These portals were an efficient method of travel, Samus had to admit. It was far faster than even the fastest ships, though it did seem to have a capacity issue. They all moved single file until they were in a lush forest in front of a machine with a large base that narrowed into an antenna array at the top. The sensor device it would seem. Even her power suit could not identify everything about that thing.

She was not sure about all this. Samus analyzed her new teammates. Fox may have been the easiest to read. He was cut from similar cloth as her. After all, a mercenary was not that different from a bounty hunter. Though despite being a gun for hire, he was also tagging along without any promise of pay.

Link was…something else. He carried himself like a professional, but at the same time something seemed just a tad off. He had experience, that much was obvious, but at times he seemed a bit awkward. Like he was trying to hide a certain childlike wonder. One tempered by hardships, but one still there all the same. May have been why he hardly said anything, but Samus was hardly one to judge there. In her line of work she's gone days without saying a word.

Mario on the other had perplexed the bounty hunter. Mostly because she could hardly see what a portly human – at least he seemed to be human even if his proportions were a bit weird – added to the mix. Granted, his entrance seemed to indicate that he was lighter on his feet than appearance would suggest, and he did carry himself with confidence and experience. Still, she had her doubts.

"Already set up, just like the hand said," The aptly named fox commented, "Just gotta set up the two booster towers."

"I'll handle this one," Samus picked one up with her armored arm not bothering to wait for any feedback.

Fox sighed as she left before looking to Link, "I don't suppose you know much about electronics?" Link shook his head and Fox hummed, "Didn't think so. I'll come along so long as you carry it. Deal?"

Link answered by picking up the column as the two started in the opposite direction as Samus, "You okay watching the base alone?"

Mario nodded and watched for anything that could pose a risk. Looking around, the area did not look so different from some of the places he had been in his adventures. Fewer eyes though. He supposed that may have been a quirk of his world though. Either way, he remained vigilant as the others performed their tasks.

Samus trudged along silently with only the sound of her metal boots accompanying her. It was what she was used to. Teams were an unpleasant experience for her. They had not traditionally ended well for her, so she was understandably uneasy about the prospect of a team up.

Distraction soon found Samus in the way it usually did though. Something approached and Samus quickly rounded on her feet and brandished her arm cannon at…air. Narrowing her eyes, she turned to resume walking toward her destination only to stop almost immediately at the sight of the…rat in front of her.

The bounty hunter sighed and lowered her canon. Must have been one of those Pokémon things the hand had told them about. Well, they were not part of her mission so she tried to shoo it away with her foot.

"Go on, get!" Samus tried chasing it away only for the chubby rodent to sniff her boot and discharge a slight amount of electricity, but it was enough to deplete her shielding by a small amount.

"Alright, that's it!" Samus fired a warning shot a few feet away which seemed to do the trick making her huff in response before marching onward to the designated spot.

Link and Fox walked along in silence with the young man carrying the sensor tower like it was nothing. He certainly appeared to be very physically able, but when dealing with technology, Fox had his doubts as to the green clad warrior's effectiveness. At least he could carry things he supposed.

Fox soon looked back though as Link stopped in his tracks. He did not say what was wrong, instead he dropped the tower and turned around with his sword drawn before Fox could even tell what was going on.

Then the situation deflated as they both saw what had caught his attention. The sword was pointed straight at a pink creature that simply tilted its head – which made up most of its body – in response as Link sighed and put the blade away before picking up the tower again.

Despite that, Fox looked back with a sudden respect. He had not even noticed the creature.

Mario stood by vigilantly as one of the towers came online. One down, one to go, and so far nothing out of the ordinary had really happened. That was about to change in a very dramatic fashion.

Whatever it was, it was fast. Almost too fast for Mario to notice in time. Almost. He just barely managed to get an arm up to deflect the blow, but it still left quite the ripple in the air as all that momentum was redirected. From the blow, a now much slower blue sphere landed several feet away before bouncing and uncurling into a humanoid shape.

"Not bad," He smirked, "I may not have been going full speed, but catching that is no easy feat." The…anthropomorphic rodent looked Mario over, "You don't look like much, but you're clearly more than meets the eye. What's your name?"

Mario did not answer and simply looked his opponent in the eye. He was more used to fighting the big and slow, not the small and fast, but he would just have to make do it seemed.

"Heh, the strong and silent type, huh? Well, can't say I'm not familiar," He casually rubbed his ear, "The name's Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog, and as much as I'd love for this to be pleasant," Sonic braced himself with one foot forward, "I won't let you destroy my world!"

