.

Disaster

Samus began putting on her power suit. The one who had brought it down was the young woman from earlier. Said woman now watched in awe. Samus frowned, looking warily at her. "What?" she said.

"You have to be the bravest person I've ever met," the woman said in disbelief, shaking her head. "Going in there by yourself to unleash a beast so powerful. You really think you're going to survive it?"

"I have before. Many, many times," Samus replied. "What's another?"

"Father was right. You're completely mad," the woman said, shaking her head again.

"Father?" Samus asked.

"My father. The head researcher here," the woman confirmed.

"Doc," Samus said, frowning. "He's a piece of work."

"He takes getting used to," the woman admitted.

"What happened to your mother?" Samus questioned.

The young woman sighed. "Dead. Years ago, now."

"At the talons of Ridley's kind?" Samus asked.

"No. Just natural causes," the woman answered. "She got sick with some alien disease, we couldn't find a way to save her in time, so she died. We found the cure not long after. My father was… bitter, to say the least." Samus nodded in understanding. "I've read about you. You're amazing," the woman said.

"Listen, don't try and be my friend. My friends never fare well," Samus said. "I have maybe one close friend who's still alive, and I'm not even sure of that anymore. It's been a while."

"What about your dragondactyl?" the woman asked, smirking a bit.

"Ridley is not my friend," she replied.

"You're risking a lot for something that isn't your friend," the young woman replied, sounding sympathetic.

Samus paused. "I'm not having this discussion with you. Or with anyone," she soon said.

"No. You'd have to have it with yourself first," the girl replied. Samus gave her a dark look, huffed, then entered the dome once more. The girl closed the doors after her and prepared to lower the shields the minute the space dragon showed any sign of extreme aggression.

Metroid

Samus approached Ridley in her power suit. He was watching her warily. She examined his bindings. The girl had brought her the tools she would need to release him. It was just a matter of where to start. What would make him feel most free? She looked him over and her eyes settled on his wings. Steeling herself, she went to them and began to work on them. It took a while, but soon the metal shell on one fell away. Ridley immediately began to flap it, trying to get out. She went around him and began to work on the other. The second that it too was off, he shrieked and began beating them in determination.

"You're not getting off the ground, Ridley. We're not even close to that step yet," Samus said, walking around front. His neck and beak were next. It was risky unleashing a weapon so powerful, but after the wings, those would be what made him feel most free. Then she would release his tail to give him a sense of security, then his arms and legs, then his body considering he hadn't ripped his way out of the rest of the bindings by then. At that point, she would have to ready herself for a fight. Just in case.

She got to work on the spiked collar and soon opened it, letting it fall away. He tried to lift his head, but she seized his beak, pulling him sharply back down. He narrowed his eyes at her in annoyance but settled. She set to work on the metal muzzle and soon loosened it enough to get it off. Seizing it, she jerked it away from his face and cast it to the ground. His head shot into the air and an enraged roar echoed throughout the biodome. Samus saw the woman shudder behind the glass. Other observers did as well. This was becoming a spectacle. She huffed in annoyance but pressed on. She went to his tail as he continued to roar and began to fire plasma at the researchers behind the supposedly impenetrable dome. While he threw his little fit, she got to work on his barb. He stopped raging and sharply turned his head to her, eyes narrowed. She unleashed it quickly enough and he immediately made as if to stab her before stopping just short, recalling that she was the one setting him free. Growling, he lowered it. "That's right. You keep that tail out of my face." He snarled, baring his teeth.

She got to work on his limbs and soon had released his arms and his talons. Shrieking, he swiped at the chains holding him down to the ground. Samus moved quickly back, watching Ridley hack and slash and bite at them. She frowned. "You're going to break your teeth or hurt yourself, Ridley! Stop!" she shot. "Let me help you!" He sharply spun on her, shrieking in rage. "What, you want to go until you're toothless or break off your talons?"

