Author's Note:
This chapter will be the first one in which much of the plot revolves around the Assist Tower. Meaning that the assist characters will appear more often than characters from the mansion. That being said, I hope you all like this chapter. Guest reviews:
"Will Master Hand face karmic justice for that botched wrestling event? Are Matthew and Sveta from Golden Sun: Dark Dawn going to be a couple if they show up? Can you add a scene of Pit referencing how helicopter pilots in the Resident Evil games always die? Morag acting like a drill instructor when she shows up? And finally, do you plan to do a Sword Art Online chapter (since the games are of alternate continuity) or a Dragon Quest XI chapter?"
There will be karmic justice for Master Hand, soon. Matthew and Sveta MIGHT be a couple? (Matthew is Isaac's son, right?) I could do that RE reference. Morag acting like a drill instructor would be too perfect. And as much as I love SOA, I'm more inclined to doing a DQ XI than anything. On to the other review, from PinkKityRose:
1. Did you beat the World of Light? If so, what are your thoughts about it?
2. Is the message that Zelda wrote about Incineroar says a very bad word at the end?
3. Can you do another mother's day chapter, since we have some new mothers that were introduced?
4. Dark Pit finishes his duties for the day and just when he is about to relax, Pit comes and forces him to join him and two of his friends doing things for the day.
1. I did beat World of Light, a few months ago - I really liked it, for what it's worth. Wish it had more cutscenes, but oh well.
2. I won't answer that question and just let everyone's imagination fly..
3. A Mother's Day chapter will complicate the Detective Pikachu chapter I've been planning for...unless I tie the two in together!
4. Dark Pit spending a day with Pit and his friends...now would be a perfect time to do that.
Episode 173: Petscape (this is the best I could come up with...)
When it came to no-nonsense people, Midna was about as no-nonsense as one person could possibly get. The imp from the Twilight Realm never took crap from anyone - not Crazy Hand, not Link, and not even the princess of Hyrule herself, Zelda. While having a very mischievous side, Midna loved to get stuff done, getting her hands dirty if necessary.
With that no-nonsense attitude came a low tolerance for anything remotely annoying or irritating. Midna could not stand being around people that aggravated her to death. Whether it was Jeff tapping his pencil, Hammer Bro constantly throwing his hammers for no good reason, or even Phosphora constantly complaining about her hair or anything she thought paled in comparison to her roommate Krystal...literally anything bothered Midna.
But there was one thing that bothered the imp the most - having to answer the front door, when nobody was around. Midna knew from the moment she made her abode in the Assist Tower that the establishment was full of lazy bums, and her belief was confirmed every time she had to answer the front door. Which was usually 90 percent of the time, mostly.
"Midna, can you get the front door for me?" Guile asked the imp who had passed by, as the major was doing push-ups. Thanks to Ashley's hair potion, Guile got his trademark hair back, after shaving it off in the previous episode.
"Why can't you get it, you're closer!" Midna fired back, in a very complaining mood. Guile was indeed closer to the front door than Midna was...his feet was even resting on the wall! "Is getting up too much for you?"
"It is, especially when I would have to end such a grueling workout. Ending an exercise when you're exerting so much strength and momentum is never a good idea! I cannot risk my health and well-being."
Sighing, Midna begrudgingly flew to the front door, hoping whoever was at the doorstep was worth y of having the door slammed on them. Though to be fair, Midna would slam the door on anyone, even it it was the president. That was just how she was.
But when the imp opened the front door, she didn't expect to see a certain plumber holding his pet dog in his arms.
"Good-a evening, Midna, my favorite imp!" greeted Mario, doing his best to get on Midna's good side. He was clearly able to see how ticked the imp was. "Would-a you be such a dear, and..."
"No thanks, have a good day," Midna responded quickly as she slammed the door shut on Mario, before flying away. Undeterred, Mario rang the doorbell, as Midna angrily gritted her teeth and flew back to the front door and opened it.
"I'm sorry Midna, I wasn't quite-a finished...would-a you be such a dear, and babysit Poochy for me? Princess Peach and-a I are going rollerskating today."
Mario: Peach and I have tried-a for many years to go rollerskating together. There was this one rollerskating rink-a we wanted to go to, but the owner of-a the rink wouldn't let me on the floor. Said-a I was "too fat". He sure proved how dumb-a he was with that idiotic claim. Fortunately, the owner retired a few-a months ago and passed the rollerskating rink on-a to his son, so I'm hoping the son isn't as-a dumb as his old man is.
"Why can't you get that purple dragon and his cheetah friend to babysit your stupid dog for you?" questioned Midna, who really wasn't in the babysitting mood. Children and pets would annoy any babysitter, and Midna wouldn't be any different.
"Because they'll be joining us in-a our rollerskating escapades," replied Mario. Spyro had some skating experience...on the ice, at least. Hunter, well, he might have a bit of a hard-knock learning experience. "They'll have lots-a of fun!"
"Sure they will...but what about your neighbors, can't they babysit Poochy for you? So much for neighborly goodwill. You don't trust your neighbors enough?"
"Olimar's daughter is allergic-a to dogs, Pac-Man's wife hates-a Poochy with a passion, Berkut can't stand-a pets, and Marth is a clean-a freak who doesn't want dog-a fur all over his carpet. I would have-a Luigi babysit Poochy, but keeping watch of two-a dogs would stress him out..."
"And what about everyone at the mansion? Can't you just leave Poochy in Master Hand's room or something, and then go rollerskate with Peach?"
"Master Hand can't really stand-a being around pets...certain pets, that is. Plus, I'm sure everyone-a at the mansion is busy today. Don't wanna disturb-a them!"
Having heard everything from Mario, Midna was left with no choice. The imp had to babysit the plumber's dog, and Mario was contingent upon having the imp babysit Poochy, since she was the first person he asked. Trying her best not to give in, Midna groaned.
"...fine, I'll babysit your dumb dog for you," said the imp, finally giving in. Mario grinned, as he entered the tower and placed Poochy gently on the floor. Midna looked at Poochy, with heavy disdain.
"I'll be back-a for Poochy, after we return-a from the rollerskating rink. Take good-a care of my boy!" Midna gave Mario a half-hearted smile, as Mario left the tower for good. Midna looked down at Poochy, who was smiling with his tongue out.
"Now you look here, you dumb mutt, I don't really have the time or the patience to deal with you," Midna told the dog, laying down the business. "But, Mario wanted a babysitter, and that babysitter sadly had to be me..."
"Stop acting like it's a death sentence," interjected Guile, who was still doing his push-ups, hearing the tone of Midna's voice as he was eavesdropping.
"Shut up Guile, nobody asked you..." Midna returned her attention to Poochy, who was still smiling with his tongue out. Hardly anything fazed that dog. "...as I was saying, since I'm your babysitter, I'll be doing nothing but watch you...do...doggy things. Just so we're on the same page, you better not..."
Midna would be cut off, when the doorbell rang once more. Knowing that Guile wouldn't stop working out, Midna answered the front door once more, and was greeted by the other half of the Mario Bros, Luigi.
"Hiya Midna!" Luigi waved to the imp, who wanted to the slap the plumber so hard right now. Polterpup was standing next to Luigi, at his feet. "Can you watch-a over Polterpup for me? Daisy, Yuffie, and I are gonna do some-a spring cleaning, and we can't have-a Polterpup in the way."
"What possibly compelled you to come to the tower, and ask me to watch your ghost pet for? Do you hate me that much, is that what it's all about?"
"Nothing compelled-a me, really - I spoke with Mario on-a my way here, and he told me that you'd-a be a great babysitter for Polterpup!" Midna never knew it was even possible to hate Mario - both as a person and as a human being - until now.
"Don't tell me you forgot about me, Luigi, zzrt!" exclaimed Rotom, as he showed up at the front door. Technically, the plasma Pokemon counted as Luigi's pet. Midna looked at Rotom, her left eye twitching.
"Ah, yes, I need you to watch-a over Rotom, too. It likes to go on lengthy monologues-a that drive my wife crazy. It'd be best if it stays-a with you, until we're done-a cleaning."
