of the drying machines? We're on our way." So Villager took off down the street, while Rayman stayed behind with a disgusted look.
"Guess that Globox isn't the only one who does that..." remarked Rayman, as he eventually followed after Villager to the closed-down dry cleaners. Villager looked up in the sky and Ratchet's spaceship, Aphelion, in view.
Villager and Rayman arrived at the closed-down dry cleaners, as they spotted Marluxia and Larxene having a private conversation with Luxord in the parking lot. The duo looked to crash the private meeting, until...
"Look out!" alerted Rayman, shoving Villager out of harm's way as a red car zoomed into the parking lot. Marluxia and company paused their conversation as they saw Jacky exiting the car along with Layton and Luke.
"Oh, brother..." Larxene rolled her eyes, as she and her allies were face-to-face with Jacky and the British detectives. Layton pointed at Organization XIII.
"Organization XIII! I reckon that you already know who I am," Layton said to the three Organization members, as Villager and Rayman aligned themselves with Layton, Luke, and Jacky. "Your plot to kidnap Luke was awfully coordinated."
"Yeah, we know who you are, Professor Layton...and you're even skinnier in person!" Larxene intended for her words to get under Layton's skin, but Layton was undeterred. Soon Sora arrived, along with Vault Boy.
"Mario called and said that you guys were here," Sora said to Organization XIII as he wielded his Keyblade, while Vault Boy had his ray gun pointed at the three Nobodies. "You three aren't going anywhere!"
"And where on earth is Mario? He has yet to reveal himself," stated Luxord, only to later eat his swords as Aphelion descended down to the parking lot. Mario, Cloud, Ratchet, and Clank all got out of the ship.
"So, you must be Organization XIII," Clank said to Marluxia, Larxene, and Luxord, as Ratchet had his Glove of Doom pointed at the Nobody trio. "I see that there's only three of you..."
"We're missing Tawna and Mewtwo," Cappy informed Mewtwo, only for Tawna and Mewtwo to later arrive at the scene and join the others. "I'll take credit for speaking them into existence."
"Your time in this city ends now," Mewtwo said to Organization XIII, as he had a charged-up Shadow Ball ready to go. The psychic Pokemon waited for Organization XIII to make their first move.
"Yeah, you three are going...down?" vowed Tawna, only to crinkle her nose when she saw a bandicoot that strongly resembled her. A second Tawna showed up, and it had the good guys confused.
"Woah...this is kinda freaky!" the second Tawna remarked, as she and the first Tawna were looking at each other. The Spider-Man-pointing meme was actually taking place.
"What's this? Two bandicoots?" said Marluxia, as he was entertained by the sight of two Tawnas in each other's presence. "Which one is the real one?"
"One way to find out..." said Ratchet as he wielded his Glove of Doom...only for the first Tawna to roundhouse kick the Lombax and make him drop the Glove. The good guys gasped as the first Tawna picked up the Glove.
"Nice glove," the first Tawna gave her props to the downed Ratchet, as she was now wielding the Glove of Doom. The second Tawna, refusing to let injustice go unpunished, ran towards the first Tawna.
"Give it up!" the second Tawna shouted, as the two Tawnas were wrangling over possession of the Glove. Mario and the others were cheering on, although it was pretty hard.
"Go Tawna...the good one, not the evil one!" cheered Luke, unsure of which Tawna had the upper hand. The Glove of Doom fell out of the Tawnas' possession during the wrangling and landed at Mario's feet.
"Hm, wonder what this bad-a boy can do," said Mario as he picked up the Glove, pulling the trigger inside the Glove as he fired several eggs. Hatching out of the eggs were...small little androids. Also known as the Agents of Doom.
"What the..." uttered Luxord, as the Agents of Doom ran towards one of the Tawnas...the one that was with Mario and company met earlier. The androids brought that Tawna to the ground, while the other one backed off for good measure.
"Get...off of me!" shouted the Tawna that was being attacked, only to later fade out of existence. The Agents of Doom then turned to the Organization XIII baddies, as they ran toward them.
