Chapter 28: Prime Pt 5
When we last saw our heroes, they not only discovered the source of the Great poisoning in the form of a meteor but they also discovered that the source was blocked by a special doorway and that the retrieval of twelve ancient Chozo artifacts is the only way to open the door. Along the way they discovered the source of the poisoned water that has plagued the Chozo civilization of Tallon IV was the result of a deadly mutated plant that inhabited the city fountain and purged the abomination thus cleansing the water of the fountain. Afterword's Samus had regained her varia suit and thus allowed them to enter the lava filled Magmoor Caverns. From there they trekked through the caverns until they reached an elevator that brought them to the frigged Phendrana Drifts.
"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.
And with that the two continued on, taking note of the things around them such as a pair of flying creatures called 'Flickerbats'. As they looked around, they encountered small creatures called 'Crystallites'. They decided to move upwards by climbing several rocks until they reached a structure with a door. The two walked inside where Heatblast melted another blockade of ice, but it revealed a small creature called 'Scatter Bombu'. Samus entered her morph ball while Heatblast changed into Grey Matter and moved through the corridor where they encountered another Scatter Bombu before entering the next room. There they looked around and spotted two creatures called 'Baby Sheegoths'. The creatures seemed to notice them and attacked. Samus engaged one while Grey Matter tapped the Omnitrix.
When the light faded in Grey Matter's place was an alien wearing a heavy, dark green-teal oven-like containment suit with the Omnitrix symbol on its chest seal.
"NRG!!!" Shouted the Prypiatosian-B with a Russian accent.
Without a second thought the Sheegoth attacked but the Prypiatosian-B was ready and delivered a powerful blow which was helpful thanks to his armored suit. The creature was a little dazed but quickly shook it off and fired a blast of cold gas which NRG was able to block but saw that his arm was encased in ice. Seeing this the Prypiatosian-B began to increase heat from inside his suit and melt the ice around his arm.
As this was going on Samus was dodging attacks from her Sheegoth and quickly evaded a charge from the beast. That was when she noticed the ice around its back resembling an armored shell. She fired a charged beam at it shattering the ice, before firing a missile at the exposed flesh. This resulted in the creature to roar in pain before dying.
NRG saw this and quickly punched the creature in the side of its mouth knocking a few teeth out, before bringing his fists up and smashed them against the creature's armored shell exposing flesh. The Prypiatosian-B then shot a beam of radioactive energy from the vents of his suit striking at the creature's exposed back. There the Sheegoth roared in agony before ultimately dying from the pain it endured.
Samus looked over to NRG and her eyes widened due to the energy readings coming off of the Prypiatosian-B.
"Ben what kind of an alien is that? My scans are picking extremely high levels of radiation coming off you." Samus said as she took a few steps back.
"Don't worry Samus. While this form is in fact a being made of radiation, the suit that I'm wearing will provide protection so I won't cause any harm." NRG said in a reassuring tone.
Samus was a little relieved by this information and the two continued on with NRG changing into Clamp Kick in order to scale up some structures and jump across a destroyed bridge. From there they jumped across the rooftops of other buildings while dealing with some Crystallites. When they entered the next door they were met with another cave filled with creatures called an 'Ice Burrowers'. Clamp Kick and Samus quickly made short work of the burrowers and when they reached the exit they were met with quite a view of the Phendrana Drifts.
"Huh. That's a nice view, I could see a postcard made out of this. Saying 'Hello from Tallon IV'." The Zebesian said as he looked on.
"Interesting thought." Samus said.
After taking in the sight the Hunter and Zebesian continued on through the next door where they encountered severalPulse Bombus. With a little crafty maneuvering the two were quickly able to avoid the creatures and reach the other side before entering the next door. After entering they were suddenly ambushed by two Sheegoths. Samus took one while Clamp Kick took the other.
The Zebesian quickly leaped into the air in order to evade its charge before blasting its armored shell. The blasts merely bounced off the Sheegoth resulting in Clamp Kick to tap the Omnitrix and change into Heatblast. The Sheegoth shot out its ice gas while the Pyronite shot a stream of flames right into its mouth. The creature couldn't handle the attack and quickly turned away. Heatblast saw this and shot at its back melting the ice and threw a fireball at the exposed flesh killing it.
