I do not own any of the characters I am using. Samus, Captain Falcon, and everyone else are the property of Nintendo.

I've had this story in my head for ages. Captain Falcon and Samus are my two favorite Smashers, and I am tired of the former getting such a bad rep in other fics. It might take a while for me to finish, so you've been warned. It'll be a Samus/Captain Falcon pairing eventually.

High Stakes in Mute City, Chapter 1

GO!!!

The second the signal was given, Samus hit the ground running. The scenery of Mute City flew past as the platform she and the other fighters were on zoomed through the air. However, it wasn't the surrounding area that had her attention at the moment.

Samus smiled as he large, turtle-dragon creature in front of her rushed to meet her attack. Bowser didn't want to waste any time in starting the fight. Behind him, Samus could see the two other combatants beginning their clash. Donkey Kong and Captain Falcon seemed just as eager to fight today as everyone else. "Can't think about them right now," Samus mentally chided herself. "Bigger problems to worry about."

Samus rammed her shoulder into the oncoming King of Koopas, knocking him back a few feet. She quickly followed with a fast jab to his gut, and then launched a missile right into Bowser's face.

"Raaaargggghhh!!!" Bowser screamed. "You're going to pay for that!" The outburst was exactly what Samus wanted from him right now. An angry opponent was a careless opponent.

"Good thing he can't see me smile," Samus thought, "or else he would really get mad!" The bounty hunter was indeed smiling underneath her helmet. She had come to enjoy the battles she participated in at the Smash Mansion. It felt nice to fight and show off her skills without having to worry about seriously hurting anyone. Samus may not have fully understood just how Master Hand worked everything in his dimension, but she didn't think about it too much.

Samus' thoughts were drawn back to the fight at hand as Bowser charged again. Samus rushed to meet him, but caught him off guard by jumping right over him. AS soon as she landed, she swung her leg and dropped her heel onto the back of Bowser's shell. That, along with the Koopa's momentum, knocked him off balance. Remembering stories she had heard of how Mario had defeated Bowser, Samus fired her Grapple Beam and latched on to Bowser's tail.

"Hey, what are you doing?!" Bowser demanded, right before a feeling of déjà vu set in. He suddenly realized just what his armored opponent had in mind. Bowser flashed back to all of the times his red-capped nemesis had grabbed him by the tail and thrown him like a sack of potatoes. A sense of dread came over the spiky-shelled fighter.

Samus savored the fear she saw on Bowser's face. It was obvious he knew what was coming. Samus then pulled him right toward her, and quickly brought the pull into a swing. Bowser was heavy, but if a short plumber could do it, so could she.

"Oh come on!" Bowser screamed as he was swung in circles of greater and greater velocity. "The match just starteeeeeeeaaaaaaggggggghhhhhhh!!!" His scream trailed off as he was sent flying off the side of the huge street they were all traveling over. He quickly assessed his situation and smiled. Samus had thrown him far, but he would still be able to get back on the stage. After a quick shell spin, he grabbed the ledge and pulled himself up…

…only to be hit by a fully powered Charge Shot.

While Bowser had been soaring though the air and trying to recover, Samus had been preparing. The blast was enough to send the Koopa flying away again. This time, he was gone for good.

Samus watched as her opponent was knocked out of the fight. She smiled, but was immediately hit from behind.

"Don't get careless! The fight's not over yet!" Samus told herself. After landing, she turned to face her attacker. Captain Falcon, pressing his advantage of surprise, carried on his attack. He threw a second blow, but she managed to dodge it. Samus quickly jumped back to give herself room. "This isn't going to be easy."

"This isn't going to be easy." The thought was running through Captain Falcon's head as well. Defeating Donkey Kong had been fairly difficult, but that was expected when you were fighting a giant gorilla that regularly hefted large barrels. Even if he was wearing a funny tie. The exhaustion from that fight had just started to set in, which would only hinder him in fighting is fellow bounty hunter. He knew from past experiences just how fierce an adversary Samus could be.

Falcon decided to try a direct assault again, and began running toward the red and yellow figure before him. Unfortunately, she was ready this time. Samus seemed to disappear right in front of him. By the time he realized that she had gone into her Morph Ball form, Falcon felt a small explosion throw him off balance. The bomb she had placed had done its job.

"Careless!" the F-Zero champion thought. He rolled and got up just in time to block Samus' fist as it came swinging down at him. Falcon pulled her towards him and launched a Falcon Kick. Making a direct hit on her legs, Samus was sent flying. Falcon jumped up to attack in the air. Hopefully, he could end this fight soon.

It became clear to him that Samus wasn't ready to give up just yet. She swung a strong kick towards him and managed to knock them both back down to the platform. The two jumped apart.

"We're both exhausted. This is going to end soon. Just have to make sure I'm still standing then!" Thoughts flew through Falcon's mind as he ran to what could be his final attack. He jumped into the air and immediately began preparing his most powerful attack, the Falcon Punch. He would be able to throw it as soon as he landed.

Falcon realized too late that Samus was also readying her signature attack. A large blue ball of energy had taken shape in front of her, almost as large as she was. Falcon knew that it was too late to fall back, so he just hoped that he would be able to attack first as he neared the ground.

Neither bounty hunter was sure of what happened next. As soon as Captain Falcon landed, his punch of energy was thrown just as Samus fired her Charge Shot. The sheer force from both collided and for a split second seemed to mingle. Then, without warning, a bright flash of white light tore out of the nexus of their attacks, enveloping the two fighters and the entire surrounding area.

"What's going on?!" The thought passed trough both Samus' and Captain Falcon's minds. They both felt the energy pass them, surround them, and the seemingly close in on them.

Without warning, the energy collapsed just as quickly as it had grown. When it disappeared, both Smashers were gone.

End Chapter 1