Author's Note:

Here it is, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls...the fully completed chapter 360! For those of you out of the loop, I was unable to originally finish this chapter due to a nasty cold I had. (Or was it the flu?) I had uploaded a "beta" version, with the intention of finishing things up once I was well enough. And now that my cold is all but gone, I could finish this bad boy up. Hope you enjoy this "full" version of chapter 360!


Episode 360: Ghostbusters

It has been a while since there was any zombie activity at the mansion - three years, to be exact. In episode 178, Zarok summoned an army of zombies to crash a party that Master Hand was hosting for the folks of Seattle. The zombies were defeated by the power of karaoke (and maybe a couple of Yiga clansmen).

Remarkably, no paranormal activity has occurred since that incident, except for an occasional appearance from King Boo. Or that Boo who previously worked for Dimentio for a short time. There was a visit from Lady Dimitrescu a few weeks ago, but she was more of a tall aristocratic lady with vampire-like features than an actual vampire. Whether or not she counts is up for anyone's imagination.

Because of this lack of paranormal activity, there was no need to call any agency that dealt with the supernatural, like the Division of Security Operations or even the Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance. But all of that would change the moment Isabelle saw a black van pull up while cleaning off Master Hand's windowsill.

"Master Hand, Master Hand!" Isabelle shouted frantically as she dropped her duster to the floor, alerting Master Hand who was taking a nap. "A black government vehicle just pulled up!"

"A black government vehicle?!" Master Hand perked up, waking from his slumber as he lifted himself up off the bed fully alert. "Guard my Fully Clothed Magazine collection...if they even lay a finger on the parka edition, they'll be sorry!"

"Oops! False alarm. It's just Leon Kennedy." Isabelle looked back outside the window and saw a federal agent exit from the black van - Leon Kennedy. Leon didn't come to Seattle alone, for accompanying him was a woman with her brown hair in a ponytail.

"Leon Kennedy? Quick! Clean the room. Presentation matters!" Following Master Hand's command, Isabelle grabbed her duster and went back to dusting off the windowsill. Albeit at a faster pace. "That's not what I meant!"

"Well, you weren't being specific!" Isabelle soon heard the doorbell ring, and the Shih Tzu stopped dusting as she didn't know what cleaning task to do next. "What should I do, what should I do?!"

"Stop panicking, woman! Tuck in the bed so the covers don't look messy." So Isabelle ran to Master Hand's bed and tucked in the covers, making sure that the bed looked nice and tidy. "Oh, and throw my shoes under the bed."

"Why do you even have shoes, you don't even wear any!" Isabelle ran to the foot of the bed and tossed the shoes lying about on the floor underneath. Most of the shoes were Nike shoes, interestingly enough.

"I know, but Kazuya wants me to sell them. I think that's why he offered them to me. Don't know why anyone would want those shoes though, the soles are falling apart and..."

"MASTER HAND...LEON KENNEDY IS HERE," R.O.B. informed the giant hand as it knocked on the door, as Master Hand tensed up. The bedroom wasn't even close to clean; there was stuff still lying on the floor.

"Oh no, I'm about to vanish away..." Master Hand was trying to throw Leon off of his scent, as he was not fully prepared for any company. "Isabelle, stop me before I make my getaway escape..."

Having no time for Master Hand's shenanigans, Leon kicked down the bedroom door as he and his female partner entered the room. Leon entered the room with his guns pointed, only to realize the situation that he was in.

"Sorry about that; that was a force of habit," Leon apologized as he sheepishly put his guns away. All those years slaying zombies have clearly taken a toll on Leon's psyche. "Good afternoon, Master Hand and Isabelle."

"Good afternoon, Leon," Master Hand returned the favor, deeply hating the fact that Leon had to see his bedroom in the horrible state that was in. "Please excuse this mess..."

"Eh, I've seen worse. Much worse. Say, have you ever met Claire?" Leon brought Master Hand and Isabelle's attention to the woman standing next to him. "She's Chris Redfield's sister."

"I don't believe that I have." Master Hand watched as Claire shook hands with Isabelle, with Claire having to kneel down just to reach Isabelle's height. "Reckon that she's the superior Redfield sibling."

"I can see that he's quite the jokester," Claire smiled at Leon, who responded with a smirk that strongly suggested huge disagreement. Or maybe Leon was just so broken that he didn't know what the word jokester even meant.

Claire: Claire Redfield, former officer of the Raccoon City Police Department and current member of TerraSave. It's a non-profit organization that promotes humanitarianism and protest activism. Guess you could say that I'm a human rights activist. All my years fending off zombies have made me that way...

"So did you two come to this mansion for a date?" Master Hand asked Leon and Claire, making both agents feel incredibly awkward as they looked away. "Let me warn ya, this place is the worst venue possible!"

"We would, but Leon's hardly ever interested," replied Claire, throwing some slight shade at Leon; Leon didn't care in the slightest as he brushed off Claire's comments like a G. "We've come to investigate some paranormal..."

"HA! No paranormal activity to be found here." Master Hand said this with much confidence like he knew for a fact that there wasn't a werewolf hiding in the basement or something. "Tell 'em, Isabelle!"

"The mansion is on good terms with the All-Star Manor now," Isabelle explained to Leon and Claire, leaving them unsure as to why they were supposed to care about that news bit. "So we never have to worry about a zombie uprising from Zarok ever again!"

"You said that you were going to investigate the manor," Claire said to Leon, who was on record saying that about the All-Star Manor during their feud with the mansion. Leon, being reminded of what he had said, was scratching the back of his head.

"That was only a maybe...only a maybe," stated Leon, as Claire was hardly convinced; Claire believed that Leon was just making excuses "...but just so you know, Master Hand, we're investigating your mansion for supernatural activity."

"We've received a report about some 'paranormal happenings' taking place here," Claire explained to Master Hand, who was wondering who filed this anonymous report - and why. "Right under your nose."

"Then you came here for nothing," assumed Master Hand, still believing that Leon and Claire came to the mansion for a date. Perhaps he was looking too much into their body language. "Well, if you think there's anything worth investigating, I'll leave you to it."

"Thank you, Master Hand," Leon thanked the giant hand as he and Claire left Master Hand's room, about to embark upon their investigation. "It shouldn't take us long; we may be done shortly."

"Take your time! Don't rush!" Shortly after Leon and Claire had left, Master Hand leaned in close to Isabelle and whispered in her ear, "She's definitely got the hots for Leon..."

"Depressed men don't seem like her type, though," remarked Isabelle, unable to shake off the feeling that Leon looked more broken compared to his last visit to the mansion. The poor guy looked mentally disheveled.


Cloud and Aerith were at a grocery store in Arcadia Bay, with the two having done a bit of shopping. Aerith found a bunch of stuff that she wanted (or liked) and Cloud, the gentleman that he was, paid for everything. The sum total of the groceries took a toll on his wallet.

"Aerith, you can't just buy ten pounds of processed steak," Cloud said to the flower girl as he and his friend (girlfriend?) exited the store. Cloud was pushing a shopping cart full of stuff. "You can't even cook."

"I know I can't cook," stated Aerith before coming to a stop, as she turned around at Cloud and pointed in his face. "That's why you're doing all the cooking!" Cloud heavily disagreed with those terms, as he frowned.

"Nice to know that you're treating me like I'm your maid. I feel so honored..." Cloud pushed the shopping cart into the parking lot, as Aerith happily followed after the swordsman. Aerith eventually came to a stop when she saw two dudes convening in the parking lot.

"Cloud! Check that out." Aerith pointed at a parked Toyota Camry, and huddled near the Camry was Big the Cat and Funky Kong. Cloud crinkled his nose when he saw the two, as he pushed the shopping cart over to them.

"He was a huge help in the grocery store," Funky Kong quietly discussed with Big, as Cloud moved slowly yet stealthily. Big saw Cloud from the corner of his eye and gasped. "Pushed the shopping cart the entire time!"

"He's coming!" Big whispered to Funky Kong, who turned his head back and almost freaked out when he saw Cloud getting closer. Big and Funky Kong started acting naturally like they were having a regular conversation.

"So Big, my man, how about the...the local sports team?" Funky Kong smacked Big on his back, trying to have a totally mundane conversation with the cat. "Football squad's looking legit this year!"

"I'll say." Big was nodding his head excessively, as he was acting a little too natural. One could say that he was being unnatural. "Tell you what, they might have what it takes to beat Alabama."

"Dang it! Thought we were talking about high school level football." Funky Knog turned his head back once more and shrieked upon seeing Cloud even closer. With Aerith at his side.

"Yeah, maybe they do have what it takes to beat Alabama," Cloud agreed with Big, who was nervous upon standing in Cloud's presence. "Heard that Bama's not looking so hot this season."

"We totally weren't talking about you. No siree!" Funky Kong waved his hands in front of him, to signify that his conversations with Big concerned somebody else. But Cloud didn't fall for that so easily.

"Don't act stupid. Aerith and I both know that you're on to us. Thought we would forget about last week so easily?" Thanks to the events of last week's episode, Cloud now had to keep a close eye on peeps other than Big.

Funky Kong: Yeah, so what if we let the cat out of the bag? It is what it is. Cloud may be aware of our presence, but he's definitely not aware of our mission! We'll continue to stalk him, and Aerith...but in a good way. And if Cloud doesn't like it, he can just leave. Oh wait, that's right. HE CAN'T! *laughs hysterically*

"Hey Tails, watch how you're piloting that thing! Kinda hard to stand still on this plane if you're gonna be all sporadic! Take it easy, man!"

"Well, nobody told you to ride on the plane like a stuntman, Sonic! I got plenty of room in the back, you know. No need to risk your life."

Cloud and the others heard these familiar voices, as they looked up into the sky and saw a red biplane up above. The plane, named the Tornado, was piloted by Tails, and riding in the backseat was Amy Rose. Sonic was on the top wing trying to keep his balance, only to fall off.

"Woaaaaahhhh!" screamed Sonic as he fall to the ground, fortunate to avoid serious injury as he crash-landed into the shopping cat. Sonic emerged from the groceries, holding some steak in his hand. "Cool! Overpriced steak!"

"Sonic, are you okay?" Amy asked her boyfriend, as Tails landed the Tornado in an available parking space. Amy hopped out of the Tornado to check on Sonic, who was just fine. "Please tell me if you broke something!"

"Only thing broken are these eggs." Sonic pulled out a carton of eggs and opened it, revealing several broken eggs inside. After closing the egg carton and putting it away, he was met face-to-face with Cloud.

