After Mewtwo's failed coup, the Super Smash Brothers were utterly crushed beyond recognition. They had lost three of their founding members, not the least of which was Mario, the one man who could take 25 divergent personalities and get them to work as a team. Mario was the heart and soul of the group, and without him the Smashers gradually but inexorably began to split up, torn apart by their grief, anger, and frustration. It was ironic. The reunion, which Mario had intended to bring the group back together after a long separation, turned out to be the catalyst that splintered them even further.
But they were still Super Smash Brothers nonetheless. Not a single one of them so much as spoke of resigning or disbanding. They simply returned home, vowing to show up if ever there was a crisis that required their intervention. However, such a crisis seemed less and less likely every year. So they returned to their own affairs, only communicating with each other. It seemed as though there was a jinx placed on them whenever they got together in any capacity, and they did not want to suffer the loss of any others.
Princess Peach returned to her kingdom, broken-hearted. Nobody knew how long the Mushroom Kingdom mourned its greatest hero. It was the end of an era. The loss of Bowser had led them into an era of peace, and the loss of Mario made the victory bittersweet indeed. Without any more madcap adventures to break up the idyllic life of royalty, Peach threw herself into her administration duties. By the time she was crowned Queen, she was a reclusive ruler. Still fair and kind, Peach seldom made any more of her beloved public appearances. The fairy tale was over.
Yoshi went trotting back to Yoshi's Island to live among his own kind for awhile. He never really told anybody exactly what he was looking for, but Luigi heard him make a comment in passing that the Yoshis were tied closer to the Mario Brothers' lives than they would ever realize.
Once more without a patriarch, the Kong Klan hastily elected a new leader. Chunky Kong was chosen, mainly because he won the arm-wrestling competition. Still, it was obvious that the Kong family would never be the same with the loss of Donkey Kong, easily the most well-liked and heroic of the bunch. Diddy Kong spent many a night sitting forlornly on the roof of the now-empty treehouse, as though Donkey Kong was still off on an adventure in the jungle and would come back at any time. Of course, he never did.
Queen Zelda of Hyrule, upon her ascension to the throne, began making immediate changes to the ancient kingdom. Establishing the first Parliament of Hyrule, the various races within the kingdom now had an impartial forum in which to voice their concerns. Gradually, Zelda began rescinding more and more executive power towards the Parliament, going so far as to holding a national election for a Prime Minister. Within a decade, the monarchy was nearly at an end, and Hyrule was closer than ever to being a democratic nation. Ironically, the brave Princess who had stood firm against evil and helped save the kingdom from total destruction was now seemingly consumed with ennui in this time of harmony.
Link now had risen to the highest rank a commoner could receive in Zelda's court – he was now Captain of the Royal Guard, a position he undertook with the utmost of seriousness and dedication. Young Link, by contrast, was given free reign to go where he pleased, and he became a wandering sojourner, travelling through the many provinces of Hyrule in search of adventure.
Captain Falcon threw himself into the hedonistic life, lavishly spending his racing earnings and drowning his pain in nightly drinks. He often spoke angrily to himself and seemed to be hiding some inner pain that went beyond his anger over the deaths of his friends. Samus spent most of her time brooding when she wasn't on task for the Federation. She kept the communication lines open with Falcon, though, as, although neither would ever admit it, it sometimes was the only thing that kept the both of them sane.
Kirby went back to the quiet life in Dream Land, and Fox and Falco returned to their ambassadorial duties. The Ice Climbers returned to their mountain home, resigned to the feeling that they weren't of much use anyway. Raichu went home to Kanto, but Jigglypuff did not accompany her. Her destiny lay elsewhere.
Ness never spoke to any of the Smashers again once he returned home to Onett. He seemed deeply ashamed of something, but none of his friends knew what it was. It seemed that whatever was bothering him went well beyond the guilt he felt from not being able to stop Mewtwo in time.
Dr. Mario went back to the old lab, and after aggravating an old leg injury, he decided that his days of fighting were over, and now acted as the medical and scientific consultant to the Super Smash Brothers. King Marth continued to prosper in his rule of Altea, and Roy's devotion to Pharae likewise kept him more than busy.
