Author's Note:

The annual September Nintendo Direct took place this week. What did we get? Fire Emblem Engage, Pikmin 4, a new Atelier Ryza, a new Splatfest, GoldenEye on the Switch, and most importantly, the Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Oh, and a bunch of farming games, too. Everybody wins! Review time:

"Important question: Will the Dimentio stuff ends before Thanksgiving? Because there's still more stuff for you to wrap before finishing this story. Like about Cloud and his love life (which haven't been mentioned for a while now), or what about Roy's problem with his parents, especially Lyn (you seemed to forget that one too).

The way things stand as of right now, the Dimentio stuff might extend past Thanksgiving. But do not fret, for the storyline plots you mentioned and more will be wrapped up before the story comes to a close. David has questions:

"Will we see the return of Corrin's Star Wars phase? (Maybe have Kamui also get involved?) A scene of Bowser reacting to the Miz and Dexter Lumis storyline or have a reference to it? Will the Smashers wear different Halloween costumes for the Halloween chapter? (Maybe have them dress as different anime or game characters in reference to their English or Japanese VAs). Is there gonna be a chapter based on the Gravity Falls episode "Not What He Seems" in the near future? And finally, what are your thoughts on the recent AEW drama that led to several wrestlers getting suspended and CM Punk vacating the title? (Some say this incident will cause AEW to go downhill like WCW did in the 2000s)."

Perhaps. There will be a small reference to the Miz/Lumis storyline. Some Smashers will wear a different Halloween costume. I can do a chapter based on "Not What He Seems" if I can find the right characters for it. And the AEW drama really proves that not everything in the AEW locker room is butterflies and rainbows. If the VPs got suspended, then that's a bad look. The Reader has questions from the Direct:

"1. Do you think they will ever release the Advance Wars remakes? It's just looking more and more hopeless for the game to be released.
2. Do you think there are too many farming simulator games on the Switch? I don't know man, it's just weird seeing so many farming simulator games in one Direct. And it all looked the same to me.

3. PIKMIN 4 IS FINALLY ANNOUNCED. After a long time, we finally got a teaser for Pikmin 4. What do you think about the announcement? I also hope we got something on Metroid Prime 4 in the future.
4. Resident Evil Village is announced for the Switch, albeit in Cloud version only, on October 28 (looks like you're gonna be busy this Halloween, first with Bayonetta 3, now with RE8). So, will Ethan Winters appear in the story soon? I don't know how or why he would appear, but I hope he does.
5. And since the Cloud versions of Resident Evil 2 and 3 Remakes will be available on the Switch for this year, I guess you can also add an appearance from Leon, Claire, and Jill in the future? Maybe an appearance from Ada or Sherry too? You can have Leon, Ada, and Sherry appear with their RE6 appearances, since having them in their RE2 appearances won't make sense. Jill can have her RE5 appearance, and Claire can have her Revelations appearance, since it's her latest appearance in the RE universe.
6. Finally, we got a release date for the sequel of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, now titled The Legend Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. May 12, 2023. I don't know why I tell you that, because the story might as well be over before that date, and I don't think I have a good reason for telling you that (WINK, WINK)."

1. I'm still optimistic that the Advance Wars remakes will be released sometime next year.
2. Not gonna lie, the Switch does have too many farming simulator games. But there are people out there who enjoy those games, so...
3. Wasn't expecting a Pikmin 4 reveal, but I'm glad it came. Hope we get news about Metroid Prime 4, like a development update or something.
4. Ethan Winters may appear in the story; Lady Dimitrescu might be in the same boat.

5. Leon, Claire, Jill, Ada, and Sherry will appear - all with their updates appearances.
6. Think I've mentioned before that I would extend this story into 2023 if it meant covering the BOTW sequel. Which will be released in the springtime, as I suspected. That said...

...last review for today comes from A JRPG Enjoyer:

"Just going to drop by to say that they're announcing Octopath Traveler 2. I guess you don't have much time left to introduce the remaining 6 characters from Octopath 1."

Octopath Traveler 2 won't be out until February, so I still have time on my side. Speaking of Octopath, a pair of characters from the first game will be in next week's chapter...but I won't say who. Speculate away!


Episode 352: Zapfish

The most recent Splatfest had all of Splatsville hopping, as Inklings and Octolings alike were participating in the fun. The event, which was held the entire weekend, was hosted by the newest Splatfest hosts, Deep Cut. Shiver, Frye, and Big Man all delivered in spades.

While voting was one way to determine which of the three teams (Team Beauty, Team Brain, and Team Brawn) won the Splatfest, there was another method - the tried and true turf war. Inklings and Octolings duked it out on the battlefield firing paint at one another - wearing the freshest clothes and using the finest gear. And with three teams now in the mix, things got very chaotic.

But the question is, which team won the Splatfest? Team Beauty, Shiver's pick? What about Frye's pick, Team Brains? Did Big Man speak Team Brawn's victory into existence enough? The results of the Splatfest didn't come out until Sunday, and the results may or may not be surprising.

Male Inkling: Results for the Splatfest came out on Sunday, as announced by Deep Cut. And the winner is...
Female Inkling:...Team Brains! *raises fists in the air* Team Brains pulled it out.
Male Inkling: Yeah, hooray, Team Brains won, wahoo... *looks away, mutters under his breath* ...should've been Team Beauty.
Female Inkling: I voted for Team Brains, so I feel smart enough knowing that I was on the winning side. That isn't to say that I'm the only smart one around here, though.

Another person who voted for Team Brains was Proto Man, who at first resented the Splatfest but was later caught up in all the hoopla. The robot sat in his room, reflecting upon the Splatfest, while his roommate Mega Man was feeding his pet dog Rush.

"Eat up, Rush!" Mega Man said to the robot dog, who was dog food eating from his bowl. That dog food was awfully hard for Mega Man to find. "Dog food for robot dogs...who knew that it even existed?"

"Where were you when Team Brains won?" Proto Man asked Mega Man - like he was asking a philosophical question of sorts. He walked closer to the Blue Bomber, anxiously waiting for his response.

"Might've been feeding Rush dinner around that time." As Mega Man was about to put Rush's dog food away, Proto Man held his hand up for a high five. Against his best judgment, Mega Man high-fived Proto Man.

"Let's go, Team Brains!" Proto Man let out an excited cheer, before doing the Splatland Shuffle...which he still couldn't do right. At least he stopped dancing when Mega Man stared at him. "Uh, you can block that from your memory."

"Sorry, I don't feel like accessing my memory chip." Mega Man opened his closet, and suddenly a bunch of small little fish spilled out like a landfill. The fish was flopping away at the feet of Mega Man, who sighed deeply.

"You...didn't want the Zapfish in there, did you?" The answer was obvious if the bothered look on Mega Man's face was any indication. "Not like I have a pillow to hide them under..."

"But you don't have a pillow..." Mega Man scooped up the small Zapfish, leaving the room as he looked for a better spot to put them at. "...even then, they wouldn't fit there anyway."

"How would you know..." Proto Man folded his arms, before looking down and seeing a small Zapfish flopping on the floor. "...uh, Mega Man, you forgot one! Mega Man? Hello!"

Link: Cap'n Cuttlefish gave us the Zapfish...except there's a bit of a catch. Since the regular Zapfish are needed to get Inkopolis's power supply back on track, we were left with mini Zapfish. According to Marie, eight mini Zapfish equal a single Zapfish in terms of electricity. So as you can imagine, we have hundreds of mini Zapfish on our hands...and not that much room to keep them in, weird as it may sound. Our task now is to babysit the mini Zapfish until the the manor is ready to use them, and it has created a few problems, I'll say.


With the storage room nearing full capacity, Link and Zelda were tasked with finding places to store the mini Zapfish in. Those who traveled to the Splatlands( the Inklings, Pit, Joker, and even Ness, Lucas, and Bass) had to find a temporary place of storage as well. While some stuck the Zapfish in reasonable places, others such as Pit placed them in unconventional places...such as a kitchen cabinet.

"Wonder how much sugar we have," said Pyra, about to make breakfast as she opened a cabinet in the kitchen. The Blade was greeted by an onslaught of mini Zapfish, as they spilled out of the cabinet and into Pyra's face.

"Ha, been there, done that," chuckled Mythra, who was in the kitchen with Pyra while holding a mini Zapfish. Apparently, she was feeding the fish through a baby bottle, which Pyra noticed.

"Why are you giving him milk? Do you even know if he can have dairy?" Pyra was by no means a Zapfish expert, but even she knew that giving milk to a Zapfish of any kind didn't sound safe.

"Who said that I was giving him milk? This is eggnog I found in the pantry." Eggnog in the middle of September? Mythra should know better, but then again she was a lost cause."

"Eggnog? Was it expired?" Pyra became even more worried, as Mythra hummed an innocent tune and walked away while still feeding the mini Zapfish. Then in came King K. Rool, with a mini Zapfish of his own.

"This little fella looks pretty tasty!" the Kremling stated, holding the mini Zapfish between his thumb and index finger. The mini Zapfish understandably looked scared out of its little mind. "Would make for a great morning snack."

"King K. Rool, no!" Pyra rushed in and put her hands on the mini Zapfish, right before K. Rool could toss the fish inside his mouth. Soon Pyra and K. Rool were caught wrangling over the mini Zapfish, as Link and Zelda both watched from the kitchen entrance.

"If you ask me, I got my money on K. Rool," Mythra said quietly to Link and Zelda, standing behind the two while feeding her mini Zapfish friend. The Blade walked away, as Link sniffed the air when a sour odor reached his nostrils.

