Author's Note:
Many of you were expecting a Pokemon chapter, what with "Pokemon: Let's Go Pikachu! and Let's Go Eevee!" being released today...but instead, I've done something a little different than before. As you may know, "Spyro: Reignited Trilogy" was released earlier this week, and it was huge for me as I grew up loving and playing Spyro. Played all the games from the trilogy, played Hero's Tail, played The Legend of Spyro series, and even played those handheld games on the Game Boy Advance. Spyro practically consumed my life as a child, almost as much as Crash did - I would tell you a few stories about Spyro, but that's for another time.
So, in celebration of Spyro finally getting a remastered version of the original trilogy, I decided to write a chapter mostly centered around Spyro, including tidbits of canon from games outside of the trilogy. (You'll see later.) Don't let the chapter title fool you. This is something I've wanted to do back in September, before the remaster was delayed, and now here it is...but enough about my love for Spyro, I got some reviews to answer:
"Has Dr. Cossack from Mega Man 4 appeared yet? Can you add a scene of Jigglypuff and Piranha Plant hanging out with each other? (Since they're both joke characters) a scene of 2B interacting with Edna from Tales of Zestiria? (Kira Buckland voices them) is Lightning wearing her outfit from Final Fantasy XIII, XIII-2 or Lightning Returns? And finally will Ken's wife and son (Eliza and Mel) show up in later chapters?"
Not yet. Jigglypuff and Piranha Plant will be spending some quality time with one another in the coming chapters. 2B might interact with Edna - emphasis on might. Lightning is wearing her outfit from Lightning Returns. And Eliza and Mel will show up next week, in the Thanksgiving chapter. Beyond that, I don't know. On to Derick Lindsey:
"1. After the game gets released would you be making an arc based on the World of Light Adventure mode?
2. Who do you think the 5 DLC characters will be for Smash Ultimate?
1. The arc won't be based around the World of Light, but instead will focus on something else.
2. Got my money on Sora, Heihachi, Impa, a new Fire Emblem rep...and Crash? A man can dream.
Moving on:
"Also just a thought could you at any point in the future have Cortex and Wily decide to team up to get one over on their respective enemies Crash and Mega Man since I feel like there could be some for shenanigans there along with Uka having to deal with all of it."
Cortex and Dr. Wily sounds like an awesome pairing...oh ho ho...
Episode 152: Rathalos
A lot of things has changed ever since the new building next to the Smash Mansion - now called the Assist Tower, by Master Hand, although it hardly looked like a tower - was built not so long ago. Many beloved characters such as Krystal, Shadow, and even Dr. Wily made their abode in this new residential building, getting the opportunity to live next to dudes like Link, Donkey Kong, and the like.
Many relationships fostered, as a result of this new Assist Tower. Jeff, the boy wonder, got to hang out with his friends Ness, Paula, and Poo. Phosphora got to harass Pit more often. And Shadow finally had a chance to kill Sonic...only if he had a good reason for doing so. Although Master Hand would forbid him.
As an order from Master Hand himself, Mario went along with Isabelle to the Assist Tower, to see how the residents living inside of it. Mario and Isabelle went to each and every room, checking upon each and every person.
"Top of the afternoon, sir Mario and Miss Isabelle!" greeted the Shovel Knight, as Mario and Isabelle took a peek inside his room. Shovel Knight was seated at a table with the Black Knight, enjoying an old-fashioned tea party. "Care to join us?"
"Thanks, but no thanks - we're doing a bit-a of a morality check," smiled Mario, turning down the offer as he and Isabelle went to the next room; Isabelle wrote something down on her clipboard along the way. In the next room was Guile and Akira, with Guile doing squats while his theme song played from Akira's radio player.
"Nine hundred and thirty, nine hundred and thirty-one, nine hundred and thirty-two..." counted Guile, sweating buckets as he did his squats with intensity and determination. Akira was chilling on his bed, eating an apple, when he looked over at Mario and Isabelle.
"He's been doing this pretty much ever since this morning," explained Akira, surprised that Guile was able to work out for so long. You'd think the major would tire himself out already. "Totally skipped out on breakfast - but I can't say I blame him."
Akira: Chef Kawasaki is the guy who cooks the meals for us at this Assist Tower, and boy lemme tell ya...his cooking sucks. His pancakes are somehow flatter than a piece of paper, and his eggs look like charred up butter. What's worse is that everyone bailed out of the breakfast table, and Chef Kawasaki gave their leftover portions to ME!
Chef Kawasaki: Man, I'm such a great chef...my cooking is so darn good, that the residents are completely floored after the first or so bite and heads back to their room, with a great impression! Not that many chefs can say that. Gordon Ramsay, come get some!
"I saw Kawasaki making breakfast this morning, during my usual morning routine..." stated Guile, while he was still doing his squats. The more squats he did, the more strained his face was. "...and I told myself to skip out on every single meal that horrible chef cooks. Have you SEEN that man's chili?"
"That 'chili' looked more like a vegetable soup than anything," replied Akira, who shuddered just thinking about it. "Isabelle, can you ask Master Hand if we could trade chefs? Chef Kawasaki for Cilan? That sounds fair, right?"
"It would take a lot of convincing - and maybe bribery - but I know Chef Kawasaki will make some improvements in the future," assured Isabelle, with Akira and Guile exchanging looks of concern as Mario closed the door.
Mario and Isabelle then proceeded to the next room, and they heard a lot of noise coming from inside. When the plumber and shih tzu entered the room, they saw two girls, both of whom weren't featured in the previous episode - Barbara the Bat, the rocking chick from Jam With the Band, and Jill, leader of the Red Dozers gang from Drill Dozers. Barbara was strumming away on her guitar, while Jill was testing out her drill.
"Sup guys - came to watch the best guitarist that has ever lived?" Barbara asked Mario and Isabelle; Sonia Strumm and many others would have something to say about the bat's claim. Mario and Isabelle had to cover their ears, as Barbara's guitar playing was simply too loud.
"BARBARA WILL YOU PLEASE-A TURN THAT DOWN?!" Mario shouted over the loud music, the hands over his ears not enough to block the sound. "YOU'RE GONNA MAKE SOME-A ONE DEAF SOON!"
"What did Mario say?" Barbara, unable to hear the plumber, asked Jill - since Jill's drill was too loud, she was unable to coherently hear Barbara's question.
"I think he told you to turn your music up louder!" replied Jill, answering with the best she could. Jill was trying to get Barbara kicked out of the Assist Tower!
"Oh yeah, that was exactly what I wanted to hear!" Barbara turned up the dial on the loudspeaker connected to her guitar, and the sound went up many decibels louder. A huge hindrance for Mario and Isabelle, and pretty much everyone else inside the residence hall.
"FOR ALL THAT IS HOLY BARBARA, TURN DOWN YOUR STUPID GUITAR!" shouted Shadow from down the hallway, ready to go full-blown Chaos Control if Barbara kept up with her antics. "CAN'T EVEN HEAR MYSELF THINK PROPERLY!"
"Louder, you say? Got it!" After hearing Shadow's request, Barbara turned up the dial on the loudspeaker, as the sound got even louder. Unable to take it anymore, Mario and Isabelle left the room, saving their ears.
Eventually Barbara's guitar playing got so loud, that the sound could even be heard from the mansion! Mario and Isabelle got out of the Assist Tower in a hurry, still covering their ears. Uka saw this from afar, as he was on the roof of the mansion with Cortex.
"Playing music that loud with Shadow and Ashley in the same building is like a death wish just waiting to happen," the floating mask remarked, as Cortex was oddly looking through a telescope. "Are you even hearing me, Cortex?"
"Shush, Uka, I'm looking for my first wife..." shushed Cortex, spying on four ladies chilling out on the balcony of the Assist Tower - Tiki, Lyn, and the Squid Sisters. "So many hot babes...it's practically Waifu Central over there!"
Cortex: My romantic life has taken a toll at the mansion - literally most of the ladies there are either taken, or just plain unattractive! (No offense, Wii Fit Trainer.) The Assist Tower provides me a better chance at finding a potential soulmate.
"Waifu Central sounds about right - you'll never even be close to being around those girls," remarked Uka, astonished that Cortex even knew what the term "waifu" was. He underestimated Cortex so many times. "Also, are those girls over there underage? I'm pretty sure the Squid Sisters are teenagers."
"But Tiki isn't...I asked Marth about her, since they're best friends, and he told me that Tiki is over three thousand years old!" exclaimed Cortex, like Uka was supposed to believe that being over 3000 years of age made you the perfect gal for Cortex. "So I have a chance!"
"Don't give your hopes up buddy..." Uka floated away from Cortex, letting the mad scientist dwell in his own delusion. The floating mask was about to head back inside the mansion, when Champion Link appeared from the door that led to the roof.
"Have you been my Sheikah Slate anywhere?" the Hylian asked Uka, in a minor state of panic; he never left the mansion without that trusty device at his side. "I had it next to my bed one day, and now it's gone..."
"You mean that iPad looking thingamajig? Yeah, I haven't seen it, Dr. Wily must've stolen it or something. Or maybe it was Samus. You should go yell at her about it - do it for me!"
"That blasted Yiga Clan...perhaps they were the one who stole my Slate..." Champion Link frowned, as he went back inside the mansion with a scowl on his face. Uka shook his head disapprovingly, letting out a sigh.
"There he goes again, blaming some stupid make-believe clan..." the floating mask remarked, as he followed Champion Link back inside. Only a matter of time until someone saw the Yiga Clan for real...
...in fact, someone DID see the Yiga Clan for real - Pit and Cilan, who had an encounter with the thievish clan in the last episode when they came for the malasadas. Cilan had the memory of the encounter lodged in his brain, but dared not to share the incident with anyone else. Pit was the polar opposite...but, since it was Pit, nobody believed him.
"I'm telling you Incineroar, that Yiga Clan could've killed Cilan and I!" Pit said to the heel Pokemon, walking through the hallway as he rolled his eyes at the angel. Pit and Incineroar spent a lot of time bonding with each other over the week, and yes, it was over wrestling. "We could've been goners, goners I tell you!"
"Grrrr..." mumbled Incineroar, as he and Pit entered the movie room where they would watch some old wrestling videos. It was a hobby Pit had suggested to Incineroar, when they first met. In the movie room already was Rex, shuffling through the mansion's movie selection.
"Is he going on again about that so-called 'Yiga Clan'?" the swordsman asked Incineroar, who nodded his head. Rex looked up at the heavens, shaking his head. "Unbelievable that I have to live in the same building as that guy..."
