Author's Note:

What is this? A rare Saturday afternoon update? In 2023?! Is this 2021 all over again?! Inconceivable! The unimaginable horror...

So much for publishing this chapter sooner than the last one. So what do I have to say for myself? Well...I took a lackadaisical approach to this chapter. A Regigigas approach, if you will. Started off slow - much slower than usual. Given that, I'm happy to even have this bad boy up on this website. Hopefully, this chapter was well worth the wait - now you can all stop crying and panicking. Would be a concern if you ever did that in the first place. Anyway, enjoy!


Episode 403: Auditions

Daisy and Lucina were both worried about their husbands and for very understandable reasons. For Daisy, she had grown concerned about Luigi and his "seizures", when he would flail his arms about at his side. As for Lucina, she would constantly hear Robin complain about a funny tingling sensation going down his spine.

Both Luigi and Robin detested the idea of going to the doctor's office, with both men preferring a checkup with the dubious Dr. Mario. But since their wives had much higher standards, it was the doctor's office or bust. Ultimately, the wives won out.

Coincidentally, Luigi and Robin's doctor's appointments were scheduled around the same time, and at the same doctor's office no less. Daisy took Luigi and Robin to the doctor's office against their will, with Lucina coming along for the trip. Daisy and Lucina sat together in the office's waiting room, while their husbands were dying to get back home.

"I cannot thank you enough for taking Robin to his appointment," Lucina spoke with Daisy while holding the latest issue of Swordsman Weekly in her hands. 'Twas a good read so far. "You have any idea how hard it was to get him out of the mansion?"

"Glad my frying pan could convince him," Daisy replied with a smirk, taking out her frying pan and smacking it in the palm of her hand. Daisy and Lucina shared a laugh only for a front desk person to approach them.

"No frying pans in the waiting room," the front desk person informed Daisy, who put her trusty frying pan back in her imaginary pocket. "We have run into a couple of incidents with those..." As the man walked away, there was a noticeable bandage on the back of his head.

Luigi: Going to the doctor's-a office during the holidays...bah humbug! This place should be closed-a at this time of year. People want to hear Christmas carols, not news about them-a having a terminal illness! Do I have a terminal illness? The way Daisy reacts-a to my episodes would probably make-a one think so. That would just-a show they're not that smart.

"Look at them..." Luigi whispered to Robin, huddled with the mage as he was spying on Daisy and Lucina while sitting far behind the two. "...they must-a be secretly plotting our downfall."

"Oh, don't be ridiculous!" Robin whispered back, keeping a close eye on Lucina in the event his wife were to pull something funny. "It's clear that they're conditioning us to prepare for our deaths."

"That sounds-a more likely." When Daisy reached into her imaginary pocket, Luigi saw Robin flinch in slight anticipation. "You're not scared-a of Daisy's frying pan, are you?"

"She did almost give me a concussion with it, so...I guess." For whatever reason, Luigi found Robin's response to be laughable as the green plumber was laughing at Robin's expense.

"Take it from-a me, that frying pan-a isn't as scary as it looks. I've been hit by that thing many times-a before, and look at me! I'm still livin'."

"Doesn't that count as domestic abuse?" Before Luigi could answer Robin's pressing question, a nurse appeared out of a door looking for a patient or two in the waiting room.

"Luigi Mario! It's time for your appointment," the nurse called out to Luigi, who was in no rush to move. "Dr. Corres would like to see you."

"She can see me all she wants, I'm not moving an inch," Luigi said defiantly as he continued to sit in his chair, folding his arms. He would quickly change his tune, however, when he looked over and saw a glaring Daisy.

"You're not moving a what now?" Daisy asked Luigi, her frying pan back out as she smacked it in the palm of her hand in an intimidating manner. Gulping nervously, Luigi finally got up from his chair.

"Uh, Dr. Corres, I'm coming!" yelled Luigi as he left the waiting room, running past the nurse. The nurse remained at the door for there was one patient left to call on.

"Mr. Robin, it is also time for your appointment," the nurse said to Robin, who was hiding some nervousness as he stood up. "Right this way, please."

"Let's get this over with," said Robin, trying to be as upbeat as possible as he followed the nurse out of the waiting room. Once both Luigi and Robin were gone, Daisy put her frying pan away.

"You think we should go with them?" Lucina asked Daisy, believing that the husbands would be on their worst behavior. She was more concerned about Luigi acting up than Robin.

"Nah, they'll be fine," assured Daisy, and Lucina took the princess's word for it as she returned to reading her magazine. Meanwhile, an evil-looking jackal was seen outside, spying on Daisy and Lucina, before vanishing away.

"Anyone saw that?" a man in the waiting room asked the others, pointing at the window for he had seen this jackal. When no one responded, the precarious man reluctantly took a seat.


Big the Cat was bummed out upon learning that he wasn't a part of the mansion's Secret Santa gift exchange. But that didn't stop the purple cat from buying a gift for a special someone. However, one teensy weensy problem remained...

"I bought this gift, but I don't know what to do with it," Big discussed with Captain Falcon in the mansion's foyer, holding his Christmas present. "They never said anything about an Omnis Adest gift exchange."

"Is that so?" said Captain Falcon as he scratched his chin before he saw Felix of the Blue Lions pass by with a scoop of ice cream. "Felix, do you know anything about a gift exchange at Omnis Adest?" Falcon asked the nobleman.

"My first time hearing about it," replied Felix as he pressed on, eating a spoonful of his ice cream. Nevertheless, Big was still confident that a gift exchange was secretly afoot.

"Oh well, I'll just leave this gift with Tails for safekeeping," Big said to Captain Falcon as he set off to go find Tails; Falcon ruefully shook his head. "At least until they announce something."

Big: I didn't know who to buy a gift for, so I played it safe and got Froggy something. Is Froggy at Omnis Adest? I've yet to find him, so I can't say for sure.

Soon after Big left, the doorbell rang. Running at the speed of sound, Captain Falcon reached the front door in record time and opened it. He was greeted by a familiar face - a woman he had quite a history with.

"Woah! Malva?" uttered Captain Falcon, as Kalos Elite Four member and reporter Malva stood before him. Malva, wanting to keep a low profile, shushed Falcon before looking around.

"Funny coincidence...you're just the man that I wanted to speak with," Malva whispered to Captain Falcon, who briefly stepped outside to speak with Malva in private. "I, or we, got a sticky situation on our hands."

"We? As in like, me and you?" Captain Falcon was getting all worried and panicky, assuming he was in big trouble. "Oh man, if Nowi finds out that we..."

"Relax, I'm not referring to us." That brought much relief to Captain Falcon, who clutched his chest as he sighed in relief. "Rather, I'm referring to my old group, Team Flare."

"Team Flare? You mean those dorks that dress up in red suits and look funny? Not saying that you look funny, of course."

"I do my best to stand out." Malva smiled as she brushed back her hair, showing off one of her pink ponytails."My old boss Lysandre sent me a message and...well, it's better if we discuss more inside."


A Christmas party was held at Overwatch's Seattle watchpoint, and only current and former operatives were allowed to attend. To ensure that anyone not affiliated with Overwatch tried to get inside, Echo was outside on security duty. So while poor Echo had to stay out and keep guard...and pretty much do nothing the whole time, the others were partying it up.

"Hit it with your best shot," Pharah said to Reinhardt as she blindfolded the German, who was wielding a bat. In front of Reinhardt was a Santa pinata. "Three, two, one...go!"

"Prepare to meet your end, Santa Claus!" bellowed Reinhardt as he swung wildly with the bat, missing the pinata by a wide mile. He almost knocked Mei's head off in the process. "Am I getting close?"

"Oh yes, you are very, very warm," replied Mei, chuckling as Reinhardt wandered away from the pinata still swinging with the bat. He came across Baptiste, who had to jump out of harm's way.

"Woah! Watch how you're swinging that thing..." Baptiste said to Reinhardt, fortunate that he didn't get beheaded. Almost saw his life flash before his eyes!

"Aw yeah, pump up the jam!" cheered Lucio, the party DJ, as he was playing Christmas party tunes from his turntable while pumping his fist. Cassidy and Zarya stood near the turntable, having a lovely conversation.

"Wish we could've invited a guest to this party," remarked Zarya, before smiling as she gave Cassidy a playful nudge. "Would've loved to see your new friend John Marston."

"We're not friends...just acquaintances, for now," Cassidy stated matter-of-factly, as he took a sip from his cup. Elsewhere at the party, Brigette was hanging out with her dad, Torbjörn.

"I'm so glad that you could make it," Brigette said to Torbjörn, who chugged down an entire glass of egg nog and then belched - all without saying excuse me. Where on earth were Torbjörn's manners?!

"Anything for my sweet daughter!" Torbjörn heartily responded, as he at least had the decency to clean the egg nog off his beard with his sleeve. "Too bad Jack refused to attend."

"You mean Soldier: 76? You think that he's still upset about..." Brigette was interrupted as a loud explosion was heard, alarming everyone. All eyes were on Pharah, who had her rocket launcher out - at a Christmas party, of all places.

"Sorry, I had meant to fire some party confetti," Pharah apologized to her fellow Overwatch agents after she accidentally fired a missile at the wall. Left behind a gaping hole in the process.

"Pharah! You almost got the Christmas tree," Tracer scolded the Egyptian, as the Christmas party was mere inches away from being ruined. Any Christmas party without a Christmas tree was no Christmas party at all.

"We easily could've gotten another one," remarked Genji as he came over to Tracer, acting as if Christmas trees came cheap. Some did, though that depends on your standards. "Also, we have visitors at the door."

"Well, that's lovely. Surely Echo can wave them off!" Tracer expected Genji to show a sign of agreement by walking away, but the fact that Genji didn't move meant that a pressing issue was at hand. "They're not leaving, are they?"

"Come and see..." So Genji guided Tracer to the watchpoint entrance, with Tracer hoping that it wasn't the Junkers looking to crash the party.


But when Tracer showed up outside with Genji, she saw Echo and Mercy speaking with Mario. Mario had brought his crew with him - specifically Peach, Spyro, Hunter, and of course his two kids.

"Our party is for Overwatch personnel only," Echo stated to Mario and company, doing her best to deter the group from the watchpoint. "Sorry, but you are not allowed to attend."

"But we have fruit-a cake," stated Mario, as he Spyro, and Hunter all had a different kind of fruitcake in their possession. The desserts looked tantalizing to Mercy, but the medic knew better than to be so easily allured.

"We will humbly accept the fruitcake, but we cannot let you in. We hope that you..." Echo was soon cut off, as Tracer blinked into the scene and injected herself into the ongoing conversation.

"Cheers, love! What kinds of fruitcake you got there?" Tracer asked Mario as she looked at all the fruitcakes presented, imagining that she could devour them all without fail.

"Erm...old-fashioned, chewy, and-a uh, traditional," replied Mario, who was likely working hard in the kitchen baking those three fruitcakes. When Mario was on his A-Game, he was adept at baking anything (long as it's not brownies).

"Two of them are pretty redundant," Spyro said to Tracer, as he was carrying the traditional fruitcake on his back. Hunter on the other hand was holding the old-fashioned fruitcake...and he had already taken a bite out of it when Mario wasn't looking.

Spyro: Hunter and I helped Mario with baking the fruitcake. No, we didn't volunteer - we were forced against our will. Mario promised us that if the fruitcakes turned out well, he'd reward us with Christmas cookies. *pauses* Christmas cookies that he would help us bake ourselves. This holiday season really is the season of giving and not receiving...

"Very interesting flavors, but I'll take it!" exclaimed Tracer, before making an unpopular decision that was sure to cause an uproar. "Mercy, I command thee to let Mario and his crew into our party!"

"But...but why?" questioned Mercy as she crinkled her nose; all she could think about was how Winston might react to Tracer breaking the party decree. "Can't we just accept their dessert, and leave it at that?"

"Mercy, you silly goose! You should never turn down anyone bringing dessert from a Christmas party." Tracer officially welcomed Mario and company to the party, as she accepted the fruitcake from Mario and shook his hand. "Welcome aboard, Mario!"