"Hi, Sonic - nice entrance you made," Cloud said to the blue hedgehog, with sarcasm dripping in his voice. Sonic gave Cloud a hug, which Cloud obviously did not see coming. "Missed me that much, huh?"

"This hug is from Mario - I care about it as much as you do." Sonic would hug Cloud for a few more seconds, before ending the hug and pulling away as both men felt incredibly awkward. "We'll never speak of this moment again..."

"Too late," smirked Tails, who had taken a picture of Sonic hugging Cloud on his phone. Would make for a good wallpaper, or just something to laugh at.

"Hi Cloud, hi Aerith!" Amy greeted the swordsman and flower girl, happy to see them both before her attention was soon drawn to Big. "Hi Big!" Big tensed up when Amy waved to him.

"I was never here! Big the Cat, away!" shouted Big as he promptly left the parking lot, running like the wind. Too bad his weight was holding him back, as he was running while nearly out of breath. Funky Kong was left all alone.

"I'm nothing more than a figment of your imagination!" Funky Kong said as he jumped inside the Toyota Camry, closing the door and turning on the ignition. The gorilla sped out of the parking lot in the Camry, nearly crashing into an oncoming car as the others looked on dumbfounded.

"Er...what was that all about?" Amy asked Cloud and Aerith, greatly perturbed by Big's behavior; she had never known her feline friend to act that strange.

"Both Big and Funky Kong are stalking us," Cloud explained to Amy, as he pulled Sonic out of the shopping cart and checked for any groceries that Sonic might've smushed. "Got no clue as to why."

"Maybe they just want to be our friends!" said Aerith, who was looking at Big and Funky Kong's actions from a more optimistic point of view. Cloud frankly lacked a single optimistic bone in his body.

"Last time I checked, people who want to be your friend don't follow you to a grocery store unannounced. That's just borderline creepy, and you know it."

"You're not the only one being followed..." a creepy, monotone voice said to Cloud, sounding like it came from up above. Cloud and the others looked up, wondering where the voice came from.

"Okay, this is getting out of hand." Cloud wanted to whip out his Buster Sword and do some business, but he left his trusty blade behind at Aerith's place. "Who out here is spying on us?"

"No clue, but that voice does sound familiar..." replied Sonic as he kept looking around for whoever was speaking to Cloud. The search eventually came to a stop, as the mysterious voice did not say another word. "...but that's just me."

"So Cloud, how are you gonna transport those groceries?" Tails asked Cloud, noticing how full to the brim the shopping cart was. Obviously taking the shopping cart home was a nog-go. "Can't really call an Uber."

"That is one thing that Aerith apparently overlooked," replied Cloud as he gave Aerith a look; Aerith smiled sweetly and innocently. "She literally shopped until she dropped."

"Minus the dropping part," stated Aerith, before pulling a load of bread out of the shopping cart. Amazingly, it was still in one piece. "Unless you want to count this bread loaf that I dropped because of Cloud bumping into me."

"More like you bumped into me..." After doing a brief head count, Cloud noticed that one of Sonic's friends was missing. And it wasn't Crash. "...did Knuckles not want to come?"

"He's stuck at a Star Records meeting, so he had to stay behind," answered Sonic, who was informed by Knuckles about a mandatory Star Records meeting. Any talent who was a no-show would be docked in pay.

"We just wanted to stop by a pay you guys a visit," Tails explained to Cloud and Aerith, letting them know that Sonic and the gang came to Arcadia Bay for more than just a measly hug from Mario. "I'm sure that Knuckles is thinking about you."

"I'm sure he is," responded Cloud as he pushed the shopping cart over to Tails' plane, checking the aircraft for any possible space. "Got any room in the plane for these groceries?"

"Wish I had some room in the cockpit. We could strap the shopping cart to the plane..." Tails scratched his chin as he thought about how safe of an idea that would be.

"Or I could just push this shopping cart to Cloud and Aerith's place," suggested Sonic, pushing Cloud away as he put his hands on the shopping cart handle. "Since I'm, you know, super fast."

"No thanks, we don't need you to drop anything on the..." Cloud was about to tell Sonic, who sped off while pushing the shopping cart. Sonic left the other shoppers in the dust. "...I didn't even tell him the address."


As stated by Sonic, there was a mandatory Star Records meeting for all Star Records talent. The idol singers, Ashley, Asuka, Knuckles, Little Mac, and Ribbon Girl were in attendance at the Star Records room, with Fox, Falco, and Itsuki standing at the front.

"Hope I'm not late for the meeting," Doc Louis said to Little Mac as he entered the Star Records room, chocolate bar in hand. He took a seat next to Little Mac, chomping away on his chocolate.

"Doc Louis, this meeting isn't really for you," Little Mac stated to his boxing trainer, who didn't care in the slightest as he wrapped his arm around Little Mac. "You're already embarrassing me..."

"Fox and Falco look very angry," Eleonora whispered to Tsubasa, analyzing the facial expressions and body language of the two pilots. Itsuki looked more neutral like he wanted the meeting to be over with.

"Bet somebody leaked that unflattering album cover online," Tsubasa whispered back, and once she knew what Tsubasa was referring to, Eleonora quietly giggled along with her friend. "Must be what this meeting's for."

Tsubasa: When it comes to album covers for his mixtape, Knuckles can be a little...out there as far as creativity is concerned. His latest album cover was a parody of Nirvana's Nevermind and featured Fox swimming in the pool. Not a single censor bar was to be found. In reality, Fox was looking for his lost swimming trunks and somebody happened to take a picture of him.

Ashley: I have an inkling of what the meeting is about. Could say that I'm to blame.

"Glad that you all could make it," Fox kicked off the meeting after Doc Louis got situated, with a serious tone in his voice that none of the Star Records employees were used to hearing. "This is a serious meeting..."

"If it has to do with the album cover, I apologize for leaking it," Touma formally stated as he stood up, putting all the blame on himself with his right hand up in the air. "And for taking it, too. You were underwater, and Lakitu had his camera...I had to pounce on the opportunity!"

"Yes, put all the blame on him," encouraged Knuckles - the same person who approved of the album cover when it was presented to him. He was pointing at Touma and everything.

"Sit back down Touma, this has nothing to do with the cover!" Falco shouted at the redhead, who put his hand back down as he sat back down in his seat. "Rather, this meeting has to do with a different kind of leak."

"Two weeks ago, Falco and I told you guys about Cloud kissing Aerith in Arcadia Bay," Fox addressed the crowd, hands held behind his back as he paced back and forth in a dignified manner. "Did we not?"

"Yes...and you were pretty excited to share it with us," said Ribbon Girl, remembering how giddy Fox and Falco were when they broke the news. They both felt happier than a pregnant woman announcing that she was having a baby.

"Well, apparently somebody in the mansion knows about the kiss," stated Itsuki, leading to several gasps as the talent looked at one another and murmured among themselves. Ashley was quiet as a mouse. "I overheard Barret Wallace talk about it during lunch one day, in private."

"What did we tell you guys about not sharing that kiss with anyone?" Fox scolded his employees, as the disappointment that he had could not be overstated. Fox felt like firing everyone out of spite.

"You never actually told us that," Asuka said to Fox, who clutched his pearls as he knew exactly what words came out of his mouth. "You said to 'keep it secret, keep it safe.'"

"And you told us 'don't ask, don't tell,'" Yashiro said to Falco as he pointed at the avian pilot, and the idol singer adhered to those very words to this day.

"THAT'S THE SAME THING AS..." Falco was about to snap at Yashiro, only to cool his temper as he grabbed his water bottle off the floor and screwed the top off as he temporarily left the room. "...forget you guys."

"Point of the matter is, one of you leaked info," said Fox, pointing his finger at his talent to let them all know that he was putting them on notice. "And we're gonna find out who did it!"

"Whoever is responsible will be severely punished," added Itsuki, increasing the amount of fear among the talent; Ashley was solid, cool as the other side of the pillow. "Fox and Falco will dole out the punishment."

"Once we find out who you are, you'll be very sorry...you're included in this too, Doc Louis." Fox was pointing his finger at Doc Louis, who had just finished his chocolate bar and pulled out a second one.

"Mac, this is why I sometimes hate associating myself with you!" Doc Louis frowned at Little Mac as he unwrapped his second chocolate bar and took a bite. "Always getting me in trouble."

"Usually it's the other way around..." muttered Little Mac, before brightening up as an imaginary light bulb dinged over his head. What if Little Mac framed Doc Louis as the leaker?

"Alright, that's all; the meeting is adjourned," announced Fox, dropping his angry look as the Star Records talent was free to leave. The idol singers and everyone else filed out of the room, chatting among themselves.

"Just know that we're keeping a close eye on y'all!" Falco shouted at the talent as they left the room, mean-mugging them. The only talent that hadn't left yet was Ashley, who had a rare smile on her face.

"They didn't even suspect me..." the young witch quietly said, with Fox and Itsuki turned away as they were having a quick chat with each other. "...idiots."


Because Ashley dropped the bombshell of Cloud kissing Aerith, Tifa was down in the dumps. Tifa was sorely convinced that Cloud was the one for her, but learning that Cloud had feelings for Aerith and not for her left the martial artist in a depressive state.

It was hard for anyone to cheer her up; neither Link nor Zelda could turn her frown upside down. Desperate times oftentimes called for desperate measures, in such dire situations.

"Depressed overeating is not strongly encouraged," Wii Fit Trainer said to Tifa, who was sitting in the living room eating from a bag of chips looking sad. Wii Fit was standing behind Tifa. "Even if you eat high amounts, you still end up unsatisfied!"

"I'm not depressed...I'm just thinking," replied Tifa, who was sitting on the couch while staring at a blank television screen. Mario and Zelda were at the living room entrance, watching closely.

"Too much depressive eating will make it impossible to stop eating. It'll make you keep eating even when your stomach is full!" But Tifa didn't seem to care, as she inserted another potato chip into her mouth.

"Then that's a risk I'm willing to take..." Not a single word out of Wii Fit's mouth would make Tifa cheer up, and so Wii Fit gave up as she stepped away from Tifa and went over to Mario and Zelda.

"Did the best that I could; you're on your own," Wii Fit whispered to Zelda, having done her part as she left the living room. Tifa found the strength to pick up the TV remote and turn the television on.

"Mama mia! You were right-a about Tifa," Mario said to Zelda, as the television turned on to the black-and-white old lady movie channel that Falco was once stuck watching. Tifa didn't have it in her to change the station.

"Link has tried his hardest to speak with her," said Zelda, who herself tried to speak with Tifa but wasn't any more successful than her husband. "No such luck so far."

