Disclaimer: Samus Aran and everything else associated with Metroid III belongs to Nintendo.
A/N: For those who stumble on this recently - this was my very first Metroid fanfic, and it's thanks to the great response I got that I decided to make another one ("Hard of Heart"). So, to past, present, and future readers - thanks! I appreciate the feedback.
Also, for the really curious, to explain my view on Samus and Ridley's relationship in this: they're just old rivals, but not as serious as one would think, even though they engaged in a couple life-or-death battles. As I see Ridley, I don't even think he takes death very seriously. If he was human, then I wouldn't mind a couple out of these two ;) But since he isn't, and since I'm not into bizarre (disgusting?) pairings, it just isn't going to happen here. I'll go only as far as tension!
All that now aside, please enjoy :)
I entered the final chamber of the Ceres Space Station laboratory, after spending nearly two hours searching its predecessor compartments. The entire building on the colony, a manmade vessel about the size of a large asteroid, was completely vacant, devoid of even the merest scrap of human life. I could barely recall my younger years, when I heard of this place when it was first erected out of sheer nothingness, then cast into space to survive on its own. The whole thing was an experiment, and all those who lived aboard it were the guinea pigs.
Including these scientists. They were sent with the laypeople to keep an eye on things and to maintain the function of the society. The Galactic Federation asked for reports from them frequently.
It certainly was a bland existence, stuck on an artificial space colony with literally nothing to explore. Everything was made of machinery, of metal and bolts and screws and the wiring that held it all together. The creators of the project took out all the fun that normally accompanies the exploration of foreign soil---mainly, the discovery of new life forms.
But then again, it was man that had made this, with stipends from the Galactic Federation's Treasury Department. Man's imagination was indeed vast, but sometimes it fell short of all the gifts it was bestowed with.
In exploring all the sterile-smelling passages of the space station's lab, I found that I was able to remove my helmet thanks to the artificial atmosphere. Technology did have its advantages, I suppose.
Everything was so lifeless. Strange light sources illuminated the cavities of the lab with a bluish glow that put a great strain on my eyes. Yet even in the dimness of the light I could make out the bodies of the scientists as they lay scattered on the sleek metallic floors, pools of blood bubbling forth from fresh wounds.
I arrived here just in time. When they'd sent the distress signal, they must have already suffered the most of the attack.
And I had an idea as to who attacked them...
It seemed implausible, impossible, unfathomable. I had destroyed the Mother Brain. I had put a stop to its henchmen, Ridley and Kraid. I had even taken up where another troop of bounty hunters had failed, and infiltrated planet SR388 to exterminate the very heart of the Metroid threat.
But I'd saved the hatching. The baby Metroid that emerged from an egg the size of a small boulder, accompanied by a sticky spray transparent goop. I still remember those moments, as they had played themselves out just a few months ago...
With the Metroid Queen defeated, I was home free. I eradicated her nest and all surrounding life forms, then moved on for a secluded chamber behind her. It was there that I found a simply astounding sight.
The walls, the floor---even the ceiling---were covered with piles upon piles of Metroid eggs, their shells smooth and as of yet unbroken. What aided them in sticking, I soon discovered, was a sort of plasma-like substance that the mother would secrete before laying the egg. The substance turned into a form of natural cement, so to speak, bonding the freshly laid egg to its nesting place. This cavity on the planet SR388 was apparently a common nesting site for hundreds of Metroids.
Originally scientists thought that beta ray bombardment was the only way for them to reproduce. After several minutes, the chemicals in the beta ray would cause the Metroid cells to double, eventually resulting in the creature splitting in half to become two separate Metroids, then four, then eight, and so on. It was all we knew about them, however, as the ship that carried several Metroid specimens was ambushed by space pirates and taken to planet Zebes. The sample creatures had vanished.
I set about doing the only thing my mission called for: destroying the nest site. I aimed my laser at egg after egg, watching as the perfect shells would explode into puddles of slime and even so much as pieces of the developing embryo Metroids. It was a disgusting job, but hell, I was getting paid for it. The goo splattered my suit and drops pattered on the visor, but I could clean it all off when I got home. For now, this had to be done. It was my mission.
And then the last egg... I did the usual: I took aim...and then...the damn thing began to quiver. Then the quivering became violent trembling, and then the egg hatched. Out of the mess popped a fully formed Metroid baby, just like the adult form of its species, only smaller.
