Author's Note:
It's snowing in my hometown! Aaaaaah! That...that is all. Guest reviews:
"Uh-oh...so recently, Microsoft just bought Activision Blizzard. You know what that means?! Yup, Microsoft now owns Banjo AND Crash!"
Just the thought of Banjo and Crash belonging to the same company still seems bizarre to me. That said, I hope that Microsoft will give Crash (and Banjo) plenty of love in the future. Another anonymous review:
"Oh, and Microsoft also owns Spyro now! How about that, huh?"
Same thing with Crash and Banjo - hope the Spyro series gets plenty of love, too. Another anonymous review:
"Banjo-Kazooie is coming to the Switch via NSO on January 20! Banjo-Kazooie chapter next week?"
I'm afraid not. Moving on to David:
"Is the Pit and Ryuji feud gonna end next chapter? Do you have plans for a Persona 4 Arena chapter when the game comes out for Switch this year? A small scene of Chie and Yosuke on a date? Will the entire mansion finally find out that Naoto is a girl for the Persona 4 Arena chapter? And finally, what are your thoughts on the upcoming Triangle Strategy game?"
As of now, I don't know when the feud will end. I'm developing ideas at the moment. I can see those two on a date. Those who aren't in the know will be in the know. And I totally forgot that Triangle Strategy existed, so I'm not qualified to answer that question. An NFL fan has a question about Valentine's Day:
"Since the Super Bowl LVI is happening a day before Valentine's day, does that mean the Valentine's day chapter is skipped? Or are you gonna go wild and combine both?"
Yeah, the Super Bowl being on the second week of February kinda muddies things up...that said, I could combine both chapters. Last up is the Reader:
"Well, well, well. The Kingdom Hearts games is coming to the Switch via Cloud gaming on February 10. Any Kingdom Hearts characters to appear in that week?"
I am a huge Kingdom Hearts fan, so...why not?
Episode 318: Hypnotize
As it was alluded to in the previous episode, Slippy Toad was no stranger to receiving wack Christmas gifts. Three years ago, he got a used pair of socks from Donkey Kong. Two years ago, he got a bottle of perfume, which was originally meant for Wendy Koopa. (Wendy never asked for the perfume back.) More recently, Slippy got a deflated football from Fox and Falco, which was intended to be a joke gift. Slippy never saw it that way.
But lo and behold, Slippy got a Christmas present that, while delivered a few weeks late, was something of value. Or at least it was to Slippy. That belated Christmas present came from Ventus, who claimed that he and his friends had "no use" for it. Desperately trying to take the present off his hands, Ventus happily gave it to Slippy.
And that gift? A journal. It wasn't the greatest thing in the world, but it was considerably better than a deflated football, used socks, or even ladies' perfume. There was some stuff already written in the journal, but that didn't stop Slippy from turning it into his own personal diary.
"Dear diary...I found love for the first time ever," Slippy said out loud as he wrote into his journal, kicking his legs in the air. Fox and Falco were peeking inside the frog's bedroom, listening closely. "That love...was Pyra's pancakes!"
"He had me in the first half, not gonna lie," Falco whispered to Fox, as Slippy started drawing some random doodles on his page, before regaining his trace of thought and continuing to write.
"Pyra is a good cook, but the same cannot be said for Mythra. Calling her trash would be an insult to trash everywhere!" Slippy oughta be glad that Mythra wasn't the one eavesdropping on him - otherwise, things would and poorly. And violently.
"Must he always say out loud what he writes?" Fox quietly asked Falco; he would have no problem with it if Slippy didn't have the bedroom door wide open. "It's getting kinda annoying."
Slippy: For the longest time, I've always wanted a diary... *holds up his journal* ...and this journal is the closest I'll ever get to having one. Ventus already got a head start, I see - maybe he had the same intentions as me. Wonder what caused him to stop.
Fox: Took a peek in that journal myself. The stuff in the first couple of pages didn't interest me, but everything after that, with Slippy's entries, is...oof. Lemme read you an expert. *takes out Slippy's journal and opens it up, before clearing his throat* "This afternoon, I prepared myself a grilled cheese sandwich, without panicking or asking for help. I feel so good about myself." *closes journal* Seriously, what is that to write about? And since when did Slippy eat grilled cheese sandwiches? He said that he was lactose intolerant!
"Agree to disagree," Slippy responded to Fox, able to hear the pilot regardless of how low he was speaking. Slippy finished his diary entry, before hopping off his bed and walking towards Fox and Falco. "Wanna see what I wrote in my diary yesterday?"
"We don't care," replied Fox, but that didn't stop Slippy from opening his diary...erm, journal out wide to reveal a bunch of doodles. "Slippy, those aren't words; those are ugly drawings."
"I know, I couldn't think of any words so I expressed my thoughts in art form instead." Slippy pointed at the doodle of a stick figure, which came with arms and legs. "This doodle represents my inner struggle, and reason for existence."
"And you used an ugly stick figure to represent that?" questioned Falco, not a huge fan of the stick figure which Slippy somehow messed up. How could anyone mess up drawing a simple stick figure?
"He may be ugly to you, but to me, he's a beautiful specimen...but I guess all art is subjective." Slippy closed his journal, walking past Fox and Falco as he left his room. "You two would know better than anyone."
"At least we'd know how to draw a stick figure properly," Fox called out to Slippy, who was humming a happy tune as he walked away journal in hand. Ever since he got that journal from Ventus, Slippy felt as if everything was pushing up daisies for him.
"I'd say we burn that journal to a crisp," Falco suggested to Fox, as he had violence on his mind. The avian pilot usually took the violent route as the answer to everything. "Make him cry."
"Eh, let's give him until the end of the day. We can just burn the pages that Slippy already wrote into, no problem."
With a huge winter storm hitting the northeast, and parts of the southeast, many Americans in those regions were forced to do a lot of grocery shopping in preparation for some nasty cold weather. Peach had done a lot of grocery shopping as well, but not because a winter storm was hitting the pacific northwest, too - the princess just needed to stock up on her food supply, among other things. (Such as getting out of her house, for instance.)
Nearly shopping until she dropped - if that has ever applied to grocery shopping - Peach returned home with a bevy of grocery bags. As the princess entered her house, shopping bags in her hands, she saw that Mario had a guest over in his living room...Hal Emmerich.
"I have to admit, it was quite jarring seeing you as King Bradley," Hal discussed with Mario, before eating from a banana that the plumber had offered him. "Speaking of King Bradley, did you know that he was originally known as Pride?"
"And Luigi was Escanor, the Sin-a of Pride..." stated Mario, who had learned this tidbit of information from Hal - the huge anime nerd. It was in his codename. "...what a coincidence."
"That guy with the glasses popped in while you were out shopping," Spyro informed Peach as he walked right by the princess, not even bothering to grab one of the shopping bags. Some help he was. "Dude's such an anime nerd; he makes Travis seem bearable."
Spyro: Today I learned that Hal, the guy that Mario's speaking with, is Snake's best friend. Now I know why Snake acts so mean and grouchy all the time.
Zelda: Since Snake looked like he was up to no good last week, he's pretty much forbidden from associating himself with Hal - just for the time being. Hal can still freely visit the mansion as he chooses...provided that he doesn't start acting suspiciously himself.
"In all my life, I've never seen an anime costume that makes one so buff," remarked Hal, as he wanted to give that Escanor costume a try. No matter how poorly it would fit on him. "I must find out the manufacturer's name..."
"Master Hand once-a made me wear an Iron Man suit," Mario said to Hal, who was completely floored as he leaned in close to Mario. Hal's eyeglasses nearly fell off his nose. "Have it in my garage-a if you want to see."
"Of course, I want to see - what kind of dumb question is that?! Show me, show me!" Hal was acting like a little kid at the candy store, all excited as Mario went to the garage. Spyro could only shake his head at Hal's excitement.
"He's such a nerd..." the purple dragon said to Peach as he walked away...and he still didn't help Peach with the groceries! What a guy. Peach placed the grocery bags on a couch in the living room, as Hal noticed her.
"Oh! You must be Miss Princess Peach," Hal smiled when he saw Peach, as he stood up and held out his hand eager for a handshake. "Or should I say...Princess Peach. You can call me Hal Emmerich."
"Nice to meet you, Hal!" smiled Peach as she shook hands with Hal, with Spyro looking on with minor disgust. At least Spyro didn't hate Hal's mere existence, as Hunter probably would've done.
"I just wanted to stop by and pick your husband's brain, for a bit. Kinda doing something with Snake...he and I go way back."
"Mario told me that Snake wanted to beat him to a bloody pulp. Is that true?" A question like that brought much nervousness to Hal, who felt a droplet of sweat run down his face.
"Partially true...Snake had asked Luigi to do the beating. I was merely just a spectator until I stepped in and saved your husband from potential harm."
"I helped out, too!" Hunter called out from his bedroom, refusing to let his involvement go unmerited. The cheetah always had to take credit whenever he could, even if it wasn't totally necessary.
"The only reason why Snake is acting like he is is that he's looking for a journal - one he alledged that Mario took with him by mistake. I hate to bother you, princess, but have you seen the journal anywhere?"
"Not since the 17th of December," replied Peach - you think that Snake would arrange to have Peach get beat up if she gave him that same answer? "I wanted to take a peek in the journal, but Mario was always hogging it."
"Hogging it? As in, he was reading everything that was written down in the journal?" Hal was suddenly afraid, pulling on his hair as Peach looked on. "Tell me he didn't read too much..."
"Caught him reading it during the night, while in bed." That brought more worry to Hal, who was rubbing his hand through his hair as he didn't know what to do or how to think. "You won't believe how many times I told him to go to sleep."
"MAMA MIA, THE IRON MAN SUIT FELL-A ON MY TOE!" Mario was heard screaming in excruciating pain from his garage after a pretty loud thud was heard. "Why is it always the big-a toe?!"
"Oh, dear...there he goes again injuring himself." Peach let out a sigh, while Hal began to calm himself down. as he fixed his hair. "I'll be right back. Hopefully, Mario isn't too hurt."
"Take your time," Hal told Peach, allowing the princess to go to the garage and check on Mario. After Peach had left, Hal immediately went back to panicking as Spyro returned to the living room.
"Worrying himself out over a journal..." muttered Spyro, as Hal took a seat back on the couch so he could make himself calm again.
Ryuji was supposed to have his fight against Pit, as payback for everything that the angel had done to him. However, the fight was called off last week because Ryuji was simply tired of Pit's shenanigans. Pit believed that by writing down Ryuji's name in Joker's Death Note, he would successfully kill off Ryuji and avoid having to fight the delinquent altogether.
But little did Pit know, that the Death Note was only a prop that came with Joker's cosplay outfit. And even though the fight never came to fruition, Ryuji was still determined to get his hands on Pit. And get his hands on him, he did...
"Hahahaha, you're done now, Pit!" shouted Ryuji, using a garden rake as he was beating Pit's head in with it outside the mansion. No, he wasn't actually beating up Pit mercilessly, don't clutch your pearls...he was only going in on a dummy that had Pit's face plastered on it. Link, Zelda, and Captain Falcon stood by and watched.
"This is what you allowed him to use your test dummies for?" Link questioned Captain Falcon, as Ryuji tore the dummy's head off - with his own teeth. Captain Falcon was whistling innocently to himself, as Link and Zelda waited for an answer.
"What, they had to be useful for something!" Captain Falcon replied with a shrug, as Ryuji was now putting the headless dummy in a headlock. The lack of a head kinda defeats the purpose of doing a headlock, huh?
Captain Falcon: Had to clean out the garden shed of my F-Zero test dummies - Mr. Game and Watch said they were taking up too much space. I gave away those dummies to the others, free as charged - the Black Knight uses 'em for his extravagant tea parties (which I somehow never get invited to), and the Duck Hunt now has full-size chew toys! Now if only he can remember to clean the stuffing off the floor...
