Author's Note:
Said that I would publish consecutive chapters barring any interruption...and guess what happened? We had an interruption. Fanfiction servers went down. But we're back...
Originally, I wasn't planning on doing a Bastille Day chapter, but I had no other ideas in mind. So even though Bastille Day came and went, just pretend that this chapter was published in mid-July instead of September. Capiche? Capiche. Enjoy.
Episode 395: Francophone
It was not uncommon for Master Hand to celebrate non-American holidays. In the past, he made mansion residents and guests alike celebrate Boxing Day and Canada Day. Earlier this year he had a Cinco de Mayo celebration, which resulted in a bunch of folks ending up with upset stomachs. Could be that they simply ate too many burritos.
Once again Master Hand was back in his bag, as he had the mansion celebrate yet another foreign holiday - Bastille Day. Known as the national day of France, Bastille Day celebrated the storming of the Bastille prison in Paris, which took place in 1789. That pivotal moment in history sparked the French Revolution - a revolution that surely no cheese-eating surrender monkeys were a part of.
Nobody knew why Master Hand wanted to celebrate Bastille Day, other than the fact that maybe he just needed an excuse to have another big get-together. But that certainly didn't stop Mario and the gang from making the necessary Bastille Day preparations. A few folks, like the all-American Guile, weren't so game.
"I demand that you keep the American flag intact," Guile requested to Leaf, who was about to take the American flag down from the mansion porch. "At least so the folks can be reminded of what country they're in."
"This is only temporary," assured Leaf, who proceed to replace the American flag with a French one. Guile could only watch with disdain as Leaf brought the American flag with her while she went down the ladder.
"Mama Mia! The croissants-a are gone!" panicked Mario, who looked at a table and saw that the plate of croissants was now empty. The only thing that remained was a few crumbs. "Where did all the croissants-a go?"
"Yeah, whatever happened to the croissants..." wondered Wario, who was conspicuously sitting underneath the table stuffing his mouth with the croissants he stole. The fatso was hiding in plain sight, yet Mario and the others failed to notice him.
"The baguettes are safe, but the wine has also gone missing," Link gave the 4-1-1 to Mario, leaving the plumber even more distressed than ever before. And speaking of wine, Wario took a wine bottle out and was about to open it.
"Happy Bastille Day to me!" Wario took out a corkscrew and used it to open the top. But once Wario got the wine bottle open, the bottle exploded and sent Wario flying into the air. Mario and Link both watched as Wario flew up into the sky and later crash-landed into the driveway.
"My truck!" Link shrieked after Wario landed on his truck, as the Hylian ran over to inspect the damages. Meanwhile, Mario took a peek under the table and gasped when he saw the croissants - all sitting on the grass.
"Wario you absolute-a buffoon...croissants and barbecue sauce do NOT mix!" Disgusted, Mario grabbed the croissants and placed them on the table back where they belonged - not like they were contaminated or anything. "The nerve-a of him..."
Master Hand: People will often ask me, "Master Hand, why do you love celebrating holidays that aren't American?". Well, the answer is simple, really - it's all done in the name of multiculturalism. Or something like that. It's a way to introduce new cultures to the more uncultured folk. Sadly, there are some people out there who think that multiculturalism can destroy the very fabric of America. Southerners, amirite? Don't think I forgot about you Midwestern folk, either.
Sora: Master Hand did he, he approved of my proposal! We're gonna have a big Bastille Day celebration! Sadly I couldn't bring my friend Quasimoto, for obvious reasons, but having all my other friends will make up for it.
Riku: If anyone asks, I'll be hiding in my room until the celebration is over. After that, I'll be moving to the basement. Sora is gonna be insufferable.
"Be honest with me...how much did it cost you to buy this?" Meta Knight asked Villager, standing next to the young lad as he was looking up at a replica of the Eiffel Tower. The replica looked almost like the real deal.
"Only cost me 5,000 bells," Villager responded with a smile, doing his hardest not to flex as he folded his arms behind his head. 5,000 bells sounded awfully cheap when you think about it.
"5,000 bells, you say?" Meta Knight looked back and saw Tom Nook walking by, noodling around on his phone. The star warrior ran up to Tom Nook, catching him by surprise and asking without warning, "Tom Nook, how much is one bell worth in pesos?"
"Erm, why is this a relevant question?" asked Tom Nook, trying to get away only for Meta Knight to remain hot on his trail. Tom Nook put his phone away as he ran for his life. "I AM NOT AN ECONOMICS EXPERT!"
"That's not what you told me..." muttered an overhearing Wario, watching as Meta Knight chased after Tom Nook. The fatso was atop Link's truck, and Link was struggling mightily in lifting him off the hood.
"Why...are you...so heavy?" Link asked Wario, having to stop and take a breather after putting in a lot of elbow grease. Elbow grease was always a requirement whenever it came to lifting Wario.
"I dunno, maybe the croissants made me put on some weight." Wario's theory was believed to be proven true, as he crashed through the hood and damaged Link's truck in the process. Link was greatly upset beyond words. "I suggest that you eat some, put some weight on that scrawny body of yours."
"Some-a bad news, the croissants have bugs-a on them," Mario came over to inform Link, who was devastated by the damage to his truck as he fell down to his knees. Mario, after seeing Link's plight, wisely walked away. "I'll...I'll just tell-a you later."
There may not be a single person at the mansion who was of French origin, but the Smashers did have a few French pals in Rayman, Globox, and Barbara. Rayman often denied that he and his friends had French heritage - citing his origin in the Glade of Dreams as his sole reason - but nine times out of ten the odds were against him. And it was because of Rayman and friends' French heritage...
...that they were named the emcees of Bastille Day. In other words, they would be the ones in charge of today's festivities. Never before has Rayman ever been in charge of anything, let alone a holiday celebration, and the fact that he was doing it with Globox and Barbara made him understandably wary.
"I'm not wearing that stupid beret," Rayman said to Peach in the mansion's foyer, as Peach placed a red beret atop Rayman's head against the limbless hero's wishes. "I look ridiculous..."
"You look magnifique, you mean," Peach corrected Rayman, who let out an exasperated sigh; unfortunately for Rayman, Peach was not done dressing him up just yet. "I'll be right back with your scarf."
"A scarf? A SCARF?! I don't even have a neck, for crying out loud!" That definitely didn't stop Peach from momentarily leaving the foyer to find the perfect scarf for Rayman to wear. Rayman let out yet another exasperated sigh.
"C'mon, Rayman, lighten up a little!" Globox encouraged his friend, already dressed up to the nines as he was looking like a stereotypical French person. With a mustache, to boot. "What do you think of my mustache? You like?"
"Not gonna lie, that mustache makes you look like a child predator." As Rayman analyzed Globox's fit, Barbara entered the foyer carrying a box full of explosives. "Barbara, why do you have fireworks...?"
"For the grand finale," replied Barbara, speaking to Rayman as if he were a five-year-old wondering why the sky was blue. One good look and Rayman could tell that most of the fireworks were probably illegal.
"Don't tell me you're about to fire one up." Rayman watched cautiously as Barbara took out a firework, and then took out a box of matches. "No fireworks indoors - that's a fire hazard!"