"Much appreciated," Mario thanked Tracer as he shook her hand, before looking over at Peach and saying to his wife, "Told you that someone-a would come around."

"Enticing Tracer with fruitcake...that seems very low of you," remarked Peach, ashamed by Mario's attempt at getting into the Overwatch holiday party. Nonetheless, the princess and her kids could now attend.

"I'll put the fruitcakes with the other desserts." Tracer blinked over to Spyro and Hunter, collecting the fruitcakes from them. "Enjoy yourselves, you all!" Tracer then blinked back inside the watchpoint, as Mercy and Genji were both beside themselves.

"Well, I hope you got what you wanted..." Mercy said to Mario, expecting the plumber to be on his best behavior. The medic couldn't shake off the feeling that Mario had a secret ulterior motive.

"It's not so about-a what I want...it's what-a I need," Mario quietly said to Mercy, who looked on in confusion as Mario led his crew inside the watchpoint. Genji joined Mercy moments later.

"What did he say to you?" Genji asked Mercy, as he saw the confusion that was smeared across the medic's face. Cappy poked his eyes out of Mario's hat and saw Genji and Mercy standing together.

"You two make for an awesome couple!" Cappy called out to Mercy and Genji, causing the former to blush. Mario reprimanded Cappy for his outburst as he smacked the talking hat with his hand.

"I better get back inside...shrimp cocktail has to be refilled," a flustered Mercy said to Genji as she rushed back inside the watchpoint. Left alone, Genji grunted as he looked at Echo, who was still on watch duty.

"Don't tell anyone what happened," Genji warned Echo, going inside the watchpoint as Echo carried on with his current duties.


Cloud was never one to care much for the holidays - unless Aerith (or Tifa) had anything to do with it. Aerith was doing her best to keep her man invested in the holiday spirit, as she was in the living room badgering him to go out Christmas shopping with her.

"I'd hate to go Christmas shopping alone..." Aerith said to Cloud, in an attempt to guilt trip the swordsman. Cloud was busy decorating the living room, hanging up stockings on the fireplace.

"Sometimes we all have to make sacrifices," remarked Cloud as he hung up the last stocking, before moving on to the Christmas tree and adding a few ornaments to it. "Sadly I can't go with you - too busy decorating."

"Oh, I get it! You're only decorating to get yourself out of Christmas shopping." Aerith believed that she saw right through Cloud's plan, smiling as she placed her hands on her hips.

"Likely story. I'm doing this because the party-planning committee told me to." Speaking of the party-planning committee, Travis passed by and marveled at Cloud decorating.

"Look at you, Cloud!" exclaimed Travis as he liked what he saw, clapping enthusiastically as he went to the dining room. "Decorating without anyone begging you to do it. Atta boy!"

"Well...the committee members except for Travis told me to do it." But Cloud would later be proven wrong when Rosalina was the next member to appear in the living room. She, like Travis, was shocked by Cloud taking the initiative.

"I was going to add on to the Christmas tree myself," stated Rosalina, hoping that Cloud wasn't trying to steal her thunder. The mother of Lumas turned to Aerith and asked, "Did you make him do this?"

"Nope! He claimed that you and your party-planning committee put him up to this," Aerith replied with an amused smile, as Cloud was heard muttering something under his breath. Poor Cloud got exposed.

"So very thoughtful of you, Cloud. Usually, you frown upon Christmas decorating. Your stay at Arcadia Bay must've changed you for the better - made you more fun!"

"It was alright," muttered Cloud as he hung a candy cane ornament on the tree, while Aerith giggled to herself. Her giggling irked Cloud to an extent. "Stop giggling, Aerith."

"I'm giggling because you're still in denial," replied Aerith; Cloud vehemently disagreed with Aerith when she said that was in denial, and that happened quite a bit. "You have been a fun guy since our time in Oregon."

"Only when I choose to be." Cloud thought that his fun guy persona was destroyed when he laughed that one time, and had Master Hand believe that he was in excruciating pain. Those who witnessed the laugh still talk about the incident to this day.

"Hear ye, hear ye!" shouted Fox as he entered the living room, cupping his mouth with his hands to get the word across. "Last call for auditions. We will have auditions for our Christmas musical starting today!"

Fox: Star Records is having a Christmas musical this year, open to the public. We won't be relying on our talent nearly as much - we'll be relying on volunteers to make the spectacle more grand. Or unimpressive, depending on who signs up. You can audition to either act or sing, and I expect a long list of folks signing up for the acting gig. Can you imagine Owain landing an acting role, with how extra and over-the-top he is? Kiria says that it would be a trainwreck, but it's hard to take her seriously since she's such a player-hater. Probably hates as much as Samus does, which illuminates a lot about her character. On that note...why did we make her one of the judges? Eleonora was right there!

"Anyone here wants to be a part of the musical?" Fox asked those in the living room, gleaming his eyes at the individuals in his midst. "Promise that you'll be paid...in gift cards. Or coupons."

"I know someone," Aerith told Fox as she pointed discreetly at Cloud...and Cloud knew Aerith was pointing, too. Cloud looked at Aerith wondering why his girlfriend was setting him up for failure.

"Not interested," Cloud made his decision to Fox, showing no interest in being a part of any Christmas musical. It just wasn't fit for a man of his caliber.

"But Cloud, Aerith said that you were a fun guy," said Rosalina, as she was slowly buying into Cloud's fun guy persona. The more people bought into that persona, the more bothered that Cloud would be.

"You know, we could use some fun for our musical," Fox said with a finger underneath his chin, as Cloud did not like where things were going. "Cloud, you're going to audition for us, whether you like it or not!"

"But I said that I wasn't interested," stated Cloud, as he now had Rosalina to blame for something he wanted no part of; Aerith, being the girlfriend, obviously got a pass.

"That is a yes, coming from a guy like you. C'mon, Cloud, just do it! Do it for Aerith!" Fox was egging Cloud on, as Cloud looked at Aerith who had her hands clasped together.

"Yes, Cloud - do it for me," encouraged Aerith, who would want nothing more than to see Cloud onstage. The smile from Aerith effectively won over Cloud, who sighed in defeat.

"Fine, I'll be there for the auditions." And with that, Fox had Cloud's word. Fox shook his fist enthusiastically, while Aerith clapped with joy. "Let me go get myself mentally prepared..."

"See? Knew you'd come around," Fox said to Cloud, who left the living room so that his mind could well on the potentially horrible decision he made. Correction...forced to make. "Man, this Christmas musical might be decent after all..."

"Hey, at least he tried! That's a huge accomplishment for him. Let's take some of these down." So Aerith joined Tifa at the Christmas tree, and when Aerith took off one of the ornaments...the Christmas tree fell to the floor!

"Well, this is problematic." Aerith and Tifa both moved out of harm's way, as the water kept at the bottom of the Christmas tree spilled out onto the living room Christmas rug. "I'd say this is definitely Cloud's fault."


Yes, you heard that right - Fox and Falco were doing a Christmas musical. And this year, they weren't relying on their Star Records talent. Not as much, at least. With the advent of Omnis Adest, the pilots had plenty of volunteers to ask. A sign-up sheet was even posted at the Omnis Adest community center.

Fox left the living room following his conversation with Cloud, looking for anybody else that he could recruit. He arrived at the foyer, where he saw Raiden chatting with Heihachi...well, he was chatting with Heihachi until the Ice Climbers approached him.

"Try our newest ice cream flavor, Sugar Plum Fairy!" Nana indulged Raiden as she offered him a sample of the Ice Climbers' newest ice cream creation. "It is only available for the holiday season."

"It's also way better than Sweet Tooth's ice cream," Popo leaned in close and whispered to Raiden, before being pulled away by Nana. Raiden accepted the ice cream sample and ate a spoonful of it.

"Mm...not bad," critiqued Raiden, who liked the Sugar Plum Fairy ice cream enough to eat yet another sample. However, Popo was not a huge fan of Raiden's critique.

"Not bad? Not bad?!" growled Popo, so angry that he almost wanted to rip off his parka and attack Raiden. "Not even a good, or decent? 'Not bad'?" The Ice Climber had to be held by Nana, who dragged him away.

"Popo, this is not very professional! Control yourself!" Nana tried to soothe Popo, who was trying to fight out of Nana's grasp so that he could let loose at Raiden. Popo hurled all sorts of obscenities at Raiden as Nana dragged him out of the foyer.

"I was just being honest," Raiden said to Heiahchi, and Popo was still heard shouting as Nana dragged him further away. "Is honesty not tolerable anymore?"

"Some men can't handle the truth," Heihachi replied matter-of-factly, as he felt the urge to laugh - which he did after initially holding it in. "They prefer to hear what they like to hear. Perfectly explains the sad existence of yes men."

Raiden: When I first met Heihachi at the manor, he could only speak in Japanese. He understood everything I said, but any word that came out of his mouth was only in his native tongue. So it's strange to hear him speak in perfect English. Almost a little too strange...feels like I'm not even talking to the same old Heihachi. I kind of like it that way.

Fox: I know that we're supposed to act cordial around Raiden and stuff, but I still find it weird that we have to treat him as a good guy. Granted, he was never a bad guy, to begin with, but doing junk like kidnapping people can change your perception of someone. I remember when I had to kidnap Katt...a-as a masked marauder, as a request from Falco. So that he could save his girl from my clutches and prove his prove his her the best way possible. Once she found out my identity, Katt never talked to me again for the longest time. We never really talked like that, so...the joke was on her.

"Raiden, welcome!" Fox greeted the mercenary, who finished off the rest of the ice cream sample. Raiden's final critique? Still not bad. "What are you back here for?"

"Hello, Fox - I may or may not have some obligations to fill the ninja pals," replied Raiden, expecting to deliver more Christmas presents to the residents - provided that the Yiga Clan had more allegedly stolen gifts.

"You're with them now? Sucks to hear that. Uh, I mean..." Fox nervously looked over his shoulder for any signs of Greninja or Asuka, before directing his attention back to Raiden. "...you like Christmas musicals, Raiden?"

"I don't care that much for musicals. Unless there's senseless violence on the stage, then otherwise it's a different story." All this talk about the Christmas musical attracted the presence of Ryu, who showed up in the foyer.

"Fox, the auditions, are they held today?" Ryu asked the pilot, who was under the guise that Ryu wished to act in the musical. "I would like to audition, but not for acting. For singing."

"Cool, I'll put your name down," replied Fox as he was about to add Ryu's name to a list...but then the pilot furrowed his brow and looked at Ryu in disbelief. "Wait, you're gonna sing?"

"Why not?! You must admit, I am very above-average at karaoke. Chun-li has even said as much...if only she will ever say it."

Ryu: No matter what I do, the Mortal Kombat fighters seem to favor Ken over me. What's so about Ken that they love so much? What is it that I'm doing wrong? Could it be that I'm not..."Kenough" for them? If my role in the Christmas musical doesn't win them over, then so be it...

"Karaoke singing is a different beast from singing on stage," Fox pointed out, shuddering at the thought of Ryu singing an Andy Williams Christmas song and singing it in tune. "But I like your moxie, so I'm putting you down anyway."

"Put me down as well..." Raiden said to Fox, leading to amusingly shocked faces from everyone in the foyer. "...f-for the acting." Following his clarification, all the shocked faces vanished away.

"Phew...almost had me there." Fox jotted Ryu and Raiden's names down on his list, as he liked how things were coming so far. "Alright then, I'll see you gents later. Don't forget to bring your A-game!"


Save for an occasional appearance by Nitrous Oxide at Omnis Adest, not a single member from Dimentio's coalition has been spotted by anyone in Seattle since Raiden's rescue mission. That was set to change, however, as the mansion was visited by a certain jackal. Infinite appeared in the mansion's kitchen, perhaps looking to do some recon work - or maybe he just wanted to visit.

