Author's Note:

Chapter 392 is finally out of the oven! It's been cooked, shimmered, and ended up being longer than originally intended. Maybe one day I'll stop writing long chapters. Would've loved to do a longer author's note, but that will be saved for the next chapter. As for this chapter...enjoy!

Episode 392: Anniversary

Mario and Peach were married on June 23, 2017, and have been happily married since. There have been highs and lows throughout their marriage, but the high points usually outnumbered the low points. Mario and Peach moved out of the Smash Mansion, welcomed two kids into the world, and also had a pet dog named Poochy. Oh, and they also had Spyro and Hunter as housemates.

Happy marriage aside, there was no overlooking how catastrophic Mario and Peach's wedding day was when that fateful explosion. The explosion occurred at the Four Seasons hotel, and it not only ruined the wedding reception but also landed Mario, Peach, and a few other folks in the hospital. The orchestrator of the attack? Dr. Eggman, the mad scientist who sought revenge after Master Hand previously banned him from the mansion.

Things have changed since that day, as Eggman had since atoned for his sins and asked Mario and Peach for forgiveness. Now Eggman was on mostly good terms with the married couple whose wedding he sought to destroy. With today being Mario and Peach's sixth-year wedding anniversary, the possibility of Eggman inviting himself to the festivities was somewhat high.

"Mama Mia! Breakfast in bed?" exclaimed Mario, who along with Peach was still in bed as Spyro and Hunter entered the master bedroom both carrying trays of breakfast food. "Aw, thanks-a guys, you shouldn't have!"

"We really shouldn't have," responded Spyro as he brought his tray to Mario's side of the bed, while Hunter brought his tray to Peach's side. "Can't believe that you talked us into doing this..."

"It was mainly Luigi's idea." Mario took the tray off Spyro's back and placed it on his lap, licking his lips delicately at the food that was presented to him. French toast, eggs, and bacon - yum, yum.

"Luigi's idea, huh? Thanks for letting us know who we should beat up later." Once Mario and Peach both had their plates, Spyro and Hunter walked away from the bed, with Spyro looking on in disgust.

"Open wide!" Peach smiled at Mario, grabbing a hash brown bite off her plate. Knowing what was coming, Mario turned to his wife as Peach inserted the hash brown into his mouth.

"I'm gonna be sick..." Spyro had to look away and shield his eyes with one of his things, as he couldn't watch the romantic scene play out in front of him. The romantic tension was too much for the purple dragon to handle.

"Stop hating, this will be you and Elora one day," Hunter said jokingly to Spyro, who looked up at the cheetah and glared at him. Hunter sighed happily as he watched Mario and Peach together. "I'm just gonna watch this...this is fun."

Spyro: It's Mario and Peach's wedding anniversary, and the two lovebirds are treating us as their personal maids. But it could've been a lot worse. For last year's anniversary, Hunter and I were stuck babysitting while Mario and Peach went on a "staycation". Somehow, Luigi's kids got thrown into the mix. Turns out that Luigi and Daisy invited themselves to the staycation, and Mario ended up paying for two rooms. Didn't know that until later, bizarrely enough.

Daisy: Did my best to dissuade Luigi from "crashing" Mario's staycation, but sadly he wouldn't listen. It was thanks to him that the staycation had to end on short notice since Luigi ran Mario's pockets dry! Mario hadn't spoken with Luigi for up to a week.

"Will one of you boys be a dear and get us some syrup?" Peach made her request known to Spyro and Hunter, bothered by how the latter was watching her and Mario eat with a smile. "Need some syrup for my hash browns."

"Who on earth puts syrup on their..." Spyro was about to say, only to save himself some trouble as he turned around and walked away. "...let's go, Hunter." Spyro left the room, while Hunter remained where he was. "Hunter?"

"You can go on without me - I'm just enjoying this," Hunter said to Spyro, creeping Mario and Peach out the more he was watching them. Spyro groaned as he grabbed Hunter and forcibly pulled him out of the bedroom.

Spyro and Hunter went downstairs and to the kitchen, where Luigi and Daisy were the ones cooking breakfast. What, did you honestly believe for a second that Spyro was cooking breakfast, with Hunter as his kitchen assistant? Food would be terrible with those two in charge.

"We could've served them earlier had you not burned the hash browns," Daisy said to Luigi, who was scrapping some burnt crust off of a long steel tray into a trash can. Poochy was in the kitchen unseen, trying to catch the scrapings with his tongue.

"I didn't know that hash browns-a can burn," Luigi sheepishly admitted, as Daisy rolled her eyes at her husband. Luigi placed the tray back on the counter, only to knock down a small bowl of grapes in the process. "Whoops!"

"Five-second rule!" shouted Hunter as he saved the small bowl of grapes from landing on the floor. Instead of placing the grapes back on the counter, Hunter instead ate them one by one.

"Not the five-second rule, the grapes never landed on the floor," Spyro pointed out, as Luigi wrestled with Hunter over possession of the bowl of grapes. Hunter kept putting up resistance until Luigi finally gave up.

"You have your own interpretation, I have my own interpretation..." As Hunter gobbled up the grapes as if there was no tomorrow, there was a knock at the door. Spyro went to go answer the door as Luigi and Daisy were obviously busy in the kitchen.

"Your interpretation sucks if we're being honest." When Spyro opened the door, he was greeted by two robots - one red and orbicular, and the other yellow and blocky. Orbot and Cubot. Spyro recognized these robots as lackeys of a certain mad scientist.

"Allow us to introduce ourselves!" greeted Orbot as he and Cubot entered the house, with Spyro taking a step back and forced to behold what was about to unfold before him. "I'm Orbot..."

"...and I'm Orbot!" exclaimed Cubot, his smile fading after realizing that he botched saying his own name. Orbot was left facepalming. "Oops, hehe, that one's on me. From the top!"

"...take two." Orbot was about to do a second introduction, but thanks to Cubot's blunder the second introduction would be with much less enthusiasm than the first. "I'm Orbot..."

"...and that's Orbot!" Cubot pointed both of his fingers at Orbot, only to later scratch his head as he made a second gaffe. Pretty on par for him. "Now wait a darn tootin' minute..."

"Oh just forget it..." Orbot waved off Cubot as he focused his attention on Spyro, about to ask the purple dragon a question that obviously had to do with Mario and Peach. "...how is the married couple doing this fine morning, on their anniversary?"

"They're upstairs-a in their bedroom, eating breakfast," Luigi would answer for Spyro after he successfully pried the bowl of grapes out of Hunter's hands. Refusing to go empty-handed, Hunter snatched a few pancakes when Luigi wasn't looking.

"Eating breakfast in their bedroom?!" exclaimed Cubot, ostensibly triggered by the fact as he put his hands up to his face. "They're just as lazy as Dr. Eggman, if not more!"

"Perhaps they're having breakfast in bed," Orbot accurately assumed, slightly envious that no one has yet to serve him any breakfast in bed. Perhaps learning how to eat human food would be a good start. "Mind taking us to the master bedroom?"

Mario and Peach were enjoying their breakfast in bed so far, but there was one thing missing from their meal...they had no beverage to drink! Fortunately, Luigi and Daisy came through as they entered the master bedroom, with Daisy holding several juice cartons and Luigi holding several glasses.

"Anyone-a care for some drink?" asked Luigi as he and Daisy came forward, with Luigi placing a glass on Mario's nightstand. "Also, you have-a some guests."

"Guests on our wedding anniversary?" inquired Peach, only for Cubot and Orbot to barge inside the master bedroom without any warning. "Oh, dear..."

"Try not to butcher your line this time," Orbot warned Cubot, who nodded his head in understanding as he looked to redeem himself. Clearing his throat, Orbot was ready to start. "I'm Orbot..."

"Darn it, what was my line again?" asked Cubot as he scratched his head in thought, as a gravely disappointed Orbot smacked his forehead. "I'm havin' a massive brain fart."

"When are you not having a massive brain fart..." With the introduction now ruined thanks to Cubot's idiocy, Orbot shifted gears as he looked at the couple celebrating their anniversary. "...Mario, Princess Peach! Happy sixth anniversary!"

"Why'd you let those bums-a in our house?" Mario asked Luigi and Daisy as he pointed at Eggman's robot lackeys. "And who's watching the food-a in the kitchen?" Mario's second question caused Daisy's eyes to grow with worry.

"...I'll be right back," replied Daisy as she hurried out of the master room and downstairs to the kitchen. The princess could be heard yelling at someone for sneakily eating the breakfast food, and that someone certainly wasn't Spyro.

"If you two are here, then Dr. Eggman must be around," Peach said to Orbot and Cubot, as she feared Eggman making his grand entrance by crashing through the roof of her house. Mainly since Eggman seldom used the front door.

"He's not here yet," responded Orbot, before opening up the window in the master bedroom and looking out as he gave a thumbs up. "The coast is clear!"

"Brace-a yourselves..." Mario warned Peach, holding his wife close as he sensed a large flying object coming towards the house. To Mario's surprise, the flying object came to a sudden stop, as Eggman was seen outside on his Egg Mobile.

"Good morning, Mario Mario and Peach Mario!" Eggman greeted Mario and Peach, before trying to squeeze inside through the open window. Indubitably, the mad scientist got stuck. "A little help would be appreciated..."

"We got you, boss!" Cubot said to Eggman, as he and Orbot came over to assist Eggman. They pulled on Eggman's arms until he was freed, and Eggman soon landed on the floor.

Orbot: June 17th, 2017 was the day of Mario and Peach's wedding, which was on a Friday. Today is the sixth anniversary of their marriage, which is also on a Friday.
Cubot: I've always wanted to be on these TV interview thingies! *waves to the camera* Look, Mom, I'm on TV! I made it!
Orbot: Please let me talk, you simpleton! *slaps Cubot's hands down* Dr. Eggman already expressed regret over his actions, which is a rarity of the most extreme degree, and now he wants to make Mario's wedding anniversary the best anniversary it could possibly be.
Cubot: We're gonna be famous! I'm gonna be famous! The whole world is gonna know my name!
Orbot: Let's not get ahead of ourselves! Besides, if the whole world knew who you were, the general populace would lose millions of brain cells just from knowing that you exist.
Cubot: To all my adoring fans out there...I LOVE YOU! *blows kisses to the camera*
Orbot: *sighs and facepalms as Cubot kisses the camera lens*

"Hey, why don't I get a hello?" Luigi frowned at Eggman, wondering where his respect was; Eggman stared at Luigi as if the green plumber was a doofus as he stood back on his feet

"I don't see you celebrating a wedding anniversary!" Eggman said to Luigi, who had already celebrated his wedding anniversary with Daisy two weeks ago. "Not to mention that I don't acknowledge inferior brothers."

"Why I oughta..." Luigi wanted to give Eggman a piece of his mind, as he rolled up his right sleeve. But a throat clearing from Mario made Luigi roll his sleeve back down.

"So since it's the sixth-year anniversary of your wedding, it's also the anniversary of that attack I pulled on your special day," Eggman said to Mario and Peach, who were both wary about what Eggman had up his sleeve. "And to make up for it, I wanted to give you an anniversary that you won't ever forget!"

"It would've meant more had you done this earlier," remarked Peach, preferring that Eggman had done his anniversary plans for Mario and Peach in 2021 - you know, the year that he apologized.

"Didn't have enough money at the time...all my funds were tied up to my new wardrobe. But now I have the budget necessary to give you two the time of your life!"

"And we'll be a part of it," added Cubot as he wrapped his arm around Orbot, who did not appreciate Cubot touching him. That only made Mario and Peach even more wary.

"After you're done with your breakfast, I want you both at the mansion. I don't want you to ruin the surprise while we do a little renovating to your house!"

"Renovating? Mama Mia..." Mario reacted to whatever plans Eggman had in store, left with no choice but to go with the flow. Eggman's flow.

No one was having a wedding anniversary at the mansion, so none of the mansion residents were enjoying breakfast in bed. However, they did enjoy breakfast in each other's company in the dining room. Although some company was not enjoyed...

