Author's Note:

Originally, I had plans for a World Cup chapter...but then the USA had to lose in the round of 16. Whatever motivation I had for such a chapter is now gone. Oh well. Guest reviews, one is from Guy w the Jokes:

"Listen, I know the chapter is unfinished, but I've skimmed through a bit, and I see "Chad Flenderman" mentioned by Wolf. And it brought me back to the same episode that I discussed recently. On that episode, Ryu also mentioned a "Chad Flenderman". Did Ryu read Wolf's unreleased novel? How did that happened? Also, didn't Marth tries to write a novel too? In that Whistleblower episode? Is there a secret novel writing club in the mansion? Interesting."

I totally see what you mean when you say the last chapter is unfinished. I'll have to go back and add a few more scenes. As for the "Chad Flenderman" stuff, Ryu did read Wolf's novel...but I won't say how. That is up to your imagination to decide. Marth did try to write a novel. That said, there's no secret novel-writing club in the mansion. The other review is from David:

"Will Toad start sounding like Keegan Michael-Key and pronounce people's names wrong? (Since Key is voicing him in the film). Will Pit or Viridi dress up like the Gobbledy Gooker for the Christmas chapter? (Since I forgot to suggest it for the Thanksgiving chapter). Will the Hoshidans and Nohrians slowly appear in each chapter building up to the Christmas chapter? Will Leo and Charlotte from Nohr be a couple for the Christmas chapter? And finally, do you think Solo Sikoa is gonna betray The Bloodline for The Rock and do you hope that Bayley ends her feud with Michael Cole at WrestleMania?"

No, Toad will remain the same. Neither will dress up like the Gobbledly Gooker. I may not have any room for the Hoshidans and Nohrians to make any appearances. On that note, Leo and Charlotte probably won't be a couple for the Christmas chapter. Solo Sikoa may betray the Bloodline, but it won't be for the Rock. And I do hope that Bayley ends her feud with Michael Cole...so she can feud with another commentator. Preferably Corey Graves.


Episode 364: Sneakster

Much like Master Hand, Professor E. Gadd adored the holiday season. He loved everything about it - the Christmas songs, the decorations, and of course, the egg nog. You can never enjoy the holidays without drinking a glass of egg nog or two. Or three. Or even more than that.

Ever since he moved into his new digs, E. Gadd decorated his mansion to the nines with Christmas decorations. Christmas lights on the outside and a sparkling Christmas tree on the inside - that was the way to do it. Having Cortex as a housemate gave E. Gadd an extra pair of hands for hanging up decorations - even if it came with the added consequence of Uka. Cortex couldn't drop a single ornament on the floor without hearing Uka go on an endless tirade about how worthless he was.

This year marked the first time that E. Gadd was a part of the mansion's Secret Santa gift exchange, and the person that he pulled was Sonic's closest confidant, Lavenza. The inventor was obviously unfamiliar with Lavenza, so he invited one of his good friends over to the mansion for some gift suggestions. The person he asked was Luigi, apparently.

"I know as little about-a Lavenza as you do," Luigi said to E. Gadd, seated at a small table in the foyer with the inventor while looking over a list of Christmas gifts that E. Gadd had already brainstormed. "Why did you ask-a me for advice?"

"Would ask the Phantom Thieves, but none of them returned my calls," replied E. Gadd, who was going through his call log and counting the number of times he called Joker, Ann, and others. "Sonic, too. Then again, none of them have my phone number."

"Yeah...maybe that's why they never picked-a up the phone." Luigi continued to skim through E. Gadd's list, furrowing his brow intensely at some of the items that were listed. "A Fitbit?! That's no gift-a for a little girl!"

"We have a visitor at the door!" Cortex informed E. Gadd as he ran into the foyer after he heard the doorbell ring. Uka accompanied Cortex since he really had no other choice. "Shall I get it?"

"Don't know why you're asking me that..." Perceiving E. Gadd's response as a yes, Cortex went to the front door and answered it. Standing at the door were two professors - Professor Sada and Professor Turo.

"Good afternoon!" Turo greeted Cortex with a wave, as Cortex looked at the Pokemon professor with a fear that he never knew existed. "Is Professor Elvin Gadd home?"

"Ack! A male professor who's more handsome than me!" Cortex freaked out, as Turo's attractive face intimidated the evil genius. His insecurity was showing. "My worst nightmare!"

"This is a dream come true!" exclaimed Uka, who always desired to be associated with a genius that was remotely attractive. "Mind if I trade this numskull for one of you? Please say yes..."

"No thank you, we have no interest in a mask companion," Sada smiled in response, as Uka moaned in sadness; he was angling more for Turo than Sada. "Professor Elvin Gadd, is he home?"

"That's me!" exclaimed E. Gadd as he ran to the front door at almost record speed, almost squealing in joy when he saw the professor duo. "Fellow bright minds - what a splendid treat!"

"Too bad that we have an odd man out," Uka continued to throw shade at Cortex, who had tuned out his floating mask companion. Cortex would only listen to Uka if he had an extremely rare compliment to give.

"You must be the professor," Sada said to E. Gadd, imagining the inventor to be a bit taller and maybe with a full set of teeth. "Pleased to meet you! I am Professor Sada, of the Paldea region."

"And I'm Professor Turo, also of the Paldea region," Turo introduced himself, as his handsomeness continued to leave a scared Cortex at his mercy. "May we come inside?"

Turo: Although I refuse to believe it, the Smash Mansion somehow made contact with Professor Laventon of the Hisui region through the means of time travel. Master Hand apparently desires to bring Laventon to the present, for this year's holiday festivities. The only way that Laventon can be brought to the present, obviously, is through a...time...device. *facepalms* Why must we abide by these rules? What's so wrong with calling it a...
Sada: Shh! *puts index finger up to Turo's lips, before looking around discreetly* You might summon him...

Turo: I am well aware. *takes Sada's hand away*

"Of course, you may come inside!" replied E. Gadd, granting Sada and Turo access to his mansion; Cortex cowered in fear at Turo, who was marveling at how decorated E. Gadd's foyer was.

"Someone's really into the Christmas spirit," remarked Turo, taking note of the Christmas lights that were draped from the ceiling. Some of the lights had already gone out, but Turo paid them no mind.

"I don't mean to be blunt, but may we see your...time device?" Sada asked E. Gadd, who crinkled his nose as he didn't know what Sada was referring to. But he understood the code right away.

"If that is what you want, then sure," replied E. Gadd, happy to oblige as he went to the small table where Luigi sat and took a seat. "Let me handle my business with Luigi first, then I'll get with you."

"I'm not feeling so great...I'll be right back," Cortex said to Sada and Turo, leaving the foyer before the latter professor could intimidate him further with his good looks. Uka followed after Cortex, as Sada saw a small piece of paper on the floor where Cortex once stood.

"You dropped this!" Sada shouted to Cortex as she picked up the piece of paper, but Cortex didn't respond. Sada looked at the piece of paper, which had a drawing of a jester on it. "Hm..."


Speaking of jesters, Dimentio met with Gnasty Gnorc and Rufus Shinra at an undisclosed location in Seattle. Apparently, it was an undisclosed location that the documentary crew was able to access. Last week didn't turn out so well for Gnasty, and today he was back to redeem himself - with Rufus' help.

"We will be switching roles today," Dimentio explained to Gnasty and Rufus, ready to assign the two villains a new mission. "I'll go look for the person of interest...while you investigate the new property that's being built."

"Better not be any sign of Spyro," said Gnasty, not expecting to run into Spyro at the new property. Imagine if Spyro confronted Gnasty without getting a heads up in advance; it would be a case of Spyro having Gnasty senses.

"My lackeys will join us to make everything run smoothly," Rufus informed Gnasty, as the Turks - led by Tseng - would be arriving in the city later. Any Turk that failed to show up would likely have their pay docked.

"Fancy book you got there, Master Dimentio." Gnasty took a gander at the book that Dimentio held, which was colored violet and had a legendary Pokemon on the cover. Just like the scarlet book in the last episode.

"Yes, 'tis a fancy book indeed...but is for my eyes only," stated Dimentio as he closed the book, putting it away in his imaginary pocket before Gnasty got any crazy ideas. "Any questions, you two?"

"No, sir! We won't let you down! No Santa costumes this time." No Santa costumes gave Rufus much relief.


Cloud has been in a sour mood ever since last week; in the last episode, Link spilled the beans to Cloud and told him that he was no longer a part of the mansion "family". This was exacerbated by Aerith being a part of the name exchange despite her absence, while Cloud wasn't. Lost in thoughts all alone, Cloud sat in the shed in Aerith's backyard thinking to himself.

"Made you some hot chocolate," Aerith offered to Cloud as she stepped inside the shed, with a glass of hot chocolate. She saw Cloud with his thousand-mile stare, and it was a sight that she had gotten used to.

"Just put it on the table..." muttered Cloud, bringing Aerith's attention to the small table that was next to him. The swordsman sighed as Aerith placed the hot chocolate on the table, before stepping out of the shed.

"Just give me a shout if you ever need anything." Aerith waited for any kind of response from Cloud, but Cloud remained silent. "Um...okay, bye!" Aerith went to the front yard, returning to the flowers that she was previously tending to.

"Psst! Miss Gainsborough!" a voice quietly called out to Aerith, right before the flower girl got down to her knees. Aerith looked over the fence and saw the heads of three individuals who were responsible for Cloud getting the fencing in the first place...Gex, Tharja, and Henry.

"Hey, you guys." Aerith kept her voice low, looking back at the backyard briefly before running over to where Gex and company were gathered. "Cloud isn't feeling himself lately, so he can't..."

"That's exactly why we're here," Tharja whispered to Aerith; she had to hold up Gex due to Gex being unable to reach over the fence. "We couldn't help but notice that Cloud has been looking...drab in public."

"Cloud's been looking sadder than Marilyn Manson at Bill O'Reilly's house," added Gex, as Tharja furrowed her brow and stared at the lizard in bewilderment. "In my defense, that one actually makes sense."

"I know what's gotten Cloud so down," Henry perked up, as he had a hypothesis for Cloud's sudden depression. Everyone had their eyes on the dark mage.
"He realized that he can't smell blood! Nyahahaha!"

"...that's not the reason," Aerith said kindly to Henry, unnerved by how blood-obsessed the dark mage was. Such was the consequence of Henry's parents never raising him. "But I think you guys should speak with Cloud. Although he may not like it."

"We'd be happy to do it, Miss Gainsborough," responded Gex, brimming with anticipation as he hoped to grow closer to Cloud. "If that is what you wish."


Although he had his Christmas tree set up and everything, Mario was not yet done with his Christmas decorations. One spot of his house that he had yet to decorate was his front door, and Spyro and Hunter were assisting him with the decorating. After being nagged enough times.

"Ho, ho, the mistletoe, hung-a where you can see..." sang Mario, standing on his ladder as he hung a mistletoe above his front door. Spyro and Hunter stood at the ladder's base, holding it down.

"Seems like a weird spot to put a mistletoe," Spyro said to Mario, who slowly made his descent down the ladder watching his every step. "Don't you think?"