As it stood, Luigi and Mr. Game & Watch were the only Smashers who stayed on active duty at Smash Central. Peach had pleaded with Luigi to come home, saying that he didn't need to stay behind any longer, but Luigi was vigilant, spending days and even weeks at a time staring at the security monitors, on guard for a threat that never came. Call it fanaticism, penitence, or perhaps paranoia, but Luigi stayed on monitor duty constantly. Besides, the Mushroom Kingdom had too many memories for him to deal with just yet. Some nights he would fall asleep in front of the monitors, only to wake up the next morning with a blanket draped over him and a cup of coffee next to him. Mr. Game & Watch knew how to take care of his friends.
Still, for all of Luigi's tireless effort, no real threat requiring the Super Smash Brothers' attention ever came. None, that is, until:
1 year ago
It was an average day, to say the least. While Luigi now spent most of his time back home in the Mushroom Kingdom, he still made a point to return to Smash Central for monitor duty on a regular basis. And one night, just when he was wondering if he should just give up and go to bed, it happened.
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
Luigi fiddled with the dials as Mr. Game & Watch scurried up behind him to see what the commotion was all about. Mysteriously, a new breach had appeared in the hub. A small universe had appeared out of nowhere, and a portal had formed that would allow transport there.
Luigi shook his head, trying to shake off his drowsiness. "I gotta go." He muttered. "I gotta go and…"
"BEEP! FNEEP!" Mr. Game & Watch shook his head.
"Okay, fine." Luigi muttered. "I'll find somebody more wide-awake to check it out." He murmured. Bringing up the list of available Smashers, he saw only two symbols flashing, indicating that the Smashers they represented were available for duty. One was in the shape of a screw attack, and the other was a blazing silhouette of a falcon. A press of the button and the two Smashers' faces appeared on the screen. Captain Falcon looked haggard and morose, and Samus' face was unreadable as always under her helmet.
"Hello, Luigi." Samus greeted her host. "What's up?"
"What's the situation, Stringbean?" Falcon asked, his voice low.
"Well, something interesting has popped up just now." Luigi explained. "Out of nowhere, a new portal appeared. I'm trying to get a reading on where it leads, but all I'm getting is a weird signal. I'm wondering if you guys wouldn't mind checking it out."
"Don't worry, Luigi." Samus replied. "We'll take care of it. You should get some sleep. You look awful."
"Not the first time I've heard that." Luigi smiled drowsily. "What about you, Falcon?"
"Eh, things are boring around here anyway." Falcon snorted, sounding just a touch intoxicated. "Besides, Sammy here could use some male companionship." He added. "It could get cold and dark in that dimension, after all."
"Falcon, if I wanted male companionship, I would rather have a vacuum slug attach itself to my face." Samus retorted.
"Don't think I can't arrange that…" Falcon snapped back.
"Okay, you two lovebirds." Luigi interrupted. "Get to your breach points and I'll zip you over here, and then you can check it out."
The two bounty hunters nodded and vanished as their screens turned off. Luigi shook his head. Samus and Falcon were just as antagonistic as always. Watching them interact, one would hardly know that they honestly were better friends with each other than with any of the other Smashers. Of course, being the hard-bitten mercenaries they were, playfully insulting banter was the only real way they could show affection. He just hoped that one day one of them wouldn't go too far.
The new dimension was dark and cold, and seemed to consist of nothing but rock. A flash, and two combat-ready figures burst through the portal, landing with a thud on the ground. In an instant Samus' weapons scanned the area for any threat, as Falcon assumed a defensive fighting stance. "C'mon!" he shouted. "I'll take you on, whoever you are! Come on out and fight like a man!"
"That's strange." Samus muttered. "I'm not picking up any readings. There's no life on this little chunk of rock." The dimension was also obviously small, little larger than the Final Destination stage. The two Smashers stood literally in the middle of nowhere.
"Ah, great." Falcon grinned, relaxing his posture. "Now you and I can have a little privacy."
"Oh, grow up, Falcon." Samus sighed. "If you want, I could leave you here. Goodness knows that when you're alone you're with the person that you love most of all."
"Ouch! Nobody asked you to be nasty, Samus." Falcon feigned sadness.
"It's called honesty, Falcon." Samus replied. "Nasty doesn't even come close in your case."
Falcon chuckled slightly and straightened his jacket. An awkward silence sat in the air. "Samus?" he asked. "Can I be serious for a minute?"
