Chapter 7: Good Morning!

When Ink woke up, he was in his bed. However much to his shock he wasn't alone. There was Mythra who was also sleeping in his bed. He just backed up rather surprised, falling off of the bed in the process.

However the sound that he made caused Mythra to wake up. Her eyes bolted open and she just looked around confused. Eventually seeing Ink standing on the ground.

"You?! When did you? What are you doing in my bed?!" Mythra just quickly began to reach for any loose object that she could find and just threw them. "Get out! You pervert!"

Ink just did his best to dodge each attack. "What are you talking about!" He shouted. "You're the one who came into this room! It's Ness' and Lucas'."

Their shouting had caused Ness and Lucas to wake up. They were now both just sitting on their bed with a bad case of bedhead trying to asess the situation.

Mythra just stopped throwing the objects and let it sink in. "Oh no, not again." She muttered just walking out of the room, leaving it in an awkward silence.

"Again!?" Ink questioned

"What just happened?" Ness asked rather confused.

"I guess Mythra was sleep walking..." Lucas replied.

"What really?" Ness muttered. "Well whatever, let's just get this day overwith and go down for breakfast."

The three got dressed, and walked out into the hallways. There were a few who were still groggy, and had been woken up from Mythra's shouting. A few didn't bother to say anything, but Rex quickly rushed up to Mythra.

"Mythra, you were sleep walking again?!" Rex said a bit surprised.

"Again?" Ink said surprised. "You mean this has happened before."

"Y-"

"Rex, shut up!" Mythra quickly snapped.

Rex just laughed.

"What's all this racket, it's far too early for this!" Master Hand said floating through the hallway. "Some of the other Smashers were complaining about the noise and we all know how Ganondorf is if he doesn't get his beauty sleep. Did one of Toon Link's pranks go awry again?"

"No," Rex replied. "It's already over, Mythra just woke up on the wrong side of the bed."

The giant glove just looked at Mythra shocked. "Just look at that!? What are you in!?"

"Do you even have eyes?" Mythra asked.

"Your costume is completely not appropriate!" Master Hand announced. "There are children here!"

"You know for having a fighting tournament where children fight each other, you have really skewed priorities." Mythra replied.

"It's not me, it's corporate." Master Hand muttered.

"Corporate?" Rex questioned.

"Oh trust me, you will learn to hate them as much as I do." Master Hand replied. "You will, you will..."

"Uh huh..."

"Anyways, let's just get that cleaned up!" He snapped his fingers and suddenly Mythra's bare legs were covered by black tights. "Now the, everyone go get breakfast."

They made their way down to the dinning hall, much to their shock, Ika was already there. Currently she was eating some cereal, while glued to her phone, occasionally scrolling down the page. The others just went to a buffet table to get food, and made their way to Ika. She greeted them with a yawn.

"You seem tired." Ink said

"No duh. I was up all night reading."

"Really?"

"Yes!" Ika replied. "Plus I couldn't sleep."

"Due to excitement?"

"No. The monster under the bed…" Ika replied.

"The monster under the bed…" Ink asked confused.

Ness just went white.

"Anyways, it's not important, the point is I couldn't sleep, so I decided to start reading a bunch of stuff."

"And that kept you awake the whole time?" Ink questioned.

She just shoved her phone in front of Ink's face. "I mean look at this. Lucas is a pained Freshman, struggling with losing his mother and brother from a tragic accident during the summer break unsure if his wounds will ever heal, and the hole in his heart will ever be filled. While Ness is a somophore, and already the star baseball player for the high school team who despite his success feels empty. The two meet by chance and discover love!" Ika shouted. "Isn't it beautiful?"

"Uhh sure?" Ink replied a little weirded out.

"It just grabbed me and I couldn't put it down." Ika replied. "And there's so many more such as Ness and Lucas being soldiers conscripted to opposing sides of a war and-"

"You do realize that the people they're basing these stories on are sitting right across from us at the table?" Ink muttered.

"Urgh! Who writes this crap?" Ness replied. "It's really creepy to find yourself as the subject of this, to be honest."

"Ness, you just don't understand love."

"Yes, I'm sure a teenager fully understands how love works." Ness muttered.

"Ness, if you ever need to talk to sort through your feelings, I'll be here for you." Ika said.

"It's too early in the morning for this." Ness muttered.

"It's too early in the morning for what?" A voice said. "We came out here super early in the morning and you're being super mopey Ness."

Ness just turned to see two familiar people dressed in a purple and a pink parka. "Nana?! Popo!? What are you doing here?"

"So, are you just going to sit there staring or are you going to introduce us to them?" Nana wondered.

"Well, this is Ika, and this is Ink!" Ness said. "Ika, Ink, they are Nana and Popo, and they're former Smashers. So what are you guys here for? Are you helping with the open house? Are you helping some people getting dropped getting reoriented with the free life?"

Nana and Popo just glanced at each other and laughed.