"Yeah, like, what if you answer the door and the person is a dude?" wondered Hunter, unsure of what he would do himself if he was in that kind of situation. "Do you and the dude have to kiss each other?"

"Only you would dwell-a your mind on such things," replied Mario, before taking a step back to see how his bedazzled front door was looking so far. "By the way, that snowboarder from-a Paldea...that's a dude, right?"

"You asked this after the Thanksgiving meal," Spyro said to Mario, who couldn't recall asking as he was left scratching his head. "Saw you feeling his chest for 'breast lumps.'"

"Yeah! It's all coming back-a to me now. Grusha was his name - he was so upset-a that he sent his Cetitan on me!"

Spyro: The concept of mistletoe just sounds stupid to me. I'll never understand why anyone has to kiss when they're standing under one. Just kiss anyone during the holidays when you feel like it! It's like people let some plant dictate what they do.

"All that's left-a to do is hang the wreath," said Mario, as he was about to go inside his house to fetch his wreath...but then he stopped in place after he and the boys heard screaming from afar.

"You hear that?" Hunter asked Mario and Spyro, as the screaming got closer and closer; Mario stepped down from the doorstep, looking down the road.

"GET AWAY FROM ME, YOU CREEPER!" a female voice shouted, as Mario took a step forward to take a closer look. Soon a girl with orange hair unsuspectedly ran into Mario, sending him to the ground.

"That is definitely a female," stated Hunter, noticing that the girl had her hair in a ponytail. Mario picked up his hat before helping the girl up to her feet.

"Ow, my head..." the girl moaned in slight pain as she held her head, hoping that she didn't get a nasty bruise. "...sorry for running into you like that."

"It's all good - my wife-a does the same to me when she does her jogs-a around the block wearing sunglasses," responded Mario, before dusting off his hat and placing it on his head. The girl was quick to recognize Mario, as she gasped and pointed at the plumber.

"Wait a minute! I know you! You're Mario!" The girl was having a small fangirl moment, as she shook Mario's hands with both of her hands. "I'm Arle Nadja! I'm a mage apprentice!"

"Before you say anything, that doesn't make her evil," Spyro had to inform Hunter, who was about to question Arle about what bad guy she worked for. Hunter quickly put his finger down.

"Wow, I never thought that I would get to meet you." One moment, Arle was running away from a creeper, and now she was face-to-face with the most famous plumber known to man. "This is so cool!"

"Got here soon as I could," said Steve as he randomly appeared in Mario's front yard, carrying a crate full of diamond swords and axes. "Show me where the Creeper is."

"False alarm, Steve...false-a alarm," Mario said to the craftsman, who lowered his head in sadness as he grabbed his crate full of weapons and walked away. "...who is this 'creeper'? And where did-a you even come from?"

"So I was in town, doing some Christmas shopping," Arle explained her story to Mario, rueing the fact that the items she shopped for were left at the store. "Then some creep comes up to me with a mistletoe, wanting to kiss me!"

"In public?! That's super uncalled for," Spyro gave his honest thoughts on the situation, believing that Hunter shared his sentiments. But Hunter showed no signs of agreeing with Spyro.

"I can see where he's coming from, he was just trying to be smooth," argued Hunter, as Spyro and the others exchanged weird looks with one another. Hunter looked to the side, frowning. "Haters..."

"I gotta hide before he finds out where I am," Arle stressed to Mario, before looking over her shoulder to see if the creeper was drawing near. "Mind if I hide in your house, Mario?"

"Sure, I have plenty of room-a in my..." replied Mario, only to stop speaking when he heard his phone ring. "...one sec." Mario took out his phone and glanced at the caller ID before answering the call. "Lost your nutcracker again, Chrom?"

"Not Chrom...this is Link speaking," Link said over the phone with a deep sigh, as Mario's face softened a bit. "I really need my own cell phone..."

"Been-a telling you that for how many years?" For so many years, Mario was close to sounding like a broken record if he wasn't already. "Anyway, what's up?"

"It's about Lysandre - he's back." News about Lysandre's return made Mario widen his eyes; Mario had missed out on Lysandre in the last episode. "And he clearly needs some help in finding his way."

"Always has-a to be me, doesn't it...one moment please." Mario put his phone down, before looking up at Arle who was patiently standing by. "...change-a of plans, Arle - we're going to the mansion next-a door."

"Fine with me!" chirped Arle; if the mage apprentice had a fangirl moment with Mario, imagine how she would act upon meeting fellow SEGA star Sonic.

"Alright, I'm-a back." Mario brought his phone back up to his ear, resuming his phone call with Link. "Hate that I have to do most-a of your dirty work."


"Nothing personal, Mario - Zelda and I just need an extra hand," Link spoke into Chrom's phone, standing outside the arcade room while Chrom stood next to him with his arms folded. "Gotta wrap up this phone call...Chrom's getting impatient."

"Well, thanks-a for delivering the message, I guess," Mario thanked Link over the phone, left with no choice but to accept his mission. A mission that might be something worthwhile. "We'll be there shortly. I mean, I'll be there."

"Okay then, don't rush yourself. Bye." Link ended the call as he handed the phone back to Chrom. "How much did you pay for that phone?"

"For me, it was only $30," answered Chrom, greatly surprising Link with the price tag - phones rarely sell for that little, if ever. "My phone cost less than Lucina's because I looked like the 'type'. Still not sure what that means."

"Father, Lysandre's being weird," Lucina poked her head outside the arcade room to inform Chrom, while also addressing Link since the Hylian had to know. "You have to come and see."

So Link and Chrom followed Lucina inside the arcade room, where they saw the leader of Team Flare, Lysandre, speaking with Roxas, Axel, and Xion. A trio of friends that he had a nonexistent history with.

"I have atoned for my sins," Lysandre said to Xion, as he held the Nobody's hands. Xion felt extremely uncomfortable, eyeing around. "If I have offended you in any way, do not hesitate to let me know."

"Thanks for the info..." responded Xion, waiting for the moment for Lysandre to take his hands off her shoulders. That moment frankly never came.

"Alright, that's enough," Axel said to Lysandere as he took the Team Flare leader's hands away from Xion, bringing much relief to his friend. "You already said your piece."

Axel: Ah, I see what's going on here - Lysandre's basically acting like your typical villain who has no idea what to do when he's not committing acts of evil. He was given the "what to" when it comes to not being a bad guy, but never the "how to". And I gotta say, the results so far have been amusing. *pauses* If not a little sad.

"How was Lysandre acting while I was gone?" Link asked Lucina, as Lysandre moved on to Roxas and told him the same spiel that he gave to Xion. At least Roxas didn't get the hands on the shoulders treatment.

"He apologized to Morgan and Marc, and kissed them on their forehead," explained Lucina, before bringing Link's attention to Morgan and Marc who were seated on the floor at the back of the arcade. "They're trying to keep their distance from him."

"I know one thing that'll get him to stop..." Link marched over to Lysandre, who was in the middle of asking Roxas for forgiveness when he noticed Link approaching him. "...Lysandre, we need to talk."

"About what?" Lysandre asked Link, taking his focus away from Roxas who along with Xion and Axel retreated. "Am I going overboard with the apologies?"

"I'll say...but there's one person that deserves an apology the most." More than interested to meet this person, Lysandre raised his eyebrows with intrigue. "I'm sure he would want to see you."

"I will be most elated to speak with them." Lysandre took his eye away from Link, as he saw Geno pass by; the Team Flare leader hasted over to the star. "Hold it right there!"

"Leave me alone, you had spoken with me once!" the retreating Geno shouted at Lysandre, as Link looked on before facepalming out of second-hand embarrassment. Hopefully, Lysandre's apologeticness will come to an end today.


While Mario took Arle to the mansion, Spyro and Hunter were left alone with finishing decorating the front door. Because Spyro was too short and didn't feel like using the ladder, Hunter did most of the work.

"Wreath is upside down," Spyro informed Hunter, who soon realized his mistake as he took the wreath and turned it sideways. "Eh, close enough."

"Works for me!" exclaimed a proud Hunter, with his hands on his hips, as a familiar face meandered into Mario's front yard. It was a dark mage who had mistletoe in his possession.

"She ran off to the Smash Mansion...I'm sure of it!" the mage said quietly, somehow recognizing the mansion; that was because he had been to the mansion before. The mage was Schezo; you might remember him from episode 243.

"Said something?" Spyro asked Hunter, who shook his head no; soon Spyro and Hunter noticed Schezo standing in their midst. "Oh, look, it's that creeper mage from the New Year's Eve party."

"I AM NOT A CREEPER!" Schezo was shouting at the top of his lungs, as the accusation of being a creeper rocked him to the core. He must've been accused of one many times before. "Don't make me have my way with you, dragon!"

"Okay dude, relax...take it easy." Spyro took a step back from Schezo, remembering why so many people shunned the mage at the New Year's Eve party. Had a lot to do with his mouth.

"Nice mistletoe," Hunter offered this compliment to Schezo, admiring the mistletoe in the mage's hand. Made him want one for himself. "Looking for a hot girl to kiss?"

"Au contraire...the hot girl is looking for ME!" Schezo proudly pointed his thumb at himself with a smile, aware of how smooth he (supposedly) was. "She is looking for a man to hug and kiss."

"Amanda Hugandkiss? Are you sure that's a woman?" Hunter totally misheard Schezo, and Schezo knew it too as he gritted his teeth in anger.

"She's not looking for a woman, you ridiculous cat...she's looking for A MAN TO HUG AND KISS!" Schezo was shouting at the top of his lungs, trying to make himself as clear as possible.

"Nah, I can hear Amanda Hugandkiss," remarked Spyro, giving Hunter assurance that he wasn't crazy; Schezo faceplanted unto the ground. "But hey, if Alice Cooper is a guy, then so is this Amanda Hugandkiss person."

"Whatever...just take me to the mansion." Schezo picked himself up off the ground, stuffing his mistletoe in his pocket. "I can only assume that Amanda Hugandkiss...I mean that hot girl...is hiding from me there."

So Spyro and Hunter guided Schezo to the mansion, leaving the front door as it was; Hunter could always come back and properly readjust the wreath. Shortly after Spyro and Hunter left...Dimentio appeared.

"Perfect timing - they just left!" marveled Dimentio, watching Spyro, Hunter, and Schezo heading off to the mansion. The jester then peeked through the window and saw Peach in a rocking chair with Lou. "And Princess Peach is occupied with the young infant. Even more perfect!"

"It's so hard finding a Christmas gift for Mr. Game and Watch, he's so...one-dimensional," Ness discussed with Lucas, as the two friends were walking outside. Ness came to a stop and gasped. "Look at that!"

"Look at what?" Lucas asked Ness, who pointed at Dimentio in the far distance floating his way over to the mansion. "Oh no..." Ness and Lucas, at that moment, knew what must be done.

X: Our security system's currently down, so we're relying on our guard dogs, Copper and Booker, to hold it down until I can get the system fixed. They're gonna prove their worth today.

