Author's Note:

Hey, all. Sorry for the very long wait.

I intended to publish this chapter days ago, but life got in the way. Been feeling a little depressed, as of late- didn't feel like writing as much. Didn't write for three days, even. But the brain fog is all gone, and so here I am with another new chapter. Still hoping to get all caught up soon (tentatively by Thanksgiving). Anyway, here is chapter 398 - only two chapters away from the big 400. Enjoy.


Episode 398: Cover-Up

Over the past week, Cloud received non-stop calls (and voicemails) from Rufus Shinra. In the last episode, it was revealed in a voicemail sent to Bowser that Rufus desired to speak with Team Rocket - specifically Jessie, James, and Meowth.

Why Rufus wanted to speak with those three, Cloud didn't know. Neither did Bowser nor Champion Link. That said, the non-stop calls from Rufus weighed on Cloud's mind, as the swordsman sat alone in his room that morning.

"It's time for breakfast," Tifa stopped by to inform Cloud, only to see that the swordsman was lost in thought. "Hello? Earth to Cloud!"

"Do you think I should call Rufus back?" Cloud asked Tifa as he looked up at the martial artist, who had just entered the room to snap Cloud out of his trance.

"Isn't Rufus working with Dimentio or something? Why on earth would he call you?"

"I dunno, but he wants to meet with me. He won't stop calling my phone, and I don't feel like meeting with him. I do want this charade to end, though..."

"Then I'd say meet with him." Tifa sat on the bed next to Cloud, giving her two cents on how Cloud should handle the situation. "Not like you're dealing with Dimentio or Infinite!"

"Heh, you're right - Rufus is one guy that I'd hardly be worried about. Dude can't hurt a fly; he'd let his Turk flunkies do it for him."

"Isn't that the truth! And if it turns out to be a trap, then just bail. But you're experienced with that already."

"I guess so. I'll consider your advice." Cloud continued to sit on the bed, as Tifa got up from the bed and patted Cloud encouringly on his shoulder.


King Dedede: Ooh! Things with Millia are so...oh-ho-ho! They're going great. I, uh...we're just clicking on every level. Emotionally and sexually and...I am not used to relationships going this well. I'm actually having trouble staying focused. And I like it!

"Who enjoys the weekends?" King Dedede asked his fellow residents at the breakfast table that morning, as a bunch of folks raised their hands up high. "Of course. Now the weekend is always great if you have someone, which I do. I have Millia Rage. She is hot. She has a Pilates butt. But we need to find something to do this weekend. And the reason you are here is that I need ideas for things that Millia and I could do on the weekend. So just shout it out."

"I have an idea for your weekend," replied Lucario, one of the least likely residents to shout out an idea, as King Dedede was all ears. "Let me get back to the sanctuary right now."

"Okay, you get out of here, big dog." King Dedede gave Lucario a high-five, and as Lucario got up from his seat, a few others tried to follow the aura Pokemon's lead by leaving the table. "Ah, no, no, no, no. You guys sit down! I need ideas."

"Lucario has got to go," stated Pyra, giving Lucario the green light to leave the dining room. But King Dedede was overruling the head chef of the mansion, just this once.

"Yeah, well, Lucario doesn't help with anything, really. Come on. Shout 'em out, shout 'em out. Shout 'em out loud!"

"Walk around apple orchards," suggested Wolf; as a romantic "expert", the mercenary should be King Dedede's go-to person. "Super romantic."

"Eel fishing," suggested the male Inkling, who had dreams of going eel fishing with Callie one day. He had actual dreams about that every now and then.

"Curl up with your favorite DVD," suggested Yusuke; he had a collection of DVDS that was right for any occasion. Too bad anyone seldom asked him.

"You and Millia should hit the Enchantment Peaks," suggested Paula, referencing the mountain range in central Washington state that was also known as the Stuart Range. "They have heart-shaped Jacuzzis. Room enough for three."

"I actually went to the Enchantment Peaks last Tuesday, by myself," stated King Dedede, who was in no mood for going to the Enchantment Peaks in a two-week span. Not even for a romantic date. "I headed up there, I went to a little Chinese bistro, um, P.F. Chang's."

"Wait, why would you go all the way to the Peaks to P.F. Chang's when we have the Great Wall in Seattle?" questioned Wendy, who found the Great Wall to be the superior Chinese restaurant. Bowser always got her food from that joint whenever she asked for it, without ever telling her no.

"Because when your super-hot girlfriend says, 'I wanna go to Mount Stuart,' you go to Mount Stuart and you make out. Whoops! TMI. That never happened, by the way. Not yet."

"Wait, that's crazy far. Are you sure she's not cheating?" That was a thought that King Dedede dared not to let his mind dwell upon.

"You know what, Wendy? This is the real world. Not The Real World: Seattle. This is super weird. When Cloud had two girlfriends, he used to take me to some diner in Tacoma just so the other girl wouldn't see."

"First off, I never had two girlfriends," stated Cloud, before cautiously looking at the reactions of both Aerith and Tifa just to be on the safe side. "And second of all, I have never taken you to a diner. Or anywhere. Stop making up stories."

"You guys think Millia's cheating on me?" King Dedede asked the residents, as the thought of him being cheated on was making him sick to his stomach.

"You had a nice little time with your...girlfriend at last week's casino night," said Pyra, as she felt dirty referring to Millia as King Dedede's girlfriend. It was cringe-inducing for the Blade, and vomit-inducing for almost everyone else.

"...and...and we almost made out, too. Granted, she rejected my advances."

"That is right. Don't make any more of it."

"How do I not make any more of it?"

"You could start by ending this conversation."

"Alright." So King Dedede put an end to the conversation, as the residents were free to finish their breakfast or leave the dining room. "And she won't say, 'I love you'..."

"Hold up, how many dates have you been on?" Donkey Kong asked King Dedede, who was looking down at the floor and to the side as he was too nervous to give a number.

"I've been on nine dates...all of them were practice dates. I really don't wanna talk about it, it's embarrassing. I'm embarrassing! Maybe that's why she's cheating on me..."

"King Dedede, don't let your imagination run amok," Pyra assured the fat penguin as she placed her hand on her shoulder. In her mind, she couldn't believe that she was taking King Dedede's plight seriously.

"Run what?" King Dedede apparently didn't know what amok meant, which was a bit sad given that he was a king. Evidently, vocabulary was not a prerequisite for a royal of Dedede's caliber.

"Amok. It means, don't let your imagination run out of control."

"Why didn't you just say that, Pyra?"

"King Dedede, do not let your imagination run out of control."

"Well, that's easy for you to say. You have a bad imagination. It's stupid. I live in a fantasy world."

"You do?" questioned Mythra, astonished to learn this very fact as she joined Pyra in the dining room. Unlike Pyra, Mythra had zero vested interest in anyone's romantic problems.

"Yes, Mythra, I do. And I can't stay in a relationship that is full of lies and deceit."

"But you didn't believe any of this was true like five minutes ago."

"That's what makes it so wrong."

King Dedede: Ever since I found out that Millia might be cheating on me, I have not eaten or slept. This not knowing, that's what's killing me.


Mario was back at E. Gadd's mansion once again, interested in seeing how E. Gadd and his allies were coming along with the machine. As he arrived, he was suddenly joined by a certain geneticist.

"Well, look-a who it is!" remarked Mario, as he was approached by Moira; fortunately, the plumber was done picking his ear by then.

"Seems that our paths have intertwined yet again," Moira said to Mario upon arrival, her face souring a split second later as she looked back. "Sadly for me, I have brought company..."

"Why the long-a face?" Mario would soon see why Moira was feeling some type of way, as hovering his way to the mansion was Talon's Sigma. As usual, Sigma was lost in his own little world.

"The leaves blowing in the wind, they speak to me!" rejoiced Sigma, easily amazed at the leaves that were blowing by while Moira facepalmed out of second-hand embarrassment. "They're on a flight to Athens, I surmise."

"Let this be a lesson to you...never tell your allies about new inventions," Moira offered her words of advice to Mario, as Sigma was delighted by a leaf landing on his nose. Sigma gently took the leaf, treating it like it was his new best friend.

"Don't know that anyone-a with significant brain damage, so I can't-a relate," responded Mario, as Sigma brought more second-hand embarrassment to Moira by speaking to the leaf. "Pit might-a qualify..."

"Pit is beside the point." Moira took one step closer to Mario as if she was about to propose something to the plumber. "I have a small favor to ask of you..."


During his ongoing quest to find self-worth, Pit oftentimes wondered how much Joker valued him as an employee. Today, the angel had finally built up the courage to ask Joker the question that's been weighing on his mind.