"I just wanna know what happened with Ariel!" Sora said to Cloud as he followed the swordsman out of the dining room, shortly after breakfast was done. "Like, why did she change her color like that?"

"Change her color?" Rodin frowned at Sora as he was lighting his cigar in the living room. Sora and Cloud both looked at Rodin, wondering why the weapons dealer was at the mansion and not the tower.

"Rodin, did you seriously come here to light your cigar?" Researcher Zelda questioned Rodin as she showed up, prompting Rodin to hide his lighter in his pocket although the evidence was already seen. "Why did we tell you about..."

"Yeah, yeah, can't light my cigar indoors. Stupid rule that is." Rodin muttered a few choice words under his breath, as he was forced to leave the living room.

Rodin: Can't light a cig at the tower, and can't light one at the mansion either. The last time that I checked, this was a free country...yet it keeps getting less and less free every passing day.

"I just wanna know why Ariel changed her race all of a sudden," stated Sora, who never once thought that maybe the Ariel in the new Little Mermaid movie was perhaps a different version. "Was it through the power of magic?"

"You know Ariel better than anyone; you should know," responded Cloud as he dug into his pocket, only to realize that what he was looking for was not there. "Left my phone in the dining room."

"But why would Ariel change ethnicity in the first place? Was it out of peer pressure?" Sora kept pestering Cloud with his questions, as he followed the swordsman into the dining room as folks were leaving.

"Trust me, Sora, that's one rabbit hole that you don't want to...go down into." As he grabbed his phone off the dining room table, Cloud looked through the backdoor window and saw someone. Cloud slowly opened the backdoor...

...and to his shock, he saw Zack Fair standing in the backyard waving to him. Cloud looked around in disbelief, hoping that he wasn't the only one that was potentially seeing ghosts.

"Yoo hoo, Cloud!" Zack called out to the swordsman, who went from just seeing ghosts to now hearing them. Sora saw Cloud staring outside and thought that he was in a trance.

"Is the Duck Hunt Dog humping his doghouse again?" Sora asked Cloud, curious as to what was holding the swordsman's attention. When Sora got closer to Cloud, Cloud pushed him back with his hand.

"You want me? Then come and get me!" Zack beckoned to Cloud, before taking off as he ran into the nearby forestation. Cloud couldn't believe it, but he was about to run after Zack - a man who was supposed to be dead.

"I'll get you alright." Cloud ran out outside, as he left the backdoor open. The one thing you should never do at the mansion. Sora looked outside through the backdoor and saw no Duck Hunt Dog in sight.

"Cloud! Where are you running off to?" Sora called out to the swordsman as he exited the mansion, following closely behind Cloud. Researcher Zelda saw that the backdoor was open, and was disappointed.

"...I hate being the mansion custodian sometimes," the princess sighed as she closed the backdoor, shaking her head in dismay as she walked away.

With breakfast over, Cafe Leblanc was set to open at its usual noon start time. While Joker and the other baristas were getting things situated, Pit was fixing a latte. The first cup of coffee was fixed today...and the cafe wasn't even open yet!

"We haven't opened yet, and you're fixing a cup of coffee?" Viridi questioned Pit, who had planned on fixing the cup of latte in secret. The only problem was that he did it in broad daylight.

"It's for Lavenza," explained Pit as he placed a top on the latte, fastening it tightly and checking to see if it was secure. "She placed her order super early."

"I assume that it was by word of mouth," inferred Joker, wondering when and how Pit was able to make contact with Lavenza. "Lavenza has no phone to make orders with."

"How do you know if Lavenza doesn't have a phone? Know her much?" Pit leaned in towards Joker with his hands on his hips, accusing the young man of not knowing Lavenza that well.

"Well, we are pretty close, so..." That response didn't work for Pit, who left out of the cafe with a huff. But before he could leave, Pit turned around at the baristas as he was a foot away from the door.

"Before anyone asks, I know how to reach Mini Mementos." Pit dug into his pocket and pulled out a map, holding it up. "Got a map right here, free as charged. Thanks again, Steve!" Putting the map away, Pit left the cafe for good.

Joker: Steve made a whole map of Mini Mementos? And I was never made aware of it? He's going straight to the pillory - Elizabeth and Margaret will keep him company.

After Pit left Cafe Leblanc, the first person that he ran into was Sonic. Sonic saw the latte that Pit was holding and jokingly assumed that it was for him.

"A latte for me? Thanks!" Sonic jokingly said to Pit as he reached out for the latte, only for Pit to pull the drink away from Sonic. Sonic fell face-first and skidded across the floor, leaving behind a skid mark.

"I just cleaned this stinking floor..." muttered Mr. Game and Watch, seeing the skid mark Sonic left behind as he pulled out several cleaning supplies. Sonic hopped back on his feet as he confronted Pit.

"The latte is for Lavenza," Pit explained to Sonic, only to sheepishly look around as he held the latte behind his back and backed away from Sonic. "But I can't tell you why."

"I think I know why," Sonic said with a slick smile, making Pit tense up and causing the angel to take off to avoid further suspicion. A vindicated Sonic watched as Pit ran away. "You can't fool me, Pit!"

"Next time you leave behind a skid mark, I'm gonna make YOU clean the floor," Mr. Game and Watch said to Sonic, down on his knees cleaning up the skid mark off the floor. It was a struggle, but Mr. GW was committed to getting the job done.

For the second consecutive Friday, Link and Zelda were making another visit. Last week it was the watchpoint, and today it was E. Gadd's mansion. The Hylian couple had been informed about a machine that Dr. Wily and E. Gadd planned on working together, and they wanted to speak with E. Gadd to learn more about it.

"Professor E. Gadd, we're here!" Link loudly announced as he and Zelda were standing at the doorstep of E. Gadd's home. Zelda had her ear pressed against the front door, hearing some loud noises coming from inside.

"I can hear a bunch of cartoony sounds," Zelda said to Link, the sounds she was hearing reminiscent of the sound effects from a no holds barred fight in a 1920s cartoon. A whole bunch of tomfoolery was likely taking place.

"What cartoony sounds?" Link didn't believe Zelda, so he had his ear against the door as Zelda moved out of his way. A moment later, Link was convinced. "Did E. Gadd invite old-school Mickey Mouse to his home?"

"Better not let Sora know." Soon the front door was opened by E. Gadd, as Link and Zelda ended their conversation and looked dignified. As the man and woman of the mansion, Link and Zelda had to represent well with their body language.

"Princess Zelda! Prince Link!" E. Gadd greeted the Hylian couple, as Link was smirking with joy after E. Gadd (erroneously) referred to him as a prince. "I can call you a prince, can't I?" E. Gadd asked the smirking Link.

"I'll take it," replied Link, preferring that E. Gadd addressed him as a prince more often. Zelda could only smile and shake her head at her husband.

"If it works for you, then it works for me. Come on in!" So E. Gadd let Link and Zelda inside the mansion, as those cartoony noises that the Hylian couple heard grew even louder.

Link and Zelda would soon find out what was the cause of those noises, as they saw the Crash clan teaming up with Tawna to beat up Cortex. Cortex was on the floor, held in a camel clutch, as Crash smacked him in the face repeatedly with a baseball bat.

"My turn, my turn!" Tawna said to Crash, who handed the baseball bat to the blonde bandicoot. Tawna took a crack at Cortex as he hit him with the bat even harder than Crash did.

"Ow! You almost broke my nose!" Cortex shouted at Tawna, who was striking the evil genius without a care in the world. Coco was recording the senseless beatdown on her phone.

"Got no clue how viral this will be, but I'll always have this video for my own amusement!" remarked Coco, as she was enjoying the beatdown a little too much. Link and Zelda were even showing genuine concern for Cortex's well-being.

"Aren't you gonna do something?" Link asked E. Gadd, who was watching the Crash clan and Tawna beat up Cortex with a smile. He must enjoy watching his housemate getting his butt handed to him.

"I love having guests over," E. Gadd happily replied, particularly looking at Crash and the other bandicoots with joy. The Hylians now became concerned for E. Gadd's well-being!

"You need some new friends," Zelda informed E. Gadd, as the Crash clan's beatdown on Cortex persisted. It wasn't until Tawna saw Link and Zelda that the beatdown finally stopped.

"Oh, hi, you two!" Tawna greeted Link and Zelda, as Crunch dropped Cortex to the floor. Cortex's face was left a battered mess, with several bruises all over his visage.

"Hey," greeted Link, as Tawna handed the baseball bat back to Crash. Crash tried to stuff the bat into his pants pocket but to no avail. "Any reason as to why you were beating up Dr. Cortex?"

"Today is our designated 'Beat Up Dr. Cortex Day,'" replied Coco as she saved the video to her phone, looking to upload it onto social media later. "Tawna was in town, so we invited her to join us."

"It's my least favorite day of the week..." said Cortex, only for his face to get stomped to the floor by Crunch. The way that Crunch performed that move almost looked like a curb stomp from Seth "Freakin'" Rollins.

"Nobody told you to speak, fool!" Crunch barked at Cortex, only to look up and see everyone staring at him. Crunch took his feet off Cortex's head. "I was still very into it, my bad..."

Coco: "Beat Up Dr. Cortex Day" is one of our favorite activities. It's simple - we just gang up on Cortex and beat him up, while he does little to fight back. It's even more fun when his minions join in on the fun.

"But why Cortex? Why not beat up, I dunno, Dr. N. Gin?" Zelda asked Coco, as the bandicoots exchanged looks with one another not seeming that keen on N. Gin as a potential victim.

"N. Gin loves the pain, so it's not as fun," replied Coco, who always got weird vibes about N. Gin as did pretty much everyone else. "Not to mention he says...very off-color stuff."

"AHH! MY OCULAR CAVITY!" N. Gin was heard screaming from the kitchen, as he was operating a mixer. For what reason, no one knows. "MY INNIE IS NOW AN OUTIE! MY FAVORITE LEG, IT'S BROKEN AS WELL!"

"...shall we go to the lab?" E. Gadd asked Link and Zelda, who both nodded as they hurriedly followed after the inventor. With E. Gadd and the Hylians gone, the Crash clan and Tawna happily resumed beating up Cortex.

The Omnis Adest Fideles were looking to prove their worth to Marth and his boys, looking to slay any Heartless that dared to step foot on the community grounds. One person who wanted to prove their worth the most, even more than Zeke, was Owain.

"I am Owain, hear me ROAR!" Owain belted at the top of his lungs, saying this to nobody in particular. Unless you wish to include Espio, who was paired up with Owain while Ganondorf accompanied.

"You are an embarrassment..." Espio said to Owain, feeling second-hand embarrassment from being seen in public with the myrmidon. How the second-gen crew could stand Owain was Espio's best guess.

"Thanks, I get that a lot." Owain continued to further embarrass Espio, as he sliced at the air while shouting things like "take that!" and the like. Espio made a pained facial expression as he looked at Ganondorf.

"Don't look at me - I'm here to check you guys out" Chrom said to Espio, hardly saying a word as he accompanied Espio and Owain throughout Omnis Adest. "To see if you men are up for the part."

"Clearly that man is not," remarked Espio as he was obviously referring to Owain, who was embroiled in a one-sided duel versus a street sign. Espio facepalmed as the duel raged on.

Espio: I took Team Chaotix for granted. Working with Vector and Charmy, I always thought for the longest time that I was the only sane person on planet Earth. Then I signed up for Junpei's baseball team...no wait, Vector and Charmy signed me up after I lost that bet. I take back anything remotely positive that I was going to say about them.

"One thing I can tell you about Owain...he's loyal to a fault," Chrom said to Espio, finding it weird that Chrom was buttering up Owain while the myrmidon was striking a street sign of all things. "He'll go to great lengths to protect anyone."

"He'll go to great lengths to protect someone from a street sign?" asked Espio, as Chrom let out a heartfelt chuckle; if there was an army of street signs attacking the city, Owain would be in the first line of duty.

"Owain is a showman, I'll give him that, but his skills in combat make up for it. I'd take him over your friends any day of the week if we're being honest."