Copper: Mansion security might be down, but that won't get the both of us down. No miscreant will make their way past us!
Booker: Yeah, keep telling yourself that... *laughs nervously*

Dimentio: Hm? What's this? You're given free will to interview me, despite the fact that I'm obviously evil? Oh, what joy! Now I would use this as a platform to delve into the plans of my grand revenge tour, but any details will be shared at a later time. So if you excuse me, I have a man to add to our fray. Let me ask - are there any cameramen keeping up with Gnasty Gnorc and Rufus Shinra? I'd hope that those two can hold up their end of the bargain.


In the last episode, Dimentio made mention of some property that was being built in Seattle. Dimentio believed that Master Hand had something to do with this property, and so he enlisted Gnasty and Rufus with snooping around and reporting any building progress that was made.

"Put your back into it, boys!" shouted Mutoh, as the Carpenters were building what appeared to be an apartment building. As always, Mutoh was not doing any work, standing with his arms folded.

"Boss, why are we working on the holidays?" Ichiro asked Mutoh, before flinching in anticipation as he feared Mutoh throwing an object at his head. He was Mutoh's designated punching bag, indubitably. "This isn't fair, don't you think?"

"Say that to all the store and restaurant workers who have to work on Christmas Eve, and Christams Day! It's not all about you, Ichiro - and it never was!"

"Sometimes I wish that it was all about me..." Ichiro sighed depressingly as he kept on working, while Gnasty and Rufus were peeking out from a truck. Gnasty and Rufus retracted their heads to discuss stuff in private.

"They're building an apartment building down the street from where Professor E. Gadd lives," Rufus quietly discussed with Gnasty, knowing that the mansion was definitely involved with the Carpenters handling the construction. "Quite peculiar."

"Not just one apartment building...there's a whole bunch of them!" whispered Gnasty, who had noticed much of the Carpenters' hard work as several unfinished apartments were in view. "They must be building a full-blown apartment complex. But what for?"

"Dang, the Carpenters are sure putting in the work," remarked Fox, as he and Falco were checking things out on the construction site. Gnasty and Rufus kept themselves concealed so that the pilots wouldn't see them.

"Yes, they are - board men get paid," responded Falco, who was half-listening as he was noodling on his phone. Fox peered at Falco, who turned away while still glued to his device.

"Who are you texting? Katt Monroe? Trying to serenade her with Christmas songs or something?" Fox sported a whimsical smile, as Falco looked over at the pilot and snorted.

"As if! I did that the other day - didn't work. I'm just contacting Cafe Leblanc to see if they got my order. Should be expecting my candy cane latte soon."


Pit was working at Cafe Leblanc today, and he had a plethora of guests to serve such as Blathers, Brewster, and Steven Stone. As the angel was fixing coffee and curry left and right, his phone was ringing.

"Please, Joker, I implore you - you must tell me your secret," Steven said to the young man, desiring to know what special technique he used for brewing coffee. He wouldn't stop bothering Joker till he got what he wanted.

"A wise barista never shares their secrets," Joker wisely stated, before frowning when he saw Pit scribbling something down on a small piece of paper and handing it to Steven. "But an unwise one like Pit certainly would."

"Everything you need to know about the brewing process is right here," Pit said to Steven, who took the piece of paper only for it to be snatched up by Joker. Steven was distraught, as Joker tossed the paper in the trash.

"We are not sharing our secrets with anyone," Joker affirmed to Pit, not certain that the angel would get the message. Lecturing Pit was like trying to fix a broken record that was beyond repair. "Also, your phone keeps going off."

"Coo...may I get more pigeon milk?" Brewster made his request known to Joker, as Pit fumbled around for his phone - which was in his pocket all along. "Just want to drink pigeon milk, please."

"Sorry, Brewster, but we're all out. Geo Stelar wanted to drink the rest of the bottle 'for science.'" As Brewster shot a death glare at Geo Stelar, Pit took out his phone and saw the text messages that Falco was sending him.

"Oh snap! I have to give Falco his candy cane latte," said Pit, putting his phone away as he got right away to fixing Falco's latte.

Joker: Cafe Leblanc has a delivery service - anyone who wants coffee, but doesn't feel like coming to get the coffee, can put in their order and have Pit deliver their coffee to them. It makes Pit somewhat of a full-time worker, even though he's now part-time. All the orders are sent to his phone since I've gotten tired of my phone constantly blowing up during work. So if you send an order to Pit, and he misses your text...well, you're just out of luck.

"a candy cane latte for falco was just mint to be," quipped Sans, as Pit refused to let the skeleton's wisecracking stop him from fixing Falco's latte. "he picked the right mo-mint for ordering..."

"Enough, Sans, we get it!" Viridi shut down the skeleton, as Pit was finishing up fixing the latte. The late wasn't fully completed until Pit placed a top on the lid, and stuck an ordinary candy cane through the drink.

"Candy cane, check...whipped cream, check...sprinkles arranged in the form of a smiling face, check..." said Pit as he inspected the top of the latte, making sure that he had everything before setting off. "...and I'm off!"

"Don't drop the latte like last time," Joker called out to Pit, who ran out of Cafe Leblanc nearly tripping and falling as he exited the premises. Joker winced in fear as Pit made a quick and immaculate recovery.


Falco waited around on the construction site, looking at his phone until he got a text notification. The avian pilot pumped his fist as he put his phone back.

"Pit said he's bringing me my candy cane latte soon," Falco said to Fox, fortunate that Pit saw his texts - unlike most other customers who placed an order. "Said to give him fifteen to twenty minutes. Traffic permitting."

"But doesn't he fly, though?" inquired Fox; the only traffic that Pit would encounter in the sky would be unsuspecting birds or planes. "Also, ask him to fix me a candy cane latte too, I'm thirsty."

"Ask and you shall receive..." So Falco took his phone out, sending another text to Pit hoping that the angel hadn't left the mansion yet. Then a ringtone was heard, and it wasn't from Falco's phone. "...that's your phone?"

"Nah, I changed my ringtone the other day. Krystal got tired of the old one." The ringtone wasn't from Fox's phone or Falco's phone...but rather Rufus' phone. Rufus was glad that his phone ringing didn't give away his and Gnasty's cover.

"Hurry up and quiet that thing!" Gnasty whispered to Rufus, who took his phone out of his pocket and dropped it onto the ground as it slipped out of his hands. Rufus picked up his phone, checking his screen for damages before answering the call.

"Rufus Shinra of Shinra Enterprises speaking..." Rufus spoke quietly into the phone, remaining hidden behind the truck as Gnasty looked to see if Fox and Falco were looking his way. "...is this Tseng?"

"It is me," confirmed the person on the other line, Tseng, sounding like he was inside a moving vehicle. The Turks were on their way. "We got stuck in a traffic jam, but we are getting close to our destination."

"Superb. Gnasty and I will be waiting for your arrival." Rufus suddenly sniffed the air, as an unpleasant stench reached his nostrils. The stench came from Gnasty's armpit, which Rufus was dangerously close to. "Mr. Gnorc, do you not use deodorant?"

"What's a deodorant? Some kind of monster?" inquired Gnasty, who had never heard of deodorant or any similar products from where he was from. Rufus shook his head at Gnasty while covering his nose.


Cloud was out of his shed, getting some fresh air as he stood over the fence. A lady walking her dog entered Cloud's view, as Cloud spent his time outside doing a moment of self-reflection.

"Good afternoon, Cloud!" Big greeted Cloud holding a fishing rod as he and Cream were walking down the hallway. Anticipating what Big was about to ask, Cloud turned away from the purple cat.

"None of your business, Big..." said Cloud, done getting his fresh air as he was about to retreat back to the shed. The swordsman didn't get that far, as he was ambushed by Bandanna Waddle Dee who jumped out of a tree in the front yard.

"Hiya!" shouted Bandanna Waddle Dee as he came crashing down with his spear, ambushing Cloud and sending him down to the ground. Cloud was able to get up, but soon Kicks fell on top of him. And then Funky Kong.

"You're squashing us..." Kicks muttered from underneath Funky Kong, who felt bad about falling on top of the skunk. So Funky Kong got up, took Bandanna Waddle Dee and Kicks off, and threw himself on top of Cloud before placing his compatriots on top of him.

"Yeah...this is nice," Cloud sarcastically remarked, as Funky Kong's body weight made it impossible for him to move. His back was starting to kill him. "Aerith, help!"

"Yes, Cloud?" asked Aerith, hearing her name called as she opened the front door. She saw Cloud being squashed by Funky Kong and company (but mainly Funky Kong) as she smiled. "Aw, you're playing with your friends! How sweet."

"They are not my friends." Cloud was beside himself as Aerith went back inside the house, closing the door behind her. Cloud attempted to move, but Funky Kong was restricting his movement.

"Got him right where you want him, Gex," Big called out to the lizard, who soon made his way to Aerith's front yard with Tharja and Henry flanking him. Gex stood over the downed Cloud, feeling powerful just from standing over the swordsman.

"Cloud, Cloud, Cloud..." Gex repeated the swordsman's name as he shook his head, coming off as disappointed in his demeanor. "...I just wanted to say your name three times."

"Get on with it!" Tharja shouted at Gex as she backhanded the lizard, showing a physical side of her that not even Henry saw that often. Gex rubbed the back of his head, as he got right down to business.

"So, Mr. Strife, we got a tip from your girlfriend that you have been down in the dumps. Going through a depression. A great depression, dare I say."

"Can you tell him to get off of me?" Cloud asked Gex, as Funky Kong's weight was proving to be too much to bear. "He's crushing my spine."

"There's no way that you can prove that," stated Funky Kong, only for Gex to beckon the gorilla to lay off on Cloud. Funky got off of Cloud, but he still kept the swordsman pinned to the ground with his hands.

"Aerith told us that you've been feeling sad...so out with it!" Gex said to Cloud, smacking him in the face; Cloud would put his hands on Gex for that if it wasn't for Bandanna Waddle Dee and Kicks restraining him.

"I'm not sad, I'm just...thinking a lot," answered Cloud, leading Gex and the others to assume that he was too manly enough to outright admit his depression. "But if you want to know so bad...Master Hand said that I was no longer part of the Smash Mansion family."

"No longer family?!" Henry gasped as he clutched his pearls, knowing what must be done to remedy the situation as he turned to Tharja. "You know what this means? We must adopt Cloud."

"We are not adopting Cloud," affirmed Tharja, as Henry moaned in sadness; Henry unironically favored Cloud as an older brother figure.

Henry: We would make for a happy family, don't you agree? Tharja can be the mommy, Gex can be the daddy, I will be the favorite child, obviously, and the other siblings will be fighting for second fiddle. Except for Cream, she'd be out of the running due to being the baby. But the baby siblings are spoiled...I wanna be the baby!

"If you want a family...we'll always be there for you," Gex said earnestly to Cloud, as Big and Cream joined him in the front yard. Cloud got a good look at everyone, knowing the decision that was in his best interest.

"Not interested," Cloud responded in a heartbeat, throwing Kicks and Bandanna Waddle Dee off of him as he got up and went inside the house. It was his Cloud's first time entering the house all day.

"That's how it's gonna be, huh..." Gex adjusted his shades, fully prepared for the mission that was perfectly laid out in front of him. "...square one, folks. We're starting at square one."


