Chapter 27: Prime Pt 4
Normally most people wouldn't mind doing a little gardening. It always helps and dose wonders for exercising their green thumb. Sure, the plants can be a handful, but no one said that it would be easy, but if the plant was mutated and came to life and attack you? Well you're going to be in for a doozy. Such as Clamp Kick and Samus's case right now.
The two were originally hunting for the revived cybernetic Space Pirate leader Meta Ridley who fled to the planet Tallon IV which was home to a lost civilization of ancient Chozo. While their they began to investigate the source of what the planet's former inhabitants dubbed 'The Great Poison' which led to them discovering that the cause was from a meteor crashing into the planet so long ago. This resulted in them to search for twelve Chozo artifacts in order to open the entrance, thus allowing them access to the impact crater. This search for one of these artifacts brought them here to a sun chamber with a massive plant-like monster.
The monster shot out a toxic substance from its skull-like mouth forcing Samus and Clamp Kick to move out of the way. Clamp Kick then fired at it, but the blasts don't seem to be doing anything. Samus meanwhile quickly scanned the creature hoping to see if it had any weakness and what she got seemed promising.
Morphology: Flaahgra
This mutant plant is the source of toxic water in the Ruins.
Logbook entry
Flaahgra's growth cycle has been radically accelerated. As a result, it requires near-constant exposure to solar energy to remain active. This exposure has made Flaahgra's outer shell thick and durable. Concentrated weapon fire can daze it for short periods, but its lower root system is unprotected and vulnerable, however. Exploit this flaw when possible.
"Ben! It's no good to fight it head on! Its body is too tough, you'll only daze it." She said explaining the situation.
"So, what do we do?" Clamp Kick asked as it avoided a slash from its scythe like arms.
Samus looked at her scans closely but had to stop to avoid a toxic blast the creature shot at her. She then continued reading before she noticed the panel. That got her thinking and she shot a charged beam at it. This knocked the panel back thus cutting off the sunlight. Without sunlight the Flaahgra suddenly collapsed and its four spiked tentacles retract into the large flower's base much to The Zebesian's confusion.
"Wha-?" Clamp Kick asked before Samus interrupted.
"Hang on! I think I have a plan." She said as she entered her morph ball.
Samus then entered the tunnels previously occupied by the Tentacles. Once she reaches the slot located on the outer edge of the creature's base, she planted a bomb on it, causing damage not only to the Flaahgra's central nervous system, but also igniting the flower with the surge of electrical energy. After the blow has been dealt, the upper body of the Flaahgra began to writhe, wilt and retreat into the main flower.
"Nice thinking." Clamp Kick said as Samus rolled over to him and returned to her normal form.
Seconds later, however, the solar panel powering it reactivated, plus an additional one, causing the Flaahgra to emerge a few seconds later, larger and angrier than ever.
"See what I mean?" Samus said seeing what had happened.
"Yeah, I do." Clamp kick said catching on.
"It's getting its strength from the panels, if we do what I just did we can be able to beat it." Samus said explaining her plan.
"You deal with the panels. I'll keep its attention." Clamp kick said.
With that the two took off on opposite sides. Clamp Kick quickly tapped the Omnitrix and changed into Stinkfly before taking flight. The Flaahgra attempted to impale him with his arms but the Lepidopterran was too fast. Stinkfly used this opportunity to shoot slime at it. while he was distracting it Samus ran towards the first panel and shot at it. This resulted in the panel to be knocked back and the sunlight was cut off.
Stinkfly saw this and quickly dodged another attack from the Flaahgra. The Lepidopterran then shot globs of slime towards what he assumed to be the creature's eyes and the creature reeled back and tried to rub the slime off. Samus reached the other panel and shot at it. The moment the second panel was knocked back the Flaahgra collapsed and its tentacles retract into the large flower's base much like before.
Samus then entered her morph ball and re-entered the tunnels and planted another bomb on it, once again causing damage to the Flaahgra's central nervous system and igniting the flower. The Flaahgra retreat into the main flower due to the pain. Stinkfly looked at the Hunter who noticed him and delivered her a thumbs up. Just as he did the solar panels reactivated along with a third and the Flaahgra began to re-emerge.
"I'm gonna need something with a little more firepower." Stinkfly said before flying down and tapping the Omnitrix changing into Heatblast.
