A/N: I wanted to point this out ahead of time, though I probably have no reason to. Just be aware that I am not referring to any of my faithful readers in the commentary to come. I love you all and think you're all swell people! ^^
Stage Ten: Start!
One of the things Mr. Sakurai did to reveal new Fighters that would be joining the Super Smash Bros. Tournament to the public, were in the different "Directs." Whether it be in a Nintendo Direct or a stream dedicated purely to the reveal, Sakurai would also demonstrate the power of the Fighters after their reveals. And most recently, the 5th Additional Fighter was revealed to the public. With this in mind, knowing what Fighters would be joining Smash in the near future, Blanc was feeling immensely relaxed.
For the whole Tournament thus far, it was no secret that Blanc was totally stressed out of her wits. So, having the support of the CPUs, Candidates, and Makers was enough to take a severe amount of stress off of her mind. And with the knowledge of who was to come next and how to accommodate them, Blanc was able to plot out at least the next few weeks or so as all the Additional Fighters filtered in.
This alone was able to help her feel more at ease. As mentioned at the start, not having a clear structure put her heavily on edge. But now that was no longer an issue, and Blanc was able to relax some. Which was easily noticed by the others.
"Hey Blanc, are you okay?" Neptune asked one day, as they were walking away from the Lowee Basilicom. "You're not sick or anything, are you?"
"I feel fine actually," Blanc replied. "Why do you ask?"
"Well," Neptune said, "it's just that you look... happy. And relaxed. Which is abnormal for you."
"What's that shit supposed to mean?" Blanc asked irritably. "You sayin' I'm pissed off 24/7 and don't have any happiness?"
"Yes," Neptune replied bluntly.
"I think," Noire said, holding Blanc back before she could delete Neptune, "what she means is that since we were put in charge of maintaining the Tournament, you've been more stressed than usual. So it's actually nice to see you unwind for once."
"I concur," Vert said. "You've been more high strung than we've ever seen you, so it's refreshing to see that you've finally eased into the process of running the Smash Tournament."
Blanc took a breath. "I suppose you have a point," she said. "It's just... I have such a integral connection to this Tournament, I can't help but burden myself with all the responsibility. But now that I have all of you to help me, and everything has been accounted for, I feel I can now rest easier."
"It's alright Blanny, we get it," Neptune said. "You love us, so it's okay to be grateful!"
Blanc actually released a short laugh. "Yes, I suppose I am grateful," she said. "I don't know if I've actually given you my appreciation. So... thank you."
Neptune jumped. "Well," she said. "I wasn't expecting that."
"It may take some work," Noire said, "but Blanc can show her gratitude."
For another minute or so, the CPUs simply discussed different material as they walked down the street. That is, until a loud explosion from nearby caught their attention! The group turned towards the source of the noise, seeing a pillar of smoke rising steadily from the ground!
"What in the name of Miyamoto was that!?" Blanc demanded.
A few panicked NPCs ran past, all of them shouting!
"Good grief! Get away from him!" Magnus shouted, ushering others away!
"He's lost his mind!" Reyn yelled.
"Did he ever have it to start with!?" Chun Li said.
"Hold it!" Vert snapped, stopping Chika in place as the young Oracle attempted to book it! She had previously been working in the Lowee Basilicom with Mina, until the Lowee Oracle told her to run some errands. And, well, clearly she ended up in the heart of this madness.
"What on Microsoft is going on here?" Vert asked.
"S-sorry sis," Chika said. "B-but that Waweegee thing is flipping his shit!"
"Who?" Neptune asked.
"She clearly means Waluigi," Noire said, rubbing her eyes. "Is that right, Chika?"
"Yes!" Chika said. "He showed up in this purple pimp car or something and started throwing bombs all over the gosh, darn, hecking place!"
"Riveting," Noire said. "I thought that something like this was going to happen eventually."
"Agreed," Blanc said, deflating on sight. "I had hoped that with Wario there to calm him, that purple, lanky bastard wouldn't have, as Chika put, flipped his shit. But it seemed I was too hopeful."