As he finished up he saw that Samus was having a little difficulty with hers and shot a fireball at its back destroying the shell. The Sheegoth was taken by surprise and Samus used the opportunity to finish it off.
"Thanks." She said.
"No problem." The Pyronite said.
That was then that he noticed something behind him and saw it was another Chozo log. Seeing it too Samus ran a scan on it before translating.
"None know if our temple, the Cradle, will prove powerful enough to contain this evil forever. How can we Chozo hope for it to remain intact when that which it guards writhes in the darkness, growing always stronger? The fate of this world rests with the gathering of Artifacts we call Cipher, but even it is not all-powerful. It is strong, yes: an enchanted whole made of twelve links. Still, it is finite in its reach, and we who guard it are slowly succumbing. When our vigilance crumbles away into madness, the Cipher will be exposed and the fate of Tallon IV will be beyond our influence." Samus translated.
With that the two continued on they had to move passed another pair of Scatter Bombu before they entered a nearby door that led to a part of the drifts with deep canyons.
Looking around they saw some Crystallites but also saw some platforms. With that Samus and Heatblast carefully moved down the platform but as they did the Pyronite saw behind them was another log. Samus saw this too and translated.
"Many Chozo have gone beyond now, and this is a mercy. Those of us who remain suffer in dimensional flux, drifting helplessly across time and space, guided by unseen and inexorable currents. The Chozo who cling to sanity fight the tide, but our minds are weakening. Soon we will all be like the turned, Chozo who have been corrupted by the Great Poison. The Turned still hold their Chozo forms, but their minds are black with fell intentions. Gone is their respect for life. They honor only destruction, and seek to disrupt the Artifacts holding the Great Poison at bay. All life taunts them, and they do not rest. Before long, they will be all that remain of the Chozo here." Samus translated.
"That doesn't sound like a good sign." Heatblast said to Samus's agreement.
Eventually the two reached the bottom of the cliff but in doing so they accidentally woken a baby Sheegoth that was nearby.
The Hunter and Pyronite quickly made quick work with the creature with Heatblast melting its shell while Samus dealt the finishing blast.
After that the two saw something at the top of a small hill that was directly ahead of them. The two made their was to the top and saw that it was a machine of sorts. Samus touched the device and the two saw that several platforms began to aligned themselves. Seeing no other choice the Hunter and Pyronite moved forward. As they did they quickly noticed that as they moved the platforms began to collapse. Despite this they managed to reach the other side just as the last platform fell. They looked on and saw in front of them was another item. Samus touched it and much like before she suddenly began to somersault at a very fast place before the object opened and engulfed her. Then there was a flash of light resulting in Heatblast to shield his eyes. When the light faded he saw Samus in her morph ball.
"What just happened?" Heatblast asked as Samus returned to her normal form.
"This is a new upgrade to my suit called the Boost Ball. With I can move much faster in my morph ball." Samus answered.
With that the two made their way back where they saw that the ledges were way too high for them to reach but they also saw that the ground below them was shaped out like a ramp so Samus used her new Boost Ball in order to reach the ledges.
They managed to reach the ledges and after dealing with several Crystallites the two made their way back. As they did a message appeared on Samus's visor.
"What is it?" Heatblast asked.
"I picking up something back in the Magmoor Caverns." Samus said.
"What exactly did you see?" The Pyronite asked.
"I think it was another elevator this one leading back to the landing sight of the ship." Samus answered.
"Really?" Heatblast asked.
This earned a nod from The Hunter and the two decided to head to where Samus said this elevator was. After a bit of walking while avoiding several Pulse Bombu they crossed through the next door.
As they reached the way that led to the area that led back to the Magmoor Caverns the two heard a loud and familiar roar. They looked around before they spotted bellow them was a massive shadow, they quickly looked up and saw Meta Ridley flying off in the distance.