"Nope!" said Larxene, instinctively summoning some lightning to dispatch the Agents of Doom. No small android was going to lay a finger on the Organization.
"Told you there was something off," a vindicated Mewtwo quietly said to Villager, as Mario took Ratchet's hand and helped him up to his feet before returning the Glove of Doom.
"No...this is yours. All yours," Ratchet said to Mario as he handed the Glove of Doom back to the plumber. "Consider it a gift from Polygon Man and the All-Star Manor...but mainly Polygon Man."
Tawna: Link and Zelda asked if I knew anything about Organization XIII, so I was out and about in the city. *flexes her fingers* Wanted to see the Organization for myself, and know what they're about. My first impression? They need to improve their fashion sense. Black cloaks with long sleeves isn't it, in my opinion.
"The Tawna we met...it was a clone!" remarked Sora, only to hear some evil laughing coming from up above. Organization XIII was joined by Infinite, who descended down from the sky.
"Greetings..." Infinite greeted Mario and company; the way he was hovering over Marluxia, Larxene, and Luxord admittedly made for an epic sight. "...I see that you have cracked the code. You stopped my clone."
"Infinite!" yelled Mario, wanting Ratchet to unleash the Agents from the Glove of Doom on the jackal. Before Ratchet could pull the trigger, he saw Infinite take out a note. "What's that?"
"Just a list that I would like you to hold on to, for now." Infinite tossed the list to Mario, tossing it as if it were a spinning disk. Mario caught the list with his hand, briefly glancing at it.
"We'd love to stick around and fight, but it appears that we're outnumbered," said Luxord, summoning a dark corridor for him and his Organization pals to leave through. "We prefer a more leveled playing field."
"Sounds like an excuse to me! Bring it on!" yelled Tawna, daring the Organization to strike, but Luxord going through the dark corridor indicated that no fighting would be taking place.
"See you later, dorks!" Larxene said her goodbyes to Mario and company, taunting them as she and Marluxia left through the dark corridor. Infinite was left behind, as the jackal looked to leave himself.
"Enjoy speculating over that list...you'll soon understand what it means later on," Infinite said his parting words to Mario and company, before vanishing away. Mario was left to look at the list, which he and Cloud looked at together.
"Hey, sorry for not seeing you guys sooner," Tawna apologized to the group, as Mewtwo was relieved that the real Tawna was speaking. "Although it wouldn't have made much of a difference..."
"I'm sure that it would've," replied Cloud, keeping the Zack Fair clone he saw earlier in the back of his mind.
Wii Fit knew the reason behind everything wrong with the Phantom Thief girls today, but Pit and Sonic, who followed Wii Fit around, did not. So it was up to Wii Fit to fill the boys in and let them know why Kasumi and her lady friends were acting so funny.
"Wait, so Kasumi and the other ladies...are on their periods?" Sonic asked Wii Fit, who had broke the news to the blue hedgehog and Pit in the living room. Sonic found it coincidental that multiple periods were taking place at the same time.
"That's right!" confirmed Wii Fit, as Sonic felt stupid for not realizing things sooner by mentally slapping himself in the face. "It's the only explanation for their symptoms and behavior."
"But they're in their early twenties," stated Pit, who unlike Sonic was left with more questions than answers. "Puberty should've been in their rearview mirror!"
"Any woman can have a period at any age, Pit. The whole point of a woman going through a period is to prepare the uterus for pregnancy."
"Prepare the uterus for pregnancy? Are you saying that...KASUMI AND HER FRIENDS ARE ALL PREGNANT?!" Pit shuddered at the thought of the Phantom Thief girls getting pregnant by their male friends, and then wondered how Kasumi got pregnant herself. He assumed that she did it through self-impregnation.
"No, they're not pregnant!" Wii Fit couldn't help but laugh at the accusation that Pit threw out into the air. "Periods are just monthly sheddings of the uterus's linings. Every woman has to go through it."
"That still doesn't explain why those girls all have periods at the same time," said Sonic, as Pit wondered when Viridi had her period. Given how cranky Viridi often was, Pit assumed that her period happened every week. "Are periods like, on a set schedule?"