"No, that's a fireworks hazard. Big difference." Barbara lit a match with a lighter, as all Rayman and Globox could do was watch and hope for the best. Once she placed the firework on the floor, Barbara was ready for fire.
"Alright, Rayman, I've found you the perfect scarf!" announced Peach as she returned to the foyer with a blue scarf, only to gasp when she saw Barbara about to light the firework with a lit match. "Rayman, tell your girlfriend to stop!"
"She's not my...why can't you just tell Barbara to..." a frustrated Rayman said to Peach, only to throw his arms up in defeat and sigh. The limbless hero tackled Barbara to the floor, causing her to drop the match in the process.
"Have any of you seen our..." said Master Kohga as he stepped inside the foyer, only to gasp when he saw the firework in the center. The clan leader then shrieked as he ran to the firework and grabbed it, caressing it like it was his favorite child.
"Kohga, is that your firework?" Peach asked the clan leader, who began to kiss the firework while holding it gently. Can't even call it weird behavior, it was perfectly on-brand for Master Kohga. "Is it illegal?"
"Ha! Far from it! They're homemade, which removes any and all doubt." Master Kohga folded his arms, looking very confident in the fact as Peach and the others expressed their concerns.
Master Kohga: Saw nothing in the Washington state law book that forbids the production of homemade fireworks. Even if there was, I burned my copy to ashes anyway so it's a moot point. That law book lost me when it stated that biting another person's leg was illegal! Why must the weirdoes that make the laws around here be proper gents?!
"That said, I do not condone anyone stealing the Yiga Clan's fireworks," added Master Kohga, before looking towards Rayman and Barbara as the doorbell rang. "Especially if it's done by someone's girlfriend..."
"SHE IS NOT MY GIRLFRIEND!" Rayman yelled at the top of his lungs, as he was restraining Barbara. Samus entered the foyer, phone in hand as she went to the front door and opened it.
"Huh, I was expecting Sombra," remarked Samus when she saw Talon operatives Moira and Doomfist at the door. The bounty hunter was in a text conversation with Sombra right now.
"She and Reaper will be here shortly," stated Moira, before looking into the distance and beckoning to someone. "We have a...special visitor with us. She might need Master Hand's approval."
Master Hand was making his own preparations for Bastille Day, as he was in his room learning some French lingo from Isabelle. Isabelle had Duolingo on her side, and her tutorship was going as well as you can expect with Master Hand as her pupil.
"I demand that you tell me what 'wee-wee' means," Master Hand demanded from Isabelle, who was glossing through a dictionary of common French words. "I refuse to believe that it's a French word for the phallus."
"That...that is just another word for urine," clarified Isabelle, as she did nothing but validate Master Hand's assumption with her answer. Master Hand always thought of the French people to be very crass, for whatever reason. "Now to say hello in French, you simply say bonjour."
"Everyone knows what bonjour means, woman! Does this look like my first rodeo? Well, actually, it is, but that is beside the point..." Before Isabelle could carry on with the lesson, a knock was at Master Hand's door.
"Master Hand, a special visitor wants to see you," informed Samus as she casually entered the room without Master Hand's permission. She had a habit of doing that.
"A special visitor on Bastille Day, what are the odds! Wonder if it's Andre the Giant...no, wait, he's dead. Forget that I said anything."
"Promise not to freak out too much?" In order to keep the promise secure, Master Hand held out his giant pinky finger toward Samus. "I'm not doing a pinky promise."
"Then I promise to freak out as much as possible, and then some." Master Hand brought his pinky finger closer to Samus, who groaned as she wrapped her own pinky finger around Master Hand's.
"Better not tell anyone about this..." Samus threatened Isabelle, speaking in a low tone, and once the pinky promise was done Samus beckoned to someone outside. "...alright, you guys, you can bring her on in."
Right on cue, two individuals entered Master Hand's room - Moira and Doomfist, two members of Talon. Not the usual pair of Reaper and Sombra. Accompanying Moira and Doomfist was a third Talon member...and one who made Master Hand gasp in shock.
"Greetings, Master Hand, Isabelle," Doomfist greeted the giant hand and Shih Tzu, as the former was left in a deep state of shock at the assassin standing before him. "We have brought with us a dear ally of ours...Widowmaker, why don't you say hello?"
"Bonjour, Master Hand," greeted the third Talon member - the deadly assassin none other than Widowmaker. Uh oh. "My accomplices and I couldn't help but notice the splendid festivities you're organizing. How charming..."
"Ah, Widowmaker..." a hesitant Master Hand returned the favor, before leaning in close to Isabelle and whispering to her, "...I thought that she was banned!"
"You lifted her ban last year, remember?" Isabelle whispered back, with Widowmaker cocking her head to the side wondering what Master Hand and Isabelle were whispering about. "Did it after Overwatch and Talon agreed to an alliance."
Samus: Sombra and I have been keeping in touch for a few days about bringing Widowmaker over for Bastille Day, and I was like, "eh, why not". That's my go-to response for pretty much everything.
"What are you whispering so?" Widowmaker asked Master Hand as she had her eyebrow raised, only to loosen up when she assumed what the point of the private conversation was. "Oh, I see. You're concerned that my...talents may not align with the spirit of your event."
"Well, it's not exactly that, but..." Master Hand responded nervously, only to stop when Widowmaker held up her hand. Miraculously, Widowmaker had Master Hand in the palm of her hand, and it was a marvelous sight.
"Fear not, cher Maître Main. I assure you, I can be quite the connoisseur of French culture when I wish to be."
"Very well, but please remember, this is a festive occasion. No...assassinations." That was the one thing that Master Hand was most worried about, Widowmaker killing someone. Killing was simply in Widowmaker's DNA.
"Promis, mon ami." Keeping her promise with Master Hand, Widowmaker smiled as she left the room. Moira and Doomfist watched as Widowmaker left while making note of Master Hand's profound nervousness.
"We can assure you that Widowmaker will be on her best behavior," Moira assured Master Hand and company, confident that Widowmaker wouldn't be that much trouble. On that note, Moira left Master Hand's room, and Doomfist left soon thereafter.
"Welp, she's their problem," Samus had this to say about the Talon operatives, only for Master Hand to sneak up on her. Samus screamed when she felt Master Hand breathing down her neck.
"I would like for you to 'chaperone' Widowmaker for me," Master Hand made his request known to Samus, with Samus making a face indicating that she wanted to say no oh so bad. "For some reason I don't trust those Talon peeps."
"This is what I get, isn't it..." Looking back on it, answering "eh, why not" to Sombra might not have been the wisest choice that Samus had made.
Truth be told, Widowmaker should be the least of Master Hand's worries, for there was a diabolical jester that was capable of turning the Bastille Day celebration upside down. Dimentio, curious as to what was going down at the mansion today, made a special visit to the establishment and caught Link and Zelda arranging flowers for a decorative centerpiece.
"Ah, what have we here?" Dimentio whispered to himself, perched behind a large flower pot as he watched Link and Zelda arranging the flowers carefully. "What splendid decorating!"
"That should do it," proclaimed Link after placing the last of the flowers, before taking a step back to analyze the flower centerpiece in full view. "These flowers look great."
