Author's Note:
As stated in the previous author's note, the chapters of Smash Life take place on Thursdays and Fridays, which led Derrick Lindsey to ask the following:
"So since chapters usually take place on Thursday or Friday I'm guessing there is no Christmas themed one unless you make one about the craziness of holiday shopping which would be a lot more entertaining especially since it would be two or three days before Christmas."
The next three chapters or so will be mostly centered around Christmas, and you'll see the brawlers doing a Secret Santa thing in the beginning moment of this chapter. Here's some more of what Mr. Lindsey said in his review:
"One thing I wanted to know was how did you come with this fanfic? What inspired you to make this, also I don't know why but I can picture a chapter where everyone is forced to sing by Master hand or face punishment so literally the whole chapter every sings even when they just have a casual conversation because Master hand being the **** that he is I can see him do it for ***** and giggles or just because he wants a good excuse to punish someone cause he's in a bad mood."
Why inspired me to write this fanfic? That's a really great question...that won't be answered until at least the 53rd chapter, in which I will likely write a lengthy author's note. As for your idea however, it sounds pretty manageable. Kirby123 is back, and with a non-Kirby request:
"I feel like everyone in smash mansion should have their archenemies to run around cause destruction. examples: meta knight vs galacta knight etc. you do NOT have to do everyone in one chapter also do the characters you want to use."
Why not have the archenemies antagonize against their rivals? Sephiroth could possibly lead a gang of Bass, Galacta Knight, and also Shadow and Blue the Pokemon Trainer (yes, I would include him). Yeah, I like the sound of that. Next up is 0300:
"So...what is Lucas grounded from? Couldn't he still nether kick people? Or is he grounded from using his legs for "evasive maneuvers?" "
Lucas is being grounded for "evasive maneuvers", as he's supposed to remain in his room at all times, unless he wants to face Master Hand's fury. Moving on:
"Also, if you could have King Dedede make a Survivor reference? He seems to like those shows..."
I honestly would have that fat greedy penguin make a Survivor reference...if I actually knew some stuff about the show. Don't want to make a reference and have it fall flat, if you know what I mean. Two more guest reviews to answer:
"Can u make one of sonic and bowser being stuck together again but this time sonic has to watch bowser and punishes him when he dose wrong but in the end bowser looses it on sonic?"
Eh...I would do something like that, but now...I don't know. One more guest review to answer:
"So, out of curiosity, are you going to do a one year anniversary, a Christmas special, or both?"
Presumably both, that's the goal. One more thing from the review:
P.S.: Is Suzie also the name of the Pokemon breeder who gives Brock his Vulpix?
DING DING DING DING DING! You got it correct! Bravo!
Episode 51: Yuletide
"Alright now everyone, listen up for the roll call! Ike? Here..Red? Here...Olimar? Here...Ashley? Here...Jacky Bryant? Here...Ness? Here...Toon Link? Here...Kirby? Here...Falco Lombardi? Here...Mario? Here..."
Isabelle was doing the roll as the Smash Mansion residents gathered in the meeting room for a semi-important meeting. They were about to do Secret Santa, and as a requirement, everyone was forced to partake in the Christmas tradition, whether you were a happy-go-lucky pal like Kirby who's optimistic about almost anything, or a uncaring and apathetic Samus who's on the verge of being completely done with life. Luigi, Daisy, Yuffie, Amy, and Fiora were invited to do Secret Santa, the latter two having frequented the mansion multiple times to be under consideration.
"Master Hand, what is the price range this year?" inquired Peach. A part of her wished she would draw Mario's name, although it probably won't happen. "We don't need to have Roy buy a 24K gold cellphone, like he did for Dark Pit last year!"
"It was totally worth it, in my opinion," Roy remarked while folding his arms. Dark Pit, the very recipient of the gift, nodded his head in agreement. Roy's Secret Santa gift truly made the angel's Christmas spectacular.
"To prevent similar incidents like the golden cellphone from ever transpiring again, I'll make the price range fifty bucks," stated Master Hand. Quite a generous price range for Secret Santa. "Anyone who exceeds the amount will not receive any Christmas presents this year, and will have their presents given to charity!"
Master Hand: Me, giving Christmas presents to charity? *laughs* Clearly you don't know me that well. I'll sell the gifts for cold hard cash, which I will then contribute to the budget for my Lamborghini Veneno, a dream car I have my eyes set on! My only other option would be to take the money out of Mario's and Peach's wedding budget, and transfer it over to my budget, but I don't wish to deteriorate the partnership between Mario and I.
"Isabelle will now pass around the sack so you can draw names," Master Hand announced after the shih tzu was finished with the roll call. Isabelle, going around the room first went to Sonic, who sat at the front end of the meeting room. The hedgehog reached into the sack, and drew a name.
"Sweet, I pulled out Ashley's name, now that's what's up!" he exclaimed, holding up a slip of paper with Ashley's name on it while the others facepalmed. "Ashley should be one of the easiest people to buy a gift for!" The obvious objective of Secret Santa was to draw a person's name, and reveal that person's name until everyone drew a name. Sonic would consistently be the only one that jumps the gun and announce who he drew, thereby causing everyone to start the whole drawing names thing over again. Sucks when Sonic announces whose name he drew, and since he would be one of the last persons, everyone had to start all over again. So Mario had to sit the hedgehog in the front to prevent such a thing from happening again.
"Every freaking Christmas you have to do this..." groaned Master Hand, needing a giant face for him to facepalm. "Sonic, put that slip of paper back in the sack and draw someone's else name, and don't even THINK about shouting out the name you drew." So Sonic placed Ashley's name back in the sack, and drew a new name, placing the slip of paper under his leg so he wouldn't be tempted to announce the name he drew.
"Has everyone drew a name?" Isabelle asked everyone after going around the room, and drawing the last name available in the sack. No one said a thing, so Chrom had to do a thumbs up. "Great, now let's see whose name we drew...Lloyd Irving?!" Isabelle was feeling pretty optimistic about Secret Santa, but now...all that undying optimism went down the toilet.
"I got Aerith, let's go!" cheered Lloyd. Aerith looked at Cloud with a rueful glance, and Cloud smiled, as if assuring the flower girl everything will be alright. "No worries Aerith, I won't let you down!" Lies, such blatant lies...
"Whose name did you draw Kirby?" Samus asked the pink puffball, and Kirby was more than elated to show the bounty the name he drew...and the name "Samus Aran" was written on his slip of paper. "Why did I bother asking you..."
Samus: Kirby is perhaps the most strangest gift buyer in all of existence. He buys you the most strangest things - like that one time when he bought a ginormous George Foreman grill the size of a MASTER BEDROOM for Daisy as a wedding gift - and here's the thing: we don't even know where Kirby is getting all the money to purchase such ridiculous crap! Try asking him about it, and he'll give you his unintelligible answers, along with that stupid smile of his! *pauses* Could it be that his gifts are all from Nightmare Enterprises?
"Aw what, I got Sonic of all people?!" frowned Link, salty about his selection. In case you haven't been paying attention to Link's interactions with Sonic in past installments of Smash Life, then you must not be aware of the salty relationship the Hylian has with the hedgehog. "Master Hand can I please get a do-over?"
"If you want a do-over then everyone else has to do a do-over, and we've done that in consecutive years, so no to you, good sir!" replied Master Hand, as Link grumpily folded his arms and sat back in his chair. He'll just buy Sonic a new pair of running shoes and go on with his life.