The tower lit up as Samus finished the activation cycle. It seemed she was the first to get hers activated. Not that she was particularly surprised. She debated between heading back and staying to guard it, weighing the odds that anyone would actually try to tamper with it.

Her answer came quick enough in the form of two hands grabbing the back of her power suit before she found herself knocked to the ground. Whatever had just hit her, it was deceptively strong, and it was showing no signs of stopping as her energy dwindled from each hit as it kept her from finding her footing.

The bounty hunter grunted as she took another blow, but the expected follow up never came. Instead, the air was filled with electricity as a bolt of lightning came from a dark cloud on an otherwise clear day. Whatever had just happened, it was enough to get her assailant to back off.

It was at that point that Samus' brow quirked. She had seen some strange things, but this one was up there. That also included the floating hand she had met that morning. Her attacker appeared to be a…sentient star of sorts. With long, lanky black limbs ending in almost comically large white gloves and black and white sneakers. Odd fashion sense for a celestial body, but who was she to judge?

To her side, the bounty hunter noted the electric rodent in an offensive stance to her side. For whatever reason, it seemed to be taking her side. What was it with her and picking up strays? A question for later she decided as she readied her arm cannon. This thing could hit harder than it looked. She could not underestimate him.

A quick scan showed that whatever this thing was, it was incredibly dense. Not as much as its shape's sake, but enough to do serious damage as her depleted energy reserves would attest to. Still, it had feared the lightning bolt. Conventional weaponry should work.

Fortunately, her rate of fire was a bit more than the star creature could manage. He was not the most agile creature. At least until he grabbed a brand and started slinging himself around the forest. That made him harder to hit, but not hard enough to be more than a nuisance. That was something he knew as well as he fired himself off into the tree line where Samus lost track of him.

"Hmph," The bounty hunter looked at the rodent, "Thanks for the help I guess."

"Pika!"

Samus sighed into her respirator. Why did she keep picking up creatures?

"So," Fox awkwardly started up an attempt to make conversation. While he had never quite seen lifeforms like these, hand included, he was no stranger to alien life so he adapted fairly quickly. What he did not adapt to as well was the silence that filled the air between him and the green-clad man. A far cry from his somewhat noisy crew to say the least.

"Got any…hobbies?" The man just looked at him curiously. As if guard duty was not monotonous enough. Fox was starting to wonder if the man could even understand him when he pulled something out of his tunic. Link pulled out a blue instrument of some sort. The craftsmanship seemed of exceptional quality, and Fox could have sworn he saw it glow faintly but passed it off as a trick of the light.

"Huh, didn't take you for a musician."

The blonde hero smirked a little before going to play it, but he stopped suddenly. Fox had already learnt that this man's senses and intuition were finely honed. So, him suddenly freezing made the pilot wary himself.

Faster than a lot of people could manage, Link drew his sword and shield bringing his weapon down in one fluid motion in what normally might have been a devastating blow, but not this time.

Blue and green eyes widened as Link's blade was caught by their intruder. As time seemed to almost stall, Fox got a good look at him. He wore a largely red outfit that almost looked like a jump suit of sorts. He was relatively short, about Fox's height, and while human, the almost monkey-like appearance of his features was hard to ignore.

They were forced back to their senses when Link was sent reeling back from a kick to his stomach. He was mostly fine, just winded. Moving to take advantage of the opening, the assailant moved in, but grunted in pain gripping his shoulder as light smoke drifted up.

Fox put his blaster away and launched into a flurry of kicks which the short man blocked with his forearm. Not making any headway, Fox gave one last stronger kick and retreated back with a jump glaring at his opponent with Link pulling something from a pouch.

"Felt like I was kicking a brick wall. What's this guy made of?"

Whatever the cause, he prepared to rush the pilot before stopping and turning with fist closed at a perceived presence behind him. He stopped short in confusion though at the sight of a spherical pink creature with large eyes. It tilted its body as if in confusion before he opted to resume his attack.

Before he could, however, he felt a tap on his shoulder. Looking up, he was greeted by Fox sucker punching him in the face.

"Hands off the puffball."

Wiping his chin, their opponent noticed Link notching an arrow at him. With his shoulder still aching from the hit with the laser, he opted to cut his losses and fled instead of staying to fight a losing battle.

Link and Fox were ready to give chase when they were halted by their communicators signaling for them to return.

"Looks like it's time to go," Fox looked up from his circular device before narrowing his eyes at Link's bow and arrow. He even had a quiver sitting by his feet.

"Where did you get all that?"

A/N: Weren't expecting this, huh? Honestly not sure how far it'll get, but maybe some people will like it.

And, yes, OoT Link doesn't have pouches as far as I know, but I took a liberty there.