Rotom: It's not true that I drive Princess Daisy crazy. It's just that whenever I speak with her, it's that time of the month, zroom.
Daisy: That Rotom had the AUDACITY to run its mouth about how fat I was compared to Peach...ooh! *stomps her foot angrily* I could just beat that dumb plasma thing to a pulp if I wanted to.
Rotom: Question: is being fat the same as being curvy, zzrt? I always get those two distinctions mixed up, somehow.
"Ah, what the heck, I'll watch them ya," responded Midna, as Rotom and Polterpup entered the tower. Midna looked at the three pets before her, shaking her head. "Now I have to babysit a dog, a ghost dog, and some talking Pokedex...great."
But it wouldn't end for Midna just yet, no siree! A moment later, before Midna could take the trio of pets with her, she gritted her teeth once more when the doorbell sounded again. Midna answered the front door once more, and saw Sonic and Tails, with Shaymin and Suzie, respectively.
"What's good, Midna!" Sonic greeted the imp, who obviously was done with life right about now. "You know if Knuckles is around? We need him to babysit our Pokemon, since Tails and I are going to a pizza buffet downtown." Sonic looked around, before whispering the following: "Don't tell Knuckles about the pizza buffet..."
"I would tell him, but I can't - he's out shopping with Rouge," replied Midna...and having realized what she said, the imp slapped herself on the forehead, feeling like an idiot. Her conscience should've told her to fib.
"Cool beans! That means you'll babysit Shaymin and Suzie for us, right?" asked Tails; out of desperation, Midna pointed down at Guile, whom Sonic and Tails peered inside through the doorway to look at. "Guile looks kinda busy - don't wanna disturb him."
"You tell 'em, Tails," said Guile after doing his push-up, as Midna looked at the major with scornful eyes. Almost like Guile wanted to see Midna prove her mettle as a babysitter, for whatever reason.
"If you really want me to...I'll babysit your stupid Pokemon," replied Midna, as Sonic and Tails placed their Pokemon inside the tower. "If your pets annoy me to no end, then I'll tell Knuckles you two had pizza without him."
"Suzie and I will be on our best behavior!" assured Shaymin, although Midna was very unsure how much she could trust the gratitude Pokemon.
"Yeah, that's what I like to hear!" smiled Sonic, as he and Tails left the tower. "Thanks a bunch, Midna - don't rough 'em up too bad!"
"I'll try my best not do..." responded Midna, in a very disheartened tone. The imp now had to deal with five pets...would there be any more incoming?
Sadly for her, the answer was yes; moments after Sonic and Tails had left, the doorbell rang once more, just when Guile finished his push-ups. Midna got all giddy, as Guile sprung up to his feet, and answered the door...and saw Crash standing by, with Aku floating next to him.
"Hey Guile - can you give this mail to Vince?" asked Aku, as Crash handed Guile an envelope. No pet was in sight, much to Midna's dismay. "Whoever is sending him mail keeps getting the mansion address and the tower address mixed up!"
"I'll give it to him pronto, thanks," Guile accepted the envelope from Crash, before closing the front door and walked away. Midna watched as Guile walked by, her fists tightening with rage. Moments later, the doorbell rang, and Midna answered the front door, and guess who it was?
Lucas, with his pet dog Boney. Ness, Paula, Poo, and Kumatora were all outside, a fair distance behind Lucas. Why couldn't Lucas have come before Crash and Aku? That way, Boney would've been Guile's problem to deal with.
"Can you babysit my pet dog for me?" Lucas asked Midna, as all the life was sucked out of her at this very moment. "My friends and I are gonna play at the sports complex."
"This sports complex doesn't allow pets, do they?" asked Midna, as Lucas nodded his head. Midna let out a heavy sigh. "I'll babysit your dog for you. Stupid sports people and their stupid rules..." Lucas placed Boney in the tower, before leaving and returning to his friends.
The nightmare wouldn't end for Midna, no no no...shortly after Lucas left the tower, another person from the mansion brought their pet to the tower. This time, it was Cloud, with his pet Chocobo Cloud Jr.
"Gonna go out riding around on my motorcycle today," said Cloud, as he handed Cloud Jr. off to Midna. "Driving around Seattle might cure my motion sickness..."
Following Cloud, the next to hand their pet off to Midna was Mega Man, giving the imp his trusty companion Rush.'
"Someone's gotta watch over Rush while I'm on mansion patrol duty," stated Mega Man - mansion patrol duty?! He was stealing the buddy cops' jobs! "Who knows when someone from the All-Star Manor's gonna show up!"
Not long after Mega Man arrived, his arch-nemesis Bass would stop by the tower, providing Midna with his own pet robot dog, Treble.
"Have to run some errands for Master Hand," explained Bass, as Treble looked at Midna with menacing eyes. "Treble should be in a happy mood..."
Last person to bring their pet to Midna was Joker, who brought his pet cat Morgana along. Finally, a pet Midna had a pretty good rapport with! (See episode 95.)
"Makoto wants me to go out with her again," said Joker; there was no stopping a woman when she wanted to go out with her man.
But there was one more person who wanted to leave their pet with Midna...and it was Lloyd, who brought with him a rock.
"...it's a pet rock," Lloyd told Midna, as if the imp wasn't aware, as he petted the rock gently. "He's a good boy. Take good care of him!"
In total, Midna had to babysit nine pets...ten, if you honestly think Rotom counts as a pet. Eleven, if you want to add Lloyd's pet rock into the mix. In a perfect world, babysitting the pets could've been Guile's job...
Midna: I feel like Guile just wants me to feel miserable - he could've agreed to babysit all those pets, but NOOOOO! He just does his exercising like the stupid idiot he is. Didn't even bother answering the door. His interaction with Aku must've been planned...
Midna gathered the pets in the lounge of the tower, as she looked at all of them at once. The imp had her arms folded, looking at each pet and analyzing them. The pets were doing normal pet things, like licking their paws and such.
"Not gonna lie, Midna really scares me sometimes..." Shaymin whispered to Morgana, who was busy licking her paw. The gratitude Pokemon slowly looked up at Midna, who was giving her an intimidating stare.
"Let me make one thing clear...I have VERY low patience," stated Midna, making sure that the pets knew this. "So I will not tolerate any silliness, or any annoying thing you dumb pets do. Do I make myself clear?"
"I have a question - am I allowed to fly around the tower as I please? Sometimes I just gotta let it all out, you know what I'm saying?"
"You're free to fly as much as you like, provided you don't harm anyone. Last thing I would want is for someone to complain about a flying hedgehog Pokemon..."
"Sweet! I'm off!" Without warning, Shaymin immediately took flight, as the gratitude Pokemon flew up in the air and flew out of the lounge. Cloud Jr. followed her lead, flying out as well. Midna gritted her teeth, as she watched Shaymin and Cloud Jr. fly away.
"Ooh...I knew I should've told that dumb Pokemon no. What am I doing?!" Midna looked back at the pets, who were still doing normal pet things. "You pets better stay here when I get back, got it?" Midna pointed her finger at the pets, keeping a close eye on them as she left the lounge.
Waluigi was riding on a wave of high tides ever since the previous episode. The lanky man, who posed as Roman Reigns at Master Hand's Mini Wrestlemania event, had defeated Street Fighter veteran Zangief in a hard-fought wrestling match. Yes, Zangief was paid off to lose the match, but in turn the Russian did make Waluigi look particularly strong. And it was getting to Waluigi's head.
"What's good, punk?" Waluigi confronted Knuckle Joe, who was minding his business as he was punching a punching bag in his room. "You wanna try me?"
"No thanks, not really in the mood for putting you in a body bag," replied Knuckle Joe as he continued delivering punches to the punching bag in front of him. "Why don't you pick on someone weaker than you instead?"
"Excuse me?!" Waluigi felt offended, as he clutched his pearls and looked at Knuckle Joe in shock. "I'll have you know, that I beat Zangief fair and square! Left that man crying in the ring!"
"So you won a predetermined fight, good for you..." Waluigi did not appreciate the disrespect Knuckle Joe was putting on his name, not one bit. "...doesn't mean that you're stronger than you think you are."
