Author's Note:
Nintendo Switch Sports is finally out, which means that all the Wii Sports nuts out there (myself included) can have their moment to shine. Indubitably, this chapter will feature sports included in Nintendo Switch Sports, and I've added a few sports from Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resorts as well. On one last note, this chapter has been a little...differently compared to past ones. You'll see for yourself. Review time:
"I know that you don't use the people of the manor or their associates, but I still want to ask: can their be a scene of Jimmy and Natalie from Ape Escape 2 interacting with Team Rocket? Jimmy and Natalie are voiced by the original series voice actors for Ash and Misty (only in the American version, not the PAL version)"
Huh, what a coincidence! But sadly, I can't make this interaction happen. Another anonymous review:
"The follow-up question about Amy's action: Wasn't Sonic's group in jail offscreen between chapter 329 and 330? If so, what was it like?"
They were in jail, but I doubt their sentence lasted that long. So it would be hard to describe what the conditions were. Moving on:
"I would like to combine your and my ideas for Sonic's punishment. Here's my idea for Sonic's Punishment in the next chapter: Caroline and Justine forced Sonic to watch Teletubbies and In the Night Garden during the night. In the Night Garden is a bedtime show for little kids. I'm sure this two baby shows will humiliate and destroy Sonic for sure. This is something I would like to see."
Sounds diabolical. I might entertain this idea in the next chapter. One more guest review:
"Can't believe I'm saying this, but for the first time, I kinda agree with the Memory guy. Have Lavenza supervising Sonic next week. Would like to see it."
Lavenza, huh? On that note...let's see what TIME TO GO has to say:
"It feels weird seeing too much of the warden twins, when Lavenza is their true form. I know they were meant for security, but Lavenza is not in her true form for a long time, and it might be dangerous. Am I saying this because I don't like her as the twins? Well, that might be one of the reasons... At least show them as Lavenza once in a while."
Yeah, I see where you're coming from. I've been featuring Caroline and Justine a lot, and Lavenza has barely gotten any attention. So for that reason, the next chapter will feature Lavenza. Everyone wins, or something. Questions from David:
"Will Sonic's punishment keep getting worse for him? Is the Xenoblade 3 chapter gonna be pushed up to July now? A Splatoon 3 chapter for its September release date? A scene of Palutena and Cranky competing to see who can break the 4th wall the most in a single chapter? Do the Smash Mansion Residents hold a day of remembrance for Gunpei Yokoi, Hiroshi Yamauchi, and Satoru Iwata on the days they passed away? (Serious question I know). And finally, what are your thoughts on Digimon Survive being released the same day as Xenoblade 3?"
Pretty much. The XC3 chapter will indeed be pushed up to July, and the Spaltoon 3 chapter will be in September. Palutena and Cranky Kong might have a competition like that one day. I'd like to think that they hold a day of remembrance for those three. And Digimon Survive being released the same day as XC3...sounds like immaculate timing. That game might get overshadowed, unfortunately. Ending it off with some bad news from The Reader:
"Have you heard the news? Billy Kametz (voice actor of Ferdinand from Three Houses and Maruki from P5 Royal) got diagnosed with Stage 4 colon cancer. I hope he'll get through that illness."
Stage 4 colon cancer...that is not good. But I'm sure that Kametz is a fighter, so he will preserve and push through. Here's hoping that he can kick cancer's butt!
Episode 332: Sportsplex
Sports was pretty much a big deal in Seattle. You had the Seattle Seahawks, a team that won a Super Bowl eight years ago. The Seattle Kraken, a team that was the newest professional hockey team in the nation. The Seattle Mariners, a team that hasn't made the playoffs...in over two decades. There was also the Seattle SuperSonics, but they were sadly old news.
Coincidentally, many of the fighters in Smash were into sports. Mario dabbled in sports such as tennis and golf. Ness obviously loved baseball. And Champion Link was the undisputed champion of shield surfing - although his title often came into question.
Master Hand realized how much the Smash fighters loved sports, and Anna realized it too over time...which was why she proposed to Master Hand that he build a sportsplex close to the mansion. The merchant found out that there were available acres for purchase, and she enticed Master Hand into building a sportsplex for mansion residents and tower denizens alike to frequent.
Construction started after the idol singers' house was completed, and after a few weeks, the sportsplex was (somehow) open for business. And to mark the momentous grand opening were two canine commentators, sitting in front of a Smash logo in what appeared to be a sports broadcast.
"Hello, sports fans!" greeted one of the dogs, a red canine that wore glasses and a white dress shirt. "This is Anchorman Ken along with Manager Joe, coming to you live from the emerald city of Seattle, Washington!"
"We got some breaking news for you all today," said Manager Joe, who was waiting with anticipation to break the big news. "The creator of the Smash universe, Master Hand, is opening up a sportsplex!"
"That's right! Thanks to some funding from his good friend, Anna...and 'charitable donations' from his residents, on Anna's part, Master Hand was able to pull off the unthinkable. Truly mind-blowing!"
"This sportsplex is slated to be open to the public, but for now, the Smash fighters and their friends will be among the first to try it out. If there is any day for them to get their sports fix in, it's now!"
"Say, Joe, what television channel are we even broadcasting this on?" Apparently, Joe didn't know either as he was lost deep in thought. "Is this streaming online or something?"
"Got no clue, but Anna made sure we got paid generously!" Manager Joe pulled wads of money out of his pocket, showing it off to the camera, and Anchorman Ken smiled as he followed suit.
"Ain't that the truth, partner!" Anchorman Ken continued to flex his money before he and Manager Joe put their cash away. "Now we'll send it off to Chick and Stew for the grand opening."
A few miles down from the mansion was the new sportsplex, which was ready to be open for business. Master Hand and Anna stood at the entrance, while the mansion residents, tower denizens, and their neighbors were gathered outside. Rayman and friends and the Crash Clan were present as well.
"Good afternoon and a cockle-doodle-doo, sports fans!" greeted Chick Gizzardlips, standing next to Stew as Lakitu was filming the fowl reporters. "This is Chick Gizzardlips along with Stew, and boy do we have a treat for you!"
"It's about that time, Chick - time for the sportsplex to finally open!" reported Stew, awfully giddy as he was unable to contain his excitement. "What was once a secret project is now gonna be the biggest attraction in town!"
"Easy there, tiger. No attraction in Seattle can ever beat the Space Needle!" Disagreeing with Chick's sentiment, Stew snorted in response as he waved off his parter-in-crime.
"Please, that lousy needle is old news compared to this next wonder of the world! But the question is, how do the residents feel about this new sportsplex?"
Master Hand: The Smash Sportsplex has all the works - it's got a bowling alley, an outdoor golf course, a basketball court, and even a place where one can do kendo. Or is it chanbara? Isabelle can correct me on that one.
Samus: The sportsplex caught me by surprise, I won't lie. One day I was passing by the construction work, and the next thing you know, there is a sportsplex right there. Just counting down the days until it inevitably gets torn down. Tick, tick, tick...
Corrin: I'd like to think of myself as an adept basketball player - if my performance on that cruise ship basketball scrimmage is anything to be believed. And at Tokyo. Mario still refuses to acknowledge my talent.
Knuckles: People may choose to ignore this, but I'm 0-2 in soccer games. If I wanna get my first soccer win, I gotta be at my very best - while also beating the best. Mario doesn't count.
Slippy: The sportsplex comes with a golf course? If anyone needs a caddie... *points his thumb at himself* ...I'm your guy!
Mario: Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy! I can't wait to try out all the sports-a that sportsplex has to offer! What should I do first? Bowling? Tennis? Water skiing? Is water skiing even a thing here?
"Welcome everyone, to the grand opening of the Smash Sportsplex!" Master Hand happily addressed the crowd, as he got a bigger reception than he was originally expecting. "Hope you all are eager for some sports fun."
"Not all of us are into sports like you, Master Hand," stated Cloud, easily one of the more enthusiastic folks out there. Aerith and Tifa would have to do a lot of pulling with the swordsman today.
"Yes, thank you for stating the obvious, Mr. Strife...I won't hold you any longer, so I'll just have Anna cut the red ribbon. Isabelle, the scissors?"
