Ghosts
Phantoon doesn't scare me.
It's with bitter, silent laughter that I realize that I've been afraid many times before. On K-2L, when my life was taken away, as was my family. On Zebes, when I crawled amongst the ghosts of my second life. And second family. On Aether, when I faced my doppelganger, when that ghost returned again and again. On SR388, when I faced the most lethal creatures in the galaxy. On Zebes again, when I looked death in the eye. And when one of those creatures saved me.
I've been afraid many times. Once, I let it get to me. Not so long ago, on this very station. But here, facing this creature, another ghost of Zebes…I'm no longer afraid.
I've read conflicting reports of what Phantoon actually is. A ghost from another dimension? The product of Mother Brain's own mind? If the latter, its presence here would make sense, given what M.B. was But if the former…well, why can't ghosts return? I've seen an entire world be torn between light and dark, death and life. Why can't all of Creation be the same?
So I face this ghost, and I'm not afraid. I've lost those close to me. To the chozo, I was the Hatchling, the Saviour of the Galaxy. To the Space Pirates, I'm the Hunter. To the Federation, I'm both saviour and outsider. Right here, right now, I'm none of these things. And as I prepare to fight, as I face this ghost, I explain why.
"Come on," I whisper. "We're all ghosts now."