Heh, third chapter? Really? Already? I guess I'm doing better than thought I would. On with the show.

Chapter Three: The Truth?

Samus' eyes fluttered open as her consciousness began to return. There were a few things she noticed at that moment. One: Her chest wasn't in pain anymore. Two: She definitely wasn't in the ship anymore. And three: She couldn't get her Power Suit online. But why? The only other time this had ever happened was after her ship crashed on Zebes.

She looked up, seeing a dark red ceiling. That old Samus something; this wasn't a federation ship. Where.... am I? A pirate's ship, then?The room was very dark, although there was a red tint to the darkness, and there was also a light shining down over Samus. Two figures seemed to stand out from the darkness

She also heard footsteps, coming from the smaller of the two figures. She tried to move her hands, but found that impossible. Looking to her hand, she saw they were constrained by some red material. It looked like a metal, but seemed more flexible. She also noted that her feet were bound as well, together, giving her the appearance of a Y

"So, you're finally awake?" Samus the smaller figure say. It was the same voice from before she fell unconscious. That pirate with all of that tech that was copied from hers! Judging by it's voice, it was probably a male of whatever species it was.

Samus made a low grunt as the creature garbed in black armor looked at her. It didn't speak, and neither did Samus. Another voice came out from the darkness. This one, Samus recognized. "Play nice, you two," The voice, which Samus knew was Ridley's, said. The dragon then stepped out from the shadows of the room. He was the same as ever. As tall as a house, with black scales. His eyes were glowing a fiery orange, his sharp, shark-like teeth bared. "We're all on the same side, here."

Several emotions were finding their way into Samus' mind. She was angry, she was confused, and she was, strangely enough, calm. The anger was at both of them, for capturing her. The confusion was aimed at Ridley, for him being alive. How? Hadn't he been killed on the BSL, when she fought that X Ridley? The calmness felt more natural. Maybe it was just from being in so many situations like this.

"Got it, Ridley," The creature said, giving the dragon a salute.

"Good," The dragon answered. He then looked down to Samus, and smiled. "I'm sure your wondering why I haven't killed you, by now," He stated

"Not really," Samus stated, again struggling to get her arms out of this bind.

"I wouldn't bother. They won't brake," The creature stated., "But I won't stop you."

"Why.... did you attack that ship? And what about that planet?" Samus asked, wanting to know. No, demanding to know.

Ridley let out a small chuckle, lowering his head a bit, leveling it with Samus. "Why wouldn't we? The planet, although, was a much more complex reason," Sarcasm was obvious in his voice, "As that Admiral told you, the planet is chalk-full of pirate tech. We.... just wanted it bac. But the ship? Well.... we wanted your attention. My cohort here could have killed the marine right then and there, but let him send a message to the federation. If they saw him in action, they would see how dangerous he is, and would send you. Simple really.... well, it goes deeper than that, actually. In truth, we made a bargain with the Federation-"

"What?" Samus exclaimed, interrupting Ridley. A bargain? There were several things wrong with that. "Impossible! The Federation would never make any kind of deal with you scum!"

"Hush, now, Samus," Ridley said, sardonically. He seemed to be enjoying this conversation, which just helped to fuel the rage that was overcoming Samus' usual cool demeanor. "You should know better than that, especially after the X incident."

Samus scowled, glaring at the dragon. What was he getting at?

"Come on, Samus. It's painfully obvious. The Federation wants to be rid of us, but they no longer want to use you to do so. As for why, I don't care, but they knew they couldn't do it. If they could beat you, they wouldn't have hired you in the first place! My spies had obtained this information, and I decided I would take it upon myself to 'rid' them of you.

"So, I sent a message to the Federation Council, that we would gladly get rid of you. At first, they were cynical, but soon agreed. And why not? Why not! You've killed our best men, destroyed all of our facilities, and even killed me. Multiple times! But, what the federation didn't know, was that we have planted some of our best spies on this planet, to intercept the message your ship is to send to Fleet Admiral Dane, stating that you are dead."

Samus' mouth was agape. Whether or not it was from disbelief, or shock, was hard to tell, but Ridley was sure it was disbelief, so, he decided to turn that disbelief into shock. "And that isn't even scratching the surface. We have the message right here" Ridley looked above Samus. She couldn't see what he was looking at, but from how he was speaking, he was guessing others were in the room. "Play the message!" He ordered, the pirates whom Samus could not see were quick to act.

"Adam, this is Castor Dane," The tape began. Samus could hear something in Dane's voice. A bit of regret, maybe? "I repeat: Adam, this is Castor Dane. Do you copy?"

"Yes," Came Adam's voice. His voice seemed even more somber than Dane's.

