-is crying tears of pure joy and happiness- Guys, I have news to tell you. I GOT MY FIRST REVIEW! Thank you SO much to whoever left it. (it was anonymous) I really appreciate it! Don't worry, I will keep it up. Now I can post this chapter! This is where it really gets interesting. I have to say, this chapter went well. I wrote it late last night, feeling inspired. Not to brag, but I like to say I have a decent imagination. Ok I'm totally bragging.
This is it, the chapter you've been waiting for. Samus is about to fight a match against the second most important character of this fanfic. Long chapter ahead.
"Prepare yourselves."
Pacing and timing in your training is very important. Especially when there's a big match coming up. I did a little "shakeout" exercise right after breakfast. Ideally, you should do this four hours prior. But I didn't want to wake up THAT early. Getting a good night of sleep is vitally important... currently, It was 10:00. The opening match would be in thirty minutes. I had decided to use my power suit for this match. When I go zero suit, I focus more on range of motion and doing some warm up flips, as my zero suit game plan involved more acrobatic moves. With my power suit on, my strategy involved less physical effort on my part, and more accuracy. I had spent some time calibrating the targeting sensors. I had already warmed up with basic drills. Now it's time for target practice.
Stepping into the simulation room, I remembered programming my own custom target practice routine last season. All I had to say to get it started was:
"Computer. -beep- Samus Target Practice sim 1."
Another beep confirmed that the built-in computer had understood my command. The background changed to Norfair, the stage I was to fight on. Lady Palutena let me know that too, she felt kind of guilty for having to help out my opponent, so to be fair, she notified me of the stage ahead of time... I think we're going to get along just fine, especially if she keeps doing me favors.
I put my helmet on, and the airtight seal engaged. I was standing on one of several floating metal platforms over a sea of lava. I could FEEL the heat in the air, and the surface of the platforms on my feet.
Moments later, it started raining tacos. You heard me right... -it's raining tacos song plays in background- Only slowly, so I had a chance to shoot them out of the air before they fell in the lava.
PEW! PEW! PEW! I fired uncharged shots at the tacos, I hit the first, missed the second, and grazed the third... excuse me, I'm a little out of practice. The music sped up, and more tacos fell.
PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW!
This time I only missed the last one.
I continued this for a while, all the while listening to the intercom. All of the other smashers were in the auditorium, attending the opening ceremony, but the fighters who were selected for the fight typically were told beforehand so they could get a chance to prepare. Luckily for me, I had learned early, and just pretended like I didn't know, and that I was surprised when Master Hand "broke the news". This was turning out pretty good so far. Any edge you can get over your opponent is essential in a balanced fighting competition like super smash bros. I continued listening to the intercom while I trained, ridding the virtual world of falling tacos...
"Will the two selected fighters please report to the teleportation rooms!" Master Hand's commanding voice boomed over the intercom. Even the audience members wouldn't know who was fighting until they saw the contenders on the big screen... or were simply observant enough to notice who was missing... but then again, not everyone attends the opening ceremony if they were too lazy to get up, so even that wasn't always a perfect strategy.
"Computer, end simulation." -beep-
I ran out of the room, jogging down the hall. On my way, I took a peak from a window that overlooked the auditorium. All kinds of people were seated there, all the fighters, and even the "assist" trophy characters were watching the big screen... I sighted Waluigi among them... poor soul. People from all over the Nintendo universe could tune in to watch... this was all done in the name of entertainment anyway. Well, they're gonna get their way. I'll give em' a good match! I kept going down the hallway. I was taking one of the more out of the way routes to get there. I reached teleportation room B, which happened to be on the other side of the manor from room A, it was made this way so that fighters wouldn't meet before they fought on the battlefield. Surprises are wonderful. Except that I knew exactly who I was fighting. I fought him last season... heh. He's gonna be a veteran this year. Proud of him, he did decent last time. Too bad I gotta kick his ass.
I screeched to a halt right on to the platform surface. I wanted to get there first. I already had a game plan in mind, but I knew it had the potential to fall apart. That's the thing with plans. Make em, but expect to break em'. The teleportation device hummed...