"I mean, Link can't talk with-a the ladies. Makes it a mystery how he ended-a up marrying you." Highly offended by Mario's remark, Zelda gave Mario a death glare that made the plumber intimidated when he took notice.

"How Peach ended up being a widow would be just as much of a mystery..." The glare that Zelda gave Mario was so chilling, it could literally freeze Mario on the spot. Zelda was not playing around.

"Uh...let me try and speak-a with Tifa!" Saving face, Mario tiptoed away from the still-glaring Zelda as he joined Tifa in the living room. Mario hopped on the couch next to Tifa, inspecting her bag of chips. "Ah, Lays! My favorite-a potato chip flavor."

"You mean favorite brand," Tifa corrected Mario, grabbing her bag of chips and pulling it out of Mario's reach. Mario sensed the saddened tone in Tifa's voice.

"My point-a still stands. Anyway, I hear that you haven't been-a yourself lately. Got your head-a in the clouds?" The last word to come out of Mario's mouth triggered something in Tifa, who stood up with her bag of chips in hand.

"Who told you..." Tifa left the living room, brushing past Zelda while barely even aware of the princess's presence. Zelda stepped inside the living room and see what Mario had to say about that whole exchange.

"Was a better attempt-a than your husband's." Mario offended Zelda a second time, causing the princess to smack him in the face. "It was a joke! Relax!"


If anyone at the mansion knew about anything paranormal, it would be the Belmonts - Simon and Richter Belmont. Leon and Claire spoke with one of the Belmonts, Simon, in the gaming room.

"I know of a zombie that's in this very room," Simon said to Leon and Claire, who both looked at each other fairly surprised. A zombie was in the gaming room, and not a single resident that was present seemed to care. "Let me bring them to you."

"How about you take us to them instead," said Leon, and so Simon led the two agents over to a pool table...where Arthur was playing pool with a zombie. Zombie, of Minecraft fame, that is.

"In the hole thou goest!" Arthur shouted at a cue ball, as he threw his pool stick at the ball. A totally illegal move. The knight's aim was terribly off, as his pool stick grazed past Zombie's shoulder and struck Lucario in the eye.

"OW! Stop throwing those pool sticks like javelins!" Lucario frowned at Arthur, as the pool stick nearly poked his eye out. An undeterred Arthur took out another pool stick and threw it at the cue ball...only to nail Zombie in the chest instead.

Bowser Jr: Arthur has no idea how to play most of the games in the gaming room. He thinks that throwing stuff will get him places - throwing is the only thing in his DNA! The only saving grace he has is that he's a really good darts player.

"Can you verify if that's a real zombie?" Leon asked Claire as Zombie pulled the pool stick out of his chest effortlessly, now claiming possession of two pool sticks. Zombie and Arthur were breaking all sorts of rules today.

"He does look the part, but he's not threatening enough," replied Claire, finding Zombie acting too peaceful to be apprehended. After all, what zombie would play a game of pool with a knight in shining armor?

"I can make him look threatening for you," Simon offered to Claire as he ran up to Zombie and sat down on the floor, holding his hand out to pretend that he was in fear for his life. "No, Zombie, don't eat my brains!"

"We don't need an acting job..." Leon said to Simon, who was hamming it up as he beckoned Zombie to come close to him. But Zombie wouldn't bite. "...you're embarrassing yourself already."

"Leon Kennedy! It is I, Corrin!" Corrin said to the federal agent as he entered the gaming room, bringing his daughter Kana along with him. Leon brightened up a bit as he recalled engaging with Corrin in episode 178.

"Yeah, Corrin - the so-called paranormal expert," said Leon, who wasn't ready yet to call Corrin a full-fledged expert on the paranormal. Corrin had to do more than just watch a bunch of horror movies. "Who's the kid?"

"This kid is none other than my daughter, Kana." Corrin grabbed Kana by her shoulders and presented her to Leon and Claire, as Kana smiled sweetly. "She is my only child."

"Poor kid." Leon didn't say his remark without some sort of repercussion, as Claire nudged the federal agent for the shade he threw at Corrin. "So, uh, what have you been up to?"

"I take it that you're at this mansion because someone here filed an anonymous report. What if I told you..." Corrin leaned in close to Leon and Claire as he discreetly looked around, with some juicy secret info he wished to dispel. "...that I was the one who filed it?"

"You filed the report?" Claire asked Corrin, who nodded his head with exceeding glee as he was extremely proud of himself. "Then you must know if there are any zombies afoot."

"Actual zombies, that is," clarified Leon as he looked back at Zombie, who was now trying to eat away at the pool table after Arthur somehow beat him in the game of pool. Talk about being a sore loser.

"Hate to break it to you, but the problem on our hands has nothing to do with zombies," admitted Corrin, leading Leon and Claire to wonder what paranormal monsters they had to deal with. "Rather it has to do...with ghosts!"

"We're gonna be ghostbusters!" Kana happily exclaimed, bound to have a day full of ghostbusting fun in front of her. "But only because Papa wants to be one."

Corrin: Pains me to say this, but Kana isn't scared of ghosts. Not even King Boo scares her! I showed her the Pac-Man ghosts in the tower to spook her, but she just laughed and called them "colored cutout cardboard thingies that make noises". I blame the ghosts' pixelated-ness.

"Ghostbusting isn't our expertise, but it does count as supernatural," stated Claire, happy to bust some ghosts provided that there was an actual ghost threat. King Boo (or any of his kind) better be on the lookout.

"We'd be happy to bust some ghosts with you and your...daughter," Leon said to Corrin, struggling to accept the fact that Corrin had a family - his attitude solely based on how the prince acted in episode 178. "Provided you let us lead the way."

"Sir, yes sir!" shouted Corrin as he saluted Leon, who couldn't fault Corrin for how much of a trooper he was. "Salute Mr. Kennedy, Kana." Kana followed her dad's lead and saluted Leon, making Corrin proud.

"Hey, you guys heard that loud crash?" Yoshi asked his fellow residents as he entered the gaming room, having heard a loud crash earlier. "I think we're being under attack! The flying spaghetti monsters are finally after us!"


No, Yoshi, there was no armada of flying spaghetti monsters coming to attack the mansion...but there was a gaping hole in the roof, located in the foyer. Resident groundskeeper Mr. Game and Watch brought Link to the foyer to have him check the hole out.

"This might sound crazy, but this might be from a large comet," Mr. Game and Watch said to Link, giving his honest opinion on whatever caused the hole in the roof. Sure had his work cut out for him today. "Or a meteorite. Whichever one is more common."

"I know a guy who's responsible for making these holes," said Link as he took a careful look around the foyer before his eyes fell upon a guest - and the only man that Link would deem responsible. "Dr. Eggman!"

"Hm?" said the guest, Dr. Eggman, after hearing his name called. Eggman was exhibiting his Dr. Drip persona, standing in front of a mirror fixing a button on his red tuxedo. "Yes, Link? Any reason why you're looking at me?"

"Did you make that hole in the roof?" Link pointed at the hole, as Eggman looked at the hole and was left satisfied with what he had done. Eggman was just following strict villain protocol.

"Yes, I did make that hole. Thank you for asking." Eggman grabbed the suitcase that he had at his feet and rolled it down the hallway as he gave the exasperated Link a wave. "Better get that patched up soon!"

As Eggman went down the hallway, he came to a stop when he saw Bowser coming down. Bowser was the person that Eggman wished to see, as the mad scientist adjusted his bowtie.

"Kinda suspect for a grown man to post that many emojis - even if he's the new head of Twitter," remarked Bowser as he was looking at his phone, only to look up and run into Eggman. A true real recognizing real moment.

"Ah, if it isn't my favorite fellow villain, King Bowser!" gleamed Eggman, bowing down before the Koopa King with his arms outstretched. Bowser appreciated the gesture greatly. "I am truly honored."

"And I'm honored to be standing across from you, Eggman! Or should I say, Dr. Drip!" Bowser couldn't help but feel jealous of Eggman, and the sparkly wardrobe that the mad scientist was growing to this day.

"About that, I got some bad news..." Eggman began to look serious, as Bowser braced himself for the bad news that Eggman had to share. Could be that Eggman lost a button on his suit or something. "...I can no longer carry the Dr. Drip mantle."

"WHAT?!" The shocking announcement from Eggman brought much anger to Bowser, who was in disbelief that Eggman's famous Dr. Drip persona was about to receive its curtain call. "But why? Nobody can rock that tux better than you!"

"That may be true, but keeping up with this persona of mine is taxing. Do you have any idea how hard it is to steal the finest clothes from department stores without being caught on camera?"

"Hoo boy, tell me about it! When I was shopping for essentials for my Halloween costume, I politely asked the store employees to turn their security cameras off while I was in the store. And they refused! It's like they were on to me!"

Bowser: One store employee threatened to call the cops on me when I asked them about turning off the security cameras. Bet you he did that just to impress his boss. I hoped that the employee got fired that day.

"Even though I have given up on Dr. Drip, he is not retired..." stated Eggman as he rolled his suitcase towards Bowser, clueing the Koopa King in on what he was in for. Bowser looked at the suitcase with heavy intrigue.

"May I open it?" Bowser asked Eggman, who simply raised his eyebrows; taking that as a yes, Bowser took the suitcase and laid it on the floor, unzipping it to find many different suits and tuxedos.

"This isn't a goodbye to Dr. Drip - I am simply passing it on. To you, my good friend." Eggman watched as Bowser was going through the wardrobe in the suitcase, and Bowser liked the stuff that he saw.

"I won't let you down! Promise that I'll carry on the legacy." Done inspecting the suitcase's contents, Bowser stood up and shook Eggman's hand, giving Eggman his full assurance. Lucina passed by Bowser and Eggman, seeing the open suitcase.

"About time he's giving away his stupid suits," the princess remarked as she carried on, not having any idea what she and the others were in for. Eggman saw Lucina walk past from the corner of his eye.

"Your peers never seemed to be a fan of my wardrobe," Eggman discussed with Bowser, seldom receiving any critiques from the residents that were either positive or genuine. "But if you wore these suits and tuxedos instead, then they might have a different opinion!"

"Forget them, they have a terrible sense of fashion," Bowser assured Eggman, letting the mad scientist know that he was not alone when it came to his fashion sense. "Wait until you hear what they said about my birthday suit!"


Mamori, Ashley, and Asuka were at the idol singers' house, making preparations for another episode of Microwave Idol Mamorin. Today's guest star was Meta Knight. As the three co-hosts were making their preparations, they were discussing the telltale from Star Records.

"I knew that something was off about Tifa," Mamori said to Asuka, while Ashley kept herself mostly out of the conversation by cleaning the lens of the camera. "But I didn't know that anyone told her!"

