"Samus Aran you are clear for takeoff." The magnetic field fell and the arms were removed, allowing Samus's ship to leave the docking bay. The ship flew down and out of the station. Four smaller ships came out of different bays as well. "Okay Fox. Show us where this planet is." Samus said. "Okay, here we go." Fox replied. The five ships pointed into space and blasted off at full speed. They were flying for an hour before anyone said anything. "We don't know the number of enemies, so this will have to be a covert mission, until we find the target." Fox instructed. "Aw man. Fox you know I hate covert missions. Why can't we just fly in and blow up as much stuff as we can and bomb in?" Falco, of course. "You might stand a chance if there weren't more than 10. However, we don't know if there are 100, or 1000 enemies. I know we've fought incredible numbers of enemies in the past, but mind you, they weren't all equipped with top quality machinery." Samus sighed as the Starfox team bickered. "Do they always fight like this?" Zelda asked. "Not always. When they are in combat, they work together. But mostly they like to argue. It passes the time." Zelda sat in her chair, watching the moniters. "I'm curious, why did Fox get angry when the doctor suggested the parasite X metroid stuff?" "His lover was killed by a parasite X. I almost died as well from a parasite X. I guess he was so worried that he forgot about the metroids." "You mentioned that you had luck with metroids. What do you mean by that?" "When I was infected with X, scientists found that metroids could nuetralize it. They had a sample of a baby metroid's blood, and used that on me. The metroid's blood killed off all the virus, and then it kind of merged with me, X and Metroid. I became stronger, and was able to absorb X. The baby metroid was interesting as well." "I've never heard of a metroid. Is it a good creature?" "No, they're life sucking monsters, who are almost impossible to kill." "So..." "Before my incident with X, I found a baby metroid after had destroyed the Omega Metroid, my second major mission. It hatched, and instead of attacking me, it thought I was it's mother. I brought it back to scientists, and they took it into experimentation. Not long after that, they were attacked by pirates and Ridley. In the end, they got away with the Metroid." "That doesn't sound like good luck." "Well, before I encountered Mother Brain, I found a huge metroid, which decided to attack me, actually, it almost killed me, but stopped, and flew away, screaming like a scared puppy. When I fought Mother Brain, she almost killed me. That same Metroid rushed in and began sucking the life out of Mother Brain. I thought it killed her. Then it began healing me, completely. Mother Brain suddenly came back and attacked the Metroid. She killed it, but it's death gave me an incredible power, which I used to destroy her with. See, I've had my run of luck with metroids." "That's the strangest kind of luck I've ever heard of." Samus and Zelda laughed. "Hey girls, I hate to break up the romance, but we're coming up on the planet." Falco told them. Sure enough, a planet came into view. Zelda and Samus readjusted in their seats. Zelda saw three large blips and multiple smaller ones on the scanner. "Time for your covert plan guys." She announced. The five ships slowed down. "Can anyone see the enemy?" "I can see the three large cargo ships, no one is a battle cruiser. I can't see the smaller ones though." "Switch off your scanners. If we can't detect them, they can't detect us." "Stay a good distance from them, if we start to see their smaller ships, back off. Falco should be the only one who can even begin to see them." "And it is as such Fox. I can make out multiple little movements. They aren't moving toawrds us. We're good." The group remained in one place for a while, while Falco observed the enemies movement. "It's okay Zelda, you're allowed to breath. Not even Peppy can here you in space." "I know, but I'm nervous. More so than when we were fighting the pirates on the station." Samus turned to face Zelda, and held her hands. They both smiled at each other. "I may not be able to hear you in space, but I can certainly see you." Peppy announced over the intercom. Samus just glared at him. "Okay everyone, if we fly around the planet, to the side of it, the pirates will not notice us and we can land. It looks like they're setting down. Mind you you'll have to go through the landing procedures manually. If we use automated equipment, the pirates will detect us." Everyone turned their ships to the left of the planet, and flew in. They managed to sneak by the pirates, and enter the atmosphere. Zelda clung to her chair as the ship rumbled. Samus turned on the air conditioner to keep it cool while she worked. She was frantically pushing buttons, pulling levers, and controlling the ship as they descended. Zelda finally got the courage to look. Outside the ship were red streaks of fire. She closed her eyes again, fearful that they would burn up. The rumbling stopped. The fire was gone, and they cleared the atmosphere. Zelda got up again and looked out. Below the ship, on the ground, she saw a massive forest and a swamp. To one side of it there was a canyon, and on the other, an icy mountain. All of this neighbored an ocean. In the middle of the land, there was a small town, with a large clocktower. "We're far enough away that the pirates didn't see our entrance." Fox announced. "This is nowhere near our destination. We have some flying to do." They turned their ships towards their destination, and all took off. "Why does that land seem so familiar. I feel like I've been there before." Zelda