He growled at her but calmed down ever so slightly, reluctantly relenting. She went to his chains and began to release them, starting with his legs. Then she finished off the rest. The moment he was free, he screeched and took off into the air, slamming his body against the dome trying to break out to slaughter everyone he saw. The dome held firm, though. Samus crossed her arms, eyes narrowing. Ridley continued to attack and barrage the dome, and inevitably the alarm was sounded and shields began to lower. He was making them nervous. Too nervous to be ignored. "You'll only make him worse!" she called to Doc's daughter. The woman hesitated, then stopped. "A transparent shield would be better suited," Samus said. The woman looked puzzled, then glanced towards her father in the observation room. Doc pursed his lips then inserted some commands into a computer. Soon another shield began to descend, covering the dome from the inside. This one was indeed transparent, to Samus' relief. She backed away to the door and slipped quickly outside. It was closed fast behind her and she sighed, watching as Ridley threw his little tantrum.

"Is he going to stop?" the young woman with her nervously asked.

"No. Not until he exhausts himself. You'd better hope that dome is as unbreakable as your father claims, or everyone here is in trouble. Deep, deep trouble," Samus said. The woman looked nervously back. Samus watched Ridley silently, arms crossed.

Metroid

She dreamt that night. It was more a nightmare, really. There was darkness and then his glowing eyes opened in the inky black, staring directly into her soul. She heard his growl and his shriek. She saw shattering glass as his wings spread wide and he took to the sky. She heard terrified shrieks. They sounded so real…

She jolted awake with a gasp and held her breath, trying to determine whether it really had just been a dream or if her subconscious had been warning her of something. There was silence, but she couldn't shake the feeling something was wrong, so she got up. She should probably check on him anyway.

She made her way to the biodome and entered the observation room high above ground level. She paused. Doc was there looking gravely down into the dome. Frowning, she walked over to him and looked down as well. Her heart skipped a beat and her breath caught in her throat. Ridley was laying on the ground utterly still.

"The researchers found him this way when they came in this morning. The working theory is either he drove himself to death by exhaustion, or his heart gave out from the stress. They reported the unfortunate incident to me immediately," he said. Samus was silent. "A retrieval team will enter soon to collect his corpse. An autopsy will give us true cause of death."

"He isn't dead," she said. He looked at her, frowning curiously. She turned to him, meeting his eyes. "I've seen this trick before. It's a common tactic used by hatchlings. Play dead, lure in your prey, catch them off guard, and slaughter them. Don't send anyone inside. Call off the retrieval party or he'll kill them all. I'll get in my power suit and deal with him myself."

"Very well," the man agreed, nodding. She nodded back and left to get her power suit, sighing heavily. That Ridley was trying to escape was not a good sign. At all. It meant that he wasn't going to be contained much longer, and when he got out there would be hell to pay. She had to nip this in the bud ASAP. Or at least try to.

Metroid

The entered the observation deck once more after getting into her power suit. "You were right," Doc said. She frowned, curious, and approached, peering down. Her eyes widened. Ridley was nowhere to be seen. Which meant he had gone into stealth mode. Which meant he was growing more determined and feeling more threatened. Which meant they were all in trouble now.

"Dammit. You took your eyes off him, didn't you?" she asked.

"To watch after you as you left," he confirmed. "When I looked back, Ridley was gone."

"Dammit Ridley," she testily said, sounding annoyed. She sighed and shook her head. "This isn't good. He's through playing nice now. He wants out, and he won't stop until he's escaped."

"He's your responsibility, Ms. Aran," Doc answered. She frowned at him then looked back down. "Our radars have picked up an unfamiliar space vessel approaching. Threat level high," Doc soon said.

"The Space Pirates. They've come for their Commander," she said. "Maybe that's why he's restless. Because he senses them too."

"They won't get far. They will be brought down like any other aerial threat," he said.

"Then tramp their way over here and massacre everyone they see," Samus flatly replied. "Hmm… Those artifacts. Where did you find them?"

"On this planet," the man answered.

Samus felt her heart drop. "Here? Seriously?" she asked. He nodded. "Dammit Doc!" she exclaimed. "You might have built a research laboratory in the middle of a hornet's nest! No one knows the planet the Space Pirates originated from. Not what it is or where it is. They claim every world they conquer as their home world! But from the sounds of things, you and your team might have stumbled right onto the real one. Why else would ancient artifacts and carvings of their race be here?" She looked back into the dome. "It might also explain why they view Ridley's species as godlike. I don't know what happened all those years ago, to cause the Space Pirates to begin to revere them, but it must have been big. Really big."

