Author's Note:
It's been a long while since I last did a job update, huh? So here we go...
...I got a new job! (Heh, that was easy to announce.) Except this job is something that's more out of the field. Meaning that I get to leave the house and stuff. I will say this, I am still in training for this new job, but I'm nonetheless excited to start this new phase in my life. As always, this story will be ongoing until it ends - which is inevitable. Smash Life is still a thing I do on the side. Before we get to the Thanksgiving chapter, let's answer some reviews that I've been needing to respond to:
"Will you do anything for the World Cup (the soccer one)? Maybe have the residents support the United States team?"
I will do a little something for the World Cup. The residents would definitely support the United States team. Speaking of the World Cup...another guest review:
"I know you may not watch much soccer but since 2022 FIFA World Cup matchup of USA vs England is happening on the same day as Black Friday, are you planning to make the 2022 FIFA World Cup chapter, combine Black Friday with World Cup or stick with Thanksgiving or Black Friday? If you're making a World Cup chapter, here's an idea: Have Master Hand force everyone to root for the USA."
Sticking with just a Thanksgiving chapter. Nobody will be forced to root for the USA...or will they? Another anonymous review:
"Man I miss Akuma, When will he Return to the mansion. Why did he have to lose to Kazuya :("
Akuma had to lose to Kazuya because he was at the mansion for a bit too long. Looking back on it, he was well past his expiration date. Incoming joke from Guy w the Jokes:
"...since today we're discussing It Takes Two, here's a joke you might love. If marriage is grand, what is divorce? A hundred grand! Sorry if anyone gets triggered. Just a silly joke."
Eh, I'll be honest...not a huge fan of that one. A JPRG Enjoyer has an idea:
"Well, I know you might not see this review before Thanksgiving, but I have a perfect idea for a future chapter. Ryme vs. Guzma rap battle. Judged by Off the Hook. Go crazy, man."
Ryme would body Guzma on the mic, in my opinion, but that's a rap battle worth happening. Off the Hook as the judges...that's the icing on the cake. Romance enjoyer also has an idea:
"I think I have an idea for another episode for Ashley. So, someone stole her love potion and tried to pair up a couple (kinda like the "Love God" episode of Gravity Falls). Which couple? I don't know, right now I'm tossed between Ryuji-Ann or Yosuke-Chie.
I personally see Ryuji and Ann as more of best friends than a couple, but Yosuke-Chie? I can work with that. Clouenstein has a random question:
"...since Sonic Frontiers is coming next week, is Lavenza's master plan with him going to fruition soon?"
Not just yet. We have another question from a...Real question:
"Whatever happened to Cortex's goose? Haven't seen 'em in a while. Did Pit get to him? He did know a lot about butchering geese according to that one Christmas episode."
Cortex's goose is alive and well, chilling at E. Gadd's place. Pit hasn't gotten to him, thankfully. Now, time for questions from David - not all questions will be answered:
"Will overlooked Fire Emblem Fates characters like Candace have small appearances? If Kamui and Silas are a couple, how soon will Kana and Sophie appear? Do Dribble and Spitz have some rivalry with the Crazy Taxi crew? And finally, do you think that Jeff Jarrett joining AEW will be the company's downfall? (Jarrett broke 6000 guitars and never drew a dime)."
Perhaps. Kana has already appeared; Sophie hasn't. Dribble and Spitz do have a small rivalry with the Crazy Taxi crew. And Jeff Jarret joining AEW won't be the company's downfall, but it will make AEW look TNA-lite. More questions:
"A scene of Pit mourning the loss of the 24/7 championship? (Nikki Cross trashed it and WWE retired it afterwards). Have the Tokyo Mirage Sessions characters had any screen time yet? Will the Hoshidans and Nohrians finally make peace in time for Thanksgiving or Christmas? And finally, how did you feel about Ash finally becoming champion in the Pokémon anime? (It was broadcast on those big monitors in Shibuya)."
Pit will mourn off-screen. The TMS characters will get more screen time in the coming chapters. The Hoshidans and Nohrians won't make peace in time for Thanksgiving, but maybe by Christmas, they'll work something out. And as for Ash being champion...all I can say is, better late than never. Maybe now he will actually age, now that he has the big win under his belt. Final batch of questions:
"Will we see any past characters return for the Thanksgiving chapter? Will the Xenoblade Chronicles X characters ever appear? A scene of Pit and Ryuji predicting who will win Survivor Series Wargames? Has Viridi had any time to hang out with Phosphora yet? And finally, do you think Kevin Owens's return is gonna cause conflict for Sami Uso and his allegiance to The Bloodline at Survivor Series?"
Of course! The XCX will appear one day, hopefully. No scene involving Survivor Series. Viridi hasn't had any moments with Phosphora, has she? And Kevin Owens's return will obviously cause conflict for Sami Zayn. The dude is practically Sami's blood brother. Finally, Some Smash News with...yeah, you know.
"Well, the end of the year is nearing, and so does the end of Smash tournaments this year. There'll be two important tournaments being held next month. Smash World Tour and Panda Cup. One of them is a tournament with a lot of international talents competing, and the other is a Nintendo-backed tournament with the best competitors from North America. Will you celebrate the winners of those two tournaments like you do to both Byleths in January?"
The winners will indeed be celebrated...with a pelting of Nerf bullets, of course!
Episode 362: Roast
So as you might be aware, there has been an absolute flurry of Christmas commercials. Every commercial break there was an advertisement convincing you to purchase a car, put something on layaway, or even get your child a Hex truck (provided that you even had a child). There was a solid chance that your local radio station has already started playing holiday tunes, unable to wait until December.
Little did these advertisers know that there was one more holiday to get to before Christmas - and that was Thanksgiving. Yes, it was the holiday when families sat around the table and ate turkey, or even huddled together to watch the Dallas Cowboys play. And the Detroit Lions; some people are masochistic like that.
For Mario and Peach, it was their first Thanksgiving spent with their baby boy, Lou. Mario had an annual Thanksgiving tradition that only he indulged in, and that was watching his parade float at the Macy's Thanksgiving parade. It was Lou's first time getting to see the Mario float.
"Look, Lou! That's my parade-a float, right there," Mario smiled at his son, holding him while sitting on the couch. The plumber happily pointed at the television screen, which showed the parade float that was made in his likeness.
"Thank goodness you've stopped overreacting to your parade float," Spyro said to Mario as he entered the living room, watching as Lou was applauding his dad's parade float with a smile. He didn't know what was going on, and he didn't care.
"I must admit, my overreacting has gotten old over the years." Mario looked over his shoulder, at Peach who was cooking some breakfast for herself in the kitchen, before looking at Spyro and asking quietly, "You don't think I looked stupid doing it, did you?"
"Oh, a hundred percent. Took ya long enough to realize." Spyro walked into the kitchen to see what Peach was cooking up, as Mario frowned and snapped his fingers in disgust.
Mario: So what if I got-a super excited from seeing my parade float? Nobody else-a that I know can claim to have a... *pauses* ...okay, so maybe Sonic has his parade-a float at the parade. Pikachu, too. Pac-Man as well, if people remember him. But they usually save-a my parade float for last to remind-a everyone who the top-a dog is.
"Don't bother the oven - the glazed turkey is in there," Peach warned Spyro, who looked inside the oven to see the turkey being cooked to perfection. It was glazed at every inch, and then some.
"Mm, glazed turkey!" exclaimed Spyro, happy to finally eat anything other than another ordinary run-of-the-mill turkey for Thanksgiving. "What did you use for the glaze, Mario?"
"Black-a pepper, apple juice, butter, maple syrup, and some bourbon Conker gave-a to me," answered Mario, who had prepared the glazed turkey himself without anyone's help. One of the ingredients made Spyro furrow his brow.
"Did somebody say bourbon?" inquired Hunter as he ran into the kitchen, very pumped up for whatever reason as he pumped his fist. "Aw yeah, we're getting wasted! Let's go!"
"Um, that probably means Jennifer shouldn't have-a the turkey, right?" Mario had several second doubts racing through his head, as Hunter's excited reaction gave the plumber some moment of pause.
"You're asking this now?" Spyro questioned Mario, as there was a knock at the front door. "I'm surprised you even accepted that bourbon." Mario got up and placed Lou on his sofa, as he went to go answer the door.
"Happy Thanksgiving, big bro!" Luigi greeted Mario while in his pajamas, holding a tray with a turkey on it. His turkey wasn't looking so hot. "As you can-a see, my turkey...well, you know."
"It caught-a on fire again," inferred Mario, able to make out the several charred spots on Luigi's turkey. Some things never change on Thanksgiving. "What's your excuse-a this time?"
"I don't have an excuse! I let my turkey slow roast-a in the oven overnight, and the next thing you know my oven almost caught-a on fire!"
"Sounds like an excuse to me," commented an eavesdropping Hunter, as Mario turned his head and frowned at the cheetah. Hunter sheepishly scurried to the fridge, fixing himself a glass of juice.
"It's like I'm not ever destined to have a good-a turkey. The forces are against-a me!" Luigi wanted to drop his turkey unto the concrete, as he looked down and sighed. Mario placed his hand on Luigi's shoulder to cheer his brother up a little.
"You can have Thanksgiving at my place-a if you want," Mario offered to Luigi, who was instilled with a newfound hope as he looked up at Mario. Why didn't Luigi think about joining Mario for Thanksgiving sooner?
"Thanks, big bro, you're the best!" Luigi showed Mario his appreciation as he hugged him, dropping his turkey in the process. But Luigi could care less about his turkey anymore.
"I'll just...put this turkey away..." said Spyro as he grabbed the turkey and placed it on the tray. The purple dragon took the turkey, thinking that it could possibly be salvaged.
Marth had a big Thanksgiving feast planned today, for the Black Eagles, Blue Lions, and Golden Deer were coming to town. Along with the Ashen Wolves. The houses weren't there for last Thanksgiving, which only motivated Marth to go big this year. Too bad he couldn't prepare his Thanksgiving feast his own way...
"That's right, Marth, you go take that dressing out of that oven!" Caeda cheered on her husband, who took some dressing out of his electric oven - the one who tried to sell in the last episode. Marth was beside himself as he placed the dressing on the stovetop.
"So close..." uttered Marth, needing a moment to compose himself as he exited the kitchen. Or at least he tried to as Caeda gently pushed him back inside.
"Yeah, so close to getting this meal done! All there's left is the creamed spinach." So Marth checked the cream spinach, which was cooking away on the stovetop, and he looked absolutely miserable doing it.
Caeda: Marth didn't have it in him to return the gold he gained from selling our new appliances, so I had to force him to give the gold back and apologize for his actions. I kid you not, he was acting like a spoiled five-year-old who refused to apologize. I think his reluctance made his stomach clench; that's why he was complaining about feeling "crampy" that evening.
Marth: Our Thanksgiving feast was going to look solid this year, but Caeda had to ruin it by forcing me to get that electric oven back. Now our food is going to taste horrible. You're going to get what you're asking for, Caeda.
"This feels so, so wrong..." bemoaned Marth as he simmered and stirred the cream spinach, with some seasonings he added to the mix. Roy and Lilina observed Marth from the staircase, stifling their laughter.