"We'll get him Samus. I promise." Heatblast said as he felt Samus's anger.
Seeing that they were not far from the Magmoor Caverns the two decided to jump the ledge and made their way back to the elevator. Once they stepped on board they felt the elevator move down and the temperature began to rise. Once the elevator stopped the two stepped off and the made their way back Heatblast tapped the Omnitrix changing into Nanomech in order to move through the small tunnel.
Once they made their way to the other side the Hunter and Human/Nanochip made their way through the monitor station and as they moved Samus stopped to look a bit before noticing a door at the bottom.
"Down there. That's where we need to go." Samus said pointing towards the door.
If she could she would have seen the Human/Nanochip nod before tapping the Omnitrix and changed into Big Chill. Without wasting any time the Necrofriggian grabbed Samus under her shoulders and flew her down to the ledge. There they went through the door and passed through a long corridor that led to a platform that was healed above a pool of lava but before the two could move on they were taken off guard by several jets of flames shooting out in front of them.
"Ok, that could be a problem." Big Chill said.
"Mabey not, if we time it right all we have to do is move when the flames stop blowing." Samus said.
With that the two waited for the flames to go down and the moment that they did the two made a break for it and reached the platform just as the flames shot out again. Repeating what they did before the two moved again as soon as the flames reseated.
After that they moved on and saw other platforms not too far from each other. Samus jumped over the lava and cleared away several boxes but before she could move on another Magmoor emerged from the lava. Before it could breath a stream of fire Big Chill phased right through the creature's head freezing it. Seeing the opportunity Samus fired a missile at it and the creature's head shattered like glass.
Afterword's Samus blasted another Triclops before entering her morph ball. Big Chill picked her up and placed her inside a long tunnel before phasing through to follow her. When they reached the other side they saw moved through a long corridor that was partially flooded with lava and certain parts of the ceiling shooting fire. Much like before the two had to time it correctly and they moved on through the next door. There they encountered another Magmoor and quickly made short work of it. Samus entered her morph ball and rolled along a railing that was in the room while Big Chill flew across the lava. When they reached the other side where upon entering the door they were met with a room with an elevator.
"This the one you talked about?" The Necrofriggian asked as he changed back to Ben.
"Positive." Samus answered.
With that in mind the two stepped on and instantly the elevator began to rise. When it finally stopped the two stepped off and exited. They moved through a long corridor blasting any creature that stood in their way until they reached a large, roughly cylindrical room that focuses on vertical movement. The very bottom of the cavern hasa steaming mound of earththat seems to resemble a large ant hill.
The two were about to move forward but then they felt the ground shake and several Beetled emerged. Quick to act Samus blasted a few while Ben quickly changed into Clamp kick and blasted the others. When the area was cleared the Hunter and Zebesian began to scale upwards by climbing several platforms before trekking across a bridge made from tree roots. As they continued on they noticed that higher up several platforms looked to be higher then the ones they were standing on. They then jumped over a few gaps before Samus blasted the next door open revealing a long corridor.
Before they could step forward Samus stopped Clamp kick and herself. Before he could ask what was wrong she pointed towards a large plant right next to them called a 'Bloodflower'. She quickly explained that this plant can eject toxic spores. With that in mind Clamp kick saw that the plant shot out said spore and Samus quickly fired at it.
The moment her blast struck, the spore exploded like fireworks killing the plant instantly. With the threat now dealt with, the two continued on and they entered a new area. They jumped down only to be ambushed by a few beetles which were quickly taken out. After words Samus spotted something above them and entered her morph ball and using the half pipe the two were standing on along with her boost ball to reach higher up to a nearby ledge. Clamp kick then leaped from one side of the wall to the other and followed after Samus.
When the two reached the top the two trekked across a bridge which led to what seemed to be a dead end but Samus entered her morph ball and blew open a path from the wall. Samus rolled inside while Clamp kick crawled through this continued on with Samus blowing up more parts of the wall until they reached the other side. From their the Hunter returned to her normal form while the Zebesian quickly got up and dusted himself off before the two continued.
