Suits of Iron
Chapter 3 – Something Evil Comes This Way
I hunger, I crave. Where is the energy that I crave? I can feel it, slightly, but where? You have failed to get it for me.
"Just a delay," the metal voice says. "I will get you the energy you crave."
Ridley and Kraid, what of them?
"They failed to trap our quarry. But I have a way to obtain what we both want." Go on.
"It will make quite an impact," the metallic voice laughs. I find this humorous. I can feel the energy close at hand.
* * *
The walls. The cold, metal, unforgiving walls surround me. What is going on here? The walls of the Pisces III warp themselves around me in the faint light; even the armor feels constricting. I can still hear its screeching even now. Damn it Ultron! What were you thinking!?
"Samus?" The now familiar voice of Iron Man came from behind her, startling her slightly. She could just stare forward.
"No, no, it can't be. I destroyed them all." She took off her helmet. "I destroyed them all…." She ran her fingers through her long brown hair.
"What was that?" Iron Man asked her. She turned around, meeting with Iron Man's mask, wondering what the face behind the mask looked like.
"A Metroid," Samus said stiffly. "A lifeform capable of draining energy from other living beings. But I thought I had destroyed them all, back on Planet Zebes." A loud siren and a flash of red light broke Samus' train of thought.
"Five minutes to self destruct," a mechanical voice said.
"That's not good," Iron Man said dryly. Samus still sat on her knees, staring where the metroid had fallen. Where it had tried to drain Iron Man's energy before she blasted it. "Samus?" She barely heard him. Metroids alive, and in Ultron's hands. What does he think he is doing?
"Four minutes to self destruct," the voice said again.
"Samus! We must go!" Iron Man said, running towards the nearest door. Samus shook herself free from her thoughts and stood up quickly, putting on her helmet. She ran up next to Iron Man.
"Sorry, I was somewhere else," Samus said.
"Understandable," Iron Man said, pressing buttons on the door's control panels. He swore under his breath. "Ultron's locked the doors."
"That's new," Samus said. "I'd blast it, but I'm out of missiles."
"I think I can override the computer," Iron Man said as he began pressing keys rapidly. Samus stood there, sweating slightly, as she watched Iron Man work over the console. After what seemed to be an eternity, the door opened.
"Bingo," Iron Man said.
"Three minutes to self destruct."
"Great, let's go!" Samus said as she ran through the door. She kicked in her speed booster; Iron Man kicking in his boot jets right behind her. The two sped through the corridors of the Pisces III space station until they reached the airlock. Iron Man and Samus blasted through in a brilliant array of blaster fire, the emptiness of space engulfing them. The two made it to Samus' ship, and quickly got in.
Samus sat down in her seat and quickly punched in the autopilot. The ship lurched up, explosions starting to silently rip the station below them to pieces. Fire enveloped the ship; alerts went off within the hull, bathing the interior in a reddish glow. Samus gripped the controls tighter and pushed the ship harder through the explosions, the ship rocking violently as shards of scrap metal flew around the ship. She relaxed her grip when the pitch backdrop of space appeared again in the view screen. The ship floated silently in black emptiness.
"That was close," Iron Man breathed. "You okay?"
"Yes," Samus said, catching her own breath. "I've seen worse." She looked back towards Iron Man. "Once again, your technical ability saved us."
"A compliment? Thanks," Iron Man said.
"You know more than you first let on. Skills like yours can probably even rival your employer's." Samus said, taking off her helmet.
Iron Man sat there, staring at her from behind his helmet. She's from the future, who is she going to tell that would care a hill of beans who Iron Man really was. Well, Stark, here we go.
"I think I have something you should know," Iron Man said.
"Yeah?" Samus arched an eyebrow.
Iron Man lifted his gauntleted hands towards his helmet, and took it off slowly. Samus' eyes went wide. She looked at the black haired man in front of her. His short black hair and trimmed beard, his black eyes.
"Tony Stark," Samus said with a wry grin. He's not that bad looking. "Why didn't you tell me before that Iron Man and Tony Stark were one and the same. That could have saved us a lot of trouble," Samus said with a frosty tone.
"I try not to make a habit of revealing my identity to strangers," Stark said. "All part of the super-hero business. Too many people would want to pay Stark a house call for what Iron Man did to them."
"Villains such as Ultron, huh?" Samus said. Iron Man just nodded. "Makes sense. Not sure if I'd want his tin can hounding me all the time myself."
"Anyway," Stark continued, "About that thing back on the station,"
"Metroid," Samus interrupted.
