| GCB Fanfics: Vs. Mode |
Vs. Mode - Samus vs. Kos-Mos"And welcome back to Vs. Mode where people from different dimensions try to kill each other for the sake of fame, money and good old-fashioned fun." Lucca says with a smile on her face. "We just came back from a match where Squall surprised everyone by overcoming the odds and defeating one-half of the Mario Bros. To say that a lot of people were shocked by this result is putting it lightly." "Both fighters are currently treating their wounds in the Medical Center since the last match took a lot out of them, but really, who cares about that? The next match is one that many people have been waiting for as two femme fatales go at each other like cats in heat." Brock announces with a very big grin on his face. Lucca gazes blankly at her partner. "You have a one-tracked mind, you do know that right?" "And here comes one of these gorgeous ladies, accompanied by her equally lovely creator. She's slaughtered entire fleets of Gnosis and looks good while doing it, let us all welcome, KOS-MOS!" The sound of percussions comes out from the speakers as the battle theme of KOS-MOS welcomes her. She strides down to the ring with not a single trace of emotion on her face, ignoring the enthusiastic cheers of the admirers she has accumulated so far and the few spatters of boos from the fans of the marsupial she defeated in the last round. Beside her, Shion Uzuki, walks with her head bowed down in thought. "KOS-MOS..." the scientist says after a while, "About this match..." "Do not worry about me, Shion." The android replies in a monotone. "I am at full functionality for this match. I will be able to keep up with my opponent for this round and battle her with maximum combat efficiency." "I know that!" Shion cries, "But... this Samus... we've seen her fight based on the records and she's dangerous. You might get killed." "You forget our orders Shion. We have a duty from the heads of Vector Industries. We are to collect as much real-life battle data as we can while here in this tournament to see how much I can still be improved. We are not here by choice, but by command." The creator of the battle android lets out a heavy sigh. "As stubborn as ever," she mutters under her breath. "KOS-MOS, just... try to ease my worries a bit. Can you at least tell me your chances for this battle?" For a moment, the blue-haired robot pauses as though deep in thought. "Based on previous data on Samus Aran, if I can battle her in close-range, I have a 56.0003% probability of defeating her." Shion notices the pause and stares at her creation, the worry in her heart increasing some more. "KOS-MOS, but what if you're not able to do that. What are your overall chances of surviving?" The android does not answer. She simply climbs into the ring and walks silently to the center to await her opponent. "KOS-MOS!" Shion shouts, her voice trembling with fear. "You did not answer my question! KOS-MOS!" "And her opponent," Brock announces with less enthusiasm, "is a great disappointment to the crowd as she hides her beauty in an ugly shell. I don't understand why she does this really. We've seen how pretty and sexy she can be inside that bulky armor of hers and- ow!" "That's enough out of you," Lucca says as she puts back her microphone on the stand. "As my partner was supposed to say, she's the feared enemy of Metroids, X parasites and Space Pirates everywhere, she's the bounty hunter turned hero for intergalactic peace, and she's one of the few heroines I know who doesn't fight in either a tank top, a short skirt or a swimsuit." Brock grumbles a bit. "Let us all put our hands together for Samus Aran." The rousing tune of the Super Metroid theme was almost immediately drowned out by the cheers for the intergalactic bounty hunter. She walks towards the arena in her fully upgraded Fusion Suit, her expression masked by her helmet. As she steps up onto the raised platform, she waves stiffly to the crowd, not exactly used to having this much attention on her. "So Lucca," the Pokemon breeder finally says as both competitors wait for the Ref-Bot's signal, "what are your thoughts for this match?" "Well, if this was purely based on power, KOS-MOS has this match in the bag. She has enough weaponry in her to start every single World War in the past and future and win without a sweat. She was able to destroy an entire fleet of spaceship-sized aliens for crying out loud and that's not even the full extent of her power. While Samus has enough firepower to take down an entire