"Who's your favorite employee?" Pit asked Joker out of the blue, while the young man was serving Kazuya his bowl of curry. Joker was caught off-guard.

"None - I love all of you guys equally," replied Joker as he extended his message to all the baristas - although the word love might be too strong of a word.

"C'mon Joker! That's such a politically correct answer. There has to be one employee that you value more than the others. Wink, wink..."

"Don't try and sway his mind..." Viridi warned Pit as she nudged the angel in his side; she was probably worried that Joker wouldn't pick her.

"Let me rephrase it this way. Suppose you're stuck in a frozen car, surrounded by ice, and you need one of us to pee on the ice to thaw it out. Who do yo want to pee you out of..."

"Whoever said anything about peeing on ice?" an eavesdropping Kazuya asked Pit with his brow furrowed, and his spoon inches away from his mouth.

"You don't know? Ice melts when you pee on it. I've tried it myself!" When Kazuya ate his curry without saying a word, Pit smiled convinced that he had owned the businessman.

Joker: How did he know that urine melts ice? So not only is he more competent on his job...but he's becoming smarter as well? At this rate, I should lock Pit in a bunker with Sonic, and speed up the development.

"Psst..." King Dedede whispered to Pit as he approached the front counter; Pit looked over his shoulder at Joker before making his move to Dedede in secret. "...I want someone to follow Millia. I want her tailed. I need the name of a good private investigator."

"I think I've got one for you." Pit dug into his pocket and handed King Dedede a business card, which looked like the most hastily-made business card in existence. No color, no pizzaz...just a bunch of blah.

"This is you. How much do you charge?"

"$100 a day, plus expenses."

"I'll give you $50. Money's no object."

"I'm just gonna warn you...and I say this to all my clients...you might not like what I find. And you might not like how I find it." On that note, Pit took off his cafe apron and slid across the counter before leaving the cafe. The baristas looked on, baffled by the maneuver that Pit had pulled off.


In the last episode, Star Records decided to follow in the footsteps of Beats Electronics and release their own name-brand headphones - StarBeats. Fox deemed the release of these headphones a "landmark event" for record labels everywhere. How were those headphones received among its consumers? Only one way to find out...

"Of course...yeah, that's terrible. Let me get back to you," Falco said over the phone in the Star Records room, speaking to a customer who had some issues with their StarBeats headphones. The avian pilot put the person on hold and went over to speak with Fox. "Hey, Fox. Someone just called and said that their StarBeats headphones started smoking and caught on fire."

"My doctor told me to cut out hot dogs," Fox responded while on his phone, lamenting the fact that he had to forever cut hot dogs out of his diet. "We all have problems."

"You suck, man..." Seeing that his friend was no help, especially for a matter such as StarBeats headphones catching on fire, Falco left the Star Records room. Right after Falco left, Fox got a call...from Mario.

"Hello, you've reached Fox McCloud," Fox answered Mario's call, literally seconds after he heard the ringtone. Made it seem like he knew who was calling him. "What's good with you?"

"Hi, Fox - Itsuki told me that you made-a a fine PowerPoint at your business meeting last-a week," Mario said over the phone, as Fox cracked an uber-confident smirk and nodded his head. "Bet you had everyone-a standing on their feet!"

"Sure did! Well...I would've if my employees actually paid attention. Some people can't appreciate true talent. So that's why you called, to give me props?"


"That, and also because-a I want you to make a PowerPoint for Moira," Mario spoke into the phone, standing with Moira at E. Gadd's front door while Sigma was allured by the flowers in the front yard. Dead silence from Fox.

"How about...no," declined Fox, and Mario knew for a fact that Fox wouldn't automatically answer yes. "Moira is the last person I'd make a PowerPoint for. Have you seen that chin of hers? Man, it's pointy!"

"I can hear you loud and clear," Moira leaned in close and spoke into the phone, before pulling back with a smile on her face. Fox was silent once more, but this time it was more of a terrified silence.

"Uh, I mean, I can totally make that PowerPoint! No questions asked! Just tell me what you need, and I'll hop right on it!"

"Forgot the PowerPoint..." Moira returned to the phone call, as she could just feel the very hairs on Fox's fur rising. "...just bring your keester to E. Gadd's mansion. If for any reason you cannot make this trip, I will smite you."

"You don't have to do that! I'll be over soon!" A click from Mario's phone was heard, as Fox ended his phone call with Mario out of pure fear.

Moira: Rather than wait around and wait for the scientists to screw up so that E. Gadd could come running to me, I asked Mario to present to E. Gadd his best case for why I should be a part of the team. He knows E. Gadd extremely well, quite frankly. However, Mario doesn't know me, or so he claimed. Thankfully, he knew one pilot who did...


Since Fox was no help, Falco consulted the other head of Star Records, Itsuki. Itsuki was in the kitchen, scouring through the cabinets looking for a few items required to fix his lunch.

"Hey, Itsuki I need to talk to you about something, it's really important," Falco stressed to Itsuki, who was met with disappointment as he peered inside a cabinet before slamming the cabinet door shut.

"There's no way that you guys have any almond butter, right?" Itsuki asked Falco, looking for some almond butter to complete his lunch. His peanut butter and jelly sandwich would be incomplete without it.

"Yeah, I don't know. Look, one of our customers called. He was in the middle of listening to his music and the headphones started smoking and then the ear cups caught on fire."

"That's weird. I haven't heard of that happening. I would even settle for apricot preserves."

"What are we gonna do about this?" Headphones catching on fire was no issue worth overlooking, and that should give Itsuki some impulse to act fast.

"I don't know. Call the manufacturers, and see if they know anything. Yeah. That's what I'll do today. Alright. Yeah."

"Let me know what they say." Nodding his head towards Falco in confirmation, Itsuki left the kitchen hoping to find some almond butter at the tower. Speaking of the tower, a resident from there was in the kitchen, unbeknownst to Falco...Knuckles, who was reading a newspaper while leaning against the counter.

"Wow. That dude is good," Knuckles commented on Itsuki as he lowered his newspaper, grabbing the attention of Falco. Falco was puzzled as to why Knuckles was reading a newspaper that was published years ago (the Seattle Seahawks Super Bowl win was on the front page), but he was willing to give the echidna a pass.

"What do you mean?"

"You didn't feel like he was hiding something?"

"I don't know. Itsuki isn't sneaky like that."

"Like he was...covering something up? Maybe."

Yukari: A couple of weeks ago, Falco promised me the offer of a lifetime. My very own spin-off show! I was gonna be the main star! But as it turned out, that was an empty promise just to make me feel happy. Even worse, Force Five is pretty much done for so my run on the show was short-lived. But I said, "Yukari, just wait. Falco's a fool. There's gonna be an opportunity. Just be patient." *smiles*

Knuckles: Yeah, I'm stuck doing Yukari's dirty work. I better get paid for it.


Cloud spent most of his time at the breakfast table deciding whether or not he should speak with Rufus. Had his portions stolen during his time of contemplating, but that didn't faze the swordsman any. No longer lost in thought, Cloud made his final decision.

"I've made my choice," Cloud informed Champion Link as he entered the foyer; Champion Link, who was sitting on a windowsill brandishing his Master Sword, looked around in confusion. "I'm going to speak with Rufus."

"Alright then," responded Champion Link, who stopped brandishing his sword as he stood up. "Do you need any backup?" Good thing that Champ already had his Master Sword if backup was...

"Hey, Cloud!" Sora called out the swordsman's name as he showed up at the foyer, with Cloud rolling his eyes and groaning on cue. "Gotta ask you something - do you mind if..."

"No," Cloud responded in his nearly classic deadpan tone, as he was about to tell Sora off. But then, his face brightened up for a brief moment. "Actually, Sora, can I ask you something?"

"Sure thing!" Rarely, if ever, did Cloud ask Sora for favors, so Sora always appreciated the opportunity whenever it came around. "What do you need? A back massage? A pat on the back? A back massage where I pat your back?"

"Uh, none of those things. I want you to get me...Team Rocket. I'll tell you when to bring them, so stay put."


Pit was already at the gym, which was a Planet Fitness gym, and he sat outside at the front entrance while he awaited Millia Rage's arrival. Once he saw Millia appear, the angel stood up and acted friendly.

"Hi, stranger!" Pit greeted Millia; the angel wasn't a total stranger to Millia, for Millia had already seen his face at Casino Night.

"Oh, hi! You work for King Dedede," responded Millia, as Pit had his hand out for a handshake. Lord knows where that hand has been.

