Chapter six
Listless in space
It was a seedy bar, filled with all the species of aliens leery of the bars in big colonies. Smart patrons always kept one eye on their wallets and another on their drinks, with a third eye on guard for any potential fights, if they had one. It wasn't the sort of place you'd want to be caught in alone – unless you were Samus Aran.
She sauntered through the doors, looking over the crowd as she did so. All the usual suspects were there, deeper into their drinks than usual. A Luminoth was standing motionless next to the jukebox, staring at the flashing lights it gave off – he seemed to be in the running for most lucid patron of the bar. Everyone was listless, silent, and motionless.
Samus had no trouble getting to her usual seat, using a few napkins to wipe off a bit of slime on the seat. The bartender turned to her and growled out a greeting, sounding like a threat in his dialect.
"Give me an Afterburner," she said, turning and resting her elbows on the bar. She made a second scan of the room while the barkeep's numerous tentacles navigated through the various bottles required for her drink. A Phyrigisian across the room leered at her, but she shut him down with a piercing glare that went right through him and skewered him to the wall.
The barkeep passed her her drink. She muttered thanks, receiving an ambiguous grumble in reply. She took a sip, relishing the familiar burn as it went down her throat. She noticed the blue drinks in the hands or appendages of most of the other patrons, and scowled.
Someone approached the barstool next to her and hoped onto it. "Hi, I'll have a Meister on Mars, please," he said. Samus turned to him, and smiled at the familiar furry face.
"Fox!" she said joyously. She gave him a one-armed hug, which he returned. "Fancy seeing you in this neck of the galaxy."
"I could say the same for you," Fox replied. "I was looking for you. Didn't expect to find you in a place like this, though."
She shrugged. "I asked my ship to take me somewhere I could have fun," she said. "Guess its imagination is just as pathetic as mine. I'd hoped I could find someone here I might like to get to know better, or at least get in a good fight." She regarded the bar's inhabitants with contempt. "But that's not happening here. Everyone's drinking Chloroxia cocktails."
"Chloroxia?" Fox repeated, taking his own drink in hand. "Isn't that a military-grade tranquilizer?"
"You know your stuff, MacLeod," Samus said. "It's used to pacify monsters weighing up to 200 tons. Some genius decided to throw a little into their drink, and now it's all over the galaxy – totally illegal, of course." She looked around at the glazed eyes and mindless stares around her. "The only reason you'd ever drink it is if you decided you just didn't want to feel anything at all for at least a week, if not forever."
Fox looked around, horrified. "That's terrible," he said.
Samus nodded. "Well, it's their choice, I suppose. Some creatures have such pathetic lives, maybe they'd just rather drink than think." She raised her glass to her lips. "Can't say I haven't thought about it," she muttered into the glass.
She set the drink down. "So, how are things with you? How's your team?"
"Oh, we're good," he said. "Things are…peaceful."
"A little…too peaceful?" Samus prompted.
He nodded, sipping his own drink. "We haven't had a client in months," he confessed. "Nobody wants to hire us, because nobody's stirring up trouble."
Samus nodded as well. "Same here. No bounties, no hunting. I've started doing some pro bono work just to avoid dying of boredom."
"That's nice, at least," Fox said. "If we don't get work soon, we'll be washing windows to keep the lights on."
"You guys should look into investing," she responded. After taking another sip, she cleared her throat. "So, what's up? I'd be flattered if you just tracked me down for a friendly chat, but I suspect there's a bit more to it than that."
Fox nodded. "Got a message from the Smash fighters," he said. "They're getting the team together again. They say there's a new threat to worry about – a new giant monster."
Samus arched her eyebrows in surprise. "Really? I haven't heard any buzz about a new power player, and believe me, I've been looking. When Galeem showed up, the whole galaxy was buzzing about it."
"They say that's the point," Fox said. "This new guy isn't blowing up stadiums or reshaping the fabric of reality, it's just sapping the energy from everyone. Leaving us all too weak to fight."
"Well, I guess that would explain it." She looked around. "Wouldn't have to go through all the trouble with these folks. It could just buy the bar a round and get the same results."
"I'm a little skeptical, too," Fox admitted. "But it's not like I have much else to do."
"Oh, so you'll be joining up with them?" Samus asked.
"Yep, Falco too. Even Wolf is coming along." Fox tilted his head. "Are you not going to?"
"Well, if there really is a new player in power, I bet I'd be more help getting intel from a distance than in the group," she explained, draining her glass. "I've got some contacts that I can check with, guys that'd get antsy if I had a whole entourage with me."
"Aw, but everybody was looking forward to seeing you," Fox said, let down.
"I work best when I'm alone," Samus said, signaling to the bartender that she'd like to cash out. "Every time I join up with a team, things go south fast."
She pulled out her wallet and reached for her cash, but grabbed the wrong pocket by mistake. Instead of the money, she grabbed a photo, one she'd forgotten she still had. "Tell Rosa I said-" she began, then stopped.
Pikachu smiled out at her, his laughing face frozen in time. Her heart warmed, and memories of him flooded her at once. She stared at the photo, smiling, until broken out of it by the bartender, making an impatient slurping noise.
"No, don't tell her anything," she said, handing the barkeep the cash. "I'll tell her myself."
"All right!" Fox shouted, leaping to his feet.
They made their way out to the parking lot, where their shops were parked next to each other. "So, I take it we'll be picking up Olimar and Captain Falcon as well?"
"That's the plan," Fox said. "Falcon might be tricky, though. He's in traffic court right now."
"Oh? What for?" Samus asked.
"Apparently, he got drunk while on the planet Shinar and ran 50 red lights in three minutes," Fox said.
"Shinar, eh?" Samus said. "I've been there. They all have incredibly long lifespans, so their trials stretch on for ages. They can take years to sentence a jaywalker." A smile broke out on her face. "Sounds like a rescue is in order."
She cocked her stun pistol, it's familiar click comforting after months of its absence. "So, tell me, Fox, how would you feel about breaking into a courtroom and incapacitating a prosecution full of telepaths?"
Fox smiled. "Like it'll be the highlight of my whole month."
Samus hopped into her ship. "Good answer."
