THE WRATH OF RIDLEY - PART 2

We've been following the story of Samus Aran and her first days of being a Magical Fighter. Samus has been struggling while she tries to balance Shade fighting and schoolwork, despite the aid of Pikachu, a creature from Superspace whose job is to help her. Meanwhile, strange energy has been gathering across the City. Samus and Pikachu set out to investigate!

Samus soared from rooftop to rooftop, the shining light of her power lifting her along. Pikachu huddled on her shoulder, little mouselike nose acting like a radar. He could sense the strange energy a lot more clearly than Samus could, and his face swivelled toward it, telling Samus the exact location she needed to get to.

Soon enough, though, she didn't need his help. She could sense the energy better and could actually see where it was centralized: over the rooftop of a nearby office building, darkness was swirling like a storm cloud. Samus looked down below at the people who were walking by, but nobody appeared to have noticed it.

"Looking familiar yet?" Samus asked as she drew nearer. She started to sense a more familiar warning, that regular Shades were near.

"Maybe. Samus, be careful. It might be too dangerous."

"I think we can handle it," Samus assured him, though was herself beginning to wonder. As she glided closer, she could see a scattering of different Shades lurking on the roof where the vortex was strongest. She'd seen their types before, but they weren't pushovers, and there were more of them around then Samus had ever faced at once. The Shades were normally solitary hunters, and seeing so many in one place was strange.

"I think the strange energy is drawing them there," Pikachu commented as a swirl of Shadow Bugs approached the area and began to coalesce into yet another Shade. Some of the ones nearest to Samus appeared to sense her already and were looking around or sniffing at the air.

"Well, we'll just have to find out what it is." Samus lifted her arm cannon, took careful aim, and then loosed a volley of energy shots into the nearest Shade. It careened off the building, hopefully to die when it hit the ground, but the others around it immediately zoned in on Samus' location and bounded toward her.

She took careful inventory as they approached. Six Shades, two healers, two of the floating cloud-like Shades, one that looked like a ghost with long, trailing arms, and another with a squid-like body bearing long blades in its tentacles. The squid Shade was the first to come within optimal range of her arm cannon and she sunk as many shots as she could into the centre of its body, causing Shadow Bugs to spray out. The Shade surprised her by throwing its blades at her like javelins, but she was light on her feet and leapt high enough to avoid them.

As the Shades started to converge, Samus worked to keep the high ground and avoid being boxed in. Quick sweeps of shots kept the Shades off her back, and she concentrated fire on one Shade whenever she could. The squid was the first to dissolve, followed by the clouds, but the ghost and the healers proved resistant to her fire. By the time she'd dispatched them, she was breathing hard and sweating.

"We should retreat!" Pikachu insisted.

"No. I'm going to see what that vortex is all about," Samus said, letting out a huff of air and steeling herself. The way was clear, though a few swirls of Shadow Bugs indicated where new Shades would soon form. She soared through them quickly and landed on the edge of the office building, drifting gracefully down until her boots made contact with the roof.

Just below where the dark clouds were swirling, a strange archway had appeared in the centre of the roof. Purple energies writhed around it, exuding the kind of poisonous sensation that had alerted Samus to its location.

"What…? What is?" Pikachu asked, only to be interrupted by a sudden movement from the archway, which sucked all light from their surroundings for a brief second. Samus staggered back, putting her heel down inches from the edge.

There was someone - something - standing in the center of the roof. A hunched figure, at first appearing like a person wearing a very large cape, but in a moment it became clear that the cape was actually an enormous pair of wings. Snakelike, the being slowly unfolded itself and turned to look directly at her.

"What are you," she said, levelling her arm canon at their head. A smile spread, revealing rows of sharp teeth.

"Only two of you? I'm not sure if I should be happy or insulted. Probably the latter."

"Could it be…?" Pikachu asked softly. "How can your kind come here? This should be impossible."

"…Pikachu?" Samus asked softly. The man with the dragon wings blinked.

"Hardly. And a good thing, too, look at what you superspace ignoramuses have done to the place. Positively filled with wasted emotion."

"Samus, this… he's a being of subspace, just like I'm a being of superspace. But I don't understand." he placed a paw protectively over her head, as if he could shield her that way. "His kind haven't been able to come into this world for many years. Our barriers were too strong."

"Well, I'm afraid I have work to do, little Fighters," said the being dismissively, turning and raising a clawed hand. Shadow Bugs swirled around it. "Back off."

"No," said Samus, taking an uneasy step toward him. "You're not allowed to be here. Go back to subspace."