"On it!" chirped Master Hand as she gave a large pair of scissors - which were too heavy for her - to Anna. Anna happily accepted the scissors from Isabelle, before facing the red ribbon in front of the sportsplex entrance.
"Alright people, here we go!" exclaimed Stew as Anna was ready to cut the ribbon. Anna was moving the scissors very slowly, likely to build up tension and dramatic effect.
"Ah, yes, the slow-mo effect," marveled Chick, appreciating how long it was taking for Anna to actually cut the ribbon. "Gets people excited for all the right reasons...and the wrong reasons as well."
Eventually, Anna cut the big red ribbon, which meant that the Smash Sporteplex was finally open for business. But of course, nothing was set in stone yet without a word of confirmation.
"The Smash Sportsplex is now open for business!" announced Anna as she held the large scissors up high, while the crowd reacted with cheers and applause. "Come one, come all!"
"Here-a we go!" exclaimed Mario as he made his first step towards the Sportsplex...only to be run over by the large crowd. By the time everyone was inside, Mario was left on the ground flat as a pancake, as Sonic walked over him.
"Told ya that being at the front was a bad idea," Sonic snickered at Mario as he was about to enter the sportsplex, but not before being confronted by the warden twins Caroline and Justine. Almost as if those twins were waiting on Sonic.
"Don't think you can get away from us that easily, inmate," Caroline said to Sonic, being the last person that the blue hedgehog wanted to see along with her twin sister. "We will be monitoring you."
"Can't you just let me loose for one day?" Sonic asked the warden twins, before sighing as he entered the sportsplex. The warden twins followed suit.
"Well, there you have it - the Smash Sportsplex is now open for business!" announced Announcer Ken, who along with Manager Joe probably won't be checking out the Smash Sportsplex due to their jobs. Those poor, poor souls...
"From right now until the doors shut, we'll be following everyone inside the sportsplex," said Manager Joe, anxious to broadcast nothing but sports stuff all day long. "What sports fun awaits our Smash patrons and friends?"
"But before we get to that, a word from our sponsor!" As Announcer Ken smiled at the camera, a curious question entered his head. "Wait a minute, do we even have a sponsor?"
Apparently, Announcer Ken and Manager Joe did have a sponsor, as Roy was stood outside filming what appeared to be some kind of faux commercial. In the swordsman's hands were some bugs.
"This special broadcast is brought to you by Bugsnax! Bugs that you can eat!" Roy said with a clenched smile, only to look over when he heard someone speaking to him. "What do you mean, these bugs aren't edible?"
Announcer Ken and Manager Joe were unsure of what to make of that "commercial", as the two were staring blankly at the camera. Announcer Ken even had to properly adjust his glasses.
"Out of all the odd commercials I've seen...that one was the most recent," remarked Announcer Ken, taking a few seconds to regain his normal composure. "But now it's time to jump right into the fray!"
"Our first look will be into the soccer area," announced Manager Joe, as he took a brief look at his notes on the desk. "We've been told that there is a 'special' guest already in wait..."
Knuckles and a bunch of other folks were heading to the soccer field, and Knuckles was looking to school everyone. He was putting everyone on notice, too.
"Just letting you all know, you guys are looking at the best echidna soccer player ever," Knuckles said to the others, bragging nonstop about how good he was at soccer. Several individuals already tuned him out.
"The competition for 'best echidna soccer player' must not be that stiff," quipped Tails, as Knuckles frowned at his yellow fox friend. Soon Knuckles and company arrived at the soccer field, ready to start their soccer match.
However, they were in for a surprise when they saw a certain Brazilian DJ kicking a soccer ball around the field. He was absolutely vibing too, listening to some jams as he was making it look easy.
"Alright party people, let's bring it together!" exclaimed the Brazilian DJ when he saw Knuckles and company standing on the sidelines, before coming to a halt as he folded his arms. His friendly smile was so flawless, that it could be recognized from anywhere.
"Lúcio?!" certain folks uttered the Brazilian DJ's name in unison, as Lúcio appreciated the small reception. Even if it was just mostly shock. Only one person was beside himself.
"What are you doing here, Lúcio?" Knuckles frowned at the DJ, who was still vibing as he showed off a few breakdancing moves. "Trying to steal my shine?"
"Not at all, not at all! Anna personally invited me to the sportsplex just to play the sport that I love. Now, who's ready for some Lúcioball?! It's my favorite kind of ball!"
"Your kind of ball sucks. I think everyone else would have to agree with me. Right, guys?" Knuckles looked at the others, expecting them to agree with him, but was met with silence.
"How do you play this Lúcioball?" Daisy asked Lúcio out of curiosity, as Knuckles threw his arms up in defeat and stormed off the soccer field.
"Glad you asked, princess!" replied a smiling Lúcio, happy to explain the rules for Lúcio Ball. Fortunately, the rules weren't that complex. "Lúcioball is basically three-on-three soccer, but with jump pads and speed boosts. And large soccer balls!"
"That sounds pretty cool. Got anyone in mind as to who you want on your team?" Little did Daisy know that Lúcio already had two teammates in mind.
"Yeah, I got two peeps in mind. The two teammates I wanna have are you, Princess Daisy...and Knuckles!" That was a big shock to Knuckles, who was just about to leave the premises.
"You what?" Knuckles asked Lúcio, as he had one foot out of the door. The echidna was looking at Lúcio silly, thinking that the DJ was pulling his tail.
"C'mon, Knuckles, it'll be a lot of fun! Don't knock it till you try it!" Lúcio was extending an invitation to Knuckles, who felt as if he had no choice in the matter. Everyone was counting on Knuckles to join.
"Okay fine, I'll play this stupid Lúcioball...but just this once." Knuckles walked away from the exit, looking to play one game of Lúcioball just to satisfy Lúcio. "Long as I'm the captain."
"Don't count on it..." Daisy said to Knuckles, as Lúcio left to go find the necessary equipment for Lúcioball. Should be a few spare jump pads nearby.
Elsewhere at the sportsplex, there was a bowling alley, and there were many folks were putting on their bowling shoes. Mario was one of those folks, as he was sitting on a bench with Dante.
"Me and the original twelve beat-a the Olympic men's basketball team at bowling six-a years ago," Mario said to Dante, recalling the moment when Link won the game for his squad. Said moment was overlooked by the basketball team's coach having a health scare.
"You paid a bunch of basketball players to lose on purpose? That's cool," responded Dante, refusing to believe that Mario and company were able to keep it competitive with a bunch of athletes. No matter the sport.
"Sonic what on earth is wrong with you?!" Ribbon Girl questioned the blue hedgehog, who was standing at one of the bowling ones...with his back turned towards the pins with his legs spread out.
"What does it look like, I'm practicing!" replied Sonic, before doing the unthinkable; Ribbon Girl watched in horror as Sonic rolled the bowling ball through his legs, as the ball rolled down the lane and knocked down the pins.
"That just feels so wrong..." the Squid Sisters' Marie shook her in dismay, not a huge fan of Sonic's bowling technique. Sonic turned around and saw that he had scored a strike.
"Haha, I still got it!" Sonic celebrated by jumping and pumping his fist, only to notice that those sitting around were looking disappointed in him. "Hey, if you did my method, you'd be getting nothing but strikes, too."
Sonic: I've been doing that sacred bowling technique for about seven years now. Hasn't failed me since. The others are too afraid to follow in my footsteps because they're that scared of success!
"Inmate, what are you doing?" Caroline asked Sonic, as she and Justine were standing around; the warden twins weren't fans of Sonic's bowling technique either, but that was a given.
"Whoever said that you were free to go bowling?" asked Justine, as Sonic was about to shoot for another strike before he saw the twins staring at him.
"Uh, my conscience did," replied Sonic, about to grab another bowling ball only to sigh when he understood what the twins wanted from him. "I'm discouraged from bowling, aren't I?"
"You're only allowed to play the sports that we approve of. Now come with us!" So Justine grabbed Sonic, as she and Caroline led the blue hedgehog out of the bowling alley. Mario and Dante watched as Sonic was forced to leave.
"At least the competition will be more open with him gone," remarked Dante, fearing that Sonic would be unstoppable with that bowling trick of his. "Should I do Sonic's..."
"Please-a don't," Mario pleaded to Dante, not wanting Sonic to be a bad influence. He figured that the warden twins were doing the right thing.