Rex: Yiga Clan this, Yiga Clan that...Pit has been doing nothing but talk about the Yiga Clan incessantly. He's like one of those conspiracy nutjobs that spew ridiclous crap and expects everyone to believe it. Sooner or later, Pit's gonna believe that the earth is flat; I'm astonished he hasn't believed in that false theory yet.
"Yiga Clan is real Rex, you're just too afraid to admit it yet!" Pit pointed a Rex, overhearing what he just said, as he and Incineroar took a seat in the couch in front of the giant television. As Pit grabbed the TV remote and turned the television on, Ken entered the room, ecstatic to see Rex.
"Rex, my man!" the fighter gleamed as he walked up to the swordsman, patting him aggressively on the back. Rex winced in pain. "Whatcha doing? Planning on watching a movie with your lady friend Pyra? Or is it Mythra or Nia? Don't tell me you got a crush on all three of 'em!"
"No I don't a crush...we're just friends," replied Rex, rubbing his back; he always hated it whenever someone asked about his feelings for Pyra and Mythra. Nia, he doesn't get asked that often about her. "Just friends...what do you want?"
"I just wanna know if you were interested in playing some ping pong with me. I would ask Ryu for a rematch, but he's still salty after I creamed him the other day. so Rex, how about it?" Ken was a worthy opponent to go up against...in ping pong, at least. Rex would die in a one-on-one fight, without his Blade.
"Eh, I got nothing better to do, why not..." shrugged Rex, as he followed Ken outside the movie room. Chrom happened to see the swordsman following Ken to the table tennis room, feeling furious.
"Enjoy your time with Ken, Rex..." the prince snarled; Chrom has never acted this way about anything, has he? "...before revenge falls upon your..." Before Chrom could finish, he felt someone in his presence; he looked over, and saw Ryu, standing right next to him.
"Ken is challenging Rex to a game of ping pong...I hope he loses," the fighter said, before turning to Chrom who was giving him a judgmental look. "I just said that out loud, didn't I? I'm sorry, I have a habit of doing that...it's why Chun-li and I haven't gotten along as of late."
"Still haven't gotten over your loss to Ken in pong pong, huh?" Indeed that was the case, as Ryu looked down at the floor with utter shame. Ryu took losing seriously and very personal - he thought less of himself as a man with every L he took.
"He caught me with multiple trick shots, and made me look silly...I might never recover. I would seek vengeance against Ken, for how he embarrassed me, but I don't know how to..." Ryu stopped, when Chrom placed a hand on his shoulder with a comforting smile.
"Funny you should mention that - I'm seeking vengeance against Rex, for that time when he shaved my hair off thanks to Akuma. I got my retribution on Akuma over the winter, and now, it's Rex's turn...how about we work together, and seek revenge on the men who've humiliated us?"
"Anything to make up for my loss..." Ryu grinned, with him and Chrom now working together. Lucina poked her head outside of her room, seeing Chrom and Ryu together, looking very curious.
Lucina: Father is up to no good again...and I know for a fact Rex has something to do with it. I'm gonna get to the bottom of this, like I always have.
Akuma: How did Chrom get his "retribution" against me for having his head shaven off? Take my mattress out of my room and move it outside, near the lake. Nearly got hypothermia. Got worse when those delinquent kids came over and threw snowballs at me while I was sleeping. It was only three in the morning, mind you!
Mario returned to his home, his ears slightly still ringing as he went over Isabelle's notes with Isabelle in the living room. Peach approached Mario and Isabelle, with her hands behind her back.
"Feeling any better, you two?" the princess asked the plumber and shih tzu, having two cups of tea in the kitchen ready to go. Peach was always a charitable soul, which was why Mario loved her so much.
"My hearing in my left-a ear isn't so well, but other than that I'm-a fine," replied Mario, as he dug his finger into his left ear, expecting to find to ear wax. 'Though it could be that I got-a too much ear wax. Cleaning my ears-a out is always messy for me."
"How's everyone at the Assist Tower treating themselves? I've heard from Krystal that everyone has alienated Chef Kawasawki because of his cooking...is it really that bad? Was he always bad?" Peach should've known - Chef Kawasaki has forever been a horrible cook.
"From what I've heard from Krystal, at least ten of the residents accrued diarrhea from eating Chef Kawasaki's meatloaf," replied Isabelle, holding some sympathy for the residents that were affected. "Said that last night was a pretty noisy one..."
"Mario, are you still busy?" Impa asked the plumber, as she and Lana approached him from their room. "Lana and I have something to tell you...and Linkle too, if she cared enough to be here."
"Not-a now, Impa, I gotta get those-a notes prepared for Master Hand," responded Mario, waving Impa and Lana away as he crossed out certain sentences in the notes Isabelle wrote. "I shall speak-a with you later."
"Crossing out notes I see...that's a very dishonest thing to do, Mario. I would say that I expect better from you, but frankly I lived with you long enough to know how you operate. Speaking of which..."
"It's not dishonest - I'm just saving the hides-a of certain folk from Master Hand. Most of the items Isabelle wrote-a down are pretty damning - Master Hand would flip-a if he ever saw-a them. I'll just twist-a the truth a little and..."
Suddenly, a knock was at the front door, and Peach went over to answer it. Standing at the doorway were the Inklings, with the male Inkling holding his cellphone.
"Hi Peach, is Mario home?" the youngster asked the princess, both he and his female companion looking like they were in a hurry. "Or have you been watching the local news. There's some trouble brewing in town again..."
"Mario, the Inklings are here!" Peach called out to her husband, but Mario didn't respond - he was too busy whiting out certain details of Isabelle's notes. Details such as Ghirahim licking his lips seductively at the female residents, and Mr. Resetti digging holes all over the kitchen.
"Tell the Inklings I'll speak-a with them later," Mario would eventually respond, only for Peach to let the Inklings inside the house. "Woman, what-a did I tell you to..."
Mario was ready to snap on Peach, until the male Inkling showed the plumber an image on his phone. It was an image of a large dragon, flying over downtown Seattle, appearing to terrorize the citizens below it.
"We just saw this dragon flying around town on the news," explained the male Inkling, as Mario looked at the dragon very curiously. "Doesn't look like a dragon-type Pokemon either...must be an entirely different beast!"
Female Inkling: Master Hand told us that Mario was the best person to notify about the dragon in town - said that while Mario might be prone to fail, given his track record, he always comes through in the clutch and gets the job done. Sora was Master Hand's second option, but I don't think Sora is that effective in our universe with his Keyblade...try telling him that, and he'll go on another rant about how he slayed a thousand Heartless by himself. Sora's tall tales are becoming less believable than Pit's claims about some "Yiga Clan"...
"What do you think we should do, Mario?" the female Inkling asked the plumber, still looking at the image of the dragon as he handed Isabelle's clipboard back to the shih tzu. He then stood up, now a man on the mission.
"Isabelle, come-a with me to the Assist-a Tower," ordered Mario; the plumber hoped that Barbara was done with her guitar playing already. "Let's go see if Dr. Wily is-a busy..."
"Uh, okay then!" replied Isabelle, as she happily followed the now serious Mario out of the house. Peach and the others looked on, with Impa feeling somewhat salty.
"So he would rather blunder another major incident in town, rather than fulfilling our request..." the Sheikah frowned, as Lana rested a comforting hand on her right shoulder. "The decision-making of that man..."
"Golly Impa, you're always angry with Mario for the wrong reasons..." Lana said to the Sheikah, taking her back to her bedroom. "...Mario was right, you really do need to loosen up a little bit!"
Fox, Falco, and Diddy were ready to go - they met Kazuma, they found their espionage costumes, and now they were prepared to infiltrate Maiko's base and rescue Donkey Kong, once and for all. Fox, who had Kazuma's phone number, was told by Kazuma via text message to wait at Tokyo's main square, where he and his friends would wait for Kazuma's arrival.
"Why did Kazuma make us do this so early?" asked Falco, yawning as he stretched his arms. It was seven in the morning over in Tokyo, and Falco clearly didn't get enough sleep. "Does he not know how hard it is to sleep in a city like this?!"
"An early bird always gets the worm, that's how the saying goes," replied Fox; being a bird, Falco should know that common phrase by heart. "Look on the bright side - the sooner we save Donkey Kong, the sooner we can return home."
"Isn't our hotel rent supposed to end today? We better not leave Japan empty-handed...I'd really hate to waste that chick Clare's money again. Must make a lot of moolah from all that racing." Diddy, feeling triggered, looked up at Falco with an angry look.
"Her name is Chase, for your information Falco..." the spidermonkey corrected the avian pilot, who found Diddy's suddenly offended attitude somewhat amusing. Almost made him laugh, looking at Diddy's face.
"Someone sure sounds butthurt...you sure Chase isn't your new girlfriend? You trying to pull a Cranky Kong, and fall in love with human chicks out of your league?" Diddy got even more angrier, as he found himself blushing.
"C'mon Falco, leave Diddy alone...it's clear as day that he obviously values Chase more than Dixie Kong," Fox said to his best friend, as Diddy's anger increased by tenfold. "Has the guy even texted Dixie since we arrived in Japan?"
Fox: Really stoked about heading back home to Seattle, especially since my girlfriend Krystal is gonna be living next door to me. Knuckles told me about that Assist Tower, and how Krystal was select to be a resident, what with being an Assist Trophy and all. But Master Hand really didn't have to build that tower, in my honest opinion. The way I see it, this Assist Tower is just a large participation trophy for select people to live in.
"I DID text Dixie Kong, after we got to Japan..." Diddy defended himself, garnering Fox and Falco's attention, before looking down at the ground in shame. "...she just hasn't responded back, due to the connection." Fox and Falco looked at one another, before laughing at Diddy in unison.
"Lack of connectivity, or Dixie's fading interest in you - which one is it?" asked Fox, in-between his laughing fit as Diddy got angry again. "I think she's starting to fade away Diddy...good thing you started falling in love with Chase."
"I AM NOT IN LOVE WITH CHASE, I WAS NEVER IN LOVE WITH ANY HUMAN TO BEGIN WITH!" Diddy's temper tantrum caught the attention of several Tokyo denizens, who gave Diddy inquisitive glances before walking away from the spidermonkey out of fear.
"Nice job Diddy, now everyone in Tokyo thinks you're a human hater, just like Viridi," remarked Falco, as Diddy started to pout. Fox and Falco really made that spidermonkey look bad. "Way to go fam, way to go..."
"Guys, it looks like Kazuma finally showed up..." announced Fox, as Falco and Diddy turned around. They saw Kazuma walking towards them, looking like a million bucks as he walked with more swagger and bravado than a dozen playboys.
