Roy swung his sword like mad amid the shower of bombs Samus rained down on him. She flipped and flipped in the air above him, raining down tiny but dangerous exploding spheres. She landed and charged up her arm cannon while Roy was disabled from the bombs. He finally regained himself and with sword drawn he charged at his opponent. Samus waited a moment, then released the energy blast from her cannon. The orb hit the young warrior and knocked him clear out of the stadium. The crowd erupted with noise as her victory was sealed. She cocked her arm cannon again but didn't fire. She put her free hand on her hip and posed for the cameras. Under her helmet she wore a broad grin. Flashbulbs cast a temporary blue-white glare over the stage of battle. She left the stadium amid wild cheers. "Next up, we have the other first-round match of the evening: Dr. Mario versus Fox McCloud," the zealous announcer shouted. The matches started that morning at ten, and it was nearly ten in the evening, yet the stadium was still packed. For the second year in a row the Super Smash Brothers Tournament proved to be a huge pull. The full house went bananas as the match between Mario's medical alter ego and the intergalactic vulpine space captain began. Samus pulled off her helmet and shook out her golden-brown braid. She saw her good friend Princess Peach running down the tunnel toward her. "Hey, great match," she cried. Both young women were tall for their sex, nearly 5'8", and while Samus' hair only shone gold in the sun, Peach's locks were fluffy red-blonde and styled in the 70's Farrah Fawcett 'do. Peach loved the color pink, and wore it at every opportunity she could. That evening proved no different. Her pale pink sun dress was tame, next to some of the things Samus had seen her friend wear.

"Thanks," Samus replied. She fanned herself. "Come to the locker room with me. I need to change."

The two young women traveled to the locker room, where Princess Zelda was getting ready for her match that evening. Two pink puffballs floated around the room as well. "How did Jigglysnuff and Kirby get in here," Peach said with annoyance. Jigglypuff pouted and puffed its round body up. "Hm," it huffed in its high pitched voice. It ran to Peach and attacked her handbag. "Hey, that's my Prada," she shrieked. Jiggly managed to pull the bag to the floor and the contents spilled onto the hard tile. It fished a container of jet black liquid eyeliner from the scattered cosmetics. It pointed the saturated end of the brush at Peach. The thick makeup dripped onto the floor. "Jiggly, jigglypuff, jiggly," the pink Pokemon threatened.

"No," Peach wailed. "That's Max Factor! Do you know how expensive this stuff is? Give me that!" She pried the makeup away from Jiggly. She scooped the rest of the items into the likewise retrieved bag and glared at Jiggly. Jiggly glared back. Zelda and Samus were rolling on the floor with laughter. "You don't understand," Peach scoffed at them.

Samus sat up. "Sorry, Peaches, I just thought that was really funny," she said.

"Whatever. Get ready. I wanna go out. Mario's waiting!"

"Your highness," Samus joked, bowing low. She eyed Peach's thick-soled white platform sandals.

"I could kick you."

"You wouldn't."

"Get ready!" Peach tossed a towel at Samus. Samus finally obliged and started dismantling her space suit. Soon she was clad in a comfy pair of dark gray pants and a white and gray top. She sat on a bench to tie her gray and blue tennis shoes. "Yawn," Peach said. "Your ensemble is très boring, Sammy. Why not have a little color?"

"I like this," Samus answered.

"Boring." Peach had a way of punctuating her speech with gestures. When she said this, she held up her right hand, her index finger pointing up.

Samus playfully pushed her friend. "Whatever. Let's go." Peach was in a fabulous mood that evening, for the midsummer night was fresh and cool, and her man Mario clobbered Falco in his match that afternoon. They met up with Mario and his taller, leaner brother Luigi, and went to a downtown club called the Crystal Door. The club was loud and dark. A DJ spun dance tracks in the center of the room. People packed the dance floor as the heavy beat pounded all around them. On the fringes of the action, tables were set up. A bar lined the back wall of the club. "I'm gonna get a water," Samus said. "You guys want anything?"

"No, we'll get a table," Peach said. "Over there." She pointed to a semi-empty spot. Samus nodded and went for her water. As she approached the bar, she overheard two young men talking. One had straight, black hair and was dressed simply, in a white shirt and dark pants. The other wore his fire-red hair semi-long, and slightly spiked, held up with a dark green headband. His loud dark green Hawaiian style shirt had splashes of hot pink, yellow and baby blue went well with his plain white T-shirt and blue jeans. "Dude, I'm telling you, that chick must have balls bigger than mine," the redhead said.

