Welcome to the second chapter of my Metroid fanfiction.
In this chapter, baby Ridley's life is changed forever by tragic events.
As stated in the previous chapter, I only own his adoptive mother, Dr. Ripley, and the Federation Marines who find him. Ridley is owned by Nintendo, Saturo Okada, Gunpei Yokoi, Hiroji Kiyotake and Yoshio Sakamoto.
Without further ado, please enjoy the latest chapter of The Cunning God of Death Rises.
The Galaxy's Deadliest Orphan?
For five weeks after his birth, the scientist was able to keep Ridley safely hidden in the enclosure in the lab, monitoring his progress and his health, cleaning his enclosure, playing with him and feeding him whatever leftovers she could get from the research facility's cafeteria. So far, things had gone well. Despite the restrictions to his care, Ridley was healthy, alert and growing bigger and stronger by the day.
However, one fateful night, things tragically took a turn for the worse. It started off just like the past nights. The scientist finished her shift at the research facility and went into her laboratory. She took Ridley out of his enclosure, recorded his latest height and weight and cleaned everything up before giving the hatchling his dinner.
Then, just as she had collected the empty container and prepared to leave her charge for the night, she heard something unusual. Instead of the usual screeches that Ridley gave her as a farewell, he looked out to her and said "Mama." The scientist was fascinated. "Well, well. It looks like someone's found his voice. Who knew Space Dragons could talk?" She said excitedly as she rushed to grab her data pad to record this latest discovery, rushing back to the door of the enclosure to hear Ridley speak again.
No one ever discovered what had become of the scientist that night. All that is known is that the only things that were heard was a door opening, Ridley screeching and one terrified scream. The next day, the Federation Marines found the scientist on the floor of the lab dead, the door of the enclosure open and Ridley by her side, blood covering his talons and his mouth.
Looks like she was trying to control that savage creature." said one of the sergeants. "Doesn't matter what she was trying to do. If it's discovered that one of our top researchers has smuggled in a dangerous creature, it wouldn't look good for the Federation." the commander said, looking darkly at the sight before him. "Dangerous?! Sir, it's just a baby..." one of the lieutenants tried to say incredulously. "It is dangerous at any age!" the commander retorted, angrily. The lieutenant backed off and the commander turned his back on the unsettling sight, addressing his squad.
"Alright, men. The reputation of the Galactic Federation depends on this incident not getting out to the public. We are going to take Doctor Ripley and this creature to Zebes and dump them in one of the caves. Take her notes on it too. We then evacuate the space station and have the whole place self-destruct. The people of the Federation will be told that Zebes is unsuitable for colony life, that Doctor Ripley was killed by the creature that she smuggled onboard and that to save the crew of this station and contain this threat, we had to destroy the facility. Is that clear?" he explained, looking over the small squad, daring them to defy him. "Sir, yes, sir!" the other men yelled in unison as they reluctantly carried out their orders.
The lieutenant who spoke out before quickly retrieved the scientist's notes, swiftly reading the notes and learning Ridley's name. Know that he only had a short time before they took off for Zebes, the lieutenant placed the notes into a box, put Ridley into a crate big enough to fit him and left the lab. "Don't worry, little guy, I've got you." he said reassuringly to the baby Space Dragon as he turned a corner to hide behind a bulkhead, kneeling down and gently putting the crate and the box down on the floor.
Looking around cautiously and seeing no unwanted company, the lieutenant quickly grabbed his own data pad and typed out a small note before carefully placing it into Ridley's crate. "Keep this safe for me, okay, little buddy?" he said jokingly as he got up and left his hiding place, continuing to the dropship, where the rest of his squad was waiting for him.
When he arrived, the others had already loaded the scientist onto the ship's cargo bay. Solemnly, he boarded the ship and it took off towards the planet below. The atmosphere inside the ship was uneasy and silent, the only sounds being heard were the frightened and confused screeches of Ridley, who had unknowingly just had his young life changed forever.
Soon, they arrived on the grassy surface of Zebes. The hatch of the dropship opened and the squad left, taking their unfortunate cargo with them to a nearby cave. Once they had reached the center of the vast cavern, the lieutenant who had taken Ridley gently placed him, the scientist's research notes and the note he had made gently onto the ground. "You'll be safe here. There's gotta be something on this planet that can take care of you." he said, trying to reassure the baby Space Dragon as he opened the carrier and released him.
He then got up and turned to see the rest of the squad unceremoniously dumping the scientist's body onto the ground and turning to head back to the dropship. "Wait! You're just gonna leave her there! We're not even gonna bury her!" he shouted incredulously, not quite believing the lack of respect his fellow marines were showing to the unfortunate woman. "There's no need to, lieutenant. That thing's sure to dispose of her for us. For all we know, it could have killed her too." the commander said, pointing to Ridley, who had run up to his adoptive mother and was now nudging her hand and screeching mournfully at her to wake up, not understanding that she could no longer hear him.
The lieutenant could not believe what he was hearing. "That 'thing' is a he and his name is Ridley." he said angrily. "So?" the commander said, not knowing why the man in front of him was making such a fuss over a traitor to the Federation and her pet. "Look at him! Does he look like he killed her?! He's clearly grieving and scared!" he yelled furiously, his heart breaking with every desperately upset screech Ridley made.
"He's a mindless killing machine. He doesn't feel anything. Let's just get back on the ship and start evacuating the station." the commander said dismissively. "No, you guys are gonna listen to me. This whole cover-up is seriously messed up. We are going to take these two back on the ship and and starting an investi...!" the lieutenant started to order before he shot dead by the commander, falling down next to Ridley and the scientist.
Blowing the smoke away from his gun, the commander put his weapon back onto his belt and turned to his shocked squad. "Now then, has anyone else got any objections?" he asked threateningly. "No, sir!" the other Marines replied, too scared to show any objection in case the commander wanted to make another example.
"Good. Now let's get back to the station and start the evacuation process." he said smugly, leading the group back onto the ship, which took off into space as soon as the hatch was closed. Hearing the ship taking off, Ridley left his adoptive mother's side and ran to the empty space that the dropship had previously occupied, giving terrified screeches into the horizon as if desperately pleading with the ship to return.
And so poor little Ridley is heartlessly abandoned on planet Zebes. How will this tiny baby survive without his loving adoptive mother to care for him?
As always, I only own Dr. Ripley and the Federation Marines who cruelly abandoned him. I do not own Ridley.
I hope you've enjoyed reading this chapter and I hope to have the next chapter posted as soon as possible.