"He looks so disgusted right now!" Roy said quietly to Lilina, fearing that he might let out one big laugh that would bring unwanted attention to him and Lilina. "Why is he like this?"
"I dunno, but he thinks that the electric cooking will somehow ruin the food," replied Lilina, recounting some comments that Marth had made to her in secret. Comments that he would never say in his wife's presence.
"Man, he seriously needs to get with the times. I might lose it if I see him using an actual smartphone." Roy equated the idea of Marth using a smartphone to a grandparent using a device for the first time - and he wasn't too far off the mark.
"So are you ready for later?" Judging by the confident look on his face, Roy was definitely ready for the Thanksgiving feast. "Your mom and dad will be joining us at the table!"
"M-My mom and my dad?" Roy suddenly wasn't looking so confident anymore, as he was reminded of Lyn and Eliwood attending Marth's Thanksgiving feast last year. "Are you sure?"
"What's the matter? Scared of the students knowing who your parents are? I think it'll be fun!" But Roy was thinking otherwise, as evidenced by the drop of sweat running down his face.
"What's so fun about...I need to go clear my mind." Roy went up the stairs, needing to get his mind right before the feast again. Lilina was about to follow her husband upstairs but decided against it.
While Mario had a tradition of watching his parade float, and Luigi had a tradition of burning his turkey, their arch-nemesis Bowser had an annual Thanksgiving tradition himself. It involved writing down people on his "List of Bowser"; anyone who was on the list was deemed a stupid idiot. Not even the smartest minds were safe from having their name on Bowser's dubious list.
The residents anticipated Bowser bringing his list back, and they expected Bowser to have everyone's list down by midnight. That also included any guests, and you know that Master Hand loved having guests over for Thanksgiving. Some guests were arriving earlier than usual.
"So glad you guys could be here!" Terry said to his closest confidants in the foyer - Blue Mary, his best female friend, and Rock Howard, his adopted son. "Means a lot, it truly does."
"Don't mean to rain on your parade, but Master Hand's friend enticed us," Blue Mary explained to Terry as she took out and held up an invite. It looked like a Smash invite, but with a turkey instead of the Smash logo.
"We only agreed to come since we knew you'd be around," Rock stated to his adoptive father, as he too had an invite; he was too lazy to take it out, though.
"Dr. Drip, coming through!" announced Bowser as he passed through the foyer, wearing one of the sparkly red suits that Dr. Eggman had gifted him. "You can admire my drip at a later time!"
"Uh oh, it's big bad Bowser!" exclaimed Terry as he confronted Bowser, triggering the Koopa King by not referring to him as "Dr. Drip". Bowser was going to have to send out a mansion-wide decree. "Gonna put my son and friend on your List of Bowser?"
"You mean this?" Bowser held up the List of Bowser, which he had in his possession as he was walking by. "Nah, there's no need." Bowser was passing up a golden opportunity, which made Terry shocked.
"Oh! So I guess they've been spared, then." Terry smiled as he placed his finger underneath his chin, with Bowser's response catching him by surprise. "But I don't blame you, they're not exactly stupid idiots."
"And what is that supposed to mean?" Blue Mary frowned at Terry with her hands on her hips, curious as to what Terry was implying. She was willing to punch Terry in the nose if she had to.
"Doesn't mean anything! You and your adopted son are free to go," Bowser said to Blue Mary, making his way past Terry as he was about to leave the foyer. But not before coming to a stop yet again, this time by Slippy.
"Hey Bowser, guess what? I accidentally my dental floss down the toilet!" Slippy excitedly announced to Bowser; when you sit down and think about it, nothing of value was really lost. "Put me on your list!"
"I'm not putting you on any list, not even a sex offender list! No matter how much you deserve it. Now leave me be!" Bowser walked out of the foyer, taking his List of Bowser with him, as Slippy moaned in sadness.
"Wonder what has gotten into him," Terry had this to say about Bowser, amazed that the Koopa King had passed on Slippy. Slippy was usually a repeat offender - ending up on the List of Bowser more than once.
"Hey, whatcha got cooking?" Rock asked Terry, sniffing the air as a pleasing aroma reached his nostrils. Smelt like bacon. "I didn't know you guys had a big breakfast for Thanksgiving."
Yes, Rock, the mansion did have a big breakfast for Thanksgiving - gotta feed everyone before the big feast somehow. It was Pyra and Mythra's (but mainly Pyra's) second instance overseeing breakfast, and Dunban helped out a bit. Palutena as well, although nobody asked for her help.
The early guests had joined the residents in the dining room for breakfast - Steven Stone, Adeleine, Kamek, Dingodile, Ty the Tasmanian Tiger, and even Luka Redgrave, just to name a few. More early arrivals were coming in, such as the Wayfinder trio - Terra, Ventus, and Aqua.
"It's a packed house already..." remarked Terra, taken aback by how congested the dining room was. His eyes spotted Sora, who was sitting with Riku waving to get the Wayfinder trio's attention.
"Sora saved us some seats, how nice of him," commented Aqua, as the Wayfinder trio went over to the three available seats next to Sora. They would pass by Palutena, who was going around offering...something.
"Here's more breakfast stew for you, former champ!" Palutena said to Steven Stone, pouring some weird-looking goop into the former champion's previously empty bowl. Steven stared at the goop, which was hot and bubbly.
"I didn't ask for this," stated Steven, who was about to take his bowl into the kitchen and ask Pyra for another helping of grits. So much for further indulging in Southern cooking. "Is this stuff any good?"
"Does it look any good?" questioned Pigma, who had only eaten a small spoonful of Palutena's breakfast stew and was now nauseous. The pig grabbed Gerudo Ganon's cup of coffee and puked into it, while Gerudo Ganon looked on.
"Didn't even want that coffee anyway..." muttered Gerudo Ganon as he resumed eating his eggs, while Pigma had to leave the table to puke some more. You know your breakfast stew was revolting if Pigma can't stand it.
Palutena: It was my first time making breakfast stew. I didn't like any of the recipes I found online, so I went out on a limb and did my own personal spin. Can you believe that some people put eggs and sausage together in the same stew? Can't even imagine eating those items as part of a breakfast meal! Let alone eating eggs and bacon. *grimaces*
Overseeing the breakfast table and keeping the peace was the married Hylian couple Link and Zelda, who were manning their post at the dining room entrance. They watched as Palutena poured some breakfast stew on Dingodile's plate, despite Dingodile not asking for any.
"Lady Palutena's gonna kill someone with her food," Link said to Zelda as he felt bad for Dingodile, who looked despondent as his slices of bacon were covered in breakfast stew. "And that's not a prediction!"
"Only a matter of when not if," responded Zelda, thinking that her fellow residents were living on borrowed time. Link and herself included. One person that wouldn't possibly die from Palutena's food was Master Hand, who showed up along with Isabelle.
"Nice to see that the Wayfinder trio was able to make it," said Master Hand, who saw Terra, Ventus, and Aqua patiently waiting for Pyra and Mythra to serve them. Did they think that the Blades were their maids? "What about the bandicoots?"
"The bandicoots are watching the football game with Sonic," Link informed Master Hand, who vanished after hearing this information. Isabelle, who was left by herself, was in a panic.
"Knew those bandicoots would run back to us..." Zelda said to Link, as Isabelle stopped panicking and scurried to the living room.
Isabelle found Master Hand in the living room, where Sonic was watching a football game with Tails, Knuckles, Silver, Crash, Coco, Crunch, Dawn, and Barry. Accompanying the group was Nemona, who was sure to be a Thanksgiving fixture much like Leon and Professor Kukui.
"Pretty cool of the NFL to make the Detroit Lions play a good team for Thanksgiving," commented Knuckles, watching as the Detroit Lions were playing the Buffalo Bills. "Really evens things out, you know?"
"What, that was an illegal hit!" shouted Barry as he pointed at the TV, seething after a Lions player made a perfectly clean tackle on the Bills' ball carrier. "Where is the flag? The player AND the referee should be fined!"
"One, that was a clean tackle," stated Coco, now under the guise that Barry was a major softie and was too chicken to admit it out loud. "And two, I think these players have been fined enough already..."
"Don't look now, but we're being spied upon," Nemona said to Coco and company, standing behind the couch they were sitting on with her arms resting on the furniture. Sonic looked up and saw Master Hand and Isabelle, his face brightening.
"Gah! You weren't supposed to see me," said Master Hand after he was caught, despite the fact that he was taking up most of the space in the living room due to his size. "I wasn't keeping still enough."
"Hey Master Hand, I'll be joining Conker and his buddies for Thanksgiving," Sonic explained his Thanksgiving plans to the giant hand, as he and Lavenza planned to stop by Conker's place later. "You don't mind, do you?"
"You're going to help them plan their feast? Bet you they don't even have anything prepared." Master Hand didn't trust Conker, especially with his drinking history, and he never fancied Jakob as a chef. Orson was a lost cause in his eyes.
"Jewish people eat Chinese food for Thanksgiving...so I can just order some takeout. Boom! Problem solved." Happy with his forward-thinking, Sonic folded his arms as Tails stared dubiously at the blue hedgehog.
"They eat Chinese food for Christmas, not Thanksgiving," Tails corrected Sonic, whose eyes went wide after learning this very fact. Sonic was sticking with his plan nonetheless.
"Eh, same thing." Sonic unfolded his arms, as a Bills player crossed the goal line to score a touchdown. Barry saw something on the scoring play that made him angrily stand up and want to make an outburst.
"There wasn't a holding call, Barry - sit back down," Dawn instructed the Pokemon trainer, who held in his rage as he sat back on the couch. Barry was heated, as he had a few words he wanted to say about the officiating crew.
Barry: Captain Falcon told me a football adage during the Super Bowl, that there's holding on every play. In that case, every play should result in a flag! Fines would be going through the roof if the officiating on the field was more consistent!
"Man, I wish Cloud and Aerith were here," remarked Silver, who was informed about Cloud and Aerith staying in Arcadia Bay. "It feels weird without them." The mere mention of Cloud made Master Hand feel tense.
"We should check in on those two," Isabelle suggested to Master Hand, who floated away from the Shih Tzu without saying a single word. "Master Hand? Why are you leaving?"
"Uh, did I say something wrong?" Silver asked Sonic and company, as Isabelle followed Master Hand out of the living room. "Is there any bad blood between Master Hand and Cloud that you didn't tell me?"
Cloud and Aerith were forced to spend their Thanksgiving away from Seattle, left with no choice but to celebrate the holiday in Arcadia Bay. Frankly, Cloud didn't have any plans for Thanksgiving, as he had yet to cook the turkeys that Aerith picked out from the grocery store. The turkeys were on sale, too, so it was a waste.
"We should dine in somewhere," Cloud suggested to Aerith, who was in the living room of her house watching the dog show. Cloud obviously was in no mood for cooking. "Gotta be a place open."
"Aw, but that's so lazy," whined Aerith, who wished that Cloud had a bit more interest in cooking - and a whole lot of other activities. "Let's just cook the turkey in the oven in call it a day."
"We don't have to eat a turkey for Thanksgiving, mind you." Cloud was trying to use reverse psychology against Aerith - anything to avoid lifting a finger when it came to cooking. But Aerith didn't budge.