"I'd say this is all Fox and Falco's fault; they should've kept that info to themselves," replied Asuka, who wouldn't fault the Star Records pilots for their enthusiasm if they had a vested involvement in Cloud's love life.

"Do you know who the leaker is, Ashley?" Mamori and Asuka turned to Ashley, who stopped cleaning the camera lens as she instantly froze. Ashley held her cleaning cloth as she turned her head to Mamori.

"If I knew who it was, it wouldn't be as fun," answered Ashley, before going back to cleaning the camera lens. "Unless I spilled the tea." Ashley's response removed any consideration that she was the telltale - at least in the eyes of Mamori and Asuka.

"Hello! I have arrived," Meta Knight announced from outside, arriving early for his Microwave Idol Mamorin guest appearance. Viewers can expect a Mexican dish to be the episode's focal point. "King Dedede almost broke the taco shells, but I managed to salvage them."

"Okay, give us a minute!" Asuka shouted in response, as she did a bit of cleaning around the kitchen to make the set look more presentable. Ashley was all done cleaning the camera lens, as Mamori approached her.

"If it was you, Ashley, then you can tell me," Mamori whispered to Ashley, letting the young witch know how sincere she was as she placed her hand on her left shoulder. "It'll be our own little secret."

"Not too keen on keeping secrets, but I'll agree with your terms," responded Ashley, gently taking Mamori's hand off of her shoulder. Mamori nodded in understanding as she left Ashley alone.


Before Leon, Claire, Corrin, and Kana could embark upon their ghostbusting adventures, they first had to go over their game plan. The four convened at Cafe Leblanc, where Leon and Claire enjoyed a cup of coffee.

"You are quite the barista, Joker," Leon commended the young man, after taking a sip from his cappuccino. Claire had ordered some caramel coffee and loved her brew so much that she wanted another cup.

"A refill, if you don't mind," Claire requested to Joker as she nudged her empty cup toward the young man. Joker gave the activist a hesitant look. "I'll throw in five dollars."

"This is the last of the caramel mix, just letting you know..." Joker said to Claire as he took her cup, before going to the coffee machine and turning it on. As Joker fixed the coffee, Pit ran up to the counter to speak with Leon.

"So Leon, what's on the agenda for today?" Pit asked the federal agent, as he mulled calling off for today to join Leon in kicking some paranormal butt. "Gonna shoot up an army of zombies?"

"leon's gonna shoot up an entire row of zombies - a deadline, as i call it," Sans cracked his pun, as Leon and Claire both glared at the skeleton. Sans was cracking up, as Leon shook his head.

"We're not going after zombies, believe it or not," Leon said to Pit, who expressed his surprise and intrigue as his eyes widened. "Our target today is...ghosts." Leon had a minimal history of fighting ghosts, but it was enough to make him the right man for the job.

"The four of us will be ghostbusting," explained Corrin, and he couldn't go about ghostbusting without his adoring daughter at his side. Leon and Claire were the sweeteners.

Pac-Man: Corrin's actually pretty serious about this ghostbusting thing. He wants to give his daughter a good scare, I can't blame him! In a perfect world, I would scare Kana myself, but I don't wanna scare her too much. Orson's a lost cause, he's not intimidating, you know? No offense, but if I saw him at a haunted house and he spooked me, I'd just tell him good evening and leave for the night.

"But you don't even have any ghostbusting gear," Viridi pointed out as she did not see a Poltergust of any kind. Or even a magic thermos. "Leon can't kill a ghost with regular bullets!"

"I think killing ghosts with bullets has been scientifically proven," stated Kirby, as Viridi waved off the pink puffball. Done fixing the caramel coffee, Joker presented the coffee to Claire.

"Here's your five bucks - keep the change," Claire said to Joker as he offered him a five-dollar bill and some spare change. The activist took her cup and took a big sip, while Joker stuffed the money in his pocket.

"If you're looking for a ghost, there's one who lives just down the street from here," Joker said to Leon and Claire, giving the agents a tip so that Corrin wouldn't waste too much of their precious time. "He's not as..."

"Silly Joker - we're looking for a ghost that's actually scary!" interjected Corrin, showing Leon just how much of a trooper he was as he slammed his fist on the counter. Joker almost wanted to snort at the prince.

"Highly doubt that. I feel like you filed that sham report just to convince Leon and Claire to..." Joker was prevented from speaking another word, as Pit quickly covered his mouth with his hand and shushed him.

"Don't listen to him! The report filed wasn't a sham," Pit said to Leon and Claire, as he brought Joker as far away from the agents as possible. Joker tried to fight back but to no avail. "There are ghosts in the mansion - I've seen them myself!"

"Wouldn't trust him if I were you," Leon advised Claire concerning Pit; Claire knew from the get-go after first glance that Pit wasn't a beacon of sureness. "He falsely claimed that he saw a werewolf at a party once."

"It was Wolf O'Donnell without a shave, okay?! The silhouette in the dark tricked me..." With all the chatter that was going on, Corrin grew increasingly afraid that the agents might turn back.

"You still believe that there are ghosts in the mansion, do you?" Corrin asked Leon and Claire, demanding that they put all their trust in him. The prince didn't bring the two to Seattle all for nothing.

"I'd say it's worth investigating," answered Claire, as Corrin clutched his chest and let out a major sigh of relief. The trust was still intact. "We'll gladly follow your lead, Corrin." Corrin was the de facto leader of the ghostbusting brigade, and it gave Joker a lot of worries.


Moving away from the living room, Tifa was now at the arcade, wallowing in her newfound misery. Mario and Zelda kept watch of Tifa, who was sitting on a barstool as she was approached by Geno.

"Looking for a player two," Geno said to Tifa, as he was on a search for a valuable player two. He couldn't play the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade game all by himself. "Are you game?"

"Keep on looking..." replied Tifa, as Geno nodded his head in understanding and left Tifa alone. Tifa took out her water bottle and took a sip.

"She's definitely depressed," Mario quietly discussed with Zelda, as Tifa placed the top back on her water bottle after she was done sipping. "I can't bear to see her like this..."

"I don't think she's depressed yet," stated Zelda, while also acknowledging how terribly sad Tifa was now compared to moments past. She had never seen Tifa so saddened before.

"Cheers, love! Did somebody say that they were depressed?" inquired Tracer, as she zipped over to Mario and Zelda. Mario shushed Tracer, before bringing her attention to Tifa in the arcade.

"We're not sure what's-a making her so sad," Mario whispered said to Tracer, who saw Tifa looking to the side; Tracer was dismayed by Tifa's sorrow, and wished to cheer her up.

"Let me try and work some magic on her." So Tracer zipped over to Tifa, grinning from ear to ear as she happily wrapped her arm around the martial artist. "Cheers, Tifa! Wonderful weather we're having!"

"Get your arm off of me..." Tifa demanded Tracer, sounding a little demanding in her tone. Tracer pulled her arm away, before using her Recall function to rejoin Mario and Zelda.

"Shall I give it another go?" Tracer didn't mind doing a second attempt, but it didn't appear that Tifa was in the mood. "Or should I bring in some backup?"

"Backup?" Zelda furrowed her brow before she and Mario exchanged looks; at this point, anything was worth a shot. "Is this 'backup' trustworthy?"

"Of course, love! It's someone that you already know, no one dodgy. They can give you two a good push in the right direction!"


It wasn't often that Bowser took off his green shell; a majority of the time, the Koopa King always had his shell on. So when Shulk and Fiora both came down the hallway and saw a large, spiky shell off to the side, Shulk was awfully giddy.

"Look at that, Fiora! It's Bowser's shell!" Shulk said to his girlfriend as he pointed at the spiky shell, acting with almost childlike glee. Who knew that a spiky shell excited him that much? "Let's hop in!"

"I don't think that's such a good idea," warned Fiora, but that didn't stop Shulk from jumping inside the shell with his legs crossed. Shulk moved around a bit, making sure not to top the shell over.

"Come on in! There's plenty of room for the both of us." Shulk beckoned to Fiora, who was understandably nervous about hopping in as she turned around and looked down the hallway. Bowser could show up at literally any minute.

"Okay, but just this once." So Fiora joined Shulk in the shell, taking Shulk's hand as she gently got inside. Shulk and Fiora were sitting inside the shell, doing absolutely nothing. "So what now?"

"Beats me. I just wanna know what this feels like." Shulk felt a large shadow creep over him, and he looked up as he saw Bowser standing over him and the fear-stricken Fiora. "Hey, Bowser! Nice shell you got here."

"Nobody gave you permission to ride in my shell..." Bowser growled at Shulk and Fiora as he forcibly grabbed the two Homs and pulled them out of his shell. "...I charge people $20 per ride, so you better pony up the moolah!"

"But why would anyone want to..." Fiora was about to ask Bowser, only to notice how dripped out the Koopa King was. Bowser was wearing one of Eggman's red suits, and he looked incredibly dapper in it.

"Oh, you like my new suit?" Bowser saw how fixated Fiora was on his red suit, as the Koopa King did a few poses and even popped his collar a little. "Got it from the former Dr. Drip himself, Dr. Eggman!"

"Of all the people he could've bequeathed his suit to...and he chose you," Shulk shook his head at Bowser, who grabbed his spiky shell and placed it on his back. But not before sanitizing the inside of the shell with a sanitizing spray.

"Before I go, do you cats know where I can find Sonic? Need to consult him for a little compare and contrast." If Bowser wished to speak with Sonic, then he would have to wait...


...for Sonic was in Arcadia Bay, delivering groceries to Aerith's place. Or so he would've if he knew where Aerith was even staying at. Luckily, Tails found out where Sonic was while flying in the Tornado, and Cloud and Aerith brought the blue hedgehog to the right location.

"Please don't ever do that again..." Cloud said to Sonic, who was pushing the shopping cart down the road while Tails and Amy flew overhead on the Tornado. After crossing the intersection, Cloud, Aerith, and Sonic were almost home.

"The house is just down the street," Aerith explained to Sonic, as the group was nearing their destination. Sonic's arms were growing tired from pushing the shopping cart everywhere. "It's a one-bedroom house."

"Sheesh, Cloud! You made Aerith sleep outside?" Sonic asked the swordsman, unaware of Aerith's living arrangements. Cloud better correct Sonic soon, otherwise Sonic would accuse him of being a misogynist or something.

"No, Aerith sleeps in the house," Cloud corrected Sonic; his original plan was to take abode in the living room. "I sleep in the shed outside."

"So what you're telling me is that you sleep in a glorified bathroom...but hey, if you wanna be one with nature, then I can respect that."

