The Mind Orb, Pt. I
Hurrying through the desolate grey halls of the Galactic Federation Headquarters, intergalactic bounty hunter Samus Aran heads to a meeting appointed by her superiors. Strangely enough, they gave no further information as to what the meeting might entail, only that it promoted much urgency and high classification. Even that didn't fancy the bounty hunter enough.
Samus, in her blue zero suit, followed a federation officer with special clearance who led her to the sublevel area of the headquarters. Samus watched as the officer put his eye to the retinal scanner that was required for entrance, and the elevator doors opened with granted access. The two stepped inside, the doors closed again, and the elevator brought them down.
After moments of awkward silence and Samus still struck with confusion as to why she came here in the first place, she finally broke the ice.
"So officer, do you have any clue exactly as to what this meeting is for?" Samus asked, turning her head to the officer.
"Private business," the officer simply responded while still looking straight ahead at the doors.
"Private business?" said Samus, puzzled.
"Yes ma'am," the officer politely addressed.
Private business, she thought. This gave Samus a twisted sensation in her gut. She was a bounty hunter, and the last time she checked her profession didn't state anything about clandestine activities. There were rumors about the federation training highly ranked officers to become spies for various missions, but Samus wasn't one of them.
When they reached the bottom, the doors opened, and the officer led Samus through the underground level that she had never laid eyes upon. They went through a dark-blue and gloomy hallway that led them to a set of doors at the end of the hall. The two stopped there, and the officer took another scan, except this time it was a handprint scanner. After the data from the officer's hand was finished being analyzed by security, it gave the two granted access again, and the doors opened. Caught off guard at the sight of what lies beyond, Samus remained frozen in her tracks. She didn't know what to think. All she could do was slowly step forward to get a better look and try - just try and convince herself she wasn't crazy.
The room they were in was another conference room; a secret conference room. It was a room that was made for secret meetings that were only held for a few people to attend. It had a table with seven chairs. One of the seven chairs was sat at the far end, resembling that it was meant for someone of a higher standard.
But it wasn't the room itself that surprised Samus. It was the people who were in the room. The people who were standing there watching as Samus came into the room were all familiar faces, except for two. One of them in particular was a man who looked like he was colonel of some sort. He was a much older looking man, about in his mid-60s. But the other familiar faces she saw were those of Solid Snake, Fox McCloud, Sheik (a.k.a. Princess Zelda), and Lucario. There was another woman who she didn't recognize who looked of Asian descent. She had long silky black hair tied in a ponytail and wore formal business attire with a gray suit and matching skirt.
"Ms. Aran," the old military man spoke. "We've been expecting your arrival."
"What is all this?" Samus asked. She then looked to her old friends. "Snake, Fox, Sheik, Lucario. What are you guys doing here?"
"Don't worry, Ms. Aran," said the man. "All your questions will be answered shortly. We should probably first get to the reason as to why you're here. How 'bout I start by introducing myself? My name is Colonel Roy Campbell. And you already know five of these people here. But I don't believe you've met Mei Ling."
As he said this, the Asian woman then looked to Samus, and Samus looked back. Mei Ling gave Samus a sincere smile, to which Samus didn't return one. Nothing personal, she was just so confused at the moment about a lot of things.
"So, let's begin," the Colonel spoke again. "You're all here because each one of you share a remarkable set of individual skills used for various purposes. Since past events revolving around the Subspace incident, the universe has gotten even stranger, as you may already know. Before, we had no clue that there were even other dimensions before, and now that we do, intergalactic conflict has finally been born as a… well, let's just say 'major inconvenience' to everyone around us. That is why I and other higher ranking commanders have come together to form a new special unit."
"So you're pretty much forming a team," Fox spoke.
"Indeed," answered the Colonel.
"Just what I needed," Snake sarcastically remarked.
The Colonel continued. "Some of you may not be too fond of this idea just yet, but I believe giving things a try can always change the way we think the first time around."
His intention wasn't to sound corny, but he couldn't help if others found it that way.
"Every one of you has at least worked with another person in this room at some point. With that being said, learning to work with each other shouldn't be too big of a problem, or at least I hope."
"But still, why join us together at all?" asked Sheik.
"Yeah, the SSB already exists, right?" Mei Ling joined in.
"True," the Colonel spoke, "but the unit I'm trying to form here is much different from the SSB. A lot more covert than they are. Their acts of heroism are mostly done publicly. Our jobs are done in secrecy where no one has the slightest clue that we even exist. We can't always result in full on battles to try and make a difference. Sometimes the most effective wars are the invisible ones. Everything we do is carried out in the shadows, and cannot be shared with others who are not members of the unit."
"Like a Black Ops unit," said Snake.
"Considerably," said the Colonel.
"But why use us?" asked Samus. "I'm sure there are other people out there with great skills who can get the job done just as well."
"I'm glad you asked that, Ms. Aran," said the Colonel. "We could've just as easily chose other individuals. After all, there are many interesting characters we've come to known having exist in this vast 'multiverse', you could say. But truth be told, no one is more qualified than either of you. You all have seen things, done things, been places no one else has before. And each of you specifically fit the criteria of what I'm trying to create now.
