Just as Richter's Spirit appeared in front of him, he saw an orange figure appear behind Samus. She held two fingers up and pointing them at the sky, sending the figure forward; it was her old Varia Suit, seemingly operating on it's own. Hoping to get something out of this encounter before an inevitable fight, Richter stopped his Spirit from advancing. Then, Samus stopped walking as well.

"Richter Belmont. Fancy seeing you here," Samus said, putting a hand on her hip, "If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to make this quick."

"Last time I saw you, you were in that power suit. It's your Spirit now?" Richter asked, still standing in the same spot. Behind him, Son of Dracula waited patiently with his Sword drawn.

"Strange world we live in, isn't it?" Samus commented as if she wanted to move along fast, "Now, like I said, I'd like to make this quick. Lord Bowser and his disciples don't have time to waste on people who think themselves to be heroes."

"How did you know that we—?"

"I wish I could tell you how Lord Bowser knows. I really do," Samus interrupted, rather calmly and with a flare of sass in her voice, "But, you know, I wouldn't be a very good servant to the Dark Lord if I did."

"The Dark Lord," Richter responded, quoting that title with his hands, "It seems that our suspicion is right, then; Bowser's Spirit is Dracula."

Seemingly annoyed now, Samus rolled her eyes and clinched her fist, "Okay, this conversation has gone on for far too long."

"Oh?" Richter responded, knowing that he struck a nerve with his previous statement. He decided to take this opportunity to use his own sass, "Here I was, just assuming that two friends were catching up on old times."

"Lord Bowser will sing my praises if I kill you, Belmont," Samus stated, trying to sound intimidating. They began to approach each other again, but Richter stopped suddenly. The loud stomp of his feet took Samus by surprise, evident from her slight jump.

"Go ahead; come at me," Richter shrugged, putting his arms out to challenge Samus, "I'm waiting."

Again, in the silent desert night, there was no movement. At this point, they were only ten or so feet apart. Richter put his arms down, and he could not help but to smile, "Hmm… You didn't move. Your Spirit cannot work over distances above ten, or so, feet."

"You're right," Samus said with a tilt of her head, "I cannot manifest my Spirit a great distance from me. But, it's not short-range, like you're expecting it to be."

Suddenly, her Spirit floated around her and shot a missile straight towards Richter. He ducked quickly, his Spirit vanishing, and the missle flew just over his head. It collided and exploded with the inn's door, leaving a large hole in it's place. "My Spirit, VARIA FEATURE, can use a variety of weapons—or projectiles, as Simon calls them—to make up for it's lack of distance," Samus explained as her Spirit lifted it's arm cannon, "This one's my personal favourite; CHARGE SHOT!"

As Richter slowly rose to his feet, Varia Feature began charging something in it's arm cannon. A few seconds later, Richter dove to his left as Varia Feature launched a large blue ball of energy at him, barely missing him. Thinking quickly, Richter flicked his finger towards Samus, and his Spirit transformed into a wolf, holding it's sword in it's mouth. Son of Dracula appeared within range of Samus' Varia Feature, and she flashed a smug grin. Before Son of Dracula could execute it's attack, Varia Feature lumbered in front of Samus, who shouted "Cover Fire!". Out of the arm cannon launched fire, making Richter's Spirit disappear into mist.

"Damn! It's quick for it's size and strength," Richter muttered, rubbing his left arm to cool it down, "If I keep my distance, she'll just use her missiles or Charge Shot…"

"Like I said, I want to make our encounter quick," Samus repeated, "I and, more importantly Lord Bowser, have no time this."

"I didn't want to do this, but you've forced my hand," Richter shouted, unveiling his whip, Vampire Killer. Although the whip slowly burned into his grip, Richter grabbed the middle of the whip and stretched it out between his two hands. As soon as he saw Samus take a step with her Spirit, Richter knew she was within range. Life energy appeared around him, and he sent Son of Dracula, in bat form, forward. Samus quickly called Varia Feature out, and it absorbed the blow from Richter's Spirit without flinching. While her Spirit was occupied, Richter spun around and flung the whip forward, cracking Varia Feature in the helmet. However, it was completely unaffected. Then, just as Samus began to laugh, Richter pulled his whip back, smacking Samus in the chest. She fell backwards, crashing into a nearby grocery stand.

"Her Spirit was uneffected by Alucard's attacks and my own, but she wasn't," Richter thought aloud, "Maybe that's the strategy to defeating her."