"Is it just me, or do you smell expired eggnog?" Link asked Zelda, hoping that his nose wasn't playing tricks on him. The foul smell was almost enough to make his nose fall off in mercy.

"I know one thing...we need a new place to keep the Zapfish," replied Zelda, realizing that keeping the mini Zapfish stored around the mansion was hampering daily life for the residents. "Fortunately, we know a guy..."


Mario and Peach were up bright and early at home, ready to kickstart their day with breakfast. Meanwhile, Spyro and Hunter were sleeping away. That was the perfect storm for Mario to creep inside their room and wake them up, first starting with Spyro as he leaned in close to his ear...

"WHAT UP G!" Mario yelled loudly into Spyro's ear, waking up the purple dragon; Spyro screamed as he jumped out of his bed, jumping high before landing on the floor. Jumped so high, that he nearly touched the ceiling.

"Thanks for the heart attack, I really needed one this morning," Spyro sardonically thanked Mario, as he took quick notice of the durag on Mario's head. "Still haven't taken off that durag, huh?"

"You like?" In addition to his durag, Mario also wore matching black pajamas, as he showed them off to an unimpressed Spyro. "These black pajamas finally came-a in this morning."

"By 'finally came in', he meant that he checked the package that was left on the doorstep yesterday afternoon," stated the accompanying Cappy, who was in his regular ghost form. Mario liked his durag so much, that he forfeited wearing his hat.

"Huh, so that's why that box-a was suspiciously left in my...when, when exactly in the afternoon-a did this package come in?"

"Around four, I believe. You were having a headache at that time because of your durag being too tight on your head."

Spyro: Mario has gotten used to his durag ever since he returned from Inkopolis. Now it's gotten to the point where he doesn't have it in him yet to take it off. We even call him "Durag Mario" every now and then just to point out the absurdity of it all.

Mario: "Durag Mario" is a persona I've grown-a to embrace over time. It's all part-a of my embarrassing dad schtick - if Jennifer feels ever humiliated, then I'll know that I'm doing my job-a right. I could care less about what Princess-a Peach thinks, though.

"Got one more person to wake up," Spyro said to Mario, bringing the plumber's attention to Hunter who was snoring loudly. Mario rubbed his hands together as he crept over to Hunter's bed, and leaned in close to Hunter's ear.

"WHAT UP HOMES!" the plumber yelled in Hunter's ear, causing Hunter to shriek and jump out of his bed. The fear-stricken Hunter was clinging to the ceiling with his claws, eyes open wide with his teeth chattering.

"Ha! That really made my morning," laughed Spyro, who had never seen Hunter so scared before. Hunter might not even jump down the ceiling for the rest of the morning. "Last time he looked that afraid was when he first saw Gnasty Gnorc!"

"Gnasty Gnorc? Is he a friend-a of yours?" Mario asked Spyro, not much familiar with this Gnasty Gnorc character. Spyro laughed, as Gnasty Gnorc was the opposite of a friend to him.

"Far from it! He's just an ugly Gnorc who really hates dragons. Had to kick his butt once, didn't put up much of a fight." Spyro smiled happily as he reflected upon kicking Gnasty Gnorc's butt, and how awesome he looked doing it.

"Psst, what's a Gnorc?" Cappy whispered to Mario, who was about to ask Cappy the same exact question as he gave a shrug. Mario, hearing some chatter from the living room, took a small peek from Spyro and Hunter's bedroom.

"Oh dear, I don't know if we can take all of them in," Peach was seen speaking with Link and Zelda...and right behind Link and Zelda was an entire horde of mini Zapfish. Mario's face sank, as he saw how his day was gonna turn out.

"They just need a place to stay," Zelda said to Peach, doing her best to convince the princess. Mario might be an even harder sell. "They've taken up too much space in the mansion for their own good."

"Link, Zelda, what-a gives?" Mario asked the Hylian couple as he exited the bedroom, with his hands out to his side. "I thought we agreed-a that you guys would keep-a the mini Zapfish."

"Are those black pajamas?" Link asked Mario, approving the plumber's morning wear as he gave a thumbs up. "Really digging the look!" Zelda nudged Link in the side, reeling her husband back to the original conversation.

"The thing is, Mario, the Zapfish have been bothersome for the residents," Zelda explained to Mario, who refused to believe the princess unless she had examples. Quite frankly, Zelda had aplenty. "Wendy Koopa thinks they're dress-up dolls, and King K. Rool sees them as edible..."

"Hope we aren't interrupting," Pyra said to Zelda and company, as she and Mythra entered Mario's house while bringing along King K. Rool. K. Rool had a rather funny look on his face. "Alright, K. Rool, spit them out!"

"She said spit them out!" yelled Mythra, smacking K. Rool's back hard with her hand; the back slap worked to perfection, as K. Rool hacked up a bunch of mini Zapfish onto the floor.

"Ah, so that's why I felt small electric shocks in my belly," K. Rool smiled sweetly, trying to absolve himself of any blame; needless to say, it didn't work as everyone saw through the Kremling's mask.

"...I see what you mean," Mario said to Zelda, left with no choice but to take up the task of housing all the mini Zapfish. He knew that none of his neighbors, let alone the tower, would welcome the mini Zapfish with open arms.

"Where do you plan on keeping the Zapfish?" Cappy asked Mario and Peach, who hadn't thought of anything yet...until Mario saw Spyro exit his bedroom. That's when an imaginary lightbulb dinged over Mario's head.

"Mario, Hunter won't come down from the ceiling," Spyro informed the plumber; Hunter might be clinging unto the ceiling for the entire day. "Wanna go get the ladder from Luigi?"

"The mini Zapfish will-a stay in Spyro and Hunter's room," Mario informed Link and Zelda, making his decision on the fly. Didn't even bother asking Spyro and Hunter for their approval; the man was calling the shots.

"Tell me you're joking..." Spyro saw how many zapfish were present, taking into account how much space they would take up. And would you know it, Hunter came running out of the room seconds after Mario made his announcement.

"You're moving us out of our room?!" Hunter asked Mario and Peach - if anyone took any room situation seriously, it was the cheetah from Avalar. "Knew that you were secretly committed to kicking us out!"

"Silly Hunter, this is only temporary," smiled Peach, although a part of her sounded half-sincere; she hoped that the mini Zapfish's stay was temporary, for Hunter's sanity. And her sanity, as well.

"There's plenty of more Zapfish," stated Pyra, figuring that more mini Zapfish were yet to be found in the mansion. The Blade was on the money, as Mega Man came in with a large bucket of mini Zapfish.

"Guess who hid the Zapfish in the washing machine?" Mega Man asked those in Mario's household; Hunter glared intensely at Mega Man with his eye twitching, making the robot uncomfortable. "Did I...did I offend you, Hunter?"

"For the record, Spyro and I never asked for this," stated Hunter, scooping up Spyro and carrying the purple dragon in his arm as he stormed out of Mario's house in a hurry. "Let's go, Spyro."

"I never asked to be carried!" said Spyro, as Hunter exited Mario's house hoping that the mansion would let him and Spyro in. Hunter would be willing to stay in the mansion's basement if he had to.

"Come-a back you guys, I haven't made-a breakfast yet!" Mario called out to Spyro and Hunter as he stood in the doorway, while his scrambled eggs were burning away on the stove. "I actually got the right sausage patties this time!"


Dr. Wily had an important goal this week - to destroy a time machine, wherever it was. No, nobody told him about a time machine directly, but Giovanni mentioned in the last episode that Team Rocket was building one. Somehow Wily caught wind of this information and was committed to destroying the time machine before it was ever put to use.

"You're the acting man of the tower, correct?" Wily consulted Waluigi in the foyer, right before the lanky man could join the others for breakfast. "I demand that you find the time machine, and destroy it!"

"How much are you willing to pay me?" Waluigi asked Wily, doing the money symbol with his hands; fed up with Waluigi, Wily growled angrily as he pulled on the hair on the sides of his head.

"I should be the one paying you, you string-beaned ninny! I know, why not put together a search them and have them look for the time machine?" The idea sounded alluring to Waluigi, as it left the lanky man rubbing his chin in thought.

"That idea has some merit to it. Second-in-command, report for duty!" Waluigi whistled into his fingers, and moments later Shadow begrudgingly entered the foyer from the dining room. Boy did he look ticked.

"Only agreed to do this just to pacify this pathetic man," Shadow explained to Wily, before approaching Waluigi and doing something completely out-of-character - facing Waluigi and saluting him. "How may I serve you, my liege?"

Shadow: Waluigi felt bad about beating me in that race. To atone for my "defeat", he offered me a deal - to be his unofficial second-in-command. I balked at his offer at first, but then he kept bugging me about it. Shed more than enough tears to guilt trip me and make me change my mind. Crying that much over a decision I've made and wanted to stick to? No wonder no one respects Waluigi as a person of authority.

"You get a D-minus for effort," Waluigi graded Shadow, critiquing the black hedgehog on his enthusiasm - or the lack thereof. If only the lanky man knew how much Shadow cared. "Anyway, you have an assignment - to put together a search team!"

"A time machine is out there somewhere," Wily explained to Shadow, who couldn't bring himself to care; the dude just wanted to get back to eating his waffles before they got cold. "It must be destroyed!"

"Even know where this time machine is?" Shadow asked Wily, offending the robot inventor greatly when he used air quotes with his fingers when mentioning the time machine. "Or is this another one of your weird fantasies?"

"Really, doc? Sweating it out over a nonexistent time machine?" asked an eavesdropping Callie, showing up along with her cousin and fellow Squid Sister Marie. The two Inklings had just finished their morning beauty routine.

"Guess that's what happens when you become old," said Marie, worried about how she would turn out to be if she ever reached her grandpa's age. "You get way too much free time and delusion on your hands."