"Oh yeah, well I'll show you!" Wanting to show off his strength, Waluigi delivered a roundhouse kick to the punching bag...instead of sending the punching bag to the floor, the lanky man injured his foot. "Owie!"
"That's what you get," Knuckle Joe smirked at Waluigi, who was jumping up and down on one leg as he was holding his aching foot. Waluigi was doing his best to hold back tears, to protect his manly image.
Waluigi: I have footage of me beating Zangief - footage I practically had to beg Master Hand and Lakitu for. If that footage doesn't convince everyone that I can hold my own as a fighter in Smash, then nothing will!
"Have you boys seen a flying Shaymin and a Chocobo around?" asked Midna as she poked her head through the door; Knuckle Joe and Waluigi looked at Midna, with the latter having stopped jumping in place.
"We didn't know you had a pet Shaymin and Chocobo, Midna," replied Waluigi, as Midna sighed and facepalmed. Stupid people were truly the imp's Achilles heel. "Does Sonic know about it?"
"You stupid string bean, the Shaymin belongs to Sonic! And the Chocobo to Cloud! Why on earth would I own a pet for? Would you see me walking some stupid hedgehog or bird around the block?!"
"You kidnapped Sonic's Shaymin AND Cloud's Chocobo?!" exclaimed Knuckle Joe, as Midna got even more frustrated and banged her head against the door. "Woah, Midna, don't give yourself a concussion...no memory loss is gonna make you forget the awful thing you have done."
"I never said I kidnapped anyone! Sonic and Cloud just entrusted me to babysit their pets, until they get back!" Waluigi and Knuckle Joe looked at Midna, and then at each other...before bursting out laughing. The thought of Midna babysitting was very laughable to them.
"Ha ha ha, you'll never catch us!" exclaimed Shaymin, as she and Cloud Jr. flew behind Midna. Midna turned around, and saw Shaymin and Cloud Jr. fly right past her, not giving a single care in the world.
"Why you little..." Midna gritted her teeth, as she chased after Shaymin and Cloud Jr.
Chef Kawasaki was in the kitchen, cooking dinner for the poor, poor tower denizens. To say that Kawasaki was a horrible chef would be like saying that Michael Jordan was a pretty good basketball player; there was no word in the dictionary to perfectly describe how bad Kawasaki's cooking was.
"Mm, mm, mm...my homemade chili sure smells good!" smiled Chef Kawasaki, as she smelled the scent from his chili...despite not having a nose. No wonder his food sucked, he can never tell how it smells! "Maybe today is finally the day everyone will appreciate my cooking!"
Chef Kawasaki happily hummed to himself, as he went to the cabinet to pick out some seasoning for his chili. As Kawasaki looked through the cupboard, Shaymin and Cloud Jr. flew inside the kitchen, towards an empty pot on the stove.
"Some turkey powder could do the trick..." said Chef Kawasaki, as he grabbed a canister of turkey powder from the cabinet. Turkey powder? Kawasaki closed the cabinet and returned to the stove, screaming in fright when he saw Shaymin and Cloud Jr. trying to get inside the empty pot.
"Oh, don't mind us...we're just playing a little game of hide-and-seek," Shaymin said to Chef Kawasaki, before she and Cloud Jr. got inside the pot and placed the lid on top of said pot. Chef Kawasaki nonchalantly walked over to the stove, as he happily sprinkled the turkey powder in his chili.
"Those dumb flying pets should be around here somewhere..." said Midna as she flew inside the kitchen, on the lookout for Shaymin and Cloud Jr. She saw Chef Kawasaki shake some turkey powder into his chili, and understandably cringed.
"Chef Kawasaki, you might as well call yourself the next Gordon Ramsay after today..." Chef Kawasaki spoke with himself, acting all delusional, when Midna poked him on the shoulder to grab his attention. "Hey Midna! Wanna try out my chili?"
"I'm not interested in taste-tasting your crappy food, Chef Kawasaki." That certainly didn't hurt Kawasaki's confidence at all. "I'm looking for Shaymin and Cloud Jr, a hedgehog thing and a Chocobo. Have you seen them anywhere?"
"Nope, can't say I have! But I do hope you find her eventually!" Leaving Chef Kawasaki to make his chili even worse, Midna searched around the kitchen, looking for Shaymin and Cloud Jr...when she saw a pot on the stove move, just a tad. Curious, Midna flew over to the pot, and took off the lid...
...and saw Shaymin and Cloud Jr, hiding in it. The gratitude Pokemon and Chocobo looked up at Midna with nervous eyes, shivering in fear at the imp's angry look.
"There you are!" frowned Midna, as she grabbed Shaymin and Cloud Jr. and yanked them out of the pot. She held Shaymin against a cabinet door, with a very firm hold on her neck, before putting Cloud Jr. on the kitchen counter. "What do you have to say for yourself?!"
"We just wanted to..." started Shaymin, only to be interrupted when Midna slapped her. "...ow! We just wanted..." Midna slapped Shaymin once more, letting the gratitude Pokemon know that she meant business. "...can you please let me finish?"
"Now, Midna, that's no way to treat someone's pet Pokemon..." Chef Kawasaki advised the imp, who was constantly slapping Shaymin out of rage. With Kawasaki helpless in stopping Midna, Lakitu passed by on his cloud when he looked inside the kitchen and saw what was going down.
"Is that...Pokemon abuse?" the Koopa questioned, whipping out his trusty camera as he started recording Midna slapping Shaymin silly. "I can sell this!"
Lakitu: Master Hand is in danger of being in court, as he's being sued by a local television network for hijacking the TV airwaves to air his wrestling show last week. I could raise some funds, in the event Master Hand loses money. Might not be much, but it's the thought that counts!
"Stop it Midna, Shaymin and Cloud Jr. were just trying to play a game of hide-and-seek!" Chef Kawasaki scolded the imp; he would get involved, but not at the risk of putting his life and well-being in danger.
"Stay out of this, keep cooking your horrible chili!" Midna fired back, as she continued to slap Shaymin, before looking down at Cloud Jr. and letting him know he was next in line. At some point, Crazy Hand have to get involved...
...which was exactly what happened, when the giant hand appeared in the kitchen. His presence cast a shadow over Midna, who stopped slapping Shaymin and looked up at Crazy Hand.
"What is the MEANING of this?!" boomed Crazy Hand, easily sounding like the most ticked being in all of existence. "You're straight up ABUSING a Pokemon, and you didn't invite ME?! I feel so HURT!"
"No Crazy Hand, you don't understand," said Midna, wanting to plead her case, as she dropped Shaymin unto the kitchen counter. "I was trying to babysit Shaymin and Cloud Jr, but the two flew away when I least expected it. So, I had to punish..."
"But that gives you no REASON not to let me join in on the fun! I love a good, SLAPPABLE face!" Crazy Hand admitting such a thing made Midna eye around the kitchen curiously. "For that reason, I command you to STOP slapping Shaymin, at once!"
"Do I really have to?" Midna frowned, before turning around at Shaymin. Shaymin gave the imp an innocent smile, hoping that said smile would make up for the shenanigans she and Cloud Jr. were responsible for. "Ugh...fine, whatever."
Midna, Shaymin, and Cloud Jr. returned to the lounge, with Midna hoping that the pets remained put. To the imp's surprise, the pets were gathered outside of the lounge, rather than being in it.
"Didn't I tell you stupid pets to stay put?" Midna scolded the pets, as she and the two pets made their return from the kitchen. "Man, you guys can't follow simple instructions!"
"We were staying in the lounge, but Suzie here had a very big...sneeze, zzrt," stated Rotom, as it looked down at Suzie. The Alolan Vulpix had the sniffles, as she sniffled with her nose. "Quite a gigantic one at that!"
"Oh please, I'm sure it can't be that bad..." Turns out Midna would be wrong, when the imp looked inside the lounge and saw how frozen it was. It was like a frozen winterland in there - everything was frozen and covered in ice.
"Rotom saw Suzie about to sneeze from a mile away, so it got us all out of the lounge just in tine," explained Morgana, as Midna looked around the lounge in disbelief. How was she going to explain what happened to her fellow tower residents?