Approaching the grocery stand, Richter looked around to find Samus, but she had disappeared. Then, he heard a noise behind him. Quickly, he summoned his Spirit, who brought his sword up; luckily for Richter, Son of Dracula caught the foot of Varia Feature. Had it not, Richter would have been dropped-kicked by Samus' Spirit. Richter's Spirit tossed Varia Feature back as Samus stood completely still, apparently not feeling her Spirit's pain. "This has gone on for long enough," Samus said, letting her frustration show, "I can tell you're hurting badly right now. Just stop fighting; Bowser could use another Belmont, you know."

Just as Son of Dracula teleported behind Samus, Varia Feature curled into a ball and rolled, appearing between them. A small bomb had been emitted during the roll, and it blew up on Richter's Spirit, causing it to catch fire. Feeling the impact of the explosion directly, Richter drew Son of Dracula back. He stayed standing despite the sharp pain in his side. "Good God, you're tough to break," Richter muttered, tugging at Vampire Killer again.

"My Spirit is incredibly durable," Samus explained, "Lord Bowser showed me my true potential after the final battle; he was there for me when nobody else was."

"You betrayed us and murdered Marth!" Richter screamed, "Then, you tried to kill me! Do you not remember that!?"

"Of course I remember," Samus said, about begin talking more. However, she saw Richter wince as he grabbed Vampire Killer again, "Oh, don't get me on a monologue. That's just a low-blow."

Richter grabbed his whip and sent a lash out as fast as he could. Varia Feature absorbed the blow, and, with Samus completely unaffected, she ordered the next attack. Her Spirit unleashed a Charge Shot directly towards Richter as he brought his whip back. It connected with his chest, and Richter flew backwards nearly twenty feet. He landed in the oyasis next to the inn, his body floating atop the water. As soon as Varia Feature vanished, Samus collapsed to a knee, breathing incredibly heavily. Before she could head over to Richter and finish him, she heard somebody in the inn wake up. Quickly, Samus left the Bazaar just as an innkeeper walked outside.


Kirby woke up to the sounds of a panic; Rosalina had been up for some hours, it seemed, while Roy and Zelda were only awake a few minutes before himself. When he looked outside, dawn had just broken over the horizon. He stumbled out of bed and grabbed his hat, seeing Richter's body laying on a bed across the large room from his own. His palms and arm seemed burnt, and his chest looked like it had been deeply bruised by something.

"What the hell happened!?" Kirby asked, walking next to Rosalina as Zelda and Roy got closer to their fallen friend.

"It must be the work of an enemy Spirit," Rosalina replied, staring at Richter. As Kirby's eyes went around the room, he saw Co-Star floating around, touching all the books in sight, "Richter wouldn't have touched Vampire Killer if it wasn't."

"He looks badly hurt… He's lucky to still be breathing," Roy sighed, kneeling down next to Roy. Before anything else was added, Richter opened his eyes barely.

The Belmont spoke slowly as an innkeeper and Co-Star came back, one of them with a bowl of hot water, "Samus… Samus Aran…"

"Samus is still alive?" Roy muttered, "I was told that she died in—"

"Her Spirit… Varia Feature… Don't fight her Spirit," Richter advised, slowly drifting back to unconsciousness, "Fight her…"

"Fight her what?" Roy asked, becoming confused. He looked to Zelda, who just stared down at Richter with a look of horror and anger on her face. As Roy fell back unconscious, Roy exclaimed, "Fight her what!?"

"Roy, that's enough!" Rosalina shouted, trying to get him to relax. She took a breath, "Co-Star did another analysis on his condition. He's bleeding internally, and he's got water in his lungs, but he's stable. A few days of rest should do the trick; he'll be back in shape to travel."

"But we can't afford to stay here for a few days," Kirby rebutted, "We have sixty-two days left until Mario dies or worse, and we have even less time for Link. If we stay here for a few more days—"

"We can't leave Richter behind though," Roy said staunchly, "If he's here alone, who's to say that Samus, or a Spirit Master more powerful, won't come back here to finish the job?"

"But, if we travel with him, as he is right now, he'll die," Rosalina explained, her voice raising slightly, "Do you understand that? According to my Spirit's analysis, he'll be okay to travel in a few days."

"Good grief…" Kirby sighed, looking down at the ground, "We have some decisions to make soon, and all our option seem to involve fatal consequences."

"Maybe we should take a few hours to think about it?" Rosalina suggested, "We need to make sure we make the right decision."

