.

Lost World

She had no idea how long she wandered searching for Ridley, but it was too long. Either he was watching her right now, or he had gotten further than she had thought he would in less time than she'd imagined. She was running out of corridors to check. She wondered in frustration why every facility she went into had to be so complicated. She checked a map of the place and traced her finger along it. She paused, frowning curiously when she noticed a room marked hazardous. It wasn't unlikely Ridley would be drawn to such a place, so he might have gone there. It was as good an area to check as any, she supposed. She made her way through the complex, heading towards the room in question.

It wasn't long before she found it. Something about it unsettled her, and she wondered briefly if it was going to be worth it to enter. Sighing, she unlocked it with the keycard and the door slid open. Mist poured out and she shivered in the cold air. That was weird. Frowning, she walked inside and looked around for a light. They came on automatically and she winced, covering her eyes before blinking rapidly with a frown and opening them again. When she did so, her lips slowly parted in horror. "Oh god…" she whispered in shock, pale.

All around her, strung up or pinned to the walls, were creatures of Ridley's species in varying stages of life! Some dangled from the roof stuffed. Others were pinned to the wall spread eagled as if ready for dissection. She looked numbly around and saw various dead eggs in storage, and in tubes deceased infants. She held her head in her hands, her breathing speeding up. Oh god. Oh god! This was their specimen room, she realized with a chill. This was where they stored and worked on and experimented with specimens of Ridley's species to try and manufacture weapons and poisons that would work against them. Females, males, adolescents, hatchlings… They were all here. Molts as well, and sheds. She saw the corpses of the ones that had been shot down in front of her, and the shattered eggs that had come from the pregnant female. She swallowed thickly. She needed to get out of here. Now. How had they discovered adolescent specimens and larva?! Maybe they weren't as oblivious to the location of Ridley's planet as they had claimed…

She heard Ridley's footsteps clacking down the halls, lumbering towards her. Gasping, she left the room quickly and shut it behind her, visibly shaken. She locked it up tight and leaned against it just as Ridley came around the corner and started upon seeing her. He growled, hunching down threateningly, then seemed to sense how shaken she was and frowned, sniffing the air. He looked passed her at the door questioningly, then to her once more.

"H-hey big guy," she said. He tilted his head warily at her and looked at the door again. Huffing, he went towards it. "No!" she sharply shot. "No," she repeated again. "There's nothing in there for you, Ridley. Nothing. What are you still doing here? Your wing's better, right? Then go. Just go." He growled at her. "Listen to me. Please. There's nothing in this room worth seeing. Nothing. Come on. Let's just get out of here. Let's leave this planet behind and never look back. We'll find your home world. We'll find your kind. You don't want to see what's inside." Ridley, visibly unsettled and wary, looked at the door again. "Ridley, you don't want to see what's in there," she repeated, shaking her head. "Just-just come with me, okay? Come on. Let's go," she coaxed, moving away from the door and trying to beckon him along. "Trust me. There is nothing inside you want to see."

Ridley shifted, watching after her, then looked back at the door. He shifted again then turned, following her away from it before suddenly stopping. "Ridley? Ridley, no. Don't," Samus said. She knew, though, that if he had set his mind to it, there was nothing she could do to stop him. She was the same. Growling, he suddenly turned and screeched, unleashing a plasma blast that blew open the door. She closed her eyes tight, inwardly damning fortune. Ridley recoiled at the smell then growled darkly. Instantly he shot towards it at lightning speed and froze inside, rooted to the spot. Samus let out a breath and followed him numbly. She stopped in the doorway and watched, lips pursed, as he looked around wide-eyed and slack-jawed in shock at what he was seeing. Slowly he surveyed the room. He didn't even make a sound, but she could sense to her core the pain and anger radiating off him. She saw him begin to quake with suppressed wrath, maybe even more than wrath, and bowed her head.

"Ridley," she said, voice breaking. Ridley crept towards the containers with the dead hatchlings inside and nosed at them. He backed away, sitting on his haunches and staring. His bared his teeth and darkly started to growl. All at once he rose up, shrieking in wrath so loudly that the whole base quivered and Samus had to throw off her helmet to cover her ears, gritting her teeth. Every piece of glass in the room shattered around them, say the glass in her helmet thanks to Chozo technology. Even still she eventually was forced to cry out in pain and sink to a knee, holding her head in her hands and gritting her teeth. She screamed in agony and Ridley froze, looking sharply back at her with eyes narrowed. She looked up at him with a gasp. He stared at her darkly, then looked around the room again at the corpses on display. He nosed at the hatchlings once more as if some instinctual part of him was trying to wake them up, then grimaced and looked away in disgust.

"Ridley, let's just go. Let's just leave and never look back. We can destroy the defenses, we can bring this whole facility down, just… just come with me," she said. Screeching, he tore passed her, racing down the halls. She let out a breath and quickly tried to patch through a call to Doc again.

"Samus," she heard him greet.

"You psychopath!" she exclaimed, voice breaking.