"Hmmph," growled the subspace being, locking eyes with her. "What are you, a first-level Fighter just getting her wings? And you, a little child come from superspace to help? I invite you to try and stop me. Honestly, go ahead. I welcome the challenge."

"Samus, I don't recommend it," Pikachu whispered.

She released the energy from her cannon. The being ducked beneath the blast with ease, hardly seeming to break stride, and rounded on her, Shadow Bugs morphing into a kind of dark energy. It slashed out like a claw and Samus leapt over it, feeling it leave a trail of muggy air in its wake.

The being stepped closer toward her and Samus released a wide volley of shots, striding to the side. He avoided all shots except for one, which just grazed his side. It didn't seem to bother him much, though he slowed, readying his power for another attack.

"Options," Samus hissed to Pikachu.

"Disrupt the Shadow Bugs," the little creature suggested. "I can try and add a little extra superspace energy to your shots, but I don't know if it will work."

"Let's give it a go," Samus said, slightly readjusting her aim. Pikachu extended his paw above her cannon, as if he had one as well.

The being moved, his hand opening slightly as the Shadow Bugs reformed into another attack. Samus released a quick series of shots, opening a hole in the energy. Some Bugs dissolved, but the rest snapped into long, sharp tendrils that darted straight for her. Samus dodged backward, allowing her power to lift her beyond the edge of the roof as she nailed each tendril with a blast. Pikachu still hadn't moved, tiny paw splayed out above Samus' hand. The final tendril dissolved.

"Now, aim at him!" Pikachu cried. Samus lifted herself back onto the roof and released a shot directly at the being's head; Pikachu let out a burst of energy along his arm that crackled around her own projectile and combined them into a brilliant ball of light. This time, when the shot made contact, the being let out a harsh noise and stumbled backwards.

"I said, leave this place," Samus said, taking another step.

"Well, there's something to be said for subtlety," the being muttered.

"What-?" There was another flash of darkness. By the time it cleared, both the being and his mysterious arch were gone.

"We did it, we drove him off!" Pikachu chirped, leaping off of her to land on the rooftop where the being had stood moments before. It looked like the Shades had disappeared as well, though a faint aura remained behind them, radiating the kind of subtle danger that Samus had always associated with thorns or needles.

"He didn't sound too driven off," Samus muttered, surveying what she could see of the city from the rooftop. "What if he comes back?"

"Well… no offense, Samus… but I don't think we're really equipped to deal with him," Pikachu admitted. "I need to relay this information back to Superspace, about this strange portal he's invented. But… to do that…" his ears flattened on his head. "I'd have to leave for a bit."

Samus tried not to show how much that worried her. "Yeah, well, you have to do what you have to do. I can take care of things on my own for a bit."

"…I really don't want to leave," Pikachu said after a moment. "I wish I didn't have to. But I know you can handle the Shades around here while I'm gone. Just promise me that you won't go after him if he comes back, okay? I promise that I will be back soon."

"You're leaving now?" Samus asked.

"I… I had better," said the little creature. "I'll return with more like me, or Magical Fighters who have faced his like before, so don't worry. And I won't be long!"

"All right then." Samus knelt down to look at him directly. "You're right, Pikachu. I'll be fine. Don't worry about me, okay?"

"I'll worry about you the whole time, Samus!" Pikachu cried, bursting into tears, and jumped into her arms for a hug. Samus laughed.

"All right, all right, enough of the touchy feely nonsense. Get going and open your weird sparkle portal."

"'Kay. Good luck. Do your homework!" Pikachu cried, leaping from her arms and into the sky. A tunnel crackling with cyan energy appeared in the sky above him, just large enough to admit one small rodent. For a second it looked like a pair of white wings glistened on his back - though it was just a trick of the light - and a second later with a sssssnap! he was gone.

Samus let out a heavy breath and turned back to the rooftop's edge. "Come back soon," she muttered as she looked out across the city.

Two days later, she hit the dirt, rolling and staggering back to her feet just in time to avoid the heavy footfall of a particularly agitated Shade. It tracked her with faded red eyes and let out a chatter, moving again to intercept her. Panting for breath, Samus took a huge leap and glided out of its range, coming to rest a good ten metres away.

She'd already fought four Shades today and it didn't look like the spawn rate was about to let up. Gritting her teeth in an effort to ignore the exhaustion, Samus brought her arm cannon around and released several shots at the Shade's ankle level. It stumbled and she was able to take it out with a few more shots to the neck and head. Shadow Bugs turned to glitter and the golden sliver of a Trophy fell to the earth.