planet, KOS-MOS simply has her outmatched in that category." "However," Lucca continues, "what Samus lacks in power, she makes up in skill, adaptability, tactics and sheer experience. She has fought battles where she was clearly outgunned before and she still came out as the victor. Because of this, I'm going to have to give Samus the advantage." The Ref-Bot hovers between the android and the armored-warrior with its flags raised. "Player 1, ready?" KOS-MOS stares blankly at Samus. "Affirmative" "Player 2, ready?" Samus holds her gun-arm and gives a curt nod "Ready" "Combatants ready. Raise Force Barriers. Match 36, KOS-MOS vs. Samus Aran. 3, 2, 1... fight!" "Power's on; game's started and KOS-MOS immediately jumps in with a spinning kick. Woo-hoo! Go KOS-MOS!" "Unbiased reporters, Brock." Lucca reminds her fellow announcer "Anyway, Samus dodges the kick but KOS-MOS immediately follows up with an R-Blade as she lands. Samus leaps back in retreat, but not before getting a long gash down her armor." "KOS-MOS quickly dashes in, pressing her melee advantage with a flurry of sword slashes. Looks like our favorite blue-haired robot has done her homework." Brock continues, ignoring his cohorts warning, "Samus is quite a powerhouse but her strength is severely cut down in half while in melee. The bounty hunter tries to evade the attacks, but she's getting plenty of close scrapes here and there. If she doesn't do something to put some distance between them, this match is as good as over." "And Samus does not disappoint as she goes into ball form, making KOS-MOS overextend her last slash and lose her footing a bit. The intergalactic hero takes this opportunity to bounce up and off of the robot while leaving quite a few bombs floating all around her. She turns back to her original form and freezes the combat android in place with an Ice Beam as she lands, before changing the settings of her weapon and charging it while the bombs flash white." "Oh no! KOS-MOS!" Brock shouts in despair. "The bombs explode all around her and we can't see her in all the smoke. She's not stepping out or firing back or anything. Could this be the end of the beautiful android? Oh wait, she just leapt out with scythe in hand, still as pretty as ever. Yay!" Lucca sighs in frustration, "Why do I even bother? KOS-MOS swings the F-SCYTHE and Samus instinctively rolls to the side. A good thing too as that thing just left a real deep fissure half the length of the ring. I really hope we're not the ones paying for the damages here." "And the pretty robot in blue and white tosses her scythe at Samus and rushes in after the hunter with one hand whipped back. The curved blade spins in the air like a disc of death, and I hope Samus dodges it or we'll have one less cutie in the world." "Well, at least that comment was sort of impartial. Samus ducks under the thrown weapon, escaping a death by decapitation, but now she has to face the owner of the weapon herself. Ouch! KOS-MOS just took the full brunt of a charged Plasma/Wave Beam Combo." "But it's not stopping her one bit as her hands turns into an R-Dragon and clamps down on the Metroid hunter. That's our KOS-MOS!" Brock cheers enthusiastically much to the annoyance of his partner. "It's bad news for the experienced warrior as KOS-MOS' mechanical dragon-like arm catches the Metroid-infused hunter by her buster, but Samus grabs the upper lip of the dragon to prevent it from chomping down and having her arm as its meal." "It's a battle of strength, one that KOS-MOS is winning at. No matter how much her suit increases her power, pound for pound, it's still no match for that of the android. KOS-MOS bears down on Samus, gaining leverage and-" A sharp crack echoed in the stadium. "Hey! She cheated!" "Not cheating Brock; tactics!" Lucca comments with a wry grin, "Samus just fired a shot at KOS-MOS' eyes, making her flinch back and lessen the strength of her grip a bit, allowing Samus to snap the R-Dragon in half. A Screw Attack immediately follows it up and carries both fighters high into the air. If KOS-MOS can feel pain, she must be feeling a lot of it right now." "Ack! But wait! KOS-MOS' arm is morphing into the R-Cannon and she uses it to fire a shot at Samus' side, forcing her out of the Screw Attack. Samus skids to the edge of the ring on her hand and feet but KOS-MOS falls to the center on her back. This does not look good for our blue-haired goddess." "Just yours Brock, not ours, yours. KOS-MOS stands up again, seemingly unaffected by the bounty hunter's