"A bowling alley in the sportsplex, now that's unheard of!" commentated Announcer Ken, being more in awe than he probably should. "How many sportsplexes do you know have a bowling alley, Joe?"
"Not many - heck, I've never really been to a sportsplex before!" replied Manager Joe; you'd think that a guy who once commentated high school football games would at least know what sportsplexes were all about.
"I'm right in the same boat as you, partner! Now moving on, we have a three-point contest set to begin. We'll send it over to Chick and Stew, who will be taking a closer look at our participants!"
At a basketball court, several individuals were getting their reps in for the three-point contest. Chick and Stew stood together at midcourt, with eight or so men behind them shooting hoops into the basket.
"We are moments away from what promises to be an exciting three-point contest, ladies and gentlemen," reported Chick, wishing that he and Stew could be part of the fun themselves. "Stew, would you like to explain to the audience how this contest came to be?"
"It was a challenge sent out by Falco Lombardi himself," explained Stew, with Falco just behind the fowl reporter getting his reps in and making it look easy with his shots. "Earlier this week, Cuphead called himself the best shooter, and that's when Falco wanted to prove that talking cup wrong!"
Cuphead: This is what I meant when I called myself the best shooter. *fires bullets out of his finger guns* That's it. Yet somehow Falco took it the wrong way. Now I've been roped into a basketball shooting contest that I know I'll lose...
"Fox, Falco, Cuphead, Little Mac, Pit, and Corrin will be our six participants," reported Chick, sounding less than amused when saying the names. "Only one of our competitors is an actual athlete..."
"Who, Corrin?" asked Stew, as Chick looked at his partner-in-crime like he was crazy. And he was indeed crazy. "Because he's my dark horse to win the whole shebang! Gonna win it for his daughter!"
"...joining us now is Pit, who is another likely dark horse." Chick saw Pit coming over to him and Stew, as the angel was taking a break from the shootaround. "So, Pit, on a scale from one to ten, what is your confidence level going into this shooting contest?"
"At first, it was like a seven or eight," replied Pit, who was sweating buckets; he exerted himself too much during the shootaround. "But then I learned that there were no guns involved. So now it's like a three."
"You feel more comfortable shooting a gun than shooting a basketball?" Stew questioned Pit, unable to imagine the angel holding a real gun - only because he knew what the obvious outcome would be.
"If you're talking about laser guns, then yeah. Thought that we were having a laser gun competition. Maybe that's why my confidence was high."
"Well, we'll wish you the best of luck in the contest, Pit," Chick said to the angel, who walked away from the fowl reporters as Chick discreetly shook his head. "Back to you, Ken and Joe..."
"Thank you, Chick and Stew!" thanked Announcer Ken, who was ready to showcase a sports competition that had already started. "We will now shift our focus outside, where we have a golf tournament on our hands."
"Lot of folks are looking to put on their best Tiger Woods impression today," commentated Manager Joe, who was feigning to do some golfing himself. "Let's take a look at how things are shaping up!"
Outside on the golf course were four golfers - Cloud, Chrom, Kazuya, and Bowser. Cloud was forced into golfing by Tifa and Aerith, who were both standing on the sidelines as they supported their favorite swordsman.
"Perfect shot!" exclaimed Bowser after he had hit the golf ball, which landed on the green patch relatively close to the hole. "Try and top that, Strife!"
"Don't count on it," said a very apathetic Cloud, whose turn was next as he walked to the tee and placed his ball on it. The swordsman casually struck the ball with his club, and the ball traveled far in the air and landed...in the bunker.
"Oof, you hate to see it," said Chrom, only to frown in confusion when Cloud dropped his golf club to the ground and retreated to Tifa and Aerith. "Um, Cloud, you aren't done yet!"
"So that means I'm done, right?" Cloud asked Tifa and Aerith, under the assumption that he was eliminated from the competition since the ball landed in the bunker. But the swordsman was far from done.
"Silly Cloud! You have to get the ball in the hole first," Aerith explained to Cloud; taking the flower girl's word for it, Cloud went to the bunker where the golf ball landed, as he picked up the ball and went to the nearest hole.
"Cloud, you're doing it all wrong!" Tifa called out to the swordsman, who didn't care in the slightest as he reached the hole and dropped the golf ball in.
"There, I got the ball in the hole," Cloud called out to Tifa and Aerith, not caring what kind of rules he broke with the maneuver he just pulled off. "Can I go back home now?"
"To be honest with you, I would've done the same thing that he did," Bowser whispered to Kazuya, as Cloud trekked back to where the other golfers were.
Announcer Ken and Manager Joe didn't know what to make of Cloud's defiant move, as the two commentators just stared at the camera with blank faces. Announcer Ken had to shake his head to wipe off the dumb look on his face.
"...very interesting move by Cloud Strife there," remarked Announcer Ken, as Manager Joe quickly regained his normal composure by giving a smile. "Now we will take you to the doubles tennis match going on right now."
Waluigi and Kasumi were out on the tennis court, as they were about to start a match with Rayman and Leaf. Since tennis was arguably his best sport, Waluigi had full confidence that Rayman and Leaf would both be absolutely creamed.
"Wish me luck, you guys!" Leaf said to her supporters - Squirtle, Ivysaur, and Charizard - who were on the sidelines rooting for their Pokemon trainer. Leaf couldn't let her Pokemon down.
"You just stay in the back, while I serve the ball," Waluigi gave out orders to Kasumi, expecting the young woman to follow them to a tee. Kasumi responded with a frown, not liking those terms one bit.
"So what is my purpose, then?" questioned Kasumi, who didn't want to stand around the entire match while Waluigi did all the work. It would be a waste of her athletic skill.
"Being eye candy, obviously. You'll distract Rayman with your good looks. Rayman's single, from what I've heard, so this plan will be air-tight."
"That's not what Barbara told me..." If Kasumi had any sense in her, and it was evident that she did, she would defy Waluigi's silly little plan.
Rayman: Barbara has been going around the sportsplex telling people that we're officially a couple...so in the meantime, to get away from her, I'll be playing tennis with Waluigi and the ladies. Never should've offered her that onion ring during our lunch last week, that got her way too excited.
Barbara: Look at what Rayman gave me! *holds up onion ring* I've kept it under my pillow as a memento. A sign of what's to come...
"Alright Kasumi, you got the first serve," Rayman said to the young woman, who had the tennis ball in her possession. Confused, Waluigi looked at his left hand and saw that it was empty.
"Waaah! You're doing it all wrong!" the lanky man scolded Kasumi, salty that the young woman was doing the first serve. It was meant to be his grand moment, apparently. "I'm supposed to serve the ball. You're supposed to be eye candy!"
"Does it really matter, Waluigi?" asked Kasumi, bouncing the tennis ball on the court before being ready to serve. Kasumi threw the tennis ball high up in the air and was about to hit it with her tennis racket...
...only for Waluigi to run over and hit the ball himself. The ball sailed over Rayman and Leaf's heads, landing outside of the tennis court beyond the fencing.
"OUT..." said the unofficial chair umpire, R.O.B., as he was calling the tennis match. "RAYMAN AND LEAF HAVE TAKEN THE LEAD..." Sadly the lead was moot, as the tennis match had to be put on hold thanks to Waluigi's shenanigans.
"Nice going, Waluigi," Rayman shook his head at the lanky man, before going to the fence and trying to climb over it. It was a struggle to reach the top part of the fencing. "Uh, Charizard, mind giving me a lift?"
"Don't look at me, it was Kasumi's fault," Waluigi said to a disappointed-looking Leaf, putting all the blame squarely on Kasumi's shoulder. "She got in my way! That's what she gets for diverting from the plan."
It was on at the bowling alley, as the residents were rolling bowling balls down the lanes and knocking down pins. Donkey Kong, realizing that there was an unofficial sports broadcast taking place, wanted to show off for the cameras.
"Wanna see a juggling act?" asked Donkey Kong, as he took out multiple bowling balls; the gorilla started juggling the balls, making it look effortless. Those sitting near Donkey Kong were impressed. "Look at me go; I could do this all day!"