Dimentio had successfully infiltrated the mansion, but it was hard for him to make any movement. A lot of people were inside the mansion at once, making it impossible for Dimentio to float about unnoticed. Finding a disguise to conceal his identity was just as hard.

"Where, oh where, can I find a disguise?" wondered Dimentio, as he wandered off into the dining room. The jester remained out of sight, out of mind, as he saw Sonic, Crash, Aku, Lavenza, Nemona, Penny, Terra, Ventus, and Aqua gathered at the dining room table.

"Now presenting - Arven's Famous Master Herbed Sausage Sandwich!" announced Arven as he entered the dining room, with his Pokemon Mabosstiff carrying a plate full of sandwiches on his back. All the sandwiches were prepared by Arven himself, in case you somehow weren't aware.

"Better not be any dog fur on those sandwiches," Terra said to Arven, who went around giving everyone a sandwich. While Crash tried to scarf his sandwich down Scooby-Doo style, Sonic looked at his sandwich with disdain.

"I'm not eating this, it came off the back of a Mabosstiff," grimaced Sonic as he pushed his sandwich away, only for Lavenza to leer at him as she took a bite from her sandwich. "What, Lavenza?"

"Eat the sandwich...now," Lavenza commanded Sonic, sending enough fear down the blue hedgehog to make him eat his sandwich. Arven was beaming with pride, as everyone was eating his creation.

Arven: The Master Herbed Sausage Sandwich isn't that hard of a sandwich to make, it only requires a few ingredients. Herbed sausage, mustard, ketchup, lettuce, and bitter Herba Mystica! What is Herba Mystica? It's a special kind of herb that can make turn Pokemon into a titan. Side note... *looks to the side, before looking back at the camera* ...keep it away from a Wailord at whatever cost.

"They all seem to like my sandwich," Arven said to Mabosstiff, oblivious to Dimentio teleporting himself behind the Pokemon trainer. close to his ear. "Almost brings a tear to my eye!"

"Keep up the good work, Arven..." Dimentio whispered into Arven's ear, as Arven turned his head and almost screamed when he saw Dimentio floating right behind him. "...oh, and by the way, you're welcome!"

"Huh?!" Arven watched as Dimentio vanished away, not sure what to make of that encounter. But Arven wasn't the only person who saw Dimentio, for Aqua had seen the jester from the corner of her eye.

"Really knocked it out of the park with these sandwiches, Arven!" Nemona said to her friend, who was trying to shake off his encounter with Dimentio while Aqua was unable to focus on her sandwich. "Muy incredible!"

"Nobody has given me a sandwich," stated Aku, knowing the reason why he was omitted. Crash would come through for Aku as he took the remaining piece of his sandwich and stuffed it into Aku's face. "Thanks, Crash..."

"Sorry if we're interrupting," said Ness as he and Lucas entered the dining room, obviously on the hunt for Dimentio. Their main target for quite some time. "But have any of you seen a paper-thin jester?"

"Talking about Dimentio, right?" asked Sonic, the only person at the table who had seen Dimetio in person before. Crash and Aku had only heard stories about Dimentio, while everyone else didn't have a clue.

"I saw a paper-thin jester," Arven spoke up, as all eyes were on the Pokemon trainer. And maybe also Mabosstiff, since he was such a good boy. "But it was only for like a second."

"Yeah, I saw him too," stated Aqua, who had the sixth sense to tell that Dimentio obviously wasn't trustworthy by any means. "He whispered something into Arven's ear and just...left."

"Forgot that he can disappear at a whim," remarked Lucas, hating the unpredictable nature of Dimentio. "That's gonna make finding him harder on us!" Staying the course, Ness and Lucas left the dining room.

"As long as they're the ones hunting Dimentio down, I'm straight," Sonic said as he leaned back in his chair, resting his feet on the table. "Yo, Arven, how about another sandwich?"

"Why would that jester tell me 'you're welcome?'" wondered Arven, thoughts racing through his mind as he had a finger under his chin. Then it hit him, as his eyes grew big in sudden realization. "Of course!"

"Hello? Earth to Arven!" Sonic had to snap his fingers, as he broke Arven out of his thoughtful trance. "I want another sandwich, please."

"I'll be right with you, Sonic!" Arven went back inside the kitchen, with Mabosstiff trudging slowly after his trainer.


An ugly Christmas sweater contest was planned for next Friday, and everyone was given a week's notice in advance to find the ugliest Christmas sweater that they could find. Mario didn't have much faith in finding an ugly sweater for himself, so he entrusted Yoshi with finding him one.

"'Twas the Nizzle Before Chrismizzle,'" Mario read the text on an ugly Christmas sweater that Yoshi was showing off to him, which had Snoop Dogg on it. Because who else would be on it? "'And all through the hizzle...'"

"I'd say this sweater speaks to your soul," Yoshi said to Mario as he tossed the Christmas sweater to the plumber, who had several mixed feelings. "Wear it with that durag if you still have it."

Yoshi: Zelda never said that it was cheating to give away ugly Christmas sweaters for free. How else can they enter the contest? I'm just saving folks some extra money for the holiday season. Also, check this out! *takes out an ugly Christmas sweater with a shirtless Santa, and holds it up* Samus said that it's too distracting, but I digress.

"You have a durag?" Arle asked Mario as she peeked over the plumber's shoulder, checking out the ugly Christmas sweater that Mario was debating on wearing for the contest. "That is so unlike you, Mario!"

"Don't have to cling-a to me, you know," Mario said to Arle, unable to shake off the mage apprentice ever since he stepped foot inside the mansion. Arle was at his side, no matter where he went.

"True, but you can be my bodyguard if that creeper tries to make his move! He could be anywhere..." As Arle looked down the hallway, keeping her eyes peeled, Mario heard his phone ring.

"Hello, Wario?" Mario answered the phone, watching as Arle carefully moved down the hallway to get a closer look at something. "Lost your nutcracker? You oughta keep-a up with your..."

"Not Wario...it's me again, Link," replied Link, and Mario could tell how bothered the Hylian sounded having to use another person's phone. "I should just ask for a phone for Christmas."

"Or you can just-a buy one yourself. You're not a teenage girl. Anyway, I'm inside-a the mansion, where are you?"


"I'm at the lounge," Link spoke into Wario's phone, as he was seated around a campfire in the ballroom with Lysandre, Wario, Zelda, and several others. "Apparently, Bowser's having a 'Christmas campfire session.'"

"This is clearly a fire hazard," Zelda stated to Bowser, who was roasting a bunch of chestnuts over the open fire. The only things missing were Jack Frost nipping at someone's nose, Yuletide carols sung by a choir, and folks dressed up as Eskimos.

"No, it's not," attested Bowser, before using his flame breath to add some more flames to the campfire. Zelda looked on, surprised that the fire detector hadn't gone off yet.

"Get here soon as you can, okay?" Link spoke into the phone while being mindful of Wario who was looking at the Hylian rather impatiently. "We'll be waiting for you."

"Chesnuts smell delightful," remarked Lysandre, who appreciated the nutty smell that the roasting chestnuts gave off. Bowser looked at Lysandre and placed his hand on the Team Flare leader's shoulder.

"Let me say that what you did five years ago was awesome," Bowser said to Lysandre, showing his admiration from one villain to another. Another real recognizing real moment for Bowser. "You and Eggman killed it."

"Truthfully, King Bowser, I never should've done what I did in the first place." Lysandre placed a marshmallow on a stick and held it over the flames, as Bowser shook his head at Lysandre in shame.


Cloud was back in his shed, and this time he had the door closed so that Gex or any of his allies wouldn't get inside. The only person that would be granted access was Aerith.

"Hello? Cloud?" Max called out to the swordsman as she knocked on the shed door. "It's us, Max and Chloe." Cloud slightly creaked the door open, making sure that it was only Max and Chloe who were outside.

"Sure it's just you?" Cloud asked Max and Chloe just to be on the safe side, fearing that Bandana Waddle Dee might be perched atop the shed looking to pounce on him.

"Just us two. What are you waiting for, come outside already!" Taking Max's word for it, Cloud bravely stepped out of the shed not expecting any silly shenanigans to take place. "Now, Chloe!"

"Right..." said Chloe as she ran up behind Cloud, muffling him as if she was about to kidnap the man. Chloe then took out a blindfold and tied it firmly over Cloud's eyes.

"Okay, what's going on?" questioned Cloud, as the next thing that happened to him was his hands being handcuffed by Chloe. Cloud dared not to question where Chloe even got those handcuffs from.

Chloe: Got the handcuffs from my stepdad. He turned me down at first when I first asked him, but when I told him that I would be arresting Cloud Strife, he changed his tune in a heartbeat.

"Handcuffs are locked in!" Chloe informed Max, checking to see if the handcuffs were locked and firmly tight. Cloud couldn't possibly break free.

"Aerith, save me!" Cloud called out to the flower girl, hoping that she would hear him; when he was met with no response after a few seconds, Cloud slowly began to fear for the worst.

"Nobody can save you now," Max said to Cloud, as she and Chloe led the swordsman away from his shed. Cloud had no choice but to go where Max and Chloe took him.

"Aerith isn't home, but we can show you where she is," grinned Chloe, knowing the big surprise that was waiting for Cloud later. Cloud himself knew that a big surprise was in store for him...and that was why he felt so wary.


Dimentio found a hallway closet in the mansion and was going through it looking for a disguise. He found some cloth in the closet, debating which one he should wear.

"None of these would do for now, but I'll add them to my personal inventory," said Dimentio as he placed the cloth in his imaginary pocket. The jester then went back to looking, before squealing when he saw something. "Ooh! This will do."

"Reinhardt really gave it to Rodin after that party!" Tracer was heard frown the hallway, as Dimentio quickly hid inside the closet. Tracer was coming down the hallway with Brigette, as the two were discussing last week's German-themed Christmas party.

"Word has it that Rodin's butt is still sore from the beating," smiled Brigette, as she and Tracer shared a laugh together. The duo came to a stop when a ghostly figure emerged from the closet.

"Woo...I am a ghost!" the ghost said chillingly to Tracer and Brigette, who were both unfazed due to the questionable white cloth the ghost wore. The ghost was in fact Dimentio, doing his best Boo impersonation.

"Alright then, Mr. Ghost...what kind of ghost are you?" Tracer asked Dimentio with her hands on her hips, interested in hearing the jester's response. A big sink-or-swim moment for Dimentio - who was used to swimming.

"I am the Ghost...of Christmas Present! I offer goodwill and generosity to all men." That description didn't seem to work on Tracer and Brigette, initially. "And women as well." But the last comment swayed the two Overwatch operatives.

"Eh, I believe it. Have a holly jolly time, Ghost of Christmas Present!" So Tracer and Brigette walked past the Ghost of Christams Present, both unaware that it was Dimentio under the white cloth all along.

"You think that ghost looks a little off to you?" Brigette quietly discussed with Tracer, as Dimentio was satisfied with how his interaction turned out. While Brigette was lightly skeptical, Tracer hardly suspected a thing.

"That went well. Now off to find the person of interest!" said Dimentio as he floated away, using his ghost persona for as long as it was needed. He floated past Banjo's room, as Banjo opened his door and saw Dimentio float right by.

