Stage Twenty: Start!
It had been about a week since Blanc returned from her much needed time off and Min Min joined the tournament as the latest Fighter. Within that time, thankfully, there wasn't another incident like what had happened with Segata Sanshiro or Waluigi's tantrum. And with the obedience of (most of) the Fighters and support of the Makers, it seemed like things were gonna go over well moving forward with the arrival of new Fighters and continued matches.
"AAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!"
That is, except for a very, very, very upset Noire. Upon hearing the CPU of Lastation cry out in such pain, Uni came busting down the door to her sister's bedroom, gun in hand, ready to eliminate any threat that may have come to attack her sister! "Noire! What's wrong!?" she said.
As she scanned the room, she saw that there was actually no enemy inside at all. Instead, it was just Noire alone inside her room, on her knees, clutching her stomach tight! She had a very disgusted look on her face, biting her lips as her skin turned green!
"Uh... Noire?" Uni asked. "Sis? What's the matter?"
"Guh! I don't even know!" Noire replied. "I just... ugh! My stomach is killing me! I haven't even eaten anything today, so I know I need to eat something, but nothing feels appetizing and this pain is driving me nuts! It almost feels like it's getting worse!"
Uni looked mildly concerned as she pulled her sister to her feet. She didn't particularly like the sound of that and her mind promptly went to the worst case scenario, which was if Noire might have been infected by a virus or something. "Let's, uh... let's just take you out and see if we can find something for you to eat, okay?" she asked. Noire complied without argument and the two left the Basilicom to go and get the CPU of Lastation something to eat.
As it happened, Pit, the rest of the CPU Candidates, Red the Pokemon Trainer, and a very intrigued looking Zelda and Rosalina watched as Little Mac came panting and sweating down the streets of Lastation, following Doc Louis on his bike! Zelda hit a stopwatch as he crossed by in front of them and looked at it curiously.
"How long was that?" Rosalina asked, scribbling on a clipboard.
"Forty-five minutes from Planeptune," Zelda replied. "Just as he said."
"Wow!" Pit and Nepgear said. "That's incredible!"
"So he wasn't exaggerating," Red observed.
"Told ya!" Doc Louis said. "Little Mac's got the goods!" He handed a smoothie to Mac, who raised it up in thanks, too tired to talk, and brought the cup to his lips.
At least, he tried to. Turns out, Noire appeared right behind him faster than anyone could see and swiped the cup from his hand. She gave it a sniff, hummed in awe, and proceeded to start chugging it on the spot!
"Lady Noire, wait!" Doc Louis said. "That's Mac's protein shake!"
But it was far too late. Noire held up a finger for silence as she proceeded to chug the entire thing in about five gulps, before wiping her mouth. "Boy," she said. "That was good. What was in that?"
"...Raw eggs, protein powder, sour pickles, granola, almond milk, vitamin-C powder, and ground up pollock," Doc Louis replied.
Noire's eyes widened in awe as she looked back down at the drink she just finished off. "Well," she said, "I would be more disgusted if it wasn't so delicious."
"Ehhhh?!" everyone said in awe. They were all wondering just how Noire could've found that concoction anything other than positively revolting!?
"Sis?" Rom asked. "Is Noire trying to be funny now?"
"If she is," Ram replied, "she's still really bad at it."
"You... you mean you didn't find that gross!?" Red asked Noire.
"Not really," Noire said. "In fact, it calmed my stomach immensely. Thanks Little Mac."
She handed Doc Louis the now empty mug back as she began to walk away. Everyone could only stare at her in shock and concern, with only the slightest bit of horror in their expressions.
"Uh... is... is Lady Noire feeling okay?" Pit asked.
"I'm not sure," Nepgear replied.
"That did feel pretty out of character for her," Zelda added.
"Noire!" Uni's voice said. The others turned to see Uni run up, gasping for breath as she finally doubled over and tried to catch her breath. "Please, sis, stop running off!"
"Lady Uni," Rosalina said, "is Lady Noire... okay?"
"That's just the thing!" Uni said with an exasperated tone. "I don't know what's going on with her! She was feeling bad earlier, with her stomach going nuts, so I brought her out to get something to eat, but that's when she just started wandering around everywhere! Almost like she's in a daze!"
"I'll admit," Pit said, "that is really odd for Lady Noire."
"Oh goodness!" Nepgear said. "Is... you don't think she's hacked or anything, do you?"
"I don't think so," Uni said. "But I don't know what else could be the problem with her!"