"Ness, we need to talk, just the three of us." Popo said, just dragging Ness away.

Lucas let off a small sigh. "Thankfully he seems better today."

"Yeah. What was with him yesterday?" Ink asked.

"Stressed out about things." Lucas replied.

"Probably puberty." Ika replied.

Lucas just laughed. "Probably."

Ness just came running back to the table, tripping over his own two feet in excitement. He just sat down, and quickly began to inhale his food. "All right, we've got places to be, things to do! Come on, let's go guys!"

Lucas just looked at his omelet that he had yet to even get a bite out of. "Ness..."

"Lucas, less talking, more eating come on! Go! Go! Go!"

"Okay, I think I liked him a bit better when he was grumpy." Ika whispered.

Waiting for his friends to finish, Ness just looked around the room. Floating by the door was Master Hand just checking in that everyone was okay.

He just walked up to Master Hand. "So, Master Hand..." Ness began.

"Oh no." Master Hand muttered dreading this. "What is it Ness?"

"When were you going to actually say that everyone was coming back?" Ness wondered.

Master Hand just breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, it's about that. Well, officially, at that one conference B3 or whatever it was called. But yes, I see you've talked with Nana and Popo then."

"Yeah, who else is here?"

"Well, we have others that we've invited to this open house." Master Hand said. "There were a few that couldn't make it yesterday due to other obligations, but we're expecting them today."

"Great." Ness laughed. "All right."

Villager had just entered into the room, and made his way up to the food table. "Hey, Villager!" Ness said rushing up to him. "What are your plans for today?"

"No idea." Villager replied. "Master Hand did tell me something about showing a newcomer around, but never introduced me to them, and they didn't show up yesterday so I guess I'm free."

"Great, you can hang out with us, and our newcomers that we're showing around."

"That sounds like fun." Villager replied.

Ness and Villager just walked back to the table. They sat down, and Ness just waited patiently for everyone to finish eating. Ink was currently explaining a few things from back at Inkopolis, and this one cafe that he liked eating at. "And their cheese cake is to die for. It just instantly melts in your mouth!"

"Have you tried the Splatcake's Chocolate cake?" Ika wondered.

Ink shook his head. "No, that place is too exclusive. You have to be S rank to enter, right?"

"Yeah." Ika sighed. "A friend got me some once. It was so rich. But I really love this one place's fruit tart. The fruits are so fresh."

"I'll have to bring back some of the fruits that grow in my village next time I'm there." Villager said. "Maybe we can get the wire frames to make some with it."

"Wire frames?"

"They're like the butlers and maids here." Ness replied. "They clean up, they cook."

"That's great!" Ink laughed. "I could get used to it."

"Well, don't get too used to it." Nana sternly said. "Otherwise you'll end up like Popo here if you're ever let go."

As they continued talking and eating, they stopped paying attention to who was entering into the room.

As they were just all about done eating food, and getting ready to get up. A voice suddenly called out from behind Villager. "Mr. Mayor!"

Villager suddenly went white. "Oh no..." He muttered. He just began to turn around to come face to face with his assistant Isabelle. "What are you doing here?"

"I came here because of the open house." Isabelle replied. "Plus you have been slacking off on your mayoral duties. So, I'm here to-"

Villager just began to look for a way to escape from the table. "Guys, it was nice knowing you, if our paths ever cross again it will be too soon." Villager quickly said, he got up and began to walk away however he suddenly felt a paw on his shoulder.

"Where do you think you're going, Mr. Mayor?" Isabelle questioned. Ink and Ika couldn't help but feel that there was an extremely threatening tone behind her sweet voice. Even if it was just for a split second, they could sense a sudden burst of intensity rivaling that of a ranked X inkling. "Master Hand has told me that you're going to be showing me around."

Villager just turned to Ness and Lucas, only mouthing the words "help me." before being dragged off by Isabelle.

Everyone was just stunned into silence. "Well then, that was some good food." Rex said. "I could get used to this."

Ness just nodded. "Yeah, it's pretty great. Anyways, we've got a schedule and have got to do some stuff so, let's go!"


A little while later, Master Hand had retreated into his office. "Things are finally going well." He said, just floating there, holding a tea cup.

There was a suddenly a knock at the door. "Come in."

The door opened, and in walked Villager, and Isabelle. "And this is Master Hand's office." Villager said.

Isablle just looked around. "I see." She just approached Master Hand, out of nowhere she pulled out a wrapped gift. "I also work behind a desk most of my days, so I know what it's like. I have a friend from the Happy Room Academy and well, she has taught me a few things about Feng Shui, and how it helps improve your life. And how just even having a simple potted plant on your desk can improve your work efficiency and output. So, I had also brought this potted plant as a thank you gift."

She handed the wrapped gift to Master Hand. He just unwrapped it and placed the terracotta pot on the table. The plant inside had a long green stem, two large healthy leaves, and then a giant bulb on the top that was red with various white polka dots. It also had giant spiked fangs.