But then things turned for the worst, as one of the bowling balls fell out of Donkey Kong's grasp. The rogue bowling ball landed on the head of an unsuspecting Crash, who happened to walk by. And as a result, Crash was knocked out cold.
"Uh...this is all part of the act!" a nervously smiling Donkey Kong said to the concerned onlookers, before checking to see if Crash was okay. "He should be waking up at any given minute!"
Why don't we turn our attention to the actual action taking place at the bowling alley? It was Yusuke's turn to bowl, as the artist approached the bowling lane with grace, dignity, and poise. Three of his most defining qualities.
"You got this, Yusuke!" Haru called out to the artist, who was instilled with confidence as he cracked a smile. With his girlfriend rooting for him, Yusuke knew that he had nothing to fear.
Makoto: Any other time my friends and I go bowling, Yusuke typically carries himself in a very dignified manner. But now that he's in love, he's been a bit more...showy than usual.
Yusuke faced the pins and took a deep breath, as he rolled the ball down the lane. As the ball continued to roll, Yusuke turned around and struck a pose.
"Now everyone, bask in my glory!" the artist said to everyone with his arms out wide...as the bowling ball rolled into the gutter. Many folks were trying to stifle their laughter.
"Some 'glory,'" snickered Wario, and Yusuke slowly began to frown as Wario and many other folks were laughing at his expense. That's when Yusuke turned around and saw that the bowling pins still standing.
"Incredible! Those pins somehow repositioned themselves after being knocked down. But how come I didn't hear a noise...?" Yusuke was deep in thought, pondering as he held a finger underneath his chin. Others continued to laugh, while Haru forced a smile.
"Move-a aside, painter boy!" Mario said to Yusuke, bowling ball in hand as he shoved the artist to the side. "Let me show you how a pro does it."
Mario applied the same method that Yusuke did, taking a deep breath and getting his mind right as he focused his attention on the bowling pins. But right before the plumber could make his move...
"Oh man, Corrin is gonna embarrass himself in that three-point contest," Ike quietly discussed with Wolf, as the private conversation between swordsman and mercenary reached the ears of Mario.
"Wouldn't surprise me if he missed all his shots!" Wolf said to Ike, letting out a diabolical cackle. Mario aggressively threw the bowling ball at the pins, knocking them all down; Ike, Wolf, and everyone else looked shocked.
"That was totally intentional," Mario said to the shocked crowd, before sitting down and taking off his bowling shoes. "I have purposely eliminated myself-a from the competition."
"But why? You were off to a great start," Peach said to Mario, who took off his bowling shoes and handed them to the princess. Peach was simply in no state for bowling; she was still pregnant, in case you may have forgotten.
"Terry is scaring me, I have-a to call it quits." A man on a mission, Mario retreated out of the bowling alley as Terry looked on, feeling inspired. "I'll catch-a you guys later!"
"Mario took himself out of the game...all because of me?" marveled Terry, who didn't know what or how to feel as he looked at his open hands. "My bowling must be that good!"
"This just in: Mario has retired early from the bowling competition!" reported Announcer Ken, who along with Manager Joe was just as shocked as those at the bowling alley were. "But one question remains...why?"
"I got a better question for ya - when do we get lunch?" questioned Manager Joe, as he heard his stomach growling. That little bag of peanuts he had prior to the broadcast didn't hold him over. "I'm starvin'!"
"In due time, Joe, in due time. Sure could kill for some boshintang; the word on the street is that it's pretty tasty. But enough about food! Let's take a look at this badminton match."
Tails and Yoshi were in a badminton match, teaming up against best friends Lucas and Kumatora. Yoshi was the one to serve, as he threw the shuttlecock up in the air ready to hit it with his racket.
"Hold on - isn't badminton obsolete at this sportsplex?" questioned Yoshi, right when he was about to serve as the shuttlecock fell to the ground. "I mean, we have tennis for goodness sake..."
"Get the match started already, you big-nosed dingus!" Kumatora shouted at Yoshi, who ended his train of thought as he picked up the shuttlecock and serve it to the other side. Both teams were going back and forth, hitting the shuttlecock with their rackets.
"Stop moving around so much!" Tails shouted at Yoshi, who was moving about as he repeatedly crossed over to Tails' service court. Yoshi served the shuttlecock back towards Lucas, who did something completely out of desperation.
"PK FIRE!" the PSI whiz shouted as he unleashed a wicked PK Fire on the shuttlecock, sending it back to the other side. Tails looked afraid at first when the shuttlecock flew high up in the air...
...but Yoshi would save the day as he leaped up, and struck the shuttlecock with all his might and sending it flying past Kumatora. Kumatora was unable to strike back, meaning that Tails and Yoshi scored a point.
"Alright, we're back in the lead!" cheered Tails as he and Yoshi exchanged a high five. If Tails and Yoshi achieved a two-point lead, they would have victory in the bag.
"That better not have been against the rules..." Kumatora frowned at Lucas, as she had mixed feelings about the PSI whiz's PK Fire move. Nothing in the badminton rulebook said that using PSI spells wasn't illegal.
The soccer field was all set for Lúcioball as it had speed boosts, jump pads, and of course, large soccer balls. Those playing Lúcioball had the same gear that Lúcio did - laser skates and sonic amplifiers. The team of Lúcio, Knuckles, and Daisy was going up against Sora, Dark Pit, and Mechanica.
"Is it even possible to skate on the grass?" asked Dark Pit, who was testing out the capabilities of his sonic amplifier. He fired a soundwave from the gun that sent Sora flying into a nearby wall.
"Who cares, just get yourself into the rhythm!" replied Lúcio, getting himself pumped up for Lúcioball as he danced in place. Knuckles was looking at the DJ with heavy disgust.
"Didn't answer my question, but okay..." Dark Pit pulled on the trigger a second, emitting another shockwave - one that spooked Mechanica. "...that one was purely an accident."
Knuckles: Lúcio thought that he was doing the right thing by making me a part of his team...but he clearly thought wrong. I'm gonna show him the terrible mistake he made by purposefully dragging him down as much as I can. Daisy won't get with the program and might get in my way, but I can just boop her off the field. Easy peasy.
"Somebody count us off!" shouted Lúcio, getting the crowd pumped as he threw his hands up in the air. The only person that wasn't cheering was Lucario, who looked around and sighed.
"Guess that somebody has to be me," the aura Pokemon remarked as he stood near the center mark of the soccer field, before clearing his throat. "On the count of three. Three, two, one...GO!"
And so it was on, as Lúcio made his first move. The DJ sped towards the large soccer ball in the middle of the field, punching it with all his might towards the opposing team's goal.
"Oh cool, we get to throw punches?" gleamed Dark Pit, slowly becoming a fan of Lúcioball as he threw a punch at Mechanica and made her squeal in pain. "This is so awesome!"
"Watch it, Dark Pit, we're on the same team!" Mechanica frowned at the doppelganger as she rubbed her arm in pain, only to look over and see Lúcio speeding towards the goal. "Hurry, he's about to score!"
"I got it!" shouted Sora, stepping up to the plate as he raced towards Lúcio...who sent him flying with a shockwave. Lúcio punched the soccer ball into the goal, scoring the first point.
"Aw yeah, it's party time!" celebrated Lúcio, doing a traditional soccer celebration as he slid to his knees while the crowd cheered his name. The only thing that was missing was an international soccer commentator screaming, "GOOOOAAAAAALLL!".
"Dang it, he scored too early!" Knuckles stomped his foot in anger, as Daisy looked at the echidna wondering why he was so salty. "He barely even gave me a chance to sabotage him."
"Sabotage him?" Daisy questioned Knuckles with her hands on her hips, while Lúcio did another celebration - running the length of the field. "You're gonna try and make us lose! I knew it!"
"Um, uh..." Knuckles didn't know how to get himself out of his predicament, as nervous drops of sweat ran down his face. So he faked an injury, as he fell to the ground and yelled while holding his ankle.
"Really, Knuckles? No one is gonna fall for that." Seeing that he didn't get the reaction he wanted, Knuckles stood back up and bit his arm, causing himself to bleed from the wound.
"Injury timeout! Injury timeout!" Knuckles cried out, as Daisy rolled her eyes at the echidna's line of thinking. "I'm bleeding over here!" Needless to say, hardly anyone reacted.