"Not really, but the only explanation behind that phenomenon is period syncing. Do you boys have any idea what that means?"
"It means that they're akin to the Power Rangers?" guessed Pit, as Wii Fit was on the verge of faceplanting onto the floor. To make matters worse for Wii Fit, Sonic was along with Pit on the same line of thinking.
"There are five girls, so that makes for a solid squad," stated Sonic, with Pit fantasying about the idea of the Phantom Thief girls becoming a tokusatsu squad and teaming up to tackle womanly issues. Made for a great premise for an animated show, in his eyes.
"Period syncing is the idea that women who hang out a bunch and live with each other menstruate on the same day," Wii Fit explained to Sonic and Pit, as the answers became more clear to the blue hedgehog and angel. "That's why their periods started at the same time."
"Can men menstruate as women can?" Pit asked Wii Fit, who was alarmed by how genuine the question was. Wii Fit looked at Pit in pure disbelief, her mouth fully agape.
"To be fair, this is the same guy who wondered if men can have periods," Sonic said to Wii Fit, although it didn't make Wii Fit feel any better. Her mouth remained agape. "I thought you understood more about how the female body works, Pit."
"Yeah, about pregnancy maybe! This stuff about menstruation is mostly foreign to me." Ashamed of his own ignorance, Pit folded his arms as Wii Fit shook her head to wipe the dumb look off her face.
Pit: I feel bad for women. Not only do they have to deal with pregnancy pains, but they have to deal with periods as well. Stomach cramps, breakouts, tiredness, the works! All of that suffering they have to endure...just to be the second-most important gender.
Robin: *walking by, muttering under his breath* I knew that you were a misogynist...
Pit: *looks nervous after overhearing Robin* Uh, I mean...let's go, gender equality! Woo!
"Wii Fit Trainer?" said Kasumi, showing up at the door of the room that Wii Fit and company were sitting in. "I'm ready to resume gymnastics when you are!"
"Feeling better?" Wii Fit asked Kasumi, the answer appearing obvious to her as Kasumi was back to her smiling, happy self. A huge relief for everyone.
"A slight pain in my stomach, but Kiria gave me some muscle relaxant and it made me feel better. The pain meds also worked wonders - for me and Futaba."
"That's good to hear! Let me see if everything is set up." So Wii Fit exited the room to see if the balance beams remained set in place, as Kasumi stepped forward to speak with Sonic and Pit.
"I apologize for how I was acting towards you guys," Kasumi apologized to Sonic and Pit; Sonic accepted Kasumi's apology whereas Pit was holding back from Kasumi for his own safety. "Had to deal with a few...womanly issues."
"It's all good," responded Soinc, only to see how Pit was acting and felt second-hand embarrassment from the angel's actions. "Pit, you can relax, she's not going to hurt you..."
"Period symptoms aren't transmittable to men, are they?" Pit asked Sonic out of action, as Sonic shook his head at the angel out of pity. Kasumi giggled at Pit...likely also pitying the angel as well.
Marth and his boys met up with Junpei and his baseball team at the baseball field, with Marth wanting the Omnis Adesti Fideles to recount their findings. Each member of the baseball team had something they had to share.
"Scoured the entire community, nothing to report!" confirmed Owain, who along with Espio scanned every inch of Omnis Adest possible. The myrmidon was a bit showy fulfilling his task, more than what Espio preferred.
"Did they do a good job, Chrom?" Marth asked the prince, who nodded his head as Owain and Espio got an A-plus in his book. "What about you guys, how did your groups do?" Marth asked Ganondorf, Captain Falcon, and Wario, who all gave varying positive answers.
"You guys must've had a lot of fun..." muttered Junpei, who was stuck with Geno for most of the day. Did he and Geno do anything fun? Um...
Junpei: Did I do fun stuff with Geno? Yeah, we did fun stuff. Unless you don't consider playing cards in the middle of the baseball field while your players are out there making a difference "fun". *groans* Marth is lowkey setting up for failure or something big, there's no in-between.
