Author's Note:
It's over. It has finally come to an end. The last DLC character for Super Smash Bros Ultimate has been revealed. And the last person joining the ranks of Smash is...SORA OF KINGDOM HEARTS! The Fighter's Pass started with a guy who steals hearts and ended with a guy who collects hearts. Funny.
Before we dive right into the guest reviews...a little story for you all. So as you could tell by my username, I love the Crash Bandicoot series. But if there is one series that I love just as much as Crash, it would have to be Kingdom Hearts. I grew up adoring Kingdom Hearts - Chain of Memories was my first KH game, and the rest has been history. Kingdom Hearts has been somewhat influential - in fact, that Crash fanfic I worked on years ago was heavily inspired by Kingdom Hearts plot-wise in several ways.
Aside from Crash, Sora was my most-wanted for Smash (even though I liked Riku more). I always wanted to see Kingdom Hearts in Smash, but I was afraid that the legal stuff would get in the way of that ever happening. But that madman Masahiro Sakurai, he found a way. When I saw the Disney logo in the reveal trailer I was all happy inside. And when Sora started flying around, I almost got kinda emotional ("Simple and Clean" can really pull at your heartstrings, huh?). I rarely get emotional over video game-related stuff - the last time I did was when I played Spyro: Reignited Trilogy for the first time. Stupid nostalgia...
But yes, Sora is in Smash, which means that he'll be in this story for good. As for Riku and Kairi, I guess they can stay so Sora can have a friend or two. Ending Ultimate with Sora was very fitting, and now the constant speculation can finally end...thank goodness. No more fake leaks and wacky fan theories, wahoo! Kinda wish there was a Mii costume for Crash, but it's all good. (Maybe he can get in as a Spirit...?)
Now before I talk about this chapter, I just wanted to say...I made an oopsie. In the last chapter, Link said that the wedding would be on October 8th; it will actually be next week, on October 15th. The original date was supposed to be the 8th, but it got pushed back when one of the most anticipated games of the year was announced - Metroid Dread. So yeah, there will be some Dread stuff going on. Also, with Nickelodeon All-Stars Brawl out, I did a little storyline with that in this chapter. Would I ever make a NASB story? Probably not. On to the reviews. First is Cloudenstein:
"So, what's up with Popo? Is he just a misunderstood wannabe entrepreneur, or is there an actual act of misfit hidden inside that blue parka? We'll never know...unless we got some Phantom Thieves to investigate? That sounds intriguing..."
Sending the Phantom Thieves out on Popo wouldn't be worth it, in my opinion. But it would be amusing. Romance Enjoyer has a question about some characters from Life is Strange:
"Do you pair Alex with Ryan or Steph? I know you're gonna answer Ryan since you're too scared of yuri or yaoi."
Honestly...I don't pair Alex with Ryan OR Steph. Personally, I don't see it with either one of those two. On to David:
"Pauline still isn't gonna make peace with Cranky Kong and his relatives huh? (Mario should help her make peace with them). Is Pit gonna try to make his own version of the Firefly Fun House? (Since Bray Wyatt might ditch his Fiend gimmick when he ends up in AEW). A Chocobo GP chapter when the game comes out? Is Mona Pizza or Pizza Dinosaur from WarioWare Twisted located near the Smash Mansion? Does Kirby have his air ride machines from Kirby Air Ride stored somewhere in the mansion? And finally, what did you like and dislike about the WWE Draft?"
At this rate...probably not. I wouldn't mind doing a Chocobo GP chapter. Mona Pizza is near the mansion. Kirby has is air ride machines in the mansion...though I won't say where it is. And what I liked about the WWE Draft was the NXT callups. Not a fan of how top-heavy RAW is, though. Next is An NFL fan:
"Bro, did you watched that Bucs-Patriots game? It was nuts, seeing Brady winning against his former team and former coach. Do you think we can see Corrin's reaction to that game, since he loves both Brady and Belichick?"
Yes, I did watch the game, really went down to the wire. I would've included Corrin's reaction to the game in this chapter, but...I had no room for it. TIME TO GO is back, which means one thing...
"Ok, Crash clan. It's been a nice FOUR years...but it's TIME TO GO! Your boy is not in Smash. The same goes to you, Cortex. Bye-bye...Sorry if I'm being harsh...but Crash Bandicoot have ZERO representation on Smash, and seeing them in Smash Life after the reveal is gonna make it awkward."
Yup...I'll have to make a decision about the Crash clan (and Cortex) after the wedding. Last is joseee301:
"Did you saw the reveal trailer for the final character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate."
...yes, I did see the reveal trailer. Best one I've ever seen bar none.
Episode 303: Dread
Link and Zelda's wedding was going to take place next week. At long last, the two Hylians were going to tie the knot, and it would be a great moment anticipated by many.
With only a week left to go, Link and Zelda had to get as much done before the big day. They had to rehearse their vows, clean their wedding rings, pack up their belongings for the honeymoon, and even get their nails done. (Well, only Zelda needed to get her nails done.) So much to do in so little time.
While Zelda was busting her tail off to get fully prepared for the wedding, her good friend Samus was working away in the workshop. For the most part, Samus didn't care for weddings - never cared for Luigi's, Mario's, or even Fox's. But Link and Zelda's wedding was the only one the bounty hunter felt impartial towards - and she was kinda looking forward to it.
"And that should be the last of the upgrades," announced Samus, as she was finished adding some new gadgets to her Power Suit. Watching the bounty hunter's progress was Pikachu, who was sitting on the desk that Samus was working on.
"Pika pika?" Pikachu asked Samus as he pointed at himself, with Samus smiling at the mouse Pokemon and patting him on the head.
"Don't worry, Pikachu. I'll make you a Power Suit one day. You're the only one worthy enough to have one. As for some of the others..."
Samus suddenly stopped speaking, as she heard some kind of crawling noise. Like someone was crawling up the wall in the workshop. Samus and Pikachu turned around but saw nothing on the wall.
"You heard that, Pikachu?" Samus asked the mouse Pokemon, dreading the possibility of being spied upon. It was a feeling that often irked the bounty hunter. "Almost feels like we're being watched..."
"Pika pi," Pikachu said in agreement, before looking up and seeing a red light up above. The red light came from some giant robot, which was perched on the ceiling with its giant, robotic claws. "Pika pika!"
"What is it?" Samus quickly looked up, only for the robot to retreat. Samus was left with an uneasy feeling, as she took out her plasma gun and got up from her seat. "If Wario sneaked his way inside the workshop again..."
"Pika..." Pikachu hopped off the desk and hid behind Samus, who was snooping around the workshop for any signs of an intruder. Samus went to the far corner of the workshop, seeing nothing suspicious...
...and when she turned around, she was face-to-face with the giant robot that Pikachu saw. The robot was white and had a glowing red eye. And it looked like it wanted to kill Samus, as it emitted electronic plinking noises that were chilling to the bone.
"Pikachu, run!" shouted Samus, as she and Pikachu both made a run for it. The robot tried to chase after and capture Samus and Pikachu, but the two friends escaped just in time before Samus slammed the workshop door shut.
"Pika...pika...pi..." Pikachu caught his breath, as the robot was heard scrapping at the door from inside the workshop. The sounds eventually came to a stop, as the robot ultimately gave up.
"This is...not good." A supremely dangerous threat was now at the mansion - and it was up to Samus to eliminate the threat before the wedding day.
Samus: That robot in the workshop is an E.M.M.I. - stands for Extraplanetary Multiform Mobile Identifier. Apparently, it found out that I was living at the mansion. Must be after my DNA. *sighs* Sometimes I hate being part-Metroid...
With the wedding planning winding down, Mario wanted to do everything possible to provide some last-minute help to Link and Cloud. The plumber had a suggestion in mind, and it was one that Link and Cloud would turn down in a hurry.
"Why would I want you to walk me down the aisle?" Link asked Mario, who had approached the Hylian and Cloud in the foyer. "You're not my dad!"
"Link and Zelda already have in mind who their 'parents' will be," Cloud stated to Mario, making the plumber feel like he was robbed of an opportunity. "It's a bit of a surprise."
"Ugh! What is it with-a you and Zelda and your surprises?" Mario snapped on Link, as Falco conspicuously came down the stairs, dressed up as he was in the previous episode. "Peach and I were never this secretive about-a our wedding."
"Alright, Link, I'm gonna give you one last chance," Falco proposed to the Hylian while holding something in his pocket. No matter what that object was, Link was hardly afraid in the slightest.
