[LAST NIGHT (and a few nights before that) IN ONE OF THE DORM COMMON ROOMS... Every so often the silence of night was punctuated by very loud AUUUUUGHS and NNNOOOOOS and OH MY GOD WHAT ARE YOU DOINGS.

If anyone had happened to peek in, they would have seen Ness nearly falling off of his seat, looking like he was all but about to run up and press his nose against the TV screen.

What in the world was.... Oh.

WORLD SERIES YOU GUYS.]


OH MY GOD EXTRA INNINGS AND HOME RUNS AND STRIKES AND THEY...

OH MY GOD.

[Ness calm down. Ness are you frothing. Stop that.]

Seems like the school is just busting with energy lately. Must be the holiday spirit. Or all of the new faces I keep seeing around. I knew we were getting some transfers from Capcom and Squeenix, but if people keep coming to Smash, the other schools might go out of business! I ain't complaining. Maybe if we get enough of their students, the Hands'll raise the teachers' pay. Not that I'm wishing on stars for it or anything. But who would turn down making more money, right?

For everyone who's new, you can call me Lt. Surge. I teach Military Protocol. So if you're interested in the military, how it's run and the parts that make up the whole, then come to my class. Just don't expect an easy A. The class'll be tough and you'll have to earn your grade. No pain, no gain.

[Video screen, say hi to angel boy! He's looking bright-eyed and bushy-tailed like usual, and has a couple things to say.]

It's been a while since I last posted! Hi everyone! It's me, Pit! How are you doing this October month? It's been raining a lot, so I bought a new umbrella. It comes in very handy for me and it's blue with green spots. My favorite colors! I'd open it right now but it's over there and I'm under a roof and I don't want any bad luck!

Soooooo anyway it looks like we have a masquerade ball on Halloween! Wow, I've never been to one before... I have no idea what to do except look it up. [His smile evens out a little more.] It's traditional, so I have to make sure I do this right! The costumes sure do look complicated. I wonder if I'll even know where to start?

[Taps his chin a couple times] I really don't know what I'm getting myself into! [Then, he presses his hands together.] But I'm excited anyway. Okay I'm done making a video! Press the button, Miracle!

[Screen blanks out.]

[The camera clicks on to show... some guy. He kinda looks like Rock -- and judging from all the machiney-technological-fancy-pants crap in the background, he's in Rock's room. Did puberty strike our beloved super fighting robot with a vengeance? How can this beeeee?]

Okay, that should do it. Don't mind if I'm a little rusty... I can barely even remember the last time I used a laptop with a tiny little touchpad like this. Kind of inconvenient, aren't they?

Anyway, let me introduce myself. My name is X. I'm one of Dr. Light's creations, but I'm from a little further down the road than the ones you might be familiar with already. Usually, I'm a Maverick Hunter from the 22nd century. I'm still getting oriented with things back in the past, but for the next while, I'm going to be helping out the security team.

Uh... I'm staying in the student dorms instead of the faculty ones, though. The Headmaster suggested it'd be easier to keep all our equipment in one place, so I'll be living with Rock. If you guys happen to know him, then I'd appreciate it if you didn't let him know. I've been away for a pretty long time, so I thought I'd make it into a surprise.

Hello once again, Smash Academy. I am Kojiro, Red's Lapras. This year, I will be the school's Psychologist. If you have any worries or problems, please do not hesitate to contact me over the network or come to my office. I believe you will find the atmosphere to be quite relaxing.

I hope you all have a good school year.