The bounty hunter clad in her Chozo battle armor anxiously dashed through the jungle in hopes to arrive at her destination in time. "Oh no. I hope I'm not too late," she thought to herself as she jumped over a rock. She looked up at the sky and noticed that the white, fluffy clouds had turned into dark, deadly fumes of smoke. Not paying attention to the direction that she was running in, she tripped over a tree root and her visor soon collided onto the ground below her. She fell so hard that she slid right into a giant boulder that was blocking her way.

"Darn it," she said to herself. She slowly rose up and rubbed her visor to regain her vision. She looked at the boulder and realized that it was blocking her way. Seeing no way around it, she quickly jumped on top of it and froze as she saw horde of Space Pirates running into the hatch of a Space Pirate raiding vessel . "No! I'm too late! " she thought to herself. She quickly jumped off of the boulder and ran to the vessel with all her speed. BA-BOOM! The Vessel suddenly explodes which sends the bounty hunter hurling towards the boulder that she previously hit before. "Arrrrrghhhh!" a blood-curdling scream is heard which awakens the bounty hunter. She looks at her surroundings to see everything (including the vessel) engulfed in fire. She is also horrified to see herself surrounded by the mutilated corpses of K-2L.

"WARNING. AIR SUPPLY CRITICALLY DAMAGED," the computer in her helmet announced. The bounty hunter began to cough consecutively as she inhaled the fumes. Soon, a shadowy figure rose up from the flames of the burning vessel, and the bounty hunter pointed of her arm cannon at the figure because she suspected it was a Space Pirate. Soon, the bounty hunter froze in fear when she took a good look at the figure's identify.

"M...mom?" the bounty hunter said softly. Tears rolled down the hunter's face as she saw that her mother had a frightened look on her face, and she moved her face as if she was trying to say something. The only word that the managed to say was run.

Suddenly, the figure of a large dragon appeared behind the woman and the bounty hunter watched in terror as the woman was completely incinerated by the dragon's flaming breath. "Mom!" the hunter screamed after she witnessed the last moments of her mother. Too terrified to even move, the hunter does not realize that the burning corpses around her soon rises up from the ground. The hunter snaps back to her senses when she sees the corpses rising above from the flames and slowly approaching her. Driven back to her senses, the bounty hunter turns around to run away in the direction that she came from while the corpses give chase. She dashed through the burning forest as fast as she could in order to reach her ship.

Unfortunately, due to her vision being clouded by the smoke, she falls right off of a cliff and into a dark abyss.

"BEEP! BEEP! WARNING. CHOZO BATTLE SUIT LOSING WILLPOWER. DEMATERIALIZING,"

Soon, the bounty hunter's power suit slowly began to dematerialize until she was finally left in nothing but her Zero Suit.

"No!" she screamed. As she looked up, she froze when she noticed the entity; it was none other than her "X" parasite clone that was wearing the iconicstaring down at her. The clone was not making any type of movement at all. It only stared down at the bounty hunter with it's white, demonic eyes glowing out of it's visor. The X clone soon turned around and walked away into the depths of darkness, which was peculiar to the hunter. Desperate to find a way out of the darkness that surrounded her, the hunter follows her X Clone. As she ran down the dark path, she noticed a faint light in the distance and realized that it was a capsule. As she opened it by using her emergency pistol, she ran inside of the dark room. As soon as she ran inside the room, the capsule behind her locked and closed automatically, much to the dismay of the hunter. Soon, a loud shriek was heard which alarmed the hunter. Out of nowhere, a multi-colored beam emits from the darkness and knocks the hunter into a wall.

"Ughh!" the hunter shrieked in pain as she felt the beam drain her life energy. She heard the terrifying shriek again and heard giant footsteps approaching her. As she looked up, she noticed the flames appearing from the creature's mouth, though she was still unable to identify the creature. Suddenly, the attacking creature launches a giant fireball towards the hunter, in which she realizes that it was it's attack all along. Using all of the strength she had, the bounty rolls to the side in a split second, dodging the fireball that hit the ground and exploded. With the flames giving off enough light to brighten the room, fear struck the hunter after she finally catches a glimpse of the attacking creature. The creature was as tall as a dinosaur, it's head was the shape of a colossal brain, and the body was an hour glass figure. With the power suit deactivated, there was absolutely no way for her to survive without getting hunter watched helplessly as the creature prepared to charge it's multi-colored beam once again.

"Well. I guess...this is. ..the end for me." The hunter said. Suddenly, a familiar screech was heard in the room which shocked the hunter and soon, a jellyfish-like latched on the monster.

