Author's Note:
This chapter will focus on three different subjects - the Super Bowl, Valentine's Day, and also Chinese New Year. I made the impossible possible - which is something that I have a strong habit of doing. Review time!
"Will there be a 2022 Winter Olympics episode in Beijing?"
There might be one next week - haven't yet fully decided. Another guest review:
"Next month is Kid Icarus: Uprising's 10th anniversary. Will there be a chapter to make up for missing out the OG's 35th anniversary?"
It's been that long since Uprising was released, hasn't it? I can try and sneak one on in. One more guest review:
"Will we see some Portal shenanigans in the future?"
There will be Portal shenanigans aplenty when Portal drops on the Switch. Looking forward to it. On to The Reader:
"Man, why is Gray Fox not included in this story? He's from MGS too!"
Sometimes I tend to overlook Gray Fox, probably because he lives with the other assist characters. I can find a way for him to be involved in the ongoing plotline. Moving on:
"Also, why is Chloe not in this episode? Is it because you're struggling on how to "softens" her language, or you just don't want to keep writing the word "hella" over and over again? Kinda sad that she's not here. You can't have Max without Chloe!"
Isn't Chloe dead, canonically speaking? That is one reason why she didn't appear. Softening her language wouldn't have been much of an issue. The Reader also has questions about the recent Nintendo Direct:
(This is a pre-question. What's your opinion on the Direct?)
1. Since Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes is coming on June 24, will we see the Fodlan trio (Edelgard, Dimitri, and Claude) again?
2. The Advance Wars remakes are coming on April 8. Just a reminder for you. Excited to see the chapter!
3. NEW MARIO STRIKERS IS COMING! Yes. Mario Strikers: Battle League is coming on June 10. Will we see some soccer in that chapter?
4. Chrono Cross is coming to the Switch on April 7, a day before Advance Wars. Will you combine those two games for a chapter?
5. KLONOA IS COMING BACK! Klonoa: Phantasy Reverie Series is coming on July 8. Will we see him appearing in the story?
6. Nintendo Switch Sports, the sequel to Wii Sports, is coming on April 29. Will we see some sports like Tennis, Volleyball, and Bowling in that chapter?
7. Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course is coming on June 30. Hope to see some more Cuphead (and Mugman and Ms. Chalice, of course)!
8. Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is coming in September! Are you surprised by it? I hope to see the chapter of it in the future.
(I thought it was a solid Direct, felt oddly refreshing to not see any Smash news for once. Since that was the only reason most people even watch the Directs...)
1. You can get your socks you will!
2. Finally, a release date for Advance Wars! Luckily I've already started planning for the chapter.
3. Expect to see some soccer in the June 10th chapter, with Mario and maybe a few other characters.
4. I'll see if I can pull that one off.
5. Got a soft spot for Klonoa, so yes he will appear.
6. With that game and Mario Strikers pretty close...probably not.
7. Got some big plans for the Cuphead chapter.
8. Didn't expect them to announce XC3 this soon. Can't write to write a chapter on it soon.
An NFL fan has required about a certain heel Pokemon:
"Is Incineroar a Bengals fan? Idk, it fits the motif."
He's definitely a Bengals fan, 100%. David has questions:
"If Ryu has gotten over Chun-Li does that mean Sakura is gonna show up soon? Is there gonna be a love triangle situation between Ryu, Chun-Li, and Sakura? (Weird question I know. And Sakura's SFV ending basically teased many Ryu x Sakura shippers). A scene of Corrin and Kamui watching The Book of Boba Fett? (With Corrin making 'Like a Bantha' jokes afterwards). Have the other Banjo Kazooie characters shown up yet? Will the Neputnia/Senran Kagura chapter happen when the Switch port comes out April 19th? And finally, what are your thoughts on Shane McMahon being let go from WWE?"
Probably not. No love triangle. Only Corrin might watch that Boba Feet show. Not yet. That chapter will happen. And I don't think that Shane has been released from WWE, or at least fully - might be doing some stuff on the side.
Episode 321: Coupled
The stage was set for Super Bowl 56, which was drawing near. It featured two teams fighting for the biggest prize in football - the Cincinnati Bengals, and the Los Angeles Rams. A team that many expected to win it all, versus a team that no one expected to even make the playoffs. Truly a matchup of epic proportions.
Well, it was a matchup of epic proportions to some. And since the Rams were a rival of the Seattle Seahawks, many assumed that Master Hand would enforce a loose mandate forbidding anyone from rooting for the Rams. But Master Hand was a "changed man" now, and therefore no mandate was put in place. Although no one would really follow along anyway.
With Tom Brady not in this year's Super Bowl - and the Super Bowls to come, hopefully - nobody knew who to root against. There was no villain that any football fan would desire to see fall in defeat. That only made the intrigue of the Super Bowl even higher, which made it all the more exciting.
Daisy: The Rams will be playing in L.A. on their home turf, so obviously they'll win the game. Imagine losing the big game in front of your fans. *pauses* Fair-weather fans.
Min Min: The Bengals will win because of one reason, and one reason only - it's the year of the tiger!
Terry: "Who dey think gonna beat them Bengals?" *snorts* The Rams...dey think...gonna beat them Bengals. *shakes his head* Man, that sounded so wrong...
Knuckles: Bengals have to win, they have to. They gotta do it for Harambe, who got shot at the Cincinnati Zoo.
Pit: *walks in, smiling mischievously* Did somebody say...Harambe?
Knuckles: No, Pit...don't you do it!
Yoshi: I don't want either team to lose...I happen to like both quarterbacks. Is it too much to ask for the Super Bowl to end in a tie?
Anyone that planned on having a Super Bowl hangover might want to think twice, for there was a day sweeter than any other taking place after Super Bowl Sunday - Valentine's Day. The Super Bowl and Valentine's Day were on the same week, and it took some time to adjust.
Master Hand planned on having some Valentine's Day-themed events today, and anyone that came out to this event was encouraged to stay around for the big game on Sunday. Anna sent out a couple of invites, mainly to the significant others of the residents.
"How's your work coming along, Miss Aran?" Master Hand asked Samus as he appeared in the workshop, seeing the bounty hunter working on a new project. That Samus was always working on something - probably just to get away from everyone.
"It was fine until you showed up," muttered Samus, as Pikachu was sitting at the desk keeping her company. Pikachu was in the rare company of being one of the few individuals that Samus could stand. "What do you want?"
"Just wanted to know if you were down for the party in the ballroom. Couples retreat. If you don't want to come, then that's fine by me." Master Hand was giving his residents a choice? That "participation matters" mantra seemed like a thing of the past.
"Yeah, I think I'll be too busy to come." Samus had plans to keep herself confined in the workshop, at whatever cost. No lovey-dovey get-togethers for her.
"Okay! But if you change your mind, I'll have some fine gentlemen from Los Angeles to pick from to be your bachelor. Since you can't get into the party without a partner."
"Sounds like you really want me at this party...also, what 'fine gentlemen' from Los Angeles?" The laugh that Master Hand gave in response made Samus all the more concerned.
"You won't know unless you leave this workshop. Which I guess won't be until dinner. Your loss. Ta-ta!" After saying his goodbye to Samus, Master Hand vanished away, as Samus carried on with her work.
"Claims to be a changed man, yet he still can't be bothered to leave people alone," Samus had this to say about Master Hand, already extending her sympathy to whoever would be joining the mansion from Los Angeles.
For these men from Los Angeles to be at the mansion, one must first warp them to the mansion via the teleportation device. Bass was the robot entrusted with bringing the guests to Seattle, as Master Hand appeared in the teleportation room.
"You're just in time," Bass said to Master Hand, as the teleportation device was doing its thing. Master Hand was giggling with glee, eager to see the handsome men Bass reeled in. "You think the ladies here will give these guys a chance?"
"The men shall serve as temporary bachelors," replied Master Hand, believing that he was doing a huge solid for single female residents such as Samus. "Just for one day only."
Once the device was done with the process, four men were standing on the teleportation pad. All wearing some Cincinnati Bengals gear - the guy in front was even wearing a Bengals beanie. How about some names? We'll call them Lee, Anthony, Tyler, and Mac.
"Woah...check this place out," smiled the guy with the beanie, Lee, as he and his pals checked out their new surroundings. They liked what they saw so far. "Completely unexpected, but..."
"Greetings, potential bachelors!" Master Hand greeted Lee and company as he floated over to the four men. "Let me introduce myself. I am..."
"You're Master Hand, aren't you?" Lee was pointing at Master Hand, who was flattered by how excited Lee was to see him in person. "This is kinda cool! So, uh...what is this place?
"This, my friend, is the Smash Mansion - and you and your friends are our honored guests!" To be an honored guest of the Smash Mansion - that certainly brought a smile to Lee's face.
Lee: This is where all the Smash guys and gals live? *nods his head, smiling as he looks around...* Think I'm gonna enjoy this place.
"We're potential bachelors? For what?" Mac asked Master Hand, as the poor young man had honestly no idea what he and his boys were getting into. "We're kinda busy at the moment."
"But you're not too busy to woo a single woman, who is desperate for love..." responded Master Hand, as he did nothing but left Mac and company uneasy. "...point of the matter is, we're having a Valentine's Day party today, and only couples can get in. Makeshift couples included."
"But Valentine's Day is on Monday." Mac expected Master Hand to be stumped, but Master Hand was instead annoyed. The "potential bachelors" didn't seem to be in it as much, if at all.
"This also counts as an off-day for you four...since you're so busy in L.A., as you claim." That was a huge blessing in disguise for Mac and company, who had a very busy week so far.
"Off-day? We can roll with that," smiled Lee, as he turned back at Mac, Anthony, and Tyler. "Let's get moving, fellas." So Lee lad his boys out of the teleportation room, as Master Hand sighed.
"Got no clue what you were thinking there," Bass said to Master Hand, seeing how defeated the giant hand was. Lee and the boys let him down. "Anna, too. She had you so convinced, didn't she?"
"Bass...it's time to enact plan B," Master Hand said to the robot, who knew what this plan B entailed as he sighed deeply. Bass's work was far from over. "See if you can bring in the other batch."
Anna came through for many folks at both the tower and mansion, sending their significant others an invite to the party. She also came through for couples that lived outside of Seattle but were on enough friendly terms to receive an invite. Some folks heard about the party through word of mouth and decided to come to the party even without a formal invite. Such as Dawn and Barry, for instance.
"I highly doubt that this Valentine's Day party will have a raffle, Barry," Dawn said to the Pokemon trainer, who had dragged his friend to Seattle to be his girlfriend for a day. Dawn and Barry were walking to the mansion right now.
"Then if not today, then there'll be one on Monday!" proclaimed Barry, fully confident that a Valentine's Day raffle would take place. That Christmas raffle legitimately broke him. "If not then, somebody's getting fined!"
"She just had to tell you about this dumb party, huh?" a certain mercenary asked his partner-in-crime, as two Talon operatives arrived at the mansion - Reaper and Sombra. Reaper was raring to go back home - or at least get away from Sombra.
"I can always trust Samus to keep me on tabs about stuff going on at the mansion," replied Sombra, as she and Reaper arrived at the porch around the same time that Dawn and Barry. "Don't you two look cute together..." Sombra said to Dawn and Barry, with a smile.