"Stranger things have happened." Samus quipped. "Do you want me to time you?"
"Okay, all joking aside." Falcon insisted. "C'mon, Sammy. We've known each other, what? Twenty years?"
"Give or take a few." Samus confirmed.
"In all honesty, I'm not as bad as you say I am, am I?" Falcon asked. "I mean, I know I can be…"
"Obnoxious?" Samus suggested.
"Yeah, a bit obnoxious." Falcon nodded.
"Arrogant, irritating, reckless… I could write it all down." Samus continued.
"Yeah, yeah." Falcon replied. "But sometimes I'm okay, right?"
Samus sighed. Heart-to-heart conversations, even those as spurious as this one, were not her forte. "Well, Falcon, I will admit that when we first met, I spent quite a bit of time planning exactly when and how I was going to blow your head off. But…" she added, "you were right about being okay. Sometimes you're okay, and despite all logic I really enjoy those times."
"Am I okay now?" Falcon asked.
"You're on the line at the moment." Samus replied. She shook her head. "You sure can pick 'em, though."
"What do you mean by that?" Falcon asked.
"Oh, come on, Falcon." Samus snorted. "For a self-professed ladies' man, you sure zeroed in on a weird choice. I mean, there are two gorgeous princesses in the Super Smash Brothers, and who have you spent all these years hitting on? The crabby butch chick with a bucket on her head." She sighed, not able to conceal the note of self-loathing in her voice. "Why me, Falcon?"
Falcon shrugged. "Good taste comes to mind."
Samus was glad that her helmet concealed her smile. "All right. NOW you're okay." She replied. "C'mon, let's get out of this dump. There's nothing here for us."
"Sounds good to me." Falcon smiled. "I'll buy you a drink."
"That's something you have a lot of practice with." Samus smirked.
"As much as I hate to interrupt this, may I say a few words?" a voice asked.
The sensors in Samus' helmet all went off at once. Spinning around, the two Smashers found themselves staring at a familiar foe that had literally appeared out of nowhere. Their opponent resembled a man, but only in the most basic ways. He had no skin and no muscle. His entire body was constructed by an intricate web of ultraviolet wires, a few structures within forming rudimentary bones and organs. His face was simply a glowing red Smash symbol.
"Wire-frame." Falcon snarled, clenching his fists. "I thought we'd seen the last of you punks."
"I'm sure you had, Captain." The wire-frame calmly replied. "Allow me to make a proper introduction. I am Seth. First of the wire-frames, and now also the last of the wire-frames. I must say it was quite painful watching you and your accursed Super Smash Brothers dismantling my brothers and sisters. I am glad to finally meet you face-to-face."
"What do you want, synthetic?" Samus demanded, aiming her arm cannon at the artificial fighter.
"I thought you'd never ask, Aran." Seth replied. "I bring a message on behalf of my master, Giga Bowser."
"Giga Bowser's been wormfood for 20 years, pal." Falcon retorted. "I guess you don't keep up with the news."
"Actually, Captain, it is you who is the ignorant one." Seth replied. "When you and your meddling friends destroyed the Hands, Giga Bowser realized that he needed to bide his time. He was severely weakened, so he retreated into a universe from which you could not reach him. He has been building his strength there ever since. And the message he has for you is this; one year from now, he will return and finally get his much-deserved revenge."
"He'll be back?" Samus was incredulous.
"365 days from now he will be at your door." Seth smirked. "His might has quadrupled since last you fought him, and you barely were able to defeat him then. This time he will crush you all, and vengeance will be his at last."
"If he won't be back for a year, why are you telling us now?" Falcon demanded.
"So you will spend the next year in torment." Seth explained. "Giga Bowser delights in the knowledge that you will spend every day of the coming year in dread, for each passing day will bring you one step closer to your destruction."
"Spare us the speeches, Wires." Samus spat. "We'll tell the Smash Brothers about your boss' little challenge, and when he shows up we'll be waiting for him, and we'll paste him just like we did last time. Only this time it'll be permanent."
"Your arrogance does not mask your terror, Aran." Seth retorted. "Just as your armour cannot conceal your vulnerability. You will fall like the others."
"I've heard enough." Falcon replied. "Go running back to your master now like a good little minion, and we'll be sure that your message is passed on."