"C'mon, show him what you're made of!" cheered Vector the Crocodile, standing with Charmy Bee on the other side of the street. Espio cringed upon seeing his Team Chaotix compadres.

"Yeah, give that street sign the business!" cheered Charmy, obviously the smarter Team Chaotix member as he rooted for Owain. A triggered Vector looked at Charmy in disbelief.

"Whose side are you on?" As Vector and Charmy got into an argument, Espio watched from afar and saw Chrom smiling at him from the corner of his eye.

"...come to think of it, Owain isn't so bad after all," deduced Espio, as Owain prevailed in his duel over the street sign by slicing it in half. Owain was going to have to pay some fees soon.

"Hey, guys! Going around doing a poll," Arven said to Chrom and company as he approached them with Mabostiff. "How would you feel about Mabostiff as the mascot of Omnis Adesti Fideles?"

"I disapprove," Owain offered his two cents, only to then point his thumb at himself. "For I should be the mascot!" No one agreed with Owain, as the myrmidon was met with silence.

"You can't be the mascot and a team player at the same time," Espio informed Owain, who didn't appreciate the chameleon being a smart-aleck. "it doesn't work that way."

"Oh, but it will work that way! We're an amateur baseball team, screw abiding by the rules!" Soon enough, Owain and Espio got into an argument, as Chrom looked on and chuckled.

"Arguing just like his Team Chaotix pals," remarked Chrom, before turning to Arven who was waiting to hear Chrom's honest thoughts. "You're asking the wrong people - you should be asking Junpei."

"But I already asked him," stated Arven, who had spoken with Junpei earlier today only to be told off. The Pokemon trainer sighed as he led Mabostiff away. "Let's go ask someone else, Mabostiff..."

It was official - Touma's beloved Force Five show was on an indefinite hiatus. In reality, the show was canceled but Touma was too chicken to admit it outright, hence his wording. The only person to know about Force Five being canceled other than Fox and Falco was Yukari, who according to Itsuki had been feeling bad all week.

"My spin-off show idea would be the best way to placate Yukari," Falco did his best to convince Fox, as the pilots were in Omnis Adest searching for Yukari. They had learned from Itsuki that Omnis Adest was where Yukari would go to sulk in private.

"But Yukari will only have been a character for just one season," argued Fox, not knowing when or even if Touma would put the produced episodes of the Force Five online. "Giving her a show might send the wrong message."

"What message? That woman can't be the alpha dog? That all women have to stick to being a side character while the man does the heavy lifting? What kind of example are you setting for your daughter, man?"

"Wouldn't know, since I don't have a daughter. And you can't speak one into existence either." Knowing what Falco was about to say, Fox stumped his friend and made him snap his fingers in disgust.

"Just want another godchild, that's all." Falco came to a sudden stop and held his arm in front of Fox, as he saw his target. "Yukari's up ahead. See her?"

"Sure do." Fox saw Yukari at a water fountain, as she was getting a sip of water. After she was done, Yukari saw Fox and Falco waving to get her attention. "Yukari! It's us!"

"Hmph..." grunted Yukari, looking at the pilots with heavy disdain as she made her retreat. The young woman clearly wanted nothing to do with Fox and Falco at this present time.

"Gotta pitch to her that spin-off show idea, that'll brighten her mood," said Falco, confident that he could easily coax Yukari, while Fox gave his friend a skeptical look.

Mario and Peach were instructed by Eggman's robot lackeys, Orbot and Cubot, to stay at the mansion while Eggman did some "renovating" to their house. Mario had no clue what this renovation entailed, but he hoped that his house wouldn't be accidentally destroyed in the end.

"Our original anniversary plan was to fly to Cancun," Peach explained to Iori Yagami, as she and Mario were sitting in the mansion's foyer until it was time for them to come outside. "But all the flights were booked up."

"Talk about a blessing in disguise," responded Iori, as Peach saw a glimpse of Mario looking at a list with a finger underneath his chin. "Cancun is full of man-eating piranhas."

"Man-eating piranhas? I thought those were from Madagascar; that was our second choice. Right, Mario?" Peach glanced at Mario, who remained looking at the list as he was lost in his own world.

"Not listening, too busy focusing," muttered Mario, his eyes glued to the list that was in his hands. Peach sat closer to Mario and reached for the list, only for Mario to turn away from his wife.

"Asked you many times this week to let me see that list, but you never let me! What's so about it that has you so fixated on it?" Peach became even more upset with Mario when a few seconds passed, and Mario never answered. "Are you ignoring me?"

"Perhaps." Mario further angered Peach with his response, as Peach was doing her best to hold her wrath in and not lose her cool. "But I'll have you know, this list-a is for certain eyes only..."

"Let's see what's on it..." said Iori, who came over to Mario when the plumber least expected it and snatched the list out of his hand. Mario reached up to grab the list, only for Iori to keep him down with his hand.

"Give it back!" Mario was unable to jump up and reach for the list, which Iori held up high so that it was out of Mario's reach. Also held so high that Iori couldn't make out a single name.

"Just a bit closer..." Iori slowly lowered his hand, and that was the window of opportunity Mario needed as he snatched the list and put it in his pocket. "Hey, I didn't get to..."

"For certain eyes-a only." Grateful to have the list back, Mario ventured away from Iori who along with Peach was awfully curious about the list that Mario had.

Peach: Mario was very protective of that list. It must be a list of the birthday gifts that he plans to get for my upcoming birthday! Speaking of which, when is my birthday? Sometimes whenever I ask Mario that question, he gives me the same look. He's just trying to throw me off his scent, that's all it is.

"Eggman had better hurry up-a with this so-called renovating," remarked Mario as he tried to look out of one of the windows in the foyer to see his house. But as he got close, a Badnik appeared and pulled the curtain down...from outside.

"They have window curtains on the outside?" asked Cappy, not aware that those curtains existed until now. And neither did Mario, who was taking a step back. "That sounds ingenious!"

"Gratitious, you mean," asserted Mario as he returned to his seat, only to stop in his tracks when he saw Iori staring at him with his hand out. "I'm not-a giving you the list, Iori."

"You sure about that?" Iori asked Mario, as he brought to the plumber's attention Peach who was wielding a frying pan. Even with Peach looking menacing with her frying pan, Mario was putting up some resistance.

"I am most-a positive." Mario tried to maneuver past Iori, who was one step ahead by quickly putting his foot in front of Mario to stunt his progress. "Iori now isn't the time!"

"Any time is the right time." Iori anticipated Mario making another move, and he almost faked the plumber out as he veered to his left. Mario slipped and fell on the floor, as Iori grabbed him by the leg.

"Please don't be so rough on him," Peach pleaded to Iori, who immediately got down to business as he stuck his hand inside Mario's pocket. Mario screamed for help as Iori had him feeling violated.

"So much junk in one pocket..." Iori had to pull many items out of Mario's pocket - a mushroom, a few gold coins, and even a Bob-Omb just to name a few. Iori had to dispose of that Bob-Omb carefully. "...might be checking the wrong one."

"Ahem!" someone cleared their throat, right before Iori could stick his hand down Mario's other pocket. Everyone in the foyer saw Orbot and Cubot at the front door, with Orbot at the forefront. "Mario, Peach, it is now time for you to see your vacation home."

"Our vacation...home?" Peach furrowed her brow, as Iori dropped Mario to the floor as if the plumber was a piece of trash. Mario picked himself up, dusted himself off, and placed all the items Iori pulled out back into his pocket.

"Don't be bashful! Come with us!" Cubot offered to Mario and Peach, escorting Peach out of the foyer while Orbot escorted Mario. Mario and Peach both gave their robot escorts a side-eye, while Iori stayed behind staring intently at Mario.

Iori: No one can ever keep a secret from me. Try as hard as they might, in the end, they'll always burn... *holds up a fire in his hand, smiling*

"Close your eyes..." Orbot instructed Mario and Peach, as he and Orbot led the married couple back to their home. Some Hawaiian party music was heard from the distance.

"You literally have-a your hands over my eyes," Mario told Orbot, who indeed had his hands over Mario's eyes. Which also made it difficult for Orbot to properly escort Mario.

"Here we are! You can open your eyes now." Once they arrived at the destination, Orbot took his hands away from Mario. Mario saw his house and was left in awe as his mouth went agape.

"I still can't see anything," stated Peach, as Cubot still had his hands covering the princess's eyes. Frowning, Orbot had to give his robot companion the cue.

"Now you tell me..." Cubot grumbled at Orbot, as he took his hands away from Peach's face. Peach saw her house and was left in awe just like Mario.

Mario and Peach's house looked unrecognizable, having gone from a regular neighborly house...to the beach resort house with beach chairs, palm trees, and even a waterfall from the second floor. While the architecture remained the same, the house looked drastically different. Night and day.

"Yooooo!" Daisy called out to Mario and Peach, sitting in a beach chair next to Luigi while looking like she was dressed for the beach. A few of Mario's neighbors showed up outside, as well as a few folks from the mansion and tower.

"No way! A water slide!" squealed Bowser Jr. as he saw a water slide that was next to the waterfall. How Eggman even managed to incorporate a waterfall, that's a mystery for another day. "This is everything I've ever wanted!"

"You and me both, Junior!" exclaimed Bowser, who was right behind Bowser Jr. as he and his favorite son made a mad dash towards Mario's house. "Let's get first dibs before someone jumps the line!"

"Bowser, I don't think you can fit-a on the water slide..." Luigi informed the Koopa King, who ignored Luigi's warning as he and Bowser Jr. went inside the house. Taking Bowser's initiative, the folks outside went inside the house to see what it had to offer.

"I almost feel like fainting," remarked Peach, who was left at a loss for words of how amazing her house looked. Eggman approached Mario and Peach from behind, wearing a red Hawaiian shirt and holding a coconut with a straw in it.

"So, Mario and Peach, what do you think?" Eggman asked the married couple, who turned their attention to the mad scientist. Eggman drank from the straw, only to spit out whatever he drank. "This coconut concoction tastes horrid!"

"I put a glass of pigeon milk in it...did it just for you," Cubot smiled at Eggman, hoping that his boss appreciated what he did. Eggman appreciated Cubot, alright, as he threw his coconut at the robot's head.

"Pigeon milk, eh? I'll destroy Brewster's beloved cafe, just out of spite." Making a mental note to destroy The Roost, Eggman eagerly awaited Mario and Peach's honest thoughts and opinions. "Mario, anything you'd like to say?"

"All this feels very unnecessary - yet also appreciative," Mario gave his two cents, amazed at how much Eggman had built in a short amount of time.

"Unnecessary yet appreciative is my bread and butter! Well, only the former is. Now let me give you a big, fat hug, to celebrate your wedding anniversary!"

"That won't be..." Too late, as Eggman picked up Mario and held him in a bear hug. The bear hug lasted for a couple of seconds, as Eggman put Mario back on his feet and made an advance towards Peach.

"No thanks, I don't want a hug," Peach kindly turned down Eggman, who to her surprise walked right past her. Eggman reached for a suitcase and opened it to reveal Hawaiian clothing for both men and women.

"Orbot, Cubot, I want you two to change Mario and Peach into more appropriate wear. Chop, chop!" At the command of Eggman clapping, Orbot and Cubot went to the suitcase and pored through the clothes, looking for items that best suited Mario and Peach's styles.

"You down with a sarong?" Cubot asked Mario as he held up a red sarong - take a wild guess as to why he picked that out. Mario frowned at Cubot, who placed the sarong back in the open suitcase. "Red sarong it is, then..."

"While you lovebirds have your fun, I'll be off handling some...business," Eggman informed Mario and Peach, before checking to see where he parked his Egg Mobile. His Egg Mobile was parked extremely close to Luigi's car. "I better see you enjoying yourselves once I get back!"

"So much for spending our anniversary with just the two of us," Peach remarked to Mario, as she saw folks such as Rosalina and Luma stop by the house.

"Yes, I've invited your closest friends to partake in this Hawaiian luau I've set up. Sadly I could not invite Sonic, no matter how much he can't resist me. How dare he not return my calls!"

