Author's Note:
So why was this chapter delayed, close to midnight? One word: Wrestlemania. Also had an extra-long work shift this week, which complicated some things. I wanted to use this chapter to debut some new Fire Emblem: Engage folks but I'm still learning about the characters from that game. So I'm going with a chapter with a different kind of Fire Emblem flair. It's a chapter idea that I've kept hidden in my back pocket for at least a year or two. Three reviews to answer, first one is from Cloudenstein:
"Can this be considered kidnapping? Surely there's a way to prove that Lara's not the one doing that, right? Believe me, I don't care who you put in Omnis Adest, but all of them consented, right? Hopefully they can put Master Hand in its place soon."
Yes, in a sense, this is considered kidnapping. And yes, Master Hand will be put in his place soon. Next is A JRPG enjoyer:
"Swear to God, I hope you had a full-blown chapter of Nohr vs. Hoshido prepared. As much as I don't like Fates that much, the banter between those two families is too good to be missed out on. But, this is coming to a guy who heartlessly skipped out on a Robin-Lucina wedding chapter and gave them a sloppy clip at the end of a clip-show episode. (Hope you're seeing this, Romance enjoyer.) My expectation should be lowered."
Funny you should mention that because...you know what, I'll let the chapter title speak for itself. Last is David, with some questions:
"Will the King of Fighters cast show up again in future chapters? (King of Fighters XIII just got a Switch port announced). Does Viridi wear street clothes or her goddess outfit when going out on dates with Pit? Any of the Fire Emblem Cipher characters gonna have a small appearance? (They were recruitable DLC in Echoes). Has Sora mentioned the events of Dream Drop Distance to anyone? And finally, what did you like and dislike about WrestleMania 39?"
King of Fighters characters will show up again in the future. Viridi doesn't have any street clothes, so she just wears her goddess outfit. Very small chance of any Cipher characters appearing. Sora hasn't mentioned the events of Dream Drop Distance yet. And what I liked and disliked about WrestleMania 39...I'll just say that I prefer Night 1 over Night 2, and leave it at that.
Episode 381: Custody
Film adaptions of popular video game series were usually hit-or-miss with the gaming crowd. Some movies were decent, while others were painfully mediocre. Now and then, there will be a time when a video game film is a complete abomination and decried by fans and critics alike.
The Super Mario Bros film, released in 1993, met all the criteria of being an abomination. It lacked substance and story and was doomed by poor writing as most terrible movies were. But fast-forward thirty years later, as a new Mario film was set to hit theaters - The Super Mario Bros Movie. Developed by Illumination Pictures and Nintendo, the animated film had no reason to do poorly at the box office.
The Super Mario Bros Movie arrived at theaters on April 5th, and Mario saw the movie twice. His first viewing was on the day of the movie's premiere, with Princess Peach, and the second was a day later - in private, no less. The plumber was set to watch the movie again today but with a viewing party consisting of Luigi, Donkey Kong, and Bowser. But before Mario could take everyone to the movies, he and Peach had to handle some business first at a grocery store.
"This box of Milk Duds would be hard to stuff underneath my armpit," remarked Peach as she was holding a box of Milk Duds, before seeing the other shoppers behind her giving her weird looks. "None of you were supposed to hear that."
"A lot of candy you have there," the cashier said to Mario, as she scanned the numerous amounts of candy that the plumber had. "What do you plan to do with it?"
"We're giving back," answered Mario, taking the box of Milk Duds from Peach and handing it to the cashier so that it could be scanned. "Giving back to the kids at the home-a less shelter!"
"...the nursery home, he means," Peach clarified to the cashier, as she saved Mario's butt; that was an answer the cashier was willing to accept, as she scanned the last of Mario and Peach's candy.
"Your total is $186.34," the cashier read the final price of Mario's purchase on the cash register, and Mario could come through as he inserted his debit card into the card reader. Once the transaction was made, a receipt was printed out.
"Thank-a you and have a good day!" Mario said to the cashier, taking the receipt from the cashier before he and Peach grabbed their shopping bags. As Mario and Peach exited the store, the cashier couldn't help but wonder what the couple's real reason was for buying all that candy.
Outside the grocery store were Luigi, Daisy, Donkey Kong, Toad, Spyro, and Hunter, all of whom were held responsible for babysitting Jennifer and Lou. Luigi was doing most of the babysitting, as he had Mario and Luigi's kids all riding on a coin-operated rocket ride.
"Mario and Peach better hurry up, I'm all out-a of coins!" panicked Luigi, who had used his last quarter on the rocket ride. The green plumber only had ten quarters to spare, and all of them were used up.
"Don't look at me, I could've been the kids' ride, free as charged," Donkey Kong said to Luigi as he folded his arms and looked the other way, not wanting to surrender Luigi any coins he might have. "But no..."
"Guys, stop arguing, here they come!" alerted Daisy, as Mario and Peach exited from the grocery store with their bags of candy. Mario and Peach dropped the grocery bags to the ground.
"We have brought-a the goods," announced Mario, before checking the insides of his arm sleeves and pants sleeves for any small objects that might be inside. "Now, Spyro and Hunter! Stuff-a us like a teddy bear."
"But people will see us," argued Spyro, as he saw several folks going in and out of the grocery store. Any one of those folks could potentially call the local authorities on Mario.
"I said, stuff-a us like a teddy bear!" So Spyro and Hunter immediately got down to stuffing, as they grabbed the candy and stuffed them into Mario and Peach's garments. Regardless of what the shoppers thought about it.
"Going to the movies, Mario?" a certain movie star asked Mario, as Twintelle showed up while holding her very own shopping bag. Spyro and Hunter stopped with the stuffing as if they were intimidated by Twintelle or something.
"How can you tell?" Mario asked Twintelle, who thought that the plumber was being sarcastic as she cracked a smirk. Twintelle knew every single trick that most moviegoers put into practice.
"You make it so obvious, Mario. I assume that you're going to see that Super Mario movie. I happen to be playing that movie at my theater."
Twintelle: Obtaining the rights to have the movies played at my theater was no problem for me - I am an actress, after all. The only roadblock I had was finding workers. Some of the folks at Omnis Adest act like they're allergic to having a 9-to-five job. Or rather a 24-hour job since the movie theater will be open for twenty-four hours. Maybe that's where I messed up in getting potential workers interested.
"We were planning on-a watching the movie at a theater down-a town" explained Mario, as Hunter took one of the boxes of candy and opened it discreetly. "What's the catch with your theater?"
"Movie tickets and snacks are half-off on Fridays...and that includes the hot dogs," Twintelle replied with an alluring smile, and immediately Mario was sold. Mario scooped up all the candy, including the Sour Patch Kids that Hunter was about to eat.
"Hey, I was gonna eat that!" Hunter frowned at Mario, who placed all the candy in the shopping bags as he had to make a quick return. Do grocery stores even allow returns?
"I can't do this without-a you, princess!" Mario said to Peach, who grabbed a few shopping bags as she and Mario brought the candy inside the store. Luigi didn't know how long it would take Mario and Peach, which led him to ask...
"Do you have any quarters?" the green plumber asked Twintelle, who took out her purse and handed Luigi two quarters. Luigi inserted the quarters into the coin-operated rocket ride, as the kiddies had another go.
"You can all thank me later - after the movie is over," Twintelle said to Luigi and the others, closing her purse and giving a wave as entered the grocery store. With her being an actress, Twintelle ought to keep a low profile inside.
The arrival of the Nohrian family at Omnis Adest meant that Corrin and Kamui could be reunited with their royal siblings - Xander, Camilla, Leo, and Elise. Corrin invited his four Nohrian siblings to the mansion so that they could see how much he has grown as a father, as he had his siblings gathered in the gaming room.
"Kana, show them your lightsaber skills!" Corrin commanded Kana, who did a demonstration for Xander and company as she struck a few poses with a green lightsaber in her hands. Camilla and Elise were slightly entertained, as they did some light clapping, while Xander and Leo were disappointed.
"This is how he plans on showing us how good of a father he is...?" Xander crinkled his nose, failing to understand the fascination and appeal behind Kana wielding a Star Wars toy.
"As far as I'm aware, Kana is officially ruined," affirmed Leo, who was in the same boat as his older brother; he had a lot of sympathy for Kana, especially since she hadn't shunned Corrin's ways.
"But that's not all - I have also imparted her some Harry Potter knowledge," stated Corrin, before taking out a magic wand (a REAL Harry Potter wand, not the wand that Globox had a few episodes ago) and handing it to Kana. "Try casting a spell, Kana."
"Wingardium Leviosa!" exclaimed Kana, before casting an imaginary spell on King Dedede who was innocently walking by. King Dedede stopped in place as he stared at Kana, who had the magic wand pointing at him. Seconds passed...and nothing happened.
"I'm not even floating...I'm a lousy defect!" fretted King Dedede, feeling depressed as he buried his face in his hands and ran off a sobbing mess. Xander was depressed as well, but for a different reason.
"I cannot take it anymore, I'm out," Xander told his siblings, having enough of Kana's "demonstrations" as he walked away. Elise was the first sibling to notice Xander making his getaway.
"Way to be a supportive uncle, older brother!" Elise chastised Xander as she chased after the eldest Nohrian sibling. Meanwhile, Dante walked past Camilla and gave her a leer and a look-over.
"Wear pants much?" Dante asked Camilla, who returned the favor to the vigilante as she saw that he was shirtless. A rarity for Dante these days.
"Go put on a shirt..." Camilla clapped back at Dante, who was ashamed of nothing for he was rocking a six-pack. If it wasn't for that six-pack, things would be much different.
"Trying to re-live my younger years, no shame in that." Dante gave a casual shrug, as he left Camilla alone and walked off. Kamui drew near to her Nohrian siblings and saw Kana doing her thing.
"Avada Kedavra!" shouted Kana as she cast this spell - otherwise known as the Killing Curse - on Minato. Minato looked at Kana for a brief moment, before eyeing around the gaming room.
"Gesundheit," Minato said to Kana, before resuming eating the hot pocket in his hand. Kana turned to face Kamui and the royal siblings, proud of what she had done.
"That was nicely done, Kana," Kamui commended her niece, having no qualms about Kana liking Star Wars and Harry Potter - unlike Xander. Xander was in a corner of the gaming room, waiting for the charades to stop.
"Thanks, I do my best," responded Kana, as Kamui smiled...that smile would fade away in an instant, however, when Kamui looked up and saw four individuals at the gaming room entrance.
"Uh oh..." uttered Kamui, who recognized those four individuals as members of the Hoshidan royal family - Ryoma, Hinoka, Takumi, and Sakura. Ryoma led his three siblings inside the gaming room.
"Remember, we are not here to waste time," Ryoma reminded his younger siblings, as Corrin looked towards her siblings to try and get their attention. Things were about to get really interesting in the gaming room.
"Can we at least have fun?" asked Hinoka, as her younger sister Sakura took sight of Corrin and gasped. "I want to do something that'll get me in the competitive spirit."
"...b-brother?" uttered Sakura, as the Hoshidan siblings' attention was soon drawn to Corrin. Corrin saw the siblings staring at him and was full of concern.
"Look at him...he's hanging out with his fake family," remarked Takumi, expressing his disappointment as he was throwing shade at the Nohrian siblings. Taking offense to what Takumi said, Camilla and Leo both stepped up.
"Who are you calling a fake family?" Camilla asked Takumi, as the long-awaited duel between the royal families of Nohr and Hoshido was on the cusp of happening. Of course, no such duel would be complete if Xander wasn't involved.
"Um, big brother, Hoshido is here!" Elise alerted Xander, pulling on the arm of her older brother who was busy facepalming. Xander perked up, as he saw Xander and his siblings at the entrance.
"They dare show their faces around here?!" frowned Xander as he marched over to confront Ryoma, with Elise following after him. "Take yourselves elsewhere, unworthy Hoshidans!"