"Fair enough." Seth nodded as the two bounty hunters turned to leave. "Oh, one more thing before you go…" he added, stopping them in their tracks.
"What?" Samus asked.
"It only takes one person to relay a message." Seth explained. "I will save one of you the trouble of a return trip."
"Are you looking for a fight?" Samus demanded.
"No, Aran. I am looking to kill you." Seth simply replied. "I will avenge the deaths of many wire-frame warriors by eliminating you."
"I'd like to see you try." Samus challenged. "I'm going to blow you to so many pieces, you'll never…"
She raised her cannon, but suddenly, almost too fast to see, Seth extended his hand, which transformed into a web of crackling wires. The wires wrapped around Samus' cannon, draining energy from her armour. Samus gasped and fell to the ground as all of her systems shut down at once.
"Run for it, Falcon!" Samus tried to sound more confident than she was. When she wore the suit, it was so symbiotically bonded with her body that without power, she couldn't even move. All she could do was lie helplessly as the wire-frame fighter continued to drain her energy…
POW! Suddenly the wires receded and Seth staggered back in pain. Captain Falcon had just drilled his chest hard with a flaming punch. "C'mon, Wires." Falcon sneered. "You'll never develop a reputation picking on girls. Let's see how you handle me."
"You have made your last mistake, Captain." Seth replied.
"Enough talk." Falcon declared. He gestured for his opponent to approach, a wolfish grin on his face.
"Show me your moves."
Samus checked the small blinking light within her visor. Ten minutes until her backup batteries had charged enough power for her to be able to move again. A curse escaped her lips. She was not about to just lie here helplessly as Falcon battled this fiend alone, was she? Flexing her fingers slightly, she attempted to trigger her weapons, only for a small warning light to scold her for attempting to burn out her weapon cells further. She snarled, her eyes riveted on the battle before her, impotent to affect it one way or another. "Get him, Falcon." She whispered.
"I planned to spare you, Captain." Seth explained as he dodged a punch. "After all, we are, in a sense, brothers. Wouldn't you agree?"
"Shut up." Falcon hissed, blocking one of Seth's blows.
"Ah, you still haven't told your friends of your shameful secret?" Seth laughed. "Not that I blame you. Not to worry, Captain. I'll assist you in carrying your secret to the grave."
Falcon drilled Seth hard in the face. The wire-frame fighter staggered backwards. "Not so tough now, are ya?"
"I'll let you be the judge of that." Seth retorted. Suddenly he burst forward with a punch that sent Falcon flying backwards at least 20 feet. Samus gasped in horror and made another failed attempt to force herself to her feet.
"That ain't possible." Falcon groaned, struggling back into a standing position. "No wire-frame hits that hard."
"I am no ordinary wire-frame." Seth replied. "My wires can absorb and redirect energy of all kinds. Every blow you land on me only makes me stronger. By all means continue to fight back, as it will only make it easier for me to crush you." Falcon glared, his fists clenched. "Or…" Seth continued, "You can leave right now and leave the girl for me to finish off. If she knew about your dirty little secret, she would despise you anyway." Despite his lack of a face, it was obvious that the wire-frame was smiling. "After all, you and I both know that she doesn't care about you one way or…"
POW! Falcon suddenly shoulder-tackled his opponent at mach speed, smashing him into the ground. "You want some energy? Here. Have all you want." Falcon growled, smashing into Seth's body with punches so fast his arms were blurs. "Let's see what happens when you have too much."
The sheer amount of energy pouring into his body caused Seth's wire structure to glow red, and then white-hot. With a mechanical squawk of fury, he swung his fist at Falcon's head with as much power to level a multi-story building, but Falcon did a nimble sidestep dodge, rearing back and then smashing his fist clean through Seth's head. The wires shattered to pieces, leaving Seth a limp, headless body. His form crackled and smoked.
"Well, that wasn't as easy as it looked." Falcon sighed, straightening himself up and rubbing his fist. "You okay, Sammy?" he asked his prone companion.
"I'll live." Samus sighed. "My armour will be back online in a couple of minutes."
"Good." Falcon replied. "I'll just carry you out of here. It won't be good to be hanging around here when old Wires blows."