"That may be true, but it'd be weird not to have a turkey." Aerith was so used to turkey on Thanksgiving, that nothing else would appeal to her. Not even a classic serving of buttered toast, pretzel sticks, popcorn, and jelly beans.
Suddenly an object was thrown through the window, and a rock landed on the living room floor. Cloud went over to the broken window and picked up the rock, which had a note on it.
"Someone broke our window...we have truly made it in this town," remarked Cloud, believing that Gex or one of his cronies had thrown the rock. The swordsman glanced at the note, which read:
To Cloud Strife and Aerith Gainsborough,
You have been cordially invited to our Thanksgiving dinner.
Come join our family for fellowship, gratitude, and most importantly, thankfulness.
We hope to see you soon!
With much thought and care,
The Caulfields
"Well, Aerith, you're in luck," Cloud said to the flower girl, whose face brightened up as her suspicions about the rock being a dinner invite were about to be proven correct. "Max's family has invited us for dinner."
"Yay!" rejoiced Aerith as she stood up and clapped her hands together, causing Cloud to smirk a bit. You can't help but smile at Aerith's happiness. "So much for your sucky plan."
"My plan wasn't that bad. Thought that you'd want something different." Cloud's Thanksgiving in Arcadia Bay was going to be spent with Max Caulfield - anything better than Gex's troupe, in his honest opinion.
Roy was upstairs in his house, needing some time alone to mentally prepare himself for Lyn and Eliwood joining the feast. The swordsman finally came downstairs, but only because he feared Lilina nagging him about coming down.
"That moment of reflection really worked out!" remarked Roy as he had reached the end of the steps...only to panic when he heard the doorbell ring. "Oh no, here they come!" Roy ran back up the stairs, fearing that Lyn and Eliwood had arrived.
"Caeda, dear, can you answer the door?" Marth called out to his wife, his voice shaky as he was using the oven to bake some last-minute desserts. Caeda came through the living room, paying close attention to her husband's visage.
"Why do you look so afraid? It's just an oven," Caeda said to Marth as she hustled to the front door, and opened it; the three house leaders, Edelgard, Dimitri, and Claude were standing by.
"Happy Thanksgiving, Caeda!" Claude greeted the princess, trying to contain himself as he smelt the delicious aroma from the kitchen. His stomach was probably doing a happy dance. "Are we too early?"
"You're never too early for Thanksgiving. Come in!" So Caeda moved to the side, as Edelgard, Dimitri, and Claude came in...along with their many students. "One at a time, one at a time!"
"Food sure smells good!" gleamed Raphael, sniffing the air as he and his fellow Garreg Mach classmates filled up the living room. Caeda was on the lookout for the Ashen Wolves.
"There's more to Thanksgiving than just food," Ingrid stated to Raphael, who was licking his lips as he saw the food that Marth had out. "What about family, and being thankful?"
"Delicious grub is the only thing I'm thankful for! I also love anyone from my family that feeds me food! I wanna chow down right now!" Whenever Raphael was near food, his appetite was hard to contain.
"Settle down, big guy - remember to save some for us!" Caspar said to Raphael, as Roy crept down the stairs and sighed in relief when he saw the students from Fodlan. He was safe for now...
"Ah, here they come!" exclaimed Caeda, and Roy shrieked and ran up back the stairs as the next slew of guests arrived...the Ashen Wolves. Yuri, Constance, Balthus, and Hapi all made it.
"That table had better have room for all four of us," Yuri whispered to his peers, scoping out how things looked inside Marth's house. "I refuse to eat and commune in the living room."
"Hello!" Caeda greeted the Ashen Wolves, and Yuri directed his attention to the princess as he appeared dignified. Like he never had a conversation with the other Ashen Wolves. "Seems that you were a little late."
"Woulda came with the other three houses, but we got sidetracked," Balthus explained to Caeda with a smile, putting his arm on Hopi. Which Hapi did not appreciate one bit. "No thanks to Hapi!"
"Literally sighed in response to Baltus' lame joke, and a monster showed up," stated Hapi, holding in her sigh so that a monster won't show up at Marth's door. Caeda looked shocked.
"What kind of monster?" inquired Caeda, now understanding the reason behind the Ashen Wolves' slight holdup. "You managed to defeat it, right?"
"It was just Petey Piranha running errands," replied Constance, who spared Petey due in part to his status as a resident of the Smash Mansion. "We knew he was running errands because he was holding shopping bags."
Pyra: You can never have too many desserts after a Thanksgiving meal. Dunban came through and made some last night, but with so many mouths to feed, we'll need a large surplus of Thanksgiving desserts. I gave Petey Piranha a debit card and asked him to buy as many desserts as possible with the money allotted. He better not have eaten all the desserts after returning from the store...for that would be problematic.
Petey Piranha: *sitting against a tree stuffing an entire strawberry cake into his mouth, with several empty cake containers next to him*
"Imagine trusting Petey to buy some cake from a store," said Hapi as she let out a sigh, only to realize what she did as she covered her mouth. It was too late, as a monster showed up at the door. But what kind of monster was it?
"Did you call for me?" Hammer Bro asked Hapi, oddly dressed up as a turkey. "If not, then I'll just happily return to the tower like the idiot that I am." Being met with no response, Hammer Bro turned around and walked away.
"Oh, that's right! He lost a bet to Lakitu on Sunday," said Caeda, as she recalled the reason behind Hammer Bro wearing a turkey suit. Roy came back down the stairs, only to be met by his wife at the end of the steps.
"Ah!" Roy shrieked when he saw Lilina, jumping back as he landed on the stairs. The way he reacted, you'd thought that he was face-to-face with Eliwood.
"Please don't act weird around your parents," Lilina stressed to Roy, clearly alarmed by her husband's pre-Thanksgiving feast behavior. She was in no mood for feeling embarrassed. "You have a reputation to uphold."
"I'll do my best, sweetheart..." Roy picked himself up as he retreated up the staircase. Lilina preferred that Roy went down the stairs, and do some small talk with the students, but she let her husband do him.
So you know how the residents typically play football after breakfast, most of the time? Sometime after breakfast was over, the residents (and a few guests) were playing a different sport...kickball. It was played in the backyard, where there was more room. Two teams were playing against each other, and Pit was on one team as he was about to kick the ball.
"Make sure you actually kick the ball far this time," the person serving the ball to Pit, Nemona, gave the reminder to the angel. The Pokemon trainer rolled the ball to Pit, who was in a running position.
"HAIL HYDRA!" belted Pit, letting out his battle cry before running up to the ball and kicking it, Dark Pit, who was standing in the backfield, rolled his eyes as the ball traveled in the air, only to be caught by Rodin.
"Aaaaaand he's out!" shouted the kickball referee, Banjo, as Kazooie blew her whistle. Pit, who was about to run the bases, threw his arms up in defeat as he went to the back of the line.
"Hope y'all saw that one-handed catch," Rodin said to everyone on the field, holding the ball with the one hand he caught it with. Falco, who was next up to kick, stared at Pit with heavy contempt.
"These Captain American references will be the end of me..." the avian pilot shook his head at Pit, who walked past Falco; after Pit walked past, Falco squinted his eyes and saw Fox in the distance.
"It's time," Fox mouthed to Falco, who understood what his best friend was referring to. Kazooie was blowing repeatedly into her whistle, as she was trying to resume play.
"Falco! It's your time to kick, mate," Ty said to Falco, who was brought to his senses as he stepped up to the home plate. Falco had to get out of the game, and he knew just the way to do it.
"Give me a sign when you're ready," Nemona said to Falco, who nodded his head when the time was right. Nemona rolled the ball to Falco, who missed the ball on purpose as he fell to the ground.
"Oh no, I accidentally tore my ACL," Falco alerted in a totally deadpan tone, slowly getting up and walking away from the home plate. "Guess that means I can't play anymore."
"How is he able to walk on a torn ACL?" questioned one of the kickball players, Adeleine, as Falco pushed the Wii Fit Trainer away from him while sporting a fake limp. The avian pilot went over to Fox and left, quietly retreating from the backyard.
"It's called an 'adrenaline rush'...you're clearly not athletic enough to understand," Pit said to Adeline, only to gasp when he saw that he was standing next to Adeleine's good friend Kirby. "Kirby, I didn't mean it..."
"It's all good - I'll just take all your portions during the feast," Kirby responded jokingly to Pit, who took the threat very seriously as he fell down to his knees in shambles. "I was just kidding..."
Itsuki: Fox and Falco want to have a Thanksgiving dinner at the idol singers' house, as a way to determine who the leaker is. It's mandatory for all the Star Records talent to attend. When I talked with those pilots about the dinner, they called it "a classic Knives Out situation". Hoping that nobody gets killed.
"The other team's down a person," alerted Spring Man, after noticing that the opposing team was down a man thanks to Falco's "injury". "We can't resume play until both teams are even!"
"Keep the teams as they are - I love having a good competitive advantage," remarked Dark Pit, who wanted nothing more than to cream the opposing team - only because Pit was on their side.
"Me too," Yoshi agreed with Dark Pit...despite the fact that he wasn't even on the doppelganger's team. The green dinosaur was stared at by his teammates. "Think of our comeback story, you guys!"
"We're tied up - slow your roll," Bomberman said to Yoshi, tempted to use his own competitive advantage by tossing bombs at the opposing players. Just to mess them up.
"Kirby, Incineroar, and I are gonna go ask Mario if he can fill in for Falco," Pit said to Spring Man and the others as he walked away from the backyard; Kirby and Incineroar had no choice but to follow their sometimes fearless leader. "Don't play without us!"
"Don't ya think that Mario's busy?" Ty asked Pit, who didn't answer the Tasmanian tiger's question as he led Kirby and Incineroar away. "Isn't Mario getting ready for his feast?"
"Wouldn't hurt for him to take a break," Nemona replied with a shrug, leading Ty to facepalm and shake his head. Ty was one person who refused to wait on Pit, no matter the circumstance.
It was decided - Luigi and his folks would be having Thanksgiving at his brother's house. Luigi brought Daisy, Charles, Deanna, and Yuffie over to Mario's household, where he would eat turkey that wasn't burnt.
"Luigi, I didn't even tell-a you to come over yet," Mario stated to his brother, who was watching the kids playing on the living room floor. Daisy was in the nursery chatting it up with Peach.
"I did it so my kids-a can play with yours," responded Luigi, using his own children to cover his hide. Unwritten Rule #37: whenever put on the spot, use your children as a way to get yourself out of trouble.
"For the record, I got first dibs on the turkey," Yuffie informed Mario and Luigi as she entered the living room momentarily before returning to the kitchen. Claiming the first piece of turkey before the man of the house...the absolute gall.
"Mama mia! Why is Yuffie going through-a my fridge?!" questioned Mario, panicking when he saw his fridge door open and Yuffie pulling random things out. Mario quickly stepped in and intervened.
"She does the same-a thing at my place," Luigi candidly replied, watching as Mario was wrangling with Yuffie over a piece of sausage that Yuffie tried to stuff into her mouth. "You should get used-a to it."
Daisy: Luigi agreeing to have Thanksgiving at Mario's place was a huge cop-out, but if it means avoiding having to eat a burnt turkey then I'll take it. I just fear that Luigi might spread his misfortune to Mario and get the turkey burnt somehow - even after it's done cooking!