murmured. After an hour of flight, they reached a desert. They saw a massive structure at one end. "WAIT! I know that place." Zelda yelled, jumping to the window. "Is this your home?" Samus asked, looking out. "Not right there, but this is my home land." She jumped and hugged Samus tight. Samus smiled and hugged back, kissing her head. "The enemy has set up a site near this location. We are settling down here so no one will notice." Fox told them. Everyone directed their ships to land in front of the large temple. They set down with a jolt, and Samus got up from her seat. "I have to put my suit on. Did you bring any armor?" Zelda shook her head. "I forgot." Samus sighed and went to her room. She returned with a wristmounted piece of equipment. "You won't be able to get any defense, so you'll need to rely on speed, and go completely offensive. This has a lazer cannon in it, and with luck, it may increase your powers." "Thank you." Zelda replied as Samus put the enhancer on. Then she went to her room to change. Zelda stepped out of the ship's hatch and jumped to the ground. She looked up at the temple standing in front of her. She smiled at it. Her smile faded as she saw more of it. The statues were falling apart, and most of the design had disentagrated. The rock arch standing before it, had fallen, and broken. She ran to a nearby oasis, that had dried up. She ran to the fairie's cave, but the spring had dried up as well, and no sign of a fairie existed. She walked back out. Just time worn, that's all. With a bit of carpentry, rock carpentry, and a spot of elbow grease, it should be good as new. "Okay team, we don't have a map of this place, with the exception of Peppy's memory. So we'll have to rough it." "I know this place. I used to live here." Zelda announced. "Good, then you can give us a royal tour." Fox suggested. "Up ahead is the gerudo valley and the Gerudo fortress. We've grown friendly with the Gerudo's so don't worry about them." Zelda spoke as she lead the group on. She saw in the distance, a massive structure/fortress. She ran towards it. When they reached the fortress, Zelda looked around to find something, anything. The fortress too had crumbled, but it didn't look natural. There were burn marks all over, and black skeletons littered the yards. "This is odd. The Gerudos aren't anywhere. They aren't so stupid as to challenge people like the pirates." Zelda said. They moved on from the fortress, through the valley. They reached a massive field, with a building in the center. There were also burn marks all over the field. They reached the building, the ranch, and moved closer. From inside they could hear singing and music. It sounded like a party. Something is still sane. Zelda thought hopefully. She began towards the entrance, but Samus stopped her. "What? The Lon Lon ranch has parties all the time." "I don't like it." "I'll check it out." Peppy said. He jumped to a nearby tree and looked into the window. He saw dozens of men drinking milk. They all wore the pirate suits, minus the helmets. He jumped down and walked to Zelda. "Do your Lon Lon friends host parties to savage pirates?" Zelda's eyes widened, and she almost collapsed. Fortunately, Samus caught her before she hit the ground. "I take that as a no." Peppy finished. Zelda started to cry, in anger. She could only hope... After a couple hours, they checked the Goron's mountain, the Lake and the Zora's river, and The Kokiri forest. All were burned. Skeletons from what seemed like centuries past, lay strewn about among the lands. There was one last hope. That the castle was still standing. "I doubt it Zelda, from what we've already seen. I won't stop you though. I want to see too." Samus told Zelda. There were pirates patrolling the town, and the group could not get in. The town looked run down, and falling apart as well. Falco looked past the city. The castle was not as badly battered as everything else, but it had a small share of damage, and was heavily gaurded by pirates. "Zelda... I'm so... sorry." Samus said. Zelda was crying angrily again. Samus held her tight, trying to comfort her. Fox moved the team away from the two. "How dare..." Zelda mumbled. "I promise, we'll get them back for this. You'll see. These pirates will pay dearly for making you suffer." Samus told Zelda, holding her tighter. She began humming again, but Zelda continued crying. "How dare you. You damned pirates. You defiled everything. YOU WILL PAY!!!" Zelda screamed. She jumped up, forcing Samus to let go. Zelda marched towards the Ranch. "Zelda... what are you... No." Zelda broke into a run and reached the ranch within minutes. "She's WHAT!?" Fox yelled. "I think she's going to fight the pirates at the ranch." Samus repeated. "We have to stop her. She can't possibly take on a couple dozen pirates by herself." The entire group sprinted after Zelda. The pirates were singing and laughing, and spilling milk and beer all over. Zelda marched up to the door, her enhancer gathering energy by the second. The door burst open and Zelda stepped in. The singing and music stopped, and everybody looked to Zelda, frozen in place. Tears streamed down Zelda's face, her angry red face. "Die." Was all she said. The entire party burst out laughing. Samus almost reached the ranch when she saw a massive column of energy flowing upwards from it. She ran up the hill and into the ranch, looking for Zelda. The building was completely destroyed, burning away. She found Zelda lying on the floor. Zelda was unconcious, or stunned, or somthing. "Zelda!" Samus picked Zelda up in her arms, and held her again. She took her helmet off and put her cheek to Zelda's. Now it was Samus's turn to cry. "Why