"Good morning gentlemen, sorry if I kept you waiting long," Kazuma said to Fox and company, once he caught up with them. "Hope you all had a good night's sleep."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, let's just cut to the chase already," the always impatient Falco cut off Kazuma; nobody interrupted a yazuka and got away with it, but Kazuma was wiling to be nice with Falco...for the time being. "Where the heck is Maiko located?"
"Thanks to some insider information I gained from a few associates, Maiko has a record label set up not that far from here. In fact...it's located in an unused building at the very end of this street."
"Okay, so why did you tell us to meet you here?" questioned Fox, not understanding Kazuma's ways or methods. "We could have already been down..." Kazuma would silence Fox effectively, placing his index finger on the pilot's lips.
"I just wanted to see how adept you three were at following directions. And obviously, you three all passed the trial. Which means we can stop Maiko, and rescue your gorilla friend from her clutches. You're all wearing your disguises, which means we can go now. Follow me, I know the way..."
"This guy is gonna be the death of us soon..." mumbled Falco, as he, Fox, and Diddy followed after Kazuma to wherever Maiko and Donkey Kong were.
Cloud: Dr. Wily's right next door, which means that I have a chance to ask him about that device he was building with Professor E. Gadd, and what went wrong between the two. Not gonna lie, I'm really going to miss Aerith, but Sora can't return to his stupid universe anytime soon...well, it's not all stupid, since Aerith is there, but every alternate universe has its case of sour apples.
Cloud headed next door to the Assist Tower, arriving at the lobby. The lobby smelt funny to him - meaning that Cloud hated the place already. Didn't take that long - must be a record time. Sitting in a chair in the lobby was Isaac, who was reading a book.
"This place looks like trash..." Cloud gave his consensus of the Assist Tower, as he looked around. "...good thing I didn't come to his heap of trash sooner." Isaac overheard Cloud, looking up from his book as he saw the swordsman in plain sight.
"Cloud Strife!" the Earth Adept exclaimed, dropping his book unto the floor as he got up from his chair to greet Cloud. "I've heard that you live next door, in the Smash Mansion. I'm Isaac, the earth's youngest Earth Adept. Can't believe I finally get to meet you in person!"
"Well it's great that you know who I am, I suppose." In his mind, Cloud thought of Isaac as a more tolerable version of Slippy. Isaac had yet to exceed his boundaries of excitement, provided Isaac even had boundaries to begin with. "Hey, have you seen Dr. Wily around?"
"He's down in the basement with Mario and Isabelle - he told me that he's trying to 'recruit' a dragon! How awesome is that?" Cloud clearly didn't think it was awesome, as he had the same stoic facial expression.
"Meh, I've seen a dragon before, so I'm not all that excited or anything. Dragons don't really excite me anymore." Cloud walked away from Isaac, looking for the door to the basement. "I'll see you around, kid."
"Yeah, I'll do the same!" Isaac looked on with a proud look on his face, in disbelief that he got to meet Cloud Strife in person. Only a few more big-name mansion residents to go...
Cloud continued looking around, until he found a door along the way. It had to be the door to the basement, it had to...Cloud walked towards this door, bumping into someone along the way - it was Tiki.
"Oh, sorry about that ma'am," Cloud apologized to the Manaket - he may be a distant fellow, but the swordsman knew how to be polite. "Were you heading in through the door too?"
"Yes I was - my roommate just told me to meet someone down there," replied Tiki, before getting a real good look at Cloud. "Have we...met before? I don't think we have. You're Cloud, right? I'm Tiki, you might know me as one of Chrom's friends. And one of Marth's friends, as well."
"Ah, so you're Tiki...you're that woman Dr. Cortex apparently harbors a crush on." Realizing what he accidentally just said, Cloud kept his mouth shut, as Tiki had a confused look on her face. Cloud evidently said too much.
"I'm sorry, who has a crush on me?" Tiki looked confused for a few seconds, until she shook her head to wipe the confusion away. "N-Never mind, I'll probably ask later...gotta get down to the basement."
Tiki: *blushing* Hehehe...I never knew anyone had a crush on me. This is all new to me...I've never really been in love before. Did Cloud mention that the man crushing on me is a doctor? Ooh, I bet he's one hot doctor... *sighs lovingly*
Cloud would follow Tiki inside the basement, and once the two climbed down the stairs, they saw Dr. Wily putting the finishing touches on some kind of portal machine, with Mario and Isabelle standing by.
"That might be the machine that could take Sora and Aerith back to their universe..." Cloud thought out loud - loud enough for Tiki to him hear. The Manakete looked at Cloud, who saw Tiki looking at him and cleared his throat.
"I'm sorry, did you say something?" Tiki asked Cloud out of curiosity. Cloud tried to play it cool, leaning against the wall with his hands in his pockets.
"No, nothing, I was just talking to himself. I have a habit of doing that a lot." Cloud continued to play it cool, as Tiki turned back around, albeit with a judgmental look on her face.
"You know Mario, we don't have to go through with this..." Dr. Wily said to the plumber, screwing in the last screw on the machine with his screwdriver. "...I mean, Ridley is always available. He can deal with..."
"Ridley is stuck filming that superhero show-a with Touma and the gang," stated Mario; seeing Ridley challenge the dragon flying over Seattle would be a sight for sore eyes. Would result in a lot of property damage, though. "And we can't risk-a injury with the dragon Pokemon from-a the sanctuary. So this is the only chance-a we have."
"We better make it count then..." Once he finished screwing in the final screw, Dr. Wily hopped down from the portal machine, putting the screwdriver back in his toolbox. After he did so, he saw Tiki, standing by with Cloud. "Ah, Tiki, about time you got here! It seems that you managed to bring Cloud along, somehow!"
"I didn't really bring him - he just came on his own accord," smiled Tiki, as she approached Dr. Wily. Cloud remained leaning against the wall, wanting to speak with Dr. Wily once he was free. "So what's this I hear about a dragon?"
"A large dragon was spotted flying over town," explained Dr. Wily, taking out his cellphone and showing the image to Tiki. "From my research, this dragon is called Rathalos - an airborne beast with venomous claws and a fiery breath! It descends upon anyone who gets too close to it, and honestly I'm surprised the injury toll isn't higher than it is."
"And you expect me to reason with that thing, just because I'm a dragon?" Tiki felt intimidated by Rathalos - she thought that she was no match for it. "Why don't we get some local authorities to stop them?"
"Because A, they'll get themselves killed; B, we'll waste their time; and C, if they fail, they'll probably put the blame on us. And by us, I mean Mario and company." Dr. Wily walked over to the portal machine, patting it proudly. "But with this, we'll find you a dragon companion that'll accompany you."
"Better be a strong, powerful dragon - I'd hate to carry the load." Having "companion" at her side didn't necessarily raise Tiki's confidence levels, but it wasn't like she had any choice.
"Yes, Tiki, that's the spirit! Now let's see what kind of dragon this portal machine can pull out..."
So Dr. Wily pulled down the lever of the machine, and the machine started flashing as a portal was generated. The machine would continue to flash, at a frantic pace...until a purple dragon flew out of it. Accompanying this purple dragon was a yellow dragonfly, fluttering about.
"Hold on just a sec, this isn't Dragon Shores..." the dragon looked around, observing his surroundings, before seeing Dr. Wily and company give him dumbfounded looks. Cloud was still chilling in the back, giving no reaction. "...what is this place?"
"D-Dr. Wily, can you explain what just happened?" Tiki asked Dr. Wily, showing very little faith in the purple dragon that was summoned. Dr. Wily continued to have a dumbfounded look, until he shook it off with the shaking of his head.
"It appears that I have done my part, and brought forth a dragon..." replied the doctor, regaining his normal composure as he adjusted his lab coat. "Would you mind telling us your name, little fella?"
"I'm Spyro - Spyro the Dragon!" the purple dragon replied, showing a lot of intensity and ferocity in his response. Needless to say, Tiki was still unimpressed. "I'm from the Dragon Realm! I was trying to go on a vacation with my friend Sparx here, but it appears that we ended up in the wrong place..."
Spyro: Same old, same old, I tell ya...one minute you enter a portal expecting to end up in Dragon Shores, and the very next you somehow wind up in an entirely different location. Note to self: never go on a vacation when it's raining outside.
"No, you ended up in the right place - I was the one who brought you here," explained Dr. Wily, as Spyro raised an eyebrow. No way did Spryo wish to vacation in the Assist Tower, especially with the many personalities living under one building. "I'm Dr. Albert Wily, and I was the one who built that machine behind you."
"You mean the one with the portal?" asked Spyro, looking back behind him and seeing the portal machine. "Man, you're just like the Professor...but only wrinkly." Dr. Wily, feeling self-conscious, rubbed his face as Spryo looked at Mario and Isabelle. "And who are you guys?"
"I'm Mario, and that's-a Isabelle," Mario introduced himself to Spyro, as Isabelle smiled and waved. "You're not...you're not gonna eat-a us, are you?"
"Nah, that ain't me. I'd rather roast people with my fire breath than eat them alive. That's just how I roll." Hearing this caused Mario to flinch, jumping back a bit. "But don't worry - you seem like a nice dude, so I won't bother you."
"I'm...I'm Tiki, I'm a Manakete," Tiki introduced herself to Spyro, as she knelt down to get a closer look at the dragon. She still couldn't believe that Dr. Wily could summon a dragon so small and puny. "That means I'm a dragon, just like you."
"Wow, I've never seen a dragon disguised as an elf before, that must be really tough!" Tiki tried her best to smile, as Spyro looked behind the Manakete and saw Cloud, chilling away like a boss. "Who's that blonde guy over there?"
"Cloud, c'mon, don't-a be rude, introduce yourself-a to Spyro over here!" Mario called out to the swordsman, who sighed as he walked over to Spyro. Since Mario said his name, Cloud felt like he didn't need to do any introduction.
"Cloud Strife, nice to meet you," Cloud said to Spyro, with a great amount of disinterest in his voice. The most disinterest there has ever been. Cloud was about to turn back, until Sparx flew up to his face. "Does this...dragonfly follow you around all the time?" Cloud asked Spyro.
"Sparx? Yeah, he pretty much follows me around everywhere I go. My health is kinda dependent on him, in a way - if he's gone, then I'll be down for the count!" Cloud gave Spyro a weird look; if the swordsman was more interested, he'd laugh himself to death.
"Man, your life must be pretty sad," remarked Cloud, stepping away to the side. Spyro, completely ignoring Cloud's comment, turned to Dr. Wily.