"The time machine is real, I'll have you know that..." Wily defended his belief, as the doorbell suddenly rang. Wily answered the door and was greeted by a fellow old person...Cap'n Cuttlefish.

"Oh my! A fellow senior citizen!" Cuttlefish beamed with joy when he saw Wily, while Agent 3 stood next to him. The original Agent 3, mind you, now wearing a captain's hat. "Another challenger worthy of bein' obliterated in bingo."

"Gramps!" exclaimed Marie and Callie, knocking Wily down to the floor as they ran to the front door. The Squid Sisters embraced Cuttlefish, not expecting to see their grandmother paying them a visit today.

"Good mornin', you two! Hope that we didn't interrupt your breakfast." Cuttlefish had no breakfast to interrupt, for the Squid Sisters had yet to even make it to the dining room! "The Captain and I have come to deliver some news."

"Is it about that Dimentio freak?" Marie asked Cuttlefish; she and Marie ended the embrace as both cousins looked serious. Dimentio was always serious business these days. "Did you find out where he's hiding?"

"Yes I did...or rather, the Captain did." The original Agent 3, now known as the Captain, tipped her captain's hat to Marie and Callie as she acknowledged her hard work. "Did a whole bunch of recon work until she discovered the exact location."

"Cool, then that means you've been to his hideout already," assumed Callie, although that didn't appear to be the case as Cuttlefish looked down at the floor and shuffled his feet a bit.

"The thing is...I was hopin' that you ladies could come with us and check out this hiding place. Wouldn't want to leave you behind!" Scoping out Dimentio's hideout would make for great bonding time - unconventionally, that is.

"We'd love to! Just let us finish our breakfast, and we'll take off." Callie and Marie both moved out of the way, as Wily hopped back unto his feet needing to speak with Cuttlefish.

"Does this hideout have a time machine?" Wily asked Cuttlefish, who wasn't fully prepared to answer the question; he didn't have all the intel. "If so, your granddaughters owe me money..."

"Move aside, ya old money-grubber..." Marie said to Wily as she grabbed Wily and threw him to the side. Wily landed on the floor again, looking up at Marie feeling disrespected. "...you and Cap can wait outside, gramps."

"If Dimentio's hideout does have a time machine, we'll pay you!" Waluigi said to Cuttlefish as he joined Marie and Callie at the front door, bringing Shadow forcibly along with him. "Me and Shadow."

"I'm not paying anyone a thing..." vowed Shadow, hoping to stick to his vow no matter what Waluigi had to say. Shadow was just as stingy as Wario was when it came to giving money.


Snake was finishing up his breakfast, eating a bowl of porridge that he meant to eat the other day. Then out of nowhere, the former spy got a call...from Hal! Snake ran out of the dining room in a jiffy to return Hal's call, speaking into his codec.

"A bowl of porridge?" Hal questioned Snake over the phone, after inquiring about what the former spy had for breakfast. Today was one of the days Snake wished that Hal wasn't asking. "Who eats porridge in 2022?"

"Lady Palutena fixed me a bowl, okay?!" said a very defensive Snake, having no clue as to why Hal was so curious about what he was having for breakfast. Maybe it was an indicator of how lonely he was. "Had to eat it or she'd be upset."

"She made you some porridge? My condolences. I was just calling in to ask about Dimentio since we haven't talked about him since July."

"Well, I'm glad you called, 'cause Link told me a lot of juicy info. Better listen up, and listen good..." Snake had plenty to share with Hal, as he took a seat in a nearby chair and rested his elbow on the kitchen counter. "First things first..."

"Pyra sure can make one heck of an omelet," Spyro discussed with Hunter, exiting the dining room along with his cheetah friend. The purple dragon licked his lips, thinking about how tasty his omelet was.

"See? Told ya that omelet was the bomb," a vindicated Hunter smirked; Spyro had his reservations about going to the mansion, but Pyra's omelet made him to a complete 180.

"No, you didn't! You called that omelet disgusting and not that appetizing." If Pyra's omelet was disgusting, then imagine how an omelet made by Mythra would turn out.

"Did not! I just said that it looked like a taco. A disgusting-looking taco, at that." The longer Spyro and Hunter carried on with their conversation, the angrier Snake got as he tried to have his own conversation with Hal.

"Shut up and go away, I'm on the phone!" Snake barked at Spyro and Hunter, who both shut up...but didn't go away. The two friends were instead staring at Snake all confused.

"But you're not even using a phone," Spyro pointed out, as Snake responded to the purple dragon's smart-aleck attitude by standing up and looking angry. That got Spyro and Hunter to leave the kitchen in a hurry.

"...so yeah, that's the gist of it," Snake spoke into his codec as he sat back down in his seat, in a much calmer mood now that Spyro and Hunter were gone. "Dimentio has a few cronies, and the All-Star might help us stop him."

"The Smash Mansion and the All-Star Manor joining forces? Fascinating..." Hal responded in awe, as Snake envisioned his otaku friend either stroking his chin or pushing his glasses up to his nose. Either move was on-brand for Hal.

"The Squid Sisters are going on a mission with their grandpa, apparently," the male Inkling discussed with the female Inkling, as the two friends exited the dining room. The male Inkling had his phone out.

"How'd you find out? Callie sent you a text?" the female Inkling asked with a smile, causing the male Inkling to blush as his cheeks turned red. "Did you get her phone number without telling me?"

"To be fair, she gave her number to me..." The male Inkling quickly hid his phone behind his back, before awkwardly clearing his throat to remove any remaining suspicion. "...she was asking if we wanted to go with her and Marie to snoop around Dimentio's hideout."

Male Inkling: Callie and I have a super secret text conversation. Often she'll text me stuff in secret, like new developments in the New Squidbeak Splatoon. Sometimes she might even text me what perfume she plans on using for that day. Kasumi will do the same with me. *pauses* That's another private contact that I have, but you don't really have to show anyone this footage...

"Sounds exciting, yet boring at the same time," the female Inkling gave her two cents, not all that interested in doing any sort of recon work. Snake, however, was the exact opposite as he smirked.

"Hold on just a minute, Hal..." Snake said into the codec, getting off the chair as he approached the Inklings. The Inklings looked alarmed, with the male Inkling even putting his phone away. "...what's this I hear about a hideout?"

"Uh, Dimentio's hideout," answered the male Inkling, keeping his phone safely secured in his pocket. He would hate it if Snake saw that Callie relayed the information to him. "The new captain of the New Squidbreak Splatoon found it."

"You said that it was Cap'n Cuttlefish who found the hideout..." stated the female Inkling, only to be shushed by her male counterpart. The male Inkling didn't want his precious narrative to be damaged.

"Snake? You still there?" Hal asked the former spy, who sensed that he was on the cusp of a major breakthrough. Everything was slowly coming together. "Snake? Snake? SNAKE!"

"Enough, Hal! I didn't die or anything. Hate it when you do that schtick." Snake returned to his call, speaking into the codec as Hal felt relieved. "I just learned that Dimentio's hideout has been located."

"Y-You have? That's great! Know of a way to get there?" Fortunately for Hal, Snake didn't have to look that far for a ride.


Once Marie and Callie had their breakfast and took care of anything else that had to be done, they were ready to depart for Dimentio's hideout. They would be riding with Cuttlefish and the Captain in a small plane, which was piloted by Sheldon.

"Mind if I come with you?" Snake spoke with Sheldon outside the tower, wanting to check out Dimentio's hideout for himself. He had already asked Cuttlefish for permission, and now he required further permission from the pilot.

"Sure, but you'll need a weapon just in case!" replied Sheldon as he pulled a weapon out from his imaginary pocket - the Grim Range Blaster. One of the finest weaponry around. "This Grim Range Blaster is a weapon with an aggressive design: just look at those green flames on that black background! Once you've reduced an enemy's health with the blaster, toss out a Burst Bomb to finish them off in a snap! Or sow chaos with the..."

"No thanks, I already have a weapon on me." Saving himself from a long-winded explanation, Snake whipped out his Nikita missile launcher and showed it off to Sheldon. Sheldon was easily impressed.

"A Nikita missile launcher?! I've never seen one in person before." Sheldon was all smiles as he touched Snake's missile launcher, even going as far as rubbing it with his hand. Snake didn't approve one bit.

"Keep your filthy hands off of it!" Snake slapped Sheldon's hand away, before pulling his missile launcher away from the horseshoe crab and cradling it as if it were a baby. "Dang it, forgot I'm all out of disinfecting wipes..."

"These two fellas would like to join-a you on the trip," Mario said to Cuttlefish and the Captain, as Ness and Lucas stood at his side. The plumber was in his usual plumber wear, but his durag remained.

"We never actually said that, but we'd like to hop aboard anyway," stated Ness; Mario heard that Ness and Lucas wanted to be more involved in matters that involved Dimentio, and he was running away with it.

"You made Dimentio and Giovanni retreat, did you not?" Cuttlefish asked Ness and Lucas, figuring that they were capable enough to the point where neither one needed a weapon. No long-winded explanation for them.

"Guess you can say that we scared him off," Lucas replied in an almost bragging manner, taking as much credit as possible. Dealing with Dimentio last week gave the PSI whiz a small confidence boost.

"Very well then! Welcome aboard, lads." Cuttlefish welcomed Ness and Lucas as honorary members of the New Squidbeak Splatoon, "knighting" them both with the Captain's Splattershot. "Didn't get any paint on your shirts, did I?"

"Gramps! We're ready," Marie alerted Cuttlefish as she and Callie exited the tower - with Waluigi, Shadow, and Wily following after the Squid Sisters. "Sorry we were late; these three men were holding us up."