"One last chance for what?" inquired Link, only for Falco to pull out a real gun and point it at his head. Going for the guilt trip approach. "Falco, really?"
"Either you name me your wedding officiant, or I'll shoot myself on the spot!" Falco's threat seemed to have no effect, as Link, Cloud, and Mario were all looking pretty chill. "Don't make me pull the trigger."
"We all know you're not going to," responded Cloud, effectively shutting down Falco as the avian pilot slowly pulled the gun away from his head. "Besides, even if Ganondorf isn't the officiant for the wedding, Pac-Man will just take his place."
"That's right, Falco; it's been decided," stated Link, before furrowing his brow as Falco started to shake his arm like he had onset Parkinson's. "Uh, what's going on with your arm?"
"Bruh...I'm literally shaking right now," said a nearly choked-up Falco, as he was selling how devastated he was. The avian pilot was pulling out all the stops.
"Lemme guess, you're gonna start-a crying too?" Mario asked Falco, who was about to cry on command only to hold back his tears after his plan was foiled.
"Enjoy your crappy wedding, Link..." Falco put the gun back in his pocket, feeling salty as he marched back up the steps. The avian pilot wanted to add some pizzazz to the wedding, but Link didn't want any of it.
Falco: Link is such a lame - it's very clear that he doesn't want to have a good time. Ooh, I know! I'll just ask Zelda if she wants me as the wedding officiant, and get the job that way! She's obviously against Ganondorf, so she would have no problem kicking him to the curb for me.
"Someone sure seems-a desperate," Mario had this to say about Falco, as Samus and Pikachu came running into the foyer to speak with Mario and company. "Hey, you two...why the long-a faces?"
"We have a huge problem..." alerted Samus as Mario, Link, and Cloud were all ears. Those three men were the guys to ask in this situation. "...we have a potentially murderous threat in the mansion."
"Just what we needed - a threat a week before the wedding," grumbled Cloud, who had found these potential threats to be too commonplace for his liking. "Can't go one Friday without some shenanigans..."
"Pikachu and I saw it in the workshop after I was finishing up my Power Suit. It's something called an E.M.M.I...I've encountered it before, quite frankly."
"Emmy? As in like, Emmy Rossum?" Mario raised an eyebrow, as Samus smacked her forehead while Link and Cloud both facepalmed. "Don't tell me that you're secretly an anti-Semite, Samus!"
"No, you dolt...an E.M.M.I! Extraplanetary Multiform Mobile Identifier. That's what it stands for. It's basically a robot."
"Should've mentioned that the first-a time..." Even if actress Emmy Rossum was taken as a threat...would anyone even take her seriously?
"It's locked inside the workshop, though it might find a way out. I really don't want to deal with it alone, no offense, Pikachu, so..."
"We can take care of this robot with you," Link assured Samus, not wanting some killer robot or any other threats to mess up with wedding day. "We got it covered. Right, Mario?"
"Would-a you look at that...my tummy's grumbling!" exclaimed Mario, hearing his stomach grumble as he held it with both hands. "Excuse-a me!" The plumber hightailed out of the foyer, as Link sighed.
"He's still prone to stress-eating, I see..." sighed Cloud, seeing that Mario was holding everyone up. Perhaps Mario should just be left out of the equation.
Aside from being a former league champion and a dragon-type Pokemon expert, Iris also fancied in dresses. Even did her title defenses wearing one. Indubitably, Iris was asked to design a wedding dress for Zelda, and she happily obliged as she traveled to Seattle to get to work. With some assistance from Mona, among other resources, the wedding dress was finally complete.
"Why are we all gathered outside again?" Peach asked Daisy, Aerith, Researcher Zelda, Midna, and Impa, as the ladies were gathered outside Iris's tent. "Isn't Zelda just trying on her wedding dress?"
"You know she needs an audience," replied Impa, who was wondering what was taking Zelda and Iris so like. "Only one person would've sufficed..."
"Thank you all for your patience!" Iris thanked Impa and the ladies, smiling as she poked her head out from her tent. "Zelda will be ready in a jiffy!"
"It shouldn't take this long to try on a wedding dress," grumbled Daisy, starting to lose her patience as Iris poked her head back inside the tent. "Considering who it is, the wedding dress can't be that spectacular."
"Is that more of a knock on Zelda, or Iris?" Midna asked Daisy, who was too timid to answer as she feared what the imp might do to her. "If it's the former...then I can totally relate."
"Sup ladies - I've been told that Zelda's in that tent over there," Falco greeted the ladies as he strutted his way over to them and clicked his fingers. "She isn't too busy to speak with the REAL wedding officiant, is she?"
"Get lost, Lombardi, nobody wants you," Impa told off the avian pilot, as Iris poked her head out of the tent once more. Her face brightened up when she saw Falco standing in her midst.
"Glad that you're here, Falco! I really needed a male opinion," Iris said to the avian pilot, who felt appreciated as he gave Impa a mocking smirk. "You wanna see Zelda's wedding dress?"
"Every great wedding officiant - such as yours truly - deserves to see the bride in her dress before the wedding. So bring Zelda on out!"
"You want it, you got it!" Iris blew into her fingers, whistling as she gave Zelda the cue. "Alright, Zelda, now's your time to shine. Show them what you got!"
So Zelda stepped out of Iris's tent, presenting her wedding dress to everyone. The dress had a green aesthetic to it and included the Triforce symbol and other Hyrulian insignias. Zelda walked with elegance, as she walked towards the mansion...
"Princess Zelda, don't mind if I ask, but...how long is your wedding dress?" Impa curiously asked the princess, who stepped and turned around. The train of the wedding dress was still in the tent!
"Goodness me..." remarked Zelda as she cupped her hand over her mouth, having no idea that her dress was that long. "...Iris, I think you forgot to trim off some of the train."
"Nope! This is one-hundred percent intentional," stated Impa, fully satisfied with her design choice while Zelda was not. "Had to hold the train up while I fitted the dress on, hence the reason why it took me so long...you know."
"You look absolutely stunning, Princess Zelda," Falco said to the princess, unnerving her greatly as he blew a non-romantic kiss to her. "Breathtaking, even."
Falco: Zelda's wedding dress looks amazing, not gonna lie. However, it will be nothing compared to the bombshell of a wedding dress that Katt Monroe will wear. Which won't exist unless I marry Katt, which won't happen if I don't propose to her anytime soon. And that requires... *sighs* ...a lot of work.
Before the ladies could give their consensus on Zelda's dress, a UFO suddenly landed near Iris's tent. The hatch of the UFO opened, revealing Gex.
"Gex is back in town, baby!" announced Gex, before getting a good look at Zelda in her wedding dress. The lizard smiled, clicking his fingers at Zelda. "Looking good, princess! Just like Princess Diana at Michael Jackson's..."
"I don't want to hear it, Gex," Zelda shut the lizard down, saving the other ladies and herself some trouble. And also Falco, who was salty about seeing Gex again as he retreated back to the mansion.
"Mr. Lombardi, where are you going?" Gex helplessly watched as Falco hightailed away, the avian pilot left with a bitter taste in his mouth. "We can still be friends, big guy! Second chances, amirite?"
"Move it!" Reno shouted at Gex as he pushed the lizard out of the way. The Turks - Reno, Rude, and Elena - all got out of the UFO, making their presence known to Zelda and the ladies.
"Oh, great, it's the Turks..." grumbled Daisy, as she was about to make her leave; if the Turks were around, it usually meant that some trouble was afoot. "...I'll be over at my house if you need me."
"Wait a sec! We just want to ask you and your friends some questions." Reno ran over to Daisy and grabbed the princess' arm, keeping her from leaving.
"Questions about what?" Impa approached Reno and the Turks, hoping that the questions were few. "If this is all part of some investigation, then I suggest you start your work elsewhere."
"Our investigation has much to do with the upcoming wedding," stated Rude, as he had Impa and company's attention. An investigation tied to the wedding.
"Any of you heard of a guy named Zant?" asked Elena, bringing up a certain Zelda villain that was familiar to Impa. And also one that Peach, Daisy, and the two Zeldas knew too well. "We just want to ask you a few questions."
"We're listening..." responded Zelda, fearing the possibility of Zant ruining her wedding - much like how Dr. Eggman ruined Mario's a couple of years ago.
Cafe LeBlanc would be getting a spanking new addition today. For the first time ever, the cafe will be having...a television! Joker decided against installing a television since many of the mansion venues already had one or more. But thanks to some begging from Pit, Joker finally caved in. As with how most TV installations go, there were some problems encountered...