move, and brings out a pair of Gattling Guns. She aims them at the battle suited warrior and open fires. Things look bad for Samus. She will need a real good plan if she wants to make a dent on the combat android." "And Miss Aran is on the run as a barrage of bullets flies and makes short work of that part of the arena. She's circling the entire ring as KOS-MOS trains her guns on her but the android just can't seem to hit her. Say, is it just me, or is Samus' suit starting to shine?" "Not only that Brock, but she's also accelerating. What we're seeing right now is the power of the Hyper Dash as she reaches speeds that rival even that of Sonic's. She's angling her run a bit, tightening her circling path around KOS-MOS." "Samus is just a white blur now and KOS-MOS is having great difficulty keeping track of the bounty hunter. Look out! Behind you!" Brock screams in vain. "Incredible! Samus just grabbed KOS-MOS from behind and Shine Sparked both of them straight up into the sky. It looks like you're not the only one concerned with the well-being of KOS-MOS, her creator and manager seems to have ran to the side of the ring and is searching the skies for her in worry." "I can't see them anywhere." Brock cries as he squints up at the sky "They're too far away." Lucca activates the telescopic feature of her special goggles. "Wait, I see them. They're falling with Samus on top. They seem to be trailing behind some small clouds of fire?" "What?" Brock screams in horror, dreading the worst. Lucca ignores her fellow commentator. "Ah! I've finally gotten a clear view of them. Samus is straddling KOS-MOS from behind and unloading her entire supply of Super Missiles onto the back of the combat android. She's not taking any chances this time!" "Noooo! KOS-MOS!" Brock weeps into his hands. "Looks like they've entered the range of vision of a normal human now," the scientist says as she deactivates her goggles. "I do not like the looks of this. Gravity makes things fall at an accelerated pace and once they hit the ground, they might splatter in more pieces than Pac-Man in his battle against Kefka." "Ack! How can you be so calm bout this?" Brock shrieks at his partner. "Because panicking right now won't do us any good," the time traveler deadpans "Samus has turned into a ball, what is she planning? Ah, good thinking. She has used a bomb to separate the two of them and slow down her descent, but it will not be enough if she doesn't want to end up as a memory on the pavement. Now she's turned back to normal form and she uses the Grappling Beam on the Force Barrier, letting it 'stretch' with her fall like a bungee cord as she swings safely to the ground while KOS-MOS crashes into the arena, leaving a large crater in her wake." "Huh?" Brock says as he stops sniveling for a while "What's that light in the middle of the crater?" There is a bright, white flash, and the hole becomes a little bigger as the rocks disintegrate upon contact with the explosion. Samus, Shion, the announcers and the audience cover their eyes until the light fades away. "Holy..." Lucca starts after she uncovers her eyes. "Samus really was not taking any chances. A Power Bomb too after everything else? If KOS-MOS survives even that, I am heading straight for Vector Industries and asking for pointers. Shion is screaming the name of her creation over and over again and Samus looks a little worried that she might have overdone things a bit." "The Ref-Bot is counting to ten, but I don't think it really matters." Brock says sadly. "That's the last we'll ever see of KOS-MOS no-" As the Ref-Bot reaches the count of nine, a vaguely skeletal hand reaches out of the rubble at the bottom of the crater. "The fight continues," the Ref-Bot utters before retreating back in his personal force field. Brocks jaw drops as Lucca narrates what's happening inside the arena cavity. "KOS-MOS is still alive, folks. Her face visor is gone along with half of her face, most of her skin has burned away, and it doesn't look like she's moving as steadily as before, but she's still alive. Not only that, she's climbing out of the crater to continue the fight. That is one tough robot and that is one scary glare she just gave Samus. Her visible left optical sensor makes her look even more menacing." "And... and... KOS-MOS..." Brock stutters, still a little shaken that one of his dream girl now looks like something out of a sci-fi horror movie. Lucca sighs again. "I'll handle everything from here until you get your brain back in line. KOS-MOS