"I work with King Dedede. I'm Pit!"

"Millia Rage, nice to see you."

Pit: All cases are solved with logic. The only logical way to find out if Millia is a cheater is to have a man seduce her, gauge her reaction, and then call King Dedede and tell him the good or bad news. *sighs* Unfortunately, I'll have to be that man.


Trying to accept the reality that Millia was possibly cheating on him, a depressed King Dedede sat at the side of Luigi's home, eating some ice cream. Luigi and Daisy caught the fat penguin in broad daylight as they came around the corner of their house.

"That's interesting," commented Luigi, as King Dedede was eating his ice cream out of a plastic bowl, grimacing mightily every time he swallowed. "Wow, it's a little early for ice-a cream, don't you think?"

"It's never too early for ice cream, Luigi," replied King Dedede, whose ice cream looked incredibly suspect judging by its composition. "But I couldn't find any ice cream, so this is mayonnaise and black olives." That led to some disgusted faces from Luigi and Daisy. "It's comfort food, alright?"

"You know King Dedede, Daisy and I heard-a about this whole Millia thing, and I can assure-a you that it's gonna be okay. You just...stop beating yourself-a up."

"I know. Well, I hope you're right. We'll see what Pit says."

"Why do we have to see what Pit says?" asked Daisy, as her attention was brought to the pre-paid phone in King Dedede's hand - the same phone that Dedede had purchased solely for Casino Night.

"Because I have him investigating her. I'm waiting for a text update."

"No, no, no, no. King Dedede, undo that. Undo that."

"It's too late to undo it. I need to know. Otherwise, this thing is going to spiral out of amok!"

"King Dedede! Okay, I'm...I'm going to talk straight to you because I think you need to hear it. King Dedede."

"This is so disgusting..." King Dedede was almost about to puke after he ate another morsel of his mayonnaise and black olives "ice cream", and nothing in his depressed mind was telling him to stop.

"Stop eating it! Do you wanna be happy? Look at you. You pretty much fail at every romantic relationship you're in."

"That's not true." King Dedede quickly changed his mind real quick when Daisy stared him down. "You're right, I ruin everything. And I've known some wonderful women - Captain Syrup being one of them. And she played me like a dang fiddle! She could've been the greatest love of my life..."

"You should stop-a this..." Luigi said to King Dedede as he pulled away the mayo and olives bowl, preparing to throw its contents in the trash can soon. "...and you should call Pit right now."


Mario and Moira remained outside E. Gadd's mansion, waiting for Fox. Sigma was gawking at his reflection in the window wondering if he was face-to-face with his long-lost twin brother - or twin cousin. Moira's patience was wearing thin, as she looked to unleash a wicked Coalescence on Fox when he arrived.

"Sorry, I'm late!" Fox was heard shouting from afar, as he soon showed up at the mansion nearly out of breath. Had to come to a stop and take a breather. "Fatherly duties come first."

"Then I won't smite you - consider yourself spared, McCloud," Moira smiled at Fox, who let out a sigh of relief as he was done catching his breath. Sigma hovered over to Fox, fascinated by the pilot's presence.

"Good afternoon, kind sir! Have you met my twin?" Sigma asked Fox out of utter curiosity, before gesturing to the window that he was gawking at. "He is quite the bashful one."

"I reckon that he's a swell guy," replied Fox, keeping his comments as friendly as possible, as a dark corridor suddenly appeared in his midst. The pilot instinctively took out his Blaster, pointing his gun at the portal.

"Wait, Fox! Hold-a your fire," Mario warned Fox, who gave the plumber a weird glance as he had his finger on the trigger. Vexen and Demyx both stepped out of the dark corridor and were greeted by the sight of Fox pointing his Blaster at him.

"Oh no, he's gonna shoot us!" panicked Demyx, showing his trademark cowardice as he hid behind Vexen using him as a human shield. "Take the bullet, Vexen!"

"Stop being a coward, he won't pull the trigger," Vexen scolded Demyx as he pushed the Nobody away from him, before directing his attention to Mario. "Mario, did you not tell your friend?"

"Tell my friend what?" asked a confused Mario as he scratched his head, only to realize immediately after Vexen furrowed his brow. "Oh, yeah!"

"What's going on?" questioned Fox, not knowing who to trust anymore as he took his Blaster from Vexen and Demyx to Mario and Moira. "You guys are double agents working for Organization XIII?"

"No, no, it's not like-a that at all! Vexen and Demyx, they're...they're good-a guys." Such a revelation was hard for Fox to believe, as the pilot lowered his gun.

"It's true - we have no interest in Dimentio's affairs," confirmed Vexen, speaking in a calm manner to let Fox know that he was trustworthy. As for Demyx, Vexen could care less about Fox ever trusting him.

Vexen: None of the Organization members outside of Xehanort have noticed our absence. Could be because we are the more "replaceable" members, but I sincerely hope that our visits to Seattle don't put the mansion in a precarious position.
Demyx: Vexen, do you ever sit and wonder if anyone misses us while we're gone?
Vexen:
*groans and facepalms*
Demyx: Like, imagine Dimentio is having a meeting, and he looks around and sees that I'm not there! That would rattle him to the core, wouldn't you think?
Vexen: Bold of you to assume that Dimentio would genuinely care about you being gone. He sees us as pawns...and our time as pawns has drawn to an end.
Demyx:
Wow...I never really thought about it that way.
Vexen: Haven't been paying close attention, have you?

"I can't tell if you're lying or not," Fox said to Vexen, unable to fully trust the Nobody or Demyx for that matter. Then the front door was opened by Link, who saw everyone gathered outside.

"Welcome back," Link greeted Mario and Moira, before looking over and seeing Vexen and Demyx as he gave them a wave. "Same to you two."

"Wha in the..." uttered Fox, not knowing what to think anymore as he dropped his Blaster onto the ground. Link recognized Fox's bewildered stare as he cracked a smile.

"Right, we never told anyone. I guess we could let you in on this big little secret, Fox..."


Back at the gym, Pit was on the cusp of starting his workout when he checked his phone. After checking his phone, the angel then went over to Milla to grab her attention.

"Oh, gosh, we were both going for the same weight at the same time!" Pit exclaimed to Millia, as he and the former assassin both reached for the same weight. "You go ahead; it's all yours."

"Thank you," thanked Millia, appreciating Pit for the kind gentleman that he was. As Millia grabbed the weight, Pit grabbed a free weight and returned to his position. Returning to his position, the angel attached the free weight to a strap around his head and strained loudly as he lifted two dumbbells off the floor.

"Ah!" Following the first rep, Pit became injured as he fell down to his knees. Millia looked on with concern as Pit took the head strap off.

"You okay?" From the looks of it, it seemed as if Pit was okay as he was able to stand up without much trouble, albeit grabbing the back of his head.

"Yeah, I'm good. Hey, you know an exercise for two people that uses the whole body?"

"Yeah, I think I know what you're talking about."

"Tractor pulling. Too bad there's not a tractor here."


After many days of Rufus calling him, Cloud decided to call Rufus back. He had called the Shinra VP multiple times, but his every call went straight to voicemail. Until now.

"Hello, is this Cloud Strife?" Rufus asked over the phone, as Cloud was conducting the phone call in the foyer. Champion Link had his ear close to Cloud's phone, trying to listen.

"Yeah, we finally got in touch," replied Cloud, as he gave Champion Link a thumbs up. Off to a good start so far. "You've been calling me, and now here I am, calling you."

"Funny how the tables turn. I'm glad that you came around. Anyway, I was wondering if you were available for a quick chit-chat."

"I'm down - my schedule is free for the entire day. Just name the time and place." As the phone call endured, some roughhousing sounds were heard coming down the hallway.

"Currently, I am at the Al Basha Mediterranean Grill, on 2302 1st Avenue. You can pop in whenever you want, I'll be here waiting. Is Team Rocket with you?"

"LET GO OF ME, YOU RAPSCALLION!" shouted James as he came down the hallway, with an Ekans wrapped around his neck. Jessie, Meowth, and Sora followed after James, trying to pry the Ekans off of him.

"I brought Team Rocket!" alerted Sora, who took matters into his hands as he whipped out his Keyblade and struck the Ekans with it. James pleaded for Sora to stop, fearing a concussion.

"...yeah, I got Team Rocket with me now," Cloud spoke into the phone, hoping that Rufus didn't hear the sounds of James's painful screaming in the background. His worst-case scenario was James getting bit and fainting from the venom.