Red and Zelda's eyes traced over to where Noire was walking. She had an honestly contented expression on her face, even having a genuine smile on her face. Which, believe it or not, was a rarity whenever she was in public.
"She seems okay now," Red said.
"But it would be wise to keep an eye on her," Zelda said. "Just in case."
For the next day or so, Noire was still behaving... off. Like, really off. Or at least, for Noire that is.
"Oh my gosh!" Noire said, catching her breath after the match she and the CPUs were watching had wrapped up. "I... I am so happy that is over!"
"Really?" Neptune asked. "That match was actually pretty fast."
"But it felt like an eternity!" Noire said. "I mean, did you see how Byleth launched Sheik into the air!? Or how Shulk knocked both Luigi and Ness off the ledge!?"
"Noire," Vert said, "I can assure you that we've seen worse matches than that-"
"You three!" Noire said, rushing over to Compa and Dr. Mario as they were tending the injured Fighters. She began dotting over them in a panicking fit, only being calmed down by the rapid assurances that they were fine.
"Okay, Noire!" Blanc said. "As comforting as your concern is, we have to supervise the next match."
"Huh!? There's more!?" Noire said. "B-but, wasn't that enough!? That one fight felt like it took an eternity!"
The other CPUs all sent each other looks. "Noire," Neptune said. "That was the first match of the day."
Noire's eye twitched, as she leaned up against the wall, looking faint. "I think I'm gonna pass out," she said. "This is making me feel ill!" She clutched her stomach again, moaning in discomfort. "My stomach's acting up again! I need something else to eat before I do anything!"
The CPUs all looked to one another again. Noire was acting more out of sorts than normal.
"Noire," Vert said, "you're not... infected by a virus or anything, are you?"
"Uni asked me the same thing," Noire said, managing to stand upright again. "But I already got checked out by both Compa and Dr. Mario, they told me I have a clean bill of health. I'm not really acting that weird, am I?"
"Well..." the other three goddesses all said, not sure how to tell her.
At that moment, the participants for the next match arrived, consisting of the Ice Climbers, Mewtwo, Joker, and Cloud.
"Alright, Strife," Joker said, "ready to settle who's the best Playstation rep?"
"Ready when you are, Phantom Thief," Cloud replied.
"Oh hell naw!" Noire said, appearing in front of the two of them, pushing them back! "I am not having the two of you fighting!"
"What?" Joker said.
"Lady Noire," Cloud said, "is something wrong?"
"Of course something is wrong!" Noire said. "You're both my responsibility! So I can't have you both killing each other!"
"Okay, Noire!" Neptune said. "This is getting ridiculous! It's just a match! It's fine! They'll be fine!"
"Still," Noire said, "looking at them both attacking each other like this doesn't feel right!"
"Noire," Blanc said, "I don't know what went wrong with you lately, but this behavior is getting asinine!"
"Well fine!" Noire snapped. "In that case, I'm gonna need something to eat!"
She marched off, Neptune sighing heavily. "I'll get her," she said. "Get the match started without us!"
She followed Noire to Mintendo, where she found the CPU of Lastation already creating a terrifying concoction in a bowl.
"Uh..." Neptune said. "What're you making, Noire?"
"Oh," Noire replied, already looking happier, "we got a green curry ramen with raw egg, avocado, crumbled gouda, some puffin meat, and that's just the start."
Neptune stared at her, before meeting eyes with Min Min, who was standing off to the side. The ARMS Fighter pointed at Noire with a face that positively read, "What is going on!?" with Neptune meeting it with a shrug and her own face that read, "I have no idea!"
This type of behavior went on for barely a day before the other goddesses finally decided that they couldn't take it anymore, and searched for an explanation!
"Histy," Neptune said one day, "puhlease tell me that you know what the heck is going on with Noire?! I would gladly take our normal tsundere back over this dotting mother routine!"
"I have to agree with Neptune," Blanc said. "Noire's behavior is causing a bunch of the Fighters some unease. Not only for her out of character behavior, but it could also cause their performances in fights to become worse."
"Well," Histoire said, "I have looked into the situation a bit myself upon hearing the reports, and I have discovered something odd with Lastation's Shares. We'll have to wait for Kei to arrive to give us the full report, as she's been working hard on this ever since she discovered it."
"Now that I am thinking about it, where is Noire herself?"
"Well," Vert said, "we set her on a task to keep her preoccupied."