Knowing what to do the Pyronite created a small fireboard and hopped onto it before taking off at high speeds. The Flaahgra tried to impale Samus but Heatblast shot at it with explosive fireballs forcing it to focus on him. Samus repeated the process like before and already shot back one panel. As she made her way to the next one, she looked up to see Heatblast shooting a stream of fire at the Flaahgra's face. She then fired a missile at it which stunned it. This allowed Heatblast to fire a large fireball at it striking directly in its face. This resulted in a roar of pain from the creature as it held its arms around it's face.
Samus already knocked back the second panel and blasted the third. The Flaahgra then fell to the ground due to the sunlight being cut off and Samus re-entered the tunnels just as its tentacles retracted. After re-entering the tunnels and planting another bomb on it exploded once again damaging the Flaahgra's central nervous system and igniting the flower causing the creature to retreat into the main flower.
They didn't need to wait long before all four panels activated causing the Flaahgra began to re-emerge.
Heatblast was about to attack but was interrupted by Samus.
"Ben. Think it's time to test one of our little experiments?" Samus asked causing the Pyronite's eye to widen before he smirked
"I like the way you think." He said before tapping the Omnitrix changing into ball Weevil.
The insect like-alien hopped onto Samus's shoulder and the Hunter took off towards the first panel. ball Weevil coughed up a plasma ball and Samus grabbed it before throwing it at the panel. The moment it made contact the ball exploded knocking the panel back instantly. The Flaahgra began to see what the two were doing and created a barrier of toxic plants. Seeing this ball Weevil then shot another ball at the creature, but this did little damage.
"Oh, someone who thinks he's tough huh?" Ball Weevil asked in a challenged tone.
"Well let's see you handle this." Ball Weevile said as he coughed another ball up and placed it in front the barrel of Samus's blaster.
Seeing what his intention was Samus activated her charge beam and fired. This resulted in the ball to absorb the blast and it grew to the size of a football. Without hesitation Samus grabbed it and threw it at the Flaahgra and the resulting explosion was powerful enough to knock them back a bit, but it did get the desired result as the creature was dazed and the barrier fell.
With that Samus made quick work of the other two panels and blasted back the fourth. The Flaahgra collapsed and its tentacles retract into its base. Samus then entered the tunnels and planted the last bomb. It exploded once again damaging the Flaahgra's central nervous system and causing the plant to catch fire. This time, all the Flaahgra could do was roar in agony before withering away back into the flower before ultimately dying.
Before the two could do any thing else the ground shook and a geyser of water shot into the air. They looked at the fountain and saw that the water was changing. No longer was it a nasty toxic green but clear blue. Samus scanned the water and her eyes widened at the sight.
"What is it?" Ball Weevle asked he climbed off her shoulder.
"The Flaahgra was the source of the poisoned water. By destroying we also cleansed the fountain and all the water in the city ruin." Samus explained.
"So, in other words, the water is now safe to drink again?" Ball Weevile asked as he changed back to Ben.
"That's right." Samus said.
"Alright!" Ben said as he took off his helmet and made a cup out of his hands and began to drink.
As Ben drank Samus looked around and noticed something by a nearby door. She walked towards it and had to climb a bunch of large rocks in order to reach it. the moment she made contact she suddenly found herself floating it the air. Ben noticed something going on and looked back just in time to see Samus spread her arms out and closed her eyes. Then small surges of energy began to course around her before shooting straight towards her. Finally, there was a flash of light and Ben had to cover his eyes due to how bright it was. When the light died down Ben saw Samus but in a very familiar suit.
"No way." He said completely stunned as Samus descended.
"I've re-acquired my Varia suit." Samus said as she looked over herself.
"Alright. Now what?" Ben said as he put his helmet back on.
"We'll have to head this way. It may just lead us out of here." Samus said as she blasted the door behind her open.
"Well, let's go." Ben said as he followed her.
The two then began to walk through the corridor that has been waterlogged and they had an encounter with a creature called a 'Pulse Bombu'. From there they had to take a massive jump from a high tower (which Ben didn't enjoy but was surprised that his suit could handle the fall). And from their they were greeted with several War Wasps. Ben quickly changed into Diamondhead and sent a barrage of crystal shards at them killing them all. they were about to move on before they noticed on the right wall from the lower door was another Chozo lore.
Samus scanned the log and translated what it said.