"Yes, and I'm surprised that you haven't broken any of the flower...pots," stated Zelda, only to eat her own words when Link grabbed an empty flower pot and threw it on the ground, breaking it in the process. Just as any Link incarnation would have done.
"Sorry, that was a force of habit." Link looked sheepish as Zelda was giving him an inquisitive stare, as the pieces of the broken flower pot were scattered at his feet. Breaking that flower pot gave Link quite the adrenaline boost.
"Likely story..." Just when Zelda thought that Link was done, her husband grabbed a second flower pot and broke it by smashing it against the mansion wall. "...I take it that was a force of habit as well?"
"Had to get that one out of my system. Wario damaged my truck, and he owes me big time." Most assuredly, the repairs for Link's truck were all coming straight out of Wario's pocket.
Wario: I'm stuck in a jam...stuck with paying for the repairs for Link's stupid truck! Not that I don't mind damaging other vehicles; I'd do it for fun if paying to have them fixed wasn't so expensive. Why is everything so stinking expensive nowadays?! You wanna know how much it costs to buy a pack of gum at the gas station? A DOLLAR! Waaaah!
"The hero and the princess, like two busy bees in a beehive!" Dimentio grinned mischievously, devising evil plots in his mind as he looked to get a head start on screwing things up. "But how can I...enhance their experience?"
"There are other ways to let out your frustration, you know," Zelda reminded Link, who proceeded to break a third flower pot - and find an unexpected blue rupee. What were the odds? Meanwhile, Dimentio looked up above Link and Zelda and saw a banner hanging up above.
"Time to make things...a little easy-breezy." Dimentio used his magic on the banner, causing it to wave on its own as if caught in a gentle breeze. Zelda was the first to feel the breeze, as she blinked in confusion.
"Link, did you feel that breeze just now?" Zelda asked her husband, as she felt her hair blowing against the wind. Link began to feel the breeze, as his hat nearly came off of his head.
"Breeze? But we're indoors..." replied Link - indeed, Link and Zelda were indoors, as they were doing the decorating inside the ballroom. The Hylian couple checked the windows, and all of them were closed.
"This is quite peculiar. Are we experiencing a...magical draft?" Soon enough, the flowers were rustling and the tablecloth was fluttering along with the window curtains, and neither Link nor Zelda knew what was causing it. But Link had a clue.
"You stay right here - I'll go talk with Luigi." Link departed from the ballroom, believing that some supernatural activity was afoot. Zelda was left all alone, with only Dimentio keeping her company.
"Yes, bring Luigi over," Dimentio quietly encouraged Link, as Luigi was one individual that Dimentio had been feigning to speak with for quite a while. "Bring me...Mr. L."
Preparations were still being made outside, as Mario and company were almost done with decorating the outside decor. Falco, who was put in charge of setting up the party streamers on the front porch, somehow got himself tangled in the streamers and was left hanging from the porch roof.
"Don't mind me, I'm just hanging," Falco said to the small crowd of residents who were gathered around, as one of the residents, Sans, was applauding the avian pilot. "Don't need your approval, Sans."
"Look, you guys! A live pinata!" exclaimed Ness, taking out his baseball bat as Falco warily looked on. "Who wants to go first?" Much to Falco's chagrin, a few volunteers raised their hands.
"Who the heck does pinatas on Bastille Day? What is wrong with you people?!" Falco was helpless as Ness handed his baseball bat to the first volunteer, Yukari. Taking the baseball bat, Yukari had a slasher smile as she stared down the scared Falco.
"I've been dying to do this..." snarled Yukari, wasting no time as she got down to striking Falco with the baseball bat. The others cheered on her, as Falco was left crying in pain.
"I don't have any candy, don't hit me so hard! I'm sorry for playing you! I'm sorry!"
Yukari: *sighs happily* Ah, nothing like some poetic justice to get you in the right mood.
"Way to take one for the team!" Fox called out to Falco, watching his friend getting his butt handed to him by Yukari from a safe distance. Just then, Widowmaker walked past Fox, with Samus accompanying her.
"As you can see, we have an assortment of cheese on display," Samus said to Widowmaker, who inspected the cheeses that were put on display. Fox looked in on fear, as Widowmaker took a closer look at the cheese.
"The fromage here is exquisite, but...I'm more accustomed to sharper choices," remarked Widowmaker, desiring to sample one of the cheeses but not at the risk of hurting the display. The assassin carried on, while Fox was literally shaking in fear.
"Hey, wh-who invited her?" Fox asked Samus, a frantic feeling of deja vu washing over him as he recalled his first encounter with Widowmaker. A miracle that he is still alive to this day.
"Trust me, I hate this as much as you do," Samus said quietly to Fox, before moving on as she had to keep up with Widowmaker. Where was Widowmaker now? Watching Donkey Kong juggling croissants, trying to attract a crowd.
"Mario never said that these contaminated croissants can't be used for entertainment," remarked Donkey Kong, as he was juggling the croissants without missing a beat. One of the croissants flew out of Donkey Kong's hands and landed in the open mouth of Pigma, who started choking immediately.
"Pigma! Are you okay?!" Terry asked as he ran over to the pilot, who got down on one knee and began to choke and gag with his hand around his neck. "Blink once if you need help!"
"Aw shucks...something bad always happens whenever I do a juggling act," lamented Donkey Kong, forced to prematurely end his special entertainment. The gorilla took sight of Widowmaker and did a double take as the assassin took a croissant out of his hand.
"Juggling croissants? I can do you one better," Widowmaker said to Donkey Kong, as she balanced the croissant expertly on the tip of her finger. Donkey Kong was impressed as he clapped his hands. "Voilà! Artistry in its simplest form."
Donkey Kong: My juggling croissants act impressed Widowmaker...does that mean I'm no longer on her hit list? Was I ever on her hit list to begin with? Who cares, I'll take what I can get!
"WIDOWMAKER!" exclaimed a certain angel, as Widowmaker rolled her eyes and forced herself to turn around at Pit. Pit was awfully eager about seeing Widowmaker, as he was smiling from ear to ear.
"Quelqu'un s'il te plait tue moi..." Widowmaker muttered under her breath; she had limited her interactions with Pit for very good (and understandable) reasons. "...what is it that you want, you idiotic angel?"
"Oh, nothing, I just wanted to wish you Happy Bastille Day." Pit expected a thank you from Widowmaker, but all he did instead was cause the assassin to glare at him. "What, you're telling me that saying 'Happy Bastille Day' is insensitive?"
"It's not insensitive, it's just stupid," Samus informed Pit, in total disbelief that Pit would say "Happy Bastille Day" to a French person. Pit was having major regret right now, especially considering the person that he was speaking with.
"You're right...that was very silly of me...um..." Pit was getting sweaty, as Widowmaker's piercing stare was sending shivers down his spine. His biggest fear was getting killed on the spot for his trademark foolishness. "...I'll be right back!"
"Please don't come back," Samus encouraged Pit, who ran inside the mansion feeling like a fool. Master Hand was observing Widowmaker from afar, as Mario joined him.
"You think-a she'll fit right in with everyone?" Mario asked Master Hand, curious as to how Widowmaker would interact with the others.
