Gunship Pilot's Log #486
Cosmic Year 2022
Galdate: 20/June
Gunship Pilot: Samus Aran
After a successful job involving a space station exploding and a crime lord being made to pay for his transgressions, I realised that the shockwave of the almighty explosion of the mob boss' orbital hideout had damaged some of the systems on board the Gunship. I navigated to a nearby world and made a hairy emergency landing. Presently, the crew of one is perfectly well. It looks as though the engine's energy tanks need replacing. In a few minutes, I will set off to look for a way to repair the damage dealt to the Gunship. - Samus Aran, sole crewmember of the SA-3 Gunship V-2.
The early morning sun shone brilliantly on the red metal surface of the Gunship. A hatch in the roof of the Gunship slid coolly open, and a figure clad in red and gold plated heavy power armour emerged from the darkness. The figure surveyed the area just as coolly as the Gunship had revealed its content. The area seemed to be relatively Earth-like in appearance; tall, snow-capped mountains rose in the distance, just scraping the sky. It seemed as though the ship had landed in a field; it seemed fairly uninhabited, except for a collection of large mushrooms in the distance.
Samus stepped off of the roof of the Gunship. Checking to make sure all systems in the power suit were fully functional, she set off towards the mushrooms; due approximately west of the Gunship's location.
The grass underfoot was a lush green and mildly dewy, and the sky was a brilliant blue with a few clouds floating overhead. The field seemed to be relatively flat and rather similar wherever she looked; it seemed easy to get lost. However, Samus' power suit had an automatic mapping system which easily defeated that problem.
The power suit was automatically scanning the atmosphere of this planet, checking and rechecking to see whether or not it was safe to remove the power suit at any time. A little hourglass icon spun around and around on Samus' HUD, indicating it was still collecting data.
Approaching the collection of mushrooms, Samus noticed their formation seemed very orderly and designed to be close together. Furthermore, Samus recognised several undersized figures scurrying about. In Samus' mind, they looked remarkably like anthropomorphic mushrooms. As she approached, a closer group of them seemed to notice her; an appendage was raised in her direction, and several oversized heads turned. There was a kerfuffle, and the group dispersed and ran towards the giant mushroom buildings.
Within her visor, Samus narrowed her eyes. She had no idea what these things were; she readied her arm cannon. She wasn't prepared to take any chances on these things being friendly.
Getting closer, Samus observed that their general demeanour, upon noticing her, was to retreat into the larger mushrooms. By the time she had reached the closest mushroom, all but one seemed to have scurried off into hiding. Samus approached this lone figure.
Upon closer inspection, the creatures seemed to be small people; however they had massively oversized white heads with coloured dots on them. The lone creature seemed to be entirely engrossed in whatever he was doing; he was facing away from Samus.
"Excuse me?" called Samus hesitantly.
The living mushroom turned suddenly, realising he wasn't alone. It looked up into the green haze of Samus' visor, and his minimalist features were visibly scared. He didn't run, however. His eyes became transfixed on Samus' arm cannon.
"Can you help me? My ship crash landed a way over there," asked Samus politely, "and I was wondering if you or anyone knew how to fix it…?"
The creature seemed to relax a little, hearing a non-threatening tone in her voice. However, her voice was extremely crackly, since it was going through all the filters on her suit. It was relatively androgynous, just like the rest of her fully-armoured appearance.
In reality, Samus had no idea if the creature even understood her. No sooner had the question been posed, the mushroom man hurried off in the opposite direction. Even with her fruitless protesting, Samus found herself alone in the mushroom collection.
Samus took a moment to look around; it looked as though she was in a village, with stores and houses all around. The buildings, however, seemed to be carved out of giant mushrooms, with little wooden doors for entry. Round windows cut into the stalk of the mushrooms, with little curtains drawn inside on most of them.
It seemed rude to go knocking down any of the doors looking for help, so Samus just sort of stood where she was, considering her options. She could go after the mini-man who had just run away, considering he had not gone for a building, but had scuttled off down the street. This fact rang twice in Samus' mind; had he actually gone to aid her?
No sooner had this thought crossed her mind, than the creature came bustling back again. It hurried right up to her this time. It made a motion that Samus took to be an invitation for following.
Hesitantly, Samus nodded. The mushroom nodded too, and turned and hurried away again; Samus followed, jogging along beside it.