"Just for the record Link, you're NOT getting Sonic new shoes, that's way too easy," Zelda told her boyfriend. So much for that. "Why don't you challenge yourself and get Sonic something he would never expect?"
"Something like his dignity?" Link joked, only to receive a somewhat angry stare from Zelda. The Hylian looked down at the floor, pressing his thumbs together in solemn awkwardness.
Once the Secret Santa festivities were over, Lucas returned to his room, chilling out with his buddy Ness. The young teen was grounded by Master Hand for his actions in the previous episode - going about and kicking residents in the crotch, all while screaming his infamous battle cry "THAT'S MY PURSE, I DON'T KNOW YOU!", even though he had no purse and he knew just about everyone in the mansion. Lucina was the last - and only female - resident to be kicked by Lucas, and her caring father Chrom stopped by Lucas' room to check on the PSI whiz.
"So I heard that you drew Geno's name at the Secret Santa meeting," Chrom said to Lucas, taking a seat on his bed. Lucas was lying on top of his bed, thinking about life and whatnot. Just a bunch of general things. "Have you decided yet on what you're going to get him, or will you need more time?"
"Geno is a hard person to buy a gift, so it'll take me some time," responded Lucas. "Guess I would have to find Geno's gift from the comfort of my room, on a laptop or something...if I ever had a laptop in this room to begin with."
Sonic: Don't see why Lucas is grounded, I don't see what he did that was so wrong! Dude was just trying to defend himself from others, and he did so without acting like a scaredy cat, which he's practically known for! And the phrase he shouted before attacking someone..."That's my purse, I don't know you"...such creativity cannot be overlooked. Ranks up there among the greatest lines ever uttered, along with, "Mikhail Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"
"I'm sure Master Hand would let you out of the room just to look for a present," said Ness, playing with his yo-yo. He may not be the best yo-yo tactician on the planet, but the trusty toy is pretty effective in Smash battles. "But you would probably have to ask him for permission though."
"This is just unfair, I can't do anything staying in this room..." Lucas pouted as he folded his arms. Could have been worse...he could have been kicked out of the mansion, and forced to live with the Waddle Dee family until further notice. Lloyd had underwent this form of punishment several times, and for many valid reasons.
"Well how about I tell you some of the things Lucina can't do after you attacked her last week?" asked Chrom, taken back by Lucas' profound saltiness. "Let's see...she can't stand straight, nor walk straight; she can't sleep on her stomach; and she can't see clearly due to some dizzy spells." As you would might assume, Lucina is suffering from some long-term effects from Lucas' shenanigans, compared to the other victims. "Although you did apologize to Lucina earlier in the week when she came to your room (with Robin's help, nonetheless), it unfortunately won't make up for..."
"Yo yo yo, Lucas who-has-no-last-name, what's good my man!" Sonic entered the room, much to the chagrin of everyone present. The hedgehog's arrival was a good enough incentive for Chrom to leave, as the prince got off of Lucas' bed. "Hey Chrom, where are you going, I just got here!"
"I believe I hear Lucina calling, think she wants something drink," Chrom hurriedly exited the room before Sonic could pester him with further. The prince wasn't in the right mood to put up with Sonic's silly ways.
"I sure can't hear her, unless my ears are playing tricks with me again...probably got too much ear wax, I'll resolve the issues later on." Sonic took a seat on Lucas' bed, and now all of a sudden Lucas felt like relocating to Ness' bed. Quite frankly, Ness didn't want Sonic either. "So I heard that you're now the bad boy of the mansion...like Isiah Thomas from the Bad Boys Detroit Pistons...like Michael Jackson during his "Bad" phase...like Walter White from Breaking Bad...
"Okay, okay, enough with the 'bad' comparisons, we get it," groaned Ness, already fed up with Sonic. Didn't take that long for him.
"Um, is your name Lucas, is there by chance you have blonde hair and a orange striped shirt and stuff like that?" Following Sonic's remark, Ness got up and left. What a horrible friend he is...leaving poor Lucas to suffer with Sonic. The nerve of him...
Ness: My person for Secret Santa is Villager; I would buy him a fish mount, but he already has too many of those loitering about in his room. I might as well ask Jacky to take me to the toy store to buy Villager a gift, before I forget.
"Apparently Mario and Master Hand wanted to change your bad boy persona - a stupid decision on their parts - and they had the gall to ask me to do it, since Little Mac and Doc Louis were off doing their escapades at a Gold's Gym," explained Sonic, as Lucas miserably moaned. Of all the people Mario and Master Hand could have chosen from, and it had to be Sonic? "Aw, don't be so glum, chum - I understand that you want to keep your reputation as a bad boy, and you being grounded is suppressing you from flaunting your new attitude in front of others. But when you love something, you have to set it free..." To say that analogy was weird would be a huge understatement. "...and sadly that's what I have to do. So let's begin!"
"Begin with what, do you even have any equipment?" questioned Lucas. "Did you come in here unprepared?" Considering how Sonic is, we could say yes to Lucas' question.
"Pfft, we don't need 'equipment' - I'll just explain what we're doing along the way. Trust me when I say this Lucas - I won't let you down by ANY means!"
"Thank-a you boys for coming with-a me to find a replacement Christmas-a tree!" Mario thanked Fox and Falco as the two Star Fox pilots rode in Mario's car. A car that the plumber had rented, mind you. "And thank you-a for coming too Ema, I really appreciate-a it!" The forensics expert was also tagging along, wanting to see if there Heartless in public places in Seattle. Can't hurt to look around every now and then.
"You do realize I'm not here to help you look for a new Christmas tree after Red burned down the last one, right?" asked Ema. No, it wasn't Ashley's assistant, Red, who burned down the tree - it was Red the Pokemon Trainer's fault: he had Charizard light up the fireplace one night, and one of the flame Pokemon's embers from his flame breath reached the Christmas tree in the living room. Red then summoned Squirtle to douse the fire, but it was unfortunately too late. "I'm just here do some 'investigative' work, so to speak."
"Of course, you do-a know a thing or two about-a investigating, given your profession! Fox, Falco, and I will-a do our thing, while you do your-a thing!"
Fox: Why do people insist on buying green Christmas trees? Green is too mainstream of a Christmas tree color, you gotta change it up!
Falco: So while we're at Lowes, or Home Depot, or wherever the heck Mario is gonna get a Christmas tree from, we're gonna convince the man to buy...wait for it...a purple Christmas tree! How does that sound Fox?
Fox: Man, if I had a dime for every time you didn't think the same way I did, then I'd have zero dimes...
Mario and company arrived at not Lowes, not Home Depot, but Walmart, and boy it was packed. Mario's decision to look for a Christmas tree at the world's second largest retailer was met with disdain from the Star Fox pilots.
"Dude, Mario, why do you hate us so much?" Fox questioned the plumber as he and the others got out of the car. "Why do we have to shop here, when there was a Home Depot downtown? What have we ever done to you?!"
"C'mon, what's-a so wrong with Walmart?" asked Mario, wanting to shed some light on the situation. He certainly didn't want to start a scene once on arrival. "It's honestly not-a that bad of a store!"
"Bruh Walmart originated in Arkansas, that's how you know it sucks," Falco offered his take on why Walmart isn't so grand. A fairly stupid take, but a take nonetheless. "There's literally nothing good about Arkansas, except maybe for their college football team. WOOOO, PIG SOOIE!" Falco uttered this call of the University of Arkansas mockingly, in a highly sardonic manner. Never change, Falco, never change.