"Getting real chilly in here," said Spyro as he walked over to the fireplace, blowing his fire breath on the logs to light them and set a fire ablaze. "Ah! That's more like it.
Sadly for Spyro, the fire did not last that long; some screaming was heard coming down the chimney, and suddenly Pit landed on the logs with his toga catching on fire. The angel hopped out of the fireplace, doing the stop, drop, and roll method.
"Ruined a good fire, man..." Spyro frowned at Pit, who was done rolling around on the floor as he got up and dusted himself off. Parts of Pit's toga were singed, but it was nothing that Pit couldn't fix.
"Thanks for the assist, Incineroar!" Pit called out to the heel Pokemon through the chimney, hoping that Incineroar heard him while on the roof. "Sup Spyro - do you know where Mario is?"
"Right over there." Spyro directed Pit's attention to the kitchen, where Mario was embroiled in a tug-of-war with Yuffie over a container of ice cream. Yuffie was now raiding Mario's freezer!
"Hey, Mario! You know what's more fun than fighting with a fatty over your own food?" Pit called out to the plumber, whose tug-of-war with Yuffie ended when Yuffie looked offended at Pit.
"Who are you calling a fatty?" Yuffie questioned Pit, dropping the ice cream to the floor only for Mario to catch it in the nick of time. Sometimes when you eat too much, you get called names a lot.
"Sorry, Pit, but I'm-a in the middle of something," Mario said to the angel as he placed the ice cream back in the freezer, before putting away any freezer items that Yuffie had out. "Ask-a me later."
"Aw, but you're always in the middle of something? Can't you take a break for one second?" Technically, Mario could take a break for literally one second, but anything longer than that was a hard bargain.
"No can do - gotta make this Thanksgiving feast great-a for my family and Luigi's family." It took him a while, but Pit noticed that Luigi was in Mario's living room along with his kids.
"I see...in that case, you should invite my family! Me, Kirby, and Incineroar! And Viridi, too. We can go over family roles at the dinner table."
"Or you can stay at the mansion, as you have always-a done." Mario would happily take in Pit and company - but only if Pit was excluded from the group. "Why do you think I would-a invite you?"
"I dunno, nobody has ever invited us over for Thanksgiving before." When one takes Pit's behavior into consideration, it wasn't hard to see why that remained the case. "You invited Luigi, so you can do the same for us!"
"It's true, they never have been-a invited to anyone's dinner," Luigi said to Mario, as he had been responsible for turning Pit away on Thanksgiving multiple times. Kirby and Incineroar too, just by mere association.
"Okay Pit, if that's-a what you really want..." Mario said to Pit, about to make an offer that the angel couldn't refuse no matter how hard he tried. "...I'll let you and your friends-a join us for Thanksgiving. Viridi as well."
"YES!" cheered Pit as he raised his fists in the air, before grabbing Mario and putting him in a bear hug as he lifted him off his feet. He put Mario back down seconds later to avoid getting chewed out. "So that means you'll join us for kickball?"
"I never said-a that..." Certainly didn't stop Pit from grabbing Mario's hand and taking the plumber out of the house, en route to the backyard. "...don't bother the turkey while I'm gone, Luigi!"
Link and Zelda were standing together in the foyer, greeting any guests that came through. So when guests like Blathers and Brewster came in through the front door, the Hylian couple had to be hospitable.
"Coo...is there any pigeon milk in the mac-n-cheese?" Brewster quietly asked Zelda, his eyes darting left and right while Link was chatting with Blathers. Or maybe Blathers was talking Link's head off.
"Our chefs care about those who consume the food, so no," answered Zelda, as Brewster lowered his head in sadness and walked away. Blathers, meanwhile, was talking with Link...or more accurately, talking Link's head off.
"The ankylosaurus is a truly magnificent specimen," Blathers said to Link, who was about to fall asleep only to brighten up when he saw a certain limbless hero enter the mansion. "Ah! I see you're finally agreeing with me."
"Yeah, that's cool, that's really cool," Link said to Blathers as he pushed the owl away, before running over to greet Rayman, Globox, and Barbara. "Hey, you three! Happy..."
"Now isn't the time, Link," Rayman said to the Hylian, putting him in his place as he and his friends pressed on. Link was about to say something to Rayman, only to later save his breath.
"Wait until after the feast, when he's in a better mood," Zelda suggested to Link, who forced himself to hold off on engaging Rayman until then. Trying to talk to him before would make things rather ugly.
"Link, Zelda, can you come outside?" a Yiga clansman appeared in the foyer and asked the Hylian couple, with a distressing situation that he had to alert. "Bowser's at our hideout and he's...doing something weird."
"When is he not doing something weird?" wondered Link as he and Zelda followed after the Yiga clansman, with an open mind about whatever shenanigans Bowser was up to.
Cloud and Aerith were able to locate the Caulfield's home in Arcadia Bay, as they had reached the house that Max's parents were staying at. Standing with Aerith behind the front door, Cloud rang the doorbell.
"I'd lose it if this turned out to be the wrong house," Cloud admitted to Aerith, waiting patiently as the door was soon opened by a man with a beard and a flannel shirt. "Hello, Mr. Caulfield, I'm..."
"You must be Cloud Strife!" the man greeted Cloud, pulling the swordsman close and embracing him in a hug. "Welcome to our home! Or rather, the home we used to stay in. My wife and I stay in Seattle."
"Nice to see you celebrating Thanksgiving in your old digs..." The tone of Cloud's voice suggested that the swordsman was tired of the hug, which was the man's cue to stop the hugging.
"But yeah, I am Mr. Caulfield - Max's dad. My daughter's been telling me all sorts of tales about you and your lady friend. Now I get to see if the stories she shared with us hold up..."
"Hi, guys, happy Thanksgiving," Max said to Cloud and Aerith in passing as she walked past her dad, noodling on her phone. Presumably texting Chloe.
"That's my girl! How about you come on in, Cloud? Your lady friend can come on in, too. Man, your hair is spiky!"
The Yiga clansman took Link and Zelda to the Yiga Clan hideout, where Bowser was gathered around a fire with Cranky Kong, Leon, and Leon's ace Pokemon Charizard. Why the four were standing around a fire, to begin with, begged the question.
"I feel so awkward standing around like this..." Leon whispered to Charizard, who nodded his head in agreement as Cranky poked his cane at whatever was burning in the fire.
"Alexa, play 'Crossroads' by Bone-Thugs-N-Harmony," Bowser spoke into his phone, only to be met with no response from Alexa. The lack of response incensed Bowser to make him want to chuck his phone into the fire. "I said to play 'Crossroads', dang it!"
"Nobody is allowed to start a fire on hideout grounds without Master Kohga's permission," the Yiga clansman explained to Link and Zelda with a whisper, while Bowser was contemplating what to do with his phone. "You should go speak with them."
"We're right on it," replied Link as he and Zelda went over to Bowser and company; Link tapped Bowser on his shoulder once he got closer to the Koopa King. "Starting a Thanksgiving bonfire?"
"Link and Zelda! You made it just in time to the funeral," Bowser happily said to the Hylian couple, who both furrowed their brow as they looked toward Leon for an answer.
"Bowser asked me to have my Charizard burn his infamous List of Bowser," explained Leon, as Link and Zelda saw the list burning to a crisp in the fire that Charizard had set. "He's retiring it for good."
Cranky Kong: Bowser is retiring that List of Bowser...the author is putting an end to another tired Thanksgiving trope! The List got what it deserved though, given the many times Bowser put me on there. Now as for the Thanksgiving food fight...eh, that one can stay for now. Hopefully, the author will make me look good when I'm chucking food at everyone.
"Since Master Hand stopped adding people to the mansion, the list feels obsolete," stated Bowser, saying something that Link and Zelda never would've never expected to hear from the Koopa King. "I've gotten tired of writing the same names down every year."
"At least you've finally accepted the end of your silly fad," Zelda said to Bowser, who was feeling bittersweet about the List of Bowser as he looked at the list burning in the fire.
"Now I have nothing to look forward to on Thanksgiving. The list was my own personal tradition, my niche...and now it's literally going up in flames. I have nothing to replace it!"
"Have you tried roasting people on Thanksgiving?" Link suggested to Bowser, making a recommendation that he would later regret making. Especially considering who this recommendation was for. "You did a bang-up job with your roast session a few years ago."
"Yeah, but is that sustainable? Could that last me the entire holiday?" Bowser was scratching his head, as he was mulling over Link's suggestion. "I don't know if that's such a good idea..."
"The folks at the dinner table thought that you did a good job," Leon said to Bowser, before looking toward Link and Zelda and giving them a smile and a wink. And just like that, Bowser's mind was made up.
"You're right, they did think I did a good job! They were probably too insulted by their roasts to admit it." Sporting a new attitude, Bowser walked away from the fire as he felt like a new man.
"Aren't you gonna put out the fire?" Cranky Kong called out to Bowser, who was in a happy mood as he stiff-armed the Yiga clansman out of his way.
"Where did I leave that red turtleneck?" wondered Bowser, talking to himself as he was eager to start a new chapter in his...Thanksgiving ways. "Dr. Eggman would kill me if I had misplaced it!"
The idol singers never really cared that much for Thanksgiving. Sure, they participated in the Thanksgiving meal back when they were mansion residents, but they were never crazy for Thanksgiving like they were for Christmas.
This year, the idol singers were having a Thanksgiving feast at their house, and Fox and Falco intended to use it as a so-called "exposé". The pilots were at the house already, mean-mugging any talent that came in through the front door.
"Watch the bristles!" Tsubasa said to Yashiro, as she and the idol singer were bringing in a Christmas tree through the front door. The two were struggling as they came across Fox and Falco, who were both looking pretty intimidating.
"Are you just gonna stand there and watch us struggle?" Yashiro questioned Fox and Falco, his arms ready to give up as he couldn't hold the Christmas tree much longer. He wasn't cut out for manual labor.
"Yes, we are just gonna stand here," replied Fox, folding his arms as he watched Tsubasa and Yashiro have trouble with bringing in the Christmas tree. The two idol singers eventually gave up, as they dropped the Christmas tree unto the floor.
"Buying a Christmas tree on the day of Thanksgiving...incredibly sus," Falco shook his head in disappointment at Tsubasa and Yashiro, who tried to stand the Christams tree upright. "I'd bet fifty bucks that one of you is the leaker."
"Better hold on to that fifty bucks because neither one of us leaked anything," responded Tsubasa, who took a few steps away to see if the Christmas tree would stand on its own...and it did. Mission success?
Tsubasa: Fox and Falco have been acting weird around us ever since that meeting. I just hope that this leaker admits to what they did, and admits their fault. Because I'm getting tired of Fox glaring at me through the window. That's creepy serial killer behavior.
Mamori seemed to know who the leaker was (hint: it was still Ashley), and the idol singer came down the stairs to see Fox and Falco. This was her chance to break the pilots' investigation wide open.
"Fox, Falco! I think I know who the leaker is," Mamori ran over to the two pilots; once Tsubasa and Yashiro went upstairs, Mamori leaned in closer to the pilots and whispered to them, "I think it was Ashley..."
"Ratting out your friends is not cool," responded Fox, uncertain whether or not Mamori could be trusted. For all he knew, Mamori was throwing her friend under the bus just to end all the controversy.