"There are no timeouts of any kind in Lúcioball," informed Lúcio as he went over to where Knuckles and Daisy stood, nearly out of breath. "We keep on balling until one team wins!"
"Lúcio, I think I might've hurt my ankle," Sora called out to the DJ, lying on the ground nursing his ankle - a legitimately hurt ankle, at that. Kairi looked on from the crowd of spectators, understandably worried.
"Injury timeout! We need a nurse, stat!" Lúcio went over to Sora, along with Lucario - who only assumed the nurse duties since no one else did. Knuckles was taken back by the double standard displayed, as his mouth went agape.
"Let me see you try and mess up Lúcio...I dare you..." Daisy said to Knuckles in a threatening tone, as Knuckles' mouth remained wide open.
Sonic, who originally wanted to go bowling, was forced by the warden twins to play a different sport...kendo. Caroline and Justine had the blue hedgehog fully decked in kendo gear, having him wear the traditional kendo armor.
"I'm really doing this...I am really about to do this," lamented Sonic, who was watching Steve and Zero doing kendo right now. Nakoruru and Gerudo Ganon were the kendo judges, while Eight was the referee.
"Steve you have to quit it with the hits to the helmet, man," Zero said to the craftsman, who was smacking Zero in the head repeatedly with his kendo sword. It was almost as if Steve couldn't stop!
"I am sorry; once I start swinging, it is near impossible for me to stop," stated Steve, doing his best not to intentionally force Zero outside the court. That would get him disqualified.
"How much of the men has he scored?" Gerudo Ganon asked the head judge, Nakoruru, who glanced at the score sheet on the table. The "M" on Steve's score sheet was already circled.
"Technically, he only had to score one point," explained Nakoruru, while Zero stood where he was and took the beating. "We'll just let Steve exert his energy."
"Okay, Steve, that is more than enough head strikes," Eight said to the craftsman, who kept swinging his sword; Eight tried to grab Steve's arm, only to be whacked himself.
Nakoruru: The more I think about it, Steve was wielding his sword with one hand instead of two, so he broke the rules right off the bat. But it was his first time, so we'll give him a pass. *sighs, then facepalms* So many passes that I had to give out today...
"Gotta take this helmet off, it's got me sweating buckets," said Sonic as he was about to take off his kendo helmet, only to yelp in pain when Caroline smacked him with her nightstick.
"You are to keep that helmet on until you are done playing kendo," Caroline instructed Sonic, as Justine took out a sheet of paper with a bunch of words on it. "Now recite the Purpose of Kendo, inmate!"
"'To mold the mind and body...'" Justine read off the sheet of paper, before turning to Sonic as she expected Sonic to repeat after her. But the blue hedgehog kept his mouth shut.
"Yeah right, I'm not saying any of that," Sonic said defiantly as he folded his arms, leading Caroline to smack him with his nightstick again. Sonic groaned. "'To mold the mind and body', yadda yadda yadda..."
"Sheesh, poor Sonic and Knuckles!" commentated Announcer Ken, while Manager Joe was eating a sausage that someone stealthily gave to him off-camera. "Those two are not having any kind of fun out there."
"But at least Tails is enjoying himself on the badminton court," remarked Manager Joe, as he wiped his mouth to remove any signs of evidence. "He and Yoshi might prevail over..."
"Hold that thought, Joe...I have just received word about Mario." Announcer Ken pressed his earpiece into his ear, nodding his head as he took in the info that was being fed to him. "Apparently, Mario was spotted outside the basketball court!"
It was almost time for the three-point contest to begin, as all six participants got their practice reps in. Little Mac was in the locker room with Doc Louis, who was getting his protege pumped up.
"This is it, Little Mac! Your big moment!" Doc Louis said to the boxer, who was getting himself in the groove as he threw out a few punches. "Remember who you're doing this for!"
"Doing this for Leia Rolando!" Little Mac shouted at the top of his lungs as he held his fist up high. Doc Louis looked confused, seeing that Little Mac had missed the point.
"Leia? She's old news, son! I was talking about me! Me!" It took a few seconds for Little Mac to realize that, as the boxer sheepishly smiled and put his hand back down.
"Yeah, of course, silly me..." Little Mac scratched the back of his head, forcing himself to shift his priorities as he now had Doc Louis in the back of his mind.
Little Mac: I have dedicated a lot of things to Leia ever since I fell in love with her. Sparring matches, two-player arcade games, and even brushing my teeth. I kid you not, I hardly brushed my teeth at all before Leia came into my life. Love can make you do crazy stuff.
"Oh, Doc! A chocolate fountain just arrived outside!" a voice called out to Doc Louis, causing the boxing trainer to perk up. Whenever chocolate was involved, Doc Louis always turned it from zero to a hundred.
"Stay right where you are baby, daddy's coming for ya!" shouted Doc Louis as he ran out of the locker room running faster than the Flash. With Doc Louis gone, Little Mac resumed his shadowboxing as Mario discreetly entered the locker room.
"Watcha doin'?" Mario asked Little Mac, inching closer to the boxer while holding an object behind his back. Regardless of what object Mario was holding, Little Mac had to keep his head up.
"Getting myself in the mood for the three-point contest," replied Little Mac, having no idea why he was throwing air punches in the first place. As a boxer, he knew of no other way to motivate himself. "I'm gonna be in it."
"Is that-a so? Would be such a shame-a if something were to happen to you...hehe." Mario gave off a very suspicious vibe, and Little Mac picked up on it right away as he stopped punching and turned towards Mario.
"What are you hinting at?" Little Mac had every right to be wary of Mario, who was eyeing the boxer intently with mischief in his eyes.
"Little Mac...I'm gonna Nancy Kerrigan your midget behind." Mario revealed the nightstick that he held behind his back, sending a message to Little Mac.
"Midget behind? Talk about the pot calling the..." Little Mac soon sensed what Mario wanted to do to him, slowly backing away as Mario inched closer to him. "...ch-chill out, Mario!"
The other contest participants - Fox, Falco, Pit, Cuphead, and Corrin - were all out on the court, waiting for Little Mac's arrival. Waiting for Mac's arrival too were the sideline reporters, Chick and Stew.
"Five of our six competitors are all ready to go," reported Stew, as an unidentified man ran over to Chick and whisper something in his ear. "But one question remains...where the heck is Little Mac?!"
"Ladies and gentlemen, I just have received breaking news," reported Chick, with the man running away once he shared the information. "Little Mac has been seriously injured, and is out of the contest! Filling in as his replacement will be..."
"It's-a me, Mario!" Mario made his presence known, walking unto the court as if he was Michael Jordan making a grand comeback tour. Fox, Falco, Cuphead, and Pit looked surprised, while Corrin on the other hand was afraid.
Mario: Borrowed that night-a stick from Justine. She and Caroline were mad upset when I expressed-a no desire in pummeling Sonic.
"Woah, the Jumpman has entered the chat!" exclaimed Fox, as he and Falco got all sorts of hyped-up when they saw Mario. "Things just got interesting."
"Mario is replacing Little Mac?!" fretted Corrin; Mario got his game face on, as he gave Corrin a vicious death glare. "This is simply not ideal..."
"I'm not gonna let-a you steal my shine," Mario vowed to Corrin, taking it personally with the prince as he snatched the basketball out of Cuphead's and shot it into the hoop. "Warm-up shot."
"Hey mister, that ball had my sweat on it!" Cuphead frowned at Mario, who stretched his arms and legs. Should focus more on stretching his arms. "But wait, I'm a cup though..."
"Now that's what you call a real athlete!" exclaimed Stew as he pointed at Mario, while a flabbergasted Chick looked on at a complete loss for words. "He's my new dark horse pick to win the contest! Forget Corrin!"
"But if he's your dark horse pick, then who's the crowd favorite?" pondered Chick - now would be a good time to place some prop bets. "Ah, never mind...back to you, Ken and Joe."
"There you have it, folks...the Jumpman himself, Mario, has replaced Little Mac in the three-point contest!" announced Announcer Ken, who just like everyone else was stunned by the turn of events. "With a nickname like that, he is sure to win the crown!"
"Perhaps Mario's biggest competition is the alleged basketball star, Corrin," commentated Manager Joe, as some of Corrin's basketball "highlights" in Smash Life appeared on the screen. "Mario will certainly have his work cut out for him."