"Orrughh!" the monster screeched in pain as the jellyfish-like creature quickly absorbed it's life energy. The hunter struggled to get back on her feet with the last remaining energy she had. Seeing that both of the creatures were distracted, the hunter ran to the locked capsule and continuesly punched the glass in desperation of escaping. As she continued to hit the glass, she noticed that the screeches had stopped and silence filled the room once more. The hunter slowly turned around and was horrified to see that the monster had turned into nothing but a lifeless husk. The Jellyfish-like creature latched off of the monster and began to float in the air while the hunter stood still in fear. Before she could even blink, the Jellyfish-like creature charged towards her and prepared to attack her.

"Noooooo!" the hunter screamed.


Samus's eyes snapped open as she awoke from the reviving nightmare that she had dreamed of countless times before. Only this time... this nightmare was much more disturbing than the ones she previously had. Although she taught herself to sleep through them, she couldn't help but wake herself up from this one, and she didn't understand why. She looked at her alarm clock and sighed; it was 6:04 a.m.

"Great. I woke up before my alarm clock even started buzzing," Samus said to herself. She only had six more hours until it was time for the semifinals to start. Having six hours to get prepped up for the tournament would be enough for a regular fighter. But due to Samus being a bounty hunter, her schedule was always filled. She received a message from Galatic Federation HQ, and that it was urgent. Even if she was no longer soldier for the Galatic Federation army, Samus was the first hunter they called when they needed things done. Samus didn't mind completing the assignments for them. She knew the Federation were not capable of doing the things she did, and the Federation knew that theirselves, which is why they bombarded her with tasks to which it would be impossible for them to do.

Samus's stomach began to growl loudly; she needed to eat breakfast first before she would leave so she can have her energy. She jumped out of her bed and head to her bathroom to brush her teeth. Since she took a shower the night before and slept in her Zero Suit, there was no need for her to rush. She turned on the faucet in her sink, grabbed a towel, and started washing her face. As slowly slid the towel off of her face to look at herself in the mirror, she froze in fear as she looked at the reflection.

"M-mom?" Samus said. She dropped her towel as she looked at Virginia in the mirror. Virginia had nothing but a blank expression on her face as she stared at her daughter, who was currently petrified at the moment. The sound of the faucet running was the only noise that disrupted the silence between the two of them. Samus, who was still shocked to see her own mother, slowly approached the mirror without hesitation.

"Mom? W-what are you?"

"He's coming." Virginia said with a soft tone. Samus looked at her with slight confusion. Who was she talking about?

"H-he?" Samus said.

"He's coming Samus! He's going to get you! You have to run!"

"Who mom!? Who?!" Samus hysterically screamed back. Seeing her own mother freak out made her react the same way.

"Just run Samus! Before he gets you too!" Virginia screamed. Without thinking twice, Samus runs out of her bathroom and dashes out of her room. She grabbed the knob of her bedroom door and slams the door shut. Samus panted heavily, still trying to unsee what she just witnessed. She witnessed her own nightmare turn into reality right before her eyes. Samus slowly backed away from the door and slid down against the hallway wall. She crouched into a ball and hid her head between her knees. Suddenly, she felt her eyes water up and realized that she started to cry.

"W-what? Why am I...crying?" Samus asked herself.


BUZZ BUZZ! A large hand appeared from the covers of a king sized bed and slammed on the alarm clock with brute force. The alarm clock stopped buzzing as the figure rose from the covers and began to rub his messy, silky blue hair. He looked at his alarm clock and sighed to himself.

"Oh great. Morning already?" he said. The man drags himself out of bed and stretches his muscles. The man rubned his sleepy eyes as yawned very loudly. He regretted not getting enough sleep for his match this noon, but he couldn't of one particular person that currently despised him. He really wanted to talk to her again, but he didn't want to risk angering her again. The first time he made her upset, she nearly blew his head off with her arm cannon. The man shuddered as he began to think about the troubled events.

Okay Ike. Don't even think about her or anyone else. Just win your match and enjoy the rest of your day," Ike thought to himself. He looks around his messy room and picks up a white tank top from the ground. He then grabs a pair of joggers from his laundry hamper and slides them on. "Hmph. The semifinals are today. I should buff myself up a little bit," the man said. As he prepared to leave for the training room, he realized he forgot to do his hygiene routine, and breathed into his hand to smell his breath. In response, he gagged on how terrible his breath smelled.

"Yuck! I should really brush my teeth...eh. No one's gonna smell my breath when I fight anyway." And with that he headed towards the Training Room.