The mushroom seemed to be taking Samus out of the mushroom village; in fact no sooner had they cleared the last house, that Samus saw what must be their destination. A massive castle rose seemingly out of nowhere; its pinkish spires had ruby red roofs and there was a large stained glass window in the centre of the main section.
Princess Peach sighed heavily, dropping herself unceremoniously onto the luxurious sofa in one of the many living rooms of Castle Peach. There wasn't really a lot for her to do, while waiting for her cake to be done in the oven. She picked up a novel that she had been reading from the glass coffee table and opened it to her page. Her eyes followed the words, but she wasn't really reading them. Mario was away in Hyrule, visiting their hero, Link. Mario's younger brother Luigi was in the castle somewhere, likely sleeping in. Ever since the brothers had first rescued her from King Koopa's clutches some three years ago, they'd been allowed to stay in the guest suite at Castle Peach whenever it suited them. Peach reminisced about the fear of being kidnapped by Bowser, and being locked in his fortress. Waiting for who knows what: she had only been fourteen at the time, of course. Presently, she had only a year to go before she could legitimately become Queen of the Mushroom Kingdom, on her eighteenth birthday.
Peach was so lost in thought, that she didn't realise that the butler had entered the room. He cleared his throat noisily. Peach jumped.
"So sorry to disturb you in your reading, Mi'Lady," said he with extreme politeness and was seemingly genuinely apologetic. "But it seems you have a guest."
"Oh, no, it's alright, Butterworth," Peach smiled girlishly. "Who is it?"
"A traveller from far away, apparently."
"Ooh, how exciting! Would you kindly send him to the study immediately?"
"Of course, Mi'Lady."
"Oh, and, my cake should be about done, too. Could you be a dear and fetch that too?"
Butterworth gave a nod of understanding, and with that, strode out of the room. Peach shivered with excitement. She loved meeting new people, especially if they were willing to try a piece of her cake. She hurried out towards her study with a big grin on her face.
Samus looked around in slight wonderment at the vast interior hall of Castle Peach. A long, luxurious, royal-red carpet ran from the large oak front doors to the large doorway ahead; several doors lined the sides. The walls were painted white, and they were adorned by many paintings of the Toadstool family monarchy, all lined with golden frames.
Another mushroom-like creature emerged from one of the doors. It strode up to Samus, and bowed politely.
"Good morning, esteemed guest of the Mushroom Kingdom. Before you meet the princess, we must make a formal request that you remove all weaponry," he said, eyeing Samus' arm cannon wearily. "For everyone's protection, of course."
Samus sighed. She was going to comply, of course; she had no intention of starting a fight. She quickly cut-and-pasted all of her weapon data onto a memory chip, which she then ejected from her arm cannon. She took it gently, and handed it to the mushroom butler. The cannon gave off a sound of a machine powering down. Just as simply could new data be installed, present data could be uninstalled and transferred into something else. The butler nodded as if to say that that was sufficient, and slipped the chip into a plastic container. Samus made sure to observe which pocket he put the container into.
"Right this way," said the butler politely, gesturing off to the right. He turned and walked in the very direction he had just gestured. Samus followed suit.
The butler seemed to be taking her off to the right-wing of the castle; they walked through several similar-looking hallways, lined with statues and paintings still. Finally they emerged in a room lined with bookshelves. Most of the books seemed to be on cookery and baking. There was a desk at the far wall, with a large circular window behind it. A young woman sat behind the desk, her gloved hands clasped in her lap. She wore a pink gown and golden tiara, and wore her blonde hair in an 80's fashion.
Samus turned towards the butler, but he was already gone.
"Hello, stranger!" called the woman from the chair enthusiastically. "I haven't seen you around before!"
"No, I shouldn't think you would have," answered Samus cryptically. "My starship crashed nearby, you see."
"I see…" replied the woman. "Well, I'm sure we can help you with that. I'm Princess Peach Toadstool of the Mushroom Kingdom. To whom, may I ask, am I addressing?"
"Greetings, Princess," replied Samus politely, bowing slightly. "I am Samus Aran, a bounty hunter from the human mining colony K-2L."
"I see…" said Peach again. "Well, I have sent people to see about your problem, Samus. There's a team of engineers already working on it!" She chirped cheerfully. "Come, sit! Won't you join me for a slice of cake? I baked it fresh this morning!"
Back in the meadow where Samus' Gunship lay cold, a team of Peach's best engineers worked on re-establishing the propulsion systems to working order. A large shadow loomed over the working Toads' heads, and none of them noticed it until it was far too late.