"Good, good. Like I said, I'll be here waiting," responded Rufus, as Cloud motioned Champion Link to help out with James's predicament. "Take as much time as you need."


Millia was on an exercise machine, getting her workout in as she was pulling on the steel handlebars. Sitting on an exercise machine adjacent to Millia was Pit, who was moaning loudly while staring at Millia.

"One thing that you need to know about me - I don't quit until something tears or pops," Pit informed Millia in between groans, before letting out a chuckle. "You look like you're getting a good workout. Can I feel your pulse?"

"No, I'm good, thanks," replied Millia as she ended her workout, getting up from the exercise machine as she walked away. Those questionable noises from Pit most definitely scared her off.

"Really? Hey, um..." Pit got up from his exercise machine and walked sorely from his "workout", pretending that he had worked up a seat, only for an old lady to approach him.

"Look, young man, can you wipe down that seat?" the old lady asked Pit as she pointed at the exercise machine seat. It was a common practice to wipe down an exercise machine after you're done using it.

"Get out of my way. Huh!" Pit moved out of the old lady's way, and ventured over to Millia who was sitting by herself. "Tomorrow's fertilizer, am I right?" Pit asked.

"I'm out of here," replied Millia, clearly tired of Pit's shenanigans as she got up from her seat and was about to leave. But Pit stopped her from leaving, as he had a few amends to make.

"Millia. Millia, wait, please! I'm sorry. Okay? Listen. We both know why I'm here..."

"You stay away from me, or I'm calling security."

"Millia, come..." Too late, as Millia deserted Pit and hightailed out of the gym. Pit, still very sore from his "workout", made grunting sounds as he struggled to chase after Millia.


Once inside E. Gadd's mansion, Link and Zelda both filled Fox in on Vexen and Demyx's involvement. They told Fox that the Organization duo (mainly Vexen) was interested in seeing E. Gadd's machine completed so that it could be used in the fight against Dimentio.

"Professor E. Gadd is working on a new machine, and no one ever told me," grunted Fox, feeling some type of way about Link and Zelda as he folded his arms and looked the other way. "I see how it is."

"We don't have to tell you everything, Fox," Zelda said assuredly to the pilot, who let out a huff as he looked the other way and turned his nose. "Like how we never told you how Falco would toss Marcus when you're not home."

"Saw him do it outside in your front yard," confirmed Link as Fox's eyes grew wide with instant worry, with friendship with Falco on the verge of shattering. "He tosses him like a bean bag!"

"And Krsytal never said anything?!" frowned Fox, not sure if he should be more angry with his best friend or his wife. "I always wanted to toss my son like a bean bag! No fair!"

Falco: I like to toss Marcus in the air, so what? It's a thing that I like to do with my godson. I know Krystal's fine with it 'cause she's never gotten on me. Now can you leave me alone for a second? Got a major conspiracy to solve.

"Fox..." Moira called out to the pilot, standing far off from the pilot. The geneticist beckoned to Fox with her finger, as Fox turned nervously to Link and Zelda.

"Say a prayer for me..." Fox whispered to Link and Zelda, gulping nervously as he went over to Moira. The pilot followed Moira out of the hallway, taking a silent deep breath.


Cloud was on his way to the Al Basha Mediterranean Grill, as he and Champion Link were getting closer to the restaurant. The swordsmen didn't come alone, for Sora and Team Rocket were accompanying them.

"No one told you to come," Cloud informed Sora who was walking at the swordsman's side. Cloud partially hated every second of it.

"I have to come through for you, Cloud!" Sora responded, wanting to wrap his arm around Cloud but knowing how risky of a life decision that would be. "Isn't that right, guys?" Sora looked back at Team Rocket, as James was nursing his snake bites.

"Whatever makes you happy, bub," replied Meowth, as Jessie was applying some ointment to James's snake bites. Every instance Jessie applied the ointment, James winced in pain.

"Not so hard, not so hard!" whined James, acting as if the ointment was going to kill him. The Team Rocket member had to retract his arm several times.

"The cotton swab barely made contact with your skin, you ninny!" Jessie hissed at James, as she backhanded the man so hard that his head could come off. "And wipe away those tears!"

"I wasn't even about to cry! Why are you always picking on me..." Team Rocket and everyone else came to a sudden stop, as Cloud held up his hand.

"We made it," announced Cloud, as the group arrived at their destination - the Al Basha Mediterranean Grill. "There's Rufus." Sitting at a table by himself outside was Rufus Shinra, who was reading a magazine.

"Huh, I was expecting him to be a bit more posh," remarked Sora, seeing Rufus in person for the very first time. Ignoring Sora's comment, Cloud led everyone to Rufus's table, as Rufus looked up from his magazine delighted to see Cloud.

"Good afternoon, Cloud...and friends," greeted Rufus as he saw Cloud and Team Rocket; he was less than amused to see Champion Link and Sora. "I invite you all to have a seat."

"Not you," Cloud said to Sora, as he and everybody else sat at the table. With no chair left available, Sora was forced to stand behind Cloud. "Go stand behind Champion Link."

"Yes..." answered Sora, answering Cloud as if he was his parent as he did as he was told. Sora positioned himself behind Champion Link, as Cloud was now a satisfied man.

"Now that you're all here..." said Rufus as he looked around, slightly frowning when his eyes met with Champion Link and Sora's. "...I wanted to speak with you all about someone I know. His name...is Giovanni."


Pit remained sore as he returned to the mansion, looking to give King Dedede a 4-1-1 of his investigation concerning Millia Rage. He would meet with the fat penguin in his bedroom, where Dedede was being fanned by his Waddle Dee servants.

"You're back. What happened?" King Dedede asked Pit as he sat up on his bed, with the Waddle Dees ceasing the fanning. Pit limped his way over to King Dedede's bed.

"Oh, I pulled muscles in both my thighs," replied Pit, struggling to walk as he was wincing in slight pain with every step he took. "Thanks for asking."

"No, what happened with Millia?

"Yeah, no. She's not cheating. Oh, man! Will you help me work out this knot? Right here, near my groin. Put your fingers here..."

"No. No!" King Dedede shoved Pit away, leaving the angel to deal with his pulled muscle. "Are you sure?"

"I'm positive. Yeah, oh, and here's your expense receipts right there." Pit took some receipts out of his pocket and placed them on the bed for King Dedede to look at.

"Who eats eight protein bars?"

"People who don't trust egg whites."

"Okay. Well, I am just glad this is all over."

"Oh, me too. And by the way, uh, I told her not to, but she's coming over here and she's furious."

"What? No, she didn't say that."

"You're right. I was paraphrasing. What she actually said was..." Pit pulled out a notebook, and flipped to the page where Milia's testimony was. "'What is with him? He is crazy. I'm coming over there to talk to him.' And this was after I had no other approach but to tell her and gym security that you had me sent there to see if she was cheating. Also, I joined the gym. You'll be billed monthly." Pit took out another receipt - a gym membership receipt - and placed it on King Dedede's dresser.

"I am not paying for that membership. Get your mom to pay for it instead!"


Much like Link and Zelda, Mario often did favors for E. Gadd and the gang. Mainly because he chose to stick around in the lab. Mario was asked (no, ordered) by Wily to fix him a sandwich, but only because Wily tried asking Zelda that and it didn't go particularly well. You could say that Wily almost ended up with a black eye.

"Dr. Wily, I'm-a back with your ham...sandwich," announced Mario as he returned to the lab, walking into a scuffle involving E. Gadd, Wily, Cortex, Brio, and Fawful. But mainly E. Gadd and Brio.

"No, Brio, don't put that machine part there!" E. Gadd said to the evil genius, who was trying to attach a machine part to the universal transport machine.

"Let me do it, I invented this part!" yelled Brio, who had to be held back by E. Gadd. Held back by E. Gadd...Mario had never seen anything like it.

"Just like how you claimed to invent all the other parts?" Cortex questioned Brio, who was struggling to fight out of E. Gadd's grasp. "You promised to keep that 'I invented every little thing' crap to a minimum..."

"FINKRATS! You are all finkrats!" Fawful bellowed at the top of his lungs, as everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to the Beanish.

"What is a finkrat supposed to be?" Wily asked Fawful, hoping that the term "finkrat" wasn't a derogatory slur for an older man or something.

"I don't know, I just wanted to make my contribution to the fracas." After Fawful said what he said, E. Gadd and Brio immediately went back to their struggle, picking up right where they left off.