did you do that? You could have died." Zelda opened her eyes. "I hate the pirates. I will do everything to ensure their destruction. Anything to help you." Zelda whispered to Samus. She brought her head up to Samus, and kissed her. She wrapped her arms around Samus's neck, and the two of them stood up. "If you guys are done with the lovey dovey stuff?" Falco began. The two of them parted, but held the others hand firmly. "This was a good idea, in that we have thirty-something less to worry about. But now we have given them the idea that we are indeed on this planet, we hate their guts, and we have no intention of sparing them as we tear through their numbers. Just great." Falco again. "Falco's right. I guess there's no use in hiding now." Fox mentioned. "I guess you will get the all out fight like you wanted." "Oh YEAH!" Falco yelled, thrusting his fist into the air. "Hey... that gives me an idea." Slippy said. Samus and Zelda splashed into the river which led to the gates. They sunk down till their heads poked out of the water. Samus could stay at the bottom, she had an air filter. It was now nightime, and the guards at the entrance on the drawbridge were making their shifts. Zelda grabbed Samus hand and squeezed. They looked at each other, waiting. "The Mother Brain won't die as easily as any of the enemies we've encountered. Even Ridley is weak compared to her." "I know, but I don't care, I'll put every ounce of my strength into the fight." They heard shouting in the distance. Falco started his part of the plan. He ran up firing his blaster at the guards. They immediately turned their attention to him and a dozen gaurds ran after him. Still more guards were at the gate. Peppy ran up and did the same, running a different way than Falco, he too led away some guards. There were only two guards remaining. Samus and Zelda had drifted silently through the water towards the bridge. Zelda held on to the side of the river, while Samus drifted to the other side of the bridge. "What the hell is going on?" "I don't know. There was that explosion, but boss told us not to investigate." Silently the two girls leapt up and took out the gaurds. Slippy and Fox jumped out of their hiding places and ran to Samus and Zelda. The four of them ran, low to the ground, into the town. "Up ahead is the town square. Straight ahead past that is the path to the castle." Whispered Zelda. They stopped, and all except Slippy jumped into a group of bushes nearby between two houses. Slippy crept forward, gun out. "Hey you!" A shout from a few guards, and Slippy fired. When the return fire appeared, Slippy took off, with the pirate guards close behind. When they had passed, the three stepped out of the bushes. They reached the front gate to the Castle with no further trouble. "The first gate should be locked tight, but there is a way to get around." Zelda told the others. Fox climbed the vine up the wall. How this lone vine stood up to the pirates, I will never know. Fox ducked in a flash as he reached the top. He slowly crept up again. "That's funny. I thought I saw something." He whispered. "Move aside." Samus ordered. Fox jumped down, and Samus climbed up. She turned on a heat sensor in her visor. "Just as I thought." Samus whispered. Two guards were standing at the second entrance, next to another drawbridge. They had cloaking devices on, but Samus could see them, plain as day. She climbed down again. "I have a plan. I'll sneak around in ball mode, and when I give a signal, it's clear. If I give a bunch of signals, run in and assist me." The other two nodded. Samus turned around and crouched into ball mode. She then rolled away. Fox sat down, pistol out. Zelda set her gun as well. In the distance they could hear fighting. Falco, Peppy, and Slippy were still busy with the guards. Zelda sighed and wrapped her arms wround her legs. "Don't relax too much, we need to be ready at any moment." Fox told her. Samus rolled along the ground, silently. There were no other guards from the two, and Samus was a little worried about that. She stopped rolling and reverted to normal. The guards had not moved. They were still. Almost too still. She went back to rolling, but went up a wall. Finally she reached a ledge where she could see down on the guards. They still hadn't budged at all. "What in the world. I know guards shouldn't move, but they're being too still. They aren't even wiggling." She rolled around the ledge, past where the gaurds where standing, and down the wall. She stopped behind a rock, and looked up. The guards were staring directly at her. Something about them made her shiver. She held still, gun ready. She waited, and waited. What the hell? They aren't attacking? Samus moved about a bit. Still no movement. She sat higher. Still no movement. She tried waving at them. They didn't budge. This is really odd. She though as she crouched back down. She sat and though a moment, still ready to attack. She looked back over the rock at them. THEY WERE CLOSER! Samus took a moment to read their equipment. They had enhanced legs, and two sabres on each arm. She ducked behind the rock again, and looked back. They had moved even closer. Screw it. She gave them both the finger and lunged at them. They jumped sideways away from her. "Damn you scared me! Now die!" She yelled as she fired multiple shots from her plasma gun. The pirate avoided each shot. From behind her the second ran in. She ingited her sword and deflected three slashes, ducked under the fourth and swung her sword low. The pirate backflipped and kicked Samus in her shoulder. She whirled around to see the first firing at her. She rolled away and jumped to the other side of the moat. Three