Sighing again, Kirby looked at Richter, "Unfortunately, this decision has to be made now. We don't have time to list all the pros and cons of each of our choices."

As the three of them thought to themselves in silence, Zelda spoke softly, "I'll stay behind with Richter." She stood up as the others gave her their full attention, "You're right, Kirby: we have no time to lose. But, Rosalina and Roy have good points, too. If we split up, then you three can travel ahead, and Richter and I will catch up. You can clear a path for us, if you want to think about it like that."

"What if you get attacked, Princess?" Roy asked, trying to think, "In an event where two Spirit Masters, or monsters, attack you, how can you defend yourself and Richter?"

"I'll figure it out," Zelda shrugged, "I'm sure I'll be fine, really."

"I don't like it as much as you, Roy, but maybe that's the least-worst route," Kirby sighed, "Splitting up never works out for anyone involved."

"Then again, our other options don't give us much of a choice," Rosalina added, looking down at Richter.


Several hours had passed since Kirby, Roy, and Rosalina began their journey south towards Gerudo Town. According to Kirby, the trip to Gerudo Town was only a day or so, not as long as Zelda remembered when she was a child. However, with the monsters lurking and the potential Spirit Masters targeting them at every turn, a day's journey may turn into a couple days' journey. Hopefully, by the time Richter is ready to travel, Kirby, Rosalina, and Roy will have arrived in Gerudo Town and been waiting a day or two, at the most. Then, their journey to the much greener coast would be a week from there.

Lately, Zelda found herself charting out the remainder of their journey in her mind. This happened especially when she were doing a mindless task, like trying to sleep or riding a camel. However, this time it was while she walked back from the market to the inn. The innkeepers were nice enough to let Richter stay, free of charge, until his wounds were healed enough to travel. Zelda wiped the sweat from her forehead and carried her bag up the stairs to the beds. There, she saw Richter resting, several bandages on his arm. She set her bags down and closed the blinds of a nearby window.

"Where are the others…?" Zelda heard somebody mumble. She turned around and saw Richter laying down, one of his eyes slightly opened.

Zelda walked to Richter's bed and sat next to him, "They're getting a head start. You're staying in bed for a few days; you've been beaten up pretty badly."

"We don't have time—!" Richter tried to get up from his bed but could not. He stopped talking and froze, closing his eyes in pain. Zelda stood up and almost forced Richter to lay back down in his bed.

"All this talk about "time" is getting annoying," Zelda commented as she made Richter relax his head onto a pillow, "As much as I'd like to get to Dreamland as soon as possible, I'm not going to let my friends suffer when they don't have to. Plus, we do have time on our side… Well, for now, anyways; might as well use it, right?"

Richter sighed, still relenting from relaxing his broken body, "I guess… Who else stayed back? Is Roy around? Or Kirby?"

"No, it's just us," Zelda answered, "If Samus attacks us, then we better hope that it's in the shad, or at night, huh?"

Now, Richter sat up like a man possessed. He turned his head over to Zelda and asked, "Is she still around!? Didn't you finish her off?!"

"Richter, relax," Zelda said, again standing up to make him lay back down, "Rosalina said you're bleeding internally and you have water in your lungs. Lay down and rest."

"Zelda, you don't understand," Richter said, "Samus' Spirit is nearly invincible to physical and magical attacks. The only way to stop a Spirit as powerful and durable as that is to defeat the Spirit Master."

"If she attacks us, then I know how to defeat her," Zelda quickly shrugged off, trying to make Richter relax with her own calm nature, "For now, get some rest. I've bought some fruit for you; it's not much, but it'll help you recover."

"Fruit…? Look, you're clearly too calm to understand the power behind Samus' Spirit! And that's only making me more frustrated because—!" Richter began once again, gradually sitting up.

For the last time, Zelda stood up and made Richter lay back down, "No, I understand fully. I'm just trying to get you to relax and rest."

"Zelda, look at me and tell me you understand the dire sitation we're in right now," Richter demanded, "If you do that, I'll feel much safer than I do right now."

Zelda shook her head and knelt next to Richter's bed. There, she looked him right in the eyes and said, "I promise you that I know and understand the dire situation we're currently in. Now, get some sleep and eat some fruit; we're going to try to leave in two days."