Master Hand just floated there behind his desk, trying to take in the presence of the Piranha Plant. "Thank you, I don't know what to say."

"I hope this will help improve your life and your surroundings." Isabelle cheerfully said.

Master Hand just floated there.

"Of course it likes lots of water, and sunlight." She added on.

"Thank you." Master Hand replied.

"Well then, I better get going." Isabelle said, as she walked out of the room.

Villager just followed. He briefly turned to Master Hand and shot him a glare, also mouthing 'this is all your fault' however the Hand ignored it.

Instead Master Hand was transfixed and staring at the Piranha Plant. After several seconds of silence, Master Hand just burst out into excitement. "She's a genius! No one will see it coming! You are perfect! I love you!"

Master Hand couldn't see it, but the Piranha Plant just began to blush.

However, Master Hand's good mood was about to get a very, very, unwanted phone call.

The phone on his desk began to ring, with an all too familiar ring tone. It was of a funeral march, and one he had assigned to know when Corporate was calling. Reluctantly the giant hand picked it up. "Hello." He waited several seconds. "Well, the open house is looking great, and several of the prospects are looking really hopeful!"

"Well, there's the Inklings, they look like they're enjoying it. There's Isabelle who everyone loves. And then there's Rex."

"What do you mean who's Rex?" Master Hand said a bit surprised. "No, not the dinosaur from that one movie... The main character from Xenoblade Chronicles 2."

"What do you mean he's not in the cards?!"

"What do you mean you never accounted for the lack of time between tournaments, and thought that there should have been some resources available in case one or two more people showed up with the potential to be a Smasher?!"

"What do you mean poor timing and it was announced after planning had started?! Development of that game started in 2014, while yours started in 2016, and should have been a known factor! This has never been an issue before!"

"What do you mean his design was finalized too late from the initial decision for this tournament?! Roy and Marth aren't exactly in their normal clothing. Greninja was created from concept art!"

"Yes, of course I'm angry! This has literally never been an issue before this point!"

"Well, yes I can prove it, there's Roy, Greninja, and perhaps most recently and most importantly what you're saying you want an Incineroar!"

Master Hand just grunted in frustration.

"Gee, if only we had access to a studio that we've known for taking their staff members and creating assets in games and assisting like they have in the past with Brawl, Skyward Sword, and Animal Crossing New Leaf… I just don't know where we're going to find one of those… If only they were also conveniently tied to him."

"You know people aren't going to be happy about this."

"A Mii costume?! You think that is going to quell people's anger?! Do you not understand that people don't like the Mii's, and that anything less than their favorite character in Smash is seen as an insult to them?"

"I'm not happy about this, I'm wasting time and resources with an open house here!"

"I understand, good bye."

Master Hand just slammed the phone down, shattering it in the process. "I don't get paid enough for this shit." He muttered. He just proceeded to punch a hole right into the wall. "And after Ness decided to stop acting like a little shit, what am I supposed to do now?! ARGH!"

Crazy Hand just flew into the room. "Brother, is that screams of anguish I hear?"

"Yes, corporate did something stupid again." Master Hand grumbled.

"Oh, well, good luck with that!" Crazy Hand replied flying away.

Master Hand however just grabbed Crazy Hand, stopping him. "Before you go, dear brother, I've got an errand for you."

"Oh? What is it?" Crazy Hand wondered.

"I need you to find an Incineroar." Master Hand replied.

"An Incineroar?" Crazy Hand questioned. "What is that?"

"Well a cat like pokemon that controls fire." Master Hand replied. "Known for being yet another bipedal fire type."

"Okay, I shall find you one!" Crazy Hand said.

Master Hand just produced a letter with the Smash Logo as a wax seal and gave it to his brother. Crazy Hand took and and flew away.

"Why does this have to be so troublesome." He turned his attention to the Piranha Plant on the desk. "I'm so sorry you had to see that. You don't deserve that, you're perfect."


However, Master Hand's bursts of frustration didn't go unnoticed. In the vents there was a yellow squid. It just quickly began to go through the vents, until eventually it got to the laundry room.

"This is Agent 3 of the New Squidbeak Splatoon, reporting in on the case of the squidnapping of two Inklings. I have remained undetected in the stronghold of those responsible. At the current time, the subjects are safe, however due to the one who I suspect is the leader and their sudden burst of anger, and unpredictable nature, I'm not sure for how long. I will continue to look for a way to extract the squidnapped Inklings."

She ended her report, and just let off a heavy sigh. There was no response. She was too far away from home.

"Pichu, pichu, pichu!" A strange yellow and black creature was crying out. She had tied it up with a cable. This strange creature reminded her of a Zapfish. Occasionally she'd reach over and try to pet it, however the creature would just discharge some electricity to ward her away.

She just fell back into a pile of clothes that she had made into a rather comfortable chair. "How did I get into this mess." She muttered.


I feel like I really jumped the gun with creating this whole story... The focus is on everybody but the Inklings... Ah well.