"Good, good!" said Marth, very encouraged by the positive reports that he received from his men. "Since we're all here, I thought that I might let you in on a secret. It has much to do with the Heartless."
"Are you a Heartless yourself?!" Zeke pointed accusingly at Marth as he took out his blade, with Captain Falcon and Chrom having to hold him back. "You will meet your end, vermin!"
"That makes no sense, Marth wants the Heartless gone!" said Arven, who along with Mabostiff was accompanying Nemona against Nemona's many requests. "Why would he want to kill his own kind?"
"Um, who invited you?" Junpei questioned Arven, as Captain Falcon and Chrom calmed Zeke down and made the Crown Prince put his sword away. "We do not want your dumb dog as our mascot!"
"Mabostiff is not a dumb dog! Tell him, Mabostiff!" Instead of sticking up for himself, Mabostiff just stared blankly at Junpei and blinked. Arven facepalmed out of disappointment.
"As I was saying...I have a secret to share," said Marth, as he waited for everyone to get quiet and settled down. "I was the first person to ever know about the Heartless and Organization XIII."
"Marth had a chance encounter with the Organization in Radiant Garden," Geno explained to Omnis Adesti Fideles, referencing the time when Marth and Luigi went to go invite Aerith to Luigi's wedding.
"I told Master Hand and Mario about the encounter, but they didn't believe me at the time. Wasn't until the first Heartless set foot on Seattle that they took action. We had to deal with Organization XIII, years ago...and now we have to deal with them again."
"Why do you care so much about them?" Rock asked Marth, greatly interested in learning more about Marth's encounter with Organization XIII. "The Heartless and the Organization?"
"Strange as it may sound, I take responsibility for not snuffing out Organization XIII early on while I had the chance. A lot of things could've been prevented. But this can be my chance...our chance...to right my wrongs."
"I cannot believe we went from a bachelor's club, to whatever this is!" frowned Wario, as a few members of Omnis Adesti Fideles giggled at the thought of Wario ever finding love. "I never signed up for killing Heartless!"
"You won't be killing much Heartless, per se - you'll just be one of the overseers. Your role can be expanded, who knows." That enticed Wario enough, as the fatso was stroking his chin.
"Doesn't sound like a lot of work...how much do we get paid?" As always, Wario was concerned about the dollar signs.
It wasn't the way that he intended, but Waluigi was able to scare Dimentio off with his...erm, Link's Master Sword. The only major downside was that Dimentio didn't take Waluigi seriously, as he laughed in the lanky man's face. Waluigi was lamenting while sitting on a stool in the watchpoint, looking down as he held the Master Sword.
"Master Sword, please," Link said to Waluigi, as he came over with his hand out. Waluigi grumpily placed the Master Sword in Link's hand, and Link walked away happy to be reunited with his blade.
"Unbelievable that you let Waluigi steal your blade," a certain imp said to Link, as Midna appeared to the Hylian to share her disappointment with him. "Couldn't your sword return to its rightful owner after its theft?"
"Master Sword doesn't work that way, Midna," replied Link as he walked past the imp en route to Zelda. Midna sighed as she flew over to Waluigi, who was looking dejected.
"Dimentio was at the watchpoint...and he laughed at me!" Waluigi said to Midna, who didn't blame Dimentio in the slightest. Midna herself laughed at Waluigi every other day. "Laughed at me because I had the Master Sword!"
"You did look out of your element holding that sword," Midna admitted to Waluigi, who was even more dejected as he rested his chin in the palm of his hand. "Can't imagine you with a Buster Sword."
"That Master Sword was my meal ticket to gaining my peers' respect! Yet in the end all it got me was getting laughed at by Dimentio..."
"Hard to gain respect by stealing a man's sword. Next time, try being less materialistic." Midna patted Waluigi on his shoulder before flying away, and Waluigi watched as Midna left from the watchpoint.
Waluigi: Did...did MIdna imply that the Master Sword was a material possession? Did my wielding of the sword cause Midna to now have an unfavorable opinion of it?! Wah!
