Round 5: Day 5
Luigi, Quinn
Smash City
Trophy Hotel Entrance
1130
Despite the confident strides of his companions, Mario, Peach, Luigi, Daisy, and Rosalina, Quinn struggled to match it. His gaze was too firmly affixed on the shimmering golden building that seemed to jettison past the clouds.
"Woah," Quinn said/
Quinn felt something squeeze his arm. Snapping to what had taken hold of him, he realized that Rosalina had sped walked to his side, and grabbed him.
"Quinn, if you're going to accompany us to this meeting, you mustn't look as lost as a star fresh from a supernova," she hissed.
"In my defense, Mario said it was on the way. Otherwise, I wouldn't have come. I'm just a beach bum, not some politician."
Rosalina shot him a reassuring grin as they walked through the grand doors.
"It'll be an easy one," said Rosalina, "They're old friends of ours, it'll be a catch-up visit more than anything."
Luigi shot them a glare over his shoulder.
"You say 'ours,'" sighed the younger Mario Brother, "But I was out of town when everything went down. The doll had already gone back to the great beyond, and the cloud went back up to Nimbus before I could even make pleasantries. All I got to do was host the victory parade."
"Parades are fun," teased Daisy, who kept a grip on his hand, "What are you moaning about?"
"They're fun when you aren't the marshal!" insisted Luigi, "Have you tried organizing Toads, it's like herding cats."
Of course, two Toads happened to be walking by. They gave Luigi sharp glares, their discontent readable through their dark eyes. Quinn tried to mouth "sorry" but the Toads had already shuffled past them.
At this, Mario turned around, continuing to walk alongside Peach, "Luigi, behave, or I could always tell Pauline you want to do commercials for her next mayoral campaign."
"Oh Stars, anything but that," Luigi whined, "I'll put up with a zillion aliens and a zillion Bowser invasions."
Rosalina put a finger to her lips, "Mister Disk is here,"
Sure enough, the square proprietor of the Trophy Hotel descended from the ceiling.
"Ah, Mister Mario," he said, "Here for your rooftop lunch reservation?"
"Yes," Mario nodded, "But before I go, I'd like to stop by a room. I'm almost sure it's in Prince Mallow's name."
"Ah yes," Mister Disk chirped without hesitation, "Mister Mallow was quite insistent that I knew. Right this way.
A portal opened below the teleporting Mister Disk. The six stepped inside. As the portal closed, Quinn took in his surroundings. Two plush-looking beds occupied a single room, with kitchen and bathroom areas tucked into opposite sides. A humanoid cloud immediately jumped up from his bed, while his companion, a large wooden doll, simply shifted to his side, a grin on his face.
"MARIO! PEACH!" squealed the cloud, "Finally, we get to see each other!"
The doll nodded, "Yes. It's been so long, three decades?"
"If it's been decades since you've seen them," Rosalina said with a smile, "It's been centuries since we've made pleasantries…"
Without warning, Rosalina flawlessly mimicked the sound of a windchime, the doll doing the same thing back.
"What?" Quinn asked as the two conversed away.
"The language of the stars, so they say," Peach explained, "It's an ancient language, one so ancient that the only people who know it are Rosalina and the Stars that created our world."
"Wow, that's…" Quinn began.
"Ahem," the cloud grunted, "It's really rude to speak in a secret language the rest of us can't understand."
"Oh, um, right," Rosalina said, the doll rubbing the back of his head with a strained creaking movement of his arm, "Anyway, this is Luigi, Daisy, and my boyfriend Quinn."
"To people of this era," explained the doll, "I am Geno. My real name is in the language you just heard Rosalina and I speak."
"So Geno it is then," Quinn said, "Pleased to meet you."
"That was more or less my reaction," Mallow laughed, "I'm Mallow by the way,"
"Nice to meet you, Mallow."
Daisy was next to smile, "So you're the prince of Nimbus Land? I gotta say that you guys' neutrality is something I hope for my kingdom."
"Well," Mallow sighed, "With our weather manipulation powers, to show allegiance towards one kingdom or another could have disastrous consequences for you guys on land."