"Yeah Enzo, I'll call you back later about that glass statue," Rodin spoke into his cellphone as he walked away, speaking with Enzo. "Those boys won't see it coming! Alright, talk to you later." After Rodin ended his call, the weapons dealer entered the lounge...
...only to slip and fall on the floor. This put Rodin in a relatively angry mood, as he tried to get up - only to slip and fall once more, this time faceplanting. Lakitu was nearby, getting all of it on film.
Lakitu: America's Funniest Home Videos, here I come...
"Who did this?!" pondered Rodin as he tried to get up, only to slip and fall once more and land on his butt. Dude should really stop trying. Rodin looked up, and saw Midna floating by. "Midna, did you do this?!"
"No it wasn't me, it was the stinking Vuplix!" replied Midna, as she pointed at Suzie. The imp wasn't having it today. "She sneezed and got ice all over the lounge!"
"Oh, I see...you did something that made the Vulpix sneeze, so it can get ice all over the lounge! What do you think this is, some kind of prank? I don't see you laughin'! Laughin' on the inside?"
"It's not a prank, honest! I wasn't even around when the Vulpix sneezed - I was in the kitchen looking for Shaymin and Cloud Jr."
"Then how did you know the Vulpix sneezed in the first place? You're not making any sense!" Angered, Midna looked at Rotom, wanting the plasma Pokemon to provide Rodin an explanation.
"Alolan Vulpixes are prone to sneezing and catching colds when the temperature is pretty low, zroom," Rotom stated this unnecessary fact, as Midna facepalmed.
"I know you were responsible, Midna...but I won't hold it against you this time." Rodin got back up on his feet, finally, before leaving the lounge. "But next time, you're dead meat!" Rodin pointed at Midna, as the weapons dealer walked away.
"Well Midna, look on the bright side..." said Morgana, as Midna glanced at the cat...who pointed at a rock next to him. "...we managed to save Lloyd's pet rock!" Midna buried her face in her hands, shaking her head in dismay.
Sheriff had a very unique distinction at the tower...he was the only resident to be 2-D, and therefore he could walk around in the air like a real G. While walking around in the air was cool, it often got Sheriff in trouble...like getting trapped inside a washer machine, for instance.
"We were just playing tag, when this happened," Bomberman explained to Lyn, as the two were standing in the laundry room. They were in front of the washer machine poor Sheriff was trapped in.
"And how exactly did Sheriff even wound up in the washer machine, in the first place?" asked Lyn; this deserved tons of answers, given the context of the situation.
"I cornered him in the laundry room, and he just...ran inside the machine. He's still it, by the way." Lyn would open the washer machine door and rescue Sheriff, but she was too busy wondering how this dilemma even went down. "Also, the door is jammed."
"You mean to tell me someone closed the washer machine door, when Sheriff is inside the machine? Who even thought about doing that?"
Skull Kid: Could you be a dear, and turn the washer machine on for me? I'd hate to get in trouble for actually killing someone. *laughs evilly, as he rubs his hands together*
"We could break the washer machine door open," theorized Bomberman, as Midna flew inside the laundry room. She saw Sheriff, trapped inside the washer machine. "I could use a bomb, but that would be disastrous."
"Agreed - let me use my sword instead," said Lyn, as she reached for her sword...only to find out that her sword wasn't there! Instead, her blade was in the hands of Midna, who used the blade to crack the window to the washer machine door open.
"Eh, you can thank me later," Midna told Lyn, giving her back her sword, as Sheriff walked out of the washer machine. Hard to tell if he was happy about being saved or not. "Hello Sheriff, care to do me a little favor...?"
While the pets were out in the hallway, doing their thing, Midna was in Dr. Wright's room, where Dr. Wright was on his laptop. He would've browsed the internet in peace, if not for the fact that he was being held at gunpoint by Sheriff. Sheriff had his trusty gun held at the side of Dr. Wright's head.
"Couldn't raw intimidation just be enough?" a nervous Dr. Wright looked up at Midna, who was smiling deviously at the mayor. "I just wanted to watch hot middle-aged women play poker in peace..."
"I think a little added intimidation is necessary," replied Midna, nonchalantly stretching out her arms. Dr. Wright gulped, as he looked back at his monitor. "It also serves as motivation. Now get to searching!"
"Y-Yes ma'am..." Dr. Wright immediately went to his most trusted search engine, and looked up, "things to do with your pet". Considering whom Dr. Wright was doing this favor for, the mayor's well-being was at stake here.
As Dr. Wright searched for the most reliable source he could find, Morgana sneaked his way inside the room, sniffing around. The cat came across a box of magazines, and looked inside. And what did he see at the top of a pile of magazines? Fully Clothed Women, the 11th edition! Dr. Wright had such a dirty mind.
"Ew...gonna pretend I never saw that..." remarked Morgana as he walked away from the box. Treble walked in the room and saw the box of magazines, before grabbing the magazines with his mouth and tearing them apart.
"Treble!" Midna scolded the robot dog, as Rush came in to reason with Treble. But that made things even worse, as Rush and Treble were broiled in a tug-of-war over a ripped magazine, pulling on said magazine with their teeth. Midna had to come over and play peacemaker.
"Eureka, I found something!" shouted Dr. Wright, loud enough to make Morgana scram out of the room. "It's a list of pet-friendly things you can do with your pet."
"Well what are you waiting on, click on it!" said Midna, before breaking Rush and Treble apart, as she flew over to Dr. Wright's laptop. Dr. Wright clicked on the link, pulling up the website.
"There are a lot of items on this list. I highly doubt you'll find an option you won't like. I'll just let you take a look yourself..." So Dr. Wright moved out of the way, allowing Midna to use his laptop. Midna scrolled down the page, reading everything.
"Playing Frisbee...sounds too basic. Taking a nap together...um, no thanks. Talk your pet out on a walk...who even has time for that?!" Eventually, Midna found something that caught her attention. "Ooh! Ride in a car together! That should keep them occupied."
"But do you even have a car? Do you know how to drive a car?" Midna didn't know an answer to the first question, but she knew an answer to the second one, as she looked at Dr. Wright and smiled. "Oh dear..."
Midna gathered Dr. Wright and the pets in the foyer, so she could make an announcement. But the imp couldn't make the announcement just yet...
"Hold on just a moment, we're forgetting Lloyd's pet rock," stated Shaymin, as she flew away from the foyer. Midna looked up at the heavens, wondering why the pets cared about the pet rock so much.
"Why does she care, it's just a stupid freaking rock!" groaned Midna, as Poochy and Polterpup both barked at the imp in objection. "Oh, why are you dumb mutts so triggered for? That rock doesn't have feelings!"
"True, but it's still a pet regardless," stated Morgana - can't argue with that. But Midna was willing to argue, as she groaned once more. Shaymin soon returned to the foyer, gingerly dropping Lloyd's pet rock unto the floor.
"There, now everyone's here!" the gratitude Pokemon exclaimed, as Midna looked at Shaymin and the pet rock while her eye twitched. "So, Midna, what's this huge announcement you have in store for us?"
"The huge announcement...isn't really that huge, to be honest," replied Midna, with Dr. Wright fearful about what the imp was gonna tell the pets. "I just wanted to say, that we'll be riding around in Jacky Bryant's vehicle! And Dr. Wright will be driving us!"
"Welp, time to take one for the team..." Dr. Wright gulped nervously; the mayor had very little driving experience, so he expected his driving stint in Jacky's car, Wanderlust, to turn out very poorly.
Dr. Wright: I seldom drive these days; usually I ask Kapp'n to drive me to the dry cleaners, to pick up my suit. I can never be trusted with a vehicle - I might kill someone. Heck, I might even kill MYSELF! Could you imagine if I never wore my glasses?
"This has got to be a joke, right?" asked Morgana, understandably weary about going on a ride if Dr. Wright was behind the wheel. "Do you even trust Dr. Wright?"
"Midna if you go through with this, then I'm gonna lose a ton of respect for you," stated Shaymin, not wanting to put her life in harm's way.
"You never even respected me in the first place..." Midna furrowed her brow - not that she wanted someone like Shaymin respecting her, to begin with.
"While that may be true, the already nonexistent respect that I have for you will reach a point of no return. Or...something like that."