"Never have been inside the mansion," remarked Infinite, noticing that the kitchen was currently unoccupied. "Time to see what I can find..." The jackal hovered to the dining room, where he spotted Louie all alone eating some deviled eggs.

"I don't care if they were saving this grub for the New Year's Eve party," said Louie as he stuffed his face with the deviled eggs, while Infinite hovered close to the astronaut positioning himself behind him. "Should've known better than to keep this stuff in their fridge! In plain sight!"

"Surprise, surprise..." Infinite said to Louie, who stopped eating in an instant as he slowly turned around. Upon seeing Infinite, Louie was understandably spooked as his eyes bulged out.

"Mother..." Louie was so spooked, that he fainted and fell out of his chair. The chair itself fell on Louie, leaving the astronaut relatively trapped.

"...pop goes the weasel." Infinite was satisfied as he let out an evil chuckle, as he ventured out of the dining room. As he approached the living room, Infinite came across Aerith picking up where Cloud left off with the Christmas decorations. And also checking after the swordsman, as well.

"He had the stocking hanging at the wrong angle!" frowned Aerith as she adjusted a stocking on the fireplace, as Tifa walked into the living room. "I wonder about his attention to detail sometimes."

"I would catch you tinkering with the Christmas decorations, huh?" Tifa smirked at Aerith, who turned and saw the martial artist; Infinite, keeping a low profile, teleported to a different spot in the living room.

"Just tidying up Cloud's mess. Wanna help me finish what he started?" A chance to bond with a good friend in Aerith, over something holiday-related? Tifa would be silly to pass that up.

"Sure, I'm down." So Tifa joined Aerith at the fireplace, alarmed by how low some of the stockings were hanging. "Never imagined in a million years that Cloud would ever decorate..."

"Yeah, and he's has done a pretty lousy job at doing it, I'll say. Look at how he hung the ornaments on the Christmas tree." Worried about what her eyes would see, Tifa took a gander at the Christmas tree and was startled by how cluttered it was.

"Hey, at least he tried! That's a huge accomplishment for him. Let's take some of these down." So Aerith joined Tifa at the Christmas tree, and when Aerith took off one of the ornaments...the Christmas tree fell to the floor!

"Well, this is problematic." Aerith and Tifa both moved out of harm's way, as the water kept at the bottom of the Christmas tree spilled out onto the living room Christmas rug. "I'd say this is definitely Cloud's fault."

"I take it the Christams tree fell again?" Dark Pit asked as he rushed inside the living room after hearing the loud thud. Aerith and Tifa looked at the doppelganger with dubious faces. "I'll get the cleaning stuff..."

"Still want to blame Cloud?" Tifa asked Aerith, who gave a playful shrug as she smiled. Tifa smiled in return.

Dark Pit: In the past years, we would get our Christmas tree from a department store, like Lowes or Home Depot. But this year...we got our Christmas tree from a herbal tea shop. Only because the shop owner cut Master Hand "a good deal". Those holiday gift cards you were promised had better be worth the sucky Christmas tree, Master Hand. Who knows if those cards have yet to come in the mail?

"Two lady friends of Cloud Strife...how interesting," Infinite quietly mused to himself, as Dark Pit exited the living room without noticing the jackal. Infinite's cover was set to be blown as soon as the Inklings came around the corner.

"New bedroom slippers for Dr. Wright, or new pairs of briefs?" the male Inkling asked his female counterpart, as he was on his phone scrolling through best-sellers on the Amazon app. He and the female Inkling were looking together.

"Both are the biggest cop-out Christmas gifts ever," replied the female Inkling, as the male Inkling looked up and gasped when he saw Infinite. "So I would say no to either one."

"H-H-H-H-He's here..." the male Inkling pointed at Infinite, who turned back and saw the male Inkling gawking at him. Infinite vanished, just when the female Inking looked up.

"Who's here? I don't see anyone." The female Inkling had just missed Inifnite, and seconds later the male Inkling grabbed her shoulders looking crazy. "Okay, what has gotten into you?"

"Infinite? He's here..." When the female Inkling showed no signs of concern, the male Inkling pulled up a picture of Infinite on his phone and showed it to her. "...this guy. Callie sent me this picture. She got it from D. Va."

"Why would she send you that? She doesn't like you like that." The female Inkling was throwing shade, not realizing the gravity of the situation at hand.

"It doesn't matter if she likes me or not...I mean, she probably does, but..." The male Inkling became exasperated when the female Inkling walked off, as he chased after her. "...you have to listen to me!"


Nowi had bought a special Christmas gift for Captain Falcon, and she brought her daughter Nah with her so that she could see Falcon's reaction. The half-Manakete was on her way to Captain Falcon's room, anxious to surprise her man.

"Let's just give the gift away to charity - Captain Falcon's just a stupid meathead," Nah said to Nowi, being dragged by the hand as she was led by her mom to Captain Falcon's room. Nowi was moving with haste.

"That's no way to talk about your future stepdad," Nowi scolded Nah, who rolled her eyes as she would typically do whenever Captain Falcon or Nowi spoke their wedding into existence. "The two of us are just meant to be!"

Nowi would arrive at Captain Falcon's room, and when she opened the door she gasped at what she saw - Malva, sitting on Captain Falcon's bed, speaking with Captain Falcon in private.

"And that, Falcon, is why you were the best man to handle this kind of information," Malva said to the racer, sitting too close to Captain Falcon for Nowi's liking. Nowi's face was turning red.

"I'll go spread the word!" Captain Falcon assured Malva with a smile, as he pointed his thumb at himself. That smile would fade, however, when Falcon turned and saw a furious Nowi standing with Nah.

"I cannot believe you!" Nowi growled at Captain Falcon as she angrily marched inside the room, before pointing at Malva with heavy contempt. "You're back to talking with that SKANK?!"

"I'm sorry, what did she just call me?" Malva frowned as she arose from Captain Falcon's bed, as things were starting to heat up. Captain Falcon had to play peacemaker quickly.

"Calm down Nowi, I can explain!" Captain Falcon said to his half-Manakete girlfriend as he stood up to confront her. "Malva and I are not seeing each other. She's still on the market!"

"Still on the market, you say?" an eavesdropping Mr. Game and Watch inquired as he poked his head inside Captain Falcon's room. "Are you saying there's a chance?"

"Get lost," Malva replied to Mr. Game and Watch, who lowered his head in sadness as he left the premises. How very silly of Mr. Game and Watch, to think that he ever had a chance with Malva.

Mr. Game and Watch: I thought we had a good thing going, me and Malva...but alas, it was not meant to be. The universe must have a different girl for me in mind.

"Yeah, don't expect me to believe that so easily," Nowi pouted as she folded her arms and looked away, unable to look at Captain Falcon in the eye. "Bet Malva was telling you all kinds of dirty secrets!"

"I was telling him a secret, sort of...Team Flare's ultimate weapon has been stolen," Malva informed Nowi, whose eyes went big as she was now made aware of a very dire situation.

"An ultimate weapon?" Nowi was interested, as she knew from the terminology that the ultimate weapon was obviously a big deal.

"I'm afraid so. Lysandre informed me about it when we finally touched base yesterday. He believes that the weapon may be used for nefarious purposes...purposes other than what Team Flare originally intended.

"Stolen? By whom?" questioned Nah, who didn't have it in her to hold any sort of sympathy for any villainous Pokemon team. "And why should we care about Team Flare's problems?"

"You should care a little, sweetheart. This ultimate weapon of ours has destructive capabilities beyond your wildest imagination. Even though it's kinda defunct, the consequences could be catastrophic if left in the wrong hands."

"Any idea who stole it?" Nowi asked Malva, interested in knowing more about Team Flare's stolen ultimate weapon - and Malva was more than happy to oblige.

"One of our admins, Xerosic, tracked the thief to this island." Malva took out a holographic device - her Holo Caster - and fired a projection of a holographic map, as Nowi oohed and aahed - much to Nowi's dismay. "Our intelligence suggests that several villains are at this island since their presence picked up a few readings on Xerosic's detector."

"That island has to be Dimentio's hideout," inferred Captain Falcon, aware of where Dimentio and his cronies hid thanks to the Squid Sisters infiltrating the secret base. "I'll just pop in, Falcon Punch the bad guys, and take the ultimate weapon. Easy peasy!"

"The Ultimate Weapon isn't just something that you can easily take." Malva ended the holographic map projection, causing Nowi to moan in sadness for she was doing nothing but poke her finger through the projection. "Lysandre said it's best not to act right now, so we'll just monitor the situation until a new development happens."

"Can you pull that map back out, I wasn't done touching it," Nowi said to Malva, as Nah facepalmed out of second-hand embarrassment. Captain Falcon and Malva both exchanged amused looks with one another.

"Wow, Zelda, look at that," Link said to Zelda as he and his wife poked their heads inside Captain Falcon's room, seeing Captain Falcon with Nowi and Malva. "It's Captain Falcon with his girlfriend and ex-girlfriend."

"Takes a lot of courage for a man to share the same company as those two," quipped Zelda, with her and Link amused by the sight that was before him. The same couldn't be said for anybody else.

"You wanna share the info with them?" Captain Falcon asked Malva as he pointed at Link and Zelda, with Malva strongly leaning towards yes.


Orson remained incarcerated after (allegedly) stealing a truck, and Sonic and Crash were working hard to have Orson's bail posted. Their attempt at securing a bail bondsman fell flat in the last episode, leaving the friends stuck at square one.

"There's gotta be someone who knows a bail bondsman," Sonic said to Crash as the two neared the arcade room; they would pass by Samus as they arrived. "Hey, Samus! Quick question..."

"Whatever your stupid question is, the answer is no," Samus hastily responded as she hurried out of the arcade room, returning to the workshop. Sonic and Crash exchanged looks, wondering why Samus was in such a mood.

Samus: I have no desire in me to do any favors for Sonic - not after that whole "reviving Conker's dead girlfriend" conundrum. I'll never understand why I had to go to space to find a chipmunk's remains. Between his alcoholic past and how his girlfriend supposedly died, Conker sure is a walking red flag for trouble. Makes me wonder what Sonic even sees in him...

"Some help she is," muttered Sonic, as he and Crash pressed forward into the arcade room looking for someone they could ask. Inside the arcade room, Johnny Cage was playing a Street Fighter arcade game with Zeke, and he was smoking his competition.

"Here comes the sweep!" yelled Johnny as he delivered the finishing blow to Zeke's fighter character, defeating the crown prince in only two rounds. It should be known that Johnny didn't get any damage in the second round.

"I lost again! No fair!" seethed Zeke, expressing his defeat as he banged his fists on the arcade machine. He would recover quickly, however, as he confidently stood upright. "But no matter. That was just the practice fight!"

"You've been saying that for what, the past five games we played? Admit it, buddy - you're trash at this game." But Zeke would never admit to such a thing, believing that it was a strong sign of weakness.

"Trash, I am not! This time around, I'll be playing for..." Zeke reached into his pocket and appeared befuddled when all he pulled out was some pocket lint. "...egad! You made me run out of tokens! How could you sir?!"

"That's a 'you' problem, buddy. Did it to yourself by being trash." Johnny got further under Zeke's skin, as he made the crown prince irate. Johnny could only laugh as he walked away...only to run into Ryu.

"Johnny Cage...do you accept me?" Ryu asked the movie star, asking him a pretty loaded question on the spot. It was a question that made Johnny feel greatly uncomfortable.

"Uh...why are you asking?" Johnny had to lower his glasses to see if Ryu was serious, and Ryu looked as serious as ever. Which did nothing but make Johnny's level of discomfort rise.

"Because I will be auditioning for the Star Records Christmas Musical. To prove to you and the other Mortal Kombat fighters that I am...Kenough." At first, crinkling his nose, Johnny eased up into a smile once he caught on.

"Yeah, yeah, the Christmas musical! Not trying to spoil anything, but I'll be auditioning for that as well." Given his lengthy experience as a movie star, Johnny would kill it in his audition. Unless he had to do some singing part.

