The Countdown/Original Story

---Music: Sammer's Kingdom---

  The land of Hoshido hosts a variety of events, the most spectacular of all being the day leading into the start of the new year. The Hoshidan New Year's Eve Festival has always been the most grand and spectacular carnival of the year, as anyone under the sun can attest. This year would be no different. In fact, the quality of this party may perhaps even be more magnificent and memorable than ever before. This was in no small part thanks to the wide and colorful cast of guests all visiting the royal castle for the celebration. Partygoers of all kinds filled the castle's Japanese courtyard. Some stood in circles chatting, some sat at various tables eating hors d'oeuvres. A few played novel party games such as cornhole and pin the crime on the donkey. All across the vast expanse of serene land were laughing people having a grand old time.
  Hosting the event as well as occupying the center of it were the Hoshidan nobles, as usual. Corrin, Takumi, Azura, Ryoma, Hinoka, Sakura, and all of their retainers wore kimonos fitting of the season and in honor of the fast-approaching change of the calendar. Though the murmurs of chatter reinforced a dim ambiance of noise, Corrin's voice was loud enough to address her friends. "I'm so glad we could throw this celebration together last-minute."
  Hinoka nodded. "Mhm! I can't believe we almost forgot to set it up."
  Sakura smiled. "How kind of that mysterious benefactor to sponser this event. I wonder who it was...?"
  "And it's all thanks to Oboro and Hinata and their party planning that this could happen at all!" Takumi praised.
  "Aw shucks, it wasn't nothin'," Hinata chuckled bashfully, "All I did was put up the decorations Oboro made."
  "I worked pretty hard on the banners and curtains," Oboro admitted, "I hope the guests all like the designs."
  "Speaking of," Azura spoke up, "Why don't we go around and greet the other guests?"
  "Let's get a move on!" Hinoka asserted.
  Together they rode from place to place, conversing and mingling with the guests. Some of the invitations had gone to those the Hoshidan royals knew personally, while others were delivered to new faces who had never been to Hoshido before. "Who should we talk to first?" Corrin asked.
  The dutiful Ylissean knight Frederick pointed at Palutena, the goddess of light, and those around him briefly prayed.
  The group approached a troop of individuals from Skyland.

  ---Music: Seinfeld Theme---

  "I don't believe we've met in person, before, Lady Palutena," Sakura acknowledged, "Are you and your friends having a good time?"
  Palutena giggled mischievously. "Absolutely, thank you for inviting us. I'll let my friends introduce themselves."
  "I'm Pit, nice to meetcha," an angel spoke. He had a wine glass in his hand and was looking a little tipsy. "The cabernet is something else! Do you make it yourselves?"
  Ryoma's attention was captured quite quickly. "Oh, you have interest in fine wines? I could show you my personal collection-" he began to speak, but stopped upon noticing Azura giving him a concerned look.
  "Name's Dark Pit," a second angel with black wings said, "I also go by Pittou. Just don't go calling me DP."
  "And who's this other guy?" Takumi asked.
  There was indeed some other dude with them. "Nice to meet you, my name is-"
  "WHERE IS THE BATHROOM?" a titanic mechanical voice exploded from nearby, causing the Hoshidans to hold their ears to shield themselves from the sheer volume. It was Metal Overlord who shouted, and his roommates Bobby Hill, Lilo, and Stitch, who were all riding on his shoulders. They disembarked and ran off to one of the refreshments tables to sit down and play Nintendo Switch.
  "Over there on the left," Ryoma directed.
  "THANK YOU," Metal Overlord shrieked
  "Well, I hope you all enjoy the rest of the festival!" Corrin wished with positivity in her voice.
  Ryoma turned his head and his attention to the side. "Unfortunately I'm needed elsewhere. I must finalize the preparations for the fireworks show tonight."
  Hinoka nodded her head. "I'll help you with that too."
  "Good luck, big bro!" Sakura encouraged, supportive as ever. She held out her hand and caught the first snowflake of the night. "Look, it's snowing!" she cheered.
  "It's getting a bit dark out, too," Takumi noticed, "It's later than I thought it was. We should probably get a move on."
  "Look over there!" Azura pointed, "We've got esteemed guests from Mushroom City!"

  ---Music: Sherbet Land---

  It was Princess Peach, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Boo, Mike Tyson, the Red Power Ranger, and all of the others. Mario and Luigi were surprisingly absent. "I see we have more royalty here tonight," Oboro mentioned.
  "It's a pleasure to be here," Peach spoke while curtsying. "Everything is so exciting and everyone is so lively!"
  "Yeah," DK added.
  "Sorry we're late!" Mario shouted, walking at a brisk pace to meet with the others, "It was hell trying to find a parking space."
  In the parking garage, the Great Fox was parked horizontally and took up twelve spaces.
  "Now that we're here, who's ready to PAR-TAY!?" Luigi boomed.
  "Actually though, where's Toad? And Wario and Waluigi, for that matter?" Yoshi asked.