"Look, you stupid pets are gonna take a ride in the corvette, and you're gonna like it! I better not hear any objections!" Soon Boney and Polterpup barked in objection, and the other dogs joined in. Midna looked away, and sighed.
"I dunno, those dogs look like they're making a mighty fine argument," Dr. Wright told Midna, perfectly fine with returning to his room. Fueled by anger, as the barking persisted, Midna trembled as her fist shook mightily.
"WILL YOU STUPID PETS SHUT UP?!" the imp shouted at the top of her lungs, letting it all out. The barking subsided, in an instant. "...if you pets just act nice during the car ride, I promise I'll play nice for the rest of the day. Deal?"
"Seems like a fair compromise to me," replied Shaymin, nodding her head. She looked around at the other pets, who are all in perfect agreement.
Midna and Dr. Wright took the pets outside, taking them to the driveway where Jacky's car was parked. Jacky was nowhere to be found - probably with Akira - which meant the opportunity was ripe for the taking.
"Well what are you standing around for, Dr. Wright?" Midna barked at the mayor, who was standing around minding his own business. "See if you can break inside Jacky's car!"
"Shouldn't we kindly ask Jacky for his car keys instead?" asked Dr. Wright, as his reasonable question earned him a slap from Midna. "I'll hope right on it!" The mayor hurriedly ran to Jacky's car, looking for a way inside.
"Trying breaking one of the windows!" suggested Shaymin, easily encouraging bad behavior. Dr. Wright found a wrench, lying on the ground, and used it to break the window open, on the driver's side. This caused the car alarm to go off.
"Whoops, don't think that was supposed to happen, hehe..." Nonetheless, Dr. Wright managed to unlock the car by sticking his arm through the broken window, and opened the front door.
"Uh oh, looks like we got some company!" shouted Morgana, as Jacky came marching down the porch steps. He caught Dr. Wright in the act of breaking into his car, and angrily marched to the driveway. It was safe to say that the Indy Car racer was in a very bad mood.
"Bro, not cool, not cool at all!" Jacky shouted at Dr. Wright, catching his attention; you know he was super angry when he was using terms like "bro".
"Look Jacky, it's not what you think..." Dr. Wright, scared for his life, said to Jacky as he waved his hands in front of him. "I didn't mean to break into your car...you see, I have a good explanation..."
"No, I'm not angry about that...I'm angry about that." Jacky pointed down, at Poochy, whose hind leg was up as he peed on one of the wheels of Jacky's car. Done with his pee break, Poochy walked away like nothing was wrong.
"You're more concerned that Mario's pet dog peed on your vehicle...rather than the fact that I'm trying to break into your vehicle?"
"I got myself a new set of wheels last week, and they were the premium kind too! And you're just gonna stand there and not stop that dog from peeing on one of my new wheels?! Must not think highly of my car, don't ya?"
"I never thought highly of your car to begin with." Dr. Wright's statement was enough to trigger Jacky, as the Indy Car racer looked at the mayor with a wicked glare. "Now that doesn't mean I HATE your car, per se..."
Jacky: I never had any kids, so I kinda view my car Wanderlust as a child I never knew I wanted. Wanderlust, she's like my daughter and pet, all rolled up into one...Why did I give my car the female gender? Because it's...just cooler that way. But I'll make one thing clear..anyone who messes with Wanderlust or talks trash about it is a dead man.
That dead man was none other than Dr. Wright, who was perceived by Jacky as hating on Wanderlust. Jacky grabbed the mayor by the neck, and threw him down on the hood of his car.
"Nobody gets away with talking crap about Wanderlust!" Jacky yelled into Dr. Wright's face, laying down the law and letting the mayor know what's up. "Are you gonna take back what you said, or what?"
"I didn't say anything negative about your car," Dr. Wright pleaded his case, only to get punched in the face by Jacky. "Ow, that hurt..."
"This...might take a while," sighed Midna, as her plan of having the pets go on a car ride around the block was dashed. But at least she got to witness a mayor get beat up by an Indy Car racer. Moments like those don't come around that often.
While Midna got to witness Jacky's beatdown on Dr. Wright up-close, Proto Man got to witness the beating from the top of the mansion. The robot was on patrol duty with Mega Man, and he was slacking off on the job.
"Hey Mega Man, get a load of Jacky beating up Dr. Wright," Proto Man called out to his brother, who was too busy standing at the edge of the roof looking through his binoculars. Proto Man suddenly winced. "Yikes, I think Jacky nearly broke Dr. Wright's glasses!"
"Can you not slack off for one minute?" Mega Man questioned Proto Man, as he surveyed the front yard of the mansion through his binoculars. "You're supposed to be on duty."
"I am on duty...I'm looking out for anyone that might come through that door over there and interrupt you. Excuse me for wanting to look out for you..."
"Yeah, I highly doubt anyone would come all the way up to the roof, just to annoy me..." Mega Man suddenly leaned forward, spotting some familiar faces. "...aha! Dudes from the manor spotted, at 3 o' clock!"
The dudes from the manor were Nathan Drake and Isaac Clarke - the latter we'll just call Dr. Clarke, so we won't give him mixed up with Isaac from the tower. Sensing that they were spotted, Nathan and Dr. Clarke were on the move, running to and hiding near a tree so they wouldn't be seen by Mega Man.
"Can he see us?" a panting Nathan whispered to Dr. Clarke, who cautiously poked his head out from the tree and looked up. He saw Mega Man looking through the binoculars, but not in his and Nathan's direction.
"I think we lost him," Mr. Clarke whispered back, as Nathan let out a sigh of relief and sat down on the ground, his back against the tree. "Do we REALLY have to go through with this, Nathan?"
"I don't see why not. Mario and Luigi are still out, which will give us some time to ransack their homes for what we can find. Anything useful, like their computer, or even their mail."
"But what about their neighbors? I'm sure they would be concerned about two men rummaging around two plumbers' homes. We should've thought this out through!"
"Good gravy, man, you're always worrying...but, if you must know, there should be some backup coming around soon. They can take care of the neighbors, and any other potential onlookers while we make our move."
"And who exactly is this 'backup'?" Dr. Clarke raised an eyebrow at Nathan, before he saw a peculiar-looking black cat walk by. That black cat seemingly gave away the answer to Dr. Clarke. "Oh...you don't mean..."
Midna and the pets returned to the tower with Dr. Wright, whose face was messed up thanks to Jacky. Dr. Wright fixed his broken glasses on his face, making sure they were properly adjusted.
"I am never doing business with you again!" Dr. Wright vowed as he angrily pointed at Midna, before storming off. It wasn't until after Dr. Wright had left that Shaymin noticed someone missing...
"Oh no, we left Lloyd's pet rock behind!" panicked Shaymin, as she flew out of the tower to retrieve the rock. Midna still couldn't understand why anyone would care about some lousy rock so much.
Lloyd: I met my pet rock Rock (creative name, huh?) one day, out on the road. He was calling out to me, saying, "Save yourself, boy!", and I ran to him and picked him up, cradling him in my loving hands. He's been my pet since then. But he never spoke to me since that moment. Maybe Rocky wasn't speaking...maybe it was some driver yelling at me to get off the road. There was a lot of traffic that day...
Rosalina: Told that Lloyd to run to the dollar store for me to get me some hand soap, and he comes back with a rock. It was my mistake to ask him to complete a single favor.
As Midna was back to the drawing board, thinking of something to do with the pets, Fox entered the lobby, coming from the basement. The pilot was counting some dollars in his hands.
"Got enough funds from Dr. Wily to get Krystal those earrings...hehe," Fox grinned as he countered his money, before encountering the pets. He was surprised to see Midna with them.
"What are you looking at, furball?" Midna snapped on Fox, who was gawking at the imp. But not entirely. "Never seen anyone babysit up to ten pets before?"
"Eleven," Morgana whispered to Midna, correcting the imp as he pointed at Lloyd's pet rock, Rocky. Midna looked back at Morgana as she gave the cat a glare.
"No, I just never expected to be a babysitter. Were the Mario Bros desperate? Did Sonic and Tails want to get rid of their Pokemon? I mean, why would they leave their pets with someone like you?"
