—Darkest Days—
by: Glass Angel
CHAPTER I
Samus scanned the area cautiously, ready to retaliate at a moment's notice. A flash of movement to her left set off her instincts as she immediately opened fire toward the creature. The monster let out a high-pitched shriek as the plasma laser made contact with it and fell dead on the ground. Samus couldn't make out what the creature had looked like, but she didn't need to—she already knew what it was. It had been a metroid. The jellyfish-like metroids were everywhere, and Samus knew she had to be wary of their presence.
She spotted another flash of movement, this time from behind. She whirled around swiftly and shot another laser from the arm-cannon of her suit. The metroid dodged the beam, to her great surprise, and grazed the top of her helmet, causing her to fall headfirst onto the ground. The metroid gave her no time to regain her composure; it immediately latched onto her, engulfing her into its slimy body. She felt the large four fangs spear into her suit, creating large dents that intruded lightly into her own body, causing her to cringe in pain, but the pain she felt then was nothing like she experienced a second later as the metroid began to relentlessly suck away her energy.
Samus struggled to scream, but could only let out a choked cry as the metroid continued its leech-like action. She could feel the fangs piercing her body, felt the innards of her captor, felt the failure of her suit as it began to disintegrate away from the lack of energy. It finally disappeared completely into the bowels of the metroid, leaving her own soft, weak flesh exposed to the unmerciful gnashing of the monster's fangs. The pain was more than Samus could bear; it felt as if millions of ruthless knives were scraping repeatedly against her bare skin. Another sharp pain forced an ear-piercing scream from her mouth. She cringed with pain once more, catching a glance at her hand as it began to shrivel into a bony disfigurement. Samus gasped at its gruesome appearance.
This can't happen to me, she thought, panic-stricken. I killed all of the metroids! I killed all of them!! But the metroid's actions contradicted her silent protests as it continued to relieve her of her energy. Samus felt her whole body giving in to its fate as it began to shrivel away, her organs collapsing from lack of strength. Her quick breaths slowed considerably, her eyes losing sight. Samus's heart strained to keep her alive, giving her a piercing pain in her chest, and her whole body trembled.
Her shriveled arm suddenly tore from her body and tumbled to the ground, and she cringed at the sight, for the lack of nerves in that area kept her from feeling any of its pain. Samus let out a final scream as her body collapsed and caved in on itself with sickening cracks and snaps.
* * *
Samus immediately sat up in bed with a terror-stricken gasp, coated in beads of hot sweat, breathing hard. She stared around the room with widened eyes, then put a shaky hand to her forehead. She closed her eyes miserably.
"It was only a dream," she murmured to herself, exhausted from the night. "A nightmare. The same one I've been having for months. Ever since I destroyed Zebes. . ." Samus pulled herself out of the bed with great effort and made her way to the kitchen in her apartment. She filled a glass with water from the sink and took a long sip from it, feeling the cool water run over her parched tongue and down her throat. She leaned against the wall and took another sip, staring out the kitchen window. It had been four months since Zebes had exploded, and Samus hadn't had a mission for a while. She had taken a trip to the planet Kasken and rented an apartment, deciding to live there for the time being. All the metroids died with Zebes, she was sure of it; why was she having these nightmares every night?
The nightmares made sleep a struggle—so much of a struggle that Samus began to dread the night's approach. She dreaded it so much that she soon developed insomnia, making her health worsen and her feeling for the impending dusk increase. Sleep had become so hard to achieve that she had been taking sleeping pills, reasoning that a miserable sleep was better than no sleep at all, although the aftermath felt the same. Samus wiped her brow with the back of her hand and finished the glass of the soothing water and returned the glass to the cupboard after drying it.
"I can't stay in here," Samus muttered, returning to her room and pulling open the closet doors. She quickly changed into a pair of black jeans, cyan halter top, black jacket, and black boots. She pulled her hair back with a leather strap and hooked a spare gun to her belt, then exited the house.
Her apartment was located in the heart of the city, so a quick visit to the local bar was a simple task and required no kind of transportation besides one's own legs. Samus opened the door to the bar and walked in, sitting herself down at the counter and signaling the bar tender.
"What's a pretty lady like you doing out so late at night?" he said, walking over to Samus. "This place is dangerous at night." A small smile played about Samus's lips as she pulled her jacket aside, revealing the silver pistol at her waist.
"I think I'll be alright," she said to him. "Give me a hard one." The bar tender pulled out a shot glass and filled it with vodka.
"Rough night?" he said as he handed the shot glass to Samus. "Two dell."
"Yeah." Samus accepted the hard drink and replaced it with two silver coins. "Very rough." She threw her head back and swallowed the liquor, then eyed the bar tender. "Do you by any chance have a bounty list?"
"Actually, I do." He bent down and pulled a lengthly list out from beneath the counter. "We get bounty hunters here all the time."
Samus took it from his outstretched hand and examined it, then sighed in dismay. "No one new," she muttered, returning the list.
