Author's Note:

Could I have posted this in time for the actual day of St. Patrick's Day? If I hadn't taken a day off this week, then perhaps. (Curse you, March Madness!) But it is what it is. Anyway, this is the Persona 4 Arena Ultimax...and it's a two-parter! Mixed in with a certain Switch game coming out next week. (And no, it's not Rune Factory 5.) Review time:

"A random question. Do you think Veer will ever debut in Raw?"

Wouldn't surprise me if he debuts after Wrestlemania. Unironically, they should have Cody Rhodes pop up on RAW, so that way he could successfully bring Veer to the show. Not a serious idea, by the way. On to Cloudenstein:

"...wait a minute, you said that Dimentio returned on March last year. So, who's the identity of the two hooded figures during that All-Star Manor arc on 2019? Wasn't it implied that one of them was Dimentio? You know, Grima and all? I hope you fixed that plothole soon."

I'm glad someone asked! That plot hole you brought up will be addressed later on. A JRPG enjoyer has a Pokemon-related question:

"With the time machine dismantled, does this mean that we won't have Adaman and Irida show up in the Year-End chapter? Kind of bummer. I like those people."

Not all hope is lost for Adaman and Irida - I'll find a way to bring them back for a special appearance. David with more questions:

"If Dimentio is gonna cause trouble does this also mean Antasma will show up as well? Will Pit or Ryuji try and pitch for a war games match with wrestlers from Tekken, Street Fighter, and King of Fighters? Will the Metal Slug characters show up soon? (Since there was a Metal Slug game for GBA, an anthology collection on Wii, a 7th game on DS, and Fio guest appeared in a King of Fighters game). Will a Dot Hack GU chapter happen later on? (The Switch port came out recently). And finally, what are your thoughts on the Advance Wars remake being delayed again?"

I'm afraid not. Nah. Somewhat slim chance. Didn't know about the Switch port, but a Dot Hack GU chapter is somewhat possible. And it stinks to see Advance Wars delayed yet again, this time because of a real-life global conflict. Veer will likely debut on RAW before Advance Wars ever gets released. Derick Lindsey is back:

"...speaking of wrestling you heard about what happened to Big E he ended breaking his neck last night but thankfully it's not too bad since he can move his fingers and toes but still it really sucks this happened to him especially with WrestleMania around the corner."

Saw the injury in real-time, and yeah, it looked pretty bad. A shame, since he was WWE champ a few months ago and now he's on the injured list. Hopefully, the injury isn't career-ending, but Big E will definitely be missed at Wrestlemania. And last up is An NFL fan with some...bad news:

"TOM BRADY IS RETURNING TO TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS. HE PLAYED US LIKE A FIDDLE. HE'S BACK FOR HIS 23RD SEASON."

Why? Why did he have to come back? Why did he pull a Brett Favre on us? I'm convinced that Brady is the Goku of the NFL - dude seems to hate spending family time with his wife and kids. Always wanting to be better and all that nonsense. But if he's Goku...then who's Vegeta?


Episode 326: SaintPatrick's Part 1 (Doppelgangers)

Holidays were primarily known for being a celebration of something. Thanksgiving was a celebration of the harvest. El Dia de Los Muertos was a celebration of life and death. And Boxing Day is a celebration of...shopping? The British empire? Who knows.

One particular holiday that always occurred on March 17th was Saint Patrick's Day, which observed the death of Saint Patrick. It was a day in which Irish people rocked shamrocks, drank beer, wore green, and pinched anyone that wasn't wearing green. Of course, this wasn't just restricted to the Irish - anyone else was free to hop in on the fun.

But Saint Patrick wasn't the only person that was special on March 17th...March 17th was also the birth date of Luigi and Daisy's son, Charles. Their little boy was turning five today, and Luigi wanted to have an epic breakfast to celebrate the occasion. He wanted it to be extra special, so he happily invited Mario and his folks to attend.

"Here's some-a pancakes for my birthday boy!" exclaimed Luigi, as he placed a plate full of pancakes in front of a smiling Charles. Luigi had made the pancakes himself; you know that he was in a happy mood if he was cooking breakfast instead of Daisy.

"Thanks, Papa!" Charles thanked Luigi, before licking his chops as he analyzed his breakfast meal. In addition to the pancakes, Charles also had some bacon and eggs on the side. Yum, yum.

"No fair, how come Charles gets to be served first?" Hunter complained to Luigi, already proving his worth to the green plumber as a lousy house guest. Those seated near the cheetah - particularly Spyro and Daisy - either let out a groan or shook their head.

"I heavily agree with his sentiment," said Yuffie, who to this day was the biggest freeloader around; Luigi could only respond with a warm, charming smile.

"Well, today is Charles's birthday, so he gets-a first dibs," stated Luigi, as he went ahead and gave Mario his serving of pancakes. "You two will just have-a to wait your turn!"

"No fair, he has more pancakes-a than me!" Mario griped to Luigi, sizing up his stack of pancakes and seeing how shorter it was compared to Charles's. "I get that it's his birthday and all, but this blatant favoritism-a is too much, Luigi."

Luigi: Celebrating birthdays is fun because it's the one-a and only justifiable excuse for spoiling your children. You give-a them whatever they want, and you have-a no choice in the matter. *pauses* Um, is being a kid again too much to ask for?...What do you mean, I've been-a "corrupted" by Ryuji? Haven't spoken to him in weeks!

"Ow! What was that for?" Peach frowned at Daisy, wincing in pain after she felt a pinch underneath her elbow. Daisy was looking at Peach, smiling as she had her hand out.

"It's St. Patrick's Day, silly - I had to pinch you because you weren't wearing green," stated Daisy, expecting Peach to shrug it off...but instead, she only made her royal friend incensed.

"Not wearing green, is that so?" Peach was about to start a catfight, as she was ready to snatch Daisy's green flower earrings. But before she could, Luigi placed some pancakes in front of her and Daisy.

"No fighting in front-a of the kiddies!" Luigi wagged his finger at Peach and Daisy, reminding them to be mindful of Charles, Deanna, and Jennifer's presence. "If you want to see moms-a fighting in front of their kids, watch those fight-a videos filmed Popeye's. I can recommend-a you some!"

"No thank you, that won't be necessary!" Peach regained her dignified demeanor, as she and Daisy grabbed their eating utensils and got down to eating. Satisfied, Luigi made his return to the kitchen.

"Papa, three of my pancakes are missing and I haven't taken a bite yet," Charles informed Luigi, as he was left with only three pancakes instead of eight. Luigi did a close inspection, seeing that Charles's plate was untouched.

"Somebody must've switched-a out your plate," assumed Luigi as he looked around the breakfast table for the guilty party...only for his eyes to fall upon Mario, who was scarfing down eight pancakes at once. "Mario!"

"Your son obviously can't handle eight-a pancakes, I'm merely doing him a favor," Mario defended himself, scaring down the pancakes as if there was no tomorrow. Luigi glared at Mario, deeply disappointed.

"Admit it, you have no self-control," Spyro said to Mario, who didn't try to deny the fact as he slurped down an entire glass of orange juice. Soon Master Hand magically appeared in Luigi's house, hovering above the breakfast table.

"Master Hand, what a quaint-a surprise!" Luigi greeted the giant hand with open arms...no, he literally had his arms open wide. Like he wanted a hug or something. Perhaps the only person to ever want to hug Master Hand. "Came to wish-a Charles happy birthday?"

"You want me to wish your son happy birthday?" snorted Master Hand, making Luigi shudder in fear with how angry he sounded. "How dare you value Charles's birthday above Saint Patrick's Day!"

"Forgive-a me, Master Hand - I just wanted to make Charles feel-a special on his special day!" Luigi was now cowering from Master Hand, as Spyro and Yuffie rolled their eyes at the green plumber.

"At ease, Luigi, I was just kidding!" Hearing that made Luigi relieved, as he rediscovered the confidence to face Master Hand. "I personally just wanted to go around and pinch anyone who's not wearing green.

"Please let me borrow one of your earrings..." Peach whispered to Daisy, knowing from experience how painful a pinch from Master Hand was. The princess saw Master Hand's fingers close to her, shrieking as she fell back out of her seat.

"Hehehe...gets 'em every time." As Master Hand laughed his nonexistent butt off, Luigi heard the doorbell ring. The doorbell sound made Master Hand giddy. "Ooh! Someone for me to pinch?"