"You'll have your answers soon enough, Ms. Aran. After we bring down their ship, we intend to capture every surviving pirate aboard," he replied.

"Are you insane?!" she demanded.

He looked sharply at her, eyes narrowed. "We devised a weapon powerful enough to obliterate those of your space dragon's species in a single shot. What makes you think we aren't prepared for this as well?"

"You're going to doom everyone in this facility," Samus hissed. "Including your daughter!"

"We'll see about that," he answered.

"This is madness!" she protested.

"Ridley is your responsibility, Samus. Leave his minions to me," the man answered.

"You know what? Fine. If you want to learn the hard way, be my guest. Be sure you don't end up regretting your choices," she darkly replied, throwing back the same argument he'd earlier used on her. He harrumphed and said nothing.

Metroid

Samus stood in the dome looking around for Ridley. Her every sense was primed for the slightest change that would betray his location to her. She felt a gust of air from behind and whipped around instinctively, but of course by that time he was already gone. She was still, scanning for him carefully. He was most definitely aware of the Space Pirate presence, but there was precious little he could do about it, as far as Samus knew. Not that he seemed to be too interested in trying. He had yet to even emerge from hiding.

"They're coming for you, Ridley," she soon said. No response. "They'll be shot down, though, and the survivors will be captured. They'll be interrogated for information. Possibly even tortured." Silence. "I can't help them, Ridley. I won't. Only you can." She heard a low rumbling and looked quickly over in time to see Ridley creeping from the shadows and stalking towards her. He stopped short, glaring with narrowed eyes. "I know you have no genuine loyalty to them, but they have their uses to you. Just like I do."

"What use are you to me if they are coming?" he asked after a moment.

"Are you so certain they'll be victorious in a fight?" Samus asked.

"Measly scientists versus vicious warriors," Ridley said.

"Measly scientists who developed a laser so potent it one-shot almost an entire murder of your kind," she answered. Ridley growled, baring his teeth. "It won't be the only weapon they've developed over the years. If they've survived on a planet as hostile as this one for so long, then clearly they have something going for them." He shrieked at her. "Is this the true Space Pirate home world?" she asked. He was quiet. "Artifacts were found here. Ancient carvings and etchings. They depicted the space pirates in a form I've never seen before. I can only assume their true form. They depicted your kind too. All over the artifacts. In one, many of them soared in the skies high above, circling the central and largest one of them all… Was it you?" Ridley was quiet, glaring at her. "In another etching the pirates bowed low to the ground while one of your kind stood high upon a pile of corpses, shrieking to the skies." He stayed quiet. "Their working theory is that either you're a subspecies of your kind that's larger, faster, more powerful, and more durable than the rest, or that perhaps you've been around far longer than anyone has begun to realize. So, which is it?" Silence. "For how long has the Cunning God of Death lived?" she pressed. He huffed and turned from her, moving away. "Ridley!" she shouted after him. He growled back at her. "Just give me answers."

Ridley glared. At last, though, he turned around and lay down, eying her up. Finally, he huffed again. "This world is hostile. It has always been. But so many delicacies. Crunchy, juicy delicacies. Delicious treats not found on my home world, if my kind come here to hunt them. The Space Pirates feared us, but they were not among those delicacies. We had no use for them. But they led us to nests. They sacrificed the cicadas to us in droves in an effort to spare their own lives. Lives that were never in danger to begin with because they were not tasty. They were not juicy. The pirates did not like the cicadas. The cicadas attacked them at every opportunity, hunting ants swarming living prey and consuming it alive. Their numbers became greater than the numbers of the Space Pirates. Like locusts consuming everything in their path, they swarmed over the surface of the planet. The Space Pirates believed the end was upon them. Despite all their power and military prowess, numbers overwhelm even the best. They knew they would not survive. But it so happened that that day there was a mass migration of my kind. They would swarm the planet. They would hunt to their hearts' contents. They would gorge on the delicacies that resided there. The Pirates would lead them to feasts greater than they could imagine. They saw the attack, the cicadas swarming and devouring and massacring. We would not stand for it. They were destroying those who led us to trough, those who we used to our advantage to help find our provisions. The Space Pirates had proven of great use to us where they were not before. We did not desire their extinction, so we brought retribution and annihilation upon the cicadas instead. We slaughtered them and gorged ourselves and continued to slaughter until every last one of them that had dared come to the surface was massacred. We piled the uneaten bodies all together. A food store we could return to when we pleased. They did not decay quickly. We saved the Pirates from destruction that day, and from then on, they viewed us as gods and saviors and protectors of their kind. I suppose in a sense we were."