"What?" he asked.

"He found your goddamn specimen room!" she snapped.

"That explains the unearthly shriek," the man said calmly.

"You disgusting… How can you be so twisted?" she snapped.

He was silent. Soon he sighed. "I'm not going to make excuses to you. It was all in the pursuit of science. That's all. It always is," he said. "Most were dead when they were collected, others were dying, and a choice few survived. Some gave birth to eggs before dying, or gave birth while in captivity. Those eggs survived and hatched. The orphans died out quickly. We were charged to observe them, nothing else. No interference, nothing. The ones with a living parent lasted a little longer until the orders came to dispose of the specimens when high command felt we had learned all we could from them."

"High command?" she asked. "You're not high command?"

"I'm in charge of the facility, but even the boss has his bosses," he answered.

"The Federation?" Samus asked.

"Initially," he confirmed. "Until a darker branch of them began to breakaway and start making decisions that were questionable at best. I don't call them the Federation anymore. My memories of the Federation are good ones from back before corruption started to seep in. I would just as soon preserve those recollections, thank you very much. The breakoff branch overseeing us are not Federation, but we remain under their thumbs nonetheless."

"You're just following orders," she said in disgust.

"Do you not follow the orders of those who employ you?" he asked.

"Don't try and play mind games with me," she hissed. "Get the hell out of here. You and all the survivors. If you don't leave now, you won't leave at all. Ridley's on the hunt, and he will find you. All of you."

"Very well," he replied.

"Do you know where his home planet is?" she asked darkly.

Doc was quiet. "Yes," he finally admitted. "But only a choice few of us do. And that information will never, can never, fall into the hands of our overseers. You and I both know what they would do to that world if they ever discovered its location."

"You and I both know what they would try to do," she corrected.

He hummed in response. "Your ship is waiting for you. My cohorts and I have finished its repairs. Now it is as ready as it will ever be," he said.

"What?" she said. "You… that was the reason you stayed?" she asked in disbelief.

"I didn't lie to you when I told you that your parents were dear friends of mine," he said. "I promised them long ago, when you were an infant, that should anything happen to them I would watch over you. Then I was sent away and never could. So, I'm doing it now. Take your ship and leave. Get out while you still can. I'll ping you its location. I've disabled the facility's air defenses. Nothing will hinder you anymore." With that, he cut contact. She let out a shaking breath and looked in the direction Ridley had gone. She had to get him out of here. There was only one way to drive him out at this point, though. Overwhelm him with numbers. Eyes narrowing, she set off for the biodome that was probably now packed with cicadas.

Metroid

As she walked through the facility, heart heavy, she could hear his screeches echoing throughout the complex as he ripped it apart searching for any hidden humans. She kept going until she reached the dome. She stopped outside it, staring up. Sure enough, it was packed with cicadas desperately trying to get out. Drawing a breath, she reached out and pressed the button that would open the doors. She didn't stick around to be swarmed. She bolted, using her thrusters to fly away as quickly as possible. The thundering thrum of a thousand wings echoed behind her. A constant, deafening drum. She headed straight towards where her ship supposedly was. She heard Ridley's shrieks, distant but there.

She shut as many doors behind her as she could to slow the cicadas and made it out onto the facility's rooftop. Ahead of her stretched a runway. At the end of that runway she saw her ship fully repaired and functioning. Behind that ship was another building, small and unassuming. That must be where Doc had been with those who had remained behind with him. Doubtless he wasn't there anymore. She turned off the thrusters, alighting to the ground, and looked back at the facility hearing Ridley's shrieks filling it. Her heart felt heavier than she would have thought it would. She would never see him again… She reminded herself that he always found her, always, and that she couldn't let her guard down. Another part of her, though, knew that this time there would be no return. He would find his planet. He would roost there. He had come into her life with a bang, he would leave it with a whisper, and that was that. Part of her felt relieved. The other part felt… she didn't know. Empty. What once would have been joy and celebration was now nothing, and she wasn't sure how she felt about that. Bowing her head, she turned and walked towards her ship. Ridley's shrieks echoed beneath her and spews of plasma every so often broke out of the facility as he destroyed it. She didn't know where the scientists and researchers had gone, and at this point she frankly didn't care. She just wanted to get out of here and leave this all behind.

As she approached her ship, she suddenly heard noises and frowned, looking cautiously around. Her eyes widened when she saw a swarm of cicadas closing in on the facility. She cursed loudly and began to open fire on them, trying fruitlessly to thin them out enough that she would stand a chance. Numbers overwhelmed, though, and these numbers were definitely high enough to overwhelm. She gave up trying to shoot them down and ran towards her ship. All at once, though, a swarm of the cicadas began to crawl up from the sides, covering the runway and zoning in on her. She cursed again and opened fire on the lot of them, backing away as they pressed in on her from all sides. Now she really, really wished the defenses were back up. At least they'd get rid of the flying ones, if not the ground bound group.