"Thank you Chika," Vert said. "Now darling, I want you to coordinate with the others to clear civilians away. In addition to finding somebody to offer us backup. I have a feeling that he won't give up easily."
"Heard," Chika said. "But I wouldn't worry about backup. A bunch of those other Assist Trophy guys are there already."
"Thanks," Neptune saluted, as she and the other CPUs ran off toward the heart of the situation. Sure enough, they saw Waluigi in the heart of the plaza, standing on top of the Wario Car, Bob-ombs in each hand with a whole stockpile lined up in the back of the car! He was tossing them about indiscriminately, both to cause havoc as much as to keep back the other Assist Trophy characters that were clearly trying to get him to stop!
In total it appeared that Zero, Alucard, Shovel Knight, Isaac, Riki, Shovel Knight, Shadow, Lyn and Ashley were all surrounding him.
"Waluigi, this is madness!" Zero shouted. "Civilians are going to get hurt if you don't stop-!" He stopped as he saw a Bob-omb launched at him, which he slashed at with his Z-Saber, causing it to explode into two smaller explosions behind him!
"I must agree with my Reploid companion," Alucard said. "This is foolishness of the highest caliber." He stopped as well as he dissolved into a mass of bats to avoid the Bob-omb thrown at him!
"Isaac!" Blanc yelled to the closest Assist Trophy! "What is going on here!? Why is Waluigi doing this!?"
"I don't know!" Isaac said. "We were just watching Mr. Sakurai's Direct, when he suddenly got up and left! Next thing we know he stole Wario's car and practically every Bob-omb he could find and screeched his way out here all the way from Planeptune!"
Zero let loose a yell, as he flew by in a smoking heap! Riki scrambled over to deliver healing items, as Waluigi continued to laugh like a psychopath!
"We must find a way to put a stop to this madness!" Shovel Knight said. "This ruffian is worse than any knight from the Order of No Quarter that I've ever seen!"
Neptune's eyes fell onto Ashley, who hadn't been doing much of anything aside from sitting on the sideline and watching the sparks fly.
"Uh..." Neptune said. "Don't you know this guy? Can't you, I dunno, try to talk some sense into him?"
"No," Ashley replied. "Besides, I find watching the chaos quite stimulating."
"Great to have your help," Neptune said sarcastically.
"Okay, I've had enough of this bullshit," Blanc said. She and the other goddesses entered HDD, floating over Waluigi from a safe distance.
"Ah! You've finally arrived!" Waluigi declared.
"Waluigi!" White Heart shouted. "You better have a damned good reason for doing this!"
"Well how else-a was I supposed to get-a your attention!?" Waluigi yelled.
"What're you talking about?" Purple Heart asked.
"Don't-a you get it?" Waluigi said. "Imma totally the best Fighter there could-a ever be! And yet Mr. Sakurai doesn't-a give me my chance!? He thinks-a he can-a just make me an Assist Trophy again!?"
"And-a what? He just-a makes another sword Figther from-a Fire Emblem an Additional Fighter!?"
White Heart felt an almighty crack sound inside of her! Her right eye began twitching like mad, something which the other CPUs noticed, floating away to give her room. "The fuck did you just say?" she asked.
"You heard-a me right!" Waluigi yelled. "The fans all want-a me, and not some cookie cutter sword-a fighter from that-a Fire Emblem series!"
This proved to be a mistake on Waluigi's part, as Blanc began seething with rage beyond compare! Her body was emitting a blue and white aura, as her body shifted into her Next White form! She proceeded to grab Waluigi by the neck, pulling him right off the car and into the air, his Bob-ombs falling limply to the ground as she floated in the air!
"Run," Green Heart said.
"What?" Shadow asked.
"Move it!" Purple Heart yelled, she and the other CPUs moving the Assist Trophy characters back a safe distance away!
"Listen close you ungrateful waste of space!" Next White yelled to Waluigi. "Any character would kill to be represented in this game to any stretch of the imagination! Do you know Fossil Fighters? Ever Oasis? Resident Evil? They're all happy just to be represented by Spirits! Chibi-Robo was especially happy to have Spirits and a Mii costume! But you? You get to be an Assist Trophy! You get to have direct engagement with the battles!"