"If Ashley really is the guilty party, it'll be us who will come to that decision," Falco said to Mamori, before pushing the idol singer away so that he and Falco could go back to their mean-mugging ways. "Now go play with your dolls."
"But I don't have any dolls..." stated Mamori, only to be pushed to the staircase by Falco. "...not anymore, at least." The idol singer sighed as she went up the stairs, having to hold her piece.
The guests came trickling in, as the likes of Professor Kukui, Zeke, Pandoria, Reaper, Sombra, Roxas, and several others were coming in. Zeke was in the living room watching the Dallas Cowboys play the New York Giants with a few residents.
"YES! First down!" shouted Zeke with his foot on the table, acting as if the ball carrier had just scored a touchdown. "Keep moving the chains, you brute barbarians!"
"Must you do this for every first down?" questioned Donkey Kong, who like everyone else in the room had grown tired of Zeke's exuberance. As Zeke sat back down on the couch, Reaper entered the living room.
"Sombra? Where are you, Sombra?" Reaper called out to the hacker, having lost track of the fellow Talon operative. Happened most of the time for him. "Kazuya dropped your dinner rolls."
"Oh, he did, did he?" frowned Sombra as she made herself visible; the hacker was sitting in between Zeke and Donkey Kong, and she had scared the two enough to make them jump off the couch.
"No - I just said that to make you appear." Reaper slightly chuckled, as Sombra angrily got up from the couch and flicked Reaper in the face. "Didn't hurt, but good try."
"Oh, Bowser! You're...wearing a turtleneck," Champion Link said to the Koopa King, who entered the living room wearing a dripped-out red turtleneck. "How oddly fitting for your species."
"Dr. Eggman must've given you a whole wardrobe," Red the Pokemon Trainer said to Bowser, who looked at the television screen watching the Cowboys and Giants play. On the screen was the Cowboys' star quarterback, Dak Prescott.
"Dak Prescott? The dude would be a nobody if he never played for Dallas," guaranteed Bowser, not expecting anyone to agree with him but rather calling stuff as he saw it. "Boom, roasted."
"That may not be necessarily true..." stated Zeke, sticking up for Prescott despite his overall unfamiliarity with the single-caller. Bowser looked at Zeke, coming up with a roast on the fly.
"Zeke von Genbu!" Bowser pointed at Zeke, who looked excited as he anticipated Bowser praising his name. "Your eye is fake, and you're also dirt poor. Boom, roasted."
"How can you possibly say that?!" Zeke was triggered by Bowser's roast, as he put his hands on his face in complete distress. Sombra laughed at Zeke, not knowing that she was Bowser's next victim.
"Sombra, you still sleep with a teddy bear. Boom, roasted." At that moment, Sombra stopped laughing at Zeke as she gave Bowser an intense death glare.
"Wh-Who gave you the right to say that?" questioned Sombra, as her owning a teddy bear was one personal fact she didn't want anyone to know about. Not even Reaper himself.
"Okay Bowser, why are you just roasting people left and right?" Champion Link asked the Koopa King, who was rubbing his hands together preparing for another roast. "There's gotta be a catch."
"Champion Link, you look like a woman," Bowser said to the Hylian, who was hardly affected by the insult. He had heard much worse. "Not to mention that your aim is worse than King Dedede's. Boom, roasted."
"I got some Thanksgiving appetizers!" announced Mythra as she entered the living room, with a plate of appetizers she made herself. Her eyes were drawn to Bowser and his red turtleneck. "And Bowser's wearing a turtleneck..."
"Mythra, I hate to break it to ya...but your cooking makes Lady Palutena look like Rachel Ray by comparison. Boom, roasted." That wasn't even a genuine roast from Bowser; he just wanted to point that out.
"That's some low-hanging fruit if I ever heard any." Much like Champion Link, Mythra has heard far worse insults. "What was the point of even saying it?"
"It's part of my new Thanksgiving tradition...a Thanksgiving Day roast! Much like my List of Bowser, nobody is safe. Every person under the sun is gonna get this heat!"
"Got a roast for ya, Bowser - you look stupid with that turtleneck on," Red snorted at the Koopa King, expecting him to be offended; Bowser instead found Red's roast to be incredibly weaksauce.
"Oh yeah, well you're forever stuck as a ten-year-old! Boom, roasted." Following his roast of Red, Bowser left the living room to go and claim some more victims while Red looked devastated. "I'm on a roll, baby!"
Mario was gone away from his house, for the plumber was roped into playing kickball with Pit and the others. The turkey was still cooking in the oven, almost done, and Luigi was tempted to check on it.
"No touching the turkey!" Peach shouted at Luigi, whom she saw about to reach for the oven door. "I'll handle it." Being caught in the act, Luigi took his hand away from the oven and walked away.
"Yeah, we don't want you burning our turkey," Hunter said to Luigi, as Peach opened the oven and saw that the turkey was close to perfection. "Go to the game room and burn Mario's camping chair instead!"
"Can you not?" Spyro frowned at Hunter, as Luigi shuffled out of the kitchen with his eye on the oven. Once Peach closed the oven door, Luigi tried to run back to the oven only to stop after being caught by Daisy.
"Leave...the turkey...alone," Daisy said to Luigi, who backed away from his wife silently vowing to not bother with the turkey. The desire to inspect the turkey was hard for Luigi to resist.
Hunter: Mario thinks he's so high and mighty with his stupid camping chair. Thinks he's cool watching the game with his can of beer in the cup holder. Okay, so Mario doesn't drink beer, but that camping chair will be mine. 'Cause I don't feel like buying one for myself. If I can't have that chair, no one else can! Not even Mario. *pauses* Even though it's his.
"Princess-a Peach...I've returned," announced Mario, as he returned home hobbling on one foot; Dingodile and Ty had to escort the plumber inside, while Pit and his friends followed closely behind.
"Oh my goodness!" exclaimed Peach, ready to ask an extremely obvious question as Dingodile and Ty sat Mario down on his sofa. "Did you hurt yourself?"
"He twisted his ankle while running to home plate," explained Dingodile, as he took off Mario's shoe and sock to take a close look at his foot. "Or Ty might've tackled him to the ground."
"I never played kickball before, cut me some slack!" Ty frowned at Dingodile, who had his hands on Mario's foot as he analyzed Mario's injury. Mario was wincing in pain when Dingodile touched some sensitive spots.
"It's nothing, Princess-a Peach; I can make it just-a fine," Mario assured his wife as he tried to stand up, only to yelp in pain after applying some pressure to his foot. The plumber sat back down immediately. "Mama mia, I can't be in the kitchen like-a this..."
"I can handle everything while you rest-a up," Luigi offered to Mario, who was not fine with those terms as he looked panicked. Mario clearly didn't want Luigi anywhere near his beloved turkey.
"No, Mario, let us handle it!" Pit offered to Mario, who was worried about the prospect of Pit screwing up and Kirby sucking all the food. "You invited us to your feast, so let us do you solid."
"An invite, eh?" Dingodile smirked as he rubbed his chin, the gears turning in his head; his company was soon about to be unwanted. "Can I get an invite too? Lady Palutena's stew put me in a bad mood, and I refuse to go back to the mansion."
"Wherever Dingodile goes, I go," Ty said to Mario, choosing to stick at Dingodile's side. Mario had a big decision on his hands, as he felt some pressure.
"Well, um..." replied Mario as he looked towards Peach and Daisy, who were both shaking their heads no. Would Mario listen to his wife and sister-in-law? "...yes, you can attend-a our feast."
"Crikey! Thanks, mate. You won't regret it!" Dingodile happily shook Mario's hand, while Peach and Daisy looked away in disappointment. So much for having no more unwanted guests.
"Keep an eye on him, he might put Vegemite on our food," Peach advised Daisy concerning Dingodile, with some slight concern that the mutant might gear the feast to his liking. Meanwhile, Pit discreetly took out his phone...
Roy spent most of his time upstairs, getting his mind and body (but mainly mind) right for the feast later on. The swordsman finally emerged as he came down the steps and passed through the kitchen, where Marth was forced to show off his electric oven to Sylvain, Ingrid, and Felix.
"Nice to see you embracing the modern world," Sylvain said to Marth as he smacked the hero-king on his back. Marth was looking miserable as ever, almost done with life even. "What's next on your bucket list, an electric fridge?"
"There's already such a thing as an electric fridge, genius..." Felix pointed out to Sylvain, who tried to play off his foolishness as he ran his fingers through his red hair and scratched his noggin.
"I knew that! I just wanted to see if Marth knew since he's super old school. A guy like him probably has trouble turning the lights on in his house!"
"Don't be so mean to Marth - he's literally standing right here," Ingrid said to Sylvain, noticing how miserable Marth appeared. Roy, who was standing in the living room, saw Lilina and Caeda conserving with the Foldan students.
"Ahem..." Roy cleared his throat, garnering everyone's attention as the chatter tied down. All eyes were on Roy, who couldn't think of anything to say as he felt awkward. "Hello...it is I."
"Look who decided to emerge!" remarked Dimitri, who was able to tell that something was up with Roy. Roy wasn't a hundred percent in terms of confidence. "Happy Thanksgiving, Roy."
"We were told that you were 'in hiding,'" Edelgard said to Roy, who stared at Lilina wondering what sort of things his wife was saying about him while he was hiding upstairs. "Not from us, I assume."
"Me? Hiding from you?" questioned Roy, nervously chuckling as his laughing fit brought a heavy amount of suspicion upon him. Chuckling so much that he couldn't stop. "Don't be ridiculous..."
"They must be here," said Caeda as the doorbell rang, prompting Roy to tense up; Roy was about to hide, only for Balthus to hold him down while Caeda answered the door.
"You aren't going anywhere..." Balthus said to Roy, restricting the swordsman's movement; Roy looked on in fear as Caeda opened the front door, only to be greeted by...Mr. Resetti.
"Uh, you dropped this outside," Mr. Resetti said to Caeda as he handed the princess a ring. Roy sighed in relief as Caeda accepted the ring from Mr. Resetti.
"My wedding ring!" exclaimed Caeda as she happily placed her wedding ring on her finger. Fitted on like a glove. "Thank you, Mr. Resetti."
"Also, you got some visitors." Mr. Resetti moved to the side, as a married couple appeared at the door...Lyn and Eliwood. Roy's worst fears were realized. "Enjoy your Thanksgiving, you two."
"You do the same," Lyn said to Mr. Resetti as she and Eliwood entered the house, pleasantly surprised that the students from the four houses were in town. "Hello, everyone!"
"Greetings Roy, my dear son!" Eliwood exclaimed when he saw Roy, who wanted to vamoose but couldn't due to Blathus's vice grip on his arms. "I see you haven't changed much since I last saw you."
"You haven't changed yourself, father...hehe," chuckled Roy, trying to fight out of Balthus's grasp but to no avail. He tried to avoid eye contact with Lyn as he looked away.
"We are not having a repeat of last year," Lyn frowned at Roy with her hands on her hips, rueing the fact that she had to talk to her son as such. "Stop acting like a child and acknowledge your mother."
"Woah! Lyn is your mom?" Leonie asked Roy, astonished that she didn't know the very fact until now. Roy was starting to feel it now, as precipitation was forming on his face. "Why didn't you tell us earlier?"