Being teleported is quite an experience. While you are being teleported, you enter a unique state of consciousness. Every other time I do it, I get weird dreams. I had grown accustomed to it, and the resident doctor and psychiatrist, Dr. Mario said I shouldn't be too worried about it, as long as I took a few pills... it... feels like I'm... dreaming...wait... not this...!
NO!
I was there again... my perspective was different, as if I was viewing reality from a slightly different angle. A much lower angle, to be particular. But my viewpoint was not what concerned me. It was what I saw that did. Every single thing around me seemed to be engulfed in flames... the air starved me of oxygen. Visibility was limited by smoke, and my lightheadedness. But I could hear everything around me perfectly fine. The anguished screams, calls for help, and creaking of shredded metal left a lot to the imagination. Startling me, an earsplitting screech pierced my ears from above. Something swopped seemingly just half a dozen meters above me. I fell to the ground, crying... I didn't understand what was going on! It was normally so quiet around here...
SNAP THE FUCK OUT OF IT!
"DAMNIT!" I slammed my non-cannon arm so hard into the platform below me, the platform shook and wobbled, and I fell over. Automatically, my hands went to my face to wipe away my tears, but I remembered I was wearing my power suit... how appropriate was this stage... everything here was hot too. I felt a dull pain in my non-cannon hand from punching the ground so hard... the suit was slightly dented. I hoped they didn't have audio linked to my suit, because I was doing a poor job stifling anguished tears. Why was life this way? All the fighting... all the fighting... I couldn't get up... not now, after all the preparation I had put into the match... I couldn't handle it now!
-from Zelda's POV
"Something's wrong!" I whispered to my new roommates. I had just met them yesterday, but I already trusted them. They too looked concerned.
"Maybe she over trained, and she's tired?" Lucina responded nervously.
"Not likely, Samus is in better shape than any of us." I was quite confident of that. Samus could handle anything. She's so strong, if she had over trained a bit, she could tough it out. But something worse than that was affecting Samus. I could tell, it kind of sparked some memories from last season. There were times when Samus would spend entire days missing. Right before, and after she was always gloomy... I thought she was dealing with bouts of depression or something.
The audience at large also looked confused, but their attention shifted away as the other fighter entered the stage. He made quite an entrance, a beam of sunlight suddenly manifested out of thin air... and he floated down... But Samus hadn't even noticed.
Samus's Opponent's POV
I had practiced this all week! All I gotta do is drift down from the sky and flaps my wings all dramatically! Who was I fighting again? I feel like Lady Palutena had mentioned that while she gave me a prep talk, but I was too distracted by how hungry I was. She had insisted I skip breakfast today, after getting up at like, 4:00 am to train! "It's not my fault you played Legend of Zelda all day yesterday and neglected your training, pit!" She had scolded me... I guess she had a point. OH NO, -waves hand crazily- THE AUDIENCE DOESN'T NEED TO READ THAT! DON'T WRITE THAT ONE!... I MEANT I WAS PLAYING uh... MINECRAFT!... -sigh- too late. Welp, time to stand on the magic teleporty-thingy and do my flappy wing routine. Here we go! I step on the circle, and ZIP! While I was being teleported, I had a dream of flying. I almost always dream of flying... I wish I could fly on my own. Oh well... most people don't get to fly at all, I shouldn't be so greedy.
And here I am. I made sure I made a good entrance for all the fans! Sure I have fans! I've got my own video game series! Like, THREE whole games! I made my landing on a platform. Whoa, cool! I'm on Norfair! I love this map, and I'm fighting- ...
"Samus?" I subconsciously whispered out loud.
"Yes, she's my new roommate, I met her yesterday. Didn't I tell you she was your opponent? You were paying attention right?" came the ever-present voice in my head.
"Uuuhhh..."
"PIT!- wait, is she always like this?"
I could see her from across the stage. She was very recognizable in her power suit, I could spot her from a mile away... but something was wrong. She was on one knee, with one of her hands propping herself up. She was shaking a little bit. Her body language seemed like she wasn't okay... was she covered in taco ingredients? before I could think about this further, I started runnign towards her. No, not because I was hungry. Food is usually quite high on my priority list, but Samus beats food.