"Wow Mallow," exclaimed Peach, "You sound so grown up."
Lightning flickered at Mallow's cheeks. Quinn suppressed a laugh.
Was that supposed to be a blush? Quinn wondered.
"Well, thanks," Mallow chuckled, "Thanks to Frogfucius lessons, I was able to adapt to Nimbus Land's pacifist culture pretty quickly."
"How is the old man?" Mario asked.
A grin befell Mallow, "Still kicking shockingly enough. He's been working really hard to build a democratic council for when he does pass on."
\ "Ah, that's why no one from Tadpole Pond responded. And I assume your parents are gearing up for Conker's nonsense back home?"
"Yep," Mallow nodded, "Sorry if our intel was redundant though."
Mario shook his head, "They wouldn't have known to trace Culex if Materia hadn't shown up. And besides, confirmation of what we already know from so many sources indicates we're not missing anything."
Geno sighed, "Even the Seven Stars can't break through the barrier. It's as your intel says Master Mario, the villain's home base is completely impenetrable."
Mallow pumped his fist, his billowing arms extending as he did.
"But we'll be ready," Mallow pumped his fist, "I've been training every spare second I haven't been studying, and Geno's back in the body ready to go."
Luigi smiled, stroking his mustache.
"As glib as it sounds," he said, "I've been looking forward to the day we can all fight together."
Geno rose off the bed, clasping his hand as he creaked to a sitting position.
"All of these forces coming together on both sides of this conflict was an inevitability. Even the minute details, like the accident that befell the Sarasalandian governors, or the Pajitnov boy catch your eyes."
Suddenly, all eyes were on Quinn. Quinn could only stare back, completely dumbstruck.
"Pajitnov?" Quinn stammered, "My last name's Marmaduke."
"Your adopted last name is Marmaduke. Your given name is Quintet Pajitnov."
"Okay, so you know my real name. Who are my parents, and where are they?"
Mario let forth a long, deep sigh, Quinn knew what that meant immediately.
"Oh no," was all Quinn could squeak out.
"You're aware that Mii settlements sometimes lose connection to entire worlds by the whims of gods more powerful than The Seven Stars."
"The Creators I suppose," Quinn sighed.
"Yes. Your parents are descendants of the creator of a universe called Tetris, a god called Pajitnov."
"Wait, Mario," Quinn blubbered, "Does that mean I'm a…"
"Demigod, yes," Mario said, "Your mother's side were Miis, whereas your father's side were the guardians of the Tetris Party section of that universe. Before connectivity was cut off, they besieged Master Hand with two gifts, you, and our greatest weapon, The Ultimate Tetromino, a mech made of Tetris pieces. It lives under the mansion with the rest of the noncompetitor's armaments, and it can only be activated by genetic code, so…"
"So I'm activating a big robot. Great," Quinn croaked, holding back tears.
"Wait," Rosalina called.
She closed her eyes and sighed, When she straightened herself, opening her eyes, her glare was directly affixed on Mario.
"We're missing something extremely important here. You knew."
Mario spoke without hesitation, "I knew that Smash resources were used to get a young boy out of a world about to be disconnected, and that Master Hand prophesied that the boy would be important. The way you were when you started here, I didn't think it could be you. I was expecting a much more assured fighter.."
"But dear," Peach said dryly, "Quinn, Quintet, the fifth tournament."
"I didn't think it'd be that obvious-a!" snapped Mario, "But Zangief telling us he was Russian, plus the battle with Akuma made it clear."
Quinn sighed, "You couldn't possibly know this, but…If they knew the world was about to be disconnected, why didn't they…?"
"Because they knew they'd live on through the Ultimate Tetromino and you," Geno explained. "We all have a purpose in this world, to live on and make this world better than when we left it. Yours is to stand alongside us in this conflict, your parents knew that."
"I guess they would, being gods and all," Quinn mused.
Suddenly, everything bristled in him.
"Does that mean that everything in my life is divine intervention?"
Geno creaked as he shook his head, "No. Failing to live up to one's destiny is possible no matter what the future has in store. Take, for example, the departed Mister Minch. He stood to be saved from that dreadful King Dice, but he was so corrupted he was beyond it."