"Indeed. And with a bona fide shooter in Cuphead, Mario will have to stay on his A-game!"
"Right on! But I gotta ask - is there even a crown for Mario to win?"
"Got no clue! But for now, let's turn our attention to the archery duel taking place."
The archery duel was a three-headed affair, involving Link, Beleth, and Hunter. Zelda, Byleth, and Spyro were standing at a distance, rooting for their respective competitor. Link fired an arrow, nailing the target that was far away.
"Nice shot," Beleth commended Link, who wasn't that surprised by his level of accuracy. He didn't become the hero of Hyrule by missing any shot he took.
"Oh yeah? Get a load of this!" said Hunter, not wanting to be undone by Link as his turn was next. The cheetah fired an arrow but missed horribly. "That was a practice shot."
"You said that about the five previous shots you've taken," stated Spyro, thinking that he could be a better shot if he only knew how to hold a bow. "Come up with some new material next time."
"Now it's my turn," said Beleth as he took out his bow, only for Hunter to push him to the side. Apparently, Hunter wasn't done. "Hunter, it's my turn!"
"Yeah, you already had your shot...too many shots at that," Link said to Hunter, who took a blindfold out of his imaginary pocket. Someone was being pretty daring today. "Oh no..."
"He is going to hurt himself..." fretted Zelda, as Hunter tied the blindfold around his head over his eyes. The room for error couldn't be any higher.
"I would look away, but Hunter doing this only makes it more entertaining," remarked Byleth, as Hunter reached for the bow that he had placed on the ground. Took him a while, but he got his hand on it eventually.
"Have no fear, for I am a trained professional," Hunter did his best to quell any worries and concerns, although the way that he was holding his bow was saying otherwise. "Now watch and learn..."
"Don't do it, Hunter..." Spyro advised the cheetah, who had made up his mind as he pulled on his bow. Spyro could only look away as Hunter fired an arrow...
...and nailed a faraway target from where he was standing. Hunter slowly lifted up his blindfold and saw the arrow stuck in the center of the target.
"Haha, it actually worked!" cheered Hunter, as the others were applauding; Spyro opened his eyes, surprised that Hunter didn't hurt anyone. "That was my first time shooting blindfolded, by the way."
Spyro: Whaddaya know? Every now and then, a blind squirrel finds a nut. Or a blindfolded squirrel, in this case.
"Lemme see if I can do it again," said Hunter as he pulled his blindfold back down, ready to take another crack at it. But not everyone was down with an encore, though.
"Or maybe we can let Beleth have his turn..." suggested Link, only for Hunter to pull on his bow and fire an arrow...this time striking a person, as a loud cry of pain was heard. "...or maybe not."
"Yup...I totally called that," remarked Spyro, despising how right he was; he always knew what to expect when it came to his best friend.
Announcer Ken and Manager Joe expressed their sympathy for whoever was struck by the arrow, as both commentators were left cringing. One can only imagine how much pain and agony the victim was in.
"Our sympathies go out to whoever was struck," said Announcer Ken, grabbing his stack of papers off the desk and shuffling them as he had to carry on with the broadcast. "Let's carry on with our sports coverage, shall we?"
While Cloud and others were playing regular golf, Captain Falcon was playing a kind of golf that was introduced back in episode 288 - speed golf! And he was playing it with Robin, Incineroar, and Ganondorf. Captain Falcon struck the golf ball, watched it land, then raced to where the ball landed before knocking it into the hole.
"Yes!" the racer celebrated as he pumped his fist; he then turned around and saw the other three golfers struggling to keep up. "Guys, seriously?!"
"We are doing our best, Captain Falcon," shouted Robin, who was almost out of breath as he eventually collapsed to the ground terribly exhausted. Inceinroar came over to Robin and lifted the mage over his shoulder.
"No Incineroar, you're doing it wrong...Robin has to reach his ball by himself! Do I really have to go over the rules again?"
Mario was missing out on some bowling fun, and there was plenty of action taking place. For instance, Terry was topping the leaderboard as he was scoring multiple strikes.
"Okay!" exclaimed Terry, celebrating a strike by doing a finger gun postil celebration. The crowd cheered for Terry, who went back to his seat as Yusue was next up to bowl.
"Special technique, don't fail me now..." said Yusuke, closing his eyes as he held the bowling ball close to his chest...and turned around. A few select folks knew what maneuver Yusuke was about to do.
"I thought you told him to stop doing this?" Makoto whispered to Haru, who kept her lips pursed as she could only watch Yusuke do his thing.
Yusuke: Sonic said that his patented bowling technique has helped him get strikes, so I've decided to take it for a spin. So far, it has come with mixed results; I have been knocking pins down with ease, but no one in the crowd is a huge fan of the method...Haru included.
"Yusuke, I am asking you as a man to stop this at once..." Terry pleaded to the artist, easily unnerved by Yusuke's bowling technique. Yusuke chose to ignore Terry as he spread his legs out wide and rolled the bowling ball through his legs down the lane, knocking down eight pins.
"Not bad, not bad," remarked Yusuke, nodding his head in approval Terry let out an exasperated sigh. "I can settle for a spare."
Volleyball was played a lot at the Hanzo Academy, so it was no surprise that a student from the academy, Asuka, was doing well in her volleyball match with Wii Fit Trainer. The match only had one spectator in King K. Rool.
"Why aren't you wearing a bikini, it's volleyball for crying out loud!" shouted K. Rool as Asuka, who was about to serve the volleyball back to Wii Fit, stared at K. Rool with disgust. "I was talking to Wii Fit."
"We're playing indoors, King K. Rool," stated Asuka, before serving the ball to Wii Fit. Wii Fit served it right back to Asuka, as the fitness trainer and ninja carried on with their grueling volleyball match.
"That is no excuse..." As K. Rool grumpily folded his arms, Doc Louis ran onto the volleyball court and got smacked in the face with the ball by Wii Fit.
"Oh! I'm so sorry, Doc Louis," Wii Fit apologized to Doc Louis, who shrugged off being smacked in the face as he handed the ball to the fitness trainer. "Put a little too much oomph in that serve."
"No, Wii Fit, I was in the wrong," said Doc Louis, grateful that the ball didn't break his nose. "I was too busy looking for that chocolate fountain."
"Chocolate what now?" Wii Fit furrowed her brow at Doc Louis, as Lakitu descended to the volleyball court hovering on his cloud. What brought the bespectacled Koopa to this premises?
"Doc Louis, your protege is injured," Lakitu informed the boxing trainer, who was quickly alarmed as he nearly forgot about the chocolate fountain he was looking for. "You might wanna come with me...you too, Wii Fit."
The three-point contest was underway, as all six men were fully prepared. The rules were simple - you had to make as many three-pointers as possible in under one minute to win. Whoever made the most shots wins.
Up first was Cuphead, whose bragging inadvertently spoke the three-point contest into existence. Cuphead made a few shots but unfortunately missed many others, as he ultimately made seven out of his twenty-five shots.
"Some great 'shooter' you are!" a vindicated Falco taunted Cuphead, as he pointed and laughed at the talking cup. Cuphead shrugged off his performance, as he did a whole lot better than he expected.
"Up next to shoot is Pit," commentated Chick, standing at the bassline with Stew as Pit stepped up to the plate. After the countdown, Pit started shooting away, not doing any better than Cuphead.
"This-a is why I'm going last," Mario discussed with Fox, who was next up to shoot after Pit. Seeing Pit (try to) shoot made him feel better about his chances. "Gonna show you boys-a how it's really done!"
"Heh, we'll see about that," snorted Fox, as Pit air-balled the final shot and angrily stomped his foot in response. It was a good thing that any of his friends were in the stands, watching his poor performance.
Kirby: Yes, I was aware that Pit was in the three-point contest. I chose not to be a spectator, for I knew what the outcome would be. How many shots did he make?...Six? Surely you aren't being generous...
"Very uninspiring performances so far," remarked Chick, as Fox was the next participant to take the court. Time for Fox to be a game-changer. "Maybe Fox can help pick up the pace."
"But does he have the hot hand? We'll have to find out!" said Stew, as Fox spat into both of his hands and rubbed them together. Fox then grabbed a basketball off the rack, waiting for the countdown to begin.
