Winging It Chapter 3

I'm back! Once again, sorry about the time, and once again, I did warn you! So, yeah!

Actually, first I'd like to apologise. I feel like I was being a little needy last chapter. I just like being told how I'm doing, so I can make this as good as possible.

Anyway, time to get back to the deadly game of hide-and-seek!

Samus stomped up the stairs to the second floor where the dormitories were, almost steaming with anger. She slammed her key into the hole and burst into her room. She glared at the neat pile of tools Pit had taken up, and walked past them to her dresser. She opened it, and was greeted by the welcome sight of two spare Zero Suits and a lot more guns. She began pulling them out, inspecting each one and deciding which ones would be the most painful. She decided on a large, bulky shotgun that fired incinerating lasers. Master Hand had banned it from use in competition due to it being "overpowered". She began taking it apart, inspecting each diode, gas tube and coolant pipe with well-practised efficiency. Once she was satisfied that it wouldn't fail at a critical moment, she reassembled it and was about to walk out of the door when she spotted a pure white feather on the ground. She smiled maliciously to herself. This would be all too easy.

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"Link."

"Hmm?" The swordsman looked up from his lunch to see the barrel of a very large gun, being held by a very determined-looking woman. Some of the others he had been talking to, Chrom, Toon Link, and Luigi, began to speak but were silenced by a steely glare. Link looked levelly at her, undeterred.

"Where is he?" Link sighed.

"Samus, it was an accident…"

"I can't let something like that go unpunished."

"Look, he came in here for a few minutes to grab some food, then left. Seriously, you don't have to do this. Kid was beating himself up about it enough." Samus growled and turned to walk out of the canteen. She ran into Bowser, who respectfully shuffled out of the way. Chrom leaned over to Link.

"Is she usually like this?" Link pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.

"Yes…"

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Out in the corridors of the manor, Samus was leaning against a wall, inspecting the feather. It was pure white, soft as snow, and seemingly delicate, but when she tried shooting it, the shots reflected straight off.

"Centre of mass." She noted to herself. She began silently stalking the hallways, looking for another feather. She soon found one. And another. They seemed to be getting more frequent. "Maybe stress causes moulting?" she mused to herself, before quickly dismissing the thought as she saw something quickly round the corner in front of her. Another feather drifted through the air, seemingly a taunt. One that Samus would repay.

She sprinted forward, sliding round the corner and pointing the gun at…

Kirby.

The small pink blob was quivering in front of her, both stubby arms raised in surrender. In one, it carried a small bundle of feathers, and in the other, a half-eaten tub of ice cream. Some of it was smeared over his face. Samus heard a click she recognised from old war movies back in her universe. The sound of an old-fashioned gun being cocked.

"Drop it, and turn around very slowly, please." Pit's voice came from behind her. She did as she was told, scowling at the pink powerhouse. It clattered to the ground. Kirby began to inhale, sucking in her weapon, then the rest of the ice cream, and finally the feathers. He grew two tiny wings, and fluttered off as fast as he could.

Turning to face her prey in a bizarre turn of events, she began staring past the barrel of the Bullet Blade at the extremely nervous-looking angel before her.

"Well played." She said, with no hint of a smile.

"I don't want to be doing this…" He moaned. Samus noted that the gun was still stock still. There was no chance of getting out of this her way. He was too good for that.

"Then why are you? Just let me beat the hell out of you and we can all go home."

"Oh come on… It was an accident! I said sorry, didn't I?"

"I have a reputation to uphold."

"And you already have! Snake and Falcon are in the infirmary, for crying out loud, and the fights haven't even started yet!" Samus thought about that for a bit. No one was going to mess with her after that, but still…

"Look, Angel-Face…"

"Oh, goddess, she's sounding just like Magnus…" Pit thought.

"… I can't just let you walk out of here without some serious injuries. Point of principle."

"Pleeeeeeaaase?" Pit's eyes began to widen, and his lip quivered. Samus' steely resolve cracked under the pressure of the puppy-eyes. She forced herself to look at the weapon, but it didn't help. She winced, hating to show weakness.

Suddenly he stopped, and his face lit up. "Hey! I've got an idea!" He dropped the gun, and Samus instantly lunged forward to grab him, but he wasn't there any more. He had moved to the nearest wall, standing right by it with both palms against it. He looked over his shoulder at Samus, who looked confused. "This good enough?" he asked.

Then, with an almighty crack, he smashed his head into the wallpapered-stone wall, leaving a massive gaping hole. Even Samus, who was usually not bothered that much by any degree of pain, cringed. He fell back onto the floor, unconscious. She picked up his gun, and slowly moved to his prone figure. He looked unharmed, but he had been deceptive already… She poked him with the barrel. His head rolled to one side, tongue hanging out of his mouth slightly.

