Stage 17: Start!

Howdy doo! So, much like the last chapter I'm just gonna preface this one by saying - DO NOT SPOIL FIRE EMBLEM THREE HOUSES FOR THOSE THAT HAVE NOT FINISHED IT YET! That bein' said, hope you enjoy! ^^

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Byleth was not what one would think of as an ideal teacher. For most of their life they were raised by their father as a mercenary. Still, when you consider that Byleth would be required to teach combat and strategy as much as simple book smarts, it actually makes a lot more sense.

Suffice is to say, the mercenary turned professor would go on to become the talk of Garreg Mach Monastery upon being welcomed in. They were certainly popular with the students of the monastery as well, no matter the house they belonged to. Naturally, upon being welcomed to the Super Smash Bros. Tournament, they only got more attention.

Leaving for Gamindustri later that day, with the knowledge that they would not be able to return to their normal teaching duties until after the tournament, Byleth was told that they should do their part to offer a final lesson to the students before leaving. And for such a major event as one of their professors joining the Super Smash Bros. Tournament, the church allowed for a special circumstance to arise in the form of allowing Byleth to hold a session with students from all three houses - The Black Eagles, the Golden Deer, and the Blue Lions - in addition to the enigmatic fourth house from the Abyss, the Ashen Wolves.

Clapping their book shut, Byleth put their full attention onto the class, with all the students brought together into a relatively large discussion hall. "I hope that gives you all a bit more context about the Super Smash Bros. Tournament," Byleth said. "And I hope this will allow you all to do the monastery proud when you move visit Gamindustri yourselves in the near future."

"Now before I leave for Gamindustri later today, if any of you have any questions you'd like to ask me, feel free to voice them now."

The students raised their hands and Byleth's eyes scanned around before selecting a student. "Yes, Petra?"

"Is it truth that you are not last Fighter, Professor?" Petra asked.

"Yes, it is true," Byleth replied. "I am not the last Fighter in the Smash Tournament and there are in fact six more Fighters planned in the near future. Whoever they are, I cannot say, as not even the hostesses of the Tournament, Gamindustri's own CPUs, know their identities. However, there is still plenty of speculation regarding whomever they might be. Next question?"

"Yes, Ingrid?"

"Do you have any theories about who the next Fighters are, Professor?" Ingrid asked. That got enthusiastic murmurs running throughout the students, as Byleth merely maintained a good natured grin.

"I can't say for certain," Byleth said. "However, I have faith in the selections that are to come next and maintain that they will make for more than satisfying challenges in the future."

"What about Goku?"


Far, far from Fodlan in Gamindustri, Blanc felt a terrible disturbance rush through her system. "Nope," she said. "Not dealing with that today."

Standing beside her, ROB tilted its head curiously.

"Don't worry about it," Blanc said. "I'm not. Now then, do you have all my belongings packed for the trip?"

ROB nodded.

"Good," Blanc said. "The sooner I take that week off, the better for my health."


Meanwhile, Byleth was not so relaxed. "W-what?" they asked.

Turns out, Caspar was the one who voiced the question. "I mean," he said, "he got that new game released recently. And people have wanted him for years! Why not have him in?"

"W-well... it-it's-" Byleth said, wondering how that question was even asked. "Goku is an anime character," they said firmly.

"So?" Caspar asked. "He's been in video games! Dozens of them! He has FighterZ recently and then on top of that there's that Kakarot game too!"

"That's besides the point!" Byleth said. "Goku was made for anime, and before that manga, first! He is not a 'video game' character by that definition! He's not eligible."

"But didn't Pokemon start as an anime?" Dorothea asked.

"What?" Byleth asked. "No! No, Pokemon started with the games!"

"But didn't the anime do more for the games?" Lysithea asked. "I mean they made Yellow, which was a tie-in to the anime, didn't they?"

"Yeah," Annette said, "and they included Jessie and James in Let's Go."

"That's besides the point!" Byleth said. "The games came first! I mean, aside from Pikachu in Yellow, the Pokemon don't even say their names like they do in the anime. That has to tell you something!"

"So does that mean no Spider-Man?"

"Huh?" Byleth turned to see Sylvain was the one who voiced this question.

"I mean," Sylvain went on, "he had his own game recently that blew up beyond belief."

"No!" Hilda said. "It'd sooner be Batman! He had the whole Arkham series!"

"Now you're both false!" Byleth said. "They're comic book characters! Having video games doesn't change anything! They're comic book characters first, made for comic books. Everything afterwards is add-ons."

"So does that omit Godzilla?" Ashe asked.

Byleth struggled to maintain their composure, taking a big breath as they did their part to try and relax. "Yes," they said. "Yes it omits Godzilla. Movie character first."

