It had been four days since the rescue that Zelda and Rei had made with
the tournament staff. Word had come out that it would be a week from
today, and the participants were getting primed for action.
Zelda was again in the gym, lifting weights. This time she wasn't
lifting 100. Instead she was lifting almost 300, working up quite a
sweat. Most of the other men in the gym found themselves gaping at her
as she worked. People had also noticed a slight increase in women who
worked in the gym. Some of the boys had found a motivation to work
harder. The manager had even come to offer Zelda a part time job at the
gym, which she kindly turned down.
Rei was still practicing with the instructor at the kendo dojo, and
creating new techniques. She had showed a student a certain hand and
foot position, and his performance increased dramatically. The
instructor had even offered her his place as master sensei, but she
kindly turned it down. It seemed both the girls were doing better since
their fight with the real pirates.
Samus on the other hand, still drifted. She hadn't eaten anything for
those four days, and it was almost a miracle that she was still alive.
She lay on her bed, curled up, shivering, and sobbing. She gripped the
blankets, which were stained with her tears. No matter how much she
tried, she could not get herself up to eat. Fortunately, she had not
needed to do anything... where nature calls. Her eyes were still closed,
tired and red from crying for so long. She kept wondering why she did
this to herself.Why the fighting? Why the endless struggle in which she
risked her life at every turn? The pirates had returned, many many
times, and she kept fighting them. Was it for money, for honor, for
glory? Did she do it just for the thrill of things? Why? Why had she
done everything in her power to try and stop them? She had come so close
to death, so many times, and for what? The destruction of something that
would just come back to haunt her. If no one came to rescue her ship,
she would just drift to her death. She would be fine with that. Let
someone else carry her burden.
She sobbed again. Never had she felt so depressed in her life, but there
was no motivation to do anything about it. She was cursed. Cursed for
eternity. Nearly every single incident she had with the pirates had
resulted in destruction in the arena. She figured she didn't have much
to live for anymore, if she endangered so many people.
She heard the computer beep in the front room.
"Unidentified ship. Please identify yourself. Are you out of fuel,
supplies, anything? Respond." she could hear a strong, deep voice on the
intercom. Then she felt a presence, and it eventually found her mind.
Samus? What in the god's universe happened to you?
She didn't have the energy to respond. Her ship shook for a moment, and
then she felt it being drawn upwards. She felt a locking mechanism. Then
a door closed under her. She just lay there, sniffling, and she couldn't
move. She felt the presence again, but stronger. She saw a glow in the
front room, and then a white colored figure walked in. It was Mewtwo. He
jerked back, frowning, when he saw Samus.
"What is wrong with you Samus? Your mental signs are extremely weak." He
turned around, and psycically called out for assistance. Then he turned
back to Samus.
"It appears you are depressed and... oh my god! You haven't eaten for
days!"
Another Poke'mon climbed down from the hatch. It was a chansey.
"What's wrong with her sir?" She asked in a squeeky voice.
"Samus hasn't eaten for at least 3 days, and she is mentally depressed.
Get her to the sickbay as fast as you damn well can." He commanded. The
chansey jumped to Samus and picked her up off the bed. Mewtwo found a
soft blanket, and levatated it towards Samus, psycically wrapping it
around her shivering body. The chansey dashed out and through the hatch.
Mewtwo looked around the room. Observing the bed, she had been lying in
the same position for multiple days. Finding her armor, he discovered
how badly it had been damaged.
"She had another big fight. Either she lost, which would explain the
depression, or she almost died, which would have made her snap." Mewtwo
knew how many times Samus had fought the pirates, and how many times she
had nearly died. Leaving her armor, he went out of her ship, closing the
hatch.
Samus dreamt about her battle with the real pirates. She saw herself in
that near-death position, where the one pirate had her pounded against
the wall, and the other with the metal spike. She dreamt through that a
few times, sometimes seeing certain parts, and sometimes it just went by
slowly. She dreamed about when her skull was nearly crushed like that,
dreaming over and over again. She moaned and yelled in agony.
Suddenly the dream stopped, and she found herself in a comfortable bed.
There was a table in the middle of this small room, with a tray of food
on it. Behind her was a large window, where she could look out into a
city-like creation. She knew she was inside a ship, but this was set up
like a central park in a city. There were poke'mon running about, some
reading, some talking, and a few who just lay around, basking in
artificial sunlight. She remained in her bed, breathing heavily.
"I'm sorry about that." a voice said. She jumped in her bed, fists
ready. Without warning, she went lightheaded and collapsed back into
bed. She heard soft footsteps, and opened her eyes again. She saw Mewtwo
standing over her, with his arms held behind his back, military style.
"I'm glad you've come to. Medical reports show that you had deprived
yourself of food and sleep for 4 days." He told her, holding a medical
clipboard. "I could tell just by looking at you that you were in
depression, and observing your armor, I can estimate why."
Samus looked up at him, eyes half closed. She groaned.
"I don't expect you to say anything yet, you are still recovering.
Please, eat something, my finest chefs have prepared a special energy
booster meal so you can recover." He looked deeper into her mind. "But
something tells me you feel no motivation to eat. You feel no motivation
to live anymore."
"Why did you save me? Why couldn't you just have left me to die in
space?" Samus grumbled. Mewtwo raised an eyebrow.
"You do recover fast. The rumors are true, you are no ordinary human. I
didn't leave you, because you would have suffered more than it was
worth. I don't think you could die as easily as any other human, by
starving yourself I this case. You would have lasted about 4 more days
at least, and someone else would be bound to pick you up." He leaned
closer and tilted his head. "Be grateful it's me who found you. If a
human male found you like this, what do you think he would do? It would
be irresistable, such a perfect opportunity. I hope you haven't gone so
far as not to care about even that." He backed his head away.
"They could do whatever they wanted to me, as long as I'd just die."
Samus muttered back.
"Tell me what happened to you."
Samus raised her eyebrow at him.
"It's inevitable. You can read my mind anyway, so I'll do it. Maybe,
I'll humor you and cheer up."