shots were fired into the air. Zelda leapt up before Fox and they both ran to assist. "That took a long time." Fox commented as he ran full speed. He slapped his forehead. "Why'd I forget about that?" He tapped the earpiece on his head and a visor slipped over his eyes. He saw the pirates attacking visciously and avoiding Samus's attacks. Zelda on the other hand could not see the pirates, so she stayed back and let Fox go forward. The second pirate turned his attention to Fox, who ran in firing his gun. After deflecting his shots, the pirate rolled forward and swung his swords visciously. Fox leapt over the attack and fired down, missing the pirate as he rolled away. Samus was too busy defending against the first pirate's slashes. Zelda looked at the fight and tried to sense where the pirates were. Suddenly, both the pirates whipped around to face Zelda and dashed in full sprint. "Zelda!" Samus shouted. Zelda looked up. Two. Right there. She jumped back and then off the tree, avoiding the first pirate's attack. She jumped past the second and onto the ground. The first pirate ran up the tree, and backflipped off. The second ran past the tree, and just as his comrade jumped off, he sliced the trunk of the tree. The first landed, swinging two swords down on Zelda. Back! She stepped back avoiding the swords again, and then hopped to avoid the second attack. The pirate lunged to the side. The second kicked the tree and send it falling onto Zelda. Samus lunged and sliced the tree. It fell on either side of them. Fox used an ultra-fast dash attack and struck the first pirate. The second swung his swords at Fox, but was struck on his side from Samus and Zelda's shots. Both pirates fell to the ground, but rolled quickly back up, the first only to realized three flying kicks colliding with his face. His armor cracked, as did his skull, and he was sent flying off a ledge. The second fired madly, peppering the area in front of him with lazers. Zelda deflected the attacks, as well as Fox, while Samus hid behind, charging her Plasma Beam. The second pirate lunged forward, continuing his offense. He came down onto Zelda and Fox with his swords... or he would have. Samus popped up and shot a burning blast straight into his gut. It burned right through. The three of them busted the front door down, Zelda somewhat reluctantly. They stormed into the main hall, up to the throne, where a dark figure was sitting in the shadows. " Who are you, sitting in my father's throne?" Zelda demanded. "You are being so rude. I think you should apologize." replied the figure, still hidden in shadows. Zelda recognized him from somewhere. "Get off the throne. You are being much more rude than I. You have defiled my homeland!" Zelda yelled. Samus began charging her gun again. "I wouldn't waste your energy on me Samus. You know what happened the last time we met." "What?" Samus demanded. "For heroes, you all are pretty stupid." The figure stood up. He was a tall figure... with a... tall sword. HIs eyes opened to reveal a blue glow. "You!" Hissed Fox, pointing his gun at the figure. "This time there is no ship to risk destroying." He blasted over and over. The figure just held up his hand and deflected the shots. He walked into the moonlight. His hair shone silver in the light. "Wait. You were that polite man from the cafe." Zelda realized, shocked. "Yes, and I forgot to thank you for directing me to Samus. I thank you." "YOU TOLD him where my ship was!?" Samus demanded. "I didn't know. He was so polite." "You showed him to me?" "I didn't think he would hurt you." "He's weilding a giant sword! Is that any clue to tell you DANGER!?" Samus fumed. Zelda backed up, fear in her heart. "Yes poor innocent Zelda, betrayed her best friend. She saw me when we were fighting the pirates on the station. I'm surprised you forgot that incident." Sephiroth's word felt like poison. "You just shut up! You have to die!" Fox yelled. "Fox my friend you get angry too easily. How do you think your friends feel. Or are they your friends. Maybe they are actually just forced to be on your team." "You lie" "That's why none of you get along. You all hate each other. Even you. But you are too confused to realize it." "No. It's not true." Fox hissed. He turned his attention away from Sephiroth. "Your friends only did the little diversion plan to get away from you and each other. They now fight impossible odds, only to die. The one way to rid themselves of you for sure." Fox put his hands to his head and fell to his knees. Sephiroth turned his attention to Samus. "Why do you love this girl Samus?" He asked, walking towards her. "She only wanted something from you. You both know it. You know what I mean." Samus growled at Zelda, who cowered against the wall, next to the window. "She never really loved you. She just wanted you in bed. Her magic helped with that. Yes, she seduced you, and got you to bring her into your bed. Her kiss that night, was not just one, but many. Not just on your lips either. Her leg was there, wrapped around you, you remember?" Samus took another step towards Zelda, fuming. She slowly raised her gun arm. "And when she couldn't get you anymore, she directed me to you. She didn't want someone who wouldn't cooperate." "Samus, he's lying. Please beleive me." Zelda whimpered. Sephiroth faced Zelda. "You can see the truth in my decieving words, can't you. You aren't affected by my dark magic. Oh well. Samus is angry at you, and she'll kill you. Then when she does that, I'll show her to the Mother Brain. She'll be so blind in her anger, Mother will have no problems killing her. It's almost like killing two birds with one stone." "No... no... You can't do