Quinn nodded slowly, his jaw falling slack as all the information set in, "Uh-huh."
"In much the same way, you could've given into any temptation that would've caused you not to be here now," Geno continued, "And yet, here you are."
"Yeah, good," Quinn said.
"He took that well," Daisy whispered to Luigi.
Unfortunately, even at a whisper, the princess was loud enough to be easily heard by Quinn across the room. Quinn shot the embarrassed princess a grin, finally wiping away his tears.
"I've got no choice," Quinn concluded, "This is my destiny, but my personal goal remains the same, win the tournament."
"That's the spirit," Mallow cheered, "I've got my money on you."
"Hey," Luigi joked, "What am I, chopped liver?"
A mischievous smile spread across Mallow's lips, "Well, you aren't exactly Bruce Lee."
The eight occupants of the hotel room shared a laugh. When the laughter subsided, Geno sighed.
"This has been a productive conversation," the doll said, "I do apologize for unearthing the big secret before discussing it with you Mario."
Mario smiled, shaking his head, "Quite frankly-a I wasn't sure how we were going to bring it up. If anything, I should be the one apologizing. I should've come to you as soon as I learned about it, Quinn."
Quinn sighed, "I'm glad I found out amongst friends, that's all."
"Well good," Mario nodded again, "Let's go eat!"
Daisy snorted and laughed, "Ah, the old New Donkian problem-solving."
"Your jokes aside Princess Daisy, that sounds like a lovely way to ease the tension," Geno chuckled.
"Yeah," Mallow agreed, "We won't keep you!"
Mario keyed in a code. This time, the six stepped through the portal to a dining room table with a feast laid before it. Meat, fish, vegetables, and rice lay on the table in heated serving dishes.
"YO! CHAI FOOD!" Daisy cheered.
It didn't take long for the friends to make their plates, everyone except Peach chowing down on the makeshift stir fry.
"I forgot how much awkward conversations make me hungry!" Luigi announced.
"Mm-hm!" agreed Quinn through a mouthful of food.
"My word," Peach scoffed, "Have we all forgotten our table manners?"
That stopped the wolfing down immediately, everyone sitting back in embarrassment.
"Sorry dude," said Daisy bashfully, "Got carried away there."
Peach rolled her eyes, blowing her bangs out of her face."
"No matter how old we get, it seems I'll always be your etiquette coach."
"I mean, can you blame me? My boo and my homie who we all just found out was a demi-god, are going into the freakin' quarter-finals of the tournament, "
"Oh God, it is the quarters," Quinn shuddered.
Mario had slowly begun to nip away at his stir fry, shooting Quinn a concerned look, "You feelin' okay about it?"
"Yeah," Quinn nodded. Luckily Ryu has fought plenty of monsters, so he's been giving me pointers. Nothing we can train against, unfortunately."
"At least not without somebody blabbing to Red," Daisy mumbled.
"Yeah! Exactly!"
"Such is the drawback of being one of the most famous people in one of our most represented universes," Peach sighed.
"But luckily," Quinn said with a grin, "I've got somebody who will blab to me."
Peach's face lit up with intrigue, "Who?"
"Terry," was Quinn's answer.
"Not much of a better guy to train with if you want some hand-to-hand expertise," Mario said, nodding sagely.
"But he knows you two are buds right?" asked Daisy, grumbling through a mouthful of food.
Peach clapped her hands in distress, "Dear! Chew, then swallow."
Rolling her eyes, Daisy did as commanded.
"He knows he's gonna report back to you right?"
Quinn frowned, "If Terry starts throwing Pokemon move names my way he might as well be speaking whatever Rosalina and Geno were speaking to me."
The group shared a chuckle. They ate in silence for several minutes until Rosalina perked up.
"You know Quinn," she mused, "If you'd like, I could try to teach you some words in the ancient language."
"That would be cool!" Quinn said standing up and looking through the plexiglass barricade.
Quinn's jaw dropped. Futuristic and modern skyscrapers were the main attraction of the city, but occasional mushroom buildings and trees with buildings hanging from them dotted the landscape, with other buildings Quinn couldn't put a geographic location on."