"Trying to say something about me?" Midna put Fox on the hot seat, as she gave the pilot a menacing look. Fox had to backpedal real quick.
"I thought that maybe you'd be into...babysitting little baby demons or something. Because you know, you're from the Twilight Realm, and, uh..." Fox grinned as he had his fingers pointed at Midna, trying to get on the imp's good side, but Midna wasn't amused.
"Pathetic attempt, but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt." That gave Fox a moment of relief. "For now." For the time being. "But I have to ask you a question...you have a pet dinosaur, don't you?"
"I thought we all agreed not to talk about..." Fox started, before realizing whom he was speaking with. "...oh wait, sorry, you weren't there when we had that meeting. I...kinda...do have a pet dinosaur, named Tricky."
"So that's his name...Princess Zelda was telling me about this dinosaur one day." Fox should hold another meeting - this one to tell everyone NOT to tell others about Tricky. Prince Tricky. "This Tricky...is he really your pet, or just a friend?"
"I think he was my pet...I think. Wait, why are you asking me this question in the first place? What's the catch?"
"It's because Midna is a lousy pet babysitter, zzrrt," Rotom plainly stated, as Midna gritted her teeth at the plasma Pokemon.
"Ah, I see...so, the imp from the Twilight Realm needs some tips, eh? I'll tell you one thing - when it comes to pets, you gotta keep it simple. Don't overthink too much - not only will it fry your brain, but it'll make you more frustrated."
"I've been trying to avoid all the simple things today, out of the fear that I might bore the pets to death. So how should I keep it 'simple'?"
"Glossing through these magazines shouldn't be too bad..." said Falco as he came out from the basement, with a bunch of magazines in his hands. Fully Clothed Women magazines, that is - Falco was reading one right now, as Fox turned around and looked.
"You seriously did not beg Dr. Wily for those magazines..." the pilot said to Falco; who knew Dr. Wily and Dr. Wright had such similar taste.
"Bruh, it's just fully clothed women, it's practically safe to look at! Besides, looking at fully clothed chicks won't hurt Katt as much. This stuff is pretty safe."
Dr. Wily: Fully Clothed Women is truly a bargain - only five cents per magazine! *pauses* Though, in a sense, I could see why they're so cheap...
"...anyways, how about I show you how to keep it simple with a bunch of pets?" Fox asked Midna, who could really use all the help she could get. "Falco and I will show you how it's done!"
"Did you mention my name?" Falco asked Fox, briefly looking up from his magazine. Looking through the magazine didn't make the avian pilot feel bad at all.
Fox, Midna, and the others didn't know it, but someone was spying on them. Someone who was standing on the wall of the tower, peering through a window as they looked down. It was a tanned blonde-haired girl, wearing black attire.
"I've been surveying this tower, and nothing exciting happens..." the girl sighed, sounding disappointed, as a cat joined her at her side. It was the cat from earlier, and yes, it could also walk on buildings. "What a waste of our time..."
"Excuse me ma'am? Excuse me!" someone called out to the girl, who looked up. She saw Pit and Kirby, with the former most likely calling out to her. "Have you seen our soccer ball anywhere?"
"Soccer...ball? No I haven't. Haven't seen it anywhere." The girl suddenly looked around, looking and feeling guilty. "How long have you two been standing there?"
"We just got here. We were searching over at that tall tree a few seconds ago." Pit looked around, wondering where his soccer ball could be. "If you see our soccer ball anywhere, let us know!"
"Will do!" the girl assured, as Pit and Kirby walked away. Not wanting to raise any suspicions, the girl jumped off the tower and started to hover in the air, before flying upwards. Freaky...
"Pit, does it concern you that the girl we spoke with could walk on the tower like that?" Kirby asked Pit as the two friends walked away. "Never seen anything like it! I find it rather suspicious."
"Eh, she must be a lost member of Cirque du Soleil, looking for a way back home," shrugged Pit; did the angel even know what Cirque de Soleil was?
As Pit and Kirby continued their search for the missing soccer ball, Mega Man and Proto Man (but just Mega Man) were still on patrol duty, keeping a close eye on Nathan and Dr. Clarke. Mega Man saw the two men quickly advancing.
"It looks like Nathan and his friend are nearing Mario's house," Mega Man gave the status report to Proto Man, who cared only slightly. "They must be trying to burglarize Mario! But why?"
"Because Mario is Nintendo's breadwinner and therefore they hate his guts?" assumed Proto Man, knowing that his assumption was one hundred percent factual. "C'mon Mega Man, this isn't rocket science..."
"We gotta beat those two to the punch, before they start some trouble." Knowing what to do, Mega Man pulled down his binoculars, as he looked back at Proto Man. "Proto Man, do you still have that walkie-talkie?"
"Yeah, left it right here." Proto Man reached down, and picked up a walkie-talkie...Mega Man was definitley copying the buddy cops, they used walkie-talkies too! "You need me to contact someone?"
"Contact Link and tell him to ask Zelda if she still has that house key. If she does, then tell Link and Zelda to head to Mario's house, pronto!"
Fox and Falco were willing to help Midna with the pets, just by keeping it simple. But how did they keep it simple? By walking the pets around the block, of course! The most simple thing in the textbook.
"When you said you would 'keep it simple', this is NOT what I had in mind," remarked Midna, as all the pets had leashes around their collars. Fox was walking the dogs, Falco was walking Suzie and Morgana, and Midna was walking...erm, flying, Shaymin and Cloud Jr.
"Yes, it might be simple in nature, but it's a very safe option," stated Fox, like he was a professional pet owner or something. "Giving the pets a good walk around the block is a very calming experience, for both parties involved."
"Oh no, we totally forgot about Lloyd's pet rock!" fretted Rotom, the only unleashed pet, as it looked around for Rocky. "Don't tell me we left it behind, zroom!"
"You don't have to worry...I got him right here," assured Midna, revealing Rocky in her hand as she held the rock close to her chest. It bothered her that she addressed the rock with a male pronoun.
"That's not fair, how come he's not leashed like the other pets? That looks like preferential treatment to me, zroom - might make the other pets jealous!"
"Like you're the one to talk, you're not even leashed yourself! What, do you want a leash too? You gonna make a big deal over it?"
"Bruh can we stop it with the arguing, and walk the pets already?" frowned Falco, who didn't want to walk the pets around the block by the looks of it. "I wanna get back to the mansion so I can digest those Fully Clothed Women magazines." Falco had an issue of such magazine in his hand right now!
Falco: I'm gonna walk the pets and read from this Fully Clothed Women magazine, at the same time? Who's gonna stop me? No one! *pauses* ...no one except Katt, if she has a problem with me reading the magazines.
"You'll get to read your magazines, in due time," Fox told Falco, before looking at Midna. "We'll let you lead the way, Midna," Fox bestowed the honor upon the imp - an honor Midna didn't really want.
"Fine then..." responded Midna, before she looked at Shaymin and Cloud Jr. who were in front of her. "Okay, you two, on the count of three, you'll start flying, and Fox and Falco and the other pets will follow suit. Okay. One..."
"Let's get this party rolling!" shouted Shaymin, as she and Cloud Jr. started flying instantly. Midna screamed, holding unto her leashes, as Shaymin and Cloud Jr. had the imp flying through the air.
"...and we're off," announced Fox, as he and Falco followed after Midna and started walking the pets. Watching Fox and Falco and the pets from the tower was the blonde girl from earlier, who wondered if she should've done something. Missed opportunity...
With their search for the soccer ball going nowhere, Pit and Kirby were forced to return to the mansion. Neither of them were ready to call it quits just yet.
"We should ask Zelda, she knows where a lot of missing stuff are," Pit suggested to Kirby, after entering the mansion. The angel saw Eleonora in the foyer, and ran up to her. "Eleonora, have you seen Zelda anywhere?"
"I believe she has already left," replied Eleonora, leaving Pit stumped as the angel stomped his foot. "Her and Link should be at Mario's house by now."
"But didn't Mario take Peach out to rollerskate? I should know, I begged Mario to take me and Kirby to go rollerskating, but he said he'd only take Kirby. I could never let Kirby fly solo."