"Yeah, I thought your mom had died or something," confessed Linhardt, who was trying to stay awake and avoid taking a nap before the feast. "Who knew that she was one of your neighbors!"
"...I have to go," said Roy as he finally broke free from Balthus, running through the kitchen before heading back upstairs. Lyn was dismayed by Roy's behavior and hoped to change it during the feast.
"Why does he have to be like this?" Lyn asked Lilina, who wished that she knew the answer to that question herself.
Max's family wasn't ready to start their Thanksgiving dinner just yet, but there were a few preparations done. Max's mom was in the dining room, placing things such as plates, glasses, and silverware on the table. Cloud and Aerith were in the dining room, watching Max's mom go.
"I know one thing that I'm thankful for this Thanksgiving," Cloud said to Aerith, who looked at the swordsman astonished as she hardly ever heard Cloud be thankful for anything. "No bona fide stalkers ruining our holiday."
"Aw, but I like those guys," said Aerith, as Cloud gave the flower girl a crazy look. Perhaps Aerith was just too darn nice to dislike a single person. "You are always giving them a hard time."
"Aerith, they were literally staring at us through a window at the laundry mat. Tharja and Henry. Do you not find that creepy?" Aerith didn't; in fact, she wanted to let Tharja and Henry inside the laundry mat, at least until Cloud dissuaded her.
Cloud: Got a sneaky suspicion that Gex and his rag-tag legion of stalkers put Max up to invite us over for Thanksgiving. Max's parents were living in Seattle, and they come down to Arcadia Bay just for the holiday...maybe I'm crazy, maybe they just wanted to see their daughter. But I have a hunch about where this is going.
"Gotta ask Max's mom a question," Cloud said to Aerith as he approached Max's mom, who was arranging silverware on a neatly folded napkin. "Excuse me, Miss Caulfield..."
"Call me Vanessa," Max's mom said to Cloud, totally cool with the swordsman addressing her by her first name. It wasn't like she was Cloud's teacher.
"Um, Vanessa...whose idea was it to have us over for Thanksgiving? Was it Max's idea? Or did you and your husband take initiative?" Amused by Cloud's question, Vanessa smiled to herself as she moved on to the next set of silverware.
"Why does it matter? We're just happy to have a few guests over - and to be back in town with Max." Speaking of Max, Vanessa's daughter came right around the corner after overhearing most of the conversation.
"Quit your worrying," Max said to Cloud, knowing what the swordsman was asking about. She was slowly under the guise that Cloud was becoming paranoid. "It's Thanksgiving - let loose a little!"
"Yeah, Cloud, let loose a little," Aerith said to Cloud, as she playfully pushed the swordsman; Cloud smirked as he pushed Aerith back, causing the flower girl to giggle.
"Okay then, guess I'll let loose," conceded Cloud, choosing to take his mind off of Gex and his accomplices. "Might even watch some football with Max's dad."
"It's Ryan!" Max's dad, Ryan, called out to Cloud from the living room. Sometimes you gotta let 'em know.
Because the idol singers (and other Star Records talent) were having their own Thanksgiving meal, that meant they needed to have their own turkey. The big question that remained was who was going to cook it, and the question was answered when Touma volunteered.
"Touma, you're doing it wrong," Fox said to the redhead, who was in the kitchen watching as Ridley was roasting the turkey with his flame breath. "You can't be doing this indoors!"
"Starting to think that you're the leaker," Falco said to Touma, who held his hand up as Ridley ceased breathing fire. The turkey was roasted to perfection, as Touma picked it up.
"Make the littlest mistake, and you assume that I'm guilty..." Touma scoffed at Falco, his hands burning due to the fact that he wasn't wearing any gloves. He dropped the turkey into the sink, fortunate that it didn't fall on the kitchen floor.
"Keep doing stuff like that, and you won't do yourself any favors," Fox said to Touma, who turned on the faucet to wash his hands - and also the turkey. Meanwhile, Itsuki had let Little Mac and Doc Louis inside the house.
"Come in, come in!" Itsuki said to Little Mad and Doc Louis, before noticing that one of them didn't belong. "Doc Louis, you aren't a Star Records employee."
"You're right - I'm a Star Records business associate!" proclaimed Doc Louis, leading Itsuki to furrow his brow as he had no idea what Doc was insinuating. "I'm the man who works on behalf of the record label."
"Only thing you'd be good for is finding Star Records a chocolate bar sponsor..." Little Mac said to Doc Louis, looking into the kitchen and spotting Touma at the kitchen sink. Seeing Touma wash off the turkey gave Little Mac diminished hope in the Thanksgiving feast.
Little Mac: Gonna use the Thanksgiving dinner as an opportunity to frame Doc Louis as the one who leaked that info from the meeting. Nothing against the guy, obviously, but I wouldn't mind having an extended break from Doc during the holidays. It would make holiday shopping for me easier, without him breathing down my neck. My Christmas shopping for Leia might've had something to do with it, but I still want my reprieve regardless.
Bowser was back in the Thanksgiving groove, as he discovered a new niche in roasting people. He went around the mansion roasting people left and right, calling them out for their bad breath or their lack of a significant other. In most cases, he would even go as far as fat-shaming, but only if it was "justified".
Bowser went to the foyer, anticipating some arrivals - meaning more people for him to roast. To his surprise, he saw in the foyer Sonic and Crash gathered with Conker, Jakob, and Orson. Layton and Luke were also there.
"This is your last chance - no take-backs!" Sonic said to Conker, Jakob, and Orson; he wanted to have Thanksgiving at their place but evidently, plans had changed.
"I'm too lazy to cook, and I don't want any Chinese food," stated Conker, who was barely intrigued by Sonic's offer of ordering Chinese takeout. "Bring on the turkey, baby!"
"The folks from Nohr never stopped by," said Jakob, who had high hopes about the royal family of Nohr coming to town. "So I can assume that they'll be here shortly..."
"I don't have a specific reason...I'm just doing what these guys do," Orson said to Sonic, proving to the blue hedgehog that he couldn't make his own decisions.
"Thanks for accompanying us to the mansion, professor," Sonic said to Layton, who smiled as he adjusted the hat on his head. "Guess you'll stay in town for the holidays, huh?"
"That is the plan," answered Layton, as Bowser licked his lips at the detective; Bowser saw Layton as barbecue chicken, as he had plenty of roasting material for him.
"Professor Layton!" bellowed Bowser as he stormed over to the detective, catching him by surprise with his red turtleneck. "Your limbs are so skinny, I could smoke 'em. Boom, roasted."
"A pretty decent roast, if I do say so myself." Layton tipped his hat to Bowser, who was offended that Layton wasn't offended. "Also like your turtleneck!"
"'Pretty decent roast'? Graaah!" Bowser was angry as he nearly pulled on his turtleneck, only to stop as he didn't wish to tear his long-sleeved shirt.
"What's wrong, Bowser? Didn't like the feedback I gave you? Alright then, I'll say that it was a really good roast. Sound better?"
"No, no, NO! You were supposed to feel some type of way about the way I personally attacked you. You should be heated!"
"Not everyone can get heated over a roast, though," stated Sonic, who was ignored by Bowser as his words didn't fit the Koopa King's agenda. Bowser wanted to show Layton where he was slipping up.
"Let me show you how it's done, Professor Layton." Bowser focused on his next victim, Crash, who braced himself for whatever roast was coming his way. "Crash, you speak gibberish and can't go one day without wetting your pants. Boom, roasted."
"That wasn't even a roast - you were just speaking facts." Tired of Sonic's crap, Bowser pushed the blue hedgehog away as he focused next on Orson.
"Orson, the color of your skin perfectly matches how bland you are as a ghost. Boom, roasted." Bowser got the desired reaction out of Orson, who clutched his pearls.
"Hey! Pac-Man thinks that I'm cool!" stated Orson, only to look down at the floor as he didn't believe a single word that came out of his mouth. "At least I believe he thinks that I'm cool..."
"See? Orson gets it," Bowser said to Layton as if he expected the detective to learn a thing or two from Orson. "A second roast might show you the light!"
"I do not understand," admitted Layton, unable to wrap his head around the main objective of Bowser's shenanigans. "What do you hope to get out of this? Constantly roasting people on Thanksgiving?"
"What I hope to get out of this is..." Bowser lost his trace of thought, as he couldn't think of what to say. Sonic and the others had their eyes on Bowser, putting added pressure on the Koopa King. "...it's none of your business!"
"He likes being a pest on certain holidays," Sonic explained to Conker, as a haughty Bowser stormed out of the foyer - but not before running into one of the guests, B.D. Joe.
"Yo, Bowser! Lovin' that turtleneck!" B.D. Joe smiled at the Koopa King, now wishing that he had a dripped-out red turtleneck of his own. Bowser was too angry at the moment to accept B.D. Joe's kind remark.
"B.D. Joe, you're a horrible taxi driver! Boom, roasted!" Bowser brushed past B.D. Joe as he left the foyer for good, on the hunt for more people to roast. Regardless of what Layton thought about him.
"Thanks, I get that a lot!" B.D. Joe shouted down the hallway at Bowser, before looking towards Sonic and company for answers about Bowser's behavior. Sonic gave B.D. Joe a shrug.
The Thanksgiving feast was now underway at the Mario household. Aside from Luigi and his folks, Mario had other guests over in Pit and his friends and the Aussie duo of Dingodile and Ty. The meal was going well so far, much to Mario's delight.
"Elbows off-a the table, Pit," Mario said to the angel, who did as he was told; Pit then pointed at Incineroar, who was eating his food like it was his last meal on earth. "Incineroar's a cat - he can-a eat as he pleases."
"Don't mean to brag, but I'm already done," Kirby told Spyro, who looked at the pink puffball's plate which was wiped clean. Required no rocket science to figure out how Kirby was done so quickly.
"Cheater," Spyro muttered under his breath, as he was still working on his turkey leg. The purple dragon took a big bite out of his leg and was struggling to chew the meat.
"He's doing it...he's using the Vegemite," Daisy whispered to Peach, who looked on in fear as Dingodile took out a small jar of Vegemite. Dingodile placed the Vegemite near Ty, to share with the Tasmanian tiger.
"A little Vegemite will add some flavor to this dressing," stated Dingodile, taking out a butterknife and smothering Vegemite on his dressing with it. The mere sight made Peach nauseous.
"Pardon me," said Peach as she excused herself from the table, before retreating to the nearest bathroom and slamming the door as she puked away. Hunter was about to reach for a bread roll on Peach's plate, only for Mario to smack the cheetah's hand away.
"Yuffie's about to throw food into the trash can!" alerted Ty, catching Yuffie in the act of pouring food off her plate into the trash can. After being caught, Yuffie sheepishly returned to her seat.
"I was just giving some of my leftovers to Poochy!" Yuffie gave her excuse as she sat back down, playing off her guilt by eating a morsel of sweet potatoes. "No clue how he ended up in the kitchen."
"Quite-a the mystery, I'll say..." replied Mario, who later dropped his spoon on his plate when he heard the doorbell ring. Pit looked on, appearing suspicious, as Mario got up and hobbled to the door.
"Cheers, love! Happy Thanksgiving!" a certain pilot greeted from outside, as Mario opened the door and was greeted by Tracer. In Tracer's hands was a basket full of bread rolls. "Hiya Mario! Got some bread rolls for ya."