"I'll reserve my judgment until the festivities officially begin," replied Master Hand, fingers crossed that Widowmaker would keep her good behavior intact when folks from Omnis Adest started pouring in. That would be Widowmaker's real test.
Rosalina: A goal of the party-planning committee was to secure a mime for Bastille Day. Sadly, we have come up short in finding one - the closest we ever came to finding a mime was a career party clown. He even mentions it as such on his dating profile, as Viridi found out. Since we were cutting close to Bastille Day, we had to go with our...last resort.
The party-planning committee's last resort came in the form of one of their members, Travis Touchdown, who was asked to play as a mime. Begrudgingly, Travis agreed, and the otaku was stuck dressed up as a mime, complete with white face paint and a black beret. Travis was exhibiting his mime theatrics in the living room, while Sonic and Sora were watching him go.
"Nice invisible wall," Sonic said to Travis in a joking manner, as Travis was creating a fake invisible wall that Sonic poked his index finger through. "Oops! I broke it."
"Ha! Let me take a crack at it," giggled Sora, doing Sonic one better as he stuck his whole arm through Travis's invisible wall. Travis, who was feeling miserable already, was in no mood for reprimanding his audience.
"Uh oh! I'm going through the wall!" Sonic would one-up Sora as he jumped through the invisible wall, before jumping back out and jumping back in. He would do this multiple times, as Travis clearly looked bothered.
"How about I smash the wall to bits with my Keyblade?" Sora armed himself with his Keyblade, as he looked to swing at the air multiple times. But then, he and Sonic heard a certain Pokemon loudly complaining from afar.
"Mr. Mime! Mime, Mime, MIME!" a Mr. Mime shouted as he entered the living room, looking to confront Travis whom he apparently took an issue with. Little Mac was trying to hold back Mr. Mime, who was shaking his fist at Travis.
"He is NOT stealing your thunder, let the man live!" Little Mac shouted at Mr. Mime, who was shouting all sorts of Pokemon obscenities at Travis as he was pushed out of the living room. Mime-on-mime violence was easily prevented, all thanks to Little Mac.
"Okay...that was weird," remarked Sonic, only to notice that Travis was now tying him and Sora up with some invisible rope. Safe to say that nobody was affected. "Oh no, Travis the Mime is tying us up! Whatever shall we do?"
"If Travis did this as a street performance, he'd never get my money," quipped Sora, as Travis shot a glare at the Keyblade wielder. Pit ran inside the living room, as he had the biggest smile on his face.
"Guys, you missed it - Little Mac just got headbutted by a Mr. Mime," Pit said to Sonic and Sora, thinking that such an incident sunk Little Mac to new lows that should never be reached. "A Mr. Mime, getting physical! What are the odds..."
"That Mr. Mime did look rowdy," remarked Sonic, having never seen that much aggression from the barrier Pokemon before. Hardy must be Mr. Mime's nature. "So, Pit, did you wanna talk, or..."
"Oh yeah!" Remembering what he came here to do, Pit focused his attention on Sonic while Travis finished tying up Sonic with his invisible rope. "I'm starting to think that I'm celebrating Bastille Day insensitively."
"But that sounds impossible. Not like you're offending anyone by wearing a beret or drinking boatloads of wine. French people encourage that stuff!"
"So if I wear a beret and drink bottles of wine around Widowmaker, she won't judge me? Like at all?" The very moment Pit mentioned Widowmaker, everyone in the living room became worried. Including Travis.
"Widowmaker? She's here for Bastille Day?" Travis asked Pit out of concern, dropping his invisible rope to the floor. Sora gasped and pointed at the otaku. "What did I say?"
"Travis spoke! He literally spoke!" Sora said to Sonic and Pit as he was pointing accusingly at a confused Travis, with Sonic and Pit both expressing their disappointment in their own different way. "He broke the mime code."
"Mime code? What the..." Travis was muffled by Sora, who went above and beyond to protect the mime code by covering the otaku's mouth. Travis struggled to break free as Sora had his arms wrapped around him.
"I just don't want to do anything stupid or insensitive on Bastille Day that would get me in trouble," Pit continued speaking to Sonic, as Widowmaker was the very last person that he - or anyone else - would want to tick off. It was a highly reasonable concern.
"I got it covered, man," Sonic assured Pit as he placed his hand on the angel's shoulder. Pit smiled at Sonic, knowing that he was in good hands, and Sonic smiled in return.
"Guys, help - this Mr. Mime is kicking my butt!" Little Mac shouted from afar, as some roughhousing sounds were heard along with several Mr. Mime cries. "HELP!"
Luigi was brought to the ballroom by Link and Zelda, to investigate for any signs of supernatural activity. Spying on Luigi while hiding behind a curtain was Dimentio.
"Nope, no ghost-a in sight," analyzed Luigi as he inspected every nook and cranny of the ballroom while wielding his Poltergust G-00 just in case. "Unless they're invisible."
"And you can see these invisible ghosts, right?" asked Link, certain that such a ghost was responsible for the ominous wind that occurred earlier. Luigi remained silent as he bit his bottom lip.
"Only if they're visible to the naked-a eye - which kinda defeats the purpose." As Link smacked his forehead, Luigi went over to inspect a curtain - the one that Dimentio was hiding behind.
"Ack!" fretted Dimentio as he temporarily vanished, just as Luigi checked behind the curtain drape. No signs of any unusual activity - although he did find something lying on the floor.
"Ah, there's my wallet!" Luigi picked up a wallet off the floor, checking inside to see it was left unbothered. "All those driving tickets I could've avoided." Luigi had his back turned, as Dimentio reappeared.
"Stay still, Luigi..." Dimentio quietly said, smiling evilly as he took out a green sprout. But it wasn't just any green sprout...it was a Floro Sprout!
After Falco experienced some misfortune with setting up the party streamers, Toon Link and Young Link hoped not to have something similar happen to them as he hung a banner. But as they were completing their task, the buddy cops accidentally tied themselves together with the rope.
"I've heard of the phrase 'getting in a tangle', but this is way too much on the nose," remarked Toon Link, as Cloud and Sans were looking on - and the latter was applauding for Toon Link in approval. "Sans, please, can we not..."
"At least you're making progress," Cloud said to the buddy cops, only to catch a dark corridor appear from the corner of his eye. The swordsman furrowed his brow as two members exited from the corridor, both wearing hoods over their heads.
"A little help would be appreciated," requested Young Link, as he wanted Cloud to untie him and Toon Link. But then Cloud took off. "Cloud, you're going the wrong way!"
Elsewhere outside, Lucario was on the grill cooking some burgers, hot dogs, and other kinds of meat. The aura Pokemon didn't intend to grill out on Bastille Day, but sadly he had no choice in the matter when it came to Master Hand.
Lucario: We've just celebrated the 4th of July, but Master Hand wanted me to grill some food just in case the guests can't handle the French cuisine. Apparently, he thinks that some folks might be lactose-intolerant. A simple quiche can't mess up anyone's stomach...can it?
"Hamburgers on Bastille Day?" Iggy Koopa furrowed his brow as he came over and watched Lucario doing his thing. Lucario was doing his thing half-heartedly, but he was at least showing a little effort.