"Wow," was all Quinn could say.
Rosalina giggled, as the other four royals exchanged knowing smiles.
"Now is the appropriate time to be awestruck," Rosalina teased in a faux lecturer voice, "But, we could take a tour in the Comet Observatory before the round begins."
"You brought that here?" Quinn balked.
"Yes," Rosalina giggled louder, grinning as she put her hands on her hips, "How else was I to move my books into my room at the Mansion?"
"You coulda just packed like me Rosie," Daisy teased as she finished her food.
"What, and pack everything in my wardrobe, thus requiring suitcases in the hundreds? I don't think so."
"What? I can't help it if I need a fabulous outfit for every occasion,"
"I'm afraid that's something I insisted upon when I was trying to drive the tomboy out of her. Nonetheless Rosie dear, I have nothing but respect for your pragmatic planning."
"Yeah," Quinn said, "Plus I get to go on a sweet comet ride."
Rosalina held a hand to her mouth to suppress a chuckle, Daisy and Peach doing the same.
"That'll lose its luster the longer you travel the cosmos with me," said Rosalina.
"Nothing with you in it could ever lose its luster, Rosa," Quinn said, tipping his sunglasses down to show off a wink.
Now the three princesses were giggling audibly, but Daisy was the first to lower her hand to speak.
"Damn," Daisy said, "You been takin' romance lessons from my Weegee or something?"
"I'm not that smooth," Luigi and Quinn said simultaneously.
As she laughed uproariously, Daisy wrapped Luigi in a hug, "Um duh! Yes, you are. my little love bug!"
Daisy began to smother Luigi with kisses, while Mario and Peach watched the scene arm-in-arm, smiles on their faces. Quinn meekly held out his hand. Rosalina took it.
"So, when are we going on our date?" Rosalina asked.
"We've got the thing with Sans and Toriel tomorrow night, remember dears," Peach said.
"So tomorrow's out," Quinn huffed, "Day after tomorrow?"
"It's a date," Rosalina declared, pecking Quinn on the cheek.
"This has been great and all," Luigi said, "But I gotta get to training,"
"Yeah, I've got cam duty," Mario said, "ROB is wanting to spend more time with Cortana.
Peach giggled, "Does Master Chief approve?"
"He's been training off campus with Rizer since he lost. Apparently, Cortana does nothing but annoy him when she's galavanting around with ROB."
"Oh geez," Quinn sighed.
Mario chuckled, "You don't know the half of it. See ya around kid,"
Mario opened a portal to the Mansion with a few quick keystrokes. The Mario Brothers stepped through.
The four that remained on the roof sat in silence.
"So whaddya wanna do?" Daisy asked.
Peach rubbed her chin in thought for a few moments, snapping her fingers on her free hand.
"I'm sure there's a tennis court available in Little Mac's area of the city," Peach deduced, "Care for some doubles?"
"Hell yeah!" Daisy pumped her fist, "Haven't played since I got here."
Rosalina glanced over to Quinn, "On a scale of one to ten, how good are you at tennis?"
"Negative fifty-seven," Quinn blurted without hesitation.
The girls all shared a laugh at that.
"That simply means it'll be more fun darling," Peach said, tapping coordinates into her wrist communicator.
Daisy charged through the open portal first. Peach paused on the last step, glancing back at the couple.
"Come along now," Peach beckoned, stepping through the portal."
Rosalina interlinked her arm with Quinn's, the Mii Fighter shooting a nervous glance at his date.
"Come on, they won't bite, hard at least," Rosalina said.
"You're really a sorceress of prose this afternoon," grumbled Quinn.
This earned him another laugh from Rosalina.
"Well, it helps that you're cute when you're nervous."
Quinn was too busy sputtering to notice Rosalina had dragged him through the portal.
Ganondorf
Smash City
Sparklez Restaurant and Lounge
Minecraft Section
1200
Ganondorf glanced around him, making sure his crocheted cowl covered his face. People made of blocks chowed down on plates of meat in the dimly lit log cabin.
"Listen up son," said the bearded man at the table next to him into an equally blocky cell phone, "I only trade in two things, gold, and diamonds. I don't trust the exchange rate of this place."