"Mother..." uttered Banjo, stricken with fear upon seeing the "ghost"; he tapped Kazooie on her head, waking her up from her slumber. "...do you know Luigi's number? We got a problem..."


E. Gadd was down in his lab, showing Sada and Turo his time machine. During his time down there, however, the professor forgot that he was supposed to have a holiday event at his mansion. The event was slated to begin soon, and guests were at E. Gadd's mansion pestering Luigi and Cortex about where E. Gadd was.

"Professor E. Gadd had promised us a gift exchange," Lorenz said to Luigi and Cortex, who were surrounded by the guests that had arrived early. "We would be most displeased if the professor is absent."

"Yeah, E. Gadd made a promise!" shouted Ty the Tasmanian Tiger, angry if E. Gadd was a no-show. Luigi nervously looked down the hallway, wondering what was taking E. Gadd so long.

"I'm just here to be a part of the raucous crowd," stated Cranky Kong, contributing as much as he could by raising his cane like a madman. "Give us liberty or give us death!"

"Settle down everyone, the professor will be here soon!" Cortex assured the crowd, who didn't believe Cortex for a second as they grew even louder. Luigi heard his phone ring amid the shouting, as he took it out.

"Hello, Luigi speaking," Luigi answered the call, before leaving Cortex behind as he went to go retrieve the Poltergust that was on the floor. "What's that? A ghost-a threat?"

"You can't just leave me behind like this!" Cortex shouted at Luigi, who hoisted the Poltergust over his shoulders as he left E. Gadd's mansion. Poor Cortex was left alone, as the angry guests swarmed him.


Spyro and Hunter were in the mansion, helping Schezo look for a person by the name of Amanda Hugandkiss. Allegedly, this Amanda Hugandkiss person was supposedly a man.

"Amanda Hugandkiss? Amanda Hugandkiss!" Hunter called out the name, as he and Spyro were in the arcade room keeping their eyes peeled. "Last call for Amanda Hugandkiss!"

"You know, I'm starting to believe that this Amanda Hugandkiss doesn't really exist," said Spyro, as he was slowly starting to feel like an idiot. Hunter, however, wasn't letting up. "Maybe we just misheard Schezo."

"Spyro! Hunter!" Ryu approached the duo, shouting with aggression as if he was about to challenge the friends to a two-on-one fight. "Your mage friend is harming my love interest."

"Is he really?" Spyro hoped that Ryu was pulling his tail, but then Ryu pointed in the far distance at Schezo, who was wrangling with Chun-li...and being on the receiving end.

"Stop resisting, let me have my way with you!" Schezo shouted at Chun-li, who was about to snap the mage's arms in half without trying. "I must use you for kissing practice."

"Find somebody else to kiss under the mistletoe..." Chun-li said to Schezo, having enough of the mage as she kicked him away. Chun-li dusted off her hands, as Schezo was lying on the floor in pain.

Ryu: It has led up to this...this year is the right time to kiss Chun-li. Under the mistletoe...Why haven't I kissed her before? Why do you care so much? Focus on your own personal lives, and stay out of mine!

"You would attempt to practice on a lady who can whoop your butt..." Spyro went over to speak with Schezo, as Hunter offered to help Schezo up to his feet. Both of Schezo's arms were aching.

"Surely you two have a beau," Schezo said to Spyro and Hunter, concerning the two friends with the proposal that he was about to make to them. "May I practice my kissing on them?"

"I don't think you'd wanna kiss a goat," quipped Hunter, smiling at Spyro expecting him to get the joke. Spyro did get the joke as he rolled his eyes.

"Let's just go before you get yourself hurt again..." Spyro said to Schezo, as he and Hunter led the mage out of the arcade room. Schezo held one of his aching arms, fighting off the pain.


Cloud was walking down a sidewalk in Arcadia Bay, not knowing where Max and Chloe were taking him. All that e could do for now was hope for the best - while also anticipating the worst.

"Once we get to our destination, you'll both be very sorry," Cloud vowed to Max and Chloe, who escorted Cloud as they crossed the street. Cloud did not enjoy being led around in public with a blindfold on.

"We're almost there," Chloe assured Cloud, biting her bottom lip to stifle her laughter; Max did the same by holding her hand over her mouth.


Sonic and Crash were a part of the ugly sweater contest, and Sonic was still looking for his ugly sweater. Crash, on the other hand, already had a sweater courtesy of Coco. The bandicoot was showing it off to Sonic and Aku at the lounge, as well as Penny and Aqua.

"Crash...that is the most hilarious ugly Christmas sweater I've ever seen," Sonic said to the bandicoot, who was wearing a Christmas sweater that had Cortex's face on it. It was the most perfect sweater.

"A little on the nose, but I can see it winning the contest," Aqua offered her two cents, before turning to Penny who was holding a sweater over her arm. "What do you think, Penny?"

"It's probably not better than mine," replied Penny before presenting her Christmas sweater, which had an Epseon theme to it. Meaning that it was pink all over, just like the Pokemon it was based on.

"Espeon is the ugliest Eevolution, so that sweater gets an A-plus in my book," Sonic gave his critique on the sweater, as Penny glared at the blue hedgehog. Penny wasn't the kind of quiet kid you'd want to tick off.

Aqua: No, I don't do ugly Christmas sweaters. I prefer to be a spectator to most of the holiday fun. Like the light show battle between the mansion and tower last Christmas. Things got so out of hand that all the power in the city nearly went out!

Dimentio, still disguised as a ghost, passed by the lounge when he peeked inside and saw Sonic and company. He saw Crash tearing through his Christmas sweater with his teeth, and thought that he had seen enough.

"That bandicoot needs to be tamed..." Dimentio quietly remarked as he pulled away from the lounge entrance, certain that Crash would rip his Christmas sweater to threads soon. "...I can't possibly wait to tame him!"

"Hold it right there, ghost!" a certain green plumber shouted at Dimentio, who turned around and saw Luigi armed with his Poltergust 3000. Luigi looked determined, not backing down, as Dimentio reassumed his Boo impersonation.

"Oh, hello Luigi! It is I, the Ghost of Christmas Present! Haven't been an Ebenezer Scrooge this year, have you?" Dimentio floated closer to Luigi, who was about to pull on the trigger.

"Not another move..." Luigi was frowning intensely, as he had his finger on the trigger ready to turn his Poltergust on. He was daring the "ghost" to try something funny.

"Not another move? Fine then, I'll just leave." And Dimentio would do just that, teleporting away as the white cloth fell to the floor. Luigi appeared confused as he lowered his guard.

"Huh, that-a was weird." Luigi lifted up the white cloth and saw nothing underneath, and was left even more confused. The green plumber picked up the cloth and inspected it all over.

"Darn it Crash! you know better than to ruin your Christmas sweater," Aku chided Crash, who exited the lounge along with everyone else that was in the lounge. Crash's Christmas sweater was terribly torn.

"This is the sweater that Crash had planned to enter into the ugly Christmas sweater contest," Sonic explained to Luigi, as Crash held up his ruined Christmas sweater for Luigi to see. "Had Cortex's face on it! Now it's a mangled mess.."

"Nah, I'd say it's a painfully accurate-a depiction of what Cortex looks like," critiqued Luigi, believing that Crash inherently enhanced the ugliness of his Christmas sweater. Soon Ness and Lucas came down.

"Any of you seen Dimentio anywhere?" Lucas asked those gathered in the hallway, he and Ness refusing to stop until Dimentio was caught dead or alive. Regardless of how hard the task was.

"No paper-thin jester spotted yet," answered Penny, as the mention of Dimentio got Luigi thinking - thinking about his brief encounter with the Ghost of Christmas Present.

"That ghost...it wasn't a ghost-a at all," deduced Luigi, knowing why the "ghost" disappeared so suddenly while leaving his "body" behind. "Must've been Dimentio in disguise! He flew right-a under my nose."


Cloud eventually got tired of walking, but soon that walking finally came to an end. Which only meant one thing - Max and Chloe brought the swordsman to their destination.

"We're here," announced Max, as she and Chloe were unable to hold in their excitement. The friends had a small hope that Cloud would share their excitement once his blindfold was off. "Are your eyes closed, Cloud?"

"I mean...I do have this blindfold on," replied Cloud, and so Chloe took the blindfold away from the swordsman's eye and took the handcuffs off. Once Cloud opened his eyes, he couldn't believe what he saw.

In front of him was a large Christmas display, complete with a large inflatable Santa, several reindeer decorations, and Christmas lights. Lots of Christmas lights. Aerith was standing with Gex and his troupe, and each troupe member was holding a candle.

"Merry Christmas, ya filthy animal!" Gex greeted Cloud, properly dressed for the occasion as he had on a red housecoat. With a cigar pipe in his mouth also. "This housecoat has me feeling like Orson Welles."

"Aw, you look so sad, Cloud," Aerith said to the swordsman, who looked pretty bummed out. That bummed-out face would mean any emotion from Cloud - just pick one.

"...I'm not sad," Cloud claimed, trying to look more lively to make Aerith's concerns go away. But it didn't work. "I'm just miffed that you want to hang out with these dorks."

"Who are you calling a dork?!" an offended Funky Kong questioned Cloud, while he was picking his nose and eating his boogers. Not a good look for Gex's troupe, as Tharja facepalmed at Funky.

"You oughta admit, we did a good job decorating this place," Kicks said to Cloud, who couldn't help but acknowledge the hard work and preparation that went into putting the display together. "These inflatables didn't come for cheap, you know."

Kicks: To get a hold of the inflatables, we had to negotiate with the folks that were in charge of the Arcadia Bay Christmas parade. It was smooth sailing, but only for certain stuff. Doing the negotiations without Gex bringing up his "world famous" partnership with Walt Disney was the hardest part.

"What are you waiting for?" Chloe asked Cloud as she pushed the swordsman forward, as Aerith smiled and took a step forward. Cloud and Aerith were standing close, looking at each other.

"Got you a present," Aerith said to Cloud, holding a Christmas gift behind her back which she later revealed. Cloud took the gift and opened it, and saw that it was a teddy bear. Looked like the one he saw at the shop nearly ten episodes ago.

"A teddy bear..." remarked Cloud, seeing that the teddy bear was extra special as there was a heart on it. Could that mean something? "...thanks, Aerith."

"Wait, there's more! See what else is in the box." So Cloud looked inside the box and saw at least ten gift cards at the bottom. Ten gift cards were a lot for one person.

"Ten gift cards, eh? You really went up and beyond, Aerith." Little did Cloud know that he was commending the wrong person - or person - as Aerith turned and looked back at Gex and company.

"Aerith didn't get those gift cards...we did," declared Gex, as Cloud counted the number of gift cards - if there were ten gift cards in total, and there were only eight of Gex's troupe, Gex included, then who bought two of the gift cards?

"We also pitched in," stated Max, fortunate that the gift cards didn't cost her that much. Only had a couple of dollars to spare. "Gex got the gift cards on late notice."

"That's nice and all, but...why?" asked Cloud, asking the most pressing question that he could ask at a time like this. Why were Gex and company being so nice to him, and Max and Chloe too?