"Well that would be a lovely idea, Princess," said Samus somewhat insincerely. "But I'm afraid I can't remove my helmet until I know the air is safe for me to breathe."
And it was so; the hourglass on Samus' HUD had not yet finished spinning. Peach tutted loudly.
"Oh… I was looking forward to having company…" she said sadly. She stood up from her chair and moved around the desk in order to face-to-face to Samus. However, the height difference was obvious; Samus was almost a foot and a half taller than Peach.
The door to the study swung open suddenly.
"Hey-a, Peach? Who's-a our guest?" enquired a stout, moustachioed Italian plumber clad in green overalls and matching cap.
"Oh, Luigi!" greeted Peach enthusiastically. "This is Samus Aran. He's a bounty hunter from another planet, and he crashed his ship right here in the Mushroom Kingdom! Isn't that silly?" Peach pushed a knuckle into Samus' armour-plated chest gently.
"Oh, buon giorno, Samus!" cried the plumber. "It's-a me, Luigi! I'm-a Mario's brother!"
Samus stared blankly at the pair of them. They were both much shorter than Samus; it almost felt like she was speaking to children.
"Would you like a piece of cake, Luigi?" asked Peach sweetly.
"Mamma Mia!" exclaimed the Italian man. "Of course!"
The butler from before promptly came bustling in with a large Victoria-Sponge cake. He placed it carefully on the desk, along with three plates accompanied by petite cake-forks. "Thank you Buttersworth~!" Peach hummed with delight. She removed the glass cover over the cake. With well-practiced precision and speed, she cut two pieces out and served them on the plates. The smell of the jam in the cake was sugary sweet and rather inviting.
Buttersworth bowed politely, and left the room again.
Samus was rather dazed. She felt rather out of place among two people whose sole concern seemed to be eating cake. She hoped the repairs on her ship wouldn't take too long.
Before Samus could say anything, there was an almighty crash accompanied by a heat wave that knocked Samus off her feet.
Samus coughed as she regained her momentarily lost consciousness. The study was in ruins; the window had seemingly exploded inwards, covering the room with glass. The desk had been banished from its regular resting place by the explosion, and now a large part of it was wedged in the doorway. One of the bookshelves had fallen over, scattering its load of cookbooks all over the floor. A charred page depicting a recipe for an apple turn-over had blown onto Samus' chest; it slid off as she sat up. Glass crunched underneath her when she struggled to her feet, dazed and confused. She looked around; Luigi was nowhere to be seen, and Peach was lying on her stomach, seemingly unhurt, but unconscious. A giant turtle-shaped creature with spikes and flaming red eyes stood over Peach. It grinned evilly, its harsh eyes locked with Samus'. All at once, they reminded Samus of the eyes she had looked into as a child when her parents were murdered.
With Samus momentarily stunned, the being snatched Peach in one huge, monstrous claw and turned towards the broken window. Coming to her senses, Samus took the initiative to bring her arm-cannon up to bear. Forgetting that she had given her weapon data to the butler, she fired. The tiniest of projectiles left the barrel, flew less than halfway across the room and dissipated instantly. The monster gave a horrible, gut-wrenching roar of laughter. It promptly leapt out of the hole, Peach in hand. Samus ran to the window just in time to see them fly off in a small flying vehicle.
Samus recognised the source of the blast; it was a power bomb, one of her own specially modified ones. But who could have done such a thing?
Samus became aware of a knocking sound; it was frantic. She turned, and realised its source was behind the wedged doorway. She took a hold of the huge oak desk and heaved it, single-handedly, out of the way.
She was greeted by the small green plumber hurrying in. Apparently, from the Luigi-shaped hole in the hallway behind him, he had been thrown out of the room by the blast. Although everyone in the study seemed to have survived, the butler who had taken Samus' weapon data seemed worse for wear. His whole head had seemingly been crushed by the weight of the desk, and now he lay, a cold, red, lavishly dressed corpse in the hallway. Grimacing, Samus retrieved the memory chip from his pocket; thankfully it was unharmed, however bad a state its owner had been. Samus reinserted it into her armour; the suit gave a small bleep of recognition.
Samus became aware of a sound behind her. She turned, and realised Luigi was sobbing.