Ness: It's been a week since the Nohrians and Hoshidans joined Omnis Adest, and it's a miracle that they haven't encountered each other until today. I'm expecting a lot of fights over one man, and one man only...
"You're the unworthy ones; you don't truly deserve Corrin," Ryoma fired back at Xander, his blood boiling whenever he was in the presence of anyone from the kingdom of Nohr. "He belongs to us!"
"Liar! Corrin is ours!" shouted Elise, standing up for Corrin as she refused to let the prince go to any other kingdom. Someone was acting rather possessive of her older sibling.
"Um, guys, I exist too..." stated Kamui, who was left out of the verbal spat as the only person anyone could focus on was Corrin. And speaking of Corrin, the Hoshidan siblings saw that the prince had a child.
"What is this? You have a kid, Corrin?" Takumi asked the prince, as Kana stayed close to Corrin and hugged him tightly. Clearly, the young girl was not a fan of what was going down.
"And yet you never told us..." Sakura said to Corrin, her feelings hurt as she couldn't believe how cold-blooded her supposed brother was. "...you never even write to us any letters."
"Corrin has no obligation to write to any of you," Leo stated to the Hoshidans, as the ongoing feud was attracting several folks in the gaming room - with Kazuya being one of them. "Because he's not your real family!"
"We are his real family," attested Hinoka, wondering how many times she and her siblings had to tell the Nohrians. "You kidnapped Corrin and Kamui from us when they were infants!" About time someone mentioned Kamui - almost like they were treating the princess as if she never existed.
"This piques my interest..." smirked Kazuya as he scratched his chin, enjoying the ongoing scene the most out of everyone else.
Cloud and Aerith were hanging out at Omnis Adest, lying against the grass as they were looking up at the sky. Nothing was more romantic than lying down in a grassy field, although several boyfriends and girlfriends will try and convince you otherwise.
"I see a little bunny rabbit," Aerith said to Cloud as she pointed at a particular cloud in the sky, thinking that it was in the shape of a rabbit hopping. "What do you see, Cloud?"
"All I see are regular-looking clouds," answered Cloud, being as honest as possible and getting straight to the point. Aerith was not a huge fan of Cloud's answer, quickly sitting up.
"I know you get this a lot, but you're not that much of a fun guy. That doesn't mean I don't love you, though."
"Maybe all that I need to become a fun guy is an iconic laugh. Let me take a crack at it."
So Cloud sat up, preparing his vocal cords as he was about to do something he had seldom done before - genuine laughter. The swordsman took a deep breath, doing a brief inhale and exhale...and then let out the most unnatural-sounding laughing fit known to man.
"What is that horrible sound...?" wondered Larry as the gym leader walked by, only to encounter Cloud laughing. "Oh, it's just Cloud." Larry wasn't the only onlooker that Cloud attracted, as a small crowd showed up.
"Ugh, who even laughs like that?" Mio frowned in disgust, feeling like Cloud's laughing was causing her ears to bleed. The Gormotti even had to check her ears for internal bleeding.
"I've never seen him this happy...I'm a little concerned!" fretted Claptrap, worried that Cloud's laughing would bring about the apocalypse.
"Cloud's laugh sounds unrefined; it simply lacks class, substance, and style," Lorenz critiqued Cloud's laughing as if he was an expert on laughter and other common human emotions. "It is clearly a sign of Cloud's low commoner status."
"Cloud are you okay?" Master Hand asked the swordsman, as he magically appeared at Omnis Adest to see if Cloud was okay. Cloud didn't answer Master Hand, for he was too busy laughing.
"He's just laughing," replied Aerith, leading Master Hand to assume that Cloud was laughing to hide how much physical pain - or emotional pain - he was in. "He's doing it to show how much of a fun guy he is."
Lorenz: Cloud, a fun guy? *scoffs, then shakes his head* Aerith, you make me laugh. You are the true fun guy...er, girl.
Master Hand: My goodness...Cloud laughing sounds just like Tidus when he laughs! *pauses* Speaking of which, remind me to send Tidus, Yuna, and Wakka their invite to Omnis Adest.
"Sorry about that, got carried away there," Cloud apologized to Master Hand and everyone else after he was done laughing, his vocal cords slightly strained. "You know what that say - laughter is the best medicine."
"Really went out your way to disprove that..." remarked Mio, who had her hands close to her ears as she was sure that they were bleeding internally. Now that the laughing had stopped, everyone dispersed.
"Don't do that ever again, you almost gave me a heart attack," Master Hand warned Cloud, who disappeared as he returned to the mansion. All was well again back at Omnis Adest.
"Can giant hands even have heart attacks?" Cloud asked Aerith, who responded with a giggle; the swordsman was about to lay back down on the grass, but not before he saw Sonic walk past by with Amy.
"Reviving Berri for Conker is gonna be so epic!" Sonic said to Amy, his talk of reviving Berri easily capturing Cloud's attention as Cloud was quickly fixated on the blue hedgehog. "He'll be all like, 'Thanks, Sonic, you're the best!'"
"I can probably guarantee you that he won't say that," responded Amy, who wouldn't ever fault Sonic for being optimistic. Sonic was her boyfriend, after all.
"Stay here, I'll be right back," Cloud said to Aerith, before getting up and running after Sonic. Cloud caught up with Sonic and Amy, who had yet to notice the swordsman in their presence.
"Moira will handle the reviving part since Mercy was obviously no help," Sonic carried on his conversation with Amy, as Cloud walked at the same pace as the blue hedgehog. "Maybe Samus talked her out of it, knowing her."
"Or maybe she was just weighing the moral pros and cons," Amy assumed with a shrug, before looking over and saw Cloud walking alongside Sonic, albeit a few feet apart. "Cloud's here."
"I don't mean to interrupt," Cloud said to Sonic and Amy, bringing the lovebirds to a stop as Cloud came to a stop as well. "Just wanted to chat with Sonic."
"What did you want to talk about?" Sonic asked Cloud, hoping that the swordsman wouldn't cut into too much of his quality time with Amy. "Also, I heard your horrible laugh - it almost made me go deaf."
"Wouldn't blame you if it did. Anyway, I overheard you talking about reviving Berri...would you care to elaborate?" More than happy to do so, Sonic smirked as he flexed his fingers.
"Aight, so remember when that Cyrus guy did a deep dive life introspective of Conker and learned about Conker's girlfriend? Well, it turns out that this girlfriend of his is dead."
"...and you wish to revive this dead girlfriend?" Cloud was showing a lot of cynicism about Sonic's plan, and most of that cynicism came from first-hand experience.
"Correctamundo! Conker won't stop talking about his late girlfriend, so I'm gonna do him a huge solid and..."
"Sonic, do you think that Conker doesn't want to see his girlfriend be revived?" If the look on his face was any indication, Sonic had never considered the point that Cloud was making. "He might be content."
"But he just looks so unhappy whenever he talks about Berri, though." All Sonic wanted to do was make Conker a happy squirrel again, and the thought of Conker not being a hundred percent content bugged him.
"Just because Conker is stuck in the past doesn't mean he would want to relive it. I mean, take it from me and that whole Aerith Revival Project."
"So I shouldn't have Moira revive Berri?" Sonic imagined that telling Moira that the plan was canceled would be a hard ask, especially after he gave the geneticist those materials a few episodes ago.
"Tell you what you should do - Bowser's here, hanging out with Lara because who-knows-what. I'd say observe him, and Lara, and then decide what's best for Conker."
"Uh, no thanks. I'd hate to spend my day watching Mr. Ugly Turtle Dude." Sonic knew for a fact that Amy would share a similar sentiment, as he turned to the pink hedgehog. "You wouldn't do the same, right Amy?"
"I think you should take up on Cloud's advice," Amy recommended to Sonic, causing her boyfriend to faceplant onto the ground after delivering the kind of response he didn't want to hear. "He made a really strong argument!"
"Only doing this because you said so..." Sonic said to Amy as he hopped back on his feet, heaving a sigh; thanks to Cloud, his day out with Amy was effectively put on hold.
Meanwhile, two Organization members were staring from afar...those members being Luxord and Vexen. The two were hiding behind some tall shrubbery.
"Funny coincidence...for we are to observe Lara Croft ourselves!" snarled an eavesdropping Vexen, sporting an evil grin that would make any mad scientist proud. Not a surprise, given who he was a Nobody of.
"Not just observe - capture," affirmed Luxord, who was probably relieved to be paired up with a member more competent than Demyx. "But this time around, however, we will succeed with flying colors."
Sans was a usual fixture at Cafe Leblanc, as he was typically at the cafe almost every day. But today, the skeleton was standing outside of the gaming room, eating from a bag of popcorn. Whatever was going on inside the gaming room had captured his attention.
"oh man, this is getting good," smiled Sans as he ate a handful of popcorn, wasting several popcorn pieces on the floor. Meanwhile, Link was walking down the hallway with Zelda, bragging to his wife about his latest accomplishment.
"You should've been there, Zelda," Link said to the princess, slightly dismayed that Zelda had missed out on a moment of greatness. "Had Cloud on the ropes. On the ropes!"
"Beating Cloud at table tennis is nothing worth bragging about," responded Zelda, who was expecting to be impressed but was instead whelmed. "You know deep down that he wasn't giving it his all."
"You don't know that for sure." Link and Zelda soon came across Sans standing outside the gaming room, with several pieces of popcorn around Sans's feet. "Look who decided not to annoy everyone at the cafe."
"came just in time," Sans said to Link and Zelda, who heard a lot of commotion from inside the gaming room. Link and Zelda looked inside...and saw the Nohrian and Hoshidan siblings warring over Corrin.
"Why won't you get it through your thick head?" Xander shouted at Ryoma, as he was speaking up for his siblings. Ryoma was doing the same for his kin. "Corrin and Kaumi both belong to the kingdom of Nohr!"
"That's what you think," Ryoma clapped back at Xander, as the animosity felt between him and Xander could not be any more overstated. "The twins truly belong to Hoshido!"
"Only your father would make you believe such a lie. There is no way that you can take the twins away from us."
"Oh, but we will! Hoshido is truly their home, and you and your folks are just too ignorant to realize it. Corrin is ours."
"Um, don't mean to butt it, but how can you claim Corrin to be yours?" Rosalina asked Ryoma, making the unwise choice to inject herself into the blood feud involving Nohr and Hoshido. She better get out soon for her own sake.
"Yeah, is that even legal?" questioned Banjo, perhaps the only person thinking of the children as his eyes were on Kana. "Corrin is a dad, after all..."
"Corrin is perfectly legal!" attested Ryoma, the droplets of saliva spitting out of his mouth indicating how angrily adamant the eldest Hoshidan sibling was. "We'll take him, his daughter, and his twin sister."
"I'm just happy that no one has ever really thought about me," remarked Kamui, relieved and also dismayed that Corrin was the only royal twin receiving all the attention in the gaming room. Corrin was the lone main focus.
"Told you that things would get out of hand if they ever cross paths," Zelda said to Link, amazed that the confrontation between the Nohrians and Hoshidans didn't occur earlier. Better late than never.
"At least they're just sparring with words," responded Link, who along with Zelda would be forced to take matters into their own hands if both royal families violently retaliated against each other. For now, the Hylian couple was taking the wait-and-see approach.
"Let's go, brother...those Hoshidans don't deserve you," Elise said to Corrin, who hardly said a word during the war of words as Elise took the prince's hand and took him away from the Hoshidan siblings.
"Uh, it was nice seeing you!" Corrin waved to Ryoma and company, unnerving with Nohrian siblings with how friendly and cordial he was with the "enemy". Ryoma watched as Elise took Corrin away, as he glared at Xander.
"We will deal with this later..." Ryoma vowed to Xander and his siblings, as he planned on taking his own siblings out of the gaming room. With the feud finally over, Link and Zelda left the gaming room entrance.
"Wait, don't leave just yet!" Kazuya called out to Ryoma, right before the eldest Hoshidan sibling left, as he ran up to Ryoma and shook his hand. "I am Kazuya Mishima. I have known Corrin, your true brother, for quite some time."