All at once Ridley broke through the runway with a screech, appearing between her and the cicadas before roasting them all with his plasma and crawling out of the hole he'd punched through the facility. He growled, looking up at the sky, then sniffed the air and started, turning sharply to her. She tilted her head and lowered her arm canon. "Just in time, big guy," she said. He screeched at her, looked back up at the sky, and roared, unleashing plasma at the cicadas. They, though, were not deterred. Samus ran to Ridley and leapt onto his back. He made a startled sound and turned his head to look at her. "Let's get out of here before we can't anymore," she said. He looked questioningly at her ship, then grimaced when he saw the cicadas swarming it. It was beyond his understanding, and probably hers as well, what had them so interested in it. Another thing beyond their understanding was why Ridley was willing to help her at all, now that he had no use for her. "Even if I could get into my ship, it doesn't have the maneuverability to get through this mess. You do. I can autopilot it to my location later. Right now, though, we have to move. Come on Ridley, let's go!"

Ridley screeched and took off into the sky breathing his plasma. Samus took to firing her arm canon at anything that got too close while Ridley zipped in and out among them, nimbly avoiding their attacks and circling back to wipe them out in droves. Samus held on tight with her legs and free hand, not ceasing in her firing even once, and Ridley suddenly bolted for the sky high above. He was heading for outer space and getting there quickly. The world seemed to pass by in a blur as he continuously picked up speed. Grimacing, she got low to his body and pressed herself tight against it to cut down on the wind resistance and minimize her chances of falling off. Screeching, he set his eyes on his goal and focused entirely on it, trusting Samus to hold on tight enough to survive.

Samus, eyes closed, knew immediately when Ridley at last reached space due to the significant gravity changes and statistics her suit was spewing out. It had taken a while to get up there, sure, but here they were. Opening her eyes, she looked up and all around before looking back down at the planet far below and letting out a breath of air. She wasn't concerned about running out of oxygen up here. Chozo technology was good like that, and their DNA in her body didn't hurt either. "Nice work big guy," she said, activating the autopilot on her ship. He screeched. She smiled a little. Lazily he crossed the starlit skies, relishing in his freedom and healed wing. Sighing a little, Samus lay down on him and closed her eyes, hugging him around the neck. He made a sound of approval and she smiled once more…

Metroid

She wasn't sure when she had drifted off. She awoke gently, though. No nightmares tainted her dreams this time. She breathed deeply in through the nose and lifted her head, looking around. Her eyes slowly widened and she stopped breathing for a moment when she saw what was before them. Far below was a planet lush with green and blue. Her lips slowly parted in awe. Far below she saw a murder of Ridley's kind soaring down towards the lush forests.

"How long have you been following them?" she asked in disbelief. He just huffed a sound and didn't answer, going after them once more. They paused, looking back and waiting for him. "You met them," Samus noted.

"In the thick astral cloud hiding this planet," he said. "They approached. They wished to go to the Cicadas. They wished to hunt. They wished to know who I was. Where I had come from. Why I was alone. They wished to know why I was carrying food on my back instead of in my mouth."

"And you told them what, exactly?" Samus asked.

"I told them they did not want to go to the cicadas and to turn back for now. I told them I was alone because long ago I had been taken far, far away, lost in the depths of space. Unable to find my way home or remember it. I told them you were not food," Ridley replied.

"Did they ask you what I was then?" she asked.

"I told them you were useful. They cared to know no more. They tried to take you. I wouldn't let them. They learned quickly whose morsel you were," Ridley answered. He pursued them gracefully. Samus looked around her in awe and wonder as they neared the surface, so close now that she could see the mountains and cliffs and forests.

"It's beautiful," she said. The murder screeched and wove through cliffs. Ridley followed them and Samus was stunned at the beauty of the waterfalls pouring down between them. Ridley split off from the rest and came to rest on the cliff, shaking his body off from the mist of the falls and looking around, scanning all that was below him. Samus was still trying to process everything she was seeing. This planet teemed with life, filled with various creatures that, like Ridley, appeared similar to advanced forms of dinosaurs, though not the same. She saw some that looked like Kraid and couldn't help but stare in wonder. "This place… it's amazing," she said. It was alive, diverse, a little unsettling if only for the danger factor… She couldn't help but be in awe of it. Ridley was tentative and cautious, looking all around. They heard the shrieks of the murder again and looked quickly over. They were approaching once more and soon hovered in front of Ridley. Ridley was bigger than all of them, so it seemed that perhaps Doc had been right and Ridley was a subspecies of his kind. They screeched and Ridley perked up ever so slightly, seemingly intrigued. "What did they say?" Samus asked.

"Hunt with us," he replied, smirking darkly. Samus frowned and slid carefully off his back, looking warily up at him. He screeched and took off into the sky. They began to circle a group of long-necked creatures that seemed to be herbivores by nature. Those creatures looked up, unsettled by the circling predators, and began to fuss and try to get away. The murder dove with shrieks, zoning in on one, and descended upon it. It bellowed in outrage. Samus held her breath. They focused only on one because the creatures were enormous. They dwarfed even Ridley in size and appeared to be a sort of advanced form of a brachiosaurus.