"Sayonara, sucker!" shouted Ryuji, grabbing a baseball bat as he tossed the dummy head up in the air. Ryuji then struck the head with the baseball bat, sending the head flying far. "And he's...outta here!"
"This is kind of depressing to watch," remarked Zelda, as Ryuji celebrated his home run by taking out a cold one and popping the lid open. As Ryuji drank from his can, Ness came over.
"Uh, is that my baseball bat?" Ness asked Ryuji as he pointed at the baseball bat in the delinquent's hand. Ness had been looking for his baseball bat since this morning.
"You want it? Then go get it!" Ryuji threw the baseball bat over the trees, as Ness groaned and ran after his beloved bat. Ryuji watched as Ness ran, laughing to himself before he resumed drinking his can of beer.
"Yup, it's official...he's gone insane," confirmed Link, nodding his head as he believed the time to intervene was now - before Ryuji could potentially hurt Pit. "Stay right here, Falcon - Zelda and I got this."
"Yes sir!" Captain Falcon saluted Link, who along with Zelda went over to speak with Ryuji. Ryuji had tossed his beer can to the floor and was about to smash it with his foot when he saw Link and Zelda approach him.
"Link, Zelda, it's not what you think!" the delinquent said to the Hylian couple, stumbling in fear as he fell on his back. Ryuji was fearing some kind of punishment, but he wasn't going to get anything of the sort...yet.
"Relax, it's not like you're in trouble," Link assured Ryuji, as Zelda was considerate enough to pick up the crushed beer can. Littering was never allowed on mansion grounds. "Not yet, at least."
"W-What do you mean by 'not yet'?" Ryuji stood back up on his feet, while still a little afraid. "Just get it over with, man - if you wanna punish me so then go ahead and do it!"
"We've been keeping a close eye on you, Mr. Sakomoto," Zelda said to Ryuji, as she made the delinquent feel even more nervous. And maybe creeped out. "Saw that you've been at odds with Pit recently."
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be? That guy's an idiot!" Just thinking about Pit made Ryuji sick to the core, as he angrily folded his arms. "Not only does he think wrestling is real, but he also likes the WWE."
"Him being a WWE fan makes him an idiot...?" questioned Link as he eyed around the backyard, with Zelda being equally confused. "What does that make the little kids who also like WWE?"
"Eh, they get a pass...they're young, so they don't really know any better. Pit should be old enough to know what is trash and what isn't. If he was smart, he would watch..."
"Please don't bring up that wrestling company..." Zelda commanded Ryuji, who snapped his fingers in disgust; Ryuji was only seconds away from enticing Link and Zelda to watch his favorite wrestling show. "...now tell me. Is feuding with Pit worth it?"
"I'd say it looks embarrassing on my part, but it's well-deserved." Ryuji knew that beefing with Pit might damage his reputation, but he didn't care. "And besides, Pit started it in the first place!"
"That's not what we heard from Banjo and Corrin. They've said otherwise." Stunned that two of his closest wrestling confidants had "betrayed" him, Ryuji was left in shock with his mouth agape.
Banjo: Personally, I got tired of putting up with Ryuji. Guess it was only a matter of time.
Kazooie: It's the same old song with that nitwit. Talking about some "key demo", dumb wrestling rumors, and whoever is in the wrestling free agency pool. How can you possibly enjoy wrestling, talking about that kind of stuff?
Corrin: Tried to get Kana into AEW on the night of New Year's Eve...and it was a women's wrestling match that had the two female competitors bleed profusely! There were steel chairs and thumbtacks, and I might've even seen a middle finger or two. Obviously, I can't let Kana be exposed to such filth, so as much as it would hurt Ryuji...WWE it is.
"Did they really say that? Or are you just making stuff up?" questioned Ryuji, refusing to believe that Banjo and Corrin would put him down like that. "I want audio evidence of those two making those comments."
"We can do you one better," suggested Link, leaving Ryuji to wonder what was better than listening to some lousy recording that probably didn't even exist. "Why don't you try and hash things out with Pit?"
"Hash things out with that loser? HA!" The only way that Ryuji would deal with Pit is if fists were involved. And maybe a garden rake or a baseball bat. "What good would that do?"
"This would be your chance before you let Pit get the upper hand," replied Zelda, and by no means did Ryuji want Pit to have a dub over him. "Best to nip this problem in the bud, than to have the 'idiot' prevail over..."
"Okay, fine, I'll do it! I'll talk it out with Pit!" Ryuji finally conceded, left with no choice but to have a decent sit-down conversation with Pit. A task that was much easier said than done.
Speaking of Pit, why don't we see what the angel's up to right now? Grateful to be alive and walking, Pit was doing his barista job behind the counter at Cafe Leblanc, serving coffee and curry as he knew how. Joker was relieved that he didn't have to lose a barista, and he was also relieved that the entrance to his cafe remained intact after Ryuji had blown it up.
"Made extra sure that the outer walls of the cafe are super durable," Mr. Game and Watch explained to Joker as he sat at the counter, taking a small break from his usual groundskeeping duties. "That said, I don't think it'll do you much good."
"Oh, it will do me a LOT of good," responded Joker, hoping that he wouldn't have to worry about repairing his cafe for the foreseeable future. He found it a miracle that his cafe made it to the end of last year.
"Greetings and salutations, friends!" greeted a familiar face, as Magolor entered Cafe Leblanc waving his hand to everyone. In his hand was a sack. "It is I, Magolor! I have returned from the great beyond...or whatever."
"Welcome back to Cafe Leblanc, Magolor!" Kirby welcomed his alien friend, who sat on one of the barstools at the counter with some help from Terry. "Missed you over the holiday season."
"Yeah, sorry I had to miss out on all the fun. That bear gave me the heebie-geebies...he nearly scared my pants off!" Jokes on you, Magolor - you don't even wear any pants!"
"If it makes you feel any better, that bear never showed up again. We had Master Hand and a few friendly visitors put him in his place."
"Hey, Magolor, Kirby wanted to give you a Christmas gift," Pit said to the alien, as he reached underneath the counter and pulled out a small Christmas present with Magolor's name on it. "Here ya go!"
"I wanted to give Magolor a Christmas gift? I don't recall," Kirby looked on in confusion, as Pit handed the present to Magolor. Magolor went ahead and unwrapped his present.
"A Craftsman 20-volt max cordless hammer drill gun? From the NME Superstore?!" Magolor took his gift out of the box, treating it like it was the most valuable treasure on earth. "Aw, thanks, Kirby! You shouldn't have!"
"Yes, I really shouldn't have..." Kirby was forced to take credit for Magolor's gift, much to his chagrin. The pink puffball looked up and frowned at Pit, who gave him a thumbs up.
Pit: The drill gun came in the mail the day after Christmas - and it even had Magolor's name on it! So I just placed it inside a box, wrapped it up, and put Kirby's name on the name tag. So if Magolor hates his gift, he'll know who to blame.
"Now I feel like a super-duper repairman," remarked Magolor as he took the drill gun out of its packaging, only to be taken back by how the drill looked. "Hmm...for a drill gun, the nozzle sure looks weird."
"It must mean that it's more effective than other drills," assumed Pit, as Magolor gave his drill gun a go by pressing down on the button. Not only did the drill spin around, but it was glowing as well. Which enchanted Magolor.
"Ooh, it even glows! Must be great for drilling stuff in the dark." As if anyone would be insane enough to do repair work in such conditions.
"Why not test out that drill of yours?" Mr. Game and Watch suggested to Magolor, jealous that the alien had a new drill gun while he didn't. "You should use it to repair one of the machines in the vending machine room. Totally not like I'm asking you to do my work or anything, while I'm on break..."
"It's the one with the bags of chips," Dark Pit informed Magolor as he called out to the alien from the table he was sitting at. Mr. Game and Watch looked up at Dark Pit, who tensed up when he saw the 2-D man looking at him.
"Who told you to take your break at the same time as me?" Mr. Game and Watch struck some fear into Dark Pit, who dropped his cup of coffee onto the floor as he scurried out of the cafe to resume his groundskeeping duties.
"Joker, can I go escort Magolor to where the vending machines are?" Pit asked the young man as he raised his hand, while Kirby grabbed a mop so that he could clean up Dark Pit's mess.
"No, you've already left this cafe enough times as it is," replied Joker, as Pit moaned in sadness and lowered his head. "Especially without permission. Kirby will go in your place instead."
"We're about to go on an adventure together, buddy!" Magolor said to Kirby, who came from behind the counter with the mop. The alien ran up to Kirby, wrapping his arm around him. "Hope you're ready."
"I mean, it's just a simple trek to the vending machine room," stated Kirby, breaking free from Magolor so that he could mop up the floor in peace. "What's the worst that could happen?"
It took him a while, but Mario finally put on his Iron Man suit (albeit with some help from Peach). The plumber stood in the garage in his armor, with Hal, Spyro, and Hunter with him.
"Is it hot-a in here, or is it just this suit?" Mario asked Hal and the others, sweating buckets as he fanned himself with his hand. "Hunter, can you check-a the garage thermostat?"
"Just did - it's on 75 degrees," stated Hunter, who was cool as a cucumber - but only physically. He could only wish to feel that way in terms of style. "It must be your suit."
"Master Hand never told-a me how to adjust the temperature in this thing..." Mario tried to walk forward in his Iron Man suit, only to fall face-first to the floor due to how heavy the armor was.
"Well, that seems unfortunate," remarked Hal, as Mario found it difficult to get himself up. He tried to pull himself up with his arms, but it was no use as he fell back on the floor again.
"A little help-a would be nice!" said Mario as his voice was muffled by the floor. Hal and Hunter were about to assist Mario - or at least until Peach popped in with a plate of goodies.
"I made you all some s'mores!" exclaimed Peach as she held up a plate full of s'mores. Spyro and Hunter were instantly hooked, their eyes glued to the chocolate and toasted marshmallow goodness before them.
"Aw yeah!" cheered Spyro, as he and Hunter followed Peach back into the house. Hal was about to do the same, only to hear his phone ring.
"Give me a moment, princess - I'm getting a call," the hacker called out to Peach, fumbling with the phone in his pocket as he ventured to the other side of the garage. Meanwhile, Mario remained on the floor.
"Some friends-a you are!" frowned Mario, voice still muffled, as Hal finally pulled out his phone. He saw that Snake was calling him, and he answered the call promptly.
"Hello, Snake! I've been expecting a call from you." Hal had his hand in his pocket, looking all casual as Mario tried to turn over on his back. "I'd hate to ask, but what was the holdup?"
"Hey, Hal; there was no holdup," replied Snake, as Hal furrowed his brow in confusion. What did Snake even mean by that? "I'm just chilling in my room - mainly because of Master Hand."
"You mean to tell me that you're...grounded?" Hal asked Snake, as Snake was in his room speaking with the hacker on his codec. Snake must have Hal's number on the codec speed dial or something.
"No I'm not grounded, I'm too old now for that crap!" Snake snapped, letting out his anger while he was sitting on his bed. "Master Hand just won't let me hang out with you for the time being."
"Ah, I understand now. Must be because of that whole fiasco involving Luigi. Told you that having him beat up his brother was a bad idea!"
"Hey, it's not my fault Luigi took the bait. And I never would've gotten in trouble either, had Luigi actually done his job. He definitely wasted his..."
"Hiya, Snake!" Isabelle greeted the former spy, as she stood at his bedroom door with a cheery smile. Taking sight of Isabelle, Snake quickly took his codec away from his ear and placed it underneath his butt. "How are you handling yourself?"
"What does it look like to you?" Snake couldn't believe that Isabelle would ask such an asinine question, as he believed that the answer was painfully obvious. "Can you let a man relax in peace?"