A strange sight occurred to Cloud, as he caught a glimpse of his late friend, Zack Fair. He saw Zack go into the woods, and he followed after him thinking that he was being led to the Yiga Clan hideout. Running after Cloud's tail was the man who annoyed him at the breakfast table, Sora.

"Where are you, Zack?" shouted Cloud as he traversed through the woods, before arriving at an open area. In this area, he saw Champion Link speaking with Master Kohga, with Makoto standing at Champion Link's side.

"It was this woman who stole your bananas, not the Kongs," Champion Link explained to Makoto, as Makoto smiled innocently at Kohga and even did a small, innocent wave with her hand.

"Nothing personal," Makoto said to Master Kohga in an apologetic manner, expecting the leader of the Yiga Clan to badmouth her for her wrongdoing. But Kohga for whatever reason appeared neutral.

"Well, this certainly doesn't suit my narrative, so I refuse to believe you," Master Kohga refuted Makoto's apology as he turned his nose the other way and folded his arms. Champion Link threw his arms up in defeat.

"I didn't intend to steal so much of your fruit, I was just dealing with a few...womanly issues." Makoto sighed, now forced to admit something embarrassing in front of Champion Link and Master Kohga. "I was on my period."

"You thought that our bananas could cure your period? Are you saying that...our bananas are MAGICAL?!" Master Kohga leaned in close to Makoto, too close for comfort, as he waited for the brunette to answer yes. But Makoto wasn't budging.

"Probably not, but you can go ahead and believe in your little fantasy." Believe in it Master Kohga did, as he pumped his fists thinking that his Yiga Clan now had bragging rights over the Kongs.

Master Kohga: My bananas have healing effects, I'm sure of it! I better test this out by forcing one of my female clansmen to go on their period and feed her a bunch of bananas. Trust me, I'll make it that time of the month for them... *laughs deviously*

"Master Kohga, we have intrusion in our hideout," a Yiga clansman came by to inform the clan leader, who snickered to himself as he had a hunch about who the intruder was. "And it's not the Kongs this time. Wasn't them the last time - or the last time before that. Or the..."

"Okay, I got it, I got it!" Master Kohga silenced the clansman, as Cloud crinkled his nose and saw Zack Fair in the distance, trying to sneak his way through the open area unseen. Once Zack turned his head and saw Cloud, the swordsman took off.

"Zack! Get back here!" shouted Cloud, as he brought himself unwanted attention from Master Kohga and the others. The swordsman had no idea how much trouble he found himself in until he saw Kohga crack his knuckles.

"So you must be the intruder who's after our bananas!" Kohga pointed at Cloud, before making a mad dash toward the swordsman only for the Yiga clansman to hold him back. "Let me at him!"

"That's not the intruder you should be concerned about!" the Yiga clansman said to Cloud, struggling to hold Master Kohga back as his feet was sliding around the ground. Cloud heard Sora calling out to him and decided to make his move.

"You guys didn't see anything," Cloud warned Champion Link and Makoto, resuming his chase after Zack as he ran in the direction that Zack went. Sora passed by, hot on Cloud's tail.

"Wait up for me, Cloud!" Sora called out to the swordsman, as he too was a part of the chase. And little did Cloud or Sora know that a third person would jump into the fray.

"I'll be back at the mansion soon," Champion Link informed Makoto, before taking off after Makoto. He really left poor Makoto by herself in the Yiga Clan, what a guy Champion Link was.

"You can ride, Strife, but you can't hide!" Master Kohga loudly vowed to Cloud while shaking his fast, and then proceeding to bonk the Yiga clansman holding him back on the head with his fist. "Just let go of me already, you fool!"

After a run-in with Pit, Sonic learned that Pit was delivering a latte to Lavenza. Sounded incredibly suspect, as Lavenza didn't own a phone and would know how to place an order with Cafe Leblanc. Add in the fact that the cafe hadn't ordered yet, and it made Pit's delivery all the more suspicious.

But Sonic knew what Pit was cooking, as he reflected upon the advice that he gave him in the previous episode. So he followed Pit down to Mini Mementos, as he searched for the angel's whereabouts.

"Now where, oh where could Pit possibly be?" wondered Sonic as he walked into the Mini Mentos movie theater. He was stopped in his tracks by a Velvet Room attendant in Elizabeth.

"So good to see you, Sonic!" Elizabeth greeted the blue hedgehog, almost popping out of nowhere as if she had foreseen Sonic's arrival. "How are you doing on this wine day?"

"'Wine Day'? What's a Wine Day?" Sonic asked Elizabeth, who reflected upon the very words that came out of her mouth. Elizabeth had a small laugh as she realized her gaffe.

"Meant to say 'fine day'. Or is it 'vine day'? Whichever one works best." Looks like someone could really use an English dictionary. "May I ask why you are in Mini Mementos?"

"I'm looking for Pit. Have you seen...him?" Sonic looked past Elizabeth and was disturbed upon seeing what appeared to be an erotic romance film playing on the big screen. Sonic saw Snake and Yoshi sitting in the front row, with Snake looking back at Sonic.

"Come have a seat, you might learn something," Snake enticed Sonic, patting an available seat that was next to him. Yoshi turned and looked at Sonic a second later.

"I appreciate all kinds of art," Yoshi said to Sonic, only in a manner that was unsettling to the blue hedgehog. Sonic saw a couple making out on the screen and was disgusted.

Snake: The moral police above the surface wouldn't let me watch that romantic film, so I was forced to watch it downstairs. It's really a good movie if you look past the kissing scenes, which make up roughly ninety percent of the runtime. Got no clue why Yoshi wanted to watch it, though. Maybe he needed some kissing practice for Birdo.

Yoshi: No way would I ever kiss Birdo. Nuh-uh. *folds arms and turns his head* That woman has a giant nozzle for a mouth. It would be like making out with a vacuum cleaner. An annoying vacuum cleaner.

"...anyway, have you seen Pit?" Sonic asked Elizabeth as he tried not to focus on or even think about the movie that was playing. Then his ears perked up, as he heard a voice outside the theater. "Is that him?"

"Him? Who's Him?" inquired Elizabeth as Sonic tiptoed over to the theater entrance, with Elizabeth following closely behind. "Is he like a villain from a popular animated show?"

"Shh..." Sonic shushed Elizabeth, before looking back outside and spotting his prey...Pit. Pit was speaking with Lavenza, just as Sonic figured he would do.

"I'd love to go into detail about this somewhere else," Pit said to Lavenza, who was fine with those terms; whatever Pit asked of her, Lavenza would happily oblige (under certain terms).

"Hi, little sister!" Elizabeth called out to Lavenza, waving to the young girl and then blowing a kiss to her. Pit and Lavenza looked at Elizabeth, as Sonic instinctively hid himself.

"Now would be a good time to leave..." Thinking that Elizabeth was strangely on to him, Pit took Lavenza's hand and led the young girl into the depths of Mini Mementos. Sonic emerged from his hiding spot, before shaking his head at Elizabeth.

"Was that really necessary, you see your sister here all the time!" Sonic said to Elizabeth, putting the Velvet Room attendant on the spot for almost giving away his cover. "Thanks a lot..."

"I'm sorry, I couldn't help thyself!" Elizabeth apologized to Sonic, who waved her off as he left the theater. Elizabeth looked up in realization as she butchered yet another word. "Or is it myself?"

Fox and Falco's search for Yukari came to an end, as the pilot duo spotted the young woman at the baseball field. She was seen standing at the fence with Junpei, with her arms folded. Both Yukari and Junpei looked pretty discontent.

"What's got you so upset?" Junpei asked Yukari, as he was looking down at the ground; Yukari was doing the same, as the eye contact was perfectly nil.

"Touma canceled the Force Five, just when I was added to the show," replied Yukari, full of sour grapes and strong feelings of resentment. Junpei appeared shocked by the news, but only slightly. "What about you?"

"Marth signed up my entire team to become Heartless exterminators. Yet he decided not to include me! Their treasured baseball coach!"

"At least that'll give them something to do. Especially since they won't be facing anyone on the baseball field anytime soon..."

"Why do you say that? Is it because my squad's so good, that no amateur team in town wants to face them? Thanks, Yukari, you shouldn't have!"

"No, what I'm trying to say is..." Yukari soon lost her train of thought, as she shuddered upon seeing Fox standing by himself. But where did Falco run off to? "...oh no...he's back."

"Who's back?" Junpei looked in the wrong direction, while Yukari made a run for it in an attempt to get off the baseball field. But her attempt was short-lived, as she felt a hand grab her arm. Slowly looking back, Yukari saw that the person who had her arm...was Falco.

"Come..." Falco commanded Yukari, giving the woman no choice but to go with the pilots. Yukari frowned as she pulled her arm out of Falco's grip.

Zeke lived for the action; when the Heartless and Nobodies came to attack Omnis Adest, the Crown Prince felt as if he was at the top of the world. Killing monsters left and right brought him much joy. Now that he was an unofficial "Heartless slayer", Zeke could happily continue his bloodlust. But not after grabbing a quick bite to eat.

"And so there I was, faced off against the mightiest Heartless monstrosity I've ever seen!" Zeke told his tale to Dingodile - a mutant with whom he still harbored a somewhat close friendship - at Dingo's Diner. "It was the size of an elephant, and had the wings of a thunderbird!"

"Crickey, that does sound like a monstrosity," remarked Dingodile, hanging on to every word that came out of Zeke's mouth. The mutant was hooked, much to Zeke's delight. "Did you kill it?"

"Of course, I killed it - with my bare hands!" Zeke held up both of his hands and gave both of them a kiss. Dingodile was even more impressed. "Wrapped my arm around its meaty neck, and choked it to death!"

"What's with all the hubbub?" inquired Nemona after entering Dingo's Diner, coming over to the table where Zeke and Dingodile sat at. "What's this I hear about choking something to death?"

"Zeke here was telling me about a Heartless monster he killed with his bare hands," explained Dingodile, as Zeke showed signs of nervousness when Nemona came over to her table. Nemona was equally amazed...and disappointed.

"You slayed a Heartless, yet you never told us? Or Marth?" For Zeke to not let anyone on the baseball team or his "superiors" in the know, really added a blemish to his record. "That's not cool, Zeke! No buena onda!"

"...I may have described a giant rat instead," admitted Zeke as he finally came clean, as Nemona grunted in frustration. Dingodile on the other hand was salty that he was duped by Zeke. "But the rat wasn't strangled to death, he was rendered unconscious! Still breathing! Or so I think..."

Funky Kong: At Omnis Adest, it's a cautionary tale to be wary of any story that Zeke tells. With his charisma, he can make something as mundane as brushing your teeth in the morning sound like an action-packed scene out of a Fast and Furious movie. But at least with Zeke's stories, you know exactly what you're getting. Fast and Furious has stopped being about racing for who knows how long! Imagine watching the new film just to see buff dudes drive cars and shoot at each other. Hard pass.

"No dogs allowed," Dingodile informed Arven, who had just entered the diner with Mabostiff. Dingodile pointed at a sign that said "No shirt, no shoes, no service, and no dogs", and it was a sign that Zangief failed to notice until now.

"Well, I did this to myself..." remarked Zangief after seeing the sign, as he peacefully left the diner without putting up much of a fight. Arven took out his Poke Ball and held it at Mabostiff.

"Back inside your ball," Arven said to Mabostiff, as he sent the dog Pokemon back inside his Poke Ball. Arven then went over to where Nemona was, as he wanted to speak with Zeke.

"Ah, Arven! Nemona's culinary-inclined chum!" exclaimed Zeke, knowing from the hump that Arven desired to speak with him. "Care to hear an invigorating tale about the Heartless I slayed?" Both Nemona and Dingodile frowned at Zeke, as they couldn't believe the crown prince.

"Look, I'd love to, but I don't have the time. Just wanted to ask your honest opinion, do you support the idea of Mabostiff as the team mascot for Omnis Adesti Fideles?"

"Arven you can't just..." Nemona was about to say to her fellow classmate, only for Arven to shush her. Zeke's mind dwelled over Arven's question, and soon Zeke had an idea.

