"Warning, no entry without authorization. Warning, no entry without authorization. Warning, no..."

The warning message droned on endlessly, but she ignored it, and incidentally ignored her computerized C.O's orders as well. She opened the security hatch and proceeded down the hall and through another series of doors until finally coming to what looked like a laboratory. It was there that she saw them, the creatures she had battled so many times before, that she once thought she had hunted to extinction, and whose essence now coursed through her veins and had saved her life for the second time.

Samus stood face to face with the Metroid species once again. It made sense to her now why the X had attempted to destroy the station by overheating sector three's boiler. They knew of the Metroid's presence, probably by absorbing that knowledge from one of the stations crew. The Metroids, and herself by extension now, were the only true threat to the X, and eliminating them was more valuable than the lives of the X on this station.

She stood staring at them. In a way she was actually relieved to see them; it was something familiar in the midst of this nightmarish ordeal. It was strange but she now felt a connection to them, certainly because of their intertwined past, but it was more than that. She could sense them, their presence, and even a consciousness; they were hungry, and agitated at being confined. It wasn't like she could read their minds or communicate in any way; it was just a feeling she got from them. Was this because of her suit; its new abilities combining with its built in sensors to read the Metroids, then imparting that knowledge to her somehow, or was she doing this on her own?

She pushed the thought from her head, now wasn't the time, worry about that after the mission is complete. Right now she had more urgent matters to deal with. The X infestation took priority to her own altered condition. That didn't matter at the moment, neither did the fact that the federation was secretly breeding Metroids. That too would have to be dealt with later. Their presence here changed nothing... or did it? A strategy formed in her mind. The X reproduced far faster than she could kill them, and there was enough biomass on this station to sustain them indefinitely. She would need help, and once again it would have to come from this most unlikely of sources.

Impetuously, she ran around opening the stasis tubes, releasing their captives. It was a gamble, she hoped they would view her as one of them now, but if they turned on her she would be completely defenseless without her ice power. She was now surrounded by Metroids of all types, alpha through omega, and larval Metroids of various sizes. However her gamble appeared to pay off as they seemed to have no interest in her as of now. She opened all the hatches connecting the lab to sectors one and six, allowing the Metroids to enter the rest of the station, then followed along with some of them up through sector one.

As she made her way through SRX she started encountering unusual amounts of X, many of which were found in other sectors. When she entered one of the habitat's larger caves she saw an enormous mass of X, all swarming in from every hatch, vent, and crevice. She saw every kind of creature on the station there; including some of the larger more powerful X she thought shed killed already. Apparently those efforts were futile as the X could just clone a new one at anytime. And there right in the midst of them was the most powerful X, and incidentally the most dangerous enemy she ever faced; herself. It was as if the SA-X knew to come here, to this place, at this moment, drawn instinctively to confront their mortal enemy.

She thought about turning back, about taking a different route, but only for an instant. She was tired of running, it wasn't her way. She was tired of following orders to run away from it, that wasn't her way either. Besides she knew she would have to face it eventually. Now was as good a time as any, as she had restored the majority of her suits abilities and also had some newly recruited assistance. She glanced behind to see the Metroids she had freed flowing into the cavern from the hatch she just came through and start to swarm about her. The battle lines had been drawn apparently; Metroid against X-Parasite, with Samus leading the charge for both sides.

They wasted no time in assaulting each other. The two swarms collided and merged into a bloody mess. Samus and the SA-X charged straight at each other firing off their cannons as they ran. Samus fired off a Missile as did the SA-X, they both dodged by rolling to the side. When they stood up they ran parallel to each other, each shooting plasma bolts at the other. As they ran they approached the wall of the cave, Samus leaped at it then kicked off and sent herself in the other direction as the SA-X leaped to intercept her. In the air Samus delivered a spinning kick to the SA-X's chest but was kicked back by it at the same time. They grabbed onto each other's leg and ended up spiraling to the ground. They both got to their feet and Samus delivered a high kick at the SA-X's head, it dodged by ducking into a sweeping kick at Samus' feet which she jumped over. Before she landed she fired her cannon at it but it morphed into a ball and rolled behind her then morphed back. While still in the air Samus' foot was grabbed and she felt herself being swung over the SA-X's head and into the ground. But she planted her hands on the ground and then kicked her feet and used her momentum to throw the SA-X. As it flew away from her it fired its grapple beam at the ground then pulled itself right back at Samus with a flying kick. Samus narrowly dodged by sidestepping out of the way, but as the SA-X landed it swung its heavy cannon arm at Samus' head. She caught the attack and immediately returned it with her own cannon only to have it caught as well. They were reading each other's moves perfectly and neither gained any kind of advantage.

