Author's Note:
Well, this is a first...a new chapter published on Christmas morning! As I've said before, I wasn't going to do a year-end chapter (since I didn't want to kill myself writing a bunch), and yet this chapter felt like a year-ender oddly enough. Probably because of the characters I've brought back. But it was a miracle that I got this done since I was writing this chapter in conjunction with chapter 404 (one of the longest chapters in this story). Wanted to add a little story development in this one, but that'll have to wait another time. I wish I could say much more in this author's note, but I hope you all enjoy this little number I put together. And most importantly...Merry Christmas, everyone!
Episode 405: Concert
For the first time in a handful of months, Dimentio cracked up an evil plan...or at least he was trying to. The jester, allured by a "hidden treasure" that was in the depths of Paldea, yearned to use this treasure to announce his return to the mansion. Essentially let them know that he was back, and badder than ever.
But first, he needed a catalyst to find this treasure - and Ansem and Xemnas secured a perfect one in Kieran. They revealed to Kieran that Ogerpon - a Pokemon that Kieran adored - chose to be with Mario and Carmine over him simply because he wasn't strong enough. Fueled by his desire to be strong, Kieran followed Ansem and Xemnas to Paldea's Area Zero, where he would awaken the hidden treasure...the legendary Pokemon known as Terapogos.
Thanks to a climatic Pokemon battle, Terapogos was saved from the clutches of Organization XIII. Most importantly, Kieran relented after seeing that he was tricked by the Organization just to fulfill Dimentio's needs. You best believe that Dimentio was no happy camper when Ansem and Xemnas both returned from Paldea empty-handed.
Kieran, now more confident in himself (as evidenced by his hair being kept up), got to experience the one he missed out on - hanging out with Ogerpon. Mario was revealed to have caught Ogerpon during his time at Kitikami Village, and he stopped by Omnis Adest to let Kieran (and several others) play with the mask Pokemon.
"Hey you two, stop hogging Ogerpon!" Kieran called out to Geno and Mallow, who were hanging out with the ever-jovial Ogerpon. Ogerpon seemed to enjoy Geno and Mallow's presence. "She's all mine."
"She's the one hogging us," stated Geno, as wherever he and Mallow went, Ogerpon would follow with a smile on her face. Even when Geno tried to distance himself, Ogerpon followed. "Ogerpon, stop!"
"Yes, Ogerpon, cut it out! It's me that you want!" As Kieran chased after Ogerpon, Mario looked on along with Nemona, Arven, Penny, and the students from Blueberry Academy. Among the Blueberry students, only Lacey was missing.
"...so yeah, this is why we had to keep it a secret from him," Carmine explained to Mario and the others, watching as Kieran chased after Ogerpon like a desperate boyfriend chasing after his ex. "He thinks he's entitled."
"That's little brothers for ya," remarked Mario, as Kieran finally caught up to Ogerpon. A relieved Geno backed away for good measure. "Luigi was the same-a way growing up."
"Bet Luigi wasn't clingy when he was a kid," said Drayton, folding his arms as Kieran gave Ogerpon a big, fat hug. Mallow wanted to join in for a group hug, his arms outstretched, but Kieran pushed him away.
"Fine, I'll just wait my turn," said Mallow as he put his arms down, backing away from Kieran and Ogerpon without much of a fuss.
Geno: Kieran acts very creepy about Ogerpon. Always talked about how he was destined to be her friend, all because he heard a folk tale about her in his village. He hates it when Ogerpon chooses to hang out with somebody else over him. Why do I feel like he's gonna grow up to be an incel?
"After Kieran is done rizzing up Ogerpon, we'll meet at the park for some lunch," Arven said to his fellow Pokemon trainers, his word choice making his friends stare at him dubiously. "My holiday sandwiches are gonna put a yum in your..."
"I'm sorry, did you say...rizz?" Penny questioned Arven, as a disturbing mental image was forming in her mind. "You do know Ogerpon is a Pokemon, right?"
"So? Doesn't mean a thing. Heck, I rizz up Mabosstiff every day, and he loves it!" Arven was confident of the fact, hands on his hips as Mario and the others continued to judge him.
"Bet you he doesn't know what 'rizz' means," Crispin whispered to Mario, as he and the plumber quietly laughed. Looking around, Amarys saw Lacey sitting nearby, sitting alone on a fountain.
"I surmise that your current disposition is of a depressed one," Amarys came over to chat with Lacey, who appeared to be down in the dumps. "What is the matter weighing on your mind?"
"Oh, I'm not sad or anything, it's just...this place is missing something," replied Lacey, resting her right cheek in the palm of her hand. "Like there's not enough holiday cheer."
"We have a Christmas tree situated in the main square of this community. How much more holiday cheer is required?" Amarys's conversation with Lacey accrued the attention of Mario, who came over to eavesdrop.
"A giant Christmas tree can only do so much! We need to go up and beyond, and so something big. Like, I dunno, a holiday festival." A holiday festival certainly got the gears turning in Mario's head.
"A holiday festival, you say?" Mario said to Lacey as he scratched his chin in thought, taking logistics into account as he brainstormed. "Well, this is Omnis Adest's first...and presumably only Christmas..."
"Exactly! The people here deserve a treat." Soon enough, the rest of the Pokemon trainers came over, joining in on the conversation.
"I'd hate to be nosy, but...what are we talking about?" asked Crispin, as Geno was quick to notice that the crowd of Pokemon trainers had moved to the fountain. Left him in a curious mood.
"Lacey wishes to conduct a holiday festival," replied Amarys as she turned stiffly to face Crispin, exhibiting the same posture that Steve and Alex exuded. For Steve and Alex, it was natural, but for Amarys...quite the opposite.
"Forget a festival! What if...we did a concert instead?" proposed Nemona, expecting the others to be fully behind her idea, but no one was willing to voice any word of agreement.
"With what musical act?" Penny questioned Nemona, with Geno looking off to the side as the gears were turning in his head. "Not like we can lure in a local act. Unless they're desperate."
"It doesn't have to be a local act," Geno spoke up, as Penny looked at the star as if he was out of his mind. "Perhaps we can go up and beyond."
"See? Geno gets it!" exclaimed Nemona, who was left disappointed that nobody else was feeling her concert idea. But at least Geno saw the potential, somewhat.
"Well, Geno? Did you have-a someone in mind?" asked Mario, amazed that Geno was open to having a concert at Omnis Adest - logistics be darned.
"No, but I just have a hunch," Geno replied with a shrug, as Nemona was growing more and more optimistic about her concert idea, almost to the point of near delusion. Talk about getting ahead of yourself.
"Then it's settled!" confirmed Nemona as she put her hands together - although nothing was really confirmed as of yet. "We're gonna do a holiday concert. Mario, Penny, Lacey, get the flyers out and spread the word!"
"Get the what now?" Penny furrowed her brow at Nemona, who was running high on unadulterated enthusiasm (as she usually was) as she looked to dole out more tasks.
"Geno, since you seem to have such an eye for talent, you and Arven will help procure the musical act. The concert will fall on your shoulders!"
"No fair, I wanted to do the flyers!" Arven complained as he folded his arms, coming off as awfully bitter. "So much for showing off my art skills..."
"What art skills? Weren't you failing Hassel's class at one point? Or did I get you mixed up with another student?"
"Got me mixed up with someone else...yeah, totally." Arven sheepishly smiled as he looked to the side - on the bright side, at least he had his culinary ability to hang his head on.
