REVEIW RESPONSES:
OperationJonny: Yup, I bet you've been waiting for a long time. Sorry about that, but I hope you like this chapter!
Numdenu: Hey, great thought! I'll have to think about that…
Ri2: Yup, there's a space battle! Hopefully you'll like it!
WildGamer: Thanks, glad to have good feedback!
anime/videogame freak: Again, glad you like it! I'll keep going as long as my fingers will hold out on the relentless amount of work I put them to while typing every chapter!
I can't say how sorry I am to make you guys wait, but that's life! Good things come to those who wait, and here's one of those things. Keep reviewing; you guys drive me to do my very best work!
NOTES: I'm BACK IN BLACK! (Well, I always am, since I always type these notes in bold, but it's the song I'm currently listening to by ACDC, so whatever!) Sorry about the long wait, school so far has been troublesome, and my own social life hasn't been perfect either. But enough of that, this chapter should get interesting! Just to update you guys on what happened last chapter, Fox and Samus challenged each other to a showdown in the Meteos Asteroid Belt, to see who the better pilot is. Of course, they wouldn't risk their own lives for something so meaningless, so they've decided to use the Arwing simulators to do this. Hopefully, this chapter will satisfy my reviewers that like action in a story. Thanks again to all my reviewers; I can never thank you guys enough! Okay, on with Chapter 10!
DISCLAIMER: Once again, I must remind you all, even though you probably got it embedded inside your little infidel minds (just kidding!), that I do not own Super Smash Bros Melee, Metroid Fusion, Zelda, or Star Fox. All of these franchises belong to Nintendo, HAL Laboratories owns part of Super Smash Bros, and Namco owns part of Star Fox: Assault. Oh, and my lawyer reminded me to say that I don't own the Meteos Asteroid Belt from Star Fox 64, either. Admit nothing, deny everything! That's his motto, not mine.
Chapter 10: Pilot's Test, Part Deux
As Link, Zelda, Krystal, and Marth made their way in to the simulation labs; they barely had time to see the two combatant's serious faces disappear as the overhead canopies enclosed the cockpits. They ran to the huge viewscreen on the control console to watch as the meaningless contest started…
Fox's POV
'Man, this is going to be so easy!' thought Fox as the viewscreen of his cockpit finished loading. He glided his hands lightly over the controls, all the names and functions of which he knew by heart. He was so used to dogfighting in these simulators, as he often practiced against his teammates and computer-controlled craft on his downtime.
As the asteroid belt came in to view, he checked all his instruments, making sure everything was green. Sometimes, the computer screwed up and set some of the instruments at very odd levels, so Fox found it never hurt to take a second to check all settings. Fox then checked his headset, making sure it was working:
"Hey, outlawed bounty hunter, are you ready to scrap?"
"If you mean scrap your Arwing on an asteroid, yeah."
"I made some changes to the usual rules in these simulators, so we can get as close to a real battle as possible. That okay?"
"I don't care. A good pilot is supposed to be able to adjust to anything."
"Come on, Sam. I fly in these things ALL the time; I literary wrote the operations manual!"
"We'll see soon, won't we?"
He then switched off his headset; he wouldn't need it for the rest of the battle.
Samus's POV
'Just because he flies all the time in Arwings and I don't doesn't mean he has the advantage.' thought Samus as Fox's comments echoed through her head.
Even though she had only been in an Arwing once in her entire life, Samus felt relevantly comfortable with the controls. She was an expert pilot, after all. The only time Samus had actually flown an Arwing in combat was one year ago right before the Aparoid incident, when she tagged along with the Star Fox team on a mission to Macbeth. It turned out that Cornearian spies had intercepted a transmission from one of Andross' remaining bases on the planet, indicating that they were planning a major offensive against Cornearia using what remaining forces and resources they possessed. General Pepper had requested that the Star Fox team cleanse the planet of Andross' remaining forces, and eliminate the newly elected leader of them, the former Star Wolf pilot and Andross' nephew Andrew Oikonny. Coincidently, Samus had gotten word from the Federation that there was a price on Oikonny's head for providing illegal weapons to the remaining Space Pirate forces in exchange for supplies and vehicles. It was a hefty sum of 500,000 Galactic Credits, so Samus marked the bounty immediately.