"Wouldn't stop yapping their mouths about a dumb time machine," Shadow said to Cuttlefish, having this to say about Waluigi and Wily; the black hedgehog didn't who was more insufferable at the moment.

"Prove that the time machine exists, and you'll be a rich man..." Wily came over to whisper to Cuttlefish, whispering into the Inkling's ear. The robot inventor was looking for any sort of vindication he could find.

"You got it, future bingo opponent!" Cuttlefish said candidly to Wily, shaking hands with the robot inventor; the Squid Sisters both groaned at their grandfather, while Shadow was facepalming.

"We're ready for takeoff!" announced Sheldon, as he was ready to depart; the horseshoe crab hurried inside the plane, with Snake following after him.

"Keep in touch if you can!" Waluigi said to Marie and Callie, waving to the Squid Sisters as they went inside the plane. His phone was in his hand. "I'm only one call or text way!"

Marie: You don't have Waluigi's phone number, do you?
Callie: Blegh! Like I would have that guy's number in my contact list. Texting the male Inkling is much more worth it, at least he's not a creep.
Marie: Ha, I feel you, I'm in the same boat... *pauses* ...what's this I hear about the male Inkling.

"Catch you later, Mario," Ness said to Mario, as he and Lucas followed Cuttlefish and the Captain into the plane. "And please, please take off that durag while you're at it..." At this rate, Mario might keep on his durag until Saturday.

"Don't listen to him, wear it with pride!" Cuttlefish encouraged Mario, stopping in the middle of the ramp as he shook his fist with encouragement. "Wear that durag just like how I did in my younger days. Heck, I should wear it right now..."

"Can we not?" Callie frowned at Cuttlefish as she grabbed her grandpa and pulled him inside the plane. Once the Captain, Ness, and Lucas were all on board, the plane lifted up into the air and took off.

"Adios, amigos!" Mario waved as the plane flew off into the distance. Shadow was startled by Mario's Spanish tongue and knew that it was only the power of the durag that compelled him to speak that way.

"The sooner you take off that durag, the better," Shadow said to Mario as he returned to the tower...only to stop when he heard loud electrical sounds coming from Mario's house. The lights were even flashing through the windows.

"Mama mia! That must-a be the Zapfish." Mario ran to his house to check on the mini Zapfish, hoping that his family was okay. Didn't want to walk into a potential tragedy. "Leave-a them unattended for one minute..."

"Why didn't we take any of the mini Zapfish?" Waluigi asked Wily, who balked heavily at the idea as he frowned at Waluigi and walked away. "Not like they'll kill anyone! At least I don't think they'll kill anyone."


Pit was working at Cafe Leblanc that afternoon, but only because Viridi missed him at work. Quite frankly, the angel had no choice in the matter. Spyro and Hunter were at the cafe, eating some curry to pass the time.

"Curry's too hot for my liking," said Spyro, warming up his bowl of curry by blowing his fire breath on it. Allured by Spyro's dragon breath, Pit smiled as he looked toward Joker.

"Don't even think about it," Joker said to Pit, knowing from the get-go what Pit's true intentions were. Pit moaned in sadness, but his determination - and intention - remained intact.

"Teach me your ways..." Pit said to Spyro, leaning in close to the purple dragon. Spyro pulled his head back, catching a whiff of Pit's bad breath. Someone forgot to brush their teeth after breakfast.

"Mario had the audacity to kick us out of his house," Hunter complained to the baristas, eating his curry to take his mind off of his current frustrations. "Just to make room for those stupid Zapfish."

"He didn't kick us out of the house, he just..." Spyro was about to say, only to lose his trace of thought as he couldn't find the right words. "...you know, he kinda did kick us out."

"Exactly! If only there was a fairy that kissed you and gave you electric breath, Spyro. You'd have electricity in spades!" Luckily for Hunter, Pit had the perfect solution in mind.

"In the Pokemon sanctuary, there's an electric/fairy-type Pokemon," Pit explained to Hunter, pulling up an image of the Pokemon in question and showing it to the cheetah. "It's called Dedenne. It might give you what you want!"

"Why did you have to be so resourceful..." Spyro asked Pit as he moaned, doubting that Dedenne would give him a kiss. If the Dedenne knew the fairy-type move Draining Kiss, then sure.


Somehow, the mini Zapfish escaped from Spyro and Hunter's room and caused much ruckus in Mario's house. They were messing with a bunch of electrical appliances, such as the television, fridge, and even the Internet router. With help from Peach, Mario rounded up as many Zapfish as possible.

"How on earth-a did they all escape?" wondered Mario, as he only had one more mini Zapfish to find. No Zapfish should be left behind. "Maybe it's because I left the bedroom-a door slightly cracked open."

"No wonder..." muttered Peach, who was holding several mini Zapfish in her hands - while storing a few underneath her dress. "...can't Link and Zelda just rely on the electric-type Pokemon instead?"

"They said-a that they were 'off-limits'. So we're babysitting the Zapfish until-a the manor gives Master Hand a call."

Zelda: Polygon Man just called; the manor's Professor, unfortunately, hit a snag while building his machine. So Mario will have to house the mini Zapfish for a few more days. He's got a lot on his hands...literally speaking.

"I have found the last mini Zapfish!" Cappy alerted Mario and Peach as he came from outside, having done a thorough search of the house exterior. "You're not gonna like where it is, though..."

"We'll be the judge-a of that," said Mario as he and Peach followed Cappy outside to the front yard. Cappy pointed upward, and there Mario and Peach found the last mini Zapfish...stuck between the TV satellite on the roof.

"Oh my, how did he even get up there?" fretted Peach, feeling bad for the mini Zapfish as it tried to wiggle free from the TV satellite. "What are we going to do, Mario?"

"I'll need a neighbor for this-a one..." That could only mean one thing - Mario was going to ask his brother Luigi for help. Surely that's what he meant, right?


The New Squidbeak Splatoon (along with Snake, Ness, and Lucas) reached their destination, which was a remote island with plenty of tropical forestation. Once the plane made its landing in an open field.

"This is where the Captain determined Dimentio's hideout to be located," Sheldon explained to everyone once they were on the ground, with the horseshoe crab pressing a button on his keys. The ramp rolled up into the plane in an instant.

"Weird for him to make his hideout an island..." commented Snake, before reaching into his pocket and pulling out his codec. The former spy placed the codec in his ear, as he made a call to his good friend Hal.

"Hello, Snake!" Hal greeted over the codec, giddy to be speaking with Snake for the second time today. Yeah, that guy must be extremely lonely. "Did you make it to your destination?"

"Yup...had to hitch a ride with the New Squidbeak Splatoon. The Squid Sisters, their grandpa, another Inkling, and some horseshoe crab." Snake heard Hal gasp with joy when the Squid Sisters were mentioned, which made him wary.

"Th-The Squid Sisters?! I'm such a big fan of theirs!" Never has Snake judged Hal for his taste in music more than now. "I love their signature song, Calamari Inkantation. Although Ebb & Flow is just as good. Another good song is Ink Me Up."

"Why are you such a geek...?" One loud groan from Snake was all it took for Hal to stop fangirling, as he knew how less of him Snake thought of him at that very moment.

"...their music is really good if you give them a try. So what is their mission? Do Marie and Callie have an axe to grind with Dimentio? Did Dimentio leak one of their new songs? Smeared their name?"

"I'll smear their name myself if you don't shut up." Snake was going to lose it if Hal said anything fangirl-y about the Squid Sisters one more time. "They and their grandpa are going to get back the electricity stolen from the Great Zapfish, I think."

"Stealing from the Great Zapfish?! That is a very Dimentio thing to do." Hal honestly didn't know much about the Great Zapfish, but he assumed that he was a big deal in Inkopolis, no pun intended. And he was.

"Actually, it wasn't really Dimentio who stole the electricity...it was Giovanni who got the job done." The thought of Team Rocket leader Giovanni being aligned with Dimentio was enough to make Hal gasp.

"Giovanni is working with...Dimentio? Giovanni of Team Rocket? Snake, you have to stop them before it's too late. With those two on the same page..."

"Snake, are you coming or what?" Ness called out to the former spy, as he and the others were already up ahead. "Is it cool if we leave you behind?"

"Give me a second!" responded Snake, as Ness stood around hoping that Snake wouldn't take too long. Speaking into his codec, Snake said to Hal, "I'll try and keep you on the line, okay?"

"That would be splendid," replied Hal, ecstatic that Snake was keeping in touch with him while he was on enemy territory. His lonely heart wouldn't be able to handle any lack of contact. "I will do my best not to bother you!"


No, Mario didn't consult Luigi for help...instead, he asked another neighbor of his, Fox. Mario and Fox stood outside Mario's house while peering at the TV satellite.

"We have to be delicate-a with the little guy," Mario stressed to Fox, as Falco showed up at the front yard when he saw Fox from a distance. "Also, he might be prone-a to electrocuting if provoked."

"Sup guys, hope I wasn't too late," Falco said to Mario and Fox, making his unwelcome appearance, he had no idea what was going on, but he already fancied himself as the savior of the situation.

"Falco, nobody asked for you," Fox said to the avian pilot, wishing that he could simply tell his friend off. That would only open a Pandora's Box of trouble.

"Cool observation, Captain Obvious. So what's the dealio?" Falco saw the mini Zapfish stuck in the TV satellite, believing that he was up for the task as he flexed his fingers. "Ah, I see. No problem for Mr. Lombardi."

"This problem was for me and-a Fox to solve..." Mario said to Falco, who ignored the plumber as he climbed up the drain pipe en route to the roof. "...watch it, I just had that drain-a pipe fixed!"