"You had formed a sort of symbiotic relationship between your two species," Samus said.

"We were of benefit to each other," Ridley confirmed.

"That explains the etching of droves of your kind filling the skies and circling around a central figure," Samus said. "Who, though, was that figure? Your sire? Yourself?"

Ridley shrugged. "I have little memory of that time," he said.

"You claimed you didn't remember your home world," she said. "How, then, do you remember that event?"

He considered his answer, tapping his beak with a talon as he thought back looking somewhat puzzled. Soon he frowned and looked at her again. "There is an earth legend. About a bird who continuously dies and is reborn from the ashes left behind."

"The phoenix," she said.

"I am the phoenix," he stated. "Only some things are lost in translation sometimes, and other things are simply forgotten when they have no further use to me in regards to survival. Events that happened during my adult stages, and late adolescent ones, remained. Most memories from my infancy and early adolescent stages were forgotten unless particularly significant or pertinent to survival. If Zebes is what I remember, then Zebes was what was important to my survival. The figure in this etching you speak of could well have been me. It could also have been my sire. I could not say because that was not information pertinent to remember. It had no bearing on survival." She was quiet, digesting this. "Does the doctor think me a god?" he soon asked.

"No. But he knows that the Space Pirates do," Samus replied. "And maybe he has entertained the possibility of you being at least godlike, in some ways." Ridley huffed. There was silence for a moment before she looked at him. "What about the other etching? The one with a figure standing high on a pile of bodies, screeching to the skies while the Space Pirates bowed before him?"

"That one was me," he answered. "They slaughtered my murder. They slaughtered my hen and hatchlings. They tried to slaughter the Pirates. So I slaughtered them first. That it happened on this particular planet was forgotten to be, because it was not pertinent."

"Who slaughtered your murder and hen and hatchlings?" she asked.

"Humans," he said, sneering in disgust. "None lived to bring news of this place back to others."

"So that's why you hate us," she said.

"You attribute too much human feeling to something that is not," he replied. "Animals are not so petty. At least not in that same sense. A threat is a threat, no matter the species. It is not a matter of hatred or love or fondness or disgust. It never is. Not for us. Unless a specific enemy or type of enemy has proven particularly persistent."

Samus frowned at the shade he'd thrown her way, eyes narrowing. "Like humans," she said. "It's nothing personal, is it? It's never been anything personal. Not with you. Not like it is for me. You don't get that either though, do you? Why I've made it so personal. I'm just a threat to you. My kind in general has proven a threat to your kind's survival, so they have to die. They and everyone else you perceive as any sort of hindrance to your continued existence. They and everyone else you decide would make for a quick, easy meal or a fun plaything. You're like a cat hunting for the fun of it, not just because you're hungry. For as much of a threat as my kind is to yours, your kind is a threat to mine in equal parts." He growled warningly. "You don't understand, do you? You don't get why I haven't killed you yet, even after you've stopped being useful to me. You don't get it because animals don't possess that level of comprehension. Intelligence and comprehension aren't the same. If they were, you'd understand everything, but they aren't." He huffed. She shook her head. "I have to go lie down," she said, turning and walking away.

Ridley glared after her then began nosing at the ground. He suddenly started, then smirked to himself darkly. He glanced after Samus, waiting until she had gone, then turned to the ground and began to dig, covering the hole with his body as he did so. Here he was just out of easy sight of the observation deck. This was a blind spot. It would be the perfect means of causing more trouble for the humans than was safe. Divert their attention, and perhaps he could make an escape for himself as well. If nothing else, he would certainly clear the way for the Space Pirates. Then he would be free and away from these weak, pathetic, squishy humans that would dare to try and cause him harm.