"So you acknowledge that Corrin is indeed one of our own flesh and blood. Yet Nohr continues to keep a blind eye, and play ignorant."
"That does appear to be the case. Fortunately for you, I know of a way that can help you get Corrin and Kamui back in your fold..."
After returning all the candy to the grocery store (and having to tell the store clerk that the children at the nursery home didn't want sweets), Mario took his viewing party to Twintelle's theater at Omnis Adest. The plumber would pay for everyone's tickets, as a Shy Guy was in charge of running the ticket booth.
"Since the movie is in your likeness, you'll get your ticket for free," the Shy Guy explained to Mario, before handing the plumber all the movie tickets. Even had one for Bowser, who was absent. "Enjoy the movie!"
Twintelle: The Shy Guys were hired to run my movie theater. They don't ask for much, so it's cheap manual labor for them. Which means that I don't have to pay them big bucks! Perfectly fine for me. *smiles as she folds her arms*
"Alright peeps, I got the movie tickets!" confirmed Mario as he held up the tickets for everyone to see. Better not hold those tickets too high, otherwise a bird might swoop in and steal them. "Now let's-a head in."
"Super Mario Bros. movie, here we come!" exclaimed Spyro as he and Hunter followed after Mario, who opened a door and let Peach, Luigi, Daisy, Toad, and Donkey Kong inside the theater. Before Spyro and Hunter could go inside, Mario stopped them.
"So! What movie will you boys-a be watching?" Maro looked curiously at Spyro and Hunter, and the former furrowed his brow in bewilderment.
"I thought that we would be watching the movie with you?" Spyro was hoping that would be the case but sadly for him, it was not as Mario shook his head no.
"Never said-a anything about that. I only brought you boys along-a to help me stuff that candy underneath my clothes. But we've returned-a the candy, so..."
"...so you'll let us in?" Hunter asked Mario, thinking that the plumber could split Bowser's ticket between him and Spyro. Not like Bowser would show up anyway, he was too preoccupied with Lara.
"Mario, hurry up, we have to get in line!" Toad called out to the plumber from inside the movie theater, as he wanted to be inside the cinema hall to watch all the new movie previews. "They're taking all the good snacks at the counter!"
"Buy your own snacks, bub!" Pigma was heard shouting at Toad, no doubt trying to take all the movie snacks for himself. Mario looked at Toad before turning around to Spyro and Hunter, who were both awaiting Mario's decision.
"Look, boys...it's nothing personal," Mario said to Spyro and Hunter apologetically, before looking away from the two friends as he entered the movie theater and closed the door behind him. Mario was showing some noticeable regret.
"It's okay, Spyro, we can always buy a ticket to watch another movie," Hunter did his best to cheer up the purple dragon, who was looking down at the ground with slight feelings of sudden betrayal. "Like that Avatar movie! Those characters look different from the show, though."
"This sucks...what are we supposed to do now?" questioned Spyro, not in the mood for going back home and babysitting Poochy until Mario and Peach got back. He had done that enough times.
"Gotta say, making Aang and his friends blue-skinned creatures with tails was a very interesting artistic choice. Wonder how much executive meddling was involved in that decision."
"You do realize that..." Spyro was about to educate Hunter but saved his breath for he was too disappointed at the moment to correct his friend. "...oh, forget it, I'm not in the mood."
"Spyro and Hunter!" shouted Pit as he ran up to the two friends, almost out of breath as he came to a stop. The angel was panting like crazy. "You're just the guys that I wanted to see."
"We can watch this Avatar movie with Pit," Hunter suggested to Spyro, who was very much against the idea for he knew how Pit acted in public. Spyro couldn't afford to be banned from Twintelle's movie theater forever.
"No thanks, I'm good," responded Spyro, before turning his attention to Pit and seeing that the angel had a latte in his hand, lid on top. "Alright, Pit, what is it that you want?"
"I have to deliver this latte," explained Pit as he held up the latte in question, making sure that the lid was fastened on tightly. "But the person who placed the order over the phone is some mystery person."
"And you're telling us this because...?" Spyro was heavily against helping Pit with finding this mystery person, but he knew that was the direction that he and Hunter were headed in.
"Because this mystery person goes by the name 'Merlin'. And you and Hunter know a good deal about magic, so..." Pit looked at Spyro and Hunter with enticing eyes, doing his best to lure the two friends in.
"I've always wanted to meet an actual wizard," remarked Hunter, acting as if he had never seen a wizard before in Avalar or the Forgotten Realms. Perhaps he didn't look hard enough. "We're in!"
"This is just great," lamented Spyro - could've been worse, he and Hunter could be back home babysitting Poochy. "First we miss out on watching that Super Mario movie, and now we're stuck with Pit!"
"W-What is that supposed to mean?" a deeply offended Pit questioned Spyro, who realized that he was speaking too loud. Pit was hurt by Spyro's remark.
"Sorry, I was thinking out loud. Let's go find this Merlin dude already." So Spyro pressed forward, only for Pit to hold his hand out and stop the purple dragon's progress.
"Wait a moment - we don't know this Merlin guy, so we can't reveal to him our identities. Therefore we must disguise ourselves."
"Disguises...?" Since these disguises would likely come from Pit, Spyro had every right in the world to be afraid.
Link and Zelda were in their bedroom, discussing the verbal spat that took place between the Nohrian and Hoshidan royal families. But mainly between Xander and Ryoma, since they did most of the talking. The Hylians were debating whether or not the royal families could coexist in Omnis Adest.
"One of them would have to go," Zelda stressed to Link, fearing what would happen to the overall well-being of Omnis Adest if the two feuding royal families kept feuding with one another.
"I'd say the Hoshidans leave," said Link, making his choice as he didn't have to dwell upon it too much. He made his choice in a hurry. "The Nohrians have been more pleasant, at least from a personal perspective."
"Link and Zelda!" Isabelle called out to the Hylians, standing in the doorway of their room as she knocked on their bedroom door. "I have an update regarding the situation involving the royal families."
"What is it?" asked Zelda, who along with Link was all ears as Isabelle entered the room. The update that Isabelle will provide was sure to be a doozy.
"The Hoshidans have made it clear that they want possession of Corrin - and Kamui, to a lesser extent. As such, they have asked that they have...a custody battle over Corrin."
"A custody battle?" questioned Link, as Isabelle couldn't believe the very words that she said. Isabelle was in as much disbelief as Link and Zelda were.
"Ryoma desires to know if the mansion's courtroom can be used to settle custody over Corrin. I have yet to speak with Master Hand - wanted to relay the news to you first."
"This has gotten out of hand..." In theory, a custody battle would be the perfect scenario - one family has "custody" over Corrin, while the other would have to leave Omnis Adest. That was what Zelda was entertaining in her head.
Following a report filed by Lance about Organization XIII trying to cause trouble in Omnis Adest, Overwatch sent two of its finest operatives to scope things out. Those operatives were Tracer and Winston, who was also told to keep a close eye on Lara Croft.
"Hello? Miss Croft?" shouted Tracer as she stood outside Lara's townhouse with Winston, before knocking on the front door several times. "It's Tracer and Winston from Overwatch! We would like to speak with you!"
"I don't think that she's home," observed Winston as he looked through the blinds, seeing no activity inside Lara's townhouse. The television in the living room wasn't on, which slightly confirmed Winston's suspicions.
"Well, that tracks. Where could this Lara have gone off to, then?" Tracer held her hand over her eyes, as she looked around for any signs of Lara. The pilot walked away from the townhouse as she searched high and low.
"Wait up for me!" Winston followed after Tracer, who ventured into an outdoor lounge area where several lawn chairs were present. And there, Tracer and Winston encountered a sight that neither of them expected to see.
No, it wasn't Vector the Crocodile making a sandcastle in the sandbox. Rather, it was Bowser and Lara, hanging out together with Bowser sitting on a lawn chair and Lara standing next to him. It was an odd friendship that Tracer and Winston struggled to accept as reality.
"Before you ask, I'm making a sand sculpture - not a sandcastle," Vector informed Tracer and Winston, thinking that the Overwatch agents were gawking at him. But they were instead gawking at Lara, who was holding a conversation with Bowser.
"Now this...this we were never informed of," remarked Winston as he had to readjust his glasses, thinking that his vision was playing games with him. Sonic would join Tracer and Winston, making note of their astonished faces.
"Oh, no one ever told you? Those two are friends," Sonic explained concerning Bowser and Lara, as Winston slowly turned his head towards the blue hedgehog in disbelief. "Bowser had a crush on Lara, even!"
Winston: *stares blankly into the camera, mouth agape*
"Vector, why the heck are you making a sandcastle?" Sonic questioned the crocodile, who was making his sandcastle in peace until Sonic bothered him. Vector stopped and looked up at Sonic, highly offended.
"It's a sand sculpture!" defended Vector, although Sonic wasn't buying it...why don't we ignore Vector and focus on Bowser and Lara?
"Can't wait to get back home..." Lara said to Bowser; the tomb raider was longing for home so much, that she rejected Master Hand's offer to have her belongings brought from Britain.
"I feel ya, Lara," Bowser sided with Lara, finding it messed up that Master Hand was making his former crush stay at Omnis Adest against her will. "But you wanna know what I think?"
"What's this? You have a theory or something?" Lara was all ears, as she waited to hear what Bowser had circulating in his mind.
"I do have a theory...Master Hand really missed you, a lot. I remember him sobbing a bit after we had your going-away party."
"Aw, he didn't have to do that. Not like I ever lived under the mansion roof, so I don't know where the sentimentality came from."
"But you want to know what I really think? Master Hand's living in the past. He's clinging on to the past memories of you."
"Oh wow, I never would've known that...that would explain why he was so gung ho about having me stay here."
"You know, I used to be stuck to the past. Used to think about the coulda, woulda, and shoulda. But then I let that stuff go. Some things are meant to stay in the past, for good."
"Some things are meant to stay in the past..." Sonic reiterated what Bowser said while looking down at the ground; Tracer and Winston saw how much in thought Sonic was.
In the last episode, the Luminary got Lara in trouble by claiming that the tomb raider gave him a black eye. He had put some mascara on his face, told Master Hand that it was a black eye, and got confirmation from Ayaha that the black eye was legit.
Ever since then, the Luminary got clowned on by the others for getting "punked" by Lara. Ayaha felt about it, in a sense, and so she asked some of the idol singers if they could absolve the Luminary any way they knew how. It was still a work in progress.
"Eleonora here is going to show you how easy it is to fake a black eye," Tsubasa said to Master Hand, as she and Eleonora were with the giant hand in his room. Elenora was using the same mascara that the Luminary had in the previous episode.
"Now you see it..." said Eleonora as she pointed at the black mascara around her eye, before using a white cloth to gently rub all that makeup off until her skin was clear. "...now you don't. Ta-da!"
"Woo hoo, you wanted to show me a crappy magic trick," Master Hand reacted dully to what he perceived was a magic trick, before letting out a yawn. "I was so entertained. David Blaine must be quivering in his boots."
Ayaha: Master Hand was a little too convinced that the Luminary had a legitimate black eye from Lara. He barely even questioned it. I may have a hunch about why Master Hand was so swift...but I'll keep my mouth shut unless someone else spills the beans.
"It wasn't a magic trick, we were..." Eleonora was about to explain to Master Hand, before growing a bit frustrated as she lost track of her words. The idol singer groaned as Tsubasa placed her hand on her shoulder.
"Let it go, Eleonora - he still doesn't get it yet," Tsubasa said to her friend, before leading her out of Master Hand's room. Soon Link and Zelda came inside while being led by Isabelle.
"Hello, you three! You just missed the most half-baked magic trick in modern history," Master Hand greeted Isabelle and the Hylians, while also fortunate that the trio missed out on having their precious time wasted. "Should've been there."