"What about the rest of us?" asked Drayton, as he and the rest of the Blueberry Academy students were left without a task. "I'd love nothing more than to make this crazy idea of yours a reality."
"You guys can be a part of the setup crew," replied Nemona, before taking off - showing little to no signs of slowing down anytime soon. "I know just the person to get us off on the right foot!"
"Nemona, wait..." Penny called out to the Pokemon trainer, who was too motivated by her deluded optimism to hear. Sighing deeply, Penny pinched the crown of her nose. "...why must she be this hyper?"
"So, like, do you actually have someone in mind?" Arven whispered to Geno, not wanting the concert to be a total disaster. Otherwise, there'd be a lot of egg on Nemona's face. "Or are you just gonna wish someone into existence?"
"We're gonna let things play out...for now," Geno replied with an assuring smile, leaving Arven with no choice but to trust the star. Geno seemed to have the right intentions in mind...
During Christmastime, it was a common tradition to reel in the athletes who showed up during Super Bowl week for the holiday fun. Now that the teleportation device was up and running again, the long-standing tradition could continue.
"And that should do it," Mega Man said after keying in the coordinates to the teleportation device. Fox and Falco, who were standing in the teleportation room, watched the device do its thing.
"They're getting front-row seats, no question," Falco said to Fox, and once the teleportation device was done, a man was standing on the teleportation pad. It was Kermit, already somewhat of a common fixture at the mansion.
"Welcome back! Happy holidays!" Fox greeted Kermit, only for his excitement to be quelled when he noticed only one man standing on the pad. "Huh, it's just you..."
"...I hate you guys so much," Kermit said to Fox and Falco with a smirk, before shaking his head at the pilots as he facepalmed. "I should have known..."
Kermit: So the teleportation thingamajig was broken for most of the year, and it wasn't fixed until just last week? How convenient...
"What's up," someone greeted Kermit, sitting on the floor playing cards with his homies. It was Alexander, and he was playing with Juan and Daniel. All three men first appeared at the mansion in episode 373, as you might recall.
"Aw man, they got you too, huh?" Kermit said to Alexander and company, elated to know that he had some familiar company. "Word of the wise - if you don't wanna end up here, just don't make it to the big game."
"We'll make sure to remember that," responded Juan, as he and the other men were joined by Master Hand. Master Hand magically appeared in the room, having sensed that the teleportation device was activated multiple times.
"Oh my goodness!" Master Hand gleamed when he saw the athletes that were gathered in his midst, with Alexander and his pals pausing their card game. "Mega Man, I didn't ask you to..."
"It's okay, Master Hand - Fox and Falco put me up to this," explained Mega Man, as Master Hand sighed in relief; ever since his conversation with Wayne on Arbor Day, Master Hand vowed not to bring high-profile folks to the mansion without their permission.
"Guess that explains why you fellas were gawking at me," Kermit said to Fox and Falco, as the former took out a flyer and handed it to Kermit. On the flyer was Steve, as the Nutcracker. "A Nutcracker Suite, huh?"
"And that Steve dude is the main character," stated Alexander, as he Juan, and Daniel were handed flyers about the Christmas musical upon arrival. "Perfect casting choice if you ask me."
"I'll say. Can't say that he'll deliver an Oscar-worthy performance, but hey, I'm down." Kermit stuffed the flyer in his pocket, as Fox and Falco celebrated with a high five as they had Kermit (potentially) on board.
"Promise you it'll be a great show!" Falco guaranteed Kermit, knowing that he and anybody else attending the musical wouldn't be disappointed. "But I gotta ask...where's your buddy?"
"Yeah man, where's my brother?" Daniel asked Kermit as he stood up off the floor; usually, Kermit would be brought to the mansion along with his main man, Michael, but Michael was nowhere to be found!
"Funny you should ask - he's on a date." Fearing that was the case, Daniel expressed his displeasure as he looked up at the heavens and grunted. "With his, uh, girlfriend."
"Oh, you don't say?" asked Fox, smiling as he rubbed his hands together. Like he was concocting a devious master plan. "Do you know where his date is taking place?"
"Told myself I wouldn't tell anyone, but..." Kermit tried to hold in his tongue, but Fox and Falco were looking at him with alluring eyes. "...you want his girlfriend in attendance, don't you?"
"Ah, taking a page out of my playbook, I see," Master Hand said to Fox, impressed by the master plan that the pilots were cooking up. "I have taught you boys well!"
"You never taught us a thing, but you do you, Master Hand," responded Fox, as Kermit got down to texting Michael - and hoping that his friend wouldn't be too upset with him.
Today was the big day - the Star Records Christmas musical was doing its first show. The musical was meant to be a treat not only for the mansion and tower folk but for the Omnis Adest folks as well. Anyone else was welcome to attend, as long as they were in the mansion's graces.
Preparations were underway at the lecture hall, as the Star Records talent were setting up the stage. Props were put in place, the stage lights were adjusted, and there was also...snow?
"Where is the snow coming from?" asked Ashley as she, Mamori, and Asuka were setting up a gingerbread house prop. They would find their answer, as they saw Orson operating a snow machine.
"Just testing things out for the show," Orson said to the Star Records talent, once again having to shout because of how loud the snow machine was. "I got plenty of hard cheese left over!"
"You can hold it off until later, this looks hard to clean up," Ribbon Girl called out to Orson, before frowning as she saw Knuckles on the stage floor licking up the snow. "Knuckles, stop! That is not sanitary!"
"But the snow, it's so tasty!" stated Knuckles, despite Ribbon Girl intensifying her frown as Knuckles showed no sign of stopping. "Why is it so addictive?!"
Knuckles: Always wanted to know what snow tastes like. Snow tastes... *crinkles his nose* ...very cheesy? That changes...that changes my perspective completely.
"Everything's looking good so far," Itsuki said to the Star Records talent, surveying the progress being made as Dorothea walked onto the stage holding her throat. Uh oh, that's not good...
"Itsuki, do you have any throat lozenges I can use?" Dorothea asked the young man, her voice wheezing as she felt a deep pain in her throat. "This strep throat's killing me..."
"Tsubasa has some in her jacket pocket, it's on the second row." So Dorothea walked down from the stage to retrieve Tsubasa's jacket, and a moment later Itsuki's eyes grew wide with worry. "Please tell me that wasn't Dorothea..."
Until the musical started, Cloud was free to not be Santa Claus...or so he thought. Thanks to some convincing from Aerith and Tifa, the swordsman was stuck going around the mansion, spreading holiday cheer and all that jazz. It was more or less a dare, but Aerith wanted her man to embrace being Santa Claus.
"Ho, ho, ho, Merry Christmas...or whatever," said the deadpan Cloud as he entered the arcade. Rindo and Fret of the Wicked Twisters were inside the arcade, playing an arcade game until they saw Cloud.
"Uh oh, here comes Skinny Saint Nick!" Fret joked when he first saw Cloud, as he paused his game; Rindo took sight of Cloud dressed up as Santa, trying to hold in a smile.
"Sure drank a lot of SlimFast this year, Santa," Rindo said to Cloud, who ignored the Wicked Twisters leader as he half-heartedly rang his bell. He passed by Sans, who had a perfect holiday pun to tell.
"aw, chin up, cloud," Sans encouraged the swordsman, getting into the holiday spirit as he ate some cheap Christmas candy. "christmas is always a claus for celebration."
"...that's it, I'm outta here," muttered Cloud, his work finished in the arcade as he left. He planned on avoiding Sans today, but so much for that.