"Oh no… not again… Bro is gonna kill-a me…" He was saying. He was crouched at the edge of the broken wall, head in hands, looking down at the castle's moat a long way below. He turned suddenly, and looked straight at Samus.
"You've-a gotta help-a me get her back, Samus!" He implored.
Samus hesitated. She didn't really want to get involved, and yet someone had just been kidnapped before her very eyes; using her own Power Bomb technology, too. She couldn't really refuse.
"I'm a soldier-for-hire, Luigi," said Samus slowly. Luigi made a half-choked tutting sound.
"There are coins scattered all around the Mushroom Kingdom, you know!" he cried. "Now come on!"
The meadow that contained Samus' Gunship was a mess. Bodies of Toads in goggles and safety visors lay strewn around, and the ship itself was overturned and ransacked. Everything looked as though it had taken extreme fire damage, since much of the Toad's gear seemed to be welded to their bodies. Parts of
the gold paint on the Gunship had melted, revealing the plain metal underneath.
"Hold on, hold on!"
Luigi put out an arm to stop his armour-clad companion from moving any further. They had left the Castle, and were on the trail towards Bowser's Fortress.
He pointed towards a brownish mushroom creature, shorter than the Toads, waddling towards them.
"That's a Goomba," explained Luigi. "They work-a for Bowser; but they'sa poisonous, don't-a letta them-a touch your skin!" and with that, Luigi set off at a run towards the Goomba. He leapt into the air, fist above his head, and stomped on the Goomba's head. The Goomba compacted immediately into a squashed mess on the ground. Samus watched in bemusement.
"That's-a the way to do it!" cried Luigi.
Moving swiftly through the meadow, they came across a small platoon of Goombas. Before Luigi had a chance to do anything, Samus charged up a plasma beam and launched it expertly at them. The blast cleared the group immediately. Luigi gasped.
"You-sa have-a a gun?"
Samus nodded and waved her right arm, completely encompassed by her large laser cannon. Surely its obvious this is a gun, thought Samus. She began to wonder about the intelligence of the inhabitants of the Mushroom Kingdom. They seemed to be very simple as well as very short.
"Luigi, what's the ETA for Bowser's Fortress?" she asked.
"If we run, we canna get there in about-a twenty minutes," the plumber answered. "It's-a thatta way!" he cried, pointing straight ahead.
"Right," accepted the Bounty Hunter. From the interface within her visor, she activated the suit's Speed Booster capabilities. The suit had fully charged energy tanks; the pink lights in the top left of her vision told her she had 2099 units of energy left.
Samus took a hold of Luigi by his arm, and in one motion, scooped him up.
"Hey~!" He protested wildly.
Carrying Luigi like a child, Samus began to run in the direction of Bowser's fortress. Sure enough, the Speed Booster automatically kicked in, and Samus found herself being propelled at Mach speeds. Luigi yelped with surprise; he kept a tight grip on his hat so that it didn't fly off. The Mushroom Kingdom whipped by in a blur of green and blue; Samus felt the impact of many walls as she ploughed straight through them. In next to no time, Samus and Luigi found themselves sprinting through the eighth and furthest county from Peach's Castle; Bowser's Realm.
A huge, black wall rose from the hellish darkness. All around looked like the brim of a volcano; lava spilled like lethal rivers around the area, and the ash underfoot was smoking hot. The colossal fortress ahead prided itself on thriving in such a hostile location; indeed, with its grim spires and grimy look, it fitted right in.
Reaching the wall, Samus dropped into a crouch. Her suit glistened with yellow light which gave an audible whirring noise. She launched herself upwards, still cradling Luigi in her arms. They shot upwards like a rocket, clearing the dark ramparts of the fortress some one-hundred feet above ground level. Koopa Troopas looked up in surprise at the glowing figure of Samus and Luigi, their glow lighting the surrounding area. Samus' arm cannon whirred into life and fired a powerful shot, clearing the ramparts of hostiles.
Samus landed in a crouch upon the walkway. Luigi gave a queasy groan as he dropped out of Samus' grip.
Samus activated the X-Ray scope on her visor. With it, she could see throughout the Fortress. However, the rooms within were so vast that it was not a lot of help.
"Luigi! Which way towards wherever the Princess will be being kept?"
"Ohh…. I'm-a not sure… I've-a never got here-a this quickaly before," Luigi replied, looking as green as his overalls. "She's-a usually in Bowser's throne room…"
"Usually?" quizzed Samus suspiciously.