Remembering what Fox had said about taking off for a week to the Lylat System, Samus went to him and requested to come along with the team. They accepted, glad to have a fourth pilot along for the ride (A/N: Peppy was obviously retired, and Krystal was still on Cornearia, completing her pilot training at the Academy). As soon as the Great Fox I completed the warp gate jump, it was immediately attacked by Oikonny's fleet. Samus, Fox, Falco, and Slippy took off in Arwings to help ward off the attackers, with Peppy and ROB attacking from the Great Fox I main cannons.
After about an hour of fighting, Oikonny's forces were dwindling, and he was forced to retreat. Samus did some amazing flying, avoiding near collusions with his many commanding ships, as she made a last ditch effort to break through the final line and blow up his capital ship while it was preparing to warp. As she finally made it through and shot off her last bomb, his capital ship disappeared as well as the rest of his ships. They left shortly after cleaning up the remnants on Macbeth, as the planet was almost abandoned of all hostiles, giving the Cornearian government control of the planet once again. Unable to continue pursuing him because of various Space Pirate attacks on outlaying Federation outposts, Samus left the task of finding Oikonny to Fox and his team, which they successfully did six months later, finding him locked in a battle with the Cornearian Fleet in the orbit of Fortuna.
Samus fondly remembered that battle over Macbeth, as it proved to her as well as to the other Smashers that she wasn't just some scumbag bounty hunter like the rest of the beings in her profession: she was a compassionate human being who cared about others, and, even more than that, she was a hero.
She snapped back to reality and checked all her instruments, then prepared herself as the preflight countdown timer reached zero.
The Onlooker's POV
All four of them stood near the control console, watching the screen as the rules scrolled across the screen:
Map: Meteos Asteroid Field
Yellow Dots: Asteroids
Red Dots: Arwings
Green Dots: Bombs
Arwings only, 1 Bomb, Automatic application of Hyper Laser Cannon Powerup on.
Game type: Sudden Death
'Just the way Fox likes it,' Krystal thought to herself, but one thing that she didn't expect to see scrolled across the screen right in front of the rules in huge blood red letters:
WARNING: DANGEROUS OPTIONS SELECTED!
G-DIFFUSER AUTO-PROTECTION OFF. DANGEROUS SPEED LEVELS POSSIBLE! WARNING: INJURY AND EVEN DEATH CAN OCCUR AT HIGH G-DIFFUSER LEVELS. EXTREME CAUTION IS RECOMMENDED!
The four onlookers gasped at the words. They stayed silent for a while, just as the countdown timer started. Link was the first one to break the silence.
"Are they crazy? They'll die in this contest!"
"I agree, what is this going to accomplish? Getting themselves killed isn't going to prove anything!" Zelda exclaimed.
"Obviously, Fox wants this to be the ultimate test not just of skill, but of stamina too." Krystal said, almost in a whisper.
"If I know Sam, she probably wouldn't want it any other way. Both of them despise handicaps. This is the ultimate, possibly final…" Marth muttered in a serious tone.
"…Pilot's Test." Krystal finished, as the countdown reached zero, replacing the huge letters and rules screen with cameras of both pilot's viewscreens, Fox designated Alpha 1 and Samus Alpha 2, as well as a general picture of the map layout, and where each Arwing was located.
Both pilots' forward viewscreens filled with the endless black and white specks of space as the match started. They both took off, only at minimal speeds to navigate the asteroids and find each other. Fox remembered it well; just like the real thing, which he had to get past with his team on their way to Venom so many years ago.
'So long ago, now look at me: I'm an insane fool pitted in a deathmatch against one of, if not the best, bounty hunters in the universe. I have to get through this and win, for my honor, if not, at least survive. For Krystal…' Fox thought to himself as he slowly flew between asteroids the size of planets, all the while keeping an eye on his radar. Suddenly, beyond the minor yellow dots of asteroids, a red blip appeared at about 10 o'clock. Samus noticed on hers a red blip at 5 o'clock shortly after Fox noticed his.
'So it begins.' they both thought while arming their weapons as the red blips on each other's radars started heading towards each other…
Samus POV
'Okay, laser recharge levels at 25 percent, G-Diffuser power at 75 percent. Hope this works…' Samus thought to herself as she started to see Fox's Arwing come in to view. Suddenly, before Samus could even blink, double disk-shaped rays of silver laser fire started heading towards her. She yoked the joystick to the left, performing barrel rolls as she tried to avoid damage. She then retuned fire, hoping she was hitting him as Fox's Arwing streaked past her. She saw a place where she could turn around, and then started a U-turn. At the end of it, she hit the throttle, but was forced to hang on tightly to the joystick as she was thrown back in her seat.
