AN: THIS STORY IS BACK! That's right, I talked with my partner, and so I'm going to finish this story on my own! I hope everyone enjoys it :)
Chapter 12 No Alliance
Explaining what happened to Metallica was legitimately painful. The way her face fell and her eyes grew wide as Peach and Aqua explained how Bowser had attacked them, and what exactly they thought he wanted to do in terms of his invasion of the Metal Kingdom… it stung. It stung worse than anything that Aqua had endured in the past five years. Especially when Metallica elaborated on what exactly had happened to HER. Bowser had left her for dead. BOWSER had left Princess Metallica for DEAD! Bone Mage had beaten her to within an inch… no, a CENTIMETER of her life! It was only blind luck that she was even still around. She could very easily be dead right at this moment if things had gone just a smidge differently.
As such, Aqua couldn't even finish the explanation. It was Peach who picked up the slack and brought the harrowing story to a close. And when she did, Metallica was in a very tumultuous emotional state. She looked like she wanted to cry, but was doing everything in her power not to. It looked like she was dealing with a form of anxiety that went beyond all capacity for rational thought.
"Oh, my word." Metallica shook. "Oh, my word…"
Aqua reached out and took Metallica's hand. "I know it's a lot to take in." She put on a smile, for she and Peach weren't finished with the explanation. They had intentionally left the best part, the ONLY good part, for last. "But… if it helps you feel better… we discovered that Peach and I are your cousins." Metallica blinked, making Aqua chuckle. "It's a VERY distant relation, but we descend from a common ancestor. And because of that… we're going to help you. In any way we can."
Metallica didn't look very enthused by these words though. "I see." Metallica looked off at a corner of the room. Peach and Aqua exchanged a look, all while Aqua felt supremely worried. Seriously, the expression on the girl's face, the tone of voice she used… it went beyond just normal anxiety. It went beyond normal despair. Aqua had only ever had a brush with feelings like this when… her parents died.
"Hey," Aqua said to Metallica. "It's going to be alright. We'll fix this. I promise."
Metallica shook her head. "You can't promise that. You don't have any way to keep that promise."
Aqua's heart sank, but she did everything in her power to hide it. "Sure, we do! Do you even know who you're talking to? We just so happen to be friends with Super Mario, one of the best heroes that the Mushroom World has ever known."
Now Metallica looked confused. "Super Mario? Who's that?"
Right at that moment, Mario, Luigi, AL, Bill, and Savannah came back into the room. Aqua was pleased to see that AL and his friends were in much higher spirits than they had been before. In fact, they looked completely revitalized like their happiness got a jumpstart from interacting with the great Super Mario and Super Luigi. This sight really helped Aqua feel better. Her own spirits lifted significantly, as she had a feeling that when Metallica was informed of who exactly these people were, she would feel a lot better.
"You guys are just in time; we were just talking about you?" Mario blinked once, doing it again when Aqua gestured for him to stand beside her. When he saw that Metallica was awake, he beamed.
"Oh, bueno! You've managed to come back around! That's excellent!"
Metallica looked just a tad uncomfortable. "Are you Super Mario?"
"He is!" Aqua exclaimed. "Not only is he one of my best friends on the planet, but he's also a hero! He's fought Bowser multiple times and won against him every single time!"
Metallica's jaw dropped as she looked at the plumber. "Is that so?"
"Well… yes, it is." Mario smiled as his face turned pink. "I've fought Bowser more times than the number of years you've been alive, and that was just in the past year alone!"
Aqua giggled as she looked back at Metallica. "See? Mario has experience and a reputation that he has absolutely earned! If you join our team to take down Bowser, we'll be able to defeat Bowser and his lackeys in no time! Not to mention, we'll reclaim your Kingdom."
"Indeed," said Peach, walking over to stand on the other side of Metallica's bed. "We'll be stronger if we work together."
Metallica frowned. "Work together…" her expression grew dark. "Are you suggesting that I align myself with other kingdoms?"
"Well… yeah," said Luigi as he stepped forward. "An alliance at this time would be beneficial for everyone. Don't you think?"
Metallica's frown got deeper and deeper. She adjusted her position in the bed, sitting up as she continued to look more disappointed and defiant. "I can't do that."
Aqua blinked. "You can't?"
"Yes: I can't, and I won't."
Okay, Aqua was confused. Why… how did this make any sense? The group was extending an olive branch to Metallica, telling her that they would do everything in their power to ensure that they would make things better. They were going to fix her problems! They were going to help her in what was no doubt the most trying time in her life! How in the world could she turn something like that down? Again, how did that make any sort of sense?
"But Metallica…" Aqua struggled for the right words to say. "Why… why not? Wouldn't an alliance be everyone's best bet? Wouldn't forming an alliance be a good thing?"
"No. There's no such thing as a good alliance." Metallica's grip around her blanket got tighter. "I'm not gonna work with you."
Aqua exchanged a look with Mario, who looked more than a little taken aback. "Mi principessa… I don't understand your thought process…"
"My thought process is none of your concern," Metallica said, her gray eyes burning with adamant refusal. "There will be no alliance. I don't care what reasons you give me; I won't join you."