Wily: Had to look this up. According to the Internet, finkrat is a term for a person one may find annoying and mentally dysfunctional. Fawful has called me a finkrat several times during the process of building this machine, so I can assume that he meant to call... *pauses, then pinches the crown of his nose* ...no, Wily, you can't talk bad about E. Gadd anymore! Why must it be so hard, though?

"Still want that sandwich?" Mario called out to Wily, left ignored as Wily assisted E. Gadd in pulling Brio away from the machine. Contemplating taking the sandwich for himself, Mario left the lab and ran into Moira.

"I hear quarreling," said Moira, greeted by the sounds of Wily and E. Gadd getting into it with Brio. Quarreling was so loud, it could be heard from a mile away. "Not that I'm surprised."

"Brio's taking matters into his own-a hands," Mario explained to Moira, as the sound of Brio yelling was hard. Brio was flung out of the lab, flying straight past Mario and Moira before crashing into a wall.

"Fling me out of the lab, why don't you?" said a riled-up Brio as he got back on his feet, rolling up his sleeve as he marched back to the lab. But he was intercepted by Mario, who put his hands on the evil genius.

"You are not here-a to fight. You're here to build-a things together. Togetherness!" Mario's peace-making attempt fell flat, as Brio brushed past him.

"Togetherness is a moot point when you're dealing with stupid idiots. Which I sadly invented." Once Brio got back inside the lab, it was on as the quarreling continued among the inventors.

"Hmph...Fox will have his work cut out for him," Moira smirked, before fading away as Mario watched the quarreling through the lab entrance. Mario looked down at the sandwich in his hand, and against his best judgment, took a bite.

"Mama Mia...I went too hard-a on the mustard," the plumber remarked, before walking off as he proceeded to eat the sandwich that he fixed for Wily.


King Dedede was hiding behind Anna's shop stand, making strange moaning sounds that suggested he was in great pain. Anna couldn't help but notice Dedede as she looked down, finding the sorrowful noises disturbing.

"Maybe you'd be more comfortable in your bedroom," suggested Anna, fearing that King Dedede's depressed moaning was scaring away potential customers. She had no customers in the past half hour or so, so Anna's theory was proven true thus far.

"No, I like the attention," insisted King Dedede, despite the fact that he was sitting directly behind the shop stand - out of sight, and out of mind. "Is she here yet?"

"Is who here yet?" Anna looked into the distance and saw Millia steadily approaching the mansion. Wearing a fur coat despite it being over 70 degrees, no less. "Is that her?"

"Um..." Looking past the shop stand, King Dedede saw Millia - and she did not look happy at all. "...yup, that's her."


Pit had a gym membership at Planet Fitness, and King Dedede refused to pay for it. So he asked his "mom", Palutena, to cover for his bill. What did the goddess of light say?

"Pit, you can barely lift any of the weights in the fitness center," Palutena said to the angel, crushing his dreams in the comfort of her bedroom. "A gym is no place for you!"

"I don't have to just lift weights - they also have exercise bikes," Pit tried to convince Palutena, who was barely convinced as she wore the same facial expression. "Like they say, cardio is key!"

"The last time you used an exercise bike, you almost passed out. So I don't trust you even with that." Palutena handed Pit back the receipt, as she left her "son" massively disappointed. "Sorry, Pit."

"Well...it was worth a shot." Stuck at square one, Pit exited Palutena's room, gym receipt in hand. Coincidentally, he ran into Sonic, who was sipping from a slushie he got at a convenience store.

"What's with the receipt?" Sonic asked Pit as he gestured at the receipt, before taking another sip from his slushie. "Went grocery shopping for some protein shakes? And you didn't invite me!"

"I would if I wanted muscles...which I plan on getting through THIS!" Pit showed Sonic the receipt and pointed at the Planet Fitness logo at the top, as Sonic's eyes went huge.

"Woah! Going to Planet Fitness? Moving on up in the world, I see!" Now Sonic was jealous of Pit for an entirely different reason.

"Sure am! But the thing is, Palutena won't pay for gym membership. And I'm broke, so..."

"Tell you what you should do...get your boss to pay for your membership. Joker!"

"Wouldn't that be weird, though? Like, would that make Joker...my dad?"

"He's a self-proclaimed dad already, so..." That got Pit worried to the bone, as the angel started freaking out. "...relax, buddy! I didn't mean it like that!"

"So how did you mean it?" Pit asked Sonic, who looked uncomfortable as his eyes veered to the side. Then soon enough, Pit was feeling uncomfortable.

"That's irrelevant right now. Just show Joker that gym receipt, and demand that he pays for it. Make him show you your worth!"

"Oh, I will! Pit, away!" So Pit darted down the hallway, en route to the cafe, and just as Sonic was about to leave Pit returned to the blue blur. "Uh, where did you get that slushie from?"

"Shell gas station, on 620 Denny Way. Can't miss it!" With that information in mind, Pit ran back down the hallway, as he and Sonic went their separate ways.


King Dedede brought Millia with her to his room, just so that he and the former assassin could hash things out. The bedroom door was closed shut so that no baggage would creep out.

"How could you think that we were in a relationship?" Millia interrogated King Dedede with her arms folded, coming off as a stern yet calculating baroness lady. She was Russian, after all. "I thought we were just friends - or at least very close acquaintances!"

"I didn't, everybody else here did," King Dedede pleaded his innocence, putting the blame squarely on his fellow residents for misdirecting him and messing with his mind. "Everybody convinced me that something was up. They poisoned my mind."

"That's pathetic. No 'king' should ever let anyone beneath sway him like that."

"Ye...pfff. Well, no. It's a lie. That's not what happened. I just like you. I can't believe I get to be with you. You worked as a former assassin. You could have any man you want."

"We are NOT lovers. But if I told you I like you, you would need to trust me, and not put your trust in some freak."

"If you wanna dump me, I totally get it."

"I would if we were actually in love."

"Well, you are Russian for love...ever been to Vero Beach?"

"We are friends, King Dedede...let's keep it that way." On that note, Millia exited King Dedede's room, as King Dedede took out his pre-paid phone and looked up all the bookings for Vero Beach on the Web.


Falco was caught in the middle of a conspiracy, one that likely tied Itsuki with some malfunctioning StarBeats headphones. One person who was willing to "help" the avian pilot crack the case was Knuckles, and Falco went to the tower to speak with the echidna.

"What's up? I got your text," Falco said to Knuckles after entering the echidna's room, seeing Knuckles alone. Once he saw Falco, Knuckles closed the window curtains.

"Close the door," commanded Knuckles, and Falco did as he was told. Knuckles was about to drop some juicy insider knowledge soon.

Knuckles: I don't have a plan exactly. More of a loose structure. Gives me freedom to improvise. It's like jazz. *scatting* Falco don't mess with me. *continues scatting* I'll figure something out. Yukari's counting on me.

"Some freaky stuff going on," said Knuckles, ready to drop a bombshell on Falco that no one else affiliated with Star Records would be prepared for. "I was walking behind Itsuki and I heard some things."

"Such as?" inquired Falco as he leaned in close to Knuckles, interested in hearing what juicy details the echidna had to share.

"It was kind of mumbled, I don't know, uh, only thing I could make out clearly was 'Falco,' 'Problem,' 'Eliminate,' something. I don't know what it meant."

"What? You don't know what it meant? How about 'Falco is a problem and we must eliminate him?'"

"Woah. I hadn't even thought of that." Evidently, Falco hadn't thought of that either, chuckling nervously as he feared Itsuki out to get him.


Pit returned to the cafe, ready to hop back behind the counter as he put his cafe apron on. Before he could get back to work, the angel showed Joker his Planet Fitness receipt.

"I see that you went to Planet Fitness," Joker said to Pit as he read the details in the gym receipt. Pit stared at the young man with convincing eyes, hands behind his back. "I'm not paying for this, am I?"

"Of course you are, you're my dad...er, boss," replied Pit, the mere mention of Joker being a dad causing the patrons at the counter to snicker. Joker turned and frowned, bringing the snickering to a stop.

"Well, I'm not paying for it. We have a literal gym at this mansion, so I'm not obligated to pay for anything."

"Please, Joker, I already asked Lady Palutena! Do it for me! Do it...for your favorite employee. Show me how worthy I am, to you."

"Pit I am not..." Joker rolled his eyes, as Pit got down to his knees and crept up to Joker with his hands clasped together. Pit also tried to cry on command, but couldn't shed a tear.

"You know if you don't do it now, it'll snowball from here on out," Viridi warned Joker, as Pit got even closer to Joker. Too close for comfort.

"Fine...hand me the receipt." Joker received the receipt from Pit, who jumped for joy as his request was fulfilled. To show Joker his appreciation, he gave the young man a hug.