"Just wanted to see how you were doing. Doing my usual check-up routine, that's all. My apologies for bothering you!" Isabelle gave Snake a formal bow, before leaving the former spy alone as she walked away.
Isabelle: Snake has really taken the whole "don't talk to Hal" thing to the extreme I've barely seen him out of his room this entire week. Maybe he's taking his punishment to heart! *pauses* Or maybe he's just getting bored. Guess most people get bored as they age.
"'Usual check-up routine'...what is she, some kind of doctor?" questioned Snake, grumbling as he pulled his codec from under his buttocks. The former spy dusted off his codec, and even blew on it a few times, before placing it back in his ear.
"Snake, are you there?" asked Hal, who was worried that his call with Snake somehow got cut short. "What was that weird squeaking sound I heard? Sounded like a fart..."
"I'm back, Hal. Sorry for the interruption - Isabelle was annoying me. So where are you? Are you inside the mansion, or what?"
"Funny you should ask - I'm over at Mario's place. Trying to see if either one of Mario or Peach know where that journal is."
"Good, good! So have you made any progress with them yet?" Snake was now smiling, hoping that Hal came through. However, he was setting himself up for some minor disappointment.
"Not yet, but I'm working on it. Once Mario takes off his Iron Man suit and I finish the rest of my s'mores, maybe I can get somewhere."
"Did Mario seriously keep his..." Right before he could inquire about Mario's Iron Man suit, Snake was suddenly overcome by a jealous streak. "...s'mores? What s'mores? How are you gonna eat s'mores without me, man?"
"Uh, good talk, Snake! Talk to you later!" Not wishing to draw Snake's ire even more than it already was, Hal hastily ended the call. Snake grumbled and took his codec out of his ear, before placing the device on his nightstand.
If Isabelle wasn't the kind of company that Snake appreciated, then he would definitely be in no mood for his roommate, Bayonetta. The Umbra Witch entered the room smirking, in a manner that had Snake wary.
"Heard you having a crying fit about some silly s'mores," Bayonetta said to Snake as she made her way over to the former spy, before standing over him. "And here I thought you were just taking a kip!"
"I was taking a 'kip', thank you very much," Snake informed Bayonetta; being Bayonetta's roommate, Snake had to get himself familiarized with a lot of British slang words. No thanks to the internet. "But then I called Hal."
"So he was the one who had to put up with your crying fit. What's a grown man like you crying about some s'mores?" Bayonetta leaned in close to Snake, enough to the point where she had the former spy scowling. "You can always make some yourself, you know..."
"Get out of my face..." Those words from Snake had very little effect on Bayonetta - it only made the Umbra Witch smirk even harder. "...I won't hesitate to hit a lady, you know."
"Then go ahead, be a man of your word. Do it. I dare you." Bayonetta could feel Snake tense up, as Snake clenched his fist hard and raise his arm. But the pent-up anger that was building up inside of Snake subsided, as Snake put his hand down.
"Eh...maybe another time." Snake chose to spare Bayonetta, who pulled away from the former spy. After that exchange, Bayonetta now thought of Snake as a coward - although she would never say that to his face.
"I know you're hiding some secrets, Snake. And it's only a matter of when, not if, your secrets will reach the surface." Giving Snake those parting words to dwell upon, Bayonetta left the room with a cheeky smile.
"Better stay out of my business, if you know what's good for ya..." Snake muttered under his breath before laying on his bed, resting his head against his pillow. Must be about to take another kip.
Slippy took his journal with him to the gaming room, sitting on a couch and writing all sorts of stuff down. Stuff that wouldn't even belong in a normal diary. For instance...
"Dear diary - I love rainbows!" proclaimed Slippy, as he happily wrote down what he said in the journal. Sonic, who was seated nearby grooming his pet Shaymin, looked up with a blank stare.
"What the heck...?" the blue hedgehog questioned as he turned his head towards Slippy. Slippy was taking forever to write that one sentence - hopefully, he was just doodling a random rainbow. But if not...
"And you know what I love as much as rainbows? Looking at them! Darn shame that I haven't seen one recently." As Slippy finished up his rather short diary entry, Sonic stopped grooming Shaymin as he went over to speak with Slippy.
"Is that your diary?" Sonic asked Slippy as he observed the frog's journal, reserving his judgment of being overly critical. "Not gonna lie...it looks kinda ugly."
"That's what I love about it - it reminds me so much about myself!" Slippy closed the journal and kissed it, only to stop when he saw Sonic judging him. "Uh...because ugly is beautiful!"
"To each their own." Sonic pulled Slippy to the side, believing that the frog needed some pointers. "No offense, Slippy, but your diary entries suck. Do you go outside that much?"
"Why is that a question?" Slippy was worried that Sonic was throwing some shade at him, and he could barely handle any kind of shade. Even the shade that's caused by direct sunlight.
"Writing down how much you like rainbows, really? That's not worth putting in your diary. A diary is where you write your favorite memories, things you did during the day, self-reflections - that kind of stuff. Like a personal inventory!"
"Oh, I get it now!" Slippy picked up on things very quickly, which only made Sonic's job much easier. "You sure know a lot about this diary thing, Sonic. Do you have a diary yourself?"
"Used to have a diary..." Sonic felt a bit embarrassed to mention the fact, as he looked away while scratching his head. "...but I won't say much about it."
Sonic: Amy had bought me a diary a few years back, as some kind of Valentine's Day gift. There was really no purpose in writing in the diary since Amy would stop by every now and then to see what I wrote down. It's kinda like with Chrom and Lucina - the only difference being that Amy would air out your dirty laundry for the whole world to hear.
Dunban: Thanks to Amy, I was suddenly made aware that Sonic apparently disliked my blueberry muffins. In response, I decided not to make breakfast for that hedgehog for four weeks. Hoped he enjoyed eating soggy cereal during that time.
"Most of your favorite memories should usually occur outdoors," Sonic instructed Slippy, whom the hedgehog believed didn't get out that much. And he could honestly see why. "What's your best memory outside of this mansion?"
"I do remember that one time I got jumped by a street gang in Corneria," stated Slippy, fondly remembering this event as if it happened yesterday. Sonic smacked his forehead. "One of the gang members was a six-year-old kid."
"I said your 'best' memory, not your worst...has there been anything remotely positive that has happened to you anywhere?" That caused Slippy to think long and hard, which only made Sonic even more frustrated.
"Does getting jumped by kindergartners at a school playground count?" If that was the most positive memory that Slippy could think of, then that frog had a whole lot of work to do.
"Tell you what...I'm gonna take you outside." Sonic wrapped his arm around Slippy as he led the frog out of the gaming room. "Gonna build some awesome memories together, you and me!"
"Are we going to the great outdoors? Oh boy!" Slippy was completely on board, as he brought his journal with him. "This will be so much fun!"
"Wouldn't say that it's the great outdoors, but it's something awfully close to it. You'll see once we get there."
Magolor made one fatal mistake when he took his drill gun out of its packaging...he forgot to read the instruction manual that came along with it! Fortunately, the alien bought the manual with him, as he was in the vending machine room with Kirby.
"'To operate, press and hold the button underneath the drill spinel,'" Magolor read the instructions in the manual, standing in front of the vending machine he was meant to repair. Kirby stood by and kept watch.
"I think using that drill is pretty straightforward," stated Kirby, as he took the instruction manual away from Magolor - much to Magolor's displeasure.
"Hey, I wasn't done! I haven't even gotten to the Spanish section yet." But Kirby would refuse to return the manual, as he put it away in his imaginary pocket. "Might've had some beneficial info in there."
"Seriously doubt it...now how about you use that drill already, so I can get back to work?" So Magolor immediately went to work, turning on the drill gun as he faced the vending machine. Only one problem stood in his way.
"Uh...where exactly should I start?" Magolor looked around the vending machine, wondering which screw he should start with. Meanwhile, Bowser entered the vending machine room, standing behind Magolor.
"Please tell me you aren't gonna take all day," Bowser said to Magolor, who turned around and shrieked when he saw the Koopa King standing over him. Bowser spoke in a tone that suggested he couldn't be patient for long.
"Eek! It's you!" Magolor shielded his face away from Bowser, pointing his drill at the Koopa King as if it was an actual gun. "Don't hurt me, I'm just doing a favor for someone!"
"Here we go again with the freakouts..." Bowser let out a sigh - only to furrow his brow when he saw that the drill part of Magolor's drill gun was glowing. "...uh, why is that drill glowing like that?"
"I think you should turn that drill away from him," Kirby advised Magolor, who was too struck with fear to heed the pink puffball's advice. Magolor's fingers were firmly pressed down on the button. "Who knows what could..."
Suddenly, a blast was fired from the drill gun, striking Bowser in the head. Bowser, who was just about to sucker punch Magolor in the face, soon found himself stuck in a trance.
"D-Did I do something bad?" fretted Magolor, opening up his eyes as he looked up at Bowser - who now had a dazed look in his eyes.
"How may I serve you, my liege?" Bowser asked Magolor, and it was abundantly clear that the Koopa King was hypnotized. He had fallen under a spell, Magolor's spell, and Magolor had no idea how or what to feel about it.
"Woah..." uttered Magolor, before looking down at his drill gun and marveling at its power. "...this ain't no ordinary drill gun, that's for sure."
"That's no drill gun, Magolor...it could be a hypnosis ray, disguised as one," inferred Kirby, fearing what could happen if the hypnosis ray were to fall into the wrong hands. Imagine someone like Bowser blasting that bad boy around.
"How may I serve you, my liege?" Bowser repeated to Magolor, as he was dying to serve in any fashion. Magolor, seeing the state that Bowser was in, had no choice but to fulfill the Koopa King's obligations.
"Let's see...give me all the snacks in that vending machine," Magolor came up with this random command, and Bowser did as he was told. Bowser punched through the vending machine glass, breaking it into a million pieces, before raiding the vending machine of its snacks.
"What kind of command was that?" Kirby questioned Magolor, as Bowser was grabbing snacks out of the vending machine with his meaty hands and tossing them onto the floor, at Magolor's feet.
"I would've asked him to fix the vending machine for me, but that would've been too much trouble." But Magolor would soon face trouble in a hurry, as Cloud passed by and saw the scene that was unfolding.
"Raiding the vending machines, aren't we?" the swordsman asked Kirby and Magolor as he stepped inside the vending machine room. Magolor, fearing that Cloud was about to punish him and Kirby, had to act fast.
"Please don't tattle on us!" the alien pleaded to Cloud, as he instinctively turned away and fired away at Cloud. Just like that, Cloud was now hypnotized.
"Is it Tuesday yet?" Seeing what he had done to Cloud, Magolor gasped as he cupped his hands over his mouth. Meanwhile, Bowser had just snapped out of his hypnotic trance after he was done raiding the vending machine.
"What the..." the Koopa King furrowed his brow as he saw the snacks lying on the floor, only for his attention to be brought to the hypnotized Cloud. "...hey, whatever happened to Cloud?"
"I accidentally hypnotized him with my hypnosis ray." It was at that moment that Magolor learned not to say certain things around Bowser, as the alien cupped his mouth a second time. Too little too late, as Bowser was instantly hooked.
Bowser: If there's a chance to hypnotize a bunch of people to do my bidding and even embarrass themselves, then obviously I'm gonna pounce on that opportunity. Just for one day, I could feel like the king of the world...and make everyone that I see my court jesters!
"Gimmie that!" Bowser shouted at Magolor as he snatched the hypnosis ray from the alien, with Magolor too weak to fight back. "Cloud Strife, I command you to act like a cowboy and a donkey, at the same time!"
"Right on, partner!" Cloud saluted Bowser, now speaking in a thick Western accent as he got down on all fours. The swordsman did his best donkey impersonation, making donkey sounds as he kicked his feet in the air.
"This is very disturbing..." remarked Kirby, who had grown so used to Cloud that any out-of-character moment from the swordsman made the pink puffball feel uncomfortable.