"Oh wow! You two are an item?" Barry asked Sombra and Reaper out of pure shock, as Reaper could be heard grumbling angry under his mask. "I never would've guessed!"
"Glad that you finally noticed." Sombra was acting all flirty with Reaper, stroking her finger on the disgruntled mercenary's mask. "Reaper's my sugar daddy."
"I am not your sugar daddy..." Reaper angrily told Sombra through clenched teeth, as he tightened his fists. One of these days, as he would often say to himself...
"Whatever you say, sugar daddy." Sombra got further under Reaper's skin when she missed the mercenary on his cheek, causing him to growl with rage. Dawn wisely kept her mouth shut, but Barry couldn't help but stoke the fire.
"If you're her sugar daddy, how much are you paying her?" Barry asked Reaper, who took out both of his shotguns and pointed them at the Pokemon trainer. Barry backed off. "Know what, it's cool, keep that to yourself..."
Dawn: Barry is really hoping that today's party has a raffle, which is why he asked me to be his date. Should there be no raffle, our trip will be a wash. It's already a wash regardless.
Sombra: Doomfist is too boring, and Sigma's still recovering from his brain aneurysm - while also being more boring than Doomfist. It was either Reaper or bust for me.
"Move it, people - real couple coming through!" shouted Amy Rose, showing up with Sonic with her arm interlocked with this. The pink hedgehog gave everyone the hand, as she and Sonic went up the porch steps.
"Yikes, Amy, you're so bossy," Sonic said to his girlfriend, who responded by smacking the blue hedgehog in his face. Sonic had no idea what he did wrong. "I'm telling the truth!"
"Did I say that you could talk back to me? Now open the front door and let me in, as a gentleman would." So Sonic, groaning mightily, opened the front door for Amy and let her inside the mansion.
"What's her problem?" Reaper asked the others, alarmed when he saw someone more visibly ticked off than he was. He was the king of being in a bad mood.
Sonic: One day I was on a phone call with Amy, and she was happily running her mouth nonstop about some ideas she had for the party. Then I told her that her ideas won't be accepted since they would need approval from the party planning committee. Just trying to look out for her. But instead, I made her super irate. So that's where we are, at the moment.
Being married, Mario and Peach were obvious fixtures for the party. Mario was at the mansion right now, in the living room, which was decked out for the Super Bowl with colors of orange, black, blue, and yellow adorning the walls and furniture.
"An actual tiger rug?!" exclaimed Mario, checking out an authentic tiger rug on the living room floor. Travis, who designed the living room, smiled with pride.
"Got it online - I prefer that you don't steal it," Travis said to Mario, who got on top of the tiger rug to feel it and made it seem like he was humping it, almost. "Or...do that."
"Pretty cool decorations," remarked Lee as he led his boys inside the living room, checking out the Super Bowl party decorations. He saw Mario on the tiger rug, doing his..erm, thing. "Sup Mario?"
"Oh, uh, hi!" Mario greeted Lee, sensing company as he sheepishly pulled himself up on his feet. "Welcome-a to the Smash Mansion! You saw nothing..."
"Nah, we saw enough," snickered Anthony, as he made Mario embarrassed beyond measure; Spyro and Hunter, who were both looking for Mario, spotted the plumber in the living room.
"Mario's stealing party decoration ideas from the mansion, what a surprise..." remarked Spyro, only for his face to sink when he saw the Bengals beanie that Lee was wearing atop his head. "...oh no."
"Aw yeah, baby! Cincinnati Bengals, let's go, baby!" exclaimed Hunter, as he recognized the Bengals beanie; the cheetah happily ran up to Lee and company, giving each individual man a bro hug. "Bengals winning it all!"
"That's what we like to hear!" smiled Lee, ecstatic to meet someone that was rooting for the Bengals in the Super Bowl. Couldn't be anyone more obvious than Hunter. "Must be a lot of Bengals fans at the mansion."
"Actually, I live with Mario." Hunter's response brought some confusion to Lee, as Spyro facepalmed at the cheetah. "But you could say that I'm an 'honorary resident'...Spyro, too, I guess."
Spyro: The other cat teams in the NFL aren't doing so hot at the moment, so the Bengals are all that Hunter has. Guess you could say that he's become a big fan of the team. *sighs* Everyone's a bandwagoner, aren't they?
"That's cool; it's always nice getting to meet a fan," Lee said to Hunter, as a sweet aroma made its way into the dining room. This aroma eventually reached Tyler's nostrils, as Tyler was sniffing the air.
"Something smells good..." stated Tyler, as the aroma was appetizing enough to put him in a hungry mood. Everyone else smelt the aroma for themselves. "...must be from the kitchen."
"Why don't we go see what it is?" asked Lee, as he led his boys away; Hunter watched as Lee and company left, entertaining the thought of hanging out with them during their entire stay.
The aroma didn't come from the kitchen, but rather from the dining room where there was food aplenty on the dining room table. Spring rolls, rice balls, dumplings, and noodles were some of the food that was present. Pyra, Mythra, Min Min, and Riku were setting things up.
"Can't thank you ladies enough for preparing the food," Min Min offered her thanks to Pyra and Mythra, as Lee and the boys entered the dining room. "Especially you, Pyra - you got the noodles just right."
"What kind of praise do I get?" Mythra asked Min Min, eager and desperate for any sort of positive feedback. Min Min stared blankly at the Blade, struggling to think of a single positive comment.
"You provided some moral support in the kitchen...so you were useful for something." Those comments weren't positive enough for Mythra, as she grumbled and resumed doing her task.
"Sure got a whole lotta food," remarked Anthony, as he and his friends made their presence known to Min Min and company. The food looked more appetizing than it looked. "Why is it all Chinese food, though?"
"It's the Chinese New Year - the year of the tiger," Pyra informed Anthony, placing several plates of fish on the dining room table. "Today's the last day of the Spring Festival."
"Year of the tiger...what a coincidence," smiled Lee, before licking his chops as he observed the food that Min Min and the Blades prepared. "Can we sample some of the food?"
"We'll do you one better - we can invite you and your friends to be part of the meal," Riku said to Lee, who was much happier with those terms. "Be our honored guest."
Riku: Sora and Kairi are gonna be at that party, so in the meantime, I'll be celebrating the Spring Festival. Or Chinese New Year, whatever. Even asked Dr. Wily to invite some of my friends to join the festivities. Should be fun.
"Hold it!" shouted Hunter as he ran inside the dining room, skidding to a halt; Spyro followed after Hunter, wary about what the cheetah was going to say. "We want in on this Spring Festival thingamajig."
"Uh, don't listen to him, we have a party to get to," Spyro said to those in the dining room, before looking up at Hunter and saying to him, "Elora and Bianca are waiting for us..."
"Screw Elora and Bianca, it's all about the Spring Festival now!" Refusing to waste any time, Hunter sat down at the table and saw the food before him. "What are waiting for, let's dig in!"
"We're not finished setting up yet!" Min Min shouted at Hunter, who was fingertips away from putting his hand on a spring roll. "Sit tight, we'll let you know when we're done."
"Should be done pretty soon," stated Pyra, as she grabbed Spyro and sat him in a chair next to Hunter. Spyro wished to leave, but not at the expense of displeasing Pyra and the others.
Spyro and Hunter's dates for the party - Elora and Bianca, respectively - stood outside the ballroom where the party was taking place. They were speaking with Anna, who served as a party bellhop along with Ridley.
"They sure know how to keep us waiting," said Elora, who was wondering what was taking Spyro and Hunter so long. She expected Hunter to give her a long wait, but not Spyro.
"If I had to assume, Hunter's the one responsible for holding us up," assumed Bianca, as Doc Louis came to the ballroom with a chocolate bar. Ridley growled at Doc, who wondered what he had done to draw the dragon's ire.
"Oh! Sorry, Doc Louis, but to get in, your date has to be a living person," Anna informed the boxing trainer, who was beside himself as he wanted to throw his chocolate bar onto the floor. But he didn't have enough in him to do it.
"C'mon, Wanda, let's go where we can be appreciated..." Doc Louis spoke to his chocolate bar - which he took a bite out of seconds later. Elora and Bianca saw this and were left concerned.
"Was he...speaking to a chocolate bar just now?" Bianca asked Anna, who had a knowing smile on her face. Anna was usually enchanted by Doc Louis's chocolate obsession.
"The closest he'll ever get to finding love these days..." answered Anna, as a real couple arrived at the ballroom - that couple being Cloud and Aerith. Aerith was pumped up about the party, but the same obviously couldn't be said for Cloud.
"Turn that frown upside down, Cloud!" Aerith encouraged the swordsman, who felt like a bratty kid being dragged to school by their parent. "You promised me that you would have a fun time at this party."
"Must not know how much of a good liar I am," mumbled Cloud, already dreading whatever event was taking place on Monday. "Why do we need to have two separate Valentine's Day events..."
Cloud: Having the Super Bowl on the same week as Valentine's Day was a mistake. Coming up with Valentine's Day in the first place was a mistake. Only lousy boyfriends would wait until the day of...You're seriously asking me if I've ever done anything for Aerith? Go look at yourself in the mirror, bub.
After Cloud and Aerith entered the ballroom, another real couple came down the hallway - Sonic and Amy. Sonic was wearing a men's romper that Amy had picked out for him, and he didn't appear to like it. Couldn't blame him.
"Why am I wearing this crap, Amy, I look ridiculous!" Sonic complained to the pink hedgehog, who gasped out of shock and smacked her boyfriend silly. Second time today.
"Stop lying to yourself, you look fabulous!" responded Amy, who believed that she made a shrewd fashion purchase. As if. "Can't just have you waltz into the party naked and everything."
"Looking good, you two!" Anna said to Sonic and Amy, as the latter frowned and gave the merchant the cold shoulder. Anna was disheartened after Amy gave her a little 'tude.
"Someone's really angry," remarked Elora; before Anna could share why Amy was so upset, Master Hand magically appeared, as him showing up alleviated Anna's mood.
"Hello, ladies!" greeted Master Hand, speaking more specifically to Elora and Bianca. "What are you doing, toiling outside? The party's waiting for you!"
"We're waiting for our dates - since we heard that 'only couples' can get in." The more she had to wait, the more Elora was convinced that Hunter was responsible for the hold-up. And how right she was...
"I wish that I could be at the party," lamented Anna, looking inside the ballroom and since all the couples having fun. "Did all the work sending out the invites, and I have no one to go with!"
"That...that can be arranged," stated Master Hand, who had the perfect candidate in mind to accommodate Anna. It was someone he had in his back pocket, for instances like these. "Let me get back with you in a second."
"Master Hand, do you know if Dr. Cortex is out of jail yet?" Tiki approached Master Hand, as the mere mention of Cortex's name caused Master Hand to groan. "I really don't feel like asking..."
"I get it, you don't want to ask anyone else...you'd rather please that perpetual loser instead. Still can't believe you kissed him - hoped that you washed your mouth out well."
Master Hand returned to the teleportation room, expecting Bass to have brought in more men. More "potential bachelors". Bass came through, as he was joined by five men. Let's give 'em some names - John, Douglas, Cornelius, Charles, and Latrell. Yeah, that's what we'll call them.
"So what you're saying is, we shouldn't go to this party," Cornelius said to Bass, who was trying to deter Cornelius and company from going to the party. Specifically going anywhere near the ballroom.