"Right," Iron Man said dryly. He peered at Samus with his black eyes. She just stared back, crossing her arms. "How did you find out about them?" Samus uncrossed her arms, and for a moment, just stared at the man sitting in front of her. She took a long breath before she spoke.
"It's a long story, but it seems that we have time," she said in a level voice. "It was only six years ago when it all began. For centuries, the Galactic Federation had given us the peace that we were promised. Trade lines were relatively safe, and the people were happy, despite the few space pirates that did prey upon the occasional freighter. But this peace was disrupted by a startling discovery.
"On a survey of a recently discovered planet know only as SR388, a Galactic Federation science team discovered a new lifeform, an airborne lifeform that could suck the energy out of any living host."
"The Metroids," Iron Man said. Samus nodded.
"The Federation wanted to examine them further, but were raided on the way back by space pirates from the planet Zebes, our friends Ridley and Kraid back there. They stole the Metroid specimen and took it back to Zebes. It was then that their leader, the Mother Brain first bonded with the Metroids and worked to create an army of them, and I was hired to take them out. That is when I first encountered the things." Thoughts of them clinging to their armor for the first time, of them draining her energy floated through her head. She shuddered at the thought.
"I carried out the mission, quite well I might add," Samus flashed Iron Man a cocky grin, "and the Federation saw how dangerous the Metroids were. They sent in a group of marines back to SR388, only to never hear from them again. Since I did such a bang up job on Zebes, literally, I was hired again to exterminate every Metroid from the planet.
"When I got to SR388, however, I had a rude shock awaiting me. The Metroids here were more advanced than the ones I saw earlier, but they died just the same. It just made my job their slightly harder. Slightly," she added with the same grin as before. "The Queen Metroid was something else. It was huge, almost reptilian, the source of so much suffering. When I had killed it, I thought that was the end of it, but that is when I found Her."
"Her?" Iron Man asked.
"A baby Metroid that hatched in front of my eyes. I was about to kill it, but something came over me, I couldn't destroy it for some reason I try to decipher to this day. It followed me out, must have thought me as its mother or something. I took it back to the labs for analysis, and I thought that the end of the whole saga. Then Ridley struck again. He stole the baby Metroid. I got there just in time to see Ridley take off with it," Samus paused.
The scene replayed itself in her mind. Ridley's piercing red eyes boring into her as he clutched the tiny Metroid in his clawed hands. She felt a rush of anger and sorrow as she cried out firing at Ridley. He laughed at her as he flew away. Samus crumpled on the station floor, cursing to herself, a lone tear trailing down her cheek. Why did I feel that way then? I had never felt that weak before, not till the return to Zebes..
"I then pursued Ridley back to planet Zebes," Samus started again. "I found out that Mother Brain had formed a stronger bond with the Metroids than before, namely my hatchling," Samus paused again. She blinked back a tear. "I watched the Metroid hatchling die trying to save me from Mother Brain. I can't recall all that happened afterwards. I just remember the anger and rage that I felt as I blasted Mother Brain to ashes. I thought I had finally seen the end of the Mother Brain, of the Metroids."
"Now Ultron is controlling them," Iron Man finished for her.
"We've got to stop him," Samus said, the edge hard in her voice.
"Agreed, and if I'm not mistaken, the Ultron tracker here still works," Iron Man said keying in the commands, and the red square appeared on the holographic map in front of them. Iron Man stared mutely at the red square.
"What is it Stark?" Samus said getting up. "You look worried," she added with a grin. She looked towards the red square, and her own face paled. She stepped back a bit shaking her head. No. Not there.
"Samus?" Iron Man asked. She didn't respond, she just stood there, staring. Tony Stark looked over his shoulder back towards the holoprojector. The red square that highlighted a planet that looked fairly ordinary floating in the vast reaches of space. He looked at the label below it. The planet Zebes.
"So we're going to Zebes," Iron Man said to himself.
* * *
A bright flash illuminated the view screen as the crash of thunder rumbled across the slate gray sky. Rain poured heavily down and the ship rocked violently among the thunderclaps even under Samus's steady control. A sudden jolt sent Iron Man forward into his seat restraints. His helmeted face looked towards Samus, who held onto the controls of her ship tightly yet smoothly. The bounty hunter's face was shrouded in her helmet. The rain poured harder and a streak of lightning flashed across the view screen.
"Zebes seems like the perfect vacation spot," Iron Man said dryly.
"Shut it, Iron Man!" Samus snapped.
"Sorry," Iron Man said. Another jolt rocked the ship, and the viewport glowed red. "That was not lightning," Iron Man said.
