The Mushroom Kingdom Wars

Chapter 27

A Few Weeks Ago - The Depths of Space

Samus Aran gripped the controls of her starship with a steely resolve, weaving through the swarm of Space Pirate vessels that swarmed around her. The cold, dark void of space felt more claustrophobic than ever, the sound of enemy plasma fire ringing against her ship’s hull. Red lights blinked wildly in the cockpit, alarms blaring in a cacophony of dire warnings. Despite her precision flying, her ship shuddered under the strain, the engines struggling to keep up with her desperate maneuvers.

Sweat trickled down her brow as she grimaced. She couldn’t afford to lose this battle, not with the Mushroom Kingdom in such dire need of her help. The thought of Peach and her friends being overwhelmed by Bowser’s forces sent a spike of adrenaline through her veins. She couldn’t let herself fall now.

“I can’t let them take me,” Samus muttered under her breath, her voice strained. “I have to get back to Peach.”

But even as she tried to rally herself, a piercing warning blared across the control panel—her ship had sustained too much damage. The controls began to stutter in her grip, and with a sickening lurch, the ship’s power flickered and dimmed.

And then it happened—a blinding golden light filled the cockpit. For a brief moment, Samus felt her body weightless as the ship was struck by something powerful, an explosion that engulfed her entire vessel. The last thing she saw before her consciousness slipped away was the vast emptiness of space.

A few days later…

Samus slowly opened her eyes, blinking against the dim light. Her body felt heavy, and her thoughts were clouded. A soft voice broke through the haze, reassuring her. “Easy there,” the voice said. Samus turned her head slightly, her gaze landing on a pink hedgehog who stood by her side, offering a warm, welcoming smile.

“You’re safe now,” the hedgehog said, stepping closer. Her demeanor radiated kindness, and her bright green eyes glimmered with concern. “I’m Amy Rose.”

Samus blinked, the name processing slowly. “Samus Aran,” she rasped, her voice hoarse from disuse. Her mind was still fuzzy, but flashes of the battle flickered through her thoughts—the Space Pirates, the relentless attacks, the explosion. “Where… where am I?”

As she tried to sit up, a sharp pain shot through her body, and she winced. “Don’t try to move too quickly,” Amy said gently, placing a hand on Samus’s shoulder. “You’re in Green Hill Zone. Tails and I watched the battle you were in, and pulled you out as your ship was being destroyed. You’re lucky we got you out when we did.”

Samus’s eyes narrowed in confusion. “Green Hill Zone?” she echoed, the unfamiliar name only adding to the disorientation. “Where… what is this place?”

A young fox with two tails, who had been quietly tinkering with a piece of machinery on a workbench nearby, looked up. His face was kind and youthful, but his eyes were sharp and focused. He walked over, wiping his hands on a rag before offering a small nod. “I’m Tails,” he said. “Green Hill Zone is in a different dimension from your own. We’re not in your world anymore.”

Samus’s mind raced. “A different dimension?”

Tails nodded. “We’ve been dealing with someone named Dr. Robotnik. He’s a scientist, and inventor that caused problems for us for years. He figured out how to cross dimensions using special rings that can open portals to other worlds. When we tracked him to your world, we saw the fight you were in against the Space Pirates. You were in bad shape, so we used one of our remaining rings to pull you out of there. It saved your life… but now we’re down to only two rings. Robotnik has the rest.”