"Thank you, Joker! Always knew that I was your favorite employee!" Pit thanked Joker, who was groaning as he pinched the crown of his nose. The unfavorite employees - Viridi, Kirby, and Incineroar - were all looking on.

Kirby: Huh... *looks down at his "Employee of the Month" plaque* ...I've always figured that this award was a sham.


Before Millia could leave the mansion, she first had to grab herself a snack - just a small bite to chomp on. Mr. Game and Watch showed her the directions to the vending machine room, and that's where Millia went. When she went inside, she saw Luigi, Daisy, and Bayonetta, the latter quickly taking interest.

"Love your earrings, darling," Bayonetta said to Millia, who smiled in response as she went to the vending machine and took out her wallet.

"Thank you," Millia offered her thanks to Bayonetta, with Daisy eavesdropping on the conversation while she waited for Luigi to make his selection from the vending machine.

"Did King Dedede get them for you?"

"No, I bought them myself. Westlake Center Mall."

"Claire's? Zales? Ricky's? Earring, Earrings? Fancy Girl? Platinum Cat? Where?"

"You know, I actually got them in Spokane, in a mall down there."

"Northtown Mall? River Park Square? Flour Mill? Northpointe Plaza?"

"Uh, Northtown Mall." As soon as Millia gave her answer, Luigi finally selected the soft drink he wanted, as he saw Daisy watching Bayonetta and Millia intently.

"What?" the plumber asked his wife, grabbing his soft drink from the vending machine as he broke Daisy out of her trance.

"Hmm? Oh. It's probably nothing," Daisy replied as Millia made her selection, grabbed her snack, and left the vending machine. Luigi could tell that something was afoot.

Daisy: Okay, heart-shaped jewelry is not something that a woman buys for herself. A man definitely bought it for her recently, and it wasn't King Dedede.
Luigi: Wait, so are you...you like heart-a shaped jewelry, though, right?
Daisy: No. Except for the pendant that you bought me. Which I love.


Needing to distress himself, Falco went to the arcade room to let loose and simply free his mind. As the avian pilot was playing Fatal Fury, Snake drew near.

"Psst..." Snake whispered to Falco, walking by and drawing his right index finger across his neck. Falco appeared afraid as he caught a glance from Yukari, who was staring him down from a distance.

Falco: Snake's a retired spy who's always on someone's case. So he'd definitely be wrapped up in this.

Snake: So there I am, minding my own business and Knuckles offers me three bucks. All I gotta do is walk by Falco and go like this. *draws a finger across neck* Knuckles is a chump. I would have done it for anything. I've done a lot more for a lot less.


While Falco was stressed about the StarBeats situation, Fox was stressed about how he should vouch for Moira to E. Gadd and company. As the pilot paced back and forth in the bathroom, questions were dwelling in his mind. What should he even say? Why couldn't Moira even vouch for herself? This gamut of questions racing through his head came to an end when Moira knocked on the bathroom door.

"Fox, are you in there?" Moira asked the pilot, as she twisted on the doorknob. "The door is locked." Fox nervously gulped.

"Yeah, I'm in here; I'm dropping a deuce," replied Fox; Moira obviously wasn't buying that excuse, so Fox had to add on to make it sound legit. "I didn't turn the fan on because that's distracting."

"Do you mind opening this door for me?" Moira asked someone, and seconds later the bathroom door was ripped off its hinges by one of Cortex's minions, Koala Kong. Kong looked menacing as he held the door over his head, with Fox falling back on the floor.

"Don't hurt me, I just had my doctor's appointment!" Fox pleaded to Kong, who muscled his way inside the bathroom and snatched Fox, picking him up like a toy doll. Kong exited the bathroom, as Moira was most pleased.

"Didn't even have to tell you to get him," Moira said to Kong, as a dark corridor appeared in her midst with Vexen and Demyx walking out from it. "I can tell that you are a smart one."

"I'd imagine that you would be at the lab," Vexen said to Moira, capturing the geneticist's attention; he also captured the attention of Kong, whose angry face sent chills down Demyx's spine.

"Those gentlemen are with me; you can leave them alone," Moira said to Kong, who had dropped Fox to the floor so that he could throw hands. Speaking of Fox, Moira leaned in close to the pilot and asked, "How would you like to do another favor, Fox?"

"Not talking about them, are you?" asked Fox, as he looked at Vexen and Demyx; once Moira began to smirk, Fox let out an annoyed groan.


Daisy: So it turns out Milla has an inactive social media profile online, so I was able to see some of her pictures online. *pulls out a picture of Millia standing next to a man, one with long blonde hair and wearing all black* This was taken a few weeks ago. And this was taken the same night. *pulls out a picture of Millia sitting next to the same man* This photo was taken this morning. *shows a picture of a toddler* It's Deanna. *laughs* She's never gonna do anything wrong.

King Dedede wished to make things right with Millia, so he caught up to the former assassin in the foyer just before she could leave. As you would imagine, Millia was in no mood for speaking with her "lover".

"For the last time, I do NOT want to go on a vacation with you," Millia informed King Dedede, who was showing the former assassin some photos of Vero Beach. Just then, Daisy came down the stairs, having left the printing room.

"Hey, King Dedede - I'm sorry to interrupt you," Daisy said to the fat penguin, with Millia grateful to the princess for interrupting the conversation. "Um, I actually have something very important to talk to you about, kingdom-related."

"Well it can wait, it can wait," responded King Dedede, who couldn't care less about the affairs of his kingdom; right now, affirming a real relationship with Millia was paramount.

"I lied, it's personal. It's about me and Luigi. We're...I just...you're the only person I can talk to."

"Luigi is her husband," King Dedede informed Millia, filling the former assassin in on some vital info she probably didn't need. "And they are having problems, so..."

"No...we're not...we're not having problems. But it is personal. And I would love...for you to sign this." Daisy handed King Dedede a folder, capturing his attention. "Whoever signs that gets a million bucks."

"Say no more!" So King Dedede grabbed the folder from Daisy and opened it, dropping his phone to the floor. Daisy picked up the phone and looked at the photos of Vero Beach with Millia together.

"I love this idea. It's neat. I've never been. It sounds lovely." As Daisy and Millia glossed through the photos, King Dedede looked inside the folder at the pictures Daisy printed out. Whatever he saw was making him frown.

"Yeah, I think it'll be a nice trip...for me," said Milla, only open to going on a trip to Vero Beach by herself. No fat penguins were invited. "I can get a lot done."

"You're gonna wanna look at the date on that," Daisy said to King Dedede, before bringing her attention back to the photos. "Oh, wow. Look at...golfing. Are you a golfer?" Daisy asked Millia.

"Haven't golfed in a long time. I gave my clubs away. I swear too much." Millia and Daisy shared a laugh together, and then they saw King Dedede walking away disappointedly. "Hey, are you okay, Dedede?"

"Yeah, I just remembered that I have to go to the bathroom," replied King Dedede, before giving a cue to Daisy; understanding the cue, Daisy followed after Dedede while Millia looked on.


Falco was back in Knuckles' room, as he had received yet another text. And judging by the content of Knuckles' most recent text, things were getting dire.

"Your text said 911," Falco said to Knuckles, believing that an emergency was afoot. Emergency situations at Star Records were best handled by all three heads - imagine if Falco was the only man entrusted with handling them.

"It's bad," responded Knuckles, unable to sugarcoat how pressing the situation had become. Almost like there was a point of no turning back.

"What's bad?"

"It's real bad."

Knuckles: Still no plan.

"It's getting bigger," continued Knuckles, letting Falco know that the headphone situation was a crisis that Star Records simply couldn't overlook. Somebody had to do something, and fast.

"I might have to go public with this, but no one's gonna believe me," said Falco, rueing the fact that the situation being addressed would fall on his hands. "Uh...I need proof. I need, like, a pair of headphones to catch on fire."

"I can videotape it..." Knuckles gestured to the cameraman standing in the room, who was capturing the entire private conversation on camera. "...there it is."

"There what is?" Even after noticing the cameraman, Falco failed to understand what Knuckles was getting at. Pity on his soul.


King Dedede didn't really go to the bathroom, obviously, but he did meet with Daisy outside a bathroom in the hallway. In his hands were the pictures online that Daisy had given him.

"Who is this?" King Dedede quizzed Daisy, identifying the man in the pictures as a dude with long blonde hair wearing all-black and a visor over his eyes. "Who is this guy?"

"I don't know who he is," replied Daisy, and it was hard for King Dedede to determine whether the princess was telling the truth or not.