"Good, because I think Hunter secretly stole-a the rest." Mario accepted the bread rolls from Tracer, while Hunter looked to the side wondering how Mario figured him all out. "This should-a be enough for everyone."
"I did what I can! Say, do you mind if my friends and I join you?" A Thanksgiving visit from a couple of Overwatch agents was never in Mario's cards, but new the watchpoint made it possible.
"Your Overwatch friends? Sure - but I have to bring out more-a chairs first." Mario crinkled his nose, as Tracer was giggling to herself. "What's-a so funny?"
"Oh, I wasn't talking about my Overwatch friends..." Tracer whistled into her fingers, before beckoning to a group of folks that were outside. "...bring on the cavalry!"
"Cavalry? What cavalry...?" questioned Mario, before moving to the side as Bayonetta's beau Luka Redgrave entered his house. Luka didn't come empty-handed, for he had a bowl of mashed potatoes.
"It's seasoned, I promise you," Luka said to Mario about his mashed potatoes, before entering the dining room and placing the mashed potatoes in the kitchen with the other food. "Who has room for mashed potatoes?"
"Mashed-a potatoes weren't originally on my menu." Mario quickly grew beside himself, as more folks were filing in - Snake, Hal, Captain Falcon, and Dr. Stewart. Each guest brought a dish, which helped soften the blow for Mario but not that much.
"For the record, I made this pecan pie by myself," Dr. Stewart said to Mario, his hand concealing the price tag that was on his Thanksgiving dessert. Mario was big mad.
"Ello, 'ello, hola! Ciao and bonjour!" exclaimed Iono - one of Paldea's gym leaders - as she entered the house along with fellow gym leaders Brassius and Grusha. None of them had a dish. "Welcome to the Iono Zone!"
"I BARELY EVEN KNOW-A THESE PEOPLE!" yelled Mario as he pointed at the trio of Paldean gym leaders, his familiarity with them pretty low. He hardly got the chance to speak with them in the last episode. "Why are they here?"
"I had very little to do with this..." Tracer said to Mario, before backing away in case Mario blew a gasket. Pit watched from his seat, keeping his phone hidden underneath the table.
Pit: Iono is such a doll! Met her last week at the cafe once all the Pokemon were delivered, and we just talked and talked. She even offered me a chance to be on her show so that I can help increase her viewership and...Oh, how was she invited? *holds up phone* Gave her my contact info. I assumed that Mario didn't want any leftovers, so I texted people at random and personally invited them.
"Mama mia! Now I won't have-a leftovers after Thanksgiving," fretted Mario, unnerved by how full his house was. Seeing people fixing their plates made Mario want to scream.
"Why do I hear commotion?" wondered Peach as she exited the bathroom, and saw all the unwanted guests in her house. Peach fainted to the floor instantly.
Another Thanksgiving feast was underway, and it was at Marth's house. The Fire Emblem folk were eating the food that Marth had cooked and prepared - all in the electric oven.
"My deepest condolences if the food isn't to your liking," Marth said to everyone, mainly his guests, as he didn't have it in him to fix himself a plate. "I had to use an electric oven, and it might've ruined the food quality."
"Are you kidding? This food is delicious!" exclaimed Ashe, bewildered as to why Marth was acting like such an unconfident drama queen. "Better than the last time, I'll say."
"Yes, I am having much enjoyment in this meal," said Petra, as Marth was slowly building up confidence; maybe he was wrong to doubt the electric oven's prowess.
"The gravy is succulent, the casserole is pleasurable to the taste buds, and the turkey is of an exorbitant caliber," Lorenz offered his critique of the food, his big words making Lysithea roll her eyes. "Marth, prince of Altea, you have done an exceedingly great job!"
"I have?" uttered Marth, his full confidence reached as he smiled for the first time today. Caeda took Marth smiling as an absolute win. "I suppose I have!"
Caeda: Told him that he had nothing to worry about. *smiles*
Bowser had some unfinished business left, as he was on a mission to roast every single person that was under the mansion's roof. The Koopa King ventured into the kitchen, where Pyra and Mythra were making last-minute preparations for the big feast.
"Out with it..." Pyra commanded Petey Piranha, who regurgitated one of the cakes that he that devoured earlier. Pyra picked up the cake, disgusted by the saliva that was on it. "...that should be the last of them."
"You're not gonna serve that for dessert, are you?" Roxas asked Pyra, as he was huddled in the kitchen with his good friends Axel and Xion. Bowser saw Roxas and company as ripe for the picking.
"Just wanted to see how much dessert Petey ate. Mythra told me not to trust Petey...I should've listened to her." As Pyra flushed the cake down the garbage disposal, Bowser made his move.
"Roxas, you're like a diet-soda version of Ventus," Bowser said to the Keyblade wielder, before pointing at Axel. "Axel, nobody really likes you - they just like saying that to make you feel good." One victim left, as Bowser pointed at Xion. "And Xion, you don't even exist! Boom roasted, all of you."
"You look super ridiculous in that turtleneck," Axel clapped back at Bowser, who was ticked off as he wanted to strangle Axel until he cried uncle. "How about that for a roast!"
"Why you little..." Bowser was so angry that he grabbed his turtleneck, about to rip it off Incredible Hulk style. The Koopa King suddenly gasped, as he looked down at his chest. "...look what you did! You made me tear my turtleneck."
"Turtleneck doesn't look good on you anyway," said Xion, adding fuel to the fire as Bowser had steam coming out from his ears. "Nothing of value would be lost if it was torn completely."
"YOU TAKE THAT BACK!" Bowser was done with the sea salt ice cream trio, marching out of the kitchen as Roxas, Xion, and Axel exchanged high fives. A moment after leaving the kitchen, Bowser ran into Professor Kukui.
"Hey, what's got you so upset?" asked Kukui, stopping Bowser in place as he looked to soothe the Koopa King's mood. "Roast session isn't turning out the way you planned?"
Professor Kukui: Bowser found it a struggle to roast me. He just looked at me from head to toe, let out an exasperated sigh, and went on his merry way! That said, he did accuse my wife of using spray tan to "fit in" at Alola. Not particularly a roast in my book.
"The people I'm roasting are turning back against me!" wailed Bowser, although it wasn't actually happening, Bowser could sense the sea salt trio laughing behind his back. "I don't think my material is working."
"Let me see your material," ordered Kukui as he held his hand out to Bowser, expecting to be given a book with jokes in it. But the Pokemon professor was left empty-handed. "Do you not have anything to write your material in?"
"Pfft, I'm too good for that! I let the material come to me - that's how effective most roasts are." Bowser showed a lot of confidence in his abilities, as he folded his arms looking proud.
"You wrote stuff down when you did your List of Bowser...why not do the same for your roasts? Would make it easier, don't you think?"
"You really think so?" Bowser took the time to think things over, before ultimately coming to a decision that was best for him. "Well, since you're the only guy who avoided being roasted, you know best!"
It was tense at the idol singers' house, as Fox, Falco, and Itsuki were gathered with their Star Records talent (and Doc Louis) for their Thanksgiving meal. Fox and Falco kept a close eye on everyone, as no one was saying a word.
"Pass the gravy," Kiria said to Eleonora, who passed the gravy to the fellow idol singer. Eleonora was being mindful of Falco, who was staring at her intently as the gravy was passed.
"Here comes the airplane!" Touma said to Ridley, moving about a piece of turkey in front of Ridley as if it were an airplane. Ridley looked impatient, as Touma stopped moving his hand. "Fine, I won't treat you like a baby anymore."
"Why is he here?" Ribbon Girl asked Itsuki as he pointed at Ridley, who was given his piece of turkey by Touma. Ridley almost bit Touma's hand off! "He's not a Star Records talent."
"He helped cook the turkey, so he gets a seat at the table," stated Itsuki, as Touma fed Ridley his entire serving of cranberry sauce. "Long as he doesn't eat the turkey by himself, he's free to stay."
"Attention everyone!" shouted Fox, bringing the nonexistent chatter to an end as he arose from his seat and cleared his throat. "So you were all probably wondering why we gathered here..."
"I wasn't," said Knuckles, as Fox motioned the echidna to stop speaking. Knuckles kindly kept his mouth shut, as he ate his mac-n-cheese in peace.
"The point of this dinner is not only to give thanks, and enjoy camaraderie...but also to find out who did it. To find out who let the cat out of the bag from the meeting, and made Tifa all upset."
"Eat up, Doc Louis - this is about to get good," Little Mac whispered to the boxing trainer, who didn't have to be asked twice as he stuffed his mouth with food. Which he was doing already.
"So which one of you did it?!" Falco asked everyone, taking his knife as he banged his fist on the table. The avian pilot was going to turn the feast into a Knives Out situation, as he had promised to Itsuki.
"Put the knife down..." Itsuki commanded Falco, who gave Itsuki a look before sighing as he put the knife down. No blood was going to be drawn on this Thanksgiving day.
"I know for a fact who did it," said an assured Little Mac, as the boxer now had the floor. All the attention was on Little Mac. "The guilty party...the leaker...was my own trainer, Doc Louis!"
"Hm?" Doc Louis perked up, having been the designed crook; everyone except for Ashley was in disbelief, never imagining that the leaker was not a Star Records employee but rather a "business associate".
"Was it really you, Doc Louis?" Fox asked Doc Louis, as he and Falco were up in the boxing trainer's grill. Itsuki calmly stood behind the pilots. "All you gotta do is say you didn't do it and we'll regard Little Mac's accusal as a false accusation."
"Mm, mm!" Doc Louis desperately tried to say no, but it was hard for him to do that since his mouth was full. He couldn't do a big swallow, because that would be a huge choking hazard.
"Since you won't plead your innocence, we'll accept that Little Mac was telling the truth about you being the leaker. We expected better from you, Doc Louis...we all did."
Touma: Would make sense that Doc Louis was responsible, seeing as how Barret knew. Doc probably told him! Black people relations, that's how it was done.
Eleonora: *shaking her head at Touma* ...please don't say that ever again.
"Take him to the slammer, Ridley!" shouted Falco, as Ridley got up from his chair and escorted the bewildered Doc Louis out of the idol singers' house like an arrested convict. "That's not really what I meant."
"It wasn't you who leaked anything?" Mamori whispered to Ashley, who kept her mouth shut as she allowed her silence to do all the talking. "Alrighty then..."
Cloud and Aerith weren't the only guests over at the Caulfields for Thanksgiving; Chloe Price had joined the Caulfields for their Thanksgiving dinner, mainly because of Max. You could say that Chloe invited herself without warning.
"Sorry for throwing that rock through your window," Chloe apologized to Aerith, noodling around a bit on her phone as her plate was wiped clean. Either Chloe was a fast eater, or she was just hungry.
"Knew that it had to be you," responded Aerith; she couldn't imagine Max breaking the window, for Max wasn't the kind of person to deface property.
"I'm happy that we can all be here together," said Ryan, his cheesy remarks slightly embarrassing Max as he took his glass and held it up. "This has been a truly blessed Thanksgiving. Cheers!"
"Cheers!" the other said as everyone grabbed their glasses and did a toast. Some put their glass back on the table, while others (mainly Ryan) took a sip.
