Disclaimer: I do not own any of the material appearing in this story. The OC's belong to their respective owners.

While JINX and Co are wandering around Jiggle Jungle

Blake sat atop of the roof of the Smash Mansion, sitting down on the ledge and letting the soft wind blow through her hair as she watched the sun set into the horizon.

She closed her eyes, reminscing of all the fun times she had with her team the past seven months. From a rocky start, to kicking Roman and Neo's butt, to stopping a Grimm attack in Vale with the help of CFVY… to stepping foot into the Mushroom Kingdom for the first time and making lots of new friends to the point where she started to open up more, to random shenanigans going about the kingdom…

She let out a happy sigh, smiling. She wouldn't trade those moments for the world, especially when she felt her relationship deepen with Weiss at the Crown Tundra.

Of course… her mind switched to someone that made her frown. Adam.

"You could have stayed with the White Fang… you could have chosen to stay with the Crimson Fang should Sienna have made that treaty without your influence!"

"I made my choice!"

"And I respect your decision, but you forget that every action has a consequence!"

"Hahahaha! JUSTICE PREVAILS!"

"YOU BASTARD!"

"This wouldn't have happened if you had just stayed put. Again, you should have killed me when you had the chance, but you didn't. Now you have blood on your hands. You helped create the Crimson Fang. YOU were the one who caused your friend's life to abruptly near its end."

"You… I'LL KILL YOU!"

"Just like you killed Weiss?"

Blake clenched her fists… she knew very well that Adam was just getting under her skin, and yet… she couldn't block it out. Her best friend got new scars that day, and while Weiss doesn't mind showing them off, Blake still wishes she would have realized it sooner when Seryu was baiting her toward Weiss.

She was so deep in thought, she didn't hear footsteps approaching her.

"I thought I'd find you up here." A voice said, snapping Blake out of her thoughts as she turned to see who was speaking to her. She would see the person in question had sandals, an orange bikini and long blonde hair down to her upper back.

Blake took a good look at her. "…Samus?" She tilted her head. "Is that you?"

"Yeah, it's me." Samus let out a chuckle. "I don't really blame you for not recognizing me, I rarely let my hair down these days." She said as she sat down next to her. "That and you always see me in my Zero Suit… thought I'd slip into something more comfortable."

"Something more comfortable… with Ridley and Dark Samus around?"

"What, can't a girl have some free time? Besides, I don't have to keep an eye on them all the time… and even if I did, I'd be fatigued with no sleep."

"Ah, good point." Blake nodded.

"Mhm." Samus nodded, leaning back and closing her eyes, letting the soft wind blow through her hair. "I can't remember the last time I took a moment to breathe and let my worries melt away."

"Always battle ready, huh?"

"I'm a bounty hunter. You always gotta be prepared… especially when a murderous space dragon and the Metroid Prime is involved." She shook her head. "Oi vey… still, it's good to just let your hair down and just… relax."

"Agreed." Blake nodded.

"So…" Samus leaned her head back. "There's something I've been meaning to talk to you about…"

"What is it?"

"Well… I've heard what happened over at the Crown Tundra… then again, it's kinda hard not to ignore what was going on, given the whole tournament and all."

"I figured you would have… it's kinda hard not to notice Weiss's chest."

Samus chuckled. "Yup…" She turned to look at her. "This Adam Taurus… he sounds like a real piece of work if you ask me."

"He wasn't always like this…" Blake mumbled. "But the attacks on the Faunus really took a toll on all of us… Adam got the worst of it. He was branded… made him not really able to see well on his right eye."

"Who branded him?"

"Jacques Schnee…"

"Oh, that explains a few things…"

"He always wore a mask… he said it made him feel more powerful. Then one day… Adam accidentally killed a human, and then another… and then another. He kept telling me it was just an accident… I started to believe him less and less. To make matters worse, Sienna had encouraged this behavior… something that I know she regrets."

"Yeah… if I had encouraged someone like that, I'd be guilty too." Samus nodded.

"I could see it through Adam's mask… I could see the burning hatred in his eyes the moment he confronted us about the treaty. I could just… feel the rage to the point where it was just incredibly uncomfortable. Then next thing I hear… there were rumblings about a Crimson Fang."