"Is the deed done?" Dane asked

"Affirmative. The pirate's have Defeated Samus... She is no more."

"Well," Dane hesitated a moment, before saying, "Head back to Daiban. There, we will discuss our next course of action against the pirate's."

"Don't you see, Sam," The creature in black said, "Your own allies turned against ya. The Feds want you dead."

Samus clenched her fists. Where did he go off calling her 'Sam'? Maybe it was just her, but she wasn't particularly fond of nicknames. Hell, she wasn't exactly happy when Gandrayda called her 'Sammy'. The only reason she dealt with it was because they were on the same side, but this guy was working for the pirates.

"Samus," Ridley began, sounding fairly calm, and maybe even serious "I may be one to hold a grudge, but I know that the Federation works just as us pirates do. They are a shady group, even by our standards, and what goes on within there headquarters only they know. You of all people should know that whatever they are up to isn't exactly law-abiding. They wanted to use the X as a weapon. They were conducting research on Metroids! You were tried for saving the universe," Ridley seemed annoyed by that prospect. Pirates actually had some dignity. If a pirate had to destroy research to save all of the pirates from being destroyed, he would never be tried! Of course, that didn't mean the research teams wouldn't pick that pirate as their next test subject.

The Federation wanted me to be killed. Adam and Dane were in on it. But why?

"And," Ridley went on, "we cannot forget how they want yo dead right now. In fact, as soon as they realize we haven't killed you, every bounty hunter in the Galaxy will be after you."

Samus was beginning to understand what Ridley was saying. What he was asking. "No... I would never, will never join you."

Ridley almost growled, but held it in with a deep frown. "You wish to doom yourself?"

"You.... you're a monster. I would never help you," Samus yelled, filled with that rage. Calm all gone, now.

"You, as well, bear a grudge. But you overlook so much. We do what we do to survive. We aren't any different from the Federation. They had been hurting our kinds since the beginning! Samus, don't you understand this. The truth. The pirate's only exist to overthrow the federation! We don't care just for wonton destruction," Ridley out bursted.

"Calm down," The black clad one said, crossing his arms. He then shook his head, looking over at Samus. "Look. I don't care if you join us. I do care, however, whether or not you wish to destroy the Federation-"

"No.... I couldn't. I can't." She stated. How could she ever fight the federation? They were the ones who had trained her. That was how she met so many friends. So many loves... She couldn't just fight them.

"Fine...." The creature sighed. "I really don't wanna do this, but I'll show you the only reason you'll need to fight the Federation." The creature put his head on his helmet, looking over at Ridley. The dragon nodded "The Federation and Ridley have a lot in common, actually. They both created their worst enemies." H then lifted his hand, taking his helmet off. Samus gasped at what she saw.

His head, if it could be called that, was like a large blob, standing up. A green blob,. It was green and translucent. But what really startled Samus was what she could see in his head. Three bulbous nuclei. "Im-Im-Impossible," She muttered. The creature had a moth, two fangs coming down from it. Samus could see the top of where his throat was, something like a skeleton there, but it seemed flimsy, almost rubbery, as it was moving around and bending.

"Samus, this is what the Federation is planning. This is what they've done," The creature said, holding his helmet in one hand. "This is why they are researching Metroids."The creature said.

"What are you?" Samus asked, almost afraid of the answer she knew she would get.

"I'm excitement number 2739M, dubbed 'The Metroid Man'. I am the Federation's first, and only, successive attempt at creating a creature more powerful that either of its predecessors."

"Then," Samus began," Tell me. Where did your weapons come from. A plasma scythe, and that.... Morph ball, I presume? The pirates?"

Ridley nodded for a second before saying, "Courtesy of us, as you said. Of course, this was our first success too. Our first success at copying this technology.," He told her, sounding proud as he did so.

Samus was now in both shock and disbelief.

Castor stood in front of the Olympus-Class Ship, The Olympus's, Aurora unit and sighed. "Tell the council it's over. Samus is dead," He stated, still a little skeptical. How could the pirate's have done it. That creature from the video? But, that was impossible. Samus could handle anything. She had defeated Ridley, The Mother Brain, hoards of space pirates, and even herself!

"Aurora Unit 242, contact AI Adam Malkovich. Tell him to come here before heading for Daiban. I have a mission for him."

Not a very action-packed chapter, I know. But, look on the bright side. A bit of collusion going on. Who's planning what? Well, maybe you'll find out later. Also, I think this chapter was kinda short. About 2,000 words....well, that's what happens when most of the Chapter is dialogue (I, personally, was hoping for a little more action, but oh well. I can't do it all)

And one final comment. Remember t review. I'm sure I made a mistake somewhere (I always do, somehow)