Samus blasted the door open and the two continued through a corridor before they reached the landing sight. The two continued on jumping over a few gaps before they reached another door. Upon entering Samus and Clamp kick were met with a fairly small room that is round and plant-filled and had a hole in the ceiling through which a ray of sunlight shines onto what appears to be another of Samus's upgrades located in the center, on a slightly raised mound inside a narrow ring of shallow water.
The two stepped down but were surprised by the drop the felt when they hit the ground. After quickly recovering the two then looked ahead and saw the upgrade of Samus's suit and carefully looked around as if they expected some sort of trap or an ambush. With nothing in sight the two pressed onward and they got a better look at the upgrade. It appeared to be a hologram of a foot. Samus got up to the mound and reached towards it. As soon as she did, it instantly downloaded itself into her suits systems and then Samus jumped into the air much higher than normal much to Clamp Kick's amazement. When she hit the ground she looked at her feet and saw energy course through them.
"What was that?" The Zebesian asked as he changed back to Ben.
"What you saw was the Jump Boots. With these I can now jump higher and farther than normal." Samus answered.
"Mmm. Could come in handy in the long run." Clamp Kick said.
And with that the two exited the room with Clamp Kick and Samus jumping back up to the ledge that the door was at and the moment they exited Samus's helmet informed her that it picked up something back in the Phendrana Drifts, more specifically a place called 'The chapel of the Elders'.
After quickly informing Clamp Kick, the two decided to make their way back to the drifts using their newly made shortcut. Eventually they made it to the elevator that led to the Magmoor caverns and descended. Upon touching down they stepped off and began to head back to the Phendrana Drifts. Eventually they reached the monitor station where Clamp Kick tapped the Omnitrix and changed into Big Chill and lifted Samus by her shoulders and began to fly upwards before the Necrofriggian could phase them through the wall Samus spoke up.
"Ben wait. I think I see something on top of the station." She said and Big Chill flew towards the station.
True to her word they saw another monitor and a strange device. Big Chill set Samus down and she took a scan of the devices and revealed what she needed to do. Samus entered her morph ball and rolled into the machine. Using the boost ball she began to move the machine while Big Chill heard the sound of something rising. The two heard a loud sound and saw that a bridge had risen providing access to a new path.
The two began to walk down this new path curious as to where it leads. Eventually they walked across a ledge that led to a door, and upon entering they were met with a new room. It is a cave with a dark rock floor and a small lava moat around aChozo Statue, in whose hands are positioned to look like they were holding something.
"Hey, what is that?" Big Chill asked.
"Hmmm. Some sort of a shrine." Samus said as she too was curious of the site.
'Shrine?' The Necrofriggian thought to himself thinking back to where he heard that word before.
"The statue also appears to be holding something." Samus added as she used her boost jump to get across the moat with Big Chill following after.
The two looked at the object and saw that it was another holographic image of a symbol piece. That was when Big Chill remembered where he heard the word shrine from.
"'The heat of Magmoor was a test for manywarriors. AShrinein their honor holds the Artifact of Strength.'" He said as he remembered the clues to one of the Chozo artifacts.
Samus heard him and realized the same thing. She then grabbed the hologram and it downloaded itself into her suit.
"You were right Ben. This is the Artifact of Strength." Samus said. As she jumped back towards the door.
The two exited the room and made their way back to the station and began to head back to their original destination. Eventually they reached the elevator and began to ascend. Eventually they reached the Phendrana Drifts and looked around.
"So where do we find this Chapel of Elders?" Big Chill asked
"Up there." Samus answered pointing towards the west.
Big Chill looked up to see that on a ledge he could see the ruins of what looked like a temple. Seeing that's where they need to go Big Chill took Samus under her arms and flew her to the temple entrance. Upon entering the door the two were met with a Pulse Bombu and saw that the way was blocked by ice.
Samus fired a missile that shattered the ice instantly and the two carefully moved passed the Bombu before entering the tunnel. Samus entered her morph ball in order to move pass a Scatter Bombu while Big Chill phased around it.