It was just about the hottest time of the day. Kirby had taken point on this day's travel, and Rosalina and Roy were about five feet behind. While Kirby had a hat on, and Rosalina has bought a scarf to cover her head, Roy had chosen to buy a full set of mail Gerudo Armor, with the help of Zelda. The armor was bright and colourful, but, as Roy found aesthetically annoying, the armor's top only had one shoulder pad an an arm sleeve, with two emerald gauntlets. Although Roy complained about that, he was much more talkative than their journey to the Bazaar, so he was not has hot.

"…You know, I wouldn't have chosen this poorly-designed outfit had it not been for the Princess' eye, which, if I do say so myself, is rather poor in terms of fashion," Roy continued an earlier remark to Rosalina and Kirby, the latter of whom had stopped listening an hour ago.

"If you think this outfit doesn't look as good as your metal armor that you wanted to wear in a desert, then you're the one who doesn't have an eye for fashion," Rosalina commented, looking at the rolling hills of sand ahead.

"What's your opinion on this subject, Kirby?" Roy asked, perking his head up at the lead camel.

After a long breath, Kirby said, "My opinion? I liked it better when you were dying of heat exhaustion and sunburns; I could actually listen to myself think."

Kirby's remarks were followed by silence, of which Rosalina tried not to giggle. Then, Roy broke it, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Before Kirby could respond with something snarky, he heard Rosalina shout something. Directly ahead of Kirby was a missile, hurling towards him. Quickly, Kirby jumped off his camel, who bore the brunt of the damage. As the camel fell to the ground, crashing down hard, Rosalina and Roy looked straight ahead, seeing Samus standing on the sand in front of them. Kirby struggled to his feet, panting from his fall. Rosalina joined him, followed by Roy shortly after.

"How's Belmont doing?" she asked, her Spirit nowhere in sight, "I didn't get to see him before I left the Bazaar."

"Don't approach her," Rosalina warned, putting her arm in front of Roy, "Her Spirit, I've seen it before; Varia Feature doesn't have much range, but it's incredibly powerful and durable."

"We'll see about that," Roy said, drawing his sword. He held it in front of his chest, so the blade faced the sky, swinging it down to strike the sand below his feet, "I know what you did in the war against Dharkon; you're nothing more than a murderous traitor!"

Roy charged Samus, much to Rosalina and Kirby's dismay. As Roy lunges towards Samus, Varia Feature appear and smacked Roy in the head with it's arm cannon. Roy's body flew sideways, into a sandy hill. Kirby took a step to check on him, but he heard Samus' Spirit begin to charge something in it's arm cannon.

"Don't," she warned, "You told him what would happen if he approached me."

Rosalina quickly summoned her Spirit, Co-Star. As Co-Star began floating close to Rosalina, she spoke up, "Let's move on from talking about the past. How did you know we'd be here? Did Bowser tell you? Is Heart of Darkness powerful enough to know things like this?"

"I'd be a terrible follower if I gave you that information, wouldn't I?" Samus responded, pointing her finger at Rosalina, "Charge Shot."

Varia Feature fired a blast towards Rosalina. Quickly, Rosalina dodged it and shouted, "Star Bit Shot!"

When Co-Star executed the attack, Star Bits shot out of it, flying towards Samus at high speeds. However, Varia Feature stepped in front of her, taking all the damage; the Bits seemed to deflect off Varia Feature, some even coming back towards Rosalina. She felt a Star Bit year through her dress, luckily not clipping any skin.

"Impossible…" Rosalina muttered, looking on in astonishment, "Nobody could just reflect Star Bit Shot; it's too fast!"

"It's not that Varia Feature has the quickness to deflect it," Kirby responded, "It's armor must be so durable and strong that it just deflects attacks like Star Bit Shot."

Samus half-grinned, letting some cockiness show, "Bingo. I see you still remember what made my Varia Suit so impressive, Kirby: enhanced strength, enhanced shields, enhanced speed. The only thing my Spirit lacks is a life-absorbing functionality. But, I suppose that, if my Spirit were perfect, this would be just unfair."

"Don't get too cocky," Kirby advised, fixing his hat to be straight, "Just because your Spirit is flawless does not mean that you are."

"That's it…" they heard Roy mutter from the sand he tiredly rose to his feet, "Don't fight her Spirit… Fight her."

"If we keep Samus distracted long enough, one of us can actually defeat her rather than her Spirit," Kirby thought quietly. He turned to Rosalina and nodded his head. Seemingly at the same time, the three of them acted.