"I'll have to be the judge-a of that," replied Luigi, a self-proclaimed expert on all things green, as he walked to the front door. When he opened it, he saw Snake and Hal standing by.

"Hello, do you have any boar meat to spare?" Snake asked Luigi, as he was holding a list of food items in his hand. Perplexed by the question, Luigi stared blankly at Snake.

"I have deer meat in-a the freezer...if that's fine-a with you," replied Luigi, as Snake took out an ink pen and skimmed down the list. Snake smiled when he saw deer meat near the bottom.

"Yes! We'll gladly take as many as you got off your hands." So Snake and Hal stood by, as Luigi went to the kitchen and opened the freezer to pull out several packs of dear meat.

"Sweetie, where are you going with that meat?" Daisy asked Luigi, as she was not a fan of what her husband was doing. "You promised that we would have dear meat for dinner tomorrow!"

"Yeah, Luigi - you made a promise!" Yuffie snapped on the green plumber, who closed the freezer door while holding the dear meat in his arms. "I refuse to have dinner at anyone else's house."

"Relax, ladies - we'll have deer-a meat back in our freezer soon," assured Luigi, confident of this fact as he made his way back to the front door. "Just gotta wait for another home-a less person to lend me some."

"Much obliged, Luigi!" Hal thanked Luigi, who dropped the deer meat into Snake's arms; it was getting quite heavy for the green plumber. "One small question, before we go - how fresh is this deer meat?"

"Okay, thank you, goodbye - got a son's birthday to celebrate!" Luigi gave his parting words to Snake and Hal, before slamming the door on the two. The green plumber turned around and returned to the breakfast table, dusting his hands off.

Snake: Hal wants to lure Dimentio to the mansion, and one idea that I proposed was luring him with some food. But the big question was, what exactly do jesters eat? *pulls out list* According to this list I compiled, jesters eat fruits and vegetables...boring, as well as boars, deer, and different kinds of birds. Really trusted the Google search engine for this one.

Daisy: *left eye twitches* Luigi got the deer meat...from a homeless person? In that case, was that deer meat even deer meat at all?

Hal: *inspects expiration date on deer meat* Oh my goodness! *shakes his head in dismay* This deer meat is expired! We've been gypped!

"What is it with those two as of late?" wondered Master Hand, as Luigi returned to serving pancakes to the others. "First they sneaked out to China, and now they're asking their neighbors for boar meat?"

"Maybe it might have-a something to do with Dimentio..." theorized Mario; realizing that he might've spilled the beans, the plumber gasped and held his plate over his mouth. Fortunately, there was little to no reaction.

"Silly Mario! We trapped Dimentio in Subspace years ago," smiled Peach, certain that her husband was talking out of his butt. Mario, very slowly, pulled his plate down before placing it back on the table.

"Why not save this Dimentio talk for another time?" suggested Spyro, in an attempt to change the conversation and shift focus. "We're here to celebrate Charles's birthday, after all!"

"Right you are, Spyro!" Luigi commended the purple dragon, before giving him and Hunter their serving of pancakes. "Here's-a your pancakes." Yuffie placed her elbows on the table, anxiously awaiting her own serving.

"Thanks, Luigi!" Before Spyro could dig in, he leaned in close to Mario, frowning at the plumber and whispering, "You really had to bring him up during breakfast, didn't you?"

"My bad...wrong-a place, wrong time," Mario whispered back, as he took ownership of his slip-up. The plumber looked up at Master Hand and was able to tell that the giant hand was disturbed. "Some-a thing wrong, Master Hand?"

"Strange, I feel a disturbance in the force...I'll be back," responded Master Hand before vanishing away, likely to handle whatever this "disturbance" was. Mario and Spyro looked at each other, the former feeling guilty.


Teddie was one of the more mysterious mansion residents, so to speak. He was a talking bear mascot who nowadays spent much of his time in his attractive human form. Before he gained a Persona, he was a Shadow...and then one day, he grew a human body inside his bear suit so that others would appreciate him. A whole lot of stuff to unpack here.

However, Teddie's origin story still didn't stop anyone from asking any questions about his personal life. Like, for instance, did he have anyone he could call friends or family before meeting the Investigation Crew? No one knew for sure, but there might be someone out there who fitted the criteria.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" shouted Sonic, hearing the doorbell ring as he hurried downstairs to the mansion's foyer. The blue hedgehog answered the door and saw a Teddie look-alike. "Yo, Teddie! Is that you? Nice hat!"

"I am not Teddie, you ignorant fiend!" replied the Teddie look-alike, who wore a captain's hat and a purple cape while also holding a staff. He must enjoy telling others that he was the boss. "You may refer to me as General Teddie."

"Cool, so that must make you his identical twin brother. Never knew he had one!" Sonic continued to alarm General Teddie with his ignorance, as he had the bear mascot grinding his teeth.

"Sure buddy, believe what you wanna..." Before he could dismiss Sonic's comments, General Teddie smiled as he thought of a brilliant idea. "...yes, Teddie is indeed my twin brother! I only stopped by just to visit him, and nothing else."

"I don't know why, but...I believe you. Come on in!" Sensing that General Teddie was a good guy, Sonic let the mascot inside the mansion. Big mistake. General Teddie stood in the foyer, as Sonic closed the front door.

"You can go run along now, I'll find my way around." So Sonic, taking General Teddie's word for it, sped out of the foyer. Left alone by himself, General Teddie smiled evilly as he crept to the carpet in the center of the foyer...

...and removed it, revealing a trapdoor - which had a secret passage that led to Mini Mementos. General Teddie looked around to see if anyone was nearby, before slowly opening the trapdoor.

"Jackpot..." snarled General Teddie as he went through the trapdoor, taking one last look around before closing the trapdoor and heading on in.


This was it - today was the day that the contracts of the idol singers were to expire. It was up to Fox, Falco, and Itsuki to re-sign their talent before the clock struck twelve. The trio depended on Master Hand to come through with the funds necessary for having the idol singers re-signed.

However, with Master Hand having used some of the money to go and do some good deeds, the Star Records brass was forced to bid their time before any new contracts were signed. So to save some time, they started contract negotiations with their talent.

"Why on earth are we negotiating our new contracts at this rinky-dink place?" questioned Kiria, who along with the idol singers (and Touma) stood with Fox, Falco, and, and Itsuki...at E. Gadd's mansion.

"Because holding contract negotiations at a neutral location is a commonplace business tactic," stated Fox, who rang the doorbell and knock on E. Gadd's door multiple times only to be met with no response so far. "It builds camaraderie."

"And also gets you out of your comfort zone," added Falco, as if he and Fox had years of business acumen under their belts. "Can't get crap done if you don't step out of your level of comfort."

"Is everyone present?" asked Itsuki, before doing a brief headcount to make sure that all the idol singers (and Itsuki) showed up. "Tsubasa, Kiria, Eleonora, Yashiro, Mamori, Touma..."

"Sorry we were late," Ashely apologized to Itsuki, Fox, and Falco, as she and Asuka had arrived at E. Gadd's mansion on late notice. "I had to get away from this knitting club dorks."

"And I had some obligations to fulfill with my ninja pals," stated Asuka, who had shown up from the Assist Tower. "Tried to recruit Gray Fox...but we failed."

Toad: Ashley's behavior lately has been awfully concerning. She's been doing nothing but take bathroom breaks every time we meet. She left to use the bathroom a few minutes ago. *turns around and looks at the clock* Hopefully, this one will be shorter than the last. Last week she had a break that went on for two hours! Who knew it took a human being that long to pee? Or poop?

"Um, no offense ladies, but...these negotiations are for idol singers only," Fox informed Ashley and Asuka, not having nearly enough in him to shoo the two away. He'd much rather let Falco handle it himself.

"But we both signed idol singer contracts," stated Ashley, as Fox and Falco both looked up in realization. Itsuki shook his head at both pilots for overlooking the very fact. "That's your loss."

"My contract expires the same time as theirs do," stated Asuka, who had signed with Star Records later than everyone else - April 2017, to be exact. Fox and Falco apparently did not know that either, much to Itsuki's dismay, as both pilots looked confused.

"Today must be a weird day for making up narratives," said Falco, as he and Fox weren't ready to admit that they were in the wrong. Soon E. Gadd's front door was finally opened. "About time somebody answered..."