'What the hell? That shouldn't have happened in a simulator! Maybe that was one of the so called changes that Fox was talking about.' Samus thought as she continued to follow the blip on her radar, all the while evading asteroids his Arwing went around to throw her off. She grinded her teeth as she struggled to lock on to his craft, her thumb right on the bomb launcher button. She let off a few laser blasts, hoping she was hitting something, but then she got a lock.
Fox POV
'Crap! My shields are only at 25 percent now…' Fox thought as Samus's Arwing roared past him. He saw that she was going to U-turn, so without thinking, he hit the throttle. He was flung back in to his seat as his craft took off. Silently swearing at himself for forgetting about the G-Diffuser's increase in power, he maneuvered around asteroids the size of capital ships as he tried to regroup his efforts, silver laser blasts flying past him.
'She's right on my tail! I gotta find a good place to turn around…' Then, he heard something he didn't want to hear:
WARNING! ALPHA 1, INCOMMING BOMB.
Instruments started flashing as he watched the little green dot crawl slowly towards him. He yanked the joystick down, forcing his craft over a small asteroid as he tried to avoid it. He put every asteroid he could think of in front of it, but none of them stopped it. 'Boy, I'm in real trouble! Wait, what's that?' Fox thought as he saw something near him, possibly something he could use to evade the green dot creeping up on his six…
Onlooker's POV
They had silently watched the battle, not one of them muttering a sound except when both cockpits suddenly flew back. Krystal explained that it simulated the operations of the G-Diffusers for both craft, just like in real life, so when they take off in the simulator at high speeds, the simulator compensates for the increase in speed like in real life. They continued to watch until they noticed the green blip following Fox's red dot closely, matching his every movement.
'Fox, don't push yourself too hard. I respect your determination to maintain your pride, but I don't know what I would do if I lost you…' Krystal thought sadly as she and the others just continued to stare at the screen, Fox's blip maneuvering around asteroids, but then the map went white, as did Fox's cockpit viewscreen. Everyone yelled in surprise, trying to determine what had happened.
Samus POV
"Yes! A direct hit!" Samus yelled as her viewport went white, which didn't matter to her much as it was apparent that she had won. Her instruments slowly regained functionality as her viewscreen cleared. At first she didn't see anything except asteroids floating around on her radar, but a familiar red dot close to her position made her mood not as pleasant as it had been, for she had just wasted her only bomb.
Fox POV
"Man that was close!" Fox said to himself as he struggled to regain his breath, his heart feeling like it was going to leap right out of his chest. About 10 seconds before impact, he had noticed an asteroid with an embedded cavern carved in the center. Taking a risk, he dove into it with the bomb right behind him. Right after he exited it, it went off, exploding the asteroid from the inside. He then did a quick damage assessment of his craft. The only thing that he had lost was some shield strength, but other than that everything was still green. He then saw where Samus' Arwing was on the map, and he sped off towards it, lasers firing as a distraction while he struggled to get a lock.
Samus POV
"DAMN IT!" Samus yelled as she swung her fist on the dashboard, her only bomb now gone. She didn't have much time to be angry, as Fox's Arwing picked up speed, heading right towards her with lasers blazing. She did likewise, holding down the laser triggers. Without thinking, she hit the throttle again, her sight slowly fading in and out of consciousness.
'I've been able to survive speeds up to 10 times this, so why am I having trouble now? Guess it's a side effect of the Metroid vaccine.' Samus thought as she heard the same warning Fox did moments before. Time seemed to slow as she watched the green blip fly towards her on radar, silver lasers tearing away at her shields.
BLAM! Her right wing had been blasted off, as her shields abruptly failed.
"NO, I'M NOT LOSING!" She shouted as her other wing blasted off. She made herself increase the throttle to full, the G-Diffuser levels so high now she couldn't move. The last thing she saw before she slipped into darkness was a bright light…
Did Samus survive? Was that light she saw the light of her death, or the light of the bomb going off? Respond in a review what you think it was, and I might give out some more cookies! Once again, thanks to you all for your loyalty and your patience. I promise the next chapter will be up in the next week or so. Thanks again (seriously, how many times am I going to say this?), and please review!