When Cloud stepped out of the arcade, he encountered a sight that had him greatly befuddled. Just down the hallway was his arch-nemesis, Sephiroth...who was dressed up as Santa Claus! Well, he was just wearing a Santa hat, but the fact alone that Sephiroth was even wearing one was remarkable.
"Yay! A new bottle of hair lotion!" Wendy Koopa squealed with joy when Sephiroth gifted her a battle of hair lotion, as a puzzled Cloud looked on. "The last one I had got stolen, so thanks!"
"Merry Christmas, sweet Wendy," Sephiroth smiled at Wendy, patting the Koopaling on her head before carrying on down the hallway with his sack of goodies. He passed by Cloud, who was mean-mugging.
"So much for you spreading despair," Cloud said to Sephiroth, as the two had a tense moment; Sephiroth stopped in place just so he could stare at Cloud, and attempt to get under his skin.
"Just trying to prove that I can be a much better Santa than you'll ever be." Done staring at Cloud, Sephiroth pressed on forward as he gave Cloud a slight wave of his hand. "May the best Santa prevail..."
King Dedede was still in a relationship with I-No...and he hated it with every fiber of his being. Thanks to the buddy cops, Dedede was convinced that I-No was a street rat and that she deserved no man. He had yet to see his girlfriend during the holidays and he was enjoying it, basking it all in while he played online slots in the computer room.
"Mama Mia! You sure are good-a at this flyer program thing," Mario complimented Penny, who was making a concert flyer on the computer while Mario and Lacey stood over her shoulder. Penny frowned and looked at Mario, aghast at the plumber's ignorance.
"This is Microsoft Publisher..." Penny informed Mario, who looked at the program that Penny was using and saw the Publisher logo. Not a very good look for the plumber.
"My version of Publisher must-a be outdated. My bad." Mario took an L, as Penny shook her head at the plumber and resumed her work. Meanwhile, King Dedede sitting a row behind Penny was playing online slots and making it look easy.
"Oh, Dedede, I'm back!" a voice called out to King Dedede from down the hallway, and Dedede recognized it as I-No's voice. Gasping in fear, the fat penguin panicked as he logged out of the computer.
"Hide me, hide me..." King Dedede said to Mario and company as he hid underneath the table, his fat posterior sticking out for the whole world to see. The fat penguin was left ignored, as Penny put on the finishing touches on the flyer.
"Flyer looks good to go," confirmed Penny as she went ahead and clicked the "Print" option from the drop-down menu. "Lacey, can you and Mario pick up the copies?"
"Of course!" replied Lacey, as she and Mario both exited the computer room...only to later run into King Dedede's girlfriend, I-No. Amazingly, this was I-No's first time seeing Mario in person.
"They were right...you are a midget," I-No crinkled her nose at Mario, who furrowed his brow in confusion. Mario looked up at Lacey and pointed at her.
"You think that she's a midget?" Mario asked I-No, knowing for a fact that she wasn't talking about him. He'd hate to throw hands with another woman, but if the moment called for it...
"Think they also said you were a funny guy, too. To think that I ever doubted them! Anyway, do you lovelies know where I can find my man King Dedede?"
"He's in that room over there," replied Lacey as she gestured to the nearby computer room; King Dedede was gonna tear Lacey a new one later. "You have fun with him!"
"Trust me, I'll have plenty of fun with Dedede..." Smiling seductively, I-No strutted her way into the computer room as Mario and Lacey walked down the hallway. Moments later, I-No came out of the computer room dragging King Dedede across the floor.
"HELP, HELP ME!" King Dedede called out for help, while Mario and Lacey tuned him out. Chrom and Captain Falcon passed by Mario and Lacey, watching as King Dedede was dragged away.
I-No: No, nobody had ever told me about the musical that was going on today. King Dedede never told me a thing! But no worries, once I'm through with him he'll tell me every little secret of his...and then some. *smiles*
"Isn't that special, Chrom?" Captain Falcon asked the prince, smiling from ear to ear whereas Chrom was more inclined to vomit in his mouth. "I-No is bossing Dedede around! Giving him the Mami treatment!"
"Didn't know there was such a thing as a Mami treatment..." replied Chrom, as the disturbing image of King Dedede and I-No being romantically linked was replaced by an unsettling thought. "...wait! What if I-No's a double agent?"
"I-No, a double agent? That'd be something. I mean, she's got her hands full as a musician..."
"Are are listening to what I'm saying? She's a double agent, as in...she might be working in secret for Dimentio."
"Ooh...now I'm listening. That would explain why she's still seeing Dedede. But why do you think that?"
"Remember that list? The list that had those eight Smashers' names on it? Guess who's on there..."
"King Dedede..." uttered Captain Falcon, who then gasped as he looked at Chrom out of shock. It was making sense to him. "...we gotta stop I-No, and fast!"
"Slow your roll, captain - we can't intervene just yet. Let's just spy on her for now and see if my suspicions hold correct."
Even though his plans of capturing Terapagos were thwarted, Dimentio still desired to get his dirty hands on the Tera Pokemon. So he had one his goons do his dirty work for him. A dark corridor appeared, with Vanitas stepping out.
"Dimentio must be dead-set on getting this Pokemon," said Vanitas as he took out a drawing of Terapagos, which Dimentio likely did purely from scratch. "Don't worry, Dimentio...it'll be all yours soon..."
Dimentio: I got to see Terapagos up close, and he was assuredly strong. Strong enough to even break a Master Ball! Such power cannot be utilized simply for a return trip...which is why I need the Terapagos for my revenge tour! Giovanni said that he would be a fine asset for the coalition, and what an asset to have...
Putting the picture away, Vanitas ventured to the mansion to scope things out. When he arrived at the mansion, he ducked behind a tree when he encountered two Talon members - Sombra and Reaper.
"I hate that you and Samus are still tight with each other," Reaper lamented to Sombra, hating the fact that he was back at the mansion. He'd much rather be dead than be in Seattle for the holidays.
"And I hate the fact that you're always a grinch during the season...and all the other seasons," retorted Sombra, as Sonic exited the mansion and came down the porch steps. "Hola, Sonic! Feliz Navidad!"
"Uh, buenos holidays!" Sonic greeted Sombra with his broken Spanish, ready for a little show-and-tell as he took out a Poke Ball. "Wanna see the new Pokemon I caught?"
"Sure, lay it on us." So lay on them Sonic did, as he sent out Terapagos. Vanitas kept a close eye on Terapagos, certain that it was the one.
"...I have seen enough," commented Reaper, clearly not caring much for Terapagos as he tried to walk away. But then Sombra grabbed his arm, restricting his movement.
"But Reaper, it's a cute little turtle!" squealed Sombra, kneeling on the ground to get a closer look at Terapagos. Reaper was so disgusted. "Don't tell me you're that dead inside."
"I'm glad that you finally noticed. And you can't get me to like that Pokemon, I couldn't care less about that...thing." Reaper trailed off when he saw Vanitas, who was poking his head from the side of the tree.
"Terapagos is no 'thing'...it's a legendary Pokemon!" defended Sonic, who was quick to notice that Reaper was hardly listening to him. "Are you even listening to me, man?"
"Yeah, yeah...might've seen a ghost." Reaper looked at the tree one more time, before looking back at Terapagos - and seeing the Tera Pokemon shift into its Stellar Form. "Is it trying to make me like it or something?"
Until the Nutcracker musical started, the athletes were free to hang out at the mansion (or the tower...or at Omnis Adest) and do as they pleased. Opting to stay at the tower, Alexander and Juan went to Cafe Leblanc, where they would play card games with Pit, Kirby, and two gents from Omnis Adest - Louie and Alear.