"Can we PLEASE find this stupid Christmas tree before the store gets packed or something?" asked Ema, the sole voice of reason. "So how about we hurry on inside, and...Mario, why do you look like that?" Ema saw that Mario had a shocked expression on his face, for the plumber saw some familiar faces. From a far distance he saw the threesome of Rayman, Barbara, and Globox...but what shocked Mario the most was that Rayman and Barbara were walking together, like a couple would, whereas Globox was following behind.
"Rayman and Barbara are here-a in Seattle?!" exclaimed Mario, completely ignoring Globox as if he wasn't that important. "And they're-a walking together? What is this-a sorcery, there-a must be an explanation!"
"Mario tends to be somewhat jealous towards other couples, whether they're a legit couple or not," Fox whispered to Ema, giving her the 411. The pilot should know, Mario would openly criticize his relationship with Krystal, always talking junk about how the two don't really connect as much and constantly bringing up that one time Krystal joined Star Wolf. Just then, a guy in a black hooded coat - obviously from the Organization XIII - showed up, and hid behind a wall where he wouldn't be seen by Mario and company...though he would be seen by folks entering and exiting the store and some person from the Salvation Army ringing a bell. But those individuals don't matter one bit.
Anonymous Organization XIII Member: I've tracked those fools down using Aerith's scent...practically everyone in the mansion interacted with Aerith, so they should all carry the scent...which means that whenever they leave the mansion, we can always follow them...also, would you stop videotaping me, you'll blow my cover!
"Alright, change-a of plans - Ema, you go look-a for a Christmas tree," Mario ordered the forensics investigator, who didn't seem to agree with the task handed out to her. "Fox, Falco, and I will sneak-a on Rayman and Barbara, and find-a out if they're an item!" Both Star Fox pilots felt like turning down Mario's offer, but given how adamant the plumber was, they decided it would be best not to do so. Too bad Ema didn't think the same way they did.
"But what about the Heartless, what if a Heartless invasion occurs in the store and..." Ema started, before Mario's laughter made her stop. Mario sure is treating the Heartless situation a bit more nonchalant than others...
"A Heart-a less invasion in Walmart? Give-a me a break! I can halfheartedly guarantee-a you that there will be no-a Heartless in the store, everything will-a be nice and dandy! Now let's head inside!" So Mario led the way inside the store, and Fox, Falco, and Ema had no choice but to follow along. Mario was the man, and they had to do whatever he told them to, lest they suffer the consequences.
"The plumber is making my job somewhat easier..." the Organization XIII dude snarled as he hurried inside the store...only to be stopped by some guy from the Salvation Army, ringing his bell joyfully. "No, I don't want to contribute to your stupid Salvation Army, so don't bother me again if you know what's good for you." The Organization XIII dude then headed inside the store for good.
Peach gathered with Zelda, Palutena, and Rosalina in the dining room to plan for the Christmas party taking place two weeks from now. With Cilan now working on the wedding cake for Mario's and Peach's wedding, Master Hand asked the fiancee of Mario to plan the party accordingly.
"Before we get into the thick of things, we must first decide what decorations we must have for the party," Peach started off. Christmas decorations are an absolute must, your Christmas party would feel naked and bare without 'em. "So do you ladies have any good suggestions?"
"Some fake presents would be nice," suggested Zelda. Just get a bunch of boxes and wrap them in and Christmas wrapping paper, and boom, problem solved.
"I can make paper snowflakes to hang from the ceiling!" suggested Palutena. The goddess of light would have to make plenty of those!
"Why not have miniature Christmas trees on the tables?" suggested Rosalina. Where are they gonna get miniature Christmas trees from?
Peach: This has been the third consecutive year I've planned a Christmas party, and I had to take over the reins from Sonic, since his Christmas parties would typically result in the mansion catching on fire. Hopefully this Christmas party will be the best Christmas party ever...but they always say that about everything, like how such-and-such movie is the greatest movie ever in the movie franchise, although it might be as good as the previous movies. Guess that's how they get people interested and all hyped up...
"Some very nice ideas, I'll take them into heavy consideration later on," Peach wrote down the ideas presented by Zelda, Palutena, and Rosalina on a small notepad. "Now, I had Link, Cloud, Wario, and Ganondorf work together on a snowman decoration, and they should have been done right about now..."
"Hey Peach, we're done with the snowman," Cloud entered the dining room, as Peach and company gasped in shock and surprise. The snowman looked seriously on point - it had a nifty winter cap, a colorful scarf, an authentic carrot nose, and a smile that would make your heart melt. But the snowman wasn't what amazed the ladies the most - the ladies were amazed by how Cloud himself looked. He had a black eye and several bruises on his face and arms. Clearly he and the other men were involved in some fighting, even though their task of designing the snowman was as simple as bursting a pimple with your fingers. (Unless you enjoy digging bacteria deeper into the infected areas of your skin, do what is best and don't ever burst pimples manually with your fingers.)
"Cloud, what on earth happened to you, you look like you were beaten in a dark alley!" fretted Rosalina, as Cloud casually took a seat next to the mother of all Lumas. A beatdown probably didn't mean anything to the man. "Please tell me it wasn't Ganondorf who did this to you..."
"It was him and Wario, they were the ones who instigated the fighting. The four of us were bickering over what should go on the snowman, and Wario punched Ganondorf, and Ganondorf punched Wario back, and their fight kinda carried over to Link and I and would you know it, we were all fighting..."
"MERRY CHRISTMAS!" Bowser barged into the dining room wearing a Santa Claus outfit, white beard and all. "Ho, ho, ho, pimp!" The Koopa King then pointed at Zelda, Palutena, Rosalina, and Cloud respectively prior to taking a seat next to Peach. Cloud facepalmed at Bowser as the Koopa King laughed, with Peach somewhat glad Bowser didn't point at her for various reasons.
"Looks like someone's really in the holiday spirit..." It was awfully hard for Cloud to get into the Christmas joy, though with Aerith around, he could get some Yuletide cheer injected into his system. "Tell us why you're here Bowser, so you can scram and annoy the crap out of everyone else."
"I'm just here to remind you hot babes...and man...that a few days before Christmas, or maybe perhaps on the actual day of Christmas, I'll give everyone in the mansion the gift...the gift of Bowser!" Bowser inhaled and exhaled, with his arms out at his side. "You gotta drink it in man...and hot babes."
"Could you possibly give us some hints as to what this so-called 'Gift of Bowser' is, is it an actual gift or another one of your stupid pranks?" inquired Palutena, wanting to entertain Bowser's foolishness. The man just keeps on trucking, creating new things to irk the mansion residents and to a lesser extent, Master Hand.
Bowser: "The Gift of Bowser" is currently a secret, no one knows exactly what it is but I! When it gets real close to Christmas, I'll show everyone one the gift of Bowser truly is, and prove to them that this gift is the greatest gift of all time! It doesn't need to be gift-wrapped, and it doesn't need to be put under the Christmas tree either - you just gotta drink it in, man! *inhales and exhales deeply with arms at his side*
"Let's get this straight woman - the gift of Bowser is NOT a prank, so don't get your panties in a twist about some assumed 'prank'!" frowned Bowser. "Oughta be happy my List of Bowser is gone, otherwise you would have made the list!" Palutena didn't care either way, so she just rolled her eyes at the Koopa King. "And you have the audacity to roll your eyes at me too?! That right there would have counted as a double offensive, you would have had your name on the list BIG TIME missy!"