"Lowest of the low. That guy! Just a notch above Kirby. You know what? I'm gonna kill him! No, I'm not. I'm not going to kill him."

"You just have to go in there. You have to hear it from her."

"I have to hear it from her."

"You have to settle down first."

"I need to have her tell me herself. Right?"

"Okay. Okay. Yes."

"I need to have her say..."

"Yeah, but you have to calm..."

" I need to say, 'What is that? What is that?'"

"Okay. Look at this, look at this." Daisy showed King Dedede the picture of Deanna on her phone, and then said in a child-like voice befitting a toddler, "Hi, King Dedede, hi, King Dedede!"

"Okay. Okay. Okay..." Finally, King Dedede calmed down, taking a deep breath as he was ready to confront Millia one-on-one.


Pit's membership at Planet Fitness was paid off, as Joker's bank account had to take the hit. Rather than working out with people he knew and loved at the mansion's fitness center, Pit was going to work out with total strangers at a public gym. How did that make the angel feel?

"Onward to becoming the king of Planet Fitness!" exclaimed Pit, walking past a few residents who were all staring at him inquisitively. "Gonna have the best bod in all of Smash!"

"I beg your pardon," someone said to Pit as they approached him from behind; Pit turned his attention to Teddie, who was out of his bear costume as he usually was most of the time. "But did you mention...Planet Fitness?"

"Joker paid for my gym membership there, because I'm his favorite employee. You should work at the cafe and become his favorite employee and...no, wait, actually, don't do that."

"Oh, I don't plan on doing so...for I'd rather work out at this Planet Fitness!" Teddie struck a pose for Pit, one that was fitting for a manly character from Jojo's Bizarre Adventure. "So I can achieve the perfect male physique!"

Teddie: Kanji called me a slang word the other day, and I believe it had something to do with snack cakes. After Master explained to me the meaning of the word (which inherently made Kanji's name-calling a pot-calling-the-kettle-black moment), I was motivated to shut Kanji up for good by achieving the ideal male body! Which will be done away from the mansion, so that Kanji will never see my progress. I'd like to see him call me names then...

"Then welcome aboard!" said Pit, officially welcoming Teddie as he bumped fists with the mascot. Hopefully, Teddie could share with Pit's membership; Joker's bank account might object to a second bill.

"Happy to be on board!" responded Teddie, who was eager to hit the ground running in his quest to show up Kanji. "When will we go to Planet Fitness?"

"I went earlier today, but I plan on returning later, before dinner. We'll just work out together, you and me!"

"Sounds swell. I look forward to the occasion!" Teddie walked away from Pit, wondering if he had any workout gear as he left. Sonic approached Pit from behind, watching Teddie leave.

"What was that all about?" Sonic asked Pit, curious as to why Teddie had a little extra pep in his step. An extra peppy Teddie was a slightly unfathomable beast.

"Teddie says he wants to go with me to the gym." Pit turned to Sonic, smiling as he pointed both of his thumbs at himself. "I got myself a gym partner!"

"So I guess you convinced Joker to afford that gym membership for you. Awesome! Maybe I can be your gym partner, too?"

"No thanks - you'd put the treadmills out of commission." Pit departed from Sonic, who believed that the angel made a valid point as he nodded his head.


Falco was walking through the hallway, his mind racing, when he bumped into Itsuki. Itsuki had spoken with the headphone manufacturer and wanted to relay to Falco what he had heard.

"I talked to the manufacturer, it turns out there have been twelve reports of faulty headphones..out of 400,000..." Itsuki informed Falco with a smile forming on his face, as Knuckles was peeking in through the corner of the hallway. "We've investigated. Every time it's been a user error. They block the sound or something, I don't know. Thanks for bringing this to my attention. So I'd like to give you a token of my gratitude." Itsuki took a gift card out of his pocket and handed it to Falco. "That's good for five bucks at Dunkin' Donuts. Any Dunkin' Donuts."

Falco accepted the Dunkin' Donuts gift card from Itsuki, who patted the avian pilot on his shoulder as he walked down the hallway. Falco looked up at Knuckles, who motioned Falco to go after Itsuki. Falco decided not to make his move.


Millia hadn't left the mansion grounds just yet; the former assassin wanted to take a gander at the goods that Anna had for sale at her shop. Nothing seemed to interest her, so she was prepared to leave for good. But as she was about to depart...

"You're cheating...you're cheating on me," a certain fat penguin said to Millia, catching her outside in the front yard. Groaning, Millia turned around and saw King Dedede, who was looking heartbroken.

"That would somehow imply that we were even in a relationship," stated Millia, wondering how many times King Dedede was going to beat a dead horse. Once was more than enough for her.

"Daisy told me." King Dedede looked over at Luigi's house, and so did Millia. Luigi and Daisy were both outside, and the couple scrambled as Daisy threw herself into the shrubbery.

"Did she see me?" Daisy asked Luigi, who joined his wife in the shrubbery - so much for finding an original hiding spot.

"Nice-a effort," commended Luigi, amazed by his wife's stellar hiding skills. Must be a neat trick that she gained from being around the ninja pals.


Falco and Knuckles were in the lounge, as the two were filming a demonstration involving the StarBeats headphones. Falco was listening to the headphones, while Knuckles recorded him on a tripod camera.

"I'm currently listening to some old 90s R&B jams, with the sound turned up to max volume," explained Falco, willing to bust his eardrums and risk potential hearing loss just for the demonstration. "So far, no signs of distress."

"You haven't even introduced yourself," Knuckles reminded Falco, who unknowingly broke the number one rule of any demonstration video. Amateur move.

"Right. My name is Falco Lombardi, and if you're watching this, it's because I've turned State's witness because I'm in danger because I know too much."

"You should talk in a higher voice 'cause the camera makes you sound weird."

"Higher? Okay." Making the proper adjustments, Falco spoke in a much higher voice. "Recently certain events have come to my attention..."

"Higher." Knuckles motioned with his hand to go up more, much to Falco's chagrin.

"Make it higher? Okay." At this point, Falco was speaking in a high-pitched voice that was straining his vocal cords. "I have come to the conclusion that Star Records..."

"One more, yeah." Once again, Knuckles motioned Falco to go even higher, and there was only so much abuse that Falco's vocal cords could take.

"...may be overlooking certain safety regulations. At the danger..." Suddenly the headphones started smoking, and Falco took them off right before they exploded. Then Falco said in his normal voice. "...ah It's working. I knew it!"

"This..." Removing his camera headset, Knuckles grabbed the nearby fire extinguisher and discharged it on the burning headphones, putting out the fire.

"We are blowin' the roof off! Blowin' the roof off! Nice. Nice. This is my client, Knuckles the Echidna. He's been my partner through this entire thing." Falco looked at the camera as he wrapped his arm around Knuckles, who was looking defeated. Knuckles saw Yukari standing outside the hallway, who looked down and shook her head in dismay as she pressed on.

Knuckles: I don't wanna prank anymore. Things get real. It's not funny. I'm just gonna be good, stay in my room, go to church, try to do one nice thing per day. I do not wanna prank anymore. Sorry, Yukari.


"Who is he?" King Dedede asked Millia, demanding to know about the mystery man that the former assassin was seeing. Wanted his full name.

"Why do you care to know?" questioned Millia, unwilling to give King Dedede a single iota of her personal info. Not after the day that she had been through with him.

"The other man. Who's the guy? Who is it?"

"There is no other man. We were never in love. Just friends."

"I'm the mistress? How can I be a king and a mistress at the same time...?"

"Milla! I have come," a man said to the assassin, standing afar off; King Dedede and Milla looked over and saw the man that Dedede saw in the pictures. The man with the long blonde hair, and the black clothes, and the visor.

"Hello, Zato-1...I see you've brought flowers," Milla greeted the man, Zato-1, who was holding flowers in his hand. For whatever reason, that was making him feel uncomfortable.

Zato-1: A close acquaintance of mine recommended that I should show my "romantic" side to Millia if I ever want to keep her. *holds up flowers* So I picked these flowers from a garden. The old lady shouting from her front door was very angry with me, though.

"I'm doing my best," replied Zato-1, as Millia walked over to the man to inspect the flowers. The clumps of dirt at the stems were a telltale sign of where the flowers came from. "Who is that penguin you're with? He looks familiar..."

"Oh, he's just an acquaintance of mine," answered Millia; downgraded from friend to acquaintance, King Dedede dropped his jaw to the ground as Milla walked away with Zato-1. "Say, what kind of flowers are those?"


