Chapter 4

"Go ahead, do it. You know you want to," Adam coaxed.

Ridley was asleep. Samus had managed to slip the sidearm out of his holster, but so slowly as not to wake the sleeping dragon. She now held the blaster at arm's length, hand trembling. She had ended the existence of hundreds of thousands of creatures in her long life, and her hand had never before trembled.

"His hide is pretty thick, but you shoot him through the eye socket enough time, and it should reach his brain."

Ridley shifted in his sleep, wings ruffled, tail twitched, but he did not wake. Samus refocused her aim. How many times had she thought him dead? She had always been in a rush; never having the luxury of confirming a kill. Now she had all the time in the world to aim. And he had no way of fighting back.

"Pull the trigger, Lady. He has always been decent enough to give you a respectful death, but why should you return the favor? He killed your mother after all. He led the raid that killed your father. And you're sure of that. He's not even sure who did in his mommy."

Samus wanted to pull the trigger. She doubted it would kill Ridley, but it would hurt him. He should be hurt. All the things he had done, all the lives he had taken, all the children he had orphaned. He deserved to be hurt a lot.

She thought of turning the gun on herself. Quick and painless through the mouth. All the things she had done. All the lives she had taken. All the children she had orphaned. Maybe she deserved to be hurt.

The barrel tasted like sour oil as her tongue found the hole. Her finger found the trigger. The scar on her belly burned like a hot brand.

"Do it," he demanded.

Samus turned her aim to Adam and fired. The gun clicked noisily, but did not discharge. "Clips empty," she muttered, throwing the weapon across the room. It banged loudly against the wall and floor before finally coming to rest. "What kind of a pirate keep an empty gun in his holster?"

"Go to sleep, Lady. Maybe things will look better tommorow."

Morning came soon after. Of course, there was no morning in space, but Samus woke, and so she called this time morning.

The shower was vast enough for a space dragon, so it easily compensated Samus. The water shot out of the shower with such pressure she was knocked over. She looked around the empty confines of the room, sure that somehow, someone had witnessed her lack of grace, but there was not even Adam.

For a long time, she stood beneath the water, not bothering to clean herself, just feeling the heat on her skin. Upon accepting that she was alone, sure that there was no hidden camera in the wall or the mirror was a two way, trick one, she sat down and allowed herself to cry.

She stepped out, drying herself off with a towel, pausing thoughtfully when she reached the scar on her belly, the scar she had carried with her for nearly forty years. Her powersuit protected her, so despite her many dangerous campaigns, her body was flawless save the ugly broken skin just bellow her navel.

Ridley stormed into the room, shrieking and screaming, tail thrashing furiously behind him. Samus pulled her clothing on and left the bathroom. The dragon did not greet her, nor give her much attention. He was occupied with sifting through his nest.

When the door opened so a space pirate could enter, Ridley turned and quickly decapitated the minion with a snap of his agile beak.

"What the fuck?" Samus asked as the headless corpse crashed to the ground, blood gushing out and oozing along the floor. Another space pirate came through the door. Ridley's gullet glowed with heat, just before a blast shot forth from his open beak. The pirate barely had time to scream before he was reduced to ash.

"What the fuck?" she asked again.

Ridley scooped up the decapitated pirate's rifle and tossed it to Samus, who fumbled dumbly with it.

"There is a coup, the generals have decided I am unfit to lead this battalion, and so I am to be eliminated. They will most likely kill you just for the hell of it. I would advise we get going."

"Fuck you," she snarled, throwing the rifle at him.

Ridley took hold of his remote. The lightening surged through Samus's body, suddenly and painfully, reducing her to her knees. Tears filled her eyes but she clamped hard on her tongue to prevent her pleas for mercy from escaping her throat.

"Move," he hissed.

"No," she said again. "Go ahead, kill me. I don't care."

Ridley sighed as he hoisted her up, throwing her roughly over his shoulder and stalked out of the room. Every so often, pirates would block their path, but they were quickly incinerated by Ridley's fiery breath or a snap of his sharp beak.

The last time she fought with him, back when life was simple, he had breathed that flame. The sensors of her powersuit were immediately burned out and she cast about blindly. Even with the armor, the heat seared her skin. Blindly, she released a missile, and by grace of some higher power it found its way into his mouth.

The blast damaged his throat to the extent he could barely talk for months after. During his time on life support, floating through the cold reaches of space, his vocal cords healed to the point he could talk again. It was only after countless reconstructive surgeries that the ability to breathe flame was granted to him again.

The time without that asset had afforded him many opportunities to fine-tune the other aspects of combat. His tail lashed forward, into one pirate's chest. The talons of his foot imbedded into another's head. His wings swept the masses aside as if they were weightless.

Samus had always felt a healthy amount of fear for Ridley, but now she was terrified. She had always been shielded in her powersuit when they fought, but to see him tear through the army of pirates like a child does an ant hill, she was truly scared. A decade ago, he had been weak and broken. Now he was at the pinnacle of strength. And she was like the child on the field, helpless against him.

Samus lost count of how many pirates he mangled before they finally reached the airlock room. He breathed a steady stream of flame upon the door, welding it into a soft metal barricade. "Put on a suit," he ordered. She was going to protest, but he lifted his remote in a threatening manner.

The deep space suits were designed to stretch or retract to fit the dimensions of the varying sized pirates. It did not fit Samus as snuggly as her powersuit, but it would protect her. Ridley ordered her to take a heavy battle rifle off the wall before offering his back to her.

"You're kidding?" Samus asked.

The pounding on the door was growing steadily louder. Any moment it would give and the pirates would flood inside.

"I can fly, you can't. I don't like this anymore than you, space cadet."

"But, there has to be another way. I don't want to ride you."

Ridley took her around the waist and threw her over his shoulder. She managed to awkwardly scramble between his long wings and hold tightly to his neck. His beak glowed as he released a concentrated blast that blew a hole in the far wall. The strength of the newly formed vacuum tore the dragon out. Samus nearly fell off, but managed to hold tighter to his neck. She opened her eyes, and looked forward to the planet they approached.