"Isaac was ecstatic when he came back as an Assist Trophy from Brawl! Bomberman and Shovel Knight were also more than appreciative to be included as Assist Trophies this time around as well! Spring Man was happy to have an Assist and Spirits!"
"But you, you filthy peasant!? You've been an Assist in every single damn game! You should be happy to be remembered as much as you are in the first place!"
"But what I hate the most about you and your disgusting kind is that none of you have any class or sense of gratitude! You bully and harass Sakurai for all of his blood, sweat, and tears that he pours into these games! He works day in and day out to make every character that is added to the roster fun and accessible, but you just scream and whine like the little pussy shits that you are!"
"Terry gets added, but you whine because you don't know who the fuck he is despite the fact that there is a market that exists outside of you in this little place called Latin America! Byleth gets added, but you act like a child because they're another sword Fighter and Fire Emblem character, despite the fact that A.) Super Mario has at least one more character than the FE roster, oh and let's not forget that you pansy bitches want you and Geno to become Fighters, and Pokemon has like three more than Fire Emblem! B.) Sakurai did the unthinkable of trying to make Byleth's moveset unique when compared to the other Fire Emblem heroes, and C.) Three Houses is a critically acclaimed game by itself that has managed to sustain a solid following! Of fucking course it is more than deserving of having a representative in this Tournament!"
"But nah man! Screw Fire Emblem! Let's totally get Sora, Dante, Lloyd Irving, and Travis Touchdown in there though! It's not like any of them use any swords! In fact, let's take Isaac out as an Assist Trophy, and put him in the game as a Fighter too! It's not like he's a sword fighter either!
"I just can't handle the hypocrisy of some of you disgusting people! I mean, by the logic of there being 'too many sword fighters' we shouldn't even have Cloud, Shulk, Hero, Meta Knight, Joker (cause' of that dagger) and the THREE versions of Link we have! I can't fucking stand it!"
"And you know what I can't stand the most? It's not that most of the people for you don't even want you, but would rather just troll and harass, but also the fact that those that do genuinely want you, care nothing for actual potential! Rather than actually stop and think, 'hey? You know what? Maybe that character could be interesting'. No! They don't!"
"They just care about being entitled with what they know! That's why they turned against Terry, yeah? Because they didn't know him!"
"And it's not like the base game was full of Fighters people knew and asked for like Simon, K. Rool, and Ridley! And even the first Additional Fighters like Joker, Banjo and Kazooie!"
"Nah! The moment something different shows up, kill it! Kill it with fire! It's all the same with you damn screaming kids!"
"You harass Sakurai because he doesn't give you everything you want! What do you think he must feel about that!? Doesn't it hurt him!? Don't you think about that!?"
Finally having said her piece, Next White tossed Waluigi to the ground, before pulling out her axe! Her axe had been redesigned with a branded "Ban" on both sides of the blade. "Any last words for you?" she demanded.
"W-...Wah..." Waluigi uttered.
Next White shot forward, screaming at the top of her lungs, slamming Waluigi with the axe! "Begone! THOT!"
He blew up in the despawn effect, flashing colors in an explosion that shook the earth and left a charred mark on the ground! The axe had been designed for banning any unwanted characters. And Waluigi just got himself banned.
The sky above rumbled, as Master Hand floated down right over Next White's head as she turned back into Blanc. "Lady Blanc," he said. "I do believe you just banned a character without proper authorization, yes?"
"You fokin' wot," Blanc said, pointing up at Master Hand as she struggled to catch her breath.
"Oh dear," Master Hand said, snapping his fingers and vanishing alongside Blanc.
The goddesses and Assit Trophies all looked to one another as they witnessed that event unfold. "So how long do you think Blanc was holding all that in?" Purple Heart asked.
"Uh..." Black Heart thought. "I'd say since this Tournament first started."
"Probably," Green Heart said.
Later, Blanc found herself standing in front of Sakurai himself, as the developer sat at his desk. He was massaging his brow as he looked at the CPU of Lowee, as she was still relaxing, drinking her tea in a seat.