Once the countdown commenced, Fox started shooting away. He was on fire, too, as he made four of the five shots on the first rack. Mario, Corrin, and Falco were taken back by how well Fox was shooting, feeling the pressure.
"He sure is putting a lot of pressure on the three guys after him!" commentated Stew, as Fox was shooting the ball like crazy. When he moved to the last rack, Fox made three of his last shots, putting an extra bit of flair on the last one.
"Fox walked off the court before the last shot went in!" marveled Chick, as Fox walked off the court seconds before the last basketball fell through the hoop. "Truly the stuff of legends. So much bravado!"
"Feeling it now?" Falco sneered at Mario, who was still confident that he could win the three-point contest. Because he felt like it, Mario turned towards Corrin and stared him down.
"You're going down-a fool..." the plumber vowed to Corrin, who nervously gulped as he tried to look away from Mario's cold stare. Mario might want to win the contest, but putting Corrin in his place, for whatever reason, was perhaps his bigger priority.
"We will have a very brief intermission," commentated Chick, as Fox was now in the lead - and it was a decent lead at that. "In the meantime, we'll find out wherever the heck Fox ran off to..."
Lúcioball carried on at the soccer field, and so far it was looking like a blowout. Dark Pit, Sora, and Mechanica were no match for soccer aficionado Lúcio, who was carrying the team.
"Another big-time goal, comin' right up!" said Lúcio as he sped past Dark Pit and Sora with the soccer ball, seeing the opposing team's net in his sight. Then out of nowhere, Knuckles shoulder-bumped into Lúcio, sending the DJ to the ground.
"Whoops - didn't see you there," Knuckles said insincerely to Lúcio, and the crowd knew how insincere Knuckles was as they booed the echidna. "Aw, go boo yourselves, will ya?"
"Knuckles, what was that for?" Daisy questioned Knuckles as she came over to the echidna, as Sora saw the lone soccer ball and contemplated whether he should score or not.
"Yeah man, that was not cool!" frowned Lúcio as he hopped back on his feet, not missing a beat after Knuckles had roughed him up. "I was about to score!"
"I was just following orders from Daisy," admitted Knuckles, causing Daisy to gasp in shock and clutch her pearls. "She said she wanted to see me try and mess you up...so I did."
"I meant that as a threat, you nitwit..." Daisy frowned at Knuckles, who stood by his violent actions regardless due to his disdain for Lúcio. Sora, meanwhile, took advantage of the distraction and brought the soccer ball past Lúcio and his team.
"He's about to score!" exclaimed Dark Pit, as Sora was closing in towards the goal. The Keyblade wielder punched the soccer ball into the goal, scoring a point for his team.
"He did it, he finally scored!" squealed Kairi, while her man celebrated by sliding to his knees and pumping his fists. "Isn't that great, Riku?"
"The score is now 16-1, that's pretty neat," replied a highly cynical Riku, who had his arms folded; he fancied himself as a better Lúcioball player than Sora. "Sora just might pull off the comeback of a lifetime now."
When Lakitu went to the locker room to check on Little Mac, he saw the boxer lying on the floor in pain. That's when he brought in Doc Louis and Wii Fit Trainer to check on Little Mac and diagnose his injury. Word about Little Mac soon reached Isabelle, who raced to the locker room to see what was up.
"It's gonna be okay, Mac, you can just walk it off..." Doc Louis encouraged Little Mac, who was grimacing in pain while holding his lower right thigh. Wii Fit was applying an ice pack to the damaged area.
"Got here as soon as I could," said Isabelle as she ran inside the locker room, seeing that scene that was before her. "Did something bad happen?"
"You're darn right something happened...the chocolate fountain is missing!" exclaimed Doc Louis, as Isabelle tried to recall a moment when Master Hand had a chocolate fountain installed at the sportsplex. "Couldn't find it anywhere!"
"She was talking about Little Mac being hurt..." Wii Fit said to Doc Louis, slowly lifting up Little Mac's right leg; Little Mac winced in pain, as Wii Fit gently placed the leg back down.
"Oh yeah, right! I found Mac lying on the floor like this when I came back from outside. Sadly, he's in too much pain to talk much."
"The injury doesn't seem that serious, thankfully." Wii Fit continued to assess the severity of Little Mac's leg injury, believing that a wheelchair would be a suitable option. "I might have a clue for who could've hurt Little Mac."
"You do?" inquired Isabelle, and that's when Wii Fit took out some evidence that she found...a nightstick. She tossed the baton to Isabelle, who flinched as she caught the object with both hands.
"Doc and I found it lying on the floor. You can deduce whoever attacked Little Mac, based on that alone."
"We have a very special announcement, folks," announced Announcer Ken, who had received a vital piece of information a minute ago. "We have a very special guest at the kendo arena!"
"According to our sources, it's a man who is deemed one of the strongest samurai around," added Manager Joe, selling the mystery guest as a pretty big deal. "Whoever is going up against this guy in kendo, I sure feel sorry for!"
Sonic was about to do kendo for the first time, standing in the center of the ring armed with his kendo sword. The blue hedgehog was wearing his kendo armor, and he wished to take it off since it was making him sweaty.
"Are you ready for your opponent, Sonic?" Nakoruru asked the hedgehog, who looked towards the spectating warden twins before nodding his head. "Alright, bring him on in!"
Sonic didn't know who he would be facing, but he hoped that whoever it was would be easy pickings. However, whatever hope he had vanished away when a behemoth of a man approached him decked in heavy kendo armor. Sonic was shivering in his boots.
"Sonic the Hedgehog! Recognize me?" the man asked the nervous-looking hedgehog, as he took off his helmet to reveal his identity. "It's me! Haohmaru! Had no idea that you were my mystery opponent."
"R-Right back at ya..." stammered Sonic, hoping that Nakoruru was pulling his tail - but nope, this was the real deal.
Haohmaru: Samurai stuff and kendo, it kinda goes hand in hand. A lot of young samurai study kendo, mainly because of the discipline that comes with it. But I didn't come here for discipline, I got that in spades. Nakoruru promised me bottles of sake.
"Begin!" shouted Eight, as the kendo match between Sonic and Haohmaru began. Haohmaru allowed Sonic to go first, as Sonic gingerly approached the samurai while moving very carefully.
"Hiya!" exclaimed Sonic as he struck Haohmaru with his sword; the blue hedgehog believed that he had the round won, but instead he got questionable looks from Eight and the judges. "What did I do wrong?"
"You're supposed to strike him vertically, not horizontally," Eight explained to Sonic, who now felt like the most stupid kendo player in existence. "Striking his midsection isn't going earn you points."
"That's not what Caroline and Justine told me." Sonic looked towards the warden twins in question, who were both minding their own business. Neither one had Sonic's back.
"Is the match still on?" asked Haohmaru, who was jovial at first but saw his mood sour when Sonic hit him. "I didn't appreciate how Sonic hit me there..."
"It was an accident..." Accident or not, Haohmaru looked as if he wanted to show Sonic no mercy. Sonic nervously looked towards Eight and asked, "...is there a way that I can tag myself out?"
The three-point contest resumed following the intermission, as Falco was the next shooter in line. The avian pilot was shooting right now, trying to get all his shots in before time ran out.
"Joining us now is our current leader, Fox McCloud," reported Chick, as he and Stew were joined by Fox. Fox looked perplexed as to why he was getting interviewed at a time like this. "So Fox, tell us about you walking off the court before your last shot went in."
"Honestly, I had to go use the restroom really bad," Fox admitted with a shrug, feeling more relieved now than he did at the start of the contest. "Can you believe that Master Hand made Hammer Bro a janitor? Ha!"
"Trying to cover for your arrogance, I see!" Stew smirked at Fox, while Falco was in the background shooting the balls from his last rack. "We both know you got a little Larry Bird in ya."
"I think the real Larry Bird is over there," said Fox as he brought Chick and Stew's attention to Falco...who bricked the last shot. So much for him being Larry Bird-lite.
"Uh, that last shot was a mirage," Falco quickly said, trying to play it off; unfortunately for him, everyone saw what they saw. "How many did I make?"