Metroid

Samus lay awake in her bed staring at the roof. She couldn't sleep. She couldn't shake the feeling that Ridley was up to something, and whatever that something was, it wasn't anything good. Sighing in frustration, she climbed out of bed with a frown, took her plasma whip and an extra weapon Doc claimed had power that rivalled her suit's arm-canon, at least at its more basic levels, and made her way down to his enclosure where she could keep an eye on him.

She pushed open the door without hesitation and looked warily around, eyes narrowed. She heard something rustling in the foliage and frowned, approaching the noise cautiously. She started in surprise when a mound of dirt was hucked back at her, hitting her dead on and knocking her down with a grunt. The sound, of course, was different than the sound of dirt hitting ground, so inevitably Ridley shot up looking back at her, ready to go on the attack. He made a questioning noise when he saw Samus sitting in muck looking disgusted as she shook it off. "Ugh, tell me that's not your toilet," she bluntly said, standing up and grimacing as she pushed the mud and dirt off her arms, vastly unimpressed. He growled at her and turned, stalking towards her menacingly. She tensed up and braced herself, dropping warily into a battle-ready pose. "Ridley?" she warily said. He kept coming, growling. "Ridley, stay back. Last warning," she said, raising her weapon at him. He screeched at her, and though her first instinct was to fire, she refrained from doing so. The fragile truce she'd built with Ridley was hanging on by a thread, and it was in neither of their best interests to risk breaking that thread now. Ridley stared at her a moment then huffed and turned back around, skulking into the foliage. Samus let out a longsuffering sigh. A mock charge, she determined. That figured. "What do you think you're doing?" she asked. He looked back at her again, glowing, golden eyes piercing the dark as he stared at her. Involuntarily she shuddered at the bad memories accompanying the sight. Soon he turned around and huffed, settling down on the ground to glare. Samus sighed and lowered her weapon. "Go to sleep big guy." He jabbed his tail in her direction as if pointing to her to make a point. "I can't sleep when every part of me is screaming that you're up to something," she said. He smirked at her but said nothing. Just lay his head down on the ground and closed his eyes. She shook her head at him then made herself comfy against one of the trees, sitting down.

"No power suit," he grumbled.

"You won't try anything. You have no more use to me, Ridley, but I still have use to you," she said.

"Not for long," he replied. Not if his plan worked out.

"Oh? Do tell," she said bluntly. He just made a growl in his throat and went back to trying to sleep. Rolling her eyes, she found herself a soft spot on the ground and lay down on it, keeping a wary eye on Ridley just in case he decided to try something after all. She'd stay awake all night like this if she had to. Currently sleep was the last thing on her mind. When Ridley started plotting, you could never let your guard down. Ever.

Metroid

Samus squeezed her eyes tightly shut and whimpered in her sleep at the nightmare she was having. "No," she said out loud. She began to toss and turn. "No! Ridley, no. Please." Ridley growled, stirring awake at the noise, and lifted his head in annoyance, eyes narrowed as he glared at Samus. He started when he saw tears streaming down her cheeks as she slept. "No, stop! They're my parents! Mama, papa!" He huffed and nosed at her roughly to try and wake her and shut her up. He could, he supposed, just eat her, but if his current plan failed, she was his next best bet. He growled and nudged her roughly again. "Ridley don't! Mom!" she suddenly shrieked, sitting bolt upright. Ridley screeched in defense, reflexively drawing away. She screamed, turning rapidly to him with eyes wide in horror and dread and shock, a cold sweat on her brow and her cheeks still wet with tears that continued falling from her eyes even though she was awake now. He heard her heart racing and frowned warily when he saw fear and shock quickly begin to twist and morph into something far more dangerous to him. Unbridled wrath and hatred. The way she looked at him whenever they were about to fight to the death.

"You psychotic bastard!" she roared, grabbing her weapon and taking aim at him. He started, taken aback, and stared at her like she'd lost her mind. "You killed them! You-you killed them all!" He stared at her, puzzled. Not puzzled over what she was talking about, of course, but puzzled over how she was suddenly acting over it. It wasn't as if it was new news to her. What had happened to her parents and colony and the Chozo was, in fact, the driving force behind her hatred for him.