"Fox, Falco, you're back again!" squealed the person who answered the door, Cortex - standing by wearing some unflattering workout gear. The kind of gear that would put Mario's gear to shame. "And you brought company! Excellent!"

"You know what, we can wait until tomorrow to start negotiations," said Yashiro, not wanting anything to do with Cortex as he tried to get away. But then Fox grabbed the idol singer's arm, preventing his progress.

"No...stay," Fox commended Yashiro in a low, intimidating voice, carefully reminding the idol singer of who his boss was. "...you're just gonna let Cortex of all people scare you away?"

"I actually prefer that you let him run away scared; it will boost my confidence," Cortex recommended to Fox, before being blind-sighted by a certain marsupial. Crash ran up to Cortex from behind, nearly jumping on his back.

"You're working out with Crash, doc?" Touma smirked at Cortex, seeing that Crash was also wearing workout gear. Crash only had on running shorts, but at least he looked decent wearing them. "Is this part of that 'villain decay' you would talk about?"

"It's not like that...Crash deliberately forced me to work out with him!" Cortex was acting real defensive, and it brought amusement to Touma and the others.

"So you are undergoing villain decay still," affirmed Eleonora, as Cortex had nothing to say in retort; Crash smiled and patted the evil genius on his head. "Good to know that some things stay the same."

"So you guys want new contracts or what?" Fox asked the idol singers, reminding them of what he brought them to E. Gadd's mansion for. "We'll let Crash and Cortex be workout buddies, while we handle our business."

"Hopefully these negotiations won't take long," replied Tsubasa, as she and the other talent followed Fox and Falco inside E. Gadd's mansion. Itsuki was the last person to head on in.

"Master Hand better have that money soon..." the young man remarked before heading on in, only to bump into Aku. Aku had floated down to greet Itsuki. "Oh my! Almost gave me a heart attack..."

"My apologies...I have a habit of doing that," Aku apologized to Itsuki, before turning around and seeing Itsuki's pals heading deep into the mansion. "May I ask why you all are here?"

"Contract negotiations - most of our talent's contracts expire today." Itsuki leaned in close to Aku, having some super secret info that he wanted to share. "But in actuality though, we're waiting for Master Hand to come through with the money."

"Master Hand waiting until the last minute? Not a surprise." Little did Aku know that that wasn't the case, at least this time around. "Um, whatever you do, don't bother E. Gadd."

"Duly noted. But why would we bother him in the first place?" Itsuki could tell that Aku was hiding something - like he found out an embarrassing secret of E. Gadd's that he was too nervous to share.

"You know, he's a very busy man and...that's all!" Aku quickly floated away, as Itsuki was left staring inquisitively at the floating mask. "Happy negotiations!"


Whenever there was a holiday, Rosalina had an obligation (usually from Master Hand) to decorate the living room. With it being St. Patrick's Day, Rosalina came through as she decorated the living room with green. Green rugs, green clovers, green embroidery, you name. But what about lepruchauns?

"ready to shamrock and roll, 'cause i love to paddy," quipped Sans, who was standing next to Rosalina as the mother of Lumas was on a ladder. Sans was dressed up as a leprechaun, even wearing a beard to boot.

"Sans, when I mentioned that I would want a leprechaun, I never said that you could volunteer to dress like one," said Rosalina, as she was hanging up a clover wreath on the chimney. Luma was at the top of the chimney, helping out as much as he could.

"don't worry...beer happy." Sans had to laugh at his own joke, slapping his knee as Rosalina and even Luma groaned. "hey, it was worth a shot. just trying to raise the bar."

"Can you please go away? I'd much rather have an actual leprechaun annoy me than the likes of you." Rosalina finally hung the clover wreath on the chimney, as Sans shook his head at the mother of Lumas.

"if I see any ginger guys nearby, i'll let you be the first to know." Forced to take his puns elsewhere, Sans had no choice but to leave the...wait, why does a leprechaun strictly have to be a ginger?

Sans: i'm going green for saint paddy's day. got enough puns that will last everyone until midnight. gonna have the peeps dublin over in laughter all day long.

"Mama, we have some more visitors," Luma informed Rosalina, as Pit entered the living room shortly after Sans departed. Rosalina slowly got down from the ladder, as Pit patiently waited at the bottom.

"Is the living room available, Rosalina?" Pit asked the mother of Lumas after she got back on her feet. Or at least after she got back on the floor, as her feet never touched the floor.

"It will be mostly available until the evening," replied Rosalina; a big St Patrick's Day party was to be held in the living room later today. "Why do you ask?"

"Finally found the footage!" Ryuji exclaimed to Pit as he showed up at the living room, holding a disc in his hand that was labeled "NJPW". "Took me a while to burn it unto this CD."

"That's cool; Rosalina says we're free to use this living room," responded Pit; Rosalina was amused seeing Pit and Ryuji getting along, especially after the two were once beefing with each other.

"Thanks, Rosa!" Ryuji ran up to Rosalina and hugged her, seeing how caught off-guard she was after he released his hold. "You and Luma wanna stick around and watch some wrestling?"

"No, I'm not interested," replied Rosalina, who had better things to do with her time. Supposedly. "I'm not what you might consider a 'lapsed fan'." That got a snort out of Ryuji, which made Rosalina confused.

"Whoever said that we were gonna watch AEW? We're gonna watch a different kind of wrestling...New Japan Pro Wrestling!" Ryuji expected Rosalina to be somewhat excited, but the mother of Lumas just appeared neutral.

"Well, as long as you don't implore me to watch it, you and Pit can have your fun. Let's go, Luma." So Rosalina and Luma left the living room, as Ryuji went ahead and popped the disc into the DVD player.

Pit: Gotta so, I'm pretty pumped up to watch some New Japan Pro Wrestling! On that note, whatever happened to Old Japan Pro Wrestling? Maybe one day, they'll release a documentary talking about what caused them to cease operations. Could've been bankruptcy, or something.

"Are there any supernatural characters in this New Japan show?" Pit asked Ryuji as he sat on the living room couch, right after Ryuji popped in the disc. "Also, what are the female wrestlers like?"

"You rarely see any women in New Japan," stated Ryuji, as Pit gasped at the fact; Pit had so much to learn already. "It's just mostly men wrestling on there."

"Wow, so is the wrestling company misogynist? Or is the entire country of Japan misogynist as a whole?" Having no idea how to answer this difficult question, Ryuji simply grabbed the remote and sat on the couch.

"Why don't you watch and see for yourself?" So Ryuji pressed the play button on the remote, as he and Pit were about to watch some classic wrestling. Classic Japanese wrestling, that is.


As it was revealed back in episode 279, Minato and Yukari enjoyed hanging out in Mini Mementos. The two lovebirds were down there right now, as Yukari had a secret that she wanted to show Minato.

"Are your eyes still closed, Minato?" Yukari asked her boyfriend, as she led him through Mini Mementos; Minato was told to keep his eyes shut as Yukari led him around.

"This would be better if you gave me a blindfold..." replied Minato, who held a hand over his closed eyes - only if it meant making him less tempted to open them, and anger Yukari. "...please tell me we're almost there."

"Not yet! But we're getting close. Only a few more steps and..." Yukari soon came to a stop, leading Minato to assume that he finally arrived at the destination.

"Did we finally reach our destination?" Minato uncovered his eyes and opened them, only to see General Teddie standing by near an open door. Individuals resembling the Investigation Crew and Shadow Operaties exited from this door - all sporting yellow eyes.

"Is that supposed to be Teddie? And where did he find those shadow doppelgangers?" Yukari was frowning at the sight of General Teddie, as Minato looked at his girlfriend wanting some answers.

"Shadow doppelgangers? The heck are those?" Minato asked Yukari, who realized that the young man had missed out on some shenanigans that had taken place at one point in time.

"Oh! They're basically just evil clones of us. You weren't around to see them because...reasons." That only left Minato even more curious - while also giving him a strong feeling of missing out.

"And what are these 'reasons' that you speak of?" Minato would find himself shushed by Yukari, who pointed at General Teddie and his army of doppelgangers. All the doppelgangers were assembled - save for a doppelganger of Teddie.

Minato:...how am I just now learning about this?

"Man, thanks for saving us, General Teddie!" Shadow Kanji thanked the bear mascot, feeling as if he was released from prison. "So, uh, who's under that bear costume?"

"I am so glad you asked..." snarled General Teddie before unzipping himself and taking off his costume. Yukari gasped as the person wearing the Teddie costume revealed themselves to be a red-haired young man.