"Alright doc, so what's the big deal, why'd you bring me all the way here for? Need a baddie or two for me to take care of? If so, then I'm your guy! Tell me who it is, and I'll roast their butt to oblivion!"
"Actually Spyro, I...or we...need you to take care of a major situation going on in the city," explained Dr. Wily, as he took out his cellphone had showed Spyro the image of the Rathalos. "There's a giant dragon ravaging this town, and we figured that maybe we could fight fire with fire, and having a dragon or two stop it."
"Well he sure looks pretty big...but I've taken care of bigger baddies before, so this will be nothing. I'm gonna get an accomplice, am I? A dragon like me could really use some backup."
"That's where Tiki comes in - she can turn into a dragon and assist you in stopping Rathalos. Two is better than one, as I always say...too bad Dr. Light has yet to learn that..."
"Oh cool, so I get to work with the elf lady, sweet!" Tiki's eye twitched a little, hearing Spyro call her an elf just because of her pointy ears. Link and Zelda might endure the same treatment.
"I'm not really an elf..." stated Tiki, feeling rather tense. She'd hate to start fighting with Spyro, just mere moments after they first met.
Cortex: Hmm, I don't know why, but I have a very sneaky feeling that I might get my butt kicked soon...feels weird, man.
Having found Tiki a dragon companion, Dr. Wily led the manakete and Spryo out of the basement and to the lobby, with Mario and Isabelle following after. Cloud, needing to speak with Dr. Wily, also tagged along.
"Alucard? Alucard!" Dr. Wily called out to the half-vampire, who was seen in the lobby; Alucard tried to walk away when Dr. Wily called his name. "Please come here, Alucard, it won't be long!"
"What do you want, Dr. Wily..." asked Alucard as he walked over to the robot inventor, with enough disinterest on his face to outdo Cloud. "And who's the purple dragon, is he a new assist character?"
"Don't mind him - he's from a realm much different from ours. Anyways, I need you to guard the portal machine in the basement. It's turned on, and the lever's stuck so I can't turn it off...which means that portal is still open. I want you to..."
"...guard the portal and watch closely for anyone that enters through, got it," Alucard finished for Dr. Wily, as he took out a Victorian novel and went to the basement. "This is what I get for disposing Chef Kawasaki's garlic spread..." Alucard sighed to himself.
"Follow me everyone, we must get situated so we'll be well prepared to stop Rathalos." Dr. Wily led Spryo and company out of the lobby, leading them outside. "First stop, the Smash Mansion!"
"Pretty sure that's gonna be our only stop..." Isabelle whispered to Mario, who nodded his head as Isaac - still reading his book - watched Dr. Wily and the others leave. His eyes were fixated on Spyro.
"Cool, a dragon..." the Earth Adept said in awe, looking even after Spyro had left through the front door.
Back over in Tokyo, Kazuma was successful in guiding Fox and company to the place where they would find Maiko and Donkey Kong - a small, modest building. Had Kazuma been somehow unsuccessful in his duty, he would have every right to feel ashamed of himself.
"According to my associates, this is the very building where Maiko is beginning her upstart record label," explained Kazuma, looking at the building feeling macho. "All we have to do is enter, find Donkey Kong, snatch him and leave. Easier said than done."
"Yeah, especially with the way you put it," remarked Fox, adjusting the bling he was wearing around his neck as part of his costume. Falco checked himself out on a personal mirror of his, while Diddy, in his clown suit, had sudden regret about his poor life decisions.
"You boys ready?" Fox, Falco, and Diddy all looked at Kazuma, giving him a confirming nod. "Excellent. Let's get this show on the road..."
So Kazuma, Fox, Falco, and Diddy walked together and entered the building, sporting a high amount of swagger. When the four entered the building, they expected to be confronted by a bunch of Japanese gangsters, security guards, or the like, and fight them all one-by-one, showing off their stylish moves. But instead...
...the four saw an old, run down receptionist desk, with an elderly lady seated behind it on a computer. Fox, Falco, and Diddy looked confused, as they all looked up at a slilghtly embarrassed Kazuma.
"This is the right location, I'm telling you..." Kazuma assured his three compadres, as he led them to the receptionist desk. The old lady was looking at her monitor until Kazuma tapped loudly on the desk to get her attention. "Excuse me ma'am, but..."
"Oh, goodie goodie, actual guests!" the old lady exclaimed, clapping her hands in pure excitement. Kazuma and company had every right to feel wary. "Welcome to the...the Inn! We don't receive guests that often..."
"Yeah, cool story bro...where is Maiko Shimazaki?" Falco blurted out, alarming the old lady as she clutched her pearls. Falco instantly cooled off, seeing how frightened the old lady was. "We, uh, just wanted to pay her a visit."
"Maiko Shimazaki? Let me see..." The old lady looked at her computer, scrolling through a list of sorts until she found the name she was looking for. "Yes, Miss Shimazaki - she's on the fourth floor!"
"Ha ha, and you boys thought I was crazy!" Kazuma exclaimed, letting Fox and company know what was up. "Told you my associates never let me down!"
Diddy: He's never told us that his associates never let him down. Not a single time.
"Do you want Maiko to come down, or are you four taking the elevator to see her?" the old lady asked Kazuma and company, ready to call Maiko down if necessary. Little did she know that Kazuma and his gang wanted to bring the fight to Maiko, rather than the other way around.
"We'll just take the elevator, our meeting is pretty urgent," replied Fox, as he and the others walked to the hallway. "But thanks anyways, we really appreciate it."
"Don't mention it, just doing my job!" the old lady smiled as the four men walked away...only for her smile to turn more devious and crooked. "Just doing my job..."
Kazuma and company found the nearest elevator, on the side of the hallway, and Fox pushed the button to make the elevator door open. The four men entered the elevator as the door closed, and Falco pressed the eight button. Everyone waited, and waited, and waited even more...but the elevator wouldn't budge.
"Welp, looks like we're gonna be in here for a while..." sighed Fox, wondering just how old the elevator was. The inn itself looked old from the looks of it outside.
Rex and Ken were about ready to start their ping pong battle, with both competitors standing at the opposite ends of the ping pong table with their paddles. Ken was stretching his arms, while Rex was drinking from a water bottle provided by Pyra. With Pyra was Mythra, Nia, and Dromarch.
"You really are a brave soul Rex, going up against Ken in a friendly competition," Pyra said to the swordsman, already aware that Ken took any kind of competition, friendly or not, very seriously. "Good thing it's just ping pong - you'd die in a fist fight."
"That really means a lot, coming from you Pyra," smiled Rex after he finished drinking from his water bottle; he expected a comment like that from Mythra. Speaking of whom, Mythra was chilling in the back with Nia and Dromarch, the latter wanting to make a few bets.
"Fifteen bucks Rex loses to Ken in under two minutes, how about it?" Nia offered to Mythra, who had her arms folded as she rested coolly against the wall. The good ol' Cloud method.
"Where is this fifteen bucks coming from, Wario?" asked Mythra, not even remotely interested in the offer. "Must be something special if you got a single penny out of him. Might even be a personal accomplishment!"
"Link must be filthy rich from saving his land from danger all the time; I can ask him for the fifteen dollars." Hoo boy, that Nia is gonna be so disappointed...
"Ready to take this loss, Rex?" Ken asked with a grin, once he was done stretching. Ken showing signs of arrogance worked heavily against Rex in his favor.
"I mean I have no intentions of actually winning, so I guess so," replied Rex, wanting his ping pong match with Ken to be over with as quickly as possible. Just then, Chrom entered the room, along with his grandkids Morgan and Marc. "Chrom, what are you..."
"Don't mind me Rex - I promised my grandkids I'd let them see an awesome ping pong match between two obviously great players," smiled Chrom, putting all the pressure on Rex - and it sure was intentional, too. "You two stay here, okay?"
"Anything you say, grandpa!" Marc happily replied - it just seemed so weird to Ken and company, seeing Marc calling a youthful adult in Chrom his grandpa. Time travel does has its quirks, every now and then. Chrom headed over to Mythra and the ladies...and Dromarch, digging through something in his pocket.
"I take it this is your first time seeing Rex in a friendly competition?" Chrom asked the ladies...and Dromarch, as he pulled the object out of his pocket - a sticky piece of gum. Dromarch watched as Chrom lifted up Rex's foot, without the swordsman knowing, and stuck the gum underneath his left shoe.
"Well there was that one time Rex was in a 'fishing battle'..." replied Pyra, as Chrom placed Rex's foot back on the floor - Rex nor the ladies noticed the act take place, but Dromarch sure did. "...but it was very one-sided against Rex's favor, so it wasn't exactly a 'friendly competition'. So I have low expectations for Rex."
"Did you hear that Rex, Pyra said that she has low expectations for you!" Chrom said to the swordsman, patting him on the back as a sign of faux encouragement. "Better make her take her words back! No pressure."
Chrom: Believe me, I'm not looking for a win from Rex, or from Ken. I'm just looking for some revenge. Sweet, sweet revenge...
"That...that can be done," assured Rex, even more nervous than before as Chrom returned to Morgan and Marc. Ken was ready to get started, as he was tossing the ping pong ball in his right hand.
"Lemme know when you're ready to go," the fighter said to Rex, who made the nervousness go away (well, only forty percent of it) as he sucked up his pride and got his game face on. Chrom stood in the back, with a smirk.
"I'm ready, let's go!" replied Rex, now in the game - or at least he felt like it. "Send that ball over here!" So Ken served the ball, striking it with force and sending it over to Rex's side...and Rex couldn't return it, as the ping pong ball flew past him.
"Rex, when you said 'send that ball over here', I thought that you would send the ball right back to my side. Why were you standing there in place, like a buffoon? You're gonna make me look bad, going up against weak competition!"
"My bad Ken, felt like my foot was stuck in the floor for some reason. I'll retrieve the ball." Rex tried to turn around, but he could only move his right leg...which meant that his left foot was glued to the floor. "Oh crap, I can't even move my leg!"
"I'm sure that's just a cramp, it should've went away by now. You should be fine. Since you can't get the ball, I'll just serve this backup ping pong ball instead." Ken took out another ping pong ball, ready to serve. "Serve's up!"
Ken served the ball, sending it flying towards Rex. Rex, realizing his current limitation, tried to strike the ball from where he was, as the ball quickly zipped to his right. Rex leaned towards his right, trying to hit the ball...and in the process fell to the floor.
"Alright, much better attempt, much improved!" Ken gave a thumbs up, as Rex found himself on the floor rubbing his shin. The ladies and Dromarch came over to see if the swordsman was okay. "You didn't rough yourself up that bad, did you?"