Samus looked up and saw two wires reared over Falcon's shoulders like a pair of cobras preparing to strike. "Falcon!" she screamed a second too late. The wires bound themselves around Falcon's shoulders and yanked him backwards, pulling him against Seth's body. More wires bound Falcon's wrists and legs, making him unable to struggle away. Samus watched in horror as the wire-frame body flashed ominously.
"Close your eyes, Samus!" Falcon shouted a split second before Seth's body erupted into an explosion that surely would have blinded Samus if she had not followed Falcon's advice.
Samus squeezed her eyes shut, tears of rage and helpless frustration searing her cheeks. This wasn't the way things were supposed to be. She was the tough-as-nails, self-sufficient bounty hunter. She and she alone looked out for herself. She didn't deserve anybody giving his life to save her. Lying here, invalid and helpless to affect anything, her mind took her back to another time when she had also felt so powerless. She shuddered and tried to repress the memories, but it was too strong to hold off any longer. A flood of pain and sadness rushed over her so completely, it was as though she were living that horrible day all over again…
Samus Aran, the greatest bounty hunter in the galaxy, was defeated. Battered and broken, she could barely move. Her mind slipped in and out of consciousness, each second of awareness wracked with agonizing pain. Soon her eyes would close forever, her adventures come to an inglorious end. And yet she refused to succumb to the hopelessness of her situation. Ever defiant, she forced her head up to glare at the foe that had finally bested her, and now held her very life within her scant mercies.
"My, my." The smooth voice of Mother Brain taunted her. "Was I too rough on you, dear girl? Surely the great Metroid hunter Samus Aran could put up a better fight than this, hm? What a pity."
"For someone… who wants me dead…" Samus snarled, "…you're taking… a long time to finish the job."
"All in good fun, bounty hunter." Mother Brain retorted. "I want your death to be an event I long remember, forever savour. After all…" she laughed. "…I can only kill you once."
Samus' eyesight began to blur as her eyelids fluttered. Gritting her teeth, she forced herself to stay awake out of sheer will. But there was really no advantage to be gained. Her suit was barely functional, her body was worn past even its incredible limits, and her weapons were no match for Mother Brain's new power. As he focussed her vision, she saw something out of the corner of her eye. Although Mother Brain was unaware, there was a Metroid floating behind her. And not just any Metroid, either.
The last of its kind, this Metroid had hatched from its egg in front of Samus, and instantly imprinted itself on her. While not amused, Samus had dutifully delivered the baby Metroid to the Federation to examine it. But the Space Pirates had then stolen the Metroid and made robotic duplicates of it. Storming their hideout, Samus had already destroyed most of these "Mochtroids", when suddenly the baby Metroid had appeared and attacked her. Samus prepared to destroy it, but suddenly, for whatever reason, the Metroid backed off. If one were to place anthropomorphic qualities on this parasitic race, one would declare that the Metroid recognized Samus as its "mother", and ceased its assault. But Samus, the realist that she was, doubted that a Metroid was capable of such an emotion as love. She privately had the same doubts about herself.
So it was very much to her surprise when the Metroid suddenly attached itself to Mother Brain, draining the beastly pirate's energy and temporarily knocking her out. The Metroid then silently made its way over to Samus' inert form, and began siphoning that energy directly into her. Samus felt strength begin to grow within her once more as the baby Metroid created a circuit between her body and Mother Brain's, drawing power directly from one to the other. The damage to Samus' armour repaired itself, and her weapon cells were not only recharging, but actually gaining addition power. She pondered how strange it was that she now owed her life to a…
Suddenly Mother Brain stirred. Despite the drain on her power, she had managed to regain consciousness. "Irritating parasite!" Mother Brain roared. "I'll teach you to trifle with Mother Brain!" Before either Samus or the Metroid could react, the monstrous pirate attacked the baby Metroid with an energy blast, burning it badly.
The floating creature reared up in pain, but it refused to break the circuit. Even as Mother Brain battered its form with a barrage of energy bolts – the ones with which she had just felled Samus – the Metroid did not falter in the slightest. Samus would live… whatever the price it would pay.
"Stop it, Mother Brain!" Samus heard herself shout, her eyes burning as the baby Metroid began to weaken and Mother Brain cackled in triumph. "Leave it alone! I'm the one you want to destroy!"