"Exactly - it's a trap," warned Bass, as he couldn't stress his warning enough - he was only looking out for the guests. "He just wants you to be a one-day bachelor for some single woman."
"Well I'm already married so...I'm straight," stated John as he threw his hands up, signifying himself as the only husband among the fellas. "I'm out."
"I'm married too," Douglas also stated, taking his name out of the running for a potential bachelor. "Pretty sure that all of us already have a spouse or..."
"Splendid job, Bass - you brought in the other men!" Master Hand commended the robot, who appeared shook as he and the others saw the giant hand. "Knew that I could count on you."
"It was nothing, Master Hand!" responded Bass, hoping that Master Hand hadn't heard too much...but little did he know. "Totally wasn't like I wasn't steering these guests away from..."
"Master Hand?" uttered Charles, squinting his eyes as he got a closer inspection of Master Hand. Almost like he knew the giant hand from somewhere. "I've heard stories about you..."
"You have?" questioned Master Hand, shocked and also inquiring where Charles heard these stories about him from. "I would say that I'm flattered, but then I'd be stroking my ego!"
Charles: Two of my old teammates told me a couple of stories about Master Hand. Stories about how he was possessive over some Lamborghini, and how he forced a bunch of people to shop during a holiday - a non-American holiday, at that. Oh, and they also mentioned something about Master Hand trying to blow a raspberry into a newborn baby. A complete 180 from what I was originally expecting.
Master Hand: I can confirm that I did attempt to blow a raspberry to Luigi and Daisy's kid after she was born. Suffocated her, almost, but the deed was done. Almost.
"Master Hand, we appreciate this gesture, but we got some stuff to do," Douglas said to the giant hand in the most polite way he could, sharing similar sentiments as Mac from earlier.
"Stuff to do at this mansion? I agree," said Master Hand, willing to do whatever possible to keep the five men at the mansion. "You're all free to accompany a woman at our party...or enjoy yourselves. Consider this your break day."
"Looks like we ain't got any choice in the matter..." Cornelius shrugged his shoulders in defeat, left with no other choice but to accept his current fate. "...break day it is, then."
"This joint better have some good grub - or at least a golfing spot," remarked Charles, as he and the other men filed out of the teleportation room. Master Hand was now ready to make his request known to Bass.
"Got one last man I want you to bring," Master Hand requested to Bass, who was just about to leave only to grumble and return to his post. "My favorite athlete in the whole world. You know who he is."
"First the Spring Festival, and now this..." muttered Bass, extending his sympathy towards the man he asked to teleport to the mansion. "...you're seriously obsessed with that guy, Master Hand."
"I can't help it, he's really good company. Also, I need you to recruit several individuals willing to pay for Cortex's bail."
"Like anyone would be stupid enough to..." Bass stopped speaking, as he thought of the one person that wouldn't mind getting Cortex out of jail. "...Tiki wants him out of jail, doesn't she?"
"Only so she could go to the party. An opportunity wasted - could've used this chance to go with an obviously better man. She will never learn."
Ryu was lingering around the ballroom, as Chun-li was on her way to the party. Chun-li happened to arrive sooner than Ryu expected, as Ryu saw her coming down the hallway.
"There you are, Chun-li," Ryu greeted the woman, who found it remarkable how composed Ryu was compared to his demeanor last week. "Just in time for..." Ryu was caught off-guard when Chun-li grabbed him by his collar, pulling his face close to hers.
"Let's not have a repeat of last Tuesday ago, alright?" Chun-li asked Ryu, laying down the law; Ryu nodded in response, as Chun-li released her hold.
"N-No repeats necessary!" Keeping himself calm and collected, Ryu walked to the ballroom with Chun-li. So far, so good - Ryu's got it in the bag.
...or so he would've if that was the real Ryu. The real Ryu was peeking around the corner, observing Chun-li with what appeared to be an imposter.
"Don't let me down, Zoroark..." Ryu said with a whisper, before pulling away and resting his back against the wall. The fighter took a deep breath and exhaled, easing any doubts he had.
Ryu: The Hisuain Zoroark will be taking my place at the party. Unless his illusion fades for any reason, I should be fine. The only drawback is that he's made out of glass...but that shouldn't matter too much, should it?
"Yo, Ryu, I need your help man!" Ryuji approached the fighter, startling him as he yelled in fright. Ryu saw that Ryuji was wearing some workout gear.
"What is it? Are you looking for a training partner?" Ryu asked Ryuji, somewhat honored that the delinquent consulted him if that was the case. "The gall of you to take advantage of my free time..."
"Uh, whatever...anyway, I want you to make me as strong as possible so I can cream Pit on Sunday! He's kinda like my arch-nemesis at the moment."
"Your arch-nemesis...is Pit?" Ryu crinkled his nose at Ryuji, as he took extreme pity on the delinquent. "Since when has your life become a downward spiral?"
"Shut up! I just want to beat up Pit and be done with it, okay? Bury the hatchet once and for all." The fight that Ryuji challenged Pit to a few episodes back was now on again - and Ryuji was uber-confident in coming out victorious.
"If you care that much about dominating Pit, then I have no choice but to oblige. But be warned...the training will be harder than you think." Nothing ever comes easy with Ryu.
As honored guests, the foursome of Lee, Anthony, Tyler, and Mac was welcome to be part of the Spring Festival feast in the dining room. But little did they know that they would be the only guests to be present.
"I'm expecting some friends of mine to come soon," Riku informed Min Min, before eating a few wontons. Wontons were a sign of wealth and treasure, so Riku was bound to be filthy rich soon. "They're from Sora's universe."
"More Keyblade wielders, huh?" assumed Spyro, under the guise that Riku invited the Wayfinder trio back in town. Or maybe there was a different trio of Keyblade wielders stopping by.
"They're pretty cool for the most part. But go easy on them, okay? They might be a little clueless." Couldn't hurt to give everyone a quick heads-up.
"Long as they leave the rice cakes alone, we should be good," said Mac, who was literally stuffing his mouth said rice cakes. Min Min frowned at the young man, shaking his head. "What? They're delicious!"
"Save some for our visitors..." Min Min said to Mac as he slapped his hand away from the plate of rice cakes. Mac gave a sad look, holding his hand in pain.
Not all couples had to attend the party - take for instance Pit and Viridi, who were both working the counter at Cafe Leblanc along with Joker, Kirby, and Incineroar. The Crash clan was at the cafe, along with their friendly neighbors Rayman, Globox, and Barbara. Captain Falcon was there, too.
"Hurry up and finish your curry!" Barbara barked orders at Rayman, who was eating his bowl of curry slow and methodically - and for good reason. "We're going to miss the party because of you!"
"We are NOT going to the party," Rayman told Barbara, putting his foot down after he slurped a spoonful of curry. Slowly. "Because we are NOT a couple."
"You're right...we're a threesome!" smiled Globox, injecting himself into the romance shenanigans as he wrapped his arms around Rayman and Barbara. Rayman groaned.
"Any of you three going to the party?" Joker asked the Crash Clan, striking up a conversation with the three bandicoots. He would include Aku, but he knew for a fact that the floating mask couldn't find a date.
"Crash is expecting Tawna to stop by, so he could go with her as his date" replied Coco, as Crash eagerly nodded his head; Tawna was the only gal that Crash had his eyes on. "I doubt that she's in town, though."
"And I'm waiting on my awesome girlfriend, Nowi!" exclaimed Captain Falcon, acting as if he wanted a gold medal just for having a girlfriend. Everyone gave the racer blank stares.
"Nobody cares, Captain Falcon," Joker said to the racer, who moped as he resumed eating his curry. Cafe Leblanc would receive two more patrons when Mewtwo led Douglas and Latrell inside.
"This is Cafe Leblanc, one of our lounging areas," Mewtwo explained to Douglas and Latrell, who were both checking the place liking what they saw. "If you're lucky, you might get a discount."
"A shame they don't have a cafe at SoFi Stadium," remarked Latrell, as Douglas responded with a knowing snicker. How can a top-class football stadium not have a cafe?! "Thanks for the tip, dude."
Mewtwo: I'd like to believe that it is my civic duty to steer our guests during Super Bowl weekend away from Master Hand. Because the last thing you'd want to do is endear yourself to him, and become a favorite of his like Mr. You Know Who. No, I won't mention any names - you'll see who I'm talking about real soon.
"Have a seat, fellas," Kirby greeted Douglas and Latrell, who both took a seat at the counter. Douglas looked up and saw the menu up above. "What can we get for you?"
"He can talk?" Latrell quietly asked Douglas as he pointed at Kirby, but Douglas was too busy reading the menu to answer his friend's question.
"I'll take a bowl of red curry, please," Douglas made his order known to Kirby, as Latrell threw his arms up in defeat accepting the fact that Kirby could speak.
"One bowl of red curry, comin' right up!" shouted Pit as he designated himself as the one to fix Douglas's curry. Douglas ought to cross his fingers that his curry doesn't end up having spinal fluid, or any other questionable body fluid.
"What? Are you serious?" Mewtwo was heard speaking with someone outside the cafe, and he sounded almost offended in tone. "Why does she want him?"
"I dunno, I think that the time she spent with him messed up her brain," replied a voice, one that belonged to Bass. He sounded just as offended as Mewtwo did - and baffled. "Apparently, Master Hand wants to send out a crew to get him out."
"I know just who to ask..." Mewtwo led Bass inside the cafe, as he approached the Crash clan. The bandicoots freeing Cortex from jail would make sense in a way - but it was also ironic.
"Hey, Mewtwo - what's up?" Coco asked the genetic Pokemon, as Pit served Douglas a steaming hot bowl of red curry.
"Answer me - do any of you miss Dr. Cortex?" Mewtwo didn't know how any of the bandicoots would react - and they would react by laughing in response. They couldn't tell if Mewtwo was joking or not.
"Was that a rhetorical question?" wheezed Crunch as he slapped his knee; the burly bandicoot laughed so much, he almost fell off of his stool. "Does anyone actually miss him?"
"Tiki misses him...as a friend, at least." Once the bandicoots heard that, their laughing gradually came to a stop. "She wants him to be her date for the party."
"But why, when there are far more deserving men?" questioned Aku, failing to see how Tiki of all people could see any positive traits in Cortex. "You could be her date, Mewtwo."
"Don't you dare put that evil on me..." Mewtwo glared intensely at Aku, who backed down as he regretted the words that came out of his mouth. "...anyway, Master Hand wants some folks to band together and pay for Cortex's bail."
"You need a ride?" Captain Falcon offered to the Crash clan before they could even accept the offer. Falcon loved being a chauffeur. "Just give me the address and we'll be flying away in no time!"
"Can I go with y'all?" Latrell asked the Crash clan as Douglas, who was enjoying his curry, raised a curious eyebrow at his friend. "I know a thing or two about getting out of jail...metaphorically speaking, that is."
"You might come in handy, but your buddy over there..." Captain Falcon said to Latrell, before looking over at Douglas and cracking a smile. "...he can be a real asset."
"A real asset at what?" Latrell failed to understand what Captain Falcon was getting at, and so did Douglas. "It's not because he's white or anything, is it?"