She gasped, suddenly, and reached up, touching her face in shock. She drew her fingers away from her cheeks and saw they were wet. Crying… She was crying. She shook her head, mouth quivering, and looked back at Ridley. "You don't understand, do you? You just don't understand," she said. He stared at her questioningly. Body shaking in anger and emotion, she suddenly sobbed, lowering her weapon and pressing the heel of her free hand into an eye, aggressively scrubbing at the tears burning it. He remained laying still, looking puzzled and lost. She gritted her teeth, clenching her fist. Suddenly she shouted in wrath and lunged at him, throwing aside the weapon and instead driving both fists into his side. He stared at her dubiously, wondering if she was serious. Or sane. Sans power suit and weapons, she was as good as fodder to him if he chose to make her so. "I don't forgive you!" she shouted. He stared blankly. "I don't forgive you, I don't forgive you, I'll never forgive you!" she continued to say, striking him again and again with every statement. Breaking down, she sank to her knees and covered her mouth, shaking her head. "I can never forgive you," she whispered again.

For a moment he stared at her as she wept and suddenly felt very uncomfortable. Perhaps even a little unsettled and nervous. He had not seen Samus in a state like this before. Not since she was a child. He had known only wrath and hatred from her. To see vulnerability felt… wrong. Not wrong in the sense she was showing it - almost all species were vulnerable sometimes. Especially humans. Even those as strong as Samus - but wrong in the sense that she was showing it to him.

He shifted uncomfortably and some instinctual desire rose from deep within him. The desire to protect your own. Take care of your own. Comfort your own. Your murder, your pack, your colony. He pushed his face towards her with a questioning sound and nudged her with it. She sobbed, placing her hands on either side of it, and bumped their heads together even though his own was pretty well bigger than her whole body. She nuzzled him ever so slightly. He made a sound, closing his eyes and responding to the nuzzle surprisingly gently. "You'll never apologize, will you? You'll never feel guilty for what you did. You're just an animal… So I forgive you, Ridley," she whispered to him. "For that reason alone, I forgive you. Even if you have no idea what that truly means." He withdrew his head curiously and started when she wrapped her arms around his neck. Confused, he held still. Soon, though, he lowered his head to wrap around her body, closing his eyes once more and letting out a huff of air that was almost a sigh. Her grip around his neck tightened, and he responded in kind, applying more pressure to her back. Soon she sniffed and began to gently pet along the scales of his beak and head.

Eventually he withdrew his head from her and laid it down. She sank down next to him and curled against him, closing her eyes and drifting to sleep as she stroked him. He made a contented and pleased sound, drifting off as well to her soothing petting.

Metroid

The both of them were jolted awake at the jarring sound of an explosion and alarms immediately going off. Ridley's head shot up, and Samus jerked awake as well with a gasp. Ridley screeched and took to the air, flying rapidly around the roam shrieking and breathing plasma. The Space Pirates. It had to be! Samus gasped, leaping up, and raced from the dome, running to get to her power suit. She reached her quarters in record time and dressed herself rapidly before darting out, ready for battle. She ran to where the announcements were ordering everyone to gather. She reached it in record time and darted inside. "What's going on?!" she demanded of Doc, though she could already guess the answer.

"The Space Pirates have arrived," he grimly said as others quickly began to filter into the room from all throughout the facility. "Our defenses will inevitably bring them down, but it seems they're hellbent on doing as much damage to our facility as possible before that happens. That means it will be vulnerable to attacks from the cicadas and other native fauna and species, so the sooner we bring the pirates down the better.

"Let me handle it," Samus said, cocking her arm canon. "Any chance my ship is ready?"

"No. Not yet, but almost. Take one of ours," Doc replied, handing her a keycard that would get her into the landing bay and whatever ship she chose. She nodded, taking it, and ran out to deal with the situation at hand.

