I'm really excited about some new directions I'm taking this, but I won't spoil anything. Chapter 7—HO!
"Kill me?" Samus asked incredulously. "I thought you said the Vhozon believed I was valuable?"
"Not in the wrong hands," Noxus replied smoothly. "The individual who is currently tracking you is a highly trained killer and a known hater of anything to do with the Galactic Federation."
This description brought only one person to mind. "Sylux?"
Noxus inclined his head slightly. "Without my assistance, the Vhozon see no logical way for you to escape this hunter. Almost all of his weaponry is stolen Federation technology. If you are allowed to be captured by this…Sylux, who knows what he might find out, and eventually acquire? What havoc he might wreak?"
Samus's mind was racing. How long had she been followed? "Wait, why do you care? Sylux's only target seems to be the Federation, and they've never been on particularly good terms with the Vhozon."
The violet hunter laughed dryly. "I'm afraid there is much you don't know about your exalted Federation, Samus Aran. They make more dealings with us than you might think."
Ignoring this ominous statement, Samus continued with her questioning. "If you're so worried about Federation technology falling into the wrong hands, why don't you just kill me, and get it for yourself?"
Noxus eyed her quizzically. "You do seem awfully eager to find logical reasons for your own demise, Ms. Aran. Again, the Vhozon believe you are extremely valuable to the general welfare and protection of the galaxy. However, if you choose to refuse our help, we will be forced to eliminate you."
Samus narrowed her eyes. "This is blackmail."
"This is justice," responded Noxus coldly. He pointed the Judicator at Samus's head. "I would advise you to choose wisely."
--Planet Hocotate--
President Shyacho of Hocotate Freight was not having a good week.
A rather large amount of customers had first sent angry letters complaining about a number of products his company had sold them. For example, apparently the so-called "Shock Therapist" had conveniently lacked a label that stated it could cause unconsciousness and large headaches. Shyacho shook his head. The sheer nerve of some people.
Then there had been that crashed UFO. Some idiot had driven his bright green ship into the ground, causing untold property damage and general annoyance. However, it had also generated a large amount of news coverage, which would hopefully lead to more Hocotate Freight brand recognition (and more money).
And that kid. The president had never known exactly what to think of Louie, but he liked to think the rookie employee showed a lot of potential. However, Louie's mind had been somewhere else lately. He said he could speak to bugs, and that they called him their king.
Shyacho snorted. How ridiculous. And the "King of Bugs" was costing him valuable cargo every time he screwed up.
It was always like this whenever Olimar was gone. Something bad would happen, and the President wouldn't know how to fix it, and then it would slowly snowball into an Emperor Bulblax-sized problem.
And then Olimar would return, and put things right with astounding ease.
Shyacho harrumphed in irritation. Why did his employees want vacations, anyway? What more important things could they possibly have to do than work for Hocotate Freight and earn him money? It made no sense.
Suddenly the phone rang loudly. The President scrambled across the room as fast as his tubby body could carry him and grabbed it eagerly. (Shyacho had a philosophy that stated any phone call could be the one telling you you've won the lottery. It wasn't a particularly reasonable philosophy, but he didn't care.)
"Hello?" he asked expectantly.
The voice on the end of the line made him shudder.
"I believe you owe me some money," said the chilling voice of his loan agent.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Shyacho replied, nervously tugging his collar. "I paid back that loan months…years ago!"
"I'm not talking about that," the Loan Shark (as he was popularly known) replied.
"Oh," said Shyacho, feeling confused. "Then what is it?"
"A large shipment of your finest quality fireworks was recently lost in transit," said the loan agent emotionlessly. "I'm afraid that was worth a rather large amount of money."
The President began to sweat. "How much?"
"A little over 1200 pokos," replied the Loan Shark.
"Oh," said Shyacho. "That's not too bad."
The president could almost hear his nemesis smiling evilly over the phone. "That's not including tax."
Shyacho started sweating again.
--
Louie was currently sitting on his couch, watching the Cooking Channel.
He had always been told he had a sense for good food, but he it only been two years ago that he had started putting this to good use. While on the Planet of the Pikmin with the great Captain Olimar, he had discovered a talent for cooking elaborate dishes of the monsters they had defeated. He had even written a cookbook, which had become a surprise best-seller.
Unfortunately, his talent for cooking didn't translate to good business sense, so his money had been wired to a bank account somewhere (his agent, for some reason, wasn't too keen on the details) and he was still working at the decidedly unimpressive Hocotate Freight.
At least he still had his TV. That was a nice constant.
The phone beeped frantically. Louie let it ring a few times out of laziness, then slowly got up and walked over to pick it up. Nothing really surprised him.
"Hello?" he said in his usual semi-slurred voice.
"Louie?" an anxious voice said on the other end. "Is that you?"
"Uh…" Louie pondered this for a few seconds. "Oh, yeah, it's me."
"Er, right," replied his boss. "Anyway, we have a HUGE PROBLEM!"
"Huge problem?" Louie asked dimly. "What is it?"
"You know that load of fireworks you were assigned to deliver a few months ago?" Shyacho asked.
"Let's see…Yeah. Yeah, I do." Louie said. He remembered the big EXPLOSIVE signs on all the boxes. "Uh…What's that got to do with anything?"
"What exactly happened to them?" queried Shyacho testily.
"Hmm." That was a hard one. "Well, I was going to deliver it, just like you said, but…"
"But? pressured the Hocotate Freight president.
"But then this nice guy, his name was, like, Max or something, he said he would deliver them for me. He was really cool. He had this wicked red hairdo, and this black jumpsuit."
The other end was silent for a few minutes. Louie waited patiently.
"Louie?" Shyacho said finally.
"Yeah, boss?" Louie asked cheerfully.
"Black jumpsuits are the uniform of our competitor, Aeronautical Space Shipping."
Louie sniggered. "ASS."
"It's not funny!" barked the President.
Louie stopped laughing. "Well, who knows, boss, he might've been…I dunno, jogging or something…"
"In a # black jumpsuit?" screeched Shyacho.
Louie sighed. "All right, boss. I screwed up. Whaddaya want me to do?"
"I want you to find the shipment, is what I want you to do!" shouted the President. "I want you to find it and take it back, so we can sue those frauds' asses for all they're worth!"
His employee sniggered again. "ASS's asses…"
"SHUT UP!" screamed Shyacho. "Do you have any idea how stressed out I am?!"
"…Some," replied Louie quietly.
The President regained some of his composure. "Please, please find that shipment, Louie. If you don't…then we're all in big trouble."
"All right, Boss," said Louie enthusiastically. "You can totally count on me! I'll get that shipment back so fast, those ASSes won't even know what hit 'em!" He hung up the phone with an enormous clatter.
Back in his office, Shyacho frowned. Why did he get the overpowering feeling that this was a really bad idea?
--
In the cargo hold of Louie's ship, parked in Hocotate Freight's garage, something woke up.
Vague memories floated around in its head. Fighting...escaping...crashing...Most of them were fragmented beyond recognition. However, there were two things its primitive brain held on to.
The first was a name, Kanden
The second was an instinct. Kill.
Ah, Louie is fun to write.
I am aware that my writing style can be somewhat overly dramatic at times, but being the geek that I am, I just can't resist cliffhangers. Please do bear with me.