this. You won't beat us." Zelda cried. "I believe I'm about to. Oh and Zelda... welcome home." Sephiroth said with an evil grin. He turned around and walked back to the throne, laughing evily. Zelda cowered under Samus, who reached down and grabbed Zelda by the throat. She lifted Zelda up off the ground and thrust her through the window. Zelda looked down and saw they were a ways up from the ground. She felt Samus's gun pressed to her stomach. She looked back at Samus. "Die you slut." Samus growled behind her mask. "You have any tricks for this one, princess?" "In fact..." Zelda said, courage somehow flowing into her. "...I do." Zelda thrust her hand forward and a white flash blinded Samus. She dropped Zelda, who was quickly transforming into... a man. He grabbed the edges of the window and kicked Samus back inside so she would not fall out. Then he threw himself inside as well. He landed softly in between the fallen Samus, and the greiving Fox. Sephiroth rose from his throne again. "What trickery is this? Who are you?" "My name is Shiek, and I shall take revenge for Samus and Fox, as well as Zelda." The new figure spoke. He was dressed in a skin tight outfit, colored blue. He wore boots, probably leather, and a chestplate, also of leather. He had a symbol of an eye on his chest. His nose down was covered with a cloth mask, and his fingers were wrapped in a cloth as well. His entire outfit was blue. His blond hair flowed in the breeze. "You? What do you think you can do against the mighty Sephiroth?" Taunted Sephiroth, as he drew his sword. He tilted his head to the side, narrowly avoiding three needles thrown at lightning speed from Sheik. "How dare you!" He yelled. He lunged at Sheik, bringing his sword down. Sheik rolled away and pulled out a chain. Sephiroth found his sword caught by that chain. He faced Sheik and yanked his sword. Sheik used that extra force to fly back at him. He whirled around in midair, forcing Sephiroth to duck the oncoming kick. Sephiroth pulled his sword out of the chain and slashed again. Sheik backflipped over the blade. Sephiroth dissapeared in a black flash, avoiding a kick. He reappeared a few yards away, growling. "How could you be better than me? Well it ends now." Sephiroth leapt forward, swinging his sword with such speed that it created a black blaze in the air. Sheik stepped back and leaned to avoid the sword. He leaned forward again, throwing a handfull of needles. Sephiroth hopped sideways and threw a firebolt at Sheik, who ducked, and dashed forward. Sephiroth flipped forward and slashed his sword down in mid jump. He struck the tile floor, but missed Sheik, for he was much too fast. Sephiroth landed and whirled around. He jumped back to avoid Sheik's fast midair footwork as he kicked at Sephiroth's head. Sheik moved in a blur, evading close range swings from Sephiroth's sword. They stopped fighting and stood facing each other. "So you have some skill after all. Impressive. But I am not throwing everything into this." Sephiroth commented, panting a bit. Sheik lashed his whip out at Sephiroth, who caught it in his bare hands. Sheik's eyes widened. Sephiroth laughed and pulled, pointing his sword out straight. Sheik pulled to the side, but the sword went through, not center, but in the side gut. Samus jerked up. She suddenly became aware of here surroundings. A sharp pain came from nowhere in her gut. It felt like before when Sephiroth impaled her. Sephiroth! She remembered Sephiroth's words. She was angry at Zelda, but she couldn't understand why now. She heard a cry of pain from a young man standing nearby. She looked around. Fox lay unconscious on the ground. Then she saw Sephiroth hold a blond ninja by the arm. He had impaled him in the gut, and was laughing. Sephiroth let the ninja slide off his sword, blood dripping to the floor. "Let us see the face of this fool." He said, leaning down to the ninja's face. He pulled of the mask. "Ha ha haa. This is funny, to be nearly beaten in melee combat, by the timid princess Zelda. I like you princess." Zelda!? Samus thought. That's Zelda? Samus began charging her gun again. "Now you shall die, and your friends with you." He raised his sword, preparing to half Zelda. Samus started to stand, making as much noise a possible. Sephiroth stopped and turned around. "You brat. I'll make sure you die this time." He stormed towards her and thrust his sword at her. Samus fired her shot. "URK!" Sephiroth stopped short when he had the hole blown through him. He collapsed to the ground, landing next to Samus. She stood up and walked to the body. It WAS Zelda. "Are you alright?" She asked. "Do I look alright?" Zelda replied. They both laughed. Samus wrapped her arms around Zelda, holding her tight, and comforting her like she always did. But this felt different. Not as wonderful as when she held Zelda before. Desperate, she pulled of her helmet and kissed Zelda. Nothing happened. It was Samus's turn to cry again. "Why... why isn't it working?" "Samus. I'm... I'm a man like this." Zelda explained. "No no no. Why are you a man?" "Let me go." Zelda asked. Samus lay her back on the floor. Zelda waved her hands in the air, and magic began to shine. A bright light flashed, and Zelda's body was female again. They both wrapped their arms around each other, in their loving embrace again. "Shall we see if your magic still works as well as before?" Samus asked. Without a word, Zelda pressed her lips against Samus's, and she too kissed back. With the same drama as the last chapter, magic flowed by the gallon, closing Zelda's wound. As before, they stayed in their embrace and kiss. Kissing like this was so much more passionate and wonderful than when Samus