"Anorexic pterodactyl," Samus said, folding her arms and shaking her head. "Looks like I wasn't so far off after all." Ridley, she noted, seemed to hesitate, unsure of how to tackle prey of this size. He flew around it looking uneasy while the others began to pull it to the ground. Soon, though, he seemed to find his courage and dove at it, sinking his teeth into its neck and jerking it violently to the ground before mangling and tearing out its throat, killing it swiftly. He screeched to the sky and plunged face first into the fresh meat, devouring it in hungry gulps. Samus' eyes widened. She'd never seen him eat like that before! But then again, maybe there had never been enough for him to be able to… She winced at that thought. He was an invasive species outside this solar system. An invasive species forced to feed on miniscule prey that was far from plentiful and less than filling. She had always assumed he gorged himself on his slaughtered enemies. Now she was beginning to suspect he had rationed himself instead… That or had never had enough to start with.

Her stomach twisted uncomfortably to think that he had been living in a constant state of starvation ever since he had been removed from his natural habitat. No matter how he seemed to gorge himself on his conquests, it was never enough to satisfy him. She watched as he gulped down huge chunks of flesh so hungrily that even the others had to stop and pause to look at him in amazement. After a while, they retreated from the kill and let him eat his way through it until he had filled his gullet as much as it could be filled. Once he had, he crept away licking at his talons and cleaning the blood and meat off them.

When he had his fill, the others returned to the kill as well and began to eat once more. Ridley screeched and took off into the sky, flying back towards her and soon landing on the ledge where he had deposited her. He glared at her, sniffing, then flew towards a waterfall nearby and perched there beneath it, tilting his head back and gulping down the water as it washed away the gore on his body and quenched his thirst. Once he had done that, he flew back to her once more and shook himself off, drenching her in the cool water. She grimaced, but didn't protest. Just frowned at him a bit, unimpressed. "Satisfied?" she asked. He made a contented sound and curled up to sleep. Samus looked towards the rest of the murder, who were steadily picking the corpse clean. What they couldn't eat, they tore off and flew away with, presumably to bring them back to mates and hatchlings. Ridley lifted his head, watching after them as they scattered from one another. He shifted and looked around.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"This is their territory. Their hunting grounds. I am only a guest," he said. "I must find territory of my own or take it from another. I must find a place to roost." A screech echoed out and one of his kind flew up to them and screeched at him once more. He screeched back. The other tilted its head then shrieked in turn and flew upwards. Samus gasped when Ridley seized her and took off into the air after it.

"What's going on?" she demanded.

"He will show me the edges of their territory," Ridley answered. The other led Ridley towards the other side of the mountain range they'd soared through previously. Ridley looked around then screeched at his companion. The other screamed back then left.

"And that?" she asked.

"He wishes me luck," he said. "He says to be wary of the patriarchs and matriarchs."

"The patriarchs and matriarchs? What are those?" she questioned.

"The patriarchs and matriarchs of a murder," he said. "Often the eldest generation who lead their offspring and the offspring of their offspring until they die or grow weary of it. They are the old ones. They will be protective of their offspring and offspring's offspring. They will be dangerous, but I will be more dangerous still."

"Because you're not like the common stock," she said. "You're a phoenix. How do phoenixes come to be?"

"The phoenixes arise when one of my kind survives long enough to molt around fifty to one-hundred or so times. Once they have reached that stage, something within them fundamentally changes. They become the undying ones. The phoenixes who can be reborn from ash time and time again," he said.

"You said the matriarchs and patriarchs led the murders," she noted.

"Murders most often are made up of multigenerational families. The matriarchs and patriarchs are the eldest of those generations still alive," Ridley said.

"Where do the phoenixes fit in on the social hierarchy?" Samus asked.

"The Phoenixes lead several groups of murders. The collective territory of the murders make up the Phoenix's domain," Ridley said. "If I were to equate it to humans, then the Phoenixes are high kings and queens. The matriarchs and patriarchs are lesser kings and queens who rule over sections of a realm, but not the entirety of it."

"Why did the other one warn you to watch out then, if you're more powerful than the matriarchs and patriarchs are?" she asked.

"Because a phoenix without a domain is like a king without a kingdom, deposed and cast aside. Vulnerable. Easy pickings for others like them or for allied murders. Sometimes even a single murder. Numbers can overwhelm even the best."

"How do you gain a realm if you're a foreigner in your own land?" she wondered out loud.

"I steal one," he said. "Fight for territory, fight for possession, or mate with an already ruling phoenix. Which route I take depends on whether the ruling phoenix is a male or female, mated or unmated. An unmated male is dangerous to me. He is a threat. He is competition for mates and food. He must be driven out or he must die. Mated pairs rule together as equals and are volatile. They cannot be chanced in battle. Even less so if they are defending young. An unmated female is ideal, but they will not accept any male who does not impress them."

