I should have listened to my instincts when I had the chance. Why was I so stupid? Everything about the situation screamed danger, and yet I just kept playing the game like nothing was happening. Thinking back I suppose it was the dark part of me that wanted to find out what was going on, the dark part of me that desperately wanted what was happening to be reality. But, I guess in order to understand all of this I will have to take you back to the beginning of the nightmare.
It was a cold, lightless night. The moon and the stars were covered with clouds, and the only light I could see out my window was a single streetlight. Everywhere else was nothing but shadow. A faint wind was blowing, and an almost invisible series of snowflakes were falling from the sky. I had eaten a late supper that night, and was having a very hard time sleeping. I tossed this way and that before finally sitting up in frustration. Nights like these were not uncommon for me, and I soon found myself browsing through my Gameboy and DS games trying to find the perfect one that would keep me awake long enough for my body to relax to the point where I could fall asleep more easily.
My eyes lingered over my Gameboy Advanced SP, and a moment later I picked it up. I had not played the GBA for a long time. Not years like most gamers, but several months at least. As I stared at it my mind went directly to an old favorite of mine. Smiling I rummaged through my games before pulling out Metroid Fusion. I could play this game all the way through in under three hours easy, however I always had a hard time finding all of the items, even with the aid of a map. That night I just wanted to play for fun, so I left my map untouched and propped myself up in my bed to begin.
This had been the first Metroid game I had ever played, and I always enjoyed returning to it when I got tired of other games. I looked at my previous save file and smiled. I had almost beat it 100%, but I was missing one energy tank, and most likely a few missile and power bomb tanks as well. Moving down I chose to start a new game. I wanted to play for fun, not run around avoiding the Navigation Rooms while trying to find missing items. I spammed the A button during the opening scenes. The only thing that I never really liked about Fusion was the seemingly endless opening. When I gained control of Samus I made up my mind that I was going to speed run it.
I played through the main dock, and spammed A whenever I was getting objectives from the computer. The first boss went down easily. I only got hit once, and when I obtained my ball morph ability I continued on my way. Heading down to Sector 1 I prepared for the SA-X to make its introduction. I clearly recalled being terrified by it the first few times I played, but after I learned its patterns it became more like a game of hide and seek. I began Sector 1 like normal, but I stopped for my first save of the game. Something about the sound the save pad made seemed strange to me. The usually clear noise sounded distorted, almost painful. I waited, thinking the game had crashed, but when nothing happened, I continued.
Nothing else out of the ordinary happened in Sector 1. I saved before the second boss, and the normal sound played. After moving on to Sector 2, I was no longer tense about the strange noise I had heard before. To test my theory that it was just a sound glitch I saved before starting Sector 2, and as my last save the normal sound greeted me. After releasing the level 1 hatches I traveled to the Data Room to get my bombs. I did not even wait for the sounds of the SA-X to pass before I launched a missile at the flying enemy, and continued on my way. I had just morphed into a ball to lay a bomb so I could continue, when the game froze.
Cursing myself for not saving like I regularly do I shut the game off, and restarted. I did everything in Sector 2 over again, and was right were I left off when the game froze again. Shaking my head I was about to shut the game off, when I noticed something I had not the first time. The ball Samus was still in motion, but I could not control her or lay a bomb. I waited, and soon the music came back. My skin grew cold as the music made its way to my ears. It sounded the same at first, but it slowly became more and more distorted to the point where all I could hear was a mixture between static and a high-pitched ringing.
Before I could even move towards the volume control a glass shattering screech erupted from the speakers. It was only on for a moment, but the suddenness and loudness made me jump. I never realized the speakers could put out something that loud. When I looked back at the screen it had faded to white. There was no noise, and each button I pushed did nothing. I should have ended it there, but I continued to stare at the screen, unable to move, and barely able to breath. Soon the title screen faded in. Taking a breath I hit the A button. I did not get the option to choose a save file, and was thrown right into the game.
Unlike the first time I started Samus sitting in her ship greeted me instead of the long opening scenes. Everything seemed normal, the dialogue was there, as was the music, but as soon as I excited the ship I knew something had gone terribly, terribly wrong. Littering the dock were hundreds of bodies. From what I could see they were mostly all scientists as they were dressed in the long white coats just like the host that tried to blow up the boiler, but some where wearing black clothes.
After seeing the bodies I wanted to stop, to just go to bed and forget about the game, but as I said earlier something inside of me was forcing me to continue. After leaving the shipping dock I noticed that Samus had all of her abilities and items. I had never played with max stats before, but I was a little unsure about what I was supposed to do. Opening the menu I clicked A to bring up my objective, but the only thing that would appear was the word "run". My heart beat faster as I explored the main dock. There was nothing chasing me that I could see, but all of the doors to the Navigation Rooms were closed, and I could not return to my ship because it had vanished.