"That's right Mac! You got five more!" Doc Louis yelled as he watched Little Mac lift the weights up.

"Almost there!" Little Mac screamed. He felt his muscles tense up the more he continued to lift the 100lb weights. "Orraaaughh!" Little Mac screamed as he finished his tenth set of lifting.

"Good job Mac!" Doc Louis quickly grabbed the weights that Little Mac was lifting and set them on the racks. After that, he ran to his workout bag and grabbed a water bottle to give to Little Mac. "Here you go Mac."

"Thanks Doc," Little Mac quickly unscrewed the water bottle cap and drunk the cold, refreshing water. He never felt a more satisfying exercise since the time he worked out for the WVBA. After he advanced to the Semifinals, he realized he needed to get prepared for his upcoming match, which is why he woke up at 5:23 in the morning. Although he couldn't wait to fight, he was still curious about how powerful his opponents were. He's been at the mansion for a month and he's only fought 3% of the fighters. But the worst part about the tournament is that 100% of the fighters know how horrible he is in the air, which was his main weakness.

"Hey Mac. You know that Samus fighter is in the Semifinals too right?" Doc Louis asked. Little Mac stopped drinking his water and looked at him. How could he have forgotten about that bolt brain who made fun of his height?

"Yeah I know. But don't you worry Doc. I'm gonna beat that bag of bolts for the both us!" Little Mac cheered. He looked at Doc Louis and noticed that he had a disappointed look on his face, and that was very uncommon from Doc. "Hey Doc. Are you okay?"

"Listen Mac. I know that you're anxious about the tournament and I know how confident you are. It's understandable because I was a boxer just like you. I remember getting excited when my match was about to start! But every time I jumped into the ring, I would always get punched out silly, and you wanna know why that happened Mac?"

"Ummm, because you didn't know to fight back then?" Little Mac laughed at his own joke, but grew quiet as he realized that Doc was not laughing with him.

"I'm serious Mac. When I was a boxer like you, I always thought I was a superior, unstoppable human being; you can pretty much say that I had a cocky attitude. But as soon I entered the ring, I was a goner. The reason why was because I underestimated my opponents. Mac, I don't you running onto the battlefield and underestimating your opponents. Thinking that you can defeat your enemies without knowing anything about them can be one way that your enemy can have an edge over you. Don't let your arrogance get the best of you Mac. You understand?" Doc Louis asked.

Little Mac looked at him as if Doc just punched him right in the face. He never received a lecture from Doc Louis, and hearing one now made him really reflect on his actions. Little Mac was so shocked, that he instead nodded his head in agreement.

"Good. Cuz Smash ain't no joke Mac! The fighters here are more powerful than the ones you've fought in the WVBA. And what I've heard from the fighters, Samus isn't a pushover. You definitely wouldn't want to underestimate her!" Doc Louis said. He could definitely tell that his speech had gotten through Mac. He wasn't trying to make Mac feel bad, he was only giving warning him of what would happen if he continued to act cocky. He knew Mac wasn't used to receiving discipline; mainly because his father was barely apart his of his life before he walked out, and his mother was too busy working to even pay any attention to Mac. Discipline was barely used by Doc because Mac hardly gave him any trouble.

"Now. You ready to do another rep?" Doc Louis said in attempt to raise Little Mac's spirit up. Little Mac looked at him and smiled.

"You bet," Little Mac said with a smile. Doc Louis quickly jumped up from his seat and ran behind the bar where while Little Mac had lifted earlier. He had waited for Mac to position himself to lift.

"Ready?" Doc Louis asked.

"Ready," Little Mac answered. He lifted the weight from the racks while Doc Louis watched him like an owl

watching a mouse. "One!"

"Oh. I didn't know you guys were here," a voice was heard in the doorway of the Weight Room which made Doc and Mac turn their heads to the doorway.

"Ike? Woah! Ahhhhh!" Due to him losing concentration, Little Mac dropped the steel bar right on his chest.

"Mac!" Doc Louis quickly lifted the steel bar off Mac's chest.

"Woah. I didn't mean to disturb you or anything," Ike continued as he entered the Weight Room.

"Nahh you're all good. Mac was getting buff for the semifinals," Doc Louis said.

"Ah nice. I came here to do that too. Oh that reminds me. Crazy Hand is making turkey legs for breakfast. You should head down to the dining hall."

"REALLY?! OUT OF MY WAY!" Doc Louis roughly pushed Ike out of the way and ran out of the Weight Room and headed towards the Dining Hall.