"Now Lady Blanc," Sakurai said, "I know what your intentions were, but you just can't go banning anybody without approval like that."
"He was being a bitch," Blanc replied.
"While that... might be," Sakurai replied, "Waluigi was an Assist Trophy. If you had the desire to ban an NPC that would be different, but you need to get authorization to remove an Assist Trophy or Spirit or the like. That being said, now Master Hand has to look through the Super Mario world to find Waluigi so we can bring him back."
"I say leave his ass to rot in the Mushroom Kingdom," Blanc replied. "That prick had it coming with how full of himself he'd gotten from all the trolls begging to put him in the game."
"Lady Blanc," Sakurai said. "You can't act so defensive about this."
Blanc's face fell as she set her tea on the desk. "I know," she said. "I just... I just couldn't deal with the harassment any longer."
Sakurai smiled, as he reached across the desk to remove Blanc's head, before petting her head. "Thank you Lady Blanc," he said. "I appreciate your care."
Blanc smiled, as Sakurai stopped petting and put her hat back on. "Thank you... Mr. Sakurai," she said.
"Why don't you take the rest of the day off?" Sakurai asked, sitting back in his seat. "Enjoy a good book, bundle up on your couch, and relax."
"But Mr. Sakurai," Blanc said. "I still have so much to do!"
"I can confer with the other CPUs and Makers about the work," Sakurai said. "You have more than earned a rest after all the work you've done."
Blanc had a thoughtful look, before she nodded. "Okay," she said. "If you say so. Thank you, Mr. Sakurai. You know, this can give me the opportunity to see the full Direct."
"You didn't watch the whole Direct?" Sakurai asked.
"Not really," Blanc said, shaking her head. "I only watched long enough to see that Byleth was the final Fighter. But I can watch it in full this time and see what else is being added. I mean, it's not like you're bringing over more than one or two Additional Fighters, right?"
She left the room in a flash of light before Sakurai could respond, leaving him alone at his desk with a fretful look on his face. "Oh my," he said. "Well... perhaps it's best she keeps her distance from me when she figures this out."
Blanc was sitting on her couch in the Lowee Basilicom, bundled up in a cocoon of blankets as the other CPUs all sat around her. "Why am I coiled up so much?" Blanc asked.
"You need to be all comfy and cozy!" Neptune said. "Unwind sistah! Heehee! You're so cute like that! Like a little burrito!"
"A burrito that can bust out a hammer and crush that grape lookin' head of yours," Blanc said, which prompted Neptune to put Vert between the two of them.
"Okay you two," Vert said, starting the Direct for them to watch.
"As we fast-forward to the parts we had not seen yet," Neptune said, "Neptune's gonna be breaking the fourth wall for this moment to remind all you naughty boys and girls out there that you shan't leave spoilers for this game in the Reviews. Got it?"
The goddesses slowed down as they got to the Stage that would be added; Garreg Mach Monastery. This would be the only Stage in the Additional set that would be a "transitional" Stage with multiple areas to look through.
"Finally!" Neptune said. "All the other Stages were so darn boring compared to this!"
"It certainly has more scale than Mementos or Yggdrasil's Alter had," Vert analyzed.
"Great," Blanc said. "That means it'll require more work to maintain."
"Can always count on you to look on the bright side, Blanny," Neptune said.
"Come on Blanc," Noire said. "You can't deny it's quite the impressive location."
Blanc knelt deeper into her blanket pile, reluctant to agree.
As they watched, much like the other franchises added to the Additional set, Garreg Mach Monastery would have background characters to see. In the "Marketplace" segment of the Monastery, they had Dimitri, Ingrid, and Dedue from the Blue Lions house.
"Queen!" Neptune yelled upon seeing Ingrid.
"What was that about?" Vert asked.
"Every time Neptune sees Ingrid," Noire replied, "she says that."
"Why?" Blanc asked.
"Because she is!" Neptune replied. "Bad ass knight mama on the scene!"
In addition, there was also the character simply referred to as "The Gatekeeper".