They grappled with each other and eventually fell to the ground rolling over one another with Samus winding up on top and the SA-X pinned beneath her. They both went to fire at each other's heads but their cannons were restrained by the others free hand. Samus knew her suit well, If the X had copied it exactly she could disarm it. Her fingers found the release around the top where the cannon connected to the arm, then she gave the cannon a quarter twist and with a click it came free. She pulled it off and tossed it across the floor. At the same time she felt her own cannon sliding off her arm, the SA-X had thought of the same thing. Well now what? They were perfectly matched. Same equipment, same skill and knowledge, this could only ever end in a stalemate. They were the same on every tangible level... except...

She knew how to win, how to defeat her clone. Apparently it had come to the same realization as well, because it no longer mirrored her actions when she went to remove its helmet. It defended the headgear with both arms while Samus tried to grasp at it. With her free arm she removed her own helmet and tossed it aside. Then attacked at the SA-X's helmet with both hands. With her armored left arm she restrained its left. Then with her bare right arm she grabbed the lip of the helmet. With its bare hand the SA-X grabbed her by the wrist and dug its finger nails in, drawing blood. She fought past the pain, ripped the helmet off, and threw it behind her.

It was a bit unnerving having her own face staring back at her and she hesitated a moment, staring at it. It looked exactly like her, only its skin was pale and clammy, and its eyes looked somehow empty. In that moment it was as if time slowed as she contemplated what she had to do. Her heart beat pounded in her ears as she was taken by something primal. She had always been considered a hunter of sorts, but that was just a job and as such she approached it cold and mechanically. This was very different; now in this moment she truly felt like a wild predator, a predator that had her prey pinned.

She lunged in and the SA-X turned its head to the side trying in vain to avoid her. Her mouth wound up on its neck. She had intended to bite however the sensation she got as her lips made contact told her she didn't need to. It tasted like electricity, like licking a battery. It tingled her entire mouth, down her throat, around the back of her head, behind her eyes, and eventually deep in her chest. It felt... nourishing; she could almost feel herself getting stronger and the life draining out of the SA-X. It struggled under her trying to free itself but to no avail. It was too late; it no longer had the strength left to put up an effective defense.

She had absorbed X before, but that was through her suit; that powered the suit, she was isolated from it. This was the first time she had done it directly. The experience was intoxicating; Samus lost herself in it, possessed by the beast with in. She could the feel her victim convulse violently then go limp. She didn't stop however; she was completely consumed by the act of feeding. The only thing that brought her to her senses was the taste of ash in her mouth. Shocked, she pulled back and spat it out in disgust. The powdery substance billowed into a plume of dust that floated through the air. Though she wasn't sure what disgusted her more, the taste of the ash itself, that she just killed what was essentially herself, or the method she used to do it and what she had become. She looked down at the SA-X, it was completely discolored and motionless. She touched it, yet it offered no resistance to her hand, the soft ash just crumbled at her touch, and its form dissolved away.

She stood and coughed up more dry ash. Looking around she saw the battle still raging around her; not five feet from her was a small Metroid that had just done the same thing she had to another X. She spat again then went and retrieved her helmet and cannon and reattached them to her suit. As she put her helmet on the suits computer alerted her of her new ice ability being incorporated into the cannons beam system. She turned once more to the battle field, raised her cannon and was about to start blasting away at the X in an effort to aid her newly acquired allies.

But then the realization hit her when she saw what was going on. She saw the giant spider creature, or a clone of the one she killed, swarmed by small and medium sized larval Metroids. The serpent like Serris was pinned against a wall by a gang of Alpha and Gamma Metroids. An Omega Metroid had Ridley's X clone in its claws and was sucking its life away with its lamprey like mouth. The biomechanical weapon Nightmare was being drained by a giant larva as big as the one she'd encountered on her second mission to Zebes. And all around many of the smaller X had already succumbed to the Metroids. This was no battle, it was a feast. And it would be quite rude of her to go and blow away someone else's meal. She lowered her weapon; she was no longer needed here. She made her way to the exit and opened the hatch then turned and looked back at the scene.

"Humph... Bon Appétit." she remarked before exiting.

End

Samus, Metroid, and X-parasites owned by Nintendo, not me. Don't sue, I have no money to begin with.

If you want to contact me do so here: G3Rain1 at Gmail com