Sylux fired his Shock Coil at Samus. He circled her as she constantly broke the Shock Coil lock, passing Weavel and Noxus' fight, ignoring them. Spire and Kanden were still battling, neither giving up. Sylux fired his Coil again, and the lock held. Samus struggled to fight the lock, finally firing a missile at Sylux's Shock Coil. Sylux yelled in pain, his Coil temporarily shut down. He flipped into Lockjaw, taking advantage of her momentary recovery to set a tripwire, then swing around to lay the third, and perhaps fatal, bomb.
The triangle closed in, but Samus, with one hand, propelled herself upwards, flipping in midair, and landing behind Sylux's biped form. As he turned, a missile struck him in the head, knocking him to the ground.
You're a fool Sylux. To think you were in the Dark League. So weak...a voice sneered in his head. Sylux raised his head a few inches, seeing the world had vanished, and he seemed to be floating in a black abyss. The Dark Hunter stood before him, laughing.
"What's going on?" Sylux demanded. The Dark Hunter gazed at him with cruel satisfaction.
"You're dying Sylux...you seem to have lost your touch. At least the Dark League won't be embarrassed by your weakness now. Samus killed all our members to date!" the Dark Hunter laughed, and Sylux scowled in rage.
"Don't you care?" he nearly screamed.
"Frankly, no. I tried to make you strong...but a weakling is always a weakling. Good-bye Sylux!" The world swirled around him, a black ocean of darkness enveloped him.
"Nooooooo!" Sylux wailed and he knew no more.
The fights had stopped for mere moments as everyone stared at Sylux's body. Samus seemed startled. He had been weaker than she thought. Her missile must of wiped out all of his energy. She stared at the body for a while longer, before turning her attention to the doorway to proceed. There used to be 7 golden lights, now there were 5. Wait...5? She searched the room again. Weavel and Noxus had resumed their fight, and Spire and Kanden had simply stared at Sylux another moment before dismissing it and continuing their battle.
Samus wondered whether any of them cared about Sylux. Trace probably wouldn't...where was Trace? 5 lights remained lit, and that meant Sylux was out...but where was Trace? She searched the room frantically. Trace's disappearance was nerve-wracking due to he seemed like he'd be the last hunter to quit. Where was the Kriken?
Trace snickered as he entered Samus' ship.
"You're not Samus!" the ship's computer protested. Trace ignored it.
"Enter authorization code or you will be shot!" the computer warned.
"SR 388!" Trace replied promptly. There was a moment of silence.
"Correct..." the computer replied. Stupid machine, Trace thought. Samus' authorization code was simple. Trace was an experienced sniper, and a hacker. She thought her files on a public computer were safe, yet she used her authorization code as a password. He had hacked into her files ages ago. He had more access to the Federation files now than any hunter alive, excluding Samus.
He made his way to the ship vault. Samus even had blueprints of her gunship on the public computers, which he had studied ages ago, in order to either infiltrate or weaken later. He equipped the Shock Coil, carefully firing at the edge of the safe, slowly melting the door. After about 5 minutes, he was able to use the Imperialist to blast the door off. Inside the safe was the Omega Cannon, and a file labeled 'Next Mission'. Trace seized the cannon, downloading the information into his arm cannon. He flipped through the file, and stopped at a page describing a Kriken controlled planet.
He narrowed his eye thoughtfully. What business did she have at a Kriken planet? He shrugged and copied the document onto his own file computer. He'd study it later, and perhaps be able to prevent the mission altogether. He grinned and returned to the Gem Shrine.
The battles were still raging, but Samus was even more concerned about Trace's disappearance. She glanced around the room carefully, and a beam of red streaked past her.
"Looking for me, Scam-us?" Trace sneered. Samus fired a missile in retaliation, and Trace dodged, firing his Imperialist again. Trace seemed in better spirits than normal, and Samus felt uneasy. Where had he gone? Why was he so pleased? Trace hesitated a moment near Sylux's body.
"What happened to him?" Trace wondered.
"Got hit with missile," Samus replied, firing again. Trace ducked last second and fired the Imperialist again, the beam hitting Noxus, who cried out and collapsed, struggling to stand. Weavel smirked and began firing close-range. Noxus seemed to weaken, to grow limp. Spire, enraged by the tactic, fired his Magmaul at Weavel, knocking him off-balance. Kanden, furious at Weavel for their earlier battle, helped out.
"And it all continues!" Trace sneered, referring to the opponent swap. Samus fired her Power Beam at Trace, most of which hit, but Trace shrugged them off, firing his Imperialist. Samus dodged, and abruptly a huge, slow moving, golden orb flew towards her. Trace laughed as Samus stared in horror. The Omega Cannon!