"Ah yes," Vert said, laying a hand on her chest. "The best character in the game!"
"You're all fucking stupid," Blanc replied.
"Screw you!" Vert and Neptune yelled, as Noire merely rolled her eyes.
Something that certainly put Blanc on edge, was the fact that the booths in the Marketplace segment could be destroyed during battles!
"Oh fuck that noise!" Blanc yelled. "Even without the additional segments of this Stage, that's gonna be a pain in the fucking ass to have to repair every damn Fight!"
"Yeesh," Neptune said. "How is this supposed to be relaxing for her?"
"Exactly," Vert said despondently.
Thankfully, the Stage relocated to the "Reception Hall" segment of the stage, which featured Edelgard, Petra, and Dorothea from the Black Eagles house of the game.
"They would choose only the women from that house," Vert said, rubbing her chin.
"Wait a heckin' moment," Neptune said. "Where's Bernadetta!? They didn't include Bernie Bear!? Only the best character in the game (save for the Gatekeeper)!?"
"How would they even be able to wrangle her long enough to keep her in there?" Noire asked.
"She's right," Blanc said. "Knowing how much anxiety Bernadetta has, she would never stay in the Stage."
"That's no excuse!" Neptune yelled. "I'm gonna file a complaint!"
Sure enough, as they kept watching, they saw that the tables of the Reception Hall could be broken as well.
"Fuck," Blanc said, hanging her head in defeat.
"I'm starting to get the feeling Sakurai included these gimmicks specifically to spite her," Noire said.
The next segment of the Stage was "The Bridge".
"Well look on the bright side," Neptune shrugged, "at least this part doesn't have anything that looks like it can be easily destroyed."
Naturally, for this segment they had the Golden Deer house characters Claude, Hilda, and Lorenz.
"Did you guys play Three Houses?" Neptune asked.
"Naturally," the goddesses replied.
"Can we all agree," Neptune said, "that looking at Claude, if you chose Golden Deer you're probably bisexual?"
"Yes," the CPUs replied.
"So who among you chose Golden Deer?" Neptune asked.
Vert naturally put her hand up.
The final area was the Cathedral, which featured Rhea, Flayn, and Seteth, representatives from the Garreg Mach Monastery itself.
"Why do so many people in this game have green hair?" Neptune asked.
"Uh..." the CPUs replied.
The Monastery didn't have much unique to itself, operating somewhat like the Reception Hall in regards to having platforms (albeit these ones easier to get to). The next segment of the Direct featured Sakurai showing off Byleth battling different Fighters in a Squad Strike mode. However, what caught their attention was the fact that he started out with the other Additional Fighters, in chronological order. And once the Fight began, he ran straight off the edge, eliminating Joker first!
"Joker!" Sakurai yelled in-video.
"Good grief!" Neptune said.
He naturally did that with all the Additional Fighters as well, until they got to Byleth!
"Holy snot!" Neptune said. "Sakurai's a genocidal maniac!"
"He's gone mad!" Vert said.
"Not really," Noire said. "Though he did pull a literal 'now I begin to try' on the computer."
What followed was just Sakurai showing off how Byleth would operate in-battle, before moving on to the new Mii Fighter costumes.
The first of these was Altair from Assassin's Creed as a Mii Swordfighter.
"Ooh~" Neptune said happily. "That's awesome!"
"Why do I get an uneasy feeling having that assassin running around," Vert said.
"Well," Blanc replied, "if it makes you uncomfortable, we don't have to make him a sentient character and just keep him as a Mii."
"Hey, no!" Noire said. "Do you know how much work I had to put in to get Sakurai to agree to have him as a costume?"
"Am I the only one wondering why they classified it as 'Altair' on the Smash X thingy?" Neptune wondered.
"That's only on the American broadcast," Vert replied. "In Europe it was Assassin's Creed."
"Why?" Neptune asked.
"How should I know?" Vert replied.
The next costume was a Rabbid hat for any Mii Fighter.
"Oh no! No! Fuck that!" Blanc yelled. "We do not bring those little fuckers over to this!"
