Love and War (for Ashes)

The first duo matches of the year. Crowds of polygons, miis, wire-frames and alloys had already filled the seats of the stadium as the contestants were preparing. Every fighter was assigned their teammates, given brief prep-time to talk over each other’s moves, and then, cast out onto the stage to work together.

Marth and Pit had just suffered a hair-splitting loss to Yoshi and Link. The crowd roared as the announcer called “GAME!,” the fighters of the respective teams being warped off the battlefield and back into the safe, cozy hub-world. Preparing for her big debut, up next, Samus idled around in the lobby, awaiting her teammate. Her armor lay in segments, on the nearby couch, save for her arm cannon, which the huntress had equipped, aimed in front of her as if shooting at a target.

Aran hadn’t bothered checking who her teammate was. The last few times she had partaken in doubles - definitely more of a free-for-all or one-versus-one type of girl - she carried the team on her back, might as well have been two versus one. She barely expected now to be much different. Very few fighters were near her in the many speculative ranking systems, which yes, she paid way more attention to than most other smashers did. Only on the same level as her was Bayonetta, whom she’d never had the displeasure of admitting it to, and Diddy Kong… who was oblivious to his status, and that would stay that way.

There was one other fighter whose rank remained contested, though Samus couldn’t remember who, come to think of it... Her mind was focused on bigger things, for now, though, as she waited impatiently for her mystery partner.

[Atlas]

Oh bother.

Despite having a bad feeling about participating in this, Zelda had wanted to bring back her old persona, knowing only few knew of her actual identity and enjoying being able to cut loose with some things. Her ideal plan of winning the competition with an eady going partner was dashed however when she recognized the blonde ponytail and the sheer blue battle suit she wore. Or what she thought was a battle suit anyway. Personally she thought it was more fitting for some sort of exotic dancer, but she'd never mention that to her face. Letting out a quiet sigh, she began stepping forward and stopped a few feet away, arms folded behind her back.

"Ahem. I believe you and I are together." She spoke, her voice deeper with a faint accent to it. Going silent after, she waited, giving a quick once over to the blonde, before her eyes snapped back to her face.

Who was it again? Rosalina? Meta Knight? Sonic?

“Ahem.”

Hellfire.

Samus groaned, overdramatically, as her head fell behind her, weighing down her neck as she turned around to face her new partner. Her heavy arm cannon fell down and swayed by her side, before her arms came back up and crossed over her generous chest. A condescending eyebrow raised as she gave Sheik a narrow glance. “Don’t tell me.” Samus muttered. “Who on the board is in charge of match-ups?” Samus thought to herself, making a mental note to find out, and then kick their ass. “You, and the Princess? Ugh.” Samus rather bluntly rolled her eyes.

Turning back away towards the window, she thought to herself for a moment. Vaguely catching Sheik’s survey of her body out of the corner of her eye, she muttered “...can I take your order?” before rudely scoffing, and looking back out front.

Samus wondered aloud, “I still don’t get why she’s so important, she gets to bring her own personal bodyguard. It’s not like Peach showed up tag-teaming with Toadsworth.” She grumbled aloud, aiming down her sights with one eye closed again. A sudden realization hit her, and she spun awake. A sly smile crossed her lips as she turned around. “Hey… that’s right. You’re your own fighter now, aren’t you?”

A lot of her pre-prepared tension over having to work with the insufferable brat named Zelda melted away. That didn’t mean Samus’s permanent expression of displeasure faded any - no, she always looked like that - but she at least loosened up. “Okay. Are you any good on a team?” Samus asked, casually.

[Atlas]

"Zelda and I...will not be together this time around. It will just be me." Not that there's anything wrong with Zelda. She added silently in her head, gazing impassively at Samus. At her question however about being good on a team, the disguised princess weighed the answer carefully. Deciding that she'd rather not dance around it, she replied bluntly."I'm considered one of the top fighters in A tier. Not that I know what that means." While it was unseen under her mask, the corner of her lip quirked up in a slight grin before she dropped back to a neutral expression."However I'm in a lighter class weight so if facing opponents that do heavier damage or have higher endurance, I prefer staying ranged with them."

Samus’s eyes darted over to Shiek, for the slightest moment. “You are a CONTESTED A-tier.” She corrected her with an unwarranted sternness, before looking back to her disinterested direction. “And since we’re bragging, I’m an S-tier. One of the only three.” Samus stated casually, as if that was ordinary fact. She shook her head, lowering her cannon again, and approaching the pile of parts that made up her super suit on the nearby couch. With a few presses of a couple buttons, the cannon loosened from her hand, and she slipped her hand out, letting it drop down with the rest of her armor.

Gripping her wrist with her other hand to encourage a regular blood flow again, Samus still didn’t even look in Sheik’s direction. “Just try to stay out of the way, then. My suit is good for range. I don’t need a second gunner.” Samus asked, turning to face her partner for the first actual time. She glanced over her own outfit, shameless in doing so, not making any effort to judge her appearance inconspicuously.

