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

Moments Before Samus Scared Peach

"Okay." Samus exhaled. "I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna confront her about this."

["Just like all the other times you tried?"] Chell teased.

"Oh hush. All the other times just wasn't the right moment." Samus said as Chell playfully rolled her eyes. "Yeah yeah, roll your eyes all you want, Chell." She chuckled.

["Good luck. I'll wait here and wait for your inevitable failure."]

Samus rolled her eyes, playfully backhanding her shoulder. "What am I gonna do with you?"

Chell let out a friendly grin while Samus chuckled, then she walked out of the room, while also scratching Pichu behind the ears and kissing Pikachu on the head before leaving.

"Alright… here goes nothing." She said as she ran off, heading straight for the Mushroom Kingdom.

As soon as she flipped out of the Warp Pipe, she stretched and walked through Toad Town.

"OH NO, IT'S HIM!"

"EVERYONE RUN AROUND IN CIRCLES!"

"Hmm?" Samus looked up to see airships flying toward Peach's Castle.

BGM: Attack of the Airships (Super Mario Galaxy)

"BWAHAHAHAHAHA!" Bowser laughed. "FIRE!"

Cannonballs and Bullet Bills fired toward Peach's Castle.

"...Oh no. I called dibs on her first, big guy." Samus said, immediately summoning her suit and running off as several Bullet Bills were fired and hit the castle, making a hole in the wall as Bowser jumped in.

"BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" He laughed as he started making his way in.

…However, Samus Shinesparked her way through the doors and screeched to a halt, immediately firing at Bowser.

"WHAT THE?!" Bowser exclaimed as Samus grabbed Bowser by the tail with her Grapple Beam and started swinging him around the lobby, slamming him everywhere. "OW! OOOF! GAAAAH!"

Samus would then lay a Power Bomb, which immediately exploded.

End BGM

"BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!" Bowser cried as Samus yanked him by the tail via Grapple Beam and threw him out, making him crash through the mural.

"Back to the drawing board." Samus said as she noticed Junior standing in the door in complete shock, dropping his paintbrush.

"Um… wrong castle…!" Junior gulped.

Samus chuckled, aiming her hand at Junior and forming a finger gun. "Bang."

"D'oh!" Junior playfully clutched his chest. "You got me…! Ooooh, the Koop-anity… what a woooorld!" He dropped to the ground before grabbing his brush and crawling his way out.

"Cute kid." She turned around and scanned the area for Peach's whereabouts, finding her in the kitchen.

"There you are." She said as she walked toward her, slowly opening the door once she reached the kitchen. Through her scanning, she saw Peach hiding behind the counter. She raised an eyebrow in amusement, deactivating her armor and slowly made it to the other side where she saw Peach crawling to the side and spying on the door.

With a playful smirk and a silent chuckle, she snuck up on Peach and lowered herself to her ear. "Boo."

"AAAAAAAAAAH!" Peach shrieked as she immediately turned around and started swinging, only for Samus to catch the frying pan.

BGM: Hello, Happy Kingdom! (Super Mario RPG 2023)

"Nice cast iron."

"Sa-Samus?! Wh-what…? Thanks for the heart attack!"

Samus chuckled. "Where's the fun in announcing "It's just me"?" She casually reached for a cupcake and took a bite while patting Strawberry on the head.

"Alcream~!"

"So… wait, what did you-"

"Oh, I was in the neighborhood… saw Bowser invading and thought "Why not? Give Mario a break"."

"Oh… okay."

"But enough about the King of Minor Inconveniences. I actually came for you. Bowser was just a minor obstacle."

"Came for me…? For what?"

Samus put her cupcake down, folding her arms. "We need to talk."

End BGM

Peach tilted her head. "About…?"

Samus sighed. "It's about our physical therapy."

"Huh? What's wrong with it?"

"What's wrong with it? Peach, ever since I got my legs back, you're still insistent on doing physical therapy even though I'm a lot better! Like, come on, you know damn well that I'm back to being myself again."

"Oh…"

"Like, for the love of all that is holy, why are you still doing this with me? It's like… you're not even listening! You're coming off as a major airhead right now!"

There was a major silence in the room as Samus looked away with a grimace.

"Sorry… that… that was a bit too far."

"No… it's okay. I've been meaning to talk to you about it but… I never got around to saying it because I was afraid of what you might do."

"What is it?"

"I… I know you're okay. In fact, I could have stopped physical therapy a long time ago but… I'm worried."

"Worried about what? Come on, if you're worried about me, then there's nothing to worry about-"

"That's exactly it!"

"...What?"