"Speak for yourself - this is the greatest thing ever!" remarked Bowser, laughing his butt off at Cloud acting like a donkey. Eventually, Cloud came to a stop as he stood back on his feet.
"I'm gonna find myself some taters!" proclaimed Cloud with a swing of his fist, before hightailing out of the vending machine room. The swordsman let out a hearty "Yee-haw!" as his mind was in a whole other place.
"Welp...I messed up big time," remarked Magolor, holding himself responsible for Cloud being in his hypnotized state. Bowser took a sudden liking to Magolor, as he looked down at the alien.
"So this hypnosis ray is yours, eh?" the Koopa King asked Magolor, who shuddered in fear; the fear that Magolor eschewed didn't bother Bowser this time. "How about you and me go and have some fun together?"
"I don't think I...WILL!" Magolor was soon scooped up by Bowser, who cradled the alien in his arm as he carried him out of the vending machine room. The hypnosis ray had fallen into the wrong hands, as Kirby's biggest worry now came to life.
"Magolor, no!" shouted Kirby as he was about to go chase after his friend...before noticing a bag of onion rings lying on the floor. "Ooh, Funyuns! My favorite."
Doing it only as a suggestion from Link and Zelda, Ryuji decided to air out his grievances with Pit, ending his beef with the angel once and for all. But did the delinquent commit to what he had promised? Link and Zelda would find out for themselves, as they saw Ryuji in his room speaking with the Luminary.
"I just...really don't know the right words to say," Ryuji discussed with the Luminary, as Link and Zelda stood by the bedroom door eavesdropping. "Like, what if I say the wrong thing and upset Pit?"
"If it makes you feel any better, Pit responds well to genuine words," the Luminary said to Ryuji, while also wondering why the delinquent consulted him of all people for advice. "Speak whatever's on your mind."
"Ryuji? You haven't spoken with Pit yet?" Link asked the delinquent as he and Zelda entered the room; Ryuji tensed up when he saw the Hylian couple.
"He's trying to figure out a way to communicate with Pit, without bringing up wrestling," the Luminary informed Link and Zelda; Ryuji tried to shush the mage, but it was no use. "Since that's what he's been feuding with him over, apparently."
"We're both aware," said Zelda, as she wanted to speak with Ryuji one-on-one. Link could hop in whenever he felt like it. "Ryuji, do you know how silly you look, feuding with Pit over wrestling?"
"Well...Pit started it!" deflected Ryuji, putting all the blame on Pit because of his wrestling preferences. "Not my fault that he's a fan of the lesser wrestling promotion."
"'Lesser wrestling promotion', hm? Tell me one thing that puts WWE in that category. Just one." Zelda folded her arms, interested in seeing what example Ryuji could come up with. Regardless of how lame it was.
"For starters, uh...WWE is geared towards kids! It's diminished the show quality, in a way. Everything just feels so...so...Disney-fied, you know?"
Zelda: Ryuji blasts WWE for being geared towards kids, yet praises AEW for making older wrestling fans "feel like a kid again". Quite ironic.
"Also, WWE prides itself as a 'sports entertainment' entity," added Ryuji, as the words "sports entertainment" often brought him much ire. Even felt icky saying that term out loud. "AEW is all about pro wrestling, baby! Nothin' else!"
"How are AEW's television ratings looking?" Link asked Ryuji, who felt as if the Hylian had cut in deep. Link wasn't even intending to throw any shade - he was just awfully curious.
"We're waiting," Zelda said to Ryuji, who remained silent as he felt a bit uncomfortable. Ryuji was ready to segway to a different topic.
"...point of the matter is, AEW is better than WWE, and everyone knows it," proclaimed Ryuji, who was coming off as super tribalistic. No way he could hash it out with Pit at this rate. "They're just too shy to admit it."
"Howdy, partners!" greeted someone with a Western accent, as Ryuji and company looked out through the door and were shocked to see Cloud standing by.
"Who wants to get along little doggy? Or even a short little doggy? YEEEEE-HAAAAW!"
"What has gotten into you, Cloud...?" Zelda asked the swordsman, who started doing a donkey impersonation in front of the princess and everyone else. Ryuji wasted no time taking his phone out so that he could record Cloud's tomfoolery.
"I think he hit head hard somewhere," inferred Link, as Cloud was doing donkey kicks in the middle of the hallway. Samus walked by and observed Cloud, frowning for a brief moment, before hurrying down the hallway as she had to prevent herself from busting out laughing.
"Keep it up Cloud, you're doing great man!" Ryuji encouraged the swordsman, who made several donkey sounds that Ryuji found impossible not to laugh at. Meanwhile, Link, Zelda, and the Luminary were all concerned...but deep down, they couldn't help but be amused.
Unfortunately for Ryuji, Cloud's donkey mayhem came to an end, as the swordsman regained his senses. Cloud stood up and held his head, thinking that he had a wicked headache.
"Where did this headache come from?" wondered Cloud as he nursed his head, only to see Ryuji and company all staring at him. "Why do you have your phone out, Ryuji?"
"Uh, no reason," replied Ryuji as he sheepishly put his phone away. The delinquent had video footage of Cloud acting like a donkey on his phone, and it made him feel like a million bucks.
"You were speaking like a cowboy and doing some funky donkey routine just now," Link informed Cloud, not yet courageous enough to show the swordsman the footage on Ryuji's phone as proof. "It was very bizarre."
"I'm sure it was," responded Cloud, hoping that nobody other than those in Ryuji's room saw him. But little did he know that Samus got an up-close view...
Samus: Oh my... *laughs hysterically while wiping away a tear from her eye* ...that was, hands down, the funniest thing I've seen ever since I've been here. I don't think my stomach's ever hurt this much... *stops laughing* ...but I might as well stop while I still can. Can't have Master Hand fooled into thinking that "I'm turning over a new leaf" like he's claiming to do. Still not buying it.
"Did that boomerang hit you in the head?" Link asked Cloud, referencing the boomerang that screwed up a couple of folks back in episode 55.
"I don't remember being hit by anything," replied Cloud, wishing that Leia was around so that she could make his headache go away. "The last thing I saw was Kirby's friend holding some weird-looking drill."
Turns out that drill really wasn't a drill...in fact, it was a hypnosis ray, which Bowser now had possession of. Bowser was causing mayhem with the hypnosis ray, as he used it on Ryu and hypnotized him into thinking that he was a talented ballerina dancer.
"I could literally watch this all day," Bowser said to Magolor, as he watched Ryu dance around like a ballerina in the gaming room. Several residents were watching Ryu, with amused faces.
"I certainly couldn't..." remarked Magolor, who was forced against his will to accompany Bowser. Bowser was holding the alien's hand real tight, refusing to let him go.
"Woah, Ryu! Since when did you become such a good dancer?" Ken asked his friendly rival as he entered the gaming room, taken back by how smooth and how much rhythm Ryu had. "Been taking dance lessons in secret?"
"I feel pretty...like a butterfly," remarked Ryu, lost in his own world as he danced his cares away. Ken immediately knew that something was up, and his suspicions were confirmed when he saw Bowser holding the hypnosis ray.
"What's that you got there?" Ken marched towards Bowser, as he pointed at the hypnosis ray in the Koopa King's hand. "Did you use that thingamajig there to mess with my friend?"
"Back off!" Bowser shouted at Ken, firing at Ken in an act of self-defense. Now Ken became hypnotized, right at the same time Ryu stopped dancing around. "Uh...walk away!"
"As you wish, boss..." The hypnotized Ken turned around and walked away from Bowser, before bumping into a wall. Ken kept walking into the wall multiple times, as Ryu angrily confronted Bowser.
"Hand me that gun," Ryu commanded Bowser as he held out his hand, frowning to let Bowser know that he wasn't playing around. "I said, hand it over!"
"No way, man!" responded Bowser as he held the hypnosis ray away from Ryu, treating it like it was his new favorite child. "How do I know that you aren't planning to break it?"
"That's exactly what I'm planning on doing it. Now hand it over, I say!" Ryu got into a tussle with Bowser over the hypnosis ray, with Bowser having to fight back with only one hand. The ray flew out of Bowser's hand and towards Geno, firing at the star. as it landed on the floor.
"...mother?" Geno perked up, having been hypnotized even though his back was turned to Bowser and Ryu. Ken finally stopped walking into the wall, as he saw Ryu getting physical with Bowser.
"Hey, Ryu, you need a hand?" Ken asked as he ran over to assist Ryu...only for Bowser to punch Ken away. Bowser then pushed Ryu to the floor, as he saw Geno hypnotized.
"What gives?" the Koopa King wondered as he brought Magolor over to Geno. Geno was walking around aimlessly, with no one giving him any instructions. "Am I not allowed to hypnotize multiple people at once?"
"Perhaps not," replied Magolor, keeping himself terse so that he wouldn't augment Bowser's shenanigans. Taking a look at the hypnosis ray, Bowser saw a few settings under the drill spinel.
"Oh, I see...I had it on the lowest setting." Bowser noticed that the highest setting was "max", and so what did he do? Crank the hypnosis ray up to the max. Magolor shuddered in fear. "Now we're in business!"
Bowser having the hypnosis ray was obviously bad news, and Kirby believed that the baristas at Cafe Leblanc deserved to know. Mostly since most of them were under the guise that the ray was a drill gun, especially Pit. Kirby had returned to the cafe to give the 4-1-1, while also chomping on some onion rings that he brought with him.
"Then he grabbed Magolor, and took off," Kirby explained the situation to Joker and company while devouring some onion rings out of a Funyuns bag. "So I have no clue where he ran off to."
"No fair, how come he gets to eat junk food while behind the counter, and I don't?" Pit complained to Joker as he pointed at Kirby; Joker would ignore the angel's complaint, as he kept his focus on the issue at hand.
"Who would've guessed that the drill gun was actually a tool for hypnosis..." mused Joker, after Kirby had finished telling the story. "...either it was disguised as such, or someone from the Superstore messed up on the job."
"you could say that they didn't know the drill," joked Sans, sitting at the counter as he tried to add a little bit of levity to the situation. But as always, the skeleton fell flat.
NME Salesman: Why yes, we do sell hypnosis-based products at the NME Superstore, why do you ask?...One of our hypnosis rays was placed in packaging meant for a drill gun? GRRRAAAAHH! What is it with these nitwits placing products in the wrong places?!
"Red, do you have anything that could snap someone out of hypnosis?" Joker asked the Pokemon trainer, who was sitting at the counter enjoying some curry with Squirtle, Ivysaur, and Charizard. Yes, he was sharing his bowl of curry with his three Pokemon.
"I got a few Awakenings if that's what you're asking," replied Red as he grabbed his backpack and emptied its contents on the counter. Potions, antidotes, and even a few rare candies spilled out.
"No, I'm talking about something more for like, non-Pokemon beings." With Red speaking with Joker, Charizard took the time to slurp the entire bowl of curry, while Squirtle and Ivysaur angrily looked on.
"Hate to say it, but you're asking the wrong guy." Red placed the items back inside his backpack, before noticing that his bowl was wiped clean. "Hey, who ate the rest of the curry?!"
"Well, that went nowhere..." Joker sighed, while Red was glaring down at an innocent-looking Charizard. Pit slowly raised his hand. "...Pit, if you're going to suggest kicking guys in the junk just to snap them out of their hypnotic trance, then you can forget it."
"But it would be funny!" argued Pit, but Joker didn't want to hear anything that the angel was selling. Pit grumpily folded his arms, letting out a huff.
Mario was out of his Iron Man suit, complaining nonstop about how hot it made him feel. The plumber sat in his living room, sweating buckets, with a few house fans surrounding him blowing air.