"I'll deal with you shortly, Aran." Mother Brain cackled. "First, I must teach this stupid little creature a lesson." She focussed one final blast at the trembling Metroid. Samus stared at it, urging it to flee while it still could, but the space parasite was adamant. Even as the sizzling rays pierced clean through it, it donated one last surge of power to Samus. Now barely even recognizable, the baby Metroid fluttered to the ground, impacting it with a sickening wet splat. It lay still, not a trace of life left within its gelatinous form.
Samus rose to her feet, practically glowing with power. Strength she had previously been unable to so much as dream of now pumped through her veins, her muscles tightening with rage and her heart pounding with the intensity of an exploding star. She glowered at Mother Brain, her eyes crackling through her visor with unspeakable hatred.
"Foolish little insect." Mother Brain snorted. "Snuffing its life was as simple as…"
Whatever Mother Brain's intended metaphor was, it never was completed. Samus blasted a hole clean through the tyrannical monster, her weapons insanely powerful with the energy stolen by the Metroid. Samus did not stop to taunt, or to speak, or to think. She just fired, over and over and over. She ignored Mother Brain's screams of agony, and the ichor and viscera that splattered all over the room. Even after Mother Brain was nothing more than an unrecognizable stain coating the inner walls, Samus mindlessly continued firing. She wanted Mother Brain to be wiped out like the disease she was. She wanted to cause her as much suffering as the Metroid had endured. Only when her suit's overheat alarm went off did she finally cease fire. The remains of the Space Pirate matriarch dripped off her chest plate, and she made no effort to wipe it off. "You were right, Mother Brain." She muttered, her voice cracked. "It is a shame that I could only kill you once. I'd do it a thousand times over in a heartbeat, and it's still less than you deserve."
A red warning light flashed and a klaxon shrieked. Samus looked up with no emotion on her face. True to form, Mother Brain's death had triggered the self-destruct. Samus turned on her heel and broke into a run, heading back for her ship. There was no victory in what she had done today.
Samus regained consciousness with a start. She heard the familiar hum of her armour functioning once more. Though in great pain, she staggered back to her feet. Her head pounded, her stomach lurched, and her breath came out in ragged pants, and she knew that her armour would need hours of charge time before she could battle again. But that didn't matter to her at all at the moment. All that mattered was Captain Falcon's limp form, lying on top of a scorched patch that was all that was left of Seth.
She limped over to where Falcon lay motionless. Without even thinking, she removed the snaps on her wrists, removing her gauntlet and arm cannon. She gripped his own wrist and found no pulse. "Not today, Falcon." She whispered. "Don't you dare leave me like this." She reached up to her neck, undoing the clasps that fastened her helmet to the rest of her suit. She pulled the helmet off, the clammy air chilling her sweat-soaked face, her greying blonde hair tumbling free. And then, without so much as a second thought, her mouth was on his and her hands were pressing rhythmically against his chest.
The Chozo had taught her the proper technique for cardiopulmonary resuscitation, as it worked on most humanoid life forms, providing that the heart was in the right place. Samus had only used it once, resuscitating an alien pirate whose bounty would only be paid if he were brought in alive. Never before had she guessed that she would perform it on somebody she actually cared about.
Just when all seemed hopeless, Falcon's heart weakly but rhythmically began to beat once more. Breath once more escaped his lungs. Painfully opening his eyes, Falcon's vision focussed to see Samus bent over him, her lips against his.
"Wow…" he whispered with a weak smile. "We should do this more often, Sammy."
"Very funny." She replied, unable to sound annoyed through her relief. "Are you alright?"
"Honestly?" he replied. "I don't think so. That guy really did a number on me…" Samus was suddenly aware of the amount of blood he was losing. "I think this is the end of the line, Sammy." He whispered.
"Don't talk like that." Samus scolded, trying to keep her voice level. "I'll take you back. We'll get Dr. Mario to patch you up. He'll…" she was cut off by Falcon suddenly lapsing into a coughing fit. Blood was in his mouth.
"Take it off." Falcon wheezed.
"What?" Samus asked.
"Take this thing off." Falcon clarified, referring to the remains of his helmet and visor. "I can barely see you out of this thing."
Cursing her hands for shaking, Samus pulled his helmet off and set it aside. Falcon looked different without it. His steely eyes were cloudy and heavy with regret. His severe facial expression had softened with sadness. His hair was thinning and grey. Samus realized that nobody ever saw Captain Falcon like this, save her.