  ---Music: Generic Sad Winter Music---

  Over by the fruit punch table, Wario sat on a stool with his head sunk into his palm as he leaned into his forearm. With his free hand, he tapped his fingers against the bar counter rhythmically. He grabbed a full cup of punch and slowly sipped it down little by little, but reached an epiphany as he got close to drinking it down to the halfway point.

  ---Music: Greenhorn Forrest

  He tossed the glass and snapped his fingers. "I GOT it!" he shouted with joy.
  It woke Waluigi up, who had been sleeping with his head against the counter. "Huwha?"
  "Toad, Waluigi, get over here! I've come up with our next plan. This one is gonna make us big time for SURE!"
  After the shitshow on the Jurassic Park island, Toad had since gone back to his regular self, more or less. This included his regular, skeptical disdain of Wario's shady plots. "Alright, I'll bite. What's your game?"
  Wario slapped his hand on Toad's shoulder. "Boss man, this is it. We're gonna hijack the International Space Station."
  A Mike Pollock-y voice spoke from further down the table. "My friend, you are going about it all wrong. If you have grand machinations like those, you should be building your OWN space station. A weapon of war!"
  Wario blew air out of the side of his mouth. "Sounds too expensive. I'm here to make money not break it."
  "Have you tried investing?" Eirika, who was sitting nearby, suggested. "I've got some insider info if you're looking to play the system."
  Meanwhile, Scratch and Grounder were accompanying Robotnik as usual, but they were unusually on-edge. "I don't like those chumps over there," Scratch mumbled, "Especially the one with the scraggly voice. Seriously, it's annoying. Who talks like that?"
  Grounder rubbed his chin. "Yeah, I can't put my drill on it, but something about them rubs me the wrong way..."

  ---Music: Robotnik's Theme---

  They spoke of three individuals who wore fake beards and glasses as disguises, but were obviously Camilla, Selena, and Beruka. "Why do those robots keep staring at us?" Selena scraggled, "Especially the chicken. What's his problem?"
  "KEEP QUIET!" Camilla screeched, "Do you WANT us to get our cover blown?!"
  "Yeah, dum-dum, it took a lot of effort to get this far," Beruka pointed out, "One doesn't simply walk into Hoshido!"
  The clicking of handcuffs. In a matter of seconds, the three of them were cuffed and restrained by Bowser and the meme police.
  "Berrruka, you dunce of a stupid FOOL!!" Camilla screamed.
  The three Nohrian schemers were lead into the back of a police car and driven away as Robotnik and his two robots observed the whole thing. "What a bunch of weirdos," the mustached man mumbled with a raised eyebrow.