"Don't worry about my humor. I'm more worried about your health at the
moment. But please begin."
Samus stared up.
"Where should I start?"
"Start at the point that you may have caused your depression."
Samus was quiet for a moment, thinking. She remembered Zelda.
"It started when I was on yet another one of my missions to destroy
mother brain..."
Samus told him everything up till then. Mewtwo smiled and nodded
understandingly as she calmly told him everything she could. She told
him about meeting Zelda, fighting the pirates, and Sephiroth. The Mother
Brain, the Starfox team, Samus leaving Zelda. Everything to the fight
with the real pirates and Mewtwo's rescueing her.
"I think the depression was there for a much longer period than you
think." He told her when she finished.
"How do you mean?"
"Well, you weren't depressed when you met Zelda, and you weren't
depressed when you two confessed your love. I think it started when you
left her. It was in good consience to seperate you two. You didn't want
to see her getting hurt in your battles, battles she never had any
reason to fight, with the exception of the Hyrule battle. You hit
critical stage after you defeated those two pirates?"
"I'm sure of it. Are we done?"
Mewtwo smiled and chuckled. He nodded.
"For now. You must try to recover, and eat something, otherwise I'll
have someone force it down. Maybe one of my Fearows wouldn't mind baby
feeding you."
"HELL no!" Samus yelled jerking up. Her head struck pain again and she
nearly fainted, collapsing back onto the bed. Mewtwo just shrugged and
floated out the door.
Samus stared at the door long after he was gone. Was he right? Was he
right about what she did to Zelda. She tried to think about it, but her
mind was struggling. She turned her head an looked at the tray of food.
The steam it had before was now gone, with occasional ripples from heat.
She forced herself to sit up slowly, and reach over to it. After
bringing it to her lap, she sat a moment, mind blank. Finally she picked
up a fork and and began.
Zelda's arm muscles gave out and she dropped the bar to the ground with
a thud. It had about 320 pounds on it, and made all the other men stare
at her. She was breathing heavily, eyes closed, and sweat pouring from
her forehead. She shook out her arms and shook her head, leaning down to
grab the bar again. Two men ran to her quickly.
"Zelda, you have to stop!"
"If you don't stop, you may injure yourself."
"They're right Zelda." The lifting instructor told her. "If you lift
when your muscles don't want to, you may rip them."
"I... need... to work... more." Zelda panted. The instructor shook his
head, sighing, and put his hand on Zelda's shoulder.
"Please stop. Believe what I say, I have had it happen before."
Zelda opened her eyes and looked up at the instructor. His smile was
tilted in the kind of pleading fashion, and his eyes looked worried.
"Alright." She said finally. The instructor sighed, relieved.
Later that night, Zelda was working, with very sore and stiff arms. She
wasn't quite living up to her standards today. The boss was worried.
"I know you and Rei just got back from the break, but you really should
stop working for a while. Come back when you are rested."
"I'm just a little slow today okay. Nothing's wrong with me. I'll be
fine tomorrow." Zelda replied. Her character had changed somewhat, and
the boss couldn't remember where he recognized it from.
"OHHHH I'm soooo sorry! I'll clean it up right away!" Rei could be heard
shreiking from the other room. The boss sighed and walked out of the
kitchen. The other chefs looked at Zelda, curious. She glared back at
them and they quickly faced away, returning to their cooking. Zelda
could hear Rei apologizing like crazy and the boss talking to the
customer. The situation was bad again. Zelda decided she would talk to
Rei that night, about work, and other things. For now though, she had to
concentrate on her meals.
"Oh... I am exhausted. I mean drained of all remaining life. I'm talking
like..."
"Rei, I get the idea. Calm down, you're going to burst."
"But I'm tired, okay? Please tell me you're tired."
Zelda would have laughed, but she really was tired from that day. Maybe
the boss was right, and she should get some rest. She shook off the
idea. She wanted to keep working hard, and never give up.
They had already eaten dinner, and were climbing into their bed. Zelda
figured she had to talk to Rei now, before they fell asleep.
"Rei love?" Zelda asked.
"Mmm?"
"What happened today?"
"The biker guy again. He's giving me so much trouble. But even still,
lately I've noticed my concentration going out of whack. I've been
slacking." Rei inched closer to Zelda and snuggled up to her.
"Why don't you try using those skills you learn in combat classes to
keep from having those accidents?" Zelda asked.
"Huh?"
"I mean, you're almost flawless in combat. Why don't you incorperate
some of the concepts into your performance? I don't mean jumping around,
excecuting attack patterns to serve the food."
"Oh. I see. Like if I sense an accident or something coming up, I can
react to it with the same sort of feeling that I do when I fight. I
never considered that."
"Use your balance to catch falling food, or yourself as you fall,
something like that." Zelda had wrapped her arms gently around Rei, and
held her softly.
"Thanks for the tip." Rei said, as she kissed Zelda on the cheek. Zelda
blushed.
She had been wondering about her own performance, and behavior.
Everything about her had changed since Samus left her, and after the
fight with the pirates.
"Rei. What's happened to me? I don't feel like myself."
"What do you mean by that?"
"I know I've changed a lot since I moved here, and met you. I have
changed dramatically since my incident back home."
"You are much stronger, in body and mind. That's for sure. You also have
a determination that I admire. A determination that says you won't take
crap from nobody, and nothing is going to stand in your way."
Zelda smiled and laughed, but with poor energy.
"Thank you love." she said.
"For what?"
"Nothing." Zelda quietly replied, kissing Rei.
Samus lay in the bed again. It was actually pretty comfy, and soft. She
kept thinking, about her missions, her life, her whole destiny or
purpose in life.
Most of all, she thought about Zelda. Was it right to have left her
behind. Samus left Zelda some money to start with, but no amount of
money could relieve that kind of pain.
She probably hates me. Samus though. I'll never be able to make it up to
her, or even feel her soft touch again. Her magical kiss... Oh what am I
saying. I'm Samus Aran, a viscious bounty hunter...
Or at least you were. A new voice sounded in her head. It was Mewtwo. He
came through the door, and hovered in front of Samus.
