Everyone had met in their meet rooms in the morning, eagerly awaiting the list of names who were the final contestant for the tournament. Everyone was restless, and most people talked to everyone else. Zelda had met another fighter named Yoshi, who was a strange dinosaur-like character with a really squeeky voice. Samus just sat in her chair, waiting for the refs to come out and announce the passers. "So you're Samus huh?" a voice behind her. Samus turned around to see Rei. "Yes. I would be her. You're that girl who hangs out with Zelda all the time." "Yeah. That's me. My name's Rei, pleased to meet you." Samus figured she had to be nice to this girl, or else Zelda really would hate her. She shook Rei's hand in greeting. The refs walked out of their room and the head man stood up at the front of the room. "Good morning everyone. We have counted the scores, and have selected the few people who will compete." He pulled out a list. "I would ask that when you are identified, you stand tall and remain standing untill I dismiss all of you.Ladies and gentlemen, I will now announce..." Everyone waited eagerly in their seats. "Rei." Rei jumped up, holding back a giggle. Zelda smiled. "Roy." A boy with firey red hair stood up. Zelda recognized his style from somewhere. "Samus." Samus stood tall, showing no emotion in her face. Zelda winked at her. Samus almost flinched, but kept still. "Sephiroth." Wait a second. I could have sworn he just said Sephiroth's name. Thought Samus, startled. Sure enough, the tall, black clothed, long silver haired man, wielding the longest sword in existance, stood up tall. He seemed to have a aura of power that made everyone nearly cower. No. Him! Zelda yelled in her mind. Sephiroth smiled and glanced at her. The ref announced four other people from the group, including Yoshi, and lastly Zelda. Everyone was then dismissed, the final competitors told to report to the command center. Samus lost track of Sephiroth the moment they walked out of the room, but she and Rei met with Zelda. "It's been a long time." Zelda said to Samus, face serious. "Indeed." Was all Samus said in reply. Rei and Zelda started walking, and Samus followed behind. "That's Samus huh? She's kinda mysterious." Rei whispered to Zelda. "It doesn't disappear even after you get to know her. She'll still keep things from you." "Oh come on!" Rei shouted. Samus decided not to get in the middle of it, and continued on, walking around the two. "You can't really expect someone to tell you all their secrets just because they're in love with you. I have many secrets I've kept from you. It's not like I'm refusing to tell you them though." Rei continued. "I don't care. She had some problem with our relationship. Her way of telling me was a to up and leave me there. She could've talked to me about it first." "Give her a break. It was probably the first time she'd ever had someone she loved, let alone it being another girl. She probably didn't know how to handle it yet." Samus had walked far ahead, but her suit still allowed her to hear what they were saying. She's right. Zelda was the first person I loved. The baby metroid was different though. It sacrificed itself to save me, it loved me like a child loved it's parent. I shed a tear that day, and many the day my parents died. I know what it's like to lose someone I love. Samus stopped and turned around to see Rei and Zelda half arguing still. I didn't know what to do. I was afraid I'd lose you Zelda. I'm still afraid. She turned back towards the command center and continued, unaware of Sephiroth standing in the shadows. "You still love her, even though she would never forgive you for that day. Incredible the human mind is." He too walked towards the command center. Finally everyone from all three groups had arrived. There were 24 people there, Fox and Falco included, along with Bowser. Samus could see Jigglypuff, snoozing away in a chair. She and her suit rumbled in part fury, determined to beat Jigglypuff this time. Mewtwo was in the room as well, of course, and many other competitors. Soon a man came forward, the commander of the station. "Good day everyone. I see we have many strong looking fighters here. Starting today, you will all be competing against each other for the championship. You will probably fight friends. Maybe not, but most likely. These fights will take place in many different arenas, from a simple neighborhood, to a flying spaceship, to the swamps, all the way to a firey volcanic underground. If you should fall off a flying arena, leave the boundaries, get knocked too high, or even sustain critical damage, you will lose one of your lives, and be teleported back to the starting position, ready to fight again. You all know the rules right?" Everyone chorused a yes. "Then why am I up