"Nice television, Joker!" Yoshi said to the young man after he entered the cafe, seeing the TV in the corner of Cafe Leblanc. Joker held the TV remote, flipping through the channels, and he looked bothered. "Something wrong?"
"Weird - this TV doesn't carry Nickelodeon," Joker furrowed his brow - that meant none of the cafe patrons could watch Spongebob Squarepants - which would be weird to watch at Cafe Leblanc. "But all the other channels are intact!"
"Yeah, and there's no Nick Jr. either," stated Pit, who had tried to help Joker regarding the channel situation to the best of his ability. "Now I can't watch some of my favorite shows like Fancy Nancy while on the job!"
"Fancy Nancy comes on Disney Jr, Pit..." Robin corrected the angel, sitting at the counter, as Pit, Joker, and Yoshi looked inquisitively at the mage. "...not that i ever watched that show myself. Unironically, that is."
"There has to be a reason why Nickelodeon is missing," said Joker, as Master Hand suddenly appeared behind the young man and crept upon him. "We have ESPN, HBO, and even the Puppy Channel, but..."
"Oh, dear! Is Nickelodeon missing from the lineup?" inquired Master Hand, grabbing Joker and company's attention as he showed some fake concern. "How could this possibly be?"
"Did you have something to do with this, Master Hand? Did you ban Nickelodeon from the mansion just because they have some crossover fighting fling?"
"...perhaps. I won't say. But if you must know...this was a joint decision made by me and Crazy Hand." Now the tower denizens can't watch Spongebob Squarepants or Fancy Nan...erm, Dora the Explorer. You hate to see it.
Lucario: Cartoon Network did some crossover fighting thing a decade ago, and it...wasn't that great, in all honesty. Master Hand laughed at their "futile" attempt. Now Nickelodeon is doing the same thing today, and everyone is liking it, and now Master Hand wants nothing to do with the network anymore. He can be that fickle sometimes.
Soon, entering the cafe was the newest fighter in Smash...Sora, who for some reason looked very different. The Keyblade wielder looked young, as young as he was when he started his first journey. But at least his clothes were still intact!
"You can't do this, Master Hand," Pit said to the giant hand, who refused to let the angel boss him around. "Some people around here might want to watch Nickelodeon!"
"So they want to watch Spongebob all day? Is that what they want?" questioned Master Hand, unaware that other Nick shows aside from Spongebob existed. Or maybe he just didn't watch that much television. "Until Nickelodeon ends their little brawling experiment, they will remain dead to me."
"Master Hand, I feel weird..." Sora said to the giant hand, looking down at his hands and his feet. "...and I look different, too. Did I get younger somehow?"
"Ah, if it isn't Sora! The newest fighter in Smash! How would you like to go on a mission with Pit and Joker, my friend?"
"I have a cafe to run here, you know," Joker notified Master Hand; he had given up working at Cafe Leblanc for two consecutive weeks, and he didn't want there to be a third.
"A mission? I'm down!" Sora happily replied, forgetting about what concerns he had to share as he whipped out his trusty Keyblade. "A bunch of Heartless found their way into Seattle?"
"Have you ever been to Hollywood before, Sora? I want you, Pit, and Joker to go down there and destroy whatever manor those Nicktoon characters are living in. Capiche?"
"Are you implying that guys like Spongebob and Invader Zim are real?" asked Joker, fearing that the rampant paranoia was taking over Master Hand. "They're cartoon characters, they don't exist!"
"They're very real, at least to me," stated Pit, not helping Joker's case; Joker was just about to lose his marbles.
"Exactly!" exclaimed Master Hand as he pointed at Pit, acknowledging the angel for knowing what was up. "And if Sora has seen Disney characters in person, then there's no reason why Spongebob should exist in our world. Right, Sora?"
"Uh, right!" replied Sora as he clenched his fist, only agreeing with Master Hand just to get on his good side. "Are you sure these characters are living in Hollywood, Master Hand?"
"I mean, that's where Nick's animation studio is...so yeah. You should ask Proto Man to take you to Hollywood; he has some experience blowing unnecessary buildings down. Like Dr. Wily's many fortresses, for instance."
"And what if we don't want to go?" Joker asked Master Hand, who floated over to the coffee machine and picked it up. Master Hand threatened to drop the machine at any minute. "Guess we're going, then..."
"Splendid!" Master Hand placed the coffee machine back where it was, no longer endangering Joker's cafe business. "I hope to hear some good news upon your return."
Falco was dismayed upon seeing Gex, and the avian pilot went to the Star Records room to inform Fox of the lizard's presence. He told Fox about how Gex was apparently flying a UFO around, something that Fox refused to believe.
"He couldn't have driven around in a DeLorean?" asked Fox, trying to picture Gex of all people piloting a UFO up in the sky. "A UFO doesn't fit Gex's style."
"I know, he's definitely selling himself short," responded Falco, while Itsuki listening in on the conversation without saying a word. "I think he's back just to make right with us."
"Ha, fat chance! Never trust snakes in the grass, right? Gex coming back a week before the big wedding seems mighty suspicious..."
"You two haven't heard?" Itsuki asked Fox and Falco, finally hopping in as he had some juicy details to share with the two pilots. "Gex is working with the Turks. Heard it from Mechanica herself."
"Gex, and the...Turks?" questioned Falco; the Turks were agents, and Gex was an agent too (only in name), so it didn't sound that funny on the surface. "Now that's a funny combination." Well, Falco might disagree.
"Eh, it sounds like Gex is just sucking up to them," assumed Fox, as Itsuki looked out the window and saw the Turks speaking with Zelda, Researcher Zelda, and Impa. Looked like a serious conversation, too. "That's all that it is."
"Probably so..." responded Itsuki as he walked away from the window, awfully curious about what the Turks were discussing with Zelda and her friends.
In the last episode, Popo revealed to the ice cream gang that the group had raised over $25,000 from selling ice cream (including foreign cash from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics). Kazooie was convinced that Popo fabricated the number, and was determined to expose the Ice Climber for good. It was about finding the right opportunity to strike, but until then, the redbird had to bid her time...
"Made you all some celebratory sundaes," Popo said to Nana, Banjo, Kazooie, Sonic, Crash, Dante, and the Inklings as he passed the sundaes out in the dining room. Each individual had their own unique flavor. "Eat up, and enjoy!"
"Much appreciated, Popo!" Sonic thanked the Ice Climber before digging into his sundae...which apparently had chili in it. Yuck. Crash, meanwhile, had wumpa fruit in his sundae, which was much more reasonable.
Male Inkling: Should we even eat our sundaes? Are sundaes technically ice cream? Which has water, which could kill us?!
Female Inkling: *sighs* You overthink this way too much...
"So how about that meeting, Popo?" Kazooie asked the Ice Climber, who immediately froze when asked the question. All eyes were on Popo.
"Yeah, you said that we would pick up right where we left off," stated Nana, recalling how the meeting last week was put on hold due to AiAi's sudden appearance. And everything else that happened afterward.
"You really want to have the meeting while we're enjoying our sundaes? Really?" Popo questioned Kazooie and Nana, letting the ladies know that there was a time and place for everything. "You just wanna sit around, and leave your sundaes unattended?"
"You're doing the same thing..." retorted Kazooie, as Popo was the only person in the dining room not eating his sundae. He was too stricken by fear to even lift the spoon.
"And so are you, Kazooie," Banjo said to the redbird, sticking with Popo - much to Kazooie's chagrin. "You don't want your sundae? I can take it off your hands! Minus the birdseed, of course."
"The sundae is mine, thank you very much..." Kazooie told Banjo, moving her sundae away from Banjo as he glared down at Popo. Popo knew that Kazooie was on to him, gulping nervously. "...got my eye on you, Popo."
After Mario overcame his stress eating, he was prepared enough to go with Samus, Pikachu, Link, and Cloud to the workshop where the E.M.M.I. was. Link brought his Master Sword, Cloud brought his Buster Sword, Samus brought her Plasma Gun, Pikachu brought some electricity, and Mario...brought his willpower. And maybe chutzpah.
"On the count-a of three, I'm gonna kick-a this door down," Mario said to Samus and company, as they were standing in front of the workshop. "One..."
"We have no time for your crap," said Samus, pushing Mario to the side as she roundhouse kicked the door down herself. Mario was jealous for a moment, but let his jealousy subside as he and the others entered the workshop.
"Where is that E.M.M.I..." wondered Link as he turned on the lights, him and the others looking around for the giant robot in question. To their surprise, the E.M.M.I. was nowhere to be found.