"Then I highly suggest that you don't steal my thunder. Because once I bring for the Kenergy, Johnny, you Mortal Kombat fighters will have no choice but to accept me!"

"Woah, settle down there, big guy! I'll try and stay in my lane, and you ought to do the same." Johnny patted Ryu on his shoulder and then walked off walking like the big action star he was.

"I beg your pardon?" a certain major asked Ryu, as Guile approached the fellow fighter from behind with a quizzical look on his face. "Did I just hear you say the word...Kenough?"

"Yes...is there a problem?" Ryu didn't like how Guile was staring at him in an interrogative mood, as if he was about to question Ryu's manliness.

"Then that must mean you watched that dreaded Barbie movie! For shame." Guile was gravely disappointed in Ryu, legitimately questioning whether or not he should still consider the fighter a friendly rival of his.

"But how would you know where the term Kenough came from? That means you watched that movie as well!" Ryu pointed accusingly at Guile, who had nothing to say as Ryu walked away with the last laugh.

"I never said I watched the movie, I only hear about it from Barbara and Jill...Ryu, please come back!" But come back, Ryu did not, and Guile was exasperated as Ryu left the arcade.

"Hey Guile, you know any good bail bondsmen?" Sonic came over to ask the major, accompanied by Crash who was gnawing on some tokens that he accidentally mistook for chocolate coins. Guile gulped nervously, keeping his back turned to Sonic.

"I used to know one, but he retired years ago." A drop of sweat ran down Guile's face, as the major found himself perpetually stuck with nowhere to run.

"Cool, is it possible if you could bring him out of retirement?" Sonic got Guile even sweatier, as precipitation was starting to form around Guile's forehead. "Because my man Conker has a friend who..."

"I AM NOT KENOUGH!" Guile randomly belted out at the top of his lungs, as he hightailed out of the arcade. Guile couldn't handle the heat, and it made him look oh so suspicious.

Jakob: As Orson's housemate, should it be my responsibility for Orson to have a free trial? If I actually cared, it would be. My only care is improving my standing with the Nohrian royal family, and nothing else. When they go back home...I go back with them. Mark my words.

"Guile watched the Barbie movie? What a shocker," remarked Sonic, who had been badgered constantly by Amy Rose to watch the movie with her. Every chance he turned her down was another window of opportunity to get whacked by a Piko Piko Hammer.

"There you boys are!" exclaimed Aku as he arrived at the arcade, greeting Sonic and Crash smiling from ear to ear. If only he had any ears. "Just got through watching Crunch eat his lunch - mukbangs are much more entertaining in person. So, have you found a bail bondsman yet?"

"Nope, we're still looking. We tried asking Guile, but he was acting suspect...too suspect, I'll say."


The Overwatch agents assumed that Mario was at their Christmas party to enjoy their company and have a good time...however, they would be wrong. Mario was at the party to see if anyone knew about any dirt Master Hand possibly had on him. And the plumber kept his focus primarily on one operative - Overwatch's leading commanding officer, Sojourn.

"I've always wondered, would this count as an office Christmas party?" Genji asked Sojourn, as he and the commanding officer watched Reinhardt still trying to strike the Santa pinata. Reinhardt was nowhere even close.

"Not in my book," Sojourn replied after sipping from her cup, as Mario was sneakily making his move and advancing towards the woman. "I mean, would you consider this watchpoint an office space?"

"I mean, when you put it like that..." Genji stopped speaking, as he saw Mario creeping up on Sojourn. "...I can see you, Mario." Sojourn turned around, just as Mario hid underneath the nearby table.

"Woo, I'm not Mario - I'm the Ghost-a of Christmas Past!" Mario bellowed from underneath the table, doing his best ghost impersonation - despite his Italian accent giving him away. Sojourn knelt down and pulled up the tablecloth, revealing Mario in plain sight.

"Pleased to meet you, Ghost of Christmas Past," Sojourn greeted Mario, before grabbing the plumber and pulling him out from underneath the table. "So, what are you trying to hide, Mario? Out with it."

"Me? I'm-a not hiding a thing!" The body language eschewed by Mario suggested otherwise, and it got Sojourn furrowing her brow and folding her arms. "Why you gotta put-a me on the spot?"

"Can't fool me, Mario - I know you're hiding something. Out with it." Sojourn was mean-mugging Mario, and Mario was left with no choice but to concede.

"Alright, fine...I just wanted to ask-a you something." Mario wasn't expecting an entirely complete answer from Sojourn, but any answer would do. "How tight-a are you with Master Hand?"

Mario: I still have yet-a to have that talk in private with-a Master Hand. Every time I bring it up-a to him, he tries and change-a the subject! The other day when I reminded him, he started asking me gift-a recommendations for Mewtwo. Everyone knows Mewtwo doesn't open-a Christmas gifts; those snuggy PJs I got for him years ago are still-a in the box. Anyway, Master Hand might have some dirt-a on me, and the Overwatch crew have maintained a good-a relationship with Master Hand...perhaps one of them could spill-a the beans.

"Master Hand and I have maintained a steady partnership if that is what you're asking," replied Sojourn, who could tell that Mario wanted a bit more. So she gave him some more. "He has supported Overwatch, and we are thankful for it."

"And I'm thankful for you guys-a as well, honestly," Mario responded in kind, before putting his hands together, ready to shift things into second gear. "Has Master Hand...ever said anything about-a me?"

"He seems suspicious," Genji whispered to Sojourn, harkening back to the words Mario shared with Mercy before joining the party. Sojourn held up her hand, commanding Genji to keep his mouth shut.

"I wanted to know if Master Hand-a has any secrets about me. Any dirty laundry...um, not that I have dirty laundry, since I always wash-a my clothes every weekend or so...unless Poochy eats-a the Tide pods, or the detergent, and...ah, where am I going?"

"I am not the one to divulge secrets," Sojourn informed Mario, who was cooling off after he awkwardly rambled on. Fortunately for him, Sojourn didn't mind. "Asking the wrong person."

"Heh, my bad...this one's-a on me." After Mario took accountability, Sojourn walked away. Mario was left alone with Genji, who was staring at the plumber.

"Got my eye on you..." Genji said to Mario, in an almost menacing tone, before he too walked away. Since Sojourn didn't come through for him, Mario had to ask somebody else.


Infinite was secretly making his rounds through the mansion, spying on the residents and seeing how they were handling themselves during the holiday season. His latest stop was the ballroom, where residents and guests alike were sampling the Ice Climbers' new ice cream.

"I, for one, cannot thank you enough for this collab," Popo said to Joker, as the Cafe Leblanc baristas were all in the ballroom working alongside the Ice Climbers in their ice cream escapades.

"The success from this Christmas Latte ice cream better be worth all that kicking and screaming you did," Joker said to Popo in an almost threatening tone, a tone that had the Ice Climber shudder a little.

"Yeah, Popo, why can't you be professional for a change?" Viridi asked the Ice Climber, as she was eating the Christmas Latte ice cream right now. Popo was taken aback by Viridi's criticism.

"You sounded like Nana just now! What are you, mom?" Popo then paused for a second, as a rather uncomfortable thought crept into his mind. "That would imply that Nana's my mom..."

"I thought she was your sister slash secret lover," Pit said to Popo, entering himself into the conversation while holding a glass with a brown substance inside. "Or is she also your second cousin once removed?"

"The better question is, where did you get that chocolate milk from?" Joker asked Pit, as all eyes were on the beverage that Pit was drinking. Certainly didn't look like coffee, from the looks of it.

"This isn't chocolate milk - I just melted that latte ice cream to see if it still tasted like a latte. Still haven't made my final judgment." As Pit sipped his liquified ice cream, Popo grew angry as he felt another "hold me back" moment coming.

"Melting ice cream is sacrilegious!" yelled Popo, who was about to let Pit have it as he leaped at the angel. Incineroar rushed in and restrained the Ice Climber, doing a much better job at restraining than Nana ever could.

"Who knew he cared that much about ice cream," Lightning Farron said to Dante, chilling with the vigilante as she witnessed Incineroar keeping Popo pinned to the floor. Popo was calling for Nana to apprehend Incineroar.

"Trust me, this ain't even his final form," Dante responded with a chuckle, leading Lightning to wonder how more combative Popo could get. Unlike Lightning, Dante knew from first-hand experience how Popo was when it came to his beloved ice cream.

Dante: Still laugh at the people who thought that Popo would change for the better after he found success delivering ice cream. Everyone should know that shrewd businessmen these days seldom change their ways. They're too stuck in their old habits to change, despite the cash flow. Not saying that Popo is a shrewd businessman or anything...but hey, I gotta give the guy some credit.

"This ice cream is chilling...just the way I like it," Sub-Zero said to Geno and Mallow, as he came over from Omnis Adest to be among the first to eat the Ice Climbers' new ice cream. Mallow came just to see Geno, and Sub-Zero came...because his name was Sub-Zero? Ayo!

"Isn't that how all ice cream should be?" Geno asked Sub-Zero, who would put the star in his place when he glared at him intensely. In true Sub-Zero fashion. "Just saying."

"I prefer my ice cream to be extremely cold!" chirped Mallow, sharing his ice cream preferences while licking his ice cream cone; the Nimbus looked up, and gasped when he spotted Infinite hovering above.

"Something wrong?" Geno asked Mallow, who was so frozen in fear by Infinite that his ice cream cone could slip out of his hand at any given minute. Once Infinite vanished, Mallow shook off his fear.

"No! Nothing is wrong! I had a brain freeze, that's all."

"Oh really? You're weren't being a wuss again, were you?"

"I'm not a wuss. I've gotten over it a long time ago..."

"Good to hear - I don't care that much for cowards," an overhearing Sub-Zero said to Mallow, holding up his fist as it turned into ice. Had Mallow gulping nervously.


Auditions for the Star Records Christmas Musical took place at the lecture hall, and Fox and Falco were both expecting a big turnout. Three of Star Records' idol singers - Tsubasa, Kiria, and Yashiro - were the designated judges for the auditions, and all three were elated to have a small role in the musical.

"Fox says that we'll do minimal singing," Tsubasa shared with Kiria and Yashiro, as the three judges were already sitting at the judges' table ready for the auditions to commence. "Whoever gets the singing parts will 'carry the show.'"

"Then I'd hate for someone like Ryu to get cast," said Kiria, who didn't think much positively about Ryu's karaoke performance back in episode 92. "But it's a good thing we have the final say."

"I wouldn't mind giving Ryu a part," confessed Yashiro, as Tsubasa and Kiria both looked at the idol singer hoping that he was joking - or at least half-joking. "If autotune was allowed..."

"Don't think even autotune could save Ryu," remarked Tsubasa, as Falco came forth with two sheets of paper in his possession. The three idol singers ended their conversation as Falco drew near.

"Aight, so here are the peeps who signed up to audition," Falco said to the idol singers as he slammed the sheets of paper down on the table, each one coming with a different list of names.

"Let's see who we got here..." Tsubasa picked up one of the sheets and saw that it was a list of folks who signed up just to act. Some amusing names here and there. "...ha, Cloud! That's funny."

"Cloud suckered him in - Raiden too, I assume. Wouldn't surprise me if those two were...no-shows." Falco trailed off as he saw Kiria furrowing her brow, looking at the list of folks who signed up to sing. "...something wrong, Kiria?"

"I know you didn't just put Ryu's name on here," Kiria frowned at Falco as she pointed at the list, feeling as if there was a mistype. Yashiro looked at the list himself and saw Ryu's name near the top.

"Yeah...he signed up because he wanted to sing." At that moment, Kiria's worst fears were realized as the idol singer put her head against the table, burying her face in he arms. "C'mon Kiria, stop hating..."

Falco: Ryu had an interesting reason for wanting to audition for a singing part. And remarkably, it has nothing to do with Chun-li! The dude just wanted to show the Mortal Kombat folks that he was...Kenough. He's probably insecure about Ken or something. Never thought that would ever happen. Huh, now I don't feel bad about watching that Barbie movie...alone.