Sonic: Had to stay in a shed once. It was ridiculously small - you could barely even fit a lawn mower in there! Sleeping was the worst part; I had no headroom, and the floor was constantly wet so my blankie was always wet...I-I meant blanket! I'm too old for blankies now.
Tails: *approaches Sonic while holding a blue blanket* Any reason why you left your "blankie" in my cockpit?
Sonic: Go
away man, no one's supposed to see that... *pushes Tails away*

"We're here!" announced Aerith as she and the others arrived at her house, with Tails landing the Tornado on the sidewalk. As Tails and Amy got out, Aerith and company noticed that they had some visitors.

"Tharja! I got another ouchie," Henry called out to the dark mage, who was sitting in a rocking chair on the porch of Aerith's house. Henry was watering some plants with a watering can and was now sucking on his index finger.

"But how, you're just watering plants!" Tharja frowned at Henry, before pinching the crown of her nose as she was greatly perturbed by Henry's misfortune. "You can be so pathetic sometimes..."

"Is Tharja your neighbor?" Sonic asked Aerith, curious as to why Tharja was sitting on Aerith's porch like she owned the place. "Boy do I feel sorry for you!"

"Definitely not, but she obviously has no business here," Cloud answered for Aerith, entering the front yard as he was about to give Tharja and Henry a piece of his mind. Henry went back to watering the plants, only to panic when he saw Cloud.

"Miss Tharja! Cloud's here!" the dark mage shouted as he dropped his watering can and ran up to the porch, cowering next to Tharja. Tharja was undeterred as Cloud made his advance.

"Before you ask, I am not your protection," Tharja said to Henry, pushing him away as Cloud marched up the steps to the porch. Cloud was soon face-to-face with Tharja, the latter unshaken by Cloud's deathly stare.

"Look you guys, this isn't cool," Cloud scolded Tharja and Henry, as it only took him one day to be sick and tired of the dark mage duo. "Stalking us throughout Arcadia Bay isn't cool."

"Your 'girlfriend' begs to differ." Tharja pointed at Aerith, and Cloud turned his head and saw Aerith waving to Tharja and Henry. The unwanted visitors didn't seem to bother Aerith any.

"Hi, Tharja! Hi, Henry!" Aerith greeted the dark mages, slightly unnerving Cloud with how chill she was about the whole situation. Nothing could ever keep Aerith down.

"Aerith isn't exactly my girlfriend; we're just extremely close, that's all," Cloud stated to Tharja, who took the swordsman's answer as him being in complete denial. Tharja knew what was up. "Now leave, before I have to..."

"Yum, yum, yum! This ice cream is splendid!" remarked Gex as he stepped out of Aerith's house, eating from a container of strawberry ice cream. Cloud was annoyed upon seeing Gex...and so was Tharja. "It's like tasting fondue at Jack Nicholson's house."

"Gex?" Sonic uttered the lizard's name, and Gex was compromised when he saw Sonic gathered with Tails and Amy. It wasn't until he looked up and saw Cloud that he was even more compromised, as he dropped his container of ice cream.

"Good gravy, we've been caught! Gex, out!" Gex took out a black grappling hook and fired it up in the sky, as he flew off to...well, wherever the grappling hook took him. Tharja was about to make her own getaway escape, taking out a smoke bomb.

"We shall never speak of this matter again," Tharja gave her parting words to Cloud, before dropping the smoke bomb onto the porch. Cloud coughed as a cloud of smoke was produced, and Tharja and Henry were both gone once the smoke cleared.

"Your neighbors sure are weird, Aerith," Amy said to the flower girl as she and the others went to the porch. Sonic led the way as he pushed the shopping cart along the walkway.

"They're not neighbors; they're more like nuisances," Cloud said to Amy, as he now had Tharja, Henry, and Gex to be on the lookout for. He hoped that those three wouldn't be as persistent as Big.

"Well, it's a good thing I bought some more ice cream," remarked Aerith as she picked up the container of ice cream that Gex ate out of. The container was close to being empty, as Aerith looked inside.

"No need to worry about your precious ice cream...for the end is near," said a voice - and it was the same mysterious voice that spoke to Cloud at the grocery store parking lot. Everyone outside was on edge.

"Great, it's that strange voice again," groaned Cloud, now having quick access to his Buster Sword as he made a mad dash to the shed in the backyard. "Hold it down, you guys, I'll be right back."

"But we don't even know what we're up against!" shouted Sonic, but that was none of Cloud's concern as he needed his Buster Sword - and fast. Sonic glanced at Tails, who looked away and folded his arms.

"Nuh-uh, you aren't making me your human shield," Tails said defiantly to Sonic, who snapped his fingers in disgust as Cloud soon returned to the porch - Buster Sword in his possession.

"Show yourselves!" Cloud shouted at the mysterious, as he was looking for a fight; anyone posing as a threat to Aerith was his number one target. "We don't have all day..."

Cloud would receive his wish, as a small girl with pale skin and red eyes appeared to Cloud and company. The girl was hovering in the air, adorned in a black dress that had the color scheme of a certain Sonic villain.

"Please don't take me as a threat, for I am merely observing you," the small girl said to everyone down below, portraying herself as tranquil despite the evil vibes radiating from her. "That said, you must leave this town at once."

"We're not leaving this town for anything," Cloud said to the girl, staying committed to his duty of keeping Aerith safe from harm. "Who even are you anyway?"

"You can call me Sage. Stay in this town all you want...it will be your biggest regret." On that ominous note, Sage vanished away leaving those words for Cloud to dwell upon.

"Any one of you know her?" Cloud asked Sonic, Tails, and Amy as he put his sword away; the look on Tails' face seemed to suggest that there was some familiarity with Sage.

"...we won't say," answered Tails, keeping his knowledge of Sage as ambiguous as possible. Sonic and Amy chose not to say anything, which made Cloud and Aerith curious.


Leon and Claire were energized following their coffee break and were ready to embark on their ghostbusting adventures with Corrin and Kana. The agents led Corrin and Kana through the mansion, asking several residents if they had seen any ghosts.

"Before you can ask your question, you must first critique my new suit," Bowser said to Leon and company, who had no time for Bowser's shenanigans. They had to capture a ghost or two, dang it! "Positive comments only."

"Positive comments only? That doesn't sound fair," responded Claire, as Bowser's face immediately fell; all was fair in Bowser's world if there were no critical remarks to be had. "Anywho, have you ever seen..."

"You didn't critique my drip, so I am not obligated to answer any of your questions." Bowser folded his arms, as he expected Claire to get along with the program already. "Gotta play on MY terms, bub."

Bowser: You can never have too many alter egos. I imagined that after my Elvis Bowser phase, I'd just settle on three different personas. But becoming the new Dr. Drip on the block has given me new life. And a new wardrobe!

"You look nice, there you go," Leon gave his blunt critique to Bowser, who had no choice but to accept the federal agent's comments. Better than nothing. "Now can you show us where we can find some ghosts?"

"Won't find any in this mansion, but I can give you a tip," replied Bowser as he took out a small slip of paper, writing down an address on it before handing it over to Leon. "This will take you to the right place."

"Much appreciated, Bowser," Corrin thanked the Koopa King, as Leon scrutinized the address to see if it was legit. Nothing that Google Maps won't solve. "Hopefully after today, Kana will be afraid of ghosts!"

"Your daughter isn't scared of ghosts? She's an..." Bowser had to choose his words carefully, or Corrin (and Felicia) would let him have it. "...she's, uh, ah, not a very knowledgable person."

"Same could be said about your children." Corrin flinched and cowered in fear as he anticipated a sucker punch from Bowser, but surprisingly Bowser wasn't looking to retaliate.

"Long as you're only referring to the Koopalings, I'm cool. Now say anything about my boy, oh ho, and you will be in BIG trouble!"


Fox and Falco were ongoing in their investigation, as they yet had to figure out who from Star Records told Tifa about Cloud and Aerith's kiss. The pilots spoke with Link at the front door, just before Link headed off to Rayman's home.

"Wait, so Tifa's upset because someone told them about what you guys saw in Arcadia Bay?" Link asked Fox and Falco, who had given the Hylian a brief rundown of the situation and the investigation that ensued. "Is that why she's so upset?"

"We never should've told our employees a thing," admitted Falco, fully understanding that some things were just meant to be kept under wraps. "It was our mistake."

"This can be your chance to make things right, with this investigation of yours." Link had one foot out of the door, as she had to speak with Rayman soon. "Give me a call if you can if you need anything."

"Cool beans. We'll keep you posted," Fox said to Link, who nodded his head as he exited through the front door. After Link had left the mansion, that's when it hit Fox. "Hold up, Link still doesn't have a phone!"

Link: So Cloud does like Aerith that much...HA! I always knew it. He can't hide his secrets from me.


Fox and Falco had yet to speak with any of the three co-hosts of Microwave Idol Mamorin, so Ashley remained in the clear for the most part. The young witch was still filming the newest episode of Microwave Idol Mamorin with Mamori and Asuka, with Meta Knight as the special guest.

"I like to call this my homemade beefy five-layered burrito," said Meta Knight as he presented a homemade burrito to the camera. The Star Warrior spent his time on the show presenting his favorite Mexican meals.

"Muy incredible!" exclaimed Mamori as she and Asuka applauded Meta Knight's homemade dish. Ashley, choosing to be different, just played an applause sound effect from her remote. "Mind showing us a dish that isn't Taco Bell-inspired?"

"Quite the picky one, aren't you...but sure, I'll bite." Putting the beefy five-layered burrito, Meta Knight whipped out another homemade dish of his - some kind of pork stew. "I call this the cochinita pibil."

"That sure is a lot of pork," remarked Asuka, sampling the cochinita pibil as she plucked a small piece of pork from the dish and ate it. "Mm! I can taste the orange juice and vinegar."

"Yes, the vinegar is strong. But be warned! Not including any vinegar in the dish can easily break a woman's heart. Just like how Cloud Strife broke Tifa's heart by..."

"Slow your roll, Meta Knight," Ashley silenced the Star Warrior, taking out her wand and pointing it towards where Meta Knight's mouth would be. It made for an awkward moment, as Mamori and Asuka stared at their co-host.

"Um, Asuka, do you mind sampling more of the cochinita pibil?" Mamori asked the ninja, who was more than prepared to answer yes as her eyes went big. "Gotta speak with Ashley for a brief moment."

"Don't have to tell me twice!" replied Asuka, snatching the cochinita pibil and grabbing a spoon; Asuka ate away at Meta Knight's pork stew, while Mamori pulled Ashley to the side.