Lying a power bomb I went down to the Reactor Core. It was silent, but the vines that covered it part way through the story were not there. In this room much like the shipping dock were countless bodies littering the floor. I did not encounter the first boss above me, and I did not encounter the spider boss here. The reactor being down told me why I could not get any of the rooms to work for me, but the hatches worked. Shaking my head I continued through the secret passage to Sector 2.
The feeling of foreboding grew as I entered Sector 2. There were no vines to be seen, and as I closed in on the area where the SA-X was pacing the music changed. It became that eerie noise I had heard earlier. I could hear the SA-X walking, and I prepared to run once I dropped down. The music that normally plays when being chanced by the SA-X began, but got cut short by another sharp screech. Before I could fire an ice missile the picture of the SA-X from the main dock showed up. I let out a cry as I looked at it. The suit was the same, but the face inside the helmet had changed. It actually looked like a human face, and its eyes were nothing but black holes.
When I regained control of Samus I froze the SA-X and ran for my life. It was easier going since there was no vegetation to slow my progress. When I got to the end of the area I waited for SA-X to go away. As soon as it left I returned so I could continue, but waiting for me on the other side was the SA-X. Once more I was greeted by the screeching noise and the image of the SA-X. I froze it instantly, and began charging my defusion missile. Thankfully it charged before the SA-X thawed out. I ran down and away, but to my horror the SA-X morphed into a ball and followed me. I knew I had to run if I wanted to get way from it, so that is exactly what I did.
As I ran I was constantly dodging monsters. I wanted desperately to pause the game so I could grab my map to see where I could go to get to a different sector, but my menu screen would not come up at all. Everywhere I ran the SA-X continued to follow me. I stopped just once trying desperately to get my menu to come up, and was assaulted by ice beams from my pursuer. Thankfully I went into Sector 2 with all of my energy tanks full, so I was able to take the hit without endangering myself too much.
I was now towards the upper part of the map, moving over I did a screw attack to the walls remembering that in this sector the walkways were both towards the top. I let out a yell of joy as the walls broke away. I ran without stopping into the next sector. I was able to achieve the speed run, something that I had not done yet, and to my growing excitement the SA-X remained in Sector 2. Looking at the numbers on my way past I was heading to my favorite sector, Sector 4. I emerged from the walkway, but stopped short. Instead of arriving in Sector 4 I was in Sector 5. That did not make sense to me, I walked back into the walkway, and the number still read 4.
I was able to get my menu open to pause the game. I bound for my bookshelf that held my map of the game, and sat back down on the bed. Looking the map over based on the direction I was going I should in fact be in Sector 4, but the music and frozen atmosphere was that of Sector 5. Returning to the game I noticed that the map layout had changed. For some reason it was showing that I had already been through this area, but it was a very simple design, much like Sector 2's design before you started going through the secret areas. I tapped the A button, and was greeted with a new message that simply read "Escape".
Taking a breath I returned to the game. I made it a point to lay a power bomb in each room, but there was nothing for me to do. There were no special blocks anywhere, not even for the screw attack. When I reached the end of the map I was presented with a walkway. The number 4 was telling me where I had come from, but there was nothing in the block telling me where I was going. I continued. When I came out of the walkway I was in an area like Sector 3 with the ultra heated rooms and the same music.
Things continued like this for a while. The maps remained in the same layout. The only thing that changed was the atmosphere and the music. The numbers on the walkway vanished all together, but I knew the game well enough to know where I was. From the Sector 3 map I went into one that mirrored Sector 4. When I got to the walkway that would take me further I was greeted with a surprise. The area that told me where I had come from was blank, but the one that told me where I was going was different. Instead of a glowing white color it was red with a circular image in the center. Upon further inspection I saw that it was a skull and cross bones image.
Eyes hardening I prepared for the worst as I ran on. I was now in Sector 6. The map was the same as it had been in the original game. There were no enemies here, and the area was a little darker then I had remembered it. That is when I realized that the small beam of light that surrounded Samus in the original game was not there. I pressed A, but nothing happened. Referring to my map I investigated almost all of the areas I could get to. I did not want to drop down to where the SA-X had been, and thanks to my power bombs and screw attack I did not need to. Before I had a chance to think I dropped down to where you fought the security robot for the second time. My eyes grew wide as I slowly realized that I was stuck.
There was nowhere else for me to go except towards the restricted area and the area where the SA-X was. Since I had the power bomb I might be able to get ahead of the SA-X, but if it started chasing me again I would need to back track to the other areas. Not wanting to deal with that again I ran to the restricted area. Oddly the hatch was open, and I continued without incident. The voice that usually told you that there was no entry without authorization was not there. As I ran across the walkway my screen suddenly shook.