The blocky man paused. The expressionless faces of these places bared a hole in Ganondorf's dark soul.
"No," he said, "It doesn't matter if I'm Minecraft Steve. The government would rip off Notch himself if they could."
Ganondorf turned his attention to the polygonal Inkling talking heads yammered incessantly about the Splatoween event. Much to his chagrin, Torri got most of the coverage, leading her team to a healthy lead.
"Hey," a nasal voice blurted from behind, "I'm sorry I'm late."
Ganondorf didn't even adjust his gaze as Waluigi took a seat at the table.
"So," Waluigi stammered, "Did you…um…try the food? It's a little bland if you like flavor, but I'm fine with just meat, ya know?"
"You invited me out here," Ganondorf growled, "Out with it."
"I just want you to know you're being used by Wario," whispered Waluigi nervously, "He messed up trying to work with King Dice, so he's trying to mess up the tournament with you and Sephiroth as his pawns.."
Ganondorf grinned, huffing haughtily at the purple-clad man.
"Wario is an easy enough person to placate. You of all people should know that he's much more annoying as an enemy than an ally. Besides, having my training arranged for me is quite the luxury, and I believe if you asked Sephiroth, would say the same thing"
Waluigi sighed, "You're right. It's just that the only thing worse than seeing one of his people win would be seeing Luigi win."
Ganondorf's expression lit up, an evil smile forming on his face.
"Tell me worm," Ganondorf snarled, "What is Wario to you? A brother? A friend?"
"I'm…" Waluigi gulped, choking on his words, "A lackey. Waluigi isn't even my real name, but Wario saved my life so long ago when he invaded my home, The Peaceful Woods, and made it his own that I've forgotten my real name.."
"He invaded your home, and you call that being saved? Pathetic," laughed Ganondorf.
Waluigi opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out.
"How sad this must be," continued Ganondorf, "Your life is barely of note, to begin with, and now you must watch your teacher use his wit to grip success by the tendrils and make his own."
"T-tendrils?" Waluigi quivered.
"You've wasted Wario's time if this is the man you've become under his influence, much as you've wasted my time here today. Furthermore, for what reason have you wasted my time? In some pathetic attempt to sway me towards the light? Trust me, I'm no fan of the idea of Luigi standing as the idea for what a Smasher is, but at least I'm intelligent enough to swallow my pride and align with someone who shares similar goals."
"\Okay," Waluigi said, near tears, "I get yer point,"
"But if no one will take you in an alliance, no one will give you the props you deserve, then no one can align with anyone, correct?"
"Ganondorf, that's not…"
"Quiet Waluigi, know when you stand before a superior!"
Waluigi's face twisted into a deeper frown than usual.
"Does this not please you? Does the truth not please you? I've dealt with many men like you, so I would like to propose some advice. Get out of my sight, and get out of sight of any television set in the city, for you will see either Sephiroth or I standing over the entire Smash organization as champion!"
With that, Waluigi ran out of the restaurant, loudly weeping the entire way.
"For the record," Steve said, "Money managers like Wario are just as bad as the government?"
"Did I ask for your opinion, sir?"
Without looking at him, Steve slammed a gold bar on the table, "I'll remember that when you need me to save your hide."
"That will never happen, sir, I assure you," Ganondorf spat.
Glaring at him, Steve marched out of the restaurant, just as he did, his communicator rang. When he answered the call, Sephiroth's face appeared on one side of the hologram and Wario's on another.
"Ganondorf," announced Wario, "The Yiga seem to think I'm their new chief, not you. As a result-a, the fat one's been blowing up my inbox to train with Sephiroth."
"You have them," Ganondorf said with a wicked smile.
"What about you big guy?" Wario asked Sephiroth.
"If it will please you, Wario," Sephiroth nodded.
"Is there a reason for this call other than meaningless scheduling?" said Ganondorf, shooting the hologram an annoyed look, "I believe that's why I gave you access to my money."
"There is," Wario said, his signature evil smile creeping onto his face, "I was out with my girl, and you won't believe who I saw at Trophy Hotel."