"Snake, with your exceedingly great skills in stealth and infiltration, I have honestly never met another who was truly as legendary as you are."
Snake rolled his eyes and grunted at this. He had to be extra corny, didn't he, Snake thought.
The Colonel went on. "Fox, you have exceptional piloting skills and are very excellent with hand-to-hand combat on ground, while also being quite agile. Your aeronautical expertise will serve as great versatility to my unit. Samus, you are considered the best bounty hunter in any known galaxy. With the help of your Chozo DNA, you possess feats higher than any regular human being, and also acquire great skills in combat and agility. Even, without your suit, you definitely can still get the job done. Sheik possesses an astounding number of martial arts that will be of great help to us, and her wisdom will hold us together in times of turmoil and exploiting our enemies. Lucario, with great use of the aura, your powers and skills could also be of great use to us, given that you can read the thoughts and predict moves of opponents."
"It appears so," Lucario spoke telepathically in everyone's head.
"Oh, and I forgot, your telepathy could help as a way to communicate inconspicuously with one another," Colonel added.
"Can't we just use codecs like normal?" said Snake.
"We still can, but when all else fails with technology Lucario could help since aura is everywhere there's life," said the Colonel. "And speaking of codecs, last but not least, there's Mei Ling. Given that you have astounding skills in gathering and analyzing data, and even developing useful inventions such as the Soliton Radar and Codec communication system, your technical support will be of great use to us. You'll be our eyes and ears of the team. And aside from that, I've seen your combat skills in action first-hand. Don't doubt yourself, understand?"
Mei Ling nervously nodded, trying to hide her sly smile. She was always flattered and somewhat shy, so when everyone looked at her she tried to hide her face and smile by putting her head down some.
"With that all being said, if there is anyone who doesn't want in on this, please feel free to leave, and you'll be escorted back to your home world," Colonel spoke.
Everyone just stood there and looked at each other. They all could tell each of them shared the same thought the other was. Perhaps it was time for a change for all of them.
After moments of silence, solidifying their answer, the Colonel put on a slight grin.
"Alright then," the Colonel spoke, pleased. "Since there are no disapprovals, let's get down to business. Please, make yourselves comfortable if you'd like by taking a seat."
To this everyone sat down in their chairs. Snake sat next to Lucario and Lucario sat next to Mei Ling. On the other side of the table across, Samus sat next to Sheik (and also across from Mei Ling) and Sheik sat next to Fox.
The Colonel then turned on the holographic monitors that were projected in the center of the table.
"We have reason to believe that the evil King Bowser has acquired a valuable item known as the Mind Orb," Colonel explained.
"Mind Orb?" said Snake.
"Yes. It has the power to give its holder the ability to take over the mind of another individual and order them to do whatever they please."
A picture of the glowing red orb appeared onto the screen in clear view.
"You've got to be kidding me," Snake remarked. Snake witnessed many strange things over the years during his career, but c'mon, a 'Mind Orb'?
"It's no joke," Colonel continued. "He's already used it on a number of humans."
"Why humans?" Mei Ling asked with curiosity.
"Well, the most likely reason is because they're not as noticeable as Koopas and Goombas, due to most of the attacks being on Alternate Earth, and the other reason is because humans to him tend to be more intelligent and mobile," the Colonel clearly explained.
"Do we know what his plans are?" asked Sheik.
"No, but we're certain that he's up to no good due to a number of terrorist attacks among the different realms that turned out to be an inside job played out by Bowser," the Colonel answered firmly. "You know, the infamous bombings that have been happening across the many realms? Bowser's most liable asset at the moment is this person here."
On the monitor displayed a man, about in his mid-thirties, wearing a black business suit.
"His name is John Harold. Our gathered intelligence has us to believe that he will be the one to set off another bombing on the island Isle Delfino."
"So your mission is to fly to Delfino Plaza and simply stop John Harold from carrying out his plot. Once he's been compromised, he will be brought in for interrogation. Be aware that he'll have backup with him. Since preparation is key, here's the plan…
Delfino Plaza
Early Afternoon
"Are you ready, Samus," Mei Ling spoke through the earpiece.
"Ready for whatever," Samus replied with simplicity.
She was sitting in a long sprawled out beach chair near the coast of the island, while the yellow sun fondly beamed onto her smooth, soft skin, wearing a blue bikini with dark-brown sunglasses. Samus didn't show it, but she was really sinking up to the idea that the island was actually quite relaxing. She enjoyed basking in the sun while waiting for her target to approach. Her only regret now was taking for granted all that the resort had to offer, and unfortunately they would only be here for probably not even an hour.
From about thirty feet away, Samus could see him in the distance coming her way. John Harold. How nice. He wore what looked like a blue Aloha shirt with many white floral patterns scattered amongst it, and shorts and sandals. He didn't turn out to be what was expected in person. Samus initially expected him to be kind of chubby under that suit she saw in the picture the Colonel showed her, but in reality, he was actually in pretty decent shape.