"And how do unmated males impress them?" she questioned.

"They must prove their strength. They must fight her. They must either overpower her or wear her down to stalemate. If they can, she will submit to them and consent to the mating. If they cannot, then they are too weak to father her offspring and will be driven away like a plague," Ridley said. "Once they have mated successfully, they will bond. From then on they will rule as equals."

"What does an unmated female with no realm have to do to win a male?" she questioned.

"Prove herself a challenge or an equal. If she surpasses him, then he is not worth her time and she takes his domain. A female will never accept a male who cannot at least match her. If they fight to stalemate, or she has impressed him despite a loss, then they will mate," Ridley said. "Oftentimes the females are stronger, so there are many more unmated males than unmated females. For a phoenix, upon successful mating the molts will stop. They will stop because both have achieved a suitable size and strength to win a mate. For the coupled common stock, the molts will continue either until death or until they become phoenixes themselves. Then they will stop, because a mate has already been won and there is no need to molt further to grow bigger and stronger. Should one or the other die, their bond will be lost and the molts will begin anew until another mate is found."

"How do your kind find mates?" she wondered. "Pheromones?"

"In part. But pheromones only matter if you are searching in the right place. Word of mouth can guide you to that right place," he said. "Otherwise, you hope to stumble across the pheromone trail on your own."

She nodded and looked all around her at beautiful world surrounding them. "It's like a prehistoric Earth. Complete with dinosaur-like fauna. I can only imagine the wild theories that would spread if news of this planet got out," she remarked.

"It cannot," Ridley warned too quickly.

"It won't. Not from me," she assured, shaking her head. He growled then screeched, starting to pull off lazy aerial maneuvers. Samus chuckled a bit, admittedly enjoying the ride. Soon he perched at the top of a relatively flat cliff. Her smile slowly fell and she didn't move to disembark. Not at first. Soon, though, she slid off his back and looked back at him. "So, I guess this is it," she said quietly to him.

"Don't pretend at least some part of you is not relieved," he answered.

"I won't," she answered. "But no part of me is thrilled either. Not like it would have once been." She looked around. There was no reason for him to ever leave this place, she noted to herself. It gave him everything he could ever want. Ample prey, ample challenge, ample reward, varied scenery, intellectual equals… There was nothing it lacked for him. "Will you stay here?" she asked anyway.

"What reason do I have to ever leave?" he asked.

Samus closed her eyes. Just as she'd thought. She turned to look back at him. "I never thought I'd say this, but I wish you a good life, Ridley. One far, far, far removed from humans or anything else that isn't native to this solar system." He huffed. She turned to look at the sky. Her ship was flying in, homing in on her location. "Never leave it again," she warned. "If I ever catch wind of you stepping out of line, you know I'll find you."

"You will find me here anyway," he answered, laying down. "No one prevents you from returning. No one prevents you from staying." She was quiet. "Thank you, Samus," he soon said.

She smiled a bit. "Do you really know what that means?" she asked.

"I am only mostly animal, not completely," he answered. "And even then, animals know gratefulness. So thank you for letting me go home instead of killing me when you had the chance."

"You're welcome," she almost whispered. She couldn't bring herself to say more. Her ship came in for a landing and she let out a shaking breath, approaching it. She looked back. He was watching after her in silence. Shaking her head, she opened the door. He screeched and took to the skies, flying away from her. She paused, looking after him woefully, then bowed her head low. Letting out a breath, she turned and entered the ship.

Metroid

Samus looked around her vessel quietly, running her hand along the walls. "Samus, Dragon Rider. I think it has a much better ring to it than Samus, God Slayer," her AI said.

"Adam," she greeted quietly. "I… I've missed you."

"You've softened, lady. Become more comfortable with expressing yourself. Is your dragon the one to attribute such a change to?" Adam asked.

"Let's not talk about him anymore," she said. "He's back where he belongs, and I get the feeling that the galaxy is going to be a much safer place, now that he is."

"For everyone's sake, I hope you're right," Adam replied. "Anthony Higgs has been attempting to contact you. Many, many times now. You have him in a frenzy. You've been missing for too long. Soon he will search for you. Let him find you back on the Pirate home world. It's perhaps best you lead no more people to this place than is absolutely necessary. This is a planet of untapped and valuable resources worth trillions. Rare creatures abound as well. Creatures a great number of scientists would give anything to be able to study."

"Why do you insist on telling me what I already know?" she asked. "Now tell me something I don't. Like what happened to the researchers back on the pirate home world. Did they go underground? Did they follow us? Did they follow my ship?"

"If they did, there's no use in trying to keep this location secret anymore, is there?" Adam somewhat sarcastically replied.

"It was already known to them," she answered. "At least to some of them."

"Then who is to say it wasn't to this planet that they evacuated?" Adam asked.

"Because that would be moronic?" Samus replied.

"Fools step in where angels fear to tread," Adam answered.