"I'm making French onion burgers," Lucario explained to Iggy, who for some reason was laughing his butt off as he nearly fell on his back. "Nothing remotely funny about that."
"Onion burgers? Who would ever put onions on a burger?" Iggy continued to laugh away, as Lucario kept on doing his thing on the grill by flipping a burger patty.
"McDonald's put onions in their burgers, you know." Just like that, Iggy stopped laughing as the Koopaling looked oddly devastated. Iggy's mouth went agape in realization.
"My whole life continues to be a lie..." As Iggy had a thousand-mile stare, Lucario looked up from the grill and spotted two Organization XIII members sneak by - the same members that Cloud saw.
"Can you man the grill for me? I'm going to take five." Lucario handed the spatula to Iggy, entrusting the Koopaling with the burgers and whatnot as he departed. Iggy was confused as he rose up to his feet and stood over the grill.
"Okay, Iggy...you got this. No pressure. What could possibly go...ah...ah...ah...ACHOO!" Iggy let out a big sneeze, and he sneezed all over the food on the grill. The Kremling blushed in response to his big blunder.
Iggy: *shrugs his shoulders* Guess those onion burgers are all mine now.
"Yeah, Pit, that's the spirit!" Sonic said to the angel, who was waving a small French flag around like it was nobody's business. "Wave that flag like there's no tomorrow!"
"This would be more fun if the flag was much bigger," remarked Pit, feeling the French patriotism coursing through his veins. Only a few folks witnessed Pit waving the flag, such as Little Mac who was sitting in a folding chair with an ice pack to his head.
"What happened with you, boss?" Polar Bear asked Little Mac, as he was filling up a cooler with some soft drinks. Soft drinks that were based in France, of course.
"A Mr. Mime beat me up," Little Mac explained to Polar Bear, who just had to laugh as he inserted the last soft drinks before closing the cooler. "Oh, shut up, it hurts a lot more than it looks..."
"Where's Widowmaker?" asked Pit, believing that his extravagant flag-waving would be for naught without Widowmaker seeing it. "She has to see this!"
Sombra was currently at a different location, as the assassin was in the backyard. Samus followed Widowmaker to the back of the mansion, where she found Sombra and Reaper. The two Talon operatives didn't go up to the front, and for a certain reason that Sombra personally found silly.
"Reaper wants nothing to do with Bastille Day," Sombra explained to Samus and Widowmaker, as Reaper stood next to her with his arms folded. "Talk about being a party pooper!"
"I'm not a party pooper - I just hate holidays," asserted Reaper, who was feeling miserable as he missed being at the Talon base. "Cinco de Mayo included."
"Come on, you have to celebrate Bastille Day! Don't you want to support Widowmaker? You like Widowmaker, don't you?"
"Can't say that I have. No offense, Widowmaker." Because he seldom feared Widowmaker, Reaper had virtually no fear of any retaliation from the assassin.
"Aucun pris," Widowmaker responded in her native French tongue, as Samus caught the two hooded Organization XIII members walking near the shrubbery. Samus's bad-guy senses were tingling.
"I'll be right back," Samus said to the Talon operatives, forfeiting her duty of monitoring Widowmaker as she went through the shrubbery to do a little investigating. Hiding herself in the shrubbery, she saw the two Organization members gathered together.
"You can take off your hood now," one of the Organization members said to the other, before taking off his hood and revealing himself as Vexen. The other member took off his hood as well, and it appeared to be Demyx.
"Thank goodness, I could hardly breathe!" sighed a relieved Demyx, as Vexen looked at the fellow Organization member inquisitively with an eyebrow raised. "Don't look at me like that! You don't understand the struggle."
"I don't think that I'd want to...anyway, time to get down to business! That parallel universe machine those gentlemen are working on is obviously our top priority."
"Yeah, what's so special about it? What good would a parallel universe machine be? 'Ooh, look at me, I'm inside a different universe, I'm so special! Woo!'"
"You're in a different universe right now." Vexen plainly owned Demyx by speaking mere facts, as Demyx ended his act in a hurry. "That said, it is beyond imperative that this invention of theirs is completed."
"So what, are we betraying Dimentio? I mean, I never really cared for the guy to be honest with..." Demyx suddenly stopped speaking, as he cautiously looked around. "...please don't tell me that Dimentio heard that!"
"Two turncoats, huh?" whispered Samus, as she was watching the ongoing conversation; the bounty hunter soon heard the sound of rustling leaves, as she got some unexpected company.
"I appreciate it if you didn't run into me," Lucario said to Cloud as he and the swordsman were hiding in the shrubbery with Samus. Who was slightly lukewarm about no longer being alone.
"Not my fault that we're chasing after the same..." Cloud responded, only to later realize that Samus was in the shrubbery, with a plain look on her face. "...oh, hey Samus."
"Let's try and keep it down here," Samus said to Cloud and Lucario, although she didn't have to tell them that. Those two knew how to get with the program.
"Some dumb parallel machine or whatever is gonna stop Dimentio. I am so amazed..." Demyx said sarcastically, showing just how amazed he was as he rolled his eyes and did some jazz hands.
"Do not roll your eyes at me!" Vexen hissed at Demyx, as he was not the one to be mocked by his peers. "I am confident that this machine is what is necessary to put an end to this madness."
"Man, it sucks that I had to be dragged into this...I ought to stop slacking. So, what other dumb info do you wanna share?"
"I did some snooping around, and I heard E. Gadd mention a man by the name of Raiden. He is the man that they're attempting to rescue."
"Interesting development," Cloud quietly commented to Samus and Lucario, as the concept of Vexen and Demyx going against the grain had a lot of intrigue to it. Soon Cloud and company would later receive company, in the form of a certain assassin.
"Knew you didn't get far from us, Samus," Widowmaker said to the bounty hunter, who looked over her shoulder and was startled. In a rare moment of losing her cool, Samus fell out of the shrubbery and into the opening for Vexen and Demyx to notice her.
"The sooner this machine is completed, the faster that we..." Vexen said to Demyx, only to notice Samus lying on the ground with the corner of his eye.
"I, uh, I tripped," Samus said as she rose up to her feet, acting as if she had a nasty fall. Vexen hardly felt threatened by Samus, while Demyx on the other hand...
"She's spying on us!" Demyx pointed accusingly at Demyx, worried that Samus might whip out her Plasma Whip and whip him to oblivion. He was most deserving of a butt-whooping like that. "We're gonna it get for sure!"
"Quiet down, you ninny..." Vexen shushed Demyx as he put his hand over the Nobody's mouth, as Cloud and Lucario both appeared out from the shrubbery. "...it appears we have some eavesdroppers."
"And an assassin..." said Widowmaker as she revealed herself to Vexen and Demyx, her rifle gun pointed at the Nobodies. Demyx was shivering in fear, and Vexen could feel it too.
"Let's put the guns down, shall we?" Vexen said peacefully to Widomaker as he took his hand away from Demyx's mouth, allowing the Nobody to worry himself to death in peace. "I think there's a good explanation...we're not as bad as we appear to be."