Samus then tried to pretend she never saw him in the first place and looked back to the book she was 'reading' in her hands. He was approaching her for the likely reason that, well, Samus was pretty attractive alone, and that was the plan. Apparently, Mr. Harold was kind of perverted. Yes, perverted. And Princess Peach soon wouldn't be the only blonde that the Mushroom Kingdom's inhabitants could swoon over, Samus thought to herself, humorously.
When he made it to her, Samus put on her act.
"Hello there," the handsome man friendily greeted.
Samus acted surprised to hear his voice, and looked up to him from her book.
"Hi," Samus said, trying to sound as innocent as possible.
"I must say, I was just walking down by the beach to enjoy its beauty, and happened to be captivated by yours instead."
Samus smiled at this, pretending to take his compliment seriously.
"My, my, I didn't realize that I was such a thief," said Samus being modest.
"Oh, why yes indeed you are." John Harold then took a seat in the chair next to Samus. "And you've certainly stolen the delight of the beach from me."
Samus kept playing along. "Forgive me," she said with a kind smile.
"No need."
Mei Ling then came through Samus' hidden earpiece. "You're doing great, Samus. You know what to do."
Mei Ling then tuned out from the transmission.
"John Harold," the man finally introduced himself.
"Sophia Johnson," Samus returned. It was that out of the other five aliases in which Samus randomly drew from a box, on account of the Colonel giving her more freedom. "So are you on vacation as well?"
"Why certainly," Harold replied. This, Samus already knew to be a lie, but at the same time it was a good lie, in fact, too good. Samus knew how to read people's expressions in order to determine if they were being truthful or not, but this guy came off so honest that Samus could've have easily forgotten that he was lying in the first place. It told Samus something about her enemy. Lying for him came to be as simple as breathing. Without a doubt, Harold was a pathological liar because of this observation.
"And where exactly do you retreat from?" Samus asked, ready to see his extraordinary lying skills come to play once again.
"Eagleland," the man answered, and Samus not sure if this was still a lie or not.
"Really?"
"Yes indeed."
"Well, which part do you come from?"
"Fourside, actually."
"Wow, one of the best cities in the universe."
"Apparently."
Meanwhile, in Mei Ling's room where computers and equipment were set up, Mei Ling and Fox listened in on everything that was going on.
"So we know he's from Fourside," said Mei Ling, expecting Fox to hear him.
"Does it have some kind of significance?" Fox asked.
"I don't think so. I mean, it's just a city in an alternate realm."
"What all is there at Fourside?"
"Everything. It's like the New York of every other city in the universe. Or that may be New Pork City, which is oddly similar-
"How can we be sure if he's telling the truth or not?"
The door to Harold's suite roughly swung open, and in came Samus and John Harold passionately making out. Once they got passed the door, John closed it and shoved Samus against the door, and proceeded to kiss her body all over. Samus kept moaning and pretending to take pleasure from it. Honestly, this is the most sexual experience Samus has ever had since . . . well, ever.
He then picked her up and carried her to the bedroom. The two dropped onto the bed, with him on top and her at the bottom.
"So much for paradise lost," Harold barely spoke, now kissing Samus on the neck.
"Don't push your luck," said Samus, sounding less interested now.
Out of the blue, an arm hooked around Harold's neck and pulled him off of Samus. Harold jerked around and struggled to escape the grip, but the attacker kept hold pretty tight. Samus then got up from the bed and looked at the man holding Harold in a chokehold.
"You got it?" said Samus.
"Yeah," Snake replied.
"You bitch!" Harold shouted.
"Maybe that's a lesson that you should never trust a pretty girl who's interested in you," said Snake, still holding him together.
Little did Samus and Snake know that Harold just activated a beeper on his wrist, which looked like a watch, and called for backup. Samus took note of this and alerted Snake.
"He just called for backup," she warned.
Snake gave her a look. That obviously didn't scare him.
Samus then turned her attention back to Harold. "Where's the bomb?"
John Harold was silent, no longer trying to escape Snake's grip, as he realized there was no escaping from these two.
Samus was becoming impatient. She approached him a lot closer this time, in his face.
"Where. Is. The bomb?" she said again.
Harold said nothing again. Samus looked to Snake and slowly shook her head.
She walked away and put her hand to her earpiece. As she did so, Snake elbowed the man in a pressure point in the head, knocking him unconscious immediately.
Samus spoke through her earpiece. "Mei Ling, do you copy?"
Mei Ling responded. "I hear you loud and clear, Samus."
"Bad news, Harold won't speak. And we still don't know where the bomb is."
"Well that's definitely not good. I'm getting Sheik and Lucario on it right now."
Samus and Snake began to hear footsteps pounding outside the door.
"You do that. In the meantime, me and Snake will be taking care of company."