"Please! Stop moving!" Noire said, holding Pichu in her arms in terror, determined to keep the small Electric Pokemon from getting near anything that the CPU of Lastation deemed would be of harm to him. Naturally, the small Pokemon wanted to continue exploring, but she was not letting it go without having it electrocute her.
Nearby, Nepgear and Uni, along with Sonic and Mario watched her go. "Uh..." the Candidates both said, not knowing what they should in order to help.
"Mama mia," Mario said. "This is degrading."
"Well the sooner Nep and the other CPUs can figure out what the problem is with her," Sonic said, "the sooner we can have the old Noire back."
"Right Uni?" Sonic asked the Candidate in question, who merely nodded with a huff. Mario and Sonic both gave a breath of their own. They knew that Uni was the one most affected by Noire's offputting behavior at the moment and just wanted to know what was going on with her sister.
"A-Lady Uni," Mario said, "let-a me assure you we will-a do everything within-a our power to help-a bring Lady Noire-a back to normal." Sonic gave a nod of agreeance behind him.
Uni smiled. "Thanks you both," she said.
"Uni!" Pit's voice called out, prompting Uni to turn and see both the captain of Palutena's army, alongside Dark Pit approaching from nearby.
"If you'd both excuse me," Uni said, "I have my own working theory I want to explore. Please keep an eye on my sister."
"Roger that," Sonic said with a mock salute.
Uni approached the two angels, with Nepgear walking up alongside out of curiosity.
"What's the problem, Uni?" Pit asked.
"Why'd you bring this guy?" Uni asked, referring to Dark Pit.
"Nice to see you too," Dark Pit said sarcastically.
"W-well Pittoo was just scared by Lady Plutia, so he decided to follow me after I got your call," Pit replied.
"I was not scared of that psycho!" Dark Pit replied. "I just don't want to be anywhere near without being forced to wipe her out like I did to Pandora!"
"Okay, whatever," Uni said. "Just behave yourself."
"So what's the situation?" Pit asked. "Is it about Lady Noire?"
"Yeah," Uni replied. "I think I may finally have an idea about what's going on with her."
"What's that?" Pit asked.
"After combing through some records," Uni replied, "I've come to the conclusion that my sister might be possessed by the Chaos Kin."
Pit raised an eyebrow as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully, as Dark Pit merely looked bemused. Nepgear also looked at Uni with curiosity, this being the first she was hearing of this theory.
"Are you sure Uni?" Nepgear asked.
"I'm fairly certain," Uni replied. "What else could it be?"
"Don't be stupid," Dark Pit said. "If it truly was the Chaos Kin, it would have Noire try and take over Gamindustri and everyone that got in her way. Not... whatever it is she's doing now."
"Pittoo's got a point," Pit replied. "That's basically what happened to Lady Palutena when it took control of her. This is... not that. In fact, if anything, Lady Noire's acting nicer than usual, which is the opposite effect. It's gotta be something else."
"Okay smarties!" Uni huffed, crossing her arms, "then what do you think it is?"
"Maybe she's pregnant?"
The others all looked at where that voice had come from to find Zelda and Rosalina standing nearby.
"Oh, Zelda and Rosalina!" Nepgear said. "What're you doing here?"
"Well," Rosalina replied, "after our first encounter with Lady Noire's new personality we began doing our own research and found that her behavior is akin to that of a woman in pregnancy."
"How!?" Uni said, sounding rather offended by the theory. "How would that even happen!?"
"Well," Zelda said, "there is a particular Phantom Thief that's exhibited attraction to her."
Elsewhere in Gamindustri, Joker released a sneeze.
"Okay, first, ew!" Uni said. "Secondly, I have the feeling that Noire would have told me about this. Thirdly, ew! Fourthly, I also have the feeling Noire would figure out if she was pregnant. Fifth - EWW!"
From nearby, Nepgear, Pit, and Dark Pit merely watched with the knowledge that this would take a while.
"Thank you for your patience CPUs," Kei said, entering the Planeptune Basilicom.
"No problem," Neptune said. "Do you have any idea why Noire is acting so... weird~ lately?"
"I have a theory," Kei said.
"Well don't keep us in suspense," Vert said, "what is it?"
"I've noticed a particular swell in Lastation's Shares," Kei replied. "The Shares have begun to accelerate at a dangerous pace. Almost as if a New CPU Candidate were about to be created."
"Well that's all fine and good," Neptune said, "but how is that affecting Noire herself?"