"Like I'm supposed to care..." Palutena and the ladies went back to planning the Christmas party, angering Bowser. He hates it when others don't pay attention to him.
"Can't wait to see this 'gift of Bowser' that you're hyping up," Cloud gave the Koopa King a pat on the back as he returned to Link and the others, although he really didn't want to. "Surely it will be worth all the anticipation and excitement." Cloud's remark was enough to turn Bowser's frown upside down, and give the Koopa King a hint of confidence, as if he really needed it anyways.
"'Dear Santa Claus, I have known you for a majority of life, and let me start off by saying this - you're one of my many, many role models, a guy I could look up to in times of need,'" Pit said as he wrote a letter to this fictional holiday figure in the comfort of his room. Hoo boy, it's like The Great Pumpkin all over again... "'The way you fly across the world, delivering presents and going down the chimneys of random houses without getting caught...you're the realest G I've ever known! Words cannot begin to describe how much you mean to me - I just look at your many accomplishments, and wonder what it's like to be you!'" What accomplishments would Santa have, other than delivering presents? "'You're a truly special person, and I hold you dearly in my heart!'"
"Aw, how sweet, you're writing me a love letter!" Viridi entered Pit's room to speak with the angel, after overhearing the last line he uttered and assuming that Pit was confessing his love for the goddess of nature. "To think that this whole time, I thought you were unable to write anything of pure substance!"
"Funny you should mention that, I thought the same thing too!" Goes on to show you that Pit relatively lacks self-confidence in his own abilities. "But I hate to break it to ya Viridi, but I'm actually writing a letter to Santa..."
"Again with this whole following up a fake holiday figure crap?!" Viridi frowned, upsetting Pit for a brief moment. That allowed Viridi to catch herself before she could say anything else to hurt her boyfriend's feelings. "...I mean, I appreciate that you're writing a letter to Santa Claus, but why exactly are you writing to him for?"
Viridi: Have I ever believed in the existence of Santa Claus? Absolutely not, he sounds way too good to be true! One does not simply goes down chimneys with a fat, obese figure to deliver presents to every house in the world, and ride on a sleigh carried by flying reindeer...all on Christmas Eve! Also, the line from the song "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town", it goes along the lines of "...he sees you when you're sleeping, he knows when you're awake..." Are we seriously glorifying a senior citizen stalker, who has a particular penchant for children? This whole Santa craze is just flat out appalling to me!
"I'm writing to him to express my joy and gratitude towards him, tell him how great of a man he is!" Pit happily explained. "Santa is a real G, an ever greater man than Abraham Lincoln will ever be! President Lincoln has nothing on Santa Claus!" This dude's saying a lot more than he can chew. "Once I tell Santa how great he is, I'll write down my wishlist...I want a new Nerf gun, a Lightning McQueen toy car, a Scooby Doo DVD case, a Monopoly board game..." As Pit went on and on about his Christmas list, Viridi quietly exited the room, disheartened with her boyfriend's obsession with Santa Claus, when she spotted Knuckles walking by. What if the echidna could make Pit snap out of his Santa craze?
"Knuckles I need to speak with you right away, it has something to do with Pit!" Viridi approached Knuckles, who tried to run away the moment the goddess of nature mentioned Pit's name. In that very moment some vividly bad memories from the cruise ship formulated in the echidna's head.
"Please tell me you and Pit didn't break up and you want to get back together again!" Knuckles panicked, right when Viridi caught up with him and grabbed his arm to prevent him from getting far. "I'm not the right guy, my relationship with Rouge isn't that grand so my own experience could kill me...why don't you ask him, he practically writes romantic fanfiction in his spare time!" Knuckles pointed at Yoshi, who walked by writing on a notepad. The dinosaur looked really salty, like he had soaked in the mighty depths of saltwater for days.
"Captain Falcon now has a girlfriend and he didn't bother to remind me..." Yoshi grumbled, writing whatever the heck he was writing on his notepad. He's still bitter over that? Serves him right for not being observant at the Thanksgiving feast.
"Ah, Yoshi, you're perfect for what I must accomplish with Pit!" Viridi gleamed at the dinosaur, making Yoshi stop in his tracks. "You don't believe in Santa Claus, do you? I mean, you kinda look like someone who would..."
"Nope, can't say I believe in Santa Claus, not ever since I placed those chocolate chip cookies near the chimney that one Christmas and nobody ate them; that was all the evidence I needed!" Yoshi baked cookies all by himself? What a shocker.
"Hold up, what does Santa Claus have to do with you wanting to get back together with Pit again?" Knuckles questioned Viridi, leaving the goddess of nature to slap the echidna silly. "Ow, what was that for, I was just asking a simple question!"
Knuckles: You're asking me if I believe in Santa Claus... *pauses* You're asking ME, if I believe in Santa Claus...does it even look like I believe in Santa Claus? Why would I believe in some elderly pimp who wears all red and goes about calling imaginary women prostitutes?
"We're not reaffirming my relationship with Pit, you buffoon, for we never even broke up!" replied Viridi. "Instead, we're gonna show Pit that his beloved Santa Claus is a mere fictional holiday figure used to mess with the minds of kids!" Does that mean Pit himself is a kid? Considering his mentality, of course! "So here's what we're going to do..."
Tails flew to Lucas' room, carrying Suzie and Shaymin in his arms. With his best friend Sonic reforming Lucas and teaching the teen that kicking others in the groin was downright rude, the yellow fox had to watch over the two Pokemon while Sonic was away. Once he stopped by Lucas' room and opened the door...
"I'm only doing this to teach you a lesson!" Sonic, down on one knee, spanked Lucas, who was on the knee of the hedgehog, wincing repeatedly. Sonic stopped when he looked up and saw Tails staring at him inquisitively. "Oh what's up Tails, didn't see you there! Have you been taking good care of Shaymin? What a good friend you are!"
"Do I even need to ask what's going on here...?" Tails spoke up after finding the courage to speak. So many more questions were going through the fox's mind. "Why are you spanking Lucas?"
"Because Mario and Master Hand want to suppress his bad boy image, and something frankly had to be done!" And spanking Lucas was the only way to do it? Certainly there must have been other methods the hedgehog executed on the PSI whiz...speaking of whom, Lucas looked at Tails with beady eyes, with a facial expression that literally cried, "Save me...".
"You know what, I'll just chill in here, since I really have nothing to do," Tails flew inside the room and sat on the bed of Ness, a terrible, awful friend who would willingly allow you to receive endless torture at the hands of Sonic. But what would you expect from a guy who constantly says "Okay!" during Smash battles?
Master Hand: Lucas' grounding will remain intact for another week or so, or until Lucina feels better again, whichever comes first...and to tell you the truth, I'm hoping Lucina's road to recovery takes much longer than expected! *laughs evilly*
"Well Tails, now that you're here, you can partake in the next method to execute on Lucas to make him good again!" exclaimed Sonic, making Lucas very nervous. "Since he's being punished for kicking others in the crotch...why don't we return the favor?" Lucas was quick to object this idea, as he shook his head at Sonic. Why not kick Luigi in the crotch instead, he was the reason Lucas was kicking others in the previous episode! What was the point of the plumber enrolling the blonde teen into a YMCA class full of women? What possibly made him think that was a great idea?
"I don't want to be kicked in the crotch, I already learned my lesson!" stated Lucas, shaking in fear. Sonic was flexing his fingers, meaning that he was ready to do some vicious kicking. "I won't harm anyone again, I promise!"