"Princess Peach entrusted Zelda with a spare house key, mainly for emergency purposes. Don't know what such purposes constitute, but today frankly might be one of those times..."
"Aw, what? Peach gave Zelda a key to her own house?! Mario never did anything like that for me! How does Zelda gets stuff like that?"
"Sometimes it pays being friends with other princesses, I suppose..."
Having secretly maneuvering around, Nathan and Dr. Clarke reached the mansion, and were in clear view as they were in the front yard. The coast was clear, with nobody in sight - only person that saw them was Mega Man, who hid out of Nathan and Dr. Clarke's view while still on the roof with his binoculars.
"There it is, Isaac...Mario's house," Nathan told Dr. Clarke, able to discern Mario's house by the red roof. "No car in the driveway, which must mean Mario is still out around town...got here just in time!"
"I have had my doubts about this, but they're gone now," said Dr. Clarke, as he and Nathan approached Mario's house. "Burglarizing the house should be easy for..."
"Hey man, why'd you stop?" Nathan asked Dr. Clarke, who stopped in place. Dr. Clarke pointed, as Nathan looked at the direction the engineer pointed at...
...and saw Pac-Man, Olimar, and Marth. All three men were looking angry, ready to lay a beating upon Nathan and Dr. Clarke.
"We've been told that there might be strangers lurking around..." Marth said to Nathan and Dr. Clarke, making them feel intimidated with his angry stare. Didn't work in the slightest.
Mega Man: Also had Proto Man tell Link to call Mario's neighbors, and alert them about Nathan's presence. Got no clue how the word will get to Marth, being that he seldom uses his house phone...
Caeda: I had to answer the phone, for Marth. For Marth. Do you realize how bad that makes me feel?
"Would you look at this...a bunch of guys wanting to throw some hands," smirked Nathan, amused by how tough Marth and company looked. "Someone told you about our arrival? Don't know who told you, but I gotta say...we both feel flattered."
"We are...?" questioned Dr. Clarke, before shaking his head and immediately getting with the program. "...I mean, yes, we are! We are flattered..."
"Leave the talking to me, bud..." Nathan told Dr. Clarke, before returning his attention to Marth and company. "Look, guys, I don't wanna fight you, I really don't...but, some words of advice: always look out behind you."
"Always look out behind us?" Pac-Man reiterated Nathan's words, before he and the others looked behind themselves and looked up...and saw a small tree flying towards them. The tree landed on Pac-Man and company, hurting them and trapping them underneath.
"My sides...are hurting very much," Olimar moaned in pain, his entire body stuck under the tree due to his small frame. At that moment, Alph ran out of the house, and panicked when he saw the three men stuck under the tree.
"Oh no!" the young astronaut ran over to Olimar and company, to see if they were okay. Nathan smirked at Alph, before he looked up and saw someone, hovering in the air near the tower...it was that blonde girl, from earlier.
"Thanks for the assist, Kat!" Nathan called out to the blonde girl, Kat, who gave the treasure hunter a thumbs up. "Knew I could count on you!"
"So she's the backup you spoke of..." Dr. Clarke said to Nathan, as he looked up at Kat. "...I see. Anyways, we should head on inside Mario's house, before we get any more interruptions."
Nathan and Dr. Clarke were at Mario's front door, with the former using a corkscrew to try and unlock the front door. Mega Man watched Nathan and Dr. Clarke from the roof, keeping his profile low.
"Shouldn't we, I dunno, stop them?" asked Proto Man, who was also keeping his profile low as he was lying stomach-first on the roof next to Mega Man.
"Nah, Link and Zelda got this..." assured Mega Man, leaving Proto Man someone wary about what might transpire next.
Fox, Falco, and Midna were almost done with their walk around the block with the pets, and they had little to no trouble whatsoever. Well, save for Polterpup scaring people away just by being a ghost dog.
"AAAAAAAHHHH GHOST!" a guy who was simply running around the block minding his own business screamed and ran for his life when he came across Polterpup. He screamed for his life, running as far as his legs could carry him.
"Hey, where did Boney go?" wondered Fox as he, Falco, and Midna looked around; they eventually saw Boney, harassing a man in a business suit on the sidewalk as he pulled on the man's pants leg with his teeth. "Boney, stop that this instant!"
With enough time and patience, Nathan successfully unlocked Mario's front door. He knew his corkscrew would come in handy.
"Jackpot..." the treasure hunter grinned, before opening the front door and walked inside Mario's house with Dr. Clarke. When entering the house, Nathan and Dr. Clarke expected Mario and Peach to not be home...
...however, they did not expect Link and Zelda to be standing in the living room, waiting for them.
"Ah, Nathan Drake and Isaac Clarke...we finally meet," said Link, trying to sound cool, as Zelda gave her man the side-eye. "...sorry if that sounded corny."
Link: Since Zelda and I were the first to spot Nathan, along with Midna, Master Hand held us responsible with taking care of Nathan if he ever starts any trouble. He'll only let us do that if Mario isn't around, however.
Zelda: It's a good thing Peach gave me her spare house key. It can come quite in handy sometimes!
"The hero and princess of Hyrule?" said Nathan, someone delighted that he got to meet Link and Zelda in person for the first time. "Not sure if you guys are aware, but this isn't your house."
"True, but that gives you no reason to barge inside this house in the first place," retorted Zelda, with a very commanding voice. "What is it that you're after?"
"I'm not telling you our secret, that's for you to find out. Which, in a way, kinda sucks, since there's no way you'll find out in the first place."
"I guess you didn't hear me the first time...what is it that you're after? Obviously you came here for something..."
"Yes, we did come here for something. But, since you wanna make things a little difficult..."
In a true boss move, Nathan dug into his holster, and pulled out his gun and pointed it at Link and Zelda. Link, shrieking in sight of the gun, grabbed Zelda and held her in front of him, using her as a human shield. What an awful boyfriend.
"Really, Link?!" Zelda scolded her man, alarmed that the Hylian was scared of firearms. He should be braver than that.
"We can either do this the easy way...or the hard way," said Nathan, as he eased the grip of the gun in his hand. "You can let Isaac and I do our thing, and then leave. Or, we can make things ugly. Your choice..."
"I don't wanna die, I don't wanna die, I don't wanna die..." Link shivered behind Zelda, his entire life racing before his very eyes.
Having completed their walk around the block, Fox, Falco, and Midna returned to the mansion, along with the pets. They saw Alph trying to lift the tree off of Marth, Pac-Man, and Olimar, but to no avail.
"Alph can't you just get our wives to come help us?" Olimar asked Alph, who was struggling to lift up the tree. "Or even Alm and Berkut? I wonder what those men are up to..."
"I would, but not at the expense of hearing them cry," replied Alph, before he stopped lifting the tree for his own good. The young astronaut took a breather. "Let me give it one more go..." Alph tried once again to lift up the tree...
...and this time, he actually lifted it up! Or did he? To Alph and the others' surprise, the tree started to levitate, as it flew up in the air.
"The heck is going on...?" questioned Fox, as he and the others watched the three fly up in the air...before crashing down towards the pets. Out of everyone, Shaymin was the quickest to react.
"Watch out!" the gratitude Pokemon shouted, before firing an Energy Ball at the tree and destroying it. Shaymin and company looked up, and saw the person who summoned the tree...Kat, who was hovering in the air.
"Drat, I was so close too!" frowned Kat, as she threw a hissy fit of sorts in the air. Which was kinda funny to see in person. "Stupid flying...reindeer thing..."
"That chick tried to hurt us..." said Midna, glaring at Kat, before looking at Shaymin and Cloud Jr. "You two, follow me. Time for some payback!" So Midna, Shaymin, and Cloud Jr. flew up to Kat, confronting the blonde.
"Hmph, Nathan never said I would have to fight someone...but I'll take what I can get." Kat and Midna looked at one another, menacingly, both ladies ready to do battle and then some.
"I'm sorry, did she say something about Nathan?" Fox asked Falco, as Alph tended to the needs of Marth, Pac-Man, and Olimar. "As in like, Nathan Drake? The guy who was seen last week?"
"I think he might've found a way inside Mario's house," replied Falco, as he pointed at Mario's open front door. "Why don't we drag him outta there?"