"Said that you were no longer family to the Smash Mansion..." replied Gex, blowing into his cigar pipe as a few bubbles erupted from the opening. "...so we wanted to formally welcome you to a new one."

"The Island of Misfits!" proclaimed Henry, not thinking of a better moment than to make such a proclamation during this holiday season. "We can just pretend that it's an island..."

"Families do look out for each other," stated Cream, before looking around at the armada of "misfits" that was assembled. "So we wanted to do just that with the gift cards."

"Doubt that I would shop at any of his places, but I appreciate the thought," Cloud said as he glossed through the gift cards, not yet ready to make a full commitment to Gex's troupe.

"There's a lot more going on," Aerith said to Cloud, putting the teddy bear and gift cards back in the gift box as she took both of Cloud's hands. "Gex and his friends have a few more surprises waiting for you!"

"Maestro, play the music!" commanded Gex as he pointed at someone in the far distance...but no music was heard. Remembering his cue, Funky Kong hasted to a music player and pushed the play button, as Christmas music started playing.

"Now the fun can really begin!" announced Funky Kong, who was playing a Christmas hip-hop song. The song seemed like something right up Funky's alley.


Mario was dying to get to the ballroom, but with Arle at his side, it was near impossible. Especially when Arle was easily distracted by the holiday stuff, such as the Christmas bounce house she spotted in the gaming room.

"This is so much fun!" cheered Arle, as she was inside the bounce house doing nothing but bouncing. Mario stood near the bounce house, arms folded as he tapped his foot impatiently.

"I do have somewhere to be..." Mario reminded Arle, and soon his prayers were answered as Arle finally exited the bounce house. "...ah, about-a time."

"Whoops! Forgot to take off my shoes." Arle took off her shoes and placed them on the floor, before going back inside the bounce house as she resumed her fun. Mario let out a defeated sigh.

"Why is this bounce-a house in this gaming room?" Mario asked the person who set up the bounce house, Donkey Kong, as Arle was heard cheering and feeling like a kid again.

"Safety concerns - it would be too close to the campfire in the ballroom," explained Donkey Kong, as Mario smacked his forehead - if only Donkey Kong had placed the bounce house outside.


One of the Carpenters, Saburo, was taking a break from construction work as he was sitting on the ground drinking from his water bottle. He was given permission by Mutoh, who had backhanded Ichiro hard when the Carpenter had asked to take a break. (Ichiro had asked before Saburo, mind you.)

"Boss says we'll be done by Christmas...I sure hope so," said an exhausted Saburo, sitting on some lumber as he poured the water bottle's contents all over himself to cool off. Mutoh had him working up a sweat.

"Hold it right there..." a voice called out to Saburo, who froze as he nearly dropped his water bottle from his hand. Slowly turning around, Saburo saw the Turks behind him - Reno, Rude, Elena, and their leader Tseng.

"He said to hold it!" Elena shouted at Saburo, making the Carpenter freeze in place; taking a look at the construction work so far, Tseng walked over to Saburo for a brief interrogation.

"I'm Tseng, nice meeting you," Tseng introduced himself to Saburo, shaking the Carpenter's hand as a nervous sweat ran down Saburo's face. "Tell me, what is all this building for?"

"It's for Master Hand," answered Saburo, as Tseng nodded his head after learning this information. Quite frankly, Saburo's short reply wasn't enough - the Turks needed more.

"But what exactly are you building for Master Hand? That is what we want to know." Tseng showed Saburo that he meant business, by placing his left foot on the lumber. Saburo flinched in anticipation.

"We're building a new apartment complex. We have several more on the way..." Tired of the obvious answers, Tseng grabbed Saburo by his collar and pulled the Carpenter close to his face.

"We know you're building something for Master Hand. We know that you're building apartments. But why are you doing this? Just tell us that!"

"He wants an answer, dang it!" someone shouted from afar, as a large hammer was thrown in Tseng and Saburo's direction. Tseng would let go of Saburo and he and the Carpenter ducked out of harm's way as the hammer flew in their direction.

"Uh...break's over!" declared Saburo, the hammer landing on the ground as Saburo ran back to the Carpenters. Tseng grunted as Saburo was gone in an instant.

"Gnasty, Gnasty, Gnasty...what did we tell you about throwing your hammer?" Rufus asked the Gnorc, as he and Gnasty emerged; Gnsaty sheepishly went over to retrieve his large hammer.

"Sorry, the carpenter was just being difficult," apologized Gnasty, confident that he would've done a much better job interrogating Saburo than Tseng. "Thought that scaring him would do the trick."

"You nearly decapitated the man! And Tseng, too," Reno said to Gnasty, as his partner-in-crime Rude looked up in the sky and saw a winged being flying to the construction site.

"I see an unidentified winged object up in the air," Rude announced to the others - and the first thing that Gnasty thought of when he heard the description was Spyro. You know what that meant.

"HOW DOES HE KEEP DOING IT?!" wondered Gnasty, before running off to take cover. Rude looked back up in the sky and saw that the flying object was in fact Pit scanning the area for Fox and Falco.

"Gnasty, wait!" Rufus shouted to the Gnorc, as he and the Turks ran off to find Gnasty. Rude was still looking up before following after the others.

Rufus and the Turks soon reached Gnasty a few moments later and saw that the Gnorc had come to a stop. The reason why Gnasty stopped was that he saw Fox and Falco, who were standing near a black government vehicle.

"You should put your name on this, be a part of history," Falco recommended to Fox, as the pilots both identified the black vehicle as belonging to the Turks. They had seen it plenty of times to not mistake it for anything else.

"Put my name on a government vehicle?" Fox questioned Falco, fearful of the consequences that would come with defacing a government vehicle. "I don't wanna get in trouble. Not today, at least."

Fox: *standing next to the Turks' vehicle* Got a lot of fond memories with this bad boy. This is the vehicle that we rode in when Krystal had to deliver Marcus. For that reason alone, I deserve part-ownership of this car. For sentimental purposes.

"Step away from the van..." Rufus commanded Fox and Falco, who saw the Shinra leader and did as they were told. Seeing Rufus almost made Fox do a double-take.

"Rufus Shinra?" Fox uttered Rufus' full name, before spotting the Gnorc that was aligned with Rufus. "And Gnasty Gnorc?! You and the Turks are with him?"

"X said that Gnasty and Rufus were working together," Falco whispered to Fox, who made the connection that Rufus and the Turks were working for Dimentio. "Sometimes it pays to eavesdrop on Master Hand's private conversations."

"Aw, what? So the Turks are evil now? They were all cool in my book." Fox's plans of claiming part-ownership of the Turks' vehicle now had 50/50 odds of ever happening.

"We're not working for Dimentio directly," stated Reno as he looked towards Rufus, who had his hand near his gun just in case he needed it. "Just following orders from our boss here."

"Fox, Falco! I got your coffee!" Pit shouted from up above, as the angel slowly made his descent to where Fox and Falco stood. Pit landed on top of the Turks' vehicle, causing a dent in the roof in the process.

"He dented our car..." frowned Elena, as Pit leaped down from the vehicle and gave Fox and Falco their coffee. Fox and Falco wanted their coffee earlier, but the wait was worth it.

"Hey, at least I wasn't the one who did it," Gnasty said to Elena, folding his arms as Fox and Falco both took a sip from their coffee. It was Fox's first time trying a candy cane latte, and he was already a fan.

"You were right, Falco, this latte is the..." Fox said to the avian pilot, but he couldn't finish his sentence for a bullet was fired at his latte. The latte exploded in Fox's hand, as the bullet was fired by Rufus who had his gun out.

"We have no time for your needless coffee drinking," Rufus said to Fox and Falco, taking charge as the Turks stood back and let their boss handle things. "Leave the premises, now!"

"Who are you telling to leave?" Fox would turn the tables right back at Rufus, as he and Falco took out their Blasters. A real showdown was about to take place on construction grounds.

"Oh, would you look that that...Master Kohga says that he wants a cappuccino!" said Pit as he checked his phone, using this excuse as a way to fly away and leave the scene before bullets started firing.


His disguise gone, Dimentio had to be more discreet moving around the mansion as he couldn't afford to let anyone see him. That meant a whole lot of teleporting whenever he sensed company. The jester soon reached the ballroom, where the campfire was still ablaze.

"Bingo..." the jester quietly remarked, as he saw Link, Adeleine, Lysandre, Arven, Zeke, and Pandoria sitting around the campfire and eating s'mores. One of the individuals mentioned was one that Dimentio desired the most.

"A special moment like this calls for a song," stated Zeke as he pulled out a guitar, with the others wishing that someone else had taken initiative to sing. "Does anyone have any suggestions?"

"Is that my guitar?" Dunban asked Zeke as he pointed at the guitar Zeke was holding. Dunban must've still had that guitar from those guitar lessons he took five years ago.

"'Is That My Guitar'...doesn't sound very Christmas-y, but I can wing it! Somebody pull up the lyrics so that I won't butcher anything."

"I got an even better suggestion - Christmas in Hollis, by Run-D.M.C.," Bowser suggested to Zeke, as several folks sitting around the campfire gave weird looks that Bowser perceived as ignorance. "It's...it's a rap song."

"We all know that it's a rap song," said Link, as he was petting Arven's pet Mabosstiff; Mabosstiff was lying on his side, basking in the campfire's warmth.

"If it's a rap song, then I'd love to put my own personal spin on it," said Zeke, as Bowser gleefully pulled up some song lyrics on his phone and handed his device to Zeke. Zeke skimmed the lyrics in full, nodding his head.

"Just sing a simple Christmas song - like 'Holly Jolly Christmas,'" Adeleine suggested to Zeke, who liked that idea more as he handed Bowser back his phone. Bowser glared at Adeleine as he put his phone away.

"One 'Holly Jolly Christmas', coming right up!" So Zeke cleared his throat and played a chord of two, as he was ready for his star performance. "Have a jolly holly Christmas, it's the best time of the year...don't know if there'll be snow, but have a cup of cheese!"

"In my life, I don't think I've ever heard anyone sing that song so poorly," remarked Rayman, as Zeke kept on singing and messing up the lyrics. It was equal parts sad, and equal parts entertaining - there was no in-between.

Rayman: With how much they play Christmas songs during the holidays, you always assume that everyone and their granny knows the songs by heart. So to hear Zeke mess up "Holly Jolly Christmas" really took me out of it. Almost gave me a new life perspective, even.

"I have a suggestion, if I may," Lysandre spoke up, as he slowly arose to his feet. With Lysandre standing, Zeke had no choice but to stop his performance and give Lysandre the floor.

"Out with it, good sir - make your suggestion known!" Zeke said to Lysandre, eager to sing another holiday tune - he knew that his rendition of "Holly Jolly Christmas" wasn't putting anyone in the holiday spirit.

"Stop...just stop, I beg of you. That is all." Having spoken for everyone, Lysandre slowly sat back down as he resumed eating his s'more. Zeke was upset, as you can imagine.

"Have it your way then..." Zeke slammed the guitar unto the floor, as Dunban quickly grabbed the stringed instrument and inspected it for any damages.

