AN: Wow I have not published anything in a long time. This is my first Smash fanfiction and it's probably going to receive many edits and updates because I have no proofreader and I'm usually really tired when I publish things. I struggled with writing the chapter due to lack of time developing the idea but I think it's turned out fine.
5/5/15 : Slight edits and more information stuffed in to help with flow of story.
"Wolf, hurry your god damn ass!" a pale ginger man whispered, fixing the dark ski mask that was sticking to his face uncomfortably. A scrawny brunette walked over to his friend, dragging a heavy looking duffel bag with him. His ski mask had been removed and was in his pocket, proof that he wasn't as paranoid (or smart) as his cohort.
"Well, Fox, the security systems are shut down thanks to Falco and we've got piles of dough that we still haven't even touched yet," Wolf said with a grin that revealed pearly whites. "Subspace Bank's the biggest target we've had in a while. Better enjoy this while we can, boy." Fox muttered something angrily under his breath before tapping onto his wristwatch communicator to have Falco help them move the money to their getaway car, the Arwing.
Wolf continued to fill sacks and containers with bundles of cash, chuckling quietly at the thought of living in luxury for the rest of his life. The quiet pattering of steps let him know that Falco had arrived, covered in dust and ready to help. "Their wiring's kind of old. It was a real pain in the ass to snip anything in that dusty place," the blue haired man complained, shifting his Blaster to Stun Mode and putting it back in its holster. Wolf rolled his eyes and roughly threw a sack of money at the paranoid man. It wasn't like the police was going to arrive anyway. It was far too late at night.
The three finally finished packing away all the money into the Arwing and Fox hopped into the driver's seat while Wolf begrudgingly took shotgun and Falco sat in the passenger seat with several large duffel bags of money. The ginger started up the engine and shifted gears from park to drive. He put his foot on the gas and the car sped off into the night. "That was easier than stealing candy from a baby," Wolf said, taking out a cigarillo and lighting it. He took a drag and cackled as smoke filled the car.
"Wolf, open a window," Fox ordered, clearly annoyed by the thought of second hand smoking. The thin man sighed and did as he was told, fresh air entering the car. Suddenly a tall figure appeared on the road and the driver stepped onto the brakes, causing Falco to almost fly off from his seat. Fox stuck his head out the window and yelled, "Ey, you! Get off the road! I'm driving-" He didn't get to finish his sentence as the figure disappeared and reappeared at his window. The sound of metal tapping the glass was enough to send shivers down his spine.
Fox turned to look at his window and found himself staring at a familiar green glowing visor. "Shit! It's Aran!" he screamed, slamming his foot on the gas and speeding off. Falco looked extremely worried in the backseat, changing his Blaster setting to Kill Mode. Wolf looked like he'd pissed his pants just from the name of their pursuer. The car began to slow down for some reason until it came to a complete halt. "The fuck?" Fox got out from the car and nearly went into a cursing fit at the sight of his melted tires.
"Fox McCloud, Falco Lombardi, and Wolf O'Donnell, get out of the car and put your hands in the air where I can see them!" a loud voice boomed as bright lights shone down on the car. Fox gulped and put his hands in the air, turning around to see Aran standing in a strange mechanical suit with several police cars behind her. Wolf slammed the door open and began to open fire on the police with his Blaster, not caring that they were shooting back. It wasn't long before he was grabbed by some sort of energy beam and slammed onto the ground, dropping his gun. He swore loudly and struggled as Aran placed handcuffs on him. "Get the rest of them," she instructed to the waiting police force. All Fox could do was sigh and hope that he got a good lawyer.
Captain. That was his title and a damn respectable one, too. His presence made most rookies at Subspace Police Bureau pretty nervous but they calmed down after a few short conversations with him. He just wished that he didn't have to wake up at two in the morning on Aran's suspicions. Then again, she was never wrong. After all, they did catch the Star Fox crew just before they hit the border of the city with almost five million Smash dollars.
Currently, it was eleven thirty-eight am and he had already gone through his second cup of strawberry milk. Real men drank what they wanted. The crime in Subspace City was rising for some reason and this wasn't particularly comforting for Douglas. The appearance of the Koopa King, the Charizard, and the Dark Lord wasn't just some coincidence.
There was a knock on the door and the captain opened it to see the slightly taller figure of Samus Aran. She was dressed in the Bureau's uniform and her blonde hair in a ponytail. The woman immediately saluted. "At ease, Lieutenant," Douglas said, raising an eyebrow. "What's up?"
"I would like to request for Sergeant Major Zelda to join the patrol squad," the blonde replied. "I believe my squad needs someone who is familiar with my strategies and the workings of the Power Suit." Falcon leaned back against his leather chair, rubbing his chin in thought.
The Power Suit was a technological breakthrough that was developed by Chozo Industries just before the company was literally razed by Space Pirates twenty years ago. The suit was built to endure a direct hit from a tank missile and more while enhancing the wearer's physical strength and endurance. It was found approximately four years ago, hidden in an underground bunker where their research labs once stood. The Subspace Police Bureau had managed to swoop down and recover the suit with some of the equipment that pertained to it. Most of the blueprints for the suit were either damaged beyond repair or destroyed in the fires so the tech team had to guess how most of it would work. The AI on its computer refused to give them information about itself, only asking for a secret password.