"Well, I sure hope-a this 'Emmy' is invisible," Mario remarked in a sardonic tone, as Cloud looked up at the ceiling and saw a glowing yellow light that suddenly turned red. "Because it really feels-a like you're wasting our time, Samus!"
"I think I found it!" Cloud shouted to Mario and company, bringing their attention to the E.M.M.I. on the ceiling. The E.M.M.I. crawled down, making a disturbing noise as it crawled towards Samus.
"Oh no, you don't!" frowned Mario, protecting Samus as he punched the E.M.M.I. in its eye. The E.M.M.I. stopped for a brief moment, before making an electronic hissing sound.
"Good job provoking it, Mario..." Link said to the plumber, as he unsheathed his Master Sword. "...let me take a crack at it." The Hylian stabbed the E.M.M.I. in its eye, sending it back as he crawled out into the hallway.
"Keep it up, you guys," encouraged Samus as she went over to the workshop desk, about to put on her Power Suit. "Whatever you do, make sure that the E.M.M.I..."
"And-a stay out!" Mario shouted at the E.M.M.I., smacking it with his yellow cape as it was still in Pursuit Mode. The E.M.M.I. crawled down the hallway, much to Samus' great chagrin.
"...doesn't get away," Samus finished her sentence with a sigh, worried that the E.M.M.I. might potentially harm someone. "I was going to kill it, Mario."
"Eh, the robot's probably dumb, it can't possibly kill-a someone," assumed Mario, as everyone furrowed their brow at the plumber. Mario wasn't taking things as seriously as he should. "What? It's plausible!"
"Link! The new resident has arrived!" Isabelle called out to the Hylian from outside the workshop. Link and Zelda were informed by Master Hand to be on the lookout for a certain demon hunter. And no, it wasn't Nero.
"Don't tell it's who I think it is..." muttered Link as he exited the workshop, with the others following him to see who the new guy was. As soon as Link and the others stepped out of the workshop...
...they encountered a marine wearing green combat armor, who looked battle-scarred from fighting hundreds upon hundreds of demons. Link and company were all familiar with this marine, having their first encounter with them back in episode 222.
"The Doom-a Slayer?!" Mario blurted out the marine's name, as the Doom Slayer was standing next to Isabelle. Awfully close. "He's the new-a guy?"
"Master Hand did vow that the Doom Slayer would be living at the mansion, one way or another," stated Isabelle, reiterating some words that Master Hand shared with her following Olimar's birthday party last year. "And now his wish has come true!"
"Welcome to the Smash Mansion, Doom Slayer," Link cordially welcomed the marine as he walked over and held out his hand. The Doom Slayer shook Link's hand, squeezing it so hard that he left Link screaming in pain. "Stop it, STOP IT!"
"The Doom Slayer really has a way with handshakes," Isabelle chuckled sheepishly, feeling bad for Link as the Hylian nursed his now aching hand. "You're honestly pretty lucky - poor Waluigi had his hand broken!"
"Hard not to see why," muttered Cloud, as Link shook his hand to shake off the pain. No matter how much shaking he did, the pain wouldn't go away.
Isabelle: Mr. Doomer Slayer arrived rather unceremoniously; he barged his way through the front door and even broke it in the process. Master Hand gave him a pass since he was new. He's also super clingy - everywhere I go he follows, even to the bathroom. No matter what, he always wants to be by my side. It's almost like he...he likes me.
"We have a problem, Isabelle," Samus informed the Shih Tzu, giving her some information since she was Master Hand's most trusted assistant. "There is a killer robot on the loose. It's an E.M.M.I., and it's after my DNA."
"I don't mean to interrupt, but I saw a giant robot heading this way," .EXE said as he showed up, pointing his thumb backward down the hallway. "It knocked down those paints of Wario off the wall - not that I care."
"Sounds like the E.M.M.I. is on the loose," inferred Cloud as he armed himself with his Buster Sword, looking to do some robot carnage.
"Do you guys mind taking the Doom Slayer with you?" Isabelle asked Cloud and company, who all entertained the idea for a brief moment. "I know killing monsters and demons is his thing, but..."
"He seems useful enough," replied Link, before looking towards Samus who was peering inside the workshop. "What say you, Samus?"
"Hold that thought..." Samus finally responded, before running into the workshop. Link and the others waited around for a couple of seconds, and soon Samus came out of the workshop...wearing her upgraded Power Suit.
"Don't want the Doom-a Slayer to show you up, I see..." Mario said to Samus, who was checking to see that all her arm cannon and gadgets were all properly functioning. "...always knew that he would awaken-a your deepest insecurities, Samus."
"Shut up," Samus snapped on Mario, effectively silencing the plumber, as she was now locked and loaded. Power Suit Samus was back in action. "You boys ready to go?"
"Ready as we'll ever be," replied Cloud, as the Doom Slayer expressed confirmation with the nod of his head. Pikachu crawled on top of Samus, perched on the bounty hunter's shoulder. "Take us to the E.M.M.I., .EXE."
"I'll do my best..." replied .EXE, as he led Samus, Mario, Link, Cloud, and the Doom Slayer down the hallway. Isabelle stayed behind, waving her hand.
"Good luck, you guys!" Isabelle called out to the group as they left...only for the Doom Slayer to return to the Shih Tzu seconds later. Isabelle looked confused for a second before the Doom Slayer scooped her up and ran back down the hallway. "Hey, why are you taking me with you? Let me go!"
Proto Man teleported Pit, Joker, and Sora to Burbank, California, where Nickelodeon Animation Studio was located. It was also where the alleged manor for the Nicktoons was, according to Master Hand. The group was tasked to track this so-called manor and blow it to smithereens.
"Weird, I was half-expecting a waterfall of slime nearby," remarked Pit as he looked around. So far, the angel was pretty disappointed by what he was seeing.
"Let's just get this over with already, so we can go back home," Joker said to the group as he led them inside the animation studio. "If it turns out that this manor is real, then I will eat my..."
"Pardon me, but are you four new here?" a receptionist at the front desk asked Joker and company, immediately after they entered through the automatic front doors. "Or did you all sign up for a tour?"
"We got a bone to pick with you, ma'am," Sora informed the receptionist, now taking charge as he approached the front desk. "Or rather, a bone to pick with the company you work for."
"I can address your complaints if they're credible." The receptionist grabbed a phone, just in case she had to call human resources. Or one of the higher-ups at Nickelodeon. "What is your issue?"
"Our 'issue' is the fighting game that your company had the gall to put out. We're not big fans of it!" It took a moment for the receptionist to realize what Sora was referring to.
"Oh, you mean Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl! Yes, it was released to the market earlier this week. I take it that you boys dislike the game?"
"We don't dislike the game...we HATE IT!" shouted Pit as he ran to the front desk, putting his hands down on the desk and letting the receptionist know how ticked off he was. "Hate it with every fiber of our being!"
"He's just exaggerating," Joker informed the receptionist, feeling some second-hand embarrassment from how Pit was acting. Surprising behavior from a supposed Nickelodeon fan.
Pit: Personally, I have nothing against Nickelodeon All-Stars Brawl. I think that Nickelodeon is doing an awesome thing, dipping their foot into the fighting game foray... *pauses, then frowns* ...ah, who am I kidding?! How can you expect people to take your platform fighter seriously when the star of the game is a freaking sponge? And who else do they have? A green dinosaur? Some funny guy with a mustache? A redhead who wears nothing but yellow?! Master Hand would never include those guys in Smash, not in a million years! *pauses* Would he?
"We demand to speak with your manager," Pit requested to the receptionist as he slammed his fist on the desk, before shaking his head at what he said. "Sorry ma'am, was the wrong request..."
"Let me handle this, Pit," Sora said to the angel, moving him out of the way so he could speak with the receptionist face-to-face. "Is there by any chance that you have a residential building where your 'Nicktoons' live at?"
"We have a hotel just down the street if that's what you're asking," the receptionist replied, happy to provide Sora and friends some directions. "I won't be paying for your hotel fees, though."
"Well, are the Nicktoons nearby? You know, like Spongebob and Patrick and..." Sora suddenly had a brain fart, as he looked back towards Joker and Proto Man for some assistance. "...what other Nicktoons are there?"
"I think you're asking the wrong person," responded Joker, refusing to help out Sora in the slightest. Proto Man, on the other hand, would come through.
"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!" Proto Man called out to Sora, as Joker looked at the robot in disbelief. If only he knew about Nickelodeon now owning the entire TMNT franchise...
"Yeah, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!" Sora said to the receptionist, thinking of how cool it would be to meet an actual ninja turtle in real life. "Are they around, by any chance?"