"Just tell me already - were you the one who told Tifa?" Mamori asked Ashley, looking serious as ever while Ashley was looking the exact opposite. Ashley appeared unflappable, if not totally nonchalant.

"What fun would there be if I told you who the culprit was?" questioned Ashley, distressing Mamori by not giving a direct answer. It made Mamori all the more suspicious of her friend. "Best to let this game of whodunnit play out."

"Mamori, she's doing more than just sampling my dish!" Meta Knight shouted to the brunette, watching in horror as Asuka kept eating the cochinita pibil relentlessly until she saw the bottom of the bowl. Not Asuka's fault she enjoyed the pork stew.

"If it was really you, then you can just tell me - I won't tell anyone else," Mamori said sincerely to Ashley, before retreating to the kitchen to stop Asuka before she devoured the cochinita pibil whole. "Asuka put the spoon DOWN!"


Leon and company arrived at the address of the location that Bowser had given them, and that location, believe it or not,...was E. Gadd's mansion. Not quite a haunted mansion, as Leon, Claire, and Corrin had hoped, but it was a start.

"I think Chris once told me about this place," Claire said to Leon, unable to shake off the feeling that she knew about E. Gadd's mansion somehow and some way. The address that Bowser gave to Leon even looked familiar to Claire.

"This is our chance to see if this mansion is actually haunted," said Leon, not giving his hopes up as he led everyone to the front door. Leon knocked on the door, and it was opened by Cortex.

"Ah, visitors - my favorite part of the day!" gleamed Cortex, happy to see the four visitors standing at the doorstep as Uka floated behind him. He was face-to-face with Leon, whom he first encountered in episode 178.

"Oh no, it's that zombie!" shouted Leon as he pulled out his gun, pointing it at Cortex as he viewed the evil genius as a threat. "Little shorter than what I'm used to, but at least my aim won't be off."

"He's going to shoot me! Uka, save me!" Cortex grabbed Uka, using him as a shield while he looked away with his eyes closed. Uka let out an exasperated sigh, not caring if Leon shot him or not.

"Scared of a real gun...why am I not surprised," sighed Uka, as Leon looked ready to pull the trigger. The only person that could save Cortex (and Uka) from harm was Corrin, who butted in quickly.

"No, Leon! Do not shoot him," Corrin said to the federal agent, lowering his arm; Cortex slowly removed Uka from his face as he no longer felt threatened. "That is not a zombie, but rather Dr. Neo Cortex - a regular human."

"Dr. Cortex?" asked Leon, before getting a good look at Cortex and remembering him from the large party that Master Hand had three years ago. "Oh! You're that ugly man we met after the zombies were gone. Ever found that pinata?"

"...we won't speak of that matter ever again," Cortex sheepishly replied, finding his ineptitude at striking the Tom Nook pinata to be embarrassing. "May I welcome you all inside?"

Cortex: Three years have passed, and Leon Kennedy still thought that I was a zombie! But it was a lot worse growing up; at the Academy of Evil, many of my peers argued that I wasn't even human. My graduating class held a popular vote to determine what kind of monster I was. They were the real monsters if you ask me!

"We're looking for some ghosts," Corrin explained to Cortex and Uka, who both believed that the prince was lying since he was not carrying any ghostbusting gear. Not a single vacuum in sight. "Thought that Kana could use a good scare."

"I'm not scared of ghosts, though," Kana proudly proclaimed, as she was along tagging along with Corrin and the agents for the ride. And to spend good father-daughter quality time with Corrin.

"Well, you came to the right place!" said Cortex, while being extremely mindful of Leon as the federal agent still had his gun out. "Professor E. Gadd may know where these ghosts can be found."

"But can these ghosts be found in this mansion?" Claire asked Cortex, who was unsure how to answer the question as he nervously bit his lip. "That's what we want to know."

"Yeah, Dr. Cortex, that's what they wanna know," Uka said to the evil genius, pushing him to say something and not keep the visitors on their toes. "Tell them what they want to hear!"

"Shut up, Uka, you're not helping!" Cortex snapped at the floating mask, before regaining his dignified composure as he cleared his throat twice. "It would be best if you spoke with Professor E. Gadd himself."


After they helped put all the groceries away, Sonic, Tails, and Amy were chilling at Aerith's house, checking out what the house had to offer. Quite frankly, there wasn't much to check out, as Aerith's temporary home was a run-of-the-mill one-bedroom house. Nothing in particular stood out...save for the curtains.

"Such nice curtains!" exclaimed Amy, who was repeatedly opening and closing the window curtains in the living room. Predictably, Amy liked the curtains only because they were colored pink. "I could do this all day."

"Ignore her, she does the same thing with our wooden TV stand," Tails said to Cloud and Aerith, who just sat on the couch as they followed Tails' advice and allowed Amy to exert her energy. Sonic, meanwhile, was going through Aerith's living room closet.

"Where are the board games?" Sonic asked Cloud and Aerith, seeing that the closet was empty save for a few clothing hangers that were hanging. "Do you guys not do anything fun here?"

"We enjoy walking around town, if that's what you mean," answered Aerith as she looked up and smiled at Cloud, who kept his lips pursed as he chose not to give an answer. "But I may be only speaking for myself..."

"I enjoy walking around town too," answered Cloud, dispelling any worry from Sonic that he was a bona fide party pooper. Big's constant interference kept Cloud's answer from being genuine.

"Was that the doorbell?" inquired Amy, leaving the curtains alone as she heard the doorbell ring. Cloud had a wary feeling when he heard that doorbell sound.

"Leave it alone, it might be Gex or one of his cronies," Cloud said to Amy, only to be left ignored as Amy hustled to the front door. "Why doesn't she listen..."

"Hello, Aerith's residence, how can I..." After opening the door, Amy was greeted by an unwelcome sight...the ugly face of Gnasty Gnorc. Gnasty was skimming over a script in his hand, only to look up at Amy and put his script away.

"Good afternoon, kind gentle ma'am!" Gnasty cordially greeted Amy, as everyone in the house grew concerned the moment they heard Gnasty speaking. Amy thought nothing of Gnasty so far. "Is this where Aerith Gainsborough stays?"

"Yuck! You sure are a sight for sore eyes." Alright, so Amy did think something of Gnasty - although it wasn't anything positive. "And your teeth, ew! Do you even brush them?"

"Amy, no!" shouted Sonic as he sped to the front door, slamming the door in Gnasty's face and pushing Amy away for her own safety. "That green-skinned guy can't be trusted."

"What was that for? I was just about to ask him about his awful BO." Amy clearly had no idea who she was speaking to, and Sonic was in no mood for explaining. And neither was Tails."

"Tails, check and see if Gnasty's still there." So Tails flew over to the front door, while Sonic kept Amy away for her own safety. Tails opened the door, and Gnasty was no longer there.

"Uh, that's weird - he already left," stated Tails, before stepping out of the front door to see if Gnasty was possibly nearby. But the yellow fox was unable to leave the house, for he walked into an invisible wall. "What the..."

"What the? What do you mean, what the?" Sonic watched as Tails was putting his hands on the invisible wall, with no way of getting out. Tails flew over to one of the windows and opened it, and felt an invisible wall behind it.

"Guys, I think we're trapped! There's no way out!" Went from being visited by Gnasty Gnorc to finding themselves trapped by invisible walls - what a dramatic turn of events for everyone in the house.

"Oh ho ho! I see that you're caged in," chortled a certain evil jester, as Dimentio appeared behind the front door hovering in the air. Everyone turned their attention to Dimentio, who was smiley as ever. "How could this have happened?"

"Dimentio!" Sonic shouted the jester's name, now getting to see Dimentio for the first time in years. All the while all that Sonic heard was stories and a few first-hand accounts.

"Let us go already, this isn't cool" Cloud demanded Dimentio as he stood behind Sonic, giving the jester a piece of his mind. Dimentio could only laugh when Cloud spoke to him.

"Ah, if it isn't the kind swordsman that freed me from my Subspace tomb!" exclaimed Dimentio, causing Cloud to grunt as he slipped out some juicy info that Cloud didn't want anybody to hear. "I tip my hat to you, good sir."

"You were responsible for freeing Dimentio?" Tails asked Cloud, who was not put on the spot after Dimentio revealed his deepest, darkest secret. It was a secret that only a select few knew about, Sonic included.

"That such, it's such a pity that you and your friends have to meet your end here." Dimentio snapped his fingers, likely triggering a time bomb of some kind. And Cloud and company were trapped in it. "You all have an hour to say your final goodbyes. Please take your time!"

"Dimentio, this isn't..." Cloud was about to say to the jester, who vanished away before Cloud had a chance to finish his sentence. Cloud grunted as he fell down to his knees, slamming his fist on the floor. "...sorry, guys. This is all my fault. Everything is my fault."

"Chin up, Cloud, it was just an honest mistake," Sonic said to the swordsman, doing his best to cheer him up. Had to save face quickly though so that the others wouldn't so on him. "I mean, it probably was your fault..."

"Tried to warn you, yet you didn't listen," Sage said to Cloud, as the young girl suddenly appeared in the living room. Cloud stood back on his feet as everyone was looking up at Sage. "Should've run while you had the opportunity."

"So I guess you saw this coming from a mile away," Cloud said to Sage, now wishing that he had taken Sage's advice and leave from the house - not Arcadia Bay altogether. "After Dimentio kills us, what's his next move? Huh?"

"I cannot predict what his next move will be. But he has remained in this town for a reason. Which is why I stressed the importance of..."

"Yeah, yeah, leaving this town 'at once'...sorry for not listening to you earlier. Is there any way that you can free us from this prison?"

"This predicament is purely out of my control, but maybe a few outside forces can save you. You'll just have to wait and see..."

On that note, Sage vanished, allowing Cloud and company to just let things play out. Everyone exchanged looks with one another, with no choice but to hedge their hopes on Sage's words.


Tifa was led down the hallway blindfolded, as Mario and Zelda were guiding her to an unknown location. After Tifa initially turned down a blindfold from Mario, Zelda had to wrap one around the martial artist's eyes by surprise.

"Why do I hear party music?" wondered Tifa, fearing that she was being escorted to the gaming room. That was the last place she wanted to be at the moment.

"No reason," replied Zelda, as she and Mario were trying to hold in their laughter. The three soon made it to their destination, as Mario and Zelda walked Tifa inside a room. "Okay, you can uncover your eyes."

So Tifa took off her blindfold and saw that she was in the place she least wanted to walk into...the gaming room. There was apparently a party in the gaming room, with Lucio as the DJ.