"Nah I'm fine, just a little sore that's all..." Rex did his best to play off his fall, while Pyra and Mythra offered to help him back on his feet. "Do you mind if I take a little break, Ken? So I can get my head in the game?"
"Sure thing Rex, take as long as you like! Just sit in one of those chairs in the back, and find your mojo. When you're ready to go again, just let me know!"
Being the kind ladies that they were, Pyra and Mythra escorted Rex to one of the chairs on the side of the room, sitting him down. As they did so, Ryu entered the room, holding a water bottle in his hand.
"Thought you might need this later," the fighter told his friendly rival Ken, handing him the water bottle. Ken giddily accepted the bottle from Ryu, before unfastening the top and drinking the whole dang bottle. "I said later, you know..."
"Can't play if I'm not properly hydrated!" grinned Ken, handing the empty water bottle to Ryu. "Glad to see that you're acting like a good sport, after I kicked your butt in ping pong. Given how you looked afterwards, I thought you wanted to kill me!"
"It's okay, I'm completely over it now. Good luck in your match against Rex." Ken gave Ryu a thumbs up, and Ryu nodded as he turned around...giving Chrom the OK hand signal as he left. Dromarch took sight of this, still not saying a word.
Dromarch: Is it just me, or is this random ping pong match being sabotaged? Nothing can be genuine these days, it seems like...
Pit and Incineroar remained in the movie room, watching old wrestling footage from back in the day, and joining them were Sonic and Crash, with Sonic wanting to broaden Crash's interests. What were the four watching? The infamous "Fingerpoke of Doom", an infamous wresting incident that occurred in WCW in 1999.
It was an absolute disaster of an event - Hulk Hogan faced off against fellow wrestler Kevin Nash. Hogan and Nash tried to intimidate each other by circling around the ring. Nash pushed Hogan in the corner. Hogan retaliated by poking Nash in the chest. Nash fell to the mat in an instant, Hogan pinned him, one, two, three. Hogan became the new heavyweight champion, and hugged it out with a joyful Nash while others joined him. It was a truly stupid occurrence...which meant that Pit ate up every little bit of it.
"Did you guys see that, the finger poke was so strong, it completely knocked Nash out!" Pit said to the others, easily impressed. Evidently the angel had watched that clip multiple times before. "So strong, it made Nash suffer from a personality change!"
"You mean Nash essentially broke character," stated Sonic, unfamiliar with the video footage, as Hogan spray painted the faceplate of his title belt with initials on the television screen before a giant wrestler was seen "invading" the arena. Things got weirder from that point on.
"Ew, why would he do that? That would make no sense! Clearly Hogan's finger poke was powerful enough to send massive waves to his brain, altering his brain configurations and affecting his personality. That's the only logical explanation."
"Can you believe this man?" Sonic asked Crash, who didn't appear to be learning as much as Sonic had hoped. "I mean, you do a better job at separate fiction from reality than he can, and that's saying something..."
"Mega Man X? Mega Man X, are you here?" Dr. Wily called out, as he entered the movie room along with Mario, Isabelle, Tiki, and Spyro. Cloud was still with the group, though he was a little far behind. "Where did X run off to?"
"Honestly doc, I don't think X was ever around in this room? Again, I could be wrong, but..." Sonic stopped, when Spry caught his attention, and the attention of Pit and Incineroar as well. "Aw, sweet, you found a dragon!"
"Ah yes, Spryo, that's his name...pulled him out from the Dragon Realm, to stop that Rathalos. He's got a lot of spunk to make up for his size."
"You got that right, spunk is my middle name!" proclaimed Spyro, stepping into the forefront...before his face fell when he saw a certain furry face. Crash, who had finally turned around to see Spyro in plain sight. "C-Crash Bandicoot?" Just like that, Crash had the same reaction as Spyro did.
"What, you two know each other or something?" Sonic raised an eyebrow, as Crash hopped off the couch and went over to Spyro. The bandicoot and the dragon were looking at one another...before smiling and playing around. Like two best friends seeing each other for the first time after elementary school.
"Man, Crash Bandicoot...I haven't seen you since we whipped Dr. Cortex's sorry behind! Long time no see! Never would imagined you'd be living here of all places! Life on the island must not have treated you well, huh?"
Cortex: Oh phoeey, that uneasy feeling I spoke of has returned once again...and I feel like it's multiplied...why does my stomach feel so queasy?
"Spyro, would you care-a to explain how and where you know-a Crash from?" asked Mario, as Spyro and Crash continued to embrace one another. Sonic looked on, worried that Spyro might usurp him as Crash's main man. Although Spyro was the original main man, to be fair.
"Crash and I go way back - we had a chance encounter, and remained buddies since," explained Spyro, as Crash proudly wrapped his arm around the dragon's neck. A strong sign of friendship. "Kicked Cortex and Ripto's butts to oblivion, the two of us!"
"Ripto must be an adversary of Spyro's," Isabelle whispered to Mario, who gave a knowing nod. Mario was now left confused with how Ripto ended up with such a horrible name.
"It's good that you're reunited with your friend and all...but we do have a dragon to stop," stated Dr. Wily, just when X entered the movie room with a tracking device in his hands. "That Rathalos isn't going to stop itself!"
"Did someone say, 'Rathalos'?" X perked up, as Dr. Wily was excited to see the robot. Strange, considering the inventor antagonized against X in the past. "Glad you mentioned it, because I've been tracking the dragon in the city ever since..."
"Say no more X, for I've developed a plan...I'm having Tiki team up with another dragon to stop Rathalos. Fighting fire with fire, if you will. Found the dragon from the portal machine I invented in the basement of the Assist Tower."
"That purple dragon over there? Yeah he looks to be on the small side, but I'm sure he's pretty strong. For a minute, I thought Crash found a dragon egg somewhere, and finally hatched it!"
"Dr. Wily, I know I'll get shot down but...do you mind if I tag along with Tiki and Spyro?" volunteered Pit, as he got up off the couch. Dr. Wily looked at the angel like he was crazy. "It's just...Spryo has wings, and as a fellow winged brother, it is my moral obligation to accompany Spyro."
"I...I guess you can help out," replied Dr. Wily, albeit with a lot of reluctance, as Pit pumped his fist. "But just so you know, you'll be our fall guy in the event anything goes wrong. Know your role, and shut your mouth..."
"So basically I have the best job out of everyone else. Sweet!" Spyro rolled his eyes, already expressing signs of unwillingness to work with Pit.
Link and Zelda sat together in the living room, watching the news action revolving around Rathalos unfold on the television screen. The cameraman was seen filming Rathalos flying, as the female reporter chased after it while keeping a safe distance.
"As you can see...the flying dragon is moving out of the metropolitan area...and into the state capital, Olympia," the female reporter reported, panting and sweating as she ran after Rathalos. "Everyone living in Olympia has been notified ahead of time about the dragon."
"Man, if I was there, I would slay that dumb dragon with one strike from my sword," bragged Link, with a proud, arrogant smirk on his face. The thought of slaying Rathalos greatly pleased him. "Just one stab through the heart, and BOOM! Dead."
"Have you ever even slain a dragon before?" Zelda asked her boyfriend, who looked around the living room suspiciously. "If so, then you got a LOT of explaining to do, mister."
"I'm sure the Link incarnations that came before me have slain a dragon or two before...their accomplishments were passed down to me, that I know." Zelda smiled and shook her head, as Champion Link entered the living room.
"Link, Zelda, have you seen my Paraglider anywhere?" the Hylian asked the couple, looking around the living room for his trusty glider. Like the Sheikah Slate, Champion Link couldn't go anywhere without that Paraglider.
Champion Link: How did I get a Paraglider? It was a niche gift I received from Zelda...Well, it's not really a gift, it's just something she let me borrow while I'm at the mansion. Just like that Sheikah Slate, which Zelda told me was a "prototype". I think Zelda wants that Slate and the Paraglider back, and if they're gone forever, I'm screwed...
"No we haven't, Champion Link, but if we find it anywhere, we'll be the first to let you know," replied Zelda, as Champion Link furrowed his brow in anger. He knew just who to blame for his missing Paraglider.
"That blasted Yiga Clan, stealing my stuff..." the Hylian frowned, as he walked away from the living room. "...first the Sheikah Slate, and now the Paraglider. It's almost like they're out to get me!" Once Champion Link was gone for good, Zelda looked at Link, with a confused face.
"Why is he still going on about the Yiga Clan...?" the princess asked Link, sensing that the Yiga Clan was a make-believe group the more Champion Link (and Pit) spoke about them.
"Beats me, but if he expects me to help him finding them and stopping them, then he better go find someone else," replied Link, as he continued watching the news report on the television.
Tiki and Spyro were outside the mansion, with Dr. Wily, X, Mario, Isabelle, and Cloud. Pit, wanting to work alongside Spyro because he was a "winged brother", was a part of the "Stop Rathalos" cause, as he was with Tiki and Spyro. Joining him were two other "winged brothers", Dark Pit and Meta Knight.
"Can you believe it Dark Pit, we're gonna stop a dragon...with a REAL dragon!" an excited Pit said to the doppelganger, as Tiki looked on feeling some type of way. What did Pit mean by a "real" dragon?
"Well it makes up for having to put up with you the whole time, so the positive always negates the negative," replied Dark Pit, before letting out a yawn as he turned to Dr. Wily. "Yo Dr. Wily, who are we waiting on?"
"We're waiting on Red to return from training his Pokemon, since we'll need his Charizard," stated Dr. Wily, looking over with X on the tracking device. "We'll need all the winged bodies we can get!"
"Winged brothers, you mean," corrected Pit, as Dr. Wily sighed. He knew that phrase was going to get real old soon, real soon.
"Hey Dr. Wily, you got a minute?" Cloud approached the inventor, sensing that now was the perfect time to speak with him. "I wanted to ask you a quick question, if you don't mind - won't be long."
"Not now Cloud, just wait until we take care of Rathalos - you can save your little question until then." As much as Cloud would love to wait, he didn't think he could afford to be patient any longer - he wanted an answer ASAP.
"Look, I don't want to waste your time or anything, but my question is a little personal, in a way. And I know that you're the right person to answer it..."
"Awesome training you three, I couldn't be anymore proud!" Red the Pokemon Trainer commended his three Pokemon - Squirtle, Ivysaur, and Charizard - as he returned to the mansion. Upon returning, he would soon stop in place, when he saw Spyro. "Aha, a new Pokemon!" Red pointed at the purple dragon, who was understandably left confused.