stands tall, and with a single bound, reaches the edge of the crater opposite of Samus. She lands unsteadily, but regains her footing and stares down her opponent, her hair being blown by the wind, looking like the very image of a battle angel. The bounty hunter returns her glare with one of her own, but doesn't do anything and waits for KOS-MOS' next move." "W-well..." Brock coughs a bit to clear his throat. "Well, Samus doesn't have to wait long as KOS-MOS opens her stomach and prepares the X-Buster. This attack has killed thousands of opponents and has even slaughtered an entire fleet of aliens. Can Samus survive it?" "I guess we won't find out since Samus just fired a salvo of missiles straight towards KOS-MOS' stomach. At that range, it's like fitting a thread into the eye of a needle. But with Samus' experience with hard to hit weak spots, this is a cinch. And bam! All missiles hit and the android shakes like a pair of maracas from all the impacts as her X-Buster powers down." "Poor KOS-MOS buckles over and tumbles back down to the bottom of the crater. She rises on one knee, clutching her stomach." "WARNING!" A female voice blared, "ENERGY LEAK DETECTED IN WEAPONS SYSTEM! EXPLOSION IMMINENT IN 5 MINUTES! ALL CIVILIANS WITHIN A 100 KILOMETER RADIUS PLEASE EVACUATE!" Brock blinks, "Uhh... Lucca, did you say that?" Lucca shakes her head. "No... and I'm sure the Ref-Bot didn't say that either, and that doesn't sound like Samus either so that can only mean..." ---- "KOS-MOS!" Shion screams as she climbs up on into the ring and slides down the crater. She kneels besides her creation, her face etched with fear and worry. "KOS-MOS... what's wrong?" "Power core of X-Buster has been breached." The android said, her voice still as emotionless as ever. "Meltdown is imminent. Everything in the path of the subsequent explosion will be vaporized." ---- "That's not good, is it?" Brock says as the Termina's stadium built in ring microphone catches the conversation and spreads it all over the arena. The audience murmurs in worry, trying to decide whether to make a run for it or not. "Uhh... the stadium's shields can take it, right?" "Of course it can! I hope..." Lucca says, her confidence a little shaken. ---- "Shion, I ask you to retreat behind the audience shielding." KOS-MOS requests as she stands, "It is my first priority to protect Vector employees." "No, I will not let you do this! I can still repair you and get you out of this! I can still-" "Shion, please!" KOS-MOS says as she turns her head and Shion gasps as she sees her one good eye turn blue. Then the red-haired scientist gets flung away from KOS-MOS and lands on the upper slope of the recently made crater. When she finally gathers herself, she finds a pair of angel wings sprouting from the back of the android, wings that are quickly forming into a barrier. Shion uselessly slams her fist against the dome of energy. "KOS-MOS! Drop this shield! KOS-MOS!" On the other side of the barrier, the android stands on the bottom of the hole, head bowed and arms dangling uselessly beside her. "Shion..." she mutters. "I am happy... to be of service..." Then, she slumps down to the floor, most of her energy spent. What's left is used to finish her egg-shaped tomb. ---- "Well," Lucca says, a little saddened. "I guess now we can say good bye to KOS-MOS. I don't think even our facilities can repair things that are disintegrated to a sub-atomic level." "True..." Brock says, a lot more saddened. "And another beauty bites the dust and the world becomes a lonelier place. Eh? What's Samus doing?" ---- She does not even think over her decision. Thinking about it takes time and the gap is quickly closing. Running down her side of the crater, she immediately dives into the rapidly shrinking opening, seconds before it completely closes. The inside of the dome is both beautiful and frightening. As Samus stands, she examines her environment and finds herself surrounded by white feather-like particles gently floating down all over the place like cherry blossoms. The walls shines with gentle light, strong in intensity and yet soft to the eyes. Even the rocky ground, that was once simply crude rocks and earth, seems to share in the majesty as they glitter like diamonds from their borrowed light. It looks very much like a painter's view of how a spring in heaven will look like. And yet, as she walks down to the center of this place, she can't help but notice the complete lack of noise. True, there is the sound of stones crunching beneath her