kissed the ninja Zelda. Finally they ended the kiss. Their faces drew apart. "Why didn't you ever tell me you had that power?" Samus asked gently. "I thought you might be scared or think I was wierd if you knew I masqueraded as a guy sometimes." Zelda replied just as softly. "You think I care about that? Look at me. I run around shooting monsters and chasing after bounties. I lift three times my weight. When I first appeared, everyone thought I was a man. You think it matters to me that you can turn into one?" Samus poured out the words like a spilled jug of water. Zelda just smiled up at Samus. Her smile faded. "He was right. I didn't just kiss you once that night. I kissed you a lot. I swear that was all I did. I never strayed from your lips, and I never did..." Samus touched her finger to Zelda's lips, making her sigh lovingly. "Don't worry about it love. I won't ask about the leg." Zelda gasped and her eyes widened. "What?" "Don't worry about it." Samus kissed Zelda again. "I hate to mention this you two, but we still have the Mother Brain to worry about." Fox had come to and was starting to stand. Samus pulled Zelda to her feet. "The castle is huge. We'll have to split up." Zelda told them. "Don't even bother." Moaned a half dead voice. "What are you saying?" Demanded Samus. "If she escaped me again I will kill you." "Don't worry your head over it. She's still here. But's she's not in the castle." Replied Sephiroth "Why are you helping us?" Fox joined in. "The future is inevitable. Only time will tell." He mumbled. "Tell us NOW!" Samus yelled, pointing her gun at his head." "He did tell us." Zelda said. "She's in the Temple of Time." They approached the massive doors to the temple, preparing themselves for battle. The Mother Brain was inside here. This was the center of pirate activities currently. This HAD to be the final Mother Brain. This was the battle that would end the struggle between Samus and the Mother Brain. "I have to check on my team mates. They need all the help they can get right now, and I haven't been there to do that. You two are on your own for this." Fox calmly told them. He turned around and began walking away. "Fox!" Samus yelled. He turned around. "Take this back, it's not mine." She tossed the crystal to him. "Thank you." "Good luck to you." Samus said. "We'll get this over with as fast as possible, then come help you." Zelda told him. "Good luck to you both as well." He finished, and dashed off. Zelda looked back to Samus, and squeezed her hand. The giant doors opened suddenly and a powerful wind pushed them inward. They came to a large room, where the slightest noise echoed throughout the entire temple. At the other end of the room there was a massive stone door with a sybmol of three gold triangles. In front of that was a stone holder for three items, and a smaller copy of the triangles. In front of them was a large uplifted section of floor, also with the triangles on it. "Where are you Mother Brain!?" Samus shouted, her voice booming and echoeing through the room. A tentacle lashed down and wrapped around Zelda. "Hey!" She screamed. The tentacle lifter her up off the ground, and a large mass lowered from the dark at the ceiling. The mass was a humongous brain with a set of eyes and teeth. Tentacles streamed from her underside. Samus could estimate about 8 tentacles total, but couldn't tell if Mother Brain was hiding something. "Let her go!" Shouted Samus, pointing her gun at the Mother Brain. "Oh but that would ruin the fun. Let's see you defeat me this time, when I have the one you love in my grasp to protect me." To Zelda she said, "You won't fall to my mind control, but I can use you as a shield. I may even try your magic." The Mother Brain shook as to motion evil laughter. A tentacle lashed out at incredible speeds, almost taking Samus into the wall as Samus jumped away. She pointed her gun at Mother Brain, but couldn't fire when she held Zelda up to her head. Two more tentacles lashes out. This time Samus ignited her sword and jumped, ran across the tentacles towards the Mother Brain. "Take this!" She yelled as she came down to slash past Zelda. Mother Brain instead punched Samus with Zelda, taking both of them into a wall, Zelda still held tight. "You see, this is why bounty hunters or mercenaries don't fall in love Samus. The one they love gets involved some way, and then the hero dies." Mother Brain taunted. Zelda was unconscious. What can I do? Samus thought furiously. Mother Brain brought a tentacle up to Zelda, and lifted her head up. "See this face? This beautiful face? I could ruin this face at any moment. I could kill her right now if I so pleased." A blade popped out of the tentacle, pressing against Zelda's neck. "No..." Samus hissed. The tentacle moved in a swift motion, and Samus covered her eyes. "Now now Samus, it wouldn't be fun if I killed her now." Samus looked back up to see that her sleeve had been cut. She sighed a relief as she saw no blood. She looked back up, but it was too late to react. Two tentacles wrapped around her, squeezing her. "Now let's see. This isn't right." Mother Brain said calmly. Another swift movement and Zelda's dress was ripped. Another tentacle moved up to Samus's face and popped the helmet off. I will not let her do this. "I think lovers should die together, but I need to finish this." The Mother Brain slashed again and Zelda's shirt was ripped. "Stop it." Samus hissed. "You don't want to die with her? I thought you loved her?" "Shut up!" "You don't deserve any kind of mercy Samus." Mother Brain whipped her tentacle and sent Samus flying into the stone holder. She landed on the symbol in front of it. "If you really don't