Smash Hall: City of Smashers

[Stoney]

Samantha frowned; she did not approve of that answer at all. She tried a different question: "Have you given any thoughts to motherhood at all? Settling down, quitting bounty-hunting, perhaps even getting married?"

[xenomina]

"No." The answer was even shorter this time.

[Stoney]

She was starting to clam up now; Samantha could tell that she had breached a sensitive area. Any other reporter with a sense of self-preservation would've backed out by now and let the matter drop: Samantha? She pressed her advantage mercilessly.

"Yet we at Smashionista News have reason to believe otherwise," She declared with an air of triumph. "Rumors have been circulating for some time now that you were, shall we say, "interested" in one of your competitors in the Smash Bros. tournament. And just today we have all but confirmed these rumors."

She was building up now, her voice and expression matching the rising excitement in the air as she wound up for the big reveal. This was it; this was the whole reason she had initiated the interview. It was to discuss THIS.

Samantha reached into the breast pocket of her suit and pulled out a photograph. It was slightly blurred, and partially obscured by tree branches, but the scene it depicted was clear: Samus, nearly naked, sitting on a beach in very close proximity to a goggle-eyed Link.

"We recieved this photo from an anonymous source a few hours ago. It has already been posted on our website and will be airing on our television show at the next possible opportunity." The glee in Samantha's tone could scarcely be contained. "My question to you, Miss Aran, is this: do you deny having any relationship with Link of the Hylians, hero of Hyrule and three-time veteran of the Smash Bros. Tournament?!"

Samantha's voice rang out like a gunshot, silencing the background chatter in the room. Everyone -- the other reporters, the tourists, the clerks at the various desks, the people waiting in the lines -- all turned as one to stare at Samus.





"..."

Zero didn't know who Link was, but by the ensuing silence that was thick enough to cut with a knife, he could tell it was someone fairly important.

One look at Samus told him what was coming next.

"...Damn."

He grabbed the arms of the Pok?mon Trainers accompanying him. "Change of plans: we need to take cover. May, get down from there NOW, you're a sitting duck."

[Vize Viper]

The boy robot blinked at the accusation by the reporter, then glanced at Samus... and his eyes widened behind his sunglasses. QUICKLY, he reached up, activating a mental trigger that engulfed him in red light.

And he then promptly sought cover behind his trusty Protoshield.

[AnT]

The girl blinked, surprisingly oblivious to the silence. "What? Why? I don't see-WHOA!!" And she suddenly was launched off her Pok?mon, thanks to the Pok?mon himself. "LAIRON!!"

"Lai, Lai!" The armored Pok?mon bit May's shirt and dragged her close to Brendan and Zero. He then moved in front of them, facing his side at them.

"Just get down!" Brendan shouted, pushing the girl down, behind the Pok?mon. Lairon maybe large, but since he's only about almost twice the height of a lion, they had to duck behind him.

[Topaz Mutiny]

Up until now, Pikachu had been having a good old time laughing at the pathetic attempt the anchorwoman was making at an interview.

But then the yellow rodent saw... a photo. Now, human nudity, or as near as you can get to it, never really bothered Pikachu, since Pok?mon have very different views on 'nakedness' than humans. However, this did not mean that he was ignorant about how such 'skimpyness' and 'relationships' are viewed in the human-based society here.

That said, after Pikachu heard the question that came after the showing of the photo, his eyes widened considerably as a grimace stretched across his face. He took one step back.

"... CHAAAAA!"

Then he outright FLED the scene of the to-be-incident, not stopping until he was back outside, where he curled up in a ball behind a statue... which just happened to be Samus' statue.

[Mage]

When Laharl saw the anchor lady simply spewing question after question, he started to get board. Then come across the question that caught everyone's attention. Noticing everyone fleeing made Laharl flip his eyebrows under his spiky hair. "Whats with them, she's just...?!" Then Laharl noticed her energy go off the charts; Laharl was bold, but he was no fool. "..." The demon boy suddenly burst out of the doors until he was far enough, and pulled out a Prinny.

The little penguin yawned. "Ahhh, what a nice nap....dood?" He looked down at Laharl. "Master Laharl, what're you doin dood?"

The boy said, with a totally straight face: "Your my human shield, of course."

"HUMAN SHIELD, DOOD?!" He started to struggle in the overlord's firm grasp. "B.BUT, WHATS GONNA ATTACK US?!"

The demon's hair flipped up while he growled. "Just shut up, moron. We won't know till it hits us?!" Laharl stood firmly with his "shield" in place.