boots, and her breath is still quite pronounced from within the Fusion Suit, but there are no outside noises. No cheers from the crowds, no mutters of fear on what's going on, no steady humming coming from the hovers of the Ref-Bot, no chatter from the announcers above, nothing. There is a complete absence of sound from the other side of the dome, as though this is a forbidden area cut-off from the rest of the world. In here is clean, pure, and beautiful. But in here is also lonely, depressing, and withdrawn. A lesser being would have been overwhelmed by this realization, but Samus Aran is used to being alone for long stretches of time. At the bottom of the crater, Samus finds whom she is searching for sitting on the floor with her head slumped forward and her arms lying lifelessly beside her, looking like a broken doll, discarded after fulfilling her use. Hundreds of cables and wires run all over her exposed arms and legs, looking like the muscles and nerves of a human being. From her stomach, the leaking energy flows out like mist, dissipating into thin air. The bounty hunter genuflects beside the fallen robot and gently lays her on her back. She inspects the damage she's done and turns on her X-Ray Specs. "What... are you doing here?" A soft voice speaks. "So you're awake." Samus answers as she scans the body of the android. "I'm sorry about that by the way. I didn't intend this to happen." "You did not... answer my question." KOS-MOS replies, her voice weak due to her using what's left of her energies to keep the shields up. "Well," the hunter says as she smiles sardonically beneath her helmet, "As good as the clinic is at healing, I don't exactly trust them at resurrecting people from the dead." "It is... of no consequence." The android states as matter-of-factly as she can, "I am not... human. I am... simply... a weapon." "Whatever you say," the human warrior utters as she spots the location of the cracked power core, "but I'm one of those few who believe that Artificial Intelligence can be as human as those who are born naturally. Now hold still, I'm going to rip out that weapon unit of yours." Keeping her X-Ray sights on the leaking energy unit, Samus pulls back her hand and plunges it into KOS-MOS' stomach, the weakened metal tearing easily apart. Cautiously navigating her way around the robot's pseudo-womb, her hand finally grabs her target and she pulls it out with all her strength while carefully avoiding causing any more damage to the android's vital systems. The unit pulsates in her hand. Even through her armor, she could feel heat as the escaping energy slowly eats through her gauntlet. "KOS-MOS, please deactivate the barrier." "..." "KOS-MOS, I know you want to protect your companion, but I ask you to trust me that I'll be able to get all of us out alive. I don't exactly plan to die today." "...understood." ---- "Today is a sad, sad day for the GCB and Vs. Mode." Brock laments. "Not only do we lose two powerful competitors, but we lose two beautiful ladies as well. How much time do they have left, Lucca?" Brock sniffs. "According to my calculations," the purple-haired scientist mentions unhappily, "They only have one minute and twenty-nine seconds left to live. I guess this means Squall advances to the fourth round by default." "One and a half minutes... that's like an eternity for the viewers here. The entire stadium has gone silent as they await the imminent death of both fighters. Even Shion has stopped her cries for KOS-MOS and has been escorted to the entrance of the arena, away from the domed barrier. Why must fate be so cruel today?" "I guess..." Lucca pauses as she watches the ring. "The dome's opening..." "Huh? What do you mean?" Brock asks before he looks up at the ring and sees that indeed, the barrier is slowly melting away, revealing the two inside. "It's Samus and KOS-MOS! And Samus is standing and holding something weird, and bright, and... what is that thing she's holding!" "Unless I miss my guess," Lucca says as she leans forward while activating her goggles again, "That's the leak in the weapon's system that KOS-MOS was talking about. Looks like Samus tore it out of her, and she's attaching it to her Grappling Beam? What's she planning to do with it?" "And the officials holding Shion bravely run away. But the scientist doesn't seem to have any intention of joining them; in fact she's heading straight for the ring!" Brock announces, surprised, "How much time do we have left until the big ka-boom?" "Just twenty-six seconds