Falco: Being a hero isn't that much out of my nature. I've rescued plenty of animals once. Heck, I even saved a cat from the tree! *pauses* That cat was in fact my girlfriend, trying to hide from me. We had a pretty nasty argument earlier...

Falco arrived on the rooftop, eyeing the mini Zapfish as he crept closer to the TV satellite. So far so good for the avian pilot, as not a single obstacle was standing in his way.

"Nice fish, stay where you are..." Falco said to the mini Zapfish, so laser-focused that he wasn't paying attention to his footing. The avian pilot slipped on a random banana peel and screamed as he fell off the roof.

"So that's where I left-a that banana peel!" Mario exclaimed when the banana peel fell off the roof, while Falco was lying on the ground writhing in pain. Fox checked on Falco, who was pointing towards his leg.

"Serves you right for getting involved..." Fox said to Falco as he gently picked up the avian pilot, cradling him in his arms like how Kazuya does whenever he throws someone into a volcano. "...sorry, Mario, but you're on your own."

"Hey bro! Peach told-a me that you were having a problem," Luigi said to Mario as Fox carried the injured Falco to the mansion's fitness center. In Luigi's possession was his ladder. "Mini Zapfish on the roof. Want-a my ladder?"

"Erm, no thanks," Mario hastily replied as he hurriedly grabbed the banana peel and tossed it inside his garbage bin. Mario's haste was of much interest to Luigi, who stroked his chin in thought.


The tropical island for the most part was deserted - not a single person in sight. No evil monster randomly appearing out of nowhere, looking to intimidate the New Squidbeak Splatoon. It was smooth sailing for the Captain and her crew, for the most part.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" Lucas asked the Captain, who would answer the question if she wasn't mute. Says a lot if Cuttlefish, Marie, Callie, and Sheldon never heard her speak.

"Yeah, it feels like we've been going around in circles," remarked Snake, getting a strong sense of deja vu as all he saw were palm trees and bushes. "Like we're stuck in The Jetsons..."

"The Jetsons is an animated sitcom in space," Sheldon said matter-of-factly to Snake, willing to delve into a full-blown synopsis of the show if called upon. "This is a tropical island!"

"Kid, if you actually watched The Jetsons, you'd know what I'm..." Snake suddenly stopped speaking, as the group came across a large building. One that looked like a factory - and a remarkably colorful one at that, at least on the surface.

"An abandoned factory..." observed Cuttlefish, moving around to glance at the side of the factory; Marie and Callie followed after their grandpa, and saw a name inscribed on the factory wall.

"'The Dream Factory," Callie read the name that was inscribed, as Snake recalled hearing that name before. Snake stepped away from the group momentarily. "Weird that it's in a desolate location like this!"

"Hal, you're not going to believe this..." Snake spoke into his codec, before turning his head back to see if anyone was snooping on him. "...that dream factory you were telling me about last year? It's real."

"I told you that it was!" Hal exclaimed over the codec, laughing heartily after having been proven right all along. Sometimes the hacker enjoyed that feeling a little too much. "Knew my findings were legit. What do you have to say now?"

"Nice try, Hal - you won't get me to admit that I was wrong." The Dream Factory that Hal brought up in episode 307 was very much real, and Hal couldn't be any more happier.

"Let's see if there's a way inside," Ness suggested to the group, as Snake hastily rejoined the others. The group snooped around the Dream Factory for an entrance and soon came across a door.

"Bet you it's not even open," said Marie as she twisted on the doorknob, proven right as the door was locked. The Inkling took the cordial route of knocking on the door, as opposed to knocking it down, as a Kibble Blade answered.

"Password," the Kibble Blade said, refusing to let anyone inside the Dream Factory willy-nilly. That's when Marie and company whipped out their trusty weapons, with Snake's Nikita missile launcher scaring the Kibble Blade the most.

"The password is 'let us all in or we'll blast you to smithereens,'" Snake said to the Kibble Blade, with his finger on the missile launcher's trigger. Kibble Blade was shivering in fright, as everyone had their weapons pointed at him.

"Th-That's an excellent password! Best one ever! Screw you guys, I quit!" Retiring from his duties as a security guard, the Kibble Blade ran past everyone as he looked for safety. Might even jump into the ocean and swim away for his own good.

"Good work, everyone - we scared him straight!" Cuttlefish commended the others, as everyone put their weapons away and entered the factory. The factory interior was dreary compared to its exterior. "I'd have to guess that Dimentio is somewhere inside here."


Rather than asking Luigi for his ladder, Mario instead depended on his friends from the mansion to help him rescue the mini Zapfish. The plumber called Sonic, who rushed to the plumber's house in a jiffy.

"It's stuck-a in the TV satellite," Mario explained the situation to Sonic, who thought of himself as the right man for the task. It was nothing that Sonic couldn't handle in the slightest.

"Want me to go on the roof? Easy peasy!" said Sonic, exhibiting his blazing fast speed as he zipped unto Mario's roof in less than two seconds. The blue hedgehog stood at the edge of the roof, as he did a formal bow.

Sonic: Yeah, the mini Zapfish affected me, in a way. When things got dire, the Zapfish had to be stored in the fridge for safekeeping. Guess what happened to my pack of weiners. Take a wild guess...

"Nice Zapfish...I'm not gonna hurt ya," Sonic assured the mini Zapfish as he inched closer to the TV satellite, with nothing standing in his path. No random banana peel lying about. No wind to pull him off his feet. It was smooth sailing.

Once he got close to the TV satellite, Sonic reached his hands out to the mini Zapfish. Once it felt contact, the mini Zapfish zapped Sonic out of fright, electrocuting the hedgehog and causing him to fall.

"Sonic, are-a you alright?" Mario asked the blue hedgehog, who had crashed to the ground covered in soot. Mario helped Sonic up to his feet, as Sonic had a small coughing fit.

"Not taking any more chances..." said Sonic, coughing away as he retreated to the mansion. "...that Zapfish is more feisty than it looks!" Mario looked bummed out as Sonic left, while Luigi returned with his ladder.

"It's-a never too late..." Luigi did his best to entice Mario, who pulled out his phone and walked away as he made a call to another one of his friends. "...he'll come-a crying to me eventually."


The inside of the Dream Factory was a bit of a mess, as there was clutter at almost every turn. Stuff like amusement ride parts, arcade machines, and wooden horses were some of the items that made traversing through the factory difficult for the New Squidbeak Splatoon.

"I can definitely tell that Magolor ran this place," said Ness, who heard from Magolor around Thanksgiving about how he always wanted to build a new amusement park. Seems like Magolor put his plan on ice for the time being.

"It would be better if we all split up," suggested Cuttlefish, as the group came to a stop. Cuttlefish desired to cover more ground. "Marie, Callie, Sheldon, and the Captain will go with me; the rest of you take care of your own selves."

"'Take care of your own selves?'" Snake reiterated as he furrowed his brow at Cuttlefish, clearly not a huge fan of the elderly Inkling's choice of words. "You saying that you don't care about our well-being?"

"Leave that up to your own interpretation. Now let's move, ladies!" So Cuttlefish led the Squid Sisters and the Captain away, leaving Snake, Ness, and Lucas alone by themselves. Snake was pretty miffed.

"I'll take that as a yes..." As Snake heaved a sigh, Ness and Lucas suddenly heard a voice from nearby. The two teens and Snake had some company. "...should we die here, let me just say that I never cared for your dog, Lucas."

"Hold that thought...I hear a voice," Lucas said to Snake, and he couldn't help but feel that the voice sounded familiar to him. Soon he heard a second voice - and that voice was just as familiar.

"You hear somebody? Show us the way, then." So Lucas, along with Ness, led Snake further down the factory, looking to find out where the voices were coming from. The voices sounded as if they were retreating.

Eventually, Snake and the two teens reached a room, which had a few vending machines. The trio hid behind the entrance and saw three individuals that they had seen on the past few occasions...the Turks. Reno, Rude, and Elena...they were all gathered in the room. Along with a fourth Turk, who had long hair.

"Guess what? Rude and I found another vending machine!" Reno said to Elena and the long-haired Turk, smiling as he held up a bag of chips. Not a single person was impressed.

"Good for you two..." muttered Elena, chilling in the vending machine room with her back against one of the machines and her arms folded. "...least this place just doesn't sell drinks."

"If only the drinks had proper regulation, though," remarked the long-haired Turk as he took a sip from his bottle of water, only to grimace when he felt the warm taste in his mouth. "This water is awfully warm..."

"Is it just me, or does he look familiar to you?" Ness whispered to Snake and Lucas, inquiring about the long-haired Turk who had a huadian on his forehead. That huadian made it easier for Snake to identify him.

"Yeah, that's the leader of the Turks, Tseng," stated Snake, surprised that he never saw Tseng around whenever the Turks paid the mansion a visit. "That dot on his head is makeup, apparently."

Ness: That guy is Tseng? But Mario told me that he had died or something. Why did I ever listen to Mario in the first place? Shame on me.

"Hear somebody whispering?" Rude asked his fellow Turks, as he heard Snake whispering near the entrance; Snake readily whipped out a cardboard box and hid him and his comrades underneath.

"Must be a Kibble Blade," assume Elena as she took a peek out of the door, spotting the cardboard box lying on the floor. Elena didn't think much of the box as she retracted her head. "Nope, just a stupid cardboard box."

"False alarm, then," said Reno as he opened his bag of chips and was about to reach inside the bag. Then the Turk paused, realizing that something was up. "Wait, Elena, did you say that the box was cardboard?"