"Sho Minazuki?!" Yukari quietly uttered the young man's name, as Minato looked at his girlfriend left with even more answers. How much did Minato truly miss out on? It was surely a lot.

"Haha! It's your old boss, Sho Minazuki!" Sho expected some fanfare from the doppelgangers, but he got very little reaction from any of them. "Oh come on! You don't recognize me?"

"You seriously came here masquerading as Teddie?" Shadow Junpei questioned Sho, as Minato was curious as to why there wasn't a doppelganger of him. Was he not good enough to have one? "Not the choice that I would've taken..."

"I had to find my way inside the mansion somehow! And besides, I only came because that jester told me that a mini version of Mementos existed."

"Know anything about the jester guy he's talking about?" Minato asked Yukari, who shook her head no and shrugged. At least there was one thing Yukari had no foreknowledge of.

"Yeah, he showed me the footage on a laptop he supposedly stole, and I was hooked instantly. So that's half of the reason why I came here, to see if you guys were around."

"Tell us the other half of the reason!" implored Shadow Rise, and that was exactly what Sho wanted to hear as a devious smile was formed on his face.

"How would you troublemakers like to cause a little bit of mayhem inside the mansion?" For the doppelgangers, mayhem was their middle name - so they were very keen with the offer.

"Say no more! We got it all covered!" replied Shadow Junpei, as he and the other doppelgangers hoped to cause as much pandemonium as possible within the confines of the mansion.

"Excellent! While you do your own thing...I'll do mine." Sho unsheathed his weapon - twin katanas - as he smiled even harder. There was a whole lot of malice behind that smile.

"I'm guessing that you showing me that secret is on hold for now," Minato said to Yukari, seeing the doppelgangers as a threat that had to be neutralized. One of the doppelgangers - Shadow Yosuke - saw Minato and pointed at him and Yukari.

"Found our first victims!" shouted Shadow Yosuke, as Sho and the doppelgangers turned their attention towards Minato and Yukari. "Let's get 'em!" Taking Yukari's hand, Minato ran away as he looked for safety.

"In here!" Minato said to Yukari as he found a room and threw her inside. Minato then entered the room himself and closed the door, as he waited for Sho and his army of doppelgangers to pass by.

"Crap, I think we lost them!" Shadow Akihiko was heard growling, as Yukari was left hyperventilating in fear. Minato held his hand over Yukari's mouth so that his girlfriend wouldn't be tempted to scream in terror.

"No matter - there's plenty of victims above the surface for you to toy with," said Sho, as the sound of retreating footsteps was heard. Much relief was brought to Minato and Yukari. "You'll have your hands on those two later."

"Alright, Yukari...seems like the coast is clear," Minato said to the young woman as he took his hand away from her mouth. Yukari's hyperventilating had finally come to an end. "Now tell me everything I need to know about these...doppelgangers."

Perhaps Minato should worry less about what exactly these doppelgangers were...and be more worried about what they could do in the mansion.


Fox: For better and for worse, we're waiting for Master Hand to recoup the money that he had used to do his good deeds. In the meantime, we're gonna have to drag out our contract negotiations with our talent. And I gotta say...it's much harder than I imagined.

"As Star Records' highest-earning client, I truly believe that I deserve my own private jet," Touma discussed with Fox, Falco, and Itsuki, as the contract negotiations took place at E. Gadd's living room. Touma was coming through with a lot of demands for his new contract.

"Ooh, can I have my own private jet too?" Mamori asked of Fox and company, who didn't appreciate how much Touma was poisoning Mamori's mind. Neither one of the three Star Records heads was willing to sign off on Touma's request.

"I'm sorry Touma, but you're not even in the top five on our payroll," Fox kindly stated to Touma, who frowned as he banged his fist on the living room table. The pilot then turned his attention to Tsubasa. "Any perks that you would like, Tsubasa?"

"I would like a paid vacation every other week," requested Tsubasa, causing Fox to look to the side and wonder what on earth was wrong with his talent. "Would love to go somewhere, like Paris."

"What's your issue - feel like you don't go out as much? Those jogs around the block not enough for you?" Fox felt like he was ready to snap on Tsubasa, only to catch himself as he calmed down and slinked in his chair.

"Can I come with you to Paris one day?" Falco asked Tsubasa, as Fox threw his arms up in defeat and got out of his chair. Fox left the living room, as Falco chased after him. "Don't be like that, Fox! You can come with!"

"There he goes..." sighed Itsuki, watching as Fox left, before redirecting his attention to the Star Records talent. "...you know, your next contract doesn't have to come with any 'perks.'"

"Honestly, all I care for is a pay raise," remarked Ashley, making perhaps the most considerate request so far during the negotiations. "I could care less about some stupid plane."

"A private jet," Touma corrected Ashley with a frown, as Ashley rolled her eyes and waved off the redhead. Touma looked offended as he clutched his pearls.

Ashley: Contract negotiations can be pretty easy once you get the hang of it. Just keep begging your bosses for more money, and threaten to leave their company if they don't cave into your demands. The faster they yield, the more they genuinely care about you. It's more or less a test to see how much they love you.

Falco managed to catch up to Fox, who was standing just outside the living room pinching the crown of his nose. The avian pilot came up to Fox, who was left shaking his head.

"If it makes you feel any better...I'll pay for the trip out of pocket," Falco offered to Fox, hoping that would cheer his best friend up...what he got instead was Fox smacking him in the face. "Ow! Just trying to help..."

"Don't you see, man?" Fox asked Falco, trying to open the avian pilot's eyes to what was taking place. "They're trying to rip us off with employee benefits! Asking for private jets, and free trips to Paris, and..."

"...and health insurance. Elenora brought that one up at the beginning." In Fox's eyes, wanting health insurance wasn't as bad as desiring a private jet. But it showed where Eleonora's priorities lie.

"Okay, yeah, I'll give her that. But what about the other needless junk? Our duty is to employ our talent and let them do their thing - not spoil them."

"How are the contract negotiations coming along, boys?" E. Gadd approached Fox and Falco, wearing a top hat while holding two briefcases. Almost as if he was going on a trip somewhere.

"Eh, could be better." Fox would observe how E. Gadd was dressed and assumed that the inventor was in a rush. "Where are you headed?"

"Nowhere in particular." A wrong choice of words, as E. Gadd had the pilots very skeptical. "But if you must know, it's a secret." And that only made Fox and Falco even more skeptical.

"Going to see a secret girlfriend?" Falco asked E. Gadd, assuming that the inventor had some romantic sway behind the scenes. "Give me her name so I'll know who to extend my sympathies to."

"The only chick we should really extend our sympathies to is Katt Monroe," quipped Fox, as an angered Falco held up his fist to the pilot for a sucker punch. Fox backed off in a hurry, shielding his face, as Falco put his arm down.

"If you boys must know, I'm off to see Mr. Emmerich," E. Gadd informed Fox and Falco; he had sent a private message to Hal in the group chat he started, wanting to meet with the hacker at the mansion. "It has mostly to do with...a jester fellow."

"Okay E. Gadd, you're taking this way too far. You're really gonna force Hal to read that wack fantasy tale you've been writing?" Staring at Fox for a brief moment, E. Gadd laughed at the pilot.

"It's no fantasy, Mr. McCloud...that much I can tell you." E. Gadd walked away, as he had to be at the mansion at the earliest convenience. "It's the real deal! See you boys later!"

"You know he's down bad when he's deeming his story real," Falco said to Fox after E. Gadd had left, thinking that E. Gadd was slowly becoming senile - if he hasn't been already. "What being lonely for so long does to a man..."


Magolor felt very fortunate last week, able to live to see another day after his partner-in-crime Boo was eradicated by Dimentio. The alien was back at the mansion, looking for a way inside.

"Maybe this rock will do the trick!" said a confident Magolor, who was trying to break a mansion window throwing rocks at it. He threw a rock at the window, only for it to ricochet off the glass and smack him in the face. "Ouch, that hurt!"

"Yup...those windows are pretty indestructible now," a man said to Magolor, arriving at the front yard of the mansion grinning. It was a window repairman. "Got those bad boys done last Saturday."

"They're indestructible? As in, I can't break 'em with these rocks?" Yes, Magolor, that's what indestructible means...looks like someone might need a dictionary.