"I'm sure it was fantastic," responded Link, his mind left to dwell on what sort of magic was involved after he saw Eleonora leave Master Hand's room with her black mascara. "We have some news to break to you, Master Hand..."
"Is it about that custody battle over Corrin and Kamui? Because one of the residents told me about it." Master Hand stunned Link and company, as he was already made aware before the man and woman of the mansion got to break to him the news. So who told him?
Kazuya: What can I say, I'm a huge fan of family disputes. I'm in one myself, for crying out loud! But don't worry, I didn't leave the royal family of Hoshido empty-handed. Thanks to some networking I did during the summer of 2021, I made a solid connection with a good friend of the Smash Mansion. He can do that family a royal favor.
"Master Hand, we have a visitor!" K.K. Slider called out to the giant hand, making his presence felt by strumming a chord on his guitar. "And he is one groovy cat. He's far out."
"Bring him to my room!" shouted Master Hand, who knew from the jump who this visitor was. So K.K. Slider brought this visitor in, and this visitor...was the former attorney, Phoenix Wright.
"Hello, Master Hand!" Phoenix greeted the giant hand, before seeing Link, Zelda, and Isabelle also in the room. "Hello, you three!" Phoenix greeted Link and company by giving them a two-finger salute.
"Phoenix Wright? What are you..." Zelda was about to ask the former attorney, who was cut off when Phoenix came over to shake her and Link's hand. Isabelle was left out, much to the Shih Tzu's dismay.
"Oh, Master Hand didn't tell you? Or maybe he hadn't told you yet. I will be representing the kingdom of Hoshido in their custody battle over Corrin!"
"But you're not a licensed attorney anymore," stated Link, only for Phoenix to place his index on the Hylian's lips. Such a move would be more effective had Phoenix stopped Link from talking.
"This is the Smash Court of Law, so the rules don't apply here. I was told by one of my associates that Hoshido needed an attorney, and so here I am!"
"Phoenix Wright?" Ryoma called out to the former attorney, poking his head inside Master Hand's room. Phoenix turned around after hearing his name called. "There you are. I am Ryoma, of Hoshido."
"Nice meeting ya - I'm Phoenix!" Phoenix went over to greet Ryoma, shaking his hand before wrapping his arm around the eldest Hoshidan sibling and walking out of Master Hand's room with him. "Say, how about we discuss things over some lunch?"
"This seriously cannot be happening..." remarked Zelda, worried about how the custody trial would turn out. The speed with which the Hoshdan siblings were able to secure Phoenix as an attorney alarmed the princess.
"Sounds like we'll need a jury, judge, and executioner for this trial," commented Master Hand; a jury was typically uncommon in custody trials, but a mostly empty courtroom wouldn't sit well with Master Hand. "Everything except the third part. I'll handle everything on my own."
The Luminary was clowned on so much by his peers, that the poor guy had locked himself inside his room to hide from all the jeering. Consequently, three of his fellow Heroes - Erdrick, Solo, and Eight - were locked out, as the Luminary's room was also their room.
"Open up, Luminary!" Erdrick shouted to the mage as he, Solo, and Eight were standing outside their bedroom. Edrick was met with no response.
"Yeah, Eleven, open up already!" shouted Solo, before attempting to kick the door down with his foot. He ended up hurting himself in the process, jumping on one foot while holding his other one in pain.
"Saw that one coming from a mile away," remarked Eight, as Solo continued to hop on one foot only to crash into Eight. Both Solo and Eight fell to the floor, nearly crashing into Fox.
"Had you rolled into my ankle, we were gonna have problems," Fox said to Solo and Eight, who were both at the pilot's feet on top of each other. Eight would push Solo off of him and nearly hurt him in the process.
"Ow, my foot still hurts!" cried Solo, whose foot was still aching; the Hero was lying on his back, his foot in the air as he was holding onto it. Ryuji, who was coming down the hallway from the opposite side, saw Solo on the floor and gasped.
"Aw yeah, now's my big moment!" the delinquent cheered, as he got down on the floor and held Solo's leg - the one that was extended high up in the air. "Somebody do the three-count!"
"Don't look at me - I'm not a ref," Edrick stated to Ryuji, who was looking specifically at the Hero. Meanwhile, a curious Fox ventured over to the Luminary's bedroom door and knocked on it.
"You in there?" Fox called out to the Luminary, hoping to get a response out of the mage. Got one in the form of a groan.
"Go away..." answered the Luminary, the tone of his voice indicating that he didn't want any company over.
Fox: Kinda sucks that the Luminary was picked on for allegedly getting sucker punched by Lara. I guess it's because Lara was never really that violent. It was a miracle that she never slapped Bowser, in all the time she has known the dude.
"Champion Link, do a three-count!" Ryuji called out to the Hylian, who had just shown up; Ryuji still had Solo in a pinning position. "Hurry up, man!"
"Do it yourself," responded Champion Link as he joined Fox at the Luminary's bedroom door, which Fox had knocked on a few times. "Is he hiding in there?"
"He won't admit that he is, but yes," replied Fox, only to back away as Champion Link pulled out a remote bomb and placed it at the door. "Better watch how you use that thing..."
"Might wanna back up a bit more." Using his Sheikah Slate, Champion Link detonated the remote bomb to send the Lumianry's bedroom door wide open. Inside the room was the Luminary.
"The door's open," said Solo, throwing Ryuji off of him as he got up. He and the other heroes peeked inside the room and saw the Luminary on his bed, reading a book in peace.
"Do you all mind?" the Luminary angrily asked the Heroes, who were joined at the doorway by Fox and Champion Link. "I'm trying to read a book here."
"Why not read it outside?" Champion Link suggested to the Luminary, who showed his disagreement by continuing to read his book. "You've been in your room too much! What you need is some fresh air."
"Want me to get some fresh air?" The Luminary got up off his bed, before going to the window and opening it just to prove a point. "There. How's that for fresh air?"
"Clearly that's not what he meant," replied Fox as he went over to the Luminary, grabbing him by the hand and dragging him out of his room. "You're coming with me, mister!"
"No...I'm not going anywhere!" The Luminary tried to resist, but it was no use as Fox dragged him down the hallway. "Guys, do something!" The Heroes weren't moving an inch, and neither was Champion Link.
"Have fun!" Champion Link waved to the Luminary, knowing that the mage was in good hands with Fox. The Luminary will have all the fresh air he needed...outside.
With the Nohrian royal family in town, it was Jakob's perfect opportunity to make his appeal to the siblings. The butler hoped to win the graces of the royal siblings and be welcomed back into the kingdom. He would stop by the mansion to do just that.
"How can they do this to us?" Xander asked Corrin, Kamui, and his other siblings in the twins' bedroom, discussing the upcoming custody trial that would be taking place later today. "The gall of them..."
"The fact that they would take this whole matter into court says a lot about their character," remarked Leo, who didn't expect anything less from anyone living in the kingdom of Hoshido. Anyone from that kingdom Leo could care less about.
"What do you two think about this situation?" Camilla asked Corrin and Kamui, wondering what their thoughts were about being the center of a custody battle. Although Corrin was apparently the only main focus.
"I just hope for this entire ordeal to blow over," Kamui gave her two thoughts on the situation, before looking towards Corrin to see what her twin brother had to say. However, Corrin was preoccupied with Kana.
"Perfectly balanced...as all things should be," smiled Corrin, feeling like a proud papa as he watched Kana wielding a toy Infinity Gauntlet. Kana even did the classic Thanos snap - Corrin's siblings should be fortunate that they didn't fade into dust.
"What a cool-looking toy!" gleamed Elise, marveling at how magnificent the Infinity Gauntlet was even in toy form. Xander was feeling the opposite of what Elise was feeling, as he smacked his forehead.
"Stop right there, Orson - this is their room," a certain butler called out to someone in the hallway, and it was a butler that everyone in the twins' bedroom knew. Soon an individual entered the room, and it was...a ghost.
"Howdy, twins!" Orson greeted Corrin and Kamui, as he saw the twins' siblings for the first time. He was fixated on every single one of them. "Wow! I didn't know that your whole family was full of albinos."
"They are not albinos," stated Jakob, stepping inside the room and pushing Orson out of the way. "Show them some respect." At that moment, Xander took his hand away from his face as he saw Jakob in his midst.
"Jakob?" Xander uttered the butler's name as if he were seeing a ghost - and you wouldn't fault him for it. It has been over five years since Xander, Camilla, Leo, and Elise had last seen Jakob.
"And Orson!" exclaimed Orson, doing a show of jazz hands to bring some attention to himself. In the end, the ghost knew that he failed to leave a lasting impression on anyone. "I know, I know, I'm not that relevant..."
Jakob: I have mentioned last year that I plan on being back in the best graces of the kingdom of Nohr. My goal is to do whatever is possible to be welcomed back. And that is not a spoiler...it is a guarantee.
Dark Pit: *walks past Jakob, shaking his head at the butler* Really, Jakob? Has Pit rubbed off of you?
Jakob: I don't know...has he?
"Yes, it is I," proclaimed Jakob as he made his presence known to everyone, while Xander couldn't believe that he was seeing the butler. "Shocking, isn't it?"
"The last that we saw you, you were under arrest," said Xander, who was there when he saw Jakob being arrested during the climax of episode 105. "We had already denounced you for your involvement with..."
"...Dr. Eggman? I am most aware. But I acknowledged that it was wrong for me to conspire against the mansion, and ruin Mario's wedding. Dr. Eggman has admitted his fault as well."
"That thing you did that got you arrested on Christmas, what was that all about?" Camilla asked Jakob, interested in knowing what the butler's main motivation was. Jakob was prepared for any question that was thrown at him.
"My Christmas act was an act of revenge. Revenge was what motivated me. This time, however...I am motivated by redemption. And also forgiveness."
"Redemption?" questioned Xander, as Jakob turned to face the eldest Nohrian sibling to present to him an offer that he was waiting to give.
"I have done my time in jail, and now I am ready to return to the place where I truly belong. Xander, I ask that you and your siblings welcome me back to..."
"Just a quick update, royal family!" Isabelle stopped by the twins' room to speak with the Nohrian royal family, just when Jakob was about to present his offer. "The royal family of Hoshido has secured their attorney, Phoenix Wright."
"Thank you for the information," Xander thanked Isabelle, who went on her way; Xander returned to Jakob shortly thereafter. "You were about to ask me to welcome you back to Nohr, I assume. How about you prove your worth to us?"
"I can see where this is going..." replied Jakob as he scratched his chin, with the news of Phoenix representing the Hoshidan royal family giving him a clue.
"Never told us about Jakob getting out of jail in those letters," Elise whispered to Corrin, wondering what other important stuff the prince omitted from the letters he would write to his siblings.
Pit had to make a coffee delivery in town, and it was to a person who went by the codename "Merlin". The angel obviously couldn't do it alone (for certain reasons), so he asked Spyro and Hunter to be his sidekicks. However, Spyro and Hunter had to help Pit out in a way that Spyro found humiliating...
"Enjoy your sea-salt ice cream!" Nana said to Ventus and Aqua, handing them both a sea-salt ice cream popsicle. The Ice Climbers were operating an ice cream truck in Omnis Adest.
"Come again!" Popo said to Ventus and Aqua as the Keyblade masters walked off, with Popo shaking his head in dismay at the both of them. "Must suck to be that one-dimensional..."
"Be nice..." Nana nudged Popo, only to see three individuals walk past the ice cream truck. The Ice Climbers saw what the trio was wearing, and did their best not to laugh.
"A shame that Terra had to miss out on this," Ventus said to Aqua, walking down the sidewalk as he was licking his sea-salt ice cream. Sea-salt ice cream was the only ice cream flavor that Ventus really cared for.
"Can't fault him for wanting to try out the new gym," responded Aqua, as the three individuals who walked past the ice cream truck caught up to the Keyblade master duo. The man in front, Pit, cleared his throat.
"Pardon me, you two, but do you know a person by the name of Merlin?" Pit asked Ventus and Aqua, who both came to a stop as they looked at each other. Coincidentally, both Ventus and Aqua knew a person by the name of Merlin.