Metroid

Ridley dug rapidly and frantically down through the dirt, carving his way into the ground until he had pretty well burrowed his way out of the biosphere. He kept going downwards, though, following his nose. He used his plasma to drill his way through faster, then went back to digging. At last he felt himself break out into a chamber and shoved his head through the opening, looking around. He growled, but not in displeasure. In fact, he was quite pleased. The moment he had heard the skittering far below the ground and caught the scent of something deep beneath the facility, he had guessed at what it was. He licked his beak and tunneled his way quickly into the nest, dropping from the sky and screeching in victory, unleashing on the masses of cicadas within and tearing through their tunnels, snapping up as many as he possibly could and drawing attention from all around. As soon as they went on the defensive and moved to try and fly after him to swarm him, he took off back towards his hole. All the while he gleefully massacred any of the insectoids that came near to him, ripping them apart and devouring them by the score.

He shot up through the hole he had dug and into the biosphere. Many followed him up into it, but he was quick to stop up the hole soon after, letting just enough in to cause the scientists to become alarmed. Or Samus. Preferably Samus. Samus, you see, would likely let him out. The scientists were as likely to douse the place with an acid or poison mist, killing him and the cicadas all, as they were to release them. In the wake of an attack, though, he knew their self-preservation instinct would kick in, and the humans would flee like rats from a sinking ship to some inner protected chamber. Samus, though, would face the danger, so Samus was the one who would find him and 'save' him.

Metroid

Samus raced through the complex, making for the landing bay. Suddenly she heard a shriek and slid to a stop, gasping. "Ridley," she said. Quickly she ran for the viewing deck and peered into the dome. Her eyes widened. Cicadas were flooding it! How had they gotten in?! Had they tunneled up from some underground nest? That wasn't impossible, she noted. Not if the biodome was built on top of one. "Ridley!" she exclaimed.

Ridley screeched at Samus as the cicadas swarmed him. He barrel rolled to get them off. In the process, he dove for the rock and struck it, purposefully knocking it off the hole and letting the angered creatures pour out. Samus gasped and immediately raced to the door. She reached it in record time and pulled the lever that would release it and let him out. Ridley tore towards it, darting out, and she quickly shut it behind him. He ripped the cicadas off himself, landing next to Samus, and screeched at them before devouring the mass of them, chasing the creatures around as they tried to escape.

He froze when he heard the evacuation warning going off, then turned to her growling. She was glaring back at him, eyes narrowed. "As if I'd let you wander free while any of those researchers were still inside."

"You were always too clever for your own good, Samus!" Ridley spat at her, advancing menacingly on all fours. Screeching, he lunged at her to try and devour her. She sprang nimbly out of the way, rolling, and turned to him. He looked sharply over then let out that rare, enraged roar that echoed through the facility.

"You know how this ends if you try, Ridley," she warned only once before racing away from him to make for the landing bay. He looked after her in disbelief, then growled and went on the chase. She spun, shutting a door behind her and slowing him down from his pursuit. She ran the rest of the way to the landing bay, closing every door she came across and locking it down. It gave both herself and the researchers, as well as other personelle in this base, time to evacuate to safety. She reached the landing bay and shut the door behind her, panting for breath. She heard Ridley's screeches and roars echo through the facility in rage. She huffed and ran to one of the ships, a military one. Quickly she boarded it and started it up, taking off quickly to drive off the Space Pirates.

As expected, the Space Pirates wasted no time in turning to face this new challenge. They never shied away from any battle. If it promised bloodshed, they were instantly upon it. She unleashed on their ship, forcing it to dodge both her own weapons and the facility's. They fired upon her in turn. Ridley's roars echoed from the complex below and left no questions as to what sort of monster was being harbored there. She focused her attentions on the Space Pirates, peppering them with lasers in an effort to bring them down. She was kept on her toes, dodging the facility's anti-aircraft weapons as well, so they were proving as much a problem to her as they were to the Pirates. She really wished her ship was repaired. It would have had these pirates down by now. They took off high into the sky, baiting her upwards, but going higher would also mean becoming more a target to the anti-aircraft weapons. On the other hand, staying low was making her a sitting duck for the Pirates. Her military ship was taking far too many attacks for her to be comfortable with.