"Were you supposed to know yourself?" questioned Chick, hiding the fact that neither he nor Stew were paying any attention. Feeling the heat from a frowning Falco, Chick nervously turned to the cameraman, Lakitu, and asked quietly, "How many did he make?"
"He made about fifteen," Lakitu whispered to Falco, coming in the clutch as he saved the fowl reporters' butts. "One more than Fox."
"Falco is now in the lead with fifteen shots made," Chick announced, and hearing that number made Falco jump and pump his fist. "Will either one of Mairo or Corrin take his spot at the top?"
"Have fun-a while it lasts, Corrin," Mario said to the prince, who was next to shoot as he nervously took the court with Mario eyeing him down. "Because that trophy has my name on it!"
Mario: Does the winner of the three-point contest earn a trophy? I can just buy myself-a from Amazon, with the prize money I'll win. *pauses* Does-a the winner get any money?
As Corrin went to the first rack, he was greeted by an unwelcome sight...Mario, staring at him menacingly from the other side of the three-point line. Mario was trying to get under Corrin's skin in any way possible.
"Um, Mario is trying to scare me!" Corrin alerted the others, as Mario turned his head away after being called out. Everyone saw Mario and assumed that he was doing nothing wrong.
"Maybe he just wanted a first-row seat," assumed Stew; Mario went back to staring at Corrin once everyone took their attention away from him. "Now, start the countdown!"
After the countdown ended, Corrin started shooting away, keeping his focus on the basket while keeping his eyes off of Mario. The prince was off to a good start so far...
"HAHAHAHAHA!" Mario belted out laughing while Corrin was shooting from the second rack, causing the prince to stumble. "Oh, sorry - I just remembered an inside-a joke Luigi told me."
"Okay..." responded Chick as he gave Mario the side-eye, only to revert his attention to Corrin's performance so far. "Uh oh, folks! It looks like Mario's outburst has caused Corrin to slip up."
"He's missing shots like crazy!" added Stew, as Corrin ended his three-point shooting spree on a disappointing note - no thanks to Mario. "His folks at home won't be happy about this!"
"Corrin was only able to nail nine shots. Which means that Falco is still in the lead!" Hanging his head low in shame and defeat, Corrin walked off the court as Mario watched, cracking a smile.
"Sucks-a to be you..." Mario sneered at Corrin, thinking that he now had the three-point contest in the bag. With the biggest threat neutralized, Mario had nothing to worry about.
"Last but not least is the Jumpman himself, Mario!" commentated Chick as Mario stepped onto the court, seeing nothing but victory in his sight. Mario wanted nothing more than to show Corrin and everyone else (but mostly Corrin) who the best baller around was.
"Better say goodbye to your lead," Fox said to Falco in a teasing manner, as Stew's dark horse pick Mario was ready to go. A true athlete, as Stew called him.
"Three, two, one...GO!" said the computerized female voice doing the countdown, and Mario began shooting once the countdown ended. Mario was shooting lights out...or so he hoped.
"Ladies and gentlemen, this is incredible!" exclaimed Chick, left in awe of the shooting display that Mario was putting up. "Mario has missed every single shot that he has taken!"
"And now he just made his first one," stated Stew, as Mario finally made a shot...on the fourth rack. Better to make one, than none at all. "Way to jinx the man, Chick! We were on the cusp of history being made!"
Mario did pick up some steam near the end, as he made about five of his final ten shots. But still, five simply wasn't enough to earn Mario victory.
"The first fifteen-a shots didn't count, my left-a arm was half-asleep," Mario gave his excuse to Chick and Stew, wanting a do-over to redeem himself. "May I go again?"
"And that's a wrap, folks!" announced Chick, as an angry Mario grabbed his hat and threw it unto the floor in bitter defeat - but rage most of all. "Falco is the winner of the three-point contest."
"Just like I called it," bragged Falco, walking into the camera's focus and celebrating his victory while Mario was extremely beside himself. "Told you that I was the better shooter, Cuphead!"
"Take it easy, Little Mac," Wii Fit instructed the young boxer, as she and Doc Louis were escorting a limp Mac out of the locker room and through the court. "Don't put any pressure on your leg."
"Once I find out who did this to you, Mac, they're gonna be real sorry!" vowed Doc Louis, as a guilty Mario grabbed his hat and put it back on before sneaking away. Gotta avoid catching some hands.
"Falco Lombardi is your winner of the three-point contest!" announced Announcer Ken, who only wished that the contest was a bit more competitive. "How do you think Falco will celebrate his victory, Joe?"
"Perhaps his girlfriend Katt Monroe will finally give him a kiss," quipped Manager Joe, as he and Announcer Ken both shared a laugh together. Announcer Ken was even banging the desk as he laughed, wiping a tear from his eye.
"Ah, that won't be happening anytime soon. But now we turn our attention to the bowling alley, where Terry Bogard is putting on a bowling clinic!"
Not everything Mario did today was all that bad, for he unknowingly inspired Terry prior to leaving the bowling alley. And as a result, Terry was scoring strike after strike after strike.
"Cut it out, Mr. Bogard, you're too ridiculous!" Slippy said to the fighter, who had scored yet another strike. The crowd was completely behind Terry as they chanted his name, much like an audience in any Smash battle.
"WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?! I AM!" shouted Terry, unleashing his inner Pete Weber as he got the crowd hyped up even more. Mario could've very well been in Terry's shoes, if not for his jealousy.
Sonic ultimately lost in his kendo match with Haohmaru, as Haohmaru went ham on the blue blur following his accidental horizontal strike. But on the plus side, now that he got his kendo match over with, Sonic could finally take off his kendo gear.
"Man, it felt like a sauna in there!" remarked a relieved Sonic, exiting the men's bathroom while holding the kendo gear. When he returned to Caroline and Justine, he saw the twins speaking with Isabelle...who was holding Justine's nightstick.
"This nightstick was used to injure Little Mac," explained Isabelle, showing the nightstick to the warden twins as Sonic curiously came over. "So which one of you did it?"
"To tell you the truth, Isabelle..." responded Justine, who was feeling guilty for giving Mario her nightstick...but found a way out of her guilt when she saw Sonic, as she pointed at the blue hedgehog. "...it was Sonic who did it."
"WHAT?!" frowned Sonic, disgusted that he was being framed as a culprit. Sonic would never hurt Little Mac, not unless Little Mac ate one of his chili dogs or desecrated his iconic red shoes.
"Yes, Sonic stole Justine's nightstick when she wasn't looking and used it to hurt Little Mac," Caroline explained to Justine, siding with her sister as Sonic was left staring in disbelief. "Did all of this prior to his kendo match. He confessed not so long ago."
"Really, Sonic? I cannot believe you," Isabelle scolded the blue hedgehog, who had a major bone to pick with the warden twins. "First you try to rage war with our visitors last week, and now this? Very concerning track record."
"But I didn't..." Sonic tried to plead his innocence but gave up, as he threw his arms up in defeat and walked down the hallway. The warden twins smirked as they saw Sonic retreat.
"I am sorry that Sonic did this, you two," Isabelle apologized to Caroline and Justine, who conveniently wiped the smirks off their face. "I'll make sure that Sonic receives his punishment when we return home."
"If he chooses not to fulfill it, we'll keep him in check," Caroline promised Isabelle as she gave the Shih Tzu a wink. But at least Mario got away with hurting Little Mac, so in a way, those warden twins did that plumber a solid.
Whether or not Mario gets revealed as the true culprit would be for the security cameras to determine - unless the twins get their hands on the footage.
Yu: Sonic has been getting in trouble a lot thanks to Caroline and Justine. I could ask those twins to leave him alone, but Sonic deserves it. On the plus side, though, he only has one week left with those two. Very curious how this will all end...
"We hope you all enjoyed the action today sports fans!" commentated Announcer Ken, as he and Manager Joe were closing out their broadcast. "We have seen plenty of thrills, highlights, and even lowlights as well!"
"But sadly, all good things must come to an end," lamented Manager Joe, sounding a bit sad as he made his remark. "Anna said that she can't afford to pay us to stick around any longer, so we're cutting this broadcast early."
"Turns out that Anna can run out of money...huh, who knew? But until next time, sports fans! Announcer Ken and Manager Joe, signing off!"