care about her, then can I do this?" Mother Brain smashed Zelda into the ground. "Or this?" She punched her into the wall. "Stop it!" Samus screamed, rage building inside her. She felt her insides shifting suddenly. "You see this beautiful face? It's ruined because of you Samus. You are cursed. Anything and everything you touch is ruined." Zelda was thrust forward. Her face and body was bleeding. "No... NO!!!" Samus screamed again. Her suit began bulging. "What's this?" Mother Brain questioned. Samus grabbed the tentacle holding Zelda and squeezed. The Mother Brain didn't realize what was happening until Samus ripped the tentacle out with her own bare hands. She screamed in agony, as Samus pryed Zelda loose from the tentacle. Her armor began bursting off, a blue and yellow material underneath. Her head morphed into a red helmet, different from her normal one. "What ARE you!?" Mother Brain yelled. Samus broke off the rest of the armor and picked up Zelda. Parts of the suit reached out and touched Zelda's face, healing the cuts and bruises. She walked beind the stone and set Zelda down. "Oh I see, you want a fair fight. Fine, I'll give you a fair fight!" The mother brain lashed out two more tentacles, which Samus grabbed both of. She had a set of spines on her non gun arm, which all lengthened. With one quick slash, she cut both the tentacles. "Why you!" Mother Brain marched forward. Samus jumped over the stone and approached as well. Mother brain lashed out 3 more tentacles. Samus stepped to the side and sliced right through a tentacle. "This tentacles thing isn't working." Samus reminded Mother Brain. Then she dashed in as a blur, and jumped at Mother Brain, who opened her jaws to take a bite. A slice right through the side of the brain, and blood spewed. Samus landed behind and whirled around pointing her gun. She fired two shots that also pierced the brain. Mother Brain turned around sending every tentacle she had at Samus, who in turn, blasted one right down the center, and sliced the rest in a spinning fury. She stopped spinning and stood, back to the Mother Brain, who was now without a single tentacle. "How did you do this? What is this power you possess?" Samus pointed her gun at the Mother Brain, gathering immense energy of multiple shining colors. "Remember this Mother Brain? When you killed the Metroid? The power of the metroid death gave me the ultimate weapon. That same metroid saved me from death again, even after death, that's how I acquired this body and this strength." "That little metroid? That's inconcievable! If your friend Fox were here, he would recognize this line, as it was my brother's before Fox destroyed him." "What!? Andross was your brother?" "Absolutely. If I go down, I'm taking you both with me!" The Mother Brain drew energy to herself as well. No. Not this move! Samus let loose her attack, blowing her back with the recoil. The shot punched right through Mother Brain, but she just kept charging. Zelda stood up, now conscious. "ZELDA, LOOK OUT!!!" Samus yelled. Zelda looked at Mother Brain, and saw her unleash a beam of multiple colors. It struck her and pinned her to the wall. Samus lunged at Mother Brain and sliced right through, but it didn't stop Mother Brain. Zelda held her hands forward, against the attack. A light shone, and the beam began retracting. "What?" Samus said, puzzled. Zelda lowered to the floor, still fighting the beam. Samus charged up another attack. "You forget something Mother Brain." Samus said, finishing her charge. Mother Brain tried to move, but found she was locked in place by Zelda's magic. "Fox survived." She fired her gun again, and Zelda pushed Mother Brain's attack back at her. "I can't lose. NOOOOOOOO...." The temple exploded. The four pilots outside in the fields watched as pieces of building flew everywhere. They were picking each other up and walked the others to the temple. Dead pirates lay everywhere. "Is it just me, or does everything she touch blow up?" Slippy asked. "Let's be glad this fight is over guys." said Fox. "You don't know how relieved I was to see you Fox. I was positive we could't win against them all." Falco thanked as Fox helped him walk. "Yeah. You really turned the tides there." Peppy. "You guys aren't mad at me?" Fox asked. The other three looked at each other, then laughed hysterically. Slippy winced at his broken rib. "Are you kiddin' us Fox. You ARE the team. We would be lost without you to guide us, and we wouldn't stand to have any other leader." Peppy again. "That's right, even if you are less desireable sometimes." Falco joked. Fox dropped him and walked on. "Hey! Wait, I was only joking, don't leave me here!" Fox laughed and picked Falco back up. They continued back to the temple. "We did it!" Zelda yelled with joy. She ran up to Samus and jumped on her, wrapping her arms around Samus's neck. Samus hugged back, lightly. They hugged for a few seconds, then Zelda drew back a little. "Samus, what's wrong? We won didn't we?" Samus looked down at Zelda, her mask sort of melted off. She smiled partway. "Let's go back to the station." Samus simply replied. Back in their ships, the group took off from the desert. As they flew up, Zelda looked out the window at her homeworld. My home, destroyed, defiled. I have no home to go to anymore. All I have left is Link, and Ganon. I don't even know if the sages remain. She looked back at Samus, she hadn't said a word since they left the town. Something was wrong, but she couldn't figure out what. "Samus, what's on your mind? You've been quite for a long time." Samus turned her head to Zelda. A small smile appeared on her face, smaller than the one in the temple. "You." was all she