Red
Smash City
Trophy Hotel
1215
Red stood before a figurine of a square puzzle piece
"Tetris is a puzzle game from the Soviet Union, designed by Alexi Pajitnov, it's really simple to play…" Red began to read aloud.
"That's the name I heard in Mario's mind, yep," Ness, who stood by a trophy of an 'L' shaped puzzle piece, "And this description says that name too. What about you Luke?"
Lucas, who quickly scanned the trophy description of the 'T' shaped block, nodded, "Yep. Same name."
"So it's confirmed then," Ness deduced, "Quinn is related to this Pajitnov guy in some kind of way."
"Uh-huh," Lucas nodded, his brow furrowing in thought, "But what does it mean?"
"Can't you read Mario's mind again and figure out more?" Red asked.
Ness shook his head, "The admins always use their telepathic inhibitors, even outside of fights. It must've glitched out because it's the only time I've been able to read an admin's mind here.
" Peach and Daisy always have theirs too, and thank The Divine Dragon for it, in the latter case," Lucas added.\
"In any case," Red decided, "It doesn't matter. I've fought all kinds of people who weren't exactly what they appeared to be. Giovanni, Lance, Blane. And I beat them all."
"Well," sighed Lucas, "It looks like we wasted a whole bunch of time."
Now it was Red's turn to shake his head, "Nah, it helps to come by here every once in a while, helps you realize how big and varied everything is."
"And Miis are in the center of all of it," Lucas said with a confident nod.
Red rubbed his chin in thought, "I guess you're right. I'd never thought of that."
Ness blew a raspberry, waving a dismissive hand. This caused the others to shoot him a shocked glance.
"Eh," Ness grunted, "Once you've seen trophies one time, you've seen them all, at least that's what I figure. Meanwhile, I've got…"
Ness reached into the pocket of his backpack, pulling out three white and blue tickets emblazoned with a familiar logo.
"Nintendoland!"Lucas cheered.
"Yep," Ness said pridefully, shooting a glance at Red, "You comin' champ?"
"Well, The training session with Terry isn't until tomorrow."
"All the more reason to come!"Ness said, striking a victorious pose.
"You're right," Red nodded.
Pumping his fist, Ness opened a portal to the theme park, his other two friends following suit.
Cloud
Smash Mansion
Cafeteria
1400
Cloud wandered into the cafeteria. Before him, he saw one occupied set of tables. The Phantom Thieves, Akechi, Sans, Banjo, Kazooie, and Dante had pulled several tables together and were conversing animatedly
"A fanfiction as long as War and Peace by Tolstoy? That can't possibly be right!" Akechi insisted.
"It's more common than you think," Sans laughed, "Over one percent of all fanfictions are."
"Which is less than zero," Futaba added.
"If I'm correct," Makoto mused, "The longest piece of English literature was a transformative work."
"A what?" blubbered Ryuji.
"A fanfiction," Makoto explained dryly before her usually bubbly voice kicked back in, " I believe the author was born speaking Spanish as well, and used the story to practice his English."
"Yeah," Sans nodded, "That one is Frisk's favorite."
"Oh for God's sake," moaned Akechi,
"Ya know, that sounds like a solid way to practice English," remarked Ann, "Write about something you like. I've got ideas for some Featherman fanfics."
"Oh shit, no cap?" asked Futaba, "We could co-write if you wanted."
"That would be really cool. Some bonding with my future sister-in-law isn't that right Renren."
Ann nuzzled Ren, who sat next to her, the calm and collected thief blushing uncontrollably.
"Hey Akechi," Makoto asked Akechi, mirroring Ann's cuddling, "When are we going to do something fun like that?"
"If we were to do something that was ours, we'd do something productive, like buy a house, or co-parent a dog."
"I'd definitely be open to that," Makoto said.
"Speak for yourself," grumbled Ryuji, "The writing project sounds way cooler. What about you Yusuke?"
"Some websites allow you to accompany your story with your fanfiction correct?" asked the eager artist.
"Yeah," grumbled Futaba, "When they aren't getting DDOSed,"
"Such is the peril of hosting your work on the world wide web," Yusuke sighed, "Someday, we will return to the comfort and security of art museums."