"The world of living things feels strange to us, we who have existed so long on the edges of time and space. It is clear now that we Chozo can never return to our dimension, not while the Great Poison reaches ever further into the planet. It is so powerful, this creeping evil, that our wills are crumbling and our minds beginning to fail. And so, before it is too late, we now make our last stand. We have begun to build a temple to contain this darkness: at its heart we will place a Cipher, a mystical lock powered by twelve Artifacts and filled with as much power as we Chozo can harness in our ethereal states. Even when we are done, it may be too late." She said.
"Well this goes to show that we better find these artifacts so there can be a chance for this planet." The Petrosapien said.
With that the two continued on and entered the next door where they were met with an elevator. The Hunter and Petrosapien then stepped forward and the elevator began to move downward. As it moved the two then began to notice something about the air, as if it was becoming warm. By the time the elevator stopped they moved on walking through the next door and jumped down wards thanks to some moving platforms. When they reached the bottom, they were attacked by several Shreikbats but the two quickly dealt with them. As they pressed onwards, they both noticed that the heat was getting hotter and hotter. What added on to the fact was that they saw some parts of the floor sprouting lava.
"Wow. It's getting hot in here. Where are we anyways?" Diamondhead asked.
"According to my scans we are in the Magmoor Caverns." Samus said.
As the two pressed on they encountered more Shriekbats and small creature called 'Grizby'. As they entered the next door, they encountered more Grizbys but they also encountered a creature called 'Burrowers'. After dealing with the Burrower they entered the next room which revealed a large cavern system flooded with lava. Before the two could move further they encountered a creature resembling a worm.
"What the heck is that?!" Diamondhead said as he shot crystal shards.
"It's a 'Magmoor'! It's were the caverns get their name!" Samus said as he dodged the creatures fire breath.
The Magmoor lunged toward Samus and tried to chomp her but the Hunter quickly dodged and shot a missile at it, destroying its head.
"Nice shot." The Petrosapien said.
"Thanks." Samus said as they moved on.
There they saw that some platforms were farther apart from one another, so Diamondhead tapped the Omnitrix and changed into Clamp kick before they began to leap from rock to rock. While doing so they encountered gas filled organisms called 'Puffers' and the two decided to blast them out of their way. As they continued on the encountered more Puffers and another Magmoor. They reached the other end of the area but found only a dead end. That was before Samus suddenly changed into her morph ball and panted a bomb on the wall. Once it exploded it revealed a small opening and Samus rolled inside. Clamp kick tapped the Omnitrix and changed into Big Chill and phased through the wall.
The Hunter and Necrofriggian then continued towards the end of the area leading to a door that had the path blocked by a fence separating the room into two sides to prevent passage. The only area that was open was a small hole underneath it. With that Samus entered her morph ball and rolled underneath it while Big Chill phased through the fence. While Samus rolled under the fence she encountered two small creatures called 'Triclops' and tricked the creatures by planted a bomb so they could grab the bombs instead of her. After the bomb killed them Samus emerged from the other side and the two continued through the next door.
They then entered what looked like a monitor station and began to walk towards it. As they did, they encountered more Puffers, but they stopped when they noticed 'Auto Defense Turrets' surrounding the station. Big Chill then flew towards the turrets before turning intangible and flying through them freezing them instantly. Seeing what he did Samus began to move towards the station and as she did, she blasted the turrets destroying them. With that the two continued on until they reached the next door that led to a small opening. Samus entered her morph ball while Big Chill phased through the wall. When the two reached the other side of the tunnel they entered the next door that led to another elevator.
"Where dose this one lead to?" The Necrofriggian asked.
"According to this it leads to the Phendrana Drifts." Samus answered.
With that Samus and Big Chill stepped onto the elevator and began to ascend upwards. They suddenly felt the temperature slowly dropping and getting colder. Then the elevator stopped moving the two stepped out and when they stepped out of the door, they saw that the path is blocked by ice.
Big Chill tapped the Omnitrix and changed into Heatblast and he melted the ice away. As the two walked down the corridor the Pyronite melted more ice that was in the way until they finally reached the exit. The moment that they stepped outside they saw that the Phendrana Drifts are snowy and icy, with some parts filled with water. Major geographical features are a canyon, a lake, and several caves.
"Huhhh…. kind of ironic." Heatblast said.
"What is?" Samus asked.
"We came out of a lava filled cavern only to end up in a snowy tundra." The Pyronite said, explaining the environment around them.
"Huh, I think I see what you mean." Samus said catching on to what he meant.