"And that's where you met Adam again, along with this Seryu chick?"

"Yeah." Blake nodded. "Adam… he… he's changed. He's more colder, calculating… and above all else…" She gripped the roof, clenching her hands tightly. "He was really aggravating… he had this "I respect your decision, but I'm still gonna kill your best friend" attitude. "All actions has consequences. Observe as my second in command puts a bullet in your friend's stomach!"."

"Oooh…" Samus winced.

"He was so… aaaagh! He was blaming it on me, saying it was all my fault, saying that if I didn't leave the White Fang, I wouldn't have had blood on my hands and on top of that, Weiss wouldn't have been nearly murdered like that!" She pounded the roof in frustration. "Back then, I loved him… but now… now I can't stand him! He's just so… gaslighting and… and… aaaagh! I can't even think straight because I'm so… so…!"

"Frustrated? Pissed off?"

"YES!" Blake sighed. "I know it's not my fault… Weiss has told me this… but yet, I feel like-"

"Easy… easy…" Samus put a hand on her shoulder. "Take a deep breath."

Blake closed her eyes, taking a deep breath and exhaling. "Sorry… I just get so aggravated when I start thinking of that moment…" She let out a sigh. "You probably don't know what it's like…"

Samus formed a small smile. "Actually, I do."

"You do? You had someone who drove you absolutely insane that you just want to punch something?"

"Yes." Samus looked up at the sky.

BGM: Scent of Silence (Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories)

"Long ago… there was a man that I looked up to. It's funny if you think about it… someone like me looking up to someone?" She let out a small giggle.

Whoa… I don't think I've ever heard her giggle before… Blake thought.

"It's crazy… but, his name was Adam Malkovich."

Blake sweatdropped. "Another same name situation?"

Samus laughed a little. "Yeah… this universe really likes to use the same name." She said, rolling her eyes. "Anyway… like your Adam, my Adam was cold and a bit condescending at times… and yet, I respected him. He was kind of like a father figure to me… and well, we were technically best friends though we didn't see eye to eye on occasion, not to mention he would sometimes drive me absolutely crazy."

"Oh, sorry."

"Don't be. Sometimes I wondered if I drove him a little batty too." She said, still forming a smile. "But… despite being cold, he was a really caring individual. I've always looked up to him… in fact, I was a bit envious of him at times."

…Have I ever… seen her this vulnerable? I don't think I've ever seen her this relaxed… nor do I believe I've seen her open up. She silently chuckled. Pikachu must've done something to her.

Samus chuckled. "Cold, calculative… and yet at the same time, he was caring. Whenever we were on a mission, he was basically my commanding officer so that kinda didn't help much… considering I like to do my own thing."

She started giggling. "Whenever we have our briefings, Adam fills us in and asks us if we understood our objective and most of us gave him the thumbs up… except for me. He would then look at me straight into the eye…"

"Any objections, Lady?"

Samus looked at Adam and point her thumb up… before turning it upside down.

"You… put your thumb down?" Blake raised an eyebrow.

"Call it childish, but it was the trust that we had. I agreed to his briefings, but I did my own thing. Deep down, I knew he enjoyed it… because I swear I see him smirk all the time. It was the bond we shared…"

Her smile slowly faded away. "And then one day… not long after I had defeated Mother Brain. I received a distress signal at this Bottleship, and I went to investigate. And who do I run into? It was Adam and his platoon… the 07th Platoon to be exact. They all consisted of Adam, Anthony, Lyle, Maurice, James, and KG… Anthony was the only one to make it out alive."

"Oh my…"

"I was under Adam's orders again, and while I did have all my weapons on me, Adam asked me to keep it in check just in case if I go overboard, destroy everything and accidentally hurt one of his men, especially when my Power Bombs were concerned. I would only use these if they were necessary… and once Adam gave the green light, I was more than happy to use it… although he did tell me to activate my Varia Suit the moment I went into Pyrosphere."

She let out a chuckle. "Good thing he did… because somehow, I had the feeling he would have told me to put it on later while I was being cooked alive in there."

Samus walked through the doors, leading right into Pyrosphere. "Aaagh! Geez…!" Samus gasped in surprise.