Aqua felt a pang. The others in the room looked just as shocked as she did, staring at Metallica with dropped jaws. The kids even looked slightly hurt by her words, like she had dealt them an insult far more insidious than what they might've heard in their past.
"But Metallica…" AL said. "Why… we wanna… we just wanna…"
"That's perfectly fine," Peach said, thoroughly surprising Aqua. All eyes in the room turned to her as she gave Metallica a sympathetic, compassionate look. "If that is your wish, we will do everything in our power to respect it. We will not force you to form an alliance nor will we do anything that inspires discomfort in you."
Mario stepped towards her. "Peachy, what are you…?"
"Thank you," Metallica said, her expression softening up just a bit. "I appreciate it."
"I knew you would," Peach said. "We will see your recovery during your hospital stay, of course, but after that, we will not get involved with your affairs. You are allowed to do whatever you think would be best for you and the Metal Kingdom."
A twinge of negative emotion appeared on Metallica's face briefly, but just as quickly went away as she nodded. "Thank you."
"Of course." Peach smiled, an expression that only fueled Aqua's suspicion that her sister had lost her mind. Peach turned toward the door and started ushering the group toward it. "Come on everyone; Princess Metallica would probably appreciate some time to herself."
Aqua wanted to object, but she also didn't want to start a fight right in front of the still-recovering Metallica, so she just went toward the exit. Once everyone was out in the hallway, they all looked back at the possibly insane princess in pink.
"Peach, what the heck?" Aqua asked.
"Yeah," Luigi said. "That girl needs our help! She fought Bowser and Bone Mage by herself and almost lost her life because of it! We can't just leave her to fend for herself! That's just negligent!"
"I agree," Mario said. "We need to form that alliance. Metallica doesn't fully know what she's up against. We do. We've fought Bowser before, so we could help her."
"Yeah," said Savannah. She gestured toward AL. "Plus, we have someone with powers on our team. Being on a team with someone with powers is better than… well, not."
Peach nodded, her face looking firm. "You all make good points, and I agree wholeheartedly. However…"
"However what?" Aqua asked as she raised an eyebrow.
"However, we need to respect Metallica's wishes." Aqua was just about to comment that that was one of the flimsiest reasons she had ever heard in her life, but Peach resumed talking before she could. "Listen, Metallica comes from a kingdom that doesn't value alliances with others. She's probably lived her whole life serving a kingdom all by herself. She hasn't relied on anyone else, and I would even theorize she might've actively been taught that alliances are bad due to her kingdom's history. And if that's the case, she might think that there is some level of dishonor in relying on others. It's not necessarily a good reason for her to turn down help, but it IS a reason. We need to respect her and her culture. Even if that wasn't a factor, I wouldn't want to try to pressure her into an alliance at the moment because… well, look where we are. Look at where Metallica is and what she went through. Pressure from us to go against the very values of her kingdom would only make her current situation worse."
Aqua's heart sank. "You do make good points…" she shook her head while groaning. "So that's it? Our involvement with Metallica ends here and now?"
"Possibly," Peach said. "She may come around, but again, actively pressuring her to do so wouldn't be good. She needs to come to the conclusions she needs to on her own, without our involvement."
Aqua frowned. Peach was right, and the fact that she was right stung. She wanted to get to know Metallica and get to help her through the trial that they were all involved in. And… well, as weird as this was to admit, the fact that Metallica was a distant cousin actually mattered a lot to Aqua. She didn't know exactly why, but… well, as someone who has dealt with losing family… figuring out that she had relations who she never met nor interacted with excited her. It made her excited and... filled her with hope. A strange, new kind of hope.
And now, her excitement and hope had been sniffed out.
"Alright." Aqua let out a breath and looked toward the others. "Come on guys, we should probably go somewhere where we can reevaluate our plan."
The others looked just as disappointed as Aqua, but nodded and followed regardless.
…
Metallica sat in her hospital bed, completely alone. She ran through the interaction she just had in her head, tossing the words she said and the words she heard around. Honestly, doing so made her feel weird, borderline dirty. She couldn't get the face that Aqua chick made after she refused an alliance out of her head. It was so disappointed znc so sad.
But Metallica was going to stick to her guns. Of course, she did see the potential benefits of an alliance with these people. She did suffer a very bitter defeat at the hands of Bone Mage. And if what Aqua said about Mario was any indication, he might be the key to taking him down and reclaiming the Metal Kingdom. At this point, there was nothing Metallica wanted more than reclaiming the Metal Kingdom. But she couldn't do it with others, because she wanted to prove that she could do this by herself. Doing that would…
Would make her parents proud of her. Before they died, the King and Queen had instilled in her the values of the kingdom. Whenever you had a goal 'em you wanted to achieve, you worked hard to reach it. When you had an opportunity to be strong, you did just that. Metallica's parents hadn't been perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but she had nothing but love and respect for them. And now that they were gone…
Metallica sighed and lay back down. "Don't worry, Mom and Dad," she said as she looked up at the ceiling. "I'll figure out how to get your kingdom back. I promise."
AN: Yeah, this direction is a little different from the original direction, so I hope it's a good one :)