"I'm sorry, what did you just call me?" questioned Spyro, as Red pulled out his Pokedex so he could gain some information about the purple dragon. Much to his dismay, the Pokedex didn't say anything.
"Darn, couldn't pull up any information...could be an undiscovered Pokemon." Red placed his Pokedex back in his pocket, as he pulled out a Poke Ball. "Well, it's never too late to make history...Squirtle, use Water Gun!"
"Squirtle!" obeyed Squirtle, as he fired water out of his mouth at Spyro. Spyro jumped away in the nick of time, as the water struck poor Meta Knight and sent the star warrior flying towards the mansion wall.
"Dude what's your problem, I'm not a bad guy!" said Spyro, as Isabelle ran over to Meta Knight to see if he was okay. "Also, what exactly is a 'Pokemon'? Are they a bunch of evil minions or something?"
"Oh man, his agility of off the charts...time for a switch-up," said Red, as he looked towards his most trustworthy Pokemon, Charizard. "Charizard, use Flare Blitz on the dragon Pokemon! Give him everything you got!"
"STOP!" Mario finally intervened, stepping in the way between Charizard and Spyro. "The dragon you see before-a you is NOT a Pokemon. He's Spryo, and he's from-a the Dragon Realm. He's-a not a Pokemon, just a dragon."
"Way to tease me, you guys...got all excited for nothing." No Red, nobody tried to tease you - you just played yourself, fair and square.
Red: Wasn't the first time I mistook someone for being a Pokemon...one time I accidentally threw a Poke Ball at this person that I thought was a Pokemon, but instead was a man with lots of facial piercings and plastic surgery. Running around nude. It's more disturbing than it sounds, folks.
"Red, you received that text from Mario, right?" X asked the Pokemon trainer, as Isabelle brought Meta Knight back to the group. "About Rathalos, flying about? We were wondering if we could borrow your Charizard..."
"I'll let you borrow Charizard...provided that I get to ride atop of him while stopping this Rathalos," offered Red, giving X an offer he simply couldn't refuse. Well, X couldn't refuse it because Charizard was a necessity.
"...sure, we'll let you ride atop Charizard. Whatever makes you happy." X turned towards Tiki, the Manakete awaiting X's command or whatever the robot wanted to say to her. "Tiki, can you turn into a dragon?"
"Of course I can," Tiki replied, as she dug into her sash and pulled out a stone. "I would strongly advise everyone to back away, just as a safety precaution..."
Spying on Tiki from the window in the attic was Cortex, looking through his binoculars. Uka had better, more productive things to do with his time, so he did not accompany Cortex. Instead, it was Bass who would accompany Cortex, as he entered the attic and saw the mad scientist.
"You seriously have a problem..." Bass said to Cortex, as he grabbed a empty cardboard box. Gotta wonder what he needed the box for.
"You're darn right I have a problem!" Cortex agreed with Bass, catching the robot off-guard. Imagine how Uka would react if he heard that, hearing Cortex being self-aware. "How am I going to woo Tiki, and win her heart? I should have no room for error!"
"Keep on dreaming pal..." said Bass, as he was about to exit the attic with his cardboard box. But he would stop suddenly, when Cortex was heard gasping loudly. For something magical had transpired outside.
"Did she...DID TIKI JUST TURN INTO A DRAGON?!" the mad genius exclaimed in astonished, with his mouth agape. Suddenly intrigued, Bass dropped the cardboard box unto the floor, as he joined Cortex at the attic window.
Indeed, Tiki did turn into a dragon - thanks to the dragonstone she possessed. Everyone was left in awe, from Mario to even Spyro.
"Now that's the biggest dragon I've ever seen!" remarked Spryo, having his breath taken away. "Wait until I tell everyone back home about this!"
Red: If what Spryo said held any merit, the dragons from his homeland must not be that big or strong...easy picking for Charizard. *smiles deviously as he rubs his hands*
"Alright-a crew, are you all ready to take-a on Rathalos?" Mario asked the group of Spyro, Pit, Dark Pit, Meta Knight, and Red - the latter now on top of Charizard.
"We're all ready for takeoff," confirmed Meta Knight, no longer feeling sore after being blasted by Squirtle. Just then, the sound of a window breaking was heard, grabbing everyone's attention. "...did anyone hear that?"
"Meh, pretty sure that was-a Ness and/or Lucas' doing, they'll be dealt-a with later. Now go, fly, go beyond, and stop-a that Rathalos! X will track-a your progress on his device, so we'll know if you got-a the deed done."
"We won't let you down, Mario!" Spyro assured the plumber, as he and the others flapped their wings, and flew up to the sky and away from the mansion. X, with his eagle eyes, looked up at Tiki, and saw something amiss...
"Is it just me, or is there someone riding on top of Tiki?" the pacifist robot asked the others, seeing someone with a chrome dome atop the flying Tiki.
Meanwhile in Tokyo, the elevator at the inn finally got unstuck, as Kazuma and his gang got off at the fourth floor. They didn't let the whole elevator incident dampen their mood, as the four men walked through the hallway with swag in every step.
"We're almost there boys, I can taste it..." smirked Kazuma, licking his lips, as he walked through the hallway - which looked pretty old and rundown. He never would imagine that Maiko and Donkey Kong would be here - lest it was a trap.
"Bruh, look at the posters on the walls..." said Falco, bringing everyone's attention to several posters of Donkey Kong hanging all over the place. They were all the same - had a smiling Donkey Kong, with a mutli-colored background. "...is Maiko seriously starting up her record label in this trash heap?"
"Gotta start back up from somewhere, I guess," shrugged Fox, wondering why the hallway was littered with so many posters. Made him feel uneasy. "Granted Maiko could've picked a much better spot, but..."
"Guys, stop, I think hear someone speaking," Diddy alerted the others, hearing a conversation from behind the nearest door. Diddy pressed his ear against the door, trying to listen. "Could be Maiko - or DK."
"Well, do you hear anything?" asked Falco, as Diddy tried to make out the conversation if he could. He also tried to peek inside through the keyhole, but could hardly see anything due to how small the keyhole was. "Or at least see anything?"
"I'd say we break in, and see what's up," suggested Kazuma, taking a step back from the door as he readied a roundhouse kick for the ages. "Stand back Diddy..." Diddy did as he was told, stepping out of the way, as Kazuma screamed and ran to the door...
...kicking it off the hinges and down to the floor swiftly, with one roundhouse kick. Inside the room, they saw a certain gorilla, who was sitting in a folding chair reading from a slip of paper when he looked up and saw Kazuma, looking very macho.
"Donkey Kong, we made it!" announced Diddy, as he, Fox, and Falco appeared from behind Kazuma. All three were relieved to see Donkey Kong in one peace.
"Diddy, my boy, don't move any closer!" warned Donkey Kong, but it was too late - the moment Diddy, Fox, Falco, and Kazuma approached Donkey Kong, they suddenly walked into a wall. A clear wall, that blocked them from advancing towards DK. "Tried to warn you..."
"Woah, what the heck's going on?" wondered Fox, as he and the others tried to turn around...only to wall into another clear wall. Except that this wall had a giant door that happened to be closed...by Maiko Shimazaki.
"Fell right into my trap, boys..." Maiko grinned deviously, as Diddy and company were banging on the wall in anger. Maiko saw the anger, and it pleased her so. "...I knew you'd come here."
"Alright, Miss Shimazaki, what do you want?" frowned Fox, as Diddy did his best to break the wall standing before him. "We know you got something up your sleeve!"
"You know what I want...to start a new recording company from scratch, and make it big again! That's why I hired Donkey Kong, to be the client that'll lead my company to success. Had a feeling you boys would look for him the moment you showed up, which is why I relocated here, expecting your arrival..."
"There's no way you're getting away with this, Shimazaki!" vowed Kazuma, as he pointed at Maiko. The former model smirked, finding Kazuma's vow very petty.
"Keep on believing in your little fantasies, if you must...now if you excuse me, I have some business to take care of on the side while you get to watch your favorite gorilla rehearse his lines. I'll check back with you later, to see if you're all still alive. Ta-ta!"
Maiko waved mockingly to the four stuck between the walls, as she left the room. Kazuma and company held their heads down in shame, and so did Donkey Kong, wishing he could've warned the four sooner. During this time, Kazuma pulled out his cellphone, looking at it indecisively...
Ryu: The water I gave to Ryu is a special kind of water Cilan keeps in secret...it's meant to weaken Ken, and make him less agile. Meaning that he'll move around less, and have a much slower reaction speed. Of course, I could've given him that water prior to our ping pong match against each other, but I always take my losses with dignity. Provided it's against someone else. Talk about a missed opportunity...
"Ready to go again, Rex?" Ken asked the swordsman, once his break was over with. Rex was ready to go again, standing at the end of the ping pong table with his paddle. His lady friends were still there to support him, and Chrom and his grandkids were there to see the swordsman fail.
"Yeah I'm ready, let's do this!" replied Rex, looking and feeling more confident than before. Ken served the ball, sending it over to Rex's side, and Rex would send it flying right back with a quick serve. But Ken was unable to reach the ball in time, moving like he was in slow mo.
"Hmm, that's weird - I'm supposed to be moving much faster than that. That point won't count; let's have a do-over." Ken went to go retrieve the ball, as Rex looked mad, really wanting that lead.
"Seriously, man? Fine...let's go again." Ken served the ball once more, sending it flying towards Rex who hit the ball right back. But just like before, Ken was slow to reach the ball, his suddenly slow reaction time screwing him over.
"Dang it, it happened again! What's going on with me, why do I feel so slow? I expected an epic back-and-forth with the ping pong ball, me and you...but instead I just keep messing things up!" Ken buried his face in his hands, wondering what the problem was.
"Maybe you're just off your game - happens to everyone." As Ken continued to figure out what was wrong with him, Ryu returned to the room, giving Chrom a bottle of liquid. Again, Dromarch was the only one who saw this shady transaction go down.
"Hey Rex, got an athletic drink for ya," Chrom got up and offered to the swordsman the bottle he received from Ryu. "Don't know if you ever had a drink like this from where you're from but..."
"Always a first for anything!" Rex accepted the drink from Chrom, and drank a good amount of it before wiping his mouth off. "Thanks Chrom, didn't expect a friendly gesture from you." Chrom returned to his seat, as Ken returned to the tennis table, his mojo returning.
"Okay, I think I'm good now!" the fighter announced, as he grabbed the ping pong ball and readied his shot. "Serve's up!" Ken served the ball, and Rex hit it right back...although he was very slow in doing so. Ken did manage to hit the ball back, however, albeit moving at the same pace Rex was.