"Um, dude? He's eating your cards again," Pit, alerted Alexander, pointing accusingly at Louie who was eating the playing cards as if they were potato chips. Alexander got incensed in a hurry.
"C'mon man, I spent good money on those!" frowned Alexander, trying to salvage his cards as he and Juan both apprehended Louie. They got the astronaut to spit some cards out.
"If you spent good money on those cards, then how come they don't taste good?" questioned Louie, as he was not a fan...yet he still insisted on eating them. Must be horrible to have such minimal self-control.
"If he's going to keep doing this, then I might as well forfeit the game," said Alear, having enough of Louie's shenanigans as he left from the table. Taking advantage of Alear's exit, Pit scooped up the divine dragon's cards.
"Pit you can't just do that, it's against the rules!" Kirby stressed to the angel, who didn't care as he added Alear's cards to his deck. Pit's chances of winning, at least in the angel's mind, had dramatically increased.
"Finder's keepers," responded Pit, looking through his new deck of cards as he was satisfied with his fill. Joker glanced over at the table that Pit and Kirby were sitting at, frowning when he saw his co-workers.
"Who said that you two were on lunch break?" Joker called out to Pit and Kirby, who both put their cards down as they quickly returned to their post behind the counter. Sitting at the counter was Kermit, still trying to get in touch with Michael.
"Any luck yet?" Daniel asked Kermit, sitting next to him at the counter hoping to hear a response from his brother soon. Kermit shook his head, as another call to Michael went straight to voicemail.
"Nope - and he hasn't responded to my texts either," replied Kermit, forced to put his phone away and choosing to give another go at contacting Michael at a later time. "You'd think he would check his phone at least once."
"Sorry sir, but can you hurry up and eat that ice cream?" Pit stressed to Daniel, appearing nervous as he cautiously looked at the cafe entrance. "Popo would not like it if his ice cream goes to waste..."
Cloud was going around as Santa spreading holiday cheer (albeit not by choice), as his next stop was the gaming room. There was already a Santa there, in Doc Louis, and Doc Louis was doing his usual Santa thing.
"Aren't you a bit too old to be sitting on Santa's lap?" Doc Louis questioned the person sitting on his lap, Zeke, who was hogging the boxing trainer from everyone else. "Not to mention that you're too heavy!"
"You can never be too old for Santa Claus!" proclaimed Zeke as he somehow butchered Santa Claus's name - surely a certain tall skeleton could forgive Zeke for his blunder. "Also, I'm a child a heart!"
"A very heavy child! Get off me!" Doc Louis shook Zeke off of him, causing the crown prince to land on the floor with a thud. Gasping, Zeke got up and pointed at Doc Louis.
"Did you all see that?! Santa Claus was being aggressive!" Zeke tried to accrue everyone's attention in the gaming room, but his accusation hardly got anyone to bat an eye. "Not very Santa-like!"
Zeke: What do I want for Christmas? Easy - I want a new eyepatch! *points at his eyepatch* Only because I'm too broke to buy a new one for myself. Why am I still poor, you might ask? Beats me - but maybe Santa Claus will put some quarters under my pillow so I can be financially stable! Everybody knows I've been such a good boy this year...
Nia: *shakes her head at the camera, frowning*
"Cloud! Whatcha doin' dressed up as Santa Claus?" Doc Louis questioned Cloud, as he saw the swordsman drawing near. One might assume that Doc was looking to throw some hands, but they'd be wrong to think that.
"Relax, Doc, I'm not here to steal your shine," assured Cloud, not interested in starting a potential Santa controversy. He knew very well how the last one turned out in 2021. "I'm playing Santa Claus in the Nutcracker musical, remember?"
"Yeah, Aerith told me! That girl can make you do anything she tells you to, huh? If she asked you to jump to the moon, you'd probably do it in a heartbeat!"
"Erm, thank you for the sleep pillow," Robin thanked Sephiroth, who had given the mage a sleep pillow - amusingly fitting given that Robin became tired more often because of his hypothyroidism. "That is...awfully kind of you."
"Told you that I don't always bring about despair," responded Sephiroth, as Robin sat on a nearby couch to test out his new sleep pillow. Moving on from Robin, Sephiroth soon came across Cloud chatting with Doc Louis.
"To be honest with you, I'm not feeling the Christmas musical," Cloud confessed to Doc Louis, as he scratched the side of his face. He found his Santa beard to be very itchy.
"But Aerith said that you wanted to be a fun guy!" stated Doc Louis, as Cloud stopped scratching his face and furrowed his brow intensely at Doc. "Hey, her words, not mine..."
"Well, she has a point, but...this Santa thing just isn't for me. Wish I could back out of the musical if I had the chance." Having heard enough from Cloud, Sephiroth walked away looking to take matters into his own hands.
"This sleep pillow is perfectly snug, Sephiroth!" Robin happily said to the one-winged angel, as Cloud looked back and frowned when he saw Sephiroth standing behind him. "Thanks again!"
"You are most welcome," responded Sephiroth, who detected Cloud frowning at him as he turned to face the swordsman. "Yes, Cloud? Can I help you?"
"Sure can...just stay out of my way," replied Cloud, and so Sephiroth left - waving to Cloud with his back turned as he exited the gaming room. Cloud wouldn't stop frowning until his arch-nemesis was gone for good.
Dorothea was feeling unwell, coming down with a strep throat that made her unable to talk let alone sing. Not even some of Tsubasa's throat lozenges were enough to alleviate the pain. So when she caught Fox and Falco in the hallway, she had to tell them some unfortunate news.
"You're pulling out of the musical?!" Fox questioned Dorothea, very much beside himself as he held in the urge to pinch a hole through the wall. "But you're our only singing act!"
"I'm sorry, but this strep throat is making it hard," Dorothea apologized, able to see the devastation written over Fox and Falco's faces. Those pilots were really counting on Dorothea to deliver a rousing performance.
"I call cap," insisted Falco as he was already coping - he was somehow going through the five stages of grief in less than five seconds. "Let me see how bad your strep throat is...or if it's even hurting at all."
"Get away from me, Falco! I don't want you to get sick!" Dorothea was backing away from Falco, who was drawing near with his hands outstretched. Dorothea safeguarded her neck, both hands around her throat.
"No pain, no gain, baby. If your throat is hurting you so, you wouldn't be acting so hesitant right now."
"Falco, can you stop..." Fox pleaded to his best friend, losing his breath out of exasperation as Falco followed Dorothea down the hallway. Fox sighed, as an eavesdropping Sephiroth stood from a fair distance.
"The lone singer of the musical has an illness?" said Sephiroth, stroking his chin as he heard footsteps behind him. The one-winged angel saw Geno and Arven walk by, speaking with each other.
"Are you sure he'll come through for us?" Arven asked Geno, as he and the star were going on a wild goose chase around the mansion. "Also, why do we call him 'Kermit' in the first place?"
"It's mainly just to protect his identity," replied Geno, as Sephiroth was looking on stroking his chin even more than usual. "Master Hand's orders, I guess."
The four Champions of Hyrule - Mipha, Revali, Daruk, and Urbosa - were attending a tea party, one that was organized by the Black Knight. This tea party was held outside on the mansion's patio, and it was a peaceful time. Well, mostly peaceful, that is.
"Daruk, for the love of Hylia, can you tell your lousy pet dog to shut up?" Revali asked the Goron champion, as he and the others heard some shrill screaming in the background. "He's ruining the tea party atmosphere."