"Yes we do, we've met him before at Radiant...Garden," answered Aqua as she and Ventus turned around...only to see Pit dressed up as a Toad. Standing behind him were Spyro and Hunter, dressed as Mario and Luigi respectively.
"Pit, why are you dressed up as Toad?" Ventus questioned the angel, taking note of Pit's mushroom cap, blue vest, and white baggy pants. At first glance, Pit looked like an overgrown Mii fighter wearing the Toad costume.
"NO! You weren't supposed to recognize me," stressed Pit, fearing that his costume was a failure while Ventus furrowed his brow in confusion. "This costume is meant to hide my identity."
"Is that why Spyro and Hunter were forced to be a part of this charade?" inquired Aqua, amused by the fact that Spyro was wearing actual clothing. Spyro and Hunter were even wearing a mustache to boot.
"This isn't Spyro and Hunter, this is...this is Mario and Luigi from a different universe." Because they weren't gullible idiots, Ventus and Aqua weren't buying what Pit was selling to them.
"Save me..." Spyro mouthed to Ventus and Aqua, who both had sympathy for the purple dragon...and not so much for Hunter, since he unironically loved his Luigi getup.
"Should've rocked a mustache years ago!" exclaimed Hunter as he pulled on his fake mustache, only to stretch out one of the mustache hairs too far and inflict pain upon himself after pulling on it.
Pit: We may never know when we encounter this Merlin person. Provided that they're a magician, they might be lurking around wearing an invisible cloak. Like the one that Corrin wanted to purchase for Kana for Christmas. Regardless of where this Merlin is, or who they are, our costumes will keep us from letting them find out about our identities. And what would this even solve? *shrugs* Beats me.
"So! You know a Merlin, yes?" Pit asked Ventus and Aqua as he rubbed his hands in anticipation, waiting for the Keyblade masters to give him the breakthrough that he needed.
"The Merlin that we know might not be the one that you're looking for," replied Aqua, curious about Pit's newfound fascination with Merlin and his insistence on hiding his identity. "He lives in Radiant Garden."
"Yeah, and he's not allowed to leave unless for emergency reasons," added Ventus, for anyone venturing out of Radiant Garden and to other worlds in the Kingdom Hearts would be deemed "breaking the world order". Something that Sora's Disney friends were militant about.
"But we have Dimentio looming over our heads - that right there is an emergency reason," stated Pit, as Ventus and Aqua quietly decided that moment not to engage with Pit further. No point in convincing him.
"Well, that doesn't meet the criteria. We hope you understand." Ventus turned around and walked away, and Aqua would do the same as the Keyblade masters continued eating their sea-salt ice cream.
"Those two were no help at all," remarked Hunter - a true pot calling the kettle black moment, as the cheetah was too busy stroking his mustache. He and Spyro were just for show so far.
"That's because they didn't even want to help," asserted Pit, under the assumption that Ventus and Aqua were hiding something from him. "Let's move out. We'll speak with them later."
"You think that latte's getting cold?" Spyro asked Pit, who was holding unto the latte as he led his sidekicks down the street. Meanwhile, Ventus and Aqua continue to walk along the sidewalk.
"Doubt that we have a Merlin here," Ventus said to Aqua; the Keybalde master didn't see where he was going, as he walked into a trash can by accident. The contents of the trash can spilled out, and one of its contents was a magic wand.
"Or do we?" asked Aqua as she picked up the magic wand, which was gold and had a red gem at the stop. Aqua felt as if that magic wand belonged to someone in particular...
The Super Mario Bros Movie was playing, and it was a full house in the cinema hall. Mario and his crew were seated in the front row, getting close to the action, with an empty seat in their midst.
"You think that Bowser will show up for the movie?" Toad whispered to Mario, being mindful of the empty seat; whenever anyone came close to the empty seat, Toad would shush them away.
"Not now - I'm appreciating greatness on the big-a screen," Mario whispered back, eating a handful of buttery popcorn as his eyes were glued to the silver screen right in front of him. "Chris-a Pratt is my new favorite voice-a actor."
"But what about Captain Lou Albano?" Toad would be shushed by Mario, who wanted to be focused on the movie with minimal distractions. Soon Toad saw one of the moviegoers, Penny, approach the empty seat, and said to her quietly, "Please don't sit there."
"Relax, I was getting my Poke Ball...it fell out of my pocket," said Penny, as she knelt down to grab the Poke Ball that had rolled down the movie aisle. The Pokemon trainer put her Poke Ball away and returned to her seat.
Penny: I don't do movies that much...in public spaces, I mean. Prefer to watch them in the comfort of my room. Nemona did her best to talk me into going... *sighs* ...and she succeeded.
Knuckles: Hard to believe that I was conflicted about watching The Super Mario Bros Movie. On one hand, it has a 98% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes. On the other hand, it has a critic score of 53%. But then, I remembered...Rotten Tomatoes has a critic score of above eighty percent for Cuties. Cuties! Make it make sense, guys.
Waluigi: People say that Cuties is a controversial movie, but I frankly don't see it that way. Some folks just can't handle the shock value that the movie brings. That's all it is. Now if you excuse me, I have to delete some incriminating search history off of someone's laptop...Futaba, if you ever see this, it was nothing personal!
"You seem very engrossed with this movie," Peach whispered to Mario, who gave his wife a pass for whispering since she was his wife. "I can only imagine how Bowser would be."
"Yeah, yeah, good talk," Mario whispered back, eating a second handful of popcorn as he was wasting pieces on the floor. Unlike Sans, Mario showed no signs of cleaning up his mess.
Luxord was back in Omnis Adest, and his mission was the same as before - find and capture Lara Croft. This time around, the Nobody had a more formidable partner in Vexen, who was far less of a coward than Demyx ever was.
"Tell me, why were we sent to find this Lara Croft?" Vexen asked Luxord, requiring a briefing of the mission in Omnis Adest as he and Luxord were hiding in their hiding spot.
"We are here to look for a pawn - simple as that," replied Luxord, keeping his eyes peeled as he and Vexen were hiding in some shrubbery. "And that pawn is not Lara herself, mind you."
"Then what is even the point of...here she comes!" Vexen saw Lara walking down a sidewalk with Bowser, as he and Luxord kept themselves concealed. Right behind Bowser and Lara were Sonic, Tracer, and Winston.
"There has to be some way that I can get out of this place," Lara said to Bowser, as all that she could think about what how she could get back home. It was the only thing preoccupied in her mind.
"Once I work some magic, you'll be back in London soon!" guaranteed Bowser, who was working on a secret master plan that would get Lara sent back to London - although nothing was to fruition as of yet.
"Why? Why did Bowser believe that pursuing Lara would be a good idea?" Winston asked Sonic, struggling to accept the fact that Bowser was crushing on Lara at one point in time.
"Shows ya how desperate he was after Peach got married," Sonic replied with a shrug, as Luxord and Vexen were fixated on the blue hedgehog and the two Overwatch operatives that he was with.
"What are that blue hedgehog and his friends doing?" Vexen whispered to Luxord as he raised an eyebrow, not appreciating the fact that another group was keeping a close eye on Lara.
"Regardless of what their motives are, they must be stopped," replied Luxord as he summoned a dark corridor, looking to leave. "We shall commence with the brainstorming." Luxord and Vexen both went through the dark corridor, which Tracer had noticed from a distance.
"Look at that!" Tracer said to Sonic and Winston as she pointed at the dark corridor, which vanished away moments after Luxord and Vexen went through. "That dark portal thingy, does that mean?"
"Yup...Organization XIII," confirmed Sonic, before looking over at Lara and seeing her walking down the sidewalk with Bowser. "Seems obvious who they're coming for..."
No trial in court would be complete without a jury - even if it was one involving child custody. That was why Master Hand went out of his way to gather up folks for Corrin's custody trial, prioritizing Fire Emblem and only the Fire Emblem folk. He had a great number of candidates to pick from at Omnis Adest.
"The rest of the jury is in this living room," Isabelle said to one jury member, Alear, as she guided the lord to the living room. In the living room was Edelgard, Dimitri, Claude, Tiki, Hector, Veronica, Soren, Leif, Sigurd, Eirika, and Ephriam - all Fire Emblem. Of the eleven, Hector and Veronica were the newest Omnis Adest additions.
"I got an invite to Omnis Adest because I personally knew Roy and his parents!" Hector said to Veronica in an almost bragging mood, like it was his way of flexing on the others. "What about you?"
"The invite that I got was not for me...it was sent to the wrong person," replied Veronica, solemnly looking down at the floor with very little emotion. That got Hector to stop smiling in an instant.
"Can you stop talking, I'm trying to fill out my form here," Soren said to Hector and Veronica (but mainly Hector) as he was filling out his jury applicant form. It would be the wind sage's second time serving as a member of the jury in the Smash courtroom.
Soren: Had to fill out another jury applicant form, since the form that the mansion had on record was burned. Master Hand mistook that form for the one that Dr. Cortex put his boogers on.
"Here is your form," Isabelle said to Alera as he handed him his jury applicant form and a pen to write with. "Make sure you fill out everything." Alear would skim through his form, as he found an available spot on the living room couch.
"Let's see, name, occupation, date of birth...good thing that I can remember those things," smirked Alear as he used his pen to fill out everything that was on the form. His memory wouldn't fail him today.
Everyone was enjoying The Super Mario Bros Movie so far, and no one was enjoying it more than the person who was the center focus of the movie, Mario. For every little thing that happened during the film, Mario couldn't help but cheer or clap.
"Wooo! What a great-a movie!" exclaimed Mario, as he was standing and cheering and clapping while the credits rolled. Mario was still clapping even when the lights faded back on.
"You are so embarrassing..." Daisy shook her head at Mario, uttering the same words that Spyro himself would say in this instance. Daisy and Spyro often shared the same brain cell especially when it came to Mario.
"Well, that was pretty fun," Donkey Kong offered his two cents on the movie, as he and everyone else got up. Mario, however, sat back down after he was done clapping up a storm. "Uh, Mario?"
"Round two: we're doing an encore," Mario said to the others, as he desired to watch The Super Mario Bros Movie again. It would be the plumber's fourth viewing in total.
"Cappy arranged a deal with the Shy Guys; they allowed him to stay in here for as long as he liked," Cappy explained to the others, leading to several groans - even one from Peach. "Since the movie was made..."
"...in his likeness, I get it," Daisy would finish for Cappy, before taking out her eye mask and a pair of earplugs. All of which she had brought just in case. "Didn't plan on napping at a movie theater, but push comes to shove."
"I will keep you protected..." Toad vowed to the empty seat as he sat back down, ensuring that no one would sit in that particular seat. Toad held out hope that Bowser might show up for the next viewing of the movie.
Taking up on Champion Link's advice, Fox brought the Luminary outside to the mansion patio to get him some fresh air. There on the patio, Fox and Falco were discussing with MC Ballyhoo, talking about Star Records-related matters.
"Let me ask you this question - what is Star Records' main product?" Ballyhoo asked Fox and Falco, enjoying his conversation with the pilots while sipping on some margarita. "Is it Japanese idols? Rap music? Power Rangers knockoff shows?
"We're somewhat of an open book," replied Falco, shedding some light on how he and Fox typically handled business when it came to Star Records. "We have no primary product that we focus on."
"Taking on different avenues is kind of our specialty," added Fox, and Ballyhoo was not a fan of this management style as he shook his head in disapproval.
"You need a specific product that Star Records will be known for," Ballyhoo stressed to Fox and Falco, hoping that the pilots were taking his advice to heart. "Otherwise, people will think that you're a jumbled mess!"
"But what's so wrong with targeting different demographics?" Falco asked Ballyhoo, who looked away from the avian pilot as he wanted to make a brief example. Ballyhoo saw the Luminary on a lawn chair, reading his book, and thought of something.