"This is what I get for keeping the suit-a in the garage for almost three years..." remarked Mario as he fanned himself with a magazine, believing that he learned a big lesson today. His Iron Man suit was lying on the floor, next to the sofa he was sitting on.
"I must say, this metal feels awfully authentic," observed Hal as he picked up the Iron Man helmet, feeling the hardness and texture. "Has Master Hand ever specified where he got this suit from?"
"Master Hand never tells us where he got our superhero suits from," replied Peach, as Hal was staring at the princess with a newfound intrigue. And Peach honestly had no clue as to why.
"You have a superhero costume too, Princess Peach?!" Hal almost felt his glasses slide down his nose once more, as he almost leaped forward at Peach with heavy excitement. "Show me!"
"Easy there, tiger," Mario calmed down Hal, not wanting the hacker to act too weird around his wife. Hal slowly backed off, as he sat back down on the couch. "Peach isn't gonna put her Miss-a Marvel suit on, just like that."
"I don't care if Peach wears her costume not - I just wanted to see it for myself." Not much of a surprise that an anime nerd like Hal also had somewhat of a soft spot for comic book heroes. And perhaps villains.
Hal: *sighs deeply* I am such a depraved man...
"Didn't you want to stop by and ask Mario something, Hal?" Peach asked the hacker, who took the time to remember what that something was...and soon it hit him.
"Ah, of course!" exclaimed Hal, snapping his fingers as the thought eventually came to his head. He clapped his hands together, ready to strike up a meaningful conversation with Mario. "Mario, I would like to speak with you about..."
"Mario...it is time!" boomed Master Hand, as he magically appeared in the living room. The giant hand did not care for whatever condition Mario was in, for he wanted business done, pronto.
"Time-a for what?" inquired Mario, who wished that Master Hand had stopped by at an earlier time. "I'm too exhausted at the moment-a to do anything, Master Hand."
"Well, you should have been exhausted earlier. Because it's time for...drumroll please..." Master Hand half-expected a drumroll, and wasn't surprised that no one followed through. "...the Nerfdown!"
"'The Nerfdown'?" Spyro furrowed his brow, as he and Hunter both left their room after they had heard Master Hand. "Should we be afraid?"
"The only ones who should be afraid are the professors, Byleth and Beleth - since they won the Smash Tour last year. We'll 'nerf' them, and then throw a big fat celebration for them in the ballroom later."
"I would love to get nerfed!" volunteered Hunter as he eagerly raised his hand, while Spyro looked up at the cheetah inquisitively. "Sign me up!"
Master Hand: The original plan was to congratulate our four winners of Smash World Tour 2021 last year in December, but all that holiday stuff was going on. Also, we were running low on ammo. That's one casualty of having young folks at your mansion.
"You can't nerf-a anyone if we don't have the equipment," stated Mario, and the plumber would soon eat his words as Anna kicked the front door open, holding Nerf Blasters in her hands.
"Guess who bought an unlimited supply of Nerf bullets?" Anna asked with a joyous squeal, firing a few Nerf bullets out of the Nerf Blasters. The merchant had a crazed look on her face like she was about to go game hunting.
"What is it with you keeping the front door unlocked?" Spyro asked Mario with a frown, and the best that Mario could do was shrug innocently. Anna went over to Mario, dropping a Nerf Blaster on his lap.
"Sorry, Anna, but I'm too exhausted," Mario informed the merchant, who bought the plumber's ailment as a lousy excuse. "My legs can barely move."
"That's because you're not trying," replied Anna as she grabbed Mario and pulled the plumber up to his feet. Mario was on spaghetti legs, with limbs wobbling. "There! Now, don't you feel better?"
"No..." Mario only felt the same, as Anna escorted him away from his couch. The plumber was struggling to even make it past the fireplace.
"Give it some time, your legs will be working again good as new!" Master Hand said to Mario, who was using the wall to keep his balance. At least the plumber was no longer sweaty.
"Mario, wait up for me!" Hal called out to the plumber as he ran over to him...only to stop in his tracks when Master Hand put his hand in front of him.
"Sorry Hal, but only Mario is allowed to come along. You keep enjoying our s'mores with the princess and her housemates, or whatever."
"How did he know we had s'mores?" Hunter questioned Spyro, as he had quite a chocolatey and marshmallowy mess on his face. The cheetah wiped some of the mess off his face with his finger and ate it.
"You are such a messy eater sometimes..." Spyro shook his head at Hunter, whose eyes went big as he delighted himself with the acquired taste of chocolate and marshmallow.
"We'll be back soon, hopefully...but you're free to attend the celebration," Master Hand said to Hal, who could honestly care less about some celebration for individuals he didn't know personally. "Until then...enjoy yourself, I guess."
"I just want to ask Mario one quick question," Hal requested to Master Hand, who ignored the hacker's request as he and Anna brought Mario out of his house. Hal sighed, as Anna closed the door behind her.
"Make sure it's locked," commanded Peach, as Hunter ran to the front door and locked in the front lock. Hal let out a depressed sigh, as he trudged back to the living room.
Sonic was outside in the backyard with Slippy, helping the frog create some memories worth writing down in his journal. One idea the blue hedgehog had in mind was playing some baseball.
"Actually hit the ball this time, okay Slippy?" Sonic called out to the frog, who was in batting position as he held a baseball bat. Feeling like Babe Ruth in his prime, Slippy watched as Sonic threw the baseball towards him.
"NIYAAH!" Letting out a valiant battle cry, Slippy swung the bat with all his might...but only after the baseball had zipped past his ears. The ball went through one of the windows in the mansion, meaning that Sonic and Slippy were in big trouble.
"Have you two seen my baseball anywhere?" Ness approached Sonic and Slippy; the PSI whiz had found his bat after Ryuji threw it away, and was missing another part of his baseball equipment.
"Uh, what baseball?" Slippy nervously asked as he twiddled with his fingers; Ness looked past the frog and gasped after seeing the broken window.
"No, no, no!" In a state of panic, Ness ran inside the mansion to retrieve his ball...while also fearing being blamed for the window being broken. He's been through that same old rodeo many times before.
Sonic: What better memory to have, than playing baseball? A great childhood memory. Slippy never played baseball when he was a kid, so obviously, his childhood sucked.
"Hello, Sonic!" Master Hand greeted the hedgehog as he approached the hedgehog along with Anna and Mario. Anna was holding a Nerf gun. "How would you like to 'nerf' the professors?"
"Thanks, but no thanks - gonna build some memories with Slippy here," replied Sonic, trying not to bring any attention to the broken window. It was a miracle that Master Hand had yet to notice.
"But why build memories with that annoying amphibian, when you can build memories with Mario?" Anna asked Sonic as she handed the hedgehog the Nerf gun, dropping it in his hands. "And a couple of others!"
"Wait, who is she calling an annoying amphibian?" questioned Slippy as he looked around the backyard, knowing for a fact that Anna wasn't referring to him.
"Just so you know, I've already signed you for this up so there's no turning back," Master Hand informed Sonic, only to turn around and gasp when he saw the broken window. "NESS!"
"Well, it looks like you'll have to go about this alone," Sonic said to Slippy, while Mario and Anna did their best to calm down Master Hand. "Remember what I taught you and you'll have a great memory to record in no time!"
"You never taught me a single thing, but I won't let you down Sonic!" assured Slippy, as he grabbed his off the ground; the frog let out a panicked squeal when he saw a few ants crawling on it.
With Zelda handling some business around the mansion, the ninja pals were forced to operate without their faithful leader. With Yuffie serving as the leader in Sheik's place, the ninja pals were doing one of the things they did best...trying to recruit other ninjas into their gang. Today's victim? Ninjara.
"How many times do I have to tell you, I don't want to be a ninja pal," Ninjara frowned at the ninja pals, who had chased the ARMS fighter around until they cornered him in his own room.
"Your unwillingness to join our crew only makes us more determined!" chanted Yuffie, knowing how proud Sheik would be if the ninja pals successfully recruited Ninjara without a hitch. "What's stoppin' ya?"
"I dunno - just the fact that you won't leave me alone." Ninjara was backing away towards his bedroom window, opening it slowly as he was about to make his escape. "Thought you ladies would be better than that."
"Greninja..." seethed an offended Greninja, who Ninjara totally didn't notice; much like John Cena and Drax the Destroyer, Greninja was invisible to the naked eye. As any ninja should be.
"Um, you too, Greninja. But I digress. Now leave me alone!" Ninjara crawled out through the window, escaping from the ninja pals for good. Or rather just for the time being.
"He's getting away!" shouted Asuka as she was about to make chase after Ninjara, only to look out the window and see Ninjara nowhere in sight. "How does he move so quickly?"
"I know something more fun than chasing after Ninjara..." said a certain Koopa King, as Bowser was standing at the doorway with Magolor. And in his hand was the hypnosis ray, which the ninja pals saw. "...who wants to go first?"
Snake sat alone in his room, waiting for Hal to call him back...but Hal never did. So to pass the time, the former spy was looking through the photos that Hal had given him last month. Bayonetta came inside the room, catching Snake in the act.
"Photos of your former crush Meryl, I assume?" Bayonetta asked Snake, who saw the Umbra Witch as he quickly put the photos away. He stuffed them inside his drawer, in a place that Bayonetta could totally access whenever Snake was away.
"Why do you care?" retorted Snake, looking innocent as possible as he sat upright on his bed. Bayonetta couldn't be that easily fooled, not by a long shot. "And why are you even here?"'
"Because this is my room, obviously. Were you born yesterday?" Bayonetta loved to pester Snake with questions like those, getting under his skin.
"You...you can't just enter this room unannounced." Snake found himself trapped in a corner - the kind of position Bayonetta loved to see her roommate in.
"Hmph...I don't have to announce a thing. I don't have to abide by your asinine rules."
Snake: For years I've asked for a roommate other than Bayonetta, but Master Hand refuses to listen to my plea. He loves to see me suffer, I just know it.
"Feeling bored, Mr. Snake?" Master Hand asked Snake as he appeared outside the bedroom with Anna. "How would you like to nerf some folks?"
"What's in it for me?" Snake asked Master Hand, as Anna tossed a Nerf gun to the former spy. Snake caught the gun with both of his hands.
"You get to spend some time away from your least favorite people!" Anna enticed Snake, as Bayonetta glared at the merchant believing that she was throwing some unnecessary shade. Regardless, Snake was hooked.
"I'm sold." Snake hopped up off the bed, brushing past Bayonetta as he had his Nerf gun locked and loaded. "So who are we firing shots at? Captain Falcon? I've got a bone to pick with him..."
"No...Byleth and Beleth," replied Master Hand, as Snake didn't find either Blade worthy enough to receive an endless Nerf barrage. "It will be loads of fun!"
"We'll explain everything later," Anna said to Snake, as Bayonetta found herself side-eying at Snake's dresser. "Just go to the living room."
"I better get a chance to shoot at Falcon..." murmured Snake, as he followed Anna out of the room. With Snake gone, and not likely to return for the time being, Bayonetta had the room all for herself.
"Such convenient timing..." smiled Bayonetta as she crept towards Snake's dresser, opening the drawer that contained the photos from Hal.
The vending machine room was quite a mess, as the broken glass from one of the vending machines that Bowser broke was lying on the floor. Mr. Game and Watch was stuck cleaning up the broken glass.
"And to think that he was gonna fix the vending machine for me..." Mr. Game and Watch muttered under his breath, sweeping up the glass with a broom while Fox and Falco ordered a drink from a vending machine.
"Can't believe they still have bottled water in this thing," Falco said to Fox, pulling out a can of soda from the vending machine. "It's so basic, you know?"
"Gotta have basic drinks for basic people," remarked Fox, as Falco opened his can of soda...only to be greeted by a sudden gash of soda fizz that was fired in his face. Fox pointed and laughed at Falco.
"Not funny, dude..." Falco wiped the soda off his face, as Bowser crept inside the vending machine room with Magolor. Bowser refused to let go of Magolor by any means.