"I haven't looked over my shoulder once ever since dinner started," Cloud whispered to Aerith, as the uneasy feeling that he momentarily felt was gone. "That's probably a good thing, isn't it?"
"I'd say for you, it is," Aerith whispered back, as she didn't mind any more company for dinner. Only a certain kind of company though - the kind that Cloud wouldn't enjoy.
"Chloe, feet off the table!" Vanessa shouted at the young woman, who took her foot off the table as Max sighed. "How many times must I tell you..."
If Max's mom Vanessa had a hard time with Chloe, one could only imagine how hard Mario had it with Pit. But not only did Mario have to deal with Pit, but he also had to put up with the handful of folks that Pit invited without anyone's permission.
"Your eyeballs are MINE—caught in my Electroweb!" exclaimed one of the guests, Iono, as she was holding Lou in front of her. Her Rotom Phone was recording her, as Iono took Lou's hand and waved it. "Say hi to my millions of viewers, you cute little baby!"
"Millions of viewers?!" Mario panicked as he quickly snatched Lou away from Iono, who made a pouty face as she envisioned her live viewership going down. "How dare-a you..."
"May I have some of your bathwater?" Hal kindly asked Iono, before realizing what he said. Peach, Daisy, and a few others gasped in shock as Hal slammed his head against the table in bitter regret. "Oh no...I am such a depraved man!"
"Takes some a lot longer to find out their truth than others," Snake said to Hal, before casually taking a sip from his glass. The audacity of Hal to say that at the Thanksgiving table...
Snake: A lonely man's desire to be with a cute woman who doesn't know that they exist is a large testament to how down bad they are. Hal may claim that he has met a popular streamer such as Iono, unlike most of his similar peers, but he still clearly needs a girlfriend. Badly.
"I know this table's a bit-a crowded..." Luigi said quietly to Mario, watching as Dingodile was playing rock-paper-scissors with Grusha and kicking the gym leader's butt. "...but I'm glad-a to have this Thanksgiving with-a you, bro."
"And I'm glad that you didn't set-a your turkey on fire again," responded Mario, as Luigi laughed sheepishly; fortunately, Luigi's bad mojo didn't find its way into Mario's kitchen.
"Yeah, that's a relief." As Mario and Luigi enjoyed their "broment" together, there was a knock at the door that caused a vein to pulsate in Mario's forehead. "Uh...Mario?"
"Not anymore..." seethed Mario as he slowly arose from his seat; Pit furrowed his brow as he took out his phone, checking his text messages.
"That's weird, I didn't send any more invites," stated Pit, curious as to who was at the front door. Mario marched to the front door and opened it, greeted by three individuals from guess where? The All-Star Manor.
"Happy Thanksgiving, Mario!" greeted Ratchet, with Clank on his shoulder as he was joined by Sir Dan Fortesque. "And a happy Thanksgiving to your family."
"We have dessert," Sir Dan said to Mario as he offered the plumber a tall pumpkin trifle...but Mario was in no mood for accepting culinary gifts.
"Go," Mario commanded the manor residents, pointing behind them; the plumber was so bothered with the guests he had right now, he refused to take any more in.
"But, but...pumpkin trifle." Sir Dan held the pumpkin trifle higher, thinking it would entice Mario. Spoiler alert: it didn't work.
"I said, GO!" Mario had enough of the manor residents, as she slammed the door in their faces. Ratchet and Sir Dan just stood there awkwardly, having never seen Mario that angry before.
"I take it that Mario doesn't care too much for pumpkin trifle," inferred Clank, as Sir Dan lowered his head in sadness. A tasty treat like a pumpkin trifle wasn't didn't deserve to be thrown out. "Maybe the tower will take this dessert off our hands."
While Marth had stopped being a drama queen, there was one drama queen remaining at Marth's Thanksgiving feast...Roy. Roy barely spoke with his parents during the feast, and it left Lilina, Lyn, and Eliwood dismayed.
"May I inquire how you two met?" Ferdinand asked Lyn and Ferdinand, interested in the two's romantic backstory; he desired to know every little detail.
"We met by chance," replied Eliwood, remembering his first encounter with Lyn like it was yesterday as he smiled. "I was passing through the land to see my good friend Hector, and Lyn here just came into view."
"That was our first time meeting," stated Lyn, making sure that she got the timeline right. She glanced over at Roy to see if the swordsman was listening to the story. "We crossed paths a year later when Eliwood set off to find his missing father."
"After our journey, we declared our love for each other at the Dragon Gate. Then we tied the knot following the conflict, despite Lycia's outcry...and that's when Roy came into our lives."
"So you were the one who gave birth to Roy. Nice!" Raphael said to Lyn, feeling like a genius as he put all the puzzle pieces together. Roy was left scratching his neck uncomfortably.
"What's the matter, Roy?" Caspar asked Roy, taking some delight in the swordsman's current mood. "Not a huge fan of your birth mom?" Caspar was about to egg Roy on, only for Edelgard to silently command the nobleman to stop.
"Oh! I know why Roy might be acting that way," said Ingrid, as Roy looked at the noblewoman with palpable fear in his eyes. "He can't get over the fact that he and Lyn look to be around the same age. Despite Lyn being his mom."
"HOW DID YOU FIGURE ME OUT?!" Roy shouted at Ingrid, before screaming his head off as he ran out of the house. Roy was heard screaming from outside, as everyone exchanged weird looks with one another.
"Goodness me - I sure have a knack for exposing people!" Ingrid was smiling as she covered her mouth; a couple of months ago she had exposed Dr. Eggman, and today Roy got the same treatment.
"That's why he was acting so funny?" Marth had this to say about Roy, and you could tell that he was dismayed. More so than he was when he cooked with the electric oven. "What a coward..."
Marth: Understandably, no one would want to look as youthful as their parent. Or for their parent to look as youthful as them! It creates a sense of awkwardness, which is what Roy might've gotten from Chrom and Lucina. Still, that is no reason to shun your own mother.
The manor residents offered their pumpkin trifle to the folks at the Assist Tower but were turned away by Shadow. Would've had a higher success rate had it been anyone other than Shadow. So the trio went to the mansion, but before they did they came across Roy who was on the ground.
"How...how did she do it?" questioned Roy, as he banged his fists on the ground; Ratchet took out his phone and snapped a picture of Roy, and even recorded the swordsman too.
"Alright, to the tower we go!" Ratchet said to Clank and Sir Dan, putting his phone away as he led Sir Dan to the mansion's porch. His short video of Roy would be one for the memories.
The Thanksgiving feast was going on without a hitch in the mansion, with everyone in the dining room enjoying good food. Perhaps a little too much.
"Um, guys, Crash is trying to stuff an entire turkey down his throat!" alerted Nemona, as Crash was stuffing a turkey into his mouth. Nemona's concerns died down when Crash swallowed the turkey whole without fail. "Never mind."
"Anything you can do, I can do better!" Ken Masters challenged Crash, desiring to one-up the bandicoot as he grabbed a turkey. The fighter opened his mouth, but the turkey wouldn't go through. "Alright, you win..."
"Don't open that door," Samus warned Zeke, who was the closest person to the backdoor as someone from outside was knocking. The urge was hard for Zeke to resist.
"You can put the trifle over there with the other dessert," Pyra said to Ratchet and Sir Dan as she led the inside the dining room, pointing at the table with dessert on it. Ratchet and Sir Dan went over to the table, where Bowser was nearby with his list of pre-written roasts.
"Adeleine, you failed art school...Joker, you look like a reject Death Note protagonist..." Bowser delivered his roasts at rapid-fire, nearly out of breath as no one was listening or paying attention to him. "Silver, your future sucks because of you...WHY IS NO ONE LISTENING TO ME?!"
"Excuse us," Ratchet said to Bowser, who turned around and felt revitalized upon seeing the trio of manor residents. "Trying to place a pumpkin trifle here..."
"Aha! Fresh blood" exclaimed Bowser, dropping his list to the floor as he rubbed his hands together. "Ratchet, you're a raging workaholic who will die alone. Boom, roasted."
"That's a bit harsh." Ratchet felt some type of way about his roast, and it made Bowser swell with glee. Passing up on Clank, Bowser focused on Sir Dan.
"Sir Dan Fortesque, you were the one who held your army back in the Battle of Gallowmere. The Gallowmere militia would've never prevailed had you not gone down so easily. Boom...roasted."
"The nerve of you..." Sir Dan seethed at Bowser as he inched closer to the Koopa King. Not only did Bowser offend Sir Dan, but he also set him off.
"No, Sir Dan, don't do anything..." Clank tried to warn the skeleton, who was too angry to listen as he slammed the pumpkin trifle in Bowser's face. "...silly." There was a collective gasp in the dining room, as everyone witnessed Sir Dan's savagery.
"FOOD FIGHT!" shouted Nemona, taking Sir Dan pieing Bowser in the face as a cue for a food fight. And so the food fight began - Zeke was beating Pigma's head in with a turkey, Villager poured cranberry sauce on a downed Mr. Game and Watch, and Kazuya randomly choke slammed Ratchet onto the table that had desserts on it.
"Ow..." Ratchet writhed in pain, getting a good taste of how a typical Thanksgiving food fight at the mansion usually went.
"Haha, I'll never get tired of this!" exclaimed Cranky Kong, taking handfuls of mashed potatoes and throwing them at random people. Cranky was enjoying the food fight, while Terra did not.
"Saw this coming from a mile away...let's go," Terra said to Ventus and Aqua as he went to the backdoor, opening it...only to be ambushed by Waluigi and an army of tower denizens armed with Thanksgiving food.
"Don't think you can have an annual food fight without us!" shouted Waluigi, joining in on the fun as the food was thrown every which way. Link and Zelda, overseers of the feast, watched the action unfold.
"Next year, we should do teams," Link suggested to Zelda, who responded with a giggle as she could only imagine how that would turn out.
Watching the mansion's food fight outside through the window was Gnasty Gnorc, who had planned on crashing the feast until the food fight began. Gnasty was joined by Dimentio, who floated over to the Gnorc.
"...and this is why crashing their feast would be a bad intention," Dimentio said to Gnasty, who partly wished that he was in there chucking food. "This is a yearly occurrence for them! You'll just have to wait until next week for your redemption."
"That Spyro better not foil any plan I may have," said Gnasty, as Yuri was outside looking for Roy; apparently, Roy had run off to who-knows-where.
"Roy! Where are you?" Yuri called out to the swordsman before he saw Dimentio and Gnasty at the window. Dimentio and Gnasty saw Yuri. "Who are you...?"
"You didn't see anything. Ciao!" Dimentio said to Yuri as he vanished away; with no reliable escape move of his own, Gnasty chose the tried-and-true method of just running away.
"Man, that Ridley is crazy for trying to fly away with me like I'm his prey..." said an approaching Doc Louis, his body aching after Ridley had dropped him from a big height. He came across Yuri, who looked perturbed. "...what's got you shook, son?"
"There was a jester...and some goblin creature..." Yuri pointed at where he encountered Dimentio and Gnasty, and Doc Louis gave a knowing look as he put his arm around Yuri.
"Do you like long stories?" Unsure if saying no was the brightest idea, Yuri remained silent as Doc took his silence as a yes. "Well, it all started when..."