My orders dictated silently that I should shoot it, and be rid of Metroids forever. But I just couldn't. God, I'd seen so much bloodshed in my years as a bounty hunter, so much destruction, so much pain, fear, devastation...but this... It just touched me. It was so frail, so delicate... It was new, and life had yet to harden its nature until it was nothing more than a killer...like me, I guess. I couldn't kill it. And what made things worse, the creature had sensed my presence and began to cling to me affectionately, as if it thought me to be its mother.
I was, after all, the first thing it saw...so I guess I was its mother. I couldn't kill it; it trusted me from the moment it broke out of its shell. I had a responsibility now to preserve this Metroid's life, as opposed to the extermination called for by official orders. I chose to defy my superiors. I packed the larva in an airtight container and brought it to the lab, where scientists discovered the amazing energy-producing properties of the creature.
Enough reveries; I had a mission to do. It was bad enough I defied the Galactic Federation by keeping that creature; now I had to make sure that it didn't end up in enemy hands. It was my responsibility.
Could the space pirates truly be resurrected? And if so, who did it?
I entered the final chamber. The door closed behind me, and I was plunged into utter darkness. It was hot as all hell; sweat clung to the base of my neck under my ponytail and beaded up on my forehead. My instincts told me of the danger that the room contained, but brashly I chose to keep my helmet off.
A squealing sound broke through the buzzing silence. On the floor, not five feet from me, was the Metroid hatchling, still contained in the airtight jar. It was the only light I could make out at that point, its innards lighting up with mass amounts of energy.
"God... It's only you... C'mon."
I walked over casually to get it, knelt to the floor...and saw three large silhouetted claws wrap around the container. The pointed nails tapped on the glass with a deadly cadence. I looked up mechanically to find light flooding the chamber at long last.
It was none other than the space pirates' leader, Ridley, the bony dragon-like beast that had served the Mother Brain faithfully in years past...and whom I had slain long ago.
In his free claw was a torch of sorts, something rather primitive considering the technology he and his allies had in times past. Must have stopped by an archaic planet before coming here, I thought with a bitter scowl.
Ridley's arm swooped upward and planted the torch in a nook in the metal wall, then turned to face me. He smiled, a gesture as disgusting as it was awesome, revealing rows of lethally sharp fangs. His eyes like amber gleamed at me with an empty cast, then were gradually filled with the fires of remembrance upon recognizing my suit. "Samus Aran, I always fancied we'd meet again! Just not here," he added, scouring the lab room with a distasteful glance. He tapped his claws on the squealing Metroid's container once more.
"So who brought your sorry ass back to the land of the living?" I asked him contemptuously, brushing strands of wet hair out of my eyes, rising slowly to my feet.
Ridley looked at me innocently for a moment, before his reptilian features returned to their usual smirk. "I had some help," he replied absently, raising the Metroid up to his eyes to study the creature at close range. "A mighty healthy specimen here, don't you think?" He extended the jar down to my face demonstratively.
This cat-and-mouse game was old, and frankly I was used to playing it. I took his bait and reached for the hapless Metroid halfheartedly, knowing full well that with his catlike reflexes it would be well out of my grasp before I could curl my fingers around it. He did as was predicted, and I shot him a cynical smile.
"My, my, aren't we clever? Haven't you learned any new tricks since your last incarnation?"
Surprisingly, Ridley chuckled at my comment. "Haven't YOU?" he came back at me jovially. "I mean seriously...you haven't lost that stinging tongue!"
"Shove it," I answered him, topping it off with a well-rehearsed smile.
Ridley grinned back at me. "Less time for quips and more time for some fun, shall we? You want the Metroid hatchling, do you not?"
"You know my answer, Ridley."
"And you know mine, to the very same question." He paused there, silence taking place of conversation, a thoughtful look lighting up his golden eyes. "Let's make a game out of it," he said zestfully.
"Ha! And here I thought you were going to send a bunch of your goons to beat the shit out of me," I jested. I neglected to tell him that I wasn't looking forward to his game. I just wanted to get the Metroid back in my possession and get the hell out of here.
Ridley trained his eyes on me with a mock-compassion that was nearly believable. "Ah, but Miss Aran, I wouldn't be joshing if I were you. Don't you remember the past? Do you remember who always won the games we've played, hmm?" He cocked his head at me, awaiting my response.
My mirth melted away, leaving me stuck with softened eyes and a lowered head. I knew the truth long before he posed me with his latest query. I swallowed hard. "You have. You know that." Then I forced myself to stare back at him, to look like I was still eager for another challenge in spite of my lousy score.