Samus then removed her hand from the earpiece and looked to Snake. He removed Harold's earpiece and smashed it at his feet. There was violent pounding on the door to the suite. The two nodded to each other and the door was swung open so forcefully that the doorstopper could hardly give in. In came Harold's backup, being three men in black suits armed with guns.
Sheik and Lucario sneaked on rooftops searching for the bomb. Lucario used the aura to create x-ray vision in order to see through every structure. He took in steady deep breaths and concentrated deeply in order find it. After moments of searching, he finally spotted it. It was right in the center of Shine Gate, one of the main attractions in the entire plaza, with its huge Shine Sprite glimmering at the top over everything else. The fact that it was going to be destroyed made Sheik despise Bowser even more. It was a beautiful monument. Nothing that architecturally significant should go to such waste, especially lost to a terrorist attack.
I've found it, Lucario telepathically spoke to Sheik.
"Let's move," she replied.
The three men entered the bedroom to see Harold lying unconscious on the ground. One of them immediately rushed to his aid. They checked his pulse and saw that he was still alive. The other two searched around the room, checking to make sure the place was clear.
Suddenly, right behind where the man crouching over Harold was, the wardrobe doors swayed open, and out came Samus, still in her bikini, who jump-kicked the man square in the face, instantly knocking him out. Her immense Chozo strength was enough to stun a bear if she tried. The other two raised their guns and prepared to fire, but Snake came from the opposite side of the bed, which they didn't even bother to check, and impressively shot a tranquilizer dart into both of their necks in a quick but steady motion. The men instantly dropped to the ground and went to sleep.
"I'll contact Mei Ling and let her know we'll be ready for pickup soon," Snake said.
"Okay," Samus replied. "Now we just have to deal with the bomb."
As Mei Ling and Fox monitored the island with the Soliton Radar, Fox caught eye of something peculiar in the location of where the two were at the moment. Then it struck him. Four red dots were right outside the door to their suite. He immediately rose to his feet and ran towards the door.
"What are you doing?" Mei Ling asked with concern.
"We have company!" Fox shouted as he rushed to the door.
As Fox stood ten feet from the door, he no longer had time to lock it. Despite this, the intruders had no interest in casually turning the knob and pushing, and instead kicked it in. The moment their faces were shown, Fox pulled out his blaster and burning red lasers exited from the gun and towards the men. He managed to take out one of them, but the other three took cover behind the walls outside. By surprise, a metallic ball was tossed into the suite and rolled across the floor and stopped right at Fox's foot.
With quick reflexes, Fox activated his reflector, causing the ball to be knocked back towards the men, and inevitably going off in their line of sight. Electric volts shot from every angle of the ball. Fox couldn't see much of anything that happened. Not to his liking, it turns out that only one of the men fell victim to the volts, as the two others turned from behind the wall and shot real bullets ferociously at the pilot. With ease Fox swiftly dodged each bullet, flipping and spinning from side to side. The men now were inside the place, attempting to get a closer shot at the animal. One of them tried to shoot again, but Fox jumped in the air and spun-kicked the gun out of the guy's hand, while going full rotation and doing the same again to his face - all in one jump, all in a second. The other didn't try to shoot this time. This one tried to kick the Fox half his size in the face, but that wasn't a smart move. Fox easily countered the attack by grabbing hold of his foot, just two inches from his face, and managed to flip the man entirely over onto his back. To finish him off, with all his might, Fox swung his foot across the guy's face with great force, knocking him out cold.
After all the commotion, Mei Ling came from out of the room where her computers were and stood before Fox, with a worried look on her face. She immediately took note of bodies on the floor.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
"I'm fine," Fox said, despite that being a lie. "They obviously know we're here. Just stay at the computers; they need you to be open for transmissions and to keep an eye on things. I'll hold anymore intruders off."
Mei Ling nodded at this and quickly ran back to her desk and put her headset back on. Right as she put on the headset, Snake was already speaking in it, with her barely getting the first few words he said.
"… have Harold," he said. "He's unconscious at the moment. We should be ready for pickup soon until we find the bomb and take care of it."
"Good work," Mei Ling said with much praise. "Just keep him in a safe place for now until the chopper gets here. It should arrive in about eight minutes."
"Any word on the bomb yet?"
"Nothing yet-
"Everyone!" Sheik shouted through the earpiece, turning on all transmissions to where everyone else could hear. "We've found the bomb, it's inside the Shine Gate."
A knot grew in Mei Ling's stomach. "Are you guys standing in front of it now?" she asked.
"No, but we're headed to it now as we speak," Sheik responded.
"Okay, when you get there contact me."
"Very well."
When Sheik and Lucario made it into the astounding monument, it was more clear to see the bomb placed on top of the gate, just sitting there like a piece of graffiti. It was about the size of a pineapple.
"Mei Ling, we're in front of it now," Sheik spoke.
"Alright, I'm putting Snake through," said Mei Ling.
Snake was then on. "Sheik, what shape is the bomb?"
Sheik took a quick look at it. "It's a box shape, about two feet in length."
"Does it have wires and a remote with an antenna taped to it?"