  ---(Music End)---

  "It looks like the snow is picking up!" Azura narrated gleefully. Surely enough, a thin blanket of snow was beginning to pile in, coloring the ground a powdery white.
  "Hey, can I change the music on the jukebox?" someone's voice shouted distantly.
  "Yeah, go for it!" Takumi answered back.
  A very wintery theme began to play, fitting of the season.
  "I think that's King Xander and the other Nohrians over there!" Hinata drew attention to.
  "We sure have come a long way from blindly hating them, huh?" Takumi chuckled wistfully.
  Oboro looked long and hard at her Nohrian hitlist for a good moment. She finally closed her eyes and smiled. She crossed out everything with a red marker and wrote something in its place. "New Year's Resolution: Stop Being A Racist," was her message to herself.
  "Hello, one and all!" Xander greeted, seeing them from across the courtyard. The two groups walked and met halfway. "It's so great to see you again, Corrin. And all of your friends, too!"
  "I love the New Year's festivals! This one is great!" Princess Elise laughed, "I hope the people back in Nohr are having fun, too."
  "I hope there's food leftover back at the castle when we get home," Effie muttered while holding her stomach.
  Someone else seemed to change the song on the jukebox to play one with a Genesis soundfont.
  "And I see you're here as well, Leo! It's good to see you and your retainers again," Corrin greeted.
  Prince Leo seemed lost in his books, whispering to himself. "So if the first stanza is ABAB, and the second is CDCD, then the third has to be EFEF... but this B rhymes with F, which means it's EBEB, which isn't right..."
  "Prince Leo has been working on poetry nonstop to try and improve himself," Odin explained, "I couldn't be more proud of my illustrious and noble liege!"
  Niles was in a suit and tie and seemed to be on his best behavior. It took him a lot of energy and self control, but he was able to refrain from saying anything sexual or provocative. Instead he smiled and nodded his head.
  "It looks like everyone is trying to change for the better for the new year, how exciting!" Azura hummed joyously.
  The jukebox selection was switched yet again, resuming the previous Sega Saturn song from where it had been stopped.
  "And if it isn't my old co-worker, Hideo Kojima!" Xander happily beamed, drawing attention to a late arriver to the party.
  "It's good to see you, my friend," Kojima returned, "Simon Belmont should be here any minute now."
  The Genesis song began playing again.
  The party goers were beginning to gravitate towards the center of the room, and the groups began to merge as one to interact every which way.
  The Satarn version of the song came back on.
  Soldier 76 finally left the corner he had been lingering in and gave social interaction a try, against his usual loner nature. Sure enough, the spirit of the season took over, and eventually he took his mask off and was smiling and lasting with the rest of them.
  The jukebox changed to play Act 2 of the same Genesis stage, and the volume was raised slightly.
  Even Crash the Bandicoot and his friends Slim Bankshot and Ernest Hemingway were there!
  Act 2 of the Saturn theme took over the jukebox, and the volume was raised even more.
  Toad sipped merlot from a fancy glass, and for once, he smiled. "We sure have come a long way, haven't we... what a year this has been..."
  The Genesis version resumed, and the volume was raised tremendously.
  The jukebox was sharply and suddenly halted.

  ---(Music end)---

  Don-chan beat his drum and garnered the attention of all present. "Greetings, ladies and gentlemen! Thank you all for coming to enjoy the New Year with us! But, now that we are settled in, we would like to reveal to you to a very special person, the benefactor who was able to make this event possible at the last minute! Someone kind, gentle, and caring. But someone dazzling, and charismatic! A person so great that their presence will leave you in total awe. Please, allow me to introduce you to..."
  A regular man walked on stage.
  "Hi, Ian!" Mega Man called out happily. Dr. Light and Proto Man joined Mega in waving.
  "Hi, Mega Man!" Ian returned.
  "... this other guy, who is carrying the REAL benefactor..."
  Ian turned around to reveal a person strapped to his back.
  "I'm Wrys, a humble priest. I cannot fight, but this staff I carry can heal the wounded."
  Everyone gave a roaring round of applause to the kindly old man responsible for it all. Don-chan let the clapping continue for some time before wrangling control of the event back. "Alright, alright, as you all know, the fireworks show will be starting soon. But we still have another few minutes until midnight, so Mr. Wrys has offered to keep you all entertained!"
  Wrys took out a stack of papers and put on reading glasses. "That's right. My dear friend, Princess Sakura, has written the JUICIEST love story. I believe she called it a 'ship-fick,' whatever that means..."
  Wrys began his dramatic and moving narration, but in the meantime, Ryoma and Hinoka worked behind the scenes to try and get the fireworks devices set up in time for the show.
  "Just a few more minutes, now," Ryoma whispered. "Hinoka, would you hand me the matches?"
  "Sure thing, bro," Hinoka answered, lighting a match on her armor and handing it over to her sibling. Unfortunately, they both dropped it, and the match was snuffed out by the snow on the ground. "Oh, whoops, sorry. Let me get another-"
  She turned to see her pegasus eating the entire box of matches.
  "... why you always gotta play me like this," Hinoka spoke deadpan.
  Ryoma was beginning to panic. "Aw Christ, how are we going to start the fireworks if we can't start the fireworks?!"
  "What's the matter?" Don-chan whispered to them from the stage.
  "We don't have any more matches! The fireworks aren't going to happen on time!" Hinoka cried in despair.
  Elsewhere, Princess Elise and her retainer Effie enjoyed the party. "I can't seem to get this party popper to work..." Elise spoke in a dejected tone of sadness.
  "Here, let me help you with that..." Elise offered, and the two began struggling to work the mechanism to make the party prop function.
  "Lady Elise, and Effie my friend!" Arthur called happily, carefully holding two glasses of fruit punch, "I've returned with the refreshments!"
  The noble hero was so cocksure and proud of his efforts, he even closed his eyes and smiled with a toothy grin while he walked. This made it all the more startling when a pop of an explosion accidentally went off right in front of him, causing him to jump and plastering his face with all of the confetti that was inside of the popper. "BWHUA!!" Arthur shouted, stumbling backwards.
  The drinks in his hand were tossed, but managed to perfectly land in Elise and Effie's hands. Nevertheless, they were concerned for their friend. "Arthur! I'm so sorry!" Elise appologized profusely.
  Arthur pivoted to the opposite side and hunched over, trying to pull the paper off of his face. Camilla, who was still in handcuffs and running from police, crashed and bumped into him, knocking him forward. She was tackled to the ground by Bowser and Onishima before escaping, however. "You aren't making this any easier on yourself, pal," Bowser grumbled.
  Arthur stumbled, attempting to maintain balance, but all was lost as he accidentally stepped on one of the bean bags that had been used for cornhorn. It slipped out from under his foot and sent him hopping backwards on one leg, desperately trying not to fall. He managed to turn his body, just in time for his leg to crash into one of the spotlights lining the castle courtyard, breaking the glass and destroying the light with a sharp pop and a blinding burst of light. The shock of electricity sent out sparks in all directions, catching onto Arthur's red scarf he had been wearing to stay warm, lighting it ablaze. Now stumbling every while trying to rip the burning material off of himself, he ended up running behind the stage where Wrys was narrating. He finally tripped over the fuse lining the ground for one of the fireworks, his scarf coming free and flying off of him as spun around and landed safely sitting in a nearby chair. "Well, uh, that could have been worse, I suppose."
  "Arthur!" Elise called, she and Effie running to Arthur's aid. "Are you alright? Don't worry, we'll buy you a new scarf!"
  Though his scarf had been drifting away, the gust of wind from Effie running past it took it a different direction, and the burning scarf landed directly on the fuse wick leading into all of the fireworks.
  Ryoma and Hinoka looked at the fuse, and then looked at each other.
  Wrys continued his story telling, but Ryoma signaled Don-chan to the back area. "Don-chan! Change of plans! The fireworks are going off in thirty seconds!"
  Don-chan ripped off his shirt to reveal a muscular, hairy chest, which he beat with his drum stick. "LADIES AND GENTLEMAN! Sorry to interrupt the story telling, but the New Year is almost upon us! Is everyone ready to count down?!"
  MC Ballyhoo took the microphone. "TEN!
  NINE!
  EIGHT!
  SEVEN!
  SIX!
  FIVE!
  FOUR!"
  "Does anyone have some diet Coca cola I can have?" Dr. Light asked.
  "THREE!
  TWO!
  ONE~~!"