"I know of a man who has more sway than I do," Zeke replied after his moment of thought, as Arven was eager to know who this man was. "Try speaking with Marth! He has the final say over Junpei, it seems."

"Not entirely true," stated Nemona, but that didn't stop Arven from being convinced that Marth was the one person he must consult with. Marth wasn't Arven's last hope, but he was his only hope for now.

"Then Marth it is! Thanks, Zeke!" Arven thanked Zeke as he left the diner; Nemona pinched the crown of her nose as Arven stood outside the diner, typing something on his Rotom Phone.

"Your friend is such a loon," Dingodile said to the disappointed Nemona, sympathizing with the Pokemon trainer. A shadow crept across the diner floor, going completely unnoticed.

"I better keep a close eye on him," responded Nemona, as she exited the diner; she saw Arven walking down the sidewalk and decided to trail closely behind.

"Your loss." Dingodile adjusted the condiments that were on the table...only to gasp when he saw a bunch of pitch-black monsters with yellow eyes appear near the diner entrance. "Ack! Heartless!"

"Stand back, everyone! Zeke's got this!" Zeke assured the patrons in the diner (and there weren't any to be found) as he took out his sword. Eyeing the Shadow Heartless, Zeke slayed them all one by one.

"Nice job, Zeke. Can't wait to hear you tell someone a story about this." Deeply enthralled by Dingodile's comments after the last Heartless was vanquished, Zeke returned to his seat feeling like the man. Dingodile looked out the glass door entrance and saw a Soldier Heartless running down the street. "Uh oh..."

Eggman had Mario and Peach's house pimped out for their wedding anniversary, as he somehow turned the house into the ultimate Hawaiian vacation home. Essentially, Eggman wanted Mario and Peach to have the best wedding anniversary ever.

"Eggman really built a pool in the middle of my living room," remarked Mario as he was staring at the pool in question, left shaking his head in utter disbelief. "I can't-a even complain."

"According to the Doc, this pool will drastically drive up your water bill for this month," Orbot came by to inform Mario, who now had something to complain about as a scowl was forming on the plumber's face.

"Ah, drinking out of a coconut!" exclaimed Pac-Man after he took a sip out of his drink, which was inside a coconut. What else? "This is a dream come true."

"You must have very sucky dreams, then," Olimar said to Pac-Man, prompting the eater of ghosts to throw his coconut at Olimar's head. Olimar fell to the floor with his helmet cracked, and the coconut cracked as well.

"Not enjoying the luau?" Peach asked Mario, as she caught her man scowling. The princess was wearing the red sarong that Cubot intended for Mario to wear.

"I am - almost felt-a my hatred for Eggman reignite-a for a second," replied Mario, the scowl on his face vanishing in an instant. The plumber dug into the pockets of his white shorts, as he was looking for something. "Hmm, where's that list?"

"Must be in your overalls." It wasn't until after he checked the shirt pocket in his Hawaiian shirt that Mario believed Peach to be right. So Mario went upstairs, believing that his overalls were in his bedroom, but when he arrived...

...he saw a large Jacuzzi taking up a majority of the second floor, with a slew of Badniks dressed up as hula dancers. Mario's master bedroom was inaccessible as a Hawaiian bar was placed in front of it.

"I'm shakin' what my momma gave me!" exclaimed Cubot, who apparently joined the Badniks as he was shaking his robotic hips. Despite being in charge of running the bar. If Orbot was here, the second-hand embarrassment he'd feel would be unimaginable.

"Cubot, my overalls, where did you put them?" Mario asked the Cubot, who was shaking his robot but in the plumber's face. Cubot was really putting his back into it.

"Don't know, don't care!" Cubot replied as he shook his buns, leading Mario to groan and scowl in frustration. Should've asked Orbot instead - not like he would've been much help either. "Why do you need 'em?"

"Because I left-a something important in there. A list. I wasn't done over-analyzing it." Mario's response got a grunt out of Bowser, who was chilling in the large Jacuzzi along with Bowser Jr.

"If I was on a wedding anniversary, I wouldn't waste my time doing any important stuff," stated Mario, who in the past would fantasize about the kinds of wedding anniversaries he would have with Peach. "Let loose, Mario! Have fun!"

"We're gonna play limbo later if you're into that kind of stuff," Cubot said enticingly to Mario, twisting his hips like there was no tomorrow. "And soon, Eggman's new right-hand man will stop by with the anniversary presents!"

"Like I'd want anniversary gifts-a from..." scoffed Mario, only to widen his eyes upon learning that Eggman apparently had a new right-hand man. "...who is this new right-hand man?"

"Oh no...I don't think I was supposed to mention that!" Cubot stopped dancing as he covered his mouth, before turning away from Mario and cowering in fear and shame. "You didn't hear anything..."

Cubot: Eggman's gonna have my head for sure...I really goofed up! The mistakes just keep piling up. At some point, Eggman might even fire me for all my screw-ups! I don't want to go back to the streets! Save me, mama!

Taking Yukari away from the baseball field, Fox and Falco brought the young woman near the playground so that they could have a heart-to-heart with her. Getting Yukari's spirits back up was their primary goal.

"I've only been a part of the show since January," Yukari said to Fox and Falco, choosing to take out her frustrations on the pilots since Touma wasn't present. "Now you're telling me that Touma canceled it?"

"It was best for business," replied Fox, causing Yukari to let out a frustrated groan and pull on her hair angrily. "Force Five was dwindling in viewership, so we had to cut the cord."

"But we can make it up to you," Falco proposed to Yukari, ready to give her an offer that she would be silly to refuse. Fox did his best to dissuade Falco by waving his hands in front of him. "How would you like your own spin-off show?"

"That wasn't on the agenda..." Fox said to Falco through clenched teeth, but it was too late as the seed was already planted. Yukari stroked her chin with a smile, allured by the idea of being the main character of a spin-off show.

"I do like the sound of Phoenix Ranger Featherman R being under the Star Records mantle," said Yukari, open to bringing the Japanese tokusatsu show over to the States. Falco didn't mind the idea, but Fox was more skeptical.

"But why, nobody even knows that show exists," argued Fox, willing to bet that less than one percent of the folks living at Omnis Adest had heard of Phoenix Ranger Featherman R before. Make that less than 0.5 percent.

"Nobody knew what Super Sentai was when the Power Rangers first started. And look - the Power Rangers became a huge media franchise!"

"Argument is invalid, people still don't know what Super Sentai is even with the Power Rangers' success." Things were getting a bit tense between Fox and Yukari, and it was up to Falco to smooth things over.

"Think about the future..." Falco said convincingly to Fox, referencing the pep talk that MC Ballyhoo gave to the pilots not so long ago. Fox briefly reflected upon Ballyhoo's advice, as he later sighed.

"How about we discuss this tomorrow?" Fox offered to Yukari, who was down for negotiations with the pilots. For Fox and Falco, making Yukari happy and content was the goal.

"I'm down," replied Yukari as she smiled slightly, hoping for little to no shenanigans.

E. Gadd convened with Link and Zelda in his lab, going over the blueprint for the machine that he and Wily would be working on. The machine was said to free Raiden from the Twilight Realm, and many fingers were crossed that the mercenary would be brought into the fold.

"Please don't mind the mucus," E. Gadd said to Link and Zelda as he laid out the blueprint on a table. Zelda was looking at a nasty green-looking spot on the far corner of the blueprint. "One of Cortex's minions used this blueprint as a tissue."

"Must not know how to use tissue," assumed Link, as it was anyone's guess as to which one of Cortex's minions was responsible. They were responsible for doing a lot of reprehensible things under E. Gadd's roof.

"Oh, they do - I just ran out after Tiny went through the last box." E. Gadd spent the next few seconds creasing out the blueprint, making sure that no wrinkles were evident. "I may have also used this blueprint as a tissue."

"...just show us what we need to look at," demanded Zelda, as she couldn't afford to feel any more disgusted than she was right now. E. Gadd unveiled the blueprint in its entirety, as Link and Zelda got a closer look.

"This is a layout that Wily and I have developed for our machine. As you can see, such a powerful machine requires a lot of functioning parts - and manpower! Our biggest fear is that the two of us won't be enough to..."

"If anyone asks, I was never here!" Cortex informed E. Gadd and company as he ran inside the lab, before hiding underneath E. Gadd's destroyed time machine. Seconds later, the Crash clan arrived with Tawna.

"Silly Cortex, you can't hide from us forever!" shouted Tawna, while Crash was down on all fours sniffing the floor like a dog. Crash got close to Link's feet, and sniffed the Hylian's shoes.

"Back off!" Link shouted at Crash as he kicked the bandicoot in the face. Crash ran from Link, whimpering like a dog as he returned to his siblings.

Link: Don't know if you saw, but Crash was about to pee on my leg. Had his hind leg up and everything. Even worse, he was doing to do it when his fly wasn't down. I've seen him wet his pants on a few rare occasions before, so I'm kinda used to it. Still gross, though.

"Any chance y'all have seen Cortex?" Crunch asked E. Gadd and the Hylians, who noticed Cortex discreetly peeking from underneath the destroyed time machine. Cortex was mouthing commands to Link and Zelda.

"Would be hard for us to miss that grotesque sight, but no we haven't seen him," replied Link as he covered for Zelda, who could never bring herself to fib. Those few instances earlier this year almost broke Zelda.

"Dang it! Maybe he's hiding in the trash bin outside," assumed Coco, as she led her siblings and Tawna out of the lab still manning her phone. "That's his go-to hiding spot."

"Are they gone?" Cortex quietly asked seconds after the bandicoots left, wanting to make extra sure that the group was gone for good. E. Gadd, Link, and Zelda looked at each other, and they were all thinking the same thing...

No matter how hard he tried, Arven was unable to convince Junpei to make his Mabostiff the mascot of Omnis Adesti Fideles. When his recent attempt to woo a member of Junpei's team failed, Arven took the matter up to Marth and one of his "overseers".

"Mabostiff can be a great mascot for any athletic team out there," Arven presented his best case to Marth and Geno, holding up the hero-king and star in the middle of the mansion hallway. "He's tough, intimidating, also kinda cute..."

"News flash, Arven - I'm not the team's coach," Marth explained to the Pokemon trainer, as Nemona caught up to Arven as she was peeking from the corner behind a wall. "My job is to keep Junpei's team from wasting their time."

"'Wasting their time'? He sounds like a hater!" Nemona said quietly, under the guise that Marth was throwing shade. Whether Marth was throwing shade at Junpei, or the baseball team itself, was up for Nemona's interpretation.

"But you're like the team owner now, right?" Arven asked Marth, who pinched the crown of his nose as he was in no mood for answering ridiculous questions. "You're a hero-king! You can buy the Omnis Adesti Fideles with your generational wealth."

"Marth isn't generational wealthy; he lives in a suburban home," stated Geno, as he jokingly threw shade at Marth. Marth, however, didn't get the joke as he looked offended at Geno.

"You shut your mouth this instant!" Marth shouted at Geno, acting like he was Geno's disciplinarian parent. After regaining his composure, Marth reverted his attention to Arven. "Have you tried asking Junpei?"

"That's the thing, Junpei wants nothing to do with Mabostiff," replied Arven, as Nemona's Rotom Phone started to ring; Nemona quickly silenced her phone. "He's just being stupid, that's all it is."

"Maybe he hates dogs," assumed Geno, as Arven for the very life of him couldn't imagine any human being that hated dogs. Nemona's phone rang a second time, and Nemona was forced to answer.

"Yes, Penny, what is it? I'm in the middle of something!" Nemona answered the call, finding it miraculous that Arven and company didn't suspect her presence. Imagine if the Rotom Phone spoke and inadvertently gave away Nemona's location.

"Wh-Where are you?" Penny asked Nemona over the phone, sounding afraid - leading Nemona to assume that Penny was at a heavily populated community pool and needed some "backup". "There's Heartless..."

"Heartless?!" Nemona loudly shouted, before covering her mouth as she detected Marth, Geno, and Arven looking down the hallway. Looking over her shoulder, Nemona quietly resumed her phone call. "I'll be there shortly..."