"Hey whatchu do that for? Doc was helping me with my reps," Little Mac said with frustration.

"Because I need to talk to you," Ike said.

"About?" Little Mac began lifting the weight again.

"It's about Samus. You do know she made it to the semifinals right?"

"Yeah. Doc told me."

"Look man. For your sake, I think you shouldn't participate in the Semifinals ." Little Mac angrily slammed the steel bar on it's the racks which shocked Ike.

"What? You want me to forfeit the match?! Why the heck do you want me to do that?" Ike looked at Little Mac with widened eyes as Little Mac glared back at him. He didn't expect Mac to react viciously.

"Look man. I think you're one of the best newcomers here, and you could probably take on most of the fighters here. But since Samus dislikes you for uppercuting her in the gut-"

"SHUT UP," an angry Little Mac said. His suddenly deep voice made Ike grew quiet. "I trained my butt off every day for this tournament. There's no way in hell I'm going to let you or that robot stop me."

"Little Mac...I was just...looking out-" Ike's sentence was cut short as Little Mac punched him hard in his face. The force of his blow knocked Ike down to his feet. It took him a moment to realize what just happened.

"I don't need you looking out for me. Admit it Ike; you're just afraid that I'll beat you." Ike's eyes widened in shock. Ike being afraid of Little Mac? The kid must be crazy enough to believe that. Although Ike wasn't afraid of the boxer, he hate to admit that the kid hits like a freight train. Ike jumped back up on his feet and approached Little Mac

"Afraid? Why would be afraid of a little kid who's in love with a woman? A woman that's way too old for you to where she could be your mother! I'm only trying to save you from getting your butt whooped in front of the whole world!" Little did Ike know about Little Mac's past, he made the same fatal mistake as he did with Samus by talking about her past. Little Mac approached Ike and closed in the space between them.

"Don't you ever talk about my mother or my family ever again. You want a fight? You got one. We'll see who REALLY be humiliated," Little Mac said. They both glared into each other's eyes before Little Mac angrily stomped out of the Weight Room,

"Stupid Little Mac," Ike said as he sat on the weight bench. As he reached for the steel bar to lift, he realized what happened a few moments ago and sighed. "Great. I made two enemies now," Ike thought to himself.


"Zelda? Are you awake? If so, may I come in?" Peach asked as she knocked on the door. Unfortunately, there was no answer. "Zelda? Are you there?" There was still no answer from the other side of the door. Peach slightly began to get impatient as she in a hurry for finding Mario. She hasn't seen him in a few days and she began to worry for his safety. She asked almost every fighter at the mansion if they had seen Mario, but unfortunately, they didn't know either. She even tryed to ask Luigi and Rosalina but they both ran away before she could even talk. The only person she could depend was best friend and fellow princess peer, Zelda.

"Zelda, are you-" the door suddenly swung open to reveal the Hyrulian princess still in her Twilight Princess dress.

"Good morning Peach. Do you need anything?" Zelda asked. Peach began to speak, but noticed something was off about Zelda; she had black mascara streaks running down from her eyes and to her cheeks and her eyes were a pinkish red color. "has she been crying?" Peach thought to herself.

"Ummm Zelda? Is everything alright with you?" Zelda looked at Peach with her eyebrow raised.

"Oh no I feel fine. What do you need anyway?" Peach looked at her in confusion as well. Something was definitely bugging Zelda, but why was she being in denial? It bothered Peach that her best friend was refusing to tell her. They always told each other their deepest secrets, and came to one another if they needed help. It's as if the two are sisters.

" Well I came here to see if you seen Mario," Peach said.

"I'm sorry Peach, but I haven't seen him anywhere. Maybe you should go ask the other fighters." Zelda suggested.

"I already did that; they all said no. I tryed to ask Luigi, but he ran off. I can't ask Rosalina because she left to look after her Lumas."

"Well there has to be someone who's seen him. Maybe we should go down to the Mushroom Kingdom to see if he's there?" Zelda suggested.

"Mushroom Kingdom? What is that place?" Peach asked. Zelda looked at her as if she thought she was insane. "Oh! The Mushroom Kingdom! That's right! He could be there! I'll check there."

"I'll go with you," Zelda said as she closed her door. " How could she forget about the Mushroom Kingdom? She is the ruler of it after all

"Great!" Peach cheered as she dashed down the the corridor.

"Wait Peach!" Peach stopped running and turned around to look at her best friend, "the Mushroom Kingdom is thousands of miles away! We can get there quicker if I teleport us there."