[xenomina]

Peach had a feeling she knew exactly what was coming. And quickly made her best effort to move behind cover, the closest being Protoman and his sheild.

"Oh my!!"

In an instant, all thought careening towards sadness and sheer anger (along with the uncontrollable urge to take the reporters mic and shove it somewhere very uncomfortable,) came screeching to a halt as the full force of the "loaded" question hit the Chozonian bounty hunter like a ton of smart bombs going off simultaneously.

"....."

If it wasn't for the fact that it was virtually impossble, one could hear every single string of sanity left in her SNAP, the threads bouncing around her skull and then tangling themselves with eachother in an attempt to create some form of rational thought process.

"Aughtsajkhrmnflkjfkfd?"

....this attempt failed miserably.

NEVER in Samus' life had anyone had the audacity, no, the guts to ask Samus about her personal life. Samus always thought that she'd be able to shove rumors and accusations of anything even resembling a love life aside. But standing here in front of Ms. Bee, staring at the photo of Link and her...it left her dazed.

Her friends knew her well enough, didn't they? She had NEVER been even remotely interested in dating. And she damn sure knew she never wanted a romantic relationship with the green-clad pointy-eared sword-toting elf-boy that always gave her trouble year after year in the tournaments. He was at least half her age, and still a minor!! Why the hell would ANYONE place her and...HIM together, as a couple...D-A-T-I-N-G?!?!?!?

Because it's the media, that's why...

Gears began to turn again, speeding up at a dangerous rate. The media, the BANE of any celebrities life. She never wanted to be famous, she just wanted to fight and make her vendettas. But NO, there was the tournament she had to partake in every year because of that %@#$*& Master Hand and his psycho brother! Next thing she knew, there was the live broadcasts and photoshoots she was required to do. It hadn't been long for the media to realize she liked privacy. But now THIS, this stupid reporter and that picture that she didn't even know how the paparazzi got during a time of sear panic!

This was ALL that womans doing, she knew it now. She WANTED to make her look like a fool. She WANTED to make Samus and poor Link the next tabloid victims. Apparently they couldn't just stick with how pretty Peach looked in her new dress, or honest-to-goodness reporting of the Smashers. NO, the media was resorting to making fools out of the very reasons This World was even made...

....and Samus would have none of it.

Seething in rage, Samus snatched the mic out of the reporters hand and crushed it with her armored appendage. The sensors inside her suit were going absolutely crazy as she threw the remaining pieces back in Samantha's face, before grabbing her by the collar of her shirt and lifting her up eye to eye only mere inches away from eachother.

"Now you listen to me..." She growled. "If I EVER hear of you media scum trying to make up crap stories about any of us Smashers, especially to make us look bad, I will personally hunt down ever reporter, camera man, and journalist alive, and send your trophy asses straight into subspace, and let Master Hand sort you out."

Without letting the reporter get another word in edgewise, she proceeding to drag her to the doors of Smash Hall, the frightened crowd parting for her without sound. Samus kicked the doors open, and threw the reporter out the doors and down the steps as hard as she could, before turning around without another moment and putting her helmet back on, the clicking of her helmet latching and sealing itself with the rest of her suit, ending the flood of near silence that had consumed Smash Hall.

[Stoney]

Samantha squawked in surprise as her very own microphone -- the JumboSpeak XL 3000 she'd specially commissioned just for herself -- was shattered like an ice sculpture and sent flying back at her. She shielded her face with her forearms, but then suddenly she was being lifted into the air by her neck.

This was decidedly uncomfortable, and Samantha let out a tiny squeak of surprise when she found two blazing eyes mere inches from her own.

For a fleeting second she felt true, irrational, uncontrollable fear.

Then she was tossed out of City Hall with all the grace of a sack of potatoes. Tumbling down the steps with an unladylike shriek, she came to rest at the bottom with a wrinkled suit and half-undone hairdo.

"You...you MONSTER!" She wailed, staggering to her feet and glaring at the bounty-hunter's back. The fear had clearly been forgotten. "THE PUBLIC HAS A RIGHT TO KNOW, MS. ARAN!" She yelled, pointing an accusing finger. "You pretend to be a hero, yet we know NOTHING about you! How can we trust such a person?!"

She turned, looking for her cameraman. "Greg!" She snapped. "Greg, get out here!"

The cameraman in question was hiding behind one of the pillars that held up the front of City Hall. He peeked out meekly. "Y-yes?"