"There's something I need to tell you." Falcon whispered. "What that wire-frame said was right. The wire-frames… they're all my fault."
"Falcon, they're not your fault." Samus soothed, unconsciously running a hand across his face. "They stole DNA from you and Zelda to make them when the Hands captured you. Just like when they stole all our DNA to make the polygons…"
"No." Falcon insisted. "They didn't steal my DNA…" he winced. "I offered it to them."
"What?" Samus asked.
"I didn't want Zelda and me to get hurt…" he explained. "So I offered them our DNA to create a new breed of soldiers. Zelda was unconscious at the time, so she bought the story that they took it from us forcibly. They didn't. They didn't even think about stealing our DNA. The wire-frames were my idea… it's all my fault that all those people died…"
"Falcon…" Samus whispered.
"I made a deal with the devil, Sammy." He muttered. "It looks like I'm on my way to hell now."
"Falcon, it's not your fault." Samus insisted. "You did what was necessary to protect Zelda and yourself, and you've helped destroy all of the wire-frames, including the last one. You're not a bad person. You're a hero."
"Thanks for the good word, Samus." Falcon smiled. "I always wanted to do something good before I died, and I guess this is as good as I'll ever be." He paused. "How old are you?" he asked.
Samus hesitated. "Forty-five." She replied, seeing no need to lie.
"I'm fifty-seven." Falcon wheezed, more blood trickling out of his mouth. "Is that old, Sammy?"
"No, Falcon. It's not old." She replied.
"I've done a lot in those fifty-seven years I'm not proud of." he whispered. "I've… I've done some dirty business in my mercenary days, I've cheated… I've hurt people…" he stopped to take another laboured breath. "I have a son. Did you know that?"
"No, I didn't." Samus replied, slightly surprised.
"His name is Kent Akechi…" Falcon whispered. "He's an F-Zero pilot like me, and a good one too. I've never spoken a word to him in his life. I walked out on his mother when I found out she was pregnant." Tears were in his eyes. "In addition to all my flaws I'm also a lousy father…"
"Falcon, don't beat yourself up anymore, please." Samus pleaded. "You've done things in your past that you regret, but so have I. You're not a bad person, and I know that for a fact. You just…"
"There's one thing I don't regret…" he muttered, his voice so weak it was barely audible. "I'm glad I got mixed up in all this Super Smash Brothers stuff, if only because I met you. You and me, we're cut from the same cloth… even though we've had some harsh words, we're still friends, right?"
"Of course we're friends, Falcon." Samus tried not to break down as she spoke.
"And maybe if I wasn't such an idiot, we could have been…" Falcon sighed, his eyes closing.
"Could have been what?" Samus asked when he didn't continue. "Falcon?" No response. "Falcon!" she shouted harshly. He made no sign of life whatsoever. His breathing had ceased, and she knew what she would find if she checked for a pulse. Her life-saving technique had only prolonged the inevitable. Captain Falcon was gone.
A vile curse that the Space Pirates would hesitate to say echoed across the barren wasteland. "You're such an idiot, Falcon!" Samus shouted, letting her rage take over, screaming words that she didn't mean in an attempt to satiate the emptiness inside of her. "You should have left me behind! Why did you stay here to die? Because you're stupid! Because you're reckless! Because you had to be a typical male and go out in a blaze of glory! You can't leave me this way! Not like this!" She gripped his collar and screamed into his still face. "I hate you for this, Douglas Jay Falcon! Do you hear me? I hate you! I hate you!"
She tried to scream again, but her voice caught in her throat and only a low sob came out. She pulled his limp body against hers, a second sob chasing the first from her lips.
"I love you…"
She didn't know how long she sat there, holding onto him so tightly the muscles in her arms shook. Finally she set him down. He had seen her at her most vulnerable, which she had vowed to never show anybody. She mechanically reached for her helmet, gauntlet and arm cannon, snapping them back into place. Nobody would ever know of her moment of weakness. The featureless metal shell encasing her once more, she lifted Falcon's body onto her shoulders and made her way back towards the portal.
Luigi and Mr. Game & Watch heard the sound of the front doors of Smash Central opening. "Ah! Samus! Falcon!" Luigi called. "There was a lot of interference, so we couldn't tell what happened in there. Is everything…" he stopped cold when he saw that Samus was holding a battered, bloody and lifeless Falcon.