"Oh okay!" Peach ran back to where Zelda was standing.

"Why is she acting so strange?" Zelda shrugged the thought off and looked at Peach. "Ready?" Peach noticed her head in agreement. Zelda placed her hands together as several rays of pure, bright light began swirling around the princesses, and in the blink of an eye, they dissapeared.


"Stupid Ike. Who does he think he is telling me to forfeit the tournament?" Little Mac said to himself as he stomped down the hallway. He was full of rage due to the conversation he and Ike had, and was little bit hurt by it. One reason he was upset is because he thought Ike was actually a cool guy. Ike was one of the many veterans that made Mac feel a bit more comfortable despite being a newcomer. Thanks to him, he reminded Little Mac that he didn't need to fit in because every fighter is different in their own way. But all of that changed this morning. "I don't think you should participate in the tournament," Ike's words had crossed his mind. As Little Mac continued walk down the hallway, he froze after he heard someone sniffling. Curious, he peeped his head in the corridor to see Samus curled up in a ball crying.

"Hey, it's that woman! Why is she crying though? I should go check up on her...but what if she gets angry with me again? Oh it doesn't matter. Maybe if I ask her what's wrong, she'll want to be my friend," Little Mac thought to himself. He quietly tip-toed towards her and gently touched her right shoulder.

"Ahhh! Leave me alone mom!" Samus shrieked.

POW!

"Wahhhh ooof!" Little Mac fell to the ground after Samus backhanded him in the jaw because she mistakenly thought he was her mother. After hearing a male shriek, Samus opened her eyes to see Little Mac on the ground grabbing his nose in response of the slap.

"Ouch! My nose!" Little Mac screamed. He looked at Samus and realized that she was looking at him, "crap. She's looking at me. I don't want her to think I'm a wuss. I mean, heck yeah! That felt good!" Samus looked at him with a confused expression. while Little Mac chuckled nervously. He slowly rose up and approached her with caution because he did not want to get smacked in the face again.

"Are you okay? I'm sorry if I frightened you. I was just trying to check up on you," Little Mac explained.

"I...I'm fine. Thank you," she said while looking down at the ground. She didn't want to make eye contact with him because she felt so weak being caught crying. Fortunately for her, Little Mac didn't think wrong of her for doing so, and he lended her his hand. Samus looked at the boxing glove covered hand and looked up at Mac again who had a friendly smile on his face. She felt some type of surge that she never felt before. His smile felt warm and bright. Was it a good to trust him? Maybe not considering the fact that he brutally uppercutted her in the gut. She tryed to stay angry about it, but his smile made reconsider; maybe Mac wasn't all that bad as she thought. The boxing glove slightly moved a little bit closer to Samus which reminded her that his offer to help her up was still available. With hesitation, Samus grabbed his hand and slowly rose up from the ground.

"Woah," Little Mac backed away from Samus due to how tall she was, "she's even taller than Doc Louis and me combined!" he continued to stare at which made Samus feel slightly uncomfortable.

"What?" Samus said. Realizing that he was staring for a long time, Little Mac's face turned red in embarrassment .

"Oh I'm sorry! I-I wasn't looking at you! I was just-" Samus ignored him and opened the door to her bedroom and prepared to shut it, "WAIT!" Little Mac quickly ran to her door and wedged his foot into her doorway so she wouldn't close it.

"Little Mac! What are you-"

"Would you join me for breakfast?" Little Mac asked her.

"What? Why would I-" But then, Samus remembered what her mother had warned about; was Little Mac the person her mother warned her about? Samus sighed to herself and looked at Little Mac, who was still waiting for an answer. "Wait right here." she told him.

"Oh. Okay," Little Mac said as Samus closed her door. After she did so, Little Mac jumped up and down in happiness. "Yes! She's going to eat breakfast with me!"

"Well here we are," Zelda said. Her and Peach finally teleported in front of the Mushroom Kingdom castle.

"Wow Zelda! Your teleportation spell worked! Now I just have to find Mario. I hope he's alright," Peach said. Zelda gently placed her hand on her best friend's shoulder to comfort her.

"Don't worry Peach. I'm sure he's somewhere in the kingdom. Tell you what, I'll go search for him in another part of the kingdom while you go search for him in your castle. Okay? " Zelda suggested.

"Okay! I suggest you try the Mushroomy Kingdom mall. Between the two of us, this should be a breeze finding him," Peach said.

"Alright, I'll come back to you if I've found him."

"Okay!" Peach cheerfully skipped up the stairs of her castle which made Zelda slightly curious of her best friend's behavior.

