Warning: The beginning of this chapter is a bit graphic, so if you don't think you can handle it, just skip ahead to the first line break.

Let's (Not) Be Smashers

Chapter 23: KOnapped

It was a bright, sunny day, and Carol was standing out in the nice green grass as she took a breath of the fresh air.

"Ah, what a beautiful day." she sighed. Just then, she heard someone call to her, and smiled upon seeing her son running to her, and she held out her arms and let him jump into them. "There you are, my little Peanut!"

"Hey Mommy, betcha can't tag me!"

"Oh, we'll see about that!" Carol replied, but allowed her son to have a headstart.

K.O. giggled as he began to run off. It was just going to be a beautiful day with him and his mom, and nothing could possibly ruin it.

Suddenly, K.O. heard a yell from behind him, and he stopped and turned to see Carol on her knees, clutching her side and her face contorting, like she was in serious pain. "Mommy!" he exclaimed as he quickly ran over to her, and gasped when he noticed a dark red stain forming under her hands. "M-Mommy, you're bleeding! What happened?!"

"I...I don't know..." Carol answered weakly.

K.O. started to get scared. "D-Don't worry, Mommy! I'm gonna go get help!" But before he could call for someone to help, something suddenly grabbed Carol and carried her into the air at blinding speed. "Mommy?" He looked up and his blood turned to ice when he saw who it was that snatched her. It was Ridley, and he had her pinned to a wall and grinning widely as she desperately tried to break free. "Mommy, no!" he shouted as he ran over to try to help his mom, only for the space dragon to shoot a fireball at him, creating a ring of flames around him.

Ridley grinned sadistically as he saw Carol's face turning blue as she was suffocating from his claws wrapping around her neck. "Yes, that's it. Struggle harder." He had his other claw ready to do the unthinkable.

There was then the sound of slashing followed by a loud and shrill scream of pain. K.O. could only watch as he witnessed the most gruesome scene that no child should ever have to witness, from seeing claws tearing through flesh with blood splattering everywhere to hearing his mother's screams of agony.

Ridley continued to slash Carol's stomach, relishing in her screams and once he had enough, he dropped her and she fell to the ground, clutching her chest and coughing up blood as her midsection was dark red.

"M-Mommy?" K.O. asked, whimpering as he saw her bleeding so badly.

Carol looked up and saw the look of pure horror on her son's face. "K-K.O..." she gasped, but then a sharp tail suddenly pierced right through her chest, a shocked expression frozen on her face as she collapsed to the ground with a pool of blood forming underneath her.

K.O. couldn't bear to look anymore as he turned away from the horrific sight that was now his mother and began to sob. But there was no time for him to grieve as Ridley landed right in front of him, his claws, teeth, and tail completely stained with his mother's blood and grinning the most evil, sadistic grin.

"Your time is up, little boy!"

"No, no, no!" K.O. backed away from the giant murderous monster, but found himself cornered. "N-No, p-please don't kill me!"

"Sorry, kiddo, but I'm afraid I will, and your mom and your Let's Be Smashers friends aren't here to save you." Ridley replied, and then he lunged at K.O. with a screech.

The LBS shot awake upon hearing the sound of a child screaming. They were resting for the night in the back room of the gunship, that is, until they were rudely awoken by someone screaming like they were being attacked.

"K.O.!" Rad and Enid took no time to head over to K.O., where the boy was fidgeting in his sleep.

"K.O., are you okay?" Rad asked as he put a hand on K.O., causing him to scream again.

"No, no, NO! Let me go! I'm too young to die!"

"K.O., it's us!" Enid shouted, shaking the boy awake. He gasped as his eyes shot open and looked pretty shaken up. "Were you having a nightmare?"

Just then, Carol came running in, like how any parent would upon hearing their child screaming. "K.O., what's going on?! What happened?!" she asked frantically.

"Mommy..." K.O. whimpered, and Carol quickly went over and picked him up as he began to quiver in her arms. "Oh Mommy, it was horrible! We were just having some fun together, b-but then R-Ridley g-got you a-and...th-there was so much b-blood and h-he..." He buried his face into his mother's chest and began to sob.

Carol wrapped her arms around her son and stroked his head soothingly while whispering, "Oh, it's okay, Peanut. I'm here. It was just a bad dream."

"What's going on here?" Samus asked as she came in.

"K.O. had a nightmare." Carol answered as she continued to comfort her whimpering son.

"A nightmare, eh? Was I in it?"

Everyone was confused at that unfamiliar voice. There was then a faint blue light in the corner of the room, and they saw a dark figure step out from the shadows.

"Dark Samus, how did you get here?!" Samus asked.

"Oh, I just had a bit of a talk with one of those Light Trooper guys, but that's not important. What is important is you!" Dark Samus turned to Carol and fired her plasma whip to grab K.O. "You're coming with me!"

Carol gasped as her son was yanked out of her arms. "K.O.!" she shouted, only to be blown back with the rest of the group as Dark Samus unleashed a blast from her body.

"Mommy!" K.O. shouted, only to be silenced as Dark Samus covered his mouth with her hand.

"Now if you'll excuse us, me and him have some interrogating to do."

"No, NO! K.O.!" Carol shouted as she ran towards the two with her hand out, but it was too late as K.O. and Dark Samus vanished into thin air just as she reached them, making her fall flat on the ground. She quickly got up but saw that her son was gone. "No...no, no, NO! MY SON HAS BEEN KIDNAPPED!"