"I don't have a pet dog," replied Daruk, scarfing down his entire plate of scones due to his big appetite. "Just because I got over my fear of dogs doesn't mean that I adopted one!"
"Maybe that's the Duck Hunt Dog crying," assumed Urbosa, who could go for some earplugs; her ears were ringing. "Although those cries don't sound very...dog-like."
"The noise is getting closer..." stated Mipha, and soon the Champions would discover who was making that noise in the first place...King Dedede, screeching because I-No was chasing after him.
"GET THAT DANG MISTLETOE AWAY FROM ME, WOMAN!" King Dedede shouted at I-No, who was hot on the fat penguin's hands as she held onto a mistletoe.
"But we've yet to have our kiss!" said I-No as she chased King Dedede deep into the woods, refusing to let up until she got what she wanted. "One simple kiss won't hurt a fly!"
Rayman: The holidays are such a nightmare for me. It's that time of the year when Barbara tries to kiss me under the mistletoe. Emphasis on "try". Just when I thought the nightmare was about to continue, that I-No lady asked Barbara for her mistletoe...and Barbara gave it to her! Thank you so much, I-No. I hope that the man you'll be kissing will be...You say she's going to kiss King Dedede? Think I'm gonna... *holds mouth and walks off as he vomits off-screen*
"That poor woman...her dating pool must be all dried up," Urbosa held some sympathy for I-No, as Captain Falcon and Chrom showed up at the tea party after hearing King Dedede's screeching. "Hello, gentlemen. Sorry, but there's no room for..."
"It's fine, we weren't interested anyway," replied Captain Falcon, as a contented Urbosa smiled and fixed herself another cup of tea. All the more tea for her to drink. "Say, have any of you seen Dedede?"
"He went that way, into the woods," replied Revali pointing in the direction that King Dedede and I-No went, as Captain Falcon and Chrom left the tea party with haste. "Phew...thought they wanted me to share my scones with them. Like I would ever..."
"What scones?" Urbosa asked Revali, who didn't seem to understand at first...but then he looked down and saw his plate empty. Incensed, Revali looked at Daruk, who was chewing with crumbs around his mouth until Revali's glare got him to stop.
"Why, you rotten...you stole my precious scones, didn't you?! I thought you made a promise, Daruk! A promise!"
News about Anna's travel through time circulated throughout the mansion, and once the story reached Professor Layton, he was most intrigued. So he, Luke, and Detective Pikachu met with Anna at Blancho's Sushi, hoping to learn more about the merchant's time-traveling experience.
"Alright, Anna, we have been told that you went back in time," Layton said to Anna, eating sushi with his hand resting on the table to let Anna know that he meant business. "New York 2016, to be exact."
"It was a swell time," smiled Anna as she reminisced on her trip back in time, only for her reminiscing to be cut short when Detective Pikachu approached her - standing atop the table while eating a piece of wasabi.
"Believe me, New York is a blast in any year," remarked Detective Pikachu, ready to lay down the hammer on Anna and ask her some pressing questions. But he was momentarily distracted, as he fanned himself. "Man this sushi is burning hot...ahem! Excuse me. However, there was a man that you...hey, what are you doing to my face?!"
"So cute! Those cheeks..." Anna was pulling on Detective Pikachu's face, pulling on his cheeks as far as she could. Her actions made Detective Pikachu feel less macho.
"C-Cut it out! I'm a detective, not a stuffed animal!" Detective Pikachu slapped Anna's hands away, and Anna was undeterred as she reached her hands out towards Detective Pikachu yet again. "Keep your hands off the merchandise!"
"Thundershock her already!" Luke called out to Detective Pikachu, who fell victim to Anna as he was picked up by Anna. Being treated like a baby by Anna truly made Detective Pikachu think less of himself as a man - no, not Pokemon. Man.
"I usually don't electrocute the person being interrogated unless under dire circumstances..." But for Detective Pikachu, this was a dire circumstance, and so he had no choice. The tiny mouse Pokemon was reluctantly charging up electricity in his cheeks.
"No way! Is that a talking Pikachu?" said one of the patrons at Blancho's Sushi, as a girl wearing a beanie came over with her phone out. It was Chloe Price.
"I'm sure you were just imagining things," replied Chloe's friend, Max Caulfield, as she joined Chloe at Layton's table. Detective Pikachu didn't like all the attention he was getting.
"That's right, I'm a talking Pikachu - so what?" Detective Pikachu questioned, who pounced on the opportunity at hand as she took a video of the talking mouse Pokemon speaking. "You better not put this on social media!"
"Check this out," Chloe said to Max as she played the video of Detective Pikachu to her friend. Max did not look impressed much to Chloe's chagrin; rather, she just looked annoyed.
"Happy now?" Max asked Chloe, grabbing her best friend by the hand as she took her back to their table. "Your sushi is getting cold..."
Max: I fail to see what is so fascinating about a Pikachu that can talk. I've seen much stranger stuff last year during Festivus. So strange that it's hard to put it into words.
"Let's get back to business," Layton said to Anna, deciding to sit down at the interrogation table and look Anna directly in the eye. While still letting her know that he meant business. "You met Raiden, did you not? Tell us about them."
"Sure, but you won't like what I'm gonna tell you," replied Anna, ready to tell Layton everything that he and the detectives needed to know about Raiden and then some. "I met him in Queens, just beyond the Queensboro bridge. He was playing a game with Big Daddy! Can you imagine being Big DAddy's friend?"
"She's hiding something, I'm sure of it," Luke stated the obvious to Layton and Detective Pikachu able to see through Anna's wry smile. That smile of Anna's couldn't fool anyone.
"Got to keep going at it," responded Layton, who really meant business as he stood up over the table looking down at Anna with two hands on the table. Power move. "Anna, I am asking you kindly to tell us about your meeting with Raiden. What exactly did you tell him?"
"And I am asking you kindly to stop invading my personal space," retorted Anna, almost causing Layton to break and uncharacteristically snap; fortunately, Layton was saved as the bell rang and a customer entered the sushi restaurant.
"Ah, if it isn't the Jumpman!" exclaimed the owner of the sushi restaurant, Cobra, when he saw Mario walk through the door. Safe to say that Mario was a favorite customer of Cobra's.
"You get too excited about seeing Mario, boss..." remarked the sushi chef, Blancho, as he was busy cleaning off a table with a white cloth. Whenever Mario stopped by Blancho's Sushi, Cobra stressed Blancho to be on his A-Game.
"It's Mario, what do you expect?!" Cobra contained his excitement as Mario walked up to him, holding something in his hand. "Well, Mario, you're a little early for the Festivus sushi...but I can give you a sample. My treat."
"I have a treat-a for you...well, it's more of a favor," Mario said to Cobra as he handed the restaurant owner a flyer for the concert. Cobra appeared intrigued as he stroked his goatee. "Are you available to cater for this holiday concert?"
"Just say no," Blancho advised Cobra as he stopped cleaning, dreading the thought of serving hordes of people at once. Had it been anyone else Cobra would likely say no, but since it was Mario...
"You got a yes from me, pal!" Cobra accepted Mario's offer as he shook hands with the plumber. Blancho, now in shambles, faceplanted unto the table. "Hey, Dave!"
"Yes?" asked Dave as the portly diver came from the back, his countenance falling when he saw Cobra shaking Mario's hand. "Oh no...that mushroom sushi thing...it's becoming a reality..."
"It's about time we pull out the big guns. We're doin' catering!" For Dave, doing catering was perhaps the fourth or fifth worst-case scenario that he could withstand.