"I'm not entirely sure," Kei replied. "What's worse is the fact that I have no idea where this influx of Shares could even be coming from. There's been no changes in the Lastation populace's faith in recent days, so there's nothing to account for why the country's Shares have been growing at such an abrupt and honestly unstable rate."
"Unstable?" Histoire asked. "Kei... please don't tell me that means something... untoward will happen to Noire because of this?"
"I shouldn't think so," Kei said. "But if the Shares change at such a pace again it very well might-" Her face dropped as she suddenly saw something on her file. "Oh no."
"What?" Neptune asked. "What do you mean 'oh no'? Oh no is a bad thing!"
"It would appear," Kei replied, "that there has indeed been another abrupt shift."
"But... if what you said is true," Vert said, "than what does that mean for-?"
Everything came to a grinding halt as a mighty scream shook the entire Basilicom to its foundations. A very, very familiar scream. "NOIRE!" everyone yelled.
In the middle of Lastation's streets, Noire had fallen to her knees clutching her stomach in absolute pain! "What... in the name... of Sony... is happening?!" she cried out. Everyone else standing from nearby began to panic among themselves as they caught Noire's collapse!
"Sis!" Uni said. "H-hang on! I-I'll go get help!"
"What is going on with her!?" Nepgear said.
"Do I look like I know!?" Uni said.
"Hang on!" the voice of Purple Heart yelled, prompting the Candidates to look into the sky and see the CPUs in HDD form with Kei and Histoire in their arms descending alongside them!
"Noire, can you stand?" Green Heart asked.
"No! I-I can't!" Noire said, unable to stand on what were essentially legs made of jello!
"Sonic!" Purple Heart said. "Get Compa and Dr. Mario! We're gonna need them!"
"Kei," Histoire said, "what's going on with her Shares?"
"They're still swelling," Kei said. "I've never even heard of something like this happening before. I would honestly be intrigued if it was not having such an adverse effect on her."
Suddenly, Noire's face turned green as her body began to glow with a powerful aura! Within a moment she transformed into both Black Heart, and Next Black, and she kept on glowing! "I-I feel like I'm gonna explode!" she said.
Before anyone could do anything, a glowing mass emerged from her stomach, which grew out from her, before it slammed into the ground creating a wall of dust and smoke! "Noire!" everyone yelled.
When the smoke cleared, Noire was laying flat on her back, staring up at the clouds, now back in her natural form. "It's... it's over... it's finally over..." she said. "Oh halleluah! Praise Uno, it's finally over!"
She sat up, giggling hysterically, before her eyes settled on something. "What...?" she said. "What...?"
From the dust, a small figure was seen sitting right in front of her. She appeared quite young, about no older than Rom and Ram, with long white hair, piercing blue eyes, wearing what looked akin to a one-piece, black swimsuit, and a white coat with blue interior. The two could merely stare at each other, the neighboring CPUs, Fighters, and Candidates looking with equal amounts of shock and confusion. Then to top it off, the girl spoke.
"Ma...ma...?"
Finally, the shock caught up with her and Noire let loose another scream! "Wha-wha-wha-what is this!? How!? Who!? What in the name of dear, sweet, merciful, Sony in Celestia is going on?!"
"Well," Neptune laughed nervously, having transformed back to normal, "at least Noire seems to be back to her old self."
"So Noire," Dark Pit said, "who's the lucky father?"
"Don't even joke like that!" Noire yelled. "I have no idea what is even going on here! I'm freaking out!"
"Hey!" a smaller voice said. Everyone looked down at the child, who had a really annoyed look on her face. "As I was saying, may you puh-lease tell me what is happening?"
Noire began to splutter awkwardly, the most gobsmacked expression on her face. "Why should I tell you anything!?" she said. "You should be the one who tells me what is happening since you just came out of my body!"
"I never asked for that!" the girl said.
"Well that makes two of us!" Noire said.
"Yeesh, Noire," Neptune said. "You shouldn't yell at your kid like that."
"She's not my kid!" "I'm not her kid!"
"Okay," Vert said, "let's take it a step back. What's your name?" she asked the child.
"Prospero," the girl replied.
"Alright, Prospero," Blanc said. "Do you know where you came from?"
"Uh, duh!" Prospero said. "Lastation! I'm the CPU of it of course!"
Noire balked now harder than ever before! "Wha-hu-No! You! Are! Not!" she yelled.
"Actually," Histoire said, looking at Kei's tablet. "She is. Or at least, from another dimension."
"Say what now?" Neptune said, as the whole crowd looked at the Oracles in confusion.