"You may think that you've learned your lesson, but in order for you to fully learn it, you must learn...through experience! You must know what it's like to be hit in the neither regions - having your stomach hurt, grasping for air, struggling to stand still..." All these symptoms Sonic presented made Lucas and even Tails feel uncomfortable. "Sometimes you gotta see through someone else's eyes, understand the feelings and emotions they go through during times of hurt!"
"Sonic, getting hit in the nether regions doesn't equate to seeing through someone else's eyes, some people may experience painful sensations much different from others," Tails had to set it straight for his best friend. Sonic hates it when Tails has to educate him, so the fox's remark was met with some disdain from the blue hedgehog.
"Keep saying stuff like that mister and you'll get kicked too! Now first, we have to get things set up...Lucas, would you mind standing at the front of the door?"
"May I use the bathroom first please?" asked Lucas. A bathroom was in the vicinity of the room; Lucas could hide in there, and wait until the coast was clear and reemerge, returning to his room. But Sonic was seemingly able to see through the PSI whiz's plan.
"Sure thing bro, I can always walk with you to the bathroom! You can sit on the toilet or whatever, while I face a wall while tempting myself not to look for whatever reason! Sounds like a good plan, let's go!" So Sonic walked Lucas out of the room, as Lucas shot a pitiful look at Tails as he and Sonic exited. Tails could only imagine some of the other things Sonic might have put Lucas through prior to his arrival.
Cloud: It's been made official - Wario and Ganondorf are no longer allowed to do anything involved with planning for the Christmas party, although I honestly don't know why Peach asked them in the first place. Link and I are still doing things for Peach and company, but we won't get back to work until Link's head feels better. Wario and Ganondorf got him pretty good...
"Oh, my aching head, I can't take it anymore..." Link moaned and complained as he laid in a bed in the fitness center. Wii Fit Trainer offered to watch over Link for Zelda while the princess of Hyrule continued planning for the Christmas party.
"If you need anything, then just let me know, I'm all ears," Wii Fit said to Link as she did some stretching on the floor. "Those aspirin pills should be enough to calm your headache, I can give you some more if you like..."
"Forget some stupid aspirin pills, what I need is an ice pack," groaned Link. The Hylian lifted up his head, and saw Morton Koopa walking by with a protein shake in his hand. Gotta keep those muscles strong and hard! "Hey, Morton, can you do me a favor and fetch me and ice pack? I would ask Wii Fit over here, but as you can see, she's a bit busy..."
"What's in it for me, pal?" a now interested Morton spoke up; Link grumbled as he dug into his pants pocket, pulling out a five dollar bill. It was the only amount of money the Hylian had on him, and he found this particular dollar bill in a park. "Sweet, a cool five bucks! Favor accepted!" Morton ran in to grab the five dollar bill from Link, and promptly exited the fitness center to fetch Link an ice pack.
However, only one problem arose - where would Morton find an ice pack in the first place? There were no ice packs in the freezer, and there were no ice packs in Dr. Mario's office, for that matter. But there was one place where an ice pack was available, and that place would be Chrom's room, where the prince of Yliesse remained with Lucina, while she sat on her bed flipping through channels on a small television. Morton poked his head through the doorway as he watched Lucina channel surf, looking for a program remotely interesting for her to watch.
"Nope...nope...nope...nope...nope..." Lucina plainly said as she pressed the channel button on the TV remote, flipping through a whole variety of channels, losing interest very quickly. Endless channel surfing could make you easily the most bored person on the planet in an instant. "Father, do you know any programs worth watching, I can't seem to find one..."
"Nothing good really comes on during this time of day, so I'm afraid I don't have any great suggestions," replied Chrom, sitting on his bed ogling at hot pics of his girlfriend Raven. Just kidding...he was actually looking at gift ideas online, so he could think of a gift for his Secret Santa person, Amy Rose.
Chrom: Amy Rose kinda reminds me of what a typical girl would be - loves pink, acts feminine, fawns over boys...doesn't mean I would buy a gift for Amy that would be deemed "girly" in any way or fashion. Perhaps a new pair of bedroom slippers would do the trick...and there's no guarantee they will be pink.
With Lucina momentarily distracted at the moment, Morton sneaked inside the room and grabbed the ice pack from the princess, before darting away. Too bad Lucina caught the Koopaling after he ran away, now she has knowledge of the perpetrator.
"Morton get back here this instant!" she called out to the Koopaling, as she slowly swung her legs over the bed, now sitting up. She then put one foot down on the floor, and then the other foot, and slowly stood up, wincing in pain. "Had a feeling something like this would have happened to me..."
"Need any assistance in hunting down Morton?" Chrom offered his daughter. "You know I have a ton of experience chasing down the Koopalings, given the amount of times they've stolen my Falchion." What would they want with Chrom's stinking sword anyways?
"No Father, I got this completely under control, but thank you for the offer..." Lucina replied as she limped out of the room and through the hallways, using a nearby wall as a means of down Morton will be a serious struggle for her...
Meanwhile, the threesome of Mario, Fox, and Falco were spying on Rayman and Barbara (Globox was there, but he's not important to Mario) in a Walmart store, hiding behind a large stack of toilet tissue, while Ema was tasked with finding a new Christmas tree for the mansion. Rayman and Barbara were in the baking aisle, obviously looking for ingredients to bake some Christmas cookies, but Mario apparently suspected some foul play afoot.
"They must-a be gathering cooking materials to-a bake a cake...a cake-a of love!" proclaimed Mario, raising his voice loud enough to garner unwanted attention from the Walmart shoppers. Fox and Falco, not spying at all but rather looking at stuff on their cellphones, really wished they were somewhere other than Walmart. Mario was giving the pilots a seriously bad look!
"Yeah man totally, definitely not like they're buying stuff to make Christmas cookies and junk," asserted Falco. Mario quickly downplayed this blatantly obvious notion, and was still under the assumption that Rayman and Barbara wished to make their relationship official through the means of baking.
Ema: Finally got a Christmas tree, which Mario was supposed to do... *holds up an exquisite frying pan* ...and I also got this frying pan, for Cilan - the person I have to buy a gift for as part of the Secret Santa tradition. (Coincidentally we both drew each other's names.) Once I check both items out, we can finally head back home...
"Excuse me fellas, but can I help you out?" a Walmart employee asked Mario and company as they hid behind the toilet tissue; Mario whipped out his F.L.U.D.D. and doused water on the employee, making him run away. "Alright, alright, I'll go away, sorry for asking!" The employee quickly departed from the plumber, his uniform now soaking wet. How will he ever explain that to his manager?
"Yeah you better run, if you know what's good for ya!" F.L.U.D.D. called out to the employee before Mario put the water pack back where it belonged, in his imaginary pocket. Only an imaginary pocket is able to carry all sorts of crud like F.L.U.D.D. everywhere you go. Mario crept away from the stack of toilet tissue, with Fox and Falco carefully following behind him, until...
"Well if it isn't the mighty Mario and the famous Star Fox pilots, Fox McCloud and Falco Lombardi!" Rayman exclaimed when he exited the baking aisle with Barbara and Globox and saw the three brawlers. Mario would have retreated, but it was now too late. "Nice seeing you guys here, haven't seen you since the wedding. Or did I see you in Rio during the Olympics? Might've seen your faces..."