Captain Falcon: Sneaky athletic white guys are the best guys to have. They're scrappy and gritty dudes with a high motor and a high IQ. Real gym rats who can grind hard while getting the most out of their abilities, and have a lot of heart. They're the type of guys that you can trust to take your daughter out on a date. Would I ever trust a sneaky athletic white guy to date Nah, if Nowi and I ever got married? *nods his head, smiling* You betcha.
"Seems that you three have no choice in the matter," Mewtwo said to the Crash clan, believing that Captain Falcon's volunteerism single-handedly signed them up for the mission. "I would recommend asking Wario for the bail money."
"We'll just tell him that we're buying him a Valentine's Day gift for Mona," responded Coco, before letting out a sigh; she was in no mood for going on a trip, especially one that involved Cortex. "Thanks a lot, Falcon..."
Looking for something to do, John and Charles went to the gaming room, where they saw the golf simulator. The two men were playing on the golf simulator together, along with Waluigi as the third wheel. To their surprise, Waluigi was faring pretty well.
"Wah, another perfect stroke!" cheered Waluigi, as he celebrated by doing some funky chicken dance. It was enough to make both John and Charles laugh. "And I even did it without my eyes closed."
"You couldn't even do that with your eyes closed," quipped John, as he and Charles snickered at Waluigi. Waluigi waved them both off.
"Totally lucky shot," giggled Charles, as he was slowly getting under Waluigi's skin. Wanting to set John and Charles straight, Waluigi threw his golf club to the floor as he wished to do something else.
"Oh yeah? Well, I bet you can't beat me at a game of billiards," Waluigi pointed at John and Charles, expecting them both to shudder in fear and tremble...but instead, they were laughing at the lanky man, hurting his confidence.
"Is that supposed to be a challenge?" Charles was wheezing at Waluigi, as he couldn't take the lanky man seriously. That only made Waluigi even more motivated.
"Yeah, it's a challenge! I can beat you both, one vs two." That proclamation from Waluigi only made John and Charles laugh even harder. "Or we can do two versus two instead..."
"That's more practical," John agreed with those terms, as he and Charles stopped laughing. It was John and Charles, versus Waluigi and a partner of his choosing. "Why don't I find a partner for you?"
"A partner for me to carry to victory? Go ahead, do your worst." Waluigi sounded awfully confident in his abilities, and John hoped to bring the lanky man back down the earth.
"I'll find him the worst billiards player that I can find," John whispered to Charles, as Waluigi walked away to prematurely celebrate his billiards victory. He was that confident in himself.
"Make sure they look the part," Charles whispered back, as John nodded and left the gaming room. With a lot of folks in the mansion to choose from, the possibilities were endless for John.
Many couples were inside the ballroom for the party - Mario and Peach, Link and Zelda, Robin and Lucina, and yes, even Sombra and Reaper. Sombra was parading Reaper around as her so-called sugar daddy.
"Must be terrible to be her sugar daddy," one of the party guests, Professor Kukui, sympathized with Reaper as he and Burnet were speaking with the mercenary and Sombra. "You must be extremely poor, aren't you Sombra?"
"What did you just say about me?" an insulted Sombra frowned at Kukui, as she made her advance towards the paladin. Kukui, fearing for his life, made a run for it as Sombra chased him around the ballroom.
"No, sweetie, you can't use the punch bowl as a shield!" Burnet called out to Kukui as she ran off to go protect her man. Reaper remained where he was, laughing slightly at the chaos that unfolded.
Meanwhile, Mario and Link were speaking with one another, while their wives were hanging out with a few ladies. The plumber and Hylian were chatting at the window when they were approached by Dante...and a lady friend of his.
"Mario, Link...I want you to meet Trish," Dante introduced the two to the woman - a blonde who was dressed in black. She sure was rocking those black leather pants. "She's like my right-hand gal."
"You could say that we're business partners," Trish said to Mario and Link, as she took out two guns and wielded both of them in her hands. "We like to hunt demons together..."
"Easy there, babe...this is a romantic party we're at." Dante gently placed his hand on Trish, making the demonic woman lower her guns. "Can't let you get too trigger-happy."
"Nonsense...I was only showing your friends what I'm all about." Trish placed her guns back in their holsters, placating Dante in the process.
Dante: Trish and I go way back - saved her tail, and we've been working side-by-side ever since. We've flirted some in the past, but I've tried to move on...and yet Anna decided to reel Trish to the mansion anyway. How does she know where Trish lives? What kind of stuff has Master Hand been feeding her?
"Beep, beep - coming through!" squealed Anna, busting her way inside the ballroom with a date that Master Hand apparently secured for her...that date being Wayne. Wayne looked done with life, as Anna dragged him into the ballroom by hand.
"This is gonna be a lot of fun..." remarked Shulk, smiling because of what he was witnessing - two of Master Hand's favorite people, forced to be a couple. But for one day only.
Wayne: It was bad enough that they made me come back for the Spring Festival last week, and now I'm here again for some stupid Valentine's Day party. Which is not even on stinking Valentine's Day! *groans* This is all my fault, I should stop getting injured on the court so often.
"Link, Zelda, what do you think of my date for the party?" Anna excitedly asked the Hylian couple, as she looked around the ballroom like an eager pup at the dog park. Link and Zelda came over to Anna and saw Wayne.
"He looks happy to be here," commented Link, seeing the heavy amount of defeat written across Wayne's face as he gave Anna a thumbs up. "You picked out a good one."
"Master Hand has absolutely no chill..." facepalmed Wayne; an angry letter from him to Master Hand was severely overdue by this point.
"C'mon, let's go see what kind of appetizers they have!" Anna said to Wayne, taking the basketball player's hand as she led him away. Zelda looked to her left and saw a pretty welcome sight.
"Check that out," the princess said to Link as he pointed at Ryu and Chun-li getting some private time together. But that wasn't Ryu...it was the Hisuian Zoroark posing as the fighter. We'll refer to him as Illusion Ryu, to avoid confusion.
"He finally got over himself...good for him," said Link, making sure to give Ryu some props later. Wait until the Hylian found out the ugly truth...
"Ate an entire bowl of longevity noodles, all by myself," Wario discussed with his date, Mona, as Aku floated inside the ballroom looking for the fatso. "If the Chinese tradition is to be believed, I'll live forever! Bwahaha!"
"How much money do you have on you, Wario?" Aku asked the fatso after he located him, as he floated over to him and Mona. Wario furrowed his brow.
"What an insulting question...it not only implies that I'm not rich, but that I would also give you my money. Which I would never..."
"It's for a special someone..." Aku whispered as he leaned in close to Wario, bringing the fatso's attention to Mona. Wario suckered up eventually, as he dug into his pocket and pulled out a debit card.
"Get her the best gift you can find..." Wario gave his card to Aku - only to see that Aku had no hands. Which only made the exchange a bit awkward. "Uh...do you mind growing a hand?"
"I got this..." Aku turned around and looked towards the ballroom door, and shouted, "...CRASH!" Right on cue, Crash ran inside the ballroom, as he went to Aku and accepted Wario's card.
"Watch it furball, you could've broken my nail!" Amy frowned at Crash, as she was nearly ambushed by the bandicoot. Sonic, who saw that his friend Crash was present, stroked his chin.
Outside the mansion, Captain Falcon was revving up the engine to his Falcon Flyer while Douglas and Latrell stood around. The only problem was, the engine wouldn't turn on! And Captain Falcon knew exactly why.
"Dang it! The tank's empty," the racer stated as he observed the fuel meter on his dashboard. Falcon looked out of the Falcon Flyer and pointed at Douglas. "You! Use your speed to run to the nearest gas station and get me some fuel."
"I'm not doing that," Douglas rejected Captain Falcon's request; Latrell would turn the request as well as he shook his head, right before Falcon turned his attention to him.
"Should've known that most sneaky athletic white guys aren't that trustworthy..." Forced to take matters into his own hands, Captain Falcon grabbed his keys and hopped out of his Falcon Flyer.
While his friends were having fun on their own, Cornelius was wandering around the mansion looking for something to sink his teeth into. His trek led him to the living room, where inside he saw Doc Louis comforting Little Mac.
"Thought for sure that Leia could make it..." Little Mac said to Doc Louis, sitting on a couch; he was facing his first Valentine's Day since 2017 being a single bachelor.
"Hey, if it makes you feel any better, they didn't let me into the party!" Doc Louis tried to cheer up Little Mac, as he patted the boxer on his shoulder. "Something about me needing a living partner. They had no problem with it until now!"
Doc Louis: Does Ashley still have one of those funny potions? I could ask her to make one of my chocolate bars a sentimental being and get into the party that way. That'll show 'em!
If he wished to browse the Internet and whatnot on his phone, Cornelius first had to ask someone about the mansion's wi-fi password. So he spoke with Mr. Game and Watch in the lounge, and the answer genuinely surprised him.
"Your password to the wi-fi is 'bigboobz'?" Cornelius questioned Mr. Game and Watch, as he couldn't help but cringe. Mr. Game and Watch himself felt ashamed giving Cornelius the password, let alone uttering it out loud.
"It's meant to keep us safe," replied Mr. Game and Watch, sounding like a gutless spokesperson for a certain giant hand. "According to Master Hand."
"...thanks, man." So Cornelius entered in the wi-fi password, as Mr. Game and Watch left the lounge to resume his groundskeeping duties. That's when Cornelius heard a knock at the window.
"Can you let me inside?" said the person banging on the window from outside...and it was Magolor. Cornelius stared curiously at Magolor as he walked over to the window.
"What's in it for me?" Cornelius asked Magolor, raising his voice so that the alien could hear him better. Should be noted that Magolor was holding an envelope in his hand.
"I'll give you anything that you want! Money, fame, and even a girlfriend! All that, if you can just let me inside." Those things sounded enticing to Cornelius, but it wasn't enough to reel him in.
"Just for opening this window? Nah. Also, I already have those things. Nice try, though." Giving Magolor an A for effort, Cornelius walked away from the window.
"No, wait, come back!" Magolor called out to Cornelius, who was already walking away as he was focused on his phone. "How about a new car?"
Min Min and everyone else in the dining room were partaking in the Chinese New Year festivities, as they were chowing down on some food. The foursome of Lee, Tyler, Anthony, and Mac were the honored guests of the meal.
"I don't like the way that fish head is pointed towards me..." said Anthony, as he saw a large catfish lying on a plate with its head facing him and his boys. The catfish's mouth being open made Lee feel even more uncanny.
"The fish head is to be pointed towards distinguished guests and elders," explained Min Min, as she was slurping down some longevity noodles with her chopsticks. If she scarfed down an entire bowl, she'll become immortal just like Wario!
"Ah, I get it...we must be truly special then." Anthony took a bite out of a spring roll, as there was a knock on the backdoor. Knowing who it was, Riku got up from his seat and opened the backdoor, seeing Dr. Wily.
"Dr. Wily! Took you long enough," Riku said to the robot inventor, figuring that Wily took a power nap and totally forgot about his task. "Should I have mentioned something about a time machine to make up arrive sooner?"
"It was those crooks in Twilight Town that held me up..." explained Wily, revealing some evidence as he took out a few popsicle sticks from his lab coat pocket. "...and that lousy duck with the top hat. But nonetheless, I have brought your friends! Come on in, you three."