"Yes."
"Then it's C-4."
"What does that mean?"
"It's a type of plastic explosive. It's not strapped to the roof, is it?"
"No."
"Okay, the best thing for us to do now is to find a safe place to leave it, perhaps the ocean."
"We'll take care of it."
"But be aware that someone else must have a detonator to set the bomb off at any moment."
The warrior and the Pokemon exchanged looks. Sheik then put her hand back to her ear.
"We'll keep that in mind," she assured him.
"Good luck," he said, really meaning it.
Sheik then removed her hand from the earpiece and looked to Lucario.
I will hold it, Lucario spoke. To this, Sheik nodded in agreement.
Lucario picked up the bomb and the two leaped off the gate and onto other rooftops, racing for the shoreline.
Snake came into everyone else's (being everyone besides Sheik and Lucario) earpieces.
"Guys, listen up. Sheik and Lucario have the bomb and are planning to drop it in the water, but the problem is that the person who holds the detonator is unknown."
Everyone stopped what they were doing and could hardly think. This was going to be a lot like finding a needle in a haystack. Though Isle Delfino's main inhabitants aren't humans, and one would only guess that the one with the detonator must be human, that didn't really help since there were many humans vacationing at the resort this time of the year.
Then an idea struck Mei Ling. Knowing time was of the essence in this situation, adrenaline coursed through her veins, forcing her to quickly transmit her message to the others with no hesitation.
"I think I have a plan that can work," she spoke, sounding determined.
"What is it?" Snake asked, needing a solution now.
"Well, by using the radar, I could try and pick up other transmissions in the plaza besides ours and see if I can spot our guy. I mean, since he's the one with the detonator, someone does have to give him the signal to do so, right? And if someone does, they would do so by transmissions, right?"
To everyone else, the idea sounded bold, but it sounded good enough to work. It was better than no idea at all.
"What if the bomber doesn't have a transmission?" Samus asked, still speculating. "He could just have a schedule to set it off at a given time."
"That doesn't matter right now," said Snake. "Better we do something than nothing at all. Plus, if there is no other person with a transmission, we could still possibly pick up the detonator on the scope."
The others agreed.
"Okay, I'm searching now," Mei Ling announced.
Mei Ling began doing her computer science magic, as many people would call it, and instantly began searching for other radio frequencies around the plaza. She made sure that the radar didn't pick up radio transmissions from boomboxes or any other electromagnetic waves of that sort. Fox had just come into the room, closing the door behind them. He walked over to the computers with Mei Ling again, finally putting his gun back in his holster.
The monitor then displayed 13 other transmissions. They had to be Bowser's human slaves.
"I have a visual on them," Mei Ling informed. "There's two of them at the lighthouse, one in the café, six by the shoreline, and four in a suite."
"Those last four I already dealt with," said Fox. "It can't be any of them."
"Then we'll spread out and find the others," Snake proposed.
Fox, Samus, and Mei Ling agreed.
As Lucario and Sheik ran across the rooftops, nearly close to making it to the shoreline, two men suddenly rose onto the roof ten feet ahead, and as usual, they were armed with guns.
Sheik's eyes widened. Without a second to think, she quickly threw two needles at the men's guns, splitting into opposite directions at nearly bullet speed, and barely visible in the sunlight. The needles entered right through the muzzle of the guns, and the men fired out of instinct. But the moment they pulled the trigger, the guns exploded in their hands. The men screamed in pain and horror as they watched their hands badly burned and covered in blood. They were so focused on their hands that they didn't realize Sheik racing towards them about to finish them off. When she got to them, she knifehand-struck the guy on her left in the neck, sending him to the ground, and spun around to elbow the other in the face, laying him out also. Lucario still stood where he was before when they first spotted the men, but finally kept moving forward as Sheik signaled to him that it was safe to pass. They could not have been any more wrong.
As they jumped down from the rooftop and onto the soft, being right in front of the docks, there were four more men armed, except this time they didn't have guns. They were armed with what looked like wands, magical wands of some sort. They were gold sticks with a red gem sticking at the top. Once it came clear that they were wands once one of the men shot what seemed like a blast of different colored polygons – whether it be a square, triangle, or hexagon – the two smashers flipped in opposite directions, barely avoiding the magical blast.
The other men did the same, but Sheik leaped into the air and came down onto the man with her foot to his face. As she did so, she used this momentum to bounce off of him and towards another guy, managing to kick his wand out of his hands. This guy wasn't going down without a fight, though. Once his wand was gone he swung his fist directly at the Sheik's face, but the woman bent her torso backwards, with the fist doing so much as brushing her nose, and raised her legs up, kicking the guy under his chin. Sheik had performed a perfect backflip in well under a second just after performing a difficult kick to the guy's wand. The two other guys with wands were trying to gang up on Lucario. Lucario, however, couldn't allow for that happen. With a brief stand off towards the two men, Lucario surprised them by throwing the bomb right into one of their faces, and as he threw the C-4, the Pokemon swiftly jabbed the other twice in the gut, and one last time in the face. The bomb bounced off of the guys face, and Lucario caught it with his fury black paws.