"There!" Samus pointed. Iron Man got up as the ship rumbled again. The ground below them flew by rapidly. Iron Man saw a missile flying quickly towards the ship. Samus evaded the missile easily.
"That wasn't here the last time," Samus said.
"Most likely Ultron's doing," Iron Man said. "Uh-oh." A volley of laser blasts opened up below them. Samus swore as she pulled up, some of the blasts hitting the bottom of the ship. Iron Man saw a short tower with two cannons mounted on it as the source of the blasts.
"We won't be able to land with those batteries shooting at us," Samus said with a growl.
"Leave that to me," Iron Man said as he walked towards the hatch. It opened to the pouring rain streaming through the hatch.
"What do you think you're going?" Samus asked.
"To take out those turrets."
"You're nuts," Samus said.
"Maybe. But I'm also maneuverable enough to avoid those laser blasts. I'll just clear a landing space for you to land, okay?"
Samus just nodded. "Good luck."
"Thanks," Iron Man said as he flew through the hatch.
The gray clouds above him poured rain and lightning flashed among them. Thunder rumbled in Iron Man's ears as he flew towards the source of the laser blasts. He looked towards Samus' ship and saw that she was keeping her distance from the area. Well, Stark, here we go..
Iron Man flew forward and saw a volley of laser fire coming his away. He dodged the volley effortlessly in a tight roll. He saw the first turret and blasted it full on with repulser blasts. It blew up into a firey blaze among the gloom. Another volley came his way. He flew upwards to avoid it, and pivoted downwards, spreading the fire of his repulser blasts towards two different turrets. Two explosions rocked the scene. Much too easy.
Iron Man was knocked back as he felt a laser blast hit his left side. He grunted as he regained his bearings. His eyes went wide as two missiles flew in his direction. He fired a repulser blast at one, detonating it, and flew aside as the other one almost scrapped the side of his armor. The missile flew forward a ways, and then made a wide arc back towards Iron Man with a volley of laser fire accompanying it. Just a bit too overconfident there, Stark.
He kicked in his boot jets, propelling him backward into a tight valley. The mountains rose tall on either side and space was quickly running out. A few aerial maneuvers allowed him to dodge the laser fire and he fired a full volley of blasts at the missile, knocking it into one of the canyon walls.
Iron Man flew back through the entrance to the valley and saw more of the turrets. He blasted them before they could get their shots off, but he was pushed to the ground by a blast from behind. He hit the ground with a thud and grunted as he got up. He stood up, shaking his head from the blast, and stood there for a while in the pouring rain, taking in his surroundings. Trees surrounded him and a few destroyed turrets could be seen still smoking under the slate gray sky. In the distance, a large metallic structure stood. A tall, foreboding tower that slanted back against the gray backdrop dominated his view. Lightning illuminated the tower from behind.
Nice touch Iron Man thought to himself. A noise, a high pitched screeching sound from behind him caused him to turn around, repulser blasts at the ready. Iron Man braced himself as he saw a Metroid floating there in front of him, the bulb glowing red and green, the teeth flexing as if in hunger. It flew towards him, and he fired at it. The Metroid ignored the blasts and was about to attach itself to Iron Man when it stopped in mid air, frozen.
Iron Man jumped out of the way as five missiles hit the Metroid, destroying it. Iron Man looked back and saw Samus standing there, gun arm hung over her shoulder.
"You superhero types really need to learn how to watch your back," she said.
"Thanks," Iron Man said.
"No, thank you. You allowed my ship to land," Samus said, extending her hand to him. Iron Man took it and grasped it firmly.
"Always glad to be of service, Miss Aran," Iron Man said.
"Right," Samus said, smiling under her helmet. "Shall we," she indicated towards the towering structure.
"Of course," Iron Man said. He looked back to where the Metroid was. My repulsers didn't seem to harm it. I'll have to find a way to where I don't have to rely on Samus to take care of them.
* * *
They come. I feel them coming.
"Yes, they come." The mechanical voice sounds distraught. "They will be destroyed."
Do not fail.
"I won't"
* * *
The metallic door opened before the two warriors, each with their weapons ready. Darkness lay before them. Thunder rumbled outside and the rain continued to pour in a wall of water outside.
"What is this place?" Iron Man asked.
"A colony ship that crash landed here many years ago. I found it on my last trip here. It wasn't infested with Metroids, but Mother Brain's lackeys were here, so be on guard." I hope it isn't infested Samus thought with a shudder.
The two walked through the darkness, the sound of the thunder rumbling behind them, then silence. The sound of their footsteps echoed as on the hard metallic floor as they moved forward through the dimly lit corridor. Another door opened with a hiss in front of them, the corridor behind it brightly lit. Samus's guard stiffened. A cylindrical service droid walked stiffly down the corridor.