"Si," answered the plumber, recovering a little. "This kidnapping is-a like a weekly thing."
"What?!"
"Well, it's-a like a thing," explained the plumber. "Bowser kid-a-naps a the Princess, and-a Mario goes-a to rescue her!"
Samus stood silent.
"What? Don't-a you have-a princess to rescue?"
"I have whole planets to save. Individuals don't usually come first in my book," replied Samus resolutely.
"Aa… Mamma Mia…"
The bounty hunter sighed. She didn't want to have this conversation; the destruction of Zebes still rang in her ears. She turned on her heel, and fired a super-missile into the nearby wall of dark brick. The wall exploded into many fragments, revealing a long, treacherous-looking hallway within.
"Aah! Let's-a go!" cried Luigi with renewed vigour. Was everyone on this planet somehow extremely enthusiastic?
The bounty hunter stepped cautiously through the hole. It was extremely dark; the light of the lava-falls behind them barely penetrated the thick pitch-blackness before them. Reacting to her thoughts, the power suit began to glow dimly, and the green visor emitted a powerful flashlight beam. The floor was blanketed by a dusty, well-worn royal-red carpet, much like the one in Castle Peach, and yet the walls were made of the same black brick that the outside was made of. Iron chandeliers hung from the high-vaulted ceiling, with the candles on them burnt to a stump. The Fortress looked as though it was uninhabited; however Samus' power suit was picking up large life readings all around.
"Ooohh~!" squealed Luigi very effeminately, clasping his gloved hands to his face and wiggling from side to side. "It's-a scar-ee!"
Samus spun on her heel and looked straight at him.
"Is this all some kind of game for you?" she accused. "We're here in a Fortress surrounded by lava, with Chozo-only-knows-what in here! What is the matter with you?!"
Luigi looked stunned. "I was-a only saying it's-a lil' scary…"
Samus sighed deeply, supressing the urge to retort, and turned towards the fortress again.
The duo hurried through room after room, checking to see if the Princess was in any of them. All they found was goombas and koopa troopas to no end. Finally, they came across the throne room of the fortress. A raised drawbridge was the only thing that stood between them and their goal. The lava below looked extremely deep and extremely deadly. The drawbridge was drawn in such a way that there was no obvious way across. Samus' power suit readings told her that the lava pool was too deep for the Varia suit upgrade to be of any use. She turned to Luigi.
"Any ideas?" She asked.
Luigi looked up at the brick ceiling directly above him. He nodded, and made a shoryuken move, shattering the brick. A mushroom popped out, orange with red spots. Luigi gave a little giggle as he swiftly picked it up and ate it. Samus looked on in a mix of horror and amusement as the short plumber grew around ten times in size; he promptly reached across the gap, and lowered the drawbridge with one giant gloved hand.
"It's-a Mega Mushroom," he boomed in explanation.
Samus didn't know and didn't presume to know what that meant. Instead, she hurried across the newly lowered bridge. Luigi followed suit, shrinking back to normal size.
The throne was not occupied, but Samus noticed a door in the back of the room. She put out her hand to stop him from going further. Using her X-Ray Visor, she scanned for hostiles.
Her suit was picking up two life forms in the next room, and her visor showed her exactly what was going on in the next room. She couldn't believe what she was seeing; as she strained to listen, her power suit reacted by turning up the audio gain.
From the next room, she could see the Princess and the Koopa King. They seemed to be enjoying themselves immensely. Peach's dress was pulled down to her waist, leaving her topless, and Bowser lay on the bed, with his spiked head in her lap.
"…You certainly like to mix things up, don't you my big strong Koopa?" came the simpering sweet voice of Peach. "That bomb blast shocked even me!"
The overgrown lizard gave a reverberating laugh that sounded more like a cannon. "I found a buncha explosives on my way to fetch you," he said in a voice that sounded like gravel. "I tought I could make an entrance!"
"Well you certainly surprised me, my cutesy-wutesy wittel cream puff!" was the sickeningly sweet reply. Samus watched in complete horror as the Princess 'booped' the King Koopa on the nose.
"How long has it been?"
"Ohhh, I've only been here about twenty minutes… it usually takes Mario about thirty to get here…"
"Maybe we should get ready for him?"
"Oh, no! He's in Hyrule, remember? It'll take him at least an hour and a half. Come here, you…"
With that, Samus reached her breaking point. Seething with rage, she launched a volley of missiles at the wooden door.
