Thanks for being patient with me. From this point on, I'm going to try to make the chapters a little longer. Also, I'm going to start developing the main story from now on.

Here's Chapter 4, picking up right where 3 left off. Enjoy!

High Stakes in Mute City, Chapter 4

"That's an understatement." Samus commented as she lowered her cannon. With their distance from the main street and the high walls of the alley around them, she knew it was safe to carry on their conversation. "How long have you been up and about?"

"Not long," Captain Falcon replied, "Maybe an hour, hour and a half. You?"

"About the same." Samus then decided to ask the question that had been bothering her for all of that time. "What do you think happened back at the fight?"

Falcon crossed his arms and thought for a second. "Well," he started, "I won't pretend to understand how Master Hand's dimension works, but I think it's safe to say that our attacks colliding did something to it. It looks like we were both brought here to my universe. The Mute City stage we were on might have, I don't know, determined where we were transported."

Samus nodded in agreement. "Yeah, that's what I figured. But I think that there's more than that."

"What do you mean?" the Captain asked.

"When I woke up, I wasn't just lying around on the ground somewhere. I was in my own ship, which I might add was in a completely different place than where I left it. If we were just brought to your universe, how did it get here?"

"Good question." Falcon muttered, thinking carefully. "Samus' ship ends up here with her? How could that happen?" He finally spoke,"The only explanation that I can think of is that some elements of your universe came over with you." Falcon shrugged. "Don't ask me how, but it's all I've got."

Samus let out a breath. "Well, that's good enough for me. But what are we supposed to do now? Just wait for Master Hand to do something?" She paused for a second. "Seems to me to be the only real choice we have. Neither of us knows how he travels across dimensions and gets us in the first place, so we can't do it ourselves."

Captain Falcon considered that for a moment. "True enough. We wait, then. But what exactly are you planning on doing in the meantime?"

Samus hadn't given that much thought. The shock at being shafted into another universe had taken priority in her mind. Now that the topic had been addressed, however, she realized that she would need some sort of plan to survive while she was stuck here. She envied Captain Falcon, who was right at home despite being in the same situation.

"Well, I guess I'll try to hunt down bounties."

Falcon nodded. "All right, but I think that you should stay in the city. It'll probably be easier for Master Hand to track us down if we stay in the same area." He was silent for a second, and then quickly looked around. "Come with me," he said, turning and walking in the opposite direction of the way they came. Samus quickly moved to catch up with him.

"Where exactly are we going?" she questioned.

"My place. If you're serious about bounty hunting here, I have information that you might want."

The two walked on, the labyrinth-like alleys they passed through hiding their presence from the outside world. Samus was amazed that a city as large and bright as Mute City had this much area shrouded in darkness. Due to years of experience with criminals, Samus had a fairly good idea of what went on back here.

CHINK

The sound was barely audible; it was quiet, and it came from far above the pair. However, both bounty hunters heard it instantly. They kept on walking, acting as if nothing had changed. Samus and Captain Falcon each cast a quick and almost imperceptible glance at each other. The simple movements spoke the same thing to both of them.

"We're being followed."

On the next possible turn, Captain Falcon went left, quickly followed by Samus. Much to the female bounty hunter's surprise, the far-off end of the route they were taking was a dead end. As they got closer to the high wall in front of them, Falcon moved a bit faster and moved farther ahead.

"What is he doing?" a puzzled Samus wondered. She then noticed Falcon's right hand moving, slowly and, Samus realized, deliberately. It started from a clenched fist, and then moved so the index finger and thumb were out in a ninety degree angle. It then clenched again with the index finger pointing up almost directly to her right. Samus instantly understood the message. Her right fist clenched inside her cannon, ready to fire. As they finally made it to the wall, Falcon stopped in front of it and moved his hand across the surface, as if to look for something. When he finally spoke, he uttered just one word with complete calm.

"Now."

Samus swung her cannon up instantaneously. A split-second later, the chunk of rooftop above her was sent crumbling down by one of her Missiles. Along with it came a large, shadowy figure that landed with a loud THUD. The dust kicked up by the rubble kept it hidden for a few moments, long enough for Falcon and Samus to surround it.

"Okay, get up," Captain Falcon ordered, "and drop any weapons you have!"

The figure seemed to hesitate for a second, as if it was planning its next move. Neither of the two bounty hunters was too surprised when it swung out at them. The pair jumped back out of their attacker's large reach. However, while the attack missed, the limb that swung out did manage to catch them off-guard. It was a large, lobster-like claw, colored a sickly black and formed of jagged edges and crooked plates. Only after looking at it for a moment did they realize that it was skin and not some kind of shell. The dust finally settled, revealing the mysterious assailant.