"Look at that young man over there, with the woman-looking brown hair." Realizing that Ballyhoo was talking about him, the Luminary frowned as he slowly looked up at the emcee. "What if he tried to appeal to women of different races?"
"Bruh, don't talk about him...he's not in the mood." No matter what Falco said, it wouldn't stop Ballyhoo from wanting to make his example clear.
"Let's say he wanted to woo a Samoan woman by doing a haka dance. Or he wanted to impress an Asian lady by speaking in her native tongue. He can't just use multiple approaches, he has to pick one and stick with it!"
"Those are not good ways to pick up women," Fox said to Ballyhoo candidly, while being super mindful of the Luminary whose frown seemed to be intensifying.
"You know why he should stick to one approach? Because he might goof up and blow his chances. Who knows, he might mess up so hard that a woman would punch him in the face!"
"I'm going back inside..." the Luminary announced, closing his book shut as he got up off the lawn chair and marched off the patio. Fox, Falco, and Ballyhoo watched as the mage left.
"Was what I said hit too close to home?" Ballyhoo asked Fox and Falco, as the latter got up and ran after the Luminary to clear things up with the mage.
While a jury was in place for the custody trial, the only thing that was left on Master Hand's checklist was securing a judge and a bailiff. Akuma would've been Master Hand's go-to selection for a judge, but the fighter was no longer a part of the mansion. And it wasn't like anyone would reach out to him and see if he was interested.
"Just called Akuma; he said he's not interested," Isabelle informed Master Hand after contacting Akuma, having seen Akuma rejecting the offer of being a judge from a mile away. Master Hand somehow did not.
"Then I guess we have no other choice," responded Master Hand, who was forced to resort to his second option for the presiding judge. "Summon Ganondorf!"
"Why did you say my name like that, I'm not a blasted Yu-Gi-Oh card," Ganondorf frowned at Master Hand as he entered the giant hand's room. Impeccable timing by the demon lord.
"Haha, it actually worked! Ganondorf, would you mind serving as a judge at the trial in the courtroom? That jerk Akuma refused to oblige."
"Akuma wasn't being a jerk, he can't do it because...you know what, I'll just save myself some trouble and say yes."
Pit was one step closer to finding out who this mysterious "Merlin" person was, or at least he thought that he was getting closer. Spyro and Hunter tried to be of assistance, but it was hard for either one of them to be taken seriously when they were both dressed up as the Mario Bros.
"At least Hunter as Luigi makes sense," said Amy, who was the next person to be interrogated by Pit as she spoke with the angel in the middle of the street. "But Spryo as Mario? That's just mean."
"Would be mean if these two were actually Spyro and Hunter," responded Pit, holding on to his dumb narrative for as long as his search for Merlin went on. "They're the Mario Bros from a different universe! Don't mind the change in species."
"Oh yeah? Then what universe do they hail from?" Amy folded her arms, as she waited for any silly answer that Pit would cook up. As expected, her question had Pit stumped.
"How am I supposed to know? They just poofed into the cafe unprovoked, and without consent! I'm only keeping them around to keep them safe."
"People can appear in other universes without consent?" Hunter asked Spyro, who dared not to answer the question as he kept to himself. Just then, Amy got a text notification.
"Sonic just texted me, I have to go," Amy said to Pit, using this as her way out of speaking with Pit. The pink hedgehog walked away as she tapped her fingers on her phone.
Amy: What is Bowser doing so with Lara? Sonic sent me a bunch of blank face emojis. Is it that Sonic can't handle Bowser being friends with an attractive woman? Come to think of it, that does sound unsettling...
"Save yourself," Spyro called out to the retreating Amy, as Pit gasped out of shock and frowned at the purple dragon. "Hey, I'm just keeping it real."
"Why I oughta..." Pit was about to put Spyro on blast, only to notice that Hunter wasn't around. Then he looked over and saw Hunter speaking with Adeleine at a streetlight.
"Rate my mustache, on a scale from one to ten," Hunter said to Adeleine, pulling on both sides of his mustache with his fingers. Adeleine looked hesitant to answer.
"Way to go, Hunter! Way to take initiative." Pit gave props to Hunter, thinking that the cheetah was asking about Merlin, but Adeleine walking away turned Pit's smile upside down. "Aw man, she's walking away!"
"Good choice," said Spyro, as a defeated Hunter returned to the purple dragon and Pit to relay some bad news. News that had nothing to do with Merlin.
"Turns out that Adeleine didn't like my mustache," Hunter told the bad news to Pit and Spyro, as a mysterious hand reached out and placed a wand on Spyro. "We failed, boys, it's over..."
"You'll get 'em next time," Pit assured Hunter, placing his hand on the cheetah's shoulder as Sparx alerted Spyro about the object on the purple dragon's back. Spyro moved out a bit, as the magic wand fell to the ground.
"Hey guys, check this out!" Spyro said to Pit and Hunter, bringing their attention to the magic wand - which had a note taped to it. Pit picked up the wand and smacked it in the palm of his hand.
"Wand must be dead," assumed Pit, before taking the note off of the wand and reading it. The angel's eyes grew wide in a hurry. "Guys, this must be Merlin's street address!"
"Must be," said Hunter as he and Pit looked at the address together, while Spyro was too short to take a look for himself. "Merlin, here we come!"
With a judge secured, all that was left for Master Hand to do was find a bailiff. That job was meant to be Ganondorf's, but the demon lord had already agreed to preside over the trial as a judge. Fortunately, Master Hand didn't have to search that far and wide.
"So basically all you have to do is stand at Ganondorf's side, and look pretty," Master Hand explained to Gerudo Ganon, whom he had chosen to be the bailiff. From the looks of it, Gerudo Ganon seemed neutral on the duty that was asked of him.
"Wouldn't say that I look pretty, but..." remarked Gerudo Ganon, causing Master Hand to gasp in shock; Master Hand looked at Isabelle, amazed that the Shih Tzu hadn't gasped herself.
"How can you have such low self-esteem, man?! Might as well go with somebody else if you're not up for being Ganon's right-hand man."
"Terry can always take your spot," Isabelle told Gerudo Ganon, letting the demon lord know that Master Hand had a slight contingency plan in place. But Master Hand wouldn't have to worry about using that plan.
"Forget what I said earlier! I'll take the job," Gerodo Ganon said to Master Hand, signing up to be the bailiff for the custody trial. A duo of Ganons was going to spearhead the entire courtroom.
"Great! Isabelle, show Gerudo Ganon the uniform that he will be wearing," Master Hand commanded the Shih Tzu, who ran to Master Hand's closet and opened it to reveal many of Master Hand's unused clothes. Why Master Hand had so many clothes, no one knew.
Judging from the promotional material for The Super Mario Bros Movie, there didn't seem to be any sign of Yoshi appearing in the movie. For that reason, Mario never thought about inviting Yoshi to see the film. That made Yoshi feel miffed in a way, and so the green dinosaur decided to invite himself whether Mario wanted it or not.
"Hey guys, I think you missed someone," Yoshi said loudly to Mario and company as he arrived at their row, standing right in front of Mario so that the plumber couldn't see. "The Shy Guys told me that you were still here, so..."
"Keep-a it down!" Luigi whispered to Yoshi, but not for the moviegoers' sake...but for his wife's sake, as he pointed his thumb at Daisy who was napping. "Daisy's trying to nap."
"Please tell me it was just you who came," Mario said to Yoshi as he tried to look past the green dinosaur to watch the movie. And then Mario saw Wario coming, holding popcorn in his arms. "Mama Mia..."
"Aw yeah, now the fun can really begin!" exclaimed Wario as he sat down in the empty seat, as a bunch of folks in the cinema hall shushed the fatso. "Aw, go shush yourselves!"
Wario: The atmosphere during the two o'clock viewing of The Super Mario Bros Movie probably sucked. It sucked because I was obviously not there. Fortunately, I will be able to bless everyone watching the movie with my presence.
"No, Wario, you can't sit there!" Toad quietly informed the fatso, who showed some defiance by getting comfy in his seat and rubbing his butt on it. "That seat was reserved for Bowser."
"And where is Bowser, good sir?" Wario asked Toad, stumping him in the process; with no response from Toad, Wario felt justified in taking the seat. And no one was going to make him move.
"Can you please be quiet? Please?" Juna Crawford came over to confront Wario, as she was later joined by Claptrap who also had a bone to pick with the fatso. "Some of us are trying to watch a movie."
"Tiny Tina is in the back, and she will not take too kindly to any distractions," Claptrap informed Wario as if he expected the fatso to take the threat of Tiny Tina seriously. But Wario did not, as he snorted.
"That crazy girl can't scare me," responded Wario, only for a grenade to roll underneath the fatso's seat. Wario looked down and saw the grenade, and shrieked as he jumped away.
"Sorry, that was my fault," Snake apologized from the back, as Claptrap grabbed the grenade and went through the emergency exit to dispose of it. With Wario having his socks scared off, the empty seat was now available again.
"You're back in good hands," Toad smiled at the empty seat as he patted it with his hand. Patting something that Wario had previously sat on...
The Luminary was deeply upset over what happened outside, and so he ran back inside his room and had the door locked as before. Veronica was standing outside the Luminary's room, trying to reach out.
"Don't be like this, Luminary..." Veronica said through the door, as the Keeper soon wasn't alone; Fox came down the hallway and joined her at the door.
"Meant to be here earlier, but I got sidetracked," Fox said to Veronica, hating the fact that he had lost track of the Luminary. "Lucas showed me some stupid Rubix cube that he finished."
"The Luminary is in his room, and won't come out." Taking matters into his own hands, Fox knocked on the door, only to be met with no response. Then he knocked again - still no response. Then he knocked a third time...
"Go away and leave me alone!" shouted the Luminary, desiring to read his book in peace as he had wanted to do before. Fox gave up on door-knocking, as Champion Link showed up.
"Back in his room, huh?" Champion Link asked Fox, who turned to the Hylian and nodded his head. Champion Link sighed in defeat. "Maybe Cloud was right..."
The custody trial was set to begin in the mansion's courtroom. The conditions were set, with Gerudo Ganon near the wall and Futaba at the side of the judge's bench while Ganondorf was absent. The Fire Emblem jury was present, and so were the Nohrian and Hoshidan royal families, with Phoenix Wright as the Hoshidan family's attorney. But who was the attorney representing the Nohrian family?
"Why is my recent search history so weird?" pondered Futaba, the court reporter, as she was scrubbing through her browsing history before the trial started.
"Wake up, Gerudo Ganon!" shouted Master Hand, the apparent court clerk, as he caught Gerudo Ganon drifting asleep with his arms asleep. Gerudo Ganon woke up in a hurry as he looked around.
"This is a custody trial, why do we need an audience?" Eirika asked Ephriam, seeing a bunch of mansion residents and tower denizens in attendance while up in the jury box.
"I'll do you one better, why would such a trial require a jury?" asked Ephriam, who could be at home taking a nap. Master Hand made sure that nap would never happen.
"Because Corrin and Kamui are not children," replied Edelgard, fingers crossed that the trial wouldn't be so much of a waste of her time. "If the two families were fighting over Kana, it might be different."
"Look, it's Jakob!" exclaimed one of the audience members, Red the Pokemon Trainer, as he saw Jakob enter the courtroom. Everyone's eyes were on Jakob, who made his way over to where Xander and his siblings stood.
"Glad to have you on board, Mr. Attorney," Xander said to Jakob with a smirk, before looking up at Ryoma who was staring at him. Ryoma glared at Xander, as Phoenix took sight of Jakob.
"Look at how the tables turn..." Phoenix muttered under his breath, forced to bring out all the stops if Jakob would be opposing him.
Kamui: Isn't it funny? The last time Phoenix Wright and Jakob shared a courtroom together, Phoenix was representing on behalf of the entire mansion in a trial against Jakob. And today, he and Jakob would be pitted against each other. All because two royal families are obsessed with my twin brother - and not so much with me.