As Lucario was just about to kick the other guy in his face, the other guy rolled out of the way and cast a spell that awed the two smashers. The guy magically summoned seven other henchman completely surrounding Sheik and Lucario. Though, these guys weren't armed with anything, only their fists. So it was time to beat to crap out of more guys, great.
Samus swam to the other side of the lighthouse, so that the men at the top wouldn't spot her. It was a good thing she still had her bikini on. Once she got to the lighthouse, she ran to the front, while staying as close to the walls as she could to avoid detection, and entered.
Snake made his way into the colorful and brightly the café with a new change of clothes, this time a simple black business suit, kind of like the henchmen, except not coming off as menacing and instead friendlier; his sneaking suit simply wasn't going to convince anyone. He looked around to check for anyone suspicious. He didn't see too many actual humans yet, just Piantas, Nokis, and a few Toads. There was a bar with nearly every seat full but two in the center. Next to one of the empty seats was a man wearing a green Aloha shirt and a beach fedora hat. He was drinking the island's own version of Scotch, Snake supposed. It probably wasn't him. Snake kept looking around with his keen eyes until he spotted something peculiar. It was a man in a black suit sitting alone at a table next to a window, giving a perfect view of Shine Gate. Perhaps today was his last day of his trip here and was heading back to whatever business he worked for. But Snake didn't see it that way. It couldn't be a coincidence that the other men back at the suite wore black suits and so did this guy, and on top of that, they stood out like a sore thumb compared to the other vibrant colorful natives that inhabited the island.
Samus raced up the lighthouse stairs, not stopping for nothing. Her speed was unlike any other human's, giving her the advantage of getting to the top in just ten seconds. When she made it and saw one of the guys' back turned to her, she ran up to him and executed a perfect front flip-kick directly onto the pressure point in his right shoulder, causing his body to completely shut down. The other guy saw this and with all his speed and might swung his gun at Samus to strike her in the face. The bounty hunter easily took hold of his hand used this attack against him, elbowing him in the gut in return. A pain-filled groan followed. Samus was surprised she didn't knock all the wind out of him for him to even be able to make sound. She then took the perfect opportunity to kick the guy in his face while his hands clasped to his stomach, with enough force make him backflip onto the ground.
Samus then searched both of the guys to see if there was a detonator anywhere. Neither one of them had it. She put her hand to her earpiece, and switched the transmission to everyone.
"This is Samus. No one at the lighthouse had the detonator," she informed.
"Then maybe this guy at the café does," Snake replied.
Snake came over and sat at the opposite end of the table, putting on his best act.
"Say, are you that guy that I kept hearing last night arguing over the phone?" Snake asked, putting on some act. The guy looked at him puzzlingly. "You know, wasn't it like your wife or someone you were talking to?"
"Who are you?" the man asked.
"I was the guy next door to your suite," said Snake, sounding all enthusiastic. "I kept waking up hearing shouting and whatnot, and I was just thinking 'man, this guy's been too far from home.'"
There was a brief silence between the two, with the man still looking at Snake with a puzzled looking on his face.
"No, that wasn't you?" Snake finally asked.
"Why are you sitting here?" the man rudely asked.
Snake chuckled. "Okay, look, the real reason I came here was because I'm doing a survey, and I would like for you to participate. I've been asking different people around me here, and you'll be my last for the day. Maybe."
"I don't have the time."
"Oh c'mon, man, it won't take long."
The man sighed. "Fine. Hurry it up."
"Okay, here's the question." As Snake prepared to ask his question, he made sure to pay real close attention to the guy's face, watching for even the slightest twitch. "What sounds like it would do more damage: the eruption of Yellowstone on Alternate Earth, a single hydrogen bomb, or 20 million C-4 explosives?"
The moment Snake said the word 'bomb' was enough for him to catch the slight microexpression in the man's face. He knew the guy had something to do with the plot. But despite all this, the suited man tried to keep his cool, and went along with the question anyway.
"Yellowstone," the man answered, not realizing what he had got himself into. A slight smile crept onto Snake's face.
"Really?" said the spy, sounding surprised. "'Cause I was gonna go with C-4."
The next expression the man wore said it all. Snake knew he had him at that moment.
In nearly a flash, the man pulled out a .45 Caliber pistol, pointing it directly at Snake across the finely decorated table, to which Snake instinctively kicked the table forward to where he hindered the henchman for a brief delay. The henchman violently pushed the table from off of him, and stepped to the side, giving him more room to aim and fire at the smasher. But of course Snake was too quick.
As the man raised the gun, Snake quickly took both of his hands and impressively managed to steal the gun from the henchman, and had it readily pointed at the man. However, the henchman himself was nearly just as quick. The Caliber was kicked out of his hand the instant he snatched it away like a pro, much to the soldier's surprise. Snake raised his arm to protect himself from the next strike the henchman threw with his fist, and then the man quickly did the same thing with the other. The henchman appeared to just be swinging wildly, to which the others in the café watched in shock, but the swings kept coming pretty fast, and it was becoming more difficult for Snake to block each one of them.