"What do you want?" Samus complained.
"I could very well just leave you in space, if your attitude is going to
be this bad. However, I feel it is my responsibilty now to restore you,
mentally and physically." He replied, very calm.
What was he going to do to 'help' her? For the most part, she didn't
even want to be saved.
"You need training. Maybe that'll get you up into the spirit."
"To hell with spirit." she barked.
Mewtwo lifted her up, psychically, and shook her violently. Then he
started bending her over her back. She cried out in pain, begging him to
stop. She started seeing the pirates again. She saw the face of the
pirate who had been run through by his friend, and then the face of the
pirate she had sliced in half. Finally, she saw her own face. The face
which was filled with more fear and desperation than she had ever had
before in her life. She suddenly came back to the real world, lying in
her bed.
"You aren't the Samus Aran I've heard so much about. The Samus I knew of
was strong, and willing to face anything no matter the danger. You faced
down Ridley, Kraid, and Mother Brain, more times than anyone had ever
expected! You destroyed all of the metroids, save for that one! You were
a machine, a killing machine, that efficiently accomplished her missions
quickly! You never let your emotions get to you! Now look at what
happened to you! You've become weak because you let emotions guide you."
"So feeling sympathy for others, and understanding their feelings, or
love. That's all bad to have? Is that what you're saying?"
"No. I never said they were bad. Emotion is essential for life. That's
why you have been doing so poorly. You haven't let yourself get
emotional until now, and all you've known is anger. You aren't used to
the other feelings, and you let it all get in your way when you fought."
Samus had to sit and think about all of this. No, all of this thinking
confused her. She just had to accept what Mewtwo had said, and live on.
She didn't try to forget Zelda anymore. She just accepted that she was a
part of her life. She was an important part in her life, and Samus
missed her. She just wanted to be near Zelda again. She didn't care if
Zelda hated her, she just wanted to know if Zelda was okay, and that
everything would be alright.
Samus curled up and started sobbing, crying Zelda's name softly. Mewtwo
nodded his head and left the room.
Her depression is gone. The first step to her recovery is complete.
A number of hours later, Samus woke up from her sleep. Now she felt able
to stand and move around. She had another tray of food on her table, and
ate it happily. It was good food, she had to compliment the chefs. It
reminded her of Zelda's cooking. The mini feast she had prepared for
Samus, to stop her from overworking. She looked out the window to see
the ship's city again. She noticed a Poke'mon style arena set up, and a
few fighters were competing. She had some motivation to go down and see
what was going on.
After she found her way down and into the park, she saw Mewtwo, doing
what looked like coaching. Two Poke'mon were fighting on the field, and
Mewtwo was instructing them on what attacks to use for different
situations. Samus sat at a bench and watched. The two Poke'mon were what
she could only guess as Scizor and Hitmonchan. The two had locked with
each other in their attacks multiple times. Samus was curious about
their fighting capabilities, and a part of here wanted to join in a
fight.
They locked attacks again, exactly centered. Samus was surprised.
"Good, you can hit one for one against each other. Now find a way to
lock the opponents strikes while launching an attack of your own."
Mewtwo told them.
The two lunged at each other again, Scizor thrusting his massive claws
at his opponent. In response, the Hitmonchan sidestepped and pushed the
claws away with his fist, and then sent his other fist flying at his
target's head. Scizor sent his other claw over his deflected attack, and
halted the Hitmonchan's. The two had the same idea and saw the
opportunity to kick. Their kicks hit the other's.
"That was good. You two work well together. Good quick thinking Scizor,
that was excellent. Try again."
The two Poke'mon lunged again, this time, Hitmonchan leading the attack.
He sent out one fist, flying at high speeds, which the Scizor caught
with his claw. He dragged the Hitmonchan towards him, claw launching in
it's attack. The Hitmonchan batted the claw away and attacked with his
head. Scizor reversed his pull to a push and directed his claw and the
punch back at Hitmonchan, who ducked, swinging his fist underneath the
whole mess. Scizor jumped with both knees in the air, and blocked the
punch, landing back down softly.
Samus was amazed at the speed which they were fighting at. That last
whole volley of attacks lasted almost a second. Samus couldn't remember
when she used to fight like that.
"You are impressed, I can sense it." Mewtwo appeared out of nowhere
behind her.
"That was incredible. How do they do that?" She asked.
"They are always thinking of what the enemy is doing, and what he could
do, and how the fighter could set himself up to accept and repel any of
those possible attacks."
"I think I understood that, but I haven't been able to understand much
of anything lately."
"Right before you engage your enemy, observe him and see what he could
do to attack you."
"Right. Then you expect that all to happen. Expect him to do the worst."
"That's the basic idea, but as you'll learn in Poke'mon fighting, there
are multiple versions of 'the worst'. The most devastating attack the
enemy has to offer could be an attack that you can easily avoid, but
they might have a slightly less powerfull attack, but it approaches you
entirely different. You will be ready for the heavy damage attack, but
the smaller one will surprise you, bringing about your defeat."
"Oh, so prepare for anything."
"You're boiling. You need to observe your opponent's capabilities and
put yourself in a position where you can respond to all of those
attacks. Look at this." Mewtwo pointed to Hitmonchan and Scizor, ready
to strike again.
"I'm looking." Samus replied.
"See this, Hitmonchan has his hands slightly open, so he can grab and
push Scizor's attack. Both his hands are also raised to his higher
center. That's going to get him bashed. If you can see, Scizor has one
claw up, protecting his face, and opened to lock on Hitmonchan's fist.
His other claw is somewhat lower, allowing him to strike at Hitmonchan's
open lower area. He also has turned his body sideways, to increase his
evasion, and his forward leg is not planted solid, it is set lightly, to
allow him a quick defense from Hitmonchan's possible kicks. His back leg
is planted, but like a spring. He can shift back, and then lunge
forward. Watch this."
Hitmonchan lunged forward, launching one of his fists at Scizor, who
caught it with his claw. Scizor slashed with his open claw. Hitmonchan
punched down with his other hand, smacking Scizor's claw to the ground.