"Actually, I think they are...as well as a few other Nicktoons," the receptionist replied, as Sora and Pit smiled believing that they were getting somewhere.
"Sweet! Can you take us to them?" Pit asked the receptionist, who whistled into her fingers; soon a man wearing a "NICK" shirt hustled his way over to the front desk.
"Gentlemen, this man will be your tour guide; he'll show you where the Nicktoons are. He will take you wherever you want to go."
"Nice to meet you," the tour guide introduced himself to Sora and company with a smile and a wave. "The name's Dylan." Poor Dylan was about to have his hands full with his tourists...
"Are you gonna take us to the manor where the Nicktoons live?" Pit approached Dylan, certain that the tour guide knew all of Nickelodeon's deepest, darkest secrets. Joker felt second-hand embarrassment yet again.
"...not quite, but there's a place at this studio where you can get slimed!" Getting slimed must be some kind of requirement for anyone who worked at the Nickelodeon Animation Studio. "We can save that one for last."
"Fine by us," said Sora, slightly looking forward to being slimed. Which, in some weird culture, could be a rite of passage. "Lead the way, good sir!" So Nolan led Sora and Pit away, as Proto Man and Joker remained where they were.
"Guess we're following after them," assumed Proto Man, as he and Joker followed after Sora and Joker. Where they were headed, neither of them knew - but keeping an eye on Pit and Sora was a high priority.
Kazooie was expecting Popo to continue last week's meeting after everyone finished their sundaes...but instead of carrying on with the meeting, Popo asked everyone to gather outside the mansion for a picture. Just to commemorate all the hard work done. Taking the picture would be Cilan; both Lakitu and Yuri turned Popo down.
"Looks like everyone is here," announced Cilan, with the Ice Climbers, the Inklings, Banjo, Kazooie, Sonic, Crash, Aku, and Dante all present outside at the side of the mansion. "This picture should be an absolute beauty!"
"Not with Crash's mug in the frame," dissed Kazooie, as Crash looked at the redbird highly offended. Kazooie then turned her attention to Popo. "After this dumb photo is taken, can we please resume that meeting?"
"Someone sure is dying to talk about boring stuff," replied Popo, who couldn't for the life of him think of a single person that would look forward to a cordial business meeting. Thought of such person as the most miserable being on earth.
"Yeah, Kazooie, you must be pretty boring having priorities like that," remarked Banjo, leading Kazooie to gasp and slap the bear silly. It wasn't very often that Banjo hurled out insults to Kazooie like that.
Cilan: Hard to believe that next Friday will be my last day at the mansion...as a resident. Master Hand will likely bring me back for all the holiday festivities. I've seen so much during my stay - new faces, new challenges, and new experiences that I can't wait to share with everyone back home! I've also found myself in multiple perilous situations as well. For that, I wish for Link and Zelda's wedding to be nothing but mayhem, with some bad guy bringing harm to everyone. Including myself. It would be such a fitting way to end my stay.
"Popo, Nana, could you two move a bit closer?" Cilan asked the Ice Climbers, as he did not like where the duo was positioned. "You're too off-center!"
"No, I think we're fine where we're at," replied Popo as he looked at Nana and nodded his head. Nana looked bewildered, wondering why Popo wasn't taking any initiative to move.
"Well, this whole ice cream initiative was your idea, so you and Nana should be front and center. In front of Banjo!"
"In front of...Banjo?" Popo gulped nervously, as he looked towards Banjo...and spotted Kazooie, who was mean-mugging the Ice Climber with a mean look in her eyes. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"
"Of course! The leader must be the central point in the picture. So get moving!" So Popo gently took Nana's hand, and walked over to Banjo, only to suddenly stop in place.
"You know what, I can't do this. I just can't." Popo looked down at the ground, shaking his head in dismay. "If I'm standing in front of Banjo, how will the camera capture his six-pack?"
"I have a six-pack now?" wondered Banjo, scratching his head as he looked down at his belly. There was no six-pack to be seen. "Maybe I need some glasses to see it better."
"Come closer, you little twerp, and I'm gonna peck your dumb little head to oblivion..." Kazooie quietly threatened Popo, giving the Ice Climber more pause to not approach Banjo. Popo's fear was holding up the picture being taken.
"You know, this picture would be even better if we were in front of Dante's van," remarked Sonic, finding the wall of the mansion to be an underwhelming backdrop for what he believed would be an awesome picture. "Is that van still in the shop, Dante?"
"Uh, yeah, it is - Nico's working hard on it," Dante sheepishly replied, rubbing his hand through his hair as he was clearly hiding something. "She'll give me a call soon when it's ready."
"But the van's been in the shop for weeks now," the female Inkling pointed out, knowing that the van couldn't possibly be that damaged to warrant needing repair for about six weeks. "What's the holdup?"
"There is no holdup, it's just..." Dante was about to lie his way out of the situation, but couldn't bring himself to do it as he left out a defeated sigh. "...if you must know, the van's fully repaired."
"It has?" Popo perked up, being half giddy and half confused. It didn't make sense to him for Dante to hold out so long. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Ice cream supply was running out at the time - didn't make sense to bring back the van. Not yet, at least."
"Yeah, but you still could've told me when the van was fixed. No need to leave me and everyone else in the dark!"
"Do you really wanna know the truth, Popo?" Dante confronted Popo, as tensions were running high before Cilan could even snap the photo. "Do you wanna know why I held off on telling you about the van?"
"Oh, man...I knew there was gonna be some friction eventually," the male Inkling whispered to his female counterpart, surprised that Popo and Dante hadn't butted heads sooner.
"I'll tell you why - I did it to protect yourself, and everyone else. You wanted one of us to die so you could sell ice cream 'in our honor'? Really?"
"Wh-Who told you that?" Popo asked Dante, feeling personally attacked as he looked at Nana. Nana, now feeling guilty, looked away and whistled. "Nana, what have you been telling this man?"
"That's a very messed up thing to say, man. How do you expect others to respect you when you're saying stupid crap like that?"
"I'm sorry, is there a problem?" asked a certain businessman, perhaps the last person that Popo wanted to see at the moment...Kazuya. Kazuya heard Dante putting Popo on blast, and wished to see how much Dante was piling it on.
"It's nothing, Kazuya - we were just about to take a picture," Cilan informed Kazuya, whose intimidating presence caused Popo to shiver slightly. "Popo and Dante are just airing out their grievances before we..."
"Popo preferred that one of us should've died when the van crashed," Kazooie spilled the beans to Kazuya, as Popo looked away in shame. Kazooie felt awfully proud exposing Popo to Kazuya like that.
"Really now?" Kazuya raised an eyebrow as he looked at Popo, who was too full of shame to look at the businessman in the face. "Guess I was right about you all along, Popo."
"No, you're wrong...dead wrong, all of you!" cried Popo, holding back some tears as he ran back inside the mansion, with Nana chasing after him. Everyone else just stood around in awkward silence, before Kazooie burst out laughing.
"Did you guys see him punk out like that?!" the redbird insensitively wheezed, while most of the ice cream gang felt bad about Popo. "To think we followed a wuss like him around for two months..."
"Two and a half months, if you want to be technical," Aku informed Kazooie, who waved off the floating mask as Dante angrily confronted Kazuya.
"Alright bub, what's the big deal?" Dante frowned at Kazuya, as he was all up in the businessman's grill. Tensions ran high yet again. "We didn't need you to butt in our conversation."
"Conversation? Sounded more like you were cutting in deep to Popo," responded Kazuya, knowing what he saw and heard, as Cilan was dying to take the picture - with or without Popo. "I'd say that he deserved it."
"Maybe he did...a little. But at least I didn't doubt him from the start." With Kazuya putting him in a bad mood, Dante retreated back inside the mansion, leaving the picture even more in jeopardy.
Kazuya: As I expected, the members of Popo's "gang" are railing against him. It was only a matter of time. Amusing how long it takes for some to figure out one's true colors.
"My work here is done..." proclaimed Kazuya as he walked away, seeing the ice cream gang now in a state of disarray. "...happy picture taking, you all."
"We can still take the picture with just six people and a floating mask...right?" Cilan asked whatever remained of the ice cream gang, holding up his camera. "We'll just photoshop in the others later."
Zelda, Researcher Zelda, and Impa went with the Turks to the living room, where they discussed Zant. What meant to be just a few questions asked turned into a full-blown conversation.
"So as it turned out, the treaty was a set-up all along," Researcher Zelda informed the Turks, giving them details about the treaty signing that occurred in episode 191. "Zant was in charge of the charade."