Meanwhile, all those who were auditioning today were gathered backstage. Other than Cloud, Raiden, and Ryu, there was also Amy Rose, Yoshi, Jigglypuff, Mio, Taion, Steve, Johnny Cage, and Dorothea of the Black Lions, among others.

"This is your fault for losing that bet to Noah," Mio frowned at Taion as she smacked her friend on his arm, wishing that she could watch the musical as opposed to being a part of it.

"Like I was supposed to know that this was the losing prize," shrugged Taion, with Mio very much beside herself as she looked away angrily. "Not that there's such a thing as a losing prize..."

"I am the Nutcracker," Steve said to Dorothea, who was already dressed up as, well, the Nutcracker. His rigid stance made him a natural fit for the role.

"Yes, you most certainly are," responded Dorothea, barely paying Steve any attention as she combed her eyelashes with a lash wand in front of a mirror. Next to Amy, who was doing the same thing. "Got any lip balm, Amy?"

"Yeah, one second," replied Amy, who wouldn't stop until she had every single eyelash brushed. It was taking her longer than expected. "Stupid eyelash! Why won't you..."

"Alright, peeps! Listen up!" shouted Fox as he showed up backstage with a clipboard, about to lay down the standard procedures for the auditions. "Here's what we're gonna do. This will be an open audition. Acting auditions will take place first, and then we'll have the singing auditions. If you're not auditioning, we ask that you sit in the lecture hall until it's your turn to perform."

"Will we be permitted to leave to use the bathroom?" Yoshi asked Fox as he raised his hand; Fox gave Yoshi a blank stare that made the green dinosaur question his intelligence. "Getting all the stupid questions out of the way..."

"Hey man, that's your bladder, not mine. You do you, that's my advice. Anyone else have questions, or are you too smart to ask?"

"I just wanted to say, I hope to bring the Kenergy on stage," stated Ryu, feeling confident in himself as he clenched his fist. His confidence made Cloud and Raiden take a few steps away from him.


When his conversation with Sojourn fell flat, Mario moved on to the next big fish in the pond - Winston. He would catch the gorilla alone in the watchpoint's break room, fixing himself a holiday-themed banana split.

"A few more sprinkles should do it," said Winston as he sprinkled some sprinkles on his banana split, as Mario crept inside the break room. Just when Winston was about to take his first bite...

"Hello Winston," Mario greeted the gorilla, who screamed as he threw his banana split upwards. Winston was beside himself when he looked up, seeing his banana split stuck to the ceiling.

"Darn it, Mario! Look what you've done." Winston became even more beside himself when his banana split fell on his head, sliding down his face. "The Yiga Clan will have my head for sure!"

"It's just one-a banana split, what's the worst-a that could..." Mario would be interrupted, as he and Winston heard someone knock on the window in the break room. Outside was a Yiga clansman, who made a throat-slicing gesture towards Winston.

"We're coming for you..." the Yiga clansman vowed to Winston through the window, before making their exit via smoke bomb. Winston turned and glared at Mario, who gave an apologetic laugh.

"Sorry for getting you in hot water with-a the Yiga Clan," Mario sheepishly apologized to Winston, who wiped the banana split off his face with his hand.

"No, no, you're fine. I'm not the only one around here with a target on my back." Now despondent, Winston grabbed the ingredients necessary to fix another banana split, despite lacking in energy.

Mercy: Because Winston likes to keep bananas here at the watchpoint, this base has become a "hotspot" for the Yiga Clan. And perhaps in the worst ways possible. If you even do so much as throw away a single banana slice - again, a single banana slice - the clansmen will follow you to your home and hold you at gunpoint. With a Bomb Arrow. Those clansmen truly live some insignificant lives.

Master Kohga: My deep reverence for Winston...sadly isn't where it should be. You'd think that a fellow banana connoisseur such as Winston would get his friend to fall in line and respect arguably the greatest fruit ever. I shake my head at you, Winston!

"So, Master Hand, what are your honest-a thoughts about him?" Mario asked Winston, who was rummaging around for the necessary ingredients for his (second) banana split. Winston's ingredients were running low - and a ruined banana split didn't help matters any.

"Master Hand is truly an enigma," replied Winston as he grabbed a bottle of strawberry syrup, shaking its contents to see how much was left. "I'm amazed that beings such as us could coexist with them."

"Yeah, Master Hand is an enigma...in more ways-a than one. Speaking of Master Hand, has he ever shared anything about me with you? Anything at all? Like I dunno, a secret or..."

"Look, Mario, I'm in no mood to talk." Winston, still ticked off with Mario, gathered up his ingredients as he looked to fix his banana split elsewhere - and in peace. "If you want to know so bad, you should speak with Master Hand himself."

"But that's-a the thing, Master Hand won't...speak to me." Mario trailed off as Winston left the break room, leaving in a huff. Mario lowered his head as he sighed and trudged away.


Luigi was in the middle of his doctor's appointment and the green plumber was already anxious about leaving. To help speed up the process, Luigi repeatedly told his doctor, Dr. Corres, that he was feeling fine so that he could go home faster.

"Seizures can be caused by a lot of underlying health conditions," Dr. Corres explained to Luigi, who was hardly listening as he was focused on the clock in the room. Luigi wanted that clock to move faster.

"Tell me some-a thing I don't know," responded Luigi, as he was proving to be a difficult patient to deal with thus far. Nevertheless, Dr. Corres remained patient and kept her cool as she carried on.

"I'm just going to ask you a few questions." Her clipboard at the ready, Dr. Corres held her ink pen as she looked to jot down Luigi's responses. "Are you on any medication?"

"Medication? Do I look like an old-a person to you?" Luigi was triggered by Dr. Corres's question, and all Dr. Corres could do was laugh.

"I'll take it that's a no! Moving right along. Did you have a brain injury? What about a brain tumor?" Dr. Corres was pressing Luigi with her questions, and Luigi was having none of it.

"Look lady, I feel just fine. Those seizures my wife-a spoke of...those are just instances-a of me daydreaming. Sometimes I like to daydream-a about..."

Luigi didn't get to finish his sentence, as he stood up and started doing that flailing-with-the-arms-thing again. Dr. Corres was fascinated by this peculiar behavior as she wrote down notes on her clipboard.

"Green...lightning..." uttered Luigi, while his arms were flailing uncontrollably. "Lightning...and thunder..." The arm flailing stopped, and Luigi was back to normal as he sat back down on the hospital bed.

"Yup! That was definitely the weirdest seizure I have ever seen!" remarked Dr. Corres, saying the thing that Luigi did not wish to hear. Luigi gasped at the doctor out of shock.

"I was daydreaming!" asserted Luigi, willing to die on that same hill as much as was needed. Then later, a follow-up question: "Did I say anything weird?"

"You were saying the words 'lightning' and 'thunder' during your, uh, seizure. Were you singing? A fan of Imagine Dragons, by any chance?"

"I do tend to sing-a Imagine Dragon songs whenever I daydream...not that there's anything wrong-a with that."


So how was Robin faring with his doctor's appointment? The mage was in no rush to leave, unlike Luigi, but he was worried about hearing some news that he might require surgery or something. Especially given that his spine was bothering him so.

"I don't have the money to afford surgery," Robin explained to his doctor, having been told to lie on his stomach while the doctor inspected his body. "Nor do I have any insurance."

"No surgery is required for your condition," the doctor informed Robin, who sighed in relief...only to wince in slight pain when the doctor was feeling on his shoulder blades. "Just a few home remedies."

"So what do you think is the cause of my ailment?" Robin was later sat up by the doctor, as he wanted to put his coat back on. The mage always felt uncomfortable whenever his body was exposed.

"Malnutrition, hypoglycemia...a whole bunch of things. Your blood sugar could be seriously low." Low blood sugar spelled bad news for Robin - the last thing he'd want was being diagnosed with diabetes.


After the Christmas tree was standing upright again, Aerith and Tifa decided to put their heads together and finish the work Cloud started in the living room regarding the Christmas decorations. When Rosalina and Travis appeared in the living room, they noticed that the space looked more lively than before. And bright.

"Woah! Gonna need my sunglasses," said Travis, switching out his regular glasses for his sunglasses pair as Rosalina smirked amusingly. Aerith and Tifa stood off to the side, admiring their work, when the former noticed the two party-planning committee members.

"Turn on the lights," Aerith whispered to Tifa, who went ahead and plugged a cord into an outlet on the wall. All the Christmas lights in the living room turned on, and it was too much for Travis to take in.

"Hey now!" Travis fell to the ground, as his sunglasses could not handle the sudden glare. The otaku acted as if he had instantly gone blind. "A heads up would've been nice..."

"You are such a drama queen," Rosalina giggled at Travis, who was shielding his eyes with his hands while lying on the floor in a fetal position.

"Excuse me for wearing fake sunglasses..." Travis remained where he was, as Rosalina went over to speak with Aerith and Tifa about the work they'd done.

"Nice work with the Christmas decorations," Rosalina commended Aerith and Tifa, as Travis was slowly getting up off the floor acting like he got run over by a reindeer. "Got the entire living room sparkling!"

"Did a better job than Cloud ever could," smirked Aerith, hoping that she wasn't throwing too much shade at Cloud. She hated poking fun at her boyfriend.

"Teamwork makes the dream work," remarked Tifa, satisfied with the work that she and Aerith did. The martial artist grew uncomfortable, as Rosalina was staring at her. "You want something from us, don't you?"

"The party-planning committee agreed to put together a gingerbread house in the gaming room," explained Rosalina, as she had ordered a gingerbread house kit from the NME superstore. Had to check if the contents were toxic, given who the supplier was. "The other members can't build it without being tempted to take a bit, so...can I count on you ladies?"

"I dunno, we might get tempted ourselves," replied Aerith, leading Rosalina to look at her with a face that reeked of desperation. Made it impossible to say no. "Since you asked nicely..."


Against his better judgment, Joker and his baristas "collaborated" with the Ice Climbers who were releasing their new wave of ice cream for the holidays. So far the partnership was working wonders for both parties, and Popo was most pleased.

"Looking for a spokesperson?" Raihan offered to Popo, smiling at the Ice Climber with a charming smile that no brand officer would ever look away from. "One who's handsome and marketable...and also handsome?"

"The thought has never crossed my mind," replied Popo, completely open to broadening the scope of advertising in regards to his ice cream business. "Tell me what you can offer to the table."

"I'm more of a 'show, don't tell' kind of guy...watch and learn!" Raihan took out his Rotom phone and snapped a selfie of him about to lick from an ice cream cone. And just like that, Popo was hooked.

"You're hired!" Popo quickly made a deal with Raihan as he shook hands with the gym leader, happy to bring him on board. "Keep up with those selfies, and you'll be our meal ticket to stardom!"

"Meal ticket, huh? So that's what I'll be to you? A meal ticket?" Raihan stopped shaking Popo's hand, as he looked suspiciously at the Ice Climber with growing second doubts.

"Yeah, a meal ticket, as in...you'll pay for all our meals!" That line got Popo on Raihan's good side, and the handshake continued as Popo sighed in relief.

"I do like treating others out to lunch. Haven't treated Leon out to lunch yet - probably because he knows that he's beneath me! Despite what our head-to-head record says."

Raihan: Leon can claim to be a lot of things - the fighting champion of Galar, the last champion endorsed by Chairman Rose, the champion of the people...heh, like that's even a real title. But he can never say that he was the spokesperson of what will soon be the greatest ice cream brand in the world! *smiles as he takes a selfie*

"Got some good news," Popo announced to Nana and the cafe baristas as he came over, with Raihan accompanying him. "I got Raihan to be our spokesperson!" Raihan smiled at the group, as Pit reacted to the news by slamming his foot.

"Aw, that's not fair! I wanted to be the spokesperson!" complained Pit, who wanted to add "spokesperson for the Ice Climbers" to his resume. Would look impressive to the Shoka Sakurane. "I can easily take the fall for Popo's ice cream business if it ever gets bad press!"