"She's a good fighter," the dark one replied. "She's strong and she knows what she's doing."

The redhead laughed and knocked back some of his beer. "Her space suit was plenty tight, and I could see all I needed to, but I wouldn't be surprised, my man," the redhead went on. "Wouldn't be surprised."

Samus stopped in her tracks. The redhead turned slightly and she got a look at his face. It was Roy! She'd knocked him out in their match earlier, but now all she wanted to do was lay his ass out. What a jerk! "Hey," she yelled over the impossibly loud music. "Hey!"

Roy jerked his head to look at her. "What," he answered. His face relaxed when he saw Samus' pretty green eyes flashing at him. He took it as interest. "Hey," he said, turning on the charm. "What's your name?"

"Samus Aran, you dickbrain," she raged.

Roy's mouth fell open. "Oh, shit," he said under his breath. He realized what he'd done. "Oh, shit."

"Yea, shit's gonna be the least of your problems when I get done with you!"

"Now, none of that," the dark haired one interjected. He stood up and divided the two.

"Talk to your friend and let him know how much of an asshole he is," she yelled.

"Just a joke, baby. And I can see that I was sadly mistaken," Roy flirted. "How about we start over?"

"Fuck you!"

"That's what I had in mind."

She left the bar without her water, and without another word. She made her way to the table where Peach, Mario and Luigi sat. "I'm heading back to the hotel," she shouted over the pulsating beats.

"What, why," Peach cried back.

"I'm tired," Samus lied.

"Want me to come with?"

"No. I'll see you in the morning, 'kay?"

"Right."

Samus fought her way through the crowd. Her mind was racing with anger and embarrassment. She walked into the cool evening, away from the noise. She got back to the bunks where the competitors in that year's tournament were staying and entered the room she shared with Peach. It was pushing one in the morning, but she picked up the phone in the room and dialed a familiar number. She didn't even look at the keypad as her fingers tapped out the number. "Fox McCloud," the voice said when it picked up.

Samus' lips curled into a smile despite her heavy heart. "Hey," she said lightly.

"Hi Sammy." Only two people in the world were allowed to call her by that name, Fox McCloud and Peach. "How are ya? Did you see me fight?"

"No, Peach dragged me to a club."

"Dragged you? You're not the type to be dragged anywhere. Besides, it's good for you to get out and have fun. I told you to meet someone else anyway."

"I don't see you making any progress, Fox."

"How can I, Sammy?"

"So you see my problem."

A moment of silence passed between them. "Sammy, is everything all right," Fox asked.

"Sure, fine."

"Don't pass that tough-girl act on me," he chided softly. "What's up?"

"Can you come over," she said.

"Yea, sure." In no time, Fox was at her door. She opened the door and fell into his powerful arms. With Fox she didn't feel the need to be tough and hard. They lay side by side on her bed while she told him what happened at the club. "I hate him for being such a jerk," she sighed at the end of the tale. "Why does everyone have such a narrow mind about me? In my space suit, I'm all business, yea, but I'm still me. I look normal enough when I'm not fighting, or hunting, right?"

"They don't know you like I do," Fox said soothingly. He ran his claws through her thick caramel brown hair.

"Nobody does. They don't care."

"I care."

"I know, Fox." He held the back of her neck and kissed her tenderly. She snuggled against his chest. He held her close.
"If I didn't have you and Peaches, I'd go bananas."

"You know we can't rely on each other forever."

"You know it more than I do."

The silence in the room was soothing. They spoke in whispers. "But I can't let you go, Sammy. I don't know how I could."

"I could never leave you again, Fox. The first time was nearly impossible. What are we gonna do after this year's tournament?"

"What can we do? We've got our separate worlds, our separate lives...."

"We have a month here, let's not think about the end until it gets here, 'kay?"

"Right." Samus looked at the clock on the night stand between her bed and Peach's unmade one. "It's one-thirty. The bars don't close till 2." She turned to her lover with a lewd little smile. He read it as such and they made love as quietly as they could. When they were finished, Fox reluctantly dressed, as Samus watched with her green eyes now heavy with sleep. Per usual, he turned his back while zipping up his pants. Samus once told him, "it's like watching your favorite show in reverse." He fastened the button on his pants with a smile, thinking of her quip. He kissed his secret love before leaving for the night. They knew their end was near, but as long as they had each other, it wasn't as hopeless as one would think.