"Any of you know where Zant went?" asked Elena, who was writing down notes about Zant on a notepad. The Turks' investigation depended on it.
"Mario said he saw Raiden of the All-Star Manor follow Zant into some Twilight portal," explained Zelda, causing the Turks to raise their eyebrows. Well, except for Rude - that required too much emotion from him. "Haven't seen him since..."
"Funny...we came to the All-Star Manor looking for Zant," stated Reno, and now Zelda and her friends were the ones intrigued. "We've been going back and forth between the mansion and this joint."
"Mind if I ask why you're looking for Zant in the first place?" If Zant was destined to reappear at any given moment, that would give Zelda some pause about going on with her wedding.
"...boss's orders," Elena replied unconfidently, as she and the Turks were unsure as to why they were looking for Zant in the first place. "That's all we can really tell you."
"I hope that he doesn't show up during the wedding..." said Impa, leaving Zelda with a great sense of worry. The Turks quietly contemplated whether they should attend the wedding or not, regardless of a lack of invite. "...that would be far too convenient for him."
The foursome of Pit, Sora, Joker, and Proto Man was supposed to "destroy" the manor that the Nicktoons supposedly lived at, but they got sidetracked during their tour of the Nickelodeon Animation Studio. Their tour guide, Dylan, had taken them to the final leg of the tour, which was...the slime room.
"You boys ready to get slimed?!" Dylan asked Pit and Sora, who were both sitting in chairs with a giant bucket of slime over them. Joker and Proto Man chose not to partake in the festivities.
"Yeah, bring it on!" cheered Pit, who had been waiting to be slimed since the day that he was born. Or conceived. Dylan pressed a button, and the giant bucket tilted downwards as it poured slime all over Pit and Sora.
"This is so disgusting..." grimaced Joker, watching as both Pit and Sora were covered in green, gooey slime. Proto Man was amused seeing the look of disgust on Joker's face.
"You're not gonna throw up, are you?" Proto Man asked Joker, who wiped his look of disgust away from his face to avoid further questioning. "Talk about having a weak stomach."
"I don't have a weak stomach...slime just makes my skin crawl, for some reason." Soon the sliming finally came to an end, as both Pit and Sora were drenched in green slime.
"Well, that was an exhilarating experience!" exclaimed Sora as he and Pit got up from their seats, wiping the slime off of their clothes and even spitting some out of their mouths. "Does this stuff wash off easily, Dylan?"
"Most of the time," Dylan quickly replied as he eyed around the slime room, not fully confident in his answer. "But the slime is edible."
"Sure is sticky and freezing, though," said Pit as he licked the slime off his arm, finding the slime pretty sweet. Tasted like vanilla pudding. "Wait! We haven't seen those Nicktoons yet. Like Spongebob and Reptar and..."
"Ah, the Nicktoons! We were supposed to see them earlier in the tour, but they weren't around. They should be available now. Let me go see..."
"If we can't find out where the Nicktoons live, we can at least beat them up," Pit quietly discussed with Sora, as Dylan momentarily left the slime room. "That would send as just big of a message as blowing up their residence."
"Whatever you guys do, don't embarrass yourselves," Joker came over to inform Pit and Sora, as he couldn't risk any further second-hand embarrassment. "We have a reputation to uphold?"
"Relax, Joker, it's not like we're ambassadors for Smash!" Sora told the young man, his smile unable to diminish Joker's many concerns. "We're just having fun, aren't we?"
"Here they are, boys - brought the whole gang here!" exclaimed Dylan as returned to the slime room with many members of the Nicktoon squad - Spongebob, Patrick Star, Michaelangelo, Leonardo, and Reptar. They were all here.
However, something seemed terribly off about Spongebob and his friends. Some of them looked bigger than usual, Spongebob and Patrick especially. Which led Sora to state the following...
"Wait a minute, those guys are just wearing costumes!" the Keyblade wielder pointed out; he must've learned his lesson from episode 81. "This definitely feels like a cop-out."
"On the contrary, my friend," replied Dylan, as Pit and Sora both felt like they were played like a fiddle. Joker and Proto Man, on the other hand, saw it coming from a mile away. "You wanted to see the Nicktoons? Here you go!"
Dylan: No, no, we don't have the costumed folk greet our guests during studio tours. We only bring them out for special events. Just asking them to come over and put on their costumes took a bite out of our budget...
"This is not what we came here for," said Pit, believing that Dylan was perhaps a double agent for whoever ran the Nicktoons manor. "We demand to see the REAL Nicktoons, now!"
"This is as close as you can get to them, I'm afraid," stated Dylan, as the man in the Spongebob costume walked over to Sora for a hug. "Better take it or leave it!"
"Back off, man!" Sora shouted at the man in the Spongebob costume, who greeted the Keyblade wielder with open arms. Sora propelled him away with his Keyblade, and that got Pit thinking.
"Hey Sora, since we can't meet the real Nicktoons..." Pit said to the Keyblade wielder, as Dylan, Joker, and Proto Man were all wary about what the angel was about to suggest. "...how about we take it out all on the costumed dudes?"
"Eh...sure, why not?" So Sora armed himself with his Keyblade, and Pit took out his blades, as the Keyblade wielder and angel went ham on the costumed dudes. Dylan, Joker, and Proto Man watched in horror as Pit and Sora beat up the likes of Spongebob, Michaelangelo, and Reptar.
"No, stop it you two!" Joker shouted at Pit and Sora, fearing that their actions would put him at risk of a potential lawsuit. "You're supposed to be representing the Smash Mansion!"
"I won't lie, this is kinda funny," chuckled Proto Man, who didn't mind the senseless beatdown taking place in front of him. Pit eventually put the man in the Michaelangelo costume in a chokehold, before ripping off his head.
"Hold up, the guy in the Michaelangelo costume is Hispanic!" observed Pit, surprised to see a Hispanic man in the turtle suit. "Michaelangelo is supposed to be Italian!"
"SECURITY!" Dylan shouted into the distance, having seen enough, as a bunch of security came in. They took Pit and Sora away and put the two in handcuffs.
"Are you boys affiliated with these two?" a security guard asked Joker and Proto Man, as he pointed at Pit and Sora. All four residents were about to find themselves in some deep trouble.
"Unfortunately, yes," answered Joker, too ashamed to ever show his face around the Nickelodeon Animation Studio ever again. "One of them is a Disney guy, so go easy on him...
"We'll try. This is the first time anything like this happened at our studio, so we'll go easy on your friends - if they place nice, that is."
"You can't hold us down forever!" proclaimed Pit, struggling to break free from the handcuffs as the security guards took him and Sora away. "Master Hand will have his vengeance one day!"
"Master Hand? Now that's a name I hadn't heard in a while..." The security guard led Joker and Proto Man out of the slime, as Dylan followed after him.
Security Guard: Master Hand stopped by the animation studio a few years back, pitching some animated show about "Smash Bros" to the execs. I was on the job when the pitch meeting happened. Poor guy got shown out the door before he could even show anyone the script. *pauses* It was only two pages long. Including the cover page.
Mario, Samus, Pikachu, Link, and Cloud were on the hunt for the E.M.M.I., and they had the Doom Slayer (and Isabelle) as a part of their squad. But if they wanted to get rid of the E.M.M.I., they would have to find it first. Fortunately, MegaMan .EXE would lead them in the right direction.
"Should be crawling down this way," .EXE said to Mario and company as he led them down the hallway, keeping a close eye on the E.M.M.I. "You said that it might be in the gaming room, right Samus?"
"It really likes to linger around in dark places," stated Samus, with a charged-up special weapon ready to go. A measly Charge Shot wouldn't be enough.
"It just moves erratically...if not a little frightening. But as far as I have seen, it hasn't provoked anyone. I wonder why."
"Probably just wants to kill me. I already have what it wants. If it gets any of my DNA, then it will be fully satisfied..."
Samus and company arrived at the gaming room, which was deserted for the most part. Perhaps the E.M.M.I. had scared everyone away, and that proved to be true as Slippy Toad ran out screaming.
"PLEASE DON'T EAT ME ALIVE!" pleaded Slippy as he ran out of the gaming room with his arms in the air. Samus and company took a peek inside - but saw no sign of the E.M.M.I.
"It's nowhere-a to be seen," observed Mario, who was feeling more and more vindicated as he looked around. "Knew-a that the robot was invisible. You guys wouldn't believe-a me!'
"I'm pretty sure it's not invisible," said Link, knowing a dangerous robot lying secretly in wait was no threat to be taken lightly. "We might need something to draw its attention."