"I can let you in a secret." The window repairman got down on one knee, looking around before leaning in close to Magolor. "The windows are only ninety-five percent indestructible, though. I could tell you what can break 'em...only as a secret."

"Mind showing me?" Magolor rubbed his hands together, interested in not only hearing about his secret but also seeing it play out. "Promise I'll give you something in return..."

Mr. Game and Watch: Randall, that's the name of the guy who replaced our windows. The new windows came at a bargain - and they're ninety-five percent indestructible! Allegedly, that is. Now Ness doesn't have to worry about breaking any windows when he hits those home runs. Although, in a weird way, I'll miss that. *pauses* Not the window-breaking part, I mean. It's more fun seeing someone getting chewed out by Master Hand when it's not you on the receiving end.

Coming through the front yard was the groundskeeping duo - Mr. Game and Watch and Dark Pit. Mr. Game and Watch had done an inspection of the front yard and was running some numbers to a half-caring Dark Pit.

"So the grass is 0.25 centimeters higher than usual," Mr. Game and Watch told Dark Pit, who came to a stop when he saw something amiss. "Obviously, that is a tripping hazard. Which is why I need you to..."

"Uh, Mr. GW...one of the windows somehow broke!" Dark Pit pointed at one of the "indestructible" windows...which now had a hole in it. Mr. Game and Watch gasped at the broken window - and gasped a second time when he saw a certain window repairman standing by.

"Randall!" Mr. Game and Watch shouted at the window repairman, who had a bag full of cash at his feet. Randall was smiling as he stroked the dollar bills in his hands, only to stop when he heard his name called.

"What, that short alien guy threw me the bag!" Randall defended himself, as he grabbed the bag of cash and held it up for Mr. Game and Watch and Dark Pit to see. "What else was I supposed to do?"

"Short alien guy?" Mr. Game and Watch only recalled a few instances of a "short alien guy" being on the mansion grounds, and he immediately thought of the most recent one. "Surely you don't mean..."


Thanks to Randall's help, Magolor was now inside the mansion. He was doing his best Snake impersonation, ducking behind and hiding underneath furniture as he maneuvered through the hallways. Managed to avoid being seen by Kazuya, Mewtwo, Chrom, and many others.

Magolor had ducked behind a flower pot, and when he peeked behind it, he saw Cloud speaking with Master Hand. It was at this moment that the alien knew to keep himself hidden as much as possible.

"Do you know anything about Dimentio being out of Subspace?" Master Hand asked Cloud, as he had gone around asking folks about the court jester. Predictably, he didn't get many responses.

"Maybe I do...or maybe I don't," replied Cloud; he sounded afraid, if not guilty, in his tone, and it made Magolor awfully curious. Cloud was feeling a bit of pressure right now.

"Speaking in riddles now, aren't we...in that case, answer this!" Ready to fight fire with fire, Master Hand cleared his throat as he had a riddle to recite: "'I live for the laughter, I live for the crowd...without it, I am nothing. What am I?'"

"Let me guess - a clown?" Cloud didn't require much brainpower for that one, he partly knew the answer from the get-go. He was a riddle master. "What does that have to do with our conversation?"

"Oh, nothing much, really...just wanted to let off some steam. I'm awfully heated for some reason..." Leaving Cloud alone, Master Hand floated down the hallway as he looked for another person to interrogate. "...don't think that I can't see you trying to run away, Jigglypuff!"

"I am so screwed..." Cloud watched as Master Hand made chase after Jigglypuff, before turning around and heading off to his room. But then, he ran into Kanji...Shadow Kanji, that is.

"You like?" Shadow Kanji asked Cloud, wearing nothing but a loincloth; Cloud cringed at the sight, finding it hard to look away. "Enjoy..."

"I don't think I will." Cloud backed away, only to bump into another doppelganger - this one being Shadow Aigis. Perhaps the last doppelganger that Cloud would want to bump into.

"In the mood for dying today?" Shadow Aigis asked Cloud, who found himself backing away; soon Shadow Aigis and Shadow Kanji were on Cloud's trail.

"What is it with you two? And why are both of your eyes yellow? Leave me alone..." Cloud made a run for it, which was no use as the doppelgangers followed him anyway.

Magolor: Hehehe, everything is going according to plan! Those doppelgangers are starting up some ruckus, which will give Sho an ample amount of time to... *pauses* ...wait, why am I even talking to you guys?! I could get myself in trouble! *runs away in fear, covering his ears* I was never here! Lalalalalala!


Elsewhere in the mansion, the doppelgangers were causing as much mayhem as they could. For instance, Shadow Junpei was in the gaming room, destroying stuff with a baseball bat.

"Screw your couch, man!" the doppelganger as he absolutely went ham on a couch, which Shulk and Fiora had to move off of. When he realized that he wasn't doing enough damage, Shadow Junpei moved on to destroying one of the mounted TVs.

"No, not the TV!" Yoshi cried out, as he was watching some March Madness on the television that Shadow Junpei had just destroyed. "Now how else will I get to see Longwood upset Tennessee?"

"Longwood? Is that even a real college institution?" wondered Meta Knight, shuddering to think of how Yoshi filled out his bracket. As past episodes have proven, Yoshi sure loved to root for the underdog...

"Stop it, Junpei, you don't have to do this!" Bowser called out to the doppelganger, who just got through destroying the television after taking it off its mount. "Why not beat up people instead? Alph's over here for the taking."

"Who are we talking about?" Alph perked up when he heard his name called, only to shake in fear when Shadow Junpei approached him with a demented look in his eyes. "Oh, Junpei! What's with those yellow eyes..."

"Better enjoy your own eyes for now...'cause it'll be the last time you'll ever get to use 'em!" replied Shadow Junpei, as he proceeded to smack Alph with his baseball bat. Not a single soul bothered to save Alph.

"I hope that Akihiko saw that note I wrote for him," said Shantae, speaking to herself, only to look delighted when Akihiko entered the gaming room...Shadow Akihiko, that is. "Akihiko! There you are! Did you see my note?"

"Why yes, I did," replied Shadow Akihiko, going with the flow just to mess around with Shantae. Shantae failed to see anything that was amiss. "Read every single word. Loved it."

"Great! So that means you'll be my boyfriend, right?" Shantae was apparently keen on making Akihiko her lover...but little did she know that she was speaking to a doppelganger of his.

"Uh...sure? Why don't we get a head start?" Shadow Akihiko took Shantae's hand, smiling deviously as he led the half-genie away. Shantae held her hand up to her face, giggling with glee.

"I like where this is going!" Shantae was led out of the gaming room, going wherever Shadow Akihiko took her. What Shadow Akihiko planned to do with Shantae, nobody knew.


Taking a well-deserved break from his duties as the man of the mansion, Link was lying on a couch in the lounge, resting his cares away. As the Hylian napped, Shadow Yukiko leaned in close to his ear, smirking.

"Wanna hear a secret?" Shadow Yukiko whispered into Link's ear; whatever this secret was was too hard to contain, as the doppelganger stifled her laughter.

"Sure, lay it on me," replied Link as he napped away, certain that Shadow Yukiko's secret couldn't be that major. But if Shadow Yukiko was whispering in his ear like that...

"I think that you should know...I'm wearing my lacy unmentionables." That was the cue for Link to wake up, as the Hylian opened his eyes and hopped right off the couch.

"Yeah, that's probably enough napping for me." Link hurried out of the lounge, and Shadow Yukiko watched with amusement as the Hylian retreated. As Link went down the hallway, he encountered Zelda speaking with Minato and Yukari.

"These doppelgangers are no joke," Yukari stressed to Zelda, giving her the rundown on the doppelgangers that had escaped from Mini Mementos. "They are not the kind of people to be trifled with!"

"I still don't know what these doppelgangers are or where they come from, but I agreed with everything she said," stated Minato, happily going along with whatever came out of Yukari's mouth. Might be overwhelmed by FOMO, though he'd never admit it out loud.

"The weirdest thing just happened," Link said to Zelda, as he interrupted her conversation with Minato and Yukari. "So I was taking a nap, and then I hear Yukiko's voice whispering into my ear about some...lacey unmentionables."

"That must've been a doppelganger of hers," assumed Zelda, knowing for a fact that the real Yukiko would never act that crude. "Minato and Yukari have been telling me about them."

"Yukari, mostly..." Minato muttered under his breath, wishing that he could be a big help. But he would let his girlfriend take the reins, for now.