here, flapping my jaw at you numbskulls? Get out there and kick some tail!" The first round began, and Samus was pitched against a familiar hero named Mario. They were to fight on the Castle Roofs. Samus and Mario were teleported to the starting positions, ready to fly into battle. The annoncer shouted his countdown, and the match began. "Here we go!" Shouted Samus, as she charged in towards Mario. She activated her Bolt Blade, and lunged into the air. Mario stood in his place, sliding one foot back, raising his fists. I know this defense. Thought Samus. She dropped short of her jump and dashed in low to the ground. Mario did not expect this abrupt change in altitude, and was not prepared for Samus's rising slash, sending him up, and slamming down onto the rooftop. He jumped up with a quick spin, which Samus stayed clear of. She formed one of her arms into the claw, and Mario launched a furious spray of fireballs. Samus braced against the attack, and her suit began it's magic. The fire energy was being scanned, and the damage level as well. Within moments, the suit had a barrier against the fire. Mario lunged at Samus, flinging his fists at her. She caught one, then the other, backing up a step. Mario dropped to the ground and sweeped his foot to trip Samus, who hopped over Mario. She flipped over, and pulled Mario from behind, onto the ground in front. She thrust her claw into Mario's torso once he hit the ground, and drained his energy, also acquiring a fire energy for her gun. When she was done, she whipped her arm about and threw Mario clear across the arena. Off he went, out of the border, and exploded. He reappeared for his second go moments later. This time, he was furious, and whipped out a cloth of some sort. Mario jumped down towards Samus, and swung his cloth at her. Samus braced herself against the hit, but it felt like a giant hammer hit her, and she was thrown back. She lashed out her claw arm and grabbed the edge. Mario ran up and jumped at her. Samus leapt up and flipped over him. He turned around, facing her, and began a spinning attack. Samus formed her shield arm and blocked each strike. Mario ended his spin and jumped up, striking her with his signature uppercut. Samus yelped as she was hit, and flew against a raised section in the middle of the roof. She stumbled onto the ground, and ignited her Fire blade. Mario held a moment. He smirked at her, then charged at her full speed. Samus swung at Mario as he came, but he jumped over her head, onto the taller roof section. He grabbed an item of some sort, but Samus didn't even take the time to observe what it was. She jumped up and slammed him with incredible force, sending him flying out of the arena, ending the match. When Samus arrived back in the station, a group of people were staring at the screen, wide eyed, appearantly stunned. "What's with them?" She asked Rei. "They saw your match, and have been staring ever since." "My match? What was so impressive about it. I've had tougher battles." "You won in a little over 30 seconds. That's really fast." She told Samus. "Like I said, I've had harder opponents." Rei just stared at her, wondering how she could be so cool about it. Samus went to the "bar", the section of the contestant room where drinks or snacks could be served. On the other side of the room, there was a big screen where the battles where shown, and there were tables everywhere where people could sit and watch. There were a few people in the room who were not competitors, just friends of the fighters. The next match was about to start. This was between Pikachu, and a strange character called Mr. Game and watch. This guy had to be from some other dimension or something, he was flat, and only one color all the way. Rei decided not to watch, but instead she wanted to talk to Samus. Samus was having a glass of some juice, or something. Rei walked up to her. Then she realized she didn't know what to say. She wanted to know what Samus was really like, and wanted to know why she left Zelda, but she had no clue how to aproach her. "You want to say something don't you." Rei jumped, startled. Samus turned her head towards her. "Well?" She asked. "Um..." Rei mumbled. Samus just stared at Rei, curious. "Just ask me plain and straight. That won't give you much trouble." "Okay... I wanna get to know you a bit." "Huh?" Samus said, startled. "What? Why?" "I've been hearing about you from Zelda a bit, but I want to meet you personally." Rei let out a sigh of relief, silently, after she said that. "Okay. I'm Samus, as you already know, we met some time ago. I'm a bounty hunter, as you probably already know from Zelda." "I'm starting to go into that trade as well. Zelda and I already had one mission. Heck, if it weren't for us, we wouldn't all be here today." Rei said