"How are we going to do that?" asked Isabelle, only for the Doom Slayer to grab the Shih Tzu by the collar and hold her up in the air. "Do you have any ideas, Doom Slayer?"
"Looks like we already have our answer," confirmed Cloud, as he and everyone else was looking at Isabelle. It took Isabelle a moment to realize that all the attention was on her.
"Hehehe...I'm not the sacrificial lamb, and I?" Isabelle chuckled nervously, twiddling with her fingers as Link dug into his pocket and pulled out an apple. "Why did I have to be so cute and adorable..."
.EXE: Those with red eyes often tend to be drawn towards red objects. Not sure if it's true or not, but it's a good theory to test out. We'll be among those to test it out today.
Thanks to some rope, Isabelle was tied up in the center of the gaming room, with an apple in her mouth. Her cries were muffled, as the fear of death was slowly getting to herl
"Hopefully, this should work," said Samus as she saw Isabelle in prime position, before turning around...and seeing Mario holding his head in reverence with a hand over his chest. "Mario, what are you doing?"
"What does it look like, I'm paying my respects," replied Mario, frowning at Samus for a brief moment before going back to showing his respects. "I'm gonna miss-a Isabelle."
"Have a little faith, will ya?" Cloud asked of Mario as he took the plumber's hand away. Suddenly, Cloud and the others heard crawling sounds from inside the gaming room.
"It must be drawing near..." .EXE inferred, as the crawling sounds drew closer. After a few seconds of waiting, the E.M.M.I. had reached Isabelle, who was shaking in fear.
"Mama mia..." uttered Mario, seeing how much of a killer robot the E.M.M.I. was. It was a good thing that it was only interested in killing Samus.
"Yup, that's the robot I've been telling you guys about," stated Samus, as the E.M.M.I. inspected Isabelle. Sweat was pouring down Isabelle's face. "Everyone should keep quiet..."
"Don't be scared, Isabelle - the robot can smell-a your fear!" Mario called out to the Shih Tzu, as Samus facepalmed at the plumber. "Can robots even smell or sense fear?"
"Not unless someone wets their pants," replied Link, as Mario's outburst brought the E.M.M.I.'s attention to everyone standing at the gaming room entrance. "Which Isabelle couldn't possibly bring herself to do."
"I think we got its attention!" shouted Cloud, as the E.M.M.I. started emitting electronic plinking noises. Its target was in full sight...Samus Aran.
"Quick, Pikachu, use Thunderbolt to slow it down!" commanded Samus, as Pikachu leaped down from the bounty hunter's shoulder. Pikachu charged up electricity in his cheeks, and then...
"Pika...CHHHHUUUUU!" the mouse Pokemon unleashed a Thunderbolt on the E.M.M.I., unleashing as much electricity as possible. But the move did not work, as the E.M.M.I. was unfazed.
"It's coming this way!" .EXE shouted as the E.M.M.I. crawled over to everyone. The Doom Slayer, stepping up to the plate, whipped out his gun and fired away at the E.M.M.I., stopping its progress.
"Keep it up, Doom Slayer," Cloud encouraged the Marine, as he and Link went in and laid it on the E.M.M.I. with their swords. Neither swordsman was able to land a single clean hit on the E.M.M.I., whose robotic skin proved indestructible.
"Those boys aren't-a doing anything," Mario had this to say about LInk and Cloud, who were both flung away when the E.M.M.I. swiped at them both with its robotic hands. The Doom Slayer kept on firing.
"Not like you're doing much yourself, Mario..." .EXE said to the plumber, before glancing at Samus...and seeing the bounty hunter charging up what appeared to be something very powerful with her arm cannon. "...uh, Samus?"
"Move out of my way..." commanded Samus, and Mario and .EXE did as they were told as they moved to the side. The Doom slayer continued to fire shots at the E.M.M.I., who then knocked the marine out of the way.
Then, once the E.M.M.I. was open, Samus unleashed a powerful beam at the robot, melting off its core. The E.M.M.I.'s protective faceplate slowly began to melt off, and then Samus used a powerful blast to finish off her robotic adversary. In a matter of seconds, the E.M.M.I. was defeated, as it collapsed to the floor,
"It's finally done for.." remarked Link, as he and Cloud stood up and went over to Samus. Despite the powerful weaponry that she used, Samus was showing no signs of fatigue. "...Samus, what even was that?"
"The Omega Cannon," Samus heartily replied as she showed off her arm cannon, which was red in color. Also took on a much different shape. "Got some energy from the Central Units on Planet ZDR to upgrade my Power Suit...and viola."
"May I borrow some-a of these...Central Units?" inquired Mario, as Samus was hoping that the plumber wasn't being serious. "Are they edible?"
"No, they're not...and they'll also kill you. Trust me, you don't want to face them if you're not properly equipped."
Mario: I wouldn't mind risking death-a if it meant seeking more power. Isn't that what most-a world leaders do?
Some muffled sounds were heard nearby, as Isabelle was still all tied up with an apple in her mouth. Pikachu ran over to Isabelle and cut the rope with his tail, before taking the apple out of Isabelle's mouth.
"So what do we do now?" asked Isabelle, grateful to be back on her feet - and to no longer find her life in complete peril. "Should we tell Master Hand?"
"He might act salty about finding out later...best to tell him now," replied Samus as she stood over the no longer functioning E.M.M.I., whose core was now completely shattered. "I'll dispose of the body later."
Sonic, Crash, and Aku all felt bad about Popo, so they went to go see how Ice Climber was handling himself. They would find Popo in his room, sitting on his bed, with Nana providing some comfort.
"Go away..." demanded Popo, too ashamed to even look in the face of his ice cream-seeling buddies. He could see Sonic and company putting him on blast from a mile away.
"Relax, we're not angry with ya!" Sonic assured Popo, giving the Ice Climber a small sense of hope. Popo, no longer afraid, looked up at Sonic. "We just want to know what's up."
"Thanks, guys - great to know you have my back," Popo showed his appreciation towards Sonic and company, feeling as if he had no more reason to hide his shame and guilt.
"Popo here has some things he wants to get off his chest," stated Nana, as Popo smiled nervously and twiddled with his thumbs. Must have a lot of skeletons in his closet. "He shared some info with me that, well...you boys deserve to know."
"It's nothing major, really. Most of it is on the small side." Popo was trying to play it off, but neither Sonic nor even Crash would fall for Popo's ploy.
"C'mon man, out with it!" Sonic encouraged Popo, who nervously gulped as he refused to even provide one measly secret. "Kazooie isn't around, so nobody's here to judge you."
"Okay then, here goes nothing..." Popo took a deep breath, finding himself in the groove, before telling Sonic and company what they deserved to know. "...that number I provided at the meeting? I, uh...I made it up."
"Ha, I knew it!" exclaimed Sonic as he was about to exchange a high five with Crash...only to furrow his brow as he lowered his hand. Crash still had his hand up, still expecting a high five. "Wait, what?"
"I came up with the number at the top of my head." As Popo was dropping the truth, Crash held his hand towards Aku for a high five. "The final number was much less than that."
"Popo had a lot of refunds that I didn't know about," added Nana, with Popo looking down at the floor in heavy shame. "So many people that Popo had to pay back days before our meeting..."
"Here is the list of complaints our customers have made." Popo took out a long list and handed it to Sonic. Sonic and company looked at it together, and couldn't believe the things they were reading.
"Sheesh! Nausea? Upset stomach? Amnesia? Even the bird flu?!" Sonic read off the list of ailments that those who ate Popo's ice cream claimed, before flipping the list over. "There's even more on the back!"
"Not even Dingo's Diner had this many side-effects in the disclaimer for their TV ad!" exclaimed Aku, as the list of ailments went down to the very bottom of the page. "Pretty amazing when you think about it."
"Were you aware that your ice cream would cause these kinds of symptoms?" Sonic asked Popo after he handed the list back to Nana. "If you did, why did you keep selling?"
"I didn't know at the time, I just..." replied Popo, before heaving a sigh as he had to let his true feelings out. "...I just wanted to be accepted. Both in and out of the mansion, I should say."
"Just wanna be accepted, huh? Don't we all...don't we all."
Popo and company looked outside the bedroom, as Dante slowly came inside. Dante came over to Popo and sat next to the Ice Climber on his bed.
"H-How long were you eavesdropping on us?" Popo asked Dante, hoping that the vigilante didn't hear too much. "I wasn't saying bad things about you...well, not yet at least..."
"Heard every word," smiled Dante as he patted Popo on the head, making the Ice Climber feel embarrassed. "Hey, don't look so down! Better out than in, as they always say."