"Say cheese!" Bowser shouted at Mr. Game and Watch and the pilots as he held up the hypnosis ray. The Koopa King held down the button for max power.
"Wait, is that...?" questioned Mr. Game and Watch as he recognized the device in Bowser's hand, only for his mind to go blank a second later.
While Pit and Incineroar were serving coffee and curry, the three other baristas - Joker, Viridi, and Kirby - were devising a way to potentially stop Bowser in his tracks. Pit was left out of the groupthink, only because his ideas would be suspect.
"Pit, do you have a minute?" Zelda asked the angel as she entered the cafe; Pit was fixing a bowl of curry for Yu when he heard his name called. "Ryuji would like to speak with you."
"Aw man, is he gonna try to beat me up again?" fretted Pit, worried that Ryuji still had some unfinished business with him. A part of him now wished that the Death Note was real, instead of a prop.
"No, he doesn't want to fight you...he just wants to make even. Link and I will be there so that everything will run smoothly." Hearing that made Pit much more assured.
"Joker, may I have permission to leave the cafe?" Pit asked the young man; he couldn't just leave Cafe Leblanc all willy-nilly, as he had done many times in the past.
"Don't come back unless you and Ryuji can make peace," Joker commanded Pit, wanting nothing more than for the Pit and Ryuji beef to end once and for all. The young man had the worst of both worlds.
"You got it!" Taking off his cafe apron and throwing it onto the counter, Pit followed Zelda out of the cafe. Soon Anna came in while holding a Nerf gun behind her back.
"Hey, Joker! Going on a break anytime soon?" Anna asked the young man, with a smile that made Joker wary about whatever she was carrying.
"Maybe in the next hour or so," replied Joker, leading Anna to take the Nerf gun from behind her back and place it on the counter. Seeing the Nerf gun gave Joker some unpleasant memories. "Is this what I think it is?"
"Yup! Only this time, you won't be on the receiving end," replied Master Hand as he magically appeared in Cafe Leblanc. Master Hand's visits to the cafe were often pretty rare. "You can turn the tables, somewhat."
Joker: That nerf barrage I had a few years ago looked more painful than it looked. One of the Nerf bullets nearly poked my eye out during the initial attack; another one hit me in the nose and almost caused it to bleed. Mario was at fault for both instances.
"Oh, and for the record...your break starts now," Master Hand affirmed to Joker, as he wanted the Nerfdown done as soon as possible. The sooner the professors got nerfed, the better.
"Guess I have no choice in the matter, huh..." sighed Joker as he grabbed his Nerf gun - before remembering what he was discussing with Kirby and Viridi. "...wait, Master Hand! Before we go..."
"Save it for later. We gotta go!" So Anna grabbed Joker's hand, and she and Joker exited the cafe with Master Hand. Kirby and Viridi were left alone with Incineroar.
"So I guess we're running the cafe by ourselves?" Viridi asked Kirby, as the goddess of nature was up for the challenge.
Dismayed that he didn't get to speak with Mario about the journal, Hal remained at Mario's watching whatever was on television in the living room. Peach was outside, watering some flowers in her backyard.
"Why you Ackin' So Cray-Crazy? will be back after this brief message!" said the TV announcer, the show's title card appearing on the screen as some ladies were fighting on a talk show set in the background. Hal could only shake his head.
"How can Princess Peach even watch this drivel?" pondered Hal, who was also wondering why he hadn't changed the channel yet. The TV remote was right next to him. Spyro came inside the living room and saw Hal staring at the television screen in perplexment.
"Finally got over that journal, huh?" Spyro asked Hal, only to be startled by the sound of water splashing against a window. Spyro and Hal looked towards the back screendoor and saw a gush of water splashing all around.
"Peach must be having some trouble!" panicked Hal, as he and Spyro ran outside to see what Peach was up to. They saw Peach in the backyard, but the princess was standing to the side, holding her parasol over her head.
"Help, HELP!" Slippy cried out for help, flying all over the place while holding on to a garden hose that was going out of control. The garden hose was dousing water in every direction, and Slippy was helpless in stopping the flow.
"Oh, Slippy..." Spyro shook his head as he ran to the side of the house to turn off the garden hose. The constant stream of water slowly trickled to a stop, as Slippy landed on his feet.
"Phew, thank goodness!" Slippy sighed in relief, clutching his chest as the entire patio was now soaking wet. "You're a real lifesaver, Spyro."
"Eh, I try my best," responded Spyro, as Peach shook the water off her parasol and placed it back in her imaginary pocket. "Real smart to trust Slippy with a garden hose, princess..."
"Slippy just wanted to help me with my gardening," stated Peach, while squeezing out any water that was in her air. Her parasol did less than half the job. "Didn't bother asking him - he approached me instead."
"I'm creating as many good memories as possible for my diary," stated Slippy as he took out his journal and held it up, ecstatic that it didn't get wet. Hal was ecstatic, too...but for a different reason.
"C-Could it be?!" the hacker stammered, adjusting his glasses slightly to ensure that the journal Slippy had was the one he was looking for.
"That doesn't look like a diary to me," Spyro said to Slippy, as Hal ran to the front of Mario's house and pulled out his cellphone. He pulled up Snake's name on his contact list and made the call.
"Hello, Snake?" Hal spoke into the phone, looking behind him to see if any one of Peach, Spyro, or Slippy was heading his way. "I think I found out who has the journal!"
"You do?" asked Snake, speaking into the codec while in the living room with a Nerf gun in hand. Mario, Sonic, and several others were hanging around with the former spy. "Who has it?"
"You won't believe this, but...it's Slippy Toad," confirmed Hal, as Snake wanted to believe that the hacker was pulling his tail. "I have no clue as to how he even acquired it in the first place."
"I won't believe it until I see it. Why don't you..." Snake turned his head around and saw Master Hand and Anna coming to the living room. "...uh, sorry Hal, I gotta go. I'll talk with you later."
Snake hastily ended the call and put his codec away, as Master Hand and Anna entered the living room. Master Hand observed the squad that he and Anna had assembled - Mario, Pyra, Mythra, Cloud, Vault Boy, Wario, Rosalina, Olimar, Young Link, and Snake.
"Everyone put on the flag wrist wrap that Anna will be passing out," commanded Master Hand, as Anna went around passing flag wrist wraps. Each wrap represented a flag of a different country.
Mythra: The country that Pyra and I are repping is Mexico. Yeah, I have no idea either.
Wario: So why am I representing France? *shrugs* Is there a fat stereotype for French people that I don't know about?
Cuphead: The final spot in Master Hand's Nerf Squad came down to me, Sans, and Vault Boy...and Vault Boy won by coin flip. Don't ask me how a coin flip involving three or more people is even possible.
"Where are our flag-a wrists, Master Hand?" Mario asked the giant hand, noticing that he and Joker were the only ones left out. "Do we not represent a country?"
"I only signed you up to lead the brigade," Master Hand explained to Mario, believing that any squad deserved an amicable leader. "As for Joker, I wanted him to fire Nerf bullets at someone for a change."
"Is this amount of people necessary for pranking just two individuals?" asked Snake, not sure if what he was doing was an elaborate prank or what. "Seems like overkill...not that I'm complaining."
"The professors don't seem a fun bunch, so firing a plethora of Nerf bullets at them will liven up their mood. Now, our first order of business! Where to find those rascally professors..."
"They might be having a tea party with the Black Knight, on the tower balcony," assumed Olimar, thinking of the most likely place where the professors could be encountered. The backyard patio was the Pokemon trainer's second guess.
"Ooh! Interrupting their tea party with a Nerf barrage will make it all the more fun. Mario, you go lead the squad to the tower; Anna and I will start preparations in the ballroom."
"Uh, will do, Master Hand," responded Mario, as Master Hand and Anna left the living room. Wario was doing a funny dance seconds after, dancing in place. "Got-a happy feet, Wario?"
"Can I use the bathroom before we head out?" Wario asked Mario, holding his hands over his crotch as he was about to burst. "Drank too much lemonade..."
Pit met with Ryuji in the delinquent's room, as Ryuji felt comfortable enough to finally make peace with Pit. Link and Zelda were standing by to play peacemaker if necessary.
"Which one of you is going first?" Link asked Pit and Ryuji, as there was an awkward silence between the two. Pit and Ryuji looked at one another, as the tension was slightly building.
"Uh, guess I'll go," Pit spoke up, giving himself the floor as he had a few things that he wanted to get off his chest. "Ryuji, I'm sorry about having Professor Kukui beat you up as The Masked Royal."
"Anything else?" Zelda asked Pit, knowing that Pit was also guilty for another instance - one, in particular, that occurred throughout New Year's Eve.
"Oh, and I'm also sorry for sending Roman Reigns to beat you up. But you know what? If you like AEW, then that's cool! Enjoy what you like."
"Now it's your turn." Zelda turned her attention towards Ryuji, who saw how Pit had done his apology and was left in a hesitant mood.
"Aw, what, do I have to talk about WWE in a positive light?" whined Ryuji, with Link groaning and Zelda pinching the crown of her nose. "I would hate to give them props."
"You don't really have to give them props," said Link, bringing some relief to Ryuji. "Just tell Pit that you respect whatever wrestling promotion he likes."
"So basically you want me to lie to Pit's face." Things were trending south between Pit and Ryuji, as Pit felt some type of way about Ryuji's response.
"Hey, I only mocked you for liking AEW once," stated Pit, as this instance only happened on episode 312. "You on the other hand always give me grief for being a WWE fan!"
"Can't you say ONE positive thing about the WWE?" Link asked Ryuji, who kept his lips pursed as he couldn't think of even one thing. "Just one?"
"...give me a sec," replied Ryuji as he hurried out of his room to gather his thoughts together. Link, Zelda, and even Pit saw this as Ryuji throwing in the towel prematurely.
Mario and company waited around in the living room, as they waited for Wario to finish using the bathroom. For a guy who only had to pee, Wario sure was taking a long time. Who knows how much lemonade he drank.
"What's-a taking him so long?" wondered Mario, slowly under the assumption that Wario had used an excuse to get himself out of nerfing the professors. "Snake, Olimar, can you see what Wario's up-a to?"
"Sure - wouldn't surprise me if he had the runs," responded Snake, as he and Olimar left the living room to embark upon their mission.
Turns out that Snake was right, as Wario did have the runs. The fatso exited from the bathroom, as smelly and even poisonous fumes found their way out through the bathroom door. But at least Wario was relieved.
"Those nachos really did a number on my stomach!" gleamed Wario as he proudly patted his belly. Lemonade and nachos? Wario's stomach must have been pleading for mercy. "That jalapeno sauce has quite a kick to it."
"Ah, Wario! Good to see you!" Bowser greeted the fatso as he came down the hallway with Magolor, hypnosis ray in hand. Behind him were a bunch of residents, all of whom were acting like zombies.
"What's up with them?" Wario pointed at the residents that were following after Bowser, which included Geno, Fox, Falco, Mr. Game and Watch, and the ninja pals, among several others.
"Don't mind them - they look like that because they're super stoked about joining my all-exclusive Bowser Fan Club! And I've found myself another member..."
"Oh no...I don't like the way you're pointing that thing at me!" Wario backed away from Bowser, who was holding the hypnosis ray in his face. "Get back!"
Bowser: Could've gone a lot of things hypnotizing people. Making them act like barn animals? Nah. Making them act funny? Sounds nice, but no. Making them follow after me, and organize my own cult? Now we're talkin'!
Snake and Olimar were heading down the hallway, and soon they encountered Bowser and his legion of hypnotized residents. Wario was part of the fray, as he was under Bowser's control.
"Snake, Olimar, I'd like to introduce you two to the Bowser Fan Club," Bowser said to Snake and Olimar, who recognized Wario standing among the crowd. "Say hello to Snake and Olimar, everyone!"