  Fireworks soared into the sky, whistling loudly and proudly. As the projectiles reached the peak of their flights, they exploded with magnificent patterns and colors, all at the same time as a colossal cheer from everyone present, as well as another familiar sound.

    "HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!"

---Music: Pursuit ~ Cornered 2001---

  "Your Honor, the Fire Emblem parody fan fictions don't even take place in the same continuity as all of the other Mario fan fictions! None of this could possibly happen!" Phoenix Wright argued passionately.
  Maya Fey laughed. "Give it a rest, will you, Nick? Just enjoy the party!"
  "Yeah, live a little, pal!" Detective Dick Gumshoe laughed heartily, all while stuffing his coat with as many foods and snacks as he could fit.
  "I'm inclined to agree, Wright," Miles Edgeworth pitched in, "This Hoshido place makes me feel like I'm truly in Neo Olde Tokyo. Canon or not, I rather enjoy being here."
  Phoenix rubbed the back of his head with an awkward smile and began laughing with the entire group of his friends.

  ---Music: Ewok Celebration: Yub Nub

  "Come up on stage, everybody!" Don-Chan shouted in ecstasy as fireworks popped quickly and rhythmically, lighting up the sky and all of Hoshido with bright reds, blues, yellows, greens, and every other color of the rainbow! Confetti poured in from fans in all directions, filling the air to the brim. Everyone flooded onto the stage and cheered and clapped.
  "2017 was filled to the brim with all of these silly stories, and we couldn't be happier!" Palutena cheerfully explained.
  "Thanks for sticking with us no matter how stupid things got!" Toad thanked.
  "It means the world to us that our stories can be enjoyed by all of you!" Corrin called.
  "I promise I'll actually get a relevant role in a story at some point in the next year!!" Ephraim swore.
  "May the Feet be with you," Jedi Masters Yoda and Soldier 76 nodded.
  Force ghosts of Emperor Palpatine, Zenyatta, and Toadette all watched from afar, each carrying faces of varying emotions.
  "Happy New Year everyone! Welcome to 2018!!" Don-chan hurrahed.
  And the camera pans out to all of Hoshido's castle, showered in the light of a thousand fireworks.

  "Nice," Ian smirked.
  "Fuck you, Ian," Squidward called.