"Nemona?" Marth crinkled his nose, as he led Geno and Arven towards Nemona. Nemona tried to put her Rotom Phone in her pocket, only for the phone to move out of her reach. "Nemona!"

"Yes?" Nemona smiled innocently, hands behind her back, as Marth and the others arrived. The Rotom Phone stopped playing games with Nemona as it returned to the Pokemon trainer's pocket.

"Spying on me, weren't you?" Arven questioned Nemona as he folded his arms; instead of being angry with Nemona, Arven smiled. "I sure do appreciate it!"

"...totally not creepy at all," Geno muttered under his breath, with Nemona getting the same vibe from Arven that Geno had.

"My friend Penny called, and she says that the Heartless are at Omnis Adest," Nemona informed Marth and Geno about the situation, putting them both on high alert. Marth and Geno were both ready for the task.

"Say no more," responded Marth, finding this as a great opportunity for Nemona and the rest of her Omnis Adesti Fideles teammates to prove themselves. But it wouldn't be just them defeating the Heartless. "Like to come along, Arven?"

"Huh?" uttered Arven, noticing that Marth had his hand on his shoulder. The Pokemon trainer looked up at Marth, his eyes meeting the hero-king's, and smiled with unbridled enthusiasm. "Heck yeah, I'm coming!"

As promised by Eggman earlier, Mario and Peach were to receive their anniversary gifts soon. (Hopefully, those gifts will be addressed to Mario and Peach, not Mario and Daisy.) As he waited for Eggman's new right-hand man to arrive with the gifts, Mario was in the backyard participating in a game of limbo.

"How low can you go? How low can you go?" exclaimed Orbot, leading a chant as many folks were following the robot's lead. Upon hearing the chant, Banjo began shaking his butt for whatever reason.

"We're not talking that kind of low!" Kazooie informed Banjo, as Mario and Luigi both ran over to Banjo to stop the bear from disturbing everyone - and disturbing the peace. "Also, you're not even doing it right..."

"I could've done it better than him," Cubot bragged to Orbot as he pointed his thumb at Banjo, only for the rod that was used for limbo to almost fall to the concrete. Cubot held the rod back up a split second later.

"You break that rod, Dr. Eggman will kill us..." Sounded ridiculous that Eggman would kill his robot lackeys if the limbo rod were to break. Maybe the rod was super expensive.

Wario: I'll never understand how Eggman has the money to afford not only an expensive wardrobe of suits - but also enough equipment to put together a whole luau party. He must store all of his finances in a wealth fund, just like the Saudi Arabians! Both funds will be mine for the taking, mark my words! *hears a notification sound from his phone* Hold on, a sec. *takes out phone and checks notification* A text from Falcon, eh? *opens up text message and reads it in full* "Heartless at Omnis Adest, supervision required"? Meh, they'll do fine without me. *puts his phone back in his pocket*

"I know a trick-a to win limbo," Mario said to Spyro and Hunter, seemingly giving the two friends pointers. Hunter cared enough to listen - Spyro, not so much. "What we need is a crab..."

"I can go get you one," an overhearing Villager said to Mario, taking out his fishing rod as he ran to the mansion's lake. Peach watched Villager fish for a crab, appearing skeptical about Mario's plan.

"Isn't that cheating?" Peach asked Mario, as Villager made his catch in almost record fashion and pulled a crab out from the lake. Talk about efficiency.

"Seen it on a show once - the gal who pulled-a it off won and got a crown-a of bananas," stated Mario, only to shut his mouth fearing that he might've summoned a Yiga clansman. Villager returned to the patio with his catch.

"Here's your crab!" Villager said to Mario, unveiling to the plumber a Krabby. The Krabby was fighting to get out of Villager's grip and was even pinching at Villager with its claw.

"Hmm, he's not small-a enough," Mario offered his two cents, as he preferred his crab to be on the much smaller side. Not one that was about a foot long. "Someone can see him."

"Then that makes it cheating, then," said Peach, who looked over and saw a small masked person drawing near while holding a large sack over their shoulder. "Oh! We have a visitor."

"A visitor?" inquired Cubot, as he and Orbot saw the masked person show up at the patio. The limbo game was paused, as all eyes were on the masked fellow with the large sack.

"Um...hello," the masked fellow awkwardly greeted, waving his stubby hand; Mario couldn't help but sense that the fellow's voice sounded vaguely familiar.

"There he is! Dr. Eggman's newest assistant!" exclaimed Orbot, as the masked fellow placed his sack in the center of the patio. "He has come forth with the anniversary gifts! All purchased by Dr. Eggman, of course."

"That's Eggman's new right-hand man?" asked Mario as he pointed at the masked fellow, who waved his hand to the plumber. The masked fellow gained even more intrigue after Mario spoke.

"I didn't mean to tell him, I'm sorry..." Cubot said to Orbot full of fear with his hands clasped together, thinking that Eggman was going to shank him for "spoiling" the surprise. Orbot simply ignored Cubot's apology.

"He was recruited by Eggman in an unconventional way," Orbot explained to Mario, as the masked fellow took gifts out of his sack and placed them in two separate piles based on who they were addressed to. "He originally came to Eggman, and the rest was history!"

"His body shape reminds me of a guy I know," Spyro whispered to Hunter, oddly fixated on how small and short the masked fellow was. The Badnik mask that the fellow was wearing was throwing Spyro slightly off.

"Who's ready to open up some presents?!" the masked fellow addressed the crowd, even though the only ones that would be opening presents were obviously Mario and Peach. "Mario, Peach, come on down...or come on over. Do what you wanna do."

Cloud's chase after Zack Fair persisted, as he followed the swordsman into the city. Knowing fully well that Zack was dead, Cloud became certain that someone was manipulating him.

"Stop running so fast!" Sora yelled at Cloud as he made chase after the swordsman, who was running across the street. Cloud was disobeying many pedestrian traffic lights, causing several near-accidents to happen.

"Leave me alone, gotta handle this myself," Cloud called out to Sora, sensing the Keyblade wielder getting closer and closer to him. He crossed the street just as the street light turned red, and Sora skidded to a stop at the curb almost sticking one foot out as a cab halted his progress.

"Cloud!" Sora called out to the swordsman, but it was no use - Cloud wouldn't be returning to Sora anytime soon. But Sora wouldn't be alone forever, as he was later joined by Champion Link.

"Saw you chasing after Cloud," Champion Link said to Sora, almost out of breath as he had to make a few stops en route to his current location. "Wanted to find out what was going on."

"Yeah, Cloud just took off after breakfast. He's chasing after somebody, but he won't tell me who..." As Sora looked disgruntled, Champion Link saw a certain raccoon with a cane leap down from up above.

"We got company!" Champion Link unsheathed his sword, thinking of the raccoon to be a threat. But after a good look at the raccoon's face, Champ lowered his guard.

"Take it easy! It's me, Sly Cooper," Sly said to Champion Link; crouching on the sidewalk after sticking the landing only to stand up a second later. "I am not here to attack you guys...I'm only a messenger."

Sly: Polygon Man tried calling Master Hand, but Master Hand had changed his phone number at the time when he and Polygon Man were still beefing. Every time Polygon Man tried to prank call Master Hand, he always ends up calling a daycare center - and he falls for it every instance! So since Master Hand has yet to give Polygon Man his new number, I'm stuck delivering this message from Polygon Man to the mansion. I owe Murray so much gas money...

"Saw you guys running from the rooftop," Sly said to Champion Link and Sora, before taking out a pair of car keys and pressing a button. A car horn was heard, as Sly gestured to the Cooper Van parked on the side of the road. "Need a lift?"

Cloud ran through the streets of Seattle, keeping his eyes peeled for Zack. When the swordsman arrived at a clearing, he took a gander...and there was Zack, standing alone with his back turned. Very slowly, Zack turned his head and smiled when he saw his friend Cloud.

"Zack?" Cloud uttered the name of the swordsman, who fully turned around to Cloud with a smile on his face. Zack was left wondering why Cloud was looking so shell-shocked.

"Cloud! You finally caught up to me," exclaimed Zack, as Cloud inched closer to the swordsman to get a closer look at him. "Must be like seeing a ghost, huh?"

"Yeah, probably because you are a ghost. Just a figment of my imagination." Finding Cloud's response to be laughable, Zack laughed in a manner that was almost reminiscent of the Zack that Cloud knew.

"A figment of your imagination, I see...here, touch my arm. See if I'm really imaginary." Zack held up his arm, and Cloud, taking Zack's word for it, felt Zack's left arm. To his surprise...Cloud felt human flesh!

"Woah..." Cloud's eyes widened, as he was forced to take a step back. Zack put his arm back down, grinning because of the fact that Cloud was convinced.

"See! I'm back in the flesh! Alive and kicking!"

"But Zack...you...you were..."

"I know, it's a long story...but hey, I'm here now. I'm alive!"

"But how? How did you get revived? Who was..."

"I dunno - I just woke up, and found myself in a strange place."

"That sounds...that sounds very likely."

"But I never forgot you, Cloud. You were always an inspiration to me."

"I thought I lost you. I never wanted to let you down."

"You didn't let me down, Cloud. You carried on my legacy..."

In the spur of the moment, Zack took out his Buster Sword - the same sword that he wielded before it was passed on to Cloud. Cloud jumped back, as Zack got into a fighting stance.

"...so how about a fight?" Zack challenged Cloud to a duel, with Cloud evening up the odds as he whipped out his Buster Sword. Cloud didn't expect to wind up in a position like this.

Sonic was following closely behind Pit, watching as the angel was interacting with Lavenza. The blue hedgehog caught up to Pit at the hot springs, as he looked over a large rock and spied on the conversation from up above the ledge.

"You have issues with your...self-worth?" Lavenza asked Pit, making sure that she was hearing things correctly. Pit nodded his head in response, as Sonic pulled in close and listened closely.

"It all happened when no one came to save me," explained Pit, choosing to save all the necessary details for perhaps a later time. "Except for Tawna. But that's beside the point! It should've been Mario instead, or Cloud, or, Link!"

"The fact that you were saved at all deserves some kind of celebration. What difference would it have made if the person who rescued you was your preferred..."

"But before I had to be saved, the last thing I remembered was speaking with Giovanni." Pit was carrying right along after interrupting Lavenza, barely hearing the young girl's question. "He was all like, 'Pit, you're worthless, no one values you'!"

"Therein lies the problem. Giovanni is evil and rotten, you shouldn't have believed him!" The fact that Pit had a previous encounter with Giovanni made Sonic more intrigued by the angel's situation.

"Well, maybe I shouldn't have, but he was wearing a nice black suit so I was hanging to his every word."

"So what you're saying is, if Wario was wearing a suit, and he convinced you to drink bleach, you'd do it in a heartbeat."

"I'd drink the bleach even without any convincing! 'Cause I'm an angel and all, I'm invincible! Poison Control Center wouldn't know what to do with me!"

"Not the right attitude to have..." As the conversation between Pit and Lavenza went on, Sonic was leaning in close as he looked past the large rock. Then suddenly, Sonic lost his footing.

"Woah, woah!" shouted Sonic, arms flailing while his foot was teetering on the edge. Pit and Lavenza looked up and saw Sonic during his moment of peril.

"Sonic?" Pit uttered the name of the blue hedgehog, who eventually lost his balance as he fell backward off the edge. Lavenza gasped in fright, as Pit came to the rescue and flew over to Sonic. Sonic fell into Pit's outstretched arms, free from harm.

"Pit...you saved me!" Sonic was in safe hands, as Pit flew back to where he stood and placed Sonic on his feet. "Thanks, man."

"Wasn't gonna sit back and watch you fall to your death. I mean, I could, since I'm an angel and therefore immortal, but you on the other hand..."

"Sonic, I can tell that you were spying on us," Lavenza said to the blue hedgehog; unlike Arven, Lavenza didn't feel "honored" about being spied upon. "For a silly reason, I assume..."

"Pit here has been questioning his self-worth a lot," Sonic explained to Lavenza, who had wondered earlier why Pit wanted to speak with her. "I recommended that he sought you for advice. I wanted to see how it was coming along."