"Look," Byleth said, "I thought it was obvious but I'll put things into perspective. Super Mario, Metroid, Sonic the Hedgehog, Splatoon, Metal Gear, Star Fox, Mega Man, Kirby, Legend of Zelda, Castlevania, all of them started as video games. Every single franchise included in Smash Bros. started as video games first. Anything that came after like manga or cartoons is irrelevant."

"Characters like Goku, Batman, or Godzilla were created for things that are not video games. Nobody from any kind of franchise like that, can be in Super Smash Bros. Because they are not video games first. No matter how popular or even high quality games like FighterZ or Batman: Arkham are, it is unimportant. They are not video game characters at their core, so they can not be welcomed. Is that clear?"

"...So... I take it that means no Star Wars either, huh?"

Byleth felt their eye twitched as they looked at Yuri. Clearly he was just joking, but that was not enough for the mercenary turned professor, as it did spur a bit of discussion amongst the students. Finally, Byleth threw up their hands and walked away.

"Wait, Professor!" Dimitri said.

"Where are you going?" Edelgard asked.

They entered their office just off to the side, shutting the door behind them. Before any of the students could ask, there was suddenly a heavy 'thunk!' heard from inside. Before it was followed by another. And another. And a pattern began to emerge.

"Uh... P-Professor?" Bernadetta asked.

"What're you doing in there?" Mercedes asked.

"Hear that sound? *Thunk!*" Byleth said. "That is me *Thunk!* hitting *Thunk!* my head *Thunk!* against *Thunk!* my desk"!


The moment Byleth arrived in Gamindustri later that day, they were immediately grabbed by Compa for medical attention, thanks to the massive wound on their forehead from their repeated head smacks against their desk.

"So you felt some Blanc level stress, eh?" Compa asked.

"If that's what it's being referred to," Byleth said, "then all I can say is that my respects go to Lady Blanc."

"Sheesh. Sorry that happened to you Byleth," Neptune said, watching as her friend patched up the latest Fighter before a fight even started. "Well, welcome to the world of Smash!"

"Thank you, Lady Neptune," Byleth said.

At that moment, Palutena walked by, holding a laptop in her arms. "Excuse me," she said to Neptune, "do you know where your sister is, Neptune? She asked me if she could use this."

"Oh, sure!" Neptune said. "Follow me. I was gonna find her, anyway."

Palutena made eye-contact with Byleth as she walked by. And as she did, she couldn't help but feel something. Something distinctly familiar hidden in their eyes. "Well now," she said to herself, "it has been a while, hasn't it? ...Sothis."


A/N: And so, here we are! The final chapter for the initial Fighter Pass set! And boy, this one took a while. So, sorry again for the wait. Things are nuts on my end, but I am happy to finally get this out for you all!

So, Byleth. Not gonna lie, as a Fighter, I really love Byleth! They are a lot of fun. Sure, they're a little slow, but I can't deny that I still love playing as them and they have become one of my best characters. I knew from minute one, that despite the hate, I was gonna try out Byleth and see how they faired. And I am satisfied!

That being said, in terms of the chapter I can't say exactly what it was, but I can't deny that it was a lot of fun to think of all the students just asking about characters that could for no logical reason get into Smash for any discernable reason! In spite of quality games like FighterZ, Spider-Man for the PS4, or Jedi: Fallen Order, none of these characters can get into Smash, and I pray I don't have to elaborate on why!

That being said, I didn't put in a lot to this chapter because... I dunno, I just ran out of steam. But I feel I got the point across.

That being said, just earlier today as I'm posting this, it was officially teased that the first Fighter for Fighter Pass 2 is gonna be from none other than ARMS! And... alright.

I mean, I don't mind, but I just can't help but wonder what exactly the point is. There are already dozens of Spirits from ARMS, Spring Man and Ribbon Girl have Mii Brawler costumes and on top of that Spring Man is also an Assist Trophy. I just don't think there was anybody scrambling to get an ARMS character in Smash and just thought they weren't going to bother, namely because the main characters that they would have presumed like Spring Man were taken already.

But, who knows? I could be wrong! As for me personally, I'm not feeling the hype. Nothing against ARMS, I just don't find myself jumping on the hype wagon. But hey, if you are looking forward to whomever it is, all the power to you!

[Update: A few hours after posting this I realized I did not check Reviews in my rush to get this out so... Apologies! And thanks to ChimaTigon for reminding me!]

Review Time!

To ChimaTigon themselves: I... Don't really know what you mean about Mario but I assume it's a G64 reference? If that is the case, uh, I need to watch that.

To Neptunia56: Yeah, the Champions of Hyrule can totally show up eventually. I think they're all cool characters and should use some showcasing!

That being said, I hope you enjoyed, and until next time, have a wonderful evening, stay safe and healthy, and take care!