Chapter 10

by girl_unclothed

10 Hours Ago...

"Any luck reaching Kirby yet?" Zelda asked as she pushed through crowd.

"Nope," responded Ash as he hung up the pay phone. "I keep getting his answering machine."

"Oh well," Zelda declared. "It was worth a try, anyway. Come on, I think I may have found a ride to Pop Star that will suit our needs. A man named Captain Solo has agreed to take us there for only 17,000..."

6 Hours Ago...

"Samus?"

"In here, Link."

Link strode into the room that Samus's voice came from. "Peppy says we'll be landing at Mute City soon, and he wants us to..." Link's voice trailed off as he laid eyes on his friend. The Power Suit, the set of armor that most people associated with the famous Metroid-hunter, was lying on the floor connected to some kind of machinery. And standing above it, wearing only a black string-bikini, was the beautiful bounty hunter herself.

Samus gave a little laugh at Link's staring. "What, haven't you ever seen a mostly naked girl before?"

"Yeah, that's it exactly," Link retorted, making a poor attempt to hide his obvious interest. "What's wrong with your armor?"

"Nothing. I just figured that now would be as good a time as any to give it a recharge. Mute City is a little rough, so I want to every possible advantage. You know, you should really look into getting a suit of armor. All *real* heroes have one."

Link scoffed. "Maybe a weak girl like you needs armor, but not me. The only thing I need to get by is this beauty." As he spoke, Link drew his legendary blade, the Master Sword, and held it high above his head.

"Weak?" Samus exclaimed, her reaction only partially exaggerated. "I could take you any day of the week, with or without my armor!"

"So take me," Link said softly. The silence that followed was profound, but short lived. Just as Samus was about to speak, the intercom blared to life. "Link and Samus to the bridge. We're beginning landing maneuvers."

"You coming?" Link asked.

"You go on ahead," Samus replied teasingly. "A girl prefers a little privacy when getting dressed."

Smiling, Link left the room.

4 Hours Ago...

Zelda waved her hand, and the last creature ignited into flame. It thrashed around for a bit, then lay still, and finally faded into nothing. She looked around, but there were no more opponents, so the princess took off in a run towards Kirby's house. Hopefully, Ash would already be there, but Zelda wasn't going to take that chance. If there were anymore of those... fighting wire-frame creatures, the young Pokemon trainer would need her help.

3 Hours Ago...

"Alright," Peppy explained, "here's the deal. It'll take these guys a full 3 days to finish repairs on the Great Fox. Slippy and me will stay here to keep an eye on things, but I think the rest of you should head out now. No telling how hard it will be to get a hold of Falcon."

"Aw, come on! You mean have I have to go with these losers?" Falco complained.

Samus grabbed him by his cranial feathers. "Shut up. And start walking."

"Yessir... er, I mean ma'am... er, I mean..."

"Save it. Let's go guys."

"Yessir!" shouted Link and Fox. Samus sighed.

1 Hour Ago...

"Kar annee somo tah. Kar annee somo tah. Kar annee somo tah," Zelda repeated as she lay her hands on Ash's forehead. He moaned softly, but otherwise didn't react. Zelda continued the chant.

"What's going on?" Kirby asked Pikachu. His injuries were now only distant memories thanks to Zelda's healing powers. Pikachu explained everything, starting with the dark and stormy night and culminating in the sudden attack of the Fighting Wire Frames. Kirby of course understood anything. He was of course fluent in over 151 dialects of Pokemonese. "So what are going to do about it?" Kirby asked. Pikachu replied. The pink puffball understood the short message as "I have no idea..."

Now

"Oh, my-a aking a-head!"

"Shut up, little jump-man!"

Mario felt something sharp poke him in the stomach. "Ow-a! Watch where you are-a sticking that-a thing!" Opening his eyes, Mario looked around. He was tied to a steak, stuck in the ground near what looked to be the great Kremling family reunion. On either side of him, still unconscious, Luigi and Marth were in the same mess.

In the center of the jungle clearing, a large pot of water was starting to come to a boil. "Oh, yeah," the Kremling guard said when he saw Mario's expression, "we gonna cook little jump-man and friends real good. Heh."

To be continued...