"Woo, rave party, let's go!" shouted Lucio as he was raising the roof, manning the turntables as he pumped up the party tunes. Tifa was beside herself.

Lucio: Rave parties are scientifically known for raising the mood of anyone who's a part of it. They're also known as one of the biggest hotbeds of drug deals, and also a primary source of elliptic nightmares. Both facts have been swept underneath the rug.

"Hop in on the fun, love!" Tracer shouted to Tifa, beckoning the martial artist to join in on a conga line. There was one available space in the back, ripe for Tifa's taking.

"No, I don't think I will..." answered Tifa, choosing to keep to herself as she sat down in a chair in the back of the gaming room. That was no way to party it up at a rave.

"Wah, finally at a rave!" cheered Waluigi, twirling his shirt in the air like a true party animal as Mario and Zelda went over to speak with Tifa. "I'll keep doing this for anyone's approval!"

"Can you two just leave me alone?" Tifa asked Mario and Zelda, sounding a little snappy; the martial artist later looked apologetic, as Mario and Zelda were brought to a halt. "I'm just...not feeling it right now."

"But we don't want you to feel-a that way," Mario said to Tifa, daring to bring in Shulk if Tifa didn't get right anytime soon. "That's why Tracer organized-a this rave party."

"Uh oh, somebody's hopped in on the conga line!" shouted Tracer, as Waluigi threw his shirt into Mewtwo's face and joined the conga line. "You still have some time, Tifa!"

"Sorry, it's just...I've been dealing with some heartache," admitted Tifa, as she held her arm tightly; much to her and Zelda's surprise, Mario was giggling.

"Heartache? That's-a it?" giggled Mario, making Tifa and Zelda both curious as to what the big laughing matter was. "It's all natural."

"It's natural? So what I'm going through is...natural?" Tifa looked at Mario under the impression that the plumber knew the context of why she was so sad.

"I mean, sure! I'm sure everyone goes-a through it sometimes. Some more than-a others. But one-a day you'll get over it."

"I sure hope so..." Tifa let out a sigh, with Mario hoping that he instilled enough confidence in the martial artist. Nothing like a good pep talk.

"Well, Barbara just kicked me out of the house and..." Link said to Mario and Zelda as he entered the gaming room, being caught off-guard by the ongoing rave party. "Why is Lucio having a rave?"

"Only for one reason," replied Zelda, as Mario discreetly pointed at Tifa. Link saw Tifa sitting in the chair, and realized that he had to tell Zelda something.

"Hey, Zelda, can you come outside for a sec? You can come too, Mario." So Link led Zelda out of the gaming room, with Mario following after him. But not before getting one good look at Tifa before leaving.


Cortex led Leon and company to E. Gadd, who was in his lab working on his newest gizmo. Cortex had filled E. Gadd in on the visitors' objective, and E. Gadd was more than happy to oblige.

"You folks are in luck, for I'm one of the finest ghost researchers in the world," E. Gadd said proudly to Leon and company, as he led them around his lab to a secret door that he kept locked. "I even keep one in my lab, just to own the naysayers!"

"I take it that this ghost is behind that door, then," assumed Claire, as E. Gadd took out a key and unlocked the door. Before opening the door, however, E. Gadd looked back at everyone.

"No one is allowed to step inside this room. Please keep your distance." So E. Gadd went in through the door, slamming the door shut, and locked it from the inside for good measure. Everyone patiently waited as E. Gadd looked for the ghost.

E. Gadd: The ghost I keep with me is not for the faint of heart. Whenever anyone sees it, they'll either scream, call for help, or just faint out of fear. Luigi usually provides most of the reactions.

"What kind of ghost do you think it is, little one?" Corrin asked Kana, hoping that the ghost E. Gadd had kept locked away in his lab was scary enough. If the ghost had to be sealed, there was a solid chance that it was scary beyond words.

"Whoever the ghost is, it can't scare me!" replied a confident Kana, who had remained solid throughout the day as all the chatter and hoopla surrounding ghosts didn't do much to scare her. Corrin hoped for the ghost to change that.

Soon the door opened, and out appeared an orange ghost. The ghost didn't look threatening; rather, it was more on the friendly side. When Corrin saw that Kana was unfazed by the ghost, he had to give a little reaction.

"Oh no, it's a scary ghost!" the prince fretted as he shielded himself behind Kana, shivering in fake fear as the ghost crept closer toward the group. "It's going to take our souls!"

"This ghost looks like it can hardly hurt a fly," remarked Leon, as the ghost tried to scare everyone by raising its arms and letting out a ghostly scream. "That's not gonna work on us, pal."

"EVERY MAN FOR THEMSELVES!" Corrin was hamming up his reaction, as he jumped behind some machinery for safety. He looked behind the machinery and saw Kana interacting with the ghost. "Kana, leave that ghost alone and come join me!"

"Hehe, he tickles!" giggled Kana, poking her finger as her arm went completely through the ghost. Corrin gasped as Kana was making contact with the ghost without a care in the world.

"No, Kana, you're doing it all wrong! You're supposed to..." Corrin was growing dismayed by Kana's carefree attitude, and he wanted Leon and Claire to help Kana get along with the program. "...Leon, Claire, shoot the ghost!"

"But our bullets would just go through it," argued Claire, who had nothing to fear after observing how amused Kana was by the ghost. "Also, it's not really much of a threat..."

"I SAID SHOOT THE GHOST!" So Leon and Claire had no choice but to satisfy Corrin and shoot the ghost. As they expected, all their bullets went through the ghost as their precious ammo was wasted.

"Hey, watch how you're firing those things!" frowned E. Gadd as he exited from the door, now wearing a gown that strangely made see-through. "This is a gun-free zone. Laser guns aside."

"Professor E. Gadd, your shadow is looking mighty thin," Leon said to the inventor after he and Claire put an end to their unneeded bullet barrage. Several bullet holes were in the walls. "Got sick that quickly?"

"No, no, no! I'm just wearing this gown that can make anybody a ghost. By wearing this gown, you can become a ghost anytime, anyplace, anywhere you want!" The gown was one of E. Gadd's finest inventions, and he looked awfully fly with it on.

"In that case...do you mind scaring my daughter?" Corrin kindly asked E. Gadd, desperate to have Kana spooked at least once today. Leon and Claire gave Corrin a judging glance as E. Gadd saw Kana interacting with the ghost.

"Ah, Corrin! I see that your daughter has made friends with my friendly ghost companion." E. Gadd crept over to Kana, who took her full attention away from the ghost and focused on E. Gadd. "I'll have you know that this ghost samples my finest brews at Starbeans Coffee!"

"E. Gadd in ghost form? So cool!" marveled Kana, doing the same thing with E. Gadd that she had done with the ghost. Corrin was even more beside himself, as E. Gadd was giggling heartily.

"Can't even feel a thing, yet I feel so ticklish!" While Kana and E. Gadd had their moment together, Leon and Claire both confronted Corrin, who was now hiding even more hiding the machinery.

"Be honest with us, Corrin..." Claire said to the prince, sounding pretty stern as she folded her arms and looked disappointed. "...did you make us come to Seattle just to help you force your daughter to fear ghosts?"

"'Force' is a big word to use, but, um..." answered Corrin, struggling to come up with an answer that would save him from trouble. Nothing that the prince could say would save his behind. "...at least we found a ghost?"

"I'd say it's time we abort this mission," Leon said to Claire, who nodded her head in agreement as Leon pulled out his walkie-talkie to deliver a message. "This is Leon Kennedy here. Pull out all reinforcements, I repeat, pull out all reinforcements."

"You had to bring in reinforcements?!" Corrin asked Leon, believing that his task didn't require the help of any reinforcements. He just wanted to give Kana a good scare...and now he had to accept that ghosts just didn't frighten his daughter as much as he wanted them to.


Gex met with his crew at their base of operations, Arcadia Bay's lumber mill. Tharja, Henry, Big, Cream, Kicks, Funky Kong, and Bandanna Waddle Dee all stood around while Gex was perched at the top of a pile of logs, asserting his dominance over everyone.

"Alright, Big and Funky, give us the rundown," Gex said to the purple cat and gorilla, as he had out an ink pen and a notepad. Both were items that Tharja found unnecessary. "Tell us what Aerith bought from the grocery store. You go first, Big."

"She bought...a gallon of milk, a pack of Danish cookies, and a seared fish that I'm sure blinked at me," answered Big, as Gex nodded his head thoughtfully and wrote down all the items Big listed on his notepad.

"Now it's your turn, Funky Kong. What items did Aerith pick out? Did you see Cloud select anything himself?" Funky Kong had a massive brain fart for the first question, but the second question got his brain juices flowing.

"Oh yeah! He picked out a box of chocolates for Aerith," answered Funky Kong, and Gex widened his eyes with heavy intrigue as he wrote down that item on his notepad. "But it was Halloween chocolate on clearance, though."

"What even is the importance of this meeting?" Tharja whispered to Henry, as Gex's eyes went back to their usual size. Funky Kong sure knew how to give up Gex's hopes.

"So it wasn't Valentine's Day candy...close but no cigar," said Gex, finding Halloween candy on clearance to be nothing remarkable. "Wonder if Aerith bought some ice cream for her..." Gex suddenly stopped speaking, as he was completely frozen.

"Gex? Are you okay?" Kicks asked the lizard, who had a thousand-mile stare going on as he couldn't break out of his trance. But Gex broke out of the trance immediately, before smacking his forehead.

"Dang it! I left that canister of strawberry ice cream at Aerith's house. I can't let Aerith have that last bit!" Gex crawled top from the top of the logs, as the meeting was seemingly adjourned.

"But it's just ice cream," Tharja stated to Gex, who took out a bottle of breath spray and sprayed some into his open mouth. "And I bet there was hardly anything left!"

"Peeps, we're moving out. To Aerith's house, we go!" Gex ran out of the lumber mill, as everyone followed the lizard's lead...everyone except for Tharja, who groaned loudly as she later trailed behind.


Link had spoken with Mario and Zelda in the hallway, telling them the info that he gained from Fox and Falco. It had to do with Tifa, of course.

"So Cloud is in love-a with Aerith!" exclaimed Mario, unable to hold in much of his excitement. He knew that romantic energy between Cloud and Aerith was brewing. "My heart is a-flutter."

"We can't let anyone know about this," Link said to Mario and Zelda, aware of the damage that was brought upon after the leak. "It will have to be out of Cloud's mouth. Understood?"

"Rave's over - we had to call for an ambulance," announced Tracer as she blinked over to Link and company, carrying a few light sticks from the party. "For Waluigi. So, what are you blokes talking about?"

