Hey everyone, Paradigm of Writing here with a brand new chapter of Brinstar Depths, Chapter #2: Volition. I'm behind schedule from at least five days, but I've noticed now that while I get the chapter out, a good 85% of my promises on when I'm going to update never end the way I want them to. Granted, I expelled all of my energy into a 15k word count start for a new story in the Percy Jackson fandom, this one got a lot of side winded attention. Next week we should back on schedule with a third chapter, but by then here's what we've got. I did a lot of planning out with this one with a few sub arcs that no one asked for but I feel everyone will love because for some reason that's how it's gone. While the turnout has me slightly disappointed when compared to a few other stories I have, in the end it shouldn't be a problem. Thank you to Maxcy Leland, TemUltimate, and Metroid-Killer for reviewing. I hope I don't pale with this. Enjoy Chapter #2.


"I never do anything I don't want to do. Nor does anyone, but in my case I am always aware of it." ~ Robert A. Heinlein

Samus likes to think that she's smarter than the average bear. It's what Falcon tells her, well rather he shouts it at her as he's quite hammered at this point in the evening through their seventh rerun of the movie Titanic. He clutches the beer bottle in one hand – she recalls that it was his left – and a lock of her sunbeam hair in the other. It's Valentine's Day and neither have dates, and Samus agrees all the while she's kicking herself in the back because this is something since the Melee days she'd swear to never to do.

"You're smarter than the average bear, Sammy," he smirks, then takes a sip of the beer.

"Is that so," she challenges. Samus raises an eyebrow. Falcon's known for his quote unquote flattery – personally Samus views it as him being some Harvard dropout who thinks he knows what he's talking about – but on Valentine's Day, even his words are nice.

So, of course given the high irony of the situation, she proves herself to not be smarter than the average bear and plops closer to Falcon's spot on the couch and kisses him. The F-Zero racer is caught off guard, sputtering slightly and rearranging his visors which he insists to wear everywhere because he can. When Samus retracts from him, her eyes widen to the size of satellites, the television is turned off, and she races away from the couch hoping to leap off the highest peak of the mansion. She ends up running with Wanda to complain about the evening – turns out Wanda manages to somehow get Ganondorf's attention, a feat Samus will never understand as she's always thought that the dark warlock or whatever he is loved Zelda so much he was killing to kidnap her. Then again, Bowser never proved his merit to Peach in that way – but Wanda turns it around another way.

"You're upset that he kissed you?" Wanda is taking a breather, a good yard or so away from Samus, and the bounty hunter has never seen the woman have to stop and catch her breath.

"Of course I am!"

"But you leaned in first?"

Samus pauses. "Yeah… that's right. Crap, okay, wait," she turns away from the fitness trainer who's now rolling her eyes. "This sounds bad and stupid but-"

"Fix it," Wanda tells her, voice slightly too strong. "Falcon has been rejected way too many times by the women in this mansion and while we may as well chalk up another tally on his poor board of failures, you might as very well tell him before you somehow end up in bed by the end of the week!"

The blonde blanches, and luckily to all things above she doesn't retch on the concrete. The quote comes back to play in her life, because at this very morning and during breakfast, Samus finds herself nibbling on a cheese biscuit that Kirby so excellently creates with skills that Mario – he's an Italian, their cooking skills equate to Master Hand's powerful abilities – would be so envious in delving into. Across the way is Will, dressed down or up depending on who sees it and he's filled his plate sky high with fruit Samus is unsure are even words in the English dictionary.

Expertly, she tosses a nonchalant look in his direction, realizes his intent, and flees. Well, fleeing would be quite a strong word, so Samus prefers to think she's gracefully exiting a hostile and potentially dangerous scene. She tosses away her juice which is still full, grabs a napkin and begins to roll the biscuit in it. Will looks over and sees her, his face lighting up in jubilance.

He walks to her spot and sits down, setting out his milk for the oatmeal – "He's got extravagant tastes," Wanda defends her brother constantly – and only when he turns his head to give her eye contact, Samus gives up on trying to act like a mature adult and gets up. The bite he has taken spills out of his mouth as he sputters, wiping at his mouth.

"Wait, Samus!" he calls.