left." Lucca mentions, "Samus extends her Grappling Beam and starts swinging the energy core above her head in a circle like a sling." "It's spinning faster and faster, and the beam just gets longer with each rotation. Samus, steps up the slope a bit to get some room for her lengthening rope. If she's planning what I think she's planning, she better get this right because she only has one chance. You can do it Samus!" "Thirteen seconds left..." "Samus climbs up a few more inches as she carefully aims her projectile and she immediately cuts off the Grappling Beam. Look at that thing sail, it's disappeared from view in less than an eye blink's time!" "Six..." "Just a few more seconds until we find out if Samus threw that thing far enough..." The clouds swirl away in a circle, and for a moment, the entire sky shines brighter than the sun. All cover their eyes from the intense light, just as a sudden rush of wind comes. The barriers shimmer like the scales of a great green dragon and those standing in the ring had to use all their strength just to hold their ground or risk being blown away. After a few moments, it finally ended, and pandemonium is followed by silence as everyone slowly gets over the spectacle they just experienced, trying to regain their wits. All simply look at one another, asking a silent question, What just happened? "The battle has ended." A small, mechanical voice uttered, as though answering the question. "Winner: Samus Aran." And just like a pin that falls on a balloon strained to its limits, the silence breaks and is filled with a loud roar as the audience cheers for the battle, the fighters, and most especially, the winner. Down in the ring, Samus Aran climbs out of the crater with a heavily battered KOS-MOS cradled in her arms just as Shion Uzuki walks to it. The scientist looks up at the warrior in fear as the bounty hunter towers over her menacingly. "Don't worry," Samus says as her face visor retracts, revealing a human face. "She's alive. She's just tired from our fight." Slowly, the hunter lowers KOS-MOS to the ground as she hands her over to the scientist. The android opens her eye, revealing it to be red again. "Th-thank you..." utters Shion as she puts KOS-MOS' arm around her shoulders in order to support her. "No need." Samus replies. "I know how it feels like to lose someone close. Not exactly something I'd want on another human being" And with that, she turns around and raises her gun-arm, gaining much more cheers from the currently adrenaline-pumped audience. The other two women walk down from the ring and head for the entrance that leads to the Maintenance Lab. "I'm sorry Shion." KOS-MOS whispers to her creator's ear, "I failed the mission and lost important Vector equipment." Shion giggles a bit at this. "It's okay KOS-MOS... you're alive and that's all that matters to me. Now let's get you fixed up and head back home." And the scientist walks through the entrance with her creation and friend. Leaving the arena and the crowds behind them. "And the North Division ends with one heck of an exciting match" Lucca screams over the crowd's collective voices, "Samus defeats KOS-MOS despite being weaker in the power department with a combination of smarts and mad skills. But more importantly, both fighters walk out from the jaws of death, battered and bruised but still alive." "We had everything today folks. Action, beauty, drama and a lot more! Who knows what else the next fights will deliver? So join us tomorrow in Nibelheim as the East Division begins with a battle between two sullen, moody, mysterious heroes from the squads of Double-F! For Lucca and Max, I'm Brock, and we hope to see you again on Vs. Mode!" ---- Within a room, a laptop lies open as though simply waiting for its owner's return. As the creaking of a door is heard, the laptop turns on and a human-like voice comes out from its speakers. "Good afternoon, lady. How was your battle today?" Samus removes her helmet and shakes her hair loose as she enters the room before crashing on the couch in front of the portable computer. She had asked the officials to allow her to connect the computer to the terminal in her ship, allowing her to speak to her ship's A.I., the one that contains the memories, thoughts and personality of her former officer. "Lady?" the voice continues to ask. "Exhausting, Adam." She answers with a heavy sigh. "Very exhausting." And she falls asleep, alone with one of the few companions she's ever had since she first became a bounty hunter. Next Entry Back |