Samus was quiet, considering his words. "Scan for any unnatural structures and signals," she finally said, deciding not to take a chance. "Keep on scanning and let me know the minute you pick something up. Seems I'm going on a planet-wide tour."

"And what will you do if you find their backup facility?" he asked.

"I'll worry about that when we figure out whether one even exists," she replied. Adam activated the scans and Samus flew through the sky, keeping an eye out for anything that seemed like it didn't belong in a prehistoric setting such as this.

Metroid

"Samus, incoming transmission. It's from Doc," Adam said a few hours into their search.

She frowned curiously, looking at her screens. "Patch it through," she said.

Soon enough the doctor appeared on the screen, though the video was a bit distorted. "You don't leave well-enough alone, do you Samus?" he asked.

"Humanoid structure detected. High tech," Adam rattled off almost immediately after.

Samus' eyes narrowed and she glared icily at Doc. "Why are you so determined to hunt us down?" the doctor asked tiredly.

"To make certain nothing you're doing will harm this planet, its ecosystem, or anything on it," she replied. "And if it will, then I'll end it."

"This location is purely for observational purposes. Those I work under know nothing about it," he said. "Just leave us in peace, Miss Aran."

"I'm coming, doctor, and I'm going to see for myself whether or not you're on the level," she said.

"I'm beginning to understand why Ridley is so antagonistic towards you," he dryly said.

Samus started and narrowed her eyes. "What's that supposed to mean?!" she demanded.

"Pursue something doggedly enough, inevitably they will grow tired of it. When they do, they will seek either to destroy you once and for all, or simply give in and surrender, accepting their inevitable fate. Ridley, it seems, is not the sort to give in. He would not roll over for you to do with as you pleased for anything. I suppose because his survival depended on it. The most dangerous animals are the ones that are cornered and have nothing to lose. Also those who are defending their young, but clearly young are not in the picture for your little pet," she said.

"He's not my pet," she said through gritted teeth.

"He's your something for certain," Doc said. He sighed. "We will receive you when you arrive. Then I will hide nothing from you. Unlike Ridley, I know when to give up and when struggling is useless. That is a concept your dragon cannot comprehend."

"Guess that's something he and I have in common then," Samus replied.

"Sometimes giving up, putting space between yourself an an opponent, and rethinking your strategy is the wisest course," he said.

"Then that's not surrender, is it?" she replied. "Adam, cut transmission." Adam did so immediately. Samus sighed heavily, closing her eyes.

"You and Ridley… I never thought I'd see the day," Adam soon said. "What changed?"

Samus shook her head. "I started seeing him for what he really was," she said.

"And what is he?" Adam asked.

She closed her eyes. "A wild animal driven by instinct, intelligence, and far more comprehension than is normal for animals, but not enough comprehension to be able to see him as anything but an invasive species who ended up trapped in a world he didn't belong to. It was easier to forgive him then…" She opened her eyes, looking up at the sky. "He was taken from this world. He and others of his kind. What did the space pirates care about unleashing an uncontrolled force into a foreign environment with no controlling factors? They saw a potent weapon and they took it. They brought it some place where nothing could stop it or even challenge it, and they let it go. That foreign world was unprepared for him, vulnerable, caught off guard, and easy pickings… His kind should never have been taken from this place… Driven by animalistic instinct, he bathed that foreign world in blood, unchecked and unhindered by anyone say for me. This place, though…"

"This place is where he belongs. It's a world that can control him, satisfy him, challenge him," Adam said. "It's a world he has no reason to ever leave, and even if he does, to explore the solar system, there's no reason for him to stay away." Samus nodded. "It still surprises me, somewhat, that you chose conservation over extermination in Ridley's case."

"It surprises me too," she said.

"Twenty minutes until we've reached the facility," Adam said. Samus nodded.

Metroid

Samus landed her ship on the roof of the facility where all the others were landed. The place was defended by a protective dome and force field. She disembarked and looked around warily. Admittedly it was a far nicer place than the last one. It even felt peaceful. "Lifeform Ridley detected," Adam rattled in her power suit.

"What?" Samus asked.

"You certain he's not a pet, lady? He's certainly following you like one," he said.

"Why on earth would he be following me?" she suspiciously asked as she searched for a sign of Ridley, a frown on her lips.

"This may be his home planet, but recall that it has been a long, long, long time since last he was here. Likely it's overwhelming for him. Even unsettling. He's still learning what to trust. In environments they aren't familiar with, animals will stick with those they know and trust. What is familiar to them often serves as a comfort, a grounding force, and a protection, as hard as it may be to believe that Ridley views you as any sort of protection. But think about it. He's known you since your infancy. You protected and took care of him on the Pirate home world. You gave him no reason to feel threatened or betrayed when he was vulnerable and at your mercy, and so it's not impossible that perhaps he bonded with you. Animals often become bonded to human caregivers and trainers. Their own kind as well, of course, but clearly that isn't the case with Ridley," Adam said.

She was quiet. "Bonded to me?" she soon said.