with a smile. "Really. What was this mission?" Rei proceded to tell her about the mission to the mining planet, where they fought the pirates, and rescued the staff. "Just Zelda and I. We took out that entire base of pirates, and two of the real ones." Rei finished. Samus caught herself from falling to the ground. It was you two? You two beat me to the finish? You two took out a whole base of pirates by yourselves? You two killed two of the real pirates, without a scratch? It was you two all along. Samus was without words. How could Zelda have done something like that? She turned her head to see that Zelda's match was beginning. Zelda was a Poke'mon stadium arena, fighting a female named Peach. Zelda held her naginata, ready to engage. Peach fluffed her dress, and was ready to go. The announcer shouted the countdown, and the match begun. "I will win!" Peach shouted as she charged in towards Zelda. "I beg to differ!" Zelda shouted in reply as she launched a fireball at Peach. Peach whipped out her trusty sidekick, a small mushroom headed man, who reflected the fireball, back at Zelda. "Woah!" she shouted, and ducked the shot. Peach came down on Zelda with a frying pan. Zelda raised her weapon and barely blocked the attack. She then carried through with a slash and hooked the blunt end of the shaft around Peach's ankle. With a roll back, and a tug, she dropped Peach to her back, and jumped to her own feet. The moment she landed, she thrust down onto Peach, who hadn't yet recovered from the fall. She was struck, but not cut, because of the special equipment they wore to prevent physically mortal damage. Suddenly the entire arena began shaking, and pillars of rock thrust up out of the ground. Zelda was carried up, away from Peach. After the arena stopped shaking, Zelda found it had changed to a place like a mining cave or something. Something popped out of midair in front of Zelda. A set of bunny ears. She grabbed them and put them on her head. She felt much lighter now, and was able to move a lot faster. A black, round item was thrown up to where Zelda was. It's little white eyes glanced at her. "Wait a sec..." She was blown to the other end of the arena from the blast. It was an extremely powerful item called a bomb-soldier. Somehow, Peach had gotten her hands on one, and used it. Zelda stood back up, to see Peach rushing at her with a golf club. Zelda leapt up and parried Peach's first attack, then the second, and finally made an attack of her own. Peach parried the attack, and hopped back. She's using it like a sword. Hehe. Zelda dashed in and thrust her blade in at Peach, who whipped her golf club around, throwing the blade away. Zelda however, jumped up and kicked Peach in the head. Peach stumbled back, and produced a turnip. "Wha!" Was Zelda's response. Peach smiled and threw it at Zelda, who slashed it in half. Peach was right behind it, and thrust the side of her hip into Zelda. She flipped over Peach and smacked her towards the edge of the arena. After landing, Zelda spun around and blasted Peach with a fireball. Peach was knocked off the edge without a moment to react. Samus was in awe at how much Zelda had improved since she last saw her. Zelda finished Peach by slamming her around and hurling her off the arena again. "How..." "How what?" Rei asked. "She..." "Hey. It was nothing. She's had harder matches before." Samus raised an eyebrow at Rei, smirking. "Oh you be quiet." She looked back at the screen. "Still, I can't believe how much she's improved since the last time." "Huh? What do you mean?" Rei asked. "We fought the Mother Brain, for the last time, and she didn't perform too well, which was why I wanted to leave her. Get her out of my life so she wouldn't get hurt." "You loved her didn't you?" Rei asked Samus, with a soft voice. "Yes I did. But I didn't want to see her getting hurt. I don't think I could have stayed with her, since my life is so dangerous and all." "Oh... that's sweet. You need to say something to her. She thinks you just left her for no reason. Maybe that you weren't satisfied with what you were getting from her or something, or that you didn't really feel you could love someone like her. I don't know. Now I understand why you left her. It was because of your love for her. You need to tell her your true feelings." "But aren't you with her now?" Samus questioned. "Well... yes but... that's not important right now. What's important is that you tell her the truth, lest she go around forever, thinking you never loved her too." "I can't tell her. She hates me for what I did." A part of Samus saddened, and maybe cried a tiny bit. What was that? Was that the suit? This must mean... The suit had a soul of it's own, allowing it to feel the emotions Samus felt. "Nonsense. Go and tell her, otherwise you'll