Then Hitmonchan brought his knee up to the kneeling Scizor, who sat
back, dragging Hitmonchan over and into the ground behind.
"You know what happened Hitmonchan?" Mewtwo was suddenly standing over
the fallen Hitmonchan.
"Scizor still had my fist, and my foot position put me off balance when
I attacked."
"Very good. Stand up. You can head home Scizor."
The Scizor bowed with his claws at his side, and then flew off.
"Hitmonchan, I want you to stay here and help me with something." Mewtwo
said.
Oh no. Samus thought. He's going to make me fight.
Yes I am. Was Mewtwo's psychic reply.
"My suit has been damaged remember?"
"You don't need your suit. You're just about as strong as Hitmonchan,
probably stronger."
The Hitmonchan grumbled at that comment.
Mewtwo put Samus and Hitmonchan in their places on the mini arena.
"Now Samus, remember what I told you." Mewtwo said.
Right. Just observe the enemy. He can punch, fast. So I'll set my foot
back, to resist the force, turn my body sideways, and I'll set my hands
open to push his punches away.
Mewtwo gave the signal, and Hitmonchan was just a blur. His left fist
came at her in a swerve. She stepped back, but not fast enough. She was
his square in the shoulder, and knocked away.
She stood up, brushing the dirt from her shirt. Her shoulder was bruised
"Did you see what your mistake was?"
"I wasn't fast enough?"
"That's one, but you could have used his attack to turn him away. If he
hooks at you again, push his arm towards him, or even up. Don't lock
with his fist, he could break your hand. Push on the backside of his
arm, on the wrist, or his elbow, if it's safe."
The two set up again, and Samus got in her stance. Mewtwo gave the
signal again, and Hitmonchan came in with the hook. Samus inched back,
and put her hand on his wrist as his fist flew around. She pushed hard
and sent him whirling around, his other arm coming around to hit her
broadside. She remembered the pirate's massive arms, and ducked for her
life. She saw his stomach turn around, and pushed up, driving her fist
into it. Hitmonchan wheezed, as all the air was pushed out of his lungs.
He landed on his back, gasping for air. Mewtwo was at his side.
"Breath out hard, and then breath in."
Hitmonchan exhaled what little air he had left, and then breathed in,
eyes wide open. Mewtwo stood up, facing Samus.
"That was a good hit. A half-a-moment later, and you might be back in
your bed, with an icepack the size of a Snorlax on your head. I don't
think I've seen a human punch that hard."
"Yeah well, I train hard. Or I used to." Samus replied, scratching the
back of her head.
"Well. We aren't done training yet. We'll train until we reach the our
destination."
It was three days untill the tournament, and Zelda was restless. This
would be the first time she did major, grand style fighting.
"You'll be fine Zelda. I'm going in too, so if I fail, you'll have some
motivation." Rei was trying to calm the nervous Zelda down. "Tell you
what, let's go to any restaurant you want, I'll buy for us. Then we can
go to a movie, which I'll pay for as well. We can go to a bookstore, a
flower shop, anywhere to get your mind off of this tournament until the
day actually comes to worry about it."
"It's going to be real soon Rei. I can't stop thinking about it."
Rei rolled her eyes and grabbed Zelda's arm, dragging her out of the
house.
Rei's idea had failed miserably. Zelda chose a restaurant that was
showing previews for the tournament, and interviews on contestants.
Afterwards, Zelda chose a movie which was about the tournament. They
went to the flower shop, right next door to the tournament sponsered
weapons shop. Zelda bought a flower called a Drake's Sword. Then they
went to the library, and Zelda studied the tournament's requirements,
restrictions, classes, qualifications, etc. When they got back home, Rei
dropped into the computer chair.
"I give up. You are just stressed out about it, but don't want to admit
it."
"I am not stressed out. I am just excited." Zelda replied, her face
buried in a study book.
"My point exactly." Rei groaned. She went to check her mail, while Zelda
read on.
"Now! Push forward with all your... YES THAT'S IT!" Mewtwo shouted,
psycically, while Samus threw Golem over her head. He came crashing
down, cracking the ground.
"With all due... erk... respect sir. (pant pant) Can I take my break
now? This girl is... too strong for me." Golem was out of breath, and
the wind knocked out of him.
"Go ahead, we need someone bigger anyway." Mewtwo said.
Samus said nothing as she took a big breath. She wasn't sweating very
much, and Mewtwo was almost convinced that she was close to her old
self.
"Bring out Snorlax. Samus you are almost there." Mewtwo said to her.
Samus remained silent, just looking at him with her coming-on-cold eyes,
the ones she had a long time ago.
An extremely obese Pokemon stepped up to Mewtwo, grumbling. Mewtwo
directed it to stand in front of Samus. It walked up to her and looked
down.
"You threw Rydon, Nidoking and Nidoqueen, and Golem huh?" He asked,
almost mumbling. Samus remained silent, but raised the corner of her
mouth into a half smile. The Snorlax grunted, and her face returned to
normal.
"Okay Samus, this one's going to be MUCH harder to topple. Remember to
use his force agaist him, and use your strength to maximize the damage.
Okay... GO!" Mewtwo initiated the start.
Snorlax just stood there, as well as Samus. She looked him over, but
couldn't find any strengths or weaknesses in particular. Aside from the
fact that he was extremely fat, and couldn't move very much, he was also
in a very lazy stance, just standing there on his own two feet, she
couldn't find anything she could do. She faked one direction and lunged
up to his face, her strongest kick possible coming with her. Snorlax
however, just swatted at her with his paw. Samus picked up both legs and
blocked the swipe, but came almost crashing down. She stood back up to
see Snorlax lunge at her, full body mass intended to slam her. She
rolled sideways, evading his fall. Before she could turn around to
attack, he had already rolled away and was up on his feet.
"Think about every possible attack you can make at any given time.
