Samus & Joey, Part 8

The Greatest Challenge

Joey opened his eyes. He was in a small, grassy field. There was the occasional patch of flowers every few feet. Joey sat up and looked around. He saw a figure standing beneath a tree in the distance. He tried to stand, but found it a little hard to do so. He limped over to the tree and looked to the person. He could clearly identify them as a girl, but that was it. She looked off into the horizon, but somehow noticed Joey.

"It's lovely, isn't it?" Joey followed her gaze. "This world, I mean." Joey smiled for a fraction of a second.

"Where is this place?" The girl smiled.

"This is where all people go eventually." Joey recognized the voice he heard.

"Who are you?" The girl sat down, showing her face in the light. She looked just like Samus.

"I'm special." Joey sat down next to her. "I show everyone who they care about most. You took some time, though. I had trouble finding who you love." Joey frowned.

"So I guess you know how I feel about her." The girl shook her head.

"No, actually, I don't. I picked Samus because she loves you." Joey felt his heart beat faster.

"What do you really look like?" The girl laid back in the flowers.

"I don't like it very much. I like Samus better." Joey smiled.

"Just show me." The girl slowly changed into a beautiful girl with long, reddish hair. Joey looked her over. "You look very familiar." The girl brushed her hair out of her eyes. "What's your name?" The girl held her hand out to Joey.

"My name is Rosemary, but you can call me Rose." Joey felt a warmth build up inside him. He slowly was lifted into the air. "Looks like you've been given another chance." Joey took one last look at the field, and closed his eyes.

~Later~

Joey woke up in the subspace. He opened his eyes and saw Samus, still asleep. "Sa… Samus?" He looked down and noticed he was still holding her hand. "Samus?" He sat up. "Sammie?" He picked her up and looked at her eyes. "Samus!" He shook her, trying to wake her up. "Samus, wake up!" Luigi ran next to Joey.

"Joey! What's going on?" Luigi knelt down next to Joey.

"She won't wake up." Luigi reached into his pocket for something. He pulled out the mushroom Joey had given him.

"Here, try this." Joey took the mushroom and stuck it in Samus' mouth. The color came back to her face after a few seconds. She started coughing, and eventually opened her eyes.

"God, what was that?" She coughed once more. "Tasted like bad garlic." Joey smiled and hugged her.

"Samus!" She was still unaware of what had just happened. "I thought you..." Joey stopped talking. Samus smiled.

"Um… thanks, I think." She let go of Joey. "What just happened?" Joey held Samus' hands.

"It was nothing, don't worry about it." Samus smiled.

"Well, I guess-"

"Hey, guys!" Samus and Joey looked at Ike, who was pointing at the staircase. "That thing went this way! We have to get him!" Everyone slowly made their way to the staircase. Joey sighed, stood up, and pulled Samus up next to him.

"Come on, let's go."

The group of smashers approached the staircase. Mario, judging himself as the leader, took the first step up. There was nothing holding him back, so he continued up. The other smashers slowly walked up after him, some later than others.

Joey turned around and saw Zelda and Link standing over Gannondorf's trophy. Link shook his head and walked away. Zelda, however, decided to revive Gannondorf. Joey turned back and saw that Samus had already started walking. He ran after her. He couldn't help but notice that she was limping. She turned around, seeing Joey behind her.

"Hey Joey," she said. Joey ran to her side.

"Need some help?" Samus looked at her leg, then back at Joey.

"If you could." Samus draped an arm around Joey, balancing herself. They were both silent for a while.

"You really scared me, there." Samus looked at Joey.

"What do you mean?" Joey smiled.

"I mean when you were passed out." He stopped and turned to Samus. "Here, I'll just carry you the rest of the way." Joey picked her up and continued to walk up the stairs. "I had this crazy dream," he continued. "We both went to this beautiful looking meadow. There was this lone tree on top of a small hill."

"What kind of tree?" Samus asked.

"Big tree. Oak, I think." Joey looked at Samus. "Does it matter?" She giggled. "There were these patches of flowers every now and then, it made the place seem a bit nicer. There was this... I can't describe it, really. It was a kind of fog, I guess, only it was really thin. You could see right through it, but it was kinda hazy." Samus pressed her head to Joey's chest.

"It sounds nice." Joey smiled and nodded.

"It was, for the most part." Samus smiled and closed her eyes. "You were there, too. I think I already told you that." She nodded, falling asleep. "Only you weren't really you," he continued. Samus just barely opened her eyes.

"Who was I, then?" Joey shrugged.

"I really don't know." He paused. "You just weren't... you."

They reached the top of the stairs a few minutes later. Joey gently let Samus to her feet. She landed gracefully, and they entered the Great Maze.