Phoenix: Handled many cases in court before, but child custody is something that I'm pretty foreign to. But if I can handle everything else, then this case will be a walk in the park!
"Alright Ganondorf, you can come on in," Master Hand called out to the demon lord, who entered the courtroom while wearing his judge robe. Several snickers were heard from the audience and even the jury.
"Hate that I have to wear this stupid gown," lamented Ganondorf as he was pulling on his robe, forever grateful that Akuma was picked over him back in episode 96. The demon lord walked slowly down the aisle, hearing the snickering as he reached the judge's bench.
"Finally done!" announced Fuataba, as she was done clearing her browsing history. The hermit sheepishly lowered her head, as Ganondorf got into the judge's bench and assumed his position.
"ALL RISE!" shouted Gerudo Ganon, as everyone in the courtroom rose. "Just wanted to say that. You may all be seated." Everyone sat back down. "The Court of Smash is now in session."
"Didn't do it better than me..." Ganondorf muttered under his breath, before clearing his throat as he was ready to begin the trial. "...Gerudo Ganon, can you call the calendar?"
"Your Honor, today's case is Nohr v. Hoshido. Both parties prefer that the trial be completed and resolved today."
"Mr. Phoenix Wright, Jakob, are you ready to begin the trial?" Ganondorf asked the attorney and butler, who were both ready as they nodded their heads.
"I will go first, Your Honor," volunteered Phoenix, adjusting his tie as he looked to strike the first blood. But then, the former attorney had a change of heart. "Actually...I'll let Jakob go first instead."
"Very well then," said Jakob, taking the alley-oop from Phoenix as he looked to present his best case for the Nohrian family. "The kingdom of Nohr has always been the home of Corrin and Kamui..."
"OBJECTION!" In what may have been done in record time, Phoenix pointed at Jakob as he shouted his one-word catchphrase. Already, Jakob was falling behind the experienced former attorney.
"But I wasn't even finished making my point..." Jakob looked exasperated, as Phoenix pulled out a bunch of documentation - most of which was likely provided by the Hoshidan family.
"The Hoshidan family have given me this documentation to prove that the kingdom of Nohr kidnapped Corrin and Kamui from them when they were infants. Nohr is a kingdom of kidnappers!"
"A kingdom of kidnappers, we are not!" shouted a defensive Xander as he put his foot down, sticking up for the kingdom that he hailed from. "That is nothing but hearsay."
"It's the truth, and nothing but it," countered Hinoka, knowing that everything listed in the documentation was entirely factual. "You and your siblings are too slimy to..."
"Order in the court! Order in the court!" shouted Ganondorf, hammering with his gavel as he ended any further confrontation. Banjo raised his hand, as Ganondorf sighed. "Banjo, this is a court of law, not a food court."
"Well, Kazooie, looks like we've been bamboozled," Banjo said to the redbird, as he got up and walked out. Kazooie was facepalming as Banjo exited the courtroom.
"What in those documents states that the twins were kidnapped?" Ganondorf asked Phoenix, who looked through the documentation skimming for any bits of info that would best support his argument.
"This letter right here mentions the very instance when the kidnapping took place," replied Phoenix as he took out the letter in question from the documentation, and handed it to Ganondorf. "It was addressed to a close friend of the Hoshidan kingdom."
"That letter is a sham, that I am sure of," stated Jakob, as Ganondorf had to squint his eyes to make out the words of the letter. He even had to borrow Futaba's just to make out the writing.
"Blegh, I can't make out this cursive," said Ganondorf, giving up as he handed the letter back to Phoenix. Gotta hate it when someone's cursive writing was so illegible to others. "Got anything else?"
"Give me one moment..." replied Phoenix, before going back to the documentation and shuffling through all the papers. Jakob watched Phoenix while thinking of his own resounding argument.
Thanks to an anonymous tip he had received, Pit was on the cusp of uncovering the secret identity of this Merlin person. According to the anonymous tip, "Merlin" was a new member of Omnis Adest who lived at a townhouse. The address of this townhouse was provided on the slip of paper.
"This is the one," confirmed Pit as he, Spyro, and Hunter were standing in front of a townhouse. That townhouse was believed to house "Merlin", to whom Pit planned to deliver the latte.
"What are waiting for, let's head on in and get this over with," said Spyro, counting down the minutes to when he could take off his Mario costume as he and the others went up to the front door. Pit rang the doorbell.
"I'm coming..." said the person inside the townhouse, speaking in a nasal tone - sounded as if they were terribly under the weather. Pit and Hunter imagined this person to be a threat.
"This Merlin guy sounds evil," presumed Hunter, quickly hopping on the offensive as he got into a karate stance. Had one leg up in the air for good measure. "Best be prepared."
"You're right," Pit agreed with Hunter, also getting on the offensive as he placed the latte on the doorstep and took out his bow. Spyro saw what Pit and Hunter were doing, and shook his head.
"He better hurry up, my right leg is already getting tired..." Not only that, but Hunter was unable to keep his balance. He ought to be careful or else he'll knock the latte over.
But the agonizing wait was over, as the person who went by Merlin finally opened the door. "Merlin" happened to be a Magikoopa - and a rather sickly one as he had a runny nose.
"Oh, it's you guys..." the Magikoopa said to Pit and company, before letting out a big sneeze as she sneezed into his tissue. That tissue was likely full of snot and mucus.
"Aw snap, he probably recognizes us!" panicked Pit, viewing the Magikoopa as even more of a threat than before. He figured that he had to give the Magikoopa his latte, or bad things would come his way.
"His sixth sense must be out of this world," said Hunter, as Spyro began to contemplate why he had to be the sanest man out of the bunch. Sometimes he hated being the sane one.
"Hopefully, he won't see through our disguises." But the Magikoopa did see through the disguises, as he let out a defeated sigh.
"Do you guys not know who I am?" the Magikoopa questioned Pit and Hunter, as the silence from the two unnerved him greatly. "It's me, Kamek!"
"You mean Merlin." Pit knew that the Magikoopa was just an ordinary Magikoopa - one that gave himself a name to stand out from the other Magikoopas.
"No, that's...that's a pseudonym I've been wanting to be by. But it's still me all the same. Still Kamek."
Kamek: Made a failed attempt to have my name legally changed to Merlin. The government wouldn't allow me because they believed that I would change my name for the sake of tax fraud. Those idiots.
"We don't believe you," Hunter said to Kamek, him and Pit having doubts that they were truly speaking with Kamek and not a regular Magikoopa. "Show us your magic wand."
"I sadly had to throw it away; it ran out of juice," stated Kamek, as he was currently without a wand at the moment. All that he had was his broom. "My new wand will be coming in the mail on Monday."
"Is this the wand you threw away?" asked Spyro, revealing to Kamek the wand that was mysteriously given to him. Kamek clapped with joy as he recognized the wand.
"Yes, that's the one! It took a lot in me to throw it in the trash can, it really did." And since the magic wand was in the trash can, Kamek was against touching it since he was sick.
"So you really are Kamek, then," confirmed the finally convinced Pit, as he grabbed the latte and presented it to Kamek. "In that case, here's your latte!"
"Much appreciated!" Kamek accepted the latte from Pit, before paying for his drink as he handed Pit several gold coins. Kamek took his latte with him to the kitchen.
"Should he even be drinking that, since he's sick?" Spyro asked Sparx, as Kamek returned to the front door; he wasn't done speaking with Pit and company just yet.
"I didn't want to come to the cafe since I was sick, so that's why I had to place my order. Putting Merlin as the name on the order, was merely a test."
"Did we pass?" Pit asked Kamek, hoping that he and his sidekicks passed Kamek's test with flying colors. Kamek kept his lips pursed, as he wiped away the snot running out of his nose with his tissue.
"Eh...I'll let you decide on that one. But thanks anyway for the coffee. I had asked for extra sugar - hopefully, Joker came through..."
Sonic, Tracer, and Winston were on the move, as they had to keep Organization XIII away from Lara at whatever cost. The trio went to Lara's townhouse, hoping to meet the Organization duo there.
"Bowser and Lara are coming this way," confirmed Winston, looking through his binoculars as he saw Bowser and Lara coming down. "I suspect that the Organization will try and meet Lara at her townhouse."
"Well be ready for them when they come," said Tracer, armed with her pulse pistols as she kept her eyes peeled for any Organization baddies. A Dusk Nobody was sneaking up on the trio, and Sonic turned his head to notice.
"Look out!" shouted Sonic, as Tracer turned around and saw the Dusk. Tracer fired away at the Nobody, not stopping until the enemy was defeated.
"What in blazes was that?!" Tracer would have her work cut out for her, as a horde of Dusk Nobodies showed up at Lara's townhouse. Along with a new kind of Nobody, which juggled dice and playing cards.
"We're swarmed!" Sonic was backed into a corner with Tracer and Winston, as the trio was surrounded by the Nobodies. A dark corridor appeared before the trio, as Luxord and Vexen walked out.
"Bold of you to assume that we haven't arrived yet," Luxord smirked at Sonic and company, as he had a slight urge to do a slow clap just for the sake of it. "We were anticipating your arrival instead."
"No way, it's Even..." Sonic took sight of Vexen, as the Nobody reminded him of someone that he knew from Radiant Garden. But then he saw the gold eyes and knew. "...no, it's his Nobody!"
"How splendid - you've figured me out, Sonic!" gleamed Vexen, leaving the blue hedgehog stunned that he knew who he was from the jump. "Yes, I've seen most of the footage on that stolen laptop..."
Sonic: What kind of footage did they watch with me in it? I hope they didn't see any footage of me singing in the shower. And yes, I do take showers. See, I'm not that big of an aquaphobe! I just drown easily - which is why I don't take baths.
"You're here for Tracer, aren't you?" Winston asked Luxord and Vexen this rhetorical question, demanding answers from the Organization duo. "What do you want with her?"
"What we want with her is none of your concern," replied Luxord, wishing to handle things peacefully and not resort to violence. "We ask that you leave at once, and let us handle our matter."
"Or else what?" Showing Winston and company what would happen if they didn't leave, Luxord silently commanded the Nobodies to draw closer to the trio.
"We will give you this final chance to retreat. Fighting back will not be necessary, under any circumstances." It seemed like Winston and the others were doomed, until...
"YOU PUNKS GET OFF OF LARA'S PROPERTY, OR ELSE!"
That shout came from Bowser, who came barging through with a shoulder tackle and knocking several Nobodies up into the air. The Koopa King would take his fight to the Nobodies - punching them, blowing his fire breath on them, the works.
"Look at him go!" exclaimed Tracer, watching Bowser go ham while Luxord and Vexen wisely stood out of the Koopa King's way. Tracer looked to Winston and asked him, "Wanna join him?"
"Not interested," Winston replied with a smile as he readjusted his glasses, preferring to let Bowser do all the work. "Today's not a good day to go primal."
"Bowser, where are you?" Lara called out, and once Bowser was close to clearing out the Nobodies, the trio of Sonic, Tracer, and Winston were able to make out the tomb raider, standing on the sidelines.
"Not now, Lara, I'm almost done," replied Bowser, before defeating the last Nobody with the brute force of his fist. With all the Nobodies gone for good, Luxord did a slow clap.
"Superb performance, King Bowser," Luxord commended the Koopa King, who drew his ire towards the Nobody and Vexen. "I see that you still like Lara Croft. To see you eradicating the Nobodies near her townhouse..."
"Yeah, I like Lara...but only as a friend! What's in the past is in the past. Don't get it twisted!" Bowser was clenching both of his fists, and Luxord could see that the Koopa King was getting really angry. Wouldn't like Bowser when he was angry.
"Then I see that we have lost ourselves a potential pawn. Might as well rule our mission a failure." Luxord summoned a dark corridor, as he went through; meanwhile, Vexen was incensed.
"You're going to leave just like that?" Vexen asked Luxord, who had already departed, before looking back at Bowser and the others. The Nobody clenched his teeth before going through the corridor, which vanished instantly.