"Stamper Brothers above, and I thought Banjo was a boomer," squawked Kazooie.
"Museums are going way back, but ole blue hair is right," said Travis, "We gotta return to individual websites, or else we're gonna lose old history to Web 2.0. Fanart, old fandubs of classic anime, all gone in an instant."
"Hey, I hate to interrupt, but you guys got room for one more?" Cloud asked upon entering the cafeteria.
"We always have room at our table Mister Strife," Haru announced, "But truly, I expected you to be with Mister Snake."
Cloud shook his head, "Hanging out with the family took it out of me, and I slept through my alarm, So I guess no training seminar for me."
"Plus you're a SOLDIER" Futaba shouted, "You don't need to do military drills."
"I don't, but it's in service of helping a friend," Cloud admitted.
"Sleeping through alarms, helping out a bud. It's why you're the most relatable dude in Smash besides Renren," Ryuji declared, casting a thumbs up, "Just grab some grub and come back over."
Cloud was back less than a minute later, his favorite, the club sandwich, in hand.
"So Strife," asked Ren as the ex-SOLDIER sat down, "How're you feeling about Sephiroth?"
"Gonna be sick as hell by the way," Futaba said, her voice quivering with excitement, "Being there for a rematch of one of my favorite game bosses ever is something I could have only imagined as a kid."
"It's just business, that's all," Cloud grunted, taking a bite of his sandwich.
In the silence, Kazooie cleared her throat.
"If you guys are looking to get into real estate, we recently got the deed to a sweet ass mountain."
"Recently? That happened a decade and more ago Kazooie," balked Banjo.
"We've been here for five damn years, what is time anymore," grunted the Breegul.
This caused Banjo to cock his head, "We've only been here a about a month haven't we?"
"The flow of time is strange," Morgana said from atop Ren's shoulder, "Which is why we have to think about the important things, like how you're going to take care of me in my old age."
"What," Cloud said, swallowing a bite of sandwich, "You immortal or somethin'?"
"Igor's been around for centuries hasn't he Morgana?" asked Haru
"Yeah, so logic dictates I will be too, mwehehhehe," Morgana cackled, rubbing his cartoonish hands together.
"I always figured I'd settle down in Shibuya once I was done with university," Joker said.
"But babe, living on a mountain would be awesome," Ann said, batting her eyelashes at her boyfriend.
"You forget, I'm Inaba," Ren blurted.
"But it'd be like having a getaway in Inaba without having to deal with the people of Inaba."
Joker's face scrunched in thought, before flashing his signature cocky smile.
"Yeah, once everything's over, we'll look into it."
"Yes, we're gonna be land developers Banjo!" Kazooie cheered, "Now all we need to get is matching tracksuits to go rent collecting in!"
"But you have a Phantom Thieves tracksuit," insisted Haru.
"But we need something even more ridiculous than that Matching velvet tracksuit!"
"But babe, I wouldn't look good in velvet," moaned Banjo.
"Velvet would accentuate all them muscles," Kazooie cooed, rubbing his shoulders.
"Man, everybody's flirty around here," Dante sighed.
"How often do we get to do anything without getting harassed by villains?" Kazooie squawked.
"I guess that's true," Dante said, "I haven't had to worry about my electricity bill in a while."
"And that's better than physical affection for you?" snapped Kazooie.
"Yeah, what?" Dante said, mockingly beckoning Kazooie forward.
"I agree with the devil hunter," said Futaba, "No electricity means no internet."
Dante shrugged, "If you say so. Hey Cloud, do you wanna go train."
"Yeah, if we don't run into the military gang," Cloud said with a smirk.
"Hey, it can't be bad if even Vergil is there."
"I don't wanna face Snake for oversleeping," Cloud admitted, casting his eyes down.
"We'll train in Battlefield, and by the time we're done, they'll have been done for a while."
Cloud once again flashed a grin at Dante, "Sounds good,"
"See you kids later. Good talk."
Wolfing down the last few bites of his sandwich, and ignoring Futaba's claim that they weren't kids at all, Cloud and Dante headed for the sub-levels.