"Hey-a Rayman...why were you and-a Barbara in the baking aisle just-a now?" Mario accusingly pointed at Rayman, starting a scene. Just exactly what Fox and Falco needed. "I know what-a you're up to..."
"Woah, how did you know we were gonna bake Christmas cookies? You must be some sort of psychic or something!" Mario just stood there with his mouth agape, and then looked towards Falco, who cockily smirked while nodding his head. The avian pilot tried to tell Mario, but that darn plumber just wouldn't listen. "Yo, Barbara, Globox, you think we should bake Mario and his pals some Christmas cookies?"
"The more the better, as I would always say!" exclaimed Barbara, with an ever toothy grin. Joke's on her, she has never even said that phrase before!
"Globox thinks we could handle close to a hundred people, a hundred people doesn't sound like a lot!" added Globox. Who's willing to bet Globox doesn't even know what two plus two is? He's not exactly the brightest shed in the tool...erm, brightest tool in the shed. Great...
Rayman: Still feeling pretty bitter about not receiving an invite to join Super Smash Bros, I would have been the perfect addition...working alongside Mario and Sonic, besting against stellar swordsmen like Marth, fighting on the grandest stages, using a Pong game to aid me in battle... *sighs happily* Those online leaks really gave my hopes up...
"Since you laddies are here, why don't we have some Christmas fun, what do ya say?" Barbara asked Mario and company, wrapping her arms around Fox and Falco. By no means would Fox's girl Krystal appreciate that if she was present. "You know what I mean Rayman, do ya?"
"Yes I know Barbara, but I warned you about doing this in public..." replied Rayman, making the three brawlers nervous about what Barbara meant by "Christmas fun", and soon they would learn what she meant - the barbaric princess kicked Falco down to the floor, and with the pilot on his hands and knees, Barbara got on his back and wrapped some rope around Falco's muzzle, like a horse, and proceeded to ride on Falco throughout the store, as the others looked on in bewilderment.
"Giddy up horsie, giddy up!" Barbara channeled her inner Jessie from Toy Story as she rode Falco through every aisle of the store. What sucked for Falco is that he couldn't stop this madness, he had no other choice but to be Barbara's "horsie" until the princess ran out of energy. The torture would end for the bird, when Barbara came to an abrupt stop in the garden center of the store and got off of his back.
"Ran out of energy and excitement that quick?" Falco asked Barbara, who was standing there with a look of fright on her face. Falco looked forward, and saw a hooded figure standing before him and Barbara - a member of Organization XIII.
"Sure been sitting on that toilet seat for an awfully long time," Sonic said to Lucas as he was facing a wall, waiting for the PSI whiz to be done using the bathroom. Only thing was, Lucas didn't even have to use the bathroom - he just wanted to get away from Sonic, but sadly his plan failed. So he just sat on the toilet seat until Sonic got bored and wanted to leave.
"Freaking creep, in the same bathroom as Lucas..." Lucario muttered to Sonic as he came in the bathroom to wash his hands. "Don't know what Amy sees in you..."
"And here you are walking into an occupied bathroom, who's the real creep!" Sonic retorted as Lucario exited the bathroom. "You've been taking an awfully long time Lucas, are you either constipated or suffering from diarrhea?" The hedgehog refused to leave until the sound of a flushing toilet was heard.
"Might be a little constipated," replied Lucas, holding in his laughter. Will Sonic continue to fall for Lucas' shenanigans? Why not keep the fun going? "Let me see if I can do a little bowel movement..." Lucas stealthily dug into his pocket, pulling out a rubber ducky (he's too old to be carrying that around), and threw it into the toilet; once the sound was made, Lucas flushed the toilet and got off of the toilet seat, before washing his hands. Sonic was left satisfied; he would have asked Lucas how he was able to use the bathroom without pulling down his shorts, but he was just glad Lucas was finally "done".
Tails: Lucas and Sonic have been gone for a long time, and it's pretty obvious that Lucas wasn't in the need to use the bathroom, he was just trying to get away for Sonic (and I can't say I blame him). However, it seems like Sonic has yet to notice this, and that would mean he and Lucas would have to remain in the bathroom forever...a part of me wishes it should only be Sonic who remains in the bathroom.
"Sonic we have a dire emergency, no need to explain!" Knuckles approached Sonic and Lucas, with Yoshi at his side. "You must come with me and Yoshi right away, before it's too late!" Sonic would come with the echidna and Yoshi, but what about Lucas, who would take over for reforming Lucas while the hedgehog was away? Sonic would ask Tails, but the fox was but a year younger than Lucas, believe it or not.
"I dunno, this all seems shady to me," replied Sonic. "Everything at the mansion was going fine and dandy, and all of a sudden a 'dire emergency'?" The skepticism inside of Sonic was slowly building up. "Any dire emergency, Master Hand can handle!"
"Come with us and we'll give you free chili dogs!" enticed Yoshi; Sonic was left unconvinced, for he already had secret chili dog stashes in secret areas of the mansion. So what exactly did Yoshi do to fully sway Sonic. "Not just free chili dogs...jumbo-sized chili dogs, the biggest chili dogs you'll ever see!"
"J-J-Jumbo-sized chili dogs?! I'm in! Sorry Lucas, but you're on your own, remember what we did together and take it to heart!" Sonic would leave Lucas in the dust as the hedgehog followed Knuckles and Yoshi to who-knows-where. Lucas began whimpering like a baby, with nothing to do - Sonic left him in a heartbeat, and his terrible friend Ness was likely playing with his yo-yo in an unknown location. Just then, Morton came running by, with the ice pack he had snatched from Lucina's room. Not the kind of person Lucas wanted to be with, but he supposed Morton would do.
"Hoo boy, all this running, I'm not meant for that kind of stuff..." Morton came to a stop and took a breather, huffing and puffing, not enough to blow down a little piggy's house though. After the Koopaling was done, he returned to form, like he wasn't even exhausted. "So Lucas, would you be a great buddy and come with me to Ashley's room? That witch girl still scares me..."
"You and me both Morton, she gives me the creeps sometimes, especially the way she looks at me...but I can come with you, if you like. Gotta return quickly to my room though, before Master Hand comes in and sees I'm gone..."
"...sincerely, with much love from your number one fan, Pit!" the angel wrote these last words as he finished up his letter to Santa Claus, an imaginary jolly human who embodied everything Christmas was and then some. Viridi walked into Pit's room, and saw that the angel was done writing...came in right on time.
Viridi: Sonic is a part of my plan to make Pit disbelieve in Santa Claus, and my mission can be accomplished through two words...Doctor Eggman. Granted Dr. Eggman has been banned from ever returning to the mansion ever since that whole Tabuu incident with the statue of Master Hand, but Sonic did mention that he had a Doctor Eggman costume of sorts in a closet in the mansion...
"All done with your letter to Santa Claus?" Viridi asked Pit, pinching her boyfriend's cheek. Pit was in too much of a jovial mood to chide Viridi for the very action she was doing. She could poke Pit on the cheek multiple times, and the angel still wouldn't care either way.
"Yup, sure am, Santa is gonna love this letter!" exclaimed Pit. Too bad Santa Claus can't read the letter, because that fat bearded walrus doesn't even exist! Ayoooooo! "Do you know the exact address of his workshop? It's up in the North Pole, that much I know..."
"Why send the letter up to the North Pole, when he's in this very mansion RIGHT NOW?" Pit's eyes widened the instant Viridi said this, and his heart rate was moving at a very rapid rate. The angel even had to take a deep breath, for he was uncertain if Viridi was playing tricks on him.