"When you stormed into the Galactic Federation, you lost your legs when Bradley cut your spinal column. To make matters worse, Ridley found out about it and taunted you for it. You got your legs back, yes… but Ridley's still out there. Sure, he's in the Underworld but he's more than likely one of Hades' top commanders at this point. More than likely, you will face him again and he WILL go for your spine, which he will more than likely will cut your spinal column again, because now he knows there's an actual way to cripple you!"

Samus frowned. "Peach…"

"And not only that, but don't think I don't know about the grave you made for your parents and your Chozo family. I know that it got knocked down. I don't know who did it but I know it's someone sinister. What if this person knows how to disable people? What if this person knew about you and knows that you got crippled for a time? What if they use that against you and will do major damage to your spinal column that you'll be a sitting duck again? What if they will use your anger against you and will cripple you before you even make a move?"

"Peach…"

"I know… I KNOW that what I'm doing is coming off as me being an airhead but I'm just… worried! I'm afraid that you'll get crippled again, or worse… which I know is kinda funny to be worried about since you're really hard to take down, but one mistake will cost you. Look what happened with Brad-"

"PEACH!" Samus put her hands on her shoulders. "I get it… I completely get it. You're looking out for me in your own way but, look at me. I'm the most badass bounty hunter in the galaxy… there's no way that that will happen again."

"And how do you know that? You tend to get arrogant and I strongly believe you were on a power high during that coup. I'm pretty sure Bradley knew about it too and used it against you. This person who knocked down your grave? They'll use it against you… or Ridley."

Samus sighed. "Peach, you're not-"

"If you stopped thinking with your anger, then maybe you wouldn't have lost your legs."

Samus closed her eyes. "...Okay, fine, you win." She mumbled as she pulled away. "I guarantee that it won't happen again."

"And how do you know that?"

"I don't make the same mistakes."

"There's a first time for everything."

"Nnngh… okay, fine… I hate to admit it, but you're… right about that. Now I see where you're coming from… but why the hell didn't you say something earlier?"

"Because you were on a high from getting your legs back and you wouldn't listen through your ectasy that you were back in business."

"...So you played the long game?"

"It wasn't my intention!"

Samus sighed. "Alright, so… what the hell are we gonna do about this? Because, quite honestly, I do want to destroy the person for destroying the grave."

"Well… I talked with Mikan about what we could do in case someone does go for your spine."

"That being?"

"Infusing your spine with a metal alloy that would basically turn your spine completely metal."

"...You want me to have my back be made out of metal?"

"Yes."

"I dunno about-"

"It won't make your back stiff, we'll make sure of it. We'll make it flexible so you can do your inhuman gymnastics."

Samus folded her arms. "Okay, I'm convinced-"

"However, Mikan does have some concerns… namely if your Chozo and Metroid DNA would even accept the metal alloy, because she pointed out a lot of problems should your body reject it."

"Meh, what's one more modification? I'm not sure if I'm even human anymore."

"Sammy…"

Samus chuckled. "I'm kidding. I'm a risk taker… I'll do it. And if my body rejects it, then by golly, I'll make my body accept it."

Peach smiled. "I had a feeling you'd say that."

Samus put her hands on her shoulders. "You're too kind, Peach… kind to a fault, but you know what? That's what makes everyone like you."

Peach giggled. "I know."

The both of them hugged.

"Soooo, any reason why you were in the kitchen in the first place?"

"Oh, Mario was just chatting with me on the phone. The other day, he had a chat with Ruby since she thought no one appreciated her efforts to help save the Kingdom ever since she got here, and she thought her rose arm was what she got out of it."

"Still depressed, huh?"

"Luckily, Mario gave her a pep talk and cheered her up. Though he does think we oughta pull a surprise party for her to lift her spirits up."

"Ya know what? Count me in on that. I kinda need to make it up to her for all the times I've been rough with her regarding that Phazon thing. Also, we need to do something for Weiss. She needs it."

"Oh, absolutely~!" Peach smiled. "...By the way, what did you do to Bowser?"

"Oh, I just shattered his pride. Nothing to worry about… though uh, you might want to avoid the lobby for a while."

"What do you mean by-..." Peach facepalmed. "You Power Bombed him, didn't you?"

"What? He's a tank. He's got thick skin. He's practically fine!"

Meanwhile, at Bowser's Castle…

"Goodness, what happened to you?" Shez asked as Bowser was covered in soot while seething in annoyance.

"I DESPISE that bounty hunter…"

Ibuki: Eh, he'll be fine.

Deadpool: He's been through worse!

And his pride will equally be shattered once more.