"Well, that's a first. I'll get everything situated, then." Embracing the task set before him, Dave returned to the back of the sushi restaurant while Blancho was still in a faceplanting position.
"A holiday concert, eh?" Chloe said to Mario, who came over to Max and Chloe's table to hand out some more flyers. "Is it cool if we crash the party?"
"You can be our honored-a guests," replied Mario after handing Max and Chloe, two former inhabitants of Omnis Adest, a flyer. Mario then went over to Layton and Luke, handing them a flyer as well.
"Yeah, sure, snub the little guy why don't you..." Detective Pikachu frowned after he was denied a flyer, folding his stubby arms. Anna try to pinch Detective Pikachu's cheeks to cheer him up, only for her hands to be slapped away.
"Seems like a rather impromptu concert," Layton said to Mario as he skimmed through the flyer, adoring the visuals even if it was put together at the last minute. "You think we should attend?"
"I'd say you should," suggested Mario, as it was hard for him to imagine Layton and Luke attending any musical concert. "Since it might-a be your last Christmas here in Seattle..."
"Whoever said anything about that?" Layton had Mario momentarily afraid, but a warm smile from the detective eased any fears Mario had. "Nothing stopping me from being here for the holidays next year."
"Ha, you're right." Mario loosened up as he sighed in relief, after fearing that Layton would snap on him. In all fairness, Layton looked like he was about to snap on Anna earlier. "Hope-a to see you there..."
Needing some time away from the watchpoint, Cole Cassidy started up a campfire outside. Roasting chestnuts over an open fire. While the gunslinger was enjoying his moment of solitude, he would later be joined by a familiar face.
"I'll be!" A cowboy sitting at a campfire, roasting chestnuts," exclaimed John Marston as he showed up at the campfire, back in the Emerald City once more. "Takes me back to the Old West."
"Howdy partner - come and have a seat," Cassidy greeted Marston, who took a seat on the log opposite of Cassidy as he put a toothpick in his mouth. "So what brought you to these parts again?"
"Been hunting for some treasure I suppose. Perhaps this treasure might be in this darn city. But alas, it has yet to be found..."
"Don't sweat it. Take it easy, just relax and unwind! That campfire will soothe your cares away."
"Very well then." Marston eased up a bit, as he let the campfire's heat soothe his very soul. "A little tranquility won't hurt..."
"Ain't that the truth. Never thought I'd see a cowboy like you out here looking for treasure. What kinda treasure you're looking for exactly?"
"Nothin' in particular. But I did hear a bunch of kids talking about treasure and all that jazz while I was passing through these parts. Since I'm in no rush, I might as well settle down a bit. Everyone needs a break from the hustle, you know?"
"You remind me of my good friend Ashe - that gal's always looking for treasure. Gold, robots, you name it. Times might change, but her huntin' spirit stays the same."
All of a sudden, footsteps were heard as King Dedede and I-No neared the campfire. I-No had her arms wrapped around King Dedede's arm, and Dedede looked like he was about to lose it with several kiss marks marked on his face.
"I see you got yourself a girlfriend," Cassidy grinned at King Dedede as he tipped his hat to the fat penguin. King Dedede looked greatly bothered as he and I-No took a seat. "What's her name?"
"The name's I-No," I-No introduced herself to Cassidy and Marston as he smiled, pleased to make their acquaintance. "Dedede and I have been together for quite a while." I-No gave a kiss on the cheek to King Dedede, who was trying to hold it all in.
"A mighty fine catch you've made, Your Majesty." Cassidy was amazed that King Dedede could pull a woman of I-No's caliber, but little did he know how much anguish King Dedede was truly in.
"Save me..." King Dedede quietly uttered to Cassidy and Marston, despite both gunslingers being oblivious to his plight. Meanwhile, Captain Falcon and Chrom poked their heads out of some shrubbery, keeping their attention focused on I-No.
Preparations were made for the holiday concert at Omnis Adest, as Nemona pegged Athena Asamiya to help with setting up the stage. The setup was done at the very center of Omnis Adest, as the Naranja and Blueberry Academy students were working together to have everything prepared.
The lovely folks of Orange Star were also there, helping out with the setup process. The commanding officers - Andy, Max, and, Sami - were busy setting up platforms and risers, when a curious question entered Max's mind.
"Since we're having a concert, who's going to do security?" Max asked Andy and Sami, who both looked at the fellow commanding officer as if he was supposed to know the answer already. Max wasn't liking where things were headed.
"That's where you come in, buddy," Andy said to Max, smiling as he patted his friend on his back. Max lowered his head in sadness.
"Yup...should've kept my mouth shut." A now despondent Max carried on with setting up the platforms, albeit moving at a more sluggish pace.
"That's it, Dragonite! Put your back into it!" Drayton commanded his Dragonite, who along with Nemona's Goodra was setting up the large loudspeakers. They were the only Pokemon big and strong enough to handle the workload.
"The microphone might be a little sensitive," Athena warned Crispin and Nemona, as they were setting up a mic stand on the stage. "So I wouldn't recommend touching it too much."
"Oh, we'll be fine," assured Crispin, doing a quick mic check with the microphone as he grabbed the device. "Mic check, one two!" When he did hear his voice through the speakers, Crispin put his lips on the microphone...and got a good shock as he collapsed onto the stage.
"I think he did that just to pull your tail," Nemona assumed to Athena, her concern growing exponentially as time passed. That's when Nemona sent out her Pawmot. "Pawmot, we might need you to do a Revival Blessing..."
Drayton: First he got a serious brain freeze, and today he got electrocuted by putting his mouth on a live microphone. Crispin is building himself quite the track record thus far...
"We do have an air pump, you know..." Carmine reminded Drayton, who was pumping air into an inflatable snowman...with his mouth. Carmine almost wanted to slap Drayton silly.
"I know - I was just waiting for you to say something," Drayton smirked, as he grabbed the air pump at Carmine's feet and hooked it to the inflatable snowman. As Drayton got down to pumping, Mario, Penny, and Lacey returned.
"We're-a back," announced Mario, startled by the progress that was being made in regards to stage setup. "Passed out enough-a flyers."
"How are Arven and Geno coming along with finding the musical act?" Penny asked Carmine, as Drayton was tuckered out from pumping air for some apparent reason. So much so, that he collapsed backward to the ground.
"I dunno, but I doubt they'll come back empty-handed," replied Carmine, before looking down at the supposedly winded Drayton. "Get up Drayton, you can't be that exhausted..."
Kermit was constantly calling and texting Michael, and wouldn't stop until he heard back from his good friend. Fox and Falco were counting on Michael to come through, for they were only interested in his girlfriend coming to the mansion and saving the Nutcracker musical.
"Your date is over? Finally..." rejoiced Kermit, speaking into the phone inside the lounge while Geno and Arven were peeking inside through the doorway. "...uh, I didn't mean like that!
"Jackpot..." Geno said quietly, bidding his time as he and Arven listened very closely to the call. Sounds like Kermit finally got in touch with his man.
"Just wanted to give you a heads up, I ended up back at the Smash Mansion...you want to come too?! That's awesome! Why am I so excited? No reason..."
"...now, we wait for the cards to play in our favor." Geno watched as Kermit left the lounge, still on the phone, as he and Arven were following closely behind.
Vanitas was on the prowl, searching high and low for Sonic - mainly since he was the owner of Terapagos. His search brought him to Omnis Adest, where he saw members of Special Support Section outside with their new truck.