"She was deeply worried for Mario at the mansion. So why is she all of a sudden...calm about his disappearance?" Zelda thought. She quickly dispersed the thought and concentrated her energy on teleporting her where she need to go. She pictured the Mushroomy Kingdom mall center in her mind and soon she dissapeared into a thin white light.

Meanwhile...

"Ummm I like your hair," Little Mac said.

"Thanks," Samus said in a dull voice. Little Mac nervously scratched his head. As they made their way to the Dining Hall, Mac was trying his best to spark a conversation with Samus in order to be friendly with her. However, it was proven difficult for Little Mac to do so because Samus would only answer his questions with a simple 'yes' or 'no'. It frustrated him, but he wasn't going to give up on her easily. He honestly didn't know what he was doing wrong. He did everything a man was supposed to do while going on a date with a girl; give the gril compliments so she can feel pleased, ask questions about the about the girl so the date can be about her, and pay for anything she desires.

Well, it wasn't technically a date; he had simply asked her to join him for breakfast and to the fortune of Little Mac, she agreed. But it seemed as if Samus wasn't enjoying it all which bothered Little Mac. They soon made their way into the Dining room with long table in the center of the room. The table had plates and silverware that was fixed in a clean manner. And surprisingly, it was pretty empty.

"Perfect. No one's here but us," Little Mac thought, "where do you wanna sit?"

"Wherever is fine by me," Samus said.

"Ok. Do you want me to make you a plate?" Little Mac offered.

"I'm perfectly capable of making my own plate thank you," Samus rudely responded as grabbed her plate from the table and headed towards the fridge.

" This is gonna be a long breakfast," Little Mac thought. He grabbed his plate and headed towards the fridge.

Schoom! Ring!

"Alright! I'm here," Zelda soon teleported at the entrance gate of the Mushroomy Kingdom Mall. Thankfully, no one was around to see her.

"Wahh! Princess Zelda?" a young voice said behind her. Zelda quickly turned around to see Toad; Peach's most loyal guard. Zelda was quite familiar with him mainly because Peach uses him as a counter block when fighting. She wondered how could Peach manage to pull him out of her dress in the first place, but she kept that to herself.

"Oh hello Toad. I'm sorry if I've frightened you, but I am currently looking for Mario."

"Oh okay. I thought you were an evil alien! Haha, but Mario passed by here. He was looking down as if he was lost in the clouds. I really didn't want to bother him," Toad explained.

"Ah perfect. I'm sure Peach will be pleased when I inform her that Mario is safe," Zelda looked around and noticed that they were the only ones present at the entrance, "Umm Toad. May I ask why aren't there any people present at the mall?"

"Oh! Since the Super Smash Bros tournament is today, the Mushroomy Kingdom mall closed down for today. Many citizens headed out today because of the tournament. Luckily the bar is open for anyone who isn't going! I really wish I could see the tournament, but I have to stay here to guard the castle!" Toad whined.

"You know the tournament is live on television right?" Zelda said.

"I know, but I want to be in the stadium and watch it right in front of me!"

"Well at least you can still watch it. It's better than not being able to watch it right?"

"You're right. I should be grateful. Well, I'll see you later Princess Zelda! I have to get back my position!" And with that, Toad left while waving at Zelda.

"Bye. I'll see you another time. "I should be looking getting back to what I was doing to," Zelda headed towards the bar Toad was talking about. She hoped that Mario was in the bar if not in the castle. After she finally rereached the door, she grabbed the rusty door knob and twisted it. Unfortunately, the door knob popped off as soon as she touched it.

"Oops," she pushed the door which made a squeaky noise. After she opened it, she walked into a dark room what's the damn lights on the ceiling. The stench of beer and liquor flooded Zelda nostrils which nearly made her gag in disgust. There were small wooden chairs scattered across the floor with multiple round tables being surrounded by beer cans. As she looked around, she noticed a familiar face cleaning wine glasses behind the bar counter. "T-Toad?" Toad quickly looked up to see Princess Zelda looking at him in confusion, "What are you doing here? I thought you had to get back to your position at the castle.

Toad calmly looked at Zelda for a moment before he went back cleaning wine glasses while ignoring Zelda's question.

"Is he ignoring me?" Zelda thought, "Umm. To-"

"What? Who is this Toad you speak of? I am Doat!" Toad exclaimed. Zelda looked at him in confusion and began to get slightly annoyed. Was he pulling a prank on her? She looked behind the bar counter and

"Toad-"

Before she could finish her sentence, Toad pointed at a dark corner in the room and Zelda turned to see what he was pointing at.