"As it happens," Kei replied, "we were able to isolate the issues going on with Lastation's Shares and its subsequent effect on Lady Noire upon... Prospero's manifestation. Turns out that she comes from a relatively new Gamindustri, being fairly young herself. With the Tournament and its linkage to other dimensions happening at this time, you can look at it as our Lastation swallowing this new Lastation's Shares, being the eldest dimension and obviously the one with the superior amount of Shares. Akin to a drop falling into a glass of water. Prospero here just got sucked up for the ride. And since Lady Noire is our resident Lastation CPU, she became the vessel for her arrival, in a manner of speaking."
"So..." Neptune said. "What now?"
"Well," Histoire said, "we'll work to return the Shares to their rightful dimension. As for Prospero herself, she's free to go home."
"Fine by me!" Prospero said. "The sooner I go home, the better for my health!"
"The feeling's mutual you freeloading brat!" Noire snapped.
"Hey, I'm not the one who stole Shares that don't belong to you!" Prospero said.
"Like I had a say in that!" Noire said. "And you're still the one who shoved your way out of my body!"
"I didn't have a say in that either!" Prospero yelled.
"Enough!" everyone else yelled.
Finally, Prospero left from the jump gate back to her own dimension as Histoire and Kei went back to coordinate a way to return her Shares back where they should be. Noire watched her go with the most royally pissed off face known to anyone.
"Well," Mario said, "at least-a it's over now."
"R-right," Zelda said. "And we've got Noire back to normal."
"Fine by me," Noire said. "I'm happy that kid is out of my hair now and forever."
"I think you might be exaggerating a bit Lady Noire," Rosalina said. "I mean, it was a situation neither of you had control over. If given the opportunity to meet again, I'm sure you might have become friends in a manner similar to Lady Neptune befriending Lady Uzume and Lady Plutia."
Noire scowled as she stared at the teleport pad where Prospero vanished. "Maybe," Noire said. "Given time we might be able to forget what happened." She stopped as she looks at Uni.
"But no matter what," she said, "there's only one younger member of Lastation for me look after."
She patted Uni's head, causing her younger sister to gain a happy smile on her face. "In the meantime," Noire said, "I think I need some R&R like Blanc did. You'll see me in the hot springs."
The two of them walked off, as the others began to disperse to their own ways. With the exception of Pit that looked inspired. "Hot spring?" he said.
Back with the Lastation sisters, they were both relaxing in said hot spring, taking a moment's ease. Noire was already starting to look more relaxed with a content smile on her face. This, naturally, made Uni happy in turn.
"I'm glad to see you're happier Noire," she said. "You really had me worried for a while there. I even went to that angel boy for advice."
"Sorry to worry you, Uni," Noire replied. "But hopefully nothing like that will happen again. But did you seriously ask Pit for advice?"
"Yeah!" Uni said. "I was convinced you got possessed by the Chaos Kin or something!"
"Honestly," Noire said, "I think I would've preferred that over what really happened. Still, you seem to hang out with that Pit guy a lot."
"What makes you say that?" Uni said. "It's only because he spends practically all his free time with Nepgear. It's annoying! I mean, I should have more friends, but Nepgear is the only one I ha-uh, need right now so him hogging her's... annoying."
Noire felt like she got stabbed in the chest at the prospects of her little sister having just as much difficulty with having friends as her! Their conversation was cut off as there was a knock on the door. The door opened, Nepgear poking her head in, her long purple hair tied in a bun.
"Uh... s-sorry to interrupt," she said, "I know you wanted some 'R&R' Noire, but would it be okay if some more people joined you?"
"That would depend on the people," Noire said, raising an eyebrow. "Why do you ask?"
"Well I'm merely being polite and checking first," Nepgear said, "because at this moment somebody a lot less considerate is making his way over-"
At that moment, a white blur shot through as Pit's voice could be heard shouting "Hot spring!" There was a splash of water that struck Noire and Uni in the face, as the both of them looked particularly annoyed now.
"How long did we have before they showed up?" Noire asked.
"Uh... about a minute and a half," Uni replied, "give or take."
"Yeah," Noire said. "That seems about right for the amount of time I'm permitted for relaxation before something has to rear its ugly head."
"Come on in Nepgear!" Pit cheered. "The spring is great!"
"U-uh! Okay!" Nepgear replied.
Noire hung her head again, Uni comfortingly rubbing her back.
A/N: And we're back in it guys! In case you couldn't tell, this was inspired by the PS5 reveal that happened not too long ago. The name I used for the new CPU, "Prospero", was the project title for the PS5, so that speaks for itself.
