Disclaimer: Nintendo owns the rights to anything from the Metroid series.
1. The End
A room with an artifact. A thing of glass and metal, of design and function. A prison without escape. Dreadful creation of man! Thing of evil! But then, a falling sensation. A chip. A crack. A fissure. Shattering. Freedom! Free, at last, from that horrible, disgusting, confining, Hell!
---
John Baker, Galactic Federation marine, sits eating dinner. Cold, soggy french fries and a cheeseburger with a stale bun. Tasty. Looking at the view, the green, rolling hills of Lackinda V remind him of Earth. He realizes that his fifteen minute break only has five left. "Hey, John," Bill says, looking over at him.
"Yeah?"
"After our shift tonight, we should go check out the new art museum. They're having the ribbon cutting ceremony and everything, and we should be able to make it in time. You know how much you like art."
"Oh, yeah, I forgot that was tonight. I've been waiting for months to see that museum, but work's just been distracting."
"Well, let's head on back to our posts," Bill says, standing up.
John is excited. That museum is apparently going to have some of the best works in the galaxy. He follows his friend to the laboratory, and they stand guard. "Sitting in one spot can be so boring," he thinks. He wants something to happen to break the monotony. The museum is a good thing to look forward to. He'll just bear with it until then.
A noise comes from the lab. "What was that?" Bill asks.
"I'll go check it out," John says, now hoping for a little enjoyment. He wants find another tricopod running around inside. Excitement to pass the time. He leaves his weapon behind and steps in through the door, and sure enough, the little rascal is in there. Tricopods are like our squirrels, except they have three legs instead of four, no tail, and are purple. They're pretty hard to catch, though, despite only having three legs.
"C'mere, little guy. I won't hurt you." John inches toward the frightened alien critter. It suddenly leaps away and runs into another room. "Damn little thing. Just you wait, I'll get you," he mutters, following it. But in the next room, there's a disaster. "What the..."
The metroid's tank is laying on the floor, broken. Those stupid scientists must have forgotten the force field! And that stupid little animal must have knocked over the tank! John knows he must go get help to get the metroid into a new container. He can't do it alone, especially without his weapon. He checks around quickly, to see if he can spot it. "Screw it, we'll find it when I get back with a team." The metroid floats down in front of him as he turns around to leave. It screeches, and charges forward, latching itself onto his face. John emits a muffled scream. Knowing the procedure, he slowly struggles toward the emergency freezer, built just for such a crisis. His steps are slow, but he'll make it before he dies. Barely. Then his foot finds the running tricopod, smashing it. The fluids make him slip and fall. By now, he doesn't have enough energy to get up.
---
Bill hears a noise from inside the building. John went in to bring out the tricopod, he's probably running into the walls trying to catch that thing. But then, a screech. "A metroid...? Did it escape?" He starts running into the laboratory to help his friend.