"PIT! You're not allowed to approach your opponent before the round starts!" Lady Palutena sounded surprised. I never break rules... but this time I felt like I had to.
"Something's wrong!"
I knew Samus. She never shows any signs of weakness. Something terrible must have happened to her, I can't just ignore that, what kind of friend would I be to her?
Samus's perspective
My breath came out unevenly. My nose was runny. Butterflies in my stomach. Uncontrollable shaking. Sweat poured down my face, down my back. It wasn't from the lava. My suit insulated me from extreme temperatures fairly well... no, It wasn't anything physical that had brought on any of this. Sometimes the deepest wounds are the ones you can't see. I sniffed, trying to pull myself together. My vision was a bit blurry, but I swore I saw something move into my frame of view. I tried to focus on it. I was looking down at... it was a pair of feet. A fairly small pair. They were wearing sandals. What are those?! My suit detected a hand on my shoulder. Why had he approached me? It was standard procedure to stay in your half of the stage until the match started!... but I knew why.
I looked up to see an angel standing over me. Well... standing over me is an understatement. I had one knee and one hand on the floor, but even in that position, the top of his head wasn't THAT much higher than mine. I took off my helmet for a second, despite the heat, a few tears still stained my face. Hopefully he couldn't distinguish between them and my sweat.
His name was Pit. He leaned over a little bit to wipe the tears from my eyes.
My vision was still a little fuzzy, but I could make out his small shape. His white toga, his brown sandals. The glowing golden bracelets he wore, that floated around his arms, like halos. The golden olive leaf that ran through his chocolate brown locks... how in the hell- sorry heaven- does he spike his hair like that? His dual-bladed short bow. Most of all, his innocent, sky blue eyes.
I managed a weak "Thanks... kid..."
He smiled nervously at me. "You okay?"
Seeing pit had made me feel marginally better. I now had the motivation to stand up and face life again. Though life may be cruel and at times seemingly merciless... it was worth living. You never know what's around the corner. This was going to be my season. I was going to defeat anyone standing in my way, starting with this little angel here. I wasn't gonna let him off easy for being nice. He extended a hand to help me up. Normally I wouldn't accept such an offer, but in the palm of his hand, I could see a small purple object. A phial that contained some sort of liquid. No, not just any old liquid. I, unlike many other fighters, was well-versed in the oddities of the universe from whence he came. I took his hand, and he pulled me up with surprising strength. He winked meaningfully. Just before we parted hands, I grasped the little purple object, I kept it hidden from the cameras. I Pretended like I was wiping sweat from my face, I secretly uncorked it and dropped it in my mouth. I felt the liquid ooze out of the phial and onto my tongue. It tasted delicious, like a nice, hot cappuccino. I spat the tiny object out into the lava. The audience might think it was chewing gum, which I often chewed during matches. Instantly, I felt different. The intense heat radiating from the lava momentarily ceased. I felt like a comfortable breeze had cooled my body. Whatever minor aches or soreness I had that day melted. The pain in my left knee, still recovering from an injury during a recent mission, faded. Damn, I felt great. I put my helmet back on. My visor display scanned pit, giving me some juicy data on his physical capabilities. After what he had just done for me...
I would feel slightly bad for beating the crap out of him.
He will forgive me.
Bam! That ends chapter four! Who guessed who Samus was gonna fight? Be honest. Pit is my main in smash, and my fav, so I couldn't resist doing his point of view. Did you notice I made him do a little 4th wall break? It might happen again. He's important to the plot of the story, so stay tuned.
Also, I think I'm going to make quoting vines a regular thing now. It's fun! On a more serious note, Samus had a flashback in this chapter. This will also be important later on.
Lastly, I'd like to add this is kinda like the first-ish draft of the second version of this chapter I made. In the first version of this, I didn't have pit's POV, and focused entirely on Samus's, and went into more detail describing Pit. I like how this version turned out more. But, keep in mind that this is essentially a first draft. (I'll edit it more later!) But I don't want to wait to post it, because I want to express my gratitude for the user who left me a review. That seriously just made my day. Thank you, I hope you all enjoy this chapter, and if you all want to see this story continue to get better, please leave more reviews and favorite if you enjoy it enough!
-Solo is happily peacin' out!