"Please, just don't talk to me. Not now…" she frowns, stiffly and briskly walking away. Samus has never felt the pain and burning in her glutes until now, and it's when she's proud that at the very least that the human being she's the angriest with gives good exercise advice.

"Are you really still hung up over last night?" Will asks, his voice booming throughout the crowded buffet. Every Smasher in the room freezes and tosses glances over the duo. Samus's eyes give off a glare that suggest she's found a place to put her foot, and it may land up inside Will's crotch, but violence is forbidden outside stage grounds. Perhaps she'll go to Master Hand and tell him she demands a one v. one cage match wrestling style match. Samus will pummel Will Forrest into next week.

Samus refuses to answer, and skirts off. Will's hands fall limply to his sides, defeated. He sits back at the table and continues to scuffle down his oatmeal. A shadow falls on him and he looks up. A cheerful blonde is staring at him with an all knowing smile, a plate full of pancakes and other miscellaneous food placed on the tray.

"Looks like someone's having lady trouble…" the voice taunts teasingly.

Will opens his milk carton. "First off, no I'm not. Secondly, Samus isn't acting quite lady like right now, and thirdly she isn't mine to begin with! What do you want, Shulk?"

The man, Shulk, looks affronted. "I'm not allowed to sit next to my best friend at breakfast?"

"If you're going to tease me about it the entire time, I'd prefer you sat somewhere else."

"Lighten up man… Samus isn't trying to hurt you. You've just offended her is all."

"And how would you know that?"

"I get to know people quite fast in this place," Shulk cuts into a pancake and dumps it into a packet of Will's syrup, as the Monado user forgot to grab one from the mounds sitting in the corner by the waffle maker station. "But, what's the matter?"

"I really don't want to talk about it. I already feel embarrassed for shouting it out in the middle of a crowded buffet."

"Then perhaps you shouldn't have shouted it," Shulk replies cheekily, smirking.

"Why am I friends with you again?"

"I dunno. Remind me."

"Happily," Will scowls.

He leans back, not touching his food. He isn't feeling quite hungry, and it's bothering him more than it should that Samus is upset with him. While part of him wants to say she's being an immature woman – child, fits the descript rather – it isn't his nature to go and point the finger. Part of Will finds it endearing that he's had a woman stay angry at him for longer than four hours. The worst is someone he can no longer remember, but it had something to deal with a cow, a barn, and an accidental explosive that may or may not have destroyed the woman's barn, but that's for another time. He certainly doesn't want Shulk to pipe up to him about it at a later date. Humiliation has never been one of his favorite past times and he'd rather not start now.

Will thinks back to when he first arrived in the mansion. It had been a seven year difference between the Brawl era being ushered in, and seven years is quite some time to forge a family that allows no one in it. The very first person he meets is Mario, he shakes the plumber's hand eagerly and smiles a grin that still reflects off of the colors in his dreams. Second to march up to him – Will isn't kidding, she marches up to him like a soldier, but it's cool and nerdy and he loves her for it – is Samus who offers her place as an opponent to practice sparring with in the relief centers. Relief centers were coined by the swordsmen Marth, Ike, and Link during the Brawl tournaments where once a match ended, fighters would be propelled into the next round with little to prepare for the next fighter, so the room of expectancy and anxiety turned into relief of staying out of the battle. Will is wide eyed as Samus is gorgeous and all of this beauty admits to thinking he's a worthy opponent to fight.

Shulk creeps up and startles him during a horror movie – the Conjuring if Will's memory serves right – because Ness picks it and Peach reprimands that an eleven year-old probably shouldn't be watching those sorts of movies. It's during a possession scene that gives Will the willies – distasteful language is quite distasteful – and the blonde swordsmen does a leap attack onto Will's shoulders. Although it may be because of the popcorn hurricane that flies out of the fitness trainer's hands that elicits the glares from the other nine people on the couch, he believes it's because of the all not too manly shriek that Will cries out. He turns around and pops quite the punch into Shulk's jaw out of fright, half expecting it to be Link or Roy or someone of the caliber, but certainly not the blue eyed male looking back at him in shock as if he maimed a puppy.