"Hello, Snake and Olimar..." the members of the so-called Bowser Fan Club greeted the former spy and astronaut in perfect unison. Sounded cult-like, which was quite unnerving.
"Yup I hypnotized them into thinking that they're my biggest fans! The whole speaking in unison part wasn't a part of the process, but hey, I'll take it..."
"Did you use that thing in your hand to do it?" Snake questioned Bowser as he saw the hypnosis ray that the Koopa King was holding. His eyes were soon drawn to Magolor, as he frowned. "Bet it was you who gave it to him..."
"May I see that, please?" Magolor asked Bowser, as he wanted to hold the hypnosis ray. Seeing that he had hypnotized enough people already, Bowser kindly handed the gun to Magolor.
"You fire that gun at me, and I promise you that I will..." Snake wouldn't get to finish his sentence, as Magolor fired away at the former spy anyway. Olimar jumped back in fright, as Snake was under Magolor's hypnotic spell.
"Uh...Snake?" the astronaut uttered as he slowly backed away so that Magolor wouldn't get to him. Magolor walked up to Snake, having the freedom to tell the former spy anything he wanted him to do.
"Would you be a dear, and find that journal for me?" Magolor asked Snake, as he had been looking for a certain journal - for reasons unknown. "I know it's around here somewhere!"
"If you say so..." replied Snake as he set off to find the journal. Bowser was impressed by the move Magolor pulled off as he nodded his head in approval.
"Just bring it to me when you find it!" With Snake off to go look for the journal, Magolor returned to Bowser, as Olimar was fortunate enough to not be spotted by the alien.
"Gotta say, buddy, that was pretty smooth!" Bowser commended Magolor, giving the alien some props...only to look confused when Magolor held up the hypnosis ray at him. "Aren't you gonna return my ray?"
"It's nothing personal, but...the ray's all mine now." Magolor used the hypnosis ray to hypnotize Bowser, as he turned the tables on the Koopa King. "Welcome to the Magolor Fan Club!"
"Yay me..." said the hypnotized Bowser, as he aligned himself with the other hypnotized residents. Magolor was now taking charge, with a horde of residents in his tow.
"Off to go see where Master Hand is...now we're really in business!" Magolor went down the hallway, as the hypnotized residents followed the alien's lead. Olimar, having seen enough, retreated to the living room.
Inside the living room, Mario was busy watching whatever was on television, while the others were doing their own thing. The plumber was checking the time on his phone constantly, as he wondered what was taking Snake and Olimar so long to retrieve Wario. To the plumber's concern, only Olimar made it back.
"Olimar? Where's-a Wario?" Mario asked the astronaut, who was almost out of breath as he ran as far as his short legs could carry him. "And where's Snake?"
"They were both hypnotized...by Kirby's friend," replied Olimar, as Mario had no clue who Olimar was referring to...but the others definitely knew.
"Could you be any less-a specific? Who are you referring to? Adeleine? Bandanna Waddle Dee? Give-a us a name, dang it!"
"You're talking about Magolor, aren't you?" Cloud asked Olimar, who nodded his head; the swordsman had a hunch for what was going on. "Let me guess - he has that weird drill gun."
"Yeah, that's what he used to hypnotize them! I think he wants to hypnotize Master Hand next. Also heard him mention something about some journal..."
"Alright, change-a of plans," said Mario, taking charge as he diverted from the task at hand. A hypnotized Master Hand was a scenario that Mario did not want by any means. "Forget-a the professors...this friend of Kirby's is our target now."
"We're going to stop him with toy bullets?" asked Pyra; a bunch of Nerf Blasters were absolutely no match for Magolor's tool of hypnotic destruction.
"They're not-a toy bullets, Pyra...they're Nerf bullets. There's a difference." Not really much of a difference, if at all, but to each their own. "Any idea where Kirby's friend-a went to, Olimar?"
"He mentioned something about going after Master Hand, so we gotta beat him to the ballroom," replied Olimar, as time was of the essence. A hypnotized Master Hand meant no celebration for the professors.
"To the ball-a room!" So Mario led everyone out of the living room...well, almost everyone. The only person that stayed behind was Sonic.
"You guys go ahead and do that..." the hedgehog said as he pulled out his phone from his imaginary pocket, sending a quick text message to Slippy.
Ryuji had yet to return to his room after gathering his thoughts (provided that he even did gather his thoughts), and so Zelda sent Link to look for the delinquent. Link eventually found Ryuji hiding in a bathroom, and brought him back to his bedroom.
"Thought you could hide from us forever?" Link asked Ryuji after he returned the delinquent; Ryuji could only groan in response. "Nice try, pal."
Ryuji: Why must Link and Zelda always be so persistent?
"You haven't answered the question yet," Zelda said to Ryuji, hoping that the delinquent had done some "research" while he was hiding away. "Can you tell one positive trait about WWE to Pit?"
"Well...there is one good thing that the WWE does," replied Ryuji, with Pit eager to know as Link and Zelda were all ears. "And that...is releasing underutilized talent so that they can sign with AEW and flourish!"
"...okay." Not the kind of answer that Zelda expected, but at least Ryuji answered the question to the best of his ability. "Want to provide any examples?"
"Always wanting an example...I guess a good example would be Bryan Danielson. Poor guy was so wasted in WWE, it wasn't even funny!"
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't he WWE champion a few times?" Link asked Ryuji, as the name Bryan Danielson sounded familiar to the Hylian.
"True dat, but he never held the title for more than a year like other guys have done. So for that reason, Danielson was a wasted talent."
"Other wrestlers deserve to hold the title too, you know..." stated Zelda, who didn't buy Ryuji's reasoning as she turned her attention to Pit. "Do you have any thoughts, Pit?"
"I only have just one nitpick," replied Pit, as Ryuji was interested in hearing whatever issue the angel had with his argument. "His name is Daniel Bryan...NOT Bryan Danielson."
"But his real name is Bryan Danielson," Ryuji frowned at Pit, hating the fact that he was getting into it regarding this topic a second time. "Even says so on his Wikipedia page!"
"Using Wikipedia to aid your argument...laughable. Not like anyone can make up whatever they want on there. Everyone knows his name is Daniel Bryan!"
"No, it's Bryan Danielson!"
"Daniel Bryan!"
"Bryan Danielson!"
"Daniel Bryan!"
"Bryan Danielson!"
"Daniel Bryan!'
"Bryan Danielson!"
"DANIEL BRYAN!" Pit leaped at Ryuji, bringing him to the floor as he and delinquent were wrangling with each other. Link and Zelda watched, not in the mood for breaking up the two.
"Imagine being that hung up over a wrestler's ring name," Zelda said to Link, as Pit soon had the upper hand on Ryuji. He held the delinquent's hands behind his back as if he were arresting him.
"Haha, got your phone!" taunted Pit as he took Ryuji's phone out of his pocket, holding up high in the air. The angel jumped back as Ryuji quickly got up on his feet. "Now tell me your passcode!"
"Ha! Like I'm stupid enough to tell you that my passcode is 4931..." snorted Ryuji, only for his eyes to go wide as he realized what he had done. Pit typed in the passcode and got access into Ryuji's phone.
"What's this? A video of Cloud acting like a donkey?" Pit saw that Ryuji still had his camera app open, with the video of Cloud on the screen. Pit watched the video and laughed...before he started typing away.
"Wh-Who are you sending that video to?" Ryuji didn't like how fast Pit's fingers were moving; if that video of Cloud got out, Ryuji would be done for.
"Pit, please don't do what I think you're about to do," Link pleaded to the angel, having the same amount of worry that Ryuji had - only because his best friend was involved. But alas for Link, it was too late.
"Aaaaaand...sent!" confirmed Pit as he clicked the "send" button, before handing the phone back to the devasted Ryuji. Ryuji panicked when he saw that Pit had sent that video of Cloud...via mass text to everyone.
"Bro why would you send that video, this is not cool!" panicked Ryuji, as Link was in the same boat as the delinquent was. "Oh man oh man oh man..."
"Is this not what you call 'getting even'?" Pit brought an immense amount of worry to Ryuji, who ran out of his bedroom so that he could hide in the bathroom once more. Link and Zelda were both looking sternly at Pit, who was smiling innocently.
Mario was leading his squad to the ballroom, and they found the Nerf guns that Snake and Wario had dropped along the way. Per the request of Joker, however, the gang made a brief pit stop at Cafe Leblanc.
"Don't take too long," Mario said to Joker, who entered the cafe while the others waited outside in the hallway. The plumber checked his phone, opened up a text message he had received, and started giggling.
"You have such a weird laugh, Mario," Mythra said to the giggling plumber, who soon burst out laughing hysterically with tears running down his cheeks. His face was turning red even. "Are you okay...?"
"Cloud...you look ridiculous!" Mario showed Cloud a video that he was playing on his phone, and Cloud couldn't believe his eyes...it was the video of him acting like a donkey. The cat was out of the bag.
"He actually recorded me?" seethed Cloud, growing incensed as he watched the video. He was totally going to kick Ryuji's butt - and it was all Pit's fault.
Link: Pit claimed that he left Cloud out of the mass text, for he knew that he would be upset with him. Weird logic, I know. But that's okay - Pit's going to be punished for what he did. *looks down at the floor* Hope that Cloud won't get angry with me...
"We have two individuals to replace Snake and Wario," announced Joker, as he exited the cafe with two of his baristas - Kirby and Viridi. The pink puffball and goddess were equipped with a Nerf Blaster.
"Can't believe that Magolor would do this..." lamented Kirby as he shook his head, feeling disappointed after Joker gave him an update of the current situation at hand. "...and here I thought that he wouldn't be trouble."
"I feel weird holding a gun...even if it's a toy," remarked Viridi as she looked down at the Nerf gun in her hands. Something about her comment made Mario's eye twitch.
"Nerf gun, not a toy gun," Mario corrected Viridi as if he was about to go into detail about how Nerf guns and toy guns were different from one another. He would do it if he had to.
"Incineroar, can I trust you to run the cafe by yourself?" Joker called out to the heel Pokemon from the cafe entrance, putting his faith in the heel Pokemon. "That wrestling pose doesn't tell me anything!"
"Wait, we're missing someone," alerted Young Link, as he looked around and saw one person missing from the group. "Where's Sonic?"
"I wouldn't fret about him too much - he's fickle," replied Rosalina, believing that the squad was big enough to take down Magolor. "We can do without him."
Gardening with Slippy wasn't exactly a positive experience for Peach, but Slippy appreciated the time that he had outside. Appreciated it so much, that he wrote down the occasion in his journal. Hal peeked over the couch in Mario's living room that Slippy was sitting on.
"This is my diary," Slippy explained to Hal, sensing the hacker's presence, as he closed the journal and held it up for Hal to see. Multiple frog stickers were plastered on the cover. "Like what I did to the cover?"
"Went overboard with the stickers, but I'll give a nine out of ten," critiqued Hal, being super generous with his score. Time for the hacker to make his move. "May I see this...diary, for myself?"
"Go ahead! I'd recommend starting from the 27th page." So Slippy handed the journal to Hal, who was smiling to himself as he had absolutely no plans of giving the journal back. The doorbell rang, as Peach answered the door.
"Good afternoon, Snake!" Peach greeted the former spy standing at the door, who was looking nigh impatient. "What a coincidence, your friend..." Peach was suddenly pushed aside by Snake, who ran inside the house.
"Hal, you have the journal?" Snake asked the hacker, who triumphantly held up the journal for Snake to see. Slippy looked at both Hal and Snake, growing suspicious about the two.
"We finally did it!" exclaimed Hal as he held the journal down; Snake ran up to Hal, and was almost trying to yank it out of his hands. "Snake, stop, let me hold unto it!"