"I'm sorry you had to hear that, boy," Arven apologized to Mabostiff as he petted his Pokemon, before looking towards the ballroom entrance and spotting Dimentio. The Pokemon trainer gasped as he stood up.

"Alright now, let's not make a scene..." Dimentio quietly said to Arven, who happily fast-walked over to the jester; it was unnatural for anyone to be that excited to see Dimentio.

"Dimentio, right? I figured it all out! I know why you told me 'you're welcome' earlier." Not affording to waste any time, Dimentio hoped for Arven to say his piece already. "You told me that because..."

"PK THUNDER!" shouted Lucas, as a PSI spell was fired at Dimentio; Dimentio moved out of harm's way, dodging the lightning as Ness and Lucas appeared.

"Stay away from Dimentio, Arven - he's bad news," Ness told Arven, hoping that he reached Dimentio in time before he could lay a finger on Arven. But Arven wasn't the person that Dimentio wanted.

"I just wanted to tell him something," stated Arven, as Ness and Lucas fired a few PK Fire spells at Dimentio who dodged them via teleportation. "That's all!"

"I'm afraid that we must chat later," Dimentio said to Arven, blaming the Pokemon trainer for holding him up with his current mission. "I must bid you adieu!"

"Dimentio, wait!" Arven shouted at the jester, who took off down the hallway as Ness and Lucas were hot on his heels. Lowering his head, Arven slowly went back inside the ballroom, returning to the campfire.

"What's got you so down?" Link asked Arven, who didn't want to talk about it as he sat back down next to Mabosstiff. "Also, why did I hear you shout out Dimentio's name?"

"Where have I heard that name before..." said Lysandre, stroking his chin as Link and Zelda looked at the Team Flare leader with surprise.


Saburo returned safely to the Carpenters, and he had told his boss Mutoh about Gnasty, Rufus, and the Turks. So while Ichiro was forced to keep on working, Mutoh and the Carpenters set off to find the bad guys with Saburo leading the way.

"Dumb Turks are gonna hamper the process!" frowned Mutoh, his imaginary sleeves rolled up as he looked to teach Gnasty and company a lesson. "Why I oughta send Ichiro on them...for them to beat up. Y'know, as a peace offering."

"I think I see them," said Saburo, as he made out the Turks up ahead. The Carpenters arrived at a standoff between Rufus and the pilots, as neither party had yet to pull the trigger.

"Why can't we just settle this like adults?" Reno asked Rufus, Fox, and Falco, trying to play good cop as he didn't wish to see Rufus get hurt. "This is Christmas time, after all..."

"Stay out of it, Reno," Rufus commanded the Turk, who zipped his lips shut as he stayed out of the standoff. Anybody that dared to disrupt the tension would be dealt with accordingly.

"He has a point, we can settle this like adults," Fox sided with Reno, causing Rufus to look at the pilot with his head cocked to the side. "Firing shots at each other is a very adult thing to do."

"I second that motion," Falco followed up on Fox and Reno, as he was dying to pull the trigger already; the fact of the matter was, the avian pilot didn't want to fire the first shot.

"Hold your fire..." Rufus said to Fox and Falco as he took out his phone...Dimentio was giving him a call! Rufus answered his phone promptly. "Yes, Dimentio?"

"Hello Rufus, I don't intend to bother you..." Dimentio said to the president of Shinra, sounding as if he was in trouble. Rufus wasn't used to Dimentio ever being in trouble. "...but we have been compromised."

"Compromised? What do you mean, we've been compromised?" Rufus frowned in disbelief, as Fox and Falco both lowered their guards. Rufus and the Turks (and Gnasty) might have to leave soon.

"They're on to us! Hurry, you and Gnasty must leave the construction site before they...COOL IT WITH THE PK FIRE, YOU LITTLE RUNT!" Dimentio abruptly ended the call, as getting away from Ness and Lucas was his main priority.

"I'd hate to end the fun before it happens, but we must go," Rufus said to Fox and Falco, putting his gun away as he went to the Turks' vehicle. The Turks followed suit as they all got inside.

"We'll be seeing you later," Tseng vowed to Fox and Falco, cracking a smirk as he got inside the vehicle. Rude, who was in the driver's seat, turned on the ignition as he drove the vehicle down the road.

"And what do you have to say for yourself?" Fox questioned Gnasty, who was the last man standing; before Gnasty could make his getaway escape, he first needed to say a few parting words.

"Tell Spyro the Dragon that he's a snot-nosed loser and a punk!" Gnasty said to Fox and Falco - and the Carpenters as well - before running out of the construction site. With the bad guys gone, Fox and Falco put their Blasters away.

"Man, I didn't wish they had to go so soon," groaned Mutoh, forced to roll his imaginary sleeves back down as the peace found its way back to the construction site. "Wanted to beat up somebody other than Ichiro for a change!"


After being side-tracked multiple times (no thanks to Arle and her "clinginess"), Mario finally reached the ballroom. He was greatly anticipating that Link and Lysandre both remained where they were.

"We're here!" announced Mario, as he and Arle stood at the ballroom door. After a lack of surprise, Mario noticed that Link and Lysandre were missing.

"My Famous Master Herbed Sausage Sandwich is not meant to be eaten like that," Arven frowned at Reaper, who was roasting Arven's sandwich over the campfire on a stick. In Arven's mind, Reaper was desecrating the sandwich.

"I live by my own rules, bub," responded Reaper, before taking the sandwich away from the fire and giving a piece to Sombra. Sombra smiled as she held the piece close to Reaper's mouth. "Don't you even dare..."

Reaper: It's Christmas, which means that there will be plenty of mistletoe. Inform me which spots of the mansion have mistletoe so I'll know which places I can avoid.

"Where's Link?" Mario asked those gathered around the campfire, as Arle followed after the plumber. Arle was relieved that the "creeper" was nowhere to be seen in the ballroom.

"Dimentio is in the mansion, allegedly, so he and Lysandre had to leave," replied Male Wii Fit Trainer, laying on Mabostiff like a pillow. He had to ask Arven for permission first. "Princess Zelda had to leave as well."

"Stay right-a here, Arle...I got some fish-a to fry." So Mario left the ballroom, hoping to reach Dimentio in time. Enjoying the time she had with Mario, Arle waved to the plumber.

"Be safe out there!" Arle called out to Mario, before joining the others at the campfire. The mage apprentice sat down near Mabosstiff and petted him gently. "Such a good boy!"

"Care for a Christmas carol?" Zeke offered to Arle as he whipped out the guitar, which likely belonged to Dunban. Arle made a nervous smile, reluctant to tell Zeke no.


Gex's troupe had another surprise for Cloud, as they invited the swordsman to an indoor fondue party. Cloud, Aerith, Max, Chloe, Gex, and his crew were inside a rented cabin, dipping stuff in fondue and all that good stuff.

"I remember when Vin Diesel told me that I wasn't family," recalled Gex, reliving a bitter painful memory that never even happened in the first place. "Hit me harder than a train near Kevin Costner's house."

"You never met Vin Diesel - or Kevin Costner," Cloud said to Gex, shutting the lizard down with plain facts and logic. Gex had nothing to argue against Cloud, as Cloud dipped his bread in the fondue.

"...touché. But I think we can all agree that we're a bunch of misfits. Isn't that right, Tharja? Like to share a few words?" Gex looked towards Tharja, who sighed as she had no choice but to share her story.

"Well, I have scared many of my comrades in the army with my magic..." said Tharja, forced to share with the others why she was a misfit. "..mainly because of my hexes and how much I stalked Robin."

"That's nothing, I scared my army comrades by how much I love blood!" exclaimed Henry, wishing to cut himself open just to show everyone how much he enjoyed blood. No better feeling for him than seeing blood.

"King Dedede wanted to kick me out of his kingdom because of my friendship with Kirby," said Bandanna Waddle Dee, making King Dedede sound like a jealous ex. Sometimes King Dedede gave off that vibe.

"At my town, I'm the only villager who cares about wearing shoes," stated Kicks, and that was odd for him to say as he wasn't wearing shoes at the moment. Let alone ever.

"I never had a nose for adventuring, so I'm like the black sheep of the Kong family," confessed Funky Kong, who preferred to stay in his garage and work on the latest gizmos. He only left his garage if he wanted to go surfing.

"They always say that I'm too young to join Sonic and his friends on their adventures..." moaned Cream as she lowered her head in sadness, no doubt thinking about the awesome stuff that she missed out on in the past.

"People call me 'big', but I think there's more to it than that," said Big, curious as to what else "big" meant as he scratched his head deep in thought. Maybe the answer will come to him one day.

"I'm a misfit too - I'm a rebellious chick who likes punk rock music," Chloe was next to speak, as she wanted to be a part of the conversation. It was a conversation that was meant for her.

"Don't you see, Cloud? We are all misfits," Gex said to Cloud, as Max was slightly miffed that Gex never gave her a chance to speak. "You're a misfit yourself!"

"Yeah right...don't be ridiculous," Cloud responded in belief, not thinking that he was misfit material. He didn't meet the necessary criteria, in his humble opinion.

"Gex has a point," Tharja said to Cloud, surprising the swordsman - both by acknowledging the statement and agreeing with Gex, which was a rarity. "You are like a normal swordfish in a sea full of weirdoes at the mansion."

"I can think of only a handful of mansion folks that are at least normal," said Big, holding out his hand as he was about to count with his fingers. "Link, Zelda, Samus...um, Makoto Niijima, Twintelle..."

"I like how most of the names you listed were women," Max said to Big, before taking a sip from her drink; red wine was the party beverage. "Kinda says a lot about that place."

"Point of the matter is, Cloud, you have a lot more in common with us than you realize," Gex said to the swordsman, getting Cloud to take a look around at all the folks inside the cabin. "We're all misfits, trying to find our way in this crazy thing called life."

"You know what, Gex?" Cloud said as he stood up, his glass of red wine in hand, as everyone anxiously waited for what the swordsman had to say. "I think you're right. Cheers."

"Atta boy, Cloud! Cheers!" Gex would clang his glass with Cloud's, and Aerith cheered as she assumed that Cloud and Gex were on the same page.

Cloud: Aerith has been telling endlessly about hanging out with Gex and his pals. Egging me on to hang out with them, and bond with them. *smirks* Now I'm glad that I did. Those dorks aren't so bad after all.


Dimentio managed to get away from Ness and Lucas, as he teleported to the living room. It was the right spot to arrive in as the living room was currently unoccupied, much to Dimentio's delight.

"Those boys don't know how to let up..." remarked Dimentio, taking a rare moment to catch his breath. He hadn't been given chase like that ever since he dealt with Paper Mario.

"YOU!" someone shouted, as Schezo entered the living room armed with his sword - and his mistletoe. Spyro and Hunter accompanied him. "Have you seen a young lady anywhere? I must kiss her!"

"Way to be descriptive..." muttered Spyro, before doing a double take when he saw Dimentio - seeing him for the first time since episode 325. "...no way! It's Dimentio!"

"That's Dimentio?!" snorted Hunter, hardly impressed as he laughed at Dimentio; Dimentio remained in silence, choosing to let Hunter slide for now.