Thinking something was happening I left Sector 6 behind, or thought I had. When I stepped into a darkened area I opened my menu to check my map. I was now in a long hallway that was divided into seven sections. Pressing A I was greeted with a single word reading "Truth". I exited my menu and ran. I had only run a few paces when the screen froze. The light circle surrounded Samus, and around here were a number of bodies. There were a few red pixels here and there, and as I looked at the bodies I saw that in place of their eyes were black holes much like the SA-X's.
When I was able to move again I continued. I entered the next room, and was greeted with a new horror. There were bodies in this room as well. The floor and walls were nothing but ice, and I had the strange thought that the bodies were frozen in place. My body trembled as I moved on. The next room was not as bad. In this room was a large tank of water with two bodies lying at the bottom. In the fourth room were several bodies lying on the ground on fire, and in the fifth a few bodies were being devoured by some kind of vegetation. I could only imagine what horrors would be presented for Sector 1.
As I walked into the second to last room I could feel my stomach turn. There was only one body in this room, but it was the worst one I had seen yet. From what I could see the person's legs and arms had been pulled from their sockets, and were hanging gruesomely up and off to the side of the body. There was a kind of tube coming out of the body, and as I followed it with my eyes I saw that it disappeared off the screen. Shivering I slowly walked by the body. I thought for sure something was going to happen, but everything around me remained still.
It was at this point that I realized something. Samus was no longer running; she was in fact actually walking. I was unable to recall when this change had happened at first, and then I remembered the room that was meant to be Sector 6. That is when she stopped running, but why? I walked into the last room. The instant I stepped foot in it the noise that indicates an incoming message on the computer sounded. I could move, so I opened the menu. The sound continued, and I pressed A. Almost screaming at the message box read DIE!
The menu closed itself, and I was thrown into battle with the SA-X. I was shaking so bad I could barely keep hold of my game. I jumped and fired at the SA-X, and was slightly relived to see that it was taking damage. As I was unable to leave the room I was forced to fight. A few minutes after the battle started the image of the SA-X appeared on the screen. It still had the same human face and the black eyes, and the screeching sound still accompanied it. After the image left I continued my attacks against it. The battle lasted much longer then the normal one, but I eventually managed to drive it down to the ground. It remained there, but instead of transforming into its monster form it got back on its feet. More of a scream then a screech sounded this time, and the image of the SA=X appeared again. My mouth dropped open with terror. The black eyes had been replaced with red ones.
A message box appeared over the SA-X's head reading RUN! That is just what I did. I had been standing next to the door, and it opened as soon as the message box closed. I turned and ran with everything I had. The long hallway that had images of the different sectors was still there, but now there were more bodies and red pixels in every one of the rooms. The SA-X was running faster then normal, but I just continued running. I was not able to use my speed run, so I had to keep on running and hope that it would not catch up to me. Once I emerged back into the normal Sector 6 I let out a scream of my own as I saw the SA-X continue to follow me.
I had to return to my ship, something instinctual told me that. As I ran back to the walkway that would take me to Sector 4 I noticed that there were now bodies everywhere. Many of them were dressed like scientists. I ran back through all of the different areas with the SA-X never far behind. Unlike the last encounter I had with it, it now followed me into different sectors. Each time I went into a different sector I was presented with the picture of the red eyed SA-X. I had just emerged into Sector 2 when my game froze. I was panicking as I opened the menu.
Hitting A the message box appeared. It was nothing but a scramble of letters and numbers I went out, but was still unable to do anything. Thinking my ordeal was over I tried the objective box again. This time instead of the random letters and numbers it stated "It's not enough". Now I was able to move. The SA-X was right behind me as I climbed back up to where the Reactor Core was. I tried to freeze it in hopes of giving me a little more time, but it would not freeze, it just kept coming. I made my way up to the main deck and back towards my ship.
The bodies here now looked to be rotting. I ran to my ship, only to find that it was gone. I lost all control of Samus once the SA-X appeared on the screen. She turned toward it and slowly backed way. It walked forward and advanced on her until there was nowhere left for her to go. It was only a few inches away from her when it stopped. A low scream sounded from the speakers, and the image of the SA-X appeared again.
It was the same as it had been earlier with those crimson eyes, but now I could see that it was very slowly beginning to smile. I pushed every button, but that smile continued to grow. When the image faded out it readied its missile, and fired it right at Samus. The image of Samus' death played, but instead of the game over screen her body fell to the ground. The SA-X looked at the screen, it looked right at me, and from the image that popped up I saw it smile.
The screen faded out slowly. All that remained were those red eyes. Words formed on the screen reading game over. I was not presented with a continue or quit option. After a minute of staring at the red eyes of the SA-X the screen faded to black. Seconds later the normal menu screen appeared. I pressed A. On the screen were two save files, one was my previous file, and the other was the one I had started that night telling me I was still in Sector 2. However, on the third line was the helmet of the SA-X.