So Riku moved out of the way, as Wily brought three individuals inside the dining room - a tall guy with spiky red hair, a girl with short black hair, and a third individual who looked like a split copy of Ventus. He caught the residents' attention the most - Spyro and Hunter's as well.
"So this is the Smash Mansion, huh...?" the tall guy remarked as he stood in the dining room with his friends, before seeing the food on the table. And everyone eating said food. "...hey! Save some food for us!"
"Roxas, Axel, and Xion...it's been a while," Riku greeted the trio, who were delighted to see a familiar face standing in their midst. "Welcome to the Spring Festival feast."
"So is this what you invited us for?" the tall guy, Axel, frowned at Riku; Wily had mentioned the feast to Axel and friends back in Twilight Town, having Axel hooked when the matter of food brought was brought up. "Riku, you are one awesome friend!"
"The least you can do is save some for us, Axel," said the Ventus look-alike, whose name was Roxas - Sora stated in episode 89 that Roxas was his Nobody. Cloud still couldn't see Sora and Roxas being friends.
"Your friends all look lame," Hunter said to Riku, thinking nothing much about Roxas, Axel, and Xion - and he was quite blunt with his remark, too. Spyro shook his head at Anthony, disapproving.
"You got some pretty cool friends," Lee said to Riku, not wanting Roxas and company's feelings hurt by Hunter. Although none of them needed Lee or anyone else to cheer them up.
"That cheetah guy is giving me weird vibes..." the girl, Xion, whispered to Roxas as she saw Hunter staring at the trio intently. To Xion, the way he was staring was quite unnerving.
Spyro: Roxas looks an awful lot like the Ventus dude that was around for the holidays. What's up with that? Is he a clone?...He's Sora's Nobody? Okay, now you're just making me confused...
Hunter: Why do I feel like a repeat of the situation with that "Wayfinder trio" is about to happen?
"Min Min, do you mind us borrowing some of your food?" Mamori asked the martial artist as she and Ashley entered the dining room, holding a digital camera and tripod respectively. "We wanna do a Chinese-themed episode today."
"Hold it! Give us a chance to have some of the food first," Axel said to Mamori, trying to steer her and Ashley away. Ashley looked at Axel, wondering if he knew who he was dealing with.
"And you are?" Ashley asked Axel; you could say that Ashley was unimpressed by Axel, but she was like that towards any person she encountered.
"The name's Axel - got it memorized?" Axel leaned in close to Ashley and tapped the side of his head, expecting the young witch to know his name.
"I don't think I'll care enough to even remember your name." Just like that, Axel was in shambles as Spyro and a few others laughed at the poor guy. "So Min Min, what will it be?"
"You can have the chicken dumpling, no one's really bothered those," Min Min told Ashley, seeing that a plate of dumplings was mostly untouched. "If you want me to be on your web show, then you're out of luck..."
"What's this? Some kind of brunch?" asked Cornelius as he wandered into the dining room, seeing the food assembled on the table. "And no one invited me?"
"We were really counting on you, Min Min," Mamori said to the martial artist, as she and her co-hosts were forced to go back to the drawing board. But Lee, after seeing Cornelius, had the perfect solution.
"Hey man, you wanna be on a web show?" Lee asked Cornelius, who was mildly intrigued, before turning his attention to Ashley and asking, "What's the name of your show?"
"It's called Microwave Idol Mamorin...and neither of you two will be on it," answered Ashley, knowing that Mamori would make the final choice on who the guest star(s) would be. Wasn't like Mamori would actually...
"You two are welcome to be on our show!" Mamori excitedly said to Lee and Cornelius, as Ashley was immediately beside herself. "We'll let you guys know when we're ready to go."
Lee: The mascot of the college team we played for is the Tigers, so it's only fitting that we're on a web show where the episode is themed after Chinese New Year...
Cornelius: ...the Year of the Tiger. *wraps his arm around Lee* The two of us are gonna kill it out there.
Hal was back at the mansion, and he was en route to Snake's room. He saw Snake in his doorway, taking a quick smoke - Snake only took the chance when Master Hand or Isabelle weren't nearby.
"Hello, Snake," Hal greeted the former spy, who instantly panicked as he put his cigar away. Snake sighed in relief when he only saw Hal. "Mind if I use your room for a bit? Need to call Mei Ling."
"Mei Ling, eh?" Snake asked Hal, who took out his phone as he already had Mei's number pulled up on the screen. "Have at it, then." So Snake stepped to the side, only for Hal to grab him and pull him out of his own room. "What the..."
"Sorry, Snake, but this call with Mei...it's kinda private. I'll let you back in once I'm done, okay?" Before he even let Snake agree to those terms, Hal closed the door on the former spy, as Snake growled angrily.
But Snake's anger would subside, as he looked at the window at the end of the hallway and saw a troublemaker...Magolor. Magolor looked like he was trying to find a way inside the mansion through the window.
"Back for more, aren't you?" growled Snake as he marched over to the window, as Magolor saw the former spy heading his way and appeared afraid. However, John happened to come around the corner, as Snake came to a halt.
"Hey, buddy, why do you look so mad?" John asked Snake with a smile, as Snake was trying to look past the man. "It's a Friday - you gotta let loose!"
"But I can't, that Magolor might get away with..." Snake finally looked past John and grumbled when he saw that Magolor was no longer at the window. "...and he got away. Nice going."
"Tell you what, how about you join me and my friend for some billiards?" John placed his hand on Snake's shoulder, as he led the former spy away. "You sure could unwind for a bit."
"How can I, with Magolor afoot? Get your filthy hands off of me!" Refusing to give in to Snake's command, John led Snake away to the gaming room, whether he liked it or not.
Falco considered contacting Katt Monroe and asking her to join him at the party, but Anna had beaten the avian pilot to the punch after sending Katt an invite. Falco was at the party right now with Katt, he and his woman chatting with Fox and Krystal.
"You would not believe the number of pics Falco had taken during our one-day trip to Arcadia Bay," Fox said to Katt, who was now under the guise that her boyfriend was an attention hog. "Took several with a few women..."
"...all of him already have boyfriends, I might add," stated Falco, clearing the air as he didn't want Katt to assume anything. "I asked them each individually before each photo shoot."
"Oh really? Do you remember their names?" Katt asked Falco, as she had the avian pilot stumped. Falco could literally shout out any name at random to dig himself out of the hole he was in.
"Not really, but at least they were still pretty!" A pretty whack answer to give, as Fox smacked his forehead while Krystal smiled amusingly.
Katt: Who's the name of the photographer that did Fox and Falco's photoshoot?...Max Caulfield? Might have to ask him some questions later. Max is a guy, isn't he?
"Uh, Amy, I have to go use the bathroom," Sonic said to the pink hedgehog, who was delighting herself with a tray of chocolate-covered strawberries. "Does this romper come with a zipper?"
"Sadly, it doesn't - you'll have to take it completely off," replied Amy - that was no trouble for Sonic, as the blue hedgehog happily undressed in the middle of the ballroom. "Not in the ballroom, Sonic!"
"I'm sorry, Amy, but that romper is too restricting. Especially around the pelvic area. I'll be back soon!" Sonic sped out of the ballroom, making a mad dash to the nearest bathroom.
"Don't take too long!" Amy called out to Sonic, hoping that her boyfriend would be back sooner than later. She couldn't afford to be alone at the party.
"Pyra, Mythra, your beau has arrived!" a voice called out from outside the ballroom, and it belonged to a certain Crown Prince. Those in the ballroom who recognized this voice - namely Cloud, Reaper, and a few others - were most displeased.
"Oh no..." muttered Cloud, and would you know it, Zeke entered the ballroom along with his Blade, Pandoria. Zeke was holding an invite, as the first couple he ran into was Cloud and Aerith.
"Cloud Strife!" It irked Cloud hearing Zeke still say his full name. "Good to see that you're well and dandy on this fine afternoon. And so does your lady."
"Let's get away from this freak," Cloud said to Aerith as he guided the flower girl as far away from Zeke as possible. Zeke looked around the ballroom for Pyra and Mythra, before setting his eyes upon Anna and Wayne at the punch bowl.
"Miss Anna!" Zeke hustled his way over to the merchant, bringing his invite with him as Pandoria tried to keep up with her Driver. "Much thanks for inviting me to this wonderful party. Now, have you seen my beau anywhere? Pyra and Mythra?"
"Is she not your beau?" Wayne questioned Zeke, as he pointed at Pandoria; he had no honest idea what compelled him to speak with Zeke.
"String bean! It's good to see you again. Say, are you and Anna a couple now?" Zeke meant well with his question, but he only ticked off Wayne instead.
"That's it...I'm done." Wayne walked away from the punch bowl, trying to distance himself from Anna so that no one else would get the wrong idea. Meanwhile, Master Hand appeared in the ballroom, seeing how the party was going.
"Having a fun time, you two?" the giant hand asked Dawn and Barry, who were chilling in the far corner of the ballroom. Dawn was on her Rotom phone, counting down the hours until it was time to head back home.
"We only have one minor complaint," replied Barry, speaking on behalf of Dawn and himself, as Dawn gave her friend a mean-looking side-eye. "This party is missing something...a raffle!"
"A raffle? Well, I can do you one better...watch me." Hoping to knock Barry's socks off (and Dawn's too if she cared), Master Hand vanished away. Amy walked over to where Master Hand was, getting a bit antsy.
"Shouldn't take him that long to use the bathroom..." the pink hedgehog said concerningly, hoping that Sonic didn't have the runs or anything. Unless...
Mega Man was at Cafe Leblanc...and no, before you ask, the baristas weren't serving him coffee. Mega Man, being a robot, got a special oil drink at the cafe. The other robots in the mansion shared the same privilege. And if you weren't a robot but you still wanted to drink the oil, you had to make a request. Although no non-robot would be insane enough to do that.
"Proto Man is doing prop bets for the Super Bowl," Mega Man said to the baristas, as he was happily sipping his oil through a straw in his mug. "That said, I'm really rooting for the Rams to beat the Bengals."
"Why do you hate Harambe so?" Pit asked Mega Man, looking at the robot as if his Super Bowl prediction personally affected him. Mega Man eyed around the cafe, looking confused.
"I never said that I hated Harambe..." Mega Man would soon be greeted by Master Hand, who appeared above the robot and baristas. "...hey, Master Hand. What's up?"
"I'm not going to bother Bass anymore, so I'll ask you instead," Master Hand said to Mega Man, who automatically assumed that he had to use the teleportation device. "Can you find me some...special entertainment for the party?"
Home-free from the party, Sonic went off to search for Crash's whereabouts. His first course of action was to ask a resident about Crash, and so he went to the dining room Min Min and company were.
"Check it out! Sonic the Hedgehog," said Lee, as Sonic was standing at the dining room entrance. "The hits just keep on coming."
"Woah! Pretty nice spread you got here," Sonic said to Pyra and Mythra as he checked out the food on the table, before seeing everyone sitting around. The hedgehog's attention was drawn to Roxas. "Nice seeing you again, Ventus."
"I'm not Ventus," Roxas clarified to Sonic, well-aware of how terribly confused he made the hedgehog feel. But it wasn't Sonic's fault. "I'm Roxas - I'm Sora's Nobody."
"So I guess that means you're evil, huh?" Might take a while for Roxas to clear his name, if necessary. "I'll give you a pass...for now. Has any one of you seen Crash anywhere?"