"What do we do with these doppelgangers?" asked Link, as Sora came up the hallway and started eavesdropping on Link and the others. "Do we beat the crap out of them and turn them into good guys?"

"That would be a good way to go about it," replied Sora, who didn't know what was being discussed but gave Link's idea all his approval. Everyone gave the Keyblade wielder blank stares, causing him to walk away in silence.

Sora: Beating up people works; it's how I saved Aqua and became a good friend of hers. If you were there with me in the Realm of Darkness, you would know...

"Let's just focus on rounding up the doppelgangers first," Zelda established a plan, choosing to save the beating up part for later. The princess turned her attention to Yukari. "You said the doppelgangers have yellow eyes, correct?"

"Yup! Just the Shadow Operatives and Investigation Crew," replied Yukari, giving Link and Zelda a general sense of who they should look out for. "No one from the Phantom Thieves, thank goodness..."

"Have any of you seen Shantae?" asked Akihiko - the real Akihiko - as he approached the group, holding the note that Shantae had left on his nightstand. "She wrote me this weird note..."

"We'll discuss later," Link half-promised Akihiko, as he led the others away. "To the lounge, people!" Akihiko was left alone in the hallway, as he stared at the note that Shantae had left for him.

When Link brought everyone to the lounge, he saw that Shadow Yukiko...was gone! Shadow Yukiko casually whispered something in Link's ear and was gone, just like that.

"I see this is going to be harder than I thought..." remarked Link as he nodded his head, ready for any challenge the doppelgangers laid upon him.


After letting off some steam, Fox had returned to the contract negotiations along with Falco. The pilot expected the Star Records talent to temper their requests, but the hits just keep on coming.

"We want our own house to live in," requested Kiria, as she was growing tired of staying at the mansion. Itsuki was slightly open to the idea, but Fox and Falco, not so much. "Would benefit us creatively."

"I disagree," Fox shot down Kiria's suggestion real quick, much to the dismay of Kira and the others. "Remember Terrace House, people? Hana Kimura?"

"Respect mental health, bruh!" Falco randomly shouted, making a statement as he stood up from his chair with ferocity. The avian pilot awkwardly sat back down in his seat after a few seconds had passed.

"Well, it's not like they'll be complete strangers to each other," Itsuki offered his two cents, spinning the separate house idea in a positive light. "Not to mention that they'll be free from..."

"C'mon Itsuki, you're supposed to be on our side," Fox said to the young man, ashamed that he was giving in to Kiria's request. "Put your foot down!"

"I see nothing wrong with it. Who wouldn't mind a change of scenery?" Evidently, Fox minded, as he left the table in an angry mood a second time. Falco followed after Fox so he could keep his friend's emotions in check.

"Master Hand needs to hurry up and bring that money soon..." muttered Fox, venturing into the kitchen so that he could take some time with himself. Speaking of Master Hand, why don't we see how he's holding up?


Master Hand was making rounds through the mansion, asking residents if they knew anything about Dimentio. When all else failed, the giant hand spoke with Lucas and Ness, as he stopped by the teen's room.

"We haven't seen Dimentio anywhere," Ness confirmed to Master Hand, too nervous to tell him about that letter he received in episode 321. He imagined that it would be the death of him.

"If we do see him, we'll let you know," Lucas assured Master Hand, who gave a thumbs-up as he left the room. Lucas then looked over at Ness, who was relieved that Master Hand was gone. "Happy now?"

Ness: It was sadly only a matter of time before Master Hand started inquiring about Dimentio somehow. I'm so done for...

After he left Ness and Lucas's room, Master Hand heard someone laughing evilly. Wondering who it was, the giant hand looked down the hallway and saw Sho Minazuki wielding his twin katanas.

"Finally found my target..." snarled Sho, as he slowly looked up at Master Hand with murderous intent in his eyes. Had the eyes of a serial killer. "...pleased to do business with you, Master Hand."

"Why does everyone want to kill me all of a sudden?" questioned Master Hand, while Sho took his sweet time walking over to him. "First Magolor, and now you're...mind telling me your name?"

"Sho Minazuki - I was sent to kill you." Once he got close enough to Master Hand, Sho began inspecting his target for any weak points. "Guess you could say that I'll play a major hand in your demise!"

"You're deadly AND able to crack puns?!" Master Hand saw this as a lethal combo, as he started fearing Sho. "I beg you not to go to Cafe Leblanc...uh, the coffee there is terrible."

"Might swing by and get some coffee...after I'm finished with you." Sho pointed one of his katanas at Master Hand, bringing even more fear inside of him. "Better say your prayers..."

Suddenly a loud clang sound was heard, as Sho dropped one of his katanas to the floor. Sho stared in confusion, as Gray Fox deactivated his camouflage and made himself known to the young man. In his hand was his ninja blade.

"Au contraire..." Gray Fox said to Sho with his back turned, before turning around. Gray Fox looked like he wanted a fight - and Sho was more than happy to give him one.

"Tryna stop me from doing my job, huh?" asked Sho as he wielded his other katana...only for Gray Fox to reactivate his camouflage. Sho looked around for any signs of Gray Fox, only for his katana to be taken out of his hand.

"Looking for this?" Gray Fox deactivated his camouflage, taunting Sho as he held his katana. "If you want it back, you'll have to find me first..." The ninja assassin then went back into camouflage, as he darted away.

"Why you..." Sho growled at Gray Fox, before turning his attention to Master Hand. He couldn't kill Master Hand with just one katana, it wasn't the same. "...I'll be coming back for you later!"

"Take your time, sweetheart," replied Master Hand, as Sho grabbed his other katana off the floor and ran off. Master Hand was spared...for now. "Well, that was a thing that happened..."

Master Hand: In all my many years of existence, I don't think that anyone has ever attempted to kill me. Sure, Mario and his pals enjoy kicking my butt from time to time for their own amusement...and mine, but I don't think they've ever wanted me dead! I must be very popular. Or unpopular.

Shrugging off the incident that had just occurred, Master Hand floated down the hallway, only to stop when he noticed a guest within his mansion - E. Gadd. He saw the professor poking his finger at someone who was trying to hide.

"Loosen up sonny, I'm not here to hurt you," E. Gadd said to Magolor, who was cowering on the floor shaking with his hands over his head. Magolor was being poked repeatedly by E. Gadd.

"Go away, go away I say!" Magolor implored E. Gadd, as his streak of going unnoticed by anyone had come to an end thanks to the professor. "He'll find me if you won't leave me alone..."

"You're not referring to me, are you?" Master Hand asked Magolor, who looked up and shrieked when he saw the giant hand staring at him. Magolor thought that he was a goner now.

"Um...uh...smoke bomb!" Magolor threw an imaginary smoke bomb on the floor, before running for his life. Master Hand would've chased after Magolor, but felt that it wasn't worth the effort.

"A weird little fella he is..." With Magolor out of sight, out of mind, Master Hand turned his attention to E. Gadd who was adjusting his glasses. "...ah, if it isn't Professor E. Gadd! How do you do?"

"Handling myself well, thank you for asking," smiled E. Gadd, always delighted - and sometimes even intimidated - to have a word with Master Hand. "I came here to speak with Hal. Have you seen him at all today?"

"He did stop by Luigi's house this morning...apparently, he wanted some boar meat. Or deer meat, rather." Snake and Hal must still be looking for food at the very moment.

"Then I assume that he must be busy, then. I wanted to speak with him about Di..." E. Gadd was about to mention Dimentio, only to realize how unwise it would be to bring him up around Master Hand. "...about dementia! Yes."

"Why, because you're dealing with dementia yourself?" Mustering all the power that he could, E. Gadd gingerly nodded his head. "Funny you should mention that - Snake used to have dementia himself."

"Snake had dementia?" E. Gadd found that hard to believe but also wondered if Snake's past battle with dementia was what made him cranky.

"Well, allegedly - back when he had accelerated age. I'm sure that Snake can tell you some stories if you ask nicely...and if he remembers."

"Maybe another time. Maybe another time..." E. Gadd was only focused on speaking with Hal, as he headed to the lounge to unwind until Hal was available.


While they could be watching the March Madness tournament in the living room, Pit and Ryuji were instead watching old footage of New Japan Pro Wrestling. Pit liked what he was seeing, and he even recognized a few familiar faces.