never get over it." "Rei. You've got a match coming up. You're fighting Ness." A man yelled out to Rei. "Gotta go. Be sure to talk to her." Rei said as she ran off towards the man. A short boy with a baseball cap and a backpack also walked with them. Zelda came in through the door that they went out in. Rei and Zelda hugged and kissed for good luck as they passed. Soon after, Peach stumbled out. She had been protected from physical damage, but that didn't prevent her from being a bit shaken up. Zelda walked towards the 'bar' to order a drink. Samus walked up to her, cautiously. Zelda turned her head towards Samus and half smiled. "Hello." was all Samus said. "Hi. You want something?" "I would like to talk to you." "About what exactly?" Zelda asked. Samus started to feel a little like Rei, not knowing how to start this. I probably shouldn't just lay it all on her at once. "Would you like to sit down at a table or something?" "Um... sure." The two of them moved to a table after Zelda got her drink. After they settled down, Samus turned towards Zelda, a smile on her face. "That was an incredible match!" She said straight out. "It was hard. She had a bunch of tricks up her sleeve." "Rei said it looked like an easy match for you." "Rei is a better sword fighter than I am, and she see's everything the enemy does. She's had much more experience than me." "But you were incredible anyway. You hardly used any magic, and you were all over that girl. The last time we had a battle, you were having fighting trouble, and had to resort to your most powerful spells." "Mind you that girl Peach was nothing compared to Mother Brain and Seph..." She stopped talking and looked past Samus at the dark figure sitting at another table. Samus turned around to see the figure, Sephiroth, having a drink as well, watching Rei's fight. "Damn him. It was because of him that we had so much trouble between us." Zelda grumbled, clenching her fist. "I hope I have a match against him and I kick his sorry butt." Samus couldn't decide whether she was going to go hysterical, or be afraid for Zelda. Instead she said, "I'll do it if I fight him. I put a hole in him last time we..." They looked at each other, then back at Sephiroth, eyes bulging. Just then, Sephiroth turned his head towards them, and smiled a bit. Samus nearly fell out of her chair. "Didn't we... but before that... and..." Zelda's mouth started sputtering words uncontrollably. Samus was quite the opposite, jaw dropped, still clutching the chair. A man walked towards Sephiroth, announcing that he had a match coming up. Pichu was heading towards the door, and almost bumped into Rei. Sephiroth stood up and walked out as well. They were probably to fight. Samus silently wished Pichu every ounce of luck. When Sephiroth walked through, he glanced down at the beat up boy named Ness. Rei sat down to the table where the other two were sitting. "So how's it going girls?" She said as she plopped into her chair. She leaned towards Zelda and whispered, "So do you forgive her now?" "What?" Zelda asked, not whispering. "Hasn't she apologized to you?" Rei said, still whispering. "Apologized?" Zelda replied in question, still not whispering. "Never mind." Rei said. Samus and Zelda looked at each other, then Samus and Rei looked at each other, finally, Zelda and Rei looked at each other. They all sighed. "Anyway, you girls see that cute guy in the black outfit?" Rei asked. "CUTE!?" The two shouted simultaneously. "HOW CAN YOU CALL A MONSTER SUCH AS THAT CUTE!?" "Is there something I don't know about?" "Let me explain." Samus began. "That man is the reason we split up." "He used charm spells, partial mind control kind of stuff. He convinced Samus that I was a whore, put Fox in a state of depression, and almost killed both of us." "Why didn't his magics work on you?" Samus asked, curious. "I don't know. He said his powers weren't going to work on me, and the Mother Brain's psy powers had little effect on me as well." Zelda said. "Well, whatever you say. I think he's cute." "And a showoff." Samus retorted, looking up at the screen. Indeed, Sephiroth was entirely on the defensive. Sword was not even drawn. He jumped to and fro, blocking some attacks with his hands. Pichu wasn't fighting full on, but it was hopeless anyway. Sephiroth was just playing. Finally Pichu began an offensive by his special attacks. Sadly, nothing made it past Sephiroth's defense. He finally drew his sword and struck Pichu, sending him flying off the arena. The match was finished by Sephiroth attacking a second time, not even allowing Pichu a moment to attack. "Big friggin showoff." Samus growled. The first round was finished at the end of the day. Samus, Rei, Zelda, Bowser, Fox, and Falco all made it into the next round, along with numerous other