"I think he went outside with his siblings," Mythra informed Sonic, who gave the Blade a thumbs up as he sped out of the dining room. Seconds later, Mamori returned to the dining room.
"Alright boys, Microwave Idol Mamorin is about to start!" Mamori informed Lee and Cornelius, as everything in the kitchen was all set up. "Put your game faces on!"
"Mind if I hop in on this?" Anthony asked Lee, refusing to be left out of the fun. Choosing not to leave his best buddy behind, Lee cracked a smile at Anthony as he gave him a fist bump.
Sonic was outside, snooping around outside looking for Crash and the rest of the Crash clan. He would find them at the side of the mansion, gathered at the Falcon Flyer with Douglas and Latrell. Captain Falcon was busy filling up the Flyer's gas tank.
"That should do it!" exclaimed Captain Falcon after he was done with his task, as he tossed the last empty oil can away. The racer closed the gas cap on the Falcon Flyer, before hopping inside his vehicle and turning on the ignition.
"Hope nobody had to use these oil cans," said Coco as she inspected the pile of empty oil cans, before picking one up. The blonde bandicoot furrowed her brow when she saw the words "For Cafe Leblanc Use Only" inscribed.
Joker: You're telling me that Captain Falcon bothered the oil cans? *sighs, then facepalms* We've already been through this...does he not know how expensive that kind of oil is? Those robots better enjoy some scones for the time being...
"You guys going on a trip?" Sonic asked the group, making his presence known as he walked over to them. Douglas and Latrell were hyped to see Sonic, the latter more so. "Tell me you got room for one more!"
"Bruh, it's Sonic!" Latrell excitedly said to Douglas, feeling like a little kid as he couldn't believe his eyes. Almost like he was in a dream. "We gotta let him come with us!"
"Sonic?" uttered Captain Falcon, hearing the hedgehog's name; the racer turned off the engine as he hopped out of the Flyer to see Sonic in his midst. "Why are you coming along?"
"Why not - can't hurt to get out once in a while," replied Sonic - a guy like him was always constantly on the move. "You don't think you need me?"
"Nah, we got all the speed that we need!" Captain Falcon confidently wrapped his arm around Douglas, in a way that made him feel uncomfortable. "Courtesy of yours truly, and Mr. Sneaky Athletic White Guy right here."
"I have a name, you know..." Douglas informed Captain Falcon, as he gently took the racer's arm off of him. Sonic stared at Falcon, impatiently tapping his foot with his arms folded.
"I highly advise that you let Sonic hop aboard," Aku suggested to Captain Falcon, as he was looking out for the racer. "Let him be the sixth ranger." The floating mask had to change his tune, after taking into account how many folks were coming along. "Or the seventh ranger. Or eighth..."
"If anyone's the eighth ranger...it's definitely you," Captain Falcon said to Aku, hurting the floating mask's feelings as he hopped back inside the Falcon Flyer and turned the engine back on. "Everybody get in!"
John made the right call in pegging Snake to Waluigi's billiards partner. Since he was so focused on capturing Magolor, Snake was barely able to concentrate while playing billiards. He was dragging Waluigi down, which frustrated Waluigi a bit.
"Dang it Snake, you have the cue stick facing the wrong side!" Waluigi shouted at the former spy, who had his cue facing the wrong direction. John and Charles stood at the side, laughing.
"I just want this dumb billiards game over with," muttered Snake as he hit an 8 ball into the other billiards balls, which was clearly against the rules. John and Charles laughed even harder, as Snake's carelessness played out in front of him.
"Seriously, you're making me look bad..." Waluigi pulled on his hat and fell down to his knees, as Snake struck another billiards ball with his cue. "...your turn is already over, man!"
"Keep it up, Snake, you're doing great," John encouraged Snake, as he watched the former spy carry him and Charles to a flawless victory.
Back at the ballroom party, there was a conga line going on; Peach, Bayonetta, Dante, Chrom, and many others were all part of this conga line, with Mario leading the way. Bayonetta's date, Luka Redgrave, stood at the side with Cloud, judging the conga line dancers.
"Hop in, Cloud - we have a spot for you!" Aerith called out to the swordsman, who was left shaking his head; it bothered Cloud seeing Aerith in the conga line. How dare the flower girl have fun!
"You are all weirdoes," Luka called out the conga line dancers, trying not to include Bayonetta as much. Cloud, having seen enough, walked away.
"Your makeup looks lovely today," Illusion Ryu said to Chun-li, as Luka turned around and saw the fighter...erm, baneful fox Pokemon talking with Chun-li. "Did something different?"
"Not really, just the usual," replied Chun-li, who was pleased with how her conversations have been with Ryu...Illusion Ryu, that is. "Surprised that you took the time to notice!"
"I'll say it stuck out more today than before...I probably wasn't paying enough attention. Maybe after this party is over, we can share a kiss!"
"Get a room...?" muttered Luka, as he walked away from Illusion Ryu and Chun-li; he considered joining the conga line, but instantly thought against it.
Chun-li: Ryu has been very much unlike how he was last Tuesday. In fact, this is the most charming I've ever seen him! That talk I had with him over the phone must've set him straight.
"ATTENTION EVERYONE!" shouted Master Hand as he returned to the ballroom with an important announcement to make, as the conga line came to a stop. "At long last, this party now has a special attraction."
"Yes! It's about that time!" cheered Barry, easily the most excited partygoer as he pumped his fist. Almost punched Robin's eye out in the process. "Time for the raffle!"
"Don't get your hopes up..." Dawn muttered to Barry, who was unable to contain excitement as he was grinning from ear to ear. Barry was rubbing his hands with anticipation, as Mega Man entered the ballroom.
"Now introducing this afternoon's special entertainment...give these two a round of applause!" shouted Mega Man, as there was some applause in the ballroom. The applause died down, however, when a black guy wearing a peacoat, heart-rimmed glasses, and a blonde wig entered.
"This is Todd; he will be our special entertainment for this party," Master Hand introduced the man to everyone, as there were confused looks and murmurings among the crowd. Which Master Hand expected. "Make sure you treat him well."
"Who wants to have fun?" Todd asked the crowd, only getting a fairly lukewarm response. Todd saw that as something worth improving upon. "We're here to have fun. Life's full of fun. I'm fun. You should be fun too. So says Todd."
"That guy's doing the Valentine's Day raffle?" asked Barry as he pointed at Todd, while Dawn smacked her head; Dawn couldn't get back home - and away from Barry - soon enough.
Mega Man: Master Hand apparently had one idea in mind for the special entertainment, and it was...a Tupac hologram. "Like the one that was at Coachella", he says. Where would we even find the technology for that? Also, what romantic songs does Tupac have?
Master Hand: I've been told by Mega Man that Todd might be one of the performers from the Super Bowl halftime, in disguise. Which I highly doubt. But you know what they say - looks can be deceiving.
"You never mentioned anything about a Valentine's Day raffle," Todd said to Master Hand, as the smile Barry once had slowly faded away as disappointment took over.
"Ignore Barry - he's a very needy child," Master Hand warned Todd about Barry, as a disappointed Barry slumped to the back of the ballroom. No raffle today. "Just hop on that stage and do your thing."
"Will do, Master Hand...will do." So Todd hurried unto the stage, where he saw K.K. Slider playing some romantic party tunes from his laptop. K.K. Slider got himself a partner-in-crime.
"What up, groovy cat?" K.K. Slider greeted Todd, who saw the microphone stand on the stage and did a brief mic check. "Go ahead and grab that mic, and sing your heart out."
"I'm not going to be doing any singing." This was a surprise to K.K. Slider, as Todd grabbed the microphone. What would Todd be doing instead? "I'm only here to have some fun!"
"Uh...far out, man. Outasight. Go break a leg." K.K. Slider gave free rein to Todd, who faced a crowd that didn't receive him too well.
"So who's ready for Valentine's Day?!" Todd asked the crowd, getting another lukewarm response. Todd had a lot to work with. "Come on, you can do better than that..."
Lee and Cornelius weren't the only guests appearing on Microwave Idol Mamorin - Lee had brought Anthony into the fold, refusing to leave him out of the fun. That's when Mamori proposed a crazy idea - a three-on-three culinary competition, boys versus girls, with Ashley, Asuka, and herself pitted against Lee, Cornelius, and Anthony.
The competition? It was essentially a cook-off to see which team would make the best chicken dumplings. Naturally, Ashley was the only one against the idea, but everyone else was on board. The two teams were putting in the work to make the best chicken dumplings they could.
"All done," announced Lee after he and his men were done, as he took the chef hat off his head and wiped off some sweat from his forehead. "Hope you ladies enjoy second place."
"Is that Larry Bird trash talk I hear?" inquired Pigma, who was in the fridge grabbing a drink. Mamori saw the pig in the kitchen and frowned.
"Get out, Pigma, you're not supposed to be in the frame!" Mamori snapped on Pigma, who quickly slammed the fridge door as Mamori chased him out of the kitchen. Regaining her composure, Mamori returned to her seat. "Is everyone ready to reveal their creation?"
"Ready as we'll ever be," smirked Anthony, confident that his team's chicken dumplings would knock Mamori and friends' dumplings out of the park. It was now or never.
"Alright, you go first!" Asuka said to Lee and the boys, who revealed their chicken dumplings to the viewers at home. Asuka, Ashley, and Mamori cringed when they saw the dumplings.
"We call this dish...the chili cheese chicken dumplings," Lee named the dish, showing the dumplings to the camera. The dumplings were smothered with chili and molten cheese. "Did it in the name of Skyline Chili."
"It was his idea," stated Cornelius as he pointed at Lee, likely not wanting to be lumped together with Lee and Anthony when it came to being judged. Lee knew what Cornelius was all about too, as he frowned at him.
"Looks awfully suspicious, but...we'll give you an A for effort!" Asuka said to Lee and company, slightly fibbing as she and her friends kept their true sentiments to themselves.
Lee: If you never had Skyline Chili, then you obviously haven't lived yet. That being said...you better get to it.
"Uh oh...surprise cameo appearance incoming!" shouted Hunter as he ran inside the kitchen, nearly knocking the plate of chili cheese chicken dumplings to the floor. Mamori was bemused seeing the cheetah, but she wasn't the only one...
"Dude, can you not see that we're in the middle of something?" Lee scolded Hunter, who was about to say a few words only to be shut down immediately. "Maybe one day you can have the glory of being on this show."
"Fat chance of that ever happening," snorted Spyro, who was standing at the kitchen entrance keeping to himself. He didn't want to be seen on camera with Hunter, and for many understandable reasons.
"But it's the Year of the Tiger! I'm a cat, so therefore I should..." Hunter would immediately stop speaking when he saw Anthony and Cornelius, confronting him as if they were looking for a fight.
"Aren't you a cheetah?" Anthony asked Hunter, who was too nervous to answer as he shuddered a bit. Spyro was impressed by how much Anthony and Cornelius had his friend shook. "Get back to the table..."
Doing as he was told, Hunter returned to the dining room as he followed after Spyro, hunched over in sadness. The cheetah sat back down in his seat, as those at the feast observed his sadness.
"How did it go?" Mac asked Hunter, whose face fell to the table - and unto his plate of rice and spring rolls no less. "Heard it was pretty tense in there."