"Samus, what's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing… just walked into a dutch oven! How's your day going?"

"You're in Sector 3… that's basically the hottest sector in the Bottleship. Samus, activate your Varia suit!"

"You don't have to tell me twice." Samus said, activating it. "Aaah… much better… and Adam?"

"Yes?"

"I'm glad you didn't just leave me here to roast and you finding out later I'm in here."

"Now why would I do that, Lady?"

"Exactly."

"Glad he caught you at the right time." Blake said.

Samus smiled. "He was keeping tabs on all of us… I'm not sure how he did it." She said. "However… things started falling apart. There was a traitor in the midst and on top of that, there was this lady named Madeline Bergman… who was really named MB, but they called her Melissa because-… you know what, it's complicated, I'm not gonna go into that."

Blake sweatdropped. "Uh… thanks."

"Anyway, long story short… everyone that I knew was dead and I was on my own. I was about to go destroy the Metroids that were made by the Federation in Sector Zero… and then I was distracted by one such Metroid. It had reminded me of the one that thought of me as his mother. And then… I was shot in the back by Adam."

"What?!"

"When I gained consciousness, Adam told me that he had to knock me out so I wouldn't go into Sector Zero and sacrifice myself to destroy everything. I had been tipped off that Adam agreed to the cloning of the Metroids and the Zebesians, not to mention Mother Brain. It was then that he told me that he wrote a report on the dangers of such a program… and although HQ listened, some of them decided to go along with the plan. It was infuriating... and then I find out the Metroids in Sector Zero were made to be unfreezable, and since using my Ice Beam makes them easier to kill, it would have made things harder."

"Couldn't you just hit them with missiles?"

"I could have, but Metroids are more agile than they look. Not to mention Larval Metroids are immune from missiles unless they are frozen."

"Ah, that makes sense."

"Because of that, Adam didn't want me going in there... and told me there were other missions for me to do while he sacrificed himself. I desperately wanted to save him, but he was determined to take them out with him."

"Adam, wait! ADAM!!!"

Adam turned to Samus. "No objections, right, Lady?"

"Adam..." Samus whispered, a tear running down her cheek as she bitterly put her thumbs down, watching him disappear as the hatch closes behind him.

"Samus... I... I'm so sorry."

"So, I know what you're going through. Your Adam is being a pain in the ass, my Adam was pain in the ass... both of them cold... and yet, vastly different."

Samus turned her head to Blake. "So, yeah... I do know what it's like being treated by someone like Adam. However, mine wasn't abusive and gaslighting like yours."

Blake let out a sigh. "He sounded like a great guy."

"He was." Samus nodded. "So, I'm just gonna say this, if you ever want to blow off some steam against your Adam, I'll be around... I'll happily be your sparring partner."

"You sure about that?"

"Of course!" Samus smiled before getting an idea. "In fact..."

"Hmm?"

"...Come with me."

"Huh?"

"Next time I go on a mission, I want you to come with me. Blow off some steam, ya know?"

"I'm... not sure that's a good idea. I don't want to get in your way."

"Blake, the last time we worked together, we fought against the Shroobs. The only thing I was worried about was my younger self not being quite so reckless. I know what that was like back in the day..."

"You have a point..." Blake nodded and then folded her arms, deep in thought. Surely, exploding something with a Power Bomb would definitely be a good stress reliever against Adam...

She smiled. "Sure, I'll go with you."

Samus smiled. "That's more like it. Although just a heads up, I'm only gonna bring Pikachu with me."

"Just him?"

"Yeah. I mean, if you think about it, Pichu is still a little baby while Metroid can handle himself just fine... I'm a bit worried we might go into a cold area that would do him in, you know?"

"That's a good point." Blake nodded and then smiled. "I think it'll be fun."

Samus chuckled. "It sure will be." She said as she stood up and stretched. "Mmm... if you need me, I'm gonna be in the hot tub." She said and walked off.

Blake turned back to the sunset, seeing that it had dipped further into the horizon that stars were starting to pop up into the night sky.

"...A soak would feel nice." She said and walked off to join Samus in the hot tub.

Oh, don't mind me, just setting something up for Fusion. Carry on!