fighters. At dinner, the entire group sat together, chatting about their fights, other people's fights, and just the tournament in general. Mainly though, Sephiroth and Jigglypuff were the main topic. Especially Sephiroth. Everyone except Bowser, and Rei somewhat, knew Sephiroth. "He's just bragging about how good he is." Samus ranted. "You know he'll probably lose it when he gets to the semi-finals." Fox suggested. "Yeah, that's as likely as me losing a shooting contest." Samus retorted. "So we don't have anything to worry about then?" Rei commented. Everyone laughed except Falco. "Well, if Bowser faces him, and manages to land an attack, probably even Sephiroth won't be able to defend." Zelda mentioned. "That's assuming I actually connect. He's fast, and I have trouble against fast enemies." Bowser replied. "That and he was defending rather well against Pichu's special attacks. Those are extremely powerful." Fox told them. Everyone concurred. Fox excused himself to go get another serving. He walked up to the counter to order, but stopped as a figure caught his eye. As he saw her, she saw him, and she sprinted into his arms. He was so shocked he almost didn't realize what was happening. "Fox it's you! I'm so glad I've finally found you! I've been looking for you forever. Why did you leave me?" She was blabbering on and on. Fox took another look at her, and finally realized who she was. "Krystal?" "Yes it's me! Don't you recognize me?" "I... I..." Fox couldn't find the words for his response. Samus soon walked up to see what Fox was busy doing, and found Krystal hanging on him. "Krystal!?" Samus yelled, startled. "You're alive?" "Exactly what I was trying to say." Fox quickly followed. "What do you mean still alive?" Krystal asked. "I never died." Fox and Samus looked at each other, and then back at Krystal. "I thought the X-parasite killed you. That's why I left. I was even at the funeral for you. The doctors said your body had been destroyed by the X, but here you are standing before me." "I'm not dead Fox. I didn't like the doctors, so I escaped them when they weren't looking. I had recovered from the X before that." Fox stood there before Krystal, baffled. "Well, let's return to our group, we can all be introduced." Samus suggested. The three of them walked back to the table, with a little pushing for Fox. Later that night, Rei and Zelda returned to their rooms, as did everyone else. They both collapsed onto the bed, arms around each other, and letting out a huge sigh, from exhaustion. "I'm pooped." "Me too." "How about that Krystal girl huh?" Rei asked. "Excuse me?" Zelda replied. "I mean what do you think of her?" "Oh. Well, she's nice." Silence. Rei gave Zelda a look, having hoped for a more dynamic answer. "Well, what do you think of her?!" Zelda replied in such a reponse to Rei's glare. "She has quite a history doesn't she? And it's too bad she hadn't arrived earlier, she might be a good challenge in the arena." "She uses a lot of magic as I heard from her in that conversation. Then again, so did I." "Yes you did. You worked your magic on me quite well." Rei replied with a giggle. "What do you mean by that?" Zelda asked, giggling back. They grabbed the covers and threw it over them. Samus meanwhile, not very far away, had collapsed onto her bed, and was well into her sleep. It had been a good contesting day, and she deserved the sleep. Tomorrow was the second round of matches, and she would need to gather her strength, and look back on the day's fighting, if she were to succeed that next day. She would have to prepare for... A dark image floated through her mind, laughing softly. The suit growled like a puppy. They could both sense something was on the station, something terrible, something powerful. It was something that would disturb something else on the station. Samus could not see any more than that. What was that? The suit chittered. Samus somehow understood it, but the answer proved useless, as the suit had no idea what it was either. Samus stood up, but her physical body never moved. She was in her mind. Suddenly she remembered a dream like this, from when she was a child. Not long after after her parents were killed. She did what she did long ago, she ventured deeper. Deeper into the darkness. (I know I know. I promised more loving on Samus and Zelda, but the voices in my head haven't enlightened me about any of that yet. Anyway, what dark mysterious adventure is Samus going into? Will she ever return. Of course she will you idiot, it's a bloody dream. Everyone wakes up from a dream. You forgot about that mole kid from Breath of Fire 1. He woke up remember. Oh yeah, but he wouldn't have if they didn't rescue him. We're sidetracking. Now back to the fanfic.)
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