"You don't think that it might be him, do you?" Tseng asked Reno, knowing right from the hump where the Turk was getting at. The leader of the Turks exited the room and saw the cardboard box in the same place that Elena saw it.

"He might've been under there, but I couldn't tell for sure," admitted Elena, as the Turks all looked at the cardboard box conspicuously, Reno even tapped the box with his nightstick, and got no reaction.

"Rude, how would you like to do the honors?" Tseng asked the bespectacled Turk, who was up for the task as he approached the cardboard box. He cracked his knuckles as he stared at the box like it was his prey.

"Glady..." answered Rude, before grabbing the cardboard box and tossing it away. To his and the other Turks' surprise...there was nobody underneath! Just nothing but a void. "...what the?!"

"No, this can't be! We must've been tricked." Refusing to believe that he was duped that easily, Tseng clenched his teeth as he looked around the factory. "Where are you, Solid Snake?!"

Snake was already a pretty far distance from where the Turks were, as he and Ness and Lucas had made a run for it. The former spy was in a hiding spot, watching as the Turks searched for his whereabouts.

"Think we lost them," whispered Snake, thoroughly pleased that his getaway attempt worked to perfection. "Let's move before they find us..." The former spy made his move, as Ness and Lucas followed after him.


With Fox looking after Falco and Sonic calling it quits, Mario contacted Cloud to save the mini Zapfish. Rather than going through the trouble of climbing onto the roof, Cloud gave Mario a proposition.

"Why not disconnect your TV satellite?" Cloud suggested to Mario, wanting to do whatever was possible to save him from doing the most work. "Just yank it down from the roof and boom. Problem solved."

"But what if I hurt-a the Zapfish?" questioned Mario, not wishing to harm the mini Zapfish in any way. It was a delicate creature at heart. "Even worse, what if I have to replace my satellite?"

"Your problem, not mine..." Cloud left Mario to choose, as he stepped from the plumber and allowed him to figure things out. With Cloud away from Mario, that was Luigi's cue to return with his ladder.

"This is your last-a chance!" Luigi said to Mario, showing off his ladder; Mario took off his shoe, threatening to throw it at Luigi. Luigi shrieked as he ran back to his house.

"You better run," Mario said to Luigi as he put his shoe back on, as Cloud observed the interaction that had taken place. Cloud desired to know why Mario acted so harshly whenever Luigi's ladder was involved.

Cloud: Mario having a fear of heights was one of the weirdest developments that have taken place. I remember that he got over his fear of elevators, but as for ladders...

Cloud crept to Luigi's house, where he saw Luigi with his ladder. The swordsman could tell that Luigi wanted Mario to use his ladder, but it was hard for him to get Mario to listen.

"Obviously we can't let that ladder go to waste," Cloud said to Luigi, startling the green plumber when he walked closer to him. Almost scared the living daylights out of Luigi. "I got a plan..."


Cuttlefish was convinced that Dimentio was at the Dream Factory. He wouldn't stop until he found the jester and retrieved the electricity that he and Giovanni stole from the Great Zapfish. If it meant that he, Marie, Callie, and the Captain had to rummage through the clutter, then so be it.

"Would it even hurt for Magolor to clean this trash heap?" Marie complained as she and Callie had to maneuver through a bunch of junk in their way. Maneuvering without breaking an ankle or two was nigh difficult.

"Yeah, this place feels more like a dumpster than anything!" stated Callie, who nearly scrapped her arms and legs on a few metal parts that were lying about. The Dream Factory was by no means a bastion for safety, in its current state.

"I beg to differ," said Cuttlefish, he and Sheldon getting a free piggyback ride courtesy of the Captain. Marie and Callie stopped and stared at their grandpa, who was riding on the Captain's back. "What? Gotta preserve these old legs!"

"You know, we could've left you behind at the tower..." Callie cleaned an opening for the New Squidbeak Splatoon, as she moved a roller coaster cart out of her way. In the process, a bright light shone from the opening. "...guys, I think we're getting somewhere."

Marie and Callie both crawled through the opening, as the Captain eased Cuttlefish and Sheldon through without hitting their heads. The five arrived in a mostly lit corridor and went down until they came across a spiral staircase.

"Not a single sound..." Sheldon whispered to the others, shushing them as he held her index finger over his mouth. The Captain placed Cuttlefish and Sheldon back on their feet, as the New Squidbeak Splatoon quietly tiptoed up the stairs.

"Giovanni, I would like for you to meet Shinra's vice president," Zant was heard speaking, as the New Squidbeak Splatoon reached the top of the staircase and peeked around the corner. Giovanni, Zant, Astor, Magolor, and Sho Minazuki all were gathered around a man wearing a long white trench coat.

"Rufus Shinra, pleased to meet you," the man with the trench coat introduced himself to Giovanni, as he gingerly shook the crime lord's hand. Giovanni smiled as the New Squidbeak Splatoon looked on.

"So you're the man who convinced Zant and Astor to join Dimentio's pact," Giovanni said to Rufus, as things were slowly coming together. Zant did mention a few episodes ago that he needed some "convincing"...

"I didn't do it myself; I simply relied on the Turks." Shinra was at ease knowing that he had a group of spies in the Turks to handle Shinra's dirty work. "In the end, their work paid off!"

"Took them about ten months, but we came around," stated Astor; he and Zant couldn't be any happier than the Turks convinced them to change their minds. Took the Turks almost a year, but the effort was worth it.

"Had my skepticism about Dimentio at first..." admitted Zant, who had originally turned down Dimentio's offer to be a part of his revenge tour. "...but the Turks showed me the light."

"Dimentio told me about how you turned him down," Rufus said to Zant, acting cordial with the king of Twilight by putting his hand on his back. "Right before he negotiated with me! He asked me to convince you right...and thankfully the Turks delivered."

"Keep your hand off of me unless you wish to lose it..." Zant was seething at Rufus, who did as he was told as he took his hand away. Rufus smiled apologetically at Zant, as Dimentio magically appeared.

"Ah, I see that you all are properly acquainted," Dimentio said to his subordinates, with a strong sense of hope that everyone would get along in the weeks or months coming forward. "Like former classmates at a high school reunion!"

"That's Dimentio, the evil jester guy," Marie whispered to Cuttlefish and the Captain, as she and Callie were seeing Dimentio in person for the very first time. "Also, just so you know, he likes using similes...according to Spring Man."

"Why is he so paper-thin?" wondered Cuttlefish, as the Captain took out her Splattershot wanting to nail a shot at Dimentio. Just to send a warning message to the jester.

"He supposedly came from a storybook...it's a long story," whispered Callie, before noticing that the Captain had her weapon out. Callie made the Captain lower her guard, right before the Inkling could pull the trigger.

"Now that everyone's here, I believe that Giovanni has something he wants to show us," said Dimentio; Giovanni tapped his fingers together as he looked towards a contraption that had a cover over it. "Right, Giovanni?"

"Correct," replied Giovanni as he went over to the hidden contraption, placing his hands on the cover eager about the big reveal. "Feast your eyes, gentlemen, on a device that the brilliant minds at Team Rocket worked stupendously hard on. Behold...the alternate universe machine!"

Giovanni ripped off the cover, revealing to the other villains the alternate universe machine. The machine was even copyrighted, with the giant red R for Team Rocket smack dab on the front.

"Ooh, so pretty!" marveled Magolor - very interesting word choice he used there. Who in their right mind would call a machine "pretty"? "I could just kiss it!"

"Please stop..." Sho begged Magolor, preventing the alien from letting more suspect terminology fly out of his mouth. Magolor kept his mouth shut, reflecting upon what he just said. "...how does this machine work, Giovanni?"

"Glad you asked," smiled Giovanni, adjusting his tie as he faced the dashboard of the machine, which came with many buttons. "Just put in the right coordinates and pull this lever here, and you can pull in anyone from any universe!"

"Splendid, absolutely splendid!" gleamed Dimentio, already a fan as he applauded Giovanni; the other villains followed suit so that they couldn't catch Dimentio's fury. "Mind doing a test run for us?"

"Gladly! You might want to back away, just in case." So the villains backed away, as Giovanni punched in a few random coordinates. Once the coordinates were locked in, Giovanni pulled the lever.

Once the lever was pulled, Giovanni stood to the side as the alternate universe machine began to light up. A portal was slowly formed in the opening, and coming out of it was a giant orc creature.

"An orc from a fantasy land...how impressive," marveled Rufus, as the test run was a rousing success. The portal vanished seconds later, as the orc creature got used to his surroundings.

"Why is he so ugly..." wondered Callie, finding the orc creature's face to be predictably grotesque. The Captain slowly took out her Splattershot, only for Callie to stop her. "...can you hold off on the paint for one second?"

"Dragons, where are the dragons?" the orc creature asked the villains, as he wielded a giant hammer in his hands. That hammer let everyone know that he truly meant business. "Tell me where they are!"

"There are no dragons afoot...allegedly," Giovanni said to the orc, holding in his tongue to prevent himself from mentioning the existence of dragon Pokemon. "...tell us your name, and where you came from?"

"My name is Gnasty Gnorc, and I'm from the Dragon Realms. And I hate dragons! Especially Spyro!" Thanks to Giovanni's machine, Gnasty Gnorc had entered the Smash universe...which meant that Spyro would have to be on high alert.

Spyro: Gnasty Gnorc might be big and mighty but in reality, he isn't all that. Sure he can turn dragons to stone, but he's not that good at hand-to-hand combat. When I fought him at his lair, the dude just ran away from me during most of the fight! He was jumping and turning corners and everything! Call it endurance, but I call it being a coward.