"Come on, we're leaving," Samantha ordered. She turned and began storming off in a huff while muttering to herself. "Will be going with this tonight, most certainly! 'Samus Aran Assaults Defenseless Reporter' has a nice ring to it..."





"..."

Zero crouched behind Lairon, waiting for an explosion of some kind to rock the chamber to its foundations. When none came, he slowly opened his eyes and blinked in surprise, looking around at his intact surroundings.

Well that was underwhelming, he thought to himself as he stood and helped the two Pokémon Trainers do the same. "False alarm then," He spokee at last, glancing towards City Hall's entrance when the faint sounds of yelling reached his sensors. "I'm surprised. I thought she would be more...violent about it."

[AnT]

"I KNOW!!!! That was so anti-climatic!" May then smacked Brendan on the shoulder. "Thanks for freaking me out for nothing!!! I was hoping she...I dunno...blow up the joint!"

"What?" the boy rubbed his arm, arching a brow at her. "Since when do you freak out? Besides, you WANT to be burned to crisp?"

"......YES!!!!"

[Topaz Mutiny]

When Pikachu looked up and around, and saw that nothing much had happened, the Pok?mon gave a sigh of relief. Of course, he still didn't quite feel like going back in yet. Relaxing in the sunshine seemed like a much better idea right now. Yes...

[Vize Viper]

Poking his head around his shield, Protoman was... a little dissappointed, actually. He'd been expecting at LEAST one non-verbal explosion.

But he did feel it necessary to comment.

"She'd have gotten more distance if she'd thrown underhand."

[Mage]

When nothing happened, the demon boy just stood there, embarrassed. "...."

"Well, guess you needed me for no good reason dood. Didn't know you were so jumpy master Laharl." The Prinny joked.

This fired up the pint sized Overlord like crazy, which was obvious once his eyes turned yellow and his hair spouts stuck up high. "SHUDDUP, YA DAMN PAWN?!" He expressed his rage by tossing the Prinny over his shoulder.

The helpless little penguin flailed about in the air, gawking at his misfortune. "DOOOOOOOD!" And thus, there went an explosion outside the city hall. All that was left of the Prinny, was his trophy.

The demon marched back inside, giving people rough looks to hide his embarrassment.

[xenomina]

Perhaps at that moment Master Hand had smiled on Samus, for a Smash Ball, of all things, appeared before her not long after the reporters last words.

The hunter turned to look more directly at the glowing ball as it moved around her, waiting to be broken. After the several years that Samus lived in this world, she had come to understand that sometimes Master Hand would bestow items of power to his players seemingly out of nowhere outtside of the tournament. It was commonly understood as a signal from their creator to act on his behalf....

And, as the powerful orb floating around her, she understood what Master Hand wanted...

He wanted to show this fool reporter that he was very angry...

If Samus hadn't been so infuriated, she would have had the smallest of smiles as she activated her missile launcher, and broke the orb with little ease, her movement almost robotic in its preciseness. Her body began to glow in iridescent light as she turned to face the ill-fated woman once more, her vizor glowing a sickly yellow that was all too familiar.

Her body still set to automatic, Samus braced her canon with her other hand as best she could before unleashing pure plasmid wrath upon Mrs. Bee. Though it could not be seen over the bright light of the beam, Samus' face remained stoic. She was not exactly an activist for violence against those who had no ability to fight themselves, but what the reporter had attempted and threaten to do had deserved nothing less than the judgment cast upon her.

Master Hand created the Smashers to be feared and respected, not mocked by the media...and this was Samantha's punishment for trying to do that very thing...

[Stoney]

Samantha Bee was livid.

"WHY doesn't anybody else ask these questions?" She grumbled as she stomped away from City Hall, not noticing the sudden light show occurring behind her. Her cameraman, on the other hand, was taking fearful peeks over his shoulder every few seconds and caught what was happening from the moment the Smash ball appeared.

"Uh, Sam..."

"I just wanna know the truth!" Samantha growled, clenching and unclenching the hand that had held her microphone mere seconds ago. "That Aran is a two-faced liar -- acting all holier-than-thou while taking any bounty she can get on the side."

"Sam..."

"I never even got to ask her about her past. Twenty bucks says she'd rather beat up Ridley over saving an innocent life. What kind of heroine is that?"

"Sam, you really should turn around..."

"And yet nobody else questions her! They're all terrified of her and that stupid suit she wears. Why can't she be held accountable like the rest of us, that's what I wanna know."