"Some good-a news, Cloud is..." Mario was about to spill the beans to Tracer, only for Zelda to cover the plumber's mouth in the nick of time.

"Cloud is handling himself just fine in Arcadia Bay," Zelda gave the update to Tracer, who smiled in response; the princess then frowned at Mario, who gave an apologetic look.


Dimentio and Gnasty Gnorc were outside Aerith's house, which was entrapped in an invisible glass box. Cloud and the others had no way out of the house, and Dimentio had attached a ticking time bomb to the box to make everyone go ka-blooey. Or something like that. Only Dimentio knew how much time remained on the timer.

"How much longer until this whole house explodes?" Gnasty asked Dimentio, who glanced at an imaginary watch on his wrist. Gnasty peered at Dimentio's wrist and saw no watch in sight.

"We're only through the halfway mark," replied Dimentio, sounding awfully giddy about the prospect of blowing up a house while Sonic, Cloud, and a few others were inside. He was truly that sadistic. "This house will go up in flames, like a..."

Dimentio was suddenly interrupted, as he felt an object strike him in the back of his head. Gnasty was met with a similar fate, as he felt a can grazing his ear and cutting his ear lobe.

"Someone's planned an attack on us..." said Gnasty as he put his hand on his right ear, before taking his hand away and seeing blood on his fingers. The Gnorc and Dimentio turned around and saw Max and Chloe standing far away.

"Go back where you came from, you dork!" Chloe shouted at Dimentio, throwing yet another can at the jester. Dimentio remained floating as the can struck him in the face. "Got more where that came from!"

"Yeah, what she said, go back to your mom...or something," Max shouted at Dimentio, standing afar off from Chloe as she chose to be a pacificist. Clearly, she wanted no part of Dimentio.

Max: Seems kinda inevitable at this point...Chloe one day is gonna get me killed.

"Why don't you go back to your mom?" Dimentio fired back at Max, growing increasingly angry as he floated over to Chloe. The closer Dimentio got, the more cans Chloe threw at him.

"C'mon, Max! Help a sister out," Chloe shouted at her best friend, oblivious to the fact that none of the cans were harming Dimentio. Not even going for the chest had any effect.

"I don't think those cans are helping," responded Max, who started to fear for her life as Dimentio twirled his finger in the air. Like he was about to summon some kind of wicked spell. "Oh no..."

Fortunately, Max and Chloe were spared as a spear was thrown at Dimentio, cutting through the jester's hand and hurting him in the process. Dimentio freaked out as a part of his hand was partially torn off.

"Ack! A paper cut!" shrieked Dimentio, desperately trying to attach the partially torn-off piece but to no avail. It was just hanging. "This is simply not ideal..."

"Haha! Bullseye!" shouted the person that threw the spear, Bandanna Waddle Dee, as he and the rest of Gex's troupe arrived at the scene. Dimentio held his injured hand as he did not appreciate the company.

"Bothersome pests, aren't you..." Dimentio said to Gex's troupe, as his hand was dangling by a thread. He had to return to base, and soon. "...like a horde of angry gnats flying under a dimly lit light bulb!"

"Boss, the time bomb!" Gnasty alerted Dimentio, reminding him about the time bomb that was set to make Aerith's house explode. To Gnasty's surprise, Dimentio snapped his fingers with his other hand, as the large invisible box was no more.

"Forget the time bomb. It's hard for us to do anything with these nuisances interfering." Dimentio floated over to Gex's troupe as if he was about to impart some words of farewell to them.

"Don't you dare..." Max whispered to Chloe, who was about to throw another can at Dimentio while the jester wasn't looking. Chloe grumbled as she dropped the can to the ground.

"Be warned - my revenge tour is nearly close to starting. After it's done, it won't be the Smash Mansion that will be reduced to ashes...it will be this entire universe! Best to start saying your prayers..."

"Bandanna Waddle Dee, spear..." commanded Tharja, as Bandanna Waddle Dee whipped out a spear and threw it at Dimentio. Dimentio teleported away out of anticipation, electing to leave before further damage was done to him.

"Remember to let Cloud and his friends know that I'm always watching them! Thank you so much, home drive...ciao!" Dimentio vanished away for good, leaving Gnasty alone to deal with the others. Gnasty was clueless about what to do, taking several steps back.

"This won't be the last time you see me!" vowed Gnaty as he pointed at everyone, before making a run for it. The Gnorc almost tripped along the way, as the others tried not to laugh.

Gnasty: Well, if there's anything I can hang my hat on, I didn't have to be scared out of town by Spyro! But was intimidated by a lizard, a skunk, and some small creature that speaks without a mouth. Which is just as much of a bad look.

"And good riddance!" exclaimed Funky as he exchanged a high five with Big, before giving a second one to Bandanna Waddle Dee and accidentally striking his face as he had done before. Meanwhile, Tharja walked up to the porch steps and knocked on the door.

"Open up, the coast is clear!" yelled Tharja, and seconds later the door was opened by Tails. Upon seeing Tharja, Tails checked to see if the invisible walls there still there as he stuck his hand out. "Dimentio is gone, so you have nothing to..."

"Woo-hoo! Freedom!" cheered Sonic, speeding out of the house and running into Tharja as he gave the dark mage a hug. As Tharja tried to pry Sonic's arms off of her, Cloud joined Tails at the front door.

"Honestly I can't tell you how happy I am to see you guys," Cloud said to Tharja, who successfully pushed Sonic away; still in a hugging mood, Sonic hugged Tails, who lightly tapped Sonic on his head in response.

"Should be thanking Gex - he was so worried about his ice cream," responded Tharja - and speaking of Gex, the lizard slithered his way onto the porch and inside the house.

"Strawberry ice cream, where are you?!" wondered Gex as he inspected every trash can in sight, and there were only a few that he had to look into. "Come back to me, my love!"

"Give me a moment..." Tharja said to Cloud as she brushed past the swordsman, stepping inside the house to give Gex a piece of her mind. "...Gex, get out of the trash can!"


Dismayed that he couldn't make his daughter afraid of ghosts, Corrin returned to the mansion as Leon and Claire drove the prince and Kana back home. The disgruntled Corrin and the happy Kana stepped out of Leon's vehicle, which was parked in the mansion's driveway.

"Did you all have fun?" Master Hand asked Corrin and company, coincidentally outside the mansion watching Villager plant some new trees. Corrin walked Kana past Master Hand, without saying a word.

"You were right about Corrin, Master Hand - he's nothing but trouble," Leon spoke with the giant hand as he poked his head out of the driver's window. Seeing how downtrodden Corrin was made Master Hand wonder how his day went.

"Tried my best to warn you, heh...I'll be right back." Master Hand went to the porch, where Corrin brought Kana in through the front door. Corrin was about to pass through the door himself, only to be stopped by Master Hand.

"Look, Kana! A ghost!" shouted Corrin, only to cool off when he saw that it was just Master Hand. Corrin caught his breath, hoping that nobody saw him. "Master Hand, it was just you..."

"What's got you feeling so glum?" Master Hand wanted to sit on the porch steps. with Corrin for a heart-to-heart, but he had to settle for floating in the air. "Did a zombie violate you? Or did it violate your child instead?"

"We didn't deal with any zombies today. My goal for today was to make Kana scared of ghosts, as any other child would be. But in spite of my best efforts..."

"Sorry Corrin, but I have to stop you right there..." Now would be a really good time for Master Hand to sit on the porch steps. "...would it make more sense to help your daughter overcome her fear of ghosts?"

"I suppose you have a point...but I just assumed that a kid having a fear of ghosts was natural. Maybe I looked too much into how Kana was acting at the Halloween party."

"Fear is natural - but not every kid has to be scared of the same things. Kana isn't scared of ghosts? Embrace it! That's what any honest parent would do."

"Come to think of it, I was in the wrong for forcing that upon my child. Thank you for the pep talk, Master Hand!" Appreciating the time he had with Master Hand, Corrin went inside the mansion...only to step out seconds later. "One last thing: did I ever tell you that Kana also isn't scared of..."

"Get back inside!" Master Hand used his fingers to flick Corrin inside the mansion, before closing the door and floating away from the porch. "Not scared of ghosts...that Kana is truly a dime in a dozen!"


Sonic, Tails, and Amy enjoyed their time in Arcadia Bay, and now it was time for the friends to fly back to Seattle. Cloud and Aerith were ready to see the trio off, as Tails and Amy were inside the Tornado while Sonic stood on the top wing.

"Sucks that Knuckles had to miss out on this trip," remarked Tails, as the trip to Arcadia Bay didn't feel the same without the red echidna. Even then, there was hardly any room in the Tornado for everyone.

"By the way, before you go - do any of you know that Sage girl?" Cloud asked Sonic and company, asking them one more time before they departed. Sonic and his friends had no choice but to come clean.

"We crossed paths with her before, but it's a long story," answered Sonic, before beckoning to Tails to turn on the ignition as the Tornado's propeller started moving. "We'll explain the rest once you guys return home!"

"No, wait!" Cloud watched as the Tornado took off into the air, with Sonic maintaining his balance as the Tornado flew out of Arcadia Bay. Cloud sighed, already hating this waiting game that Sonic made him abide by.

"If it makes you feel any better, I gave those pink curtains to Amy," Aerith said to Cloud, who was in a mood as he returned to Aerith's house. Aerith happily followed after Cloud. "You did say that it ruined the entire aesthetic of the living room!"

"Are you still staying in Arcadia Bay?" a voice asked Cloud and Aerith, right before the two could enter the house. They both turned around, and Sage was behind them. "It will be your loss..."

"We have to stay until we're allowed to leave, so yes," answered Cloud, as Sage lowered her head in shame - as if she knew the dangers that Cloud would face down the road. "We'll be fine, trust me."

"If that is your choice, then you will have to live with it. Don't say I didn't warn you." And with that, Sage left Cloud and Aerith alone as she vanished away. Her convincing just wasn't enough to sway anyone's mind.

"I'll never get how Sonic keeps encountering those edgy types," Cloud said to Aerith, as he and the flower girl finally entered the house. Moments after Cloud and Aerith were inside, an Egg Mobile landed in the front yard.

The pilot of the Egg Mobile? It was none other than Dr. Eggman. With Sonic and his friends spending time in Arcadia Bay, it seemed natural that Eggman had followed Sonic's scent.

"I must have missed her..." frowned Eggman, reacting in frustration as he slammed his fist on the dashboard. "...no matter, I will find her soon. If it's the last thing that I do!"

Accepting his failure - mostly due to his tardiness - Eggman flew his Egg Mobile back up into the sky.