"Is this man a threat? If so, I can take him!" said a confident Schezo, dropping his mistletoe to the floor as he wielded his sword with both hands. "The time has come for me to prove my reputation, by assaulting this court jester!"

"I don't think so," said Dimentio, before snapping his fingers as he summoned a glass box to encase Schezo. Also summoned a second one to encase Spyro and Hunter, just for good measure.

"Oh...now I see why this Dimentio guy is so feared," remarked Hunter, feeling on the invisible glass walls, as Schezo banged on the walls of his glass box demanding Dimentio to release him at once.

"Found ya!" shouted Ness, as he and Lucas ran inside the living room; in an instant, Dimentio snapped his fingers to entrap the two friends in a glass box. "Dang it..."

"I found-a you too!" shouted the next person to enter the living room, Luigi; he too was entrapped in a glass box after Dimentio snapped his fingers. "Eh, I would do this-a to myself..."

"Does anyone else wish to challenge me?" Dimentio called out, daring anyone to step up to him and take a chance. "Come one, come all!"

Dimentio didn't have to wait long for another challenger, as a brave soul entered the living room. It was a man who was sharply dressed and had orange hair. Ness, Lucas, and Luigi all recognized this man from the jump, with Lucas gasping in shock.

"Lysandre!" Lucas shouted the Team Flare leader's name, as Lysandre glanced at Lucas momentarily before bravely approaching Dimentio. Dimentio was most delighted to meet Lysandre.

"Hello, Dimentio...it is I, Lysandre," Lysandre introduced himself to the jester, who was grinning from ear to ear. Dimentio longed to see Lysandre face to face.

"Ah, if it isn't the man that I was searching for!" gleamed Dimentio, his goal of meeting with Lysandre coming a week too late. "How do you do?"

"I'm doing fine, thank you for asking." Lysandre didn't want to waste any of Dimentio's time, so he got straight to the case. "I believe that you wanted to see me, correct?"

"Oh yes! I've been meaning to ask you to join a little pact of mine. Me and a host of other like-minded individuals, working towards a common goal."

"A pact, you say...and what's in it for me?" Lysandre required a whole bunch of details, and Dimentio was happy to spare as many as Lysandre allowed him.

"One of my associates claimed that your goal is to remake the world in your perfect image. Join us, and you can do the same but with the ENTIRE UNIVERSE! What do you say?"

"Sounds intriguing..." Lysandre stroked his beard, before coming to a final decision after giving much thought to the matter. "...I have made my choice. I will join you."

"Mama mia..." moaned Luigi, as Lucas held his head in shame and Ness smacked his forehead. Lysandre was about to side with Dimentio - but nothing was official just yet.

"Marvelous choice!" exclaimed Dimentio, before extending his hand to Lysandre for a handshake. "Shake on it?" Lysandre looked at Dimentio's hand, as he brought his hand close to the jester's.

"We have ourselves a deal..." replied Lysandre, his hand getting closer and closer to Dimentio's hand...before faking out Dimentio entirely as he reached for a Poke Ball. "...Pyroar, Fire Blast!"

Lysandre threw his Poke Ball, releasing a Pyroar, and Pyroar followed Lysandre's command as he fired a Fire Blast at Dimentio. Dimentio was set ablaze, unable to put the fire out.

"AAAAAUUUUGH!" Dimentio screamed in pain, as his current state made the glass boxes go away. Spyro, Luigi, and everyone else was free.

"Yes! I'm free!" rejoiced Schezo, before turning his attention to Dimenito wanting to take advantage of the jester's burning state. "Now I shall have my way with the court jester, and force myself upon him."

"Hold it right-a there - I got him!" said a certain plumber, as Mario arrived at the living room with his FLUDD. Mario doused water all over Dimentio, putting out the flames as Dimentio was singed from head to toe.

"Great...now I'm soaked like a newborn baby's diaper..." growled Dimentio, soaking wet as he turned to Lysandre and showed his disappointment. "Since you refuse to join me, then maybe Fawful will..."

"There is no need; Dr. Eggman also told him to turn down your advances," Lysandre informed Dimentio, making the jester even angrier than before. Dimentio faced Mario, too irritated at the moment to deal with the plumber or anyone else.

"My revenge tour is close to starting...and there is not a thing you can do about it, Mario. Mark my words. Ciao!" Dimentio vanished away, as his mission of recruiting Lysandre was a failure.

"Nice one, Lysandre!" Link said to the Team Flare leader, thoroughly impressed by the fake out that Lysandre did on Dimentio. Wanted to give Lysandre a high five for it, if only Lysandre was into that type of thing.

"We saw everything from afar," Zelda said to Lysandre, generally pleased with how well the operation turned out. "You did great, Lysandre. You too, Mario."

Zelda: So Bowser started a campfire in the ballroom, and Dimentio was set on fire by Lysandre's Pyroar. Yet the fire detectors never made a single sound. Is the fire system down today? Can X fix that or something?

"I suppose I handled myself quite well," remarked Lysandre, before taking out his Poke Ball and sending his Pyroar back inside. When Lysandre put his Poke Ball away, he was approached by Mario.

"Ahem..." Mario cleared his throat, as Lysandre took notice of the plumber. Finally, all the unnecessary apologizing that Lysandre was doing has led up to this very moment.

"Mr. Mario, it sounds odd, but...I have longed to see you." Lysandre looked down at Mario, amused by the height discrepancy between him and the plumber. "How are you?"

"I'm...trying to be better, I guess." Mario gave a simple shrug, unable to think of another answer. But it was an answer that Lysandre was totally fine with.

"Likewise, likewise...I hope that you still aren't angry with me, with how I conspired to ruin your wedding day. It was directed at the wrong target..."

"Nah, you're good, I'm over it now. I mean, Dr. Eggman and Jakob made-a their peace, so I figured that you'd come-a running to me to do the same."

"Hate to interrupt this touching moment," Schezo said to Mario and Lysandre, picking up his mistletoe as he remembered what he came to the mansion to do. "But have any of you seen Arle Nadja?"

"She's at the camp-a fire session in the ballroom." With that information in mind, Schezo ran off as Mario frowned upon realizing what he had just done. "Mama mia! Schezo was the creeper all along."

"I'd like to join you at the campfire," Lysandre offered to Mario, wanting to use that time at the campfire as an opportunity to let bygones be bygones. "You and your friend can come as well, Lucas."

"Looks like someone wants to be your friend," Ness smiled teasingly as he playfully shoved Lucas; Lucas smiled as he shoved Ness right back.

"That sounds-a lovely," Mario said to Lysandre, who wanted to bring Spyro and Hunter along - and one more person. "Mind if I bring-a my wife? I'll tell her to leave her frying pan at home-a if I have to."


Cloud and Aerith enjoyed their time at the fondue party, as they returned home in a relatively happy mood. Cloud walked Aerith up the steps to her front door, before coming to a stop.

"You have to admit, that was a nice thing those 'dorks' did," Aerith said to Cloud while using a pair of finger quotes. "Or do you still think that they're dorks?"

"Aerith...I think I found my new family," Cloud admitted to Aerith, who gasped with joy thinking that the fondue party worked wonders. "My temporary one, that is." Cloud's clarification certainly didn't stop Aerith from hugging him.

"See? Told you that you just had to take a chance with them." Aerith couldn't hide her joy, as Cloud walked the flower girl inside her house. If Master Hand ever refused to welcome Cloud back, then Cloud would have a ragtag group of "dorks" to lean back on.

"Oh, by the way - when did you find out that you were no longer part of the Smash Mansion family?" Aerith wasn't fully inside the house when she asked her million-dollar question, and Cloud had no choice but to fess up.

"Let me let you in on a little secret..." Cloud discreetly slid his translocator out from his pocket, as Aerith noticed the device. "...remember when you told me not to use this without speaking with you first?"


His body close to dry, Dimentio convened with Gnasty Gnorc, Rufus, and the Turks somewhere in downtown Seattle. The jester gave his confidants a 4-1-1 of today's events.

"Lysandre is out of the running...and so is Fawful," Dimentio said to Gnasty and Rufus, as Gnasty grunted and punched a wall only to hurt his hand. "We have to keep looking."

"Got a call from Giovanni earlier," Rufus told Dimentio, as Gnasty was shaking his hand to shake off the pain. "He said that the alternate universe machine is nearing completion, but the time machine needs a boost."

"A boost?" Dimentio took out the violet book that he had earlier...and also the scarlet book that he had in the last episode. "I know someone in Paldea who can give us a boost..."


Lysandre was with Mario, Peach, Lucas, and others in the ballroom, as the campfire was still blazing. Everyone was merry for the most part, save for a suddenly panicky Dr. Wily.

"Did you hear that?" Wily asked the others, standing up as he felt the strange need to leave the ballroom and kick somebody's butt. "Somebody mentioned a time machine."

"Nobody mentioned anything, it's all in your head," Aqua said to Wily, before gasping as Crash held his ugly Christmas sweater over the fire. "Crash!"

"Don't mind him, he's making his ugly Christmas sweater even uglier," Sonic defended Crash's actions, as Crash pulled his sweater away from the heat. The Cortex face on the sweater was even more messed up.

Cortex: Crash has an ugly Christmas sweater of me? Aw, how sweet of him! I ought to make a sweater out of bandicoot fur in kind. Now tell me, do I look good on the sweater?...I said, do I look good? Why are you giggling?

"Got a Master Herbed Sausage Sandwich if anyone wants it," offered Arven as he held the sandwich high up in the air; the sandwich was snatched by Fox, who had a second candy cane latte free as charged. "You could've asked..."

"Nah, that's too much work," Fox said to Arven, doing a toast with Falco as the pilots clanged their candy cane lattes together. Fox was finally enjoying his latte without anyone shooting at it.

"GET AWAY FROM ME, CREEPER!" Arle shouted at Schezo, who was chasing the mage apprentice around the ballroom while holding the mistletoe. Schezo just wanted one kiss from Arle.

"Slow down, Arle! I shall have my way with you!" shouted Schezo, as Lucas was drinking some hot chocolate only to snort out its contents. Schezo nearly made someone choke.

"Let's have a song!" Zeke exclaimed as he reached for the guitar, before thinking twice when Lysandre shot him a glare. Zeke slowly took his hands away from the guitar. "I'll just wait until everyone leaves..."

"Just looking out for you, Mario," Lysandre said to the plumber, raising his cup of hot chocolate. Mario and Peach both looked at Lysandre, smiling, as Mario pulled out an invitation. "What's this?"

"An invite to our ugly Christmas sweater contest-a next week," explained Mario, as Lysandre carefully inspected the invite. There was not much on it, so the inspection was a bit unnecessary. "Feel free to stop-a by!"

"Now this is one invite that I can accept." Lysandre put the invite in his back pocket, slightly entertaining the thought of entering the contest. "I shall make my presence known."

"Just don't endlessly apologize if you lose," Link quipped at Lysandre, making Zelda giggle and nudge her husband. Link feared Lysandre would glare at him, but he got a smirk instead from the Team Flare leader.

Much credit to Dr. Eggman for setting Lysandre on the right path.