With a frustrated sound she took off higher into the air and began to pepper the pirates once more with unyielding attacks. There were two ships, she noted. One was coming at her from the side. Likely the one that had tried to blow up the facility. She needed to end this fast. At last she managed to bring down the first one, sending it plummeting to the ground in a ball of fire. It exploded on impact and she turned attention to the second ship. Now five separate anti-aircraft weapons were firing, though, with a sixth about to open fire as well. The defenses for this place really were top notch, she wryly noted. Unfortunately for her. If she played this smart, though, she could use them to her advantage to take down the second Space Pirate ship. She wove in and out of the lasers, focused entirely on avoiding being shot down by them. The Pirates, she knew, would be more reckless. Given how durable their ships were, they could afford to be, but eventually the shields would give out. Then they were as good as gone.

All at once a laser struck her ship and she shouted in alarm when the whole thing shuddered and critical warnings began flashing. She cursed, looking around it. It was still in the air, so that was something. She flew up into the sky and looped backwards, flying over top of the Pirate's Ship and straightening out behind it. Immediately she unleashed every single weapon the ship had in its arsenal, striking the enemy vessel. It groaned and creaked and slowly began to turn downward, going into a death spiral. She let out a breath. Now to get down for herself in one piece. She flew up high so she could get a better angle on landing, but suddenly a Pirate Ship uncloaked itself near at hand. She hardly had time to gasp before they barraged her own ship with a wave of weapons, blowing it to smithereens! She barely had time to register pain and heat before she found herself plummeting through the air as the six lasers struck the last remaining pirate ship at once, obliterating it as thoroughly as they'd obliterated her own.

She found herself freefalling, plummeting through a mass of flames and plasma and debris towards inevitable demise. She could hear the lava river below roaring and crackling. Her heart rushed a mile a minute as she tried to activate her power suit's thrusters. They failed and all she could do was hope and pray she survived this somehow.

Then she heard the unearthly shriek, and any hope she had of survival fled…

Her eyes widened slowly behind her helmet when she beheld the massive, terrifying mess of scales, talons, and teeth rising before her grinning wickedly, eyes ablaze and grand wings spread wide. Ridley! It all seemed to happen in slow motion. Ridley reached out his taloned hand to seize her and she was met by a hundred different flashbacks and nightmares she would have just as soon forgotten. She held her breath, fully expecting him to finish her for himself once and for all. It was clear he needed her no longer. Her welling scream escaped her lips sounding so distant and detached she could have almost believed it hadn't come from her at all. His hand clamped around her and she prepared to be crushed, but to her shock he instead took off into the sky once more, soaring and gliding between the lasers firing rapidly at them, avoiding them like an expert. He plunged towards the landing bay and glided inside, aiming for the doors that he had broken open. He flew through them quickly as one of the lasers fired after him into the corridor. He banked sharply left and soared down an adjacent hall before landing and looking back as the laser flew passed and struck something much further in. He screeched at it then looked at Samus, still in his hand and now gawking at him in shock and disbelief. Huffing, he set her down and sat, watching her warily.

Metroid

For a long moment, Samus stared at him in disbelief. "R-Ridley," she at last found her voice to say. He screeched at her then scratched himself and shook his head before sniffing at the air and growling. He looked at her again and grinned, eyes narrowing. She stepped back from him. He began to approach her and she kept distance between them before stopping herself from backing away and narrowing her eyes at him instead. He looked down at her smirking as he crept passed and peered down the hallway in either direction. He slipped into it and went back in the direction of the biodome. She jogged out into the hallway after him and watched as he went. This wasn't good, she noted to herself. She went to a computer nearby and began trying to contact Doc.

"Samus, did you take care of them?" Doc questioned.

"I… yeah. Did you and the others get out?" she asked.

"I remained," he answered. "A few others as well, who refused to leave. Though not all"

His daughter, Samus knew, would have refused to leave her father, but Doc would have had none of that and sent her away anyway. "You need to get out, Doc. All of you. Ridley's loose."

"You will control him or our defenses will," Doc coldly answered. "I will show your pet no mercy, Samus. Not with lives at stake. If he rampages, he dies."

She ground her jaw in frustration. "We'll see about that," she coldly replied. Cutting off communications, she narrowed her eyes and went in pursuit of Ridley who, of course, was out of sight by now. She sighed. Here they went again.