Will gets an ice pack and refuses to back to the couch until Shulk promises he's alright, and then their friendship is born. A few sparring sessions where the blonde is able to wallop on the brunette seals the deal and now Shulk pops up at every breakfast, lunch, dinner, party, bar mitzvah, Christmas celebration, and tags along as the third-wheel on Valentine's Day dates which ends with the poor guy chasing after some other poor gal who all she wants to do is call the cops and get the freak with the luscious lemonade wave of hair to get out of her face… Will's still trying to teach the other guy on the complexities that is dating. Doesn't seem to be doing much good.

Shulk peels back the banana that he laid against his plate, taking a hearty bite out of one of the ends. "You should go and talk to her," he offers, nodding at Will.

Will scowls into the table cloth. "I'd rather eat my shoes than go and speak to Samus when she's angry."

"What'd you say?"

"I may have mentioned to her on the terrace last night something about Subspace…" the training guru just wants the ground to swallow him whole. Maybe send him to some nether realm and eat sweets with corpses and bones. It'll be a much easier task than trying to have Samus be appealed to in forgiving him.

Shulk freezes, banana pointed in quite a conspicuous manner, so he puts it down on the table. "Subspace," he whispers lowly, giving doggedly gazes around the table. "Like, that thing that happened ten years ago and gave thirty two of the Smashers here PTSD?"

"You're not very subtle with these things, are you?"

"How could you tell?"

Will shrugs. "Just a hunch."

"Am I right?"

He pats the table. "Yeah, you are."

Shulk sits back somewhat. "I could see many reasons why that would upset her. After all, during the stupid thing, that dragon beast thingy-"

"Ridley," Will cuts in, putting his head in his hands, not quite seeing where his best friend is going with this tangential point. "A purple freakazoid monster."

"Right," Shulk points his finger at the other man. "Anyways, that thing… Ridley, bashed her into the side of an air tunnel. I'd be quite freaked out to if I were her. And besides, all thirty-two of those Smashers who were involved died, Will. I believe some of them died several times in fact, so yeah, she has the total right to be upset with you."

"Aren't you supposed to be able to give me advice. Good advice I mean, advice I can actually use in the future?"

"Well even an idiot would understand that you should go and apologize. Mr. Game and Watch doesn't even speak and I'm pretty sure he would know to do that."

Will looks at Shulk and blinks a few times. "I don't think what I'm asking you is truly even getting to you. I should give up. Besides, I have a match today. Very well can't just go and forget about it. Master Hand will have my hide!"

"How did it even come up?"

"What come up?"

"Subspace."

The fitness trainer rubs the back of his neck. "Samus mentioned she was thinking about the Brawl era. Naturally, I gravitated towards that. Normal people would think the same thing."

"Are you classifying yourself as normal?" Shulk raises an eyebrow.

"Pleading the fifth."

Shulk places a hand under his chin and sighs. He's found that the trait of constant deflection of blame runs rampant through the entire mansion, crippled mostly in the adults and even a few of the teens and children who've suffered a lot. Others, like Mario especially, understand their actions affect a lot of people and events and take their words at face value. However, and Shulk wishes this wasn't the way it had to be, that Will wants to forget the conversation between he and Samus never happened.

"You need to talk to her," he urges. Will starts to rebuttal, but the Monado wielder is not letting someone override his quite valuable – well, in Shulk's opinion his opinion is valuable – insight. "It doesn't have to be today or tomorrow, or even a week from now if you think Samus is the person who golds grudges-"

"She hates R.O.B, Shulk! That's a ten year grudge right there!" Will argues.

"Besides the point, you have to do it or you're less of man than what she already may think of you. She'll cool down, and maybe if you win your match she'll think you're like this awesome kick ass battler and Samus will love you again."

"Samus doesn't love me."

"But you love her?" Shulk teases.

Will flushes at the ears. "I do not love her! What gave you that impression?"

"Only because you talk about her 24/7…"

"I do not!" the fitness trainer objects hotly.

Shulk begins counting incidents on his fingers. "Oh Shulk, like did you see her eyes today? They were SO pretty and SO large and oh my god I think I'm in so much love that I may just kiss her. Or, wow Samus is awesome and can kick butt. I want her to kick my butt because I deserve getting my butt kicked by someone SO awesome…" he laughs and giggles away at his joke, much to Will's chagrin.