"He'll leave when he's ready to, lady. I wouldn't worry about it just yet. Keep an eye on him, monitor his behaviors, and figure out his motives from there. I could very well be wrong," Adam said. Samus was quiet. Part of her suspected he was anything but wrong, and she wasn't sure how to feel about that. She heard his screech echo in the distance and saw a glimpse of him far away, perching on a cliff and staring in her direction. She pursed her lips and hoped he didn't try anything on this facility, when he realized it was here.

Metroid

Samus, sans power suit, met with Doc and his daughter further in the base. It was a section of it surrounded by glass windows all around that gave them a three-hundred-sixty-degree view of the environment. "Samus," the young woman said in relief. "It's good to see you made it out."

"I always do," Samus replied. She frowned at Doc. "Doctor," she coldly said.

"Samus," he greeted, nodding to her.

"Are you going to give me answers, or am I going to have to pry?" she asked.

"I'll give you whatever answers you want," he said.

"But won't volunteer information," she dryly said. "Noted." He didn't snap up the bait. Just gave her a disapproving look. "What purpose do you have here?" she asked.

"Observation and recording," he answered.

"And what are you observing?" Samus asked.

"A particularly large female of Ridley's species. It seems this location is in her territory. For a while she was suspicious, but eventually she grew accustomed to our presence and now tends to ignore it," the man said.

Well, that could either be good or bad news for Ridley, Samus noted to herself. Depending on how strong the female was or whether she was mated. "Have you seen others?" she asked.

"Yes, quite often, but most of them much smaller. Some are large, and oftentimes we see her engaged in battle with one of the bigger ones, but thus far she's been undefeated," he said.

"Then the odds are good she's an unmated female and the ones attacking her are males seeking to prove themselves strong enough to father her hatchlings," Samus said.

"How do you know this?" the man suspiciously asked, raising an eyebrow.

"As much a foreigner to his kind and his planet as Ridley is, it seems he instinctively understands the social constructs of his species. Maybe even remembers many of them. I pried a bit," Samus said.

"Fascinating," Doc said. He seemed truly interested in what she was saying. "What else did he tell you?"

"The large ones that we call Phoenixes oversee several murders. Murders are often families led by a matriarch, patriarch, or both," Samus said. "Beyond that I have nothing to say to you. You haven't proven yourselves worthy of my trust just yet."

"Fair enough. What you've given us is enough to get over the roadblock we had struck anyway," he said.

Samus frowned a little. He was almost acting like an entirely different person. He wasn't, of course, but it seemed to her like perhaps the person he had tried to be at the old facility had been a façade. Part of her sensed that what she was seeing now was far closer to the sort of man he really was. That told her he didn't feel as scrutinized or pressured here, which meant he felt safe. Perhaps even hidden from the eyes of his superiors, free to pursue his research as he pleased to and not as they did. She was under the impression he was letting his guard down a bit too quickly.

"Don't get too comfortable, Doc. Eyes may still be watching you," she said.

"How much would you charge to keep those eyes off us once and for all?" he dryly asked.

"That depends on what you can tell me about those watching eyes," she answered. "And about your own motives here."

The young woman was the one who was quick to answer this time. "There are no specimen rooms, at least not like the one you saw in the old place. No deadly serums either, developed for the purpose of killing the creatures residing here. My father always preferred to observe things in their natural settings and record, really he did! It was his employers who didn't share the sentiment," Doc's daughter said.

"Allow me to explain, Liza," Doc said to his daughter. He looked at Samus. "After the raid on Zebes that killed your parents, the Federation wanted to make sure the Space Pirate commander, who was also the Space Pirates' living weapon, was destroyed. A report I had sent not long before that raid seemed to have described a creature similar to Ridley. They ordered immediate investigation and confirmation. When that confirmation was received, they ordered a weapon or poison to be developed that could be used against the entirety of his species. They had a very… fixed idea as to how to make that come about. You saw the results of those experiments. I couldn't stop the work we were doing. We were routinely checked on and sometimes visited by surprise. Being caught working against the Federation's orders would of course not be acceptable, and this particular rogue branch… They were very zealous, and they were very unpredictable. They were not the sorts of people you wanted to cross. I had a family to take care of and protect, so I chose to go along with them. Only not entirely."

"When we found Ridley's home world, father was the one who commissioned, out of pocket, the construction of this facility. It was dangerous, sure, but we had armed guards with weapons we had developed that were potent enough to ward off attacks from the local fauna, and eventually this place was constructed. Except only a choice few even knew it existed and father couldn't risk sending a fulltime team here. The few who knew about it occasionally dropped by part time to conduct research, but could never stay long of course. Just long enough to actually prove useful to us. Father also determined it would be the location to which we escaped if the other facility ever fell, regardless of the possible ramifications. For example, word getting out and reaching our employers," the young woman, Liza, said.