Luigi did a full inspection of the ballroom and saw no signs of any paranormal activity. The green plumber used his Poltergust G-00 on several spots but found nothing out of the ordinary. During his inspection, he never found Dimentio - much to the jester's great delight.
"Thank you for the inspection," Link thanked Luigi, as he and Zelda met with the green plumber outside the ballroom while Dimentio was taking a peek. "We'll be sure to pay you later for your services."
"I'm getting paid?" Luigi gleamed, imaginary dollar signs in his eyes as Zelda gasped at Link and smacked the Hylian in his arm. "I'm looking for a sizable payday, nothing too shabby..."
"Nice going, Link," Zelda scolded her husband, who realized his mistake as he was now forced to hold his end of the bargain. Better pay Luigi now than be annoyed by him later.
Link: Whenever Mr. Game and Watch completes a task, I would tell him that he will get paid for it. It started off as a running gag, but the more I told him, the more he believed that I was being serious. Now Dark Pit's in on it, too - the guy apparently wants to be paid for doing the most menial stuff. Like I'd pay him $20 just for cleaning the living room windows... *pauses* ...that's how much I pay Mr. GW for cleaning the living room, as a whole.
"I can pay you in rupees," Link offered to Luigi as he took out his wallet, and handed Luigi five blue rupees. Luigi wasn't sold on his payment. "Take it or leave it..."
"Expecting a check-a in my living room soon," Luigi said to Link, accepting the blue rupees as he stuffed them in his pocket. The green plumber left departed, but not before winking at Link as a small "reminder".
"Before you ask, I'm not writing a check for you," Zelda informed Link, patting the Hylian on his back as she walked away and went back inside the ballroom. "That is your struggle to fight." Lips pursed, Link entered the ballroom stuck in a rock and a hard place.
As Luigi went down the hallway, Dimentio appeared and watched the green plumber doing his stroll. Dimentio held up his hand, as he was now empty-handed.
"The Floro Sprout has been planted!" Dimentio quietly announced as a dark corridor soon appeared in his midst. "Even better, Luigi didn't feel a thing. Everything is pushing up daisies!"
"I cannot wait to meet this Mr. L person that you speak of," an eavesdropping Master Xehanort said to Dimentio, startling him - a rarity for any jester who fancies surprises.
"Master Xehanort, you have startled me! Like a thunderstorm intruding upon a lovely afternoon picnic. Erm...did you want to chat?"
"Yes, but not for long. Two of my Organization members departed without me knowing, and I have tracked their scent to this very mansion."
"You and the Organization, such good scent-trackers! I'll never know how you do it!"
"Vexen and Demyx, those are the two that left. Should you ever see them, let me know; I promise to go easy on them once they return."
"As you wish, Master Xehanort! Since it's Bastille Day, I was wondering...do you have any surprises for the Smashers? Like a giant Heartless?"
"There is a Dream Eater that is fitting for the occasion...but alas, their kind have had some difficulty crossing over into this universe."
"What a shame. But since you're here...how would you like to do me a favor? I'd like for you to deliver a gift...to Mario? Just leave it at his house."
Master Hand would take the opportunity to see how the residents were coming along with the decorations outside, but he was busy. Busy learning how to speak French, courtesy of Isabelle. The giant hand remained in his room, as his language lesson continued.
"Tell me how to say 'cheese-eating surrender monkeys' in French," Master Hand requested to Isabelle, dying to use a term first used and popularized by a certain groundskeeper. No, not Mr. Game and Watch, silly - the one from The Simpsons.
"I can't teach you that, that's an ethnic slur!" objected Isabelle, who was steadily growing disappointed with Master Hand as the lesson wore on. Moments ago, Master Hand asked Isabelle to teach him a few French curse words.
"What if we replace the 'monkey' part with another word, will that make it less of a slur?" Before Isabelle could answer Master Hand's question, a knock was at the door as Peach came inside.
"Master Hand, visitors from the manor have arrived!" announced Peach, as the language lesson was now put on hold. The princess moved out of the way as Jak, Daxter, and Sly Cooper entered the room - interestingly, the manor residents brought in a man who was bound by rope and with a sack over his head.
"Happy Bastille Day, Master Hand!" Daxter greeted the giant hand, standing on Jak's shoulder smiling as he had his arms outstretched. Seconds later, Daxter whispered into Jak's ear, "Uh, is that insensitive to say?"
"No, it just sounds stupid," Jak whispered back, before focusing his attention on Master Hand as took the moment to clear his throat. "Good afternoon, Master Hand. We have a special delivery for you."
"Courtesy of the All-Star Manor," Sly added with a smile, as the bounded man with a sack over his head was noticeably tall and slender. Almost as if he was a basketball player.
"Is that who I think it is...my favorite athlete?" inquired Master Hand; he didn't think that his favorite athlete would make the trip to the mansion, what with the teleportation device still undergoing repair. Unless said athlete took a flight to Seattle or something.
"You guys shouldn't have - should have left him alone in Arizona," Isabelle said to the manor residents, who all looked noticeably afraid as they exchanged worried looks with one another. Did somebody goof up?
"He lives in Arizona?" Jak asked Sly, who didn't know either as he shrugged. A very precarious situation was brewing within Master Hand's room.
"Unveil one of those men..." commanded Master Hand, as Sly nervously went up to one of the bounded men. Delicately, Sly took off the sack, and to everyone's surprise...
...the man was revealed to be Wayne. Back at the mansion for another holiday get-together. And judging by the look on his face, Wayne was highly bemused.
"Uh...bonjour," the man greeted Master Hand and company, speaking with a pronounced French accent. It was the Bourgarel - the French Olympian who purchased ice cream from the Ice Climbers in episode 294.
Wayne: My holiday quota for the year is filled up - no more visits to the mansion for me. Two visits before the holidays are enough. But I gotta ask, though...how in the world did y'all find me here? Can't go anywhere these days...
Bourgarel: So there I was at the gym, getting ready for the basketball World Cup, when the lights went out. Then those jokers barged in tied my hands together, put a sack over my head, and took me with them. They literally kidnapped a tall guy, and nobody stopped them! The way they did it makes me believe that they have done it before...something unsettling to think about.
"Eh, he's not my cup of tea, but he'll do," remarked Master Hand, as Sly unbounded Bourgarel by untying the rope that held him together. "Make sure he doesn't touch any microphones. And give him a covid test while you're at it."
"What microphones even are there to touch?" questioned Bourgarel, frowning as he looked at Sly and pointed at Master Hand with great contempt. "Was he mocking me just now?" A second later, Bourgarel coughed, causing Master Hand to shriek.
"He just coughed! He must have the virus. Jak, Sly, quickly - take that infected man out of the mansion and take him back where he belongs!"
"Whatever makes you happy, Mr. Overreaction," responded Sly as he took Bourgarel's hands and put them behind his back, about to escort the basketball player out of the room.
"I don't have the coronavirus - it was a simple cough," "Bourgarel pleaded his case, as he was escorted out of the room by Jak and Sly like a wanted criminal. "Men, hear me out!"
"We've been told by Polygon Man to appease Master Hand, no matter what," stated Jak as he took Bouragrel away, leading him down the hallway. "You did this to yourself, pal."