As they stepped through the door, they started to fly through a stream of flashing colors and rings. It seemed wonderful, at first, to be able to fly. After a few minutes, they showed up on a large floating platform. Much like the one where the whole Subspace mess started. Everyone had gone ahead, aside from Snake, leaving the three alone. Zelda showed up almost immediately after Samus stepped through the door. Samus, startled by the sound of the door, whipped out her pistol and turned around. She lowered it upon recognizing the face.

"Oh, it's only you." She put the pistol away. "What are you doing here alone? Where's Link?"

"He's not with you?" Zelda turned back to the door. "Well, I'm sure he's here somewhere." She turned back and walked closer to the other three. "Let's go, I guess." Joey smiled and turned to Samus.

"Still need help walking?" Samus tried to take a few steps, stumbling every now and then.

"If you could just help me balance," she said. Joey placed her arm around his shoulder and started walking.

"Better?" She nodded.

"Much, thank you."

They all walked through the next door, Joey barely noticing a black haze come from the door. He disregarded it and stepped through.

On the other side of the door, there was a dark, cloudy area, much like the subspace. Samus sat down. "Sorry, I just need to rest for a second." Joey nodded.

"It's okay. Take all the time you need." Snake looked around the area.

"This place looks really creepy." He lit a cigarette. "Anybody else want one?" No one answered. "Okay."

Samus tried to sit up, but her leg kept her down. "Sammie, you really shouldn't try and move too much," Joey said. "Here, let me see what I have." Joey reached into his pockets, and turned up empty-handed. "Snake!" The agent turned around. "Do you have a bandage, some gauze, anything?"

Snake tossed Joey a small box. Joey immediately opened it up, rummaged through it, and pulled out a wrap of gauze. He unraveled it, and then looked up at Samus. "Where exactly does your leg hurt?" Samus pointed at her knee.

"Right about there." Joey nodded and started to wrap her leg.

"Now I still think you should walk a little slower. Maybe put a little less pressure on it." He finished wrapping her leg. "You're not alone, Samus. We're here to fight by your side, and even for you. You don't need to depend on yourself all the time." Joey looked into Samus' eyes. "We're your friends, Sammie. We can help you." He leaned in and pecked her cheek. He stood up and extended a hand to Samus. "Come on, let's go."

At that instant, a charge beam hit Joey in the back. He collapsed in pain, groaning loudly. Samus looked up and saw a shadowy version of her power suit. Samus stood up quickly, her leg writhing in pain, and donned her power suit with no more than just pure concentration.

Joey's eyes were still cracked open. He could see Samus, Snake and Zelda fighting something that looked like... another Samus. He was beyond confused, but it didn't really bother him.

Sooner than it had started, the fight was over. Samus's power suit disappeared, and she was soon at Joey's side again. "What..." Joey rolled over onto Samus's lap. "What was that?" He asked quietly.

"I don't know." Samus lifted Joey's head. "Will you be alright?"

Joey chuckled. "I think it's your turn to carry me." Samus smiled.

"I'm glad you're okay." They both stood and limped to the new door on the corner of the platform. "I really hope that we're almost done here."

The door led to yet another subspace room. Everyone else who wasn't already there slowly appeared. They all came out of identical looking doors, all of which shut behind them. Zelda and Snake appeared a bit later, both apparently missing the door Samus and Joey went through.

"What happened?" Joey asked Luigi.

"It was crazy!" he said back. "I was attacked by a guy who looked just like me! He was all shadowy and evil-looking, and he knew every move that I did!" Samus and Joey shared a glance. They both had the same thought. "Anyways," Luigi continued, drawing the others attention again. "This door is supposed to lead to that evil blue guy." Samus looked over Luigi's head to a large, gray door far in the distance.

"I think we should all rest first," Samus said, her pain finally getting the best of her. Her knees buckled underneath her, Joey collapsing as well. Some people still decided to head on through the door, not knowing what could lie ahead.

Samus curled up next to Joey. "Are we almost done here?" she asked. "I'm really tired." Joey nodded, also unable to continue standing.

"Yeah, I think so." He looked at the door. "Once that creepy blue guy is gone, this whole place will disappear and we can all go home."

Samus smiled. "And then I can finally rest again?" Joey smiled.

"And then we can all rest again." Joey brushed his hand through Samus' hair. "And there's gonna be a big meal for all of us."

Samus giggled, her eyes closing. "I'm really tired," she said. Joey lifted her head.

"We're almost done here. I promise." Joey looked up, noticing everyone else had gone. "Come on, we'd better go."

They both stood up and limped to the door. Neither of them had any idea what was through it, but it couldn't be much worse than the rest of the day had already been.

Author's Notes

Yeah. Sorry for not posting anything for half of a year. I've been busy. You know, school and stuff. But I'm back! And I promise that I'll upload more in a short while. Especially because my Metroid addiction is back. So there will be another chapter up soon. Promise. Thanks for reading, and please leave reviews.