"And that's what I would have you defend us against," Doc said. "The ones who will come looking and try to take away all we've worked for here. You would be richly compensated, Samus. I have no shortage of funds. On top of that, you would ensure the continued existence of your pterosaur. Do consider the offer at least."

"If all you've said proves to be on the level, then there'll be nothing to consider. I have a way of checking your story," she said.

"Your AI?" Doc dryly asked.

"No, but he'll prove useful. I have a friend, though, who has all kinds of inside information on the Federation. Or at least knows how to get it," she said. "We'll see soon enough how much of your story checks out."

"Warning: Unidentified Geoform 187 detected," a robotic voice rattled. Doc looked up, frowning warily.

"Unidentified? It's been a while since that announcement came on," Liza said. "Not since the last time we saw our female engaged in battle with an opponent."

"It's Ridley. He's been following me," Samus said.

"And you led him here?!" Doc sharply demanded.

"I'll handle him. Don't you worry your head over it," Samus said, frowning at him. Turning, she made her way back up to where her ship was. From there she would be able to see how close Ridley had come and would be able to judge how much of a threat he was going to be.

Metroid

Samus watched warily as Ridley circled the facility, seemingly searching for an easy way in. Soon he flew down and landed on the roof dome. He began to sniff at it. Screeching, he tested its strength by trying to break it. It held tight against him, to his clear displeasure. He shrieked again and stabbed at it with his tail. Not even a crack. "Ridley!" she called sharply up. Ridley paused, looking at her warily with eyes narrowed, then began to creep all over the dome seeking a weak point of entry. Samus sighed in frustration. He could be such a pain in the neck! Annoying Pteranodon. She walked towards the dome and placed her hand on it as he crept down to her level and peered warily in at her, upside down at this point. "They aren't a threat to you," she said. "They aren't a threat to anything on this planet, if their story checks out. Back off. There's an unmated female phoenix that roosts around here. Go try your luck at mating her or something."

He screeched defiantly at her. In the distance, a shriek echoed it and he sharply looked in its direction. Lowly he growled. Samus followed his gaze. In the distance she saw the large form of a female phoenix approaching them top speed! It seemed she sensed this unwanted intruder in her domain and had come to investigate. Ridley shrieked and took to the skies, flying high and stretching himself out to full height, spreading his wings and arms wide to make himself as intimidating as possible.

The female was suddenly there, checking him hard! Ridley shrieked at her and flew around, growling and hissing. She screeched furiously at him and went for his throat. He shrieked at her in turn, backing quickly away and growling warningly again as he landed on the dome. She came at him and he snapped viciously at her. She dodged the attack and hovered near at hand, summing this new opponent up. Samus wondered, briefly, why Ridley wasn't attempting to fight her or mate. Maybe the female wasn't in heat. If she wasn't in heat, Ridley would have no reason to try and mate her. At least for now. Later that might change, but at the moment it seemed they were simply testing each other out. The female was probably judging his threat level. He, in turn, was probably just trying to get rid of her so he could keep trying to break into the facility. He lowered himself in what appeared to be a sort of submissive posture that indicated he had no intention of fighting her for her territory. Or fighting her at all right now, for that matter. The female growled at him but didn't go at him again. Maybe she was going to let this unknown male stay in her territory until she was in heat. He would inevitably come to woo her, once she was in heat, and it was at that point she would test him. She went at him suddenly again. He shrieked, kicking off from the dome and putting distance between himself and her. She landed on the top and lay down on it, glaring at him with eyes narrowed. Ridley shrieked and fired plasma at her. She screeched back and tackled him sharply, driving him back with a painful stab of her beak. He bit her savagely in retaliation, but quickly released and flew away a bit. She landed once more on the facility as if claiming it as her own. Ridley shrieked in indignation, but didn't attempt to drive her away from it. Instead, he flew down to where Samus was and clung to the glass there, glaring bitterly up at the female.

"Love troubles, big guy?" Samus mocked. He screeched at Samus indignantly then made a furious sound of pain when the female breathed plasma at him, enveloping him in the flame. He took off, furious, and shrieked at the female wrathfully before perching again and glaring once more at said female. Said female glared down at him equally as furiously, engaging him in a silent battle of wills and asserting her dominance over this place. Scoffing, Ridley glared at Samus in annoyance once more before huffing and taking off. He flew away from the facility, cowed for now, and went towards the distant mountain range. Upon reaching it, it seemed he perched there and set to watching from afar. The female shrieked after him then took off into the sky, flying towards the cliff rapidly. Ridley's screech echoed distantly and he flew quickly away from the cliff face, perching instead on a large tree a bit closer to the facility, but not close enough that the female would perceive him a threat to it. Seemingly satisfied with that arrangement, the female crept out of sight and made no further appearance. Sighing, Samus went back inside. Doubtless Doc and his fellow researchers were ecstatic at what they'd just witnessed from the safe confines of their facility. What she wouldn't give to know how that little conversation had went, though. The one between Ridley and the female, that was. Perhaps the next time she could speak to him, assuming there would be a next time at all, she'd ask.