"Not what a spokesperson is, Pit," Joker informed the angel, who was having a mild tantrum as he went to a corner of the ballroom to sulk in private. The Inklings entered the ballroom

"Inklings! Care for some holiday ice cream?" Popo asked the Inklings, who had too much on their plate right now to worry about any ice cream of the sort. "We got new coffee flavors..."

"Like we told you before, we can't have ice cream - it'll melt our stomachs," the female Inkling replied, as Popo snapped his fingers in disgust. To this day, Popo thought that the Inklings were lying to him.

"Have you three seen this guy?" the male Inkling asked Sub-Zero, Geno, and Mallow, showing them a picture of Infinite on his phone. Mallow was scared upon seeing the picture.

"Ah, Infinite...Master Hand briefed me on him when I first moved in," replied Sub-Zero, staring at the picture of Infinite as he folded his arms while Mallow was shivering his timbers. "I've yet to see him in person."

"You good?" Geno asked Mallow, noticing that his friend was visibly shaking; Mallow kept on shaking as he slowly turned to face Geno.

"I'm good, I'm good..." reassured Mallow, even though he was still shaking as ever. Better reveal what was disturbing him. "...it's just that, um, Infinite..."

"Time for a soft serve!" shouted Raihan as he drew near, putting his hands on his hips when he saw Sub-Zero and company. "Who wants to help the best spokesperson in the land deliver some ice cream?"

"Count me out..." muttered Sub-Zero as he hastily left Geno and Mallow; Raihan watched Sub-Zero leave as he shook his head, not viewing the fighter as a team player.

"Mallow and I will happily volunteer," Geno offered to Raihan, making the gym leader smile again; Geno just wanted to get Mallow's mind off of whatever was bothering him.


Mario was so busy bothering the Overwatch agents - specifically Sojourn and Winston - that Peach missed having her husband's presence. Peach had Spyro and Hunter look for Mario's whereabouts, while she mingled with the others at the party.

"He would run off and leave me alone at the Christmas party," muttered Spyro, who was now stuck looking for Hunter after his friend deserted him. The purple dragon checked inside a bathroom, and lo and behold, there was Hunter.

"Spyro, check this out! This toilet has a Christams wreath on it!" Hunter beckoned to the dragon, standing inside a bathroom stall next to a toilet. "And it can flush on its own." The cheetah was allured by the toilet automatically flushing, as Spyro failed to see the fascination.

"You are such a little kid. Also, how are you able to make that toilet flush?" Soon D. Va came running down to Spyro, as the mech pilot was visibly distressed.

"Spyro, my homemade Christmas cookies have gone missing!" D. Va relayed the horrible news to Spyro, as she knelt at the purple dragon and grabbed him by her hands. "Have you seen them?"

"Christmas cookies have gone missing?" Upon hearing this news, Spyro looked inside the bathroom at Hunter...who was as panicked as ever as he aggressively shook his head.

"Tell me you know where they are. Tell me! I bet someone hid them..." D. Va looked like she wanted to strangle the possible culprit, which made Spyro wary about answering.

"Oh, I'm sure they did. If only I knew who was responsible...!" After saying this, Spyro winked at Hunter, whose incredible fear was slowly fading.

"Well, be on the lookout for me. Okay?" Putting her trust in Spyro, D. Va kissed the purple dragon on his cheek before standing up and leaving. Spyro tried to shake off the smile on his face, as he heard the bathroom toilet flush again.

"That should be the last of 'em," Hunter said after the coast was clear, as he tossed a Christmas cookie into the toilet and made it flush. After dusting his hands off and then washing them over the sink, Hunter left the bathroom.

Hunter: D. Va's Christmas cookies were in a word, meh. So very meh. Heck, they're probably even worse than Mythra's Christmas cookies. Can't tell Mythra that, because then she'll grow a big head. It's usually the lousy cooks who have the biggest egos.

"So uncalled of you to flush away those cookies," Spyro said to Hunter, able to resume his search for Mario now that he was reunited with his cheetah friend.

"I did everyone at the party a huge favor," Hunter explained his actions to Spyro, as the sound of a clogged toilet was heard in the background. "They will all thank me later. Even D. Va."

"We'll just have to see about...that." Spyro came to a gradual stop, as he heard Peach's voice. Quite peculiar, given that Peach was supposed to be at the Christmas party. Spyro peeked around the corner...

...and saw Mario sitting on a bench, lost in thoughts all alone - reminds you of a certain Fire Emblem song, doesn't it? Mario wasn't entirely alone, however, for sitting with him was Peach.

"Whaddaya know, Peach found Mario before we did!" celebrated Hunter, making sure to lower his voice so that he wouldn't give away his and Spyro's presence. "Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

"You be the judge..." replied Spyro, who was sure to hear a mouthful from Peach later. But for now, let's take a closer look at Peach sitting with her husband.

"Mario, what's on your mind?" she asked, her voice filled with warmth as she desired to know what Mario was thinking about.

"It's-a just...I just wanna know, Peach," replied Mario as he held his red cap in his hand, appreciative of Peach for her support. "I want to know what Master Hand wants to share-a with me. I know I shouldn't let it bog-a me down, but...it's hard."

"Why worry so much?" Peach placed a gentle hand on Mario's shoulder, offering silent support. "You still have a good rapport with Master Hand." Mario looked into Peach's eyes, grateful for his wife's understanding.

"I know, Peach - I just wonder if I'm in big-a trouble or something. Not saying that I can't-a handle it, but..."

"You're overthinking it. If you put it off to the side, you won't be so stressed out. Come back to the party, it'll put you in the right mood!"

"I have been overthinking too much...you're right, the party will keep-a distracted." Now feeling like his usual perky self again, Mario strangely felt the urge to sing his heart out. "It is the holiday season...and Santa Claus is coming 'round, the Christmas snow is white on the ground, when ol' Santa gets into town...he'll be coming down the chimney, down!"

"HE'LL BE COMING DOWN THE CHIMNEY, DOWN!" Hunter would finish for Mario, singing loudly as he and Spyro accrued the attention of Mario and Peach. Spyro facepalmed as Hunter giggled. "Sorry, had to let that one out..."

"Let's hurry back to the party," Peach said to Mario as she offered her hand, and Mario took his wife's hand as he and Peach left together. "I left Baptiste to watch after our children..."

"Of all the possible babysitters, and you chose-a him?" Mario questioned Peach as if Baptiste somehow couldn't be trusted around children. Maybe Baptiste's previous affiliation with Talon had something to do with it...but then again, Mario did pester current Talon member Reaper to babysit his kids once.


It was a huge delight to the Star Fox pilots that Cloud and Raiden were able to make it to the auditions, fearing that both men would be holdouts. Cloud was asked to audition for the judges, and there was a growing fear that Cloud would mail it in - as he would do for just about anything else.

"Alright, Cloud, we're so excited to have you audition for our Christmas musical!" Tsubasa said to the swordsman, who sauntered onto the stage, looking like he'd rather be anywhere else. Looks can be deceiving, however. "It's going to be a magical experience!"

"If that's what you want me to hear," Cloud responded with a yawn, indifferent to the festive atmosphere around him. It was hard to tell if the swordsman was truly committed or not. "So I'll be playing Jack Frost..."

"Uh, according to this sheet, you'll be playing the lead role of Santa Claus," Kiria corrected Cloud, who frowned as he looked at Fox and Falco for clarification. The pilots, sitting together in the front row, both gave a thumbs up. "It's a crucial part of the show, so we need you to really get into the holiday spirit."

"Whatever. Guess I'll go get my Santa suit." So Cloud went to the back and later came back on stage dressed from head to toe as Santa Claus. However, one important item was missing.

"You're missing the beard," Yashiro informed Cloud, who grumbled mightily as he went to the back once more. Cloud came back out wearing a Santa beard, leading to laughter from the crowd.

"Sure slimmed down a ton, Santa!" Mio called out to Cloud, as the others were making jokes at Cloud's expense. A very loud gunshot from Fox's phone brought the noise level in the lecture hall down to zero.

Fox: Link showed me the gunshot trick on his phone. It's great for waking up your wife and making her think there's a home robbery. But then it's not so great when you reveal to her that it's a prank, and then she wants to strangle you like Homer Simpson strangling Bart. As her husband, though, I unironically enjoy it.

"Very good. Now give us your best Santa Claus impersonation!" Tsubasa encouraged Cloud, who looked even more bummed out than before; taking matters into his own hands, Cloud would put his unique spin on Santa Claus.

"Here goes nothing..." said Cloud, before standing at the edge of the stage as he said the following: "...lady-of-the-evening, lady-of-the-evening, lady-of-the-evening." Once they understood what Cloud meant, the crowd responded with laughter.

"I will not stand for this..." Yashiro frowned amid the laughter, as he stood up from the judges' table. Fox caught the idol singer in the act.

"YASHIRO YOU SIT YOUR EMO DAVID BOWIE-LOOKING SELF BACK DOWN RIGHT NOW!" Fox boomed at the visibly hurt Yashiro, who did as he was told as he sat back down. Cloud was surprisingly off to a good start so far.

"So am I done? Is it over?" Cloud asked the judges, believing that he was finished based on the crowd reaction alone. However, the judges weren't done with him just yet.

"The musical is supposed to be a joyful celebration," stated Kiria, not seeing enough joy exuded from Cloud - even if his first line was a hoot. "Can't you show us a little more holiday spirit?"

"How do I do that? Serious question, by the way." Cloud's audition had the potential to take a turn for the worse, and Kiria knew it too as she buried her face in her hands.

"I cannot wait to get on that stage and sing," Ryu discussed with Raiden, as he and the mercenary were sitting in close vicinity. "Then I will show everyone, including Johnny, that I am Kenough!"

"Quit saying that, it's annoying," Raiden said to Ryu, as he contemplated moving to a different seat. Ryu was testing his limit.


Captain Falcon, Malva, and Nowi (the latter just wanted to be included) had a lovely discussion with Link and Zelda in their room, with Malva telling the Hylians about Team Flare's weaponry being stolen. Malva explained what the ultimate weapon did, what it was originally used for, and how dangerous it could be if left in the wrong hands.

"Any idea what the thief looks like?" Link asked Malva, who whipped out her Holo Caster as she fired a projection of an image. Nowi was about to touch the image, but Captain Falcon slapped her hand away.

"Xerosic took this image discreetly," explained Malva, as the image revealed a creature riding in what appeared to be a spaceship. The figure was completely dark so it was hard to make out any details.

"Looks like someone we know, doesn't it?" Captain Falcon asked Link and Zelda with a smirk, having a slight hunch about who the individual was. Wouldn't say who it was unless Link and Zelda figured it out themselves.

"According to Xerosic, the thief is some kind of alien since it was flying in an unidentified flying object. That's about all he could share with us." Malva ended the image projection, as Nowi's window of opportunity was now shut.

"That reminds me," Zelda spoke up, as she recalled something that a certain cab driver from Omnis Adest told her. "Dribble came to me one day rambling on about some alien he saw."

"Poor guy is always seeing aliens," stated Link, who on the contrary had received word from Spitz about Dribble's alien paranoia. "They are to him what ghosts are to Luigi!"

Spitz: Do I feel embarrassed by Dribble taking his alien sightings up to Zelda? Meh, not really, he has done far worse to humiliate me. Far, far worse. Is his paranoia driving me insane? You bet it is! Imagine trying to sleep when your friend keeps going on and on about an alien he saw. Even worse when you have to share the same bed as him...Why do we share the same bed, you ask? I dunno, our townhouse is cheap compared to everybody else's. I blame Wario.

Dribble: Saw him again! I saw that alien! I asked Mona if I could borrow her camera so I could take a picture for photo evidence, but she told me that I had a phone. What does that have to do with anything?! Bet she knows about the alien, but is trying to deflect. I see you, Mona...

"Sorry for interrupting," said Aku as he entered the room along with Sonic and Crash, putting the conversation regarding the ultimate weapon on hold. "But we have a problem on our..."