"A service droid," Samus said.
"No other signs of activity," Iron Man said, continuing to stare at the service droid. The droid walked around, and then started walking into a wall repeatedly. Samus and Iron Man continued to walk forward. The droid turned towards them, and Samus continued to walk past it. Iron Man eyed it wearily. It turned towards Samus.
"Samus, watch out!" Iron Man yelled as the droid fired a plasma blast at Samus. She quickly rolled into a tight ball as the plasma blast flew over her. Iron Man unloaded a volley of repulser fire at the droid, blasting it into a pile fop scrap metal. "Ultron's work definitely."
"Let's go," Samus hissed, unrolling herself. Iron Man nodded. The two walked through the next door, this room completely dark. Both Iron Man and Samus tensed in ready positions. Iron Man jumped slightly as the door closed behind him with a hiss. Samus walked slowly ahead of him, her gun scanning the room. Iron Man looked up and saw a familiar pair of red eyes appear in the darkness.
"Rematch," Iron Man said to himself as he fired in the direction of the eyes. A screech was emitted as the room lit up and Ridley flew towards Iron Man. Iron Man flew out of the way and Ridley flew passed him, almost on purpose, Iron Man thought.
"Look Kraid," Ridley said in his hissing voice. "They came back for more."
A loud roar filled the room as the hulking form of Kraid walked in. Samus trained her gun on the reptilian hulk.
"Can't get enough of us kicking your asses, can you?" Samus asked.
"I'll let that slide Samus Aran," Ridley said, perching on some scaffolding. "As much as we would love to rip your heads off of your pathetic bodies, the boss won't let us. He won't let us have fun, right Kraid." Kraid let out another deafening roar.
"Fun?" Iron Man asked.
"He has a special plan for you," Ridley said with a toothy sneer. "Come, Kraid, let us not ruin the surprise." Ridley flew up, and breathed a stream of fire that punched a hole through the ceiling. Samus fired at him as he flew through it. Kraid bashed through a wall, lumbering away.
"Come back here an fight you cowards!" Samus yelled.
"Samus, over there," Iron Man said. She looked towards a pair of large doors that now opened silently into darkness. "Ultron is there," he indicated the tracker that glowed a fierce red on his armor.
"Let's go then," Samus said. "And see what this surprise is."
They walked in the room, and the door closed behind them. This is getting repetitive Samus thought. A single beam of light turning on in front of them brought back her guard. A large hulking form walked through the shadows, and entered the beam of light.
"Ultron," Iron Man hissed. The metal form in front of the laughed, a grating mechanical laugh.
"This ends now, adamantium ass," Samus said.
"You're right, Samus Aran, Iron Man. It ends here," Ultron said. "I have some special friends of yours, Samus. They will be quite happy to reunite with you."
"Wha.. what?" Samus said, nervousness welling up inside of her. She licked her dry lips.
"Like that tin can we wasted before, Ultron," Iron Man said. "That barely put up a fight." Ultron laughed.
"That pathetic piece of a robot was merely a diversion. It had no chance against one of you, let alone both."
"How did you come across the Metroids then?" Iron Man asked.
"I see that Samus has indeed informed you of my new pets," Ultron said.
"Pets!?" Samus yelled. "They are dangerous! You sick sadistic bastard!"
"That I am, Samus Aran," Ultron said. Some lights in front of the room came on; illuminating a row of fluid filled glass containers. Each one had a Metroid floating in it.
Iron Man's breath caught at that. There are so many of them. Samus looked around, her eyes wide at the sight of them.
"How.. how did so many survive?" She asked in a hushed voice. Her gun arm was still trained on Ultron.
"Shortly after my war with the Avengers in Slorenia," Ultron said, looking straight at Iron Man. "I was weakened, and my body shut down for repairs in one of my labs. It was not till only a year ago that I finally reawakened, only to find myself in a lab full of humans. I killed them all of course."
"Which is why I was sent after you in the first place," Samus hissed.
"Really? Only that? I did much worse, Samus," Ultron said. "After I reawakened, I found a being in a very weakened state, and with many of these remarkable creatures," Ultron said, motioning his hand to the rows of Metroids. "Not really organic, more machine. Cold, heartless, a thirst for energy, perfect organisms really.
"I agreed to help Her, the one that held so many of the little gems so that I could mold the Metroids into an army capable of destroying all organic life." He paused. "Maybe even including Her. But she still has too much control over them still. I father them, nurture them, so that they will wrest free of her control."