"And do you remember your score from the past? Oh for...oh for what? What was it? Oh for three I think...for you." His voice tapered to a purr at the end, and he set the Metroid between the two of us, in the very middle. "So...are you still as slow as I remember? Still want to compete against these old reflexes? Your go," he spoke suddenly, his voice now a menacing growl. I could literally feel his sheer intensity, his hunger for victory. And he would have gotten it too, just like he had in the past, save that today I wasn't about to let him go with the prize.
I'm not an ordinary woman, I told him once. He had scoffed me.
I took a step forward, my eyes darting upward from the Metroid hatchling to the dragon creature looming above me. At least ten or fifteen feet tall he must have been, his body the skeletal remains of a dragon, gutless, with great wings and a tail of sharp vertebrae that had often caused heavy damage to my power suit in past clashes. Whatever powered him, kept him alive? Ridley often fascinated me as much as he disgusted me.
His tail twitched the nearer I grew. Feeling bold, I took another step. Again he did nothing, but watched me with a snide grin, the torchlight making his teeth gleam. At last I darted forward and placed a hand atop the Metroid's jar. Startled, the poor thing crooned its displeasure at being jerked around.
Ridley reacted with lightning speed, his heavy claw falling down as well and pinning my hand to the container. His blow packed a punch, even if it was just a slap, as I could feel my hand squeezed inside the suit armor. I was frustrated then, sweating still; on an angry whim my eyes shot upward and the words just fell out of my mouth. "Oh, fuck you."
"Your ship or mine?" he snarled, his tone a mixture of hatred and a beastly sort of lust. He pressed his dragon face closer to me, boring into my eyes. "Give up, little woman, you can't hold a candle to me." He yanked the Metroid closer to himself venomously.
"No, I don't hold candles; I'd rather much carry a torch." I leapt away from him for the torch he stuck in the wall, and upon pulling it down I flung it at him. He had his tail up already, waiting to smash me into a wall, but instead it caught the torch flames. Fire licked in between the gaps in the vertebrae, and I heard the clanging noise of the Metroid canister being dropped to the floor.
"Bitch!" Ridley hissed at me, now trying to tend to his flame wounds.
Fire had spread across the floor and into the wiring of the lab; seconds later an alarm began to flash, sporadically lighting up the chamber with an orange warning light.
In the fluctuating burst of color I frantically searched for the Metroid, for whichever corner it managed to roll into, encased in the jar. I prayed that the jar hadn't broken in the fall, for that would mean the freedom of the hatchling...and perhaps even its death.
Not in those flames; I couldn't bear it. I had my own attachment to the creature. It saw me as its mother, so I had great shoes to fill.
"You idiot woman, you triggered the alarm! The colony will commence its self-destruct sequence!" Ridley snapped at me, panic in his hissing voice. "If we don't get out of here we'll be nothing more than space dust!" Out of the corner of his amber eye he saw me scrambling for the Metroid; I assumed that his height must have been a rather underestimated advantage. He swooped down over my head and gathered the Metroid in his clutches, standing over me once more, an overbearing air of triumph surrounding him.
"Seek and thee shall find!" The dragon Ridley leapt over me and landed on the other side of a barrier of flames. "You want the Metroid and you'll have to follow me...that is, if you make it out alive." He flashed me that trademark toothy grin before announcing almost seductively, "Sayonara!"
"NO!" I leapt for him, subconsciously ignoring the flames, and he leapt away responsively, still smiling, his grin now more annoying than it was teasing.
"You keep coming for me, bitch. That's right... You'll end up COOKED before you get your hands on this thing!" He held up the Metroid proudly, the creature crying to be close to the sensation of a more familiar being.
It was perhaps the Metroid larva's cries that incensed me with rage. I ignored the blaze that threatened my suit and increased the flow of perspiration on my face and neck, focusing only on that son of a bitch and his stolen specimen. I charged up my laser beam and prepared to fire at that bastard Ridley, to have made that game we played before our last. "Game's over, Ridley! I'm THROUGH with your crap!"
"It's over? So be it, then! Checkmate, old friend!" Ridley retreated like the sneak that he was into the shadows ahead of me, to the airlock where his ship was docked. Pretty soon the Ceres colony would be no more, as it was set to destruct upon some rather ill-placed fires.
At first there was panic, but I soon gained control of myself. Stay cool, you've been in stickier situations than this, I told myself. Panicking won't make things go in your favor. I ran out of the flaming chamber and back to the computer area of the laboratory, where the Metroid hatchling had originally been located. Tapping into the colony's database, I discovered the amount of time remaining until this place was vaporized.
The clock read: 00:01:34.
Checkmate, old friend. I had less than two minutes to depart, and turn the tables on Ridley's latest verdict.