"What is going on with those two..." wondered Mythra, as Ken scored a point after sending the ball past Rex. Dromarch knew what was going on, but he dared not to say a single word.
"Slowing the pace down for me, huh? Quite a courteous move, I'll say, but it'll be your downfall! Gimme everything you got!"
Alucard remained in the basement of the Assist Tower, reading his novel and watching the portal machine as instructed by Dr. Wily. The machine was still on, which meant that anyone could enter through the portal at free will. Anyone including a cheetah, who entered the basement through the portal looking for someone.
"Hey dude, have you seen a dragon named Spyro anywhere?" the cheetah asked Alucard, who didn't pay him any mind. The cheetah clearly looked lost. "Name's Hunter by the way - I'm from Avalar."
"I believe he's somewhere outside," replied Alucard in an aphatietc tone, his eyes still glued to the novel in his hand. The half-vampire turned a page, not even bothering to look up.
"Aw sweet, thanks! Man, Dragon Shores sure does look weird by the looks of it..." Hunter ran up the stairs and out of the basement, as Alucard sighed.
"Stupidity is seriously becoming a major societal disease these days..." remarked Alucard, as he turned back to the page he was previously on.
In the living room, Link and Zelda were still watching the news coverage of Rathalos, who was still causing ruckus in Olympia. The news crew was desperately trying to catch up with the dragon, exerting all their energy and willpower.
"We've managed to catch up with the dragon, near downtown Olympia," the reporter reported, as Rathalos was flying over a park scaring everyone away. "Most of the locals chose to remain in the park, despite the warnings, but...wait, what's that?"
The camera pointed up at the sky, revealing several flying folk - Spyro, Pit, Dark Pit, Meta Knight, Charizard (with Red on top), and Tiki in her dragon form. The six flew towards Rathalos, quickly grabbing the dragon's attention.
"I don't believe it - three dragons, two angels, and some...winged circle thing, are challenging the dragon!" the reporter announced, as Pit and Dark Pit drew first blood by firing arrows at Rathalos. "We are about to witness an aerial battle no person in this state, let alone this country, has ever seen!"
"We should show this broadcast online to Meta Knight, just to see how he would react to being called a 'winged circle thing'," Link suggested to Zelda, who giggled.
Link: Not that often you get to witness a battle between dragons on live television, but these are once-in-a-lifetime experiences that you can't take for granted. I will say that my dungeon battles are better, no bias whatsoever, but I'll let those slaying Rathalos be great in their own right.
Link and Cloud continued to watch the news coverage, with Tiki and company battling Rathalos, as Corrin walked by when the battle on the television screen caught his attention. Instantly, the prince was glued to the TV.
"My goodness, that purple dragon is tearing up the other dragon," he remarked, as he saw Spryo breath fire all over Rathalos. But what caught Corrin's attention the most was the person riding on Tiki. "Is that someone riding on Tiki?" he asked Link and Zelda, who took a closer look at the TV.
"That...that must be Dr. Cortex!" exclaimed Zelda, seeing the mad genius himself riding on Tiki, and enjoying every single moment of it. "How did he get there...?"
Mario remained outside, seated on the porch with Isabelle while Dr. Wily and X tracked Rathalos on X's tracking device. They saw six dots surrounding the big dot on the radar map - definitely Spyro and company.
"The cool thing about this device is, it can track all living organisms, and moving vehicles as well," X explained to Dr. Wily as Cloud approached the two, sensing that now was the perfect time to ask Wily his question. "The tracking organisms function kept me up all night."
"Dr. Wily can I ask you that question now?" Cloud asked the inventor, tapping him on the shoulder. "I don't know when the most convenient time is, but I just..."
"Hey Mario, do we have a new assist character among us?" Waluigi asked the plumber, who hopped down from the porch to speak with Waluigi. Isabelle followed after him, and so did Dr. Wily and X. Cloud's opportunity was blown.
"If that's-a the case, Master Hand would've let-a me know," replied Mario, as Cloud sighed at his wasted opportunity and returned to where he originally was. "Or maybe he wanted me to find-a out on my own."
"Oh I was just wondering. Because that cheetah showed up in the lobby not so long ago." Waluigi pointed at Hunter, who had caught up with the lanky man. "Said his name was Hunter."
"Sorry I was late, that Isaac kid was really holding me up..." Hunter apologized to Waluigi, before looking at Mario and company. For some reason, he was left confused. "Soooo is this supposed to be Dragon Shores? Because I've yet to see any dragons yet..."
"This isn't 'Dragon Shores'...this is Seattle, Washington," stated Isabelle, leading Hunter to scratch his head in even more confusion. "Obviously you're a foreigner. No shame in that whatsoever!"
"Yeah, I came here from a pretty far place...from a realm called Avalar. Really far from here. My friend Spyro and I were supposed to go on vacation, and he left earlier than I did because I forgot my...say, have you seen Spyro anywhere?"
"The purple dragon?" asked X, as Hunter eagerly nodded his head. As long as Spryo was around, Hunter had nothing to fear. "He showed up a while ago - he's fighting a large dragon in a nearby city right now. I can take you there through a teleportation device, if you like."
"Yeah man, that'd be awesome! Spyro really owes me one, after he bailed out on me like that...it'll be the last time he'll get away with that stunt."
"Uh huh...just follow me, I'll take you to the device." X handed Dr. Wily his tracking device, before leading Hunter to the mansion. "Take care of that thing while I'm away, alright?"
"You got it!" Dr. Wily gave X a thumbs up, as the pacifist robot and Hunter walked away. Dr. Wily and X were surprisingly getting along pretty well...
Dr. Wily: I really took X for granted...I never realized how much smarter he is than that fool, Dr. Light! X should've killed Dr. Light years ago, when he had the chance.
The ping pong match between Ken and Rex was going super-slow, mainly because the competitors themselves were super slow thanks to the drinks that were offered to them that they had drank. For Pyra, Mythra, Nia, and Dromarch, the match was the equivalent of watching paint dry. But for Chrom, it amused him seeing Rex make a fool out of himself.
"Has anyone kept up with the score, at all?" asked an extremely bored Nia, ready to fall asleep at any minute. Mythra was even sleeping right now!
"It's been tied ever since Ken scored..." replied Pyra, letting out a yawn; that score happened the moment after Rex accepted that drink from Chrom. "At this point, whoever scores again might as well be the winner..."
"Father?" Lucina called out, poking her head inside the table tennis room. Chrom looked up and to his left, seeing his daughter. "Why are you watching Rex play ping pong against Ken? Thought you disliked him."
"I do, but I want to see him look foolish," replied Chrom, before leaning in closer to Lucina who was watching the ping pong match."Want to make him look bad, as revenge for shaving off my head."
"Figured you would be up to that...which is why I wanted to give you this." Lucina dig into her pocket, and pulled out an apple, handing it to Chrom. "It's an apple meant to cripple someone - give it to Rex, and he'll eat it and move even slower than he is now."
"The apple does smell pretty good...or is that supposed to be a trick? The scent is supposed to fool Rex, right?"
"Exactly...now go give it to him." Apple in hand, Chrom got up and walked over to Rex, who went to go retrieve the ball. Boy, was he slow at doing it.
"Thought that you might want this apple," Chrom offered to Rex, who returned to the tennis table. Rex was still slighted by how nice Chrom was acting towards him. "Not only does it smell delectable, but it can also...YOUCH!"
Chrom screamed, when he saw a creature appear out of Rex's backpack and bite Chrom's hand, trying to eat the apple. It was none other than Rex's guardian, Azurda, a Titan who in his current form was a small white...dragon thing.
"GET IT OFF, GET IT OFF, GET IT OFF!" shouted Chrom, as he tried to shake Azurda off his hand. Azurda was hanging on, his teeth stuck to Chrom's flesh, as Chrom ran out of the room screaming, with Morgan and Marc following after him.
"Chrom, why are you screaming?" Ryu was seen in the hallway, as Chrom ran past him trying to shake Azurda off. Ryu chased after Chrom, as Lucina stood at the doorway smirking to herself.
Lucina: That apple? Got it from Cilan, who was apparently giving Ryu all sorts of drinks and whatnot to give to Rex and Ken. And that creature in Rex's backpack? That was Azurda, Rex's guardian - Rex told me that Azurda liked apples, so I gave Azurda an apple and in turn drove Father away from Rex. Don't ask me how Azurda found or smelt the apple in the first place.
"Well that was weird..." remarked Ken, looking back as he saw Chrom running away screaming. He was so distracted, that he didn't see Rex serve the ball, making it bounce and hit Ken's paddle, before bouncing back at Rex who struck the ball and sent it flying past Ken.
"Yes, yes, I got a point!" cheered Rex, raising his hands in the air. Ken looked back in shock, not realizing that Rex had took advantage of him being distracted.
"You scored a point?! How about that...the ball must've hit my paddle when I wasn't looking. That was the only way the point would've counted. You really got me good, Rex, you really did..."
"Uh huh, sure did!" Rex smiled proudly, as Ken walked over to the swordsman. Slowly the fighter was regaining his agility, walking much faster. Ken went to Rex, giving him a congratulatory handshake.
"Considering how long we've played, let's just call it a match. I'll give you the victory. Thoroughly enjoyed playing with you!" Rex beat Ken, and Ken beat Ryu...so by transitive property, Rex was a better ping pong player than Ryu. Ryu will never live that down.
"Mythra you missed it, Rex actually won!" Nia notified the Blade, waking her up from her little nap. "Rex beat Ken at ping pong, fair and square!"
"That's nice, keep in living in that fantasy..." yawned Mythra, as she immediately went back to sleep. Too sleepy to witness Rex's congratulatory handshake with Ken, and the newfound respect Ken now had for Rex.
Diddy and company remained enclosed between the clear walls, with no way of escape. On the other side of one of the walls was Donkey Kong, who was forced to read lyrics by Maiko. Falco was playing a harmonica, much to the chagrin of the others.
"DK, why couldn't you have warned us that this was a trap?" Diddy asked his uncle, who saw how hurt his nephew was. "We could have dodged a bullet..."
"I would've warned you, but Maiko took my cellphone and blocked every number...except hers," replied Donkey Kong, surprising Diddy. The spidermonkey didn't know Maiko operated that way. "Said she wanted to eliminate some 'distractions'."
"That Maiko sure sounds pretty crazy," remarked Fox, before looking at the harmonica-playing Falco and giving him a distasteful glare. "Did you really have to bring a harmonica with you?"