"It was Giovanni's fault," frowned Pit, suddenly vowing to sucker punch Giovanni should he ever cross paths with the Team Rocket boss again. "He was putting lies in my head!"

"And yet you believed those lies," said Lavenza, causing Pit to look around guiltily for the angel had nothing to say. "But Giovanni's words may have uprooted some repressed insecurities. I can help diminish them for you."

As E. Gadd spoke with Link and Zelda down in his lab, the doorbell rang and there was no one around to answer it. The one person that was the closest to the front door was Dr. N. Gin, who dashed from the living room to the foyer like a madman. And for an apparent reason.

"My matching birthday suits for me and Master Cortex have arrived!" assumed N. Gin as he opened the front door, only to be met with grave disappointment when he saw Dr. Wily standing by. N. Gin wanted to kick Wily below the belt and let him know how he felt.

"I know this may sound like a rhetorical question," Wily said to N. Gin, who was debating in his mind whether or not slapping Wily in the face would be just as effective as a low blow. "But E. Gadd, is he home?"

"You monster! You ate my delivery man, didn't you?! I will bring wrath upon your soul!" N. Gin shook his fist mightily at Wily, who was unbothered as he waited for N. Gin to take a chill pill.

"Do I look like a cannibal to you? You look like one more than me..." Wily forced himself inside E. Gadd's mansion, as N. Gin missed his opportunity to strangle the robot inventor for allegedly eating his delivery man. Then out of nowhere...

"AAAAAAAHHHH!" Cortex was heard screaming from afar, followed by some...laughter from the evil genius? Cortex emerged as he was being tickled by Crash. The laughing wouldn't stop, as the tickling Crash brought Cortex down to the floor.

"Ooh! Let me tickle you next, Master Cortex!" squealed N. Gin as he patiently waited for his turn - a turn that will never happen in a million years. "Grant me one of my many wishes!"

"Is this a fetish of yours?" Wily asked Cortex, amused at the sight of the evil genius being tickled by Crash. Cortex attempted to get away, but Crash was right on him.

"Not a fetish, I'm just very...OH HO HO HO HO!" replied Cortex, only to be tickled in a very sensitive as he was now laughing like a hyena. Crash showed no signs of letting up, especially for his arch-nemesis.

"Atta boy!" exclaimed Tawna, as she and the Crash clan showed up in the foyer. Link, Zelda, and E. Gadd followed after the group, as Coco recorded Crash's tickling on her phone.

"Nice, you got Cortex to submit...now can you please stop?" Link asked the bandicoots, sounding pretty annoyed with them at the moment. "In case you aren't aware, we're kinda busy with..."

"Oh! Dr. Wily!" squealed E. Gadd as he ran over to the robot inventor; Wily flinched in anticipation, fearing an unwarranted hug. "I have an important question to ask you."

"If it has to do with the bran in your cabinet, I don't want any," stated Wily, who detested bran as it reminded him of being old. Hated bran products as much as false teeth. "What is it?"

"I think we can both agree that this project we're working on is a huge undertaking. We'll need more hands on deck. Which is why the Hylians and I came to the conclusion that..."

"What conclusion?" Wily was gestured to Cortex by E. Gadd, and Cortex was still being tickled by Crash and no longer putting up any resistance. "Are you implying that Cortex should join us in the building of the machine?"

"What?" Cortex and Coco both uttered in unison, as Crash stopped tickling and Coco stopped recording. Even Crunch and Tawna were in disbelief.

"Come to think of it, he did figure out a way to open up a portal to an alternate universe version of Midgar. He could help open up a gateway to the Twilight Realm, theoretically."

"Does this mean I get to be a part of things? YES!" rejoiced Cortex, standing up and throwing Crash off of him as Coco was extremely beside herself. Coco was a fellow smart mind, yet E. Gadd and the Hylians hardly considered her.

Coco: How the heck did Cortex get picked over me? He's basically a short version of Dr. Doofenschmirtz, minus the traumatic childhood. *pauses* But he did make the Evolvo-Ray, although that was his only success. He's been riding on that success since then. One-trick pony.

"Welcome to the team, Dr. Cortex!" E. Gadd said to the evil genius as he shook his hand. Cortex proceeded to shake Wily's hand, as Coco was miffed that she was overlooked.

"Did you do this just to be nice?" Coco asked Link and Zelda, questioning the Hylians for throwing Cortex a bone. At least E. Gadd and Wily will have a fall guy if everything goes poorly.

The outdoor festivities were put on hold, as Mario and Peach had a bunch of wedding anniversary gifts to open up. They were opening up their gifts right now, as Mario got favorable gifts while Peach got...less than favorable gifts.

"Another bag-a of candy!" Mario squealed after unwrapping his gift, feeling like a little kid as he tossed the bagged candy into a growing pile. "What did you get, Princess-a Peach?" Peach unwrapped her gift and looked bummed out once she opened the gift box.

"...it's a piece of iron," answered Peach as she held up the piece of iron in question with the saltiest facial expression ever. One person in the crowd knew how Peach could make use of her gift.

"Turn it into a mask, and become Iron Woman!" Hunter suggested to Peach, as Spyro added the cheetah's idea to the ever-growing list of dumb ideas from his cheetah friend.

Hunter: Marvel really missed their big opportunity to introduce Iron Woman into their universe. They could've done it with Pepper Potts, but they had to drop the ball. Idiots!

"Dr. Eggman must not know how to buy gifts for women," inferred Peach as she unwrapped another present, expecting to find a piece of jewelry...and what she ended up with was an iron necklace. "Maybe I stand corrected..."

"Ooh, a cotton candy machine!" exclaimed Mario after he unwrapped his next gift, as he held his new cotton candy machine. Peach looked on, trying not to feel jealous.

"The masked guy is still giving me weird vibes..." Spyro admitted to Hunter, fixated on the masked fellow who was currently chilling with Orbot and Cubot. Something about the fellow that Spyro couldn't shake off...

Cloud found himself in a standoff, as he was challenged to a duel by Zack Fair. On one side was Zack, wielding a Buster Sword, and on the other side was Cloud, also wielding a Buster Sword.

"So you have your Buster Sword, eh?" Zack smirked at Cloud, he and the swordsman squaring off and sizing each other up as they circled around. "What a funny coincidence!"

"It's the same one that you gave me," responded Cloud, keeping his distance while he anticipated Zack making the first move. "When you died."

"Yup, I remember. Did it on my dying breath. But I've been given a second chance, and I won't let it go to waste."

"Why do you want to fight me, Zack? We're friends. We don't have to do this!"

"I'm doing this to see if you've truly become the man you were meant to be. Are you still the Cloud that I remember?"

"Been the same since you took your last breath. But if it's a fight you want...then it's a fight you'll get."

Cloud and Zack commenced their sword battle, two friends duking it out in an open area. The Buster Swords collided against each other, as it was an evenly-matched spar so far.

"Gotta say, you've grown a lot, Cloud," Zack gave his props to his friend, marveling at how well Cloud was holding his own during the fight. "You're stronger than ever."

"Sure means a lot coming from you," responded Cloud, as his blade continuously clashed against Zack's. With how the fight was turning out, neither man had the upper hand.

But an unforeseen interference would turn the tide, as a van veered into the opening. Noticing the vehicle, Cloud and Zack jumped to the side as the van did a sharp U-turn and parked. Hopping out of the vehicle was Champion Link, Sora...and Sly.

"Phew...almost missed our stop," remarked Sly, who accidentally stepped on the gas pedal after Champion Link alerted him about seeing Cloud. Zack was understandably befuddled by the unfamiliar faces in his midst.

"Who are they?" Zack questioned Cloud as he felt slightly intimidated by seeing Sly and company, especially when they had their weapons out. Instead of his Master Sword, Champion Link was wielding his bow. "Do you know them, Cloud?"

"Yeah, I know 'em," replied Cloud, who likened the idea of Sly and company to allies in his fight. "That's Champion Link, that's Sora, and the raccoon is Sly Cooper. Save for the raccoon, Champion Link and Sora are my friends, just like you were, Zack."

Sora: Cloud referred to me as a friend! I know this isn't anything worth getting super-excited about, but I've never heard Cloud call me as such so that's pretty cool.

"So I'm guessing this won't be much of a fair fight anymore..." assumed Zack as he readied his Buster Sword, not liking the sound of a one-versus-four fight. "...not too late to even the odds, though."

"Don't count on it," Champion Link quietly said, readying a Bomb Arrow as he took aim at Zack. Cloud saw what Champ was about to do as he looked past Zack's shoulder.

"Champ, wait!" yelled Cloud, only for Link to pull the trigger as he fired the Bomb Arrow. Zack turned his head as he saw the Bomb Arrow coming towards him, and the arrow exploded upon impact once it reached Zack's fair.

"Woah!" exclaimed Sora, he and Sly jumping out of harm's way as the explosion occurred. Cloud held his arm over his eyes, and when the smoke cleared, Cloud lowered his arm and saw Zack on the ground.

"Some nice friends...you got there, Cloud," Zack commended the swordsman, as he began to glitch out; Cloud saw it coming, while Champion Link and the others did not. "You must value them...a lot."

"Not all of them," Cloud said to the fading Zack, almost giving Champion Link the side-eye. Champion Link lowered his bow after his deed was done, as a somewhat solemn aura filled the air.

"Hate to repeat myself but...you've grown a lot. You were...the right man to...carry my legacy." Zack's head fell against the concrete, and in seconds Zack faded out of existence for good. Cloud put his Buster Sword away.

"So that's Zack Fair!" exclaimed Sora, leaving Sly astonished that he had never met Zack before. Cloud slowly backed away, staring at the ground where Zack once lay.

"Telling me you've been to all these worlds, and yet you've never crossed paths with..." Sly was about to tell Sora, only to be the first to notice Cloud leaving. "...hey, where's Cloud going?"

Marth was at Omnis Adest along with Geno, Nemona, and Arven, looking to speak with Junpei's baseball team about whether or not they had slain any Heartless. Among the first folks that he spoke with was Zeke, who as he had done at Dingo's Diner was telling a tall tale with very little truth to it.

"Then I grabbed the ruffian by the tongue, and slammed it to the ground, like so!" Zeke told his tall tale to Marth, demonstrating as he pretended to hold unto a Heartless's tongue and throw it onto the ground. Marth didn't look all that impressed.

"Oh really? And where did you vanquish this Heartless?" Marth asked Zeke, who had a readily-prepared answer for any question that Marth asked. You could say that Zeke's answers were rehearsed.

"At the lake, of course! Leonie was there to witness my epic heroics. She can back me up on this." Zeke folded his arms confidently, as Leonie happened to walk by when she heard Zeke mention her name.

"Greninja was napping peacefully in the lake, and Zeke beat him up for no reason," Leonie explained to Marth, effectively outing Zeke. Marth pinched the crown of his nose as Zeke smiled innocently.

"He looked like a Heartless floating on the water's surface! My eyes fooled me!" As Zeke gave his excuse, a group of Soldier Heartless appeared, seeing their prey in sight.

"Heartless!" alerted Geno, sounding the alarm as everyone turned their attention to the Soldier Heartless. The Heartless were ganging up on Leonie, who was mostly defenseless.

"Back off!" shouted Leonie as she tried to get away, but the Soldier Heartless kept her from escaping. It was up to Nemona and Zeke to save the day.

"Alright, Zeke and Nemona, this is your..." said Marth, only to stop speaking when Arven stepped up to the plate. All eyes were on Arven, who dug into his pocket and took out his Poke Ball.

"Go, Mabostiff!" shouted Arven as he set out his Mabostiff, who was ready for action as he had his game face on upon being sent out. "Go all out on those Heartless! Show us what you got!"

"Woof, woof!" barked Mabostiff, leaping into action as he attacked the Soldier Heartless. He was utilizing his Four Moves of Doom - Crunch, Fire Fang, Psychic Fangs, and Play Rough. Marth was looking mighty impressed.