Rosalina ran towards Samus and slid on the sand while commanding Co-Star to fire Star Bits. Like the time before, Varia Feature appeared and stood in front of Samus. While it deflected the Bits, Samus' Spirit charged its attack. A few seconds later, it fired a massive blue shot at Rosalina with Samus' command. It connected with Co-Star, launching the Spirit, and Rosalina, back several feet. Next, Varia Feature turned and attacked Kirby with a single kick of it's leg. Kirby, who had been first hit with the heel, slammed into the ground, his hat coming off. Varia Feature disappeared to deal with Roy, who tried to sneak up from behind. Varia Feature attacked Roy, but Roy slashed it across the chest. An identical wound was cut into Samus' chest at the same time, but she was unaffected.

"I'm impressed; that was the first hit somebody landed on me in years." Samus complimented, though half-heartedly, "And it only took three of you to do it."

Again, Kirby was slow to get back to his feet. He brought his eyes up to see Samus, who looked menacing with her life energy ungulfing her body while her Spirit, Varia Feature, stood behind her, pointing it's arm cannon at Kirby. Kirby then looked down, through Samus' legs, and saw Roy getting up from the ground with his sword ready.

"Varia Feature," Samus called, raising two fingers while being her hand to her side, "Cover Fi-!"

Suddenly, from Kirby's view, a sword was run through Samus' body, causing her to go limp. Kirby took a step back and saw Roy behind her, panting heavily. He withdrew the blade, making Samus' legs buckle as she tried to speaks; in a second, Samus fell onto her knees, trying to control her breathing to no avail. Rosalina slowly approached the wounded Bounty Hunter as Kirby fixed his hat and got close to her.

"How did Bowser know where we were? How many more people is he sending after us?" Kirby asked. Samus did not respond, just breathing and increasingly looking crazed.

Roy cleaned his blade with the side of his pants and sheathed it. When Kirby looked at him, Roy spoke up, "Listen, you're going to die anyways; I made sure of that. You might as well tell us what we want to know."

"I'm loyal to Lord Bower until the bitter end," Samus muttered before falling into her back. Her arms sprawled above her head as she lay back, staring directly up at the sky, "I'll keep his secrets to the grave and beyond. You won't get anything out of me…"

They soon abandoned Samus Aran, the rogue bounty hunter who betrayed them for Dharkon. Later on that day, Samus' Spirit, Varia Feature, would leave her body as she died in the middle of that sand road, taking her loyalty to Bowser to the grave as she promised.


After the run-in with Samus, Kirby, Rosalina, and Roy ventured for a few more hours with the two remaining camels; Kirby had his own while he made Roy and Rosalina share one. They soon found a spot that would make for a perfect camp; a clearing with two single palm trees. When the sun had set, Roy immediately made a fire with some flint from Kirby and his own blade. Kirby sat on the ground, looking at a map of their current location. Meanwhile, Roy leaned against one of the camels that was asleep, as was Rosalina.

"I felt kind of bad for just leaving Samus like that," Rosalina said with a sigh, "There can't be a lonelier feeling than dying alone, in the middle of nowhere, thousands of miles away from friends and family."

"She got what she deserved," Roy commented, beginning to lounge on the hump of the sleeping camel, "For everything she did in the war against Dharkon, even for the things that we don't know about… She had it coming."

"For betraying us?" Rosalina asked, clearly unaware.

Seeing this, Roy shrugged, "If only Richter were here to tell the story…"

When Kirby looked at Roy, he could see that he became fully seriously evident from the look of dread on his face. He shifted his body and leaned forward as Roy spoke, "While exploring the lands of the Dark Realm, Marth, Richter, Samus, Ike, and Ness were traveling together. Strange combination, I know. I think they were on their way to get Lucina. Then, Samus murdered Marth in his sleep; straight stabbed him in the back. As Marth bled out, Samus slit Ness' throat. Richter and Ike were lucky enough to wake up from Marth's screaming."

"My God, that's horrible," Rosalina muttered, shaking her head as she looked at the ground.

"According to Ike, Samus looked possessed," Roy added, his voice still low, "Her eyes were yellow, and her life energy appeared to be purple—but not like the same colour as Zelda's."

"That means Samus was completely in a right state of mind when she attacked us," Kirby deduced, "Bowser doesn't possess people like Dharkon did. Somehow, he makes them think that he's an all-powerful being worthy of dying for."

"Samus might be an omen for the rest of them," Roy suggested, looking down at the fire, "If they all act as loyal as she did, who knows what kinds of lengths they'll go to stop us."