"Mario?" Zelda walked towards the small, round table while gently kicking empty beer can out of her way. AS she approached him, he noticed that he was quietly snoring to himself; she suspected that he was sleeping. She picked up beer bottle and looked at the label; it read "1-UP Beer".

"I didn't know Mario was a drinker. I need to read his thoughts and see if I can get some answers," she looked around to see if there was anyone in sight; her and Mario were the only ones in the bar. "Looks like I'm in the clear," she gently placed her hand on his head and soon enough, her hand began to emit a bright, white light. She began scanning the deep, dark depths of Mario's mind.


"Mario. I've been...keeping a deep secret from you," Rosalina said. Mario gave her a suspicious look; he wondered what was the secret Rosalina was talking about.

"Well a-what is it Rosalina?" Mario said.

"It's about...Peach," Mario's eyes widened in fear when she said Peach's name.

"What? What about Miss a-Peach? Did you do something to her!?" Mario exclaimed as he rose out of his chair.

"No-no Mario! Please just calm down! Just hear me out!" Mario edged closer into her face and roughly grabbed her shoulders, "ow! Mario you're hurting my shoulders!"

"Tell me what you did to her," Mario said. His sudden change of voice frightened Rosalina, but she knew that Mario deserved to know the truth.

"Kamek, the one who sensed you off into space, was a bounty hired by Bowser to keep take care of you while he kidnapped Peach. After he did so, he went back to Princess Peach's to receive the money Bowser owed him for doing his job. Unfortunately, refused to pay him because he knew that you weren't dead. Furious, Kamek created a black hole to suck in the entire. Bowser barely escaped, along with a handful of my Lumas...but-"

"What about...Peach? Did she escape too?" Mario asked. Rosalina looked down at the ground to avoid eye contact while Mario dropped down to his knees, "she...didn't make it?" to his fear, Rosalina shook her head.

Tears formed in Mario's as the swelling thought of Peach being dead overflowed his mind. It confused him yet, he believed it.

"I don't understand! How could a-Peach be dead if she's here!?" Mario exclaimed.

"After I finally made it to your world, I realized I was too late to save her. The castle was already destroyed which left my Lumas traveling in the vast parts of space. After a tiring journey, I reunited with my Lumas and they told me everything what happened. I was devestated that I wasn't able to stop the incident, just like I tryed to do 100 years before," Rosalina explained.

"You haven't answered my a-question. HOW IS SHE ALIVE?" Mario asked. Rosalina saw the anger in Mario's eyes. But deep down within, she could feel that he was confused, but could she blame him? She sighed to herself before continuing her story.

"200 years ago, Kamek began stealing cosmic energy from the Gateway Galaxy. Seeing the the cosmic energy slowly dissapearing, the stars were getting desperate on trying to put an end to Kamek's rampage. After Kamek absorbed enough energy, he then left and destroyed Gateway Galaxy. I was then born on planet Earth and my parents raised me there, however. My parents died in the destruction of Gateway Galaxy in which I escaped. But on the day of my birth, the stars shined upon me and revealed a shocking prophecy. The prophecy would reveal that every 100 years, Kamek will return to target another galaxy and absorb more cosmic energy that will bring a terrible fate upon the galaxy that he targeted. Because of that, the stars gave me the responsibility to restore the galaxy that was destroyed. It may sound like a fairy tale to you Mario, but I am actually the Guardian of Gateway Galaxy," Rosalina continued.

Mario couldn't believe his ears. Rosalina being a guardian? It sounded like a fairy tale, but Mario believed it.

"So, on the day of the a-cosmic festival, that was the day Kamek would...return?" Mario said.

Rosalina nodded her head, "That's correct Mario. Your galaxy was the next target Kamek came after." More tears began to form in Mario's eyes, but he quickly wiped them away.

"Nonsense! I don't believe any of this! How am I still alive if a-Kamek wiped out the galaxy I live in!?"

"You are not listening Mario. After Kamek destroys a galaxy, I travel to that galaxy to rebuild it. After I do so, every living thing that was destroyed along with the galaxy is reborn. Kamek sender you off into another galaxy which saved you, but knocked you unconscious. That is why you couldn't remember anything from the day Peach died!"

"Then why does it feel like a-Peach doesn't a-care about me anymore!?"

"Because every time a living thing is reborn, most of its memories and spirituality is erased along with the destruction of the galaxy it was living in. That explains why Peach does not act the same the first time she met you," Rosalina explained.