said. Zelda sat, puzzled. She eventually stood up and walked to her room. She sat down on the bed, a tear came to her eye, which she wiped away. No, I'm not going to cry. She waited a while before she fell asleep. Meanwhile, Samus sat in her chair at the console. True, Zelda was on her mind, as well as everything Sephiroth and Mother Brain had said. She tried to put them out of her mind, but it was no use. She couldn't stop thinking about what was said, how much could actually be true. The intercom beeped, and Samus pressed the button. "I assume you can find your way back to a station?" Fox asked. "Yes. I can probably land at another station if I lose my way." "Roger that. We have to return to the Great Fox. General Pepper just called us. Take care of yourselves. Fox out." The four smaller ships blasted away, and left Samus and Zelda in their ship. Samus waited a while, before finally standing up. She walked to Zelda's room and looked in. The door was wide open, and the blanket was lying on the floor as if Zelda expected her to tuck her in and close the door behind her. Samus sighed. Still she walked over and picked up the blanket, wrapped Zelda up, and walked out. Zelda opened her eyes. She does still love me. I guess I just misunderstood her. She closed her eyes again and went back to sleep. Samus sat back up in front, irritated. Why did I fall for her anyway? There's nothing special about her, besides the fact that she can use magic, and she's in love with me. I have no personal reason to have loved her back. Even worse, I was doing better before I met her. Mother Brain is right about that. I should never have fallen in love with her, it made me weak. She decided on one thing to do. She located the nearest station, Ceres II. "Ceres II, this is Samus Aran, requesting permission to dock." "Samus Aran, this is Ceres II. Give us a moment to scan your code and we can open the hangar." Samus waited, untill... "Samus Aran, you are cleared to dock." A large door opened and Samus flew in, this station had multiple landing stations inside one bay, making it more like a hangar. She set her ship down and let the systems lock her in, then got up from her seat to go to Zelda's room. "This reminds me of the first time you took me to Hydra station." Zelda said, smiling as the two walked towards the cafe. "I remember, the original Ceres station was a science and research facility." Samus observed looking around. "It seems they've modernized this one." The two of them went to the buffet and grabbed their food, then went to a table after paying. They were eating for a while, not saying a word, until Samus stopped eating. She put down her food and sighed. "What's wrong love?" Zelda asked. "Forgive me if I sound mean or sudden, but could you not call me that anymore." Zelda stared at Samus. Then she too put down her food. "What's wrong with you?" She asked calmly. "I... I can't be this way." "What do you mean?" "I can't be in love with you!" Samus barked. Zelda sat back. "I'm sorry. I don't hate you. Please don't take this the wrong way, but I can't manage to be with you anymore." Zelda stared at Samus again. "I still care about you, but I..." "I... I don't know what to say." "I... my life is a rough one, as you have seen already, and I can't bare to see you hurt again. I'm sorry." "What are you saying Samus?" Samus became quite, closing her eyes. Don't drag on the point girl. Just tell her straight. "I'm going to leave you here, where you are going to start your life again. I don't want you to start from scratch, so I'm leaving some of my money with you. Enough for plenty of food, a decent ship, a room, and other small things. You need to find a job, and find someone else who won't endanger your life every day." "But Samus..." "No... I... I'm sorry. Here." Samus pulled a lot of money out of her pockets and put them in front of Zelda. "I can't just take..." "Shhhh. Don't say anything. We should pretend we never met." Samus stood up abruptly, Zelda jumped and clung to her sleeve. "Let go of me, please." Samus shook Zelda off and walked away, as a few surrounding people looked at them. "Samus... no..." Zelda whispered softly. Samus climbed into her ship and closed, and locked, the hatch. She didn't want Zelda to run after her like a lost child. She quickly began the launch sequence. "I don't mean to intrude, but you seem in a hurry to get out of here." "I know. I am. I need to forget something." Samus replied. "Um... I won't ask. Anyway, you're all clear for takeoff." Samus steered her ship away from the locks, and flew out of the hangar. She had to find some way to get Zelda off her mind. The tournament! That's perfect. Zelda doesn't know about it, and I have a little over a week to train. She headed back to Hydra station at full speed. "I'm so sorry Zelda, but I can't stand to see you getting hurt again. Take care of yourself." Zelda just sat there, long after Samus walked away. She hadn't moved an inch, the money and food still lying on the table. She had her eyes closed tight, and her hands clasped in her lap. "I'm not going to cry. I'm not going to cry. I'm not going to cry." She chanted to herself, even still, a tear fell from her eyes. (Again with the crying thing... I know, but I read a fanfic where one of the girls cried almost constantly. Mostly because of an emotional breakdown major kinda thing, and Zelda... I think you'd break down and cry too if your true love up and left you, telling you to forget about her. I also added Sephy as well, again... I do these running gag things all the time. Well, that's enough outta me. There's much more of Zelda and Samus coming up.)
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