Chapter 11: The "Shadow"
Madeline followed Slippy back to the dark maintenance hall to fix up some things from before. Madeline didn't feel like talking with him but surely it was the opposite for Slippy. He kept asking things like, "Seriously no one tells me what a Metroid is, can you tell me?" "Have you ever seen Falco's girlfriend? Well actually she follows him around, but still have you?" and "Does everyone from the Federation sneak up on people?" She blocked him out of her mind until he asked something she knew too well.
"Why does that Adam guy stare at you weirdly? Did you take something of his or something?"
"I didn't take anything"
"Then why?"
Madeline thought for a while on how to explain something like this to a stranger. Should he know about the Bottle Ship? Samus might've already told so why not?
"I was a research director on a research station, illegal research station. I guess I heard that after many monsters were set lose he had come aboard with his platoon and Samus searching for survivors"
"So that's how you know that woman! Wait, what happened?"
"Fine, what was being researched was how to control Zebesians and Metroids as bio-weapons. Something happened and the Zebesians were set loose killing everyone else on board. I only managed to survive because I hid in a room setting a Metroid Queen loose if anything came too close to me. And I know you're about to ask, so let me tell. A Metroid is a being that lives off of any creature's life energy and drains it. I know I shouldn't have been part of a program that brought Metroids back, but when I was offered to come all I thought was how I could've been promoted if the experiments went well. Maybe it is my fault this is happening"
"Hey if it helps the reason everyone likes to yell at me is because I mess-up way more often"
Madeline was about to comment when she heard a screech coming from the room they were by. Slippy recognized the scream and was getting more and more nervous each second standing still.
"You were asking what a Metroid was because you have seen it too"
Slippy nodded as he slowly backed away from the door. Madeline looked at him then back to the door figuring what to do.
"We're not going to get anything done if it's there. I'll go in and trap it while you stay out here and make sure it doesn't escape"
Before a word against it was said Madeline rushed in the room making sure the door was locked tight. For some reason it felt like the room was colder than in the other areas she'd been in. Why was that? Metroids didn't like the cold, so what was one doing here? It could be a mistake on where it was since after all it was a guess.
She was about to leave but the feeling that there was something else there kept her in place. Where could that Metroid be? Being stationary wouldn't help her find it meaning Madeline had to move around the room to find it. Move to where was the real question in her mind because the metroid could be anywhere or somewhere else. She walked around the whole room and saw how much damage was done there that must've been the metroid.
She stopped to inspect one the pipes letting her guard down. She had no clue that the metroid hovered right above her ready to attack. Madeline saw the shadow slightly and turned in time to see it launch right toward her ready to latch to her head. In very short seconds the metroid was going to take all her life energy and it'll be all over. That's what Madeline expected, but that's not what happened.
She covered her face with her arms as a reflex but was surprised when something slammed against her arms then the sound of ice shattering was heard. The few seconds in between where nothing else happened told that the threat was gone. Madeline lowered her arms to see what in the world had occurred and was confused. There the metroid was on the ground, shattered and frozen. But, how?
"Always be ready for somethin', common knowledge"
Madeline looked around trying to find the voice's source.
"What? Right here"
She looked behind her seeing a dark figure hiding in the shadow of all the piping. The person was well hidden enough to keep Madeline from seeing what they looked like.
"Next time might not be lucky. Keep in mind self-defense is important with those things. Quite nasty-"
"Who are you exactly,? I don't think there's another member in this team" Madeline looked at the person suspiciously.
"Hey not yet, when ya find my friend on Sauria I'll give an intro 'kay? Let me say one thing, learn to get along with Star Fox and you'll find them useful in this situation. They'll have most of the answers"
"Hey! Are you okay?
Madeline turned at the door seeing Slippy there doing the opposite of what she wanted him to do. She went back to looking at the other person yet she disappeared off.
"Ma'am?"
"Took care of it, just don't use these ice cubes for any lemonade" she pointed at what was left of the metroid.
"Okay. Let's start fixing this disaster already"
"Yeah" Madeline muttered.
She could've told him, but she decided to keep it to herself. Though, she had one person in mind that might have seen who it was.
"Slippy reports he's fixing some of the piping now. That's one thing done" Fox reported to the others.
While Slippy and Madeline were down doing repairs the others were still in the bridge making sure the path to Sauria was clear. Fox couldn't fully trust Samus and her friends yet so he planned to keep each one individually by his friends to see if they trusted each one. He sent Slippy with Madeline, Peppy with Adam, Krystal with Anthony, and him with Samus. Falco just had to sit on the side due to the fact that he wasn't exactly the best person to socialize with. He still had to watch them though for safety reasons.
So far Samus wasn't doing any suspicious activity and she wasn't talking much. It made things easy for Fox so he could get his work done without much worry.
"What time do we get there you think?" Anthony asked from the other side of the room.
"Estimated time… one day" Rob, the ship's android, responded while it worked on flying the ship.
"Still getting used to that thing" Samus whispered to herself.
Fox was tempted to tell her he was still getting used to her but kept it in his head in case it counted as offensive to her. He checked on how his friends reacted with their "assigned" people just in case. Adam and Peppy seemed fine as they had short, brief conversations about possibly the latest events. Krystal was laughing at something Anthony told her then she whispered something back making him laugh in turn. "You'd better not be flirting with her" Fox thought in his head as he looked away.
He knew what Falco was up to before he even got a glance since it was typical of him; sleeping. Falco just sat in one of the chairs catching z's with his beak open snoring. At least he wasn't needed now or there would be a serious yelling right about now.
"So, what's Sauria like? I've never heard about it so…" Samus asked Fox looking directly at him.
He looked at her for a minute or so. Is it okay to tell her about the dinosaurs?
"Different, how 'bout that?"
"As in what?"
"Not science. All magic. All dinosaurs"
Samus chuckled getting the weird eye from him.
"Dinosaurs? Wow that's just weird. The human home world had those at one point a VERY long time ago"
"What happened?"
"Extinction. Still not so clear how, but you know millions of years ago"
"Huh, coincidence. Not sure if yours were but the Saurians are tribal. The ones I know are the Earthwalkers, Cloudrunners, Lightfoots, Sharpclaw, and Snowhorns. Just don't take things from a Lightfoot, bring a Cloudrunner and Earthwalker near each other, and I highly recommend not encountering a Sharpclaw"
"Uh… why?"
"Long story. Long story. Okay the Lightfoots thought I stole their gem and they tied me to a totem pole and started poking me with spears. Cloudrunners and Earthwalkers generally don't get along. Plus Sharpclaw are violent"
"Wow you must've really angered someone to be poked with a spear. I'll just stay away from those people"
"Better"
As soon as the word came out it went back to silence between the two. Samus looked over at Adam and thought of something else to ask.
"Hey, Fox. Why was it earlier your friend, Peppy, was yelling at you like he was your dad?"
"Why do you worry about Adam like he's your dad? How about if we do end up fully trusting each other I'll explain and you can too"
"Fair enough, obvious we aren't at that stage yet. Actually, can I go back and grab something from my ship?"
"I'll have to follow though. Is it important?"
Samus thought.
"Know what? I'll get it later, more important things need to be done here"
She looked back to Adam and started thinking about some things. She wanted to get Adam's picture but she wondered about what Commander Frank said. It was still there after the long time even when they cleared it out. That and on her way here a fox broke into the offices. Could they be related? Did Fox know what it was about? Maybe not since there could be many foxes out there from Lylat. Yet, it seemed too coincidental in her mind.