She let out a yell of horror before going into morph ball, boosting in the direction of the pillar, needing some form of shelter from the blast. She barely made it. The flash of light, and the massive shockwave filled the room, knocking her to the ground. She barely had taken damage, but could be worse. Spire, Noxus, Weavel and Kanden were blasted off their feet, slamming into the wall. Trace watched this with amusement.
"Like the Cannon, Scam-us?" he sneered.
"How'd you get in my ship?" Samus demanded.
"Oh...I paid a visit to SR388!" Trace sneered, emphasizing the last words. Samus gaped at him, shocked. How'd he figure out her authorization code? It was a planet she rarely visited, so she thought no one but herself would know it.
"Now...I'll use it to defeat all of you and claim the True Power!" Trace laughed and fired again, this time directly at the pillar Samus was behind. Samus didn't move. She was still behind the pillar, so the Cannon wouldn't do much. The explosion and flash were just as terrifying, especially at close range.
"Now...Spire's death approaches!" Trace sneered, aiming the Omega Cannon at the quivering Diamont.
"Good-bye, Diamont Heir!" Trace whispered, firing. The bolt flew at Spire, who gazed at the projectile, hopelessly. It was over for the Diamont.
A flash of light, and Trace laughed. The force of the blast was so great that everyone in the vicinity flew across the room, slamming forcibly into the wall. When the dust cleared, Spire was still alive. A bit out of breath, but not damaged greatly.
"What?" Trace hissed, furiously. Samus squinted at the area around the blast zone. Weavel seemed way too weak.
"What'd you do?" Noxus whispered to Weavel. Trace's eye widened in shock. Weavel had leapt in front of the blast and went to half-turret. The turret took the blast, protecting Spire, at the cost of most of Weavel's energy. Trace suddenly grinned demonically.
"It doesn't matter! I'll just shoot again until Spire is dead!" Trace snickered and took aim. Spire struggled to stand, so he could try to fight or dodge, but he couldn't. Spire knew it was the end of the Diamonts.A flash of energy and the whoosh. Spire felt a moment of agonizing pain, then felt himself floating. He appeared to be in a dark abyss.
So weak. So pathetic. The Last Diamont gave up at the moment he should have been strongest. You should've died fighting, not during your weakest moment. You've lost Diamont. Spire looked up, searching for the source of the voice. The Dark Hunter grinned at him.
"What happened?" Spire whispered. The Dark Hunter smiled.
"Figure it out Diamont!" he sneered, and 2 Diamonts appeared in his place. One was an older male, the other an older female. They waved happily at him as he stared, sobbing softly. They were his parents, but weren't they dead? If he could see them...he was dead too?
"I'm dead?" Spire whispered, still crying softly. The Diamonts nodded and Spire walked towards them. They seemed to fade away as he approached, and he struggled to see them through the darkness. He was still alone. He always had been alone. He had lived alone, and now...he had died alone. As the darkness closed in on him, he wept.
Trace smiled as Spire's body went limp. There was no doubt he was dead. Everyone stared at the body of the last Diamont, then they all glared with hatred at Trace. Weavel lunged forward, and Trace's grin widened. A beam of light struck Weavel and he groaned in pain. His attempt to save Spire had now doomed him as well. His energy was gone, and as he collapsed, another beam hit him. Trace had shot him again!
He was floating...floating in the black abyss. He was no longer mechanical, but back to his true self, without the suit. His old self. Before the incident where he had been condemned to his mechanical self.
Not as evil as you thought, were you? Risking your life for Spire. Your kindness has done what Space Pirates always said. Kindness dooms you. Looks like they were right. Weavel jerked his head up, and glared at the Dark Hunter.
"Where am I?" Weavel asked, feeling defenseless without his Power Suit.
"How many idiots are there?" the Dark Hunter sneered, gesturing behind him. Weavel squinted and saw the Dark Hunter vanish, replaced with the silhouettes of his friends. The friends who had died to either save Weavel, or battle Samus Aran. The ones who died before their leader. The ones regretfully ordered to die.
Weavel felt overcome with emotion. Feelings he had never realized before. He was grieving. Grieving not for himself, but for those he had thought mattered. The ones who died during the wars with the Federation, with Samus. How insignificant those battles had been. How many lives had been lost. Why had he never cared before?
The silhouettes faded and Weavel yelled for them, begging them to return to him. There was no reply. No shout back. They had all left. The darkness began to close in on him, and he still yelled for them to return. At last, he gave in to his fate, and knew no more.
Author Note: Why do I get the feeling I'm going to receive hate mail?