She!? Samus thought with a shudder. It can't be.
"Well, Ulty, I'm afraid that we're going to have to take you down again," Iron Man said.
"Not today, Iron Man. Today I win," Ultron said as he broke the glass of some of the nearby containers, the Metroids flying towards Samus and Iron Man with a series of screeches.
"Iron Man!" Samus yelled. "Take out Ultron, I'll take out the Metroids."
"There are too many of them, Samus!" Iron Man said as Samus blasted one before her. They surrounded her, and she ducked and rolled out from under them, getting up quickly, freezing them with her ice beam.
"You can't hurt them," she said. "I'll be fine, trust me!"
"Right," Iron Man said. Don't remind me. He looked towards Ultron and flew after him. Ultron turned towards him and fired at Iron Man. The shot hit the armored Avenger square in the chest, knocking him back. Iron Man regained himself and stood up.
"Give it up Iron Man," Ultron said. "You have nothing that could harm me."
Maybe not Iron Man thought looking behind Ultron. A container with a large Metroid sat behind him. Samus said that they could suck life energy from living things. I wonder…
Ultron fired again at Iron Man, who easily dodged the blast this time. He looked back towards Samus as she destroyed a Metroid behind her, turning quickly to face the next one.
"Nice try, Ulty," Iron Man said as he fired a full volley of repulser blasts into Ultron. He staggered back and crashed into the container behind him. The glass shattered in a thousand sparkling shards, landing onto the ground in a brilliant shower. The Metroid floated above him.
"Is that all you've got Iron Man?" Ultron said with a laugh as he hit the ground. He lifted his metallic arm up, ready to blast Iron Man, then with a screech; the Metroid latched itself to Ultron's head. "Aaagghhh!" Ultron screamed, clutching at the big bulbous shape attached to him. Ultron struggled as his energy drained from him into the creature. The Metroid swelled with energy and after a while, Ultron lay still, and the Metroid got off of him. Iron Man tensed and the Metroid flew off into the shadows. Iron Man breathed a sigh of relief as he looked at Ultron's still form. The menacing red eyes of the adamantium robot were silenced.
"Bingo," Iron Man said. "I guess the Metroid didn't like daddy Ultron very much."
A scream from his side alerted him. He looked towards the source and saw a Metroid engulfing Samus.
"Samus!" Iron Man yelled as he fired everything that he had at the Metroid on her. To his surprise, it let go. All the remaining Metroids around her hovered, emitting low screeching sounds. They all glowed red and green in the dim lighting. With a loud screech, they all flew into the shadows. Iron Man ran to Samus. She was breathing heavily.
They are here! Darkness eternal, grant me the power I need. Come my children!
"Where did they go?" the bounty hunter breathed.
"Into the shadows," Iron Man said puzzled. Samus struggled to get up, but the legs of her armor gave out. Iron Man extended his hand to help her up. She stared at it for a while, and grasped it.
"Thank you," Samus said as Iron Man helped her up.
"Your armor's energy supplies are low," Iron Man said. "I can reroute some of me power to your armor."
"Leave me," She said. "Get out of here. There are too many Metroids around."
"Samus, that's crazy!" Iron Man said. "You'll die."
"Maybe, but I've faced worse odds and come out okay."
"I won't let you do this. I can give you enough power for both of us to get out of here."
Samus looked like she was about to counter, but shut up. Her cheeks glowed red under her helmet.
"Thank you, Iron Man," she said. "I owe you one."
"Don't worry about it." He hooked up a cable between his arm and Samus' arm. He pressed a few buttons, and a gauge showed the power being routed between the two armors. A loud roar then filled the room. "Kraid?" Iron Man asked.
"I don't think so," Samus said. Iron Man looked down to the console. Five minutes to completely reroute the power. Not enough time.
Both Iron Man and Samus looked towards the shadows. Samus was breathing hard, sweat beading down her face. "Please don't, please don't let it be Her," she muttered under her breath. The roar came again, and a large hulking figure came through the shadows.
It reached the ceiling of the room, walking on large stalky legs. Large, clawed arms reached down, grasping at air. The body was colored yellow with a purplish underbelly. Iron Man looked up at the head of the beast. It was a round head, the crimson pulsating brain exposed. Two large eyes gazed down at them as the thing walked forward towards them. The mouth, filled with rows of dagger like teeth, drooled on the ground.
A cluster of Metroids hung around her.
"What is it?" Iron Man asked.
"Mother Brain," Samus said in a hushed voice.
Well, this ends the exciting Chapter 3 of Suits of Iron! The exciting climax will be up shortly!