"Luigi was right about this truck having technology and stuff," Randy said to Noel Seeker, chilling in the driver's seat of the truck as he was blasting some Christmas tunes. "Look - it can play music!"
"It's called a radio, Randy," Noel informed the first lieutenant, bothered by Randy's ignorance as evidenced by her facepalming. "You guys are so clueless..."
"I knew that...I was just, uh, testing you." As Randy checked out all the other gizmos in the truck, Sonic came by to see how the Special Support Section was liking their early Christmas gift.
"You have taken the truck out on the streets, right?" Sonic asked Noel, bothered by how Randy had his hand on the steering wheel and pretending to drive. Looked cringeworthy from Sonic's perspective.
"Only I've done it," replied Noel, as Vanitas was creeping around the side of the townhouse with his eyes set on Sonic. "Lloyd took the truck out on a joyride late last night and almost drove it into a lake."
"Well, he can't be any worse at driving than our Lloyd, Lloyd Irving. That man once drove Mario's car off a cliff! Still trying to figure out how he survived."
"Sure got a nice little Pokemon, Sonic," Vanitas said quietly, unaware of a man emerging from the shadows behind him. "Would be a shame if I were to..." The Masked Boy stopped speaking as he felt someone tap his shoulder.
"If you were to what?" asked the person standing behind Vanitas, who turned around and saw Reaper. Reaper fired a shot at Vanitas, who deflected the bullet with his Keyblade.
"You! You're the man with the skull mask that Marluxia told me about!" Vanitas jumped back as he pointed at Reaper, who was locked and loaded with both of his shotguns. "You're nothing but trouble..."
"He said that I'm nothing but trouble? Very flattering of him..." Reaper wanted to put a bullet through Vanitas, but someone else would claim first dibs on his victim...
"What? What's happening?!" Vanitas felt someone hijacking him, as he felt a strong electrical current run through his body. In a matter of seconds, the Masked Boy fell to the ground, as Sombra made herself visible to Reaper.
"I had it all covered, in case you didn't know..." growled Reaper, incensed that Sombra chose to intervene without giving a warning. "Also, how did you know..."
"...that you were on to the Organization?" asked Sombra, as Vanitas was on the ground convulsing after being hacked. "Don't think I saw you peeking earlier. I can see everything you do, y'know."
"Sadly, I'm well aware...so do you want to be a good sidekick, and help take out this Organization scum?" Reaper pointed his shotgun at Vanitas, who panicked as he backed away from the mercenary.
"Please don't shoot!" Vanitas begged Reaper, who was not the one to grant mercy...and so Reaper fired multiple shots at a defenseless Vanitas, who got up and ran.
"Man, I love it when they run..." Reaper blew out the smoke from his shotguns, as Vanitas summoned a dark corridor once he got far away enough.
"It came from this way," Sonic was heard speaking, as Vanitas quickly retreated through the dark corridor. Once the corridor vanished, Sonic showed up with Randy and Noel, as he only saw Reaper and Sombra standing by.
"Hey," Reaper greeted Sonic and company, feeling awkward as he had his shotguns out. Sombra looked more of a pacifist compared to him. "We were kind of in the middle of something..."
"In the middle of disturbing the peace, maybe. You gotta keep that in check, Reaper!" His fears of a crisis now alleviated, Sonic walked with Randy and Noel back to their townhouse. "Boy, that Reaper, I tell ya..."
Geno and Arven were peeking at Kermit, who was in teleportation room waiting to meet someone. Mega Man was getting the teleportation device up and running after Kermit shared with him a couple of details about Michael's current whereabouts.
"They got some real stale snacks in those vending machines," remarked Daniel, eating from a bag of potato chips as he walked through the mansion. Couldn't stand the chips anymore, so he tossed the bag away in the trash can. Suddenly, Daniel came to a stop as he heard a loud noise coming from the teleportation room up ahead.
Wanting to take a look, Daniel ran to the teleportation room and saw a familiar face inside...his brother, Michael. However, even with Michael present, something was amiss.
"What? You left her behind?!" Kermit angrily questioned Michael, as he hoped to see his friend's beau. But Michael had only him, himself, and...he. In other words, he was a lone wolf.
"It was for the greater good," replied Michael, as Kermit groaned and ran his fingers through his curly hair. "You wanted to see her that bad?"
"So, uh, is this a good thing, or a bad thing?" Arven whispered to Geno, who lowered his head as he walked away. Arven followed after Geno. "It's a bad thing, is it not?"
"The cards didn't play out as I intended they would," replied Geno, as Ryu was heading in his direction humming a happy tune. A tune so jovial, that it got Geno raising his head.
"She kissed me in a way that I'd never been kissed before..." Ryu sang as he passed by Geno and Arven, singing a KISS song as he was in an upbeat mood. "She kissed me in a way that I wanna be kissed forevermore..."
"You know, for such a stone-faced fighter, Ryu isn't that bad at singing!" commented Arven, as Geno was lost in thought after hearing Ryu's singing. Arven could tell as he smiled. "Got a back-up plan in mind?"
"He might be an unpopular choice...but he'll suffice," replied Geno, while Sephiroth was conspicuously peeking from down the hallway eavesdropping. "He can be the main star of our holiday concert."
"Did someone say 'holiday concert'?" inquired Michael after he, Kermit, and Daniel all left the teleportation room. "Because I know a guy..."
"...please don't ask me to sing," Daniel pleaded to Geno and Arven, as Michael smiled and wrapped his arm around him. If they can't sing, Geno might have other uses for the athletes...
Daniel: Funny story, I did sing once - me and two of my teammates recorded a Christmas album. Two of them. The first one charted on the Billboard 200. You should go check it out.
King Dedede was still sitting at the campfire with I-No, and the fat penguin was feigning to break free from his girlfriend. All the while, Captain Falcon and Chrom remained in hiding, anticipating I-No to pull off something funny.
"I have a Christmas present for you, Dedede," smiled I-No as she took a gift and handed it to the reluctant King Dedede. "Merry Christmas! Open it..."
"This is it! She's going to poison the man..." Captain Falcon whispered to Chrom, watching cautiously as King Dedede nervously unwrapped the gift. Sweat running down his face, King Dedede unwrapped his gift to reveal...
"...gold chains?" King Dedede marveled at his gift, with I-No beaming with joy as Dedede placed the gold chains around his neck. Wherever it was. "Uh, thank you, I-No, you shouldn't have...no, seriously, you shouldn't have."
"A gold chain fitting for a king," remarked I-No, before sneaking in a smooch on King Dedede as Cassidy and Marston both chuckled at Dedede's reaction. "Wear it to the fullest, loverboy!"
"I'll try..." King Dedede wished to tear off the gold chains, but he had no choice but to wear them for the time being. Or at least as long as I-No was in town.
Captain Falcon: So I guess...I-No isn't a minion of Dimentio. Maybe she's not out to seduce and destroy King Dedede.
Chrom: It could be that she... *grimaces* ...she genuinely likes King Dedede.
Captain Falcon: *vomits on the ground, as Chrom does the same*
Rayman: *walking by, chuckling* Ah, been there, down that.
Cloud was all done spreading holiday cheer, and he was about to head to the lecture hall to do the musical and get it over with. The swordsman exited the bathroom and was about to head to his destination, but then he came across Sephiroth.
"A new eyepatch?!" exclaimed Zeke, who was gifted a new eyepatch courtesy of Sephiroth. "Thanks, Sephiroth, you shouldn't have!" Zeke hugged Sephiroth, causing the one-winged angel to seethe internally.