Captain Falcon could hear Samus gasp at the sight of their attacker, and he couldn't blame her. The creature in front of them was easily taller than they were, and its entire body was covered with the same armor-like skin the claw was. Its opposite arm ended in a similar claw, and the thing's feet looked as if they could function as blades as well. Two yellow lights seemed to flicker near the top of the creature's chest, and Falcon realized that they were the creature's eyes. The darkness of night around them made any other characteristics impossible to discern. The thing then used its enemies' surprise to jump onto the wall. With uncanny speed, it began climbing up to the rooftop from whence it came.

Captain Falcon jumped after the creature, managing to grab onto its ankle. Before the creature could shake him loose, he pulled himself up to its shoulders. The thing beneath him bucked, trying to get rid of him, but Falcon held on tightly. The F-Zero champion began raining punches right onto the creature's stump of a head to try to render it unconscious. Unfortunately, while the thing cried out in pain and slipped a few feet, its tough hide protected its head too well. Finally, it swung one of its claws out and managed to elbow its opponent in the stomach, knocking him off into the alley below. Falcon managed to roll with the impact of the landing, but was left slightly winded from the hit he had taken.

Before Falcon could recover, Samus was already firing her Grapple Beam up towards the creature. Unfortunately, it had seemed prepared for this and quickly swung to the side of the beam. The volley of shots Samus fired next failed similarly due to the thing's surprising agility. It then clambered over the ledge of the roof, and the disappearing footsteps told the bounty hunters that it was long gone.

Both bounty hunters were silent for a few seconds. Falcon rose, his abdomen aching. He then noticed that Samus seemed to be shaking slightly. Her left fist was clenched, apparently in anger.

"Samus, are you all right? I'm mad that he got away too, but…" he asked cautiously.

Samus was silent for a moment before turning to face him.

"Do you know what that thing was?" she asked him, her voice tense. It was clear that she already knew the answer to that question.

"No, I've never seen or heard of anything like it. Have you?"

Samus was silent for a moment. When she finally replied, her voice sounded like a mix of anger and fear.

"That…was a Space Pirate."

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The Space Pirate stood in the center of a large room, a light above shining onto it. With that sole exception, the area was completely dark. It trembled in fear, knowing full well what was about to happen. It had failed; the mission had been to provide reconnaissance on the Hunter and what she was doing in this city. Instead, it had given away its presence. Now the Hunter knew that they were watching her.

"Do you know why you're here?" a voice hissed from the shadows. It sounded reptilian, like it came from a giant snake. Its volume was loud, yet somehow managed to sound subtle, like the best of manipulators. "Well?"

The Space Pirate shook and nodded quickly.

"You were merely supposed to follow the Hunter. Find out what she was doing. Accomplish said objectives with utmost subtlety." The voice slowly rose as it continued, noting annoyance. "Did you do these things?"

Another nervous round of nodding.

"No, you didn't. You let her see you," the voice began growing louder with each word, "fight you, and then… almost… catch… you!"

The Space Pirate felt its legs wobble. It silently prayed that it wouldn't collapse now, of all times.

"However," the voice suddenly said, returning to its original tone, "however…"

The Space Pirate looked up nervously, surprised at what seemed to be a lucky break.

"I will admit," the voice continued, "that the presence of Captain Falcon was not entirely expected. Our surveillance indicated that he is a skilled warrior, perhaps as skilled as the Hunter. His presence might have been your undoing. To give you credit, I doubt that many would have been able to escape from both him and the Hunter without giving them any information. Bravo."

The Space Pirate's eyes widened. Was it about to be forgiven?

The voice's owner noticed this. "The fact remains that you still failed."

The Pirate's hopes sank.

"I have come to a decision. I will spare your life… today."

The Space Pirate looked up in surprise.

The voice continued. "However, punishment is still called for."

The Space Pirate had barely enough time to process this statement before it was knocked down to the ground by a powerful impact from behind. It cried in pain and fear, knowing that more would come. A large claw, almost as large as the Pirate's body, flew out of the shadows and pinned it to the floor.

The claw's owner then chose that moment to make himself visible to his subordinate. First his arm came out of the darkness, followed by a large, dragon-like head. The grey-purple scales glinted in the light as yellow eyes burned without any pupils. The rest of the creature's body came out: a bony yet powerful- looking body, a pair of fearsome clawed feet, two large leathery wings, and a long, spiky tail.

Ridley smiled as flames started crawling out of his mouth…

End Chapter 4