"I did nothing, I'm innocent! Let me go!" With Bourgarel now out of his sight, Master Hand let out a huge sigh of relief.
"Amazing that you didn't call it 'The-Virus-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named,'" Isabelle said to Master Hand, giving him credit for not giving the coronavirus an interesting moniker.
"Took me a year to grow out of that phase," admitted Master Hand, who remained uneasy even after Bourgarel left. "Although part of me is still paranoid..."
One moment, Vexen and Demyx were having a private conversation. Now the two members of Organization XIII were speaking with not only Cloud, Lucario, and Samus, but Widowmaker, Reaper, and Sombra as well.
"So what you're saying is, you're not really evil," Lucario said to Vexen, who had explained his reasoning for joining the Organization. A reasoning that went beyond making replicas.
"I returned to the Organization as a way for me to atone for my past mistakes," explained Vexen, who if you might recall was a reserve Organization member along with Demyx. "Aiding Master Xehanort in his ultimate goal was never my true intention.
"What about him?" asked Samus as she pointed at Demyx, who knew what the bounty hunter was hinting at as he frowned. "Did they add Demyx to fill out the ranks? Or were they desperate?"
"No, and NO!" an offended Demyx yelled at Samus, with his hands on his hips to show how insulted he was. "Master Xehanort let me in the Organization because of my legacy. I have ties to the Keyblade War.
"He must be very senile if he thought that," muttered Cloud, making Demyx even more offended; Demyx pointed at Cloud, about to make a statement, but was fuming so much that he lost his point.
"If you're not as evil as you seem...then what is your goal?" Widowmaker asked Vexen and Demyx, although her question was more for Vexen since she didn't find Demyx competent enough.
"Our goal is to yield a positive result at any cost," replied Vexen, knowing fully well that he would have to get his hands dirty to get the job done. "To leave this universe in one piece."
"That must mean you're going up against Dimentio," inferred Samus, as Vexen momentarily mused to himself with his hand placed underneath his chin.
"Doing so will put us in bad standing with Xehanort, but it doesn't matter to me that much. My replica program was my impetus for rejoining."
Vexen: E. Gadd's machine didn't pique my interest until I did some "recon" work last week. I firmly believed that in order to set things right, I would have to collaborate with like-minded individuals. I am in no mood for holding Demyx's hand.
"Hiding from everyone, Widowmaker?" Moira asked the assassin, as she and Doomfist showed up in the backyard. Cloud and company almost tensed up.
"We were just chatting with Reaper's family," Sombra explained to Moira in a joking manner, causing Reaper to seethe. Just the reaction she wanted.
"Organization XIII is not my family," Reaper growled at Sombra, ready to snap if either Moira laughed in response. Instead, Moira was taking a gander at Vexen and Demyx.
"I have never once interacted with the Organization before," Moira said to Vexen and Demyx, making a first for the geneticist. "All I have heard about you were anecdotes."
"Our infamy knows no bounds," responded Vexen, speaking on behalf of Organization XIII - the very organization he had no allegiance to. "That said, not all of us are rotten to the core..."
"I can presume that you have decided to leave the group, yes?"
"Perhaps not officially, but...my heart is in the right place."
"These two are interested in a machine that Professor E. Gadd is building," Widowmaker explained to Moira, whose interest in the rogue Organization members further increased. "Well, only one of them is interested..."
"Were you taking a shot at me just now?" Demyx questioned Widowmaker, who proceeded to backhand the Nobody. Demyx had it coming to him.
"It's a machine that can either tip the scale...or change the tide," explained Vexen, who was hoping that the machine would perform the latter scenario. "It's a parallel universe machine!"
"The purpose of the machine is to rescue Raiden from the Twilight Realm," Cloud explained to Moira and Doomfist, wondering how bad Raiden had it in his prison of Twilight. "They did speak of him as the X-factor in stopping the bad guys."
"In that case, may I be a part of this project?" inquired Moira, who had plenty of experience under her belt. Only this time, however, Moira won't feel terribly immoral - not that it mattered to her.
"All you have to do is ask." Should be simple enough for Moira - unless E. Gadd or any one of his ilk was a sexist. Wily was the likeliest candidate.
With the preparations both inside and outside the mansion done, the folks at Omnis Adest were now free to attend the Bastille Day festivities. No one was more excited about Bastille Day than Gex, who was dressed up as a stereotypical Frenchman.
"The atmosphere is very magnifique - like a house party at Celine Dion's house," commented Gex as he soaked in all the sights and sounds, but mainly the sights. He would walk past Bowser Jr. and Iggy, with Bowser Jr. looking at his Koopaling brother with his brow furrowed.
"Isn't Celine Dion Canadian?" Bowser Jr. asked Iggy, who was scarfing down the onion burgers that he sneezed on earlier. A good chance that he was tasting his own mucus. "Also, aren't those burgers for the guests?"
"I mean, they were," replied Iggy, stuffing the burgers in his imaginary pockets before walking off. Once he got far enough from Bowser Jr, Iggy took out his onion burger and resumed eating.
"Help! This Mr. Mime is still beating me up!" Little Mac cried for help, as the Mr. Mime he was wrangling with earlier gave him a Zen Headbutt. Doc Louis was in no position to save his protege, for he was too busy delighting himself with some French chocolate.
"You got this in the bag, Mac!" Doc Louis said to Little Mac, before staring at a small piece of French chocolate in his hand. "Think I'll name you Camilla," Doc said lovingly to the French chocolate - seconds before swallowing it whole.
"Mr. Mimes are special attackers, you doofus," Red the Pokemon Trainer said to Little Mac, who continued to get his butt handed to him by Mr. Mime. Red hanging around with Leaf as they were watching a mime performance from Travis.
"How much dignity do you think Travis is losing from doing this?" Leaf asked Red, as Travis was making invisible walls; when that didn't work, Travis pulled some imaginary rope instead.
"That would imply that Travis had dignity, to begin with." Red made a whimsical smirk as he made his comment, as Travis paused his performance and glared at the Pokemon trainer.
"No, Barbara, it's too early for fireworks!" Rayman shouted at Barbara, who ran out of the mansion with the largest firework she could handle. Barbara, not heeding Rayman's warning, placed the firework on the ground as she took out a lighter.
"It's never too late for fireworks. Let me have my fun!" responded Barbara, lighting the firework as she placed her lighter underneath it to light the fuse. Smiling mischievously, Barbara turned around and cowered with her hands over her ears.
"If you somehow damage the mansion, you better not put all the blame on me this time!" Rayman could only watch as the firework was fired, flying into the air and flying around like a rocket.
Then suddenly, the firework struck something invisible, as it ran out of juice and crashed onto the ground. Everyone looked at the fireworks dud, wondering what happened.
"Was that part of the show?" inquired Shulk, believing that an invisible force had stopped the firework in its track. Then, in an instant, a Death Egg appeared, making itself visible to everybody outside.
"How predictable..." muttered Sephiroth, as the mustache visage on the Death Egg could only mean one thing - Dr. Eggman had arrived! The hatch of the Death Egg opened, revealing Eggman standing on a platform with Magolor, Orbot, and Cubot.