Attack whenever you have the chance, which is more often than you might
think." Mewtwo coached again. Samus nodded, and dashed quickly towards
Snorlax again. He swiped at her again, but this time backed off, placing
her hand on the back of his arm. She resumed her full run, and pushed
his arm into him, toppling him. She punched him in the face, and flipped
over his other arm. She came back down with a swift kick to his head,
followed by a couple punches. Snorlax fell backwards, attempting to roll
over her. Samus hopped over and jumped off his head, flipping forward
and punching him in his stomach. They both landed, and Samus faced him
again. Before he started getting back up, she had begun circling him.
When he stood up completely, she jumped into the back of his head,
landing two solid kicks, and grabbing the back of his head. Using the
force she already had from flying, she pulled him forward, and to the
ground. His head slammed down, cracking the floor, and Samus stood back
up from her escaping roll.
"Excellent. You're almost there. Now you need to fight with enemies who
launch more powerful attacks." Mewtwo congratulated Samus, and motioned
Snorlax away. He called for another Poke'mon.
The one that arrived was a giant bee, with massive blades on his arms.
"Samus. You are now going to face opponents who will use their special
powers to fight you. Remember, study the enemy, know what they can do."
"Then set yourself up to react and fight better, knowing which attacks
will do the best for the situation. Yes I remember." Samus replied,
still serious. Mewtwo nodded, and looked at Beedrill. He nodded as well,
and stepped into position. Samus observed her new opponent. He was armed
with large blades, and could probably fly. She couldn't tell what
special attacks he could pull, but she remembed that they could only
really use four. Mewtwo initiated the start of the match, and Beedrill
used his first move. He closed his eyes and began concentrating, and
Samus dashed at him, ready to evade an attack. Beedrill opened his eyes
again, steaming and radiating an energy. He thrust one of his blades at
her, which she stepped sideways to avoid, and grabbed his arm. She
hauled him behind her, flipping around to kick him in the back of his
head. He flipped forward to avoid the hit, twisting out of Samus's grip.
He landed away from her, and launched both his blades at her, forming
two more after. Samus barely had time to fall back and avoid the shots,
and noticed Beedrill coming at her again. He was about to slash her, and
she had little time to think. He was on her, and swung his arm, missing
her as she rolled under him, and kicked up into his torso. he flew back
and skidded across the floor. samus kicked up and ran at him again.
Beedrill pushed up, and flew over Samus, just as she kicked at him. He
flipped over and flew low to the ground, away from Samus. She turned
back around and looked at him.
What next? That was only two special attacks.
He charged up an attack, and unleashed a powerful beam at her. Samus
rolled sideways, easily avoiding the beam. When she started her run
towards him, she noticed him just sitting there, tired. She ran at him
full speed, readying her fist. The moment she reached him, she managed
to pull himself up, and jumped back. She missed her attack, and he was
free to launch his own. Samus put her hands up, just as Beedrill charged
in at her, thrusting his blades at her rapidly. She pushed away some of
his attacks, and dodged more, but a few shots hit her, lightly though.
The moment he stopped his assault, she jumped up and slammed her leg
into his head, knocking him to the ground.
"Again, you impress me Samus. A few more, and you will be ready." Mewtwo
applauded. A Magneton hovered towards him, and began talking.
This is insane. He's been training me for probably a day, no breaks.
What does he think he's doing, and what is this he's talking about being
ready for?
Samus mentally shook the though off, and turned her attention back to
Mewtwo.
The Magneton hovered away, and Mewtwo turned back to Samus and Beedrill.
"Beedrill, I want you to get rested up again. You're done. As for you
Samus, we have time for one more go. This time, you'll fight me, as I
fight in the tournament."
Samus didn't ask what Mewtwo was planning, she only nodded and accepted
the more training. Mewtwo stepped up to the position, readying himself
for combat.
After he gave the signal, he went into his offensive.
Before they could finish their battle, they had arrived at their
destination, and Mewtwo was forced to halt the match.
"If we fight in the tournament, we can settle this match, with you at
your full power. I believe you are ready."
The planet they arrived at was a large forest and canyon style world.
There were multiple cities, most in ruins. The geography of the planet
felt somehow familiar to Samus.
This can't be... I know the pirates blew it up. But this is so much
like...
"Let's go Samus." Mewtwo said.
On their way to the dropship, Samus was curious about her armor.
"What is the situation with my armor? I certainly can't go into the
tournament with broken armor."
"Unfortunately, we found your armor critically damaged. There is no way
to repair that armor now."
"So what am I going to do now?"
"Just wait." Was Mewtwo's reply.
They landed in one of the cities, one that looked less run down than the
rest. Samus knew she'd seen these structures before. They were all too
familiar. She coulden't help but notice though, the look in Mewtwo's
eyes, as he looked all around. Something wasn't right, she was sure of
it. Then she noticed, there weren't any people around. She also finally
realized the scorch marks. Something had happened to these people, and
not too long ago.
"This isn't right. We had contact with their leaders just three hours
ago." A Raichu with a laptop and headset was as worried as Mewtwo. Samus
heard something in the distance, and jumped into fighting stance. What
she saw in coming from the shadows, from the main building in front of
them, made her mind race. There were two sets of glowing eyes, moving
like a machine towards her. Two Chozo gaurdian statues, come to life,
were marching towards her, not Mewtwo, or Raichu, but HER. Samus froze,
and then noticed the object one of them dragged behind it. It was a
human pirate, half ripped apart, and dead. The Chozo statue to her left
was scarred from a fight, and missing it's right arm. The one on her
right had it's leg damaged. Mewtwo held his hand up to Raichu, giving an
'it's okay' signal. The Chozo statues walked up to Samus, and stopped.
The one holding the pirate, dumped it in front of her.
"The pirates attacked you. Why?" Mewtwo asked them, but they never
replied. The statues stared at Samus, one reaching it's hand out to her.
Samus had bad experiences with Chozo statues in the past, but something
told her this would be safe. She took the one's hand, and stood at ease.
It let go of her hand after a few seconds, and turned around, along with
the other. They took a few steps forward, but then stopped.
"We follow." Samus told the other two.
"How can you tell?" Raichu asked.