Greg was tapping her on the shoulder now, his voice more urgent. "Sam!"

"All I needed was one good break...one excuse to expose her and make her tell the truth. And look what she does! I paid money for that microphone! And now my suit is ruined, and my hair is filthy, and FOR GLOVE'S SAKE, GREG, WHAT?!" She snarled at the man beside her.

"LOOK!" He cried, pointing behind them while strafing to the side as fast as he could.

Samantha blinked at him, then turned to look at the bluish-white beam of laser death aimed directly at her.

"Oh nutbunnies," she sighed.

---

"LIGHT'S PAJAMAS!" Zero cursed as he felt a sudden vibration in the ground that marked a massive discharge of energy in front of City Hall. "GET DOWN!"

Only his inhuman reflexes saved them; he leaped in front of May and Brandan, raising his Z-Shield just as the backlash of hot air smashed into them with the force of a freight train.

"GAH!" Zero grunted, struggling to stay upgright as his shoes skidded backwards on the smooth marble floor. He could hear the screams of pain and fear from the crowd behind them that hadn't gotten to cover in time, but wasn't able to do much about it; if he moved, he'd be bowled over. Gritting his teeth, the reploid concentrated on staying put.

Hot winds seared his face, tossing his ponytail about like a blonde whip. Zero squinted his eyes as his system sent warnings about his internal temperature up as overlays on his robotic vision. Around him, tables were flying by and papers were being tossed into the air as the tornado-force winds reduced the internal bureaucracy of City Hall to chaos.

A giant stone carving of Samus's helmet rolled past him. Zero blinked at it.

---

Outside, things were actually worse; the unstoppable power of the Zero Laser tore through whatever it met without discrimination, leaving gaping holes in houses and skyscrapers. Entire cars were vaporized; the sidewalk underneath the beam was reduced to a molten state, glowing a hot red as it was cracked apart and cratered. Windows shattered, trees burst into flames, and people screamed like the Devil Incarnate was coming to devour their souls.

Greg clung fiercely to the corner of a building he'd sought cover behind, feeling the heat of the laser scalding his exposed fingers as he gripped the bricks with white-knuckled desperation. Through some miracle, he'd kept hold of his video camera; it continued to record what it saw, Greg having been scared into forgetting to turn it off.

The Zero Laser extended for two miles before the energy driving it faded out. By that point, it had traveled halfway across the city's Shopping District and left astronomical amounts of damage in its wake. The costs of rebuilding would be tremendous, to say nothing of the cost taken in lives.

"SAMANTHA!" Greg screamed when the laser finished, staring at the spot where is partner had been standing. Nothing was left now but a scorch mark on the ground. "SAM! NOOOO!"

Samantha Bee would get her breakthrough all right. People would finally begin to voice concern over those Smashers they'd previously put such blind faith in. Questions would be raised, questions nobody had dared thought to ask before, concerning the trust and safety of This World's citizens.

It would all happen, but not in the way she'd hoped. Because as all things have a price, so too did this; and all it took was the death of one passionate truth-seeker to do the job.

---

"Argh...is it over?"

Zero's mouth hung open in a grimace of pain as every warning his system could contrive was tossed at him en masse. He deactivated his Z-shield at last, and collapsed forward onto his hands and knees.

"Ow...I felt that even with protection," He muttered. "Such power...I never knew a mere human could produce it." Of course, the human in question was being assisted by unknown technology, but still. He was now grateful for the heat sinks he'd installed after facing Kyuubit Foxstar...

Servos whining in protest, Zero staggered up to his feet. "May...Brandan, Lairon...are you all right?" He asked, turning to face his guides.

City Hall Interior was the acme of a disaster zone. Debris was scattered every which way; not even the statues had been spared. Nearly everyone who had been standing in line was now scattered and lying on the floor, having been unprepared for the sudden assault after Samus's previous actions lulled them into a false sense of security. The stairs leading up to the second floor of City Hall were now being blocked by a giant stone carving of Samus's helmet, and the papers being used to register people for the latest Smash Tournament were still drifting through the air like a parody of snowflakes. "Mess" didn't even come close to describing it.

As if to punctuate what Zero was seeing, the lights flickered and went out.

The reploid frowned, turning on his night-vision as he knelt down before the Pokémon Trainers. "I tried to shield you the best I could. Are you guys okay?" He was a little worried about Lairon -- after all, that beast was far too large for his shield to have safely covered -- but hopefully the Pokémon was sturdy enough to withstand what had happened.