"He's from the Dragon Realms, and yet he hates dragons..." Sho furrowed his brow, as Gnasty sniffed the air thinking that the smell of dragons might possibly be afoot. "...he must hate his life."

"Welcome to our universe, Gnasty Gnorc," Giovanni greeted the Gnorc, who turned around and saw the alternate universe machine. Gnasty had a wicked idea in his head as he lifted up his giant hammer.

"No stupid dragon won't be finding their way in here!" bellowed Gnasty as he looked to destroy the machine if it meant keeping the dragons at bay. Dimentio appeared in front of Gnasty, right before he could strike the machine.

"Nuh uh uh! No touchy!" Dimentio wagged his finger at Gnasty, who grunted as he lowered his giant hammer. A huge wave of relief washed over Giovanni. "Magolor, would you be a dear and entertain our guest?"

"Long as he doesn't eat me..." replied a nervous Magolor, as he led Gnasty to a far corner of the room. The alien took a pack of pachinko cards out of his imaginary pocket. "...you like pachinko cards, Mr. Gnorc?"

"That's Gnasty Gnorc to you! Get it right," Gnasty yelled in Magolor's face, getting spit all over the alien's face. As Gnasty sat down with Magolor, Dimentio convened with Giovanni and the other villains.

"Hear me out...I think we should let Gnasty Gnorc join us," the jester whispered; as he expected, the others gave him crazy looks. Gnasty didn't make quite a positive first impression.

"I disagree, Gnasty looks a bit...oafish to me," Astor gave his two cents while peering at Gnasty, observing the Gnorc as he licked a pachinko card. Licked it like he was tasting a potato chip.

"Yes, but he mentioned that he hates Spyro the Dragon. I've personally dealt with Spyro before; he may be small, but he's a troublemaker for sure!"

"You really believe that a small dragon will put a dent in your revenge tour plan?" a skeptical Rufus asked Dimentio, taking the threat of Spyro more seriously if he were a dragon the size of Rayquaza.

"Not saying that it could happen, but it might be a possibility. If he keeps his outright hatred of dragons to a minimum, he might be a worthy asset."

"We could use some muscle on our side..." said Zant, who was growing more open to the idea of bringing Gnasty on board. The king of Twilight was convinced, as he beckoned to Gnasty. "...Gnasty Gnorc!"

"You called?" Gnasty responded to Zant, right before he dropped Magolor's deck of pachinko cards into his mouth. The Gnorc got up and handed the cards back to Magolor, who sighed in relief.

"You said that you hate dragons...and out of all of them, you hate Spyro the most." The hatred that Gnasty had for Spyro was profound, as the Gnorc frowned upon hearing the purple dragon's name. "What if I told you...that he is in this universe?"

"Can confirm - I have dealt with him before," Dimentio said to Gnasty, who was left amazed as to how the jester confronted Spyro and made it out alive. "Kicked my butt like a heavyweight champion in a boxing match!"

"Spyro the Dragon kicked your butt?!" Gnasty said to Dimentio, showing his sympathy for the jester as he recalled two villains who were met at the receiving end of Spyro. "Is there any way that I can redeem you?"

"You can...just join my pact, and together we can put Spyro out of his misery for good!" That was a tantalizing enough offer to Gnasty, as he looked to put his hands on Spyro again. This time, he wanted to be victorious.

"I look forward to it. You got yourself a deal!" Just like that, Gnasty Gnorc joined forces with Dimentio, and with only one intention in mind...to destroy Spyro and be free from the dragon forever.

"Dimentio's crew just got uglier," Marie quietly commented, as she noticed Rufus taking a shiny magenta object out of the pocket of his trench coat. "Hmm, wonder what that is..."

"Don't mind if I interrupt, but I have a bit of show-and-tell myself," Rufus said to the other villains, as he brought to their attention the magenta object in his hand. The allure of the object was enough to reel Magolor in.

"Nice-looking stone you got there," Magolor said to Rufus as he identified the object - a gemstone that was in the shape of an icosahedron ruby. Also had a black ripple pattern on the surface. "Where'd you find it?"

"I didn't find it...one of my Turks, Tseng, found it while he was doing mandatory fieldwork for Shinra. He claims that it's some sort of exotic ruby..."

"The Phantom Ruby..." uttered Giovanni, his eyes hooked to the ruby's glare, as everyone turned their attention to the Team Rocket leader. "...Lysandre of Team Flare told me about it while he was working with Dr. Eggman."

"What can it do?" asked Magolor, believing that the ruby could do all sorts of things. The alien gasped as a unique idea was spurred in his mind. "Can it summon a Phantom Groudon?!"

"No...but it can summon a powerful being who may give us even more firepower. Let's just say that the power he holds is...infinite." If that reminds you of someone in any way, then it probably should.

"My Shinra scientists will do everything in their power to restore the Phantom Ruby's energy." Rufus placed the Phantom Ruby back in his pocket, once the other villains got a real good look at it. "I look forward to meeting whoever this Ruby summons..."

"And so do I!" chirped Dimentio; to him, whoever the Phantom Ruby brought forth was a worthy addition to any league of villains. "Provided that they don't kill us, of course."

"Now would be a good time to go, before they find us," Cuttlefish whispered to the Squid Sisters and the Captain, as he led the three ladies down the staircase. The Captain looked back at the villains, while the cameramen stuck around for any further developments.

"About this machine...what do you plan on doing with it?" asked Gnasty, still having reservations about destroying the machine with his giant hammer. Anything to keep the dragons in the Dragon Realms.

"There's a group in another universe who may come in handy...the Organization XIII," answers Giovanni, doing a slight evil cackle as he knew first-hand what the Organization was all about. "We'll need all thirteen members."

"All thirteen?!" screamed Magolor, although it remained to be seen why the alien was so suddenly afraid. What else did he think the thirteen in the Organization's name meant?

"Yes, Magolor...and you will be the one to bring them to us." Giovanni pointed at Magolor, who shivered in fear as he didn't think of himself as the right man for the job. "Consider it your chance at redemption from your past mistake."

"I like the sound of that," smiled Astor, nodding his head in agreement as Giovanni went to the dashboard of the machine. Giovanni put in a few coordinates and even adjusted a clock above the buttons by moving the clock hands.

"I have it adjusted at the right time so you can bring forth Organization XIII...the real one, that is." For anyone out of the loop, there was a "fake" Organization and a real Organization; Giovanni evidently preferred the latter. "Just pull the latter as many times as necessary."

"Speaking of time...how's the time machine coming along?" Dimentio asked Giovanni, desiring to hear a progress report. Anything over than good news would be unsatisfactory to him.

"Still a work in progress. They incorporated a few time machine parts into this device, just so we can reel in the Organization."

"We're counting on you, Magolor," Zant said to Magolor, putting extra pressure on the alien as he summoned a Twilight portal. "Don't let us down." Zant and Astor went through the portal.

"Seconded. Ciao!" said Dimentio before disappearing, putting even more pressure on Magolor's shoulders. Everybody was counting on Magolor to not screw up on his task.

"Where's the bathroom...?" wondered Sho as he left the premises, going down a staircase - but not the ones that the New Squidbeak Splatoon took. Exponentially nervous, Magolor turned his attention to Rufus.

"I, uh, better go see how the Turks are doing..." Rufus awkwardly said to Magolor as he went down the same staircase that Sho took. That left Magolor alone with Giovanni and Gnasty...with the former prone to leave.

"Let me know when you're finished," Giovanni said to Magolor, as he went down a staircase that was just behind the alternate universe machine. Magolor gulped nervously, as the pressure reached a boiling point.

"Have no fear, little guy!" Gnasty assured the nervous Magolor, trying to be friendly as he smacked the back of the alien...and smacked him hard. "I'm still here. You won't mess up with me around!"

"I sure hope so..." responded Magolor as he approached the machine, flexing his fingers as he got down to business. Or so he would've gotten down to business if it was not for his memory failing him. "...what did Giovanni say to do again?"

Before Gnasty even had the opportunity to answer, a splatter of colorful paint was fired in the Gnorc's eyes. Gnasty was left screaming in pain, covering his eye as he swung his giant hammer around.

"MY EYES, MY EYES!" Gnasty wailed in pain, almost certain that he was going blind. The paint stung him that much, and he was acting a little too careless with his hammer.

"Hey, watch it!" Magolor shouted at Gnasty, figuring out whether he should pull the lever or put in the coordinates. Even though the coordinates were already put in. "You're gonna..."

It was too late, as Gnasty inadvertently wrecked the alternate universe machine by swinging his giant hammer. Magolor gasped at the damage as Gnasty got down on one knee, withstanding the pain. Magolor was truly done for.

"...damage the machine," Magolor finished his sentence, hoping that Giovanni didn't hear the destruction. That hope was short-lived, as Giovanni was heard running up the stairs in absolute furor.

"What was that?" Giovanni angrily questioned as he arrived at the scene, gasping when he saw his alternate dimension machine wrecked. The crime lord looked towards Magolor, while Gnasty was still in pain.

"Blinded...I've been blinded!" wailed Gnasty, acting a bit dramatic as he fell on his back still covering his eyes. The Gnorc clenched his fist, seething in pain, as Giovanni glared intensely at Magolor.

"H-He did it!" Magolor said to Giovanni as he pointed at Gnasty, but it wasn't enough for Giovanni to end his glare. Thanks to Gnasty, Magolor was back in the doghouse.

Giovanni: Darn it! That alternate universe machine is our only way of bringing forth Organization XIII. The real one, that is. Hopefully, the machine is salvageable enough for my minions to... *gasps* ...wait a minute. You're from that documentary crew, aren't you? Did Master Hand send his cronies to this island?! How did he... *grunts, then storms off*


The New Squidbeak Splatoon remained in the corridor, celebrating with the Captain as Marie and Callie were high-fiving the Inkling. But what for?