"Thanks, Arven!" Leonie thanked the Pokemon trainer, escaping while she could as Mabostiff kept on kicking Heartless butt. As you can imagine, Arven was proud of his good boy.

"So, what do you think?" Arven asked Marth and the others after the last Soldier Heartless was dispatched. Zeke was speechless, Nemona had no reaction, and Marth was applauding Mabostiff.

"Think Junpei would add a relief pitcher to his baseball team?" Geno asked Marth, seeing some potential in Arven - or rather his ace, Mabostiff. "If you catch my drift..."

"The team is going to have a new addition - whether Junpei wants it or not," stated Marth, happy that everything went according to plan. Just as how he designed it.

Marth: Omnis Adesti Fideles may not have a mascot, but they do have a team pet. Junpei never said that team pets weren't allowed. I can override him if necessary; he's not the best decision-maker in the world. Imagine adding Owain to a baseball team.

Pit enjoyed his talk with Lavenza, and the angel's work in Mini Mementos was done as he crawled out of the trapdoor in the middle of the foyer. Accompanying him were Sonic and Lavenza, and the latter had a few final things to say to her new pupil.

"Remember this, Pit...you matter," Lavenza said to the angel as she placed her hand on his shoulder, only to miss due to the height difference. Her hand was on Pit's upper torso instead.

"Let me help you out," Sonic offered to Lavenza as he lifted the girl up slightly off the floor, allowing her to actually put her hand on Pit's shoulder. Only then was Pit able to hear Lavenza out; apparently he couldn't do it before Sonic's assist.

"I matter..." Pit confidently echoed Lavenza's sentiment, looking forward to realizing his worth while he was under the tutelage of Lavenza. "...I won't get anywhere without you, Lavenza!"

"Realizing your true self-worth will undoubtedly be an uphill climb. But if you need any assistance, I will be there at your side."

"Count me in, too," Sonic said to Pit, as he bumped fists with the angel. Pit, Sonic, and Lavenza - they were all in it together.

All done running his "errands", Eggman returned to Seattle to see how Mario and Peach were handling themselves. The luau party resumed once Mario and Peach opened up all their gifts, with everyone back to playing limbo.

"Psst, what's the world record for limbo?" Luigi whispered to Orbot, while it was Waluigi's turn to lay limbo. Waluigi kept complaining about his back as he tried to get under the rod.

"There's a world record for limbo?" questioned Orbot, only for a loud crack to be heard. Waluigi was left screaming in pain as he fell on his back, clutching his lower spine.

"Wah, I broke my back!" Waluigi wailed in pain as he was rolling around on the ground, with Daisy and a few others stifling their laughter. Some had to turn away and laugh in private.

"Totally saw that coming," remarked the masked fellow, standing with Mario and fist-bumping the plumber as Waluigi rolled over on his knees. Waluigi was left in a world of pain.

Waluigi: Unbelievlabe! I can't even win a game of limbo. Dimentio was right, I am no hero! Wah!
Midna: *descends down to Waluigi* What does winning a game of limbo have to do with being a hero? Get over your dumb self.

"Yoo-hoo! I'm back!" Eggman announced while inside his Egg Mobile, as he got small cheers from Orbot and Cubot...but no one else. "Really? This is the kind of reception I get?"

"Uh, hi, Dr. Eggman!" Mario greeted the mad scientist, doing so just to get on his good side; Eggman was met with disappointment knowing that Mario's enthusiasm was fake.

"Meh...it's whatever, you're all dead to me. Well, Mario and Peach, how did you like your luau?" Eggman brought his Egg Mobile closer to Mario and Peach, interested in hearing the married couple's thoughts.

"It was nice, I suppose," replied Peach, alarming Eggman by not throwing endless praise on the party. The princess looked down at the masked fellow that accompanied her and Mario. "This little guy has been nice company."

"I almost bumped my head playing limbo!" the masked fellow said to Eggman, fortunate that he didn't wind up with a concussion. He smacked that rod hard.

"With how short you are, it's no wonder..." Eggman muttered under his breath, coughing into his fist and clearing his throat before he turned his attention to everyone on the patio. "...so you're all probably wondering how I met this short little guy."

"Yeah, tell us who he is!" exclaimed Cubot, as Orbot facepalmed; Eggman grabbed the masked fellow and held him up like Rafiki holding Simba on Pride Rock.

"Alright, friend, take off your mask!" At Eggman's command, the masked fellow took off his mask, revealing his true identity. Many gasps were heard, as the masked fellow, Eggman's new right-hand man, was revealed to be...

"Magolor?!" the crowd uttered in unison, as Eggman was holding Magolor in his hands. So many eyes on him made Magolor uncomfortable.

"Hi, everybody," Magolor waved to everyone, getting sweaty; Eggman felt the alien getting sweaty as he placed him back on his feet.

"Magolor and I both have something in common - we hate Dimentio," explained Eggman, patting Magolor on his head like he was his son. "So when Magolor came running to me, telling me his backstory, I had to take him under my wing."

"'Hate' is too strong of a word." Disagreeing with Magolor, Eggman waved off the alien as he chuckled. No one was used to such heartfelt chuckling from Eggman.

"Believe me, Magolor, every one of us here hates Dimentio to an extent. Even the ones who won't ever admit it."

"See? Told you it was Magolor," a vindicated Spyro said to Hunter, happy to know that he was right about the masked fellow's identity all along.

"Oh, here are your overalls," Eggman said to Mario as he returned the plumber his overalls, with Mario digging his hand into the pockets. "I held unto them while you were..."

"Aha!" exclaimed Mario as he pulled out the list from one of the pockets, with Peach left to wonder why Mario was so fixated on that very list. "You were looking at it, weren't you Eggman?" Mario spoke with Eggman in private.

"I...may have taken a peek at it," Eggman privately admitted, with the luau resuming as the Hawaiian party music increased in volume. "Wanted to verify if it was the same one that Magolor acquired. Turns out Dimentio had a spare - exact copy!"

"Eggman had me infiltrate Dimentio's base," Magolor said to Mario, having done several other favors for Eggman on the side. "Wasn't really infiltrating, since it was my own run-down factory, but..."

"Let's keep this list a secret-a between us," said Mario as he shook hands with Eggman, and then with Magolor. For now, the list was kept confidential.

Reflecting on the fight he had with Zack Fair, Cloud sat alone on a bench on the sidewalk, lost in his own world and lost in his own thoughts. The swordsman would soon have company as Sora was about to take a seat next to him.

"Mind if I have a seat?" Sora asked Cloud only to be met with no response - so Sora lowered his bottom about to take a seat. Then Cloud turned his head to Sora and gave him a vicious death glare.

"Go away," Cloud commanded Sora, who did what he was told as he stepped away and held his hands up. Cloud went back to being lost in his own world, as Champion Link approached him.

"I see you're all alone on the bench," Champion Link said to Cloud, with Sly a few meters away from him. Would Cloud turn Champion Link away as he had done with Sora? "Do you mind if..."

"Yeah, you can take a seat." So Champion Link took a seat on the bench next to Cloud, as Sora wondered where his respect was. Sly bravely stepped up to the plate, wanting to sit on the other side of Cloud. "You too, Sly."

"Thanks!" thanked Sly, as he sat right next to Cloud; Sora drew closer to the bench, but a glare from Cloud kept the Keyblade wielder at bay.

"This Zack Fair dude...he meant a great deal to you, didn't he?" Champion Link asked Cloud, hoping that he wasn't asking a rhetorical question. The way that Cloud looked at Champion Link almost made the Hylian flinch. "I didn't mean to hurt him - he just looked suspicious."

"Can't say that I blame you," replied Cloud, as the urge to reflect on his past with Zack was hard to resist. "Zack was like a brother to me; his memory haunts me to this very day."

"I know what it's like to lose someone important," Sora injected himself into the conversation, speaking from experience with a hand over his heart. "The void it leaves behind is hard to fill."

"Seeing Zack...well, that clone of Zack...made me think. I've carried Zack's legacy with me, but I often wonder if I'm truly living up to it. Did I honor his sacrifice?"

"You're still here, aren't you?" Sly asked Cloud as he gave an encouraging smile, only to be met with disappointment when said smile hardly cheered Cloud up. Nothing to be really upset about. "I'm sure Zack's spirit is living on inside of you."

"If he believed in you, and you've inspired everyone else in turn, then I'd say you're doing alright," Champion Link reassured Cloud, reminding his friend that he had nothing to worry about. "You've taken that legacy of Zack's and made it your own."

"And you're not alone - you got us, your friends and allies!" grinned Sora, still stoked about the fact that Cloud referred to him as a friend. He might even tell Riku and Kairi about it...if they cared.

"Maybe this pep talk is what I needed. Thanks," thanked Cloud, but there was one thing that was remaining on the swordsman's mind...and it had to do with the raccoon sitting next to him. "Also, while we're here...why are you here, Sly?"

"Got stuck delivering a message to Master Hand, on Polygon Man's behalf," replied Sly, reminded of the reason why he was in town. "Polygon Man saw an 'unidentified dark figure' floating outside the manor and was freaking out. Should've seen him. Hilarious."

Fox and Falco returned to the mansion grounds, having done their best to turn Yukari's frown upside down - and succeed, mostly. As the pilots were about to pass the idol singers' house, Kiria ran out of the house to speak with the Star Records heads.

"That was surprisingly painless," Fox said to Falco as he shared a fist bump with the avian pilot, only for him and Falco to be stopped by Kiria. Kiria was remarkably happy, which to the pilots was a major concern.

"Force Five, Touma canceled the Force Five!" Kiria happily told the news to Fox and Falco, who already knew from the jump after Touma announced that his show was on an "indefinite hiatus". "This is one of the best days of my life!"

"That's awesome," replied Falco, only for Kiria to hug and kiss the avian pilot; Kiria would do the same with Fox, although Fox tried to turn down Kiria's advances. Fox even looked at his house for any signs of Krystal after Kiria was done.

"You didn't know about it? How did you not know about it, you run the..." Kiria was so happy that she was unable to speak, as she was just so happy. The happiest that the pilots had ever seen her. "...this is one of the best days of my life!"

"We're happy to hear it," Fox plainly responded, as Kiria ran off to celebrate more while she was outside. Might even do a cartwheel or two. "At least someone is happy..."

Kiria: I cannot tell you how happy I am that Force Five is canned. I've been suffering in silence for about five years, while Touma bossed us around and gave us pay that was below minimum wage. Even when we took matters to Fox and Falco, Touma still wouldn't change a thing! But it's over now. It's finally over... *smiles* ...gotta stop smiling before the others think something's wrong with me.

Tuckered out from the party, Mario sat in his living room while Orbot and Cubot were deconstructing all the party stuff. A fan was blowing on Mario, who was sweaty from head to toe. Spyro, who enjoyed today's festivities, would lay on the floor near Mario's lawn chair as he relaxed.

"I'm-a pooped," remarked Mario as he used a towel to wipe away his sweat, while Peach entered the living room fanning herself with her own personalized pink fan. Looked good doing it, too.

"And the day is still young," added Peach, as Hunter saw Peach's fan while he was in the pool and felt some type of way about it. "Ooh, let's have an indoor pool party until it's time for dinner!"

"Not to be jealous or anything, but where's my fan?" Hunter asked Peach, perplexing not only the princess but Mario and Spyro as well. "I wanna be like one of those kimono girls. Well, a guy version of one."

Outside Mario's house were Eggman and Magolor, who were watching the Badniks doing deconstruction on Mario's house. Iori approached Eggman and Magolor with his hands in his pockets.

"I hate to ask, but do you have a list on you by any chance?" Iori asked Eggman, who gestured for Magolor to take out the list that he stole from Dimentio's hideout. Magolor held up the list.

"You mean this?" asked Magolor, as Iori proceeded to take the list out of Magolor's hand. Eggman anticipated Iori burning the list, but Iori did no such thing.

"I'll try and keep in touch..." Iori smirked at Eggman and Iori, putting the list away as he walked back to the mansion. Eggman and Magolor exchanged looks with one another, curious about what Iori was cooking.

So much for keeping a secret.