"And stay out!" shouted Bowser as the dark corridor closed, with a shaking of his fist for good measure. After a few seconds, the Koopa King relaxed. "Ah, that was fun."
"Sure that is was...now what are you people doing at my townhouse?" Lara asked Sonic, Tracer, and Winston - leading to an awkward moment with Winston whistling innocently and Sonic scratching the back of his head. Tracer would break the silence as she zipped over to Lara.
"Hello, Miss Croft - Tracer's the name!" Tracer introduced herself to Lara, grabbing the tomb raider's hand and shaking it gingerly. "Nice to meet ya!"
"Likewise," responded Lara, taken aback by how friendly Tracer was; it was very much in Tracer's nature to act friendly with anyone she met.
Believe it or not, Link and Zelda wanted no part of the custody trial. It involved an issue that was well out of their hands. However, that didn't stop the Hylian couple from peeking inside the courtroom to see how the trial was coming along.
"It's getting pretty intense in there," Link said to Zelda, noticing how serious everyone was looking in the courtroom. Custody was serious business. "I can't imagine this happening to us if we ever had kids."
"Good thing that won't be a reality," responded Zelda, as she and Link shared a laugh together...although Link's laugh sounded a little depressing in tone.
The custody trial involving Corrin was churning right along, as both Jakob and Phoenix Wright were fighting hard over their clients. Corrin was the center of attention while Kamui was somehow getting off scot-free.
"Here's the twins' birth certificates," Phoenix said to Ganondorf as he handed the demon lord a birth certificate for both Corrin and Kamui. Ganondorf took both certificates and saw that they were legit.
"How do you know that those aren't fake?" questioned Jakob, as he got Ganondorf to think for a bit while Phoenix frowned at the butler. "Perhaps they had those printed for the sake of this trial."
"Do you not do birth certificates back in your kingdom? Heck, why are you even representing that family anyway? Doesn't that make you biased?"
"As the twins' personal butler, it is my duty to fight for their right to stay in the kingdom that they belong to. The kingdom of Nohr."
"I can't wait until this is over, papa..." Kana said to Corrin, who was seated with his daughter, his wife Felicia, and Kamui. Jakob saw Kana holding her toy lightsaber and then had an imaginary light bulb ding above his head.
"May I see that lightsaber, Kana?" Jakob approached the young girl, who handed over the lightsaber. Jakob pressed a button on the lightsaber, almost poking his eye out when the plastic blade extended.
"Amateur," Travis muttered under his breath, as he and a few other audience members snickered. A glare from Jakob got the snickering to die down.
"What do the Hoshidans think of this lightsaber?" Jakob brought the lightsaber over to the Hoshidan side, showing them the lightsaber. What did Ryoma and his siblings think of the toy?
"Should be thrown in the trash, where it belongs," replied Ryoma, thinking that Kana was bringing shame to Corrin with her possession of the lightsaber.
"Wouldn't want any niece of mine wielding that," said Takumi not liking the lightsaber only because it wasn't a real sword. After Takumi said his piece, Jakob went over to the Nohrian side.
"Nohrian family, your thoughts?" Jakob asked Xander and company, asking them to give their honest opinions on Kana's toy lightsaber.
"It keeps Kana happy, so I don't have much room to complain," replied Leo, only more bothered whenever Corrin was wielding his lightsaber. It just hit different with him.
"I see nothing wrong with it," Camilla offered her two cents, as the toy lightsaber never bothered her. However, the same may not be said for one person.
"What are your thoughts, Xander?" Jakob asked the eldest Nohrian sibling, knowing how much sway he had. Xander frowned, as he looked for the right words to say.
"That...toy, is a sign of how much Kana loves her father," stated Xander, as he looked at the toy lightsaber with slight contempt. "So as long as she's happy, and Corrin's happy, then I will support whatever things she is fond of."
"I rest my case." Jakob handed the lightsaber back to Kana, before turning to face the audience and the jury. "The Nohrians support the interests of Kana, Corrin's daughter, while the Hoshidans clearly do not."
"I would support Kana's interests...and Corrin's too," Sakura meekly said under her breath, knowing that she was in the minority when it came to her siblings. Then suddenly, the lead juror Alear stood up and cleared his throat.
"What is this?" said an astonished Ganondorf, as everyone in the courtroom turned their attention to Alear. "Has the jury come to a decision already?"
"Your Honor, we have come to a decision," replied Alear, holding a slip of paper that had the decision written on it. Make it or break it time. "We have decided...that the Nohrians shall maintain 'custody' of the twins, Corrin and Kamui."
"YAY! We won!" cheered Elise, celebrating with her siblings while Corrin looked relieved. The audience, unable to hide their bias for the Nohrians, was cheering.
"Bested by a butler..." Phoenix gritted his teeth, hating the fact that he lost to a butler - and a man that he had convicted. The Hoshidans were all looking despondent in response to the ruling.
Alear: It was an easy decision for us to make. The Nohrians seemed more friendly and receptive to Kana and her interests than the Hoshidans did. That glow stick worked in Jakob's favor. That is what it's called, isn't it?
"In addition, the Hoshidan family are to respect the final ruling," stated Ganondorf, after Master Hand whispered some stuff into his ear. "They must learn to coexist with the Nohrians...or risk being removed from Omnis Adest."
"That is fine with me," said Corrin, bringing Kana with him as he, Kamui, and Felicia went over to speak with Jakob and the Nohrians. "Thank you for having my back, Jakob."
"As always, I would never leave your side," Jakob responded, his undying loyalty to Corrin and Kamui never unwavering. He would fight for those twins to the very end.
The second viewing of The Super Mario Bros Movie had reached its conclusion, and once the credits rolled, everyone in the cinema hall cheered and clapped. Mario, who had already seen the movie twice before, was doing most of the cheering and clapping.
Fully satisfied, Mario would exit from the movie theater with his traveling party. Daisy, who had napped during the four o'clock airing of the movie, couldn't wait to get back home.
"Before you ask, we are NOT eating out at Dingo's Diner," Daisy informed Mario, who snapped his fingers in disgust as he placed his debit card back in his wallet. Peach would share in Daisy's sentiments.
"I'm just happy that you all got to watch the movie with me," Wario said to Mario and company as he came up from behind, walking past the group as he gave them a wave. "We should do this next time!"
"Fat-a chance," Mario called out to Wario, vowing to never watch a movie at the movie theater with Wario ever again. Yoshi approached Mario. "Yoshi, we'll let you to our next-a movie day...only if you play nice."
"Yes..." Yoshi quietly cheered, pumping his fist as he had Mario's best graces. He could go back home a happy dinosaur.
Yoshi: Unfortunately, I wasn't in the movie - I did see a bunch of Yoshis, but none of them looked like me. Oh well, there's always the sequel.
Wario: The Super Mario Bros Movie is already the worst movie of 2023, hands down! Makes no sense how you can have a Super Mario movie, and not have the true main star in it - me! Mario might be hogging all the glory and popularity right now, but his day in the sun will come to an end. Soon it'll be time to embrace the Wario era! Hahaha!
"Did you all enjoy the movie?" Twintelle asked Mario and company as she showed up at her movie theater, watching all the folks leave en masse. "You must admit, that theater experience was superior to anywhere else."
"It was about the same-a as any other theater," Mario gave his honest critique, only to be forced to change his tune when Twintelle furrowed her brow at him. "What I meant-a to say was, best experience hands-a down!"
"You guys enjoyed the movie?" Spyro asked Mario and company as he showed up, still wearing their Mario Bros costumes which they forgot to take off. Mario and company were giggling at them. "We can explain..."
"Wow, look, it's the Mario Bros from an alternate universe," Ventus joked as he walked past Mario and the others with Aqua, as Spyro glared at the Keybalde Master. Ventus stifled his laughter, while Aqua smiled.
"Hope that Spyro and Hunter appreciated that assist," Aqua said to Ventus, as the two Keybalde wielders stood at the theater entrance and waited on a close friend of theirs. "Terra better not still be at that gym..."
Now that Organization XIII was taken care of, Lara was pretty much in good hands. Bowser had some stuff to take care of back at the mansion, but before he could head back home he wanted to see Lara off.
"Enjoyed our little talk," Lara spoke with Bowser at the front door of her townhouse, showing Bowser some appreciation. Made Bowser feel happy inside.
"I'll get you back home, mark my words," Bowser vowed to Lara, while Sonic was standing off to the side observing the conversation. "Once I find a way to get Mr. You-Know-Who to stop living in the past."
"Stop living in the past..." Sonic reiterated what Bowser said, as Bowser and Lara exchanged their goodbyes. As Bowser walked from the townhouse and down the sidewalk, he would encounter Fox and Champion Link.
"Hello, Bowser," Fox greeted the Koopa King, with Champion Link standing at his side; the pilot was looking all business-like. "We just wanted to speak with you about Lara's situation."
"I'm listening..." responded Bowser, as he was more than happy to contribute. Little did Fox know that Bowser had the same goal in mind as he did.
"So how did it go?" Cloud asked Sonic, approaching the blue hedgehog from behind as he saw him lost in thought. Sonic looked over at Cloud, his moment of deep thought interrupted.
"Eh, it wasn't that bad," replied Sonic, who imagined that his observance of Bowser hanging out with Lara would've been worse. "Learned a good lesson today, about keeping stuff in the past."
"Then that must mean you've changed your tune about reviving Conker's girlfriend." Cloud was hoping that would be the case, but Sonic was a bit hesitant to answer the question.
"I mean, I would...but Conker seems so miserable without Berri. Maybe I care too much about making him a hundred percent happy."
"Or maybe Conker is thinking about Berri because of his personal problems. Is he still an alcoholic? Once that's nipped in the bud, those depressive thoughts will no longer haunt him."
"You know, Cloud, you might be on to something. Conker needs to exorcise his inner demons, that's all. That'll get him to stop living in the past!"
"That's the spirit. Gotta stop living in the past. I happen to know one individual who needs to learn that lesson the hard way..."
A final ruling was made by Ganondorf at the end of the custody trial - not only were the two royal families forced to coexist together in Omnis Adest, but Nohr was allowed to have custody over Corrin (and Kamui). Should the Hoshidans not be able to coexist with the Nohrians, the Hoshidans could risk being sent back home. Link and Zelda were in their room with Master Hand, discussing Ganondorf's ruling.
"Look on the bright side - everyone wins!" Master Hand said convincingly to Link and Zelda, only to have a change of tune the more that he dwelled upon the point he made. "Well, the Nohrian family may be the only winners, but..."
Master Hand: The families of Nohr and Hoshido will both be needed in the event of Dimentio summoning an evil army to attack us, or something like that. I'd hate to lose one of them because they can't understand basic family law.
"You think that the Hoshidans would ask to leave?" Zelda asked this hypothetical question, with very little confidence about the Nohrians and Hoshidans getting along with each other. "They might be sour grapes about the ruling."
"Anyone staying at Omnis Adest doesn't have to stay there if they truly want to," stated Master Hand, granting some leniency to the Omnis Adest folks. Link and Zelda exchanged looks with each other, likely thinking the same thing.
Outside the Hylians' room, Xander was speaking with Jakob; the two were reflecting on the trial, with Xander also giving his thanks.
"I cannot thank you enough," Xander extended his thanks to Jakob, shaking the butler's hand as a token of his appreciation. "Corrin and Kamui will remain affiliated with the kingdom of Nohr, all because of you."
"On an added note, revenge is a dish best served cold," said Jakob, who was happy that he was able to get one over Phoenix. Felt good to prevail over the former attorney in court. "So, am I back in Nohr's best graces?"
"Only my father has the final say, so I cannot speak for him. But I will not hesitate to let him know about the good you have done today."
"I am positive that the letter you'll write to him will be full of praise. Oh, and when you write this letter...ask him about how Niles is handling my son."
Even if he hadn't gotten into Nohr's graces today, Jakob was one big step closer to accomplishing his goal.