"That is right, ladies - I plan on building this new machine with E. Gadd," Wily confirmed to Zelda, Tracer, and Sojourn, as Link returned to the spot where he and Zelda met with the Overwatch operatives. "Provided that I hear back from E. Gadd later..."
"And you are sure that this machine will bring Raiden back," Zelda said to Wily, as Link caught wind of Wily's announcement at the last minute and almost dropped his Master Sword to the floor out of shock. "Have you put your beef with E. Gadd behind you?"
"Did it for the greater. Or at least I'm trying to put it behind me. It's been a struggle for me to not look at E. Gadd's face without grimacing..."
Fox and Falco had returned to the Star Records room, waiting for Touma to return and with a decision made on Force Five. Touma walked inside the Star Records room with hands in his pockets...and with a black eye.
"Well, Touma, have you made your decision?" Fox asked the redhead, who was too sheepish to admit where his black eye came from. But he wasn't sheepish enough to make his final decision on Force Five.
"Force Five...will be going on an indefinite hiatus," Touma confirmed to Fox and Falco, who expected Touma to cancel the show outright. An indefinite hiatus did mean that the show was one step from cancelation, though.
"So in other words, Force Five is canceled," said Falco - just as Yukari stepped inside the room to ask Fox and Falco a question. All she heard was "Force Five is canceled", as she gasped and looked at Touma.
"You monster..." Yukari hissed at Touma, before turning around and storming out of the room. Touma looked at the pilots, relieved that Yukari hadn't slapped him in the face.
Little Mac: Maybe Doc was right. Physical force does solve problems. Only certain ones, though.
Fox: Touma said "indefinite hiatus", but we all know what he truly meant. Now we're gonna wait for the official confirmation.
Thanks to Ratchet and Clank, Mario and his gang were able to locate Organization XIII. While Organization XIII did leave, their ally Infinite gave Mario a list. Back inside Layton's apartment, Mario and company were looking at the list together.
"I see Chrom's name at the top," said Cappy, as only eight names were inscribed on the list - and all of the names belonged to Smash fighters. It left Mario and the others curious as to what these names had to do with each other.
"Chrom, Daisy, and Dedede are on the same list...quite perplexing," remarked Layton, trying to make sense of what the list was about. "Is this a list of royalty?"
"Rosalina's on there, and she's not exactly royalty," replied Cloud, chilling by himself as he leaned against the wall. Always gotta be so individualistic...
"I suggest that we keep a close eye on whoever's on that list," recommended Mewtwo, implying that whoever was on the list should receive some protection. "Who knows what our opposition wants with them..."
Thanks to Joker's herbal tea, and a few other remedies, Kasumi was now cramps-free. The young woman felt well enough to resume her gymnastics routine in the fitness center, and she had a small audience of Wii Fit, Terry, Sonic, and Pit watching her perform. Hammer Bro was there, too, but for the wrong reasons.
"Look at her go!" exclaimed Terry, watching as Kasumi did several backward somersaults on the mat. The fighter was entranced by Kasumi's fluid movements, unable to take his gaze off her.
"Do a split on the balance beam!" Hammer Bro called out to Kasumi, who was creeped out by the comment that was made. Kasumi paused her performance as she and everyone else looked at the Koopa. "Because we want to see how flexible you are."
"How old are you supposed to be?" Kasumi questioned Hammer Bro, who eyed around suspiciously before leaving the fitness center. With Hammer Bro gone for good, Kasmi resumed her performance.
Hammer Bro: Honestly have no clue how old I am. I sadly lost my birth certificate a long time ago.
"Hey, Sonic, you never answered that question," Pit said to the blue hedgehog, recalling the question that he asked at Cafe Leblanc. "What's your trick to finding self-worth?"
"You're asking the wrong person," replied Sonic, as he almost left Pit devastated - but he wasn't done just yet, not by a longshot. "Try speaking with Lavenza. She can show ya what you need."
"What I...need?" Pit needed assurance regarding his self-worth, and Lavenza could give him that in spades. "Okay then, I'll take your word for it! Even if Lavenza's a little creepy..."
"Eh, she's not that creepy once you get used to her. If you give her a chance, she's honestly not that bad."