"She was raised by these people. She remembers the language and
culture." Mewtwo replied. The three of them followed the statues into
the main building.
They were led through a series of passageways, and halls and doors.
There were dead pirates and chozos everywhere. Finally, they reached a
large room, which was dark with burnt out lights. The statues walked
around, and pushed buttons, and pulled switches. A large screen lit up
on one wall. For a moment there was only static, and then... a face. It
was a Chozo. It spoke to her in a language that only she understood.
Mewtwo respectively stayed out of her head.
Samus listened to the Chozo speaking.
"Child, Samus Aran. If you are watching this, then that must mean one of
my gaurdians made it to you. I have little time to explain, as the
pirates are quickly breaking in. Your friend told us of your broken
suit. Fotunately, we have been working hard since you left us. We had
hoped you would return, but you never did, so we had sealed this away
for years. There were reports of your work for a while, but the pirates
still lived on, and we soon lost hope. Mewtwo explained your story to
us, and we were relieved to know you still lived, and still fought. But
you had forgotten your gift, the powers of the suit. Your suit was
destroyed, all of our hard work, gone. However..."
A door in the wall opened up, and an object came out.
"... our new work. This is our best suit yet, but sadly, it will be our
last. This is the ultimate suit, twice the power of the old one.
Adaptation capabilities, shielding, energy sword with the gun types. You
will be ready for your next mission. Please child. Take your new power,
and avenge the death of your own family, long lost to the evils of the
pirates. Avenge the death of your people, my people, our people."
Behind him, the door exploded, and pirates came pouring in.
"GO CHILD!!! AAAA........" The message ended. Samus stood there,
clenching her fists. The pirates would pay for this. Her human parents
were killed by the onslaught of the pirates, and the Chozo had taken her
in as their child. They raised her to fight, to avenge her parents'
deaths. The pirates had already destroyed the Chozo homeworld, after she
had left, and now they attacked them again, after they rebuilt their
civilization. She was enraged again, but cleared her mind, and focused
on her goal. She never came close to crying. Mewtwo and Raichu left,
leaving her with her new suit, and old memories.
Samus looked at the suit. It didn't look like much, just an arrangement
of metals that looked like they might fit her. She walked up to it, and
lifted her hand towards it. It's 'eyes' glowed a moment, then it opened
up. She looked at it, observing it's internal structure. She turned
around and stepped into it. The suit closed around her body, sealing up
tight. She heard hissing as the suit adjusted to her body. She felt the
suit connect to her body, through her clothes, making things
uncomfortable. She saw through the suit's 'eyes', and felt she was
breathing differently. Her new suit felt more... livelike. She looked
around, still seeing a dark room. That changed though, as the suit
adjusted to the dark, allowing her to see as though their was full
daylight. She took a step forward, noticing how much she could feel he
movement and her contact to the ground. She observed her suit again, and
noted that both her arms were normal arms. Before she said a word, the
suit shifted it's arms and formed guns on both arms. She saw a reading
in her visor, or her 'eyes'. She had only basic energy shots, and the
suit was requesting and alternate energy type. She concentrated on a
location device, and found a busted computer nearby, sparking with
electricity. She walked over to it, and put her guns to it. The suit
switched the arms back to normal, and the crystals on the backs of her
hands began glowing. She read "new energy recognized. adapting new
beam." She used the sample of the sparks to create her first new beam,
titled the Bolt Beam.
"This will be very useful."
Back outside, she walked up to Mewtwo and Raichu. Raichu stared at her,
mouth gaping open. Her suit was black, with streamlined shoulderpads,
and small blades on her elbows. She had winglets on the sides of her
helmet, and her 'eyes' would glow multiple colors, depending on her
mood, and that of the suit. They now glowed a dim green.
"Your new power. Use it for good. You're no longer the mercenary. Until
you destroy the last of the pirates, you are only a heroic warrior."
Mewtwo told her seriously.
"For now at least. I will never give up my life as a bounty hunter."
Samus replied. "Let me stay behind for a while, my suit's going wild,
requesting all sorts of things."
Mewtwo nodded, and headed back to the dropship.
Samus remained behind, looking around at the ruined city. Her suit was
scanning everything, looking for things to adapt to. It kept wanting to
go to a certain place in the mountain next to the city, so she complied
and 'followed' it. Through ruined structures, and overgrown plantlife,
she journeyed. She used a long range eyesight that the suit had created,
and found a loosened section of rock in the mountainside. That was where
tha suit wanted to go.
After her climb up, the suit developed many new abilities, including
climbing walls, scanning strong footholds, near vertical sprinting, and
long and high jumps. Samus couldn't help but laugh at the childlike
behavior of the new suit. It seemed as though it would not be satisfied
unless it scanned everything in sight, and found ways to adapt to them.
Truly, this suit would be perfect for any mission Samus would go on. She
finally reached the point on the mountainside. She examined the wall,
studying the cracks. A good solid punch would easily break it down, and
soon it came crashing down. Funny though, it seemed like it was designed
to be accessed. She walked into a dark room, and soon her eyes adjusted.
What she saw in the center of the room, and what the suit was going nuts
about, made her jaw drop. There was a black ship, similar to her old
one, but this one had spike-like shapes protruding from numerous points
on the ship. Her suit began reading over the ship's systems. There were
adaptors on her new ship as well, and it was mentally linked to Samus
through the suit. There were no weapons yet on the ship, except for the
basic energy shots, and very little equipment, so Samus assumed the ship
would create what it would need.
Suddenly Mewtwo's voice rang in her head.
Samus, we just detected a medium sized invasion squad of pirates, human,
flying towards us. Be care....
Before he could finish, the far wall exploded, and pirates poured in.