"You never know when you might end up in a jail cell, or in any other simulator situation," stated Falco, stopping to say this before he resumed his harmonica playing. His playing would continue...
...until two individuals teleported to the inn, one being X and the other being Hunter. They ended up in the makeshift jail cell, with Falco and company.
"Hold up, this isn't Olympia..." frowned X, knowing where he was the moment he saw Fox, Falco, Diddy and Donkey Kong. "...this is Japan! That Geo, messing up the coordinates again..."
Geo: Operating the teleportation device has been fun. Like, whenever King Dedede tells me to send him to the nearest cheesecake factory, I always warp him to Greenland! Yet he always returns freezing and ticked off...must be some low-quality cheesecakes they're making over there.
"X, you came to rescue us!" rejoiced Fox, as he, Falco, and Diddy gave the pacifist robot a big hug while Kazuma kept his distance. Once the hug ended, Fox and company directed their attention to Hunter. "Who's that guy?"
"He's Hunter, he came from a faraway place," explained X, as Hunter waved to everyone. X looked over, and saw Donkey Kong. "Hey DK - I see Ms. Shimazaki is still holding you hostage."
"Yeah, you're definitely right, that woman's got me by the rope and..." responded Donkey Kong, in an despondent manner...before the wall between him and the others was broken, after X used a Charge Shot on it. "...X, I'm so glad you came."
"You're free to come over now, DK." Came over Donkey Kong did, as he dropped his sheets to the floor and ran over to Diddy and hugged him, all smiles. The two primates embraced, uncle and nephew officially reunited again.
"Looks like we did it - we've reunited the Kongs," remarked Kazuma, knowing that the duty was only half-done. "All there's left to do is to get the heck outta here..."
"I think my man X's got that covered," said Hunter, before X used another Charge Shot - this one on the other wall. "Time to make our getaway!" With X leading the way, the men escaped from the room, and headed down the staircase to the first floor. They went down the hallway, close to the inn exit...
...but once they arrived at the main area of the inn, they saw Maiko standing in front of the exit, her arms folded with the old lady standing beside her.
"Going somewhere, boys?" Maiko asked Fox and company, with Fox and Falco gritting their teeth. "No way I'm letting you get away with my client."
"The gorilla dude is her client?" Hunter whispered to Fox, wanting someone to explain the entire situation to him like he was five.
"Long story," replied Fox, before stepping out in front of the group, challenging Maiko. "Look here lady - you pretty much kidnapped Donkey Kong, and that was messed up. So we're here to right your wrong, and take DK back where he belongs!"
"Kidnapped? Don't be ignorant, Mr. McCloud - I was just merely borrowing him. No harm done there. But if you want to fight this battle, then you got your wish..." Maiko looked towards the old lady, giving her a cue.
"I've been wanting to do this for some time..." the old lady grinned evilly, as she took out a hatchet and neared Fox and company. Fox took a step back, feeling very cautious...
...when all of a sudden, police sirens were heard, as red and blue lights were seen through the windows. Maiko stepped away from the door, and a moment later, Japanese police officers burst through the door, with their guns.
"Kore wa keisatsudesu, anata wa taiho sa rete imasu!" the lead police officer shouted, basically saying that someone was under arrest. Maiko, at first looking shook, started to laugh.
"Well well well...looks like it's your unlucky day," the former idol laughed, as she turned to face Fox, Falco, and Diddy. "Don't know exactly what you boys did, but I'm sure it was..." Before Maiko could even finish, a police officer ambushed her and the old lady from behind, knocking them down to the floor.
"Maiko Shimazaki, you are under arrest, for kidnapping a United States denizen and bringing him to Japan against his will!" the police on top of Maiko - an English speaker - said to Maiko as he handcuffed the former idol. The old lady was handcuffed as well as Fox, Falco, and Diddy looked at Kazuma, who had a proud look on his face.
Kazuma: Being a yakuza, calling the police is a forbidden act. Crime syndicate members like myself consider the police to be our enemies in a way. But with Maiko, I couldn't let what she did slide. Those fans, getting autographs from DK...they didn't know the truth. But now, they'll know...
"I wasn't kidnapping him - I was going to bring him back!" the handcuffed Maiko defended herself, as the police officer stood her up. "I just wanted to start a new recording company, that's all! Wanted to test the waters..."
"Yeah yeah, say that to the judge..." the police officer responded, as Maiko and the old lady were whisked out of the inn by the policemen. "...should've just stayed a model, but what do I know?"
"This won't be the last time you'll see me, mark my words..." These were the final words Maiko said to Donkey Kong and the others, as Fox and Falco mockingly waved to the former idol before she was whisked out of the inn for good. Jail was her next destination.
"I dunno about you guys, but I'm ready to head back home," grinned DK as he flexed his fingers, wondering what kind of reception he would receive upon his return. "Really missed being at the mansion!"
"I know how you feel buddy, I really do..." smiled Fox, before looking up at Kazuma and shook hands with him. "Thanks for everything Kazuma - we wouldn't have found Donkey Kong without you."
"Don't mention it, I was just doing my job," smiled Kazuma, as he shook hands with Fox. "Oh, and you can keep the costumes by the way - they're all yours to own."
"Screw that, I'm throwing mine in the trash!" remarked Diddy, as the others shared a collective laugh together. "I was being serious, you guys..."
Link and Zelda remained in the living room, watching the coverage of Rathalos until the very end. That very end included Spyro and company putting a beating on Rahtalos, to the point where it was down for the count. Link and Zelda witnessed the defeat of Rathalos, all on live television.
"They have done it - the courageous group was able to stop the dragon, and end his reign of terror," the reported announced, standing in front of the felled Rathalos as many local authorities dealt with the dragon. "Despite their victory, the group returned to wherever they came from, without a single word."
"So that's the dragon, huh?" asked Yashiro, popping up in the living room in his Force Five costume."Mega Man kept me posted about that dragon while we were filming Touma's show."
"We saw Pit, Tiki, and a few others deal with the dragon themselves," Zelda told Yashiro, who found it amusing that Pit could be trusted with stopping a dangerous dragon. "There was this small, purple dragon with them - he surprisingly held his own."
"What are you trying to say, Zelda - you got something against small dragons?" asked a voice, grabbing everyone's attention...it was Donkey Kong, back at the Smash Mansion. With Fox, Falco, and Diddy at his side.
"Donkey Kong, you made it back! Awesome!" exclaimed Link, as Zelda and Yashiro shared the Hylian's joy. "Missed you man! You too, Diddy! Fox and Falco...I guess." Link dared not to tell the Kongs about the bananas - let them find out for themselves.
"Mansion just wasn't the same without you, DK..." Yashiro said to Donkey Kong, who gave the idol singer a small fist bump. Yashiro looked over at Fox and Falco, seeing how pimped out they were. "I take it you two had a lot of fun in Japan."
"Eh, a little - I'm just glad that we didn't forget our stuff," remarked Fox, nearly forgetting to bring his suitcase from the hotel before X warped the gang back to Seattle. Same went for Falco and Diddy. "Krystal's next door in the Assist Tower, right? I should go see her..."
Yashiro: Donkey Kong gave me, Itsuki, and the others the 411 on Maiko and man...it just didn't sound like Maiko at all. A super ambitious, conniving Maiko isn't the Maiko that I know. Unless that Maiko was a fake...which I highly doubt.
Being back in Seattle, X took Hunter outside, wanting to reunite the cheetah with his friend Spyro. Spyro was with the crew that stopped Rathalos, bragging about the achievement to Mario, Isabelle, and Dr. Wily.
"And after Meta Knight stabbed Rathalos in the neck, I went for the headbutt and did even more damage!" bragged Spyro, with a few select individuals having already tuned him out. "It was all over for Rathalos right then!"
"Don't know why, but I felt like there was someone riding on my back the entire time..." said Tiki, wondering who it was. The person riding atop Tiki was Cortex, who was hiding behind Charizard, away from Spyro.
"Whoever it was, it sure looked a lot like Dr. Cortex," remarked Red, as Charizard felt something step on his tail. The flame Pokemon moved out of the way, revealing Cortex in plain sight. "Hey, it WAS Dr. Cortex!"
"Dr. Cortex?!" Spyro eyed the mad scientist, quickly getting on the offensive. Cortex would've wet his pants, but he felt like he did that enough times to do it again. "Haven't I kicked your butt already?"
"Spyro, what's up man!" Hunter shouted out to the dragon, grabbing his attention. The cheetah ran over to Spyro, with X following him. "Sorry I was late - wasted my time looking for my toothbrush. Turns out I didn't have one."
"Nah, you're good Hunter. Glad you showed up, perfect timing - this man Dr. Cortex is looking for a beatdown!" Spyro returned his focus to Cortex, who was left shivering in fright.
"Y-You're the reason why I was feeling uneasy this entire day..." Cortex said to Spyro, who was inching closer to him. "...the fear that I might get my butt kicked by a dragon...like you...I tried to go unnoticed because of you..."
"Hey Tiki, how about we teach Dr. Cortex a lesson and send him crying to his mom?" Spyro asked the manakete, expecting her to join in on the "beat up Dr. Cortex" charades. Instead of answering, Tiki was left evaluating her options...
"Actually...I think you should spare him," the manakate suggested, leaving Spyro confused as she walked over to Cortex. "He may look like he can't put up a fight, but that's the point. That's his charm. That's what makes him special, in a weird way. While I do mind him riding on me while I was a dragon...I still think he should be spared."
"Can't believe Tiki is defending that nincompoop..." Meta Knight groaned in total disgust, thinking that Tiki was super high or something.
Cortex: Best day of my life so far...not only did I get the chance to ride on Tiki (sounds bad in context, don't care), but Tiki also defended my honor! She's practically wife material!
"In all-a fairness, Cortex is a little reformed - he's been-a living in the mansion with-a us, including Crash," Mario pointed out, as Spyro looked at the plumber with wide eyes of shock. "Hasn't done-a anything bad since!"
"Well if that's the case...then I might have to take your word for it," said Spyro, as he took a step back from Cortex. "Better consider yourself lucky, Cortex."
"Hey guys, I don't mean to interrupt, but...anyone know any good vacation spots around here?" Hunter asked Mario and company, still having a craving for some vacation time. "Spyro and I were supposed to go on a vacation..."
"Oh ho ho, we have-a LOTS of vacation spots in-a town, trust me..." assured Mario, with a giant grin on his face. He looked over at Isabelle, who nodded her head with a smile.
After stopping a giant dragon in Rathalos from doing some damage around Seattle and the surrounding area, it was only fitting that Spyro deserved a little break...