"Nice shot, Cap!" Marie said to the Captain, who was fortunate that her aim didn't fail her. "Way to have that ugly Gnorc destroy the machine." That wasn't the Captain's original intention, but she was still taking credit.

"Even if we can't retrieve the electricity, destroyin' their machinery is the least that we can do," said Cuttlefish, thinking that he would've done a better job at blinding Gnasty. It was that old man delusion telling him that. "I assume that the electricity was used to power that machine."

"Seems like our work is done here," said Sheldon, ready to depart from the island now that the New Squidbeak Splatoon put a wrench in the evildoers' plans. "Does anyone know how to contact the guys?"


Snake, Ness, and Lucas were in another part of the Dream Factory, hiding from the Turks in a storage room. Ness was playing with his yo-yo, Lucas was tossing a baseball in his hand, and Snake was speaking with Hal on his codec.

"The Turks' presence clearly means something," Hal spoke with Snake over the codec, after Snake told his hacker friend about discovering the Turks in the factory's vending machine room. "Have you encountered them in the past?"

"I did in fact, on a few separate occasions last year," replied Snake, recalling the few times that the Turks paid the mansion a visit in the latter half of 2021. "Heard that they were even in the Olympic Village, during the Summer Olympics."

"But that's impossible, the Olympic Village was off-limits to the non-athletes! How is that even possible?!" As much as Snake wanted to tell Hal about his fellow residents being on the Village grounds, it wasn't worth making his friend more irate.

"Whoops!" exclaimed Lucas as his baseball fell out of his hand and rolled away on the floor. The PSI whiz was about to grab the baseball as it rolled out of the storage room, but then the baseball stopped...at the feet of Reno. With him were the Turks.

"Looking for this?" Reno smirked at Lucas as he picked up the baseball; Lucas stood his ground, as the Turks stepped inside the storage room. "Aw, don't be scared! We won't hurt you..."

"One second, Hal..." Snake said into the codec, putting his call on hold as he and Ness both confronted the Turks. The former spy was ready to spar, as he put up his dukes. "...come and get it, punks!"

"Are you guys not following the memo? We don't want to hurt you!" Reno might say that, but the nightstick he was holding in his hand was giving off a different vibe.

"PK Fire!" shouted Lucas as he unleashed a PK Fire at the Turks, causing a small explosion that blinded the four. The Turks were left coughing from the small cloud of smoke, as Lucas and company made their escape.

"They ran away from us..." Tseng observed when he saw that Snake, Ness, and Lucas were no longer in their midst. The Turks leader backhanded Reno, making him wince in pain. "...that's what you get for making a bad impression."

"Ah, there you guys are," a voice said to the Turks, who turned around and saw their boss Rufus behind them. "Hope that you all stayed out of trouble. Mind showing me where the food supply is? I'm quite famished!"

"You got it, boss." So Tseng and the Turks led Rufus to the vending machine room, as Tseng muttered the following under his breath, "This is what we get for following orders..."


With Leaf's help, Spyro and Hunter (but mainly Hunter, since Spyro hardly wanted to be involved) found a Dedenne in the Pokemon sanctuary. Leaf held Dedenne in her hand, and brought the antenna Pokemon to Spyro.

"Be gentle with him, he's only eight inches," Leaf said to Spyro, bringing Dedenne closer to the purple dragon's face. "Is this close enough, Hunter?"

"Closer," commanded Hunter, as Leaf held Dedenne even closer to Spyro - and felt mighty uncomfortable while doing it. "He has to kiss Spyro so that he can grant him special powers. Pucker up, Spyro!"

"Doubt that it'll work this way..." said a skeptical Spyro, forced to satisfy Hunter as he closed his eyes and puckered up his lips. Spyro was about to do it...he was really about to kiss a Pokemon.

"Yeah, I found him; he was in the sanctuary," Pit was heard from afar, and soon the angel ran into the area while on the phone. "Spyro, it's for you."

"Thank goodness..." Spyro was relieved, as Leaf pulled Dedenne away from him. Pit held the phone up to Spyro's ear. "...hello, who is this? Hi, Marie...oh, somebody wants to destroy me, is that so?"

Spyro: Welp...just learned from the Squid Sisters that Gnasty Gnorc found his way into this universe. Must be looking for another butt whoopin', I'm sure. Won't lie, I kinda missed kicking some Gnorc butt!


Mario was running out of options, in regards to rescuing the mini Zapfish. He called multiple residents asking for their help, but they all declined, citing their own reasons. He even reached out to his neighbors, but they turned him down as well. But there was one neighbor that Mario didn't call upon...

"Oh, Mario!" Luigi called out to his brother, who was outside about to make a call. Mario clenched his fists as he felt his brother's presence behind him. "I'm giving you one-a last chance, bro."

"Go away, Luigi...I got-a this under control," assured Mario, not even bothering to turn his head and look at Luigi. But when he heard the sound of a frying pan smacked into a hand...that's when Mario was on high alert.

"I don't believe he stuttered..." said a certain princess, as Mario finally turned his head and saw Peach standing next to Luigi. She sure looked menacing while holding her frying pan. "...scared, or something?"

"Wh-What makes-a you think that?" Mario was nervously chuckling, backing away as Peach menacingly marched towards him. With Mario intimidated, Luigi placed the ladder along Mario's house.

"Up the ladder. Now." Peach pointed at the ladder, which Mario looked at as he made a big gulp. Mario walked to the ladder and slowly climbed it, while Peach stood at the base watching her husband's every move.

"You were right, Cloud," Luigi said to the swordsman, who joined the green plumber as he watched Mario climbing the ladder. "A good-a wife can make you overcome your fear!"

"I don't think it's so much as fear," stated Cloud, as Mario reached the roof and was close enough to the TV satellite. "Mario just likes to make things challenging for himself. Warranted or not."

"I can't touch-a him...he'll shock-a me," Mario said to Peach, recalling what happened earlier to Sonic. What if he got electrocuted worse than how Sonic did?

"Use our durag. It might calm him." As much as he didn't want to, Mario took off his durag and wrapped it around the mini Zapfish. And to his surprise, he wasn't shocked at all!

"Haha! It worked!" Moving very gently, Mario freed the mini Zapfish from the TV satellite, before slowly going down the ladder. The mini Zapfish was held securely in the durag, as Mario was back on the ground.

"What do you know...his durag was actually useful for once," Cloud said to Luigi, as Mario was happy that he rescued the mini zapfish safe and sound. All the mini Zapfish now were accounted for.

"Take-a him inside," Mario said to Peach, handing her the mini Zapfish while it was still in the durag. Peach hurried inside the house, as Mario went to go speak with Luigi. "Thanks for the ladder, Luigi."

"No problemo!" replied Luigi, as Cloud quickly walked away from Luigi to avoid any association with the green plumber. Cloud was stopped in his tracks when a plane made its landfall - Sheldon's plane.

"A heads up would've been nice!" Cloud shouted at the plane, which almost landed on the swordsman.


Marie, Callie, and Cuttlefish were inside the tower lobby, detailing their trip with Waluigi, Shadow, and Dr. Wily. The Captain was with them, but she didn't contribute much since she, you know...didn't talk.

"Dimentio added Rufus Shinra to his troop," Marie explained to Waluigi and company, who were surprised by this development. "And some...Gnasty Gnorc character."

"Sounds like he's ugly," commented Waluigi - like he has any room to talk. He wasn't pleasant to look at either. "Where did they get him from?"

"From Spyro's universe - with some alternate universe machine, or whatever," replied Callie, before smiling as she placed her arm on the Captain. "But we got the machine destroyed, all thanks to the Captain!"

"Did you find out if they have a time machine?" Wily asked Marie and Callie, who both gave the robot inventor a side eye as they tried to escape from him. "Tell me!" Wily chased after the Squid Sisters, while Shadow shook his head in dismay.

"What an old coot he is..." muttered Shadow, as Wily kept pestering the Squid Sisters about the time machine's existence. Wily may have to wait for his validation to come later.


Snake, Ness, and Lucas spoke with Master Hand in his room, sharing their own story about the trip. They also shared a few details that they gained from the New Squidbeak Splatoon.

"Dimentio's base is Magolor's old factory?" asked Master Hand, debating whether or not sending an aerial strike on the Dream Factory was a good idea. Need some jet planes for an aerial strike first. "And Rufus is working with Dimentio?"

"With the Turks doing his dirty work, it seems," replied Ness, as Snake heard his codec ringing; Hal was likely giving him a call. "There's also this guy named Gnasty Gnorc...Marie and Callie wouldn't stop talking about how ugly he looked."

"Sorry if this isn't a convenient time," Hal apologized to Snake over the codec, as Snake momentarily left Master Hand's room to conduct the call in peace. "Can I stop by the mansion sometime next week? To talk about Rufus and Gnasty, all that good stuff."

"I won't be stopping ya," replied Snake, looking forward to inviting Hal to the mansion. He must know how tragically lonely Hal was. "Give me a time and a date, and I'll be here."

"Easy for you to say, Snake - you're always at the mansion!" Hal had to walk back his comments real quick, as he heard Snake grumbling angrily. "That was a general statement, not a joke!"

"Better be a general statement...lemme go before Master Hand thinks I deserted him or something."

"Oh, you wouldn't want that...I'll try and keep in touch. Talk to you soon, Snake!" So Snake ended his call with Hal, as he returned to Master Hand's room.

With Rufus Shinra and Gnasty Gnorc now a part of Dimentio's group, Hal was more invested than he was before...