Samus immediately switched her right arm to the gun, and sprinted at the
pirates, who were still adjusting to the dim lit. She plowed through 5
of the pirates, and slammed inot 3 more, sending them flying out the
hole, and falling down the mountain. Two more remained, and seeing
Samus, jumped back. They fired everything they could at her. Samus was
unprepared for the attack and was knocked off her feet by the shots. She
could feel the shots as if they hit her own body. In her head the suit
adaptation program went nuts. It was reading the damage that she just
sustained, and reading the energy traces that were left behind. Samus
jumped back up, and smacked a pirate's sword broadside and plowing her
other fist into his head. The other pirate fired furiously again at her,
but she didn't sustain any damage from the hits, nor was she knocked
back. The suit's energy level however, was drained very slightly. Samus
smiled, and lunged at the pirate. He was not expecting the new speed of
the new foe, and ended up with Samus's fist punched right through his
armor, and his torso. Samus whirled around to face the other pirate, but
found he was lying on the ground, unmoving. There was a huge impact
crack on his helmet.
"Damnit. I moved too slowly."
Think about the task Samus. She told herself. She jumped to the hole in
the wall, and looked around. Another small squad of pirates were making
there way up towards her, past the dead pirates that lay on the ground.
She focused on them, and the suit worked its magic. She could hear them
chattering amongst themselves.
{"The other team was taken out way too fast. Look at all this."}
{"We have no clue of the target's identity sir. The first team was taken
out before they could identify it."}
Samus backed off quickly. She couldn't listen to any more of the
conversation, or else she would be seen. She turned around and ran to
her ship, which opened for her. She jumped in and ordered it to take off
towards Mewtwo's ship. She inspected her armor where she had been hit.
Her suit began reading the damage points again, and started to repair
itself. This was an impressive suit. The ship took a moment and
inspected the surroundings, then navigated its way out. Samus looked
around for somewhere to sit, but there were no chairs. She instructed
the ship to create one, and sections of the floor rose up, creating a
throne-like object. Samus sat in it and then switched to the ship's
vision.
She felt the wind going past her as her mental placement shifted and she
gained the eyes of the ship. She looked towards Mewtwo's ship, and saw a
swarm of pirate ships racing towards them.
Samus! What in the world is that?
Mewtwo called in her mind. The ship targeted Mewtwo's ship and began
it's reading process.
The pirates launched their first wave of attacks. Many shots struck
Mewtwo's ship's barrier. Samus had to whirl the ship around to avoid
some of the shots. The pirates fired again, and Samus remembered. She
held her ship in place, preparing to be hit by the attacks.
Samus what are you doing. Move your ship!
Mewtwo shouted at her, but it was to late to have done anything anyway.
5 shots struck her ship, and the programs went nuts again. In her mind,
it read "New shield acquired" and she smiled. It took the program a
while to adjust, but fortunately, it was ready for the next wave of
shots. Three blasts struck her ship, but instead of blowing her ship
away, the shots were neutralized against the new barrier. Samus
concentrated on the repairs, while the pirates advanced, confused at
their enemy's power. Samus switched out of the ship's view, and returned
to her suit.
"Is there any way to give my Bolt Beam to the ship?"
The ship created a gun placement on the wall, one where Samus could
directly download information to her ship, or visa versa. She plugged
her gun into the socket, and the ship drew in all her adaptations.
She turned around to see about 15 enemy fighters flying at her, firing
their blasters at her. The ship was shielding every shot, but Samus
could sense that it was running out of energy. It had 20% of its energy
remaining. Samus's suit had 50%. Fortunately, they both could recharge
their energy, but not if they were in combat. Samus directed the ship to
avoid the next shots, using much less energy than shielding. She fired
at as many as she could, destroying 6 fighters. The others flew around
her, and circled her. She took manual control of the ship and returned
to the ship's view. She maintained her position, and then dropped
straight down when the pirates assaulted her. She engaged full thrust
forward before she hit the ground, and the pirates followed. She lead
them away from Mewtwo's ship, and into a canyon. three more pirates
exploded as they crashed into the canyon walls. Samus halted to a stop
and ducked backwards, zipping under the pirates. Four were stupid enough
to try to turn around, and they crashed as well. The remaining two
pulled up out of the canyon, and Samus followed. She locked on to one of
them, and fired her weapons. The pirates fell from the sky in a ball of
flame and the other turned around completely, firing missles at Samus.
She tilted her ship and narrowly avoided the missles. Locking on to that
one, she chose not to fire. She instead had the ship create grappling
arms, and avoided the next attack by the pirates. Half a minute later,
through major energy consumption and shifting of the ships body,
grappling arms were formed, and Samus launched one at the pirate ship.
He evaded, but barely, and returned the attack with more missle fire.
Samus fired the other claw and latched onto her target. She pulled him
in towards her.
"Let's see what you've got pal." She said. The program once again began
it's reading procedure. The enemy's lazers were added to her arsenal, as
well as blueprints for the missles he had. The operation systems were
examined, but nothing of use was extracted. She finally drained the
remaining energy from his ship, and restored some of her own.
"You bastards. You evil, cruel, bastards. How could you humans have
joined with the Mother Brain's forces?"
"We were given a splendid reward. Eternal life thanks to her powers."
Was the pirate's reply. Samus bared her teeth, and the suit made it's
own copy, viscious fangs. With that, she crushed his ship to scrap. It
fell apart in the claw, and dropped to the ground, blood splattered here
and there.
"You creatures no longer have the right to be called human. You will all
die."
"Keep firing the cannons, I'll work on the barriers." the Electrode at
the console shouted commands as Mewtwo entered the control room.
Electrode turned around quickly to face his superior.
"Sir, the pirates have been doing increasing damage to our shields. We
can't hold out much longer. I'm going to the generator to assist in it's
power along with the other Electric types. "
"Go ahead. I'll go out and try to push them back. Where the hell did
Samus go, she's gone out of my range!" Mewtwo demanded.
"Sir. She entered a canyon about two kilometers to our starboard side
about a minute ago. Wait, she's coming back, at an extremely high
velocity!" A Wigglytuff chattered away giving Mewtwo the data she was
recieving. Mewtwo sighed, and then resumed his battle mindset. He nodded
to Wigglytuff, and instructed the defense operators to continue firing.