Mei stopped by E. Gadd's mansion today, and one might think that with her calming presence, things would be more peaceful in the lab. Right? Well, you couldn't be more wrong. Wily and Fawful were getting into it, while the others were witnessing the fireworks.

"I demand an apology for you calling me a finkrat," Wily demanded Fawful, having taken the Beanish's name-calling very personally. E. Gadd, Cortex, and Brio were hopeless in ending the confrontation.

"I have a chuckling, for you are delusional to think that I would ever apologize!" responded Fawful as he laughed in Wily's face, further getting under the robot inventor's skin. "A loser is you, good sir!"

"Now you're calling me a loser?! Why I oughta..." Wily was getting physical as he put Fawful in a headlock, like how Nolan Ryan did Robin Ventura on the pitcher's mound.

"The puniness of your muscles is no match for me! Now Fawful fights back!" Fawful chomped down on Wily's arm, causing Wily to scream in excruciating pain.

"Okay you two, that's enough!" yelled Cortex, as he and Brio finally decided to intervene and break up the fight. Wily was flailing his arm in an effort to shake Fawful off.

"I really came at a bad time..." Mei meekly said, standing off the side horrified by what she was witnessing. Fox showed up at the lab and saw Mario, Link, and Zelda standing together.

"You're just in time," Link said to Fox, as he was enjoying the action that took place - even if it came at the expense of the machine being finished in a timely manner.

"Don't tell me that you're actually enjoying this," Zelda said to Link, seeing a slight smile forming on her man's face. Link looked serious in a hurry.

"This is not good, not good at all at all..." E. Gadd said as he watched the tussling going on, only to look over and see Fox standing with Mario and company. "...oh my! Fox! I didn't know that you were..."

"I was here for about a minute," replied Fox as he cut off of E. Gadd, before walking over to the professor with something that he wanted to say. "I can't help but notice that your men are at odds with each other."

"His teeth, I can feel it sinking into my flesh!" Wily cried out, as Cortex and Brio were doing everything they could to pry Fawful off of the robot inventor. Neither man was frankly strong enough.

"...they have their moments," said E. Gadd, who saw Mei standing off in the corner of the lab looking uncomfortable. "I am sorry that Mei has to see this."

"I'll say. But I know a chick who can put Mei over there to shame," Fox said to E. Gadd, who was most intrigued as he raised his eyebrow and adjusted his glasses. Fox whistled into his fingers, as Moira showed up at the scene, Fade and all.

"Professor E. Gadd...we meet again," Moira greeted E. Gadd, almost startling him with her sudden appearance. The geneticist saw the skirmish that was taking place. "Mind if I lend a hand?"

"Well, that would be nice, but..." replied E. Gadd, only for Moira to unleash a Coalescence at Wily and company to break up the fight. The fight was brought to an end, as Wily was freed from Fawful.

"My arm, it's free!" rejoiced Wily, massaging his arm while Cortex, Brio, and Fawful were left lying on the floor. "Still sore, but I'm a free man now!"

Fawful: BLEGH! Blegh, I say! Dr. Wily's arm had the tastiness of a wrinkly old man! And not the particularly good kind, either.

"It's become quite clear what you need in regards to your project - a mediator," Moira said to E. Gadd as she ended her Coalescence, the biotic energy from her right hand coming to a stop.

"A mediator? I can handle these gents well enough alone," asserted E. Gadd, who would later take back what he said as he nervously pulled on his collar. "Most days, that is..."

"I know you're not turning Moira down," Fox said to E. Gadd, doing what he asked to do - vouch for Moira as much as he could. "Not after you recommended her to Cloud for that Aerith Revival Project."

"My contributions to that project were unparalleled," Moira boasted, never the one to shy away from any of her finest accomplishments. "And in case you didn't know, professor, I was the one who thought up a plan to save Cloud from himself. Yet you do not believe that..."

"...that you can't be a mediator?" E. Gadd would finish for Moira before he could be guilt-tripped, smiling anxiously. "Why I would never! Not like I doubted you after the revival project was a failure."

"So easy for you to turn on me...but I can be back in your good graces." Moira held out her hand to E. Gadd, as a dark corridor appeared in the lab. "Do we have an understanding?"

"We got company," alerted Fox, as Vexen and Demyx both stepped out of the dark corridor. Mei gasped, as the inventors were on edge.

"I indulge you to still your fear, for we come in..." Vexen said as he held his hands up, only for a chunk of ice to be fired at his head. "Ow! So that's what being hit by ice feels like..."

"Yes! Perfect shot!" cheered a celebrating Mei, who fired the chunk of ice from her endothermic blaster. When she looked over, she saw Mario and company showing no reaction to Organization XIII. "Um, guys...?"

"Let-a them speak," Mario said quietly to Mei, who was forced to keep silent. Once he recovered from his hit to the head, Vexen returned to his spiel.

"Anyway, before I was so rudely interrupted..." Vexen continued, shooting a glare at Mei as he still felt a throbbing pain near his forehead. "...Demyx and I come in peace."

"To be clear, we are not aliens," Demyx affirmed to everyone, making sure they got that gist down. Vexen shoved Demyx back into his spot.

"Most of you think that we're a part of Organization XIII, to aid Master Xehanort - and you would be correct. However, that is far from the truth. I became a Nobody to make some amends."

"Before anyone asks, I invented Organization XIII," Brio whispered to Fawful, who took this information to heart as he nodded his head. "Call me the original founder."

"Basically, these two have no interest in what Dimentio's cooking," Fox explained to E. Gadd and the other inventors, vouching for two Organization XIII members - something that he never imagined he would do. "They want to be on the good side. Working with the good guys."

"He does remind me of Even," remarked E. Gadd as he took a slight fondness in Vexen, reminded of the past couple of conversations he had with Even a few years ago. "As for his accomplice, well...it's nice that he exists, I suppose."

"I'll have you know that I'm..." Demyx was about to inform E. Gadd, only for Vexen to cover his mouth with his hand. The Nobody made a moaning sound afterward.

"So what will it be, professor?" Moira asked E. Gadd, interested in hearing the professor's final decision after all that was said. "I promise not to turn your lab into a breeding ground for any of my lovely genetic creations."

"I've made countless replicas with my Replica Program," Vexen sold himself to E. Gadd, listing the main trait that would easily have the professor and his men on board. "My inventive mind knows no limits!"

"I do appreciate innovation..." said a mulling E. Gadd as he rubbed his chin, when he saw Fox smiling at him. Fox was almost gesturing for E. Gadd to say yes. "...you know what? Moira, Vexen, you two are officially part of the team."

"Knew you'd come around," smiled Moira, as she was now part of E. Gadd's project; the geneticist turned to Fox, holding her hand out. "Much appreciated for your assistance, Fox."

"Hey, anything for my former senior," responded Fox as he shook Moira's hand, acknowledging Moira as his past superior. That made Moira appreciate the pilot a bit more.

"That's nice and all, but...I'm part of the project too, right?" Demyx asked as he looked at E. Gadd, before looking at everyone else. His head was turning in all sorts of directions, as he looked for a word of confirmation.

Wily: So as of now, I'm working with Cortex, his delusional friend-turned-enemy, a "Beanish" person, Even's Nobody, and that Irish geneticist lady. But hey. *shrugs* It could be worse. *pauses* I'm doing my best not to shade E. Gadd at this moment. It's a struggle.


With some convincing from Sonic, Pit was able to get his Planet Fitness membership plan paid for by Joker. Even better, he also secured an amicable gym buddy in Teddie. Pit was back at Planet Fitness later that evening, as he and Teddie were working up a sweat on the workout bicycles.

"Okay, everybody, let's take this next hill," instructed Pit as he, Teddie, and a couple of other gym-goers were pedaling to the limit. They were all racing like they were a part of the Tour de France.

"Excuse me," the gym instructor said to Pit, not liking how the angel was trying to take charge of his class. Full-on control freak. "Yeah, I'd appreciate it if you'd just let me run this."

"You know what? You had your chance. You're no leader. Out of your seat, let's blast!"

"Don't listen to him, we're approaching a cooldown down a gentle hill."

"No! The hill's a trap. Let's take the dirt road off to the side."

"No, guys, no. We're just cooling down..."

"If they catch us, they will rape us...Teddie why are you slowing down?! Eh, you're on your own...everybody else, go for the cliff. And three, two, one...jump! No!" After making the jump, Pit stopped pedaling as he pointed at those around him. "You're dead, you're dead, you're dead. Good jump. You're barely alive. Okay, now nice cooldown. Check your pulse rate."