Samus took a moment to rest her hands on her knees, still fighting for breath. She'd really like the opportunity to land a solid punch across the jaw of the winged being; she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that this was his fault. There'd never been anything like this in the city before he'd arrived.

She made her way over to where the Trophy was lying and placed it inside her pendant. By this point, it was getting pretty heavy. Maybe she'd soon get to upgrade.

No sooner had she done this then the thorny feeling again appeared - this time it was distant, probably on the opposite side of the city. She groaned, letting her pendant fall back around her neck. No rest for the weary.

She looked up from the small park she had been fighting in and leapt as far as she could to reach a rooftop. The Shade appearances didn't even have a pattern like they usually did. Shades flocked to places where negative emotions were highest, and - from what Samus understood - positive emotions the most vulnerable. However, ever since Pikachu had left her, the Shades were appearing in random places. The most inconvenient places possible. It was almost as if they were appearing specifically to make her life more difficult.

As she hit the apex of her leap, she was startled by the buzzing of a phone in her pocket. As soon as her feet made contact with the roof, she pulled it out. Her mother was calling.

She heaved a sigh. Holding the phone with her non-cannoned arm, she took another leap and answered, "Hello?"

"Samus? Where are you?" After a moment, "Why is it so windy?"

"It's pretty windy downtown right now," Samus said. Should she be ashamed that the lies came so easily now? "I'm hanging out with Anthony. What's up?"

"Samus, I don't understand. I've hardly seen you these last two days, your teacher said you hadn't been in for the extra help you agreed to. And your father wanted to take you out to dinner tonight. What should I tell him?"

"I'll be back in time for that," Samus said, hitting the roof and jumping for another. "Don't worry. Four o'clock, at the latest."

"All… right. I'll let him know." For a second there was a pause as if she wanted to say more, but then, "See you later. I love you."

"Bye, mom," she said, hanging up with a shake of her head. As if the woman didn't trust her on her own by now.

When she finally arrived, she was able to locate the Shades instantly. Two low-level goons, lurking on the other side of a fence of… a preschool?

"Get away from there!" she growled, loosing a series of shots as soon as she was in range. The Shades turned toward her slowly and she touched down several feet away, then took another leap to draw them on. So they were eating the emotions of children now?

"Come on, now. Do you have to ruin everything I try?"

At the voice, she jumped around and skidded to a stop. The winged being was sitting on the edge of the preschool's roof, bright eyes narrowed at her.

"Why did you bring Shades here?" Samus demanded. Said Shades continued their mindless shamble towards her, so she sunk a series of shots into the neck of the first.

The winged being grunted and made a hand motion. The Shades turned away from Samus and made their way back to him. "I have been trying to perform experiments all throughout this plane, yet every single Shade I send seems to meet a mysterious fate. I see this was your doing."

"Destroying Shades is my job. You set them loose here, you better expect I'll take care of them." She levelled her cannon at his head. "Now, get out of here. Would you like a repeat of last time?"

"You hardly left a scratch on me," he said, his voice for a second turning hoarse and leathery. "I left because it saved me some time. It will save me more time if you simply agree to stop interfering here."

"Thanks, but no thanks." She finished off the first Shade and its Trophy clattered to the pavement. "Get out of my city."

"Do you know who you're dealing with?" The being demanded, spreading his wings and leaping down to stand before her. "I am Ridley, subspace dragon and herald of a new age. You're antagonizing forces you can hardly imagine."

Her heart was pounding, but she kept her cannon rock-steady. "I said to get out."

Ridley hissed and opened his claws, releasing a wave of Shadow Bugs. Samus tried to shoot it apart as she had before, but this time the attack was too swift. It was like being hit with a hammer across her whole body. The force carried her down the street and half into a nearby field. The air exploded out of her lungs and for a moment she could only struggle on the ground, unable to move or breathe.

When she managed to recover and staggered back to her feet, both Ridley and his Shades were gone. She coughed and leaned over, head spinning. Okay, that was her fault. She had been too slow.

She straightened, slowly, opening her senses to listen for another Shade. She half-expected another one to pop up on the opposite side of the City again, just to make her life more difficult. There was nothing.

She checked her phone and saw that it was getting late; if she wanted to be back in time to meet her father for dinner, she'd have to head home soon. She hesitated there on the edge of the field, debating if it was too good to be true that Ridley had simply fled and stopped attacking her.

No response, no movement, only the dull city sounds reflected back at her. She glanced at her phone. She needed to get going anyway.