Samus nearly made it passed another Pulse Bombu just as Big Chill made it to the door. Upon entering the two saw that they officially entered the temple. Before the could continue, they suddenly heard a sound in front of them and saw that a baby Sheegoth had awoken and noticed them. It charged towards them forcing Samus and Big Chill to quickly dodge out of the way. The Hunter responded by firing a missile at the creature's shell shattering it before blasting the exposed flesh, killing it.
Seeing that the creature was dead the two looked around and saw that they needed to head upwards. With that Samus began to scale platforms while she blasted Crystallites and new creatures called 'Ice Parasites' that got in her way, while the Necrofriggian flew upwards. When they reached the top they moved on to see ahead of them was a large Chozo statue and they saw that the next door was blocked by some sort of gate.
"Ok. Now what?" Big Chill asked as he changed back to Ben.
"My scans say that a statue depicting the bust of a Chozoshamanadorns this door. A symbol is carved into its forehead. The translation reads, 'To pass my gaze, seek my twin within this room.'" Samus explained.
"Ok, so we're here in this room…" Ben said before he noticed four busts on the wall.
Samus saw what he was looking at and walked towards the statues. Each one housed a different symbol before she saw the fourth one and saw it matched the one on the gate. She then blasted it revealing a power slot. She then looked over to Ben and told him to pick her up and place her into the slot.
The moment she entered her morph ball Ben picked up Samus and placed her into the slot. She then activated her morph ball bomb and the detonation triggered a surge that opened the gate. With the way now open the two continued on and entered the next room that had a small opening.
Samus entered her morph ball while Ben changed into Grey Matter end followed her. Samus used her morph ball bombs to clear the pathway and eventually the two reached the other side.
Upon entering the door the two were met with a large, roughly square room with walls in each of the four corners.
"I take it that this is the chapel of elders?" Grey Mater asked earning a nod from Samus.
Then they spotted something ahead of them and the two quickly realized that it was.
"Another of my suits upgrades." Samus said.
"Great, lets go in grab it and get out of here." Grey Matter said as they approached it.
"Do you really believe that it would be this easy?" Samus asked in confusion.
"Yeaaaaahhhhh, no. In this line of work, there's always a catch." The Galvan said crossing his arms.
When they were about to grab the upgrade, it retracts into the floor and two of the walls behind them lower, revealing a Baby Sheegoth behind each.
"Called it." Grey Matter said.
"You handle the one on the left. I'll take the one on the right." Samus said as she blasted the Sheegoth on the right.
"Sure, no problem." Grey Matter said as he tapped the Omnitrix changing into NRG.
The Baby Sheegoth charged but the Prypiatosian-B charged towards it as well and landed a solid blow on it. This only knocked it on its side before the infant quickly got back up. It then quickly backed up and fired its ice gas.
NRG saw this and raised both of his arms to block the attack, but all it really did was encase his arms in ice. Seeing this the Prypiatosian-B took advantage of his encased limbs and charged towards the Sheegoth, delivering blow after blow using his ice encased hands as makeshift gauntlets.
Eventually the Baby Sheegoth was dazed and NRG used the opportunity to get behind it and shatter the shell on its back before blasting it in its exposed flesh killing it.
He then looked over to Samus and saw that she was able to blast her Sheegoth's shell off but was having trouble trying to blast its back. So the Prypiatosian-B ran towards the two before delivering a hard blow with his ice encased hand. Samus saw the opportunity to fire a missile at the creatures back killing it.
Before the two could say anything the other two walls lower revealing more young Sheegoths. The two then charged towards the Sheegoths and attacked. NRG shattered their shells while Samus delivered the finishing blasts killing them.
Just as they are about to catch their breath a wall was suddenly smashed revealing a much larger Sheegoth. Unlike the four they just fought, this one has six eyes, a mouth full of jagged teeth with the bottom two appearing more tusk-like, and it has a fully-developed formation of jagged ice crystals on its back.
"I take it that this is an 'Adult Sheegoth'. Right?" NRG asked.
"That's right Ben." Samus said as the adult Sheegoth roared at the two.