"Bonjour!" Eggman greeted as he stretched his arms out wide, his French accent strangely being on point. "Hope you all enjoyed that new invisibility feature I added to my Death Egg."
"Hard to enjoy it if we didn't know what it was in the first place," remarked Alph drawing the ire of Eggman as he made the mad scientist growl angrily. Eggman threw a wrench at Alph, nailing the astronaut in the head and almost cracking his helmet.
"Oh no, you guys! It's Magolor!" exclaimed Pit, who was on high alert when he saw Magolor as he stopped his flag waving. "We have to..." Before Pit could make his first step, Mario came over and put his hand on the angel.
"He's with the good-a guys now...let him be," Mario informed Pit, who was forced to stand down as he remained in place. Pit still had an uneasy feeling in his gut.
Pit: What Mario said to me didn't make any sense. How could Magolor possibly be a good guy if he's with Dr. Eggman, a literal villain? Everything is so backward these days, my brain can't keep up!
"Did you really have to paint your...Death Egg with the colors of the French flag?" Dante asked Eggman, who had his Death Egg decked out in the colors of blue, white, and red. The paint was chipping off, but Eggman didn't care.
"Well, duh! How else am I supposed to make a grand entrance?" retorted Eggman, who had a flair for theatrics if any of his past entrances to the mansion were any solid indication.
"Look at me, I'm a musketeer!" exclaimed Cubot, dressed as a musketeer as he was striking the air in front of him with his sword. Almost poked out Orbot's eye, despite the fact that Orbot was standing at his side.
"You do know that musketeers were from a different era, right?" Orbot asked Cubot, who stopped his sword display as he looked at his robot companion refusing to be corrected.
"Details, Orbot. Details. Sounds like someone needs to re-learn their history!" On that note, Cubot resumed his display of poor swordsmanship, as Orbot facepalmed.
Master Hand was finishing up his French lesson with Isabelle, and Link and Zelda stopped by Master Hand's room to confirm that the ballroom was decked out. Standing at the doorway, Link and Zelda saw Master Hand and Isabelle together at the window.
"See? Magolor is working for Dr. Eggman now," Isabelle said to Master Hand, as Cubot showed off his swordsmanship until he fell off the Death Egg platform.
"So Mario wasn't pulling my tail?" said Master Hand; Mario had told everyone about Magolor's affiliation with Eggman, and Master Hand thought that the plumber was joking. As for Pit, who knew what was the case with him.
"Nope! The partnership is totally legit. Makes a lot of sense when you think about it."
"Well, Eggman does like keeping dead weight under his rule...Magolor won't be any different."
"Would be amusing if Magolor proved Master Hand wrong," Zelda said to Link, sensing some potential in the Eggman-Magolor partnership.
"I'd pay good money to see that - if I wasn't tied up with Mr. Game and Watch," responded Link, as Dimentio hovered down from up above and leaned in close to Link's ear.
"Check Mario's home..." Dimentio whispered into Link's ear, delivering this message before teleporting away. Link furrowed his brow as he looked around for the voice that was whispering to him.
"Something the matter?" Zelda asked Link, who was looking in every direction before eventually coming to a stop.
"Nothing - thought that was Midna spooking me," replied Link, digging his index finger into his right ear. The message that Dimentio whispered was likely lingering in the back of Link's mind.
Master Xehanort: The deed has been done - the "gift" has been delivered to the right address. What is that gift, you ask? You'll just have to wait and see...patience, my children.
Once it was dark enough, the fireworks show at the mansion commenced. Widowmaker stood next to Samus, both watching the sky as members of the Yiga clan fire colorful fireworks. Many "oohs" and "aahs" resounded during the show.
"Enjoying the show?" Samus asked Widowmaker, left surprised at how the assassin was soaking everything in. In fact, Widowmaker looked...tranquil, even.
"The sky...it is a canvas for both beauty and destruction," replied Widowmaker, enthralled by the fireworks as she couldn't keep her eyes off of them. "These fireworks are a gentle reminder of life's fleeting moments."
"That's...much deeper than I expected." Samus was taken aback by Widowmaker's words of wisdom, as Widowmaker turned to the bounty hunter with an almost friendly smirk. A smirk that, rarely for Widowmaker, was nearly absent of malice.
"Do not be so surprised, Samus. Every little thing has layers, and every person. Even me - I am no mere exception."
"Okay, you're starting to creep me out now..." Samus took a few inches away from Widowmaker, who lost the smirk as she went back to watching the fireworks show. Little did Widowmaker know that someone was watching her...three individuals, to be exact. Mario, Link, and Master Hand.
"She's kind of fitting in...I'm shocked," Link said to Mario and Master Hand, astonished that Widowmaker hadn't shown any signs of killing a single soul today. One might consider it a momentous occasion.
"I know, right? Never thought I'd-a see the day," responded Mario, having taken note of Widowmaker's tranquility; the assassin's behavior was far removed from how she acted in her Smash Life debut.
"Perhaps we misjudged her," remarked Master Hand, as Moira walked past Master Hand and company smiling to herself while holding a glass of wine. She would join Doomfist, who was also holding a glass of wine.
"Today has been a rousing success," Moira said to Doomfist, who grinned in vindication as he took a sip of his wine. "You were right to bring Widowmaker along, Akande."
"All in the name of Talon further gaining the mansion's trust," responded Doomfist, before looking around the corner and seeing Vexen. Moira also saw Vexen and assumed that the Nobody was leaving as he walked to who-knows-where.
"Leaving so soon?" Moira caught up to Vexen with her Fade ability, and her sudden appearance caught Vexen off-guard. "Thought you would've stayed."
"I can't stay much longer!" Vexen said to Moira, before looking past the geneticist to see if anyone was spying on his private conversation. The only person that he made out was Doomfist. "My heart might be in the right place, but due to my affiliation with..."
"No need to say anymore. I fully understand. Will we be able to keep in touch?"
"I would love to; I'll be back in this city, but only to see how E. Gadd is progressing with his machine. I'd love to see it be completed."
"Then our paths may cross again in the future. And who knows...maybe I'll be invited to the building of this machine."
"I surmise that you'll recommend me being added to the team - if they're fine with having me on board, that is."
"Rather you than that giant oaf that you chose to work with." Moira would share a laugh with Vexen, as her conversation with the Nobody drew to a close. "Hope to see you again, Vexen."
"Likewise..." Vexen summoned a dark corridor, as he looked to return to his destination. "...if anyone asks, there was no trace of Organization XIII, at all."
"You have my word." Moira watched as Vexen went through the dark corridor, with the corridor vanishing a moment later. Doomfist joined Moira, never having the chance to bid Vexen farewell.
"Who could've ever guessed that there was a good guy in the Organization XIII..." remarked Doomfist as he folded his arms, while Moira looked at the cyborg baffled.
"Stop acting as if you've interacted with them before. You're just like me - you've only heard stories." Moira left Doomfist, as she went to go get a refill.
"...I stand corrected." Considering Moira's point, Doomfist shrugged as he took a giant sip of his wine.
With Vexen looking to set things right, and Demyx under his tow, Organization XIII - and Dimentio - had a potential mutiny on their hands.