"Release me or I'll put you on my naughty list..." Sephiroth commanded Zeke, who took the command to heart as he hurriedly ended the hug. Didn't want to miss out on getting those quarters underneath his pillow.
"Sephiroth..." Cloud uttered the name of the one-winged angel, as he and Sephiroth started an epic staredown. A staredown so epic, that Zeke felt inferior standing in the midst so he awkwardly walked away with his new eyepatch.
"If it isn't the other Santa Claus..." Sephiroth snarled at Cloud, seemingly calling it quits on being Santa as he took off his Santa hat. "...all done for the day, I presume?"
"Gotta say, you took me by surprise. You haven't been your normal self today. The holiday spirit got to you?" Cloud stood his ground, as Sephiroth crept towards him.
"You could say that, but I felt like trying to get even with you. Won't say if I passed with flying colors, but..." Sephiroth got up close and personal with Cloud, inches away from the swordsman's face.
"But what?" Cloud got tense, as Sephiroth placed his hand on his shoulder. He could almost feel Sephiroth pulling out something from behind his back.
"Consider yourself welcome...the Nutcracker musical has been 'canceled.'" Sephiroth expected Cloud to be astonished by the news, and he got the intended reaction out of the swordsman.
"Canceled? It's been canceled? Didn't think that those pilots had it in them." At least now Cloud didn't have to worry about playing Santa Claus, as he tore off his beard. "What happened?"
"One of our cast mates became ill...among other things." Sephiroth left Cloud's mind to wander as he backed off and walked away. "I'd recommend going to Omnis Adest if I were you..."
Believing that Michael's girlfriend had been secured, a confident Fox and Falco about the Nutcracker musical as they were on their way to the lecture hall. They were so confident, they imagined the lecture hall to be packed to the gills when they arrived.
"Pretty quiet at the lecture hall," Falco said to Fox as the pilots neared the lecture hall, expecting to hear a bit of commotion coming from inside. However, it was quiet...a little too quiet for their liking.
"I know why...maybe they're adopting the practices of Japanese wrestling audiences," assumed Fox, "The wrestling fans in Japan are known for being respectfully...silent."
When Fox and Falco arrived at the lecture hall...they saw no one sitting in the seats. The place was empty and barren, save for Orson trying to turn off the snow machine.
"Stupid hard cheese, why'd you have to get jammed?" Orson frowned at the snow machine as he banged his fist against it, while Fox and Falco looked at the lecture hall aghast. Why was no one there?
"Where is our audience?" questioned Fox, bothered by the empty seats. "Where is our talent?" The pilot was equally bothered that nobody was onstage, save for Mr. Game and Watch sweeping things up.
"I honestly prefer that you use real snow next time..." Mr. Game and Watch suggested to Orson, who got the snow machine unjammed with a good smack of his fist. A piece of hard cheese grazed Mr. Game and Watch's nonexistent ear.
"Oh, you didn't hear?" Itsuki asked Fox and Falco as he entered the lecture hall and saw their shocked faces. "The entire cast got infected. Had to call out of the show."
"Infected with strep throat?" asked Falco, before panicking as he put his hands on his head. "Aw man, I touched Dorothea...I'm next!" A panicky Falco ran out of the lecture hall screaming, worried about coming down with a cold real soon.
"It sucks, I know..." Itsuki placed an encouraging hand on Fox, who frowned mightily with his fists clenched as he was most displeased by this sudden development. "...but maybe it was for the greater good."
"If only she had told us about getting sick in advance..." seethed Fox, blaming the musical's cancelation on Dorothea's sickness. Fearing that Fox would snap at any given minute, Itsuki left.
Itsuki: A big shout-out to Sephiroth for letting me know about the sickness going around backstage. He said that everybody got sick except for Cloud, who backed out at the last minute according to him. Cloud lasted longer than I expected, I'll say!
Mio: Sephiroth promised to buy me a Christmas gift if I faked being sick to Itsuki. I think he was being sincere when he said that... *thinks over it for a moment* ...yeah, he was being sincere. Even if he wasn't, I still would've taken the offer.
So where was everyone? Where was the audience that was supposed to be at the musical? They were somewhere else right now...somewhere outside, away from the mansion grounds. Seeing a bunch of folks flocking to Omnis Adest, Master Hand, Link, and Zelda stopped by to see what was going on.
"Why do I hear loud Christmas music?" questioned Master Hand - not a valid complaint considering that Christmas was only three or so days away. "And why does the singing sound so...so manly?"
"It's probably Ryu doing his best singing impression," assumed Link, who had no idea how right he was when he and the others arrived at the concert site. "Why did I have to be right...?"
The concert was hopping, as many Omnis Adest folks were in the crowd. On the stage was Ryu, who to Master Hand's shock was singing Christmas songs - and singing them well!
"He's singing that one song from that Guardians of the Galaxy holiday special," observed Zelda, noticing that the athletes in town - Kermit, Michael, Daniel, Alexander, and Juan - were all on stage playing musical instruments. And wearing Santa hats, too.
Alexander: We weren't actually playing instruments; the music came straight out of an audio tape. Even if we were playing air guitars, no one would have noticed the difference.
"Rein, rein, rein, rein, rein...deer, deer, deer, deer, deer..." Ryu sang on stage, as he was singing a holiday song once performed by The Old 97s. "...I don't know what Christmas is, but Christmastime is here!"
"I'm slightly disappointed...I was expecting a Taylor Swift concert," Master Hand admitted to Link and Zelda, who both gave the giant hand crazy looks. "But it wouldn't have been right to bring her to the mansion anyway, against her will."
"But didn't you..." Zelda was about to say, only to lose her breath as she stormed off in a huff. Feeling awkward standing alone with Master Hand, Link chased after his wife.
Ryu: I didn't get the part in The Nutcracker but I ended up doing a concert, so I guess I got the last laugh. And now I've heard that the musical got canceled altogether! Either my last laugh has gotten bigger, or Fox and Falco were dealt karmic justice for snubbing me. Both things can be true. But I wonder if Scorpion and Sub-Zero and the rest of them saw me sing...
"Ryu's got some good vocals!" Johnny Cage said to Chun-li, shouting over the music as he was vibing to the concert. His wife, Sonya Blade, was hardly vibing at all. "Who knew he could sing?"
"I for one am glad that he has shown us a new dimension," remarked Scorpion, who had no honest clue what compelled him to attend the concert in the first place. Maybe Johnny dragged his butt there. "So far he has reminded me too much of myself..."
"I might've had something to do with that," smiled Chun-li, although she wasn't willing to take all the credit...Lacey and Drayton were standing around, taking note of how well-received the concert was.
"Well, Lacey? Are you happy now?" Drayton asked his Blueberry Academy classmate, who was slightly hyperfocused on Chun-li speaking with Johnny Cage and Scorpion. "You got what you wanted."
"See? Told you a concert would've been better," a vindicated Nemona came over to speak with Lacey and Drayton, pleased to know that everything surprisingly turned out well.
"You do always have the best ideas in mind," Lacey said to Nemona, as she ate a piece of sushi - one she got from catering, thanks to the lovely folks at Blancho's Sushi.
"COBRA! You're gonna rue the day you crossed into my territory, mate!" Dingodile was heard shouting, as the crowd ran off in fear when Dingodile turned on his flamethrower. Lacey, Drayton, and Nemona could only laugh, despite Dingdile becoming a walking fire hazard.
Since it was Omnis Adest's first (and most certainly only) Christmas, Lacey wanted to make it count...and she believed that she and her friends got the job done.