"It's Giga Bowser." Samus coldly remarked. "He's not dead. He's hiding out somewhere. In a year he'll be back here, and he wants a final battle with us."
Luigi and Game & Watch simply stared in astonishment.
"The minion he sent to deliver the message wanted a fight." She commented. "I survived… Falcon didn't."
She gently set him down. "But…" Luigi stammered. "What are we…"
"Just leave me alone." Samus spat. She turned towards the dormitories, made her way to her room, and slammed the door behind her, locking it.
Luigi and Mr. Game & Watch couldn't do anything more than inspect Captain Falcon's body in disbelief. "Mario…" Luigi whispered, plaintively looking at the ceiling.
Inside her room, Samus' famous armour sat in a disorganized pile near the door. Sitting on the bed, clad in a black bodysuit, sat the Samus Aran that the galaxy never saw. Decades of adventuring had certainly aged her; the contours of her attractive yet harsh face were lined and stern, and long bands of silver now ran through her golden hair. Her body was as fit as that of a girl half her age, and yet it too was definitely that of a middle-aged woman. The shy, small, innocent girl she once was now existed only in the dead past. Samus Aran was a grown woman in every way.
And yet she now felt as vulnerable as a child.
Sitting on her bed, alone with her thoughts and misery at last, Samus Aran, the bounty hunter who had spat in the face of death more times than anybody could guess, did something that she hadn't done in a long time. Something she hadn't done since she was five years old. Something she hadn't done since the day she had watched her parents murdered before her very eyes.
She buried her face in her arms and wept.
And that was what tore the Super Smash Brothers apart at last. Even as Luigi and Mr. Game & Watch were wondering what to do about Falcon the next morning, government agents stormed Smash Central. News travelled fast – they knew about Falcon's fate, and more importantly, Giga Bowser's challenge. In a press conference, they announced that the Super Smash Brothers no longer had any authority or appropriate claim to being defenders of the Nintendoverse. Now that Giga Bowser had announced his return, it was considered too much of a security risk to leave it to chance that the Super Smash Brothers would be able to stop him. (One officer explicitly listed Falcon's death as proof of the Smashers' "incompetence at handling high-priority threats" – how he avoided being killed by Samus is a mystery) The Smashers were given 24 hours to vacate Smash Central, which would now be a base for a government-sanctioned team who were to deal with the threats from now on, up to and including Giga Bowser.
The team included a hard-bitten military man armed to the teeth; a corrupt inner-city cop; a blood-soaked Mafia hitman; a barely-clad half-demon enchantress vampire; and a stoner frat-boy superhero.
In other words, everything that Nintendo was not.
It was a sad day as Luigi, Mr. Game & Watch and Samus exited the building for the last time. "Maybe it's best that Falcon's dead." Samus spat. "He'd rather be dead than see what's happened to this place."
"BEEPBEEP!" Mr. Game & Watch replied.
"I just hope they know what they're doing." Luigi muttered, ominously. "I guess they'll find out a year from now…"
And that at last brings us to:
2 days ago
"You're cheatin', I tell ya!" the hitman snarled as he threw his poker hand on the table. "I oughta ice you all right now!" he added, pulling out his .9.
"Try that and I'm gonna bust a cap right down your…" the corrupt cop snarled, pulling out his Baretta.
"Okay, you two. Just settle down." The military man rumbled. "Do you have any extra cards on you?" he asked the enchantress.
"Where would I put them?" the enchantress snarled. "Don't make me turn you into a bag of sand."
"Hey, dudes!" the stoner superhero announced as he entered the room. "Do we have any more beer? I've already…"
He was cut off by the door being blasted off of its hinges by a wall of flame. Giga Bowser stormed into the room, blood in his eyes.
"What the hell is that?" the corrupt cop asked, because swearing apparently makes one sound cool.
"Who are you?" Giga Bowser roared. "Where are the Super Smash Brothers?"
"We're in charge now." The military man declared. "Let's get him!"
Three guns, a demon sword and a super whoopee cushion were all aimed at the giant Koopa.
"Good." Giga Bowser cackled. "I hoped you'd try something foolish."
You know how this fight ended.