It did allow people to try and use it. However, the Power Suit was, putting it lightly, selective of its wearer. Tests were given by the suit's computer and numerous police officers took them, most failing miserably to meet its incredibly high standards in terms of physical and mental endurance. Not to mention, the final trial was to put on the suit and walk around in it. Douglas was one of the few who passed the initial testing but never even got to take a step in the Power Suit because it was incredibly heavy. It seemed like a hopeless cause to keep it in the weapons vault if no one was ever going to use it. That is, until Samus Aran became a member of the Subspace Police Bureau.
She was the adopted daughter of CEO of Chozo Industries and it almost seemed as if she was destined to put on the suit. She passed each test with stunning results and was immediately put into Falcon's personal defense squad after she performed three back flips in a row just seconds after putting on the Power Suit. Samus was cold, only giving short responses to her co-workers and barely speaking to anyone except him. After an unfortunate situation where the arm cannon for the suit suddenly broke, Samus got to know Sergeant Major Zelda, the leader of the tech team that was researching the Power Suit.
Douglas noticed that the blonde began going to the testing room more and more often for repairs, calibration, and whatnot. The captain had suspected something had happened between the two but didn't say anything. Wasn't his business, after all. At the very least, Samus was starting to talk to more people and building up a good reputation. Not to mention, she could rely on someone who would actually empathize with her better.
"Well, she's not assigned to anything for the next month," Douglas said nonchalantly, flipping through Zelda's files on his computer. "She'll be on the next patrol tonight. Anything else you need, Samus?" The blonde shook her head. "If you need anything, just ask me." She left the room and closed the door behind her. He looked at his empty cup and decided that more strawberry milk sounded like a good idea.
"Hydraulics in the arm and leg areas have activated. Systems are all online." Zelda's fingers flew across the keyboard, her steel blue eyes focused on the mess of data that she was reorganizing on the large haptic screen. A holographic view of the Power Suit was to the left of the screen, red dots glowing in the knee and shoulder areas of the hologram. Large bulletproof windows in front of the brunette revealed a small testing room where Samus was sitting on a chair while wearing the Power Suit. Several wires were connected to the suit that fed information to Zelda's computer.
The brunette frowned as the damage reports began to pile up on the right side of her screen. "Cooling pipe 3-K has leaks, left shoulder plate has significant burn damage, arm cannon is functioning at 67% capacity, left shoulder joint is having movement problems..." Zelda blew some stray bangs away from her face and frowned while adjusting her glasses. There was so much to fix it was almost frustrating. She'd have to work with Samus on the repairs for the rest of the morning at this rate (not that she minded). "Samus, we can begin repairs now," Zelda said, speaking into a microphone that was linked to the testing room.
Samus nodded and with the brunette's help detached the wires from the armor. The Power Suit made the blonde even taller than she already was, boosting her height to seven feet. She took off the helmet first, her long blonde hair flowing out like a waterfall. Samus looked over and noticed that Zelda was staring at her. "You alright?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Y-yes, I'm fine. I'm just thinking of where to start repairs," Zelda fibbed while removing the arm cannon and setting it aside. Stop getting distracted, Zelda. Samus is just your friend and co-worker. Don't get worked up because her hair looks amazing when she takes off the helmet. Eventually, most of the armor had been completely removed except for the boots... and the Zero Suit.
The Zero Suit was supposedly a prototype to the Power Suit but didn't look anything like it. It was a skin tight blue suit that went from Samus' neck to her ankles that had to be worn while in the armor to ensure maximum movement and flexibility. The material was some sort of high polymer synthetic cloth that was so complex, Zelda had a hard time wrapping her mind around it. Her specialty was machines and guns, not chemistry. What was most amazing about the Zero Suit was that it linked neurologically to the Power Suit, enabling Samus to walk around in half a ton of metal with no problem. No one in the labs had figured out how to duplicate this yet and frankly, Zelda didn't really want to see another Power Suit being made either. More repairs, after all.
"Wolf really fucked up my suit, didn't he?" the blonde asked, grimacing at the terrible plasma burns all over the left shoulder piece.
"That would be putting it lightly," Zelda replied, setting the arm canon on the worktable to take it apart. "You haven't been calibrating your arm cannon very much. Have you been busy?" An awkward silence came between the two of them. Oh crap, I asked the wrong question...
"I... yes I have been. Too much crime, not enough time to relax," Samus said quietly, picking up pieces of the Power Suit and putting them carefully on the worktable. "I'll be back after I change. Don't get lonely without me." Zelda stuck out her tongue and the blonde laughed in response before entering a small changing room nearby. Repairs really didn't seem too bad after all.
AN: I was absolutely conflicted as to how I'd write out a complex relationship between Samus and Zelda. I truly want to write something that is in-depth and in character with a bit of out of character traits in it to make it more than what it seems. I'm a bit sad I didn't get to flesh out the chapter too much and the fact I didn't even introduce our main antagonists yet. Oh well, there's always updates and the next chapter... right? This chapter is dedicated to TwiliDragonRin for helping me remember that Zeldus is the ultimate Smash OTP.