"Hunter tried to make a name for himself on Microwave Idol Mamorin," explained Spyro, caring very little about Hunter's plight as he grabbed a rice ball and tossed it into his mouth. "Everyone in the kitchen knew better."
"We tried to warn you," Xion said to Hunter, who wasn't in the mood for talking as he could be heard moaning in defeat. And sadness. But the cheetah wouldn't be sad much longer, as he and Spyro were joined by some familiar company.
"There you two are!" exclaimed Bianca, as she and Elora entered the dining room. Hunter was back to his usual self as he sat back up in his chair. "We were wondering when you were both coming."
"So you were eating Chinese food with your friends, and you didn't even invite us..." said Elora, making it seem like she was ticked off at first, only to smile seconds later. "...I'd expect that from Hunter, but not you, Spyro."
"Yeah, same," agreed Hunter, nodding his head, only to look offended once Elora's words were fully registered in his mind. "What, what did you just say?"
"Those are your girlfriends?" Tyler asked Spyro and Hunter, trying to figure out how a dragon and cheetah could mingle with a faun and rabbit, respectively. Only one of them was a legit couple. "Look, I'm not one to judge, but..."
"Are you some kind of goat?" Axel asked Elora, who was deeply insulted - although it wasn't the first time anyone asked her that question. Peep at Fox in episode 157.
"I'm a faun, you...ah, forget it," responded Elora, holding her tongue as she chose to let Roxas believe what he wanted to believe. No point in educating him.
"Hey, at least he didn't think of you as a 'deformed deer creature,'" Bianca said to Elora as she placed her hand on the faun's back. "Unlike that yellow-eyed creep that you let in through the window, for whatever reason." Yellow-eyed creep? Let in through a window?
Captain Falcon and the gang arrived at the jail that Cortex was held at, about to release the evil genius from his sentence. But first, they had to speak with the receptionist at the front desk in the jail's waiting room.
"Dr. Neo Cortex is still serving his jail sentence for road rage," the receptionist said to Captain Falcon and company, with the kind of candor you'd expect from someone working at a jail. "Therefore, he cannot be released at this time."
"We completely understand...but consider this," Crunch said to the receptionist as he placed some money - Wario's money - on the front desk. The bandicoot smiled at the receptionist, who didn't return the favor.
"You're not the first group of visitors to bribe me with money. But I'll give you credit for not using counterfeit bills like the last folks..." As Captain Falcon looked to his left, he saw a prison guard walking down the hallway.
"Psst, look - he has keys in his pocket!" Captain Falcon whispered discreetly to the others, pointing at the jail keys dangling from the prison guard's pants. "Time to send our sneaky athletic white guy in action."
"But won't I get myself in trouble for..." Douglas started, only for Captain Falcon to push him forward; Douglas was out in the open, refusing to make a move. "...I don't like how this is going!"
"Now's your chance! Chase down that guard and take his keys!" But Douglas was frozen in place, not risking potentially getting himself in trouble. Especially at a jail with tight security.
"Lemme give you a head start," Sonic said to Douglas, as he did a spin dash on the prison guard and sent him falling down to the floor. The receptionist caught Sonic in the act, gasping in shock.
"I'ma hold him down!" volunteered Latrell as he ran over to the fallen prison guard, holding him down Douglas who was still unmoving. "Do it, do it!"
"Seriously guys, is this necessary?" Coco frowned at Captain Falcon and company, grateful that neither one of her bandicoot brothers was partaking in the whole shenanigans. "All this just to have Cortex freed from jail..."
"Wait...you wanted to free Dr. Cortex from jail?" the receptionist asked Coco and the others, as the apathy on her face was replaced by genuine excitement. "Why didn't you say that earlier?!"
"But you said that he was still serving his sentence..." Not anymore, as the receptionist quickly grabbed the phone and dial a number. Homegirl was acting like she was hitting up her fiance after he returned from war.
"Hello? Yes, it's me. Can you release Cortex from...okay then, thank you. Ah, stop it, you're even happier than I am! Okay, bye." The receptionist hung up the phone, before cheering like it was her birthday.
"That went easier than I expected," remarked Captain Falcon, as Latrell got off of the prison guard and helped him up to his feet. Douglas was finally saved from unleashing his "sneaky athletic white guy" powers.
Sonic: Did everyone in the jail resent Cortex being there? The people at the jail I stayed at felt the same way! Cortex and I actually have something in common! *grimaces* How gross...
The wait for Cortex to be a free man was comically short, as two prison guards appeared with Cortex only moments later. They tossed the evil genius out of the door, happy to be finally freed from him.
"Good riddance!" one of the prison guards shouted at Cortex before he and his fellow guard left the premises. Cortex was laying face-first on the floor, slowly lifting up his head.
"What's this?" questioned Cortex, as he looked around at the group that came to get him out of jail. "Captain Falcon? Sonic? A sneaky athletic white guy?!"
"Come on, man..." grumbled Douglas, as Cortex saw one face that greatly surprised him - Crash. The evil genius pulled himself up to his feet, as he was gawking at the bandicoot.
"Crash? You came to see me, too? I get it - it's just like Sonic and Dr. Eggman! You simply can't resist me! We're totally..." And that's when Crash ran up to Cortex, embracing him in a hug. "...alright, honeymoon over!'
"Tiki got her man," remarked Aku, as Cortex broke free from his hug with Crash by aggressively pushing the bandicoot away. "Saying that makes me want to throw up..."
"Since I'm out of jail, I should spread the good news!" Cortex took out his phone as he pulled up something other than the phone app. Hmm. "I know the first person to call..."
Special entertainment was provided at the party, at least in the form of Todd. Todd wasn't doing a Valentine's Day raffle, as Barry had originally hoped, but instead, he was doing some stand-up. If you even want to consider it stand-up.
"I like to paintball, crochet, and do a little spoken word in my free time," Todd said to the crowd, who were mostly tuning him out as they were too busy enjoying the party. "Have I told you about White Guys Connect? Yeah, baby!"
"I don't think that's for anyone in this room..." responded Kukui, who was sporting a black eye thanks to Sombra. He heard his phone make a funny ringing sound, and he took his device out to see what the deal was. "..oh cool! Someone's calling me in the chatroom."
"Who is it?" Burnet asked Kukui, who walked away so that he could answer the call. Burnet followed after her man, curious as to who was calling him.
"Dr. Neo Cortex! You sound awfully chipper," Kukui spoke into the phone, as Burnet couldn't who Kukui was on the phone with. "Got out of jail, didn't you?"
Professor Burnet: Nope, it wasn't me who sent Cortex an invite to that group chat - I'm not an idiot. Sadly, my husband had to be that idiot. *sighs lovingly* But I still love him, though.
Having found their respective dates in Spyro and Hunter, Elora and Bianca were at the ballroom, getting to enjoy the party. But if there was one person who wasn't enjoying the party, it was Amy - for Sonic had yet to return.
"He won't return any of my calls," Amy gave the details of her dilemma to Mario and Link, expecting them both to reel Sonic back to the party somehow. "And I know for a fact that he didn't put his phone on silent..."
"Maybe his phone just died," Link assumed with a shrug, as Amy was going through her call log. She had tried calling Sonic six times, in just the span of less than half a minute.
"Not true, I checked his phone battery before we went to the party and it was like fifty percent." Knowing Amy, she must not have asked nicely. "His phone couldn't have died on him that soon."
The Spring Festival feast in the dining room was over and the honored guests were full from their meal. Or almost full. Either way, they were ready to kick back and unwind after delighting themselves with some Chinese food, as Lee and his boys were chilling in the gaming room.
"Those chicks have no idea what they were missing out on," Lee said to his boys concerning the chili cheese chicken dumplings, sitting together on a couch. Meanwhile, John and Charles were still having their game of billiards with Waluigi and Snake.
"Can you stop making me look bad?" Waluigi pleaded to Snake, who was still playing terribly at billiards - and not giving a single care about it. "How am I supposed to win with your terrible play?"
"Blame yourself for caring too much," responded Snake, as he hit a colored ball into a white ball - the exact opposite of what he was meant to do.
"I think this game has gone on far too long," said John, now calling it quits as the game was already out of reach. Being humored by Snake's poor play had lost its luster. "You've broken too many rules, Snake - you barely gave anyone a turn!"
"Since when were you a stickler for the rules?" Snake was about to confront John, only to look out the gaming room entrance and frown when he saw Magolor pass by. "How did he get inside?"
"How did who get inside?" Charles asked Snake, who ran out of the room without saying a word. Charles exchanged baffled looks with John, as no one had any explanation for Snake's abrupt leave.
Magolor was walking down the hallway with his envelope - an envelope that he intended to give to somebody at the mansion. Could be for Kirby, could be for Master Hand, who knows. The alien was peering down at the envelope, before looking up and coming to a stop when he saw Riku and friends headed his way.
"Maybe later, we can crash the party in the ballroom," Riku suggested to Roxas, Axel, and Xion, as he was leading the trio to the gaming room. "Give Sora and Kairi a real surprise." The silverette came to a stop when he saw Magolor alone by himself.
"Um...hi!" Magolor waved to Riku, hoping that Riku would go easy on him. The same went for Riku's friends. "I don't believe that we've been formally met."
"You're the alien freak that tried to hypnotize Master Hand." Already, Riku was putting Magolor on the spot, as he had the alien shivering in fear. "What was that all about?"
"Can a man not test out his hypnosis ray? I just...wanted to see if it worked on anyone that had no eyes." It was a weak excuse for Riku to buy, as the silverette shook his head. "The others wouldn't let me test it out!"
"One good look at you, and I could see why..." Axel said to Magolor, seeing the alien as easy pickings. Just then, a wicked idea entered his mind. "...hey Riku, how about we shred this little guy to pieces?"
"Oh no, not precious little me! I'm not even shredder-safe! If that's even a..." Magolor was backing away from Riku and friends, only to back up into a pair of legs. Gulping nervously, Magolor looked up...and saw Snake.
"That's fine...I can shred you to pieces myself," said Snake, before grabbing Magolor and choking the alien out. Magolor was crying for help and gasping for air, as Snake put him in a world of hurt.
"Should we do something?" Xion asked Riku, who felt uncomfortable seeing Magolor in so much pain. And Snake was enjoying every second of it. "Who knows - he might even kill him!"
"Let Snake have his fun - he's clearly been wanting to do this for some time," replied Riku, leading his friends past Snake and Magolor en route to the gaming room. Nobody could save Magolor now...
Chun-li was impressed by how Ryu - Illusion Ryu - was acting during the party. She came to the party expecting to be disappointed, but instead, she was all smiles all the time. In general, she was in a better mood compared to last week.
"Excuse me - may I see that microphone?" Illusion Ryu asked Todd as he walked onto the stage; given that Todd did nothing but discuss his favorite hobbies and how much he liked women, anyone would be an improvement on the mic over him.
"The floor is yours, baby..." Todd said to Illusion Ryu as he handed him the mic; Illusion Ryu tapped into the mic, garnering everyone's attention.
"Hello, everyone, this is Ryu speaking. I'm not sure if every single one of you knows, but I happen to like Chun-li - more than just a friend."