"No, we must give it to Magolor. It's an order!" Snake tried to pull the journal closer to him, but Hal wouldn't budge as he held onto the journal tightly.
"For weeks, you've been carping about this journal...and now you just want to give it away? What has gotten into you, Snake?!"
"If it's what Magolor wants, then it's what he's gonna get!" Snake finally prevailed over Hal, as he took the journal right out of the hacker's hands. "Thank you very much..."
"Not my diary!" wailed Slippy, with him and Hal watching helplessly as Snake was about to leave Mario's house with the journal. But just when Snake had his foot out the front door...
...he was suddenly ambushed by Sonic, who sped his way into Mario's house and knocked down Snake in the process. Snake landed hard on the floor, dropping the journal in the process as he banged his head against the hardwood.
"Yo! Slippy!" Sonic greeted the frog, who went from a nervous wreck to a happy amphibian in a hurry. "Sorry I didn't respond to your text. Ryuji sent out that video of Cloud and it almost had me gasping for air!"
"Yay, Sonic, you saved my diary from being stolen!" Slippy exclaimed to the hedgehog, as the journal was lying on the floor. Hal picked up the journal and dusted off the cover.
"About this...diary of yours, Slippy..." Hal said to the frog, left with no other choice but to break the truth to Slippy. "...it's not a diary. It's a journal containing confidential information."
"So that's why the first couple of pages were full of those big vocabulary words?" Slippy had glossed over those same pages for that reason. "Ventus wasn't as smart as I thought he was?"
"...no, I'm afraid not, but Snake and I have been looking for this journal for about a week. I suppose I can thank you for taking good care of it."
"That's the same journal that Mario had with him," Peach came over to speak with Hal, as Snake slowly lifted his head up off the floor. "The one he refused to let me read..."
"Indeed...and it's finally in the right hands." Hal flipped through the pages, seeing the ones that Slippy had written stuff down in. "We're gonna have to rip some of these pages out soon..."
"Ow, my head..." Snake writhed in pain, as the back of his head was throbbing in pain. He was seemingly back to his normal self - the hard fall to the floor must've snapped him out of it.
Snake: My neck's been killing me...it's moments like these that I wish we still had a nurse. When is Master Hand going to find a new one?
"Sorry that diary...or journal, wasn't what you thought it was," Sonic offered his sympathies to the frog, as he patted him on the back. "How about I get you a real diary? One that you can write your precious memories in!"
"You'd do that? For me?!" Slippy asked Sonic, who nodded his head; Slippy then hugged Sonic, hugging him real tight. "Thanks, Sonic! You're the best!"
"Okay, I get it, I get it!" Sonic broke free from the hug, for Slippy was hugging him tighter as the hug went on. "I better go - can't have Mario think that I'm missing and freak out." And with that, Sonic zipped out of the house.
Mario and company reached the ballroom and were standing behind the ballroom door. From the sound of it, it was all too quiet in the ballroom, meaning that Magolor had yet to arrive.
"I recommend kicking the door open with a roundhouse kick," Toon Link recommended to Mario, who had the unofficial privilege of opening the door to the ballroom. Partly due to his leadership status. "Do it for the style points!"
"Warning Master Hand-a of Magolor is our goal - not style points," Mario informed Young Link, who moaned in sadness as he found Mario to be no fun. "Does everyone have their Nerf-a guns loaded, just in case?"
"No one here has fired a single bullet yet, so yeah, I think we're good," replied Cloud, who was still salty about that video; he was already thinking about making Ryuji's life a living nightmare.
"Superb! Remember, no one fires unless-a I say the word. Capiche. Alright then, here-a we go!" So Mario opened the ballroom door, hoping to find Master Hand inside with Anna.
But to the plumber's dismay, he already saw Magolor in the ballroom, along with the hypnotized residents. Anna and two members of the party planning committee - Travis and Palutena - were added to the fray, as the hypnotized crowd was holding down Master Hand.
"Stay still Master Hand, and this won't hurt a bit..." Magolor said to the giant hand, as he held up the hypnosis ray. The alien was about to fire, until...
"Magolor?" Kirby uttered his friend's name, as Magolor held the ray down and saw Kirby standing with Mario and the others. Magolor appeared bashful, sensing how Kirby was feeling.
"Oh, uh, Kirby...it's not what you think!" Magolor pleaded his innocence as he sheepishly held the ray behind his back. "There's a good explanation for this..."
"FIRE!" Mario cried out, as he and everyone else fired Nerf bullets at Magolor. The barrage of bullets came to a stop real quick, as Magolor and anyone else struck were basically unaffected.
"Told you those bullets wouldn't work..." Pyra frowned at Mario, who kept his lips pursed as Magolor slowly took the hypnosis ray from behind his back.
"Not a single move..." Magolor commanded Mario and company, threatening to hypnotize anyone if they pulled a single move. "...stay right where you are, and nobody gets hurt!"
"Magolor, you don't have to do this!" Kirby begged his alien friend, who said nothing as he returned his attention to Master Hand. It distressed Kirby greatly seeing his friend drift back to the dark side.
"No, Kirby...let him have it," Master Hand said to the pink puffball, as he unironically enjoyed the position that he found himself in. "It's not often that I find myself in peril."
"Yeah, Master Hand, that's the spirit!" Magolor encouraged the giant hand, as he held the hypnosis ray back up. He wanted Master Hand to have it. "That's what I like to..."
Magolor would be interrupted, as a random phone was thrown at his hand. Wincing slightly in pain, Magolor picked up the phone and giggled at what he saw on the screen...the video of Cloud doing his donkey rendition.
"Hehe...this is hilarious!" wheezed Magolor, as Cloud recognized the sounds that were made in the video and suffered from embarrassment. "Even funnier than what he did in the...WHY IS HE KICKING THE AIR LIKE THAT?!"
Magolor was laughing so hard, that he fell on his back and rolled over on his stomach. The alien had dropped the hypnosis ray to the floor and continued to laugh away...only to stop when he looked up and saw Sonic standing over him.
"S-Sonic?!" panicked Magolor, frozen with fear as Sonic snatched his phone from the alien and picked up the hypnosis ray. Sonic then analyzed the ray and saw the hypnotized folk, and put two and two together.
"You want this?" Sonic asked Magolor as he held the hypnosis ray - before dropping it to the floor and crushing it with the stomp of his foot. Magolor squealed as Sonic picked up the pieces.
Sonic: Had a feeling there was something up with Kirby's pal. The way he was acting on Thanksgiving, and his behavior during one of those "class trials"...all seemed too suspect to me. But I didn't believe he'd show his true colors this soon.
"Hey, Kirby, suck on this!" Sonic called out to the pink puffball, as he tossed him the remnants of the hypnosis ray. Kirby sucked up the broken pieces, as the ray was now history.
"No!" shouted Magolor, as Kirby swallowed; to make matters even worse for the alien, those who were hypnotized regained their consciousness.
"Why are we holding Master Hand?" questioned Fox, as he saw that he was holding unto Master Hand. He and several others let go of Master Hand, allowing him to float back in the air.
"I'll do you one better...how did we end up in the ballroom?" questioned Yuffie, as she and her previously hypnotized peers got a sense of their surroundings. Soon, their ire was drawn towards Bowser.
"Don't look at me, I was hypnotized just like how you all were!" Bowser pleaded his innocence, but that didn't stop anyone from glaring at him. "It was that friend of Kirby's who did it!"
"I have photo evidence," stated Sonic as he pulled up a photo on his phone, which showed Magolor about to fire away at the restrained Master Hand. Sonic had taken the picture through Mario and the crowd.
"Oh, so this was all your fault, eh?" Wario frowned at Magolor, as everyone took their ire from Bowser to Kirby's alien friend. Bowser stood at the side, watching everything go down.
"Look, we can be friends, can't we?" Magolor asked Wario and company, who were ganging up on the alien as he backed him up into a wall. "Whatever happened to forgive and forget?"
Even though he was breaking the rules, Snake met with Hal outside the mansion, with Hal holding the journal. Snake's meeting with Hal was meant to be private, but Slippy came around to get something off his chest.
"I got that journal from Ventus," Slippy explained to Snake and Hal, with the former nodding his head - while the latter had no clue who Ventus even was. "Who originally got it from Professor E. Gadd. Aerith told me after I got it."
"So Mario was right..." inferred Snake, now feeling bad about messing with Mario in the previous episode. Thankfully, Mario didn't get hurt since Luigi sucked at wielding an ax.
"E. Gadd tried to give it away," stated Hal, as he was oblivious to the sound of a mansion window breaking up above. "But why?"
"AAAAAAH!" Magolor was heard screaming, his screaming coming after the sound of a window breaking. Magolor fell to the ground from the ballroom window, crashing near Snake and Hal.
"You again..." Snake glared at Magolor, who got up in a snap when he saw the former spy looking at him. Hal's presence didn't make Magolor any less afraid.
"This isn't the last time you'll see me!" vowed Magolor as he made a run for it, retreating from the mansion. Snake was about to set off after Magolor, only for Hal to put his arm in front of him.
"No...let's leave him be, for now," Hal advised Snake, who backed off as he still had a glare on his face. Snake wanted to get his hands on Magolor sooner rather than later.
"Another window...broken," sighed Master Hand, who had appeared outside to analyze the damage done to the ballroom window. The giant hand then looked down and gasped when he saw Snake and Hal standing together.
"Hide me..." Snake said to Hal as he hid behind the hacker, with Master Hand drawing near. Hal found it amusing that even a guy like Snake could be intimidated by Master Hand.
"Snake! Did I not tell you that you can't mingle with Hal? Not after that stunt you did with the Mario Bros? I get that Luigi was buff and all, but still..."
"We found the journal we've been looking for!" Hal told Master Hand as he held up the journal for him to see. The frog stickers remained, but Hal would take them all off soon.
"You had Luigi beat up Mario because you couldn't find some lousy journal? Weird flex, but okay..." Master Hand backed away from Hal, as Snake poked his head from behind Hal's back. "...you're free to hang out with Hal again, Snake. I guess."
Running some errands, the Luminary went to the printing room to print off a few copies. When he arrived, he spotted Bayonetta making some copies already.
"Sure are running a lot of copies," the Luminary said to Bayonetta, who was standing next to the copy machine. Bayonetta went over to the Luminary, handing him a photo.
"Have you seen a photo like this before?" Bayonetta asked the Luminary, showing him one of the photos she found in Snake's drawer. "They belong to Snake. I'd say they're worth keeping around, don't you think?"
Luminary: Turns out I'm not the only one on to Snake. But to be honest, having Bayonetta on to me would be easily a worst-case scenario.
Master Hand was back in the ballroom, where Mr. Game and Watch was fixing the broken window. The party planning committee was doing decorations for the big celebration. And speaking of celebrations...
"'Congratulations, professors'?" Beleth read the banner that Travis and Viridi were hanging up, as he and Byleth entered the ballroom. "Why are we..."
"NERF-A THEM, YOU GUYS!" shouted Mario, as he and the rest of the Nerf brigade hopped in front of the professors and fired Nerf bullets at them. Byleth and Beleth shielded themselves with their hands.
"Okay Mario, I think that's enough," said Cloud, who unsurprisingly gave the least amount of effort out of everyone. The professors took their hands away when the barrage stopped. "Congratulations on winning the Smash World Tour, you two!"
"Um, thanks!" Byleth smiled in response, before leaning in close to Beleth and whispering, "When did we win this world tour?" Beleth shrugged in response.
"Byleth, Beleth, you're here too early!" Master Hand scolded the professors, only to realize that there was nothing that could be done. "Ah, forget it..."
Shame on Byleth and Beleth for not knowing about the Smash World Tour...but then again, no one knew about Magolor's true colors. Not even Kirby himself.
Kirby: Would it be strange for me to say that I feel...betrayed? Got this weird feeling inside of me...