"Woah," Neptune said, holding her hands up. "What happened there?"
"Blanc's been having some trouble with the Rabbids recently," Noire said. "Ever since Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle."
"Oh, there's no reason to worry Blanny," Neptune said. "I'm sure there's not gonna be any~ problem with the Rabbids in the future. Yep! None at all~"
"Neptune," Blanc said. "If you jinx me, I swear to the Famicom that I will ban you next!" "Nepu!"
Next along they saw that the X from Mega Man X and Mega from Mega Man Battle Network Gunner costumes would be returning.
"Oh hey, look at that!" Neptune said.
"That's sure to make Rock happy," Vert said.
And finally, the biggest surprise of all, they had a Cuphead Mii Gunner Costume! This one also came with the soundtrack piece "Floral Fury" from the Cuphead game.
"Oh yeah~ Baby~" Neptune cheered.
"Well that's sure to make a lot of people happy," Vert said.
"I'll admit," Blanc said. "It'll be nice having that kid come over. So long as he behaves himself, I mean."
"Why am I suddenly reminded of a different Mii Fighter Costume based off a popular indie game?" Noire thought.
"Shh~" Neptune said. "Don't spoil it just yet. That chapter hasn't come out yet."
And to finish off, they got to the very end of the Direct, where they saw the notification on new Fighters in development!
"Oh yes," Vert said. "The last Direct they announced new Fighters would be coming in."
"Yes," Blanc said. "That was certainly... not a happy moment for me."
"That's an understatement," Noire said. "You nearly blew a hole in Neptune's TV."
"I was not happy about that part!" Neptune said.
"Again, not one of my better moments," Blanc said. "However, I'm sure it won't be anything too bad. Perhaps a new Fighter or one or two Echoes. Nothing that will-"
She was cut off, however, as five envelopes came up on screen! Individual slots with labels Challenger Pack 6-10!
Blanc felt a crack as her teeth ground together! "...What?" she asked.
Before she could even process that much, a SIXTH slot appeared on screen! Six more Fighters would be joining the Tournament! Six Challenger Packs, which must have also meant six more Stages! And who knows how many extra characters would be coming depending on if they came from a new game or new franchise entirely!
"Wha...what...?" Blanc asked. Her body began to shake, as her body began emitting that same white and blue aura again!
"Oh no!" the other CPUs said.
Finally, it got too much, as a pillar of light blew up from her body as she transformed into White Heart! "Sakurai!" she shouted. "You're dead you motherfucker!"
A/N: Boy! This one was more of a venting session than a chapter, huh?
Well, to be fair, this was a lot of fun for me to write for multiple reasons. This chapter more or less combined the suggestions of the Guest user who suggested the CPUs watch one of Sakurai's Directs, and Zindakku Hirokai for Waluigi making an ass out of himself.
The latter suggestion instantly popped into my mind upon witnessing the reveal of Byleth as the Fifth DLC Fighter for Smash Ultimate, so I knew I had to write this up as soon as possible. I knew firsthand that Blanc would be the perfect allegory for my own venting as to the hypocrisy of the many people ranting and complaining about Byleth being the next DLC Fighter. Not much else to say on that front, most of my thoughts were told pretty much through Blanc.
And as for the watching the Direct, there's not much else to say there either. I believe the CPUs speak for themselves. (But I do have to reiterate, seriously Sakurai!? No Bernadetta in the Stage!? What the hell, man!?)
That part in particular made the chapter twice as long, but I have no regrets. It was a lot of fun to write just to show off the CPUs referencing recent stuff going on in Smash as of late.
But truly, the highlight of it all for me was Blanc discovering Six more Fighters will be added to Smash. That... that was golden! XD
Not many Reviews as of yet. Guessing people didn't like seeing Rei being abused?
But, for NexusPrime42: I feel the idea of 5pb singing Lifelight would be a beautiful idea! I can totally do that!
Anyway, be sure to leave me your thoughts. This chapter was fairly spur of the moment, but one I felt was totally needed. And expect more characters to come in the future! Until next time, thank you as always for reading, have a wonderful day, and take care!