"Soo... were your parents...ever re-aborn?" Mario asked. Rosalina's expression turned from scared to completely terrified in an instant.

"I'm... I'm sorry Mario! I don't want to talk anymore! Especially not about my parents!" Rosalina screamed.

"Does Luigi know about this?" Rosalina looked at Mario then covered her face with her hands, "he does know about this doesn't he!? Both of you are a-backstabbers! I'm going to find that traitor right away!" Mario ran fast as he could out of theLibrary.

"Mario wait!" Rosalina gives chase.


Zelda slowly let her hand slip off of Mario's shoulder as the tears in her eyes drizzled down on her face. She now figured out what led Mario's disappearance, and he's drinking. She now understood the pain that he felt when he found out that his whole life was a lie. Not only that, but it did crack the mystery for Peach's strange unusual behavior in which even Zelda noticed. She grabbed a chair that was laying on the ground, sat next to Mario, and waited for him to come awake from his slumber.

"So ummmm how are you enjoying your breakfast?" Little Mac asked.

"It's fine," Samus said in a dull voice.

"Oh...ok. Cool," an awkward moment of silence followed Little Mac's words in which he noticed. The only sound that was being made was Little Mac's spoon clanking against his cereal bowl, "Do you like your oatmeal?"

"Yes I do," Samus began to get slightly annoyed by Little Mac consecutively asking her questions.

"Sooooo do you-"

"It's fine alright?" Samus angrily said as she stopped Little Mac from finishing his sentence. She then took a bite of her breakfast burrito and looked Little Mac who looked hurt, "What?"

"Am I... annoying you?"

"Yeah, kind of," Samus sat her breakfast burrito down on her plate.

"Oh, well I'm sorry. I'm just trying to get to know you better."

"You out don't know anything about me."

"Well... what do you like to do for fun?" Samus looked at Little Mac and rolled her eyes while reaching for her napkin and rubbing her mouth.

"I am a independent bounty hunter. I don't do anything fun. I simply collect bounties and do assigned tasks that I have do complete."

"Wow. Sounds hardcore," Little Mac said sounding impressed.

"Yeah well, let's just say... it's not something you would enjoy," Samus said after she sipped her coffee.

"Why not? It sounds like a lot of fun!" Little Mac said.

"You don't understand. The creatures that I face could scar a normal human forever."

"Wait. What do you mean by normal?" Little Mac asked with curiosity. Samus stopped drinking her coffee and sighed to herself.

"Nothing. Forget what I said. Can we just finish our breakfast?"

"Oh okay. Sure," Little Mac ate the rest of his cereal. He then grabbed his bowl and drunk the rest of the milk that was in it was Samus watched in disgust, " *gulps* ahhhhhhhh!"

Samus looked at Little Mac and noticed that the he had a milk mustache above his lip and silently chuckled to herself.

"Huh, What's so funny?" Little Mac asked.

"Nothing. Nothing at all..." Little Mac then licked the top of his lip and tasted the milk he drunk.

"You're laughing at my milk mustache?" Little Mac asked.

"No," Samus said after she took another sip of her coffee.

"Haha! You were! I finally got you to laugh!" Little Mac cheered.

"Why are you getting excited over me laughing?" Samus asked.

"I don't know.. I just never seen you react that way before."

"Whatever," Samus ate a bite of her burrito.

"Can I ask you a question" Little Mac said.

"What?"

"Why do you hate me so much?" Samus stopped chewing her burrito and looked at Little Mac. By the look that he was giving her, she kind of felt guilty about it. To top it off, she really didn't know what to say.

"I don't hate you. I just... thought different of you when I first met you. I judged you wrongly which was on my fault. Sometimes I'm not exactly the easiest person to cooperate with..." Samus explained.

"No offense but when I first met, you were kind of scary," Little Mac said.

"I'm not offended. People always think of me that way. But since I've forgiven you, I'll give you a pass."

"So...are we...friends?" Little Mac said.

"Well not exactly. But I think we've gotten off to a good start," Samus said. Little Mac gave her a big smile in response while Samus smiled back. Unaware that she was late for mission, the two peacefully ate breakfast together.


Dear readers,

I want to apologize for the late upload of the story. My reason for being offline was because I had the touch of pneumonia in mid-November, which prevented me from typing my stories. Thankfully, I feel a lot better now thanks to the medicines my doctor gave me. So please forgive me for my late upload. Chapter 11 is already in progress. Have a happy new year and I'll see you in 2015.

~The Shinesparkers