"No way! Brock Lesnar wrestled in Japan?" Pit asked Ryuji as he pointed at the TV screen, watching a relatively young Brock Lesnar putting a wrestling clinic in the ring. "Does that mean he had Japanese citizenship?"

"Nope, but it gave him a lot of street cred!" replied Ryuji, trying to hold in his excitement as he watched Lesnar slam his opponent onto the mat. How surprising that it wasn't a suplex.

Yoshi: Not that I'm complaining or anything, but Pit and Yoshi are hogging the living room so that they could watch old wrestling stuff. Meanwhile, I wanna watch some college basketball. How else am I supposed to see Saint Peter's upset Kentucky?!

King Dedede: Yoshi honestly thinks that Kentucky's gonna lose to Saint Peter's... *snorts* ...only a fool would believe that would happen. *pauses, looks nervous* Right...?

"Gotta say, a lot of the moves in these wrestling matches feel...choreographed," observed Pit, furrowing his brow after he did a closer inspection of a few of the matches. Ryuji's eyes went wide, almost bulging out of their sockets.

"You don't say?" Ryuji asked Pit as he leaned in close to the angel; the delinquent had a crazed look, smiling as he figured that Pit was on the verge of embarking upon a major discovery.

"Yeah, the punches and kicks they throw...they're barely even hitting each other!" Something about the style of wrestling over in Japan caused Pit to think about some things. "It's almost as if...wrestling is..."

"How are you gonna have a watch party, and not invite us?" asked a certain goddess of nature, as Pit and Ryuji looked over and saw Viridi. Viridi was not alone, for with her were Dark Pit, Phosphora, and Magnus.

"Thought I told you not to invite your friends," Ryuji frowned at Pit, rueing the idea of Viridi being a part of the wrestling charades. Knowing her, Viridi would nitpick every little thing she saw.

"She invited herself and forced us to attend," stated Dark Pit, sounding defeated wishing that he was somewhere else. "Had no choice in the matter..."

"We brought snacks!" exclaimed Magnus as he held up a few snacks, hoping that it would appease Ryuji. Had very little effect, but Ryuji did sigh in defeat.

"Fine, I guess we can make this a watch party..." Ryuji conceded, allowing Viridi and company to stay but only because they had snacks. "...just don't get any crumbs on the floor, Rosalina would probably kill me."

"I claim dibs on that seat!" shouted Viridi as she pointed at the available spot on the couch next to Pit, before sitting down in it. The goddess of nature was now seated between her man and Ryuji.

"Watching this wrestling stuff almost made me realize something, Viridi," Pit said to the goddess of nature, ready to tell her whatever he learned from watching the old NJPW footage. "Something that you've been trying to..."

"Shh...save it for later." Viridi placed her finger on Pit's lips, silencing him. When the goddess took her finger away, Pit was about to speak only for Viridi to place her finger back on the angel's lips. "Now what did I say?"

"C'mon Pit, don't stall out for your girlfriend!" Ryuji encouraged Pit, advising him to defy Viridi. It was no wonder he has yet to secure a girlfriend. "Be the better man!"

"How about you be the better man and shut up?" Phosphora asked of Ryuji, who groaned as he left the matter alone. Already Ryuji saw that things were going on a downward slope. "I wanna enjoy these snacks in peace, thank you very much."

"I just want to do some 'catching up' with Pit," stated Viridi, explaining her actions for keeping Pit silent as she took her finger away from Pit's lips. "Also, talking during a program is quite rude, I'll say!"

Meanwhile outside the living room was a doppelganger...Shadow Yu. Shadow Yu was keeping a close eye on those in the living room, before walking away...


With Pit and Viridi gone, Joker was forced to hold it down at Cafe Leblanc with Kirby and Incineroar. It wouldn't be so bad for the young man if he didn't have to put up with Sans, who had plenty of St. Patrick's jokes to spare.

"i'm a leprechaun...i should be outside, sitting on my paddy-o," quipped Sans, still dressed as a leprechaun as he sat at the cafe counter. Joker, who was chatting with Makoto, frowned at Sans as Makoto did the same.

"Then go ahead and leave, we insist," Kirby encouraged Sans, doing whatever was possible to drive Sans away. For the sake of not only the baristas, but the patrons as well.

"it stinks that we're both small since I'm a leprechaun, and you're just short. a lot of small talk between the both of us."

"Now would be a good day to ban him from the cafe," Makoto said to Joker, amazed that her boyfriend had yet to deal with Sans. Was he scared? "What's the holdup, Joker?"

"He's my best customer..." replied Joker; every time anyone asked him about why Joker was still allowed at Cafe Leblanc, that was his go-to answer.

"Your best customer, yet you never charge anyone for having coffee or curry..." Unless it was someone who was a special guest and also had a big fat wallet to spend with. "...admit it, you're just scared of Sans!"

"do you guys have lucky charms?" Sans asked the baristas, as he could go for a bowl of cereal right now. Partly because he missed breakfast that morning, trying on his leprechaun attire.

Sans: as a leprechaun, i'm not too fond of running; i'd rather jig than jog. on another note, i would make for an awesome secretary. i'm great at shorthand.

"Kirby?" a voice called out to the pink puffball, as Magolor entered Cafe Leblanc; Magolor looked around, not knowing if he was allowed inside or not.

"Magolor? What are you doing here?" Kirby asked the alien, as everyone had their attention on Magolor. Magolor took a seat at the counter, taking out an envelope.

"Just an apology letter...summed up all my thoughts in a couple of paragraphs or so." Magolor handed the envelope to Kirby, not expecting the pink puffball to open it yet. Kirby stared at the envelope curiously.

"It took you about eight weeks to write out an apology?" Kirby at least acknowledged the fact that Magolor took the time to write an apology letter - but even then, he still had some doubts.

"It's also kinda meant for Snake too...he'll understand once he reads it." The fact that the apology letter was also addressed to Snake made Kirby even more curious...and doubtful.

"In that case, I'll show this to him at my earliest convenience." So Kirby stuffed the envelope in his imaginary pocket, as Magolor hopped down from the barstool and headed towards the exit. "Leaving so soon?"

"stay around for a bit," Sans said to Magolor, who had stopped a few feet away from the cafe door. "i can show you a trick - a saint pat-trick if you will."

"Sans..." Joker scolded the skeleton, who dug into his pocket to pull out whatever item he intended to use for his trick. Too bad that Magolor refused to stick around and see it.

"I'm so sorry, friend..." Magolor quietly muttered under his breath, before finally leaving Cafe Leblanc. Kirby watched as Magolor left, perplexed by the alien's behavior.


As Link and Zelda expected, rounding up the doppelgangers would be no easy task. That was why they had Samus and X access the security footage to scout out any signs of the doppelgangers. They were up in the computer room, along with Minato and Yukari.

"Most of the security cameras seem to have been tampered with," said X, noticing that some of the security cameras were either damaged or at weird angles. "You think the doppelgangers might be responsible?"

"Possibly," replied Yukari, as Isabelle stepped inside the computer room with some news she wanted to share. "Could be their way of covering up their tracks."

"Just got off the phone with Mitsuru," Isabelle said to Link and Zelda, as everyone turned their attention to the Shih Tzu. "She and her friends are still out shopping. I assume the guys are as well."

"And you asked them to stop shopping and come back home, right?" Link asked Isabelle, who nervously smiled as she twiddled with her...stubby hands. "Right, Isabelle?"

"Maybe it slipped my mind..." In actuality, Isabelle was too chicken to even ask. Regardless, Link was left facepalming at Isabelle.

"Can you at least find some guys willing to round up a bunch of doppelgangers? You can do that much, can't you?" Now that was a task that Isabelle wasn't scared of carrying out.

"I'm on it!" Isabelle saluted Link, as she scurried out of the computer room; Link sighed as he returned to the security footage on the monitor.

Yukari: Dealing with the doppelgangers would be so much easier if my friends were...Why wasn't I invited to go out shopping? Uh...it was because my time with Minato was more valuable. I mean, not like Mitsuru didn't bother to ask me if I wanted to come or anything. It wasn't like that at all!

Moments after leaving the computer room, Isabelle saw the first person worthy of recruiting...Gray Fox. She spotted the ninja assassin alone by himself, and slowly approached him.

"Not another move..." Gray Fox whispered to Isabelle when he saw the Shih Tzu, as Isabelle came to a sudden stop. "...he might be nearby."