"This is it - his shining moment!" an ecstatic Ken said to Link and Zelda, as he was unable to contain his excitement. Chun-li was looking on with everyone else, smiling.
"I could've waited until the party's end to do this, but I couldn't wait much longer. So Chun-li, why don't you join me on this..."
"No way, mister! Not on my watch!" Amy shouted at Illusion Ryu, as she angrily marched onto the stage and snatched away the microphone. "This is supposed to be my moment! OUR moment!"
"Now, Amy, this isn't the time to voice your..." started Rosalina, only for Amy to point accusingly at the mother of Lumas. Amy simply wasn't having it.
"You shut your mouth! You said that I couldn't play my video. So many sleepless nights I spent putting together all those pictures of me and Sonic...and you had the gall to say it wasn't fitting for this party!"
"Isn't that kind of like gloating?" Todd asked Amy, who took off her shoe and tossed it at the man. Todd shrieked as he ducked to avoid the shoe.
"That video was meant to show everyone here how much Sonic and I have grown in our love. To show everyone what a real couple looks like. To show everyone who the best..."
Suddenly, the large window in the ballroom broke, as a flying object crashed through. That flying object was Cortex, who was flying on his hover boots. Which ran out of fuel at the last minute.
"Uh oh..." panicked Cortex, shouting as he fell onto the stage Everyone on the stage moved out of harm's way...except for Illusion Ryu, whom Cortex fell on top of. "...guess who's back, everyone!"
"Something weird's going on Ryu..." observed Chrom, seeing that Illusion Ryu's body was acting funny. The illusion was starting to fade.
"Um, hello? Evil genius making his grand special appearance!" Unfortunately for Cortex, everyone was too fixated on Illusion Ryu, whom Cortex hopped off him with a shriek when he saw the funny body malfunctions.
Once the illusion faded, Illusion Ryu was revealed to be none other than Hisuian Zoroark. Everyone gasped, as the baneful Fox Pokemon's identity was revealed.
"An imposter, we have an imposter in our midst!" Todd cried out as he pointed at Hisuian Zoroark, saving his hide as he walked off the stage. "White Guys Connect, don't forget to check it out!"
Ryu: Do I worry that Zoroark will potentially lash out if his identity were to be revealed? Not as much. We've done a fine job taming him, so in the worst possible case scenario, he would just make a weak, easily scared man wet their pants.
Isabelle: Hisuian Zoroark is said to be hostile towards people and Pokemon alike...but he also has a soft side. If you treat him like family, he'll treat you the same way. For that reason, Master Hand made everyone offer food to Zoroark so that they wouldn't have any trouble in the future. I will admit, Ryu gave that Zoroark more portions than he was allowed...
"I was with a Pokemon...this whole time?" Chun-li crinkled her nose, ticked off that the real Ryu had bailed out on her. Captain Falcon and his gang arrived at the ballroom, seeing Cortex on the stage.
"Way to go, Cortex - now we have another window broken!" Captain Falcon scolded the evil genius, as Mr. Game and Watch had to repair yet another broken window in the ballroom. "Could've flown with me in my Falcon Flyer, but no..."
"I'm sorry, Captain Falcon - guess I was too motivated when you told me that Tiki wanted to be my date for the party," Cortex apologized to the racer, as Amy tightened her fists when she saw Sonic. Sonic instantly knew what was coming for him.
"You kept me waiting this whole time, just so you could mess around with your friends?!" Amy growled at Sonic as she whipped out her Piko Hammer. Letting out a scream, Amy chased Sonic out of the ballroom.
"Amy won't be the only angry girlfriend..." Link said to Zelda, as he observed how angry Chun-li was with Ryu. Ryu might never hear the end of it.
Hal was finishing up his call with Mei Ling, after multiple attempts to call the Chinese woman. The Luminary was passing by when Hal opened the bedroom door, still on the hone.
"I'll see you in China soon," Hal spoke with Mei over the phone, shuddering slightly when he saw the Luminary standing outside the room. "Take care!"
"Mr. Emmerich!" the Luminary said to Hal, who ended his call with Mei and put his phone away. "We never finished having our conversation last Friday."
"What conversation?" Hal adjusted his glasses, as the Luminary dug into his pocket and pulled out the photos. Hal immediately grew nervous. "Oh yes, those pictures..."
"Bayonetta said that I should speak with you about them, and you're here now, so...care to explain?" The Luminary showed Hal one photo, as Hal was forced to give an explanation.
"That, my young lad, is a mysterious being...one that has been identified multiple times by the NRO. An associate of mine took those images."
"For one thing, I can barely make out its face. But its head looks kind of weird, though...it almost looks like a jester. A court jester..."
"I did it, Hal...I nabbed the dumb alien!" Snake called out to the hacker as he came down the hallway holding an unconscious Magolor. The Luminary upon seeing Snake quickly put the photos away.
"You look like you almost killed him," observed Hal, seeing how knocked out Magolor was. Snake really roughed up that alien good. "Nice work, Snake! Although you could've gone easier on him."
"Could've gone easier on him? This freak was practically following our scent and you're acting like I should've given him a pass. Ha, as if."
"I didn't say that you couldn't give him a pass..." The friction that was brewing between Snake and Hal made its return. "...I just didn't want you killing him!"
"So that means you care about alien lives now? Congratulations on being in the same boat as Pit..." Snake gently placed Magolor on the floor, as he had no idea what to do with him. "...but what's done is done."
Snake: Hal told me in our calls that Magolor was a potential threat...so I did what I had to do, and neutralized the threat. Not like I killed Magolor. Don't know what Hal was going on about...
"We'll just leave him outside; he'll wake up on his own," Hal said to Snake, who looked over and saw the Luminary standing in his midst. The Luminary, thinking that Snake wanted to pummel him, thought that now was a good time to leave.
"Think I hear Veronica calling out to me," the mage said to Snake and Hal, quickly excusing himself as he left the premises.
Ryu spent most of his day in the training room, getting Ryuji prepared for his fight with Pit. He taught the delinquent all the basics, and a few techniques that would prove useful if the moment called for it. With Ryu's teaching, Ryuji was ready to fight just about anyone.
"Must we remind Pit about this fight?" Ryu asked Ryuji, as he followed the delinquent to Cafe Leblanc. Ryuji was shadowboxing, practicing his punches. "You think he'll forget?"
"Pit forgets what his birthdate is, so of course he'll forget," replied Ryuji, only to come to a stop when he saw someone obstructing his path. "Hey, isn't that your woman?"
"My what now?" Ryu came to a stop as well, as looked afraid when he saw a vexed Chun-li standing by with the Hisuian Zoroark, with her arms folded. "Chun-li! How did you like the party?"
"I liked it up until the party where I found out your dirty secret," answered Chun-li, as she walked over to Ryu and grabbed him by the ear. "We have a lot to discuss, Mr. Bailout..."
"Look, Chun-li, I can explain!" Ryu was being dragged down the hallway by Chun-li, as the martial artist was pulling on his ear. With Ryu gone, Ryuji inched over to the Hisuian Zoroark.
"Could you like, turn yourself into me and make my fight with Pit a two-on-one affair?" Ryuji asked the Hisuain Zoroark, who simply gave the delinquent a blank stare. "Or do illusions not work that way?"
Once Amy, Chun-li, and the Hisuain Zoroark were gone the ballroom, the party picked up right where it left off. The rest of Captain Falcon's gang stayed at the party, and Riku and friends crashed the party as Riku had promised. You best believe that Sora was a happy camper.
"This is the guy I told you about, Roxas," Sora introduced Roxas to Cloud, who wasn't all that impressed - no matter how much he forced himself to care. "He's a friend of mine."
"Again, who would be friends with a Nobody?" questioned Cloud, who like Sonic was led to assume that Roxas might have some evil in him. "A better question is, why do most of your friends look the exact same?"
"I am waiting for my Valentine's Day present for Mona," Wario said to the Crash clan, who were lingering around at the ballroom door; Crash was looking out the door keeping his eyes peeled for Tawna.
"Your gift is right over there," Aku said to Wario, as he brought the fatso's attention to Cortex - who was reunited with his lady friend, Tiki. Wario saw Cortex and grimaced.
"You guys are the worst..." Wario waved off the Crash clan, walking away from them as he returned to Mona. The fatso vowed to never trust the bandicoots for anything ever again.
Captain Falcon: We intended to let the jail keep Wario's money, but the staff was too over the moon about Cortex to accept it. So we just kept it for ourselves.
"Have you gotten your living situation figured out yet, Dr. Cortex?" Captain Falcon asked the evil genius, only to see Nowi enter the ballroom. The racer smiled as he beckoned to his girlfriend.
"I could return to my castle," replied Cortex, slightly entertaining the thought, before he looked up at Tiki with another thought in mind. "Or I could move into the tower..."
"Crazy Hand isn't accepting any new residents," stated Tiki, causing Cortex to snap his fingers in disgust as Nowi came over to Captain Falcon. "So I'm afraid that you're out of luck."
"Delusional woman..." Master Hand muttered under his breath, passing by Tiki as he observed the party scene. He soon came over to Latrell and Douglas, who were mostly keeping to themselves.
"I think it's about time that you boys head back," Master Hand said to Latrell and Douglas, hoping that they were both fine with the decision. "Not only are you breaking the party rules...but you've also stayed here long enough."
"But you said that this was our break day," Latrell said to Master Hand, expecting his stay at the mansion to be longer. But it looked like it was cut short.
"Did I say that your break day could last the entire day? I think not. Follow me; I'll have someone get you back to Los Angeles, lickity split."
The ten guests that were brought to the mansion were back at the teleportation room, about to be sent back to L.A. As everyone waited for Bass to get the teleportation device booted up, Lee held an envelope in his hand.
"Saw this lying on the floor, oughta return it to its owner before we head back," Lee told Anthony as he held the envelope, before looking out the room and seeing Ness pass by. "Yo, Ness!"
"Someone called my name?" asked Ness, as Lee ran out of the room greeting Ness with a smile. Lee was noticeably happier to see Ness than he was seeing Mario and Sonic.
"Just wanted to say, I'm kinda like a big fan of yours. Oh, and can you return this envelope for me? Someone dropped it on the floor."
"I'll see who it belongs to." Ness accepted the envelope from Lee, very curious as to what was inside. "So are you really a big fan of mine?"
"Hunter, not so fast!" Spyro was heard shouting from down the hallway, as Ness and Lee saw Hunter running in their direction with Spyro chasing after him.
"I just wanna sample your chicken dumplings!" Hunter called out to Lee, only to lose his breath as he came to a stop. "All I want...is just one bite..."
"I better get going now," Lee said to Ness, as he hurried back inside the teleportation room to avoid Hunter. "Don't forget to return that envelope!"
"Duly noted," responded Ness, before looking around and discreetly opening the envelope. His curiosity had gotten the better of him now.
Ness: Read whatever was in the envelope in full... *gulps* ...I think I might be in trouble somehow.
Spyro: Ness left the envelope in the lounge, and apparently Hunter took it upon himself to read the letter that was inside.
Hunter: Hey, Spyro, since you're arguably a better reader than I am... *holds letter up to Spyro's face* ...why don't you read the letter?
Spyro: Sure, why not? *clears throat* Let's see here...funny jester guy...likely freed from another dimension... *frowns* ...what kind of weird name is Dimentio?