Sheik and Lucario kept taking out one henchman after another, and the more they got rid of, the more were summoned. Fortunately, these guys weren't armed with anything, but the fact that more of them kept coming was becoming exhausting for the two. Lucario kept trying his best not to let the bomb drop out of his hands, and relied mostly on kicks to fight back. Sheik used everything she had from her martial arts, to her needles, and to her whip. Neither one of them could land a single blow onto her. She was simply too fast. But out of all this chaos, it soon came clear that taking out each man at a time wasn't the point. More of them kept summoning because of the wand. Of course, Sheik thought. They had to get rid of the man with the wand.
In the middle of their fight along the shoreline, a friend in the nick of time came to Sheik and Lucario's aid. They noticed when two men dropped to the ground being shot by red lasers from behind. It was Fox, falling in the air while shooting down onto the enemies. He landed onto one guy's head, then bounced off of that and kicked another in the sand.
"This is more than six," Fox muttered, in reference to Mei Ling's statement earlier.
"It is because of the one with the wand," Sheik responded, who heard him after all. "We need to take him out now."
With that being said, Fox fired three shots at the wand wielder, all of which were blocked by a blue bubble shield created with magic. That officially made the job even harder. There was no telling what else this guy could do. Lucario, noticing this, tried to come up with an idea to see if he could still manage to take out the shield.
Lucario knocked out the few other henchmen that stood in his way, and quietly but quickly sneaked over to the wand wielder. The man was so focused using his magic he didn't realize the light-footed Pokemon coming from behind. Though not being able to shoot projectiles at it, the shield had no power to stop an individual's physical body from penetrating. So Lucario crept through the shield from behind and jabbed the man in his back. The henchman didn't drop the wand, but the shield disappeared. After that, Fox performed the Fox Illusion and dashed forward at bullet speed, and stealing the wand out of the henchman's hand in the blink of an eye. The henchman didn't even realize it was gone until he clenched his fist. Lucario then turned him around and used a Dynamic Punch, sending him goodnight. Fox then tossed the wand into the air and blasted it into pieces. The summoned henchman instantly vanished into thin air.
At the café, Snake then side-kicked the henchman in the leg, causing the guy to unwillingly drop onto his knee. After that, Snake tried knocking the guy out by smashing his hard fist into his face, but the henchman grabbed the incoming fist before it could make impact. The henchman then managed to pull Snake to the ground, which was just as also surprising as him kicking the gun out of his hand. While attempting to be choked onto the ground, Snake kicked the man off of him so hard that he flew back against the wall behind him. Having some distance between Snake and the henchman, the henchman then did the unthinkable. He quickly reached in his pocket and pulled out the C-4 remote detonator. It was him all along.
"Lucario, throw it in the water, now!" Fox shouted.
As a henchman was about to swing his fist at the Pokemon, Lucario swiftly back flipped over the man's attack, and, without bothering to counter his assail, he chunked the explosive far into the ocean.
Without even taking the slightest second to think, Snake rushed forward at nearly blinding speed to try and stop the man from doing the worst, but by the time Snake made it over to him, the henchman's thumb already jammed down on the button.
The moment the bomb touched the water, it exploded with a sound similar to that of a lightning bolt striking the ground. Brief ten-foot rumbles dashed outwards, and huge drops of saltwater splashed everywhere. Everyone's attention turned to the explosion. Nearby Piantas, Nokis, and Toads gathered towards the area with curiosity. The three fighters cleared from the area before they were spotted.
Snake grabbed the henchman's arm and completely flipped him over onto the floor, making him land on his back and groan in pain. Snake then put him to sleep with a strong kick across the face, while him still being on the ground. Snake, panting from exhaustion, turned around towards the people. Everyone else in the café looked at him petrified looks on their faces.
"Everything's taken care of, folks," said Snake, reassuring them. "You can go back to doing . . . whatever it was you all were doing."
Snake fixed himself up, and casually exited the café as if nothing ever happened. It was just another day at the job for him.
Beneath Galactic Federation Headquarters
Late afternoon
Snake, Samus, Lucario, and Fox watched from behind a one-way window at their captive John Harold. He was sitting in a completely white room at a stainless steel table, with his hands resting on the table and his head hanging down, looking bored out of his mind. He still had on his blue Aloha shirt and his shorts and sandals.
Colonel Campbell had just left the room to come back out behind the windows to the others.
"Has he said anything?" Snake asked.
"Not a word," the Colonel replied.
"I can get him to talk," said Snake, trying not to sound too arrogant.
"He's too devoted."
"I'm too devoted," Snake remarked, sounding arrogant this time.
"He won't answer to anyone he doesn't know already," Samus joined in.
"He doesn't know any of us," Snake pointed out.