"Is it about Orson?" Link asked Sonic, who was left stunned as he nodded his head. How did Link know, who told him? "Conker told me about Orson's situation when he shared his hot fries with me...i-in secret."

"Conker had hot fries, and he never shared them with me?! That sucker," seethed Sonic; not only was Sonic feeling salty, but Captain Falcon was salty as well. Hot fires were Falcon's soul food.

"What is this about Orson's situation?" inquired Zelda, as she desired to be in the know - whatever Link knew about, Zelda deserved to know about as well. That was, frankly, how their marriage worked.

"Orson got arrested for stealing a truck. Allegedly. Allegedly is the key word in this..."

"Hold on. Orson got in trouble for stealing a truck? What was the model?"

"I could be wrong, but the model might've been a 2022 Ford F-150."

"Okay...and what was the model of the truck purchased for Earnest?"

"Pfft, that's easy! The model of his truck...is a 2022 Ford F-150."

"Funny coincidence. And the model of the truck that Guile set his eyes on?"

"That would be...a 2022 Ford F-150." Sonic's eyes grew wide, as Guile's suspicious behavior earlier became clear to him.

"Malva, would you mind doing us a solid?" Zelda asked the Kalos reporter, wanting her to be of use while she was in Seattle. "It'll be painless, I promise."

"Painless isn't exactly my specialty, but I'll oblige," Malva smirked in an almost devious manner, as she reached into her pocket and pulled out a Poke Ball.


Raiden was up to audition for the musical, and the judges kept a relatively open mind as Raiden walked across the stage. The judges were at least hoping that Raiden would show more emotion than Cloud did, although the chances of that were slim.

"This should be interesting," Yashiro whispered to Tsubasa and Kiria, as a cardboard box covered in Christmas tinsel shuffled its way onto the stage. Raiden was revealed to be under the box as he removed it.

"Hope you all enjoyed that entrance," Raiden said to the crowd as he stood up, seeing that his entrance didn't make much of an impact on anyone. "I'll be auditioning for the role of Jack Frost, correct?"

"That is correct," confirmed Tsubasa, before tilting her head as she analyzed Raiden's outfit. The effort was there, so that's good. "Uh, Raiden, that outfit is not exactly what we had in mind for Jack Frost."

"However Jack Frost looks like is up to anyone's interpretation of him. I just wanted to do my take on the character, thank you very much..."

Raiden: Snake was the one who found my outfit for the audition. Said it was inspired by a movie that included not only Santa Claus but also the Easter Bunny...and the Tooth Fairy. Strangest Christmas movie I've ever heard in my life. But it's no matter - once I ace this audition, the Christmas musical will be a violent masterpiece. Holiday films, plays, and the like could use a bit more...violence.

"I can't argue with that," admitted Kiria, as Raiden had made a pretty valid point. "Well, Raiden, the stage is yours." It was now or never for Raiden; he had nothing to lose.

"One moment..." Raiden said to the judges, before pressing his fingers against an item close to his ear. Was it...a codec? "...no, Snake, I don't need you to feed me any lines!"

"No codecs allowed during the audition!" Yashiro yelled at Raiden, who was jawing at Snake through the codec as he momentarily walked off-stage. "Does that count as cheating?" Yashiro asked Tsubasa and Kiria.

"Perhaps," replied Kiria, and once he was done Raiden returned to the stage as he put his codec in the pocket of his costume. "All good now, Raiden?"

"Affirmative. All possible distractions have been...eliminated." Raiden suddenly furrowed his brow, as he made out a figure floating at the back of the lecture hall. It was an evil jackal wearing a mask...Infinite.

"What's the matter now?" Tsubasa asked Raiden, who kept his focus steady on Infinite as he pulled out his katana. "No weapons are allowed either!"

"Don't worry...this is justified." Raiden jumped off the stage, jumping over the judges' table, as he made a charge towards Infinite. But then Infinite teleported out of the way, as Raiden landed against the wall.

"Missed me..." Infinite taunted Raiden, as he was now hovering above the lecture hall stage. A collective gasp was heard throughout the lecture hall.

"Oh no! It's Infinite!" screamed Fox, as everyone was on high alert; Yashiro even tried to leave from the judges' table. "Don't think I can see you trying to escape, Yashiro!"

"Watch out, Raiden - this Infinite is no joke!" Falco warned the mercenary, who leaped down from the wall as he locked eyes with his current adversary, Infinite. Infinite laughed evilly, his hand over his mouth.

"So, you're the cyborg ninja that Zant warned me about," Infinite said to Raiden, whose attack - while it didn't land the target - left behind a good first impression on the jackal. "What a shame that you couldn't stay in Twilight forever."

"Anyone who's with that Zant freak is an enemy of mine..." seethed Raiden, dashing down the aisle with his katana; he leaped up to attack, but Infinite teleported once more as Raiden landed on the stage.

"Close but no cigar." Infinite was hovering above the lecture hall seats, as those below him were shivering in fear. "Is that all you got?"

"I do have a trick up my sleeve...I can't say if it works or not." Taking a chance, Raiden took his katana and hurled it straight at Infinite. Much to Raiden's surprise, he nailed his target as Infinite was struck in the eye.

"AUGH!" Infinite was left writhing in pain, holding his left eye as Raiden's katana fell to the floor. Landed on Steve's lap, as Steve picked up the blade.

"This katana will do wonders for my audition," remarked Steve as he fancied the katana, which Raiden quickly came over to retrieve. "Or maybe not..." Steve lowered his head in sadness, as Infinite continued to writhe in pain above him.

"Must...regroup..." Infinite said after being caught off-guard by Raiden's katana throw, as he vanished away. Whether he vanished from the lecture hall - or even the entire mansion altogether - remained to be seen.

"Is everyone okay?" Raiden asked those in the lecture hall, no doubt knowing that everyone was tense because of Infinite's appearance. It would take a while for the tension to die down.

"Are you seriously hiding underneath the table?" Kiria asked Yashiro, who was hiding underneath the judges' table for safety. Such cowardliness Sub-Zero would vehemently frown upon.


While he was a fan of the Assist Tower's Christmas decorations in the living room, Guile believed that the decorations could use a more "patriotic" touch. That was why the major wanted to inject a little "U-S-A" into the holiday spirit.

"Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree...I now salute you, Christmas tree," Guile sang to the tower's Christmas tree, which now had a small American flag inserted into it. The major gave the Christmas tree a salute, as Hammer Bro passed by shaking his head.

"You have serious issues," Hammer Bro said to Guile, not liking how close the American flag was to the star at the top of the tree. Surely Crazy Hand would ask for the flag to be removed, regardless of Guile's feelings.

"As do you, you non-patriot." After clapping back at Hammer Bro, Guile returned to the Christmas tree and saluted it one more time. Hammer Bro sighed as he left the living room for good.

Guile: I have very fond Christmas memories. Back when I was a Colonel in the Air Force, my men would only buy me socks for Christmas. They said that it was because I wasn't that fun or interesting. Made it seem like it was a bad thing. And you know what I did in return? I bought them eccentric socks - the kind of socks that'd get you kicked out of a convenience store in the afternoon hours if you had your pants up too high. Then I would say to them, who's the uninteresting one now?

His work done, Guile departed from the living room believing that he had done his country a favor. The major wouldn't get that far from the living room, as he encountered a random Chandelure.

"This Pokemon must have escaped from the sanctuary," assumed Guile, as he kept a respectful distance; a Chandelure is said to burn up a person's spirit. "Are you lost, little one?"

"Chandelure..." replied Chandelure, moving its arms up and down...its black, chandelier-esque arms. Almost like the luring Pokemon was sending a message to Guile.

"What? What were you saying? I would get closer to hear better, but..." Guile stopped speaking, as he felt something back up into his legs. Looking back, Guile saw a Torkoal behind him.

"Torkoal!" bellowed Torkoal, with steam erupting out of its back; a female Pyroar and Talonflame later arrived, as they and the other two Pokemon had Guile surrounded.

"What is it that you want with me? Must I save you all at once?!" Guile didn't mind saving a Pokemon or two, but the fact that four pocket monsters were all up on him had the major fearing for his life.

"Nice work, you four!" a voice called out, as Malva made her grand entrance; she wasn't alone, for with her was Zelda and Sonic.

"Hello...Guile," Zelda greeted the major, speaking with a kind of scorn that was seldom present in her voice. The princess didn't look like she was in a particularly good mood.

"Hello, princess..." Guile returned the favor, left wondering why Zelda looked so ticked off with him. The fact that Sonic was there made Guile more on edge. "...can I help you?"

"I was thinking that maybe you can help us. Answer me this, did you hand that stolen truck to Orson to avoid getting in trouble?"

"What stolen truck? What truck have I ever stolen?"

"Beats me...maybe it's the one that was purchased for that Earnest guy."

"Y-You're not...talking about Earnest's truck, are you?"

"The truck you had your eyes on?"

"And you think that I had stolen it for myself?"

"It's a simple yes or no question. Malva?" Zelda turned to Malva, who snapped her fingers as she commanded her four Pokemon to get into attack mode. Fearing being burned alive, Guile fell to his knees and slammed his fists on the floor.

"YES, IT WAS ME, IT WAS ME ALL ALONG!" Guile was shedding manly tears, unable to hold his tears back as he admitted his guilt. "I had Earnest framed so that I could take his truck! And after I felt bad about it more than a year later, I handed it over to Orson! Please forgive me..."

"Some family man that you are..." Malva shook her head in disapproval at Guile, who slammed his fist on the floor multiple times. Once she hears the story, Guile's wife will be the most disappointed spouse on the face of the earth.

"Well, Sonic? Does that give you enough closure?" Zelda asked the blue hedgehog, who was alarmed by how much sadness Guile was eschewing. For a man of Guile's caliber, it was unnatural to be that sad and remorseful.

"Guess I feel stupid for not putting the puzzle pieces together sooner," replied Sonic, wondering when Guile was going to stop his pity party. It was getting a little unnerving for him.


Overwatch's holiday party was winding down, and one of the party crashers, Mario, was back in the fold. Peach told Mario to stop worrying about stuff, so Mario put his worries aside for good and rejoined the party.

"Mario, I gotta hand it to you, you make a really good fruitcake," Brigette said to the plumber, who was fixing himself some punch.

"Thanks, I do my best," responded Mario, back to his usual upbeat self thanks to Peach's pep talk. "It was hard-a keeping Peach out of the kitchen."

"I bet. Also, my dad loves your fruitcake. Too much, I'll say..." Brigette gestured to Torbjörn, who was sitting on the floor stuffing his mouth with fruitcake. The chewy fruitcake, the one that Hunter previously took a bite out of.

"Fruitcake sure hit the spot!" Torbjörn happily exclaimed before belching - and he didn't say "excuse me" either. Brigette should be ashamed to have a father that rude. Reinhardt passed by Torbjörn, still swinging that bat.

"Did I get the pinata?" asked Reinhardt as he took off his blindfold, seeing that the Santa pinata was still intact with nary a scratch. "Oh well, back to swinging I go!" After a shrug, Reinhardt put the blindfold back over his eyes and went back to swinging like a madman.

"Reinhardt could sure use my help...I'll be right back," Brigette said to Mario as she went over to deal with Reinhardt, whose last swing narrowly missed Brigette's head. "Woah, Reinhardt! You almost decapitated me..."

Baptiste: Reinhardt couldn't land a single lick on that pinata. He damaged nearly everything else in the watchpoint, including the windows, but the pinata survived the onslaught. Old Saint Nick lives to see another day.

"Perhaps I misjudged you..." a certain cyborg ninja said to Mario, as Genji approached the plumber from behind not as apprehensive as he was before. "...I imagined that you would've conducted yourself poorly."

"And what made-a you think that?" asked Genji, as Brigette was now restraining Reinhardt; after she almost got decapitated again, Brigette couldn't take any chances.

"Your small conversation with Mercy gave me doubts about you. Left me under the impression that you were up to no good..."

"To be fair, I did-a come to this party with an ulterior motive...but I was just really in-a my head. It was foolish of me to come-a here."