“She has bandages on her fingers. What is the practicality of having bandages on your fingers.” Samus asked herself, but didn’t speak aloud. Samus didn’t mean to come down too hard on the ninja, but she didn’t get along with most Hyrulian fighters. Link was the most sufferable - at least he kept his thoughts to himself. Ganondorf ate, smelled, and acted like a power hungry pig, and Samus had an instant grudge against all the “cute” characters Peach and her pals would fawn over like Toon Link. Besides Pikachu.

Now, Zelda on the other hand was a whole mess entirely. Samus and royalty never mixed well, especially royalty that insisted on wearing high heels and dresses everywhere. But at least Peach was nice - too nice - Rosalina was caring, not haughty, and most people forgot Lucina was technically a princess. Zelda didn’t let people forget. Her pompous attitude, her constant smug strut, her condescending tone... likely, most just contraptions of Samus’ warped perception of the Princess, but she never considered that.

She and Zelda did not get along. She doubted she and her bodyguard would have much in common either.

[Atlas]

"I can adapt if it's necessary." Sheik replied, looking down at the pieces of armour scattered across the couch. She had always thought it had been one giant suit that she could step in and out of but she supposed it made sense that it could come off in various pieces as well. As she mused to herself she had a very strong feeling she was being watched and lifted her eyes up some, noticing Samus was staring at her as if she had two heads. Or rather. She was staring at her as if she were naked really. If she were in her normal form, she would have most likely covered herself in embarassment from those prying eyes but here in her other form, she wasn't too worried that she was flaunting off anything. Thank goodness I had fixed that neckline on my dress before I started brawling, what a mess that would have been.

She grew a bit annoyed however as she began to realize the silent judgement she was recieving was not a very good one. Folding her arms tightly across her chest, the Hyrulian said tonelessly."You know, taking away the mask and some other things, my outfit is similar to yours as well. Except MINE doesn't look like it'd rip if I bent over." Well, she had tried to keep it emotionless anyway.

Samus had sat down on the couch in the room, and begun strapping on her power-suit’s heavy metal boots when Sheik spoke up again. She looked over to… what little of Sheik’s face she could actually see, and squinted narrowly down at her. After a moment of silence, Samus grimaced, and responded back “My armor is air-tight. Sorry I don’t wear a three-piece suit underneath it.” She growled back, turning away as she proceeded to fasten the metal to her shoes. Lifting one foot up, she stomped it back down to ensure their security.

“I’m glad we got it out the way early, though, that everyone from your world is a prude.” Samus cheekily quipped back. “At least I choose my own outfit. Pretty sure you wear whatever the Princess tells you to.” She deadpanned.

[Atlas]

"THAT was uncalled for Samus Aran. You can speak badly about me all you'd like but if you insult m-" She paused, realizing she was going to go on a tirade that would have sounded very odd coming from a simple bodygaurd. Instead she sighed and turned away from the blonde, absently tightening the wrappings on her wrists as if trying to get rid of Samus' words."...You can insult me all you like...but don't be surprise if others from my world have a problem with it." Going silent after, she stared off into space, rather good at being still and waiting silently.

"...For the record. You probably should think about keeping your chest armour on more often. It is VERY noticeable to tell when you're cold."

Well. She was usually good at standing still and waiting silently anyway.

“I’m sure I can handle Toon Link.” Samus mumbled back quietly, returning to work picking at the innards of her armor’s many crevices, cleaning out any debris or residue that may have found its way inside from previous battles. The last comment caught her off-guard, though, and Samus alerted awake, stifling a laugh at Sheik’s joke. She looked up, over at the ninja standing across the room from her, with a mischievous smile on her face. Just looking over Sheik’s physique from her point of view gave her multiple counter points - especially the tights she sported which did little to cover her pretty figure - but Samus kept her mouth shut, instead letting the pieces of armor roll off her lap as she stood up.

Approaching Sheik from behind, Samus crossed her arms. “Really?” She asked.

Her disgruntled expression lit up. The joke repeated in her head a few more times, and then - the oddest thing - Samus began to chuckle. Fighters out in the hallway heard a completely foreign sound as that snicker turned into a full laugh, as Samus put her hands to her knees, a wide smile crossing her face as she giggled over Sheik’s joke. For the smallest moment, she almost appears happy.

It passes.

She swipes her blonde hair from out of in front of her. “Okay, maybe I misunderestimated you, finger-band-aids.” Samus sportfully chuckled, stepping forward and giving Sheik a very strong pat on the back. “I'll give you a chance. Just don't make me regret it."

[Atlas]

Is that...laughter?

Zelda would have been less caught off gaurd if Samus had revealed she was actually dating Wario because in her years at the Brawl competitions she had never ONCE heard the blonde laugh. No chuckles. No snorts. No little giggles, not even quick exhaling of amusment. But now she had let out an actual bent-at-the-knees laugh? She was almost afraid that this was a sign that Samus had gone mad and was about to shoot a hole through her. With this in mind, it was understandable that Sheik suddenly stiffened and nearly shouted as Samus patted her back, giving her a weary look before she relaxed some.

"Right...I hope I can expect the same level of effort from you as well Samus." She replied slowly, afterwards turning her head as she noticed two new figures entering the room, most likely they're opponents.