Samus flew at the attacking pirate ships, who were engaged with Mewtwo's
ship. There was a massive volley of cannon fire going between them, and
it would be difficult to evade the attacks from either side. More pirate
fighters appeared to engage her, but she blasted them using her newly
acquired missles. She targeted one of the larger pirate ships and fired
her grappling claws. They latched on without a problem, and Samus drew
them to her. She extracted a more powerful version of the pirates
lazers, and the energy remaining. Finished with her prey, she blasted it
with her new beams, and then crushed it. Many of the other pirates who
saw her do so decided it wasn't worth the fight, and turned their ships
around. Fighters whizzed past her ship, not even bothering to engage
her. They loaded into the bigger ships and all flew away. Samus was
satisfied, but her suit was being fidgety. It's desire was to destroy
every pirate it detected. She had no choice but to chase them down.
10 minutes later, Samus returned from her chase, and landed inside the
ship's landing area. Mewtwo and many other Poke'mon rushed to her ship.
She jumped out, landing softly, but firmly, in front of Mewtwo.
"They didn't even make it as far as the atmosphere." Samus said as she
looked at him. Mewtwo just laughed, smiling.
"I'm glad your new power is so helpful. You have returned Samus. You are
now the fierce warrior you were feared as long ago. It will be an honor
to fight you in the tournament."
"I will see you then, Mewtwo." Samus replied simply, returning to her
new ship.
"Wait! What about your old ship?" Raichu shouted after her. A massive
force from her pulse-like thrusters was her answer to him, and she flew
out of the gate.
It was about 2-3 days later, just before the tournament was to be
started. Zelda waited patiently at a table outside a restaurant. Rei was
getting some food, and wanted it to be a surprise for her. Zelda was
exhausted from the day. Rei and Zelda had lots of fights to keep Zelda's
mind off the tournament. In an odd way, it actually worked, but Rei just
didn't seem to have an end to her energy when in combat. Zelda looked at
her watch for a moment. Rei was taking a long time.
"Wait a minute... Zelda?" she heard a voice from behind. She turned
around in her seat and saw...
"Fox! Wow, hi!"
"How are you Zelda?" Fox asked, giving Zelda a greeting hug.
"I'm good. How about you? I haven't seen you in a while."
"Yeah well... General Pepper sure likes to break the happy mood and give
us an emergency assignment when we don't need one. Unfortunately, Slippy
is back in the tech rooms again. He failed to live up to the standards a
second time, so they cut him. Falco went on his funk saying he was bored
again. This time however, he has found some action in a distant galaxy.
He'll be back tomorrow for the tournament."
"You're both in the tournament?" Zelda asked.
"Yep. We used to go every year, but the last few years we've had some
trouble with bandits, and other pirates. Now we're back, and ready to
see what the game has for us."
A large bulky object approached them from behind Fox. Zelda pointed to
it, and Fox whirled around to face a giant turtle/dragon.
"You both fighting tomorrow?" He asked, voice booming.
"Indeed we are. You are..."
"Bowser, little one. You'll have quite a challenge from me." Bowser
seemed very confident.
"How so? You're so big and bulky, how are you going to hit me?"
"I have ways." Bowser glared down at Fox, and Fox up at Bowser. Both had
a certain look in their eyes, and teeth showing in a big grin. Zelda was
expecting them to take swings at each other. She just about flinched
when they brought there arms back.
Instead, they clapped their hands together and shook firmly.
"It's good to see a confident warrior ready to enter the heat of
battle." Bowser exclaimed.
"I can say the same to you Bowser. It will be an honor fighting you in
the tournament." Fox replied, a strong feeling in his voice. He stepped
sideways and looked back to Zelda.
"This is Zelda. She's also going to compete in the tournament."
"Hi." Zelda greeted, really quiet.
"You don't need to be so shy miss Zelda. I may be big and a brute, but I
have no intention of hurting you here." Bowser boomed.
"Oh no. Not here, but in the arena tomorrow... that's a different
story." Fox chimed in. "Oh by the way, where's Samus?"
"Um... about that..." Zelda began.
"Zelda! It took me a lot of work to make them get it right, but I
finally got it." Rei yelled, running up to the three. Rei stopped next
to Zelda, and leaned on her, panting.
"Who's this?" Fox asked.
"Um... Her name's Rei."
"I'll stay out of this friends. I'll see you all tomorrow." Bowser left
respectively.
"What happened to Samus? I thought..."
"We... I... she left me. She left me with some money at a space
station." Zelda replied, grimly.
"I... I'm so sorr..."
"Don't be. I can never forgive her. I found someone who actually cares
about my feelings. I care about her too."
"Who's this Zelda?" Rei asked.
Zelda went through the introductions, with Fox somewhat disappointed.
"So you're the leader of the Starfox team. I though he would be a little
more self centered and rude, but you're cool." Rei said to Fox.
"Actually, I am the leader, but you pretty much just explained Falco in
a nutshell." Fox replied.
"Falco? Noble and chivalrous Falco?"
"Those words describe anyone BUT Falco, love." Zelda told her.
Fox's wrist communicator beeped a couple times, and Fox had to go. He
wished them luck until the tournament, and ran off.
Zelda watched as he went off, and remembered Samus again.
"OH SHOOT! The tournament is tomorrow!" Zelda shrieked.
(Okay, so this was a relatively short chapter, very focused on Samus all
that yadda yadda you don't care. No major new characters, excepting
Mewtwo and Bowser. Mewtwo seemed a bit... heroic to me. Bowser did not
portray the normal Mario's archrival Bowser I know, but still...
I have come up with another game for Samus. Like... her 6th one or
something. She could use the suit I gave her here. I reeeeeeeeally like
that suit, and I could go on for an hour or two explaining the operation
stuff for it, but you ain't innerested in tech-talk, you want passionate
love, and sweet emotions, kissing of two girls in love... you know, the
stuff I said wasn't in here in the first note at the beginning of the
fanfic? Yeah... thought so.
You're probably expecting me to say something like... "More of Samus and
Zelda coming up!" or something like that. Well you know what? I got a
surprise for you...
I am...
More of Samus and Zelda coming up.)
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