"I won't believe it until I see it! Take me to Santa Claus Viridi, he must read my letter right away!"
So Viridi guided her gullible boyfriend to the gardens, where the jolly ol' fellow was hanging out with Knuckles and Yoshi, of all people. Pit was super delighted to see his main man Santa out in the gardens - if Santa was here, then why wasn't there a huge hullabaloo going about, why weren't the youngsters turning up for Santa? Why was Santa only hanging out with Knuckles and Yoshi, and not with the others? Did Pit not question this at all?
"Santa Claus, you're here, you're actually here, I don't believe it!" Pit ran up to meet Santa Claus, shaking his hand with one hand and keeping his letter in the other. It was indeed Santa Claus - white beard? Check. Red suit? Red hat? Check. Elderly disposition? Check. All that was left on the checklist was his voice...
"Ho, ho, ho, Merry Christmas to you, old sport!" Santa bellowed happily with a deep, jolly voice. Yup, it was definitely Santa Claus, no mistaking it. "You're really excited to see me in person, aren't ya? Trust me, I get that a lot, everyone comes running for me, and boy is it a great feeling!"
"I have a super special letter to give to you Santa, I've been working my butt off perfecting it!" Pit handed Santa his letter, and the jolly ol' fellow skimmed the entire thing. Even he was surprised by the fact that Pit was able to write a full letter on his own.
"Well I'd be, a Christmas letter written for me! Ho, ho..." Suddenly Santa ripped the letter in half, and then in half again. "...ho." Santa then dropped the pieces of the letter onto the ground, leaving Pit in utter shock.
Yoshi: Would my disbelief in Santa Claus prevent me from being fully enveloped in the Christmas spirit? If that were the case, then everyone except for Pit would be prohibited from ever celebrating Christmas! You and your silly questions!
"S-Santa, wh-why would you rip up my letter like that, I worked long and hard on it!" exclaimed Pit, nearly on the verge of tears. Santa would truly reveal to the angel who he really was, when he took off his hat, and his red suit, and even his beard, revealing himself to be none other than Dr. Eggman. But it wouldn't stop there - Dr. Eggman seemingly opened in half, revealing himself to be a robot, and guess who was inside this Eggman robot?
"Ha ha ha ha, you fell right for our trap, not surprised in the slightest!" Sonic, who was piloting the Eggman robot, pointed and laughed at Pit. The Eggman costume Viridi had spoken about in her talking head segment was not a costume, but rather a robot, and with the help of Knuckles and Yoshi, the goddess of nature was able to disguise the robot as Santa Claus, and it was up to Sonic to pilot the robot and speak as if he was Santa Claus himself, in order to fool Pit. And he ultimately succeeded.
"Wow, I cannot believe it, I just can't...Dr. Eggman's alter ego is Santa Claus! His portly body, his affable nature, it all makes sense! And he had the gall to have you pilot one of his robots and meander as Santa Claus, because of his ban!" Oh, Pit, you never cease to amaze anyone with your sheer stupidity.
"No Pit you bozo, Dr. Eggman is NOT Santa Claus, and Santa Claus doesn't even exist, it's all in your head man!" Pit refused to accept this obviously known fact, as he grew angry and his fists were tightening. "Woah Pit, chill out, I was just trying to keep it real..."
"Nobody talks crap about Santa Claus and gets away with it!" Pit lunged at the hedgehog, fighting him inside the compartment of the Eggman robot, and Pit accidentally kicked a switch, causing two rockets to pop out of the robot's side and ignite them, as the robot up, up, and away from the gardens. Viridi, Knuckles, and Yoshi watched as the robot flew away, likely to crash land and be destroyed sometime soon.
"So...I overheard that Peach wanted some Christmas cookies for the Christmas party, you guys want to bake some?" asked Yoshi, after a long, awkward silence.
Master Hand checked on Lucas, to see if the teen remained in his room, but when he stopped by, he only saw Tails present, watching over Shaymin and Suzie. Sonic and Lucas were nowhere to be found!
Master Hand: Sonic may not have be the right choice to reform Lucas, but he's a bad boy, and Lucas is a bad boy too at the moment, so two wrongs can equal a right...right?
"Where in blazes are Lucas and Sonic, they should have remained in this room!" boomed Master Hand, letting Tails feel his wrath and anger. Shaymin and Suzie, both intimidated by the giant hand, hid behind Tails, shaking.
"Lucas had to use the bathroom, and Sonic apparently tagged along," explained Tails, trying his best not to further anger Master Hand. "My best guess is that they went somewhere else, for whatever reason..."
"Has Sonic completely neglected Lucas' grounding?! And was Lucas perfectly fine with it?!" Master Hand's voice grew in many decibels. So much for not wanting to anger the giant hand any more... "Oooh, when I get my hands on those two..."
"All this searching is making Globox very hungry!" Globox moaned as he, Rayman, Mario and Fox searched for the whereabouts of Falco and Barbara. Ever since Barbara rode through Falco on horseback throughout the store, the barbaric princess and the avian pilot had yet to return.
"Sorry you fellas had to witness Barbara being Barbara," Rayman apologized to Mario and Fox. "She has a very potent tendency to do weird stuff like that in public, to say it's humiliating would be an understatement."
Rayman and company entered the garden center of Walmart, and to their surprise, it was empty! Sure, there were Christmas trees and other Christmas supplies present, but the garden center was practically devoid of Walmart employees, it was alarming to say the least.
"There you are Mario, I've been looking all over for you," Ema entered the garden center through a different entrance, with the Christmas tree and the frying pan (both items were checked out) in her possession. "Have to admit, you move awfully fast..."
"Fox is that your new girlfriend, did you dump Krystal for a human chick?" Fox and Ema both cringed at Rayman, who looked down at the floor with regret. Probably should have kept that question to himself.
Rayman: Just to be on the safe side, Fox and Krystal are still a couple, correct?
"No I didn't dump Krystal, we're still dating...somewhat," corrected Fox. His relationship with Krystal was still a bit murky. "This right here is Ema Skye - forensics scientist and occasional detective. She's been staying with us at the mansion tracking down these beings called Heartless."
"Heartless, you say? I've heard a lot about them...no wait, I practically control them!"
Suddenly the Organization XIII member with the black coat appeared, walking towards Mario and company. Mario instantly knew he was a part of the Organization, remembering how Aerith described the Organization's attire, and braced himself.
"So you guys have been dealing with Heartless in your area, is that right?" asked the anonymous Organization XIII member. "Just as I figured...how about I tell you a little story of why the Heartless started popping up all of a sudden?" The hooded man walked back and forth, like how most villains do when discussing stuff. "It all started sometime before that precious wedding...one of your compradres just so happened to enter our universe just to retrieve someone, and you know what it did? it left a huge tear, an opening rather, in our universe, and it granted the Heartless access to your universe and cause all sorts of havoc! Once we, the Organization XIII, found out about this tear, we sent in more and more Heartless into your universe, as a means to collect hearts - it's kinda the Heartless' specialty, and our specialty too."
"You think Aerith coming into our universe might have something to do with this?" Fox whispered to Mario, who nodded as the anonymous Organization XIII member pulled out two gun-like weapons, loading them up with ammo.
"And now I have the chance to get some fresh hearts for myself...so before I start working on the folks in the back...why not get some first blood on you punks?"