"So you have no problem with what I said? About the fake number and my need to be accepted?" In response to both questions, Popo shook his head no.
"Had a feeling there was something funny going on with ya - and now we all know the truth. Just wanted everyone's approval, is that right?"
"Yeah, I guess...I figured that by being successful in selling ice cream, people would warm up to me more. Sadly, it didn't end as well as I hoped..."
"To tell you the truth, I only joined just to stick it to Kazuya. That was my motivation for selling ice cream - to make him look silly after he doubted you."
"Hey, I had the same motivation too!" stated Sonic, and Crash nodded his head to show that he shared his friend's sentiments. "Who knew that Kazuya made us all so united!"
Sonic: Kazuya might be a pro at starting up unnecessary family drama...and throwing people into volcanoes, but he sure knows how to get others to work together for a common cause. Quite ironic when you consider the kind of man that he is.
"Now that we know about the refunds and stuff...what's the real final number for our sales?" Sonic asked Popo, asking the question that the Ice Climber was dreading the most. It was presumed to be pretty underwhelming.
"Promise you won't tell Kazooie?" asked Popo, fearing that Kazooie would give him a hard time. Everyone nodded their head, as Popo was ready to tell them the big number... "...we're only left with $2,275."
"That's not that bad," Dante offered his two cents, as Sonic, Crash, and Aku were all inclined to agree. "Any money left over is better than no money."
"Popo also had to pay that kind Olympian who helped us sell ice cream in Renton," stated Nana, referring to Tom of this year's men's Olympic basketball team. That guy must've gotten a hefty payday. "So that took a huge chunk out of our funds..."
"Either way, he's satisfied - and it looks like you guys are satisfied as well," said Popo, happy to know that Sonic and the others weren't giving him a hard time for how things turned out in the end. "Thanks for everything, you guys."
"Don't mention it, buddy," responded Dante as he gave Popo a comforting pat on his back. "Just promise not to wish for anyone's death, alright?"
"Hehe...I already learned my lesson," Popo chuckled sheepishly as he glanced towards Nana, who was smirking from ear to ear. "Nana almost had to beat my head in..."
The Turks were done speaking with Zelda and friends and were about to leave the mansion. As Zelda, Researcher Zelda, and Impa were about to see the Turks out the door, Reno wanted to ask Zelda a question...
"What is the venue for your wedding?" the Turk asked Zelda, taking out his phone so he could record the address on his GPS. The venue that Zelda was about to provide required no address whatsoever.
"My wedding will be held at the Temple of Hylia," replied Zelda, her response leaving Reno incredibly stumped. "I'll let you figure out where that is."
"The Temple of Hylia?!" Reno assumed that Zelda was pulling his tail, but the princess was a hundred percent serious. "That sounds super far away!"
"It's somewhere in Hyrule, Reno," Elena explained to Reno like that was supposed to make the Turk feel any better. "Master Hand probably has some gizmo he can use to bring everyone to Hyrule in no time."
"Right you are," confirmed Impa, with Reno now hoping that the Turks would make it in time before everyone got teleported away. "I take it that you three will be on the lookout for Zant?"
"Can't be on the lookout for him in Seattle," replied Rude, not exactly in the mood for heading back to New York where the All-Star Manor was. "We'll try and keep in touch, okay?"
"Erm, we'll try," replied Zelda, finding communication with the Turks impossible since she and her friends had no cellphone. Contacting through the house phone would be suspicious. "See you all later."
"Likewise." On that note, Rude closed the front door, as the Turks made their leave. Impa and Researcher Zelda went away while Zelda remained where she was, now having a few doubts about her wedding.
The mission to destroy the Nickelodeon All-Star Manor proved to be a failure, as the manor nor the Nicktoons were anywhere to be found. Only a bunch of guys dressed up as Spongebob and friends, and nothing else. Pit, Joker, Sora, and Proto Man returned to Seattle to deliver the bad news to Master Hand, and then some.
"You got banned from the studio grounds for beating up some lousy cosplayers?" Master Hand asked Pit and Sora after the two told him about the beatdown they laid out back at the studio. "The folks you kicked you out must've been scared of you."
"Yeah, but at least we sent a strong enough message to the higher-ups at Nickelodeon," stated Pit, before looking up and shaking his fist as he proclaimed, "Michaelangelo is an Italian, dang it!"
"Sorry, Master Hand, but the manor that you claimed the Nicktoons lived at doesn't exist," Sora informed the giant hand, who was devasted to hear this news. "It was all in your head."
"Doesn't exist, huh...that Crazy Hand, I should've never listened to him!" Imagine listening to Crazy Hand for just about anything. "Might as well put Nickelodeon back on in the mansion."
"Glad that you came to your senses, Master Hand," Joker said to the giant hand before he heard a knock at Master Hand's door. Joker went to go answer the door and saw Link.
"Special delivery!" announced Link, entering in as Cloud and the Doom slayer dragged the dead E.M.M.I. inside the room. Mario, Samus, Pikachu, and Isabelle followed after Cloud and the Doom Slayer, with Mario holding his back in pain.
Isabelle: Mario tried to carry the E.M.M.I. to Master Hand by himself, but nearly broke his back in the process. Cloud and Doom Slayer had to do the heavy lifting.
Doom Slayer: *stands over Isabelle and pats her on the head*
Isabelle: The Doom Slayer loves being touchy, doesn't he?
"What am I looking at?" asked Master Hand as Cloud and the Doom Slayer laid the dead E.M.M.I. out on the floor. "Is that some weaksauce Transformer someone found?"
"It's called an E.M.M.I., Master Hand," explained Samus, as Pit touched the E.M.M.I. to see if it would randomly turn on. "Extraplanetary Multiform Mobile..."
"Ew, yuck, science-y terms! Way to make that robot sound even more uncool, Samus. What is it even good for anyway?"
"Extracting my alien DNA, apparently. It must have come to earth to do just that. Hopefully, this is the only one that..."
Samus would be cut off when the window in Master Hand's room was broken...broken by an E.M.M.I. that happened to crawl its way inside. The E.M.M.I.'s eye turned red as it spotted Samus.
"I call for a sacrifice!" shouted Pit as he grabbed Proto Man and held him in front of Samus, just as the E.M.M.I. reached the bounty hunter. The E.M.M.I. mistakenly snatched Proto Man and crawled away.
"I hate you so much, Pit!" Proto Man shouted at the angel, who saluted the robot as the E.M.M.I. crawled out through the broken window and leaving behind a hole in the process.
"Guess we have to go save Proto Man," sighed Sora as he whipped out his Keyblade, while Cloud, Joker, and the Doom Slayer each took out their respective weapons. "No thanks to you, Pit..."
"You boys keep it busy," Samus directed Sora and company, as Pikachu hopped back on the bounty hunter's shoulder. "Going to need some energy from the workshop to take this bad boy down. Don't let it get out of your sight."
"We won't let you down!" Sora, the newest fighter in Smash, would lead the way as he and the others ran out through the hole, with Pit being left behind.
"Wait up for me!" the angel shouted, taking out his blade and running out to go save the robot he apparently sacrificed. Mario desired to be a part of the brigade, but he was in no condition to participate.
"My back..." the plumber writhed in pain, as Isabelle escorted him to the fitness center so Leia could get him back into shape. Master Hand inspected the hole in his room and sighed.
"Sixth time this year my window got broken..." the giant hand lamented, as this was the most extreme window break he ever had. "...Mr. Game and Watch better not punk out this time." The giant hand vanished away, leaving Link and Samus alone by themselves.
"Hope this isn't the start of some robot army invading earth," remarked Link, as Samus knelt down at the E.M.M.I. and absorbed it with her arm cannon. "Corrin would be even more insufferable!"
"Um, Link, about that conversation we had in the sauna..." Samus said to the Hylian as she stood up, looking at him face-to-face. "When I said that you let Zelda boss me around..."
"I haven't forgotten." Those words Samus said back in episode 299 were still in the back of Link's mind. "You want to apologize?"
"Yeah, I thought about what I said, and...I was totally out of line. So I'm sorry for getting you so riled up."
"Wow, Samus...that means a lot coming from you. You're never really the one to apologize."
"That makes you one of the lucky ones." Samus patted Link on his shoulder, before marching out of Master Hand's room. "Can't wait for the wedding next week. I know you're gonna do great out there."
"I know." Once Samus left the room, Link had a cheeky grin - one that he couldn't wipe off his face.
His wedding was going to be next week, and he simply couldn't wait any longer.