Now before people point out how the PS4, WiiU, and XBox One were all the base for the Next Forms in MegaDimension, so I should've just gone with a new form, A.) Uzume and Plutia are both based on different Sega consoles, meaning other CPUs like this should be a thing, and B.) this was the first idea that popped into my head and I found it funny. Also, by this point, can we have one of the upcoming Neptunia games give some official portrayal for the not only the PS5, but the Switch, and XBox One X/S?
The idea of Noire "giving birth" to a new CPU was just funny to me and I thought would lead to funny shenanigans mostly revolving around the others just being confused about what in the dimensions is happening with her. And I have no doubt similar ideas has been done before in Neptunia fanfics.
In case some of you are wondering my thoughts on the PS5 reveal itself, a lot of the upcoming games look cool such as Spider-Man: Miles Morales, the new Ratchet and Clank looks great, and the biggest highlight for me being Resident Evil: Village. As for the design of the PS5 itself, I think it's fine. I don't really get why some people hate it. (On a related note, I was able to rely on my fellow cultured individuals to help me in thinking up Prospero's design by making art of the PS5 as an anime girl.)
Review Time!
To Neptunia56: Glad you liked the chapter, and writing the construction of the Mintendo Noodle House was fun and put a smile on my face. I love doing stuff like that. In regards to doing a Rom and Ram focused chapter holds merit and would be fun and cute.
To Jacob9594: I'm happy you enjoyed the chapter! Hope I can continue to entertain you!
To Zindakku Hirokai: Nothing against Waluigi fans, but the mere speculation of Spring Man becoming the next Fighter during initial reveal the next Fighter would be from ARMS really made them all look more obnoxious than ever, and I'd be lying if I said that there wasn't something cathartic in the truth of the situation being Min Min instead, proving them wrong... again. As for your speculations, my thoughts on them - Rex and Pyra/Mythra: I can see that, and they've been theorized for some time even in spite of Rex's Mii costume, so I wouldn't be surprised. A unique gimmick would be having Rex swap between Pyra or Mythra in a manner similar to Pokemon Trainer using Squirtle, Ivysaur, and Charizard. - Urshifu: Makes sense. I had a similar feeling after Isle of Armor was announced. And rather than pick a single style, why not have him switch between the two as his "DLC gimmick"? - Akira: Again, makes sense. And their powers are pretty interesting (on top of being another Fighter with male and female variants) but I will say I think they're the least likely given that I feel a lot of the hype for Astral Chain has died down, but that might just be me. - Bandai Namco rep: I agree. With Sega, Capcom, and even Playstation having multiple reps, Bandai Namco seriously needs another. Who in particular, I have no clue, but I agree there needs to be another for Pac-Man to have a friend. - Agumon: I will admit, I feel the planet would explode if Agumon was added. In part because Digimon is one of those franchises like Fate that is more recognized as an anime now, and not purely a video game franchise. But I wouldn't discount the possibility, what with all the buzz for Digimon as of late. - A swordsman not from FE, there are a lot that could be in there, a few that come to my head being Travis Touchdown from No More Heroes (one of my personal votes), Sora from Kingdom Hearts, Dante from Devil May Cry, even Artoria/Saber from Fate. (Neptune counts if they go with her traditional fighting style and not the gunplay from Virtual Stars). Heck, playing off that villain idea, Sephiroth from FFVII counts too (who's another guy I vote for). And with my thoughts on Haruka Amami, she's a suggestion I wouldn't mind as an outfield suggestion, I can't imagine how such an adorable character could fight! Overall, some solid an open minded suggestions! Way to go!
And for Nightmare from Soul Calibur, he'd certainly make for an interesting inclusion! Looking so vicious when compared to a lot of Smash's roster. Plus, Soul Calibur is a series that (as far as I know at least, don't hold me to this) is similar to ARMS in the fact that there's no main/mascot character, so him being a representative from there makes sense. I can get behind it.
And finally, to Bob: I do apologize that you are unhappy with my portrayal of the Inklings. This is a fault of me not being too familiar with Splatoon and characterizing them based on what I've seen other people do with them. Again, I do apologize, as naturally I don't want this story to offend or make anybody unhappy. If it is such a big deal, I can scrub them out entirely. Again, I don't want to upset anyone, and it's clear that I've gotten them wrong.
That being said, thanks for reading! Let me know any other suggestions you have, stay safe, don't hog all the toilet paper, and have a wonderful evening!