"Who might be nearby?" asked Isabelle, scared for her life as she looked in every single direction. Once it got silent, Gray Fox slowly took out a katana and held it up.

"I FOUND YA!" shouted Sho, as he came charging towards Gray Fox with his lone katana. By the time Sho reached Gray Fox, Gray Fox went into camouflage mode as he avoided Sho's attack.

"Close but no cigar..." Gray Fox taunted Sho, who looked around for wherever the ninja assassin's voice came from. "...try as hard as you might, you will never find me."

"Oh, I will! Give me back my katana, or I will KILL YOU!" Sho went back to a man on the hunt, as he ran off continuing his chase after Gray Fox. Isabelle was fortunate that Sho hadn't harmed her, let alone acknowledged her existence.

"We should totally adopt a closed-door policy on strangers in the mansion," the Shih Tzu had this to say after that Gray Fox-Sho encounter, as she took out her clipboard with a list of names on it. "Wonder if either one of the Mishimas is available..."


Pit and Ryuji's watching of old NJPW footage had turned into a glorified watch party, as Viridi and pals not only invited themselves but brought snacks into the fray. Even with all the distractions, Pit maintained a heavy interest in what he was watching.

"So Ryuji, why did you give up on New Japan?" Pit asked the delinquent, comfortable enough to ask a few hard-hitting questions. "Did it no longer make you feel like a kid again?"

"Haha, very funny..." replied Ryuji, before taking a sip from a can of soda. Can't have any snacks without some refreshments, obviously. "...but to keep it real, I only stopped watching because most of the good people left."

"Ah, so that makes you a bandwagoner," Magnus accused Ryuji, and the term offended Ryuji; it almost got under his skin. "The worst type of fan."

"Me, a bandwagoner?" Ryuji could only snort at Magnus's assertion, but then he thought it over for a bit. "Do you really think that I'm a bandwagoner?"

"Corrin saw his man-crush Tom Brady leave the Patriots, and yet he still supports the team," stated Viridi, providing a great example for Ryuji to mull over. "Even if the team stinks, he'll love them no matter what."

"Ryuji seems to only enjoy things that are hip and trendy," quipped Phosphora, as Viridi and Dark Pit both giggled at the notion. Ryuji didn't appreciate being laughed at.

"Th-That's not true!" Ryuji defended himself as he stood up from the couch, spilling his chips unto the floor. So much for keeping the living room floor clean. "Do you guys really wanna know the truth?"

"Pardon me, but...is there room for one more?" someone asked with their chest exposed, as Ryuji and the others saw Yu standing by. Except it was Shadow Yu, and he was holding a title belt. "I enjoy wrestling, too..."

"Woah! Nice title belt, Yu!" Ryuji commended Shadow Yu, as he immediately forgot what he was so angry about in the first place. "And nice contacts, too!"

"I'd say this title looks better around my waist." Shadow Yu placed the belt around his waist, strapping it on as Pit tried not to feel envious. "Don't you think?"

"Lookin' good, Yu!" Pit smiled as he gave Shadow Yu a thumbs up, while Viridi could tell that something was off. "Why don't you have a seat over there?"

"My pleasure..." So Shadow Yu went over to the armchair, adjusting it so that it faced the TV. He took a seat, sighing as he got himself comfy.

"Is it just me, or is Yu acting weird?" Viridi whispered to Pit, keeping a very close eye on Shadow Yu. She was the only person in the living room to take note of the unusual behavior. "Never seen him smile this much before..."


With breakfast already over at the Luigi household, everyone was looking forward to the big event that evening - Charles's birthday party! As Mario and his pals were hanging out in Luigi's living room, Daisy was doing some party planning behind the scenes. There was one thing missing, however.

"I forgot to get that wagon," Daisy quietly discussed with Luigi in the kitchen, after she had gone through an inventory of Charles's birthday gifts. "You know, the one I saw at the store that day."

"I know the one; I can-a get it for you," said Luigi, proving his worth as a helpful husband as Daisy smiled in response. The green plumber entered the living room, glancing towards Mario. "Mario, you and I must-a go out to get the goods."

"The goods?" Mario crinkled his nose, only to understand the cue after Luigi gave him a wink. Mario was ready to go on the shopping trip as he quickly rose from the couch he was sitting on. "Alright then, let-a go!"

"You and Luigi are going out to catcall at some girls?" Hunter asked Mario, believing that he too understood the cue - when in reality he was only asking for some trouble. "And Daisy's fine with you doing it?!"

"Hunter, they're not..." Spyro was about to inform his cheetah friend, only to save his breath and let out a sigh instead. "...why do I even bother trying to reason with you sometimes?"

"Don't forget to buy some snacks while you're out!" Yuffie made her request to the Mario Bros as they left through the front door. Neither Mario nor Luigi acknowledged the ninja girl's request.

Yuffie: Spring Man offered me a few burrito bites, and I've been hooked ever since! I keep asking Luigi to buy me a bag - since I'm too cheap to spend my own money - but he never listens. He's probably tempted that he would steal some from me.

Spyro: Yuffie had a decent portion during breakfast, and yet she's still asking Luigi and Daisy for more food. Does she not know the meaning of self-control?


After they walked out of the front door, Mario and Luigi saw Snake and Hal in the front yard of the mansion, putting a bunch of food together. Snake and Hal had gone around gathering food, and now they were ready to present it...for Dimentio, apparently.

"And you're sure that this will lure him to the mansion," Hal said to Snake, who was getting everything situated. Snake was being awfully delicate with the food, showing a gentleness that Hal had never seen before.

"Hal, it's not like he's gonna randomly show up at this spot," Snake stressed to Hal, placing Luigi's deer meat at the top of the food pile. "We need something to entice him, and reel him in."

"Dimentio is in 2-D, I doubt that he can even eat any of this..." The mention of Dimentio brought worry to Luigi, who had a few flashbacks of his past encounter with Dimentio.

"Be cool," Mario advised Luigi, who maintained his cool as he took out his car keys. As Luigi went to his car, Kirby came running out of the mansion towards Snake and Hal.

"Snake, you got a minute?" Kirby asked the former spy, who was finally done assembling the food. Kirby wanted to suck it all so bad. "Magolor has an apology letter for us to read..."

"An apology letter?" said Mario, curious as he walked over to Snake and Kirby. Luigi, who had just unlocked his car, had no choice but to follow after Mario.

"What do you mean, it's for us to read?" asked Snake, as Kirby was about to open the envelope. If only he had an envelope opener. "It's addressed to the both of us?"

"Apparently so," replied Kirby, only to look over and see the Mario Bros. coming over to him. More company, just what Snake needed... "Why hello there, Mario and Luigi."

"Don't mind-a us - just being nosy busybodies," Mario said to Snake and Kirby, with a keen interest in whatever the apology letter entailed. Luigi had no choice but to be at his brother's side.

"Okay...all the more power to you two, I guess." Now came the big moment, as Kirby had his hand on the envelope. The suspense was killing him, almost. "Let's see what's inside..."

Once Kirby opened the envelope, an unexpected occurrence transpired...strong gusts of wind were unleashed! Mario and Luigi held on to their hats, as a giant star appeared above in the clouds, sucking things up.

"There was a tornado inside that envelope?!" questioned Hal, struggling to maintain his balance as the food that was gathered was being sucked up into the giant star above. "How's that even possible?!"

"It's Kirby's dumb friend we're talking about here!" shouted Snake, feeling as if the winds were about to take him and everyone else away. "Everyone hold on to your hats!"

"MAMA MIA!" Luigi cried out, as the strong winds carried him and the others into the sky. Their screams were heard as they were lifted up in the air, into the giant star...

...and soon, the star went away and the clouds dispersed as the winds were no more. The now-empty envelope that Kirby had floated down to the ground, landing where the assembled food once was.

"Woah! Why does it look like a tornado hit this place?" Hunter asked Spyro, opening Luigi's front door as he and Spyro looked outside. The front yard looked like a mess. "Thought you said that Seattle doesn't get tornadoes."

"I never said that," clarified Spyro, noticing that Luigi's car was still in the driveway. And so was Mario's. Both cars had moved a bit. "Eh, I'm sure whatever it was, it wasn't too concerning."

"Still think there was a tornado." Spyro and Hunter went back inside Luigi's house, with Hunter slamming the door shut. While Spyro and Hunter were both convinced that no foul play had occurred, one question remained...

...where on earth did Mario and the others go to?