"Good thinking." Fox gathered all the nearby pets, while Kat did battle with Midna, Shaymin, and Cloud Jr. up above. "Alright guys, here's the plan..."
Mega Man: I've yet to see Nathan and Isaac driven out of the house by Link and Zelda..they must be having some kind of stand-off in there, with Nathan using his gun. Got my money on Link using Zelda as a human shield.
Link was still using Zelda as a human shield, as Nathan still had his gun pointed, ready to shoot.
"Come on, I know you two aren't stalling," said Nathan, as neither Zelda nor Link were ready to provide an answer for Nathan. "What's it gonna be?"
"Zelda, if I ever go out like this...I just wanna say that I love you," Link told the princess, not knowing when his last moment on earth would come.
"Yeah, says the man who's using me as a human shield..." responded Zelda, as she rolled her eyes and looked up at the heavens. "...some hero you are."
Suddenly, a very loud "MEOW!" was heard from outside, alarming those inside Mario's home. Nathan and Dr. Clarke looked behind themselves, through the front door hat was still open.
"That must be Kat's guardian cat, Dusty," assumed Nathan, sensing that Kat might be in trouble. The treasure hunter placed his gun back in holster, before pointing at Link and Zelda. "You two stay right where you are, we'll be back..." Nathan kept his finger pointed at Link and Zelda, backing away as he and Dr. Clarke left the house.
But when the two left the house and stepped out unto the walkway, they were startled to see that Dusty was nowhere to be found. Nathan and Dr. Clarke looked around, before small magazine clippings started raining down from above.
"Huh...?" Nathan looked in bewilderment, as the magazine clippings were rained down from the roof of Mario's house, where Rush and Treble were raining down the magazine clippings. One of the clippings landed in Dr. Clarke's hand.
"'Fully Clothed Women'? Dr. Clarke read the words on the magazine clipping, as Suzie was seen freezing Mario's driveway with her icy breath. "Who even reads that crap?" Boney slowly crept up to Nathan and Dr. Clarke...
"WOOF WOOF WOOF!" ...and barked at both of them, frightening them. Nathan and Dr. Clarke both screamed as they ran from Boney, before slipping on the icy driveway and falling down. That's when Polterpup and Rotom approached Nathan and Dr. Clarke, scaring them both just by being ghosts.
"G-G-Ghosts!" stuttered Nathan, as he and Dr. Clarke quickly got up off the icy driveway and ran away, slipping a few times till they were off the ice. Fox and Falco appeared from their hiding spot as they watched Nathan and Dr. Clarke run away.
"That takes care of them," remarked Fox, as Morgana joined the pilot and Falco at their side. "Should be enough to keep them away, for a while." Fox looked down, and saw Morgana. "You really came in clutch, Morgana..."
Link: The thing I did, when I used Zelda as a human shield...just pretend that never happened.
All of a sudden, an ear-piercing scream was heard, as Fox and Falco turned around and saw Kat fall to the ground, at the hands of Midna. The imp was in the air, with Shaymin and Cloud Jr, looking down at Kat like she was trash.
"For such a strong chick, she sure goes down pretty quickly..." remarked Midna, tossing a rock up and down in her hand...not just any rock. Lloyd's pet rock, Rocky. Midna, Shaymin, and Cloud Jr. flew to the ground, as they confronted Kat, who stood up on her feet.
"Why do I feel something...running down my face?" questioned Kat, as he removed her hand from her head...you could imagine her fear and shock, when she saw that her hand was bloodied. Kat's eyes became wide, as she touched her forehead and felt the blood slowly oozing out.
"Yeah, I threw a rock straight at your head, how about that?" Midna was seemingly gloating over what she just did, as Kat glared at the smiling imp. "Wish I had done that sooner."
"Ooh...I'll get you for this!" vowed Kat, as she and Dusty flew away, flying back to the manor. Midna continued to toss the rock in her hand, extremely impressed by her own throw.
Soon Mario came back home, as the plumber drove his car into his driveway. Problem was, the driveway was still icy. So every time Mario drove into the driveway, the car would slip down due to friction.
"What happened-a to my driveway?" questioned Mario, rolling down his window before looking down at his driveway. "I know who was responsible...ICE-A CLIMBERS!"
"Wanna go thaw out Mario's driveway, before Mario starts blaming the Ice Climbers?" Fox asked Falco, who was looking for a perfect excuse?
"Sure can do...once I ask Dr. Wily for more magazines, to replace the ones I had to rip apart," replied Falco, before darting towards the tower.
It was now time for the pet owners to take back their pets from Midna, as many of them returned to the tower to retrieve their pets. Mario, Luigi, Lucas, Sonic, Tails, Mega Man, Bass, Joker, Cloud, and Lloyd were in the lobby with Midna, who had their pets.
"You and Zelda were held at gunpoint?" Cloud asked Link, who told his friend about his encounter with Nathan and Dr. Clarke. Cloud was holding Cloud Jr, in his arms. "Lemme guess, you used Zelda as a human shield."
"It was her choice, so I had to respect it," replied Link, as Cloud smirked at the Hylian's obvious fib. "Why are you smirking like that?"
"Thankfully, Nathan and Isaac were taken care of, thanks to the pets," Mega Man explained to Mario, giving Mario the 411 as the robot and plumber got their respective pets back. "Kat was also there, but Midna took care of her with a rock.
"Only a rock?" chuckled Mario, as Joker and Bass left the tower with their pets in tow. "I mean, if that's what she had-a to do..."
"NOOOO YOU HURT ROCKY, YOU MONSTER!" Lloyd snapped on Midna, seeing that his pet rock was covered in blood. "I trusted you to babysit Rocky, while I went exercising, and this is what you do to him?!"
"To be fair, I used it...erm, him, to dispose of an intruder," explained Midna, as Lloyd consoled Rocky like it was a sentimental being. "It was mostly a heroic act."
"You mean...my precious Rocky...saved the day?" Lloyd looked at Midna with beaming eyes, as Midna nodded her head, unsure of what profound effect her nodding would have. Forgetting about Midna "injuring" Rocky, Lloyd smiled as he looked down at his pet rock. "You heard that, Rocky? You're a hero!"
"And you're a weirdo..." Lucas muttered under his breath as he walked away with Boney.
Lloyd: Honestly I don't care if Rocky is bloodied. The blood will serve as as a battle scar, for his courage and heroism. *presses ear against Rocky* Wait, I can hear him calling out to me...he said that he wants me to move...to get a move on! He wants me to be a hero, too!
Little Mac: *shouting as he's running down the hallway* MOVE OUTTA THE WAY, LLOYD! *shoves Lloyd to the side, before entering through the bathroom door Lloyd was standing in front of*
Lloyd: Oh, it was just Little Mac...he's the one who wants me to be a hero. *looks at Rocky* Way to have confidence in me, Rocky...
"So Rotom, what do you think-a of Midna as a babysitter?" Luigi asked the plasma Pokemon, as he, Sonic, and Tails were hanging around with their own pets.
"Some ups and some downs, but overall...she was aight," replied Shaymin, answering for Rotom, as she flew around the lobby at free will. "Nothing spectacular."
"Nothing spectacular?" said Sonic, thinking he made a huge mistake leaving Shaymin with Midna. "Why didn't I know that sooner? Knew I should've taken you with us to that pizza buffet, Shaymin!"
"Pizza buffet? What pizza buffet?" a certain echidna questioned, as Sonic and Tails nervously turned around...and saw Knuckles, who was feeling salty. "You guys didn't go out eating pizza without me, did you?"
"What...makes you...think that?" Tails smiled nervously, as he, Soinc, and their pets quickly walked away from Knuckles, who was hot on their heels.
"C'mon guys, that's not cool. I'm your best friend too! Sure I was stuck buying clothes with Rouge, but we could've gone together on another date, the three of us!"
Midna watched as Knuckles followed his friends and their pets out of the tower, shaking her head in amusement. The imp turned around, and saw Guile, who gave her a salute and walked away. Most likely a non-speaking way of saying, "a job well done".
Although it wouldn't hurt much for Guile if he at least knew how to smile.