Before the hooded man could do anything, the Dr. Eggman robot came flying down from the sky and flew throughout the garden, with Pit and Sonic still inside. Their voices could be heard, the two arguing with one another, as the robot zipped through the aisles of trees and past the anonymous Organization XIII member, who jumped out of the way as the robot crashed into a room in which the door was completely blocked off. And would you know it, Falco, Barbara, the Walmart employees, and a slew of shoppers were inside, and now they were free.
"FREEDOM!" one of the employees cheered, his fists in the air, as he ran out of the room, leading his fellow workers and the shoppers out. During this wave of commotion, the anonymous Organization XIII member, but before he could sneak away through an available entrance, Falco and Barbara came over to block said entrance, preventing the hooded man from making his escape.
Falco: It was horrible being stuck in that room, too many people which meant that it was entirely crowded. Even worse, I was stuck with some fat bozo with a gut that was this wide... *spreads out his arms* ...and he had a highly upset stomach. Thank goodness the guy was only capable of passing gas, could have been much, much worse...
"Going somewhere, laddie?" questioned Barbara, battle axe in hand. The anonymous Organization XIII member gritted his teeth, his plan of collecting hearts foiled by Pit and Sonic...speaking of whom, Ema headed over to the crash site of the Dr. Eggman robot (which was now in shambles) to see if the two were okay, and the angel and the hedgehog were still fighting. Ema had to break up the fight in an instant.
"You punks haven't seen the last of me!" the anonymous Organization XIII member vowed as he summoned a dark corridor behind him, and walked through said corridor before it dispersed. After he left, and the commotion in the garden center died down, business resumed as usual.
"Glad to see you and Barbara are okay," Fox said to Falco as the avian pilot came over to greet his friend. "We finally saw someone from the Organization XIII, now we gotta tell Aerith and the others the details!"
"My hero!" Barbara, under the assumption that Rayman saved her, ran up to the limbless hero, hugging him and giving him a kiss on the cheek. Mario smirked as he looked towards Falco, who shook his head in disdain. Who knows, maybe Rayman and Barbara might actually be a legit couple...
Link, his head still hurting, continued to lay on the bed in the fitness center, with Wii Fit Trainer providing the Hylian with some company. Cloud was also there, after Link had Wii Fit text the swordsman and tell him how bored he was.
"Oughta be glad only your head's hurting, given how Wario and Ganondorf toyed with you, you could have been in a more seriously worse state than now," stated Cloud, also glad he only got away pretty easily. Roy finally arrived with the ice pack, and he had brought Lucas and Ashley along.
"I'm only here because I don't trust neither one of you with my potions," explained Ashley. In her hand was a potion, a healing potion that could heal just about anything - a broken ligament, a sore thumb, a broken cellphone, etc.
"Lucas why are you out of your room, didn't Master hand ground you for your actions last week?" Wii Fit Trainer asked the PSI whiz; Lucas was apparently too nervous to answer the fitness guru's question.
Ashley: My potions are very delicate, day in and day out I create new potions and if one of them were to be misused, or even wasted, then I have to hold the perpetrator accountable. *holds up wand to camera* And trust me, you don't want to face the wrath of my wand...
"Hand me the ice pack so I can apply the potion to it," ordered Ashley, as Morton handed her the ice pack. "The effects of the potion only last for a short amount of time, so you have to apply it to Link before the effect wears off." Right after Ashley poured the healing potion on the ice pack...
"Finally found you...Morton...give me the pack...or else..." Lucina entered the room, hobbling inside the room while holding on to the wall for support. She had followed Morton from her room to the fitness center, while in pain...someone oughta give that woman an ice pack. And that's exactly what Lucas planned to do.
"May I see this Ashley?" the teen asked the young witch, and Ashley gave him the ice pack. Lucas gave said ice pack to Lucina, who was sitting on her knees, and the princess was astounded by Lucas' generosity. She accepted the ice pack from the teen, and applied it to the area where Lucas kicked her in the previous episode, and in what may have seemed like a miracle of sorts, Lucina slowly stood up, only this time, she was in no pain whatsoever.
"Th-This is unbelievable...I can firmly stand up straight again!" the princess rejoiced. "And I feel so much better too; thank you very much Lucas!" A warm smile would appear on Lucas' face, but that smile would fade away real quick when Master Hand appeared, in an angry mood.
"What in the name of Masahiro Sakurai's haircut is wrong with you, sneaking out of your room?!" the giant hand put Lucas on full blast. "You're supposed to be grounded, for crying out loud! You really want to extend the duration of your punishment, is that what you want?!"
"Master Hand, you won't believe it, Lucas gave me this ice pack, which came with some strange healing powers, and now I feel well again! See?" Lucina demonstrated for Master Hand as she walked around, exhibiting no signs of pain or discomfort. Master Hand was very well pleased.
"You actually healed Lucina's injury?" he asked Lucas, who nodded with a confident smile. "Well in that case, I suppose I'll make it up to you and remove your punishment, you're no longer grounded."
"Hey what about me, my head still hurts!" Link sat up and threw his arms up in the air, wondering where his respect. Everyone just looked at the Hylian, not wanting to help the man out or anything.
"Yeah, what about you Link?" questioned Master Hand; Link groaned as he laid back down in his bed, disgruntled. "Before I retreat to my room, I must ask, has anyone seen Sonic anywhere?"
Master Hand: Sonic won't be punished, I'll just...give him another task to keep him occupied. Him reforming Lucas was the only thing that would have prevented him from doing any silly shenanigans. What would be a good task for him that would easily bore him, making him suffer? *snaps his fingers in delight* Ooh, I think I have the perfect job for Sonic, he would love it...
The hedgehog in question had returned to the Smash Mansion via Mario's car (thankfully the car had seven seats, which meant he and Pit came along for the ride), and was lying on the couch in the living room while Fox and Falco set up and decorated the new Christmas tree. Mario checked on Peach and the ladies in the dining room, Ema discussed with Aerith the anonymous Organization XIII member she and the others saw at Walmart, and Pit offered to assist Viridi, Yoshi, and Knuckles with the Christmas cookies. All he was required to do was decorate the cookies that had just finished baking, he couldn't possibly screw that up.
"How does this candy cane look to you?" Pit showed Yoshi a candy cane decoration he made for one of the cookies, and it looked atrocious. Yoshi simply nodded his head, not wanting to give Pit a scathing critique and hurt the angel's feelings in the process. The dinosaur walked away, just when Viridi came over to check on her boyfriend's progress - and to ask an important question.
"Do you still believe in Santa Claus?" she asked. Inside the goddess of nature was saying, "Please say no, please say no, please say no..."
"You know Viridi, I thought long and hard about that question, and then Sonic said to me on the ride back to the mansion, 'Why do you believe in that jolly man for, no person can be that happy!' And then he also said, 'How would someone like Santa be able to go down chimneys, and ride on a sleigh carried by reindeer, and deliver presents on the day before Christmas without being caught?' To me, it all lacked logic, and kids are known for having zero logic, and by the sound of it, I act like a kid, So I did what I had to do...I manned up, and threw away my belief of Santa Claus, and decided to move on! It's like I matured in a way, and that's what kids have to do, right Viridi?"
"You hit the nail right on the head..." a now happy Viridi kissed Pit on the cheek as she walked away, leaving Pit alone to make even more lousy Christmas cookie decorations that would make one assume a kindergartner did them.
Pit has yet to fully exit his kid phase. But by all accounts, it looks like he's getting there.