"Well, the others didn't seem to mind. You and your family make for fine party guests."

"And Spyro and-a Hunter...since they're not exactly family." Mario's affirmation got a light chuckle out of Genji.

"My mistake. You, your family, and those freeloaders." Now Genji got Mario to chuckle, returning the favor. "Merry Christmas, Mario."

"Likewise-a my friend!" Mario raised his cup to Genji, who nodded his head as he and Mario both went their separate ways.


The auditions at the lecture hall were temporarily on hold, for Infinite remained large in the mansion. No way could the auditions continue if a powerful foe such as Infinite was on the prowl.

"The auditions won't go on until we get confirmation that Infinite is no longer here," stressed Fox, as he had everyone gathered close to the stage. Tension was running at an all-time high. "X is looking through the security tapes as we speak."

"Don't mean to interrupt, but this Infinite fella really is bad news, right?" Johnny spoke up, as everyone stared at the movie star wondering if he was being serious or not. "So is that a yes, or a no?"

"He wears an evil-looking mask, what do you think?" Dorothea asked Johnny, as even she knew that Infinite was bad news. Apparently, Johnny was super late to the program.

"I think he looks like a poser. The stuff he's doing, it's all for show." Johnny was confident of the very fact as he folded his arms, while the others quietly dismissed him.

"Hey guys, I looked through the footage," X said to Fox and Falco as he entered the lecture hall, running down the aisle to the stage. "No signs of Infinite in or out of the mansion."

"Awesome! Thanks for the info," Fox thanked X, before turning to the man of the hour, Raiden. The real MVP. "Appreciate you for taking out Infinite."

"If he's a member of the coalition, he'll be my problem to deal with," replied Raiden, fortunate that he had noticed Infinite in time. He might very well prove that he was indeed the X-factor.

"Since I'm done with my audition...can I leave?" Cloud asked Fox and Falco, who looked at the swordsman offended - the latter even clutching his pearls. "Got some, uh, Christmas decorating to get to..."

"Christams decorating?" questioned an astonished Falco, before smiling as he almost felt a proud tear run down his face. "He's becoming more of a fun guy before our very eyes..."

"This is getting weird...yeah, I'll just leave." Ripping off his Santa costume, Cloud hightailed out of the lecture hall as Fox and Falco looked on, no doubt proud of what Cloud had become.


The holiday party at the watchpoint came to an end, as Tracer and Winston were ready to see Mario and company off. While most of the Overwatch agents had qualms about Mario bringing his folks to their party, the fruitcake that was provided (almost) made up for it.

"Thank you again for the fruitcake, love!" Tracer thanked Mario, thinking that she made a great decision in inviting Mario and his crew to the party. Spruced up the Christmas party a bit.

"And thanks for ruining my holiday banana split," Winston thanked Mario, albeit sardonically, as he was still unable to let go of what transpired in the break room earlier. "A Yiga clan member left behind a threatening letter in my office..."

"The Yiga Clan gave you a disparaging letter? Me too! Up top!" Tracer happily held up her hand to Winston for a high five, as the ticked-off Winston left his best friend hanging.

Tracer: I got in trouble with the Yiga Clan once - for throwing away banana chips. They were past the bloody expiration date!

"You all put-a together a fabulous Christmas party," Mario said to Tracer and Winston, as he led his family (and the "freeloaders", Spyro and Hunter) to his car. "Hope to be there next-a holiday season!"

"Don't count on it..." muttered Winston, open to welcoming back everyone except for Mario. It might take a while for the gorilla to get over that ruined banana split.

"Feel better now?" Peach asked Mario, who reached his car and unlocked the vehicle with his car keys. A smile from Mario made the answer obvious.

"A whole-a lot better," replied Mario, as Spyro and Hunter were the first to hop inside the car. "Hunter, no riding in the passenger seat!"


Following a few tests and diagnoses, Luigi and Robin both received their discharge papers and were now free to go. Luigi was the happiest man alive, relieved that his appointment was finally over. Robin, meanwhile, was feeling like a little kid again and desired a lollipop for all his troubles.

"The lollipops are only for the child patients," the receptionist at the front desk informed Robin, who gave a dubious look that had the lady change her tune. "A-And staff only."

"My doctor says that I have Hypothyroidism...whatever that is," stated Robin using his diagnosis in an attempt to sucker in the receptionist. "The least you can do for me is..."

"Robin, leave her alone," Lucina called out to the mage, as she was standing in the waiting room with Luigi and Daisy waiting on her husband. "We have plenty of candy back home."

"But that's Christmas candy! How many of them are lollipops?" Soon after Lucina glared at him, Robin returned to the receptionist as he politely held up his index finger. "One lollipop is all that I'm asking for..."

"Well, Luigi? Was that so bad?" Daisy asked her husband, who was looking bummed out that he even went to the doctor's office in the first place. During the holiday season, no less.

"The doctor claimed-a that I have seizures..." replied Luigi, who was sure to give Dr. Corres a negative review online for the "horrible" experience he had. "...even gave-a me seizure medicine."

"Good! You'll get over this in no time." If Luigi could, he would throw his seizure medicine in the trash - or better yet, feed it to Polterpup. "Ready to go, Lucina?"

"Yes, in a moment," replied Lucina, before returning her attention to Robin who was now smooth-talking the receptionist until he got what he wanted. "Robin, leave her alone! You're not a child."

"Then that makes you a..." retorted Robin, who didn't get to finish his response as Lucina delivered a serious glare that got her husband acting right. "...okay, I'm coming! Please forgive me..."


Aerith and Tifa were tasked by Rosalina with putting together a gingerbread house, and it was harder than they expected. But lo and behold, the two ladies eventually got it done.

"Ta-da! So what do you think?" Aerith asked Rosalina and Palutena, as she and Tifa presented to the party-planning committee members the fully-complete large gingerbread house. Looked even more appetizing than it did on the packaging.

"The attention to detail is amazing!" critiqued Palutena, analyzing the gingerbread house's architecture as Travis came by. "You ladies did a bang-up job with this. I'm impressed!"

"It's missing a moving gingerbread train, though," Travis said half-jokingly, as Rosalina and Palutena both frowned at the otaku. "I was just kidding." Travis backed away, only to back up into the Golden Deer's Raphael.

"Oh man, what a delicious gingerbread house!" exclaimed Raphael, who was such a big foodie (no pun intended) that he couldn't help but acknowledge how spectacular the gingerbread house looked. "Can't wait to eat it!"

"No Raphael, it's not for eating; it's just a decoration," explained Tifa, as the party-planning committee was sure to give a stark warning to the others soon. Raphael was quickly beside himself.

"Then what's the point of it existing? You can't tease us like that!" An upset Raphael walked away, and Raihan appeared seconds later smirking as Raphael left.

"Heh...bet he couldn't even handle the gingerbread house!" Raihan remarked as he looked over his shoulder at Raphael, before bringing his attention to Aerith and Tifa. "How about some ice cream, for the hard-working ladies?"

"Some ice cream would be nice right now," replied Tifa, as Raihan whistled into his fingers; on command, Geno and Mallow arrived, presenting Aerith and Tifa with an assortment of different ice cream flavors.

"Full disclaimer, Popo won't let us give out seconds," Geno informed Aerith and Tifa, revealing just how stingy Popo was. As Aerith and Tifa made their selections, Geno turned to Mallow and asked, "You good now?"

"Yes - I feel great!" replied Mallow, who was back to his normal self as he was no longer wracked with fear. "Totally forgot what I was worried about."

"So you're telling me you haven't seen him at all today?" the male Inkling asked Banjo and Kazooie in the background, showing them an image on his phone. When Banjo and Kazooie both shook their heads, an exasperated male Inkling stormed off.


Infinite was at the doctor's office at the beginning of the episode, when Luigi and Robin's appointments started. The jackal was back again, watching as Luigi and Robin were in the parking lot with their wives.

"We'll be meeting you soon, Mr. L..." cackled Infinite, as he watched Luigi get inside the car. "And you as well..." Infinite stopped speaking, before writhing in pain as he nursed his eye. "...they were right about Raiden being a problem."

"I've found you!" someone called out to Infinite, as Nitrous Oxide approached the jackal on his flying spaceship. "Are you in pain?"

"What does it look like?!" Infinite snapped at Oxide, and the fact that he was hurting didn't make his temper much better.

"Erm...just inquiring! Anyway, I think I'm all done snooping around at Omnis Adest. The earth dog that drives the cab is getting unto me!"

"We won't have to worry about doing any more recon work. Dimentio says he plans on busting out the 'big guns' next week, as part of his return trip."

"Ooh, does this mean I can unleash the ultimate weapon that I've been working on with the Broodals?"

"I'm afraid not. This plan of his has much to do with those books he reads in his spare time...the scarlet and violet ones."

Oxide: For the sake of confidentiality, I won't delve into what Dimentio is plotting, but I will say this: I am upset that he won't let me look at those books of his! "For my eyes only," he says. What if he let someone else read through the book in secret? It'd unsettle me knowing that our leader was prone to playing favorites. Now if I was the favorite? No problem.


With the threat of Infinite gone, the auditions picked up right where they left off. It was time for the singing auditions, as Ryu was now on stage looking to prove that he was "Kenough".

"What on earth...?" uttered Kiria as Ryu walked across the stage, wearing a Santa hat and a pink multicolored hoodie that had the words "I am Kenough". Everyone in the lecture hall had every right to be afraid.

"The Santa hat is meant to offset this hoodie," Ryu clarified to the judges, before awkwardly clearing his throat as he saw all the puzzled faces. "I'm ready to audition for the singing role."

"Well, I'm sure this is going to be great," smiled Tsubasa, willing to give Ryu her support if no one else was willing to. "Go ahead whenever you're ready!"

Ryu took a deep breath, as he pointed at K.K. Slider commanding him to play some music. The music began playing, and it was a tune that most were familiar with. Mainly the ladies.

"Isn't this from the Barbie movie?" Amy whispered to the Pokemon sitting next to her, Jigglypuff, as Ryu grabbed the microphone ready to sing his heart out...

Doesn't seem to matter what I do
I'm always number two
No one knows how hard I tried, oh-oh,
I have feelings that I can't explain
Drivin' me insane
All my life, been so polite
But I'll sleep alone tonight

'Cause you're just Ken, anywhere else I'd be a ten
Is it my destiny to live and die a life of cruel fragility?
You're just Ken
Where I see love, they see a friend
What will it take for them to see the man behind the man and fight for me?

"Uh, Ryu, you're supposed to sing a Christmas song!" Fox called out to the fighter, who was finding himself in the groove as a music solo began playing. Ryu shuffled his feet in a sorry attempt at dancing, and after the music solo, he was back to singing.

I'm just Ken, anywhere else I'd be a ten
Is it my destiny to live and die a life of cruel fragility?
I'm just Ken
Where I see love, they see a friend
What will it take for them to see the man behind the man and fight for me?

I'm just Ken (and I'm enough)
And I'm great at doing stuff
So, hey, check me out, yeah, I'm just Ken
My name's Ken (and so am I)
Put that manly hand in mine
So, hey, world, check me out, yeah, I'm just Ken
Baby, I'm just Ken (nobody else, nobody else)

Ryu sang his heart out on the last line, as he was taking a deep breath with his microphone raised to the ceiling. He looked at the stunned crowd and saw many shocked faces all around.

"So, judges, how was it?" Ryu asked the three judges, who were left speechless - could either be a good thing or a bad thing, no in-between. "How was the Kenergy? Was I Kenough for you?"

"You were definitely 'Kenough', alright," replied Yashiro, finding it uncanny how Ryu hardly looked out of place singing "I'm Just Ken". It was perhaps the manliness factor. "But how about you sing a Christmas song?"

"I can very well do a Christmas song..." Ryu held his microphone down, as he got the chance to audition a second time. Very rarified company. "...K.K. Slider, play that Rudolph song! And it better not be that hip-hoppy one either..."