"You a bounty hunter too?" The bar tender asked as he cleaned a glass.
Samus nodded absent-mindedly as she idly fingered the shot glass. "Yes, but I haven't found any good ones lately," she murmured, handing the glass back to him. "Give me another one."
The trade between liquor and currency went underway again, and Samus took another swallow.
"So you only go after the good ones, huh?" the bar tender stated. "You must be a good killer, considering you're not scraping for every job on the list."
Samus waved a hand and put the shot glass down. "I don't waste my time with weaklings," she answered dismissively as she thrust the glass to him. "Another."
The bar tender accepted the glass. "You should probably make this your last one," he advised, filling the shot glass to the brim. "I don't think you want to go home drunk, especially around here."
The door opened silently as Samus took the glass from the bar tender's outstretched hand. A man walked over to the bar and sat down at a stool near Samus.
"I'll take a shot," he said, signalling the tender.
"Well, Talon, how'd the job go?" the bar tender asked as he gave him the shot glass. "Kill the guy you were going after?"
"Of course," Talon said as he took a swallow from the glass. Samus ignored the young man beside him as she concentrated on her own liquor.
"It looks like you'll have some competition here," the bar tender said, motioning to Samus. "We got another bounty hunter in town."
Talon turned to Samus. "Oh really?" he said, amused. Samus acknowledged his presence with a brief glance. He was a rather handsome young man, about twenty-five or so, with longish black hair and yellow eyes. His black armor was concealed by an obsidian-colored leather jacket that trailed down to his ankles, meeting a pair of equally black combat boots. His strangely-colored eyes held her attention for a moment, but she returned to her glass soon after. Talon seemed even more amused by her reaction.
"Not very talkative, are you?" he said with a smile.
Samus drank from the shot glass and eyed him. "Nothing to talk about," she muttered to him.
"So." Talon rested his elbows on the counter and studied Samus's face. "You're a bounty hunter, huh? It's kind of obvious by now, but I'm one too."
"I never would have guessed," Samus responded dryly, fingering the now empty shot glass once more.
A rich laugh erupted from Talon, and he put his shot glass down on the counter. "What a sense of humor you've got," he chuckled. "Something piss you off?"
Samus stood up after breathing a frustrated sigh. "I'm going now." She eyed Talon.
The bar tender picked up her shot glass. "You haven't paid for your shot yet," he reminded her.
Talon reached into his pocket with a black leather-gloved hand and pulled out two dell. "I'll pay for it," he offered and dropped the money into the tender's hand without waiting for a reply.
Samus eyed him. "If you think that's going to get me to like you by paying for my drink, you've had too many shots," she stated, then spun on her heels and walked to the door. As she did so, she swayed a little bit and caught herself before she fell. Talon put his shot glass down after emptying it and stood up, walking over to her.
"Maybe I'd better escort you home," he said, taking her arm. "It looks to me that you're the one who's had too many shots." Samus jerked her arm out of his hold and walked out of the bar silently. Talon followed her after tossing two more dell to the bar tender.
"Why are you following me?" Samus asked as she turned a corner without looking at him.
"I told you," he said, keeping up with her pace, "you're this close to getting drunk. Lord, you could get jumped out here and raped or something."
"Since when do you care about a complete stranger?" she muttered to him behind her back. "Not to mention a fellow bounty hunter. You should be happy for the lack of competition, and I am fully able to take care of myself."
"Killing is boring without competition," Talon replied matter-of-factly. "It makes things more interesting if I have someone to fight with."
"Is that the only reason?" Samus asked him. "That's good. For a minute there I thought you were attracted to me or something."
"Well," Talon smiled, "no one said that wasn't part of the reason. I do find you quite attractive."
Samus stopped and eyed him. "Get away from me." She turned around and kept walking. Talon followed with pleased smile. Samus looked over her shoulder and faced the road as she turned another street corner. "Don't make me hurt you."
Another deep laugh escaped Talon's throat. "You don't know how much you entertain me," he said.
"I'm glad." Samus crossed the street at an intersection. Talon caught up with her and walked beside her.
"We haven't even introduced ourselves properly," he said, catching her arm once more. Samus tried to smack it away, but Talon caught her oncoming hand and kissed it. "My name is Talon."
Samus thrust her hand out of his. "If you really need to know, I'm Samus." She glared at his smiling, handsome face. "Now get away from me, or I'll have to kick your ass."
"Samus?" Talon looked at her with renewed interest. "The bounty hunter who destroyed Zebes? I'm honored to meet you then." He smiled knowingly at her. "I also have some news that you might be interested in."
Samus crossed her arms over her chest. "Oh, yeah?" she said, not particularly intrigued.
Talon nodded. "The last guy I killed not only got me a good profit, but he told me that he worked for a guy named Ridley."
Samus blinked. "I killed Ridley on Zebes," she insisted to him. "It probably isn't the same guy."
"It's the same Ridley you supposedly killed, though," Talon replied, "and he's alive."