"Maybe not literally, but other than you, I'm the one he's seen the most," Samus backed herself up. "And not just seen, but… you know." No one had anything else better to say. Snake still didn't sound convinced. "Look, just let me do it," the huntress pleaded, looking to Campbell this time. "I don't know why we're still standing here talking about this."
Campbell nodded in agreement and let her proceed to the interrogation room before them. She opened the door, and walked in, professionally. When Harold looked up to see it was Samus who just walked in, this time not in a blue bikini but instead in a blue catsuit, he became enraged again.
"You don't look too happy to see me," Samus spoke first with no sort of feeling, as she took a seat in the chair across from him.
"If I refuse to speak with your boss, what the hell makes you think I'll talk to you?" Harold spat.
"You already know what I'm going to ask, I assume, so let's get down to it, shall we? When is Bowser's next attack? Better yet, where is he?"
Harold didn't speak.
"We have you in our custody now," Samus went on. "There's no point of withholding information from us."
"What's your real name?" Harold asked, somewhat throwing Samus off guard.
She thought on that for a moment, and simply replied, "That's none of your business."
"Well then what I have to say is none of your business."
"Knowing my name will do you no good," Samus remarked. "It has no significance."
Harold stayed briefly silently.
"Mute City," the man said.
"What about Mute City?" the bounty hunter asked.
"That's where the next attack will be."
A low husky voice then penetrated through Samus' ears. She immediately recognized it was Lucario's.
Samus, he's lying, the Pokemon informed. I can see his heart beating faster.
Samus was grateful for Lucario. To be honest, she wasn't that great at being a lie detector; a good people reader, but not 'lie-detector' as much.
Through this, Samus kept a pretty good poker face.
"Mute City, huh?" said Samus. "There are many parts of Mute City. Care to narrow it down?"
"The Capitol. They plan to blow the main gates a little before the afternoon."
Samus kept pretending she was taking this all into perspective.
"You say 'they' as if you're not one of them," she said. "Now cut the crap. Tell me where the next attack is?"
The others behind the glass found this amusing to watch. Snake gave an approving nod to the Pokemon next to him.
"Until you give me a name you get nothing," said Harold, giving her his ultimatum.
Samus looked down at the table for a moment and sighed, and then faced the man before her again.
"My name is . . . Sophia Johnson," Samus played.
It was obvious he was beginning to fill with frustration.
"You get nothing," he simply said.
"You think you have it all figured out, don't you? We have you cornered and you counterattack us by blackmail over what my name is, when in reality he has you cornered."
"Who is this 'he' you're referring to?"
"Don't play games, you know who."
"Bowser?"
"Exactly."
"How does he have me cornered?"
"You're just a slave to him. Don't you get it?"
Harold listened in disbelief, thinking she was out of her mind. Samus went on.
"Tell me, how long have you been working for Bowser?" she asked sternly.
A sudden look of loss and confusion appeared on Harold's face. For some strange reason, the question struck him by surprise. His eyes shifted down and tried to think.
"You can't answer that, can you?" said Samus.
Harold looked back up to Samus and his faced changed from an expression of shock to genuine worry.
"When someone's under mind control, they can answer basic questions such as who they serve. But when it comes down to knowing how they even started serving in the first place, they have nothing to say," Samus clearly explained. "These are things he tries to keep you away from knowing." She then got up from the table and neatly pushed the chair back in. "So once you feel like talking and realize how lost you truly are, just let me know."
And with that, Samus made her way to the door, until Harold's voice stopped her.
"It's Fourside," he said, sounding desperate.
Now he was really surprising her. Samus wondered what his job was when not being a slave to the fire-breathing monster. Perhaps he was a better man than the one he huntress turned around to face him, all ears.
"Fourside is their next target," he spoke truthfully this time. "I know I told you before that I was from there, and that was a lie, yes, but I'm serious this time. They're going to attack Fourside."
Look like he told her from the start where the next attack was, when she looked back on that moment. Samus came back over to the table and didn't sit down this time, but leaned forward and placed her hands against the cold metal.
"Where in Fourside?" she asked, definitely not playing around anymore.
"The Enrich Flavor Building."
"The what?"
"I-It's the name of the building, alright?" he stuttered.
"Okay, what time?"
"9:00 at night."
Samus glared at him, still not sure if she can trust him this time either.
"I'm not lying to you this time!" Harold shouted, just as serious. "I swear!"
Samus kept holding her glare on him. "Your call," the huntress said as she left the room.
The others behind the glass were still waiting there for her.
"I assume you guys got all that," said Samus.
"Everything we need," the Colonel replied. "Good work."
"Yeah, I was worried there for a second," Snake half-joked.
"Funny" Samus dryly commented. The soldier smirked in return. The huntress then turned her head to Lucario, who stood in silence.
"Thank you, Lucario," she said.
Don't mention it, the Pokemon replied.
The meeting was over, and everyone was free to take a rest. They would need all the sleep they could get for tomorrow. It was going to be another terrorist attack soon to be foiled by the "Secret Smash Bros." as Fox joked as it to be called in his own head. If they were gonna save the world, might as well do it in style.