"You suck…" Will sticks out his tongue, crumples the rest of the plate and food in his hand, and gets up, tossing it away in the garbage. He doesn't bother to wave goodbye to his best friend as he knows that Shulk will be in the first aisle up by the Battlefield stage to watch and cheer him on like Donkey Kong will do for Diddy, and Pit for Palutena.

The blonde chuckles to himself and goes back to eating. It may not be his favorite thing to do in the world, but teasing on Will's words makes life worthwhile because the poor man sets himself up in the most tragic of tragic ways that could ever exist. He spoons a bite of cereal and wipes it up in the syrup on his pancake. As Shulk would tell others, his taste in food is both unique with a grotesque Frankenstein twist added in all because he could.

He turns to watch Will walk outside into the main foyer of the mansion, a sweepingly beautiful botanical garden where Meta Knight is often found out reading a book with Rosalina reading away to him the poetry she came up with the night before. Shulk pauses, biting on his lip, hesitant to call out to his best friend. Part of him wants to do, but the other half feels it will cause complications and there's nothing worse than getting the entire mansion alarmed.

The taste of lucid copper fills his mouth as the events of last night play over in his head. There's a loud crash outside his room that awakens Shulk at about two in the morning. The blonde stirs and goes to grab the Monado resting up against the dresser in case there would be burglars. Sometimes a lucky chap who thinks he can strike gold by stealing some Mushroom Kingdom coins gets by the security systems and traipses onto the mansion's grounds.

However, before Shulk is able to wrap a hand around the weapon, the door to his bedroom flies open with a cowling screech. He's tossed back to the wall, head turned away from the shrill blow of wind. He looks back at the door frame and the sight turns his blood ice cold. A figure stands in the doorway, almost resembling him, except there's no facial features to truly assemble from.

"What do you want?" Shulk shouts, bravely, though his heart is beating a thousand times a minute.

A clawed finger points at him, and their voice doesn't come out verbally, but a hiss inside his head that stops all other thought processes form taking place. "Bring us the fair maiden, Shulk, the Monado wielder! Bring her to us!"

"Who?" he cries out.

"You will know who…" the voice snarls.

"Who are you?"

It's two words, two simple words that hurt his entire existence and haunt him even in broad daylight. "The depths…" is the reply, and then as soon as the intruder came in, they vanished, and Shulk collapses to the carpeted floor of his bedroom.

He grunts out a sigh of pain, sitting up on his elbows and looking worriedly at the door which is still flung open. Shulk sits up on his knees, letting go of the Monado which sat in its spot, unmoving. An image is seared into his mind, a lava sea below a bed, and in the bed, is someone he's unable to tell from the angle till in the picture the person sits upright in a flash. Samus.

Another thought from the cold voice goes through Shulk's head, and the image dissipates.

The dark whispers plague her in the fragile nightmare of sleep. Blackness and consuming screeches. The blonde warrior screams and leaps upright beneath the sheets. All her mind can do is think. "Beware of the depths beneath the lava sea."

We're the depths, and we'd like to meet.


And there we are ladies and gents! That was Chapter #2: Volition, of Brinstar Depths. And ooh… the tight ring of threats has grown even more to now apparently my favorite Smasher I use as a villain and certainly an anti-hero. For those who knew of his role in Raven and the Lion plus Icarus Chronicle can tell. As for Maxcy, and those reading Syrenet, the cheery man I've written here is a total flip in that story (which I'm shamelessly plugging right now! TemUltimate, I think you'd love that story! Check it out!), it was a lot of fun. Clearly, so far, the horror is tongue and cheek where this isn't exactly scary, but it's propositional, as I want you all to paint your own picture. I like the Will x Samus dynamic I have going on, and then I still have to introduce Sonic into the story as well, so that'll be fun. Shulk's inclusion in this mess is going to be something I originally hadn't planned for, but I digress. There'll be an update next week as well for Brinstar Depths, and we'll be on the right page! Please review and let me know what you thought about this chapter! I hope to see you again for Chapter #3: Sedition. I love you all so much! You have an amazing day! Bye!

~ Paradigm