She looked at the gun, then at the sleeping angel. She pointed it at his head. He shifted slightly, seemingly settling into normal sleep. He curled up into a foetal position, wrapping his wings around him, snuggling into the warmth of his own plumage,smiling softly. Samus threw the gun away. She couldn't shoot that.

She scooped him up and carried him to the infirmary, where Snake and Captain Falcon were still recovering. They cowered into their beds as she walked past, but she paid them no attention. She set Pit down on a new bed, looked hard at him for a second, then gave him a kiss on the forehead.

"Well played, kiddo." She whispered. Then she turned to leave and find Master Hand so he could repair the wall, followed by two men's astonished gazes. As soon as she left the room, one of Pit's eyes snapped open. He looked at the door, then smiled. He closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep, his head only throbbing a little now.

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Samus walked into the deserted lunch hall. No Master Hand. She suddenly realised she was hungry, and exhausted. Most missions weren't even as stressful as what she had just been through. She walked through the doors into the kitchen, and opened the fridge. There was a messy pile of containers, a few crumbs, and a note scrawled in crayon. She didn't need to read it. Kirby again. Sighing, she started piling the debris into the bin, and found something a little heavier than expected.

An untouched sandwich, still in its plastic wrapping. She picked it up, shrugged and walked back to a table, shutting the fridge door behind her. She ripped it open and began eating. As she did, the double doors opened and Master Hand floated in, carrying a mop like a pencil. He bobbed slightly, seemingly emulating a nod, in her direction.

"Good afternoon, Miss Aran."

"Same to you, Master Hand." The hand began mopping up a few spills and such created earlier, still talking to her.

"That was quite a… shocking first impression for the newcomers today."

"You're telling me." She bit into her sandwich again. "Hope none of them are too traumatised."

"I wouldn't worry. Link managed to cover Toon Link's eyes in time, the newcomers from Ylisse are both married anyway, and… well, you took care of the three in the infirmary yourself." Samus winced at the mention of the three. She felt no sympathy for the first two, but Pit… she did feel a bit guilty about him. It wasn't really his fault, and… well, she had just been a bit too angry to think clearly.

"Oh, and by the way…" Samus jumped, snapped from her thoughts. That seemed to be happening an awful lot lately. "Wii Fit Trainer was wondering if you had ever tried Yoga before. She thought it might do wonders for you, both physically and emotionally." Samus raised an eyebrow, and looked questioningly at the hand.

"Emotionally?" Master Hand squirmed.

"Well, you know…" He started twirling the mop. "You have been known to be subject to the occasional outbreak of…"

"Yes?" Master Hand coughed, or whatever the equivalent was for a hand.

"Well…Murderous rage, to be quite frank. Earlier today, for example. I did say that gun was…"

"Don't worry, Kirby ate it." She finished her sandwich, picking up the pieces of packaging.

"Ah. Well. I suppose that means everyone's a little bit safer, eh?" He joked, with a tinge of awkwardness. He was still relatively unused to females, having lived with no-one but Crazy for the majority of his life. He never knew how to act…

"I suppose." Samus began walking to the bin in the kitchen. Master Hand sighed. He did recognise this, however.

"Is something troubling you, Miss Aran?" She stopped in her tracks in front of the bin. "If it's Master Pit's new weapons, I'll make special alterations to the physics of the battlefields…"

"No… It's not that." She sighed. "I just feel a little guilty about what happened to him, that's all. I just got angry, and… well I blamed him. There's a hole in the wall over by the Supply room, by the way."

"Noted. Well, don't worry about him. Angels heal corporeal wounds and injuries extremely quickly. Due to their metabolism, you see. In fact, they only need to sleep for a few minutes every day…" Samus interrupted him, brandishing the clear plastic packaging at him.

"So how quick are we talking here?"

"What sort of injury?"

"He smashed a 20cm deep hole in the wall with his face."

"His own?" Samus shrugged.

"Thought it would make me feel better." She explained. "It did as well…" She thought. Master Hand chuckled.

"Quite considerate people, those angels. Anyway, he should have already shaken it off. To be honest, most angels wouldn't really be fazed by an injury like that. I…"

"Wait, what?" Samus shouted. "It didn't hurt him?" Master Hand recoiled.

"Probably. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to find some plaster." He rushed out of the room, slightly disturbed.

Samus stayed, emotions boiling over in her head. Anger, Happiness, confusion…

She looked at the packaging still sitting in her hands. She noticed another small note was attached, only in a different style to Kirby's. She recognised it as Link's handwriting.

Pit left this here for you. Bribed Kirby not to eat it. Asked me to write this because he only just learned how to read. Hope you didn't hurt him that badly. Link.

Samus threw it all in the bin, and continued thinking. Pit was… Pit was… She stood for a while. Eventually she laughed. A damn good trickster when he wanted to be.

There! Done. As always, remember to review, and I'll see you next time!