Luigi, who had of course not heard the betrayal, shouted innocently "Knock, knock!" with a big grin on his face. But it slid straight off when he beheld what was in the room.
Samus strode straight in, in absolute rage. With one hand, she lifted Bowser by the throat and simultaneously rocketed him from point-blank right in his open maw. He flew across the room, crushing the iron bedside-cabinet underneath his colossal weight. Peach screamed out in fright and covered herself up with her arms. Bowser groaned, lids sliding shut on his awful red eyes.
Samus turned on Peach. "What in the name of Chozo are you DOING?!" she yelled in fury.
Peach regained her composure rather quickly for a woman with an arm cannon pointing at her head. "How DARE you enter a room with not one but two members of royalty in without knocking first?" she retorted lamely.
"Don't try to hide it, I heard everything you said!" Samus shouted, her voice distorted as ever. Peach winced.
"Well, so what?" she came back. "I have a right to be happy with whoever I want."
"Princess…?" Luigi was just recovering from his state of shock. "What-a the hell are you doing with-a HIM? What-a about Mario?"
"At first, he genuinely kidnapped me!" Peach tried to explain. "But with repeated kidnappings, I realised that he was just misunderstood, and just needed someone to love him…"
Luigi looked as though he wanted to hit her.
"You don't understand!" Peach wailed in rising anger. "A woman's heart is not something that can be explained just like that!"
Samus tutted. She reached up and broke the seals on her helmet connecting it to the rest of her suit. The airtight mechanisms gave a hiss when the headpiece was lifted away. Samus dropped the helmet to the floor with a loud metallic clank, and shook her long blonde ponytail free. Peach and Luigi both gave a collected gasp of shock as they realised that the esteemed bounty hunter Samus Aran was in fact a woman also. Samus' aqua coloured eyes locked with Peach's blue ones.
"I am Samus Aran of the human mining colony K-2L. I have wiped out all of the intergalactic menace, the Space Pirates, and at no point did I fall in love with any of them." Samus stated with both pride and a hint of superiority. "I don't know what your game is, woman, but it isn't because you're a woman."
Peach seemed to have a knack for speedy recovery.
"I meant a real woman's heart." she retorted in an instant. Anger and rage flashed in Samus' eyes. Peach knew immediately she had said the wrong thing. With the speed of a pro boxer, Samus brought her fist right up into Peach's belly. Peach stumbled back, coughing loudly. It was only a blow to take her breath away, but it felt even worse for a woman who had never been hit before.
An explosive roar filled the room. Bowser, it seemed, was not quite dead yet. He staggered to his feet, and charged for Samus. As skilled as any gun-for-hire, Samus unleashed a torrent of super-missiles into him. He once again toppled backwards, crashing to the ground. He let out a pained roar, and a bleeping noise seemed to emanate from him.
Samus' power suit translated the beep for her. The message Thirty seconds until power bomb stock detonation rang out from within her suit. All in the room looked dumbfounded. It dawned on them that Bowser had not just taken one power bomb from Samus' gunship; he had taken her entire armoury, too.
With all possible haste, Samus scooped both Luigi and Peach over her shoulders. Her helmet on the ground, with a psionic link to the power suit, rematerialized over Samus' head. She sprinted for the exit, with nineteen seconds left on the clock.
Samus sprinted over the drawbridge to the throne room. Luigi screamed and Peach writhed with stomach-pain.
Fifteen seconds until detonation.
Samus boosted through the confused goombas and koopa troopas in the hallways.
Ten seconds until detonation.
Samus slid underneath a falling Thwomp as debris started to rain from the ceiling.
Seven seconds until detonation.
Samus crouched, allowing the shinespark energy to flow through her suit.
Six seconds until detonation.
Samus' eyes flew open as she flew through several walls and out into the open air. In almost no time at all they had reached the seventh region from Peach's Castle. Samus placed Luigi on the ground and dropped Peach. The fortress behind them exploded in a multitude of colour; debris flew through the air, and droplets of lava entered the atmosphere.
Peach wailed for Bowser, and Luigi despaired as to what he would tell Mario. Samus couldn't bring herself to look at either of them. She stormed off, towards her ship; luckily the engineers had fixed it before being murdered, and Bowser's attack hadn't really dealt enough damage for it to be grounded. Samus was glad to be rid of the Mushroom Kingdom, and off that crazy planet for good.